Howl's Moving Castle Fan Fiction ❯ Twilight Doom ❯ Chapter 6: Trial by Fire ( Chapter 6 )

Twilight Doom: Part III of the Wallmaker Saga

Chapter 6: Trial by Fire

After staring for a moment at the scorched stairs, the Wallmaker turned and pounded up into the living room.

The raven-haired man paced wildly as he did his best to calm his son, who was currently soaking the front of his shirt. The magic had the same smell, just like the daemons he had encountered in Martha's shop. It was that woman, the cold healer that Markl had tried to warn him about. Howl cursed himself for not listening, for not paying more attention, and most of all for running away. But he could not have opened the door to banish the creatures back into the otherworld. It would have been a grave risk to the lives of his family. The wizard had no idea how many daemons were outside his door; besides, to let them through would have breeched the magic barrier that surrounded Kingsbury. He cast his eyes at the burned entry way and shuddered as he realized how close the evil things had come to his son.

If they had gotten through who knows what could have happened.

“Oh, dear, dear, dear,” Granny Witch muttered anxiously as she stared down the charred front steps, clutching Heen in her arms protectively. The little dog was barking silently in his wheezing little voice. Theresa helped Martha to her feet from where she half sprawled and clung to her mistress as they crept forward and stood on the landing next to the former witch of the wastes. Calcifer flitted over from the hearth and hovered above their heads, snapping and crackling a furious vermillion as he looked at the damage that had been done to their castle. The trailing tongues of his fire blackened and twisted darker as the daemons eyes went blank.

“I smell her, Howl,” Calcifer's voice was deep and foreign, a menacing echo making him sound much bigger that he appeared.

“Where are we, Cal?” The wizard asked suddenly as he stopped next to the empty hearth.

All eyes turned to the lanky man. Howl was gently patting Akarshan's back, the little boy had ceased crying but still had his face buried in his father's chest. The wizard's visage was dark and distant, as though he were straining to hear something far away, a pinched look gathering at the corners of his luminous eyes. The green jewels that hid in his raven hair sparkled in the early morning light that pooled around him from the garden windows; but whether from the sun or by magic remained unclear.

“Above the wastes near Market Chipping,” the fire daemon replied without taking his eyes from the door, “I wanted to keep us close to the Hatters.”

“Take the castle to Kingsbury as fast as you can,” Howl replied. The daemon fluttered in surprise as he shot his gaze to the wizard, but nodded and flew back to the hearth where he glowed, a determined crimson hue.

“Martha, will you please take Shan?” The dark haired woman jumped as the Wallmaker's voice drew her attention away from the stairwell.

The terror and worry on her face were plain. The wife of the Royal Wizard understood very keenly the implications of what had just happened. Kingsbury was overrun by daemons. So much so that the creatures were trying to force their way through any portal they could find, trying to escape the magic barrier that surrounded the capital. The herbalist clutched the ruby pendent that hung around her neck so hard her knuckles were white, but the stone was no help. Martha was a healer and greatly skilled in the use of magical herbs and potions. However, her art did not make use of the magic in the otherworld; hedge witches have the ability to channel the energy inherent in enchanted components, but they do not command magic. The silent woman was not a sorceress and she had no way of contacting her husband through magical means. As she came forward, she turned the full attention of her wide green eyes to Howl, begging the wizard wordlessly to tell her everything was alright.

But Howl could give no such assurances.

Martha accepted his silence stonily as a resolved expression buried the fear that had once pinched her features. The herbalist was a strong woman, and she would not let her fear prevent her from helping her brother-in-law do what they must. She reached out and tried to take Akarshan, who stalwartly refused to go to her.

“No!” Shan cried petulantly, clinging to his father's shirt as Martha tried to extract him from the wizard's arms. The herbalist had a great deal of difficult separating the two, but when she finally succeeded the little boy reached for the raven haired man in distress.

“Lemmie go, auntie! I want to stay with Papa!” He squirmed and fought the iron embrace of his mother's dark haired sister.

Howl reached out and placed a single finger on his son's lips, surprising little boy into silence. His father smiled brightly at him from under his thick bangs, his smooth face serene and his gleaming sapphire eyes calm.

“I'm just going to check something, Shan,” Howl spoke in his carefree way as though he were just stepping out to pick up a pint of milk, “I'll be back very soon, I promise.”

But Shan was not convinced and he grabbed hold of his father's finger, going red in the face as tears gathering in his eyes, “That's what Markl said about, mama, but she never came back! Now Markl's gone and you're going too! Everyone's leaving me!”

For once, his mask remained in place; seeing the daemons had galvanized the Wallmaker.

Howl placed his hands on his hips and bent from the waist to rest his forehead against the top of his son's head. The little boy gave a start and tilted his head to peer up into his father's face. The wizard smiled broadly, his composure drawing the six-year-old out of his worries.

“Akarshan, I made you a promise, didn't I? Don't you believe me?”” Howl scolded playfully in a light hearted voice, “Well, if it makes you feel better then I'll leave this with you as proof that I have to come back.”

With that the Wallmaker straightened and reached into his pocket. He drew out the sapphire necklace that had been his mother's. Shan recognized it immediately as the pedant that Sophie always wore and he blinked in surprise as Howl slipped it over his head.

“But, this is mommy's necklace!” He gasped as he picked up the jewel and stared at it in awe.

“Yes. It was my mother's necklace too. It's much too important to leave behind. So will you keep it safe for me until I come back for it?”

His youngest son fiddled with the stone with a solemn expression on his face and then nodded.

“Good!” Howl tousled his youngest son's hair and swept past Martha, Theresa, and Granny Witch as he skipped lightly down the charred from steps and paused before the front door.

He opened the door and the chilly wind from the sky outside came rushing in. Holding the railing outside, Howl peered down at the rolling fields and green plains that speed away beneath them as the castle flew east towards the capital. They were very close, near enough that the lanky man could make the rest of the trip on feathered wings in a short matter of time.

“Not too much further, Howl,” Calcifer called from the grate almost as though he could hear the wizard's thoughts.

The Wallmaker came back inside and shut the door, turning the knob to red. The doorway immediately began bucking and groaning as the daemons beyond still pounded on the portal. Someone shrieked and the wizard cast his eyes over his shoulder at the three women who gathered at the top of the stairs. The red haired apprentice peered at him from between Granny Witch and Martha. Indeed, Shan was white face as well, but clutched at the blue stone around his neck. Being able to believe in a tangible thing seemed to give Akarshan strength, and Howl was glad to see his son wearing the necklace.

“I wouldn't go out that door if I were you, dearie,” Granny Witch regarded him with watery eyes as she frowned at the master of the castle.

“I do believe you are right, Granny,” Howl replied evenly and turned the dial back to green. As he opened the door that lead to only wind and clouds, navy-blue feathers sprouted from his limbs as the Wallmaker threw himself into the sky outside.

The women on the stairs stared at the door for a minute after it closed. Granny witch tottered off with Heen in her arms and Martha spun on her heel to advance on the fireplace with swift intent. Theresa gave a start and watched at her mistress loom over the little fire daemon, who flickered irritably as the herbalist stared at him.

“In case you haven't noticed, lady, I'm really busy right now,” Cal grumbled.

“Where do you keep your agrimony?” Was Martha's brisk reply.

xXx

Howl fell like a stone.

As he dropped off of the short porch that lined the front door to the castle, the patch-worked world of green and yellow fields rushing up to meet him. But as the raven-haired man plummeted towards the ground his magic burst forth from within him as feathers the color of the navy night sky transformed the wizard into a great bird. Snapping out his wings, the sharp winds plucked him back into the sky as he soared upwards into the early morning light. Howl accelerated like a comet through the clouds, the otherwind driving him forward in his haste. The land beneath the Wallmaker blurred as sapphire blue rivers snaked by while vast columns of white clouds split before his swiftness. As the wizard plunged through the cool dark vapor of a large bank of mists, he burst into the great bowl of the Kingbury valley.

The capital of Ingary spread like a multi-colored tapestry of tall houses and gleaming gold and copper spires in the morning light. In his othersight, Howl could see the great dome of the magic shield Suliman had placed over Kingsbury back during the war with Marda. The metropolis looked like a giant snow globe beneath the shimmering barrier that curved like glowing glass to meet with the thick walls the encircled the vast sprawl of structures. Every inch of space within the walls of the city was filled with rows upon rows of gabled roofs that lined the orderly avenues and boulevards. But the streets were empty and the small patches of green where people should have gathered like flocks of birds were vacant.

As Howl banked to the side and circled closer to the capital, tiny specs of red resolved under his keep eyes, darting through the streets. They chased and were pursued by wells of inky black that emerged from the long morning shadows like nightmares that had not faded with the dawn. The daemons were bold to fight in the daylight, it was not their realm. The audacity of the wicked creatures asserted the weakening of the magic that guarded the capital. Fear for his brother gripped the blue eyed sorcerer as he turned seeking thought towards the Royal Wizard. He received no reply, but had not expected any. Barimus was not known for his mind magic; hence he constantly used the young captain of the Wizard's Guard as his messenger witch.

The green jewels at his ears pulsed as a bolt of seeking magic shot from somewhere below, starting the Wallmaker from his thoughts. Howl back winged furiously as he hovered in the empty air, seeking its source with swift accuracy. Along the edge of the capital's outer wall, just beyond where the foremost shell curved into the ground, there was a small encampment of stripped pavilions. A group of airships gleamed in the morning light, resting like great metal birds in the green fields beyond the tents. He could see the snapping pennants that displayed the yellow and green heraldry of the Mardan and Tyrnian countries.

A crowd of multi-colored specks gathered in the middle of the road, and the wizard felt their attention focus on him like a tangible weight. The people glimmered and sparkled with magic under Howl's othersight. These witches and wizards were probably reinforcements sent by the two countries to aid the Ingarians. Howl sent an answering probe to the people below, lest they think him an enemy and begin pelting him with magic. But just as the gleaming barrier kept the daemons in it also kept the sorcerers and sorceresses out.

The crowd wavered and milled about, the faint echoes of their surprise reaching his inner ear as the flying castle erupted from the large cloud bank over the green fields just beyond their encampment. Howl's home slowed in the air as it came to a halt on a hill just above the road that led west towards the sea. Shortly after it had landed, a green dot emerged from the front of the castle followed by another, which hovered uncertainly back from the crowd the hurried up the hill to meet them. The wizard began circling downward toward his family when a tightness suddenly constricted the Wallmaker's chest.

All was not well.

Howl rotated his wings into the wind and snapped upwards once more as his cerulean eyes fell upon the huge palace at the center of the capital. A twin half globe of golden light rested over the citadel, gleaming like the burnished yellow of the gilded domes that rose from the grand fortress. Suddenly the inner barrier trembled and winked out of existence. The violent premonition heralding the use of great magic and moments later an enormous plume of yellow black fire exploded from one of the domes in the citadel. An immense cloud of black smoke mushroomed into the sky as half of the palace wall adjacent to the building tore away and disintegrated into rubble. The outer barrier wobbled for a moment, but held firm.

Regardless, the Wallmaker felt the catastrophic failure of the inner barrier's magic like a physical blow. The backlash of the magic shattered within his mind like thousands of white hot needles. The shockwave stunned him.

The wizard Howl teetered in the air for a moment then fell from the sky.

xXx

Markl coughed and spasmed in pain as his senses returned to him.

He tried to sit up, but a heavy weight pinned him down. Markl recognized his Uncle sandy blond hair as he struggled to wiggle out from the motionless man. But he was stuck, and could not move. One of the young wizard's arms was pinned under the Royal Wizard's body, although his other was free.

“Cyanine!?” Markl called, hoping the platinum haired witch was near by, and then remembered with a soul-rending shock that she was gone. The grief that seized him was immense, and he cried out in spite of himself. Half sobbing he struggled again to free himself, but to no avail.

“Uncle?” He gasped huskily and shook the wizard with his free hand, but received no reply.

Blinking in disorientation, he realized there was light everywhere here, but it was bright and cold, not warm like the sun. It split through haze of dust and crumbling rubble and casting an upside down look towards the center of the room Markl gaped in awe.

The shield room was intact; it had survived the blast of the fiend's wrathful fire. Most of the palace had crumbled away under the detonation, and the walls outside of the thin membrane of glowing golden light that arched backwards like in a shining dome had fallen back to reveal the sky overhead. Inside the shield was the Wizard's Council. Old, young, beautiful and ugly; the sorcerers and sorceress sat together in a ring at the center of the room; each of the councilors was surrounded by a pale nimbus of colored light that was their magic. But they were growing weak, as was evident by their faces, which were twisted by intense expressions of concentration.

Their magic filtered from them in shimmering cords, which wove together like a rainbow in the middle of the ring they formed. The light twisted around a spire of glass that emerged from the marble floor of the room. Once it reached the apex of the glass, the magic shot in a beam, visible only in the othersight, into the sky above. This was the source of the magic barrier that contained the daemons and prevented them from rampaging into the mortal world. Markl marveled at the fragile thing and the strength that it must contain to hold up a protective dome over the entire capital of Ingary.

It was then that the young wizard notices the other apprentices and a surge of relief spread through him to know that they were alright. The group was spread out along the edge of the gleaming barrier, pushing on it as though they were trying to force their way through. It was then that Markl realized that this inner barrier was one way only and that they were trapped. Nalir, the thin boy in black velvet that Markl had clashed horns with while seeking daemons, pounded his fists against the barrier but no sound emanated from within. Catching sight of Markl he waved his hands wildly as silent words tumbled from his mouth.

“I can't hear you!” Markl called back.

The red haired apprentice cupped his hand around his ear and then shook his head. Howl's eldest son, made a series of meaningless gestures and then gave up. The two boys stared at one another as other apprentices gathered by Nalir, who pointed at Markl. Suddenly, a tall barrel-chested grown-up came charging up to the barrier and the apprentices scrambled out of his way. The man wore a green uniform trimmed with red and had a huge red moustache to match his bushy rust colored hair. On the breast of his shirt was the royal emblem of the Kingdom of Ingary, and Markl immediately recognized King Ferdinand. The man rounded his attention on the two young wizards who pointed out into the rubble. The ruler of Ingary peered out, shading his eyes against the fires with his large hands. He must have caught sight of Barimus because he gave an enormous start and pointed wildly while shouting at the other apprentices.

Trissa and Hedera peered around the King to see what he was yelling about and clamped their hands over their mouths as they caught sight of his predicament. Ryden came forward under the Emperor's behest with a few of the unremarkable apprentices; the group began pushing on the barrier with all their might. Even the King lent his strength to their efforts. But nothing happened. Clearly frustrated, Nalir conjured a lance of power and cast it at the barrier, which absorbed it without phasing.

The tree-like young wizard cuffed the red haired boy on the back of the head and the two began a heated argument. The king Ferdinand put his hands on his hips and laughed silently, his whole body shaking as he regarded the two boys. It might have been funny, seeing them turn blue in the face screaming at each other while the ruler of Ingary looked on and hooted with mirth. But Markl was too worried for his uncle to find humor in their antics. The red wizard hadn't moved at all; he was breathing, that much the young man could tell.

Suddenly Trissa and Hedera flinched and went white with terror, turning they fled behind the tall King. Ryden had just clenched his fist and reared it back to punch Nalir when he Ferdinand grabbed the tall boy's arm and pointed, catching sight of something beyond Markl that the trapped boy could not see. The black garbed brat seized the opportunity to strike the reedy apprentice in his gut. Ryden doubled over as the Emperor seized the aggressor by the ear and directed his attention away from the fight. Nalir went pale in the face and he began pointing madly, obviously not at all interested in the fact that the ruler of Ingary had him by the ear. Ferdinand let go and they all looked up. Their faces twisted in horror as an enormous wrath daemon coalesced like an arm of fire out of the smoke the billowed up from the stairwell beyond.

Howl's eldest son stared at it in horror as the beast planted a burning taloned foot a stone's throw away from where he and Barimus were trapped. The waves of heat from the flames that crackled up from the daemon's limb stirred the young wizard's hair. How did it get so big, was the first thought that flitted through Markl's mind. It had probably glutted itself on destruction and murder while rampaging through the palace. He held absolutely still as the triangular head of the snake-like thing swiveled high overhead. It sniffed loudly and thrummed like a drum, resonating so deeply the sound manifested as a great vibration, rattling rubble loose and causing another wall to collapse. It regarded the golden dome that barred its way from the trembling humans and snapped its jaws in anticipation of the meal beyond.

Markl did not freeze as he had when confronted with a daemon before, but he remained very still. Carefully casting his eyes about, the young wizard's attention seized on the gold shod butt of a stick that poked out of the rubble just out of his reach. Squirming and straining, he could brush the tip of Suliman's staff with his fingers, but couldn't quite reach it. The wrath daemon darted its head towards the Councilors and crashed against the barrier, which gave an earsplitting crack like thunder and showered the area with golden sparks. The beast let out a piercing shriek of pain and frustration as it reared back and gathered itself up. At in the moment of silence Barimus let out a soft moan and stirred again Markl's shoulder.

Markl felt faint with terror as the beast swiveled its head and regarded the two of them intently, seeing them for the first time. It lowered its flaming body, cocking its head to the side like a lizard as it regarded them with a great black eye and began drooling incandescent yellow fire.

“Barimus!” Markl screamed in desperation and managed to summon an arrow of purple light, which he let fly right at the lidless eye of the wrath daemon.

The lance flew true and blinded the fiend. As it shrieked and reared back from the unexpected attack, Barimus groaned again and attempted to push himself up. That was all the leverage that Markl needed. The young boy shot his arm out to the side and yanked Suliman's stick out of the rubble. The moment his hand touched the stick his desperation brought it to life where once before it remained dead. And a shield of purple light repelled the daemon as it returned with its gaping maw split to devour its assailant. With another crack of thunder the beast shrieked and recoiled, shaking its smarting head in confusion.

“Uncle, get up,” Markl demanded, terror making him short with the injured man as he pushed at the disoriented red wizard's shoulder. Barimus' face twisted in agony as he rose and half collapsed to the side far enough for Markl to wriggle out from under him.

“I can't move my legs,” the Royal Wizard gasped as his face went white with pain.

The man's blond hair was plastered to the sweat that covered his sooty face. There was red on him as well from a scalp wound, which made his face look paler. Barimus turned paler still as he caught sight of the daemon and sprawled back by his nephew, who crouched fearfully as he regarded the beast.

The wrathful creature screeched and gnashed it jaws, regaining its composure. It coiled the yellow-black flames of its body, twisting in rage as it drew into itself for another explosion of magic. Markl used Suliman's stick to gain his feet up at the creature that loomed like flaming death over them. He knew he could shield both he and his uncle from another denotation of the daemon's fury. But the young wizard knew for a fact that the inner shield would crack under the impending onslaught. If the Council was lost the outer barrier would fail and Cyanine would have died for nothing. Standing, Markl strode forward toward the lizard of living fire.

“Markl!” Barimus shouted reaching after his nephew, but the Wallmaker's son ignored him.

Placing himself directly in the daemon's path, the young wizard slammed Suliman's stick onto the stones beneath his feet. An immense circle of liquid mauve light erupted from beneath the boy and snapped out to encompass all but the twisting column of flame. The Wallmaker's son watched as a dark flower of black and purple shadows bloomed beside the daemon. Out of the twisting congregation of tortured black shades rose the cold woman. Her lidless eyes were as black as the beast's she commanded and her sickly pale face split into a vicious toothy grin. The daemon queen whipped upright, bathed in a crackling halo of shadow as she shouted something as pointed at taloned finger straight at him.

The fire wrath chirped exultantly before it exploded into an inferno of destruction.

xXx

Dierdrie almost choked under the pressure that washed through the otherworld. She grabbed her head as the force tore like a barbed arrow through her mind. The little girl clung to herself in pain, waiting for the shockwave to pass.

Sophie trembled and weakly attempted to lift herself in the aftermath. She failed. Regardless, she listened with great intensity for anything that might explain the force that rocked through the world between worlds.

What was that? Drie asked her mother, who shook her head uncertainly. The aged silver sorceress snapped her attention back to her daughter as her features twisted in jubilation.

I can hear you! Sophie cried joyfully and reached unconsciously for the young girl, her happiness fading as she remembered their predicament. She slumped back into the verdant green and hid her face in her wrinkled hands as her shoulder began to shake. But Drie clambered over and stretched out in the grass as close to Sophie as was physically possible without touching her.

Please mother, don't cry. We're together now and it will be alright. Drie spoke in desperate earnest.

Sophie dashed her hand at the tears the leaked down her wrinkled cheeks and wearily turned her face to look at the daughter she had never known.

Dear one, I don't even know your name, she whispered despondently.

Dierdrie, mother. My name is Dierdrie. The silver haired girl replied, her face alight with love as she placed her hand next to her mothers, where it rested in the grass.

Dierdrie… Sophie mumbled in exhaustion, a grayish color creeping into her face. Her form seemed to go transparent for a moment. The old woman closed her eyes as her voice grew soft and pale, trembling like a weak ray of starlight in her daughter's mind. You have your father's eyes, little heart; blue, just like the sky.

Mother, don't go to sleep! Stay awake! Drie shouted silently, her voice became the dawn sun, rising like column of golden flames within the silver sorceress' mind. Sophie roused and looked with her daughter with warm brown eyes as she smiled. In that moment the age seemed to flee from her, and the little girl stared at the Wallmaker's wife as she smiled at her with the infinite love only a mother could give.

Take care of your father for me, Dierdrie. You'll have to tell him it wasn't his fault. He won't believe you. Sophie's voice was a bare whisper as she turned her head into the green grass. But you'll have to convince him for me.

Drie stared wordlessly at her mother, watching her slip away. The Wallmaker's daughter shot to her feet and stumbled over the parasitic line that was killing the silver sorceress. Without thinking of the consequences, she seized a hold of it and pulled with all her might.

The ravenous force that drove the Dull Wall turned its full attention onto the young girl. The daemon within Dierdrie shrieked and clawed away from the mindless hunger that threatened to drag them both into oblivion. The years fell away from Sophie's daughter; the pain was excruciating as she aged at an exponential rate. Her limbs grew thin as they lengthened and her hair grew long and straight like a fall of silver water.

Help me! The rapidly changing woman demanded of the daemon within her soul.

Out of desperation of its own life, the empty woman erupted like a black shadow from the stricken girl's back coalescing into a perfect mirror copy of the silver haired girl. The door closed its hands around the cord and added its strength to the fight, lest they both be consumed by the Wall. But Dierdrie thoughts were only of saving her mother, and her fear gave her power. As time fled from the Wallmaker's daughter, the girl's magic matured exponentially. But she was young and fragile. The brittle barrier of physicality that separated her from the vast reservoir of magic in the rolling hills of the otherworld buckled and tore. Drie screamed soundlessly as an immeasurable geyser of power erupted from the indigo veil and flooded through her.

As the cord snapped free, the enormous backlash of the life force the barrier had stolen from the silver witch rocked back out of the Dull Wall. But instead of returning to Sophie, it surged into the first thing it came into contact with. The wave of magic coursed through Dierdrie and the empty woman, crashing through them in the way a wave would surge through an open portal. It dragged the Wallmaker's daughter and her shade through the breech with it and into another plane of existence.

In that moment, Dierdrie and her daemon became the green hills.