Free Doorways (A Book of Vampires, Werewolves & Black Magic) (The Doorways Trilogy - Book One) by Tim O'Rourke

stroking the hair beneath his wide chin, ‘they will need shot and lots of it.’
    Pulling on Wasp’s tether, the creature rolled from its snoozing position it had adopted on the ground next to Warden and sprang into life.
    ‘ Lead on,’ Warden barked. Wasp buzzed with excitement as it led Warden through the forest. ‘Take me to the biggest and ripest inferno-bush you can find,’ he commanded.
    Sniffing at the air with his long, whiskered snout, Wasp charged forward pulling the giant behind him. Warden remembered how, as a boy, he and his friends had taken the berries from the inferno bush and had played the game ‘Blast’ with them. Smiling to himself, Warden pictured him and his friends catapulting the inferno berries at each other as they charged through the Howling Forests. If hit by one of the charcoal-looking berries, it would blast open on impact and sting you like a wasp. The pain it unleashed wasn’t agony, just uncomfortable as it sent a burning sensation through your body. It didn’t last long, just enough to stun you and make you wail. Then you would be off again, seeking out your friends to return the pain.
    However, it had been by chance one evening at the end of a hike through the Howling Forests that Warden had l earnt the true ferocity of the inferno berries. Wally Willabee, his best friend had by accident dropped some into their campfire. He wasn’t called Wally for nothing. They watched as the berries had grown hot in the fire, then hissed and spat until they exploded in a hideous ball of green flames.
    Warden and Wally had both been thrown backwards through the air under the force of the blast, and landed some distance away. They looked at one another as they lay slumped at the foot of a tree, both sporting singed beards.
    ‘Whoa!’ Wally had said, smiling from ear-to-ear.
    ‘ What was that?’ Warden asked dazed and confused.
    ‘ It was those berries. No wonder they’re called inferno berries !’ Wally grinned.
    ‘ I won’t be messing with them again,’ Warden said, pulling the burnt hair from his beard.
    ‘ What do you mean?’ Wally said, ‘think of the fun we could have with them. Maybe we could heat them up just enough so they don’t explode. Who knows what would happen then?’
    ‘ That’s what frightens me!’ Warden howled after his friend, who had disappeared into the undergrowth in search of the nearest inferno bush.
    They sat for the rest of the afternoon until it grew dark, experimenting with the berries. They heated them and then reheated them, but were careful not to let them touch the flames of their campfire.
    Warden and Wally let them cool on the forest floor. As soon as they were cold enough to be picked up, Wally took one and placed it against the cartilage of his catapult. Holding it out in front of him, he pulled the inferno berry back against the sling. Glancing over his shoulder at Warden, he said, ‘you might want to get a little further back my friend.’
    Grinning, Wally faced front and released the berry. Zipping from the catapult, it raced through the forest until it collided with a tree-trunk. On impact, the berry ripped open, releasing a blast of seething, gre en energy which sliced the tree-trunk in two. The tree went crashing to the forest floor. All the trees surrounding it were scorched black, and some of them stood smouldering like candles that had just been blown out.
    ‘ Did you see that?’ Wally howled with excitement. ‘Did you see that?’
    Stepping towards his friend and, placing a hair-covered hand over his arm, Warden looked into his eyes and said, ‘Wally, we must never do this again. We must never tell any of our friends what we have discovered.’
    ‘ Why not?’ Wally asked.
    ‘ Because it’s dangerous. Someone may get hurt or worse ,’ Warden cautioned him.
    ‘ But…’
    ‘ No ‘buts’ Wally,’ Warden said. ‘Promise me you’ll never tell anyone or…’
    ‘ Or what?’ Wally challenged him.
    ‘ Or I will never speak