Hangaku was not impressed in the least but didn’t want to go against her brother’s wishes. She trusted him and trusted his judgement … even if that trust was beginning to waiver.
Jack didn’t need telling twice — he turned the door knob and pulled it towards his chest.
A waft of hot putrid air floated over his head as the door squeaked, cracked and grinded opened. And a smell, like rotten eggs, caught in his throat … stung his eyes and singed the inside of his nose.
Jack licked the palm of his hand and wiped his nose to cool it down. He coughed and sneezed twice to rid his airways of the awful smell that had engulfed them and then aimed the torch beam into the black abyss out in front. Tentatively he plucked up the courage to step inside the creepy looking passageway he’d encountered.
His hand brushed against a wall, and he pulled it away sharply. The wall was made of granite and had a dirty coating of grease and black slime all over it. Jack looked at the back of his hand and grimaced at the filthy sludge which clung to his knuckles like dark treacle.
He ran the torch beam over his hand but couldn’t work out what the black mess was. One thing was for sure, like the air in the passageway, it smelt awful and he didn’t want it on his hand, or any other part of his body a moment longer.
In a sly move, out of sight of the others, he dropped his hand beside his leg and found another use for his trousers and wiped the smelly black goo onto them.
Venturing further forward he shone the torch in a circular motion, from floor to wall to ceiling, but he would have been far better aiming the beam dead ahead. Maybe then he wouldn’t have walked, slap bang, into a monster size cobweb.
“What’s going on?” He placed the torch between his knees and hurriedly flicked his fingers through his matted blond locks to remove the silver strands of fine, sticky silk tangled within it. “Can anything else go wrong?” he fumed.
Yes, it could ... the torch beam flickered and faded. Jack finished freeing his hair of unwanted cobweb and fiddled with the dimmer switch, but it made no difference. It still gave out light, but not as bright as before, and he gave up in a huff.
A cackle of nervous laughter from behind signalled to him that his hilarious plight hadn’t gone unnoticed, though he didn’t see the funny side.
“It suites you,” said Macy.
“What does?” mumbled Jack.
“Your new hair style... It’s all sparkly.”
Jack ruffled his hair for a second time — determined to remove the last remanence of the cobweb. It was a shame he didn’t put the torch down first, and he knocked himself on the head with it. “Great!” he groaned.
Macy stuck her nose in the air and sniffed heavily. “Phew, what a smell.” The pungent stale aroma Jack had come across on entering the passageway hit her full on as it hung nostril high in the humid air. “Smells like someone has been eating sprouts.”
Jack swung round. “What?” he scowled. “It wasn’t me!” He glared back at Macy with a face of thunder.
“I never said it was!” Macy hit back. “But something smells in here.”
Hangaku spoke up, and it took everyone — including her brother by surprise. She hadn’t said much since leaving the house, except for a brief argument with Romulus. “This is an old building. What do you expect it to smell like, roses?”
Macy shook her head and gave a half-hearted smile. “No... But then again, we didn’t know what to expect. You’ve got to admit this place does whiff.”
The ceiling was made from a mixture of wood and mud, and it didn’t seem all that weather proof. And falling water droplets formed colourful pools on the floor, like engine oil on wet tarmac.
The floor was made of cobblestones, and every footstep taken rang out to an echoed chant and could be nothing less than a calling card to anyone who might have been hiding there. Not even the diluting effects of the water could put a stop to it. No matter how lightly they walked, it wasn’t enough to drown them out.
Romulus and Hangaku were less than happy at the noise made and knew they could be caught at any moment by Kraken’s Goblin Soldiers.
Romulus decided the best thing would be to stop for a moment, so he could make everyone aware of exactly where they were. He tapped Jack on the shoulder and asked to be removed from the rucksack. Jack obliged and gently lifted him over his shoulders and placed him out in front.
Romulus was now in a position whereby he could see two out of the three children, which was a problem, as … what he had to say was for all three of them. The solution was soon rectified as he climbed up Jack’s arm and sat on his shoulders. Macy and Olivia moved in front of Jack, and Romulus now had everyone in his sights, even if one view was of the top of Jack’s head.
Without warning, and to the nerve shuddering sound of splitting wood, the door they’d entered through minutes earlier slammed shut. Jack went ridged, Macy nearly jumped out of her skin, and Olivia wore a look of utter shock on her face. Romulus rocked back on Jack’s shoulders, and Hangaku ducked inside the rucksack.
“What was that?” cried Macy. Her face turned ash grey and she nudged Jack’s arm, which in turn moved the fading beam from the torch over to the door.
Olivia let out a whimper. “I don’t like this! I don’t like this at all!” She followed Macy’s gaze and looked dead ahead at the offending door. “We’re stuck now…” She snatched the torch from Jack’s grasp, darted back up the passageway, grabbed hold of the door knob, and yanked on it. But the door wouldn’t budge.
Jack got in on the act ... careful not to drop Romulus from his shoulders. He sprinted over to Olivia, still trying her best to open the door.
“Let me have a go.” Olivia moved to one side and Jack took hold of the door knob. But try as he might the door wouldn’t open for him either. It was as if it had been glued in place and no amount of pulling was going to shift it.
Olivia handed the torch back to Jack and slinked dejectedly over to Macy. Jack shook his head and followed her.
Macy was unimpressed. “Thank you very much for leaving me on my own in the dark.”
Olivia knew she was in the wrong. “Sorry … I was scared. All I wanted to do was open the door.”
Romulus, perched high on Jack’s shoulders, looked down at her. “Not to worry ... what we have come here for isn’t back there anyway.”
Their only escape exit had been cut-off, but on the plus side — if there was one, Jack’s torch had developed a second wind and decided to make a comeback. Though, on the down side, he accidently shone the beam into his face and nearly blinded himself.
Macy rolled her eyes. “That was stupid.”
Olivia sighed. “Seriously, Jack! You do the daftest things sometimes.”
“Okay! Okay ... point taken.” Jack blinked several times and slowly regained his vision.
Romulus cleared his throat, and with Jack still in the process clearing his sight, he took it upon himself to say a few words he had wanted to say for some time.
“We will have plenty of time to find a way for you to get back home. But for now we must think how we are going to find the Spell Keeper and save my parents from Kraken.” He looked to be fighting back tears. “The Book of Spells and Ring of Power may be in Kraken’s possession, but the Spell Keeper isn’t.” His voice quickened. “If we are going to stand any chance of stopping him, we must first help the Spell Keeper regain his powers. But it’s not going to be easy, and we can’t be sure of his whereabouts...”
Olivia drew on an earlier speech Romulus had given and interrupted him to get her point across. “I thought you said the Spell Keeper might have gone back to his hidden underground cave, where he lived before moving to the castle? If we are going to look for him … why don’t we try there?”
Romulus half agreed … lifted his head higher and raised his arms. “It’s possible he might be there — but I can’t be sure. He could be anywhere.” His face dropped, and his voice went up the high pitch scale. “Anyway, before we can even think of finding the S
pell Keeper, we’ve got to get out of this crypt.”
The passageway fell silent and it took a moment for what Romulus had just said to sink in. But sink in it did, and Jack was the first to latch onto his revelation.
“A CRYPT!?” he roared. Luckily for Romulus he had a tight hold of Jack shoulders, otherwise he might have ended up on the floor. “Did you just say … a crypt?” His voice wobbled, and it took several gulps of air before his nerves calmed to a simmer.
“Yes … we’re in the burial chamber of my ancestors.” Romulus looked emotional. “You should feel honoured … very few have been in here before.”
Macy didn’t feel honoured in the slightest. “Well, pardon me if I don’t agree. It may be that the people of your father’s land might feel honoured at being in a place like this … but not me.” She turned full circle, like a ballerina in a music box. “Hanging out in a grave yard is not my idea of fun.”
Olivia was even more dramatic. “That goes for me too. It’s was scary enough being here, before you mentioned anything about a crypt. But, now you’ve totally spooked me out.”
An air of unease cast a dark veil of fear over the three youngsters, and Jack began to do a wandering act with the torch beam. Scanning the wall, floor and ceiling — everywhere looked the same … dreary, greasy, slimy, damp, and … full of cobwebs.
Finally, he steadied himself and threw the torch beam down the centre of the crypt. And exposed seven glimmering white marble tombs, guarded by an equal number of chunky headstones. “Nooo way! I’ve done it now... I’ll be doomed forever,” he howled. “Waking the dead is not the thing to do.”
Romulus’s response was as blunt as it was instant. “Don’t be so stupid —” he didn’t mince his words, “— it’ll take a lot more than the light from your torch to wake them. Some of them have been dead for centuries.” He donned a serious look. “Remember, this is a sacred place and you should treat it as such.”
Jack tried bravely to rein in his emotions. “Okay, sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you or your ancestors, but this place creeps me out.” He edged forward and headed towards the tombs.
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps rang out in the distance and a bright orange glow enveloped the walls as the footsteps grew louder. Everyone stood rooted to the spot … all except Romulus. He swiftly joined his sister back in the rucksack strapped to Jack’s back.
“Switch your torch off, Jack!” cried Olivia ducking out of sight behind one of the marble tombstones with Macy close behind.
Jack frantically aimed the torch at the ground and flicked it off. And except for the orange light moving towards them the crypt was plunged into darkness.
Jack lost sight of Macy and Olivia, and it took a hand from Macy — gripped tightly around one of his ankles for him to find out where his two friends had gone. It was only Macy’s low voice telling him to crouch down beside them that stopped him from screaming his lungs out; such had been his initial shock at being touched.
A mass of shadows appeared on a wall out in front of the tombs and grew as the orange glow now illuminated three-quarters of the crypt. The shadows were accompanied by what sounded like a train thundering towards them … getting louder and louder. But as they were soon to discover, it wasn’t a train making the noise.
Struck with fear and uncertainty Macy, Olivia and Jack took on the only option left open to them and stayed as still as statues.
Then came a single whispered word as dozens of darkly dressed figures homed into view.
“Goblins!” It came from the rucksack. It was Hangaku’s fear ridden voice.
No sooner had the remark been made than both Romulus and his sister vaulted out of the rucksack like a fizzy drink escaping from a shaken bottle. Using the cord tied loosely around the neck of the rucksack as an escape route they abseiled to the floor.
At the same time the figures came to a halt just short of the centre tomb … and it wasn’t a moment too soon for Macy and the others tucked firmly against the farthest tombstone. A couple of steps further and they would have been spotted. The crypt was now lit-up like a Christmas tree from the fire torches held by the shadowy figures, and any thoughts they may have had of escape seemed to have been dashed.
Olivia knew at any moment they could be discovered and decided if capture was the only possibility on the cards she at least wanted to see who the figures blocking their path were. She lifted her head above the lid of the tomb and was now clearly visible if any of the figures decided to look in her direction.
Apprehensive, and at a loss what to do next, she ran her eyes up and down the figures for clues to their identity. Then she lowered her head and rested her nose on the lid of the tomb and noticed they didn’t look much like Romulus and his sister. They were massive for a start, and the sight in front of her caused a chill to run the length of her spine as she locked onto their bulging blood red eyes. They were built like tanks, with huge muscle-bound hairy bodies and filthy, dark grey slimy skin covered in warts, and pig snouts for noses with a small horn either side.
Their clothing consisted of brown and black knee-high boots, dark blue trousers, covered in silver chain mail, green shirts and heavy-duty waist length black chain mail jackets, black belts and buckles. But most strikingly of all were the black silk bandanas around their heads, partially covered either side by a pair of large hairy ears. Each of the ugly beasts wore a beautiful ice white sword strapped to their waists, which shimmered like frozen water. They looked menacing and their faces glistened pumpkin orange from the flames of the fire torches.
Olivia ducked back behind the tombstone, thankful not to have been seen and looked at Romulus. “Do you know them? I know they don’t look quite the same as you? But they’re nothing like us either.”
Hangaku reacted furiously to what Olivia had said. “They’re not like us at all!” She peered briefly around the corner of a tombstone and retracted her head just as quick as she was alarmed at how close the shadowy figures were to her and the others. “They’re members of Kraken’s army,” she whispered in a fraught voice. “And if my memory serves me right — looking at their uniforms — they’re from the Third Regimental Goblin Brigade.”
“Goblin Brigade?” mouthed Macy dramatically. “I’ve got to see this.” She raised herself up into the open to get a better look and homed in on the closest Goblin Soldier too her. “Hum—” she sighed and narrowed her eyes until they met in a devilish frown, “—how do you know which regiment they’re from?”
Hangaku edged nearer to Macy. “If you look closely at their bandanas, you’ll see a red dragon on the front ... that’s how I know.”
Macy concentrated hard. “Ah … yes. I can see it now.” He eyes suddenly went from narrow to out on storks. Unlike Olivia only moments before, Macy’s sudden jolt into the open had been seen by several of the Goblin Soldiers.
Romulus reacted first. “We need to move, quickly!” he shrieked.
Things didn’t look good and it seemed only a matter of time before they would all find themselves captives of Kraken’s soldiers. But unbeknown to everyone, apart from Hangaku — all was not lost.
She grabbed Romulus by the hand. “Follow me ... I know a way out of here.”
“What are you doing?” cried Romulus frantically. There was no point in keeping his voice down now, and he made sure everyone heard him.
Hangaku didn’t answer. Before the Goblin Soldiers had time to react she pulled Romulus with her. Macy Olivia and Jack followed close behind and they dashed from behind their hiding place, over to a section of granite wall. It was cleaner than all the other walls and had no trace of grease or slime on it. Hangaku seemed supremely confident in what she was doing, but they weren’t out of trouble yet.
The Goblin Soldiers had seen the attempted breakout and were now in pursuit. It appeared they had the upper hand and they looked like they were enjoying watching Macy and her friends squirm. But Hangaku had a plan that nobody seemed ready for.
Without warning, she sprung a
surprise on her brother — jumped on his back and wriggled her way onto his shoulders. From there she launched herself into the air and placed both arms out and in front.
A large wooden stake poked out from one of the many floor to ceiling cracks that littered the section of wall near to where they had all taken refuge and was just out of the Goblin Soldiers line of sight. Hangaku caught hold of it by her fingertips, and her tiny frame worked out just heavy enough for the plan she had devised to work.
The wooden stake started to move down, but … it had happened so quickly Hangaku didn’t have time to react, or to adjust her grip, and was sent crashing to the ground with a bone-crunching thud.
To the surprise of everyone around her, the unfortunate tumble Hangaku had taken didn’t look to have bothered her too much. It must have been the effect of the adrenaline rush pumping through her veins, and without a second thought for her own safety, though slightly winded, she sprang to her feet. Only then did it become clear why she’d taken the drastic course of action she had.
To the screeching tune of giant boulders of granite grinding together, the wall began to move and open like sliding doors. The Goblin Soldiers looked stunned and came to an abrupt haul. Meanwhile, Hangaku had regained her composure.
“Come with me ... there’s no time to explain.” She turned on her heels, ran to the opening in the wall and squeeze her little body through the ever-increasing gap.
The Goblin Soldiers broke their trance-like state and set-off again and quickened their stride. The look of disbelief once prominent on their faces had gone and had been replaced by fearsome snarls. Hangaku and the rest of the group could be left in no doubt of the imminent danger they were in.
Olivia was next to force herself through the gap in the wall, closely followed by Macy. “Gang way,” Macy shouted at the top of her voice as she slipped inside like a knife through butter.
Hangaku stuck her head back through the opening and yelled at her brother and Jack for them to get a move on. “Come on you two, quickly… I’m going to put the wall into reverse, so we can’t be followed.”
Macy Vickers and the Book of Spells Page 6
