“Mr. Dashing!” Simon yelled, feeling the heat of the flame lick his face. From behind the large, blackened creature, Mr. Todd could hardly see. “Where is Miss Bax—?”
A sudden pull jolted the young man from his feet, and he fell, his chin hitting the cobbles and splitting open. Wincing from the pain, tasting the coppery tang of blood as it filled his mouth, Simon looked back to see from whence the tug had come.
“What?” Mr. Todd screamed, rolling onto his back as a creature fell atop him. Unlike the bovine creations with horns and muddy decaying bones, the creature was clean, almost slippery as it began to wrap something sticky about his legs.
“No! Get off me!” Simon yelled, trying to kick his feet as eight spindly protrusions worked their way around him. He recognized the creature immediately, its bulbous rear end bobbing up and down over his legs.
“A spider!” He screamed, turning again in an attempt to claw his way away. The dirt was loose around him, crumbled beneath his hands as he heard the thing speak.
“Mr. Todd!” it said, almost like a girl. “I’ve got you!”
But Simon dug his fingers into the ground, shaking his head as his legs desperately kicked at the webbing.
“Simon!”
“No!” A flash of lightning exploded beside him, making him cry from the sheer energy discharged. The spider beast was off him now and there was a ringing in his ears, but he could still feel it pulling back at his legs as he crawled forward, noticing only as the ground darkened beneath him that he was directly under the chained phantasm Miss Baxter had conjured from the ether.
“Simon, you’ve got to listen to me! We’ve got to get out of here.” Mr. Todd turned again, waving his arms about him as he noticed Molly Stein shouting down at him.
“Molly?” Had he envisioned it? Had it been her all along and his mind was playing tricks on him?
“I have to help!” he cried, turning about as she called out to him again. “I have to help—” He looked up, his fingernails caked with loose dirt, and the color drained from his face.
“Miss Baxter?” He was incredulous. She was bound to the beast by arms and legs, her eyes pits of red and violet.
“Miss Bax—!” But he was interrupted again as the Alligaattori ripped up from out of the ground, causing Molly to stumble backwards.
Simon didn’t even have time to reach out as the huge Arcane beast began to rush towards him, teeth open and wide.
“Stop!” Simon yelled, rolling to the side, hearing another blast of what sounded like gunfire as the gator roared by to chomp down upon the Arcane Hell Lord bound to Miss Baxter.
“Mr. Todd!” Dashing cried, pointing as one of the summoned undead began galloping towards him. Mr. Todd felt his mouth widen before ducking his head into the dirt, pouring all his willpower into being a ghost again. It felt odd, but as conjured undead trotted through him, Simon felt the webbing also slip away from his ankles as he took in a panicked breath and stood.
“Morty!” Miss Baxter called, splaying her fingers as shocks of Spellcraft sizzled from her palms.
Chip Ardale’s smile was gone now as he called out the name of his Arcane demon. “Gaattori!” he shouted, sweeping his hands in an arc as the giant gator consumed the remainder of the undead creatures charging towards him, shooting back into the air towards the young shepherdess.
“Leave her alone!” Simon cried, feeling weightless as he ran forward. There was another eruption of electricity, followed by gun thunder. Simon didn’t know what he could do, but as he ran forward he heard her call out to him and the sudden concern in her soft voice immediately told him he had done something wrong once again.
The Hell Lord bound to her limbs exhaled. A pillar of fire shot towards Chip’s Alligaattori but in a moment of clarity the wizard pulled back, screaming a word of command as the chain around his wrist appeared and the reptilian hell beast deteriorated back into its original, smaller form. Simon didn’t feel the flame as it coursed through him, but he could see it dancing in the sudden darkness encompassing him, trapped like molten rock within a blacksmith’s furnace.
Though Mr. Todd could not see anyone, he could hear them, even as he pushed against the walls of his prison and found he could not penetrate past it.
“Miss B—” Chip drew out the letter, his fingers shrouded in shadows. “Dick was about to unload another shot of frost fire into Mr. Uovo when Chip called out to him. “I’d stop your dog if I were you!” he said. “You’re little friend won’t be able to escape my shadows, and I wonder how long he’ll remain incorporeal?”
Miss Baxter had magic ringing her fingers. Where the chains of the Hell Lord were around her limbs, the skin looked black, like the flesh had been charred.
“He’s a ghost. Mr. Todd has no fear of Morty’s hellfire,” she said.
“Maybe.” Chip spat onto the pavement, his eyes beginning to clear as his pupils shrunk back to size. “But I don’t think he’s entirely a ghost. Am I right, Miss B?” He grinned. “He ain’t got the pizazz! He’s got too much oomph to him!”
Miss Baxter frowned, looking at the red-haired young man. “And if he ain’t got the right oomph, I wonder how long he can remain a ghost until that hellfire I’ve captured burns a few holes through ‘im.”
Simon was quite distraught. He was almost certain he should be able to go through whatever it was that enclosed upon him, but as his fists struggled to penetrate the shadowy shell, the heat from the fire began to grow warm, like a hot breath at the back of the neck.
“Oh dear,” he muttered, stopping to regard the inferno swirling about him. “Come on, Simon Todd, keep it together.”
“We’ve got your other friends,” Benedict shouted, standing upright as his arm clicked into place. “The girl and boy. If you come with us we can promise they will not be hurt.” Dashing held his barrel up, looking sidelong and up towards the young sorceress. She was descending now, the chains burrowing back into the ground as the magic drained from her eyes. Her hair was dishevelled, and her bonnet had gone missing from the currents of magic that had been sweeping throughout the air, but she looked marvelous as her feet touched the ground.
“Sorry to do this to ya, Miss B,” Chip said, licking his lips. “If it’s any consolation, I’d have lost if I hadn’t fought dirty.”
“Simon.”
Simon shook his head at her words. Again! He was always a mess of trouble, getting in the way. Again! Why hadn’t he stayed away from it all? Why did he have to muddle in the affairs of people who were better, stronger, more apt than he was? Simon Todd, the toss pot!
Mr. Todd pounded at the black barricade, feeling the heat of the fire beginning to grow against his skin as he struggled to keep his body at bay. “Miss Baxter!” he called. But if she heard, she didn’t respond. “I’m sorry!” He tucked his head to his chest, leaning against the field of magic as the fire began to burn his arms.
“What do we do?” Dashing asked.
Miss Baxter lowered her head. Her demon fell beneath the ground as the links around her arms evaporated, revealing unscathed skin.
“I’ll come,” she said.
Simon Todd, the utter sod! he thought, collapsing as the heat around him turned blistering.
Chapter 20
Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk
“Mr. Todd? Mr. Todd it would be best for us all if you woke up now.”
Simon’s eyelids were heavy as he tried to respond. Though there were few things he was presently ignorant to, the young gentleman was quite certain he was currently on his back laying upon the ground. That something was stuck to his leg, he was mindful of, and that there was a burning sensation at the back of his neck that ran downwards along his spine, was another. In fact, the only thing he wasn’t quite sure of at the moment was the voice currently addressing him.
“I’m awake.” His response was much more a question than a declarative statement. Simon bought the back of his hand towards his face, trying to force his eyes open by prying them apart. “Where ar
e we?”
“Fallfield still, but it’s on fire at the moment so your cooperation would be pretty nice right about now.”
A woman’s voice? Simon felt a sudden jolt of pain wallop him in the right temple as he tried to force his eyes to adjust. “Molly?” he guessed, trying to distinguish the voice.
“Yeah.” She bent, curling her arm under his in an effort to get him to stand. “Who’d a guess that little farmer’s daughter had a demon like Mortimer Grim attached to her? If I’d have known…”
Mr. Todd was still having trouble seeing anything but blurred colors. Though he could smell the scent of burning wood and ash, feel the heat of it on his face, most of the proclaimed fire was nothing but a bright, sunny spot in his vision.
“I can’t see,” he said, trying to look around as she helped him to stand.
“Yeah.” She was wearing her tailcoat still, Simon figured, seeing the long, black, blurry column of her arm. The same clam-colored lace skirt as well by the way the color swished around her legs. Simon made sure to keep his head up when he remembered how low her neck line had been. “Chip let the shadows embrace you, that with the brightness of the fire—”, she trailed off. They seemed to turn a corner. “Well, you may need ten minutes or so.”
“Where’s Miss Baxter? Dashing? Fae and Mr. Darcy?” He could remember Miss Baxter acquiescing to the two mages’ demands, the heat of flame licking at his ears and his own cries of protest as he failed yet another time at doing anything worthwhile.
“They took the necromancer, your friends too. Dashing went back into the Milkbath to salvage what he could of your belongings.”
If Simon had been of a sounder mind, he may have lamented less over the loss of his portable tea set. As it was, he felt an incredible sadness at its loss. There was a dark splotch in the road. Simon grimaced as he leaned towards Molly in an attempt to evade it.
“How do you know Miss Baxter’s a necro—”
“Are you that daft?”
“A-Apparently so?” He turned his head, could see the dark pools where he knew her eyes to be.
Molly Stein sighed. “Look, let’s just get to the road. You can rest and wait for your eyes to readjust while we wait for Dick. I’ll explain a few things when he gets there.”
“I think there’s something sticky on my leg,” Simon observed, trying to kick it off between steps.
Molly sighed.
Grimguild University was a rather tall tower erected in the heart of Morningwood Bog. From a zeppelin it was normally quite visible. Smoke billowed from the several thin spires at the top, while steam and water poured from the vein-work of pipes that coiled around the base and made up the majority of the structure from beneath. Though it was easy to see from the sky, the University was not readily accessible to anyone uninvited or not part of the wizard community. In fact, without an invitation, or an escort to the Grimguild School for Aspiring Witches and Wizards, it was virtually impossible to enter the school at all.
“I can take you,” Molly said to Simon, watching the road as Mr. Dashing made his way towards them.
Simon was sitting on the side of the road, not really very bothered that the seat of his pants was collecting mud from the ground. He had his head in his hands, looking between his legs and studying the dirt as though it were a rather tough riddle needing to be solved.
“Are you a wizard?” Simon looked up as he asked, studying her face before his attention was pilfered by the sooty, trench coat wearing gunslinger who was currently guiding an ass to their uncomfortable spot on the roadside.
“Someone let the horses out, but we’ve got ol’ Salvador at least!” Dashing waved; a pack slung over one arm with a few saddlebags hastily thrown over the clopping donkey. “And don’t worry, I managed to salvage your ledger, Mr. Todd.”
Simon stood up, secretly wiping the dirt from his backside. “My ledger?” Dick held up the young gentleman’s briefcase, which prompted Mr. Todd to let out a deep breath. At least the day wasn’t completely rife with setbacks.
“Are you feeling alright, Mr. Todd?” Mr. Dashing stopped in front of them. Fallfield twinkled like an ember in the distance. The scent of the bog was oppressing.
“I feel as fine as to be expected. Though,” he paused, regarding the ground in a moment of personal disgrace, “I think we need to go after Miss Baxter.”
“Why, of course we do, ol’ boy!” Dick laughed, clapping the rear end of Miss Baxter’s old donkey before taking a stride forward. “That’s what we men do when a damsel is taken away. We rescue them!”
Simon glanced at Molly when she snorted, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes.
“Women don’t live to inflate a man’s ego,” she said.
“Well, you’re awfully good at it at times.” Dashing offered her a smile, to which the young lady guffawed, looking away and back to Simon as Dick began to unsling his revolver.
“Look,” she began, speaking to Simon. “There’s no way you’re going to get into Grimguild without a mage. I can take you in, both of you, if you promise to help me find Sally.”
Simon frowned, looking at the girl from head to toe. “You’re a wizard?”
Molly crossed her arms, loose strands of brown hair swaying in the boggy breeze. “I’m a specialist glamour witch. It’s like, a lesser sort of mage.”
“She can’t cast Arcane spells.” Dashing piped in.
Molly scowled. “And I don’t want to! Think I want to sell my soul to a demon?”
Simon could feel his mind struggling to keep up with all the information he was currently privy to.
“Sell your soul?” he asked. “Wizards sell their souls?” Simon gulped, thinking of the large, shadowy monster that had been chained to Miss Baxter.
Molly nodded, her eyes hard and still scornfully settled on Mr. Dashing. “There are several tiers of mages,” she began in a low voice. “Witches like me who only perform lesser Spellcraft, and sorcerers and wizards who can also cast Arcane. In order to do so though, you’ve got to bind yourself to a Hell Lord.”
Simon felt sick. “A Hell Lord?”
“Don’t tell Mr. Todd all this! He’ll have nightmares.” Dashing looked towards the young Frelishman and smiled warmly. “It’s all just gobblygook!”
“I think he has the right to know what it is that Miss Baxter does! Especially if he claims to be so in love with her.”
Simon flushed, turning away towards the sparsely decorated pine trees. Balling his hands into fists, he tapped the sides of his legs, trying to regain his nerve.
“Um, well.” Simon shook his head. The idea of Hell Lords was making him feel more than a little unsettled.
“Miss Baxter isn’t just some ordinary mage, Simon. She’s not only one of very few necromancers in the world, she’s also very powerful.”
Dashing threw up his arms, walking away to rejoin the donkey as Molly walked forward.
“Most wizards bind themselves to lesser Hell Lords in return to power. That Alligaattori that Chip has around his arm? It’s a breed of Hell Lord.”
Simon nodded, though a bit unsurely.
“Miss Baxter bound herself to Mortimer Grim. She’s got four chains, one on each arm. It’s one of the strongest Hell Lords a wizard can use and has a lot of influence. Usually one or two chains are normal, but four is…unheard of.”
“Okay well…she’s powerful.” Simon was having trouble deciphering the severity of the situation. Though he understood that perhaps binding yourself to some otherworldly creature would insinuate some degree of danger, he wasn’t sure to what extent he should be worried.
Molly snorted. “Yeah,” she said.
Simon supposed it was silly of him to expect to be able to rescue her then. If she was so powerful, how could he even expect to get in to do anything but make matters worse? The thought made him feel entirely wretched.
“Then, is there anything we can really do? I want to help but,” Simon paused, “can I?”
“Well you can certainly help me, if n
o one else.” Molly folded her arms, the silhouette brooch around her neck becoming eclipsed by her shirt.
“To help Sally?”
“Right.” Molly smiled.
“Wait a moment!” Mr. Dashing turned around, his handlebar moustache bristling at the ends as his gaze targeted the young woman. “Did you tip those fellas off? How did they know we were even at the Milkbath?” His brow furrowed as he approached her, leaning forward. “This doesn’t smell right to me. I bet it was you.”
Molly scowled. “If you’re friends with that sheep herder, you know how severe Grimguild can be. I needed help and Sally’s my sister. I’d do anything to help her, just as Mr. Todd would do anything to help Miss Baxter.”
Simon shook his head. “I don’t understand. Why would the wizard mob take your sister?”
For once, Molly’s features softened. Her dark hair sat limply against her face and all at once Simon saw how deep the lines upon her face had grown. “Molly?” he asked, stepping forward.
“I,” she sighed, “I was teaching her magic without the permission of the University.” She looked to the side. “Just some little charm spells, not really enough to do much other than help her negotiate higher prices with her clients but,” she spat, “one of the mages found out and ratted me to Grimguild. They said they’d have to take Sally until one of us paid tuition! I don’t have that kind of money anymore, so…” she trailed off. “When I saw Chip and Benedict here, I thought that if I could tell them about you that maybe they’d give Sally back.”
Simon felt his eyebrows knit together. “Well, did they?”
“They said they’d talk to the school, but from the way they said it I’m not gonna hold my breath.”
“So you’ve gone and made our life a mess to complement your own! Awfully kind of you, darling.” Mr. Dashing turned, grabbing old Salvador by the reins. “Let’s go Mr. Todd. Have no fear! We will get Miss Baxter, good Mr. Jane Darcy, and Fae back from Grimguild, or my first name ain’t Dick.”
Simon felt torn.
“Listen!” Molly interjected, moving to bridge the gap between the two men in the road. “You’re not going to be able to get there without some kind of mage! I’ll take you to the school, but I need your help to save Sally. Miss Baxter, all of your friends, they’re probably being held somewhere close together. Please!” She turned towards Mr. Todd, and Simon bit his lip at the unusual amount of worry on the young girl’s features. “Even if my plan had worked, I would have helped you.”
The Curious Case of Simon Todd Page 22
