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"Free you?"

"We're trapped here. Free usjust for a moment, long enough to stretch our wings."

"All right," I say. It seems a reasonable request, after all. "You are free."

With screeches and yelps, the fairies and nymphs run down the column like water till they're scurrying about the floor, scavenging bits of cheese, hunks of bread, the odd checker piece. It's madness with all these creatures running and flying about.

"Gracious!" Pippa squeals.

A satyr the size of my thumb strides to a girl seated on the rug. He peeks under the hem of her dress, lets loose with a lascivious howl.

"So sweet and plump," he growls.

"What filthy creatures," Felicity says, laughing. "The ladies of Spence are in for a very naughty treat."

"We can't let them do this," I say, half-laughing myself at their pranks. As the satyr climbs the girl's calf, I pick him up with my fingers. "Oh, no you don't," I chide merrily.

He writhes and curses in protest. In an instant, his face transforms into a demonic mask and he sinks his sharp teeth into the tender skin of my wrist. With a cry of pain, I drop him. Is it my imagination, or is he suddenly larger? Felicity gasps beside me, and now I know it's truethe beast is growing. He looms over us, his horned head touching the ceiling.

"Let's see how you taste, sweet or sour," he hisses in a deep, gravelly voice.

"What's happening?" Pippa shrieks. "Make it stop!"

"Stop, this instant!" I shout. The satyr only laughs to see us so frightened.

Pippa is pawing at me in her fright. "It isn't working! Why isn't it working?"

"I don't know!" I shout back. Using the magic is more complicated than I thought.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Pippa chides. Wasn't she the one begging to do it only moments earlier?

"We've got to get them back on the columns," Felicity screeches.

A gargoyle hops onto my leg. In one quick motion, I grab him by the wings and rush to the fireplace, where I hold the naughty beast over the fire. He screams in terror. "Tell me how to undo it." He curses at me, and I lower him just a bit, till the flames lick at his legs. "Tell me or I shall drop you in!"

The gargoyle calls out to his friends for help, but the satyr only laughs. "Proceed. What's one less gargoyle in the world? It should prove most amusing."

I lower the creature another inch. "Tell me!"

He screams. "Yes, yes! I shall tell you! Repeat after me: For your lies in marble shall you lie "

A bare-breasted nymph hops onto the mantel. "You bastard! Don't tell her any more!"

" For a thousand years and never die "

The nymph tries to swipe at him, misses and falls into the fire, which accepts her with a crackle and hiss.

Wide-eyed, the gargoyle yells, "That's it. That's the phrase!"

"Go on, then! Say it!" Felicity shouts. The satyr has them cornered.

Dry-mouthed, I start. "For your lies in marble shall you lie"

The most hideous screeches fill the room. The beasties like their freedom. My heart is beating as fast as their wings, and the next part comes out in a rush. "For a thousand years and never die!"

Inches from me, the satyr shrinks till he's no more than thimble-sized again. Fairies, nymphs, gargoyles, and satyrs whoosh past us, flying backward through the air, till they stick fast to the columns, shrieking the entire way. They spit and curse us. Slowly, the marble freezes them into silence, their angry faces and open mouths the only testament to what has just happened.

I'm shaking and sweat-drenched. We all look a fright.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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