by John Corwin
The invisible crack at the bottom became visible. Small seams outlined the shape of a door. Unfortunately, the door didn't open. A small round hole was where a doorknob should be. I put a finger inside and tried to pull open the door, but couldn't get a firm grip. I took Cyphanis's wand from my back pocket and pushed it into the hole, intending to use it as a lever. A latch clicked and the door swung open. I looked at the wand with astonishment.
The wand was a key.
Cool dank air blew across my face bringing with it an earthen odor. Stairs carved in rock led down a dark tunnel. I felt along the wall and found a button. Pressing it ignited torches in sconces all along the descending corridor. Uncertain what lay below, I crept down the stairs silently and into a roomy basement. Three shelves towered before me, laden with a variety of scrolls and bottled liquids.
A bundle of silvery chains hung from a nail protruding from the end of the closest shelf. When I pulled at the chains, I realized it was actually a net with a string of slick rope laced through the links.
I strode around the shelves, found another row of shelves, and behind them, a wall of bare rock. It took me quite some time to rummage through the items on the shelves.
The simple labels on the bottled liquids did little to betray the purpose of their contents. Someone had gone through the trouble of molding the bottles into interesting shapes. The container labeled Iocaine was shaped like a small bald man while another liquid named Fluxus occupied a warped and distorted flask. A bottle shaped like a head with wide bugging eyes held a fluid named Insanity, while a heart-shaped vessel bore the name Vitus. I didn't dare pull the corks from the bottles. For all I knew they might be poisonous.
One shelf had been divided into smaller compartments, each one containing a scroll with a bit of ribbon holding it shut. The scrolls varied in size as did the color of the ribbon holding them closed. I pulled out one with a green ribbon in the hopes that indicated it was safe, and gingerly untied the binding. Three large symbols glowed dim red on the parchment. Small script at the top of the page presumably translated each symbol into English along with instructions for drawing on the ground a circle with a pattern of lines crisscrossing it.
The instructions didn't tell me what purpose this diagram achieved, but I knew better than to recite the words. I rolled the parchment and tied it closed, then opened one with a yellow ribbon. This one was far more specific and had a picture of a man holding out his right hand as a fireball erupted from it. The written instructions echoed the illustration.
It's a fireball spell! "Brilliant!" I unrolled more scrolls and soon realized the ribbon color indicated the spell's function. Yellow was for offensive spells—fireballs, freezing fields, lightning bolts, and even gales of wind.
Brown ribbons signified defensive spells like protective barriers. Hex scrolls bore blue ribbons. These spells transformed the targets into harmless creatures like frogs and rabbits, though only for a limited time, according to the instructions. I used the phone to make a list of the color-coding and the spell types. The only scrolls I couldn't decipher were those with green ribbons.
Once I finished organizing the scrolls my eyelids were so heavy I could hardly keep them open. I doused the downstairs light, pulled myself back up the stair railing, and fell into bed the second I reached it. Physically, we were no match for Brickle.
As I drifted toward sleep, I still dared feel hopeful about our chances. These magic scrolls might prove the difference between victory and death.
Chapter 17
Ambria woke me up bright and early. "Conrad, get up! We have to set traps for Brickle."
I forced myself to climb from beneath the warm covers while Ambria paced nervously at the end of my bed.
"I found some scroll spells that should help us." I told her about the basement and the treasures I'd found.
"That's great, Conrad." She paused uncertainly. "Maybe we can split them up so we each have a few."
A knock sounded from downstairs. We carefully made our way down the railing as several more impatient knocks sounded. Just as I was about to open the door, a cautious thought drew back my hand. What if it's Brickle? Then again, if it was him, why would he knock? I looked through the peephole and saw Max glaring at the door.
Relieved, I opened it.
"About time," he said in a grumpy voice. "I was beginning to think you were still asleep."
Ambria grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. "Shush, Max. We've got something important to tell you." She told him about our late night visitors and about the company we expected.
Eyes wide, Max backed toward the door. "You want to capture a grown man?" He shook his head. "There's no way. I might know a spell or two, but nothing that would help with kidnapping someone."
"We found scrolls in the basement," I explained. "Some of them are for shooting fireballs and others turn people into animals."
He stopped. "Really?" Confidence asserted itself on his face. "I know a thing or two about using scrolls. My uncle keeps some around to chase away strangers and squirrels since he can't—uh, he hates people and animals."
"What a nice man." Ambria rolled her eyes.
"Maybe you can help me, Max." I motioned them to follow me and took them into the basement. The chain net caught my eye and it gave me an idea. "I think if we can lure him down here, we could rig that net to fall."
Max inspected it. "Hmm, it's made of silver and reinforced with diamond fiber." He touched the slick rope woven into the links and held the bare tips where they extended beyond the chain. "Just touch the ends and they'll bind together." He demonstrated by pressing together two strings. They wove into each other. He held it up. "Try to pull it apart."
I tugged as hard as I could but the diamond fiber wouldn't part.
"Let me try, Conrad." Ambria took it. "This looks weak as yarn." She had no better luck breaking it than I did.
Max traced his finger across the string and it parted. "If we use it to tie him up, we'll have to make sure he can't reach the seams or he might be able to open it himself."
"You mean to say he can simply touch it and free himself?" Ambria rolled her eyes. "What good is that?"
"Well, you could use blood." Max acted as if he were pricking his finger. "That way only the person who's blood is on it can open it."
She grimaced. "I'm not cutting myself for that."
"I'll do it," I said. "I just need a knife."
"Eew." Ambria shuddered.
I led them to the scrolls and showed them how the color-coding worked.
Max was as puzzled as I was about the ones with green ribbons. He read one and said, "Maybe we should draw one of these diagrams and have it ready just in case."
"The circle looks like it might be a magical trap. I'll bet the spell imprisons whoever stands in the circle." Ambria grinned. "I love to draw. I'll find something to write with."
"Try using this." Max reached toward a shelf and grabbed a piece of chalk.
"Perfect!" She looked around on the floor. "Where should I put them?"
I looked up at the wooden rafters and walked to an open area a few feet from the stairwell. "We could put the net up there and rig it to fall when we lure Brickle down." I pointed to my feet. "Draw a diagram here."
"How large should it be?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Big enough to hold Brickle."
"In other words, huge." Ambria curved her arms as if holding a big wine barrel.
"Let's figure out how to set up the net," Max said.
He and I looked around the basement for some way to secure the net that would allow us to release it.
"What's that cloth in your back pocket?" Max asked as we rummaged around.
I took out the wands and the cloth and showed him what it said.
"Cool." He held up the wands and looked between them. "Did you find anything?"
I shook my head. "I thought it was a way to find the basement door, but it didn't work."
He held them up and looked around the base
ment.
Ambria dusted off her hands and stood up outside a completed diagram. "Will you two work on the net? We don't have time for you to play around with the wands."
"I've got an idea," Max said. He handed me a wand and flourished the other. "My mom has a spell she uses to hold paintings on the wall. Maybe it'll work on the net."
"Ooh, I want to see a spell." Ambria clapped her hands.
Max took the cloth and held it against the side of a shelf. "Hold that there, Conrad."
I pressed a finger to keep it in place. Max stepped back, flicked the wand, and said, "Affixiato!"
My hand flattened against the shelf. I tugged but couldn't budge it. "What did you do?"
He twisted his lips. "Oops, I think the spell hit your hand instead of the cloth."
"Well unfix it," I said.
Max touched a finger to his chin. "Let me just remember the counter-spell."
Ambria groaned and pressed a hand to her face. "Oh, Max."
He gave her a sheepish grin and turned back to me. "This should do it." Narrowing his eyes toward my hand, he flicked the wand. "Defixiatio!"
Nothing happened.
Max waved the wand again. "Unfixiato!"
My hand remained firmly glued to the shelf.
"I'm sorry, my mother doesn't take down paintings very often." He sighed and paced in a circle. He stopped and held up a finger. "Ah, I remember." He turned, flicked the wand up, back down, and then pointed it at my hand. "Disruptus!"
My hand came free and the cloth fluttered to the floor. Sighing with relief, I picked up the cloth.
"Why can't we use that spell to pin Brickle to the wall?" Ambria asked.
"It won't work on thick objects," Max said. "I might be able to do it to a hand, but not his body." He gave us a serious look. "My big brother tried to do it to me once and it didn't work."
Ambria's forehead wrinkled. "That's not very nice."
"Like I said, my family isn't very nice." Max tweaked the end of the wand between two fingers. "They have worse spells they like to test on live subjects, so I try to stay out of their way."
"Can I cast a spell with the wand?" Ambria asked.
"That depends on if you can aetherate."
Her eyebrows rose. "Aetherate? What does that mean?"
"If you hadn't been stuck in nom schools, you'd know what it is." He gave her a smug look and crossed his arms. "Arcanes have to fill up with magical energy which is called aether. Aetherating is what we call it when you're energizing yourself with aether."
"Is it hard?" I asked.
Max shook his head. "Nah, not really once you've done it a couple of times. It's kind of like learning how to wiggle your nostrils or making your tongue and eyes do this." He stuck out his tongue and made it roll up then crossed his eyes.
Ambria crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue, but couldn't seem to make it curl up. I tried to mimic them but failed to cross my eyes or roll my tongue.
Max burst into laughter. "You two look mental."
"As if you didn't too." Ambria puffed out her lower lip. "Tell me how to aetherate!"
I held up my hands. "Let's save the aetherating lessons for later. Right now we need to finish setting the trap."
"Boo." Ambria sighed. "Guess I'd better draw more circles."
"Let me get something to stand on so I can hold up the net," I told Max. "Then you can attach it."
He pointed to a wooden box in the back corner. "That should work."
I gave him the other wand to hold onto while I walked over to pick up the crate. Thankfully, it wasn't very large or heavy and I was able to cradle it in my arms.
"Whoa! You gotta see this." Max stared between the wands at the back wall.
I stopped behind him and looked. One section of the rock wall was covered in lines of strange symbols that weren't visible unless you looked between the wands. "What do they mean?"
Max shook his head. "I'd have to translate. I guess it's a spell to open a hidden passage." He turned to me with a delighted grin. "Maybe there's buried treasure behind the door."
Exciting images of pirates and chests overflowing with gold lit my imagination. I walked to the diagram Ambria had drawn and set the crate in the middle then returned to Max. "You really think there's treasure back there?"
Ambria stamped her foot on the ground and drew our attention. "Why are you two dreaming about buried gold when we've got work to do?" She huffed angrily. "Give it a rest and finish the trap!"
The thud of a door slamming shut echoed down the stairwell.
Mouths open, eyes wide, we looked at each other. Without another word, I hopped onto the crate and pressed the net in place.
"Affixiato," Max whispered in a loud voice after flicking the wand.
The net flattened against the rafters and hung there. I grabbed the crate and moved it out of the way. We waited and waited for another sound from upstairs, but all remained silent. My stomach tightened with anxiety. Had that noise been Brickle, or something else? Another minute passed and still no noise. I crept up the stairs and stopped at the door. I felt warm breath on my neck and turned to see Ambria and Max right behind me.
I motioned them to return downstairs but they shook their heads. Repressing a sigh, I settled for a stern look before tiptoeing across the kitchen and to the hallway. The front door was closed and didn't look as if anyone had battered it open. I heard a faint noise and held my breath. It sounded like someone sniffing. I padded down the hallway to the foyer and the sound became much clearer.
The sniffing stopped. The only sound I heard was my pulse banging in my ears. The railing above me creaked. A massive figure leapt the railing and thudded to the floor with a loud crash. Lips bared in a feral grin, Brickle rose from one knee, all seven feet of him.
"There's my little runaway rats." The huge man cracked his knuckles. "Didn't think you could escape Brickle, did you?"
I was so frightened I couldn't move. Ambria let out a little squeak.
"These are my friends," Max said. "My father is a very important man and he won't let you take them."
"Shut your little pipsqueak mouth, boy." Brickle took a step forward and punched a fist into his hand. "Or else I'll send you home with a broken face."
"Run!" Max shouted.
I wanted to run but my legs felt weak as jelly. I staggered back. Ambria cried out and grabbed my arm tight. Off balance, we both fell to the floor as Brickle advanced.
"Affixiato!" Max shouted.
Brickle's left foot stuck to the floor. He tugged and jerked, muttering dark words. Max grabbed my arm. "Run, you idiots!"
My body finally responded. I jumped up and pulled on Ambria. She responded like a sack of potatoes at first but abruptly screamed and scampered away toward the kitchen.
"Think you've stopped me?" Brickle growled. "Not even close." His facial hair thickened and his chest muscles burst through his shirt. Dark black claws sprouted from his shoes until they split at the seams to accommodate massive paws. Within seconds, Brickle was no more. Instead, a giant wolf stood in his place. Oddly, it still wore a pair of shredded work pants. The beast fell to all fours.
A terrified scream exploded from my throat. Max's cry joined mine and we hurtled down the hallway back toward the basement.
"He's a lycan!" Max shouted.
I looked over my shoulder just as the wolf tore loose a large plank of wooden flooring still magically glued to its foot. With a howl, it lunged forward. The plank caught on the sides of the hallway and jerked the massive beast to a halt. Fangs flashing, saliva drooling from its black lips, it tugged its hind leg hard. The wood splintered and broke. Max and I ran yelling through the kitchen, the sounds of crunching plaster and breaking wood close behind.
We stumbled down the stairs. Max tripped and I fell over him. We rolled down the rocky steps, grunts of pain bursting from us at each impact and landed in a heap at the bottom.
Ambria held a scroll in one hand. "Move!" she shrieked. "Run!"
I ro
lled and clambered to my feet, turned and pulled Max up after me. We raced to the first set of shelves and grabbed scrolls from the floor.
The wolf bounded through the doorway. Muzzle wide, eyes like burning red coals, it leapt for Ambria. She shouted the strange words from the scroll and thrust her hand toward the wolf as it leapt for her. Green light enveloped the beast. Just as its jaws snapped at her throat, the wolf vanished, and a large green frog smacked off Ambria's face and plopped on the floor. She staggered back. I quickly ran forward and booted the frog toward the diagram she'd drawn.
Instead, it slid across the floor and smacked against the wall to the right. Green light flashed and the wolf reappeared, its head facing the wall. It stumbled, turned this way and that until it found us. It glared malevolently, fury in its eyes. Max chanted and flung a fireball at the wolf. Still a bit stunned from its time as a frog, it didn't move in time and the orange flaming sphere slammed into its hind section. The creature—Brickle—spun from the impact. Smoke rose from its fur and with it the foul odor of burning hair.
Brickle recovered more quickly than I could have imagined, the flames on his hide flickering out. Before I could read the words from my scroll, he leapt. I dashed out of the way just in time. The huge wolf smashed hard into the shelf and toppled it over. I ran toward the stairs while the others scrambled in opposite directions.
The beast's head swung to the side and caught Max hard. He flew through the air and hit the ground with a loud thump before sliding into the wall. My heart seemed to lodge in my throat as I watched the monster prowl toward Max, tongue lolling, a wolfish grin revealing the teeth that would soon tear my injured friend to shreds.
Chapter 18
I didn't know where I found the courage, but I ran up behind Brickle, gripped his tail, and gave it a good hard tug. He spun around. A paw slashed at me, tore through my shirt, and grazed my skin. I fell backward with a shout. Brickle howled and snapped his jaws hard enough to amputate a limb. My muscles turned to water. I couldn't coordinate my legs or make them move fast enough as the wolf raised a massive, padded paw and slashed it toward my chest.