by Vance Huxley
“You will start to see creatures, the smaller ones described in the Bonny’s Tavern booklet. You’ll only see the harmless ones inside your house because it’s protected, and most of them are kept out of Brinsford. School is protected as well, but your first bus trip to town will be an education.” Abel deliberately looked up and to the side at Zephyr’s shimmer to make it clear who he was talking about. “Zephyr isn’t easy to see at any time, just a shimmer in the air. If you let her use spooky-phone she can explain it all to you a lot faster than we can, from inside your head.” Abel glanced towards Rob because Melanie didn’t look convinced. “Rob? I think you should be the demo.”
“No problem. Spooky-phone please, Zephyr.” The misty line shot out. “Maybe you could show Melanie where the phone line comes from. I reckon that will make her feel better, especially if Zephyr will put on a bit of a show?”
“Zephyr? Catwoman first, please, then have fun but don’t show Ffod. Melanie knows all the game characters.” Abel rolled up his sleeve. “There, you finally get to see her. Zephyr lives inside the tattoo.” On his arm a furry Catwoman stood up, wearing a polka dot summer dress, and turned to wave hello. Her tail waved as well, and a little bird landed on one ear. Zephyr had full control these days.
Melanie stared, wide-eyed. “Oh wow. She’s the one in the game, sort of, in a dress, not shorts.” The tattoo blurred then wore shorts before spooky-phones connected to everyone, and a connection waved in front of the new member. “That’s, er, can you be anything? Or is that how you really look? No, you were a shimmery. Do I touch this thing?” Rob nodded and Melanie put out her hand, clutching the fox with the other. If it had been a real one she’d have probably strangled it. The connection met skin, Melanie looked startled, then she relaxed. “Hello, Zephyr. You sound, um, human?” Instead of her usual explosive enthusiasm, Melanie sounded cautious and very, very polite.
Half an hour later a cowgirl on a hare waved from Abel’s tattoo as Rob took Melanie home. The stunning had worked off and, as expected, Melanie wanted to know everything now and work every possible glyph immediately. The teenager clutched a handful of Tavern hexes even though her home was protected, and instructions to stick with wind because it was fairly harmless. Not completely to wind, because she’d already wheedled the colour changing glyph out of them. That would slow her up a bit and probably make work for Rob, fixing her mistakes.
Jenny stood up, looking decidedly unhappy. “From what Melanie said about Diane, I’m going to get the same once I get home. Super. Do you mind if I insist Diane keeps her trap shut and just plays with leaves until I can get her here?” She looked after Melanie and heaved a big, resigned sigh. “That won’t work, it’ll take a bit more to fend her off. I’ll give her the colour glyph as well because Melanie will probably tell her anyway. Trying to get that right should keep her occupied and maybe willing to slow up and listen.”
Though the tone of voice and jaundiced look meant Jenny didn’t expect it. “I really don’t fancy the questions about me and Abel. She’ll start on about love charms or some such rubbish. Sorry.” Her look towards Abel and Ferryl might have held just a little suspicion. “Little sisters don’t think any lad is good enough. She’s already suggested you might have used drugs or hypnotism. Worse, she’ll want a love potion to use on some oik from a boy band.”
Ferryl started laughing as Abel’s cheeks blushed pink. “I promise, I never used anything like that. Though if she really wants to capture a pretty boy we’d better be careful what witch charms Diane learns. I’ll bet there’s one on my missing wits that creates an attraction, because they’ve always been a good seller.”
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Two days later Mr. Forester gave in to a barrage of pleading and nagging from Diane and brought her to a real Bonny’s Tavern meeting. The five Taverneers were pleased it wouldn’t happen very often, because Melanie came as well. Either Melanie or Diane were full-on, but together and after discovering magic, the pair were irrepressible. Despite pleading, begging and a few very false tears, neither were allowed to go beyond wind and colour until they had full control. Promises to be good weren’t very convincing because Rob had already changed several seedlings in the greenhouse back to green, and luckily Jenny had seen her cat’s red tail before anyone else. Jenny cringed over the number of times Diane played the sorcerer’s ex-girlfriend card, and how her younger sister should get preferential treatment. Melanie wielded the little sister argument like Rob’s rounders bat, or possibly a real mace.
Despite pleas from both the younger sisters, neither were allowed in Castle House gardens. Abel wasn’t sure if they actually believed the story about dangerous magic in there, or if Melanie had accepted she simply couldn’t walk in. That left the five Taverneers free for the big wit hunt.
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While the two almost-fifteen-year-olds were coming to terms with magic, the Taverneers pushed forward with extracting the shades from the animated stools. Ferryl now had six wooden cubes, each containing a bound shade, and two more stools were partly dismantled in case she needed more. The next chore was emptying the bookshelves beneath the aquarium so the woodwork could be dismantled. Ferryl couldn’t see any other way of getting at the bottom of the aquarium where the wit or whatever had been hidden. “Later Kelis. You’ve got years to read them all.” Abel smiled as Kelis reluctantly closed a book and put it onto a stack.
“Yes, I know, but while we were moving it I thought I recognised part of the glyph on the front.” Kelis patted the book. “But now I’ve peeked inside it will have to wait until I learn whatever language it’s written in.” So far Ferryl had identified seven languages in the library including Latin and Greek, an old version.
“Right now I want to read the glyphs hidden in the shelving, or at least understand what they do.” Ferryl laid on her back with her head actually inside the shelves, her hand almost touching the back panel. Zephyr floated, almost touching the back of another empty shelf. “I’ve got something here I’m not keen on touching. Am I right or is it just the catch, Zephyr?”
“I agree that it shouldn’t be touched but can’t see exactly what it does. There doesn’t seem to be an attack element, so maybe that’s a trigger to warn something? Not us, something in the house. Like an alarm bell?” Zephyr floated into the next shelf. “The catch is here, the glyph to open the back or maybe the complete section of shelving, but I can’t see any hinges.”
“With all this training you’ll soon be able to pass as Nikk Smartish, the Warlock thief.” Ferryl sounded distracted as she shuffled back out, her hand running along the bottom edge of the aquarium where it met the shelving. “The shelving and aquarium don’t quite touch in some places. Can you get through the crack, Zephyr?”
The shimmer moved up to where Ferryl had her hand, and hesitated. Zephyr moved closer and closer, then a tendril of shimmer eased out and disappeared into the crack. “Ouch! There is something in there!” Zephyr shot back across the room, a hint of smoke trailing behind her. “That hurt. Something lives in there, or it’s a shade that can cast a glyph.”
“A glyph-casting shade is possible, but unwise.” Ferryl hadn’t moved far, and now she inspected the shelving again. “The glyph didn’t damage the wood so it was meant for you, Zephyr, which needs carefully controlled intent. Shades aren’t that precise. Maybe the alarm bell is for whatever cast the glyph?”
“If we drag the shelves out, or open them, and all of us are lined up?” Abel raised his hand. “Then blast it. It can’t be very big, so five of us should be able to break its shield.”
“Perhaps not. I doubt the sorcerer would put something really strong in his library with all these fragile books, but the house magic might supply a shield.” Ferryl looked back at Abel with a little smile. “Which is why we shouldn’t try blasting away. Too much magic would break the wit, and maybe the aquarium.”
“Whatever is in there is strong enough to hurt Zephyr. Maybe we should take cover first, then pull the shelves out?” Jenny eyed up the tim
bers. “If the shelving actually opens when you activate that catch, Rob can stick his bat in the way to stop it closing.” A quick discussion led to Rob standing up against the shelving one side of the aquarium, with Kelis the other side and Zephyr above. The others spread out, Ferryl and Jenny behind armchairs and Abel behind a settee. After second thoughts, the furniture was laid down so nothing could throw glyphs underneath it and hit someone’s foot. The furniture wouldn’t stop a glyph, but Ferryl didn’t expect the defences to start a fire in the library. Everyone would stay hidden just in case she was wrong.
Abel asked Zephyr to touch the catch, then zoom up out of sight. He ducked down and waited, but nothing happened. Just as he was going to stick his head out Kelis called out. “It’s moving, the whole section of shelving under the aquarium is sliding downwards. The top is now flush with the floor so the hole is big enough to get inside. I can’t see in from this angle.”
“Don’t try! You’re too close to dodge. Sorry.” Abel knew what came next.
“Since I’m not a boy, my brain functions even when it’s excited so I worked that bit out.” Kelis sounded excited, too excited to keep teasing. “Something is moving in there. There’s some sort of low lighting inside so I can see shadows. Two somethings, one each end.”
Moments later Abel heard a clattering noise and a startled yell from Rob. “Cursing mippygrobs. Something smacked my bat across the room.”
A brief silence fell as everyone tried to come up with the best way to see into the hole without becoming a target. Ferryl spoke up first. “That was wind, not fire, so whatever is under there knows two glyphs. It’s controlled as well, because it hurt Zephyr but didn’t damage the shelves. I’m going to peek and find out if these are just warning shots.” Abel looked across without showing himself and saw Ferryl stick her head out and quickly pull it back. Two fire glyphs flew through the space where her head had been, tight enough so they didn’t scorch the chair.
“Those looked a bit more than a warning.” Abel didn’t have chance to continue.
“Look behind you Abel. Ferryl and Jenny as well. Those glyphs died before they hit the shelves.” Abel twisted round and just as Kelis said, there wasn’t a mark on the fragile wooden shelves or books along the far wall.
Abel drew in a mental line, but at least one of those glyphs had to have hit well away from the window. “Watch again please, everyone this time. I’m going to pop my head up over the top of this settee but I’m going to put up a shield first in case a glyph blows right through the upholstery.” Abel shuffled back from his cover, pushed out a shield and then rose up to show his head. He got a quick glimpse of two strange shapes, wide but waving about on a single leg or stalk, before ducking and moving sideways. Two glyphs flew over the settee, almost dead centre but once again clear of the upholstery.
“Weird, they shouldn’t have done that because you are the master. Weirder still the glyphs just snuffed out for no reason, just before hitting the window and a bookshelf.” Kelis sounded thoughtful rather than surprised. “The room must have put up shields.”
Zephyr’s connection shot out and then back again before anything could target them. “No flows, no shield. Glyphs just stopped.”
“I took the chance to look at the two creatures, so I didn’t see it. The glyphs dying means the guards under there aren’t meant to harm the library.” Ferryl chuckled quietly, then again at the surprised looks from the others. “I’d wondered why the sorcerer set up a firefight in his library, but the snakes under the aquarium are only here to stop others from getting to the controls.”
“Snakes that throw glyphs? Are they like a magical spitting viper?” Having moved to the end of the settee, Abel saw Jenny almost peek out then think better of it.
“The guards are flying snakes.” Ferryl sighed loudly, her exasperation clear in her voice as she continued. “Which doesn’t help us much, because there’s only one sort of winged snake that throws glyphs. Pterotos snakes are intelligent enough to fight smart, and will be supplied with endless magic by the house.”
While Ferryl sulked, the rest tried to work out how to get past the guards. Rob still sounded grumpy, maybe about his bat, but wondered about shoving a chair or books across in front of the opening. Even if that would work, it wouldn’t get Ferryl into the hole under the aquarium. After discarding a couple of other suggestions, Jenny suggested bagging the snakes. Wildlife programs usually showed snakes quietening down once they were caught. Ferryl perked up, she hadn’t thought of that. Eventually they settled on using curtains to shield and wrap the snakes, then cushion covers to bag them up.
“Are the snakes magical, Ferryl? Will a bag hold them or will they just filter out through the cloth like Zephyr can?”
“Ophis Pterotos are real snakes with feathered wings, Rob. They used to be confined to Africa, where the local birds keep them under control. The snakes protected the source of frankincense, allegedly at the bidding of some godling, so they probably belonged to a sorcerer. These must have been brought in deliberately, and bound to the house. Bound servants, still alive because they are thinking rather than acting like a shade.” Ferryl snatched a cushion. A fire glyph flew past but disappeared before striking another cushion.
“That settles the main question, the snakes won’t hurt furnishings. I really hope the wit or whatever in there is worth all this trouble.” Abel heard the door open as Kelis finished with “I’ll get some curtains from the other rooms.”
When Kelis came back with two floor-to-ceiling curtains from the sitting room, Zephyr slowly lowered one across half the opening. Neither snake damaged it, even when Ferryl gave them a very brief target. Only one threw a glyph, because the other would have hit the cloth. Kelis brought two more curtains, so there weren’t any gaps, and soon wind glyphs held all four against the aquarium, hanging down to close off the entire opening.
After cautiously experimenting, the Taverneers gathered in front of them, where Kelis and Ferryl took the cushion covers. Ferryl could heal herself, while Kelis had the longest arms and could reach past the rest to bag her target. Abel counted down, and a short, frantic struggle later Ferryl and Kelis each held a bulging bag. Very still bags, which worried them all a little until Jenny remembered some of the snakes on the TV played dead once they’d been captured.
Kelis inspected a scorch on her sleeve, and one on Rob’s jeans, while Jenny, Ferryl and Abel all had lightly scorched hands. The snakes had to banish their glyphs almost as they threw them to avoid damaging the bottom of the aquarium or the bookshelves each side, so they hadn’t been very hot. As Ferryl healed hers, Jenny wagged a finger but with a big smile. “I’d be really annoyed about you doing that, but scorched clothes are actually a bigger problem. A curious parent one.”
“Only until I get to school. I’ll nip out at dinner break and get another pair of jeans.” Rob smiled at Abel and shrugged. “I’ve still got most of my fifteen hundred quid so I can probably run to that.” He turned towards Ferryl, already wriggling under the aquarium on her back.
Zephyr disappeared after her. “I do not burn. The glyphs hurt and I become a tiny bit smaller, but I am a much bigger puff of wind now.” The tone of the voice down the spooky-phone changed suddenly. “Look, Ferryl! There is the wit. It looks like a wit. I’ll get the bound shades!”
“Let me see first, Zephyr. I have to read whatever instructions the sorcerer scribed so I can copy them. If he has written the parameters as one set of rules, it might be easier to just scribe new ones for whatever each shade has to control.” Ferryl’s legs moved sideways as she twisted round and almost disappeared. The hole, with the shelves out of the way, gaped four metres wide by a metre high, stretching over three metres back into the wall. Her muffled voice sounded resigned. “I can’t split these instructions up, not without rewriting each section anyway, so we’ll start from scratch. Will you get my notes from the internet please Abel, the ones we made about the salinity and temperature, and the list of species and requirements?” Ferryl cons
idered the internet a special kind of magic, a giant type of wit because of the sheer wealth of information it held. “Between them and what is on here, we can make sure there’s nothing we missed.”
“Can we scribe some of it for you, Ferryl?” Kelis went onto her hands and knees to peer inside, as did the rest. Even Jenny looked, though she probably wouldn’t try to help with this job. She’d only just scribed her first wit, human biology of course, though she’d be starting on all the dry legal parts of Business Studies as soon as possible.
After inspecting the wit again, Ferryl spent two days creating six sets of instructions to split up the control of the aquarium. Abel and Jenny worried about the snakes being bagged up too long, so with Rob, Zephyr and Kelis they helped by scribing the basic instruction set exactly as Ferryl showed them. Ferryl further modified each one for the particular glyph and to give them their own parameters. The Taverneers made a little ceremony of wiping out the original instructions that told the shade to animate their stool. Zephyr and even Jenny could do that part, so they each took one and fixed all six simultaneously. Zephyr and Ferryl set into installing the bound shades before disturbing the wit, but only put in two the first night. Before they could finish the job something else cropped up.
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Abel had already noticed that the younger players such as Melanie and Diane embraced the Tavern ideals with particular enthusiasm. Ten days before Easter break, he found out just how enthusiastic they were. Melanie caught up with Rob and his friends on their way to lunch. “Come quick. We’ve got a Tavern problem.” She tugged on his arm, and the rest turned to follow. Abel had a sinking feeling as Melanie led them round towards the school rubbish bins, because it had to be more bullying. He’d thought most of that had been stopped. Now Abel hoped one of the Taverners hadn’t got carried away and really injured someone. God’s medics might not be interested in covering up that sort of problem.