Royal Institute of Magic: Elizabeth's Legacy (10 page)

“Steeds,” Natalie
said, having to shout to be heard.

“People fly these things?”
Charlie asked, his bashfulness in front of Natalie momentarily
forgotten.

“Sure, if you’re a
qualified rider and you can afford it,” Natalie said. She led
them between the paddocks pointing at each of the strange animals.
“The cheapest option is the Great Eagle. Most people start off
with one of them. Above that is a winged horse, called a pegasus.
Then there is the middle-class steed – the griffin. They have
the wings and head of an eagle with the body of a lion.”

“What about those bad
boys?” Ben said. He was pointing at the little dragon with a
long, skinny neck that two girls were currently scrubbing.

“Wyverns. They are very
expensive and high maintenance.”

Ben admired the power that oozed
from every part of its body – from its jaws to its mighty
wings.

“Please tell me you’re
not dreaming about riding that thing,” Charlie said, noticing
Ben’s smile.

Ben slapped Charlie on the
shoulder. “It’s on my to-do list.”

“What a coincidence –
it’s on my never-to-do list, underlined with one of those black
permanent markers.”

Ben felt a tap on his back.
Natalie was behind him, pointing to another section of the roof. It
was empty except for a man who stood there alone.

“That’s the take-off
zone,” Natalie said. “He’s waiting for his animal –
watch.”

Sure enough, a young girl soon
walked over with one of the winged horses – a pegasus –
in tow. She handed the man the reins and he mounted it. The girl
stepped back and the pegasus started a gallop towards the end of the
building. It unfolded its huge, white wings and leapt off the edge.
Ben saw it plummet to the earth and then it vanished from view. A
moment later it re-appeared, soaring upwards towards the blue sky.

“Who looks after all these
animals?” Charlie asked, watching the departing pegasus.

“We do, the apprentices,”
Natalie said. “It’s hard work, but really fun, except
when you’re shovelling poop or trying to avoid being eaten,
pecked or crushed.”

“That doesn’t sound
fun at all,” Charlie said.

“I’m not selling it
very well, am I?” Natalie said. “But it’s a unique
experience and really good exercise.”

“You’re still not
selling it.”

Natalie smiled at Charlie and he
blushed, as if he suddenly realised whom he was talking to.

“I guess not. I’ll
stop before I make it any less inviting. Would you both like to head
down? There’s a lot to see.”

They went back through the glass
door and down the stairs. The noise receded and Ben inhaled the clean
air trying to ignore the horrible smell that clung to his clothes.
Instead of stopping by the double doors at the first landing they
kept descending.

“That floor holds all the
executive offices,” Natalie said. “We aren’t
allowed in there. There isn’t much to see anyway, just meeting
rooms and offices.”

Ben’s stomach gave an
unpleasant lurch and his eyes lingered on the doors. Was this where
the Executive Council was meeting? If so, he would be back shortly.

The next floor was the Department
of Spellswords and they were soon walking through the familiar
hallway again.

“Spellswords are the
Institute’s elite combat unit. They must be expert
Spellshooters with the ability to cast the most powerful spells. They
must also be fit to fight.”

“That sounds pretty cool,”
Ben said.

“A typical guy response,”
Natalie said, rolling her green eyes. “It’s actually a
lot of work.”

She stopped by a door that said
“Spell Training”.

“You’ll like this
room,” she said as they entered.

Ben and Charlie exchanged curious
looks and followed her in.

The first thing Ben noticed were
the high ceilings, which made the large room feel even bigger. It was
busy and there was a buzz of activity. In the middle of the room was
a large table, chest high. Surrounding it were stools, most of them
occupied by people talking with great animation to one another. But
it was to Ben’s right where the real interest lay. It looked
like a bowling alley except for the glass windows partitioning each
lane. Instead of bowling pins at the end, there was a circular target
like a big dartboard. Most of the lanes were occupied by one or two
people. They had their Spellshooters out and were using them.

It was like a great fireworks
display, except these “fireworks” shot towards the
dartboard with varying degrees of accuracy. Some were fireballs and
engulfed the dartboard completely; others were beams of light, with
every colour on display; some zigzagged, others made the whole lane
flash with light or go pitch black.

They stared in mute astonishment
until Ben felt tapping on his shoulder. He turned and found himself
staring up at a large, friendly man with his hand extended. He looked
like a Viking, with shoulder-length, blond hair, deep blue eyes and a
frame you could build a house on.

“Ben Greenwood?”

The name attracted a few curious
looks, not helped by the man’s deep, penetrating voice. Ben
shook his hand and resisted the urge to grimace when it was half
squeezed to death.

“James McFadden,” he
said effusively and then introduced himself to Charlie.

“I know your father well,”
he said. Ben wasn’t sure if he shouted because of all the noise
or if he just had a loud voice. “Fantastic Spellsword, one of
the best. Is this your first time here?”

Ben nodded. He wanted to ask how
well James knew his dad, but the big man was already moving.

“Follow me,” he
boomed. “I’ll show you the ropes.”

They followed James into a glass
corridor that ran behind the lanes and provided the only way in and
out of them. Each time they passed an occupied lane James would shout
out his commentary.

“Frank, a fly could
withstand the heat from your fireball – Amy and Jo, stop
chatting and get back to work – Luke, stop watching Amy and Jo
– Graham, clear your mind and concentrate or you won’t
cast a damn thing.”

They each gave him an evil eye,
which James completely ignored. Eventually they came to an empty
lane. James opened the glass door and Ben, Charlie and Natalie
followed him through.

The room was partially soundproof
and shut out the cacophony from the spells in the adjacent lanes. The
target at the end of the room was a good fifty yards away. Next to
them, by the door, was a bookcase with four shelves. On each shelf
there were three trays with coloured pellets Ben had seen in the orbs
of the Spellshooters. Close up they looked even more remarkable, each
one was a different size and shape. Some vibrated, others glowed and
a few were transparent.

“Spells,” James said,
grabbing the shelf so firmly it jolted. “I won’t go into
detail about how they’re made and packaged – the boffins
downstairs can do that.”

He took his Spellshooter out and
pointed to each shelf.

“The red spells are
fire-based. Blue is water, green is earth and white is air. Combine
them and you can cast every spell known to man.” He touched the
top three trays. “Each tray represents the strength of spell.
We classify them from a One to a Five. The Fours and Fives are too
expensive for common practice so we don’t supply them freely.”

James grabbed a red pellet from
the top left tray. He pressed it into the surface of the glass orb.
There was a moment’s resistance, then the pellet penetrated the
orb and joined its friends, floating as if in water.

“The spell doesn’t
want to leave the orb. You have to command it to.” James tapped
his temple. “The spell will resist, but if you concentrate it
will obey.”

James lifted the Spellshooter and
pointed at the target. Ben expected a look of concentration, but
James seemed almost bored as he pulled the trigger. Everything
happened in a flash. The little pellet shot down the orb and
disappeared. The barrel glowed red and from its tip a small red
pellet exploded leaving a trail of vapour as it sped towards the
dartboard, hitting the middle with a soft thud.

“Concentration and will
power,” James said again, holstering his Spellshooter. “The
rest is a piece of cake.”

Before they could say anything,
James turned and shouted “CONCENTRATION!” to the adjacent
lane. There was an explosion of spells going horribly wrong.

“As you can see, they’re
mainly beginners in here right now,” he said, grinning broadly.
“Natalie is showing promise though. You should be ready for the
Grade 1 exam soon.”

“Thank you,” Natalie
said. “I want to run through the Distraction List one more time
before I take it. I don’t think I’m ready to face you
yet.”

“Nonsense,” James
said, giving Natalie a clap on the back that Ben feared might
dislocate something. “You can deal with me. I’m like a
fluffy pussy cat for the Grade 1 exam. It’s a piece of cake.”

“Of course it is,”
Natalie said, giving James a smile and then rolling her eyes as soon
as he turned away.

To Ben’s disappointment,
the demonstration appeared to be over. James led them back out,
slamming his hand on each glass door they passed and screaming “WILL
POWER”, all the while grinning broadly.

They left, with Natalie promising
James she would return soon to take her exam.

“That was cool, right?”
Natalie said. “But I think I can top it.”

Ben, who couldn’t possibly
see how anything could top that, followed Natalie with Charlie along
the hallway and round the corner until they came to another door that
said “Spell Training – Combat”.

“You’ll like this,”
Natalie said and she opened the door.

At first glance the room looked
similar to the last one. There was a high table surrounded by stools.
To the right were the glass practice ranges, except there were just
two and they were much wider. Only one was occupied and most of the
people were watching the scene unfold.

“Oh my god,” Charlie
whispered.

There was a fight going on inside
the glass room. On one side was a big green thing that Ben, with his
knowledge of fantasy limited to the
Lord of the Rings
movies, assumed was an
orc. It was all muscle, with nasty, yellow teeth. In its hand was a
spiky wooden club. On the other side were two Spellswords armed with
Spellshooters, circling the orc warily. The orc was clearly confused,
unsure who to strike. He bellowed in frustration and swung his club.
The first Spellsword ducked and rolled, the club missing by inches.
The second one fired some sort of blue spray, but it did nothing
except annoy the orc who swung back round in anger and charged at his
attacker. The Spellsword fired and a crescent moon-shaped shield
blocked the club, but the sheer strength of the blow knocked the
Spellsword backwards. He got up quickly, back-peddled and then fled
in a mad panic. In the confines of the glass room, he was reduced to
ducking, rolling and dodging. It was as if he were playing “It”
with the orc, but instead of tagging the Spellsword, the orc was
trying to club him to death. While this was happening, the other
Spellsword was firing off a series of feeble spells that either
spluttered into nothing or missed the orc completely.

The crowd watching the display
was laughing hysterically, except for one rotund woman. She was
shaking her head, her thumb and finger pinching the bridge of her
nose.

“Help!” cried the
Spellsword doing the running. “A little help!”

The woman sighed and stepped into
the glass room through the glass passage at the back. She raised her
Spellshooter and fired. Something green hit the orc and it vanished
with a pop.

“Don’t worry, it
wasn’t real,” Natalie said, seeing their reaction. “It’s
just a spell that is able to replicate certain semi-intelligent
creatures – useful for combat practice.”

Ben watched as the woman berated
the two Spellswords, though he couldn’t make out her voice
behind the glass.

“We should probably go,”
Natalie said. “Kate is a nice lady, but seeing her pupils crash
and burn can put her in a bad mood.”

With great reluctance they
followed Natalie out and back to the grand staircase, which they
descended to the next floor. Ben was still buzzing, scenes of the orc
fighting, spells flying, Spellswords ducking and rolling playing on
repeat in his head. Had his parents undergone training like that?
Could his mum really use a Spellshooter to battle big green monsters?
He had an easier time believing in a flying horse.

Ben couldn’t imagine anything topping the Spellsword Department and
his opinion was reinforced when they reached the next set of double
doors on the floor below.

“Department of Diplomacy?”
Ben said, giving Natalie a dubious look. Beneath the title was a
symbol of a crown. “Is that as boring as it sounds?”

“It sounds interesting to
me,” Charlie said. He was too busy trying to see beyond the
doors that he missed the smile Natalie gave him.

Interesting it was not, when
compared to the excitement of the previous floor. There were lots of
lavishly appointed meeting rooms where negotiations between the
Institute and many of the Unseen Kingdoms took place. There were
bigger briefing rooms that reminded Ben of lecture halls and there
were a couple of café areas, which only made his stomach
growl.

“The King of Treem was here
last week,” Natalie said. “He had over a hundred people
in his retinue. The apprentices were responsible for looking after
them; it was mad.”

Charlie started to ask a
question, but Natalie gave a little gasp and stopped, thrusting her
arms out to stop them. Ben heard it a fraction after she did –
voices coming from round the corner. The language was foreign, unlike
anything he’d ever heard.