Coop turned to slide down the stairs on his bum. At first, he took care, but when the staircase's wooden frame began to creak and groan, he shoved off and skidded to the bottom.

Already panting, he swung from the railing to tumble under the table unit where Tark stood propped against the wall.

'Well?'

Coop pressed his finger firmly to his lips before pointing up.

Fortunately, Tark took the hint, and the pair silently waited until seconds became minutes. Then Tark grew impatient. 'What did you see?'

'Kalroth.' Whispered Coop, half distracted by his brother's re-growing leg and shredded trousers.

Tark scratched away at the exposed tender red skin, and no sooner did the shin and ankle joint appear did hair as thick as bristles on a rug begin to spread.

'You saw the witch?' Tark dabbed at his knee to ensure the four-pronged ring marking remained intact.

Coop nodded, peering closer to stare at his brother. 'I recognise this-'

'Blood magic? You guessed it. It's amazing what we can remember when we put our minds to it.'

Coop snorted. 'Convenient, more like.'

Tark shrugged. 'Gnomes were once the masters of blood magic, but that was thousands of years ago. Do you recall what you learned at back then, brother? Because I'd be lucky if I remembered half of it. The regrowth spell was on my final exam at school!'

Coop smiled. 'Lucky, indeed.' 

'So, what's upstairs?' demanded Tark.

'Look, I didn't see the monster, but I saw what it did to the humans.'

Tark frowned. 'Since when does the Dread Witch target humankind? It'd rather watch them hurt themselves, would it not?'

'I don't know. But who the hell else could cast the Clay curse?'

'A minion,' answered Tark. 'After all, it does command an army of the things.'

'Doubtful. I'm telling you it's Kalroth.'

The sound of glass shattering echoed from upstairs. Then they could hear clinking as a dozen shards fell to the pavement outside.

'It's probably that blasted cat again.'

'Or, Kalroth.' Muttered Coop.

'Whoever it is doesn't matter. We cannot linger.'

'But, the humans...'

Tark bit his lip. 'We can't give them our talismans. Besides, they've been petrified for less than an hour while we've lasted how many years?'

Coop gripped the edge of the table unit so hard the wood split in his fingers. 'Which way then? We sticking to the plan?'

'Kalroth's minions would expect that,' Tark cast his gaze to the table's rough-cut underside. 'We go upstairs.'

'And walk into the trap!?' Bellowed Coop.

'Not if we're clever about it.'

Tark rigorously rubbed his new leg to get the circulation flowing. The itching would quickly prove annoying, but it was a small price to pay for what he would regain.

'You should wait until you've fully recovered.'

'If you're right, and it is Kalroth, then a sitting duck is a dead duck.' Tark dug into his backpack again to pull out an image engraved sheet of paper. Then again, to grab the music the Ranar had gifted them.

Coop looked at the image in horror. 'We can't summon that. It'll be more useless than the damned otter.'

'An owl will get us where we need to go.'

'Not if it's stuck indoors, it won't.'

Tark smirked and showed him the other sheets. 'You'd rather ride the turtle? Or maybe you'd try your luck at mounting the black bear?'

Coop inhaled before taking the music sheet from his brother. 'I read this? They must be having a laugh.'

Tark prodded the page. 'You need to sing this, or else it won't work.'

'But, I can't-'

The image suddenly leapt off the page, the massive grey owl's feathery wings charging first, with its hulking body following closely behind.

Then the creature gripped Tark's hand to push off, and with such powerful talons, the garden gnome was almost squashed by its immense weight and had to dive out of the way.

'Sing, damn you!'

Coop's voice croaked as he opened his mouth, but it didn't stop him.

'Through the breeze, we stride, my friend. Through the trees, we climb.'

'Through the skies, we soar, my friend. Up the mountains, we rise.'

'Through the oceans, we sail, my friend. And through the gardens, we ride!'

As if the great owl had heard too much, it barked and fell like a rock to land at their feet. Its wings were tucked in, and its talons were rigid.

Tark stepped closer to nudge it with his foot. 'I think you killed it.'

Coop crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at him. 'All I did was say a few words, for crying out loud.'

'Don't tell me that. Tell 'No wings Willy' over here.'

'Well, shit. I don't suppose you have another image-'

Rays of light suddenly shone through every pane of glass, crack and gap the building had to flow into the lifeless creature. Then it sprung to life no worse for wear, with a wingspan wide enough to match twenty garden gnomes standing side by side.

Instead of flapping its golden wings to escape, the owl caught Coop's gaze and smiled a beaky smile. And as if that wasn't unnerving enough, it barked again until it discovered it could talk.

'Come now, strange one. You called upon me, didn't you?'

'Y-yes.' Answered Coop, picking up the music sheet to smooth out and fold away correctly. He'd finally realised its worth.

Tark reached for the photograph of Hadrian's Wall. 'Have you ever been to this place, wise one?'

The owl hooted something fierce. It seemed to enjoy the reverence. 'You seek the unfinished lands.'

Coop furrowed his brow. 'Unfinished?'

The owl turned its head from front to back and nodded. 'Ancient walls and buildings made of stone that had been fought over for thousands of years, but reclaimed recently.'

'Reclaimed, by whom?'

'You garden gnomes ask too many questions.'

Coop held his hand out. 'We ask important questions.'

Another hoot. 'Wouldn't you rather leave this stinking human pit before our time together runs out? Or your enemies find you?'

'You know of Kalroth?'

The owl fluttered its wings and growled at the pair. 'Of course, I know Kalroth. And I also know that the beast awaits you outside. We'd better not keep it waiting.'

'What do you mean-'

The owl gave no response. It, instead, lowered its head enough to scoop the brothers onto its back with their backpacks in tow. And soon after, they were airborne, swiping paintings off the wall and ripping wallpaper as they tried to maintain their balance. It was all they could do because the owl's greasy down coat was too tricky to grasp.

As they ascended the stairs to reach the landing, the owl almost knocked the human's over like bowling pins. The close encounter did serve as a reminder to Tark, though. He let go of the Hadrian's Wall photograph and watched it drop beside them. 'Find your way here, and we'll help you.'

While the brothers couldn't linger to assist the humans, they would offer them a lifeline. The couple only had to reach the ancient destination when their sixty-minute window arrived. And if the garden gnomes could do it, then surely, the almighty humans could too.