Here it is, my next chapter of Tale of Two Saviors. This is a fun chapter; we get a lot of animation from the characters. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
[First Person, Emily]
So it was time for us to finally do our job; well, at least start doing it again anyway. Genevieve said I was very brave about this, and I guess I have to agree with her. I've been brave about a lot of things since arriving in the spiral. I guess that a key to my maturing process is to separate myself from my abusive class. Now, I can develop into my own person instead of trying to hide it or at least have a fear of being mocked.
Since coming to the spiral, I decided to take every class I could; I never would have agreed to that back at home. Of course, it's as I said, I want to know everything I can to help these people. We already had enough saviors back at home so I was fine on being by myself, but here, everyone was counting on me (and Gen, but her heart's not entirely in it).
As for the hero business, and doing this again, I was admittedly a little nervous. I may have seemed prepared, but that's me being brave. I had no idea what to expect on the road ahead or if Gen and I could even tackle it, but I couldn't give up on these people. If you haven't noticed, I don't like being a hindrance.
We stopped at the headmaster's office.
"Why are we stopping here?" asked Gen.
"I wish not to discuss things in public," said Ambrose. "Also, I do need to get back to work after you leave."
"Wait, you're not coming with us?"
"Of course he's not, Gen," I said. "Haven't you realized yet this is what we have to do alone?"
"I know that," said Gen, irritated. "I just had hope thinking otherwise. I still think it's irresponsible that he's sending new students out there."
"I'm a little wary of it myself," he said. "Of course, you've already been here for just a couple months and you are fast becoming some of brightest students."
"I don't know about that," said Gen. She then looked at me. "Emily sure knows what she's doing though."
"True," I added. "Of course we still work well and better as a team."
"Exactly Emily," said Ambrose. "Dark times call for exceptional people, and I sense you two are some of the best. You two have demonstrated that you're both capable and unafraid. Sergeant Muldoon in Olde Town needs help. I'd like to see what you two can do to aid the situation there."
"Olde Town," I said. "I don't think we've ever been there."
"Olde Town?" said Gen. "Couldn't think of a better name?" I elbowed her.
"Be nice," I said.
"Anyway," she continued, rubbing her sore ribs. "It would be a nice place to check out. How do we get there?"
"Go to the shopping district and look for the Olde Town gate." He handed us a letter. "Show Muldoon this letter or else he will not let you pass." I took the letter this time.
"Now that I think about it, we've seen that gate countless times," said Gen.
"Yeah," I said. "That's because it was blocked off and when it wasn't we didn't feel like going through."
"Too busy with school work and checking out everywhere else I suppose. I guess our hearts weren't up for that adventure."
"Well, now it's time to go and take it," I said. "Don't worry Headmaster; we'll take care of it. Come on, Gen." We then left to go to Olde Town.
On our way to Olde Town, walking through the shopping district, I noticed something was off.
"Have you noticed that there are fewer ghosts out today," I said.
"Yeah," said Genevieve. "Normally, that would be a good thing, but it's Halloween."
"Huh," I also noticed something else. "Just listen to us; it sounds like we've been here for years."
"Huh," said Genevieve. "I guess we are experienced."
"Anyway," I continued. "Normally ghosts are swarming the streets this time of year, but as we went through the commons there was only five a street."
"And look at this place," said Genevieve. "There are only three ghosts in this entire district."
"Where are they all going?" I asked.
"To bad we didn't ask Jack about it," said Genevieve. I shook my head.
"You just like hearing him talk."
"I could pass a poetry class with him," she agreed.
"I guess we should go ask him what's going on. That's it; we'll ask Jack what's going on with the ghosts, and then go help Sergeant Muldoon in Olde Town."
"Right, come on," agreed Gen.
We arrived back in the commons, approaching Jack.
"Hello young wizards," he said. "Classes are not done yet, as they say, so I assume you're here to save the day."
"How do you know we're the saviors?" asked Genevieve. "You didn't know that the last time we talked."
"Gossip travels north, east, west, and south, even through ghosts though they lack a mouth."
"You're right Jack," I said. "We are trying to save the day. Right now, we're concerned about the well-being of the other ghosts."
"That is sweet for you to say, my heart does beat though made of hay. You care, though it was ghosts you fought, and in even more battles to be wrought."
"Jack, don't take this the wrong way, but we fought those ghosts because they were hurting people, and these ghosts are friendly, so we have a reason to care about their well-being."
"Jack's feelings are not one's be to be trod, as I once said, my family is odd. Jack understands the need for you to defend, and to help out these ghosts, my help I will lend."
"Great," said Genevieve. "Now before you say anything…" She took out her charged wand and spun the stars on it. "Little trick I learned," she said. "Now, do you know where all the ghosts have gone?" asked Genevieve, holding the wand in front of him like a microphone. Jack then looked troubled.
"For all the dead, sides they must take, although I fear that is a mistake. From the streets the ghosts have run, and stopped all the Halloween fun."
"Does this have to do with revenge against us?" I asked.
"Does it have to do with us at all?" asked Genevieve.
"Yes and no to both questions asked, the dead are set with an eerie task. Attack the town is what they plan to do, and the defense of the city will fall to you."
"Where are the ghosts now?" I asked.
"In a place where it would not seem, for the dead to dwell or even dream; that is all I have to say, want more answers, see my brother Jack on Unicorn Way." That's when it set in. Genevieve stopped her spinning wand.
"Unicorn Way, that's where all the ghosts went, and they're probably there right now."
"The ghosts have to take sides," said Genevieve. "But the ghosts are friendly, and they shouldn't be forced into that."
"Well someone wants to start a war over the city, Gen, and wars are not friendly."
"You really think it's war that it's leading too?"
"Jack said they were going to 'attack the town,' what else could it mean?"
"Wait," noticed Gen.
"Yeah," I said coming to the same conclusion.
"You think he might mean-"
"Attack Olde Town," we said at the same time. We looked at Jack and he nodded.
"This is obviously their new plan of action to start Wizard City's destruction," I deduced.
"There was already a rise of undead happening on Unicorn Way, somebody was planning this for weeks while we were studying," deduced Gen.
"They also probably decided to use Halloween to their advantage, to gather more ghosts into their militia, willingly or not."
"If this was getting out of hand, why didn't the people on Unicorn Way ask for our help in controlling it?"
"We had our studies to be concerned with," I reasoned. "We needed to be more learned for this challenge and it just started to get really un-detainable about now."
"Well that answers every question except who's behind all of this," said Gen. "It can't be Rattlebones, because he was exorcised, and I'm pretty sure Malistere wouldn't be running something this petty." We thought about it.
"Jack," I asked. "Do you know who's organizing the deadly forces?"
"Not much has reached mine ear, but there is something I did hear. From my brother Jack, he who resides there, he said the leading ghost is full of despair."
"Full of despair," I questioned.
"Well that narrows it down to every single ghost," said Gen, writing down Jack's last rhyme.
"That is all that can be said, all the knowledge inside my head," said Jack.
"So it's just a ghost; that's easy, all we have to do is take out the head guy and everything else will fall apart. Come on, Em." She started to head towards Unicorn way. I stopped her.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To Unicorn Way to fight the ghost," said Gen.
"A ghost we don't know much about yet. There's probably a reason this ghost is leading the others."
"I'm pretty sure we can find out what's going on when we get to Unicorn way," said Gen.
"Yeah, but Professor Ambrose that Olde town is facing problems, what if it's really in trouble right now?"
"Yeah it's trouble, an army is going to attack it."
"I mean besides that, and we should go let them know they have nothing to worry about even if it is alright."
"Fine," she said. "You win, let's go to Olde Town."
Arriving in a new place is sure awful, as in I'm 'full of awe'. The town didn't have any ghosts or undead at all, nothing to take care off. The town at first glance was huge, at least compared to everywhere I've been in the city so far. By itself, it wasn't as big as a town I'd know.
"Nothing to fight here," said Gen. "Should've just gone to Unicorn Way."
"We still need to tell Muldoon we're here to help," I retorted.
"Okay," said Gen. "Well, while we're here, didn't Prospector Zeke say there was a Smith in Olde town?" She pulled out her list.
"Yeah," I said. "He said there was one in every part of the city."
"Well, let's see if we can't go Smith hunting…hey, he's right over there! That was easy."
Sure enough, there was a Smith next to the first house we passed. We crossed over to take a closer look. There he was, taking a nap.
"So should we tell Zeke he's by the first house, or…" I questioned
"No need to get personal," said Gen. "We'll just tell him that," she said writing it down. We then went back to find Sergeant Muldoon, and as we were going on our way, an old woman called out to us. There was a death student with her eating cookies.
"Hello children," she said.
"Hello Ma'am," I addressed.
"This boy here tells me that you two are the heroes of Unicorn Way," she said gesturing the student munching on cookies.
"Yeah, and maybe we can be the heroes of them again," said Gen. I elbowed her.
"Is this boy a friend of yours, or perhaps a relative," I questioned out of curiosity.
"I can't say technicalities," she said. "All the students from Ravenwood love my baking and sewmanship. I fix their tatters and make sweets for all of them to enjoy, and I even give them rewards for jobs well done; it's almost like I'm everyone's honorary grandmother. Anyway, enough about me, I hear that you two are new to this world, and yet what you've already done for this city is incredible. I take it you're here in Olde Town to aid with our approaching dilemma? Why else would you two be out of class in this time of day?"
"Yeah," I said. "We are. You also raise a good point, classes are still running." I looked at the death student. "I know the death school has independent studies, but shouldn't you be working on that right now?"
"I decided I needed a break," he said eating another cookie.
"I worry with how the death students decide to go about their studies, it's not that organized."
"Our schedule isn't organized, Em. Who are we to throw stones," said Genevieve.
"Good point," I said. "However, who said I liked the disorganized schedule a hundred percent."
I turned back to the old woman. "To return to your question miss, we are here to help. We'll take care of the undead problem."
"Oh thank goodness," she said. "It was starting to worry me. I shouldn't keep you girls away from that."
"It's okay, miss…" said Gen.
"Krendell, Gloria Krendell, and you are?"
"I'm Emily," I said. "This is my sister Genevieve, but you can call her Gen."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Emily, Gen; would you like some cookies before you go?"
"What type are they?" I asked.
"I like to experiment with variety," said Ms. Krendell getting the cookies. "Today it's peanut butter and raisin."
"I'll pass, thank you."
"I'll take a couple," said Gen. "Thank you."
"Good luck, young wizards," she told us before going back inside. Going back on our way, Gen tried her cookies.
"I didn't think they would have nuts," she said. She finished eating them to be polite.
We approached the guards and we were approached by one in gold armor, obviously the one in charge.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
"Excuse us, sir," I said politely. "We need to speak with Sergeant Muldoon."
"That is I," he told us.
"Sergeant Muldoon," I said rummaging through my bag. "The Headmaster gave us this letter to give to you." I handed him the letter; he opened and read it before closing it again.
"This darkness has come upon Wizard City so quickly we're overwhelmed dealing with it. I'm so glad you two are here to help." I guess we didn't need to explain who we were. "You two are the duo of students everyone is talking about, aren't you?"
"Yes sir," said Genevieve giving a salute. "I'm Genevieve the diviner."
"You can call her Gen," I said. "I'm her sister, Emily the pyromancer."
"Everyone says you two are Wizard City's last hope, and you've just enrolled!"
"Two months ago," clarified Genevieve. "I guess that's still pretty recent. Honestly, I think people are putting too much trust in us."
"You are the heroes of Unicorn Way, are you not?"
"Yes," said Genevieve. "But that was one street, and everyone is asking us to save a city."
"We will," I reassured her, "one section of the city at a time. Besides, it can't be that hard; we did take down the Iron Golem together: the thing everyone said was undefeatable. You should have more trust in us."
"Well, we did save Unicorn Way, I guess it wouldn't be that hard to save Olde town at least."
"Yes, well you did a good job spooking the spooks on Unicorn Way, but evil is on the move." We listened intently to what he had to say. "Push down in one place and evil pops up somewhere else. Now it's Olde Town's turn. If we lose control of Olde Town to the undead, all the other streets will be isolated and will fall."
"So that's why Olde Town is being targeted," I said. "If it falls, so does the city. Olde town is the oldest part of Wizard City, the heart if you will, and most of the city is connected by this town. Taking out Olde Town is a shortcut to victory, no wonder it's a Plan B."
"Yes, that is exactly the point," said Muldoon. "Here is what we need you two to do. According to reliable sources, the one orchestrating this attack is Lady Blackhope."
"Of course," said Gen. "The ghost on Unicorn Way, I forgot about her."
"If the legions are coming from there, of course she'd be the one in charge," I agreed.
"It also matches what Jack told us," said Genevieve pulling out her notes. "He said, and I'm paraphrasing, 'the one in charge is a ghost full of despair.' Get it, 'Blackhope,' it can't be a more depressing name."
"What is Lady Blackhope exactly?" I asked. "We know she's a ghost."
"She is a banshee, and a powerful one," explained Muldoon.
Banshees: from what I know about them they are spirits who were eerily beautiful on their own, but turn monstrous when they wail and scream at the top of their lungs, if ghosts breathed that is. In some other legends I've heard they used magic to curse families. I take it, Lady Blackhope knew magic as well, but it was more dramatic then subtle.
Muldoon continued explaining, "She was the only undead and evil resident, locked in a tower on Unicorn Way and kept at bay with a combination of life and death magic. Of course now, something has let her loose so she is free to enact her evil on Wizard City once more.
"Malistere," I said under my breath. Muldoon continued.
"Your mission to protect Olde Town and Wizard City from this attack, you must stop it from ever happening. To dissolve her legions, and allow the death students to return them to the netherworld, you must defeat Lady Blackhope and lock her in her tower on Unicorn Way. Do this, and in return, I'll let you move through the rest of the city."
"You can count on us," said Gen. "We won't let this city fall. Let's go, Em."
"Excuse me," said another guard. "I don't think I've made their acquaintance yet."
"Get back to your post, private Guildenstern," said Muldoon.
"Where have I heard that name before," said Gen.
"It's okay," I said. "I'm Emily, and this is my sister Genevieve."
"Most people call me Gen," said Genevieve.
"It's always good to see fresh faces in Wizard City. I wish I had studied to become a wizard instead of…becoming a town guard-not that I don't take my post for granted, Sergeant," he said saluting.
"At ease," said Muldoon.
"Is there anything you want to tell us," said Gen. "We're kind of in a hurry."
"Anyway," said the Guildenstern. "I found this book on one of the benches while I was strolling to work this morning." We took the book from him.
"Plants and their survival of different weather conditions?" I read.
"Sounds…interesting," said Gen.
"It looks important and I don't have time to drop it by the Library," said Guildenstern. "You are passing through the commons?"
"Quickest way to Unicorn Way," said Gen.
"I was wondering if you can take the book to the library for me."
"Um," said Gen nervously. I spoke up.
"It's just a quick drop-off; of course we can do that."
"Thank you," said Guildenstern before returning to his post. We then left to return the book and then stop an invasion.
Once in the Library Gen found we didn't have the time to talk to Boris for we headed straight for the librarian, who was according to the nametag on his desk, Harold Argleston.
"You say that you are returning a book that someone dropped?"
"Yes," we said at the same time.
"You two are quite the good sports to take out of your day to do that." Genevieve giggled. "Thank you for doing that."
"You're welcome," I said.
"Yeah, you're welcome," said Gen. Mr. Argleston looked the book over, flipping through it, probably checking to see who took it out, how long ago, and if he needed to fine someone.
"Oh, hang on there! This book does not belong to the Library. Inside the cover it states "Property of Sabrina Greenstar."
"Does this mean we'll have to interrupt her class?" asked Gen.
"No, I think not," said Mr. Argleston. "Sabrina is in a higher grade and has a different schedule than most other students. She probably dropped the book on her way to the Fairegrounds. You best give it to her yourself so she's no longer looking for it."
"The Fairegrounds are in the commons as well," I said. "This should also be quick; let's go."
On our way to the Fairegrounds, Gen commented on the students out of class.
"If these students are on different schedules because of their higher skill, that must mean we are the same."
"As I said," I told her. "Put more trust in us."
Once in the Fairegrounds, we found Sabrina where she usually was when we were there. She was on her platform, experimenting with life magic. We approached her and told her about the book we were returning.
"You're returning the book I left on a bench? I didn't have one with me today. Maybe I lost it last week."
"You must have," said Gen. "The book cover says it belongs to you." Genevieve showed her the book.
"Oh, that book! I gave that book to Regina for her to use for her science project."
"She's doing another one?" I asked.
"Yes, professor Balestrom keeps students awfully busy in the later years."
"That makes me worried," said Gen.
"You should return the book to her," said Sabrina. "She's just inside Golem Court right now."
"I guess this will also be quick," said Genevieve exasperated. "Come on."
We made it to Golem court super quick. Regina was where she usually was, and she was a bit frantic, working on her project. I couldn't see what it was from where we were, but I could tell she was building something.
"Regina," I called out. She turned to look at us.
"Hey Emily," she said. "Hello Genevieve," she added.
"You left your book on a bench," said Gen.
"I left my book on a bench?" said Regina. "What book?" I took out the book and showed it to her. Her eyes got big, and she took the book from me.
"Oh, yes! This has all the notes I was taking on my science project. I'm so glad you found this. It was a lot of work for me! Thank you ever so much!"
"You're welcome, Regina," I said. "Now if you excuse us, we need to deal with something on Unicorn Way."
"Oh yes, Sabrina said something bad was happening there. Don't let me keep you."
"See ya, Regina," said Gen.
The Professor had taken us out of class at two-o'clock, and now it was three. We couldn't waste any more time. We headed straight to Unicorn Way. Once there, the park was really crowded again. We came there so often that people didn't applaud our arrival anymore, but everyone still noticed when we showed up. Delia and Ceren were by the Gazebo organizing everything once again.
"Another evacuation of the street," I asked in our approach.
"What do you expect we do?" said Delia. "Do you want us to leave people trapped in their homes?"
"The dead aren't raiding the homes this time," said Ceren. "Of course, all the ghosts and skeletons on the street are hostile. The best we can do is get the residents out of harm's way."
"Ghosts and Skeletons," said Gen.
"No Fairies," I questioned.
"No Fairies," said Delia. "They left as soon as Rattlebones did. Of course, the streets are still full of lost souls, skeletal pirates, skeletal soldiers, and even the colored souls from the Halloween festivities."
"It's too much for us to handle," said Ceren. "We sent in volunteer students and even some guards to survey the situation, and maybe lower the militia's count. They came back pretty beat up."
"They were lucky to get here alive," said Delia. "We were able to find out the leader of the operation and give the reports to Olde Town: the headquarters for the Wizard City guard infantry."
"Another reason why the town is a target," said Gen.
"Yes," said Ceren. "The rumors have been confirmed that the militia of the dead forming on Unicorn Way is headed to attack Olde Town: the heart of the city."
"They'll have to get through this park first, then make their way through the commons, shopping district, and once those three areas have been cut through they'll lay a destructive siege of Olde Town, making their little war will be won," explained Delia.
"Those areas are mostly full of civilians," said Ceren. "It won't be much of a fight for them."
"The students will be able to fight them off right," I said.
"They might be able to handle it a little," said Delia. "Not everyone is as good as you though."
"Speaking of which," said Ceren. "You do know how you can make this easier for us, right?"
"We beat the boss," said Gen.
"Yes," said Delia. "If you two defeat Lady Blackhope and lock her in tower, it will cut her off from her army and weaken her magical hold on them."
"We suspect if you do so the militia will be cut down in half," said Ceren. "We would be able to handle it from there."
"All the Halloween ghosts would return to their respective streets for the rest of October, and the soldiers would be sent back to wherever they came from," said Delia.
"Her army is nearly overwhelming," said Ceren, "which is why we all requested your help."
"Oh so you did ask for help," said Gen.
"Well, you couldn't have asked at a better time," I said. "Let's go and get this over with."
"Be careful you two," said Delia. "It's a lot more dangerous this time." We nodded in agreement. I waved my wand as to find Lady Blackhope's tower, and we followed it.
Heading out there, we saw Delia was right. There had to be protective enchantments along the camp's edge to keep the people safe and fences to keep children from crossing them. There were ghosts right outside the border and they were on the lawn.
"So much for sidewalk safety," said Gen.
"The streets are packed," I commented. "We need to put a stop to this."
"How are we going to get through," asked Gen.
"We'll stick to the sidewalk," I said nervously, not sure if that would work.
"Which the ghosts are roaming on," Gen retorted.
"We'll run," I said. "Also, maybe some are friendly. Jack did say some were unwilling to fight."
"Okay," said Gen, taking a deep breath.
"On the count of three, we'll dash," I said. Gen nodded, "Ready? Okay: 1…2…3!"
We ran for it, dodging the ghosts and showing off our wands, with me firing sparks and both of us warning them not to mess with us. Some tried to attack us, others stayed out of it, the rest tried to stay out of it. Our reputation preceded us; they remembered we were the heroes of Unicorn Way. Once we turned the corner we saw the skeleton soldiers and more colored souls, down the street and by the tower.
"This does look pretty bad," said Gen. "Let's go fight this Banshee." To avoid getting attacked by the full front of the militia, we made our way inside Lady Blackhope's tower.
We did stop to learn a little bit about Lady Blackhope while we were in the commons by asking Jack and Sabrina about her. Apparently, the main magic she uses is Life. That is how she is able to keep her hold on the dead, because Life magic is painful to them. It is also why she resides on Unicorn way and why they needed an unconventional Life magic to seal her in. Luckily, Genevieve and I can make our own unconventional Life magic. I was also lucky I was wearing my sturdy coat that protected against that stuff.
Entering the tower, we saw Lady Blackhope with a skeletal pirate. Lady Blackhope looked as if she was very beautiful when she was alive; then she spoke, and as she did it was with a rasp which made me understand why she was feared.
"You must be the two Wizards who fight the undead."
"Yes," I said with a twinge of fear. "That's us."
"We're here to stop you Lady Blackhope," said Gen. "We're going to lock you in your tower for good." She scoffed.
"Mere mortals should not dabble in the affairs of the Undead. Perish now, Wizards!" Gen probably shouldn't have said that, for she just made her mad. Of course, she was going to try to kill us anyway.
"Em, what magic do skeletal pirate's favor?"
"Death," I answered.
"Okay," she said, trying to think. "You're wearing a sturdy coat but also your ruby slippers, while I'm wearing my Rattlebones' cowl."
"What are you saying," I said.
"I was going to say that you should handle the skeleton while I handle the ghost, but you're more prepared for her than me and you deserve some time outside your comfort zone."
"I get it," I said. "I'll take Lady Blackhope, you can take the pirate."
So once again, I occupied the Sun Circle, while Genevieve occupied the Eye, whilst Lady Blackhope occupied the Dagger circle, and the pirate occupied the Key. We took out our decks, before me were a bunch of cards for my fire spells. I decided to start with something simple; we would strike first. For our turn, I threw out a card, made the symbol of a flame, and blasted that card with the fire from my wand which made a fire to blast Lady Blackhope; it didn't do much damage. Meanwhile, Gen passed.
"Why are you passing?" I said a little panicked.
"I've got an idea," she reassured me. Now it was their turn. Lady Blackhope tried to hit me with a Life spell but luckily it fizzled and the Pirate struck Genevieve with a Scarab.
For the next turn, I picked out something more difficult.
"Amongst the woods and the trees, I bring a loyal elf to thee. True archer, shoot and hit your mark, and let thy fire banish the dark," I spouted quickly, firing a Fire Elf, at Lady Blackhope. It wasn't enough to take her out, but it did plenty of damage. Gen readied her spell.
"Thunder and Lightning, not just that, I call forth the storm of Lightning Bats!
When her bats were summoned, they joined together to create a beam that obliterated the pirate in one blast. All that was left was Lady Blackhope. Lady Blackhope summoned a Bloodbat to attack me.
"I'll just let you handle the rest, Em." Lady Blackhope was almost finished; the Fire elf was wearing her down. I pulled out my last spell.
"From my words I doth ignite, a cat to bring within my sight; its foes and mine: entertwined; the battle's brought, now burn through this fight!" With that, I sent a Firecat in her direction, which dispelled her being.
"Another anti-climactic battle," said Gen.
"It's not that hard with both of us fighting," I reasoned. "Let's get out of here and lock her back in again."
Once outside, we noticed the forces were starting to dwindle. The skeletal soldiers were starting to fall apart and the Halloween ghosts were free from their hold and were struggling to leave.
"How are we going to lock the door?" asked Gen. "They said we need unconventional Life magic to seal it, and we don't know any death magic."
"How about our Life magic?" I said. "All we need to do is combine my Fire magic with your Storm magic." I created a spark with my wand.
"My magic is pretty powerful," said Gen. "I don't want to blow up the door."
"It should work," I encouraged.
"Fine," said Gen caving. "Thunder and lightning-not just that-I call forth a lightning bat." I lightning bat then appeared out of nowhere. "Hey there little guy," said Gen holding out her hand. It landed on her hand and she stroked its fur, getting a few static bursts from it. "Make the flame, Em." I waved my wand creating the magic fire. "Do it Batty!"
The bat shot a beam of electrical echo-location at my flame. The electricity and flame collided, and in that collision the magic turned green. we had to will the magic to turn into a seal on the tower. It encompassed the tower, and a symbol of the combined images of storm and fire glimmered on the door briefly before the magic faded.
"Did it work," asked Gen.
"It worked," I said confidently. You're probably wondering how we knew how to do that. If you go back a few weeks, you will find that we learned about defensive spells like that. After sealing the tower, the ghosts were finally free and went flying back to their streets; also the skeletal soldiers completely fell to bits. I guess it was her magic that brought them there and kept them there, and now without it they were going back.
"Let's go tell the others," said Gen, whose lightning bat had already left.
Things were less chaotic now; the ghosts and skeletons stayed on the road. Everyone was delighted to see this development; everyone cheered as we came by. We approached Ceren and Delia.
"The Heroes of Unicorn Way have saved us yet again," said Ceren happily.
"It should be easier for us now," said Delia. "We can get back to work at clearing the streets. Hopefully we will be done by Halloween this time."
"We should report to Sergeant Muldoon that we've done the deed," I said.
"I'm sure everyone else will want to know about this," said Ceren.
"I'm sure we can tell them soon enough," added Delia.
"Wait, what time is it?" I asked.
"Classes just let out," said Delia.
"Great, we don't have to go back to class," said Gen.
"We do have to check on homework though," I said.
"Aw," said Genevieve. "Just when I thought we were in the clear."
Along the way to Olde town, we saw that things were back to normal: the ghosts were back on the streets and people could enjoy the Halloween festivities again. One kid we saw had turned herself into a horde of bats. Jack meanwhile thanked us in rhyme.
"Thank the young wizards who are brave of heart; you've saved the ghosts and have done your part!"
"You're welcome, Jack," I said as we passed.
"Now the ghosts are here to stay, that is at least until Halloween day. With the ghosts, everyone
can have their fun, not be chased and on the run."
"Well, we'd love to stay," I told him. "Of course we need to tell Sergeant Muldoon everything is taken care of."
"Off you go then, until I see you again."
We made it into Olde town and we were surprised to not see ghosts there.
"This town is home to the infantry," I said. "Maybe they're too paranoid to let in ghosts."
"Speaking of, there's Sergeant Muldoon," said Gen. We approached him and told him of what we accomplished.
"So you beat the ghost, did you? Very impressive! None of the guards were brave enough to face her."
"That's probably because they don't know magic," I said.
"Well, with Olde Town secure, I feel better about letting you through to the other streets. But be careful, understand? Something's going on…this place is not as safe as it seems!"
"We know," we both said at the same time. We were called to Wizard City for a reason.
"Well, I'm hearing fearful rumors about a big, nasty Wraith named Lord Nightshade roaming around. My guess is that he's responsible for much of the trouble Wizard City now faces."
"Are you saying that he has a magic stronger than Lady Blackhope?" I questioned.
"You think maybe he let her out of her tower?" questioned Gen.
"Of course he's probably having help," I said. "I mean, Malistere was behind the Fairy plot of Rattlebones."
"Lord Nightshade is probably his number two then," reasoned Gen. We turned back to the Sergeant.
"Don't worry Sergeant," I said. "We're not planning on visiting the other streets yet."
"Yeah," said Gen, "We're going to see everything Olde Town has to offer first."
"I believe that is a wise move," said the Sergeant, straightening up.
"Just tell us if any of the other streets are facing any trouble, and we'll help out," I reassured him.
"Will do, miss," said Muldoon. Next up was for us was a grueling task, which was our homework assignment.
We decided to spend the rest of our day working on our homework. I had to write a paper relating old Pyromacy with new Pyromacy, differences and similarities in techniques, how it's used in past and present careers, and how my career choice plays a part in it. Gen was lucky; she had to do a re-enactment. Still, we weren't present for the entirety of the class, so we had to do research at the library.
After our research for the better part of Friday, we wrote out our projects on Saturday. I was done, but Genevieve still needed to practice.
"You can practice all day tomorrow," I reasoned. "I want to see more of Olde Town today; get out of this dorm room."
"Okay fine," Gen caved. "You win; let's go see Olde Town."
Leaving the dorm, we noticed how everyone was talking about what we did yesterday. When we ran into them they congratulated us on a job well done, and for saving the city once again. Genevieve kept commenting that we didn't have to do a lot yet we were getting all the credit.
"People just need someone or something to inspire them sometimes," I told her.
Once in Olde Town, we stopped at Gloria Krendell's for some cookies (Oatmeal raison this time, so we both dug in), then continued exploring the rest of the city. We stumbled upon a quaint little cottage by a river and across a bridge. It turns out this quaint little cottage was a shop; it was a workshop for crafters and a store for craft ingredients. Genevieve was not at all interested in anything the shop had to offer. I however knew that crafting was somewhat important to both of our schools, so I decided to give it a try.
"Greetings, young Wizards! So you're interested in learning about crafting?"
"Yes we are ma'am," I said to Ms. Tangletree, as her nametag implied.
"Meh," said Gen. I elbowed her.
"Wonderful," said Ms. Tangletree. "Let's get started with your first lesson. The first rule is to have a clean, well-lit place to work. For that, you'll need a Basic Crafting Table."
"Too bad we don't have one," said Gen. "Nice meeting you." She started to leave. I stopped her.
"I'll be happy to make you one, if you gather the supplies. We will need some Mist Wood. You can Mist Wood growing all over Wizard City. Bring that Mist Wood back to me, and we'll soon have you a nice new place to work!"
"We'll go get that Mist Wood then," I said. We then headed out.
"What are you dragging me into!?" said Gen.
"Something that would be useful for both our schools," I said irritated.
"You're not my mom; you can't force me to do things like this!"
"You don't have to do it; I just don't want you wandering the city alone."
"There you go again," she said indignant.
"I'm not worried about you; I just want to see it too."
"Then don't do the class."
"You can't force me not to do things. Ever since I heard about it I was interested, so I'm going to try it out."
"Okay," she said. "But couldn't you have just given her some Mist Wood you already have on you? We have lots!"
"I think she wants fresh Mist Wood. Also, it gives us a chance to talk about this without you being rude Ms. Tangletree."
We were in the shopping district at that point, looking for Mist Wood on the grassy areas behind the buildings. We had just about finished that conversation when we found some Mist Wood. Gathering it up, we took it back to Ms. Tangletree in Olde town.
"That Mist Wood should do nicely," said Ms. Tangletree when she saw the Mist Wood. She then got to work with hammer, plane and saw. In a few moments later we had a nice fancy work table.
"Now with a Basic Crafting Table, you have a place to work!" Gen even had to admit: it was a nice table. Ms. Tangletree continued, "Now with your work-table, you can begin to learn the fine trade of crafting, making your own items." She began the lesson.
"First, you should place the Basic Crafting Table in your dorm room or castle. Your first assignment is to make two Daggers of Absolution. You should have no difficulty."
"Oh no," said Gen, getting sarcastic. "No problem at all, you just want us to make daggers. Why should we have any difficulty at all?"
"Genevieve," I said. Saying her name like that usually meant I wasn't happy with her. "Relax, okay, I know the basics when it comes to crafting. The fire school teaches you."
"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" said Gen.
"Didn't they teach you as well?"
"You know how eccentric my teacher gets; I usually don't pay attention when he talks about that stuff."
"You should be okay," I told her reassuringly. "It's why you're a Storm student." I turned back to Ms. Tangletree. "What do we need to do to get started?"
"You'll need to buy a recipe from me, and then gather the required ingredients. When you got all of your ingredients, use your Basic Crafting Table to make the athames. When you have two Daggers of Absolution, bring them back to me and I'll award you both a novice crafter badge. So remember to bring them here when you're finished. Good Luck! I can't wait to see them!"
So, we did as she asked, with Genevieve's 'belly aching'. I bought a recipe and we looked it over.
"Where are we supposed to find Sapphires and Black Coals?" grumbled Genevieve.
"This is a reagent store," I said. "I'm sure they have some."
"And if they don't?" I walked up to the reagent vendor, by the name of his name-tag, Elmer Meadowgrass and asked him if he had sapphires and black coals. He asked how many I wanted.
"See Gen," I said. "They have them." We bought the reagents we needed.
"Oh smooth move," said Gen. "We spent most of our money on that. You had to sell some deep mushrooms to pay for it. We only have twenty gold coins left."
"After this we don't have to do anything for a while, okay," I said. We headed back to our dorm to begin working.
Once in the dorm, we placed our worktable by the far window. You're probably wondering how we could carry the table home. Um, magic bag; magic wands; duh. We laid out our ingredients, and went to work. We mixed, we hammered, we heated, we intertwined, and we even added magic. After an hour of crafting, we had completed one blade. Wielding it in my hand, I could tell it provided more magical strength than my Novice Athame; hopefully I could keep the blade.
We had to wait an hour for the table to be cleaned up and cooled down enough to make the next dagger. We took a break and had dinner. Once the table was ready again, we got back to work and made the second dagger. We were so full of relief when we were finished we were hesitant to go back outside. We felt like collapsing into bed and sleeping the rest of the night away. Of course, we still had some time left before nine-thirty, which is when we fell asleep on the weekends. Thus, we headed out to go get our badges.
"Those are quite nice, indeed!" said Ms. Tangletree when we presented her the blades. "I am pleased to award you both a Novice Crafter badge. Display them with pride! When you earn new badges in crafting, you can buy more advanced recipes allowing you to create more powerful items." We took our badges and displayed them on our persons, even Gen was beaming. Ms. Tangletree then continued, "I said I could get you started, and you certainly grasped the fundamentals of crafting. That's all I can teach you."
"Okay, that's fine," said Gen. "Because we don't have any more money. Good bye." I stopped her.
"It looks like you want us to keep learning this," I said to Ms. Tangletree.
"It is a useful trade," she said. "However, to become a Master Artisan, you must learn the crafting styles of all the worlds of the Spiral."
"We're still in school," said Gen.
"If you do wish to continue your studies, you should go to speak with Wul'yahm of Krokotopia. He will be happy to continue your training."
"If we even go there this year," said Gen to me.
"We'll keep that in mind," I said. We then left to head back to our dorm, tired from a long day. Thankfully, Ms. Tangletree let us keep the blades.
"Even if it was a grueling task," said Genevieve. "It is nice to be able to tell people I can craft some."
"Good to hear it," I said. We were just entering the commons, when we had run into Boris Tallstaff. He wanted to do an article on us in the paper about our feats in saving the city once again from the undead. We figured it wouldn't hurt to do a quick interview and tell the people our perspective. The interview lasted half an hour. We then headed back to our dorm, ready to call it a night half an hour earlier than usual.
The next day, Genevieve took my word and spent most of it practicing her re-enactment. We took a short break to shower and read the article Boris wrote about us. Of course, after six long hours of rehearsal, I was getting bored.
"You can't leave," protested Genevieve. "I need someone to judge me."
"I've been judging for six hours," I protested back. "Are you sure you haven't worked out every kink."
"I'm not actually sure," said Gen.
"Great," I said. "You can think about it. If you find that you missed anything, come and get me. Meanwhile, as I said, I am bored, I'm going out to look around."
After a moment of confliction, Genevieve decided to come with me. Going out amongst the paper readers, they cheered as they saw us, for they got to hear about our exploits in a close up. As of Genevieve's words, it still wasn't much we did.
We decided to go investigate Olde Town some more. We stopped by Ms. Krendell's for cookies (Plain, smooth peanut butter cookies this time, so we both had one), and then looked around the rest of the town. Looking around the town on that day we ran into a bear-man next to a long Viking boat, which we didn't see the day before. Vikings have always fascinated me, from their mythology, cold climate, and all the way down to their cool weapons; it's also a plus that they have dragons. Long story short, I decided to go talk to him because I thought he was cool.
"Hey there," I said. "You must be new to the city. I'm Emily; this is my sister Genevieve, but you can call her Gen."
"Hey," said Gen. He then introduced himself.
"I am Baldur Goldpaws, a trader from far off Grizzleheim, and I have just discovered this world! I have sailed across the great sea of skies establishing new ports to trade my wares in. I would like to establish trade relations with the merchants here, if they be friendly."
"Don't worry," said Gen. "I'm pretty sure they would love to set up trade relations with you."
"That is pleasant to hear," said Baldur. "Can you two help me?"
"Would you like a guide?" I asked.
"No, I believe this could be a simple task," he said. "The winds of the sky threaten to rip my boat out of this poorly fastened docking rope. I must stay here with it to make sure nothing happens. Of course, you two are free to move as you please."
"You want us to meet with the merchants?" asked Genevieve.
"We can do that," I said. "We have nothing better to do."
"My project," reminded Gen.
"As I said, I have nothing better to do," I repeated.
"My project!" she uttered again.
"If you're that worried, go judge it yourself. I need stimulation," I told her. I turned back to Baldur. "Who do you need me to see?"
"If Prospector Zeke is here, go speak to him. Then speak to your treasure card dealer, and anyone who sells furniture."
"Mr. Argleston," I commented. "And… I don't know the last one."
"Well that's why I'm here to help you," said Genevieve. "We'll get right on that Mr. Goldpaws."
We found Prospector Zeke in the commons next to the seamstress's cart where he usually was.
"Hey dere, young Wizards. How's it goin' fer ya so far?" We then explained everything about Baldur Goldpaws and his notion for trade relations between Grizzleheim and Wizard City.
"Dat's great! Ol 'Zeke's always happy to do bizness with da bears. Tell Baldur I'll trade with him."
"Thanks Zeke," I said as we left to go talk with Mr. Argleston in the Library.
At the Library, we approached Mr. Argleston at the front desk.
"Hello there, you two," he said. We had become regulars at the library, we didn't need much introduction. "What brings you to the Library today? Can I help you find any book or card in particular?"
"Well, Mr. Argleston," said Gen. "You deal with treasure cards, right?"
"Indeed," said Mr. Argleston.
"Well, you see," I said. "There is there bear trader who just arrived in Olde Town by the name of Baldur Goldpaws."
"He's from Grizzleheim," added Genevieve.
"Yes," I continued. "He's trying to set up trade agreements between Wizard City and Grizzleheim, and one of the trades he wants to set up is with the Treasure card dealer which is you."
"Oh, that sound wonderful!" said Mr. Argleston. "I would be happy to trade treasure cards with Grizzleheim. I wonder if we could set up a Library exchange program…"
"I think he's saying yes," said Gen as he trailed on.
"Okay," I said. "What about the furniture dealer?"
"I think I may of saw a furniture shop in the shopping district," said Gen.
"Then let's go," I said, as we headed out the door.
Luckily, we were able to find the furniture shop in the shopping district, with a little help from Gen's wand and the giant flashing arrows. Entering the shop, we found the guy to look awfully familiar.
"Welcome to my shop, young Wizards! Can I interest you in some furniture for your dorm rooms?"
"We share one," said Gen blankly.
"Now I know who he is," I said. I could recognize the voice. "You told us about castles."
"Yep," he said. "Aubert Quickhammer, at your service; what can I help you with?"
"Well, there was this bear trader," said Genevieve, "with a flying boat from Grizzleheim, and he was wondering…"
"That's great!" said Aubert.
"You didn't let me finish," said Gen.
"A bear trader wants to set up trade relations, right? Well I offer a selection of furnishings from across the Spiral. Adding imports from Grizzleheim will certainly be good for my business."
"Okay then," said Gen. "We'll go tell Baldur the good news."
"Did you get the agreement from the three merchants?" said Baldur as we approached him.
"We sure did," I said.
"Good! You have brought two worlds closer together. You have my thanks."
"Great," said Gen. "Now I'm getting kind of hungry. We should head back to our dorm, get some dinner, and continue working on my project."
"Wait," said Baldur. "In gratitude for helping me, I'd like you to share dinner with me."
"I would've been worried if he said 'have us for dinner'," said Gen to me. I elbowed her.
"We'd love to have dinner with you," I told him.
His dinner consisted mostly of salted fish, which he managed to cook for us.
"I really can't thank you enough," he said while we ate.
"It was no problem," I said with my mouth full.
"I don't think dinner is enough to reward you for your efforts in getting your merchants to trade with my world."
"I think it's enough," said Gen after swallowing. Baldur pondered something for a moment, and then he spoke again.
"Would you like to take a quick trip with me to visit Grizzleheim, my home? It will not take long, now that I know the way. You can greet with some tradesmen from Grizzleheim, and see if they will trade with Wizard City." We had stopped eating at what he said.
"A field trip to a world of Vikings sounds amazing!" I sqeeed; Gen however, was more serious.
"Haha, um, Baldur how long would the trip take?" Baldur thought about it.
"It took me ten weeks to reach this world, but if I remove all the misadventures that would be…five days travel to Grizzleheim."
"We'd be gone for ten days at least!" said Gen.
"Come on Gen, a field trip is a field trip; we get to see new sights, take a break from learning, the fun stuff." Gen huffed.
"From what I know, Vikings live in cold climates; I have a feeling I'm going to be cold."
"We'll be fine," I said. "I really, really, really wanna go; PLEEEASE come with me!"
"What about my project due tomorrow as well your paper?"
"We can talk to the headmaster about it; we're going to have to anyway."
"Alright, I'll come with you," said Genevieve smiling.
"Yay," I said in childish and did a little happy dance.
"I have a hard time telling who's more mature out of us both," snarked Gen.
We talked to the headmaster about the trip to Grizzleheim to set up trade relations; I was a little afraid he was going to say no.
"It would be a good idea to set up trade relations with Grizzleheim," said Professor Ambrose. "And also I do think it's a good idea for you two to see the other worlds. There's just your schoolwork to be concerned about."
"We could turn our projects today, and then, what's ten days?" I bargained. "It'd be okay to miss out on that much, right? I mean we are working free-lance."
"You do have a point, Emily," said Ambrose. "Very well; I'll inform your teachers of your absence and you can set out tomorrow. First though, you better turn in your projects."
"Okay," I said as Gen was turning white as a ghost. "Of course, I need to tell Baldur the good news."
"Let me come with you," Gen squeaked.
As we went to go tell Baldur we could leave with him the next day, Gen chewed me out for not letting her practice more.
"Gen for Pete's sake, I've seen that thing more than anybody and there's nothing wrong with it; YOU'RE GONNA BE FINE!" That was enough to keep her quiet. Baldur was happy to hear the news, and went to prepare to leave the next day.
I turned in my paper, and read it out for Madame Falmea. I then sat and waited for her to grade it for I had nothing better to do. Overall, when she was done grading me, she congratulated me on my A-. When I met up with Gen, it turned out I was right, as she got an A.
The voice commented on how it was going to miss us.
"You just got back, and now you're leaving again."
"Come on voice," I said packing for ten days. "It's just ten days."
"Yeah," said Gen. "You'll hardly miss us."
"That's longer than a week!"
"Our future vacations are going to be longer than a week," I commented.
"Just think of this as desensitization," said Gen. "Easing you into when we're gone for long periods."
"I'm still going to miss you," said the voice.
"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," I said. "You just need to tolerate us being gone."
That conversation made me miss my family. I wondered how they were doing without us there. If only I could tell them what we were doing and have them not freak out about it.
How was that? The story we get into more of it in the next chapter, which you will have to watch out for. Stay tuned! Tell me what you think in reviews!