Fyre (55 page)

“Covert Way?
Another
secret, Marcellus?” Marcia asked with a wry smile.

This was still a sensitive subject for Marcellus. “It is not
my
secret, Marcia,” he retorted.

“It is mine, ExtraOrdinary,” admitted Julius. “The Covert Way is the direct connection between here and the
Fyre
Chamber and emerges on the Chamber floor, behind the Cauldron. I
Concealed
it after the Great Alchemie Disaster. It lies beneath the spiral stairs. I will show you.”

In the cramped and dusty inspection space beneath the spiral stairs, Milo, Marcia, Septimus, Jenna, Beetle, Marcellus and the ghost of Julius Pike were gathered, looking at a roughly plastered, blank wall.

“There is an ExtraOrdinary
Conceal
here.”

“
Not
noted in the
Concealed
Register,” said Marcia tartly.

“No,” admitted Julius.

ExtraOrdinary
Conceals
were undetectable and used only by ExtraOrdinary Wizards within the confines of the Wizard Tower. A condition of their use was that they should be entered in the
Concealed
Register so that every ExtraOrdinary Wizard would know what was
Concealed
where in the Wizard Tower.

“So what have you been
Concealing
here, Mr. Pike?” asked Marcia.

“A moving chamber that will take us to the Chamber of
Fyre
.”

“Really? Well, I suggest you
Reveal
it right away.” Septimus could tell that Marcia was furious.

Julius obeyed and a smooth and shiny black door in the wall was
Revealed
: Marcia gave Septimus and Marcellus a quizzical look. “
That
looks familiar.”

“Yes, I know,” Septimus said guiltily.

“Was that what you were doing on that terrible day—traveling to the
Fyre
Chamber?” Marcia asked.

Septimus felt really bad. “Yes, it was.”

“Goodness!” said Marcia, shaking her head.

“I
so
wanted to tell you,” said Septimus. “But I had promised not to.”

“A promise very reluctantly given,” said Marcellus. “But it was necessary, Marcia. I needed his help. You do understand?”

“I do understand,” she said. “And it will never be necessary again.” She turned to Julius. “Is this safe?” she asked.

“Yes. When I
Concealed
it I left it
Charging
,” said Julius. “I always believed that maintenance of the moving chamber was important. Unlike the Alchemists who left theirs to look after itself.”

“Huh,” harrumphed Marcellus.

Up until then Septimus had found little to agree upon with Julius Pike, but he had to admit that the ghost had a point about maintenance.

“Very well, Julius,” said Marcia. “Take us through the Covert Way.”

Julius Pike placed the palm of his ghostly hand onto a worn patch to the right-hand side of the door—then snatched it away. “I forget that I am a ghost,” he said despairingly. “It must have a Living hand.”

Septimus considered that he had some experience in the matter. “I’ll do it,” he offered.

The ghost shook his head. “It will not recognize you,” he said. “This Covert Way would open only for the
Identity
palm prints of the then-ExtraOrdinary Wizard—who was myself—my Senior Apprentice and the Castle Alchemist.”

“Well then, Marcellus can do it,” said Marcia.

“It will not recognize me,” said Marcellus. “Julius removed my
Identity
from everything.”

“I could smash it open,” Milo offered eagerly.

“It doesn’t work like that,” said Marcellus snappily.

“Then I shall just have to climb through the hatch like everyone else,” said Jenna. “It will be all right.”

“No,” said Marcellus. “It will
not
be all right.”

“Syrah!” said Septimus suddenly. “Julius, she was your Senior Apprentice! Will it recognize her palm?”

Julius heaved a hollow ghostly sigh that gave everyone goose bumps. “If she were alive, indeed it would,” he said mournfully. “After Syrah vanished on the
Queste
, I did not have the heart to remove her
Identity
. However, Apprentice, she is
not
alive. I do not know why you say such foolish things.”

“I thought you were going to tell him,” Septimus said to Marcia.

Marcia looked tetchy. “It’s been just a little bit busy here, Septimus. I’ve had more important things to think about.”

“Yes, of course. Sorry. So, shall I take Mr. Pike up to the Sick Bay?” asked Septimus.

“Yes,” said Marcia. “Don’t be long, will you?”

Ten minutes later, a wobbly, emotional Syrah Syara, supported by Rose—who had been nominated as nurse by Dandra Draa—and an equally wobbly Julius Pike joined the party beneath the Wizard Tower spiral stairs. Still trembling from the shock of having just met the ghost of her much-loved Julius, Syrah placed her thin, translucently pale hand onto the smooth black material of the entrance to the Covert Way.

Septimus watched, trying not to remember his last experience in the identical moving chamber on Alchemie Quay. But unlike him, Syrah did not have to push all her weight against the concealed opening plate. The lightest touch of her palm caused a bright green light to shine beneath. Then the oval door slid noiselessly open and the blue light inside the chamber came on.

Jenna, Marcellus, Milo and Marcia looked at one another in surprise—they had never seen anything like it.

“What
is
this?” asked Marcia, peering into the featureless chamber. “I can’t feel any
Magyk
here.”

“It depends what you call
Magyk
,” said Marcellus obscurely.

With some trepidation, Septimus followed Marcellus, Marcia, Milo, Jenna, Beetle, Syrah—supported by Rose—and Julius into the chamber. It was a tight squash. Syrah now placed her hand on the inside wall and a bright red light glowed beneath it. The door closed silently. No one said a word. The blue light gave everyone an unearthly pallor and made the whites of their eyes oddly prominent. Septimus noticed that Marcia was trying hard not to look scared—and not entirely succeeding. Milo, who was used to confined quarters in ships, was more robust. He grasped Marcia’s hand encouragingly, and to Septimus’s surprise Marcia did not object.

A small orange arrow now appeared beside the door. It pointed, Septimus was interested to see, not vertically downward, but diagonally. Syrah swiped her hand across the arrow and everyone—even Septimus and Marcellus, who were expecting it—gasped. They felt the stomach-churning sensation of the chamber falling, but with the added strangeness of it taking a diagonal path. Jenna, who was stuck in the middle, began to feel queasy.

The journey took less than a minute, but by the time the chamber finally shuddered to a halt, Jenna felt sick. She suspected it was not because of the ride but the thought of what awaited her outside. Everyone exchanged nervous glances in the blue light. Milo put his arm around Jenna. “We’ll be with you every step of the way,” he said.

Jenna nodded. Then, putting on her best Princess voice, she said, “Syrah. Would you open the door, please?”

The door opened and heat and a tremendous roar, as if from a huge waterfall, hit them. One by one, they stepped out into the shadows, shocked by the fierce red glow and the great curved wall of the black Cauldron that rose in front of them.

The exit from the moving chamber was a few steps up from the earthen floor of the cavern, behind one of the thick, riveted legs that supported the Cauldron. There was no view of the
Fyre
Chamber at all from the exit and in the old times this had annoyed Marcellus, particularly when he had visitors from the Wizard Tower whom he wanted to impress. But now he was thankful for the cover. Marcellus checked all was safe, then beckoned to everyone to follow. Jenna went to step down and then stopped.

“Oh!” she gasped.
The floor was alive.

A sea of small, squashy, dusty faces were gazing up at her, their dark eyes shining. Jenna looked down at their unblinking gaze and for a moment she knew what it was like to be a Queen in front of a vast crowd.

“What
are
they?” Jenna whispered to Marcellus.

“Drummins,” said Marcellus. “Do not worry; they will make a path for you. Drummins do not like to be trodden on. Ah, here is Duglius.”

Duglius scrambled up the wall like a lizard and offered Jenna his hand—warm, callused and gritty with dust. Jenna took it and his suckered fingertips stuck delicately to her hand. “Welcome, Princess, to the Chamber of
Fyre
.”

“Thank you,” said Jenna. She felt the little suckers unstick themselves and very carefully she stepped down into the shadows.

Marcia turned to Syrah, who was leaning against the wall of the chamber, deathly pale against the shiny black surface. “Syrah, you must remain here,” she said.

Syrah swayed dizzily and Rose helped her down to the floor. “You’ll be okay,” Rose said. “I’ll stay with you.”

“So shall I,” said Julius, glad of an excuse not to venture into the Chamber of
Fyre
.

“Thank you, Rose,” said Marcia. She looked out into the unknown that lay in front of her. “Rose. If anything, er . . . happens, you must close the door immediately and take the chamber back to the Wizard Tower. Get a Senior Wizard to put an anti-
Darke
on it
at once
. You understand?”

Rose nodded somberly. “Yes,” she said. “I understand.”

Marcia took a deep breath and stepped out into the Chamber of
Fyre
.

“Welcome, ExtraOrdinary Wizard with snakes upon her feet,” said Duglius. “Welcome to the Chamber of
Fyre
.”

Marcia smiled graciously and with the words “Thank you, Duglius Drummin. It is an honor to be here,” she wiped away the lingering mistrust between Drummin and Wizard.

When Marcellus, Milo, Septimus, and Beetle had left the moving chamber, Duglius jumped down from the wall. “Follow me,” he said. “We will make a path for you.”

And they did. The Drummin crowd parted like water as, in single file, they followed Duglius beneath the round belly of the Cauldron. Beetle was last. He looked back and saw the path closing behind him and a multitude of little dark eyes staring up at him. He quickly turned around and followed Septimus through the crowd.

Jenna and Marcia were the first to emerge from beneath the Cauldron. They stopped, amazed at the sudden, searing brilliance of the light and the soaring height of the Chamber of
Fyre
—the glitter of the webs of silver shining in the roof far, far above and the massive black roundness of the Cauldron bellying out above them. They waited while everyone gathered together, silent and subdued. What struck every single person was the sense of the presence of evil.

“Where are they?” Jenna whispered to Marcellus.

Marcellus pointed up to the Inspection Circle around the top of the Cauldron, some thirty feet above their heads. Jenna squinted upward but could see nothing—the glare of the flames dazzled her; it was like looking at the sun. Duglius led them around the base of the Cauldron, heading toward the metal steps that would take them up to the Viewing Station and onto the Inspection Circle. As they drew near, two shadows fell across them—everyone froze. They waited for the Ring Wizards to pass overhead like a dark storm cloud, then set off once more until they came within sight of the steps and the Viewing Station above.

Duglius held up his hand and the party stopped. “Here is safe to wait,” he said.

“Thank you, Duglius,” said Marcia. “I will go first, then Jenna.”

“Then me.” Beetle and Milo spoke together.

“And me,” said Septimus.

“No,” said Marcia. “The more of us who go, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“Marcia. I am coming with Jen,” said Septimus. “Whatever you say.”

“We are
all
coming,” said Marcellus. “We cannot leave you to do this alone.”

Jenna remembered what her grandmother had said one evening as they had sat watching the water. “Sometimes, dear, you just have to be what I call
Queeny
. It may seem strange at first but it always works.”

And so that is what Jenna did. “
I
am doing the
Committal
; I shall choose. The fewer people who are in danger, the better. Marcia and I will go. No one else.” She looked at Marcia. “And
I
shall go first.”

Marcia bowed her head. “Very well,” she said.

From her ExtraOrdinary Wizard belt, Marcia drew out what remained of the Two-Faced Ring and handed it to Jenna. Jenna noticed that Marcia’s hand was shaking—and Marcia noticed the Jenna’s hand was shaking. Neither said a word while Jenna looked down at the twisted band of gold, which lay in her palm so lightly that she could hardly feel it. It was time to go—but before she went, there was something Jenna wanted to say.

“Beetle,” she said.

“Yes.” Beetle gulped.

“I just wanted to say that I am really sorry that when you were in the
Sealed
Hermetic Chamber . . . you know . . . after the
Darke Domaine
 . . . that I didn’t stay to see if you were all right. Well, not properly all right. I
so
wish I had. I did really care about how you were, even though I know it didn’t look like it.”

It took Beetle some seconds to reply. “Oh. Gosh. Well, thank you.” He reached out for Jenna’s hand and took it. “Be careful up there, hey?”

Jenna nodded and held Beetle’s hand tightly.

“Time to go,” said Marcia briskly.

Marcia and Jenna walked toward the foot of the steps, Marcia spoke urgently in a low voice. “Jenna. Remember I will be right behind you all the time. When we near the top I will put a
SafeShield
around us. When we are close enough to”—she glanced upward—“
them
 . . . and you are ready, tell me. I will let the
Shield
go. You must then begin the
Committal
at once. I will protect you. You must not concern yourself about
anything else
. Concentrate only on the words of the
Committal
. When you say the
Keystone
word, there will be a flash of light. Throw the ring into the light but do not stop speaking. Be sure to finish.”