PathFinder
Page 26
“It was a perfect fishing day. I was laying crab pots on the far side of the headland where the stream comes out of the Far, when I saw Mitza on the beach. She was waving and—well, you know how clearly sound travels over water—I heard her yelling, ‘Dan, Dan, come quick. Alice is hurt!’ I set the sails and turned for home but Mitza got even more frantic. ‘No!’ she screamed. ‘She’s here. In the Far!’
“I was so worried that I didn’t question it. I took Vega up onto the beach and Mitza met me. She looked terrified, and that really scared me. I begged her to tell me what had happened but she just grabbed my hand and dragged me into the Far.” Dan shook his head. “Suddenly I was surrounded by guards and creatures from a nightmare.”
“Garmin,” said Tod. “Oh, Dad.”
“They took me to the Far Fortress and then here. Mitza told me you would be next. It was some old feud she had with Cassi—which she reckoned she’d well and truly won. Tod, I was so worried for you. Every day I thought of you being at home with that awful woman and those terrifying creatures coming for you. And there was nothing I could do. Nothing.” Dan shook his head, and Tod saw tears spring into his eyes.
Tod linked her arm through Dan’s and together they walked in silence for a while, simply happy to be together again. After some time Tod said, “Dad . . . when you dived in, did you know you had gills?”
Dan shook his head. “No. But as leader of the Circle it was my duty to go first.”
Tod nodded. She’d thought as much.
They wandered along to the promenade and joined the watchers gazing out anxiously to the Blue Pinnacle. Overnight it had tilted and now looked very unstable. The words “collapse” and “any minute now” could be heard from the gathered crowd.
Far below, a handsome silver-and-blue sleigh pulled by four white horses was setting off. In it rode the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, the Deputy Castle Alchemist, the ex–ExtraOrdinary Wizard and the Snow Princess.
As Dan looked out across the SnowPlain, he felt nervous—and it wasn’t about the Blue Pinnacle. There was something he had to ask Tod. “Alice,” he said rather formally. “So. Would you like to come home?”
Tod didn’t know how to answer.
Dan did not press her. He stood quietly beside his daughter, who he thought had changed so much in the past two long months. Apart from growing at least two inches taller, she had become self-assured and so very much reminded him of her mother. He had noticed also the change in her eyes—a Magykal green was beginning to break through. Dan watched Tod’s gaze follow the sleigh and he thought he knew the answer she would give him.
FIVE MAGYK
Under a clear blue sky, with a bright sun blazing down, four figures—one in white, one in purple, one in black and one shimmering in a cloak of many colors—stood beside the dangerously tilting Blue Pinnacle. They stared down into the pit before them, and far below they saw the empty Orm Tube drained of water, which had poured out through the cracked base where Simon had forced his way through the rock. And although they could not see it, at the very bottom of the Orm Tube was an empty, egg-shaped hollow, where for many thousands of years, the Egg of the Orm had lain.
“It’s a disgrace,” said Marcia. “To plunder a Magykal creature’s birthplace in this way.” She shook her head. “It makes me ashamed to call myself a Wizard.”
Princess Driffa stared down, shaking her head sadly. “This place has nothing. No future. Just a collapsing Pinnacle and a dead Orm, cracked and broken.”
“Not necessarily,” Septimus said.
The Princess looked at Septimus, her blue eyes the color of the sky above. “How so?” she asked.
“Because we will restore the earth and the lapis below. We will remake the Chamber of the Orm. We will set the Blue Pinnacle straight once more and renew its Enchantment.”
Driffa looked at Septimus in disbelief. “No one is that powerful,” she said.
“No one,” agreed Septimus. “But there are four of us here. Each one of us has a different kind of Magyk. But I believe we will need five to make this kind of Magyk. Do you agree, Marcia?”
Marcia did not answer straightaway. Five Magyk was an Ancient Art and was highly suitable for anything to do with the earth. It was a little bitDarke, a little bit Witchy, but Marcia was rapidly getting over her objections to both. It seemed that nothing was as clear-cut as she had once believed. She smiled at Septimus. “You’re the ExtraOrdinary Wizard,” she said. “And I agree with you. Whatever you say.”
Septimus looked startled.
But old habits die hard and Marcia could not resist adding a little advice. “Of course, ideally the fifth will be a novice. Talented but untainted. First Magyk is powerful Magyk.”
They both looked back to the glittering towers of the Snow Palace. Marcia smiled. “I’ll go and fetch her, shall I?”
Septimus, Simon and Driffa watched Marcia take the sleigh back, showing the skill that she had learned as a girl of seven, when she would drive her itinerant Magykal father and mother across the Enchanted Plains at breakneck speed. Simon shielded his eyes against the glare. The shard of lapis felt sharp and hot in the sun. But he thought nothing of it. His son was safe and he was needed for his own, personal Magyk. Nothing could be better.
From the promenade, through a pair of eyeglasses, Dan watched his daughter make her first Magyk. He saw her, barefoot on the bare earth, being part of a spectacularly powerful Five-Star Enchantment, and he felt immensely proud. And when Tod returned, buzzing with the excitement of being part of such potent Magyk, Dan saw her eyes had turned a brilliant green and he knew that Cassi TodHunter Draa had been granted her dying wish. Alice TodHunter Moon was becoming part of the world of Magyk.
HOME
But for all her Magyk, Tod was still a PathFinder. A few days later when everyone was rested, Driffa escorted Tod, Dan and the PathFinders down through the Re-Enchanted walkways. With them came a new villager: Samuel Starr had decided to return to the home of his forebears.
Silently, they followed Driffa along the Sacred Ice Walk, filing down the steps into the beautiful blue Chamber of the Orm. The Re-Enchanted chamber possessed a delightful echo. The PathFinders’ murmurs of amazement traveled around its smooth lapis walls, until the air was filled with a happy hum. Five Magyk had restored all to as it had been.
Except for the Orm Tube, which lay empty and dark.
“Castle Magyk will return the Egg of the Orm to us,” Driffa said with a smile, thinking of a moonlight promise that the Castle’s ExtraOrdinary Wizard had made.
Beneath the two golden eyes of the palimpsest of the Great Orm, Tod waited for the villagers to join her. She lifted the PathFinder from its lapis box and slipped the hollow lapis dome over its onyx sphere, then she took her pet rock from her pocket and touched the top of the PathFinder to its nose—at least, Tod hoped it was its nose. The arrow swung around and pointed to Way IX, which Tod knew would be the first of many.
A few Grula-Grulas were hanging around—just as they had always done before the Garmin polluted the Ways. The color of their fur varied from dull brown through to brilliant red, but all possessed tiny, shining pink eyes. A glittering of pink pinpoints watched the villagers join hands and followed the long line as Tod led them into the silver-and-lapis arch of the Way. The pink eyes exchanged approving glances. It was good to see the Ancient Ways being used once more.
When the last of the PathFinders had gone, an orange Grula-Grula performed an elaborate farewell bow to his companions and disappeared into Way VI. He had decided to return to the Castle. He thought he might pay another visit to a shop that sold cloaks, of which he had strangely fond memories.
Tod and the PathFinders traveled through five Hubs before they stepped into the Hub of the Far Fortress. Rosie Sarn recognized it immediately. She grabbed hold of Torr, Ferdie and Oskar—she was not letting go of them in such a terrible place. But the Far Fortress was deserted. The Lady and Aunt Mitza were gone and all that was left of the Garmin were dried-up white skeletons�
��Oraton-Marr’s Enchantment had deserted them, too.
Oskar led the PathFinders home through the Far. When Marni Sarn saw them emerge from the trees she thought she was dreaming, but Jerra knew better. He ran to meet them, laughing. “I knew it!” he said. “I knew you’d be back.” And he picked Torr up and swung him around and around until they both fell to the ground, laughing.
Later that night, beneath the Bell, the PathFinders met to talk about rebuilding their village. But before the meeting, Dan had something to say to Oskar and Ferdie. “You know our PathFinder secret now,” he said, “but I am asking you not to tell the little ones. It is too dangerous for them to know. Does Torr understand what happened?”
“No,” said Ferdie. “Torr thinks it was all Magyk.”
“In a way he is right,” Dan said. “Things we don’t understand are Magyk.”
“Anyway,” said Oskar, “Ferdie and I are going to forget all about the secret. We want to hear it properly from you next summer in the Circle.”
“And so you will,” Dan said with a broad smile.
“Will . . . will Tod be there too?” asked Oskar.
Dan’s smile faded. “I don’t know,” he said. “You will have to ask her.”
But no one did ask Tod, in case she said she wouldn’t be.
Over the long, warm autumn, the PathFinders built their homes anew and Tod and Dan cleared their house of wreckage and the smell of fear. At the night of the equinox the village met beneath the Bell to hear the story of what became known as the Great Escape. And Tod realized with a thrill that the name Alice TodHunter Moon would be spoken of for generations to come.
The PathFinders began to reclaim the Far. A wide track was made to the Far Fortress and the villagers knocked down the cells that had held them and their ancestors prisoner. Tod, Ferdie and Oskar made many visits to the Castle, taking the shortcut through Way VII. Ferdie and Oskar spent good times with Lucy, Simon and William, and Tod got to know Dandra Draa and the Wizard Tower until it felt almost like home, just as her mother had hoped it would.
As autumn turned to winter, the final PathFinder house was rebuilt and Tod knew at last what she wanted to do. One day, Tod brought two invitations to the village—one for the Sarn family and one for Dan. They read:
The Wizard Tower
On MidWinter Feast Day
The ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Septimus Heap,
Invites You to the Apprentice Supper
In Honor of His Apprentice,
Alice TodHunter Moon.
Dan put the invitation in pride of place on the shelf above the fire. He turned to Tod with tears in his eyes. “Your mother would have been so proud,” he said.
It was after the Apprentice Supper, when Tod, Ferdie and Oskar were on Snake Slipway looking out over the frozen Moat, that Tod said, “We mustn’t let it happen again. Not to our village. Not here. Not anywhere.”
Oskar and Ferdie knew exactly what Tod meant. “But it might,” Ferdie said. “That sorcerer has the Egg now.”
“I know,” Tod said. “Which is why we are going to get it back.”
“But how?” Ferdie and Oskar said together.
Tod gazed up at the moon, imagining that somewhere in the world the moon might be looking down on the Egg of the Orm right then. “I don’t know,” she said. “We’ll do it somehow. And whatever we do, we’ll do it together. Us three.”
Oskar grinned. “Tribe of Three,” he said, holding up the first three fingers on his right hand. “PathFinder sign.”
Tod and Ferdie did the same. “Tribe of Three.”
“Cool,” said Oskar, who had already picked up Castle slang.
Tod was right about the moon. That moment, in a distant land, it was shining down on an ancient frozen quay—deserted apart from a figure carrying a large, egg-shaped blue silk sack. As the snow swirled, the figure watched a beautiful ship with Tristan emblazoned on its prow sail toward him. Far above him hovered a green dragon, watching him as it had done for many long weeks. Oraton-Marr looked up. “Go away, will you!” he screamed. “Get lost!”
But just as the dragon had taken no notice of a young Queen shouting at him, he took no notice of a Darke old sorcerer, either. The dragon had an Orm Egg to look out for. Orms were family. And family was what mattered, whether you were a dragon, an Orm or just a funny little human being.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Apologies to Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, for the mangling of his “Sonnet 53”:
What is your substance, whereof are you made
That millions of strange shadows on you tend?
Since every one hath, every one, one shade,
And you, but one, can every shadow lend.
Describe Adonis, and the counterfeit
Is poorly imitated after you;
On Helen’s cheek all art of beauty set,
And you in Grecian tires are painted new:
Speak of the spring and foison of the year,
The one doth shadow of your beauty show,
The other as your bounty doth appear;
And you in every blessed shape we know.
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.
courte-deare-verse (our de Vere a secret)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
ANGIE SAGE was born in London and grew up in the Thames Valley, London, and Kent. She now lives in Somerset in a very old house that has a 480-year-old painting of King Henry VIII on the wall. The seven books in her original Septimus Heap series are international bestsellers. She is also the author of the Araminta Spookie series. Visit her online at www.septimusheapblog.com or follow @AngieSageAuthor on Twitter.
MARK ZUG has illustrated many collectible card games, including Magic: The Gathering and Dune, as well as books and magazines. He lives in Pennsylvania. You can visit him online at www.markzug.com.
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BOOKS BY ANGIE SAGE
Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk
Septimus Heap, Book Two: Flyte
Septimus Heap, Book Three: Physik
Septimus Heap, Book Four: Queste
Septimus Heap, Book Five: Syren
Septimus Heap, Book Six: Darke
Septimus Heap, Book Seven: Fyre
Septimus Heap: The Darke Toad
Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers
Araminta Spookie: My Haunted House
Araminta Spookie: The Sword in the Grotto
Araminta Spookie: Frognapped
Araminta Spookie: Vampire Brat
Araminta Spookie: Ghostsitters
CREDITS
Cover art © 2014 by Mark Zug
Cover design by Joel Tippie
COPYRIGHT
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Septimus Heap is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.
TODHUNTER MOON, BOOK ONE: PATHFINDER. Text copyright © 2014 by Angie Sage. Interior art copyright © 2014 by Mark Zug. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sage, Angie.
Pathfinder / Angie Sage ; illustrations by Mark Zug. — First edition.
pages cm. — (Septimus Heap : TodHunter Moon ; book 1)
ISBN 978-0-06-227245-4 (hardcover) — ISBN 978-0-06-23625
3-7 (international edition)
EPub Edition September 2014 ISBN 9780062272478
[1. Wizards—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Kidnapping— Fiction. 4. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.S13035Pat 2014
2013051281
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
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14 15 16 17 18 LP/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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