Little Mushroom: Judgment Day Novels & Stories

Cerelia joins her, graceful and curious as always. We serve the food and a beat of silence follows. Maybe they’ll love it. Cerelia takes a bite of the mushroom surprise first. She chews. And chews. And chews. “Mm,” she says carefully. “Earthy.” Hilda forks the same dish into her mouth and immediately gags. “It tastes like someone boiled socks in chicken broth.” Arlo scowls. “I sautéed those mushrooms.” Hilda laughs, “In what? Vengeance?” Erik nearly chokes on his wine. Chris bites his lip to hide a smile and Elliott doesn’t bother concealing his grin.

Mira smiled “Take your time.” Samuel didn’t have any expectation for the food. It was just a polite gesture… but the flavor blew his mind. He was tempted to hide some of the mushrooms in his pockets and take back for his master. Jack came back carrying the basket. Mira followed behind…of course, she didn’t forget to throw the furs in space before coming in. “This is simply divine.” Samuel licked his fingers shamelessly as he finished eating the mushrooms. Mira bought Jack’s breakfast out as well.

They looked pitiable, lying there in different positions, grabbing their necks as something choked their lives away, just the way Jason had envisioned it. Jason’s uncle watched from behind them, terrified. In all his years on earth, he had never seen anything like this. It was too sweeping to be a coincidence; everybody could not just start choking to death. He saw the angry look on Jason’s face before Jason’s eyes rested on him and quickly retreated into the safety of his house. That was the last day the man went near Jason or his siblings. It was also the day Jason started seeing the ascian. No matter when he came out, no light could cast his shadow.

Fire was no mere element to her. It dragged her back to the night of her childhood, and when trolls had cornered her and laughed about how they would roast her alive. The memory really hurts, but she forced herself to be calm and not to let her fear show, she had to win. Above them, glowing letters carved themselves across the sky, the ingredient list. Moonveil Mushrooms. The first challenge. Crystal baskets appeared in their hands, it was cool and glowing faintly. The consorts tightened their grips, nerves and excitement sparking in their eyes.

"You all seem to be enjoying yourselves, but let me remind you not to forget the rules of the game. None of you has stated your sins for this round. Please hurry. One minute remaining." I quickly looked at the timer on the wall. With all the fighting earlier, we had completely forgotten about time. I opened my mouth to speak, but another thought hit me. If I revealed the full truth about my own crime, it could be used against me in the next round. Wasn't that exactly what happened to Dwayne? Suddenly, I understood the true nature of this game. It was called The Judgement Chamber, meaning they were judging us by our sins. If I wanted to survive, I couldn't reveal everything.

He paused for a moment, then silently grabbed a bag of my favorite plain chips, along with barbecue, tomato, and cucumber flavors, tossing them all into the cart. "Variety matters," he said. "It lets you do a cross-comparison to find the best one." I watched him deliver this nonsense with complete seriousness, and all my earlier irritation melted away. Just as I was humming happily, planning a quick stop at the yogurt section, a familiar voice rang out behind me. "Nova? Mr. Gilmore?" I froze, feeling my blood run cold. Yoel and I turned in unison to find Jeremiah clutching a basket of eggs, staring at us with his mouth wide enough to hold one inside.

"Sorry, but all the mushrooms in the greenhouse were burned down yesterday. Forget 30 pounds of them, I didn't even have an ounce left. And before the fire, I'd reported everything to management. I have witnesses who can verify that. However…" I paused and pulled out the uneaten fried mushroom I had secretly kept in my pocket earlier. "I've seen this mushroom in a greenhouse before, but not mine. It came from another greenhouse owned by someone else in our family."

The moon goddess is the one who's responsible for judgment day, and she doesn't look like she has any intention to back down. "So, how many days are left before judgment day?" I asked out of curiosity. "Exactly twenty days," he answered with a straight face. "Twenty days?" I covered my mouth with my palm. "But... The next portal's appearance is after twenty-one days. How is that possible?" The alpha held his own chin, thinking about whatever the moon goddess was plotting for putting the judgment day before the arrival of the next portal. "I think I already have an idea about what she desires," he said.

she says before pulling a thick black book and walking back towards me. She scans the pages for a bit, and I try to see what she’s seeing, only to find the book written in that same odd alphabet as on the Keep’s door. A small frown suddenly furrows her brow. “Do you remember the color of those mushrooms?” “Blood red with yellow and black pustules,” I say. “It gave me a bad feeling the second I saw them.”

Long replied. Sarah shook her head as she suppressed a sigh. She led them into an opening where everything was turned upside down. The chairs were overturned, the bedsheet was on the floor and the table had been dragged to the middle of the room. “Dear Goddess,” Emma whispered in awe at what was happening before her. “You do not happen to know where these mushrooms are do you?” Long asked wide eyed at the scene before her. “There is a literal succubus juice flowing in your blood stream as we speak and you want sex mushrooms?” Emma asked in disbelief.