The Skeleton Horse

by Maya Grace

  As she whipped open her eyes, she saw that the axe was still overhead, moving downward second by second. It was moving in slow motion! And broken glass lay on the floor all around.

  Jack’s potion of slowness! Ella spotted her cousin in the doorway, just before Gran and Rowan pushed past him into the room. Gran took out the vindicator with a single fierce strike of her sword. As Rowan watched the mob fall, she looked disappointed that she hadn’t gotten in a blow, too.

  But Ella collapsed to the floor in a heap of relief. She squeezed back tears, not wanting anyone to see. Then she felt Jack beside her. “Thanks, buddy,” she said, pulling him into a hug. “You saved me, you know.”

  “I know,” he said. “Just like you saved us from the super-charged creeper.”

  Ella laughed at that and opened her eyes. “That’s why we stick together, right?”

  He nodded.

  “That’s right,” said Gran, pulling Ella to her feet. “So no more running ahead of us into rooms, alright?”

  When Ella saw tears glistening in Gran’s eyes, she felt a pang of guilt. She’d nearly scared Gran to death, too. But she wouldn’t do it again.

  As they continued down the long hall, opening doors to check for more hostile mobs, Ella stuck close to Jack and kept her sword drawn. They passed more bedrooms, some with single beds and others with double beds. But Ella wasn’t sleepy anymore.

  I may never sleep again, she thought to herself, after her battle with the vindicator and his axe.

  “Meeting room,” Gran announced, closing a door behind her.

  “Library,” said Rowan, closing her door, too.

  “Wait, what?” Ella felt a tingle of excitement run down her spine.

  Rowan shrugged. “Just bookshelves filled with books. Don’t you have enough of those at home?”

  “Yeah, but these might be enchanted books,” said Ella. “Enchantments I don’t have yet. They could help us!” She didn’t mention the fact that the only anvil she’d seen in the house had been damaged. Without an anvil, it would be tough to enchant anything. But still, she had to see those books!

  Gran gave in. “We’ll go in together,” she said. “And I’ll go first.”

  This time, Ella pushed past Rowan to be second in line. As soon as Gran opened the door, Ella smelled the familiar scents of leather, paper, and dust. Her heart ached, because the library smelled like home.

  After they’d circled the room, making sure no illagers lurked inside, Ella ran her fingers down the spines of the books. They came in all colors and sizes, but she didn’t pull any off the shelf. Because none of them had what she was looking for—the faint lavender glow of enchantment. As she rounded the last shelf, she blew out a breath of disappointment.

  That’s when she saw Jack slide a book into his backpack. Before she could ask what he was doing, he raised a finger to his lips. His brown eyes pleaded with Ella not to tell.

  Why not? she wondered. What did he find?

  When Gran rounded the corner too, Ella plastered on a smile. “No enchanted books here,” she said. “Oh, well.”

  Jack shot her a look of gratitude as he zipped up his backpack and followed her out of the library.

  When they’d reached the hall, Ella tugged on his arm until he stopped walking. “You’ll tell me later?” she whispered.

  He nodded solemnly.

  When they reached the last door in the hallway, Ella held her breath. If this room was clear, maybe they could rest. Maybe she could finally let her guard down, or at least set down her heavy sword and trident.

  But the room wasn’t empty. A spiral staircase stood in the middle.

  Gran flung out her arms. “A-ha!” she announced, bouncing on her toes like a child.

  “What?” asked Ella and Rowan at the exact same time.

  “This staircase leads to only one thing,” said Gran. “A chest. A chest that may hold a saddle for your old grandma.”

  As she took the stairs two by two, Gran looked anything but old. Ella laughed and followed her up, winding around and around until they’d reached what looked like a dead end.

  Sure enough, beyond the very last step, sat a chest.

  Gran threw open the lid as if it might be filled with emeralds. One by one, she took out items and handed them to the children.

  Bread, which made Ella’s stomach growl.

  Redstone dust, which Jack scooped up and added to his backpack. “For potions,” he explained, when Rowan shot him a quizzical look.

  Rotten flesh, which Gran pulled out with the tip of her sword.

  “Ew!” cried Rowan, backing away.

  But as Gran neared the bottom of the chest, her face fell. “No saddle.”

  Ella looked over her shoulder, hoping Gran was wrong. But a saddle isn’t the kind of treasure that gets lost or hidden behind other things. Still, she wished she could make Gran feel better.

  “How about these?” Ella cried, reaching for a couple of music discs at the bottom of the chest. “You could play them in your jukebox!”

  When Rowan rolled her eyes, Ella’s shoulders drooped. “Right.” They weren’t at home, where Gran could play music on her jukebox. They might no longer have a jukebox—or a home to return to. She tossed the discs back into the chest and closed the lid. “Sorry, Gran,” she whispered.

  Gran said nothing. Was she really that upset?

  Ella turned to see. But the expression on Gran’s face wasn’t sadness. It was fear, which turned Ella’s blood cold.

  She followed Gran’s gaze down the spiral staircase and saw white bubbles floating up, like snowflakes rising instead of falling. “What is it?” whispered Ella. “A potion?” It couldn’t have been Jack’s. He stood beside her, trembling.

  Gran shook her head. “An Evoker cast a spell,” she whispered. “To summon vexes.”

  Vexes?

  A high-pitched horn rang out, piercing Ella’s ears. Then a ghostly mob appeared up above. Then another. And another!

  The first vex glowed red—blood red.

  It let out an evil shriek as it swooped low.

  Straight toward Jack.

  CHAPTER 9

  “Jack, look out!” Ella threw her body over her cousin, tackling him. She felt the vex attack, striking her armor.

  But Ella fought back. She leaped to her feet. “Stay down, Jack!” she ordered. Then she grabbed her sword and swung at the vex, swinging again and again until her sword finally made contact. Whack!

  The vex squealed and darted away. But another took its place!

  Rowan stood beside Ella now, her bow raised upward. Thwack! Her arrow took out the second vex.

  Gran was fighting, too. She swung at the third vex with her sword, but the vex disappeared.

  “It went through the wall!” cried Jack, who was sitting up now.

  Gran nodded. “It did. But it may be back.”

  Ella waited, barely breathing, staring at the stone on the wall. But after a minute, which felt like an eternity, the vex hadn’t come back.

  “It’s over!” Rowan shouted, pumping her fist in the air. “We did it!”

  But Gran wasn’t celebrating. “Those were only the vexes,” she said. “We still have to face the evoker that summoned them.” Instead of explaining, she started down the stairs, sword still drawn.

  It’s never over! thought Ella. Mobs keep spawning. We can’t keep up.

  Her body felt as heavy as obsidian. She sank down on the step to rest, only for a second. Then she heard it—not the shriek of a vex, but the howl of a wolf. Taiga?

  Yes!

  Ella shot up so fast, she feared she’d hit her head on the ceiling.

  Taiga was alive. Her wolf was alive! And he was calling to her, telling her that it would be okay. That the war against the undead mobs could be won, if only they had enough help.

  Then Ella heard more howling. More wolves. Lots more wolves.

  Taiga wasn’t alone. He had gathered the help they needed. And he was on his way back to her!

 
Ella took off down the stairs, swooping like a vex around corner after corner. She stumbled and fell, cracking her knee on the cobblestone. But she shot back up and kept running.

  Down the stairs.

  Through the room that held the spiral staircase.

  Out the door and down the long hall.

  Down more stairs.

  “Gran! Rowan!” she called. “Where are you?”

  She found them in the foyer, on the very bottom level. They stood still as statues, staring.

  Another vindicator stood in front of them, blocking the front door. No, this isn’t a vindicator, Ella realized. It had the same pale gray skin and big nose, but instead of a brown jacket, it wore dark robes. And when it raised its arms over its head, it didn’t hold an axe.

  For a second, Ella felt relief.

  Then she realized what this mob—this evoker—was doing. Casting another spell!

  As purple bubbles rose into the air, Rowan raised her bow. Gran grabbed her sword. Ella looked overhead for the vexes, but they never appeared.

  Instead, the ground rumbled and growled. Fangs sprouted from the floor, snapping at Ella’s feet. Like a wave passing through the foyer, the fangs shot up and then back down, over and over again.

  Jack shrieked. Gran pulled him backward as another row of fangs shot through the floor.

  “How do we fight them?” Rowan cried.

  Gran pointed toward the evoker, as if to say, Don’t fight the fangs. Fight the evoker that summoned them!

  Ella tried. She wound back her arm, took aim, and threw her trident. But before it hit its mark, a protective circle of fangs sprung up around the evoker. The trident bounced off the snarling, snapping fangs and clattered to the ground. Rowan’s arrow did, too.

  But something else was growling now. Taiga!

  Ella spun her head, trying to find him. Was he here, or still calling to her from far away?

  The door! In her mind, she saw him scratching and clawing at the front door. He was here, and he desperately wanted in.

  When Ella’s enchanted trident soared back toward her, she grabbed it, sprang to her feet, and hurled off the trident again.

  Only this time, she aimed for the window nearest to the door, hoping the force of the trident would be enough to break it.

  Glass shattered, and a flurry of fur sprang through the window. Taiga’s golden eyes met Ella’s, as if making sure she was okay. Then he crouched low, let out a ferocious bark, and leaped over the evoker’s protective ring of fangs. The evoker hit the ground with a grunt. The wolf did, too.

  “Taiga!”

  As the fangs that separated Ella from her wolf shrank back into the ground, she raced across the foyer. Taiga stood snarling at the place on the ground where the evoker had once been.

  “It’s okay!” Ella cried, dropping to her knees beside her wolf. “You killed him. You saved us. It’s okay.”

  As she buried her face in his fur, she saw the gleam—something golden at Taiga’s feet. It had piercing green eyes. “What is it?” she asked, lifting the statue so that Gran could see.

  Gran gasped. “That, Ella, is a prize indeed.”

  “But what is it?”

  “Totem of Undying,” Gran said as she hurried across the foyer. When she reached for the statue, Ella handed it over. The only thing she wanted to hold tightly to right now was Taiga, whose fur was still raised in a ridge along his spine.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered to him again. “Settle down now.”

  She felt Rowan’s hot breath on her neck as her cousin leaned closer, trying to get a look at the gold statue. “What does it do?” asked Rowan.

  Gran polished it with her sleeve. “It can bring you back from the brink of death,” she said. “If you’re holding it when you’re attacked.”

  “No way,” said Jack, who suddenly stood beside Ella. “Can I see?”

  Gran let him hold it, but suddenly Ella wanted the statue back in her own hands. Because Taiga was by her side now. He had protected her—saved her from the evoker. If she kept the statue close, could she save him, too, the next time danger struck?

  As she gave her wolf another squeeze, he whined and backed away.

  “What?” asked Ella. “What’s wrong? Too much love?”

  He trotted a few steps away and then turned, barking.

  “He wants us to follow him,” said Ella. “What is it, buddy? What do you want to show us?”

  He led her to the front door, which was still closed. But through the broken window beside the door, Ella saw them.

  And they saw her.

  A chorus of barks filled the air, and then howls. The grass outside the mansion was covered with wolves.

  CHAPTER 10

  “How many are there?” cried Jack, gazing out the window.

  “I don’t know,” Ella whispered.

  Dozens of wolves filled the lawn, pacing and whining. Barking and howling. Calling to Taiga.

  And to me, Ella realized. Thanks to Taiga, her army of wolves had arrived. But what do I do with them? she wondered. She looked to Gran for help.

  Gran squeezed Ella’s shoulders. “You did it,” she said. “You’ve gathered an army.”

  “But I didn’t!” said Ella. “Taiga did!”

  Gran smiled. “The wolves will follow Taiga, yes. But Taiga follows you.” As she tapped Ella’s chest, Ella felt her shoulders stiffen under the weight of responsibility.

  Then she caught the look in Rowan’s eyes—a look of awe, but also envy. Would Rowan start up again about how horses were better than wolves? I don’t want to fight, thought Ella. Not with Rowan.

  “Maybe,” Ella said quickly, “we do need more horses. If we’re going to lead an army of wolves, I should have my own horse. Will you help me tame one, Rowan?”

  Her cousin’s face lit up, bright as the gold statue that Gran placed back in Ella’s hands. As her fingers tightened around the Totem of Undying, she felt a rush of hope. With my cousins, Gran, and my wolf—no, my wolves—fighting with me, how can we lose?

  But she knew they had to keep moving. Keep building their army. And keep fighting.

  “Let’s go,” said Ella, leading the way outside to where her wolves were waiting.

  * * *

  Ella woke from a dream to morning sunlight streaming through her window, and the smell of mushroom stew. She stretched, smiled, and then bolted upright in bed.

  Except she wasn’t in her bed. She was on a hay bale.

  And it couldn’t have been morning, because the sun no longer rose in the morning sky.

  “Is it noon?” she cried out, hoping her family was here in this barn, too, and hadn’t left her behind. What sounded like a thousand wolves began barking from just outside the barn.

  “Shh!” cried Gran, waving her hand. “Don’t alarm them. Yes, it’s noon. You’ve been sleeping for hours.”

  “And we made mushroom stew,” said Jack, who was curled up next to his ocelot. “I brought part of a huge mushroom back from the Roofed Forest.”

  Ella rubbed her eyes and stared at Jack’s backpack. How could such a small boy store so much stuff in that pack?

  Then she remembered the book he had stolen from the library—no, not stolen really, because whom did the book belong to? Those nasty illagers?

  She made a mental note to ask Jack about the book—right after a bowl of hot, bubbling mushroom stew. It had cooked so long over the fire that it smelled sweet.

  Ella ate it outside, bathed in sunlight, surrounded by her wolves. Taiga was the only one who sat beside her, but the others watched her with their golden eyes, as if waiting for her next command or a sign that it was time to move on.

  That sign came in the form of a shadow crossing the hillside. The sun had already begun to set, and in the darkness that followed, Ella could see the fires on the horizon. Then a red-headed girl on horseback emerged from the shadows, racing toward the barn.

  “Another village is burning!” cried Rowan as she slowed Victory to a trot.

>   Ella jumped up so fast, she nearly spilled her stew. She remembered the first village they had passed—the one that had been destroyed by the zombie siege. Gran had said it was too late to help those villagers, because the fires had been reduced to smoke, and the village to a heap of burned-out buildings.

  But maybe this time, it wasn’t too late. When Gran hurried out the barn door, Ella whirled around to face her.

  “We need to help them!” Ella cried. “The fires are still burning. Maybe we can still save some of the villagers. And our wolves will fight with us!”

  As Gran looked from the wolves to the fire-lit horizon and then back again, something shifted in her face. “We’ll help them,” she said. “But we have to go now.”

  Moments later, Ella sat behind Rowan in Victory’s saddle. She no longer worried about falling off. Her legs felt strong, and she sat straight and tall. How could she not, with a wake of wolves streaming out from behind the horses?

  On the chestnut mare galloping beside her, Jack readied his potions. Ella wondered what he would choose to help them battle the flames. Potion of fire resistance? Potion of swiftness? There was so much power in those tiny glass bottles. But will it be enough? Ella wondered.

  As they neared the burning village, she could feel the heat. A river of sweat ran down her back beneath her heavy armor. When Gran motioned for the girls to dismount their horse near the cobblestone well, Ella wished she could dive straight into the well, down into the cool water below.

  But the flames still burned, and the villagers needed help. When Jack offered Ella his potion of fire resistance, she drank it.

  “There may still be zombies inside houses and buildings,” warned Gran. “Fight them only if you have to—to save villagers.”

  Ella nodded, picturing the children that might be trapped inside their own homes. When Rowan took off running, Ella raced behind her, along with what felt like a thousand wolves. She could hear them yipping and the drumbeat of their paws striking the earth.

  Rowan slowed to a walk as she reached the first house. She dropped to a knee just outside a window and waved Ella to her side.

  “Zombies,” Rowan whispered.

  As Ella snuck a glance, she sucked in her breath. The grunting mobs filled the room, bumping off walls and into each other. There were no villagers left inside. We’re too late! thought Ella, her stomach clenching.