The Adventures of Lando Erif :: The Day I Feel for Roast Potatoes (Pt. Six)

Camp NaNo though guys.

I can't believe it's been a week.

It seems so much longer and so much shorter at the same time.

But guess what happened yesterday. I was talking with my cousin Jessica and this came about:

Jessica: Okay I'm going to reach 15k total for the month by...8:50.
Me: Nuuuuu. xD I need to finish making these Lando Erif header images and write so I can stay ahead of you.
Jessica: Hmm...Today’s rainy, and I think I’ll go for the 10k challenge.*Grins again at the probable dismay on your face*
Me: I'M IN. SCRAP THESE PICTURES I'LL DO THEM TOMORROW.
Jessica: *dies of laughter*

I tell you. That evil cousin of mine knows everything when it comes to getting me into crazy stuff.

BUT GUYS. I DID IT. 10K IN ONE DAY. *screams* (And woohoo, Jess also did it too. She actually managed it half an hour or so before me because I was busy eating dinner at the time. xP)

So, of my 50k word count goal, I've now got 25.6k written. I'M PRETTY HAPPY WITH THAT ACTUALLY.


Aaaanyways. You're here for Lando Erif, not me screaming about Camp. *bows* Onward to story/fairy land!

So much heat.

It tingled my whole body until I felt like one big, hot, roasted potato.

With chili sauce on top.

And a sprinkling of pepper.

Apparently I was alive after all.

I guess that’s a good thing?

Cracking my eyelids open, I found two bright red-brown eyes right in front of mine. Zana Bradford. I shut my eyes abruptly, hoping she hadn’t noticed.

“I saw that,” she said gleefully, jabbing something hard into my ribs.

“What a letdown,” I mumbled, or rather, tried to mumble. A sticky strip of something was wrapped across my mouth, stopping me from saying anything more than unintelligible noises. Duct tape? Really?

Zana drew back a little. “Oh yes, I thought the gag was necessary, just in case you felt like playing that ice-fire trick like last time. And besides,” she added, “I always like finding new uses for duct tape.”

She tapped a thin metal rod on one palm. “Tying broken things together so you don’t have to fix them, gagging annoying boys.” She spread her hands with a mischievous grin. “The possibilities are endless really.”

I rolled my eyes, putting on my best ‘oh yeah?’ expression.

Zana smiled sweetly in my direction, poking her wand into my ribs again. “Anyway. I hope you enjoy your stay in the dank dungeons of D’feord.” She giggled and then stood up. “I wish I could tell you my plans, just so I could see the look on your face. But I won’t. I do rather like to keep things a surprise. You don’t have to wait very long now.”

Well darn.

I rolled my eyes again. What did she expect me to do? I couldn’t very well say anything.

She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and stepped toward the door. “I’ll be seeing you. Hope you don’t mind that I won’t be feeding you very much either. I mean, I figured you wouldn’t mind, seeing as I’ll be killing you soon anyway.”

I couldn’t quite muster the courage to roll my eyes at that. The heat throbbing through me built up a little higher. She was going to kill me. No surprise there, I guess. 

But…I didn’t want to die.

“Oh good, I knew you’d understand.” The fairy pranced from the room, the door slamming shut of it’s own accord after she slipped through, the rattle jarring through me painfully.

Well.

I grimaced, working my jaw in an attempt to get the duct tape off. No good. Moving on, I discovered that I could move my hands a little bit. Twisting to a better position, I managed to get one thumb beneath the tape around my wrists, pulling and struggling against it. No luck, but I kept going.

I wasn’t just going to sit here.

Zana had a plan, and I needed to find out what it was. And I wasn’t going to find out what it was by sitting here and feeling sorry for myself. She wasn’t stupid enough for that to work out.

I felt a sudden flash of anxiety. What had happened to the twins? Had they actually been transported through the fairy ring? Where were they? Did Zana have them locked up too?

With a last twist, I yanked one of my arms free, yelping in pain against the tape across my mouth. My wrist and forearm were red when I lifted my hand and peeled away the gag carefully, grimacing as it stuck painfully to my skin.

Pulling in a deep breath, I relaxed somewhat, running my tongue over my dry lips. Water would be really good. On the bright side, I no longer felt like a helpless roast potato. Just an ordinary roast potato sitting on a tray in the oven.

Yeah okay, maybe I’m not very good with analogies.

It took me a fair while before I managed to get the rest of the tape off, and when I finally had, I slumped into the corner, closing my eyes with a huff. The heat was seeping my energy, and I honestly didn’t want to move at all.

No. I shoved myself upright, staggering and almost falling down again, but catching myself against the wall and remaining standing.

I couldn’t give up now.

Stumbling across to the grating door, I peered at it closely, wondering if I could possibly squeeze through. Nope, that was asking a bit much. I might be skinny, but not that skinny. Pressing up against the iron bars, I looked as far down the corridor as I could. No one in sight. I glanced the other way. Same there.

No harm in trying the lock. I reached through, my fingers finding a padlock. “Ugh.” I dropped it again. I couldn’t pick locks, I couldn’t break locks, I couldn’t do anything useful.

Then my foggy brain gave me a nudge. 

Oh wait. I could breathe fire. That had to count for something.

I puffed out a breath, a small curl of flame appearing in front of my nose for a second before flickering out. Okay. There had to be something flammable withing reach. I glanced round, searching for anything that might catch on fire or be any vague use at all.

My gaze fell on the rusty hinges and I stepped forward, squinting closely at them. Well…may as well see what happens. Pulling in a deep breath, I steadied myself before shooting a stream of fire over the rusted metal. My breath ran out a few moments later and I coughed to a stop.

The wood was blackened around the hinges, but that was all.

Still, it might be enough.

I backed up a few paces to give myself running room and then charged forward and smashed my shoulder into the weakened door, the hinges gave way, sending me reeling out into the corridor. I crashed into the far wall, just managing to keep my balance. The door hung off one hinge, looking like it would drop to the floor at any moment.

Time to go before it actually did.

I turned and started running down the narrow corridor, soon coming to a stairway and spiraling down them without a hesitation. I might be to late already. What did Zana count as ‘very long?’ And what was she even planning anyway?

Tripping down the last step, I paused, glancing around the room. What I really needed was a GPS. Or a map. Or just a evacuation ground plan.

But presumably there wasn’t a handy copy of the castle blueprints lying around.

The dungeons were obviously in a tower, but I had no idea by now which floor level I was on and how far above the ground I was. Window. I needed to find a window.

I started along the huge hall, my converse squeaking on the sheen smoothness of the floor. Reaching the top of a grand staircase, I paused, taking the first step cautiously. A sound from below, sent my heart beat pounding through my ears and I jumped back, spinning and bolting away, ducking down the first side hall I came to.

It was a lot narrower than the imposing hall I’d just left, but still wide and open. I slipped through into a half open door, pushing it shut and taking refuge behind a stack of books, just in case.

No sound.

I crouched, waiting tensely for a long moment, but no warning of approaching footsteps came so I straightened, looking around. One wall was taken up by a long window, the spotless glass gleaming in the sunlight. I stepped over to it, squinting out. The light reflected back at me off everything so that I couldn’t actually make out anything. Tears started pouring from my eyes, and I blinked them away, turning away from the brilliant light.

Maybe that wasn’t a good option then, since I had no clue how high I might be.

A desk against the wall was stacked with books, and I padded back over to them, glancing over the titles. Several lay open, and I paused over one with a sketch of the rabbit-bird creature. I skimmed the text. Species: Skvader…Temperament: Bad…Power: teleportation via books. I stopped, rereading a small note at the bottom of the page, written in a curly hand script.

Silly Fluff Ball can’t travel through the right books. Only use in greatest need.

So that was the deal with the creature then. The rabbit-bird, or Skvader, had teleported through a book in this castle and somehow ended up coming out of my history book by mistake.

I carefully flipped the book shut. Just in case. I didn’t need a bad tempered Fluff Ball attacking me without warning.

I glanced over a couple of papers, trying to make sense of the fancy handwriting. Zana had the most neat illegible writing I’d ever seen. Not sure if that was a step up from mine or not. Mine was just plain illegible, skip the whole neat thing entirely.

Turning away, I groaned softly, kneading my fingers into my forehead, trying to ease the pounding ache. Zana had evil plans. Zana might be carrying out those evil plans right now and I was stuck somewhere in her castle without a clue what was happening.

But if she had any plans, she’d be sure to keep a copy of them somewhere. I glanced back down at the desk and started searching frantically through the books and papers. There would be something there. There had to be. I heaved a stack of books off onto the floor, scanning through a few papers that had been jammed beneath them.

How to cast spells without a wand.

101 Different uses for Duct Tape.

Those ones weren’t going to be any use to me, but I shoved them into my pocket anyway just in case. The next one stopped me short though. It had no title, but for a short word: Plan.

Beneath, it held a single paragraph. Straight and to the point. Everything froze around me as I darted my gaze across the words.

I will make war with the humans. The Fairies will follow me as I lead an army of dragons and warlocks. I am playing the game of annihilation now.

The door swung open.

I glanced up.

Zana stood framed in the doorway for a moment, staring at me in silence. I couldn’t move, shock gluing my feet to the floor.

“Foolish boy,” she hissed, her eyes darkening to a glowing golden red.

Not good.

I dived for the window, shoving the plan into my pocket. A surge of heat battered me from behind, throwing me forward. 

In the end, I smashed through the glass elbow first.

- - -

I hope you enjoyed!!

*scampers of to keep writing all the wooooords*

How is your Camp NaNo going??
Or your April in general?

[NOTE: a Skvader is an actual mythological creature. Google it if you don't believe me. If it had invented it, I'd have called it a more pronounceable thing. xP]