My Royal Pain Quest (The Lakeland Knight series, #2) by Laura Lond Page B

you. The bottle broke, but the creature was not even knocked out. He did fall though.
    Not waiting for him to scramble back on his feet, I grabbed the beast by the back of his neck and by the tail, lifted and hurled him at the other one still in the doorway. Having thus cleared my way, I pushed myself off the floor and flew out of the hut.
    I ate another flying berry as I rushed after Cassandra, probably a little early but I didn’t want to take any chances. I ate another invisibility berry as well, so that I could see Cassandra’s shadowy silhouette.
    “Hut empty,” I reported, catching up with her.
    “Yes. It’s them over there, and they’ve got Reggie, just like you said,” she replied. “I managed to get closer and take a good look. But they are hard to keep up with.”
    I looked ahead, but I could only make out the same three hopping shapes I saw before.
    “How are they moving so fast?”
    “They are riding the beasts.”
    “Ah. Makes sense.”
    “I thought broomsticks were their traditional means of transportation,” Cassandra noted.
    “ Too traditional. That’s what everyone expects from a witch. One of the Villains League latest bulletins banned them and advised the use of innovations.”
    She glanced at me in surprise. “Really? My, you guys are organized. I thought you were just joking about the Villains League before.”
    I did not remember ever mentioning it to her, but if I did, and she took it so lightly, this was as good time as any to set her straight. The league did not think itself in any way amusing.
    “This is no joking matter, trust me. You wouldn’t want to displease the league in any way, or even catch its attention.” I focused on the witches again. They were still no more than distant silhouettes. “All right, let’s fly as fast as we can and get this over with.”
    Flying faster required more effort—strangely so, since we did not have to move our arms or legs. Yet it somehow consumed physical strength, turning out to be as draining as running.
    We were gaining on the witches though. I picked out the one clutching Reggie under her arm and prepared for the final dash at her.
    “What are they doing?” Cassandra asked.
    The witches were quickly approaching a solitary mountain. It was not large, so I fully expected them to ride around it—but they didn’t. Their unconventional mounts seemed to carry them straight at the steep rocky mountain side.
    Just when I thought they’d smash into it, the leading witch flung her arm up and shrieked something. Part of the rock moved, opening like a door; they rushed inside, one after another, and the door closed.
    We landed at the foot of the mountain in less than a minute.
    “I wondered where they were heading,” I muttered, barely able to hide my frustration. We almost had them!
    “Some sort of an emergency shelter?”
    “Looks like it. I suppose it’s flattering that we proved to be enough of emergency for them to use it, but it’s not enough to delude me into feeling any better about it.”
    I examined the rocky wall before me. There was no sign of a door. Solid rock, granite or basalt.
    “May their broomsticks come alive and think they are toothbrushes.”
    Cassandra snorted. “Didn’t you say broomsticks were banned?”
    “Temporarily. And only as transportation, not for general use.”
    I checked the wall again, touching the cold rough surface.
    “I bet they’ve got plenty of supplies in there to wait it out.” I didn’t need to repeat that we had no time.
    “Maybe we’ll find a way to open it,” Cassandra said. There was no certainly in her voice, and I didn’t blame her.
    “I doubt it. Unless you have any ideas.”
    She shook her head.
    I had none either. We did not know the password or incantation the witch had used, and it was unlikely that the hidden door would respond to anything else. Although…
    “Wait a minute.”
    I pulled out the sword. The moment I raised it, facing the rocky wall, I felt something.