Howl's Moving Castle Fan Fiction ❯ Twilight Doom ❯ Chapter 9: Reunion ( Chapter 9 )

Twilight Doom: Part III of the Wallmaker Saga

Chapter 9: Reunion

Howl fell from the sky with the stars.

 

Beneath him the green hills rolled gently, becoming level as they sloped gently to the endless smudge of darkness that split the otherworld in two. The Dull Wall loomed up before him and the thin wizard had a glimpse of the burned place beyond the barrier. Howl did not hate the Wall, unlike Barimus, who could not speak of it without spitting. It was the once place where the raven-haired man was more level headed than his brother. The red wizard was quick to feel anger and it often made him irrational. But the Wallmaker understood the importance of the barrier. In spite of the cruel price the mortal world had paid to remedy the ills of ages past, it was a necessary evil that preserved the balance. It was for the sake of that balance that he spent more time than any wizard in Ingary beyond the indigo veil. Perhaps that was why he was more troubled by the mortal world that this place of eternal wind.

 

But none of those thoughts were with Howl in that moment.

 

With the eyes of a hawk he fixed his attention on the blinding point of light that huddled at the foot of the Wall. The Wallmaker and his entourage of stars hit the ground so hard he was forced into a roll. Although Howl quickly gained his feet and strode forward through the shower of sparks and shimmering light as he cast his eyes about for Sophie. The raven-haired man came up short, his wife's name dying on his lips. To his surprise the blinding point of brightness that had guided him to this place resolved into two women: one old and one young.

 

The younger had curled up on the chest of the elder woman, whose face was turned away as if in sleep. The lady's long silver hair was loose and impossibly long. It tangled around the two in the otherwind like tides of a moonlit sea. The lass gave a violent start as he approached and turned her tear stricken face to regard him. She flinched as recognition and disbelief showed plainly in her eyes. For a moment Howl mistook the woman for his wife, they were about the same age and looked strikingly alike. But she regarded him with wide blue eyes bright with fear. Sophie's eyes were brown. This was not his wife, and it shocked him to see a stranger wearing his mother's sapphire earrings.

 

Confusion gripped the Wallmaker as did icy terror. It was then that he recognized the elder woman over which the other huddled. Only one person he knew would wear a blue dress with such plain and practical boots. He recalled with an electric shock how old Sophie had looked in the star daemons memory. Looking back to the chimera that could have been his wife, Howl could see Sophie's life-force teeming like fire beneath the creature's skin. He understood now why he had mistaken her for the mother of his children. But in that moment he saw more than light. Darkness cluttered just beyond the edges of her form, in the same way that a hint of shadow clings to everything. But the line of shade unfolded like a black curse beneath the tall wizard's eyes and Howl knew it was more than magic.

 

She was a daemon!

 

A corona of violent cobalt light erupted around the Wallmaker as the otherwind whipped about him in fury. His large sapphire eyes filled with rage. The handsome mask shattered as his raven hair fluttered wildly about the livid features it revealed. The stranger shrank from him in alarm, clambering backwards over Sophie's inert form as he stalked forward. Howl would have chased the daemon through the Dull Wall and into the beyond had Sophie not lay in the middle of his path. He half tripped over her body in his furious pursuit of the being he believed to have killed his wife. But glancing down at the aged woman, all the hate fled from his features and the wind of his magic dwindled to nothing.

 

Bereaved beyond all description, the Wallmaker crumbled to his knees and gently gathered his wife into his arms. The thin man buried his face in her hair; even now Sophie smelled like clean linen. How light she felt in his arms, like she was empty. No, the wizard vowed as he crushed her to him, he would not let her go. She had half of his soul and they could not be parted. Howl drew back and gazed at Sophie's aged features with a love so fierce it brought blue fire into his eyes. He tenderly brushed aside silver hairs that strayed. Leaning down, the wizard kissed her still lips.

 

In that moment an amazing thing happened.

 

Another wind rose up around the Wallmaker and the silver sorceress as the eldest of the star daemons approached like a wave from the sea. As it ebbed upwards on spindly legs, the creature reached out a shining hand to where Deirdre cowered in the grass. With a look of surprise, the woman seemed to understand the shimmering being's intent. With a determined nod, she took its hand. Extending its other hand, the star daemon placed its palm on Howl's back. A flash of light surged from the Wallmaker's daughter into the flickering spirit and through the wizard Howl to his wife. After the blinding light passed it could be seen that the hair at the handsome man's temples suddenly turned silver.

 

Howl gave a jolt as though he had been shocked for Sophie gasped and stirred in his arms. The years fled from the silver sorceress in the way one wakes from a dream. Her brown eyes flew open and she and Howl stared at one another with wordless wonder. With trembling hands, the raven haired man touched his wife's face as though he were afraid she would disappear. Sophie smiled in pure joy as she pressed his palm against her check and swept his long bangs from his eyes, regarding the new silver that showed in his dark hair with surprise.

 

Howl! You've gone grey! She spoke in consternation.

 

Her husband silenced the rest of her sentence with another kiss that left them both breathless. He drew back and regarded her with luminous blue eyes, which shined like sapphires in the mellow light of the star daemons. The sparkling beings sang happily in their minds, dancing to and fro as they wavered like living rainbows.

 

How? Was all Howl could manage to think at her over the chiming chorus in their minds. But it didn't matter. He once again crushed his wife against him and tucked her head under his chin, afraid to let her go. But Sophie wiggled in his arms and cast her gaze around her husband to where the oldest star lingered near a strange woman that could have been the silver haired woman's twin. The elder being chimed brightly in their minds and the Wallmaker turned to regard the daemon, only to catch sight of the chimera. Howl dashed to his feet, sweeping Sophie up into his arms protectively as he regarded the half daemon in disquiet. Deirdre shrank back once more, making ready to bolt from the wizard should she need to. Seeing the wizard's alarm, the star daemon swirled in front of the doppelganger holding out its shimmer limbs placating.

 

Saved Sophie! It cried in their minds as it sent an image of the strange woman giving of the magic within her to call the Wallmaker's wife back to life. It waved its hands back and forth from the sorceress and her husband to indicate the terrified woman.

 

Daughter! The star daemon spoke firmly as it pointed straight at the half daemon. Sophie had been peering at the woman and gave a violent start at the shimmering spirit's words.

 

Deirdre! Sophie called in horror as she struggled to break free from the Wallmaker's grasp.

 

The silver sorceress managed to break free, much to Howl's unease, and she stumbled past the star daemon to where the figure huddled in the shadow of the Dull Wall. At first the brown-eyed woman had not recognized the stranger, but her blue eyes were the exact same as Howl's. Sophie realized with dismay so acute she could scarcely think that her little girl had given up her childhood to break the parasitic ribbon that was stealing her mother's life. But there was more; the sorceress could see it just as her husband had. Something had changed their daughter; she was no longer human. Drie flicked her eyes from the tall wizard to her mother, flinching uncertainly as Sophie came to stand over her hesitantly with a pained expression on her face. Confused and distressed, the child-woman hid her face in her hands and began to cry silently. But Deirdre gave a start as Sophie gathered her against her.

 

Mother! Drie cried as she threw her arms around the witch's legs and clung to her as though the very ground had ceased to exist.

 

Sophie cast her brown eyes back to her husband and found him regarding them with a enigmatic expression. He had raised his hand as if to call his wife away from the half daemon that clung to her. But his feature cleared as the revelation of the girl's identity dawned on him like an avalanche. He shot a fierce seeking glace at his wife, who nodded solemnly. For a moment, all Howl could do was stare at his lost daughter, face blank with shock as his cerulean eyes glisten with incandescent light. Then he approached slowly, as if afraid to frighten the woman. He paused uncertainly at Sophie's side gazing down at Drie with a face pinched with grief. With earth shattering gentleness, the Wallmaker lay his hand on the top of his daughter's head and stroked her silver hair. She looked up at him, her face red with tears, but Howl recognized the sapphire blue of her eyes. They were his mother's eyes; he had been told on many occasions that he had inherited them. So too had his daughter.

 

Father! Deirdre's cry echoed like a torrent of joyous violet light in the corridors of his mind as she surged to her feet and threw herself into the Wallmaker's arms. Deep inside him, the frozen place his heart where he harbored all his guilt and sadness melted into nothing as he held his daughter. After a moment Howl was thunderstruck to realize she was nearly as tall as he was. Apparently she had inherited his height as well! Although the lanky wizard still managed to tuck the girl's head under his chin; the raven haired man snaked his free arm around his wife's waist to include her in their embrace. They clung together in tearful elation.

 

But the bliss of their reunion was fleeting.

 

A great wave of pressure washed through the otherworld and the star daemons flickered as their chiming chorus turned fearful. The burst upwards into the velvet firmament of the indigo veil and dwindled into nothing.

 

Wait! Deirdre cried, breaking free of her parents as she reached after the star daemons.

 

Howl came up along side of her, staring after the fleeing spirits. But his eyes were dark with worry as he listened to the silent echoes of magic used in the mortal world, which manifested as ripples that had as much physicality as the wind in their hair. Drie too noticed the reverberations and cocked her head to the side with a frown.

 

What is that? She asked curiously, gazing up at her father's worried face.

 

Damn… The portal closed. Howl swore; his normally serene features pinched with agitation as he mumbled in distraction. We need to get back to the mortal world. Now!

 

What's wrong Howl? The silver sorceress spoke, her face serious. Sophie came along side of him and took a hold of his hand. She did not like the way her husband avoided looking at her, nor did he answer her question. He was smoothing the back of his hair unnecessarily.

 

Can we go back through the castle's doorway? Sophie continued hopefully, but her Howl shook his head.

 

It will take too long. He replied shortly.

 

If I can get us back, will you let me go with you? Deirdre asked hesitantly, apprehension plain on her face.

 

Of course you're coming with us, Drie! Sophie replied in surprise as she turned and reached out with her free hand to her daughter. Drie took it, clutching her mother's hand as though she were afraid her parents would disappear. The brown-eyed woman's heart gave a disconcerting lurch as she gazed up the tall lass. The child-woman had changed so much and it terrified the silver sorceress.

 

You can take us back to the mortal world? How? Much to his wife's annoyance, Howl skipped over his daughter's fear and cut straight to the fact that she could take them to the mortal world.

 

Can you show me where we need to go? Drie replied, her unease apparent in the fact that she avoided answering the Wallmaker's question.

 

She blinked and her focus turned elsewhere as her father sent a dual image of a great glass spire pointed towards the bright light above. Another image of a tall blond man wearing nothing but red rose in her mind. From a store of memories that were not her own, the child-woman knew this man was her father's apprentice brother, the Royal Wizard Barimus. Drie blinked again and Howl drew back in alarm as their daughter's eyes went completely black. The Wallmaker's wife snatched back her hand as though she had been shocked and Howl pulled Sophie to him protectively. The pale skin of Drie's arm rippled and turned to viscous dark water as her graceful fingers resolved into cruel claws that glittered like jet.

 

With a swift movement teeming with inhuman strength, the half-daemon cut a hole between the otherworld and the mortal realm with her gleaming talons.

 

xXx

 

 

“Markl!”

 

Someone was shaking him and the russet haired boy recognized the herbalist's apprentice's voice. But he was so tired and snuggled into the soft fabric on which he rested. It must be Theresa, only she and his aunt smelled like a bitter herb closet. Besides, he wasn't hurt, and if it had been Martha she wouldn't have bothered to be so gentle with him. In the distance people were shouting and the young wizard moaned weakly as he tried to hide his face.

 

“Hey, wake up!” It was Calcifer who spoke this time, and the flames voice jolted him out of his hazy half consciousness.

 

As the Wallmaker's eldest son opened his eyes, he stared up into a red haired girl's concerned freckled face. There was grey ash smeared all over her and, as always, a multitude of sticks and leaves tangled in her hair. Over her head the fire daemon flickered a sickly green, whether from worry or physical discomfort he did not know. The young wizard realized with a burning sense of embarrassment that he was cuddling into her lap. Markl shot upright and stumbled wearily to his feet as he took in the pandemonium before him.

 

It was getting very crowded behind the inner shield.

 

Martha was standing before a great portal, holding aloft the ruby talisman she normally wore around her neck. In his othersight the young wizard could see the mark of blue fire that flowed around the stone and knew in a flash of intuition that it was Howl's magic. From the doorway streamed a long procession of harried witches and wizards, who spilled into the room as though they were chased by daemons. One of the foreigners rushed over to Nalir and snatched him into a tearful embrace, much to the red-haired apprentice's dismay. King Ferdinand greeted the new arrivals with a series of brisk orders, which many of the sorcerers flat out ignored. Some rushed over to the circle of Councilors who ringed round the glowing glass spire in the center of the room; but most milled about in confusion.

 

“Are you alright, Markl?” Theresa asked in concern, and the young wizard reached down to helped her up.

 

“I'm fine! What's going on Calcifer?” Markl demanded of the living flame as he cast his eyes about in consternation, trying to make sense of the mayhem. “Where's Howl?”

 

“He's coming! He'll be the last to come through the portal,” Calcifer pointed with a tendril of fire at the twisting portal, out of which the otherwind escaped like a gale through an open window. As suddenly as it had come, the gateway to the otherworld trembled and winked out of existence. The fire daemon gave a chittering pop of absolute shock as Martha cried out in despair, looking equally crestfallen as the ruby in her hand went dark. Howl had not made it through.

 

“The star daemons!” Cal exclaimed in a panic.

 

“What?!” The Wallmaker's apprentice cried in baffled dismay.

 

Suddenly the ground trembled and the shrieking intensified as a shadow fell over them. The obsidian hydra loomed over the golden shield like a living nightmare, raking the barrier with its claws. A shower of sparks showered them with fire and Theresa yanked him to her as Markl pulled his cloak over them to ward of the dripping fire. The shield fluctuated but held, thanks to the new magic being added to the barrier. But would it be enough?

 

“The monster's trying to get in!” The freckled girl squeaked as she clung to him in terror, her green eyes riveted on the beast above them.

 

It was then that the young wizard heard his uncles' voice. Casting his eyes about, Markl saw Barimus on a pile of cloaks nearby, his broken legs done up in rough splints. The Royal Wizard was white faced with pain but a torrent of words spilled from him, drowned by the King's shouting. The red wizard's golden eyes were on fire with fury as he jabbed his finger at the new arrivals. Peoter and Deiter were kneeling at his side, their normally playful features deadly serious as they fixed their rapt attention on their lord. The young wizard extricated himself from the red-haired girl and took off his cloak only to wrapped it around her. Sweeping up Theresa's garden hoe he forced it into her hands. Markl took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, compelling her back to her senses with his seriousness.

 

“This cloak is like the magic in your hoe, if you believe it will make you invisible and protect you from fire. If the barrier fails I want you and Martha to fly out of here as fast as you can. Do you understand me Theresa?”

 

“Yes,” She whispered her large eyes solemn but brave. Then, as if it she were sure it was the last time she would see him, the young girl stood on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. Markl was stunned and stared after the freckled girl as she turning to flee toward her mistress. In the distance, Martha was towering among a flock of wizards trying to get them to cooperate. Markl ignored the sly look Calcifer was giving him as he snatched up Suliman's staff and hurried to his uncle amidst another shower of sparks from above.

 

“I don't care what it takes! Get them to bolster the shield!” Barimus snarled as Markl came up aside Peoter-Dieter. The red wizard was almost foaming, his eyes bright with pain and the kind of madness brought on by acute helplessness.

 

“Uncle, what can I do?” The Royal Wizard caught sight of his nephew and experienced a brief moment of lucidity as his eyes fell on Calcifer.

 

“Howl! Is he here?” Barimus cried as he caught a hold of the singed hem of Markl's tunic, shifting his eyes back and forth between the fire daemon and his brother's apprentice.

 

“He didn't make it through the portal,” Cal replied lamely.

 

This seemed to unsettle the red wizard, who's face was already pinched with exertion and fear. The twins stood protectively over the Lord Councilor as the shield trembled again under the barrage of attacks from the daemon hydra outside. Suddenly, the pummeling stopped and it began to grow very dark as black ice surged up around the barrier, blocking out the sun. The daemon queen altered her tactics and made a brilliant decision; she did not have to break through the barrier to destroy the Wizards Council. She could kill them all easily by freezing them to death from the outside. But once they all were dead the daemons would be free to roam the country side and hell would be loose in the mortal world. The screams began anew as the temperature plummeted and Markl could see his breath.

 

“That's not good at all,” Cal popped as he gazed at the shield over their heads.

 

But Barimus ignored the darkness outside, fixing Markl with an intense gaze. “You have to get the foreign witches and wizards to work together. We need every single ounce of magic to hold the shields against that beast. I don't care what you do, just get them to cooperate!”

 

He paused for a moment, seeming as though he were about to faint, but instead a weak smile flitting through the suffering that twisted his features.

 

“I'm proud of you Markl. You saved us.” With that Barimus gave Markl a weak shove and turned his attention back to the twins.

 

“Peoter, stay with Martha, Theresa, and the King. I order you to protect them no matter what. If the shield fails, get them out of here. Deiter, go with Markl and help him. Now get, before I pummel the lot of you with my wooden legs!”

 

“Forgive me, Lord Councilor,” replied the wizard, who must have been Deiter, in a warm tenor that sounded like burnished copper, “But I'm afraid you need me more than Markl does. Captain Cyanine would be very angry with me if I left you to freeze.”

 

And it was true; Barimus was shivering convulsively as frost began to coat the marble floor around him. But Markl did not stay to listen to them argue, Peoter pulled him away from his uncle towards the milling crowd near the glowing white spire in the middle of the room. The Wallmaker's son could clearly see King Ferdinand, who was hopping up and down, pointing wildly in all directions as Martha and Theresa argued heatedly with a group of witches. For a moment the Markl was impressed, it took a lot of gumption to stand before Martha's fury. But many of the group looked mad with terror as black snow and ice began falling from above. Apparently Nalir and his mother were on his Aunt's side, for they were pitted like a stone obelisk in the center of the discord. The other apprentices clung to one another in dismay, regarding their quarreling elders in abject shock from the sidelines.

 

“What should I do?” Markl whispered in dismay to Peoter, who let go of his arm as they drew near.

 

“Flatter them atrociously, appeal to their duty, threaten them, and if all else fail, scare the living hell out of them,” Was the coppered haired wizard's reply.

 

The twin winked at him, his green eyes bright with mirth in spite of their dismal circumstances as he turned to regard Calcifer, “Do you think you could help him with that, little flame?”

 

“Who are you calling little!” Cal popped indignantly.

 

But Peoter didn't reply, he had turned and dived into the crowd, fighting his way toward the ruler of Ingary and the Herbalist. Markl's teeth chattered as the bone-chilling cold bit at him mercilessly. Outside it was almost summer and none of them were dressed for winter. They had to keep warm somehow and the young wizard began formulating a plan.

 

“Hey! Do you know fire spells?” He called at Ryden, who poked like a long reed out of the huddle of apprentices that huddled together for warmth. The apprentice nodded as Trissa and Hedera turned their faces to peer at him.

 

“Markl! You're alive!” The girls cried joyfully. They surged forward to meet him but faltered as they caught sight of Calcifer.

 

“He's a friend!” Markl all but screamed in impatience as he waved his free hand to get their attention, “Listen, I need you all to go and keep the witches and wizard feeding the spire warm. If they die of exposure the shield will fail. Cast fire spell, warming spells, whatever you can think of to keep them from freezing. Go, go, go!”

 

The young wizard pushed the apprentices towards the glowing spire. They hurried past him, obliviously glad to do anything but stand around in the increasingly arctic conditions.

 

“What should we do about them?” Markl asked Calcifer uncertainly as he gazed at the thick knot of witches and wizards ahead of them.

 

“Reason and flattery won't work with these guys,” the little flame replied, “Howl had a horrible time trying to get them to even agree to come with us.”

 

“Is father coming, Cal?” Markl's voice trembled.

 

“I don't know… He was right behind me. Something must have happened because all he could think about was getting to you,” the fire daemon replied in a small voice.

 

Markl felt the taught knot of resentment in his heart, where he harbored the difficult emotions he felt for his foster father, loosen and dissolve. Howl was coming for him; and it gave him hope.

 

“Well, Barimus said we could do anything and Peoter said to scare them. Do you think we can do that?” Markl continued with renewed vigor and fixed his mind on their dire circumstances. Calcifer grinned toothily, his eyes going blank as he tinged a sooty black for a moment.

 

“Can I eat one of them?” The living flame asked ghoulishly.

 

“You may not!” The russet haired young man replied in mock consternation.

 

“Are you ready, Markl? You're not too tired are you?” Calcifer asked quietly.

 

“At this point it doesn't matter, Cal. We do what we must,” the boy's voice was stern and resolved. He lifted Suliman's staff and smashed it against the ground with a sound that split the din like a thunder clap.

 

All eyes darted to the young wizard as Calcifer burst into a white blue column of flame, surrounding Markl in a glowing nimbus of fire that matched the living purple wind roared up around him. In the gloom caused by the dark ice that encased the shield, his light combined with the spire's and brought back the day. The young man's voice boomed in the silence that followed as the crowd drew back from the russet haired boy in a mixture of surprise and terror. Calcifer got their attention rather effectively.

 

“I am Markl Jenkins, the Wallmaker's apprentice, nephew of Royal Wizard Barimus and I speak in their stead! All able bodied witches and wizards will join the Council's circle, either to bolster the shield or to keep the cold at bay!”

 

“And if we refuse!?” A bald wizard demanded through chattering teeth. The foreigner was quickly going blue in his extremities. He wore little in the way of clothing, obviously unaccustomed to cold.

 

“Do you want to freeze to death?” Markl replied heatedly and this seemed to give the man pause, “Then I suggest you cooperate.”

 

As he spoke that final word the witches and wizards regarded the Wallmaker's son as though a spell had been lifted from them. Consent rippled through the crowd as they remembered the promise they had made to the Wizard Howl. They surged towards the gleaming glass spire. The Wallmaker's apprentice felt the change immediately and the impending doom of the barrier's collapse, which had settled like a stone in his stomach, lifted as the golden shield solidified. However, the freezing conditions remained. This was not a solution, they were only buying time. Markl sagged against Suliman's staff in despair as his aunt and Theresa hurried toward him.

 

“Barimus needs you, Martha. He's not doing too well,” Markl replied mildly, displacing her concern with practiced efficiency.

 

The herbalist darted off at a half run, no longer trapped among a crowd of querulous wizards. Calcifer peered at the grey faced apprentice over his shoulder as Theresa patted him gently. All three of them jumped and the red-haired girl shrank behind him as King Ferdinand strode forward. As he grinned through his bristling moustache, the barrel-chested man pounded Markl on the back and then pumped his free hand up and down in congratulation, nearly rattling the young wizard apart.

 

“Excellent job, my boy!” The emperor of Ingary boomed as he let go and placed his hands on his hips, “The Royal Wizard himself couldn't have done better in getting those ruddy sorcerers motivated.”

 

Peoter peered at Markl around the impressive king; the twin grinned and crossed his eyes at the ensuing patriotic speech the emperor began to spout. But the Wallmaker's son listened courteously; he had always been a polite boy. Ferdinand's prattle ceased as he paused for a breath of air. The young apprentice wilted under the thought of enduring more resplendent oration when the large man bent conspiratorially and whispered to Markl.

 

“By the way, what's the plan?” Ferdinand asked as he swept the black snow from his shoulders.

 

“Your majesty?” Markl asked in surprise.

 

“Never mind, I don't want to know. I don't understand magic in the slightest. But I have faith in your ability. You're the Wallmaker's apprentice and I know you'll figure something out! Well, I'm off to see how Barimus is fairing.” With that the king strode off, and Peoter cast a helpless look at Markl as he hurried after his charge.

 

Howl's adopted son stared after the king completely at a loss. He suddenly understood why his father so loathed to work with any of the Council or the royalty of the capital. With a sinking feeling, Markl realized they were all counting on him, and he hadn't the slightest idea of what to do next.

 

“That's just like a king,” Calcifer crackled nastily, doing his best to avoid the dampness that surrounded him, “All hot air, but when it comes to real work, they always foist it off on others.”

 

Markl looked overhead and blinked rapidly, forcing the tears the threatened to fall into remission. The new reinforcements would tire eventually and even if some of the other Council members had regained their strength, eventually the well of their magic would all run dry. The shield would fail; there was no way to avoid that fate. Outside only a handful of the Wizard's Guard remained and only fortune knew how well they were fairing. The young apprentice was exhausted; he could not cast another spell even if he wanted to. At least it was growing warmer. But that was little consolation because it was still snowing.

 

They were trapped!

 

His despair must have shown on his face plainly because Theresa put her hand on his shoulder consolingly. He smiled at her weakly, trying not to let the terror he felt for her wellbeing show in his features. Once again he desperately wished Howl was with him, and regretted with a pang of guilt all the horrible things he had said to his father.

 

Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting crack and a torrent of ice and snow fell from the ceiling overhead, pelting them with frozen shards like glass. Screams filled the air as Markl grabbed Theresa to him. Just in the nick of time, she held open the patchwork cloak Sophie had made for the fire daemon. With a yelp Calcifer darted under the flame proof fabric and hid from the avalanche. They were dashed to the ground by the weight of the coal black frost that fell from above. Apparently trying to heat the inner shield was not without its consequences. But the snapping sound continued and the glass spire dimmed under Markl's othersight, plunging them all into darkness. It took him a moment to puzzle out what has happening. The revelation dawned on Wallmaker's apprentice with staggering horror. The ice barrier was contracting! Indeed, he watched as the barricade shudder and slowly shrink inward. The daemon queen was once again altering her strategy, most likely having sense the renewed efforts within the barrier.

 

She was going to crush them with the shield!

 

But in that moment of twilight doom a portal erupted like a whirling pool of blue and purple light in the midst of the black snow. Through it rose a tall woman clad in a white smock far too small for her lanky body; her impossibly long hair was silver as the moon and tangled about her in the otherwind. It was strange, because she looked just like Sophie. But something was wrong with her hands, which were encased in a shining black like they were made of glass. The apprentice realized in that moment that she was a daemon. He was about to raise the alarm when behind the chimera rose the wizard Howl. Markl felt his heart leap in his chest.

 

The Wallmaker carried Sophie in his arms.