Future Warnings from Midnight

Chapter Twenty One: Drake and the Unknown

Drake stood at the entry to the Witch Academy. The gates of the university were made of lovely wood. The craved images of broomsticks and pointy hats were on every post. The humble buildings of brilliant yellows and blues gaily sat in the open. The place would have been charming any other day. It would have been downright beautiful with all its cute little plants and cheery statues of cats and happy children. But it was all amiss. There seemed to be a clear lack of people. No sound anywhere. Not even the single tweet of a bird. Drake looked up at the looming clouds over head. Primrose and Sweet Pea stormed ahead. Mika took large strides to keep up with the fast pace fairies. The boy lingered some more just as Ozzy and Lucky stood beside him. The two clowns stared at him. It was Ozzy, who spoke, "Drake."

"Umm?" The boy answered.

Ozzy rubbed her arm, "Listen... Back at the junkshop. We got to talking. Lucky and I think we would be more useful here at the gates. We think we might be handy in scouting around outside. You, know?"

"You are afraid?" Drake raised an eyebrow.

"Well ... Er..." Ozzy turned over to Lucky.

"It is okay," Drake grimly smiled, "I understand. You can be afraid. Yea, you can scout around here."

Ozzy and Lucky waved the boy off. He had dashed behind the fairies. The clowns nervously stood by the gates and the eerily stillness. Lucky placed her hand on Ozzy's shoulder. A black bird fluttered up to them. The changeling peered at it. It cawed loudly at them. A human voice rose from nowhere. It said, "You know that the witch is cutting off the extra people. I am bewitched until the thing cracked."

"You're the enchanted raven that Primrose told us about," Lucky pointed to him.

"Yes, its me. The Junkman sent me out here. I have news from the Birk of Doom," the raven bowed its head as a spider hopped down.

The spider added, "Lord Styx and Lady Muerte's daughter is in there. She is at the heart of the subject! A force is driving her to madness!"

"Why tell us? Shouldn't you tell Primose and the rest who went inside," Lucky pointed out.

"Because we who wait at the gates, know what is coming," the raven squaked.

The spider groaned, "It is clear that the hero's quest does not need us. We are to buy our time here at the edge of the conflict."

"Wait-wait!" Lucky shouted, "Primrose asked us to stay here as part of the scouting team. We were supposed to be helpful!"

"We witness what comes next. We wait in awe and horror as the world comes apart," the spider answered.

"I know it is not ideal," the raven sighed, "But it is how it is. My Mary is in there. But the Junkshop man said I must wait here. Here is where I will meet my Mary. It is the only way back to normal."

Lucky dropped her jaw, "We wait!?"

Ozzy puffed out his chest and frowned.

The clown elbowed her partner, "They want us to just wait!"

The spider rubbed its head, "The others meet their fated moments. We must follow the motions of the weave. It is what the Dreamweaver said we must do."

"You've got to be kidding me!!" Lucky shouted.

The skies above cracked with thunder and lighting. There was a sudden ripping sound. A vast ocean of noise that drowned everything. All color melt into a spectral of rainbows. The clowns turned to the screen of the school. It appeared like a smashed in mirrors. Shards of what was there lay all about. Each shard had a million different places, people, and worlds all mixed together. The worst part was that the breaking was spreading over head. It was eating away at the world on bit at a time. Lucky grabbed onto Ozzy. The giant held tight to his smaller friend. The raven and the spider watched all the shards. They fell about like snowfall in the winter. Amazingly the strip of land where the gateway reminded enacted. The raven nodded slowly, "I was expecting that."