by Vance Huxley
“Living? Could it be a bound shade, but in stone?” Kelis concentrated, her forehead crinkling. “I can’t remember my lessons. Can stone hold a bound shade or does it need something pliable, wood or plastic?”
“A bound shade can move stone, but the result is slow and clumsy. Stone guardians are more agile, but that creature is true living stone.” Ferryl also seemed deep in thought. “There were legends of creatures that could do that, animate stone, or rather turn the living into stone but retain movement and some sort of intelligence.”
“The gorgon?” Jenny’s eyes sparkled. “Fraggon is the gorgon’s pet? Rock on!” She giggled then stopped. “Rock on? Get it?” Her smile faltered and she looked a little bit embarrassed. “Sorry, I’m still getting over the heart attack. Imminent death has an odd effect on me.”
Rob let go of his bat and flexed his hand, slowly. “And me. Would earth glyphs or my bat have any effect, Ferryl? With it being stone.”
“No, because it isn’t truly stone. I’m sure the glyph we used to destroy the first stone guardian would just bounce off that.” She frowned towards Creepio and the hunched figure with him. “I wasn’t sure what Creepio brought with him, because he was very careful not to name it. If he hadn’t been so secretive I’d have been better prepared. Until he said ogre, I thought the driver might have bound a giant. The half-materialised figure wasn’t clear, and giants use armour that is similar to ogre scales.” Ferryl turned back towards Castle House, obviously worried. “I’m racking my brain but I don’t recognise our creature at all.”
“The fraggon?” Abel turned to Jenny. “Why fraggon?”
“Frog-dragon isn’t a proper name and I didn’t like drogg, dragon-frog. Can we keep the name? I’d try the innocent smile but you know me better.” Jenny took a deep breath, though she still looked pale and shaken. “I’ll stop babbling now, providing all the monsters will just stay where they are.”
“We’d better ask him about that.” Kelis nodded towards where Creepio had started across the road towards them.
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For once Creepio really looked apologetic. “My apologies. We are still not entirely sure what happened. A stone guardian shouldn’t trigger that response, unless there was a bound shade in there. An old enemy of the ogre might react like that, but that isn’t any creature I’ve ever heard of.” The vicar looked at the door to Castle House with a little frown on his face. “That thing in there isn’t really stone, not the sort a guardian is made of, but neither is it a living magical creature. We are trying to find out what it is, but the ogre has difficulty communicating at the best of times.”
“Stone, but not as you know it. Could Fraggon be one of the gorgon’s pets?” Kelis watched Creepio’s face very carefully as she asked, and caught the calculation after the shock.
“Fraggon?”
“We just named it. You didn’t answer the question.” Five very interested faces were watching the vicar now.
“The creature that gave rise to legends of the gorgon was probably a wandering skoffin, an Icelandic dragon. There are other legends such as the basilisk, but they all come back to the skoffin. Skoffin had wings and spines and are now extinct, as are all dragons. That type could turn prey to solid stone, despite some claiming it could only burn them to solid charcoal. There are a few entries in our church records that suggest a skoffin could keep a victim alive as living stone, but none are substantiated. None of the records I’ve seen even hint at anything as mobile as your pet.” Creepio turned back to the other churchman. “John, can you ask your ogre if that was something created by a skoffin?”
John concentrated for a while before replying. “It’s still not happy so I can’t communicate very well, but I’m sure you are on the right track. The ogre’s anger could be about the skoffin part, or what that was before becoming what it is.” He straightened with a big sigh. “All closed down now. I couldn’t get much of a read on the rest of the house once the stone creature started moving.”
“The fraggon.” The churchman stared at Creepio, who chuckled. “They’ve named it. You’ll get used to this sort of thing if you meet these youngsters very often.”
“Maybe not a good idea, not carrying an ogre.” The man paused, collecting himself. “When the, er, fraggon moved, the ogre stopped sensing beyond the locked doors and concentrated exclusively on its perceived enemy. Either that, um, fraggon or the original creature were very dangerous.”
“So, is it safe for me to open those double doors?” Abel shrugged when Creepio turned to frown at him. “That’s why you came.” The vicar turned back to John and nodded for him to answer.
“Before it all went to pot, the ogre detected something very, very dangerous, something that frightened it, very deep inside. Possibly deep as in underground but it didn’t have time to fix a location. There is nothing as dangerous as the fraggon on the other side of the closed doors.” John shook his head after he said ‘fraggon.’ “Will it obey you?”
“While you were busy he called it off.” Creepio gestured towards Abel.
“I asked it to come away, and explained you wouldn’t come into the garden.” Abel smiled quietly. “It didn’t answer, but I got the impression it wasn’t worried about that.”
“No, it wanted to come out here and fight an ogre, an archbishop, and what you would call a bishop-level sorcerer. I am relieved it didn’t.” Creepio leant back a little and looked up at the building. “If we ever have to force our way into Castle House, I can’t be sure we will be able to avoid some damage in Brinsford. We will have to be prepared for more fraggons at least, and then the creature in the centre.” The vicar’s harsh features softened a little. “I will try to bring allies like the ogre. They are living missiles, aimed at the greatest threat they can detect so they won’t deliberately target the village.”
“Thanks. I’ll try to persuade Fraggon it doesn’t have to guard the road, just the house.” Abel debated with himself, briefly. “I won’t open the double doors until you leave, in case anything behind them has a similar reaction.”
“We will drive to the main road and wait, in case you have trouble. I would like to talk to you all including you, young lady, at your convenience.” He looked towards Ferryl and managed one of his little smiles. “I am known as Vicar, regardless of what these reprobates call me.”
“I am Fay, and I’m hoping to move into the area.” Ferryl managed a really good version of Jenny’s innocent smile.
It didn’t seem to fool the vicar. “I hope you can explain more when we meet, Fay. Judging by the glyphs you summoned, Abel has attracted someone already proficient in magic.” He turned back to Abel. “I will wait an hour. If there are no explosions, no smoke and no rampaging monsters, we’ll go home.”
“Thanks for coming.” Abel raised a hand in farewell.
“I’m pleased we did. If something wants to eat me, I like to know what it is.” The vicar put an arm round his compatriot. “Come on John, let’s get you home so you can rest. Tomorrow we can spend long hours going through dusty archives to find a drawing of a fraggon.” The pair moved slowly to his car and left, with the vicar driving.
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“Are you really going back in there right now?” Kelis’s voice told Abel her opinion without her crossed arms.
“If it goes wrong we’ve got an ogre to help?” Rob shrugged when Kelis glared at him. “Just saying. If we do it later, Creepio won’t be there if we need him.”
“Hah. Abel will just set Fraggon on anything nasty. After all, it came to heel when he called.” Jenny cracked her fingers. “Fraggon? Heel, boy. Girl?”
“Boy. When Abel called it back it had that sulky look all boys have when they’re stopped from doing something stupid.” Kelis had recovered her humour now she’d got a target. “What do you think, Ferryl?”
“Although it might come as a shock, I agree with Rob. He has to be right once a year.” She raised an eyebrow at Rob’s face. “Hey, I’m supposed to be a teenage girl so I have to pr
actice.” Her face and voice sobered. “Everyone ready?”
A shimmer shot skywards before looping and swooping back down. “Ffod is always ready!”
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When Abel opened the front door, Fraggon had moved its head back to the normal position instead of looking straight at the opening. As usual it opened its electric blue eyes when Abel drew level, then licked the wall when he produced the sovereign. The panel turned transparent, revealing the maze. “Here we go, Zephyr. Do you want to fly free, in case you have to run?”
“No. I am part of you this way. Please hold the coin next to the opening so I can go straight in.”
“Do you want to look at the print?”
“The cheat sheet? Yes please, though I am sure I can remember the path to the coin slot.” Abel felt sure Zephyr could remember every line after the amount of time she had spent hovering just above it. He took out the paper and unfolded it, holding it open for Zephyr to inspect her route.
As she did, Abel glanced towards Fraggon, then jerked and stared hard. He couldn’t be absolutely, totally sure, but that wide, curved frog-like mouth looked as if it had more curve. A smile? Abel racked his brains, had it always looked like that? Why would the guardian smile now? He glanced at the cheat sheet, then looked back at Fraggon. “Are you watching to make sure we don’t cheat?” Fraggon didn’t answer, or not in words. Instead, the stone creature turned its head to look straight out the entrance. That meant it couldn’t see the panel!
Abel really, really wanted to tell Zephyr to hurry, but daren’t. After a couple of minutes, or three hours to Abel, Zephyr sighed, a strange sensation in his mind. “Looking more will not help. I am ready. Keep a tight hold on my tether, Abel.”
“Always, wind with a name.” Abel took the coin out of his pocket and held it up.
“Down near the entrance, is the way in, so I can take it straight inside.” Abel lowered his hand and the coin. Zephyr hesitated, then plucked the coin from his fingers and was inside in a split second. She stopped there for a moment. “It works!” Abel heard the excitement in her voice, but didn’t want to tell her to calm down in case he distracted her. The coin, held fast in a shimmer, moved deeper, turning two corners in the narrow passageway then sideways through a partition. It looked really strange as the tether, a smoky line still connecting them, followed Zephyr as she turned back towards Abel, through another partition and then up to the next level.
Despite his good intentions, Abel couldn’t help commenting. “Perfect.” The route through the next level took longer, and the level above was even more convoluted. Zephyr moved slower and slower, finally hesitating under a hole up to the fourth level. Abel glanced at the cheat sheet. “That’s the one.”
“I keep wondering. I know what I remember, then wonder if I just think I do. Then I wonder what happens if I take the wrong turn. Will the box close and cut my tether? Will I be trapped in here forever?” Abel could hear the fear creeping into Zephyr’s contact. “No more fluttering leaves in the trees, no more fae bop?”
“Woods said I can try this as many times as I like, so if I fail the coin must come back. You don’t need a tether to find me, because you have already flown free. Hold tight to the coin and you will come back with it.” Abel glanced down at the cheat sheet again. “Stop at each turn or hole and I’ll tell you yes or no. After all, we’ve got the cheat sheet. Tavern rules, not Celtchar’s.”
“The Tavern rules. Ffod will not fail the Tavern. She throws a bonus twenty!” Zephyr had been fascinated by the set of seven RPG dice, especially as she could throw any number she wanted. Though despite her confident words, Zephyr stopped at each of the crucial turns and openings until Abel confirmed her choice. She moved faster now, and soon hovered in the final chamber with the coin held in front of the slot.
“Well done Zephyr.”
“But what happens when I let the coin go? If the box closes then I cannot hold it. I have looked at the slot, and it will not allow a being such as me inside it.” The coin jiggled a little as Zephyr became more agitated.
“I know you can stretch out long and thin. How much of you can come back outside and still leave enough to hold the coin?” Abel thought fast because he really didn’t want Zephyr frightened, let alone actually hurt. “Will more magic help you to stay strong while you get thinner? I can send extra down the link.”
“Then I can cast a strong wind glyph to hold the coin and come right outside! When I am safe, I can tell the glyph to tip the coin into the slot.” Abel heard the sheer relief in Zephyr’s voice. She’d been a lot more worried than she’d let on, but had still kept going.
“More magic ready and waiting.” Abel concentrated and pushed a little magic, then felt the small additional drain as Zephyr cast her glyph.
“A puff of wind casts wind. The sorcerer never thought of that.” Despite the humour in that, Zephyr extracted herself slowly, feeding her shimmer back through the puzzle while leaving enough to hold the coin until the last moment. Abel felt the pull on his magic as she strengthened the glyph, but the coin barely moved. A flicker of movement and the rest of Zephyr shot out of the box. “Now?”
“Now.” Inside the box the coin tilted, slid into the slot, and the transparent panel turned back into wall. “Curses. Did we do something wrong?” Abel looked at Fraggon and found two electric blue eyes looking back. Its gaze dropped so Abel turned to see why. The coin lay on the little table, right where the chest used to be. Abel picked it up and put it in his pocket, turning to tell the rest what had happened. The door was closed! He’d no idea when that had happened, or why. Maybe the house didn’t like anyone watching him work on the puzzle. Though if he’d failed it should open again. So maybe? He reached for the handles on the double doors.
“I will hide. I remember the first time, and burning air.”
“Good idea Zephyr. Here goes.” Abel pushed down, and with a soft click the handles moved and the doors opened a crack. He pushed them right open but the metre-thick wall meant all he could see was the opposite side of a corridor, with soft, pale yellow light coming from either way. A picture on the opposite wall showed volcanoes and ice, and in the middle of them a fraggon. Its eyes moved, resting on Abel, then looked upwards. Abel looked up. On the ceiling the plaster had been shaped like an octopus, or decimus, or some other “uss” because Abel lost count of the tentacles when it opened its eyes.
“That doesn’t look welcoming.” Zephyr sounded hesitant. “Though it might be. None of the flows are threatening even though magic coils through everything. Are we going in?”
The tone suggested Zephyr didn’t fancy it, and neither did Abel. More to the point, he wanted to let his friends know how he’d got on. “Not yet Zephyr. Let’s talk to the rest.” Abel hesitated because he’d love to peek, but he’d have to take a full step inside to see into the corridor. Then if the doors shut or the octopus grabbed him the others would never know what they were facing when they tried a rescue. They would try, he felt sure of that, which was really good reason to reassure everyone. He closed the doors, turned, and walked back towards the exit. The door stayed shut. Abel took hold of the doorknob, and staggered as his knees buckled in relief when it turned. He hadn’t realised just how worried he’d been.
The raucous cheer as the door opened sounded like the sweetest music he’d ever heard in his life. Zephyr must have been relieved as well. As soon as Abel stepped outside she shot into the air in a series of spiralling loops, connections zapping out to everyone. “We did it! Abel and the mighty Ffod have unlocked the doors. Tavern rules rule!”
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Abel didn’t fancy standing in the wind and rain to explain everything, or going back in straight away. Instead he called Creepio’s number to leave a message that there wasn’t a problem behind the door, then the whole group headed home for their tea. They’d meet in Kelis’s house later for an impromptu meeting of Bonny’s Tavern. As they passed the first house in Brinsford, Stan came out to wave them over. “Tell that vicar bloke
that if he brings something like that again I’ll shoot it.” The old poacher looked pale but determined. “I couldn’t see it proper so it was like the other weird stuff, and nothing bloody holy. Are you sure he’s a vicar?”
“Very sure, Stan. That thing is supposed to fight the bad stuff, but it got confused.” Abel worried about Stan shooting because he had a nasty feeling that not only would the shot bounce, but the ogre would treat him as a target. Worse, Creepio had veiled it so Stan’s magical sight had sharpened to where he could see through one.
“It was trying to get into the garden to you kids. Just tell him.”
“I will but ordinary shot might not affect it, or just make it angry, so be careful. How’s Bugsy?” As expected, Abel asking about his dog diverted Stan.
“He’s doing okay. I thought his eyes were going, but he seems as sharp as ever now. It must have been an infection or something.” Stan grinned, relaxing a bit. “He wanted to go and bite that vicar bloke.”
“Be good. You know he only bites properly if you let him.” From Stan’s smirk he might still let Bugsy get a holy mouthful, so Abel kept going. “Seriously. We need the vicar’s goodwill if we want to lease the church.”
“You should buy the village shop if you want to do something charitable. It only opens in the afternoons now, and the Slummers are selling up. They’ve had enough of real life.” Stan waited, but nobody wanted to argue about him using Slummers instead of Summers. He’d had a feud with Mr. and Mrs. Summers, the shop owners, ever since they’d banned Bugsy from their establishment. “You could flog computer games in there instead of lentils and sunflower seeds.” The health food also offended Stan, who preferred pies and puddings.
“I’ll tell mum. She deals with the finances, but I don’t reckon there’s enough in the kitty for the stock, let alone the shop, even if they sell up cheap.” Abel hadn’t actually seen any sign of the shop closing, though it didn’t do much business with nearly every family having at least one member working in Stourton every day. A village shop couldn’t compete with supermarket prices, especially when vans would deliver orders for next to nothing. The group split up, with Jenny coming to Abel’s house to eat with him because her dad knew she wouldn’t be back until late.