The Protectors (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 3)

by Victor Kloss

  Joshua’s father didn’t reply, but Ben didn’t like the grave look upon his face as he strode forwards.

  “Now what?” Charlie whispered, barely moving his lips.

  Ben was too busy thinking furiously to reply. One thing was for certain – if Joshua’s dad was anything like his son, they were in deep trouble.

  “Ben Greenwood, I presume?” the man said, in a surprisingly soft voice.

  Ben nodded.

  “My name is Arnold Wistletop. I am Joshua’s father. My son tells me you have been snooping around in restricted areas. He claims you went into the Spellsword locker room. Is this true?”

  Ben hesitated. Tell the truth or lie? Ben’s instinct was to deny the accusation – what proof did they have? But something in Arnold’s sincere blue eyes made him think twice.

  “I was curious to see my parents’ lockers,” Ben said finally.

  “Told you!” Joshua said. His grin looked ready to explode out of his face.

  Arnold did not share his son’s enthusiasm. His attention went to the books they were carrying. Ben tried concealing the titles, but there were too many to block them all. A flash of surprise crossed Arnold’s face. Had he recognised one of the books? Arnold recovered in a flash, his face becoming thoughtful.

  “I am going to inform the Master of Apprentices about this,” Arnold said finally. “She can decide what to do with you.”

  “What?” Joshua said loudly. “Is that it? Why aren’t you reporting it to Draven? They should be suspended.”

  Arnold glanced at his son, his face impassive. “That’s enough, Joshua, we are done here. Let’s go.”

  But Joshua wasn’t done. He put his hands on his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you’re letting them go.” His eyes narrowed into slits, and his voice dropped to a whisper. “This is because he’s a Greenwood, isn’t it?”

  “It has nothing to do with that,” Arnold said, though he looked slightly uncomfortable.

  Joshua gave his father a look of hatred that Ben had only ever seen directed at him.

  “When are you going to stop protecting that murderous family? You’re sick.”

  “You don’t understand,” Arnold said, keeping his voice level.

  “I understand that you’re obsessed with the Greenwoods, even after everything they’ve done to us. Draven was right.”

  Ben, Charlie and Natalie watched in stunned silence as Joshua stormed off, with Arnold hot on his heels.

  — Chapter Nine —

  Hadrian’s Finest Silver

  Despite endless hours of discussion, Ben, Charlie and Natalie could not come up with a reasonable explanation for the strange incident with Joshua and his father.

  “It’s pointless to continue talking about it,” Charlie said, with a touch of irritation. “We are obviously missing important information that might explain Joshua’s outburst.”

  “There is clearly some history between your two families,” Natalie said. “But Charlie is right. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it.”

  And so they dropped the subject – though Ben still thought about it in private, and how he might unravel the mystery. Asking Joshua would be pointless, but his father might be more fruitful. However, Ben had not seen Arnold since the incident. He even thought about asking Wren, but she was madly busy.

  Instead, he turned his attention to the helm. But to his surprise and disappointment, Charlie was making slow progress.

  “It’s far more complicated than the boots,” Charlie said, when Ben nudged him one afternoon during a Diplomacy practical.

  “What do you mean?”

  To Ben’s frustration, Charlie just shook his head. “I can’t say yet. I need to get a complete picture before I can make sense of it.”

  And that was all Charlie would say on the matter.

  It was a strange feeling, but without making any progress finding the next Guardian or Elizabeth’s Helm, Ben felt slightly helpless. This was exaggerated by the whirl of activity within the Institute. There was an electric atmosphere as members plotted and planned for the expected dark elf attack. While the second-grade apprenticeship was both exciting and challenging, Ben couldn’t help feeling a little left out. There were even other apprentices talking in excited tones about their adventures during scouting and reporting. Aaron was getting quite a reputation. Three times he had successfully reported Unseen activity, and on one occasion he even managed to help the Institute apprehend the Unseen.

  “It was only a Night Pixie,” Ben heard Aaron say at least a dozen times. “Though I did have to be careful, as they have a nasty venom. I guess I just got lucky.”

  With his spirits low, Ben turned to the book he had found in the Guardians’ common room about the void – A Journey through the Void by Prof. A. Dackov. Here at least was a chance to perhaps learn something useful that might help him rescue his parents. He took it home with the intention of reading a chapter a night, but the moment he lay down with the book in bed, he was hooked. Five hours later and Ben was sitting up, the book discarded to one side. His elbows were resting on his legs, and he was staring at the carpet floor, shaking.

  Daemons. Devils. Imps. Hell Hounds. It was the underworld come to life. The void was relentless; there was no time for sleep, and there was no escape, except back to your body, if you had the strength. Ben had never tried picturing hell before, but this must surely be it.

  How were his parents supposed to survive there? Professor Dackov, in his journal, had never managed to stay more than a day at a time.

  Ben stood up, and paced his small bedroom. Were his parents even still alive? Or had they been forced to return to Suktar’s clutches? There was no way of knowing, and it made him want to scream with anguish and frustration.

  Ben glanced at his alarm clock: 4:03am. He wasn’t going back to sleep in this state, so he decided to take a shower. He made it as cold as he could stand, until his teeth were chattering. He climbed out, dressed for school, and then lay back on his bed, waiting for daylight. At some point before dawn, he drifted off to sleep.

  *

  “You look like hell,” Charlie said.

  Ben, Charlie and Natalie had sat on a bench just outside the front doors of Barrington, catching a few minutes of morning sun before school began. Ben was slouched, and his eyes were closed. He opened one and saw both Charlie and Natalie staring at him.

  “Charlie’s right – did you sleep at all last night?” Natalie asked.

  Ben sat up, and rubbed his eyes. “I got an hour or so, I think.” He sighed. It was time to come clean. “When we were in the Guardians’ common room, I found a book on the void.”

  “We know,” Charlie said.

  “What? How?”

  “I saw you slip it under your jumper,” Charlie said. “When it comes to books, my eyes are as good as Natalie’s. I figured you didn’t want to talk about it, because you hadn’t told us.”

  Ben shrugged, feeling slightly foolish. “I know it’s dumb, but I wanted to read it in private. It felt like I might be learning something personal about my parents.”

  “We totally understand,” Natalie said. “So you read it last night?”

  Ben nodded, slipping down the bench again. “Yeah, and it was horrible. Honestly, I don’t know how my parents…" Ben found his throat constricting, making it difficult to continue.

  “I don’t care what the book says,” Charlie said firmly. “Remember what Dagmar said? If anyone could survive in the void, it’s your parents.”

  “I know,” Ben said. He sighed. “Now I wish I hadn’t read that accursed book. All I can think about is devils and daemons.”

  “You’ve never seen a daemon,” Natalie pointed out. “For all you know, they could be like pink fluffy rabbits.” She made a face. “Ooh look, a cute daemon! Let me go and pet it.”

  Ben smiled. “Seems unlikely, but I get your point. Whenever I think of a daemon, I’ll just try to imagine a pink bunny rabbit.”

  The morning’s study at Barrin
gton’s helped distract Ben, but it was Dagmar, that afternoon, who managed to take Ben’s attention away from his parents. She called the three of them into her office after muster.

  “I have your scouting slot,” she said, looking up from her desk as soon as they entered. “10am–11:30am, in Tiddlehurst, which is the town where Edmund’s is located.”

  Charlie gave a look of dismay. “Aren’t we supposed to be at Barrington’s then?”

  “Your schooling is temporarily suspended,” Dagmar said. “You will arrive at Barrington’s as usual at 9am, so your parents don’t become suspicious. From there, you will travel straight to Tiddlehurst. I know you like to work together, so the scouting slot is for all three of you.”

  “Thank you,” Natalie said, with a grateful smile.

  Dagmar put her pen down and stood up, giving each of them an appraising look. “Tiddlehurst is classed as a danger zone, due to its proximity to London. There have already been several sightings in neighbouring towns. If you see anything, you are to report it – nothing more. You will be able to bring your spellshooters, but only so you can cast the necessary spells to notify the Institute of trouble. Do I make myself clear?”

  Ben couldn’t help noticing most of that speech was directed at him.

  “Yes, Ms. Borovich,” Ben said, his voice in unison with Charlie’s and Natalie’s.

  “Good. Your first scouting mission starts tomorrow. I don’t want you devoting more than half an hour each scouting period to the school, or else people might get suspicious. Any questions? No? In that case, dismissed. And good luck.”

  The remainder of Ben’s day passed remarkably slowly, even with the distraction of Spellsword training. That evening he lay in bed, coming up with ideas for how to get into the school and, more importantly, what to do once they were in.

  *

  Ben arrived at Barrington’s bright and early the following morning and sat on the grass, watching parents drop their kids off. He had woken up with a plan that he was satisfied with. It wasn’t up to his usual masterpieces, but it was a start. He toyed with the spellshooter sitting in his lap. Institute Security had cast a range of protective spells to deter any Seen from observing the weapon.

  Charlie and Natalie arrived just before 9am and joined him at the turning circle.

  “Are you guys ready?” Ben asked, jumping up. He led them to a modest car parked at the turning circle.

  “Tiddlehurst, right?” a friendly man said, winding down his window. “Hop in.”

  The journey took less than twenty minutes and they were dropped in the middle of a small town by the grocery store. It was much like many other towns in the southeast. There was a main road, lined on both sides with typical high street stores. A small church stood in the centre, flanked on either side by coffee shops.

  “Now what?” Charlie asked.

  Ben raised his spellshooter and smiled. “Time to use this bad boy.”

  “I’m not sure shooting people is going to help us.”

  “Nothing so exciting, unfortunately,” Ben said. “Now, be quiet a second. This spell isn’t easy to cast.”

  He raised his spellshooter skywards and puffed his cheeks out, staring intently at the barrel. He focused on the spell within the orb, but it didn’t respond immediately. Ben took a deep breath. It was certainly easier casting spells in the comfort of the Institute spell testing room. Ben blocked out the crisp air that was nipping at his ears, the sunlight, and the dozens of other sights and sounds that threatened to distract him. With a surge of willpower, he commanded the spell down the barrel and pulled the trigger.

  A white diamond-shaped object shot from the barrel into the sky. It exploded in a shower of multi-coloured sparks, which rained down on the town centre.

  “That was a tracking spell. It should help us detect any Unseen activity within the town,” Ben said, putting his spellshooter back in his holster.

  Natalie was looking at him with disbelief. “I know what spell that was, I’ve cast it before. What level is it?”

  “Three,” Ben said. “That’s why it was so difficult, but it’s worth it, as it tracks a wider range with more accuracy. I just learnt how to cast it yesterday.”

  Natalie shook her head. “You realise there are full Institute members who can’t cast level-three spells?”

  “Don’t inflate his ego any further,” Charlie said, looking a little sour-faced. “We’ll have trouble fitting his head back into the car.”

  For the first ten minutes, Ben felt a bit like a secret agent as they patrolled the streets, looking for any sign of Unseens. But when a dozen goblins didn’t run into the road, causing chaos, it soon became less interesting.

  “What about all those stories Simon was telling us?” Charlie muttered, as he ran the barrel of his spellshooter along a bush. “According to him, the streets were full of Unseens causing pandemonium.”

  “Simon is a liar,” Natalie said.

  “That or we’re just in the wrong place,” Ben said. “Anyway, it’s been an hour. Let’s head to the school. That can’t be any more boring than this.”

  The school was situated just outside the town, on a vast expanse of green, which catered for football, rugby and cricket. Ben had several fond memories of playing football here, but it was the school building he was focused on now. It was an ugly thing, a series of rectangular boxes that for some reason used to be fashionable. There were a few students outside playing sport, but the majority were obviously inside, having lessons.

  “So, what’s your plan?” Charlie asked.

  Ben drew out his spellshooter from his holster. “It’s quite simple, actually. I’m going to cast the tracker spell over the school, to see if we can detect any Unseen activity in the area, which might give us our first clue.”

  Ben lifted the spellshooter into the air.

  “That’s it?” Charlie said. “Fire the spell and hope we get some leads?”

  “Pretty much.” Ben nodded. “Can you suggest anything better?”

  “Farting in the wind comes to mind,” Charlie said. “Maybe the smell will draw out the Unseens. You never know.”

  “Oh, hush,” Natalie said, a small smile momentarily replacing her frown. “If that’s your idea, Ben, let’s go for it.”

  “Thank you,” Ben said, giving Charlie a pointed look.

  Ben took a deep breath, and fired. The spell was easier to cast second time round. The small diamond bullet shot into the air, sped off towards the school and exploded in a shower of sparks that rained down on the building.

  They waited, staring intently at a spot just above the school, looking for the tell-tale sign that the spell had detected something.

  One minute passed, nothing happened. Two minutes. Five minutes. Nothing.

  “So, what’s plan B?” Charlie said.

  Ben frowned at the school. He had been so sure…

  “We need to get closer,” Ben said, with a definitive nod.

  “That’s plan B?” Charlie said, massaging his forehead. “Even for you, that’s desperate.”

  “I have to agree with Charlie,” Natalie said.

  “The spell is far more effective when fired at close range,” Ben said. “We need to get right up to the school.”

  Without waiting for an answer, he started trekking across the sports field, towards the school.

  He had taken fewer than a dozen steps when his spellshooter started emitting a loud, painful honking noise.

  The shock almost threw Ben from his feet. He froze, staring uncomprehendingly at his spellshooter. The orb at the top was flashing.

  “What the hell is going on?” Charlie asked, squeezing his hands to his ears.

  Natalie reached out to clasp the orb of Ben’s spellshooter. The moment she did so, her spellshooter started honking and flashing, just like Ben’s.

  Ben shook the orb, the handle and the barrel, but to no avail. The noise didn’t stop, nor did the flashing, and it was starting to hurt his ears. He looked up frantically, but tha
nkfully nobody was about – at least for now.

  Ben stared at his spellshooter hopelessly. He’d had it only a few days, but he’d become quite attached to it. The last thing he wanted to do was destroy the thing, if that was even possible. But what other choice did he have? They couldn’t go anywhere in public with these things making a racket.

  “Step back!”

  Ben turned. Charlie was waving frantically at them. “Get back here, now.”

  Ben didn’t ask questions. He quickly stepped back to Charlie. The noise and the flashing stopped immediately.

  “Thank god for that,” Charlie said, wiping his forehead.

  “Well done, Charlie,” Natalie said. “How did you know what to do?”

  “A guess,” Charlie said. “Both your spellshooters went off at exactly the same area, when you passed that patch of grass there.” Charlie pointed to the grass just in front of them.

  “What does that mean?” Ben asked.

  To Ben’s surprise, Charlie smiled. “I think there is an invisible barrier that detects spellshooters or magic perhaps. If you pass it, an alarm goes off.”

  Ben turned back to the school, staring at it with renewed interest. “You think there is some sort of barrier protecting the school?”

  Charlie rubbed his hands together. “I do. The question is – who put it up?”

  “Is that really the most important question right now?” Natalie asked, with a worried frown.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, we’ve just set some sort of magical alarm off. We are intruders, and I bet the person responsible for the alarm knows exactly where it was triggered.”

  “Ah. Good point,” Charlie said. His excitement was quickly replaced with a rapidly paling face, and he surveyed the school grounds anxiously. “We should get out of here.”

  “Wait,” Ben said, raising a hand. “This could be the lead we need to help us find the helm.”

  Their indecision was broken by a faint barking noise. Ben squinted and saw two black shapes running on all fours towards them.

  “Oh great – dogs,” Charlie said. His anxiety was masked by a frown. “What type are they? Those things look huge.”