Chapter Four
"If I had my way, she'd do an extra ten years just for making ME crawl into a sewer," Teela grumbled to herself as she crawled into the sewer pipe, "she" meaning Lysia.
"Sorceress?" Teela called out to the air.
I'm here, The Sorceress replied telepathically.
"Which way did she go?"
To your left, The Sorceress replied.
"Thanks," said Teela. "Think we'll ever catch her?"
She's slowing down, said The Sorceress. She's getting tired.
That makes two of us, Teela thought as she ran down the pipe.
--------------------
The pipe was illuminated by the occasional solitary light bulb hanging overhead. As Teela made her way down the pipe, she was soon greeted with the overpowering foul stench of rotting eggs and raw sewage.
It wasn't long before Teela found herself convulsed in a mad hacking, coughing fit. She instinctively squeezed the sides of her ribs, trying to ease the pain from the coughing. As the bile rose up in her throat, it was all she could do to keep from throwing up right then and there.
Teela, are you all right? The Sorceress inquired. You look like you're struggling.
"Gas … overpowering…" was the best Teela could spit out between coughing jags.
As soon as the foul stench had appeared, it had vanished. Must be some kind of bubble around me, Teela thought as she finally caught her breath. "Whatever you did … Thanks," she said finally, gasping for breath. "Straight ahead?"
Straight ahead, The Sorceress replied.
---------------------
Lysia finally came to a stop at a three-way intersection: she could go left, right, or backwards … and that was it. Gotta keep moving, she thought. Teela is right behind me. She turned left at the intersection and made her way down the pipe.
How does she DO it? she wondered. How does she keep appearing from out of nowhere like that? Her mind then flashed back to her telepathic encounter with the Sorceress of Grayskull at The Rusty Anchor. Tell me she's not working with that … that WITCH, she thought angrily.
"LYSIA!" a feminine voice -- Teela's -- called out from behind her.
Lysia turned towards the voice. Teela stood a few feet behind her, wielding a collapsible quarterstaff. Desperate now, Lysia drew her sword, turned away from Teela and looked towards the other end of the pipe, which had suddenly grown dark.
Weren't the lights on a minute ago? Lysia wondered. As she ran towards the other end of the tunnel, the red beam of a laser sight aimed squarely at her forehead suddenly pierced the darkness.
"DROP IT, LYSIA!" a masculine voice commanded. The red-haired, black-clad figure of Major Bellaq (a.k.a. The Sorceress of Grayskull in disguise) emerged from the darkness and slowly advanced towards Lysia, leveling a black blaster pistol (with a laser sight mounted on top of the barrel) at her.
"It's over, Lysia," said Teela as she advanced towards Lysia, who was now trapped in a pincer movement between Teela and Major Bellaq. "Drop the sword."
Lysia turned back towards Teela. "NEVER!" she hissed.
"There's nowhere to go," said Teela. "You may as well give yourself up."
------------------
All at once, the pipe filled with a flock of flying birds. There were birds of every size, shape, and description: seagulls, albatrosses, ravens, crows, falcons … you name it. The birds swarmed around Lysia, clawing at her, pecking at her with their beaks.
Lysia dropped to her knees, trying to dodge the attacking flock. "HELP ME!" she screamed as she waved her arms, trying to beat back the swarming birds. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"
------------------
Teela and Major Bellaq stared at Lysia in stunned silence, watching her as she kneeled before them, her arms flailing in a vain attempt to swat away the imaginary birds.
Teela looked up at Major Bellaq, who had now lowered his pistol slightly. He and Teela each now stood within a few feet of the writhing, screaming Lysia.
Teela directed her thoughts at Major Bellaq. What're you doing?
Major Bellaq looked up at Teela. Nothing, The Sorceress replied telepathically. Nothing … at all.