I didn’t disagree.
“Well, I’m nosy,” Dani said. “I’d like to see what’s here. If there are dark materials to be destroyed or instructions to his followers, then we should take care of that too while we’re here.”
“Make it quick then,” Bryn said. “I don’t want to meet up with any brothers on the way out.”
I helped Dani peruse the paperwork. When we finished with the stack, I opened a drawer and pulled out a parchment. I handed the top half to Dani and flipped through the rest.
“Oh, wow,” I said. “It’s a deed.”
“To what?” Dani asked.
“Let me put it this way,” I said. “I don’t think we need to see another oracle about the location of that cottage in the woods.”
Dani leaned over to examine the deed. “Are you sure it’s the cottage from the vision?”
“There’s a picture of it attached to the document,” I said, holding up the page for her to see. “He acquired it from a druid called Magda decades ago. It seems Moldark had backup plans for his backup plans.”
Dani scanned the parchment. “The cottage is in Freedom Falls in the Northern Quadrant,” Dani said. “That’s where you thought, isn’t it? The Northern Quadrant?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Great find, Mia,” Cerys said, patting me on the back.
“If we can get out of here, that would be swell,” Bryn said. “There’s a little too much of my father in this place. It’s starting to turn my stomach.”
Cerys hugged her. “I know this whole search must be hard for you, but you’re handling it really well.”
To my surprise, Bryn didn’t pull away. “Thank you. It was nice to hear my mom’s name again, even if it’s only because my dad was a manipulative, hideous tool.”
“And we have the second stone,” I said.
Bryn released herself from the hug and managed a smile. “One more to go. Who’s on board to check out my father’s secret hideout?”
I raised my hand. “Four young women and a remote cottage in the woods? What could go wrong?”
Chapter Eleven
“This is definitely the place,” Cerys said. “You can’t miss these trees.” She placed a palm flat against the nearest trunk. “They’re like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
I craned my neck to glimpse the top. “So tall and sturdy.”
“And tranquil,” Cerys said. She tilted her head back and admired the setting. “I could see myself living here.”
“Not for quite some time,” Dani said. “You’ll need to be close to AMF headquarters in the Eastern Quadrant.” She paused. “Assuming that’s still the plan.”
“Callan and I are still discussing it,” Cerys replied.
“Who wants to knock on the door?” I asked.
Bryn touched the side of her nose. “Not it.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t know what that means, but okay.”
“Ten bucks says no one’s in there,” Bryn said.
Dani squared her shoulders. “I don’t need your ten bucks, but I’ll knock.” She strode up to the door and rapped loudly on the wood. No one answered.
Cerys joined her at the door. “Hello?” she called. “Anyone home?”
Dani looked back at us. “Shall we?”
I nodded and Bryn said, “Go for it.”
Dani removed her wand and performed an unlocking spell. The door clicked open and we filed into the cabin.
“It can’t be here with such a lousy security system,” Dani said. “Moldark would have a ward in place.”
Bryn surveyed the cabin’s interior. “It’s here. I feel it tugging at me.”
“The inside is much nicer than I imagined for a rustic cabin in the middle of nowhere,” Dani said.
She was right. There was artwork on the wall and fine furnishings, including a beautiful chandelier made with fey lights. Even the bed had an intricately carved headboard.
“Do you think this place belonged to your father?” I asked.
Bryn shrugged as she stared at one of the paintings. “I don’t feel him everywhere the way I did in the vault, but I get a whiff of him.” She cocked her head. “The woman in this painting…”
I came to stand beside her. “What about it?”
“I feel like she’s calling to me.” Bryn continued to study the painting. “Is there something odd about it?”
“The painting or the fact that the woman is calling to you?” Dani asked, moving to Bryn’s other side.
Bryn pulled a face. “There’s nothing special about the picture, is there?”
A brunette woman in a homespun dress sat in a rocking chair with a ball of yarn in her lap and knitting needles floating in front of her.
“Nice necklace for such a plain dress,” Dani said.
“Leave it to you to notice the mismatched accessorizing,” Bryn said.
I stared at the necklace. It was a gold locket that seemed out of place. “It’s shimmering.” I reached out to touch the painting. “The locket…It feels real.” I used my finger to search for a latch. “It is real.” I popped open the locket and wedged inside was the stone.
“Nice work, Mia,” Dani said.
“I guess I know why the woman called to me,” Bryn said. “Care to mock me now, Miss Fancy Pants Degraff?”
Dani smirked. “I always care to mock you, Miss Devil Spawn Morrow.”
I moved my hand away and gestured to Bryn. “I’ll let you do the honors.”
Bryn plucked the stone from its hiding spot and admired it for a moment before she slipped it into her pocket. “Stone number three, witches. We’re doing well.”
No sooner did the words leave her mouth than the earth seemed to shift beneath our feet.
“What was that?” I asked.
The ground rumbled again.
“Maybe Daddy Moldark had a ward in place after all,” Dani said.
Cerys raced to the window and peered outside. “Oh, no.”
“What is it?” I hurried to take a look and immediately regretted it.
The trees were coming to life.
“They look like some kind of tree warriors,” Cerys said. The ground shook again as more trees pulled up their roots and began to move. They seemed to be forming a tight circle around the cabin.
“Removing the stone must’ve triggered the trees,” Dani said. “That’s why it was so easy to get in. Moldark designed it so that no one could get out.”
“Speaking of not getting out,” I said, spinning toward them. “What’s our plan?”
A loud groan shook the cabin. Great. The trees were vocal, too.
“I wish we had the chancellor’s cloak this time, so we could teleport out of here,” Cerys said.
“No such luck,” Bryn said. “We’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way.”
“We passed a river not far from here,” I said. “There should be plenty of water energy for you.”
Bryn nodded. “Not sure how useful it will be against tree warriors.”
One of the windows smashed open and a branch shot through the empty space.
“We’re officially under attack,” I said. I summoned my magic, calling to the air outside. In a remote area like this, my power would be strong. Air was plentiful and clear of additional elements.
“Don’t blow the trees into the cabin,” Dani warned. “That won’t help.”
“Don’t start a forest fire,” I shot back. “That won’t help.”
Bryn smiled at me. “Gods above, I love it when you talk back to her. It’s like a cherry on my sundae.”
“Right now, we need to work together,” Cerys said.
“You’re our best bet,” I told Cerys. “The trees should respond to powerful earth magic.” And no one was stronger than Cerys.
“I’ve been trying for the past couple of minutes,” Cerys said. “Whatever Moldark did, he made sure these trees were fortified.”
“We need all four of us,” I said. “Come on. Join hands.”
&
nbsp; “Outside,” Cerys added. “We’ll be stronger out there.”
I threw out my hands and the door blew open. We rushed outside and clasped hands in front of the encroaching trees. They barely looked like the tall, majestic trees I’d admired on the way in. Their bark had turned black and their roots had formed strange, misshapen legs. They maintained all their branches as arms, which I learned the hard way when one swung toward me and knocked me off my feet. Dani and Cerys pulled me upright, never letting go of my hands.
“Come on, witches,” Bryn called. “Work your magic.”
Cerys chanted under her breath. I focused on the air, calling it to me. Bryn and Dani channeled their energy into us. I felt the boost of power. I pulled the air into a concentrated ball and then let it go. The burst of wind was powerful enough to blow the trees backward, knocking over two of them.
“A split,” Bryn yelled, and I shot her a quizzical look. “What? It’s a bowling term.”
Cerys’s grip on my hand grew tighter and suddenly her body seized. The remaining trees stopped moving.
“What’s going on?” Dani asked. She leaned forward to observe the earth witch. “Cerys?”
Cerys didn’t respond. She seemed frozen, like the trees.
“Okay, whatever she was trying to do seems to have worked,” Bryn said. “They stopped moving.”
“Yes, but so has Cerys,” I replied. “I don’t think she meant to stop herself.”
“She’s probably forged a link between herself and the trees,” Dani said. “That’s what I would have done.”
“So we need to get her out of here like this?” Bryn asked.
“Not so difficult when you’re not being attacked by giant trees,” Dani said.
“No, but difficult when you’re under attack from a group of ugly dudes in uglier clothes,” Bryn replied.
I didn’t understand until I glimpsed a figure approaching through the distant trees. Based on the plain brown robe and cropped haircut of the leader, I knew exactly who were dealing with.
“The brothers are here,” Dani said, noticing our new friends.
“We need to get out of here,” I said. A fireball flew toward us and we broke apart to avoid being hit. The projectile hit the cabin instead and the front door burst into flames.
Dani’s hands flew to her hips. “No fair! I wasn’t allowed to use fire magic.”
“Because you actually care about the environment,” I said. “They’re going to destroy an entire forest if they’re not careful.” But the brotherhood didn’t want to be careful. They only wanted the stone at any price. Moldark’s resurrection was the end game and it didn’t matter what they had to do to achieve that goal.
Another fireball zoomed past us and exploded on the cabin roof.
“Stars and stones!” I cried.
More brown robes appeared around the cabin. A quick glance beside me confirmed that Cerys was still out of commission. “Part of me wishes the trees would come back to life,” I said. My friends and I immediately exchanged glances.
“Wake her up,” Dani said, with a nod toward Cerys.
“How?” I jostled Cerys’s arm but nothing changed.
“Knock her unconscious,” Bryn suggested. “That’ll break the connection.”
Although I didn’t love the idea, it made sense. I aimed my wand and performed the Sleeping Beauty spell. It was the least violent method. Cerys slipped to the ground and the trees stirred. The brothers continued their attack on us, but the trees couldn’t distinguish between the two groups. As far as they were concerned, the brothers were a threat to them as well. It didn’t help that the cabin fire was about to spread. Thick branches whacked and thumped any brother within reach, while my friends and I snuck around the back of the cabin and ran for our lives. I used air magic to transport Cerys alongside us until I could wake her up. There was no time to waste right now. We had to keep running.
“We need a portal,” I said, between heavy breaths.
“Someone’s behind us,” Dani said.
I turned around and, sure enough, one of the brothers had made it past the trees and the fiery cabin. The leader with the cropped haircut.
“We need one of Cerys’s speed runes,” I said. I had to wake her up. No easy feat while we were in motion, but we couldn’t afford to stop. My wand was still in my hand, so I aimed it at the floating witch beside me. I waited until we were on a soft patch of grass and released her from the spell. Cerys dropped to the ground with a thud.
“Ouch,” she murmured, rubbing the back of her head.
“Cerys, get up!” I said. “We need a speed rune.”
She reacted on instinct, reaching into her pocket and feeling around for the right stone. She whipped out a smooth, oval-shaped stone with a rune carved into it. “Hold my hand.”
The brother’s footsteps were getting closer. Other than speed, I had no idea what powers he possessed. I didn’t want to stick around to find out.
“Bryn,” I yelled. “My hand!”
Bryn grabbed Dani by the hand and came back to clasp mine. Cerys rubbed the stone and said an Etruscan word I didn’t recognize. Suddenly, we were at hyperspeed. My feet moved so quickly that I was shocked I didn’t leave scorch marks on the ground. When I dared to look, the brother was nowhere in sight. We didn’t slow down until we reached a river. It was much wider here than the portion we’d passed on our way to the cabin.
“What did you do to the trees?” I asked Cerys.
“I created a link, but they were too strong,” she said. “They seemed to be siphoning my earth magic, so I used the link against them and put myself into a catatonic state.” She blinked. “It worked, right? They stopped?”
“They stopped,” I confirmed.
Bryn scooped water out of the river and drank. “Nothing like fresh water in an unspoiled area.”
“Now that your thirst has been quenched, where do we go?” Dani asked. “This isn’t the way we came.”
And we couldn’t go back. Not unless we wanted to fight again.
“Stop right there!” Dani yelled and aimed her wand.
I whirled around to see the brother walking forward with his hands in the air. He’d somehow caught up to us.
“I’m not here to fight you,” he said.
“Oh, no?” I said. “Were you at the same cabin we were? Because it sure seemed that way.”
He looked past me to Bryn. “The Fraternal Order of Hermes would like to make you an offer, Miss Morrow.”
Bryn swaggered forward. “What kind of offer?”
“As you may have surmised, we have certain knowledge regarding resurrection spells,” he explained. “This is not your poor wizard’s necromancy. This is the type of knowledge others dream of. A reunion with their loved ones exactly as they’d been.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Cerys flinch. This had to be difficult for her to hear. Her brother had not been successfully revived.
“And you think I’m happy about this?” Bryn asked. “I don’t want my father back. No one in their right mind wants that lunatic walking the earth again.”
The brother wore a vague smile. “We do not offer you your father. He is for us to liberate from death.”
Bryn frowned. Slowly, the realization settled in. “You can’t be serious.”
“In exchange for your father’s stones, of course,” the brother said. “A fair trade.”
Cerys glanced from the brother to Bryn. “What am I missing?”
“Bryn’s mother,” I whispered. “They’re offering to bring her mother back to life in exchange for the stones.”
A gasp escaped Cerys. “Bryn, you can’t!”
“No surprise you would say that, earth witch,” the brother said. A malevolent smile formed. “Yes, we know all about your failed endeavor in necromancy.”
Cerys’s expression hardened. “The stones aren’t Bryn’s to give. We all found them, together.” She looked to Bryn for confirmation, but the water witch remained silent. “Bryn?”
“Think of it, Miss Morrow,” the silky-tongued brother continued. “You and your mother reunited to live your days safely in Terrene. No need to concern yourself with life here.”
Bryn’s hand slipped into her pocket and I didn’t have to see to know she had her fingers curled around the stone from the cottage. “You could really bring her back just as she was?”
“We can and we will,” the brother said. “The Shadow Sorcerer would be more than willing for us to strike this bargain. He loved your mother well, you know.”
“That’s a lie,” Dani said. “He didn’t love anyone except himself.”
“A terrible rumor perpetuated by those who feared his power,” the brother said. “You have the stone from the bank vault, I know. You must have seen it there.”
“My mother’s photo,” Bryn said quietly.
“How do you know about the photo?” I asked. “You would’ve arrived at the vault after us.”
“We were able to access the vault prior to your arrival, only we did not find the stone,” the brother said. “Our instructions were not as explicit as we would have liked. But then you came along and made it so much easier.”
“How do you know about Bryn?” I asked. “The other brothers we’ve met didn’t know.”
“A recent discovery, I admit,” he said. “But quite an exciting one.” He fixed his attention back on Bryn. “Do you think he kept mementos of humans as a regular course of action? Of course not. Miss Jenny Morrow was special. She deserves a second chance.”
“Dr. Jenny Morrow,” Bryn said, almost automatically. “She was a doctor.”
“Yes, and once we resurrect her, she can continue to save lives,” the brother said.
“Bryn, you can’t,” I pleaded.
Bryn stared straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to the rest of us. “My mother didn’t deserve to die so young. She had years ahead of her. Years she could have spent with me.”
“And she will have years again,” the brother said. “We could even make her immortal, if you so choose. All we ask in return is for the three stones.” He held out his hand, a hopeful look on his face.
Outgrow: Spellslingers Academy of Magic (Keeper of the North Book 2) Page 11
