The Last Guardian (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 5)

by Victor Kloss

  — Chapter Forty —

  Guardians Unite

  Ben sat cross-legged on the vast expanse of lawn that spread across Lord Samuel's front garden, its perfection ruined only by the broken gargoyles that had returned to their stone form. They lay in crumbled heaps everywhere, though the queen gargoyle was nowhere to be seen. Ben was looking at the sky, revelling in the winter sun, the crisp air, and just being outside. There was nothing more wonderful than a sense of freedom after being trapped.

  He wasn't the only one enjoying the freedom. The other Guardians had adopted similar positions. Dagmar sat cross-legged, contentedly tucking into a packet of crisps. Krobeg had devoured several sandwiches, and was busy searching the bag for more.

  They had found Charlie and Natalie anxiously waiting for them in the front garden as soon as they left Lord Samuel's house. As Ben had suspected, they had tried and failed to get back inside.

  Thinking about Charlie and Natalie momentarily clouded his thoughts. He still had to face talking to them about the final journey to defeat Suktar. Ben cast the thought from his mind – he'd worry about that later.

  “I can't believe we did it,” Natalie said. “All the Guardians, all the pieces of Elizabeth's Armour.”

  Ben popped a cherry into his mouth, and glanced round at each of the Guardians. They were a mixed bunch, but each one suited their piece of armour perfectly and, on reflection, he wouldn't have picked anyone else.

  “It's crazy,” Ben said. “I feel like I deserve a holiday or something.”

  “Why don't we go back to my tavern? I'll cook us a celebratory meal,” Krobeg said.

  “We just ate.”

  “What? This?” Krobeg picked up a half-eaten sandwich. “This hardly counts. I need a proper meal.”

  “I need to get back to the Institute,” Dagmar said. “I've already been gone too long.”

  Eventually they eased themselves up and started down Vanishing Street. Ben couldn't help smiling with satisfaction every time he thought about what they had achieved.

  “I guess we need to ask the baron how to get home?” Natalie said.

  “Yes. He will phone a taxi for us,” Joshua said.

  Ben cast only a cursory glance when they passed the left turning on the street, but he came to a standstill the moment he spotted the portal.

  Even from this distance, Ben had a good view through the shimmering portal into the heart of London, and it was immediately obvious that something was wrong.

  The cars on the street weren't moving.

  Even stranger, the portal was supposed to block out all the noise, but Ben could swear he could hear something, even from this distance.

  He heard screams.

  With a concerned look at his colleagues, Ben turned, and started down the road, his eyes focused on the shimmering portal. The closer he got, the worse it looked, and his walk quickly turned into a run. He could hear the others pounding the cobbled stone right behind him.

  Ben could now see several people stepping out of their cars, right in the middle of the busy London road.

  A horrible feeling started to form in the pit of Ben's stomach. Ben dashed through the portal. The moment he entered the streets of London, his blood froze.

  There were screams of fear and horror, coupled with gasps of astonishment and disbelief, as people looked to the skies.

  Dragons ridden by dark elves filled the air – huge, purple, flying animals, ridden by strange purple-cloaked beings with long spears and glowing purple hands. Buildings were rapidly catching fire as the riders swept down and lit them up with dragon fire and elf magic. Others scorched the roads, sending people running and screaming for safety.

  Ben stood there, unable to take it all in. A part of him couldn't believe it was really happening. Even as he tried to come to terms with the attack, the sound of sirens began to fill the air, as the emergency services responded. Ben saw police cars attempt to weave their way through the chaos, with little success.

  “Ben!”

  He turned and saw Dagmar looking at him, her face urgent.

  “We need to get back to the Institute, now. The shit has just hit the fan.”

  Ben wasn't sure if it was Dagmar's voice or her choice of words that snapped him out of his shock.

  “How far are we from London Victoria?” Krobeg asked.

  “Not far,” Charlie said. “I know it took us a while to get to Vanishing Street from Victoria, but this portal has thrown us out just ten minutes from the station. Three if we could drive.”

  “Nobody's driving,” Ben said, eyeing the roads. “We go by foot.”

  Ben checked his scabbard and spellshooter, scanning the ground for any dark elf movement, recalling the pods that had sprung up all over Croydon. No doubt they had done the same here. It didn't take him long to spot a small group of dark elves coming round the street. Most people were running away, but the braver ones, and several police officers, tried stopping them. They were all mercilessly cut down.

  “Is it that way to the station?” Ben asked, pointing towards the dark elves.

  “No, but we can take a little detour,” Charlie said, eyeing up the dark elves with intent.

  “Good.” Ben drew his spellshooter. “Let's get going.”

  The seven of them walked against the tide, as people fled past them in horror.

  Even from a distance, Ben could tell the dark elves were enjoying themselves, shooting balls of purple fire almost casually, not caring if they hit person or building – either was a hit in their eyes. They took turns aiming at a small group of Chinese tourists, who appeared more agile than most, and even managed to dodge a few purple balls, before one of them went down. The elves laughed – a horrible, evil sound. The elf in the centre began lining up his next spell.

  It was a long shot, and Ben didn't have a clear line of sight, but he had learnt how to get round that. Ben raised his spellshooter and, in one smooth motion, aimed and fired.

  A spinning, spiked disc shot out from his barrel, and whirled its way through the crowd, swaying and pitching to avoid the terrified citizens. The moment it had a clear run at the elf, it seemed to accelerate, and hit the elf right in the forehead. The elf's eyes widened, first in shock, then in disbelief, and he collapsed to the floor, unmoving.

  Charlie raised an arm, palm extended upwards. Ben slapped it, but they barely even exchanged glances, both still focused on the elves.

  They had the dark elves’ attention now. Their good humour and joviality disappeared, replaced with a mixture of surprise and anger.

  The dark elves formed a line, and started forwards.

  “Don't fire until you have a line of sight,” Ben said. “You guys ready?”

  “Oh yes,” Krobeg said. “Just let me get within range.”

  “We will,” Ben said. “Form a line. Krobeg, next to me. Charge when I give you the go-ahead.”

  Krobeg moved alongside him, twirling his axe.

  Ben sidestepped an oncoming lady, who barely noticed him in her hurry to get away from the oncoming elves.

  “Almost there,” Ben said. “Three, two, one, now!”

  Charlie, Dagmar, Natalie and Joshua raised their spellshooters, and fired in unison. Four coloured spells shot towards the dark elves.

  Ben waited until the elves were clearly distracted by the spells, before ordering Krobeg to join the fight. He couldn't help smiling as the spells made contact, and Krobeg crashed into the remaining dark elves like a sledgehammer. The fight was over in minutes.

  “Now what?” Joshua said, turning straight to Ben the moment Krobeg downed the last dark elf. “Do we search about for more dark elves? I bet they are everywhere.”

  All eyes, even Dagmar's, were on him, awaiting orders. He desperately wanted to hunt for more dark elves, but he knew instinctively what the right call was.

  “No, we go back to the Institute. They will want to brief all members and apprentices urgently. Plus, there are some very i
mportant issues we need to discuss. The dark elves have forced our hand. We have all the pieces of Elizabeth's Armour. So that begs just one very important question: when do we begin the final journey?”

  “You are right: there is much to discuss, and it must be done in the sanctuary of the Institute,” Dagmar said.

  Ben nodded. “Let's get out of here and make some serious decisions.”

  With some difficulty, the seven of them ignored the mayhem around them, and moved in a bubble of calm towards London Victoria and the Dragonway.

  The war had begun.

  A Message From the Author

  Thank you for reading Royal Institute of Magic: The Last Guardian - I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to stay in touch, please visit my website at www.royalinstituteofmagic.com.

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  Regards,

  - Victor