“We figured it out,” Daphne said, barely able to contain her excitement.
“Hmm, mostly Daphne figured it out,” Clark said, nodding toward her.
“We couldn’t have done it without your nose,” Daphne said, grinning at Clark. “And your stomach.”
“Fire,” Ben said, stepping up to the stove and cauldron. “I started the fire.”
“Fire is part of it,” Daphne said, “but the wishing is the important part.”
“What does it do, already?” Rafael said, wiping his forehead with back of his arm.
“It’s a gorping cauldron of transformation,” Daphne said, beaming. “I was thinking we could examine the cauldron by starting a fire under it and testing things we put inside. We started with water, but the water only boiled.”
“Ah, then we tried different rune-words,” Clark said. “But nothing worked.”
“Rumble,” Ben said. “Then Clark’s stomach started making noise.”
“Mmm, I should have had another pancake,” Clark said.
“And then the water in the cauldron started to change,” Daphne said.
“Soup,” Ben said. “The water changed into soup.”
“Beef barley soup with carrots and peas,” Daphne said with a laugh.
“Well, I was hungry,” Clark said, his face serious. Clark was always serious about food. “Soup sounded good.”
“Are you telling us that the cauldron transformed water into soup because Clark was thinking about it?” Victoria asked, stepping closer to examine the cauldron. “Daddy would love to know how that works.”
“It works for more than gorping soup, too,” Daphne said.
“Yeah, we tried a stick from the yard that Daphne turned into a flower,” Clark said. “And Ben turned that old baseball that’s always rolling around into a pile of poop.”
“My lucky baseball?” Rafael said with a yelp.
“Concentration,” Ben said, pointedly avoiding Rafael’s eyes. “You have to concentrate. I lost focus. I needed to go.”
“But it only works for things that aren’t alive,” Daphne said, wrinkling her nose.
“Mouse,” Ben said. “The mouse was a bad idea. My fault.”
“Hmm, never had to heal a mouse before,” Clark said.
“Daphne, Clark, Ben,” Alex said, grinning at his friends, “this is great. You were right, Daph. We can use the cauldron. If we can find the Sword of Silas before Esmeralda and the evil carnies, maybe we can destroy it.” Alex quickly told Daphne, Clark, and Ben what he and the others had learned about the Sword of Silas.
“Dionysus’ diarrhea,” Daphne said. “How are we supposed to find the sword?”
“Don’t even think about suggesting that crazy dog,” Rafael said. “It couldn’t find a bone it hid in its own bed.”
“Beowulf is better with people than things,” Nina said, her tone a little defensive.
“Maybe Daddy could think of a way to find it,” Victoria suggested. “Magic that destructive must leave a trace somehow.”
“Jail,” Ben said. “Your dad needs to lock them all up before they can find the sword.”
“Yeah, you should tell your mom and dad about the sword,” Clark said.
“As soon as…” Alex began to say and then jumped as something sharp poked into his chest. Alex looked around, but his friends were all too far away to have been responsible. His first thought was that the Mad Mages were nearby and pulling a prank. Then the poke came again.
“What’s the matter?” Nina asked, looking at Alex with sudden concern.
“I’m not sure,” Alex said, taking a seat on the nearby couch. “I think Batami is trying to make contact. Keep an eye on me.”
Alex leaned back into the deep cushions of the couch and closed his eyes as his friends watched with apprehension. Alex took a deep breath and willed himself into his astral form. As he did so, he saw Batami floating before him, a hint of anxiety on her face.
“I have some news,”
Batami said.
“What’s happened?”
Alex asked.
“I’ve been at the carnival since our meeting last night,” Batami said. “I used the method you described to get past the astral barrier. I had hoped to search out the followers of the Shadow Wraith you were unable to uncover. Instead, I found the necklace, hanging on a mannequin, but there is no sign of Esmeralda or any of the carnival folk you described.”
“Are you sure?”
Alex asked.
“I think it would be hard to miss a fifteen foot giant,”
Batami said with a frown.
“Maybe they fled town when they realized I could identify them,”
Alex said, knowing such hopeful thoughts never turned out to reflect reality.
“More likely, they have moved up the timetable for their plans,”
Batami said.
“And left the necklace behind, with the astral barrier intact, so we would think Esmeralda was still in the carnival grounds.”
The world outside the Guild House lit up with a blinding bolt of lightning. The thunder that followed was so loud it shook the walls of the old horse stable. Alex saw his friends dash to the door and swing it open as a wall of rain began to pound the ground.
“That does not seem like…”
Batami said and then paused, her face twisting as though in pain.
“What is it?”
Alex asked, floating closer at Batami’s astral form.
“I must go,”
Batami said, her concern and pain seeping directly into Alex’s mind with the words she thought to him.
“The White Forest is on fire.”
“But it’s raining,”
Alex said, glancing out the window of the Guild House.
“How can the White Forest be on fire?”
“It seems this was part of their plan,”
Batami said.
“To keep me from helping you.”
She winced in pain and her astral form flickered.
“I must go. I will come to you again when I can. Take care.”
“
Batami…”
Alex began to think to his mentor, but she faded from sight. Alex knew Batami and the White Forest were magically entwined in ways that allowed her to live much longer than normal, but that this magical bond also tied her to the life of the forest. If the White Forest were on fire, it was as though Batami herself was aflame. He had to help her if he could. Alex let himself slip back into his physical body and sat up.
“It was Batami,” Alex said to the others as they turned from watching the rain to the sound of his voice. Only Victoria and Nina had maintained their vigil over his seemingly sleeping form. “The White Forest is on fire.”
“In this gorping rain?” Daphne said, her voice nearly squeaking.
“The weather and the fire must be the work of Esmeralda,” Alex said as he sat up. “If the forest is on fire, Batami can’t help us.”
“Rain,” Ben said, looking out the window again. “Then why all the rain?”
“To drown the rest of us?” Rafael suggested with a shrug his shoulders.
The piercing sound of a ringing bell filled their ears and Victoria jumped, her hooves clattering along the wooden floor in her surprise. She reached into the leather satchel she always carried and withdrew a large alarm clock, its little hammer swinging wildly between the two metal bells atop its round clock face. Victoria silenced the bell and looked at Alex and the others.
“Someone is breaking into my house,” Victoria said, her eyes wide with worry.
“Esmeralda,” Alex said, jumping to his feet. “She must think one of your father’s inventions will help her find the Sword of Silas.”
“I have to go,” Victoria said, slipping the clock back into her satchel.
“You’re not going anywhere without the rest of us,” Alex said. He looked around the room at the others. Events were happening far more quickly than he had anticipated and he knew too little of Esmeralda’s plans and how they might unfold. They needed to act, but they also needed to be prepared. The last thing Alex was going do was lead his friends into another trap. The concern on the faces of the Guild paradoxically increased his confidence and resolve. It was times like these, when someone needed to lead, that Alex felt closest to being the person he imagined himself to be in his dreams.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” Alex said, clapping his hands together. “We can’t leave unprepared. Nina, Daphne, and Rafael, head to the house. Nina, show them where the raincoats are. Daphne and Raphael, gather up anything you think might keep us dry. Nina, write Mom a note and tell her where we went and why, and leave it on the kitchen table. She’ll know from her magic that we’ve left the house, but this way she’ll know why. Victoria and Clark, douse the fire in the woodstove and empty the cauldron. Then help Ben pack up everything you think we might need from the storage locker. Rope, canteens for water, compass, flares, glow-wands, smoke bombs, firecrackers, anything you can think of. We meet back here in two minutes.”
“What are you going to do?” Daphne asked as she headed to the door with Nina and Rafael.
“I have some magic to work,” Alex said, pulling three coins from his pocket. “I’ll explain later.”
The others quickly ran to their tasks as Alex placed the three coins on the table at the side of the room. One of the coins tugged slightly against his finger in the direction of the carnival grounds. That must be where Anna was with the coin’s enchanted companion.
He focused his mind and opened his magic-sense to his great-great grandfather’s tracking coin, probing the magic that linked it to its twin. Alex’s father had been right. While the enchantments were subtle, they were not complex.
Alex whispered the rune-words he knew would mimic the magic of the older coin as he placed one of the common coins from his pocket on top of it. After a few seconds, he pulled them apart. He could sense the magical link between the new coin and the older coin, and through it, to the one Anna had stolen. Alex then spoke another series of rune-words and felt the connection between the older coin and the other two disappear. Now, only the new coin was linked to the one Anna held.
Alex glanced up from his work. Victoria, Clark, and Ben had nearly finished packing the gear. He saw Nina, Rafael, and Daphne running across the yard, each wearing a rain poncho. Alex quickly placed the second, newer coin, on top of the one he had just enchanted and spoke the rune-words again, but with a minor alteration. This third coin was linked to the others, but not strongly enough to reveal its location.
“What did you make?” Victoria asked as Nina, Rafael, and Daphne ran in from the downpour, quickly distributing raincoats and ponchos. As he took a poncho, Alex silently thanked his parents for never throwing old coats away.
“Anna snuck one of my great-great grandfather’s tracking coins into my pocket at the museum,” Alex said as Victoria shrugged into a poncho to cover her human half. “I made a copy so she will think we’re still here in the Guild House, when she checks the coin she has. But I made a third coin I can use to tell where she is with her coin.”
“Very sneaky,” Victoria said with an appreciative pat on Alex’s shoulder.
“The Mad Mages aren’t the only ones who can be sneaky,” Alex said, winking at Victoria. “Is everyone ready?” he asked, looking around the room. They all nodded. “Then let’s go. They won’t be expecting anyone. Hopefully, we can catch Esmeralda in the act.”
Alex and the Guild raced their bikes through the rain toward Victoria’s house as she galloped beside them, water falling around them by the bucketsful as strong winds blew stinging drops into their faces and threatened to knock them over or lift them into the air. Alex had never seen so much rain. Torrents of water swamped the streets, forcing them to ride their bikes along the sidewalks. The streets were empty, the townspeople likely all still gathered at the carnivals grounds or hiding in their homes from the unnatural downpour.
Alex wiped the water from his eyes and turned the corner onto Raven Street. The storm clouds above blocked out the sun and left the street in near-night blackness. Alex could barely see Victoria’s house at the end of the block through the gloom and sheets of rain. Even the magically-powered street lamps glowing in the sudden darkness provided barely enough light to navigate.
A bolt of lightning shattered the sky, briefly illuminating the town and giving Alex the opportunity to gather his bearings. Then the accompanying thunderclap shook the ground and nearly caused him to lose control of his bike.
Alex slid to a halt at the end of the sidewalk outside Victoria’s house. He tossed his bike in the grass as the others behind him did the same. He looked at the house. The front door was closed, the windows dark. Waterfalls poured from the rain awnings, flooding down into the lawn. It looked empty, like all the houses around it.
“Rafael, you watch the front in case someone comes out,” Alex said. “The rest of us will circle around. Nina and Victoria with me. Everyone else around the other side.”
Alex dashed off around the right side of the house, Nina and Victoria close behind. He peeked through the windows as he ran around the house, but it was dark inside and he could not tell if someone was lurking within. He suspected any attempt to burglarize the property would focus on Victoria’s father’s workshop at the back. That was where most of his inventions resided.
Alex paused at the back wall of the house, cautiously poking his head around the corner. He saw Daphne doing the same on the opposite side of the house. A dim yellow light struggled against the darkness and rain to shine past the two wide open wooden doors of the workshop.
Alex glanced at Victoria for a moment. She nodded and Alex signaled to Daphne. A second later, they all rushed toward workshop doors, relying on the deafening sound of the rain to conceal their approach. They hesitated a moment at the edge of the door and then burst into the room as one massive body of wet arms and legs.
As they ran into the warm magical light of the workshop glow bulbs and out of the pounding rain, the first thing to capture Alex’s attention was Victoria’s father standing in the middle of the room, shaking his head and attempting to wipe the water from his spectacles with the edge of a waterlogged shirt.