The shooting stopped. Everyone watched as the guards shuffled over to the table and creaked their old joints to kneel in front of the tablecloth that hung to the floor. One of them used their wand to raise the cloth while the other pointed their weapon.
The sheet was raised and revealed. . .nothing. Well, except for the various sizes of cookie and donut crumbs with the occasional stain from spilled coffee.
The guard that pointed his wand glanced at the council member. "Are you sure you saw the Tailed Demon run under here, your lordship?"
The man glared back at him. "I'm absolutely sure!"
During the escapade the High Wizard had sat as cool as a cucumber in his seat. His hood still covered his head. Now he chuckled and stood. "I believe that is enough exercise for us all."
The purple-robed wizard looked around the room. "But what about the Tailed Demon? I know I saw it and it might-" The High Wizard raised his palm.
He nodded toward us. "I am sure it has been frightened away, and besides, we haven't even greeted our new guest."
Everyone turned their attention to us. Orion spun around to face them and threw off his hood. He grinned and bowed low to the men. "Good day, gentlemen." His greeting was met with thunderous replies.
"Beast!"
"Monster!"
"Where's my remote?"
The High Wizard held up his hands. "Gentlemen, if you would take your seats we will discover why our adversary has risked his personal safety and those of his companions to meet us here."
The old men muttered, but took their positions. The three remaining guards nudged us toward a few slightly-scathed seats at the front of the room. We were plopped into them to face a jury of my great-grandmother's peers.
The High Wizard leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the table. "Now tell us what has brought you here."
CHAPTER 11
Orion grinned. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Not to us, or anyone else," Greenie snapped.
Orion shrugged. "It's because I enjoy your company so much."
Pinkie scoffed. "You enjoy nothing but to entertain yourself and to make fools of us."
"You don't need any help. . ." I muttered.
Pinkie whipped his head to me and narrowed his eyes. "What's that? What did you say?"
I cleared my throat. "I said we came here to get some help."
"And you expect us to help you?" one of the other robed figures questioned us.
"Especially after all the damage Orion has done in the past?" Greenie pointed out.
I set my hands on Orion's shoulders. "I know he's been a naughty boy, but he promises to return everything as long as you help us out."
"Even my toothbrush?" one of them, a small hooded figure, wondered.
I arched an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yeah, even that."
Orion whipped his head around and frowned at me. "That's not going to be easy."
"Before we enter into a mutual agreement, what help were you needing?" the High Wizard wondered.
Pinkie pointed at Toughs. "And how does that girl knows our code?"
"And better than you know it," Toughs quipped.
"That doesn't answer the question!" Pinkie snapped.
"It was hardly in a form she could answer without reprimand," the High Wizard commented.
Pinkie glared at his leader. "Are you going to allow them to intrude on our lodge, cause chaos in our chamber room, and insult us to our faces?"
I raised my hand. "I object to this character assassination. We just asked to be shown around."
"Under false pretenses of being this girl's parent!" he reminded me.
The High Wizard sighed and stood. "It seems we are at an impasse."
Orion held up his hands. "All right, all right, I'll fix this mess, but only if you agree to help us."
"And how would you fix this impasse?" the High Wizard asked him.
Orion leaned toward me and lowered his voice to a whisper. "You owe me one for this."
"You owe me for getting me into this mess," I growled.
"Fair enough." Orion reached into his cloak and pulled out an old-fashioned key. "This key is what opens my storage unit, the one that holds all your valuables."
"Even my toothbrush?" the man asked him.
Orion smiled and nodded. "Yep, even that."
"Guards, seize that key!" Pinkie demanded.
The wizard guards pointed their wands at Orion. He held still with that smile on his face as the greeter snatched the key from his hand. The greeter carried it to the table and set it before the High Wizard.
The High Wizard picked it up and held it in front of his concealed face. "A very curious key, and very useless."
Pinkie frowned. "Useless how? Has he cursed it?"
The High Wizard chuckled. "Nothing so dramatic, but-" he turned to Pinkie, "-do you know what this key opens?"
Pinkie opened his mouth. "I. . .um, it-um, it opens his storage unit."
"Do you know the location of that unit?" the High Wizard questioned him.
Pinkie's face flushed and he scowled as he pointed his finger at Orion. "No, but he can tell us."
Orion grinned and folded his arms across his chest. "Not unless you help us."
"And what help do you need?" the High Wizard wondered.
"We want to know if you guys saw anything weird about the ship as it tried to run you down," I spoke up. "You know, a ghostly skeleton crew or maybe an escalator that led onto the deck. Something like that."
The High Wizard turned from left to right to look over his men. "That is a reasonable enough request. Do you gentlemen agree?" Many nodded their heads. Greenie and Pinkie scowled, but didn't argue. "Did anyone see anything of particular interest?"
One of the youngest wizards, a man of maybe forty, raised his shaking hand. "I might have seen something."
The High Wizard and the other council members turned to him. "What did you see?" their leader asked the council wizard.
The man shrank beneath the attention and bit his lower lip. "It. . .I think it was a shadow on the side of the ship. A round shadow."
Greenie scoffed. "You probably saw a porthole."
He shook his head. "No, it was more like a dimensional portal."
The High Wizard tilted his hooded head to one side. "Interesting." He turned his attention back to us. "Is that what you are looking for?"
Orion shrugged. "It's got to be, unless you guys have anything else."
The bearded wizards glanced at each other and shook their heads. The High Wizard stretched himself to his full height. "If that's your only business here, then we have our unfinished business with-"
"He knows something," a voice spoke up.
I didn't recognize the voice, so we all turned to look behind Orion and me. The voice belonged to a teenager with long black hair. The face looked familiar, but there was no mistaking the heavy coat that now fit her larger body and the cat's eye necklace that hung around her neck. She also held the Black Magic tome in her arms.
I tilted my head to one side and blinked at the teenager. "Toughs?"
She returned my stare with one of her one. "What?"
I pointed at her. "When did you get taller?"
She looked down at herself and shrugged. "A minute ago."
I glanced at Orion and jerked my thumb at our fast-acting orphan. "Is there something in the water around here, or is this not normal?"
He pursed his lips and shook his head. "This isn't normal, even for here."
I returned my attention to our Chia-pet child. "Any way you can give us the scoop on your sudden spurt?"
Toughs glanced down at herself and shook her head. "I don't know. I. . .I just grew, and I know I'm supposed to."
The High Wizard walked through the table, and stopped before the teenaged Toughs. He leaned forward and scrutinized her necklace. "What an unusual trinket. Where did you get it?"
Toughs grasped the necklace and glared at him. "Why do you want to know?"
He dr
ew back and clasped his hands together in front of him. "There's a rather powerful residual magic around its borders."
"Is it dangerous?" Greenie spoke up.
The High Wizard shook his head. "No. The magic is concentrated within the stone and seems to only encompass the girl."
I crossed my arms and arched an eyebrow. "If this is so powerful why didn't any of you notice it before?"
He glanced over his shoulder at me. "The magic is well-concealed within the stone. The stone released some of its magic to change from this girl from child to adolescence, and the remnants of that spell are still visible."
I looked Toughs up and down. "I don't see anything."
The High Wizard smiled and tapped the location of his temple. "To those with the mind to see the magic, but your mind is closed."
I glared at the hooded man and marched toward him. "What's that supposed to-" Orion wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to him.
"Can you tell what kind of a spell it's casting on the girl, or maybe even who cast it?" Orion asked our 'host.'
The High Wizard turned back to Toughs. "It's very potent magic, but there's something odd about the spell."
"Will she be growing a tail soon?" I quipped.
He shook his head. "No, rather, the spell is in reverse."
I frowned. "Like it's undoing itself?"
The High Wizard nodded. "Yes. It's a spell that was meant only to last for a short while and then unravel."
"Sounds like a cinnamon roll," I commented.
The High Wizard chuckled. "This is rather a finer creation than a simple roll. It would take an extraordinary amount of talent to create a spell, much less contain it within an inanimate object."
Toughs crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the wizard. "Could you stop talking like I'm not even here?"
He bowed his head. "My apologies. You seem to have quite the unusual spell over you. Unfortunately, I expect you will be not long with us."
My pulse quickened. Orion stepped forward. I could see he was tense. "What's that supposed to-" Toughs' eyes rolled back in her head. Her knees buckled and she fell forward.
Orion and I leapt toward her. We both caught her in our arms and lowered Toughs to the floor with her in my arms. In her own arms was tightly clasped the book.
I looked into her pale face and gave her a shake. "Toughs? Toughs, wake up!"
A hand settled on my shoulder. I looked up into the shrouded face of the High Wizard. His voice was soft and quiet. "It's all right. She's merely sleeping."
"Is this a side effect of the spell?" Orion guessed.
The High Wizard nodded. "It is. The spell uses her life-force to cast itself. Considering the strength of the spell she may be out for quite a while."
"Can she be moved?" Orion asked him.
The wizard chuckled. "Of course. I will have a room prepared for her."
"High Wizard!" Pinkie protested. "Surely you're not going to allow them to remain here."
"I intend to do just that," the High Wizard replied as he turned to the council. "If there are any objections to helping one in need, please state them now." The men shifted from foot to foot and glanced at each other, but remained silent. "Excellent. Guards, please escort our guests to a bedchamber where they may rest."
The three guards pursed their lips, but bowed their heads. One of them raised his wand. The tip glowed a bright white. The light illuminated Toughs' body. She levitated from my arms as straight as a board and stopped three feet off the floor.
I stood and raised my hand. "Hold up, guys." I grabbed the book and tugged. The tome stayed in her arms. I gave another tug and it still wouldn't budge. I glared at Toughs' arms. "I think rigor mortis has set in."
Orion reached around me and pulled the book from her arms. Her limbs fell to her sides, but the magic kept them against her body and off the floor. We were led from the council chamber and back up the winding steps to the ground floor. Our guides guided us upstairs to the second floor where we were shown to a small but comfortable room with a bed, nightstand, and dresser. The walls and furniture were hewn from the same roughly fashioned wood as the lodge. It was a spartan decor, but clean and comfortable.
The guards settled Toughs onto the bed and left us to our conspiracy theories.
CHAPTER 12
Orion leaned against the wall near the head of the bed and folded his arms over his chest. He glanced over the room and shook his head. "Never thought I'd be welcomed into one of these rooms."
A small wood chair was placed against the exterior wall. I walked over and glanced out the single small window that looked out over the grounds. We were at the back of the building and had a great view of some trees and the towering cliff wall. A small cave caught my attention, but there were more important matters to attend to.
I pulled the chair over to Toughs' bed and took a seat. Her breathing was calm and her face looked so peaceful. The corners of her lips turned up in a small smile. She was the picture of serenity. It was the complete opposite of how I felt toward Orion.
I glanced up at him. "Speaking of this place and the inmates, I've got a couple of questions for you."
He grinned. "Only a few?"
I frowned. "First off, how'd those guys know Toughs' coat belonged to you?"
He tapped the side of his nose. "It's not the coat, but the smell."
I arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Wizards have a great sense of smell. It helps them concoct their potions," he explained. He nodded at Toughs. "I knew they'd smell me on that coat, or on you, and get you inside. That gave me the perfect cover to sneak inside and follow you to see what would happen."
I growled at him and my lengthened claws twitched at my sides. "You set us up."
He held up his hands and nervously smiled. "I didn't think they'd let us in if we just asked to see them, at least not without me giving up their remote."
"Then give up the damn remotes next time," I snapped. I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep breath. "Why the hell would you steal such a thing, anyway? I thought you were supposed to be one of the good guys."
"Let's just say the feud between us is the only touch of evil in me," he explained.
I rolled my eyes back to our unconscious kid. "I wish I had more answers than questions with this girl, but at least here she'll be safe from death's errand boys."
Orion glanced down at the girl and pursed his lips. "I think we need to take her to my mom. She'll be safer there."
I crossed my arms and frowned at him. "How's your mom going to keep her safe from things that can pass through walls?"
He smiled. "She has her ways."
"Like ways that are better than about a hundred wizards?" I pointed out.
He sighed and pursed his lips. "Did you happen to notice the Tailed Demon that was scurrying around that chamber room?"
I shook my head. "No, I was too busy running through my list of how to kill certain werewolves who shall remain unnamed. Anyway, I didn't even know what I was looking for."
"A Tailed Demon is a mouse."
My face fell. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Yep. Wizards consider mice and rats to be familiars of black-magic wielders. The sight of the rodents will send a white wizard running for the hills, or in this case the top of the table."
I sighed and shook my head. "Well, there goes Fantasia and part of my childhood. So what was special about this Mickey?"
"It didn't smell or look like any mouse I'd seen," he explained.
I arched an eyebrow. "Then what did it smell and look like?"
Orion shook his head. "I don't know, but it smelled rotten and sweet at the same time. Most mice smell ratty."
"And vice versa, I'm sure," I added.
"It was also more than one color, and not the typical ones you'd see in an alley," he continued. He leaned back and furrowed his brow. "I caught a glimpse of red and blue."
I rolled my eyes. "All right, so even the mice in this place have bad fashi
on sense. What does that mean?"
"It means that something penetrated these walls. Black-magic something," he explained.
I glanced at Orion. "If there was a rotten rat in that room then where did it go?"
He shook his head. "That's one answer I don't have. I smelled it go under the table like the one guy said, but it just seemed to break apart."
I raised an eyebrow. "And crumble into cookie crumbs?"
He shrugged. "Again, I can't understand it."
I leaned back and furrowed my brow. "So how come the council of wizarding idiots didn't notice all of this?"
Orion snorted. "They were too busy joining in the mass panic to notice, but I think the High Wizard might have-" A knock on our door interrupted his sentence.
"Might I enter?" came the voice of the High Wizard himself.
Orion's eyes flickered to me before he made his reply. "Sure. Come on in."
The door opened and the robed and hooded High Wizard stepped inside. He closed the door behind him and bowed to us. "I'm sorry to intrude, but I feel this is most urgent. I don't believe you're-"
"Safe here?" I finished for him.
The High Wizard chuckled. "I see the-well, the unusual nature of the rodent intrusion didn't escape you."
"But the mouse did," I added.
He nodded. "Yes, or rather, it reverted back to its previous form and was destroyed."
I arched an eyebrow. "Come again?"
The High Wizard shook his head. "I wish there was time to explain, but I fear the infiltration of the council chamber room is only the beginning. You must leave at once."
"This is one time I'll listen to you, Your Highness," Orion quipped as he stooped beside Toughs' bed. He scooped her into his arms and turned to the Grand High Llama and me. "But thanks for the help. Whatever that black hole means."
The High Wizard chuckled and bowed his head. "I'm sure with your smart minds you will solve this mystery."
I stood, and together Orion and I walked to the door. The High Wizard's voice called us back.
"Oh, and Orion?"
We paused and turned back to the High Wizard. Something silvery flew through the air toward us. I caught it in one hand and opened my palm. It was Orion's key.
I held it up so the High Wizard could see it. "What's this for?"
He chuckled. "It has been much quieter around here since the TV remotes were stolen. I would like to keep it that way."
Orion grinned and nodded. "Sure thing."
I pocketed the key, and we turned away and strode out into the hall.