Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

" C ome on, shell brain, let's do this."

Dewey fluttered into the air, his nose wrinkled. "Shell brain?"

"Shut up," Paige said as she widened her stance. The large King Koopa thundered his way closer with a growl.

He was much taller than the others she'd battled. She may need her flight skills to get up to his head to stomp it.

She'd do what she had to do. As he pounded a foot down in a challenge, she raced toward him and flew into the air. He shifted, causing her to miss landing on his head. She landed on the floor with a huff and a curse.

"You missed, Paige."

"No kidding," she said as she righted herself. "He's more savvy than the other ones. He doesn't stand still."

"No kidding. And that's not all of his tricks."

Paige screwed up her face as she watched him move around and tried to plan her next assault. "Huh?"

The turtle suddenly froze. She spied an opportunity and ran toward him, then flung herself into the air to fly toward the ceiling. Before she could land, he disappeared, reappearing in front of the throne across the room.

Paige smacked into the floor and whipped around to face him. "What the hell?"

"He's a practitioner of black magic. He can teleport. He also can summon objects to throw to you."

Paige's features melted with dismay. "You're kidding me. This is going to be impossible."

"Dig deep, Paige. You gotta outsmart him."

"Outsmart him? He's vanishing and reappearing somewhere else." Her eyes went wide as Bowser cupped his hand and summoned a Kuppa, then tossed it at her. She ducked as the turtle flew past and smacked against the wall before sliding down to start a patrol.

"Oh, great," Paige grumbled. She raced toward the Kuppa and swung her thick, bushy tail at it, knocking it out with one try.

"Good job, Paige. Now, get King Kong over here." Dewey poked a finger at Bowser.

Paige wrinkled her nose at the order. "I'll get right on that, buddy."

"I'd appreciate that. I'd really like to get on with our business. There's always a snag that stops us from just doing our jobs." Dewey bobbed and weaved around in the air as he tried to avoid Bowser who lumbered across the room.

"Yeah, like the time Dickens turned super huge."

Bowser froze before he disappeared from his spot and showed up right behind Paige. She shrieked and raced across the room toward the throne.

As her feet slapped against the stone floor, an idea formed. She leapt onto the throne, stepped on the arm, and twisted to fling herself into the air. Bowser thundered toward her. With the added height of the throne, she managed to land on his head, giving it a stomp .

"Way to go, Paige!" Dewey cheered. "One hit. Only two to go."

Paige landed on the floor in a crouch as Bowser shook his head. "Only?"

She straightened and wiped at her brow. "This is a killer."

"Two more, and we're on our way to fish and chips." Dewey rubbed his paws together.

"I'm glad you're motivated."

"I am. Come on, Paige. Let the fish and chips motivate you into stomping on him again."

Bowser disappeared and reappeared across the room before repeating the action.

"Ugh," Paige moaned as she darted a Kuppa that he tossed after his latest reappearance. "He's getting crazier."

"All the reason to hit him faster."

Paige smacked the Kuppa with her tail before she sprinted to the throne. She climbed on top and waited for the large turtle king to wander close enough to her for an attack.

"Here he comes…time it right," Dewey said.

Paige leapt into the air, but before she could land on his head, Bowser disappeared.

She sprawled on the stone floor with a groan.

"That's okay, Paige. Shake it off."

With a roll of her eyes, she pushed herself to stand, rolling her shoulders back as she tried to forget how sore she was from the latest maneuvers.

"Look out!" Dewey shouted.

Paige spun to find Bowser behind her. "Oh, shoot."

She dashed away from him before he could squash her and sprinted the length of the room. Before she could reach the far end, Bowser reappeared in front of her. She tried to stop herself but her feet left the ground and she launched into the air in flight. As she soared higher, she realized she could land on his head…provided that he didn't disappear again.

She aimed for him, smashing into the red tuft of hair with both feet. He roared in pain as she leapt off and ran across the room. If she could get enough speed, she could get another flying hit in before he recovered.

"Go, Paige! One more hit."

The cheer egged her on to pick up more speed. Just as she was about the leap into the air, Bowser appeared in front of her. She tried to skid to a stop but collided with the beast.

"Oh no!" she shouted as her raccoon suit fell away. "I lost my flight."

"Shoot," Dewey hissed as he fluttered through the air with only his scales.

"Now what?"

"Shake it off. Use the throne."

A sinking feeling filled her gut as she hurried toward the royal chair and leapt on top. She had to hit him on this round. She didn't want to chance trying it as a mini version of herself.

He lumbered toward her. She climbed onto the arm and jumped forward. Her timing was off. She slammed into the creature without doing any damage.

"No!" she cried as she shrank to half her size. Tears filled her eyes. They'd never win now. And with Bowser's power, it would just be a matter of time before it was game over.

"Now what?" she asked as she pressed herself into a corner.

"You have to try again."

"I can't!" Paige said. "I'm too small. I can't do it. I missed last time at my normal size. I can't make that jump now."

"You have to try, Paige. I'm tiny! And look what I've done for the world. "

"Now's not the time for a speech about your accomplishments. You're small, but you never battled Bowser."

"So what? Just think…if Drucinda was here, she'd laugh at you right before she did a somersault through the air and landed on his head, getting three stomps in at once to defeat him in one fell swoop."

"Good for Drucinda. She could probably wallop him even in child form."

"And so can you. You don't want Drucinda to be cooler than you, do you?"

"She already is," Paige said.

"Well, let's try to close the gap. Come on, Paige. I don't want to die in the elemental planes."

Paige chewed her lower lip. She couldn't let her partner down. She had to try. Two Kuppas now paraded around in the time she'd spent sulking in the corner. She raced from it and leapt on one's head, sending it back into its shell. With a kick, she took out the other Kuppa and just dove out of the way before the shell rammed into her after ricocheting off the wall.

"That's it. Now onto the throne," the half-sized version of Dewey instructed.

Paige ran across the room, sliding between Bowser's legs before she leapt onto the cushion. She climbed onto the arm and flung herself toward the Kuppa King. She realized in an instant, she'd misjudged the jump again. This would be her last hoorah.

Suddenly, she rose in the air. "I got you, buddy." Dewey grabbed hold of her wrists and beat his wings hard to carry her the extra inches she needed to land on Bowser's head.

She gave him a third stomp, and the beast cried out as the room shook. Seconds later, he blinked out of existence. A treasure chest appeared below them. Dewey dropped her onto the floor and fluttered down closer to the trunk. Once he touched it, it opened, and a key floated upward.

Paige wrinkled her nose. "What is this?"

"Our prize. Grab it!"

"You grab it."

Dewey rolled his eyes and snatched the key from the air, shoving it under his scale. The room dissolved away, and they fell through blackness before entering a wind tunnel.

Paige reached for Dewey and clung to him as they circled around and around before light finally pierced the darkness surrounding them. It blinked in and out of the dark cloud surrounding them.

Seconds later, Paige found herself sprawled on the floor of the Paris Library with her hair blown across her face. Dewey lay a few feet away on his back. The wind tunnel swirled for another moment before it zipped back down into the box. The lid snapped shut, trapping it inside.

"Dewey?" She sat up and pushed her hair back.

"Yeah. I'm good. I'm just…taking a second."

A new voice entered their conversation. "What are you two idiots doing lying on the floor back here?"

Paige scrambled to her feet as she spotted Drucinda at the end of the aisle with her arms crossed and hip cocked.

Dewey fluttered into the air. "Just checking out some of the super cool artifacts."

Drucinda's eyebrow arched high. "You weren't playing with the Magical Vortex, were you?"

Paige scoffed and lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "No."

"That's not what it looks like."

Paige puckered her lips as she shot a blasé glance at the box on the floor. "I mean, we may have played around with it. No big deal though."

"Right, what she said. It was like child's play. Now, where is that Magical Generator?" Dewey asked as he scanned the shelves.

Drucinda narrowed her eyes. "To your left."

Dewey shifted his gaze and shoved a box aside. "Oh, here it is. Got it."

Paige tugged the carton from the shelf and opened it to find the magical generator.

"Turn it over and let me see the code so I know which color Energy Serum we need," Dewey said, waving his finger in the air.

"Red. You need red," Drucinda said with a sigh.

"Oh, good. Where can we find that?"

"Magical pantry, back corner." She pointed a finger.

"Right. Okay, let's grab this and get going to Scotland. Oh, by the way, can we get a message to Otis to send my wool sweater over? I'd like it for the Scottish weather."

Drucinda puckered her lips before rolling her eyes. "Fine. I'll get it for you. Just get going, please."

"Okay, okay," Dewey said, a sour expression on his features. "We'll be out of your hair as soon as we grab this and my sweater."

Drucinda huffed at them before she stalked away. Paige and Dewey snaked their way through the archives to the pantry shelves. Dewey located the energy serum they needed and handed it off to Paige.

"Okay, buddy, let's go."

"Not without your sweater. I hope Drucinda has it."

"Me too."

They wandered back to the BookTron. Drucinda waved the wool sweater in the air without even looking at them.

Paige snatched it from her hand and twisted to face Dewey. "Okay! Scotland, here we come."

Two hours later, their wheels touched down in London, and they retrieved the keys for their rental car from the wheel well. With her skin still green, horns, and a tail, Paige slid in behind the wheel, thankful they didn't have to speak with anyone before they went on their way.

Dewey called an order in for the fish and chips and managed to convince the owner to bring the food straight to the car. With sunglasses, gloves, and a scarf, Paige remained incognito as she thanked him for the special delivery.

With their meal polished off, she punched in the address for their next destination. "St. Philomena's here we come!"

"I really hope no one is there," Dewey said as Paige sped along the two-lane road. He stared at the cat carrier on the floor in front of his seat. "I don't want to be shoved into that bag again."

Paige wrinkled her nose. "I don't understand how Drucinda takes Thorn everywhere. I guess we can just let you go."

"And risk me being captured and sold on the black market? Don't forget, Thorn can eat a person. I can only bite their finger, and that probably wouldn't even hurt that much."

"Seriously? When I first started working at the library, you told me your claws were razor-sharp and so were your teeth. I feel like you could do some damage."

"All lies. I just wanted you to leave me alone because I thought you'd be a jerk like Alistair."

Paige smirked at him, taking her eyes off the road for a second. "Good thing I'm just a jerk enough to have wrestled you to the ground and made you like me, huh?"

"Right," Dewey said with a grin as he climbed onto the console. "Somehow, though, I think that could be counted as workplace harassment. I–"

He flung a claw forward with his eyes wide. "Paige, look out!"

Paige snapped her gaze forward before a shocked expression registered on her face. A misty woman, with long, flowing hair dressed in a tattered, ethereal gown stood in the swirling mists their headlines failed to pierce effectively.

She slammed on her brakes and braced herself against the steering wheel, but she couldn't stop in time. A piercing, mournful wail split the quiet evening as the car plowed through the spectral figure before it finally screeched to a stop.

Paige sat stunned behind the wheel, still braced against the seat. Dewey snapped his gaze behind him.

"OMG, did I kill her?"

Dewey shot her an odd glance. "Well, I mean, technically, she was already dead."

"Huh?"

"She's a Banshee, Paige. You hit a Banshee. They're not alive."

Paige pried her fingers from the steering wheel and twisted to stare behind them. Their taillights glowed through the fog, illuminating an ethereal figure lying on the pavement. "Is she okay, then?"

"Doesn't look like it," Dewey said. "She's kinda flat and not moving very much."

"How could I kill a dead Banshee?" Paige huffed as she pulled off to the side of the road and shifted into park. "Should we check on her?"

"Probably a good idea. If she needs medical help, we should call someone."

"Medical help?" Paige asked as she slid off her seat belt. "She's dead."

"Well, yeah, we'll have to call an undead doctor, obviously ."

Paige swung the door open and stepped into the damp air. Dewey fluttered out next to her and they crept closer to the victim. "Oh, this doesn't look good. You really pancaked her, Paige. "

"I didn't mean to!" Paige answered.

Before they reached the victim, she floated upward into the air and stared down at a tire mark on her dress ruefully.

"Hi," Paige said with a nervous wave, "sorry about that. I didn't see your misty form in the mist."

"Numpty," the Banshee spat at them.

Paige drew her chin back to her chest. "What?"

"She's calling you an idiot," Dewey whispered.

"Oh, right. Yeah, sorry. You can totally call me an idiot. I'm very sorry for running you down. But it looks like you've bounced back quite nicely. So, if you're okay, we'll just leave you to roam the road and be spooky."

"I'm fine. But you won't be. That's why I'm here. To warn you. If you go to St. Philomena's, you'll die."