“Show some respect!” Zac snapped, visibly irritated. “The Warden has lived for almost eight hundred years; he has captured some of the most dangerous criminals that this and the Ballany galaxy have ever seen.” He turned more pages clearly annoyed.
Val backed off it feeling uncomfortable; it was obvious she was in the wrong.
After a moment he continued. “They were imprisoned for eternity, but the story goes that the judges decided to use their ability to jump bodies. This child Flo can go from one body to the next, which could be me, you or Val. So under no circumstances can we take any risks while Flo is about.”
“What about Eva? How do we get her back?” Jason asked.
“The good news is she had a book reserved. If she manages to stay out of Excariot’s grip she will be back here to collect it in a couple of days,” Wendy replied.
“Do we have that much time?” Val looked to the others.
“We don’t have any choice. We only have a few hours to get ready for this next arrest and I need Wendy to help me. Here is an image of Sliyig.” Zac turned the book towards Val and the others. He was a man of huge stature, just like the men who had attacked her only a few days ago. He had thick black hair and a muscular body, with a square chin and wide set neck. Not someone you would consider arguing with.
“He doesn’t look like an alien.” Val said, studying the image.
“Just because he’s an alien doesn’t mean he’s any different to me or you Val. You have so much to learn it makes my head spin.” Zac rubbed the back of his neck as if he was tired.
“What’s wrong?” Val asked.
“I’m unsure, but I’m not feeling at peak condition.” Zac sat down on the stool. “Wendy come and connect with the dellatrax. I need you to locate prisoners 6339 so we can find out more about these Bendicks.”
Wendy started to flick through the pages.
“I said connect.” Zac pushed Wendy gently.
“I’m off. I can’t do the white eyeballs thing.” Fran headed towards the cupboard, with Jason hot on her heels.
“We’ll get directions to the Shack,” Jason said as they disappeared.
Wendy stood nervously with her hands floating over the volume of the dellatrax that Zac had on the counter. Zac’s face twitched then, for a change, it transformed into a grin from one cheek to the other.
“Ok, what’s so funny?” Wendy asked placing her hands down by her side.
“I’m sorry, but you all try so hard. The dellatrax would normally be attached to the guard at birth and they would interact naturally with it. Obviously Val can’t do that, but you have a gift that works perfectly in sync with it. So, just relax.” He took her hands and placed them on top of the book. “Feel it. It’s alive. Forget everything you think you know about books. These volumes have all the knowledge; they are created of living things and so they are alive.”
Val, who was standing, watching quietly, saw Wendy’s expression start to soften as Zac held her hands.
“I can feel it. It’s like its talking to me.” Wendy’s face lit up. She threw the cover open and started to flick, stopping every few seconds to touch the page again. Then she stopped. “Here.” Wendy pointed to prisoners 6339.
“That’s it.” Zac patted her on the arm affectionately.
“Can I do that?” Val asked.
“No. You need to learn how to land first,” Zac replied.
Wendy grinned at Val like the child who got a gold star.
“I’m trying my best.” Val was just about to start an assault of whining when the door opened and in walked Shane. “At last someone who loves me just the way I am.” Val grabbed Shane and he reciprocated with a hug. “Come in and I will tell you everything that has happened.” She grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him down the shop.
“Hi Zac, Wendy and bye,” he called.
Val spent a few minutes telling Shane about Flo and Eva, who he remembered well. Then she filled him in on tonight’s little assault on the Bendicks.
“So, do we have any idea what these Bendicks can do?” he quizzed her.
“Wendy and Zac do,” she huffed.
“Hey, Dad, I thought I heard your voice. Ready for some fun?” Jason bounded up and hugged his father.
“I’m sorry to be the party pooper here guys, but I’m concerned about our safety. What happened at the Snakes and Ladders was out of our control, but tonight you want us to walk into an organised fight with four aliens. I’m not happy. I need more answers from Zac before I let any of you go.”
“But...” Jason started to contest.
“No son, end of conversation.”
Zac and Wendy were deep in talk when the others came back. They had obviously found who they wanted and were making notes as symbols floated in the air.
“Is it just me or can you guys see the 3D light show going on?” Val asked.
“Same as before,” Fran replied. “Although it’s much prettier this time.” She reached out to one as it passed through her fingers.
“Hello.” Shane interrupted their conference.
“Sorry, we were making plans.” Zac stood up. Wendy followed and the holograms disappeared.
“So what’s with the lights?” Val was intrigued.
“Oh, Wendy is doing that. The dellatrax likes her and she has a vast knowledge of Theban, one of the languages we use.”
“That’s great Zac, but I need some more information before I send my son and his girlfriend into a dangerous situation.”
“Yes sir, I understand, that’s why they aren’t going. Wendy is going to create a spell for us to protect the high priestess. As soon as we find her we will be able to cloak her from Excariot and his spirits and she will be safe. Only myself and Val will be in danger.”
“Great,” Val replied mockingly.
“No, you need to give me more information before you take Val. There are four of these things so she tells me and at the end of the day I’m the only adult here so I need to look out for her.”
Val felt a lump forming in her throat.
“Shane, I have over two hundred years of experience and this is Val’s duty. She has no choice. Nevertheless, your emotions are touching,” Zac replied.
“And I have eighteen years as a dad, which you have no knowledge of, so give me more information or I will be taking Val home with me tonight.” Shane was serious and they could all sense it.
“Yes, of course. Look at this: Prisoners 6339.” Zac tapped the page. “Bendicks are quite a high level prisoner, but they only have one ability.”
“And that would be?” Shane enquired.
“They can cloak themselves,”
“What, like Harry Potter?” Jason asked.
“Who is Harry Potter?” Zac looked for support.
“Stop it.” Fran pushed him. “What exactly does this cloak thing do?”
“They can become invisible.”
“That’s not so bad, no death rays coming out of their eyes; I think we should be ok,” Val proclaimed confidently, but Shane shook his head. “Look Shane I know you’re finding this hard, but I trust Zac and I’m still here, ok.”
“I want to look after you, I can’t do anything when you disappear, and it’s a hard pill Val.”
“Sorry to interrupt; has anyone noticed the time?” Wendy pulled at Shane’s arm and looked at his watch. “It’s nearly seven already. We need to get ready.” She was right. Val started to get her things together.
“We need to go to the Magic Box for supplies.” Wendy grabbed her bag.
“I wish to come and see this place.” Zac decided, following her.
“Ok, we’ll wait here for you to return.” Val smiled although she felt a little put out. He was her hunter and why was Wendy so special? It was her dellatrax and she should be bonding with it, no one else. She waited until they had left and Shane, Jason and Fran had all gone to squeeze themselves into the cupboard, then she pulled one of the dellatrax volumes onto the counter. “Ok, feel its life force,” Val said to hersel
f. She placed her hands over one of the pages, surprised that she instantly felt a tingling sensation. “Not so hard after all,” she thought.
That was when it all went wrong. Val’s hands slammed uncontrollably onto the book and some invisible force held them there. Images flashed aggressively around her head. Not the soft neon blue that Wendy experienced, but shades of black, sharp and ugly in form. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Her eyes started to cloud over, but she couldn’t wipe them as her hands were now stuck to the pages. Suddenly everything went black. There was silence. She was alone, somewhere she had never been before and she could hear voices.
“How did it go?” the man asked. Val knew who it was straight away: Excariot.
“They suspected nothing,” a female voice responded.
“Will they trust you?”
“Yes. They have no reason to doubt me, Excariot. Now let me get on with what I have to do,”
“Release the Bendicks and get the priestess here now,” he shouted into the darkness.
Once again Val could feel herself moving. The book suddenly released her hands and she dropped to the ground with a large enough thud for the others to come running.
“What happened?” Shane gripped her under her arms and lifted her to her feet.
“Excariot has let the Bendicks out and I think Flo is a double agent!” Val looked around for her sword. It was on the counter ready to go. She shoved it into her back pocket. “I need to leave now. He has sent out the Bendicks and that means that the girl is already in danger.” Val didn’t know what to do. She had no hunter and no tattoo. What good was she on her own? “Damn!” She felt useless. Then she thought about what Zac had said. This was her duty; it was about time she started to embrace it.
Everything Zac did he seemed to do as second nature. She had never seen him stop and think about how he was going to teleport, he just did it. Maybe she just needed a little more confidence in her ability.
“Shane, I’m going to save the priestess. Please tell Zac where I have gone.” She looked around her; at the others who were staring back with blank expressions. They obviously believed it about as much as she did.
“Do you want a lift?” Jason asked.
“No, I think I will teleport thanks,” Val replied, trying to sound confident. ‘Come on, disappear,’ she thought. As the seconds ticked by the situation was becoming more and more awkward. Val felt crosser than ever. She had heard Excariot sending the Bendicks out, and that girl was going to be in danger: a situation that she was supposed to be getting her out of. Oh, and then there would be Zac with, ‘trying to teleport on your own, we need to work on your landings, blah, blah, blah’. Well, she may as well give up because the only thing she could do was electrocute people and fall flat on her face.
Fran broke the silence. “Thinking of going anytime soon or should I put the kettle on?”
Val was really mad now; she was making a fool of herself. It was entirely her real parents’ fault. If they hadn’t met... She looked down at her father’s bracelet. That was the answer! She reached out and held it, just as Excariot had when he had come back to the future from sixteen forty- five. A blue spark appeared and she was off.
CHAPTER 6
Invisibility!
She let the feeling of the journey wash over her. Success! Zac would be so proud of her, she thought as she hit the wall face first, before falling backwards and landing flat on her bottom behind a pile of boxes. “Ok, must keep that one to myself,” she whispered.
She knelt up, looking over the top of the brown cardboard wall into a very empty warehouse. Why would a high priestess be seen dead in a dump like this? It had to be trap. That Flo was going to get it next time Val found her.
She froze when she heard a grating sound coming from the corner of the warehouse. She peered into the shadows and then a crack of light appeared as a door opened. A young woman entered, looked warily around her and pulled the metal door shut. Making her way to the centre of the building she crouched down and started to write something in the thick layer of dust that had settled on the floor. Val stood up; this would be easier than she had thought. She would get the girl and teleport her back to the shop, and Zac would give her a brownie point.
“Hey, you,” Val called.
The woman looked up, startled at the voice and the presence of another person.
“Hi, I’m Val. I know who you are and I’m here to help you.” Gosh, it was starting to feel like the old days. She clambered over the cardboard and took a step towards the girl. She wasn’t sure how, but the next thing she knew she was on her knees in the dirt, wondering why her back hurt.
The woman looked panicked by Val’s new position and ran for the door. She screamed when a man materialised in midair, blocking her way. He grabbed her arms and held on to her.
“What did I tell you? They can cloak,” came a voice from behind her.” Zac had arrived just in time to watch Val failing. “Get up,” he ordered, pulling her to her feet. “The others are safe at the bookshop, but you need to get her back.” He shoved Val towards the struggling woman.
“Pleased to see you,” Val grunted, pulling out her sword. Almost immediately she was struck again, from the side this time - no warning, not even heavy breath -and she was on the floor again.
“Please try and sense them,” Zac begged, watching anxiously.
“I will try, but I’m not the sensing one.” She pulled herself up again. In the time it took her to stand up they had struck her again and down she went. Zac was waving his arms and Val’s ears were actually starting to ring. While she sprawled on the floor waiting for the world to stop spinning, the three Bendicks who had been cloaked appeared. She was surrounded. They were all identically dressed and had clearly been working on a building site nearby.
“We don’t need to cloak ourselves with this little girl,” one of the men laughed derisively.
Another tapped Val with his boot.
Val pulled herself onto her knees, anger that they were laughing at her starting to overcome the pain.
“Stop right there!” A new voice echoed across the empty warehouse. Val looked up with a start. It was Sam, and behind him were Jason, Shane and Wendy. Three of the Bendicks instantly cloaked themselves again; the one holding the priestess dragged her into the corner.
Jason, Shane and Wendy looked bewildered. “If we can’t see them how do we fight them?” Jason asked.
“Sensei here says we need to sense them,” Val shrugged pulling herself onto her feet.
“I note mistrust in your voice, Val,” Zac looked insulted.
“Nothing personal, but you choose the worst times to teach me a lesson,” she said extending her sword again and circling. “Have you got the spell, Wendy,” Val asked as she jabbed into the nothingness. Wendy waved a small pouch in the air. The men were still surrounding her.
Val was suddenly stuck across the face but this time she was half expecting it and managed to only fall to her knees.
“That’s enough!” Her anger flared and the frustration in her voice shook through the air. Her stomach was in knots. She needed to stop this before these Bendicks made her look any worse in front of everyone. She took a deep breath and she pulled the energy from her stomach. It bolted down her arms, slamming her hands, palms down, flat onto the floor with such power that it shook the ground. It took a moment for her friends, who were struggling to stand on the trembling ground, to realise what she had done. A thick cloud of dust had rose and through it they could clearly see the Bendicks’ silhouettes.
“Now,” Sam called running forward, pulling out, to Val’s surprise, a sword like hers. Shane was already face to face with one dusty man and felled him with one expert blow. Sam had another cornered; with his sword to help him, he too was winning. Val jumped to her feet and ran at the priestess, but the Bendicks that had her and had been in plain sight, now disappeared. Val span around, her sword ready and her free hand facing palm out in front of her, set to release whatever may come.
She felt more confident now. And then, without realising how, she sensed him. He was to their left. She could feel his breath on her neck. She pivoted and landed a jab straight into the centre of his face before he had a chance to move, and he was down.
She grabbed the priestess by the hand and ran towards Wendy and Jason who had been left on guard. “Give her the potion,” Val ordered.
“What once was seen, be now forgotten.” Wendy tipped what looked like a handful of ash on the woman’s head and the battle was over. Sam and Shane who were still in mid-fight were astonished when the Bendicks came to an abrupt halt.
Val looked around her; they had gone from brawl to nothing in just a few seconds. The stillness was quite eerie.
“Why have they stopped?” Jason asked.
“Well, my guess would be that they don’t know who they are looking for any more; Wendy’s little spell has worked,” Val responded. Sam prodded one of the Bendicks with the tip of his sword, moving him with small shocks towards the others who were suffering from various injuries. “What now, Zac?” Val turned to look for her hunter and was shocked to see him just staring blankly at her. “Are you ok?”
“Get them tied up and let’s go.” Zac pushed past Val and started to wander around the perimeter of the interior staring at his watch. Val did as she was told, which was quite easy as the men were now being restrained in a corner by Sam.
“Zac says I need to tie them up. How glad am I to see you.” She patted him on the arm.
“You were lucky. Wendy and I came together from the Magic Box; and Jason and Shane came on his bike. Zac wasn’t at all happy that you had travelled alone.”
“Well, he will have to deal with it. What can we tie them up with?” Val watched as Sam pulled some plastic cord out of his pocket and started to bind the men together. “Oh, question. Where did your sword come from? I thought that was my thing?” Sam roughly jerked two more hands together. “Ok, what on earth makes you think I’m going to come into a situation like this unarmed?” Sam looked at her, tutted and then passed her the four Bendicks, all neatly tied together.
The Turncoats (The Thirteenth Series #2) Page 9