Stomp had to physically restrain Twig from grabbing the bag of pixie dust out of Windmane’s pocket and flying to the gorgon island immediately. “No,” she told him firmly.

“But!” he objected, arms still outstretched. “It’s the fastest way!”

Stomp pushed his arms down. “To die, yes.”

“Oh. Right.”

Shaking her head, Stomp turned to the humans. “Can any of you send a message to the gorgons? Something fast but not alive?”

“I can,” said one human immediately: an overweight fellow with the faintest of mage lines just starting to show. He pulled a notepad and pencil from his bag. “What should it say?”

There was some dithering over that, but the group settled on a short message that would remind the gorgons of the recent visit and the disreputable human mages, and ask for their help in freeing the two dragons from a stone prison.

Stomp hoped it worked.

The human dutifully wrote down their message, folded the paper into an aerodynamic shape, and said an incantation aloud. His faint lines glowed a little brighter. The paper lifted from his hand, floating on folds that resembled wings, then took off out of the room where it turned skyward and disappeared.

“How fast does that travel?” Stomp asked the human.

“Pretty fast,” he said. “Should arrive within minutes.”

Beak pointed at the distant magicians. “How long do we have until they leave the waiting area?”

The human consulted a timepiece while others did the same. “Quite a while still. The current group has barely started.”

Twig spoke up. “Do you think the gorgons know how to send this kind of message back?”

“They won’t have to,” the man said. “It comes with a return trip, encoded with any message they want to send.”

“Oh. That’s good. Do they need their own magic pencil?”

The human magician explained his spell with a level of detail that Stomp lost interest in. They would get a message back; that was all that mattered. With any luck, it would be a message that said the gorgons would help them.

“Assuming they say yes,” Stomp said to no one in particular, “What’s our plan? How far away is this tower?”

Everybody talked at that point. Lots of directions and landmarks and suggestions, both good and bad. The chaotic conversation lasted until the paper message zipped back in through the open window.

It stopped in front of the caster, who wasted no time in unfolding it to read the message aloud.

The mated pair of gorgons who had sent it were very interested in inconveniencing several human mages, especially when it came with the chance of multiple dragons owing them a favor. They would be arranging childcare and crossing the water immediately.

“Then let’s go!” Stomp said. “I don’t know if they’re using a boat or what, but those gargoyles fly fast. He might just be carrying her.”

The humans didn’t speculate, dithering amongst themselves briefly over who was going and who was staying, and which vehicles to use. Trying not to be impatient, Stomp made sure that Windmane was mobile and Twig wasn’t doing anything ill-advised. Beak was just as eager to leave as she was.

“This way, team!” announced the fat magician. “Time to break some laws for the common good!”

Someone else declared that keeping prisoners in the Seamless Tower was illegal anyway, but Stomp couldn’t tell who. The room was chaos and it was time to go.

A handful of humans led the way through passageways and staircases. The crowds that had slowed them down on their way in were all elsewhere watching the show, so the pace was quick. Stomp realized early on that Windmane needed help. She directed Beak to carry the walking frame while she and Twig stood on either side in the narrow walkway and carried Windmane between them. The centaur shut her mouth and lifted her feet, arms around their shoulders. The humans waited, then hurried forward again.

By the time they reached the vehicle they had come in, Stomp was certain that the gorgons would reach the tower first, and be accosted by guards. As she settled into her seat, she asked the nearest human if the mage could send another message to the same people.

“Maybe, but he’s in the other carriage,” the human said. “We’ll ask him when we stop.”

Then the driver yelled something that the horses interpreted as run fast, and Stomp had to hold on so she didn’t fall over.

Maybe they won’t beat us there after all, she thought.

As it turned out, they did arrive first, but barely. They had just enough time to pile out into the parking lot, stare up at the enormous structure atop the hill, and realize that no one had much of anything resembling a plan.

The Seamless Tower was a vast column of white marble, huge even at ground level, without so much as a crack anywhere along its unmarked surface. Fences and guards ringed the bottom of its artificial hill, while a low hedge screened the base of the tower itself from view. Stomp assumed this was so high-society mages could enter without betraying the location of the door to any passing peasant.

That hedge looked like a good place to be, but the four sets of guards posted at compass points around the fence would certainly not let them in.

Just when Stomp was wondering what the nearest guards were looking at, a shadow passed over her. Wingbeats heralded the arrival of the gorgons.

Look at that. They did fly. Stomp shielded her eyes as the gargoyle backwinged to land behind the carriages (only disturbing the horses a little, as opposed to a lot). The medusa unwound to stand beside him as the dust settled. He was speckled gray, she was patchy brown, and both looked pleased to be here.

“Greetings,” the medusa said.

The gargoyle smacked fist to palm. “Let’s break some rocks!”

“We’ll have to get past the guards first,” Stomp said, speaking over the humans trying to do introductions. “Any ideas?”

“Ha! Yes.” The gargoyle looked at his mate. “You want to, or shall I?”

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“Go ahead; you’re good at it.”

“Righto.” He strode past them on clawed feet. “Don’t spread word of this around, all right? Being underestimated is nice.”

As Stomp watched, the gray-skinned creature of wings, tail, and spikes seemed to blur before her eyes. She blinked, and found herself looking in any direction except directly at him.

There was a brief exchange of words with the guards, then silence.

The medusa undulated forward smugly. “All clear,” she said. Nothing about her faded from view: not the brown scales in patches of dark and light, the skin that was somewhere in between, or the lemon-yellow shirt. She moved with confidence nonetheless.

When Stomp looked back at the distant guards, she saw the gargoyle standing in plain sight next to a pair of suspiciously still humans forms.

Oh no. She ran forward, followed by the rest of the crowd. The males can petrify people too! Now we’ll be hunted for killing the guards!

But no. When she drew near, she saw that the guards weren’t stone at all, though they held as still as if they were. The gargoyle grinned widely.

“Garden-variety paralysis spell,” he said. “Nobody ever expects we can learn other types of magic. These guys will be fine.”

“Oh good,” Stomp said, trying not to betray how worried she’d been. “Thank you for that.” Belatedly, she looked back to check on Windmane. The centaur had reclaimed the flying carpet that she’d left in the carriage earlier, and was doing fine.

“Great,” Beak said. “Let’s get a look at that tower before the other guards notice.”

“Or,” said the gargoyle, turning blurry again, “I could make them not notice.” He sped off along the fence while the medusa waved everyone else forward.

Stomp let Beak lead the way. Manicured hedges and some decorative flowers were all that stood between them and the base of the tower.

It was even bigger up close. Eye-searingly bright, and just as seamless as promised.

The human with the faint mage lines was most interested in finding the door. “I’ve wanted to see this for years,” he enthused, running fingertips across the surface. “I don’t even see a ley line connection; it’s all internal.” He turned to the medusa, and also the gargoyle who had just popped back into view, slightly out of breath.

Stomp wondered if he’d use a magical speed enhancement or if he was naturally that fast on his feet. Maybe he’d flown.

The human didn’t care. He gestured at the wall. “Do you think you can crack it?”

The gargoyle bowed to his mate. “After you, my dear.”

She smiled at him as she passed, each of the tiny snakes on her head flickering its tongue in his direction. Her expression turned thoughtful as she circled the tower. She only got a quarter of the way around it before chuckling audibly. “And I thought this might be difficult to spot.”

The human jogged up. “Where?”

As Stomp and the others followed him, the medusa pointed at an unremarkable patch of wall. “Here.”

The conversation that ensued was heavy on the jargon, which Stomp didn’t appreciate, but at least it was short. Soon enough the gorgon pair were directing the magically-inclined humans in how to cause the stone wall to melt away. Twig got to join in too, with his stolen magic.

They overperformed. Either it was a misjudgment on the part of the human rookies, something different about the gorgons’ magic, or enthusiasm on Twig’s part, but when the doorway appeared, the surrounding area crumbled as well.

“Was that supposed to happen?” Stomp asked, though it clearly wasn’t. For several handspans on either side of the rectangular doorway, smooth marble had turned rough and soft.

Beak scraped at it was a fingernail. “It’s chalk,” she declared. “You turned the marble back into chalk.”

The lead human magician laughed. “Glorious! Well, that will be someone else’s problem to fix.”

While Twig was asking what Beak meant by back into chalk, and the harpy was refusing to explain geology to him, the lead human enlisted the help of another human to cast a seeking spell of some kind. This promptly manifested a ball of golden light that floated through the oversized doorway to light up the classy foyer inside.

“Onward!” the human declared, following it. Stomp was right behind him, with the rest crowding in after her. Thankfully there were no guards inside, though Stomp was certain that they wouldn’t have been much of a hindrance.

That glowball led them on a speedy trot across floors both marble and carpeted, past framed portraits and all manner of hoity-toity decorations. When it reached the staircase, Stomp was grateful for Windmane’s carpet. The medusa was the slow one now, winding up the stairs on her snake tail, while the humans raced up to the next landing with words about sending someone back once they’d found the correct door.

Not much of a search, as it turned out. The glowball stopped on the second floor. Stomp tried not to show her relief.

“More enchanted marble!” the human magician declared, beaming at the white door. “Say, let’s do that again, shall we?”

They did. Stomp couldn’t say how much of the spell was by design and how much was an accidental side effect, but it certainly was something the group could do on purpose. This wall softened until the door fell off its hinges to smack onto the floor inside. Stomp made a point of stepping heavily on it as she passed.

The room held many things, all of which were certainly valuable, and only one of which was important. The stasis field with two unconscious dragons was front and center. It rested in the middle of an aisle, crooked, like the people who’d left it there had been in a hurry. But most importantly, it had a clear off switch that anyone could operate.

Beak got there first and switched it off before Stomp could break it.

Everyone stood back while the stasis field faded and the two captives sank to the floor, still unconscious. That didn’t last more than a breath or two, though. Razorscale sat up with his hands raised to cast something.

“It’s us! You’re free!” Beak stopped him.

“I see that.” Razorscale took in the sights as Silver twitched awake and had to be similarly calmed. “Where are the enemies?”

“At the contest,” Stomp said. “Let’s go.”

He didn’t have to be told twice.

They all rushed back down the staircase (with the medusa sledding down on a straightened tail and outpacing everyone), then out into the sunshine. Silver darted ahead to check for enemies, but no need.

They left the tower walls full of holes and the guards blinking in confusion as they fled.

One mad carriage ride later, with the gorgons flying above in their “nothing to see here” camouflage, they found a new parking space several rows away from the stadium wall.

This spot was far from the entrance, but close to a blank part of the wall that the humans swore was the ideal place. There were no guards waiting here. Stomp wasn’t sure that meant it was safe, though.

As everyone piled out of the carriage and someone gave the horses feedbags to keep them occupied, the lead magician declared that the timing was right for catching the villains in the middle of their big performance. Stomp hoped he was right.

Then her attention was taken up by the gargoyle preparing to cast his “no lookie” hex on everyone at once. They gathered between other carriages, all of whose horses had been properly stabled somewhere else.

“I won’t be able to hold this for long, even linked up,” the gargoyle said, holding hands with his mate. “Huddle close now, and sing out if you see any guards. I’ll have to drop it to help with the rockbreaking.”

Stomp looked to the yellowish wall. “Wait, will that still work?” she asked. “This is a different kind of rock. Is it going to be soft too, or just a different color?”

Beak reached up to pat her shoulder. “This is sandstone,” she said. “Sand is much softer than chalk.”

“Oh good,” Stomp said. “Tell me if you need me to kick it down anyway.”

The human mage said, “You’ll be the first to know!” He looked to Razorscale and Silver. “Will you two be ready with your counterspell as soon as the hole opens up?”

“Oh yes,” Razorscale replied. “Just get us a line of sight.”

“Right. Everybody ready to hustle over there? On your say-so!” the mage told the gargoyle.

A ripple in the air was all that showed from inside the hex. Stomp tried to hurry quietly. It probably didn’t matter, but she didn’t want to be the one to call down attention despite everything. Distant guards patrolled in aircarts, visible in both directions, though none were near at the moment. The invisible group trotted over a swath of cultivated grass and reached the wall. Still no guards.

“Everybody in position?” asked the gargoyle. Stomp moved aside to give the human magicians space. When they all said yes, the ripple in the air disappeared.

Stomp kept watch, worrying about guards and carriage attendants and late arrivals to the show. The magicians did their magic while she worried. A satisfied exclamation and the hiss of falling sand told her it had worked.

“There!” said Silver.

“Now!” Razorscale agreed.

Stomp turned to see a gaping hole in the wall, with the human-form dragon and his small apprentice standing in the center. They glowed with complicated magic and glared into the stadium. Shouts sounded from inside.

Then more shouts from behind her: guards were flying in from every direction.

The world lit up with white light.

When it cleared, colors were muted and the humans near her were smaller. She could see to the sides again! And smell everything!

Something beside her roared in a way that made her ribs shake.

Oh.

Razorscale was bigger than she’d expected.