by Victor Kloss
Ben turned his attention to another open book, titled A History of the Forreck. There were just two lines highlighted in different places. “It is of interest to note that, though forrecks tolerate sunlight, they do not enjoy it. The forreck is, by nature, an underground animal.” The other piece simply said, “Never attempt to look a forreck in the eye.”
The more Ben read, the more obvious it became: his parents were searching for ways to overcome a forreck.
“But why?” Natalie asked, when Ben voiced his conclusion.
“Listen to this!” Charlie said. He was now sitting on the table, with two or three different books balanced on his lap.
“In the early days, forrecks were used as protectors for royalty or for artefacts of the most extreme value. Contrary to belief, they can be trained by a highly skilled beastmaster, though there are known to be fewer than a dozen of such men and women capable of such a feat. When successfully trained, a forreck can protect a designated area or even an item for the duration of its life. As forrecks are second only to dragons in longevity, that is often several hundred years.”
Charlie stopped reading and looked up. “What if there was a forreck protecting a piece of Elizabeth's Armour?”
A stunned silence ensued as the three of them absorbed Charlie's revelation.
“Which piece?” Natalie asked.
All eyes went to the item on the table.
“The boots would be my guess,” Charlie said.
Ben and Charlie were grinning from ear to ear at the discovery, but Natalie wore a worried frown.
“I don't want to alarm you, Ben, but if your parents are trying to overcome a forreck, they could be in real danger.”
“What have you heard about them?” Ben asked.
“They are famous for being the only creature to be able to take on a fully grown dragon.”
Charlie whistled. “That's impressive.”
“Impressive but also very scary,” Natalie said. “Especially if your parents, Ben, are trying to find a way past one. I'm not sure it's even possible.”
Ben's elation subsided.
Charlie, however, shook his head. “That may not be entirely true.”
“What do you mean?”
Charlie pointed to a paragraph in a book he was reading. Not only had the section been highlighted, it had also been circled heavily in black.
“Listen to this. It's from a book called Forrecks: The Truth Behind the Myths by a bloke called Lornor Taren. It says, 'Among the many myths and legends about forrecks is that, short of a crystal dragon on your side, they are invulnerable. That, I have discovered, is not entirely true. They may have a weakness, but I am still gathering further evidence before I am willing to publish such an important revelation.'”
Charlie closed the book and looked up. “That's all he says.”
Ben swore. “If this guy is right, that could be exactly what my parents need to get past the forreck and retrieve the boots.”
“Perhaps he revealed his revelation in some later book?” Natalie said.
Charlie nodded. He was already grabbing several others. “I'll keep looking.”
Charlie was such a frenzy of activity on the table that Ben and Natalie realised they would just be getting in his way if they tried to help, so they decided to wander round the room to see what else they could find.
Despite the urgency of the situation, Ben felt in no rush; quite the opposite, in fact. This was where his parents hung out. The thought made his insides warm and tingly, and it felt relaxing just to be in this special place, unwatched and unknown by the Institute and even the Shadowseeker. He almost didn't want Charlie to find something so they could stay in here as long as possible. Ben inspected each book on the shelf with interest, wondering if his parents had read any of them. There was a coat rack, and Ben's heart jumped when he recognised one of his mum's jackets. His eyes drifted to a glass display cabinet, with strange and wonderful items that seemed too precious for even Ben's curious hands to touch.
Until he saw the pouch.
It was a deep red, embossed with the letters G.G. in an elegant gold font. It sat there quite innocently, sitting in between a peculiar leather boot and a glass orb. It was filled with spell pellets. Ben's hands suddenly felt sweaty. He glanced around and saw Charlie still busy dissecting the books on the table, and Natalie busy looking at some diagram on the wall. Ben turned back to the cabinet and eased open the glass door. He poked his head in, until his nose was almost touching the pouch. It looked really valuable, a far cry from the ones they had bought a few weeks ago. What sort of spells would be in there? Powerful ones, no doubt. Ben reached in and picked it up. It was soft, but sturdy, and heavier than he expected. Ben stared at the pouch until his eyes started to water. He started to put it back, but hesitated, and gave Charlie and Natalie another look. Both were still busy. With a sudden unexplainable impulse, Ben slipped the pouch into his pocket. Quickly he shut the cabinet and stepped away before either of them might notice.
Ben found he was breathing heavily, and knew without inspecting that his face was flushed. He took several deep breaths and with some effort put on an air of nonchalance, resuming his inspection of the room as if nothing had happened.
“Ben!”
Natalie's voice echoed around the room and made Ben jump. He turned, his face guilty, but to his relief saw Natalie still staring at the same diagram.
“Check this out!” she said, waving vigorously to him, her eyes never leaving the diagram.
Ben checked his pocket to make sure the pouch wasn't creating an obvious bulge before joining her.
The diagram Natalie was looking at turned out to be a family tree. Names were scrawled on the paper, with lines branching out to other names that had similar surnames. Beside each name was a date. Ben spotted the name at the top of the family tree and promptly forgot all about the pouch he'd taken.
Charlotte Rowe.
“It looks like your parents are looking for Charlotte Rowe's ancestor,” Natalie said. “Look how far they got.”
The family tree extended down to the 19th century before the names ran out, with the last name being “Craypole”, still two hundred years short of present time.
“Each original director got a piece of the Armour, right?” Natalie said. She sounded breathless and Ben was surprised to see how excited she looked, until he remembered her admiration for Charlotte Rowe. “I bet Charlotte Rowe was entrusted with the boots!”
It made sense, Ben admitted. If they were searching for the boots, which seemed likely, given their position on the table, then this family tree made it a good bet they were entrusted to Charlotte.
“Looks like they had a ways to go,” Ben said, inspecting the chart once more.
“I bet I could continue it,” Natalie said. She was already walking over to the table to grab a piece of paper and a pen. “Finding this person could be just as important as searching for the boots. They might know a way past the forreck – they might even still have the boots themselves!”
“Well, that sounds more promising than anything I've found since that initial blitz,” Charlie said. He jumped down from the table and sank into one of the squishy leather chairs, which nearly engulfed him. “I found a few more books by Lornor Taren, who seems to be the leading authority on forrecks, but I couldn't find anything to help us.”
Ben joined Charlie, taking a chair opposite him, and Natalie did the same.
“Why don't we start with what we know,” Ben said. “My parents are…” He trailed off because Charlie was shaking his head. “What?”
“We don't know for sure that it's your parents,” Charlie said.
“Who else would it be?”
“I don't know. But it's only an assumption until we have concrete evidence that it is your parents.”
“It seems quite likely, though, you have to admit, Charlie,” Natalie said. “After all, we know they are looking for Elizabeth's Armour and the passageway was linked directly to Ben's dad's loc
ker.”
Charlie nodded. “I agree. It is extremely likely – I'm just saying we don't know for sure.”
“Fine,” Ben said, suppressing a slight irritation at Charlie's pedantic mind. “Someone, possibly my parents, is looking for a way to defeat this crazy powerful creature called a forreck, because we think it could be guarding a piece of Elizabeth's Armour, most likely to be her boots, which have probably been handed down to a descendant of Charlotte Rowe's. How does that sound?”
“You nailed it,” Charlie said.
“So where does that leave us?” Natalie asked, idly twiddling her hair.
“We need to track down this Lornor Taren bloke,” Ben said. “He's the one who wrote that forrecks might have a weakness. Let's go and find him.”
“It's not that simple, Ben,” Natalie said. “We don't know who he is, where he is, or if he's even still alive.”
“Not entirely true, actually,” Charlie said, standing up suddenly, his eyes regaining some of their former energy. He hurried over to the table and started sifting through the books.
“Ah! Here it is.” He grabbed a large, hardback book and hurried back over. It was called The Hundred Most Influential Beastmasters of the 21st Century.
Charlie started thumbing through the pages, stopping finally with another exclamation.
“Listen to this,” Charlie said, and he started reading.
“The elf Lornor Taren is perhaps the oldest and certainly most controversial beastmaster still living (as of publication date, 2012). Born in the 17th century, Mr. Taren spent his first hundred years working on the great farms of Unn, before gaining employment at SpellWorks Inc., where his passion for beasts flourished. He rose swiftly through the ranks and became head of Animal Enchantments, where he lasted for several centuries, before being controversially removed for his outspoken opinion against the Royal Institute of Magic's mission to cull the forrecks for the protection of the Unseen Kingdoms. At the time of writing, he still works at SpellWorks Inc., but his position is not clear, and SpellWorks refused to comment when approached.”
“Well, he's still alive,” Ben said. “We just need to find out where this SpellWorks Inc. place is.”
Natalie gave Ben a surprised look. “Oh my. I completely forgot you weren't brought up here. Everyone knows about SpellWorks Inc. – they're famous. Think Google but for all things magic. They are the biggest manufacturer of spell pellets, artefacts and other magical items.”
Ben and Charlie exchanged gleeful looks.
“How do we get in?” Charlie asked.
“That's the tricky part. It is strictly off limits to non-employees, unless you have a special guest pass, which are like gold dust these days.”
“So what's the plan?” Ben asked.
Natalie smiled. “We sneak in.”
“I like it,” Ben said. Charlie looked less than thrilled with the idea.
“One thing doesn't make sense,” Natalie said, her attention going back to the book Charlie had just read from. “It says the forrecks were culled. I thought they were supposed to be invincible?”
“I looked that up,” Charlie said. “A mission, led by the Institute several centuries ago, hunted down the forrecks one by one with crystal dragons, which appear to be the only dragons capable of taking them down. It was slow and bloody, but by the 20th century, the forreck and the crystal dragon had basically killed each other off. Crystal dragons are now officially extinct and nobody has seen a forreck in the last two centuries.”
“Wow,” Ben said. “Well at least we know that, should we find a forreck, it could well be the one guarding the boots.”
Charlie began tapping the book and pursed his lips. “There is one thing we haven't considered. If your parents were here, Ben, then they probably would have read these books and most likely also stumbled upon the bit about Lornor Taren. What if they have already visited him?”
Ben had the same exact thought. “As you said, we don't know if my parents were here, and even if they did find and visit Lornor Taren, we don't know what happened. We need to find out.”
“Do we?”
Charlie spoke the question softly, staring thoughtfully into the lush carpet.
Ben was taken aback by the question. “What do you mean?”
When Charlie looked up, his excitement had been replaced by a mellow, almost sombre expression.
“Ben, your parents are hot on the heels of Elizabeth's Boots, a task we know is critical to stopping Suktar. I'm concerned that if we go searching for them, we might get in their way.”
Ben was so shocked it held his rising anger in check. “How would we get in their way?”
Charlie kept his voice soft, aware that Ben was slowly building up steam. “Your parents are highly skilled Spellswords. What could we do to help them? They'd probably just end up babysitting us.”
Ben flew off his seat and pointed a finger at Charlie, but no words came forth. He turned and stepped away, his mind swirling with anger and disbelief. He walked over and leant on the table, trying to collect his thoughts. Natalie was talking, but it was just noise, and he barely registered it. The initial shock had subsided, and the resulting anger eventually gave way to genuine confusion.
Ben turned back to Charlie. “Two years my parents have been gone. Most of that time I was led to believe they were dead. You were with me when we found out they weren't. That's why we came to the Institute in the first place, to find out what happened to them.”
“A lot has changed since then,” Charlie said, keeping his voice soft.
Ben slammed a fist into his palm. “Nothing has changed,” he said, his voice rising. “Nothing is more important than finding my parents.”
“Nothing?” Charlie's patience was starting to fray and he gripped his seat, his voice gaining some steel. “What about your parents single-handedly trying to stop a dark elf king from taking over the world?”
“Nothing!” Ben shouted, stabbing a finger towards Charlie. He stepped forwards. Charlie sprang from his chair to meet him.
“That's enough!”
Natalie's voice reverberated round the room with such force it made Ben's ears ring. In one purposeful stride she had placed herself between Charlie and Ben. Her green eyes were blazing and there was an intensity about her that cut through Ben's anger.
“Ben, you are thinking with your heart. Charlie, you are thinking with your head. It's not surprising you've come to different conclusions. It's certainly not worth fighting over. There is no right answer. Now both of you, calm down.”
Ben felt like he had been splashed with icy water. He ran a hand through his hair. The red mist began to clear and that part of his mind responsible for analytical thought clicked back into gear.
“Look, I know it might not make complete sense,” Ben said, with a resigned shrug. “But you only get one set of parents. I'd like to see mine again.”
Charlie smiled. “As Natalie said, sometimes it's better thinking with the heart, not the head. I'm just kind of rubbish at that.”
“Good!” Natalie said, clapping her hands together. “Now, can the two of you kiss and make up? I want to get out of here.”
— Chapter Nineteen —
Training and Trouble
Ben's hopes of visiting SpellWorks Inc. anytime soon were dashed the very next day.
“Two weeks?” Ben asked. “We can't get in any sooner?”
They were talking quietly in the corner of the common room, sipping on tea and hot chocolate to wake themselves up.
“One does not simply walk into SpellWorks,” Natalie said, with a little smile. “I know someone who works there, but that's how long he thinks it will take before he can get us in. It took me all weekend just to convince him to help us.”
“And we can't just wing it ourselves?”
“Not if we value our lives,” Natalie said.
Charlie cleared his throat. “Two weeks it is, then.”
Ben swallowed his disappointment. For the first time, they were ho
t on the trail of his parents, and possibly Elizabeth's Boots. He stared at his cup of tea disconsolately.
But if he thought the two-week waiting time would pass slowly, he was very wrong, as he found out the following morning at muster.
“A word, please, Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Hornberger,” Dagmar said, as they were filing out with the rest of the apprentices.
Dagmar, Ben noticed, was not looking her usual imperious self. She had small bags under her eyes and they were slightly red. Even her hair, which was normally pulled back in a perfect ponytail, had a few strands out of place.
Even more astonishing than her looks was the nod of approval Dagmar gave them. “Congratulations on managing to stick to your targets. You are now on day thirty of your apprenticeship. As you know, the first grade of the apprenticeship can only last a maximum of fifty days, and the earlier you complete it, the better it reflects on you. Factoring in your current progress, I have scheduled in your first grade exam for day forty-four.”
Ben and Charlie exchanged looks of alarm that Dagmar either didn't see or didn't care for.
“That gives you two weeks to finish your studies and revise, in preparation,” Dagmar said. “Needless to say, failure to pass means expulsion from the apprenticeship program.”
Ben and Charlie hurried over to the kitchens to begin their chores – washing dishes today; both wore worried frowns.
“I wish someone had given us more warning about this exam,” Charlie said, grabbing a brush and scrubbing absently at a plate. “I don't feel like I'm ready. Do you think Dagmar will let us reschedule? Technically we could push it back five days and still be within the fifty-day requirement.”
“No,” Ben said firmly. “You heard what she said, the longer we take, the worse it reflects on us. We'll be ready on day forty-four.”
Thoughts of SpellWorks, Elizabeth's Boots, and even his parents took a back seat for a while as Ben and Charlie spent every waking minute, barring their morning chores, trying to complete the checklists for each department. Their argument was mostly forgotten, though there was a lingering disappointment Ben couldn't quite shake off. He had been so certain he and Charlie thought alike when it came to his parents, but he had been wrong.
