Walking the hallways, it was sometimes hard to know if you were dealing with an animal or a deep thinker. A kind of red cat whose lower body was encased in a pink shell lay purring in the branches of a green tree, and the tree was stroking it. But when Tara got closer, she saw that the cat held the tree on a leash, and she couldn’t tell which was the master and which the companion. Further on, transparent palace walls formed a room for a delegation from the moon Tadix, whose gravity is much weaker than OtherWorld’s. The delegates were strange, fragile-looking creatures, pale and elongated, whose eight-fingered hands reached almost to the ground. Their heads were crowned with a kind of green algae that wavered in the low gravity created especially for them, and very light clothes hung limply around them. Tara got the feeling that the slightest breeze might snap them in two.
Eventually, the four friends reached the empress’s private garden. The huge gates were closed, but there were no guards in sight. Spotting a tall tree growing in the hallway with branches that extended over the garden wall, Robin jumped up, quickly climbed it, and disappeared over the wall. A few seconds later the gates silently swung open, revealing an astonishing landscape.
As elsewhere in the palace, magic had transformed everything. From inside the garden, the walls were invisible, and the place looked like Mentalir, the unicorn country. Blue meadows were dotted with little white flowers, and the trees hung heavy with fruit. Beautiful little fairies—tiny winged creatures—flitted from flower to flower in competition with the bizzz, OtherWorld’s red and yellow bees. Gorgeous purple butterflies fluttered in strange patterns, and a choir of birds chirped unearthly melodies. It was almost night in the rest of the palace, but oddly enough, a beautiful red sun shone here, its rays turning the white blossoms pink. The air was sweetly scented, and a single breath of it drove all cares away. Tara sighed with happiness. It was a true fairytale landscape.
Suddenly, Fabrice let out a groan. Mesmerized by the sight of the fairies, he had stepped into what looked like an enormous cow pie.
As if in response to his noise, a huge footfall shook the earth, and the creature that had produced it strode directly toward them.
Tara gaped. This wasn’t an elephant, it was a mammoth! A gigantic, very hairy blue mammoth with massive tusks that curved high on either side of its large head.
When it spotted the four teens, the mammoth stopped and stared at them with tiny, red, evil-looking eyes, then trumpeted shrilly.
“Robin, are you sure you want to pluck hairs from this monster’s trunk?” shouted Tara, hands over her ears.
“This is very strange!” he yelled back. “It was completely calm yesterday! I don’t know what’s going on, but I’d get out of the way, you guys.”
The enormous pachyderm swept the ground with its trunk, tossing bits of grass and earth here and there. It shifted from foot to foot for a moment, then seemed to make up its mind. Trumpeting loudly, it charged straight at Fabrice and Sparrow.
Instinctively, Sparrow shape-shifted. In the pretty brunette’s place stood a ten-foot-tall beast armed with razor-sharp fangs and claws. But in the face of such a charging mass, Sparrow didn’t have many options. With superhuman speed she dodged the mammoth’s charge, snatching Fabrice—who was paralyzed by the sight of onrushing death—out of the way.
The mammoth was surprised at not finding anything to trample and dug in with all four feet. Carried by its momentum, however, it slammed into the invisible garden wall with a boom! so loud it that rattled the entire palace. A little stunned, it turned around and shook its head, panting with rage and pain. Then it spotted Tara and Robin racing toward a tree for safety.
Sparrow shivered. The tree wasn’t tall enough! The pachyderm would still be able to reach them with its trunk. At top speed, she recited: “By Pocus, I summon the forces at large to stop this mammoth’s frightening charge!” The spell flashed toward the animal—and stopped in mid-air.
“It’s protected by a counter-spell,” she screamed. “Watch out! It’s been enchanted to attack us!”
“Get higher,” Robin yelled.
“I’m not a squirrel!” answered Tara, who was climbing as fast as she could. To her alarm, the branches were thinning out just as fifty tons of demented mammoth drew closer.
Fortunately, the mammoth decided not to reach up and grab them. Instead, it wrapped its trunk around the tree and started to shake it.
“D-d-do s-s-something!” Robin managed to say through teeth rattling under the assault.
Living stone, help! cried Tara mentally. Let’s tie this animal up before it kills us!
Power you want? sang the strange stone. Power you take.
Without bothering to recite a spell, Tara visualized a blue net dropping over the mammoth and trapping it.
The spell didn’t work at all. When the net touched the mammoth, it made a kind of cracking noise and vanished. Now Tara was really frightened. Sparrow had been right: this animal was well protected.
While the two young spellbinders were clinging to the branches with despair, the mammoth must have realized that it wasn’t accomplishing anything. Setting its huge head against the tree, it now began to push, planning to knock it down.
“All right, that does it!” muttered Robin through gritted teeth. From his spellbinder robe he pulled out a little twig with a silvery bud on top. He held this at arm’s length toward the grasses, bushes, and brambles under the mammoth, and chanted: “By the tree that is alive, I want those plants to grow and thrive.”
At first, the animal was too busy pushing against the tree to notice that the surrounding vegetation was getting taller. But it must have started to tickle, because it flailed with its trunk to get rid of the prickly bushes jabbing its belly.
Tara put her hand on Robin’s, joining her magic to his, and recited: “By the tree that is alive, I want those plants to grow and thrive.”
Galvanized by Tara’s powerful magic, the plants made a great leap upward, trapping the pachyderm in a living prison. It struggled to free itself, but the grasses and bushes tangled its feet and trunk. In minutes, the mammoth was helpless, able only to trumpet furiously.
Tara and Robin climbed down from their tree and cautiously backed away.
“Very effective!” he said with a grin. “You can hold my hand any time you like.”
Tara blushed. Sparrow and Fabrice, who were still shaken, joined them.
“Yikes!” said Fabrice, “I was so scared! I thought that monster was gonna flatten you like a pancake!”
“Hey, look out!” Sparrow’s cry made them turn around.
Alarmingly, the vegetation entangling the mammoth had started to smoke. They were about to run out of the way when the monster suddenly burst from the scorched bushes and grabbed the nearest person: Fabrice.
The boy screamed as the huge trunk crushed his ribs. But just as Sparrow was about to leap into the fray with fangs and claws, and just as Tara was activating her power, something very odd happened.
The mammoth suddenly jerked to a stop, paralyzed, apparently unable to move. Then it gently set Fabrice down, whose cheeks were now wet with tears. The huge animal started shifting awkwardly from foot to foot while its trunk delicately stroked the boy’s head.
“He . . . he . . . he chose me!” stammered Fabrice. “He says his name is Barune. He feels terribly sorry. He doesn’t know what came over him. He . . . chose me!”
Jaws slack, the friends stared at Fabrice as if he’d gone crazy.
Then Sparrow started. “By my ancestors, it’s a familiar!” she exclaimed. “This . . . this monster has become a familiar. Look at his eyes. They’ve changed, they’re golden!”
She was right. The small, angry eyes had turned gold—and they looked very concerned.
Robin was so astonished that his legs buckled, and he slumped to the ground.
“No! I can’t believe I’m seeing this!” he moaned. “Don’t tell me Fabrice was just chosen by the empress’s favorite animal!”
“I hate to s
ay so, but that’s exactly what happened,” soberly said Tara, who could feel a giggle rising in her. “From now on, Fabrice’s familiar is an immortal fifty-ton blue mammoth. Do you think we’ll have any trouble hiding this little . . . detail?”
That did it. The terror they’d been feeling turned into a wave of hysterical laughter that left them bent over, with tears streaming down their cheeks. And every time one of them managed to say the word “detail,” it started up all over again.
Still feeling overwhelmed, Fabrice came out of his trance and frowned.
“What are you guys doing, rolling around on the grass?” he snapped.
“Oh, sorry,” said Sparrow, laughing and wiping the tears from her fur. “It’s just wonderful. I’m very happy for you.”
Fabrice’s face immediately cleared. “Yes, it’s extraordinary. Barune is fantastic. Do you realize what happened? He chose me—me! I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I,” said Robin with a sigh, still holding his belly. “All right. Now we have to take care of this . . . problem.” (He was careful not to say the word “detail.” His stomach muscles hurt enough already.)
“What problem?” asked Fabrice. He was lovingly stroking Barune’s coarse hair, as the mammoth quivered with joy.
“Number one,” said Robin, counting on his fingers, “we didn’t have permission to come in here, so we’ve broken an imperial rule. Steal a couple of elephant hairs, nobody notices. But steal an elephant, that’s a little harder to hide. Number two: This animal attacked us without any reason. Usually all he cares about is rummaging in your pockets for snacks of red bananas or popping peanuts. So I’m feeling cautious about his reactions right now. Number three: The empress adores this elephant. Number four: Her scientists have been studying him for years to find out why he doesn’t age, so he’s considered a national treasure. Aside from all that, you’re right; we don’t have any problem.”
The only thing Fabrice picked up from Robin’s little speech was that the half-elf distrusted his new friend.
“You don’t have a familiar, so you don’t know what it’s like!” he shouted vehemently. “My mind and his are one now. He tells me that a dark figure approached him shortly before we arrived, and he can’t remember anything after that. He was bewitched! Tara wasn’t able to immobilize him, and you know how powerful she is. And what about the bushes? How do you explain that he was able to burn them up just like that? I’m telling you, our main problem isn’t Barune, it’s finding out who tried to kill Tara again.”
“Fabrice is right,” said Tara thoughtfully. “Whoever wants to get rid of me tried it indirectly this time. And it nearly worked! If Barune hadn’t become Fabrice’s familiar, the spell wouldn’t have been broken, and he would’ve killed us all!”
Looking a bit green, Fabrice lowered himself to the ground.
“Ow!” he said, feeling his ribs. “That’s true. Barune nearly squeezed me to death. All right, so what we—”
The garden gates swung open just then, admitting a group of very alert guards followed by a half-dozen high wizards, including Chem, Boudiou, and Chanfrein—and the emperor and empress.
“What’s going on here?” thundered Xandiar, the captain of the guards. “We thought someone was attacking the palace!”
Emperor Sandor carefully studied the mammoth and the four kids, then frowned.
“Can you clear something up for me, my dear?” he asked unctuously. “Did you give your precious guests permission to take their ease in our private garden?”
“Unless I’ve been the victim of a sudden attack of amnesia,” the empress answered playfully, “I don’t believe I gave anyone that permission.”
Sparrow, Fabrice, and Robin were rigid with fear and embarrassment.
All right, thought Tara, I guess it’s up to me, as usual.
“Our friend Fabrice has been chosen, Your Imperial Majesty,” she said. “That’s why we’re in your garden.”
Okay, that was stretching the truth a little. But Tara really couldn’t say they were preparing a potion to help Cal escape from prison. Now it was the empress’s turn to frown.
“He was chosen? What a stupid excuse! I don’t see any animal here except for Barune—”
Gaping, the empress suddenly interrupted herself. She had just noticed her blue mammoth’s golden eyes.
“No! Not Barune!” she moaned. “Don’t tell me Barune chose this boy as his master?”
“Yup,” said Tara flatly. “Sorry.”
What happened after that is a little unclear. The empress had hysterics, because she loved the animal dearly. Xandiar suggested killing Fabrice as the only way to get the familiar back. Fortunately, the two rulers didn’t listen to their bloodthirsty guard captain, though Fabrice got a chill when he found the emperor studying him thoughtfully. Lady Boudiou enveloped Fabrice in a protective embrace, then wanted to do the same to Barune but couldn’t, given that the mammoth was four times taller than her. Master Chem, who was very worried about diplomatic relations between Omois and Lancovit, suggested they try breaking the link between Barune and Fabrice. However, the last linked pair that had been tried on—an arachne and a female Salterens salt harvester—had died, and he was counting on the empress’s love for Barune to force her to reject his suggestion.
After half an hour of wails, cries, and tears, they had to face facts: Fabrice and Barune were joined and would be to the end of their days—period. Looking at Xandiar, Chem caught him clearly thinking that Fabrice’s days just might end sooner than expected, so he made the empress and emperor promise that no attempt would be made on the boy’s life. The imperial order was given, and Xandiar had to comply.
“Very well,” said Empress Lisbeth dryly to Fabrice. “Since the matter is settled I may as well let you leave with Barune. But how do you plan to get him out? As familiars go, he certainly isn’t small. I doubt he can even fit through the doors. And I’m warning you, I don’t want my palace damaged just so he can leave.”
“Is that all?” asked Tara, speaking for Fabrice. “Let me take care of that. I had the same problem with Gallant.”
She quickly recited: “By Miniaturus, shrink this mammoth blue, so it can stroll around with me and you.”
Barune trumpeted in panic as he felt himself shrinking. In a few seconds he was the size of a large dog. Now much closer to the ground, he just stood there, rolling his eyes in fear.
Feeling heartsick, Lisbeth’tylanhnem pursed her lips, then bent down to stroke the tiny blue mammoth, who was desperately clinging to Fabrice’s leg with his trunk.
She wiped away the imperial tear streaking her porcelain cheek and gave her orders: “Go back to your rooms. You’ve done enough damage for one day. In fact, I’ve been meaning to warn you that a dwarf delegation from the Hymlia Mountains is coming tomorrow and I will need your suite. So, I’m afraid I won’t be able to extend my hospitality to you much longer.”
All right, it wasn’t very elegant. But she certainly hadn’t anticipated that her favorite mammoth would become the familiar of a little earthling.
Actually, she had hoped it would become her own. Or that of her children.
The empress wiped away a final tear, majestically turned on her heel, and left the garden.
But Master Chem stayed behind. Hands on his hips, he stood tapping his foot and looking very angry.
“All right,” he thundered as soon as the last guard left, “will you kindly tell me the truth? If a link had formed between Barune and Fabrice, the mammoth would’ve destroyed half the palace to go be with him. So, what really happened here?”
Despite Tara’s great affection for the old dragon, she never forgot that he was, above all, a politician. Their escape plan would fall apart if he forbade them from interfering. So she decided to shade the truth a little.
“We only wanted see the mammoth,” she said. “They haven’t existed on Earth for thousands of years. When we got here, it attacked us for no reason, trying to trample us. It managed to catch Fabrice
and was about to tear him to shreds when the choosing happened.”
She fell silent. Master Chem doesn’t look too convinced. Maybe if I distract him . . .
“Oh, and one more very strange thing,” Tara continued quickly. “Barune was protected by a counter-spell. We couldn’t control him. It was as if he was programmed to kill us!”
The wizard looked at them searchingly. Robin tried to flash an expression of wide-eyed innocence, but only managed to look stupid. Sparrow was smiling with her every fang. Fabrice was unconsciously imitating his new familiar by shifting from foot to foot and looking vaguely embarrassed.
“Okay,” he grumbled. “As I see it, this is the second time someone’s tried to kill you. Whoever’s after you sure doesn’t give up easily. Plots, and plots within plots. I’m getting a very bad feeling about all of this.”
Tara had a hunch she wasn’t going to like what came next. And she wasn’t disappointed.
“You’re all going back to Lancovit, then Tara’s going to Earth,” the old wizard said firmly. “I’ll take care of Cal and Angelica. Don’t worry; I’ll stay here as long as it takes to get your friend released. You have my word as a dragon.”
“By my bow and arrows,” groused Robin, “you may wind up spending a few decades here, High Wizard. The empress doesn’t seem at all inclined to release them!”
“We’ll see about that. In the meantime, you’re leaving first thing tomorrow morning.”
“But we—”
“No buts. This isn’t a suggestion; it’s an order!”
Back in their suite, Sparrow hurried to finish concocting the potion. They now only had a few hours to carry out their plan. Barune trumpeted indignantly when she asked Fabrice to pluck three hairs from his trunk, but overall the operation went pretty well.
Except the fact that the potion came close to blowing up the palace and quite a bit of Tingapore.
Tara Duncan and the Forbidden Book Page 8
