by Victor Kloss
Ben wasn't the only one admiring the house. Six sets of eyes stared at the surroundings with something approaching awe; even Dagmar looked impressed, most likely due to its similar scope to the Institute.
“Well, we haven't left the welcome rug,” Krobeg said. He had a cloth out and was wiping his axe. “Now what?”
“We might trigger something if we leave the mat,” Charlie said.
“What would we trigger?”
Charlie rubbed his chin. “Honestly, it could be anything. I couldn't find any specific references to what lay where.”
“Is there any way of knowing if stepping off the mat will trigger a spell, without actually doing it?” Abigail asked.
“No,” Joshua said. “Which is why we need to be prepared. Are you all ready?”
“No,” Charlie said immediately, drawing his spellshooter.
Nobody moved except Ben, who inched forwards to the end of the mat, blood thumping in his ears. He cringed a little as he extended his foot, and placed it on the ground, just beyond the mat.
For a second, he thought they were in the clear. Then the place lit up. Dozens of spotlights materialised and expanded, all around the entrance hall, quickly becoming bigger and brighter.
“Stay where you are!” Ben ordered.
The spells exploded like fireworks of all shapes and colours, of every element, each honing in on the group. Ben had only seconds, but he knew he couldn't rush the spell he was about to cast – it was too powerful. He had time to take just one breath, and then with a huge force of will that involved somehow staying calm and composed, he aimed the spellshooter in the middle of the mat, and fired.
The dome formed seconds before the first spell hit, making a sizzling noise as it smashed against the shield and was neutralised. Ben flinched – the impact rocked the balance of the spell, and he had to re-focus before he lost it. Within seconds there were sizzling noises everywhere, as the spells smashed into the dome, including a fireball the size of a football, which made them duck instinctively. Ben didn't see any of it; his eyes were closed. He focused on maintaining the spell and nothing else. It took several minutes, but eventually the spells became more sporadic and, after a final flurry, came to a halt. Ben knew he should wait another minute, just to make sure they were finished, but he couldn't hold the spell a moment longer. He released the spell, and his legs almost gave way.
“That was incredible,” Abigail said, staring at Ben in open-mouthed awe.
“Good job,” Joshua said with a nod.
Even Dagmar was looking at him slightly oddly. “That was a level-five shield.”
“Yeah,” Ben said. “It's one of the easiest level-five spells to cast, though, and in one of my strongest elements.”
“Regardless, I've never seen a third-grader cast a level-five spell before,” Dagmar said. Ben was pretty sure she was impressed, but, as usual, it was hard to tell.
“Okay, so now can we leave the mat?” Abigail said.
Ben turned back to the mat's edge, and once more tested the waters, putting a foot on the marble floor beyond the mat.
Nothing happened. He took another step, so both feet were off the mat.
“Seems okay,” Ben said.
They made their way ever so slowly from the entrance hall into the grand living hall adjacent to it. Ben was constantly looking at where he was stepping, tense and ready for something to shoot at him from any angle.
“This doesn't look too bad,” Krobeg said. “This Lord Samuel has good taste at least. I like that sofa. We could use something like that in my tavern.”
The living room certainly didn't scream danger. It was a typical wealthy living space, with an assortment of expensive furniture, carefully arranged about the place. Ben wondered how the place remained so spotless – where was the dust, after centuries of being empty? Ben almost felt silly holding his spellshooter at the ready.
“Now what?” Ben said, looking to Joshua.
“We have to search the place,” Joshua said. “The mansion is huge, and it could be anywhere.”
“We should stay together,” Charlie said immediately.
Joshua gave him a doubtful look. “It will be faster if we split up.”
“If we split up, some of us won't make it back,” Charlie said with a straight face. “This isn't a holiday home, Joshua. This place was designed specifically to stop anyone reaching the shield.”
“Charlie is right,” Dagmar said. “Splitting up here would be foolish.”
Dagmar's intervention signalled the end of the debate.
“Fine,” Joshua said. “But I lead. This is my piece of armour, after all.”
“I'm not complaining,” Ben said with a shrug. “Lead on.”
They followed Joshua, still tight and tense, expecting to be fired or shot at any moment. Charlie flinched at the slightest sound, and jumped when Ben sneezed.
After a thorough search of the living room to establish there was indeed no shield hidden, Joshua glanced to the doors. There were half a dozen in this room alone. Joshua inspected each one, clearly unsure which one to take.
“Just take any,” Ben said. “They're all the same to me.”
“They're not the same,” Joshua said reproachfully. His hand was trailing the lines of wood. “But I can't identify a factor that would lead me to pick one over the other, so we will take this one.”
Joshua had chosen the one that looked the cleanest, with the least stains on the wood. He opened the door and everyone followed him through.
To Ben's surprise, they entered a bedroom, complete with a huge, curtained four-poster bed and a small suite of furniture tastefully arranged near the window. He stared at the sunlight coming through the window, and could see only blue sky from where he stood. That was strange; Ben would have expected to see some of the gardens outside. Remembering to walk cautiously, he eased his way over to the window to get a better look.
“What the—?”
Ben found himself staring at the gardens below.
They were three floors up.
He waved the others over, and they crowded around the window.
“How interesting,” Charlie said, rubbing his cheeks. “I wonder…"
He walked back to the door and opened it. Ben saw Charlie nod, as if he was expecting something. Ben quickly hurried over, and peered out the door Charlie had opened. It led into an unfamiliar hallway.
“The doors act as mini portals to other parts of the house,” Charlie said, shutting the door again.
“How are we supposed to search the house if we keep getting portaled all over the place?” Krobeg asked.
“With difficulty,” Charlie admitted. “It's a good thing we stuck together, or else we'd be sprawled all over the house by now.”
“It's not in here,” Joshua said.
Ben turned, and saw Joshua bending down, searching underneath the bed.
“Let's keep searching,” Ben said. “But since this place is now officially a maze, try to remember each room, so we know where we've been and which rooms we've searched already.”
Joshua insisted on leading again. They left the bedroom and entered the hallway. Ben groaned inwardly when he saw all the doors on both sides. Thankfully, Joshua appeared to be tackling the problem in a logical manner. He went all the way to the end of the hallway, and took the last door on the left.
So eager was Joshua to keep searching that he had opened the door and marched several paces inside the room before the others had a chance to follow.
Ben heard the spell trigger before he saw it. Joshua cried out and dived to his right, just about avoiding the spell. The ball of energy tried to follow Joshua's path, but had too much momentum, and crashed into the wall.
“Patience!” Dagmar said with unusual severity as she and the others followed Joshua in. “Charging in like a bull will not do anyone any good.”
Joshua nodded, his eyes shocked and his hair frazzled. To his credit, he sho
ok it off and immediately started searching the place. They found themselves in another bedroom, this one smaller than the last. After making sure there were no other booby traps, the seven of them searched the room thoroughly, before concluding the shield was not there.
Joshua gave a little groan when they exited back out the same door into another space entirely. They were in a large kitchen, replete with all the modern conveniences. There were large French windows looking out to the garden. Again, they searched the room. Charlie received a nasty shock when he opened the oven and a group of pixies attacked him, but they dealt with them in short order.
“This is going to get tiresome, if we can't systematically search the house,” Joshua said after the kitchen revealed nothing.
“I think that's the point,” Abigail said. “Lord Samuel wanted to make the shield hard to get. It's not always just about using brute force; sometimes other talents are required.”
Joshua looked at her, slightly irritated. “What talent can we use to search this house properly?”
“Easy, Joshua,” Krobeg said, his eyes narrowing. “It's not the girl's fault that we're stuck.”
“Let's keep going. We just need to get lucky,” Natalie said.
And so they continued their search. Bedrooms, lounges, kitchens, dining rooms, offices, music rooms, recreational rooms, more kitchens and bathrooms. They entered them all, cautiously at first, but soon with something approaching reckless haste. Half an hour passed; an hour; then two. When hunger set in, they stopped at a smaller dining room and stopped for a quick break. This time it was Charlie who dished out the food.
They ate in silence, and felt a little better for it, but nobody except Joshua felt in a hurry to resume the search.
“We must be doing something wrong,” Charlie said, licking his fingers.
“What could we possibly be doing wrong?” Joshua asked. “It's pretty straightforward – we search each room and then move on if we don't find anything.”
“Think of it from Lord Samuel's perspective. He wouldn't want the Guardians to stumble upon the shield by luck, would he? Abigail was right – there must be some sort of skill or something involved that we aren't using, which would help us find the shield.”
Charlie's logic made sense, and even Joshua acknowledged it with a reluctant nod. It made Ben think of his parents, and their advice. You will need all the Guardians to find the shield.
Why, though? Ben wondered. That hadn't been the case so far. None of them had done anything special, except fumble their way into the house and promptly get thoroughly lost. He thought through each of the Guardians, and what they offered. Krobeg was the easiest: he gave them brute force, and would come in handy if they ran into any serious physical obstacles. Abigail, with Elizabeth's Helm, could possibly prove useful if they had some mental or even spiritual task. And Dagmar, what did she offer as a Guardian? The boots were apparently the key to finding their way to Suktar. So she was a guide or a navigator. Ben's eyes widened as realisation hit him.
Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it before?
“Dagmar, I think you should lead,” Ben said.
Dagmar looked at Ben with a mild frown. “I can do that if you want. But why?”
“Elizabeth's Boots,” he said. “They act as a kind of navigational tool, right? To eventually get us to Suktar. What if you could harness that power to help us find the shield?”
A silence fell upon the group, and Ben could feel a sense of hope and expectation from them, except for Dagmar, who gave Ben one of her measured looks.
“I don't know if that's possible,” she said slowly. “But I can try. We certainly need to change something, or else we'll be stuck here indefinitely.”
She gave a pointed look at Joshua, who had the good grace to blush.
“I need silence while I see what I can harness from the boots,” Dagmar said.
Ben wanted to ask for how long, but Dagmar had already zoned out. She sat down, cross-legged, and closed her eyes.
Ten minutes passed, with not a peep from Dagmar. Twenty. Thirty. Ben's mind drifted to the sword, and how much time he would have to learn how to use it before he was forced to confront Suktar. Much depended on when the dark elves attacked. He couldn't imagine having more than a few days, and he just hoped the sword wouldn't be too difficult to master. But that seemed unlikely, given that he would be wielding the only weapon capable of killing the dark elf king.
An hour passed, with the only sound coming from Charlie and Krobeg, trying to eat some crisps without making a crunching noise.
Finally, Dagmar opened her eyes and stood up. Ben expected a yawn, a stretch or some sign that she had just kept her body perfectly still for the past hour, but it was as if she had been on the floor for only a few minutes.
“I am ready,” she announced.
Ben wanted to ask what exactly she did to become ready, but now wasn't the time.
Dagmar walked up to the door and put a hand on the handle. But instead of opening it immediately, she paused, for a good minute, concentrating on what looked like a spot on the door. Ben recalled the hallway they had entered from, with its large portraits and polished wooden floorboards.
Dagmar opened the door. They found themselves staring at an airy conservatory, one that Ben seemed to recognise from before.
There was a soft groan, which Dagmar silenced with one quick look. Instead of walking through, she closed the door, and they all remained in the dining room. She focused again, her hand on the handle. Another five minutes passed, and she re-opened it. Another bedroom. More groans of disappointment, again silenced by Dagmar, who shut the door and tried once more. The next five attempts resulted in three bathrooms, yet another unexplored kitchen, and a master bedroom.
Ben's frustration was building, but he knew how difficult Dagmar's task was, and he kept it bottled up. The others did the same, with contrasting levels of success. Abigail seemed as serene as always, but Joshua looked as if he was mentally pulling his hair out.
The next attempt resulted in a hallway. Not the same hallway as the original one they came through, but a hallway nevertheless. Dagmar gave a satisfied nod, and shut the door again. She opened the door again relatively quickly, and another hallway was revealed. Ben felt a flutter of excitement in his belly, and exchanged a look with Natalie. More hallways revealed themselves, until, on the tenth attempt, Dagmar opened the door to the original hallway from which they had entered.
“Good job,” Krobeg said.
Dagmar led them into the hallway, and immediately put her hand on another door. She took her time over this one, before opening it to reveal another hallway. To Ben's surprise, she shut the door and, a moment later, opened it again. The same hallway remained.
Dagmar gave a satisfied nod, and one of her rare smiles. “I have countered the portal spells on each door, so we can search the house without getting lost. I believe I can also harness the boots’ magic to hone in on the shield.”
“That would be incredible,” Ben said. “Do you need anything from us?”
“Just silence,” Dagmar said. “And protection. I will be entering doors more quickly now, and all my attention will be on following the trail of the shield. You will need to block any traps or spells that are aimed at me.”
Ben pulled out his spellshooter. “That won't be a problem. You just do your thing; we'll make sure nothing blows your head off.”
They lined up very specifically, with Ben and Joshua directly behind Krobeg; then came Abigail, and last, Charlie and Natalie.
Dagmar started slowly, feeling her way through each door, but soon sped up, moving through the rooms at such a pace that Ben, Krobeg and Joshua had their work cut out, deflecting spells, casting shields and taking out occasional enemies. Ben even had to sweep Dagmar up and stop her from walking directly into quicksand disguised as floorboards. He expected a reaction from Dagmar, but she gave him only a thankful nod, and continued onwards.
Dagmar s
topped her furious pace only when they arrived in a small cloakroom. Her hand went to the handle, but the moment she touched it, she recoiled, as if burnt.
“Are you okay?” Ben asked.
Dagmar took a measured breath. “Yes. The room next door is the large living room we first entered when we came in to Lord Samuel's house.” She stopped, and appeared to be listening or calculating something. Her eyes narrowed, before she nodded. “This is the room we need to be in.”
Joshua frowned. “But we searched there already – we found no shield.”
“No, the shield isn't there,” Dagmar agreed. “But something else is – something we need to overcome to find the shield.”
“What is it?”
“I'm not sure,” Dagmar said. “But it is powerful.” She turned to Ben. “You said each of the Guardians would be tested. I have received my test. I think in the next room, the next Guardian will receive theirs.”
Ben felt his blood freeze. Surely it wouldn't be him or Joshua, as they hadn't claimed their armour yet, which left Krobeg or Abigail. If it was Krobeg, then it would undoubtedly involve some sort of combat. But what of Abigail?
Ben turned to the others. “Are you guys ready?”
He got six sets of determined nods, even from Charlie, though the anxiety was palpable.
Dagmar nodded, and put her small hand on the door.
She turned and, with unusual caution, entered the living room.
— Chapter Thirty-Four —
A Test of Resolve
The room looked the same, with its luxuriously spacious layout, but there was one key difference: the girl in the middle. Deep down Ben knew she must be dangerous, but it was hard to believe, when he first set eyes on her.
She was a child, surely no more than ten years old, sitting cross-legged on a red cushion. She had a mass of wavy, blonde hair, the sort you see on Barbie dolls. The Barbie analogy suited her well, with her cream, almost pale skin, sparkling blue eyes and perfect teeth. For a young child, she seemed perfect in every way, Ben thought.