Chapter 8: The first practice room
Unlike during the teleportation moment, there were no odd tentacles or other scary things as Irwin whisked through the darkness for a split second. Then he stumbled out, and instantly, a soft, comforting heat washed over him.
Surprisedly, he looked up to see deep orange light come from cracks in the walls while a smell of sulfur filled the air. Distant chittering laughter made him jerk around to find its source, but all he saw was a square opening leading out of the small stone chamber they were in. Broken and rusted metal hinges were on one side, but there was no sign of a door. Dust wafted in the air, probably from him and the others moving around.
"There's something here," Greldo whispered a few steps to the side.
Before they had a chance to talk, Daubutim and Twintin appeared in the middle of the room. The big boy looked around with a frown, lips closed, but Twintin seemed absolutely terrified.
"Where-" she began, just as Greldo jumped forward and put a hand over her mouth.
The chittering laughter instantly stopped, and Irwin shivered as his hair stood on end.
Olban appeared behind the others, looking around, his eyes widening quickly. Before he could speak, Greldo moved next to him, holding a hand over his mouth and a finger to his own lips. Olban nodded quickly.
"Block the door and get ready for anything," Greldo whispered, surprising Irwin with his quick thinking.
Daubutim stepped into the doorless opening, which, although he was the tallest of them, still made him look small by comparison. Beyond it was a long corridor with uneven rocky walls with more glowing orange cracks and fissures. The ceiling was low with odd protrusions, easy to bump your head against.
Irwin scrutinized the tunnel, seeing shadowy side entrances at odd points in the wall. Some seemed too high to enter comfortably, and it all looked more like a giant version of the ant hills he investigated during the summer.
"What's going on?" Olban whispered.
"There's demons or something ahead, and they know we are here," Irwin replied as he swallowed back his rising fear of what was approaching them.