Blog Post: Been a While

Hey guys. How're you all doing?

Wow! It's been a really long time since the last time I spoke directly to you all, figuratively speaking. Let's get right into it.

First off, three months into the new year and it has been . . . well, honestly I don't have the words to express it.

No, wait. I actually do have words to express how the year's been and I already shared them with you all on my blog. You can check them out on the links below.

Poem: Hypocrites

Poem: How the Weak and Ordinary Punish the Strong and Powerful

Needless to say, although it doesn't affect me personally, world events the past few months have left a rather bad taste in my mouth.

Moving on, as you all probably know, I've finally finished the first volume of my Lily Wong series. Overall, I'm satisfied with how it went. There are a few hiccups to the story, but it otherwise went exactly as I had envisioned and planned. 

Like all my other completed stories, all the chapters of The Magical Trials of Lily Wong will be compiled into a book which I plan to publish on Amazon as a paperback. If you've enjoyed my stories so far and would like to support me, please visit my Amazon page and buy it when it finally comes out. I also got a whole bunch of other books for you to enjoy as well.

There will be a second volume in the future, continuing Lily's adventures, but I don't plan on starting it right away. I wanted to focus on some of my other ongoing projects a little bit first. Among them, is the last volume of my Lucy Douglas series, which is an Amazon Kindle exclusive. 

Honestly, I should have finished that first before starting on the Lily Wong series since Lucy's adventures take place a few years before Lily's. Lily's adventures all take place on Earth, but it still has connections to the magical world of Emeron through her uncle, Viceroy Kevin Lin, who was first introduced in the second volume of my Eternal Witch trilogy. That is why I consider Lily's adventures to be part of what I am now calling the Emeron Universe (similarly to how there's a Marvel Universe and a DC Universe). There have already been a few crossovers in my past Emeron stories which I've created to answer things left unresolved in the previous series.

Speaking of unresolved things, that will actually be my focus in my future installment of Lily's adventures, a mystery left unsolved at the end of the first volume. Another thing I wanted to focus on is the crazy antics of Viceroy Kevin Lin. If there was one thing about the first volume I was unsatisfied with, it was that I felt I didn't express enough just how absurd he grew up to be since his adventures with Gwendolyn the Eternal Witch. I hope to fix that with the second volume and explore more how he became the superhuman he presently is.

But all that will have to wait for a while.

I think I already announced this before on Twitter or Bluesky, but I will be going on an overseas trip again. And it'll be a long one. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get done during my trip, since the only piece of tech I'm bringing is my phone, but if I can, maybe I'll post a new chapter of a story now and then. No promises on that though. Likeliest scenario, I'll be silent for around four weeks, regional limits and all that.

When I get back, which will be around late April, I plan to slow my pace back down to at least one chapter a week. That is also when I plan to publish the Lily Wong book on Amazon.

And that's all I got to say for now. Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your lives to read my stuff. Leave a Like or a comment if you want. And as always, happy reading everyone!

Lily Wong Epilogue

Epilogue

Julius Bluestone sat on a bed in an otherwise barren white room. The bed's sheets, blankets and pillow were also white. His pajama-like clothes were white as well, matching his thinning hair and beard. The only thing not white in the room apart from his slightly tanned skin were the books stacked next to him, a small form of mercy by his prison warden.

It's been several days since agents of the Magic Council came to his living quarters at the school to arrest him. They took him straight to a room above this one by a couple of floors using teleportation magic, where they made him change clothes before escorting him to his new home.

The room was, of course, riddled with devices and enchantments to seal away Julius's own magic power to prevent him from escaping. Not that he had any intention of doing that. He knew his plans were evil in the pain they caused to children who did nothing to deserve it. And he was man enough to take whatever punishment he deserved for his villainy.

That said, he wondered just how long the Magic Council planned to keep him here. No one told him when the trial would be, or whether or not there would even be one. Knowing how the Magic Council did things, Julius would not be surprised if he ended up spending the rest of his life in this room without anyone saying anything.

He was leaning his back against the wall, eyes glued to a thick volume of the complete Sherlock Holmes series when he heard a knock on the wall and looked up. A section of the wall melted down to expose a small clear glass window. On the other side of that window was Viceroy Kevin Lin's face.

"Well, this is a surprise," said Julius. He placed a red ribbon between the pages of his book to mark where he left off and set it aside before walking up to the window, feeling the cold touch of the floor tiles against his bare feet. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Mr. Lin?"

"There was some unfinished business I wanted to talk about. It's about the Waller twins' mom."

"I was telling them the truth when I said I don't know what happened to her."

"Yeah, I can see that," said the walking lie detector. "But there was something weird I wanted to pick your brain about."

Julius raised an eyebrow. "Weird?"

With a nod, Viceroy explained, "You see, I had a go trying to use magic to track her down."

"Let me guess," Julius cut in. "The magic spell led you to a random place in the school, only for that place to be empty? It was the same for me, and her former teachers and school friends."

"It did," said Viceroy. "I thought her corpse might've been hidden under the floor or in the walls of the school."

"Goodness, man! That would be horrid!"

"But then I noticed something from one of the enchantments I used." From his pocket, Viceroy pulled out a sheet of paper that he unfolded and held up. "Here. Take a look."

Julius bent down closer to the window and squinted. And then his eyes flew wide open. He looked up at Viceroy and in a hushed tone, asked, "Is that . . . ?"

His voice trailed off, but Viceroy knew what the old man was asking and answered with a nod.

The sheet of paper Viceroy had brought was a map of the school. And along the halls and pathways, through the doors and around the various rooms of various buildings was a single line.

Confused? Then maybe this will help.

Rewind time by two nights . . .

Viceroy Kevin Lin sat in his chair in his room, behind an office desk that, instead of his laptop, had a crystal ball.

Aloud, he spoke to himself, but as if explaining to someone else.

"So, I just cast a magic spell for fortune telling to see if I could find Eddie and Viv's mom. Tried it out on Lily, and it worked find. But when I cast the spell to find Mrs. Waller, or Mary Ann Duskbell, the crystal ball shows me a random room that is clearly part of the school. And that room is . . . "

He took a peek at the crystal ball.

" . . . empty."

He put his hands over his face and covered his eyes as he leaned back with a groan.

"Okay! So this could go two ways. One, I messed up somewhere and the spell is a dud. Or two, I need to call the police about a murder mystery. Personally, I'd rather it be One and not Two."

But when he took another look at the crystal ball, a third possibility showed itself.

"Huh? What's this? Why's the image changing like the crystal ball's showing me what someone else is seeing while they're walking?"

Slowly, view of the random room shifted to the hallway outside. It showed a pair of boys talking smack about their annoying algebra teacher and turned away to a set of stairs leading down.

Viceroy watched, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Could it be?" He wondered. "I need to double check!"

He rifled through the drawers of his desk, finding a black gel pen that he set by the crystal ball before digging into the cabinet by his right leg. A minute later, he pulled out a map of the school. It was a bit outdated, but it was good enough for Viceroy.

After moving the crystal ball out of the way, he spread the map across the tabletop. He held the pen up over the map and said, "With this pen I assign the role or Mary Ann Duskbell Waller! Wherever she walks now, so too the pen travels!"

And then he let go.

The tip of the pen struck the paper and stuck to it while the pen stood upright without any help. A puddle of black ink spread up to a millimeter in diameter from the source.

Almost immediately after, the pen started moving on its own, tracing a path around the school. Sometimes it paused for a while. And then it started up again. Some pauses were short while other pauses were long. The pen was like a living person wandering aimlessly around the school with nothing better to do.

Back at present time . . . 

Julius Bluestone, of course, knew exactly what sort of magic spells the history teacher used. The old man had more than two hundred years to learn every single enchantment under the sun. And the moment he laid eyes on the results, he understood what they meant.

"Eddie and Viv's mom is still alive," Viceroy concluded. He stared straight into his former boss' eyes, certain of his words. "And she's in Bluestone Academy."

<== Chapter 45

Lily Wong Ch. 45

Chapter 45

The Aftermath

For a moment, no one made a sound. And then Lily took a step towards the blue bracelet lying on the floor. The bracelet's sapphire gems appeared dull and foggy in the light shining into the room from the hole above.

She reached down to pick it up. But before she could touch it, a hand covered in stone swiped the bracelet away.

"I'll be taking that," said Uncle Viceroy. Behind him, copies of himself shed their armor and then disappeared into particles of light. Their job was done and the danger had passed so they needn't stay anymore. "Sorry, Lily. But you're not getting this back."

Lily was sorry to lose the bracelet. Since the start of the school year, it had been a part of her everyday and it'll take a while to get used to its absence. But she figured that it was for the best. She doubted she could use it anymore now that it had an evil spirit trapped inside of it.

"Safira!"

Bluestone came running into the chamber. Flying close behind was the parrot, Warren. They rushed over to Safira and the three of them gave each other big hugs. At last, after two hundred years, Julius Bluestone's family was reunited. It was a happy moment, and one that everyone wished would last a bit longer.

Sadly, it could not.

"Ahem!"

Heads turned to Viceroy Kevin Lin who shed the last of his stone armor. He stuffed the sapphire bracelet into his pocket and then straightened his tie before marching up to the Bluestones. Everyone could tell from the grim look on his face that some unhappy business was about to go down.

Safira took a step forward, but her father gently pulled her back and shook his head.

"Uncle Viceroy . . ." Lily spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said. "But this is something I have to do. No matter the reason, I cannot let Bluestone's actions slide."

"But-!"

"No matter the reason."

The edge in Uncle Viceroy's voice caused Lily to fall silent again. She and the others meekly stood by and watched as the two men walked up to meet each other. They were about three feet apart when they stopped.

"Julius Bluestone," Viceroy Kevin Lin spoke sharply, "by unleashing the dragon Fafnir's spirit, you are guilty of not only bringing danger to this school, but also to the whole world. Even if we write that off as an accident, you have no excuse for your other crimes. To get what you wanted, you attacked the students you were supposed to protect and dragged them into the world of magic; a world that, here on Earth, brings a lifetime of danger. They trusted you and you betrayed them. 

"I am probably the last person on the planet who should be telling anyone how to be a teacher. But in this case, I'm probably the only one who can. Julius Bluestone, you have failed as a teacher and do not deserve to be called one."

Oliver could not keep quiet any longer and cried out in dismay. "That's going to far!"

But Bluestone cut in and said, "No, Oliver. He is right. Hurting students is not something a teacher should do. And I've hurt plenty."

He looked up to the sky through the hole in the ceiling.

"You know, I never really cared about being a teacher. I only created this school as a tool for my plans, something I always planned to throw away when it was no longer useful. And yet . . . to be told I do not deserve to be called a teacher, that actually hurt. A lot more than anything in two hundred years."

His voice quivered. And by his sides, his hands balled into fists and shook.

Viceroy spun at his heels and turned his back to the former school director. Without looking back, he said, "Enjoy your time with your family while you can. Whether I tell the Magic Council or not, they will find out about this. And when they do, even I don't know what will happen."

And then he walked away. 

**********

A few days have passed since a mysterious, late night drum performance woke up the entire school and riled up all the students into screaming out of their windows. In the end, it was written off as a prank that all the teachers blamed on Lady Sapphire. Her name was the one being chanted along with the rhythm of the music after all. Some of the teachers believed that she needed to be found and punished, not knowing that it already happened.

Lily and the entire Sapphire Society got detention. Every day in the afternoon, weekends included, they reported to Uncle Viceroy's classroom, where they spent a whole hour and a half writing lines with pencil and paper. And it was always the same line over and over, and over: "I will not do anything dangerous ever again. I will not do anything dangerous ever again."

Safira joined them, wearing a Bluestone Academy uniform. She had been enrolled as a student and took classes with Lily and the twins. There was an awkward air between them at first, but they quickly got over it and became good friends. They even hung out together at the Sapphire Society hideout. It wasn't long until she became an official member of the club.

Seeing no harm in it, Uncle Viceroy allowed the Sapphire Society to continue. But they were only allowed to use the lair during the weekends. Still, thanks to Safira and Warren's tutoring, Lily quickly got the hang of using magic power without the bracelet and everyone else got even better at spell casting than before

Speaking of Warren, he stayed as a parrot, pretending to be Safira's pet. When asked why he would not transform into a human, he said this:

"Because it's convenient. No need to worry about bills, going to work or dealing with paperwork."

Safira got special permission to keep him at the dorms, as long as he didn't cause any trouble.

"Me? Cause trouble? Perish the thought!"

Safira's enrollment wasn't the only big change, however. There was another, less happy change.

One morning, on live video, Julius Bluestone announced his resignation as director of the school. He was still the owner, but complete control of it had been turned over to the Board of Directors. After that, he disappeared from the public eye. Neither Safira nor Warren would say what happened to their father. 

Oliver seemed to know something, but he kept it to himself. Now and then, though, Lily spotted the teen detective throwing a resentful glare at her uncle while keeping a generous distance away. He always sat at the very back of the classroom during detention, the furthest away he could get from Uncle Viceroy.

And so, the war against the Schemer was over. But there was still one mystery that remained unsolved. 

Before Bluestone left the school, Eddie and Viv were able to meet him in his office one last time to talk about their mother. But to their dismay, he told them, "I'm sorry, Edward, Vivian. But I really have nothing to do with your mother's disappearance. I don't know where she is, or what happened to her."

"Then why did give us her journal?" Eddie shouted. "You let us find that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Honestly, it was a coincidence," Bluestone said. "I only chose that journal because I felt it was the easiest to learn magic from. I didn't know until later that you were actually the children of the journal's original owner. It was quite a shock finding out. Or perhaps, it was Fate at work."

"But you must have some idea what happened!" Viv cried. "You were the one you taught her magic!"

"It's true that I tutored Mary Ann Duskbell in the magic arts," Bluestone said. "But she gave up her powers and all memories connected to magic. I erased them myself when she asked me to."

Eddie raised his eyebrows. "She gave up magic? Why?"

"I imagine it was because she thought it would be safer for her future children if she cut ties with the magical world."

"So she gave up magic for us?"

Bluestone gave Viv's question an affirming nod.

"Did you at least try to find her?" asked Eddie. "I heard you were good at fortune telling. Couldn't you use that to track her down?"

"You think I didn't?" asked Bluestone. "As soon as I heard she disappeared, I cast every sort of enchantment I could think of. Used every magic tool I had. None of them worked. They just led to dead ends."

Needless to say, the twins left the office feeling very depressed.

"I'm sorry, Eddie, Viv," Safira said one day in the hideout. "I tried asking Warren, but he just told me the same things Father told you."

"I see," said Viv. "Well thanks for trying."

She was unable to hide her disappointment.

Oliver rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I've been thinking," he said. "Director Bluestone said the magic spells he used to look for your mother hit dead ends. Is that correct?"

Eddie and Viv nodded.

"Those were his exact words," said Eddie.

"That means the spells must have at least led him somewhere. Maybe that place holds some kind of clue and he just missed it. Do you know where it is?"

The twins shook their heads.

"Bluestone never told us," said Viv.

"I was not told either," said Safira. "Maybe Warren knows?"

"Speaking of Warren, where is that parrot?" Lily asked, looking around. "I haven't seen him in a while. He's always stuck by you, Safira, so it's kind of weird not seeing him around."

Safira shrugged.

"Perhaps, he's with Mr. Lin?" she guessed. "There are still a lot of things left behind by the Bluestone family that needs to be taken care of, after all."

With Julius Bluestone gone, Lily's Uncle Viceroy was left in charge of all of the school's magical stuff. Well, it was more like he put himself in charge before anyone else could say anything.

"What's Mr. Lin been doing with all of Bluestone's stuff anyway?" asked Erin. She and George had a contest, using their minds to control dolls to battle each other. Her doll won after tearing George's doll's head off and raised it up in triumph.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know, but I have a feeling it involves A LOT of smashing."

"I have mixed feelings about that," Safira confessed. "Since whatever belonged to the Bluestone family is basically my mine too." 

"I think it should be okay," said Tanja. She had three electronic tablets floating around her head like planets orbiting the sun. "Your old man did say he was going to throw it all away, anyway." 

"You think we can get Mr. Lin to leave some of that old stuff alone?" Eddie wondered. "I know the director said he did everything he could to find Mom, but it's not like he used EVERY thing he had. There are some stuff in the school he didn't even know about. Maybe one of those can help us find out what happened her."

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask," said Lily. "Oh! There he is right now!"

Uncle Viceroy appeared at the doorway holding his smartphone, which jingle-jangled a looping tune. 

"Good timing, Uncle. Can we ask you - ?"

"SorryLilynotimetoexplainthinkfast!"

After saying something superfast, Uncle Viceroy swiped his finger across the phone's screen and then dropped it onto his niece's lap. And then he ran out of the room, as if for his life. 

"What was that all about?" Lily wondered. She was confused.

But then a lady's voice screamed out of the phone's speaker. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN LILY GOT TURNED INTO A MAGICAL SUPERHERO? HELLO? VICEROY? HELLOOOOO? ANSWER ME!"

Lily was absolutely horrified, and it showed on her face.

"What's wrong, Lily?" Eddie asked. "Do you know who's on the phone?"

"Eddie, you idiot! Shush!"

But it was too late.

"Huh? Lily? Lily's there? Lily, you're there, right? Tell me what's going on! What did Viceroy mean when he said you became a superhero?"

Lily had her hands clapped over her mouth.

Oliver whispered to the person next to him, which happened to be Melody, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that lady on the phone's Lily's mom."

And he was right.

"LILIAN WONG, DON'T YOU DARE  PRETEND YOU'RE NOT THERE. YOU ANSWER YOUR MOTHER THIS INSTANT!"

<== Chapter 44                                                                                   Epilogue ==>

Lily Wong Ch. 44

Chapter 44

United

Rewind time a few minutes back . . .

After performing a jump-punch through the ceiling, Mr. Lin landed on the floor above and shed the stones that made up his armor, using them to make a staircase for the others to climb up with. Tanja was the first.

She took a look around, noting the oddly-shaped black cases. "Looks like we're in a storage room for the school's band."

Suddenly, Mr. Lin cried out, "Oh shoot!"

"What's wrong, Mr. Lin?" asked Hassan.

The history teacher replied, "One of my clones spotted Lily and Safira."

"Really?" cried Bluestone. "Where are they? Is Safira okay?"

"Depends on your meaning of okay," said Mr. Lin. "They're having a showdown with that rotten piece of cotton candy."

George raised an eyebrow. "Rotten piece of cotton candy? Do you mean the spirit of Fafnir, Mr. Lin?"

"Yep."

"WHAT!?" Bluestone cried out in dismay. He turned and ran to the hole, but Mr. Lin stopped him with a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Hold it, Bluestone," he said. "Just where do you think you're going?"

Bluestone whirled around and shook Mr. Lin's hand off. "Don't try and stop me, Viceroy! I should never have gone with you! I should've just gone after Safira!"

"Don't be ridiculous!' Mr. Lin snapped. "The way you are now, you wouldn't make it one step!"

"THEN WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE WE DO?" shouted Bluestone. "NOTHING? Need I remind you your own niece is there too?"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?" Mr. Lin roared back. "EIGHTEEN CLONES ARE TRYING TO GET TO THEM RIGHT NOW! FIVE ARE ALREADY THERE, BUT THEY ALL GOT THEIR HANDS FULL WITH AN ARMY OF HORRORS! YOUR ARMY OF HORRORS!"

"Guys! GUYS!" Tanja jumped in. "This is no time to be arguing. You remember what that magic eight ball said, right? If we're going to win this, we need to work together. To be united."

Mr. Lin looked at her. "Say that again?"

Puzzled, Tanja said, "We need to work together?"

"No, the other thing."

"To be united?"

"That's it!" 

"What's it?" asked George.

Mr. Lin didn't answer. Instead, he marched over to the back of the room and pulled a sheet off a large drum that was up to his belly in height. With a wag of his finger, dust gathered over his hand and transformed into a steel chisel which he proceeded to use to carve something into the side of the instrument.

"You do know you're vandalizing school property, don't you?" Warren pointed out.

Mr. Lin snapped at the parrot, "Oh, like you actually care. The school can just take the repair costs out of my paycheck."

"What ARE you doing, Mr. Lin?" asked Alejandro. "And is that supposed to help Lily somehow?"

While moving onto the next drum, Mr. Lin explained, "Back when I was stranded in another world, me and some friends visited a village or a town that made musical instruments with special powers. When that town was attacked by an army of weird, avant-garde art statues, me and my friends used those instruments powers to send the entire village's feelings over to Gwendolyn, a witch. The instruments turned those feelings into energy, powering her up enough to obliterate the army with a single spell."

“How much of that do you think is actually true?” Melody whispered to Alejandro. Alejandro answered with a shrug.

"I get it now!" exclaimed Hassan. "We're all going to power up Lily so she can take down Fafnir, using drums you modded to have powers just like those instruments at that village!"

"Uh," went Melody, "is no one going to point out the crazy that is Mr. Lin saying he visited another world?"

Excited, Tanja cried out, "Ooh! Is this one of those power-of-friendship things? Is it? Is it?"

"Ya darn right it is!" Mr. Lin set aside the second drum and started working on a third. 

Warren the parrot scoffed. "The power of friendship, you say? I know the adventures me and Father created for you lot made it seem like one, but this is not some children's wishy-washy cartoon show! This idea is utterly absurd!"

Bluestone, however, felt differently. "I understand how you feel, Warren," he said. "But we are out of options now. And you should already know this: Viceroy Kevin Lin is an absurd man, and making absurd things happen is what he does best."

"So is now a good time to tell us why you wear glasses when your eyes are fine?" Tanja asked.

Mr. Lin rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine! The glasses block out light that bothers my eyes. I've asked for years to have the lightbulbs switched out for something more eye friendly, but the school never got around to it, even though it only took them two months to install that huge jacuzzi underneath the teacher dorms."

"Alright!"

Mr. Lin and everyone else stood behind drums that he had carved alien symbols on, holding drumsticks ready over their instruments. In front of them was a giant mirror floating in the air, created by Mr. Lin so that they could all see Lily and Safira, and what was going on in the chamber with Fafnir. 

Mr. Lin's drumsticks went, Pak! Pak! Pak! "Let's . . . get . . . PUUUUUMPED!"

**********

All across the school, a fierce, rapid drumbeat could be heard. It woke students and teachers alike out of their slumber. Hundreds of heads poked out of hundreds of windows trying to figure out where that music came from. But all anyone knew for sure was that the music would allow no wall, no distance, to stop it from reaching every single ear in the school, not even the walls of an ancient underground lair used by a family of evil wizards.

As soon as Lily heard the drums, she was suddenly filled to the brim with energy. And she could also hear familiar voices cheering along.

"Go Lily!"

"You can do it!"

"Show that rotten piece of cotton candy what a Lin can really do!"

"Don't give up, Safira!"

"Don't let two-hundred years of hard work go to waste!"

All of Lily and Safira's friends sent words of encouragement, and lent the girls strength. But even with their added power, the bracelet still could not peel Fafnir off the floor. 

Just a little bit more, Lily thought. If only we can get just a little bit more power!

And then came another familiar voice. This one was much closer than the rest.

"Need a hand?"

Lily looked up and was both surprised and happy to see Oliver, Viv and Eddie poking their heads down over the hole in the ceiling along with another Uncle Viceroy clone in his Stone Man armor.

The clone jumped down. He landed outside of the wall of light the other five clones held up, and then spun round and round, turning into an indoor tornado that pulled in and then tossed aside Fafnir's minions as it traveled around the room. This gave the other clones a chance to push the rest of the army back.

White-blue frost flew out of Oliver's hand, which created a platform of ice that looped around the cloud of smoke, before touching down next to Lily and Safira. After sliding down the platform, Oliver and the twins placed their hands over Lily and Safira's, adding their magic energy to the girls'. The bracelet's pull on Fafnir instantly became several times stronger.

"No!" the dragon cried out in horror. He went sliding closer to the bracelet, leaving long, deep gashes across the stone floor. "Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE! To not only be defeated, but VANQUISHED by few ragtag children and teachers!"

"Actually, Fafnir," said Oliver, "it's not just a few children and teachers. You know that drumming that's going on right now? While me and the twins were rushing over here, we heard our friends' voices being carried along with it. I figured they were trying to help Lily in some way and thought, 'Why not invite everyone else to join the fun?' So I whipped out my phone and sent out a text message to every person on the school's phone book to do one thing: cheer for Lady Sapphire. If you listen closely, you'll know that quite a lot of people have answered the call."

"GO Lady Sapphire! You can do it!"

"I don't know what's going on, but I'm rooting for you, Lady Sapphire!"

"I still owe you for getting back my singing voice. So if you need my support, you've got it!"

"If not for you, I would have lost my late grandmother's brooch forever. Thank you!"

"GO! GO! LADY SAPPHIRE! GO! GO! LADY SAPPHIRE! GO! GO! LADY SAPPHIRE!"

"Sounds like a lot of people, doesn't it?" Oliver said with a smug grin. "I'm betting the whole school's got our backs right now. Well, Lily's back really. No surprise, given all the good she's done for everyone as Lady Sapphire. Anyway, the point is you're up against hundreds of people right now. Even a dragon like yourself can't handle the power of that many, Fafnir. And that means . . ."

"It's over for you!" Lily declared. "Come on, everyone!"

Thus, Bluestone's prediction about unity being the key to victory came true. With the power of the entire school united as one, Lily and her friends finally dislodged the cloud of smoke from the floor.

With nothing to hold onto now, Fafnir went flying towards his to-be prison, screaming despairingly, "NOOOOOOOO!"

He managed to stop himself from being completely guzzled into the bracelet for just a few seconds, long enough to throw one last angry promise at Lily and the gang.

"DON'T THINK THIS IS OVER!" he shouted. "I WILL NEVER BE COMPLETELY DESTROYED! EVEN AFTER I LOST THE BATTLE AGAINST THE WARRIOR SIGURD, I REVIVED! AND AFTER BEING DEFEATED BY THE HERO SIGFRIED, I REVIVED AGAIN! ONE DAY, I WILL RETURN! AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"

And then he disappeared into the bracelet's jewels. Not a single waft of his smokey form remained.

<== Chapter 43                                                                           Chapter 45 ==> 

Lily Wong Ch. 43

Chapter 43

Lily's Plan

Following the beam of light shining from the bracelet, Lily and Safira soon found themselves back where they started: the chamber Safira had spent two-hundred years entombed in sapphire. Along the way, they heard lots of loud thunderous explosions and a man making chicken noises. Lily tried to tune out the chicken noises but could not stop her face from turning red with embarrassment. Safira noticed and kindly kept quiet.

Shards of blue gemstone laid scattered all over the floor, the remains of Safira's former prison. At the center of the room was the smoke cloud form of Fafnir, shaped like a really deeply scowling face.

Lily and Safira hung back at the entrance, watching the cloud for a bit. They exchanged looks and gave each other resolute nods before boldly stepping into the chamber.

"Hey! Fafnir!"

Hearing Lily's call, Fafnir moved his gaze up. 

"Well, well, well. This is a surprise," he said. "What brings you here? Come to surrender?"

"Something like that," said Lily. She lifted up her arm and pulled her sleeve down to expose the bracelet around her wrist. What looked like eyes on the cloud followed the bracelet as she swayed it left and right. "You wanted this, right? It's yours if you promise not to hurt anyone."

Thunder rumbled from the cloud and he said, "You would try to bargain with me? You, a mere human child? To me, a great dragon? I find the notion insulting!"

"Oh?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "So you don't want it then?"

"I want it, alright," said Fafnir. "But that doesn't mean I have to do as you say to get it. I can just take it from you, just like I took treasure from others after I feasted on them!"

Just imagining that sent shivers down Lily's spine. But she tried not to let her fears show and kept her eyes glued on the cloud.

"Then how about I challenge you for it, then?" Lily suggested.

"You, challenge me? Ridiculous! Ridiculous, ridiculous, RIDICULOUS!" The cloud grew three times in size. Lightning flashed and thunder clapped. "That is even more ridiculous than the idea of a bargain between us!"

"What's the matter, Fafnir?" Lily asked. "Afraid you'll lose to a little girl?"

Suddenly, the cloud stopped laughing. It seemed her insult hit a nerve. "You dare? You dare call me afraid? Of you!?"

"Well, if the shoe fits," said Lily. "I wonder what all the other dragons in the world will think when they hear how the big and scary Fafnir was afraid to fight fair with a girl."

"They'll probably think him a coward," said Safira. "I know I would. I can imagine people being shocked to hear that the great and powerful Fafnir of legend had no confidence he could defeat a mere child."

"Grr! I will have your tongues ripped out for this slander!"

Lily fired back, "It's not slander if it's true!"

"Fine! I will accept your challenge, human! Name your terms!"

"The name of the game's Tug-of-War. If you manage to take the bracelet from me, it's your win. If not, then it's mine. I'll even make it easy for you."

Just as she thought, she could remove the bracelet. Whatever had kept it locked on her wrist must have disappeared or turned off when Safira was freed.

"Will your insults never cease?" Fafnir growled. 

Safira stepped in and announced, "I will mark the start of the challenge! Will both sides please stand ready?"

Neither Lily or Fafnir said a word. They got closer to one another, tensed up to spring at a moment's notice. And then -

"BEGIN!"

In the blink of an eye, a bit of cloud stretched out of Fafnir, coiled around the bracelet, and yanked it out of Lily's hand.

"HA!" Fafnir laughed triumphantly. "You didn't even put up a fight! Now the bracelet is mine and I see no reason to keep you alive any longer! And once I've disposed of you, that annoying stone wizard's next!"

The stone wizard was probably Uncle Viceroy, Lily thought.

"Now, prepare to - HUH?"

The cloud of smoke yelled out in surprise as the bracelet's jewel rapidly slurped him up. 

"What is this?" he cried. "Did you . . . Did you TRICK ME?"

"That's right," Lily admitted. 

It was always her plan to have Fafnir take the bracelet. Before walking into the chamber, she had given it one final instruction: to swallow the evil cloud of smoke up like a vacuum and trap him inside forever. Lily was certain he would fall for the bait, since he made it clear before that he wanted it.

"This is what you get for being so greedy, Fafnir. Now take your just desserts!"

"Grrr!" The cloud of smoke growled. He resisted the bracelet's pull with all his might. "Don't think you've won yet! I am Fafnir the dragon! I WILL NOT FALL TO SOME PALTRY HUMAN CHILD'S MAGIC TRICK!"

"What the hey-hey!?" Lily cried out in disbelief as, with a mighty roar, the cloud of smoke began to pull itself out of the bracelet.

Safira saw as well and cried, "We have to do something or he'll get away!"  

Lily didn't need telling twice. She dove towards the bracelet, grabbed it with both hands and screamed at it. "I don't care if you have to drain me dry, JUST DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"

Blue light flowed from her shoulders, up her arms to the bracelet. Its jewels flashed brighter than before and she felt her hands get pulled. 

Looks like we're playing Tug-of-War Round Two, she thought. And she pulled back as hard as she could.

Rapidly, she got dizzy. Her legs felt like jelly and her knees buckled. She could tell that she was running out of energy fast. But despite that, although slower now, the black smoke was still slipping out of the bracelet.

Oh no! She thought. At this rate, he'll get away!

Fafnir laughed.

"WEAK!" he roared. "YOU ARE TOO WEAK, LADY SAPPHIRE! YOUR POWER ALONE CANNOT HOLD ME! IT IS NOT ENOUGH!"

"Then it's a good thing she's not alone!" Suddenly, a second pair of hands flew in and wrapped themselves over Lily's. They belonged to Safira. And like Lily, blue light flowed from her to the bracelet.

With the combined power from both girls, the bracelet finally stopped the smoke from spilling out and vacuumed it back into its jewels.

"Ah! AAAAAAH!" The evil dragon's spirit moaned and screamed. "CURSE YOU, CHILD OF THE BLUESTONE FAMILY! I WILL NOT LET YOU THWART ME AGAIN! TO ME MY MINIONS!"

"Oh crud."

Out of the corner of her eye, Lily could see endless numbers of spear-wielding skeletons, sword-armed suits of armor, flying books and huge tigers made of bronze metal come pouring into the chamber and surround her and Safira. They all aimed their sharp, pointy weapons at the girls.

"Oh double crud. Quick, Safira! Get away!"

But Safira answered with a shake of her head. She was not going anywhere. And even if she wanted to, there was nowhere left to run.

No one noticed the ceiling trembling in a rhythm over their heads, making bits of dust fly out as a long, jagged crack appeared and grew with each beat.

"DESTROY THEM!"

CRASH!

"BOO-YAH!"

From the ceiling, the Stone Man appeared falling into the chamber. But it was not just one Stone Man, not just two Stone Men but FIVE Stone Men. The clones of Viceroy Kevin Lin had come to the rescue.

They created a circle around the girls and Fafnir. At the same time, they drew back their fists and then threw punches out. Their hands touched nothing but air, but their strikes were so mighty that strong sonic booms were created that mowed down all the skeletons, suits of armor, bronze tigers and flying books, smashing them to pieces against the walls.

Lily was so stunned, she nearly forgot what she was doing until Fafnir cried out, "IMPOSSIBLE! The rooms and halls of this entire underground lair are constantly changing. There's no way you could have found this chamber, no matter how many walls you punch through! SO HOW ARE YOU HERE?"

The cloud of smoke clung to the floor as he shouted.

While jabbing a thumb at the remains of the chamber's creepy guardians, the west side Uncle Viceroy answered, "Thank the guys I just blew to bits. All I had to do was follow them. And it's a good thing I did."

All five glanced at Lily and Safira.

"I figured something was going on when they suddenly turned tail and ran, even if they were badly losing our fight. And just as I expected, that something had to do with you girls."

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but -

"Eyes on the enemy!" Uncle Viceroy shouted. He turned away to face a new wave of monstrous minions marching into the chamber. "I'll keep the small-fries off your backs, so just focus on what you need to do!"

He's right, Lily thought as she returned her gaze to the cloud of smoke, the evil dragon Fafnir. Now was not time to be distracted. I have one job, and one job only: to make sure this rotten piece of cotton candy never hurts anyone ever again!

And so, she stared down the dragon while continuing to feed the bracelet whatever magic power she could muster along with Safira's. But even as she and Safira both drop to their knees from depleted energy, the dragon remained clinging to the floor and resisted the bracelet's pull with all his might and will power.

It's still not enough! Lily thought despairingly. Even with Safira's help, I just can't get that dragon inside the bracelet!

She thought about asking Uncle Viceroy to spare clone to help, but when she risked a sideways glance, she could see all five were bent down, hands raised high over their heads while a wall of light kept the dragon's horror-themed army at bay.

"Bad move," one groaned. "Should've just kept smashing. No room . . . to do anything else."

And then Fafnir laughed and Lily's heart fell.

"You really had me worried," the evil dragon's spirit said. "But it seems that you've now reached your limit. But don't feel bad, Lady Sapphire. You may not vanquish me today, but victory is still yours. Congratulations on driving me to retreat. I will let you have the bracelet and leave to find treasure somewhere else. To find someone else's treasure to take!"

"No!" Lily cried despairingly. 

It can't end like this! She thought. If he gets away, he'll fly to who-knows-where and hurt who-knows-who! Just the thought of a stranger falling victim to the dragon when she failed to trap him made her stomach twist into painful knots. I can't let that happen!

She clenched tight on the bracelet, desperate to keep the dragon in place. But more and more of the black smoke that was pulled into the blue jewels was flowing back out.

"Almost there!" Fafnir cried. He morphed into a beastly shape. The parts of him clinging to the floor looked like talons which he used to claw himself further and further away from the bracelet. "Just a little more!"

And then -

"Hm? What's that sound?"

Lily heard it too.

It came echoing in from the hole in the ceiling, a rapid, aggressive musical beat. There was no mistaking it.

Someone, somewhere, was playing drums.

<== Chapter 42                                                                               Chapter 44 ==>

Lily Wong Ch. 42

Chapter 42

Separated

"Blast it all!" roared Bluestone. In a fit of rage, he smacked his fist against the wall. But all that gained him was torn skin and a stinging pain.

Alejandro, the rest of the library helpers and Tanja hung back in silence. No one was sure what to say. 

Quickly remembering he was not alone, Bluestone took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, straightened up and fixed his necktie before turning to face the students.

"Ahem! Right then . . . Now, I'm sure you are all reluctant to listen to me. I did betray your trust, after all. But I promise, if you follow me, I will get you all out of here."

There was silence, and then -

"You had my face literally ripped off!" said Melody. "I don't even want to hear your voice anymore."

Bluestone winced. "I deserve that."

"With all due respect, Director," said Alejandro, "even knowing why you did all that evil stuff, it's still hard for me to believe in you now. But . . ."

He glanced back at the others. They all nodded back.

" . . . you know this place best, which makes you our best bet of making out of here alive."

Grateful, Bluestone said, "Thank you."

Then the parrot, Warren Bluestone, cut in and said, "Still, how are we going to find our way out? That blasted dragon mixed up the whole layout of the underground lair. It's completely unrecognizable now."

Bluestone rubbed his beard thoughtfully and then knelt down, placing his hand flat on the floor. He closed his eyes to concentrate. A few seconds later, he straightened back up and sighed.

"No good," he said. "Thanks to Lin cutting my connection to the building, I can't sense anything anymore."

"Can't you just use that fortune telling you're so proud of?" asked the parrot. "It's your specialty, isn't it?"

Bluestone shrugged. "I guess it's worth a try. Lucky I have my Magic Eight Ball with me."

As he reached into his pocket for the toy, the library helpers exchanged looks.

"Seriously?" went Hassan. "You're using a Magic Eight Ball for fortune telling?"

"I'd use tarot cards, but those are hard to figure out. Now let's see what this says." Bluestone kept his eye on the plastic black billiard ball as he spoke. After giving it a good shake, he turned the ball to see what showed up on its window. "To your right, you will find a wild card who leads the way. The key to victory is unity."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked George.

"I guess maybe we'll find some help if we go that way," Melody said, pointing down the hall.

"But who? Do you know, Director?"

Bluestone answered, "I have an inkling." He put the toy away. "Come on. Let's go."

He started walking, but just a few steps later - 

BOOM!

A section of the wall burst and through the hole walked a man.

"Mr. Lin!" Everyone cried out in joy.

"Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes!" said Tanja. "But I thought you'd be stuck keeping all those creepy skeletons busy."

Mr. Lin took a look around. "Sorry, but that's not me. That's the original. I'm copy number nine."

"Hold up!" Hassan cut in. "Copy number nine? You made more of yourself?"

Mr. Lin, the ninth clone, nodded. "Original me and Copy Number Two multiplied a bunch for an all-out war with Fafnir. That rotten piece of cotton candy's been throwing pretty much everything at us. Sorry, but not sorry for smashing all your stuff, Bluestone."

But Bluestone was not bothered and said, "Don't be. I was going to get rid of it all, anyway. But how goes the evacuation? Can you see or hear what's going on with the clone sent up to the surface?"

"Sure," said Mr. Lin. "We're all just one mind sharing lots of different bodies, so all of us knows what each and every clone's doing."

"Wow, that must feel weird," said Tanja.

"Oh, really weird," said Mr. Lin. "That's why I don't like multiplying myself, except in an emergency like now. Anyway, the evacuation's no good. Copy Number Three never made it out. He's still trying though. But enough about that. Where's Lily?"

"Fafnir got us separated," said Alejandro. 

"I was afraid you'd say that," Mr. Lin grumbled. He fell quiet for a bit. "Okay, here's the plan. While the other mes keep Fafnir distracted, I'll take you all back up to the surface and take over Copy Number Three's job to warn everyone else go get out of the school. In the meantime, some of my copies will make more copies to look for Lily and the others."

"Just how many of you are running around the place?" asked Warren.

"Seventeen. No, wait. Twenty-three now."

"I was being rhetorical."

"I've no idea what that means," said Mr. Lin.

"Of course you don't."

"Anyway, that's enough time being wasted." Clumps of rock flew up and clung to Mr. Lin, piling up together to make his Stone Man armor. "The chaos the other mes are causing should keep Fafnir off our backs and make it easier to get to the surface, but likely not for long."

And then he jumped up, crashing through the ceiling. With a flap of Warren's wing, a stone staircase grew out of the floor. One by one, everyone climbed up to the next floor.

**********

Meanwhile, pacing back and forth with her hands clutching the sides of her head, Viv muttered, "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?"

"Calm down, Viv," Oliver said, trying to sooth the young girl. But his effort only made Viv snap.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" she angrily yelled. "Lily and Safira just fell down a hole to who-knows-where! There's no telling what could happen to them!"

"I'm sure they're fine. They've got the magic bracelet to keep them safe." Again, Oliver tried to calm his friend down, but it was no good.

"That magic bracelet's no help here! She was no match against the Schemer with it! And that same Schemer couldn't do a thing about that cloud-dragon-thing!"

"She's right, Oliver," said Eddie. "We need to find them and fast!"

"I know that," said Oliver. "But panicking's not going to help."

"Then what do you propose we do, huh?" Viv snapped.

"Well, for starters," Oliver answered, "we should check out those boom noises down that way."

He pointed down the hall to sounds of destruction echoing off the walls, followed by what sounded like a man going, "Bawk! Bawk-bawk-bawk-bawk! Bawk-kaw!"

"Something tells me, we'll find someone who'll be of huge help."

**********

Down and down, and down Lily and Safira fell. Everything around them was all pitch-black except for the blue glow from Lily's bracelet. Lily couldn't even see the bottom. But she knew that it would only be a matter of time.

So before the bottom came in sight, she called out to the bracelet, "Flying broom! Quick!"

Light flashed from the jewels of the bracelet and a broomstick popped out and fell alongside the girls. Lily reached out and grabbed the broom, pulling it close to herself in a hug and jerked to a stop mid-air. Safira, however, continued to fall.

Lily tipped the broom downward and zipped down, propelled faster by a sonic boom from the broom's brush end. She snatched hold of Safira's hand with her own right hand and pulled the broom up with her left hand, stopping them all from falling further.

Safira glanced down to the seemingly bottomless abyss and nervously swallowed. "Thanks."

"No problem," Lily answered back.

With the magic broomstick, the girls slowly and safely drifted down to the bottom until their feet touched solid ground. 

Safira looked around and wondered, "Where are we?"

"Not sure," Lily said, taking a look around herself. Everything was still dark around her. "Don't think it matters though. Not with that rotten piece of cotton candy rearranging the whole building whenever he wants."

"I've been meaning to ask, but what's cotton candy?"

Lily opened her mouth to speak, and then paused. "Never mind. I'll tell you later."

Safira gave her a funny look and then shrugged before kneeling down to sit on the floor. With a sigh, she said, "Well, one bit of good tiding is that I don't feel that dragon's eyes on us so we can probably rest for a bit. He must be distracted by something."

"That . . . doesn't sound good to me," said Lily. "It just means that he's busy messing with the others."

Safira's face fell and she cast her eyes down with a soft, "Oh."

Lily regretted her big mouth and quickly tried to reverse Safira's crestfallen mood. "I-I'm sure the others are okay. My Uncle Viceroy's really good at distracting people. He's probably doing all sorts of shenanigans that got Fafnir's full attention."

"But wouldn't that mean your uncle's the one in danger?"

"Well . . ." Lily hesitated. Honestly, she'd rather not think about it, but Safira was right. Fafnir was just a cloud of smoke, but he had control of an entire magic building and all its deadly traps. Even Uncle Viceroy can't get out of all that unscathed, can he?

Safira stood back up. "I was wrong. Now's not the time to be resting. I must hurry and stop the dragon right this instant before he can hurt Father, Brother and the others."

"Whoa! Hold your horses!" Lily put her hand on Safira's shoulder to stop her from running off. "Just how do you plan to stop Fafnir? You heard what he said earlier, right? That trick you used on him last time's not going to work again."

"Well, I have to try!" Safira shouted. "We cannot let that monster run free, especially now that he's got the power of the Bluestone family under his control. There's no telling how many people he'll hurt with it!"

"I know that!" Lily snapped back. "But there's no way I'm letting you freeze yourself in a jewel again. Not after all the trouble I went through to get you out of one."

"Do you have any better idea, then?"

"Well . . . " Lily faltered again.

How are we going to defeat Fafnir? She wondered. It was hard to imagine anything hurting a cloud of smoke of all things. Trapping him somewhere he couldn't do any harm would be more realistic. Maybe the bracelet could help with that?

And then a lightbulb flashed over her head.

"Wait, that's it!"

"What's it?" Safira asked, startled and confused by Lily's sudden outburst.

With a grin, Lily replied, "I got an idea. We got a dragon spirit to beat! Show us the way, bracelet!"

At her command, light shined from the bracelet. It trailed down her left and she took off running after it.

"Wait!" Safira cried, rushing to catch up. "What's this idea you got?"

Over her shoulder, Lily replied, "I'll tell you on the way!"

<== Chapter 41                                                                         Chapter 43 ==>

Lily Wong Ch. 41

Chapter 41

Divided

"Okay!" Uncle Viceroy rubbed his hands together. "Now that I got a full picture of what's been going up to now, next order of business is getting you kids out of here, 'cuz there's no way the school's safe now that it's got the spirit of an evil dragon under it."

Safira suddenly stepped forward. "I'm sorry, Mr. Lin, but I cannot leave. I must stop that evil dragon before it can hurt anyone."

Arms folded over his chest, Uncle Viceroy asked, "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"

"By trapping it with me in stone again," was Safira's answer.

Dismayed, Director Bluestone cried out, "No! No way, no how! I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself again! I've lost you once, Safira. I am not losing you again!"

"But it's my fault that Fafnir was revived!" Safira argued. "I have to make this right!"

"No," Lily cut in. "I should be the one to deal with Fafnir. It's my fault that he's freed again."

"Neither of you are responsible for this," said Director Bluestone. "I am, as both the head of the Bluestone family that revived him and as the one whose plans freed him. I should be the one to take on the evil dragon."

Uncle Viceroy snapped his finger and a deafening clap of thunder was unleashed along with a flash of lightning within the gray fluff of a storm cloud hanging over his head. 

"No one's going to sacrifice themselves," he said with finality. "I won't let any of you have the chance."

"Neither will I."

Everyone looked up and around, startled by a loud, deep voice that boomed from both nowhere and everywhere.

"It's Fafnir!" cried Safira.

"The one and only," the voice boomed again. "I applaud your bravery, children of the Bluestone family. But you are fools if you think I'll fall for the same trick twice!"

The whole room suddenly shook.

"An earthquake?" cried Hassan. "Here?" 

"No," said Director Bluestone. Color drained from his face. "That's no earthquake."

Fafnir's voice continued to speak. "I got to thinking, you see. I do want a physical form again, but human bodies are such . . . fragile things. Not to mention hard to control, as the child of Bluestone proved two hundred years ago. So why not possess something sturdier and easier to control?"

Director Bluestone turned pale. "Oh no! Don't tell me . . ."

It took only a quick second for Oliver to figure out what he was thinking. "Did Fafnir just possess the school itself!?"

"Correct!" Fafnir replied with a laugh. "I have taken control of the entire school and everything in it! And I must say, as far as schools go, this one is impressive. There is so much magic power seeped into the walls and enough weapons buried beneath it to topple entire kingdoms! Yes, this will do nicely. The only gripe I have is that there's not enough treasure! But that can easily be corrected."

Light flashed from Lily's bracelet and Director Bluestone's voice suddenly rang out. "Warning! Danger detected! Danger detected! Danger Level Alpha!"

Startled, Lily cried out, "Huh? What? What does that mean?"

BOOM!

Stone and wood were blown to bits as medieval suits of armor burst into the room through the walls. Books flew out of the shelves and circled around the ceiling like a swarm of bees.

"What better way to start my new treasure horde than with the bracelet that freed me?" 

Lily instantly realized what bracelet Fafnir was talking about, but was slow to react. Both the armor and the books streaked past everyone and headed straight for her.

Uncle Viceroy was quick to act. He pulled the chain off from Director Bluestone and swung it around himself and Lily. Fire spread from Uncle Viceroy's hand to the end of the chain and cut the armor and books like knife to butter. The fire clung to the cut edges of the hostile enemies and ate them to nothingness.

"Bluestone, get everyone out!" Uncle Viceroy shouted. "This place is not safe anymore!"

More suits of armor appeared alongside skeletons armed with spears and swords. They were held back by a line of fire that Uncle Viceroy drew around the room with a swing of his chain.

Director Bluestone nodded. Now freed, he leaped to his feet and grabbed Safira's hand. "Quickly! This way, students!"

He pulled Safira along and rushed to the exit. But before they could reach it, bricks appeared and covered up the doorway.

Bluestone tackled the the brick wall a couple of times and soon gave up. "It's no good!" he cried. "Fafnir's blocked off the way out! We're trapped!"

A book jumped up near Melody and she shrieked. It went flying to her face, but was cut in half by Uncle Viceroy's whip attack. And then with a sharp jerk, he made the chains fly back wrap itself around his hand and forearm.

"Out of the way!" he shouted at Bluestone. He balled his chain-wrapped hand into a fist and charged at the brick wall. With a mighty yell, he punched the wall and blew open a way out. "GO! GO! GO!"

Everyone ran out with Bluestone taking the lead. But partway down the hall, he slowed to a limp and stopped, bent down and wheezing.

Worried, Safira asked, "Father, what's wrong?"

Bluestone didn't answer. He couldn't while gasping for air.

"Let me take a look." Warren landed on her shoulder and looked the old man up and down. "Blast! I knew this would happen."

"What? What is it?" asked Lily.

The parrot explained, "Father's life force is tied to the school itself. The energy the school makes is how he's lived for more than two hundred years. But he can't tap into that energy anymore now that Fafnir's taken over. Worse still, the dragon's draining whatever energy he has left."

"Well, make it stop!" Safira shouted.

Bluestone shook his head. He was still out of breath but spoke. "No, it's okay. Just leave me. Save yourselves!"

Lily's stomach twisted into an unpleasant knot as she watched the headmaster's health rapidly decline. Safira looked absolutely devastated.

But cutting through the gloom as if it didn't matter, Uncle Viceroy snapped, "Oh, don't be so dramatic! Hi-yah! Yah!"

He karate chopped the air around the old man and his breathing quickly became less ragged.

"There! I cut the connection," he told parrot and girl. "He ain't immortal anymore, but at least he's not gonna croak anytime soon."

Bluestone stared at Uncle Viceroy dumbfounded. "Just how much more absurd can you get? Is there anything you can't do?"

With a shrug, Uncle Viceroy said, "Probably bringing back the dead. Not that I've ever tried. Now get moving!"

He gave the old man a nudge and waited until everyone had run past him before pulling out a bolt of lightning which he flung at a gang of approaching skeletons and living suits of armor, blowing them all to pieces.

As he watched a smoking, blackened skull rolled to his feet, Viceroy grumbled to himself, "Those skeletons had better be fake like last time."

And then he turned and followed the others down the hall.

Very quickly, Oliver noticed something was wrong and called for everyone to stop. "Hold up! This isn't the hallway leading to the way out!"

Eddie looked around. "You sure about that?"

"Positive," Oliver said. "The walls were never like this before."

"You're right," said Bluestone. "This hall is nothing like the one that usually leads to the magic teleportation circle."

Lily couldn't tell the difference herself, honestly. But she took their word for it with dread and asked, "What does that mean?"

Oliver opened his mouth to speak, but it was Fafnir who answered instead.

"It means, Lady Sapphire, that you have no way out!"

"No way!" moaned Tanja.

Fafnir cackled. "Now run!" he shouted. "Run and run, and run! Try your hardest to survive and entertain me! Entertaining me is the only way to delay your doom!"

He laughed and laughed, and laughed.

Viceroy had enough and yelled back, "Oh, put a sock in it, you rotten piece of cotton candy!"

Fafnir ignored the history teacher's insult and kept on laughing. More skeletons came pouring down the hallway, their jaws going clackity-clack as if to mirror their master's mood.

Annoyed, Viceroy clicked his tongue. "Bluestone, find a way to get these kids out of here. I'll hold them off!"

"What!?" Lily cried out in dismay. "Uncle Viceroy, no! There's no way you can handle this many skeletons!"

Oliver added, "And they've got suits of armor, flying books and metal tigers too!"

Viceroy scoffed. "Pfft! Please! I'll be fine. This'll be easy compared to the time I had to beat up a whole village to stop them from tearing each other apart in a fit of mass hysteria caused by a secret government mind ray machine."

Oliver blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

As Viceroy ran straight into the crowd of spear-wielding, sword-drawn skeletons, clumps of rock flew off the walls and stuck onto him until they covered him from head to toe. Fully armored in stone, he bulldozed through the crowd of enemies and crushed their shattered pieces beneath his feet with thunderous stomps while all the while, roaring like a monstrous beast.

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"This way!" Bluestone shouted, snapping the children out of their stupor. "Follow me!"

Lily was reluctant to leave her uncle, but bitterly followed the others while being pulled by the hand by Viv. They all followed the director take a left turn and then a right turn. And then he took them up some stairs, but that way led to a dead end.

"Blast it all!" Bluestone cursed and smacked the wall with his fist. "He's completely rearranged all the halls and floors! I can't figure the way out!"

"Now what do we do?" moaned Viv.

"Don't worry, guys," said Oliver. "I'm sure we'll think of something. Everything'll be okay as long as we stick together."

"Well, now we can't have that," Fafnir's voice cut in.

And then the floor and stairs dropped, becoming one big, smooth slide.

With no platform left to stand on, everyone went sliding down back to the bottom in a scattered heap. And then a wall sprouted up from the floor and another dropped from the ceiling, splitting everyone into two groups. Lily, Eddie, Viv, Oliver and Safira were in one group. The rest were in the other.

"Safira! No!" Bluestone moved to grab Safira, but it was too late. 

Safira threw herself at the wall, hammering her dainty fist against solid rock while calling out to the director. "Father! Father!"

She tried pressing her ear against it, but didn't hear any answer back.

And then Fafnir spoke.

"It is futile, Sapphire Princess," he said, spitting the last two words out in blatant mockery. "Your father and the others have been transported to a completely different section of the school's underground. Too bad. I hoped you enjoyed your reunion, however brief it was."

Safira threw an angry, tearful glare at the ceiling where she felt the voice came from. "A curse upon you, foul demon!"

But Fafnir just laughed. And as he laughed, the stone wall morphed and stretched out, edges turned jagged like the fangs of a snouted animal. Lily pulled Safira away just in time before the jaws snapped.

"Go away!"

Blue light enveloped Lily's hand and she used it to punch the snout, which shattered on impact along with the wall itself. But through the gaping hole left behind, there was nothing but an empty hallway. True to the evil dragon's words, Bluestone and the others were no longer in the same hallway.

"Come on," Lily said to the others. "We need to find the others."

Oliver shook his head and smacked both sides of his face. "Right," he said. "Think you can use the bracelet to find them?"

"I think so," Lily said. She gave the bracelet a glance which, without needing to be told, shined a light away from the destroyed wall. "Looks like it's this way. Figures, they'd be on the opposite end."

She led the others away, following the ray of light wherever it pointed. But then it turned where there were none and flipped back and forth, up and down.

"Hey! What's going on?"

Oliver rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Fafnir must still be switching around all the halls and floors of the place. Or they could be running around any random way."

"Could be both," said Viv.

Oliver nodded grimly in agreement.

"Great!" Lily groaned. "Now what do we do?"

"The only thing you can do," said Fafnir. "Run!"

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Hands popped out of the wall and grabbed at Lily.

"Eek!"

Frightened, Lily jumped out of the hands' reach. Oliver quickly moved between her and the hands and shoved her more away from them. They and the others fled as more rows and rows of hands appeared.

"It feels like we're in a horror movie or something!" Eddie complained.

To which, his sister snapped, "Less yapping, more running!"

Suddenly, right in front of them, a giant boulder dropped down and rolled.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" screamed Lily.

She and the others turned around and ran. It looked like they had no choice but to go back straight to the horror hands waiting to grab them. But then a way opened up at the side.

"This way!" Lily screamed.

She led the others into the opening and dove into the new hallway, where they stopped to catch their breaths and collapsed in heaps on the floor, unable to stand any longer. Lily could feel her clothes clinging to her while wet from sweat. She wiped some of it from her forehead before turning to sit down. Safira laid on the floor next to her.

They were not given much time to rest. 

"Aw, tired already?" Fafnir mocked. "Want to take a break?"

Eddie answered back, "That would be great, thanks. Ow!"

Viv punched him in the arm.

"Well, too bad!" shouted Fafnir. 

CRACK!

Lily turned and looked down on the floor where a huge, jagged crack appeared. Smaller cracks branched out from it and spread outward to their feet. Pieces of the floor fell down and created a hole that quickly expanded.

"EVERYONE RUN!" she shrieked. She scrambled back up and pulled Safira to feet. They all sprinted away as fast as they could out of the hallway and turned. But the floor beneath their feet continued to crumble away with the hole ever close at their heels.

Lily and Safira weren't fast enough and their feet sank down.

Viv happened to glance back, saw the two girls stumble and then watched with horror as they dropped out of sight.

"Lily!" she cried.

She turned and reached out to grab her friend, but Lily and Safira had already fallen too far deep. Not only that, the floor quickly pieced itself back together and completely sealed the hole up as if it never existed, so Viv could not go after them even if she wanted to. 

Lily and Safira were gone.

<== Chapter 40                                                                            Chapter 42 ==>