The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,83

excuse herself.

“Sorry about that,” Natalie said, looking a little embarrassed and also slightly concerned, Ben was surprised to see. “I hope they don't report me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm going to be skipping the morning's chores, and may also miss this afternoon's study period,” Natalie said. “My plan had been to say that I wasn't feeling well, but they've just seen me looking perfectly healthy.”

“They won't tell,” Ben assured her. “That would ruin their chances of going out with you.”

Natalie had the good grace to blush, but Ben knew she wasn't ignorant of her beauty and that he was probably right.

“Shall we get going?” Charlie asked, a little stiffly, clearly uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

They had to wait twenty minutes for an opportune moment to sneak round the back of the Institute. Ben found the door within the door easily this time. They crawled through and walked silently down the stairs until they reached the dungeon. Ben took a little longer to locate the stone that triggered the trap door, for it was no longer in the same place. Despite knowing exactly how far down the jump was into the hole, Ben still felt a shot of adrenaline when he dropped off the ledge into the darkness. He landed hard, but managed to stay on his feet this time. Charlie landed with a bump and a roll, whereas Natalie landed smoothly.

Ben walked to the edge and stared down at the mighty cavern, dimly lit by a faint glow that came from somewhere above. There were rocks, crags and stalactites everywhere. Ben's trained eye picked the best place to start their descent.

“Climbing isn't my strong point,” Charlie said, joining Ben at the edge.

“Natalie and I will help you,” Ben said. He was starting to suspect that Natalie was a better climber than he was.

“What's our plan?” Charlie asked. “And please don't give me some simplistic answer. We're about to encounter an animal that can take down a dragon.”

“According to Lornor, the forreck is most comfortable at the deepest level of the cavern,” Ben said. “So we go down, until we can't go down any further.”

“And then what?” Natalie asked.

“Once we are fairly certain we know where the forreck is, we wait for the solar eclipse, at 12:17pm. Then we approach with extreme caution.”

“And if the forreck is still alive and kicking?”

“Then we retreat,” Ben said reluctantly. “Let's hope that's not the case, otherwise we can say goodbye to Elizabeth's Boots.”

“I like the plan,” Natalie said. “It's 9:30am now, so that gives us nearly three hours to get down there.”

Ben rubbed his hands together. “Let's get going.”

Ben considered himself a good climber, but, as he had suspected, Natalie turned out to be even better. Ben could reach for unlikely holds and take reckless risks, but Natalie's balance was phenomenal and she could jump like a gazelle, leaping from one precipice to the next, while Ben and Charlie stared on in astonishment. Charlie tried gamely to keep up, but Ben and Natalie would often have to wait or help by pointing out holds. Ben was glad they had allocated so much time, because it was slow going, and the cavern seemed to have no end. Thoughts of the forreck and Elizabeth's Boots receded; all effort was focused on reaching the bottom of the cavern. A glance up and Ben was reminded how far they had come; their entrance point was no longer visible. Ben wasn't even sure if he remembered how to get back.

“What's that?”

They were taking a brief rest on a small ledge, and Charlie had wandered to the edge. He was pointing at something down below.

Ben and Natalie joined him, and instantly saw what he was talking about. A strange blue fog covered a plateau less than twenty feet below them

“Uh oh,” Natalie said.

“I don't suppose that's a good 'uh oh',” Charlie said. “As in, uh oh, that weird blue fog will levitate us serenely to the bottom of this endless cavern.”

“Not quite,” Natalie said. “That blue fog is a spell cloud. They are used to defend an area because they can stay put for years without disappearing. When we enter that fog, we will trigger a spell.”

“What's it doing here?” Ben asked.

“My guess is that Charlotte Rowe set up various defensive measures to stop people getting down to the bottom.”

“What sort of spell do you think is in the spell cloud?” Charlie asked.

Natalie shrugged. “The possibilities are endless.”

“Well, let's find out,” Ben said. He picked up a stone, and threw