The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,59

course,” she said. “You're not far away. Just head up the stairs, take the second door on the right, head down the corridor until you reach the turret, then take the fourth door on the left, and Mr. Taren is the second last door down that hallway.”

Ben thanked her and she went on her way, now running to make up for lost time.

“There you go!” Ben said. “Simple. I knew he worked around here; animal magic is Lornor's area. One of you got those instructions, right?”

“I did,” Charlie said.

“Good. Let's go pay a visit to our friend Lornor Taren.”

— Chapter Twenty-One —

Questions and Answers

“Wait!” Charlie said, tugging on Ben's arm.

Ben had been about to knock on Lornor Taren's door.

“Why?”

“What's the plan?”

“We go in, find out what this guy knows about forrecks, then leave. Pretty straightforward.”

Charlie put both his hands to his head in frustration. “You think he's just going to tell us that? We're complete strangers. We can't just barge in there without some sort of story or explanation.”

“Charlie is right,” Natalie said. “Much as I enjoy your spontaneous plans, we should think this through.”

“I have several plans,” Ben said. “But I want to see what sort of person we are dealing with before I decide exactly which one to use.”

“Well, we should have some sort of back story at least,” Charlie said.

“Fine. What do you suggest?”

Charlie seemed taken aback. “Me? Well, I'm not sure.”

“Maybe we're messengers, requesting information for our seniors,” Natalie suggested. “Or we could be researchers, asking for information.”

“Let's do the researchers ploy,” Ben said. He had no intention of using any such back story, and was starting to get impatient.

Ben knocked firmly on the door. There was a moment's silence, then a surprisingly deep voice spoke.

“Come in.”

Ben turned the handle. The door opened and they entered a luxurious office that was in serious need of a clean. There were shelves everywhere, filled with books in a manner that suggested someone enjoyed taking them out but wasn't particularly bothered how they went back in. At the back of the room was a grand desk, filled with more books, and on top of those books, a black cat slept. Ben did a double take; with magic permeating every inch of this place, the last thing he expected was an ordinary pet cat. Behind the desk, on a leather chair every bit as grand as the desk, was Mr. Lornor Taren.

Ben had hoped to shape his plan around a kindly, doting old elf, but the reality was quite the opposite. Lornor stared at them with bulbous brown eyes that looked too big for his head. His skin was creased with age and drooped at the cheeks and chin, and he had thinning silver hair. His right hand stroked the cat slowly, which was about the only affectionate thing Ben could detect in this elf. Lornor gave them each a long, calculating stare.

“Institute apprentices,” Lornor said, with undisguised disdain. “Ones or Twos, by the looks of you.”

Lornor's thinly disguised hostility almost threw Ben. “Charlie and I, Ben Greenwood, are Ones. Natalie is a Two. How did you know?”

Lornor gave a sniff. “I can always smell Institute members. They give off this unhealthy odour of arrogance and righteousness.”

Ben kept a straight face, but underneath he felt a growing alarm. The strength of emotion that Lornor spoke of the Institute with was frightening and had Ben struggling to work out how to open the conversation without enticing more animosity. Lornor saved him from having to.

“You may be wondering why I arranged this meeting,” Lornor said. His right hand never stopped stroking the cat, and the left one scratched his chin with long, skeletal fingers.

“Arranged?” Ben said, for the first time unable to mask his surprise.

Lornor gave a cold smile. “Do you really think you could wander into SpellWorks? Maybe in the Institute you allow such security lapses, but not here.”

Ben resisted the urge to finger his security badge, but Lornor must have spotted Charlie or Natalie doing it.

“Those fake security badges gave you away the moment you passed through the gates,” Lornor said, giving another hint of a smile. “It also, incidentally, cost your friend his job.”

Ben could just see the stunned faces of Charlie and Natalie from his peripheral vision, but he refused to give Lornor the satisfaction of having all three of them looking like rabbits caught in the headlights.

“So why did you want to see us?” Ben said. “It's clear you have about as much love for the Institute