The Alchemists Academy: Stones to Ashes Book 1 (12 page)

Chapter 18

T
hey hurried along the path through the stone garden until they came to the large circle that contained Ervana’s petrified form. It also contained Ms. Preville and Mr. Roth, both with their hands on a golden cup that had to be the chalice. They were chanting softly together.

“Stop this at once!” Priscilla called out, and Wirt winced.

“Have you heard of the element of surprise?”

Priscilla shrugged. “Sorry.”

Unfortunately, it was a bit late for that. The two teachers looked up together, and Mr. Roth took his hands off the chalice.

“I will deal with them, Aloea. I thought the stone soldiers would kill them, but obviously not.”

Wirt and the others tried to spread out. The wider the target they could present, the harder it would be for Mr. Roth to hurt them.

“Urlando,” Ms. Preville called after him. “Wait. We are trying to help the school here, not kill off its pupils.”

“Is that why you’re trying to summon back a sorceress who attacked the place?” Alana asked. Ms. Preville took a step towards her.

“That isn’t true. Take it back at once, you stupid girl.”

“It’s what the history says,” Spencer said.

“Well the history is wrong.” Ms. Preville stood there with an irritated expression. “Sit down, all of you.”

There was something about the way she said it that made the instruction impossible to resist. Wirt found himself sitting without a conscious thought, the object on his back jolting against him as he did it, and he remembered what Ms. Preville had said in her class about glamour being useful for mind control.

“Ervana was a great witch,” Ms. Preville said. “She stood up to Ender Paine, and she nearly succeeded too. She would have made the school so much better. Wizards would have learned about using magic properly, not just manipulating people to their own ends.”

“You say, after manipulating Mr. Roth into helping you,” Wirt said. The male teacher looked furious.

“Aloea did no such thing, boy. She did not even know until an hour ago that I had taken the chalice. We love each other. I
wanted
to help her.” He turned back to Ms. Preville. “We really should do something about them, Aloea.”

Wirt tried to stand up, but he couldn’t.

“No, Urlando. I am not going to kill children. Anyway, it is not like they can do anything to stop us.” Ms. Preville smiled at Wirt with the confidence that only someone truly obsessed could manage. “Soon, you will see what Ervana is really like. It will all make sense then. You, of all people, should want to. I am sure Ender is playing some kind of game with you. You should all want this.”

She looked to each of them in turn.

“Alana, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who would let you be a good advisor to your queen, and not just a puppet master?”

“I’m not going to do that,” Alana shot back. “Priscilla is my friend.”

“Of course she is, dear, but do you think you will really feel the same by the time you graduate? What about you, young Bentley? All you have had drilled into you is profit at any cost. Wouldn’t you like to be free to explore something better?”

“Does Mr. Roth feel the same way about that?” Spencer countered.

“And you dear.” Ms. Preville turned her attention to Priscilla. “Oh my, where did you get that sword? Wouldn’t it be nice to be part of a school that might let you learn everything it has to offer?”

Priscilla looked thoughtful, but at a sharp look from Alana, she shook her head. Ms. Preville laughed lightly.

“It is all right. When we are done, everything will be perfect. You’ll see.”

Wirt tried to think of something, anything, which would delay them. “How did you even get the chalice?” he asked. “There were spells protecting it, weren’t there?”

Mr. Roth shrugged. “Spells with a flaw, young man. They were set up to recognize Vivaine Lake. Once I realized that, it was not hard to take her form for an hour or so. I could have taken anything. Perhaps I will. Selling some of the stuff down in our stores might help to balance the books a little.”

Ms. Preville shook her head. “Ervana will need those items to undo some of the damage Ender Paine has done.”

“But my darling…”

“No, Urlando.”

“Oh, very well. I am sure you know best, Aloea. Can we at least get on with the ritual? At this rate, it will be another few hundred years before Ervana gets free.”

Ms. Preville nodded. “You”re right, of course. Now class,” she said to Wirt and the others with another of those too confident smiles, “I want you to observe closely. There may be questions after. I am going to pour water from the chalice over Ervana here, and that will help the spell holding her to fade. When it has done so enough for her to drink, I will pour water into her mouth, and she will be truly free. And then, everything will be all right.”

She moved over to the statue, raising the chalice and saying a few words. Immediately, fresh, clear water started to spill over the rim. Where it touched the statue of Ervana, Wirt thought that he could see the grayness of the stone start to fade, to be replaced by pale, delicate looking flesh. More water poured down, and more still, washing away the stone. Wirt saw the petrified woman’s eyelids flicker open, revealing eyes that were startling blue across the whole of their spheres, with no whites or pupils. Lips that had been gray stone a moment ago started to part.

“Ms. Preville?” Wirt said.

“I don’t have time for interruptions, Wirt.”

“I just had one question.”

Ms. Preville paused, the teacher in her warring with the part of her that wanted to finish the ritual. “Make it quick.”

“I was just wondering if you could help me with the magic mirror strapped to my back. It’s starting to chafe a bit.”

Ms. Preville’s expression in that moment was one of pure horror. She rushed over to Wirt, ripping away the cover from the mirror he had carried there.

“Oh, hello there. It’s nice to be out in the open at last.”

“What have you done?” the teacher demanded. As she did it, Wirt felt her control slip from him. He undid the straps on the mirror to let it slide to the ground, and then stood. “Please tell me that was not…”

“Sending every word straight to Ms. Lake, I’m afraid,” Spencer said. Wirt gave Spencer a not entirely friendly look.

“Shouldn’t I have been allowed to say that? I carried it all the way here, and it’s not exactly light, you know.”

Ms. Preville looked panicked, her eyes darting from Wirt to Mr. Roth to the nearly revived statue.

“No.
Why
? Why did you have to ruin everything?”

Wirt shrugged. “Sorry.”

“Aloea,” Urlando Roth snapped, “things
aren’t
ruined. Just finish the ritual. I’ll take care of this.”

He stepped towards Wirt and the others, dark fire blooming from his hands.

“That’s quite enough drama, I think.”

Wirt looked over to the spot where Ender Paine now stood, accompanied by Ms. Lake. Somehow, his stage magician’s outfit didn’t look quite as ludicrous as usual now that he was angry. Maybe it was the way he held a neat little wand in one hand. One that sparked with lightning. In the other hand, he held that hat of his that contained so much. Ms. Lake just looked like herself. Judging from the way the weather started to whip around her, it was enough.

Ms. Preville looked from one to the other of them.

“You! You’re evil, both of you. But I can stop you. I can stop you both.”

“Aloea, just finish it, would you?” Mr. Roth said. He turned so he faced Ender Paine, which was unfortunate, because it meant he had his back to Spencer. The boy shoved him, sending him stumbling towards the Headmaster, and more specifically, towards his hat. The accountant seemed to stretch, and squash, and finally vanish into the thing with a pop of inrushing air.

“Aloea,” Ms. Lake said, “it is over. We know that you weren’t the one behind this.”

“Do we?” the Headmaster asked.

“Yes,” Ms. Lake insisted, “we do.”

“Oh, I suppose so.
If
she gives up that chalice right now.”

Ms. Preville looked frightened, looking over at the statue.

“But you’re… evil.”

Ms. Lake took a step towards her. “That was rude. And anyway, I’m trying not to be. Give me the statue now, Aloea. Please.”

For a moment, Wirt thought she might actually do it. Faced with both Ms. Lake and Mr. Paine, he certainly would have. It seemed though that Ms. Preville did not think the same way he did. She turned, running for the kneeling form of Ervana.

She got about half way before tripping over something in the grass and falling headfirst. Alana smirked, and let the glamour she had put over the real statue fall, letting the illusory one a little further away fade. Wirt was not there to watch it. He was too busy running. He snatched up the chalice in one movement, darting away from the fallen teacher, who was already struggling to her feet.

“Give that back!” she demanded. She seemed to be crying. “Give that back right now, you horrible boy!”

Wirt dodged around the edge of the circle of grass, keeping as far away from Ms. Preville as he could.

“Give me my chalice! I bet if it were Gertrude asking, you’d give
her
the chalice. Her and her horrible boots. Why does nobody ever do what I tell them?”

Wirt edged another few paces away from her. Ms. Preville stopped, staring at him with something close to hatred.

“Right, that does it.”

She started to chant, and Wirt realized that it probably was not a very good idea to be standing in front of her right then. He ran through the words to the transport spell, and jumped to a spot near Ms. Lake, just as a glowing green sphere passed through the spot where he had stood. Lightning flashed out, striking Ms. Preville in the back. She twitched, caught in the electrical power of the bolt, before collapsing as it stopped, only the faint rise and fall of her chest said that she was even breathing.

Ender Paine lowered his wand, a grave expression on his face as he looked to Wirt. He held out one hand.

“The chalice, if you please.”

Wirt handed it to him without a word. The Headmaster eyed it contemptuously, before throwing it to Ms. Lake, who caught it one-handed.

“I do
wish
people wouldn’t throw things at me.”

“And I wish that your security didn’t have a huge hole in it, Vivaine,” the Headmaster said. “Please rectify it when you get back.”

Wirt looked around the garden. Priscilla was on her feet, leaning on her sword near Alana. Spencer was slightly further off, staring at Ms. Preville, who was still unconscious. Ervana seemed to be turning slowly back into stone, without anyone to pour water onto her. It ought to be finished. Even so, tension hung in the air, feeling like the moment before a thunderstorm, when you just know that there is lightning to come.

“Isn’t it over now?” Wirt demanded of Ms. Lake. The teacher shook her head.

“No, Wirt. I don’t think it is.”

For his part, Ender Paine cracked his knuckles like a pianist preparing for a difficult piece.

“Oh,” he said, “it definitely isn’t over quite yet.”

Chapter 19

W
irt stared with growing horror as the Headmaster tapped his wand like a conductor trying to get the attention of a difficult orchestra, his eyes fixed firmly on Ms. Preville. The teacher was starting to stir, rising up as far as her knees on the stony grass.

“What are you going to do?” Wirt demanded, and Ms. Lake tried to hush him. Ender Paine turned his gaze on Wirt.

“Whatever I choose. I agreed to mercy for Ms. Preville if she gave back the chalice. She did not.”

“So you”re going to kill her?”

The Headmaster gave him a baleful look, but he shook his head. “Oh no. If Aloea Preville likes Ervana so much, she can join her.”

With that, he started to chant. Wirt looked to Ms. Lake, who shook her head silently. The speed of the Headmaster’s chant increased, and Ms. Preville gave a single, plaintive cry, clinging to the statue of Ervana like it might protect her. It didn’t.

The stone swept up over her in a wave, and Wirt found himself grateful that it was fast. Then he felt guilty, because he was mostly grateful that he did not have to watch for long. In just seconds, where Ms. Preville had knelt, there was a second statue, entwined around that of Ervana, with her stony eyes permanently closed against the horror of it.

Wirt did not know what to say then. Ms. Preville had stolen from the school, and tried to bring back an evil sorceress, and even tried to hurt him, but he was not sure that she deserved to be turned into a statue for it. Ender Paine seemed to read, if not his thoughts, then at least his expression.

“And what would you have done, boy? Sent her away? She would have come back. Locked her up? This is more secure. Killed her? What did you
expect
to happen when you called for my help? Oh, why am I bothering? You’ll understand eventually, and in the meantime, I think the governors will want to have a chat with our Mr. Roth.”

Wirt found himself thinking once more of the tentacle and clawed statues outside Ender Paine’s office. With a last snap of his wand, the Headmaster vanished.

That left Ms. Lake with the four of them. She sighed. “Aloea, why couldn’t you just listen for once?”

“You could still undo the spell,” Alana pointed out, from the side. Ms. Lake nodded.

“I could. And if I were a crueler woman than I am, I would ask the four of you whether you thought I should. Could you imagine making that decision?”

The worst part was, Wirt could. So, he suspected, could the others. At least, their expressions were suddenly grave. Ms. Lake shook her head, holding onto the chalice firmly.

“As it is… Aloea will be safe enough there for now, and we should get back to the school. Spencer, lead the way to the beach please.”

He did, and Wirt trudged along behind him with the others, carrying the mirror as he went. It should have felt better to defeat the evil wizards, but he was not sure exactly who the evil ones were. As such, he followed in a thoughtful mood as they headed down to the beach, taking Ms. Preville’s boat for the journey back.

On the beach outside his cave, Llew the dragon seemed happy to see them, and particularly Ms. Lake. He kissed her hand like a courtier, giving an elegant bow.

“It has been a long time, Vivaine.”

“Not long enough, I think,” the teacher replied, though she smiled when she said it. “Oh, before I forget.” She turned to Priscilla, holding out a hand. “Hand the sword over  please, dear. It really isn’t safe.”

Reluctantly, the princess did so. Ms. Lake looked at it for a moment, and then threw it out over the water. It glinted in the sunlight, and it seemed to Wirt that it was not the only thing, because Ms. Lake seemed almost to glow from within. A hand shot up from the waves to catch it.

“You can have it back at the end of term. Now, to the school.”

They followed Ms. Lake into the transport tubes, taking a brief trip to return Priscilla’s mirror before coming out in the main cafeteria. Wirt and the others found themselves met by a riot of color there, in the form of banners hanging from every surface, along with the sight of most of their classmates looking at them with something approaching awe. As the four of them came into the room, people started to clap, softly at first, and then rising to a crescendo that left Wirt’s ears ringing.

“It seems,” Ms. Lake said, “that the Headmaster has found time to let people know that you were successful in the Quest. I imagine this means some kind of celebration.”

It did. The school cafeteria rang with music that seemed to come from nowhere, while dryads hurried among the tables, setting out elegant tablecloths and candles before hurrying back for food that was not the usual cafeteria offering. Whole roast swans mixed with slices of boar and delicate desserts that seemed to melt away as they tasted them. Wirt quickly found himself at the center of a gaggle of students wanting to know what had happened, and set about telling them about the stone warriors, Ms. Preville’s attempts to bring back Ervana, and the vanishing island.

Wirt left a few things out though. He got the feeling that the whole story would not be a good idea. Not when it included him and Alana breaking into offices, and definitely not given what the Headmaster had done to Ms. Preville. He could see the others telling their own versions of the tale to people, and Wirt wondered if they were doing the same thing. He suspected that they probably would be.

Something about the joy of the occasion lent him courage. Wirt decided that it was time for him to talk to Alana about their kiss, and let her know that… well, mostly that he wouldn’t exactly be upset if it were to happen again. Perhaps he would even put it a bit more strongly than that, and tell her what he really felt for her. She had to like him, didn’t she, or else why would she have kissed him back?

Yes, Wirt thought, he needed to tell her how he felt. After all, what had happened to Mr. Roth and Ms. Preville showed that love could be snatched away before you knew what was happening. He was not planning on stealing any magical artifacts in the near future, of course, and he doubted that Alana had an obsession with any historical figures, but the principle was the same. He could act now, or he could leave it until it was too late.

Wirt picked his way through the crowd, heading for the spot where he had last seen Alana. He found Priscilla instead.

“And then I- oh, hello Wirt.”

“Have you seen Alana?”

It turned out that Priscilla hadn’t, but one of the girls around her thought that she’d seen Alana leave not that long ago. Another one thought she had said something about going outside for some air, which made a third nod and say that yes, she’d said she was just heading out to the meadow for a bit. Wirt shook his head, wondering why the third one hadn’t just said that from the beginning. He would never understand girls, some days.

Wirt set off for the meadow, leaving the party behind. Priscilla and Spencer would be able to keep the party going without him, even if he hadn’t seen the other boy for a minute or two. But why was he thinking about Spencer, when he could spend his time thinking about Alana? Wirt knew where she would be. Sitting on that root she’d been on when he’d kissed her, out in the sunlight. Wirt could picture it perfectly, and, if he let himself daydream just a little, he could even just about imagine that Alana knew he would come after her, that she was waiting there just for him.

It was a thought that made him hurry from the tree, practically running around to the spot where the root stood, and on it… sat two figures.

Wirt hadn’t known that it was possible for a heart to go from elation to despair so quickly. Alana sat, smiling and happy, just as he had pictured her. The problem came with the part where Spencer was sitting next to her, his hand in Alana’s as they laughed at some private joke between them. Probably about him, Wirt thought briefly. He didn’t know what to do. He could walk up to them and confront them, of course, but what would that achieve besides an argument? Or he could run off into the surrounding woods, vowing never to see them again, and… and probably starve to death if he was not eaten by some monster first.

In the end, the only thing Wirt could think of was to go back to the party. There, he went through the motions of enjoying himself almost mechanically, deciding that, if he pretended hard enough, he might even be able to convince himself. It didn’t really help. He had forgotten his main rule of life again, hadn’t he? People let you down.

Somewhere in it, Ms. Lake tapped him on the shoulder.

“We are going to do a small presentation, Wirt. Do you happen to know where Alana and Spencer are?”

“The meadow.” He thought he had answered it without his voice betraying him, but obviously not. Ms. Lake gave him a long look.

“Oh, I see. I am sorry, Wirt. Just try to remember that what makes
them
happy counts for something too.”

“And that helps?”

Ms. Lake shrugged. “Some days. I’ll fetch them.”

She disappeared. A minute or two later, she returned with the others in tow. Wirt forced a smile. He was not going to let them see how hurt he was. Wirt turned, feeling the moment when Ender Paine entered the room, or at least hearing the sudden hush. An empty space quickly cleared around the Headmaster, as students either backed away in respect, or started to wonder whether they were about to get into trouble. The music stopped as suddenly as it had started.

“Today,” the Headmaster intoned. Wirt had never heard anyone who could intone properly before, but this was definitely it, “three of our students…”

“Three?” Priscilla’s voice was an outraged squeak.

“Ably assisted by one of our reduced curriculum students, have put a stop to a grave threat to this school. Of course, to do that, they ignored any number of school rules, as well as my instructions to desist from this Quest business, but I am told that giving detentions to heroes isn’t really the right thing to do. Instead, if they could all step forward, please?”

Wirt did as he was asked. He stood next to Priscilla, mostly because it meant he did not have to stand next to the others. Ender Paine muttered a word or two, closing his hand. When it opened again, it contained four small badges, all in the shape of a tree.

“These are marks of the gratitude the school has for you. Wear them with pride. Commendations will, of course, go on your official records.” He pinned one of the badges to Wirt’s hooded top before moving on to the others. “That seems to be everything. Let the party continue.”

The music started up again. Wirt was not really in the mood, but that was all right, because Ms. Lake put a hand on his arm.

“The Headmaster and I would like to see you in his office, if that’s all right, Wirt.”