by James Riley
“You know, of course, about the war,” William finally said, breaking the silence. “You’ve seen parts of it. And I know Simon was going to share how adult soldiers could use magic—”
“He told them it was Dr. Ambrose who made the discovery, that’s it,” Ellora said, giving Fort a quick look.
“Really,” William said, turning his gaze on Fort as well. “So not the whole story?”
“They know all they need to know, for now,” Ellora said quickly, staring at William. “I told you what would happen if we tell them too early.”
“Oh, right!” he said, winking entirely unsubtly at her. “To everything its proper time, of course.”
What was going on? Ellora and William were definitely hiding something from them, from Fort especially, but what was it? Something to do with Dr. Ambrose? “I think we need to hear the rest right now—” he said.
“Not yet,” Ellora told him, looking away. “Sorry. We can get into that later. Tell them about the dome, William.”
He nodded. “Because I had foreseen all of this happening, I came up with the idea for the dome and put it up the moment we returned. Almost fainted from the effort, but there was no way to tell everyone what was going on without alerting Damian to what I was doing, so I didn’t have a choice. Once they heard it all, the others pitched in and took the weight off my shoulders.”
“We don’t care about what you went through,” Rachel said. “What was the reason for the dome?”
“It was meant to freeze everyone, including Damian, so that we could figure out what to do,” William told her, then paused, looking uncomfortable. “But somehow, he was able to resist the magic. I’m not really sure how. He escaped, and we don’t know where he is now.”
“Maybe he’s with Cyrus,” Fort said, more bitterly than he’d intended. “Maybe they’re all hanging out together.”
“You better hope Cyrus isn’t helping him,” William said, narrowing his eyes. “We’ll all be in for it if they’re working together. But no, he probably just managed to sneak a Mind spell or something into my head and made me leave him out of the dome’s effect.”
“So basically it’s useless,” Rachel said. “And you’re just freezing half the country for nothing?”
“Not exactly,” Ellora said. “You saw the soldiers below. They were coming for us the moment they figured out Sierra could bring us back. Our teachers weren’t going to let that happen.”
She shuddered, and Fort again wondered where exactly they’d all been this whole time and why they couldn’t come back. Had the school’s teachers kept them away somehow, like some kind of detention or something? But how? Their teachers wouldn’t have been able to use magic any more than the Oppenheimer School’s teachers could.
“The dome’s good for something else, too,” William said. “Getting to the book of Spirit magic without any outside interference.”
What? “Are you joking?” Fort said.
“He better be,” Rachel said. “Or we’re going home right now.”
“Oh, I’m not joking,” William said. “Why do you think we needed you three here? The only way to stop Damian from destroying London is to get the book of Spirit magic before he does. And to do that, I’m told you three each will play a part.”
“And who told you that?” Fort asked.
“I did,” Ellora said, looking him in the eye. “Because I’m the only one who knows where it is.”
- FOURTEEN -
YOU KNOW WHERE THE BOOK of Spirit magic is?” Fort said to her, both his eyebrows shooting up. “How? Where is it?”
“Hey, no!” William said, throwing up his hands. “I told you already: She can’t say. If Damian’s out there, he could be listening in to our conversation as we speak, reading our minds. Ellora’s the only one who knows, and it has to stay that way until you three get the book before him!”
Ellora coughed, then reached into her hoodie and pulled out a familiar-looking silver necklace. “Dr. Oppenheimer had a medallion that protected him from Mind magic, so I took it, to keep the secret safe.”
Fort turned to look at the terrified, frozen Dr. Opps, cringing. There was so much wrong with all of this, so many secrets that the Time kids weren’t sharing. How could he trust them, when they kept so much to themselves?
“Anyway, it’s time for you to go,” William said, looking at his watch. “We can’t keep the dome up for much longer, and once it falls, we’ll have far more than just Damian to worry about. Ellora, take them to a neutral spot first, and then—”
“We’re not going anywhere !” Rachel shouted. “I’m not bringing that horrible magic into the world, no matter what. You yourself said that it takes you over, changes who you are.”
“I said it does that to people with weak minds, or who are conflicted, like Damian,” William said. “Someone prepared for it might be able to use it for good.”
Rachel’s eyes widened. “Oh, doubly no way then. You think I’m bringing that thing back here for you to play around with, Mr. Bean? No chance on earth.”
“Rachel,” Fort said, and she immediately whirled on him with a wild look in her eye. “Hey, I’m on your side here! I totally agree with everything you said. But we still have to keep Damian from getting it. You saw what happened.”
“Yeah, well, if she’s the only one who knows where it is,” she said, pointing at Ellora, “then we’ll wipe her mind or something, and Damian will never find it!”
“He’ll take the medallion from her before we got anywhere close to finding a way to take the knowledge from her mind,” William said. “We’ve looked at this a thousand different ways, and finding the book before him is the only way. If you want to save London from being destroyed and stop the coming war, then this is how you do it.”
In response, Rachel lifted her glowing hands toward him. “I said, not going to happen, Captain Britain!”
William’s eyes turned black with Time magic, and Fort wondered if he’d have time to throw up a portal between the two to keep things from getting out of hand. But before he could, Jia stepped between William and Rachel, glowing with Healing magic. She put her hands on Rachel’s, and gradually her blue light extinguished Rachel’s red, leaving Rachel looking exhausted and empty.
“I know we have to stop him,” Rachel said, her voice quiet and strained. “I know that. But—”
“The whole world goes to war, Ray,” Jia told her. “We can’t let that happen, no matter what.”
“I know,” Rachel said, her voice quiet, almost strained. “But does it have to be like this?”
She wasn’t wrong. The things Fort had seen done with Spirit magic gave him nightmares. The Old One Q’baos used the spells to keep the entire population of dwarfs under her thrall, making them all worship her. And he’d even briefly had it used on him by Q’baos, when he’d been in the shape of a dragon to fool the Old Ones.
But he’d been prepared for that. Rachel had been taken over without any warning and been made to follow the Old Ones. He couldn’t imagine what that had done to her.
“We’ll follow their lead,” he told her and Jia. “And we’ll get the book.” Rachel started to object, but he moved on quickly. “But when we do, we destroy it, then and there, so no one can use it. Deal?”
Rachel stared at him for a moment. “Last time you made this deal, you were lying.”
“Ask them if I’m lying,” Fort said, nodding at Ellora and William.
The two Time kids looked at each other. “The books of magic kind of fog things up,” Ellora told them. “So it’s hard to see. But even so, we can talk about that later—”
“We destroy it, end of story,” Fort said to Ellora. “Otherwise, you’re on your own. Those are our terms. You brought us here to listen, and we did, and now we’re willing to help, but only in a way that won’t make things worse.”
Unlike everything else he’d ever done.
“But that’s—” William started, but Ellora stopped him.
“Good enough for
now,” she said, giving him a look. “I agree. But we do need to get started. So if there’s nothing else, William … ?”
“Just one more thing,” William said, clapping his hands together and standing up. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, then opened them again, the excitement now back. “Brave adventurers. You have embraced your destiny and accepted your quest to battle for the future of the world. I commend you.” He saluted them all in turn, then smiled broadly. “Now, to make it complete. You number four, as in four companions. And I shall call you the fellowship of the—”
“Nope!” Rachel shouted. “Time Girl, tell Fort where to teleport us before I open Mount Doom up underneath this guy?”
“Forsythe,” Ellora said quietly. “Can you take us somewhere out of sight, so we can get started?”
He nodded hurriedly, not wanting Rachel to really create a volcano in Wales. “I think I know a place.”
Fort opened a portal, but as he did, the room disappeared around him. Instead of a headmaster’s office with wood paneling, now he was surrounded by actual trees in a deep, dense forest. A small cottage looked like it’d been built when the trees were young, and now had branches growing through the roof in places.
But the cottage and the forest weren’t the biggest surprise. No, that went to the silver-haired boy standing in front of him.
“Hey, Fort,” Cyrus said, looking a bit nervous. “Got a minute?”
- FIFTEEN -
CYRUS?” FORT SHOUTED, BARELY ABLE to believe this was real. He stepped forward and hugged his friend … except his friend wasn’t there, and Fort stumbled right through him.
“Oh, sorry about that,” Cyrus said, stepping out of his way. “You’re not really here, and I should have said something. The me in your present time sent you forward to speak to the me a few hours in the future, so I could give you a message. You know how it goes.”
Fort straightened up, staring at the other boy. “No, I really don’t, at all. What are you doing here? When are we?”
Even as he responded to Cyrus, Fort realized that was ridiculous. The other boy couldn’t actually see or hear him, because only his consciousness was here. He wasn’t exactly sure how Cyrus had known he went for a hug—maybe he just assumed—but there was no way he could actually hold a conversation with Cyrus.
“Oh, we’re only a few hours from your time,” Cyrus told him. “Maybe … two? And as for what I’m doing here, I just wanted to help you and the others. See this place?” He turned around and gestured at the cottage behind him. “When you get the book of Spirit magic, before you destroy it, bring it back here. I’ll be waiting, and we’ll be safe here.”
Wait, what? “You can actually hear me?” Fort said carefully.
Cyrus nodded. “Every word.”
“But how? I didn’t think I was really here!” And then something occurred to him. “Wait, can people in time visions always see you? Because we saw Damian burning London down in the future, and if he saw us—”
“Oh, no, it’s just me,” Cyrus said, smiling widely. “Nothing to worry about there. I just had more time with the book of Time magic than the others, before they were lost.”
“Yeah, they mentioned being lost, but wouldn’t tell us where they went,” Fort said. “Do you know?”
“Of course,” Cyrus said. “But you’ll find out soon enough anyway. For now, just focus on this cottage, so you can teleport back here when you have the book.” He stepped out of the way and vaguely waved at the cottage, like he was presenting a prize on a game show.
“I’ll remember what it looks like,” Fort said, getting a little irritated with yet another Time student not telling him anything. “But I have so many more questions. Were you here when the dome went up? What is this place? Why didn’t you help Sierra? She’s frozen back at the Carmarthen Academy, Cyrus. Not to mention that I’m expelled, and Colonel Charles might make me forget I rescued my father because I broke all his rules to come save you both. And now I find you hanging out in the woods?”
“Oh, don’t worry about Colonel Charles,” Cyrus said. “He’s not going to make you forget about your dad, not after what you end up having to do to him.”
Do to him? “Do to who?” Fort said. “Did you mean Colonel Charles or my father? And what do I do to … whoever?”
Before Cyrus could respond, a loud crash came from inside the cottage, and Cyrus sighed. “Eh?” shouted a voice from inside. “Do we have visitors, boy?”
“No, it’s nothing!” Cyrus yelled back, making Fort even more confused. “Just talking to myself out here!”
“Bad habit to get into,” the voice shouted, and more than anything it sounded like an old man inside the cottage. “Better quit it now while you can. I’ve been doing it for centuries.”
Centuries? “Who is that?” Fort whispered.
“No one,” Cyrus hissed back. “It doesn’t matter. I’m trying to shut him off, but I can’t get it to work. Hopefully he’ll be gone by the time you get here.”
Shut him off? What did that mean? Talking to Cyrus was always a bit confusing, but this was a whole new level. “Cyrus—”
“I have to send you back now,” Cyrus said, as something else crashed in the cottage, making him cringe. “Well, the me in the past will have to do it, but you get the point. He’s here too, in your time, dealing with him just like I am.” He nodded back at the cottage.
“Is that Forsythe?” shouted the voice from inside, and Fort’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you say so? Bring him in already!”
“It’s not time yet!” Cyrus shouted back. “And you’re not even supposed to be here!” He turned back to Fort, looking a bit desperate. “Come back when you have the book, okay? It’s vital that you don’t destroy it until then. Tell the others, and try not to get Damian too angry!”
“Too angry?” Fort said, barely able to keep up with the conversation, let alone the old man yelling from the cottage. “He’s about to destroy London!”
“And he’ll destroy you, too, if you get him angry!” Cyrus said. “So stay calm, and whatever you do, don’t let the others get into a fight with him, okay? Just trust me!”
Before Fort could respond, though he wasn’t even sure where to begin with that, the forest, cottage, Cyrus, and strange old man’s voice all faded away, replaced by the office once again.
A wave of dizziness hit him, and he stumbled slightly, only for Rachel to catch him. “You okay?” she asked, giving him a worried look. “Casting a teleportation spell hasn’t ever taken it out of you like that before.”
Fort looked up at her in surprise, finding everyone in the exact same spots they’d been when he’d opened the portal. In spite of talking to Cyrus for the last few minutes, his consciousness hadn’t been gone for any time at all. How was that even possible?
“I’m okay, just thrown for a second,” Fort said, giving Rachel a quick smile. He glanced over at Ellora and William, the former standing next to the portal, and the latter leaning on the desk. Both seemed to be giving him a curious look, so he straightened up. “Totally fine now, don’t worry.”
He could have told them all about Cyrus’s warning, and how they had to go to the cottage after they found the book of Spirit magic. But somehow he didn’t think that Cyrus wanted the other Time students to know about it. If he was hiding in the cottage now, then he had to have a good reason for it.
Besides, the Time students were keeping so much from him that it felt kind of good to have a secret from them.
“So you’re ready, then?” Ellora asked.
“As I’ll ever be,” Fort said, and waved for her to go through the portal.
“Where did you pick for us to hide out?” Rachel asked as she walked toward the teleportation circle next to him.
“Somewhere totally out of the way, where no one will think to look,” he told her. “Trust me—we’re going to be completely hidden there.”
- SIXTEEN -
THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF ‘completely hidden’
?” Rachel asked, pointing at the tour group frozen in time next to an enormous bell as an unmoving tour guide gestured toward it.
“It’s Big Ben!” Fort shouted, as surprised as anyone. “I didn’t think there’d be anyone up in the bell tower. Who knew you could even take a tour?”
“Well, I did,” Ellora said. “And probably everyone else who’s ever lived here, visited, or considered it for a moment.” She gave him a small smile.
“I can take us somewhere else,” he said, his mood getting worse. After whatever that had been with Cyrus, with all the confusion and offhand remarks about things he was going to do to Colonel Charles or his father, not to mention whoever that old man had been, all on top of everything with Damian and the Time kids, the very last thing in the world Fort cared about at the moment was where they went over the plan. “Is Stonehenge better?”
Rachel just stared at him. “You literally only know tourist spots, don’t you.”
He glared at her. “No, of course not! I know … the airport here too. Because the Old One flew me over it.”
Rachel groaned, turning away, but Ellora just shook her head. “This is fine, Forsythe,” she said. “They can’t hear us or anything. Though I’m glad you know how to get to Stonehenge, since that’s where the book of Spirit magic is.”
“Stonehenge?” Rachel said, suddenly much more excited than annoyed at Fort. “Really? Why?”
“It doesn’t matter, Ray,” Jia said, staring at the frozen tourists for some reason. “We just need to get it and stop this war.”
Rachel threw a concerned glance at Fort over this, and he felt the same way. Even with everything going on, Jia seemed to be upset by something, beyond everything that was happening. But if she wasn’t going to share, now wasn’t exactly the time to ask about it, at least not with Ellora around. After all, they barely knew the Time girl.
“Unfortunately, that’s not exactly true,” Ellora said to Jia. “You will have to know a bit more, if just to prepare yourselves for what we might find.” She cleared her throat, and Fort noticed that her cheeks were turning red. “It’s also a bit, ah, ridiculous, all things considered.”
