Legends: The Folklore Trilogy Book 2

Chapter 18- Where We Converse With a Sorcerer

"Um...hi?" Deynan said uncertainly. "Why are you floating on a broom in the middle of the ocean?"

"We asked first," Abigail said playfully.

"Ok," Isaac said, "we're going to an island. Lilituana. Do you know it?"

Abigail frowned and looked back at Liza and Chris. They cocked eyebrows simultaneously.

"Hey, it's your turn," Deynan said with impatience.

"Oh!" Abigail exclaimed, whipping her head back around. "Right. Well, we were actually ON Lilituana when our sensor picked you up nearby. We wanted to see who it was, naturally, because people don't really come by here much. Only magical folk can get this close to the island." Suddenly she looked concerned. "You are magical, right?"

"Yes," Isaac said dismissively, "but you said you were ON Lilituana? Can you show us how to get there?"

"Um..." Abigail said biting her lip.

"We won't take you unless you tell us why," the girl, Liza, cut in.

"Why do you need to know why?" Deynan countered. I felt the beginnings of a headache appear.

"Because...Lilituana...well, it's dangerous right now," Abigail said carefully.

"What do you mean it's dangerous?" I asked immediately, "what happened?"

"Some things were going weird," Chris said dully, "so one of Abigail's friends asked us to come out and check. Then we get there, and some dude had taken over the entire dang island."

"Ok," I said calmly, "that makes sense."

"What is it with evil people and this particular island?" Deynan muttered.

Abigail looked at us suspiciously. "Ok, spill. What do you know that I don't?"

Isaac looked at me and Deynan. I shook my head slightly, then turned to Abigail. "Give us a reason why we should trust you."

She laughed. Actually laughed. "Well, silly, I can't do that if you don't tell me where you're from!"

I cocked an eyebrow. "Try."

"Ok...um...well, you said evil people and this island," she said, pointing to Deynan, "so I assume you're talking about Giselle. We helped defeat her."

"So you know Sierra?" I asked slowly.

She nodded. "Yeah! Heart shaped face, beautiful smile, golden colored hair?" Then she frowned. "Wait...how do YOU know Sierra?"

I ignored her and turned to Isaac and Deynan.

"If she knows Sierra, we can trust her," I whispered.

Isaac nodded, turning to Abigail. "Ok. You really want to know? We were coming to Lilituana with Sierra, Audrey, and Sophie, to come check out the disturbances just like you. We're Legends. Then, just now, the three of them got kidnapped by Tempters. We're going to keep going to the island though. We didn't know the guy had taken over it, but we still have to rescue our friends. Plus, we're pretty positive that whoever took over the island is also mind controlling Giselle, who is holding the Myths' school hostage."

Abigail looked stunned. I could understand that. It did sound pretty bad when Isaac put it like that.

Chris whistled, raising his eyebrows. "Ok, I'm impressed."

"You guys are in a pickle, huh," Liza said with slight pity. Slight.

"I guess you could say that," Deynan said dryly.

"That's...TERRIBLE!" Abigail exclaimed. "Oh my goodness...kidnapped? That's awful! And the school is being held hostage AGAIN?"

"I wonder if they get tired of being held hostage," Chris mused. I glared at him.

"Well, not exactly held hostage," Isaac said. "Giselle is just kind of destroying stuff."

"You know," I said, deep in thought, "it seems kind of weird, doesn't it? What does the guy want?"

Deynan shrugged. "Who cares?" I frowned.

"Well, we have to help you!" Abigail said, clasping her hands to her face. Then she lit up. "Maybe I can enchant--"

"No," Liza said abruptly.

"Stop there," Chris commanded.

"We won't let you," Liza finished.

Abigail's face fell. "Yeah, ok." She sighed. "You're probably right."

"Um...what just happened?" Deynan asked, looking back and forth between three people.

Something dawned on me. "You're...you're sorcerers, aren't you! That's why you can float...and you were going to enchant something to help us...but you have a limited number! That's what Mr. Marquez said!"

I was so excited I hadn't noticed everyone staring at me. My face burned.

"Do you know what number she's at?" Chris said, sounding bored and mildly concerned. "46."

"How old are you?" Isaac asked in horror.

"Twelve," Abigail said happily.

"And you're almost halfway?!" he exclaimed. She grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, but could you take a look at this for me?" I asked hesitantly, pulling out the scroll and quill from under the bench. "Mr. Marquez enchanted this but he didn't tell me how it works, so we wrote on it, and it's supposed to be like a training device for Legends." My voice faltered as I held it out. "I mean, if that's ok."

"Sure thing!" Abigail said happily, grabbing it. She unrolled it, and started scratching with the quill. Then she frowned. "It's not writing anything."

"It might be a linked second degree usage spell," Chris suggested with a shrug.

"Uh..."

"Oh that makes since," Abigail said, nodding. She handed it back to me. "It means since you're the first one who used it, it will only respond to you. Here, write on it."

I accepted it. "Ok..." I touched the quill to the parchment and scratched, "Hello?"

It responded immediately in its curly silver script. "What do you want this time? More Tempters, I presume? Need my help again?"

I showed it to Abigail, who read it and frowned. "That's third degree at least," she muttered, leaning forwards. Then she sat up. "This is a really complicated spell. It remembers past conversations with you if it knows about the Tempters. It appears to have a personality...is it like this all the time?"

"Snarky and stuck-up?" I asked. "Yes."

She twisted her mouth to the side thoughtfully. "Personalities are HARD, even for advanced sorcerers. And what's more, it appears to be sentient."

"What does that mean?" Deynan asked bluntly.

"It knows it exists," I replied automatically. "Notice how it said 'my help'? It knows that it has a brain and gives us help." Then I frowned. "That's not normal, is it?"

"No, it's really, really, not," Abigail said. "You're lucky. That's really helpful, and it will only respond to you for the rest of your life."

"Oh."

"But," she said, her tone and face darkening, "I would be careful what you tell it. I'm not sure its intentions are good."

I nodded. "Ok."

"Hey, I have a question," Liza said, sounding somewhat interested for the first time. "You know those Tempter things you were talking about? What did they look like?"

"Like a cross between Ursula from The Little Mermaid and a dead bird," Deynan replied. "Why?"

"Because there's one right over there," she said casually, pointing behind us, "and it seems to be coming pretty fast."

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