Page 25 of Malcroix Bones Academy

Magique And Magi

“But… but this is London.” I stared in confusion over the busy street. I gazed up and down sidewalks filled with bustling foot traffic, lined with shop fronts and government buildings, with familiar monuments and statues in the park up ahead.

I stared blankly at a view of the Thames, and of Parliament Square.

I glanced back over my shoulder, and realized with a start that the Houses of Parliament stood nearly at our backs. We were surrounded on all sides by government buildings, with Big Ben and the Thames to the west.

“Is that where we were all this time?” I asked, even more bewildered.

Ankha gave me an odd look, like she thought I might be suffering from a stroke.

Without a word, the maddening old witch turned on her heel and stalked off. When she continued to make her way along the river in the direction of the bridge, I hurried to catch up with her. That’s when I started to notice other things.

Like the lack of cars.

And the clothing.

Just like they had been inside the building, the clothes were all a bitoffin some way. Men wore hats and dated-looking suits, but the colors were off. The tails were too long, the decorative patterns too visible, the jackets too short or too fitted, or they didn’t match with the pants or the style of hat. Women wore things thatlookedsort of like things I recognized, but I saw too many corsets, along with what looked like jodhpurs and bustles, iridescent coats and furred hats matched with gloves and embroidered boots.

What my mind labeled “old-fashioned” inside that dimly-lit building, now, under direct sunlight, struck me as just… weird. I couldn’t say I didn’tlikeit, though. Truthfully, I thought the clothing styles here were a lot more interesting than the London I remembered.

It didn’t explain where I was, though.

Everyone still had one of those light animals perched on their shoulders, weaving around their legs and feet, or flying over their heads. It struck me that I hadn’t noticed them at first because I’d already grown accustomed to seeing them there.

The fact that my mind decided that was “normal” already, unnerved me a bit.

I looked up to the sky, which was shockingly blue, and a sun that appeared both too large and shockingly bright. A few small, puffy clouds scuttled there, but otherwise, it was astonishingly clear.

Other things began to jump out at me.

The arrows on the face of Big Ben curved strangely and aimed at odd symbols.

The Thames itself was shockingly blue, and filled with colorful boats.

The stone of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament gleamed with white marble run through with veins of gold. Colorfulumbrellas lined the riverbanks around kiosks selling everything from strange animals to books, foods that made my nose twitch, tea, decks of cards, crystal balls, scarves, antiques, umbrellas, and odd-looking paintings.

A woman held out her hand as we passed, and one of those little flame creatures with wings alighted on it. I watched in astonishment as the woman appeared to whisper something into the creature’s ear, right before she held up the same hand and the tiny person took wing, flying back in the direction of Parliament.

Something much larger flew by a few seconds later, beating enormous, feathered wings and causing a number of curses and shouts from passersby who ducked to avoid it, and italmostlooked like?

“Close your mouth,” Ankha snapped, giving me a stern look.

For some reason, I heeded her.

I fell in step beside her when she resumed walking.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“There,” Ankha said, and pointed.

I followed the direction of her bony finger.

On the other side of the river stood a black stone building I didn’t recognize at all from the London I knew. Granted, I didn’t know any version of London well, but the castle-like structure would’ve been far too dramatic to miss, with its wide turrets, steep spires, climbing purple blossoms, and a drawbridge hanging open over a partial moat.

Banners hung from the parapets and the highest tower.

“It’s the Dragon’s Keep,” Ankha explained. “It’s where they’ve put us.”