فصل 9

Chapter 9

TRAVELING AWAY FROM the Magisterium was no easy task. They had to navigate through the forest to the highway, Tamara using the map on her phone to help. On the way, there was the possibility of running into elementals and Chaos-ridden animals. Plus there was the possibility of getting lost.

Still, the weather was nice, and with the sound of cicadas and Jasper’s complaining ringing in his ears, Call didn’t mind the walk. At least not until his leg started to stiffen up and he realized that, once again, he was going to hold the rest of them back. Even on a quest to save his own father.

If it had just been Aaron and Tamara tromping on ahead, Tamara carrying a heavy stick and shoving it in the dirt to propel her along like she thought she was Gandalf, Aaron’s blond hair glowing in the moonlight, then Call might have complained. But the idea of Jasper having something else over him grated his last nerve. He gritted his teeth, hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders, and ignored the pain.

“Do you think they’re going to throw you out?” Jasper asked conversationally. “I mean, helping the Enemy. Or at least a henchperson of the Enemy.” “My father is not a henchperson of the Enemy.”

Jasper went on, ignoring Call. “Kidnapping me. Endangering the Makar …” “I’m right here, you know,” said Aaron. “I can make my own decisions.” “I’m not sure the Assembly would agree with that,” said Jasper. They had passed out of the part of the forest where the trees were younger thanks to the fire and destruction wrought by Constantine Madden fifteen years ago. The trees here were towering and thickly branched. More moonlight spilled down through the leaves and danced along Havoc’s fur. “Call, maybe you’ll finally get your wish. You could actually get kicked out of the Magisterium. Too bad it’s too late to bind your magic.” “Shut up, Jasper,” said Tamara.

“And, Tamara, well, your family has been disgraced before. At least they’re used to it.” Tamara smacked him on the back of his head. “Give it a rest. If you talk too much, you’ll dehydrate.” “Ow,” Jasper complained.

“Shh,” Aaron said.

“I get it,” Jasper said sourly. “Tamara already told me to shut up.”

“No, I meant everyone, be quiet.” Aaron crouched down behind the moss-covered root of a tree. “There’s something out there.” Jasper immediately dropped to his knees. Tamara rolled up her sleeves and got into a crouch, one of her hands cupped. Fire was already sparking in her palm.

Call hesitated. His leg was stiff, and he was worried that if he crouched down, he wouldn’t be able to straighten up again, at least not gracefully.

“Call, get down,” Tamara hissed. The light between her palms was growing into a shimmering square. “Don’t be a hero.” Call almost couldn’t hold back a sarcastic laugh at that.

The shimmering square rose, and Call realized that Tamara had shaped air energy into something that functioned like the lens of a telescope. They all leaned forward, as a valley below them sprang into view.

Looking through her magical lens, they could spot a circular clearing with small, brightly painted wooden houses spaced equidistantly around it. A large wooden building stood at the center. It had a placard over the door. To his surprise, Tamara’s magical lens allowed Call to read the words on it. THOUGHTS ARE FREE AND SUBJECT TO NO RULE.

“That’s what’s written on the Magisterium entrance,” he said, surprised.

“Well, on one of the entrances, anyway,” said a voice behind him.

He spun around. A man stood amid the fallen leaves and ferns, dressed in the black uniform of a Master. Jasper gasped and scrabbled backward until he hit the trunk of a tree.

“Master Lemuel,” he gulped. “But I thought you — I thought they —”

“Fired me from the Magisterium?”

None of them spoke for a long moment. Finally, Aaron nodded. “Well, yeah.” “I was offered a leave of absence, and I took it,” Lemuel said, scowling down at them. “Apparently, I’m not the only one.” “We’re on a mission,” Tamara said with vast sincerity and not a little annoyance. “Obviously. Otherwise, why would we have Jasper along?” She really was a good liar, Call thought. He’d acted like it was a bad thing. But right then, he was glad.

Jasper opened his mouth to protest — or possibly tattle — when Aaron clapped him on the shoulder. Hard.

Master Lemuel snorted. “As if I care? I don’t. Run away from the Magisterium if you want. Use your magic to get into nightclubs. Joyride on elementals. I don’t have any apprentices to look after anymore, thank goodness, and I certainly have no intention of looking after any of you.” “Uh, okay,” said Call. “Great?”

“What is this place?” asked Aaron, craning his neck to look around.

“An enclave of like-minded individuals,” said Master Lemuel, making a shooing motion with his hands. “Now run along. Go.” “Who’s there?” asked an older woman with freckled and sun-browned skin, wearing a saffron-colored linen dress. Her white hair was braided up onto her head. “Are you terrorizing those kids?” “We know him,” said Tamara. “From the Magisterium.”

“Well, come on,” the woman said, turning and beckoning them. “Come have a cold drink. Hiking through the forest is thirsty work.” Call looked over at Tamara and Aaron. If Jasper started complaining about being their prisoner, would Master Lemuel find it funny? Had he heard that the Alkahest was stolen? Call was sure he wouldn’t find that part amusing.

“We should probably just get going,” Tamara said. “Thanks and everything, but —” “Oh, no, I won’t take no for an answer.” The woman hooked her arm with Aaron’s, and Aaron, always polite, let her begin to lead him toward the encampment. “My name is Alma. I know what kind of awful food they feed you up at the Magisterium. Just stop in for a visit and then you’ll be on your way.” “Uh, Aaron,” Call said. “We’re kind of in a hurry.”

Aaron looked helpless. He clearly didn’t want to be rude. Social pressure was, apparently, his kryptonite.

Master Lemuel looked more annoyed than pleased, so probably that meant it wasn’t some kind of trap. With a sigh and a speaking look between himself and Tamara, he followed Alma and Aaron down a gentle sloped incline toward one of the houses with a small porch and blue-painted stars on the door. Inside, Call could see a little kitchen with long wooden shelves lined with hand-labeled bottles. A wood-burning stove smoked in the corner, a hammock swung in another, and a quaintly painted table with chairs was in the center of the room. The woman opened a cabinet, which was full of misting ice. She stuck her hand inside and came out with a pitcher of slushy lemonade, the glass cloudy with cold and several slices of lemon floating inside.

She placed a few mismatched glasses and started to fill them. Aaron snatched one, guzzled it down, then winced in pain.

“Brain freeze,” he explained.

Call thought uncomfortably about gingerbread houses and old ladies and didn’t take a drink. He didn’t trust Master Lemuel and he definitely didn’t trust anyone who could put up with Master Lemuel either.

He did, however, sit down on one of the chairs and rub his leg. He couldn’t remember anything bad about sitting in fairy tales.

“So, this place?” Tamara asked. “What is it?”

“Ah, yes,” said the woman. “Did you see the sign above our Great House?” “ ‘Thoughts are free and subject to no rule,’ ” repeated Tamara.

The woman nodded. Master Lemuel had followed them to the house. “Alma, I know these children. They’re not just trouble — they’re the epicenter of trouble. Don’t tell them anything you’ll regret.” She waved vaguely at him and then turned back to the kids. She pointed at Havoc, who whined a little and moved behind Call’s chair. “We study the Chaos-ridden. I see you have a wolf with you — a young one. The Enemy put chaos into both humans and animals, but while the chaos seemed to rob people of speech and intelligence, animals reacted differently. They continued to breed, so that the Chaos-ridden creatures of today never knew the commands of a Makar, because there wasn’t one, until now.” She looked at Aaron.

“Havoc responds to Call, not me,” said Aaron. “And Call isn’t a Makar.” “That’s very interesting to us,” Alma replied. “How did you find Havoc, Call?” “He was out in the snow,” Call said, brushing the back of his fingers against Havoc’s ruff. “I saved his life.” Tamara gave him an incredulous look, as though she thought that Havoc would have been fine without him.

“Havoc was born Chaos-ridden,” said Alma. “There are no humans like that. Humans can’t have chaos put into them; the human Chaos-ridden are made from the freshly dead.” Aaron shuddered. “That sounds gruesome. Like zombies.”

“It is gruesome, in a way,” said Alma. “There is an old alchemical saying: ‘Every poison is also a cure; it only depends on the dose.’ The Enemy managed to cure death, but the cure was worse than the original condition.” “Master Milagros says that,” said Jasper, narrowing his eyes. “Were you a teacher at the Magisterium?” “I was,” said Alma. “At the same time that Master Joseph was there, experimenting with void magic. So were many of us. I helped with some of his experiments.” Tamara tipped over her lemonade glass. “You stood by as Constantine pushed chaos into people, into animals? Why would anyone do that?” “The Order of Disorder,” Call whispered. They had to be part of it. In the book, it had said they’d turned to researching Chaos-ridden animals. Where else would they find Chaos-ridden animals than in the woods around the Magisterium? They were the creators of the Alkahest.

Alma smiled at him. “I see you’ve heard of us. Haven’t you ever asked yourself what Master Joseph and Constantine Madden were trying to do?” “They were trying to make it so no one ever had to die,” said Call.

Everyone looked at him oddly. “Way to pay attention in class,” Aaron said under his breath.

“We are all beings of energy,” said Lemuel. “When our energy is expended, our lives end. Chaos is a source of endless energy. If chaos could be placed safely inside a person, he or she could feed off that energy forever. He or she would never die.” “But it can’t be,” said Aaron. “Placed safely inside a person, I mean.” “That’s what we’re still trying to determine,” said Alma. “We’re working with animals, because animals seem to react to chaos differently. Your wolf has chaos inside him — he was born with it inside of him — but he still has a personality, he has feelings, doesn’t he? He’s as alive as you are.” “Well, yeah,” Call said.

“And he is absolutely, definitely, not ever going to snap and eat our faces,” Jasper interjected. “Right?” “Who can say?” offered Master Lemuel. He certainly appeared to be happier here than he had been as a teacher at the Magisterium, Call thought. Half of his mouth was turning up as though he might actually smile.

Jasper slid down in his chair. “Crud.”

Tamara glanced around. “So if you’re studying Chaos-ridden animals, do you catch them? Do you keep them in cages?” Alma smiled and eyed Havoc in a way that Call didn’t like. “So tell me about your mission. What’s your assignment?” “I thought you said you didn’t care where we were going,” Aaron said to Master Lemuel.

“I don’t. I didn’t say nobody would care.” Lemuel’s half smile turned into a full, malicious one. “It’s not easy to run away from the Magisterium.” “Drew sure found that out,” muttered Jasper.

Master Lemuel flushed. “Drew wasn’t really trying to run away. Everything he said about me was a lie.” “Look, we know that,” Aaron said, raising his hands in a gesture for peace. “And we are on a mission, just not one that everyone at school knows about. So if you could tell us the fastest way to the road —” There was a commotion outside.

A middle-aged man with a bald head and big bristly beard rushed into the room. “Alma, Lemuel! The Masters from the Magisterium are coming this way. It’s a search party.” Lemuel looked smugly at Call and the others. “Not running away, huh?”

“Just for the record,” said Jasper, “these people kidnapped me and are forcing me to go with them on a stupid mission to —” Tamara opened her hand. Jasper stopped speaking abruptly and started gasping for air. Tamara had apparently snatched the words from his mouth — quite literally — and taken the air he was breathing along with them. The adults hadn’t seemed to notice, but Call was impressed.

“Stall, Andreas,” said Alma calmly.

The bearded man rushed off in the direction he’d come.

Call leaped to his feet, heart in his throat. “We have to get out of here,” he said.

Aaron scrambled up after him, and so did Tamara. Only Jasper remained seated, still breathing hard and glaring at the others. “We’ll hide in the woods,” said Aaron. “Please, just let us go and we’ll never mention this place.” “I can do better than that,” Alma said. “We’ll hide you. But you have to do something for us in return.” Her gaze went to Havoc.

“No way,” said Tamara, moving to put her hand on the wolf’s side. “We’re not letting you do whatever it is you’re —” “Do you promise he won’t get hurt?” Call asked quickly, interrupting her. He didn’t like to consider it, thinking of how his father had chained up Havoc, but he saw the covetous way Alma was looking at his wolf. He needed to agree, so he could stall for time until he found a way to get them all out of there, including his wolf.

“Call, you can’t,” Tamara protested, her fingers in Havoc’s fur.

“Of course he can,” said Jasper. “You think he’s going to be loyal to anyone or anything? Let’s just go back to the Magisterium.” “Shut up,” said Aaron. “Call, are you sure —”

But Alma laughed. “You misunderstand. It’s not Havoc we want, although he’s very interesting. It’s Aaron.” “Well, you definitely can’t have Aaron,” Tamara said.

“Without a Makar, we have so many theories, but no way to test them. We know you can’t stay right now, Aaron, but make me a promise that you’ll come back, and leave that wolf as collateral. When you return, all we need is a few hours of your time. And maybe when you see what you could do — how helpful to the world you could be as something other than a defense against an enemy with whom we’re no longer at war — then maybe you’ll decide to join us.” None of them spoke.

“The wolf will be fine,” Alma said.

“Okay,” Aaron said after a long moment. “I’ll promise to come back, but you can’t keep Havoc. You don’t need collateral. You have my word.” “We trust you, Makar, but not that much. Quickly, children. Decide. We can hide you or we can turn you over to the mages. But you must know they’ll trade Havoc to us in exchange for the four of you.” Call didn’t doubt that — not at this point. “Fine. Same deal as before. But no experiments on him.” Alma looked well satisfied. “Good. Agreed. All of you, follow me.” She led them out the back door of the cottage. They hustled across the green space between the buildings.

Call felt horribly exposed. He could see shadows moving through the trees circling the clearing and hear raised voices. The Masters, shouting their names. Hurrying after Tamara, he saw she had one hand clasped around Jasper’s wrist, keeping him from running in the opposite direction. Call thought he heard Master Rufus’s voice. He grabbed Havoc’s collar and pulled him along faster. The wolf looked up at him as though he suspected something bad was about to happen.

If they ran into the woods, they’d be caught. Their only choice was to follow Alma — who was totally scary, who had once worked with Constantine Madden and Master Joseph, who wanted to experiment on Havoc, who probably qualified to have a pretty long Evil Overlord list of her own — and hope that she’d make good on her promise to hide them.

With a sigh, Call kept on going. Alma took a key ring with several keys out of a pocket of her saffron dress and unlocked the door to the central building.

Immediately, they were startled by the sounds of barking and keening and crying. The building they went into was lined on all sides with cages of various sizes, and in them were Chaos-ridden animals. From brown bears with wild swirling eyes to gray foxes to a single bobcat that roared as Call came into the room.

“This is the worst zoo ever,” Jasper said.

Tamara’s hand came up to cover her mouth. “So this is where you keep them.” Alma guided Call over to one of the cages. “Get your wolf inside. Quickly. I need to get you settled and then go deal with the mages.” “How do we know you’re as good as your word?” asked Aaron, apparently pushed beyond the fear of offending.

“Makar, look at the creatures we have here,” she said. “They were dangerous to obtain. They are dangerous to keep. But you are more dangerous than any of them. We wouldn’t cross you lightly. We need your help.” Outside, voices got louder. Master Lemuel was arguing with another mage.

Taking a deep breath, Call put Havoc in the cage and let Alma lock it. She took the key and tucked it into her pocket, then led them to another room. It was windowless and full of boxes.

“Stay in here until I come back for you. It won’t be long,” said Alma before she shut the door. They heard the lock turn and then her footsteps receding.

Tamara whirled on Call and Aaron. “How could you agree to letting them take Havoc? He’s our wolf!” “He’s my wolf,” Call pointed out.

“Not anymore,” Jasper said, examining his fingernails.

“And you,” Tamara said to Aaron. “Agreeing to some stupid deal. Both of you are idiots.” Call threw up his hands. “What else were we supposed to do? We needed them to hide us — and now they have. If we break out — and get Havoc out, too — while they’re talking to the Masters, we can sneak away without anyone knowing. And then Aaron doesn’t have to come back.” Aaron opened his mouth to say something, but Call cut him off. “Don’t say anything about keeping your promise. That wasn’t a real promise.” “Fine,” Aaron said.

“It’s not going to be easy to break out your wolf. There’s probably a magical lock on those cages,” Jasper said.

“He’s right,” said Tamara.

“I have a plan,” said Call, peering out through the keyhole in the door. “Aaron, can you get this door open?” “If you are asking if I know how to pick locks,” Aaron said, “I don’t.” “Yeah, but you’re a Makar,” said Call. Through the keyhole, he could see the stuffy room full of cages, and Havoc curled up, looking miserable. “Makar it open or something.” Aaron looked at him as if he was talking nonsense. Then he spun around and kicked the door. It burst open, the hinges tearing.

“Or you could do that,” Call said. “That works, too.”

Jasper’s body tensed, like he was thinking about making a break for it.

Tamara turned toward him. “Please don’t leave. Just stay with us, okay? For a little while longer. I know this isn’t fun, but it really is important.” Jasper looked at her, an odd expression on his face, as though she’d managed to say the one thing that could convince him not to run out of there and tell on them. Weirdly, that thing appeared to be please.

“Well, you’re right about it not being fun,” he said, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

Call went to the cages. As Jasper had predicted, the locks were inscribed with several interleaving circles of alchemical symbols he didn’t recognize. And three keyholes. “Tamara, what does this mean?” he asked.

She peered over his shoulder and squinted. “It’s warded against magic.” “Oh,” he said. Back home, during the May Day Parade, he had liberated a naked mole rat and white mice, without magic, just ingenuity. After Aaron kicked open the door and got them into the main room, Call felt like he had to be the one to get the cages open. Somehow.

He grabbed hold of the bars, squinched up his eyes, and pulled as hard as he could.

“That’s your plan?” Jasper said, bursting out laughing. “Are you kidding me?” “We need a key,” Aaron said, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Or, well, a lot of keys.” One of the bears roared, sticking a paw through the bars of the cage and batting at the air. Its eyes were orange and burning, coruscating with chaos. Aaron looked at it with his mouth open. “I’ve never seen one of those before.” Call wasn’t sure if he meant a bear or a Chaos-ridden bear, which he was willing to bet none of them had ever seen before.

“I have an idea,” Tamara said, with a quick worried glance in the bear’s direction. “We can’t use magic on the locks, but …” Call whirled to look at her. “What?”

“Give me something metal. Anything.”

Call lifted a brass astrolabe off one of the desks and held it out to her.

In her hands, it started to melt. No, the more Call stared, the more he realized that the liquefying metal was floating above her hands. It formed into a red-hot roiling blob, blackening as it cooled in the open air and drifted toward the cage holding Havoc. When it got there, three tendrils of liquid metal snaked out into the keyholes.

“Send cold water at it,” Tamara said, her whole body straining with concentration.

Call pulled water from the animals’ dishes, forming it into a ball and using air magic to cool it.

“Quicker,” she said, gritting her teeth.

He sent the water at what was left of the astrolabe. The metal hissed and the water evaporated into a cloud. Call jumped back, falling awkwardly against one of the cages.

When the cloud cleared, Tamara was holding a three-part key.

Havoc whimpered. Tamara pressed the key into the lock and twisted it; there were three distinct clicks — one, two, and then a third that echoed all around the room. The cage popped open and Havoc bounded out, sending the door swinging. Then, more clicks rang out as all the cage doors popped open.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have unlocked all three locks,” Call said into the unnerving silence that followed.

As the animals burst free from their cages, Jasper started yelling. The bear heaved its way up and out. Foxes, dogs, wolves, and stoats all poured out of their prisons.

“Go!” Call shouted at them. “Go and attack — I mean, go and distract the Masters! Lead them away from here!” “Yes, distract,” Tamara put in. “Distract!”

The Chaos-ridden animals rushed toward the door, barely paying attention to either of them. Aaron yanked the door open just in time for them to thunder through.

There were shouts from outside as well as growls and squawks. Call could hear people running and yelling.

Havoc danced up to Call, licking him vigorously. Call bent down to hug him. “Good wolf,” he muttered. “Good wolf.” Havoc nuzzled up against him, his eyes glowing yellow.

“Get down!” Tamara yelled, and reached up to yank at Jasper, who had climbed onto the desk and was trying to push open the window.

“I’m trying to help!” he protested.

Aaron leaned out the open door. “What if some of the Chaos-ridden attack one of the mages? What if someone gets hurt? Not all animals are like Havoc.” “Don’t worry about the Masters,” Call said. “Those animals didn’t look in great shape. I bet most of them run for the forest the first chance they get.” “Like we should be doing,” Tamara reminded him, heading for the door and pushing past Aaron. “Let’s get out of here.” Keeping his head down and the fingers of one of his hands buried in Havoc’s ruff, Call followed her. Aaron brought up the rear, keeping Jasper in front of him.

They emerged into a clearing and froze. The small outpost was completely overrun. Masters were running back and forth, trying to capture the Chaos-ridden animals fleeing in every direction. Jets of fire and ice were shooting through the air. Call was pretty sure he saw Master Rockmaple being chased around a tree by a Chaos-ridden golden retriever. Master North whirled, a gleaming ball of fire beginning to rise from the palm of his hand.

Alma suddenly lunged out of the small wooden house where she had given them lemonade. A whirlwind of air was whipping around her. She threw out her hand, and a tendril of air shot free and knocked Master North off his feet. His bolt of fire went wide, catching the leaves and branches of the tree over his head. It started to burn as Tamara took firm hold of Call by the collar and hauled him out of the clearing, into the woods.

They were all running, Tamara, Aaron, Jasper, even Call, limping a little but gaining a pretty good speed. Just as the sounds of the fighting behind them died down, Call heard a voice.

“I told Alma you were troublemakers,” said Master Lemuel, standing ominously in their path. “She wouldn’t listen.” Aaron stopped short, and the others nearly crashed into him. Master Lemuel raised his eyebrows.

“I’m going to tell you one thing,” he said, “and you can believe me or not. But I dislike the Masters of the Magisterium more than I dislike you. And I don’t want them to get what they want. Understand?” They nodded in unison.

He pointed toward a narrow brook that ran through the trees. It was actually very pretty here, Call thought, which might have been something he would have appreciated under other circumstances.

“Follow that to the highway,” Lemuel said. “It’s the fastest way. From there, you’re on your own.” There was a silence. Then Aaron said, “Thanks.”

Of course Aaron would say thanks, Call thought, as they hurried toward the brook. If someone were hitting Aaron over the head, he would thank them for stopping.

They made their way along the brook for half an hour in silence before Jasper spoke up.

“So what’s your plan now? It’s not like we’re safe once we hit the highway,” Jasper said. “There’s no buses, and we don’t have a car —” “I have a plan,” Tamara said.

Call turned toward her. “You do?”

“I always have a plan,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Sometimes, even, a scheme. You should take lessons from me.” “This better be a really good plan,” Aaron said, smirking. “Because you sure are talking it up.” Tamara pulled her phone out of her bag, checked it, and then kept walking.