XXVIII

Frank

Frank was falling into a pit of lava.

He was very scared, considering that he was about to die, and his mind went into shutdown.

Suddenly, a voice called out to him. Frank, transform, you idiot! His mind had saved him. But this voice didn't sound like Frank. It sounded like… Mars.

Anyways, he transformed into a Stymphalian Bird almost instantly. He stretched his wings, and regained balance. Suddenly, he realized how hot it was. He was really sweating now, and Frank knew that in a couple of minutes he would dehydrate. He immediately flew over to a small cave in the side of the pit. Frank landed, and looked back. He realized that the hole that he had fallen through now was a cave ceiling again.

He walked along the tiny hallway, and when it became bigger, he transformed back into a human.

Now, torches were lining the walls. Frank suddenly realized that the air had suddenly become super cold. Weird, considering that the lava pit was only about 3 meters behind him.

He walked on in a long corridor. He noticed that the temperature constantly decreased every couple of meters, and Frank immediately knew that something was wrong. He turned around- and gaped.

A beautiful woman stood behind him. Her skin was unnaturally white, had long, straight black hair, and her eyes were coffee brown. Frank was immediately dumbstruck.

But in a corner of his mind, he was yelling, Stop! She's probably a demigod-slaying goddess who wants to kill you!

She said coldly, "Frank Zhang. You have come."

How does she know my name?

She swiped her hand, and immediately the room was covered with frost. Frank, unaccustomed to the sudden cold, started to shiver.

The woman then waved her hand, and a beam of ice shot out.

Luckily, Frank leaped out of the way just in time. He skidded on the ice floor, numbing his hands and making his cheek hurt. He barely felt anything; the ice was so cold. When he got up, his entire right side felt freezing cold. When he stood up, he felt horrible, but there still was one question he wanted to ask. "Who are you?" he asked the woman, hoping that his voice was menacing enough.

The woman moved to the other end of the smiled cruelly, and answered, "Khione."

Suddenly, he realized that it was really cold in the passage. He looked back the way he had come, and he realized that the entrance was blocked now… and there was a substance seeping over the walls, emitting white smoke…

"Dry ice." Khione smiled evilly. "Try not to get frostbite!"

She disappeared.

Frank felt extremely annoyed at himself that he hadn't brought a jacket, but then again, this was summer. He knew the dry ice would catch up fast, but he was shivering. Pretty soon he would faint from the severe cold. He needed to transform- preferably into a polar bear.

Frank concentrated- not easy to do when you're shivering and losing consciousness. The dry ice kept racing forward, and just when he thought it would catch up, he finally transformed into a polar bear. He ran.

Frank ran along the now totally ice-covered passage. He was awed by how far the ice stretched, but he knew that behind him, the dry ice was advancing very quickly. He knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, and he had to find a way out of this. Unfortunately, there was no exit, and the corridor seemed like it would go on forever.

Suddenly, he found himself in a huge chamber. Behind him, the dry ice was catching up, and the big problem was that there were about 10 different passages leading off into different passages. Khione was standing in the middle of the room.

"The warmest path is the correct exit." She said. "But you can't sense heat, can you?"

Frank sensed the room getting colder. He knew that snakes had heat vision, which could help him find the correct way, but it was freezing in here. He'd fall asleep in minutes.

But he had no choice. Pretty soon, he would become a human polar bear Popsicle. He wanted to think this through, but he couldn't. He transformed.

Instantly, he felt so sleepy, like he'd been awake for two full days and he was now on the most comfortable bed on earth. He yawned- or tried to, at least. He didn't seem to be able to.

His eyes drooped. He was so sleepy… he couldn't stay awake at all. He started to curl up…

Suddenly, the part of Frank's mind that was probably still awake yelled, WAKE UP!

Frank immediately jolted back to reality. He stared behind him. Through his heat vision, he could see the cold coming from the dry ice that was seeping along the walls. He looked forward and immediately saw one of the passageways; it was so warm, he could clearly notice the difference. The heat vision was different from a heat-vision camera, but he knew that it was the correct way.

Unfortunately, as soon as he tried to slither towards the door, he was hit with another wall of sleepiness. He could barely think about anything apart from sleep…

But suddenly, he woke up again, with his mind screaming, RUN! He had no choice, or he was going to die.

He transformed into a polar bear and ran.

When he entered the passage, he immediately started seeing glowing red lights on the walls of the tunnel-probably lava or something. Behind him, he could still feel the ice getting closer.

It was so hot now that Frank had to turn back into a human. He ran as he changed. He could literally see how the levels of his sight changed. As he ran through the exit, he skidded to a halt.

In front of him was a huge pit of lava.