Wand of the Witch (23 page)

"I roamed the forests," Madrila whispered to the grave, her eyes stinging, her voice shaking. "I sought my true father. But he didn't even recognize me. He didn't even acknowledge me. Your son, your Neev, he went to the Coven as a real student. He learned in comfort from the brightest minds in magic. I did not have that pleasure."

She shivered to remember her youth—learning magic from traveling warlocks and witches, wrinkled old creatures who'd teach her a spell or two for a chance to grope her body. She'd huddle in the forest—in caves, in huts, in wolf dens—studying from tattered old books. She remembered the taste of unicorn blood, a giver of power and magic. She caressed her wand, the unicorn's whorled horn, her beacon of might.

"But I became strong, Mother," she said. "Stronger than Neev. Stronger than Dry Bones. Stronger than anyone would have imagined." She growled. "And I've taken this town! This town that should have always been mine. And I will kill your true born children, Mother. I will kill Scruff, Neev, and Jamie, and I will kill their friends too. Can you hear me, Mother? I hope so. I want you to know what you've done."

She shot another bolt of lightning, and the tombstone shattered. Eyes stinging, Madrila turned and walked away, heading back to her new home. Fort Rosethorn rose above her. Madrila allowed herself a trembling, vicious smile.

"No more huts, caves, or forests for me," she said. "This is my castle, my center of power."

Grunters saluted as she entered the castle. Hundreds of them filled the courtyard, the towers, and her main hall. She walked toward her throne, sat upon it, and clutched the armrests.

"Soon the Bullies' skulls will lay at my feet," she said softly. Grunters squealed around her, fangs bared, claws scratching the air. "Soon all will fear, worship, and love me."

* * * * *

"Down, boy!" Romy cried. "Down! Bad lava whale!"

The creature howled before her, filling the tunnel. Lava splashed around it and sprayed from its mouth. Droplets sizzled against Romy's skin. She stabbed the air with her torch, holding the whale back.

"Sit, boy, sit! Good lava whale."

The whale growled and snapped its teeth, each one the size of Romy's body. Its flippers slapped the tunnel walls, and its tail splashed in a sea of lava below. Its eyes were pools of molten rock, glowing red.

"Romy, you cannot tame this demon like a dog!" Neev shouted. He stood behind her, fingers crackling with lightning. "We learned about them in the Coven. This is a great archdemon, a being of pure evil!"

"And he's a
bad boy
," Romy said. She poked the whale's nose with her pitchfork. "Roaring at us like that! You are
bad
, very bad."

The whale roared. Lava sprayed from its mouth. Romy marched forward and slapped it across the face.

"NO ROARING!" she said.

The whale moaned. Romy slapped it again.

"Don't you moan at me," she said. "You will be a good lava whale. Good. Good... Just like that." She patted its head. The whale grumbled, growled, and glared.

"Romy, be careful!" Neev whispered behind her. "Step back."

But Romy kept patting the whale, though its head rose taller than her. Its skin was hot and smooth, and lava bubbled in its mouth.

"Good lava whale, good boy. There you go. Nice and easy. Feeling calmer now?"

The lava whale nodded. The tunnel shook.

"Mhm," it managed to say, its voice rumbling like an avalanche of rocks. "Goooooood."

Romy grinned and turned to look back at Neev. "See, Neev? He's harmless."

Neev slapped sparks off his robes. "He is most certainly not. Romy, great demon whales with mouths full of lava are not harmless. Caverns of ravenous killer molemen are not harmless! Venomous hellsnakes are not harmless!"

She kept patting the whale. "Well, we're still unharmed, aren't we?"

"Well, I—" His mouth hung open. "We— I mean, we are—" He sighed. "No thanks to you, Romy."

"Completely thanks to me!" She glared at him. "Who flew us over the molemen cavern? Who tamed the lava whale? When the hellsnake bit you, who made sure to—"

"Okay, Romy, okay!" His cheeks turned red. "Drop it. Can you just... get this lava whale out of the way, so we can continue? The damn thing's filling the whole tunnel."

The whale grumbled, shaking the tunnel. Dust rained. Romy pouted and kissed it. "Oh, don't you listen to him," she said in a baby voice. "He's just a big mean cranky warlock. You're my sweet lava whale, aren't you?"

It nodded. "Mhmmmmmmmm."

It stuck out its tongue, ten feet long and lumpy, and licked her from toes to head. Slime covered her.

"Eww!" she said. She shook herself like a wet dog, spraying the slime everywhere, including onto Neev. The whale chuckled.

"Now, Mister Whale," Romy said. "We have to get across the lava sea, and I can't fly and carry Neev for too long. He's too heavy. Will you give us a ride?"

Neev spoke up behind her. "Romy, I'm not sure that's a great idea."

She ignored him. She kept patting the whale. "You'll give us a ride, right? If you do, I'll give you a nice treat." She turned her head and whispered to Neev. "Neev! Come here."

Neev approached gingerly, hands raised and sparkling with lightning. He would not remove his gaze from the whale's eyes.

"Come on, closer! Don't be afraid."

He took three more steps, until he stood by Romy and the whale. She reached into his pack, rummaged, and pulled out a string of sausages. The whale's eyes lit up. Drool dripped from its maw.

"Hey, those are mine!" Neev said.

"Oh be quiet." She dangled the sausages before the whale. She pulled them back when its tongue reached toward them.

"Fooooooood," the whale said, voice rumbling and shaking the tunnel.

"Not yet!" Romy said. "First you give us a ride. Then you can eat." She dangled the sausages before him.

"FOOOOOD!" the whale demanded.

Romy slapped him. "Not yet! Ride first." She began climbing up its head. Its skin was hot, dry, and rubbery; she could easily grab folds between her fingers. Soon she reached the top. She lay on her stomach, her arms dangling across its forehead. The tunnel's ceiling rose a mere foot above her.

"Come on, Neev!" she said. "Climb up beside me, or we'll roast you with a blast of lava."

"No thanks," he said, giving both her and the whale a suspicious look.

Romy dangled the sausages in front of Neev. She wiggled her eyebrows. "I'll give you a sausage," she said temptingly.

"FOOOOOD," the whale said.

Neev sighed. He put his hand against the whale and grimaced.

"Go on Neev, you can do it," Romy said.

"DOOOOOO EET," said the whale.

Wincing, Neev began to climb. The whale stuck out its tongue and pushed Neev's feet up. Grumbling and cursing, Neev reached up. Romy caught his hand and pulled him up beside her. He lay beside her, pale as a ghost.

"BEHOLD!" she said. "The mighty warlock!" She mussed his hair and kissed his cheek. "What would you do without me?"

He muttered something under his breath, then added in a louder voice, "Just get this whale of yours to move it."

Romy slapped the whale's head. "Hear that, big boy? Let's move. Take us into the sea of lava and swim across. We're going all the way down to Hell."

The whale wriggled and pulled back from the tunnel. Romy and Neev held on tight. Lava splashed behind them. The whale and the tunnel shook wildly.

"This better work, Romy!" Neev said. His fingers dug into the whale's hide, clinging for dear life.

The whale splashed into the lava, turned, and began swimming. The sea was so long, Romy could not see the end of it. Craggy stone walls rose at their sides, curving to form a stone ceiling. The lava flowed around the whale, red and black and bubbling. The whale trumpeted for joy as it swam, lashing its tail and flapping its flippers. Smoke blew from its blowhole.

"Just make sure it stays on the surface!" Neev shouted. "Does it know humans die in lava?"

"Probably not," Romy said. "Most creatures down here are fireproof. Including me." She patted Neev's head. "If he does swim under the lava, just cast the same spell Dry Bones did when he burned, and you can be a living skeleton too."

"ROMY! This isn't funny!" Sweat drenched Neev and his face was red.

The whale kept swimming beneath them, moving faster now. The cavern walls blurred at their sides, and the lava splashed.
We'll be near the entrance to Hell soon,
Romy knew.

"Don't worry, Neev!" Romy said. "I'm still holding the sausages, and the whale won't want to burn them." She dangled them over the whale's face. "So long as I've got these sausages, we're safe, so—"

The whale's tongue lashed out, grabbed the sausages, and yanked them out of Romy's hand. The whale swallowed and belched.

"Oopsie," Romy said.

The whale began dipping deeper into the lava.

"ROMY!" Neev shouted.

"Stay up!" Romy said and tugged the whale's eyelids, trying to keep it afloat. Her wings flapped, but the whale kept sinking.

Neev shouted. "Romy, I thought you tamed that thing!"

She kept pulling its eyelids, and shouting at it, but the whale kept sinking. Soon its mouth disappeared under the lava, then its eyes. Only the top of its head remained above, Romy and Neev clinging to it.

"Bad whale!" she shouted. "Bad! No more food for you!"

She saw the end of the lava sea ahead. The shore was rocky and distant—hundreds of yards away.

"We'll have to fly!" Neev shouted. "Carry me, Romy!"

She shook her head wildly, shouting over the splashing lava. "No way! I can't even carry Jamie that far, and she's half your size!"

The whale sank another foot. Lava splashed against Romy's feet.

"You'll have to do it, Romy!" Neev cried. He stood up shakily on the whale's head.

"I can't!" she said. "Neev, quick, cast a spell!"

"What? I don't have any flying spells! Romy, this is not the time to—"

"Just do it!" she said. "Trust me, Neev.
Trust me.
"

He uttered a spell and cast lightning at the ceiling. His jinx covered him with cat fur.

"Another spell, Neev! Quick!"

He tossed a fireball. His fur vanished, and bull horns grew from his head. The whale sank even further; only several inches of its head remained above the lava.

"Quick, Neev, keep casting spells!"

Magical lightning, fireballs, arrows, sparks, and fireworks flew from his fingers. His jinx kept flaring: he grew an elephant's trunk, then a giraffe's neck, then fish gills, then a beaver's tail.

"A bigger spell!" Romy said. "Hurry!"

The whale vanished under the lava.

Neev cast a shower of fireworks that flew and roared like dragons.

Swan wings sprouted from his back.

"Now FLY!" Romy screamed. She grabbed his hand, flapped her wings, and took flight. Neev flew too, swan wings flapping madly. Lava burned the soles of his boots.

"I've never grown wings before!" he cried. They shot forward over the splashing lava. "How did you know it would work?"

"I didn't!" she cried back. "I just wanted to see a magic show before you were burned to toast."

He gave her the most discombobulated look she had ever seen.

Before he could reply, the whale's tail splashed below. A shower of lava rose. Romy squealed and flew sideways, knocking into Neev. The lava missed them by an inch, and droplets sprinkled Romy's arm and sizzled against Neev's cloak.

"Fly higher!" she told him. They flew—her with bat wings, him with swan wings. The whale kept slapping his tail below, and they flew from side to side, dodging the fountains of lava. Romy's wings and lungs ached.

"Almost there!" she said.

She growled. Neev squeezed her hand and flapped his wings so fast, they blew her hair back.

Go on, Romy,
she told herself.
Finally—give us a nice, smooth landing.

She reached the shore. She lowered her legs. She took a deep breath and steadied her wings.... and her feet touched the ground.

"Succe—" she began triumphantly, when Neev crashed into her. She fell, tumbled, and he landed atop her.

"Neev!" She pushed him off and glared at him. "Finally finally
finally
I had a good landing, a
real
landing, and you ruined it."

He rolled onto his back and lay still, staring up at the ceiling in shock. His face was green. The sea of lava gurgled at their feet.

"Romy," he said weakly, "do any hellsnakes swim in the sea of lava?"

She nodded. "All the time."

He swallowed. "If they bit anyone in there, they should be cured now."

She cuddled against him and kissed his lips. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her. They lay for long moments on the shore, the lava waves crackling.

"I'm glad you're still alive, Neev," she said. "I love you. You know that, don't you?"

She helped him to his feet, plucked a feather from his wing, and placed it in her hair. They walked into the dark tunnel ahead, hand in hand... descending into Hell.

Chapter Eighteen

Flower Picking

"Can we rest now?" Grumbledook coughed and spat. "My legs are aching, my back is aching, and this forest stinks."

Jamie turned her head and glared at him. The shrivelled old dragon was walking behind her. His chin was thrust out, his eyes were narrowed, and his tongue flicked between his three teeth. The elflings surrounded him, wrapped in their cloaks and bearing walking staffs.

"You just rested five minutes ago!" Jamie said. "And this forest does not stink. It smells of flowers, leaves, and fresh air."

Grumbledook snorted a blast of smoke. "Like I said. Stinks." He sat down with a grunt, crunching dry leaves. "I'm having a nap."

Before Jamie could reply, he was snoring and muttering, eyes closed.

Noelyn sighed. Golden leaves filled the archer's hair. Purple eyes glowing sadly, she patted Grumbledook's head.