Shadowsphere Part 4: The Wild Ride

A vehicle rushed through the dark green mists of the Shadowsphere, along with its strange crew – the alchemist Somnius, his assistant Jonas, and Arthur, a boy who had found himself in this world by accident. Behind the wheel sat a strange creature called Lily.

The mist was even thicker than before. Occasionally, spinning purple or blue shimmering shapes twisted through it and turned into balls of twinkling light. Arthur felt like they were being pursued by swarms of crazy fireflies.

Lily was behind the wheel, but her driving had very little in common with the calm concentration with which Arthur’s dad drove the family car. The little creature couldn’t sit still for two seconds and spent most of the time standing on her head or hands, clutching the steering wheel with her feet or even her teeth.

Somnius was occupying the passenger seat, though it was a struggle for him to squeeze his tall frame into the cramped space. In the end, he sank deep into the upholstery, leaving his knees sticking out behind the windscreen like the humps on an extremely skinny camel. Lily occasionally tried to knock his hat off his head, or at least use him as a target for hurling sweets.

It might also be said that Humbug did not make things easy for his driver. Arthur noticed that all the wheels on the spy car were different sizes and turned in slightly different directions. What’s more, the sky-blue bonnet was constantly shaking, trembling and heaving as if it were ticklish, and the seats, engine cover and the boot containing the spare tire kept on bouncing up and down by almost half a metre.

But that wasn’t the worst thing – the car was also talking. No, not just talking... arguing…