Boudicca shrieked a battle cry, and the pixies launched into action. Some tackled the Wisps head on, somehow able to grasp the apparently solid center of the gaseous orbs. Others fought fire with fire, pumping up the intensity of their pulsating lights to chase away the fierce glow of the Wisps. I didn’t know where to look or how to help, but it felt like being stuck right in the middle of a firework display. No, it was more like being caught in the middle of a firework explosion. Shards of light erupted in every direction, glinting purple and red and blue and orange, fizzing to their demise on the floor.
“Here.” Nathan scurried over and covered both of our heads with his jacket, sheltering us in darkness. But I could still see the flashes of vivid color through the dense fabric and hear the howls of the pixies as they gave the Wisps hell.
“Shouldn’t we do something?” I whispered.
Nathan shifted to peek out beneath the edge of his jacket. “I don’t know what we can do. But it looks like the pixies have it covered.”
I took a peek for myself. “Remind me never to get on their bad side.”
The pixies worked in focused units, like a well-oiled machine. I watched a trio literally drag a Wisp to the ground, where they stomped on the glowing orb until the brighter flame in the center sputtered out completely. The message seemed to spread through the rest of the pixies, and soon they were all trying to drag the Wisps downward. The firefight of light on light continued amongst those that remained airborne, rainbow sparks cascading down like colored rain. It might’ve been the most brutal and beautiful fight I’d ever seen. And the pixies were winning.
A sound pierced the air, soft and sorrowful, and totally incongruous with the battle taking place. Words drifted around me, clear despite the jacket and the bellows and screeches of the pixies. A song I knew, but slightly different—sadder than when we’d heard it in the foyer of the new wing. The Wisps began to pull back toward the Door, called to retreat by the bittersweet music.
“Whatever you do, don’t listen to it,” Nathan urged, sticking his fingers in his ears.
I pulled back the jacket, much to his horror. “Maybe we have to.”
“We can’t, or we’ll end up trapped inside.” He tried to flip the jacket back over my head, but I brushed it away.
“Then we should go now, before we’re hypnotized,” I said, knowing our window of opportunity would close rapidly once the Wisps were back over the threshold. It had to be now. “It’s open, and that’s where we need to go.” I grinned at the hovering pixies, who’d paused to let the enemy retreat. “Besides, we’ve got a whole cavalry with us.”
Nathan grimaced. “I’m not one for heroism. I’m happier with my books.” He stood and threw his jacket to the ground, like it was some kind of metaphor for his fear. “But these people need us, and I won’t let them down. Otherwise, I might as well have become a Librarian.”
“You’d be surprised what a Librarian can do.” I grinned, thinking of Melody and wishing she were here. She’d have been able to get us out of this in no time, but I doubted a call would get out to her, even if Victoria’s hunters hadn’t nabbed my phone. “Come on. It’s now or never.”
I jumped up and approached the fizzling door, knowing we were moments away from missing our shot. That sweet song continued to ripple outward as the pixies swarmed around me defensively, Boudicca landing on the top of my head.
Taking a courageous breath, and remembering Leviathan’s words about being careful, I stepped into the light. Nathan followed, and the two of us emerged into the weird and overwhelming world beyond. My feet hit the ground instantly, Nathan beside me. I allowed myself a moment to feel stunned, then I took in my surroundings.
The realm of the Wisps was a confusing collision of the familiar and the strange—like Earth, with gravity and breathable air, but like it had been dipped in the palette of a different planet, with silvered blades of grass that sparkled like a winter’s morning, and blood-red trees that sprouted pure white leaves. Rolling, pale hills stretched for miles toward a bruised-purple horizon. Warm ambient lighting blanketed the peculiar world, like it was golden hour in San Diego, although there was no sun to tell the time of day or to explain how there could be so much light in the sky.
Weirder still, this pocket within an interdimensional pocket was full of people clothed in period dress, from dozens of different centuries. But they didn’t seem to notice that two strangers had just materialized, nor did they seem to be aware of those around them. They all seemed… hypnotized, standing around like they were waiting for something important. Perhaps they were focused on the singing, although it wasn’t clear where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be everywhere and nowhere all at once, much like the light.
“This is supposed to be a prison?” I wondered, gasping.
Nathan’s eyes widened. “I have no idea what this is supposed to be.”
I heard a sound like Velcro ripping and, turning, I saw the four lines of the Door beginning to fade as the gateway sealed
