Chapter Twenty-Four: Tulsa, Not Tuscan
"Stop!" Carmen screamed over the howling wind. "Stop! He didn't mean anything!"
But Mordred either didn't hear her or he chose to ignore her. Instead, he raised his arms and a black swirl emerged from his sleeves.
That's no ordinary swirl of doom, Two-Bit realized with horror. Those are…what the hell are they?
Whatever they were, Two-Bit knew one thing for sure: they were insects, buzzing and with stingers, as he quickly discovered as they descended upon him.
Each sting reminded Two-Bit painfully of the time when he was eight and got stung by a hornet. A knife wound had never hurt so badly, and here it was again, thousand times over.
He dared not open his mouth to yelp in pain, though he very much would have liked to, but he was afraid they would fly inside his mouth and down his throat. He couldn't even bat them away, for if he let go of the table leg he clung to he would fly god-knows-where in the spinning, tumbling dungeon.
Through his pain, he felt a nudge in his brain. It was Carmen. She wasn't saying anything, just pushing. Pushing gently at his conscious self, until he finally realized what she meant.
He allowed her into his mind, and in turn elbowed his way into hers. Simultaneously, they each let go of themselves and settled firmly into the other.
At first, Two-Bit nearly relaxed his grip in surprise, but caught himself in time as his—well, Carmen's—fingernails began to lose their grip in the floor. The insect bites hurt worse than ever. Carmen must have sensitive skin, he thought.
"We can negotiate!" Carmen in his body was hollering. Two-Bit glanced over at her to see her take a deep breath before letting loose with an ear-shattering scream:
"I'LL MAKE YOU A BARGAIN!"
Two-Bit was tempted to cover his ears at the noise. Mordred lowered his arms and the insects seemed to disintegrate, the winds died down and the room leveled off and settled back.
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Thoroughly shaken, Carmen loosened her grip on the table and stood up. Mordred, though he was shorter than Two-Bit, still managed to loom over her.
"Yes?" Mordred said condescendingly. "What do you wish to tell me, mortal?"
"As far as I know," she began carefully, "the terms were that Carmen is to exchange her life for my freedom."
"Those were the terms, yes," Mordred said coldly.
"Well," Carmen said slowly, even as she cast a spell. She hay have been in a wizard's body, but she could still do sorcery. Two-Bit's—well, hers, but he was the one controlling it—jaw was locked shut so he couldn't speak, his arms and legs stiffened so he couldn't move, and his expression frozen so he couldn't convey any disagreement to what Carmen was going to say next:
"I accept."
She could hear Russell inhale sharply behind her, and could feel, in her head, Two-Bit fighting to get his own body back. He was shouting at her mentally:
You idiot! Let me back in right now! I'm not going to let you do this! You know, if you hadn't paralyzed me, I'd be back in my body by now and we'd be kicking Mordred's sorry ass? What is with people and making me immobile these days? LET ME IN!
Carmen ignored him and held Mordred's icy gaze.
"Very well," he said finally, not moving his eyes from hers. "There is only one matter to be settled: when you say that Carmen's life is to be exchanged for Two-Bit's, do you mean Carmen in Two-Bit is to be exchanged for Two-Bit in Carmen, or vice versa?"
Carmen gasped; she released her grip on Two-Bit's muscles and he was mobile once more. But he made no motion. Like Carmen, he seemed to be stunned. How had Mordred known?
"You two whippersnappers," he chuckled, turning his back on them. "What a strange word that is. Whippersnappers. I've always quite wanted the chance to use it, and here it is!"
Is he mad, or just insane? Carmen wondered.
Two-Bit was still trying to kick her out of his body, and so she exited his body and reentered her own.
Mordred turned back around, a wide smile still on his face. "Ah," he said. "So you've decided to uncomplicated things. Very well, Carmen," he turned to her. "Would you prefer to say your goodbyes now, or would you like to escort him back to Tuscan and say farewell there?"
"It's Tulsa," Carmen snarled. "And how did you know we were back to ourselves again?"
Mordred merely smiled. "Dear daughter," Carmen flinched at the word, "Why would I tell you that? That would give away the surprise. A good wizard never reveals his secrets."
"I thought that was magicians," Two-Bit broke in.
"Quiet, mortal, or I shall see to it that your return to Torino will be an unpleasant one."
"It's Tulsa," Carmen repeated heatedly. "If you're going to send him back, at least send him back to the right place!"
"Is that your final request?" Russell said nastily from his corner.
Carmen didn't bother to answer, but instead turned and hit Russell in the chest with the longest, trickiest, most painful spell she could think of.
Almost immediately, Russell began scratching. From what she could see of his skin—his face, neck, arms—it was reddening, swelling and peeling. Welts the size of tennis balls rose wherever he scratched, and he itched like crazy.
Mordred made no move to help his apprentice. "I suppose you are taking advantage of your last moments as a sorceress?" he said flatly.
"Yes," Carmen said. "All right." She stood straight, her arms extended in either direction so that her body was a cross. "I'm ready."
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Two-Bit couldn't allow this to happen. He wouldn't let himself be responsible for Carmen's death. But what was he supposed to do, with Mordred somehow knowing his every move.
His eyes fell upon Russell, scratching like crazy. He darted over and grabbed Russell in a headlock, flicking out his blade and holding it to Russell's throat.
"You do anything to her and your apprentice dies!" he said loudly.
Mordred glanced briefly at the two boys and shrugged. "Do whatever you like with him," he said uncaringly. "I'll find another apprentice. One that's more useful."
He turned back to Carmen and, raising both hands with his thin, bony fingers splayed out, he began to chant as Two-Bit watched helplessly.
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