by Helen Harper
I made my way through the garden of the abandoned house. It wasn’t quite so dark outside; in fact despite the latness of the hour it actually seemed quite light. One of the drawbacks of living in the city, I decided. I hopped over the wooden fence and wandered back to the front of the house – and the front of the so-called Charters College.
I crossed the road and began searching. I was trying to appear nonchalant, as if I was just out for a stroll, should any mage suddenly decide to look out of the window. There were several lights on, on several different floors. I attempted to take a snapshot in my head of them all so that when – if – I got inside, I’d be able to find my around, avoiding any unnecessary encounters. I pictured the potential room layout in my head, committing it to memory. Of course I had no way of knowing what the rooms that weren’t south facing were like, but I had to do what I could. I trailed my fingers along the iron railings, walking slowly in the direction of the gates when I finally saw what I was looking for. In a corner, where the railings stopped and the low brick wall started, was a small black box. It was on the opposite side to the railings, so in theory any would be intruder wouldn’t be able to reach it without first climbing over the railings and tripping the very alarm they were trying to stop. But of course most intruders didn’t have groovy green fire that they could shoot from their fingers.
I took a quick look around to make sure that the street was quiet. There were a few lights on in the houses on the terraced row where the abandoned house was, but their curtains were closed and there was no-one out in the street. I briefly closed my eyes and pointed my left hand towards the box, concentrating. I felt, rather than saw, the flame reaching out. There was a crackle and a hiss. Opening my eyes, I noted the small plume of smoke rising from the box and held my breath, waiting for the alarm to be sounded. The street remained quiet. No new lights appeared in the windows of the mansion and slowly, inexorably, the huge metal gates began to open. I realised that I’d been holding my breath and exhaled slowly.
As soon as the gates had opened enough, I darted inside and hugged the exterior of the Ministry’s grounds, holding myself against the railings and the wall and running towards the cluster of trees behind which the garages lay. I knew that if there were any warning wards to be tripped, I’d already have set them off by setting foot inside the grounds, so I had to make sure that I got into the building quickly, before anyone could stop me.
Picking up speed but staying in the dark shadows, I pelted my way forward. There were actually six different garage doors, none of which had been completely visible from the street. I frowned for a moment, but I didn’t have time for eeny meeny miny mo, so I just aimed for the nearest one. I tried tugging at the handle first, but it wouldn’t budge so I felt around the edges instead. The electricity box controlling the garage doors would be inside, but the wires weren’t. As soon as I found one with my fingers, I shot another blast of flame towards it, incinerating the rubber and the wiring within, and short-circuiting the system. Or so I hoped anyway.
The smell of burnt rubber began to fill the air and it seemed as if, for a moment, nothing was going to happen. Then, with a great trundling creak, the garage door started to jerk upright and open. I flattened myself against the wall, just in case there was anyone waiting right inside. Other than the sounds of the door, I could make out little else, however. I craned my neck around, and could see the shapes of a few cars shrouded in the darkness, but little else. Holding my breath again, I ran inside.
I moved stealthily towards the back of the garage and where I presumed the door to the main house would be. There were a few stone steps up to my left and then a simple looking wooden door with a stainless steel handle. I jogged up the steps and turned the handle, praying to whatever gods might be out there that it would turn.
My luck was in. It was just possible that the mages were so secure in their own omnipotence that it didn’t occur to them that anyone would actually try to break into their own fortress. Regardless of anything, when I opened the door and light flooded the garage from the carpeted hallway within, I knew that I’d made it inside.
I gingerly stepped out onto the plush carpet. Clearly the mages spared no expense on their interior. This was definitely not like the threadbare floor covering that I was used to from the keep. My feet actually sank down into this carpet. I was in more danger of lying down and rolling around to luxuriate in it than trip on an old hole and embarrass myself. At least it would help me stay quiet, if nothing else. Keeping in mind that I would only have a limited amount of time before I’d get caught by whatever defence systems the mages had in place, I quickly tried to get my bearings. I knew that I was on the ground floor. It made sense that this would be where I’d find the kitchens, dining room, assuming there was one, and the offices.
I would need to get myself to the office of someone high up in the Ministerial hierarchy if I had any chance of pleading my case. Logically, anyone who fit that description would have an office positioned in the most desirable position. That would mean on a corner, probably far away from the kitchens and the garages, and looking out onto the front gardens. There had been several lights dotted around at this end of the Ministry but only a few towards the other end, at the opposite of where I’d entered. It stood to reason that it was at that other end where I’d find the kind of person that I needed to talk to.
Treading lightly, I jogged along the soft carpet and down the hallway. I passed several doors, all carved out of some ornate tropical wood, and all shut. I didn’t waste time in opening them to peer into them, instead I headed straight in front of me. There was a wall at the far end and the corridors peeled off both right and left. A painting of some stern looking gentleman with grey hair and a pinched nose gazed down at me. I raised my eyebrows up at him, almost hoping that it was some kind of magical painting that would suddenly come to life and direct me to some magical senior manager. I must have read too many children’s stories in my past, however, because the paint stayed motionless. Feeling somewhat disappointed, I elected to turn left. The right hand side would keep close to the front of the house where I’d surely want to be, but it was also where there had definitely been lights indicating signs of life. I reckoned that I’d be able to flip right again at some point once I’d passed the danger zones.
Rolling up my jacket sleeves, I unsheathed my daggers, clutching one in each hand. My palms were sweaty and I could feel the adrenalin coursing through my system. I allowed the bloodfire to take over, feeling the welcome surge of heat swirl around my innards.
There were more old paintings dotting the walls of this corridor, mainly portraits of what I assumed to be mages from the past. In another life I’d have paused to admire the workmanship and wonder about the subjects, but this was not the time to let my attention drift. From inside another room I heard a clatter of dishes and froze for a brief moment, waiting to see if someone would emerge into the corridor with me. Everything stayed quiet, however, so I continued on my way. I was surprised that there had been no sign that the mages knew that there was an intruder on their premises. I hoped I wasn’t walking into a trap. The thing was, I had very little choice in the matter. I couldn’t leave Mrs Alcoon to rot away in Tir-na-Nog and I didn’t know anyone other than the mages who’d put her in that position in the first place who could de-spell her, so to speak. If it was a trap then they would at least know why I was there. I reckoned that my daggers could be persuasive enough to make them remove the stasis spell from her before they took me down.
Up ahead, where the corridor stretched out into the distance, a door abruptly opened. Panicking, I scooted backwards and threw open one of the wooden doors I’d already passed, from under which a dark shadow had indicated the absence of anyone within, and flung my whole body inside. I carefully closed the door behind me, trying to be quiet, but left it ajar just a crack so I could see who emerged and what they were doing. Muffled voices drew closer.
“He has to listen to me, Argo, this girl is dangerous.”
I frowned. That voice was suddenly dreadfully familiar.
“I think given that she managed to take out both Martha and Miles is an indication of that,” the other mage stated in a much more measured tone of voice.
“When I gave her the necklace, her body glowed. And it glowed green! She’s some kind of Otherworld creature that needs to be taken out.”
My hand went involuntarily up to the necklace that remained hanging around my neck. So Maggie, Mrs Alcoon’s so-called friend, had decided to travel to the heart of the Ministry to make sure they were just completely aware of how dangerous I was. I almost harrumphed out loud. I would think that the fact that I’d almost killed two of their own would be indication enough of that. My eyes narrowed as she passed by the door with her companion. I was very tempted to take her down – and in fact my bloodfire was roaring in approval at that idea. If she hadn’t involved the Ministry in the first place then Mrs Alcoon wouldn’t be in the mess she was right now.
Maggie’s voice continued away from me. “She’s probably killed June by now! You need to do something about this.”
“Your friend is still alive. We can’t work out where she is but the spell is still holding.”
“She’s not the one who needs the stasis spell, you idiot! It’s that bloody girl you should have targeted.”
Her voice, high-pitched now and whiny, continued to bemoan the state of affairs that she’d caused in the first place, drifted further away. I rested my head briefly against the cool wood of the doorframe. Either she was a very good actor or she didn’t know that I was here. It was good to know that I wasn’t heading straight into a dastardly mage trap. I thought for a moment about what she’d said. The ‘he’ whom she’d been demanding pay attention to her was probably the very person I needed to speak to. I chewed on my bottom lip and concentrated on damping down the flames inside me somewhat. Whoever this person was, odds were good that he was present in the building. That was some good news at least.
When I was sure that Maggie May and her mage mate had completely left my immediate vicinity, I gently pulled open the door again and continued pushing forward down the corridor. Occasionally voices drifted in and out from other rooms, but the hallway stayed wizard-free. Before too long, there was another turn, this time twisting back to the right. I took a deep breath. By my calculations, I had to now be towards the end of the large mansion, and where I was putting all my hopes into there being someone with some say into how things around here were run.
I followed the hallway round and then stopped at the corner, peering round. In front of me was a large vestibule area. It looked like something Donald Trump might have commissioned, all shiny marble floors and gleaming sparkly chandeliers. At the far end there were two doors, one on the left and one on the right. The right hand side door, the one that would face out onto the ideal garden view, had a uniformed guard outside it. Bingo.
I spun the handles of the daggers that I was still grasping onto, re-testing their grip and weight for the hundredth time. I didn’t want to hurt anyone, but in order to help Mrs Alcoon I would if I needed to. I straightened my shoulders and stepped out onto the marbled floor, at which point a shrieking alarm suddenly sounded. I guess their security system was finally deciding to start working.
Sprinting forward to the guard who was only just halfway out of his chair, I threw my first dagger, catching him in the hand. He howled in pain and then yanked it out, eyes fixing on me. I noted with somewhat of a tremor that his eyeballs were completely white. The effect of no irises and no pupils was more than terrifying. From behind me, the distant sounds of doors slamming and voices shouting rose up. I had scant moments to do this.
Dripping blood from one hand, the guard pointed his other hand at me. I just had time to roll out of the way and avoid being zapped by a stream of icy blue light. Clearly these mages were remarkably unimaginative when it came to fighting techniques because they all did exactly the same thing. I watched his body, registering the faint tensing of his muscles that indicated which way he’d go next, and ducked, then barreled straight towards him, knocking his whole body back into the chair. I snapped out a sharp kick into his stomach, causing him to double over, and then jumped behind him, thumping him hard on his bent head. He collapsed to the floor and lay there unmoving. He wasn’t a shifter and wouldn’t heal with as much ease as they would, so I hadn’t wanted to entirely incapacitate him as I would one of them. Under the circumstances, I was rather proud of my restraint.
Scooping up the fallen dagger, I threw my shoulder against the door forcing it open. I had to reach whoever was inside before more irate mages arrived to join the fray. Inside was a large room surrounded by shelves of books and carpeted with a fine Persian rug. There was a desk towards the large bay window that was scattered with some papers and more books. What really caught my attention, however, was the floating man hovering in the centre of the room. His eyes were closed and he was murmuring something. Little lights flickered around him, and I realised that each one was forming a rune in the air. I had to do something fast. I sheathed one dagger and held onto the other, and then started to flick green flame towards each of the runes. I had absolutely no idea if it would do anything but I was rewarded with a spit and hiss as each time my fire hit a rune, it disappeared with an angry spark. More and more runes were appearing and the centre mage was murmuring faster. I shot out more and more light. Hefting the dagger in my right hand, I considered throwing it, but hurting the one person who I needed to really help me probably wouldn’t aid my cause.
Hearing the clatter of shoes on the marble floor out in the vestibule, I spun round and sprayed fire across the entrance of the office, creating a curtain of flame and effectively blocking it from anyone entering. Faces started to appear, shouting into the room, but I ignored them and focused my attention back onto the hovering mage instead. His voice was getting louder and the air in the room was starting to feel heavy and suffocating.
The air runes were increasing in number and getting brighter. Several started to spin on their axis, getting faster and faster. I fought back, throwing out flames at every one I could see. Each time I did so, another took its place. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the hovering mage’s face getting redder and redder. I kept on firing, trying desperately to hit each one but avoid setting the mage himself alight.
I shouted out, “I just want to talk to you! Please stop this and let’s sit down together and discuss…”
My voice trailed away as the mage himself started to spin in the air. I felt pressure building in my head. I fought to call up my bloodfire, to make it even stronger and even greater. It couldn’t fail me now, not at this point. I waved my dagger in the air and shouted again, “Please!”
A bass sound started to thump in my ears and I could feel myself falling to my knees. It wasn’t going to work, he wasn’t going to listen to me. I pulled my hand away from directing fire at the runes and instead focused on the mage. Just one shot wouldn’t really hurt him, but it might stop him in his tracks, if I concentrated and didn’t overshoot. I flung my hand forward to direct the flame, but nothing happened. I tried again, flicking my fingers forward, willing the fire to appear but there was nothing there. It was as if I’d run completely out of gas. I was starting to choke and bright little dots were dancing across my eyes. I shut them tight and summoned up all the energy I had, trying to muster it into one ball of power and push it through my body.
The thumping in my head was getting worse. I could feel my whole body starting to shake with each thud. I pushed open my eyelids only to see one of the runes floating right in front of my face. My eyes widened, mesmerised by its spinning shapes. Then, suddenly, it exploded and everything went dark.
Chapter Eighteen
When I came to, I was lying prone on a cool hard surface. I struggled to get up but found that I could barely move my limbs. I cracked open my eyes. The hovering mage from before stood in front of me, although now his feet were planted firmly on th
e ground. I tried to reach round to my arms to pull out my daggers, but even with my weakened fumbles I realised that it was pointless and they had already been taken.
The mage bent down and cocked his head at me. “Do you have any idea how long it has been since someone dared to enter our citadel?”
I coughed and replied weakly, “This is a nice house for sure, and definitely bigger than anywhere else I’ve been to, but isn’t citadel taking things a little far?”
“Who are you?” His eyes were cold, sending imaginary bolts of ice through my veins.
I tried to summon my bloodfire back into action, but the mage just laughed humourlessly.
“Take a look around you. We’ve locked you in a nullifying cage. No magic you try to use against us will work. No magic you try to use for anything, in fact, will work. Now tell me, who are you?”
I looked around. He was right. There was some kind of dull metal encasing me inside a small space. I reached out and touched the bars, receiving a nasty electric shock in return. It occurred to me that I didn’t even have enough space to stand up in. Well, this was going to be fun.
He spoke again. “I am growing tired of this and will say it one more time – who are you?”
“I think the more pertinent question would be why am I here,” I said, licking my lips to try to draw in some moisture.