The Wrong Side of Magic (24 page)

“Probably not,” she said, though she didn't sound convinced herself. “He knows that
we know
he's after us. He won't expect us to show up in Grammaria again.”

“Yeah, because only crazy people would do that. But see, the thing is, we've already gone to the castle while he was looking for us, so we've established a certain pattern of craziness.”

“We'll work out the details while we travel.”

The biggest detail Hudson wanted to work out involved coming up with another plan. “What if we found the ruling scepter,” he suggested. “You said it was the most powerful object in Logos. Could we use it?”

Charlotte didn't answer for a moment. He could tell she was trying to think of a way that, yes, they could use it. “I would love to be able to raise an army from the stones and bat away his wizards' spells like they were annoying mosquitoes, but…” She sighed and let out a breath. “But it's only supposed to work for the royal family, and I bet Princess Nomira used its magic to ensure that wherever she put it, only she could retrieve it.”

Hudson liked the idea of a stone army fighting in their defense and didn't want to let it go that easily. “You don't know for sure that Princess Nomira made it impossible for anyone else to use it.” He kicked at some words that had fallen in his way. “It doesn't sound like she cares all that much about it, or she would have retrieved it after she left the tower.”

“It's not the scepter she doesn't care about,” Charlotte said bitterly. “It's Logos.”

A sign popped up on the side of the path. It read
FALLBACK!

He pointed it out to Charlotte. “Should we worry about that?”

He stopped and scanned the forest around them. Was the sign telling them to retreat? In a place like this, the word
fallback
could mean autumn was coming around again. Charlotte slipped her bag from her shoulders and pulled out her compass.

Another sign popped up near Hudson's feet. It read
THE SIGNS ARE ALWAYS WRITE.

Warnings had appeared on the compass face. The needle pointed to
BEWARE OF WIZARD!

“Oh no.” Charlotte's gaze darted around the trees on either side of them, searching for danger. Hudson didn't see anything. Was the wizard ahead of them or behind them? They'd nearly reached the Land of Desolation. Hudson could see it through the trees, spreading out before them, just a few minutes away.

Another sign popped up.
RUN FOR COVER!

“Nothing is ahead of us,” he said. “The wizard must be behind us.” Without another word, they both ran forward. They had only gone a few steps when another sign popped up on the side of the path. It read
CAUTION, BACKSTABBERS AHEAD.

Not a good sign.

Hudson and Charlotte both skidded to a stop. Before they could turn, a deep, crackling voice in front of them said, “Ah, my dear, you should have seen the signs long before now.” The black wizard they'd seen at the sea—Nepharo—stepped onto the path directly in front of them. He seemed to materialize out of nothingness. His black beard twisted off his chin as though it was trying to go down a drain, and his cloak brushed against the ground as he walked. He held his wand loosely, almost casually.

Hudson held the king's sword up, wishing now that it was bigger than a dagger. “Don't come near us!”

Nepharo shook his head, unworried. “Or what? You'll spread some butter on my bread?”

A rumble of laughter came from behind Nepharo—from the air. It sounded like dozens of men, but no one was there.

The wizard flicked his wand to his side, and what had been a perfect landscape, complete with wind rustling through the leaves and birds flying overhead, folded together like a piece of paper growing smaller.

Hudson stared, not understanding how it was possible, and then realized they had walked toward a giant picture of the landscape. A giant picture that—he now could see—hid a dozen soldiers, their horses, and several leashed bloodhounds.

“Run!” Hudson shouted to Charlotte, and he turned to flee from Nepharo. Around them, the tree trunks turned red. No, it wasn't the trees—another set of soldiers had come out from their hiding places behind the trees. They created a circle that quickly closed in on Charlotte and Hudson. He sprinted forward anyway, dagger raised, hoping to break their circle.

He didn't hear the bloodhound come after him. One moment he was running, the next he slammed into the ground with a stinging impact. The dagger dropped from his grip, and he felt the dog crouching on his back. It growled, sending its hot breath down Hudson's neck.

“I wouldn't advise moving,” Nepharo called, and then chuckled.

Hudson didn't move. He listened to the dog's low growl until a soldier pulled the beast off. Then another soldier grabbed Hudson by his shirt and pulled him to his feet. Someone yanked his arms behind his back and tied them tight with rope.

Hudson hoped Charlotte had managed to get away. But a look over his shoulder told him she hadn't. A soldier had her in his grip, arms around her waist, holding her off the ground while she kicked at his legs. Another soldier stood nearby with a snarling bloodhound that looked like he'd happily eat her.

Nepharo strolled up to her, smiling. He dipped his wand into the neck of her shirt, fishing out her four-leaf-clover necklace. It dangled from his wand for a moment, then he yanked so hard that the chain broke and the clover tumbled to the ground.

Charlotte's protection against wizard spells—it was gone now. Hudson felt a cold pit of dread form in his stomach.

Charlotte grew pale.

Nepharo flicked his wand, and a piece of cloth appeared in the air and tied itself over Charlotte's mouth, preventing her from speaking. “I don't know what you're playing at,” he said in a low voice, “but your game is over.”

Nepharo signaled to a nearby soldier to retrieve the clover from the ground and give it to him. Apparently, wizards were too good to bend down themselves. The soldier did as he was told. With one last wink of silver, the clover disappeared into Nepharo's billowing black cloak.

“Take her things,” Nepharo told the soldier. “Tie her with the silver rope and carry her on your horse. I'll deal with her once we get past the Land of Desolation.”

The wizard then strode over to Hudson, dark eyes glittering with triumph. He jabbed his wand down Hudson's neckline and, with one quick motion, broke his chain and sent the clover flying to the ground.

While a nearby soldier retrieved it, the wizard leaned so close to Hudson his twisted black beard rubbed against Hudson's face. “And who are you?” With a sneer, the wizard reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny drawstring bag. “You couldn't be Aziz Fantasmo. Not unless you've lost all your magic. Wouldn't that be a delicious irony?”

Nepharo flicked a pinch of white glittery powder into Hudson's face. He felt the tingling of a disguise change. The colors in Hudson's clothes ran down his arms and legs, washing away to reveal his old clothes, the ones he'd come to Logos in. He looked like himself again.

Nepharo wrinkled his nose in distaste, taking in Hudson's dirty jeans and tennis shoes. “Just a boy. Someone from the Land of Banishment, no doubt. Is that where she ran?”

Hudson didn't answer.

The wizard closed his drawstring pouch and tucked it back into his robe. He gestured to the soldier who held on to Hudson's jacket. “Take him on your horse.”

The soldier marched Hudson down the path, holding on to the rope that tied his hands like it was a leash. He had a long, thin mustache and fierce eyes, and if Hudson walked too slowly, the man poked his sword into Hudson's back.

“How did you get across the desolation?” Hudson asked. It wasn't an idle question, although he tried to make it sound like it was. If the soldiers had a way to avoid the mental draining that happened while crossing the isthmus, he wanted to know it.

“You'll see soon enough. We've got magic that can outwit the likes of you.”

A minute later, the forest cleared, and Hudson saw what he meant. A couple of dozen horses were tethered to a long metal pole that ran perpendicular to the edge of the forest. One end of the pole rested on a metal T with huge wheels on the bottom. The other side of the pole was impossible to see. It stretched out over the Land of Desolation, disappearing to some point near the Forest of Possibilities.

The soldiers had obviously used the pole to keep themselves from getting lost on the way here, but how had they gotten hold of a pole that long in the first place? How did the men know beforehand that they would need it? Did they have some way of figuring out Charlotte and Hudson's plans?

He kept his voice unconcerned. “It looks like you used a pole to outwit us, not magic.”

The soldier prodded Hudson in the back again. “Sir Nepharo tethered us to the pole and enchanted it to grow steadily for two miles. That was the magic part. The clever part was that the pole is only enchanted in the Forest of Possibilities, so the Land of Desolation couldn't suck the magic away.”

Hudson had to admit that a magically growing pole was a good idea. Why hadn't he and Charlotte realized the king's wizard would know a way to cross the Land of Desolation? They should have been on their guard. They should have cut through the Land of Backwords and crossed the Land of Desolation in a different place.

“For the trip back,” the soldier went on, marching Hudson toward a horse, “the pole will shrink and lead us back. Nepharo has thought of everything.”

When they reached the horse, the soldier picked Hudson up, tossed him over the front of the saddle, then mounted behind him. “Don't try to escape, or I'll be forced to kill you.”

Try? Hudson couldn't even think of a way to attempt it. He was tied up, facedown on a horse next to a man who was a little too eager to use his sword. At this point, his options were severely limited.

He noticed Charlotte draped over a horse three ahead of him in the line. She'd been tied up in silver rope, and an armed soldier sat behind her, guarding her.

Hudson wanted to catch her eye, but she was looking forward. All he could see were the packhorses in between them. They were weighed down by sacks—provisions for the soldiers while they pursued Hudson and Charlotte. The men had apparently planned on the chase lasting a few days longer.

Hudson felt the insult of those sacks. He and Charlotte had been too easy to catch.

A horn sounded from the front of the line, and the pole began to move, pulling the line of soldiers toward the Land of Desolation. With every step the horse took, the saddle bit into Hudson's stomach.

The first horses in the caravan reached the Land of Desolation, and their hooves sent back clouds of dust. The sand fairy was out there somewhere. Could she cut through their ropes? She'd already been paid three muselings to take them back across the land. She owed them some help.

He didn't see her anywhere, but the horses in front of him were throwing up enough dust to hide a mob of magical creatures. She might be within earshot. “Hey, fairy,” he whispered, trying not catch the soldier's attention. “Psst, over here. I need your…”

The word was gone. He searched for it, but his mind felt like an empty bowl. Part of him knew he was in danger. Something bad was happening. He sifted through flashes of memory, not understanding any of it. Red dogs. A dark wizard. He had the vague thought that he was supposed to follow a light. He couldn't see one anywhere.

He tried to sit up but couldn't move his hands or legs.

This was bad.

Bad.

Bad.

Fortunately, the stupor didn't last long. The horses moved at a fast pace, and before long they'd reached the Forest of Possibilities.

Hudson's thoughts rushed back, and he happily remembered who he was and not so happily remembered what was happening. Nepharo had found them.

The soldiers in the front of the line had already dismounted from their horses and were untethering them from the pole. His horse came to a stop.

The sand fairy couldn't help now, but the unicorns might. “Cecil! Nigel!” Hudson yelled. “Help!”

The soldier with the long mustache dismounted and shot Hudson an angry glare. “Quiet! We'll have none of your begging for mercy, or for whatever a nigel is.”

Hudson saw no sign of the unicorns, and he wasn't sure what they would be able to do against so many armed soldiers, anyway. Still, he called their names again. Loudly. Uselessly.

Nepharo strode over to Charlotte's horse with two soldiers at his side. The soldiers grabbed her from the horse and dragged her in front of the wizard. He reached into his robes while giving her a thin-lipped smile. “It's time to take you back to your old home. The king will want to give you a trial, just as the law demands.”

Her eyes were wide, frightened.

Nepharo kept smiling. He enjoyed this, the triumph of capturing her. “King Vaygran will present you to the people tomorrow and ask them what should be done with the intruder who broke into his room and stole his sword. That's something an assassin would do, and you know what the punishment for that is.” Cold laughter trickled from the wizard's mouth. “It can't be counted against the king or me if they demand your death.”

Counted against them?

With a gnawing feeling of defeat, Hudson realized why the wizard cared who ordered her death. In this land, if you broke the law, that sort of deed could be exposed, written on your forehead if someone put revealing powder on you. So instead of killing Charlotte himself, the king would put her in a situation where the crowd called for her death.

Nepharo took hold of Charlotte's hair with a yank and flicked his wand at her. She immediately shrank, growing dark and furry, smaller and smaller until she turned into a gray mouse. The wizard held her by the scruff of the neck. Her tail twitched wildly, and she twisted this way and that, trying to escape.