Read The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams for Free Online Page A
Authors: Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson
from the cage hanging down the hall and was hovering just outside their locked cell door. She had tricked them all with a clever illusion. The real Skylar had been in the cage the whole time.
“We have to hurry,” she said. “The dungeon keeper will be back shortly.”
“How are you going to get us out?” Gilbert asked. “He has the only key that can unlock this door.”
“Not the only one,” she said.
Skylar raised her wings and focused on the keyhole.
“What are you doing?” Aldwyn asked.
“Remember what Hepsibah was able to do over Liveod’s Canyon?” Skylar replied. “The most powerful birds at Nearhurst can create illusions so convincing that they can momentarily take solid form.”
“I thought only five-feather master illusionists could do that,” Gilbert said.
“Well, I’ve been practicing. Now be quiet. I need to find my focal point.”
She concentrated and soon a key began to materialize. Aldwyn did a double take. He couldn’t believe it wasn’t real. The key found its way into the lock and gave a twist. Then the cell door opened.
“Wait,” Aldwyn said. “Before we go, there’s something you need to see. A message, written on the floor of our cell. It just appeared out of nowhere.”
Skylar glanced over and repeated the strange words aloud.
“Come on,” Skylar said. “I’ve already memorized it. We’ll figure it out later. Now let’s go.”
As the three animals took to the hall, prisoners from the neighboring cells ran up to their bars making a racket.
“Hey, let us out, too!” a pockmarked man with no teeth shouted.
“I don’t belong in here,” an elvin pirate called.
“I’ll help you escape,” the firescale snake hissed from a cell with bars so tight even she couldn’t slip through.
“You’re not going to leave without us, are you, brother?” the wolverine called out to Aldwyn.
“I’m not your brother,” Aldwyn yelled back.
The familiars hurried for the dungeon door. But they’d made it only halfway there when the bolka-dur burst through, spiked billy club in hand.
“Shut your slop holes,” he hollered, banging his club against the first bars he could. Then his eyes fell on Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert running toward him. “How did you? It’s impossible.”
He flung his spiked billy club down the hall like an ax. Aldwyn used his telekinesis to catch it in midair, then fired it back at the dungeon keeper. The blunt end struck the bolka-dur square in the forehead, knocking him out cold. His body dropped to the stone floor, his head landing against the bars of one of the cells.
The familiars were now racing toward an open door. But no escape plan could go that smoothly. A wrinkled hand reached out through the cell bars and a witch’s fingernail sliced through the band of the bolka-dur’s leather collar. She lifted the key ring off his neck and unlocked the door to her dungeon cell.
Reveling in her first taste of freedom, the witch threw the key ring into the air and incanted: “Otebrit vsechny dvere!”
And with those words uttered, the keys broke off from the chain and soared through the air, until each one found its home in a different lock. Then the keys turned in unison, opening every last cell door in the dungeon block. Prisoners poured out into the hall. With a mob mentality, they turned on the fallen bolka-dur.
Aldwyn came to a stop at the door.
“Come on,” Skylar urged. “This is our chance. Let’s go.”
But Aldwyn couldn’t just let the dungeon keeper get ripped to pieces. He eyed the spiked billy club and telekinetically lifted it from the ground, swinging it in a circle around the bolka-dur to ward off any attackers.
Skylar and Gilbert reluctantly turned back to help.
Suddenly a dozen palace guards were rushing through the dungeon door, drawing the attention of the prisoners. Aldwyn could tell by the way Skylar was holding her wing that these were mere illusions. He immediately focused all his mental energy on the
“We have to hurry,” she said. “The dungeon keeper will be back shortly.”
“How are you going to get us out?” Gilbert asked. “He has the only key that can unlock this door.”
“Not the only one,” she said.
Skylar raised her wings and focused on the keyhole.
“What are you doing?” Aldwyn asked.
“Remember what Hepsibah was able to do over Liveod’s Canyon?” Skylar replied. “The most powerful birds at Nearhurst can create illusions so convincing that they can momentarily take solid form.”
“I thought only five-feather master illusionists could do that,” Gilbert said.
“Well, I’ve been practicing. Now be quiet. I need to find my focal point.”
She concentrated and soon a key began to materialize. Aldwyn did a double take. He couldn’t believe it wasn’t real. The key found its way into the lock and gave a twist. Then the cell door opened.
“Wait,” Aldwyn said. “Before we go, there’s something you need to see. A message, written on the floor of our cell. It just appeared out of nowhere.”
Skylar glanced over and repeated the strange words aloud.
“Come on,” Skylar said. “I’ve already memorized it. We’ll figure it out later. Now let’s go.”
As the three animals took to the hall, prisoners from the neighboring cells ran up to their bars making a racket.
“Hey, let us out, too!” a pockmarked man with no teeth shouted.
“I don’t belong in here,” an elvin pirate called.
“I’ll help you escape,” the firescale snake hissed from a cell with bars so tight even she couldn’t slip through.
“You’re not going to leave without us, are you, brother?” the wolverine called out to Aldwyn.
“I’m not your brother,” Aldwyn yelled back.
The familiars hurried for the dungeon door. But they’d made it only halfway there when the bolka-dur burst through, spiked billy club in hand.
“Shut your slop holes,” he hollered, banging his club against the first bars he could. Then his eyes fell on Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert running toward him. “How did you? It’s impossible.”
He flung his spiked billy club down the hall like an ax. Aldwyn used his telekinesis to catch it in midair, then fired it back at the dungeon keeper. The blunt end struck the bolka-dur square in the forehead, knocking him out cold. His body dropped to the stone floor, his head landing against the bars of one of the cells.
The familiars were now racing toward an open door. But no escape plan could go that smoothly. A wrinkled hand reached out through the cell bars and a witch’s fingernail sliced through the band of the bolka-dur’s leather collar. She lifted the key ring off his neck and unlocked the door to her dungeon cell.
Reveling in her first taste of freedom, the witch threw the key ring into the air and incanted: “Otebrit vsechny dvere!”
And with those words uttered, the keys broke off from the chain and soared through the air, until each one found its home in a different lock. Then the keys turned in unison, opening every last cell door in the dungeon block. Prisoners poured out into the hall. With a mob mentality, they turned on the fallen bolka-dur.
Aldwyn came to a stop at the door.
“Come on,” Skylar urged. “This is our chance. Let’s go.”
But Aldwyn couldn’t just let the dungeon keeper get ripped to pieces. He eyed the spiked billy club and telekinetically lifted it from the ground, swinging it in a circle around the bolka-dur to ward off any attackers.
Skylar and Gilbert reluctantly turned back to help.
Suddenly a dozen palace guards were rushing through the dungeon door, drawing the attention of the prisoners. Aldwyn could tell by the way Skylar was holding her wing that these were mere illusions. He immediately focused all his mental energy on the