Chapter One hundred fifty-eight – Pick a Pic

The long, sweeping arms of Falconet drew Pandy in like a welcoming embrace, and she flew straight over the intervening buildings, coming to a landing on the steps just as Isidor and Tempest drew into sight.

There was no doubt the tortoise would have beaten her if she hadn’t had to go around, but she did, and Pandy felt an almost embarrassing amount of pleasure at the look of surprise on both faces.

Staring around, Isidor asked, “How did you get here?” but Pandy had better things to do with her remaining ten minutes of thumb-time, so she just hopped up the steps and waited impatiently by the door. Isidor climbed down from Tempest’s back, and the tortoise shrank down rapidly, shooting off so many sparks as she did so that she looked like a ball of lightning. Isidor scooped her up, tucked her into his pocket, and silently opened the door.

As soon as they were inside, Isidor broke to the left, already unbuttoning his shirt to remove the scratchy pouch. He passed through the door leading toward the classrooms without looking back once, but Pandy lingered for a moment. She really did want to know what was in the bag, but she needed to know what had happened to Augustus, so she expended another Corruption Point to Hop straight up to the landing, though she didn’t quite make it over the banister, finding herself with whiskers on one side and fluffy tail on the other.

Once she managed to scramble over, she shifted to Ms. Wellington, reaching out to open the door before remembering that she didn’t actually have magical ‘permission’ to do so. To her surprise, the doorknob turned beneath her hand, and she stumbled into the chancellor’s office. It was dark, but there was a sliver of light beneath the next door, a sight that made hope surge in her chest.

The door to Augustus’s rooms opened as easily as the office had, a fact which made her flush when she realized Augustus must have set it to allow her in. Not that that meant anything except that he knew she’d be back and didn’t want her trying to break down the door again, but still…

Something was different in the front room, but Pandy didn’t pause to figure out exactly what it was, instead hurrying over to clasp the knob to the bedroom door. It was only at that point that she hesitated, realizing somewhat belatedly that Augustus might be asleep, or in some other way unready for company – a thought that made her cheeks feel like they’d caught fire – but she went ahead, only showing restraint by turning the knob very slowly, rather than throwing the door open.

She refused to acknowledge the disappointment she felt upon seeing that not only was Augustus awake, but Professor Beeswick was there, too. That absolutely-not-regret at not being alone with him was instantly replaced by immense relief, as she saw that other than shadows beneath his eyes, the chancellor looked almost entirely recovered. He was even propped up in bed, wearing a clean shirt, rather than his nightclothes, while Beeswick sat in the living-room chair beside the bed. Ah ha! That was what had changed!

A quick glance at her timer told Pandy she had slightly less than ten minutes to explain, so she said, “Somebody stuffed a Duskin into that spider, which is why it was so angry, and why it made people sick. I think the magic in the venom was still attached to the Duskin, draining it, which is why they needed so many spiders, and I bet the spell got weaker and weaker as the Duskin did, and so Augustus didn’t get as much of it as the people who were bitten first. When they died, that spell ended, allowing it to bite someone else, but if you have too many draining it at once, it could run out, or drain its Mana dry, which is why it was so weak and maybe even kind of delusional, because it acted like a really crazy giant spider when it tried to eat me.”

Pandy didn’t need to breathe, but she did need air to continue talking, so when she paused to take in that air, Professor Beeswick said mildly, “And what did you do about an hour ago, my dear Pandy?”

Pandy’s mouth hung open for a second as she tried to think, and then her eyes widened as she said, “That’s about when the other Duskin released the trapped one!” Augustus and the professor exchanged meaningful looks, and Pandy, who was thoroughly tired of such looks, burst out, “What? What does that mean?”

Professor Beeswick hesitated, but Augustus gave a slightly crooked smile and said, “We’d guessed at least a bit of what you just verified. Mistress Rose confirmed that each successive person showed fewer and fewer symptoms-” Seeing Pandy’s confusion, he clarified, “The person bitten by the spider died, without fail. But anyone who caught the ‘sickness’ directly from them also became quite ill. This is where most of the related deaths occurred. But anyone who became ill after contact with them only needed a few days in bed, and after that, it was just a day or so of sneezing and coughing.”

Professor Beeswick nodded. “This isn’t the behavior of a natural contagion, of course, so even if we hadn’t already suspected, that would have confirmed that this is magical in nature. Which also explains why most healers could only help alleviate the symptoms. Only the strongest of Light elementalists could cure it entirely, and they were drained for days afterwards.”

“Earlier, you confirmed something we’ve suspected for some time,” Augustus said, reaching a hand toward Pandy. She took a step closer, but didn’t quite dare touch him. He gave something that was halfway between a laugh and a sigh, and allowed the hand to fall as he said, “Dark magic is known to be dangerous not only because it can so easily turn to evil, but to the wielders as well. When you told me that your ‘Mana’ continued to sustain me even after the spell should have been complete, I knew we’d been right. For whatever reason, Dark mages and elementals do remain connected to some spells, which is both a weakness and a strength. I’d guess that they – you – can actually control the magic you leave behind, so while it drains you, it also gives you power over the target.”

Pandy stared from one to the other. “So when the Duskin was released, that broke its link to the magic in its venom.”

Both men nodded.

“I had just gotten hold of a phial of the antidote for Shadow poison, but when I brought it up, imagine my surprise to find Augustus up and wandering about,” Professor Beeswick said, rising from his chair. “We’ve spent the last hour or so debating what, exactly, you and that other young reprobate have been up to.”

Augustus shot him an amused glance. “Worrying, more like. But in order to distract ourselves, we also decided to try a little test, and I drank some of the antidote. I had been feeling some lingering pain and fatigue, but that cleared up within moments, which-”

“Which tells us that the Shadow Exchange have been using this spider’s venom in their poison for years!” Professor Beeswick said, sounding almost indignant. “Do you know how long we’ve been trying to figure out exactly what’s in it? We finally found an antidote, but the poison itself is so fast-acting that almost no one survives long enough to take it. And here it was made from spider venom all along.”

His voice sank as he tapped his fingers thoughtfully on his leg, “Though I shall have to figure out what else it’s mixed with, because unless the Exchange has been working with Dark elementals all this time, there’s definitely more to it, especially given that the natural venom is significantly less toxic. It must lend itself well to-”

“You mean you already figured everything out?” Pandy asked, feeling a sudden, intense desire to cry. She wasn’t sure if it was driven by relief or disgruntlement, but there was no denying the feeling. “I didn’t help at all?”

Augustus was half out of the bed before she finished talking, his gray eyes locked on hers. “You did! You held off the venom until you found a way to release the elemental responsible. Even more, you gave us the information we needed to fill in the picture.”

Pandy bit her lip. “I didn’t do any of that on purpose, though. Well, the holding off the venom bit, but I was just desperate because I-”

The door behind her opened, bumping into her and causing her to take a half-step forward at the same moment Augustus got the rest of the way to his feet. He reached out for her as she tripped over her own feet – and where were all of her points of Dexterity when she needed them? – and landed in his arms. She stared up at him while his hands tightened on her waist, until the dragon very pointedly cleared his throat, and they pulled apart, whirling to look at the boy who’d just tumbled into the room.

Isidor was still in his little boy shape, and his head was lowered as he did not look toward Pandy and Augustus. Instead, he held the pouch out to Professor Beeswick, who accepted it with raised brows. “What is this?” the librarian asked, and Isidor hurried to explain while Pandy edged as far from the chancellor as she could get without being blatantly obvious about it.

Her efforts were wasted since Augustus and the professor seemed to forget Pandy was even there as they both reached for the pouch at once. It was only as Augustus moved to open the flap that Pandy felt a flash of concern that caused her to lunge forward, snatching the bag away. Her time was still ticking down, so rather than explain, she slid the bag’s flap open, then poured the contents out onto the bed, rather than trying to catch it in her hand.

Several gold coins fell out, mostly the familiar round ones, but a few square instead. A smaller pouch made of fine waxed paper or cloth followed, the thin material revealing some pale, powdery contents. There was a piece of paper, worn along the creases where it had been opened and refolded several times, and finally a tiny pin, coated with some black substance.

Shifting Faces expired.

Phew, you do like to cut it close.

Pandy shrank, thumping down onto the bed beside the pouch’s contents. The black pin rolled toward her, pricking her paw.

-1 LF

You have been Poisoned. Poison is ineffective. You take no damage.

Without thinking, Pandy leaned forward and crunched down on the sharp little object, feeling it dig into her mouth as she did. A few chews and a very uncomfortable swallow later, the deadly little thing was gone, and she stared up at the three males, who stared back at her. Isidor’s mouth was hanging open, but Augustus only looked resigned, while Professor Beeswick was very much amused.

“Well then,” the dragon said, reaching out to gingerly open the folded paper with taloned fingers, “Let us see what our young friend has brought, shall we?”

It took a few minutes of careful unfolding, while Pandy wished she could simply do it for him. Unfortunately, lacking thumbs once again, her paws definitely weren’t up to the delicate task. At last, however, the page unfolded completely, revealing that it was actually quite large, maybe two feet by three feet. On it were a whole series of small but distinct portraits, several of which Pandy immediately recognized.

“Damn it,” Augustus murmured, gently touching one small face. A crease cut through it, but Pandy knew exactly who it was. There was no mistaking the way the pale curls fell, or the dimples in the round cheeks. It was Thaniel.

Glancing over the page, Professor Beeswick touched a few more, then ended up on a girl’s solemn face. “This is Suzanne Kirkham,” he said. “She’s a fifth-year, and the only Dark mage at Falconet, other than young Thaniel.”

Augustus nodded, then glanced from Pandy to Isidor. “She’s been spending quite a bit of time with you, hasn’t she?”

Isidor nodded, his expression carefully blank. “She seems innocent enough. I submitted a report on her when Ellie first befriended her.”

A report? What had the boy done, skulked around and watched Suzanne like some kind of spy? Though on second thought, he really was some kind of spy, so that was probably exactly what he did.

Augustus nodded. “I checked on her family, and found no warning signs. As far as I can tell, she is exactly what she seems to be – a young Dark mage brave enough to face her peers, rather than retreating into private tutelage. Her family are…not optimal, but also not aligned with any of the groups opposing the Queen.”

There were whole groups working against the Queen? So it wasn’t just a few disgruntled nobles here and there? Who were they, why were they against her, and why were politics getting involved at all?

Pandy desperately wished she could contribute, since she knew who some of the others were, but fortunately Professor Beeswick had been around long enough to know as well. Touching three of the faces, he said, “Delbert Robins, Elias Keating, and Cora Treadway. They’re all at Kestrel now, and all Dark mages, though I believe Cora is pretending to be a weak Ice mage.” He tapped another two. “Miller Oakden and Anderson Gray, both at Condor. I believe this one may be Bertha Oakden, Miller’s older sister, but she stopped attending school after a single year at Falconet. The mole is quite distinctive, however.”

Indeed, the last picture he’d touched was that of a young woman with a defiant scowl on her face and a large mole beneath her left eye. She looked to be in her late teens, while the others were progressively younger.

“Any idea who the others are?” Augustus asked, and the professor gave him a flat look.

“If I did, I would have said so,” he replied, and the chancellor grimaced.

“I know. Sorry, Beeswick.” Augustus sat down on the bed rather cautiously, carefully avoiding any of the objects. Removing his glasses, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. He’d looked almost cheerful when Pandy arrived, but now tension was digging into the space between his brows again.

“So, someone is targeting Dark mages for…what?” he asked.

“They did try to take Thaniel,” Isidor offered, and Augustus nodded.

“But seem to have made no effort to abduct Miss Kirkham. Not that we know of, anyway.” They all stared at the page filled with little portraits for several seconds before Augustus finally looked up and said, “I believe it’s time to have a talk with young Suzanne.”