by Victor Kloss
“Time is pressing, and the prince expects me,” Hunter said. “I must go, and I cannot have you following me.”
He lifted his spellshooter and pointed it at Ben, who barely had time to notice the two red bands on the end of the barrel, before Hunter fired.
Ben was ready. He called forth one of Dagmar’s spells, and pulled his trigger moments before Hunter. A blast of air cannoned into Hunter, who flew backwards a full twenty yards. But instead of landing in a heap, Hunter twisted mid-air and landed on his feet. He came forwards slowly, like a predator stalking prey, his face devoid of emotion.
“Spread out,” Ben said.
“What are we supposed to do?” Charlie asked. He had sidestepped to the left, his own spellshooter in hand. There was fear in his eyes, but he stood firm. “Our spells will be useless.”
“He will block bolts of energy, yes,” Ben said. “So think of another approach.”
“Like what?” Charlie said, his voice rising. “My spells aren’t designed to take on a powerful, psychotic nut case.”
“I’ve got a few ideas,” Natalie said, her voice reassuringly calm.
“Good. Fire when he’s distracted,” Ben ordered.
Hunter was now less than twenty paces away. Ben was glad to see that Hunter was focused on him. Perhaps he’d noticed Ben’s spellshooter was more powerful than the others or perhaps he recognised the threat instinctively. Either way, Charlie and Natalie had seemingly been dismissed by Hunter as irrelevant.
Ben stepped left slowly; Hunter stepped right; and they were suddenly circling each other.
“You don’t need to do this,” Ben said, trying to re-kindle the flicker of self-doubt he’d seen earlier. But Hunter’s cold, menacing face did not respond.
With a huge force of will, Ben summoned a blue pellet down the barrel, and fired. Despite the strength of the spell, Ben managed to cast it almost instantaneously. But Hunter was an expert spellshooter, and called forth his spell just a fraction quicker.
The two spells hit each other, creating a flash of light and sending both of them flying back. Ben hit the ground hard. He rose quickly, but his head was spinning. When his vision cleared, he saw Hunter standing, pointing his spellshooter right at him.
A huge branch cannoned into Hunter’s side, and he cried out in pain as he hit the floor.
Charlie and Natalie had their spellshooters extended, the tips of their barrels smoking.
“Take that, you nut case,” Charlie shouted.
Hunter rose again, and calmly shook himself down. He turned, taking in Charlie and Natalie for the first time, and fired. A thin, wiry rope shot out of Hunter’s spellshooter and wrapped tightly around Natalie and Charlie, pinning them together, back to back. They fell to the ground with awkward cries.
“I am wasting time. The prince will be waiting. I cannot let him wait,” Hunter said.
Three green acid balls exploded from his barrel. Ben waited until the last minute, and then dived to the left. The balls sailed past. Ben rose and fired a spear of ice, but it snapped against a bubble-like energy field surrounding Hunter. Hunter fired again; Ben dodged, but he was a fraction too slow in avoiding the third of the acid balls, and it clipped his shoulder, searing his skin. Again Ben fired, and this time Hunter was forced back by the strength of the spell, but he responded with half a dozen ice-tipped arrows. Ben dived to the ground, but an arrow scraped his back, and he cried out in agony. He was panting now, and sweating from pain and effort. He tried to rise, but was forced to take a second to gather the strength. It was a second too long. Footsteps swiftly approached. He spun onto his back and tried to rise, but a spellshooter was pointing inches from his face.
Hunter was staring at him, grim, defiant, and merciless.
“Wait!” Ben said. “There must be—”
Hunter fired.
Ben felt his arms forced against his body, and a wire-like rope snaked around his chest and legs, pinning his arms and ankles.
Hunter turned, and fired a spell into the sky. Ben recognised the spell immediately. Sure enough, moments later, Ben spotted a pegasus landing softly, the last of the sun casting an enchanting red glow on the winged horse. Hunter mounted the pegasus with practised ease. Ben knew Hunter would vanish with the pegasus the moment he took to the air. Despite being bound, he still had hold of his spellshooter. Groaning with the pain of moving his wrist, he managed to point it upwards, and fired a spell into Hunter’s back. Hunter didn’t even seem to register the spell, but Ben relaxed a little.
The pegasus flapped its wings and set off at a canter. It leapt, and with a mighty leap the pegasus and Hunter disappeared.
— Chapter Twenty-Six —
Head or Heart
Ben struggled with the rope. It was soft, but incredibly strong, and refused to give him even an inch of room.
“It’s pointless,” Charlie said. He and Natalie were sitting, back to back, hands and ankles tied. “The rope is unbreakable. I doubt an industrial chainsaw could cut it.”
Charlie’s defeatism only made Ben struggle harder, but after a minute of exhausting himself, he conceded defeat.
“He’s getting away,” Ben said, the thought making him writhe with anger and frustration. “There has to be something we can do.”
“The spell doesn’t last long,” Natalie said. “It is connected to the caster. The further Hunter goes, the weaker the spell gets.”
Sure enough, Ben saw the rope start to fade. It was a slow, painful process, and every minute Ben tried again to free himself, but it was only when the rope had practically vanished that he had the strength to rip it apart.
“Are you guys okay?” Ben said, as they re-grouped.
Charlie was rubbing his wrists. “Physically, yes; mentally, no. I’m not sure I can believe what just happened.”
Natalie was staring anxiously at Ben’s singed shirt. “You’re hurt.”
Ben touched his shoulder, and grimaced, as pain coursed through him. “It’s not too bad.”
Natalie was already lifting her spellshooter and fired a pellet into Ben’s chest. A wonderful cooling feeling passed through his nerves, and he sighed with pleasure.
“It won’t last long, but it’s something,” Natalie said.
“It’s great, thanks, Natalie.”
Ben looked to the evening sky, as if he might see Hunter’s invisible trail. He wanted nothing more than to sit down with Charlie and Natalie to make sense of everything, but now wasn’t the time.
“We need to get going. Every moment we waste here, Hunter gets further away.”
“He’s gone,” Natalie said, the rare sound of defeat in her voice. “Even if we knew where he was going, we could never catch him on his pegasus.”
“I know where he’s going,” Ben said. He raised his spellshooter. “I fired a tracking spell just as he was leaving. I can feel the direction and speed he is heading.”
Natalie lifted her head with renewed hope, but Charlie didn’t share her sudden excitement.
“How are we supposed to keep up with him?” he asked. “He’s on a pegasus and we’re on foot.”
Ben whipped his head round to Natalie. “Can you try calling the griffin again?”
“I can try,” Natalie said, sounding dubious, “but I’m fairly sure she has returned to the Institute.”
Nevertheless, Natalie raised her spellshooter to the sky. Her orb started flashing and the humming noise began. Ben tapped his foot impatiently, straining both his eyes and ears. After five minutes, he cursed.
“We can’t wait any longer,” Ben said. “Let’s get going. I don’t know how long this tracker spell will last. He’s not flying that fast right now; if we run, we might not end up being too far away when he lands.”
Charlie groaned. “I’m exhausted. Don’t wait for me if I fall behind.”
Ben set off at a quick jog, which Natalie easily matched. Charlie had already fallen behind after less than a minute, but one look behind and Ben saw Charlie waving them on.
&nb
sp; The tracker spell gave Ben a sixth sense, and he followed its path into a well-to-do residential area of Tiddlehurst.
Natalie broke the silence, her breathing relaxed despite the pace Ben was setting. “Can you believe what Hunter said?”
Ben had been thinking of little else since they started jogging. His stomach lurched every time he replayed the scene in his mind.
“I can believe that Hunter wanted the lockets, and killed for them,” Ben said. “Thinking back, it was clearly Winkleforth running away, not some dark elf. I see now that Hunter tried to kill both of them and get the lockets, but failed.”
“I agree,” Natalie said, skipping gracefully over the hood of a car that Ben was forced to swerve around. “But for the prince to be behind it all? That stunned me.”
“You were the one who said the prince was a bit strange, remember?” Ben said. “And every time I’ve seen him, I have always felt something odd. I never knew whether he was really on our side or if he was just after Elizabeth’s Armour.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Natalie said, shaking her head.
But the more Ben thought about it, the more it made sense. Queen Elizabeth I was very clear that her descendants would be drawn to the Armour, and that it might drive them crazy. Ben had hoped Prince Robert had the strength to fight the urge, but the lure had clearly been too strong. That was why he was still looking for his parents – he must believe they still had Elizabeth’s Sword. The thought made him sick.
Ben was drawn back to the present by the tracker spell. It had stopped moving.
“He’s landed,” Ben said, with sudden urgency, “and he’s not far away.”
They accelerated until they were both flying down pavements and hopping over kerbs at breakneck speed. The houses were bigger here, as were the cars. There was no litter, except for the crisp fallen leaves that signalled the start of autumn. Ben could sense that they were less than five hundred yards away. They darted down a small street. Three hundred. Through a small park. Two hundred.
“No!” Ben said suddenly. “He’s moving again!”
Ben looked to the evening sky, trying in vain to spot the invisible pegasus that was probably at this very moment flying right over them.
“He’s gone,” Ben said bitterly. The pegasus was flying swiftly and, without a similar form of travel, Ben knew they would never catch him.
They came to a slow halt in the middle of a road that led to a cul-de-sac. He turned around, with the intention of searching for Charlie, who was so far behind he was no longer in sight.
“What’s going on there?” Natalie asked.
She was pointing to the house at the end of the cul-de-sac. The door was open, and there were several people standing outside. Even from a distance, Ben could spot the broken window at the top right of the house.
Ben and Natalie approached.
A woman was crying by the front door. Outside the front was a man, surrounded by half a dozen neighbours, talking and pointing at the broken window.
One or two of them looked Ben’s way suspiciously, spotting an unfamiliar face. But those suspicions were allayed when they saw Natalie beside him.
Ben strained his ears. The words “kidnapping”, “police” and most of all “Abigail” were repeated time and again.
Abigail.
“Hunter has taken her,” Natalie whispered. “But why?”
They stared hopelessly at the house, until the sound of footsteps broke their stupor.
“What did I miss?” Charlie said, gasping for breath, hands on knees.
“This is Abigail’s house. Hunter broke in no more than five minutes ago and kidnapped her,” Ben said.
Charlie stood bolt upright, and stared intently at the house. The confusion on Ben’s and Natalie’s faces was conspicuously absent on Charlie’s.
“How interesting,” he said softly, rubbing his cheeks thoughtfully.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Natalie said.
They turned and slowly headed back up the road, away from the house. There was no urgency; even Ben had conceded defeat in the chase for Hunter.
“No, it doesn’t,” Charlie said. “And that’s a good thing. It adds a variable to a hopeless situation. Why does Hunter need Abigail? If the prince intends to use the Armour himself, she should be redundant.”
“I’m confused,” Natalie said, tugging her hair absently. “I can’t think of a single reason he would need her.”
“Nor can I,” Charlie said, smiling. “And that’s what makes it interesting.”
Ben couldn’t see the point in debating the matter further. “Do you think Hunter will go to the prince with the lockets or will he use them to find the helm first?” he asked.
“Knowing how obsessed the prince is, I bet he’s ordered Hunter to give him the lockets so he can look for the helm himself,” Natalie said.
“Which means Hunter could be on his way to meet the prince right now,” Ben said bitterly, kicking the kerb.
“I doubt he’ll do it at the Institute,” Charlie said.
“No, I’m sure they’ll do it somewhere private. Hunter is flying north right now – to another town perhaps or maybe an empty field,” Ben said.
Natalie clapped her hands suddenly, surprising Ben and Charlie. “Well, we can’t just give up. What are our options?” she said, with a sudden vigour.
“We could always wait until the prince gets it, then somehow steal it from under his nose,” Charlie suggested.
“He’ll probably wear the damn thing the whole time,” Ben muttered. “No, I think our only option is to go back and tell Dagmar we messed up. Maybe she’ll come up with a bright idea.”
“I have another idea,” Natalie said, looking at them both with a sudden gravity. “We tell Wren.”
Ben didn’t automatically discard the idea. The situation was looking increasingly desperate, and Wren was the one person with enough power and position who might be able to help. On top of which, Ben trusted her. But after wrestling with his conscience for a full minute, he eventually shook his head.
“I can’t do it,” he said wistfully. “Not until Prince Robert factually has the helm and we’ve tried stealing it from him.”
Charlie got his phone out and used the map to head towards the town’s train station, with the aim of using public transport to follow Hunter’s path. It was desperate, but short of stealing a car, it was the quickest option they had. They left the well-to-do suburb and found themselves walking down a series of smaller roads. It was dark now, and many of the road’s lampposts weren’t working, meaning there were times when it was difficult to see.
As they settled into a depressed silence, Ben couldn’t help thinking they were missing something. It played on the edge of his mind, like an itch he couldn’t scratch. Was it something about Hunter or the lockets? Something obvious? Ben forced himself to replay the whole incident in his mind, starting from the moment they heard the spells in the playground. It wasn’t pleasant viewing, but he forced himself to be patient, to make sure he picked up everything. Yet, when he got to the end, he felt no wiser. What was missing? Could it be something that happened earlier?
Ben’s eyes widened, and he stopped so suddenly that Charlie and Natalie were several paces ahead before they realised he was no longer with them. His hand dove into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. It was the envelope given to him by Alfred. The envelope that would open only should Winkleforth pass away.
“I’d forgotten all about that,” Charlie said, his voice fused with a sudden energy.
The three of them crowded over the envelope. Ben could have sworn it contained only paper, but now, there was definitely something solid within.
The seal broke easily and he carefully opened the envelope. Inside was an old-fashioned key, no bigger than his middle finger. It felt heavy, forged from solid iron perhaps. Ben checked the rest of the envelope, searching for a message or a note of some sort to explain the nature of the key. There was nothing.
“Not
much use if you don’t know what it opens,” Ben said.
Charlie was staring so closely at the key his nose was almost touching it. “Look at those runes! They’re incredible. I bet they’re communicating something, if we could just translate them.”
Ben couldn’t quite capture Charlie’s excitement. “And how do we do that? Pop it into Google and see what it says?”
Charlie looked up. “Worth a go. The Google translation software is pretty advanced these days.”
Natalie gave him an odd look. “That’s a joke, right?”
“Yes, sorry.”
“No, no,” Natalie said, with a little smile. “I’m starting to catch on. So seriously, where does this leave us?”
“Nowhere, until we can get back to the Institute,” Charlie said, his excitement abating slightly.
“Well, what’s more important?” Natalie asked. “Trying to catch Hunter, which is beginning to look futile, or researching this key?”
“The key,” Charlie said immediately.
Ben stared at the key, and gathered his thoughts. No doubt it was important, but by changing direction they were effectively admitting the chase to find Hunter was over, which Ben found hard to swallow.
Heart or head? That was the question. Ben was struggling to come to an answer, and that flapping noise wasn’t making things any easier.
“What’s that?” Natalie asked.
Something landed on the road in front of them. It was so dark Ben could barely make out the shadowy figure… a griffin-like shadowy figure.
“Ava!” Natalie cried, darting forwards. She embedded her hands in the griffin’s mane and snuggled up to it. “You answered my call. Good girl.”
“Bit late, though, isn’t it?” Charlie said.
“No, it’s not,” Ben said, his voice growing with excitement. “We’re not that far behind the pegasus. We could still catch Hunter.”
Natalie’s green eyes lit up. “Yes, we could intercept him before he reaches the prince.”
“Are you sure this is the best thing to do?” Charlie asked. He hadn’t moved. “I know I sound like the perpetual voice of pessimism, but what if we catch up with Hunter just as he’s meeting the prince? Worse, what if the prince sees us?”
