Interlude: Eleventh Hour

Charlene gently knocked on the door to the headmistresses' office, but there was no response. Were Sofin and James there? She tried turning the doorknob, but it was locked. She tapped her foot against the ground, impatient.

Charlene might have left at that moment, if she hadn't seen a little flicker of light from somewhere beneath the doorway. And once she saw it, Charlene knew there was something happening inside that office. Perhaps if it was anyone else waiting at the door, they would have hesitated before pulling out the bobby pin from their hair. Perhaps they might not have inserted it into the lock and twiddled with it a little, before it eventually snapped open. And maybe if it had been anyone but Charlene, when she opened the door and saw the trio of fairies in a circle, hands held, casting some magic spell, they would not have tried to stop it.

But it was Charlene, a cheerleader who was feisty, energetic, and highly impatient. So when she opened that door and saw Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather with their eyes closed, chanting, she reached into their circle and pulled their arms apart, ending their trance.

The three fairies woke at once, all terribly dizzy and dazed. Flora, the green-robed fairy, twirled in place, exhausted. Fauna, the red-robed one, gave a quiet yawn. And Merriweather, the blue-robed one, looked to Charlene, her head spinning, and babbled something incoherent. And then, all three fairies collapsed at once, into a dead faint.

That alone would have certainly been cause for panic for Charlene. Let's not forget that these three fairies were casting a spell, a rather important spell, at that. And so when Charlene looked outside the window, horrified, she could see with her own two eyes as the magical barrier which protected Royal Prep, unbroken for generations, fizzled away with a small poof.

There was a moment of silence. And then, Charlene screamed.

In a clearing dozens of miles from the school, two sorcerers felt, more than heard, the spell break away.

Damien, the hunch-backed one, turned to his twin, wide eyed. "Did you feel that, Samael?" he asked, wide-eyed.

Samael gave a wicked grin. "Indeed I did." He motioned to the giant thunderbird perched nearby the pair. "Kalasi! Prepare yourself for flight. Plans have changed. The barrier surrounding Royal Prep has fallen. We no longer need the child. We shall go to Royal Prep ourselves and take the Orb of Winds by force."

"And no one is going to stop us," added Damien, with an evil smirk.

The thunderbird, which had been sworn to serve the Mistavaran Royal family for generations, reared up on its claws in protest. It screeched, releasing hundreds of tiny lightning bolts into the air, scorching the ground, the trees, and even the sky above. Yet none of the bolts even came near Damien or Samael. They could not.

Samael hissed in annoyance. "Damien!" he called. "Get me the lute!"

Damien ruffled through a pile of nearby supplies, grabbing the well-used instrument out of the air and throwing it to his partner. Samael grabbed it out of the air, glaring daggers at his partner.

"Damien!" he yelled. "When I say fetch the lute, I do not mean throw it! You know what will happen if this lute breaks!"

"Oh, right," said Damien, sheepishly looking away.

Samael huffed at him, then turned his attention to the lute in his hands. He played a well-practiced tune, the melodic notes joining in the air to create a haunting melody, something of sadness and despair. With each note played, Kalasi's defiance seemed to fade away and away, until the final notes of the song, at which point she simply regarded the two with glassy, lifeless eyes.

"Kalasi," repeated Samael. "Carry us to Royal Prep." The thunderbird immediately lowered a wing, letting the two sorcerers climb onto her back, the lightning streaking across her body shifting away from wherever they touched. Then, with a flap of her wings, the trio were in the air and headed to Royal Prep, ready to do battle.

"Is anyone there?" yelled James again, his voice growing hoarse. It had been minutes since Sofin had left him, but he needed to get out of here, as soon as possible. Sofin was making a horrible mistake. James's little brother was in danger.

A familiar face appeared at the top of the stairwell, and James gasped in relief. "Charlene!" he called.

The cheerleader looked at the rubble from the collapsed staircase, then to James, who was still wearing the magiocules and sunglasses, a questioning look in her eyes. "What happened here?" she asked.

"No time to explain," said James. "Toss me your wand, I need to go save Sofin."

To her credit, the cheerleader didn't even hesitate. Her wand came flying down the empty stairwell, and James snapped it out of the air, pointing it at himself. "Floaticus Haver Aboon," he cast, and then jumped out to the top of the stairs, not wasting another second.

"Sofin's in danger?" asked Charlene the moment his feet touched the ground.

"Yes," said James, breaking into a mad dash towards the entrance of the school. "Follow me. I just hope we're not too late." He heard the heavy patter of footsteps behind him, and knew the cheerleader was coming, too. As he raced towards the main entrance of the castle, James's determination clashed against his anger. He couldn't believe Sofin would betray him like that. If he found Sofin, safe and sound, James wasn't sure whether he would hug his brother in relief or yell at him for leaving James behind.

In the end, there wasn't any contest. Of course James would hug Sofin for all that he was worth. Anger could never compete with love.

Princess Amber carefully opened the door, seeing Professor Velova teaching a group of other students. The royal history professor looked up from her work to Amber, who smiled sweetly.

"May I have a moment of your time, professor?" asked Amber. "Out here, in the hallway."

Professor Velova raised an eyebrow and nodded her head. "Class, one moment while I go talk to Princess Amber," she announced, then stepped out to the hallway, closing the door.

The second the door was shut, Amber blurted, "Sofin and James are going to find the energy artifact at the school to use against the sorcerers attacking the school."

Velova's eyes flashed with some emotion too quick for Amber to identify. "They're going after the Orb of Winds?" she questioned, her expression dead serious.

"I don't know what it's called," responded Amber, "but Sofin did call it an orb. And James said they were going to use it against two sorcerers and their thunderbird."

Velova's eyes widened further. "A thunderbird?" she questioned, rapidly. "Was it named Kalasi? Were the sorcerers called Damien and Samael?"

Amber shook her head, a little frightened at the intensity in the royal history professor's eyes. "I don't know, I didn't catch their names."

Velova drew her wand, her muscles tense. "It's good that you told me so quickly, Princess Amber," she praised. "The two sorcerers are after the Orb of Winds. I need to stop Sofia and James before they get into any more trouble."

Amber sighed in relief. So she'd done the right thing by telling Professor Velova immediately. "What professor should I tell next?" she asked.

Professor Velova smiled. "Oh, don't you worry about that," she said. "I'll take care of telling everyone else. You've done enough already. Just close your eyes and go to sleep." She pointed her wand at Amber.

Amber felt her eyes close, and the world turned dark.