The stars below, p.14
The Stars Below, page 14
part #4 of Vega Jane Series
“Ah, well, that goes to your father.”
“My father!” I let my thoughts hark back to the image of my father as he now was. “But he was out of the fight.”
“Not quite. Before the spell hit him, he managed to get off a spell of his own. He had a bare second whilst the two Maladon curses were encountering your mother’s shield incantation. And he made good use of it, sending off a spreading Impacto spell that caught both of the Maladons full on. With them both incapacitated, your mother was able to get to your father and extricate them before Maladon reinforcements arrived.”
I let out a long gasp, having just realized that I had been holding my breath the whole time.
“So, how does that help you?”
Astrea sat back in her chair and surveyed the mass of materials in front of her. “I began my researches in earnest last night in the library here, and also in Jasper’s laboratory, and I have continued consulting the appropriate materials this morning.”
“And?”
“And it is devilishly tricky, Vega. Devilishly tricky.”
I leaned back, for I had unconsciously edged forward in anticipation of her answer.
“So, there is no hope?” I exclaimed.
She smiled encouragingly. “There is always hope, my child. And I am quite clever about these things. We had many unusual injuries during our war with the Maladons. Now, each situation is tricky, but, upon further rumination on the matter, I believe I have before unraveled one or two results of commingled spells.”
“It can be done, then?” I cried out, feeling hopeful once more.
However, Astrea’s features turned grim. “I would be remiss in not making something perfectly clear to you, Vega.”
I felt my smile fade along with my hope. “What?”
“In attempting to reverse the effects of such a thing as this, I only have a single chance to get it right.”
“What happens if you don’t get it right?” I said, though I thought I knew the answer.
“If we don’t get it right, Vega, your father will probably die. That is just how these things are. You see, the commingled spells are in his body, and while they have injured him greatly, the rest of their magic is actually still intact but has not yet fully deployed upon him.”
My spirits sank to my knees. “You’re saying that the two spells are like some sort of potential explosion waiting inside him?”
“Yes. And if we get it wrong, those spells will almost surely be fully unleashed. The effects cannot fail to be deadly.”
I glanced over at Archie. I’d never seen him so serious. I looked back at Astrea. “But we can’t leave him as he is,” I said.
“I thought you would say that,” she said, cheering up a bit. “Which is why I have been working so diligently on trying to get the antidote incantation exactly correct.”
“How long will it take?”
“I can place no timetable on it, Vega. But when I am ready to proceed, I will inform you and your mother of everything I have learned and what I intend to do. And, with a bit of luck, we hopefully will restore your father to what he was.”
I slowly nodded.
“I do not know your father of course,” continued Astrea. “But I do know you, I daresay. And if father is anything like daughter, I would think that your father would be willing to take the risk of death over remaining as he is now. But I will leave that decision up to you and your mother.”
I slowly nodded once more. “I appreciate you doing all this.”
“Of course. And I will do it to the best of my ability. But you have pressing matters before you.”
I glanced up at her, unaware of to what she was referring.
“You have an army to command, Vega. You have the Maladons to defeat.”
“Then you —”
She held up her hand. “You bested me at dinner last night, you know. Drawing me out as you did. That’s not easy to do, is it, Archie?”
I looked at Archie, who smiled and said, “Rather impossible, Mum.” Then inclining his head at me, he added, “’Cept for Vega.”
I felt astonished by his positive comments about me, and a smile tugged my lips upward.
“Thank you, Archie. When I came in, I thought you were angry with me.”
“I’m just angry in general, Vega. I’ve missed a lot in my life, no matter how long it’s been. I don’t blame Mum anymore,” he added quickly, as Astrea seemed about to speak. “And I can’t say I wasn’t happy about you being allowed to escape the Quag when I hadn’t been. But I understand the choices that were made.”
I looked at Archie in a new light.
Just when you thought you had someone figured out …
Astrea had been staring at her son, but turned her attention to me.
“I did not answer your query last night, Vega, for I was feeling vain and taken advantage of by your quicker wit. But I will answer it now.” She paused and seemed to choose her words with great care. “Like reversing the effects of commingled spells, the matter of time is devilishly tricky. I do not pretend to understand it. I doubt that Eon, though he is one who administers the very nature of time, is fully cognizant of all that is encapsulated over the ages, particularly when one manages to travel from one time to another.”
“But did you know me in the Quag at your cottage, because I met you yesterday back in time?” It sounded funny how I said it. And truth be told, my mind could not come to grips with what I was even asking.
“At the time, consciously, I can’t say that I did. Subconsciously? That is a whole other matter, Vega. And then one gets into the concept of parallel universes, holes through the eons and other matters of such complexity that I daresay no one has ever fully comprehended the possibilities.”
“I see.”
“Regardless, when I met you in the Quag, I did not need a long-ago memory of our meeting to understand one thing.”
“What was that?”
“The same thing that Alice recognized when she saw you on that battlefield. That you were a force to be reckoned with. A force of good. A hope for all of us.”
“Thank you.”
“So I will focus on your father, and you can spend your time and energy on how we defeat the Maladons.”
“I would still like to seek your counsel.”
“And you are very welcome to it. As you probably know, I have queried the others on Maladon fighting techniques and strategies. I have to say that they have evolved over time. This contingent of bowler-hatted blokes, in particular. I see that they have adopted Necro’s preferred method of dress as their battle uniforms.”
“They have. And they are led by a Maladon named Endemen. He seems to be Necro’s second-in-command.”
“Now, that is a new thing. I wonder from whence Endemen came?”
“I’d much prefer to focus on where he’s going.”
She looked at me quizzically.
“To extinction,” I finished.
WHEN THE DARKNESS came that night, I had one compelling thought: It was time to use my ring to look for my brother.
I used a wand wire to talk to Victus, the slave who resided at Maladon Castle. He had not seen anyone matching my brother’s description, but he also told me that there was a great deal of activity going on at the castle.
“Something is happening, Vega,” he said, his tone low and anxious. “I know not what, but something is in the works.”
This troubled me greatly, for when there had been such activity in the past, Wormwood had been destroyed by the Maladons.
The next question was who I should take with me. I couldn’t go alone. I had promised Delph that I would not.
Then I remembered our discussion. My mother.
I immediately went to her room and explained what I wanted to do.
“I will have Mrs. Jolly look after your father,” she said immediately. “And I will be ready in five minutes, Vega.”
I descended the stairs, so absorbed in my thoughts that I bumped into him on the way down.
It was Archie.
“How are things going with the antidote?” I asked.
“Mum doesn’t really talk to me about it. But she’s totally absorbed in it.”
“I have every confidence in her ability to reach a solution.” In my mind, I conjured an image of my father. “He can’t remain as he is.”
“If anyone can help him, Mum can.”
He glanced at me nervously.
“What?” I said in response.
“I guess I’m eager to show that I can help in the fight against the Maladons. I certainly never thought I would have the chance.”
“But you and Astrea have been fighting them, ever since you left the Quag.”
“It’s been more her than me. I mean, I can fight. She trained me up as she did you. But there’s a difference between training for something and actually doing it.”
“I know that well enough.”
I studied Archie for a long moment, and a thought entered my head that surprised even me.
“Archie, how would you like to accompany me and my mother on a trip to Maladon Castle?”
He looked as surprised at hearing my request as I probably felt making it.
“When?”
“Now.”
To his credit he didn’t shrink from this rather ominous offer.
“I’m ready, Vega.”
“We’ll be under my ring of invisibility of course. I want to see if John is there.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes, he might be their prisoner.”
“I’ll be back in a jiff,” he said. “I just need to get my cloak and my wand.”
He set off while I considered what I had just done. Well, either it would be successful or we’d all be dead.
“BLIMEY, IS THAT it?”
We had just landed in front of Maladon Castle when Archie spoke.
I nodded as I surveyed what was going on in front of us. There was activity with Maladons running hither and thither, as there had been on a previous visit of mine here.
My mother was on my other side. She stared at the castle with interest. She had told me that she and my father had seen the castle, but never been inside. Well, that would change tonight.
“The gates are open,” I whispered. “Let’s slip through, but keep close to me. And if you must speak, keep your voices low. We’re invisible, but they can still hear us.”
“Right,” said my mother while Archie simply nodded.
We made our way forward and managed to ease through the gates after a column of cloaked Maladons. Once inside, I led them down a side passage.
“You know your way around here?” Archie whispered as we stopped at the intersection with another corridor.
“Somewhat,” I said. “I haven’t been all over the place, but enough to figure things out.”
“Where shall we start?” my mother asked.
When I looked at Archie, he was as rigid as a tree, with his wand gripped so tightly in his hand that I was afraid he might snap it in two.
I smiled and said, “First, Archie, relax, before you keel over.”
He let out his breath, and I could see his body loosen. “Sorry, Vega.”
“No need to apologize. I was the same way on my first visit here. It takes a bit of getting used to, if one ever does.”
I looked at my mother. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m not afraid, Vega, though I guess I should be. I just want to find John and get us all back safely.”
“That’s the goal. Keep your wands at the ready at all times.”
I led them through a series of corridors. We occasionally passed a Maladon or two, but luckily no garms and jabbits, who could smell us.
“Where are we going?” Archie asked.
“There’s a room here where they stripped our kind of their magic. John might be there.”
We reached the room where I had found people trapped behind mirrors while their magic was sucked from them and collected as dust in bottles.
I used a magnification spell to see behind the door. There was no Maladon keeping guard inside.
I opened the door, and we stepped through, closing the door behind us.
I heard the moans instantly. I shot a glance at one of the mirrors and was struck dumb by what I saw.
The wall was full of mirrors, far more than had been there before. They were much smaller, however, which had me puzzled.
When I saw the figure inside the first glass, I nearly screamed.
My mother didn’t have the same restraint. She gave a sharp howl before she collected herself. “Roman Picus?” she said, rushing up to the first glass.
Roman Picus, my old landlord from Wormwood, was indeed inside the glass. He was writhing and moaning, evidently in great pain. I had never been an admirer of Picus. He and I had been on opposite sides of every argument. But still, finding him here turned my stomach. In another mirror next to him was Cletus Loon. Like Roman, Cletus Loon and I had never seen eye to eye. But watching him now in evident agony, his eyes bulging out of his head with pain, our petty disagreements of the past wilted away. Next to him in another glass was Domitar, who oversaw my work at Stacks. He and I had reached common ground before I left Wormwood, and he had told me some important things that had aided me on my way across the Quag. Domitar was lying on his back with all his limbs clenched tight, as if he were on fire. Scream after scream escaped his mouth.
I gave a little cry when I saw who was inside the next glass.
“Duf!”
It was Delph’s father, Duf Delphia. His timbertoes, given to him to replace the legs he had lost in an accident, were gone, leaving him with his stumps. He was lying on his back, moaning.
I tapped the glass. “Duf? It’s Vega. Delph is safe. I …”
Duf didn’t make any sign that he could hear me.
Every inch of the walls was covered in mirrors. And behind each was someone who had lived in Wormwood. In fact, I saw every Wug I’d ever known who lived in Wormwood, except for Morrigone.
And John.
They all moaned and called out to make the pain stop.
But how could this be? These folks were dead and buried.
I looked at the floor, but there were no bottles collecting magical dust. That was because none of these people were magical. And again, they were dead. I doubted you could take magic from a dead person.
“Holy Steeples,” said my mother, the horror of what she was seeing clear in her features.
“What is this, Vega?” said Archie, his features also screwed up in revulsion.
I shook my head. I felt sick to my stomach.
“They … they all lived in Wormwood. I know them all.” I glanced at my mother. “We knew them all. But … but they’re dead.”
Archie said, “Well, part of them obviously isn’t.”
“Do you … do you think these are their souls perhaps?” said my mother in a hushed tone as she looked at Duf moaning in pain.
I shook my head. “I’ve seen souls. They don’t look like this. And can souls even feel physical pain?”
“Can they be brought back, then?” asked Archie.
I shook my head. “Not if they’re dead. There is nothing that can do that. Not even magic.”
“And you’re sure they were all killed?” said my mother.
Slapping my hand against the stone wall, I said angrily, “Thansius told me. He had to bury them all. He would never lie. And I don’t believe the Maladons would have bewitched him to say that. What would be the point?”
“So why were, whatever they are, brought here, then?” asked Archie.
I had no answer to give him.
My mother finally drew her gaze away from Duf. “We can’t leave them like this.”
“No, we can’t,” I said.
I pointed my wand at Duf. “Rejoinda, Duf Delphia.”
Duf remained firmly behind the glass.
I squared my shoulders and pointed my wand at one corner of the glass. “Impacto.” The glass didn’t even crack.
Of course it was not going to be easy.
I glanced at my mother. “Let’s try it together.”
We both fired off Impacto spells.
It had absolutely no effect. Duf continued to moan and writhe.
Bloody Hel, I thought.
“Let me add my wand,” said Archie.
We fired off a trio of spells.
It still didn’t work.
I felt the link of Destin under my shoulders.
I drew my fist back and let fly at the glass, bringing to bear all the strength that Destin gave me.
As soon as my flesh touched the glass, I was blown backward and smashed into the opposite wall.
Bloody Hel twice, I thought.
We tried every spell we could think of, and nothing worked. Absolutely nothing. And our spells made noise. I feared that at any moment the room would be filled with Maladons pointing their wands. Even invisible, we could still be struck by their incantations and killed.
As a last resort, I pressed the Adder Stone against the glass and thought wonderful thoughts, praying that if I couldn’t free them from the glass prison, I could at least lessen their pain.
However, the Stone was powerless as well.
We were all exhausted and sweaty from so much spell work. I felt like I had fought a dozen battles. “Damn it!” I screamed, and then froze and listened closely while my mother and Archie glanced anxiously around.
When I heard nothing, I tried to pull a glass off the wall. It would not budge.
I stepped back, breathing hard and contemplating what to do.
I was still muddling over this when the door opened and three cloaked Maladons entered.
We immediately pointed our wands at them. I whispered, “Archie, left. Mum, right. I’ve got the bloke in the middle.”
“Impacto,” said Archie and my mother at the same moment I cast my spell at the middle Maladon and put his mind under my control.
As his mates slumped to the floor, my Maladon looked stupidly at the wall.
Archie paled a bit when I told the Maladon to let his hood down.
“Blimey,” he said. “Do they all look like that?”
“Underneath, yes. That’s a real Maladon, Archie.”
I looked at my mother. She had obviously seen Maladons in death during the course of their battles with them. Still, I could see the revulsion on her features.
