Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders (37 page)

Tara turned to face the other Bloodgraves, but they didn't move. She quickly freed Gallant and was looking after her friends when Fabrice suddenly yelled: “Tara! Look out behind you!”

As the imprisoned Bloodgrave master lay twisting on the ground, hundreds of little saws appeared, cutting through the roots. He stood up, his mask now a sinister black, and discarded the shredded robe covering his black jerkin. To her horror, Tara realized that the saws had sprouted from Magister's own arms. She had to come up with something, and fast!

She turned the lake into an enormous wave poised above Magister like a giant liquid fist. This time, however, he reacted. He raised his hand and the wave split in two, leaving the astonished Kraken stuck up in a tree, still holding a half dozen Bloodgraves in its tentacles.

Suddenly Magister fell to the ground, butted by Gallant. The pegasus had cautiously attacked from behind, to try to knock him out. Unfortunately, the Bloodgrave was only stunned, but Tara saw her chance. Turning to the giant trees, she used all her mental energy to tear one out by the roots and bring it crashing down on Magister, who was still on the ground. One of the other Bloodgraves saw the danger and yelled just in time to warn his master. Magister rolled aside, barely avoiding the enormous mass. To his fury, Gallant attacked him again. With a scream of rage, Magister easily lifted the fallen tree and hurled it at the pegasus. Unable to dodge, the winged horse slammed into another tree with a sickening thud.

Tara's heart was pounding faster and faster, and she realized that using so much magic was taking a terrible toll on her body. But she didn't have any choice—she was fighting for Robin's life. If she could just hold on for a few more minutes, the locator spell would activate and Master Chem would find them. Drawing on her last reserves of energy, she again stretched out her hand, firing a ray at the ground right at Magister's feet. An enormous pit yawned open, swallowing a quarter of the hall. But he'd had enough time to incant and now floated unhurt above the abyss.

Tara was exhausted. Had she held on long enough for the dragon wizard to localize them? Since blasting holes in the ground hadn't worked, she thought, let's see what she could do with the ceiling.

She was about to bring a few dozen tons of rocks crashing down on the Bloodgraves' heads when Magister struck. He stretched out his hands and screamed, and a terrible blast staggered her, shattering the shield she'd raised. She tried to recover, but Magister was faster. She wasn't able to counter his second blast and collapsed.

The scene around her began to fade, and someone switched out all the world's lights.

F
or the second time that day, Tara felt like she was waking up on a ship whose heaving and pitching made her sick to her stomach.

The white infirmary curtains around her glowed softly, and she could hear low voices in the distance. Her head was spinning, and she grimaced when she tried to get up.

Gallant was sleeping at the foot of her bed and didn't stir. He was still unconscious, but thankfully seemed unhurt.

Shaking slightly, Tara parted the canopy bed curtains and headed toward the voices. Fabrice, Cal, and Sparrow were standing around another bed, somberly listening to a Bloodgrave wearing a gray and white robe, probably a doctor or a nurse.

“Dead,” the woman said softly. “It's terrible. I can't believe it.”

Tara's heart skipped a beat.
Robin was dead!
She had failed in her attempt to protect him! She walked over to them, tears running down her cheeks.

Cal suddenly noticed that Tara was up.

“Hey, how are you?” he shouted, running over to her. “How are you feeling?”

“I . . . I'm fine,” she stammered. “But what's this about Robin? I heard you say he's . . . ” her voice failed.

“See for yourself,” said Cal, stepping aside.

She stepped close to the bed and stared at Robin, lying deathly pale in the middle of the big bed.

“Oh, Robin, I'm so sorry!” she cried. “It's all my fault. You're—”

“—a total idiot,” the body interrupted, opening its eyes.

Tara recoiled in shock.

“But . . . but you're dead!”

The would-be corpse blinked. “Oh, really? Nobody told me. But I hurt pretty much all over, so it could be true.”

Now Tara was completely baffled. She turned to her friends. “But she”—pointing at the Bloodgrave—“said he was dead! That she couldn't believe it.”

“Oh, we weren't talking about the half-elf,” said the Bloodgrave doctor, who finally understood what Tara meant. “We were talking about the Kraken. Some of my colleagues are quite emotional. When they suddenly found themselves in the water, they kind of lost their heads. The Kraken just wanted to set them back on shore, as it does for everyone who falls in the lake. They thought it was attacking them, and then it wound up in a tree, and it was just all too much. Too bad; I was very fond of that Kraken. Oh well, that's life. All right, I'll leave you for a moment. Don't tire my patient out too much.”

Smiling from ear to ear, Tara leaned over to hug a somewhat startled Robin.

“So you're not dead! That's great!”

“Ouch! Take it easy. That hurts!”

“Oh, I'm sorry. So what happened? And what about the locator spell?”

Sparrow answered her: “I was able to shape-shift during your amazing battle with Lady Manticore and then Magister, but a Bloodgrave paralyzed me. Magister knocked you out, and then he touched Robin's chest and canceled the spell. It nearly killed him. And unfortunately for us, Magister was able to short-circuit the process, so the spell didn't have time to activate. Which means nobody knows where we are.”

“Robin was half dead when they brought him here,” explained Cal, still shivering at the thought. “It gave me the biggest scare of my very short life. Luckily, their medical shaman is very good.”

“Yeah,” Robin agreed. “I didn't know half the swearwords she was using, but she saved my life!”

Suddenly Tara started. “What time is it?”

“About five, I think, Why?”

“‘And then Angelica sent Kimi at me to get revenge.' Because we're supposed to meet Fafnir in less than a minute. I have to talk to her.”

“You go ahead,” suggested Sparrow. “I'll stay with Robin. The doctor thinks that if he rests up today and tonight, he should be okay by tomorrow morning.”

“Well, I think her prognosis is wrong,” he grumbled. “It's going to be a lot longer before I go back to that infernal Testing Hall.”

“Oh no!” cried Tara. “You've got to get better very fast. If Fafnir decides to . . . you know, tonight or tomorrow, she won't wait for us, believe me.”

Robin smiled weakly. “Don't worry, I won't let you down. Give me just a couple of hours, and I'll be bouncing around the way I did earlier.”

“That's enough of that!” snapped Sparrow irritably. “When it comes to bouncing around, you've already done more than your share.”

Looking sheepish, Robin wisely closed his eyes.

“All right, I'm heading outside,” said Tara, who was now in a hurry. “Cal, are you coming with me, or do you want to stay with them?”

Cal didn't particularly care to deal with the touchy dwarf, especially not in the cold. “Your pegasus is still asleep,” he said. “I'll send him to you as soon as he wakes up.”

“Great. Catch you later.”

Tara raced outside and Fabrice showed her the way.

When they got there, Fafnir was already pacing back and forth.

“You're late,” was her only greeting.

“Our friend got hurt in the Testing Hall. He's resting in the infirmary. I'm sorry to have made you wait.”

“No prob,” muttered the surprised dwarf. “I didn't have anything else to do, anyway. Is your friend okay?”

“Yes, he's all right. He snuck in here in disguise, but Magister caught him. He's a half-elf.”

“An elf?” she hissed. “Snobs and show-offs, every last one of them. I don't like elves.”

Tara, who had other things to worry about, said: “‘And then Angelica sent Kimi at me to get revenge.' That doesn't matter. We have to talk about your plan.”

“Why
my
plan? No way all of you are escaping with me. Out of the question. You'll just slow me down. Besides, I have to get home, and I only have a few days. I don't know where we are, exactly. I have to find a Portal outside the Fortress. Anyway, what would you do in Hymlia?”

“It would certainly be better than here. And you need us to deal with the chatrixes. Don't tell me you were thinking of facing them by yourself.”

Fafnir looked at her for a long moment.

“Sorry, but the answer's no,” she grumbled. “I thought maybe you had a plan. But I can see you're counting on me to pull you through. It's gonna be hard enough for me to get out alone. All I can promise is to tell the High Council where the Gray Fortress is as soon as I reach Hymlia. Okay?”

“No, that's not okay at all!” exclaimed Fabrice. “We're all very worried about Tara. Magister assigned a Bloodgrave to keep an eye on her ever since she was a little girl. Now that she's in his hands, who knows what he's gonna do?”

“He's been spying on you since you were little?” asked Fafnir in surprise. “Why?”

“I don't have the faintest idea,” said Tara with a sigh.

“Then that's one more reason why I shouldn't take you with me,” said the dwarf flatly. “If the boss Bloodgrave has his eye on you, you better keep your nose clean. Otherwise you'll wind up like your friend—in the infirmary.”

Tara and Fabrice tried to get her to change her mind, but Fafnir wouldn't bend. She'd already gathered her provisions and planned to break out the very next day.

By now, Tara was desperate. She had searched every room she was allowed to enter and a few she wasn't, but hadn't found any sign of her mother.

They ate dinner in gloomy silence.

Gallant was slowly recovering from his shock. Each time he saw the Master of Bloodgraves, he bared his teeth and flattened his ears.

By the time Tara was ready for bed her mood was so black she could've painted the whole fortress with it. She was feeling tired, and took a good hot shower. Picking up her robe, she was about to hang it in the closet with the others when she noticed something hard in the pocket. Intrigued, she reached in—and stifled a shout. It was the magic map!

In her panic, she had completely forgotten it. Spellbinder robes' pockets were designed so their contents never got in their wearers' way until they took them out.

Feverishly, she spread the map on her bed and unrolled it.

“Well, it's about time!” the map snapped. “I was simply bored to tears in there. I'm not made to molder away in a pocket, you know.”

“Show us where we are, instead of complaining,” she ordered.

The map obediently came to life, displaying an image of a fortress in the middle of a vast plain at the foot of a mountain. Gandis! So Sparrow was right; they
were
in the land of the giants!

“How long would it take us to get to Hymlia?”

“That depends. If you walk fast, at least twenty days. If you run, fifteen days, assuming you can keep up the pace. And it depends where in Hymlia you plan to go. Dwarf country is pretty big.”

“Mmm,” muttered Tara, chewing on her favorite strand of hair. “How about to the Swamps of Desolation?”

“If you go through the forest, it'll take you three days. Two days if you go across the plains, which I recommend because the going is easier.”

“I don't want to cross the plains, it's too exposed. I'd rather go through the forest. Show me that route.”

The map didn't agree. “If you go through the forest, it could take you much longer because the terrain is rougher. Trust me, I know.”

In annoyance, Tara slapped the edge of the map and said, “By Detailus show me my location and the forest route to the dwarfish nation.”

Grumbling, the map had no choice but to obey.

After studying the various itineraries, Tara went to bed with a faint smile on her lips. Fafnir was as stubborn as a mule, but she didn't have a map—and they did.

Tara was sleeping peacefully when a strong gust of wind blew her window fully open, rattled the gray curtains, and woke her up. A shadow appeared in the room. Tara didn't have time to be frightened because the shadow turned into a beautiful young woman floating in the air. Astonished at seeing Tara, she exclaimed in anguish: “I don't believe it! That cursed man managed to kidnap you too!”

Though shaken, Tara was overjoyed.

“Mom? I've been looking for you for days! Where are you?”

“Shhh, don't say anything aloud. Just think the words and I'll hear you. I'm upstairs, a few feet over your head. I heard that Magister had captured some new apprentices and I came to see. I didn't expect to find you here!”

Tara described their kidnapping.

“So he succeeded!” her mother groaned. “That monster succeeded! I thought Isabella and Chem would do a better job of protecting you. We have to find a way for you to warn the dragon wizard, darling. You mustn't stay here. I've seen what he does to children. The ones who stay, change. They become powerful and cruel. You have to get away!”

“Oh, Mom, I'm so happy you're here! I thought you were being held prisoner somewhere else,” said Tara, who for the moment wasn't giving a thought to her escape plans. “Can I come see you?”

She felt her mother hesitate, then make a decision.

“Listen very carefully, darling. I'm going to arrange it so Magister calls you in tomorrow morning. He'll probably send a Mud Eater to fetch you. Whatever you do, don't try to provoke him. Play the fool, so he doesn't get suspicious. When the Mud Eater brings you here after the meeting, go back the way you came and look for me in the living room. It's two doors beyond Magister's office. You'll find it easily. Be careful; there are guards.”