The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,78

Ben moved his head away just in time.

“We need to hide,” Ben said, urgently. He spotted a large oak tree less than ten paces away and darted behind it. The trunk was so large that when Charlie and Natalie followed suit, there was enough space for all three of them.

Ben did a slow count to twenty before poking his head round the tree. Dagmar had gone. She must have walked the other way round the Institute. Nevertheless, they approached the stairs cautiously, and relaxed only when they verified she was truly gone.

The stairs were sturdy but well worn, and they descended them carefully, stopping at the bottom when they reached the bolted door. Ben tested his strength against it; the door didn't budge.

“Is there no other way in?” Ben asked.

“There may be, but I don't know about it,” Natalie said.

“Well, we'll need to find one, because short of shooting some serious spells at this door, it's not going to budge.”

“Do you think Dagmar was trying to get in?”

“I don't know, but I wish I did,” Ben said.

Over the next few days, they had little time to think about Dagmar, instead focusing their energy searching for the cavern. It was tricky at times because they believed the cavern entrance would most likely be on the ground floor, which was always busy. There were plenty of doors that led off from the ground floor, but it was difficult to explore them without arousing suspicion. Ben managed it a couple of times, but he got caught by an Institute member who accused him of trying to sneak his way to the magic lifts, which were restricted to senior Institute members.

Tuesday became Wednesday and Ben started taking even greater risks, searching areas of the Institute he shouldn't be setting foot in for several years. On another day, he would have been mesmerised by what he saw, but right now he felt only a growing desperation. There was simply no passage or stairway that showed any sign of leading to the cavern. Ben became obsessed with finding it, and every waking minute was spent either searching or discussing where it could be.

By the time Thursday rolled round, Ben was certain he had searched everywhere he could physically gain access to, with no joy.

“I don't want to state the obvious, but we're running out of time,” Charlie said.

The three of them were returning from Taecia Square, where Natalie had been instructed to pick up a new spellshooter from the “W” store on behalf of a prominent Institute member.

“We must be missing something,” Ben said, slamming a fist into an open hand. “There has to be a passageway or a hidden door somewhere. We just have to keep looking.”

Ben was fully aware how desperate he sounded, but he didn't care. If they couldn't find the forreck tomorrow, they would lose their one chance to get Elizabeth's Boots. The next solar eclipse didn't happen for six months. The dark elves could have launched a full-scale war by then.

“We'll find it,” Natalie said, injecting her voice with a determination and certainty that lifted Ben's gloom. “Why don't Charlie and I head back to the library to see if we can discover anything more, while you keep searching?”

Ben couldn't think of anywhere to search that he'd not already looked, but he agreed with the plan; the alternative was to accept defeat, which was out of the question.

Charlie and Natalie headed up to the library, already chatting about some obscure reference to a book that might help. Ben watched them head up the stairs, and then surveyed the ground floor, hands on hips, for what felt like the millionth time. He mentally ran through each doorway and visualised what lay beyond. This was no good. He'd been everywhere, many places more than once. He had looked everywhere inside. What did that leave?

Outside.

Ben wandered outside the Institute, and decided to circle round the building again. He must have done it three dozen times in the last couple of days, yet he still felt a glimmer of irrational hope that maybe this time he would spot something.

The sky was blue and the sun's rays lightened his mood a little. He did a couple of circles around the Institute, looking for a sign of an opening, a crevice, a false stone – anything that might look suspicious. Again, he found nothing, and ended up by the little outbuilding.

Ben thought again of Dagmar. What had she been doing? Taking a quick glance around to make