Drosselmeyer: Curse of the Rat King

by Paul Thompson

  As Fritz began cutting it out with scissors, he saw some small print on the bottom of the page, below the picture of the doll.

  *Note. See page 317

  Fritz flipped over to the page.

  *If pressed for time, follow the spell below to enchant your scissors to cut for you. Also works with garden shears.

  Fritz laid the material out as instructed and cast the enchantment.

  The scissors took off clipping at an alarming speed.

  He waved his hand, and some needles and several spools of thread from the square patch of light in the storage area materialized on his desk. He threaded the needle and flipped through the book in search of another practical spell.

  “There it is!” Fritz exclaimed.

  In a pinch, you will find your children’s toys to be an excellent substitute for servants. If they possess the proper joints for the work they are given, they can perform repetitive tasks with alarming accuracy.

  Once enchanted with this spell, you must demonstrate the task, then let them copy your movements. Remember, they will copy it exactly as you demonstrated, so keep your tasks neat and tidy.

  Fritz cast the enchantment on Doll, and the toy turned its head and watched without blinking.

  Fritz sewed a doll, applied the buttons, and stuffed it.

  Doll grabbed the material cut by the enchanted scissors and copied Fritz’s moves. He finished the stitching, snipped the thread, and started again on another doll.

  As he watched Doll sew, Fritz let his mind wander over his life the past few months, from the orphanage up to the moment Marzi kissed his cheek. He reached up and felt the spot where her lips had touched him. Fritz blushed at the memory and hoped she would do it again. A stuffed doll landed at his feet, interrupting his reverie. Doll was already on his tenth toy and didn’t need any supervision.

  Fritz stretched out on his bed to relax while Doll finished his work. He pulled out the stack of letters Edward had given him and shuffled through them.

  Perrin and Richard, Edward’s oldest brother, were very good friends. Many of the notes joked about childish adventures in caves and finding pirate treasure. In one letter, Perrin complained about his boredom and the absence of his Uncle Boroda.

  Fritz dropped the letters and slapped his own forehead. “Watcher! How could I be so stupid?!” His heart beat quickly. “Perrin was Boroda’s apprentice.”

  He stared at the letters in his lap.

  “It makes sense,” he yelled to Doll. “Boroda had an apprentice that died in the woods, so he’d obviously be touchy about it. That’s why he got so angry at me when I brought up Perrin’s ghost.”

  Fritz picked up the letters and read some more. The last letter made his pulse quicken again.

  My dearest friend Richard,

  Please forgive the appended nature of my letter, but there is a matter of utmost urgency I need to speak with you about. To lessen the shock of our discourse, I feel I must prepare you slightly in advance.

  We have been best friends since the day we met, and there has been no secret I’ve kept from you—save one. I only tell it to you now because the exigent circumstances require both your help and your knowledge of my past.

  I am confident you will treat this letter and what I have to tell you with discretion.

  Yours truly,

  Perrin

  “What did you want to tell Richard?” Fritz asked, tapping the letter in time with the clicking scissors.

  The scissors ticked steadily, eating up the material and spitting out doll-shaped blanks. Then the ticking grew uneven—almost like scratching.

  Fritz looked up to see what the matter was, but the scissors were still cutting and Doll was still sewing accurately.

  The scratching turned to scuttling, and he sat up and looked around.

  The noise grew louder.

  The hairs on his arms stood up.

  The noise was now coming from the hallway outside his room.

  Fritz held up his right hand and a sword materialized. His left closed around several small blades perfectly balanced for throwing.

  The scraping stopped, and several huffs of breath blew dust from the floor under his bedroom door. The sniffing stopped, and then the door exploded open.

  A large rat, the size of a dog, flew into the room, eyes red and trained on Fritz. A haze of magical runes spun wildly around the creature.

  Fritz struck the rat with his sword, and it shrieked in pain. Its tail whipped to strike Fritz’s head.

  He ducked and severed the appendage with a swipe.

  More scuttling, then two more rats ran into the room.

  Fritz threw four knives, one for each eye, and the rats fell to the floor, dead. He raised his hand and the sword vanished, replaced by a large axe. He buried the axe firmly into the squirming rat that lay at his feet.

  He turned around to see another rat hurtling at him from behind. It landed on him and sank its teeth into his shoulder.

  Screaming, he blasted the rat away from him. Bits of his shirt hung from the jagged teeth. It merely grunted as it slammed against the wall and then scurried back toward him.

  Three more entered the room.

  Fritz was light-headed from pain. But before the rats could charge him, he traveled to the training room. He rolled to a stand and checked his shoulder. A soft pop alerted him as another rat leapt from a swirling cloud of magic followed by a wave of rats.

  Fritz jumped into the air, traveled in a spear, and hurled it at the closest rat, pinning it to the ground.

  The rat tried to claw the lance free but just spun on the floor, leaving a bloody circle under its body.

  Fritz threw a fireball, and the rat stopped moving. He aimed fireballs at the other rats, but they were pouring in through the portal too quickly. One bad throw, and he might burn down the house.

  He traveled in spears until they formed a cage around him, each one skewering a squealing rat. But the angry horde of rodents were not deterred and immediately began scaling the shafts.

  Fritz breathed heavily, then climbed on top of a table and shot a beam of ice, enclosing several animals in a block. The rest charged him, and soon he was running out of the room. He jumped back to dodge a smaller, lithe rat who had made its way through the wall of spears.

  He traveled to the kitchen, landing on the large, sturdy table.

  The rats followed.

  Fritz flipped over to a counter and began hurling knives. Several rats fell, while others scrambled toward him with blades and handles sticking out of their bodies.

  Two rats latched onto his arm. He growled and melted them with a burst of heat.

  Fritz felt his energy drain further. He pushed the rats back and held them behind an invisible wall. His power weakened against the strain of their collective pushing.

  If you run out of energy, it won’t matter, Fritz heard Boroda’s warning. A little girl with a dagger can kill a wizard if he’s unprepared.

  Fritz wiped the sweat from his eyes, searching desperately in his mind for a way out. The rats would follow him wherever he traveled, so running was not an option. His breath came in heavy gulps as his spell weakened under the rat’s persistent pushing.

  Rats at school. Rats in the woods. Rats on the Black Wizard.

  He didn’t want to die by rats.

  He refused to die by rats.

  Anger welled up in his stomach. The apprentice’s charm around his neck began to glow hot. Someone was trying to kill him.

  He reached out with his mind and grabbed the throat of a large rat with two knives sticking out of its back and yanked. Even though he was several feet away from the animal, he felt the delicate bones crumple, and the rat fell to the floor with a satisfying thump. Blood poured from its mouth.

  Fritz’s green eyes flashed silver, and he smiled before lunging off the wall and charging the rats.

  He traveled from one corner of the room to another, crushing throats, snapping spines, and ripping organs from rodent bodies. He fell int
o a rhythm of traveling, crushing, breaking, and burning.

  The rats roiled, their angry masses trying to follow his travel paths, but as they trickled from one portal, he crushed them and traveled again. The seething mass was shrieking frantically, unsure of where their quarry was.

  The numbers dwindled until there was one rat left. Fritz pinned it to the floor and studied the magic runes swirling around it.

  It was a complex network of spells unlike anything he’d ever seen. A few of the shapes were unknown. He made a mental note and planned to ask Boroda what they did.

  Once he was satisfied with his examination of the rat, Fritz snapped all of its legs, savoring the rodent’s shrieks of pain. He worked his way through the rat’s body, cracking bone after bone until he ended with a twist of the spine so violent that the rat’s body lay half facing the floor and half facing the ceiling.

  He began to quiver and realized his strength was gone, and the adrenaline was fading fast. He searched his charm, but it was empty. He gasped heavily and stumbled toward the mirror on the far wall. He called out Boroda’s name and sank to the floor, unconscious.

  Chapter 16

  Fritz’s eyelids fluttered open.

  He was in his bed. Beside him on a tray was a cup of the liquid Boroda usually forced him to drink when he spent all his energy. Doll was standing still; a large pile of toys lay around him.

  Fritz sat up and rubbed his shoulder—it was clean except for the raised scars left from the rat’s teeth.

  Boroda appeared and sat down in a chair. “How are you feeling?”

  Firtz squinted at the sunlight streaming in. “Like someone hit me on the head. How long have I been out?”

  “Just the night.” Boroda handed him the mug of tea. “And other than fatiguing your magical energy, you are otherwise ok.” He checked Fritz’s shoulder. “Looks like you healed well.”

  He began checking other injuries. “Would you care to tell me what happened?”

  “I don’t know exactly,” Fritz said. He narrated the happenings as best he could and when he had finished, he sat silently, waiting for Boroda to respond.

  Boroda didn’t reply. He stared into the distance, brow creased in thought.

  “I saw some magic symbols I’d never seen before,” Fritz added. He traced the symbols in the air with his finger. The warped helix made of spinning squares popped and fizzed.

  Boroda shook his head. “This is a spell that would take most people months to memorize.”

  Fritz didn’t react. “What does it do? I don’t recognize the blending of these two shapes.”

  “The spell enables you to follow someone when they travel,” Boroda explained. “There is a momentary lag when our portals remain open, leaving just enough time for another wizard to travel through. This is why we double check our surroundings before traveling.”

  “So, the rats were enchanted to follow me?” Fritz asked then took a long gulp of the tea.

  “Yes,” Boroda said. “The rats were pierced with small bits of metal, and this spell was attached to them. Whoever sent them didn’t mean for you to survive the attack.”

  Fritz shifted uneasily.

  Boroda put his fingers to his head. “And were it not for my last-minute, emergency meeting, I would have been here to help you fight them. It’s either an unfortunate coincidence or suspiciously convenient.”

  “Meeting? With whom?” Fritz set his mug down and hugged his knees.

  “Borya,” Boroda said curtly.

  “Borya!” Fritz asked. “Why would Borya attack members of The Order?”

  Boroda’s head snapped up. “Members?”

  Fritz grimaced.

  “Fritz, what do you mean, ‘Members of The Order’?” Boroda demanded, remaining calm.

  Fritz sighed. “Marzi and I figured out how we were getting attacked.”

  “You told Marzi?” Boroda erupted. “This was supposed to remain a secret. Our lives, Fritz, are supposed to remain a secret.”

  “I know. I’m sorry,” Fritz said. “It slipped out one day, and then she told me that she and Hanja had been attacked, too. Then we found out that Andor and Eric were attacked …”

  Boroda was shaking his head. “That doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t … Hanja? Eric?”

  Fritz twisted his bedsheets. “Am I in trouble?”

  Boroda was lost in thought, so Fritz scooted to the side of the bed. “I should get ready for school.”

  Boroda spoke softly but faced away from Fritz. “I will write you a note excusing your tardiness to school.” He vanished from the room as Fritz rushed to pull on his uniform.

  He walked slowly from the hedge to the front steps, his muscles tight and his vision blurry. He saw the purple dome of protective spells and nearly walked into it with his magic vision on.

  He blinked it off and walked into school.

  Mrs. Fairchild studied the note Boroda had scrawled hastily on a torn piece of paper. She called Peabody to come verify the note’s authenticity.

  Peabody studied the note and Fritz carefully. “I hope this family emergency won’t disturb your concentration.”

  “No, sir,” Fritz responded.

  He tapped Mrs. Fairchild’s desk with the note. “Give him a pass and mark him tardy.”

  Mrs. Fairchild smiled at Peabody, her bright red lips parted, and she obeyed.

  Fritz grabbed his tardy note and hurried from the office. He didn’t like Headmaster Peabody or Mrs. Fairchild and was glad to be gone.

  Edward caught Fritz as he left the office.

  “Why are you late?” he panted as he slung a heavy pack over his shoulder.

  “My uncle thought I needed more sleep,” Fritz said.

  “Ms. Wakimba is furious you skipped her class. It was your turn to present today,” Edward said.

  Fritz stopped and groaned. “My owl project. I forgot all about it.”

  “We all wondered if that was why you skipped,” Edward said quietly.

  “No … but I’m glad I did now.”

  “Better hope she doesn’t fail you just for making her mad,” Edward warned. “She nearly failed my second brother for talking during another student’s presentation.”

  “Thanks for the heads-up,” Fritz said. “See you at gym?”

  “Sure.” Edward winced, and they both ran to their next period.

  Fritz dreaded the conversation with the apprentices at lunch. They would see right through his story, but they might understand his need for secrecy. He hoped they wouldn’t pry.

  He picked up his tray of food and set it down on the table. Everyone sat quietly and didn’t acknowledge him.

  “Is everything ok?” he asked, eyeing each person. He stopped at Gelé.

  Her hair, usually pulled back, was hanging loosely over half her face. “Nice hair, Gelé. I like the new look.”

  He glanced at Marzi, and she gave him a fierce glare and put her finger up to her mouth.

  Fritz responded with a confused frown.

  Vivienne sniffed and wiped her eyes.

  “You ok, Viv?” Fritz asked, and Marzi cleared her throat loudly. He looked at her, and she shook her head at him.

  Gelé reached over instinctively to her sister and when she did, Fritz saw the dark purple splotches.

  He looked closer and saw her bruised cheekbone covered with hair and makeup. Her lip was swollen and scabbed.

  “Gelé!” Fritz said. “What happened?!”

  “Nothing!” Gelé said.

  “It’s not nothing,” Vivienne said.

  “I can’t,” Gelé said softly to her sister.

  “It happens to us all, Vivienne,” Faruk said. “I’ve seen plenty of bruises and cuts on you over the years.”

  Gelé shook her head. “It wasn’t Glacinda … this time.”

  Andor, Fritz, and Marzi exchanged glances.

  Vivienne melted into tears and took her sister’s hand. “Tell me what happened!”

  Gelé just shook her head.

  Ando
r signed, “Time to break the rules?”

  Fritz and Marzi gave each other a knowing glance.

  “You were attacked, too?” Fritz asked bluntly.

  Gelé froze.

  Marzi rose from the table. “Everyone, come to the library.”

  No one questioned her command. They followed her to the library and up the stairs into the tiny alcove.

  Fritz sat directly across from Gelé. “You got attacked last night, didn’t you?”

  Her chest heaved and tears welled up in her eyes.

  “What animal was it?” Marzi asked.

  “A bear!” she mouthed.

  Andor waved excitedly.

  “That’s what attacked Andor,” Marzi filled in. “I was attacked by a dragon and Fritz got attacked by an ape.”

  “You all have to promise that you won’t tell anyone about this!” Gelé cried.

  They each held up the wizard’s promise.

  “We were attacked by a polar bear,” Gelé filled in. “Only not like any of the ones we normally see. This one was huge and completely mad. Spells had very little effect on it. It took us hours to kill it.” She wiped her face as Vivienne wrapped her in a hug.

  “Glacinda nearly died trying to kill it,” she continued. “I was so exhausted after fighting that I was barely conscious. Glacinda was too weak to cast healing spells. She made me take a healing potion and, as you can see, it’s taking awhile.”

  Faruk whistled low. “Is the bear local? Had you seen it before?”

  “No!” Gelé exclaimed with fresh vim. “I know all the animals near us. This was not one of them. There were spells and enchantments on this bear, and we’re not even sure how it got in the castle. We keep everything shut up tight. No one knows where we live—we don’t even have servants.”

  “They’re traveling in from storage,” Fritz announced.

  “What?” Gelé asked.

  “Marzi and I figured out that they are being put in the ‘unseen delivery’ section and then traveled in on the back of whatever we get from there,” Fritz explained.

  “I traveled in my new dress, but I didn’t see a bear,” Gelé interjected.

  “That’s because whoever is sending them is using a morphing blend from Minerva Mooncup,” Marzi told them.