Archie Greene and the Alchemist's Curse

by D D Everest

  Katerina laughed. ‘I already had Felicia’s quill and the formula for azoth. I just needed the firemark. But when it didn’t happen, we needed another plan.

  ‘And there you were with your forked fate. It was too good an opportunity to miss.

  ‘The Grimoire drew you and your cousin to it once I had bewitched the Dragon’s Claw.’

  ‘That was you?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘And it was you who sent the grabber that Arabella opened?’

  ‘Yes, I couldn’t take the chance that you would actually succeed in rewriting The Book of Charms. That would have spoiled everything.’

  ‘Because you needed access to the Darchive,’ said Archie. He needed to keep Katerina talking until he could think of a plan.

  ‘Once the spell is complete, Hecate’s powers will pass to me and I will be the next great darchemist, but I needed a magic writer – and here you are! Now, take your seat and we can begin.’

  Katerina glanced across at the black book on the table. Archie felt it drawing his eyes to it. He fought the urge to look.

  ‘Still you resist it,’ said Katerina, with a cruel smile, ‘but not for much longer. Soon its power will be unopposed. The charms protecting the museum are almost gone.’

  She glanced at The Book of Charms on the table.

  ‘The old magic that protects the museum is stronger than you realise,’ said Archie, repeating what Hawke had said. ‘It has lasted a thousand years, and it will outlast you.’

  He said it more out of defiance than real conviction.

  Katerina laughed. ‘The Grim Grimoire is the greatest book of magic ever written. You will do as the Grimoire commands.’

  ‘Silence!’ said a voice that crackled and spat like fat on a fire. It was the voice he had heard before in the Darchive. It was coming from the black book. ‘I am The Grim Grimoire, the book of darkness.’

  ‘And I am Hecate’s blood relation,’ cried Katerina. ‘You will be mine.’

  ‘No,’ spat the Grimoire. ‘You have played your part by delivering the book whisperer to me. Did you really think that you would be strong enough to possess me? Fool! You are too weak to be a darchemist. You cannot even write magic! It is Grey’s blood that I crave. Archie Greene will be the next darchemist.’

  ‘No!’ roared Katerina. ‘It’s me who’ll inherit. It’s my birthright. I am Hecate’s heir. You will obey me!’

  A peal of high, mocking laughter rent the air. ‘You would dare to defy me?’ cackled the Grimoire. ‘Fool!’

  There was a blinding flash of light. Archie staggered backwards, his heart pounding. When he looked again, Katerina’s body had gone limp. Her eyes had rolled back in her head and she appeared to be dead.

  ‘And now, Archie Greene,’ sneered the Grimoire, ‘it is time for you to fulfill your true destiny by completing the Unfinished Spell.’

  23

  The Unfinished Spell

  Inside the Scriptorium, Morag Pandrama watched in horror as the events inside the Darchive unfolded before her eyes. The torches inside the Scriptorium had not ignited. She was on the third candle by now and was beginning to lose hope.

  Just before midnight, Brown arrived with Gloom. When Graves joined them a little later, Loretta and Woodbine Foxe were with her. On hearing them enter the room, Pandrama turned with expectant eyes.

  Graves gave a weak smile. ‘We have done all that we can,’ she said, sighing. ‘The door to the Darchive is locked on the inside, but Gideon and Wolfus are trying to open it. Now we must wait and hope.’

  As she said it, the last candle went out and they were suddenly aware that the only light in the room was the dim glow coming from the painting. At that moment that light went out, too, plunging the Scriptorium into total darkness.

  ‘What happened?’ cried Loretta, her voice trembling.

  All they could see now was a tiny speck of light in the painting. Loretta stared at the dot of light, willing it to stay on, afraid that if she looked away even for a second she would never find it again. It was no more than a speck on the canvas, but she was not going to let it out of her sight. None of them were.

  *

  In the Darchive, Archie watched in horror as Katerina’s limp body rose from the ground like some grotesque puppet and picked up the black book from the table. Archie heard a low, cackling sound and realised the Grimoire was laughing.

  He stepped backwards until he felt the wall behind him and could go no further.

  ‘Finish the spell,’ demanded the Grimoire.

  ‘And if I refuse?’ cried Archie.

  The Grimoire gave a high-pitched laugh. ‘If you refuse me, then you will suffer the same fate as your father!’

  ‘My father?’ cried Archie, unable to believe what he was hearing. ‘You know where he is?’

  ‘I know he is trapped inside a book,’ sneered the Grimoire. ‘Ripley saw to that. And now it is your turn. I will imprison you until you beg to do my will.’

  It laughed again in a cold, cruel voice. ‘There is no one to save you!’

  Archie looked desperately at his friends, frozen like waxwork dummies at the table. It was his fault. It was his recklessness that had led them into danger. And now he could do nothing to help them or to save the museum.

  The Grimoire was right – he was alone.

  His mind was reeling. If only he could think of a way to free the others, at least they might escape. The Grimoire had made a mistake by telling him that Ripley had imprisoned his father. It meant to break his spirit and crush his resistance. But it had the opposite effect. Archie was fired up with anger.

  ‘Take me and release the others,’ he cried.

  ‘Your life for theirs?’ cackled the Grimoire. ‘How delicious. Your father offered to trade his life for yours. But it did him no good. His sacrifice was futile. All such sacrifice is. You must see that now, surely? That’s why you will join us and become a darchemist.

  ‘The Unfinished Spell will give you the power you need to fulfill your destiny – the power to save magic. The strong shall inherit from the weak. Finish the spell!’

  The Grimoire flipped open on the table. The black quill and the inkwell were next to it. All he had to do was pick up the quill, dip it in the azoth.

  ‘Do it,’ urged the Grimoire. ‘Finish the spell!

  Still Archie hesitated.

  ‘You have no choice,’ laughed the Grimoire. ‘If you will not do it for yourself, then you will do it to save your friends. If you do not write the magic, then they will remain as they are – forever.’

  Archie stared at the quill on the table, his mind racing. He looked at Bramble and Thistle and reached out for the quill. His hand was shaking.

  He saw a look of horror in Bramble’s frozen eyes. She could see and hear what was happening. They both knew that if he wrote the dark magic to complete the spell, he would become a darchemist, but he had no choice.

  ‘Sorry, Bram,’ he mumbled.

  His fingers brushed the black quill. He felt his palm itch, and the Golden Circle firemark began to glow. As it did, he felt something twitch in his pocket. It was the ring. He had forgotten it was there. He pulled back his hand and took the ring from his pocket. He held it on his open palm. It fitted his firemark perfectly. He remembered the words written inside the ring and murmured them to himself.

  ‘This is my word, this is my mark

  Forged in the fire, a light in the dark.’

  To his surprise, the ring pulsed, and Archie watched in amazement as the circle of gold sprang open and uncurled so that the dragon’s head and tail separated. As it straightened, the fins of a feather unfurled. Where the ring had been just a moment before, Archie stared at the golden quill sitting on the palm of his hand.

  Finally, he knew the ring’s secret. Hidden within it was Fabian Grey’s golden Bennu quill. He grasped it and felt it twitch in his hand. He plunged the quill into the azoth.

  And as he did, gold fiery letters appeared above his head.

&nb
sp; Book of Charms, strong and true

  With this spell I renew!

  The Book of Charms on the table next to the Grimoire flew open, and the faded spells began to darken until they were visible once more.

  ‘What is this?’ cried the Grimoire. ‘Grey’s quill! So you have restored The Book of Charms. What do I care? It is the dawn of a new dark age of magic. You are Grey’s heir. You would have made the most powerful darchemist. But if you will not write the spell, then others must be made to! The Ripley girl will serve as well.’

  Arabella woke from her frozen state. Archie could see a look of panic in her eyes, but the Grimoire was controlling her just as it had controlled Katerina.

  Arabella picked up the black quill and began to write in The Grim Grimoire.

  Black fiery letters appeared above her head.

  In dark places where none may go

  Shadows linger from long ago

  Secrets lurk from older days

  Hidden paths and stealthy ways.

  Some have tried to find their way

  To make the darkness go away …

  Archie pushed Arabella aside. Grasping the golden quill tightly, he scribbled an ending to the spell.

  Flame of Pharos guide my verse

  Break the spell and lift the curse.

  A ball of fire shot from the golden quill and engulfed the Unfinished Spell.

  ‘What is this?’ snarled the Grimoire. ‘It is too late to change what has already been written.’

  ‘No,’ cried Archie. ‘It is never too late.’ With a final flourish of the quill, he wrote:

  Book of darkness, book of black

  In the name of Pharos, I cast you back!

  A golden flame danced across the open pages of the Grimoire. For a moment it flared and burned, and the black book crackled with its heat. A warm breeze gusted through its pages and the black letters that formed its spells turned to dust and blew away, leaving the pages empty.

  Archie heard someone cry out, and he turned to see Gideon Hawke and Wolfus Bone running towards him. Hawke slammed the black book closed and Bone fixed a magical clasp on it.

  ‘The dark spells are destroyed,’ said Archie.

  ‘Are you all right?’ asked Hawke, concern etched into his face.

  Archie felt a huge wave of relief well up inside him. He had been so caught up in the events of the last few hours that he had not realised how exhausted he was.

  ‘It was Katerina all along,’ he said. ‘She was working with the Greaders. They were trying to finish Hecate’s spell.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Hawke, holding his head. ‘I should have realised sooner.

  ‘I went to see Ripley again to try to convince him to tell me what he knew. But when I got to the asylum, he’d escaped. I guessed an attack was imminent, so I raced back as fast as I could. I arrived just in time to hear that you had gone into the Darchive.’

  At that moment a sound behind them made him turn. Bramble, Thistle and Rupert stood up.

  ‘Archie!’ cried Bramble. ‘Thank goodness you’re all right.’

  They gathered around him, hugging him and slapping him on the back.

  Wolfus Bone examined Katerina. Her face was white, her eyes vacant. ‘So much for the Nightshade inheritance,’ he said, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders.

  ‘I’ve seen that look before,’ said Hawke grimly. ‘I’ll contact the asylum and ask Rumold to collect her.’

  ‘The Book of Prophecy said that no one can cheat their fate,’ said Archie.

  ‘Not even Fabian Grey,’ added Hawke under his breath.

  At that moment, Archie noticed Arabella. She was staring at the Grim Grimoire, a look of confusion on her face, the black quill still gripped in her hand.

  ‘Arabella,’ cried Archie. ‘Are you all right?’

  She nodded. ‘Yes. I think so.’

  24

  Fabian Grey’s Secret

  ‘To think that Braxton Foxe’s journal was with my cookery books all that time,’ said Loretta, shaking her head. ‘I would never have guessed.’

  The five members of the Alchemists’ Club were sitting around the kitchen table at number 32 Houndstooth Road. The table was covered with plates of sandwiches, bowls of crisps and all manner of cakes and buns.

  Loretta had insisted that they all come back for a very late Foxe feast. The children hadn’t taken much persuading. Gideon Hawke, Feodora Graves and Orpheus Gloom were also there.

  ‘Yes, Mum,’ said Thistle, ‘that’s why it was such a good hiding place. Uncle Alex knew it would be safe there.’

  ‘So there really was something dark in the Darchive!’ said Loretta.

  ‘Yes,’ said Hawke. ‘And books don’t get much darker than The Grim Grimoire.’

  ‘The Greaders who had gathered outside the museum all dispersed as soon as the Grimoire was defeated,’ said Graves. ‘Amos Roach is wanted for the murder of Katerina’s parents and aunt. He will be brought to justice.’

  ‘And Arthur Ripley?’ asked Archie.

  ‘Still on the loose, I’m afraid,’ said Graves. ‘But not for long. Word is out in the magical realm – he will be recaptured.’

  ‘And rest assured, we will find out what he knows about your father’s disappearance,’ said Hawke, placing his hand on Archie’s shoulder. ‘If he is still alive, we will find him. I give you my word.’

  ‘Well, in honour of Alex, I’ve used a recipe from one of the cookery books he gave me,’ declared Loretta. She opened the door to the walk-in larder. ‘Strange ingredients. But I suppose it’s good to experiment.’

  Gloom turned pale at the mention of an experiment.

  ‘What I don’t understand is why the Grimoire didn’t curse Fabian Grey as well,’ said Archie.

  ‘It did,’ said Hawke.

  ‘So why didn’t he die with the others?’

  ‘Because there are worse ways to be cursed.’

  ‘Do you think we will ever find out what happened to him?’ Archie asked.

  But before anyone could answer, Loretta emerged from the larder carrying a very large cake. ‘It’s banana and walnut,’ she declared.

  ‘Just banana and walnut?’ asked Thistle suspiciously.

  ‘Yes,’ said Loretta.

  Five hands reached for a slice and five mouths took a big bite.

  ‘And some sardines, obviously …’ added Loretta. ‘More elderberry squash, anyone?’

  *

  At that very same moment, some fifty miles away at the London offices of Folly & Catchpole, Horace Catchpole stared at the open ledger in front of him. He read the entry again for the umpteenth time, but it still made no sense to him.

  Someone coughed.

  ‘Catchpole?’ Prudence Folly said. ‘You wanted to show me something? Have you found any more references to the boy, Archie Greene?’

  Horace shook his head firmly. ‘No,’ he said. ‘But … well, it’s this entry. Most irregular.’

  Prudence raised one manicured eyebrow. She glanced at the entry. It read:

  Property of Fabian Grey.

  Do NOT remove.

  Owner will collect.

  Mudberry’s Magical Glossary

  The following excerpts are reproduced from Mudberry’s A Beginner’s Guide to Magic (13th Edition), with grateful thanks to the Mudberry family.

  Agatha’s Emporium A magical shop in Oxford that sells astroscopes and other magical memorabilia. It is one of the best-known magical stores, along with the Flaming Tattoo Parlour, Mother Marek’s Musical Muffins and Veruca’s Secret.

  Aisle of White The magical bookshop attached to the Museum of Magical Miscellany. The Aisle of White serves as a place to sort the magical books from other books that people come to sell, and is the only part of the museum open to the Unready. Its current proprietor is Geoffrey Screech.

  The Alchemists’ Club A group of seventeenth-century alchemists led by Fabian Grey, who tried to rewrite the magical books contained in the Museum of Magical Miscellany. Their magical experimen
ts started the Great Fire of London and led to the introduction of the Lores of Magical Restraint. Their experiments also triggered the Alchemist’s Curse.

  Alchemists’ Firemark The symbol of a golden dragon swallowing its own tail (also known as the Golden Circle firemark). The appearance of the firemark indicates that an apprentice is able to write magic. It is also the symbol of the Alchemists’ Club.

  Amora The smell of magic. Different types of magic give off different amoras. Natural magic smells of nature. Mortal magic smells of fusty rooms and fire smoke. And supernatural magic smells of cold tombs and dead flesh.

  Apprenticeships The magical apprenticeships were developed as a way to pass on the magical knowledge to the next generation. The Flame of Pharos determines the order in which an apprentice learns the three book skills:

  Finding (firemark symbol: eye)

  Binding (firemark symbol: needle and thread)

  Minding (firemark symbol: ladder)

  Archive Located in the Department of Lost Books at the Museum of Magical Miscellany. The archive is where all the old texts relating to magical books are kept. The texts date back to the Great Library of Alexandria and the Golden Age of Magic that preceded it.

  Azoth A magical substance highly prized by alchemists. It is one of the three requirements for writing magic. The other two are the Golden Circle firemark and an enchanted quill made from a feather given freely by a magical creature. The ancient magic writers wrote their master spells with azoth because of its long-lasting properties. It can also extend the life expectancy of mortals. The symbol for azoth is the caduceus.

  Barzak The most feared darchemist of his time, Barzak wrote The Book of Souls, one of the seven Terrible Tomes, and was responsible for burning down the Great Library of Alexandria. He was subsequently imprisoned in The Book of Souls by Archie Greene.

  Bookend Beasts Ancient stone griffins that guard magical books and artefacts. They can be identified by their amber eyes and can come to life if the secrets they protect are threatened. Bookend beasts are extremely loyal and able to perform remarkable feats of magic. The last known pair protected the magical books in the Great Library of Alexandria. Highly dangerous: do not approach.