Page 79 of Monster's Pet

“Close. That’s Ayers Rock. I wasn’t certain where the cave Paige described was located, but it’s close to the rock, so I used that as a guide.”

“Then those would be the manducare,” Aiden said, pointing at the moving blob. “There’s a lot of them.”

“We should—” I cut myself off guiltily, glancing from one professor to the other.

“You need to collect your pet,” Professor Akhtar said gently. “It will be the best time to return her to her family.”

“Not to mention we can’t leave her here unprotected,” Professor Dunlop agreed grimly. “I’ll go with you, Aiden, in case you run into trouble. The rest of you should head to the second floor.”

“We’re going to class?” I asked incredulously.

“There’s a room that will lead us to the heart of the academy,” Bruce explained. “For the blessing.”

“Right.”

Aiden and Professor Dunlop joined us quickly, and I breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t been stopped. We all entered the room at the same time. It was squished between two offices, so I expected it to be tiny, but there must have been some kind of dimensional magic on it, because the room was massive.

In the center was a circular table with an open space in the middle.

“This is the funniest part of the whole blessing. I wish we could have watched Ophelia vault herself into the space,” Bruce said with a chuckle. He hopped onto the edge of the table, swung his legs around, and slid into the opening. “Gather ‘round, everyone. One hand on the table please.”

Bruce waited until we were in place before putting his hands on the table, which immediately began to glow blue.

“These adventurers are about to embark on a Quest, to find and defeat a giant. On behalf of the Blackthorn Academy, I grant them its blessing, that they return safely, having accomplished their goal,” Bruce said solemnly. “Do you accept this blessing?”

“I do,” I said in chorus with everyone else.

“It is done.” At his words, the blue light traveled up our arms to settle in our chests.

I blinked in surprise. The light didn’t feel like anything, and it vanished once it reached its destination.

“Does this mean you don’t have the blessing?” I asked, once I realized the light had whooshedawayfrom him.

“That’s right. Ophelia giving the blessing would have been better,” Bruce said.

“It’s not safe for you to come with us,” Professor Dunlop said with a frown.

“Psh. You need all the help you can get.”

“He’s right,” Professor Akhtar said. “But forcing you to stay behind isn’t an option. We’re wasting time. Let’s go.”

Moonbeam leapt out of Aiden’s arm onto the table. She stalked around it, her tail twitching, eyes fixed on Bruce in the center.

“Uh…” he said. “Nice kitty?”

Moonbeam sat down in front of him stretching out her neck until her face was directly in front of his.

“Aiden,” Bruce said out of the corner of his mouth. “Get your cat and let’s go.”

Just as Aiden stretched out his hand to grab her, Moonbeam coughed as if she was hacking up a hairball and a bright blue ball of light exploded out of her mouth.

It hovered in the space between the manducare and witch, before diving into Bruce’s chest like it belonged there.

Satisfied, Moonbeam batted at Bruce’s cheek and then sauntered back to Aiden.

“Well, that settles that,” Grandfather said. “Australia, here we come.”

CHAPTER 22

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