by E. G. Foley
With that, Garnock whooshed through the foyer and flew out of the school.
Jake knew he had to go after him, but he couldn’t leave Archie and Derek and Red in this condition. He turned to Madam Sylvia, who had managed to rouse herself from her swoon.
“Go on, hurry.” She waved him off. “I’ll look after these two.”
“Three. He got Red, too.”
“Fine, just go! You mustn’t let him finish the spell!”
Just then, an angry squeaking from the top of the stairs drew his attention. He turned and saw Archie standing on the top step, jumping up and down to get his attention and waving him on.
“What?” Jake tilted his head, listening harder.
“Hurry!” his cousin chirped. “The girls!”
He drew in his breath. “You’re right!”
Instantly, he dashed off, though he had no idea what he could possibly do to Garnock by himself once he caught up to him. He’d just have to figure something out when he got there.
With a sick feeling in his stomach, he rushed across the foyer, burst through the front door and strode across the porch, into the overcast afternoon.
Ahead, Garnock was a small black cloud sweeping down the drive.
Jake narrowed his eyes. His pulse pounding, he leaped off the porch steps and went chasing after him.
Alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Keeper of the Unicorns
Garnock could almost taste his victory. Now for the final step in the spell, and then it would be complete. He flew toward the unicorn sanctuary at Plas-y-Fforest, ignoring the twinge of pain when he crossed the threshold, passing over the old, faded-out protective spells.
They might have worked on him a few centuries ago, but not anymore. He felt little more than a sting.
Nothing would stop him now.
As he flew up higher to gain a better vantage point from which to search for the unicorn herd, he skimmed the forest just above the treetops, no more than a passing shadow, like the fleeting memory of a bad dream.
But soon he’d be so much more, he thought eagerly. He’d be real again. And, ah, then he would finally get the chance to settle some old scores…
There!
Movement among the trees below proved to be the elusive herd.
Garnock swirled lower, unseen, unsensed by the animals and the two young girls he found keeping watch over them.
The smaller child, a ginger-haired little wisp of a thing with freckles, was humming to herself and playing with some odd sparkling dust.
A few yards away, a lovely blonde stood on guard, a little older, though not yet of marriageable age.
Garnock narrowed his eyes.
The white staff she was holding marked her as the Keeper. Garnock smirked. The chit looked too delicate to harm a fly. No, he thought, these two were of no concern to him, but best to make sure there wasn’t anyone else on hand that he should worry about.
From high above, he made a quick pass around the edges of the herd to assess the situation and was glad he did, for he also spotted a black-haired woman standing watch, her yellowish-green eyes glowing slightly in the forest twilight, like a cat’s.
She had a fey quality and a tall, slender build like the elven folk—but no, she was human, more or less, he thought, still unsure what she was.
Witch? Shapeshifter, perhaps? He just hoped she wasn’t a clairvoyant, or she might be able to see him.
Not taking any chances now that he had finally made it to the last step of the spell, he approached just close enough to use the same spell he had used on the Guardian and froze her where she stood.
The two girls never even noticed. Satisfied—indeed, gloating a little—Garnock floated closer to the unicorns, studying the animals and choosing his target from out of the herd, like any good predator—lion or wolf.
One colt in particular seemed a little weak.
He homed in on the animal, studying its movements, until the sudden shriek of a tree goblin who had spotted Garnock broke his concentration. He looked over with a low snarl; several small tree goblins scattered up higher into the branches and fled from him.
Unfortunately, when he turned back to look at the colt, he saw that the tree goblin’s cry had drawn the attention of the girls.
He held perfectly still, melting into the shadow of the thick tree trunk beside him.
The girls exchanged a glance and moved a little closer. The magnificent unicorn stallion trotted past, tossing his horned head restlessly, almost sensing something.
Garnock held his breath.
But after a moment, when nothing more happened, the girls shrugged off the tree goblin’s yelp and went back to what they were doing.
The little redhead went back to singing to herself, looking bored with her duties, while the blonde patrolled along the edges of the herd, staff in hand.
The unicorns grazed a trifle fretfully around the girls, their pastel-colored tails swinging rhythmically as they swatted away a few straggling summer flies.
Satisfied that the girls were not going to bother him, Garnock returned his attention to the colt. Grazing, it kicked its hind leg idly at an insect.
This is it, he thought, his excitement building. It was as good a chance as he could hope to get.
He gathered himself, recalling all those centuries in his tomb. In a few short moments, he would be truly free.
Now!
He launched out from behind the tree and attacked, zooming up to the colt and opening his mouth. Hovering just above the innocent mystical animal, he began drawing in a huge inhalation, pulling the creature’s life-force into himself.
The colt could not see him, but it knew something was wrong. It let out a frantic whinny and moved to the right and the left, trying to escape, but Garnock followed it each way, siphoning out its life-force until the weakened creature stumbled.
The colt’s anxious mood and clumsy movements startled the herd. As the other unicorns started speeding away, the red-haired girl stopped singing.
“Isabelle, where are you going?”
Having drunk his fill and already reeling with victory, Garnock released the colt from his dark magical hold. But now the young animal was too weakened to run.
Garnock pulled back and turned dazedly, only to find the Keeper running toward the colt, leaping over rocks and logs in her path. She had lost all semblance of a neat young miss and ran like a young barbarian warrior princess, an Amazon of old, wielding her white staff like a spear.
He saw fury in her bright blue eyes—and Garnock was afraid.
There were few magicks on earth like that of an innocent Keeper. Most never even knew how mighty they were until it was too late.
This one was magnificent…and as much as she terrified him, he was suddenly inspired. What a gift she’d make! An exquisite peace offering to placate a certain devil of his acquaintance who was still waiting to collect a soul from him.
Aye, the debt he owed would be written off as paid if he handed over this bright young beauty in his place.
“Isabelle, what is it? Where are you going?” the little ginger yelled.
“He’s here!” she shouted back rather savagely.
“Where? I don’t see anything!”
“Neither do I, but I feel him,” she added coldly under her breath, scanning the grove.
Garnock was standing inches away from her, but he was still in spirit form.
She rushed right past him, breathing heavily from her sprint. She glided over to the colt, went down on one knee, and put her graceful arms around it.
He could hear her speaking softly to the creature, comforting it, asking what was wrong, but Garnock quit listening as he noticed the Spell of a Hundred Souls starting to take effect now that the final step was completed.
He could feel the most startling change coming over him. It’s happening! It worked!
The world seemed to be spinning. He felt tingly all over. A wind rushed through the woods with a roaring soun
d and made the autumn leaves on the ground scatter and whirl.
The Keeper was still protecting the colt, and the little redhead was running toward the pair, asking Isabelle what was wrong.
Garnock felt giddy and lightheaded as he looked down and saw his body flicker into being, starting to materialize. A real, physical body—flesh and blood!
It did not remain constant yet, but phased in and out of materiality like a distant star.
It felt wonderful.
The first sound out of his newly formed mouth was a shocked, triumphant laugh. He began running his newly made hands all over himself, checking to feel if everything was there. Face, ears, head, arms, legs, feet. All the parts right where they should be.
“I’m alive.” He lifted his arms and threw his head back, screaming at the sky in defiance, “I’m alive!”
Whack!
His shout of victory was short-lived, for in the midst of his rejoicing, he failed to take into account that he was now also visible to the two young ladies.
The Keeper wasted no time in expressing what she thought of him. Once again, the blonde lifted her staff and swung it at him with all her strength, welcoming him back into the world with a second blow that sent him reeling.
Garnock winced with tears of pain smarting in his eyes, but even though it hurt like the blazes, he couldn’t stop laughing. “Do you know how many centuries it’s been since I could feel physical pain?” he asked aloud—rhetorically—from where he lay laughing on the ground. “I almost welcome it! At least now I’m able to feel something.”
“Good!” The little redhead loomed over him, hands propped on her waist. “Then maybe you’ll like this, too.” She kicked him in the ribs as he started to sit up and sent him sprawling onto his back once again.
Their beating on him ceased to be amusing. He stayed down for a while to make them stop, waiting for his strength to return.
Instead, he lay there balled up on the ground to protect his new innards, reveling in the weight of having a body again after so long, feeling the solid texture of the earth beneath. Having a nose again with which to smell the rich forest moss and autumn leaves!
When they stopped kicking him, he just lay there, savoring these simple luxuries and waiting for his full powers to come in. He had known it might take a short while. Most magic wasn’t instantaneous, after all, and in those first few minutes of having his new body, he was as weak as a baby.
But not for long.
He whispered a summoning spell for his ring and it appeared on his finger. With every second, he could feel his strength growing. His heart raced.
From the corner of his eye, he saw the two girls glance at each other in confusion at the way he lay inert.
“Hullo?” The redhead waved her hand before his face. “Isabelle, did we kill him?”
Garnock played dead to avoid getting cracked in the head again, waiting…
“Why isn’t he getting up?” she whispered.
“I don’t think he can,” the Keeper replied.
“But I didn’t hit him that hard!”
They both leaned closer curiously. And that was their mistake. He opened his eyes to slits. Two young heads were peering down at him with the sky and the trees behind them.
The girls looked at each other.
“Something terrible must have happened at the school,” the redhead whispered. “Isabelle, Jake and your brother must’ve failed! Why else would Garnock be here? How did he make it past them? They could be dead for all we know!”
“You mustn’t say that…”
As the Keeper argued with her companion in low tones, Garnock felt his full strength rushing back into him, flooding his new body, tingling down every nerve ending.
He had never felt more alive.
The two girls screamed when he shot his hand out and grasped the Keeper’s wrist.
“Ouch! Let go of me! It burns!”
“Miss Helena, help!” the redhead shouted into the distance while his blond captive twisted and squirmed and tried to pull her arm free.
Garnock sat up but simply refused to let go.
“Take your hands off me!”
“Oh, but I have a use for you, my dear.”
“You let her go!” The redhead charged as if she meant to tackle him, but with his free hand, Garnock tossed her into a pile of dead leaves with a casual bolt of magic from his fingertips.
Ah, yes, he was feeling much more himself now.
“Dani!” the blonde screamed.
“Stay out of my way, you little Irish barbarian.”
“Leave her alone!” the Keeper protested.
“I’m not interested in her, actually. Isabelle, isn’t it?”
She went still, eyeing him in cold distrust. “What do you want with me?”
“You must come with me, my dear. I have a friend you really have to meet.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Let me go!”
“Garnock!” a voice suddenly thundered as she struggled.
Garnock looked over with a hiss as the Lightrider’s son appeared at the far edge of the clearing. He was red-faced with running, his chest heaving. Persistent, that one.
“Take your hands off my cousin,” the young Lord Griffon commanded, angrily striding toward them.
But Garnock had no intention of complying.
With a sneer at the lad, he clutched the girl’s wrist harder, then uttered a one-word teleportation spell and vanished, taking the Keeper with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
A Cruel Trade
“Isabelle!”
Dani’s piercing scream rang in Jake’s ears, a sound of pure panic that echoed his own overwhelming horror.
Garnock had simply vanished with his cousin in a puff of black smoke.
“Where did they go? They couldn’t just disappear!”
But they had.
Dani was becoming hysterical, running around the grove looking for her friend in wild disbelief, as if Garnock and Isabelle might be hiding with her somewhere here just under their noses.
Jake grabbed her arm to stop her and tried to calm her down. “Shh, it’s all right.”
“No, it isn’t!” Her green eyes welled with terrified tears. “Jake, he took her!” she choked out.
“We’re going to get her back.”
“How?”
He swallowed hard. “I don’t know yet. I’ll figure it out. But you have to calm down. This isn’t helping.”
His firm tone helped her settle down slightly. “Where’s Derek? Where are Red and Archie? Is everyone all right? How did Garnock get past you?”
“The Lightriders’ spell didn’t work. He had already figured out a defense.”
“I knew it!” she yelled, her cheeks flushing with a burst of anger to match her bewilderment. “I knew your stupid plan would never work! Oh, why do you always do this?”
“What?” he cried, taken aback. “It isn’t my fault!”
“Yes, it is! You always have to rush headlong into everything. Why couldn’t you just wait until your aunt wrote back and told you what to do?”
Jake’s first impulse was to defend himself, but he realized she was beside herself at the moment after seeing Isabelle abducted right before their eyes.
He strove to be patient. “I would’ve gladly waited if I had a choice. The headmaster ghost came and warned us that Garnock was going crazy feeding on the children.” He paused with a pang at the awful memory of how Old Sack had been devoured.
But he dared not mention it to Dani—let alone how Archie and Red had been miniaturized, and Derek had been frozen. “You should have seen the way we found the students at the school. They were practically comatose.”
“Well, what do we do now?”
He shook his head, at a loss, but before he could think of any possible answer, a welcome sound came from above, filling the skies.
“Caw!”
He looked up and saw Red soaring toward them at top speed. Even better, Archie was
riding on the Gryphon’s back. “They’re all right,” he breathed.
“What do you mean?” Dani asked.
“Never mind.” Jake waved anxiously to Red. “We’re down here! Hurry!”
“Red, help us!” Dani yelled.
A moment later, Red and Archie landed in the grove.
Jake and Dani ran to them. Archie slid off Red’s back. “I’m so glad to see you two back to your normal selves!”
“What are you talking about?” Dani asked.
Jake ignored her as Archie glanced around. “No worries, coz. Where’s my sister?”
Jake winced and dropped his gaze, and Dani started crying.
“Where is she?” Archie demanded in sudden dread.
Dani let out a sob. “Oh, Archie—Garnock took her!”
Red roared in fury at this news, rearing up on his hind legs and slashing at the air with his front claws.
The boy genius turned white. “What do you mean he took her?”
“I’m pretty sure he used a transport spell. Then they just…vanished.” Jake reached out and steadied his cousin as Archie began wobbling on his feet.
“We have to get her back!” her brother fairly screamed, which made Dani cry harder.
Jake gulped. “We will.” Their reactions really weren’t helping. “How’s Derek?”
“Madam Sylvia’s still working on him,” Archie said.
“What happened to Derek?” Dani cried in renewed horror.
“He got frozen. Don’t worry, Madam Sylvia seemed to think that she can fix him. It’ll probably just take some time,” Jake assured her with far more conviction than he felt. “Where’s Miss Helena, by the way?”
Dani turned to him with a low gasp. “We haven’t seen her.”
They rushed off to look for her and soon found the frozen governess, immobilized by the same spell Garnock had used on Derek.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get Madam Sylvia up here to work on her next,” Jake told the younger two.
“Mother Mary, we’re all doomed,” Dani said.
Hearing the despair in her voice, Red got hold of his own wrath and came over to the kids to help calm them down. He spread his wings around the boys’ shoulders and gave Dani a comforting nuzzle with his feathered cheek.