Slow Down

Traveling through the forest, odd changes were occurring. Rabbits were running into their holes. Dead trees, some with leaves, were now turning red. Icicles on their branches were solid white. Snow had an abnormal crystalline sparkle. Observing the changes, Andres halted the team.

"Should we have sensed something by now?" asked Vanessa.

"That's what I'm saying," replied Andres. "Like, how're we going into an area with nobody in it? That doesn't make sense".

Logan cast a spell that gave him a telescopic vision, "We're either dealing with a dead area, a poisoned area, or some type of puppet show. If there's an alternative route, we can take it. If not, then we're stuck to face the music".

Vanessa twiddled her lips, "Buuut... Mmm... I think we should be fighting candy mints".

Noticing her pout, Logan made clear, "Don't eat the candy canes. Don't eat anything here no matter how good it looks".

"Please don't," added Andres, "They will make you puke".

"Hey," yelled Jeff, "Don't tell me what not to put in my mouth"!

Dani clarified, "Whatever we see, we must buy afterward".

Vanessa blushed, "Or, depending on what it is, I could actually bake some".

"You bake," asked Andres?

"I bake Crepes all the time," answered Vanessa.

"I don't see anything," said Logan, "So are we ready to go"?

In the silence, Jeff was rolling his head.

Jaivva spoke up, "Are we trying to win this? Cuz I'm trying to win this. And I know y'all want to win this. So let's keep our heads in, not eat any strange foods, figure out what's going on, and get to it. Okay"?

Jeff signaled to push, "Alrighty then".

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Maybe 20 minutes flew by before the sky had a hint of red. White frosting molded from the ground to form a pavement through a candy cane field. Each mint was larger than an actual corn crop.

Andres tried to follow the map. But it didn't quite match the terrain. They were led in circles by the odd path. No matter how many times Logan checked, there was no life, traps, nor illusions binding them.

"I think the trap is the candy," said Vanessa, "Because I am feeling hungry and there is candy canes everywhere".

Dani turned to Logan, "What do you think"?

Logan shrugged his shoulders while Andres said, "They're probably trying to scare us or something".

Jeff, had been hearing noises among the candy, "Well it's working".

Logan continued walking ahead, "We won't get out if we keep stopping".

Vanessa ran up, "Logan! Wait! We need to stay together"!

She caught up to his ridiculously fast pace, "Why are you being like this"?

Logan replied, "I am here to play, win, and have fun along the way. Not dilly dally all day with nonsense".

Vanessa clasped her hands, "Yeah, buuuut, everybody is trying to win and we are doing pretty good. Just be patient".

Logan stopped to place his hand on Vanessa's shoulder, "Keep up with the nonsense, and you can kiss your chances of becoming pro goodbye".

Her hand went straight to his, "We will become pro. But this is not helping".

Logan fired back saying, "Well, find something that does".

The two were at a staredown. Both refused to loosen their grip. Andres and Dani came behind trying to separate them.

In all of Jaivva's adventures with Logan, she'd never seen him like this. She watched from afar trying to figure out what has got him so worked up.

Jeff sighed, "Yo, his attitude really tears us down".

She agreed that he was causing an unnecessary problem. Yet the conflict seemed odd.

A swoosh came at Dani. Andres swung his shield to tear down the bird. It crackled into tiny mints.

"No life signal. It's a puppet," said Logan looking around.

Logan and Dani ran towards the center sleigh. Mints formed to a bear the size of three pick-up trucks from within the field.

Gingerbread men began firing at the bear, doing next to no damage.

Jaivva hopped into the sleigh with Mina and Leira. She waited for Dani and Logan to hop in before ordering a gingerbread man to drive off. The three positioned themselves in the sleigh to protect the girls from all angles.

Candy canes launched themselves at Dani's sleigh. Logan and Jaivva deflected each one with their melee weapons. It didn't take long before they were soon out of sight of the others.

Vanessa shouted, "They is m-magic resistant".

Jeff began riding off in a sleigh, signaling his two friends to jump in.

Vanessa and Andres were preoccupied with fending off candy cane blades. Even the bear was getting close.

Andres ran Vanessa into a sleigh. She wanted to level up the gingerbread men. But neither had that authority. Their measly little magic attacks remained to have no effect.

Even worse, the candy canes resisted Andres' magic shields. They kept stabbing at the two. Never allowing Andres to focus to find life outside of the field.

One of the gingies drove off, trying to catch up to Jeff who was nearly out of sight.

Struggling to keep up, the bear broke itself down into candy canes.

"I think they are slow when far! Maybe for a reason!" yelled Vanessa

Andres jumped out of the sleigh, "Vanessa, get out"!

Landing in the frosted dirt, Andres took a knee and ordered Vanessa to defend him. The gingerbread men stopped to back them up.

Candy canes spiraled in the air to form a giant skeletal snake.

"Found him!" shouted Andres.

Vanessa sliced a flying cane, "We need to hurry. The sky keeps getting redder and they are getting stronger".

Andres noticed the red sky, "Crap, that's definitely not candy cane red".

A gingerbread man rammed the sleigh into the oncoming snake. The puppet repaired itself in mere seconds. At least the flying canes were now focused on powering the snake.

"How good can you throw a sword?" Andres asked.

"Pretty good," nodded Vanessa.

Andres faced forward, "We're gonna need to hit his head to stun it and run. You got me"?

Vanessa nodded, following Andres' sprint to the snake as it chewed the gingerbread man.

Once near, the snake snapped at Andres. He slammed his shield into its bottom jaw.

It struck thrice more. Each snap Andres parried with a strike to its jaw.

from a few feet behind, Vanessa threw her sword at the snake's head.

It landed on top. The snake threw its body into them.

Andres jumped about its skeleton to reach its back. He ran, throwing Vanessa's blade back at her.

He jumped onto the snake's head, "Ogre Slam"!

His sword pierced through. The snake shook to the ground.

Andres jumped down, "Don't ever throw your sword. Come on. I meant for you to throw one of these candy cane blades around here".

Just as she apologized, Andres grabbed her hand to run her past the crumbling snake.

Many creatures made of mint canes came at them. But they were never in the same spot long enough for a giant creature to form. The small candy blades were pretty easy to deflect. Better yet, Andres knew they could beat the puppeteer.

Running down a path, Andres yelled for Vanessa to get read. He smashed through candy canes as they stuck up to block them away.