The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,61

suddenly, and pulled Natalie back.

“Do it, Ben,” he said, with relish, his eyes alight. “Light the cat up. Let's see if it survives longer than our experiment with Rusty the dog.”

Lornor's fear turned to incredulity, and he extended a hand out before he could stop himself.

“Stop!” he said. “What is it you want?”

Ben felt like hugging Charlie; his acting skills really were top notch. He gave Lornor a grim smile, but didn't release the cat. “First, I want you to write down the location of any surviving forrecks.”

Lornor gave Ben a look of pure hatred. “There is only one that I know of, and it has only survived due to extraordinary circumstance. It was owned by someone with very close ties to the Institute. Her name was Charlotte Rowe.”

Ben felt his heart leap from his chest to his throat. Beside him, he saw Charlie and Natalie stiffen.

“Where can we find this forreck?” Ben asked.

“If he still survives, he probably resides where he always has: in the cavern beneath the Institute.”

“I didn't know there was a cavern beneath the Institute.”

“Not many people do. It was sealed off many years ago. You won't find it easy to get to. Forrecks like being underground, so he will most likely be at the deepest level of the cavern. I have heard the cavern beneath the Institute is one of the deepest in the Unseen Kingdoms.”

Ben swallowed his elation. More noise erupted from behind the door, but thankfully nobody seemed intent on entering the room, yet.

“We need to get going,” Charlie said, once more looking anxiously at the door.

“You won't escape,” Lornor said, regaining a fraction of his confidence. “And when they catch you, I am going to make sure you suffer.”

“A bit like your cat, if you don't answer my next question,” Ben said. “What weakness does the forreck have that you hint at in your books?”

Lornor took an age to reply, and for a moment Ben thought he was going to have to take drastic action.

“Solar eclipse,” Lornor said, eventually, the words coming reluctantly from his lips. “For some reason, the blocking of the sun affects the forreck. There is one next Friday, as it happens, not that it matters to you, as you won't be leaving here for a long time.”

“A solar eclipse doesn't last long, though,” Charlie said, ignoring Lornor's taunting.

“No, but I suspect that the forreck is affected at least an hour before and after the incident,” Lornor said. “As I said, I haven't accumulated sufficient evidence to support this theory. Nor do I know how debilitating the effect will be on the forreck.”

Ben could sense Lornor had finished talking, and that he wasn't going to learn anything more, cat or no cat. Ben quickly placed the cat back onto the desk, and whispered an apology into her ear.

Lornor glared at him, and grabbed his cat with both hands.

“Let's get out of here,” Ben said, handing Natalie back her spellshooter.

A sudden pounding on the door made Ben jump, and a commanding voice spoke. “Open up and relinquish your weapons! This is SpellWorks security. You have ten seconds.”

— Chapter Twenty-Two —

Desperate Escape

Lornor's smile turned into a grin. “Ah, there we are, right on time. I'm going to enjoy this.”

Ben, Charlie and Natalie turned and stared at the door as if it had just grown tentacles.

“We're trapped!” Charlie said, his hands going to his forehead.

“At least the door seems to be locked,” Natalie said.

Lornor coughed. “Oh, not for long.” He waved a hand, and the top bolt snapped open. Another wave and the middle one did likewise.

Ben dipped his hand into his pocket, curling around his dad's pouch. He took a deep breath and concentrated, pushing aside the fact that they had seconds before they were caught and searching for a spell that might help them.

Bingo.

The bottom and final bolt started to open, but it seemed to happen in slow motion, as if Lornor was trying to draw out their agony.

“Natalie, when the door opens, fire something at them,” Ben said.

“Like what?” Natalie said. To her credit she kept the incredulity from her voice, but not the desperation. “I don't have anything strong enough to harm these people.”

“Doesn't matter,” Ben said. “Just make sure it's obvious; some sort of fireball or ice blast would be good.” He turned to include Charlie. “As soon as the spell has been fired, I want both of you to hit the floor and cover your heads. You got that?”

“I get that you're babbling nonsense, yes,” Charlie