Bad Apple (The Warner Grimoire) (28 page)

Churl loomed triumphantly over Nathan. “I’m sorry Nathan. Would you care to repeat that?”

If Simon had not been standing right there, he would never have believed what happened next.

Nathan smiled.

He moved faster than anybody could realize, swooping up fast, a hawk in flight, swinging his fist solidly into Churl’s jaw. It was bone cracking bone. Churl fell back, knocked cleanly off his balance, but then he was flipping over, catching himself on his feet without ever hitting the ground, his gnarled black hand clutching at the cobblestone.

Churl rubbed his jaw. “Rash, Tamerlane. Assaulting a member of the council. With witnesses, no less.”

“Worth it,” Nathan chuckled, the very last of his color fading from his face. He glanced over at Simon as his face became thin and sallow, until his bones almost poked out, and he smiled again.

“That is quite enough.” Mr. Churl swept his arms wide, his bare hands rippling with shadows. Nathan’s chuckle died immediately as he buckled over, drawing several sharp, short breaths. Churl spat as he spoke. “You are bound,
Shadowheart
.” Nathan wheezed one last time and collapsed on the ground. Churl nodded to the men around him, and they moved suddenly to surround Nathan. A flurry of black cloaks folded over him, their hands a blur of movement as they closed ranks. With a loud flutter like the sound of wings, they, and Nathan, were gone.

The air settled. Mr. Churl turned to leave. “Still hope to see you tonight, Katherine,” he said. “Pity to let a fine evening be spoiled by such a trivial affair.

“Trivial?” Kate spat. “You’ve arrested Nathan. I wouldn’t call that trivial.”

“Never worry.” Churl pulled his gloves back on. “I think you’ll find there’s one less thing going bump in the dark tonight.” He turned and headed back up the bridge, humming quietly to himself.

“I have to go see my uncle,” Kate said abruptly. “He can reverse this.”

Simon watched Churl leave. “
Destruo,”
whispered the Other Voice.

He shook his head and stared at the ground. “How did he weaken Nathan? What did he do?”

“You’re on Freemancer land,” Penny said. “You leave a portion of your power at the Gate, and Churl’s an official. He can bewitch you easily.”

The Other Voice tried to whisper more in Simon’s head, but he ignored it. “Nathan’s one of you. He could have fought back. How can he be overpowered?”

“It could be his standing,” Kate said. “If your standing with the Freemancers falls too low, they can take away your power.” Her fingers touched her neck idly. “It’s part of our Creed.” She stared into space a moment longer. “I must get to my uncle,” she said, snapping out of it. “I’ll appeal for leniency. We need Nathan.”

“We’ll continue on to Cynric,” Penny said. “Luke is still our best lead.”

“Agreed.” Kate holstered her hatchet. “Find me at the manor later,” she said. She disappeared quickly into the woods, the sound of her feet quickly fading.

Penny started down the path. “Come on.” She was several feet down the path before she turned back to see Simon had not moved. “What’s wrong?”

Cursed thoughts flowed through Simon’s mind, but he pushed them away and began to follow. “It’s nothing,” he lied. “How long until we get to Cynric?”

“Just down the path and beyond the hill. We can come down on the far side of the slope and--”

Penny tilted her head at a noise coming from the nearby trees. Her mouth hung slightly open as her eyes scanned the trees.

“What is it?” Simon asked.

“It--nothing,” she said. “I’m sure it was nothing. Let’s keep going.”

They continued along the path. The stone beneath their feet gradually became covered in leaves again, then finally gave way to the forest floor Nathan and Simon had walked the day before. At one point Simon felt a warm shiver ripple through his body.

“Threshold,” Penny said. “Your full power should return now that we’re past the boundary line. Churl would have had a much harder time bewitching Nathan here.”

They continued down the path in silence, leaving the influence of Silverwood behind as they entered the wilderness. “My father would throw a fit if he knew I was out here,” Penny said. “He doesn’t let me--us, really--go out alone, let alone leave the grounds...” Her voice trailed off. Simon let it go without comment. He didn’t feel like talking.

They eventually came upon the Gate platform. Cynric was no where to be seen. On top of the stone pedestal, Grisly slept, snoozing soundly.

“Where is he?” Simon asked.

“He should be near.” Penny tilted her head and scanned the trees. “This doesn’t make sense. The Majesties are arriving. He should be here.”

Simon eyed Grisly. “It doesn’t look like anybody is coming through here right now,” he said. “Not with her sleeping right there.”

A branch snapped nearby, followed by footsteps, heavy and loud. Penny and Simon slipped behind the sleeping bear, peering over her back. “Do you think it’s him?”

“We wouldn’t hear him,” Penny said. “So, no.”

They listened. The footsteps drew closer, the leaves crunching as the person approached. The footsteps stopped. An inaudible curse boiled in the air, and a small ripple blew over Grisly, ruffling her fur. She remained asleep, breathing as softly and as slowly as ever.

Penny placed her hand on the stone pedestal and closed her eyes. A moment later they popped back open and she bit her lip.

“What is it?” Simon whispered.

Penny didn’t respond. She whispered quietly to herself, her hand still pressed firmly against the stone.

More footsteps. Another curse. Another ripple. More air. Simon felt around on the ground for something, anything he could throw, if it came to that.
No magic
. That had become dangerous suddenly, maybe even deadly, but despite himself, a small spark snapped off his fingertips.

“Careful,” Penny hissed. “You’re on a sigil. All magic is stronger here. It only takes a little here to wield a spell.”

Grisly let out a loud snore and rolled over, exposing Simon and Penny.

Silence, followed by more silence. Neither of them moved.

“Well, how about that.” Luke stepped around the sleeping bear, his eyes locking with Penny. He stared at her dumbly. “Hey, Strawberry.”

Simon was on his feet. “You!”

“YOU!” Luke said mockingly.

Simon went for him. “Wait!” Penny shouted, jumping between them.

“Why should I?” Simon shouted. “He’s who we’ve been looking for!”

“That a fact?” Luke smiled. “Now, that is sweet. What you looking for simple old me for?”

Simon gritted his teeth. “You know why,” he said. “You have something of mine. You took it from my room.”

“Now, tell me,” Luke said, “how could I do that?” It’s your room. It’s not like I could have just walk in.”

“I know it was you,” Simon said. “I haven’t been able to trust you once since I met you.”

“Awfully close-minded of you there, don’t you think?” Luke took a quiet step back. “Don’t you think it’s a tad quick to jump to conclusions like that? You don’t want to go treating me like you did Nathan.”

“I’m not jumping to--” Simon paused. “How did you know about that?”

“Heh,” Luke said. He took another step back. “The woods have ears, guess you could say.” He turned to leave, but Penny had slipped around him, blocking him.

“Tell the truth,” she said, staring him down.

Luke stared hard at her. Her eyes never lost focus, constantly reading his face. “Okay,” he said finally. “Okay, yeah. Yeah, I was there, I saw the cloaks take him.”

“You were following us the whole time,” Simon said. “Did you know we were looking for you?”

“Well, I had my suspicions,” Luke said, rolling his eyes. “You two ain’t exactly
quiet
, you know. What with all the chattering about thresholds and the Majesties arriving. I could hear you all the way out at my--” Luke stopped short.

“Your what?” Penny said. He eyes shimmered.

“My...camp,” Luke said, the words sour in his mouth.

“Camp?” Simon said. “Why aren’t you staying at the manor?”

“I don’t like it up there,” Luke said defensively. “Down in the Delta they teach us to live off the land. Things are a lot drier up here, but the principles are the same.” He looked back to Penny. “Your poor daddy, he must be ever so worried about you, what with you being out in the wilderness and beyond the sphere of his influence.”

“He’s resting,” she said, folding her arms and shoving her nose up close to Luke’s. “He needed rest after what we put him through last night.”

Luke hesitated. “That right?” he said finally. “Well, that’s too bad. Still, don’t you think it was time you got back to your dusty old books?” Penny’s eyes seemed to go out of focus, losing her gaze with Luke as she started to stare into the distance.

“What have you done with it?” Simon asked.

Luke turned his eyes to Simon “Done with what?” he said.

Another spark zipped between Simon’s fingertips. “My crystal,” he said.

“That’s some temper, Stray,” Luke said. “I still haven’t admitted anything, you know--”

“You don’t have to, I know you did it.” Simon squared his shoulders. “Just give it back and leave.”

“Well,” Luke said. “I don’t think I want to,” he said. “And you can’t make me--”

Penny snapped her hand down on Luke’s shoulder, her eyes snapping back into focus as she did.

“Hey!” he said. “What are you--”

Penny moved quickly, clapping her hands tightly into a ball. “Got her,” she said, almost wickedly.

“Maggey!” Luke’s eyes shot to his shoulder. “Now you wait just a second!” he said. “You leave her out of this!”

“Give us what we want,” Penny said. “Give him back the crystal, and we’ll give you back your pet.”

Luke looked back and forth between the two of them. Neither backed down. “Okay,” Luke said after a moment. “Fine.” He fished in the pouch of his sweater, his right arm disappearing right up to his elbow. “She isn’t really my pet you know,” he mumbled as his hands disappeared deeper into the pouch of his sweater. “Hold this,” he said, handing a ratty old book out of his pouch to Simon. It was dark blue and the binding looked ready to fall off. A copper skull was on the cover. Penny eyed the sorry looking grimoire with a mix of disgust and regret for its condition. Luke finally pulled the felt bag out, its snake symbol burning in the light. “Here,” he said, tossing the bag to Simon. “You got your dumb crystal. You probably don’t even know what it does.” He shoved his grimoire back in his pouch. “Now let Maggey go.”

Penny looked at Simon, who nodded. She opened her hands, and a very angry spark shot up, zinging and pinging upwards to skulk in the branches overhead.

“I know what it is,” Simon said, pulling the dowsing rod out of his backpack. “We use it with this.”

Luke scoffed. “Oh you got it all figured out, don’t you? You’re half right, Stray. This crystal is bound to twilight. Only works at sunset.”

Penny looked at the horizon. “That’s almost now,” she said.

Simon watched the sun gradually dipping below the horizon. He handed the crystal and the dowsing rod to Penny. “Is he lying?”

She squinted and held the crystal up in the light. “He’s right. It’s enchanted to only work at a certain time of day. Otherwise, it’ll shatter. Something like this isn’t for everyday use.”.

Luke leaned against Grisly and watched Maggey bounce around the trees. “I only had the crystal. Thought I could use the sigil to forge a makeshift dowsing rod.”

“That would never work,” Penny said.

“Worked for me before.” Luke eyed Simon. “Since you were kind enough to bring the actual goods with you, I say we skip all this arguing and see where this goes.”

Simon started for him again, but Penny held him back. He stared daggers at Luke.“Why should we let you go?”

“You’re looking for that guy, Boeman? He owes me something.”

“What?”

“Payment for something.”

“For what?”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “That ain’t important.”

Another spark flew between Simon’s fingertips.

“The sun is almost down,” Penny said. “We have the rod and the crystal. If we’re going to do this, now has to be the time.”

Simon sat on the ground, turning the crystal over in his hand. He didn’t know where Nathan had been taken. At the same time he didn’t know what was happening to Sam, if he was even alive. The crystal was still his only lead, his only chance of straightening everything out.“What do I need to do?” he asked, taking the dowsing rod from Penny.

“The crystal rests in the socket,” she said. “Then hold it out in front of you, like this.” She held her arms in front of her, hands clasped into fists, like she was riding an invisible bicycle. “The rest should take care of itself.”

Simon placed the crystal in the notch at the fork of the stick where the wood branched. Squaring himself he held the rod by the leather wrapped ends. He held the rod down, slowly lifting his arms up in front of him, until the stick pointed straight ahead.