Chapter 7

"Foolish mortal," Malberic chided. "You've already lost. He's consumed too much for you to save him now."

Mira looked around her in search of a solution. The dark elf was right. If she was going to save Nosedive, she had to get that stuff out of him.

Suddenly her eyes locked on his legs and boots under the table. And her eyes lit up with an idea, though at the same time, she was disgusted by what she would have to do. But she couldn't waste any time. Dropping to the ground, she pulled and yanked on one of Dive's boots until it came off.

She jerked her head away from it as the stench from his boot reached her nose. Nosedive's boots always reeked if his feet became sweaty. Coughing and trying not to breathe it in, she used all of her strength to swerve Nosedive's chair to one side while he was sitting in it, then she held the boot to his beak.

Nosedive tried to turn away, but Mira made sure he had no choice but to breathe in the stench for several seconds. She heard him begin to gag, and she moved it away, but only slightly. Nosedive body lurched forward, and he vomited black goo all over the grass. Mira was beginning to feel sick herself, but she dropped the boot and tried to hold him steady as he continued to be sick.

Finally, he stopped and just coughed as Mira pulled him away from the chair and the table. She led him to a clean patch of grass and let him kneel and rest there. When she looked back, she saw that Malberic had disappeared.

"Probably suffering from a weak stomach. He didn't realize the power of Nosedive's foot stench," she said with a smile, but then Nosedive heaved again beside her, and Mira lost her self-control. She scrambled over to the wall and threw up a little herself. Then she walked back over to Nosedive who was laying on the grass, but with relief, Mira noticed that his eyes were clear and normal again.

"Dive, you had me so worried," she breathed as she knelt beside him.

"Oh dude, what did I eat?" Nosedive asked with a groan. "I'm in Sicksville, big time, Mira."

She brushed his hair away from his face and pulled out a canteen of water from her pack.

"You ate some pretty nasty stuff, Dive. I'm sorry, but I didn't know what to do except to get you to throw up."

"It's cool. I'm just glad I'm not eating any more of that trash. Why couldn't I stop?"

"The guy who runs this place has a sick sense of control …and magical powers. He cast some kind of a spell on the food to make you keep eating it."

She gave him the canteen, and he hesitated for a moment to take it.

"It's clean water, Dive. You need it."

Helping him sit up, Mira gave him the canteen and he drank from it slowly.

"You look better," she said. "How do you feel?"

"Like someone punched me in the gut, but I'm glad to get that junk out of my stomach so thanks. I'll never eat any of that black stuff again."

"I certainly hope not."

Mira looked up at the sky and noticed that it seemed to be growing darker.

"Nosedive, I know you still feel pretty rough, but I think we need to get moving. This isn't a safe place to stay the night."

He nodded, but Mira had to help him to his feet and even then, he seemed to be in some pain still.

"Come on, I'll help you," she said as she led him out into a passage.

Nosedive leaned on her and together they walked on through the maze. They trudged through several passageways with Mira making silent decisions in her head until Nosedive stopped.

"Hey, Mira, I'm still not feeling so good. You'd better just bench me and go on ahead."

He moved up against one of the walls and leaned his face against the cool marble.

"I get it, Dive. You must feel awful, but I don't think we should stop. We need to get somewhere safer."

"How much longer will that take?"

Mira looked around.

"I can't say, but I'll know it when I see it."

Nosedive nodded.

"Got it, so you go on and find it, and I'll catch up."

If you want Mira to stick with Nosedive and keep him moving, click on Chapter 10.

If you want Mira to scout ahead while Nosedive rests, click on Chapter 11.