They entered the castle. Hugo opted for the center corridor and not the others flanking it on either side.
“No, plenty dire, but does this seem too easy, like the fighting was for show and the baron wants us to wander in maybe overconfident?”
Hugo was impressed with Nelson. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“What’s that?”
“You considering the motives of someone else. You always struck me as rather narrow focused.”
The corridor turned right. They charged around the corner, weapons at the ready, only to find no sign of the enemy. Just more stone walls and a wider passage.
Hugo frowned. “Evolving and adapting are key to an organism’s survival. I’m just saying we should be wary.”
“Consider me wary to the max.”
They approached a turn to the left. Before they could reach the corner, a gauntwing flew into view. The snake stopped and hovered in place. It stared at them for a long time.
“Why’s it doing that?” Hugo asked.
“You mean doing nothing?”
“Yeah.”
The creature cocked its head and inched forward. Hugo tightened his grip on the spear, and when the gauntwing saw this, it hissed and sped up. At just a few feet away, it again stopped and sent them both curious looks.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Hugo realized it was only staring at him. The snake floated closer, drawing within inches of his face.
“Key?” he said.
The gauntwing trembled and drifted back slightly.
He reached out with his mind. He’d been able to talk with the creature before and thought his new magic wouldn’t prevent that. If anything, it might make their communication stronger.
Key? Is that you?
The snake’s shape blurred almost assuming a key configuration but then snapped back to its serpentine form.
Hugo was confident this was his friend, who had made his jailbreak possible. How it had sprung back to life was beyond him. Maybe the baron recycled his army. We’re friends. We have a history. Hugo felt its mind, specifically registering its surface memories. Key had no recollection of him that he could see.
The snake hissed, clearly not liking its headspace violated.
Hugo made sure his thoughts were firm but not commandeering. Easy, easy. We know each other. Think, look deep. You know I’m not the enemy.
It was the snake’s turn to slip into his mind. Hugo of the Hammersmiths?
He smiled. Yes, that’s me and you’re a noble gauntwing who’s realized his orders hurt others. You don’t like that.
The gauntwing glared. Baron is the creator. How can one who creates be bad?
They can. He thought of what the wizard had shown of the baron’s family. He was mistreated and unloved. He is broken and thus makes broken things.
The gauntwing assumed his key shape. I am broken?
A little, but you mended yourself when you decided to help.
I want to be better.
Hugo smiled. “I know you do buddy. We all do.” He looked at Nelson. “Together, we can be better.”
The baron wants you dead.
“And he sent you to do me in?”
The gauntwing nodded.
Hugo shivered. That had been close. What if he hadn’t been able to talk Key out of his mission?
Can you take us to him?
No, you must flee. He has already hurt the girl.
“Lou? What did he do?” Hugo said, doing a poor job of hiding his anxiety.
Nelson tensed up.
Key sent him the image of Lou being pressed to the ground by what was clearly the baron’s magic.
“What is it? What happened to Lou?” Nelson said with urgency.
“Orb’s got her.”
You go. Key spun around and drifted away.
“Key, we can’t abandon our friend.”
The gauntwing stopped and transformed back to a snake.
Hugo waited.
He will destroy me if I come back.
“Then just tell us how to get there, and then you run off. We don’t want to see you hurt.”
Key flew back and situated itself between them. Showing you both.
An image of the corridor they occupied appeared. They traveled through it, navigating more halls and one set of stairs to come to a chamber with the Well. The image even showed the hundreds of gauntwings along with the baron, Vua, the wizard still tied up, and poor Lou pressed against the ground by some unseen force.
The visual fragmented and disappeared.
Hugo put a finger atop Key’s head. “Thank you.”
Be safe and fix broken things.
“We will,” Hugo said.
Key took off, heading away from the baron.
Hugo looked at Nelson. “You ready?” he asked.
Nelson pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “Born-and-adopted ready.”
Hugo frowned. “What?”
Nelson started down the corridor. “Nothing. Just something I say to my mom.” He offered Hugo a lopsided grin. “It’s stupid.”
Hugo said, “Nothing stupid about family. They matter.” He thought of his sister, then of Lou. “And friends, them, too.”
Nelson nodded, and they took off.
“Into the lion’s den, huh?” Hugo said.
“Lions actually don’t live in dens. They more often than not opt to reside under shady trees, acacia. The females do go into dens or caves to give birth, so I’m not sure your metaphor works.”
Hugo laughed.
Nelson stopped and sent him a curious look.
He patted Nelson’s shoulder twice. “Don’t you ever change, buddy.”
Chapter 27
Nelson Puts Himself Into the Mix
Nelson liked how Hugo hadn’t forced Key to come with them. He’d seen enough sacrifice themselves for their mission. He had tried to be a rock during the fight outside, but every time a soldier in their army had been cut down, he’d recoiled. If he’d held onto the magic that allowed him to connect to nature, he was sure that he would’ve experienced their anguish even more.
Nelson watched Hugo ascend the stairs. He’d surely received so much pain from the army. Nelson wished he could’ve been the recipient and spared his friend the turmoil. Not that Nelson could read any sorrow in his friend’s expression, just determination.
He did his best to imitate Hugo’s game face.
“This is it, the big boss at the end of the level. We have to be careful. No respawning for us.” Hugo held his hand up.
Nelson knew enough about video games to grasp Hugo’s take. “We have to take out the trapped spirits.”
Hugo said, “And I think that falls on your shoulders since they’ll talk to you. I’ll confront the baron and get him to focus on me, hopefully that won’t mean him trying to kill me right away.”
Nelson was unsure of his power. He’d only seen Lou use it on Tally-Ho. He wasn’t certain how effective he would be. “This is crazy.”
“A little.” Hugo flashed a quick smile. “But if we do nothing, he hurts Lou.”
Nelson stiffened.
“Ready?” Hugo asked.
“Yes.”
Nelson raced past his friend and into the large room.
At least a hundred gauntwings skulked along the walls of the round chamber. The space was big like a cathedral, which meant the shadow beasts had plenty of aerial maneuverability, making them harder to fight.
The circle of gauntwings parted when they saw Hugo and Nelson spill out of the hallway.
They stalked forward, looking side to side, fearing an attack. Hugo strutted more so than Nelson.
The gauntwings sealed up their circle but didn’t advance.
Lou lay sprawled to their right, as if an invisible hand mashed her into the ground. She turned her head to look at them. Nelson hated that she looked in pain.
The Well was obviously the huge pit at the center of the chamber. A wooden lattice
shaped like a hot air balloon was built over the hole. Spirits swirled within, unable to slip past the dark orange structure.
Baron Orb sucked two spirits from the Well, reeling them in with his magic and absorbing each via an outstretched hand. The second the ghosts disappeared within him, his appearance changed. The blue and purple tattoos riddling his head expanded and lifted away from his scalp, forming questing roots and making him look like the swamp creature from Lou’s comic books. She’d always tried to get him to read it, spouting how it was scientific and an ecological horror must-read. She’d even given him an issue at garden club, but he’d never read it. He didn’t want to admit to her that he wasn’t a fan of anything horror.
The baron marched toward them. Vua stood on the other side of the open pit, yanking the wizard forward with the rope that imprisoned him. He was still gagged. Wizard Itzel looked calm, so the golem was likely buried and unavailable to mess things up.
Hugo sauntered up to the baron. “You’re looking a little off today. What’s with the squirming root things?” He pointed vaguely at the villain’s face. “I thought the ink you had before was more intimidating. Quivering nubs just don’t project menace. If you have a weed whacker, I could give you a trim.”
Orb laughed. “I don’t care what you think, boy. You should fear my evolving appearance. The more it changes means the more magic fills me.” He stabbed a hand back at the Well. Three more spirits exited and tumbled through the air toward the villain. They struck Orb’s back and were sucked up, the threesome shrieking in anguish.
The baron was focused on Hugo. Nelson was amazed that their flimsy plan was working. He moved toward the Well.
He passed close to Lou and resisted looking at her, fearing that would make him crumble and cause him to run over to offer help instead of moving forward. He tried to give her a look that conveyed he was thinking of her but that he was on a mission.
Surprisingly, she seemed to get it. She nodded and issued a warm smile. Lou uttered something too low for him to hear, and he hadn’t thought to try and read her lips, but he imagined it was some variation of her comforting support.
Nelson continued on, feeling uneasy and drained from trying to read his friend’s thoughts and motives. It was far easier to never look people in the eye and dwell on what was going on within, but he was having a hard time doing that. He wanted to do good by his friends, and that meant showing he was invested.
As he approached the Well, Hugo continued harassing the villain.
“I know you know we have the warrior elf’s magic in us. He declined to visit. He’d had enough of your ugly mug and sent us to wrap this whole thing up.”
Baron Orb glared at Hugo but didn’t respond. His roots stabbed viciously at the space around his head as if wanting to break free and slice through the air to get at the boy.
Nelson traveled another few feet, crouching to present a smaller target. The spirits in the Well slowed their writhing and drifted slightly apart from each other. They fixed their eyes on Nelson. He spotted a wizard and a goblin. A centaur also floated within, taking up a great deal of space even as a ghost. His equine lower half was far wispier than his human upper half.
Nelson found their attention a little unnerving but kept moving.
Hugo raised his voice. “So you hoard ghost magic and also take some of the magic of the living. Seems a little greedy. Why?”
“My motives are my own.”
“What, you don’t want the satisfaction of enlightening us on your life goals just before you snuff us out? What kind of villain does that?”
A smart one, Nelson thought.
Another voice entered Nelson’s head. No, not smart. Scared and hurt, and so very small. The baron was broken by his father, cast out. He has only hatred for those that have what he can’t.
Nelson studied the spirits. The voice came from one of them.
Was it the minotaur, the elf, the gorgon, or the centaur? All looked at him with intensity, but the centaur the most.
Nelson crossed the last few feet in two bounds and drew his hand up to the cage. He knew better than to touch the wood. Likely, that would alert the baron or send a magical shock through him. The hairs on his forearms reacted to the static electricity emanating from the stored magic.
This close, Nelson could see that the wood was quite smooth with flecks of red and yellow. Was it petrified? It seemed so. Hugo had mentioned this type of wood, if it was indeed the same as the orange trees they’d run into here and there, which had not been easy to pass through. And if it was petrified, that might explain why the spirits couldn’t slip through it without the baron forcing them out.
Yes, our prison was crafted from magic that aged the wood, making it impossible for us to escape on our own.
The centaur was skimming even his surface thoughts.
Nelson looked down into the Well. The pit ran deep, and he could see more spirits below. How many of you are in there?
Too many. If he ever draws all of us into him, he will be unstoppable. The centaur’s eyes, while transparent like the rest of him, were etched with fierce courage. Nelson found it fascinating he could see the resolve in the spirit’s eyes.
Your perception of others is growing, child. That will serve you well.
Hugo was again taunting the baron. Nelson worried the villain was reaching his breaking point and would blast Hugo any moment now. He had to do something.
The centaur had again been eavesdropping on his mental back-and-forth. Free us and we will disperse. If we remain in the Well, it’s fashioned to let him continue using our magic.
Suddenly, the elf and gorgon spirits were yanked from the cage and flew toward the baron. Thankfully, he still had his back to Nelson.
How do I break you out?
The centaur nodded toward Vua and the golem. The wizard residing in the golem can disrupt the magic with a spell. Tell him about the wood and he will know what to do.
Hugo nodded. Before he darted over to the wizard, he broadcast one last message to the spirit. I’m sorry about what happened to you. You don’t deserve this.
The centaur nodded but didn’t respond.
Nelson rushed toward Vua. The baron’s daughter hadn’t noticed him yet either. Although, she did catch his approach and spun about to face him.
“Curious what you were doing over by the Well, little one. Do you plot against my father?”
“I think that’s obvious. Why would you ask that question? We’re here to stop him.”
“And if I try to stop you?” She pulled a small dagger from her belt pouch.
“Then you’ll get the same.”
Vua smiled and then glanced over at Hugo. She nodded at Nelson’s friend, who was backing away from the baron and looking rattled. “After the explosion, Hugo found me in the woods. I was hurt . . . pretty badly, too. And he didn’t think twice about it and healed me and then ran off.”
“He didn’t tell us that.”
Vua’s face tightened and her lips curdled. Nelson couldn’t decode what she was feeling. “Why did he save me?”
Nelson coaxed a theory to the surface. He wasn’t sure if it was correct or not, since he hadn’t gathered enough data to confirm it, but he decided to put it out there just the same. “Because he can’t stand to see things broken. He’s a fixer, unlike you and your dad.”
Vua stiffened and tightened her grip on the dagger.
“And maybe he saw that a part of you deserved a second chance.” Nelson’s assessment made sense if one put value to feelings. “I need the wizard’s help to free the spirits. Your father can’t be allowed to continue stealing the magic of others.”
She looked at Hugo, who had backed up close enough to the gauntwings to be nabbed. Her father held his fists high, magic spilling from each.
Nelson didn’t like how the roots protruding from Orb’s face had grown. Some were as long as small arms and curved forward as if to grab at his friend.
Vua whipped the dagger upward and then brought
it down, slicing through the rope that bound the wizard. She kneeled and finished sawing the golem free.
Nelson removed the gag and made eye contact with Vua.
“Thank you.”
She grimaced and stood. “Hit me hard.”
The wizard rose.
Nelson gawked at the villain’s daughter. “What?”
“Knock me out. If you fail, I can convince him you overpowered me.”
Nelson hesitated.
“Stop freezing up, Nelson. You performed admirably with the spirits over there. Don’t lose your grit.” Wizard Itzel conjured up a cloud of green magic that draped over his hand like a boxing glove. Itzel drove the magic hard into Vua’s jaw, sending her crashing to the ground.
Nelson stared at the girl. “Uh . . .”
Wizard Itzel flung a coil of magic across the room. It struck Lou and quickly coated her in a thin layer of green energy. The wizard took the coil of magic on his end and started pulling, dragging Lou over to him in record time. “What did the spirits tell you?” he asked Nelson.
“I have Hugo’s magic. The elf didn’t put his magic back right.”
“I realized that when Lou came streaking in as a ghost. So what did those in the Well tell you?”
Nelson told the wizard exactly what was needed.
“That’ll work.” Wizard Itzel strode toward the Well, conjuring up white magic that appeared as a spiral issuing from his chest. “Reversing petrification isn’t easy, but I think I can manage.” He looked back at Lou. “You two help Hugo. His mouth has gotten him in a tight spot, imagine that.”
Lou pushed herself free of the ground and stood. She swayed and looked a little drained. She pointed at the baron. “Guess he’s so focused on Hugo, he forgot about me.”
“What do we do?” Nelson wished he could confer with the centaur, find out what their next course of action would be from the wise spirit.
Lou marched toward the villain, each step more and more confident.
Nelson raced after her. “What can we do?”
“Present a united front and hope the wizard can do what you said.”
The baron was reaching for their friend, clearly bent on strangling him and maybe drowning him in the growing magic coursing around his clawed hands.
Heroes of Perpetua Page 28
