Secret Novel Chapter 42: Time To Return Home (Patreon)

She knew where to go now. Madeline knew where they were keeping Planter, and she needed to go that way. Only… She felt bad for leaving Sarah on the floor like that. Monet, she didn’t really care. Snooping around a little bit, Madeline found that the room the elder mage had come from seemed to be his own little study. It had books, a fireplace, chairs, and even a bed. So maybe this was his quarters instead. Thinking it would be nicer to leave Sarah in a comfortable bed, she went and tried to move her. Before her transition Madeline would have easily been able to pick up Sarah. It wouldn’t have been a hassle at all, but now it was different. It was a struggle that took far too long. She had to even drag her a little to get her to the bed. But once there, she placed her gently down so that she might sleep better.

Stepping back out, she went to pick up her cloak only to find that the clasp was indeed broken. She could wear it, but she would have to hold it closed with a hand the entire time to make sure it didn’t come off. Then she heard Monet snore and she looked over at him. His cloak was perfectly fine, if dirty. Well, she needed a new cloak that wouldn’t fly open with a gust of wind. Putting her cloak away in the satchel, because she could fix the clasp later, she went to work. It took longer than she would like to admit to get his cloak off, but she did it. Putting it on she found it rather toasty warm, which was pleasant, but she worried it might become a little annoying and sweaty after some time. Getting sweat out from the base of her tail was so annoying since, for some reason, that was the most sensitive part of it. Looking back down at him, she felt bad for leaving him on the cold floor without a cloak, so it was time to move another person…

It took even more time to move the other mage and get him into the chair by the fire to keep warm. She had really lost a lot of strength. Maybe there was some magic she could learn to help her lift and move heavy things? There probably was, so that could be helpful to learn. Though if she really needed heavy lifting done at home, she would just ask Victor for help. Still, it couldn’t hurt to learn. Just before Madeline was about to walk away her eyes drifted over a small assortment of shoes neatly placed in a small rack. Looking down at her own feat, she flexed her toes inside of her shoes. They were too big for her now, and though she was managing with them, they were still annoying and might give her blisters once she stopped wearing thick socks for the winter. Curiosity got the better of her as Madeline pulled her shoes off and went to the rack to see if any would fit.

Seven minutes later, Madeline pulled the hood over her head, complaining about her ears being sore, and walked out of the building in a pair of nice fitting riding boots. Monet’s shoes had, in fact, fit her, which was great! He also had a number of different pairs: nice riding boots, thicker winter boots that he had been wearing but now belonged to Madeline, some shoes clearly meant for when he was out gardening, and even a pair of slippers. Madeline had never owned as many shoes as Monet had, but now that they were either all stuffed in her satchel like pouch or on her feet, she now did. She did also prop Monet’s feet up on a small foot rest closer to the fire so he would keep warm. She might be stealing all of his shoes, but she was at least going to be a little considerate while he slept for a good long while.

As she made her way down the path she hoped people would be none the wiser that she had just fought and knocked out two mages. If anyone found Sarah and Monet they would just look like they fell asleep. Hopefully.

Now it was time to find Planter. Sadly the building she now needed to head to was still a decent walk away. Not as long as it had taken her and Sarah to get here, but still a decent walk. Luckily, according to the map she stole, the building was also decently close to the hedge so she should be able to let the Maze know that she was ready. Though there didn’t appear to be an entrance into the Maze as close by.

Madeline kept her head down as she walked through the campus, doing her best not to make anyone look at her. This cloak was thicker and helped her hide more of her body shape, so hopefully men would be less likely to stare at her. Thankfully she could walk around some of the more populated areas, at the cost of taking a little more time. It was worth it though. Less chance to be caught again. She might have handled it the first time but there was no promise she could do it again so easily.

As she made her way, she walked up a small hill towards a number of tall stone slabs. There wasn’t anyone around so she had a chance to look around a bit. As she got to the center of what she could only call a monument, there was a large metal plaque set on a large stone in the center. Being a little curious, she read it.

To those who gave everything they had in the name learning.

It didn’t say anything else on the plaque, and Madeline wasn’t sure what that meant. It sounded like a memorial for those who died. There was a really old one in Lexford from the last war, but the names had all worn off of it. Curiosity got the better of her and Madeline went up to one of what must have been at least twenty slabs to found it to be a massive list of names. The list went on and on as she followed it around the slabs. She wondered if these were the names of mages who died in the war. If so there were hundreds, maybe thousands of names. Oddly each name only had a first name followed by ‘of’ and then where she presumed they came from. She found it interesting that the names of places seemed to repeat very often, and she was also surprised that Lexford even appeared on it. Slowly she kept on reading and was near the end, where there was still a large space with a few more blank slabs. She wouldn’t have thought much of it and barely gave the names an actual glance until she read the second to last name.

Fernaldo of Mulva

Fernaldo… Madeline’s mind flooded with the memories of him. She had only known him for a few hours, but she so dearly wished he had survived with her. Reaching up, she gently touched the engraving of his name. A realization came over her: these weren’t mages lost in the war. These were the names of offerings they didn’t accept. The names of the innocent people they killed for the sake of ‘learning’. Madeline felt sick to her stomach looking at how many names there were already. Thousands upon thousands… Then the sickness faded away into rage. Rage that was slowly boiling over, and it hit the tipping point when she read the last name.

Edwin of Lexford

Her hands were shaking as she stared at her given name written out for the world to see.

“You ignorant fuckers,” she said through clenched fangs and teeth. Reaching into her pouch, Madeline grabbed her mother’s knife. She never went anywhere without it and she certainly wasn’t going to come here without it. She looked at the blade. Weaving steel, sharp enough to cut stone. She might have to sharpen it later for the first time ever, but it was fucking worth it. So making sure no one was around, Madeline went to work. After a good number minutes she pulled away and looked at her handy work. She had crossed out her given name and wrote under it.

Madeline of the Maze

“I’m here, and none of you know it. I’m on your campus and you don’t even know it.” She paused for a second before adding. “Pathetic excuse for magic users.” It was true.

She left the monument with a fire in her heart. She didn’t care if she had to walk through the middle of the most crowded part of this campus. She wasn’t wasting time anymore. She had a job to do.

It didn’t take more than another twenty minutes of her hurried steps before she found herself outside the building Sarah had told her. It was a tall four story high brick and marble building, with dozens of large windows covering most of it. She stood at the front of it in a square much like the other ones. This one was far larger, but oddly not as populated which was good for her. The fewer mages around meant this was safer for her. She was also lucky that this was on the opposite side of the campus to where she had come from, so that would mean when Carver and his fellow groundskeepers made a distraction the mages would all head away from here.

Feeling a strong confidence in herself, Madeline powered her way alongside the building. She followed it around, unconcerned at who might see her here. The building was actually far larger than she had anticipated from just looking at the front, so it did take her a long while before she managed to work her way around to the back. Unlike the front, which was basically a large flat continuous wall, the back was oddly shaped. Areas jutted out while others became so thin it looked like it might just be a hallway. Some were rounded and many of the outcroppings didn’t even go to the top of the buildings. Deciding that this might help her, Madeline stalked her way behind the outcroppings and below the window, hoping that no one would spot her. Eventually, as she was about to round another corner, she started to hear voices.

“We’ve replaced the eyes five times now, Simon. I’m not sure how you expect them to get much stronger,” said a man.

“If we can make it so it can see heat, then maybe it wouldn’t have lost him,” a vaguely familiar voice spat back.

“Simon,” a new voice cut in. “I know this is an important pet project for you, but you really have to consider that there wasn’t even a real person there in the first place.”

“This isn’t a pet project! It's about finding out how that man is living in the Maze.”

“Simo—” the first started and got cut off.

“Be quiet and help me already. I need a tuning rod.”

Slowly Madeline crept her way up to the corner and looked around it. In the middle of a small slatted flat area stood four mages. Each with their backs to her so she couldn’t see their faces, but she didn’t need to. All she needed to see was that Planter was sitting slumped forward as if already dead in front of the mages. One of his crystal eyes had been removed entirely and the massive crystal sprouting from his back was still glowing. Madeline could no longer see the visible magic lashing out from said crystal at his head.

She found him. She had found Planter. Creeping back around the corner so that they wouldn’t see her, Madeline turned and started running. She knew where the closest hedge was on the map, and running there shouldn’t take her but a minute or two. Hopefully no one would notice her since she was behind everything.

For some reason, Madeline felt a huge sense of relief that she had actually found Planter. She hadn’t realized it, but there was a part of her that thought she wouldn’t be able to find him. Maybe a part of her even hoped that she wouldn’t find him, and that she could just go home without anything more to do with the mages. She was here now, though, and she was going to see this through. She was going to help Carver return his brother to the Maze.

Eventually she reached the closest part of the hedge and she felt far more at ease by being close to it. Slowing to a walk to catch her breath, Madeline thought of how to best do this. After a moment, she reached and placed a hand on the hedge.

“I found him. I found Planter. I’m going to return him to you, but I need Carver and the others to cause a distraction so there won’t be as many mages around. I need you to tell them that I’m ready. Ready to do this.” Madeline knew the Maze could think and feel in some sort of way, but she had never seen it do anything in front of her to actually prove it. Now though, she could see her gentle mist of magic flow from her hand and mingle into the hedge, creating a new mist that suddenly shot down the hedge and into the distance. The Maze really was alive, and it really could hear her. She felt a lot of comfort in that.

Deciding she didn’t need to run at full speed like she just had, since it would take a little bit for Carver’s distraction to take effect, and even longer for the mage’s to start responding, Madeline took this time to mentally prepare herself. Whether for just returning Planter or having to fight mages, she needed to be ready. All the resources she needed were ready at hand, and hopefully, if the mages around Planter did stick around, her method of returning Planter would likely send them running. Hopefully none would be caught in the fire. She didn’t want to kill anyone again, but after seeing the monument she felt her convictions in that waver ever so slightly.

Following the path back from where she had come, Madeline found herself back there around five minutes later. Peering around the corner again she found that all the mages were still there, and still working on Planter. Pulling back from the corner, Madeline took a deep breath to steady her slowly raising heart rate. Then she reached into her pouch and found one of the energizing potions that she often made for training with Victor. Popping the cork, she drank the entire potion, knowing that if the mage’s didn’t leave for the distraction, she would need the energy and extra boost of magic. Even if she didn’t need it, it couldn’t hurt. Then she leaned up against the wall, took her hood off to both hear better and give her sore ears a gentle rub while she waited.

“Why won’t you consider the possibility that it's just forest folk? We know they were in the area.”

Madeline's ears perked up and started listening again.

“Yes. We even know there is one of their forests around two hours from where he was spotted.”

“But what if it’s not? What if he really is still alive out there?!” Simon yelled again, and Madeline knew they were talking about her.

“Wouldn’t he be trying to get back to his home?”

“He was seen in the same area twice, over one month apart. I was there and saw him the second time. Does that sound like someone trying to go back home, or someone who has found a place to live?”

“But that was three months ago. We have had teams out there in the surrounding two hundred leagues. They’ve found nothing.”

“Maybe he’s in the forests,” Simon said.

“As if the forest folk wouldn’t have killed him on the spot. What, do you really think they would allow a human to live in their home?”

Madeline couldn’t help but giggle quietly. The sylvins were afraid of her and wanted to be on good terms with her. They were also contractually obligated to let her use their forest as if she was one of them.

“I don’t know! All I know is I saw him with my own eyes, two months after he killed Marcus!”

“Simon, we know he was your charge but—”

“No but! Marcus was my charge! I was the one who brought Edwin in the Maze, and somehow he tricked me and Marcus and got a knife in here!”

Madeline stared blankly out into the field behind the building. She knew who Simon was now. He was the elder mage that was at least mildly considerate of her. The one who accompanied Marcus. Madeline had felt back then that Simon didn’t like Marcus all that much, but maybe he did. Maybe he just took that she survived and Marcus didn’t personally.

“It had to be a forest folk not hi—”

“Hents!” a new voice screamed out with the sound of a door opening. Looks like Carver’s distraction was taking effect.

“Yes, we are working on the hent.”

“No. There are six hents heading towards campus right now!”

“Don’t lie.”

"I’m not! There really are six hents heading towards campus.”

“It’s just a coincidence. They’re probably all walking in different directions that just happen to have the ca—”

“They are in a group.”

There was a long pause in the conversation.

“Hents are never seen in groups. They aren’t smart enough to work together.”

“Well they fucking are right now, and they’re aiming straight for the food stores.”

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

“Shit.”

There was now a panicked conversation muffled by the noise of all of them trying to gather themselves. Though there was a door, they might pass by close windows, so she pulled her hood back up, and tucked herself as tightly as she could in a corner.

“Simon, we need to see this and help,” one finally said loud enough for Madeline to make out.

“Go without me. I need to finish my work here.”

“Fine, but it’ll be your loss.”

“Not if you capture another hent or two.”

She heard them all scurry though the door but still she waited. After a few seconds of silence she pulled her hood back down. Her ears were really sore now… Madeline crept back up the wall and peered around. Simon was still working on Planter, but she could hear him grunting and rambling to himself about her in frustration. Whatever he was trying to do wasn’t working, and it was only making him madder. As Madeline quietly walked around the corner she put her hand in her pouch to be as ready as she could. There was a sound of a snap from Planter and something Simon had been holding fell to the ground.

“Shit!” Angrily he bent down to pick it up. “I’m a goddess damn professor and can’t fucking get this to work! I couldn’t even stop just a regular man from killing my charge!” The crystal that had been placed in as Planter’s second eye fell out and hit Simon. “Fuck!” Standing up he kicked the crystal as hard as he could. “How in the hells did he get a knife into the Maze?!”

Madeline stopped in her tracks and swallowed. “It was in a sheath,” she said, and watched Simon spin around to face her. His eyes looked at her with both recognition and confusion.

“Flora?” he said, not understanding yet. His eyes stared at her ears.

“Sorry, I’m not my sister. But to answer your question. It was in a hardened leather sheath that I stuffed between my sock and boot. I still have a scar on my leg from the burn, but you stopped Marcus before I couldn’t handle it any longer.” She stared at him. She wasn’t sure what she was feeling. She felt almost numb, but she did feel like he was owed this answer.

His look of disbelief continued, but she could see in start to figure it out. “You’re not him.”

“No, I’m not a man, thank you for noticing. Went through a lot of trouble to learn magic to fix my body, and I’m very proud of it.” She opened the cloak to show her form underneath. “But no, I’m not Edwin. I’m Madeline.” If he hadn’t told anyone about her real name, nor had Flora, then he would know the only other person in the Maze who would know it was herself.

“That’s not…” His eyes were wide as he stared openly at her. She could see that he realized now, but all that he knew from being a mage had told him it shouldn’t be…

“Possible? It is, because I’m standing right here in front of you, Simon. You were kinder to me than Marcus was.” As she spoke she kept circling around him, until Planter was directly between her and the building. “Though you didn’t let me into the carriage when it started raining, and that made me think less of you.”

His face turned finally to anger, and Madeline focused hard with her new eye to see the magic mist around him start to swirl. “I suppose the forest folk captured you then? And somehow you convinced them to do this to you and let you go?”

“Actually, no. They did try to enslave me once with their weird rules, but my house guest scared them off.” She wasn’t going to bring up that they were probably now terrified of her because said guest was an unchained beyonder. Not to mention her birthday party. “I did this to myself, thank you.” She wasn’t going to bring up the tail.

“Liar,” he spat at her. “Human’s can’t learn magic unless you’re a mage. And no Mage would have given you the gift” Then his mist condensed around his hand in a familiar spell of blue sizzling energy. Once big enough, he launched it at her just like Monet did.

This time she didn’t do exactly the same as she had with the other mage. She did still reach her hands out and catch it like before, but she didn’t deflect it and use it. Instead she held the spell in her hands, letting the magic slowly dissipate. “I’m not a very good liar. Flora can tell you that. Everyone was always able to read me easily.”

Simon gawked at her holding his spell. “That’s… How..?”

“Like I said, magic.” The spell she held finally faded away, as she reached back into her pouch. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do.” Quickly she pulled out one of the glowing flowers and let it almost meld into her hand, before her magic formed a ball of light in the other. With ease, she threw the ball right at Simon’s face.

Of course he was able to block her spell. It was a simple light spell, but on impact with this magic shield it exploded with a blinding bang. Blinding to human eyes at least. Her beyonder eye was more than capable of handling it. The flash blinded Simon long enough for Madeline to create a ball of force much like he just had, only hers was pink. Hitting her target was easy, far easier than hitting Victor. She watched as her spell connected and threw Simon backwards, but she hadn’t expected it to throw him far enough to make him hit the wall of the building. He hit the wall with a hefty thud and the clear sound of air leaving his lungs. Madeline looked on in genuine shock. Whenever she hit Victor it barely budged him an inch.

Simon looked up at her also with shock on his face, mixed with pain of course. “Get up,” he spat through coughing and trying to get air back in his lungs. Planter’s single crystal eye glowed to life, as the crystal on his back started lashing at his head with magic. Slower than Madeline was expecting, the groundskeeper pushed itself to its feet before turning to him. “Get her—Him!”

Madeline watched as Planter’s gaze left Simon and landed on her. This was it. “I’m sorry, Planter,” she said, digging her hand back into her pouch. She took a few steps back as Planter stepped forward. “I’m sorry they did this to you. Took away who you were.” He took another step, and as Madeline backed up Simon finally started trying to stand up again. “Took away your ability to choose. But I’m going to give you back. Back to the Maze that we both come from.” Planter took a much faster step, and looked as if he was about to charge.

As fast as she could, the witch pulled out the crushed enderbloom and held it in an open hand in front of her. She caught Simon’s eyes as he looked at her curiously, but she could also see the fear. She wondered if he would be caught in the blast. “I’m sorry,” she whispered just as Planter pushed off into a lunge. She blew on the flower.

Dragon’s breath was how her books described blowing on an entire crushed enderbloom, and Madeline scared herself with how accurate that was. A geyser of fire bloomed from her hand and engulfed the entirety of Planter. Not only him, but it also hit a building behind him and went through the door they had left open. Even through the blinding heat and flame, she could see the groundskeeper before her crumble away with the flames. Out of the side, she noticed Simon jumping away, his clothes on fire and hair gone. Still she held the dragon’s breath. She needed to make sure Planter was fully returned. That they could no longer use him. It didn’t hurt that the building behind them was catching on fire, too.

Eventually the flower drained away in the flame, and Madeline ran out of breath. Feeling the drain of magic, and knowing that now was the time for her to run, she only spared the area in front of her a glance as the flames died. Well, what had died in the immediate area in front of her because the building was now on fire. Flames burst out the windows of the first floor, and she could see the black smoke starting to rise high. Close by to the building, Simon was still putting out the fires of his clothes, but also glanced in horror between the building and her. Then not but a few feet in front of Madeline laid a pile of crystals. One easily as big as her and other’s smaller, but all were cracked and broken, coated in thick black soot.

There was nothing left of the real Planter. He was gone. He had been returned to his home. To the Maze.

Now it was time for Madeline to return. Back to her Garden. Back to Victor. Back to her home.

[So we finally find out the elder mage's name right near the end of the story. Next week will be the final week for this story. I can't believe we are coming to and end of this story. It's been such an important part of my life and I'm really excited to see what your guys think of the ending.]