The Black Fortress

by E. G. Foley

  Treading water nearby, Jake overheard what she was saying.

  “We aren’t sure what’s the matter, but Janos and I both had the strongest premonition about half an hour ago that we need to get to Merlin Hall as quickly as possible. He could feel it with his Guardian instincts, and I sensed it empathically, as well. Something’s wrong back there, but neither of us has any idea what it might be.”

  “I guess we’d better go find out.” Uncle Richard passed the next vial of potion to Archie. “Back up onto the boat, son.”

  “Yes, sir,” Archie said, and, not for the first time, Jake felt a twinge of envy at the easy relationship between his cousins and their parents.

  Would he ever get to know what that was like? It was hard to believe so.

  Jake shoved off the unhappy thought and accepted the next vial of potion.

  The reversal spell did not taste nearly as disgusting as the first one. It took only seconds to work, and, better still, it didn’t hurt as the gills in the sides of his neck closed and the webbing between his fingers disappeared.

  Good riddance, he thought. Then he joined the queue of once-more human passengers treading water at the foot of the ship’s ladder.

  One by one, they climbed up, shivering in their bathing costumes.

  Up on deck, a crew member waited to assist them, steadying each returning passenger as they climbed over the bulwark; Miss Helena handed out towels.

  The girls went up first, including Nixie, which was fortunate. For, as soon as Aunt Ramona’s protégée was aboard once more, she rushed to the girls’ shared cabin and fetched her wand.

  Once again, Nixie put her magic to good use, tapping each returning passenger with a drying spell—no need to catch cold with wet hair.

  As for Dani, the moment she was dry, she thanked Nixie, then raced off to get the Bud of Life and dutifully put it back on. When Jake arrived, climbing back onto the boat, he saw and heard her breathlessly telling Aunt Claire that as soon as she had refastened it onto her wrist, she had tried to contact Merlin Hall with the communication device to find out what was going on.

  “But there was nobody there!” Dani said. “No one answered.”

  “It’s all right, dear.” Aunt Claire laid a hand on Dani’s shoulder. “Just keep trying. Aunt Ramona must be away from her room right now, that’s all. If you do manage to connect, come and get me or Lord Bradford at once.”

  “Yes, my lady,” Dani said with an anxious nod.

  Nixie dried Jake with a flick of her wand. He nodded his thanks, then strode over to Red, who was waiting for him nearby.

  “Any thoughts on all this?” Jake murmured to his wise pet.

  “Becaw.” The Gryphon shook his feathered head, but at least he’d found his courage and stopped cowering under the blankets.

  As soon as everyone was safely aboard, the captain of The Wind Dancer ordered the anchor drawn up.

  Lord Bradford went to the rails and waved down to the mermen, who had waited to make sure they had everything they needed. “Thank you! We’re all set!”

  “Safe journeys, sir!” Tyndaris called back, saluting him. Then the mer-soldiers sank back down beneath the waves and retreated in formation to swim back to Coral City.

  “Make sail!” the ship’s captain shouted to the crew.

  Jake drew in his breath as the broad white sails on both masts came tumbling down; it was a beautiful sight to behold.

  The sailors locked the ropes into position, and the sleek little ship began drifting forward.

  “Unfortunately,” the captain said to everyone standing around, “the wind’s only at eight knots tonight. I’m afraid this could take a while.”

  Uncle Richard frowned at that, but Nixie arched a brow.

  “Perhaps not,” she murmured.

  Archie grinned at her. “Think you can do something about it, Nix?”

  “Child’s play,” she said with a savvy smile.

  Nearly their entire party followed Nixie to the stern.

  Jake and Archie exchanged a knowing glance. They had seen many times what the little witch could do, but it was fun to watch the adults’ reactions.

  The boy genius folded his arms over his chest, unable to wipe the proud grin off his face. He looked almost smug, eyeing his parents. “Mum, Dad, wait till you see this.”

  Nixie lifted her wand and had, oh, a little private talk with the night sky.

  Nothing happened at first, so she spoke to it more sternly, very Aunt Ramona-like. Commanding.

  In mere minutes, the wind picked up and the sails puffed out with what the captain announced was a moderate breeze of sixteen knots. “She’s doubled our speed!”

  “Becaw!” the Gryphon congratulated her.

  “Thank you, Red.” Nixie turned to the captain. “Need any more?”

  “No, miss! Any faster than this, we’d risk running aground when we near the shore.”

  She nodded. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

  As she sauntered off, Jake started a round of applause for their own weather mage.

  Nixie waved it off, embarrassed. “It was nothing!”

  Lord Bradford nudged Archie; he grinned at his father. “Isn’t she great?”

  Even Aunt Claire looked impressed.

  The hour-long sail back to the cove from which they’d set out was uneventful but nerve-racking, but at least it gave them time to change out of their bathing costumes into normal clothes.

  The whole time, questions about what sort of trouble was afoot kept everyone on edge. Dani kept trying to contact Merlin Hall, to no avail. Still, nobody answered.

  It wasn’t a good sign.

  The Guardians readied themselves for danger and tried their best to home in on what was happening through their heightened senses. But Maddox told Jake and the other kids that that wasn’t really how it worked.

  Those with his gift rarely got details on what they might face. Their usual way of doing things was to focus on whomever they were assigned to protect; they were trained to discern when and where that person might ever be in trouble, and their duty was to show up at the right place and time, ready for anything.

  “It’s probably different for Janos because he’s also a vampire,” Maddox said. “The bloodsuckers have telepathic abilities; Guardians don’t. How those two aspects of him must mix, I have no idea. Weird, though, that Izzy sensed it too.”

  Jake sat next to Dani while she kept trying to hail Merlin Hall.

  Finally, The Wind Dancer dropped anchor a few hundred yards out from the private beach below the Villa di Palma. The captain ordered the ship’s three rowboats to be lowered, then the sailors rowed the passengers ashore.

  Their baggage would soon follow, but no one dared wait for it. They simply grabbed any essentials and went.

  Red flew off to the beach first and arrived ahead of everyone else. Jake could’ve ridden on his Gryphon, but instead, he carried Teddy on the rowboat for Dani. She was busy being paranoid about not getting her training gauntlet wet.

  At last, the whole group hurried across the pearly sand, and then up the stone stairs to the graceful seaside villa where Jake and the others had stayed before.

  The tension was building. While Lightrider Ranjit went out to the terrace and stood at the waypoint, prepared to conduct their party through the portal, Isabelle rushed inside to see if there was any Inkbug messages from Merlin Hall.

  There were none.

  Lord only knew what was waiting for them on the other end of that portal.

  After just a couple of minutes to organize themselves, the whole party gathered on the terrace overlooking the beach. Ranjit waved them back to a safe distance from the waypoint, just like Sir Peter always did on the other end, at Merlin Hall.

  The stately Sikh Lightrider walked over to the brass waypoint marker alone. He rolled up his left sleeve and began punching the coordinates for Merlin Hall into the Flower of Life embedded in his left arm.

  Waiting for the portal to open, everyone
seemed to hold their breath. The tension was extreme.

  Archie rubbed his sweaty palms on his waistcoat and gave Jake a hapless smile.

  Even Uncle Richard looked a little nervous, and Aunt Claire clearly expected the worst. After changing out of their bathing costumes, the glamorous viscountess had reappeared, not in one of her usual satin gowns, but in boyish garb closer to what Ravyn Vambrace might don for a mission.

  Miss Helena was obviously glad to return to dry land, and though she gave the kids reassuring smiles, the way she and Henry prowled around them, Jake could see that both governess and tutor stood ready to shapeshift into their fierce animal forms at the first sign of trouble.

  Jake and Dani exchanged a grim look.

  It sort of bothered him, how the adults were acting so protective. They meant well, of course, but it was a little insulting to his pride. Didn’t they realize the sorts of dangers that he and the others had already dealt with on their own, thank you very much?

  Thirty-foot-tall rock golems, for heaven’s sake.

  Wyvern’s rock golems, Jake reminded himself, and his mood turned darker still. For he suddenly had a feeling that, whatever was happening, that Nephilim freak might well be the source of the problem once again.

  At that thought, Jake reached out and laid his hand on Red’s neck, recalling how close he had come to losing his Gryphon to that lunatic.

  “Red?” he murmured to his pet.

  “Becaw?” Red’s golden eyes gleamed with warlike readiness as he tilted his head to glance at Jake. His windblown feathers were bristling a bit in anticipation of trouble ahead.

  “Whatever happens, I want you to stay by my side this time,” Jake said. Teddy peeked over Dani’s shoulder from his brown satchel, as though eavesdropping. “I can’t risk losing you again.”

  Red nodded, much to Jake’s relief.

  “Good boy.” In the final seconds before the portal opened, Jake glanced around at his loved ones. He had a feeling that once that portal opened, things would never be the same.

  Dani was carefully observing Ranjit’s procedures; Archie was straightening his lucky bowtie; Nixie twirled her wand restlessly in her hand.

  Isabelle stayed near her father, who turned to her and whispered, “I’m so proud of you, darling. You did the right thing, sending for us. Whatever awaits us, look out for your little brother.”

  “Yes, Papa.”

  Derek cracked his knuckles; Maddox clenched his fists; Tex tipped back his hat, then rested his hands on his six-guns like a gunfighter at high noon, waiting for the signal to draw.

  Aunt Claire lifted her chin expectantly, but Janos scanned the party with a focused gaze.

  When it met Jake’s, Janos sent him a sardonic smile. “Are we having fun yet?” he murmured.

  Jake flashed a smile at the gallows humor.

  Then the portal flashed open, and its mirror-brightness dazzled everyone, since their eyes had grown accustomed to the dark.

  “I’ll go first,” Derek said gruffly, nodding to the other Guardians.

  “No, let me.” Janos reached out to stop him. “You’ve got to look after Jake.”

  “I can take care of myself!” Jake insisted, stepping forward.

  Both fighters sent him pointed looks, needing no words to remind him about the stupid prophecy and the Dark Druids’ desire to recruit him.

  Jake rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Forget it.”

  Janos seemed amused at his lack of fear, then strode toward the portal, Isabelle anxiously gazing after him.

  The other Guardians followed the vampire, weapons drawn. Janos glanced at Ranjit, making sure it was safe to proceed. The white-clad Sikh gestured politely to the shining, upright entrance into the Grid.

  Janos squared his shoulders, his lean silhouette black against the portal’s brightness. Then he calmly stepped through.

  One by one, the other Guardians went, but Derek stayed back with Jake, determined to watch over him and the other kids. Uncle Richard and Henry went next, then Miss Helena and Aunt Claire.

  Derek beckoned to the girls to proceed. “Ladies first.”

  Isabelle. Nixie. Dani clutching her dog. The redhead sent Jake a fearful glance, but he gave her a bolstering nod, and off she went.

  “I’ll look after ’em.” Tex followed the girls, his long brown duster coat blowing ominously.

  Red and Maddox flanked Jake. Archie stood by.

  Derek glanced at the lads. “You boys ready?”

  “Yes, sir,” Maddox said firmly. He nodded and strode over to the portal, marching right in.

  “Righty-ho,” Archie said nervously.

  Jake clapped his cousin on the back as Archie walked over, jumping into the portal.

  Except for Ranjit, who was still holding the portal open, Derek brought up the rear, prepared to defend Jake from whatever they might face.

  Jake wished they wouldn’t make such a fuss over him, but he understood.

  Because of this ridiculous prophecy, they believed his safety had larger ramifications for the Order and the world beyond just his own personal preference of remaining, well, alive.

  He gave his trusty mentor a grateful glance, because, after all, Derek was only doing his duty. Red flew into the shining circle ahead of him.

  Then Jake charged into the portal.

  The next thing he knew, he was a cloud of tingling molecules hurtling northward up the shimmering tunnel of the ley line.

  As Jake whizzed toward England, even this blink-of-an-eye speed of travel did not feel fast enough. His worry multiplied exponentially with every hundred miles he covered as Gaia sent him and the others rocketing homeward. Jake could feel the Earth energies throbbing through his atoms.

  And then, in little more than the twinkling of an eye, the ley line spat each traveler out in succession at the far end of the tunnel, dumping them onto the vast, dark lawn of Merlin Hall.

  Jake stumbled out of the portal—thankfully, in one piece. He nearly landed on Archie, who was straightening his glasses.

  Someone yanked both boys out of the way so Derek wouldn’t smash them when he came hurling out next.

  Immediately, Jake knew something was wrong. Chaos filled the air all around him. Booms and screams. Roars and shouts.

  Good Lord, was that cannon fire?

  He ducked instinctively, the jolting reverberations vibrating in his chest. Shrieks went up from some of the girls. Still dizzy, queasy, Jake strove to see and to steady himself. His head was still reeling from the portal travel, and his eyes had not yet adjusted to the dark after the tunnel’s dazzling light.

  But dread gripped him as tightly as Dani now did, screeching beside him as she clung to his arm, the terrible sounds of battle raging all around them.

  “It’s all right. Get down! Stay together, kids.” It was Janos, cool and firm, speaking loudly over the clamor. “Nixie, dear, can you do a shielding spell of some sort?”

  Jake did not hear her answer in the crashes and the din. Teddy was barking by his ear. The earth seemed to shake under his feet; he smelled smoke. Finally, with a few more blinks, he forced his vision to adjust to the night.

  And what he saw horrified him.

  Tusked monsters in leather armor were battling Order folk all around them. Beyond their clashes, the palace was on fire.

  The maze was burning.

  “Dear God,” Jake whispered, holding on to Dani with one hand, Red with the other.

  Merlin Hall was under attack.

  CHAPTER 57

  War

  Sheer pandemonium surrounded them in the blazing night. Everything was happening at once.

  Jake was not normally one to duck, cower, or cringe, but even he let out a curse to find that he had stepped out of the portal into the middle of a raging battle.

  His breath came in short, rapid puffs from pure shock at what they had stumbled into. His pulse slammed. They had known there was trouble at Merlin Hall, but no one could’ve predicted this.

 
The headquarters of the Order was supposed to be invulnerable to attack—safe behind the Veil!

  Well, it seemed the Veil had been torn, or at least had a serious hole in it, as of tonight, Jake thought.

  No wonder there had been no answer to Dani’s attempts to hail the palace with her training gauntlet. People here were fighting for their lives.

  Jake pulled the carrot-head closer automatically, his gaze darting about as he tried to take it all in at once.

  He had been in many bad situations before, but never anything like this.

  This was war.

  The air was thick with shouts and explosions, screams and choking smoke clouds. Roaring fires were even now consuming portions of the great maze housing the Old Father Yew.

  Jagged lightning flashes from dueling wands lit up the night. Naiads hurled spears and threats from the nearby stream at the tusked, gray-skinned monsters storming across the grounds. Their barbaric war drums throbbed through the darkness.

  Red roared, his feathered mane bristling. The Gryphon scored the ground angrily with his claws beside Jake, clearly wanting to fight.

  But there was no way Jake would allow that, after his beloved pet had already been captured once. “No, Red! You stay by my side.”

  The Guardians had already moved into position.

  Weapons drawn, their party’s ten well-trained soldiers plus Derek and Janos formed a ring around the rest of them. Archie and Isabelle huddled next to their parents.

  Again, the earth shook.

  “What was that?” Dani cried.

  Jake looked over his shoulder into the distance. “Aelfric,” he whispered.

  Dani followed his gaze. They both gaped at four spiky black castle towers peeking over the hill where the mighty Long Man stood guard over Merlin Hall.

  They could see Aelfric’s chalk-outlined arms and legs flailing as he tried to shove the building off him, to no avail.

  The Black Fortress.

  Jake stared at the enemy stronghold with a chill of foreboding down his spine. The Dark Druids must have landed it right on top of him. Electrical currents flickered like lightning now and then between its sharp corner towers.