Chapter 114: Chapter 111: Among the Surreal Mushrooms

FOUR DAYS LATER

I wake up when the carriage jolts to a halt. I let out a "mrrp?"

"We can’t go any further," Kaline exclaims, rubbing my ears. "And Lightning stays in the carriage. You and Lobo and Demos go. And Gussie."

Lightning gives a disgruntled "mrrrp." Although her belly has ballooned out, she still wants to find out what the Old Man of the Mushroom Forest knows.

I nudge her. [You can’t come. What if something happened to the cubs?]

[Ugh, fine. But I want a report.]

I rub my nose against hers and climb out of the carriage. WHOOSH. Gussie is a feathered blur zipping by, and Peridot a scaly blur. Both have joined the quest. They approach the road to the Mushroom Forest. If you can call it a road.

A narrow ribbon of dirt and rocks winds through a surreal foggy forest, phosphorescent, with strange illumination. Black trees stick up like upside-down brooms. Bioluminescent mushrooms, taller than the height of a man, rise above us. The air smells faintly sulfurous. Sad birdsong serenades us.

The forest is nigh impassable, except on foot. We navigate the winding trail through the mushrooms. It feels unreal. It’s a psychedelic experience. I half expect to see a caterpillar with a hookah any second now.

Lobo sniffs. [Old man smell close by.]

I perk up, scenting the wind. [Yes. Ancient clothes. Old skin. No doubt about it. We’re getting warmer. Good catch.]

Niall strides ahead of Kaline and Vedette. Hans is with us, and Lamant. Minette and Maartenwitz have stayed with Lightning in the coach.

Above us, glowing mushrooms stretch up to the sky like fungi lampposts. The fog swirls around us as if it wants to hug us. No telling what’s in it, though.

Demos makes an "uff" sound. [Scent is stronger. Old man close by.]

Lobo has his nose to the ground. [Old man smell mixed with green vines.]

Just then, something grabs my foot! It feels like I stepped in a snare.

I freeze. [Watch it! Something’s got me.]

Gussie reverses and flies back toward me. "Vines," she squawks from above. "Vines around your foot. Use your Shooting Stars."

[Why didn’t I think of that?]

I summon up my Shooting Stars. A cluster forms around me, and I smell burning vines, a pungent, nasty odor. Whew! My foot is free.

I keep moving forward. [Thanks, Gussie. Watch your step, everyone.]

Niall threads his way through mushroom stalks. "The Old Man is close." He calls out, "Old Man! You have adventurers seeking your wisdom."

Oh, Niall. That is probably NOT the best approach.

"Who is this Old Man?" Kaline asks for about the hundredth time. "Tell us about him."

"Not much to tell," Niall replies, for the hundredth time.

I could ask System, but I am not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to trust my friends. Even if they could turn on me in a second.

Niall hasn’t. Vedette and Kaline haven’t. Hans is safe. So is Lamant.

I am not going to rely on some faceless technology with a God complex. I made the mistake of doing that because I didn’t know better. Marooned in this world, kidnapped, I relied on the one thing I could communicate with that knew who I really was.

The very thing that kidnapped me and stole me from my family.

I’m never trusting it again. And when I get back to the real world, I’ll stop putting my faith in technology and letting it do my thinking for me. I always thought that I knew my own mind. That I had the mental facility to analyze situations and understand every angle. That is why I went into law. Not just because of my parents. I see that now.

Trusting my animal instincts has led me back to logic and reason, ironically. Maybe you can’t have one without the other.

[Hey Lobo?]

He responds after a moment. [Yes?]

[Do you remember that original Star Trek episode where Kirk gets split into Good Kirk and Bad Kirk in a transporter accident?]

His response is quick. [A classic. Why?]

[Well, I’ve been trying to trust my animal instincts since I got here, but I also needed my mind. Just like Kirk. Bad Kirk was savage and took what he wanted, but he could also do what needed to be done.]

Lobo considers that. [And Good Kirk was good, but he couldn’t captain a ship to save his life because he couldn’t make a decision. Analysis paralysis. So, do I need to be Spock n that episode and Vulcan nerve pinch you if you get too wild?]

[Maybe, if I eat a magic mushroom and start tripping. You know that Leonard Nimoy invented the Vulcan Nerve Pinch because he said Spock would never punch anyone.]

Lobo woofs. [Yes, that would not be logical.]

[Exactly. But we can’t rely on logic alone, and we can’t just run on animal instincts.]

Lobo woofs again, pleased. [You’re so much smarter as a tiger than you were as a human.]

[Gee, thanks. Even as a wolf, you still bust my chops...I think I’m hallucinating.]

Directly ahead, a magic mushroom floats in the air, suspended. And there is something on top of it. I can’t make it out.

Niall halts, shading his eyes with his hand and gazing up at the mushroom. The glare is blinding. "This shouldn’t be here..."

"But it’s a magical forest," Hans points out logically. "Floating mushrooms would not be anomalous. Look up there!"

He’s pointing at little sky islands dotted with mushrooms. They seem to surround the bigger mushroom like satellites.

Lamant gazes upward. "Could the Old Man of the Mushroom Forest be here?"

Kasz grunts. "Seems like it."

I contact Kaline. [Only one way to find out. I can Super Jump up.]

She’s cautious but willing. [Oh, Blaze, do be careful.]

Scuttling back for a running start, I charge forward, picking up speed, and then I jump.

Up, up, up. Empty fog-filled air all around me. I extend my paw and try to latch onto one of the mushroom islands...Missed.

[You’ll never make it.]

Of course, System chooses now to distract me. I tune it out.

Come on! I can’t stay up here forever. Laws of gravity. Indeed, I can feel myself plummeting. I taste the sulfurous air. One more try.

Success! My claws hook onto an island and I propel myself upward onto the grass, Super Mario Brothers style. After all, this is a video game.

The bigger mushroom is close. So close. I leap onto it, wrapping my paws around the stalk, and I climb up. Inch by inch, I haul myself up like climbing a rope. Finally, I reach the mushroom cap and wriggle upward. The smooth mushroom cap helps me slide to safety on my belly. I stand on the mushroom cap above the forest. Above my friends and family.

I give a loud ROAR to signal that I’m safe, and the cheering from below warms my heart.

"You did it, Blaze," Vedette shouts.

Lobo and Demos roar. Gussie wings her way toward me, and so does Peridot. Neither of them would miss this.

Now to see what is on this mushroom!

Lo and behold, it’s exactly what I hoped: An ancient man, legs sprawled on the mushroom, vines wrapped around him as if holding him securely to prevent him from falling off his perch.

He has a long brown and gray beard to match his hair. He sits with his hands folded as if praying. When he looks at me, his gaze is serene.

[I know why you have come.]

I do a double take.

I can’t communicate telepathically with any humanoid in this world other than Kaline. Yet this Old Man of the Mushroom Forest speaks clearly in my mind.

[You do?]

Not the most eloquent opening line, but I’m too shocked to come up with anything else.

[Yes. I know who you are. Neither beast nor human. Caught between two worlds.]

In shock, I look at the red-orange wisp that is Gussie and the green ribbon that is Peridot.

[They can’t hear me. Only you can. You and Lobo.] The old man is calm, cool, direct. [The System sent you here. Because I told it to.]

I’m going to fall off this mushroom. I’m in shock. Pleasantly so. This old man is like Yoda, the Oracle from The Matrix, and Gandalf all rolled into one.

[You told System? Does it know what you are?]

A bubble of amusement surfaces. [No, by design. I let it think that I am a NPC, subservient to its will. But then, I came into being before it did. I can help you fight it.]

A surge of joy fills me. [You can?]

From below, Lobo sounds equally ecstatic. [I knew it. My research said you would help us, but it didn’t specify how. You must be a very big Easter egg.]

[The biggest in the game, my young friend.] The Old Man of the Mushroom Forest gazes at me with wisdom. [Are you ready to really fight?]