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

Through the Shadows

'I was growing impatient, so I gave the girl a good reason to go into the shadows,' Cora hissed. 'The temptation of the corvid trials was taking too long. As gullible as those little brats are, they didn't just get on with it like I'd hope. They chose to prepare instead. That's why I always have a back-up plan, in case things don't go as intended.'

'And?' the other voice prompted.

'As I said. I gave the girl good reason to go into the shadows. You know how my minions enjoy stealing items of importance. She was already suspected, so I simply encouraged the suspicion to suit my needs. It's amazing how warped the priorities of children are. Once everyone thought she was a thief, she was so desperate to return the items that she practically leapt into the shadows.'

Bagsy blinked blearily as she came to her senses. Cora was talking, and then she was screaming, and then she was quiet. Bagsy sat up, Tod's boat rocking as she did so. Squinting through the darkness, she saw Cora held on her back in the shallow water by a worm that looked more like a giant snake.

'Where is the marked one? What have you done with her?'

'In my domain. I invoked the trials, or do you lack ears as well as a brain? There's no way an incompetent fool such as herself will complete them. She'll be dead within the hour.'

'And what of the other girl? How do we get her back from the beast?' the voice asked. Bagsy decided, in her groggy state, that the voice was the worm's voice.

Cora laughed. A worm shot out of the water and bit into Cora's cloak, only now Bagsy could see it was no cloak at all, but too stretching wings of obsidian feathers.

Mistress Foncée let out a cry of pain, her blood spilling into the water. 'You'd have to go in there yourself and kill the beast,' Cora grit through the agony. The worm's grip slacked. If a worm could look fearful, that worm did.

A sudden wave of surprise washed over Cora's face, her purple eyes flashing in Bagsy's direction. 'Well well... it seems she has, somehow, beaten the trials.'

The worm slowly turned its head to look back at Bagsy.

'You know me of old. You know the powers I have learnt over the centuries. Tell me, Aot, do you recall...' Cora whispered, 'that I and I alone can summon my followers to me, no matter how new they are to being members of the corvid family?' Cora took her chance and held out her hand. Bagsy felt as if every bone in her body was a mag-net ball, and Cora's hand was the bat. She shot out from the boat and raced towards Cora's palm, who was laughing maniacally. Cora's fingers curled, the sharp, elongated nails glowing a threatening violet as they waited for Bagsy's heart to arrive; five knifes ready to impale her.

Another worm surged out from the water and bit into Cora's side. She screeched, her arm flailing, the purple colour draining from her nails. The second her hand wasn't perfectly pointed towards Bagsy, the force pulling on her let go, and Bagsy dropped with a splash into the water, rolling along as the momentum left her.

'Go!' the worm encouraged Bagsy urgently. She fumbled fearfully to her feet and ran as fast as she could back to the boat. She threw herself into it and, as it began to rise, she grabbed the rudder, steering it up towards safety as the worm wrestled with Cora in the darkness behind.

Bagsy glanced over her shoulder. Cora looked seconds away from winning, pushing upwards and flapping her gargantuan wings, summoning an intense gust of wind. Then something else caught Bagsy's eye. Far behind Cora and the worm, glinting in the shadows cast on the underlake's walls, were two red eyes.

They were watching.

Waiting.

Bagsy looked at them, feeling the heat drain from her. She knew Mezrielda was in there, in the other Hogwarts trapped with the beast, and there the beast was, inviting Bagsy in. Inviting her to make the trade. Her life for Mezrielda's. Bagsy could escape, if she was quick enough. She could go and get help, but what if it was too late by then? What if Mezrielda died?