The Howl of Avooblis Page 7

  The last stop of the tour was to see the royal pyramid. The pyramid was built with multiple levels on which fruit trees and other vegetation grew. Water streamed down both sides of the center, smoothing on the flat sections and ending in a large pool at the bottom. Staircases climbed both sides, giving access to the entrances on each level.

  Much like Earl had done in Thornrim, Lita had been very complimentary of Lordavia. But she really gushed over the royal castle.

  “I can see why it was so difficult for your parents to leave,” Lita said.

  “I know,” Earl said, nodding.

  “They live in a much nicer house now,” Dagdron said. “And they don’t have to put up with all the richies.”

  “Don’t start that again,” Earl said. Lita added a scowl, but Dagdron just looked at them expressionlessly.

  “Let’s go,” Lita said. “I need to let Elloriana know I’m here. I’ve missed her, and she’ll be anxious to see me.”

  Dagdron wasn’t sure if Earl was allowed inside anymore, but they walked through one of the bottom tunnels to the inner courtyard, where there was a round fountain surrounded by lemon trees. They crossed the plaza to the archway that led to the section of the castle where the Loftloomburgs and other high-ranking nobles lived, but two guards barred their way.

  “No one is allowed to see Princess Elloriana,” one guard said.

  “Is she all right?” Earl asked, concerned.

  “The royal family has requested their privacy,” the other guard said.

  “I’m Elloriana’s best friend from the Adventurers’ Academy,” Lita told the guards. “She requested that if I was ever in Lordavia, I stop and see her.”

  Even with Lita’s bold statement and glare, the guards wouldn’t relent.

  “I sure hope she’s all right,” Earl said as they exited the pyramid.

  “We will have to lay a plan in order to see her,” Lita said.

  “Don’t bother,” Dagdron said. “She got more uppity during the summer and doesn’t want to see you.”

  Lita tried to grab Dagdron’s cloak, but the rogue slipped from her grasp, darting off into the crowd of transients.

  Lita slept in the spare bedroom on the first floor of the Valoringtons’ house, and Dagdron was on the floor in Earl’s room across the hall. Before Earl had gone to bed, he had made a show of clearing out more sleeping space on the floor, but Dagdron knew he was really trying to prevent him from sneaking out, as a pile of Earl’s possessions had been shifted to block the window leading into the narrow space between their house and the next.

  This left Dagdron with the option of sneaking out the back door, which led to the patio and garden where Mrs. Valorington grew all her flowers. Or, Dagdron thought, if he had to use a door, he might as well just go out the front.

  Earl had been snoring from the minute his head hit his pillow, but Dagdron waited until midnight to quietly slip out of the room and house. He slunk along the streets, sticking to the shadows, as he made his way to the royal pyramid in the center of Lordavia. He had seen many opportunities for a rogue during the afternoon tour, but he had begun planning this expedition long before. Although everything had turned out great for the Valoringtons, Dagdron still didn’t like richies meddling where they didn’t belong. And the Solloughbys deserved payback for all the problems they had caused the previous year.

  There were guards patrolling in front of the pyramid, but Dagdron, sticking to the shadows with patience, was able to creep to one of the tunnels without being seen. He paused before entering the courtyard, observing the guards crossing the plaza and the ones patrolling on the bridges above that linked the front of the pyramid to other parts of the castle.

  As soon as there was a lull in the patrol, Dagdron slipped along the side of the courtyard, heading to the left where the lower-ranking nobles lived. There was a long corridor with short hallways leading off to the individual dwellings. He had never learned where the Solloughbys lived, so his only choice was to examine the outside of each abode and peer in windows in hopes he could identify the correct residence.

  As he went, he sometimes caught the sound of the patrolling guards echoing down the corridor from the courtyard. But then, partway down the hallway, he heard soft-stepping footsteps coming from behind. He darted into the nearest alcove, which led to a house with a gaudy gold ornament on the door, and he kept completely motionless in the darkness.

  Having no idea if he had been spotted, Dagdron readied his dagger in his hand, flattening himself against the wall. A tall, robed figure turned into the hallway but passed him by, his cloak camouflaging him in the darkness. The figure went to the window. Dagdron could only assume he had been spotted and was being searched out. He didn’t want his night to be wasted, so he crept up behind the figure, whipped his dagger in front, and held it against the person’s neck.

  “I’ll slit your throat,” Dagdron seethed.

  Chapter 7: Earl’s Worst Nightmare

  Dagdron had hoped to strike fear in the person before slipping away. He thought this might cause the person to give up the hunt for him and allow him to continue his search for the Solloughbys’ house. What he wasn’t ready for was the bloodcurdling scream that came from the figure’s mouth. Dagdron whipped his left hand around to stifle the screech. Worried about guards rushing toward the sound, Dagdron removed both hands and turned to race back to the corridor.

  “Dagdron, is that you?” the figure said.

  Dagdron reined in his escape and turned back around.

  “Wench?” he said. “What the heck are you doing here?”

  “Me? This is my castle,” Elloriana said. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was trying to pay back the Solloughbys before you showed up.”

  “Oh,” Elloriana said. “You can help me, then. I’ve been trying all summer, but I can’t get into their house. They keep their door magically locked, and I don’t want to alert them by breaking the seal. But my spells won’t open the window, either. One night, I even levitated into their back patio, but they have their windows locked there, too.”

  “This is their house?” Dagdron said.

  “Of course. Why were you here if you didn’t know?”

  “I was hiding from you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You walked right by me.” Dagdron pointed with his dagger to where he had hidden in the shadows.

  Elloriana shook her head, annoyed with herself. “I am so out of practice. I’m losing all my common-sense adventurer training during the summer.”

  “Not you too,” Dagdron said.

  “What?”

  “Earl and Lita have been training nonstop to be ready for third year.”

  “Lita?” Elloriana said. “She’s here?”

  “Yes. At least when I tell them you’re alive, they’ll stop talking about how you’re being held captive in the pyramid.”

  “I am being held captive. My dad rarely lets me out, and I can’t have any visitors.”

  Dagdron shrugged.

  “I need to see Lita,” Elloriana said.

  “Why?”

  “We’re roommates at the academy,” she explained. When Dagdron still didn’t react, she continued. “Usually friends at the academy become best friends. Like you and Earl.” Elloriana gave a short chuckle, so Dagdron scowled at her and approached the window.

  Dagdron tried to wedge his dagger along the edges of the pane, but the window wouldn’t budge. Then he tested his lock pick on the door, just to make sure Elloriana had checked properly, but blue sparks came from the lock.

  “I’m an enchantress. Of course I knew it was magically locked.”

  “Quiet, wench,” Dagdron said.

  “You need to come back here tomorrow night and help me sneak to Earl’s house.”

  “I know most Lordavians are your slaves, but I’m not from here, so I don’t obey your richy orders.”

  “Please,” Elloriana said.

  “With the Backer chasing us, I don’
t think Earl will allow that,” Dagdron said.

  “You’ve seen the Backer?”

  Dagdron nodded his head.

  “Well, tell me about it.”

  “You’ll have to wait for Earl to tell you. He’s going to repeat every detail, so there’s no need for me to.”

  Dagdron turned and headed back down the corridor.

  “Get back here!” Elloriana said, using her long legs to stride after the rogue.

  Dagdron picked up the pace and dashed into the courtyard, giving no thought to whether the guards would see him.

  Elloriana, not wanting her parents to discover she had been out of her chambers, was forced to stop at the courtyard and could only watch as Dagdron’s black figure disappeared in the tunnel leading out of the pyramid.

  Earl, though extremely upset that Dagdron had snuck out, didn’t completely veto Elloriana’s request, but he insisted that he and Lita accompany Dagdron closer to the pyramid so that the princess didn’t have to walk across the entire city at night.

  Elloriana was extremely cold to Dagdron, refusing to talk to him the entire way as he led her to where Earl and Lita were waiting on a side street a short distance from the pyramid. She hadn’t appreciated how he had run off the night before without telling her more about the Backer.

  Elloriana finally smiled when she and Lita greeted each other with a hug. Dagdron still wondered how he had missed the fact that the girls were such good friends. From what he remembered, Earl and Lita spent all their free time sword battling, so he didn’t know when Elloriana and Lita had had time to develop such a close friendship at the academy.

  As soon as the greetings were over, Elloriana asked about the Backer and, just as Dagdron had predicted, Earl launched into a long explanation about their two encounters with the enchanter in Broodavia and Thornrim. He also told her about the quest Wendahl had given them, which reasonably cheered her up.

  “So the Backer is really real?” Elloriana said.

  “He blasted me right off the bridge,” Earl said.

  Elloriana glanced at Dagdron.

  “It’s true. He didn’t just trip,” Dagdron said.

  “I haven’t tripped since I got my new boots,” Earl said.

  Elloriana ignored the comment and asked for more details about the Backer.

  “You haven’t found out any information about Byron?” Earl asked.

  “No,” Elloriana said. “The Fortigroffs have cut off all relations with my family after last year’s fiasco.”

  “And you’ve really been locked in the castle?” Lita asked.

  “Basically,” Elloriana said. “My father and mother won’t ever let me leave unaccompanied. But my levitation spells are superb now, and my tree-climbing skills are getting really good too. I’ve been trying to sneak into the Solloughbys’ house all summer”

  “Be careful, Princess,” Earl said.

  “I don’t think you or Dagdron will ever be allowed in the castle again,” Elloriana said to Earl, “but I bet my dad will let Lita stay with me.”

  Earl looked a little distraught but, not wanting to deny Lita the experience, nodded as he changed his face to a smile.

  Earl was adamant that Dagdron sneak Elloriana back to the pyramid entrance, so the rogue and enchantress walked in silence. Not until they were about to separate in the tunnel leading to the inner courtyard did Elloriana speak.

  “Will you help me break into the Solloughbys’ house?” she asked.

  “I don’t do magic,” Dagdron said.

  “I bet my father will let Lita stay with me and invite her to the royal banquet. He’ll want Thornrim to have a good impression of Lordavia now that our relations with Broodavia are severed. I’ll ask Lita’s permission, but if she will take the blame for making us late to the banquet, I can hurry over, unseal the door, and then you can take it from there. I’ll have enough time to get back to my room, Lita can say she made us late, and my father won’t be upset.”

  “You’re still worrying about what your parents and all the royals think of you?” Dagdron said.

  “I told you I was out of adventurer practice.” Elloriana, looking discouraged, left Dagdron without another word.

  * * *

  The next royal banquet was held the second week of August. Elloriana’s plan worked without a hitch, except for the fact that Earl insisted on being part of it. So Dagdron and Earl were waiting in front of the Solloughbys’ door when Elloriana, flustered, rushed into the alcove.

  She approached the door without stopping, holding her hands inches from the handle. Her hands emitted a blue glow as she sought to break through the magic spell that guarded the lock. Dagdron and Earl, expecting it to be a quick process, watched impatiently as Elloriana maintained the blue light radiating on the door. After more than five minutes, the princess, having kept her legs locked to focus on her spell, began to wobble slightly. Earl steadied her, but then there was a burst of light as she broke through the magical lock.

  “You are out of practice,” Dagdron said.

  “That was not because of lack of skill,” Elloriana said, glowering. “Kemp’s spell locking his door was extremely weak, and we all know why. He wasn’t even a real adventurer.”

  Elloriana stormed from the alcove, wobbling as she turned the corner.

  “She’s right, Dagdron,” Earl said as he watched his friend set at picking the physical lock. “The Solloughbys had a really powerful spell put on their door. Be careful.”

  Dagdron picked the lock in seconds, and they slipped inside. The Solloughbys’ house was immaculate. The furniture and plants in the front room were pristine, and each and every vase, urn, and other decoration had been cleaned until it shone.

  Dagdron, motioning for Earl to stay put, gave the front room a quick search. He checked under the furnishings and peeked in all the vases but didn’t uncover anything. Figuring the Solloughbys wouldn’t leave important documents about their betrayal of Lordavia in the front room anyway, Dagdron led Earl down the hall.

  They went into Earl and Countess Solloughby’s bedroom first. It was just as spotless and easy to search. Earl hovered at Dagdron’s side, watching his every move.

  “They deserve to be stolen from,” Dagdron said.

  “Revenge is unbecoming of an adventurer,” Earl said.

  Dagdron lay down on his stomach to search under the bed. Fortunately, he found a pouch of coins, which he was able to slip into the sleeve of his cloak without Earl noticing. He didn’t want to leave the house empty-handed.

  Finding nothing that dealt with Byron, the Backer, or the new city, Dagdron and Earl crossed the hallway to Grady’s bedroom. He was Earl’s age and had been denied acceptance into the Adventurers’ Academy. Grady begrudged Earl for taking his place, since most adventurers from Lordavia were magic users, not warriors.

  “Oh my goodness,” Earl said, looking wide eyed and horrified around the room. “Grady’s living my worst nightmare.”

  Unlike the other rooms of the house, Grady’s walls were plastered with paraphernalia and the shelves were cluttered with trinkets. One wall was home to a large parchment with a charcoal drawing of the Adventurers’ Academy. A painting depicting Bodaburg as seen from the mountainside hung on another. And all the knickknacks and ornaments on the shelves were representative of being an adventurer or items Dagdron and Earl often saw for sale on the streets of Bodaburg.

  Dagdron ignored the comment and began rifling through all the junk, checking for anything that might hold a clue about the Backer or Byron’s city at Central Crossing.

  “I’m serious,” Earl said. “My room would be exactly like this if I hadn’t been accepted into the Adventurers’ Academy. My family feuded with the Solloughbys, but I just thought they were jealous because going to the academy is a status symbol. I never realized it was Grady’s dream. I feel so sorry for him.”

  “You would have betrayed Lordavia too, I bet,” Dagdron finally said, tossing a trinket aside.

  “I would not have,” Earl
said. “All I’m saying is that I never understood where Grady was coming from.”

  “He’s lucky he didn’t get accepted into the academy.”

  “Don’t start with that again. He wanted to be an adventurer. And even if you won’t admit it, going to the Adventurers’ Academy changes lives. It would’ve even changed Grady’s.”

  “You’re right.”

  “Thank you for admitting that.” Earl nodded with approval.

  “Grady’s life would’ve changed because he’d be dead,” Dagdron said.

  “What?”

  “If he had been my roommate, I definitely would’ve slit his throat.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Earl said. “You just say that because you like being my roommate so much and can’t imagine having shared your academy years with anyone else.”

  Dagdron got right back to searching without replying. Earl joined him in rummaging around the room, but the profusion of stuff made it difficult to find anything. When they didn’t stumble on anything of significance, Dagdron scoured the trinkets, trying to decide which one to steal.

  “Dagdron, don’t,” Earl said. “You’ll crush his broken spirit even more.”

  Earl grabbed Dagdron’s cloak and began pulling him from the room, so Dagdron whipped out his dagger, knocking a few objects from the shelves before Earl could get him completely into the hallway. Earl released Dagdron back in the living area, and the boys glanced around, wondering if anything could be hidden in a place they had missed. Dagdron finally shrugged, and he and Earl left the house, locking the door behind them.

  “Nothing?” Elloriana asked the following day.

  King Loftloomburg had permitted her to take Lita on a tour of the city, so they met Earl and Dagdron in Adventurer Plaza. Earl explained all about the expedition; however, Elloriana wasn’t near as sympathetic to Grady as Earl had been.

  “That doesn’t give him the right to betray Lordavia,” she said. “In fact, I don’t have any idea why the Solloughbys are betraying us. They’re very well off and still have their status. And Lordavia and my parents didn’t have anything to do with Grady not getting accepted into the Adventurers’ Academy.”