by Victor Kloss
“How do you know?” Ben asked.
“I don't. But being thrown out the window isn't going to kill anyone. I've done it myself on numerous occasions to troublemakers at my tavern.”
Ben turned away with a heavy heart, determined to find them the moment they were outside. He guessed they would have tried to get back into the house. The most obvious route was through the broken window, but Ben had a feeling that, as they weren't Guardians, their way in would be barred. Knowing Natalie, she wouldn't give up easily, and had probably tried to find an alternate way in.
They would be fine, he told himself. With some effort, Ben put the matter from his mind, and turned away from the window, to see Joshua standing over the old woman in black.
“Who or what was she?”
“She was a high priestess from the kingdom of Praal,” Dagmar said. “They are a tribal people and happen to be extremely gifted with spirit spells.”
“How did Lord Samuel get her? And has she been in this house for the past five hundred years?”
“Yes, which would explain why she had gone mad. I have no idea how Lord Samuel found and caught her.”
Nobody felt like hanging around near the priestess, least of all Joshua, who already appeared eager to continue their search. Dagmar led them to one of the many doors that lined the walls, but she didn't open it.
“Assuming Joshua and Ben won't get tested as they don't have their pieces of armour yet, you are the only one left, Krobeg,” Dagmar said.
Krobeg nodded, spinning his axe slowly in his hands. “I figured that.”
“Which means the next challenge is going to be a physical one. And given that you're almost invulnerable while wearing Elizabeth's Breastplate, any enemy we face is going to be formidable.”
Krobeg nodded, his face suddenly sombre. “I have been thinking about that. I think it might be better if I go alone.”
“What? No,” Ben said immediately. “That's crazy. We can help you.”
“Can you?” Krobeg asked. “Whatever we face is going to be almost as indestructible as I am. It will be quick, it will certainly be strong, and none of you have the armour's protection.”
“Krobeg has a point,” Dagmar said. “We might just get in the way.”
Ben stared at her. She wasn't scared, was she? No, of course not. That wasn't Dagmar. He turned to Joshua, who clearly didn't like the idea either, but didn't seem as put out about it as Ben did.
“Even if we can't hurt it, we could distract it,” Ben said. He wasn't giving up easily. “Maybe we could give you an opening.”
“Possibly,” Krobeg conceded. “But I don't think I could focus properly if you were in there. I would be too worried about you all. Remember, we all need to survive this if we're going to get Elizabeth's Armour. The Seen and Unseen Kingdoms are doomed if we lack even one piece.”
In that moment, Ben knew he had lost the argument. He ran a hand through his ruffled and now sweaty hair. “Okay, but at least connect me to a beacon spell that you will fire if you run into trouble, okay?”
Krobeg nodded. He drew his spellshooter, and touched orbs with Ben's, linking them up.
Ben didn't like it; in fact, he detested it, but he could see Krobeg's argument. It was like they were jumping out of the plane and he was the only one with a parachute.
Dagmar sensed the argument was done. She put her hand on the door and focused, before turning and looking up at Krobeg.
“This is the one,” she said. “Ben is right – call us if you are in trouble. We might be vulnerable, but we can still fight.”
“I will,” Krobeg promised.
He took several deep breaths, his big chest heaving, axe in both hands. There was a fiery light in his eyes, and Ben got that strange feeling that, despite the danger and importance of the mission, Krobeg might actually be relishing the challenge. Indeed, he gave a flicker of a smile as he turned back to Dagmar.
“Alright, I'm ready. Let's see what Lord Samuel has for me.”
— Chapter Thirty-Six —
The Waiting Game
You won't hear him,” Dagmar said.
As soon as Krobeg left, Ben had plastered his ear against the door.
“The portal magic on the doors will stop any vibrations passing through.”
“You could disable that, though, couldn't you?” Ben asked, still trying to listen, despite Dagmar's warning.
“If I was touching the door and concentrating, I could create a link, yes. But I'm not going to.”
Ben thought about protesting, but then remembered who he was talking to. Instead, he started pacing the room, checking his orb every minute to see whether it was flashing, signalling a call from Krobeg. On more than one occasion he thought he heard something, and turned towards the door, almost putting his neck out.
“I suggest you calm down,” Dagmar said. “Think of something else to take your mind off it.”
“Like what?”
“Your apprenticeship,” Dagmar said immediately. “You can go over what you've learnt, and what you have left on your checklist in preparation for your third-grade exam, which will be coming up shortly.”
Ben looked at her as if she were mad. Was she joking? No, of course not. Dagmar never joked.
“That's not really in the forefront of my mind, to be honest,” Ben said.
“What about you?” Joshua asked. “Surely you must be concerned about Krobeg. How do you remain so calm?”
“Knitting,” Dagmar said with that perfectly straight face of hers. “It's a hobby of mine. I have several pieces I'm in the middle of, and I amuse myself by pondering which colours I should use.”
Ben turned to Joshua, and they exchanged incredulous looks. But Abigail smiled.“I enjoy knitting, but I'm not very good at it. Maybe you could teach me, Dagmar?”
“I would be happy to,” Dagmar replied with an indulgent smile.
“Moving back on topic, what do you think Krobeg could be up against?” Joshua asked. “Surely there aren't many things in the Unseen Kingdoms that could beat him while he's wearing Elizabeth's Breastplate?”
“There are some very powerful people and creatures in the Unseen Kingdoms,” Dagmar said. “There are many formidable creatures from the dragon family, and some of the rare golems are almost indestructible. Then there are some extraordinarily powerful magic users, though I'm more inclined to think Samuel will want someone of a physical nature to face Krobeg.”
“Dragons?” Ben said. “How on earth would Samuel get a dragon into the house? And how would it stay there?”
“Oh, that's not difficult, if you have the resources,” Dagmar said with an indifferent wave of the hand. “The dragon-taming industry is a lucrative one, even five hundred years ago, and he would have hired the best in the business. With some powerful sleeping spells, they could have knocked the dragon out and shipped it here.”
“How would he stay here, though?” Abigail asked. “Surely once it woke up, it would break free?”
“Not in this house,” Dagmar said. “There is magic everywhere, and they would use it to contain him. Though I'll admit the spells required to keep a dragon in the house for five hundred years would be extensive and they would have to be renewed every so often.”
Ben rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Someone would have to be here to do it, right?”
“Yes, they would.”
“And what about food and drink?” Joshua asked.
“That would also be required,” Dagmar admitted. “Which leads me to believe that the creature is more likely to be something like a golem, which requires no nourishment, rather than a carnivorous animal.”
“Well, that's good, I guess,” Ben said. “Golems can't be as bad as dragons, surely?”
Joshua piped up. “Have you ever heard of the Egyptian golem?”
“No, but if I was to take a stab in the dark, I would say they are golems that come from Egypt?”
“They are extinct now, bu
t five hundred years ago there were still a handful left. They were rumoured to be almost twenty feet tall and immune to magic. They were made of a metal that looks like golden sand, which is both soft and yet reforms under pressure.”
Ben frowned. “If they are so strong, why are they extinct?”
“They liked to fight,” Joshua said with a shrug. “And since there was nobody around worthy except other golems, they basically fought each other to death. That's what I heard, anyway.”
“You are right.” Dagmar nodded. “The last one was killed in the eighteenth century, by order of the Institute.”
“Unless Samuel managed to capture one before then.”
“That would surprise me,” Dagmar said, looking decidedly unsurprised.
Ben checked his watch. Fifteen minutes had now passed since Krobeg had left. The anxiety that he had managed to push aside through conversation came flooding back. Fights, by their very nature, didn't normally last long. He noticed Joshua biting his nails and staring at the floor; Abigail sat, with her legs crossed, looking anxious, but with that steely determination Ben had come to expect from her; only Dagmar remained unflustered, though she did occasionally glance at the door.
Twenty minutes passed, and Ben took to checking his orb with increasing frequency.
“Have patience,” Dagmar said upon seeing their expressions. “Remember, Krobeg and whatever he is fighting will be very tough to kill. They might be at each other for some time before a victor is confirmed.”
The thought calmed Ben but alarmed him at the same time. Krobeg might have the powers of regeneration through Elizabeth's Breastplate, but fighting for such a length of time would still be absolutely exhausting, and a test of perseverance, courage and endurance beyond anything Ben had experienced.
And so it proved.
Half an hour passed, which soon became a full hour.
Ben was now collapsed on one of the sofas. He felt exhausted, and he wasn't the only one. Joshua had joined him, and even Dagmar was now sitting down, with a faint crease of concern running across her brow. What if Krobeg had lost the fight? The thought had crept upon him some time ago. Initially he had swept it aside, but as time went on, it slowly moved to the front of his mind. If he had lost, they would never know, and they could end up sitting here indefinitely.
“This is ridiculous,” Joshua said, breaking a silence that had enveloped them for the last half an hour. “We can't sit here forever.”
“Joshua's right,” Ben said, turning to Dagmar, glad that he wasn't the one who had capitulated over the wait. “We need to do something.”
To Ben's surprise, Dagmar did not immediately disagree. She pursed her lips, and looked once more to the door. But after a considered moment, she shook her head.
“If the fight is with an Egyptian golem, which I fear it might be, none of us will stand a chance.”
“I don't care,” Ben said, his voice etched with frustration. “I'm sick of doing nothing.”
“Why don't we give it fifteen more minutes?” Joshua suggested. “If we don't hear anything, we go in. If it is an Egyptian golem, we go out again.”
“Unless something has happened to Krobeg,” Ben said.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Abigail said, looking to Dagmar.
Dagmar had her hands on her lap. She sat there thoughtfully, before nodding. “I agree to this. Ben?”
Ben had almost forgotten that as Head Guardian, Dagmar deferred all decisions to him. He almost regretted not going in earlier.
“Fine, fifteen minutes. Then we go.”
Time seemed to have a habit of slowing just when he wanted it to pass quickly. Ben started pacing round the room with a new vigour, energised by the prospect that, very soon, they'd be doing something pro-active. He hoped they weren't too late, though quite what they'd do if it was an Egyptian golem fighting Krobeg, he wasn't sure. He dismissed it from his mind – they didn't know what Krobeg was facing, so it was pointless to worry about it.
With ten minutes to go, Ben started checking his watch more regularly. On the five-minute mark, even Dagmar started running a cursory check over her spellshooter.
Four minutes. Ben's heart started picking up, fuelling his body with the adrenaline he would be needing very soon.
Three minutes. Ben did a few jumps, and then shook his limbs out, loosening his muscles.
“Good luck,” Ben said to Dagmar, Joshua, and Abigail.
“I don't believe in luck, but thank you,” Dagmar said.
“I do,” Joshua replied with feeling. “And I hope we get plenty of it.”
Two minutes.
Ben's orb suddenly blasted, making him jump and cry out in shock.
“Krobeg's signal!”
The orb was flashing brightly like a siren. He touched it, to turn it off and let Krobeg know they had received the call, then quickly moved to the door. Dagmar had beaten him to it, her hand flying to the door handle. With one quick look to make sure Ben, Joshua and Abigail were right behind, she focused, and opened the door.
— Chapter Thirty-Seven —
The Impossible Duel
Ben's heart was pounding and his hands were sweaty, as he followed Dagmar in, knowing they could well be walking right into death. But the thought that Krobeg needed their help fuelled his courage, knocking his fear aside.
The first thing he saw was broken chairs scattered across the floor in a room that looked more like a meeting hall than anything else. His eyes quickly scanned the large, empty space, expecting to find one huge golem and a dwarf in desperate trouble, though hopefully still alive.
He saw no golems. He saw no dragons. What he saw were two dwarves.
Two Krobegs, to be precise.
Ben looked on in astonishment, as they faced up to each other, hacking and cutting with their axes in the middle of the room. Even from a distance, he could hear their ragged breathing and see the sweat pouring down their faces – hardly surprising, given the length of time they'd been fighting. How were they still standing? More importantly, which one was the actual Krobeg?
Ben didn't want to shout his name, for fear that he might distract the real Krobeg. With the others following, Ben walked round until he was adjacent to the two dwarves so he could get a good look at both of them, with enough of a gap to stay out of harm’s way.
Both the dwarves were too involved in combat to even glance their way.
“Which is ours?” Joshua asked.
“I cannot tell,” Dagmar admitted, scrutinising both closely.
Ben bit his lip in frustration. They couldn't help if they didn't know who was who.
“Ben!” the Krobeg on the left grunted, glancing his way for a split second. “I can't best him! We're too evenly matched.”
Ben immediately aimed his spellshooter and launched a rocket at the enemy Krobeg. It hit his chest full on, and seemed to be absorbed, with almost no effect.
Ben frowned. That wasn't possible.
“He has the armour too,” Krobeg said, as he launched a vicious cut, which evil Krobeg deflected. The two dwarves looked at each other and gave a tired nod. Both stepped back momentarily, to catch their breath.
“Only got a minute,” Krobeg panted, leaning wearily on his axe. Despite the armour, he was cut in several places and looked a mess. More than that, he looked exhausted. Ben couldn't see how he could keep fighting.
“Why have you stopped?” Abigail asked. “I've never seen that before. Have you agreed to take regular breaks?”
“I honestly don't know,” Krobeg said. “He started it, and I wasn't about to complain, as I was ready to collapse. Now we fight for several minutes, and then take mini breaks. It draws out the fight, but it's the only reason I'm still alive.”
“That is most peculiar,” Dagmar said. “Don't you think it might be significant?”
“Possibly,” Krobeg said with a shrug. “I haven't had much time to think on it, though, to tell the truth. I'm either fighti
ng or taking a couple of minutes to recover.”
“Are you hurt?” Abigail asked. “I've learnt some good healing spells if you need some.”
“Oh, these?” Krobeg said, glancing at his wounds dismissively. “These are nothing compared to the gaping wounds we've both had, only to be regenerated by Elizabeth's Breastplate. No, I'm fine, but thank you for asking.”
“How is it possible that your opponent also wears the armour?” Joshua said. “There is only one breastplate.”
Krobeg barely managed to lift his shoulders with a shrug. “Some ridiculously powerful mirror spell, I guess. I've spent a long time thinking about it. I'm sure it would expire at some point, and I bet it only works in certain areas. But we've been fighting forever and I can't lure him out of this hall. The point is, how am I supposed to beat myself? We're exactly equal.”
“Isn't it obvious?” Ben said. “We help you. That will throw the odds in your direction. If we can't use magic, we can still fight him.”
To Ben's surprise, Krobeg didn't like the idea, and he gave a grim look back towards his doppelgänger. “I have a feeling that might make it worse.”
“How?” Ben said with surprise.
But before he could reply, evil Krobeg made a noise, and started forwards. Krobeg heaved his axe up, and charged. Ben couldn't believe how quickly Krobeg had recovered; he seemed to be fighting like a renewed dwarf. But his momentary optimism was dealt a blow when he saw that evil Krobeg was also fighting with new vigour. After a few minutes, it became blindly obvious there would be no winner until someone dropped dead from exhaustion – but could that even happen while wearing the breastplate?
There seemed to be only one solution, and it seemed a rather obvious one to Ben, despite Krobeg's misgivings. He drew his spellshooter, focused on the evil Krobeg, and put his finger on the trigger. He had blocked one spell, but could he block a dozen in quick succession? Surely evil Krobeg would at worst get distracted, allowing good Krobeg a way in. But before he could unleash hell, evil Krobeg raised an arm. A ball of white energy formed in his palm, which he pointed towards Ben. Without even looking, evil Krobeg shot the ball of energy, and it landed in front of Ben, less than half a dozen paces away.