'Zane,' James said, getting shakily to his feet. 'Are you all right? Where's Ralph?'
'I'm here,' Ralph muttered. 'I'm just taking inventory of all my bones and major bodily functions. So far, nothing alarming, except that I need a bathroom even more than St. Lokimagus.'
James climbed the steps into the gloom of the upper terraces of the grotto. The early morning light was faint and grey, barely making it through the brush and trees of the island. Zane and Ralph were climbing unsteadily to their feet.
'Merlin's gone,' James said, looking around. 'And I don't see Jackson or Delacroix, either.' He stepped over the broken bits of Jackson's wand and shuddered.
'Guess we were wrong about him, weren't we?' Ralph said.
'We were wrong about loads of stuff,' James agreed softly.
Zane rubbed his lower back and groaned. 'Hey, we didn't do too bad, considering everything. We almost stopped Merlin's return, thanks to a handy length of log and my catlike reflexes.' His voice sounded hollow in the flat echo of the grotto, and he fell silent. The three boys found the opening that led out to the dragon's head bridge, hacked through some weeds that had grown up to choke the space, and stumbled out into the dawn. The bridge had partially collapsed, and bore almost no resemblance to the frightening dragon's head anymore. The bank bordering the forest was muddy and wet, covered in morning dew.
'Hey look,' Ralph said, pointing. There were tracks in the fresh, slippery mud.
'Looks like two people went that way. Away from the school,' Zane said, bending over to study the sloppy markings. 'You think one of them was Merlin?'
James shook his head. 'No. Merlin wasn't wearing shoes. That looks like Delacroix and Jackson to me. She probably left first, and then he set out after her when he came to. Besides, something about Merlin tells me he doesn't leave tracks unless he makes a point of it.'
'I hope Jackson breaks her in half when he catches her,' Zane said, but without much passion.
'I hope she doesn't break him,' Ralph replied morosely. 'You saw what she did to his wand.'
'Don't remind me,' James muttered. 'I don't want to think about it.' He began to walk forward, heading generally into the woods where they'd left Prechka, but with no real destination in mind. He had a terrible suspicion about where Merlin had gone, and he, James, was responsible for that. Twice, Delacroix had called him her apprentice. She had influenced him, somehow, and he'd allowed it. He had played right into her plan, bringing the robe to her. She was right. She hadn't had to lift so much as a finger. True, things hadn't seemed to work out very well for her in the end, but that didn't mean much. A lone, rogue Merlin might be even more dangerous than a Merlin in league with people like the Progressive Element. At least they tried to operate under a guise of respectability. Merlin was from a different time, a more direct and deadly time. A nearly crushing weight of guilt and hopelessness pressed down on James as he plodded forward. Zane and Ralph followed quietly.
Prechka was gone. James wasn't surprised, really. Her footprints were pressed into the dewy earth like dinosaur tracks. Without a word, the boys followed them, shivering and wet with dew. Mist filled the woods, reducing the world to a handful of black trees and dripping bushes. As they walked, the mist grew bright, absorbing the sun, and finally began to burn away. The forest awoke with bird song, and the scampering of unseen creatures in the brush. And then, surprisingly, there were distant voices, calling for them.
'Hey!' Zane said, stopping and listening. 'That's Ted!'
'And Sabrina!' Ralph added. 'What are they doing out here? Hey! Over here!'
The three boys stopped and called to the two Gremlins, who responded with hoots and hollers. A gigantic shape loomed out of the mist, moving almost delicately through the trees.
'Grawp!' Zane laughed, running to meet the giant.
'Boy, you three look like Inferi leftovers,' Ted called down from Grawp's shoulders. 'You spent the whole night out here?'
'It's a long story, but yes,' Zane called up. 'Short version: Merlin's back, the voodoo queen's on the run, and Jackson was a good guy after all. He's after her as we speak, results unknown.'
'Is there room up there for three more, Grawp?' Ralph said, shivering. 'Only, I think if I have to take one more step, I'll drop dead.'
Grawp knelt and the three boys clambered onto his back, crowding in with Sabrina and Ted. Before climbing up, James flexed the fingers and wrist of his right hand. There was no pain, and the bones of his arm seemed sturdy and straight. He stripped off the splint and jammed it carelessly into his pocket.
'How'd you two get out?' James asked Ted when he was crammed in next to him, holding handfuls of Grawp's straw-like hair for support. 'I thought all of you were under house arrest.'
'That was last night,' Ted said simply. 'Things have gone pretty crazy at the school since then. Merlin showed up in the middle of the night, and let me tell you, that bloke knows how to make an entrance.'
'He rode Prechka right into the courtyard and had her kick the front doors in,' Sabrina explained. 'He obviously speaks Giant, and he had her really wild. Then he climbs off and just puts her to sleep. She's still there, snoring next to the main entrance like the world's largest pile of laundry.'
'We all woke up when we heard the noise of the doors being smashed in,' Ted went on. 'After that, it was pandemonium. Students running all over the place in their night clothes, trying to figure out what's going on. People were already pretty uptight, what with that Prescott guy still on the grounds and nobody knowing what he's up to. And then here's this bloke who's built like a boulder and dressed like a cross between a druid and Father Christmas, stalking through the school, putting people to sleep with barely a look, clacking this enormous staff on the floor as he goes, loud enough to echo around the whole place. Then he sees Peeves and the weirdest thing happens!'
'What?' Zane asked hopefully. 'Did Peeves blow a raspberry at him and get turned into a floor lamp or something?'
'No,' Sabrina said, 'Peeves joined him! He didn't seem to want to, but he did anyway. Merlin stopped when he saw Peeves, and then he spoke to him. None of us knew what he was saying. It was in some really weird, flowery language. We were worried that Peeves would do something stupid and get us all zapped with that creepy staff, but then Peeves just grins, and it isn't like any of his normal grins. It's the kind of grin you see on a house-elf when the master is just as prone to wallop the elf with a frying pan as look at it. A whole lot of teeth and not much humor, you know? And then Peeves swoops down next to the guy. They talk for few seconds in low voices, and then Peeves moves off, slow enough for Merlin to follow. Merlin had a place in mind he wanted to go, I guess, and Peeves took him there.'
'Peeves?' Ralph said incredulously.
'I know,' Ted replied. 'It isn't natural. That's when we knew we were dealing with somebody really scary. Most of us Gremlins had already guessed he was Merlin, but that proved it.'
'So where'd they go?' James asked in a quiet voice.
'Sylvven Tower,' Sabrina answered. 'At least that's what it used to be called. Nobody uses it for much anymore. Word came down that he was awaiting a 'parley with the Pendragon', whatever that means.'
'I don't like the sound of that one bit,' Zane said.
'Nobody does,' Ted agreed. 'Apparently, he thinks that this 'Pendragon' is the king or leader. It's some kind of medieval challenge or something. Anyway, McGonagall gathered the faculty to go and deal with him, and that's when she realized that both Professor Jackson and Delacroix were gone. Then word comes that you've gone missing from the hospital wing, James. Next thing we know, McGonagall is sending
