Goo stories #23

            Once we had entered the labyrinth, I gasped. I had heard rumors, but I never could have imagined how enormous the Cavern of The Monster actually was. "Can we really navigate our way through this?" For Mom's sake, I swallowed my fear.

            Towering, spiked walls went from the ceiling to the floor. The initial room ended a few paces from the door. It split off to the left and right. Both corridors were thin. Even marching single file, we'd have to be careful in order to avoid the twisted, vicious-looking spikes.

            I swallowed. "I mean ... beyond not knowing which way to go, I've heard that the spikes are poisoned, and the slightest gash could kill us." My teeth began to chatter.

            Ren scoffed.

            After glancing in both directions, Cody held his paw towards the wall in front of us. "Why don't we just blast our way through it?"

            "Barking dogs!" Ren spat. "Put your paw down!"

            Cody arched an eyebrow.

            While sighing, Ren shook his head. "Beyond alerting The Monster that we are here, we still wouldn't know which direction to go."

            Cody's left eye twitched.

            I patted Cody on the back. "It means that we would probably run out of magic well before we made it to The Monster--" I shivered. "--and be defenseless against its power."

            "Oh." With his head down, Cody stepped away from the wall blocking our path forward.

            Ren locked eyes with me. He ground his teeth. "Which way?"

            I closed my eyes and waved my tail around. Before opening my eyes, I stopped my tail in its tracks. When I glanced back at it, I smiled. "To the left." The tail never lies.

            In an amused sounding tone, Ren chuckled. "Wonderful ... ."

            "What?" I shrugged. "My tail has been a trusted friend ever since the first day I caught it."

            Both Ren and Cody frowned. Probably because they didn't have a tail.

            "Anyway, let's go." I spun to the left and began to prance until the corridor narrowed.

            Our pace slowed while we moved from fork, to fork, always allowing my tail to pick the next direction. When we reached an open area with three different choices, we used the space to stretch and take a breather. Just beyond earshot, I could hear something. It was faint. Grrrrrrrrrrr. Grumble. Vroom. Grumble. Gug. Gug. Gug.

            I bit into my lower lip. "Guys ... I think The Monster is just beyond this room." My knees became weak, and I found it hard to stand. Could I really do this? Could I actually face The Monster--the one who drove through my dreams and turned them into nightmares? Holding the image of Mom in my mind, I stepped forward.

 Next: Part 24