by Victor Kloss
“So why did you want to see us?” Ben said. “It's clear you have about as much love for the Institute as I do for cucumber sandwiches.”
“That's exactly why I wanted to see you,” Lornor said. “For over two hundred years, the Institute and I have not been on speaking terms, since their horrific culling of the forreck. Now, in the last two weeks, I suddenly get two separate visits. I am curious.”
“Two visits?”
Ben's question was chorused by Natalie and Charlie.
“Ah, you did not know,” Lornor said. “Further confirmation of the Institute's inept management.”
Ben's throat suddenly felt dry. “Who else came here?”
This time, Lornor had eyes only for Ben. “You know, already, I think.”
“My parents,” Ben whispered, barely able to get the words out. “What did they want?”
Lornor gave a humourless chuckle. “Information on forrecks. Isn't it ironic? The Institute are responsible for the eradication of one of the most incredible animals in the Unseen Kingdoms, and now suddenly they are interested in them.”
“What did you tell my parents?” Ben asked, the question coming out before he realised how presumptuous it was. But Lornor seemed to be enjoying himself.
“I gave them little titbits,” Lornor said, giving his cat an even firmer stroke. “Enough to whet their appetites, taunting them with information while withholding any truly important data. They wanted to know if there were any forrecks left; I told them there may be one, though I didn't tell them where. They asked if I knew of any potential forreck weakness. I told them I did, but refused to disclose what it was. As you can imagine, your parents became rather frustrated.”
Lornor gave another little smile that Ben was starting to find increasingly annoying, and he had to resist an urge to step forwards and throttle the old elf.
“I know what you are thinking, young Greenwood,” Lornor said, his voice soft. “You are wondering how you might extract the information your parents tried so hard to obtain.” Lornor made a tutting noise. “I'm afraid that, just like your parents, you will fail.”
Ben bit his lip in frustration, and felt blood on his tongue. He turned to Natalie and Charlie – both were shooting dagger-like stares at Lornor, but neither made any move to do anything. Ben thought fast. They could not leave this room without getting that information.
“As pleasurable as thwarting the Institute is, I must be getting back to work,” Lornor said. “Which means it's time for you to go.”
Lornor looked pointedly at their chests.
Their security badges started flashing and making small beeping noises.
“Ah, right on time,” Lornor said, with another smile. He massaged his hand, before resuming his cat-stroking. “Security should be here any moment. As much as I despised your parents, young Greenwood, their escape did impress me. However, I am quite certain you will not be as lucky.”
“We should go,” Charlie said, looking at the door anxiously.
“No,” Ben said. An idea was forming. A desperate one.
Ben moved quickly, and yanked Natalie's spellshooter from her holster. In three quick steps, he approached Lornor, who shrank back, more in surprise than fear. But Ben wasn't going for the elf. He yanked the cat off the desk and took a step back. He pointed the spellshooter at the cat's head, so the tip entered its ear.
“Start talking or the cat gets it,” Ben said, with a savageness and brutality that surprised even him.
To his surprise and delight, Lornor's confidence showed its first crack, a small flicker of fear, quickly hidden by a stone-faced stare.
“You think you can blackmail me with the cat?” Lornor laughed, but Ben could tell it was forced.
“Let's see, shall we?” Ben said, with a nasty smile. “Let's see how pussy responds to being engulfed in flames.”
Lornor's hard face cracked again, but to Ben's frustration, he kept his mouth firmly shut. There was only one thing for it. Ben focused, and summoned forth the spell. He watched as the red pellet made its way down the orb, towards the barrel.
“Ben, don't!” Natalie said, rushing forwards and grabbing his arm.
He nearly lost focus of the spell, and it retreated back up the orb slightly before he could command it down again. He glanced again at Lornor and saw that he too was watching the pellet, his eyes widening as it floated back towards the barrel.
Natalie tugged on his arm again. Ben wanted to shrug her off, but doing so would cost him valuable seconds – seconds they didn't have. Security would be here any moment. Ben thought he could hear footsteps outside the door, but it was hard to tell with the blood pounding in his ears.
Charlie stepped forwards suddenly, and pulled Natalie back.
“Do it, Ben,” he said, with relish, his eyes alight. “Light the cat up. Let's see if it survives longer than our experiment with Rusty the dog.”
Lornor's fear turned to incredulity, and he extended a hand out before he could stop himself.
“Stop!” he said. “What is it you want?”
Ben felt like hugging Charlie; his acting skills really were top notch. He gave Lornor a grim smile, but didn't release the cat. “First, I want you to write down the location of any surviving forrecks.”
Lornor gave Ben a look of pure hatred. “There is only one that I know of, and it has only survived due to extraordinary circumstance. It was owned by someone with very close ties to the Institute. Her name was Charlotte Rowe.”
Ben felt his heart leap from his chest to his throat. Beside him, he saw Charlie and Natalie stiffen.
“Where can we find this forreck?” Ben asked.
“If he still survives, he probably resides where he always has: in the cavern beneath the Institute.”
“I didn't know there was a cavern beneath the Institute.”
“Not many people do. It was sealed off many years ago. You won't find it easy to get to. Forrecks like being underground, so he will most likely be at the deepest level of the cavern. I have heard the cavern beneath the Institute is one of the deepest in the Unseen Kingdoms.”
Ben swallowed his elation. More noise erupted from behind the door, but thankfully nobody seemed intent on entering the room, yet.
“We need to get going,” Charlie said, once more looking anxiously at the door.
“You won't escape,” Lornor said, regaining a fraction of his confidence. “And when they catch you, I am going to make sure you suffer.”
“A bit like your cat, if you don't answer my next question,” Ben said. “What weakness does the forreck have that you hint at in your books?”
Lornor took an age to reply, and for a moment Ben thought he was going to have to take drastic action.
“Solar eclipse,” Lornor said, eventually, the words coming reluctantly from his lips. “For some reason, the blocking of the sun affects the forreck. There is one next Friday, as it happens, not that it matters to you, as you won't be leaving here for a long time.”
“A solar eclipse doesn't last long, though,” Charlie said, ignoring Lornor's taunting.
“No, but I suspect that the forreck is affected at least an hour before and after the incident,” Lornor said. “As I said, I haven't accumulated sufficient evidence to support this theory. Nor do I know how debilitating the effect will be on the forreck.”
Ben could sense Lornor had finished talking, and that he wasn't going to learn anything more, cat or no cat. Ben quickly placed the cat back onto the desk, and whispered an apology into her ear.
Lornor glared at him, and grabbed his cat with both hands.
“Let's get out of here,” Ben said, handing Natalie back her spellshooter.
A sudden pounding on the door made Ben jump, and a commanding voice spoke. “Open up and relinquish your weapons! This is SpellWorks security. You have ten seconds.”
— Chapter Twenty-Two —
Desperate Escape
Lornor's smile turned into a grin. “Ah, there we are, right on time. I'm goi
ng to enjoy this.”
Ben, Charlie and Natalie turned and stared at the door as if it had just grown tentacles.
“We're trapped!” Charlie said, his hands going to his forehead.
“At least the door seems to be locked,” Natalie said.
Lornor coughed. “Oh, not for long.” He waved a hand, and the top bolt snapped open. Another wave and the middle one did likewise.
Ben dipped his hand into his pocket, curling around his dad's pouch. He took a deep breath and concentrated, pushing aside the fact that they had seconds before they were caught and searching for a spell that might help them.
Bingo.
The bottom and final bolt started to open, but it seemed to happen in slow motion, as if Lornor was trying to draw out their agony.
“Natalie, when the door opens, fire something at them,” Ben said.
“Like what?” Natalie said. To her credit she kept the incredulity from her voice, but not the desperation. “I don't have anything strong enough to harm these people.”
“Doesn't matter,” Ben said. “Just make sure it's obvious; some sort of fireball or ice blast would be good.” He turned to include Charlie. “As soon as the spell has been fired, I want both of you to hit the floor and cover your heads. You got that?”
“I get that you're babbling nonsense, yes,” Charlie said, wiping his sweaty forehead. “What are you planning?”
Ben didn't have time to answer. The bottom bolt snapped to the right and the door burst inwards, almost coming off its hinges.
Through the door came two uniformed, identical-looking elves. They wore suits of silver armour that looked so supple they could almost be leather. Over the armour were elaborate blue and white jackets that came down to their knees. On their heads were tall, shiny helmets, increasing their already impressive height. Both elves were armed with short swords, and their free hands were glowing with a pale white energy.
“Now!” Ben said, turning urgently to Natalie.
Natalie's spellshooter was shaking slightly, but she grimaced, eyes narrowing, and pulled the trigger. A burning, sizzling star-shaped object spun its way towards the two security guards, crackling and hissing as it cut through the air.
Both security guards stared at the fiery object with a flicker of surprise. One of them raised a hand in the most subtle of movements, but Ben didn't wait to see how he snuffed out the spell. For a second at least, they were both distracted by Natalie's attack.
Ben called forth the spell from his dad's pouch and felt it touch his fingers. The power of it made him gasp. Would he be able to cast something this strong? No time to worry about that now. Ben plucked the spell from the pouch and threw it as hard as he could, with every ounce of intention and willpower he could muster, piling everything he had learnt during his spellshooter lessons into one throw. Ben just had time to see the pellet hit the floor between the two security guards before he hit the deck, covering his head.
The explosion was deafening. The blast of air was so intense Ben was almost lifted off the floor. He felt objects flying and heard books knocked off the shelves, followed by several large thumps. It was all over in seconds. Ben lifted his head. There were books everywhere; you could barely see the floor. The security guards were no longer standing by the door, but had been thrown against one of the book shelves, which had collapsed on them.
“What was that?” Charlie asked, after they had all picked themselves up.
“A twister,” Ben said. “Huge blasts of swirling air. I have to admit, I didn't expect such spectacular results. I wish I could have seen it.”
“Where did you get such a powerful spell?” Charlie asked.
“And how were you able to cast it?” Natalie added, looking even more astonished than Charlie.
“I'll explain later. Let's get going before reinforcements arrive.”
They re-emerged into the hallway and Ben checked both ways, searching for trouble. All three of them had removed their security badges and left them on the desk of the stupefied Lornor.
“Where to now?” Charlie asked. “Surely the entrance will be blocked?”
“Yes, the entrance is out of the question,” Ben said. He started walking down the passageway, followed quickly by Charlie and Natalie.
“Where else can we go?” Natalie said.
They quickly came to a fork in the passageway, and Ben scrutinised both options, before choosing the steeper of the two.
“We go up,” Ben said.
To Ben's surprise, neither Charlie nor Natalie questioned his decision. He suspected they might have guessed his plan, but neither had anything better to offer.
Ben searched out every staircase he could find, and slowly they started ascending the castle. Charlie stiffened every time they passed someone, though that became increasingly less frequent and most paid them no heed. In fact, many didn't even make eye contact with them, which Ben started to find troubling, though he didn't mention it to the other two, preferring not to worry them.
“Guards!” Charlie hissed, as a couple of elves, dressed identically to those they had met in Lornor's room, appeared round the corner.
Ben spotted a door just ahead of them and quickly rammed it open. They bundled into a darkened room. Ben's eyes quickly adjusted and he was relieved to find that they were in a small storage facility. The only noise came from their breathing, which was so loud Ben thought it might give them away. But after a slow count to sixty, it was clear the guards hadn't spotted them, and they continued on their way.
Twice more they had to take detours or scramble to find a place to hide, as security guards passed them by. Ben was just starting to wonder if they would ever make it to the top, when he saw a steep spiral staircase that led up to a large circular hole in the ceiling. Through the hole Ben could see clear blue sky.
“Here we are!” Ben said, rubbing his hands.
“I think I know where this is going, and I don't like it,” Charlie said, as he followed Ben up the staircase.
“Well, feel free to suggest an alternate plan,” Ben said. The stairs were so steep he had to use hands and feet to climb them.
“Politely giving ourselves up comes to mind,” Charlie muttered. “I mean, we're just kids. Are they really going to imprison us?”
“Yes,” Natalie said firmly. “SpellWorks can be ruthless. I know a guy who tried to steal a prototype of some invisible armour. SpellWorks locked him away for two years.”
“Wow,” Charlie said. “That's just what I needed to hear moments before our inevitable capture.”
“A little optimism wouldn't go amiss,” Ben said.
He reached the top of the stairs and poked his head through. A pleasant breeze greeted him and he took a deep breath, relishing the open air and potential freedom.
Just like the Royal Institute of Magic, the roof of SpellWorks Inc. consisted of paddocks. These ones were smaller than the Institute's, but at the same time more spacious and infinitely nicer. There was no smell of pooh, and the grass intersecting the paddocks was perfectly cut. There were sprawling trees at regular intervals, creating an almost park-like feel.
Ben stood up and surveyed the scene, while Charlie and Natalie scrambled up through the hole. The paddocks were primarily filled with pegasus. Their white coats and gold wings gave them a majestic, almost regal look.
“Can you fly one of those?” Ben asked Natalie. She was staring at them with a half-open mouth, and had a peculiar starry look in her eyes.
“I've always wanted to fly an Egyptian Pegasus. Yes, I can ride them.” She seemed so eager that she almost started walking without them.
“I know I'm going to sound like a pessimist again, but isn't this a bit easy?” Charlie said. “You really think they're just going to let us walk up to one of those things and fly away?”
Ben didn't answer. He had been wondering the same thing. Other than the animals, the place was completely deserted. His skin started to get tingly; something didn't feel right.
“Come on,�
� Natalie said, grabbing both Ben’s and Charlie's arms. There was a wondrous look in her eyes that was clearly blinding any danger she might have sensed. “Let's go and saddle up. I want to see if the wings are as soft as I've read.”
They took one step forwards.
The security guards materialised from nowhere. One moment the path to freedom was clear; the next, they found themselves surrounded by five fully armoured elves. The one directly in front of them stepped forwards. He looked identical to the others, except for a long, blue feather protruding from his helmet.
“We have been expecting you,” the guard spoke, in a calm, measured voice. “It will be easier if you come quietly, but, of course, that is up to you.”
“I say we go quietly,” Charlie whispered, trying to limit his mouth movement.
“I bet we could make it back down the hole,” Natalie said.
“No,” Ben said firmly. “There's no way out that way.”
His hand went into his pouch and he started feeling for the spells. There weren't many defensive spells left, and his options were limited.
“When I give the go-ahead, we run to that pegasus on the left,” Ben said.
He had hoped the security guards would come towards them, creating a scene of disorganisation, but these guards were a cool bunch, and stayed their distance. Ben cursed. He was going to have to make the first move.
“Ready?” he said softly. The little pellet in the pouch touched his fingertips and he rubbed it gently.
“Of course not,” Charlie said, with a hint of anger. “Ready for what?”
“To run,” Ben said. He took out the pellet and threw it on the floor in front of them. Immediately a silky, ethereal net surrounded them, hovering inches above the ground.
“Now!” Ben shouted.
Ben started running, Natalie and Charlie right behind him. The net warped to encapsulate all three of them as they ran. From the corner of Ben's eye he saw two small missiles, cutting through the air and leaving a smoky trail. They cannoned into the field and exploded. The net saved them, but the vibrations nearly threw Ben from his feet. He barely had time to recover when two more hit the net, and Ben saw its fibres start to weaken.