‘Sorry,’ he said, as he disentangled himself from his sister and dusted himself off. ‘Hey!’ he said, as he stood up and turned round. ‘Where’s the door gone!!’
Niamh looked back and gasped. Instead of the wooden panelling of the door they had just come through there was an expanse of rock wall. It was clearly solid, no door handles, no hinges, and no possibility of getting through it. They were trapped!
Chapter 25
Secrets in the Vault
‘What do we do?’ said Grady, running his hands over the rock as if expecting to find a hidden handle.
Niamh stood for a moment before turning back to look down the tunnel. It ran downward but didn’t look at all threatening. Light filtered up from below, though there was no telling how far down it went.
‘The castle is doing this, Grady,’ she said with absolute certainty. ‘Remember what Vynda said? The castle does this sometimes. “If it takes you where you may not expect, then something good will often reflect.”’
Grady looked dubious, but huffed and picked up his broomstick. ‘Well it would be easier if it just made a big sign for us saying Good things this way, with a useful arrow, rather than just dumping us into corridors.’
‘Maybe. But this is what we have to work with so let’s just get on with it.’ Niamh grabbed her brother by the shoulder and pulled him after her as she broke into a run down the tunnel. They ran onwards and downwards, the tunnel curving around on itself like a waterslide at an amusement park. The slope increased until the children had to slow down to avoid pitching forward. They ran in silence for minute after minute, the stone walls emanating a dull phosphorescent light. Eventually Niamh slowed down as they neared another curve in the tunnel.
‘Can you feel that?’ she whispered to Grady.
‘What?’
‘The breeze coming from up ahead. I think we’re nearly at the end of the tunnel!’
Grady abruptly came to a halt as a scream echoed back up the tunnel before being roughly cut off. Niamh’s heart beat so loudly in her ears that she expected whoever was at the other end of the tunnel must hear her.
‘Bree,’ Niamh whispered quietly. A mounting sense of dread descended upon the children as they realised their friend must be in danger.
The tunnel ahead of them appeared to come to a closed rock face, but a thin line of light spilled into it from the left-hand side illuminating the darkness which otherwise enshrouded the end of the tunnel. The children stepped towards the light as quietly as they could, expecting to be betrayed by a stone or a trip at any moment.
A quiet menacing laugh drifted into the tunnel, followed by a familiar but strangely altered voice: ‘I’m not sure which sight I enjoy more. The shock on your faces from seeing me or simply the shock of what you can see me do. I think I quite enjoy it,’ the voice said, with undisguised smugness.
Niamh and Grady turned to each other mouthing the same name at the same time, ‘Quinn!’ They quietly placed their broomsticks on the ground as another evil chuckle drifted out of the cavern.
Grady realised his friends needed help. He took a deep but quiet breath and edged closer to the cleft which hid their tunnel from the space beyond. It was clear the castle had brought them this way to keep them hidden. There was no way anyone in the room beyond would be able to see the tunnel entrance. Peering into the bright space Grady knew where the tunnel had taken them − it was the vault underneath the castle! Somehow Quinn, Bree and Hugh had been able to get into it undetected by the golems, the guards, the door warden, and Gilly! Grady turned to look at Niamh; ‘It’s the vault room,’ he mouthed silently.
Grady edged closer to the entrance to get a better look at what was happening in the room. As he leant forward Niamh put her hand on his shoulder. She wanted to tell him they needed to get into the vault without Quinn seeing them; that she remembered there were treasures ringing the room which would provide hiding places for them allowing them to slip unseen into the chamber. As she touched him she suddenly heard Grady’s voice shouting inside her head as he desperately tried to figure out which way to slip in.
Grady spun round with a look of shock on his face at the impossible invasion of Niamh’s thoughts into his head. Niamh pulled her hand away as if burned by scalding water. She slammed her hands over her ears trying to shut out the roar from her brother as he silently screamed at the realisation his sister was inside his head. The moment she released her touch from him though, the sound ceased, replaced by a numbing silence. The children stood staring at each other with shock etched into their faces.
Grady for once was lost for words but then slowly reached out his hand to Niamh. He hesitated for a moment before placing it on the tip of her shoulder. Quietly, silently, and inside his head, Grady sent out the thought, ‘Can you hear me?’
Niamh stood very still. Grady had no reply from his sister and began to think he had imagined the whole thing. Then, sharp and clear as if spoken aloud, the words arrived in his head: ‘Yes. Yes I can.’
‘How? What’s happening to us?’
‘It must be the same magic that lets us use our spells together. We can use this, though. If we can share our thoughts then let’s use it to get into the vault. Bree is in trouble. And if Bree is there then Hugh probably is too. Can you see anywhere close where we can get in without being seen by Quinn?’
Grady peered around the corner again for a moment before turning back to Niamh. ‘There’s a huge statue of a golden dragon just a couple of paces in. We should be able to get behind it pretty quickly.’
‘Brilliant. You first.’
‘Me?’
‘Well you are closer, Grady.’
Grady rolled his eyes and turned back to the entrance through the cleft. He peered around the corner of it as far as he safely dared. Just metres away he could see a shadow stretching back towards him, but couldn’t tell whether whoever was casting the shadow was looking away from their hiding place or towards them. He took a deep breath and was just about to step out towards the dragon when Niamh grabbed his shoulder.
‘The Invisibility Spell! Why don’t we try it again?’ came Niamh’s thought loudly and clearly into Grady’s head.
‘Don’t shout, Niamh,’ he sent back to her. ‘We must be completely brainless. Of course we should try it. Do you think you could do it again?’
‘Not sure. Worth trying, though.’ Niamh grasped her wand tighter and, holding Grady’s hand, reached for the place where she thought the shield had come from last time. Magic seemed to slip and slide around her. Once again her hair started to move in the invisible wind, but suddenly fell limp again. Pinching her eyes closer in concentration, she tried again. This time Grady also felt the wind whipping around him as the rainbow shimmer suddenly appeared from above them and dropped around the two children. Niamh gasped as she opened her eyes again. ‘It works!’
‘You’re a genius, Niamh!’ thought Grady, with a broad grin on his face. ‘Let’s go. We don’t need the dragon now!’
Grady stepped towards the opening making sure to keep hold of Niamh’s hand. He stepped out into the chamber with Niamh right at his heels. The shield shimmered around them but moved silently over the walls as they squeezed through the cleft. Beyond the opening the chamber opened broadly before them. The children stepped quietly around the backs of the statues and chests and plinths holding the treasures of the castle and were able to see finally what Quinn had done to Hugh and Bree.
Both Niamh and Grady gasped as they saw what had become of their friends. Quinn stood with his wand held out in front of him while Bree and Hugh were pinned to the rock wall across the chamber from them, seemingly unable to move. Their mouths were open as if frozen in the scream Niamh and Grady had heard. Their eyes darting around the room were the only sign they were still alive. While they watched, Quinn drew another wand. With a few complicated gestures he drew ropes out of thin air which lashed themselves around Bree and Hugh, tightening around the children and binding them in an iron grip from which there w
as little chance of escape. With a final flick of the wand the ropes burrowed into the rock face, anchoring the children onto the wall. Seemingly satisfied with his work Quinn lowered his wands and turned his attention to the plinth in the centre where Azrael’s twins stood, their robes and hair moving gently, though no breeze stirred the air in the chamber.
Quinn stepped towards them and onto the dais on which the plinth stood. Hungry eyes stared down at the statues, but rather than reach for them Quinn raised one of his wands and a thin blue light slowly wound its way from the tip and twisted down towards the Twins. A flare of red suddenly shimmered around the two Twins in a coruscating dome. Quinn frowned and the tendril of magic disappeared from the tip of his wand. Very slowly he reached out and gingerly stretched his hand towards the statues. The same flash of light coursed around the Twins, but this time shot up Quinn’s arm making him jump back and let out a yelp of pain. Sucking his fingertip he looked back towards Bree and Hugh. ‘Looks like I will just have to wait for your friends after all, won’t I,’ he said, walking back across the chamber towards his captives. ‘But then, you two have just given me some extra bargaining power I think, so I would like to thank you so much for turning up as you did.’ Quinn chuckled to himself and took a moment to sit down on an enormous gold chest carved with Celtic sigils and runes.
‘Ideas?’ Grady thought to Niamh.
‘He’s expecting us,’ Niamh thought. ‘He knows we are going to come here today, to find him. But I don’t think he expected to have Hugh and Bree here. What does he want to bargain about?’
‘No idea,’ thought Grady. ‘But it must be something to do with the Twins. It’s the only thing he’s even looked at.’
Niamh looked around the chamber for ideas. To their right lay two suits of armour which looked as though they had been made for trolls. They were broad and squat and close beside each other. ‘There,’ Niamh pointed. ‘We need to be able to draw wands and use them on Quinn, but I don’t think I can keep this shield up and do that at the same time. Let’s get behind there so we can have some cover before I drop the shield.’
Grady nodded and together the children stepped quietly towards the armour. As they crept round behind, they realised they would not be able to get under cover before they would have to let go of each other’s hand, and the shield would be broken when that happened.
‘When we get behind there we need to be ready to disarm him. He’s got two wands. I’m pretty sure I can get one, but can you get the other?’
‘Pretty sure I can. I don’t really know exactly what to do, but I figure if any wand can help right now it’ll be a Fitzhollow and Hooligan wand.’
Niamh smiled at the thought of the mad little leprechaun. The confidence he had in their skills made her feel a little more sure of what they were about to do. ‘On the count of three,’ came Niamh’s thought. Grady nodded.
‘One ... two ... three!’
Niamh released Grady’s hand and the shield suddenly winked out. As it did, the children ducked behind the troll armour and tightly gripped their wands ready for Quinn to attack. But there was no indication they had been spotted. Quinn sat scanning the far wall and looking at the main door where Jak the door warden would be keeping guard on the other side. Looking back at Grady, Niamh mouthed, ‘Ready, steady ...’ Grady held his breath. ‘GO!’
They leapt up at the same time from opposite sides of the armour. They pointed their wands at Quinn but realised the boy had moved and was looking up at his captives with his back to Niamh and Grady. Bree saw her friends as they stood and her eyes darted towards them. Quinn saw the reaction and spun round, raising both wands at the same time.
Niamh didn’t hesitate and sent a red bolt hurtling towards the right-hand wand. Grady did the same, though his was a barrage of small balls of fire. Quinn threw up a bright shield like a tight web of sickly green cobwebs and the spells thumped into them with a sound like screeching metal.
Niamh fired again while stepping out further into the chamber. Grady did likewise and together the children found their onslaught had Quinn backing away as he dodged spell after spell. Niamh suddenly realised Quinn was not looking at all worried. In fact, as he threw up one shield after another Niamh could see a smile growing on his face. Their spells were having no effect on Quinn and after trying one last big surge of everything she could muster, she stopped spell casting. Grady glanced at his sister and realised she had stopped firing. He lowered his wand and stood, panting slightly.
‘Keep your wand up, Grady,’ yelled Niamh. ‘Don’t drop your guard on him.’
‘Your sister is right, Grady,’ laughed Quinn as Grady quickly raised his wand again. ‘You shouldn’t trust me, you know.’ Quinn’s shield winked out, the ghastly green web leaving a pattern on the children’s eyes. ‘But don’t worry. If you do as I say then no one need be hurt in the slightest.’
‘What about Bree and Hugh?’ said Niamh defiantly.
‘They are absolutely fine, Princess. Completely unhurt. And all I need from you is one favour for them to stay that way.’
‘What favour?’ said Niamh.
‘I need the Twins, if you please.’
‘The Twins? Why can’t you take them? If you’re so good with magic, can’t you get through the shield?’
‘That shield is old, old magic. I can’t get through it, even if I do know a great deal more about magic than you two.’
‘Where did that come from then?’ said Grady, stepping closer to Niamh, wand still outstretched.
‘My power in magic?’ said Quinn.
‘Yeah. Everyone said you were rubbish at magic. No one’s ever seen you do anything even halfway near decent magic. You even struggle with casting basic firebolts in the playground.’
‘If you didn’t want people to know how good you were, then wouldn’t you keep it quiet too? And what better place to hide something than where everyone can see it.’
‘Why would you not want people to know you were good at magic, though?’ asked Niamh, puzzled.
‘Because these people killed my parents!’ screamed Quinn back at Niamh. The sound bounced off the walls of the chamber, echoing its accusing message until running out of energy. Quinn stood there panting slightly as if the voicing of the claim had sent his heart and lungs racing. ‘The last thing I want them doing is fawning over me about how special I must be and how wonderful my magic is. I HATE magic.’ He turned away as if diminished by the admission and voicing of the thought. ‘Magic killed my parents. There’s nothing special about it,’ he said quietly.
‘Your parents were killed in an accident,’ said Grady. ‘No one killed them!’
Quinn sneered back at him. ‘Of course you’d be told that. Why would they tell you perfect children that your family were the great conspirators? They even managed to convince everyone that you were normal.’
‘We are normal, though,’ said Niamh – still holding her wand ready to strike at Quinn if needed.
‘Normal!’ shouted Quinn. ‘None of us are normal in this land! They all look at us as if we don’t belong, as if ... as if we’re some goblin or troll they put up with because they should, but we’re not like them. We DON’T belong here!’ Quinn turned away from Niamh and lowered his wand, his mind seemed to have wandered elsewhere for a moment but the glazed look in his eyes was suddenly replaced by a steely resolve as he looked up at Bree and Hugh. ‘These two shouldn’t be here, but who would miss two more of their kind if something does happen anyway. It’s not them I need, though,’ said Quinn, looking back to Niamh and Grady. ‘It’s you two,’ he said, raising his wand again.
‘Why would you need us?’ said Niamh, backing away from Quinn who had started advancing across the stone floor towards them. The light from the ever burning torches glittered on Quinn’s eyes, which now looked a deep black. Not the black of night but the darkness that comes with underground caves far removed from the light of the sun and the breath of the wind. Niamh and Grady felt a chill creeping over them as Quinn slowly st
epped closer.
‘I need you to get me the Twins,’ snarled Quinn.
‘Yes, you already said that. But you can make banshees do what you want,’ said Grady in the bravest tone he could muster. ‘Why do you need us to get the Twins?’
Quinn looked puzzled and the darkness that seemed to have descended upon him lifted for a moment. ‘What makes you think I can control banshees?’
‘You sent them after me in the dragon race. And you had them behind you in the corridor at school. They were listening to you. They even looked like they feared you,’ said Niamh.
Quinn now looked totally confused. ‘I didn’t do any of those things. I’m not mad, you know. I’m not about to call up banshees. They’re insane creatures, you silly girl.’
‘But you’re Balthasar. We know you are!’ said Grady. ‘You were away from school after Mum and Dad and the others blasted you in the corridor, and no one could find you on Samain when the banshees attacked.’
‘And look at what you did to Hugh and Bree!’ said Niamh. ‘Only a really powerful wizard could pick them up and do what you’ve done to them.’
Quinn smiled. ‘Yes, I am a very powerful wizard – much more powerful than anyone round here knows. Those two were just unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ he said, looking back at the two children who were unable to move a muscle against their bonds. ‘Truth be told I thought it was you two coming after me when Miranda said there was a boy and girl trying to follow me down the tunnel. Serves me right for just assuming my plan was working, but ...’ Quinn smiled again; ‘Now I have a bargaining chip.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Niamh, though she felt the dread of knowing the answer in the pit of her stomach.
‘Either you two help get those Twins, or ...’ Quinn idly gestured back at Bree and Hugh without even turning around. The bonds that held the children burrowed just a tiny bit further back into the rock wall and tightened ever so slightly. Bree and Hugh’s eyes widened as they felt the tiny extra crush of the ropes, but no sound could escape their throats.
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