Colin Well: The Wizard

Chapter 13-Journey Home

        Colin and Marwick emerged back into the sunlight. They were back in the Hub with the fountain. Only a few hours before, there had been screams and fire, but now the only thing that was heard was the soft tapper-tap of the fountain as the water fell into the basin. A distant bell tolled, signaling the start of a new day. A bright light shone on the other side of the fountain, then it was gone.
        "Hurry, before we lose him. I have no idea where to go if we do lose him," Colin said worriedly. Marston and Colin set off at a run across the Hub. Before they could reach the Way that the Captain had disappeared through however, a loud voice called out.
        "Colin! Marston!" The two boys swung around at hearing their names. Standing in the open doorway was Marwick, bloody and bruised, but alive. His long black cloak was torn and his face was scraped. He cradled his right arm as he made his way over to Colin and Marston.
        "I didn't expect to see you back so soon," said Marwick. He noticed them looking at him and explained, "Don't worry, I'm fine. I couldn’t say as much for the dragon though. It's dead. I was just on my way to find Saara-Ra. Do you want to come?"
       "No, were in a really big hurry. The Captain is going to the Castle through the ways," explained Colin.
        "Oh. Well. . .wouldn't it take him some time to get to the Port? A few hours at least," Marwick suggested.
        Colin sighed. He hadn't thought of that. That gave them a few hours. "We can come, actually."
        Marston gaped at Colin. What was he thinking? Colin walked behind Marwick as he led them out of the Hub. Marston had no choice but to follow.

But as the Captain emerged from the Way that stuck out of the Castle Wall, he knew it wasn't going to take him a few hours to get to the Port.
        As soon as he had scooted off the Outside Path that led to the Way, he readied himself. He was going to do a Transport that would take him straight to the Port.

Far away in a narrow ope, Marwick led Colin and Marston over an cracked cobblestone ground. Finally, he rounded a sharp corner and smiled.
        Hands tied around a torchpost, mouth covered, sat an unhappy looking woman. Saara-Ra felt drained and she no longer felt the need or had the energy to rid the non-Magykal from her city. She sat in a cold puddle of melted snow from the torchpost heat. Her clothes were soggy and her hair was in a tangle. People of the city surrounded her.
        "Mahemm!" Saara-Ra called to Marwick, her voice muffled by the cloth tied around her mouth. Marston walked over to the wet creature sitting on the ground and pulled the cloth covering her mouth off. "Marwick!"
        "What do you want?" Marston replied.
        "These people—my people—they grabbed me and tied me up! I saw what you did to my dragon and. . ."
        Colin suppressed a laugh and watched as Marwick knelt down beside Saara-Ra. "And?" he questioned.
        "Please don't kill meeeeee!" Saara-Ra wailed. "I don't want to dieee!"
        "You're not going to die, Saara-Ra." Marwick stood up. "I'm sending you away to the Far Countries. But for now, you're remaining here." Marwick stepped forward to tie the cloth around her mouth.
        "No! Please! I'll do anything, I promise!" Saara-Ra cried.
        "You're too much of a threat," said Marwick, reaching around Saara-Ra's head, tying the cloth. She began to make a noise that sounded like a sick duck. Marwick threw her a disgusted look and turned back to Colin and Marston.
        "Looks like we've—" Marwick was cut off by a shout at the end of the street. Standing by an orange stone building was Eliza. She came running down the street and caught up beside Colin and Marston.
        "What are you doing here?" asked Marston, bewildered.
        "I ran away. Everyone was in the Hub making plans and while they were talking, they didn't notice me. I slipped back through the Way we came from. I heard Saara-Ra yelling and followed the noise," explained Eliza.
        "Oh, cool," said Marston.
        "You guys stay here. I have to go deal with the people of the city." Marwick turned and started walking towards the people, his hands up. "Everyone. . ."
        "I thought you were chasing the Captain?" Eliza asked hurriedly.
        "We were. He's going to the Port. I only know one way we can get there before him. We have to go back to Queen Jenna. How do you think she got to the Port the other night when she saved us? She wouldn't have gone by boat, it's too dangerous for a Queen. And she's not Magykal so she didn't just do a Transport there," said Colin excitedly.
        "So she must have some other way through!" Eliza guessed.
        "That's exactly what I was thinking. And if we hurry, we can ask her before the Captain arrives at the Port," Marston agreed.
        "So, let's go. While Marwick isn't paying attention," Eliza said.
        "Wait. I want to tell Marwick where we're going." Colin rapidly scribbled a note, telling Marwick their plan. Colin looked around and ran over to a child that had previously been his "loyal servant."
        "Can you give this to him?" Colin rolled up the note and handed it to the little boy. He nodded and Colin turned to his friends. "Let's go."

In the Port, a tall man with a beard and black cloak began to Appear on one of the far docks in the early morning sunlight. His Magyk wasn't as good as what he wanted it to be so, carefully, after the last wisps of purple from the Transport evaporated, he sat down. The Captain felt dizzy and he needed a moment before he started off towards the Knight.
        After about half an hour, he stood up and walked over to the end of the dock. Thanks to his much more Magykal comrades, the Knight was hidden in the day time by a Maximum UnSeen. Waving his hand, the Captain Revealed an invisible rope ladder. Cautiously, he put his feet on the climbed up.
        If someone would have seen him—which no one did, because it was still early and no one came near this dock because it had am unsettling feeling—they would have seen a cloaked man climbing up a rope ladder that was connected to nothing.
        But as the Captain climbed, he could See the Knight as it rocked gently back and forth in the shallows.
        "Guards! Ready the ship! We're heading for the Castle!" the Captain shouted. In a few hours, they'd be at the Castle. The Knight was a fast-sailing ship and soon, that ExtraOrdinary Wizard would pay.

Back in Saara-Ra's city, three children could be seen as they hurried into the Hub. The fountain had a much more welcoming feel than what they were about to encounter. Colin stopped and was suddenly filled with the urge to run back to Marwick, where it was safer. But, he reminded himself, if he wanted to have safe new home—the Castle—then he had to help protect it from whatever terrible things threatened it. Summoning all his courage, Colin walked into the Way that would lead to the Castle, followed by his best friends.
        Twenty feet above the Moat, the outline of an archway began to glow faintly. It grew brighter and brighter, a white swirling mist swirling eerily within its depths.
        Suddenly, Colin came rushing out. He stopped abruptly, grabbing onto the sides of the archway. His feet slipped off the wall, sending rocks tumbling down into the water. "Stop guys! There's a big drop!" Colin called to Marston and Eliza behind him. They came hurtling out of the archway but stopped just in time, stopping themselves from cannoning into Colin.
        "Where are we?" Marston asked worriedly.
        "I thought this led straight to the Castle," added Eliza.
        "It does. We're on the outside on the wall." Colin looked down at hus feet and saw a barrow ledge that led along the side of the wall, disappearing behind a corner.
        "It know what this is! It's the Outside Path. I saw it on the map of the Castle. One way, left, leads to Snake Slipway and the other, right, leads to Jannit Maarten's Boatyard," explained Marston in a matter-of-fact tone.
        "Right. Everyone knows that, Marston," Colin said sarcastically. "Which way leads closer to the Palace?"
        "Left. To Snake Slipway," said Marston.
        Colin scooted along the ledge and his friends followed. The archway glowed with a purple light, then it was gone. There was no trace that they had ever come out of it.
        Several times along the ledge, they almost fell headlong into the Moat. Before they could, they steadied themselves. The snow made it more difficult, making even the widest part of the ledge slippery. Finally, they reached a set of narrow steps that led down to a boathouse, a sign by it read: Rupert's Paddleboat Hire.
        "We're almost to Snake Slipway. This leads right to it," Marston motioned to a slipway positioned right beside the boathouse.
        "Wait. There's a disturbance in the air. . ." said Colin.
        "No, Colin, there's not. We must hurry," retorted Eliza.
        "No, there is. It's. . .Magykal." Colin said.
        Suddenly, it dawned on Marston. "You don't think—you don't think the Captain Transported himself to the Port?"
        "If he did, there's almost no time left. He must go now. We have to find Queen Jenna," said a panic-stricken Colin. The three children set off at a run up Snake Slipway to the Palace as fast as they could.