by DM Fike
“Aren’t there already a lot of Aossi here?”
“Centuries ago, many Aossi did cross over onto Earth. I suspect those Aossi have long since integrated into Earth culture. It’s been only in the last several decades, since the destruction of the statue, that Aossi have once again trickled over to Earth.”
Digs opened up a drawer in the desk and withdrew a bright pink sheet of paper. “But I didn’t bring you down here for a history lesson. This is yours.” He slid it over to her.
Avalon opened the sheet, glitter sprinkling onto her lap as she read the scrawling note. “I knew you’d come! Thanks for the $20. Meet me at Fantasma on the last day of the season.” It was signed “Not Somebody.”
Avalon sighed. “He’s looking for Ladybug.” Ladybug, Nobody’s sister, had been absorbed by the statue too, becoming a Child herself. No one had known what happened to her until she appeared in Avalon’s dreams the previous summer. Now Ladybug had vanished, replaced by the more vengeful, imprisoned Braellia.
“Nobody’s looking for you, lass,” Digs corrected. “He hasn’t stopped since you vanished from Saluzyme.”
Avalon gave a mirthless chuckle. “He would sell my soul to a demon if it would bring his sister back.”
“Nobody is many things. A liar. A flake. A troublemaker. But he’s always been a friend to me. I would not be alive if not for him. And I would not pass along this message if I thought he would harm you. It goes against everything I stand for as a healer.”
“I know.” Avalon folded the note, glitter scattering all over the desk. “I wouldn’t be here either if I believed that too.”
“I wish I could help you more,” Digs said. “Perhaps you could stay the night.”
Avalon shook her head. “You and Helen have already done plenty for me.” She offered him the keys to the gray sedan. “I should also return your car.”
“You’re jesting, right? That car is wanted in connection to criminal activity. I reported it stolen weeks ago. It’s all yours now, but I’d keep a low profile with it, if I were you.”
“It just has to get me to Salt Lake City,” Avalon said. “Fantasma’s closing tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Digs asked, surprised.
“That’s right. Fantasma’s last day of the season is Halloween.”
MAGIC CURSE: CHAPTER 3
AVALON WAITED FOR Nobody on a hard metal bench across from the Hall of Mirrors. Fantasma fanatics dressed up in Halloween costumes surrounded her—ballroom-gowned queens, brightly cloaked sorcerers with long beards, and knights in homemade chain mail—all in preparation for the Fantasmic Storybook parade right before closing time. Avalon chuckled at the gaudy outfits. Was that really what people thought Llenwaldians would dress like? Avalon herself had put on the clothes she had brought back from Emerged Falls: a short-sleeved tunic with matching leggings. The effect was lost with her hoodie over the top, keeping her warm. Shivering, she tucked her hands under her armpits for warmth against the chill evening breeze.
Avalon wished Nobody had been more specific than “meet me at Fantasma on the last day of the season.” For one, she couldn’t be sure he knew when the park’s last day open was. Second, Fantasma covered vast acres including a water park and different themed areas. And finally, she had no idea when Nobody planned to show up, if at all.
Her best, and most economical, choice was to wait until the last few hours the park remained open. She not only got in for a discounted rate, but it gave both herself and Nobody the coverage of darkness in the shortening Utah days. After loitering on the bench for almost an hour, though, she wondered if she’d made the wrong call.
But what else could she do? The Hall of Mirrors, where she had worked only months earlier, seemed the most logical place to meet. Park maintenance had only partly repaired the roof damage from the lightning bolt she had inadvertently cast upon it. The yellow warning tape had been removed, replaced with temporary metal fencing and a huge sign that said, “Come back next year!” The dwarf, wizard, and princess statues scowled at her in between the shifting crowd, blaming her for their current predicament.
Avalon couldn’t stop her heart from racing as she imagined Kay, the fairy knight statue, frozen in place near the entrance podium. She felt close to him here, as if he were not on a completely different world. His voice echoed in her mind.
I also care for you. Some of the last words he had ever said to her.
“You’re where you’re supposed to be,” she told him.
A figure in a striped neon shirt removed itself from the crowd, heading for her bench. Avalon caught a quick glimpse of a jet-black crew cut and a manager’s badge when someone called out, “Avalon?”
Avalon stifled a groan as Logan, her former boss, approached. The last he saw her, she had forced her way into the park with the mercenary Desert Rose. She made to run, but he blocked her path before she could escape.
“It is you!” he said as he peered inside her hoodie.
Avalon held up her hands. “Logan, you have no idea what’s going on.”
“You’re right, I don’t.” He frowned. “You seemed like such a nice kid. Down on her luck, maybe. But arson?”
She hadn’t set the wildfire. Desert Rose had. Good luck explaining that to Logan.
“It’s not what you think,” Avalon said.
“It doesn’t matter what I think.” He looked over his shoulder and nodded. Two Fantasma security guards appeared on either side of her. They grabbed her by either arm to drag her off, Logan leading the way. A few costumed patrons glanced at her entourage, but most of the crowd shifted and laughed as they prepared for the park’s season finale.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, Logan,” she insisted. When he remained silent, she continued, “Remember how that federal agent dragged me off? She framed me.”
He snorted. “That’s ridiculous.”
Avalon’s cheeks burned at his dismissal. “You let someone you don’t know haul me off company property, and when I never return, that’s normal?”
Logan’s brows furrowed.
Avalon pressed on. “Or when she shows back up in a fiery explosion a few days later, dragging me behind her, no big deal?”
Logan threw her a glance over his shoulder but kept walking toward the employee lounge near the back of the park.
Avalon gave one final push. “And I suppose it’s just another day’s work when I literally vanish down a slide?”
Logan unlocked the lounge with his badge. “I agree it’s weird, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m obliged to report you.” He motioned her inside.
A hulking man waited inside the small room, his square shoulders the same shape as the large wooden table dominating the room. He had on a pristine black suit and sunglasses that hid his eyes, a strange contrast to his mop-like hair. His deep baritone filled the room.
“Benton.”
Her mouth went dry. She faced Logan, still standing outside with the Fantasma security guards. “This guy is not a policeman.”
Logan opened his mouth to say something, but Boxer overrode him. “I’ll take over from here.” His voice left no room for argument.
“Logan!” Avalon shouted, but her former boss refused to make eye contact as he shut the door, leaving her with Boxer, Bedwyr’s security office from Saluzyme.
“’Bout time you showed up.” He scowled, taking a few steps toward her.
Avalon’s insides turned to jelly as she backed up against the door. As Boxer stalked toward her, she slid against the wall away from him. He slowly followed.
“Why are you here?” she managed to choke out as she slipped past the corner and onto a perpendicular wall. Boxer hadn’t liked her when she was merely Bedwyr’s test subject. She could only imagine his rage at her killing his beloved leader.
“You’re coming with me,” he growled, his large frame blocking out the weak fluorescent light behind him. Avalon squeaked as she skirted a lumpy couch, back to the wall.
“Why do you need me?” Ava
lon had almost made it a full 180 onto the opposite wall from the door. An empty feeling spread throughout her body. She tried to shove it aside, to concentrate on how to get away from Boxer.
Boxer glowered, then lunged for her.
Avalon flung herself toward the lounge sink, barely dodging Boxer’s meaty hands. He lost his balance when he didn’t immediately grab a hold of her, and Avalon took that chance to make a run for the lounge’s only exit.
“Stop moving!” Boxer roared as he lumbered after her.
The void in her chest expanded, threatening to swallow her. Avalon belatedly recognized the sensation.
Go, a familiar voice whispered in her head.
With renewed determination, Avalon pushed forward in her fastest sprint, head down, aiming for the closed door.
“You can’t…” Boxer screamed at the same moment Avalon used the dark magic gathering in her chest to dash through the solid door. The rest of his sentence became muffled, her ears clogging as if underwater as she waded through the solid object, holding her breath.
Fireworks lit up the night sky, whistling as she emerged on the other side. The two Fantasma security guards stationed outside recoiled from her. Logan’s jaw dropped as she extracted herself from the solid wood.
“I told you,” she yelled back at him, never breaking her stride as her sneakers pounded the pavement, taking her as far away from Boxer as possible.
Dark magic. Avalon could feel it swirling in her gut as she ran at full speed. She could only cast it with Nobody close by. She scanned the crowd lining the main pathway as park patrons gathered for the Storybook Parade, but she didn’t see one green hair of the gremlin.
A large cheer erupted down the line. The first float in the parade inched forward, a floating castle in the clouds surrounded by dancers dressed up as winged horses and fairies. At the top turret, a veiled princess with a synthetic wig and impractically long skirt waved politely at the crowd.
“STOP!” Boxer and two men in dark suits rushed toward her. The loud bellow caused some park patrons to yip as she whizzed by, but most screamed for the upcoming float. For once, Avalon felt grateful for the awful, loud music of the park’s finale. Unfortunately, the parade cut through the center of the park, blocking her in. She ran parallel to the crowd, searching for an escape.
She made it several feet before the crowd became too thick. A mustached man yelled at her as she squirmed past him. Behind her, Boxer and his men had closed the distance, and people were moving out of the way for him. It would only be a matter of moments before he caught up to her.
“So rude!” someone reprimanded in her ear.
“Sorry,” she muttered as she tried to scramble around.
Fingernails dug into her arm. “The least you could do is say ‘hello.’ Or ‘howdy.’ I’m not picky,” the same voice complained.
“Oh yeah!” a second voice squeaked.
Avalon’s head shot up. “Nobody?”
Poufy green hair outlined the gremlin’s gaunt face. He wore a gawdy purple tunic, leggings, and cape, which somehow managed to look even more ridiculous in a crowd of eager cosplayers. His dark blue-furred demonic companion with yarn-like black hair, Vimp, hung from his shoulders like a rag doll.
Nobody’s sharp teeth spread out in a crooked grin. “Miss me?”
Before Avalon could reply, a second hand shot out, snatching her by the other arm. “You,” Boxer snarled as he recognized Nobody.
“Yipe!” Nobody squealed. His other hand came around Avalon’s waist. “Sorry, dude. Smell ya later!”
Avalon’s stomach lurched as Nobody teleported them away from Boxer. When she reappeared, she almost lost her balance and fell down to the pavement, but Nobody steadied her with his arm still around her waist.
A roaring filled her ears as Avalon regained her bearings. She was on top of the castle float, standing next to the astonished princess. Below, the crowd screamed in delight at the unexpected arrival of more costumed characters. A few of the dancers around the float stumbled, not expecting more actors, but being professionals, quickly resumed their dance.
Nobody let her go, reaching his arms out to the crowd, hamming it up for the audience. As Avalon continued to stand frozen, locking eyes with a murderous looking Boxer, Nobody elbowed her.
“Work the crowd,” Nobody cried with joy, throwing kisses to a delighted toddler not far away.
Avalon weakly slapped on a fake grin as her hand flopped in a wave. Down below, Boxer and his men attempted to shove their way through the fans to the front of the crowd.
The princess regained her composure, heavy make-upped face never leaving the park patrons. “Who are you?” she hissed in a tone that did not match her radiant smile.
“Special effects team,” Nobody told her. “Here to save you, princess, from your own boring act.”
The princess set her jaw. “How dare you.”
“I’m going to dare a lot more than that!” Nobody declared, wrapping his cape about him like a scarf. Vimp leaped off his shoulder as he executed a backflip in the narrow space, barely keeping his balance as Avalon scrambled to hang onto something tight. He finished the move by unwrapping his cape, smacking the princess in the face with it. She sputtered as she flailed her arms to shoo it away. The crowd clamored with peals of laughter, blocking Boxer from getting any closer to the parade float.
As Vimp mounted back onto Nobody’s shoulder, the gremlin winked at the smoldering princess. “Don’t quit your day job, honey.” Then he snatched Avalon again and teleported out of sight.
They landed on the opposite side of the parade, away from the Saluzyme goons and well behind the excited park patrons. Boxer spotted them, cutting straight through the parade toward them with his two thugs not far behind.
“So much for distraction.” Nobody yanked Avalon in the opposite direction.
“Where have you been?” Avalon demanded as they darted through the more deserted areas of the park, most of the crowd focused on the parade. “If you’d been here an hour earlier, none of this would have happened.”
“Oh no,” Nobody skirted around a trash can. “Don’t you put this on me. It’s not my fault you decided to show up so late. I’ve been here all day, waiting for you.”
“You were at the Hall of Mirrors?”
“Of course not,” Nobody said. “I waited by the entrance. I thought for sure I would see you. A guy takes one bathroom break…”
Avalon scowled. “You could have been more specific about where to meet up.”
“You could have not shoved me into a portal to Llenwald in the first place.” Nobody stuck out his tongue. Vimp, hanging around his neck, did the same for emphasis.
A yell cut through their argument. “We have this place surrounded,” Boxer bellowed behind them. “You’re not getting out of here.”
Nobody suddenly halted, and Avalon smacked into his half-turned chest. A familiar ache coursed up her arm as it brushed the chain swinging around Nobody’s neck.
Nobody ignored Avalon’s wince of pain, pointing to a fence line in the distance. “The Raging Bulk ain’t kidding.” He pointed at a line of dark suits approaching from another direction. He swung back to face Boxer, who approached from the distant game booths. “I guess we take a stand.”
Avalon rubbed her pulsing arm. What was causing this pain? A motion around Nobody’s neck caught her eye. The emerald gem hanging on the chain around Nobody’s neck gleamed.
A piece of the Jaded Sprite Statue.
Leave, a voice whispered inside her skull. A feeling of oneness filled up inside her, as if Llenwald was somewhere nearby. She just needed a boost to get there.
“C’mon!” Avalon flew past Nobody, deeper into the park and away from the barricade of suits. The gremlin reluctantly followed her lead.
“There’s nothing back there,” Nobody said. “We’ll be surrounded by Saluzyme clones.”
Avalon raced toward the cordoned off Hall of Mirrors. Even though Nobody protested, she jumped over the fe
nce and made her way to the entrance podium. Nobody caught up with her as she stood on the spot where Kay once crouched as a living statue. She got down on one knee, her fingertips brushing the floor.
Something clicked open inside her.
“Well?” Nobody sighed as Boxer and the men in suits came into view. “At least you got to partake in one last stroll down memory lane. Totally worth it. It’s nice to die in a familiar place.”
Leave…
Avalon grabbed the gem around Nobody’s neck and yanked it downward. He gurgled.
Her right arm burned with the power of the statue touching her skin. Avalon closed her eyes, blocking out the sound of Boxer rattling his way past the metal fencing. She focused instead on Llenwald.
On Kay.
A shimmering haze opened up behind them as Avalon opened her eyes. A portal.
“Holy fritos!” Nobody squeaked at the same time Avalon pushed him through.
“Oh yeah!” Vimp echoed as they surged to the other side, teleporting off Earth just as Boxer screamed in rage, having missed them by inches.
* * *
Find out what happens in Magic Curse, the next book in the Legends of Llenwald series.
MAGIC OF NASCI SERIES
“I do not recommend striking a whale corpse with lightning. You will regret it.” – Ina, nature wizard-in-training
Ina is a rookie nature wizard, learning the ropes of elemental magic—fire, air, earth, and water. She can also wield lightning, setting her apart from the other followers of the goddess Nasci. If you like action-packed urban fantasy with just a hint of a slow-burn romance, you’ll love reading about Ina’s adventures in the Pacific Northwest’s national forests.
BOOK 1: CHASING LIGHTNING
BOOK 2: BREATHING WATER
BOOK 3: RUNNING INTO FIRE
BOOK 4: SHATTERING EARTH
BOOK 5: SOARING IN AIR
LEGENDS of LLENWALD SERIES
“I drive like I color: outside the lines.” – Nobody the gremlin
Avalon Benton has nothing: no parents, no money, and no future. Her bland existence unravels when a mysterious knight statue shows up at the Hall of Mirrors at the theme park where she works. A beggar begins stalking her every move, and she has abilities she cannot explain. As Avalon gets pulled toward a secret world where others covet her legendary powers, she must decide whom to trust—an amnesiac fairy, a shapeshifting trickster, or even her former doctor—all of whom may only be exploiting her for their own gain.