by Lucia Ashta
Elwin, how are you? How’s Walt? How are the others?
Nerves prickled at the base of my neck as I waited for his response... and waited some more.
“Why’s it taking so long?” Gertrude asked the others in the parlor, and I worked to push away their voices as the responses began to arrive. I couldn’t afford any distractions.
Elwin was flying. I had no idea how much concentration that required of him. I had to ensure that I was an open channel for his communications, which I hoped would arrive soon....
But they didn’t. I waited so long that certainly he and Humbert must be nearing the manor. How far did an owl’s sight reach? I really had no idea, but it couldn’t be more than a few miles, right? And Humbert’s wingspan was huge.
Then Elwin spoke into my mind, bringing all ponderings to an immediate halt. The war is at an end, he said, and my heart thumped once.
What do you mean? How’s Walt?
Only those who wish to fight will do so now. The time of forced hands is over.
That’s good, though I didn’t entirely understand what he meant. Was he referring to Maurisse being dead? Not even crises forced Elwin to speak bluntly. And Walt?
He lives. We are to arrive soon.
And that was it, I could tell. I’d have to wait to understand the rest and to see how Walt fared.
I opened my eyes to discover the two sets of siblings staring right at me. “Well?” Gertrude said.
“Elwin says the war is over.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
I shrugged. “He also said they’d arrive soon, so I guess we wait and find out.”
“And Walt?” Clara asked.
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “He said he lives.”
“That’s it?”
I nodded. “That’s it.”
After that, no one said anything. That Walt was alive was obviously good news, but there were a great many degrees of “alive,” and not all of them were nice.
We shared that understanding through guarded looks, and all prepared to wait. I slumped into the armchair, hoping to gather the strength to face whatever else this night delivered.
Chapter 9
A loud thump on the roof had me scrambling to my feet in a rush to follow the others as they exited the parlor.
“I’ll remain behind to keep watch,” the owl called after us.
“Good idea, Sir Lancelot,” Clara called over her shoulder, but didn’t slow down.
“I’ll stay too,” Madame Pimlish said, though I wasn’t sure why she bothered. She didn’t give a reason, and she had to have realized that none of us cared what she did. If she wasn’t willing to help, then she was only in the way.
I was the last to race up the stairs, but I was fast on Angelica’s heels, who ran next to Simon. We thumped across the risers as Gertrude and Clara led the way. But though we sounded like a herd of animals, we were nowhere near as loud as the sounds reaching us from above.
The entire structure of the manor creaked and groaned in complaint at the weight that was settling upon it.
Clara whipped along hallways and bounded up stairs. Once more I was thankful that I was in my riding outfit and free of the constraining dresses I usually wore. I would have surely fallen on my face moving at this speed.
Gertrude edged past Clara and slammed open the door that led to the roof. She didn’t bother holding it, but we were immediately behind her.
Just then, the thick clouds parted from the moon and shed silver light onto the scene.
My heart thumped wildly, more from the scene than the running. The large scarlet dragon was indeed there, as were a great number of firedrakes. But I couldn’t yet tell if everyone was safe or not. Their expressions were somber, for a dragon and firedrakes at least.
I did a quick search for Elwin and spotted him landing. I started to run to check on him but hesitated. The others were racing toward Humbert and the passengers who rode on his back... the passengers who’d offer much clearer explanations than my enigmatic firedrake friend.
I’ll be right there to see you, I offered lamely to Elwin, hoping it’d be enough and his feelings wouldn’t be hurt. I had no idea how sensitive firedrakes were, and I hoped I was making the right decision.
But I simply had to find out how everyone was as quickly as possible—and by that I especially meant Walt. I cast a final regretful glance at the indigo firedrake, whose scales looked a silver-gray under the moonlight, and caught up with the others.
I edged next to Angelica and Simon and craned my neck upward.
Humbert had bent his head, and Clara stared into one red, slitted eye while she rubbed his snout. I fully realized that Humbert was friendly, and that Clara and he had a connection, but I still couldn’t help but be nervous for her. He had so many teeth, claws, and sharp edges!
He snorted then, and I jumped, feeling the heat across my flesh even though it hadn’t been an aggressive gesture, more like the snort of a tired horse.
“What can we do to help?” Gertrude, whose head didn’t quite reach Humbert’s underbelly, called up to his riders.
“Oh, hello ma chérie.” Arianne’s head peered over the side of the dragon’s muscled back. She sounded as exhausted as I felt. “Nothing now, merci. Just move out of the way. Mordecai is about to lower Walt to the roof.”
“He’d better be all right, for goodness’ sake,” I mumbled to myself. Angelica and Simon obviously heard me though. The boy offered me an empathetic smile, and Angelica squeezed my hand quickly before releasing it.
Neither one bothered to offer me empty platitudes. We’d find out how Walt was faring soon enough.
With glassy eyes, I followed Walt’s progress as his body first became visible above Humbert’s back. Walt was unmoving as Mordecai floated him a couple of feet above the dragon. Marie’s head popped up next to her brother. I tried to take some cues from her expression, but I found nothing good there. Her face was tired, harried, and anguished, her hair and clothing, in complete disarray. The blonde, usually fast to smile, wasn’t even making eye contact with any of us on the ground. Not good, not good at all.
I caught sight of Mordecai, his arms outstretched toward Walt. Mordecai traced the path he wanted Walt to follow. Walt’s arms hung limply past his sides, but his legs were as rigid as his torso, I assumed because Mordecai was maintaining the posture to prevent further damage to his leg.
It might have only been ten feet to the dragon’s back, but it seemed as if it took forever for Walt to reach the ground. But finally, he did, and Mordecai set him down with more gentleness than I thought the old wizard had in him.
Simon, Angelica, and Gertrude moved to join his side, and from the corner of my eye I noticed Marie vying to get down from Humbert to check on her brother. But I moved faster.
I ran to his side and skidded onto my knees, examining his entire body with frantic eyes.
His injured leg was straight and appeared to lay at the right angle. His hair was a mess, but no longer plastered to his forehead with sweat. His coloring seemed pale, but not alarmingly so.
I took his hand and discovered it chilled. All right, so no more fever. But that wasn’t always a good thing. The fever was the body’s sign that it fought infection. If his body no longer fought....
I needed to see his eyes, to stare into that hazel as rich and varied as spring fields; they’d tell me how he was. I’d be able to see whether he was lucid or lost to pain, or worse, clinging on to the last vestiges of life.
Open your eyes, Walt, I thought, but I didn’t dare speak to him. I didn’t want to wake him if he was healing. I didn’t want to bother him, but I needed to know. And right then.
A frantic panic had begun to pulse through my veins, informing me of how important he’d become to me. When? I wasn’t entirely sure, but somewhere along the line of the bumpy ride that had been my time at the academy, Walt had become someone I wanted to become close to, someone I wanted to share with. What exactly, I wasn’t sure, but
I did know I wanted to share things with him I’d never wanted to share with anyone else.
I had eyes only for Walt, and so I didn’t notice how the others got down from Humbert, or when everyone (including Elwin, Sylvia, and Mathieu, but not the other firedrakes) had joined me.
Marie slid into place across from me, on the other side of Walt, and took his other hand.
I forced my gaze to hers. “How is he?” I whispered, half afraid to hear her answer, but needing to know.
She looked sad at first, and I feared my heart would shatter, but then she offered me a tired, wobbly smile. “I think he’s going to be all right.”
“Really?” My heart soared, but I told it to wait, not to celebrate until we were certain.
“Even though we were delayed, and the blasted SMS almost took us down, I think Mordecai’s healing finally took hold.”
Mordecai knelt at Walt’s legs then, examining him with a clinical eye. “He stopped resisting the healing. I believe he accepted a different result for himself than the one he’d feared at the start.”
All sorts of thoughts and emotions competed for my attention. I pushed away the news of the SMS attack, maintaining my focus on what was most important. “Will…” I steeled myself for the response to my question. “Will Walt keep his leg?”
It was clear he was alive, and it sounded like he’d recover well enough. But neither Marie nor Mordecai, and certainly not Elwin, had mentioned anything about his leg. A boy like Walt, so alive and intent on enjoying life, would struggle with such a loss. Heck, who wouldn’t?
I stared at Mordecai and Marie, willing them to give me the news I needed to hear.
Mordecai said, “I see that Walt’s injury has affected you greatly. But you can’t blame yourself. It was Maurisse’s doing, not yours. All of it was.”
“And you haven’t answered my question.” Why hadn’t he?
The wizard smiled then. His face appeared more wrinkled than I usually noticed it, the moon casting deep shadows that accentuated every year he’d lived. But his eyes, though tired, were kind. And even better, they expressed relief.
I knew his answer before he said, “Walt’s convalescence may be prolonged, but I’m certain he’ll eventually make a full recovery.”
Relief slammed into my body like someone twice my size had slapped me. I looked to Marie for confirmation that I’d heard the news correctly. Tears of joy swam in her eyes, and I knew Walt would be just fine.
“Mordecai is the best there is when it comes to healing,” Marie said, her words, a reverent whisper. “We were lucky to have him with us.”
I sat back onto my haunches and breathed. My brain couldn’t process anything beyond the great swell of relief spreading through me.
I half listened to Clara and Gertrude as they spoke with Arianne and Gustave while I continued to clutch Walt’s hand.
“What happened to you?” Gertrude asked. “Why did you take so long? You should have arrived ages ago.”
“Oui, we should have.” Arianne’s voice was fierce.
“The SMS attacked us,” Gustave said. “Not long after we left the castle, dozens of sorcerers on the backs of firedrakes ambushed us.”
“Those poor firedrakes,” his sister lamented. “Forced to do the bidding of those wicked men and women, who weigh far too much for the creatures.”
“Is everyone all right?” Clara asked. “Are all the firedrakes fine?”
“Yes, darling,” Arianne said, “they all are. They fought hard, and the fight was a close one, but we were determined to win.”
“Besides,” Gustave said, “it helped that Arianne and I were able to influence their firedrakes. They let us in easily, and we eventually managed to convince them to simply fly away.”
Arianne laughed coarsely, a strange sound for the graceful lady. “A few of them dropped their riders. We didn’t tell them to, but it’s what they did. I can’t entirely blame them, really. Those sorcerers they dumped almost surely died. None of them can fly like you, Clara.”
“By the time Elwin joined us,” Gustave said, “there were few left, and he scared the rest of them off. The fight was long and difficult, but once Arianne and I managed to connect to the firedrakes, we were in control. We’d win eventually.”
Elwin waddled up behind me then and placed a wingtip against my shoulder. I leaned back into him, unsure of what would come of our connection, but thankful for it. Now maybe we’d have the chance to explore it more, and to discover what a witch and a firedrake might have in common.
I didn’t say anything to him, and it didn’t seem as if he needed me to. We were companions, and we were starting to understand each other.
Arianne drew my attention when she said, “Just as soon as we recover, we’ll track down that terrible sorcerer Maurisse, and put an end to him. This can’t continue any longer. I won’t allow him to wage his war on the world.”
“We won’t allow him to,” Gustave said.
“That’s right. We’ll take him down.”
“Isa already did,” Clara said as Sir Lancelot flew above the roof line.
“No one left the door to the roof open for me,” he muttered, before remembering his urgency. “Everyone, hurry, a portal has opened in the parlor.”
With that, he dove downward, aiming to re-enter whichever window he’d exited, no doubt.
“A portal?” Arianne asked, clearly confused.
“Come on,” Gertrude said.
“We’ll explain as we go,” Clara said, and the redheads ran toward the stairwell, Mathieu and Sylvia right behind them. Angelica and Simon brought up the rear, slamming through the open doorway.
I remained behind, conflicted. I needed to see Nando safe, but I didn’t want to leave Walt.
Marie seemed to read my mind, even though she’d have no way to know who might be arriving through the portal, or that Nando was in danger. “Go,” she said. “We’ll be there as soon as Mordecai can move Walt.”
I hesitated.
“Is Nando coming through the portal?” she asked.
“I hope so.” My fear for his well-being must have reflected in my expression.
Suddenly, Marie’s doe eyes narrowed with ferocity. “Go. Make sure he’s safe. I’ll be right behind you.”
It was then that I received my confirmation that her feelings for my brother were as strong as mine for hers. I nodded and laid Walt’s hand on the ground with reluctance.
I gave his sleeping face a final hard stare, then stood. “Let’s go, Elwin. Nando’s coming.” I wouldn’t entertain another option.
Elwin was behind me when I reached the open door, and as I flung myself at full speed down the stairs, he flew immediately at my back.
He always had my back, no matter what. I promised myself then that I’d always have his too.
Then I felt for Nando, reaching my awareness ahead toward the parlor as my feet moved as fast as they would go.
Chapter 10
I skidded to a halt at the entrance to the parlor and bumped into Wizard Meedles, whose bulky form blocked most of the entryway. “Umph.” The air rushed from my lungs. I quickly drew in a nervous breath and mumbled, “Excuse me, Wizard Meedles,” as Elwin landed nimbly at my back.
“Oh, Isa, there you are,” the gruff wizard said, joy inexplicably twinkling in his eyes.
It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but I didn’t have a second to spare, so I nudged my way past him before he could add anything else. As if Elwin were my dutiful shadow, he waddled into the parlor behind me.
A portal, strong and bright, spun firmly in place in the center of the room, where it was in the process of spitting out Grand Witch Tillsdale, who walked through it with as much ease as if she were strolling through the park. So that’s what supreme confidence in one’s magic looked like.... She dusted her clothes with her hands, and although everywhere on her body there was evidence of the long and difficult day we’d been forced to endure, her eyes were steady.
For a moment I felt as i
f I could breathe a little better. Surely the grand witch wouldn’t look calm if any of our own had lost the battle with the goblins. Then again, Priscilla had died today, so maybe Giselle’s look wasn’t reassuring at all....
With renewed desperation, I scanned the room, ignoring the distracting loud sounds of a popping portal and vigorous conversation. I spotted Sir Lancelot back at his post at the windowsill, Trevor and Delilah wrapped in embraces with Simon and Angelica, Madame Pimlish sidling toward Wizard Meedles, who was surrounded by all his hellhounds except for Holly and her pups. I also noticed Count Vabu standing on Wizard Meedles’ other side, looking especially somber—poor guy, who could blame him. I swallowed hard at the thought of the sister he’d lost.
I noticed Sylvia and Mathieu crowding around a huddle that consisted of Mordecai, Arianne, and Gustave. Clara and Marcelo stood together, holding each other, but their eyes were glued to the portal, as were Gertrude’s, who stood by her sister.
By my quick count that meant that Brave and Nando were still on the other side of the portal, where all I could do was hope that no goblins were left behind to attack them.
Nicholas, along with Albacus and Malachai, were supposed to be arriving below with the horses, including Trixie, which meant that if Nando and Brave were all right—no, when Nando and Brave walked through that portal unscathed, all our numbers would be accounted for.
I skirted around the scattered magicians, never taking my eyes from the portal. I don’t see Nando, do you? I asked Elwin. I couldn’t imagine my brother would be here and not looking for me, but it couldn’t hurt to ask. I had to find Nando. My skin was crawling with the desperation to ensure that this magical war hadn’t cost me the ultimate price.
Your brother is somewhere else, came Elwin’s response, and I forced my rising panic to stay. It didn’t help when I drew to Gertrude’s free side. The waves of concern rolling off of her were so thick that it made it even more difficult to breathe.