Chapter 13

Crystal Balls And Magic Wands

After we ate, Spindler decided to ask Orodon if he could use his crystal ball to contact his parents. I was a little confused by this. I hadn't seen a crystal ball in the house, but weird things were happening all the time here.

"Sure, Spindler. It's in the living room," Orodon said.

I followed Spindler and Orodon into the living room, not wanting to eat any more of the stew. The living room was a little smaller than the kitchen and it featured a large, comfy, navy blue couch. A colorful, almost-finished interpretation of Monet's "The Water Lily Pond" was painted on the wall. The milky white ball Spindler had mentioned lay near the painting.

Spindler reached for the ball. "STOP!" Orodon shouted. He picked the crystal ball up. "Some of the paint over there is still drying."

Orodon rubbed his long fingers over the crystal ball. He said something in Elvish, and the crystal ball began to swirl. An elf appeared in the ball that bore just enough resemblance to Spindler for me to know we were talking to his dad.

"Hello Father," Spindler said.

"Spindler!" Medlin exclaimed. "What are you doing at Uncle Orodon's?"

"Long story," Spindler said.

"I have time to hear it. And this better be a good explanation," Medlin said.

"I was messing around with the vortexes..." Spindler said reluctantly.

"HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH THOSE?!?!?" Medlin shouted.

"I was trying to figure out how they worked," Spindler explained.

"They work using a combination of ASTBQ coding, interplanetary external wormholes, and Elven magic, and you know that. Proceed."

"So I ended up around Uncle Orodon's. Luckily, I found these two..." Spindler said, gesturing to Raven and I.

"And how do you know you can trust them? Humans are an untrustworthy race, Spindler."

"Raven's only sort of human."

"What is she, then?"

"A vampire."

"Vampires are even worse than humans!" Medlin shouted. "Spindler, I'm glad to know you're safe, but you need to find the Azurro as fast as you can."

"I know, Father," Spindler said.

"Do you have a witch to help you?" Medlin asked.

"Avery is a witch," Spindler said, glancing at me. "Although her powers are still dormant." I didn't argue with that, despite the fact that I was no longer so sure of that.

"Dormant powers will not help you very much," Medlin said. "I suggest you leave behind those two humans, but do whatever you need to do to get home. I need you home by tomorrow. If you do not return then...we will have a few problems, won't we?" Medlin smiled, but the smile was forced.

"Yes, Father," Spindler said.

"Find the Azurro," Medlin instructed. The crystal ball suddenly returned to its normal milky white.

Spindler yawned. "I'm exhausted."

"Get yourself to bed then," Orodon said. "I have a sleeping bag set up in the kitchen. And for you two, there is more sleeping bags in the attic and you can sleep there."

I walked over to the entrance and picked up my bag. I began to haul it towards the ladder in the living room, which led to the attic.

"What's this?" Orodon asked, picking up the stick that I had found in the forest.

"I don't know," I replied. "I found it in the forest."

"Well, it sure looks like a wand to me," Orodon said. "I mean, I ain't got no experience with magic, but this thingamabobber looks an awful lot like a wand."

I considered that for a moment. It had never occurred to me that the stick that I found might have been a wand. Maybe my powers were finally awakening.

"I guess it could be one," I said.

"Only one way to find out," Orodon said. "Give it a wave."

I waved my wand around randomly. Purple sparks came flying out and catapulted around the room. I smiled, knowing my wand worked.

"Them sparks...they can do anything. You just have to believe in yourself."

Theodore walked by. "Hey, are you done yet?" Theodore asked. "I need to get ideas for weapons of mass destruction that could be used in a possible takeover of the universe."

I waved my wand and sent sparks flying towards Theodore. The entire time, I was thinking, Turn Theodore into a dragon. Turn Theodore into a dragon. Turn Theodore into a dragon. Turn Theodore...

Suddenly, I saw a gigantic red dragon standing where Theodore was. The dragon roared and I laughed.

"Nice job, Avery," Orodon said.

I waved my wand again and turned Theodore back into a bear.

"What was that for?" Theodore asked.

"Nothing. Just trying this out," I said, glancing at my wand.

"Don't try it out on me next time!" Theodore exclaimed. He walked away. I put my wand back into my bag and climbed up the ladder. Raven was already in the attic. She had her clunky black headphones on and was writing in her notebook again. I climbed into the green sleeping bag set out for me. Tomorrow we would finish our journey. I snuggled into the sleeping bag and dreamed of Spindler.