by R A Lindo
“Okay,” she said in agreement to Jacob’s condition. “Why don’t we all try to learn the Verum Veras charm? We’re probably going to need it at some point in the future, anyway, particularly if what we find beneath The Floating Floor is a Terrecet fragment.”
“Which means my mum will be finished here,” uttered Jacob, clearly struggling with this thought. “The point Guppy hasn’t fully processed. What we’re about to do could signal our mother’s expulsion from the Society: a Society that’s been her whole life since our dad left. Where will that leave us…? Banishment for the entire family, probably.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, I don’t … but it’s a possibility and one Guppy hasn’t considered.”
“Verum Veras,” hissed Guppy in a growing frustration as the Spintz charm fizzed above. Something was clearly missing because each time she closed her fingers to grab onto the illusory curtain, no parting of the atmosphere occurred, leaving them with the problem of a lack of protection.
Kaira and Jacob watched as Guppy became more obsessed with mastering the protective charm, lost in the magic and mystery of the S.P.M.A. once more as her friend and brother pondered the more complex puzzle of family allegiances.
“We can speak to my dad and aunt if we do find out your mum’s involved in something bad,” suggested Kaira, recognising a familiar burden hovering over Jacob - a shadow often crossing her father’s face. “If we’ve got proof of your mum’s involvement, we can use the Now-Then to show my dad and aunt what we’ve discovered.”
“Which will be too late.”
“What do you mean?”
“Anyone caught engaging with Gorrah is expelled, pending further investigation. Even if we do go to your dad and aunt, the fact my mum has hidden the Terrecet fragment, if that’s what it is, will be enough to finish her in the Society. So, if we go through with this, and find what we expect to, that will be the outcome.”
“So, we say nothing until we absolutely have to…?”
“Which will get us all expelled,” continued Jacob, tucking his shirt in.
“Not if we explain that we waited for concrete proof. After all, storing a Terrecet fragment isn’t necessarily a crime, if your mum doesn’t know what it is. Even if she does, any senior member of the Society would have to store it somewhere safe.”
“So, you’re saying you don’t think my mum’s got bad intentions…?”
“No, I think she has, but to protect you and Guppy - and maybe your mum, as well - we need to make sure that what we discover and relay to the adults doesn’t backfire on us.”
“So, a watch-and-learn exercise?” concluded Jacob as Guppy stamped her feet in frustration.
Kaira nodded, her expression signalling a shared understanding that their plan was less a childish adventure than a study of guilt, and the consequences of sinful acts.
“Let’s work out this charm before Guppy loses it and wakes the Cendryll up,” suggested Jacob with a smile.
“Deal,” replied Kaira, and they each carried out Guppy’s instructions, turning their hands and closing their fingers as if parting an illusory curtain: their escape plan should they need it.
Jacob’s allotted time of five minutes to learn the charm stretched to twenty as each of them struggled to understand what was missing - a struggle that came to an end at the sound of footsteps in the darkness.
“Undilum,” whispered Kaira, immediately conscious that the light from the Spintz charm would draw the unknown figure to their current location in The Seating Station.
Like her return from Dyil’s Ditch - where she had studied her father walking towards The Spitting Tree to meet an unknown figure - Kaira took cover within The Seating Station, sensing that the footsteps she had heard then belonged to the same person: Meyen Grayling.
“Follygrin,” whispered Guppy who crouched alongside her. “Find out where she’s going.”
Kaira nodded and uttered ‘Comeuppance’, taking the Follygrin out of the pocket of her jeans at the same moment the sound of footsteps ended.
“Quickly, Kaira,” prompted Jacob as a voice echoed within the dark chamber of The Cendryll.
“Kaira…”
No one uttered a word.
“Kaira … it’s Aunt Phee. Are you still down there…?”
Peering out from her hiding place, Kaira studied her aunt standing at the top of the spiral staircase, holding Churchill - the probable reason for the sound of footsteps. Churchill had come searching for her, the cat missing its main source of comfort and sense of belonging. Standing to avoid potential consequences for ignoring a direct call, Kaira re-enacted the Spintz charm and waved up at her aunt.
“Hi, Aunt Phee.”
“Why are you sitting in the dark?” queried Philomeena Renn, knowing only too well the temptation of a magical world to the young. “Is Guppy with you…?”
“Yes. We were just trying out a new charm and didn’t want to bother anyone.”
“In the dark…?”
“We’ve got Crilliun,” interjected Guppy as she popped into view, holding out a vial of clear liquid as evidence: magical eye drops which helped you see in the dark.
Uncertain of this explanation or the real reason for their cover of darkness, Philomeena Renn tightened her dressing gown before stroking Churchill to calm him. “Ten more minutes, then bed.”
Kaira and Guppy nodded whilst Jacob stayed out of sight, sensing that his presence would suggest the formation of a plan he was either trying to stop or oversee.
“Okay,” offered Kaira with a reassuring wave. “Ten minutes.”
A response which gained the required retreat from her aunt as she turned back towards her quarters with Churchill in tow.
Feeling Guppy nudge her, Kaira took the vial of clear liquid and squeezed it into her eyes, the familiar purple hue forming as The Cendryll glittered into view.
“We can’t find anything out in ten minutes,” stated Jacob, “so let’s leave it until tomorrow.”
“Or just get on with it,” countered Guppy in her typically forthright manner.
“Why the hurry?”
“Because the longer we wait, the more chance of something bad happening. We followed The Sinister Four to The Sylent less than twelve hours ago and came face-to-face with Erent Koll, thankfully behind the Verum Veras charm Kaira’s grandad created to protect us.”
“The one we can’t work out how to use, you mean,” challenged Jacob in what was brewing into another sibling battle.
“Here,” said Kaira, thankful that she had re-read the page on the Verum Veras charm that Guppy had thrust to the floor in frustration. “You need to feel for the separation in the atmosphere. It’s not like you just grab at the air; you have to feel behind you, like searching for a door handle in the dark. It feels like you’ve found a rope hanging in mid air … you then move it, like parting a curtain.”
Guppy and Jacob watched as Kaira parted the darkness with her hand, moving an invisible curtain to reveal something priceless behind. In this case, they looked into a glittering darkness similar to the one Isiah Renn had offered them to escape the fire-red fury of Erent Koll.
“Ready now?” asked Kaira with a smile of satisfaction.
Guppy and Jacob looked at one another, clearly impressed with their friend’s rapid ability to learn a new charm.
“Let’s go before we’re seen,” added Kaira, and they made their way to The Floating Floor.
12
The Phiadal
“If we’ve only got ten minutes, then I say Kaira and I go through The Floating Floor and take a look around,” suggested Guppy as they stood on the edges of the illusory water. “We can then use the Verum Veras charm if anyone else appears.”
“Okay,” said Jacob to their surprise. “I’ll wait at the bottom of the steps, leading to our mum’s quarters. I’ll pretend I’ve fallen asleep. I used to fall asleep a lot when I first arrived so it shouldn’t look too suspicious. If she does make an appearance, I’ll fe
ign shock and cry out when I’m woken up. Hopefully, sound travels beneath The Floating Floor. If not …”
“If not, we’ll know what to do,” replied Kaira, conscious that her aunt could appear again any minute with the strict command to get in bed at once.
“Do you remember what you have to say?” asked Jacob as he glanced up and down the fourth floor, checking that no Society stragglers were still wandering.
Guppy nodded.
“Okay,” prompted Kaira. “Let’s go before we’re seen.”
Kaira and Guppy both remembered the words Meyen Grayling had used to vanish through The Floating Floor, each whispering it in preparation to fall into the unknown. Before they did, they turned to Jacob who took his position at the bottom of the steps, leading to his mother’s quarters on the fifth floor. With a final glance along the dark fourth-floor landing which circled the vast chamber of The Cendryll, Kaira and Guppy placed their feet onto the illusory water, moving slowly to the middle as they had seen Meyen Grayling do.
“Ready?” asked Guppy as they stood alongside each other, acutely aware that any sighting of them vanishing would bring severe consequences.
Kaira nodded, and they began to chant the words softly:
“I understand what is below and, with your help, desire to know.”
As they did so, the illusory water began to bubble and ripple, moving with more purpose over their shoes and hems of their jeans. A gesture of urgency from Jacob, still visible through the purple hue of the Crilliun eye drops, made them chant the words faster, sensing a need to fall or flee the plan as the echo of footsteps appeared from an unidentifiable location.
With Jacob gesturing more intently to get a move on, the first sense of gravity fading came to Kaira who looked down at her feet; she saw an image of a room below appearing: a room formed of a maze of shelves which ran in every direction. As the sound of footsteps grew closer, Guppy gestured for them to abandon the plan, suddenly fearful that they were going to get caught, but it was Kaira’s determination that led the way this time.
She held up both hands, gesturing ‘ten seconds’ which, as it turned out, was adequate time for the vanishing act to take place, suppressing yelps of shock as they fell through The Floating Floor into a new maze of magic.
The speed of their fall slowed considerably once they were below the illusory floor, now spinning in a cocoon of light which guided their journey. The colour of the light reflected the colour of their penchant stone - Guppy surrounded by a blanket of topaz blue whilst Kaira spun in the protective purple light of her amethyst gemstone.
The penchant stones in their bracelets glimmered more brightly as they made their descent, the cloak of colour guiding them to the elaborate maze holding all bovies: artefacts with complex magical properties. There was one particular bovie they needed to inspect - an artefact that some hunted and some killed for.
They finally reached the concrete floor of the maze known as The Phiadal: the secret location where the study of unstable artefacts were stored until their magical properties were fully understood. Dangerous or unstable artefacts were moved under heavy guard to The Velynx - a journey rife with danger due to presence of the Mantzils.
The Mantzils were formless creatures who hovered in the atmosphere of Quibbs Causeway, releasing an ear-piercing screech that could unhinge the strongest mind. Mantzils were drawn to dark energy, including underworld creatures, human evil such as Erent Koll or dark artefacts.
It had already crossed Guppy’s mind that, should the artefact they were searching for actually be a Terrecet fragment, a journey to Quibbs Causeway would have to be made - probably by the same person who had made the dangerous trek, alone, to The Wenlands: Casper Renn. With another few drops of Crilliun to illuminate their way, Kaira and Guppy watched as the cocoon of light guiding their descent faded like smoke.
“We need to be quick because I’ve got a feeling the footsteps we heard belong to my mum.”
Kaira nodded in agreement. “This way,” she said before walking slowly through the maze of shelves containing numerous, glass boxes which were bolted to surrounding shelving. Each box housed a smaller metal one inside.
As the two friends navigated their way in the darkness, they became more attuned to the numerous sounds surrounding them, reminiscent of an orchestra performing without guidance. The sounds varied in texture and tone … hissing sounds and clicking sounds along with soft chimes and whizzing noises - all emanating from the metal boxes within the glass containers.
“It’s a lot bigger than it seemed in The Follygrin,” Kaira commented as they walked side-by-side, jumping as a metal container rattled violently within its glass encasement.
The girls shared a glance, jumping again as the metal box rattled and jumped within its glass case, as if it were trying to break out if its prison. They were potentially standing next to a legendary, dark artefact; there was no way to be sure, however, because it was hidden from view within its outer shell. There was also the fact that they only had a vague idea of what a Terrecet fragment looked like, gleaned from the story they’d read in Memphelin’s Fables.
“Now, what do we do?” asked Guppy as a mild squealing sound came from the within the metal box.
With the row-upon-row of shelves emitting a soft cacophony of noise, Kaira remembered how Meyen Grayling had reached out to place her hand on the glass encasement.
“Let’s touch it,” suggested Kaira, “and see what reaction we get.”
“What it if bites our hand off?”
“Your mum put her hand on it,” explained Kaira, conscious that time and their small supply of Crilliun was running out. “We watched her in the Follygrin, remember? I say, we put our hand on it to sense its reaction.”
“Why?”
“Because, if it is what we think it is, it will have incredible power, and we should be able to feel that.”
“But, what if it curses people who touch it?” queried Guppy whose courage was increasingly balanced with reason.
“There must be something neutralising the powers of all of these artefacts,” suggested Kaira, “otherwise, it would be chaos down here.”
“Taulyn,” replied Guppy with a smile of relief. “It neutralises all magical properties. All bovies would be wrapped in Taulyn until their magical properties were understood. Makes perfect sense. I still don’t think putting our hands on the glass box is a good idea, Kaira. We’ve got no idea what dark artefacts do to people and even touching a protective container could be viewed as engaging with dark Gorrah. There’s no mercy for those messing with dark magic.”
As the box rattled again, a cloud of topaz-blue light formed above them, signalling the imminent arrival of someone else … someone with a matching penchant stone, limiting this to two people: Jacob or Meyen Grayling. Taking no chances of being caught near a lethal artefact, Kaira uttered ‘Verum Veras’ and re-enacted the charm they had practised in The Seating Station earlier.
Protective cover was needed and as the familiar uniform of blue appeared, Kaira parted an invisible curtain and pulled Guppy into the glittering light, offering cover. With the protection of the Verum Veras charm, they stepped back from the cluttered shelf containing the box in question, confident that this would be the destination Meyen Grayling was heading to: the evidence they needed to confirm the existence of a dark artefact and a dark plan.
The echo of Meyen Grayling’s footsteps, along with the alien environment of The Phiadal, created an unease in Kaira, despite the knowledge that the Verum Veras charm offered protection from sight - if not sound. Any sounds they made would be heard by Guppy’s mother and there was little doubt in Kaira’s mind that, if caught, Meyen Grayling would force through her expulsion from the S.P.M.A. Guppy’s expulsion offered up more complications because, without another parent to look after her, The Cendryll would remain her home.
For Kaira, there was Aunt Phee who would do her best to defend her with the help of Weyen Lyell. It wouldn’t be an easy task, Kaira knew, part
icularly if their suspicions proved to be unfounded. All of these thoughts raced through her mind as the footsteps drew nearer … the blue cloud of smoke illuminating Meyen Grayling’s fall evaporating into the air above.
Taking care to move away from the glass container holding the mysterious artefact, Kaira tapped Guppy on the shoulder and pointed to the Cympgus she had formed - the light-blue portal in the shape of a slide hidden within the protective blanket of the Verum Veras charm. With the shimmering slide hovering inches above the ground, ready to provide swift exit, they studied the spiteful figure of Meyen Grayling … watching as she stopped beside the box that continued to rattle violently in its glass cage.
The same process witnessed in the Follygrin was then carried out as Guppy’s mother placed her hand on the glass container, drawing a far more violent response from whatever was hidden within. The mysterious artefact thrashed around wildly as if a greater force was calling it. “Sssshhhh,” she whispered as she stroked the glass container affectionately.
Guppy’s fury was palpable, causing Kaira to worry she was going to burst out and attack her mother with an onslaught of abuse. How could she show affection to an object whilst being unable to offer any to her own children? The thought behind Guppy’s venomous stare.
“All in good time,” whispered Meyen Grayling as the object jittered within its glass encasement. The power and ferocity of the movements within the metal box were striking in their frequency and volatility, yet without seeing or hearing its name being uttered, there would be no way to identify it as a fragment of the underworld. With the glittering, purple slide awaiting to transport them back to the safety of The Seating Station, Meyen Grayling uttered the words that forged her fate:
“We must continue the search so that we can pass on your great powers.”