“Well …” Lily bit her lip and nodded to her right. “This is the way the sonneillons came from, so I know it has to lead somewhere.”

She led the way, and Aeterna held onto Addonexus, leaning into him for support. Edgar hurried, moving his little legs quickly to match Lily’s pace, and he walked right next to her.

“How were you able to get Addonexus to do that back there?” Edgar asked, staring up at Lily.

“I’m not sure. I just thought I could, so I had to try.”

“It’s the irin in her,” Aeterna explained, giving the unicorn friendly pat. “Irins can communicate with unicorns.”

“What was that?” Lily stopped short, and everyone followed suit. She tilted her head, listening, and the sound footsteps behind them became clear. Edgar reached up and wrapped his small hand around hers. “Someone’s coming.”

19

Lux climbed up onto the bridge, smiling brightly at the two ogres blocking the door to Valefor’s lair. They were monstrously large, even for ogres. The one on the left was at least twice as tall as Lux, and that was the shorter of the two.

One of them had only one eye, having lost the other to a sea dragon years ago. They both had large, bulbous noses that seemed to take up most of their faces and gave the ogres their keen sense of smell. This was somewhat ironic, since most ogres smelled like dragon dung.

As a henchman for Valefor, Lux had dealt with the ogres before, but he’d never liked it. Their language skills were almost non-existent, so when he had to speak to them about getting past, it was always a chore. They spoke mostly in grunts and groans, and Lux had never quite gotten a grasp on it.

“Good afternoon,” Lux said, doing his best to sound cheerful. The ogre with one eye scratched his head, looking as if he’d forgotten something, but the other one narrowed his eyes at Lux. “I’ve come to ask for passage into the tower. I have business with Valefor.”

Lux had been hoping the ogres would be too stupid to know that Valefor wanted him dead now. Even though Valefor had probably given them orders to kill Lux on sight, that didn’t mean that they would remember or understand.

The ogres exchanged looks and made a few grunting sounds. Lux didn’t understand them at all, but it appeared to be some kind of conversation.

Behind them, he could see Wick sneaking up onto the bridge. She was thin enough that she could slide behind the ogres’ legs, but if she tried to open the door, they would hear and turn on her. Gula was on the opposite side of the bridge, waiting until one of the ogres moved so he had enough room to climb up behind him.

The ogre with one eye began to sniff and look around as Wick rummaged in her satchel for something. He could probably smell the toadstool on her, so Lux hurried to distract him.

“Look, guys, I’m one of Valefor’s minions,” Lux said, speaking loudly so they’d both turn to look at him. “You’ve let me in here a thousand times, and if I don’t get in there now, the master is going to be furious.”

“Master?” the one-eyed ogre grunted and scratched his head again.

“Who you?” the other ogre asked and pointed at Lux. Apparently, he was the smarter of the two.

“Me?” Lux stalled, since Wick still hadn’t gotten her potion out and Gula hadn’t been able to climb onto the bridge. “You know me! We’re practically old friends here! How can you not remember me?”

“Friend?” the one-eyed ogre asked, and his comrade shook his head, clearly annoyed with how dumb the other ogre was.

“Who you?” the smart ogre asked again, only angrier this time, and he took a step forward, showing Lux that he meant business. That gave Gula enough room to climb onto the bridge, but he struggled a bit, because of his girth.

“I’m, uh…” Lux fumbled, watching as Gula finally heaved himself onto the bridge. “I’m Lux.”

“Lux?” the one-eyed ogre questioned, then frowned.

“Lux smash!” The smart ogre made his massive hands into fists, preparing to smash down upon Lux.

“Statua magnus!” Wick shouted and tossed a vial of pinkish liquid onto the ogre. It splashed all over his leg, and at first, it seemed to do nothing more than irritate him.

He bellowed in anger, then tried to lift his foot to step towards her, but his foot would not move. His mottled green skin began turning gray and hardening like stone. It started out on his leg, where the potion hit, but it spread out all over his body until finally, he was a giant ogre statue.

The one-eyed ogre growled in rage and turned to attack Wick, but Gula charged at him. He slammed into the ogre with all his might. It waved its arms futilely before falling backward into the moat.

“Come on,” Lux said, running past the statue ogre to the door. The one in the water was down for now, but it wouldn’t be for long. And his splashing and yelling would attract attention, like sonneillons or worse.

The massive door was controlled by a crank to the side. Lux began turning it, but it moved very slowly. Gula came up behind him and grabbed the crank, taking it from Lux. He was able to turn it much faster, and within a few seconds, the door was open far enough for Lux, Wick, and Gula to sneak inside.

Valefor’s lair was as Wick had always pictured it – very dark, very dirty, and reeking like brimstone. They stepped inside to a small room with two narrow hallways leading from it, along with one staircase winding down, and one staircase winding up.

“Where do you think she is?” Wick asked.

“His chambers, I imagine,” Lux said, then glanced to Gula for help. “He’s trying to convince her to marry him, right? That’s the best place to seduce her.”

“I would think so,” Gula agreed.

“This way then.” Lux pointed to the hallway on the left and hurried down it.

The hallway curved several times and split off twice as they went, and Wick realized that Valefor’s lair was somewhat of a labyrinth. She had to think of a plan so she could make her way back out of here.

As she followed Lux, she sprinkled fairy dust behind her. It was made from dried fairy wings, and it was invisible to the human eye. But if she shined her wand on it, it would light up and lead her out.

They heard footsteps of someone approaching, and Lux motioned for them to duck back in a hall. They pressed themselves as flat against the wall as they could. A torch burned near them, and Wick took out her wand and blew the fire out with it. They were hidden in the shadows, and that was the best they could hope for.