Havoc!: The Untold Magic of Cora Bell

by Rebecca McRitchie

  Magical beings had lived here once. But it was clear, that nobody lived here anymore. Cora let out a sigh of frustration. Was she ever going to find other syphons?

  Glancing down, Cora saw something lying half-covered in the grass by her feet. She bent down and picked it up. In her hand she held a small toy. It was a doll carved out of wood. The doll stared back at Cora, a tiny crack running down its middle.

  Cora ran a finger over the line that stretched from one of the doll’s eyes down to her stomach. Cora felt like there was a crack running down her middle too.

  Tick’s and Tock’s fluttering of wings grew louder behind her. Cora turned to find the fairies and Dot standing nearby, peering at her worriedly.

  ‘Oh, isn’t that sweet,’ came a voice from somewhere they couldn’t see.

  Eyes wide, Tick and Tock spun around.

  The air in the meadow behind the fairies and Dot shimmered. Into the meadow stepped a man she didn’t think they would ever see again. A man with long black hair that was greying at the temples, and a matching black coat and boots.

  Archibald Drake, the warlock who had chased her around the magical kingdom and destroyed her ice-stone bracelet, was back.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  ‘You brought your grandmother,’ Archibald said with a sneer. ‘And worse. A cat.’

  Scratch hissed in his direction.

  Not wasting a second, Cora found the witch’s magic and clicked her fingers. She appeared in front of the fairies and Dot, standing between them and the warlock.

  Archibald Drake stared down at her.

  ‘Stolen some more magic, have we?’ the warlock spat.

  Cora didn’t flinch at his words. She could see that the warlock’s eyes were shallow with dark rings around them. His white skin was stretched even more tightly over his face than Cora remembered. And he looked to be walking with a heavy limp.

  The fairies flew next to Cora.

  ‘Quickly,’ whispered Tock. ‘Let’s go.’

  Tick placed his hand on her shoulder to magic her away.

  But the same feeling that Cora felt in Troll Town returned. She didn’t want to run anymore. She was finally where she was meant to be. Where her family once were. And she wasn’t going to be chased away.

  ‘No,’ she said to them, shrugging Tick’s hand away. ‘No more running.’ She glared at the warlock. ‘Didn’t the Jinx throw you over a city?’

  The warlock snarled at her.

  ‘That was nothing for a warlock,’ said Archibald, holding his head up high. But even as he stood up straight, Cora could see the warlock was injured.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Cora asked. She let her anger seep into her voice.

  ‘I heard Tynth was a wonderful spot for a holiday,’ said the warlock. Black sparks flickered from the fingers on the warlock’s hand.

  Tick and Tock readied themselves next to Cora.

  Cora watched a smile flicker behind the warlock’s eyes. He was enjoying himself. Uneasiness crept inside her like a spider. Thoughts swam in her mind. Had the warlock been following them this whole time and they didn’t know it? How else would he know they would be in Tynth? And how did he get here if the town was hidden?

  ‘I know why you’re here,’ said the warlock. ‘A syphon sighting in the northern towns. That is impossible to miss.’

  Cora paused. Is that why he was here? Was he chasing the same rumour they were? Cora still felt the tickling sensation prickle inside her. But it didn’t make sense. Why was the tickling sensation still tickling if all that was in Tynth was . . . an injured warlock?

  Then the warlock said something that made the tiny hairs on the back of Cora’s neck stand up straight.

  ‘Did the Troll prince deliver my message correctly?’ asked the warlock.

  Cora stopped. Ogg? Her heart fell. Her body froze. Ogg . . . and the warlock? What did Ogg have to do with . . . Then she remembered the picture that Ogg had drawn of Archibald Drake in his notebook.

  The warlock laughed an icy snicker.

  Was Ogg working with Archibald Drake? Cora looked at Tick and Tock, they stared back, eyes wide. Something most definitely was not right.

  ‘Alright, alright, I’ll tell you,’ he said. The warlock held his arms out as though he was waiting for a round of applause. ‘It was me.’

  Cora, Tick and Tock glared at the warlock. What was he talking about?

  The warlock groaned, frustrated at their vacant stares. His hands dropped to his sides. ‘I knew you would need another ice-stone bracelet and eventually head to Troll Town to get one. So I went there first and told many of those poor, disgusting trolls that a syphon was seen in Tynth,’ said the warlock.

  Cora felt the colour drain from her face as she realised what the warlock was saying. King Clang had told them about the rumour . . . but it was Ogg who mentioned Tynth. Or rather . . . the warlock.

  ‘W-why?’ Cora asked. She felt sick.

  ‘So that you would come here,’ said the warlock as though it were obvious. ‘Where I would be waiting for you.’ He spread his arms out either side of him proudly. ‘I knew that not even mud pits and poisonous gas would stop you from seeking out more of your kind.’

  ‘You snake,’ said Tock.

  ‘Why, thank you,’ said the warlock with a bow.

  But Cora felt it. The tickling feeling inside her. Her connection to her kind. It was still there. She turned back and looked at the houses.

  The warlock laughed. ‘There are no other syphons here, girl. There haven’t been for many years.’

  Cora felt like she had been punched in the guts. There were no syphons left. She had been wrong. They had all been wrong. Her whole journey to find syphons in the northern towns had been for nothing.

  ‘It won’t be long,’ said Archibald.

  ‘Until what?’ replied Cora, anger well and truly in her voice now. She let the warlock magic move to her hands.

  Archibald Drake smiled a smile she had seen before. One where the smile didn’t quite reach his dark, hooded eyes. The smile that wasn’t really a smile at all.

  A crack of lightning pierced the sky above them and Cora, Tick and Tock jumped at the sudden sound.

  Lightning shattered across the bright blue afternoon sky, and looking up, Cora saw that like in her dreams, the lightning was black.

  Cora, Tick and Tock moved back, closer to Dot.

  A crack of lightning fell from the sky, hitting the ground in front of them. And standing where the lightning had struck, where Cora thought a scorch mark should be, was instead, a man. A man she had only seen in memories and nightmares. A man with hair that shone silver like the glinting moon.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Hands behind his back, the silver-haired man looked just like he had in the princess’s memories. Just like he had in Cora’s nightmares. He stood tall against the warlock and wore a silver robe to match his hair. His hair glinted in the sun and his robe billowed on its own behind him. As Cora met his gaze, she could see that the man’s eyes were a pure white. And he had small scars on his chin and cheeks.

  The silver-haired man ran his unsettling white eyes over Cora’s features, coming to a stop on her missing eye. He smiled. And the tickling sensation inside Cora became stronger.

  ‘I’ve been looking for you,’ the silver-haired man said in a deep, clipped voice.

  Cora swallowed. She felt the muscles in her body tense up and her magic stretched inside her, ready whenever she was.

  ‘I’ve been looking for you . . . for years.’

  Cora almost gasped at the silver-haired man’s words. The man who had destroyed a city and stolen a princess’s life . . . had been looking for her? For years? A slow feeling of dread oozed into Cora.

  ‘It is Cora, isn’t it?’ he asked, taking a step closer.

  And he knows my name. Cora stepped back in response. She felt Dot’s hand move to her shoulder and Tick and Tock flutter closer beside her.

  ‘I’m Kaede,’ he said. ‘Do you remembe
r me?’

  Cora stared at the silver-haired man. She thought back to her memories from before she lost her eye. Was she supposed to know him? She shook her head.

  ‘We’re related you and I,’ he said.

  Cora stopped as a coldness crept through her. Related?! She and the silver-haired man?! HE was her family? No. No. He was lying. He had to be.

  ‘I’m a syphon too,’ the silver-haired man said, putting a hand to his chest. He held out his other hand in the air. And a small flame ignited. It danced on his palm before turning into ice.

  ‘We are the same,’ he said.

  No, no, no. It can’t be. But deep down Cora knew. She had felt it as soon as he had arrived. The tickling feeling. The connection to her kind. It wasn’t leading her to Tynth. It was leading her to him. The silver-haired man.

  ‘We’re not the same,’ Cora said.

  ‘Well, we’ve both lived here,’ Kaede said as he gazed out at the rolling fields of grass. ‘On this very plain. Many years ago. When Tynth was a pathetic syphon sanctuary.’

  Cora glared at Kaede.

  ‘We have to stick together,’ said Kaede. ‘We are nearly the last of our kind.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ said Cora, shaking her head.

  The silver-haired man tilted his. ‘Oh, but I do,’ he said. ‘I made sure of it.’

  Archibald Drake smirked by Kaede’s side.

  ‘I destroyed every syphon who didn’t want to rise up and rule the magical world with me,’ the silver-haired man said. ‘Except your parents, who managed to escape. With you.’

  His words echoed in the air. He had destroyed the syphons. But where were her parents if they’d escaped? Cora placed a hand where her eye should have been. ‘You did this,’ she whispered.

  The silver-haired man stared back at her with a smile. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Your parents did that.’

  Cora stopped. She tried to take in everything the silver-haired man had said. Thoughts swirled around in her head. Thoughts and anger. She glared at the man in front of her. Years of not knowing who she was, or where she came from. It was all because of him. He had attacked her family. Just like he’d attacked the princess and the avians.

  ‘Why?’ asked Cora.

  Kaede settled his eyes on her. ‘They were weak. We should have conquered the magical kingdom; no-one would have been able to stop us. But instead, all they wanted to do was run and hide,’ the man paused. ‘Just like you.’

  ‘Me?’ Cora replied.

  ‘You kept her from me,’ the silver-haired man said. And this time, Cora watched the man’s glare move to look at someone behind her.

  Turning, Cora saw that he was talking to Dot. The old woman squared her shoulders defiantly at the silver-haired man.

  ‘I did what her parents asked of me,’ said Dot.

  My parents? Dot . . . Dot knows my parents?

  Dot looked down at her, pain and guilt glistening in her eyes. I’m sorry, they said.

  Cora stepped away from Dot and the fairies. She couldn’t take it in. All of it was too much. She shook her head and placed her fingers on her temples.

  ‘Oh dear, she didn’t tell you?’ queried the silver-haired man. He tutted.

  Cora wanted to block everything out. Her magic rolled around inside her. She thought of the memories of Princess Avette. Of what Kaede had done to her and her kingdom. She looked back at the cottages. What he had done to other syphons. To her family. Cora felt her anger consume her as she stared at the silver-haired man.

  ‘Will you join me, Cora?’ Kaede asked. ‘Together we could do many great things.’

  Cora glared at the syphon. ‘Never.’

  ‘Very well,’ Kaede snarled angrily. ‘Time to say goodbye.’ He stepped forward, his eyes glinting with delight as he pointed a long finger at her.

  Suddenly Cora felt her feet turn ice cold. Looking down, she watched ice stretch up from the ground covering her boots. She couldn’t move; the ice kept her stuck to the ground. Before the ice could reach her legs, Cora held onto the witch’s magic and clicked her fingers. She appeared next to Dot, without her boots.

  The silver-haired man clapped his hands. ‘Marvellous! Marvellous! Archibald, you never told me she was this far along in her abilities.’

  Tick and Tock sent sparks at the silver-haired man. He deflected them with his hands.

  ‘Go, Dot,’ said Cora, she pushed the old woman back in the direction of the cottages.

  Dot shook her head. ‘I made a promise, Cora.’

  ‘Go!’ said Cora, turning to the old woman.

  Stubbornness glinted in Dot’s eyes as she stared at Cora. Then, after a moment, the old woman reluctantly retreated with Scratch to the safety of the empty cottages.

  Black lightning shattered across the sky.

  Cora stepped forward, her eyes on the man who had destroyed the others of her kind. The man who wanted to destroy her too. He had been looking for her for years and if she ran now, he would only follow. His words echoed in her mind. All they wanted to do was run and hide. But where were they now? Was she the last one left? She wasn’t going to run or hide anymore.

  Archibald sent his magic at Tock. The fairy was squeezed by invisible hands in the air. Cora turned to her friend and using her own warlock magic, she broke Tock free from his hold.

  The warlock glared at her as the fairy fluttered higher into the air.

  The silver-haired man clapped again, a laugh escaping his lips.

  Tick and Tock sent sparks at the warlock, which he struggled to dodge. One hit him in the shoulder and he gasped.

  ‘They don’t understand us, you know,’ said Kaede, walking casually across the grass. ‘None of them do.’

  The syphon stopped walking and looked pointedly at her. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’

  Cora glared at the man. She hadn’t been more sure of anything. She called up the wind around her. It whipped past her ears in a howl as it grew stronger.

  A viciousness glinted behind Kaede’s white eyes. ‘Very well,’ he said. ‘I wonder if . . . your brother is just as foolish.’

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Brother?

  With just one word, Kaede had turned Cora’s world upside down. I have a . . . brother?

  Kaede smirked a deathly smile. ‘Oh, you didn’t know?’

  It was just a distraction. It had to be. Cora shook the thoughts away and gritted her teeth as magic flew to her hands. A powerful wind already in her fist, Cora threw it at the syphon and it barrelled into the silver-haired man like a bullet. Kaede went flying backwards into the air, tumbling down onto the ground with a thump.

  Kaede stood up slowly, a smile still on his face. He brushed grass from his silver robe.

  ‘Avian magic. Is that where it went?’ he asked. ‘I should have destroyed that disgusting bird when I had the chance.’

  Then the ground beneath Cora was pushed upwards, a mound of earth erupting from below her feet sent her shooting up into the sky.

  ‘Ahh!’ she cried out. Quickly, Cora grabbed hold of the vampire magic and hovered in the air, steadying herself with the magic.

  ‘Impressive,’ said Kaede.

  Cora felt invisible hands push her arms flat against her sides. She fought against them but the hold was tight. The invisible hands threw her down towards the ground, fast. Cora tried to get her hands free to use the witch’s magic but they were immovable from her sides. She hit the ground, landing on one of her shoulders with a gasp. Pain shot down her arm.

  ‘But not impressive enough,’ Kaede finished.

  Glancing over, she saw Tick and Tock trapped by Archibald. Conjuring up the warlock magic, she pushed the warlock backwards, giving Tick and Tock enough time to scramble away from his hold.

  Then, clicking her fingers, Cora appeared directly in front of Kaede. The syphon took a swipe at her but she clicked her fingers again and appeared behind him. Holding the Jinx magic, she hurled the syphon as hard as she could and he flew ahead of her, skidding acro
ss the ground, dirt and grass flying up either side of him.

  Kaede groaned angrily.

  She called up the princess’s magic and threw it at the warlock. He struggled against it. Then cuts appeared in Cora’s arms. She pushed him backwards and he flew through the air. Tick and Tock chased after him.

  She turned back to the silver-haired man to find him gone. The syphon had disappeared. She spun around on the spot, her heart racing. Then something hard knocked her to the ground.

  ‘You’re not the only one with surprises,’ came Kaede’s voice. Then the silver-haired man appeared out of thin air in front of Cora. He bent down and grabbed her by her injured shoulder before Cora could reach for her magic.

  She cried out in pain.

  There was a screech and Cora saw something black dive in front of her, hooking its claws into the syphon. It was Scratch. Which meant . . .

  Turning, she saw Dot with a slingshot in her hand, sending anything and everything she could get her hands on at the syphon. Cora remembered when Dot had found a slingshot in Urt. She had always kept it with her, in case they ever ran into trouble.

  The silver-haired man snarled. And lightning crackled across the sky. He threw Scratch from his neck as Cora jumped up. Grabbing onto the Jinx magic she held onto the syphon’s silver robe and threw him up into the air as hard as she could, gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder.

  Tick and Tock sent sparks at the syphon, hitting him in the back as he soared through the air. He hit the ground hard, his silver robe smoking from fairy magic marks.

  Cora breathed in and out, waiting. She glanced behind her. The warlock was on the ground, shielding his face from a barrage of rocks flung at him by Dot.

  Slowly, Kaede placed two hands on the ground either side of himself. The earth beneath Cora’s feet rumbled, but not like it had done before. The entire land of Tynth shook beneath them. Then cracks appeared in the ground like an earthquake. Looking up, Cora watched the black lightning crack across the sky but it didn’t disappear like lightning would. The cracks stretched across the blue, splitting it open. The blue afternoon sky then fell in crumbling pieces down onto them. The world around them was collapsing in on itself. The whole of Tynth was crumbling.