Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders (40 page)

The boy screamed as the venom flowed into his veins.

“You don't have any choice,” said Magister softly. “Either the Initiation succeeds or you die.”

He levitated over to the black throne and sat down. Then he opened his gray robe, revealing a gleaming chest marked with a sickly red circle. Gray fumes rose from the circle and crept slowly toward the boy, penetrating his chest. The boy stiffened. But very quickly the pain gave way to relief. He didn't hurt anymore.

Magister closed his robe.

“Now free yourself!” he ordered.

The boy cast an anxious look at the snakes, then cried, “By Deliverus, rid me of these serpents, of my mind they're harmless figments.” Like ghosts, the snakes faded away.

Feeling very proud, the boy got up and levitated over to the others, who surrounded and congratulated him.

Tara sensed that Magister was looking meaningfully at her, but she didn't give him the satisfaction of reacting. Deep down, though, she was very frightened. They had to get out of there—right away!

The Bloodgraves and their apprentices had prepared a big party for their new member after the monstrous initiation, so it was easy for the five friends to discreetly slip away. Then, like squirrels, they gathered the food, weapons, and packs they needed for the trip and hid them in their rooms.

The only remaining unknown in their delicate escape equation was Fafnir. Tara
had
to convince her.

While waiting for five o'clock to meet in the dining hall, Tara reviewed her strongest arguments. When she sat down in front of her, Fafnir gave her a hostile look.

“So, have you come to a decision?” Tara whispered.

“What choice do I have?” she said bitterly. “I'm in a bind, as you well know. I can't succeed without your help. Which means I owe you a favor. And a dwarf who owes a favor is a diminished dwarf, hobbled by the favor.”

“You won't be hobbled long,” said Tara quietly. “Help us escape and your debt will be paid.”

“Yeah, and a fat lot of good it'll do me if we get caught! Seven of us . . . that's nuts!”

“‘And then Angelica sent Kimi at me to get revenge.' Listen, I can't say whether we'll succeed or not, but we have to try. You have your reasons, we have ours. Let's join forces.”

“Ehhh, I know I'm making a mistake,” said Fafnir with a sigh, “but I really don't have a choice. Come to the left-hand tower storeroom tonight at two in the morning. That's when the giants usually nod off. That stupid Magister usually goes to bed at one in the morning. It should be quiet enough for us to work.”

“What do you plan to do?” Tara was burning with curiosity.

“You'll see,” said the dwarf, getting up. “But I warn you: if you or your friends are late, I'm not waiting. Got that?”

“Got it. See you later.”

“Yeah, right.”

The friends gathered to go over the final details, perfected the escape plan, then split up again.

Tara was waiting in her room when her mother contacted her. Selena was little more than a diffuse image, but Tara could hear her clearly.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

“Yes, darling, I'm fine. But I have very little time. I'm very frightened for you. You can't imagine how powerful Magister is. You wouldn't be able to resist him very long!”

“We're going to break out tonight, Mom. And you have to come with us.”

“No.”

Tara was about to outline their plan when she suddenly realized what her mother had said.

“No? What do you mean, no?”

“If you're able to escape, you have to come back with Chemnashaovirodaintrachivu. He's the only one who can break the spell I'm under. The spell that idiotic Bloodgrave put on me is very unusual. If I take one step outside the Fortress I will immediately turn onto a crystal statue, and shatter at the slightest sound. In fact, that's why I was able to develop this aptitude of projecting my essence by thought. But the spell is too powerful for me to overcome. You're my only hope.”

Tara could feel tears rising and bravely tried to stop them.

“Are you saying you can't come with us? There must be some way!”

“If the situation weren't so serious, I would forbid you from even trying to escape. Unfortunately I have to make you take that chance. Tell me your plans, and I'll help as best I can. Hurry, darling, we have very little time.”

“I have a map,” Tara bravely began. “First we're going to head for the Swamps of Desolation. Fafnir the dwarf needs something there. Then I'll lend her Gallant so she can get home in time for her Exordium. Once she's there, she'll contact Master Chem and we'll come back here to free you.”

“That's not going to work,” said Selena, “We're very far from Hymlia. You have to find some way to bring Chem in less than six days. When you escape, Magister is going to hunt for you everywhere, but he won't evacuate the fortress right away because he thinks it will take you at least ten days to reach civilization. You absolutely have to find a way to cut that time and contact Chemnashaovirodaintrachivu sooner. Once you're in touch, he'll tell you what to do. What are you doing for food and shelter?”

“Sparrow says that if we use magic we'll be detected by the Bloodgraves right away, so we've collected food, weapons, and blankets.”

“Actually, you can use magic if you work very slowly and in a diffuse way,” said Selena. “No point in burdening yourself. Just take a single sample of whatever you need. Once you're far from the fortress, concentrate your power and replicate the objects. In the surrounding magic fluid environment, no one will notice. Each morning, make whatever you don't need disappear. That way you'll travel farther and faster.”

“Thanks, Mom, that's a very valuable tip. See, we need you!”

“I know, darling,” said Selena, suddenly sounding very weary. “But in a moment I'm going to have to cast a forgetting spell on myself. If you manage to escape, the first person Magister will interrogate will be me, so I have to forget I ever saw you. I hope with all my heart that all goes well. I love you. Come back fast with the high wizard. Goodbye, darling!”

“Wait a second, Mom! Master Chem is sure to ask me questions when I see him. Do you know who the Bloodgrave master is? Can you describe him to me?”

Selena's tone was bitter. “That devil is completely paranoid, darling. In ten years I've never seen his face, and I don't have the slightest clue to his identity. Now I really have to leave you. Be careful. I love you!”

Tara was in such pain, she thought her heart was bleeding. But she understood why her mother didn't have any choice.

She checked the time: 1:30 already! At Robin's suggestion, who had designated himself the escape's master organizer, they had decided not to go to the storeroom all together, but singly, every ten minutes. That way, if one of them was caught or delayed, it wouldn't put the others at risk.

Tara took the fur-lined cape and boots she found in her closet— Cal had apparently paid a call—made sure she had her map and money, and quietly slipped out the room with Gallant. Silent as a shadow, he flew up ahead to warn her of any danger.

Everything was quiet. Fabrice had said that the fortress administrator and steward didn't exactly work themselves to death. At night, they only got up if a young spellbinder came to see them because he was sick or there was a problem. Otherwise they did what most adults did then: they snored.

Tara glided down the hallways, crossed the dining hall and the courtyard, and reached the storeroom. Its door was ajar. She hesitated for a moment, then pushed, praying that it wouldn't squeak. Fafnir must have thought of that and oiled the hinges, because the door swung open without a sound.

There was no one in the storeroom. Then, as Tara's eyes were adapting to the darkness, she heard a muffled sound from the basement. Tiptoeing along with Gallant at her heels, she headed in that direction.

At the bottom of a staircase was the place where wine and nonperishable food was stored. Someone had pushed one of the enormous lockers aside and dug a big hole in the wall.

Robin and Fabrice were already there, using wicker baskets to laboriously clear away a pile of dirt. Manitou saw Tara first and ran over to greet her.

Alerted by the dog, Fabrice looked up.

“Ah, there you are. Where's your mom?”

“She can't come. Magister put an evil spell on her. If she leaves the fortress she'll turn into a crystal statue and the slightest sound will break her—and kill her.”

“Yikes! That's totally not cool. So what do we do?”

“We don't have any choice; we have to get out and come back with reinforcements. Anyway, let's start by getting out of this trap. Then we'll see what happens. What are you doing with those baskets?”

“I've been a prisoner for almost a year,” a voice hoarse with fatigue interrupted them, and they started. “Dwarves don't like to be held prisoner. So what do they do when that happens? They dig tunnels!”

While they were talking, Fafnir had joined them. She was caked with dirt and carrying half a ton of rocks. Well, maybe not a half ton, but close.

“What a terrific idea!” whispered Tara. “But how did you hide the rubble?”

Fafnir gave a smile that was positively cunning.

“The giants love the taste of the local rocks. A few of them have even put on weight these last months. And they think I'm just doing it to be nice.”

“What about the dirt?”

“I did what dwarves do when they dig tunnels. I hardened most of it and used it to strengthen the tunnel roof. The rest is in the basement at the back. I used it to build a new wall. Nobody noticed.”

“Did you have to dig far?”

“This part of the fortress is the closest to the forest where they cut wood. So I only had to cover about fifty yards before reaching the outer wall. I just need to dig a few more inches, and we'll be out. I didn't want to do it sooner in case somebody took a walk in the forest and spotted the opening.”

Tara was very impressed. In a few months, working all alone, Fafnir had managed to dig and clear away tons of rock and earth!

“So what do we do now?”

“We finish moving the dirt. Then as soon as your friends and your mother get here, we go.”

“My mom isn't coming come with us,” said Tara sadly. “So it's just Sparrow and Cal.”

“Okay, but I've warned you,” said Fafnir grimly. “If they're late, I'm not waiting for them, map or no map.”

“I understand. They'll be here.”

Still, Tara was worried. It was five minutes to two with no sign of Sparrow or Cal, though they had agreed to show up early so as not to risk missing the rendezvous.

She helped Fabrice move dirt while Robin, who was still in pain, rested a little. Two o'clock sounded and Fafnir reappeared.

“That's that!” she said with the satisfaction of a job well done. “One last push and we'll be free! Everybody ready?”

“Cal and Sparrow aren't here,” answered Tara. “I don't get it.”

“Too bad. We're leaving right away!”

“I'll send Gallant to get them. Maybe they've had a problem.”

“That won't work. If they've been caught and you send your pegasus, they'll find us. I say we're leaving, now!”

Tara was opening her mouth just as Cal and Sparrow burst into the basement—with Angelica!

S
parrow looked as if she was about to have a fit.

“She was spying on us!” she hissed, pointing at Angelica. “She says she'll turn us in if we don't take her with us.”

“Your carryings-on were so obvious, a blind man would've spotted them,” said the tall girl contemptuously. “For your sake, I hope the Bloodgraves are less observant than I am.”

“Well, we don't have any choice,” said Tara resignedly. “We have to take her with us. Let's go.”

Fafnir was about to protest, but changed her mind when she caught Tara's look of fury. Instead, she lit a candle lantern and started down the tunnel.

“Follow me, and keep quiet,” she whispered. “The chatrixes could hear and try to dig down to get us. So don't make a sound, or we're dead meat.”

The tunnel looked as if it'd been drilled by a giant machine. The candlelight reflected off perfectly smooth walls. Being a dwarf, Fafnir moved quickly, whereas Fabrice, Robin, and Angelica were constantly bumping their heads. But they did it in silence, thoroughly frightened by Fafnir's warning.

In a few minutes they came to a wall of dirt and rock, and got to witness a demonstration of the dwarves' special talent. Fafnir put her hands on the barrier, and it seemed to melt, becoming soft and easy to dig. It took her only a few seconds to clear away the last rocks, and they found themselves in the open air beyond the outer wall.

Still in silence, she closed up the hole to hide it, then gestured for them to follow.

Unlike the forests Tara had explored on Earth, this one didn't have any trails. It was dark and dense, full of roots that kept tripping them and weird noises that kept them on edge. After an hour of laborious progress, Fafnir signaled for them to stop. Cautiously she held out the candle lantern, which she had carefully hidden under her shirt when they emerged from the tunnel. “Show me the map,” she whispered. “We need to head toward the swamps now.”

Tara brought out the map. She also told everybody about her mother's advice, but only after she had cast an Interpretus spell (over Fafnir's objection), so they could all understand each other. Cal, Sparrow, Tara, Robin, and Angelica were still under the Interpretus spell cast in Tingapore. But now that they were outside, the Fortress's translation spell no longer worked on Fafnir, Fabrice, or Manitou. They could understand what the dwarf was saying, but until Tara cast the spell she couldn't understand them.