Chapter 21 #2
Maxim looked like he was only fifteen years old, even though he had to be at least eighteen to be in the Academy to begin with, and older still to be accorded the workshop and to work independently.
He was a skinny thing with the largest brown eyes Portia had ever seen, long brown hair which needed a good brush, and his clothes appeared to be almost completely covered in chalk.
He had that aura of chaos magic about him that she knew all too well from Seb, but rather than the pandemonium that followed her brother everywhere, he had a strange kind of focused clarity, like a sword point.
‘Professor Starling!’ he exclaimed when he saw her. ‘This is… this is quite the honour. I’ve read all your father’s work, and your own of course.’
‘No time for hero worship, Maxim,’ Felicity told him. ‘We need your help. Can you get the professor back to her island? It’s a matter of some urgency.’
He blushed, and the look he gave her was one of obvious adoration, but Felicity appeared completely unaware of that. She was tapping her foot.
‘Well… of course. Whatever has happened?’
‘No time to go into it all. The guards will be here any minute, Max.’
Portia held out Jade who opened her eyes and blinked at the young scholar.
‘I need to get her to safety.’ The dragon was still shivering.
She hadn’t spoken again but Portia was really starting to worry now.
The amount of magic she must have drawn on to do that was unheard of, and Portia didn’t know if it was the effects of the elixir, or a defensive reaction.
Something had happened back there. Something that had shocked everyone present.
It really didn’t help that the two people who knew the most about teacup dragons – Noah and her aunt – had probably been locked up by the royal guards at this stage, but she didn’t have a clue what else to do.
She needed to get Jade to safety, back to the island.
Then she could attempt to sort all this nightmare out.
And that was before she attempted to clear her name.
But more than anything else, she could not afford to let Virginia get her hands on Jade. No matter what.
‘She’s beautiful,’ said Max. ‘Do you know the great dragons weren’t just able to fly?
I believe that they are a key element of so much we have lost when it comes to understanding thaumaturgical fields.
My theory is they used their innate magic to bend the space between points in order to travel, much in the same way as my portals—’
‘Time is of the essence, Max,’ Felicity interrupted. ‘Like I said, royal guards? I’m sure you can explain the theory another time, isn’t that right, Professor?’
Bewildered, Portia just nodded. She wasn’t a professor any more, but it didn’t seem like the moment to point that out. ‘Yes, please do. Maybe come to the island and meet my great-aunt when all this is sorted out. She’d be fascinated.’
‘Lady Iris Starling? But her papers on dragon flight were an inspiration. It would be such an honour.’
‘Oh good,’ Portia said, feeling slightly sick. Iris would want to hear all about his theories and how they linked to dragons. But right now, she needed to get away.
And pray her great-aunt was all right. Maybe they hadn’t arrested her too.
But Noah… oh Wenn below, there was no way Noah wasn’t languishing in a dungeon right now. What was she going to do about that?
Maxim set to work, firing up several pieces of machinery to harness the fields of magic emitted by the crystals he positioned around a central circle painted on the floor.
As he fussed away about placement and fine tuning, Felicity hung out of the window watching the courtyard below, and Portia tried to persuade Jade to eat something. The little dragon refused everything.
‘They’re here!’ Felicity yelled suddenly. ‘Someone snitched on us. Ugh, wait until I find out who. They’ll regret this. Maxim, we’re out of time.’
‘I’m ready,’ he said. ‘Just give me a second, Professor, to establish the link and then you’ll need to move quickly.
Just step through as decisively as you can.
There are still some side effects we’re ironing out but it’s mostly harmless.
’ She stared at him in horror. Mostly harmless?
‘I find holding your breath helps. You’ll probably get dizzy and some people pass out entirely.
And if you need to throw up afterwards it’s better to just let it happen. ’
‘Wait, what?’ Portia asked, but he was already pronouncing an incantation and the whole room was suddenly filled with a potent magical charge which made goosebumps stand up all over her skin.
Jade raised her head, eyes wide with excitement as raw magic crackled through the air.
Portia held her close just in case. A circle of light formed in the middle of the room, right above the one painted on the floor, letting off sparks of thaumaturgical energy which were immediately sucked in by the machinery he was using.
The combination of magic and engineering was remarkable and the scholar in her wanted to know how it worked.
But as Felicity had said, they were out of time.
The circle turned on its edge and opened, to reveal the living room in Starling Castle, the sea visible through the grand windows, and August rising in alarm from the armchair, a book falling from his hand to the ground.
She heard the thud as it hit the carpet.
‘Go!’ Felicity shouted. ‘Quickly. Go now!’
Portia sucked in a breath and threw herself through the portal.
The world lurched around her, twisting in a way that made her unsure what was up any more.
Her stomach reacted at once, heaving violently as her foot came down on the far side and she went down on her knees.
She wouldn’t throw up though, no matter what the advice was.
She had to cling to some kind of dignity.
August caught her, pulling her clear of the portal and she sobbed out something. She wasn’t even sure what.
Behind her the portal snapped shut and the room was just the room again.
She tried to breathe, tried to stop her head swimming with the after effects of that bizarre method of travel.
If dragons did that regularly she was surprised there weren’t more reports of an ancient world swimming in dragon sick.
Her whole world had turned sharp and prickly.
‘Portia? What is it? What on earth happened?’
That wasn’t August’s voice. She blinked at her brother who was still holding her. He hadn’t opened his mouth, still too shocked at her appearance.
She turned around, aware now there was someone else in the room.
Milo.
Everything turned black and slid away around her like oil on glass.