Page 49 of With the Potion in the Courtyard

With the answer spoken aloud, the drawn door shuddered and swung open with a creak that sounded suspiciously like someone dragging a stick across a picket fence. We exchanged grins, ready for whatever lay beyond.

We tiptoed into the inner sanctum, the rubbery ground of Doodle muffling our steps but not enough to silence the echoes bouncing off the walls. I squinted in the dim light, taking in the nightmare before us.

The room looked like something out of an Indian Jones movie. It was huge and dark, other than the flickering torches alonga stone path about as big as a four-lane road. Only, giant blades were swinging back and forth along it, and there were dark pits at random, almost hidden by the dark stone. On each side of the stone path was nothing, just a dark abyss. And at the end of the stone path? A huge throne with a terrifying creature sleeping on top of it.

"Look at that," Robbie whispered.

"Is that a lizard man?" Jessie's voice trembled.

"Yeah, with a wizard hat," I said, my own voice sounding strange in the hush of the room.

Someone had let loose with markers and clay, creating a creature both whimsical and terrifying. Dark lines swirled around him, and his eyes were two glowing orbs that didn't seem tied to any one spot on his face. He was shaped like a lizard, with black scales, and a long tail.

Then, there was movement beside the lizard wizard. I squinted at the strange creation, trying to figure out what I was seeing.

"Jaylyn," I said softly, spotting her in the center of a magical shimmering blue cage that looked suspiciously like a cage, her big brown eyes wide with fear as they met mine across the distance.

"Shh," Robbie said. "We don't want to alert him."

I nodded, feeling the weight of responsibility settle on my shoulders. As a new Fairy Godmother, it was on me to get us all out safely. We needed to free Jaylyn and deal with whatever that thing was. And we had to do it soon.

Suddenly, Zorand's eyes snapped open, zeroing in on us. He rose from the cage, like a thing of shadows and limbs, hurting toward us like a storm. His limbs twisted in ways that made my stomach turn.

"Quick, the artifact," Jessie shouted.

Grabbing it from my pocket, I clutched a small stone bird in my hand and focused. In seconds, we were nothing more than a painting of a bird on the wall, our colors blending with the scribbled landscape.

"Is it scared of birds?" Robbie asked, his voice barely a whisper.

"Looks like it," I said, watching Zorand hesitate.

But then he blinked, those slits of yellow narrowing as he peered at our illusion. "Nice try," he said, and lunged again.

"Here goes nothing," I said, removing my wand and pointing it straight at him as I created my spell. It hit him square in the chest, stopping him cold for a moment. But only a moment.

"Hit him again," Robbie yelled, his own wand at the ready.

We pelted him with spells, each one holding him back a little longer than the last. But he kept coming, relentless. And then, his own spells began to come. One exploded next to me, taking chunks out of the ground. Another hit the ground by Robbie, somehow setting the stone on fire. Suddenly, instead of being the ones attacking him, he was the one attacking us.

And he was winning.

"Stand back," I pulled deep from the well of magic inside me. I cast a protective barrier around us, a shimmering dome that echoed the blue of Jaylyn's prison.

For a while, it worked. Zorand's magic bounced off, harmless. But then, his spells became fiercer, and cracks appeared in my shield. A burst of his dark magic slipped through, and we felt the sting of cinders on ourskin.

"Jessie, now," I cried out.

She didn't hesitate, flinging a handful of ice cubes into the air. The temperature plummeted, frost creeping across the floor and up the walls. Zorand's spells slowed, weakened by the sudden cold.

"Keep going," I said, but my heart sank as I saw my protection flicker.

With a roar, Zorand conjured a massive fire beside him, the heat intense enough to make the air waver. He seemed to draw strength from the flames, growing larger, more terrifying.

"Watch out," Robbie shouted as blades dislodged from the walls, hurtling toward us.

We ducked and dove, each move a desperate dance to avoid being sliced open. I could feel the heat of the fire, the chill of the ice, and the sharp threat of steel all at once, a sensory overload that threatened to overwhelm me.

"Can't keep this up much longer," I gasped, dodging another blade. My barrier was all but gone, and Zorand was just getting started.