by Lucia Ashta
That part, I did agree with, even though I didn’t much like the sound of having to do something.
“I’m afraid that’s all we can do.”
“Madame Pimlish might be right,” Simon said, completely unaware of the glare she gave him. “Mum wanted Angie and me out of there. I fear that if we go back, we’ll just distract them, and then they could get hurt. I don’t think Marcelo, Brave, or Nando would appreciate it if any of you went back either.”
I didn’t bother to deny his point, nor did Clara or Gertrude. No matter how much we didn’t like it, he was right. If we distracted any of them, they could get hurt.
Clara ran her free hand through her long hair, but quickly aborted the mission when it caught in tangles. “All right. If we can’t help them, what about the others? What about finding Humbert and the firedrakes?”
But before any of us could point out the difficulty of that mission, she herself said, “Though I don’t know how we’d find any of them, not even Elwin. We have no way to fly.”
“You can fly,” Gertrude said.
“True, but not like that. I can’t just soar across the skies until I find the dragon or the drakes.”
Uh, what? I blinked at their conversation as if I were several degrees less intelligent than I actually was. Certainly I’d misheard them. I was tired to the point of hallucination, maybe.
But even as I talked myself out of believing the seeming impossibility of what they said, a part of me, which lived deep within me, was interested in what they’d said. This part of me believed what they said and suggested, Why not? You too can do whatever you believe you can.
Surely I couldn’t fly. I laughed nervously at my own ridiculous internal dialogue and drew stares, but the others quickly dismissed me. Maybe they were used to crazy. It seemed they’d have to be to endure days like this one. And from what I’d seen, the world of magic was filled with eternal, absurdly frightening and wild days.
Clara and Gertrude had moved on, and I struggled to rejoin the conversation. The red-headed sisters consulted with Simon and Angelica, continuing to dismiss Madame Pimlish, since she was unwilling to do anything much to help anyway.
“So, what? We wait?” Gertrude asked the foursome. They didn’t consider me either, probably because I looked delusional in my corner armchair. Like a person could fly.... A person can’t fly, but a witch? Why not? My magic whispered dreamy suggestions to me.
Simon nodded. “For now.”
Clara asked Sir Lancelot, “Do you have any better ideas?”
“Not at the moment, Lady Clara, but the very instant I have one, I’ll let you know. I’ll ponder our problem while keeping watch.” With that, the owl flew to the windowsill that afforded an unimpeded view of the sky, in the direction Arianne and Gustave were likely to direct Humbert.
The owl was obviously better, as his flight was nearly perfect and smooth. “I have centuries of magical history to offer me a solution. I’ll find something.”
I believed the owl. Barely able to move, but unwilling to distance myself from the group as Madame Pimlish had, I stood on wobbly legs and made my way to the others. Together, we stared at the portal, prepared to wait however long it took for the others to cross through... or until we decided they were taking too long and we had to go no matter what danger in distraction we posed.
Whatever happened, we were a team.
Come on, Nando. You’d better be safe. Because otherwise... well, I wasn’t going to go there. I was in believing mode, and I held onto it with everything I had.
Chapter 8
Every one of us in the parlor stared at the portal, nerves on edge. Simon clutched at his side, but refused to stay away, and even Sir Lancelot alternated between watching the portal and watching the skies above Acquaine for the arrival of Humbert and the many firedrakes, who flew with the dragon.
The portal sputtered and swirled. Then it flashed and spun dizzyingly fast. As a group, we leaned forward in expectation.
We held our breaths.
The light wobbled off axis, and then, as if the magic fueling it had been interrupted, the light began to fade. Like a dying star, it was there one moment, looking as if it would always be there, and the next... it petered out of existence.
The portal was gone.
Clara, Gertrude, Angelica, Simon, and I uttered a collective gasp. What Madame Pimlish did, I had no idea. No one was paying attention to her since she’d announced she wouldn’t be of any help.
Sir Lancelot flew over and landed clumsily on my shoulder proving he wasn’t entirely recovered yet, despite his improvement. “It just vanished,” he said. “Why?”
It was the question we were all undoubtedly asking ourselves. And none of us had the answer.
I gulped and clutched at my chest. Everything inside me was suddenly hurting. If anything happened to my brother, I seriously didn’t know how I’d manage to survive.
The loss of any of the magicians in Maurisse’s dungeon would be too great to bear.
It was written all over our faces, even the feathery owl’s.
“No, no, no,” Gertrude said. “This is not happening. We have to open it back up. We have to get over there and help them.” Her voice was rising in pitch as she spoke, but I didn’t blame her one bit. I wasn’t saying the exact same thing because shock was making it difficult to process what had happened.
“I agree,” Angelica said. “There must be a way.” Simon was nodding enthusiastically next to her. We were all ready to go through the portal now that it wasn’t there to transport us.
“Who among us can open a portal?” Simon asked.
Clara and Gertrude looked at me, and the brother and sister followed suit. “You can portal,” Gertrude said.
Yes, but.... I swallowed all the buts, including the fact that portaling last time had almost killed me, and I hadn’t even been trying to bring through a bunch of other people with me. “I can portal,” was all I said. Because when it came to the safety of my brother and the others, I’d do anything; I’d put myself into any danger.
“Good,” Angelica said, voice fierce. “Then open one now and let’s go.”
I nodded, biting at my lower lip. I can do this. Piece of cake, right? I managed to kill Maurisse. Surely my magic has advanced since I last portaled, since the magicians warned me that unless I learn to balance my magic it’ll kill me.
“Come on, then,” she said.
“All right, I’ll do it.” But I didn’t move to do anything.
As Angelica opened her mouth, to urge me along again, no doubt, Clara shot her a look and came to my side. She placed a hand on the shoulder Sir Lancelot didn’t occupy. “What is it, Isa? You seem nervous.”
“We don’t have time—” Angelica started, but she stopped as soon as Clara glared a warning at her.
“Don’t look at Angie right now, she’s just worried about her family. Look at me.”
“I’m worried about my family too,” I said, “about all our families.”
“I understand. We’re all worried. But you can create a portal, it should be easy for you after what you were able to do to Maurisse.”
“Yes.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”
But how could she promise that? The fate of our loved ones was entirely out of our control at the moment, unless we took into account the power of our beliefs. And I was holding onto my faith that they’d all arrive back in Acquaine safely.
I breathed deeply and said, “I’m ready,” though I was far from it.
“Good,” Clara said to me, then addressed the others. “Keep in mind that we’re probably going straight into the middle of a fight. Who knows how many goblins there might be. Be prepared that they might attack you the second we cross through. Have your magic at the ready.”
Everyone nodded, even Sir Lancelot, and then, in the literal blink of an eye, poof, Gertrude transformed into a ginger tabby cat.
“Her transformation ability is truly extrao
rdinary,” Madame Pimlish said from the other end of the parlor. Her voice was heavy with awe, something I didn’t think I’d ever hear from the teacher filled with a sense of her own importance.
But none of us paid her or Gertrude much mind. Clara, Simon, Angelica, and Sir Lancelot stared at me, not at the cat with the amber eyes.
“You know the longer we take to get over there, the greater the chance that something bad could happen,” Angelica said, and that was it. I wouldn’t let them down.
I nodded, closed my eyes, and breathed. I pushed away the panic that I’d muck this up, or that I’d end up dead for trying. Or that by the time we arrived there it’d have been too late. None of that would help. I breathed again, cracked my neck to the side Sir Lancelot didn’t occupy, and went in.
I began to picture the dungeon in my mind, whether it was my memories or my imagination, I wasn’t sure, when I realized something and popped my eyes back open.
“What is it?” Clara and Angelica asked at the same time.
“I realized that I don’t actually know where the dungeon is. Maurisse portaled us there. I never actually saw where the place is. I don’t even know what the dungeon is attached to, if it’s a house, another castle, no clue.”
“Oh,” Simon said. “That’s a problem.”
I nodded at him. “And a big one. How am I supposed to portal us somewhere I can’t identify?”
No one had an answer for that, not even Sir Lancelot.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “Madame Pimlish, when we were trying to rescue Wizard Meedles and his hounds from Miranda, you wanted to use me as a reference point to portal because you hadn’t actually registered the location yourself. Can we do that now?”
“It should be possible,” she said, dragging the words out as she began moving toward us. “Assuming that you can latch onto the impression any of these other children have of the space, because it might be too difficult to latch onto your own impressions. That might be confusing for a novice such as yourself and…”
Madame Pimlish paused, looking at all of us in turn. “What is it?”
I hadn’t figured out what it was yet, but the others clearly had, because Clara, Angelica, and Simon were nearly glaring at her, and the two girls had their hands on their hips as they faced her.
“You can portal,” Clara said.
Angelica asked Clara, “Can she portal as well as Isa?”
“Better. No offense, Isa.”
“None taken.” How could I take offense at that? Madame Pimlish was the one who was supposed to be a master teacher, not me.
Clara continued. “Prudence can portal without using her imagination. She can create one quickly with a portaling spell.”
“Then what are you waiting for, woman?” Angelica said.
Madame Pimlish bristled, but Angelica didn’t appear to care, not even a sliver of a bit.
“Well?” Angelica pressed.
“Well,” Madame Pimlish said, nostrils flaring and making her look far too much like her favorite piggish transformation. “I’m not sure that it would be wise for me to create a portal under the circumstances. I’d have to hold it open, and the best way to do that is to travel through the portal oneself.”
“And?” Simon said. “What’s the problem with that?”
“You missed it, Si,” Angelica said. “Before you popped over here, she said she wouldn’t go save the others.”
“She did?” Simon looked appropriately horrified. “But... why wouldn’t she want to save them?”
“Because she’s a—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, young lady.” Madame Pimlish rounded on Angelica.
I was in the middle of wondering if the transformations teacher was going to strike her, when Sir Lancelot flew from my shoulder suddenly, startling me.
“What is it, Sir Lancelot?” Clara asked, rushing across the parlor in his wake.
“I thought so,” the owl said to himself as soon as he landed back on the windowsill. “Lady Clara, that buffoon of a dragon is on his way!”
Even in his enthusiasm, Sir Lancelot didn’t forget to insult the dragon he was convinced had it out for him. I smiled despite the gravity of the circumstances. At least Humbert was coming, and that was something.
“What about the others?” Clara asked. “The firedrakes, are they coming too?”
I’d made it to the window, but I couldn’t make out a single sign of our friends anywhere. The moon was half full, but it was tucked behind a mass of clouds. All I could make out was dark and darker.
“Yes, Lady Clara! Yes they are. I count one, two, three.” The owl continued to mumble. “I count fourteen of them.” The owl beamed, and it was then that I could tell that he liked all the creatures, probably even the scarlet dragon, who reveled in messing with him. “Sylvia and Mathieu fly alongside Humbert, in the front. Oh, and Lady Isa, I see Elwin too.”
“Elwin is there?” I pressed my nose to the window, but only managed to fog it up. “Where?”
“There.” Sir Lancelot pointed at the dark night with a wing.
“I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it.”
“That would indeed be wise, Lady Isa. My eyes are designed to spot things moving in the night.”
It was so easy to forget that Sir Lancelot was actually a predatory bird....
“That means that Walt must be arriving too,” Gertrude said from behind me, making me jump. She chuckled.
“How do you do that?” I said. “You were a cat a second ago.”
She shrugged, and a shadow descended across her face before she quickly whisked it away. “It’s the only good thing to come of my time as Count Washur’s prisoner wife.”
Yeah, there was nothing I could really say to make any of that better, so I wrapped an arm around her waist and squeezed.
Used to touching my brother whenever he needed comfort, I hadn’t thought before doing the same with Gertrude. She stiffened for a moment. But when I was about to pull my arm away, she leaned into me and whispered, “Thanks.”
That was my first indication that the taciturn Gertrude and I would become fast friends... just as soon as the current crises were averted.
“So what do we do now?” I asked, my arm still around Gertrude. “Do we wait for them to arrive, or does Madame Pimlish open the portal?”
“We definitely should wait,” the transformations teacher said far too quickly. Angelica whipped a fierce glare at her that she pretended not to notice, though I was sure she did. The strawberry blonde wasn’t doing anything to hide her impressions about her.
Madame Pimlish hurried on, trying to make a case for herself, even though we’d all judged her a coward already. “Mordecai will be on Humbert. He’s an expert at all things concerning magic. He’ll know what to do better than I.”
That was probably the only time Madame Pimlish would argue that she was lesser than another magician.
Clara said, “Grand-mère and Great Uncle Gustave might also have some good ideas about how to dispatch with so many goblins at once. They are experts at magical creatures, after all, and even though the goblins aren’t friendly ones, they might still hold some sway over them.”
“See!” Madame Pimlish’s piggish face smiled in triumph. “We need to wait.”
Angelica growled at the teacher, and Simon took her hand, to calm her, I presumed, though I totally understood why she’d resent Madame Pimlish.
“Oh my,” Sir Lancelot said. “Nicholas and the horses are arriving as well.”
“Where?” I asked before I could stop myself.
“There.” Again he pointed with a wing, and again all I could make out was darkness.
“Is Trixie with him?”
“The white mare?”
“Yes.” I peered below, seeking out the horse to whom I owed my thanks.
“Hmmm,” he said, “I don’t see her.”
I clenched my teeth, and Gertrude wrapped an arm around my waist as well.
“Oh no, wait
. I do see her. She’s there.”
I sighed in relief.
“And Nicholas?” Angelica asked. “Does he look all right?”
I felt a pang of guilt for asking about the mare before their brother, but then reminded myself that Trixie had been far kinder to me than Nicholas ever had, and that it was all right to value animals highly, no matter what society in general and people like Uncle said about their worth.
“Lord Nicholas is fine,” the owl confirmed.
“So now we wait to see how Walt’s doing,” Clara said.
My heart sank. I hadn’t let myself think about Walt too much since they air lifted him out of the castle’s shadow.
I didn’t think I could bear the wait, both from above and from those battling the goblins. My heart beat all the way up in my throat. I swallowed thickly.
“It will be all right,” Gertrude whispered to me. “You’ll see.”
But of course she couldn’t be sure of that, and her own eyes jumped around as much as mine. None of us would be able to settle until every single member of the academy was returned, safe and sound. We’d already lost Priscilla. We couldn’t afford a single other loss.
Isa!
I jumped.
“What is it?” Gertrude asked right away, and all but Sir Lancelot’s eyes zeroed in on me.
“It’s Elwin,” I said. “He’s talking to me.”
Clara’s face lit up. “Then what are you doing talking to us? Talk back to him! Find out what’s going on.”
“Right.” I nodded. With so many sets of eyes on me, I closed my eyes to make communication easier. Elwin? I projected to him through my mind.
His response arrived immediately. My knees went wobbly in relief.
“Come on. Let’s sit you down,” Gertrude said, already leading me back to the armchair. “You can barely stand.”
“Don’t distract her,” Clara said.
“She can’t talk to Elwin if she’s falling down, now can she?” Gertrude settled me in the chair, surprising me with her thoughtfulness. “Now, close your eyes and get to it. No more wasting time.” Annnd taciturn Gertrude was back.
She was also correct. I closed my eyes again and reached for the indigo firedrake, who owed me a life debt, and whom I didn’t want to ever do without.