by Alex Bell
“It’s the witches,” Cadi said, pointing up at the guardians on the crag. One of them had lifted her broomstick and was pointing it straight at the explorers.
Turn back! A disembodied voice seemed to float across the air to them. Turn back!
“Never!” Stella gasped. “Not without Felix.”
Before Cadi could offer any advice about how to escape, Stella had pulled a box of matches from her bag, lit one, and dropped it on the snow hand. The match burned straight through the wrist, leaving a smoking hole in its path. The hand jerked back at once. Following Stella’s example, the other explorers quickly produced matches of their own to ward back the hands—all except Ethan, who threw magic fire instead. The jungle fairies came to their aid too, taking aim with their slingshots from the safety of Nigel’s humps. The terrible smell from the stink-berries was so potent that they melted the snow where they landed every bit as much as the matches. Soon the hands had lost their shape entirely and were just twitching lumps of snow on the ground.
“You might have warned us!” Ethan exclaimed, glaring at Cadi.
“I just wanted to be sure you could look after yourselves,” the hunter replied. “If not, I would have sent you home. Witch Mountain is no place to be if you can’t think on your feet. But come on, we’d better hurry. They’ll regrow quickly enough, and it’s harder to escape them once they’re bigger and stronger. We need to get out of sight of the witches.”
The explorers didn’t need telling twice. They quickened their pace and soon passed around a bend in the path, glad to leave the watching witches on the crag behind them.
“Thank you for your help,” Stella said to the jungle fairies, who were shaking one another’s hands in a congratulatory fashion. Mustafah gave her a bow so low that the top of his spiky hair brushed against Nigel’s hump.
A soft noise made them glance back, and they saw that the snow hands had already re-formed and were stretched out toward them, long fingers grasping and clutching at empty space.
Stella felt a cold all over that had nothing to do with the weather. In an effort to push it away, she said, as scornfully as she could, “It’ll take more than that hocus pocus to frighten us.”
“I thought the hocus pocus was pretty scary, actually,” Beanie said in a quiet voice.
Stella dropped the bravado. If Beanie could be brave enough to admit being frightened, then so could she. “You’re right,” she said with a sigh, patting her friend gently on the back. “It was.”
To make things even worse, the witch wolves started howling again, somewhere in the distance.
Shay clamped both hands over his ears, his eyes screwed shut. “They’re so loud.” He gasped. “They must know I’m here. They’re all trying to speak to me at once.”
The wolves were still nowhere to be seen, but the group could hear their howls in the distance.
“Witch wolves used to be people,” Cadi said. “They were cursed by witches, and now they’re trapped in wolf shape, forced to roam the mountain for all time, looking for other souls to devour. They’re drawn to water. Probably because they have ice in their veins and frozen hearts.” She glanced at Stella and added, almost apologetically, “Like snow queens. Just one bite and you’ll turn into a witch wolf yourself.”
Stella shivered. What if that happened to Felix? What if it had already happened? His might be one of the howls they could hear out there. A low whimpering caused Stella to look down at Koa. The witch wolves were obviously affecting her, too, for she was cowering on the ground at Shay’s feet. Stella had never seen the shadow wolf cower before, and it was unnerving. Normally Koa was so cool and calm. It wasn’t as if anything could harm her, anyway, given that she had no physical body, and yet she looked terrified. Stella was dismayed to see that Shay’s hands were shaking too.
“Come on,” Ethan said, taking the wolf whisperer by the arm. “We should get going. Put some distance between us and the wolves. We just have to keep away from them, that’s all.”
They continued on up the mountain. Soon enough they had left the sound of the wolves behind, but Stella noticed that Shay stumbled a couple of times in the snow, which wasn’t like him at all—he was usually so sure-footed.
“Are you all right?” she asked, noticing that his hands were still trembling.
Shay glanced at her, a confused expression in his dark eyes. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think so. As soon as those wolves started speaking to me I got the most awful headache.”
“Healing magic can help with that,” Beanie said. They paused while the medic took off his glove and raised his hand to one side of Shay’s head. A fizz of green sparks filled the air, and Shay breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” he said. “That helps.” He frowned and added, “Koa isn’t right, though. I can feel it.”
The shadow wolf was nowhere to be seen, but Stella knew that Shay still felt a connection to her even when she wasn’t visible.
“Could you make out what the wolves were saying?” she asked.
“Not properly,” Shay replied. “Only that they’re trapped and tormented.”
“We should press on,” Cadi said. “The sooner we get to this witch of yours, the sooner we can leave Witch Mountain.”
Stella took out her explorer’s compass, which didn’t give directions of north, east, south, and west, but more interesting headings like yetis, ravines, food, and danger. She set hers for “witches,” and the group continued on their way in a rather subdued state for the rest of the afternoon. Everyone was worried about the odd effect the witch wolves had had on Shay and Koa, and they all found themselves straining their ears for the sound of wolf howls and wondering what might happen if the wolves came back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
IT WAS EARLY EVENING and they had traveled some way before Stella nudged Cadi and said, “What’s that?” She pointed toward the horizon, where, rising from behind a rocky outcrop, were several columns of white, twisting steam.
Cadi grinned. “Come and see,” she said.
The explorers, camel, jungle fairies, and walrus made their way through a rocky chasm that led out into a sudden clearing filled with dozens and dozens of smoking ice towers. Most of them started wide at the base and then became thinner and thinner, leaning over at crooked angles until they tapered off into points. They rather reminded Stella of giant wizard hats.
“They’re called ice fumaroles,” Cadi told them. “Ice dragons live inside them. They’re what cause the smoke.”
Stella gasped. “How extraordinary! I’ve never seen a dragon. Even Felix has never seen one. He says they’re incredibly rare. Are they dangerous?”
Cadi shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
“I can’t recall any explorers who’ve been killed by a dragon,” Beanie said. “Plenty have perished due to rampaging elephants, hippos, polar bears, yetis, squids, jellyfish, and jungle cats, but never a dragon so far as I know. Although Sergeant Jameson Kirby Smith did get trapped in a dragon’s lair while exploring the Black Pepper Caves of Aragba, and a search party had to be sent to dig him out. There was no sign of any dragon, though.”
“Well, you won’t see one here either,” Cadi said. “I’ve been to this place several times with my father, and he says he’s never seen so much as a dragon’s claw. Ice dragons are very reclusive, you see. Some people even think they no longer exist—that it’s just the smoldering remains of their dragon nests that cause the towers to smoke like that. But I like to think that the dragons are in there.”
“Oh, I would so love to see one,” Stella said, gazing at the smoking towers wistfully.
“Good heavens,” Shay said under his breath. He gave her a nudge with his elbow and said, “Stella, look.”
He pointed at the nearest ice tower, and everyone stared in astonishment at the sight of a small scaly snout poking over the top of it. This was quickly followed by a lizardy head, front legs, wings, and a long tail, as the ice dragon clambered out from the fumarole, steam still billowing fro
m its snout as it gazed down at them.
It was made of ice, from nose to tail, with glorious bright blue eyes that fixed on them with interest. Its every movement caused it to sparkle in the setting sun as it scrabbled down the tower toward them.
All around, more dragons were emerging from the ice towers, and the explorers stepped closer to one another warily, half fearing an ambush. But in fact, the dragons seemed more playful than aggressive as they slipped and slid down the ice towers, claws scrabbling in the snow, or else spread their wings and wheeled down from overhead. They were quite small dragons—about the size of foxes—and they all seemed particularly interested in Stella.
At first they grouped together on the snow, peering at the explorers. Then, finally, one of the dragons broke away from the others and came right up to Stella, rubbing itself around her legs and poking its steaming snout into her hands like an affectionate dog.
“Perhaps they can sense you’re an ice princess?” Shay said.
The dragons were too cold for the others to touch. When Cadi tried to stroke one, the ice burned her hand, and Beanie had to heal it for her. Stella, though, found she was able to handle them with no difficulty at all. They crawled into her arms, nosed at her face, settled on her shoulders, and poked their snouts into her pockets, getting rather a surprise when they found Buster in one of them.
The sun was rapidly setting, so the explorers decided to make camp there for the night. The ice fumaroles provided a little shelter from the wind, and Cadi said that the presence of the dragons would help keep the witch wolves at bay.
As it went dark, they saw that the ice dragons had tiny glittering specks of light deep within their bodies, lit up like tiny stars. They put on quite a show for the explorers as they unloaded the bags from Nigel and Gus, wheeling and turning overhead like a display of fireworks. An orangey haze hung over the mountain from all the many jack-o’-lanterns lighting up its surface, giving a fiery glow to the darkness, and the pumpkin on Nigel’s back glowed brightly too. Stella was glad to see that Koa had returned and sat close to Shay’s side, gazing up at the dragons with her usual calm expression, seeming back to her normal self.
Finally, the dragons disappeared back to their ice towers for the night, and Shay produced the magic fort blanket from his bag. “Right,” he said. “Time for us to turn in as well. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to snuggling up in those cushions.”
Stella thought of the gilded ottomans, the velvet beanbags, and the crackling fire and couldn’t wait to settle into the magic fort for the night. They’d glimpsed it for only a minute before, and she was looking forward to having a poke around. Perhaps she might even be lucky enough to discover a jumping cactus if Munch had overlooked one in a corner somewhere.
“Rattlesnake ragtime,” Shay said loudly.
Everyone stared at the blanket in his hand, but it stubbornly remained a manky old, boring blanket.
Shay frowned. “That was right, wasn’t it?” he said. “Those were the words Munch said?”
“Yes, they were,” Beanie replied. “Perhaps you have to say it with more enthusiasm?”
“It doesn’t matter how you say it,” Cadi said. “As long as you say the correct words, the magic fort should appear.”
“That’s not a magic fort blanket!” Ethan said with a sneer. “That’s just a ratty old piece of rag! Munch swapped them and passed you a fake one. I told you he was a good-for-nothing scoundrel who was cheating us.”
“Well, if you know so much, why did you let him cheat us in the first place?” Shay demanded, stuffing the blanket back in his bag in frustration. “You could have spoken up at the time, when it might actually have done some good. Normally there’s no shutting you up.”
“I didn’t say anything because there was no need to,” Ethan said coolly. He reached into his cloak and produced an old blanket with a flourish. “This is the real magic fort blanket. I swiped it from Munch’s pocket when he was fussing around untying Nigel. Rattlesnake ragtime!”
Instantly, the blanket transformed and the magic fort popped up around them. It really was extremely big—easily large enough to encompass the explorers as well as all their animals, Gus included. It was clear that the fort had once belonged to someone from the Desert Jackal Explorers’ Club, because the walls were covered with maps of various deserts, including the Scorpion Desert, Tarantula Desert, and Scorching Sands Desert. There were also sand capes slung over chair backs, pith helmets on tables, and safari hats hanging from hooks. Whoever had owned the fort before must have left in a terrible hurry. Stella remembered Munch telling them that a Desert Jackal Explorers’ Club expedition had passed by Witch Mountain recently, and that was how he’d come by the magic carpet and the camel. The magic fort must have been traded at the same time too. At least, Stella hoped it had been traded. She couldn’t help remembering what Ethan had said about scavenging from dead bodies and doomed expeditions.
One thing was different from the last time they’d seen the fort, however, and that was that there was an enormous pot of meaty stew bubbling away on a hook above the fire. Shay frowned at it and said, “That wasn’t there before, was it? Could there be someone living here?”
“Impossible,” Beanie said at once. “When a magic fort blanket reverts back to its blanket shape, it’s too small to contain people. Usually, any explorers or animals are automatically forced out, but there was one recorded incident of a fort blanket’s magic malfunctioning and failing to eject the explorers before it collapsed back down.”
“What happened to them?” Cadi asked.
“Oh, they were pulverized,” Beanie said. “Completely. There was nothing left of them. When the blanket was finally recovered, all anybody found was blobs of stuff—”
“That’s very rare, though, right?” Stella said, cutting him off with a shudder.
“Extremely,” Beanie reassured her. “In fact, you’re more likely to be killed by a spitting camel or a rampaging walrus than by a magic fort blanket.”
Everyone turned their heads to stare at Nigel and Gus, who both gazed back innocently.
“That’s all very well,” Shay said, shaking his head. “But if there’s no one here, then how do you explain this?” He pointed at the pot of cooking food.
“I don’t know,” Beanie said. “Perhaps it’s just part of the fort’s magic?”
“But look here,” Stella said, pointing to the table. “It’s been set out for us, almost as if someone knew we were coming.”
She was right. Part of the long table was covered in a jumble of maps and helmets, but the rest of it had been cleared away to make room for five bowls and five spoons.
“There’s even a table set for the fairies. Look.”
Stella pointed at the tiny table that was perched on their big one. It had four chairs around it, along with four tiny bowls.
“Speaking of the fairies, if we’re going to eat some of this stew, then we better get a move on before they gobble it all,” Shay said.
The explorers turned around only to find that the jungle fairies were already attacking the pot with spoons they’d produced from somewhere. The four of them were sitting on the edge of the pot with their legs dangling over the side, leaning forward to dip their spoons into the stew and slurp at the contents.
“For heaven’s sake!” Ethan exclaimed, ushering them away. “Come on! Shoo! This food belongs to everyone—not just you!” The magician batted them away with an exclamation of disgust. “Oh, gross. One of them had her feet dangling in the stew! I think it was Hermina! Hermina, don’t be so repugnant! None of us wants to eat food that’s had hairy fairy feet in it!”
The fairies ran guiltily back to their own table—one of them leaving stew footprints across the floor behind her—and immediately began putting on their bow ties and squabbling over their one top hat.
“Oh, don’t make such a fuss,” Cadi said, reaching for the ladle cheerfully. “Jungle fairy feet never hurt anyone. Bring the bowls over and I�
�ll serve it up.”
They ate their stew quickly, before the fairies could get back into the pot. It was one of the most delicious things Stella had ever tasted, and just the thing after a long day of exploring.
After the stew, the jungle fairies honored their side of the deal by producing a plate of piranha cupcakes from somewhere (although the explorers would have allowed them to share the meal even without this). Hermina obviously felt bad about the feet-in-stew incident because she made a special point of personally taking a cupcake to Ethan.
The magician sighed. “I hope you haven’t wiped your nose or anything horrid on this,” he said.
“Sometimes it’s worth just accepting kindness where you find it, Prawn,” Shay remarked from the end of the table.
It seemed to Stella that the wolf whisperer had been a little quieter than normal, and while the others were enjoying the cupcakes, she took the opportunity to quietly ask him if he was okay.
“I’m just worried about the witch wolves,” he told her. “Somehow I feel like … like they might be able to hurt Koa.” He glanced down at the shadow wolf, who lay quietly at his feet.
“But how?” Stella asked. “I mean, she’s a shadow wolf, isn’t she? So she doesn’t have any substance.”
“No, but witch wolves are different too. Cadi said they were soul eaters, didn’t she? Well, some people think that a whisperer’s shadow animal is part of the whisperer’s soul given shape. I’ve never seen Koa cower before, ever. She’s afraid of the witch wolves, and that terrifies me.”
“Oh dear. I’m sorry,” Stella said miserably. She reached her hand down to Koa, who sniffed at her fingers. “If it weren’t for me, then you wouldn’t be here and Koa wouldn’t be anywhere near the witch wolves.”
Shay immediately gripped her hand and squeezed it tight. “Don’t be sorry, Sparky. I’m not. I wouldn’t be anywhere other than here with you. Witch Mountain is far too dangerous to face without friends by your side. This witch needs to be dealt with so that you don’t have to live in fear anymore, and we can’t allow anything to happen to Felix either.”