James placed his hand on the golden doorknob leading outside the school. He looked at Sofia. "Ready, Sof?"
Sofia took a deep breath. "Promise we'll turn back as soon as we know what's going on?"
"I promise," agreed James. With a smile, he turned the doorknob, then peeked out at the front courtyard beyond. Immediately, the Enchancian prince pulled back from the doorway and slammed the door shut. "A-actually, on second thought, maybe we should go back to the classroom," he stuttered, his face a pallid white.
Sofia, curious, pulled the door open, then took her own look outside. Just like her brother, she pulled away and immediately slammed the door closed. "Right," she agreed. "Back to the classroom."
Both of them stared at each other for a moment, neither moving towards the door nor the classroom, nor the hallway. Eventually, James let out a tense breath, his shoulders slumping. "I guess that makes figuring out what we're up against even more important," he said, wearily.
Sofia's heart thumped rapidly. "Are we sure the school is safe?" she squeaked.
"Against that thing?" said James incredulously. He shook his head. "No way. It's just a matter of time until it breaks down the barrier." He looked back towards the closed door. "Unless we find some kind of way to stop it."
Her shoulders trembling, Sofia nodded. She didn't want to go back outside, but James was right. They needed to figure out more about that bird and how to stop it from destroying the barrier around the school. Plus, nobody else could talk to the bird and maybe reason with it.
For the second time that day, James turned the doorknob, this time stepping into the courtyard of the school. Sofia followed, finally getting a good look at the school's attacker.
Flying high in the sky, hundreds of feet above the ground, was a giant eagle-like bird, circling around some invisible wall Sofia knew must've been the barrier. It was maybe twelve or thirteen feet in wingspan, several times bigger than any bird Sofia had seen before, and even larger than most flying horses. It had giant, dark brown wings with slightly lighter feathers, and yellow talons whose sharpened claws glistened in the morning sunlight. Most striking of all, across the bird's impressive wingspan, streaks of blue-white lightning lanced from feather to feather, lighting the entire bird up, and coloring some of the outer feathers a pale blue-white.
"A thunderbird," breathed James. "I thought they were just in stories." Sofia knew her brother would have been super excited to see a creature right out of mythology, if he weren't so terrified. She could relate. The thunderbird was beautiful, but incredibly scary.
As the pair of them watched, the thunderbird let out a guttural screech, the noise echoing across the school courtyard, then turned, diving straight at the school with incredible speed. Sofia grabbed her brother by instinct, cowering behind him. But before the bird reached the school, it slammed into an invisible barrier, sending streaks of lightning arcing out from the point of impact, and shaking the ground beneath Sofia and James's feet. That must have been the thumping noise they'd heard earlier. The bird cawed, either in frustration or pain, Sofia couldn't tell which. Then, it pried itself off the invisible wall, starting to circle around the dome once again.
Sofia clutched her brother wordlessly. The thunderbird looked no worse for wear on the impact. "How are we supposed to stop something like that?" asked the Enchancian princess, her voice shaking.
James seemed lost for words. "I…I don't know," he responded. "Maybe we tell one of the professors about it?"
Sofia looked back at the thunderbird, her thoughts exactly the same as James's. What could any of the professors do against a bird that could control lightning?
"Maybe someone will have an idea," said James, tugging the hem of Sofia's shirt. "Come on, let's go find them."
Sofia kept her eyes trained on the thunderbird, her thoughts whirling. None of her professors could talk to animals. Maybe she could convince the thunderbird to stop? Maybe it was just angry for some reason, and if Sofia could fix whatever problem was bothering it, it would go away. It was worth a shot, at least, no matter how much Sofia's legs trembled at the thought of getting any closer to that thing. But there was no way the bird would hear her from here. She looked to the clock tower, standing tall to one side of the courtyard. She remembered clearly from when she'd worn the magiocules that the tower had been inside the barrier, just barely. If she could get up there…
"You can go back and tell everyone," said Sofia, pulling away from her brother and taking a step towards the clock tower. "I'm going to try get a closer look."
"Closer look?" exclaimed James. "Sofin, that thing is dangerous!"
"I know," said Sofia. "But the clock tower is still inside the barrier. Maybe I can spot some kind of weakness, or something."
James stuttered incoherently for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Then I'm going with you," he said firmly.
"No, someone still needs to tell the professors," said Sofia. More importantly, James didn't know she could talk to animals. But she couldn't tell James that.
Feelings raced across James's face, until it finally settled into a look of grim determination. "I'm not leaving you," he said, leaving no room for argument.
Sofia looked away, knowing there was no way to convince James otherwise when he got like this. "Okay," she agreed, "together." She'd just need to find some way to talk to the bird without James noticing.
The two siblings entered the bright yellow clock tower, Sofia in the lead and her brother just a few feet behind. Sofia gasped. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "I forgot there weren't any stairs up here. The fairies don't need them."
James looked up at the tall wooden trapdoor, dozens of feet above. "I don't suppose you've got any more magic plant food to grow another rose plant way up to the top."
Sofia smiled a little at the memory. It had seemed so scary at the time, but the time she, James, and Desmond had all worked together to stop Miss Nettle had been a really fun day. And she'd made a new friend. "No, I don't," she answered, then looked up to the trapdoor contemplatively.
"We could run to the greenhouses and get some," suggested James.
"Actually," said Sofia, "I've got a better idea." She reached her hand to her pocket, pulling out the training wand she was supposed to use during magic class. "Cedric taught me a spell that makes things float. But they only ever go up, so it's not really the same as flying."
"Wicked," breathed James. "Alright, give it a shot." He stepped away from Sofia and held his arms up.
Sofia pointed her training wand, made sure she had the words just right in her mind, then cast the spell. "Floaticus Haver Aboon," she said, flicking her wand towards James. He seemed to tremble a bit, but didn't float into the air.
"That felt weird," said James. "Try it again."
Sofia cast the spell once more, and this time James jumped off the ground, shooting a dozen feet into the air, but not quite floating. Before he could reach the trapdoor, gravity started to settle in, and James floated downwards, slowly enough to land gently on the ground.
"Sorry," said Sofia sadly. "I guess I don't have enough magical power to get you to totally float."
James shook his head. "Try it one more time," he insisted. "I know I can make it up there, I just have to jump really hard. Just put as much magic as you can into it!"
Sofia pointed her wand at James for the final time, and this time, she tried her best to make the spell as magical as possible, which mostly meant yelling the words as loud as she could. "FLOATICUS HAVER ABOON!"
James leaped off of the ground, much higher than last time, and this time he went just high enough to open the trapdoor and land gently at the top of the clock tower. He pumped both fists in the air. "Awesome!" The Enchancian prince looked back down at Sofia. "Now it's your turn."
Sofia took a deep breath, then turned the wand on herself. "Floaticus Haver Aboon," she incanted, then, with as much force as she could, leaped into the air, soaring high but not quite as high as James had. She came just inches from the trapdoor when gravity started to reassert itself.
But before she could fall more than a few inches, James grabbed her outreached arm with both hands, helping to pull her up the rest of the way. The two of them tumbled onto the uppermost floor of the clock tower, breathing heavily. James looked at Sofia. "Floaticus Haver Aboon, huh," he said, testing the words out. "Cool spell. I'll have to try it out sometime."
Sofia's response was interrupted by a loud thump as the thunderbird decided to make another attack at the barrier around the school. This time, the whole clock tower shook unsteadily, and if Sofia hadn't already been sitting down she might have fallen over from the shaking. The two royals glanced at each other, thinking the same thing. They'd better get out of here fast, or else the whole tower would fall down!
Sofia carefully stepped over to the circle of gnomes, which spun out and around the outside of the clock tower whenever the clock chimed. She made sure to hold onto each gnome tightly, just in case another thump happened. Circling around the gnomes until she reached the outside, she could finally get a good look at the thunderbird, holding onto the nearest gnome with both hands.
Up close, the thunderbird looked even bigger. Each of its talons looked large enough to carry someone the size of Sofia, and its wings were large enough to cast a huge shadow on the clock tower. Sofia could see the individual strands of lightning as they raced up and down the thunderbird's feathered wings.
"Okay, you've got your look!" said James, who was still safely inside the inner room of the clock tower. "Now come on, let's get back down before something bad happe—"
James's sentence was cut off as the thunderbird chose that moment to crash into the barrier one more, sending bolts of lightning flying against an invisible wall. Sofia clutched the gnome tightly, and thankfully her grip held, keeping her aloft on the outer rim of the clock tower. But somewhere inside the clock tower, Sofia heard a strange clunking noise, as if something metallic had broken. And then, to Sofia's horror, the circle of gnomes began to spin, not in discrete steps like it was supposed to when the clock rang, but rather in a continuous circle, slowly getting faster and faster. Something must've broken within the design with that last hit.
Sofia held onto her gnome with all the strength she could as the circle spun faster and faster and then even faster. She was outside the clock tower one moment, then back inside to see James's terrified face, then back outside, then inside, so fast that it was hard for Sofia to see anything at all. She could hear James's screams get louder and quieter and then louder again as she circled between being inside the clock tower, and out, spiraling in a dizzying circle. And then, as the spinning became too much, Sofia felt her grip slip, and the tiny princess went flying out towards the empty forest beyond, spinning two different ways in the air. Sofia tried to grab her wand and cast the floating spell, but couldn't focus enough to aim or remember the words.
But before Sofia could fall any further, she felt something enclose around her body. More quickly than she could process, the thunderbird wrapped its huge talons around Sofia's form, snapping her from the air and nestling her safe above the ground. Not totally sure what had just happened, Sofia twisted herself in the thunderbird's grip, facing the sound of James's screams.
"SOFINNNnnnnn," yelled James, his voice growing quieter as the thunderbird carried Sofia away.
"I'M OKAYYYYYYY," yelled Sofia in response, at the top of her lungs, as the thunderbird flapped its mighty wings, carrying her towards the forest nearby the school. James was well out of earshot by now, but Sofia could see his expression twist into surprise, and then relief. Sofia breathed out, some of the tension leaving her body. James had heard her.
The Enchancian princess turned up to her winged savior, as the two of them soared across the forest. The thunderbird's gaze was focused to the horizon beyond, not looking down at the princess it had caught at all. Sofia's head whirled with questions.
"Where are we going?" asked Sofia, her fear gone in the mind-numbing adrenaline of the last few seconds. "I mean, why did you catch me? I mean—that is to say—thank you for catching me, I just, um, wanted to know why you would—" Sofia stopped, suddenly realizing she hadn't even introduced herself. "I mean, I'm Sofia, it's nice to meet you, I have a magical amulet that lets me talk to animals and I have so many questions."
The thunderbird rumbled, its underbelly shaking, jostling Sofia from side to side, and Sofia realized the giant bird was laughing. "My name is Kalasi," she said, her voice deep and powerful. "Ask your questions, little one. I shall answer what I may."
"Right," said Sofia, smiling unsteadily. So it hadn't gone exactly as she'd hoped, but she had an opportunity to maybe reason with the giant bird attacking the school. And it seemed friendly, more or less. At the very least, it seemed to be okay answering her questions. Sofia took a deep breath, her heartbeat slowing back down. Maybe it was best to start with something easy. "So," asked the princess, looking up at Kalasi, "what kind of creature are you?"
Kalasi lifted her head in pride. "I am a great and mighty wakíyą, protector of sky, bringer of lightning. Your kind know me as a thunderbird."
Sofia shifted in Kalasi's grip, stretching into a more comfortable position. It really wasn't so bad up here. Even more comfortable than flying pegasus, really. "A…wakiya?" she tried to pronounce.
Kalasi rumbled in amusement once more. "It is close enough," she said. Sofia smiled back.
"Thanks for catching me after I fell," said the Enchancian princess, carefully leaving out the fact that she'd only fallen because Kalasi's smash had broken something in the clock tower. "But...why did you catch me? Weren't you trying to hit the school?"
"I mean no harm to the little ones," said Kalasi as the two of them swooped across the forest. Sofia waited a second for further explanation, but Kalasi didn't seem to want to say any more than that.
The princess considered for a moment whether to ask why Kalasi was attacking the barrier, but decided it probably wasn't a good idea to bring up a subject like that to the bird who'd just saved her life. And was still probably in control of her life. "Where are we going?" she asked instead.
"To my masters," said Kalasi. She didn't really seem like the talkative type.
"You have masters?" questioned Sofia reflexively, unable to imagine the giant thunderbird being controlled by anyone. Weren't thunderbirds supposed to be natural spirits, flying freely through the sky? They never had masters in any of the storybooks she'd read.
Kalasi's gaze snapped once more to the horizon. "Yes," she answered quietly. Sofia wasn't sure if she'd imagined it, but she could've sworn the wakiya's voice sounded sad when she said that. Sofia opened her mouth to ask another question, but the air was cut from her throat as the thunderbird swooped down, landing in a clearing between the lush trees. Sofia carefully pulled herself out of the thunderbird's grip, standing lightly on two feet. Just to be safe, she put a hand to the training wand secured safely in the pocket of her dress.
"Where are your masters?" asked Sofia, warily looking around the clearing. She could put the pieces of the puzzle together. Kalasi hadn't wanted to attack the school or hurt the students, but she was doing so anyway. Her masters, whoever they were, must've been commanding her to attack the school. They were the real baddies. Sofia kept her hand on her wand, carefully surveying the shadows to see if anything was hidden.
"Right here," came a voice, and Sofia spun to face it on instinct, lifting her wand. In front of her were two pale-complexioned men, both tall and very thin, wearing black robes. They were completely identical, like twins, except for the way they carried themselves: the one on the left was tall and straight-backed, while the one on the right was hunched over, cowering in on himself. Sofia lifted her wand threateningly at the pair, a silent warning in her eyes. The man on the right jumped back with a tiny squeak of surprise, raising his arms in surrender.
The straight-backed man on the left looked to his partner and put his head in one hand. "Oh, Damien, would you grow a spine for once?" he snapped. The hunched man—Damien—gave a sheepish smile in response, lowering his hands.
"Who are you and why are you here?" demanded Sofia, her wand pointed at the man on the left, hoping she sounded a lot more confident than she felt. If things did go south, Sofia wasn't sure what spell she would even cast.
The tall man didn't seem scared at all. "I could ask you the same thing," he responded, idly. "Did Kalasi carry you here all the way from the school?" He looked to the bird, who was currently perched on a sturdy branch of a tall oak tree.
The thunderbird stretched her wings lazily in response. "She fell," rumbled Kalasi.
"I think that means yes, Samael," whispered Damien softly, looking to his partner. The other tall man, Samael, gave him a look of pure derision, then turned back to Sofia.
"To answer your question," drawled Samael, "I am Samael, and this is my brother Damien, of the kingdom Mistavar. And you can put that little thing away. We're all sorcerers here." He reached into the pocket of his right robe, pulling out a thin, brown wand.
Sofia hesitated for a moment, then let the wand fall to her side. She didn't want things to escalate to a fight, anyways. "Why did you have Kalasi attack the school?" she asked, her voice a lot calmer. "You don't seem like you want to hurt me."
Samael's face twisted in an emotion she couldn't recognize. "You wouldn't understand," he spat.
"Yeah," agreed Damien, "you wouldn't understand why we want the orb." Samael's eyes widened, and he glared at Damien accusingly. The hunch-backed sorcerer put a hand to his lips, suddenly realizing what he'd said.
Sofia blinked in surprise. She was starting to get why Samael was so annoyed with his partner. "What orb?" she questioned.
Samael looked from Damien to Sofia, then let out a weary sigh. "The Orb of Winds," he answered. "It's a powerful artifact capable of controlling the very air, to shape the gusts of wind as they travel through the sky." He had a faraway look in his eyes, as if he were remembering some long-lost memory. "For a long time, it was the most powerful artifact in all of Mistavar."
Sofia put two and two together. "The energy artifact?" she responded, surprised. "It's yours?"
Damien gave a sad nod. "It used to be the life and light of Mistavar. Until one day, it was stolen, from right beneath our noses!"
"Stolen?" gasped Sofia. "By the fairies? But, Flora and Fauna and Merriweather would never steal something that wasn't theirs."
"No, no," said Damien hastily, "not by your fairies. By, er, these magical creatures—"
"Pixies," interjected Samael smoothly. "Magical pests, whose only purpose is to ruin and to destroy. They took our orb from us, many years ago, and we have been tracking it ever since."
Sofia tilted her head to one side. Pixies? She'd never seen pixies before, but she'd already seen one new magical creature today. Who knew how many more there were, scattered far across the world.
Samael continued his speech. "Finally, after years of searching, we've found that the Orb of Winds now resides at your school, Royal Prep." His gaze flicked downwards. "We didn't want to attack the school, but you must understand, we had no choice."
Sofia felt sympathy build within her heart. The poor sorcerers had only been looking for the artifact which had belonged to them. They didn't really want to hurt any of the kids. "I'm really sorry you lost your orb," she answered. "But why didn't you just ask for it? I'm sure if they knew it belonged to you, Flora and Fauna and Merriweather would give you back the Orb of Winds."
Damien shook his head, looking distraught. "The Orb of Winds is not an artifact that you can simply give to another," he said. "Its power is too strong to be left unchecked, and the fairies know it. Without proof that it belonged to us, they'd never just give it away."
"But…" said Sofia, trailing off when she realized she didn't have something good to say against that. "So you had Kalasi attack the barrier, over and over."
Samael shrugged. "Kalasi is a wakíyą, a bird native to our homeland, gifted to us when we first became Royal Sorcerers of Mistavar. Her control over thunder and lightning is absolute. We had hoped that her powers might pierce the barrier surrounding Royal Prep, but…"
Sofia looked between Samael and Damien, both of their faces downcast. It was clear that the artifact, whatever it was, meant a lot to the two of them. And it had belonged to them in the first place. It might have been a little bit impulsive to say, but…
"Then, I'll get you the Orb of Winds," said Sofia. "As long as you promise to stop attacking the school."
Damien's eyes widened, his face lighting up. "You would?" he said, joyously. "For us?"
Sofia nodded resolutely.
"Oh, thank you thank you!" exclaimed Damien, looking happier than a child on Wassailia Eve. "Of course we won't send Kalasi after the school, then!"
Samael, ever the cynic, looked at Sofia with wary eyes. "What if you're just saying that so we let you go?" he challenged. "What if as soon as you get back to Royal Prep, you just tell everyone where we're hiding so they can come and drive us out?"
Sofia looked Samael in the eyes. "I promise I won't tell anyone you're here," she said. "You'll just have to trust me to find that orb and get it back to you."
Samael looked away. "It's a better chance than we had," he admitted. "The barrier should not prevent you from going back in, since you are a student of the school." He took a deep breath, then gestured to the thunderbird. "Kalasi can carry you back."
"Okay!" agreed Sofia, turning to where Kalasi had just been. "So, how are you going to pick me…." She trailed off. The thunderbird was gone. "Kalasi?" she questioned to the air.
Then, before she could even process it, Sofia felt giant claws wrap around her once more, and Kalasi, who had been flying overhead, picked Sofia up and lifted her off the ground. Sofia screamed in fear, then in delight, as Kalasi carefully nestled the princess between her claws, soaring up through the sky. She shifted again to get comfortable between the thunderbird's claws, then peered out, looking at the huge forest, now hundreds of feet below them, and the shadow of Royal Prep, far across the horizon.
The trip was made in relative quiet, Sofia not offering to speak, and Kalasi seemingly content to let the silence linger. When they eventually reached the ground, a few feet from the barrier surrounding Royal Prep, Sofia rolled out of the thunderbird's grip, giving her feathers an affectionate ruffle, the lightning shifting away carefully wherever Sofia's hand touched.
"Thanks for carrying me, Kalasi," said Sofia, waving the thunderbird goodbye. "I've just got to find that orb, and get it back as soon as I can for Samael and Damien. See you soon!" Then she pulled away from Kalasi and stepped right through the magical barrier, heading towards the entrance of Royal Prep.
Kalasi watched the princess leave, her expression one of weary sadness. Once Sofia had entered the building and closed it behind her, too far away to hear, Kalasi sighed quietly to herself. "I hope you do not." Then, with a great leap, she flew into the sky, flapping her wings back towards the clearing in the forest.
Author's Note: Poor Sofia, thinking she's got it all figured out. We'll just have to wait and see how that works out for her.