by Victor Kloss
He stood up and saw them all looking at him. Joshua had Abigail’s head against his chest as she sobbed.
The prince spoke, sincere respect in his voice. “She saved us both, more times than I can count. It was Ictid who had to stop her in the end, as none of the others could. For her own courage, and her ability in teaching you able young people, she will be honoured.”
Ben could only nod his head. What good did being honoured do when you were dead?
Wren seemed to understand, judging by that look in her eye she sometimes had. Ben didn’t want any sympathy, however. He didn’t think he could take it. They had won, hadn’t they? Then why did he feel so wretched?
His gloomy thoughts were cut off, however, by the sound of footsteps approaching.
Out of one of the corridors came a sprinting, gasping Charlie.
“Okay, don’t panic, we’re here!” He spun around with his spellshooter aimed one way, then the next, until he finally realised the room was empty. “What the….?” he muttered, lowering the weapon. “I thought I’d bring, well, you know, the back-up!”
The sight of his friend brought a surge of warmth into Ben’s chest and he couldn’t stop the smile from breaking across his face.
Then Ben saw them. It was something that he had been dreaming of every day and night for the last few years, ever since that day he had come to his house to find them gone.
“Mum! Dad!” He didn’t care what the others might think, he ran and embraced them both and cried unashamedly, his parents doing the same. He was dimly aware of Joshua with his own father. He let it all out and felt a rush of happiness so strong it banished the grief of losing so much, at least for now. Just for a few moments, he had his parents again and everything was okay.
— Chapter Thirty-Seven —
The Institute Prevails
“That’s it!” Alex shouted, leaning in close enough to feel feathers tickling his cheeks as his great eagle cawed and flew in fast pursuit. “We’ve got them on the run!”
The dark elf forces — what was left of them — had broken off their attacks and begun to scatter, dragons and wyverns and other creatures turning this way and that as the remnants of that once massive army lost all cohesion and order. The battalion of armed fliers Alex and his unit had been tasked to stop over the outskirts of London had already crumbled away, leaving no clear leaders and each survivor out for himself. He and his team, despite working on almost no sleep, continued through the day and night swooping in and picking off the demoralised dark elves one by one. As far as he was concerned, he wouldn’t stop until there wasn’t one dark elf soldier on English soil.
Just as Alex trained his mount on a dark elf straggler on a clearly wounded cockatrice, his amulet began to emit a soft, pulsing glow. Sighing with fatigue as much as annoyance, Alex tugged gently on the reins, causing his great eagle to give up the chase and hover over an empty patch of water on the Thames. He reached up with his free hand and grasped the amulet firmly.
“Alex here,” he declared, knowing that despite the wind and all the other sounds of battle around him his words would be easily understood by the other amulet-bearers. “What gives?”
“So you’re still alive,” a thick voice replied. “Guess I should’ve known. I couldn’t possibly be that lucky.” Under the gruff words, Alex knew he heard relief. He smiled. Draven tried so hard to keep up that tough guy front, but Alex had known him long enough to know what type of man he really was.
The Warden Director was one of the best, and Alex knew the Institute would need him in the years to come.
It had been a very close call for Alex. That huge black dragon had laid waste to entire areas around Buckingham Palace, and despite just about surviving the fall with Lord Kranathor, he still had an intense fight on his hands to get back to his own troops. He had to admit to himself that if it wasn’t for the SAS and their captain, he might not have made it.
Now if Wren and Colin and the rest were also safe, the council would have escaped direct harm, a borderline miracle. Not only would that be a huge relief, it would also certainly make cleaning up after the fighting a lot easier.
As if answering his thoughts, a new voice chimed in. “Colin alive and well, and pleased to report that the same may not be true for our opposition.” The Diplomacy Director had been staying close to the Institute itself, which had included pitching in for the organisation’s defence whenever it was directly attacked.
And it had been attacked plenty, Alex knew. The men and women stationed there had gone whole days with little to no rest and near-constant assaults at the height of the war.
Fortunately, it seemed as if those days might at last be over.
“Victoria here,” the thin Director of Scholars reported. She had also remained within the Institute, her team working to uncover anything that could help turn the tide against Suktar and his dark elf horde.
“Wren present,” Alex heard the Spellsword Director declare as well, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She had been the executive council member he’d been most worried about, both because he was closest to her and because she had disappeared without a word several days ago.
Then a deep, rich, less frequently heard voice called out, “Report. How goes the war?”
So the prince was not only alive but directly involved in and concerned for the Institute’s well-being, Alex thought. That was a very reassuring surprise.
“Good,” he answered at once. “Surprisingly so. If you’d asked me an hour ago, I’d have said we were dead and gone, but something changed between then and now. Something big. Whatever it was, it’s taken the fight right out of them.”
“It’s Suktar,” Prince Robert responded. “He is dead, and Ictid has fled. The dark elves are leaderless.”
Alex nodded, but then realised none of them could see him. “I suspected as much. The royal guard pretty much just gave up, and I came across one of his cousins, Kranathor. He seemed somewhat put out. What happened?” A thought struck him. “Is that where you and Wren disappeared to?”
“Something like that,” Wren replied. “Though we did have some significant help.” It was clear she wasn’t telling them everything as she continued. “But that is good news. We had hoped Suktar’s death would have an immediate effect upon his troops, and I’m glad to know we were right.”
“Still a ton of the fiends around,” Draven grumbled. “But yeah, my teams are mainly doing clean-up now. Once we’ve cleared all the dark elves out of London, we can repair any damage and then do a large-scale mindwipe. No one will remember a thing about all this.”
“We will need some sort of cover story for those who died,” Colin pointed out. “A natural disaster, perhaps, or some random act of violence. I will come up with an appropriate scenario.”
Draven grumbled at that. “Good luck, Colin. There are so many dead you’ll have to work out something particularly nasty.”
Alex smiled grimly at that. They were fast getting back to their normal bickering, always a good sign. In this case, however, he did want something reviewed on Institute policy.
“I’m not sure we should do a total mindwipe. The SAS I worked with were integral to defeating a powerful enemy. I am interested in looking into the combination of Unseen magic with standard military weaponry.”
His comment was met with a pause, but then the prince spoke up. “An interesting point, Alex, and something definitely worth checking out. Any other things we need to take up?”
Alex heard Victoria’s voice come through, high and slightly reedy.
“Assuming we are not annihilating all dark elves in retaliation, we will need a treaty with them. We will begin researching past treaties at once.”
“Pass them to me once you have them,” Colin requested. “I can have something drawn up by the end of the day tomorrow.”
“I will be back shortly and will have my Spellswords round up any remaining troublemakers,” Wren stated. “There are always a few who will be eager to keep fighting even aft
er they’ve clearly lost.”
“We’ll help with the round-up,” Alex offered. “We can coordinate our efforts.”
“Very good,” Robert said. “Thank you all for your loyalty and your hard work. It means a great deal to the Institute, and to me.”
The prince sounded different somehow, and it took Alex a minute after the magical meeting ended to put his finger on it. He had sounded… more relaxed. There had always been something about the prince, a fierce drive but one towards something else, something that kept him distracted and impatient to return to it. Now that seemed to be gone. At least, that was how it had felt. Alex wondered what exactly had happened.
But for now, he was just thrilled to know that Suktar was finally dead and that the war really did seem to be over. With that Alex let out a triumphant whoop of pure joy as he wheeled his great eagle about and urged it forwards to re-join the rest of his team. There was still a great deal of work for them to do.
— Chapter Thirty-Eight —
I Have a Plan
Ben was amazed when he heard the story of how Charlie and Natalie had rescued his parents and Joshua’s dad.
“…and then Charlie brought us straight to the throne room,” Ben’s dad finished. A look of concern crossed his face. “The place was so far beyond destroyed we didn’t know what to think. We came here as fast as we could, following Natalie and Charlie, who somehow remembered the way.”
Ben’s mum was still hugging him, and showed no sign of letting up. “You did it,” she whispered to him, eyes shining with pride. “You really did it.”
“Thanks.” Ben couldn’t stop smiling. He pried himself away from his mother finally and practically threw himself at Charlie and Natalie. They hugged each other and laughed, each trying to talk at once. Finally stepping back, Ben grabbed Charlie by the shoulders.
“You are, no kidding, the best friend anyone could ask for. I might even tell my gran to stop picking on you now.”
Charlie gave a laugh that sounded only partly forced. “I don’t know if I can face her yet, Ben. The Void and demons are one thing, but the Beast from Beyond? I’m not so sure!” They all laughed again.
Natalie was beaming, her cheeks rosy and eyes bright. “I bet you’d be fine, Charlie,” she said, and he shrugged.
Ben looked briefly at his best friend, who hadn’t even turned red. Any sort of self-consciousness Charlie might have had around Natalie seemed to have vanished with their recent adventure. Escaping near-death experiences could evidently do wonders to one’s confidence.
Then Natalie distracted Ben by throwing her arms around his neck for just a second before pulling away self-consciously. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” she said quickly, almost breathlessly. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before scowling and punching him on the arm. “Don’t ever do that again!”
“I won’t!” Ben agreed, laughing and rubbing at the sore spot. He hadn’t thought about girls in a while, but as he looked at Natalie now, he thought just maybe…. “I couldn’t if I tried,” he added, gesturing at his side. “See? No more sword.”
The others all gaped at that, so he quickly explained how the armour had vanished, and Prince Robert’s explanation as to why.
“That makes sense,” Ben’s mum agreed. “Elizabeth always knew that something that powerful could only come at a hefty price or with a whole lot of strings attached. The High Council wouldn’t want to let an artefact that powerful get out of their control.”
Prince Robert and Wren approached, and there was another small reunion. Ben was pleased to see his parents reunited with Wren, who was not only their boss but also their friend. Josh’s dad had gone straight to him, of course, but now they joined the rest of the group, with Abigail as well. Ben couldn’t help feeling a little sad, though, when he thought about the two friends who weren’t able to celebrate the victory with them.
“We’ll need to find Krobeg’s dad,” he mentioned to his friends. “He needs to know that his son didn’t make it and that he died a hero.” The others nodded, especially Charlie and Natalie.
He would be grieved to learn of Krobeg’s death, of course, but it would mean a lot to him to know that he had fulfilled the duty of the Silver Dwarf once and for all. He will be a legend among his people.
“We will give him a hero’s burial,” Prince Robert promised. “And Dagmar as well.” He smiled down at Ben, seeming more relaxed, less driven, than he had before. “And we’ll find a way to honour the rest of you as well, but without giving away the secret of the Guardians and the armour. Just in case.”
“We’ll also clear up that little misunderstanding before you left,” Wren promised with a wink. That made Ben and Josh breathe more easily. They had been caught trying to sneak away and charged with desertion! If not for Natalie, they’d still be in cells beneath the Institute right now.
The Institute! Ben smiled, thinking about the school. Now that the war was over, they could return there, but this time he’d have his parents there with him. How cool was that? His thoughts turned to the lessons that had been interrupted by Suktar’s attempt at conquest. Classes might seem a little dull after all their recent excitement, but right now a little dull sounded just grand. And soon enough Ben knew that he, Charlie and Natalie, and the others would be graduating and becoming full-fledged Institute members in their own right. He smiled at both of them. Natalie flushed, which made Ben feel a bit warm as well, but she did smile back.
*
It didn’t take long to get out of the palace and its surrounding area, and then make their way up a short hill to a clearing where Wren and the prince had tethered two enormous golden dragons. The dark elves they passed were more interested in tending to their wounded than tangling with a band of Institute members, and no one followed them.
Natalie immediately ran up to one of them squealing. “Oooh - you brought her! She’s as beautiful as ever!” Wren smiled as she put her hand on the magnificent beast. “When we first suspected where you were, the Prince commandeered them. It was our only chance of getting here in time.” Ben had never seen anything so fantastical, and even though Natalie had told him about the majestic creatures, seeing them first hand was something else entirely.
The sun was near to setting now, so everyone agreed it made sense to eat something and then sleep. First thing in the morning they would head straight back to Taecia.
After dinner, the adults gathered around a fire to discuss matters, which was fine with Ben. He and his friends seated themselves around a merry little fire of their own, each of them sporting a flask of hot tea. Ben had been amazed with the harness on Wren’s dragon. Not only did it look ridiculously comfy and have enough space for multiple people, it also had flaps on either side that could contain food and drink for long distance travelling.
Abigail was sitting close to Joshua, while Ben sat with Natalie to his left and Charlie to his right, and Ben couldn’t help smiling. He could tell that they all had a feeling of relief and relaxation that none of them had felt for a long time.
Even so, he knew that he had best make good use of this time. He looked around and quietly drew his spellshooter, pointing above them. With hardly any effort he fired a spell into the air, creating a small, invisible dome that would give them some privacy.
Natalie noticed immediately and straightened up. “Ben, what’s happening?” She looked around, worry creasing her forehead.
Ben put a hand on her arm to calm her. “It’s alright, I just wanted to talk. And stop looking around like that, Charlie! It makes us seem suspicious.”
Charlie whipped his head back around to Ben in an entirely obvious way. “Sorry! I mean, sorry.”
Joshua and Abigail hadn’t said anything, but Ben could see they knew what he was up to. “It’s about the armour. I didn’t tell the prince or Wren exactly what happened.”
Charlie’s eyes opened a bit wider than usual, and Natalie arched an eyebrow. Ben went ahead and filled them in, not leaving out any of the details.
His best friend sat back when he was done, leaning against a large tree. “Honestly, Ben, it couldn’t just be over, could it? I mean, we just flew dragons across the world, invaded a hostile country, freed prisoners and took out the most powerful elf in the Unseen Kingdoms. Is it too much to hope that we could have maybe a few days to pretend we’re just normal apprentices in the Institute of Magic?”
His delivery was so melodramatic Natalie started giggling, and Abigail joined in. Ben smiled too, and was glad to see even Joshua slap Charlie good-naturedly on the back. Charlie was chuckling too, shaking his head at it all, and for a minute they just enjoyed the moment.
When that finished, they turned their attention back to Ben, waiting expectantly for him to continue.
“Here’s what I’m thinking,” he told them. “Charlie, when we get back, you find all the info you can on this ‘Wilde’. We need to know as much about it as possible. Natalie, I think you might have more luck looking into extremely powerful elves and elven lore.” He looked at Joshua and Abigail, eyes intent. “The three of us might end up going on a few scouting trips as needed, to follow any leads.”
He ran his hand through his messy hair, his mind focusing hard on the various possibilities.
“I’ve been thinking about it for the last few hours and I’ve come up with a really good plan.”
They all groaned, and Natalie threw a clump of grass at him.
“What?” he yelped.
Joshua got up and launched himself at Ben with a shout of “Bundle!” They all piled on top of Ben as he tried to scramble away, thinking that he was pretty sure this wasn’t how leaders were usually treated, but he couldn’t stop himself from laughing along with them.