Chapter 39

Entering Stanley, they found Dawn standing near the door barely awake. “Are you finished?” she asked grumpily.

May nodded, “You may go back to bed. Wake Bonnie first. We will take her back to Woodbind’s house.”

The black-haired freshman wearily walked back to the beanbag bed and woke up her sister.

Rubbing her eyes the blonde joined the three, “What time is it?” she asked.

“Almost 2:30 am,” said June.

May filled Bonnie in on Pamela’s condition.

She sleepily gestured at the motionless body, “Why don’t we go to Woodbind’s in the morning? Our sicko is not going anywhere.”

May thought it over for a minute, “No, I want to get this over with as soon as possible.”

Sylphonia spread her hands, summoning her portal.

June backed away quickly. It was the closest May ever saw her to being fearful. “I,,, need to be going,” the homunculus cried.

May nodded, “By all means,”

The elf witch stepped back from the purple portal, “There, it’s ready.”

She approached Pamela and lifted her shoulders. Bonnie and May each lifted a leg. Barely able to lift the weight, the three half-dragged their captive through the magical doorway.

The girls found themselves on the landing where Woodbind’s backdoor was. The long narrow bridge stretched into the gloom behind them.

Overhead, a loud boom of thunder could be heard. Streams of rain trickled down from the leaves and branches from above. A bright flash of lightning illuminated the dark forest. Rain dripped directly onto Pamela’s face, with no sign of reaction.

Sylphonia dropped her burden as soon as they were all through the portal. She walked over and knocked onto the seemingly hard trunk.

Almost immediately, the door opened, Malcolm, Woodbind’s assistant stepped out, “We are ready for Bonnie. Come in.”

The brown-haired elf walked over and helped carry the sleeping woman in. For being so short, Malcolm was surprisingly strong.

Once inside with Pamela stretched out on the kitchen floor, Woodbind entered.

“Master Woodbind, this is Pamela Gandy,” said May. Pointing to the high elf, hunched over, almost on her hands and knees, she said, “And the is Sylphonia.”

The witch smiled a broad grin, “Sorcerer Woodbind, it is such an honor to meet you. I have been a fan of yours for such a long time!”

Startled the old brown elf nodded, “And it is a pleasure to meet someone of your ilk who has good manners.”

Refocusing on Pamela, he said, “What’s wrong with her? Why’s she not moving?”

“She is in an enchanted slumber,” said May. “I can wake her, but not until you fulfill your end of the bargain.”

Woodbind looked at the apprentice with grudging admiration, “Shrewd.

“It will take some time to put the sigil on Bonnie. It is one of the more elaborate ones. Why don’t you go into my guestroom and take a nap. You look tired.”

May stifled a yawn, “You’re right. Back home it is the middle of the night.”

Malcolm escorted her down a side hall.

The sigil maker looked apologetically at Sylphonia, “I am sorry we have such poor accommodations for you.”-

“That’s okay. I’ll just stretch out here in the kitchen next to Pamela, and take a nap.”

“I do have some lovely tea and pastries for you.”

“That is very kind of you, but I too will take a nap.”

He nodded, “It is probably for the best. The two of you in the kitchen would make it difficult for me to make tea.”

Woodbind turned to Bonnie, “Very well, my dear, come with me. I will do all I can to remedy your problem.”

Sleepily, the blonde nodded, and followed him into the parlor.

A few hours later, May was awoken by a knock on her door

It was Malcolm, “My master is done with his work.”

May sat up and stretched. She felt much better, “I’ll be right out.”

The apprentice got up and walked into the living room. Bonnie was lying face down on the sofa. At the base of her spine was a new bright green sigil. Woodbind was knelt beside her, giving his work a final check.

“Is she okay?” asked May.

The elf put a finger to his lips. “She’s sleeping,” he whispered.

Standing up, he escorted May to the dining room, “The sigil is working perfectly. She should have no more overflow flare-ups.”

“Great!” exclaimed May.

“But she is not out of the woods. Her body is still a battery containing magical energy. That is something no organic creature can take forever.”

“You- you mean she is still dying?” the apprentice stammered.

Woodbind nodded, “Those flare-ups do the most damage, but over time, just storage will take its toll. Instead of five years, Bonnie has twenty to forty years, depending on how regularly her magic supply is drained.”

Stunned, it took a while for May to reply, “What if the sigils are removed?”

The wood elf mage shook his head, “Each of those glyphs create a matrix to hold in the energy. If one of them is removed, all that power will break free and kill her instantly.”

The brunette sophomore clutched her head, “There must be some way to save her!”

Woodbind put a hand on her shoulder, “You have a longer time to figure it out, now.”

Just then, Bonnie’s sleepy voice called out, “May? Woodbind? Is everything okay?”

“We’re fine,” said May hastily.

They walked back into the living room.

“Woodbind was just telling me how good the sigil turned out. You should be getting no more flare-ups.”

“That’s great!” said the blonde.

“Would you bend over, dear? I’d like to take a good look at Woodbind’s handiwork.”

Bonnie nodded and complied.

The new green sigil was made of razor thin lines. An incredibly intricate pattern of these lines made the image of three leaves joined at the stems.

“Wow! Your work is so beyond Henry,” said May.

The brown elf nodded at the obvious, “I am a specialist.”

Right below the sigil, the apprentice noticed an inch-long flap of skin. When she touched it, it twitched.

“Hey, that tickles,” said Bonnie.

“What’s that?” exclaimed May.

Woodbind cleared his throat, “You obviously have encountered unintended side effects of magic. This is one of those. I have never used this sigil on a human before. It worked as expected, but it did give the recipient a vestigial tail.

“It is minor and hard to see. Only visible when she is naked.”

Bonnie turned beet red, “I am almost always naked.

“Get me some mirrors. I want to see what you’ve done to my rear.”

Malcolm, who had been watching, ran off and got two hand mirrors.

With May holding one of them behind her, Bonnie moved the other one so she could get a good look. “Hey, that’s a pretty cute tail. And that sigil is a work of art.”

May let out a sigh of relief, “I guess we can live with the side effect.

“Thank you for your hard work, Master Woodbind.”

“Waking Pamela for me will be thanks enough,” he replied.

May nodded, and headed to the kitchen.

Sylphonia was seated on the floor with her legs folded. Her head almost touched the ceiling.

As the apprentice approached the sleeping woman, Woodbind grabbed her arm, “Before you wake her, I’d like to do one thing.”

He reached into his icebox and pulled out a bowl of butterscotch pudding. He scooped some out and smeared it on Ms. Gandy’s lips.

“Now you can wake her.”

May reached down to Pamela’s left hand and, by touch, found the ring on her middle finger. Hiding it in her palm, she removed it.

Almost instantly, the woman began to awaken. She involuntarily licked the pudding on her lips.

The transformation was immediate. Pamela shrank in size, until she was about four feet tall. Her brown hair didn’t change, but her button nose became long and pointy. Her hazel eyes changed to a deep brown, and her skin darkened.

The new brown elf opened her eyes and yawned. “Where am I?” she asked sleepily. A look of alarm appeared, “And who am I”.

Woodbind stepped forward, “Your name is Pamela. You live here in Avalon with me, Woodbind. You are my lover.”

Malcolm stepped forward carrying a simple dress, “I believe this should fit you.”

The confused woman looked around, “Why can’t I remember anything?”

The old elf smiled, “We will discuss that later. Right now I bet you are hungry. Am I right?”

Pamela nodded, “Yes, very.”

“Malcolm, could you make the three of us some of the delightful porridge you make?”

The servant nodded, and stepping around the newest resident, pulled a large cooking pot from out of the cupboard.

The confused elf looked at the two humans and the high elf, “Who are they?”

“Just some friends who were visiting. Now they are leaving. Aren’t you?”

Sylphonia stood up as much as she could, “That’s right. Good to see you again, Woodbind. We’ll talk again later.”

The sigilmaker smiled, “I’d like that.”

Once out the backdoor, the three looked out into the gloom. It had stopped raining, but there was no sign of sunlight.

May immediately got to work conjuring a doorway.

When they passed into Stanley, there was no one to greet them.

Bonnie frowned, “I guess everyone is working.”

Sylphonia said, “I don’t know what time it is, but I hope there is some leftover breakfast.”

They looked around, and found that there no door leading to Henry’s home.

After about five minutes, the door appeared and Dawn walked through. “You’re here!” the black-haired freshman exclaimed. “I just went and got some breakfast. I was only gone just a short time.”

“That’s quite all right,” reassured May.

Dawn looked at Bonnie, “did Woodbind cure you?”

She turned around and showed her new sigil, “More or less.”

“I want to tell the story only once,” said May. “Why don’t we go back to the dining room? We’ll tell you all about it as we eat.”

When they walked into reception room, everyone was alerted to their return. By the time they got in the dining room, everyone, minus Serena and Misty who were in class, were waiting for them. June and Joy had plates with waffles and sausage waiting for them.