The Howl of Avooblis Read online

  “I guess you’re right.” Elloriana remained pensive but didn’t say anything else.

  There was a loud thump followed by falling rocks, so Dagdron and Elloriana hurried to the left until they found Lita helping Earl up.

  “My foot got caught in a hole,” Earl said, dusting himself off in the light from Dagdron’s torch. “We’ll have to stay together now; my torch fell down the mountain.”

  Dagdron waved the torch around, lighting up the ground.

  “Stop, Dagdron,” Earl said. “We don’t need to see the hole that tripped me.”

  “Yes, we do,” Dagdron said. He held the torch steady as the light fell on the arch-shaped hole in the ground. “Maybe Wendahl did enchant your boots.”

  “At least something good came of my tumble,” Earl said, glancing disappointedly at his boots.

  Blue letters shone in the darkness and the soft wind picked up the now-familiar message, carrying it to their ears.

  “Who am I?”

  Dagdron took a step back and said, “Mazannanan.”

  The peak rumbled as the arch-shaped hole cracked, expanding to form a person-sized opening. They each moved back even further as a blast of hot, sulfuric air rushed out into the night.

  Earl, Lita, and Elloriana were motionless, looking wide eyed at the hole, so Dagdron finally tossed the torch to Earl, who bobbled it and dropped it. They listened as they heard their last torch tumbling down the mountainside.

  “Dagdron,” Earl said. “That was our last one.”

  “I don’t think we’re going to need it,” Dagdron said, pointing to the hole.

  Now without the blaze of the torch, they could see a dim glow. Dagdron stepped forward and wedged himself into the opening with his back on one wall and his feet on the other. He maneuvered back and forth, lowering himself little by little. He reached flat ground ten feet down, where there was a short tunnel.

  “Do you see anything?” Earl called down.

  “Yes,” Dagdron said.

  “What is it?”

  “You’ll see when you get down here.”

  Dagdron listened to the grunts as Earl squashed himself into the chute. Earl tried the same method as Dagdron but lost his leverage partway down fell the rest of the way. Elloriana levitated down, scraping against the walls a few times, but Lita had the most difficult time. Her massive frame barely fit in the opening, so Earl had to pull her down.

  Dagdron took the lead, creeping down the tunnel, which took them to a ledge overlooking a crater another ten feet down. Foot-deep trenches crisscrossed the cavern, marking an X in the middle. Pleasant-looking fires crackled against the wall at the beginning of each gutter, as well as a large one in the center of the X. The walls were formed of jagged rocks, and the roof was home to sharp stalactites.

  Earl stepped to the edge, looking around the cave and assessing their options.

  “We’ll have to douse it with water or smother it,” Earl said. “But I don’t see anything that will do either.”

  “We’ll stay here while the wench casts water spells at it,” Dagdron said.

  “No spell creates water,” Elloriana said with a huff.

  “Maybe you can blow it out with a whirlwind,” Earl said.

  “I’ll try.”

  Dagdron climbed down the wall, using the edges of the rocks as hand- and footholds. Elloriana levitated down, but Earl and Lita, after scoping out the wall, just jumped, landing on their feet, with Lita’s grunt echoing around the cave.

  As soon as they were down, the now-familiar blue flames appeared on the walls, but they were quickly overpowered as the fires against the walls came alive, searing a path down the trenches until they joined the center fire, where the flames grew and grew and grew until the fire elemental was blazing above them. Its head and arms burned as jagged flames, and its body crackled a darker orange.

  Elloriana lifted her hands and cast a whirlwind spell. The wind blew across the cavern, fanning the elemental and making it grow even bigger.

  “Nice one, wench,” Dagdron said.

  “It was Earl’s idea,” Elloriana said, but then the fire elemental threw an enormous flame ball toward them, so they scattered along the wall of the cave. They evaded the fireball, but the sparks and ashes it shed rained on them, burning holes in Dagdron’s cloak and Elloriana’s robe and evening singeing Earl and Lita’s jerkins.

  Even after being in the cave with the fire elemental for just a few minutes, all four of the young adventurers were sweating all over. Earl and Lita, seeing nothing better to do, began picking up rocks and hurling them at the elemental. The elemental appeared to laugh as the rocks neared it and exploded from its intense heat.

  The fire elemental began moving toward them, using one of the gutters as the pathway, so Dagdron and Elloriana sprinted along the wall to the left while Earl and Lita stayed to the right. Dagdron led Elloriana to the other side of the chamber, farthest from the elemental.

  The rogue and enchantress watched as the fiery monster moved back to the center and then took the right-hand trench toward Earl and Lita. As they scanned the cavern, Dagdron heard a faint sizzling sound, similar to that of sausages cooking. He looked to the side and saw a drop of water fall from the roof and sizzle for a few seconds before evaporating completely. Glancing at the wall, he saw the darkened stain on the stone from where the water had deposited minerals over the years.

  “What is it?” Elloriana asked.

  “I think I found a source of water,” Dagdron replied.

  Earl and Lita were coming toward them now, so the fire elemental was traveling back to the middle of the cavern. Knowing he had little time, Dagdron began climbing the wall without thinking. The rough, rocky walls scraped his hands, but he climbed as fast as he could, following the mineral trail. Before he knew it, he had reached the top of the cavern, where he wedged himself between two outcroppings.

  “Dagdron, look out!” Earl yelled.

  Dagdron turned to see a mighty fireball flying straight at him. While he had been climbing, Elloriana, Earl, and Lita had run along the wall, but the fire elemental had taken an interest in the wall climber. With no other place to go, Dagdron climbed as high as he could, pressing himself against the roof of the cave. As he did so, the back of his cloak hung down. The brunt of the fireball hit the wall, but the edge of it caught Dagdron’s cloak, igniting it.

  “You’re on fire!” Earl yelled.

  Dagdron climbed back down to the outcropping and slipped his arms from his cloak. He whipped the cloth against the wall, smothering the flames, but his cloak was left with a jagged section burned out of the bottom.

  “We have to save him!” Earl yelled.

  Lita, needing no other encouragement, drew her sword alongside Earl, and they charged forward. The heat of the elemental was too intense for them to get within striking distance, but they screamed at the top of their lungs and threw rocks at the fire monster. They succeeded in distracting the fire elemental, and the creature turned, throwing fireballs at Earl and Lita.

  Dagdron took the respite to lodge more securely again and began hacking at the dripping stalactites with his dagger. He sawed off the tips of two, but the slow drip didn’t change. The fire elemental was chasing Earl and Lita back across the cavern, so Dagdron climbed to the roof and listened. He could be imagining it, he knew, but he swore he could hear more forceful dripping above.

  “Wench, come up here,” Dagdron called.

  Elloriana sprinted across the cave until she was underneath Dagdron.

  “Levitate up here. I can’t break through the rock. You’ll have to use blast-bolts,” Dagdron said.

  “I can’t levitate that high,” Elloriana said, looking up at Dagdron as if he were crazy.

  “It’s that or be burned to death, wench,” Dagdron said.

  Elloriana glanced over her shoulder to where Earl and Lita were throwing rocks at the fire elemental again, so she held her hands in front of her and cast the levitation spell. She watched for a few seconds as th
e ground got farther and farther below her, and then she looked up, keeping her spell intact. Her head felt dizzy when she reached Dagdron’s height, but he pulled her in so she could sit on one of the spiky outcroppings.

  “Ouch,” she said, shifting to find a more comfortable position.

  “Stop whining and cast,” Dagdron said.

  Elloriana scowled at him but lifted her hands and cast blast-bolt spells out of each. The blue balls bashed into the stalactites and roof, chipping off rock. She continued, focusing her mental stamina to add more power to her spells. Little by little, she chipped off more rock until a crack started to form in the ceiling.

  “A couple more,” Dagdron said.

  Elloriana nodded and cast another blast-bolt spell from each hand, widening the crack a little. A drizzle of water began trickling through.

  Dagdron turned his head to look at their two companions. “Earl and Lita, lure it over here,” he yelled.

  Earl and Lita glanced upward and then raced around the cave. As the fire elemental followed the warrior and lady warrior, Dagdron maneuvered so that he was standing on the ledge opposite Elloriana. He stretched out his dagger and thrust it into the crack, chipping away as best he could to make the opening a little wider.

  “Ready?” Earl yelled upward.

  “Yes,” Dagdron called back. “Get it as close as you can.”

  Dagdron sat back down and signaled to Elloriana to get her hands ready. Dagdron watched as the fire elemental blazed toward Earl and Lita, waiting against the wall as long as they could withstand the heat. As soon as Earl and Lita ran off to avoid being scorched to a crisp, Dagdron pointed his dagger at Elloriana. She cast a blast-bolt spell out of each hand at the widened crack. A circle of roof weakened enough and fell down, allowing the water from the icy pool that had accumulated in the inside of the peak to cascade down.

  Dagdron and Elloriana pressed themselves against the wall as the rocks and water fell past them, but then they looked down. Elloriana watched as long as she dared but then looked straight ahead as she felt her head swoon.

  The fire elemental blazed with rage, launching fireballs at Dagdron and Elloriana, but the water was already rushing along the ground of the crater, causing steam to billow as the sizzling sound of water meeting fire filled the cavern.

  The fire elemental began to retreat to the center of the cavern, but the water followed it along the gutter. By the time the elemental reached the middle, its size had decreased substantially. Earl and Lita had found a heavy, flat rock and together they hoisted it, approaching the fire elemental from behind as it continued fleeing the rushing water. Earl and Lita tossed the rock at the base of the fire monster, covering it. Flames still shot out from beneath the slab, but the water ran over the center area, extinguishing the elemental completely and sending a searing, sulfuric smoke into the air.

  As the steam began to spread, Dagdron began climbing down the wall while he still had visibility, and Elloriana was shocked from her vertigo, casting a levitation spell to lower herself to the ground. They stumbled through the water toward the center, coughing and wheezing until they found Earl and Lita. This time, when Elloriana cast a whirlwind spell, it cleared out the center of the crater, where a wooden box was now lying, the water diverted around it by Mazannanan’s protection spell.

  They had backed up a few paces as Elloriana readied herself to trigger the trap when a blue blast-bolt shot across the chamber. It hit the box directly, setting off the trap, and Dagdron, Earl, Elloriana, and Lita were flung backward.

  Dagdron felt his cloak rip again as he skidded across the rough ground of the cave. He lifted his head to see a tall figure in a black cloak standing eerily in the steam that was wafting around the cavern.

  The Backer was back again.

  Chapter 27: The Trove

  The Backer cast a fetch spell at the box. Elloriana recovered in time to cast one of her own, but when the two sparkling circles hit the box at the same time, the Backer’s was so much more powerful that it yanked the chest away.

  Earl and Lita yelled as they got back to their feet and charged the Backer, who had disappeared in the smoke. But, before any confrontation could occur, a magenta whirlwind appeared, swirling the steam so forcefully that the cavern was cleared out within seconds.

  Wendahl was standing on the entrance ledge, hoe in hand.

  Earl and Lita, seeing the Backer standing below Wendahl, changed directions and continued their stampede toward the evil enchanter. The Backer, keeping the box securely tucked under his left arm, cast spells upward at Wendahl with his right. Wendahl retaliated, casting blast-bolts from his hoe. The blasts started magenta but turned blue by the time they reached their target. One of the spells knocked the box from under the Backer’s arm, sending it skidding across the crater.

  Dagdron sprinted to retrieve the box as Earl and Lita closed in on the Backer. The black-robed enchanter cast a levitation spell to escape the swords, lifting himself to the ledge with Wendahl. The Backer grabbed hold of the hoe, and the two enchanters grappled, twisting and turning the hoe between them as they moved into the tunnel.

  In the meantime, Earl and Lita were climbing the wall, and Dagdron, tossing the box to Elloriana, sprinted across the cavern to join them. When Dagdron, Earl, and Lita were on the ledge, they saw Wendahl’s left leg give out, and he and his hoe fell to the ground. The Backer levitated, rising out of the chute.

  Wendahl waved his hands for them to keep up the chase, so Dagdron, Earl, and Lita sprinted to the end of the tunnel and started climbing. When Dagdron neared the opening, he heard sounds of a struggle and, when he poked his head out, he saw the headmaster, wearing his blue night robe, with his arms locked with the Backer’s. The purple flash of a stun spell lit up the night, and the headmaster fell to the ground. Dagdron sprinted forward, but the Backer had already disappeared into the darkness, so he stopped close by the headmaster.

  Headmaster Gwauldron, a look of fury on his face, dragged himself to his feet. Dagdron ignored him and headed back to the opening, where Earl was helping Lita squeeze her way out. After her, Wendahl levitated out, followed by Elloriana.

  “What did you find in there?” the irate headmaster demanded. His night robe was stained and torn. “I know it was something. I can smell a fire elemental, so it must have been guarding something.”

  “We didn’t find anything,” Dagdron said.

  “Empty your pockets,” Headmaster Gwauldron said.

  The headmaster waited while everyone cleared out their pockets, then he frisked each and every one of them, spending extra time searching every inch of Wendahl’s robe.

  “Perhaps you should tell us how you knew we were here, Gwidy,” Wendahl said.

  “That is none of your business.” The headmaster twisted the bottom of Wendahl’s robe, feeling the seams.

  “We already know it was Byron,” Dagdron said. “He’s been spying on us.”

  The headmaster turned to Dagdron, glowering down at him.

  “Get back to the academy. Now!” he said before turning back to Wendahl. “Stop taking my students out of the safety of the academy!”

  Dagdron hurried off into the darkness, but Earl, Lita, and Elloriana waited to walk with Wendahl so that he could light the way with his hoe.

  * * *

  “You thought I was the Backer?” Wendahl said. His expression showed a mixture of offense and pride as if considering whether he should put on a show of his vast magical ability with his hoe at that very moment.

  “Sorry,” Earl said. “With your injured leg, and how you left Coastdale early, and you kept showing up right after the Backer left, and then when the net took control of the cave, we got a little carried away with our skepticism.”

  “I told you,” Wendahl said. “I tripped in my garden and my hoe jabbed my leg. A magical cut from the blade of my hoe is very difficult to heal.”

  “You mean because it’s really a magic staff,” Dagdron said.

  Wendahl’s mouth dropped open. �
��Who told you that?”

  “The wench.”

  “That’s beside the point. You know how protective I am about my crops and you know all about jealous Farmer Jersey. And I told you that, before coming north, I stopped in Lordavia to research how to make the net. I’ve been living with Dugan, so I had to be careful not to let him know what we were up to. I guess it doesn’t matter now. He seems to have teamed up with Egon.” Wendahl rolled his eyes. “Claims now he has to worry about protecting you. As if I can’t do that by myself.”

  “We know, but then Dagdron said you were talking about how you wanted to be young again.” Earl’s face was full of regret.

  Wendahl turned his gaze on Dagdron. “I happen to still consider myself very nimble. And I wouldn’t unleash Avooblis on the world just to be young again. Can’t an old man reminisce?”

  “Do you have the scroll or not?” Dagdron said.

  Wendahl was standing outside back fence of the academy, while the boys were inside the grounds. He looked tersely at Dagdron as he unscrewed the end of the hoe and pulled out Mazannanan’s latest scroll. While waiting for Lita to get out of the chute, Elloriana had burned the box while Wendahl hid the scroll. Fortunately, that was the one place the headmaster had failed to search.

  “How do you expect to be my garden rogue if there’s no trust between us?” Wendahl said, slipping the scroll through the fence.

  “You’ll have to decide if you want me in your garden or your neighbors.” Dagdron grabbed the scroll.

  “You have all the bargaining power until my leg heals,” Wendahl said, huffing.

  “Dagdron is not going to be anyone’s garden rogue,” Earl said. “He’s going to be an adventurer.”

  Dagdron walked back to his tree and climbed up it. Earl said a polite goodbye to Wendahl, thanking him for bringing the scroll up the valley, and then he climbed the quest tree as well. Dagdron didn’t bother to threaten Earl as he unrolled the scroll, finding a bone wrapped in the middle. Earl hurried to read it aloud.