The Fire Sorceress

Chapter Twenty Two

*Sora's POV*

I grimaced at the sight of Ember's wounds. Gashes from who knows what, burns from intense cold, and saltwater on both of them to top it all off. Seto chanted words he must have learned from a long time ago--except he didn't have any magic. "Crap!" He murmured. "Hey, has anyone seen Sora?" My form quickly bloomed to existence.

"Great! You don't have the cuffs on!" Seto grinned. "Help us find a way out of these...things!"

"On it, Commander!" I fake saluted with a smirk and disappeared once more. The iron bars were thick with inch long spaces between them to allow air in but to prevent breakouts. "Must've never met anyone like me," I hissed under my breath. I closed my eyes and focused on my aura, drawing myself in and in and in until I was less than an inch thick. I slipped easily between the bars and reformed, though all this canceled out my Cloaking Illusion. I grumbled under my breath; I didn't have enough power or energy left to hold it for more than five minutes. I cast a simple changing spell to make my clothes all black; this I could hold for up to a day with the amount of energy I had left.

I kept to the shadows, my dark form mingling with their dancing minions of night. The click clack of metal shoes echoed from farther up the hall. I froze, my cloth clothes not making a sound as I crouched down into a ball. "Should we go check and see if that one prisoner is still there? I mean, now we have that light Notch made himself to detect those...Cloaking Charm whatchamacallits!"

I cursed under my breath. Now that they could see me with my cloaking illusion, I was pretty much useless. The guards turned their heads, listening for more of me cursing. I had been learning Echo Illusions before we left the academy, and I whispered into my hand, made an energy ball containing it, and threw it across the room. "Come find me..." the echo said, bouncing across the room and confusing the guards. I ran away up the stairs when they looked in a corner at the opposite side of the room.

I sneaked into the the Throne Room...bad idea. Notch was grandly sprawled out on his big throne, a puddle of furs and silks with an elaborate crown atop his bald head. It slipped a little and he pushed it up. "Butler! Bring me the head of a pig! And a goblet full of something cool and refreshing! Does anyone have a fiddle? Make someone from the servant's quarters fiddle for me," he announced in a clear, commanding voice that I instantly hated. I dressed myself in a servant's wear, and grabbed a lone fiddle from a rack in the hallway. "Your Majesty, I've come to play a song for ye," I said, bowing lowly.

"Go along," he waved me to start. I had learned a simple, magic sleeping piece from Poof, who was gifted in the art of Violin Magic, and I began to play. Lazy, soft notes drifted from wherever I touched the bow, and Notch fell asleep in an instant. The butler, who looked disgusted carrying the head of a pig with the eyeballs still in, collapsed, spilling the goblet of cool, refreshing liquid all over himself. I stopped playing, satisfied that they were thoroughly asleep, and removed the servant clothes charm. I saw a ring of keys on Notch's wrist, and I delicately slipped them from his arm, running away and stopping them from jingling.

On my way down, I was so focused on being noiseless that I crashed into a teenage girl in a flouncy purple dress. "Who are you?" she asked. My heart hammering, I shook my head and backed up. "C'mon, I won't bite...okay, I'll tell you my name first. I'm Princess Lizzy of Pixellaria Castle." She sighed. "Adopted, of course. I wasn't always this way...I'd give anything to go back in the wild and learn cool things instead of etiquette..." She swept back her hair to expose pointed elf ears that ended in purple.

"You're an Ender?!" I gasped.

"Shh, not so loud! Meet me in my quarters in a half an hour--they are at the top of this tower. Just head up the staircase until you reach the last room with a purple door."

"Wait. My name is Sora. I might be a little late, I have...some business to attend to." With a sly grin, I departed, snapping my fingers and putting on my cloaking charm. I ran down the stairs and slipped past the idiot guards who were still looking for me. I ran into the dungeon, undid my cloaking charm, and unlocked all of my friends' cuffs.

Ember's hands immediately set alight in glowing scarlet flames. Seto's burst into an explosion of purple fire, dancing a complex pattern only beings of inferno could understand. River's hands gushed with water, creating fountains of liquid and letting it rain on us. The earth itself growled as Dusty's magic was welcomed back into the geosphere. Poof's hands spiked with ice and the ground around her froze. Kai just dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"Guys, I met this person and she asked me to come talk to her. I'll be back soon." I used the final key to unlock the door, but there were guards surrounding the gate. "Uh...hello there, sirs, how can I help you?" I asked nervously. They scowled and handcuffed me. They attached the other to Ember, and went on and on until Kai.

"You're all coming to your very public execution," the main guard growled. We were escorted out to the courtyard, heads bowed.

The Duke of Minnington cleared his throat and began. "These adolescents not only robbed King Notch's personal vendor, but they also broke out of their cells and poisoned him and Head Butler!"

Everyone gasped. "Woops, should have remembered the sleeping spell poisons it's victims..." I whispered to Poof, grinning.

"They are sentenced to death," the Duke continued. "If anyone of authority has any objections, please speak now or forever hold your peace."

"I do, Duke!"