Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders (45 page)

“You mean you stole it from Tara?” asked an astonished Sparrow.

“I didn't steal it, I borrowed it!”

“Who the heck cares?” yelled Angelica, standing up for Cal for the first time in her life—and, she hoped, the last. “Tara, dial the stinking number and tell the wizard that I'm here and I want him to come get me!”

Repressing an urge to laugh, Tara flashed Cal a dazzling, grateful smile.

“You can steal whatever you like from me, anytime you like.”

Tara sat down at the crystal ball, but had some trouble concentrating. The ball glowed very brightly, and it seemed to have a life of its own. She could hear it singing in her mind, with unshakable good humor.

After a moment, Tara spoke:

“Is it . . . it normal for her to talk to me?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

“For her to what?”

“To talk to me. Or rather to sing in my mind. She says she loves me, that she'd been held prisoner for hundreds of years in that black rosebush, that we freed her, and that she's very happy. Oh, and she also loves Robin very much, who made her so beautiful. She sings that she's part of this world's spirit, and that the spirit is happy to be with us, and so fully alive. Because it usually can't communicate with us, or only with great difficulty.”

“Woof?” Manitou was so surprised, he barked. “Excuse me, I meant,
what
? You aren't telling me I found a living stone, are you?”

“Well, that's hard to say,” said Cal, “because I've never heard of living stones.”

“They're extremely rare. Even I've never seen one. Living stone veins are so deep underground that not even dwarves dig down that far. It's too hot and the pressure is too great. So this shouldn't have happened; I don't understand it. These stones are pure magical products. OtherWorld has a spirit of magic, and its manifestations are elementals of fire, water, earth, and wind, and also living trees. Living stones are another of its manifestations. Whoever possesses a living stone is forever connected with it, a little like with a familiar.”

Manitou was interrupted by a whinny of protest.

“No, no, Gallant, don't be jealous,” said Tara. “The living stone is saying that the person who brought her up from the depths of the island is evil. He tried to use the stone's power but she resisted, so he imprisoned her under the bushes to make her give in. But he didn't expect that an animal without any magic could deliver her. That's why the bushes allowed you to do it.”

Manitou was still astonished.

“Listen Tara, your gift is already powerful. And this stone you've accidentally bonded with is a reservoir of natural magic. It's going to multiply your power enormously, so you have to be extremely careful. When you communicate with Master Chem, be sure to concentrate. If you just think about anything else, like swatting a mosquito that's about to bite you, could be enough to destroy the mosquito, the island we're on, the Swamps of Desolation, and maybe a chunk of the mountains a dozen miles away. Oh, and also be careful not to break the stone. That would kill it—or I assume it would, because I don't know much about living stones.”

Trembling, Tara set the stone down with infinite care. Couldn't things just be simple for once? she wondered. No such luck. I have to keep bumping into weird stuff on this nutty world. Life here can really be a drag at times.

“So what do I do, then?”

“Put the stone in front of you and ask it to put you in contact with Master Chem. Theoretically, it ought to obey you.”

“Theoretically? I hate it when you say that, Grandpa. All right let's go. Living stone, connect me with Master Chemnashaovirodaintrachivu number 007 700 350. Now!”

Nothing happened. The stone remained completely inert, and her song vanished from Tara's mind. Oops! Tara had forgotten to say the magic word.

“Er, please?”

For just a moment the ball's light shone unbearably brightly. Then an image appeared of an office, in shadow.

“I'd give my kingdom to have a stone like that!” Manitou growled.

“Why doesn't this sort of thing ever happen to me?”

“You can take my place any time you like, Grandpa.”

They gathered round. Master Chem had apparently put his own crystal ball on his desk, because they could see papers and books all around it. His room was almost completely dark.

Without waiting for Tara's command, the living stone extended its power, and the crystal ball it was connected to began to glow as well. This allowed them to make out the enormous mass of the dragon sleeping near the table, and the pile of gold and jewels he was lying on. The high wizard had come back to Travia!

Cal smiled mischievously.

“Tell me, Master Manitou, would Chem be able to hear us if we asked the stone to enhance the range of his crystal ball?”

“Of course, why?”

“Because we can't wait for him to wake up by himself. We need him now, not ten hours from now.”

Manitou shook his head. “You want to do a number on Master Chem, don't you? Don't try to look innocent. I could see you coming a hundred miles away. But you're right, for once, so go ahead.”

“
Master Chem, wake up
!” Cal's voice thundered. “
It's me, Caliban! Wake up
!”

The sleeping wizard shot straight up into the air, and when he landed it rocked the whole Castle.

“What? What?”

Awakened with a start, the dragon was completely confused. He stood up in a panic, scattered his papers every which way, stepped on his tail, lost his balance, flattened his armchair, and barely managed to steady himself with a ceiling ray.

“By my ancestors, what's going on?” he roared.

Suddenly Chem realized he was alone in his room and that his crystal ball was glowing strangely. When he walked over to it, he got a surprise.

“By my scales! Tara, Caliban, Gloria, Angelica, Fabrice, and Robin! Where are you calling from? Where are you? And why is my ball glowing like this?”

Manitou's head now appeared in the crystal ball.

“We know where the apprentices were taken!” he shouted. “We escaped from the Fortress of the Bloodgraves, who kidnapped us. We're in Gandis, on the Island of Black Roses in the Swamps of Desolation. Your ball is glowing because we're communicating with you through a living stone that we just polished.”

The dragon wizard's enormous jaw dropped for half a second, then he started erupting with questions. “Are you safe where you are right now? Is there a chance that the Bloodgraves can find you? Are you in any danger? A
what
?”

“There is every chance that the Bloodgraves can find us,” said the dog, “and I have no idea if we're in danger or not. I wouldn't waste any time, if you ask me. And yes, we're communicating by way of a living stone. I'll tell you all about it later.”

“Give me ten minutes to put together an assault force,” said Chem. “Everybody here is on high alert. I'll leave my ball connected. I'll be right back.”

“Wait!”

Tara's shout stopped the dragon in his tracks.

“You can't bring high wizards or ordinary spellbinders,” she said quickly. “There are more than a hundred Bloodgraves in the Fortress and at least three hundred young spellbinders. They're the high wizards' children, and most have been infected by demonic magic.”

This took Chem's breath away.

“What? Have the demons broken the pact?”

“It's much more subtle than that,” answered Tara. “The demons are using Magister as their intermediary to infect humans. You dragons will have to not only fight the demons, but also the infected humans. The odds are stacked against you!”

The dragon shuddered.

“And I suppose we can't even accuse the demons because it's a Bloodgrave, and therefore a human, who's at the bottom of all this. It's fiendishly clever. The demons have turned our own allies against us. I'm going to immediately warn Chanvitramichatrinchivu, Mangourachivatrinchivu, Santramivinkratrinchiva, and the other dragons and dragonesses. I'll be right back!”

In spite of the urgency of the situation, Cal and Fabrice grinned at each other. Dragons sure liked complicated names!

Master Chem changed into human shape, and his magically amplified voice woke the entire Castle. The travelers were able to follow the operations by way of the living stone.

Chem moved incredibly quickly. In less than twenty minutes he had assembled a battalion of elves and their war pegasi spoiling for a fight, and almost as many dragons from every country on Other-World, who were just as eager to teach a lesson to whoever had dared kidnap their apprentice sorcerers. The old dragon refused help from the high wizards, to their great disappointment. But he couldn't turn down Master Dragosh, who gave him a simple choice: take him along to fight the Master of Bloodgraves, or he would resign and immediately apply for a position in Omois. Master Chem sighed and frowned, but had to say yes.

Then he took his crystal ball down to the Travia Castle courtyard.

“Here I am,” he announced to Manitou through the ball. “We're ready. Are you far from the Bloodgraves' fortress?”

“Two days away,” was the answer.

“Hmm, that's too close for you to risk creating a Transfer Portal. Okay, tell you what. I'll create the Portal at my end. It will appear here and on the island simultaneously. I'll then need a few minutes to generate enough magic power to get us through. I'm going to use the living stone to home in on your location and anchor the Portal. So pick it up, please.”

“Er, I'm a dog, in case you've forgotten,” said the black Lab. “I have paws, not hands. In this shape I can't do any magic.”

“By Baldur's entrails, you're right! It slipped my mind. Ask Tara and her friends to pick up the living stone and hold it firmly while I target it to open the Portal.

“All right.”

Manitou dog turned to find six faces looking at him anxiously. The last time they'd seen a Portal, the boy who'd created it had died. They didn't especially care to follow his example.

“I know you're frightened,” he said seriously, “but we don't have any choice. Without the high wizard's help, we have no chance of escaping the Master of Bloodgraves. If you follow my instructions carefully, everything should be fine.”

Tara didn't much like that “should,” but said nothing, concentrating instead on what lay ahead.

Suddenly a shout from Fafnir startled them.

“By my mother's hammer! They're attacking!”

Fafnir had her back to them and was holding her head in both hands, as if it might fly away. She was staring at the far shore.

“What the heck are you waiting for?” she yelled. “They're crossing over!”

The others rushed to join her, and she pointed at the vague dark shapes moving across the water. “Look! They've built rafts! Oh, how my head hurts! I don't understand. It isn't normal!”

“What isn't?” asked Fabrice who was beginning to panic. “That your head hurts?”

“No, the fact that they're attacking at night! Mud Eaters are day creatures, they're not nocturnal!”

In the distance, they could hear the Mud Eaters' litany: “Not stay on the island, danger! Danger! Take the children, bring the children back to nice Master, good Master, powerful Master!”

“I don't believe it!” said the astonished dwarf. “They're so afraid of some sort of danger to us on the island that they're daring to cross the water to capture and evacuate us.” Then she got a grip on herself. “We have to set up our defenses.”

Robin looked at the thorny rosebushes, then at the twig that the living tree gave them, and asked, “Tell me, Fafnir, are those black rosebushes thick?”

“Man, they're more than thick!” she said, showing her lacerated hand. “Why?”

“The tree said that with this branch, we can make anything grow that we want to. Care to give it a try?”

“There you go again! With you humans, it's always magic, magic, magic! As a dwarf, I probably shouldn't say this, but when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail.”

Robin grinned, then pointed the twig toward the rosebushes, and said, “By the tree that is alive, I want that plant to grow and thrive.”

A ray of green light shot from the twig to the black rosebushes, surrounding them in a bright greenish glow. The bushes trembled, then responded to Robin's will. They began to grow with breathtaking speed, sending out thorn-covered branches all around the island and enclosing it in a nearly impenetrable barrier.

Fabrice watched open-mouthed. What wouldn't his father give to have something like that? Nothing like it for tending his roses.

Manitou was practically hopping up and down with impatience.

“Look, that's all very well, but we can't deal with everything at once,” he snapped. “The Portal is more important!”

“Wait, Grandpa,” said Tara firmly. “Do you need everybody to hold the living stone?”

“No, three of you should be enough. Why?”

“Fine then,” said Sparrow. “Go ahead and bring Master Chem and his dragons here. In my Beast shape I'm tall enough to see over the bushes and I can see very well in the dark. Fafnir, Sheeba, and I will take care of everything.”

Fafnir had a request for her: “Can you bring me some rocks?”

“Sure. I saw some sticking out of the mud over there. I'll get them right away!”

In a few moments, Sparrow had dug up some rocks that had been hidden by the rain and mud. They had oddly regular shapes, and she was stunned to realize that the entire island was cobbled with them! Well, that was a mystery she would clear up later, once they had gotten out of this mess.

She brought Fafnir a supply of the big, square stones. The dwarf hefted one and flashed a wicked grin. She looked over the bushes, calculated her trajectory, and heaved the stone into the darkness with the grace of a trained shot-putter. A moment later they heard a scream, the splash of tumbling bodies, and horrible biting and gulping noises.