Royal Institute of Magic: Elizabeth's Legacy

by Victor Kloss

  They left the forest and were soon flying over endless sea. Occasionally Ben made out a ship below or a plane above. He kept a close eye on the sun; it seemed to be getting lower at an alarming rate. Hours had passed, and Ben felt sore and stiff from holding onto the wyvern, when they finally sighted land again. Taecia’s coastline materialised below and they soared inland, above hills and small lakes.

  The constant sound of wind and flapping wings was broken by Alex.

  “The gateway lies in the next valley, right by a lake. Our best chance is surprise, so I’m going to hit them hard and fast. Lean forward and flatten yourselves as much as you can to minimise yourself as a target. Any questions?”

  The anticipation sent Ben’s heart racing. He could only imagine what Charlie was thinking.

  Sure enough, it was Charlie who spoke.

  “I don’t want to sound like a pessimist, but could you give us a figure, a percent, of our chance of success? Are we looking at fifty–fifty, or is that too optimistic? Because I thought these dark elves were dangerous.”

  “They are dangerous,” Alex replied, shooting them a quick smile. “But so is a wyvern and so am I.”

  “You didn’t answer my question,” Charlie said to himself.

  Feeling the wyvern beneath him and with Alex at the helm, Ben realised for the first time they were going into this conflict with powerful allies.

  Just how powerful he was about to find out.

  They sailed over a hill and the wyvern dived into the valley like a hawk spotting its prey. The acceleration was intense. Charlie screamed, but it was muted by the whistling wind. Leaning to the side, Ben could make out the lake in the distance and a handful of figures by the bank. They seemed small and insignificant compared to the might of the wyvern. But they weren’t small for long; the wyvern was closing quickly. Ben saw something ignite by the lake and a moment later, a huge purple fireball was coming right at them.

  “Flatten yourselves!” Alex cried.

  Ben just had time to lean into Alex, feeling Charlie cling to him from behind, when the wyvern pitched left. The fireball missed them by inches, the heat warming the air.

  More fireballs followed. One seemed destined to hit them until the wyvern fired his own to counter it. Ben couldn’t help peering out from his covered position and gasped when he saw how quickly the valley was rising up to greet them. He could see the purple uniforms of the dark elves and their extended arms, hands glowing. Alex had his Spellshooter out and was firing peculiar, red and white, twirling missiles, which reminded Ben of candy. They were effective, honing in on their targets and knocking the dark elves for six. Several of them were already fleeing.

  “Get ready to land!” Alex said, his voice wild with exhilaration.

  The wyvern’s small legs came out, it steadied its wings and with a small thump they landed in the valley.

  Many dark elves lay motionless on the ground, but a few were still fighting. Ben leapt off the wyvern and used it as a shield, putting the huge animal between him and the elves. He saw several flashes and the wyvern roared in pain. It stood up on its hind legs, extending to its full height so for a second they were no longer shielded by its body.

  There were few dark elves left, but they were fighting gamely, duelling with Alex who was firing, ducking and rolling with a speed Ben hadn’t thought possible.

  The last one went down and Ben ran round to join Alex. His smile was grim, triumphant, but his eyes were focused on a couple of dark elves scampering through the valley.

  “I need to finish them off before they can call for back-up. I will meet you on the other side. Don’t wait here, it’s too dangerous.”

  Alex leapt back onto the wyvern, looking every inch a Western cowboy.

  With incredible speed, he fired something at Ben and Charlie in rapid succession. Ben felt something hit his chest and saw a thin film envelope him.

  “That should help keep you out of trouble,” Alex said, giving them a crooked grin and a wink. He slapped the wyvern and took off, chasing the fleeing dark elves and leaving the two of them alone in the valley.

  — Chapter Twenty-Eight —

  The Floating Prison

  Ben watched Alex fly away, his heartbeat slowly working its way back to normal. Everything had happened so quickly; the raid had only lasted minutes, but Ben remembered every second so clearly it seemed longer. He felt breathless despite contributing very little to the action.

  He shook himself into action. “Let's get going. Where is the gateway entrance?”

  The question snapped Charlie out of his stupor. He searched the valley floor but saw nothing unusual. He looked again, more thoroughly this time. Still nothing.

  “I know hindsight is a wonderful thing,” Charlie said, “but do you think we should have asked Alex what we’re looking for? Because I can’t see a thing.”

  “There!” Ben said. He was pointing to a spot of grass less than fifty yards away, next to the bank of the lake. There was a peculiar ripple in the air about the size of a doorway. They approached it cautiously.

  Ben lifted a leg. He was going to step through the gateway when Charlie grabbed him. “Hold on a second!”

  “What for?” Ben was so eager to go through, it took considerable willpower to stop himself.

  “Once we go through, we can’t come back.”

  “I know that. So?”

  Charlie’s eyes provided the answer. This was the point of no return. “From everything we’ve heard about the Floating Prison, it seems like it would make more sense to wait here.”

  “It won’t be safe for long.” Ben replied. “If just one of the dark elves crests that hill and spots us, we’re done for. They will follow us through the gateway. We should go now, while nobody knows we’re here.”

  Ben felt Charlie’s unease and he put an arm around his shoulder.

  “As soon as we’re through the gateway, we’ll find somewhere to hide and wait until Alex shows up. I’m sure that spell he cast on us will help somehow.”

  Charlie finally nodded. “I don’t like the way he just ran off like that.”

  “He had to stop the dark elves getting help,” Ben said.

  “I know. I just wish he could have warned us that this might happen.”

  Ben felt some of Charlie’s concern, but brushed it aside in his desire to get going. He walked up to the gateway until his nose almost touched the ripples. Tentatively, he poked a finger through. It felt cool – the temperature was clearly colder on the other side. He retracted his finger and inspected it. Everything looked normal.

  “Here we go,” he said.

  He held his breath and stepped through.

  It felt like the first step off an aeroplane when you leave the pressurised cabin and feel the atmosphere of your new destination. There was a cold wind and his enchanted jacket automatically adjusted to compensate. He turned around and saw immediately why there was no turning back. The gateway from this side didn’t exist; it was as if he had arrived by stepping through nothing.

  Ben took in his new surroundings quickly and relaxed a fraction when he discovered he was alone. He was on a winding dirt path bordered on the left by sparse brambles. Beyond the brambles was a steep hill and on top of that Ben could make out the prison. He gasped in wonder. It looked like a giant hexagonal jewel made into a building. It was black and looked every bit as majestic as the brightest gem. There were no windows or doors, as if the designer knew such thing would detract from the prison’s flawless beauty. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how you would get in.

  Ben eventually turned his attention to the other side of the dirt path and gave a start. Thick bog land stretched downhill for a short distance before ending abruptly. Beyond the edge there was nothing. Thousands of feet below Ben saw water. He was right on the island’s edge. Ben felt dizzy and looked away, concentrating on solid ground.

  Charlie soon appeared out of thin air as he too passed through the gateway. “Is it safe?”

  “Yes, we
’re alone.”

  The predictable gasps from Charlie came as he saw the prison and the island’s edge. He tore his eyes away and started looking nervously up and down the path. It curved out of sight limiting their view.

  “I don’t like it here. We should find a place to hide,” Charlie said.

  They found a ditch nestled within the brambles close by where they could still see the gateway. It was deep enough so only their heads were visible above ground, concealed by the brambles.

  Ben gazed at the sun on the horizon and cursed. Wherever the gateway had taken them, it was later in the day than Taecia. He estimated it no more than an hour before sunset.

  Despite the confined space in the ditch, Ben kept bouncing up and down on his haunches, wanting to be ready the moment Alex arrived. He wasn’t concerned when Alex didn’t turn up after five minutes of waiting; after all, several dark elves had escaped and chasing each one would take a bit of time, especially if they put up a fight. But when ten minutes had elapsed without any sign of Alex, Ben got his first twinge of concern.

  “Something isn’t right,” Charlie said.

  “He’ll be here soon.”

  Fifteen minutes passed and Ben cursed. He was now looking at the sun every thirty seconds, watching its unrelenting approach to the horizon. With every passing minute, Ben became more restless. Where was he? Alex knew the time crunch. Could he have been caught? Having seen him in action with the monstrous wyvern, he doubted it. He must still be tracking down the dark elves. Ben waited as long as he could bear, but eventually he was forced into a decision.

  “We have to get going,” Ben said.

  “Are you mad? We might as well jump off that cliff.”

  Their argument was cut short by voices. They flattened themselves against the ditch and peered towards the gateway. Three figures appeared from nowhere, stepping through the gateway and stopping on the path.

  Ben’s heart sank.

  Alex was flanked by two dark elves. He had been caught.

  “Why are we stopping?” Alex asked. His voice was clear, for they were less than twenty paces away. He didn’t sound scared, but then Alex didn’t strike Ben as someone who was easily afraid.

  “The children are here.”

  Ben’s stomach did a somersault. Elessar’s soft, compelling voice was unmistakable. He turned, his purple eyes scanning the brambles. They were well concealed, but Ben ducked anyway.

  Alex didn’t turn round. “Are you sure?”

  “I can see the orange beacons from your spell. I told you they would wait.”

  Charlie gasped, giving away their position completely. Ben’s mind felt sluggish; he was confused. Alex was one of their only allies. He was a close friend of his parents; he couldn’t be a traitor.

  “Pick them up,” Alex said. He sounded almost bored. “I will meet you on the hill. Make sure you bring your side of the bargain with you.”

  “You will get it after the execution, not before. I will not sacrifice the pouch before I am certain we have the Greenwoods.”

  “Really?” Alex finally turned around. His face was contorted with such anger, he was unrecognisable. “I can stop Ben’s heartbeat with the spell I have on him, so don’t mess me around.”

  “You do that and you won't leave here alive.”

  “Maybe not, but neither will you,” Alex said, his face twisting into a nasty smile.

  Elessar narrowed his eyes. “I thought we had an agreement. It was you who came to us, remember?”

  “Wrong. I never had an allegiance. I worked at the Institute because the pay was good. But when your armies started consuming the Unseen Kingdoms, I needed dark elf cooperation to maintain my lucrative trade routes. That’s all this is – business. Now, are you in or out?”

  There was a moment’s silence as the two faced each other in a stand-off.

  “I will give you the pouch when we reach the hill,” Elessar said finally.

  Alex nodded and, without further ado, marched up the winding path, away from them and out of sight.

  Elessar watched him go and then turned back towards them. Ben was barely peeking out of his hiding place, but Elessar’s eyes somehow found him and he smiled.

  “I see you,” Elessar mouthed.

  “Oh crap,” Charlie whispered.

  For an instant Ben was paralysed with shock. Elessar and the other dark elf were walking towards them in a slow, unconcerned fashion that implied they had all the time in the world.

  “Move!” Ben shouted, pushing Charlie who was doing a creditable impression of a rock.

  Charlie jumped and then thrust himself through the brambles and out of the ditch. Ben followed, but as he clambered out he knew they were too slow. The dark elves were almost on top of them. Charlie turned to run, but Elessar raised a hand and sent a spell in the shape of a swirling boomerang that tripped him up and roped his hands and legs. Charlie fell face first onto the dirt path, having run no more than a few paces. Ben anticipated the same spell and tensed himself, but it never came. Elessar drew a sword and with inhuman speed thrust it at Ben’s neck. Before Ben could blink, the sword was at his throat.

  “Good evening, Ben Greenwood. Let us get the pleasantries out the way. Your friend has no purpose here. If you put so much as a foot out of place, he dies and we get to see if your protective spell can stop me beheading you. Do I make myself clear?”

  Ben nodded, or tried to, as it was difficult with the sword pricking the skin of his Adam’s apple.

  “Excellent. Well, we should get going. You wouldn’t want to miss your own execution, would you?”

  Charlie and Ben were marched along in front of the dark elves. Charlie was still bound and was reduced to shuffling forward; Ben could feel the dark elf’s sword in his back every time he slowed.

  He felt so confused his head was spinning; only the pain from the sword kept him steady. It didn’t make sense. It wasn’t possible, but the change in Alex was unmistakable.

  “Why?”

  It was Charlie who asked the question. Ben couldn’t offer any explanation and so they continued in silence. With great effort, Ben attempted to take his mind off the betrayal. They had left the prison behind and were now walking inland, up a gentle slope. The landscape was wild, the long grass wet and muddy. Huge boulders were sprawled across the hillside, some of them as big as houses and carved into shape by the relentless wind.

  They entered a clump of trees, and the moment they came out the other side, Ben saw their destination. It was a much larger hill, dwarfing everything around it. The top was a plateau and on it were several huge boulders. One lay on top of two others, creating the impression of two walls and a roof. There were people on the plateau: dark elves, though just how many was difficult to tell at this distance. Underneath the “roof” was another figure, who stood out because of her small size and wavy hair.

  Natalie.

  “I see her too,” Charlie said, seeing Ben tense.

  They began their ascent up the large hill. The sun was fast approaching the horizon and every time he looked at it his stomach churned. Were his parents here on the island? If they weren’t, he was in deep trouble.

  “Any plan?” Charlie whispered, managing a small, nervous smile. “I’d take anything right now.”

  “My parents,” Ben said, putting as much certainty into his voice as possible, but the tremor made it rather unconvincing. “They are here, I know it. They will rescue us.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  The last few steps before they crested the giant hill were surreal. Ben was walking to his execution, yet deep down there was a well of hope that staved off despair. In moments he could be seeing his parents again. But right now it wasn’t his parents he was thinking of; it was Natalie. She stood underneath the giant, horizontal stone, her hands and legs magically bound. She had a cut on her forehead and looked exhausted.

  She looked at Ben and then Charlie as they reached the hilltop, her green eyes full of anguish.

  “O
h why did you come? It’s a trap.”

  “We hadn’t noticed,” Ben said, glancing at Charlie. But Charlie wasn’t listening. He was staring at a lady slumped to the side, her back resting against one of the vertical stones.

  It was Wren.

  She looked beaten, her dress was torn and her normally pinned up hair was a mess. Her eyes were closed and her breathing faint. Ben stared at her in despair. Deep down he had hoped Wren might somehow learn of Alex’s deception and come to their aid. Maybe she had, but she had failed.

  The sword at Ben’s back poked him and he and Charlie were directed under the large stone next to Natalie.

  “Alex, tie him,” Elessar ordered.

  Ben looked up just as Alex fired a spell into his chest. Ropes magically appeared, binding his hands and feet. So Elessar knew Ben’s spell only worked against dark elf magic.

  “We are ready, Your Highness,” Elessar said with a bow, his eyes fixed firmly on the grass by his feet.

  “Now we wait.”

  The new voice almost knocked Ben over. It was soft like Elessar’s but spoken with ten times the power, making Ben’s hair stand on end. He turned to the speaker, but his eyes started to burn the moment he looked at him. He was taller and broader than any other dark elf he’d seen. He wore a small crown and draped over his shoulders was a magnificent purple cloak adorned with gold hieroglyphs. If the crown hadn’t given away the elf’s authority, there were four huge bodyguards with swords that could slice a tree in two.

  Ben had always pictured King Suktar older – after all, he was alive during Elizabeth I’s reign. But if anything, his face had a hint of youth in it.

  There were at least a dozen other dark elves around the edge of the plateau, searching the surrounding hills for his parents. He spotted Alex standing a little distance away, next to Elessar.

  Ben had restrained himself until now, but seeing Alex with Elessar talking amongst themselves was too much.

  “Oi!” he shouted. “You treacherous lowlife, I trusted you. You’re going to pay. My parents will bring you down!”