Bagsy Beetlehorn and the Corvid Trials (The Bagsy Chronicles 2)

The Corvid Trials

Mezrielda picked up the wand training wheels as Bagsy joined her in the corridor. A gentle clatter to their left alerted them to a flight modulator laying on the floor at the end of the hall.

'Mezrielda...' Bagsy cautioned.

'I know,' Mezrielda said. 'This is most peculiar, but I don't have a choice. I need these items, and my magic can deal with whoever is messing with us once we find them.' She set of towards the flight modulator at a sprint, Bagsy struggling to keep up. When Mezrielda picked up the flight modulator a clatter alerted her to another. Then, once she had that, a soft thud revealed Bagsy's quilt, and so it continued. Soon, they'd traversed out of the dungeons, and onto a different corridor.

The longer the trail continued, and the more items that appeared, the worse Bagsy felt about following them. Mezrielda was always many paces ahead of her, Bagsy just barely keeping up. 'Mezrielda...' she said again, uncertainty clear in her voice.

'I don't have a choice!' Mezrielda hissed, dashing around a corner. When Bagsy turned the corner she saw Mezrielda stood frozen.

At the end of the corridor was a large, impenetrable shadow. Sitting in this shadow, as if lit by a spotlight, was a large stack of items; cutlery, a paper dress, jewellery and textbooks were only some of the things Bagsy's eyes managed to take in.

It took her a second to realise this was the corridor the suits of armour had grabbed her in, and that was the shadow they'd tried to throw her into. For the first time it occurred to her that perhaps going into the shadows had been the worst idea they'd ever had.

Time froze like ice around Bagsy, who's limbs and voice felt heavy and useless. She opened her mouth to warn Mezrielda, to beg her to run, but Mezrielda dived at the items before she could. The floor the items were resting on vanished, leaving only the yawning abyss of shadow, and Mezrielda fell out of sight and into darkness, the sleek strands of her hair the last glimpse Bagsy caught of her friend before she disappeared.

Time unfroze, and Bagsy blinked over and over, panic settling into her bones. Two red eyes blinked at her from the shadow. She jumped and fell backwards in fear, staring numbly at the shadow. The dragonfly and its painful death shot to the forefront of her mind, joined by a familiar voice whispering directly into her head.

'Come and join me in the dark, or I will eat her heart.'

Suddenly, Mezrielda was the dragonfly, slowly being drained of her life. Bagsy couldn't move, only stare at the red eyes.

'If, through the shadow you dive, I will let her leave, alive.'

Bagsy stayed on the floor. She couldn't save Mezrielda, she was too scared. That thing, the beast, was going to consume her friend and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't cast any spells, she wasn't brave enough to go into the shadows after her, and even if she did, what could she do? She was just Bagsy. She didn't have the skills and quick mind Mezrielda had. She wasn't particularly strong of talented. All she could do was cry and worry.

'Bagsy, stand up,' Mistress Foncée snapped quickly from behind her. Bagsy whipped her head around to see Cora standing impressively over her. 'We don't have much time.' Cora held her hand down to Bagsy, who took it and was hauled to her feet. 'This way. We can save your friend.'

Bagsy let Cora lead her away from the shadow, a hissing in her mind ebbing away as they left. She didn't see the walls pass her by, or notice her feet stammering over the cobbled floor to keep pace with Cora. She felt numb to her bones, seeing the last few strands of Mezrielda's hair disappear into darkness over and over in her mind. Her friends' hands had reached out only to find nothing, no floor, no items, to grab onto and had descended helplessly out of sight. She hadn't had time to scream before she'd fallen from view. Was she in the other Hogwarts now? That cold and dead place with empty paintings, stale air and desaturated palette? Or had the beast already killed her? She found she was trembling all over, her vision growing blurry.