The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 5 by Bella Forrest (book series for 10 year olds .TXT) 📕

villa. They were almost at the point of no return, and one thing was for certain: nothing was ever going to be the same again.

Chapter 26

Storm led the duo safely back to the turret of Kingstone Keep, though it became apparent that nothing had changed within the prison. The roar of incensed prisoners could be heard even before they set foot into the main body of the keep, and they had to be cautious as they crept through the hallways. The piles of sleeping bodies that Alex had passed on his way out of the keep had disappeared, but he was fairly certain it wasn’t because they had been returned to their cells. There were too many people running wild for that to be the case.

Speeding up, they reached the hallway that led down to the open courtyard, dodging an artillery of magic that surged from the hands of Vincent and Agatha.

“Hey! It’s us!” Alex shouted, ducking out of the way of a golden spear.

“Alex? Ellabell?” Vincent shouted, peering through the glimmering mist of spent magic that had filled the corridor between them.

“Yes, ceasefire!”

“Goodness, I am sorry,” Vincent said. “We have simply been shooting at anything that moves. As you can see, things have continued to get out of hand.” He frowned, his black eyes showing his displeasure at the state of affairs.

“It looks like it,” Ellabell remarked, as Agatha shot a bolt of magic over her shoulder, striking a one-eyed man square in the forehead and sending him scarpering away.

Alex hurried toward Aamir, who was halfway through the portal build. It was impressive to behold, the shimmering strands crisscrossing, the oval of the portal taking shape. Alex almost felt bad that he had to stop the process, midway through.

He tapped Aamir on the shoulder. “You can stop now,” he said.

Aamir turned, his eyes wide with surprise. “You’re back?”

“Don’t sound too enthusiastic.” Alex grinned.

“No, not at all, I was just expecting you to be coming this way,” he said, nodding toward the half-finished portal.

“There was a change of plans,” said Alex apologetically. “We should probably save whatever you haven’t used,” he added, looking down at the open bag of essence that lay on the floor.

“Were you too late?” Aamir asked anxiously.

Alex shook his head. “No, we got to her in time. I don’t think she’ll be bothering us again for a while,” he said solemnly, trying to push the image of Alypia’s blank, ghoulish face from his head. “We were hoping we could get back to you before you finished.”

Aamir smiled. “I was a long way off, I think, though I haven’t done too badly. Are we leaving it closed?”

“For now,” Alex said. “I don’t think we can fix this place. It’s probably best we leave it to somebody who can.”

“Who did you have in mind?”

“Julius,” Alex admitted. “If I can break a barrier module on the way out, it’ll hopefully bring him to fix this mess. If he doesn’t come, then this place will just go to the dogs.”

“Lord of the Flies.” Aamir smiled.

“Something like that.”

“So we definitely don’t need this portal anymore?” Aamir asked.

“Definitely not—we’re meeting the others at Spellshadow, but we’re going to go around the other way,” Alex explained.

With a smile on his face, Aamir pressed his palms into the center of the woven structure, allowing his magic to flow through the strands. Had it been complete, Alex knew the energy would have melded together and imploded to reveal the landscape of Stillwater beyond. In its half-complete state, the energy didn’t meld as it should, but disintegrated instead, the strands falling to the stone floor like confetti. They broke apart as they hit the ground, spreading out in an almost liquid trickle before being absorbed into the earth.

“Are we heading back to Falleaf?” Aamir asked.

Alex nodded. “Yeah—we’d better take that bag with us. We’re going to need it.”

Aamir rolled his eyes. “More portal-building?”

“You got it,” Alex chuckled, scooping up the sack of essence.

Joining with Ellabell, Vincent, and Agatha, Alex quickly brought the two Kingstone denizens up to date with what was going on, and what the plan of action was where they were concerned. It was clear they needed to get out of Kingstone, if they were to survive, and Alex was more than happy to provide the escape route. Once the pair of them were fully briefed, the group began to make their way through the keep, toward the spot where Lintz had constructed the portal to Falleaf. Alex remembered what the professor had said about it being easier to open up an already existing gateway, and he was determined to get the others back to Falleaf as quickly as possible.

“Where are we off to? Are we having an adventure, cherubs?” Agatha asked, her eyes glancing around as if in a daze.

“We’re going somewhere safe,” Ellabell said, her tone soothing.

The aging hippie clapped her hands together in delight. “Well, how very exciting! Did you hear that, Vincent? We’re going on an adventure!”

“Indeed we are, dear heart.” The necromancer smiled.

“I’m not even sure I remember what the outside world looks like, cherubs. If I see a tree, I am fairly sure I shall explode with joy!” Agatha said enthusiastically, while firing shots at anyone who tried to catch them off guard. She seemed to have a sixth sense about it, able to fire off a bolt of defensive magic before anyone else was even aware that there was an enemy in their midst.

They moved in formation, the five of them walking along in a pentagonal shape, ensuring all bases were covered and nobody could sneak up on them or catch them unawares. At every turn and every opened door, Alex braced himself for the impact of wild-eyed prisoners. Down one narrow corridor, a swarm of individuals, their teeth sharpened to jagged points, rushed at the quintet. Alex and his friends pooled their resources, binding their energies together into one fearsome blockade of energy. The core was silver and black, surrounded by the golden swell