“How do I check to see if it’s working? Other than my static-induced hairstyle, that is,” Angelina asked.
“Let’s go outside, and I will tell you,” Willow said. They walked out to the door to the pasture behind Marian’s house. “Now conjure up a lightning bolt.
Q “What?” Angelina shouted. Willow burst out laughing at her reaction. “Can’t I conjure something a little bit less dangerous?”
“All right, conjure a raincloud, then. I have weather abilities, and that’s the safest my powers get,” Willow said.
“I lived in Florida! I know how dangerous storms can be!” Angelina snapped fearfully. She was still nervous that she might produce a lightning strike and kill someone.
“Just stick out your hand and think about a storm!” Willow instructed.
Worried, Angelina stuck her hand out and thought about light rain. She prayed that her memories of Florida’s hurricanes did not interfere. She felt her hands tingle with Willow’s electricity, and she could feel all the moisture in the air floating to one spot in the sky that was just above Marian’s pasture. She saw clouds begin to gather in that spot, and she was able to start a rainfall. Unfortunately, since she was trying not to produce a lightning strike, she felt her nervousness begin making the wind blow stronger. Her heart began throbbing.
“You’re doing great!” Willow shouted through the sound of the rain.
“How do I stop it?” Angelina shouted. The wind began blowing so hard that she could barely stand up.
“Think of something that calms you!” Willow shouted. Christabel was clutching a fencepost and screaming in terror. Angelina thought of home, and a stab of homesickness filled her heart. Her homesickness only made the wind grow stronger, and the rain came down harder.
Suddenly, Tristan’s face appeared in her mind. He whispered, “You can do this.” She thought of her new friends in Ethermoor who were counting on her. Suddenly, the wind died down, and the rain slowed to a trickle. Angelina’s heart rate slowed down, and she felt much more relaxed.
“Thank goodness!” Christabel sighed as she let go of the fence post. All of them were now absolutely soaking wet. They all walked back inside.
“Now, you have to try my ability to float in the air,” Willow said.
Angelina was still shaken from the storm. She was not exactly eager to try any more of Willow’s abilities. “After that, there is no way I am going to try to float!”
“Well, if you do suddenly find yourself floating off the ground, remember, hot air rises, and cold air contracts. Cool the air in your lungs to lower yourself to the ground.”
“Don’t you think we should be trying out my abilities before we go?” Angelina said nervously.
Willow replied, “According to the journal, you have to wait two hours in between ingesting abilities.”
“Ughhhh! More waiting?” Christabel groaned.
“Yes.” There was a line of tiny words written underneath the instructions. Willow squinted and held the journal up to her face. “DO NOT MIX DIFFERENT SORCERORS’ POWERS! Mixing abilities will set off a chemical reaction that will spark a fire and engulf the body in seconds! It happened when I tried to mix the abilities of a Dream Sorceress with the abilities of an Ice Sorceress! I must remember to wait two hours between ingesting abilities!”
“But I’m not ingesting two different abilities,” Angelina said.
“Yes, but perhaps my powers will absorb into the potion when you dip your hair into it. It’s just better to be safe than sorry.” Willow replied.
“He ingested a Dream Sorceress’s powers! Do you think he ingested mine? What’s the date on that entry?” Christabel asked.
“The month of Neverdoor. The date was the fourteenth,” Willow replied.
“That was the last date I was at Banderon’s castle! Yeah, I remember seeing a large flaming object falling from his tower window into the moat! Serves him right!” Christabel laughed hysterically.
The others laughed at the thought of a flaming Tareth jumping into the moat, screaming.
“Wait. Do you think we should take his books with us or leave them here?” Christabel asked.
“We should try to take them with us. That way, in case he comes to this house looking for us like he obviously did in Shimmerwater, we will have his books with us,” Willow said. She also did not want to risk him coming to Riordan’s grandparents’ house in their absence because Marian and Nicholas did not have magic and could not defend themselves against Tareth.
“Put them in my bag. I will shrink the bag down small enough for us to carry it inside the castle without anyone noticing,” Riordan said. Willow placed the diary and his book in Riordan’s bag. He stuck his hand out. “Shrink down to near invisible, and in Angelina’s pocket you will go!” The bag suddenly shrunk to about the size of a walnut and floated into Angelina’s pocket. She took the bag out of her pocket. It was a drawstring bag that she was able to just pull open.
“Don’t spill anything!” Willow shouted. She was worried that Angelina would spill the contents and they would never see the books again because they were so small. She was amazed by how small the bag’s contents were.
Willow decided to leave her own bag with Marion. That way, Tareth wouldn’t also have possession of the Sea Sorceress’s cauldron and all the journals, along with his books.
“How do we get these books to grow back to normal size should we need to use them?” Christabel asked.
“You say, ‘Sizus Maximus,’” Riordan replied. The bag suddenly grew to normal size and popped the pocket on Angelina’s dress off.
“Just wait until I’ve taken it out of my pocket!” Angelina giggled. Riordan shrunk the bag back down, and Angelina put it in her other pocket.
After two hours, it was time for Angelina to try her abilities with the potion. She pulled a piece of her hair out and put it in the vial. Willow asked, “How long do you think we will be there?”
Christabel replied, “Five hours maximum. We want to take our time so that we will not look like we are up to something.”
“Wait. We know that he wanted Christabel to die in that attack. What’s to stop him from killing her?” Angelina asked.
“There’s a chance he won’t be so overt about murdering me in the castle when someone might see him do it or hear me scream. They wanted to pin the murder on Gregory’s guards, remember? Besides, how else are we going to go inside the castle unless we actually try to go into the castle?” Christabel asked.
Angelina hoped she was correct. Willow shrugged her shoulders and said, “Well, here goes nothing.” She poured herself a teaspoon of the liquid and drank it. It tasted like the most disgusting leafy green vegetable she had ever put in her mouth. Her mouth also felt as if it were full of feathers. She spat, but no feathers came out of her mouth, and there was a strange floral aftertaste. She wondered if this was how Angelina’s magic tasted. “Ugh!” She groaned as she choked back the disgusting liquid. “That was the worst!”
Angelina looked dumbfounded by Willow’s reaction. “What?”
“It tasted like bird feathers, some horrible-tasting vegetables, and flowers.” Willow moaned.
“How do you know what bird feathers taste like?”
“I’ve touched enough of them to know what they feel like, and I felt that texture fill my mouth.”
She forced herself to drink four more teaspoons of the potion, then handed the nasty stuff to Riordan. Willow saw his face pucker as he drank it.
“Ugh! That stuff is horrible,” he said.
“How did you turn yourself into a wolf last night?” Willow asked.
“I just got furious and wanted to attack Desdemona. So, I guess I just turned into a creature that could attack and kill a person,” Angelina replied.
Willow imagined herself turning into a parrot. She felt herself shrink down to the size of one. Feathers began sprouting all over her body. She waved her arms and felt herself lift off the ground. She had turned into a parrot. Willow looked ar
ound and saw that Riordan had also turned into a parrot. She heard Riordan let out a massive squawk as he, too, lifted off the ground.
“Ha,” Willow began, but was startled when her voice did not sound human at all. She tried to speak again.
“Have you ever flown before?” she squawked at Riordan.
“No, that is not one of my abilities!” he squawked as he flapped his wings.
Angelina and Christabel laughed uncontrollably at them. “How well can you two squawk like real parrots?” Angelina asked.
“Aaarrrggghhtt!” Willow squawked. Riordan bobbed his head and chattered.
“Those look like some pretty good parrot impressions to me.” Christabel chuckled. “Now, can the two of you change back?”
Willow thought of turning into a human, and she suddenly shifted back into her human form. So did Riordan.
“I think we’re ready now. But you can’t go in there with the same names,” Christabel said.
“Why don’t you call us Tango and Mango? Those are good parrot names and are easy to remember,” Angelina said.
Willow laughed at the sound of the names. “All right, I’ll be Tango!”
“I guess that means I’m Mango,” Riordan said.
Willow asked Angelina, “Perhaps you can show us your magic trick before we go?”
“Certainly! Does anyone have a match?” Angelina asked.
I”have a piece of forever-burning charcoal that I carry around with me just in case I need to make firepants soot,” Riordan said. He dug in his bag and pulled out a box. “Be careful with it. Just rub it on whatever you want to set fire to, and it will start a fire. The coal itself won’t catch fire and won’t burn your hands.” He handed the box to Angelina.
She asked, “Now, does anyone have a piece of paper? I don’t want to use these newspapers for my trick.”
Marian said, “I do.” She walked out of the room and returned with a piece of paper.
Angelina tore the paper in half and held one half of it in her hand. She put the other half in her pocket to be used later. She rubbed the charcoal on the paper and lit it on fire. Then, she cupped her hands around the flame, and when she opened her hands up, a copper penny sat in the palm of her left hand.
“How did you do that?” Christabel gasped.
Angelina grinned and said, “I won’t tell you! A magician never reveals their secrets.” She turned to Christabel. “Call me Sara Smith when we are in the castle. I got arrested in Hallowdorn for practicing sorcery. Call me by another name just in case he has heard of Angelina Nightengale,” Angelina said.
“So, are we all ready to go?” Riordan asked.
“I’m as ready as I will ever be!” Angelina said. Riordan and Willow turned into parrots and sat on Christabel’s shoulders. Christabel and Angelina were careful to keep their bottles of fairy dust hidden under their dresses in case they needed them.
“When he tells you a lie, I will grip your shoulder like this,” Riordan said. He dug his claw into Christabel’s shoulder.
Christabel and Angelina walked out the door. They saddled their horses and began making their way toward the castle. “Just play along with me. I have met him on several occasions, so please don’t be surprised by any interactions we might have. I will introduce you as my court jester,” Christabel said.
“Are you going to give me some kind of signal when you want me to perform my trick?” Angelina asked.
“I will tell him that you would like to sing for him.”
“Sing? I’ve never sung in front of anyone before!”
“It doesn’t matter, does it? You’re going to perform your magic trick! I just have to say something that would fixate his attention on you!”
When they arrived, some servants led Jinx Lightning and Sugarplum right to the stables. The guards opened the front door of the castle for Christabel. One of the young men gasped. “Your Royal Highness! We heard that Prince Gregory’s guards murdered you!”
“No, and my court jester, Sarah, helped me escape!” Christabel said. “I would like for Halvor to give me a place to stay for the evening before I go back to Kalnoreth.”
“I am sure I can arrange that, Your Highness.” The guard led them through the hallway, right up to the door of the throne room. He opened the door and said, “Princess Christabel of Kalnoreth is here, Your Highness!”
Tareth looked up at Christabel and Angelina. His mouth dropped open in shock, and his eyes widened.
“Christabel, what are you doing here?” He looked at Angelina’s finger, and a look of shock spread across his face. “That looks just . . . like a ring my mother gave me when I was a kid.”
Riordan dug his claw into Christabel’s shoulder.
Christabel replied, “I just wanted to stop by the castle on my way back to Kalnoreth. My court jester and I have been wandering around for days after Gregory’s army attacked me and my entourage! Do you know anything about that?”
“No,” Tareth replied.
Riordan dug his claw into her shoulder, and her heart began to race. “It happened outside Hallowdorn. They just ran out from behind the trees and attacked me!”
“Why don’t we go into the dining room? I’m sure the two of you would love to have something to eat after your long journey,” Tareth said.
“That would be wonderful, Your Highness,” Christabel replied graciously.
She and Angelina followed him into the dining room. The three of them sat down at the table. He called a servant over and told him to serve up supper. The servant disappeared. “Would you like some peanuts?” Tareth asked.
“Oh, yes! I think my parrots would love peanuts as well!” Christabel replied.
Tareth walked out of the room. He returned moments later carrying a bowl of peanuts.
“Peanuts!” Riordan squawked. Christabel handed him a peanut, which he swallowed whole. He and Willow jumped down onto the table, and Christabel gave them each a handful of peanuts. Angelina took a peanut from the bowl and put it in her mouth. She tasted the most disgusting flavor she had ever put in her mouth. Immediately, her magic went to work.
The words “Thornflower deadly poison” blared in her mind. A vision suddenly flashed into her mind. Upon hearing of Christabel’s arrival in the castle, Tareth ran into the kitchen and poured Thornflower poison on the peanuts. She spit the peanut out.
“Stop! It’s poison!” Angelina hollered. She grabbed Christabel’s arm as she was trying to put a peanut in her mouth. Tareth looked taken aback.
Suddenly, Willow and Riordan both fell over, unconscious. Both of them turned back into their human forms. Angelina was horrified at the sight of her lifeless friends lying on the table. Christabel shrieked in terror as she jumped up from her seat.
Angelina was thankful when the anecdote for Thornflower poison came into her mind. It was charcoal. The only charcoal she had with her was the charcoal she was going to use for her trick. Suddenly, Tareth let out a loud hissing laugh, the sound of which made Angelina want to hit him in the stomach.
“I’m sorry, Christabel, but you were supposed to die in that attack,” Tareth sneered. Inside, though, his mind was still whirling. Christabel yanked her sword out of her sword belt, and Tareth yanked his sword and his wand out of his belt. He shouted some strange words, and a ball of light shot out of the tip of his wand. Christabel hit it with her sword.
It bounced off the wall and hit the thunderstruck Tareth in the chest. He turned to stone. “That’s it?” Christabel asked.
“No, no such luck. Tristan was very specific that only I can kill Tareth,” Angelina said.
She heard the instructions for how to make the Thornflower poison anecdote blare loudly in her mind. “Dissolve the charcoal in water and give the mixture to both of them.” She ran outside and dipped her goblet in the water in the moat. She sensed the urgency of Willow and Riordan’s situation as she realized that they only had fifteen minutes to live with the Thornflower poison in their systems. She trembled in fear as she followed her i
nstincts to make the anecdote for the poison.
Angelina dropped the charcoal into the water, picked up her knife off the table, and pounded it in the cup until the charcoal had completely dissolved. The water kept it from setting on fire. She pressed the goblet up to Willow’s mouth and poured it inside. Then she poured the liquid into Riordan’s mouth. Angelina was relieved when Willow coughed and sat up.
She saw Tareth’s body turning human again, and her heart started racing faster. Christabel picked up her sword and started hacking off Tareth’s body parts as they turned flesh again, leaving a bloody mess on the floor that made Angelina’s stomach churn. Then, Christabel sliced Tareth in half at the waist. His torso fell to the ground.
Christabel yanked the belt off his waist, covering her hands in his blood. “NOOO!” Tareth screamed.
Hahaha!” Christabel jeered.
The belt suddenly flew out of her hand and wrapped itself around Angelina’s waist. She could feel Tristan’s magic radiating from it.
“Give me that belt back!” Tareth yelled with audible desperation in his voice.
“No!” Angelina yelled. She could no longer perform her trick since she had used up all her charcoal.
Willow stood up and began vomiting blood. Angelina turned white as she realized this was an effect of the poisoning. She knew that she had to get her friends out of the castle as soon as possible. “I can’t see!” Riordan yelled.
She pointed her hand toward a windowsill, and two vines shot out of it. They wrapped themselves around Willow and Riordan and pulled them out of the window. “Come on, Christabel!” Angelina yelled.
Christabel jammed her sword into her belt and ran to the window. Two more vines shot out of the other two vines and wrapped themselves around Angelina and Christabel. They lifted them up and out of the window.
“What’s going on? Why can’t I see anything?” Riordan whimpered.
“You ingested Thornflower poison when you ate the peanuts!” Angelina said.
“WHAT?” Riordan thundered. Then, he tripped and fell on the ground.
A man driving a horse-drawn cart full of hay pulled up to them. “Y’all look like you need a ride to the hospital!” he said.
The Night Sorceresses Page 23