The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (read aloud books txt) 📕

curly hair. He had kind eyes that changed between blue and green depending on where he stood in the light.

“We need your help, Boog,” stated Charles as they were releasing the creatures. He told the gnome how they needed unicorn hair to make a potion to lift the curse.

Boog walked over to the stall that had the unicorn in it. He patted him on the nose and spoke softly to the equestrian. “I need to pull out some of your tail so you can go home to your family, alright?” He ran his hand up and down the muzzle of the unicorn as he spoke to him. The gnome nodded at Charles to come over as he walked around the unicorn, then pulled out ten strands of its tail. “There you are. I’ll wait here until you are finished.”

Charles finally took a moment to look around the barn. There was a hydra in a bin of water, as well as a mermaid. A phoenix and a griffin were each chained by their feet to the rafters, while a satyr played his flute in the corner. Charles just shook his head sadly at how many creatures Sorgin had tortured, tricked, and made deals with over the years.

He brought the strands of unicorn tail hair inside to Agatha in the kitchen. “Here you go!” he chimed as he continued on to the sitting room. Thea was napping on the couch with Fig. She needed to recover from healing Agatha. She had placed a sheet over the case so Sorgin could not see out. The fairies were busy taking keys up and down the halls, trying them in all the locks.

A golden fairy buzzed down to the sitting room and woke Thea up. “I found one that works!” he squeaked at her. “Follow me.”

She jumped off the couch, following the fairy, with Charles and Fig in tow. They went to the fourth floor, finding a room filled with bottles.

“Agatha!” Thea yelled down the hall.

A few moments later Agatha appeared in the hallway. “Hello? Where are you?”

Thea poked her head out, and waved her over. “I think you can make any spell that you want now.” she said as she pushed the door open farther for Agatha to see inside.

Agatha’s eyes grew wide with excitement as she saw how well the room was organized. There were eyes of newts and griffin claws, lavender and rose oil. Everything she would ever need was in this room. “In alphabetical order even!” She exclaimed with surprise as she went straight to the banshee tears. She now had roughly thirty bottles to work with; more than enough to help everyone. She collected what she needed and headed back to the kitchen.

They worked until the wee hours of the morning finishing the rest of the fourth floor. There were creatures from all over the realm. Unfortunately, no witches or humans.

“Why did Sorgin take your brother?” Thea and Charles were busy trying keys in all the locks.

“He’s the most talented warrior in all the realm. His sword play was leaps and bounds beyond all others. He even killed a giant once.”

“How did she get you?” Thea asked as she took a key out of the reject pile and tried it on the next door.

“I came to barter with Sorgin to get my brother released. She said that if I brought her the Emerald of Starling, she would set my brother free. I, too, am pretty good with the sword and thought for sure that I could get it. She gave me three days, and if I failed to return it to her by the sunset of the third day, I would be forced to be her servant for the rest of my days.” He continued to work on getting the door opened. “I thought it sounded like an easy enough job, as it was only guarded by one troll in Starling, and, I figured, if I failed, I just wouldn’t come back. Well when I shook her hand, she must have cast the spell on me with that black band because I failed to get past the troll, and at sunset on the third day I was swept up in a whirlwind and ended up here. Unable to speak or do anything in the chateau I wanted unless she willed me to do so.” He stopped what he was doing and looked over at her.

Thea was looking back with shock on her face. “Well, so much for that plan working,” she joked at him, trying to lighten the mood, as she picked up another key.

“That was seven months ago,” Charles said shaking his head. “There are many of you who have come into this house and have never made it back out. You’re lucky you were not up to par with your memory, or Agatha would have been long gone and you would be in a jar some place.” Thea stopped and looked over at Charles.

“Why me?” she asked with an inquisitive look on her face.

Charles chuckled before he spoke. “You are the only one to not have their soul eaten by the Grimalkin. You must be extremely strong. And, she collects beautiful things, if you haven’t noticed.” He blushed a little as he motioned around the hallway. “Two things that she looks for, all in one package. But, like everything that she collects, it has to be in mint condition. She had to fix you first before she could collect you.”

A few of the rooms they had opened had brownies, trolls, even another imp. However, the search for the siblings was still unsuccessful. By the seventh day, they had made it through two floors worth of rooms. They found paintings, shoes, hats, medicine, many rooms with first edition books, and, even a room full of wigs. A few of the creatures attempted to leave despite the warnings and