by Jayne Lyons
'But you didn't know what you were looking for.' The wolf laughed and pointed at a blank wall at the far end of the passageway.
'What is this trickery?' Chester pulled Sugar closer.
'No trickery – it is the doorway you seek.' Flasheart narrowed his green eyes. 'Do not hurt her.'
'Don't put your people in danger for my sake,' said Sugar, struggling against Chester.
Flasheart smiled. 'All will be fine.' He walked to the end of the corridor. 'We must put out the lights.'
'No!' Chester warned.
'I cannot see the secret way without darkness,' Flasheart said calmly, and turned off the switch.
They were plunged into total blackness.
In the dark, Flasheart's Fangen eyes could see what no others could – a faint sliver of light coming from the cracks around the stones in the wall. He pushed one with all his strength. The stone slid back a little.
The blue light became stronger, shining in a square beam into the corridor so that they could all see it, swirling and coiling around.
'What's in there?' Sugar asked.
'The Treasure of Bane,' Chester cried.
'The treasure is nothing of use to you,' Flasheart said evenly.
Chester laughed in disbelief.
'Why, what is it?' Sugar's dark eyes shone in the icy light.
'The wealth of a nation,' the small man whispered, his face gleaming. 'A worth that cannot be calculated. Open it quickly!'
'May you not pay with your life.' Flasheart nodded and took a small silver dagger that had lain in the hole left by the stone.
'What game is this?' Chester demanded. Sugar struggled against his tight grip.
'No game.' Flasheart's sharp white teeth glinted. 'It is deadly serious.' He cut his hairy palm with the knife.
Mrs Mutton watched calmly but Sugar gasped.
'Only the blood of a Lupin can open the Halls of Bane,' he said, and pressed his hand against the stone. As if a thousand tiny lights had been placed in the wall, all the cracks began to emit beams, pointing and searching in every direction. One by one they focused onto Flasheart's palm and then, with a sound as loud as a thunderclap, the stones flew inward.
'Oh my word!' Sugar whispered.
The stone wall had completely disappeared and the corridor now ran on, deep into the ground underneath Farfang. The light was coming from a chamber far below.
'This is your last chance to turn back, Puceley,' Flasheart warned him.
'I'd listen to him, Slimey,' Mrs Mutton agreed.
'Now my triumph is at hand?' Chester roared. 'Never. Walk on – all of you.'
Mrs Mutton and Flasheart exchanged a look and began to walk down the stone passageway.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Treasure of Bane
Freddy stood in his tower room holding the huge sword and shield he had dragged up the spiral staircase. They were Sir Rathbone's own weapons, taken from the suit of armour that stood at the top of the Red Stairs. With it, Freddy's ancestor had defeated his enemies and saved the werefolk from discovery.
Freddy stared at his fireplace. It was an old iron grate with an intricately carved stone surround. During the long hours Freddy had been banished to his room, he had often been mesmerised by the shapes that sprang out of the patterns like 3D puzzles. There was one he had seen most often. He made his eyes lose focus and then he saw it – the shape of a long, pointed sword emerged from the stone.
He sprang forward and held Sir Rathbone's sword against it. The edge of the blade cut his thumb and a single drop of blood sped down the silver sword.
Freddy stared at the drop and felt his head go strange. He staggered a little and then managed to regain control. He didn't like seeing blood.
'Oh, great howls!' Freddy gasped as his fireplace seemed to collapse and fall through the floor.
He looked down. There was a spiral staircase, identical to the one outside his door, running down and out of sight. Far below, there was a bright blue light.
'I hope there aren't any spiders.' He bit his lip. 'Slide of Doom!' he decided with a grin.
'Woo-hoo!' Freddy cried as he shot down the stone steps. He held the shield before him and the sword aloft, as if flying towards his enemy. He thought that he must look very brave and impressive indeed. Just let Chester meet him now.
'Whoops.' He faltered as the tray slid out into a stone chamber. Freddy rolled forward and slammed onto the hard floor with a groan.
'That hurt,' he said and stood up uncertainly. His heart nearly stopped beating.
Illuminated by the light was a figure lying upon a cold stone bed. At each corner of the bed a blue flame burned in a silver goblet. Freddy held his breath and crept forward. The figure was that of a tall man, dressed in silver chain mail and gleaming armour. His face was half covered by the cheek guards of his helmet. The man's skin was as white as snow, and he had a short, pointed grey beard. On his breastplate was a huge Moonstone and across his lips the perfect, blood-red flower of a Blavendoch. Freddy looked at the inscription in the stone above the bed.
'Sir Rathbone de Lupinne, Huntsbane – The Hunter's Enemy!' he whispered in wonderment. Bane. So this was the treasure. Sir Rathbone's gauntleted hand lay waiting as if for his sword. Freddy now understood the true meaning of the prophecy. Here his ancestor lay, waiting for the day when he would save all Wolfenkind from destruction – the day when his sword was again held by a true hero. By Sir Rathbone himself.
Freddy felt a trifle foolish for having regarded himself so highly, when all along he had merely been Freddy Lupin and not a great hero after all.
Freddy heard noises and walked across the room to an archway filled by an intricately patterned window. He flinched a little when he saw the faces on the other side, but then realised that they couldn't see him. It was a one-way mirror. He leaned forward and his heart plummeted as he listened.
Flasheart had led them to a chamber that was completely empty save for a silver goblet on a stone table, behind which was a tall patterned mirror.
'This is the Hidden Hall,' Flashed announced calmly. 'There is nothing for you here.'
'No!' Chester replied coldly. 'There is another chamber. I know that the only way to reveal the treasure is by filling the goblet with the juice of a Blavendoch.'
'And you don't have one of those, do you, Chester?' Flasheart smiled. 'I know you tried to trick Freddy into bringing one.'
'No, I don't,' Chester agreed. 'But there Hotspur did prove to be useful after all.' His moustache twitched. 'He told me that in place of a living plant, the magic of a dead one could be revived when fed with the blood of a Fangen.' He took a dried flower from his pocket and dropped it in the cup. Flasheart's eyes narrowed as Chester continued. 'Or even more powerful – the blood of his loved ones.'
Chester grabbed Sugar's wrist and took out a silver dagger. Flasheart gave a snarl and leapt, not seeing Sir Hotspur arrive, hot and sweating behind him. Hotspur dragged his brother down before he could reach Chester.
'You'll pay now, Flasheart,' Hotspur hissed.
'Hotair?' Mrs Mutton cried. 'Where did he come from?' She took out her wooden spoon and began spanking the red-haired man on the bum, but Flasheart could not break free.
Despite Sugar's struggles, Chester was pulling her wrist towards the goblet.
'Hi-ya!' Freddy crashed through the mirror, the sword of Sir Rathbone high above his head. Everybody paused in surprise.
Freddy slammed the sword down on the goblet and it fell to the floor. Chester leapt back in fright, dropping his gun, and the boy brought the point of his sword to his enemy's throat.
'Release the fair maiden,' he instructed, in the manner of a true hero.
Chester did so and sank to his knees, shaking.
Flasheart overpowered his brother and threw him to the ground. Mrs Mutton plonked down heavily onto his back.
'Groof!' the poor man wailed. She gave him an extra whack on the bum for good luck. Flasheart picked up Chester's gun with a laugh o
f relief.
'Well done, Pinky.' He gave his son a wink. 'I knew you wouldn't let me down.'
'My work here is done,' Freddy announced to his audience.
'Flasheart.' Chester pressed his hands together, pleading. 'We can share the treasure. You take Hotspur's share, but give me the rest. I must have it. I am desperate.'
Freddy wrinkled his nose in disgust. 'The treasure cannot be shared,' he said coldly, 'and my father would never betray the werefolk. Right, Dad?'
'Right, son,' the wolf agreed.
'Sweetie, you're bleeding,' Sugar cried suddenly and ran to the boy's side.
'Am I?' Freddy wondered and looked down in alarm. He saw a stream of blood coming from his hand where the glass had cut him. He felt very faint – not at all like a hero.
His knees began to wobble as they had upstairs.
'Freddy, do not let your blood fall into the goblet!' Flasheart cried.
His words sounded like a rush of wind. 'Buddy fell gob it?' Freddy frowned, staggered and flung himself from the goblet.
Sugar snatched the silver cup away and Freddy's Fangen blood fell harmlessly to the stone floor – swiftly followed by the pup himself.
Freddy awoke to find himself lying back on Sugar's lap. He grinned at her cheesily.
'Welcome back.' She smiled down at him.
'Hello, Pinky.' Flasheart's face appeared above him. 'I've never seen a wolf faint at the sight of blood before.'
'Well . . . only my own blood, not anyone else's.' Freddy sat up uncertainly. 'I'm not very . . . heroic, am I?' he said bashfully.
'One hundred per cent hero to me, sweetie. You saved my life.' Sugar kissed his forehead and Freddy went purple – he still couldn't stand girls.
'Where are all the bad guys?' Freddy looked around at the empty room.
'In the dungeons where they belong,' said his father, hauling him to his feet. 'Thanks to you. Mrs Mutton is showing Hotspur the wooden spoon. I knew you'd understand my clues. A genius like your father. Now come and see your ancestor.'
They walked across the broken glass into the next chamber and gathered around Sir Rathbone.
'Is he alive?' Sugar asked nervously, her hand somehow finding its way into Flasheart's.
'He is somewhere between life, sleep and death,' Flasheart told them. 'Waiting for the day when he is called upon to save the werefolk once again.'
'He's the Treasure of Bane isn't he, Dad?' Freddy looked down at his ancestor's peaceful face, resting as it had for almost six hundred years.
'He is indeed. The wealth of our nation, a worth that cannot be calculated.'
'And is Chester right? Would the juice of a Blavendoch wake him?' Freddy looked at the flower on the knight's lips uncertainly. He wasn't sure he wanted to see Sir Rathbone arise from the dead.
'It would,' Flasheart said, 'but once he wakes, he can only live until the beams of the next full moon fall on his brow. That night he will transform into a wolf for the last time – then he will hear the Final Howl at last.'
'But Chester tried to use my blood – would that have worked?' Sugar looked up at Flasheart.
'If Freddy's blood – that of a Fangen, a Lupin, given freely – had fallen on the dead petals, then I think that may have answered his purpose. But if it had been your blood, Sugar, taken in violence for greed, then I dread to think what might have happened. The magic of the Blavendoch is powerful but can be black and dangerous. I fear that it could have destroyed us all. And I would have failed as a Guardian of Bane – a duty handed down to me by my grandfather. Hotspur never knew anything.'
'It's a good job I stopped Chester then,' Freddy said, feeling very heroic once again.
'A good job indeed, Pinky, for many reasons.' Flasheart smiled at Sugar.
Freddy looked down at the shattered glass. 'I'm sorry I broke the mirror, but I had to save the fair maiden.'
'Good decision. The mirror can be repaired,' his father agreed. 'Fair maidens and noble knights are not so easily mended.'
Freddy blushed with pride. He picked up the shield that he had discarded earlier and posed a little.
'And what did your cousin say about needing the blood of a Fangen's loved one?' Sugar asked with a cheeky smile.
Flasheart immediately went red. 'Erm . . .'
'Oh, der! As if my dad would like a girl – he's a wolf!' Freddy scoffed.
'Oh. Well, I think I'll let you guys have a little privacy for a moment.' Sugar drew in her breath. It had all been rather too much for her to absorb in one evening. 'I just have to make a phone call. Something I need to cancel.' She held up her mobile and with a small smile, left the Hidden Hall.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Betrayal
Sugar climbed the secret passage back to the dungeons and reached the Great Hall. She was not too surprised to see the man waiting by the fireplace with a gun in his hand. It was Dr Cripp.
'Excellent,' he said, pushing his thick glasses up his nose. 'Everything has gone exactly to our plan. Now hand me the secret camera.'
'No way,' Sugar declared. 'You were totally wrong about these people, Cripp. I won't let you expose them.'
'But, Ms Smith.' Cripp pushed back his greasy hair. 'We had a deal. You release the wolf and film him, and in return I promise not to shoot him. Once a reporter, always a reporter. You could never pass up the biggest story of your life.'
'I should have reported you to the police when you came to me last night,' she hissed. 'But I'm going to now!' She reached for her phone.
'Don't think I didn't see this coming, Sugar.' Cripp giggled and held up a little plastic hammer. 'I knew you'd be too weak to go through with it. Make that call and you will never find your daughter.'
'You're a monster! Here, take the camera. And I hope Flasheart hunts you down.' She loosened the brooch from her jacket and flung it at him. 'Now, where is she?'
The brooch held a tiny camera that had secretly recorded all she had seen that night, plus more: Chester, Sir Rathbone, even Flasheart transforming back into a man after Sugar had left her jacket in the Great Hall. Everything that was needed to expose and destroy the werefolk was in this brooch.
'No, madam, I am a hero.' The man shrugged. 'Hand me your car keys too.' Sugar threw them over. 'Thank you. When I am safely away from this place, you may open this envelope – it will show you where your daughter is to be found. Never fear, she is quite safe for the moment. And now for the final scene. Call him up. Call the Black Wolf of Milford to his death!'
'Never,' Sugar gasped. 'You promised to let him go.'
'I lied.' Cripp held the envelope above the roaring log fire. 'Choose.' He giggled revoltingly. 'And don't even think about warning him.'
'Flasheart!'
Down in the Hidden Hall, Flasheart and Freddy were doing their best to put Sir Rathbone's chamber back to rights when they heard Sugar's call.
'Oh, what now?' Freddy scoffed. 'Does she need saving again? Probably just a spider . . . Girls!'
'You can leave this girl to me, Pinky.' Flasheart laughed as he jumped towards the stairs eagerly.
'Yeah – right! As if.' Freddy followed his father anyway.
'Can I be of assistance here, fair maiden?' said Flasheart gallantly as he walked into the Great Hall. Freddy followed behind. Sugar was standing at the far end, illuminated by the moonlight coming in from the tall windows. The firelight on her right was flickering orange over her face. Freddy saw immediately that she looked strange, as if she was ill – not like Sugar at all. Flasheart was grinning too idiotically to notice. It was as if he had lost any wolf sense.
'Dad, stay here,' Freddy warned and pulled on his father's arm.
'You'll never be a hit with girls being coy, Freddy,' Flasheart whispered, before walking towards Sugar.
Freddy was on full danger alert – he could smell a foul and familiar stench – and Flasheart was acting as if in a drippy dream. Freddy looked into the gloom at the edge of the hall.
'Dad, stop!' he called – too late.
&nbs
p; 'This time I shall not miss,' said Cripp, as he emerged from behind Sugar and raised his gun.
Flasheart looked at the reporter as if she had stabbed him in the heart.
'No!' Freddy jumped in front of his father as the sound of the bullet echoed through the Great Hall.
But it never reached them, for Sugar had already grappled Cripp. She fell to the floor with a gasp, clutching her shoulder.
'Fool!' Cripp cried and struggled to reload. But as Flasheart raced forward, the hunter's fear overcame him and he leapt from the Hall, his departing feet clattering on the stone steps outside.
'Sugar!' Flasheart ran to her. He looked anxiously at her wound, while Freddy inspected the ceiling – he didn't want to faint again.
'It's only a scratch, thank the moon.' Flasheart smiled with relief.
'Oh dear . . . I'm fine really,' she whispered. 'I didn't mean to be brave but he has my little girl – see.'
She held out the envelope, and Freddy grabbed it and tore it open. They were joined by Mrs Mutton, who had heard all the commotion from the dungeon where she had continued to spank Hotspur.
'It says that she's safely in her bedroom, in the cottage next to the zoo,' Freddy reported.
'But . . .' Sugar was struggling to understand. 'That's our cottage. Is he saying that she was safe at home all this time? He tricked me! I must call the sitter.'
She scrambled for her phone and began to dial. The others huddled around her, holding their breath.
From outside came the sound of Sugar's car departing at high speed.
No answer! 'But I must be sure she is okay. I'm calling the police.' Sugar tried to sit up.
'You must be still,' Flasheart said quietly. 'The Fangen can reach your child faster than the police. Do you trust me?'
'Yes! Please go. Make sure she is safe. And . . . there's something else. I'm sorry. I gave Cripp a video that shows your Transwolfation. It will endanger all your pack. Every TV station in the world will show it unless you stop him. I'm so sorry.'