“I’m sorry about this.” Fog swirled around her in the doorway, rapidly filling the room like an infection. “At least things are working out as we hoped. Rumpel’s orders weren’t specific. He just told me to kill you guys on sight. With you in mine, the others have a better chance. You’re brave to offer to distract me, even if it’s stupid.”
Her hand went for her utility belt and she started launching knives at me. I ducked behind the bed as billowing fog clogged the room even more. I heard her footsteps on the glass floor as her blades thudded against the bed in quick succession.
Any moment now.
I abruptly rammed into the bed, forcefully pushing it straight into Blue. I heard her grunt and thud against the ground, but the fog was so thick now that I couldn’t see anything. Two seconds later, Blue’s green eyes penetrated the fog. I raised my sword and blocked as she drove her hunting knife toward me. She spit acid and I sidestepped. We exchanged one swift, deadly move after another. Knife. Sword. Spit. Jump. Knife. Block. Spit. Duck.
We fought in near blindness. Well, I did anyway. Blue’s Questor Beast powers allowed her to detect prey. She could probably sense me, even if she couldn’t see me clearly. I was starting to get kind of panicked. While her glowing green eyes were full of regret, her strikes were ruthless, relentless, and held nothing back. But then, thank goodness, I saw an opening. Blue came down at me with her hunting knife. I counteracted by reaching up, grabbing her wrist, and using her momentum to flip her forward.
What neither of us realized, however, was that one of her acid spit shots had disintegrated a section of the glass floor directly behind me. We hadn’t seen that in the fog, and when I released Blue she tumbled toward it and fell through.
“Blue!”
She clung to the edge of the hole in the floor by both hands. With her concentration distracted by immediate peril, the fog thinned. Blue attempted to pull herself back up, but the hole had jagged edges, which cracked more when she applied the extra pressure of trying to boost herself up. If she kept trying, the fragment she held would probably break off—like a frozen lake if a drowning victim tried to claw on the fractured ice to achieve freedom.
I started toward her.
“Don’t get too close!” she barked. “All my instincts are telling me to spit acid at your face the second you get near enough. I will kill you so stay back.”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?” I asked.
She glanced down. We were directly above the giant factory loom, near large mounds of straw yet to be woven into gold.
“Leave me here,” she said. “This is your chance to get away and help the others.”
“No way!” The idea was so nuts it made me angry.
“It’s fine. I’ll aim for the straw. It’s only like a thirty or forty foot drop.”
“No, Blue. Not happening.”
“Argh!” Blue groaned. “Jason, we just talked about this! You need to respect me!”
And then I lost it.
“Blue, this is me respecting you,” I yelled. I couldn’t believe we were going to do this now, but the words came bursting out of me. “I thought respect was letting you run free so you wouldn’t feel like I was controlling you or overpowering your voice and character. But respecting someone shouldn’t just be about that. Respect means treating someone as an equal. And when someone is your equal, it means you can tell them when they’re acting like a jackwagon. It means you can challenge them when you think they’re wrong, and bring them back down to solid ground when they’re floating in space and clearly need help.”
I threw my hands up in frustration, but also self-realization. “I’ve been treating you so carefully since we got back from Dreamland. I thought that was the best way to show my respect for you, but it’s not. Pretending that you’re right when I think you’re wrong isn’t respect. Letting you spin out of control to do and say whatever you want isn’t respect either. That doesn’t make us equals. That doesn’t even make us friends. It makes me your pet from one perspective, and from another, it makes me the guy who’s patronizing you because he doesn’t think our relationship can handle the truth.”
I looked down at her, dangling there. “I do respect you, Blue. Enough to stand up to you, fight with you, and risk everything for you, like an equal. But I respect myself too, and that means you need to treat me the same way if you and I are going to be anything to each other, including and especially friends.”
Her eyes were unreadable due to their Questor Beast glow, but her face filled with emotion. Finally, she swallowed and uttered the two words that I knew were the hardest for her, but let me know that she respected me too.
“Help me.”
I moved quickly, grabbing a sheet from the nearest bed and tying it around an adjacent wooden beam in the nursery. Then I ran around gathering a few more sheets from the beds.
“Yikes!” Blue’s grip had slipped and now she dangled by a single hand. “Any time now!”
Thank you, Advanced Knot Tying class.
I hurriedly secured the sheets together to make a lifeline. “Incoming,” I called to Blue, tossing her the sheet rope. “Can you grab it?”
“Hold on.” She took a deep breath, grunted, and reached up her free hand to grip the sheet. Suddenly the glass she clutched cracked and she screamed.
“Blue!”
She managed to grab hold of the lifeline as she fell. Both hands, securely wrapped around it, she swung there for a second and I breathed relief.
“You okay?” I called.
Blue tugged on the sheet to test its security. “Yeah, I’m good.” She began to climb it like a gym rope. “Go get a head start while I climb up.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I have this. Really.”
I sped for the door, pausing when I reached it to ensure Blue was in the clear. She seemed to be managing fine. I had to leave now before she was on her feet again.
Sword in hand, I bolted down the steps and into the forest. Then I ran and ran and ran, looking for the rendezvous point where Rumpel should be engaging my friends in a fight. I heard the chaos before I saw it—shouts, cries, and . . . moan-howls?
Something was wrong. Make that two somethings. Chance’s carriage had been left by the huge oak we’d decided on earlier, but the older kids weren’t waiting with it like they were supposed to. Instead, they were dashing around the woods hiding behind trees and screaming.
What the frack?
I peeked inside the back of the carriage and saw all the little girls from the nursery. They were crying and clutching the newborns, but they were safe.
The earth shook. I moved around the carriage and spotted Girtha facing off with Rumpelstiltskin. His powerful foot stomps created chasms that she nimbly evaded. She was getting tired though. Where was Chance? He was supposed to lure Rumpel in.
“Jason!”
Speak of the hero. I whirled around and finally saw him. Chance wielded my axe. Directly beyond him, a green portal swirled. The Midnight Law portal!
Chance didn’t pay it any attention though; his focus was aimed upward. That’s when I realized what all the kids were running and hiding from—a trio of terrifying, yellow-eyed creatures that darted about high in the trees. They had the heads, upper bodies, front legs, and paws of black cats, but the lower halves of eels—thick, slimy, and around six feet long. The creatures released spine-jittering moan-howls. These were the Wooldercats.
They used their tails to slither up and down trees speedily. Then they jumped from branch to branch, clinging with their front claws until their eel bodies wrapped around the limbs. Oh, and every time one landed on a new vantage point, it ejected lightning from its mouth like vomit.
Kids were everywhere, shouting with terror as they desperately tried to avoid the lightning blasts. Chance bolted here and there, shielding kids with my axe’s protective force field.
One of the Wooldercats bounded down to ground level and started to creep toward the carriage with the little girls an
d newborns, its eyes locked on the open-backed vehicle. I moved as fast as I could. The creature crouched and pounced but I sprinted forward in the nick of time and sliced it in half with Chance’s sword. That’s when I laid eyes on Mark a few dozen yards away, hiding behind a tree. I waved him forward and he took off.
“It’s endgame time!” I called to Chance. “I’ll protect the kids! Do your thing!”
Chance nodded and sped toward Rumpel and Girtha. “Rumpelstiltskin!” he shouted.
Rumpel turned toward his nephew. Chance charged straight at him. Rumpel lifted his foot, then was curtly tackled from behind. He plowed into the dirt, courtesy of Mark. Our friend couldn’t keep Rumpel pinned for long, though. The super strong dwarf violently thrust Mark off him and my friend flew back a good ten feet before hitting the ground and tumbling through the leaves.
“Jason!” Girtha pointed up.
A Wooldercat was positioned above me with its mouth open. I leapt sideways and rolled out of the way, dodging its lightning. The Wooldercat fired again and I raised my sword. The bolt bounced off the metal and charred the adjacent trunk. I glanced up. The Wooldercat was gone; it had changed targets and united with its monster brother. They were descending the tree line with a series of erratic jumps toward a spot where a good dozen kids had gathered.
Crud.
My feet thudded the earth. The first Wooldercat made it to ground level. The monster hinged its jaws. I skidded between it and the group of cornered kids and swung out my sword like a bat. The flat of the blade smacked the Wooldercat’s lightning sideways, ricocheting it elsewhere. Without skipping a beat, I rushed in and thrust the sword up—stabbing and dispatching the vile creature.
I wheeled around, ready for the other Wooldercat, but I only saw a whisper of the monster. It had slunk back up into the trees so rapidly I’d lost sight of it.
“Go wait by the carriage,” I ordered the kids around me. “Do it now!”
They listened and I about-faced at the sound of Girtha’s voice. “Hustle, you guys!” She was herding the kids too. I pivoted searching for the third Wooldercat that still threatened them, but my eyes caught on the fight farther down.
Chance took a wide stance and swung my axe at Rumpelstiltskin. The dwarf ducked into a roll at the last second, going between Chance’s legs and popping up behind him. Chance spun to face Rumpel, but the dwarf grabbed Chance by the wrist and brutally threw him against a tree. The prince—axe still in hand—slumped to the ground, his eyes closed. Rumpel rushed in, but Mark ran up with his sword and sliced the dwarf across his bicep.
Enraged, Rumpel cried out and shoved Mark so hard that he got launched fifteen feet. Mark came to a rolling stop at the base of a tree. I winced. That had to hurt. Speaking of hurt . . . Movement flickered in the corner of my eye and I spun, cutting off the tail of the final Wooldercat as it leapt at me.
Nice try.
The two gross halves of the creature crashed to the ground.
All the Wooldercats taken care of, I thought we were down a problem until I noticed the fog streaming through the trees.
“Incoming!” Blue called. She was running toward us at full speed and began chucking throwing knives too.
I darted for cover behind a tree. The kids’ screaming renewed as the fog and volley of knives came at us. My adrenaline pulsed. From my position I could see Rumpel walking straight for Chance. My friend’s eyes were still closed and he lay motionless. Rumpel came to a stop directly over Chance’s body. The dwarf, shining silver, clasped his hands together and brought them over the prince’s head to crush his skull like a grape. Then—
BOOM!
Chance activated my axe’s force field, which collided with the magical strength of Rumpel so intensely a powerful gust of wind shook the trees. My friend had only been pretending to be unconscious.
Rumpel stumbled back. Chance dropped the axe, snapped his fingers, and lunged forward, tackling Rumpel by the neck. They collapsed to the ground with Chance’s hands around his uncle’s throat. My friend’s powers couldn’t be stopped. Rumple’s neck, face, then entire body—clothes and all—turned to solid gold.
Suddenly Blue rushed into my line of sight with eyes glowing and knife hinged back about to stab me. My heart froze. Then the green left her eyes.
She took a wobbly step back and clutched her head. “Rumpel’s order . . . It’s not in my mind anymore.” She rapidly blinked a half dozen times. “His control is gone.”
She spun around and I got up. We looked over at Chance, who stood in front of a solid gold Rumpelstiltskin statue that lay on the ground. We approached slowly.
Mark wobbled over, hand to his head but seemingly fine. Girtha and a number of kids drew closer too. They gazed at the gold statue with awe like none of them could believe what had happened. Part of me couldn’t either.
I put my hand on Chance’s shoulder and said the only thing I could think to.
“Good job.”
Chance nodded; the prince seemed a bit dazed.
“Did any magic come out of him?” I gestured at the gold dwarf.
Chance shook his head. “I wasn’t a hundred percent sure that it wouldn’t, but our theory was correct. Since magic ejects from dead bodies, and my gold only freezes people in time—it doesn’t kill them—all his magic is trapped inside. Useless and, more importantly, unable to hurt anyone ever again.”
I turned toward Mark. “You okay? You got hit pretty hard.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Nice shot, Chance.” He addressed the whole of our group. “I’m going to have to join your quests more often. This was ridiculous.”
“You have an open invitation,” Girtha replied. “And can I just say, I think Crisa would’ve approved of this plan. It was crazy, bold, creative, and just inconceivable enough to work. Now we only need to do a head count and a sweep of the area to make sure we don’t leave any kids behind.”
“Bonus great news, the portal appeared,” I said, pointing Chance’s sword toward our glowing green exit. “When did that happen?”
“About ten minutes ago,” Chance said. “When you and Blue were at the factory. Girtha and I were busy fighting, so I take it you two did something that satisfied our respect-themed test?”
Blue and I exchanged a look. I wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Well—”
Unexpectedly, Blue hugged me hard. It took a moment to register what was happening and hug her back. She pulled away swiftly and faced the others.
“It was Jason. He passed the test. We’ll tell you about it later.”
“Okay then . . .” Girtha said curiously.
Chance nodded. “Well, two flames down, two to go,” he said, patting his pocket with the watch in it. “And it’s only half past eleven. I’m feeling optimistic about our chances.”
I looked at Blue and she held my gaze with a small smile.
“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”
re you sure you do not mind that I keep them?” SJ asked Nian Zhen, glancing at the new additions to her wardrobe.
I was trying my best to be patient as the girls wrapped up their clothes-related conversations. I understood that they’d all needed to change before we took the wormhole to our next mission, particularly Kai who’d been wearing pajamas when she was abducted by that crazy owl demon last night, but still . . . I glanced impatiently at the green glow of the portal.
“Of course not,” Nian Zhen insisted. “I think they rather suit you.”
I looked SJ over. The warrior woman wasn’t wrong. SJ had elected to keep some pieces of her golden armor including a thin breastplate and some forearm shielding. I was so used to seeing her all prim and proper, but the warrior vibe seemed to work well. I was really impressed with how much she had grown in such a short time. And slightly embarrassed for ever making her feel like I didn’t believe in her.
Our conversation last night had really affected me. I was on a quest to save Knight, but I didn’t want to lose any of my other friends along the way. I now realized that death wasn’t
the only way to lose someone. Javier had called me out on my tendency to keep people at a distance, but he was a newer friend. I thought at least SJ and some of the others knew how much they mattered to me. After SJ’s reaction to how I viewed her, I wondered if they actually did. Maybe I’d ask Kai about it. She knew me better than anyone.
SJ and Mauvrey exchanged a final bow with Yunru and Nian Zhen before stepping through the wormhole. Kai didn’t bow, which surprised me. She simply waved to our hostesses before bounding through. She was probably just distracted. I couldn’t blame her; Xanadu had not been a great experience for her what with the monster kidnapping and me not coming to save her. I’d gotten an earful about that when I walked her back to her room after our initial celebration of the girls’ return. She couldn’t understand why I hadn’t broken the school’s rules and gone after her. I’d tried to explain, but she’d told me to give her some space and then she shut the door in my face.
I huffed in frustration thinking about it. Why did so many of my conversations with Kai these days have to involve fighting? I tried to shake off the terrible feelings of our argument as Yunru and Nian Zhen approached me.
“Thank you again,” I told them, bowing. Then I turned to the rest of the warrior women who’d gathered in the garden to see us off. I bowed to them too. “We’re really grateful for how well you treated us.”
“Getting more comfortable with formalities aren’t you, Daniel?” Yunru remarked.
“I’m getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable,” I replied. “It’s worth it for the right people. Good people.”
Yunru smiled and nodded. “Come back and visit us with Crisa someday.”
My lips tightened and I nodded with resoluteness. “I intend to.”
I turned toward the green exit and stepped through. It was a simple transition. I walked out onto slightly damp grass that carpeted the ground of a dark forest. However, I also walked into the middle of an argument.
Midnight Law Page 48