Evin shrugged. “Maybe he needs to straighten up before receiving guests.”

Jorick banged against the door with the side of his fist. “Open up! I know you’re in there!”

“Hey!” Evin said. “Don’t do that. You’ll make him mad.”

Jorick glared at Evin. He hesitated for a moment, then banged once more with his fist. The door rattled in its frame.

Still no answer.

Jorick shoved his sleeves up his forearms. “That’s it, now I’m kicking it down.”

Before Evin could object and before Jorick could move, there came the sound of another loud crack. At the same time, in a flash of orange light and an explosion of shimmering smoke, the door burst open and slammed against the side of the house.

In the doorway stood the most beautiful girl Evin had ever seen. The girl tapped her foot, arms crossed and her pointed chin held high.

“No one,” she said, “is going to break down any doors. Now, tell me who you are and what you want, or else I’ll be the one doing the kicking around here.”

Chapter Six

Before Evin could stop him, Jorick leaped forward and grabbed the girl’s arm. “Hey, listen, I—”

Jorick didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. He flew backward in a shower of orange sparks, landed on his backside on the broken cobblestone street, and sat there, stunned.

The girl shrugged. “I warned you.”

Evin stifled a grin. He couldn’t help but feel Jorick deserved to end up on his backside after he had ignored his advice yet again.

The girl arched an eyebrow at Evin. “Well? Were you banging on my door for a reason or did you just come to disrupt my studies?”

Smiling in the way his mother had always told him was so terribly charming, Evin stepped around Jorick and bowed his head.

“My apologies for my friend’s rude behavior,” he said, then looked up into her eyes. They were so blue that they seemed as deep and mysterious as the ocean. “My name is Evin, and this is Jorick. We were told to come here to find the wizard Zendric. See, our village, Hesiod, was—”

“Zendric?” the girl interrupted, raising her other eyebrow.

Evin nodded. “Yes, see, our village was burned down by these dog-men, and they kidnapped everyone. There was an old witch who came to, erm, shop in the evening. She told us that the wizard Zendric lived here and that, what with him being a world-renowned expert on monsters, we should come talk to him so he can help us save our people.”

“Sorry, he can’t help you.” The girl shook her head, sending her copper hair shimmering over her shoulders. “He’s not here.” With a wave of her slender finger, the door began to creak close.