The Adventure of the Peril Gem Read online

The Adventure of the Peril Gem

  Kevin L. O'Brien

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  Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

  CreeperExtended font distributed under a free use license by SWFTE International, Ltd.

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  License Notes

  Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

  If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever.

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  Table of Contents

  Preface

  The Peril Gem

  About the Author

  Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

  Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

  Sample Excerpts

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  Preface

  This is another Team Girl story set in the online role-playing game Otherworld, and it describes another of their joint gaming sessions, which sets the stage for their Dreamworld adventures.

  Aside from "The Princess Skunk", which will be published in Strange & Unnatural Tales, there are no more Otherworld stories. I have plans for a few extras, including an "origin" story that explains how they first met and partnered with one another, but I don’t know if I'll ever finish them. Quite frankly, the Dreamlands stories make any further Otherworld tales superfluous, except that the latter are meant to be more lighthearted than the former. In the Dreamlands, the Girls were often in peril of life and limb, whereas that was never the case in Otherworld. Still, if I get inspired, I just may write one or two of them out.

  You never know.

  Back to TOC

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  Eile Chica looked down past her feet at the pit of lava. It lay maybe ten yards beneath them, but she knew they'd get a lot closer real soon. Looking up, she examined her restraints. Her wrists had been well lashed with a thick cord made from fibrous vines, and slipped over a hook that hung from a rope. The rope had been thrown over a cross-pole high above them, from which she and White-Lion dangled. She couldn't twist her body around far enough to see, but she heard the creak of the winch as it turned, lowering them towards the lava at a tedious pace. She looked out in front of her. The tribe had gathered around the lip of the pit, and they danced, screamed, and gesticulated in a wild orgy of religious ecstasy, as others stood off behind the crowd pounding on hollow log drums.

  "Uhh, Braveheart, I think we're in trouble."

  Irritated by the inane comment, she scowled and gave White-Lion a dirty look. "Brilliant deduction, Sherlock," she growled in a sarcastic tone.

  White-Lion jerked her head around, her eyes and mouth opened in large startled O's. "Oh, my! What brought that on?"

  "Whaddya think, ya ditz?"

  "You sound upset."

  "Now, what makes you think that? A bunch of murderous savages want ta immolate us as a sacrifice to their god in punishment for trying ta steal their sacred jewel. Why the hell would I be upset?! Gaaah, sometimes you can be such a space-case!"

  "Well, getting mad at me won't help."

  White-Lion's words triggered an idea for how to escape. She realized it would be a long shot, but she didn't see that they had any choice.

  "Geeze, get a clue, will ya? We wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for you and yer hair-brained schemes."

  "Hey! You can't blame this on me."

  "Oh, yeah? Whose idea was it ta steal the Eye of the Devourer?"

  "Well, it certainly wasn't my idea to sneak through the village at night."

  "Yer the one who set off the alarm!"

  "Only because you were about to step on that sleeping guard!"

  "Ya didn't have ta yell!"

  "How else was I supposed to get your attention? You were too far away to hear me whisper."

  "You were supposed ta be right behind me."

  "You were moving too fast!"

  "I was tryin' ta get through the village before we were discovered, ya bimbo! Why couldn't you keep up?"

  "I was trying to be stealthy!"

  "Dammit! I thought we agreed ta move fast!"

  "I didn't agree to anything, you decided for both of us!"

  "I thought it was the best thing ta do!"

  "I'm the senior partner, I'm the one who's supposed to make the decisions!"

  "Hah! You couldn't decide what shoes ta wear this morning, you idiot!"

  "I'm the idiot? You're the one who thought we could scare the natives with a simple trick!"

  "How was I ta know they'd seen matches before?!"

  By that time they had come to within ten feet of the lava. Eile could smell the foul gases and feel the heat rising up from the surface.

  "I knew yer obsession with adventure would get us killed some day, but I never thought we'd go out like this."

  "Son of a--stop blaming me!" White-Lion kicked her legs in frustrated anger.

  She smiled. That's it, she thought, get good and mad. "Who else am I gonna blame? It's no one's fault but yers!"

  "Ooohhh! I can't believe I chose a poopy-skull like you to be my partner!"

  "God, I can't believe I fell for a self-centered butthead such as you. I thought I had better sense!"

  White-Lion screamed in rage as she twisted and bucked her body, but it soon turned into a guttural roar as light exploded from her eyes. It echoed through the jungle, scaring up flocks of birds and flushing animals out of hiding as they fled in terror.

  Yes! Now we're getting somewhere. The only problem being, White-Lion's magical ability acted erratically. Eile had no idea what would be the result. She could only hope it would be something productive.

  White-Lion's bellow had barely died away when a massive, throaty croak responded, like that of a gigantic raven. Eile whipped her head to her right and saw a huge creature winging towards them from up the valley. She couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like a mix of bird, dragon, and pterosaur, but not quite any of them.

  Ahead of it flew two smaller birds, about the size of hawks. They came screeching in, flying over their heads, and without warning bit through the ropes that held them suspended. She and White-Lion dropped; it happened so fast that she didn't have a chance to scream. Then, just as she was about to splash into the lava, the monster bird grabbed her and White-Lion in its talons and flew off, its wings beating like a giant heart.

  Her own heart pounded in her chest, but as soon as she realized they were safe, she calmed down.

  "White-Lion!" She looked over at the other foot; her partner seemed unconscious.

  "White-Lion! Wake up!"

  She came to with a start and looked around.

  "Tell this thing ta set us down."

  She focused on her, but with a dazed look in her eyes.

  "Hurry!"

  She looked up at the bird, and came to her senses. She coughed out a string of sounds, and the bird croaked back. It then slowed, circled a clearing, and settled down in the middle of it, dropping the girls before it landed.


  "Hold still." White-Lion looked at her bonds. "Shred!" And the cord unraveled and fell to pieces.

  She took White-Lion's dagger from her belt and cut her wrists free. "Damn, that was a close--!"

  "Aaaaaauuugh!" White-Lion threw herself at Eile. She hit her with balled fists across her chest, shoulders, and arms, oblivious to her armor. "How dare you talk to me like that!!"

  At first, she just took it, ducking and raising her hands to guard her face, but when it became clear White-Lion wouldn't stop, she grabbed her wrists. "Settle down, ya spaz!"

  She continued to struggle. "I can't believe you'd say those things to me! You were mean and hateful!"

  "Yeah, I was, but I figured if I got you angry enough, you'd pull some kinda rabbit out of yer hat, and damn, did you ever!"

  "What?!" She looked enraged, but then her face relaxed and she calmed down as she thought about it. "Hey, yeah, I guess it worked." And she gave her a nervous grin.

  Eile smiled a relieved grin of her own. "Yeah, it worked." She let White-Lion go, slipping the dagger into her belt. "You really came through for us there--"

  White-Lion whacked her on