Tara was making a final pass above the water near the island when a monstrous black smoke tentacle suddenly wrapped around her neck, choking off her cry. The Ravager must have sensed the living stone’s presence, because a second tentacle grabbed at the dragon’s forehead, ripped off the stone, and heaved it into the water.
Tara screamed with pain.
And shape-shifted back. She lost her wings and tried in vain to stay in the air. She fell into the water at the same time as the White Soul and the bracelet, both of which shot out of her lost ventral pouch.
Coming to the surface, Tara activated her power to free herself. She imagined an enormous pair of scissors cutting the tentacles, and they fell away, their stumps retreating to the center of the island. The Ravager screamed with rage, and dozens of new tentacles came twisting toward her like monstrous black worms.
“Keep away from them!” Tara yelled to her friends. “Don’t let them touch you!”
Unfortunately, a tentacle had wrapped itself around one of Gallant’s hoofs. Despite his fierce resistance, it dragged him toward the center of the island. Robin cast a spell and cut the tentacle, but ten others rushed to the attack.
Tara was totally unable to help her friends. She surrounded herself with an impenetrable force field that immediately stopped the other attacks and allowed her to float on the lake surface.
Tentacles were lashing at her bubble, and to her horror she realized that it was starting to weaken. The tentacles stuck to its surface were sucking at its power like horrible mouths. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to resist for very long. Using all her power, she reinforced the bubble and with a terrible effort burned the attacking tentacles to ash. This time the Ravager screamed, not with rage but with pain. She had hurt him, maybe enough to make him leave her alone.
Tara directed her bubble toward Gallant, but as soon as she got close some of the tentacles pursuing the pegasus turned and attacked her. This time they were too many, and her magic began to wane. Exhausted, she had to admit defeat. She had lost the White Soul and could no longer move. Sensing that she was weakening, the tentacles shoved her toward the island along with Gallant, Cal, Robin, and Blondin. Master Dragosh and the other vampyrs had disappeared. Had they managed to escape? That tiny ray of hope cheered Tara and she saved her strength, determined not to give up.
Carrying their prize, the tentacles soon reached solid ground. There they moved slowly, as if bothered by the black roses. Tara noticed that they avoided them as much as possible. The dark flowers were swaying along the tentacles’ way, as if wanting to spear them with their thorns. That’s strange! After all, it was by drinking the brew of those roses that Fafnir had been possessed. She was still thinking when they finally reached the center of the island.
That’s when she noticed it had changed horribly.
A blackish, bubbling magma now filled a vast pit from which the tentacles emerged. For a moment Tara thought they would be tossed into the abyss at the island’s center, but the tentacles seemed to have something else in mind. A huge black Transfer Portal suddenly opened in front of them, and the tentacles threw them into it.
Screaming in fear, they fell through empty, terrifying darkness.
CHAPTER 17
CAPTURED!
Gasping for breath, Tara landed in front of a pair of feet. Feet that looked familiar.
Looking up, she realized that she was back in the Living Castle, flat on her stomach in front of Fafnir! But this wasn’t the stubborn, grumpy, affectionate dwarf she knew. Her skin was purple, her eyes shone black instead of green, and she was wearing a horrible smile.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t our dear little Tara!” Fafnir said in the Ravager’s voice. “What a pleasant surprise! Well, more or less. When I finally managed to possess the little dwarf I read in her mind that she was counting on you to save her. Did you find it?”
His voice carried a hint of concern.
Tara glanced toward Cal, Blondin, Robin, and Gallant, who were trying to untangle themselves. To her relief, they all looked more or less intact. She dusted herself off and looked back at Fafnir.
“Did we find what?” Tara asked, though she knew perfectly well what he meant.
“Did you find the White Soul?”
“No, we didn’t,” she answered dismissively. “Those stupid Mud Eaters couldn’t understand what we were asking. We were flying over the island looking for it when your trap caught us.”
She paused and looked Fafnir—or rather the entity controlling her—right in the eye, and added: “Which was pretty stupid, if you think about it.”
“Stupid? I don’t see why!” snarled the Ravager.
“You’ve been looking for the White Soul for a long time, right?”
“No, not especially. I knew the Mud Eaters had it. But now that you’re aware of my existence, I have to destroy it before it destroys me!”
“Well, you should’ve just waited until we found it, and then grabbed it.”
That shut him up.
Fafnir’s eyes narrowed, and the Ravager’s voice said: “Who’s to say you don’t have it now?”
“Search us,” answered Tara, shrugging. “You’ll see. We don’t have a thing.”
“This dwarf’s brain tells me you’re clever,” he said. “But don’t think for a second that you’ll be able to fool me.”
The Ravager had the purple-skinned guards search Tara and her companions roughly and very thoroughly. Naturally, they didn’t find anything—aside from a few jewels, lots of strange tools, and an assortment of various weapons. Gallant went to stand next to Tara, glowering at the Ravager.
“So you were telling the truth,” he said, sounding a little surprised. “I’m sorry I’m not able to absorb you right away. Each time I absorb a new soul, my mind must integrate it before I can control it. I’ve been a bit of a glutton lately, and my mind is tired. So I don’t want to risk absorbing any more souls before tomorrow. By my ancestors, I didn’t realize that conquering the world would be so much work!”
A miracle—and none too soon! thought Tara, grateful for a few hours’ respite.
The Ravager ordered the guards to surround the young spellbinders, the lion, and the pegasus, and to take them to jail.
“Ow! I’m, sore all over!” said Robin, who hadn’t liked being manhandled during the search. Quick as a flash, he rushed the nearest guard and grabbed his dagger. Then he leaped at Fafnir and set the blade on her jugular.
“You’re gonna let us leave nice and easy now, or I’ll slit her throat!”
“By my black roses, what bravery!” gushed the Ravager, ignoring the knife.
The half-elf gritted his teeth and pressed. A thin trickle of blood began to run down Fafnir’s neck.
“Ouch, that hurts!” said the Ravager. “But if it’s so important to you, go ahead! I’ve contaminated so many people I don’t need the dwarf anymore. I’d rather keep her alive; I have a soft spot for her. But if you really want to cut her throat, I won’t stop you. Better yet, I’ll leave her body. That way you’ll be able to experience her death in real time.”
As Robin looked in amazement, the black smoke left the dwarf’s body. She regained her deep, coppery tan, and her dark eyes reverted to their familiar green.
“By my ancestors!” Fafnir spat when she was able to use her own voice again, “I’m gonna tear that Ravager limb from limb!”
Then she realized that Robin still had the knife to her throat and froze.
“He’s telling the truth,” she said regretfully. “He needed me as a way to get off the island, but now he’s possessed enough people to maintain his power here, even if you kill me.”
Robin still refused to remove his knife. The black smoke chuckled and summoned another of its zombies. When Tara heard the footsteps shaking the castle, she was filled with momentary hope until a dragon appeared in the hall. It was completely purple. And her hope died. Robin dropped the knife.
“Master Chem!” Cal murmured in dismay. “Okay
, now we have a problem. A very big problem.”
“Did you think I was lying?” roared the Ravager through the dragon. “So, half-elf, you want to cut the dragon’s throat too? It won’t be a knife you’ll need, but an axe. And what about your friends? They’re possessed too; do you want to kill them? How about killing everybody in the castle? Or the city? Believe me, that won’t change the situation one bit.”
Tara started. He’s already conquered the whole city? Cal’s right. We have a big problem on our hands.
Just how big Tara realized when her friends, obeying a silent order, filed into the hall. Standing ten feet tall, Sparrow was in her beast shape for some reason. Fabrice was possessed, but not Barune. Manitou was now a purple Labrador retriever. His unusual color would make him very popular on Earth, but when he stared coldly at Tara, it broke her heart.
She was startled to see that Angelica and her parents were also with them. Surprisingly, they were dressed in court robes and were wearing the royal Lancovit crowns! Another thing: their skin was just as purple as the others’, but their eyes weren’t completely black, and they seemed to be able to move independently.
“Oh, Master, you finally captured them!” exclaimed the tall brunette. “Congratulations, you’re the best! This little bitch and her friends could have caused you a ton of problems. And thanks again for letting me have these three as my servants. It’s been a lot of fun.”
“Yes, Master,” said her father unctuously. “And asking us to run Lancovit for you was an excellent idea. King Bear and Queen Titania certainly haven’t been very cooperative.”
Tara was flabbergasted. Angelica and her parents were speaking with their own voices, not the Ravager’s, and they didn’t seem completely possessed. How can that be?
She soon got the awful answer.
“You’re more than welcome,” the Ravager said with a touch of contempt. “Your ambition has been very useful to me. Souls as greedy as yours don’t really need to be controlled; giving you a little power is enough. As for the king and queen of this two-bit country, it’s just a matter of days. They won’t be able to resist me much longer.”
“You haven’t been able to . . . possess my uncle and my aunt . . . You couldn’t do it!”
With an enormous effort, Sparrow had spoken. She was clenching her paws so hard that her claws dug into her flesh, leaving a stream of red blood on her purple fur.
“That’s not important!” exclaimed the Ravager, furious at Sparrow for rubbing his nose in his failure. “I don’t understand how that family can resist possession when the supposedly powerful dragon succumbed right away.”
“You won’t be able to ever possess them,” managed Sparrow, straining with all her might and drawing the strength to resist from her lacerated palms. “They’re too strong for you!”
“Shut up, you idiot!” cried Angelica’s mother, clearly afraid that the Ravager would lose his temper. She even ordered a black tentacle to wrap itself around Sparrow’s mouth, muzzling her.
“Angelica is the one whose throat I should’ve slit!” said Robin angrily to Fafnir. “I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second, believe me!”
The tall girl’s attention suddenly came to rest on gorgeous Cal.
“Mister Bond!” she cried with delight. “What are you doing with this group of losers?”
Suppressing an urge to wring Angelica’s neck, Cal gave her a charming bow.
“Miss, your skin is the color of the heart of a rose,” he purred, gazing deep into her eyes. “Amazing, how it sets off your beauty. I find it quite captivating.”
Angelica gave Cal a huge smile and took his hand. “Master, there must be some mistake. This one doesn’t belong with those other people. May I have him?”
Speaking through the dragon, the Ravager chuckled nastily. “If you want him, you can have him. I’ll make him your servant as well, as soon as I’ve possessed him.”
Cal quickly spoke up: “I’m not sure I could survive in prison even for a second without you. I can’t endure not having your beautiful face before me.”
“Master, please!” cried Angelica, mesmerized by gorgeous Cal batting his long eyelashes at her. “Don’t send him to jail. Give him to me now. I’ll watch him, I promise!”
“Very well,” said the Ravager, who obviously didn’t care one way or another. “You can put him with the others.”
Cal bowed and ran over to stand by Fabrice, who showed no reaction.
Robin wondered what was happening with the little thief, and Tara frowned. Is Cal joining the winning side to save his skin? She shook her head, uncertain. Then she turned back to Fafnir, who was standing motionless and staring anxiously at the black smoke.
“Fafnir, I’d like you to tell me exactly what happened,” Tara said, ignoring Angelica, her parents, and the Ravager.
The black smoke hung motionless in the air, giving the dwarf a chance to answer.
“We got close to the island,” said Fafnir, absentmindedly tugging on a strand of her red hair. “Too close. The black roses had grown tremendously since we were there last. Except for the center, the island’s practically covered with them. The Ravager didn’t give me a chance. He grabbed me, then the two wizards. I yelled, and I saw that my yelling kept the Ravager at bay. He didn’t release me, but he couldn’t get more of a hold on me. So I started to sing.”
“You sang for five days without stopping?” asked Robin, astonished at her endurance.
“We dwarves have lots of songs, and we’re stubborn. Hanging on was the only way to warn you, so I hung on. At least that gave you a chance to get away!”
“Fat lot of good it did you!” cackled the Ravager by way of Shyblossomonthebankofaclearstream, the Cyclops. “You’ve only gotten a short stay of execution, my pretties. By tomorrow I should have digested my most recent possessions, and I’ll take care of you. And now, off to jail you go!”
The last thing Tara and her friends saw was the monstrous black smoke swirling around Fafnir, and the look of despair in her beautiful green eyes.
The Ravager had been cautious. The cells were surrounded by a dense fog of black smoke, its tendrils drifting along the prison hallways.
Guards opened the cells and shoved Tara, Gallant, and Robin in. The heavy, magical Hymlia iron gates slammed shut behind them with a sinister clang. The guards resumed their monotonous rounds, walking through the pools of smoke as if they didn’t exist.
Tara examined the cell, then stifled a shout of surprise. In the cell next to hers were King Bear and Queen Titania!
They looked very pale, and the queen seemed to be breathing with difficulty. Every so often a black tentacle came to touch them, as if to test their resistance. They tried hard not to react, but you sensed it cost them a lot of pain. Though they had been stripped of their court robes and their crowns, they remained the king and queen. Showing the Ravager their distress was out of the question.
The king could see that Tara and her friends hadn’t been possessed, since they were being locked up and their skin wasn’t purple. He smiled weakly, both happy and unhappy to see his apprentice spellbinders.
“Tara! Robin!” he exclaimed. “I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to see you again, but that’s not exactly the case. I thought you managed to get away and had taken refuge far from this castle.”
“Well, that’s exactly what we did,” answered Tara, who was trying not to cry, “at least in the beginning. Until the Ravager captured us.”
She took a deep breath, struggling with her emotions. In despair, she decided to try humor as a last resort.
“And this is the second time in ten days I’ve been thrown in jail,” she said, sighing comically. “Granted, these were imperial and royal jails, but I’d like it not to become a habit!”
“I hate jails,” muttered Robin. “They stink, and they’re cramped, dusty, and skuzzy.”
He was exaggerating. Aside from the fact that the Lancovit cells had bars, unlike the ones in Omois, they were quite comfortable, dry
, and spacious. There was no dust, and thanks to spells, no bugs. The king and queen didn’t approve of substandard prisons, it appeared.
“Do you know what’s going on upstairs?” asked the king. “We haven’t gotten much information these last days.”
“What’s happening,” said a voice they knew all too well, “is that idiot dwarf freed the Ravager, and he’s slowly but surely conquering the world. He’s already sent infected agents to Omois and Selenda.”
“Angelica!” exclaimed Robin, leaping up and grabbing the bars. “Did you come down to taunt us?”
“No, to save your miserable hides,” answered the tall girl with purple skin, keeping a safe distance from the angry elf. “Obviously, I don’t much like it but if you have the White Soul, then you absolutely have to destroy the Ravager.”
The royal couple was confused. Whatever was she talking about?
“How are you able to do that, Miss Brandaud?” asked the king. “Aren’t you under that monster’s control?”
“My parents and I are just pretending to cooperate,” she explained contemptuously. “When the Ravager saw that we were prepared to help him, he loosened his grip on us, so he isn’t constantly in our minds. This leaves him free to possess other people faster. And it gives us a big advantage: we can control the tentacles without being controlled by them.”
And in fact, in response to her silent order, the black cloud drifted away and the purple guards disappeared. They were now alone in the prison.
“There! Now we can talk at our ease,” Angelica said with satisfaction. “Tara, you have to tell me where the White Soul is.”
Robin was opening his mouth to explain the situation when Tara cut him off.
“We don’t know, unfortunately,” she lied. “We’ve heard it’s in Hymlia, in the Tador Mountain mine.”
“What mine?” asked Angelica nervously. “There are hundreds of them! That mountain’s like Swiss cheese!”
“I’m telling you, we don’t have any more information than that,” said Tara. “We were captured by the Ravager before we had time to locate it.”
Tara Duncan and the Forbidden Book Page 31
