Ravenspell Book 3: Freaky Fly Day (15 page)

Read Ravenspell Book 3: Freaky Fly Day Online

Authors: David Farland

Tags: #Fantasy, #lds, #mormon

BOOK: Ravenspell Book 3: Freaky Fly Day

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Ben sat thoughtfully in his mother’s pocket and felt something move near his foot. He peered down and spotted poor, wingless Serena crawling up beside him.

“Is it over?” the butterfly asked.

“Yes,” Amber said. “Belle is all but dead.”

“Wow, that’s a relief,” Serena said. “You didn’t by chance happen to grab any extra fly-liner for me, did you?”

“No,” Ben said.

The group went to the plane, made their way inside, and turned on the emergency lights. As promised, they found all of their money still in the suitcases. The flies had taken all of the bottled water and sandwiches but had left them that.

Ben’s mom opened one of the trunks just to be sure, smiled at it kind of sadly, and said, “I wonder if Disneyland will be open tomorrow?”

“I don’t want to go anymore,” Ben said. “I’ve had all of the excitement I can handle.”

“Me too,” Amber said.

“Me three,” Serena agreed.

“Me four,” the governor chimed in. He took a look at his extra head and said, “and five!”

The group made their way back to the dump truck and drove a few miles until they found Ben’s dad and the CIA agents at their field office.

The CIA agents looked up at the governor in confusion. They couldn’t seem to decide whether to welcome him back or douse him with fly spray. “Uh, everything under control, sir?” one asked.

“Aye, aye,” Governor Shortzenbeggar said.

He shook hands and said good-bye to Ben’s mom and dad then shook Ben’s paw and Amber’s and Lady Blackpool’s.

“You’ll need some help to get rid of that extra head and appendages,” the old shrew told Governor Harold Shortzenbeggar. “I won’t be able to cast a spell for a few days, but I’d be happy to help you when I can.”

“Oh, thank you for the offer,” the governor said. “But I know plastic surgeons in Hollywood that can fix
anything!
”

The governor waved good-bye, and then a CIA agent gave the family a ride to a nice hotel in Malibu.

Ben wasn’t sure what to expect at the hotel. Crashed cars littered the freeway, and buildings were smoking from fires. It looked as if all of the state had gone on a riot. But when they got in the lobby, the desk clerk acted as if everything were normal.

“Can we check in?” Butch Ravenspell asked. “I mean, is it all right? Is everything okay?”

“There were some slight . . . irregularities earlier in the day,” the clerk said evasively. “But everything seems back to normal.”

Ben’s dad shoved a wad of money over for the night’s stay, and they went to their room. The room was very luxurious, with a hot tub and a big-screen television. The maids had shorted the sheets on the bed and stolen all of the toilet paper and the little chocolates that the guests were supposed to get, but otherwise everything seemed fine.

The whole family ordered dinner at a nice steakhouse down on the main floor of the hotel. Ben’s dad got a table right next to a movie star, Jackie Chan, but within minutes, the paparazzi were crawling all over the place, so the whole family was forced to go back to their room early.

Ben’s dad called a veterinarian in the phone book, and an animal doctor came right over. Using superglue, she was able to reattach Serena’s wings, and within minutes the butterfly was merrily flapping around the room, trying to drink nectar from the flowers in a landscape painting above the bed.

* * *

That night while Ben’s mom and dad slept, Amber, Lady Blackpool, and Ben had a little talk.

Amber said to Lady Blackpool, “I thought you were supposed to die tonight. I mean, I’m happy that you didn’t, but you seemed so sure . . .”

“I felt sure,” Lady Blackpool said. “I was certain that I would die. I have had this vision many times—me being carried to my death. In the vision, I was always certain that I would die. Let this be a lesson to you: dreams and visions might seem certain, but they can never be completely trusted.”

Amber seemed relieved. “Does that mean you’ll be able to take me to S.W.A.R.M.—now that you’re alive?”

“I suppose that since I lived out the day, I’ll have to do something,” Lady Blackpool agreed. “Yes, I’ll lead you to S.W.A.R.M. But first you must turn Ben back into a human and set him free.”

“I know,” Amber said. She sighed heavily. “Lady Blackpool, I have a question. If I turned myself into a human, could I still go to S.W.A.R.M.?”

Lady Blackpool wiggled her whiskers. “No. It’s for small animals only, I’m afraid.”

Amber glanced at Ben. He could tell that she wanted him to come with her, and he felt torn. He waited for her to ask once again, to beg, to reason. But her words surprised him: “I’m sorry that you’ll have to wait a few more days until I can turn you back into a human. I guess that now, with all that has happened, I’ve drained my powers even further.”

“That’s okay,” Ben said. “I’m getting kind of used to being a mouse.”

It was true—he was getting used to it—but Ben desperately longed to be human again. If nothing else, he wanted to look in the mirror and make sure he wasn’t growing facial hair.

But what about life after that? The Ever Shade was coming, and Amber would need to fight him. Ben didn’t want to be left out of that adventure, but he wanted to be human, too.

I can always ask my mom and dad for permission to go to S.W.A.R.M.,
he told himself. But he couldn’t imagine them letting him go, and the truth was that he was terrified to go—scared witless—because if he went to S.W.A.R.M., then it would be like enlisting in the army—enlisting to fight the Ever Shade. And if he didn’t go with Amber, that might be even worse, because it would be like quitting, like surrendering to the Ever Shade.

Ben was only sure of one thing. He wanted to be human again, if only for a while.

“In three days I’ll be human,” he told himself hopefully. “Just three more days . . .” But he could not hide from the fact that he knew he had to go to S.W.A.R.M.

Epilogue

By the time the Toad Warrior reached the landfill, everything was quiet and dark. Night had fallen, and a few dim stars shone. The candles of Belle Z. Bug’s tomb had all but burned out.

Max leapt up close to examine her cold, stiff body.

Overhead, the jets zipped, and in the distance, police sirens could be heard wailing. Max and his companions had found that escaping the police wasn’t hard to do. The toads had simply waited until their truck rounded a corner and then leapt out. A small spell kept the truck driving on down the highway, with all of the police cars giving chase.

Max studied Belle Z. Bug for a long moment. “You were a great leader,” he said to her cooling body. “The plan goes as it should, and the Ever Shade will be grateful. The flies that you raised shall feed my armies for weeks to come, and when your eggs hatch, your children will be fearsome warriors indeed.”

One of Belle Z. Bug’s legs twitched, and a single red light glowed like a coal in her faceted eyes.

“Most importantly,” the Toad Warrior added, “your power will now be mine!”

With that, he zipped out his tongue and grabbed Belle Z. Bug, swallowing her whole. She was huge, almost as large as him. But Max used his magical powers to suck her in.

Now,
he thought,
her magic will join with mine, making me stronger than ever! Let the world tremble and shake.

With that, the Toad Warrior let out a mighty croak—a croak so loud that it shook the earth.

Everywhere around the world, toads stopped in their hunts or crawled from their hiding places, eyes blinking, and set off immediately to join their evil master.

A Note From the Author

If you liked this book, do the author a favor and tell a friend!

There may soon be a movie going into production for
Of Mice and Magic
. You can find out the latest news about this and upcoming books from the series on the web at http:// www.benravenspell.com/

Other RAVENSPELL books by DAVID FARLAND

Of Mice and Magic

The Wizard of Ooze

Table of Contents

Chapter 1