The Shadowseeker - Victor Kloss Page 0,45
the dark elves has sent most of the Institute into a work frenzy. The good news is, they should assume we have clearance to be here now that we're walking around after the security check.”
“What if we run into someone who knows we shouldn't be here?” Charlie asked.
“That we need to avoid,” Natalie said.
“Right.” Ben clapped his hands. “Let's get going.”
— Chapter Seventeen —
The Lockers' Secret
They had five floors to climb. Ben went as fast as possible, bearing in mind they didn't want to look rushed and that Charlie would have trouble running up the stairs anyway. A couple of times they ran into members passing by, but most were lost in their own worlds. Ben gave a relaxed, friendly smile to those who did look their way. It did the job; they got no suspicious looks and nobody attempted to stop them.
Ben stopped at the Spellsword gallery, just to make sure Natalie and Charlie were okay, before pushing open the double doors into the Department of Spellswords. Ben resisted the urge to quicken his pace and listened intently; the only warning of danger they might get would be voices or footsteps from around a corner. As Ben walked, he clocked every door they approached as a potential hiding place. None of them knew where exactly the Spellsword locker room was, and they almost did a complete circle of the floor before they found it.
Ben started thinking about their next problem as they approached: how would they know if anyone was inside? And what would they do if there was? He was still debating the issue when he heard a creak, and the door opened.
Ben stopped and froze. Two Spellswords emerged, both with three diamonds on their shoulders, chatting softly to each other. Thankfully, they headed away from them and disappeared round the corner.
Ben breathed again. He waited a moment to see if anyone else was going to emerge, before half walking, half running to the locker room door. The three of them crowded round it.
“Now what?” Charlie asked. “If we go in and someone's in there, we've blown it.”
“We go in one by one,” Ben said. “That way, if one person does get into trouble, the other two still have time to get away.”
“That's a good idea,” Natalie said. “You, Ben, will have to go last. If we lose you, the whole plan is ruined anyway.”
Ben hated to admit it, but she was right. Neither Charlie nor Natalie would have any chance of opening his parents’ lockers.
“I'll go,” Charlie said.
Natalie put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure? I don't mind doing it myself.”
“No.” Charlie's voice was unusually firm. “I'll raise my voice if I get into trouble, and you guys can get away.”
Charlie gripped the handle, paused only a second, and then disappeared from sight through the door.
Ben listened, waiting for any signal of trouble. Seconds later, the door re-opened and a relieved-looking Charlie popped his head through.
“All clear,” he said.
There was more space in the Spellsword locker room, with enough width to have a bench that ran down the middle of the room. Each locker was at least twice as wide, and the eyes were all varying shades of blue. Males, Ben thought. They looked a bit sterner too, if that was possible. They were all staring directly ahead, like soldiers standing to attention.
“How do we know which ones belong to your parents?” Charlie asked, staring at all the lockers.
“I'll do what we did when we were first assigned ours,” Ben said.
He positioned himself by the door, and then started walking slowly down the middle of the room, paying close attention to each locker's eye. One by one, they ignored him, and as Ben neared the end of the room, he started to fear none would look his way.
“That one!” Natalie shouted, pointing.
Ben had almost missed it. The locker to his left, four from the end, flicked his large iris Ben's way. Ben stopped immediately and went straight over to the locker. The moment Ben faced up to it, Ben saw a glimmer of recognition within that large blue eye.
“This is the one,” Ben said, waving them over.
They inspected the locker. Ben noticed there were a few scuffs on the door, and a couple of places where the stone had been chipped.
“Will he respond to you?” Charlie asked. “We don't even know the locker's name.”
“Let's find out,” Ben said. He cleared his throat and said in a clear, firm voice, “Open the door.”
Nothing happened.
“You forgot to