Summer's Cauldron

by G. L. Breedon

  They ate breaded corn dogs that barked as they bit into them and drank sodas that fizzed and bubbled and became all the colors of the rainbow, leaving their teeth tinted like a box of crayons, while they rode the colorful metal backs of lions, unicorns, and hippogriffs on the ever-spinning carousel. The carousel never stopped, it only slowed enough for people to hop on and off, before picking up speed once again in a circular cascade of color.

  The whole time, they kept their eyes open, talking to as many of the carnies as they could, Alex straining to hear anything in the voices he might recognize as belonging to the three people he had overheard in the tent the night before.

  After a while, they came across a game that caught Rafael’s attention. Alex and the others followed him over to it. There was a carnie barker at the edge of the brightly-colored open tent, urging the people standing around to pay for a chance to win one of the stuffed animals hanging around the edge of the canvas enclosure. He had long, blond hair trapped under a faded green felt top hat. Alex noticed the stuffed animals were all what Outsiders would call mythical creatures. Hydras, unicorns, dragons, and even a centaur or two. In the middle of the tent sat a circular platform with three empty cages. Alex looked up at the red and blue cloth banner running along the top of the small tent. It read, Find the Fake.

  “Place your bets, ladies and gents,” the carnie barker shouted. “Find the fake and win the prize.” At a wide gesture from the barker, the platform with the three small cages rotated to reveal three numbered cages of medium size, each with a large boa constrictor in it.

  “One dollar a bet,” the barker said, taking bills from the people gathered around. “Which snake is the fake? Is it number one, number two, or number three?”

  “Number three,” Rafael said, handing the barker a dollar.

  “They all look the same,” Alex said.

  “Trust me,” Rafael said.

  “Final bets,” the barker said, taking money from several people in the crowd. “We have five for number one, six for number two, and one for number three. And the winner is…” the barker made a melodramatic flourish with his arm and the snake in the third cage coiled itself upward, its head looking right at Rafael and winking.

  “Told you,” Rafael said with the smile. The snake’s head briefly glowed blue and Kendra’s head, covered in scales, appeared on the snake’s body. The crowd burst alive with surprise, some laughing, some gasping in shock, and other cursing their luck. The barker frowned and tossed Rafael a stuffed toy unicorn.

  “Wow.” Ben said. “How does she do that?”

  “I wish I knew,” Rafael said as the circular platform with the cages rotated out of view and the barker began coaxing people to gather around for the next round of betting.

  “I’ve never seen you do that,” Nina said to Rafael.

  “I didn’t even know it was possible,” Rafael said. As the only changeling in the town of Runewood, Rafael had only himself to rely upon for learning the limits of his shape-shifting abilities. “I think I may stay here a bit. Catch up with you all later.”

  “So you can learn more,” Alex said, his face serious, but his tone amused.

  “So you can pick up a few tips,” Daphne said, her voice slightly mocking.

  “Kendra,” Ben said, unable to contain a giggle. “So he can pick up a few tips from Kendra.”

  “It’s a handy skill,” Rafael said, refusing to look the others in the eye. “Might come in useful someday.”

  “Hmmm,” Clark said.

  “Be careful,” Alex said.

  “I’ll be fine,” Rafael said with a laugh. “I’m hardly ever in danger when you’re not around.”

  As Alex and the others left Rafael at the sideshow booth, the circular platform spun again to reveal three cages with three identical foxes in them. Alex chuckled to himself. It was nice to see that look on Rafael’s face. The look he so often saw on Clark’s face when he was staring surreptitiously at Daphne.

  Alex wondered if he always had a look like that on his face when he was around Victoria. This made him wonder how Victoria was fairing at her father’s booth and how long it would be before Nathan stopped by to say hello to her. Alex found it was more pleasant to contemplate who among the carnival’s staff might be a follower of the Shadow Wraith.

  Ben yanked Alex from his thoughts with a single word.

  “Archery,” Ben said, his low voice booming.

  They had wandered to a part of the carnival near the back edge of the field where several archery targets were set up. A banner held aloft by two slender poles declared they had discovered The Archer Queen. Alex was not surprised to see the Archer Queen was, in fact, Elaeda.

  “A simple game, because I’m a simple girl,” Elaeda said to the small crowd of people gathered nearby. “Best me at any target, and win a prize. One dollar for each arrow. I match you arrow for arrow. Get closer to the bull’s-eye than me and you win the silver arrow. We used to have a golden arrow, but I was tired one day. In fact, I’m feeling a little dozy now. It’s been long day and my arm is sore. Who wants to try their luck, I’m sorry, I mean skill, who wants to try their skill against a tired girl with a sore arm? Pick a bow and knock your arrow.”

  “Me,” Ben nearly shouted. “I’m your man.”

  Alex snapped his head around and down to watch Ben step forward and hand Elaeda a dollar bill. Alex smiled at the look on Elaeda’s face. Ben had been pestering the Guild to take up archery since shortly after its founding. They had tried a few times, but Alex was miserable at it, Clark broke too many bow strings, Daphne and Nina were offended by the smallness of the bows they were forced to use, and Rafael had been utterly bored by the whole endeavor. Ben had been disappointed. He had saved for two months to buy a small dwarfish bow made of bone with curved arms. He picked up a similar, well-used bow from those stacked on a table near the archery range.

  “We have a challenger,” Elaeda said in a loud voice. In a quieter voice that only Ben, Alex and the Guild could hear, she said, “Get within an inch of my arrow, Dwarf boy, and I’ll buy you a hotdog.”

  “Ice cream,” Ben said. “Any farther than an inch, Elf Girl, and I’ll buy you an ice cream. Then I win either way.”

  Alex noticed what might have been a blush in Elaeda’s cheeks, but she whipped around to face the target before he could be certain. Her ponytail flicked back and forth as she shook her head and knocked an arrow. Then she drew back the arrow and let it fly in what seemed like a single motion. The arrow struck the target with an audible thunk a second later. Alex was not surprised to see the arrow was dead in the center of the bull’s eye. She turned and smiled at Ben. It was a dazzling smile and Alex noticed Ben grinning back at her.

  Ben turned and knocked an arrow, drawing the bowstring back to his cheek as Alex had seen his friend do thousands of times. Then the arrow was speeding toward the target some eighty feet away. The arrow struck and Alex found himself cheering aloud with the rest of the crowd. Ben’s arrow was well within the bull’s eye.

  “Well, this may be an interesting day, after all,” Elaeda said, slapping Ben on the back.

  A young carnie boy ran over to the target, carrying a wooden ruler.

  “One inch exactly!” the young carnie boy shouted back from the target, holding up the ruler to show everyone.

  “Dutch,” Ben said. “We can go dutch. You buy the hotdogs, I’ll buy the ice cream.”

  “How about two out of three?” Eleada said.

  “Deal,” Ben said, reaching out and shaking Elaeda’s hand. Alex saw the look on Ben’s face. It was the same look he had seen on Rafael’s face. A look he suspected was probably on his own face as he started to think about Victoria again. Ben wasn’t going anywhere.

  “We’ll catch up with you later,” Alex said, but Ben’s attention was focused entirely on Elaeda.

  “First Rafa, and now Ben,” Nina said, walking away with the others. “Must be something about the carnival.”

  “Or the cute carnies,” Ale
x said.

  “Romance is for suckers,” Daphne said with a flick of her hair.

  “Mmm,” Clark said, his wide face contorted in almost palpable anxiety. “What’s love got to do with lollipops?”

  Daphne stared up at Clark for a moment and then burst out laughing and punched him in the arm. Turning to Alex and Nina, she said, “Since we’ve lost two sets of eyes, maybe we should split up for a while. Clark and I can go around one way and meet you two on the other side. Maybe he can sniff out some ancient magic.”

  “Good idea,” Nina said before Alex could say anything.

  “Great,” Daphne said, heading toward a carnival ride called The Widow’s Well. “We’ll see you in an hour.”

  “Ah, if I smell anything, I’ll let you know,” Clark said, waving as he followed Daphne into the carnival.

  “Do you think he’ll ever tell her?” Nina asked as they watched Clark and Daphne fade into the crowd.

  “Tell her what?” Alex asked.

  “Seriously?” Nina asked. “Even you can’t be that stupid.”

  “The question,” Alex said, knowing exactly what Nina was talking about, “is what will Daphne do when he tells her?”

  “Oooo,” Nina said, her eyes going wide with the thought of Daphne’s possible reactions to Clark making a declaration of his love. “Maybe we could tie her down first.”

  “I don’t want to be anywhere nearby,” Alex said.

  “Maybe Clark will get lucky,” Nina said, “and Daphne will realize she likes him, too.”

  “Daphne likes Clark?” Alex said. “Like Clark likes Daphne?”

  Nina stopped and looked up at her brother, her face filled with sympathy. “You really are that stupid, aren’t you?”

  “You’ve got to be mistaken,” Alex said. “Daphne is… and Clark is…” Alex wasn’t sure how to finish that thought. He kept walking instead.

  “Clearly the problem is not Victoria,” Nina said, following beside Alex.

  “What about Victoria?” Alex asked.

  “Boys,” Nina said. “There must be some rule that you all have to be dropped on your heads as babies.”

  “You’re right,” Alex said, not really hearing his sister. “We should stop by and see how Victoria is doing.”

  “That may be the first sensible plan you’ve ever had,” Nina said.

  “She may have learned something from her father about the artifact,” Alex said.

  “Whatever you need to tell yourself to head in the right direction,” Nina said.

  “Their booth is over this way,” Alex said, cutting into the heart of the carnival. Nina laughed and chased after him.

  Chapter 10: Carnival Conversations

  Victoria was not, however, conferring with her father about mysterious magical artifacts. Instead, Alex and Nina found her in the middle of some sort of conversation with Nathan, her impossibly handsome centaur ex-boyfriend.

  “Ah, maybe we should come back later,” Alex said, seeing the flustered look on Victoria’s face.

  “Don’t be silly,” Nina said, grabbing Alex’s hand and dragging him forward.

  Victoria and Nathan stood outside a medium-sized tent, open at the front. A large hand-painted banner draped over the opening read, Radcliff’s Radical Magical Mysteries. The interior of the tent was lined with folding tables, each piled with various magical contraptions, many of which Alex recognized from Victoria’s father’s workshop. Unlike in the workshop, each of the inventions was now labeled with a handwritten note giving it a descriptive name suggesting its nature and properties. Alex noticed a bowl of mumbling marbles on one of the tables next to a large rock labeled, The Floating Stone. Only Victoria’s father would see the need to make a stone that could float.

  As Alex and Nina came closer, they could hear Victoria and Nathan.

  “But you still haven’t explained,” Nathan said, his voice strained.

  “It’s complicated,” Victoria said, wringing her hands.

  “But there was an agreement,” Nathan said.

  “Not that I agreed to,” Victoria replied.

  Nina did not wait to see where the conversation was going to lead, but inserted herself into it the middle of it. “Hi, Victoria.”

  Victoria and Nathan both jumped a little at the sound of Nina’s voice. They had been so engrossed in their discussion they hadn’t noticed Alex and Nina walking up to them.

  “Oh, hello, Nina,” Victoria said, a pink flush filling her face. “Hello, Alex.”

  “Hi,” Alex said. Allowing Nina to drag him into the middle of a conversation between Victoria and Nathan was clearly the worst idea he’d had since…Well, it was hard to tell with so many bad ideas in his past, but he was pretty sure this ranked among the top three.

  “Hello, Nina,” Nathan said, a coolness filling his deep voice. Alex wondered if his own voice would ever be that deep. “Hello, Alex.”

  “Nathan was stopping by to see how Daddy’s booth was doing,” Victoria said.

  “Yes, I was checking on Victoria,” Nathan said. “She gets bored and loses interest in things so easily.”

  “Not when they’re interesting, I don’t,” Victoria said, her hooves stamping lightly in the packed earth beneath the tent.

  Well, Alex thought, his mood lightening slightly, I may not be handsome, or have a deep voice, but nobody can say I’m not interesting.

  “We were stopping by to check on Victoria, ourselves,” Nina said, looking up at Nathan’s long face with a somewhat dreamy cast to her eyes.

  “How are sales?” Alex asked, searching for a safe subject.

  “They’ve been a little slow, actually,” Victoria said, “but Daddy’s enthusiasm is boundless, so he’s gone back to his shop to retrieve a few more items he thinks will have more appeal.”

  “Those self-hammering nails can be tricky,” Nathan said. “I know from personal experience.”

  “I told you not to hold them like that when saying the charm,” Victoria said.

  “As usual,” Nathan said, “your explanation left out some detail.”

  “I’ve always found your father’s inventions to be very useful,” Alex said.

  “Thank you, Alex,” Victoria said with a slight sigh.

  “Nathan,” a voice said from behind Alex. A voice Alex immediately recognized and caused him to swallow involuntarily. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” Leanna said.

  Alex turned as Leanna walked across the carnival grounds and joined them. She was wearing bright green shorts over her goat legs and a bright green shirt that made her bright green eyes seem to jump out at Alex. “Oh, hi, Alex,” she said, bursting into a smile as she stepped up close to him.

  Alex found his brain was suddenly having trouble forming words. This was the kind of situation that caused his mind to move like molasses. To have a beautiful girl who had saved his life staring up at him with her enchanting green eyes, in front of the girl who he wanted to be his girlfriend, who had been talking to the far-too-handsome centaur boy who had been her boyfriend, and seemed to still want to be her boyfriend, and all while his sister watched with a look of absolute amusement on her face, made Alex’s brain numb. Alex would rather have been back in the cave with the Shadow Wraith. At least there, he knew what he was doing. At least there, he didn’t have to worry about what came out of his mouth.

  “Oh, hi,” Alex finally said, speaking slowly to make sure what was in his head didn’t come out of his mouth.

  “How are you feeling today?” Leanna asked. “All healed up?”

  “I’m feeling great,” Alex said, unable to stop himself from smiling back at Leanna. How do you not smile at a pretty girl who is smiling at you, even if the girl you really want to smile at you is standing right beside her?

  “Been on any of the rides yet?” Leanna said, a teasing lilt to her voice.

  “I’ve been avoiding them so far,” Alex said. “I want to make sure everyone else has a chance to ride them before I bring them crashing down around me.”


  “That’s very generous of you,” Leanna said, laughing. Alex stole a glance at Victoria, but she wasn’t laughing. Great. Alex thought. Now, I’m charming.

  “You were looking for me?” Nathan asked, drawing Leanna’s gaze from Alex’s face.

  “Oh, right,” Leanna said, her eyes lingering on Alex for a moment before turning to Nathan. “I wanted to run lines with you. It’s been a while. We don’t want to mess up.”

  “Right,” Nathan said, a serious look coming across his face.

  “Run lines?” Victoria asked.

  “For the show,” Leanna said. “The Eternal Story. Didn’t Nathan tell you? He and I are actors in the show.”

  “An actor,” Victoria said, looking quizzically at Nathan.

  “It’s the only opening they had in the carnival,” Nathan said, his eyes suddenly darting between Victoria and Leanna.

  “Don’t be so modest,” Leanna said. “He’s a natural. The crowd loves him. Loves us, actually. All our scenes are together.”

  “Together?” Victoria asked.

  “Naturally,” Leanna said. “We play the star-crossed lovers. Destined to be together, separated by fate and misfortune, but tossed into each other arms in the climactic moment of our reunion. People cheer at the final kiss.”

  “Do they really?” Victoria said, titling her head as she looked to Nathan.

  “Didn’t Nathan tell you any of this?” Leanna asked, mimicking Victoria’s expression as she looked at Nathan.

  “I hadn’t gotten around to…” Nathan began, flustering as his face flushed. “It was…Well…”

  “I can’t wait to see it,” Nina said, her voice loud and clear as she, too, looked at Nathan.

  “Yes, I’ll be looking forward to that, as well,” Victoria said. Alex realized he wouldn’t mind seeing it, either.

  “Your golden tickets get you in free,” Leanna said to Victoria before turning back to Nathan. “So, do you want to rehearse? I don’t want to interrupt if you’re busy. I know you haven’t seen Victoria in a long time. Maybe I could talk Alex into running lines with me.”

  “Me?” Alex said, caught completely off-guard by his sudden entry into the conversation. “Acting?”