Helenmollybooks

That morning was cold and misty. Huo pulled on a coat and boots from their closet, silently mulling over the events of the night before. Fashi knows. What now? Sighing, they closed the closet door and walked over to the front door. The Phoenix bumped its head into its mistress’s leg as if to say, Let’s go. Huo nodded, picked up the bird, and opened the front door. They looked around the hallway for a few moments before shutting the door. Huo barely heard the sound of Fashi stumbling around in his study. They felt an uncomfortable pull on their stomach as they were hit by the morning air. Probably didn’t sleep last night because of me. They began to walk towards the Tavern to meet Simon and Lucy. I’d better try to find my father.

When the young mage arrived, the parking lot was empty. It was still cold, but it was slowly burning off with the rising sun. Huo steeled a breath and pushed the doors open. When they stepped inside, Lucy and Simon were near a table, voices quiet. Huo made a sound of welcome, and they both looked up.

“Hey, you made it!” Simon said, standing up. Huo shrugged, putting the Phoenix down. It ruffled its feathers as its mistress made their way over to the table. They looked towards their companions expectantly.

“So, have you two figured out a plan?” Simon looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment before answering.

“Yes, yes, I have,” he said. “I just had some trouble sleeping last night; the storm was bad.”

Lucy nodded. “It was a really good one that rolled in from the North.”

Simon grinned and waved his hand dramatically towards the door.

“Shall we? The underground dragon ring is located not far from here.”

Lucy shook her head.

“Well, we’ve got a few hours before this place opens, let’s go.”

And off the group went into the cold, misty morning, the sun barely visible. The street lamps burned faintly, houses hidden by fog.

“Think it’s this way,” Lucy said, pointing to the center of the street. Simon and Lucy followed suit and came across a pothole in the ground. Simon went in front of the group and opened it with a bright blue burst of magic. It flew the pothole lid right off and into the street. He climbed in first, igniting a blue flame on his palm. He waved his other hand at his companions.

“Well, come on then, let’s find the bloke. He ought to be here somewhere.” Lucy and Huo followed soon after. But the Phoenix squawked when it saw the sewer water. It protested by refusing to let Huo go down.

“Now I’ll hold you,” the young mage said. “I won’t let you touch the water.” It took a bit of reassurance, but the Phoenix finally relented. Simon, Lucy, and Huo jumped into the water and headed towards the dragon ring.

The group trudged through muddy water in a direction that seemed to go nowhere. Huo heard nothing for a while. They began to be concerned that this was all for nothing. But Simon seemed unfazed and continued on.

“It’s a little way up,” he said. “We should start to hear roaring sounds soon.”

Then Simon stopped for a moment, looking troubled. He looked out into the sewer tunnel.

“What is it?” Lucy asked.

“Nothing,” the mage answered. “Just thought I heard something. Let’s keep moving.”

Huo gripped the Phoenix tighter and walked further, feeling a looming doom that steadily worsened. What if we can’t find my father? What if this was a big mistake and that letter wasn’t real? What if-

Huo’s thoughts were interrupted by a buzzing sound. Looking up, there were three or four flies on the ceiling. They looked abnormally big, the size of an eraser, like someone had cast a spell on them. Simon looked up as well. Shrugging, he flicked his hand and sent blue flame up to them. They hissed before falling down dead to the sewer floor.

“See, no problem. Those things aren’t a big deal if you have magic to blow ’em up.”

Lucy nodded nervously, and Huo just shrugged nonchalantly.

The group continued on.

“We should be reaching the point where we can hear them,” Simon said. But after a little while, there was nothing. No sound except dripping pipes and water sloshing around. For the first time, Lucy looked worried. Huo was concerned that their fears were right the whole time. But Simon brushed them off.

“Maybe they are just taking a break,” he said. “Come on, let’s just check it out.

Against both of their better judgments, Lucy and Huo followed Simon to the dragon ring.

Halfway to the ring, another buzzing sound, this time louder than before, made itself known to the group. Lucy looked straight ahead, trying to find the source. She took a couple of steps forward and saw nothing. The rest of the group followed her. The buzzing got louder and louder as they came upon the entrance to the ring.

Simon walked right ahead and carefully opened the door. Lucy followed him and did the same. However, as Huo was about to repeat the process, the Phoenix began to make a horrible squawking noise. They nearly dropped the bird as it became uncontrollable. It bit its mistress’s hand and dragged them away from the door. Huo made a sound of protest as it did so.

Once they were away from the door, the bird stopped squawking and curled up in its mistress’s arms again. The sewer was quiet except for the pipes dripping and a faint scurrying sound.

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream sounded. Huo gasped as they recognized it. Lucy! The ring door flew open violently. Simon and Lucy ran out and closed it rapidly, but not fast enough. Something was trying to get out, pushing on the door behind them.

Huo was confused and tried asking what had happened. But they were cut off by Simon’s panicked cry.

“Lucy, Huo, get out of here now!” Lucy hesitated, and Huo just looked even more puzzled.

Simon’s pleas became more desperate. Huo was about to reply when they let out a choked cry.

A black, furry creature with yellow eyes hung from a web fifteen feet up.

Huo slowly backed away as the group saw more spiders appear from the shadows, hanging from large webs.

White saliva dripped from their fangs, watching the group with their large, dark, beady eyes.

Lucy was too frozen with fear to speak. Simon mustered up the courage to blurt out a few words.

“On my mark, we’re going to run. One…” The spiders slowly descended from their webs.

“Two…

The spiders landed gently on the water.

“Three!” The spiders let out a collective hiss and charged at the group.

Simon, Huo, and Lucy ran as fast as they could, but they were slow. Too slow. The spiders were directly on their tails, some jumping to try to catch the group. Lucy tripped and fell, and Simon stopped to help her. Just as the spiders were about to pounce on the group, the Phoenix flew from its mistress’s lap. It opened its wings and screeched. Balls of fire lit up the sewers as the spiders hissed and backed up.

It gave just enough time for the group to run away in the same direction they came. Huo stayed a bit behind, watching to ensure their familiar came back. After a while, the commotion finally died down.

The group came back to the surface. Lucy looked pissed, and Huo couldn’t speak. Simon rubbed his hair nervously. Lucy was the first to speak.

“I’m going back to work.” She walked away, leaving Huo and Simon.