Its body rang as Sachester gave it a gentle pat on the back.
“See that my children make it back to their barns, safely. Thank you my friend,” said Sachester, waving on the cumbersome tin man, who immediately began rallying up the five Slitherback creatures and leading them down the hillside, towards the town where their barns resided.
“Now, you’d best follow me,” ordered Sachester as she darted past Robin and Lillian, following the same path as Coggo, the tin man.
“Is it far?” asked Robin, brushing his frock coat against the bare of her arms.
“We’re certain it hasn’t moved, which means it must be in the crater. There’s a cliff that overlooks it, right at the other end of this road. We just have to cut through the town. They know who you all are, they’ve been waiting.”
Sachester reassured them that the people were safe, then they left the hillside and slowly made their way down towards the town of Shoulders Heath. Silverstein followed Sachester's lead with Magenta in tow, while Grimtale and Lillian cautiously guarded the flank, nervous incase of any unwanted visitors that were on their heels, knowing it was near impossible for them to cross over with the appropriate shielding charms in place, but they were never without their doubts. The stone of acceptance that empowered the charm was all but a slither, it would have to run dry one day, surely? And that day had always worried Grimtale and the folk of all the Morient realms under its protection; however for now, thanks to the great mind of Professor Yuri, it withheld the enemy threat and allowed the group to move on.
Robin couldn’t help but have a nose around the neighbourhood as they passed. Everything was drastically different to home; the houses had a pearlescent shine and their chimney stacks were tall and dispersing an emerald green cloud that rose in to the evening sky. There was a haunting silence riding the wind; the people hadn’t left their homes in days - since the Phoenix had made its untimely arrival. Robin had spotted them as he passed, huddled around their fireplaces, peering out of the windows. It must have been quite exciting for them - either that or terrifying - not knowing who had come for the bird.
The streets were darker than the hilltops, the shadows hid their faces. Some of the braver residents had left their doors ajar to have a peek, and gave a sigh of relief as they caught a glimpse of Sachester. She had become a beacon of hope for the town; unlike others, she seemed to have an endless drive, and she always put the people before herself. Watching her lead the Institutes finest towards the open cliff edge was solid confirmation that there was no one else more suited to protect, and uphold the community.
Grimtale caught Robin nervously looking back at him as they finally arrived at their destination. The cliff was a large plot of land, like a platform suspended over the deep, dark crater. There were farming mills sat far in the distance, and wooden windmills turning as the light finally drained from the skies and the evening fell in to darkness, leaving only the luminous green of the fumes overhead highlighting the shapes of their faces as they looked high to the sky, their cheek bones glowing a subtle green.
“It’s eerily silent out here,” remarked Lillian, watching on as Magenta and Silverstein wandered ahead, while Grimtale hung back and Sachester joined him, leaving Robin to pursue his curiosity.
“Guys, if the Phoenix is here, do you believe my presence is going to be enough to draw it out?” asked Robin, glancing back over his shoulder to Grimtale, who confirmed with a gentle nod.
“You have no ill intent, a friendly face would hardly go amiss.”
Silverstein held out his hand and softly stroked the scarred side of Magenta’s face. She held his hand in place for as long as she could before letting go. He gave her his reassuring wink before following closely behind Robin.
The two conflicting personalities were side by side as they arrived at the edge, where the land had dropped and fallen to the depths which even in daylight was hidden by shadow. There was only the echo of the wind whirling by their ears as they stood over the void and waited.
Robin continued to look towards the darkness. He listened closely then slowly drew his wand, hoping its presence would cause a stir, igniting a long forgotten spark within the creature they’d come to secure. But it wasn’t until the wands core began to glow that Robin noticed a collection of orbs glistening near the bottom of the crater. Then they slowly began to grow, as if they were getting closer. Robin and Silverstein both stood their ground as the orbs became clearer, now equally partitioned and bulging. There were six in total now, and as they rose to eye level with the two Morient men, an overwhelming sensation shot through their bodies. Their legs suddenly felt like jelly as the glowing clouds overhead caught the metallic feathers of the great Phoenix bird. They shimmered a hue of blue, purple and green as it rose high in to the night sky and made a shriek, followed by the sharp snapping of its beak as it glared down at the six Morients who were returning the look of alarm.
“My word, it’s beautiful!” remarked Robin as the blue and green hues reflected in his eyes.
Silverstein was somewhat overjoyed, or at least it seemed that way to Robin as he fixated on the bird with a grin as wide as his ego. The tail of his coat fluttered in the wind, his silver tipped hair waved a riot as he then felt a sharp twinge along his spine.
He was certain it was just the excitement, the thrill of seeing the Starlight Phoenix in all its untamed glory; but as he turned his head, no longer was Robin stood beside him, instead there was the bearded face of Grimtale with a look of satisfaction on his face.
As he began to tremble the realisation suddenly struck - it wasn’t the excitement at all that had sent the piercing pains along his spine, it was a dagger, and that blade was lodged firmly in his back with its leather handle protruding from his coat.
Silverstein staggered, trying to find his balance as Grimtale’s face began to blur. A wave of shock had left the others stunned and frozen to the ground as they witnessed the betrayal.
“What have you done?” cried Sachester.
“Leonard!” Magenta's voice echoed pain as deep as his fatal wound as she tried to pull herself along the ground. It felt as if all the energy had suddenly evaporated from their bodies. Robin's jaw had dropped as he began to fall back against the ground, trying to scramble away from the scene. Grimtale held out his arms to catch Silverstein as he fell to his knees. His body slumped but his eyes continued to follow the large bearded man as he made sure his face was within his field of vision.
Surprisingly, the Phoenix had remained in flight, hovering over the cliff face as Silverstein took his final breath. Grimtale’s expression of anger then loosened to one of concern. The sight of Silverstein’s corpse had triggered a panic as he realised, he may have made a grave error...
“You’re having us on! I know that I’m right, I have to be!” he yelled, shaking the lifeless corpse in his arms.
“The wounds, they’ve healed. And that limp had suddenly disappeared as soon as you left Magenta’s side! Tell me I’m right!” He demanded, glaring into the eyes of the lifeless man, “You are not Leonard Silverstein. You’re not him! Tell me, I’m right!”
There was a moment of silence as Grimtale turned to Sachester, his eyes filling with tears as the shock of what he had done suddenly struck. But then as he averted his gaze to Magenta, pulling herself towards Silverstein’s body, he also noticed something else: Silverstein’s eyes were now a bright yellow and air was filling his lungs again, raising his chest in a fluid up-down motion. He was alive, and his raspy voice roared as he suddenly sat up and grappled his hand around Grimtale’s throat.
“You’re right, Professor. I am not Leonard Silverstein!”
His grip tightened and Grimtale gave a gasp as his lungs begged for air.
“I may have lived as the silver man, but he is not I! I am Munder Mortal, and after many years of confinement, my flesh can breathe again!”
The revived man with the face of Leonard Silverstein rose to his feet and released a hand from Grimtale’s throat, eas
ing the pain ever so slightly so he could tug the dagger from his back. He held on tight to the leather bound handle then gave it a pull, yanking it neat from his back and holding it high overhead where the blood dripped from the blade.
“You - were - him, all this time!” gasped Grimtale, his words broken by suffocation as the blade began to rest against Silverstein’s forehead.
“All this time!” he confirmed.
Then he pressed the tip of the blade through flesh and against the bone of his skull and began carving it down between his eyes, along his nose and under his chin. He then began tearing apart the flesh from his face until he was no longer recognisable as Leonard - instead, he now looked as he really was - the monster that everyone had grown to fear.
The Count had returned....
CHAPTER 17
Edge Of Defeat
The last fleshy remnants of Leonard Silverstein struck the ground as the Count finally bared all. His face was dripping with a dark hue of crimson, and his eyes glowed a luminous yellow as he scowled at the choking man, held tightly in his left hand.
The Count had gained a remarkable strength, he was enhanced as an effect of the Starlight Phoenix overhead, and remarkably one of six to ever bond with it. The power he sought was now all too close; his wounds had already healed, his body may have been heavily scarred, but now he was restored. All that was left was the perpetrator, gasping for air, for something, anything but death.
Grimtale’s life was fading, he could feel it slipping away as his throat continued to swell until it had closed completely, but as all hope was thought lost, a bolt of light struck the Count's hand, forcing him to release Grimtale, sending him hurtling to the ground, back in a position to fight the great evil towering over him.
By the time it had taken Grimtale to scuttle back against the gravel, Robin had stepped forward, leaving the women behind him as they held tight to a broken Magenta.
“All eyes on me you ugly, poor excuse of a man!” cried Robin, wielding his wand at arms length like the powerful weapon it was.
The Count's poisonous yellow eyes switched from Grimtale to Robin as he carefully approached. They were stark and sinister, but for Robin he expected no less. He had prepared himself for this very moment as his gaze remained locked with the monster standing in Silverstein’s clothing. Then as the Count began to speak, the illusional shape of his human-like teeth crumbled away until all that was left were the sharp elongated remains that closely resembled fangs.
“Boy, you may have aged but your arrogance remains as firm as ever!” hissed the Count. As he reached in to Silverstein’s tatty, bloodstained coat. He drew out a wand, the wand with the dying light. And his other hand reached deeper, drawing from an opposite pocket, a wand of dark and sharp qualities, only this one had a deep red hue, pulsating at the core and considerably brighter than the other, which was a pure white and seemingly on its last legs as it flickered.
“Another reason for my concerns, a wand in the hands of its rightful owner would never fail them like that one is failing you! What have you done with Leonard Silverstein?” yelled Grimtale as he climbed to his feet beside Robin, forming a wall to obscure the path behind them.
As the Count responded to Grimtales question, he began wiping away the blood and fleshy residue from his face, using a charm which manifested in the form of turbulent dark energy, brushing against his face and restoring him to the form which he was most commonly recognised.
“He’s probably at home right now, wondering what he must have done wrong to sway fate down a terrible path. But what surprises me, Magenta, for someone who declares her love for the man all so often, why is it you don’t know where he lives? Why am I certain you’re going to abandon these associates of yours in hope of finding the man?”
Magenta struggled as Sachester and Lillian held her, restraining her. They were all too aware that she wasn’t thinking straight as her eyes continued to burn with pain and fury, but they held tight, straining the seams of her bright pink coat.
“I will find him!” she roared, like a lion with its paws dug deep in the gravel, fighting to reach its prey, with her golden mane hung heavy across her face as she pulled against her restraints. But Sachester and Lillian's grip was firm, and she knew it wouldn’t make a difference what form she chose to take - she was detained and her human guise was far more forgiving of the pain she was sustaining.
The Count remained humoured by each of their feeble attempts to intimidate him as he stood restored, bathing in the rays of moonlight that were beaming down from behind a band of clouds that had moved overhead.
Beneath the silver shimmer that had flaked away, his hair was a dirty blonde and held its swept-back look behind his ears. His stark yellow eyes only exaggerated the density of the newly exposed flesh on his bones. He was a ghostly white and far from the most handsome of the bunch as he remained grounded to the cliff edge, stood in the torn outfit of another man.
“My followers will stop at nothing to gain access to Shoulders Heath!” said the Count, targeting the opposing professors with his darker wand, as its bright red core pulsated.
“The fragment of the stone that protects this land is more than secure. Your mindless servants have no hope, and neither do you!” vowed Grimtale, taking a defensive stance and watching as the Count's grin faded.
Then while both wands were drawn, the Count quickly whipped Silverstein’s wand like a lasso, which suddenly launched a rope of blistering energy high in to the sky and around the oblivious Starlight Phoenix. It gave a cry as it began to flap its wings, pulling against the magical restraint that was tightening around its feathered body.
Slowly, the Count eased the Phoenix down, countering its escape as he felt it pull. He was fully aware that Silverstein’s wand was on its last legs, it’s dimming core was constantly at the front of his mind as he inspected the energy streaming from the end of the Wand. But it seemed consistent and powerful as his yellow eyes raised back to the agonising scene in the sky, the struggle as the constraints remained unyielding against every effort the bird was making to flee.
Robin and the others had seen enough. As Magenta remained at a distance, now only held loosely by Sachester and Lillian, Robin made the first move, launching an attack on the monster opposing them.
The Count suddenly diverted his attention to the balls of energy hurtling towards his face, raising his personal wand and deflecting them to the ground beneath his feet. Robin could have sworn for a split second, his poisonous yellow eyes had widened out of fear, but Grimtale had sensed the true nature of his expression, lit in the burning fire around his eyelids. It was pure torment that the Count had begun to exhale from his body, as a source of energy that had taken the form of a spearhead attached to a tail of chains that stemmed from the end of his wand.
Robin and Grimtale both dived apart, taking evasive action to avoid the counter spells that the Count had hurtled towards them. They could hear the sound of the chains falling heavy against the ground as the spearhead struck, narrowly avoiding Robin’s leg as he fell hard against the blackened gravel.
“You missed!” taunted Robin, much to the frustration of the Count who gave a light snarl, then detached the chains before firing a burst of bright red orbs in Robin’s direction, as a hope of wiping out the frock-coated annoyance who watched on in discomfort as the dazzling red glow filled his vision, deterring his attempt to reach for his wand.
But then Robin suddenly remembered. It was as if he’d been transported back to the chamber that day, with Yuri at his side, whispering as a precaution, the charm he’d taught him. He heard it repeated as clear as the wind being swept by his ear as he picked up his wand and pointed it sharply towards the energy that was now so close, he could feel it burning away at his brow.
“Shielz-ignite!” he roared, in time with a wave of golden light that dispersed from his wand and wrapped itself around his body like a shield, deflecting the powerful red orbs into the ground where they could do no harm.
&nb
sp; Grimtale was staring at the light, as was Magenta, Sachester and Lillian. They all bore witness as Robin’s clothing began to stiffen and weld itself like a suit of armour around him, sparkling gold as he stood beneath the moon. The skies were now filled with escaping air loaches, drifting high like a swarm of sparrows, migrating until a promised safe return.
His armour twinkled, dazzling the Count as he admired the blatant handy work of Professor Yuri: the Phoenix-like helmet with a faceplate in the shape of a sharp beak, and his coat taking the form of a fierce breast plate, with mirror finish to repel enemy charms. He was quite literally a knight in shining armour, but instead of a sword, he wielded a wand - a very powerful one with a core as pure as its owners heart.
With all but his eyes now shielded by metal, Robin made an advance, and so did Magenta, seizing the moment as Lillian and Sachester remained distracted, in awe of what stood before them. She had broken free of their grasp and already drawn alongside Robin as he carefully calculated his next move, entirely unaware of Magenta’s presence as she stupidly gave in to her rage and launched a volley of fiery projectiles towards the Count.
His wand sliced the balls of fire, causing them to violently explode in to a mass of tiny black fragments, before riding the wind away from the cliff edge.
“Foolish move,” the Count responded, still with the Phoenix detained by Silverstein’s wand.
They weren’t making it easy for him, he knew he had to make a fatal blow and buy himself time as he quickly conjured another spearhead and launched it with blinding force in Magenta’s direction. His yellow glazed eyes glistening with Magenta’s fear as she watched the tip of the spear hurtling towards her, knowing it was already too late to try and counter.
She screwed her eyes shut and her body tensed, preparing for what would come next - the weapon continuing its path, slicing through the flesh and bone of her chest. But strangely, there was first a thump and then a clang. Magenta reopened her eyes as he stumbled in to her gaze, in time to suffer the full force of the Counts efforts to pick them off. Robin stood between them, with the spearhead lodged in the backplate of his armoured suit. He could feel his heart racing, pounding against the metal that encased him. The war drums were carrying his soul in to battle as he looked on, Magenta's expression was one of most sincere gratitude for Robin.
The Professor and the Starlight Phoenix Page 19