Page 104 of The Tree of Spirits
“You can hear the Knights on the other side of the Park?” I gawked at him.
“Conner has a spell that gives him annoyingly good hearing.” Kato’s face was carefully blank. “Usually, I’m pretty thankful that the spell wears off a few minutes after he casts it. And if he tries to cast it again right away, he goes deaf in one ear for about a day.”
Conner winced. “Yeah, I found that out the hard way.” He cupped a hand over his right ear, like he was reliving the memory.
Kato shot him a look that was almost sympathetic. “At least you didn’t turn your muscles into rubber.”
Conner snorted. “I’d forgotten all about that.” He looked at me. “Once, Kato cast too many strength-enhancement spells in a row, and then every muscle in his body turned all loose and rubbery. He spent the next two days in the Castle’s sick bay.”
Kato’s brows arched. “At least I didn’t fall victim to a sleeping sickness because I cast too many sleeping spells.”
“But you did get yourself stuck in a time loop after trying too many slow spells against your training opponents,” Conner said brightly.
I tallied up the meaning of their stories. “It sounds like spells can have some pretty unwanted consequences.”
“You should always read the fine print on any spell,” Kato said. “All magic comes with its fair share of consequences.”
“The key is balancing the consequences against the benefits,” added Conner.
“Plus, the stronger your magic gets, the more spells you can do without hurting your?—”
Conner gestured for him to be quiet. He pointed at the wall of trees, which was about twenty meters in front of us. Kato nodded in acknowledgement, then both boys put on their helmets.
Four people limped out of the forest. It was Kylie, Asher, and the other two Apprentices! Kato’s hand slammed down like a gate in front of me before I could take a step toward them.
“Wait,” he said. “I don’t see the Templars.”
“Neither do I.” Conner faded from sight—but only partially. He was only half-invisible. “They’re here. And invisible. They’re trying to surround us.”
Conner drew a constellation in the air. There was a bright flash of light, and then I could see them too: three Templars in black techno suits, closing in on us.
“This is going to get ugly. Stay out of danger,” Kato instructed me as he and Conner drew their WANDs, moving back-to-back to fight the Templars.
I quickly drew my teleportation symbol and teleported out of the line of fire. Literally. Just as I teleported away, a Templar threw a fireball at my head. If I’d been just half a second slower, my hair would be burning right now.
“That is so not ok!” I growled.
But the Templar didn’t hear me. I was on the other side of the picnic area now, and he was too busy crossing swords with Kato and Conner to look for me.
One of the Templars had moved away from the others, using her celestial globe to activate the Spirit Tree for travel. There was a blinding flash of light from the tree, like someone had just turned on a whole row of floodlights. Suddenly, the picnic area was as bright as day.
I rushed over to the Apprentices. “I need to get you guys out of here, while the Templars are distracted,” I told them. “I can take two at a time.”
“Take Jack and Victoria first. They’re wounded,” Kylie said, indicating two frazzled-looking Apprentices.
Jack was leaning against Asher for support. It looked like his leg was broken. Victoria had a blood-stained strip of fabric wrapped around her forehead.
I couldn’t help but wonder if their injuries were my fault.
“Ok, let’s get you guys out of here,” I said, trying to sound confident as I took their hands and set them on my shoulders. “Hold on tight.”
Then I focused on my destination, drew the teleportation constellation in the air, and whisked them away. I experienced the familiar sinking sensation, but it took a lot longer before I felt thesnap. And when I did, thatsnapwas more of asnap!!!!!Extra powerful, with lots of exclamation points.
And when we hit the hard invisible wall of our destination, I nearly toppled over the wounded Apprentices I was supposed to be helping.
“Are you ok?” Jack asked, his bony hand squeezing down on my shoulder.
“Yeah.” I blinked a few times to clear my blurry vision. When I saw we were at the gates to the Park, I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d never teleported this far before. “See that guardhouse at thegate? Go there, and the Watchers will look after your wounds. I have to get back to help the others.”
