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

Demeter, Vincent, and Hadrian going one way, while Alex and Ellabell went the other. Hadrian had explained before they left that the old gateway to Spellshadow stood at the other side of the forest, in the section Alex and his friends had never ventured into before, which meant it was on the opposite side of the forest from the place Alex had left Storm, giving them no choice but to split up temporarily. Just as Alex and Ellabell turned to leave, however, Hadrian handed one of the bags of essence to Alex, who took it gratefully.

“Better chance of one of them making it through this way,” the royal joked.

Alex smiled tensely. “I’ll keep it safe,” he promised.

It felt strange to watch the others walk off in the opposite direction, with nothing but a gut instinct to say that they would see one another again. He tried not to dwell on it too much while they made their way toward the spot where Alex had left Storm. It was always a delight to see that she was still there, and hadn’t flown off in frustration. With a chirp, she rushed out to meet the duo, though she paused just short, tilting her head to one side. Alex could see that she was looking at something behind him, and when he turned to see what it was, he caught a glimpse of something flitting furtively in the shadows.

“He’s…he’s not exactly an enemy,” Alex whispered, stroking the soft feathers of Storm’s face.

She chirruped again, the tone a dubious one.

Alex smiled, amused by the Thunderbird’s keen perceptions. “I promise you, he means no harm.”

They jumped onto her back, and Storm began to sprint along the ground, before lifting into the air with ease, speeding up with every beat of her enormous wings. It had almost become second nature to Alex. Where once he had felt riddled with anxiety, now he simply sat back and enjoyed the ride, though he couldn’t help but marvel at her skill. That, he guessed, would never lose its novelty.

As the swooped over the woods, Alex caught sight of the treehouses again, just visible beneath the dense canopy. Several figures moved slowly across the walkways between the boughs, their faces ordinary and pleasant, each of them dressed in a dark green uniform. There were soldiers too, stationed at every platform. Alex’s blood boiled as he watched one familiar-looking soldier shove a boy to the ground, pressing a heavy boot to the back of the young man’s neck as he pushed him perilously close to the edge of the walkway. The cruel cackle that emerged from the soldier’s throat rose up to meet Alex. He wanted to dive-bomb the cold-hearted man, but knew he couldn’t. After a moment, the soldier let the boy get up.

What will you do when you have nothing left to guard? Alex thought, hoping the soldier could feel his anger. What will your life be, when I strip it of purpose? I hope it is as sad and lonely as you are.

As hard as it was to watch such banal cruelty, it spurred Alex on, making him want more than ever to succeed in the task that lay ahead. Turning over his shoulder to check the horizon, he saw a familiar glint of something golden in the distance. It looked very much like the spires he had seen when they had crossed from Kingstone, and he wondered if that was exactly what it was. Another section of the same noble city, perhaps, or maybe it was an entirely new one? It bothered him slightly that he would never get to visit one of the glittering cities of the elite mages.

Who knows? Maybe if I get this spell done, they will parade me through the streets like a hero, he mused to himself.

The world around them began to stretch, and soon they were no longer in the autumnal realm of Falleaf. Ahead of them, beyond the edge of the forest where they had appeared, Spellshadow Manor stood in all its bleakness. Storm let out a chirp that sounded like a yelp as the manor’s overarching barrier met with her feathers, forcing her to fly lower in the sky than she usually liked, to avoid the edges of it.

With an awkward landing, she set them down on the very edge of the sickly-looking woods that ringed the smoking field before them. Ruffling her feathers, Alex could sense she didn’t like the feel of the place, and he couldn’t blame her—it was more than a little eerie to be back, at the beginning of all their grievances.

The others hadn’t arrived yet, which was to be expected, considering they had a portal to build. With the four powerful mages working on it, however, he knew it wouldn’t take too much longer. Gazing out upon the smoking field, the looming structure of Spellshadow in the distance, Alex felt a wave of discomfort crash over him. It was weird to be back, and with the strangeness came a flood of memories that seemed to belong to another life. Another Alex.

He remembered the terror of Derhin’s battle with Aamir, the way the professor had fallen, only to be carried away screaming by a reluctant Lintz. The excitement of discovering the wine cellar, and the good and bad times they had spent in that musty cavern beneath the earth. It had shaped him, in many ways, but how grateful he felt for that, he wasn’t sure. To be back in the place where it all began made everything seem twice as real. His friendships had flourished here. Without it, he’d never have met Aamir, or Jari, or Ellabell, or anyone who had joined them on their journey, for that matter.

Silver linings, he thought.

Back then, they’d had no idea what lay before them. Spellbreakers, mages, essence, Great Evils, they had been unknown to him then—the stuff of dreams and fiction. Now, they were almost ordinary. He thought about what might have happened if they hadn’t made