Fraud at Snowfields Page 24

  ‘Hmm, yes,’ replied Wonderock, thinking. ‘And after you went to the control room and destroyed the table, you came straight here?’

  ‘Yes. I took the most direct way I knew.’

  ‘Hopefully Beltorec hasn’t something similar to the table he can use instead. But I fear he might have. However, it would not be nearly as effective or powerful as the table.’ He straightened up and pointed to a building on the map. Will could see he was pointing directly at the abandoned building. ‘So I’d guess that after he has successfully revived his Bluerorcs, he will be headed straight there, in order to use the table to find you. We should go there immediately. With luck we’ll arrive before him, so we can set a trap!’

  Will saw that Contractus and Lektrarissima nodded grimly in agreement, and he thought that this seemed to be the best they could do.

  ‘Any objections? Or maybe better ideas?’ Wonderock asked, and looked around. Nobody said anything. ‘Right, let’s go then.’ He rubbed his hands eagerly. ‘I have direct access to the underground tunnels in my cellar. Follow me!’

  He led them back down into the cellar, a much more sprightly and vivid figure than when Will had first met him. There Wonderock opened a hidden door with a spell, and the others followed him into the passage that lay behind it. They hurried through the tunnels underneath Snowfields again. After a while Will began to recognise the tunnels, as they were getting near the abandoned building. Wonderock, who was in the lead, slowed down a bit.

  ‘Careful now!’ he whispered back to them. ‘We don’t know where they might be.’ He slowly went on, looking ahead and checking the sides carefully. Will, Contractus, and Lektrarissima followed close behind him, all with their wands out and at the ready. Suddenly Wonderock threw himself to the ground, and a bright, intertwined streak of Yellowrin and Bluerin passed over him, missing Will only by inches. Wonderock immediately threw a spell back towards the source of the streak. Will heard some swearing and thought that it sounded somehow familiar. Then it stopped.

  ‘Who’s there?’ Wonderock called. ‘Show yourself!’

  This was greeted by silence.

  ‘Wonderock?’ A low voice finally came out of the direction where the swearing had come from. ‘Is that you, sir?’

  Wonderock called right at the same time, ‘Stunt? Ethan Stunt?’

  From behind a stone block rose the figure of Mr Stunt, wand out in front of him, held at the ready.

  ‘Sir!’ he said again to Wonderock as he walked up to them. ‘Nice to meet you. But what are you doing here?’ When he came nearer, he also saw the others. ‘Contractus! Lektrarissima! And Will? What an odd group. What are you all doing here?’ he repeated.

  ‘Beltorec is behind the fraud and the forgery,’ Wonderock told Stunt grimly. ‘Will has confronted him and discovered that he has created Bluerorcs. He immediately sent them after Will. Fortunately he and Contractus could disable them for the moment. But I believe Beltorec will be able to revive them. We came here because we hope to catch him and finish off the Bluerorcs. But what are you doing here? And armed like that?’ Wonderock looked almost accusingly at Stunt’s double-charged wand.

  While Wonderock had been talking, Stunt’s expression had darkened noticeably, even compared to his normal scowl. ‘I feared something like this. I was late in the school and checking the grounds when I heard something. Then I heard some noise and some crashing from inside the rarely-used rooms. So I went in there to investigate. First I saw only debris and broken-down doors, then I saw a Bluerorc! I hurried back until I reached some containers and could charge my wand. Then I followed the trail left by the Bluerorcs. I had just got here when I heard you coming, and took cover. Sorry for the attack.’

  Wonderock looked at him sharply. ‘How come you know how to fight Bluerorcs?’

  ‘Sir!’ replied Stunt sharply, drawing himself up. ‘As commanding officer of the security forces, that is my job!’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said Wonderock impatiently, ‘but how do you know? Certainly not from some standard manuals.’

  ‘Well, sir, when I was made officer in the security forces, one of the older officers took me aside one day and told me about this theory. He said I would make my way in the security forces and someday I might need this knowledge. He had never seen a Bluerorc in his life, but he was sure the day would come that we would see them again. And that it was his duty to pass the knowledge on before his retirement. Didn’t believe him back then, of course, but then I also didn’t forget. And today proved him right after all.’

  ‘Hmm, that officer, that wouldn’t have been old Stoneface, would it?’ Wonderock asked with a wry grin.

  ‘Yes, sir, it was.’

  Wonderock nodded. ‘Good. Now, here is what we intend to do.’ He quickly explained their plan. Then he asked, ‘Do you know a good place for an ambush down here?’

  ‘Of course, sir!’ Stunt drew himself up straight. ‘Follow me.’

  ‘Let’s go then!’ Wonderock called to the others. Will went after Stunt, immediately followed by Contractus and Lektrarissima, with Wonderock bringing up the rear. They hurried through the corridor until they reached an intersection. Will knew this place. The corridor to the right led directly into the abandoned building.

  Stunt stopped and conferred quickly with Wonderock. Then he placed Will and Contractus on one side of the entrance behind a column, Lektrarissima and Wonderock behind a column on the other side. He himself took cover behind a boulder directly opposite the opening to the corridor. Then they waited. Will tried to stay calm and not think too much about what he had got himself into.

  Contractus very quietly said, ‘Will?’ He laid a calming hand on Will’s shoulder. ‘Everything all right?’

  Will tried to nod calmly and whispered back, ‘Yes, sir.’

  Then he stiffened. Had he heard something? He listened intently, but nothing happened. He tried to relax again, but held his wand at the ready. Then he definitely heard something! The noise was getting louder, and something was coming down the corridor. It was coming nearer and nearer. It was the heavy and partly grinding sound he remembered all too well from earlier, when he had been chased by the Bluerorcs.

  Will pointed his wand directly at the opening. Suddenly he felt a wave of panic! He had forgotten the new spell Wonderock had taught him against the Bluerorcs. Was it a sweep to the left or the right? And then the helix or the circle? He could not remember. Then he felt Contractus’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing him.

  ‘You can do it, Will!’ Contractus whispered, ‘Just be sure to stay covered.’

  Will could see Contractus’s wand beside his own, and suddenly he could remember the spell. Then the Bluerorc came crashing out of the tunnel and into the opening between them, directly where they had prepared the trap. Immediately it was hit by five intertwined beams of Yellowrin and Bluerin. It was working! Under the combined power, the Bluerorc started to dissolve. It looked as if it were melting. And quickly it dissolved completely, until only a blue puddle was left on the floor.

  Will punched the air and grinned excitedly: they’d done it! The spell had worked! But then he again heard a noise coming from the corridor. He calmed down quickly and concentrated again. He ducked back behind the column and held his wand at the ready, pointing it towards the opening once more. The noise in the tunnel was coming nearer quickly. And it was much louder than the first time.

  Will held his breath. He once more felt Contractus squeeze his shoulder in reassurance. Then, with a loud crash, two Bluerorcs stomped out of the tunnel. Will did not have time to think, but just reacted—and that was what saved him and the others. For one of the Bluerorcs was hit by four combined beams of Yellowrin and Bluerin, but the other one was hit by only one—Will’s beam. It worked nevertheless. Both Bluerorcs started to dissolve and seemed to be melting, until only two blue puddles were left on the floor. Again Will relaxed a bit.

  Contractus looked at him gravely and whispered, ‘Well done, Will. That could really have gone wrong if it hadn’
t been for you!’

  Will just nodded, but felt immensely proud. Before he could dwell on it, he started to hear a noise coming from the corridor yet again—and it was coming nearer and getting louder quickly. Will straightened up and braced himself again. He took a firm grip on his wand. Stunt raised himself slightly from the boulder he was hiding behind and gave a low whistle. When they were all looking at him, he made several fast gestures to instruct them that they should all engage the Bluerorcs on their sides, and he would deal with the ones in the centre. Will and the others gestured back that they had understood and would follow the instructions.

  The sound out of the tunnel was getting really loud. Will took a deep breath and prepared himself. And with a loud crash, three Bluerorcs broke free of the tunnel, the outermost mindlessly tearing down the sides of the entrance and the nearest pillars. Will fired off the spell, hitting the Bluerorc that was nearest to him. The Bluerorc had such a momentum Will nearly missed it, but fortunately the beam hit it in the side, and the Bluerorc began to dissolve immediately. Will looked around to see how the others were faring. He saw that each of them had engaged one of the Bluerorcs, so they all were sinking slowly to the ground.

  Will was surprised to see that only Stunt had not used a spell, but instead was staring intently at something right in front of him. Will followed his glance—and froze. Behind the Bluerorcs he saw Beltorec. The headmaster stood in the entrance of the tunnel, his eyes glittering dangerously and locked on Stunt. He had his wand out in front of him and was pointing it at his opponent. For Will, time seemed to freeze. He looked at Beltorec’s face and was appalled by the expression he saw. There was nothing of the friendly and understanding headmaster he had trusted. Instead Beltorec’s face was a mask of pure hatred and disgust as he looked at Stunt.

  For a split second, Beltorec turned his head and looked directly at Will, who involuntarily shied away, for there was so much hatred and abhorrence in the glance. Stunt took advantage of this small instant when Beltorec was not focused on him, and fired a spell directly at him. But Beltorec’s attention was already completely back on Stunt, and he blocked the spell with an easy, almost lazy flick of his wand.

  By then the Bluerorcs had dissolved completely, and the way was free so Wonderock and Lektrarissima were hit by parts of the deflected spell. To Will’s horror they both sank to the ground unconscious. Beltorec smiled brightly as Stunt fired another spell at him, and again deflected it easily. Again fragments of the spell ricocheted off the walls and flew through the corridor.

  Will ducked instinctively. Then he heard a grunt beside him and was hit hard in the side. His first thought was that he had been hit by part of the spell, but then he looked down and realised, to his great dismay, that Contractus had fallen to the ground beside him unconscious. He ducked farther behind the column in fear as Stunt fired another a spell at Beltorec. But again it did not reach Beltorec as he brushed it aside with a flick of his wand, laughing cruelly, madly.

  Will tried to overcome his fear. He had to do something! Otherwise Beltorec was surely going to kill them. He feverishly hoped Stunt would be able to disarm the vice chancellor, but again he had to watch as another spell did no harm to Beltorec at all. And he saw that Stunt was beginning to tire. The hand with which he held the wand was starting to shake as he fired yet another desperate spell at Beltorec, who again deflected it. Will sighed in frustration. What could he do? How could he help Stunt? He knew nothing about fighting with magic or the necessary spells, especially compared to a master and member of the security forces like Stunt. He only knew some basic spells he had been taught for the delivery of the presents. But he had to do something! Anything!

  ‘Use the freezing spell,’ said Conrad.

  Will looked up in shock. The security agent was crouching next to him again.

  ‘I can’t,’ moaned Will. ‘I don’t know how.’

  The agent glanced at Will in surprise. Beltorec had recovered faster than Will and used this moment to fire a spell that hit Conrad’s wand which burst in flame.

  Conrad swore heftily and immediately dropped it.

  ‘Quickly, give me your hand, I’ll help you,’ he turned to Will.

  Will saw Beltorec fire a spell back at Stunt, who barely ducked in time. He concentrated and waited until Beltorec was engaged with firing another spell. Then, Conrad guiding his hand, he performed the freezing spell. He released it at Beltorec, but the vice chancellor was quick! He spun around towards Will and raised his wand quick as lightning to deflect Will’s spell back. Will tried to duck, but part of it hit his right arm. An ice-cold shock ran up his arm. It started to tingle, and then turned numb.

  Will quickly grabbed his wand with his left hand before his right hand was so numb that the wand would fall down. Then he just reacted without thinking: with Conrad still guiding his hand, he immediately fired another freezing spell at Beltorec and caught him by surprise. But because he was using his left hand, his aim was so bad he barely hit Beltorec at all. Nevertheless, he was lucky: the spell hit Beltorec’s right hand and froze it, so his wand fell uselessly to the floor and rolled away from him.

  Beltorec looked startled, and gazed at the wand. Then he stared at Stunt, who seized the chance and started another spell. Beltorec swore heavily, spun around, and ran back down the corridor from which he had appeared so suddenly. He was so quick that Stunt’s spell missed him completely. Then he was gone.

  Will looked over to Stunt, who was slumped against the boulder in exhaustion. Their eyes met, and Stunt gave Will an appreciative nod. Will relaxed a bit and looked around. He saw Wonderock, Lektrarissima, and Contractus still lying unconscious on the ground. He knelt down beside Contractus and nudged him, but nothing happened. Contractus did not react at all.

  Stunt looked over at him. ‘Leave them, Will,’ he said tiredly, taking deep breaths. ‘There’s nothing we can do for them right now. But they’ll probably come round in an hour or two.’

  Will nodded. He touched his right hand with his left hand. His right arm was just hanging limply down his side, and as he touched his right hand he felt nothing. He could not even move his fingers.

  Stunt limped over and picked up Beltorec’s wand. ‘Don’t worry about your arm. It may take a few hours, but then it will be alright again.’ He slowly walked over to Will. ‘Can you walk?’ Will nodded. ‘Good. We have to follow Beltorec before he can recover and create more havoc. Conrad, you’re coming with us? Let’s go.’

  Conrad prodded the charred remains of his wand with a foot, while he held his right hand.

  He looked up: ‘Injured and without my wand? No. I can’t help you like this.’

  Stunt nodded gravely, straightened up, held his wand in front of him, and led Will down the corridor after Beltorec. Will followed him a bit reluctantly, because he had a bad feeling about leaving the others lying there. But Stunt was right—they had to stop Beltorec as soon as possible. They went up the stairs.

  Will was thinking about what Stunt had said, and then he suddenly remembered something. He whispered, ‘Sir, did Mr Contractus tell you he destroyed the table earlier on?’

  Stunt stopped. ‘Wonderock mentioned it. But that doesn’t really make much difference,’ he whispered back. ‘The room with the table is the only one that has any use for Beltorec in this building. So he’ll head there. Let’s go.’

  He led Will onwards again. They passed through several more corridors and went up some stairs until Will recognised the surroundings and knew they were near the room that had contained the table. Stunt cautioned Will with a signal of his hand and slowly inched towards the door, with his wand out in front of him and at the ready. He cautiously opened the door with Will close behind him, also with his wand at the ready. As the door opened farther, Will could see no one in the room. Stunt slipped through the door without any noise, and then Will heard him call, ‘Come on inside, Will, he isn’t here. There’s nobody in here.’

  Will hurried into the room. There he saw the blackened remains
of the table.

  Stunt was looking closely at it. ‘Good,’ he said. ‘Beltorec could not use this anymore, that’s for sure.’

  Will looked around. Besides the table there had only been some chairs and an empty bookcase in the room. Nothing else that could have been useful to Beltorec. Stunt followed his glance as he looked at the bookcase.

  ‘Watch,’ he said to Will, and went over to it. There he pulled on the second shelf from the ground. Will watched in astonishment as the bookcase swung silently away from the wall and revealed a secret opening behind it. Stunt went inside, and Will followed him, stopping in the doorway. Behind the bookcase was some sort of office—a windowless, small, and cramped room with a desk and some shelves. It was in a complete mess. Papers had been scattered all over the desk and on the floor. Books had been ripped off the shelves and thrown onto the ground, some with torn pages or facedown.

  Stunt gave the mess a cursory glance, shook his head, and turned round again. He said to Will, ‘Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do here. Thankfully Beltorec was in a hurry, so I don’t think he found anything useful.’

  Will nodded. ‘But where is he now? Where should we look for him?’

  Stunt walked over to the charred remains of the table. ‘Watch and learn.’ he told Will cryptically.

  And Will watched as Stunt took his wand and pointed it towards the floor next to the table. Will could see ash lying there, and then he saw that in the ash was the imprint of a shoe. Stunt pointed his wand right at the imprint and performed a spell Will had never heard of. The imprint started to glow faintly blue, like Bluerin. Then Will saw that several other imprints started to glow blue all over the floor.

  Stunt gave Will a quick look. ‘Luckily Beltorec has stepped into the ashes, so we have this imprint and can follow his steps. Come.’

  He led Will out of the room, tracing the imprints that continued to glow faintly on the floor. They followed them towards a staircase and upwards. Will and Stunt cautiously went upstairs, but still did not see Beltorec or anything unusual. They were nearly at the top of the building when Stunt went past a window and stopped so abruptly that Will nearly bumped into him.