The two phoenixes exploded into the sky in a riot of glorious feathers. They were both singing in delight, and their song was as strong and golden and glorious as fire, covering Stella’s skin with a feeling of warmth, every note like melted butter. She gripped the phoenix’s feathers and found it quite impossible not to let out a cry of delight. Behind her, Shay tightened his grip around her waist and laughed in her ear.
The Hanging Gardens of Amadon hung below them in colourful bursts of extraordinary flowers, interspersed with glittering blue pools and waterfalls. But the sight was only there for a moment before the phoenixes soared up through the clouds, past the torn magic-disguise painting and finally bursting out into the sky.
‘They’re all here!’ Stella exclaimed.
And, indeed, the phoenixes were all there above the clouds, wheeling and swooping and stretching out their great wings to catch the sun’s rays, singing their delight at finally being free in the sky, like they were meant to be.
Stella glanced over and saw Beanie and Ethan marvelling at the display, just as they were. The magic-disguise painting hanging from the bridge hid the gardens once again so you would never know they were there if it wasn’t for the rip in the fabric. Apart from that, the view consisted only of the sparkling stars of space. Above them, the Black Ice Bridge stretched back across the surface of the ocean, its black stone glittering in the sunlight.
‘Now we just have to hope that they listen to our instructions,’ Shay said to Stella. ‘And that they don’t take it into their heads to fly off wherever they fancy.’
‘I guess it depends how well trained they are,’ Stella replied. She glanced back at Shay. ‘Let’s hope they’re like Polar Bear Explorers’ Club expedition wolves rather than those untrained ones the Ocean Squid Explorers’ Club brought on our first expedition.’
‘One way to find out,’ Shay replied.
Stella nodded and turned back to the phoenix. ‘Beautiful bird, I have no idea whether you can understand me,’ she said. ‘But we need to cross the Black Ice Bridge to get back to Queen Portia’s caves in Blackcastle.’
The bird gave no indication of having understood Stella, but when she gently tugged on the reins to direct it up towards the bridge, the phoenix responded instantly and all the other phoenixes followed, rising into the sky together like a great golden cloud.
In all the excitement of the escape, Stella had completely forgotten about Queen Portia. When the phoenixes flew up over the side of the bridge she saw the snow queen at once, surrounded by her gargoyles who must have flown straight up from the gardens. She was standing right at the edge of the bridge, gazing out as if looking for something.
Stella glanced back at Shay. ‘I suppose we’d better land and make sure she’s all right.’
She guided her phoenix down, and Ethan and Beanie did the same. The snow queen’s eyes widened at the sight of the two magnificent birds, and the gargoyles shrank back in fear, clutching at the queen’s skirts like children.
‘Shhh,’ Queen Portia soothed them, reaching down her hand to rest upon one of their stone heads. ‘They won’t harm you.’
She seemed different from before – there was a clarity in her eyes that hadn’t been there previously. She still looked exhausted, but she also seemed as if she fully understood where she was and what was happening.
‘Are you all right?’ Stella asked, leaning down from the saddle to speak to the snow queen. She saw she held an empty snow globe in one hand, but the cuff was still fastened around her wrist. ‘Didn’t it work?’ she said.
‘I’m sure it will work now,’ Queen Portia said. ‘Here, you’d better take this.’
She handed the snow globe up to Stella, then took the ice key from her pocket.
‘I just wanted to thank you first,’ she said. ‘And to say I’m sorry.’
‘For what?’ Stella replied.
‘For creating those snow globes in the first place. I remember it all now. I remember the horror of realising the Collector would collect up the whole entire world if he could. The gargoyles tell me there’s another Collector there now, but she sounds every bit as bad as Jared Aligheri.’
‘It’s okay,’ said Stella. ‘At least now we know what’s happening we’ll be able to fight back against the Collector and the Phantom Atlas Society. And that’s something.’
‘The collecting started off as something noble,’ Queen Portia said. ‘We really were trying to do something good. I hope you can believe that.’
‘I do,’ Stella replied. ‘It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about it any more.’
Queen Portia closed her eyes briefly. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘And good luck.’
She lifted the sparkling ice key to her handcuff and once again it slid in smoothly. But this time the lock clicked back and the cuff fell to the floor. The ice queen took in a great gasp of air, as if she’d been holding her breath underwater for a really long time and had finally broken the surface.
A big smile spread over her face as she looked at Stella and silently mouthed her thanks once again. And then she was fading from view, melting away into dozens and dozens of starflakes that hung for a moment, glittering in the air, before they too vanished into the sea mist sweeping in across the bridge.
The gargoyles looked both sad and relieved as they watched her go. The seven of them nodded their thanks to Stella and then took a running leap into the sky, spreading their wings and disappearing into the fog. The snow-boat was left abandoned on the bridge behind them, but luckily the young explorers didn’t need it any more.
Stella let out a sigh. ‘Right,’ she said. ‘Let’s go.’
She tugged gently on the reins to urge their phoenix up to join the other birds in the sky, with Ethan and Beanie right behind her. They turned towards the castle and began their journey back across the bridge.
*
It turned out that the phoenixes could fly incredibly quickly, forcing Shay, Beanie and Ethan to wrap their cloaks and scarves tightly around themselves as protection from the icy wind racing past. But they travelled fast through the air, where there was nothing to hinder their progress. They passed a couple of abandoned gremlin crow’s nests situated on top of the bridge’s towers and Ethan remarked on these when they stopped to put up their fort for the night.
‘I bet that’s how they brought down those hot-air balloons,’ he said. ‘The gremlins would have catapulted themselves on board and interfered with the inner workings of the balloon.’
‘They can do that?’ Stella asked. ‘That must have been a pretty powerful catapult.’
‘Oh yes,’ Ethan replied. ‘Gremlins can catapult themselves for miles and miles if they have a mind to.’
Despite the iciness of the wind, and the cramp they developed in their legs, the four explorers all agreed that travelling by phoenix was absolutely marvellous, especially with the other phoenixes swooping and wheeling around them in a colourful flock.
They made good progress, stopping only to eat and to sleep as they raced towards Blackcastle, and Stella was delighted that after a couple of days Shay and Koa seemed to have made a complete recovery. Koa was back to her usual self, and Shay appeared to be too – with no more nightmares, or voices, or headaches. Although when they flew over the abandoned expedition camp Stella felt Shay startle behind her. When she looked back to ask what was wrong, he said, ‘It’s probably nothing … But just for a moment I thought I saw the ghost of that fairyologist, waving at us from the ground.’
Stella frowned. ‘You don’t think that you’re still able to see ghosts somehow?’
Shay shrugged. ‘I hope not,’ he said.
They continued on, and after just three days suddenly they were there. They could see the end of the bridge, and the craggy cliff top, and the castle clinging to the side of it.
‘We made it,’ Stella said, hardly believing it was true.
They landed their phoenixes outside the castle and scrambled to the ground.
‘Time to rescue our parents,’ Stella said, grinning at Beanie.
She ached to see Felix again, and hoped that the two of them had been okay down in the ice cave with only the jungle fairies to look after them. She’d deliberately done no magic whatsoever during the journey back so that she’d be ready to melt the ice wall the moment they returned.
Stella and the other two were already heading for the door when Beanie said, ‘Wait.’
They turned back to see that Beanie had a snow globe in his hand – the one containing his father’s lost expedition.
‘I need to do this first,’ he said, looking paler than usual. ‘If it doesn’t work … If my dad isn’t there, then at least my mum won’t ever have to know. I don’t want her to get her hopes up.’
Stella nodded. ‘Of course,’ she said.
She could see Aubrey poking out of the top of Beanie’s pocket, and the moment seemed suddenly charged with an unbearable hope for all of them.
Stella held her breath and crossed all of her fingers. Beside her, she was aware of Ethan and Shay doing the same. Even Melville somehow managed to cross his wings.
Beanie looked down at the snow globe and slowly started to unscrew it.