The Black Fortress

by E. G. Foley

  As the pair took off down the field, Princess Pansy in tow, Dani noticed their challenges were considerable.

  For them, the babbling brook grew wider and deeper and became a rushing river, and although a wooden footbridge was provided, it looked very rickety.

  Fortunately, Peregrine had the usual grace of the elvish folk, so she tiptoed first across the bridge to test it out, leaving the mannequin with her partner.

  “Hurry, they’re coming,” Princess Pansy said all the while. She started sooner this time. It was maddening.

  Once Peregrine had landed neatly on the far side of the river, Huang followed, carrying the doll. He, too, was skilled at moving stealthily, but when he reached the halfway point, the bridge started cracking apart.

  Huang hurled Princess Pansy clear across to the other bank, where Peregrine caught her. Then the bridge cracked. The cocky young Guardian fell into the water with a yelp and was immediately washed several yards downstream.

  But, like most Guardians, he was strong, so he managed to break free of the current and swim to the far bank. In short order, Huang climbed out of the river, drenched and embarrassed and very annoyed.

  Sir Peter laughed quietly, watching. He seemed very pleased with himself for thinking up all these tricks. It all must be relatively safe, though, for Finnderool and Ebrahim did not look concerned in the least.

  Do teachers actually enjoy tormenting students? Dani wondered. But instead of watching their test, she bent her head and focused on learning her coordinates.

  She and Brian would be next, after all.

  Meanwhile, team three was racing through the field. The bats flapped by overhead on cue, the grumpy trees threw crabapples and insults, and the squirrels attacked once again.

  Huang had apparently been thinking about them. During his dunk in the river, he had scooped up some pebbles from the riverbank, possibly taking his inspiration from Tyra and Max’s strategy.

  He threw the pebbles at the squirrels, and when he hit them, to everyone’s surprise, the critters disappeared in a puff of colorful magic smoke.

  “Hurry, they’re coming,” Princess Pansy said for the umpteenth time as team three arrived at the waypoint.

  “Isn’t there any way to shut that thing up?” Huang exclaimed.

  “Do not talk to our VIP that way,” Peregrine scolded him. “She is more important than both of us, remember? Now, please, be quiet. I am thinking.”

  Setting Princess Pansy aside, the elvish girl started entering the coordinates into the Bud of Life. She was still working on it when the woods to the left began to rustle.

  Huang turned, quarterstaff at the ready.

  Dani’s heart skipped a beat. She knew what was coming.

  The ogre.

  Sure enough, out of the woods leapt the ogre—only, this time, it wasn’t wearing a blindfold.

  Its gaze locked on to team three at once. It let out a barbaric roar and then began galloping toward them on its knuckles.

  “Open that thing!” Huang hollered, twirling his quarterstaff like he actually knew how to use it.

  Getting into position, the young Guardian planted himself in between the ogre and his delicate teammate.

  Peregrine glanced over her shoulder with a look of dread—“Hurry, they’re coming!”—but with another touch of her gauntlet, she brought the portal to life.

  At that moment, the ogre landed mere feet away from them. Huang let out a war cry that raised Dani’s eyebrows.

  The Asian boy twirled the quarterstaff, and the ogre seemed momentarily mesmerized by its pinwheel motion.

  “Go!” he yelled.

  To her credit, Peregrine hesitated, as though loath to abandon her partner to face the ogre alone. “I can’t leave you behind! It’s against the rules!”

  “I’ll be right behind you. Get Pansy out of here!”

  The doll tucked under her arm, the Lightrider girl didn’t listen. Instead, she remained standing at the threshold of the portal, watching Huang dart and weave.

  Dani got the feeling that Peregrine was counting the seconds.

  “Come on!” she urged, but Huang was engrossed in the fight, showing off just a little for the teachers and the chancellor and the rest of the class.

  “Over here, ugly!” he shouted.

  The ogre swung its big, long arms, trying to catch the nimble boy, but he tumbled and rolled clear, then sprang to his feet and whacked the brute in the side of the knee.

  The ogre bellowed and staggered to the side. Huang grinned and sprinted after his quarry, but Peregrine lost patience. She grabbed him by the jacket as he passed.

  “Come on, the portal’s going to close!”

  She tossed Princess Pansy through the shining circle, then leaped in herself, pulling the protesting Guardian with her.

  His feet had hardly vanished into the light before the portal winked closed.

  Finnderool turned to them triumphantly. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it’s done!”

  The rest of the kids uncertainly applauded team three, even though the winners weren’t there to hear it.

  They were off eating ice cream, thought Dani. For her part, sugary treats were the farthest thing from her mind. On the contrary, she was suddenly too queasy to think of food as Finnderool turned and glanced around at everyone.

  “Now, where is team four?”

  CHAPTER 43

  Open Sesame

  Lifting the torch higher, Jake ventured down the dark spiral stairs.

  Before him, the shaft stretched deeper and deeper into the subterranean regions beneath Griffon Castle.

  The flame from his torch unveiled cobwebs and a few pale spiders lurking on the clammy stone walls, but its dim glow was not bright enough to reveal the bottom of the shaft, where he hoped to find the long-hidden family vault. The gloom below him was inky.

  There was no railing on the staircase. It seemed a very long way down; he took care to mind his footing, hugging the wall as he descended.

  Behind him, Potts distributed torches and lanterns to his cousins, who followed a moment later. Jake also heard Derek ask Helena to patrol outside in her leopard form, in case Wyvern and Fionnula returned.

  “Roar if you need us,” the Guardian said. “Red, why don’t you go with her? Keep an eye on things from above.”

  The Gryphon snuffled in agreement and padded off with Helena to stand guard.

  Jake waited for Archie and Isabelle to catch up, and when Derek followed, bringing up the rear, they pressed on in silence.

  The temperature dropped the farther they went. No sunshine ever made it into this hole, Jake thought.

  “Not looking forward to the return trip,” Archie said after a bit.

  “Me neither,” Jake mumbled. Even his legs were starting to hurt, despite his daily jogs.

  “How much farther do you think the bottom is?” Izzy asked.

  “No idea,” he answered.

  “It’s got to end sometime,” Derek said.

  Around and around, the spiral staircase twisted, circling ever deeper into the earth. The flickering flames of their torches and lanterns danced over the dank walls enclosing them, while the treacherous stairs stretched down endlessly. Jake started feeling slightly claustrophobic. He brushed a spiderweb off his face with a grimace.

  “Ew!” Isabelle mumbled, two people back.

  “Spider?” Jake asked.

  Whack!

  “Thanks, Derek,” she said.

  “That’s what I’m here for, dear.”

  Jake smiled at the wry response. “Hey, I think I see the bottom!”

  “Thank goodness,” Archie mumbled. “M’legs are about to fall off.”

  “Oooh! I think we’re almost there.” Squinting into the gloom, Jake saw a simple stone chamber awaiting them below.

  They hurried down the rest of the way, and what he saw removed any doubt they were in the right place. Jake’s pulse pounded with excitement as he crossed the chilly stone chamber.

  Li
fting his torch, he stared at the long-lost Everton family vault. It was beautifully made but formidable.

  The round metal door was massive, clad in glossy green jade and covered in a complex array of twisting brass gears and interlocking sprockets.

  Deadbolts and padlocks, strange knobs and cylinders, metal pins and hinged shackles, latch-channels and bars—all seemed to feed into the silver set of eight numbered dials right at eyelevel.

  When Jake saw that all the dials were set to zero, he knew exactly what this was: a puzzle lock. They’d been a problem back in the days when he was a thief, for they required a combination.

  His heartbeat quickened as he went and set his torch in one of the metal torch holders flanking the vault. “No wonder nobody ever found this thing till now. My ancestors hid it well enough.”

  “I daresay.” Panting, Archie leaned forward to brace his hands on his legs. He was not the most athletic boy.

  Izzy groaned. “I can’t feel my feet.” She let Derek step past her, then plunked down onto the bottom step and set her lantern aside.

  Jake glanced over his shoulder at them. “Maybe I can levitate you two back up to the top when we’re done here.”

  His cousins peered up at the pitch-black height they’d have to float, then gave him dubious looks.

  “Er, I don’t think so, coz.”

  “But thanks, though,” Isabelle said.

  “My gift’s not wonky anymore. Honest!”

  “No. You strained yourself enough already today taking on Wyvern,” Derek said. “Your cousins can walk up on their own two feet, like anyone else.”

  Jake shrugged, then Derek marched past him and stood looking up at the vault.

  The metal door was a head taller than the big man and four times as broad. It took up nearly the whole wall of the little stone room.

  “I wonder what all is in there,” Archie murmured.

  “We’ll soon find out,” Derek said. “I’m just glad Wyvern didn’t manage to reach it. Jake must’ve interrupted him before he could make it this far.” Derek scanned the array of knobs, latches, and locks. “I can’t believe my best mate never told me about this. I hope he didn’t think he couldn’t trust me.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it’s not that, Derek,” Archie said cheerfully. “After all, I never showed Jake the safe where I keep my finished prototypes— Oops…”

  The boy genius smiled sheepishly as Jake turned to him in surprise. Even by the dim torchlight, he could see his cousin redden.

  “Sorry, coz. You did used to be a pickpocket. But don’t worry, a bunch of daft inventions wouldn’t interest you anyway, I’m sure.”

  Jake harrumphed. “Anyone care to guess at the combination?”

  They all looked at Archie.

  Mechanical things were his forte, after all.

  “Righty-ho.” Still looking embarrassed for keeping such a secret from his best mate, the boy genius pushed his spectacles up higher onto his nose and approached the vault door. “Let’s have a look at you. Hmm, yes…”

  Archie peered at the horizontal brass cylinder, where the correct sequence of numbers had to be rolled into view all in a line. Beside the final dial was a red button, presumably pressed last to register the sequence. “Oh, dear.”

  “What?” Jake asked.

  “Eight digits.” Archie looked at him uneasily. “That means there are”—he did a quick calculation in his head—“precisely one hundred million possible combinations.”

  “Um, gentlemen?” Isabelle said.

  When they turned around, she pointed discreetly at the darkest corner of the chamber, tucked behind the stairs.

  Jake’s eyes widened. “Bones!”

  An ancient human skeleton slumped in the corner, draped in cobwebs.

  Derek inhaled slowly at the sight.

  “Sweet Bacon,” Archie whispered.

  Izzy rose to her feet. “Who do you suppose that is?”

  Jake stared at the skeleton. “A dead thief.”

  “So, the vault is booby-trapped, then,” Derek said grimly.

  “They usually are, in my vast experience as a hardened criminal.” Jake shot his cousin a sardonic look.

  Archie shrugged apologetically.

  “We should abort this mission,” Derek said at once, his voice terse.

  “But we can’t.” Jake turned to the warrior. “The vault’s been compromised. I’m not going to abandon my family’s treasures just so Lord Wyvern can come back and steal them.”

  Derek sighed. “Very well. You might as well get going up those stairs. I’ll handle this.”

  They all protested at once, wanting to stay and see what was hidden in the vault.

  “Children, this is bound to get dangerous,” Derek said, gesturing at them to pipe down. “As it is, you three are lucky to be alive after what just happened.”

  “Nonsense,” Izzy said. “I can’t face those stairs again so soon. Besides, we stand a better chance of figuring out the combination if we work together.”

  “She’s right,” Jake said with an earnest nod. “Archie’s the one who understands how these kinds of complicated mechanisms work.”

  “We need Jake here, too!” Archie said. “His presence as the rightful Griffon heir may be a necessary component for unlocking this thing. He might have to validate it somehow. In fact, it’s probably safest for Jake to be the one to enter in the numbers. This vault was obviously made with both science and magic. I daresay, if anyone else like you or I should try to get in, we’ll probably end up like him.” Archie pointed at the skeleton.

  Jake lifted his eyebrows. This was turning into quite the dangerous day.

  “Very well,” Derek grumbled. He went and rested his torch in the other torch holder.

  Archie brought his lantern closer and set it on the floor. “Unfortunately, the safe probably won’t give us many tries before it locks us out entirely.”

  “Or worse,” Isabelle murmured, folding her arms across her chest.

  “Which means we have to come up with an eight-digit number that would have been of significance to Uncle Jacob and Aunt Elizabeth.” Archie looked around at them. “I suggest we have ourselves a good, hard think.”

  They did exactly that for the next ten minutes. Milling around the stone chamber, they racked their brains trying to guess the combination. The stakes were high. Skeleton man had obviously failed.

  “Hmmm” echoed repeatedly in the tomblike space. Derek tapped the flat of his favorite dagger against his opposite palm. Archie muttered more than once that he wished he’d worn his lucky bow tie.

  Isabelle twirled a lock of hair around her finger, tilting her head as if she were trying to sense the combination with her gift. Which, of course, was impossible. Her telepathic powers didn’t work on even insects or fish, so how was an inanimate object going to tell her anything?

  Jake stood stationary—arms folded, feet planted wide—staring intensely at the vault. Come on, Dad, what’s the combination?

  Eight digits…

  “How about—” Isabelle started, then shook her head. “Never mind.”

  “Could it be your birthday?” Derek turned to Jake. “May first, and the year. That would fit, if you use the zeroes.”

  “I dunno.” Jake stroked his jaw. “A date does fit, with the eight digits. But, speaking as a former thief, your only child’s birthdate seems a little obvious. Something other people could easily find out. Archie?”

  The boy genius shrugged. “I can’t think of anything better. Might as well give it a go. Unless you’ve got any safecracking talents from the old days?”

  Jake smiled wryly. “That’s an entirely different course of study than pickpocketing. Very well, I’ll try my birth date.” He walked up to the huge vault door, but hesitated as he reached for the first dusty dial. “Be ready for anything, you lot, in case I’m wrong.”

  “Wait,” Derek ordered him. “Isabelle, go back up twenty steps. If anything happens to us, run and fetch your governess.”

&
nbsp; Izzy nodded, picked up her lantern, and dutifully retreated to a safe distance up the spiral stairs. “I’m clear.”

  Derek nodded at Jake to continue. Archie and the Guardian glanced around, unsure of where the best spot to stand might be in case Jake failed.

  Anything could happen if the combination was not May the first, 1864.

  “Here goes nothing.” Jake began rolling the dials in succession to show the appropriate number. Zero, one, zero, five, one, eight…

  He glanced around. So far, so good.

  Six…

  With one number left to go, he checked over his shoulder, his pulse pounding. “Everyone all right?”

  Derek and Archie mumbled affirmatives.

  “You’re doing great, Jake,” Isabelle said from up on the staircase.

  “Right, then. Here we go. The final digit.”

  Then he turned the dial to four and boldly pressed the red button.

  Isabelle shrieked. Jake pivoted and saw her flailing her arms to try to catch her balance. All the stairs below the one where she stood had simply vanished!

  With no railing to grab hold of, Izzy teetered on the edge of the broken staircase, which now ended abruptly some fifteen feet above the floor.

  Derek bounded across the chamber to catch her. Archie shouted with alarm. Jake brought up his hands to use his telekinesis, but Izzy managed to save herself in the next heartbeat by throwing her weight backward.

  “Oh my goodness!” she said with a gasp, landing safely on her sit-upon.

  “Are you all right?” her brother cried.

  Izzy clung to the stairs.

  Jake was still braced to use his telekinesis if she slipped.

  “I’m fine,” Izzy said, obviously shaken. “I just…wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Blimey.” Jake dropped his hands to his sides, his pulse still drumming.

  Derek scowled over what had just happened, then glanced around at the chamber. “I see. If your first guess is wrong, the stairs disappear. If we had come down here without someone who happens to have the telekinesis that runs in the Griffon family line, I’d say we’d be trapped.”

  “That’s probably what happened to him,” Archie said, nodding at the skeleton. “Maybe the stairs waited until he was dead to rematerialize.”