war?
Stoopid.
Actually, no, it's not stoopid. Stoopid just isn't specific enough. Fortunately, since I'm an expert on stoopidity - and an expert on making up stuff - I'm going to give you a set of new definitions to use for things that are really stoopid. For example, what I was about to go do can be referred to as stoopidalicious , which is defined as "about as stoopid as a porcupine-catching contest during a swimsuit competition."
Bastille and I dashed up a set of stairs onto the upper level of the palace. Once there, I slammed a hand down on the top step and engaged my Talent. A shock of power ran down my arm, hitting the stairs and making them crumble away behind us. Stone blocks crashed to the ground and the banister fell sideways. An enormous puff of dust erupted into the air, like the noxious breath of a belching giant. As it cleared, I could see a group of annoyed knights standing below. They'd finally gotten smart and broken into two groups. Grandpa Smedry could keep only one group late, so the other group was free to chase Bastille and me.
Now they were trapped below. But there were other ways up to our floor. "I don't think we can keep staying ahead of them like this," I said. "We need to get out of the city."
"You just said that at the end of the last chapter!" Bastille complained.
"Well, it's still true!" I snapped. Below, the knights split again, some running off to find another way up. A few remained behind and began giving one another leg-ups or jumping. They got surprisingly close to reaching the upper floor.
I yelped and hurried away from the hole, Bastille following.
"Sorry about the stairs," I said. “Your father won’t be mad at me for that, will he?"
"We have Smedrys over to the palace for dinner frequently," she said. "Things like broken staircases are routine for us. However, I will point out that you just trapped us on the upper floor of the palace. I'll bet my mother and the other knights will have the stairwells all blocked off shortly.”
"Do you have a Transporter's Glass station?”
"Yeah. In the basement.”
"It's guarded anyway,” Kaz added.
I cursed. "You've got to have some kind of secret exit from the building, right, Bastille? Tunnels? Passages hidden in the walls? A fireplace that rotates around and reveals your secret crime-fighting lair?”
"Nope," Kaz said.
Bastille nodded. “My father feels that sort of thing is too easy for enemies to use against him.”
"No secret passages at all?" I exclaimed. "What kind of castle is this?"
"The non-stoopidalicious kind!" Bastille said. "Who puts passages inside the walls? Isn't that a little ridiculous?"
"Not when you need to sneak out!"
“Why would I need to sneak out of my own home?"
"Because Knights of Crystallia are chasing you!"
"This sort of thing doesn't happen to me very often!" Bastille snapped. "In fact, it only seems to happen when you're involved!"
"I can't help the fact that people like to chase me. We need to -"
I froze in the middle of the hallway. "Kaz!" I exclaimed, pointing at him.
"Me!" he exclaimed back.
"Idiots!" Bastille said, pointing at both of us.
"When did you get here?” I demanded of my short uncle.
“A few moments ago,” he said. "Everything's packed back at Keep Smedry, ready for takeoff. I borrowed a vehicle from the Mokian embassy, as I didn’t want to alert the king of what we were doing."
"We have a pilot?" I asked.
"Sure do," he replied. “Aydee Ecks."
"Who?"
"Your cousin," he said. "Sister to Sing and Australia. She was delivering a message to the embassy from Mokia."
"Sounds good," I said. It was always nice to have another Smedry along on a mission. Well, nice and catastrophic at the same time. But when you're a Smedry, you learn to make the catastrophes work for you.
A distant clanking preceded a group of knights, who stormed out of a side hallway a moment later. They spotted us and began running in our direction.
"Kaz!" I said. "Get us out of here!"
“Are you
Stoopid.
Actually, no, it's not stoopid. Stoopid just isn't specific enough. Fortunately, since I'm an expert on stoopidity - and an expert on making up stuff - I'm going to give you a set of new definitions to use for things that are really stoopid. For example, what I was about to go do can be referred to as stoopidalicious , which is defined as "about as stoopid as a porcupine-catching contest during a swimsuit competition."
Bastille and I dashed up a set of stairs onto the upper level of the palace. Once there, I slammed a hand down on the top step and engaged my Talent. A shock of power ran down my arm, hitting the stairs and making them crumble away behind us. Stone blocks crashed to the ground and the banister fell sideways. An enormous puff of dust erupted into the air, like the noxious breath of a belching giant. As it cleared, I could see a group of annoyed knights standing below. They'd finally gotten smart and broken into two groups. Grandpa Smedry could keep only one group late, so the other group was free to chase Bastille and me.
Now they were trapped below. But there were other ways up to our floor. "I don't think we can keep staying ahead of them like this," I said. "We need to get out of the city."
"You just said that at the end of the last chapter!" Bastille complained.
"Well, it's still true!" I snapped. Below, the knights split again, some running off to find another way up. A few remained behind and began giving one another leg-ups or jumping. They got surprisingly close to reaching the upper floor.
I yelped and hurried away from the hole, Bastille following.
"Sorry about the stairs," I said. “Your father won’t be mad at me for that, will he?"
"We have Smedrys over to the palace for dinner frequently," she said. "Things like broken staircases are routine for us. However, I will point out that you just trapped us on the upper floor of the palace. I'll bet my mother and the other knights will have the stairwells all blocked off shortly.”
"Do you have a Transporter's Glass station?”
"Yeah. In the basement.”
"It's guarded anyway,” Kaz added.
I cursed. "You've got to have some kind of secret exit from the building, right, Bastille? Tunnels? Passages hidden in the walls? A fireplace that rotates around and reveals your secret crime-fighting lair?”
"Nope," Kaz said.
Bastille nodded. “My father feels that sort of thing is too easy for enemies to use against him.”
"No secret passages at all?" I exclaimed. "What kind of castle is this?"
"The non-stoopidalicious kind!" Bastille said. "Who puts passages inside the walls? Isn't that a little ridiculous?"
"Not when you need to sneak out!"
“Why would I need to sneak out of my own home?"
"Because Knights of Crystallia are chasing you!"
"This sort of thing doesn't happen to me very often!" Bastille snapped. "In fact, it only seems to happen when you're involved!"
"I can't help the fact that people like to chase me. We need to -"
I froze in the middle of the hallway. "Kaz!" I exclaimed, pointing at him.
"Me!" he exclaimed back.
"Idiots!" Bastille said, pointing at both of us.
"When did you get here?” I demanded of my short uncle.
“A few moments ago,” he said. "Everything's packed back at Keep Smedry, ready for takeoff. I borrowed a vehicle from the Mokian embassy, as I didn’t want to alert the king of what we were doing."
"We have a pilot?" I asked.
"Sure do," he replied. “Aydee Ecks."
"Who?"
"Your cousin," he said. "Sister to Sing and Australia. She was delivering a message to the embassy from Mokia."
"Sounds good," I said. It was always nice to have another Smedry along on a mission. Well, nice and catastrophic at the same time. But when you're a Smedry, you learn to make the catastrophes work for you.
A distant clanking preceded a group of knights, who stormed out of a side hallway a moment later. They spotted us and began running in our direction.
"Kaz!" I said. "Get us out of here!"
“Are you
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