“I think I came out ahead last time,” Idris said.
I relayed the message to Owen, who replied, “You escaped. I’m not sure I’d call that ‘coming out ahead.’ Scurrying away like a sewer rat isn’t my idea of a victory.”
“I like my odds now, since you’re more than a bit outnumbered here.” I counted eighteen student wizards, not including Dean, plus Idris, which probably meant the odds were in our favor when you considered who the people on our side were. But I wasn’t going to tell Idris that. That was part of the surprise.
Idris turned again to his people. “Well, what are you waiting for? The person you’re supposed to be catching is right there in front of you. Do I have to draw you a map?”
Moving almost as one, they rose and headed in our direction. At first, it was a few tentative steps forward, but then they gathered momentum and surged toward us. I didn’t feel I needed to relay Idris’s instruction to Owen. Instead, I tugged on Owen’s hand and yelled, “Run.” I wasn’t sure whether he was able to see the wizards coming at us, but I didn’t want to take any chances.
The student wizards ran through the Magic 101 spell book, throwing one thing after another at Owen as we fled. There was enough magic in the air to give me goose bumps. They must have dropped their veil because Owen deflected their spells easily without pointers from me. It helped that they had to say the spells clearly and out loud, sounding like first-graders reading from a primer. That gave Owen plenty of time to have his own counterspell ready in an instant. He’d probably had to practice fending off this kind of attack in the magical equivalent of Cub Scouts.
The wizards behind us shouted in triumph as we ran from the square toward the park. They were sure they had their quarry on the run. I heard Dean’s voice cry out, “Follow him!” They didn’t need much urging. They were already convinced they were moments away from earning the designation of real wizard for their achievement in capturing their mentor’s archenemy. I almost felt sorry for them.
They knew no more about what they were messing with than Dean had before we set him straight.
We ran straight for the creek and down the path leading to the shore. When the first of the wizards reached the creek bank path all hell broke loose. The lead naiad rose from the middle of the creek and gave that creepy dolphin call. At her signal, several naiads popped out of the water near the creek bank to grab student wizards by their ankles and pull them into the water, where they sputtered for breath as the naiads dunked them repeatedly. The rest of the students were so freaked out by the naiads that they didn’t notice the dryads in the trees above them. Dryads dropped from the trees onto the student wizards below with unearthly howls. Others pelted the wizards with twigs.
The students behind the first group saw what was happening and tried to turn and run back up the path to the park, but they were blocked on the narrow path by the students who brought up the rear. A big traffic jam formed, which made them easy prey for the pixies, who popped out of the bushes to poke at their ankles and calves with sharp sticks as they giggled in delight.
“I guess we’d better go see how the rest of the fight is going,” Owen said.
“Do we have to? This part is pretty fun.”
“I want to catch Idris this time, and this is probably my best chance.”
“If he even shows up. I didn’t see him in the group chasing us.”
“I don’t think he’ll be able to make himself stay away. He’s not stupid enough to think that this bunch will really do much good. He’ll let them tire me out, and then he’ll face me himself.”
Since the path was still jammed, Owen and I climbed the creek bank, finding handholds on trees and roots as we made our way upward. We emerged into the park to see a magical battle in full force. The students who’d been blocked from going down the path to the creek had been caught by Rod, Merlin, and Sam, who’d all emerged from their hiding places with Teddy and Granny and were blocking the park’s one unwarded exit so that no one who wanted to run from naiads, dryads, and pixies could get away. The panicked would-be wizards who no longer wanted any part of this added to the chaos, getting in the way of those who were still gung-ho enough to want to catch Owen.
Judging by the guys running in circles, their eyes wild with terror, and the grin on Rod’s face as he stood waving his hands in languid gestures, I got the impression that Rod was sending horrific illusions after them. Those guys were probably facing things out of their worst nightmares. Merlin stood calmly by the exit, with Granny at his side, waving a hand every so often to deflect a spell or to block someone from getting away. Merlin’s attention seemed to be more on Owen than on the fight itself. I got the feeling this was some huge test that would determine Owen’s future with the company after his crazy AWOL stunt.