Enchanted Ivy

Plastering a smile on her face, Lily waved like Miss America. Tye bounded across the sidewalk and then joined the parade. The alumni clapped and cheered.

Tye broke through the crowds on the other side of the street. Lily continued to wave until they were safely up the hill and into the gardens. In seconds, they were on the other side of the garden and heading for 1879 Hall.

As they ran through the arch, the monkey gargoyles swiveled their heads to watch them pass. A few skittered down from their perches. But Tye didn't slow. He raced onto Prospect Avenue.

Professor Ape cried, 'Hold! Fall back!'

'Oh, no,' Lily breathed.

Emerging from behind one of the clubs, a troll crept along the stone wall in front of Vineyard Club. Lily spotted pixies perched on the telephone wire. A dead bird lay on the street beneath them. Goblins skittered across the roof of Vineyard Club.

The Feeders hadn't disappeared into the world.

The Feeders were here.

Tye pivoted and raced back toward 1879 Hall. Lily clung to the stone ape as they bounded up the steps. At the top, Lily looked back over her shoulder. Nothing had chased them. The Feeders were closing in on Vineyard Club.

'Hold here!' the ape instructed. He leaped off Tye's back and then scrambled up the brick wall to the campus security phone under the arch. As Lily slid off the tiger boy's back, Professor Ape stabbed the red emergency button with a stone finger. 'Code forty-four. Prospect Avenue. Vineyard Club is focus.'

Monkey gargoyles scurried over the bricks as Tye transformed back to human. The monkeys crawled over him and wrapped their stone arms around his neck, arms, and legs. He patted them.

'What's a code forty-four?' Lily asked.

'Lockdown,' Tye said. 'Campus security will blockade the street to protect civilians.'

'It won't be enough,' the Literate Ape said.

Now that she was looking for them, Lily could see Feeders everywhere: slipping between parked cars, slinking along the hedges, climbing over stone walls. She counted far more than fifty rogue magic creatures streaming toward the club.

'There must be hundreds,' Tye said, staring at the street.

'She didn't want to be hunted anymore,' Lily said. 'This was her plan.'

'Forbes ... they were testing the knights in preparation for this.' He shook his head. 'She must have gathered every Feeder for hundreds of miles. I didn't even know there were so many.'

The Literate Ape was grim. 'Over the years, criminals have sneaked into this world when Keys crossed, but most are simply the children and the children's children of all the magic creatures who were trapped here when the gate closed.'

'But this is why the knights exist, right?' Lily said. 'It's not like they're defenseless.' She thought of the cabinets full of knives and swords.

'It won't be easy or quiet,' Tye said.

'But they'll be okay,' Lily insisted. She thought of Mom and Grandpa inside, helpless.

Tye looked pale. He stroked one of the monkeys that clung to his shirt. 'If the battle isn't quick, campus security won't be able to contain it. It won't stay secret. Not with a campus full of alums.'

'Gather all the gargoyles,' Professor Ape said to the monkey gargoyles. 'Tell them the unimaginable has happened. Tell them our secret is in jeopardy. Tell them war has come to the warriors.'

Chittering, the monkeys scampered away. Lily watched them swarm over 1879 Hall. Stone tigers, goblins, and dwarves peeled away from the stone. Lions climbed down from their pedestals. As the gargoyles marched toward Prospect Avenue, the monkeys scattered and spread across campus to rouse more.

'Will it be enough?' Lily asked.

'I don't know,' the ape said quietly.

Together, the three of them watched as the knights poured out the front door of Vineyard Club. Shrieking and screaming, the Feeders charged toward them.

There had to be something more they could do. Think, Lily! she ordered herself. 'Tye, if we ask ...,' she began.

'It won't work,' Tye said.

'How do you know—'

He flashed her a lopsided grin, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. 'Soul mates think alike.' And then he shook his head. 'The council will never agree to help. Not now.'

Professor Ape drew himself up tall. 'They must,' he said. 'Suit up in your fur, boy. It's time for me to go home.'

Squeezing her eyes shut, Lily clung to the Literate Ape as Tye carried them across campus. He paid zero respect to paths or obstacles, barreling through bushes and leaping over bike racks. Lily felt her teeth bash together. She opened her eyes in time to see the gate speeding toward them, and then she saw the white flash as they crossed.

Tye skidded to a stop in front of the forest.

The Literate Ape leaped off the tiger boy's back. 'We will speak to the council,' he announced to the gold eagles. Lily noticed that the eagles were covered in scrapes and scratches. The ape didn't wait for their response. Leading the way, he marched to Nassau Hall.

The stone man had only an instant to throw open the door to the council chamber as the Literate Ape plowed forward without pause.

Inside, the council was in session. The tiger man, the unicorn, the centaur, the tiny man, and the elf all broke off conversation as the ape, Lily, and Tye barged in. Lily buried her fingers in Tye's tiger fur to hide how much they were shaking.

Rising to his feet, Tye's father bowed. 'Welcome home, Ambassador.'

Others echoed his welcome. Lily noticed that no one welcomed her or Tye.

With no preamble, Professor Ape said, 'The Princeton knights are under attack. You must summon every available warrior, pass through the gate, and join the battle.'

The unicorn spoke. 'With all due respect, Ambassador, we will not.'

The ape's eyes bulged.

Had he really expected them to leap to their feet, wave their swords in the air, and charge to the defense of the knights? Yes, Lily thought, he had. Beside her, Tye shifted from tiger to human. Like Lily, he stayed silent behind the ape.

'You cannot turn your backs on the knights.' Professor Ape said. 'They're your allies.'

'Our alliance with the humans is void,' the centaur said.

Professor Ape punched the air with his fists as if he wanted to knock sense into all of them. 'This university was founded to promote understanding and cooperation between our worlds. It is the purpose of your existence here. You cannot turn your backs on the humans.'

'Our responsibility is to our people,' the elf said, rising to her feet, 'as well as to our principles. We do not and will not condone Feeders of any kind.'

'I know these knights. I know each man and each woman, and I know they are not Feeders.' The ape thumped his chest for emphasis.

The tiger man snorted. 'Oh? You know? With all due respect, Ambassador, you have been stone for most of your tenure.'

Lily noticed that the ape's gray stone flesh had darkened to brown fur. His angular face had softened into more lifelike curves, and his eyes were now milky white, instead of stone. He was shedding his gargoyle traits, albeit slowly. Now he vibrated in very unstonelike fury.

He's going to fail, she thought. She had to say something.

The tiger man wasn't finished. 'Show me one knight who is worth the risk to our people. Show me one that's worth saving.'

'Jake,' Lily said. 'He's here right now, held by the dryad queen.'

Tye leaned close to her and said under his breath, 'Lily, you know my father hates him. Jake reminds him of losing my mother.'