I swiped at the air with my pistol, in case she had an even greater invisibility charm, but I didn’t contact anything except the tip of Rocket’s tail as he swished it about, jumping in agitation.
The lights came on, both in Mom’s cabin and in the house across the street.
A twang of magic plucked at my senses from the side of the property. Forest magic. It felt like one of Freysha’s traps flaring to life.
I started to turn, but my sword in its scabbard rose up from my seat, levitated by invisible power.
“Oh, hell no.” I lunged in to grab it, but something small and hard slammed into my back, startling me. It struck forcefully enough to send a sting of pain through me, even though I wore an armored vest. I stumbled forward a step before catching myself on the door, then spun to face the trees. That projectile had seemed to come from the same direction as the magic I’d sensed.
I dropped to one knee, pointing Fezzik into the shadows, searching for shaking branches or anything that would hint of the thief’s exact location. Which tree had Freysha’s trap been in? They all looked the same in the dark.
A faint tink sounded as something fell out of my pocket. No, not my pocket. From my back, where whatever had hit me had stuck in my leather duster.
I activated my night-vision charm, but it did little more than show me the empty air between the trees. My attacker was invisible; I was sure of it. The nearby lights caused the charm to flood my eyes with too much brightness, but I was able to spot a tiny dart that had fallen to the gravel. I grabbed it and stuffed it in my pocket.
Try the side of the house, Sindari, I suggested. Someone fired at me, and I think it came from that—
Another projectile struck me, slamming into my abdomen. I swore at the sharp stab of pain—and because not so much as a leaf out there had moved.
I whirled, intending to grab Chopper and run to the other side of the Jeep for cover, but the sword had continued to rise. It was outside of the vehicle now and rising higher into the air, already well above my head.
I saw where it came from that time, Sindari replied, springing through the brush from the rear of the house and toward the trees to the side.
Good. Get her! I sprang for Chopper—and just missed it. The sword floated several feet above my head as it drifted slowly toward the trees.
I scrambled atop the hood of the Jeep, to the roof, and leaped off as the sword floated farther away. The added height let me catch it, one hand wrapping around the scabbard like a vise, but to my surprise, my weight wasn’t enough to pull it out of the air.
A branch moved as Sindari hunted through the trees, having as much trouble pinpointing my attacker as I was.
Try by Freysha’s trap, I told him.
Hopefully, he could tell the trees apart better than I could in the dark.
I fired at the tree I thought the trap was in, then twice more to either side, hoping to get lucky. One of the branches shuddered, and was that someone’s gasp?
Sindari charged in that direction.
“Val?” Mom called from the doorway as I floated across the yard, hanging from my sword, my feet dangling five feet off the ground.
“Stay inside!” I called.
“Sigrid?” the werewolf—Liam—called from the doorway of his own house.
The whole neighborhood had probably heard my gunshots.
“We’re fine,” I called to him, not wanting to endanger anyone else with my trouble.
Sindari and I could handle this.
Or so I thought. Then a chill breeze swept across me, raising the hair on my arms. The glow of ominous purple light came from farther back in the woods. Had she gotten that box again? How? Zav had taken it with him back to Dragon Land, hadn’t he?
Branches rattled as Sindari ran all around the area where I’d fired, but he still hadn’t found the thief.
Try up in the air. She may be caught in Freysha’s trap. I imagined the half-dwarf dangling upside down from her ankle high in a tree.
Sindari sprang up onto a thick branch, the limb quivering under his weight. Ah, yes. I caught a scent.
Just don’t fall. I wanted to rush over and help, but I dared not let go of Chopper. It kept floating away from the yard and toward the trees, but not the same tree Sindari was climbing. No, it was pulling me toward that purple glow.
I groaned and gripped Fezzik, not sure whether to fire at the glow or fire toward my invisible enemy. I didn’t want to risk hitting Sindari, but I was getting desperate. My forearm muscles quivered from holding my body weight up by one hand. There was no way I would let go of Chopper and let her have it, but…
Skeletal fingers brushed at my cheek. I jerked my head away and tried again to yank Chopper off its trajectory. I needed the blade to attack the wraiths, if that was what I was dealing with again.
Gunshots fired, not mine. They had come from the direction of the house. Mom?
A crash sounded—Sindari’s branch broke, and he plummeted to the ground. He twisted, landing on his feet, and snarled.
I injured her, but she shot me.
She’s got a gun?
No, it was a dart. Maybe a tranquilizer. His snarl floated back to me.
“Val?” Mom called uncertainly. “Something’s trying to get in the house. I felt…”
Damn it, were the wraiths molesting her? My gut clenched at the idea of her being dragged into that box.
“Stay there, Sigrid,” the werewolf called. He was in Mom’s front yard now. Maybe that was good. If there were further threats and he could help her…
Except that it was my job to help her. I couldn’t even shoot toward Freysha’s trap now if I wanted to. The sword kept pulling me deeper into the woods, and I couldn’t see Sindari—or Mom and Liam. All I could see was the purple glow, and yes, now I could make out that big black box again. How did she keep getting it back? Or did she have an unlimited supply?
Something tugged at my braid. Not again.
I jerked my head away from the ghostly grip and tried to focus on using my magic. Chopper, I tried to will the sword, free yourself!
The scabbard shuddered in my hand, but it continued its inexorable aerial trek toward the box. Once again, its lid was open, and the darkness within seemed to be sucking me toward it. What had Zav done to close the lid and deactivate it?
I tried to send my power toward it, to use the wind to sweep the lid shut. No hint of a breeze stirred in the night. Unfortunately, Freysha hadn’t taught me telekinesis yet, and when I created a mental fern frond to try to push the lid shut, nothing happened. Hopefully, it was only in my imagination that the box laughed at me.
Frustrated, I opened fire at its glowing purple sides. Not surprisingly, given that dragon magic had crafted the box, the bullets ricocheted off.
Since it wasn’t helping, I holstered Fezzik. Maybe if I tried with both hands to yank Chopper out of the air…
Swinging my legs to create momentum, I lunged up and caught the hilt with my other hand. Chopper slid several inches out of the scabbard, almost startling me into losing my grip.
Wait, was the levitation magic acting on the scabbard, not the sword? I tugged myself up so I could create the space to pull Chopper farther out. It glided effortlessly free, leaving me dangling from one hand by the scabbard with the blade at my side.
Feeling victorious—if a little foolish—I let go and landed in the damp leaves. The scabbard continued toward the box, and even with solid earth under my feet, the pull of that magic was powerful. I stumbled several steps toward it before bracing myself against a tree and turning my back on the thing.