Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,51
on the stone floor: stringy legs covered in dark, maroon scales, which gave way to a plump, slimy body and a set of leathery black wings that flapped furiously. Bulging, thread-veined eyes glowered at Genie, while glinting fangs the size of my index finger dribbled with an oily ooze. Its midnight-blue tongue slobbered around thin lips, like it had just eaten a blue-raspberry sucker.
A gargoyle… Immediately, I thought of my mom and my uncle. They probably wouldn’t have liked to hear that, but they had an affinity for these creatures. So many of their best stories included gargoyle sidekicks. Murray had been my favorite as a kid, though I realized later on that they’d PG-ed the tales about Murray and Davin for child-friendly consumption. Still, he was a hero to me, and I used to beg to visit his box in the Bestiary. He adored my mom and uncle but hated my dad, always lunging at the glass to try and scare him. I’d been so envious of my mom and uncle for their gargoyle exploits, so seeing this one in the proximity of a shock stick was a bit jarring. True, I’d Purged one of my own, but I hadn’t been given time to think about it the way I was thinking about Genie’s target practice.
Genie smiled at the gargoyle, already familiar with this type of monster. She launched into an attack without hesitation, green ripples pulsing down her body into the stone floor, where a crack formed and snaky vines slithered out. They twisted around the creature’s legs before it could even move.
Something’s not right about this. The gargoyle had my full attention, its expression contorted with a tangible fury that shouldn’t have been there. Gargoyles had a nasty streak, for sure, and they had no trouble getting aggressive, but this felt different. I could almost sense its frustration and wondered how often this poor thing got dragged out of its prison for the sole purpose of being battered into submission, only to end up back in that puzzle box at the end of it. I mean, no wonder it looked pissed.
“Look how ropey that thing is,” someone whispered.
Someone else chuckled. “You ever seen a punchbag after a few years? Same difference.”
Don’t any of you care? My heart broke for the gargoyle. It wasn’t much of a positive, but at least other creatures were taken care of and given some comfort in the Repository or the Bestiary. But this one was here, stuck in a box, waiting to be used over and over again. No wonder I could feel its frustration so potently. And a shock stick on top of that… It was inhumane.
The gargoyle hunched over and tried to rip the vines away with its sharp fangs, growling in exasperation. While it was distracted, Genie launched another burst of Earth at the beast. More vines wrapped around its body, constricting it. I wanted to shout for her to stop, but quickly realized that wouldn’t go over well. The trouble was, I could feel its pain. It couldn’t breathe and was starting to panic.
It thrashed wildly, trying to get free, but Genie was in the flow of the fight now, however one-sided it was. She drew water from the flasks of the students, whose eyes widened in fright. No doubt they were having flashbacks to last night. She shaped the water into a large rectangle of liquid before maneuvering it around the gargoyle. Its fear amped up, and so did mine, in parallel. I felt what it felt, empathizing with its awful situation. Without breaking a sweat, Genie used her Glacial abilities to transform the liquid into a block of solid ice. In the space of a few minutes, she’d immobilized the creature.
“If you would like to do the honors, Genie?” Hosseini held out the puzzle box. “Press the harp to open it.”
Stepping over the line, Genie walked to the other side of the room and took the box. She set it down in front of the gargoyle and did as Hosseini had instructed. Red flashes shot out of her, mingling together in a sheet of Fire that made its way down the ice block, melting it away. As the gargoyle’s form emerged from its frosty prison, it disintegrated inch by inch into black mist that spiraled down into the waiting puzzle box, until there was nothing left and the lid snapped shut.
“Excellent work, Genie.” Hosseini picked up the box and twisted it. Thin, rotating panels appeared in