“You will pay dearly for this!” snarled the Wolf Barron.
“What have you done?” demanded the Queen.
Bloom turned to the guests and council members. “Ladies and gentlemen, let it be known that many of you were nearly killed on this night!”
“What is the meaning of this?” demanded the cardinal.
“He is lying!” shouted the Queen, rising and pointing a finger at Bloom.
“This evening was meant to be a deadly trap, orchestrated by the Queen herself to gather you all in one place and slay all those that resist her!” said Bloom. “Everyone who has just fainted was a werewolf brought here for the sole purpose of murdering those guests whose names were written on the Queen’s kill list.”
“What list do you speak of?” cried the Queen. “These accusations are absurd!”
“Why, this list,” said Bloom. With a flick of his wrist, a piece of parchment zipped out of the Wolf Baron’s shirt pocket, and after promptly unfolding itself, flew along the length of the dining table, showing off the column of names written upon it.
“It’s unmistakably the Queen’s own handwriting!” exclaimed the cardinal, snatching the piece of evidence right from the air.
The other guests looked around in fear at the countless sleeping bodies surrounding them. People were slumped against the backs of their chairs and lying across the table and floor. Some of them smacked their lips contently or muttered something in their sleep.
“What have you done to them?” asked the cardinal, indicating to the sleeping people scattered about the hall.
“We cured them with a magic potion,” said Amelliea, rising beside her father. “When they awake they shall all be entirely human once again, and will regain their health and humanity as I did after the Wolf Baron bit me in the arena!”
“You’ve poisoned us?” cried an elderly woman in a frilly grey dress. She brought a trembling hand to her neck.
“On the contrary,” said Bloom. “I’ve just cured you of your harry little problem.” Bringing his napkin to his lips, he dabbed the corners of his mouth, and looked over at Amelliea. “Time to go,” he whispered. Bloom helped the girl from her seat.
“Surely you don’t believe—” broke off the Queen. She fell back in her chair and sat paralyzed, pierced by the hostile stares of the furious council members who now saw through her evil plans and had no intention of letting her off easy.
“And what about those of us who were not infected? What will happen to us?” asked the bishop.
“Those of you who are still awake are now immune to the bite,” explained Bloom.
“Who are you?” asked the bishop.
“No one,” answered Bloom. “I don’t usually like to make a spectacle such as this, but it could not be avoided in this case. I bid you all farewell!” Pulling Amelliea behind him, he rushed passed the guests in the direction of the doors.
“He is the Pebble Maker!” cried a middle-aged man with a pointed chin beard. “I’ve heard of his great deeds in the seven regions!”
“He has saved us all!” cried the large woman in the frilly dress.
“Do something!” demanded the Queen of the Wolf Barron.
The Wolf Barron transformed, his body briefly enveloped by wisps of dark smoke, as he leaped from his chair and crashed across the long tabletop chasing after Bloom and Amelliea, who jumped over sleeping bodies as they ran across the hall toward the castle entrance.
“Go!” shouted Bloom, urging Amelliea to go ahead without him as he faced the charging wolf.
Amelliea ripped off the sewn up sleeves of her dress and threw them on the ground. “I will not leave your side!” she cried.
He gave her a grumpy look.
“I promised not to let you die!” she said defensively. The next moment, the wolf leapt at Bloom, swiping the wizard in the face with his claws. Bloom blasted him away with a spell, but an instant later the wolf was upon him once more, knocking the wizard to the ground. Picking up a broken chair leg from one of the ruined pieces of furniture that had been smashed by a large sleeping waiter, Amelliea brought the chair leg down hard on the wolf’s back, making the beast back off of her father. Bloom shouted another incantation and the Wolf Barron transformed into a fluffy black bunny rabbit. The wizard rose to standing. He had a deep cut in his cheek that dripped blood onto the stone floor in thick, red drops.
“How does it feel?” asked Bloom, wiping the blood from his face, “to be transfigured into something you never wished to be?”
The bunny only wiggled its pink nose, and stared at Bloom with beady dark eyes.
A council member scooped the rabbit up into his arms. “Now we’ve got ya!” he laughed. The rabbit struggled in his hands.
“Be careful,” said Bloom, “he will change back in time.”
“Then kill him!” said the counsel member holding out the rabbit. “End his life tonight!”
“I do not kill if I can help it, lest I become a villain not so unlike the ones I aim to fight,” said Bloom. Together with Amelliea, the wizard walked from the castle to the background noise of the Queen’s helpless rage, as her hands were tied behind her back, and she was stripped of her crown.
“Hold on!” cried a voice from behind them. “We need a new ruler! Princess Amelliea, won’t you please stay?” asked the bishop.
“Both of you are welcome here,” said the cardinal, coming up beside the bishop. “For you have saved our region from a terrible evil! We now look to you for guidance and require your leadership.”
Amelliea looked from them to her father. “I shall return,” she said, “But at present, there is still work to be done in the seven regions.” Bloom smiled at her, and Amelliea continued. “When I am done, I will return here, to my homeland and care for the people of the Citrulene city as I have promised! Until that time, I appoint the council members that resisted the Queen in charge of the city.”
“Understood, your Royal Highness,” said the cardinal with a bow.
“My last request is that the innkeeper of the Warriors Roost be released from the castle prison at once, on account of my absolute confidence in his pristine innocence.”
“It shall be done, my lady,” said the Bishop.
Bloom and Amelliea set off yet again on their journey. The road leading from the city was lit by moonlight before them as they strode forward onto new and unknown adventures. Upon noticing that the cut in Bloom’s cheek still bled, Amelliea insisted that they pause for a brief spell. In the light of the glowing violet crystal embedded at the top of Bloom’s staff, Amelliea carefully stitched the wound closed.
“Really, this isn’t necessary,” protested Bloom.
“Hold still!” said Amelliea.
“I really don’t mind another scar.”
“Do you really want to frighten children for the rest of the millennium?” asked Amelliea. “Besides, I’m almost done.” She cut the last of the thread away, and wiped the fresh stitches clean with a damp cloth before applying some of the healing balm.
“Thank you,” said Bloom.
“Now don’t smile,” warned Amelliea.
The wizard smiled anyway. “Ouch!” he cried, touching his cheek.
“I said don’t smile,” laughed Amelliea.
“How can I keep from smiling when I am so very proud of you!” said Bloom. “You were so brave!”
“You taught me how to be brave,” she answered. “So really, you are the true target of your own complement!”
“I’m afraid you’re on to me, you clever little fox! Though in no way does that diminish how happy I am on this night!”
They set off under way once more, continuing along the empty road. A maple forest stood tall on either side of the road, the bare branches leaving no doubt that winter was well under way.
“Hey, I’ve been thinking about something, why did the potion have no effect on the Wolf Baron?” she asked her father.
“Because he is not a man,” said Bloom. “The others were men who beca
me werewolves, but the Barron was a monster to begin with. I suspect he came here through a windore and is not of this planet at all.”
“Do you think he came from a planet of werewolves?” she asked.
“It’s possible,” replied Bloom. “There can be no doubt there are others like him wherever it is he’s from.”
“Galvan knew,” sighed Amelliea, changing the subject. “He knew that I was a Princess. That’s why he wanted to marry me.”
“That’s not the only reason,” comforted Bloom.
“But how could he have known?” asked Amelliea.
“Rumors,” explained Bloom. “You would be surprised to know how many rumors wind up being true.”
“Who even knew that I existed?” she asked.
Bloom thought for a moment. “The woman who gave me the goat on the day that I found you, the midwife, the King, and likely many others.”
Suddenly, Bloom stopped dead in his tracks.
“What is it?” asked Amelliea.
“I smell lilacs,” said Bloom.
“So what?” asked Amelliea.
“It is wintertime,” answered the wizard. Growing suddenly alert, Amelliea went to draw her sword, but Bloom stopped her in mid action. “That won’t help us now,” he said. He looked around. Mist crept along the forest floor. “You are a long way from home,” said Bloom to no one in particular.
A musical laughter came echoing from across the way, and suddenly, a ghostly woman materialized before them. “I missed you,” said Maddy Alamore, drawing closer and swirling around the wizard. “And I just couldn’t stay away.”
“What are you doing here?” demanded Bloom.
“Is this your daughter?” asked Maddy without answering his question. “But she is truly lovely!” Miss Maddy Alamore drifted over to Amelliea and touched the girl’s cheek with a transparent finger, making Amelliea shiver. “Too bad her beauty will not save her, as it did not save me…”
“Leave her alone,” said Bloom, stepping right through the ghost to stand beside his daughter.
“No need to be rude, I have a gift for her.”
“You bring only death!” spat Bloom. “Leave us be!”
“I insist,” smiled Maddy.
“If you touch her—” began Bloom.
“You’ll what? Kill me? Come now, you know I cannot touch her, nor can you touch me!”
“Don’t make me cross you over, or have you forgotten the words that I alone now know?” Warned Bloom.
“I offer her the gift of eternal and unfading beauty, preserved forever in the void of death!”
“Stay back!” yelled Bloom furiously, as Maddy disappeared with a pop, her laughter rolling through the trees.
“Don’t you want to be with her forever?” asked the piratess, reappearing beside the wizard and whispering in his ear. “Since you are both about to die, I thought it only fare to offer…”
Amelliea doubled over and gripped her right arm.
“Are you alright?” asked Bloom.
Amelliea screamed as her arm wafted away in the breeze, dematerializing before their very eyes and leaving her arm just as it was before the innkeeper had changed it.
“The wish granter—is dead,” concluded Bloom, understanding dawning on him. “Why? Why did you kill an innocent man?” he demanded of the ghost woman.
“Men are never innocent!” shouted Maddy.
Bloom knelt by his daughter.
“I’m alright,” said Amelliea. “The pain is almost over.” She leaned against Bloom, overcome with sadness. “I wanted to keep the innkeeper safe! He was my friend!” she cried.
“This is not your fault,” consoled Bloom.
“It’s his own fault for not cooperating!” snapped Maddy.
“Now listen here!” yelled Bloom. “You leave me no choice but to—” He stopped, slowly turning around. A giant black shape bounded toward them down the road. Two eyes glowed from the darkness of the night. “Run!” shouted Bloom, pushing Amelliea to the trees. They ran through the maple forest, tearing through the brush, with Maddy laughing and drifting at their heels. The wolf was gaining on them. Bloom and Amelliea rushed forward, desperate to escape. They raced through a small clearing amidst the dark forest, when suddenly, Bloom stopped in mid stride. “Wait!” he called to Amelliea who was just ahead of him. He sensed a familiar wind tugging on his clothes. The air pulled from between two ancient-looking trees.
“What are you doing?” cried Amelliea. “We have to get out of here!”
“We have to fight him!” hollered Bloom. “We cannot escape him!”
“You will lose!” said Miss Maddy Alamore.
Amelliea drew her sword. “I defeated him last time,” she said.
“But you only have one arm!” laughed the ghost.
“All I need is one! The other mostly just got in the way!” said the girl.
“Revella!” uttered Bloom, and a giant windore roared open between the two tees. The opening pulled the colors of the dark forest into itself and blended them into a streaked blur. Bursts of light sparked within the portal like lightening, and a shrill winding sound howled from inside it.
“What is that?” asked Amelliea.
“It is a windore!” answered Bloom, trying to catch his breath.
Amelliea could not take her eyes from the portal, her blond hair flying in the wind.
The Wolf Baron jumped from the shadows into the clearing. Lowering his head, he narrowed his glowing yellow eyes at Bloom. “I’m going to skin you, and take back from you all that you have stolen from me!”
Amelliea came to stand beside her father. The Wizard’s palms were glowing at the center. The wolf attacked, and Bloom cast a spell, making a flurry of leaves lift off the forest floor and fly at the beast in a confusing rush of movement. The wolf shook free and advanced.
“The girl! The girl is his weakness!” cried Maddy Alamore to the werewolf. The ghost swirled fiercely around the fight, trying hard to affect the outcome.
Charging through the last of the now settling leaves, the Wolf Baron came at Amelliea. The girl took a swing at him, cutting the werewolf on the neck. Blood spewed from the wound for a mere instant before the cut rapidly healed, leaving a new scar in the Wolf’s shaggy hide. Warm blood still soaking his fur, the beast attacked again.
Bloom used a spell to lift the wolf up in the air and slam him against a tree. The Wolf Baron landed on his feet, briefly transforming back into the shape of a man to better absorb the impact. Amelliea put away her sword and pulled her dagger from her belt, just as the Wolf Baron leapt at her once more. In mid air he transformed back into a beast, and landed on the girl with a snarl. They rolled in the dirt. The wolf tried to swipe Amelliea in the face. “Lemino!” shouted Bloom, and the Wolf Barron whimpered as his claws broke off in pieces like charcoal, leaving harmless black streaks on Amelliea’s cheek. The wolf’s claws quickly regrew, but Bloom’s spell had given Amelliea a momentary advantage and the girl took it. She plunged the glinting dagger straight into the Wolf Barron’s heart and released the blade, leaving it buried in his flesh. This would have been a mortal wound for any normal creature, and the beast staggered back and roared in pain. Amelliea tumbled to standing, and remained close to her enemy, ready to attack again should the wolf recover from her strike, but this time the wound took longer to heal. Knowing he was about to briefly die, the Wolf Barron turned back into the form of a man. He looked up at Bloom, hate brooding in his eyes. He pulled the dagger from his chest and flung it aside. With his last strength, the Wolf Baron viciously kicked Amelliea in the stomach. The girl doubled over and stepped back, trying to regain her balance. Her eyes frightened, Amelliea slowly fell backwards into the portal. As she fell, she reached for her father.
“No!” shouted Bloom, trying to get to her in time, but he was too late. Amelliea was drawn into the windore and the next moment, was gone. Laughing, the Wolf Baron collapsed in a heap on the ground and did not rise. Consumed by anger, Bloom shouted a deadly curse at the
werewolf, and dove into the portal headfirst after his daughter. The Windore closed behind the wizard, and all went suddenly quiet. The form of the Wolf Baron rapidly collapsed in on itself, as it turned to grey ash and blew away in the wind, leaving a grey mark in the dirt where he had been only moments before. The last sound in the now empty clearing was a popping noise made by the upset ghost of Maddy Alamore, as the piratess fled the scene.
Chapter 52
The Second Visit
Bloom stumbled out from a stone archway that was part of a thick garden wall. “AMELLIEA!” he shouted. There was no reply. He wildly searched his new surroundings for his daughter. It was a serene day on a foreign planet. The season was early summer. Bloom found himself in a large rose garden that stretched out a wide distance on either side of him. Narrow gravel paths surrounded long rows of thorny flowers. A forgotten newspaper titled Earth Today, lay limply across the seat of a nearby bench. In an instant, Bloom knew exactly where he had landed. “NO!” he breathed, hurrying down the main path. He leaned on his staff with each step as if he required the support to keep upright. “AMELLIEA!” he shouted again in despair, all the while knowing that she would not be there. Amelliea had not even known of Earth, and it was therefore impossible that she would have ended up there, unlike Bloom who had naturally thought of Earth when he went through the windore because it was the only planet he had ever traveled to! Who knew what place Amelliea had thought of? Bloom desperately scanned his surroundings. Amelliea was nowhere to be found. “It cannot be!” he cried, slowing to a walk in despair. There were an infinite number of planets she could have landed on. If she had come to Earth, she would have been right there by the stone archway when he had arrived, Bloom reasoned.
The Curse (The Windore Series Book 2) Page 34
