Havoc!: The Untold Magic of Cora Bell

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Havoc!: The Untold Magic of Cora Bell Page 13

by Rebecca McRitchie


  He wasn’t going anywhere.

  Cora watched the syphon hunters leap up from the ground and step closer to them in the square. She thought about the magic inside of her. There was a magic that she hadn’t tried yet. The magic that had sat sluggishly inside her since they had escaped from the council. The one she had syphoned in darkness.

  ‘You’re just a child!’ cried the female hunter angrily. ‘A dirty syphon child who —’ the woman stopped. And Cora could see that she had been hit in the face . . . with a very large snowball.

  Cora looked at Ogg, who was next to her, smiling from ear to ear, another snowball already in his hands.

  Then something soared past Cora’s ear. It wasn’t a snowball. It was a dart. The jumping hunter ran towards them, giggling and throwing darts in their direction.

  Ogg and Cora ducked out of the way of the dangerous darts just in time. They dove behind one of the large rocks that sat in the square.

  ‘What now?’ asked Ogg.

  Cora glanced up at the fairies and saw them flutter just out of reach of the flying hunter as he angrily tried to grab hold of them.

  ‘I have an idea,’ Cora said to Ogg. She hoped it would work.

  ‘What is it?’ asked Ogg eagerly.

  Darts hit the stone they hid behind, ricocheting off it.

  TING! TING! TING!

  Cora waited until she couldn’t hear any more TINGs of flying darts.

  ‘The idea . . . is that you stay here,’ said Cora.

  ‘What?’ asked Ogg.

  Then without explaining, Cora stepped out from behind the rock. And walked into the square towards the syphon hunters.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Cora stood in the empty square. The cool wind had picked up, and the snow had begun to fall heavier around them. From the other side of the square, the woman with the glowing red hands smiled at her. The jumping man did the same, clapping his hands happily. The syphon hunters wanted her. Not Ogg or Tick or Tock.

  ‘Look who’s ready to play,’ said the woman.

  The jumping hunter giggled again.

  Cora stared down the syphon hunters.

  The jumping hunter somersaulted in the air, throwing three darts her way, his hands moving rapidly as he flung each dart.

  Snatching up the warlock magic, Cora stopped the darts in the air. She turned them around and sent them soaring back the way they had come — towards the jumping hunter. The hunter stopped giggling, dodging each dart that spun towards him. But Cora had known he would. Cora took the princess’s magic and using a gust of wind, she pushed it at the jumping hunter while he was in the air, sending him backwards and into the woman with glowing red hands.

  They fell into a heap, their faces landing in the snow.

  Behind her, a loud squawk tore through the air followed by a whoosh from above. Glancing up, Cora saw the winged hunter plummet down from the sky, and this time, he was heading for her.

  With her warlock magic, Cora held her hands up and just like she had done with the darts, she stopped the hunter in the air. The flying hunter’s face contorted with rage as he kicked and clawed where he was stuck in the air, fighting against her hold. But it was no use. She held onto him, gritting her teeth with effort.

  Then Cora pushed the flying syphon hunter, throwing him backwards with her magic, sending him hurtling into a shop nearby. The hunter went crashing through the shop door and into the store, the walls shaking.

  Cora heard the net before she saw it. She spun around just in time to see its sharp teeth descend upon her. She threw her hands up and snatching the Jinx magic, she held onto the glowing red mouth, pushing it away from her, just as a dart flew past her ear.

  Tick and Tock flew down to her, sending sparks of magic at the jumping hunter. He turned and dove down a street, away from the fairies. Tick and Tock flew after him, still sending sparks at his jumping back as they disappeared down the Troll Town street.

  The glowing red teeth were now inches from her face. They tried chomping down, but Cora pushed against them, holding the mouth away from her with her hands.

  A flash of something moved nearby. Out of the corner of her eye, Cora saw Ogg leap out from behind the rock and run down the middle of the square, towards the woman with glowing red hands. Cora’s heart dropped.

  She waited for Tick and Tock to show up, to fly out and protect Ogg, but the fairies weren’t anywhere to be seen. The square was empty.

  Then out of a street, Cora saw the jumping hunter bounce back into the square. She waited for Tick and Tock to do the same. But they didn’t. Her mind filled with images of the fairies somewhere, hurt.

  The jumping hunter turned and saw Ogg. But Ogg didn’t see him. Ogg bounded towards the woman with glowing red hands.

  And then before Cora could do anything, the jumping syphon hunter threw a pair of darts in Ogg’s direction.

  ‘Ogg!’ Cora cried.

  She watched the darts sail through the air, heading straight for the troll. She pushed against the red net in her hands. Ogg was almost at the other end of the square; he was too far away for her to reach him. She had to let go of the Jinx magic that was protecting her from the net. With one hand she let go of the net and grabbed the warlock magic. Using it, she pushed the blanket of snow on the ground in front of Ogg upwards. It shot up, forming a thick white wall of snow in front of him. The darts flew into it harmlessly, the snow wall shielding Ogg.

  Without the Jinx magic, Cora was thrown to the ground by the powerful net. She squirmed out of the way of the chomping mouth as best as she could. It dove on top of her and grabbed handfuls of snow either side of her head.

  Bright sparks hit the net. It was Tick and Tock. They flew towards her. They were okay. She felt strength in her again.

  Cora reached for the Jinx magic and stopped. The magic that had sat sluggishly inside her moved to the forefront. It wanted her to use it. Cora held onto the new magic. Gently at first and then all at once, it filled her up. And then she felt it lift her up. Her whole body floated up from the ground. The net still in her hands, Cora flew up into the air.

  She . . . she . . . she was flying.

  Below her, Ogg and the syphon hunters stared up at her. From the air across the square, Tick and Tock stared at her wide-eyed.

  Then stopping in the air, Cora grabbed onto the Jinx magic once more and pulled. With a hand on each side of the net, she pulled the mouth open until it ripped apart in her hands. It stopped glowing, and crackled as it fell to the ground in pieces.

  Cora stood floating in the air.

  Whoa.

  It felt like she was a feather afloat in the wind. Her hands by her side, Cora steadied herself, trying not to move too much otherwise she would lose her balance.

  There was another squawk and another whoosh. And Cora spun around just in time to see the flying hunter, his wrinkled face inches from hers as he dove at her, his winged arms outstretched towards her.

  Before she knew what she was doing, Cora grabbed the witch’s magic and clicked her fingers. She appeared back on the ground and watched the winged syphon hunter fly headfirst into a shop roof.

  Cora had appeared right where she wanted to be. Behind the woman with the glowing red hands.

  Sensing her, the hunter whirled around and two glowing red fists flew Cora’s way. Cora caught them both in her hands.

  ‘It won’t be long until he finds you,’ said the woman.

  ‘Who?’ asked Cora, holding tightly to the woman’s fists.

  The woman pushed Cora back and Cora stumbled, her boots sliding in the loose snow.

  The female hunter then conjured up another net with her glowing hands. She pulled and shaped it as it rose from her palms like a web. Before she could finish, Cora dove at the woman but the syphon hunter kicked out, pushing Cora onto the snow.

  The syphon hunter laughed.

  As she lay on her side, Cora thought of her syphon family. Hunted and killed. She thought about what Dann had said. About them disappearing. Ma
gical beings like the syphon hunters destroying them. She thought about the memory she had. The field, the pointed, red leather shoes. The dress. The laugh.

  An anger rippled through Cora. The wind had picked up around her. It blew furiously by her as she glared at the syphon hunter. Grabbing onto the flying magic, she rose up from the ground and dove at the syphon hunter.

  Clasping the woman’s glowing red hands in hers, Cora held down the Jinx magic. She felt the woman’s glowing red hands go limp.

  The syphon hunter cried out as her hands stopped glowing red. Then switching to the warlock magic, Cora threw the syphon hunter up into the air.

  Suddenly, a dart shot her way. Instinctively, Cora caught it with the warlock magic. The dart hovered in the air next to her, black sparks hovering around it. She didn’t need her hands.

  With just her mind, Cora pushed the dart at the giggling hunter and it flew at him with speed, sticking into his arm. The hunter stopped jumping. And then with a final giggle, he fell to the ground.

  ‘You can’t run forever,’ said the woman angrily, her feet kicking in the air pointlessly as she clutched onto her injured hand.

  ‘I don’t plan to,’ Cora said.

  She conjured up the princess’s magic and in seconds the wind and snow were a tempest around them. Using her mind, Cora spun the wind. Faster and faster, she moved it around, whirling the wind with her magic. Quickly, she created a vortex, a tornado. It was taller than the shops, growing larger in the centre of the town square.

  Nearby, Ogg grabbed onto Tick’s and Tock’s hands, pulling them away from the wind, and leading them down a side street from the square.

  The wind, a roaring tunnel, spun as it grew, moving around the square. Shops shuddered where they stood, some lost their roofs and windows as they were collected into the spinning wind. It picked up the winged syphon hunter who had emerged out of the smashed roof. The hunter spun around in the tornado of wind, unable to fly out of it. The whirlwind then moved closer, picking up the jumping hunter from where he lay on the ground.

  ‘You’re — you’re just a child!’ cried the woman as she realised what was happening behind her. ‘With one eye!’

  Then using the Jinx magic, Cora gritted her teeth and threw the female syphon hunter into the roaring whirlwind that spun behind her. The woman crashed into it with a cry, joining the other hunters as they swirled around, trapped inside the roaring vortex. Cora pushed the wind out as hard as she could and it moved up and over Troll Town, spiralling into the air towards the furthest mountain she could see, until the syphon hunters were nothing but a whirring speck in the distance.

  Cora fell to her knees in the snow, exhausted.

  Chapter Forty

  Tick and Tock flew over to Cora on the ground, covering her in a hug with their fairy wings and arms.

  ‘That was amazing,’ said Tock.

  ‘That was better than amazing,’ said Tick. ‘That was atrocious!’

  ‘Astounding,’ corrected Tock.

  ‘Astounding!’ cried Tick.

  Ogg ran over to the three of them. ‘I . . . I . . .’ he said, his eyes wide with excitement. ‘Wow!’

  When the fairies let go of her, Cora stood up from the ground. She glanced down at her hands. The black cracks were entirely gone. Her fingers, hands and arms were back to normal. She turned both of her hands over and wiggled her fingers. They were hers again. Relief and happiness bubbled inside her like troll stew.

  Cora glanced in the distance. The whirling wind of syphon hunters was no longer in sight. She turned and smiled at Tick and Tock. ‘We did it.’

  ‘You did it,’ said Tock.

  ‘We just helped,’ added Tick.

  Cora felt good to finally have control of all the magic that sat inside her. And, she had discovered what the magic was that she had syphoned from the council. But whose was it?

  ‘I . . . I think I can fly,’ she said to the fairies.

  ‘Levitate,’ said Tock.

  ‘No wings,’ said Tick, motioning to his own.

  ‘Is it . . . did I . . .’ Cora began.

  ‘Syphon magic from a vampire?’ finished Tock.

  ‘Yes,’ said Tick.

  Cora froze. She had really, really hoped it was anyone but the vampire’s magic.

  ‘Am I going to . . .’ she paused, horrified. ‘Turn into a bat . . . or drink . . . blood?’

  Tick laughed.

  Tock shook his head. ‘You can’t syphon all a magical being’s power, remember?’

  Cora relaxed, thankful that she only syphoned the vampire’s levitation power.

  ‘Sircane is the oldest vampire in the whole kingdom,’ said Tick.

  ‘Will he be happy?’ asked Tock.

  ‘No,’ said Tick, shaking his head.

  Cora winced.

  ‘Are vampires ever happy?’ asked Tock.

  ‘No,’ said Tick, shaking his head again. The fairy put his hand to his mouth in a whisper, ‘Not enough sunlight.’

  ‘Sircane Montague?’ asked Ogg. ‘The vampire on the council?’ He turned to Cora. ‘You syphoned his magic?’

  Cora nodded.

  Ogg’s eyes were wide as he stared at Cora. ‘That’s why they are looking for you?’

  Tick and Tock nodded.

  Cora noticed that the ground was splintered down the middle. Like an earthquake had ripped through Troll Town.

  ‘Did you see that snowball I threw?’ asked Ogg, his eyes shining.

  Cora smiled.

  ‘And when the hunter flew into the shop?’ added Ogg.

  The fairies laughed.

  Behind Ogg, a small troll appeared in a flurry of snow. Cora recognised her as the same troll who had spoken to Ogg on their way to Dann’s shop. The one with a cane in her hand and long, grey hair tied in many small plaits.

  The Troll Queen.

  ‘The way you both chased the hunter down the side street,’ Ogg continued. His back was to the Troll Queen and he was too busy recounting what had happened moments ago to realise someone stood behind him.

  Then Tick and Tock noticed the Troll Queen, too, the smiles on their faces falling.

  ‘And how Cora created that whirlwind. And did you see . . .’ Ogg stopped, noticing Cora and the fairies’ faces. ‘What is it?’

  Tick and Tock pointed behind the troll.

  Ogg turned around and jumped slightly when he saw the Troll Queen. ‘Oh.’

  The Troll Queen stared up at the four of them, her face creased with tiny lines. In a way, she reminded Cora of Dot. But where Cora knew Dot would be angry, the Troll Queen appeared calm. She rested two hands on her cane as she looked pointedly at Ogg.

  ‘Prince Oggmund the Third,’ she began, ‘what am I going to do with you?’

  Tick and Tock stared wide-eyed at Cora. Cora couldn’t help but do the same back at them.

  ‘Prince?’ she gasped.

  Ogg the half troll was a prince? Ogg glanced at the three of them, running a hand through his hair uncomfortably.

  Tick and Tock bowed in the air towards the queen. In her haste, Cora did a clumsy sort of half-bow half-curtsy.

  ‘Your friends have made a bit of a mess,’ said the Troll Queen, glancing around her.

  Looking around the square properly, Cora saw the damage she, Tick and Tock had wrought. Some of the roofs on the shops and houses that sat in the square were completely blown off. Others were hanging by a thread. Some windows were shattered.

  Cora swallowed.

  ‘But Mother, the syphon hunters —’ Ogg spluttered.

  The Troll Queen closed her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to hear his explanation.

  ‘It wasn’t his fault, Your Majesty,’ said Cora, stepping forward. ‘It was mine. I did this.’

  The Troll Queen glanced up at her.

  ‘I’m sorry. Ogg was just trying to help,’ said Cora.

  Tick and Tock nodded, flying next to her.

  ‘And we made him bring us here,’ said Tock.

  That isn’t
entirely true, thought Cora.

  ‘And we forced him to give us delicious dew suckles,’ added Tick.

  Definitely not even a little bit true.

  The queen stared at the three of them. Her mouth formed a thin line as she tapped a finger on the top of her cane in thought.

  ‘Hunters in Troll Town. Fairies in Troll Town,’ said the queen. ‘And soon the council will be in Troll Town.’

  Cora glanced at Tick and Tock. Soon?

  ‘You should leave before they arrive,’ the Troll Queen said politely, noticing Cora’s glance.

  ‘What about . . .’ Tock gestured to the mess of the town square.

  ‘This isn’t that bad,’ said the queen with a shrug. ‘You should see the town after Trolltide. I found a shop upside down once.’

  The queen smiled at them and Cora was relieved to see that she wasn’t angry about the destruction that they had caused. Something else twinkled in the queen’s eyes as she looked at her.

  ‘We are leaving now,’ said Ogg, taking a step to move past the queen.

  ‘Oggmund.’

  Suddenly, the troll was pushed backwards to where he stood. Ogg tried to take another step, but a magic held him in place. They watched as he pushed against it, frustration creasing his face.

  ‘Your friends,’ repeated the Troll Queen. ‘Not you.’

  ‘But —’

  The Troll Queen shook her head.

  Ogg stopped fighting the magical hold. ‘What about my big adventure?’ he asked.

  ‘I think you have had enough adventure for a little while,’ said the queen.

  Ogg kicked the snow at his feet.

  Cora felt guilty. If it wasn’t for them, Ogg would still be on his adventure, drawing all the magical creatures he could find.

  ‘Besides, it’s not every day a troll prince throws a snowball at a syphon hunter,’ added the Troll Queen with a smile.

  Ogg’s face lit up at her words.

  Then in a POP! of magic, a fairy suddenly appeared in the Troll Town square.

  ‘Not another one,’ said the Troll Queen.

  ‘Fizz?’ greeted Tock, wide-eyed.

  It was Fizz, one of King Clang’s fairy guards.

 

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