“Mr. Simon?” her small voice called out across the wasteland. “Is that you?”
I sensed her before I saw her.
“Over here,” I said, waving an arm. “Hello, Cece.”
She still looked around ten, thankfully. I didn’t know what to expect when an ancient Jotnar consciousness took over a Jotnar ice mage. Her white-blond hair flowed gently around her head. The air around her crackled with blue energy. It was Cece, but she was, like Peaches had sensed, more. Piercing sky—blue eyes looked at me with vague recognition.
She wore blue jeans and a black T-shirt with an image of Darth Vader holding a red light saber, framed by the Death Star in the background. I glanced down at Monty, who was still inscribing symbols.
“Vader, really?”
“Focus, Simon,” Monty answered, keeping his voice low and his back to Cece. “I know that looks like Cecelia. It’s also a powerful ancient Jotnar entity just waiting to unleash a barrage of obsidian ice at us. I’d rather avoid death by impalement today.”
“Good point, Darth Monty.”
“Mr. Simon?” Cece said. “Mr. Montague? What are you doing here?”
“Keep her talking,” Monty said under his breath. “Just a little longer.”
“It looks like you’ve been getting stronger,” I said. “I don’t really know where ‘here’ is. This is a place you’ve made.”
“I made this place?” Cece asked, looking around. “Are you sure? This isn’t home.”
“I’m positive,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Do you know how this happened?”
“No. I don’t…I don’t remember. I was practicing my homework with Rags…” A look of panic crossed her face. “Where’s Rags?”
“Rags is safe,” I said, watching the recognition leave her eyes. “She’s with Peaches, who is watching over her.”
“Rags would never leave my side, unless…Did you hurt her? Did you hurt my Rags?”
“Whatever it is you’re going to do,” I said under my breath, “you’d better do it fast, Monty.”
“A few more seconds,” Monty said, keeping his voice low. “Keep her talking.”
“No, no,” I said, raising my hands in surrender. “Rags is safe. She was trying to protect you when something happened. Can you try to remember what happened?”
Blue-white light erupted from Cece’s eyes.
“I can tell you what happened, Chosen of Kali.” Cece’s voice had reverted to that of James Earl Jones. It kind of made surreal sense considering the shirt she was wearing. “Tristan Montague failed to honor his vow.”
“Cece has left the building, Monty,” I said as enormous, jagged shards of nasty-looking, obsidian ice slowly materialized, floating in the air surrounding us. “Monty?”
“Now—you die,” Cece Earl Jones said.
I pressed the main bead on my mala bracelet and was treated to a significant lack of shielding.
“What the—?” I started as Monty slammed a hand into the ground.
Golden light blazed up from the symbols and raced across the floor to where Cece was standing. The light raced up her legs and enveloped her body, lifting her up into the air. Monty muttered some words under his breath and rotated his hand. The light shifted from golden to a deep violet, and Cecelia screamed.
The obsidian ice around us disappeared.
“You will honor your vow, Tristan Montague!” Cece Earl Jones roared. “I…have…time, mage!”
“Release her,” Monty said, his voice full of menace. “She is not yours to manipulate. Let her go.”
“She is Jotnar, and mine by lineage and right.”
“She is my apprentice and under my tutelage,” Monty answered. “Release her, before I destroy you.”
“You cannot destroy me, mage. You are merely a child. I have existed for millennia. My power dwarfs—”
Monty rotated his hand again and the light turned from violet to black with red highlights. The energy around us shifted into nails-on-a-chalkboard territory, setting my teeth on edge. I saw drops of blood fall from Monty’s nose. This was becoming bad.
“Monty?”
“Release…her,” Monty answered, ignoring me. “Now.”
“Very well, mage,” bass voice Cece said. “I underestimated your resolve. I will not make the same mistake twice. The child will soon surpass even your power. When she does, she will be my instrument and your destruction.”
“When she does, I will make sure she can send you to the outer depths where you belong,” Monty said. “She will never be yours.”
“Stronger mages have tried to resist the call and failed. Many have tried to banish me, yet still I remain.”
“Enough. Release her.”
Cece roared with her bass voice for a few seconds before her body hung limp. Monty rotated his hand back to the golden light setting, and she settled gently to the ground. She remained still for a few moments before stirring.
I saw Monty pull out a handkerchief and wipe the blood from his nose.
“Rags?” Cece asked as she opened her eyes. “Rags?”
Monty and I walked over to where she lay. She sat up slowly, rubbed her eyes, and stood.
“How are you feeling, Cecelia?” Monty asked softly. “Do you remember how you got here?”
“Yes,” she said. “I was working on the runes you gave me to practice.”
“Think very carefully,” Monty said. “Did you change the runes or the order in which I gave them to you?”
Cece scrunched her face and nodded.
“Just a little bit,” she admitted. “I found a shortcut.”
“You found…a shortcut?” Monty asked, incredulous. “The rune sequence I gave you to work on was—”
“Too long, Mr. Montague,” she said. “I changed some of the runes and removed others and still formed the circle. My way was faster.”
“You changed…removed…runes from the sequence?”
I’d never seen Monty flustered. It would’ve been enjoyable if we weren’t in an ice dimension, with some recently dispatched ancient angry entity floating around somewhere.
“I’m sorry, I thought the exercise was making the circle,” Cece answered innocently. “You didn’t say I had to do it exactly your way. Was I not supposed to change the sequence?”
Monty looked at her in silence for a few seconds.
“You were able to form the circle with your modifications?” Monty asked. “The same circle I showed you?”
“Well…mine was a little bit stronger than the one you showed me. Was that okay? It was still the same circle, yes.”
“Stronger?” Monty asked. “I think we need to get back, now.”
“What about the
