The Wizard in the Woods

by Louie Stowell

  When they reached the ruined chapel, Ben was waiting for them, along with the other hooded wizards. They all wore cloaks of varying colours. Worryingly high-ranking colours, compared to Kit’s yellow-and-white striped cloak, and even Faith’s black cloak.

  Behind the group of evil wizards, the Dragon Masters were lined up, frozen in place inside magical bubbles of force, like the trap Ben had kept Kit and her friends in, only these were glowing pink. Kit wondered what those were for. Faith saw her looking.

  “That’s to protect them, until they’re at full strength,” she said. “I know that spell. They’ll glow green when they’re about to release the creatures inside. Right. Ready?”

  “Ready,” said Kit. They walked closer.

  “Hello, Faith,” said Ben as they stopped, standing in a line facing the wizards. “This is weird, isn’t it? After all these years, we’re back together … but on opposite sides of a fight.”

  “If it’s weird, it’s because you made it weird,” said Faith. “But for the sake of the years we were friends … would it do any good if I said, ‘surrender’? Change your mind? Help us stop the Dragon Masters?”

  “I could say the same to you. Before the Dragon Masters truly rise, can I persuade you to change your mind? Come and overthrow the council. Fight against the power of old men and women.”

  “Compared to me, you’re an old man,” said Kit.

  “Oi,” said Faith. “He’s my age!”

  “Last chance,” said Ben. “Kit, you have such potential to help people. Won’t you join me? Help other people live in a better world?”

  “You mean control other people,” spat Kit. “The answer’s NO.”

  Ben looked sad. “Then I’m afraid this is all that’s left.” He held up a hand and it crackled with magic.

  “Tortuga!” Before the fireball hit, Kit had a shield up.

  The blond wizard next to Ben hurled another fireball. It slammed against Kit’s shield, weakening it. Ben raised his hands to cast again.

  “Now, Alita!” yelled Faith.

  Alita unleashed a stored spell from a crystal by rubbing her hand along it, like she was stroking a cat, just as Faith had shown her. It sent a shimmer through the air, that slammed into Ben and pushed his hands together. He tried to pull them apart, but they seemed stuck, like he’d got superglue on them.

  “WOW! YOU DID A SPELL!” said Josh.

  Spells flew back and forth. Josh freed the spell from his crystal to block a fireball coming from one of Ben’s followers. It bounced the fireball back in another direction, melting it harmlessly into the air.

  “THAT IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED!” yelled Josh.

  “Shimmersphere!” cried Kit, unleashing a spell of her own, capturing the blond wizard in a ring of sparks.

  Even in the midst of battle, Faith gave her a proud look.

  Kit’s heart soared. Faith had bound another wizard in glowing ropes. Alita released another crystal, which threw another back, pinning him against a tree.

  They were winning!

  Finally, Ben was standing alone against them.

  His face was pale and his hair stuck up in multiple directions. His black cloak was torn in places, and burned in others. He was panting to catch his breath.

  “Wait,” he said. “Stop!”

  Faith held up a hand to Kit, to stop her casting any more spells. “Yes?” she said to Ben. “I’m listening.”

  “I’ve just…” He shook his head, as though coming out of a trance. He blinked and shook his head again, running his fingers through his hair as though that would clear his head somehow. He looked horrified.

  “What have I done? What am I doing?” he whispered.

  Faith looked at him, her eyes full of concern. “Ben?”

  “I see it now… I can see the truth. Oh, Faith, I’m so sorry,” he said.

  “I don’t understand,” said Faith. “What’s happening?”

  “I think … I think that the Dragon Masters were controlling me,” said Ben. He wobbled on his feet, pale as a ghost, and looked imploringly at Faith. “Your last spell must have snapped me out of it.” He looked from Kit to Faith. “I’m so sorry. I … I didn’t know what I was doing.”

  “Oh!” Kit gasped. Of course, why hadn’t she thought of that? Ben wasn’t evil. He was brainwashed!

  He coughed and staggered. “They’ve …drained me…” he said, slumping forward. Instinctively, Kit ran forward to help him.

  “Kit, don’t!” came Alita’s voice, as Kit ran towards him.

  She took Ben’s hand to help him up. But instead of a weak grip, she felt her hand trapped in strong fingers. Then, with a whisper, he cast a faint spell on her, just enough to stop her moving.

  “What?” said Kit. “I don’t understand. Are they still controlling you?”

  “No,” said Ben.

  Kit felt herself spun round by an invisible force so that she was facing the Dragon Masters.

  “They never were. But thank you for coming to me. You’re a good kid,” he said. Then, louder, he warned, “I recommend the rest of you stay right where you are.” He traced his finger across Kit’s throat in a menacing gesture. “All I need is time for the Dragon Masters to gain their last strength.”

  Kit felt incredibly stupid in that moment. “You were stalling this whole time,” she said.

  “How could I be so stupid,” growled Faith. “I wanted to believe so much that you were Ben again. The Ben I knew. I’m sorry, Kit. I’m so sorry.”

  “Not long to wait,” said Ben. His eyes were wide with excitement. “Any moment now…” He gestured to the Dragon Masters in their glowing bubbles of force. Kit could hear a bubbling, fizzing sound building all around them. The Masters’ eyes glowed a fierce red, and energy crackled all around them. Bound by Ben’s spell, she could still hear Faith and Josh and Alita, and could see them shouting in horror as the Dragon Masters burst out of their force bubbles.

  FREE, said one.

  AT LAST, said another.

  HELLO, KIT, said a third. WE TOLD YOU WE’D BE BACK.

  “So,” said Ben to the rats. “What do you say? Time to overthrow the Wizards’ Council and free the world?”

  “ONE OUT OF TWO ISN’T BAD,” said the rats. Each one twitched a claw and Ben found himself hovering in mid-air. As did his fallen, groaning followers. Kit felt the spell Ben had cast against her melt away, and she was free again.

  “WE DON’T NEED YOU NOW. WE WILL DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH YOU WHEN WE ARE FINISHED.”

  “But … we had a deal,” said Ben.

  “THAT WAS THEN. WE PREFER TO LIVE IN THE NOW.”

  Ben went even paler than he was already.

  “Well, don’t I feel foolish,” he muttered.

  “You never should’ve trusted those low-down dirty cheating rats,” muttered Josh, in his detective-novel voice.

  “HUMANS ARE A BLIP IN THE WHEEL OF TIME. YOU ARE BARELY EVEN WIZARDS. YOUR MAGIC IS BORROWED FROM BOOKS AND WORDS AND DRAGONS. OURS FLOWS THROUGH OUR VEINS LIKE WATER. WHY ARE WE EVEN SPEAKING TO YOU? PERHAPS BECAUSE WE HAVE LAIN SILENT FOR SO LONG. BUT SOON THE HUMANS WILL BE NOTHING BUT OUR SCURRYING SERVANTS. THE WORLD IS OURS NOW.”

  “COME!” said one of the rats. “WE CAN FIGHT FOR OURSELVES, AT LAST! IT HAS BEEN SO LONG SINCE WE FELT BLOOD ON OUR PAWS. NOW, FRIENDS, LET US DESTROY THE COUNCIL.”

  “I would really rather you didn’t,” said Branwen, appearing from thin air. The rest of the council popped into being beside her. “I have a lot to do today.”

  “Wow, are the rats powerful enough to just summon you here?” asked Kit.

  “No, dear,” said Branwen. “But you are. We heard your call when you were trapped, but it took us a while to get here.”

  “Because it’s far from Wales?” asked Kit.

  “No, because this isn’t the only Earth-threatening magical emergency today,” said Branwen. “Apocalypses are like buses, I tell you. You wait years for one, then three come along at once!”

 
Kit filed that away as something to wrap her brain round later.

  “Step back, would you?” asked Branwen, gesturing to the children to move aside. “Let us clean up the vermin problem. I can promise you fireworks. The greatest show on Earth…”

  ‘Fireworks’ was the right word. The Dragon Masters struck first. A single spell from many hands. They fought as one – just as they spoke as one. Magic came out of their claw-like hands in a glittering mist that seemed to swallow the council whole.

  Kit couldn’t make out what happened next. Spell clashed with spell, and fire burst out, and shapes changed within a thick cloud of terrifying magic. What looked like a unicorn reared up one moment; the next, a shaft of green light shot up into the sky. Spells exploded. Magic roared. A wave of flame crashed over the battlefield.

  “Stay here,” ordered Faith, and muttered the words to a powerful spell.

  “Faith!” yelled Kit as her teacher leaped through the air, eyes blazing with a golden fire, on to the back of one of the rats.

  More fireballs flew. A volcano of light erupted in the sky, and the air split with screaming.

  When the smoke cleared, one side stood victorious.

  And it wasn’t the Wizards’ Council.

  Kit wasn’t sure if the council members were alive, or even where they were. A tree stood where Branwen had been, in exactly the pose Kit had last seen her, arms out – only now they were branches. Several wizards lay on the ground, not moving. Some of the council members were simply not there at all. Faith hung in the air, suspended in a bubble of energy, with Ben looking up at her. His face looked half sad, half victorious.

  The rats came forward on soft paws. They were whispering among themselves. Then they began to laugh. It was a sound as ugly and shrieking as a car alarm.

  Kit, Alita and Josh looked at each other. Then they turned and sprinted away into the cemetery as fast as they could.

  THERE IS NOWHERE TO RUN, came a horrible voice from behind them. THIS WORLD IS OURS NOW. OURS TO REMAKE AS IT SHOULD BE. WE WILL MAKE IT GREAT. WE WON’T MAKE OUR OLD MISTAKE AND WAKE THE DRAGONS. BUT WE WILL FEED ON THEM OVER THE YEARS. DELICIOUS POWER, OURS FOREVER.

  The children ran, pelting down a cemetery path. Alita stumbled on a root but didn’t slow. There was no sound of the rats following them.

  “In here!” said Kit, gesturing to a hut in a corner of the cemetery, which turned out to be the visitor information centre. They rushed inside and shut the door. Kit cast a spell to keep it closed, hoping that it might delay the rats from coming in, even if only momentarily.

  “Are they following?” panted Alita.

  “Not sure,” said Josh. “I didn’t want to look back. Too busy running. Ow. My lungs hurt.”

  Kit pushed her face up against the grimy window of the hut. There was no sign of the rats outside. All was quiet.

  “What do you think they meant about remaking the world?” said Josh. “I didn’t like the sound of that.”

  “I don’t know exactly,” said Kit, still looking out of the window. “But I think it might involve dinosaurs.”

  “WHAT?” Josh and Alita joined her at the window.

  Kit pointed to what she’d seen. A very large, winged creature, wheeling overhead on leathery wings. “It’s a pterodactyl!”

  “Technically, I think that’s a pteranodon,” corrected Josh. Seeing Kit’s look, he added, “But I appreciate that the relevant issue here is that it’s in the sky, now, and not extinct like it should be.”

  “I think I’m starting to understand what reshaping the world might be,” said Alita grimly. “They want to turn things back to how they were when they were first alive. Which means bringing back the dinosaurs and wiping out…” She looked at the others.

  “Us,” finished Kit. “Oh.”

  “We need a plan,” said Alita.

  “Hide in here until the end of the world?” suggested Josh.

  “I was thinking more a plan that ends with us surviving. And saving Faith and the Wizards’ Council and everyone else in the world,” said Kit.

  “That’s probably a better plan,” Josh admitted.

  “I suppose we could get Greg to help?” said Josh, not sounding like he believed his own suggestion. Last time they’d seen Greg, he’d looked exhausted, and only interested in resting up and eating biscuits.

  “Duncan? The other Wizard Councils around the world?” suggested Alita. She reached into the bag she had used for her crystals. “I have a duradar for you.”

  Kit nodded. She quickly called Duncan. As soon as she started explaining, she could see him go pale. “I’ll call the World Councils. You sit tight,” he said. “Don’t do anything, OK?”

  “I won’t,” lied Kit.

  She put down the duradar.

  “We’re not just going to wait to be rescued, are we?” said Alita.

  “Obviously not,” said Kit. “I just … can’t quite think of a plan.” She looked around the room for inspiration. Sadly the informational pamphlets about the history of the chapel and local wildlife didn’t contain any hints and tips on overthrowing unstoppable evil forces.

  “If we can find a way to get more power, I’ve got a spell I think could work,” said Josh.

  “How can we get more power?” asked Alita. “We could gather up animals, like we did with Duncan.”

  “I’m afraid we’d need double that amount of power to do the spell I had in mind,” sighed Josh. “Maybe even triple.”

  “Double … triple … hmmm,” said Kit. Something was tickling the back of her brain. She wished her mind was like Josh’s – with neatly laid rows of information that could be plucked out whenever she wanted. Something was buried in her brain that she knew was useful. But she didn’t know what it was, or where it was.

  “Keep talking,” she said. “It might jog something in my brain that’s got stuck.”

  “We could ask Draca for help?” suggested Josh.

  “Didn’t the Dragon Masters kill a dragon back in dinosaur times?” said Alita. “Should we really get Draca involved?”

  “No, but I think Draca might be the key…” said Kit. She was frustrated. It felt like when she had food stuck in her teeth and her tongue was reaching around to get rid of it. Only inside her head. What WAS it? Definitely something to do with Draca.

  “Whatever we do, we can’t put Draca in danger,” said Alita.

  Finally, the mental bit-of-stuff-between-Kit’s-teeth dislodged. Draca. It was something Draca had said.

  “Josh, what spell were you talking about that you’d do on the Dragon Masters? If I had enough power to do it?”

  “Well, I recognised the words of one of the spells Branwen tried on them. It was a transportation spell, to send them back to the dawn of time. It nearly seemed to work too; she just didn’t seem to be able to build up the right levels of power to do it.”

  “OK, OK. So if I have enough power, maybe I could do that one…” Kit nodded to herself. “Will you write down the words for me?”

  “Already have!” said Josh, pulling out his notebook. “I copied it down as she was casting it!”

  “What are you thinking, Kit?” asked Alita, narrowing her eyes. “Where are you thinking of getting the power from?”

  “From you,” said Kit. “Both of you. I mean … I’m not sure it will work. But it’s something Draca said. You know how she never just comes out and says stuff. But she said that, when it comes to us three, power shared is power tripled. So maybe if I can somehow share power with you two, it will get strong enough to beat the Dragon Masters?” Saying it out loud, it didn’t sound like much.

  “What if it just makes you weaker, sharing your power?” said Alita.

  “Well, to be fair, the Dragon Masters are so powerful that Kit at normal power is weak enough for them to laugh at her anyway,” said Josh.

  “Thanks, Josh. Have you ever thought of becoming an inspirational speaker?” said Kit.

  “No, I don’t think I’d enjoy that very much,” said Josh. “I d
on’t like crowds.”

  Kit and Alita both rolled their eyes.

  “Anyway,” said Kit, starting to pace, “I don’t know if it will work. But Draca doesn’t say things for no reason. I mean, her reasons are generally very confusing and weird, but she’s always getting at something when she says stuff to us.”

  “I say we try it,” said Alita. “I wouldn’t mind playing at being a wizard for a little while!”

  Josh blinked. “Oh. I hadn’t thought about that. So if you share your magic with us, we’ll be wizards too!”

  “Well, as long as the spell lasts,” said Kit.

  “Let’s do it! Quickly!” said Josh. “Quickly to save the world, not quickly because I want to be a wizard.”

  The girls exchanged looks.

  “I think I know a spell that will make it work,” Josh went on. “The sharing, I mean. I don’t know if the plan will. I’ve never fought ancient evil rats from the dawn of time before.”

  “Well, I’m always happy to try new things!” said Alita. “Mum says it’s good for the brain.”

  Josh quickly taught Kit the spell and she spoke it out loud, while holding her friends’ hands.

  “We three meet again and each become

  our own

  Treble, treble, treble

  A split from one to lay down roots

  Racinate, racine, where the wild things are

  I give you what I have to give

  Until what is within you

  Becomes what it was meant to be.”

  They stood in silence for a moment, still holding hands. Alita and Josh shivered.

  “I felt … something,” said Alita.

  “Did it work?” asked Kit.

  “I’m not sure,” said Josh. “It might take a few minutes to—”

  There was a loud roar from outside the hut and the sound of crunching and crackling undergrowth. Kit ran to the window to see what looked like a gigantic Tyrannosaurus rex crashing through the wood.