by Lucia Ashta
She shrugged off his gratitude. “I’m glad it worked. There were a few times there I wasn’t so sure.” She turned her head on Marcelo’s shoulder to look down the hall at the rest of us. I imagined we must have been quite the sight, looking as if we’d just survived some terrible calamity—which we had. “Sorry it got so intense. Once I identified the remnants of the spell, it didn’t take long to tear them down. But it took a long while to free Albacus so he could join us too.”
I couldn’t quite muster the energy to resent what we’d experienced when I realized it had been necessary to free Albacus.
The spirits! “What about the spirits who’ve been trapped here too? Are they free now?” I spotted Malachai hovering above Mordecai and Albacus. He cast an appreciative look in my direction before turning to Clara expectantly.
Clara tried another tired smile. “I think we’re all free to go now, even the spirits.”
“That’s fantastic,” Albacus said, beating me to it. Malachai hooted his celebration. I jumped before laughing at my reaction.
“What is it?” Nando asked immediately.
“Just Malachi, one of the spirits. He was celebrating and it startled me.”
“Oh, well don’t do that to me. My nerves can’t take any more.”
“Tell me about it.”
Holly, the pregnant hellhound let loose a pain-filled whimper that made my heart lurch in my chest. She was hurting!
“Can I get my girl out of here now?” Wizard Meedles asked. He continued to cradle the gigantic hellhound in his arms.
“If the spell is broken, I don’t see why not,” Mordecai said.
“Good.”
I thought the large wizard was going to march past Nando and me to reach the door. He didn’t. Instead, he muttered a quick spell before a portal sprang to life right in the middle of all of us. Two of the hounds were sucked into the portal before I had the chance to register what was happening.
“Why is he portaling?” I asked no one in particular.
But Wizard Meedles heard me. He signaled to the rest of his hounds to enter the portal then said, “Because my girl deserves to have her pups someplace beautiful, away from all this tragedy. That despicable sorceress Miranda killed Holly’s mate. At the very least I want her to feel him close when she births his pups.” The gruff wizard shot a look at Count Vabu. “Good job taking her out, by the way.”
Count Vabu simply gave one, short nod. Apparently, that was all the death of a witch, who’d given herself over to darkness, merited. I wasn’t sure I blamed him. Miranda had been awful.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Wizard Meedles said to Madame Pimlish. “You’re coming with me.”
I expected Madame Pimlish to complain about being told what to do, mostly because the transformations teacher seemed to complain about everything. But she moved next to him without a word. It was a relief to see that she wasn’t crying any more. As annoying as she was on a normal day, she’d been completely unbearable since the spell affected her outlook.
Wizard Meedles signaled with his chin that she should come closer. The moment she did, he stepped through the portal. She was half a step behind him.
The portal sparked and crackled, then shrank and dwindled until it was nothing more than a small hole to another place. Next it vanished entirely with a sharp pop that made my ears ache.
Madame Pimlish, Wizard Meedles, and his hounds were gone.
An encompassing silence descended upon all of us for a few suspended breaths, before everyone sprang into motion all at once.
Chapter 4
The wind might have died down, but the chaos was far from over.
The many creatures with us had endured our imprisonment and then the pummeling of the wind with relative grace, considering. But it seemed they had no more patience left. They devolved into beasts with one goal in mind: getting out of the place that had been nothing but bad news for them since the moment they entered it.
I suspected it all started with Humbert, who was at the back, since he couldn’t very well fit in the hall with the rest of us. But I was unable to confirm this suspicion or much of anything else, because suddenly Walt was pressed against me, and Marie against Nando—though neither Marie nor my brother looked particularly bothered by the fact.
“Sorry,” Marie said, not looking sorry at all. I wondered if she and my brother had shared a meaningful moment, as Walt and I had, during the tumult. “They’re pushing us from behind.”
They happened to be fourteen frazzled firedrakes, one very large dragon, and perhaps one very small pygmy owl, who, I hoped, had found the way to survive.
A wave of firedrakes pushed Marie and Nando forward, causing Nando to release his hold on me. “Isa!” he called over his shoulder.
But there was nothing either one of us could do but ride the wave. The firedrakes weren’t waiting, and they weren’t being careful.
Fourteen drakes, who were all teeth, talons, and red eyes in their desperation to get outside, pushed us forward. Half of them walked, moving us along with their outstretched wings; the other half flew, clipping our heads with their low flight.
I searched for Elwin among them, discovering that I not only remembered him and my connection to him, but that my brain had begun to function at something close to normal levels. Regardless, I didn’t manage to spot Elwin in the mass of figures urging us forward.
I lost sight of Nando in the swell, and craned my neck to attempt to see above the mass of magicians and creatures. Just then, a firedrake, the scarlet one I’d given my life to save, shoved me. I went flying forward, stumbling.
On instinct, I jerked one arm in front of me, pushing against the firedrake ahead so I wouldn’t smash into the creature. I jerked the other arm out the side and connected with something. I hung on.
“Ow,” Walt cried.
I immediately let go, startled that he’d been the one I’d latched onto, even though he’d been on my other side. It was hard to keep track of who was where anymore.
“No, you don’t need to let go,” he said, reaching for my arm and holding onto it. “Just don’t squeeze so hard.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know you didn’t.” He smiled—flirtatiously, I thought—but then we were moving again.
Walt must have been struggling to keep his hold on me with the way we were being jostled, but he didn’t let go. “We’re bottle necked,” he said. “They’d better get that door open fast....”
He didn’t complete his sentence and I suspected the reason why. If that door didn’t open soon, we were going to get squashed. With the panic that was running through our animal companions, there was no guarantee that no one would get hurt. Humbert was stomping angrily behind us, shaking the floor we stood on.
“Somebody get that door open!” Trevor, I think, yelled from somewhere in the front of the line.
“What do you think we’re doing?” Grand Witch Tillsdale snapped back. “We’re working on it.”
I rose onto my tiptoes but managed only to make out a great number of heads and shoulders. “Do you see anything?” I asked Walt. He was a few fingers taller than me.
He stretched his neck. “I think Marcelo is working on the door. Unless that’s Count Vabu. I can’t tell. The torches don’t illuminate far enough.”
“It’s not me,” Count Vabu said from behind us, making me shriek and immediately regret that I’d shown how much he affected me.
I brought my free hand to my chest and turned to him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” But it was more than that. I hadn’t felt him there either. Granted, my nerves were frazzled, and undoubtedly my senses weren’t functioning as well as they usually did, but still. It made me uncomfortable to realize how easily he could sneak up on me. He’d managed to take Miranda by surprise. What could he do to the rest of us if he wanted?
Count Vabu was studying me with piercing eyes. I squirmed under his attention while I worked to shake the sensation that he’d read my mind. I thoug
ht he might have been about to say something, but then Walt tugged me along with him as the swell ushered us forward again, even though the door was still closed up ahead.
“Why aren’t they opening the door?” Walt grumbled. “Don’t they realize we’ve had enough of this?” But he didn’t mean it, not really. We were all in this together, and I had no doubt that the wizards at the front of our throng wanted to get that door open even more than us.
Humbert roared behind us. Without the wind to detract from the sound, it was deafening. The dragon was large, and I realized then that if he wanted to get out of here, he could. Now that the spell was broken, he could barrel right through all of us and crash through the walls—or something. The might of his roar suggested that nothing would hold him in anymore.
“We have to hurry,” I said. “The animals won’t wait much longer.”
“I know,” Walt said. “I’m surprised they haven’t flattened us already.”
Flattened us? That was one image I hadn’t entertained yet. I chewed on my lip.
Humbert roared another time, making me jump. My nerves were already raw. I couldn’t take much more of this. I started to shake again.
“It won’t open,” Marcelo said. “Are you sure the spell is broken?” I assumed he was asking Clara, though I couldn’t see either of them.
“I’m fully certain. The door should open.” She sounded nervous, and I didn’t like that one bit. She’d summoned the fiercest wind I’d ever experienced, and now the obviously-accomplished witch was worried.
Marcelo heaved the door and grunted so loudly that I couldn’t imagine it not opening. “Brave,” he called. “Come help me.”
Good. Brave looked strong. “I’ll help too,” said a voice I identified immediately. Even better. My brother was also strong. The three of them would get the double doors open.
Grunts of complaint came from the firedrakes as Brave and my brother carved a path through them. Humbert roared again, this time breathing fire—thankfully still pointing toward the dungeon. I wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t direct it at us next time.
“All of us together,” Marcelo said, and I imaged all three of them lining up against the doors, maybe even getting a running start.
I strained to hear the moment the doors cracked open, but I was only rewarded with grunts of effort, and later of disappointment.
“I don’t understand!” Marcelo shouted his frustration. “Mordecai, Albacus, what’s going on? Giselle?”
“I don’t know, son,” Mordecai said. “Let us through to get a better look.”
“What about portaling us all out of here?” Walt called out.
“Not everyone here can portal,” Giselle yelled back.
Walt whipped his head around to look behind us. When I followed his attention, I jumped again at the sight of Count Vabu so close.
The vampire arched two black eyebrows at me, but said nothing about my reaction.
“Who can’t portal?” Walt asked him. It was a good idea. Count Vabu was capable of opening portals. Besides, he was way more informed than we were.
Count Vabu studied Walt and then me for a couple of beats before saying, “For starters, none of the spirits. Albacus can’t portal, and Mordecai, as you no doubt must realize, won’t go anywhere without him.”
“No, it’s not likely, given that he’s the reason we’re in this mess to begin with.”
I wasn’t sure if Walt meant Mordecai or Albacus. Either way, I supposed he was right.
“Wh-who else can’t portal?”
When Count Vabu placed the entirety of his attention on me, my heart started racing again, when it’d only just begun to settle after the wind. I realized I’d never been this close to Count Vabu, and I’d never endured his scrutiny quite like this. I gulped. Besides, now I knew he was capable of ripping a person’s head right off her shoulders. (Maybe it hadn’t been quite like that, but since I hadn’t watched, my imagination pictured the worst.)
The corner of Count Vabu’s lips turned upward, and I would have sworn he was smiling at my discomfort. That made me mad. After all we’d been through, how dare he try to intimidate me now? (Of course, maybe he wasn’t trying, and I was only just realizing how terrifying the vampire was up close.)
“The dragon can’t portal either.”
“Why not?” I asked, refusing to shrink in his presence.
“He’s too large. Portaling breaks apart our bodies and pieces them back together. That’s how we move from place to place in an instant. The larger the body, the greater the chance that the body won’t be pieced together properly afterward.”
Oh my goodness. I’m never portaling again.
“Any more questions? Since apparently we have nothing better to do.”
Was he mocking us? Walt went rigid next to me, and I suspected he believed the vampire was indeed messing with us. “Thanks for the information,” Walt said tersely, then guided me around to face the front again. I followed his direction, but didn’t like it, not one bit.
While I didn’t enjoy staring at our vampire protector head-on, I disliked not being able to see him more. I was about to turn around when a voice distracted me. “Let me through.”
“Is that... Simon?” I asked Walt.
“I think so.” He swiveled his head this way and that, looking for the boy who was younger than us by at least a couple of years.
The crowd parting to our left was the only signal that Simon passed through. Shorter than me, I had no chance of spotting him. “What’s he going to do?”
“I’m not sure, but maybe he’s planning on blowing up the door.” Walt sounded unsure, and I understood why. There were too many of us trapped in this confined space. If Simon were to blow up anything, we’d all be at risk of being blown up with it, wouldn’t we? How much control could he possibly have over the blast?
You have no idea, Isa. It’s magic. Anything is apparently possible with magic. “Maybe he won’t blow up the door,” I said hopefully. “Maybe he’ll do something safer.”
“Everyone move back!” Simon cried out. “I’m going to blow the doors up.”
“So much for safety,” Walt muttered.
“Come on,” the younger boy said. “The faster you move, the faster you’ll get out of here.”
Apparently, that was all the motivation any of us needed. Even the beasts among us coordinated their efforts. The firedrakes ahead of us took several controlled steps backward, pushing us without the earlier danger of trampling us.
“You’ll want to close your eyes,” Simon said from up front once he’d ascertained that we’d given him enough space. “And probably cover your ears.”
“You’ll also want to duck,” Count Vabu said from right behind my ear, making me jump again.
I was half a second away from whirling on him and asking if he was doing it on purpose when Walt pulled on my arm, taking me down toward the floor with him. “Your brother’d better be taking care of Marie,” he grumbled.
“I’m sure he’s thinking the same of you.”
Walt met my eyes and nodded. “I’d imagine he is.”
My eyes softened. “He’ll also be doing all he can to protect your sister. He knows how important she is to you.” And she’s important to him too. I wasn’t going to say anything about my suspicions about their feelings for each other, then figured, what was there to lose, really? After the day we’d had.... “Do you think they like—”
But the rest of my question, and thoughts, were lost to the most intense blast I’d ever seen or heard.
I scrunched my eyelids closed and scrambled out of Walt’s hold to clamp my ears shut. What had I been thinking not preparing for the blast sooner? Oh, I know. I hadn’t figured Simon could put together something of this potency so rapidly. Shouldn’t something this forceful take time to build? Some kind of long, convoluted spell?
Walt was shaking my arm, but I didn’t open my eyes or ears to figure out what he needed. My poor ears... they ached.
The ringin
g saturated my thinking, my entire being. I was one big, squealing, high-pitched tone inside. Ugh. How I wanted to escape it!
It was so bright behind my closed eyelids that I was sure Simon’s explosion would have caused some serious damage to my eyes if I’d had an unimpeded line of sight to it. I was suddenly thankful for the masses that surrounded me—and unintentionally shielded me.
Then the light behind my eyes dimmed to normal levels. When Walt shook me again, I risked squinching one eye open.
He was pointing up ahead and grinning, and he wasn’t covering his eyes or ears. I tentatively released my ears, holding my hands right next to them, in case. But I soon discovered that the ringing inside my head was far louder than any sound outside of it. I let my hands rest on my knees.
When Walt urged me to stand, I did. He pointed ahead again, though this time his lips were moving. Whatever he was saying, I had no idea over the ringing.
But as soon as I looked ahead, I knew. Whatever Simon had done had blown the exit to the castle wide open.
Both massive, wooden doors had burst free of their frame. Blessed, wonderful, glorious sunlight streamed in through the threshold. When I smiled, my cheeks ached—whether from the windburn or the trauma of the day, I had no idea. All I knew was that we were about to be free.
I thought of all the spirits, trapped here for who-knew-how-long, who’d get to move on. All the animals who’d endured terror out of loyalty for the magicians who loved them. All of us who came here because we believed in the love shared between brothers. All of us who’d believed it was worthwhile to fight for what’s right in the world—magical or otherwise.
My heart soared, temporarily ignoring the aches that remained after all I’d lived through since joining the Magical Arts Academy.
Then I remembered something. Oh no. Trixie!
I spun and clutched at Walt’s shoulders with both hands. “The horses,” I said, unable to hear my own words. “The horses were right outside the doors.”
He didn’t need to say a thing. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows tamped down in concern. “They’ll be all right.” I read the words from his lips.