Royal Institute of Magic: Elizabeth's Legacy (25 page)

Ben dropped his gaze, hoping they
hadn’t noticed him.

“Ratlings,” Natalie
whispered. “They used to have their own little empire before
Suktar conquered them. Disgusting things; you can smell them from
here.”

“That’s them? I
thought it was a sewage problem.”

“Just keep walking. I told
you they have patrols around. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to worry about?”
Charlie said in a faint voice. “There are a dozen mutated
rat-men behind us. I hate rats.”

“Stop panicking,”
Natalie said. “They’re not following us.”

Charlie was trying very hard not
to look back. “Why rats? What’s wrong with rabbits or
cats? Catlings – I could handle those.”

The ratlings, led by the dark
elf, would be approaching the junction any moment now. Ben glanced
back.

“Damn. They turned towards
us.”

“We’re in trouble,”
Charlie moaned.

“It doesn’t mean
anything,” Natalie insisted. “They just happen to be
marching down this street.”

Nevertheless, Ben was relieved
when he reached the next intersection and the three of them took a
right. The road was narrower here and Ben noticed few people were
about.

“Third road on the left and
we’re there,” Natalie said.

Ben was glancing back every ten
seconds. Less than a minute passed when his eyes widened. “They’ve
turned down this road.”

Unable to take the tension,
Charlie looked for himself. “Is it me or are they closer than
before?”

“They’re closer,”
Ben said.

The ratlings were less than fifty
yards behind. They weren’t actively chasing, but their steady
march seemed to have picked up.

“Let’s walk faster.”

Were they being followed? Had the
dark elf leading the ratlings somehow recognised him?

“If we split up, head to
the train station and get back home,” Ben said.

“Home?”

“I saw trains running to
Croydon and London. It’s the safest place for now.”

“We are not splitting up,”
Natalie said.

“Not intentionally, but
after what happened at the station in Taecia we need a back-up plan.”

He wouldn’t be returning
home if they split up, but Ben kept that quiet.

“We don’t need a
back-up plan, we are almost here,” Natalie said. “The
taxi station is just round this corner.”

Ben wondered what the taxi
station would look like. He was prepared for cars, horses or even
something more exotic.

He got dark elves and ratlings.
Lots of them.

The
ratlings formed a blockade along the road. In front of them were
three dark elves, but it was the one in the middle who made Ben’s
stomach churn. His glowing purple eyes and sunken face were
unmistakable.

The taxi station, a stone’s
throw away, was agonisingly out of reach.

“Perfect timing. I was
beginning to get impatient,” Elessar said.

Ben was speechless and not just
from fear. How could
he
possibly be here?

“You didn’t really
think the Institute was the only one watching you?” Elessar
asked. There was no smile, no humour in his demeanour, and Ben could
sense satisfaction reeking from the elf.

“How did you get here so
fast?” Ben asked, finding his voice. He didn’t expect
Elessar to answer, but he needed to buy time to get his sluggish mind
into gear.

“We have quicker methods of
travelling than the Dragonway. I was notified as soon as you boarded
the train. You are looking for wood elves, I assume?”

Ben didn’t answer, but
clearly Charlie’s or Natalie’s expression gave the game
away.

“I expected you to travel
here as soon as you discovered the spell they have on you. I am glad
you managed to escape the Institute’s clutches. They cannot
meddle with us here.”

Elessar looked calm and relaxed.
He assumed the chase was over, Ben realised.

“What is Elizabeth’s
legacy?”

The question came out as a squeak
from Charlie. Ben wasn’t sure if he was trying to help stall
Elessar or if he was just curious. Either way, Elessar smiled at the
question, giving them a few more valuable seconds.

“Ah yes, her legacy. Queen
Elizabeth’s desperate attempt to leave something that could
overthrow my king. A pity for you it lies in the hands of two people
too cowardly to use it.”

Charlie was so engrossed in the
revelation that he appeared completely oblivious to his peril. “Is
that why you are after Ben’s parents? Because they have this
'legacy’ thing?”

“They won’t have it
much longer, once I have found them. And Ben is going to help me do
just that.”

“I don’t know where
they are,” Ben said, hiding his dismay with a display of
defiance.

“Oh, I know that. But I
have a feeling your parents know where
you
are. You will be the bait that brings them to us.”

“They won’t fall for
that.”

“I think they will.
Especially if they know their poor son is to be executed forty-eight
hours from now at dusk.”

Ben felt a rush of fear run down
his spine, but he kept his cool. His mind was working quickly. He had
to get out of here. The taxi station was just ahead, but it would
take a miracle to get past Elessar, two dark elves and twenty
ratlings. Their only chance of escape was back the way they had come,
but the patrol behind them would arrive any moment now.

He needed a distraction – a
big distraction.

Ben reached for his pouch, but
even as he did so Elessar turned to the well-built elf next to him.

“Take them to the Floating
Prison.”

The dark elf extended both hands,
palms outward. They started to pulse with a purple glow.

“Run!” Ben shouted.

Charlie reacted first, Natalie a
fraction later. Neither were quick enough. Three purple beams lanced
out. Ben flung his arms in front of Charlie and Natalie in
desperation.

A crescent shield materialised,
encasing all three of them. The purple beams ricocheted off it and
split into dozens of small streaks of light, which rebounded back at
the enemy.

The ratlings squealed, many of
them falling to the ground. The dark elves, who were at the front,
took the brunt of the impact. One went down, but the other two,
including Elessar, shielded themselves with a flick of the hand.

In that brief moment of chaos,
Ben saw the shock and surprise on Elessar’s face. He was
distracted. The remaining ratlings were looking around in a stupor.
Without the dark elves to command them they looked lost. Ben heard
the patrol arrive behind them, but they too were stunned by the
scene.

Ben drew the last remaining
pellet from his pouch and threw it on the ground in front of him.
Blue fog burst from the pellet and within moments he was coughing and
choking, barely able to see his hand in front of his face.

“Come on!” Ben said.

Without waiting to see if Charlie
and Natalie had heard him, Ben leapt forward blindly, skipping over
and treading on fallen ratlings. A claw tried to grab his jacket, but
he yanked free. In a flash he was through the fog and the barricade
and running full throttle to the taxi station.

With his heart pumping, legs
pounding and adrenaline flowing, Ben wasn’t able to appreciate
the station. There was a line of small carriages, each pulled by a
variety of winged animals. Many of the taxi drivers were standing by
the road, watching their escape in astonishment. Ben could have sworn
one or two of them were even urging them on. He risked a glance over
his shoulder. Natalie and Charlie were close behind, but hard on
their heels were at least a dozen ratlings, snarling and sniffing in
pursuit.

The taxi at the front was a
two-wheeled cart pulled by a winged horse on which the driver sat.
Ben threw himself into the cart, quickly followed by two bumps as
Charlie and Natalie followed suit.

“National Forest, please,
south entrance,” Natalie said, somehow sounding calm despite
her exhaustion and panic.

“Right you are, ma’am,”
the driver said in an accent that sounded strangely familiar.

He tugged on the reins and kicked
his heels. The horse responded by lurching forward and extending its
wings, but the ratlings were in full flow and closing the gap at an
alarming rate.

Spears hurtled towards them and
Ben ducked as they whizzed by. One ratling gave an almighty leap and
managed to cling onto the cart. Ben rammed his elbow hard into its
claw and the ratling let go with a cry of pain. Even as he fell, two
more took his place. Ben, Charlie and Natalie started hammering at
the claws frantically, but there were too many. On Ben’s left a
ratling had gained purchase and was crawling its way up. The smell
from its snarling mouth almost knocked Ben out.

“We need to take off!”
Ben shouted.

The driver urged the horse on and
its wings started flapping.

A claw grabbed Ben’s chest
and he fell forward. Charlie grabbed him, but the ratling was strong
and Charlie was slowly losing the tug of war.

A flash of blue hit the ratling
and it fell off the cart with a howl.

Natalie had managed to stand up
and was firing her Spellshooter like someone possessed. Her hair was
flung back and there was a wild, frenzied look in her green eyes.

The ratlings fell back. The
carriage angled up and with a jerk it left the ground.

A ball of purple fire came at
them from nowhere. Ben heard the flame ripping through the air
moments before it cannoned into the back of the cart.

The cart rocked and Ben and
Charlie held on for dear life. Natalie cried in alarm, arms flailing
as she sought to keep her balance. Everything seemed to happen in
slow motion. Ben reached forward but missed Natalie’s
outstretched hand by inches. She fell backwards and, with a look of
pure horror, disappeared off the side.

She hit the ground a short
distance below and the ratlings swarmed over her.

“Turn around!” Ben
shouted, spinning to the driver.

“Can’t do that,
mate,” was the gruff response.

Ben watched in anguish as Elessar
swept the ratlings aside and hauled Natalie to her feet. She was
struggling madly, but at least she was alive. The cart was gaining
altitude quickly and the scene below became smaller with every
second.

Ben collapsed back on the seat,
breathing raggedly.

“They’re coming after
us,” Charlie said, peering over the edge of the cart.

The ratlings had commandeered a
couple of taxis and taken to the skies in pursuit. Ben only saw one
dark elf on board; Elessar and the other elf remained behind with
Natalie. Ben watched them desperately until they were just specks
below.

His concern for Natalie was put
on hold the moment he saw the chasing taxis. The ratlings were
closing in.

“Excuse me,” he
called to the driver. “Can we go faster?”

“Don’t worry, mate,”
the driver said, peering behind at the chasing taxis. “Those
stinkin’ ratlings won't catch us. More than my job’s
worth if they do.”

Ben stared at the driver in
astonishment. He wasn’t a half-elf at all – he was a
Londoner. He wore jeans and a puffy jacket adorned with the England
football team crest.

Their cart accelerated away from
the taxis.

Ben relaxed a little. The wind
buffeted his face, but his jacket countered the cold so well he
almost felt toasty. The buildings below looked like models and the
people nothing more than Lego men. It wasn’t long before the
town gave way to a rolling carpet of green hills.

Charlie took out his handkerchief
and wiped his brow. He was breathing raggedly and his face was
flushed.

“Oh god, this is a
disaster,” he said. “I don’t know who’s in
greater trouble – Natalie in the hands of Elessar or us,
heading towards some god-forsaken forest without the faintest clue
what we’re doing.”

“I would say her,”
Ben said.

“What do we do now?”
Charlie continued, appearing not to have heard Ben. “We can’t
leave Natalie, but we have no idea how to rescue her. We still need
to find the wood elves, but without her what chance do we have?”

“You’re blabbering,
Charlie.”

“With good reason! If this
cart disappeared and we started plummeting to our deaths, we’d
be in less trouble than we are now.”

“I think you’re
over-stating things a bit.”

Charlie wiped his brow again and
took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Do you have a plan? I’d
take anything right now.”

“First, you need to calm
down,” Ben said. It had been a while since Charlie had been
this upset. “Let’s talk about Natalie first. Elessar has
already told us where she's going – the Floating Prison.”

“But where’s that?”

“No idea, but I’m
hoping the wood elves will know.”

Charlie nodded and finally
composed himself. “Elessar wanted to use you as bait for your
parents. Attempting to rescue Natalie will play right into his
hands.”

“I know, but we don’t
have much of a choice,” Ben said.

Charlie didn’t argue and
there was a grim determination on his chubby face. They had only
known Natalie for a couple of days but suddenly it seemed a lot
longer.

“At least we know why
Elessar is after your parents. Elizabeth’s legacy is something
your parents have. Apparently it has the power to stop Suktar, which
is why the dark elves want it.”

“So it turns out the dark
elves aren’t after my parents at all. They’re after
something they have.”

“Exactly,” Charlie
said, slapping his thigh.

Ben found it hard to share
Charlie’s elation; he was thinking about the rest of Elessar’s
revelation.

“Whatever this thing is,
Elessar said my parents were too cowardly to use it. Does that mean
they have the power to stop King Suktar, but won’t use it?”