The Cornerstone (29 page)

‘Why me?’ Max moaned.

‘Why not you?’

There really was no answer to that.

Max held the book up. ‘Cheers, buddy,’ he told it in a mournful voice.

‘This is all very well, but we’ve got one of those things in here with us and a lot more out there,’ Imelda reminded them.

Max walked over to Borne. ‘If Corny’s got the power to take me where these things live... maybe it can send this one back.’

Borne’s head snapped up. ‘Never! We will stay and we will eat all your mi - ‘

Max smacked him on the forehead with The Cornerstone. ‘Give it a rest, you’re giving me a headache.’

 ‘Mr Bloom may be on to something,’ said Garrowain. ‘The Dwellers were allowed access to this world using the Morodai Cornerstone. Perhaps another can be used to force them back?’

‘Worth a pop,’ said Max and opened the book in Borne’s face. ‘Do your stuff, Corny!’

At first nothing happened.

‘I will not leave this host. It is mine!’ the thing inside Borne shrieked. 

‘Nobody likes a gloater.’

Then, the Cornerstone choir - returning for a triumphant encore - piped up in a clear and vibrant
aaaahhh
. They’d been forced into some pretty graceless caterwauling recently and were more than happy to knock out their classic number.

The look of terror on Borne’s face was a picture.

‘Oh look, Mister Gloaty’s not so happy now, eh?’ Max said, looking smug. ‘When you get home, tell your little buddies to stay exactly where they are, or me and Corny here will be paying a visit.’ Max lent forward, affecting the meanest scowl he could, ‘…and you won’t like the way I redecorate your living room.’

This was officially the
twenty third
worst threat made in human history.

It had the desired effect though, as the monster screamed in a satisfying manner and purple-black smoke started to billow from Borne’s eyes, pulled towards the pages of The Cornerstone.

The Arma’s wailing was matched by the rising tone of the choir as one battled the other. Max had to hold his other hand over his eyes as the book started to glow brighter than he could stand to look at.

As quickly as it had started, the extraction was over and the last tendril of smoke disappeared, the choir ending their award winning performance on an abrupt note.

Borne let out a very human groan of pain and slid slowly to the floor. Merelie put her arms round him, tears wetting her cheeks.

 ‘Well done buddy,’ Max said, closing The Cornerstone and giving it a pat.

Garrowain knelt and gave Borne a thorough examination.

‘He appears to have suffered no ill effects physically from his time in captivity,’ he concluded, snapping his fingers in front of Borne’s face. ‘Arma? Can you understand me?’

Borne looked up, his eyes clear.

‘Yes, old man… and you don’t have to shout.’

Borne hadn’t suffered any mental trauma, other than having to watch as the Dweller moved his body round like a malevolent puppeteer. It had been a disconcerting experience.

‘What did it feel like?’ Merelie asked.

‘Like I’d been shunted off into a corner of my own brain. I just had to sit there and watch those awful things happening in front of me, with no power to stop it.’

‘Like an episode of Glee,’ Max said, a joke lost on all of them.

‘Well, it’s good to see you restored to your senses, my boy,’ Garrowain slapped him on the back. ‘Your assistance will be gratefully received in our current situation.’

‘What’s going on?’ the big man asked.

It didn’t take long to explain the situation to Borne, as he was a man of action and used to taking orders. He didn’t need all the blanks filling in.

He did raise one bushy eyebrow when told of Max’s new found Wordsmith status and raised the other one when Max floated in mid-air for a couple of minutes by way of demonstration.

Eventually though, it all came down to some simple problems:

Chapter House over-run… Carvallen’s imprisoned or dead… Dwellers everywhere… Morodai in charge.

Thirty seconds later, one final and immediate problem was added to the list:

Hiding place found, book barrier about to give way…

- 6 -

Garrowain flinched every time the wall shuddered.

Imelda and Merelie helped sustain it while Max was busy in the corner whittling his own power into a giant mental fist, ready to smash the enemy once the others let the barrier down.

After a few anxious moments Max told the others he was ready and they lowered the wall.

The second it was gone Max word shaped, sending a dozen Wordsmiths and Dwellers barrelling back down the aisle to land in a heap at the other end.

Imagine for the moment that the inexplicable mist hanging over everyone isn’t there.

Further imagine yourself floating above the maze of book shelves, with a bird’s eye view of proceedings.

It would be an interesting vantage point from which to witness our heroic group’s progress towards the Library entrance.

You would see many Wordsmiths and Dwellers homing in on their position from all sides.

You would then see them being thrown like rag dolls in all directions, with some catapulted high enough to see the look of abject terror on their faces as they felt the wrath of Max Bloom.

Unfortunately, a few minutes into his rampage, Max got a bit too carried away with the whole thing and ran off up the aisle screaming like a banshee - ignoring the protests from his friends.

An important question was therefore answered at this point, as Max found himself completely surrounded in an unfamiliar part of the Library:

Just how many Wordsmiths and Dwellers could he defeat before being overwhelmed and taken prisoner?

It turns out the answer was 42.

…though it did take one sneaky little sod creeping up and walloping him across the back of the head with a book to finish him off.

It would have come as no surprise to Max that the book in question was the Haynes Manual for the Austin Montego.

- 7 -

Thanks to Max keeping everyone busy, Merelie and the others were able to sneak back over to the Main Hub unmolested.

Hiding in a small, gloomy vestibule just off the main corridor, they could see Osgood Draveli taking delivery of an unconscious Max Bloom.

‘He’ll kill him,’ fretted Merelie.

‘Perhaps,’ said Borne. ‘But it would serve Draveli better to hold him hostage.’

Sure enough, the Chapter Lord’s voice – augmented with Wordcraft – boomed across the Library.

‘I know you’re here, Merelie Carvallen! You and your friends show yourself, or this fool dies!’

‘Well, that’s put a crimp in things,’ Imelda stated dryly. ‘We can’t give ourselves up, you know.’

‘But Max… ‘ Merelie looked back at the limp form lying at Draveli’s feet.

‘Max will be fine, girl. Draveli’s not dumb enough to actually kill his bargaining chip and Max will wake up soon. I wouldn’t want to be Draveli at that point. The boy  could probably tear this Library down if he wanted to.’

‘I rather think not,’ disagreed Garrowain. ‘Wordcrafting is limited here, with less books to draw power from in our world. He won’t be able to access that kind of energy.’

‘Bugger it,’ said Imelda, knowing the custodian was probably right.

‘This situation gets worse by the minute,’ said Borne.

‘By the second, I would say,’ rasped Elijah, standing in the dark behind them.

- 8 -

 ‘So nobody saw him in there before we hid?’ Imelda enquired, as she was pushed to her knees in front of Draveli.

‘Other things on my mind,’ apologised Borne, who wasn’t entirely over his lengthy period of possession just yet. ‘You should have killed him when you had the chance.’

‘We hit him on the head with a toilet, what more do you want?’

The Dweller inside Elijah had finally decided to get up fifteen minutes ago, annoyed at being kicked repeatedly in the backside by the fat Chapter Lord.

Max came round to a tableau of disapproving looks from his companions and an evil, self-satisfied grin on Osgood Draveli’s face. He held the Carvallen Cornerstone in one chubby hand.

Five Chapter Guards stood over them, with Draveli’s remaining servants stood behind their master.

‘Excellent,’ he said. ‘So nice of you to join me… and hand over this most precious of items.’

‘Hands off my book, Jabba,’ snarled Max, more out of habit than anything.

He got a clout round the head from a Chapter Guard for his troubles and started to draw in power to retaliate.

‘Stop that right now,’ Osgood warned, ‘or I crush the girl’s heart in her chest.’ He looked at Merelie, made a fist and she screamed in agony.

Max immediately stopped, letting the gathered energy dissipate.

Draveli sneered. ‘I have no idea how a monkey like you managed to learn Wordcraft, but I’d advise you to keep it in check.’

‘You want to hope I never get you alone, fat boy,’ Max said in a black voice.

‘Hah! I am a Chapter Lord! You couldn’t match me. I would grind your face in the dirt.’

‘Whatever, fatso.’

‘To think… you thought you could outwit us,’ Draveli began, obviously gearing up for a speech.

Max leant over to Merelie. ‘Are you ok?’ he whispered.

‘I think so.’ she replied weakly. ‘Just feel a bit giddy.’

‘We have control of your land,’ Draveli waffled on, ‘and control of your city. There’s nothing you can do to stop us.’

‘This bloke’s a walking cliché,’ Max said, with contempt. ‘He’s probably going to say he underestimated us in a minute.’

‘Yet you continue to defy us!’ Draveli cried. ‘Scurrying away like rats escaping from their cages.’ The fat man drew himself up and looked down his podgy nose at them. ‘I never thought you could be so bothersome, but it appears I underestimated you.’ Max rolled his eyes. ‘But no matter! The Carvallen Cornerstone is now ours! The last of the five to come under our control. The gateway to every dimension is now within our grasp.’

‘The Cornerstone will never allow you free access,’ said Garrowain.

‘It will if Jacob Carvallen tells it to… and I have his daughter’s heart in my hand, so he’d better!’ He clenched his podgy fist again and Merelie screamed.

‘Pffft.’

Draveli looked at Max. ‘What?’

‘Pffft,’ Max repeated. ‘You’re not in charge here, you’re just Morodai’s little poodle. He says jump, you say how high. I’m surprised your nose isn’t brown.’

Draveli went an alarming shade of red, which on a fat man is never a pretty sight. ‘We are equals! We rule together!’ he squealed.

‘Pffft.’

Max had known bullies like this before. They loved riding on the coat tails of their bigger, nastier friends, but hated being reminded of the fact.

‘Yeah right… you say that, but once we’ve all been taken care of, he’ll be nicking your lunch money and giving you a wedgie in no time at all, I bet.’ Max lent forward, appraising Draveli carefully. ‘You can’t do anything without running it by him first, can you? Or are you just too stupid to get The Cornerstone working by yourself, tubby?’

Imelda Warrington was at this point forced to readjust her opinion of Max Bloom.

She knew he was too big for his own boots and had a smart mouth, but he was also a very clever boy when you got right down to it.

‘Is that true, Osgood?’ she joined in. ‘You need Lucas to do everything for you? That’s a little sad isn’t it? Max here can use The Cornerstone and he’s not even from the Chapter Lands.’

‘Shut up! I don’t need anyone!’ Draveli raved. ‘You think your miserable book can stand against me?’

The Chapter Lord ripped open The Cornerstone - which was pretty quick on the uptake and had begun storing up a nasty surprise for Draveli the second Max had started going pfft.

The choir made a noise that sounded like
Gah
! and an incandescent bolt of lightning erupted from the book’s pages, turning the whole room behind Draveli silver.

He was instantly blinded and deafened. The Wordsmiths and Dwellers standing behind him were also stunned, leaving only the five behind Max with their faculties intact.

Intact for about five seconds that is, because Borne, Garrowain and Imelda simultaneously took advantage of the distraction to deal with them.

Max got up and walked over to where Draveli was groping around on the floor and picked up The Cornerstone before the Chapter Lord could put his chubby digits on it.

‘Now then, lard butt,’ Max said. ‘What was that about grinding my face in the dirt?’

Osgood Draveli might have put up a decent fight if he wasn’t partially blind and dazed from The Cornerstone’s attack.

As it was, Max got bored of using him as a human pinball after a minute or so and cast him aside. He then turned his attention to bouncing the rest of the Wordsmiths and Dwellers off the walls, until Imelda told him to stop as it looked like he was enjoying himself too much. 

The ones Max missed were taken care of by Garrowain with Wordcraft and Borne with his fists.

In short order, all resistance had been dealt with.

Max rubbed his hands together as he surveyed the scene. ‘Good stuff,’ he said, pleased with his work.

‘Don’t let it go to your head,’ said Imelda. ‘We’ve done alright here, but there’s still Morodai to take care of… and the Dwellers.’

‘There’ll be hundreds, if not thousands of them out there,’ said Garrowain. ‘Most of them more powerful than these, I’d wager. Morodai would want his strongest allies closest to him.’

‘Then we’d better figure out how to get rid of them,’ Max said, walking over to where Elijah lay, out for the count again after being pole-axed by a nasty smack to the head from Borne. ‘Starting with this one, I reckon.’

- 9 -

Max pulled The Cornerstone away from Elijah’s face as the choir died away. The look of gratitude the Arma gave him made him feel quite embarrassed.

‘Thank you!’ Elijah cried with relief, tears in his eyes.

Garrowain took The Cornerstone from Max and began ridding the others of their possession.

Borne gave Elijah a bear hug and laughed. ‘Good to have you back, my friend!’

‘How are you, Elijah?’ asked Imelda, knowing what the man had been through.