Dragons of the Watch - Donita K. Paul [128]
The sound of shattering glass told the rest of the story.
Ellie jumped to her feet and ran to Yawn, then knelt beside him to see if he’d been hurt.
Wizard Pater passed her on the way to the broken bottle. “We must hurry. No time to lose.”
“He’s not bleeding,” Ellie announced, then realized that only Bealomondore seemed interested. He called for Laddin.
Stooping beside the leader of the gang, Bealomondore felt the boy’s head for a bump. “Yawn couldn’t put out a hand to break his fall. Our bodies’ instinctive reactions save us more than we realize.”
Ellie heard Bealomondore call Laddin again and realized that both this time and the first time he’d been mindspeaking. Perhaps when the message was loud, it should be called mindshouting.
Bealomondore must have heard her frivolous thought. He winked at her.
Aloud, he said, “Laddin’ll be here very quickly, and though he can’t reverse the wizard’s still command, he can check for injuries and keep bruises from forming.”
Wizard Pater came to them with the shattered bottle in a cloth he’d also used to wipe up the liquid. “We must get to the surface and to the bottle before this dries, or all is lost.”
“We can’t leave Yawn!” Ellie clasped the stiff hand of the young gang leader.
“We will, indeed, leave the rapscallion,” said Wizard Pater. “The dragons of the watch will take good care of him until I return.”
“When do you plan to come back?” asked Ellie as Bealomondore lifted her to her feet.
“Only you and Bealomondore will go through the wall at this time. With the bottle broken and the liquid rapidly evaporating, we can only send two safely through the glass.” He started for the door that led to the great hall and the entry to the subter. “Listen carefully as we walk. I have instructions for you, and it is imperative that you remember.”
Ellie and Bealomondore kept pace with the wizard’s long legs. The children ran in order not to be left behind.
“Some of the contents of the bottle fell on your shoes and lower garments. Do not wash them. Put them away someplace safe until you have contacted Wizard Fenworth. He may be able to reconstitute the substance and engineer our escape. The residue on your apparel will also help you move through the glass.”
“Why were we able to come into the bottle without any special liquid?” asked Bealomondore.
“Ah! Don’t you know that it is always easier to get into a predicament than to get out of one?”
They passed into the tunnel through which the stream flowed. The wizard turned away from the route they’d taken to get to Tuck.
Ellie pointed over her shoulder. “Shouldn’t we be going that way?”
The wizard answered without pausing. “We’d be walking back to the center of the city, and then we’d have to walk out of it again. This way is shorter. We’ll climb the steps to the surface a few yards from the glass wall.”
They had neglected to grab the lightrocks. Without them, they had only the glow given off by embedded globes along the walls and down the center of the tunnel ceiling. Ellie could see the others vaguely. Tak’s white coat gleamed blue as he passed under each lit orb.
Ellie worried about the children. “Be careful of the stream.” That only covered one of her concerns. “You’re to stay with Wizard Pater after we leave, and we’ll be back for you as soon as we can. Be good for him. Use your manners. And never come down to this part of the subter without an adult. You could drown in that river.”
“Miss Ellie,” Cinder complained, “that’s not a river. It’s just a trickle of water.”
“You can drown in two inches of water, young man. Don’t argue with me.”
They reached stone steps, obviously built by tumanhofers. Ellie and Bealomondore climbed to the rough door easily.
Cinder rushed to help lift the wooden planks upward. It swung open like the cellar door on Ellie’s family farm. Slanted golden