Avis Blackthorn: Is Not an Evil Wizard!

by Jack Simmonds

  “We need to do revealing Magic on it,” she announced. “Yeah, we need to find out what memories this channeller holds from when Malakai had it.”

  “But, it might not even be the same one…” I said. “I mean, it looked identical but I’m not sure.”

  Tina shot me a dark state. “Do you want to defeat Malakai or not?”

  “Well, yeah…” I said.

  “Right then, we need to get to the Library at nightfall and search for a revealing Spell.”

  Me and Robin didn’t argue, we daren't not. Tina seemed spurred on by this, most recent of clues. “It could be the only one he left,” she said.

  It took just over a week of searching, every night after lights out we would meet by the third floor bathrooms, opposite the Library. On the third night, we were caught by a sleepy older year who asked us what we were all doing outside the toilets.

  “Just… about to go…” I said.

  “We walk back together…” said Robin.

  “I’m scared of the dark…” said Tina.

  But after this narrow escape and tearing down countless books searching for a revealing Spell, Robin finally found it.

  “Aha!” he called through the darkness. “Got it!” After a check over from Tina, we all agreed from the description that this was the right Spell. Making our way back to the clock tower we all sat around in the circle, with my channeller on the floor.

  “It won’t break will it?” I said.

  “Noo,” said Tina unconvincingly and, raising her hands at it said: “Kerkalculevreo…” red, popping stars fizzed in the air around the amulet with a sound like maracas. Then it hit us like a flying train. It made my head keel backwards and hit the floor, for a vision began flashing before our eyes…

  A small, snotty faced kid with blonde hair and overlarge robes walked the corridor alone. He was so small and his robes so long, that he made the corridor, which was big anyway, look gigantic. He wasn’t confident either, he had a permanently perplexed expression, and he walked as close to the left wall as he could get, as if he felt he may be partially invisible by doing so.

  “Ello Malakai, arn’t you cute?” said a large seventh year boy, lurching out from a nearby doorway and pinching Malakai’s cheeks. “Ain’t he cute lads?”

  A group of boys appeared behind him in the doorway, all in green robes, nodding malevolently.

  Then in a column of smoke, the scene changed.

  Malakai looked slightly older, standing a foot taller and wore bright yellow, but still too large, robes. He was standing in a dimly lit underground dungeon, with an old man who was sitting at a small writing desk.

  “So, I want to know Sir, if it’s possible at all, to get a new channeller?” Malakai’s voice had broken and he croaked the sentence nervously.

  “What?! A new one?” Snapped the old man. “What do think this is? A charity?” he barked, putting his pen down. “What’s wrong with your one?” He took Malakai’s hand without asking and inspected it. “Nothing wrong with it by the looks of it!”

  “Well Sir, you see it doesn’t work.” Malakai lied.

  The old man frowned, expecting more of an explanation, but then he sighed and relented. “Pick another one then, but this won’t happen again,” he pointed a long, bony, dirty finger at Malakai’s face. “Buy your own next time.”

  “Sir. Shall I destroy this one?”

  “What? No! Put it back in the box.”

  “But sir, it doesn’t work. I should put it on a shelf far into the room where no one should happen to use it.”

  The old man’s yellow eyes squinted conspiratorially, and he spoke slowly. “Put it back in the box.”

  Then he made sure to watch the young boy do as he was told.

  The vision faded like a dream and I sat up, blinking away the last of it. Tina rubbed her eyes and dusted her head where she now had a large dust patch. “He wanted to get rid of it?” she said. “But why?” her sparkling eyes tracked along the floor to the amulet. It was hot, and lit orange from the Spell.

  Robin sat up, blinked and put his glasses on straight again. “He was a snotty thing, wasn’t he? I tell you what you lot need… the Police,” said Robin.

  Me and Tina looked at each other, I’d never heard of it. “What’s that?” said Tina.

  “It’s a… collection of people who work for everyone on the Outside, they arrest someone who does something wrong and lock them up.”

  “Sounds a bit weird to me, the Outside sounds very dangerous,” I said and Tina nodded in agreement.

  “Anyway, back to the point here,” said Tina. “I am not sure what this vision tells us. How long was it, like a minute? The amulet must have seen more than that? I am sure it’s meant to be longer… why did we only get a snapshot?”

  “The book in the Library did say that it’s a high level Spell?” said Robin.

  “Let’s try it again,” said Tina holding her hands out. And again we watched the same vision. Afterwards we sat up again, nothing new had come to me.

  Tina sniffed. “We’re not powerful enough,” she said pointing at our ties.

  Robin grew to love the dusty clock tower in the few short hours he was up there. We did our homework together and larked around. Then, sat on my bed and watched the sun set. He said it reminded him of his home in the Yorkshire Dales. He looked quite teary eyed for a minute. When darkness set in, they both left. I lay huddled in my blankets keeping warm and replaying the events of the day, as I always did before sleep. I had so many revelations to think about. The key in the box was still a strange one and my least explored. When I told Robin about it, he said we should go around and try every door in the school.

  Sleep rolled over me, I had a long day of lessons tomorrow, there was talk of Straker letting me back into his class, but I wasn’t counting on it. Robin had mentioned, rather squeamishly, that another Riptide match was fast approaching. Apparently, they wait and schedule most of the matches in the new year, so there would be a gluttony of exciting things happening soon. As long as we didn’t have to play again I was fine with it.

  Zzzzz…

  I remember rolling over in the pitch darkness and wondering what the small glowing light was. My channeller was still lying where we had left it, at the time too hot to pick up. But now, there was a feint glow coming from the inside of it. I only noticed because it was so dark. I blinked and sat up, reaching across the floor for it, rubbing my eyes of sleep and pulling it close.

  I wasn’t dreaming. I felt the cold sting my body as I wriggled free of the covers. The glow was perhaps the greatest revelation of all… it was the answer to the last question — why on earth did Malakai want to get rid of his channeller? For, written inside, in barely legible glowing ink were the words: Property of Steve Malcolm

  That’s why he wanted rid of it. It all added up in my sleepy head. He was an Outsider, he didn’t know anything about Magic. But he, like me, had to get all his robes and channellers from lost property. Without knowing anything about true names, he wrote his on this amulet! Then trying to get rid of it, ended up swapping the amulet in lost property, hoping that his mistake would stay hidden, within that mass grave of old junk.

  Outsiders these days are warned about their names well advance, a Wizard visits them in their home and explains everything. Now they have to pass through The Veil. It makes them forget their old names and anyone that knows them in their world forgets it as well, leaving them free to choose a new name. I only know this because Robin told me near the start of the year. Robin was probably called something else before, like Geoff or Peter, that’s what you Outsiders are called isn’t it? I laughed as I realised that Hunter must have chosen that name himself. I thought about my parents. Why did they have me, knowing that I would be a seventh son? I, of course, did not have a true name. Perhaps that’s why they hated me, because I was a threat to their beloved Malakai? But as I thought about it, it all just turned a big pile of mash in my head, so I returned to sleep.

  ***

/>   The poor floor in the clock tower was nearly worn out the next day. I was waiting all evening for Tina to arrive. I wish I had someway of sending her a message to make her come straight away. Eventually she did, after much looking at clocks and pacing and such. She looked annoyed, still deep in thought about the previous day, but that changed when she saw my face.

  “What?” she said. I chucked the amulet to her and she looked at it.

  “Inside, round the middle, can you see it?”

  She looked, twisting it round in her hands. “No, what am I looking for?”

  “His name, his true name written on the inside!”

  “What?!” she said, sitting down on my bed and twisting it round and round. “I can’t see anything!?”

  “Last night, in the pitch darkness, it glowed only barely…”

  “Glowed?” she said, putting it down. “Must have been hidden ink, after the revealing Spell… what’s… what’s his name?” her eyes were popping out of her skull, and I licked my lips, ready to reveal the true name of Malakai…

  “S-S … Ssss!” my tongue got stuck in my mouth. “St! St! Steeeee! Ouwwwww!” I cried as what felt like a knife just slit my tongue!

  “Oh my god Avis!” Tina cried as blood dripped out my mouth. It wasn’t much, but it really hurt! “Don’t try saying it again!”

  We looked at each other for a moment, both realising that the name was Jarred - a term for a cursed name, an unsayable name.

  “Ipsts jarbbbed,” I said. “I’ll write it…” But when I got the paper and ink, pen poised above, my hand seized up. The pen plopped out my hand and shooting pains, like needles, shot up my arm.

  “Oh god!” said Tina. “Don’t do anything else for god sake Avis.”

  We sat and stared at the channeller, thinking of a way I could say the name.

  “Boes this mean, I wob’nt be able to use his name against ‘im.” I said as best I could.

  Tina was frowning at the amulet. “What? Not sure…” she mumbled. “He was obviously really stupid, in the days where they didn’t pass Outsiders through the Veil.”

  “Why did he use hidden ink?” I said.

  “Because he was stupid, people use hidden ink to write on metal and wood and stuff because it sticks, normal ink will just run off. But why did he think using hidden ink would stop people reading it? Of course, he was an Outsider, he didn’t know much about Magic then did he?” she said hardly stopping for breath. “The only way I’ll be able to find out the name is if we Spell it again, and wait until it goes really dark so you can see it. Bit of homework to do anyway while we wait.”

  Robin came by just as the sun set and sat with us as we filled him on the latest. Then, soon enough, the time came, in the deepest darkest part of the night, Tina raised her hands and Spelled the channeller. The fizzing red stars popped again and the amulet glowed. Expecting to see the visions again we sat waiting, but nothing happened. We sat dumb looking around at each other. Tina spelled it again and again…

  “Why isn’t it working?!” she cried.

  Robin coughed and said, rather nervously - “Ah, we learnt about this with Straker. Is there any chance that this is a Learner?”

  Tina frowned at him. “What on earth is that?” she looked peeved that Robin knew something she didn’t.

  “Well, the Spell makes the channeller learn from Spells that are put on it, making it defend itself and reflect them in the future. Before he changed his amulet he must have put what protection he could on it, just in case someone did find it.”

  Tina huffed, “I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

  “Nor me,” I said huffing, I was the only person who knew the true name of Malakai and I had no way of saying it!

  Robin swallowed. “What I don’t get is… If he’s been in the school, why hasn’t he been back to destroy it? He knows where he left it surely?”

  I had wondered that too. “Ah but…” I said. “What if he only started coming to the school after I took this from the lost property? What if this is what he’s looking for?”

  Tina clicked her fingers at me. “Bingo! Only explanation. No one else in the school has ever heard of, as far as I know, Malakai coming in and doing as he pleases.”

  “Yeah but, surely he would have come here years ago and found it?” said Robin, causing Tina to deflate.

  “Hmm, yeah that’s true.”

  “Why don’t you tell the Lily?” said Robin. “He will be able to stop your tongue bleeding when you try and say the name, and his revealing Spell will be loads more powerful.”

  “No,” said Tina.

  “Why not?” I said, I thought it was a good idea.

  “If you tell the Lily then Malakai will find out, Malakai has a hold over the Lily… he must know his true name or something. If you tell the Lily, he will be forced to tell Malakai, I am sure.”

  We all sat silent. “Oh, I’m never gonna avenge my brother!” said Tina standing and leaning on the long arm of the clock face. “While he is out there… I have failed my quest!”

  “What?” I said trying to be calming. “Failed? This is our first year, our robes and ties haven't even changed colour yet! You can’t expect to just blow the most evil Wizard of all time out the water in our first few months at Magic school. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  She turned on me. “What, you want me to wait until the last year of school do you? And then sort him out?”

  “No… just, let’s not rush anything.”

  “Avis is right,” said Robin. “I mean, we know hardly anything yet, Magic wise, he’ll just kill us if we try anything now.”

  “Not Avis,” she said. “He can’t kill him, he’s a seventh son, and Avis knows his true name.”

  “But I can’t say his name, and just because I’m a seventh son, doesn’t mean he can’t kill me does it?”

  “OHH!” Tina cried into the rafters. “You’re both scared!”

  I shook my head. “I’m not scared…”

  “You are! You are the only one who can stop him Avis! You are the one who can avenge my brother and all the countless others!”

  I swallowed, I was scared. I was scared of Tina, who looked positively crazy, her hair wild and eyes murderous. “I think…” I said trying to slow the conversation down. “That we need to sleep on it, and search for some Spells that will enable me to say his true name.”

  Robin nodded with me.

  “There is no time!” Tina cried. “Do you think if there was, I’d be waiting until my last year too?”

  I frowned, what was she getting at? “I don’t get it. Why isn’t there any time?”

  “It’s the last quarter of the sign of Handen.”

  “Come again?” said Robin, who shared my perplexed expression.

  She huffed, and I half expected steam to shoot out of her nostrils. “The last quarter of Handen, the Magical Star Sign? It’s all to do with the Book of Names. At the end of the sign of Handen, the Book of Names vanishes to another place. If Malakai has the book at the end of April, he will have it for twelve years more! And I won’t be able to get my brother back!”

  “Get him back?” said Robin. “What do you mean?”

  Tina was breathing hard. “Anyone killed by dark Magic is able to be brought back with their true name from the Book of Names…”

  Me and Robin didn’t look at each other, but I felt uneasy at the prospect of bringing the dead back. “Is that a good idea?” I said slowly.

  “What?” Tina spat. “To get my brother back and bring an end to Malakai? Yeah, it’s a pretty GOOD IDEA!” she cried. “You know what…” she said throwing her arms in the air. “I don’t need you, either of you. I can do this on my own!” Her fuse had blown. I’d never seen her so fraught, and she wasn’t even shouting. She was shaking with anger.

  “Thanks for all the help you guys! Nice one! I don’t need two sad, scaredy nerds anyway!”

  “Wait,” I said, my bones creaking as I stood. “Don’t go…”

  “Get a
way from me! You’ve proven where your loyalties lay. If you won’t help me get my brother Ernest back then sod you!”

  With a slam of the roof hatch she was gone. I turned back to Robin who was staring after the roof hatch, then looked up at me with a weak smile. “She doesn’t mean it mate, she’s just angry. She’ll come round I’m sure…”

  ***

  “It’s clear where your loyalties lay,” I thought. Did she mean because I’m a Blackthorn? And what was that last thing she said: “If you won’t help me get my brother Ernest back…” Ernest? Why was that familiar?

  I thought about the Book of Names disappearing every twelve years — why?

  I sighed and wondered about Malakai’s true name, Steve Malcolm, being Jarred. Memories of my parents kept jumping to attention. I remember them talking about removing a Jarred name, but I can’t remember what it was. What on earth would they think of all this? And what would they do if I did manage to say Malakai’s true name and end him? Sure, I would be in Tina’s good books, very good books, but what would they do? It would show them. And… what if I managed to get the Book Of Names? I would have the power over all of them. I laughed to myself at the possibly as I drifted into a cold sleep.

  ***

  “AVIS!” cried a loud, familiar voice. I woke with a start.

  “What? Hello?” I looked up to see a glowing figure bobbing in front of me. “Ernie?” I said.

  He looked frantic and was sobbing hard. “It’s all my fault!” he cried. “All my fault!”

  “What is? Calm down… tell me what’s wrong!”

  Ernie looked terrified. “I couldn't let her see me. This year, so hard…” he said in between sobs. “She’s in the Healer’s room…”

  “Who is?” But I already knew the answer.

  “T-t… Tina!”

  “What happened?” I stood and threw clothes on.

  “She went looking for him. Followed him. It’s all my fault!” he wailed.