That’s what the Mage spell started to look like. Meagan’s spellsinging bounced around within the confines of the Mage spell as she played on, oblivious to what they were doing. Her music was blue and purple, in marked contrast to the Mage colors.
But confined by their spell.
Caged.
And their spell targeted hers, and sucked hers dry.
I fought the urge to shiver.
That was nothing compared to when Jessica began to sing. I was shocked. I’d never heard her sing. She had a gorgeous voice. Molten and rich and deep. Far more sophisticated than I would have expected from a teenage math whiz.
And she sang scat. She sang nonsense, ad-libbing a tune that riffed on the music. I didn’t know what it was called then, but Meagan told me later. I thought, actually, that it was pretty cool that she could do that on the fly.
Jessica, it appeared, had bunches of secrets.
Her scat singing sent out an array of little bubbles, all different sizes and shaded from copper to burgundy. Trevor leaned in close beside her, getting into the music. She matched rhythm with him, the two of them jamming so perfectly it was obvious that they’d done it before. Meagan’s fingers faltered as she watched with awe. The other band members kept the beat, letting Trevor and Jessica improvise with each other.
The temperature in the basement rose even further. It got hot, like the air was simmering. Pulsing. There was something exciting about the beat, a driving rhythm that made me keenly aware of my own skin. Someone turned on a strobe, which was timed perfectly to the beat. I looked at the way that light cut through the spell light, and swallowed in dread.
The Mage spell looked sharp. Like golden knives in the darkness.
And it was moving.
No, it was closing, a trap tightening on its prey.
But to my astonishment, its target was Jessica.
Jessica sang, her head tipped back and her eyes closed. She was lost in the music, unaware of the danger she was in. The strobe light flashed. The spell closed in around her like a gilded cage.
Should I warn her?
Or was that what they expected me to do?
Trevor finished their improv and played a little flourish on his sax, bridging back to the chorus. Meagan was watching, her fingers still as she looked around.
I knew she sensed that something was wrong.
Because Jessica opened her eyes then. She almost smiled, and I saw her take a breath, as if she was going to join in on the chorus.
But the Mage spell snapped right around her. She was enclosed in a net of golden light, light that buzzed all around her. She visibly panicked that she was trapped, and began to struggle, but to no avail. Her shadow stretched across the floor, surprisingly dark.
Derek snarled and would have taken a step forward, but Liam held him back with a touch and he reluctantly sat down. His ears were up and his fur was bristling.
Was she really in danger, or was this a trick? I couldn’t tell.
The Mages sang louder.
And they stepped closer, forming a circle around Jessica. She thrashed in the golden mesh, but it continued to tighten. The next moment she was struggling on the floor, more like a fish in a net than a girl. I assumed everyone else would think she was having some kind of convulsion. The Mages barricaded her from the others, blocking their view. I was surprised that no one tried to move closer, but then I noticed that all the other kids were staring, unblinking. They weren’t moving at all. Not even breathing. It was as if they’d been frozen in time. Or struck to stone.
Enchanted.
There was a shimmer of blue and Jessica shifted, becoming a golden jaguar right before everyone’s eyes.
It looked like an involuntary shift and I knew what that meant. She was in real trouble.
Adrian bent toward her and she hissed, then slashed at him with her claws. He laughed as the mesh kept her contained.
And then he took a bite out of her shadow.
She screamed, and it was the yowl of a great cat.
The Mages swarmed her, clustering closer as each bit at her shadow. I was horrified to see that the attack was diminishing her strength. It was even more creepy that all the kids who weren’t shifters or apprentice Mages were completely frozen. Only Meagan was still moving, and I had to guess that was because of her spellsinging abilities.
Even though they were undeveloped.
‘You can’t do this!’ Nick shouted.
‘You’re hurting her!’ Meagan screamed and threw a tambourine at them. It bounced off the back of the Mage closest to her, who turned to face her. I could see the darkness of Jessica’s shadow running down their chins, like chocolate sauce.
‘Stop!’ Liam roared. He bounded forward and shifted shape in mid leap. He shimmered that pale blue, then became a massive dragon. Liam in dragon form is the vivid green of malachite, his scales and talons tipped with silver. He ripped open the back of a Mage with his talons before the guy even saw him coming.
‘That’s it,’ Nick said. ‘We’re in.’ He shifted shape as well and defended his buddy’s back as the Mages turned on Liam. Nick was so bright in color that it was like looking into the sun. He breathed a stream of fire and about ten Mage costumes went up in flames.
Derek let out a howl and jumped into the fray. I saw him bite the ass of a Mage, and am pretty sure he ripped out a chunk of flesh. He immediately went for another chomp.
A couple of Mages screamed. The music faltered as dragons trashed the place. The Mages lost their rhythm under attack. Some turned to fight dragons and the wolf directly. Others flickered through their forms in agitation. Still others continued to consume Jessica, gobbling bites of shadow and looking over their shoulders as if fearing they’d be interrupted at their feast. She was shifting from human to jaguar and back again, moaning. I knew that wasn’t good, but I had to choose my priorities.
I went for Meagan.
Trevor appeared beside her when I was halfway across the floor. I shifted shape, livid that he would try to get between me and my friend.
There was no choice.
I was already in deep with my dad.
Meagan gasped in shock when I became a white dragon, spitting sparks in every direction, but Trevor smiled.
‘Don’t worry, Meagan. I’ll defend you.’ He spoke in that low, soothing tone, the same one Adrian had used on the guys at boot camp. Meagan touched his shoulder, looking at him with a kind of adoration.
Shit.
I spun the ring on my talon, wishing with all my heart for the help of the last Wyvern, who had appeared once before when I was in serious trouble.
Nothing happened. The ring didn’t illuminate. There was no red pulse and no answer from wherever it was that the former Wyvern currently resided.
The guys were thrashing Mages on every side, but that didn’t change the fact that we were trapped. It was up to me to get all of us out through the barrier of the Mage spell.
And I had to do it alone.
No pressure.
First things first.
I leapt toward Meagan and Trevor, talons bared. Trevor immediately sent up a barrage of spells, singing with low power. They were weak enough – few enough, new enough – that I shredded through their web and managed to scatter some of them. I exhaled a torrent of dragonfire before he could reinforce them. The spell light blackened and fell dead on the carpet, turning to ash underfoot.
Trevor paled and backed away. There was nothing between us and he was too freaked to make more spells.
I didn’t intend to give him a chance to recover.
I headed right after him, breathing fire all the way. He stumbled over some wires and bumped into Meagan, who looked less impressed with him than she had.
I felt a presence behind me, smelled that it was Adrian but pretended to be oblivious. I leapt closer to Trevor as if closing in on my kill, felt Adrian raise his hands, then bailed pronto.
I manifested as a salamander on Meagan’s shoulder, counting on her fascin
ation with reptiles and knowledge of the Pyr to keep her from screaming. She did jump a bit.
‘Wyvern?’ she whispered, doing the math right on cue.
It’s a bonus to have a genius friend.
‘Just stick with me, and I’ll get you out of here,’ I said.
She barely nodded, her gaze fixed on Adrian.
He was looking around, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. He started to kick over equipment, looking for me, and Trevor joined the effort. There were still half a dozen Mages singing, and I could have done without the sound.
Plus less volume and/ or less music could only help our cause. If nothing else, the spell wouldn’t be fed so easily. ‘Can you unplug the amps?’ I asked Meagan.
She nodded again, then eased toward the wall. I hadn’t even noticed the fuse box there – Meagan was going for the big kill.
I had to like that.
Trevor and Adrian were still looking for me. They started to argue about who had fucked up.
Time for another surprise.
‘Here I go,’ I said to Meagan, just so she wouldn’t be too startled.
She touched my back, encouraging me. I gathered my strength and disappeared, then spontaneously manifested again, right between Adrian and Trevor, a huge white dragon where there was no space for one.
‘Looking for me?’ I asked as I grabbed them each by the back of the neck. I slammed their heads together as hard as I could.
When I’m in dragon form, that’s pretty hard.
They both went down, out cold. A trickle of blood ran from Adrian’s nose, which worked for me.
At the same moment, Meagan hit the master switch and the basement went dark. The amps were silenced and even though a few Mages were still singing, I could see by the way the swirl of light dimmed that the spell had taken a hit.
I could see Jessica’s limp form on the floor, her shadow in tatters and her body motionless, the golden swirl of spell light illuminating her. In an ideal universe, I would be able to save her, too, but I wasn’t even sure it was possible. I had to protect my own kind first.
Just for the record, I wasn’t positive that was possible, either.
Time was of the essence.
I shifted back to human form, grabbed Meagan’s hand, and raced for the stairs. She should never have been involved in the battle between the shifters – I had to get her out of there. The basement was lit by flame and the occasional spurt of dragonfire. Liam swung his tail to clear a path for us, and Nick decked a couple of Mages. When they were staggering, he ignited their costumes with dragonfire, then laughed as they jumped around, trying to extinguish the flames. Derek stood guard at the bottom of the stairs, his pale eyes filled with menace and his teeth showing. A Mage dared to reach for him, but he snapped, nearly taking off the guy’s fingers.
Meagan hesitated at that, but I tugged her toward him. ‘He’s with us,’ I said and she came with me, even though I knew she wasn’t convinced. In a flash of blue, Liam and Nick returned to their human forms, taking up positions behind Meagan.
To her credit, her eyes widened but she didn’t say anything.
There was still the problem of the spell that kept us locked in the basement, though, and I wasn’t sure how we were going to get through it. It seemed to be congealing at the top of the stairs, like a cork in a bottle. It wove into itself at frantic speed, creating another golden mesh barrier. I had no doubt that it would fold around us if we got close enough – or touched it – just as the other spell had enmeshed Jessica.
There were no windows in the basement – probably by design – and no other way out. We were on the stairs, Meagan and me and Liam and Nick, with Derek snarling at our rear.
I had to use everything I had.
I shifted shape, taking dragon form with a vengeance.
I tried to cut the spell with my talon, just as I had the previous spring.
No luck. My nail bounced off it, not even making a scratch.
That was when the Mages started to sing again.
Their chorus would have made the hair stand up on the back of my neck in human form. As it was, my scales prickled. I glanced back to find them standing at the bottom of the stairs, arranged like a chorus. They were bruised and battered and looked pissed off.
They were singing with passion.
Fortifying the spell.
I was pretty sure they had a taste for more shadows.
‘Now what?’ Meagan asked in a tiny voice, but I didn’t have an answer.
I should have guessed what was happening when I saw the flames that were already burning in the basement begin to flicker in unison.
They moved together, like candles directed by the same wind.
But there was no wind in the basement.
And there was no wind anywhere that could make them burn brighter simultaneously. There was no wind on the planet that could coax all flames to get bigger at once. The flames grew. The fire became more yellow and more hot, gradually turning to huge white flames.
I wondered for an instant whether this was the Mages’ work, but I couldn’t believe they’d be that interested in ensuring their own incineration. The way they themselves started to look around with alarm supported that conclusion. There was perspiration on more than one face and terror in more than one expression.
Then who? Or what?
I gasped in sudden understanding. Who else had an affinity with fire? Who else could make the element of fire do his bidding? Help had arrived.
‘Garrett!’ Nick shouted.
‘Who?’ Meagan asked, just as a massive garnet and gold dragon ripped the basement door off its hinges and flung it aside. He took out part of the ceiling too. Godzilla come to take our side. I heard Meagan gasp and might have gasped myself.
Garrett was magnificent.
The Mages’ song faltered big-time.
The firelight danced off the golden scales of his chest, lovingly caressing the metallic strength of each one. The Mage spell began to wink out, the mesh thinning as Garrett worked his power. I heard the Mages gather their strength behind me, and I knew we had to take advantage of the spell’s weakness before they rebuilt it. I slashed my talon at the spell, and a bit of it broke beneath my touch. Whether it was because of my ring or because it would have shattered anyway was irrelevant.
I shoved Meagan through the gap. Garrett caught her against his chest and continued to roar. The hole wasn’t big enough for us to go out in dragon form. But I wanted the strength of my dragon to get us out of there.
The guys were still in human form, still right behind me. I reached back, grabbed Liam and shoved him through the gap. He barely fit, but I was glad to see him safely on the kitchen floor.
When I reached back again, Nick was ready to argue with me. ‘You go next,’ he protested, but I snarled at him and flung him through the space.
‘Point taken,’ he said when he landed in a sprawl beside Liam.
The Mages’ song broke out with sudden intensity and I saw the gap getting smaller. These spell lines were different. They looked like wire or rebar, and even though Garrett kept trying, he didn’t seem able to weaken their spell again.
It really sucked that they were fast learners.
Or maybe they just knew more about the rules than we did.
‘Quick!’ I said to Derek. He bounded up the stairs toward the hole. It was closing fast, spiraling in with force. There wouldn’t be time for both of us to get through.
‘Zoë!’ Nick and Liam shouted, probably sensing that there was a problem. They raced back to the top of the stairs and reached for me.
But as Derek dashed past me, I shifted shape to my salamander form. I fell on his back and hung on as well as I was able to in his long silver fur.
Just so you know – salamanders don’t have a particularly good grip. It’s those soft toes.
Derek jumped through the closing hole in the nick of time, yelping when the spell light singed his back paw. Then the spell clanged shut behind us.
It sounded like a big brass gong.
One that would have sealed our collective fate.
But we were all in the kitchen, surrounded by vamps and tramps and costumed kids from school. They were still enchanted, just like the ones in the basement, staring into space like zombies. Frozen in time.
‘Let’s get the hell out of here,’ Garrett said. He made it to the bay window in the kitchen in one step, Meagan in his grip, and kicked out the glass. He soared into the sky and I was glad to see her finally safe.
Derek jumped through the broken window behind him. I shouted as I started to slip. I was seriously in need of some sugar and didn’t think I could shift again.
‘There!’ Nick said, pointing to me.
Liam snatched me out of the wolf’s fur just before I fell to the ground, then shifted in midstride himself. He ascended into the night with a mighty beat of his wings, Nick in dragon form right behind him. The three Pyr flew in formation, ascending ever higher, and I watched Derek trot into the protective shadows.
‘What about the other kids?’ I asked, as the golden Mage spell fell into chunks and extinguished itself. I heard shouting then, the enchantment over the other kids evidently failing. To my relief, some kids came out of the house and started to yell for help.
The guys hovered and we watched until the fire trucks were arriving at Trevor’s house. It took only moments. Pretty much everyone had spilled out on the lawn and they were chattering with excitement as the firemen turned their big hoses on the house. The hiss of flames being extinguished was louder than it should have been.
Once everything looked to have ended well, I shivered, exhausted and feeling vulnerable. There had been evil in that basement and only after we were safely away did I realize how close a call we’d had. My grip on consciousness was slipping and I decided not to fight it.
There’d been enough fighting already.
Winging It Page 19