Fire Princess

Chapter Fifty-One

Minutes before, Lady Lesso had handed everyone except Phoenix a set of bow and arrows. Everyone buzzed about nervously and Phoenix summoned her vials to fall neatly into a bag Lady Lesso had enchanted to be bottomless. There was a small bang and everyone startled and turned to the front, where Merlin was standing with a smile.

"Looks like everyone is ready!" he said cheerfully. "Once we transport, you will need to stay extremely quiet."

Everyone nodded grimly, gripping their weapons.

"Phoenix." Merlin said and she looked up. "I don't think you need to be reminded of this, but your flames are what we place a lot of our hopes on."

Phoenix nodded grimly, everyone turning to glance at her. Kiko squeezed her hand and offered a kind smile.

"Looks like it's my turn to protect you!" she said quietly and Phoenix smiled.

Everyone braced themselves and Merlin waved his hand. They arrived astride stymphs in the forest. Phoenix shifted and perched on Merlin's shoulder, squinting down at the gathered heroes. If she was human, she probably would've cried to see Blitz alive and well.

Merlin smiled down at Rafal. "You see, I'm afraid Evil isn't the new Good, my dear boy. Not if your Evers and Nevers are both on Good's side."

At the top of every tree in the forest, shadows toting bows and arrows slid out onto the branches from behind the tree trunks.

"If you would kindly do the honours?" Merlin asked Phoenix.

Phoenix swooped down to the ground, shifting back between the two sides. She winked at Agatha and with a dramatic wave of her hands, fire shot all ways, lighting up the arrows, and the faces of those holding the weapons.

Agatha and Tedros blanched at the sight of her classmates—Chaddick, Mona, Arachne, Vex, Reena, Millicent, Ravan, and Kiko, beaming despite her goose-feathered limbs—along with nearly two hundred other Evers and Nevers, their flaming arrows pointed at the Dark Army.

"I peed again," Hansel said, alongside his fellow gaping League Members.

Sophie was the colour of ash. She looked at Rafal, who was just as dumbstruck. "Impossible..." he breathed.

"They were at s-s-school—with the teachers—" stuttered Sophie. "Lady Lesso barricaded them inside—"

"Just like she did inside her classroom every session this past week, preparing her students to fight for Good," said Merlin cheerfully. "I should know, my dear. I was there, teaching the class with Lady Lesso while the old villains were asleep. The sleeping spell was my work, of course; as your friends will tell you, I have a specialty in putting things to sleep, whether the thorned trees outside the school gates, visitors to my Celestium, or a sadistic fleet of zombies. And here you thought Lady Lesso was teaching them black magic tricks for your idiotic training fights! That was Beatrix by the way, who found the spells in her old library books, while supervising the infirmary. But it proved a useful smokescreen for what Lady Lesso was really up to, once you became suspicious and visited the Dean's room. Not that Lesso lied to you—she was helping the young students fight the old villains...just for a much bigger fight than your pointless classroom brawls. I was hiding under her desk the whole time you were there by the way, trying to disguise my sniffles. Terrible allergies to sour plums."

"You...I heard you..." Sophie's eyes widened in realisation. "It was Lady Lesso. She was the spy all along—"

"Playing Evil's fervent champion and your loyal mentor until I needed her. And with your return to Evil and the darkening of the Woods, that time finally came," said Merlin.