~Chatper 6~
"Games Fireys Play"

I frowned. Up ahead the forest grew even darker than it already was. Little or no light filtered down through the trees of the Firey Forest, and it made it hard to find our way through. We had been lost for a while, and the increasing darkness wasn't helping. Besides that, though, an unspoken question weighed on all our minds.

"Okay," said Finnonula finally. "I'll ask. Where the heck are the Fireys??"

April agreed, coming to a halt and putting one hand on her hip in exasperation. "I know it. I've been waiting forever for those stupid things to jump out at us, and nothing. Not even a wisp of fluff or a disembodied head!"

"So where are they?" demanded Skit Blink.

I shrugged. "Maybe they're asleep."

"Well," said Afton, "Wherever they are, it's probably better that we don't run into them. They did look a little...disturbed in the movie."

As if in answer, a shrill little giggle broke through the silence in the trees around us.

"Let's keep moving," suggested Starz.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," muttered Corky.

"What is sounds like," said Maedeline, not moving, "is Mr. Goblin King trying to psych us out."

I tugged her sleeve. "Um...it's working, Maed. Let's just go."

"I don't think so," she said evenly. "So what if the Fireys _are_ out there? Big deal! What're they going to do, take off my head? I could take them. I probably stand about a foot over all of them."

"The difference isn't in your height. You're sane, they're not. It's very simple," explained Caitlin.

"All the more reason not to be afraid of them."

I smacked my forehead. "I knew we should have been watching her better! You found a peach, didn't you?"

She glanced at me. "I'm serious."

"I know." I took her hand and patted it gently. "I'm sure you're very brave, drugging Jareth and everything, but you see, I am not. While Fireys don't exactly strike terror in my heart, the idea of a strange creature trying to remove my head gives me a feeling of...unease."

Rommel laughed. "Alexa, don't be such a coward! I'm with Maed. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Maed grinned at me. "See?"

I sighed and leaned against a tree. "I feel outvoted. Perhaps this is just my lot in life."

Cerridwenn smiled. "Oh, don't feel bad. Just think of it as exploring your adventurous side...against your will."

"Against my will, eh? Well I--"

A face popped into view. Huge eyes. Soft tufts of red and white hair. Long, beaky mouth. A big tongue lolling out crazily. It waggled the tongue at me and made a gurggling laugh. I screamed.

Long, weird hands reached out and pulled hard on my ears. My scream died off with a shout of protest. "Hey! Those are mine! Get your grubby paws off my ears!"

"You don need two ears," the Firey answered. "Now if you play de game, you have to play by de rules!"

"Screw your rules," said Ruby, yanking the Firey's head off and throwing it as hard as she could.

I heard it shriek as the hands let go of my ears and waved in the space where the head had been. "Hey, lady! Don none o' you know de rules!?"

"You're only allowed to trow your own head!" called another Firey, leaping out from behind a tree.

I pulled my hard flute case out of the soft one I carried on my shoulder. "So what's in the rules about _hitting_ heads?"

The Firey looked a little thoughtful for a minute. "Oh, I don't know, I guess--"

WHACK! My flute case connected with its head cleanly, sending it flying in the same direction as the other.

The heads came back, ears flapping and holding them in midair, their decapitated bodies wandering around and generally molesting other Listians. Then we saw the other Fireys coming out of the trees to us.

Shannon gasped, dropping the Firey's hand she had been about to throw. "There must be a hundred of them!"

"There weren't this many in the movie!" protested Corky.

"I guess we're not in Hollywood anymore," said Irish Creme.

"Retreat!" shouted Cerridwenn. But we were blocked off by a circle of the strange creatures steadily closing in on us.

"What're we going to do?" demanded Starz.

"This is nuts!" Maed was protesting. "We don't want to play your game!" The Fireys ignored her.

Dozens of long, claw-like hands descended on us, pulling and pushing our arms, legs, hands, and heads. One Firey lifted up my flute case. "Hey! This came off!"

I glanced at him. "Oh, buddy you are so wrong for that." I grabbed my flute case strap and kicked him as hard as I could, sending it flying out of the huge gang of Fireys and Listians. "Hmph."

But small victories didn't mean a thing. The Firey's were pulling at clothes and hair, and getting away with some of it. Something had to happen, and soon.

I heard a sharp whistle cut the air around us, stopping the Fireys in mid-tug everwhere. "Wait, wait wait." It was Irish Creme. "Now just what game _are_ you playing?"

The Fireys looked confused.

"Okay, tell us how you play."

They all started to babble at once. Apparently they were all playing something different. One next to me insisted that you had to pull out your eyes. The one with a piece of my hat in his hand said that you had to juggle your two feet and one hand with the hand still on. Irish Creme whistled again.

"Okay...well...do you want to play a new game?"

There was general agreement rippling through the throng of weirdos.

"How about this...Hide-and-Seek, ever heard of that?"

They shook their heads. Irish Creme smiled. She pushed some of the Fireys off herself and made a little room. She hunkered down, her elbows on her knees, and began to explain the rules.

"It's very simple. We--that is, the ones that look like me--stay here and count to...ten. The ones that look like--well, the ones that don't look like me--have to hide from us while we count. When we're done counting, we come and look for you. If we find you, you have to count and look. If we don't, you get to hide again!"

They were nodding, enraptured at the idea. Irish Creme stood and walked over to a tree, hiding her eyes. "One..."

The Fireys vanished like smoke. As Irish Creme made it to two, I do think I saw a little flash of one that might have been a bit slow, but otherwise, they were gone.

The red-head grinned and started leading the way out of the forest.

We hadn't gone far when I bumped straight into Dreamin'. We shrieked in delight and hugged each other.

"Oh, you guys wouldn't believe what we've been through!" Elysian Wynd exclaimed to us, as the rest of the Listians emerged from the trees behind her to join our group.

"I think we can do you one better there," said Corky drily.

"We were in the BOES, and there was this tree, and Jareth, and Kitiara..."

I held up a hand to stop her, then pointed up. The castle was much closer, but there was still a good distance between us and it. "Save up some of the story for the walk, sugar"

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