Mystics 3-Book Collection (82 page)

He smiled at his friends. “Hey, this stuff’s
not that bad, tastes like sugar—”

“Your mother must have dropped you on your
head too many times.”

Tristan picked up the empty bottle. He
started laughing. “I can’t believe you swallowed this stuff. It
could be toxic.”

Simon lost his smile. “You think so?”

“Yes!” Zoey yelled angrily. “I thought you
were supposed to be the smart one.”

Simon looked frightened, but then he
shrugged. “It was dumb, I see that now. But nothing’s happening to
me. Maybe it doesn’t work if you swallow it?”

Tristan snorted.

Zoey glared at him. “This isn’t funny.”

“Yes it is.”

“I give up.” Zoey examined Simon one last
time. “I guess you were lucky this time.”

She turned around and gazed at the mountains
and the surrounding grounds. “We’ve been lucky so far. Hopefully
our luck will still stand.”

“I have a good feeling about our trip,” said
Simon. “I love road trips.”

Zoey whirled around. “This isn’t a—” the
rest of her sentence caught in her throat.

Simon wasn’t
Simon
anymore. An old
man was wearing Simon’s clothes. His hair had turned white, and his
face was creased with wrinkles. He was four inches shorter,
skinnier, and he hunched over like he needed a walker. He blinked
at them with tired wet eyes.

“Oh, man, this is
bad
,” said Tristan
staring at Simon. “Dude, you’re like . . .
old
.”

Simon swallowed hard. “What? What are you
talking about?”

He wrapped a hand around his throat, “What’s
wrong with my voice? It sounds like I’ve got a serious case of
tonsillitis. You guys are freaking me out. I can see my legs and my
shoes so I’m not invisible—urgh . . . I
hate
my voice. Why
are you staring at me like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“Because you
are
a ghost.” Zoey
pulled out her DSM. “Seriously, look.”

Simon held the mirror and stared at himself.
His face paled and then turned a greenish color like he was about
to be sick.

“Oh, this
is
bad, I’m—I’m
ancient
. I’m a senior citizen without the benefits,” his
voice cracked.

Then a small smile appeared on his chapped
lips. “I kinda look like a sexy version of Einstein—like his
hot
brother.” He paused. “Do you guys think this is a
permanent thing? Like I’ve wasted all my life, and I’m going to die
soon of old age? Oh man, what’s my mother going to say when she
sees me? She probably won’t even recognize me!”

Zoey shrugged. “I don’t think you’re going
to die. What you swallowed was magic, so hopefully it’ll wear
off.”

“You better hope it’ll wear off,” commented
Tristan. “It’s not like we can ask the Minitians for a remedy
potion.”

“It’ll pass, Simon. I’m sure it will.”

He looked frail and weak. “So . . . how do
you
feel
?” asked Zoey. “Do you feel old?”

Old man Simon jogged on the spot and then
did a set of straight punches.

“I feel the same,” his face crinkled into a
large smile. “I feel some restrictions. My bones crack a lot, but
basically I feel the same.”

Zoey sighed. “Well, that’s a relief.”

Tristan laughed again, and she shoved him
hard. He wasn’t making things easier.

Simon gave them a weak smile. “I guess this
is payback for my stupidity.”

He gave Zoey back her DSM. His hands looked
bony and were peppered with age spots.

“At least it’s not going to get any worse. I
mean, I’m already close to my death bed—”

A gurgling roar thundered from behind
them.

Zoey whirled around, forgetting Simon’s
transformation temporarily, and looked up into the face of an
enormous gray beast.

Chapter 14

Z
oey’s blood turned
to ice.

The creature was hairless, with thick, gray
reptilian-like skin. Its elongated maw snapped with rows of pointy,
black teeth. It stood upright on its hind legs. The creature looked
like a cross between a crocodile and a grizzly bear, a deadly
combination. Black oily water dripped from it like it had just
crawled out of the black stream. Its powerful tail slashed eagerly
behind it, waiting. Small, evil white eyes measured them,
contemplating whom to eat first.

Zoey could smell the stench of rotten meat
and spoiled eggs.

“What kind of mystic is that?” Zoey backed
away slowly and raised her boomerang over her head.

“Don’t know,” answered Tristan as he angled
his dagger and planted his feet. “Never seen one like this
before.”

Simon planted his feet and aimed his
slingshot. “Who wants to go first?”

“This isn’t a
game
, Simon,” said
Zoey. She marveled at Simon’s sudden bravery. It was almost as
though his transformation into a modern grandfather had given him
more courage. Maybe his alteration
was
a good thing.

“Of course it’s a game,” said Simon as he
aimed his weapon. Zoey heard his bones crack like popcorn. “It’s a
game of life and death, and I don’t plan on losing.”

The beast growled a wet growl like it was
gargling its own mucus.

“Tasty,” mumbled Simon.

With a splashing sound two more of the
creatures emerged from the black stream. Their white eyes gleamed
with hunger.

“Wonderful,” muttered Simon. “Now we each
get a pet lizard.”

With ferocious speed like a tiger, one of
the creatures came at them thrashing its sharp talons. Its snapping
teeth sounded like a machine gun.

Tristan moved forward and met it head on. He
dodged around the beast as he slashed repeatedly with his
weapon.

In a blur of red sand, the second creature
leaped in the air. Its massive tail hit Simon across the chest. He
flew twenty feet and crash-landed on a heap of sand. His frail body
lay crumbled. He wasn’t moving.

Zoey moved in Simon’s direction, but the
beast turned and charged like a crazed rhinoceros.

She dodged sideways and rolled on the
ground. A massive talon just missed her head, and she stood up on
the other side of the creature with her boomerang ready. She hurled
her weapon and hit its head with a loud
crunch
. The creature
was stunned for a moment. But as she caught her returning
boomerang, something heavy crashed into her back.

Her face hit the ground, and she tasted
blood in her mouth. A beast landed on her legs and sunk its talons
into her flesh, biting at her thigh. She raised her head. Another
creature appeared and dived for her face. Its clawed feet and
toothy mouth snapped at her eyes and nose.

She reeled backwards, ducking and slashing
her weapon as hard as she could. But every hit only seemed to anger
the creatures. Their teeth sank into her neck, and their claws dug
into her scalp. She screamed and roared and twirled, stabbing and
slashing wildly.

Tristan latched on to one of the mystics’
tails. He heaved and managed to pull it off Zoey. She felt lighter.
She rolled over and kicked the other creature in the face with the
heel of her shoe. The beast stumbled backwards, and she took the
time to struggle to her feet.

The crumpled gray carcass of the beast that
Tristan had managed to kill lay at her feet. White liquid oozed
from the deep gashes in its lifeless body, and steam rose from it
like the vapors from onions. Through her watering eyes, Zoey could
see that there were still two more. And who knew how many others
could emerge from the black waters.

The air seemed to get thinner and thinner
with every passing minute, like it was being slowly squeezed out
through the portal. She was hot, thirsty, and tired. If the air got
any worse, she didn’t see how they could even walk to the city. It
was like breathing poison. It was slowly killing them.

Tristan cursed, and shielding his head and
face he hit the second beast with a powerful blow and sent it
sprawling on the ground. But in one easy flip, it regained its feet
and launched another attack. He managed to grab it by the neck and
twisted it in a headlock.

Simon . . .

The lack of oxygen had affected her brain,
and she had momentarily forgotten about him.

Zoey charged towards the spot where he lay.
But before she could get to him, the third creature sunk its talons
into her flesh, and she cried out as she felt warm blood trickling
down her back. She hung in its grasp with her arms and legs
dangling like a doll’s.

The more she struggled, the deeper the
talons tore into her flesh. In her terror, she had a moment of
clarity.

Arching her right arm, she jabbed the left
edge of her boomerang into the beast’s right eye.

The creature wailed.

Zoey fell to the ground with her boomerang
still clutched firmly in her hand. She slowly got to her feet, her
eyes never leaving her opponent.

White liquid oozed out of its punctured eye
like yolk from a shattered egg, and Zoey felt sick to her stomach.
Shaking its head, the lizard creature thrashed at the ground,
wailing. It raised its head and focused its unspoiled eye on Zoey,
hissing and growling, making the hairs on the back of her neck
rise. Now it was hurt and
really
mad.

Over the hissing of the creature, she could
hear Tristan’s battle cries. He was still fighting.

The creature circled her, snapping its
jaws.

Zoey could see Simon’s body lying on the
ground behind it. He still hadn’t moved from the spot. If he wasn’t
dead, he was seriously injured.

Her hatred for the creatures intensified.
She wanted them to pay for what they had done to Simon. She planted
her feet, glared at the beast, and waited.

It lowered its head, kicked up sand behind
it, and then charged.

But Zoey was ready for it.

She whipped her boomerang at the creature as
hard as she could and opened a large gash on its forehead. But the
creature grabbed her returning boomerang and then turned its
remaining eye back on Zoey.

“You better give that back,” said Zoey. “It
doesn’t belong to you.”

The beast laughed a wet laugh. And then it
sliced a deep cut along its left forearm. Zoey could see white
blood seeping from the wound. It placed the boomerang below its
wound and let the blood trickle over it.

Zoey frowned. What was it doing?

The creature’s blood bubbled. It was acid,
and it was eating through her boomerang. The molten gold from her
melting boomerang pooled at the creature’s feet and then
disappeared into the sand.

Her beloved weapon was destroyed.

The creature angled its head. Its lips
rolled over its teeth and it seemed pleased at the panic on Zoey’s
face.

Zoey stared at her hands. She had never
imagined in a million years that she’d lose her precious boomerang.
It was like losing a limb.

She searched the ground and grabbed a rock.
It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was better than nothing.

The creature snarled in delight.

Zoey stood her ground. Whatever happened,
she was going to die fighting.

The black water beast crouched down low, and
then with rows of black teeth flashing it came at Zoey again.

“Zoey! Get back!”

Tristan pushed Zoey out of the way just as
the beast’s giant mouth neared her head. His blue skin glowed. He
side-kicked the creature and sent it staggering back. It came at
him, again and again, but Tristan blocked, dodged, and parried
every strike. Crying out in frustration, the creature charged
Tristan’s neck. It was going in for the kill.

Tristan faked to the right, spun, came up
behind the creature’s left side, and slashed it across the neck. He
jumped back as the acidic white blood spilled out of the beast. It
hissed one last time, and then dropped into the sand and didn’t
move again.

“That was close. I thought it was going to
kill me. Thanks.” Zoey got to her feet.

“That’s what boyfriends are for.” Tristan
smiled at her and for a moment she forgot where she was.

The winds blew at Zoey’s back, and she wiped
the sand from her eyes. She glanced back the way they had come. She
couldn’t even see the portal anymore. Everything was covered in
dust. It looked like a huge sandstorm was brewing. She could hardly
see fifty feet away from her. They needed to get to Simon before he
was lost in the sand blizzard.

His body was already half covered in red
sand.

“Simon!” she dashed across the red field and
fell to her knees next to Simon. She had forgotten about his
transformation into an old man and was shocked at his pale wrinkled
face. He looked like a real corpse.

“Is he alive?” Tristan kneeled beside
her.

“I don’t know,” Zoey said as she found her
voice. She wiped the sand from his face as softly as she could.
Gently, she reached out and put a hand over Simon’s mouth.

“I . . . I can’t feel anything. I can’t feel
his breath. It’s too windy. It’s no use!” Her heart raced as
searched for signs of life and cursed the high winds. What if Simon
was
dead? She’d never forgive herself.
He can’t be dead.
Not like this
.

She rested her ear on his chest. A soft
thump, thump, thump
sounded in her ears.

“He’s alive,” she said as the tears fell
freely down her face.

Tristan sat back in the sand. “Thank
God.”

Zoey shook Simon’s shoulders gently. “Simon?
Simon can you hear me? Wake up!”

She looked over at Tristan. “He’s not waking
up.”

Tristan sat up in the sand. “I don’t know.
Maybe he suffered a concussion or something, but at least he’s
alive.”

“Yes,” sighed Zoey. “He’s alive, but
you’re
going to have to carry him. I’m not strong enough.
You think you can carry him all the way to that city?”