Finally, they approached the ruins of the once-grand structure, the stream disappearing under a stone wall. Now that they were closer, Lisa could finally get a good look at the different types of creatures that had been crawling all over the crumpled and half-standing walls of the castle. Some matched Tick’s description of the nasty fangen: blackish skin, splotchy green hair, giant mouths full of spiked teeth, thin membranes of wings stretching out from their backs. There were others. More of the smoky-rope kind that had captured Lisa and her mom. Some that were small and hunched and charcoal gray, like grotesque statues come to life. Some that looked like a cross between an alligator and a bull, with massively strong arms. They all blended together into one display of horror.
And their purpose was obvious. They were trying to rebuild the castle, stone by stone.
Their current captors stopped them by one of the more solid sections of the ruins, about thirty feet from where the stream slipped under the wall. A huge wooden door stood next to it—or what used to be a door. Now it was mostly shredded, chunks and splinters hanging off around the edges. Darkness lurked behind the opening.
The monstrous pair threw Lisa and her mom to the ground in front of the door. The two of them immediately crawled to each other and huddled together, the Barrier Wand snuggled between them, its surface hard and cold. Lisa’s mom started slyly turning the dials and switches.
The creatures floated up into the air and flew over to the wall of the castle, their wispy figures like streams of smoke whipping through the wind. They landed on the hard stone and used their long arms and legs to crawl up its side, mixing in with the rest of the other dark and twisted creatures.
“Get us out of here,” Lisa whispered to her mom.
“I’m working on it.” Her hands slowly turned a dial until it clicked. “But I don’t want them to notice. And I’m not even sure I want us to wink out of here just yet.”
“What? Why?”
Her mom looked disappointed. “After all we went through to get here in the first place? There has to be a reason that Chi’karda and Reality pulled us here when we tried to grab Atticus. Maybe we’re on his trail or something. Or maybe we’re being guided to his nanolocator, and this is a stop along the way.”
Lisa was a little ashamed for wanting to hightail it out of there, but being dead wouldn’t help Tick much either. “Or maybe we’re about to be eaten for dinner by all of these monsters.”
“Maybe. Don’t worry your little heart, girl. I have the Wand all set, and if worse comes to worst, I’ll click the button and wink us away. We can start all over again. From the beginning. Without any hope.”
Lisa groaned and rolled her eyes. “Okay, Mom. I got your point loud and clear.”
There was movement in the darkness behind the shattered door, and a figure appeared, like a shrouded ghost. Lisa wanted to get up and run, but she kept her eyes focused on the person who approached. As the figure came into the light, Lisa could see a robe made of a coarse, off-white material, its hood pulled up and over the face, hiding it. Two hands emerged from the arms of the robe, the fingers folded together in front. Lisa had expected the hands to be gnarled and ancient, but the skin looked young and healthy.
A woman’s hands.
The robed stranger walked to where Lisa and her mom sat. She was tall and thin, and the image of her hooded head gave her a commanding presence, like an ancient oracle or druid.
“You can wink away if you wish,” the lady said, her voice a hollow ring. “But I ask only that you allow me to tell you one very important thing first.”
“What is it?” Lisa’s mom replied, cautious.
The woman reached up with those young hands of hers and pulled back the hood of her robe, revealing a homely, stoic face framed by short, black hair. She had a nose that pointed straight out like a carrot.
“We brought you here,” she said, “because you’re trying to find Atticus Higginbottom. And so are we.”
Chapter 13
Words on Ice
Tick’s heart had dropped upon seeing his mom and sister captured by Sleeks, and he almost beat his fists on the ice where their images appeared, thinking he could break through, dive through, and save them somehow. He yelled to them as they were brought to the foot of Jane’s now-broken castle and thrown to the ground, though he knew it was pointless. Full of desperation and rage, he could only sit there and shake. Helpless.
The screen—the rectangle of frozen pond—suddenly flickered, and the scene disappeared, replaced by a few lines of written words. Before he even read it, he knew it was some kind of riddle, and for some reason, it made him mad. He screamed and did hit the ice, cursing Reality for playing such ridiculous games with him. His family was in trouble, and here he was, forced to solve a silly puzzle again.
But on the other hand, he was good at it. The fabric of the universe understood his mind and was trying to help him. Was trying to form its complexities together and present to him a solution in a way he could best grasp it. Just like what had happened with the Haunce.
Tick gained control of his emotions and forced himself to read the words.
The smallest thing begins to grow
It needs no light, it needs no glow
This thing, it fears the weakest breath
And yet it cannot embrace death
The greatest man or bull or steed
Or queen or doe or stinging bee
Eats it, smells it, drinks it some
And one day it they will become
Tick sighed. He’d hoped the riddle would be easy, that the answer would jump out at him. But no. Of course not.
He started thinking.