Rachel and the Many-Splendored Dreamland (The Books of Unexpected Enlightenment Book 3) by L. Jagi Lamplighter

Author:L. Jagi Lamplighter
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Publisher: Wisecraft Publishing
Published: 2016-10-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen:

Behind Enemy Lines

“What’s this elf-person want?” Zoë asked, peering out over the zipper of her backpack.

Inside Zoë’s backpack was a chamber about thirteen feet in diameter. It was not a neat, house-like space, like within the princess’s bag. Rather, it was a messy collection of her belongings. Underwear, lingerie, comic books, jeans, and old soda cups lay scattered every which way. Rachel had sat down on a purple fake-fur coat with black leopard spots. She was a bit embarrassed when the thing poking her knee turned out to be a large, lacy, black bra with cups larger than her fist. She glanced at her own unimpressive chest and sighed glumly.

Outside, Sigfried called. “Um, Griffin…how do I get this to stop dragging to the right?”

“Left lever down…but just a bit!” Rachel stuck her head out of the pack.

Beneath her, by about a man’s length, flowed the gray-brown waters of the Hudson. To the right, she could see the shore of Roanoke Island. To her left, the forest north of Storm King. Somewhere in front of her, unseen by either her eyes or her memory, a chameleon-elixired Sigfried was riding her steeplechaser by himself for the first time. Rachel winced as they jerked suddenly to the left.

“Just a bit!” she cried.

“Er…got it. No wait, now, we’re…argh!”

The view from the backpack spun wildly, trees and rocks and the far shore flashing by. The sky turned sideways. The river water drew immensely closer.

Splash!

Water rushed into backpack. Cold spray shocked her face. Zoë shouted and lunged to secure the zipper. She had only just begun to slide it, when the deluge stopped. Looking out, Rachel saw the river bobbing beneath them and Lucky’s head above them. The gold and red dragon craned his neck and peered at them, one jade eye filling much of the opening of the bag.

“I got ’em, Boss,” the dragon raised his head, “but the broom got away.”

“Oh, Griffin, that’s rough,” commiserated Zoë.

“It should turn visible now that I’m not on it,” called Sigfried. “Maybe you can hunt it down.”

Rachel stuck her arm out of the bag and waved her hand around. “Varenga, Vroomie!”

The steeplechaser, just a faint line in the distance, turned obediently and zoomed back to her outstretched hand.

“Wow.” Zoë blinked. “That was cool, Griffin.”

Rachel shot her a half smile.

“What do we do now?” asked Zoë.

“I’ll take care of it,” replied Rachel.

Music practicals might not be her strong point, but flying she understood intimately. Rachel jumped onto the seat of her bristleless and ducked her head. She shot out of the backpack and flew down low over the Hudson. She could hear Sigfried’s teeth chatter as he shivered in the late October water.

“Obé!” She ended the magical effects of the chameleon elixir that was hiding Sigfried from her sight. Then, she cast tiathelu.

Sigfried weighed well over a hundred pounds, and the water made him heavier. Rachel strived and grunted, but she was unable to lift him. All she could manage was to pull his upper body out of the river.

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