Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,62

becoming almost translucent, but soon regained its brightness a few seconds later.

“We got them,” Dexter announced. “Who’s next?”

A loud boom echoed through the tower, strong enough for Tala to lose her balance. There was another thunderous barrage, and then came the sound of rocks breaking apart.

Cole yanked the door open, took a look outside, and slammed it shut. “Shades,” he reported tersely, taking a step back. “Sanctuary’s been breached.”

“What?” Zoe shouted, dashing to his side. “But that’s impossible!”

The tower shuddered again, and a familiar roar crackled through the air.

“The ogre,” Loki volunteered quietly.

“The ogre got through the barriers?” Ken was stunned. “But the enchantments specifically prevent them from—”

As if in answer, a singsong voice, high and mocking, wafted up from below. “The queen’s army comes, the queen’s army comes! Yes, yes, my pretties, the prince is upstairs, the Snow King, the Flame and Ice. Upstairs; upstairs and downstairs, in my lady’s chamber, ho-ho!”

“Blast!” Ken cried. “It’s Cassim! He let them in!”

“What’s guh-going on over there?”

“We’re running out of time, Dexter!” Lola Urduja said sharply, as the door shuddered. “Mga hijos at hijas—alis!” She stepped away from the mirror, drawing out her fan, and the other Katipuneros did the same. Tala’s father took his position beside them, hefting his axe. The door burst open, and swarms of shades began crawling in through the passageway.

“What are you doing?” Tala sputtered.

“No time to argue,” her father said tersely. “Get to the mirror. We’ll be right behind you.”

Tala wasn’t sure. There were far too many shades. Hundreds. “But…”

“I said go!” her father roared, swinging his ax and shattering two of the shadows with one mighty cleave. “We’ll be all right. Now off with you, lass!”

Still Tala hesitated, but West took matters into his own hands by seizing her arm, his grip strong despite his lanky frame. The firebird had the same idea in mind, latching on to Alex’s collar and dragging him forcibly toward the mirror.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Ken yelled over the din as more shades slithered out from the cracks in the walls, the breaks in the ceiling, hissing, cackling.

“Wait!” Dexter yelled, frantic. “Give me a couple of seconds to—”

That was all Tala heard. The last thing she saw was the roof above them ripping open and the baleful glare of an ogre’s eye staring menacingly down at her father and the rest of the Katipuneros, before the light from the mirror grew so intense, she had to close her eyes to shut out the glare.

Then she was landing, face-first, on to rough ground, a chilly wind and the smell of cold mist fierce against her nostrils. Behind her a different mirror, presumably the one she had just popped out from, was glowing fiercely. No sooner had Cole, the last one out, landed nearby than a sharp, cracking noise whipped through the air.

The mirror shattered.

Everyone dove for cover as shards flew. For a couple of minutes nobody moved. Then Loki hoisted themself off the ground, looked around, and signaled that the danger had passed.

“Well,” Ken said. “Not the destination we planned for. But we’re alive, at least.”

“No!” Tala scrambled to her feet and limped toward the broken mirror. But try as she might, she could find nothing of the sanctuary within her splintered reflection. Where was her father? Lola Urduja and the others?

“Did they make it?” she asked, her voice rising in panic. “Did they?”

“I think,” Loki said, “that we have another problem on our hands.”

They were no longer inside the sanctuary. Instead, they were standing outside the remains of a burnt-out cottage, long since taken over by heavy snow and sleet. The firebird soared above them, and Tala followed the path of its flight with her eyes until it plummeted low to disappear behind the gnarl of barren trees. Several mountains were visible on the horizon, frosted with the worst of winter, receding into the far distance. The tips of what was unmistakably a castle loomed somewhere up ahead, gray and solid and real. The cold gripped her, fingers already numb, her clothes no defense against the chill.

There was a low cry. Alex fell to his knees, staring around him in disbelief. “Impossible,” he said, voice cracking. “Impossible. This place. We passed through the frost’s barriers. This is Avalon. We’re home. I’m home. I’m finally home.”

15

In Which an Unwanted Road Trip Begins

The firebird saved them. It surrounded the group in a blazing ring of tiny flames that moved when they moved and melted the snow before it could touch them. It