The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 4 by Bella Forrest (life books to read TXT) 📕

indeed. Good eye, young man. After so long within these walls, I often forget certain sights and sounds that a newcomer would think strange. They are components in a network, running throughout the prison, ensuring Caius’s bidding is done. I believe they are modules that guarantee the smooth operation of the barrier magic that keeps us all at heel... Oft times, I have thought of destroying them myself, but the repercussions have rarely seemed worth the effort. You, on the other hand, have more than adequate motivation for such a thing, and I, for one, shall wait in anticipation of the sight and shall do whatever you require of me, to assist in the act. Any action which aggravates the dear warden is music to my old ears.”

“Wait, so we can actually bring down the barrier magic?” Alex asked, dumbfounded.

“That enough of a spectacle for you?” Vincent smirked.

“Damn right it is!” Jari answered for him.

“How do we do it?” Ellabell pressed, a look of tentative hope in her blue eyes.

Vincent stretched out his arms, his bony fingers clicking. “It won’t be a simple endeavor, and it will require the utmost precision and concentration, but it can be achieved if you are willing to put in the focus, especially with there being so many of you. If we all shoulder a portion of the responsibility, we can have Caius running to us before you know it.” He paused. “However, it is not all plain sailing, and I would not advise we remove the barrier in its entirety, given the nature of so many of the miscreants within these walls. But I do believe the same effect can be achieved if we remove a mere portion of the barrier magic. Its failure should trigger enough of an alarm to force Caius’s hand, and urge him from his lair.”

“And that can be done?” Natalie asked.

Vincent nodded, his large head bobbing on his fragile neck. “The golden cylinders, to my knowledge, work much in the way of a circuit. If we break a section of the circuit, we break a section of the barrier. In addition, the mechanisms within each cylinder are representative of a circuit, so we will be required to investigate more closely the inner workings of a cylinder before we can proceed.”

“How so?” Aamir asked.

“Well, we must discover whether the cylinders’ circuits need to be halted at the exact same time, in order to break the larger body of circuitry. There are many safeguards such as this in place all over the keep, and if this turns out to be the case, everyone will need to halt the cylinders precisely at the given time, to break that portion of the barrier. If it is not required, the task will be far simpler,” he explained.

Alex had a feeling it would be the former. Nothing was ever simple in the magical world. And yet, there was something practical in the explanation that excited Alex; it gave him the same feeling that clockwork gave him—that coding had once given him in the real world—and he was more than ready to examine the mechanisms within the golden cylinders.

“This is gonna be awesome,” Jari said with a fist pump.

“I hate to be the party-pooper, but how are we supposed to capture Caius once he’s actually here?” Ellabell asked.

Alex swallowed. “Well… If we can get him to come to the connecting hallways where the broken barrier modules will be, and if we bring some bottles of the Stillwater essence…we could use them against him, the way I did with Alypia.” He shuddered slightly at the memory. “Combined with the element of surprise, that should give us fairly good odds, especially if we can block the exits—right?”

“It should…” Vincent replied.

“Will this take a long time?” Professor Lintz spoke up for the first time from his spot at the table, where he was still tinkering away with his mechanical beetles.

As if taking the signal from Lintz, Demeter chimed in. “I don’t believe it will, though of course it will depend on the nature of the circuitry.”

Vincent nodded. “Even if the circuitry turns out to be more complex than expected, the whole endeavor should take a few days, once we get everything in order.”

“Jammers will need to be fitted, which I’m sure Lintz can handle, as long as the rest of us shoulder the bulk of the work,” Demeter said.

Lintz nodded. “If you’re telling me we can have Caius here in a matter of days, with the potential of having the Kingstone essence in hand, then I’m all for it. I will make the best darned jammers you have ever seen, though I will need to get a report from the cylinders, so I know which kind to make. Demeter, would you go with Vincent to investigate and then report back? I just want to get these finished, so there aren’t bits falling off them.” He sighed wearily.

“Yes, shall we head down now?” Demeter asked. “After all, there is no time like the future.”

“I’ll come with you,” Alex said. “I want to see what I can do with these cylinders.”

“We’ll meet up with Agatha too—she’ll be thrilled to know what devilish affairs I’m getting us into,” Vincent remarked, chuckling softly.

Alex nodded. “Okay. Anyone else want to come look at the cylinders?”

The others shook their heads.

“Ellabell and I will go on Alypia duty and help to keep those portals at bay,” said Natalie, and Ellabell nodded her confirmation.

“And Jari and I are going to go on beetle duty, to get them fixed up and fit for use,” Aamir added.

“I’ll fill you in when I get back,” Alex said.

Ellabell grasped his hand. “Make sure you don’t go anywhere you’re not supposed to by yourself,” she warned. “We don’t want you hurtling out of any more windows.”

“No more falling out of windows.”

“Good.” She smirked.

Demeter was already heading out of the room, and Alex hurriedly followed him, with Vincent bringing up the rear. As they made their way through the prison, toward Agatha and