Neko knew he could draw Maude's attention. That was the easy part since he was still her prime target. Getting her to follow him back into the castle was a different matter. She may have been single-minded in her revenge, but she wasn't stupid.
Neko and his friends did their best to make the cat's retreat look realistic. First, Colin went down while under attack and disappeared. As Maude swept in at them, Shosha raced for the door into the building, and Neko was to follow, limping as if injured.
The injury didn't need to be faked. Maude had picked up some fire sprites. One caught his back right leg and left a painful burn before Neko kicked it off into the moat, where the thing fizzled and died.
Shosha had just reached the door and darted inside.
The door slammed shut as Neko turned to follow her. Even though this was part of the plan, Neko still gave a cry of shock and despair. Maude laughed. That sound unsettled him more than he had expected. He rushed to the door, ignoring the pain in his leg, and pounded on it.
"Let me in! Let me in!"
The door didn't move, even when Maude landed a few feet behind him.Neko pounded a little more frantically.
"What did you expect? You are just a cat to them. I let you share in my glory!" She took several quick steps forward. "But you are mine now."
Neko had been saving his power. He used it now as Maude leaped at him. His power hit her when both her feet left the ground. Amateur mistake. She flipped head over heels for three rounds before she hit the ground.
Neko took a step forward, hoping she was stunned. Unfortunately, Maude immediately sat up, howling in rage and throwing magic in all directions, just as he had expected. He bounced some of it back at her, and she surged up, her hair flying in wild wisps around her head as she flew toward him.
Nico retreated into the building, with Maude only an arm's length behind him. Maude never noticed Shosha, who rushed outside as soon as the witch had gone past. Neko had intended to go a couple of yards farther, but he realized his injured leg would not hold him that far. Neko was slowed as well. By the time he spun to head toward the door, she could brush her finger over his ear.
She almost had him.
Neko dropped flat on the floor as she cursed and went over him. The cat used all the magic he could to launch himself straight back at the door.
It worked, but only because Maude, so close to the kill, had not prepared herself for the masonry wall. She hit hard and fell with a moan. Neko almost turned back to finish her, but she was still moving --
By the time he rushed out the door, she was already on her feet, her hands raised. Maude's eyes glowed yellow with uncontrollable rage as he rolled out the door.
Colin slammed the door and shoved a huge seal over it, barely in time to stop Maude's spell that would have obliterated a large section of the building. The power of the seal had not been easy to manifest, and Colin went to his knees, gasping.
Dorian, Merlin, and Tamaran worked together on the roof to spread a wall of magical marble over the building. The first layer glowed a brilliant white, almost blinding Neko. He could still hear Maude screaming in rage until the next layer spread downward over the first. This one was a dull gray that held its own magic while it hid the power behind it.
The third layer was a forbidding black that covered all the other work entirely, so it looked like a small hill rather than a prison. Neko sat and waited. It was over an hour before the three came down. Colin was steadier and had done a little work on Neko's leg. It still hurt, but he said nothing.
They settled on the bridge, and all of them stared at the new hill.
"It won't be long before people forget there is a building under there," Merlin said. He looked pleased. "I think a layer of dirt, grass, and brush will help."
With a wave of his hand, he added that covering. It looked better. He also filled in the mote and changed the bridge to a road that led around the barrier and off to ... somewhere else.
It all looked better, but Neko knew Maude was still right there, and she would work at getting out. He watched with renewed worry, knowing they had only slowed her. Who knew how soon she'd find a way out?
"I will stay and guard," Neko said. He tried not to sound bothered, but at least he wasn't trapped in a small building. "She will-"
"As soon as she stops screaming, she will lie down and sleep for a long, long time," Merlin said. "We might even get lucky, and she out-sleeps her own magic. If she doesn't, we still will not see her again for at least two centuries. You need not sit and wait, Neko."
"Good. Thank you. I suppose we'll find enough trouble without her help."
"More than enough," Luna said. Then she smiled. "But we will face our troubles together."
No one asked for details.
Word spread quickly about what they had done to Maude. No one else bothered them for the rest of the trip, but Neko knew there would be other adventures -- problems -- ahead.
He kept an eye on Luna.
The End
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