“Really?” Archibald said, surprised at the last part. “Two mages are to accompany us? That’s odd, isn’t it?”
Animus nodded. “More than you know. Something terrible happened this morning, which you have not yet heard.” Animus told the story of Belterras and Brinley, and his suspicions about the Janrax, and Archibald soon forgot all about his tea.
“Did you find him, this Janrax fellow?” Archibald asked when it was over. “You have been looking for him, I presume.”
“I have been looking,” Animus agreed. “And I may have found him.”
“Where, then?” Archibald asked. “Where is he?”
Animus took another sip of tea. “Here, in this camp. One of the mages.”
Archibald shot to his feet, spilling tea again. A look of comprehension came over his face as he wiped his hands clean. “A shape changer. Who? Who is it?”
Animus inclined his head. “I have narrowed it down to two possibilities.”
Archibald went white. “Unda and Lignumis,” he said.
Animus nodded. “They both joined us recently. Both are much changed in appearance since I saw them last, and both have gone out of their way to accompany the Magemother on her trip. Lignumis is the obvious choice, which is why I suspect Unda just as much. Unda appears to have received his power back from the Magemother, which would seem to eliminate him as a suspect…” Animus’s face tightened perceptibly. “Unless, of course, the Janrax has somehow received the power of a mage. I doubt that such a thing is possible, but it is difficult to know for sure, and assuming that he is innocent may be a fatal mistake.” He paused to clear his throat. “I have not told the mages there is a traitor among them, Archibald. It would not do to turn them against each other.”
“You have to confront them,” Archibald said, rising to his feet. “Surely you don’t intend to send the Magemother into Inveress with a traitor?”
“Good heavens, no,” Animus said. “Not alone, at any rate. However, it is not the Magemother for whom I am most worried. Shael needs her alive to open the Panthion. He needs her to return safely from Inveress. It is the other mage—whichever of them is not the traitor—that will be in the greatest danger.” He leveled a finger at Archibald. “You must discover the traitor. I cannot go, and I do not know which mage to trust.”
“Surely you can trust the Magemother,” Archibald said. “She has been told of your suspicions?”
Animus scratched his chin thoughtfully. “The Janrax has infiltrated her mind. To what end, it is impossible to know. He cannot be rooted out, only destroyed at the source. In the meantime, she should not be told anything that we would not want him to know.”
“The Magemother’s Herald, then,” Archibald said. “Surely she must come with us now—”
“The Magemother has made her decision, Archibald. Tabitha stays. You go.”
“But,” Archibald began, “surely she could be convinced somehow. Given this new information, Tabitha must come.”
Animus took a deep breath and tapped the arm of the chair. “Perhaps,” he said, “perhaps not. Brinley feels that she should stay. I have counseled her otherwise and she has still made her decision. You and I must be wise enough to honor the decisions of those who have the right to make them, even when we do not agree.”
Archibald felt a sudden weight settle in the pit of his stomach. He steeled his body, his mind, to support that burden, and then nodded. “I understand,” he said.
“Good.” Animus got slowly to his feet. “Thank you for the tea.”
“Animus,” Archibald said, taking the cup. “I will not be a match for the Janrax. What will I do with him when I discover him?”
Animus’s eyes sharpened. He leaned past Archibald and picked up the silver ram’s-head cane.
“Have you forgotten what this is?” he asked. Animus spun the cane above his head and brought it down on Archibald’s bed. There was a deafening clap of thunder as the bed splintered and the ground beneath it crumpled. The bed creaked and tipped inward, slipping into the new depression in the ground, and Animus returned the cane to Archibald. “I did not approve when Lewilyn gave this to you. Now I am glad that you have it. Use it.”
Animus’s body blurred suddenly at the edges, and he disappeared into the breeze from Archibald’s tent flap as it was thrust open. Several armed guards poured into the tent. “Sir,” they said, “is everything all right?”
Archibald was still staring at the place where Animus had been, his cane clutched tightly in his hands. “Fine, fine,” he said numbly. “Just slipped.” He motioned for the guards to leave and they backed out of the room slowly, glancing curiously from him to the bed and back again.
When they were gone, Archibald stood there for a long moment. Finally, he nodded once to himself, donned his hat, and left his fear entirely behind him.
***
The sun began to lower toward the horizon as Brinley waited with Tabitha and the Swelter Cat at the top of the Bridge to Nowhere. Unda joined them first. Then Lignumis. They waited for Archibald in silence, each of them contemplating the task ahead. After a few minutes, Brinley made out the tiny shape of Archibald climbing the bridge below them. A few minutes had passed when the sound of trumpets split the sky. They all jerked and looked around, searching the ground for the source of the disturbance.
“The attack signal,” Unda said. “But I see nothing. Where is the danger?”
“There!” Brinley said, pointing to the sky. “It’s Kuzo.”
As the great dragon dove out of the clouds, the evening sunlight set his crimson scales on fire. “He’s beautiful,” Tabitha said.
“He’s terrible,” Lignumis said in awe.
“I think I am on Lig’s side for once,” Unda said. “We should go down there.”
Tabitha made a move toward the air but Brinley stayed her. “Wait,” she said. “Just watch him. See what happens, then come and tell us.”
Tabitha nodded and then turned into a sparrow and sped away.
They watched from afar as Kuzo swept up the bridge to the Wizard’s Ire. He tried to fly across the invisible barrier at the top and the alarm bell sounded even as he was repulsed. Afterward, he returned to the foot of the bridge and bellowed something that they could not quite make out. Eventually, soldiers surrounded him, their swords and pikes flashing like sparks in a fire. Before long, he rose into the sky again. He circled the bridge to the Ire once and then disappeared behind the clouds.
The sparrow reappeared, turning back into Tabitha just as Archibald crested the top of the bridge. “Did you see him?” Archibald asked, but Brinley was already questioning her Herald.
“What happened?”
“He wanted to get into the Ire,” Tabitha replied in a rush. “He wanted to get in bad. When he realized the gate was blocked, he demanded to be let across, but they couldn’t let him cross anyway, without the king’s medallion, so he called for the king to come out, but he just stayed in his tent.”
“Not surprising,” Lignumis murmured, and Archibald shot him a stern look.
“Kuzo didn’t like that at all!” Tabitha continued. “He picked up a dozen soldiers and tossed them right into the air before he left.”
“Are they…?” Brinley asked, unable to put her fear into words.
“They’ll all live,” Tabitha said. “But I can’t believe he would do a thing like that.”
Lignumis gave a hoarse chuckle. “He’s a dragon, isn’t he?”
“But he’s such a nice dragon,” Tabitha said. “And he might have hurt those men.”
“Now you see why you must stay,” Brinley whispered to Tabitha. She gave the other girl a long, meaningful look, and Tabitha nodded. To the others, she said, “He probably wants revenge on Gadjihalt. Maybe King Remy should just let him cross the bridge.”
“King Remy probably doesn’t want to risk giving the enemy a fire-breathing dragon right before the war starts,” Archibald reasoned. “Can you blame him?”
“Doesn’t matter anyway,�
� Lignumis cut in. “That dragon won’t have to wait long for his revenge. Gadjihalt will probably be walking across that bridge in a few days’ time.
Brinley was startled at the thought. “Well then, what are we waiting for?” she said, turning to the Swelter Cat. “Tobias, it’s time to go.”
“Finally!” the Swelter Cat said, standing up and stretching his back in a high arch. “It’s time to leave! I thought that it would never be…”
Brinley walked to the edge and looked down, remembering the words of the snake-man.
Death. That was what he said was waiting for them. And now she knew who he was, sort of.
She turned to face Tabitha. “I’ll see you soon,” she said firmly. “You know what I need you to do. Stick to the plan.”
Tabitha turned to the Swelter Cat. “You won’t let any harm come to the Magemother, will you, Tobias?”
The Swelter Cat placed a paw over his heart dramatically. “Though it could cause my bitter end, I shall not fail to guard your friend.”
With his promise, Tabitha jumped back from them and hopped onto the low stone wall that formed the bridge’s side. She shimmered suddenly and grew, wings and arms and claws exploding out of her body so that a great white dragon towered before them.
She uncoiled her long neck and bent down so that her eyes were level with the Swelter Cat’s. Smoke curled from her nostrils and her voice sounded like boulders tumbling down a well. “If anything happens to her, Tobias, I will cause your bitter end.”
The Swelter Cat screeched in fright and leapt into Brinley’s arms.
“Good, then,” Tabitha said. “You can go now.”
“Yes, well,” Brinley spluttered, trying hard not to laugh. She took a step toward the edge of the bridge and tossed the cat into the abyss.
Unda chuckled as the Swelter Cat disappeared with a yowl.
Archibald nodded approvingly. “I daresay it’s about time someone dropped him off a ledge.”
“Now it’s our turn,” Brinley said. She looked at Tabitha. She wanted to say good-bye and thank you and I’m sorry, but none of them came out. Instead, she took a deep breath and stepped off the Bridge to Nowhere.
***
When Tabitha landed in Mad Maggie’s garden, the old woman shrieked, dropped the basket of flowers that she had been carrying, and picked up a garden hoe from its place beside the door. Wielding it like a spear, she charged the dragon with a shout. She stopped when the dragon changed into Tabitha.
“Oh,” she said, lowering the hoe. “Tabitha, you should always announce yourself. I nearly killed you.”
Tabitha hid a smile and picked up the woman’s flowers on their way inside. “How are they doing?” she asked.
“The Mage of Earth is stable,” Maggie said. “But the same. In a trance, you know. He’s resting upstairs. Best not to disturb him. As for the other one, well, see for yourself.”
Maggie swung the door open to reveal a bustling kitchen. Tabitha took a step inside and ducked to avoid a long skewer of meat that came sailing through the air in the arms of a running child. Eight or nine other people, all of them strangers to Tabitha, were bumping and sidestepping each other in the small kitchen, cooking more meat, kneading dough, slicing carrots, and peeling potatoes. They wore clean, simple clothes that looked handmade. The people themselves looked slightly uncomfortable to be wearing them, or perhaps to be so busy.
“Maggie,” Tabitha said. “Are these your hobo friends?”
“Yep,” Maggie said proudly. “Got ’em up here to help me as soon as I could. They’re just happy to be doing something useful again, and to have a roof over their head. Isn’t that right, Jacob?” She pointed a sturdy finger at a nervous looking man who had been staring at them. He snapped back into action at once, sliding a cutting board into the dishwater and bobbing in agreement. “Yes ma’am.”
“I run a tight ship here,” Maggie said, gesturing around the room. A thin, wisp of a man was mincing garlic for a soup while sitting in the open kitchen window and using her lap for a table. In the center of the little circus stood two women, one of them old and worn looking, in a plain gray shirt, and the other young and vibrant, dressed in sparkling red and gold.
“Tabitha,” the older woman said sharply, “don’t just stand there gawking. Help peel the potatoes. Isn’t my invalid looking healthy?” She pinched the younger girl on the shoulder. “She’s practically got her whole strength back now. She’d have it already if she didn’t dump her medicine out the window when she thinks I’m not looking.”
The younger woman blushed. “You’d throw it out too, Habis, if you tasted it.” Her hair turned from black to red, and for a moment Tabitha thought it would actually burst into flame, which it sometimes did. Chantra was the Mage of Fire.
“No,” Tabitha said. “I mean, I’d like to, but I can’t. I came to get Chantra.”
“Get me?” Chantra said, looking up from her potatoes as if she would accept any excuse to escape her situation.
“Whatever you need, dear,” Maggie said. She grabbed Tabitha’s shoulder and pulled her back into the yard. “So long as you haul that cart of ore up around to the workshop first.” She indicated a large wooden cart full of black sooty rocks and pointed in the direction of the metal shop at the back of the house.
“I suppose I could do that,” Tabitha said. She considered the cart for a moment and then got down on her hands and knees and became an ox.
“Oh, perfect,” Maggie said appreciatively. She snapped her fingers and two men appeared. They fastened the cart’s harness to Tabitha’s back and then piled into the cart. One of them picked up a short whip but set it down again after drawing a dark look from Maggie. Tabitha pulled and the cart began to inch down the path that led around the house.
“It’s wonderful isn’t it?” Maggie said. “I had no hopes of getting business up and running so quickly until Habis came to help with Chantra. She’s a whiz at potions and health tonics, you know. Doesn’t Chantra look good? And the moment she found out I wanted to start my own metal shop she sent away for this lot.” She jabbed her thumb backwards at the men sitting on the cart. “Twenty-nine of them in all, every homeless person in the city, I think. They don’t all fit in the house at once of course, but at least they have a home now. It’s been a struggle to feed them, I can tell you, but they do wonderful work, and there is so much to do, what with the war coming.”
They rounded the corner of the house and Maggie’s workshop came into view. A man and woman appeared through a small door and worked together to open the larger cart door that led to the belly of the shop. Tabitha pulled the cart inside and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the dim light. Her ears were assailed by the sound of grinding metal and the ping of hammers, and she nearly tripped over a bucket of shiny breastplates when a shower of sparks made her sidestep to the left.
“Careful,” one of the men on the cart grunted as he hopped down to undo her harness. Tabitha changed back into herself when he had finished, and several people gasped.
“Maggie,” she said, “I heard that you had set up shop, but I had no idea you were this busy already.”
“Well I am!” She slapped Tabitha’s backside as if she was still an ox. “Now go away, please. You’re distracting them.”
When Tabitha reached the front of the house again, Chantra tumbled out of the door with one of her boots still unlaced. “—don’t like the idea of you going away,” Habis was saying as she followed her out. “You’re barely better as it is. Another couple days of rest and medicine would do you good.”
“Another couple days of rest would do me in,” Chantra muttered, bending down to finish lacing her boot.
“Fine,” Habis said. “But you must promise to take your medicine. Here is three days’ worth.” She held up six glass vials of a foul-looking orange liquid, which Chantra took grudgingly. “One in the morning and one at night, as I’ve told you, and one more in between if you are feeling ill.”
“Where exactly are you taking h
er?” Maggie asked, coming up behind them.
“We’re going to find a dragon,” Tabitha said.
“Excellent,” Chantra said, rolling her eyes in relief.
“Bah!” Habis shouted, throwing her arms into the air. “You’ll be dead by sunset. All that work for nothing!” And she turned back into the house and slammed the door behind her.
“Be back in a moment,” Tabitha said, following the disgruntled witch inside. She found her back in the kitchen, this time stirring a small pot, which Tabitha had not noticed the earlier.
“What now?” Habis demanded.
The kitchen was temporarily empty, Habis’s sudden mood change having given everyone an idea of someplace else they suddenly needed to be. “The Magemother has an assignment for you,” Tabitha said.
“Does she now?” Habis said, twirling a spoon in the pot. “I’m still not finished with the last one. Nearly done, if I do say so myself, but this medicine will take another hour or so before it can be used on her mother.”
Tabitha shook her head.
“Something different, eh? It wouldn’t have to do with that massive horde of people gathering down in Ninebridge, would it?”
Tabitha nodded eagerly. “She has sent for everyone. She has a secret plan!”
“A secret plan to hide the whole world inside of Inveress?”
Tabitha froze, her mouth gaping open, but Habis just laughed. “Well, she’s not the only one to think of it, but the plan’s no good. There’s no way back.”
Tabitha beamed at her. “That’s where you come in, Habis! Brinley wants you make a summoning bell that will bring everyone back out of Inveress.”
Habis threw back her head and roared with laughter. Then she caught sight of Tabitha’s face and stopped. “She can’t be serious. It took me a week to make her bell, and that was just for one person. She can’t expect…”
“She said you might say that,” Tabitha said. “She said to tell you that she expects you to be done by this time tomorrow.”
Magemother: The Complete Series (A Fantasy Adventure Book Series for Kids of All Ages) Page 63