The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,71

voices, hurried footsteps and occasional whistle from the conductors. The majority of people were human, but there was a fair proportion of dwarves, elves and smaller creatures. Ben felt like a tourist all over again as he stepped off the carriage and meandered his way along the platform. He saw two signs: one directing him to the Institute's London headquarters; the other to London Victoria Underground Station. As tempted as Ben was to visit the Institute's headquarters in London, Ben, like many others, followed the sign to the Underground.

The security was both larger and more streamlined than Croydon's slightly archaic system. As Ben was an Institute apprentice, they let him keep his spell pouches, though he was instructed to “turn off” the flashing diamond above his shoulder – something he had completely forgotten about. Soon he was walking among a group of people down a torch-lit passageway, which led all the way to the lift. Unlike the one in Croydon, this lift contained no seats. Ben quickly grabbed onto a handle bar, but he needn't have held on so tightly, as the lift accelerated far more smoothly than the Croydon one. They travelled from what seemed like the Earth's core until the lift finally slowed and came to a gentle stop. With a ding, the doors opened, and everyone started filing out.

Ben couldn't help staring. They were bang in the middle of the London Victoria Underground station, right near the escalators that went up to the main train station. Regular people passed the lift by without giving it a second glance. Ben remembered passing this exact lift several times himself, but he could never be bothered to take it, as it always seemed quicker and easier to take the escalator. With a smile and a shake of the head, Ben joined the London throng and headed up to the main train station.

Ben weaved through the crowd until he arrived at the huge train timetable that hung from the ceiling, just in front of the platforms. There it was: platform nineteen – Lampton Green, leaving in three minutes. He made the train by the skin of his teeth and searched for the emptiest carriage he could find. Being early afternoon, most of the commuters had already gone to work, so there were plenty of empty seats. After the train was safely on its way, Ben took a surreptitious look around, and took out the necklace. It was an elegant thing, though perhaps suited more to a girl's taste, and not something he would ordinarily wear, but fashion was the last thing on his mind right now. He needed the necklace to track down Grignak. He put the necklace on and tucked it underneath his top so it wouldn't show.

He felt a presence immediately, albeit a minuscule one, right at the edge of his mind. Ben closed his eyes and focused. Relaxing was key, he remembered from his Warden training. Let the perceptions come. A blurred image flashed before him of a young boy wearing rough clothes, walking past an old library. The picture made Ben jerk and he immediately lost it. Taking a calming breath, he relaxed again, but it still took several minutes before the image returned. Ben studied the boy: greasy hair; hooked nose; crooked teeth; ragged jeans. He was scrawny but walked with a confidence that suggested a wiry strength beneath his rags.

Sight was the easiest perception to obtain through the necklace, but what he really needed was distance and orientation. How far away was the target? Where exactly in Lampton Green was he? Ben took another calming breath, swallowing his impatience.

But the journey was not a long one and Ben was still trying to get the goblin's exact destination by the time he reached Lampton Green station. Ben disembarked and walked slowly down the platform, concentrating so hard on the necklace he nearly ran into an elderly couple, and then received a dirty look from a mum as he almost knocked her child over.

This was no good. Clearly walking and concentrating on the necklace was a step too far. He hated to waste time, but there was nothing for it – he needed to sit down. Ben found a small coffee shop within the station. He bought a water, picked up a free newspaper and sat down. While pretending to read the paper, he re-doubled his efforts to pinpoint the location of Grignak. He got a couple of peculiar looks, and realised his face had become rigid