The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams by Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson

Navid shouted from below.
    Aldwyn turned his attention to the clouds before him. The Icari weed had taken effect so quickly he’d barely had time to process it. But this would not be the moment to reflect, as a half-dozen members of the Nightfall Battalion were flying through the air behind them with wands outstretched. The fastest two caught up to Aldwyn and Gilbert in mere seconds. They were about to ensnare them with golden lassos.

    “Creeping vine, possum tail, make them move like a snail!” Gilbert incanted.
    Suddenly the two wizards slowed to a near crawl. They tried to talk but even their lips appeared to move in slow motion.
    “Quick thinking, Gilbert,” Skylar said.
    “A snail spell,” the tree frog replied. “One of Marianne’s favorites.”
    “Well, she would be proud,” Aldwyn said.
    Gilbert had little time to bask in the praise, as more members of the Nightfall Battalion were gaining on them.
    Aldwyn remembered some flight tactics from Crady’s Book of Aerial Wizardry , a text he had studied back at Black Ivy Manor. He was just hoping that some of them would be helpful here.
    Aldwyn spotted the floating torches that always stood high above the castle walls. But rather than avoiding the bright-glowing flames, he began flapping toward them. Skylar and Gilbert did the same, and the three slalomed between them. The closest pursuing member of the Nightfall Battalion hit the first torch, accidentally setting his robe on fire and forcing him to retreat. The three animals continued to execute hairpin turns and mid-flight reversals that would have made Crady himself proud. Their impressive aerial acrobatics led one of the three remaining Nightfall Battalion soldiers to veer headfirst into the parapet of the palace’s high tower.
    Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert cleared the outer wall of the castle and were soaring over the city. A searing white blast shot past Aldwyn’s head. If he hadn’t already had a chunk missing from his ear, he would have now. Aldwyn glanced back to see the last two Nightfall Battalion members charging, both with wands outstretched, one’s tip still smoking. Skylar and Gilbert joined Aldwyn as he dipped down a busy street, the buildings towering like canyon walls on either side. They were zipping underneath canopies. Vendors stared up at the strange sight of a cat, frog, and blue jay flying through the air.
    Another bolt of lightning came close to frying Gilbert. Aldwyn focused his mind as he passed over the next building, telekinetically pulling shingles from the slanted wooden rooftop and flinging them backward like diamond throwing stars. The barrage of projectiles hit the last two Nightfall Battalion soldiers, knocking their wands from their hands. They instantly began to plummet, heading straight for the pavement. But before they made impact, Aldwyn glanced down and moved a vendor’s hay cart with his mind, setting it directly in their path.
    Escape seemed within reach. That’s when Aldwyn saw a furry black-and-white feather drift from his back. Then another. And another. He was losing his wings. The Icari weed was wearing off. He looked over to Gilbert and saw that his slimy bat wings were beginning to break apart as well.
    “Skylar,” Aldwyn called out. “You have any more of that Icari weed in your satchel?”
    “That was all of it,” she replied.
    Aldwyn surveyed the cityscape before them. The outer ring of Bronzhaven was filled with modest residential houses and small parks with well-trimmed lawns and absolutely nowhere to hide. Farther ahead was an orchard of trees and thick bushes.
    “Over there,” Skylar said, pointing to the orchard. “It will cushion your fall.”
    It seemed as good a plan as any, except Gilbert was never going to make it. One of his wings had fallen off and he was spiraling downward. He was trying his best to stay afloat, but it was only resulting in an awkward nosedive.
    Gilbert’s touchdown was bumpy to say the least, but it didn’t seem to