The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens Read Free Book Online

witches, mages—Dr. Algernon here among them. We hunted him down. We fought him. Many of our friends fell. But we prevailed. He was destroyed.”
    Hugo Algernon let out another dismissive “Ha!” and threw his empty mug over his shoulder, starting a small stampede of goats out the door.
    “Or so we believed.” Dr. Pym rubbed at his eyes. “What we found was that death was not a prison for such as he. Even trapped in the land of the dead, his spirit continued to wield influence and power over his followers.”
    “And now,” said Hugo Algernon, “he’s settling scores.”
    “He is doing more than that, my friend. He is building an army.” The wizard looked at the children. “You asked about Gabriel. While I have been tracking down and warning those who once helped me fight the Dire Magnus, he has been monitoring the enemy’s movements. Since you last saw him, he has been in almost constant danger.” Dr. Pym turned back to theman. “The enemy’s strength is growing, Hugo. You can hide on this mountain and say the world is filled with fools. But a war is coming. And it will find even you.”
    For a moment, the fierce, bearded man seemed checked. Then his mouth curled into a sneer.
    “Warning received and already forgotten. Now, what’s your question? Be quick. I’ve got to find your namesake before he eats the rest of my book. I’ve come up with a new chapter while you’ve been talking. It’s called ‘Paranoid Old Fools’! Ha!”
    “Very well,” the wizard said. “I would like to know about the last time you saw Richard and Clare Wibberly.”
    Outside, the shadows had begun to lengthen, and Dr. Algernon turned on the lantern. Before setting it on the table, he held it to Emma’s and Michael’s faces. He stared at Michael for several long moments.
    “I knew it. You’re the spitting image of your father.”
    “Really?” Michael could feel himself grinning. “I mean … really?”
    “I said so, didn’t I? Are you deaf?”
    “No—”
    “You look just like him. Don’t make me say it again.” He looked at Emma. “The two of you twins?”
    “No!” Michael said, somewhat hotly. “I’m a year older.”
    “Well, technically,” Emma said, “we’re both twelve. Technically.”
    Michael was about to argue when the man spoke.
    “Where’s the third one, Pym? There’s supposed to be a third.”
    “Sadly, she was unable to join us tonight. But we expect to see her again soon.”
    “Yeah,” Emma said. “Very, very soon.”
    The man grunted and placed the lantern on the table.
    “I don’t know what Pym’s told you. Not much, I wager. But most of us who trafficked as magicians ended up straddling two worlds, the magical and the mundane. We had actual jobs; some idiots had families. Besides my other, call them
extracurricular
activities, I taught folklore and mythology at Yale. Your father was a grad student. And unlike most of the students, he was not a total idiot. I could tell right away he knew that magic was real. You get that in folklore departments. People have figured out the truth, but they can’t come to college and study magic. So they study folklore and myth, sensing that those stories reflect how the world used to be. That was your dad.
    “I was foolish back then, almost as foolish as Dr. Pudding Brain here. I thought that magic had a chance. That people like your dad could help. So I brought him along. Taught him everything I could. I remember he had an unusual affection for dwarves—”
    “Dwarves?” Michael nearly jumped to his feet. “Really? I have a certain, call it
interest
in dwarves.”
    “He means he’s in love with them,” Emma said.
    “Was he fond of anything in particular?” Michael asked eagerly. “Granted, there’s so much to choose from. Where do you even start.…”
    Hugo Algernon scratched at his beard. “Well, he was alwaysquoting this one line from old Killin Killick. Something about a great leader—”
    “Lives not in his heart, but in his