“They’re nothing compared to that shadowsoul,” Reina muttered.
The Gold Wizard blanched. “You met the shadowsoul?”
“It’s still after us,” whispered Austyn. “It’s far away, but tracking us again. It won’t stop.”
“This gets worse and worse.” The Gold Wizard started pacing around the rock. “We can’t stay in the woods. We have to get somewhere safe, fast. Austyn needs time to learn to use the magic, and for that we need safety.” He stopped and gave them a grim look. “I don’t like it, but we have to go to the mountains and ask the Blue Wizard to help us.”
This plan sounded suspiciously like the one they’d just abandoned involving the now dead Green Wizard. Reina was not impressed. “What makes this Blue Wizard so different from the green one?”
The Gold Wizard shrugged. “The Blue Wizard isn’t important, not really. We’re unlikely to get much help there—maybe just a place to stay that has a chance of keeping us safe. I just don’t like going all the way to the mountains.” He wouldn’t quite meet her eyes, and she had the impression he might be lying. However, before she could object, he stood up and took Austyn’s hand. “It’s getting late; let’s find a place to sleep.”
They spent the night under some bushes, and the Gold Wizard led them north the next day. About midday, when they stopped to eat, he noticed the unicorn sword.
“Where’d you get that?” He reached out towards it, and Reina put her hand protectively on the pommel.
“We found it, in a castle.” She glared at him. “I’m going to need a sword too, not just Austyn. This one is a different sword than the one he needs, so I can have this one. Besides, the Unicorn Sword chose me.” While she still didn’t understand it, she felt it was true.
The Gold Wizard narrowed his eyes. “Did you pass a series of tests before finding it?”
Now that she thought about it, Reina realized the dragon could have been a test. In the end, it hadn’t harmed either her or Austyn. Perhaps the magic arch and the cat had tested her as well. She nodded. “I guess….”
“Then, yes, the sword belongs to you now. But it could have been dangerous. If you weren’t right for the sword, you could have been killed. Or your brother. May I see it, though?”
She drew the sword and reluctantly held it out. The Gold Wizard stopped short of touching it, a frown on his face.
“Go on then.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think I should…. “He stuck out one finger, gently touched it and withdrew the finger with a yelp, sticking it in his mouth. “I think not,” he muttered.
“What do the runes on it say?” Austyn asked.
The Gold Wizard squinted at them. “Nothing of importance.” He rubbed his finger. “We have to get going.” He stood and picked up his sack.
Reina glanced at Austyn, annoyed. She’d hoped to learn something. He, too, looked disappointed. With a sigh, she sheathed it and shrugged. “Well, let’s get going then.”
They headed north again. Austyn slipped his hand in hers. “I don’t think the Gold Wizard can read so well.”
The idea made Reina smile, but she had to admit that it could really be the problem. Every time Austyn asked about reading, he brushed him off. “We’ll find someone who can teach you,” she assured him. “After you defeat the Red Wizard, there should be someone in this country who can teach you how. I promise we’ll find him, however long it takes.”
“Okay.” Austyn smiled at her. “I’d like that.”
They reached the edge of the woods about mid-afternoon. Reina peered through the bushes at the sky but saw no harpies. Still, she didn’t like the idea of staying in the open.
“With any luck, they’ll still think we’re in the woods,” the Gold Wizard said. “Just in case, I’ve got a plan to help us get through safely. I’m going to disguise us!”
“I hope not with magic,” Reina mumbled under her breath. If he changed them, and if it came out correctly—which was a big if—she didn’t think he could change them back properly.
However, the Gold Wizard simply pulled three beards out of his bag. “I doubled back to my house and found they missed my beard stash.” He chuckled gleefully. “They’re looking for children, but what they’ll see instead are dwarves!”
Reina looked down at her dress. While torn, stained, and pretty much unwearable in polite company, it was still very obviously a dress. “I can’t be a dwarf. No one would believe that in a moment!”
“Hah,” said the Gold Wizard. “I thought of that.” He tossed her clothes—boy clothes. “You’re going to have to disguise yourself as a male dwarf just like Austyn. Beneath this beard, no one will be able to tell!”
Grumbling to herself at the craziness of his plan, Reina went off into the bushes to change. She’d never worn pants before, and these were slightly too large. Fortunately, the sword belt with the Unicorn Sword helped keep them up. To her surprise, pants were comfortable and easy to move in. She did a couple of practice moves with her sword. I can fight much easier in pants! No wonder men wear them. She decided with a flash of boldness that she needn’t wear a dress again. At least not until the Red Wizard is defeated. What came after that, for either her or Austyn, she wasn’t sure.
Sheathing the sword, she went to join Austyn and the Gold Wizard. She almost cried out in surprise. A surly dwarf stood next to the Gold Wizard, a cap shoved down almost to his eyes. The beard actually looked pretty good on Austyn. It covered all his real hair and was so bushy that she couldn’t see much of his face under it. Come to think of it, I couldn’t really tell that the Gold Wizard was so young when he wore his. Perhaps this will work after all.
“Here.” The Gold Wizard offered her a long white beard and a floppy hat. “You’re a bit tall, but dwarves vary greatly in size, so this just might work.”
The difficulty was Reina’s long hair, but she tied it back and managed to make it into a bun that didn’t stick out too far. She slipped the beard over her head and jammed the hat over it.
Austyn burst out laughing. “You look like an old man—you really do.”
Reina giggled.
The Gold Wizard emerged from a bush, wearing plain clothing instead of his gold robes. He wore a dark brown beard that matched his dark hair and a farmer’s straw hat. He handed them each a bundle to carry over their shoulders.
“Now remember,” he said in a gruff voice, “Leave the talking to me. Otherwise you’ll give the whole thing away.”
Reina and Austyn nodded. The Gold Wizard took a step out into the open fields. With a deep breath, Reina followed. The afternoon sun was so bright here that she had to blink and rub her eyes for a few moments before she could see properly. The Gold Wizard started down the path between several fields, whistling as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Resisting the urge to take Austyn’s hand, which wouldn’t do for two adult dwarves, Reina followed.
The wig and beard itched, but Reina avoided scratching as much as possible, afraid that might give her disguise away. People passed them a few times, only nodding in greeting and never bothering them. Evening came, but still the Gold Wizard walked on.
“I want to get as far as possible before we’re discovered,” he told them in a low voice.
Off to the west, the sun turned the rolling hills shades of pink and orange as it hovered above them. To the east, more woods stretched out to the horizon, dark and foreboding. To the north, the craggy mountain heights towered over them, the snow tinted pink and blue in the twilight. They looked impossibly high and cold. How would the three of them climb them? Reina shivered. Also, the mountains still seemed so far away.
Ahead, the hill sloped down into another little valley, and Reina saw the lights of a town. Its warmth appeared very inviting out in the cold of the evening. The Gold Wizard saw her looking.
“It wouldn’t be safe,” he said. “Spies are everywhere. We have to keep going.”
While she agreed with him, she couldn’t help giving the village one last, longing look befor
e moving on. The sight made her homesick. Somewhere out there Mama and Papa sat by their warm fireplace, eating dinner and talking about the crops and the animals. She longed to be there with them, sweeping the floor while Austyn played quietly near the fire. Instead she was out here in the wilderness, dressed like a male dwarf and carrying a sword. A lump formed in her throat. All she wanted right then was to be home.
Her legs ached by the time the Gold Wizard decided they could stop. Austyn looked nearly asleep on his feet. They huddled together under a bush to spend the night. Reina woke first, her beard askew and feeling dirtier than she ever had before, even through all their time in the woods. She straightened up and scratched under the beard. It was broad daylight, a warm day. They had to get going again!
She shook the Gold Wizard, who mumbled he’d be up in a moment. Reina scowled at him and went to wake Austyn instead. The fake beard had come off in his sleep, and his face looked so young, so innocent. Reina bent and kissed his cheek. He didn’t wake. She smiled down at him, wishing he didn’t have to take part in this, that he could just be a regular boy. But so long as he was involved, she would be too. She gently woke him.
Austyn gave a little gasp and wrapped his fingers around hers. “The shadowsoul’s still following us.”
Reina tried to look reassuring. “Well, we’ll just keep going, and it’ll never catch us.”
After several hours of walking, they came over a hill and below them stretched a huge, winding blue strip of river. About twice as wide as the river in the forest, this one appeared too large and deep to ford. Reina stopped dead. “How are we going to get over that?”
“Oh, we’ll take a boat.” The Gold Wizard seemed unconcerned.
Reina frowned at him. “Do you have money for that?”
”I am the Gold Wizard and I have the Chosen One with me. They’ll give us a ride across.”
“I thought we were trying to stay disguised to keep away from spies!”
“Well, I’ll be careful whom I ask.” He strode off down the hill like he knew everything. Reina wanted to throw her bag at him. She didn’t trust his judgment one bit. If he wasn’t careful, he’d lead the Red Wizard’s minions straight to them. She hurried after him, determined to keep him from doing anything stupid.
The Gold Wizard headed for a town on the banks of the river. Reina and Austyn stuck close to him. Carts and people walking fast filled the streets, and stall merchants yelled out their wares. Reina had never been in a town this big before. It was a bit overwhelming, and she became surer than ever that in such a place, people wouldn’t be inclined to help them without coin. Did they really care who the Gold Wizard was? Papa had always said townspeople did nothing without coin.
Suddenly, the Gold Wizard grabbed her by the shirt and pulled her into an alley. Annoyed, Reina jerked free. While they might be hidden for now, if he started making them stand out, their disguise wouldn’t last for long. “Hey, stop that!”
The Gold Wizard motioned to her to stay quiet. “Dark Minions!” He pointed to the street, and Reina noticed a group of soldiers in red capes. One turned towards her, revealing he had no face, only a black fog under the hood. She shuddered. “If they see us, they’ll know who we are,” the Gold Wizard whispered.
“We shouldn’t have come here,” Reina whispered back. “It’s too dangerous.”
The Gold Wizard didn’t answer. He gave the Dark Minions another look and turned away. “We’re going this way.” Reina followed him down the alley. They reached another street, this one going down to the docks. The Gold Wizard started down the road, staying close to the buildings. In single file, Reina and Austyn followed. People swarmed across the docks as well, loading and unloading boats. Reina stared at all the chaos of people, crates, and animals. She didn’t know how they’d find a boat to carry them in this chaos.
“Hey!” a grating voice called out. “You there, halt.”
Reina looked over her shoulder. A Dark Minion floated towards them. For the first time, she noticed they had no feet. Their red cloaks just hovered a couple of inches above the ground.
“Run!” ordered the Gold Wizard, and he broke into a jog.
Reina grabbed Austyn’s hand to make sure she didn’t lose him, and they ran after the wizard. The Gold Wizard dashed into the thick of the crowd, where they got shoved and knocked every-which-way trying to follow him. The Dark Minion yelled after them, but the noise of the crowded docks obscured its words.
The Gold Wizard led them through the crowd to the wooden pillars of the dock. Instead of going out on them, he wove his way parallel until they reached the smaller crafts. Reina glanced behind them. A swarm of Dark Minions pushed their way through the crowd. The Gold Wizard drew a knife. Reina’s jaw dropped. Did he think they could fight that many Dark Minions with one puny knife? She put her hand on the pommel of her sword. This wasn’t a good place to pick a battle, restricted as they were by all the boats and people.
The Gold Wizard jumped into one of the smaller crafts and slashed the rope tying it to the dock. “Get in here!”
“You’re stealing it!” Reina shrieked at him, hardly believing her eyes.
“Get in!” roared the wizard. “Before they catch us!”
“You can’t steal someone’s boat!” Reina protested.
The Gold Wizard reached out and pulled Austyn into the boat. He landed in the bottom with a cry and stared up at Reina, eyes wide.
“Get in, or we’re leaving you!” The Gold Wizard grabbed the oars of the boat.
Reina had no choice; she jumped in. She turned. Some angry fishermen pelted down the dock, and the Dark Minions broke through the crowd behind them.
“We just stole someone’s boat,” she said, guilt fueling her anger. “Maybe this is the only way they have to make a living.”
The Gold Wizard rowed away from the dock with quick strokes. “We’ll make it up to them later. This is all for a good cause.”
“But it’s still wrong!”
The Gold Wizard glared at her. “You want us to get caught by the Dark Minions and killed? You want us stuck on the wrong side of the river and ripped apart by harpies? We had no choice! This was the only way. Anyway, if we had time to ask them properly, surely they’d donate one boat in the cause of the Chosen One!”
Reina couldn’t believe what she heard. “You intended to steal someone’s boat the whole time! I don’t believe it! That’s evil.”
The flush on the Gold Wizard’s face told her she had guessed rightly.
“If they did catch us, you’d deserve whatever they did to you!”
“You may get your wish,” the Gold Wizard muttered—and he rowed harder.
Reina turned towards shore. Dark Minions piled into boats to follow them.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter Thirteen: Down the River
At that moment, the boat hit the current and jerked forward with a lunge that knocked Reina into the bottom. She pushed herself up again. They streaked down the river in the midst of the fastest current. Behind them, the Dark Minions and the docks had passed out of sound range, but she guessed they yelled as they pointed at them. Then one of the Minions’ boats hit the current and rushed after them.
“We aren’t going to stay ahead of them forever,” she said. “There’s more of them, and they have larger boats—they’ll catch us.”
“We have other things to worry about,” snapped the Gold Wizard.
Reina looked forward and gasped. The river crashed around a sharp bend, with rocks on either side. They were heading into rapids. The Gold Wizard turned back to the oars.
“Call out directions!”
Austyn huddled in the bottom of the boat, eyes wide and face pale. Reina hated the Gold Wizard for putting him through this. There has to be a better way to get across. And we’re not even across yet—we’re stuck hurtling downstream. But despite her thoughts, she gave her brother a reassuring smile.
Rocks rose out of the water ahead, a little to the right. “To the
left, the left,” she shouted. The boat surged right. “Your other left!”
“Sorry,” mumbled the Gold Wizard.
The hull scraped against the rocks, twirling the boat around. With a rush, they spun into the rapids backwards. The Gold Wizard paddled frantically, trying to turn them around. The boat hit another rock and spun again. Reina grabbed a paddle lying on the bottom of the boat and used it to push away from the rocks. This sent the boat spinning again.
“Hey!” yelled the Gold Wizard.
“We would have crashed if I hadn’t,” snapped Reina. “Look out!”
The boat went straight over the top of a rock, sailing through the air. The boat lurched to the left. We’re going to tip over! She leaned right, and the Gold Wizard did likewise. They landed with a terrific splash. The boat stayed upright, and Reina let her breath out in relief.
But safety was momentary. They hit another swirl in the current, and the boat went spinning towards the rock cliffs along the bank. Reina pushed away with the oar again while the Gold Wizard tried to keep them facing forward. Around the corner loomed a huge section of whitewater rapids.
Reina paddled on one side, the Gold Wizard on the other in a frantic battle to stay facing the right direction. The boat twisted first one way, and then the other, fighting them. Despite their efforts, the next big drop in the water sent them sideways, and the boat capsized. Clutching the oar in one hand and the unicorn sword in the other, Reina flew through the air. Austyn! Austyn, hang on! She couldn’t get the words out. Water engulfed her.
She fought to the surface, hanging onto the oar and looking around desperately for Austyn. Upstream from her, the Gold Wizard surfaced, Austyn next to him. They clutched at an oar together, kicking their feet towards the shore. The rapids tossed them this way and that, but they were making progress.
The current pulled Reina under the water again, ripping the oar from her hand. She fought again to get to the surface, but the water held her down. Bubbles escaped from her mouth, and her lungs burned for air. She flailed for the surface, and her knee scraped against a rock, making her gasp and swallow water. She beat her arms and bobbled to the surface, coughing. The wild current whipped her around, and Reina struggled to stay above water.
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