Moonlight War- Act I (The Realmers Book 2)

by William Collins

  “Uh, what’s going on?”

  “Oh, you need to use your illusion magic to break through the glamour placed on Seelie Square. I assume they taught you how?”

  She nodded. Padrake had taught her how to break illusions when she’d been an Apprentice.

  She raised her hands, imagining pulling apart a set of curtains in her minds-eye. It didn’t work the first time, or the second, but on her third try she felt her hands peel back an invisible force, and suddenly the empty square was bursting with activity.

  The darkened cobblestones morphed into icy blue flagstones, the formerly abandoned shop buildings bloomed with multicoloured light and the square itself suddenly teemed with over a hundred people. Dozens of market stalls popped into existence, dotted around the square in a ring. Elves, goblins and gnomes shopped alongside witches, druids and shaman.

  She longed to browse the various bizarre and intriguing items on the stalls and in shop windows, but Arantay strode ahead of her whenever she slowed to look. She managed to glimpse dwarves selling a collection of steel weapons, a wizened orc selling staffs and wands, and an elderly gnome couple at their cake stall. As Brooke passed, the gnomes were sprinkling their cupcakes with fairy dust.

  Other stalls were packing up, however, the merchants getting ready to leave as dawn approached.

  Arantay led her to the northernmost corner of the square where an ancient hotel crouched, the sign by the door read: The Ectoplastic Abode. The architecture was old, much like Master Elorian’s chambers in Veneseron. Brooke didn’t know anything about architecture, despite Elorian babbling about it all the time, but she guessed the hotel would’ve slotted right into Victorian times. However, the ivy and moss plastered all over the building glowed so bright it resembled electricity.

  “Let me guess,” said Brooke, “this is an old hotel the fae took over centuries ago?”

  “So you do listen in class,” Arantay replied, confirming her suspicions. “The fae did own it originally. Although ghosts run it now.”

  “Ghosts!” Her voice broke.

  “Not the nefarious kind,” he said casually as they walked through the creaking doors, “just spirits that haven’t left this world yet.”

  She hadn’t learned much at all about ghosts in class, but Brooke was not expecting them to look so… normal. The hotel’s vast atrium was dark and deserted, lit by only a few candles flickering in the walls. Ironically it looked like a cliché haunted house from the movies. Moments later she realised it wasn’t deserted after all. A woman sat behind the reception desk and a man was sweeping in the corner. Brooke wondered why she hadn’t noticed them straight away.

  “One room please, for two days.” Arantay spoke to the receptionist as they headed to the desk, walking across a thick, musty carpet.

  The receptionist had been sitting completely still, as if she was a mannequin. But she looked up as Tay spoke, blinking in surprise.

  Brooke figured he might’ve been lying about spirits running the hotel. Other than the fact she was wearing a corset, the receptionist appeared normal. Her skin wasn’t startlingly white or see-through, and she wasn’t floating in the air either.

  “Yes, not a problem sir and Madame,” she said. Brooke half-expected her voice to be slow and spooky. Arantay must’ve been joking after all.

  As the receptionist picked up her pen to make a record of their arrival she abruptly disappeared.

  Brooke yelped stupidly, looking to see if Arantay had seen it too.

  “Where did she go?”

  Tay just smiled and pointed. Brooke looked to see the pen still moving in thin air. She looked round and saw a broom sweeping itself too.

  Suddenly the two ghosts re-appeared, the receptionist was still writing and the man still sweeping. Their expressions showed no sign that anything had happened.

  “What the hell?”

  “Oh,” the receptionist looked up at her. “A side effect milady, we go invisible from time to time, my apologies.”

  “Umm, no worries,” Brooke replied slowly.

  Arantay just smirked, taking the keys the receptionist offered him.

  “Room 115, sir. Second floor and to the left. Enjoy your stay.”

  They murmured their thanks and headed up the stairs. Brooke kept looking at the two ghosts, checking to see if they turned invisible again.

  As they climbed the steps she realised Tay had only ordered one room. Why not two? Were they going to sleep in the same bed? Anxiety and excitement alike blossomed inside of her. Her heart began hammering against her chest.

  At first she thought she was seeing things, but one corridor they passed did indeed have a man submerged in the floor up to his knees. On closer inspection she realised it was the ghost of a faerie knight and he wasn’t stuck in the floor, his legs just moved through it as he walked.

  “Different kind of ghost,” was all Arantay said.

  Minutes later they arrived at their room. It was surprisingly nice, the windows swathed in heavy curtains, an ancient chandelier hanging from the ceiling and two four poster beds.

  Her nervousness subsided a little, although the fact she’d be sleeping so close to Arantay still set her on edge. Brooke found herself sneaking looks at him repeatedly. It was hard to judge what was going on in his head. On the outside Arantay revealed nothing of the emotions he’d shown that day in the forest. But he still seemed subdued, and he no longer smiled like he used too.

  “Ah, I forgot,” Arantay looked at her sheepishly. “You don’t exactly sleep during the day do you? Here.” He pulled out some of the money he showed her earlier, as well as their two Holophones.

  “Feel free to visit the Midnight Market, or anywhere in London. Just call me if you get lost, or into any kind of trouble. I think there’s a spa in the hotel. The ghost who runs it does manicures from 18th-century Paris, when she died.”

  “Thank you.” She took the money and the phone.

  “You should probably return and get some sleep before it gets dark. We might be out all night looking for the rogue.”

  She nodded gratefully and began to leave their room. She slowed her walk as Arantay started to undress and get into bed. But then she hurried to the door, she didn’t want him to catch her looking. As she closed the door behind her she sagged against it for a moment, her mind racing.

  Relax. The mission isn’t that bad so far. Her dread had dissolved now she knew they wouldn’t be facing a deranged werewolf until tonight. But the more she thought about it, the more her nerves threatened to return.

  She took a deep breath, deciding she’d distract herself by looking round Seelie Square, and maybe other parts of London. What happened tonight would happen. Maybe it’d be quick and her first mission would be over soon. Or maybe, everything would turn to chaos.

  Chapter 15- Ascending

  …and then Alwar pulled forth his mighty magical hammer and sundered the demons to oblivion, laughing raucously as he did so.

  Evan smiled at himself as he sat on his bed, looking through what he had just written. An hour earlier the inexplicable feeling to write again had come over him. He wrote of his legendary hero Alwar and his awesome adventures. Like he’d done in his previous life, before he had become a Venator. Back then Alwar had been full of sorrow and anger, but he’d been able to defeat his enemies then when Evan had not. Evan had never stood up to his bullies until the very last time they’d cornered him. Ollie had pushed Evan too far that time, insulting Gran. Evan had snapped and for the first time in his life he’d fought back. His fictional hero was happy now, he still set out on grand adventures like he used too, but this time Alwar was content and at peace with himself. As he pored over his writing it was one of those moments where Evan fully realised all that had happened to him since he’d seen that first demon. He had come so far, yet still he had a long, long way to go. But he was happy, most of the time.

  He had almost managed to push back thoughts of his demon magic. His confrontation with Sintian didn’t help him forget. But
now Vanderain had blocked his power, there wasn’t any chance Sintian could see Evan using it again.

  Evan knew it was evil. He knew that the black mist was more destructive than any ability Venators were capable of, but some dark, hidden part of him longed to summon the mist once more.

  His thoughts turned instead to dreading the upcoming Mid-Realmer trial. His training was going well, but he doubted he was ready to move up a rank. As a Mid-Realmer he’d start going on missions. What if he messed up on a mission and caused people to die?

  Elijah, Jed and Joelle suddenly burst into his room in a panic.

  “It’s happened again, it’s happened again,” Elijah shouted.

  “What are you on about now?” Evan asked.

  “Another Venator has gone missing,” said Jed.

  “Cleo Guire, one of Lyella’s friends,” Joelle explained.

  “Well,” Jed admitted, “another note was found, apparently saying she’d decided to run away.”

  “And she was last seen in the city, just like Cece,” said Elijah.

  “Yes, but isn’t the public gateway for people to travel to and from Veneseron in the city?” Evan said, “So that would make sense.”

  “Yes,” said Joelle as she sat on his bed, “but Cleo would never run away. She’s in loads of my classes. Her and Lyella are always happily gossiping about or picking on other Realmers. She loved it here; she was one of the popular kids. I mean Cleo wasn’t a nice person, but she still doesn’t deserve to get kidnapped.”

  He frowned, not sure he was convinced. “But who would go around kidnapping first Cece, and now this Cleo girl? Dark-Venators?”

  “They don’t know where Veneseron is,” said Elijah.

  “Nor should Kurrlan and his demons, but that didn’t stop them,” Jed grunted.

  “Yeah, but they had help from the inside,” said Joelle. She shot Evan a sideways glance. “Sorry, about Cera, I mean. I knew her for years and never would’ve suspected she could be so… evil.”

  “It’s okay,” he replied, “at least she fooled everyone, not just me.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Elijah said. “Even if Dark-Venators had help from the inside Veneseron would be blocked this time. Now that Vanderain’s here and the Masters have reinforced all the barriers.”

  “So you think it’s someone already in Veneseron,” said Evan.

  “Or someone in the city,” Elijah crossed his arms imperiously. “In fact I believe it is someone living in our city, not a Venator. One of the city races or something, maybe they secretly hate us and have decided to kidnap anyone they can.”

  “That’s quite a theory you’ve got there,” Evan said, raising an eyebrow.

  “What for though?” Jed asked.

  “Umm, a ransom,” Elijah decided. “Whoever this guy is, once he’s kidnapped a group of Venators he’ll try and ransom them to Vanderain for a load of gold. Mark my words. Plus, there’s rumours a Novice boy has gone missing too and he didn’t even leave a note.”

  “What Novice boy?” Evan asked.

  Elijah shrugged. “Gary someone, I overheard some Novices saying he hadn’t been seen in training lately.”

  “Now you’re reaching,” Joelle said. “This Gary could just be off sick. Maybe Evan’s right. I admit it’s odd that two girls have run away so close together. But it could just be a coincidence. Maybe Lyella kicked Cleo out of her gang and Cleo stupidly thought she’d rather leave than not be in her clique.”

  “And Cece really may have just not liked it here,” Jed agreed with a shrug.

  “Really guys,” Elijah exclaimed. “There’s something fishy going on here, I’m telling you. Now, are you going to help me or not?”

  He, Jed and Joelle all looked at each other, bemused.

  “And do what?” Evan said after a pause. “If they are being kidnapped, how can we possibly find out who’s doing it? Surely the Masters would notice something’s wrong and catch the guy. Trist me, Elijah, if a third person runs away I’ll believe there’s something weird going on.”

  Jed and Joelle nodded in agreement.

  “Fine!” Elijah huffed. “Emi will believe me. I’ll go to the city myself and investigate.”

  “Investigate?” Joelle asked, trying to hide a grin.

  “Yes, I’ll snoop around the areas witnesses said they last saw Cece and Cleo. And once I rescue them and put the kidnapper behind bars, you all owe me an apology.” Elijah stormed to Evan’s door, calling back as he left, “and I’ll want an award too, a big one.”

  *

  The next morning Evan headed to Alchemy and Enchantment training. Alchemy at Veneseron was the experimentation of magical rocks, metals and fungi from all across the realms. Today the Mistress Kyoko was showing them all how to turn various metals into gold.

  Jed worked beside him, and Zeke was at his other side. They had to wear gloves as they handled vials of wyvern blood: using the liquid fire substance to corrode rocks. They then mashed various ingredients Evan had never heard of using a mortar and pestle before mixing it all together. The training chamber was filled to the brim with multi-coloured gases and the smells of burning rock.

  After class, as they made their way to lunch, Emi and Joelle hurried past them.

  “Guys,” Emillia didn’t stop as she passed. “They’ve put up the trial teams. C’mon!”

  Even as it dawned on Evan what Emillia was on about, the group was jogging after her.

  “They should be in all the rec rooms in the Apprentice castle,” Emillia shouted as she ran up a flight of steps.

  When they entered the rec room a crowd of Venators surrounded the far wall, where many of the Fortress notices were plastered. A massive green notice had been slapped in the middle, the words shining in golden ink.

  The next four teams competing in the Mid-Realmer Trials.

  Emi pushed her way to the front of the crowd. A second later she cried. “Oh Rueda, there we are!”

  As a lanky Apprentice in front of him moved, Evan caught a glimpse of the board. As his eyes scanned the page, the first three lists had a few familiar names, but not his own. Then he saw the last list.

  Trial Team Four

  Arianna Silcorn

  Emillia Lantley

  Evan Umbra

  Jed Jagger

  Jimmy Revlin

  Iris Moss

  Izekiel Irk

  Sabine Silcorn

  Tristan Chase

  Xavier Ichles

  Several knots sprang into existence in his stomach. It felt like they were wrapped round and constricting his organs. Evan knew he shouldn’t be so nervous. Surely the demon invasion had been harder than any trial, but he couldn’t help it.

  “I thought our trials were private, and we had to face them alone,” said Tristan.

  “That’s your Apprentice trial,” Joelle replied. “Your Mid-Realmer trial is designed to test your teamwork, as we nearly always go out on missions in groups.”

  “Don’t they take place in Dante’s hollow, in front of everyone?” Xavier asked.

  The knots in Evan’s stomach grew tighter.

  “They’ll all laugh at us when we fail,” Emillia said, “there’s no way we’ll pass, we’re not ready.”

  “Don’t be so negative,” said Joelle, “even if you do fail it’ll be fine. I didn’t pass first time, and neither do lots of other people. The Mid-Realmer trials are notoriously hard.”

  “Yeah I heard Tag Domnican didn’t pass until his third attempt.” Xavier looked round the room quickly. “You didn’t hear it from me though, he’d squash me like a Blitterbug.

  “But how’re we supposed to prepare?” Evan asked. “Elijah told me they never reveal what kind of creatures we have to fight, until we meet them on the sands.”

  “There’s a reason for that too,” Joelle explained, “out on missions there’s a chance any kind of enemy can appear at any moment.”

  “Rueda’s balls,” Jed shouted as he read the bottom of the notice, “it says the trials are in ex
actly two days time.”

  Chapter 16- The Pixie Palace

  She and Arantay stood on the streets, gazing at the luxurious nightclub before them.

  People pressed passed them on all sides, milling around the entrance or else adding to the already exhaustive line waiting to be let in. The Pixie Palace, was the name of the club. It wasn’t on Seelie Square, but Arantay said it was a regular haunt for London’s Moonlight Races.

  For once Arantay didn’t earn as many curious stares, he almost looked in place amongst the party goers. A variety of people, all with eccentric appearances, surrounded them. Bright eyeliner, brightly dyed hair and face and body make up was normal here. Brooke couldn’t tell what was makeup and what was supernatural features.

  One girl with spiked black and white hair stopped and said, “Hey man, nice contacts.”

  She was one of many girls admiring Arantay through the crowd. Brooke suppressed any hints of jealousy that might rise. She didn’t want to feel anything for him anymore.

  “The former Dark-Venator will be in here?” Brooke asked.

  “It’s definitely his type of thing, only one way to find out,” Arantay replied, already scanning the crowd.

  “What if he’s not in there, it would take us about three hours to get in with this queue?”

  “You don’t have magical abilities for nothing you know,” he replied.

  Brooke saw a flash of the old Arantay as he laughed softly, the low vibration sending a shiver through her soul and making her toes want to curl.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ll show you.” He leaned forward and took her arm. His touch so pleasant, she shuddered inside as he led her away from crowd and round the side of the club.

  “You can’t teleport yet can you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Okay, have the Masters taught you how to slide through walls or anything similar?”