Eye of the Wizard: A Fantasy Adventure (26 page)

"Yeah," Scruff said, but didn't feel optimistic. It would take more than his siblings (and Romy) to storm this tower. Scruff lowered his chin to his chest. He had not felt this helpless since five years ago, when he was only thirteen, when Dry Bones burned Burrfield and killed his parents.
What does he want from us?
Dry Bones had referred to Father as an old friend; the warlock probably had some feud with Father, but it seemed unfair that he should also hunt the next Thistle generation.

Scruff wished he still had Norman. At least he'd be able to fantasize about bashing Dry Bones' skull. But the grobblers had taken the mace, along with his armor, backpack, and Cobweb's weapons.

A spider began crawling across Scruff's shoulder. He shifted in his chains, trying to shake it off. The spider climbed onto his nose. Scruff was about to blow his breath at it, knocking it off, but remembered that Cobweb loved spiders and let it be.

I'm sorry, Mom, Dad,
he thought, eyes closed.
I promised to avenge your deaths, but I failed.
The despair washed over him.

He opened his eyes and looked at Cobweb. Looking at her comforted him. Even in the dark, wet and battered, she looked beautiful, the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. It seemed crazy that her elders had banished her, all because of how she spoke. Scruff did not see how that detracted from her purity; she was perfect the way she was.

"My c-cwan wouwd suwe be pwoud of me now," Cobweb said with a sigh. "A fine adventuwe I'm having; I d-didn't wast twee monts away fwom my fowest. If dey saw me now, I'd be da joke of da cwan."

Scruff shifted, the chains chaffing his wrists. "Wouldn't they try to save you?"

Cobweb shook her head. "Oh no. Dey'd tink me weak for getting c-c-caught, and if anyting is wowse den tawking wike a b-b-baby, it's weakness."

"Well, I like how you talk. It's... cute." Scruff felt himself blush. He could imagine Jamie's voice in his head: "Smooth one, Don Juan."

"Tank you," Cobweb said, smiling shyly. "B-b-but I wish I c-couwd tawk pwopewwy."

A second spider climbed onto him, and Scruff tried to ignore it. "Have you ever heard of Moses?" he said.

Cobweb shook her head.

"Well," Scruff said, "he was a human who lived thousands of years ago. When he was a baby, he bit an ember, and it burned his tongue. For the rest of his life, he talked like you. But he became a great leader, despite his clumsy tongue." Scruff smiled. "If any spiderling makes fun of how you talk, just remember that story."

"I wike dis stowy," Cobweb said, smiling and lowering her eyes.

She's so cute,
Scruff thought. Just looking at her made him all tingly. He shifted again and cleared his throat. "So... do you have a spiderling boyfriend?" He felt his ears burning, and he bit his lip, cursing himself.

Cobweb laughed. "No... dewe are no b-boy spidewwings. Onwy giwws. We awe bown fwom watewfawws."

"Would your clan ever let a spiderling have a human boyfriend?"

Cobweb shook her head vigorously, her glowing hair swaying. "Oh n-no. Spidewwings hate humans, at weast ouw cwan ewdews d-do."

"But you like me, right? I mean, umm... us humans." His face burned.
Stupid, stupid!

"You'we nice," she said, reached out her foot, and patted his foot.

Do you mean me or humans in general?
Scruff wanted to ask, but dared not. The touch of her foot sent bolts of lightning through him; he had never felt anything better.

He was about to caress her foot in return when, with a bang and shower of dust, the door burst open.

Three grobblers rushed into the room, screeching. Scruff started and tugged at his chains, fear wrenching his gut. The creatures—half nymphs, half warty crones—grabbed Cobweb. With inhuman strength, they tore her shackles from the wall.

"Scwuff!" she cried.

"Let her go!" Scruff shouted. The grobblers were pulling Cobweb to her feet, gagging her mouth with their palms. Cobweb's hands were still shackled behind her back, and she kicked wildly, but could not free herself. Scruff yanked his chains. "Let go!"

One grobbler looked at him. It walked toward him, smirking. It slapped his face, hard, with its right hand, the soft hand of a maiden, then with its left hand, the withered and clawed hand of a beast. The blows shot white light across Scruff's eyes, and for a moment he could not speak, breathe, or see.

He blinked, clearing his head. When he could see again, the grobblers were dragging Cobweb out of the dungeon, up the staircase. Within a few seconds, they were gone.

"Cobweb!" Scruff screamed at the top of his lungs, but the grobblers only cackled. They slammed the door shut behind them, scattering dust, leaving Scruff alone in the dark.

Why have they taken Cobweb? Are they bringing her to Dry Bones?

In the silence of the dungeon, shadows and dust blinding him, Scruff lowered his chin to his chest, despair overflowing him.

Chapter Eighteen

Stormy Weather

"Well, this'll do," Neev said, examining the litter he and Romy had built. It was a makeshift thing, consisting of Jamie's cape attached to two sturdy branches.

"I don't want to go on there," Jamie said, lying on the road with her leg bandaged. "Give me two minutes and I'll be ready to walk."

"You're not going to be walking for two days," Neev said, "let alone two minutes. Romy, help me lift her onto the litter."

"Okee dokee," Romy said.

Jamie groaned.

Neev slung his hands under Jamie's arms, while Romy grabbed her legs, and they lifted the girl.

"God, you weigh a ton!" Romy said. They placed Jamie on the litter, then straightened and brushed their hands.

"Shut up, Romy, you weight a lot more than me," Jamie said from the litter.

"No way."

"Way."

"Nuh uh."

"Uh huh."

"You're both equally fat," Neev said, lifting one side of the litter, "especially your fat mouths." That seemed to shut them up.

Romy lifted the other side of the litter, and they began to walk, carrying Jamie through the forest. Romy occasionally moaned about how heavy Jamie was, incurring a string of insults that would make a sailor blush, until Neev cast Sandoory's Silencing Spell on both their mouths. The feathers on his head fell off, replaced with a unicorn horn, but Neev didn't care. The girls tried to shout, but no sound left their lips, and finally Neev could think.

What about Scruff and Cobweb? Had Dry Bones found them? There were so many unknowns that it made Neev dizzy. He was not used to this, wandering the wilderness, hunted, not knowing what was going on. What should they do now?

"We have to find Scruff and Cobweb," he said. "That's the first thing to do. We have to make sure they're okay."

Romy and Jamie, still under the silence spell, nodded. Neev snapped his fingers, releasing the spell, but for once the girls had nothing to say.

It was midnight when they finally returned to Queenpool and entered the Cantankerous Clam. The tavern was dark, only one lamp lighting the common room, casting dancing shadows. Carrying Jamie's litter, Neev and Romy stepped over several barflies who lay, drooling, upon the floor. Moving gingerly in the darkness, they carried Jamie upstairs. The stairs creaked. Neev did not normally pray, but as he walked up these creaking stairs, he prayed to find Scruff and Cobweb waiting there, safe and whole, Scruff with his mace and Cobweb with her arrows.
Please, God, just let them be there.

But they were not. When Neev opened the door, he found the room in tatters. The beds were stabbed with swords, the sheets torn, the tables overturned, and the drawers emptied.

"What the—?" Romy said. "Who made this mess? The maid service in this place
stinks
."

"Somebody was looking for us," Neev said, frowning. He stared at moldy flecks that covered the floor. "Moldmen were here. Dry Bones' moldmen."

Lying on her litter, clutching her sword to her chest, Jamie moaned. "Where are Scruff and Cobweb?"

"I don't know," Neev said, and Romy whimpered. Neev himself felt like whimpering. He was scared. He was not used to being scared—not he, the warlock wunderkind—but lately he seemed scared all the time. With all his magic and wits, he couldn't see a way out of this one. His stomach ached and his hands felt clammy.

"What do we do?" Romy whispered, shivering, and began to suck her thumb.

"We have to get out of here," Neev said. "Now. We're leaving. This place is dangerous."

He began pulling Jamie's litter out of the room, but Romy, who held the other side, would not budge. "We can't leave," the demon said, her flaming eyes haunted. "What if Scruff and Cobweb come back? How will we find them?"

"I don't know!" Neev said, and hated that his voice betrayed his fear. "But Dry Bones knows we're staying here, so we're leaving. Let's go, quick!"

Romy whimpering, they carried Jamie downstairs and out into the night. They stood on the dark street. A wind blew, rain began to fall again, and Neev shivered. This was a poor neighborhood, and the streets were dark, dirty, and dangerous. Any shadows could be hiding a moldman, roog, or grobbler. Any moment could spring an assassin at them. Worst of all was not knowing what happened to Scruff and Cobweb; had Dry Bones killed them?

"Where should we go?" Jamie whispered on her litter. She sounded weak, and the rain streamed down her face. Neev knew she needed rest, water, and food, but they had only a few drops of ale and a few crackers.

"First," Neev said, thinking as he spoke, "we need to find a place for tonight. We need rest. We need food. We need to change your bandages, Jamie. Let's find a dry place, then we'll decide what next."

Romy shivered and nearly dropped the litter. "I'm scared," she said, and a tear flowed down her cheek.

Jamie grunted. "Stop shaking the litter, Romy."

"I can't help it!" Romy began to sob, tears streaming. The rain sizzled against her hair of flame, raising steam.

Neev sighed, the rain soaking his hair and seeping through his clothes. His very bones felt wet, and he felt like crying too. "Let's go," he said. "This way." He began pulling the litter down the alley, and reluctantly, Romy followed.

"Do you know where you're going?" Romy asked, sounding miserable.

"No idea," Neev confessed. "I just know we have to run."

They moved through the alleys of Queenpool's slums. They passed several beggars asleep on the streets, and Neev wondered if anyone would leap up, revealing himself to be Dry Bones. There were few lamps along these streets, merely crooked old lanterns with stubby candles, most of them snuffed. It was so dark, that at times Neev had to walk blindly, hoping he didn't fall into a gutter. He wished he had a lamp. He wished he could at least summon a small fireball to hold in his hands, to light their way, but he dared not spend any more magic. He still felt tired from casting the fireball at Dry Bones that afternoon, then the silencing spell on the bickering girls. Had truly only several hours passed? It seemed a lifetime.

Thunder boomed, the rain intensified, and Romy whimpered. Water flowed around their feet. After what seemed like hours of wandering through the dark, Neev spotted an inn, two stories tall, with stone walls and a tiled roof. The iron sign above its door named it "The Rose's Thorn".
A fitting name for Thistles of Burrfield,
Neev thought. It looked more pricey than their old inn, and they were low on funds.
I hope we can afford this place.

"Let's see if they have a room," he said.

Jamie, soaking wet upon her litter, her bandages red, spoke softly. "Maybe we should leave town. Dry Bones might decide to search every tavern around." The rain pattered upon her face.

Neev kept moving toward the inn, Romy following at the other end of the litter. "I won't leave town without Scruff and Cobweb. How else will we find them? And you're hurt, Jamie. You need a dry place, a change of bandages, some food and drink in you. Let's find shelter first, then decide what to do next. Romy, pull your hood over your head! Nobody will let us in if they see you."

The inn door was locked for the night, and Neev pounded on the knocker, waited a moment, then pounded again. The thunder kept booming, and the rain kept pattering.
Some summer this turned out to be.
Finally the door creaked open, revealing an old, whiskered man in a sleeping cap.

"What is it?" the old man demanded. "Who knocks at this hour?"

Neev bowed his head, feeling rather conscious of the unicorn horn that still grew from his forehead. "I apologize for the late knocking, innkeeper, but my sister is hurt. Would you have a room to spare, even this late?"

The innkeeper looked at Jamie, who lay wet upon the litter, and his eyes softened. "Come in," he said, a hint of compassion seeping beneath his cranky rasp. "I have a single room to spare, with a single small bed. It's all I can offer."

From the shadows of her hood, Romy breathed out a shaky sob of relief. "Thank you! We'll take it."

Inside, the Rose's Thorn was much nicer than the Clam. Rugs covered the floors, no barflies snored upon the tables, and tapestries bedecked the walls. In the common room, the old innkeeper tossed a fresh log into the fireplace, and the Bullies settled around the hearth to dry. Neev cleaned and rebound Jamie's wound, and they all sat warming their hands around the fire. Gradually Neev's horn shrunk into nothing, the jinx wearing off. The innkeeper brought them barley-and-bacon soup and some ale, and Neev granted him a large tip, painfully aware that their funds were dwindling. Once they were dry and fed, they checked into their room, removed their shoes, and lay Jamie upon the single bed.

"What do we do now?" Jamie asked, tucked in.

Sitting at her bedside, Neev touched her hair. "Go to sleep, Jamie. You're tired. You need rest."

He hadn't finished his sentence before she was snoring.

Sighing, Neev looked over the bed, and his eyes met Romy's. She sat at Jamie's other side, staring at him.

"What
do
we do now?" the demon asked. She had removed her hood, and Neev spent a moment looking at her. Her bee-stung lips trembled, and tears beaded in her large, flaming eyes. Her hair of fire, normally crackling like a torch, now burned on low flame. Wet and scared like a drowning cat, Romy possessed nothing of her usual flare, but still she seemed beautiful to Neev, maybe more so than ever.