Shaana remarked, "This doesn't look like the Enchanted Forest."
""You know what? I think so too," said Cimorene. "Let's go back." But the door had closed in behind them, leaving only the dark trees. "This didn't happen before," she said slowly. "Last time, I ended up at the basement, I think, in this weird room with some strange stuff everywhere…" Two people dropped out of the air. They looked like wizards, because of the large staffs they were carrying. One had a large hood on which almost entirely covered his face, and seemed to be quite old. The other was much shorter, and much younger.
"Are you sure these are the ones?' said wizard #2. "And what's the point? You won't explain it to me!" He looked around annoyedly. "Besides, you said that you'd teach me that mirror spell."
"Quiet, Zemenar. They are here so we can take revenge on Cimorene and Daystar," snarled the older wizard.
"Why do you want revenge on me and Daystar?" asked Cimorene. "I've never seen you before in my life, and I'm not even related to Prince Daystar."
"What? Oh, not you, the Queen Cimorene. She knows me all right, although I doubt she believes that I still am alive," answered wizard #1. "My name is Antorell."
Cimorene gasped inwardly. They had learned about wizards in their history lessons from Willin, and they were usually particularly nasty when they got to Antorell. His father was Zemenar, Head Wizard of the Society of Wizards, until Kazul, the King of Dragons, ate him. Everyone thought that Antorell was dead, but they weren't totally sure, since his death was not witnessed. Apparently, it never happened.
~This doesn't sound too good,~ thought Cimorene. ~How can we get to the Queen in time? From what I've heard of Antorell, he's been pretty much ineffective, but this apparently changed when he almost died.~ For good measure, Cimorene asked tentatively, "Why exactly are you trying to get revenge on Cimorene and Daystar?"
"Because of this!" cried Antorell. He threw back his hood, revealing a face that was heavily scarred and made almost unrecognizable. Shaana screamed, making Antorell turn and look at her.
"See, do you see now, what your precious Cimorene and Daystar did to me? I can no longer show my face in public without people staring and staring at me, with or without this hood! When they threw me to the demons, the demons tried to catch me, to kill me! I'm lucky I escaped with what's left of my face! All thanks to them!" he burst out, causing Shaana to shudder.
"But you deserved it!" said Cimorene, wondering at her own bravery. "You tried to kill them many times over, and so it's your own fault if you got almost killed by the demons!"
"What?" screamed Antorell, when Zemenar broke in with, "You tried to kill them? You said that they sent the dragons, covered with really good invisibility spells that only a wizard who had been practicing magic for 250,000 years would be able to detect, came in and attacked him! You said that your face was from when you discovered that it was them, they bound you to a stack of fresh meat and sent you to Null for the demons to feast on!"
"Silence!" roared Antorell. "Are you prepared to take the words of a 13 year old child more seriously than that of your father's? Be quiet, and realize when you are being fed a lie!"
"But that's a lie!" shrieked Cimorene. ""You tried to kill Cimorene because of some stupid revenge, and then when you conjured a demon to kill Daystar, because he was related to Cimorene, he sent you to Null, by accident! You probably came back and told so many lies that the whole wizarding world thinks that they tried to destroy the whole world and you saved it!" She was trembling now, shaking from head to toe with rage at Antorell. Both she and Shaana knew that there was a possibility that the people at the castle, from Mendanbar down to the gargoyle, practically, would trace the magic down to the door that they used to get wherever they were, and then Antorell and Zemenar would kill all of them! But if Cimorene's magic was untraceable, which it probably was, being so obstinate in doing the worst it could at any given time, then nobody would come and the wizards might kill them, instead! They were contemplating this when Antorell lifted his staff and the world disappeared in a flash of light…
End of Part Two
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