Sinners of Magic (24 page)

Once the spider was gone,
Arhdel placed his hand back inside the crevice, but this time he
gripped hold of something solid and pulled. A creak echoed eerily
down the tunnel and a secret doorway slid open, showing them an
entrance into the castle.

‘
Well, what
do you think about that?’ grinned Arhdel, turning smug. Delight
danced in his eyes and Matt saw a glimpse of the boy he had once
been.

‘
About time,’
Matt teased. ‘Finally we can get out of this stinking
hole.’

Arhdel’s tone changed
abruptly.

‘
Now we must
be on our guard. I don’t know where we are in the castle and this
makes everything far more dangerous for us. We must tread carefully
and always, always, do as I say.’

Matt nodded, moving quickly to
Arhdel’s side. He respected the warrior and would never disobey him
on purpose.

Matt touched his dagger.

‘
I will do
whatever you ask of me,’ he said, to prove his
allegiance.

Arhdel patted his shoulder.

‘
I know I can
count on you.’

They went through the door and
into an abandoned passageway. The corridor was dry, but the air was
thick and musty. Cobwebs hung over their heads as though fishermen
had cast their nets and repeatedly dropped them in their faces.

‘
This stuff
is disgusting,’ Matt muttered, wiping yet another shroud of web
from his face.

‘
It’s not for
long,’ Arhdel told him, throwing his hands in the air and dragging
away more spidery webs with an exaggerated swoop. ‘We’ll soon be
out of here.’

Sure enough the corridor ended
with a door blocking their path and Arhdel pondered what to do
next.

Arhdel pressed his ear to the
door and listened. He could hear loud banging on the other side,
making it difficult for him to detect if anyone was about. He
paused for a moment then put his finger to his lips and Matt nodded
to show he understood. Pulling his sword from its sheath, Arhdel
drew the blade in readiness. There was only one way to open the
door so he signalled to Matt to press his body into the wall whilst
he activated the door’s release mechanism.

The tension between them was
electric. Arhdel held his sword tight, his knuckles almost white;
he waved his other hand across a glass panel and the door swished
open.

Arhdel pounced on an
unsuspecting guard who was standing on duty. Stabbing him
repeatedly in his back and neck, he attacked the soldier until he
fell to his knees, dead. Without hesitation the warrior pushed his
arms under the soldier’s armpits and dragged the body into the
passageway and out of sight.

‘
Let’s go,’
Arhdel said, once he checked it was all clear, ‘and whatever you
do, stay close.’

They found themselves stepping
onto a metal overhang, perched some twenty feet in the air. Arhdel
peered over the rail and saw there was no one about so he moved
quickly to get out of sight with Matt following close at his heels.
Although afraid of heights, Matt stomached a sly glance down. He
saw that directly underneath him sat a huge vat of bubbling fluid.
Bubbles burst and plopped like volcanic lava, pushing enormous
clouds of steam towards him; the temperature was excruciatingly hot
and the dry air burnt his throat.

Arhdel tapped him on the
shoulder and they ran along to the end of the bridge until they
came to a staircase which led away from the scorching heat. Arhdel
took three steps at a time, but Matt’s legs weren’t so strong and
he struggled to keep up. Beads of perspiration were forming on
Matt’s forehead and he grew thirsty.

Once at the top of the stairs
Arhdel scanned the area for a way out. Matt spotted a small alcove,
which hid a door, and Arhdel signalled for them to make a run for
it. The noise and heat stopped the moment they closed the door
behind them and they clasped each other’s hands in a sign of
victory.

They found themselves in a
large, expansive room, which was being used as some kind of
laboratory and was filled with row upon row of long oblong caskets
made from a type of toughened glass. Matt thought about Snow White
and the glass coffin until he saw they were each connected to a set
of strange-looking cables and he could see magic flowing through
them, a colour that was as blue as the morning sky.

‘
I’ve never
seen anything like it,’ Matt hissed, looking from one tub to the
next. ‘What the hell are these things?’

Arhdel shook his head and they
both moved closer.

Matt noticed the tubs were
filled with a gooey liquid. It looked thick and sticky, and the
colour had a similar tint to what he had seen in the vat. Matt felt
a stir of curiosity and tipped the box with the palm of his hand.
The fluid inside rushed from one end of the casket to the other,
but apart from that nothing interesting happened. Matt’s
fascination grew and he chose to ignore Arhdel’s plea for them to
leave. Instead, he messed about with a dial that was set at the
side of each casket, spinning it like a safe combination.

‘
Stop
touching,’ scolded Arhdel, still searching for a way
out.

‘
It’s not
like it’s doing anything,’ said Matt, shrugging his shoulders and
letting out a sigh.

‘
And what
will you do if it does?’ Arhdel retorted, pulling at a door which
he found to be locked.

Matt spun the dial as far as it
would go and his fingertips were still on the control when
something shot out of the gloop and grabbed his arm. Matt screamed
in terror, unable to digest what was happening because he was being
held by a large, blue hand covered in thick slime. The limb was
unbelievably strong and it held him tight, squeezing his upper
muscle until he thought it was about to explode.

In a flash Arhdel was by his
side pulling at the hand with all his might but the bony fingers
only dug deeper into Matt’s flesh, making him squeal in pain.

‘
Get it off
me!’ he yelled, causing panic to make his voice sound
high-pitched.

‘
I’m trying!’
Arhdel yelled back, clutching the fingers and trying to force them
free, ‘but they won’t let go.’

Matt reached out his trembling
fingers towards the dial and turned it to zero; immediately the
hand dropped back into the liquid.

‘
What was
that disgusting thing?’ Matt demanded. His breathing was rapid and
he wiped the slime off his arm and onto the floor in
disgust.

‘
That was a
hand of a goblin,’ said Arhdel, still alarmed. ‘What bothers me
more is that if there is a hand in this casket then what the hell
is in the others?’

‘
Do you think
there are goblins in every one of them?’ Matt gasped, wiping the
last of the slime away.

‘
Yes, I do,’
Arhdel said, with dread filling his voice, ‘and if I’m right, we’re
in serious trouble.’

He walked over to another
casket, and after checking the dial was on zero, he plunged his
hand inside and pulled out the limb of a leg. The leg was one of an
adult goblin; the foot displayed only four toes.

‘
But there’s
hundreds of caskets in here,’ Matt wailed, watching his companion
drop the limb back in the goo and then wipe his hand on the side of
the glass.

‘
Could be
even more than that,’ said Arhdel, with worry lines creasing his
forehead. ‘It looks to me like Forusian has his own factory of body
parts in here. There are enough goblins in these glass coffins to
create a small army. I’m afraid we may have stumbled on something
which could get us killed quicker than I first thought.’

‘
But how is
he getting the parts to stick together?’ asked Matt, trying to
think logically. ‘He can’t just sew them together, can
he?’

‘
I don’t
know, but magic cannot bring back the dead so he obviously has a
plan or he wouldn’t be doing this,’ said Arhdel, still looking
worried.

‘
We must
destroy them, right now,’ said Matt. ‘We can’t leave here knowing
he’s got parts of an army in here.’

‘
You’re
right,’ said Arhdel, rushing to the cables, ‘we’ve got to try and
stop him.’

Stretching his arms out to the
main supply he pulled at the connectors, desperate to detach them
from the wall.

‘
Stop!’
yelled Matt, panicking. ‘You need to find the main source of
power.’

‘
That’s
easier said than done,’ shouted Arhdel, still tugging at the leads.
‘There must be something like a generator somewhere as it couldn’t
possibly be run by magic alone.’

‘
How do you
know?’ asked Matt, scanning the area for some kind of
switch.

‘
Because,’
Arhdel gasped, ‘no single sorcerer would ever hold such an amount
of power.’

Whilst he was talking one of
the cables came loose. The bolt of electricity was so powerful that
it shot straight through his body, throwing him several feet. He
lay winded, his beard and eyebrows singed, and a strong smell of
burning flesh filled the air. A loud blast from a siren bellowed
overhead.

‘
Now you’ve
done it!’ Matt shouted, helping Arhdel to his feet. ‘You’ve set off
an alarm.’

Before he could reply an
interconnecting door was flung open and a mob of angry guards fell
through, each flailing a sword with murderous intentions.

Arhdel caught Matt’s eye.

‘
You’re
right,’ he said, laying his sword down on the ground and raising
his hands in surrender. ‘I think I’ve just blown it.’

Chapter
1
4

The velvety night sky was home
to a darkened moon and the stars, covered with a thick layer of
cloud, gave no light to the shadows that were scurrying like rats
beneath them.

In Forusian’s castle the
Nonhawk guards were a force to be reckoned with. Fierce and cruel,
they had delighted in capturing the two unexpected intruders and on
closer inspection one of the Nonhawk soldiers had recognised Arhdel
from his previous capture. The soldiers were unsure of Matt, having
never seen a mortal before, and they handled him with mild caution
until they realised he could do them no harm. The two captives were
forced down into the dungeons where they were beaten and then moved
to one of Forusian’s murder holes to await his decision on whether
they should live or die. The guards taunted their captives for
several hours and their eagerness to execute the pair became
increasingly obvious as time ticked by. They craved revenge for
Amadeus and Nekton’s escape and wanted these two prisoners to pay
the ultimate price.

King Forusian, however, sat in
his chamber, filled with rage. Only a short time ago his captain of
the guard had knelt before him, relinquishing the news of the two
captives having been found trying to destroy his life’s work. He
slammed his fists hard onto the table, the force allowing his nails
to dig into his flesh and draw blood. His mind was in turmoil;
things weren’t going quite as planned and he was enraged.

His mind raced along with the
tide that was not far from his window. He had already taken the
decision to move Crystal into hiding, realising that if the warrior
Amadeus managed to get back to the elf kingdom he would undoubtedly
return to leading Gamada straight to her. But now there was Arhdel
to contend with. He was not quite ready to go to war with the
elves, but events were moving much faster than he had anticipated;
his hand was being pushed a little further than he wished, but he
was still confident that he had the upper hand.

He slipped from his chamber,
making his way without the protection of an armed guard to one of
his murder holes. Many of the thick, stone steps were worn away
from years of use and sconces were already lit with bright light to
guide him on his way.

His murder holes were set away
from his dungeons. Indeed, the dungeons were for his everyday
captives, thieves and vagabonds; his murder holes were for his
special prisoners, prisoners he wished to torture and maim without
the help of his guards.

Reaching a solid doorway,
Forusian pulled back the heavy bolt barring his access. The door
groaned when he pulled it towards him, revealing his two hidden
treasures. He entered, feeling like a child who had stumbled upon
his Christmas presents early.

Forusian cast his evil gaze
upon his prisoners. Matt was chained to the upper ceiling in a
wrought-iron cage and he saw blood congealing on his mouth and nose
from his earlier beating. He was suspended in the air by a row of
thick iron links and the cage rocked with each movement he made,
causing it to swing like the pendulum of a clock. Arhdel was placed
directly beneath the boy. His face, swollen and bloodied, stared
vacantly ahead. He stood half naked, stripped to the waist, and
each of his hands had been placed in shackles that were connected
to a length of wood which ran horizontal to the walls. Forusian
sniggered. He would definitely be enjoying some fun with these two
tonight.

The cell was damp and icy cold.
Stagnant water slid down the dark, grey walls where terrifying
weapons covered in dried blood hung like trophies along the
parapet. Forusian glanced over at the sickening array and his gaze
stopped at the spider, a weapon designed specifically to mutilate
women. The long ripping claws, which Forusian liked to heat before
using, hung like vicious talons against the wall. A slither of
disappointment slid down his back; he felt it unfortunate that they
could not be used on Arhdel.

He observed the ocular
speculum, a contraption used on the eyes. Its disturbing effect was
to separate the eyelids from the eyes by engagement of the ocular
side of the eyelids, and a spring lever attached to the side of the
gadget forced the conjunctival fornix to split. His lips curled
into a malicious grin; here was a weapon that might just come in
useful.