The Book Of Timendra

Chapter 13: The Rescue Mission Part 4; AmberDawn

(you have to look really close at the picture).

I look up at Claudia, confused. "What was that for?" I whine.

"Shut up." Claudia licks her index finger and holds it up as though testing the directionality of the wind.

Finally Eve says, "So? What is it?"

"Dunno. Spell's beyond me." Claudia shrugged. I could tell she was frustrated.

"Isn't it possible that Mrs. Wordsworth put the candles here just to scare us?" I ask, standing up carefully, not bothering to dust off my robes. They were ruined anyway. Claudia looks at me like I was an idiot.

"Actually that sounds like her. As a psychic witch, she is familiar with paranoia, and people's reactions to a seemingly dangerous situation." Eve says in an attempt to erase Claudia's smug look. It works.

"One way to find out." Claudia says, getting ready to step into the foreboding pentagon.

"Wait!" Eve interrupted. We turn to watch as she picks up a small stone. She throws it into the pentagon, but nothing happens. "I tried. It seems the spell doesn't react to inorganic matter."

"Or there's nothing there." I offer. Claudia steps into the pentagon. Nothing happens.

"Told ya so." I say, following suit. Claudia rushes to her beloved familiar, and rubs her head. Fiona purrs.

"Fiona?"

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"She only purrs when she's sick, or on catnip."

"Do you think Mrs. Wordsworth gave catnip to her, so she'd be confused and stay here?"

"You don't know much about cats." Claudia said, picking up Fiona.

"No. My mom hates them." The candles began to bubble, putrid smelling black wax forming the lines of the pentagon. What was left, which was a lot, began bubbling in towards us. The flames from the candles were still floating where they had been. Claudia and I jumped out of the way of the stuff, as it converged upon us, but Fiona wriggled out of Claudia's arms, landing directly in the midst. There was a sudden, short gust of wind, and the flames hissed along with Fiona as they all went out at once. We were in total darkness, without even the light of the moon to guide us. I heard Claudia whimper quietly, and I reached over to take her hand. She didn't pull away, so I gave her a comforting squeeze. I heard Eve grunt with effort behind me, and the branches of the trees above us bent and broke revealing the soft and comforting light of the moon. Claudia snatched her hand from mine, heaving a sigh of relief, before letting it fall to her side in terrified shock. Where Fiona once stood cowering, was an enormous black beast. It was about the size of Divinity, who sat outside the pentagon with a lightheaded Eve leaning on her. "What happens if we leave the pentagon?"

"Instant death."

I pulled a sheet of metal out of my pack with shaking hands, and poured magic into it, until it was a gorgeous broadsword. I brandished it in front of myself, before noticing that Claudia just stood still. "That's not Fiona!"

"I know. But how are we supposed to fight that?"

"Anyway we can." I say, creating a large, thick shield. It could protect us both. I create another weapon for Claudia. It is a gleaming battle axe. I hand it to her, and she swings it, testing it's weight. Her hand somehow gathers the darkness, and she holds it close to the axe. The beast growls, preparing to pounce. Claudia curses my sword as well, and motions for us to charge the monster. Claudia makes a loud wailing noise as we run at it, and the beast backs up a bit confused.

"Cats expect their prey to run away." Claudia explains under her breath. "And they have even better hearing than dogs." I nod, and scream at the top of my lungs, rushing towards the beast again. it jumps over us, and reflexively, Claudia throws her axe up, slashing the monster's soft underbelly. It was unfazed, when we turned around to face our adversary.

"Some curse." I say. Claudia was too scared even to roll her eyes. I knelt down and rummaged through my pack. Claudia slashed at the beast again, but it just swiped the blade away. Eve was partially recovered by now, and used her powers to slide the axe back to her. The thing put its paw in the way of the twitching sword. Eve waved her hand, and the sword flew up towards its face. It made its mark, and blood dribbled from its nose. The monster didn't seem to mind. It was distracted by the sword, and began to swat at it, like a cat with a toy. This gave me an idea. I gave up on creating a potion. That was a stupid idea, anyway. Instead, I pulled out a sheet of metal. It quickly morphed into a laser pointer. I flashed the light directly into the catlike thing's eye, before slowly bringing it down. The creature attacked the little red dot unsuccessfully, finally following it past the red line. The instant the creature touched the edge of the pentagon, there was a burst of black flames, and it was gone. The ground bubbled and Fiona rose from amidst the candle wax that was draining into the newly created hole, where the creature had died, fur thick with hardening wax. Claudia picked her up, and we left the pentagon. We walked back to the clearing, silently. We were lost in thought. I couldn't believe that I, weak, stupid little Amber had been the one to beat the beast.

"Can it fly?" Claudia asked, motioning towards Divinity.

"She. And I don't know."

"She can't. A dragon won't learn to fly until it reaches adolescence. ". Eve replied.

"Thanks Eve. You're like a walking textbook." Claudia replied sarcastically. Eve scowled. We had finally reached the top of the tunnel. I poured the invisibility potion over Divinity.

"How will you keep her quiet?" Eve asked.

"I don't know."

"Can't you like, talk to her in your mind or something?"

"We tried that earlier... It didn't go so well." I replied. "Shhh!" Divinity tilted her head in confusion. "Quiet." I tiptoed in place. Divinity's face cleared, as though a fog had been lifted. She nodded. Eve pushed a loose brick into the wall, and it swung inward, allowing us into the hallway. I peeked out and the coast was clear. We stepped into the common room, quiet snores echoing from the distance. The book case swung shut with a gentle pull from Eve. We tiptoed upstairs to our room. I couldn't see Divinity, but there was only a slight creaking on the stairs, so I assumed she was following my instructions well. I slowly pushed open the door to our dorm room. A shadowy figure
sat on one of the beds, silently judging us. The figure pointed at us and the lights flicked on.