Royal Institute of Magic: The Shadowseeker (Book 2) (18 page)

“Oh dear,” Joshua said, a hand going to his tanned face. “Of course, you have to do that. The first time through, the practical steps are easy; it's only on the second and third times where they really test you. You will definitely need that for the exam.”

“We'll make do,” Ben said, giving Joshua an easy smile, even as Charlie re-opened the handbook and started browsing through the various practical steps.

“Your choice, I'm just trying to help,” Joshua said, with a shrug. “Personally, I never thought either of you would make it to the second grade anyway. You're not Institute material.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Ben asked softly. He could hear his blood start to pump in his ears and squeezed the armrests of his chair.

“Isn't it obvious?” Joshua said. There was now a nasty glint in his eye. “You” – he pointed to Charlie – “look so out of place I don't know whether to laugh or cry. And I would have thought you, Ben, would have the good grace to forego the Institute after everything your parents have put us through.”

Ben's fist flew towards Joshua's chin as if it had a mind of its own. It connected with a satisfied crunch and Joshua reeled backwards. Ben, a keen rugby player, showed his sporting prowess by executing a perfect tackle, launching himself at Joshua's waist. Both of them hit the ground, Ben on top of Joshua. Ben had one objective – knock Joshua senseless. He aimed another punch, but his arm was caught by someone and he was hauled off Joshua by two of his crew – tall, ugly-looking boys with manic fury in their eyes. One of them aimed a clumsy punch at Ben's jaw, which he sidestepped, but he could do nothing about the other boy, who was now looming over him. He wasn't much bigger than Ben, but he was well built, with fists like bricks and an eager smile that came from confidence in brawls. Before the boy could land a blow, a scream came from behind. Charlie launched himself onto the boy's back and clung on to his neck like some mad piggy-back ride. The boy let out a low growl, melding in with Charlie's high-pitched cursing, and for a moment it was bedlam.

“I'm going to enjoy this.”

Joshua had gotten to his feet and pulled out his spellshooter, which was now pointing at Ben's head.

Ben stepped back instinctively, but there was nowhere to go. From the twisted grin on Joshua's face, Ben could tell whatever spell he was about to cast wasn't going to be pleasant. He placed a hand in his pocket and felt his dad's pouch, full of spells. He never went anywhere without it, and was now grateful.

“What's your problem?” Ben asked, biding for time. How could he get the pouch out and cast the spell before Joshua pulled the trigger? “My parents were proven innocent. They never killed the elf prince. That was all a sham.”

“This isn't about that,” Joshua said. His finger started to depress the trigger. Ben grabbed the pouch.

“Joshua Wistletop!”

For once, the familiar voice came as a relief.

Joshua had such a crazed look in his eye that for a moment Ben thought he was going to pull the trigger anyway. But after a moment, he lowered his spellshooter.

“What on earth are you playing at?” Dagmar said, as she marched over, putting herself between Ben and Joshua. The signs of exhaustion on her face were momentarily replaced by a subtle anger, which on Dagmar spoke volumes.

“He punched me in the face,” Joshua said, fingering his jaw. “I was giving him some advice on the upcoming exam and he lashed out.”

“I don't care if he tried to wipe out the entire elven species,” Dagmar said, her voice calm and controlled. “You do not pull a spellshooter on another apprentice. Do I make myself clear?”

Joshua looked as though he had just swallowed a lemon. “Yes, Ms. Borovich.”

“Good. Now march yourself into my office.”

Joshua gave one last look at Ben, before reluctantly turning and heading out of the common room.

“The rest of you, disperse,” Dagmar said. “And you” – she pointed a stubby finger at Ben – “I will be speaking to you later.”

The common room emptied in double quick time. Ben and Charlie headed down the stairs, and promptly ran into Natalie on her way up.

“I've been looking for you guys. I've got good news,” she said brightly. Then, seeing Ben’s and Charlie's looks, she frowned. “What's the matter?”

“Not here,” Ben said. “Let's go to the café.”

One short trip, three hot chocolates and a spell bubble later, and they were all sitting comfortably by their favourite spot in the café, next to the window. Ben quickly recapped what had happened in the common room. Only then did he notice that Charlie had a little bruise under his eye.

“It's nothing,” Charlie said, waving away Natalie's hands with some embarrassment. “That scary guy I jumped on caught me with a flailing arm while I was hanging on to him.”

“You saved me with that crazy move,” Ben said.

Charlie seemed uncomfortable with the praise. “Did you recall what Joshua said about your parents?”

“Yes,” Ben replied, stirring his hot chocolate. “He's clearly not happy with them, though I have no idea why.”

“Well, it must be serious, as he really doesn't like you,” Charlie said.

“I'll ask him one day,” Ben said, with a shrug. Then, eager to change subjects, he turned to Natalie. “So, what's this good news?”

“I've got us a way in to SpellWorks,” Natalie said, brightening. “The only catch is that it has to be done on Sunday. My inside contact insisted on that.”

“Sunday?” Charlie said, sitting up and almost dropping his hot chocolate. “That's the day before our exam. That's our last chance to revise.”

“The timing isn't great,” Ben admitted. “How long do you think the SpellWorks trip will take?”

“Probably most of the day. It's a bit of a journey. I can re-arrange the date, but my contact said it was Sunday or next month.”

“No, I don't want to wait that long,” Ben said. “Sunday it is.”

Ben and Charlie spent Saturday, from morning till night, revising like maniacs. They spent a lot of time in the library, going through their handbooks, and also re-doing any practical tests they had difficulty with. Charlie was eventually able to ignite the level five pellet, and finished his Spellsword checklist. Ben finally managed to learn the proper etiquette for the ten different types of troll.

That night Ben was so exhausted he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, despite the excitement of tomorrow's SpellWorks visit looming.

The next morning, Ben and Charlie met Natalie outside Taecia's Dragonway. Being the weekend, they were all more casually dressed, and Ben was again reminded of how pretty Natalie was. She wore a flowery green dress, matching her almond-like eyes, and her hair flowed over her shoulders. On her hip her spellshooter was holstered.

“So, where to?” Ben asked.

“Back onto the Dragonway.”

They headed back over the station's bridge and down the stairs to platform seven. As they passed a train map, Charlie stopped and inspected their route. He looked up at Natalie with surprise.

“SpellWorks have their own station?”

“They have their own island, actually,” Natalie said, smiling at Charlie's astonishment. “It's just off the coast of Italy.”

The dragon arrived on time and they found themselves alone in a carriage. The journey passed quickly, despite Natalie's refusal to describe what SpellWorks looked like, claiming she couldn't do it justice. The juddering deceleration less than two hours later announced their arrival at SpellWorks station. Ben's stomach hit the seat bar and the train went into a steep incline as it headed towards the surface. They emerged into the light and the dragon coasted gently down the platform. Ben, who wasn't prone to gaping, felt his jaw open. Everything seemed to be constructed of glass or crystal, from the shiny platform floor to the gleaming columns that held up the high glass ceiling. The place was pristine and there was a pleasant fragrance in the air. Ben wasn't sure if they had entered a train station or a palace.

“Come on, guys, get out,” Natalie said, nudging Ben and Charlie, who were both so busy staring they had completely forgotten to exit the carriage. Ben soon noticed another oddity: there was no bridge connecting the platforms, and no obvious way to cross them.

“Wow – look at that!”

Charlie was pointing at a small family. They were flying serenely over the platforms, and landed safely on the other side. Ben saw another couple do the same, then several more.

“Over here,” Natalie said.

She directed them to a sign, cast in glass, that said “Hand here”. On the sign was a cut-out shape of a hand.

“Just think where you want to go,” Natalie said, smiling at their expressions. “Watch.”

Natalie pressed her slender hand onto the sign. Immediately she rose into the air and glided across the platforms.

“Seems simple enough.” Ben grinned. “Do you want to go next?”

“I think I'll watch you, actually,” Charlie said.

Ben spread his hand and pressed it against the sign, matching the hand imprint. He felt his stomach leave him for a second as his body started a gentle ascent. Ben gave a little whoop and kicked his legs. Upwards he went, until he envisioned the exit in his mind, at which point he started going forwards. He sailed over several platforms, easily clearing the dragons and their carriages, before landing gently at the other side of the station, next to Natalie. Ben immediately turned and saw a slightly flustered Charlie sailing through the air, his arms and legs wobbling.

“Excuse me!” he said, as he landed heavily in between Ben and Natalie. “Ow, sorry about that.”

Natalie led them through a grand, intricately decorated crystal archway, and out of the station. Ben felt like he'd entered another universe. He stopped and stared, not caring that he was blocking the station's entrance, forgetting everything except the view that greeted him.

Four magnificent castles, with turrets and huge spiral towers, lined the grassy landscape in the distance. Each was tinted in a different colour – red, white, blue and green. Hovering above each one was a huge animated hologram bearing that castle's element – a burning log fire for the red castle; a cascading waterfall for the blue; a spinning tornado for the white; and a swaying tree for the green. A road led from each castle and then converged, forming one large causeway, which cut through the grassy plains and led to a fifty-foot-high crystal fence that surrounded the castles. Running around the perimeter of the fence was another road, which was just as busy as the one running to the castles.

Ben, Charlie and Natalie stood outside the station, barely fifty yards from the fence.

“That is just spectacular,” Charlie said. “It looks like Disneyland times a hundred.”

“Well put,” Ben said. “The question is, how do we get in?”

The only break in the fence was an open gate, which led on to the road that went to the castles. But the gate was guarded. Ben noticed two things about the people allowed through: they all wore a small shiny badge that glowed a certain colour, perhaps indicating the castle they were heading to, and very few of them were human. The majority were elves, but there were also lots of gnomes, goblins and even dwarves, as well as a few buzzing pixies and sprites.

“I never thought we'd stick out by being human,” Charlie said.

“We'll be fine,” Natalie said. “We just need SpellWorks security badges.”

“Where can we get them? I doubt they’re handing them out for free.”

“Follow me,” Natalie said. She checked her watch. “Seven minutes. We need to hurry.”

She led them along the busy road that ran parallel to the fence. Ben was so busy looking around that he had several near collisions. It wasn't the people themselves who caught his eye, but rather what they were riding. Many of the elves rode something that resembled a Segway except it had no wheels and simply floated along. Others rode different types of animals that Ben guessed were related to the big cat family. Still more flew overhead on eagles, though Ben noticed none of them seemed able to cross the threshold of the fence even when flying above it.

Natalie set a quick pace and eventually, in the distance, they could make out a settlement.

“There are four towns, one for each castle,” Natalie said. “Most SpellWorks employees live here.”

“Is that where we're going?” Ben asked.

“No.” She turned towards the fence and sighed with relief. “Oh good, he turned up. He's not that reliable and I feared he might not come.”

On the other side of the gate, just ahead of them, was a young elf. He didn't look much older than Ben, though you could never tell with elves. With long, flowing brown hair and fine eyebrows, Ben supposed he might have been considered good-looking for their kind. But his looks were ruined slightly by the anxious expression and his frequent furtive looks around.

“Rolan,” Natalie said, waving and giving him a glamorous smile. “You made it!”

It was instantly obvious to Ben that Rolan was smitten by Natalie. He softened the moment he saw her. Ben and Charlie received unfriendly glances, before he forgot all about them.

“I said I would,” Rolan said, in a voice that Ben thought sounded a little feminine.

“Do you have them?”

Rolan beckoned Natalie forwards and they met at the fence. Ben saw Rolan hand Natalie something.

“I have to get them back today,” he said.

“You will,” Natalie assured him.

“If you get caught…”

Natalie touched Rolan's hand. “Don't worry, it won't get back to you.”

Rolan seemed mollified, if not by Natalie's words, then by her touch.

“Have you thought about my offer?” he asked.

Natalie stepped back. “I'll let you know tonight.” She gave him a wave. “Thanks again!”

Once they turned and headed back down the road towards the gate, Natalie shivered. “God, he's creepy.”

“I thought so too,” Charlie said, sounding pleased. “What was his offer?”

“It's not even worth repeating. I'm just trying to find a way to let him down gently. He doesn't take rejection lightly.”

Natalie handed them each a badge and they fastened them to their shirts. They shone a dull green.