The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,50

said. “He's the one who wrote that forrecks might have a weakness. Let's go and find him.”

“It's not that simple, Ben,” Natalie said. “We don't know who he is, where he is, or if he's even still alive.”

“Not entirely true, actually,” Charlie said, standing up suddenly, his eyes regaining some of their former energy. He hurried over to the table and started sifting through the books.

“Ah! Here it is.” He grabbed a large, hardback book and hurried back over. It was called The Hundred Most Influential Beastmasters of the 21st Century.

Charlie started thumbing through the pages, stopping finally with another exclamation.

“Listen to this,” Charlie said, and he started reading.

“The elf Lornor Taren is perhaps the oldest and certainly most controversial beastmaster still living (as of publication date, 2012). Born in the 17th century, Mr. Taren spent his first hundred years working on the great farms of Unn, before gaining employment at SpellWorks Inc., where his passion for beasts flourished. He rose swiftly through the ranks and became head of Animal Enchantments, where he lasted for several centuries, before being controversially removed for his outspoken opinion against the Royal Institute of Magic's mission to cull the forrecks for the protection of the Unseen Kingdoms. At the time of writing, he still works at SpellWorks Inc., but his position is not clear, and SpellWorks refused to comment when approached.”

“Well, he's still alive,” Ben said. “We just need to find out where this SpellWorks Inc. place is.”

Natalie gave Ben a surprised look. “Oh my. I completely forgot you weren't brought up here. Everyone knows about SpellWorks Inc. – they're famous. Think Google but for all things magic. They are the biggest manufacturer of spell pellets, artefacts and other magical items.”

Ben and Charlie exchanged gleeful looks.

“How do we get in?” Charlie asked.

“That's the tricky part. It is strictly off limits to non-employees, unless you have a special guest pass, which are like gold dust these days.”

“So what's the plan?” Ben asked.

Natalie smiled. “We sneak in.”

“I like it,” Ben said. Charlie looked less than thrilled with the idea.

“One thing doesn't make sense,” Natalie said, her attention going back to the book Charlie had just read from. “It says the forrecks were culled. I thought they were supposed to be invincible?”

“I looked that up,” Charlie said. “A mission, led by the Institute several centuries ago, hunted down the forrecks one by one with crystal dragons, which appear to be the only dragons capable of taking them down. It was slow and bloody, but by the 20th century, the forreck and the crystal dragon had basically killed each other off. Crystal dragons are now officially extinct and nobody has seen a forreck in the last two centuries.”

“Wow,” Ben said. “Well at least we know that, should we find a forreck, it could well be the one guarding the boots.”

Charlie began tapping the book and pursed his lips. “There is one thing we haven't considered. If your parents were here, Ben, then they probably would have read these books and most likely also stumbled upon the bit about Lornor Taren. What if they have already visited him?”

Ben had the same exact thought. “As you said, we don't know if my parents were here, and even if they did find and visit Lornor Taren, we don't know what happened. We need to find out.”

“Do we?”

Charlie spoke the question softly, staring thoughtfully into the lush carpet.

Ben was taken aback by the question. “What do you mean?”

When Charlie looked up, his excitement had been replaced by a mellow, almost sombre expression.

“Ben, your parents are hot on the heels of Elizabeth's Boots, a task we know is critical to stopping Suktar. I'm concerned that if we go searching for them, we might get in their way.”

Ben was so shocked it held his rising anger in check. “How would we get in their way?”

Charlie kept his voice soft, aware that Ben was slowly building up steam. “Your parents are highly skilled Spellswords. What could we do to help them? They'd probably just end up babysitting us.”

Ben flew off his seat and pointed a finger at Charlie, but no words came forth. He turned and stepped away, his mind swirling with anger and disbelief. He walked over and leant on the table, trying to collect his thoughts. Natalie was talking, but it was just noise, and he barely registered it. The initial shock had subsided, and the resulting anger eventually gave way to genuine confusion.

Ben turned back to Charlie. “Two years my parents have