Lucky Rabbit

As the students walked, the various groups split off, taking side trails. While the main path was fairly wide, these off-shoots had probably been created by the repeated passage of animals like deer, rabbits, and chupacabra. Not that chupacabra were real, even here – at least as far as Pandy knew – but in the eerie green light that shone through the leafy canopy, they seemed as likely as anything else to have made the winding dirt paths.

It didn’t take long for Ms. Wellington’s little group to be the last ones still forging their way deeper into the forest. Though they never left the main path, even it became narrower, crossed with sudden tree roots, or dropped down into small valleys before climbing up a hill again.

For the most part, the boys handled this well, though Thaniel’s short legs struggled to keep up. Geraldine and Eleanor, however, found their skirts grasped by twiggy hands, and though Geraldine had developed some muscle while playing pirates and running around the Reedsley estate, Eleanor had lived the life of a pampered lady. For the first time, however, Ms. Wellington didn’t seem to be paying attention to the princess, instead walking ever onwards, not even speaking except to urge the children to keep walking.

Only when Geraldine tripped on a root and stumbled to her knees did the teacher pause, turning to scowl down at the children as if only then reminded of their existence. “Get up, girl,” she snapped. “We’re almost there, but we won’t make it in time if you dawdle.”

Geraldine had scraped up her hands, and Miss Cupcakes hissed at Ms. Wellington as the girl tried to climb to her feet, whimpered, and dropped down again. “I’ve twisted my ankle,” she whispered, tears glittering in her eyes. She refused to let them fall, instead glaring back up at the teacher defiantly. Her kitten crouched between her and the teacher, tail twitching in a way that would have sparked fear in the heart of any rodent.

Ms. Wellington just folded her arms, lips pinched into a pale, flat line. Flicking a finger at Abbington, she said, “You stay with her. We’ll pick you both up on the way back.”

To Pandy’s surprise, Abbington didn’t look worried. In fact, he seemed to relax as he nodded, stepping up beside the fallen girl. Ms. Wellington motioned to the remaining three students, ignoring Thaniel’s protests, and plowed ahead, clearly expecting to be followed. As they rounded a corner, Pandy watched Geraldine and Abbington over Thaniel’s shoulder. Abbington was helping Geraldine to a nearby stump, and if she wasn’t mistaken, the now-solid shape of a capybara had just joined them.

Ms. Wellington led Eleanor, Isidor, and Thaniel further and further into the forest, until the trees abruptly ended, and they found themselves standing in a broad, grassy field. Something glittered along the ground, and as they went on, thick grass now dragging at their tired legs, Pandy could see that it was a stream, the water so clear and the gray pebbles so smooth that it looked like a rocky path until you saw the shadows of tiny fish fall across the stones.

“This is an excellent location to practice several forms of innate magic,” Ms. Wellington said. She pointed at the stream, then the sun-filled sky, then around at the plants that grew in a lush carpet. “Water, Light and Air, Earth and Nature.”

Turning to Eleanor, she pasted on her obsequious smile and said, “Does anything here call to you?”

Pandy could tell that it did. The girl had been red-faced and sweating a moment before, but now a sort of peace seemed to come over her as she looked around. At her feet, Lord Winston, too, huffed out a relieved sigh that caused his jowls to flap. His stumpy legs had been working double-time to keep pace with the group, but he’d never stopped or made a sound of protest.

“I…don’t know,” Eleanor said, but her eyes were fixed on a small patch of berry bushes beside the stream. Their branches hung heavy with purplish-red fruits that looked like enormous blackberries, and when the wind shifted, it carried a sweet scent toward them.

Ms. Wellington’s smile grew wider. “Those fruits are used in medical draughts. You may eat some. They won’t hurt you.”

The girl hesitated only a moment longer, before crossing the ten feet or so that brought her to the outermost bush. A fruit dropped into her palm as if it had been waiting for her to reach out to it, and she lifted it to her mouth, taking a nibble. Juice darkened her lips, and her face lit as she put the rest of the berry into her mouth and took another one.

Meanwhile, Thaniel looked like he would run to her side given the slightest hint that it was all right, but Isidor was frowning. “Are you certain those are medicinal?” he asked Ms. Wellington. “My teacher told me that some plants must be processed before use, while others are dangerous if you eat too many. I feel like I saw those in a book-”

Eleanor looked back in sudden concern, though Pandy had a sinking feeling that if Isidor was right, it was already too late for the little princess. She’d eaten several berries, and her fingers and mouth were stained red.

“Nonsense,” Ms. Wellington snapped. “A drawing in a book could be any number of things. But,” her eyes narrowed, and her smile grew sly, “if you’re worried about it, perhaps you should try one as well. I brought you here as a treat, after all.”

“You…did?” Thaniel asked, his eyes on the fruits that Eleanor still held. “Can I-”

“In a minute,” the teacher said, still watching Isidor. He hesitated, then made his way over to stand beside Eleanor. Rather than eating a berry, however, he crouched by the bush, turning a leaf this way and that, examining its shape and rubbing his thumb over it, as if assessing its texture. This meant that when Eleanor sat down rather abruptly, he was able to keep her from toppling into the stream.

Eleanor yawned. This wasn’t a tiny, ladylike yawn hidden behind a polite hand. No, this was a jaw-cracking, eye-watering yawn, of the sort that spread through a group like wildfire. Thaniel began to yawn as well, while Isidor clenched his jaw, clearly determined to resist. Even Pandy and Winston yawned, and Pandy didn’t get tired.

Only Ms. Wellington didn’t join in. Instead, the small smile on her face grew as the princess sagged, her eyes fluttering closed. In the next instant, Eleanor’s breaths had evened out. Lord Winston stared at her, gaze even more tragic than usual as he began to whimper.

Isidor gently lowered the sleeping princess the rest of the way to the ground before turning on the teacher. “What do you think you’re doing? This is a Drowseberry bush. In proper doses, the juice can help people fall asleep, but eating the berries directly is-”

The teacher sighed, reaching out with one hand and grasping Thaniel by the shoulder, even as her other hand thrust out toward Isidor. “It’s really too bad that you read so much. I should have left you with the other girl. I thought the Valley boy was more likely to recognize it, but even if he had, no one would have been able to understand him.”

Fire flashed from her fingers as she murmured something beneath her breath. For the briefest of moments, a vaguely humanoid face was visible in the flames, and then Isidor’s clothing burst into fire. The boy spun, leaping for the stream with a choked cry. Thaniel was just beginning to realize that something was going horribly wrong. He tried to pull away from Ms. Wellington, but her fingers only curled tighter, digging into his flesh through his shirt and jacket.

Pandy, too, had finally realized that this wasn’t just the teacher being strange and mildly creepy again. No, she was actively trying to hurt the children now, and Pandy was having None of That. Opening her mouth wide, she thought, and chomped down on Ms. Wellington’s hand, which was so conveniently close to her nose.

Bite successful. Seventy-nine uses remain before next level.

Something came off in her mouth as Ms. Wellington screamed, yanking her hand back. Without thinking, Pandy swallowed.

+15 Corruption Points for Eating the Flesh of a Mage

Ew! Ew ew ew ew ew! Pandy’s imaginary stomach heaved, but whatever served as her real one uttered no protest as the chunk of finger went wherever things went when she ate them. That was, bar none, the most horrible thing she’d ever ingested, and that included the Rocky Mountain Oysters one of her foster siblings had convinced her to try. Did this make her a cannibal? She was still a human, or at least human-ish, even though she was in the body of a rabbit.

Pandy wanted to cry, but even if she could, there was no time. The teacher had pulled her injured hand back, but extended the other one toward Thaniel again. “Come, boy,” she said, almost gently, even as red blood dripped to the ground, looking disturbingly similar to the juice that smeared Eleanor’s lips. “You know what you are. You’ve seen how Dark mages are treated here. Do you really want to stay? You’ll be as crippled and mad as your father if you do.”

Thaniel’s eyes opened wide, and he stopped backing up. “You know who I am?”

Ms. Wellington smirked. “Of course I do. The whole idea of equality is a fallacy. The teachers know exactly who you all are, and I,” she laid her hand against her chest, “am a teacher. I came here for the princess, but what a prize I found. A Dark mage, still unrevealed, untainted by what these fools call ‘training’. I’d hoped to carry you away without anyone knowing, an unfortunate accident in the dangerous woods, perhaps an adventurous boy wandering off the trail. Now I suppose there will have to be two accidents.”

Splashing announced Isidor’s return as the boy stood from the water. His uniform was burned, revealing a thin chest covered in rising red blisters, but so far nothing more serious. “You won’t-”

“Get away with this?” Ms. Wellington asked mockingly. “Of course I will. You and Nathaniel will be missing, but the princess will be safe, protected by her valiant teacher.” She held up her injured hand, then grabbed at her own dress, flinching only slightly as she tore the bodice, smearing blood on skin and cloth in the process.

Thaniel shook his head, retreating until he stood beside Isidor, in between Ms. Wellington and Eleanor, who still slept peacefully beneath the bushes. “I’m not goin’ anywhere with you,” he said stoutly, clutching Pandy like she was a shield. “And I’m not gonna let you hurt Isidor, either.”

The woman smiled. “Who said I was going to hurt him?” The ground shuddered beneath their feet. Isidor and Thaniel staggered, Thaniel finally dropping Pandy as he struggled to keep his balance.

“Didn’t you notice how warm the stream was when you fell in?” she asked, waving her fingers. “There are hot springs throughout this area. That’s why your King Rupert created the preserve here in the first place.” The ground shuddered again, and then it began to rise, something pushing up from beneath their feet. “And where there’s heat, there’s Fire!”

Lifting her hands, she spoke again, and something that looked a little like a hand and a lot like lava rose from beneath the earth. It groped around as if searching for something, and Ms. Wellington pulled a small pouch from what remained of the front of her dress, tossing it to the elemental. The pouch hissed and burst into flame as it touched the barely-contained heat of the creature’s flesh. The contents sank into the lava, leaving behind a tiny dark blotch that vanished a moment later.

“Kill the tall boy,” Ms. Wellington said, sounding like she ordered elementals to commit murder every day. “Leave the girl. Bring me the little one.”

The thing in the ground boiled up, not climbing out of the hole so much as pouring upwards, reforming into a shape that was roughly humanoid, with blobby arms and a lump of a head. Lord Winston began to bark, then howl, lifting his muzzle and giving a groaning, bassy moan that filled the open space within the bounding trees. As if in response, those trees seemed to lean inward, branches stretching toward the dog. Even the Drowseberry bushes rustled, dropping berries as they surrounded Eleanor protectively.

Thaniel was clearly panicking. He stared at the molten monster glorping its way toward him, or rather Isidor, and looked like he wanted nothing more than to run. Isidor looked the same, but his feet remained firmly planted, while Thaniel edged backward.

Isidor didn’t even bother to respond to the madwoman, just dipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a palm-sized yellow and brown turtle. Tempest wasn’t hiding in her shell now. Instead, her arms and legs were thrust out, clawing at the air. It would have been amusing if her yellow eyes weren’t glowing, and sparks hadn’t wreathed her shell. Winding up, Isidor threw the turtle directly into the belly of the lava monster.

“Get back!” he snapped at Thaniel, then grabbed the smaller boy as well as the princess, and tugged them both toward the stream. Pandy scrambled after them, feeling particularly useless in the face of an overheated behemoth and the bravery with which the turtle had been sacrificed.

Then the toasty titan began to bulge, darker patches rippling beneath its surface. A lump fell from one appendage, leaving a streak of crispy grass as it rolled away. More and more chunks fell out, each one reducing the size of the elemental, until at last all that was left was a wisp of fire that crackled angrily at the lightning-wreathed tortoise glaring at it from its perch atop a twisted chunk of rock that looked a little like coral and a little like petrified lightning. A bolt of electricity arced from tortoise to fire elemental, ending in an angry pop, and the little flame gave a final hiss before diving back into the ground.

The boys looked at each other, Isidor grimly satisfied while Thaniel’s mouth hung open, then turned together to face Ms. Wellington. Who, not surprisingly, wasn’t there. Pandy caught just the faintest glimpse of the woman’s back as she slipped between the trees. Something moved Pandy’s paws – she was certain it wasn’t her, because Pandy had never been brave – and the rabbit raced after the fleeing teacher.