The Adventures of the Junior Phoenixes, Part 5: The Last Pendant

Chapter 31: Dawn

Chapter 31

From the unzipped opening of Sherman's fanny pack emerged tiny dart-like things that flew into the mist. Ten little insect-sized objects zipped from the fanny pack and took to the sky. They flew into the mist and crossed the front field of the Salem grounds. The tiny group split into two groups. Five of them flew towards the school while five of them flew to the western part of the grounds.

The five that flew to the western part of the grounds made their way through the thick mist towards the Iron Mountain. There were Dementors about in the mist. They were above a group of the creatures (and were lucky that they were not followed by them) and managed to make it to the Star Chamber. They landed in front of the big bronze doors and, after a few moments, changed size. Dev, Sam, Bria, Sherman, and Shade returned to their normal size. Sherman opened the bronze doors and led the group inside of the ancient star chart structure.

"I should have gone with Teller and the others," Dev whispered to Shade, "I'm faster on a broom than the others!"

"But you're not trained in stealth tactics," Shade responded. "Teller, Jinx, Griffin, Rider, and Proctor are all trained Aurors. They know what they're doing."

"And I don't?" Dev asked.

"Not really," Sherman muttered, "Considering all that malarkey with Fallborn and that mess you made."

"No input from the peanut gallery," Shade said.

"Y'all gonna light this place up yet?" Sam asked. "It's dark in here!"

"Not yet," Sherman said, "I have to get the settings just right in order to put the Shield Charm over the whole campus! I got the specs from Master Blessed. I just hope my little device works like it's supposed to work. I haven't tested it out yet. Besides, we can't turn it on until we got the signal that the prisoners are clear."

"What is the signal?" Bria asked.

"Master Blessed said we'll know it when we see it," Sherman replied. "In the meantime, Shade needs to get going and go have his fireside chat with the Big Bad."

"Yeah," Shade said, "I'm going to sit in this corner over here. I'll be out of it for a little while. Make sure nothing happens to me, yeah?"

"Or what?" Dev asked.

"Or things could go bad, that's what," Sam said, "Y'all act like fussy lil' babies when y'all don't get yer way."

"I'm not fussing," Dev said, "I'm worried about Echo."

"She can handle herself bunches, Canuck," Sam retorted, "Y'all just need to let her do her thing an' stop treatin' her like she needs us. She can do fine all by her lonesome, I tell ya."

"You sure this is going to work?" Bria asked Shade. "What if he doesn't want to talk to you?"

"He will," Shade said. "I know he will."

"Good luck, Shade," Sherman said. "We'll be here when you get back."

Shade took off the backpack that he had on. He took the Nebula Orb from his pocket and the Water of the Pendant of Life. He took a drink from the water bottle and set it on the ground. He then took the orb in his left hand and tapped it with his wand. He then took from the backpack the Triggler that Sherman had. He put the strange contraption on and took a deep breath.

"How are you going to go into the Hall of Mirrors?" Bria asked. "I thought only the Pendant of Death could go there?"

"That's why I'm using the Nebula Orb as a conduit," Shade answered. "The Pendants are all connected, especially now. If I can focus it right, I might be able to go into the Hall of Mirrors. I was able to go inside of Star's without even trying. It might take some concentrating but I think that I can do it. It's a gamble; only one way to really find out if it works or not."