Free The Wand & the Sea by Claire M. Caterer Page A

and uttered the spell again. This time a silver snakeling of water flew through the air and doused Nerys, who glared at Holly and Jade both. “Well,” she said finally. “Guess my work is done, then.”

Chapter 15
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To the Castle
    They were a tense, strange party that crept through the woods the following night. Hoofstone, a palomino centaur, had arrived an hour before. He carried Holly, Everett, Jade, and Bittenbender. A russet centaur named Brune carried the others. Ben, who was very allergic to horses, had taken his medicine but still sniffled constantly until Wiggers whispered, “Put a sock in it, can’t ye?” Ben, Holly observed, deliberately wiped his nose on the back of the Dvergar’s leather tunic.
    Holly had spent the day practicing the few spells she knew. As she worked, she could hear the boys on the other side of the clearing. The red-haired Wiggers was helping them with their swordplay. This sounded something like, “Hey, you don’t have to poke so hard ” (Ben) and “I am feinting, quit nagging, you little git” (Everett) and “Ef ye cannae even heft a sword, ye’ve no hope of swingin’ one” (Wiggers).
    Now, riding through the night on Hoofstone’s back, Holly touched Nerys’s charm on her belt loop. She was glad to have it, even if it felt a little like cheating. She agreed with Jade; she was glad the sea witch hadn’t shown up. Only the king or Raethius knew where to find the Adepts’ island, and without their nautical charts, searching for it seemed like a pointless voyage. But Holly still needed someone to train her, and no one else knew the Adepts’ spells. For now she was on her own.
    Once the centaurs had cleared the woods, they broke into a gallop along the edge of the forest leading to the castle. Holly was forced to wrap her arms around Bittenbender to keep from falling off, and the crossbow on his back cut into her chest. Also, the smell wasn’t particularly pleasant.
    Within the hour Holly spied the harsh stone fortress rising on its rocky cliff. A river fed the moat that ringed it. The falcons were right: Raethius had reduced one of the castle’s four towers to a pile of rubble. Her ears ached from the cold wind, and she eyed the sky warily. The huge, round moon threw stark shadows across their path. They may as well have announced themselves with a bullhorn.
    â€œCourage, Lady Holly,” Jade whispered as the shadow of the gatehouse towers fell across them. “It is an Adept’s greatest asset.”
    Actually, Holly thought that magic was an Adept’s greatest asset, and she still wished she knew more about it. But they crept silently along the length of the moat, their sounds muffled by the gently coursing water. Bittenbender tapped on Hoofstone’s shoulder. “Right, now. Stick to the plan. After ye cross back, the two of ye wait, hear? No chargin’ in. We’re not takin’ the castle, after all. We’ll need ye only if the Adept’s spell fails us.”
    Hoofstone nodded. “For Ranulf.”
    Bittenbender drew his dagger. The other Dvergar followed suit. Ben’s sword screeched as he pulled it out, and Swikehard shoved him. “Keep quiet!”
    â€œLeave him alone!” Holly raised the wand to Swikehard’s face.
    The Dvergar muttered an oath, and they stepped along the bank of the moat toward the gatehouse. The drawbridge had been raised for the night, and the water shown black in the shadows of the gatehouse towers.
    Now came Holly’s part of the plan . Please don’t make me look like an idiot. She nodded at Jade and raised her wand.
    It trembled over the surface of the water as she closed her eyes. A comforting warmth spread up to her chilled ears and back to her stiff fingers. She pictured gathering the water, and uttered the sea hag’s spell: “Tubhair eas.”
    The whole group skipped back from the moat as a silver wave