by Lucia Ashta
Clara moved to my side. “Elwin is absolutely fine. He flew ahead to the academy to warn the others of what was happening.”
I exhaled slowly. “Thank goodness.”
Clara smiled. “May I help you up?”
I didn’t feel strong enough to do much of anything, but leaving this dungeon far behind was sufficient motivation. “Please,” I said.
“Sir Lancelot,” she said, “are you well enough to ride on my shoulder?”
“I think so, Lady Clara. I feel a certain sense of, hmm, panache for life now that the head of the Sorcerers for Magical Supremacy is gone.” He hopped to her shoulder with ease, and I wondered how much of his convalescence might have been for show. Still, he was too cute to mind any potential exaggeration.
With Sir Lancelot settled, Clara, with Gertrude’s assistance, helped me to my feet. I wobbled then steadied, and leaned into both women for support.
“Can you portal?” Count Vabu asked me.
How should I know? But I said “Yes” because I needed to get out of here. Away from the dark dungeons, away from the space where Maurisse’s memory still lingered.
“Good,” the vampire said. “Because we’d better hurry before that goblin in the corner gets any cute ideas.”
“Goblin?” I squeaked and swiveled my head furiously to look for the beast. But neither Clara nor Gertrude stopped moving forward.
Giselle began her murmured chants and brought her hands in front of her, clasped together. A rainbow of lights built beneath her palms, and before long, they grew so bright I had to squint. Then she tossed the ball of light ahead of the sisters who half carried me, and it sprang open. Like a pop-up hoop, with a wyap slapping sound, the portal sprang into place, circling and vibrating and sparking away.
Never had I seen magic so effortless or so smooth, not even from Mordecai.
I craned my neck to try to find Nando, but before I could at least make eye contact with him, Clara and Gertrude walked Sir Lancelot and me through the portal.
There was nothing I could do now. So I did the only thing I could. I relaxed and was thankful that Maurisse was dead and this fight might finally be over. At least there was a very good chance the day was about to end.
I closed my eyes to the dizzying sensations of light whizzing by and my stomach lurching as it lost its ability to distinguish up from down. I didn’t resist when the portal pulled at my body, preparing to deconstruct me before piecing me back together again.
I was getting the hang of this magic business. I didn’t fight the process... I was starting to think I might love it.
Chapter 7
We probably arrived in the parlor of the Acquaine manor seconds later, though it seemed more like hours. My stomach churned as if in a stormy sea, the kind even seasoned sailors were wary of, and I felt faint. But however I felt, I was at the Academy, and as relief whooshed in, I knew that’d be enough to make up for the physical discomfort of portaling here.
I looked up and noticed that Clara, Gertrude, Sir Lancelot and I weren’t the only ones in the parlor. Wizard Meedles and Madame Pimlish sat too close to each other on the settée, and I suspected they’d been sitting even closer before the portal sputtered to life and interrupted... whatever they were doing. Madame Pimlish’s face was flushed pink, and Wizard Meedles’ eyes scanned the entirety of the parlor before settling on us. Madame Pimlish re-buttoned the top clasp of her dress, and smoothed her skirt and her hair, which was mussed.
Ew. It didn’t take a detective to figure out that those two had been necking. Gross.
The giant of a wizard wrapped an arm around Madame Pimlish’s shoulders as if it were necessary to spare her from our scorn.
But we had bigger things to worry about than their inappropriate displays of affection.
Clara was the only one to give them a disapproving look, which surprised me, since she’d been nothing but gentle with me. I hadn’t expected her to be judgmental with our teachers, who’d apparently found love in the most bizarre of places. I couldn’t understand what the large man with a pack of hellhounds at his feet saw in the rotund, squeaky woman. Obviously, there was no accounting for taste.
But a moment later I realized that I’d misinterpreted Clara’s glare when she said, “You do realize that we were in danger while you were... doing your thing?”
Ah, why hadn’t I thought of that? Oh, that’s right, because life had been one non-stop ride of turmoil since I last stepped foot in this parlor.
Madame Pimlish dropped the demure act and scooted forward on the seat while remaining beneath Wizard Meedles’ arm, which she now wore as a badge of honor instead of shame. “How were we supposed to know you were in danger? For all we knew, you were taking your time riding back here.”
Not even I believed the mask of innocence the transformations teacher painted on her face for a few moments.
Clara blinked at her several times, and Madame Pimlish started to squirm before catching herself and stopping. She tried a different tactic. “With so much loss all around us, there’s even more reason to live the moments we have to their fullest.”
She sounded a bit like Arianne, and I supposed I agreed with the sentiment, though it was difficult to accept that while Maurisse had threatened our lives, and I’d had to kill him, they’d been smooching without a care in the world.
Clara just scowled at her and then at the wizard, who wouldn’t meet her gaze.
Ah, but I was tired, and I wasn’t in the mood for any of Madame Pimlish’s nonsense, not even another second of it. If they wanted to neck, then they could neck all day long for all I cared... as long as I didn’t have to see any part of it.
“I-I need to sit,” I said. I was having trouble standing.
“Yes,” Gertrude said. “Besides we need to get out of the way. The others will be right behind us.”
She and Clara led me over to the armchair on the other end of the parlor from the love birds, when Wizard Meedles asked, “Who was with you?”
He pulled his arm away from Madame Pimlish, who scowled but said nothing, and inched away from her and began to pet his hellhounds distractedly.
“Let’s see,” Gertrude said. “Trevor and his family, all but Nicholas, who’s coming with the horses. Marcelo, Vlad, Giselle, and Nando.” She looked to Clara. “That’s it, right?”
“I think so.”
Wizard Meedles stood, stepping between his hounds and rounding on us. “And what of Arianne, Gustave, Mordecai, the blonde girl and her brother? The dragon and drakes? And what of Albacus?”
That’s right. I’d forgotten that Wizard Meedles had taken off with his lover lady and hounds before we’d achieved any kind of resolution.
Clara ignored the entirety of his questions and focused on one point. “Are you telling us Grand-mère and Great Uncle Gustave aren’t here yet?” She shared a loaded look with her sister, who wore her same expression of concern.
“They’re not here. No one’s here but us, well, and the manor staff of course.”
“How is Holly?” I asked from the armchair, into which I sank farther with every passing minute. I could fall asleep right here.
The wizard’s face lit up. “She’s doing well, my good girl.” He looked down at his hounds, but I didn’t see her among them.
“So everything went well with the delivery?”
“Perfectly. She’s a brave girl. She didn’t even whine about her lost mate. She just brought his pups into the world with his strength.” He beamed as if he’d just become a proud grandfather. I doubted he saw much difference between the pups and human babies.
“Where is she then?”
“Oh, she’s resting while her pups suckle away.” He sighed contentedly, and I caught Clara staring at him with mild disapproval. I suspected she didn’t think he should be this happy with some of our own in potential danger. But I’d neutralized the main threat, hadn’t I?
I slumped farther into the chair.
“You come here, clearly exhausted,” Wizar
d Meedles said to me, “and the first thing you think of is the well-being of my hounds?”
They hadn’t been my first concern, but I smiled tiredly anyway. “I was worried about her.” I shrugged. “I’m glad she got to make it here before delivering.”
Wizard Meedles grinned, the expression barely visible beneath his gruffy beard and mustache. His eyes twinkled when he turned to speak with Madame Pimlish. “See? I told you I had a sense about this one.”
“This one?” I asked.
He faced me. “You.”
Clara cut in. “I’m relieved Holly and the pups are well also, but now we have a problem we hadn’t anticipated. Grand-mère should have arrived by now.”
“Humbert is still recovering from his injuries, remember?” Gertrude said.
“Even so, he’s much faster than this.”
The sisters pursed their lips in identical grim expressions. If they were this worried, then it seemed that I should be too. I sighed loudly, and didn’t bother to transform my frustration into some version of a ladylike sound. Apparently there’d be no rest for any of us, no matter whom we’d killed or what threat we’d put to rest.
But then the portal sizzled, hissed, and brightened.
“Thank goodness,” Clara exhaled. “They shouldn’t have taken this long.”
It was true. Had I been more alert, I would have noticed that there was no reason for the others not to follow immediately behind us—no happy reason, at least.
Every set of eyes in the room, even those of the seven hounds with us, honed in on the sputtering portal.
“Come on, come on,” Gertrude chanted. “What’s taking them so long?” She looked to her sister. Both of their sweethearts were back in that dungeon, even if Gertrude might deny the depth of her connection to Brave.
But then Angelica came through the portal—more like ran through it. She skidded to a stop right before knocking into a coffee table. Her chest heaved and her eyes were wild.
Clara and Gertrude were on her in an instant, and Wizard Meedles crossed the space to be at her side. Even Madame Pimlish stood and interwove her fingers nervously, and I edged forward in my seat, which was all the oomph I had at the moment.
Sir Lancelot adjusted on Clara’s shoulder as she put a hand on Angelica’s upper arms. She and the owl peered into the girl’s eyes, partially hidden by a disarray of strawberry blonde hair. Gertrude leaned in to stare at her. They entirely blocked the girl from my sight.
“Angie,” Clara said. “What is going on?” She enunciated each word clearly, in what I assumed was an attempt to bring order to the girl’s panicked mind.
Angelica breathed heavily, her eyes glazed as she moved and caught my own for a moment, but didn’t hold.
“Angie!” Gertrude snapped. “We’re freaking out here. You need to tell us what’s going on at once.”
Angelica shook her head as if to dispel the cloud of emotions muddling things. “They’ll-they’re coming. The others will come as soon as they can. Once... the goblins...”
“Goblins? As in, plural?” Gertrude said.
Angelica nodded.
“Goblins?” Wizard Meedles asked, voice fully alert. “Where are the goblins?”
“At one of Maurisse’s places,” Gertrude said.
“You mean, the castle?”
“No, the castle’s gone. Another place.”
Wizard Meedles looked properly confused. Given how much had gone down since he left with Holly in his arms, I didn’t blame him. Thankfully, he had the good sense not to try to get caught up before taking action.
“How many goblins?” he asked Angelica.
“Four? Five? Maybe as many as ten.” She shrugged. “They started popping out of the corners. It was so dark to the sides that not even Nando or Vlad noticed them until they attacked.”
But I knew better. My brother’s sight was so impressive that it must have been something else. Maybe there were passageways or hiding places in the walls. That was more likely.
“They attacked?” Clara asked, her eyes wide, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out she was wondering whom the goblins had attacked of all the people we’d left behind there, including her husband.
Angelica nodded. “All at once.” She swallowed visibly.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“I really don’t know.” Her eyes swam in unshed tears. “Mum shoved me through the portal.”
“I’m going in,” Wizard Meedles announced.
“No!” Madame Pimlish said. “Goblins are vicious.”
“With more reason. I must help the others.” He crouched down low to speak with his hounds, I imagined in a way similar to how Elwin and I did.
Elwin! Poor firedrake, I’d forgotten him again. Although, I couldn’t really be blamed. There was too much going on in so many different directions. “Has Elwin arrived?” My tone was fierce enough that all, including the distraught Angelica, placed their attention on me.
“Elwin?” Wizard Meedles stood back up and put his hands on his hips, looking angry, though I didn’t understand all the reasons why. “Did he travel with Humbert?”
I shook my head with urgency. “No, he flew on his own to warn you of what was going on.”
He scowled and shot a somewhat reproachful look at Madame Pimlish, who fretted with her dress. “I told you we should have gone back once Holly was all right.”
“We couldn’t have known,” she said, her voice hesitant.
“We should have.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” Clara said. “You wouldn’t have found us at the castle.”
Gertrude grimaced, then smiled. “More like, you wouldn’t have found much left of the castle.”
“What?” Wizard Meedles’ eyes were fierce and frantic, but Gertrude waved him away. “Back to the goblins.”
His nostrils flared above his bushy mustache, but he nodded. “I’m going.” He turned back to his hounds. The moment he crouched in front of them, every one of them (but Holly of course) stood and stared at their master. In less than half a minute, Wizard Meedles was lined up at the portal with seven ferocious hounds at his back.
“Anything else I should know before I go?” he asked Angelica.
“Yeah, they’re ugly things, and mean. They gang up to attack.”
“I already knew all that. Are they using their magic?”
Angelica nodded while I wondered at it. First of all, goblins were real and not just legends of frightening storybooks, that was a big one. But they also had magic? I had so much to wrap my mind around once this all calmed down... if it ever did.
“Very well.” His tone was grim as he stepped right through the portal without hesitation—or a final look for Madame Pimlish, who gasped when he and his hounds disappeared from sight.
The portal popped and sizzled and swallowed the giant wizard and seven hounds whole.
Moments later, Simon shot from the portal like a ball from a cannon.
He hit the table his sister had narrowly avoided and rolled to the floor next to it, groaning. “Simon,” Angelica said, suddenly fully possessed of her faculties. She shoved off Clara’s hands and raced to his side. “Are you all right?”
“Mum,” he groaned.
Angelica’s eyes widened with terror. “Is Mum all right? Please tell me she is, please let her be fine.”
“She’s fine, don’t worry. She’s fighting those things tooth and nail. She just”—he pushed to his elbows with another loud groan—“she shoved me super hard. I went flying through the portal.”
Angelica sat back on her heels and breathed. Poor girl, she seemed nearly as bad off as I was. A psyche could only take so many ups and downs. “And Da?”
“He’s fine too. He and Mum managed to kill one of them.”
Angelica helped Simon to sit. “How many are left?” she asked.
“A lot. Too many. It’s like they’re coming out of the walls or something.”
“Of course Maurisse would have goblins hidden in the
dungeon,” Clara grumbled. “It’s just like him to do that.”
But all I could think about was how lucky Nando, Sir Lancelot, and I had been that the goblins hadn’t attacked sooner. There’s no way the three of us would have survived, even with my magic and Nando’s sword. If hoards of them had attacked, we would’ve been goners.
I gulped and met eyes with Sir Lancelot, who was staring at me. From his huge, wide eyes, wide even for him, he was obviously thinking the same thing. He gulped too.
It had been a close call and we hadn’t even realized it.
“What do we do?” Gertrude asked. “Should we go back and help them?”
“I have no idea how to take down a goblin, do you?” her sister said.
Gertrude shook her head, and the sisters turned to Simon and Angelica, Madame Pimlish all but forgotten at the other end of the room.
“How did your parents kill one?” Gertrude asked Simon.
“With magic of some sort, but I didn’t recognize it.”
Angelica said, “We haven’t learned too much of magic yet, other than some of our natural gifts.” She was obviously referring to Simon at the very least. “That was why Mum and Da were so excited that we ended up here. They hoped we’d get to learn everything there is to learn about magic.”
Yeah, join the club.
Ahem. Madame Pimlish cleared her throat. “Goblins have to be blasted with light magic at the precise time that their heads are sliced off.”
No one said anything until Gertrude finally said, “Oh.” What more was there to say? Light magic? Cutting off heads? Yeah, not my thing. I didn’t think it was the “thing” of any of us there.
“I’m not qualified to help with this,” Madame Pimlish continued. “My magic is in transformation,” she said as if we didn’t already know. I suspected that even if she’d had the ability to take on goblins and dispatch them, she wouldn’t be volunteering, even though Wizard Meedles had already done it.
Clara ran a comforting hand along Sir Lancelot’s back, which he seemed to enjoy. “So what do we do then?” she asked. “We can’t just wait here while our friends are in danger.”