“Sermack the Magnificent!” Cato announced. “Everyone give him a hearty round of applause!”
Seth shook his head. “Don’t let this game fool you. Be ready for anything.”
Jeremy spun the hat between his hands, flipped it through the air and watched it float around the dome several times before returning to his waiting hand. He tapped the hat twice with his wand and grinned.
Beside him, Cato reached a bony hand up to his helmet and eased it off. A pulsing protrusion of yellow and pink matter swelled along one side of his head. He rolled the helmet toward Sarah, spattering the dome wall with putrid fluid. She gagged, but was unable to look away.
Jeremy waved the wand slowly over the hat again. “Round and round it goes—where it stops, nobody knows! Could he be friend or could he be foe?” He shot a finger toward Sarah. “Maybe you know!”
A distant shouting came from the inside of the top hat, growing louder with every passing moment. Sarah pressed herself to the dome as she finally made out the voice.
“Jon,” Sarah muttered, pressing against the dome.
“Another trick,” Liam warned her, tugging at her arm. “It’s a mind game. Don’t be fooled!”
“Did you lose someone little girl?” Jeremy growled. He stirred the wand over the hat with a dark smile and then reached inside.
The hat jerked and fought against him. Whimpering cries echoed throughout the library.
“It is him!” Sarah cried, clawing at the walls of the dome. “Do something! Stop him!”
Liam blinked hard and stared inside as Jon was yanked upward kicking and screaming from within the hat. With incredible strength, Jeremy pulled him swiftly into the air and threw him down at his feet.
“This can’t be right,” Liam murmured. “How could he—it’s a trick. It has to be.”
Seth grit his teeth and pounded a fist against the dome. “Damn you!”
Cato gestured to Jon and the remaining reptilian children dragged him off by the armpits. “No snacking between meals, kids. I need the wee lad for ah’ tad longer.”
Jon was hoisted up onto the table and held into place with his head dangling over the edge. He struggled to free himself, thrashing and howling until he collapsed from exhaustion. Cato hoisted his sword and squared up alongside Jon’s head.
“It’s simple really,” Cato said. “Assimilate or die. And really, I don’t see this one bein’ of much use to me. One Worm Talker will do.”
The ground suddenly began to shake and Cato staggered forward. The flagstone beside Sarah suddenly cracked and split down the middle. The dome rattled. A sound like rushing water came from somewhere deep down.
“Wha—”
The ground beneath Cato’s feet erupted violently as a bus-sized Boose tore through the dome floor, knocking Cato and Jeremy into the wall. His head struck the surface, oily brain matter sticking to it as he struggled to stand. The woodworm enveloped Jon and the reptilian children in one gulp and retreated backward down into the flagstone of TwoSpells.
Moments later, the ground shook and rumbled, exploding from below only yards away from Sarah. Boose emerged beside them. He looked directly into Sarah’s eyes and vomited the contents of his mouth at her feet before shrinking down to puppy size again. Several Orcan soldiers grabbed a hold of two of the disoriented snake-like creatures as they slithered helplessly on the stone floor and dragged them away hissing and flailing.
Sarah ran to Jon’s side and hugged him. Liam and Seth knelt beside him, frantically checking his physical condition as he coughed and sputtered. Something was wrong. His skin was shriveled. Melting—
Jon roared with laughter as the skin of his face slid down to his neck, revealing the green pockmarked hide of a goblin beneath. Liam hooked a hand around its throat and squeezed. It clawed at his hand, its eyes bulging and bleeding as it struggled to breathe.
“Damn you!” Liam bellowed.
“Sir!” Number One shouted, pointing behind them. “Dome!”
They turned to see the last reptilian tail flick downward into the hole that Boose had created. The prison was empty.
Liam dropped the gasping goblin to the ground and kicked it across the arena. He picked up his staff just in time as Cato climbed up through the broken flagstone outside of the dome.
“There’s no place like home,” Cato said with a devilish smirk. “Hasn’t changed ah’ bit.”
With a snarl, Liam raised his staff and showered them with liquid plasma, but Jeremy waved a hand, creating a force field. The liquid clung to the energy shield, sizzling harmlessly and providing them with time to escape. Liam grabbed Sarah by the hand and pulled her with him.
Cato reached across his shoulder and grasped his golden war scepter, raised it high above his head and brought it down to the floor, sending a rippling shockwave across the library. Flagstone crumbled and shattered, shards shooting into the air as the rift tossed Seth and the Orcan guards into the air like toys.
Thankfully, the dome had blocked the terrifying spell from hitting Sarah and Liam as they made their escape. But the recoil from the initial compression bounced off of the arena walls and hammered Jeremy and Cato as well.
Cato laughed as he rose to his feet and brushed himself off. “What goes around, comes around, I suppose. Now quit foolin’ around, Jeremy. Kill them.”
CHAPTER 35
SARAH AND LIAM EMERGED FROM A HIDDEN doorway two levels up, carefully concealing themselves behind an exhibit of trains and locomotives. They looked out over the battlefield unfolding below.
Cato and Jeremy stood around a ghostly hologram of TwoSpells, planning out their assault with their group of minions. The Dwarves and Elfin had retreated into the underbelly of TwoSpells, leaving only a small set of golem guards and some gangly mercenaries behind. Across the arena, Seth was leading a small force of Orcan around Cato’s flank, some of them taking up key defensive positions below Sarah and Liam.
“Take this,” Liam ordered, affixing a headset to Sarah’s head. “We’ll need to communicate if we’re separated.”
“Why would we be separated?” Sarah asked. She tightened the band on her head.
“We have to be prepared for anything,” Liam replied.
As Sarah fiddled with her new microphone, she felt something cold at her feet. She looked down and saw water streaming beneath her shoes.
The sound of rushing water grew louder, followed by creaking metal and snapping wood. Static cracked and popped in Sarah’s earpiece. “Run.”
Liam grabbed Sarah by the arm and pulled her away from the nearest bookshelf just as a colossal tidal wave of saltwater crashed against it, shattering the shelf and pounding the floor with thousands of books. Water sloshed after them and between the aisles as they fled, quickly rising to their ankles.
Eerie laughter echoed around them, ringing in Sarah’s ears. She slid and tumbled forward as she struggled to stay upright in the raging waters.
A bookshelf splintered beside Sarah, knocking her out of Liam’s grip. She was swept over and down one of the main stairways, bouncing and rolling and floundering until she managed to grab a hold of a guard railing. Several floundering Orcan guards and reptilian warriors bobbed past, struggling for breath.
Something heavy crashed into Sarah’s left side. She lost her grip and slipped beneath the water. Her vision blurred. She gagged on a mouthful of bitter water—
Sarah felt a strong arm around her waist and the water fell away. She was sitting atop a bookshelf, coughing up salt water.
“You’re okay, kid!” Liam shouted over the roar of water around them. “We need to get to higher ground!”
The tumultuous waters continued to rise, carrying a half dozen battered Orcan warriors through the maze of bookshelves. Several grey fins broke the surface of the water and circled the injured, drowning Orcan.
“We need to help them!” Sarah cried, pointing at the churning water.
“Orcan can’t swim,” Liam said. “I don’t think there’s anything we can—
”
One of the Orcan warriors wailed in agony as a shark breached, tearing into his back and neck and dragging him underwater. A bloodied arm flailed back above the surface and another Orcan reached out for him to help. The blood red water swirled around them. Another massive shark snatched a hold of them both, shook fiercely and yanked them down under.
Sarah screamed and Liam sank to his knees, clutching his headset. “Light it up.”
Number One and Number Two stood at the edge of another bookshelf with laser rifles. The air lit up as they electrified the water surrounding the turmoil. A few injured reptiles, still on the water covered steps, convulsed as white hot current arced across the flood. They collapsed against the stairs, charred and smoking, before sliding back into the water.
Several more of Cato’s freakish children slithered up and clung to the wet stairways, writhing as electricity raced through their bodies. The laser rifles had done their job.
Two other Orcan survived the initial charge, making their last pleas for help in vain as they struggled to grasp half-submerged debris to stay afloat in the deepening waters. They flailed and waved, both surfacing for one last breath of air just before going under for the last time. The electrocuted sharks bobbed in the blood strewn waters—jaws open and eyes vacant.
Sarah ducked behind Liam, shocked and repulsed. She covered her ears, desperate to silence the relentless crashing of water and rubble that still raged around her.
She felt a hand at her shoulder and turned to see that the water was finally receding. Liam pointed at a giant drain in the center of the arena, where the wreckage was slowly circling. Dozens of lifeless warriors and sea creatures were strewn across the flagstone.
Across the library, colorful spells pulsed and whizzed across the arena. Sarah leaned in close to Liam. “They’re flickering, aren’t they? Where do you think they’re going?”
“Reinforcements,” Liam sighed. He fixed his gaze on the domed ceiling, placed two fingers between his lips and whistled, followed up by a series of clicks and chirps.
A pack of tiny creatures scampered across the rafters and leapt from the edge, silently gliding toward Sarah and Liam. They landed gently on the bookshelf beside them and scurried downward, their tiny nails scraping into the woodgrain surface.
Liam knelt alongside them and began to chirp and whistle again. The squirrel-like creatures reared up on their tiny legs and squeaked back at him.
“Are you talking to them?” Sarah asked.
“Yes, in Fairrel,” Liam replied. “It’s an ancient forest language shared by small forest creatures, both magical and non-magical. Our family has held a close relationship with them for centuries.”
Sarah leaned in closer. “What did you say?”
“I asked them if they’d mind doing a little reconnaissance work for us,” Liam replied.
Sarah watched as the tiny creatures chirped and barked amongst themselves before scampering back up the bookshelves. They gracefully took flight, flapping their peculiar translucent wings and descending into the arena below.
“What are they?” she asked.
“Squirries. Highly intelligent and potent magical users,” Liam replied, sending the last one off from the palm of his hand. “Just don’t ever use the ‘R’ word around them…”
Sarah set her hands to her hips and cocked an eyebrow.
“Rodent,” Liam said with a chuckle. He gazed down into the arena. “My father told me they’d turn me into a frog.”
He fell silent as the squirries disappeared from view. Moments later, a series of vivid sparks flashed below and the creatures emerged from a puff of smoke, flapping their wings frantically. They glided back down in front of Liam, their tiny nails scrabbling along the flagstone and breathing heavily.
Liam and the squirries exchanged chirps, coos, and whistles before they turned and scurried up the front of a bookshelf, diving over the edge.
“What did they see?” Sarah asked, kneeling beside him.
“It’s not what they saw,” Liam began, his eyes darting back and forth. “It’s what they didn’t see. They can’t locate Jeremy. He could be anywhere.”
The sound of large beating wings caught Sarah’s attention. A dark figure emerged from a swirling cloud of darkness that materialized only yards away.
“The squirries are back—”
Sarah let out a scream as a mass of black, hairy vampire bats descended on her. They screeched, nipped and scratched at her arms and legs—tangling themselves in her hair, claws digging into her scalp. She fell to her knees and cried out for Liam. Sickening laughter rang out around her.
There was a flash of color and through the chaos, Sarah saw Liam tear into the bookshelf. He held a book aloft, and a swarm of insects emerged from the fluttering pages.
She clutched her bleeding neck and fell forward. Her vision darkened. The drone of wings grew louder. Louder.
“Your master commands you to no longer eat green!” came a voice rising above the cacophony. “Eat mean, from meat on the wing!”
The bats hissed and spat, dropping to the stone floor around her. Sarah felt a few tumble down her back, flapping madly against her clothes. She peeked out from under her tangled hair and saw that the insects were clinging to the bats, quickly devouring them.
Liam raised his wand. The dark figure scoffed and twisted through the air, his body contorting and shrinking away until he was gone.
“Was that—” Sarah began. She couldn’t say his name.
“Jeremy,” Liam finished for her. “And now you’ve seen his true form.”
CHAPTER 36
A BURST OF GREEN LIGHT ERUPTED behind them and Sarah dropped to her knees, covering her head. When she opened them, she saw Liam lying face down beside her, his face twisted in torment as he held his smoldering side.
Sarah crawled to his side. “Liam! No!”
Warm blood oozed from his ribcage, pouring over her fingers as she tried to help him. The smell of searing leather and parchment filled the air and the bookshelves surrounding them were ablaze. Tortured cries erupted from the flames as the enchanted books spilled their secrets through gaping portals. The heavy sound of metal scraping against metal reverberated from within the carnage.
Liam turned onto his side, his face twisted in agony, groaning. Blood streamed from broken capillaries in his eyes, his body writhing against the stone floor.
“What’s happening?” Sarah cried.
“Fire,” came a familiar grunt.
Number Two stooped down toward her, reaching a muscled arm around her and lifting her to her feet. All around her eerie ghost-like images of wounded creatures poured from the burning books.
“We need to help Liam!” Sarah shouted, fighting against his grip. “Put me back!”
“Strong magic. Boy resilient,” Two grunted.
Blue electricity arced across the bookshelves as another portal tore open, releasing a massive disc shaped spacecraft. The pale grey vessel sluggishly rolled across the aisle directly in front of them and passed harmlessly through the opposite bookshelves. Several more ships slid through, scraping against one another and tumbling downward. Laser weapons fired after them, white sparks flashing against their armor plating.
The chaos allowed Sarah to wriggle free of Two. She fell to her knees beside Liam, her eyes welling. “Can you hear me? Please answer. Please.”
He didn’t. He curled into the fetal position and continued rocking back and forth.
“Universes open. Harmless,” Two said. He stared out at the pale blue images flickering across the aisle. An endless stream of alien crafts and odd life forms poured into the library to join the hundreds of other distressed two-dimensionals, injured and confused, helplessly wandering about and babbling in strange languages.
Deep, soulless laughter shook the floor beneath Sarah.
He was back.
Jeremy stood only yards away, atop a futuristic weapon, his living armor blazing bright green. His reptilian minions stood at his s
ide, sneering down at them. Science Fiction—The Final Frontier, read the sign below them. Two leapt to his feet to protect Liam and Sarah, readying his weapon.
“These new toys are a blast,” Jeremy crowed, flipping switches, spinning dials and pulling levers on the strange machine.
Two drew his weapon and unleashed a barrage of plasma that harmlessly reflected off of Jeremy’s shielded weapon, instead searing nearby books.
“Did you really believe that little pea shooter could harm us?” Jeremy asked. “Step aside, Frankenstein.”
Sarah stepped out from behind Number Two. “Leave us alone!”
“So she does speak,” Jeremy said. “We just want a few words with you. That’s all.”
Two grunted and stepped forward aggressively, but Sarah stopped him. She nodded to Liam. He needed Two more than she did.
“How perversely human of you,” Jeremy scoffed. He addressed his troop. “I'm not so sure the girl is what we’re after. Maybe the boy would be better suited.” He glanced down into the arena where the battle between Cato and Seth still raged. A crooked smile crept across his painted face. “Let's take her out for a test drive.”
Sarah hunched down at Liam’s side as Jeremy stepped off of the weapon.
“This is personal,” Jeremy said, drawing his wand and waving it in a circular motion. He began chanting in a harsh, foreign tongue. The air grew thick and cloudy. He grinned sideways, stirring the cloud as if it were a witch’s brew. It darkened and began to rumble. “Partly cloudy with a high chance of thunderstorms.”
Sarah clung to Liam’s side. Two drew his own wand, standing quickly to protect their position.
Jeremy continued stirring and chanting as the rumbling increased. He waved a balled up fist at Two and a giant bolt of lightning tore through the air, striking his wand and arcing across his body. Two fell to the ground, writhing and smoldering.
“Now that we’re through with the oaf, you’re coming with us,” Jeremy said, grinning.
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