Trans Witch: College of Secrets Read online

  "I meant the elf," said Wheeler, with acid in her tone.

  Naille gave no reaction to the insult. Snuffles let out a whine and his fur continued to crackle. Shanice snorted.

  "May I continue?" asked Lily, folding her arms in front of her.

  No one replied.

  "Now then," she said, "Professor Stout, what kind of magic is it where you can listen at a distance?"

  Professor Stout pushed her glasses up her nose and said, "Clairvoyance, I suppose."

  "Okay. Which of the magical Facets of SOAM covers clairvoyance?"

  The Alchemy teacher shook her head. "None of them. That is, none of the current ones does."

  Lily held a finger in the air a moment, then pointed at Secretary Sample. "Secretary, what does the Charter say about clairvoyance?"

  Sample looked surprised, but said, "It is listed among the forbidden magics."

  "What if I told you, I believe that the Dean has been using clairvoyance to spy on me and my friends?"

  "I should say that's a rather serious charge," said the Secretary.

  Dean Wheeler glared at Lily. "There's no way you could prove that."

  Lily nodded. "Okay, fair enough. How about transmogrification, like has been done to Zach? Isn't that kind of magic also forbidden?"

  Secretary Sample shifted uneasily. "It is unclear on the subject. The forbidden magics may be used to preserve the Charter itself, or the institution of SOAM. Not for personal gain, or other non-emergency needs."

  Dean Wheeler smirked at Lily but said nothing.

  Lily frowned but pressed on. "Dean Wheeler, you were able to enter the planetarium, which is the domain of the Fourth Facet. You would need the password to do so. How did you accomplish that?"

  "I used my glasses of true seeing to get past the phantasmal dragon."

  Lily nodded. "But how did you know to look there?"

  Wheeler frowned and shook her head. "I have my ways. I don't have to tell you that."

  Lily sighed and turned to the Librarian. "Professor Bucher, would you say that the planetarium is protected by other means than the dragon phantasm?"

  Bucher nodded. "It's enchanted such that those who have no Fourth Facet talents are misdirected elsewhere. You shouldn't even be able to get far enough to be challenged by the dragon."

  "Oh, come on," said the Dean. "Do you really think something like that could stop me, Catherine?"

  "That's 'Professor Bucher'," reminded Lily. "Since we are being formal."

  "Yes, yes, whatever. Professor Bucher."

  The Librarian smiled. "Maybe not, but I would know if the defenses had been defeated. They weren't. You walked right in like you belonged there."

  Dean Wheeler drew breath and raised her voice to object. "That's—"

  Lily interrupted her. "One final observation. Dean Wheeler, you managed to bring Zach, a mundane, into SOAM. The only other time anyone here has witnessed that being possible was when I brought my sister Ellen inside. It is my suggestion that since you were able to do that, that you seem to have the power of clairvoyance, and because you're able to accomplish transmogrification, that you are a witch, like me."

  Dean Wheeler's face reddened as she approached Lily, almost nose-to-nose with her. "You tried this before, and it won't work this time. I am not a Leviathan!"

  "She's lying," said Shanice, a smile touching her lips.

  Lily kept her eyes fixed on Wheeler's as they glared at each other. "Shanice, what was she lying about?"

  "Everything, ma'am. She lied when she said you tried this before. She lied when she said it won't work. And she lied when she said she's not a Leviathan!"

  Dean Wheeler spluttered. "I'll have you expelled and exiled from SOAM if you say one more word, young lady!"

  "She doesn't have to," said Lily. "It's as I expected. And I've also figured out that wizards can't even say 'Leviathan' because of the geas. That's why it makes a good password, isn't that right, Professor Bucher."

  The Librarian grinned. "Smart girl. Good figuring. You're exactly right."

  Dean Wheeler grunted and shoved Lily away from her. "This proves nothing. It means nothing. Secretary Sample will tell you that being a witch isn't against the Charter."

  The Secretary was silent a long moment, then said, "You are correct, of course. Only pursuing studies in that direction is forbidden. That, and actively practicing the prohibited types of magic."

  The Secretary and the Dean stared at each other, each expressionless, for a long, uncomfortable moment.

  Lily said, "Now may I go about my business, Dean Wheeler?" She leaned down and picked up Monty's carrier.

  The Dean snorted. "You may, for all the good it'll do you. You still don't have the key."

  "Naille?" said Lily.

  Naille shook his head. "I wasn't able to procure it, as you can see." The elf pointed with his chin at the purse held by Secretary Sample.

  "Then would you please retrieve it out of my purse for me?"

  The elf looked surprised, but walked right up to Secretary Sample, opened the purse, and pulled out the emerald-colored crystal key, and handed it to Lily.

  "What? James, why did you let him do that? You said you'd keep it from her!"

  Secretary Sample might have smiled, but Lily couldn't tell for sure. "Actually, you asked me to keep Professor Shelley's purse secure, not the contents."

  "You knew what I meant!"

  "Pardon me, but I was adhering to the letter of what you asked of me, not the spirit," said the Secretary.

  Dean Wheeler lunged at Lily, reaching for the key in her hand.

  "Now, Aiden," said Lily, closing her eyes.

  Cameron, Hannah, Jesse, and Aiden averted their eyes as he threw down a glass ball, which exploded into a dazzling flash of light, accompanied by a thunderclap.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lily, followed by the Queer Quartet, dashed through the Library toward the entrance to the stacks. Dean Wheeler's strangled cry followed them, but Lily didn't look back to see if she pursued them.

  Having followed the labyrinthine pattern of bookcases in the stacks several times now, Lily weaved through the passages with ease, reaching the center a little over a minute after entering. She tried to look at the Nothing, but her eyes slid off it as usual. The students followed in her wake, spreading out into the circular center of the labyrinth.

  "We don't have much time," said Aiden. "Maybe a couple of minutes at most, before the flashbang wears off."

  "Okay, first things first," said Lily, opening Monty's carrier. The heavy cat lumbered out of the box and bumped up against Lily's legs. She took the pendant from around her neck, looped the chain a couple of times around the cat's neck, and clasped it again. "Okay boy, find Penny!"

  Monty looked up at Lily and butted up against her shin once more before walking around the perimeter of the room. Lily began to worry when the orange tabby made a full circuit of the room and stopped to say, "Meow."

  "Monty, find mommy Penny!" said Lily again, pointing across the room.

  "Mrrrr," said Monty, watching her finger, rather than where she pointed.

  "Please, kitty, we need to find her," said Lily, who began to wonder if her intuitive powers had misled her after all.

  And that would be a disaster. If Monty couldn't find Penny, she was sunk, and Penny would remain lost. Wheeler would win, and they'd all have their memories erased.

  Or worse. She thought of Zach, whose lower half was currently transformed into a block of stone. What else might Jackie Wheeler do to us? What has she done to Penny?

  Monty yawned and stretched, then sat up straight, his ears pivoting toward Jesse, who hadn't made a sound. The cat stood and trotted towards Jesse, then passed her. He reached a bookcase and stretched his full length up to the second shelf, reaching a paw toward the third one up. He leaped and batted at a thick red book.

  Jesse pulled the book from the shelf and held it up.

 
The cover read, Levis Digito Fatorum.

  "That damn elf knew this all the time," said Lily. "Why can't anyone just make life simpler? It always has to be the hard way!"

  Jesse opened the book and said, "There's a bookmark. It has a penny glued to it."

  "Was it minted in 1980?"

  "How did you know?"

  "Never mind, there's no time. What's on the page?"

  Jesse studied it a long moment, then said, "It shows three people, standing in a triangle, around a fire, their arms outstretched, the tips of their fingers just touching."

  Lily thought of her vision before, with the three different colored stars.

  "Basilisk, Drake, and Wyvern. Hannah, Cameron, and Aiden, would you please stand as the diagram shows, around the Nothing?"

  The sounds of pursuit came from elsewhere inside the Labyrinth.

  The three friends stood as Lily directed.

  "What else does it say, Jesse?" said Lily, her heart pounding.

  Dean Wheeler shouted her name, her voice coming from the other side of the bookcase where Lily stood.

  Jesse stammered, "It just says the title of the book again, as a caption."

  The Dean, followed by her ogres, burst into the center of the Labyrinth. "Stop!" cried Dean Wheeler, pointing at Jesse.

  "Say it, Jesse!" cried Lily.

  "Levis Digito Fatorum!"

  At her words, the Nothing became Something.

  Rather than the ultimate negative space that eyes could not register, the Nothing burst into green flames. Except, as Lily looked closer, it wasn't a flame so much as a continuous arc of lightning, green in color, sputtering and crackling with terrible energy.

  "Get her!" cried Dean Wheeler, now pointing at Lily. Maldink and Kertoh sprang into action.

  But not quickly enough. Lily threw herself at the crackling Something and the world exploded into green and white and colors she could not have described if she wanted to.

  Before her vision cleared, Lily smelled pond water, pine needles, and grass. A chilly zephyr blew strands of her hair across her face. The chirping of crickets formed a chorus all around her.

  Electricity prickled along her backside, and a greenish light flooded the wooded area. Forms rose, standing in a semicircle around a rippling reflective surface. A pond, encompassing an area almost as large as all of the stacks in the SOAM Library. Lily realized that it was the pond from her visions. As her vision cleared, the forms resolved into people. No, not people, but statues, sculpted from a green-veined marble. And not only people. One figure stood tall, far and away taller than the others, on the far shore of the pond.

  A dragon's head upon a serpentine body.

  The Leviathan!

  Among the statues of people, she only recognized one. Right next to the great dragon, stood a smallish woman with short hair, her hands held up before her as if to fend off an attacker, her face cringing to one side.

  Penny!

  The electricity behind her crackled and the light grew in intensity. Lily's shadow stretched out onto the lake, flickering wildly from side to side in time with the light's erratic pulsations. Something in the back of her mind told her to run, and without giving herself time to think about it, Lily did, dashing towards the right-hand side of the pond.

  She dared a glance back behind her. The column of green electricity widened and burst open, and something leaped out. Lily had to shield her eyes, but when the brilliant green flash subsided, she took a look at what had come through.

  "Mrow!" A chunky orange tabby cat bounded across the distance between the Something and herself.

  "Monty!" cried Lily, crouching to open her arms for the cat. Monty ignored this greeting and head-butted her ankle, nearly knocking her off balance. She reached to pet her beloved friend, but he kept on running past her, following the edge of the lake.

  Surprised, Lily trotted after her cat, calling his name.

  Monty glanced back at her once, but kept ahead of her, as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

  Further along the shore, Lily found it difficult to see once the Something collapsed into a thin column of crackling energy. More light shone from a nearly full moon, which hung high in the starry sky above her. Still, she stumbled once on the uneven ground, forcing her to slow her pace, even as Monty gained on her.

  Lily's shadow reappeared as the Something brightened and widened. She stole a peek and could see the outline of a human form materializing. She had a good idea who it might be following her, so she changed course away from the lake and towards the trees that surrounded the clearing. A rather imposing statue of a man rose between her and the woods, his mouth open to shout something, his brow furrowed. Not having enough time before the new person emerged from the portal, Lily crouched behind the man's statue, pressing herself against the cold marble.

  The light dimmed, and an all too familiar voice called out her name. "Lily! Professor Shelley! I know you're here! Come out, and we'll negotiate!"

  Dean Jackie Wheeler!

  Lily dared not reply, nor did she even allow herself to peer at her pursuer.

  The soft sound of the Dean's footfalls reached Lily's ears, and fear rose in her.

  Dean Wheeler called out to her, closer now. "Lily! It seems we are still at a stalemate! You hold the key, but if you use it, I can simply undo it and add you to this collection of statues!"

  Lily considered what the Dean had said. Her phrasing implied that the key could free the statues from their marble forms and restore them to humanity. She had to get to Penny's statue and free her!

  At the same time, a voice murmured in the back of her mind. "Remember yer promise, lass! Free me friend when ye get the chance!"

  T.K. Bask, the Transit King, the one who'd given her the key to Penny's freedom, had made her promise to free someone for him. But who? Lily scanned the opposite shore and spied more statues of women than of men. How would she know which was the little king's friend? Was he being clever, meaning her Penny?

  "Come out, Lily! Let's talk. Give me the key, and I will free your nephew, and you can walk away from this, even now!" Dean Wheeler's voice came from only one or two statues away from Lily now.

  Lily struggled to calm herself, to slow her breathing, to shove down the panic rising within her. She needed time to think! If only she had a little more time, she could work out what to do. Her sister would hate her if anything happened to Zach. But she stood so close to Penny and held the literal key to her wife's freedom in her hand!

  She decided to buy herself some time. She stepped out from behind the statue, faced Dean Wheeler, and bluffed. "You would do that for me? Even after all that's happened?"

  Dean Wheeler gaped at Lily for just a split second, then her face lit up with her dazzling smile. "But of course! Clearly, you've got leverage against me, and I have leverage against you. Let's call it a draw. How's that sound?"

  Lily's mind whirled, thoughts colliding with one another in a rush to fit together and solve the puzzle before her. "What about my Penny? You know I won't leave her without her, Jackie."

  Dean Wheeler took a step toward Lily, her hands raised as if to calm a wild animal. "Why would I give her up? She was on a path to destroy SOAM, just as you are. But I think I can reason with you. Lily. How about you give me the key, and then we'll discuss the eventual release of your partner?"

  "Eventual? I have no reason to think you'll hold up that end of things. You lied to me about having attempted to free Penny before to discourage me. Why wouldn't you lie about releasing her? I don't trust you, Jackie."

  As Dean Wheeler opened her mouth to reply, the Something lit up and spat out a small form: Naille. The elf cried out, "Lily, don't let her touch you! She's wearing the gloves!"

  Dean Wheeler growled and threw herself toward Lily, closing the distance in a bound. As Naille suggested, the Dean wore gloves, which glowed with a faint green emanation, similar in color to the veins in the marble statues all around her.<
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  Lily turned to run, but her foot caught in a hollow in the ground and she stumbled and fell. She scrambled backward crabwise to get away from the Dean, whose face twisted into an angry sort of grin.

  "You'll make a terrible statue, laying on the ground like that, but it can't be helped," said the Dean, reaching for Lily's ankle.

  Lily recoiled, but not quickly enough; at Dean Wheeler's touch, her foot crackled with dark green energy and stone crept up from her toe to her calf. Excruciating pain radiated from the touch, and Lily managed to roll to one side, breaking contact. Dean Wheeler scrambled after her, and Lily had nowhere to go but the pond. Her now numb and heavy stone leg would weigh her down and she would drown. Lily raised her hands to fend off the Dean, certain that this was the end.

  A shrill cry erupted from just behind the Dean, and a blur collided with her.

  Lily didn't wait to see what happened. She stumbled to her feet, limping along with one stone foot as best she could. Penny's statue came into view, her wife's frightened visage breaking her heart even as Lily herself feared the touch that could reunite them in this garden of stone people.

  She held up the key, and a keyhole glowed in the base of Penny's statue. Lily reached for it.

  "Stop!" came the Dean's voice from behind her. "You can't win! Free her now, and I'll just turn you both back!"

  An impulse made Lily look behind her. A new statue, that of a prone elf man, her friend Naille, had joined the collection standing around the pond. Dean Wheeler grinned in triumph, reaching out her hand. "Now, give me the key while you still can! You've lost, Lily!"

  Something orange flew past Lily and gripped the Dean's face, claws tearing at her long blonde hair.

  As the Dean screeched, Lily took the chance and acted on instinct. She lurched away from Penny's statue and fell at the foot of the marble Leviathan.

  A keyhole appeared.

  "I'm sorry, my love," whispered Lily to the statue of her wife. "This is the only way to stop her. I love you, and goodbye!"

  Lily inserted the green crystal key into the keyhole at the base of the statue of the Leviathan.

  A long, shrill scream erupted from just behind Lily. "No! Stop! I'll give you anything you want!"