Chapter 11

We had to go through five trap doors, estimating about seven thousand steps, and fifteen doors to make it to this room.

The room wasn't made of ice or that mysterious material. In fact, it was made of jewels. The jewels weren't encrusted like the ones in that other beautiful room. No, these were crystals forming together to make walls, a floor, a door, and a ceiling.

"Okay. Obviously we need to get the artifact." I said.

"That is the reason why we brought you here." Chelsea said.

"Just through here," Jack pointed to the left. "we walk straight an—oh just follow us."

They leaded the way. Straight, right, right, right, right, left, right, left, left, straight, down, down, right, left, left, left, right, left, straight, and down, to a door made of ice.

"This is my favorite part." Chelsea took her right hand and grabbed Jack's left. The other hands were cupped, turned sideways, and entwined together. They started chanting spidery whispers that got tangled and made no sense when you took random words you made out and put them together.

Finally, they stopped and opened their eyes smiling. Their sideways hands came apart and they turned to us.

"The only way to get in this room," Chelsea indicated to the door, "is to have this key." She opened her hand and showed a miniature key made of ice. "The awesome part is that the only way to get it is for me and Jack to make it." She looked at him and smiled.

!!!!!

We automatically put our hands over our ears and looked to in front of us. A rat morphed himself into… Into… Kushanu.

He stood about two hundred and thirty feet tall, crouched. His skin was gold with black, red, yellow, and orange markings. His adamant skin looked scaly, the scales each as big as twenty mammoths and twenty whales put together. The claws were as long as eight white limousines. His eyes were a red with yellow markings. His barred teeth were too sharp to give an example.

Next to him floated Faust.

"RUN!!" Yelled just about everyone who wasn't immobilized.

I heard them but didn't register it. I felt a hand close around my upper arm and drag me through the door. It shut right in front of my face and I heard Kushanu roar in frustration.

"Oh no." I turned and saw Patton staring at his dissolving hand.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?!?" Screeched Ulline when she turned and saw it.

"I set the Chronometer to leave me here for a too short amount of time. It's time for me to go." Half of Patton's body was gone.

"No…" Was all we could say.

In a blink of an eye, Patton disappeared.

"Great. Lets just go." Warren said.

Jack and Chelsea proceeded down the icy hall.

"Here's our first obstacle." Jack warned.

Right in front of us was an empty room completely composed of (duh) ice.

"I don't get it." Newel said.

"Wait for it." Chelsea put her finger up.

A second later a minotaur, a fog giant, a dullion, a goblin, a pond that a second later a hydra came out of, an army dwarfs, some of Chelsea's servants, and a centipede with wings like the one on Midsummer's Eve the first time Seth and I were at Fablehaven, came out of the blue. Some of them had weapons.

We were in between a demon and a ghost on one side, and more dangerous creatures on the other.

We were trapped.

"No!" Jack yelled.

"What? What is it?" Chelsea was alarmed like the rest of us.

"Our powers don't work!"

"What? Let me try." Chelsea raised her hand but nothing came out but steam.

"See? Nothing but evaporating water!"

In that same instant, all the creatures spread out and started attacking my family!

I turned and the only thing I saw was the goblin's fist. I instinctively took the knife I had in my hand and slashed it. I felt dizzy, and I heard Verl yell.

Then everything went black.

*