Vega Jane and the Rebels’ Revolt

by David Baldacci

  The car was quiet, as I knew it would be. The people there were not restrained, but they were all under the Subservio spell and could do nothing to escape. As we watched hopelessly, the doors to the car opened and a Maladon entered. He waved his wand and all the passengers rose as one and started to file out.

  When the train car was empty, the doors closed and we started moving again. We would be heading on to Greater True now, I thought. Just then, the train came to a jolting halt.

  ‘What the Hel?’ exclaimed Petra.

  We next heard a gnashing of metal on metal, and then came another jolt.

  Delph realized what was happening first.

  ‘They’re disconnecting the train cars,’ he said.

  ‘Oh my holy Steeples,’ I cried. ‘Quick!’

  I rushed back towards the windowless train car and opened the door in time to see it start to rise into the air. I grabbed Harry Two and leaped, gripping a handrail on the exterior of the train car. The others leaped after me and clung to the car.

  The car soared into the air and then shot forward with such velocity that had we not been holding on tight and tethered together, we would have assuredly plummeted.

  It was freezing up here, moving at such speed, and my teeth chattered.

  After what seemed like forever, we began to slow and then descend. It was still dark, but I perceived the lights down below.

  I said over my shoulder, ‘I . . . I think it’s Maladon Castle.’

  As we flew lower and lower, my fears rose higher and higher.

  We were directly over the castle now, and as we hovered in mid-air, a huge dome that I had not noticed on my previous visit started to open. The train car began to lower inside.

  The train car landed with a hard jolt on the floor of the castle and I immediately looked around. The space we were in was large and open and lighted by torches lining the stone walls.

  A large door set against one of the walls opened.

  And there he was.

  Endemen.

  He was leading a tethered garm. As he drew more fully into the torchlight, I saw with some satisfaction that his suit was dirty, his sleeve torn and his hair dishevelled. He had a large lump over one eye, no doubt due to my Impacto spell.

  He looked murderous.

  In his other hand he held his wand.

  Why hadn’t I destroyed them when I had the chance? I shot Petra a glance. She was glaring at me in a way that said, I told you so.

  Endemen was followed into the room by the Bowler Hats, who looked as rumpled and angry as he did.

  I let go of the train and beckoned the others to follow me. We paused at the door and looked back.

  The train car door opened, and in went Endemen and the garm. No doubt they were going to use the garm to sniff us out before blasting us to smithereens.

  We stepped through the door Endemen had come through and then peeked back around the corner, watching.

  Minutes passed. Nothing happened. There were no spell blasts.

  Next thing the branded folks were being led off the train car.

  ‘Quick,’ I said. ‘I know where they’re going. And we can’t let the garm close enough to smell us.’

  We retreated down the passageway. Finally, we reached a part of the castle that I recognized, and, gaining my bearings, I led the others towards the room where the branded ones would be taken to rob them of their magic.

  The door to this room was open, no doubt because they knew the fresh batch of victims were on their way. We slipped inside and then over to a far corner.

  I showed the others the looking glasses on the wall. They were now all empty, and my heart ached at what this represented. All those people were now slaves in Greater True.

  ‘Their magic is stored in these,’ I explained, pointing out the bottles with the fine dust in them.

  Delph and Petra looked closely, pale with the horror of it.

  ‘Vega Jane, look; the bottles are labelled,’ said Delph.

  I looked more closely and saw what I had not seen before. Each bottle was engraved with the name of the person, I assumed, from whom the dust had been taken. An idea occurred to me.

  I pointed my wand at the bottles and said, ‘Minamite.’

  All the glass bottles instantly shrank so they could fit in the palm of my hand. I scooped them up and thrust them into my cloak pocket.

  ‘But, Vega Jane,’ said Delph. ‘They’ll certainly notice they’re gone.’

  Petra had opened a trunk that sat against one wall.

  ‘Look here.’

  It was full of empty bottles.

  I looked wildly around. We needed something to fill them with.

  Then I saw it. The large hole in the wall from my previous battle was still there.

  ‘Delph, grab that bucket over there and hold it under that hole.’

  He did so.

  I pointed my wand at the hole and said, ‘Springato erupticus.’

  The spell was usually used for tapping water, but it would unleash whatever was inside something. A moment later, fine grains of sand started pouring out of the wall and into the bucket.

  When it was full up, I used my wand to quickly fill all the bottles with the sand and then corked them.

  ‘The names,’ said Delph. ‘Don’t forget the names.’

  Petra and I used our wands and began magically engraving names on the bottles. We had only done the front row when Delph said warningly, ‘They’re coming.’

  The door opened all the way, and in marched the branded ones along with their captors, including Endemen. Thankfully, he had left the garm behind.

  Still, we shrank back into the furthest corner and watched, our breaths held tightly as we tried to stay perfectly still.

  Daphne and the others dutifully lined up against one of the walls and stared at nothing as Endemen paced back and forth in front of them.

  I clutched my wand, and I observed that Petra was doing the same.

  Delph had balled his hands into fists.

  Endemen finally turned to face the group.

  He lifted his wand and pointed it at Daphne. A light shot out and plunged directly into Daphne’s chest.

  She stiffened even more, and her rigid gaze focused on Endemen.

  ‘Did you meet a stranger at Bimbleton Station?’ he asked.

  Daphne nodded. ‘It was a young woman.’

  ‘Her name?’

  ‘Vega.’

  Endemen shot one of the Bowler Hats a glance and then returned his gaze to Daphne.

  ‘What else can you tell me about her?’

  ‘She was asking questions. Who we were and where we were from. Very nosy, she was.’

  I frowned as I watched Endemen ponder this.

  ‘Did she say where she was from?’

  ‘A place called Wormwood.’

  Endemen froze for an instant. ‘Well, well,’ he said, smiling.

  I felt my panic rising. I never should have told Daphne where I was really from. I should have lied. I inwardly groaned at my stupidity.

  ‘What else?’ queried Endemen.

  ‘That’s all.’

  ‘You lie!’

  He snapped his wand at her and she fell to the floor, screaming in agony.

  Petra raised her wand but I grabbed her hand.

  ‘Tell me the truth,’ Endemen said.

  ‘I am, I swear,’ Daphne sobbed. ‘I was afraid she was trying to get on the train ahead of us, so I left her.’

  ‘But you told her how to get to Clarendon on Hillshire.’

  ‘No, I didn’t. I swear it.’

  ‘You lie.’ He looked at the others. ‘You all lie.’

  Then suddenly, he shouted, ‘Rigamorte,’ while giving a backward slash of his wand. A black light shot out of it and slammed into all of them.

  They toppled to the floor as though roped together. We all stood there, stunned. I looked down at Daphne.

  Her eyes were open and fixed.

  Endemen had just killed her.
/>   He had just murdered her.

  I looked at the others. He had just murdered them all.

  Without a backward glance, Endemen and his cronies vanished through the doorway.

  I stood there, my chest heaving, my eyes filling with tears as I stared over at dead Daphne, and then at the others. They were all young, barely older than me. And their lives were already over, because of a mark on their hands, and a madman who liked nothing better than to kill.

  I fingered the Adder Stone in my pocket. I knew it could not regrow limbs. I believed it could not bring back the dead. But it had brought Harry Two back from near death twice. So there was the possibility . . .

  I took it out, waved it over Daphne’s body and thought the best thoughts I could.

  She remained as still and lifeless as ever.

  I tried again and again. I finally felt something tug on my sleeve. It was Delph. He shook his head sadly. I slowly put the Stone away.

  I had lied to Russell. I had done nothing to save Daphne. I had done nothing to save any of them.

  The guilt and shame would never leave me. But there was no time.

  I took several long breaths, steeled myself and marched out the door with the others behind me.

  I told myself that if I ever had another chance to kill Endemen, I would not hesitate.

  23

  THE THING IN THE TOWER

  We skittered down a hall and turned a corner. And there good fortune finally found us.

  Before us was a Maladon in a cloak. Behind him, attired in elegant clothes but with blank eyes, was a tall man.

  There was no one else around, and I whispered to Petra what I needed her to do. She nodded and we raised our wands together.

  ‘Impacto,’ I said. My spell struck the Maladon full in the chest and he slumped to the stone floor.

  ‘Subservio,’ said Petra, and her spell hit the tall, eyeless man, who instantly became rigid.

  I performed the magnification spell and saw that a room across the corridor was empty.

  Delph dragged the stunned Maladon into the empty room. I used my wand to bind the Maladon tightly.

  Then we turned our attention to the eyeless man.

  His clothes were shiny and neatly pressed and looked to be of the best quality. I wondered, and not for the first time, why the Maladons would dress slaves in such finery.

  I released the invisibility shield by turning my ring around.

  ‘Can you see us?’ I asked.

  The man nodded.

  So despite the blank eyes he still retained his sight.

  I said, ‘What is your name?’

  ‘I have no name. I am a Victus.’

  I thought back to the labels on the bottles. I hadn’t seen a Victus, but then I hadn’t had time to look at them all.

  I looked back at Victus. ‘How came you to be here?’

  ‘I do not know. I just am here.’

  I sighed. This bloke wasn’t being much help.

  Delph whispered, ‘Vega Jane, they’ve probably removed his memories. Ask him about now. What he’s learned about being here.’

  I nodded. ‘OK, Victus, what can you tell us about Mr Endemen?’

  ‘He is one of my masters. A great sorcerer.’

  ‘And does he have a master here?’ I asked sharply. ‘The man in the cloak who sits on the throne in the big room?’

  ‘That is our king. Necro. The ruler of everything there is.’

  I looked at Delph. ‘Necro.’

  My greatest fear had just been realized. The evil bloke who’d defeated my ancestors was still alive.

  ‘Victus,’ I said, ‘have you heard of anyone named Virgil here? Or Hector, or Helen?’

  He shook his head. ‘No. No one with those names.’

  ‘How many Maladons are in the castle?’

  ‘Hundreds. This is where most of my masters live.’

  ‘Have you been to True or Greater True?’

  ‘I served my masters in Greater True before coming here.’

  ‘They keep garms and jabbits here. Any other creatures?’

  ‘No.’ He paused. ‘But I have not been to all parts of the castle. There is the Tower Room.’

  ‘Do you know what’s in the Tower Room?’ Petra asked.

  He shook his head. ‘I do know it’s heavily guarded.’

  ‘By what?’ I asked.

  ‘Two jabbits, for one thing. Magic, for another.’

  ‘Would you like to ever leave this place, Victus?’ I asked.

  He shook his head. ‘Never. This is my home. ’Tis an honour to serve my masters.’

  ‘Even though they don’t treat you well? They hit you and curse at you, don’t they?’

  ‘’Tis my fault when they do. For I have displeased them somehow. They are fair and just.’

  I sighed. The bloke’s mind was simply too damaged for him to see the truth any longer. Now my thoughts turned to what could possibly be in the Tower Room.

  I looked at Victus. ‘Do you know how to get to the Tower?’

  He hesitated. ‘Why do you want to go there?’

  ‘Please, Victus, just tell me. I’d really appreciate it.’

  To my surprise, his lips quivered.

  ‘Yes, miss; of course, miss.’

  And he told us.

  I looked down at the bound Maladon before glancing up at Petra. I know what she wanted to do: kill him. And a large part of me wanted to strike as well. But my practical side took over.

  ‘If they find him dead, it will alert the whole castle,’ I told her.

  She slowly nodded but didn’t look pleased.

  I removed the bindings from the Maladon and cast a Confusio spell over him to muddle his mind enough to where he would not know what had happened. And, most important, would not blame Victus for anything.

  I turned once more to Victus and explained what I had done and why.

  ‘I don’t want you getting into any trouble for helping us,’ I said.

  His lips quivered once more.

  I put out my hand. ‘I want to thank you so much for helping us, Victus.’

  He slowly reached out and shook my hand. For a brief moment I thought I saw something else in his blank eyes, something that perhaps had always been there until it was buried so deep Victus had been unable to find it.

  I performed the incantation to release him from the Subservio spell. His expression didn’t really change. But I thought there was an emotion I recognized somewhere deep in his features: gratitude.

  We left them behind and, safely under the invisibility shield, made our way cautiously towards the Tower.

  We rose higher and higher, following Victus’s directions, climbing stone stairs and wooden ladders and winding steel steps.

  Then we reached a corridor and I knew we had arrived.

  I knew that by the sounds.

  A pair of jabbits was screeching.

  We rounded the last corner and there they were.

  Each was poised on either side of a large metal door. Inside that door was the Tower Room, along with whatever was so important that it required twin jabbits to guard it.

  The serpents were swaying back and forth, their hundreds of eyes surveying the hall in front of them. Luckily they couldn’t see us, but it wouldn’t be long before they smelt us.

  ‘How are we going to do this?’ whispered Delph.

  We had dealt with jabbits before. But this was tricky. We couldn’t have a pitched battle in here. The noise would summon every Maladon in the castle.

  I looked at Petra and told her the spell to cast.

  She nodded and took aim at the serpent on the right while I focused my attention on the one on the left.

  Delph and Harry Two stepped back and waited.

  ‘Paralycto,’ Petra and I said simultaneously.

  The spells shot out and hit the jabbits right in the chest. They froze mid-screech.

  We lowered our wands and glanced appreciatively at each other.

  ‘Right good one,�
� said Delph.

  Harry Two licked my wand hand.

  We cautiously moved forward. Victus had said that magic also guarded the Tower Room, but I had no idea what shape this defence would take.

  We reached the door safely, though my heart was beating uncommonly fast. It was unnerving to be so close to the vile jabbits, paralysed or not.

  I looked at the door, studying the lock. Astrea Prine had shown me several spells that would open locked doors. Ingressio would be too simple. I tried another.

  I raised my wand and said, ‘Securius terminus.’

  The door swung open.

  Suspicion and fear swept over me; this was all far too easy.

  I eased the door open and we stepped through.

  Delph said, ‘We need to hurry, Vega Jane. Someone might come along and see the jabbits all frozen-like.’

  The room was not large. The walls were stone. There were openings in the Tower Room about six inches wide, too narrow for anyone to pass through, but they did provide some light and air. It was chilly in here, and I wrapped my coat more closely around me as we crept forward.

  I glanced at Delph, who took a long knife from his belt.

  Harry Two’s hackles rose, and a low growl emitted from his throat.

  I used my wand tip to illuminate the centre of the room.

  I gasped.

  Sitting in a wooden armchair was a crumpled creature dressed in rags. It was tall and painfully thin, its atrophied muscles taut against the bone. The head was overflowing with long white hair and was bowed until it was almost touching a bony knee.

  The thing, no doubt seeing my light, turned its head in our direction.

  It was all I could do not to scream.

  It had no face. No eyes, no nose, no mouth. It was just flat skin so pale that I couldn’t believe that it was alive. I was frozen with fear and pity.

  Even though it had no eyes, I felt that the thing could see us.

  Petra gasped, ‘What is that?’

  It turned back around and its head once more bent down. I put out my wand light.

  ‘Why would they keep this thing up here under such heavy guard?’ asked Delph. ‘Why is it so important?’

  I edged to one of the slits in the wall and looked out at the countryside. Then I turned to the others. ‘We need to get out of here,’ I said. ‘Now.’

  I couldn’t explain why, but I knew that something was very, very wrong.