by Lucia Ashta
“No, I mean my moves. I took what he taught me and made it my own.”
“Oh I bet you did,” I teased. “Just couldn’t match his elegance and style, could you?”
“Why would I, my dear sister, when I have so much of my own?”
I laughed and let him lead me away so I could begin to become an elegant swashbuckler like him.
Chapter 3
It seemed my fate wasn’t to become an elegant swashbuckler. Nando didn’t quite manage to unsheathe his sword before we heard a crashing clatter out in the halls somewhere. When it was followed by a squealing scream, which cut off mid-breath, we ran off to discover what was going on.
“You don’t think the SMS has managed to break in, do you?” I asked, while I allowed Nando to clutch my hand while he led me out into the hallway.
Given that the dark sorcerers had already found the way to trick the academy’s protections to enter the gates, and later to land on the roof, it was a real possibility. Especially when we were told there were far more of them than there were of us.
“I don’t know, Isa. Let’s hope not.” Nando tugged me along, and I tried to get my feet to comply, even though they very much wanted to go in the opposite direction of the chaos and likely danger.
“If it’s the sorcerers, we’ll be in worse trouble than usual. Mordecai, Marcelo, and Clara are gone. And Gustave is useless.” As soon as the words were free from my mouth I felt bad for calling Gustave ‘useless’. I hadn’t meant it as an insult, more as a truth. If the SMS was here, it would be bad—very, very bad.
“Ah, get away from me!” The female screech was closer now, though equally panicked as before.
“I’m not trying to be on you,” said a male voice that was obviously trying for patience and barely managing it. “If you’d stop flailing about like this, I’d be able to disentangle myself from you.”
“You shouldn’t be entangled with me in the first place!” The woman wasn’t calming down. Her voice was so high-pitched it made my ears want to retreat.
Nando whisked me down a long hall. Intermittent patches of sunshine streamed in through large, clean windows. We were close.
“I didn’t mean to entangle myself with you, surely you must understand that. This is not my idea of a good time.”
“Good time? Good time! I’ll have nightmares about this for months.”
The male voice scoffed. “Well if you do, then count yourself fortunate you have nothing more serious to burden your mind with.”
We turned into another well-lit hallway and skidded to a stop. I bumped into the back of Nando, but I doubted he even noticed. He pushed me behind him and held me in place with firm hands.
I peered around his shoulder.
“You’re in my hair,” the female squealed.
The male huffed. “Again, I don’t mean to be. If you didn’t have so much of it, we wouldn’t have this problem. What does a pig need hair for anyway?”
“I’m not a pig.” The female was clearly affronted, though I couldn’t imagine why. I’d seen many pigs in my lifetime. She did, indeed, look entirely like a pig... with a big mop of curly, orange hair.
“Pray tell then, what are you?” The male, who looked like a bat, asked, his tone dripping with disdain.
“I am a witch who, through the use of sophisticated spells, has transformed into a form which resembles a pig.” She puffed out her round, pudgy chest. “So I am not a pig, I am a magician. And you are in my hair.”
“I will tell you once more, I can’t seem to untangle myself from your hair. There’s simply too much of it. Unless you wish me to rip some out while I fly free. I don’t have a problem doing that if you’d like.”
“Ah, no, are you crazy?” The not-pig witch spluttered. “You don’t mess with a lady’s hair, hasn’t anyone ever taught you some manners?” Then the beady pig eyes found my brother and me, surely looking like we were seeing a talking pig and a talking bat going at it. My eyes couldn’t widen any more. I was at a complete loss for words.
“You!” the pig-witch squealed. “You there, you come help us.”
There was no way I was saying or doing anything in this situation. If we were to move from where we were rooted to the spot, it would be all on Nando. I hid behind his back.
“Well? What on earth are you waiting for, standing there with your mouth hanging open?”
Nando emitted soft sounds of incredulity, but no words. Maybe we could retreat. Eventually, the piggish witch seemed like she’d just take it back up with the bat... uh, man.
“Well snap to, boy. Come on. Get over here.”
Nando took a valiant couple of steps forward. I slunk along with him, clutching the backs of his arms like a lifeline to my sanity.
“What’s with this place?” she seemed to ask none of us in particular. Then Nando was back in her sights. “Stop acting like you’ve never seen a witch in an animal’s body, and move it. If I have to have this thing in my hair for one more second, I’m going to freak out.”
I’d assumed she’d already done some serious freaking out. If she didn’t think she had, then Nando had better hurry. I didn’t think the glass panes in the windows would survive if her reactions intensified.
“I, uh,” Nando started, and I mentally urged him on. He always was the brave one. “I’ve never seen anyone like you before.” He inched forward, cautiously, his hands held open and forward as if he were approaching a dangerous, deranged maniac.
“What? I thought this was an academy for magic.”
“Um, it is. It’s supposed to be, anyway. It’s going to be.” Never had I heard Nando so awkward. I was impressed he was talking at all.
“Oh my goodness, will you go faster, boy? You look as if you’re fully capable of it.”
“Please,” the bat said. “I can’t take listening to her any longer. Do you have any idea what her squeals are doing to my hearing? I have the hearing of a bat, and she’s killing it. It’s dying a slow and torturous death.”
“Oh please,” the pig said. “I am not squealing.”
Nando averted his gaze from her then. The bat looked like he was giving up. He pulled on one small leg, then the other, tangled in her curls, and gave a long, suffering sigh.
“What exactly should I do?” Nando stopped a few steps from the talking pig and bat, and for a second I wondered if maybe I’d dozed off and was dreaming.
“Is there no minimum requirement of intelligence to enter this academy?” the pig asked. “You untangle his creepy legs from my silky, bouncy hair.”
Nando leaned forward, hands out in front, exposing my face from behind his back. Bless him. He’s actually going to do it. Well, that was why he was my big brother protector. He got to do things like this, while I got to hide behind him.
“Wait, what is that?” the pig-witch asked. “What’s that sound?”
What was that sound? It sounded like a frantic thumping... or the flapping of many sets of wings. “Duck,” I whispered to my brother.
He didn’t question me. He pulled me down next to him just in time.
A flock of firedrakes—or whatever you called a grouping of them—cut the corner sharply and emptied into the hall above us. They flew toward the pig with the bat in her hair as if they were aiming for her.
Her beady pig eyes widened, making her look crazy, and she started snorting and squealing like a true pig. It appeared that in her fear, she lost access to her human self, and she was all pig.
She turned back and forth in a circle, looking for an escape when there was none, all the while scuffing in desperation. Snort, squeal, snort.
For all that she looked frightened and panicked, the bat looked her opposite. His expression was bored, of one who’d suffered enough stupidity for the day. If a bat was capable of rolling his eyes at a pig’s unnecessary distress, he did.
She twirled until the first firedrakes were directly overhead. Then she froze and looked straight at them, backing up slowly with a distinct click clack of hooves agai
nst the hardwood flooring.
When the firedrakes first entered the hall, I hadn’t thought they were a danger to any of us. But now they dove toward the pig and I wasn’t so sure anymore.
I could do nothing but wait and watch, my breath coming in ragged bursts when I remembered to breathe.
But the firedrakes landed right behind the pig, sticking their landings with ease. One moment they’d been careening down the hall at great speed, the very next they were so still you wouldn’t believe they’d just ceased flying.
More set down around us, circling Nando and me along with the pig and the bat.
I hadn’t feared the firedrakes when I’d executed Arianne’s orders to get them settled into their dormitory. Tucked in bed like awkward, penguin-walking humans, they’d seemed almost snuggly.
At close range I wondered if I’d lost my mind. They looked much like dragons. They were smaller, had only two legs on which they stood, but they still had tons of knife-sharp teeth and breathed fire.
“Don’t tell me you’ve made all this fuss, Prudence?”
Nando and I turned toward Arianne’s voice coming up behind us.
“We thought something terrible was happening with all the racket.”
Arianne looked to be out of breath, as if she’d run across the manor—more like a castle in size. “Didn’t Mordecai warn you in his letter that we’re under attack by the SMS? You gave us a fright.”
Arianne’s usual affections were noticeably absent. She offered the pig, who was apparently Prudence, no darlings or chéries.
“I had no intention of giving anyone a fright, Arianne. But look at me! Look at this bat stuck in my hair. What would you have done? The same things as I.”
Arianne swallowed a smile that I was sure would have said, Oh, I would never do things the way you do, and approached Prudence and the bat. Gertrude and Brave slid into the hall to take her place, and Sir Lancelot flew beside her.
Nando nudged me to the side, to allow a path for Arianne. We pushed against some of the firedrakes, who now watched on as if they were placid pets, but I didn’t mind. Better to share space with prehistoric-dragon-looking creatures than have to deal with piggish Prudence. That was all on Arianne.
She crouched above the pig and bat. “It’s nice to see you, Vladimir. Sorry your arrival wasn’t smoother and more welcoming.”
Vladimir gave a suffering sigh before saying, “Thank you, Lady Arianne. Once you free me, it will be, as always, a pleasure to be in your company.”
Arianne, as if fearing she was being rude to Prudence, added, “Welcome to you both.” Her smile was filled with a grace I had no idea how she managed to maintain given the situation. “Children,” she called over her shoulder. “Meet the newest members of our staff. Madame Prudence Pimlish will be your transformation teacher. And Count Vladimir Vabu will be your protector.”
“Very pleased to meet you both,” my brother said, as if anything about this situation were normal.
I wanted to say something, to behave normally, but I just couldn’t manage it—not yet. Nothing about this was ordinary, and I wouldn’t fool my mind into thinking it was.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Brave said, while Gertrude curtsied and bowed her head.
All I managed was a nod and a trembling smile, before Arianne got to work disentangling our protector from our teacher.
Chapter 4
Madame Pimlish, returned to human form, reclined on the chaise lounge, where she recovered from her ‘harrowing’ ordeal, and no one paid her much mind. A servant had delivered a ‘calming tea’ for her to sip, while the rest of us moved on to more important matters.
“Do you know exactly where Mordecai is?” Count Vabu asked Arianne, his voice urgent, which I didn’t like. I didn’t want to think that Mordecai might be in immediate danger, with no one to help him.
Arianne turned to Mathieu, the firedrake who’d just returned with Sylvia, Mordecai’s firedrake, and was the cause of immediate panic. According to Arianne, Mathieu and Sylvia wouldn’t have left the wizard’s side unless he ordered them to. If he ordered them to, then it must’ve been to deliver a message that couldn’t wait for his return.
Arianne leaned her forehead against Mathieu’s green, shiny scales, and closed her eyes. Enthralled, I watched as nothing seemed to happen. I imagined she must be communicating with her firedrake through her mind. Fascinating!
She opened her eyes and kissed the long-faced creature on the forehead. “You’re a good boy, mon cher.”
When she turned to face our protector, her face was grave. “Mordecai is near Timout. He’s already managed to recruit a student, but he says he’s found traces of Albacus, and he can’t turn back without exploring them to see if they lead to his brother.”
“Albacus?” Count Vabu’s eyes flashed with surprise. “I thought Albacus was dead. I was so sorry to hear of his passing. I always liked him.”
“Well, darling, Albacus is dead, but he isn’t gone from this world. He’s remained as a spirit. He’s the same as he always was, only not as part of the corporeal world.”
“I see.” Count Vabu didn’t sound surprised any longer, and I wondered what kind of a life he must lead that a squealing teacher-pig and news of a ghost-wizard wouldn’t faze him. Then again, when I’d first met him, he was a bat, and now he was a rather tall, distinguished-looking man. “And why is Mordecai looking for Albacus’ spirit?”
“He disappeared, during the recruiting of Nando and Isa here, actually.” She gestured to us with a smile, as if encouraging us not to blame ourselves for all that had gone wrong since Mordecai knocked on our uncle’s door. “The SMS pursued our team, which split up. Albacus remained with Marcelo and Isa. Somewhere in the confusion of the sorcerers’ attack, Albacus disappeared.”
“And Mordecai fears he was taken, because his brother would never leave when he was needed.”
“Exactly.”
“But I wouldn’t think the SMS would be able to capture Albacus. Not only is he in spirit form, but he’s also a highly accomplished wizard.”
“I agree, but his absence continues to be worrisome.”
“Shall I ride out and meet Mordecai? Surely I can assist in his search, and help keep the student safe while we look.”
Arianne tilted her head to the side, seemingly in consideration. “I would love it if you could do that, but I believe we need you to remain here. With Mordecai, Marcelo, and Clara gone, we’re too vulnerable. Perhaps you could add your own variety of protections to the estate instead?”
“Very well. As you wish,” Count Vabu said with a nod. “And what of your brother? Can he not ride out to help Mordecai?”
Arianne’s smile vanished. “My brother.... Sadly, there’s been a terrible accident. He remembers nothing of who he is.”
“Really? I’m very sorry to hear that. I am, however, quite skilled in memory magic. From necessity, you understand.”
“Of course.” Arianne’s face lit up with hope. “You would be.”
He would be what?
“Where is he? Perhaps I can help.”
“He’s resting at the moment. I’ll lead you to him. You can see to him and then to the wards. If you manage to restore his memory, at least part of it, he could help you with the protection.” She was talking quickly now, enthused by the possibility of Count Vabu’s help.
She moved toward the entrance to the parlor, where a dozen firedrakes milled adorably, waddling like penguins, looking deceptively inoffensive.
“Wait. Grand-mère,” Gertrude said. “What about us? What are we supposed to do?”
“Oh.” From the look on Arianne’s face in that moment, she’d forgotten about everyone but her twin. She looked at the room as if for the first time, noticing Brave standing next to Gertrude by the parlor’s other entrance. Nando next to me, looking disoriented and purposeless as if we were stranded in the middle of an ocean. Sir Lancelot perched at the window, keeping watch below. Mathieu gazing adoringly at his mistress, Sy
lvia at his immediate side. Madame Pimlish splayed out like she’d suffered a fainting spell.
“You all stay here. I’ll take Count Vabu to my brother’s chambers, and then I’ll return to teach you a lesson, as it looks as if Madame Pimlish will need the rest of the day to recover.”
“Oh most certainly, Arianne. My heart still beats too hard from the fright of my experience.”
Arianne and the Count shared a look that spoke volumes. But she said, “Well we definitely need you to recover. Please don’t move from there before you’re ready, and when you are, summon a servant to help you so we don’t risk your health.”
“Certainly. Thank you. What a good idea.”
Madame Pimlish had the ability to transform from a pig to a woman, who resembled a pig with her puffy curves and up-turned nose, yet she couldn’t stand. I suppressed an eye roll, reminding myself this woman draped across the chaise was infinitely more accomplished in magic than I was. At the very least, she was able to become an animal, and she was to be my teacher.
Arianne looked from Gertrude and Brave to Nando and me. “As soon as I return, I’ll teach you a lesson in firedrake husbandry. With such a fine team of them, it’s the perfect opportunity.” She smiled at the firedrakes padding around the hall as if she were an adoring mother and they her children.
“I would say so,” Count Vabu said. “Where did you find so many of them? It’s a rarity to see even one nowadays. How did you come by more than a dozen?”
“That’s a long story, cher. I’ll fill you in while we walk.” She moved out the threshold, calling to the sentinel owl, “Make sure to let me know if you see, or sense, anything amiss, Sir Lancelot.”
“Of course I will. Immediately.” The owl stood taller with importance.
“Always so reliable, our wonderful Sir Lancelot.” Arianne spoke to Count Vabu as she took his arm, but surely she knew the pygmy owl would hear.
He beamed, and I realized she knew exactly what she was doing. I was starting to think Arianne was the glue that held the many parts of the team together.
