another room underneath this one.”

“And the entrance to it is spell warded, ” Merlin said. “Which

means that it could also be a trap. Everyone stand absolutely still.”

Nobody moved.

“Wyrdrune, put out your light.”

The glowing globe faded and shrank, collapsing into itself as

Wyrdrune canceled the spell. They were plunged into darkness.

Fugisawa felt a tightness in his stomach as he heard Merlin start to

chant in an ancient, guttural tongue that had not been spoken on

earth since the days of the Druids.

“Dhor bir nixh thahr… vaxh vohr yll naxh… byn vahr vohl

tahnyeh…”

The air in the basement seemed to grow heavier. The darkness

seemed to thicken.

“Dhor bir nixh thahr… thahr vahr yll tohr… mihr kyhn vohl

tahnyeh…”

A faint bluish mist formed in the air above Billy’s head. It

undulated lazily, revolving slowly and sending out foggy tendrils as

it took form, growing brighter and brighter, coalescing into a small,

billowing storm cloud illuminated from within by the crackling of

miniature blue lightning. As it spun around, faster and faster,

thundering with thaumaturgic discharges, Fugisawa felt a breeze

that gradually grew into a shrieking wind, blowing through his hair

and plucking at his clothes. Stray pieces of litter in the basement

were picked up and swirled around the room. Boxes overturned.

Glass shattered. Things went flying off the shelves. Merlin

continued chanting, his voice growing louder and louder, until

Fugisawa and the others could barely stand upright in the fierce

wind generated by the miniature thaumaturgic storm.

Then Merlin threw his arms up over his head and the swirling

cloud exploded in a blinding flash of light, sending out jagged bolts

of blue lightning in all directions. Fugisawa and the others ducked

as the glowing bolts flew around over their heads like miniature

heat-seeking missiles, darting this way and that, until they all

came together in one spot, striking one section of the wall and