The Magi (The Magi Series) (34 page)

“I might as well,” she shot back. “You two are useless without me anyway.”

“Hey,” Elijah interjected. “Leave me out of this.”

“Sorry,” she said. “But it’s kind of true.” She took hold of the stone, which was at the very bottom, and gripped the sides firmly. The opening, once the stone was removed, would be large enough for them to fit through, but it would be a fairly tight squeeze and definitely a tight squeeze for the adults they were here to rescue.

The process of moving the loose stone went much slower than Elijah had anticipated. Becca was so careful with her movements that it was almost frustrating how long it took. She would move the rock the tiniest bit and then stop. He could almost see her counting in her head as if she was timing herself before she moved it again. Then, when she felt the time was right, she would move it another fraction. During the entire time Becca was moving the stone, Elijah could see Paul huffing and puffing at her. Elijah thought Paul could probably tunnel under the prison and get everyone out in record time with all the pent up energy he was carrying.

“Okay,” Becca finally said. “It’s out.” Elijah looked at the stone and was confused. It was pulled out, but it still partially blocked the hole to the inside.

“What do you mean it’s out?” Paul snapped, still wound up and irritated. “It still looks like it’s in to me?”

“I’m keeping it there for now to block the hole still,” she snapped back, still whispering. “If I take it out now, all the light from the outside will show on the inside. If there’s a guard right there, he’ll see it. We’ll have to wait until it’s dark.”

“What if there isn’t a guard there now?” Paul asked.

“Are you willing to chance it?” she replied. Paul huffed, but he seemed to agree. So they waited until darkness fell over the Malpetran land

As soon as she decided it was time, Becca pulled the stone out the rest of the way and slowly lowered it enough to make a small crack for them to see inside the prison. After looking both ways, Becca said that it was safe to drop the stone. It made a muffled thud as it hit the dirt, and the three of them worked to push it away, checking around to make sure no one heard the noise.

“Now, at some point, the guards are going to change shift, and that’s when we’ll have to move,” she said. “When they get their orders.”

“When will that be?” Elijah asked.

Becca shrugged. “No idea. We’re going to have to go on nerve.” At that moment, they faintly saw the light of a torch inside the hallway, and heard the footsteps of a passing guard. Elijah, Becca, and Paul jumped back away from the hole and waited a minute before they dared look through again.

“Where do you think my uncle and Samuel will be held?” Elijah whispered, looking at Becca.

“I’m not sure, but I have a good guess,” she answered. “They have a separate wing for their higher interest prisoners. It’s pretty far inside there, but I would bet that’s where Phinneas is being held. Probably your uncle too.”

“What about Samuel?” Elijah asked.

“I don’t know,” Becca said. “It’s possible.” They all jumped back again as the guard made a return trip across the hall. After he passed by, Paul stuck his head in and looked around. When he came out, he had a funny look.

“What’s the matter?” Elijah asked.

“It’s enormous!” Paul said. “How are we going to find our way?”

“By following me,” answered Becca. “I don’t know
every
inch in there, but I can get you to the high interest wing and back.” Just then, they saw some torch lights leaving the tower and some other torch lights leaving the mountain. There were more still that were coming up the walkway all heading for the tower. “This is it,” said Becca. “They’re changing shifts. It’s now or never.” She stuck her head in the hole, pushed her body up, and slid through. Paul and Elijah did the same, and with some help, they were all inside the prison walls.

Elijah immediately felt the nerves numbing his body. His legs felt weak like they were going to give out, but as soon as Becca led them deeper into the prison, he loosened up. The pitch black hallways inside the mountain made it almost impossible to see where they were going. Becca was running her hands along the walls to feel a pathway. The stone walkway ceiling was so low that they had to duck as they walked. Elijah could reach up and touch the top in most places. Their slow pace panicked Elijah. There was absolutely no light, and he knew they had limited time. He kept imagining someone right behind him grabbing him as Becca continued creeping along slowly.

After walking through countless corridors, twisting and turning through tunnels, they came to a long bridge of sorts, leading into another section of the prison. Becca stopped and whispered to Elijah and Paul.

“This is the high interest wing. We have to be fast.” She darted across the bridge with Paul and Elijah right behind her. As soon as they reached a row of prison cells, Becca turned to Elijah and whispered. “Keep watch to make sure we’re safe. Paul and I will work to find Phinneas and then you can look for your uncle.”

“And Samuel,” Elijah whispered back. He looked down the hall where Paul and Becca were searching. He saw them fidget with part of each door, raise a heavy-looking iron bar, and slowly open them, being careful not to make a sound. With the amount of time and strength it took to open each door, they needed to find Phinneas fast, or they would never get finished.

Elijah turned around to make sure they were still safe. He walked down the hall, turned the corner and suddenly came face to face with one of the prison guards who was holding up a torch. Elijah felt the blood completely leave his body as he looked up at the prison guard.

“What are you doing here?” the guard asked. The tone in the guard’s voice surprised Elijah. It was not threatening, but merely curious. Elijah stood dumfounded for a moment, hoping for something intelligent to come out of his mouth. “Well, come on!” the guard urged. Elijah looked down and noticed the long silver and black cloak he was wearing. In the dark, he realized that he probably looked just like a Maliphist kid. He slowly covered his brown Magi gear that he wore under the cape and looked back up at the guard. In a million years, he never would have thought he could have come up with such a clever response. But in that moment, a moment of complete terror, Elijah Hawk delivered.

“I’m on a dare. Some of my friends at school dared me to run through the prisons at night. I’m supposed to spend the night and report back tomorrow, but I need something to prove that I did it.” The guard stared at him for a moment. Elijah stopped hearing the sounds of doors opening and closing, indicating that Becca and Paul were aware of Elijah’s situation.

After a minute, the guard smiled at him. “You kids,” he said in an almost endearing way. “I’m sorry, son, but I’m going to have to take you out. Tell you what. I have a son that goes to the academy. He’s a little older than you are, but I’ll let him know that I found you here and had to make you leave. That way, you’ll be good on your dare. Do you know my son? His name is Kyle Youngman.”

“No, sir,” Elijah said politely. The guard made a grunt and then began to lead Elijah out of the prison. Once or twice, Elijah almost made the mistake of looking over his shoulder to see if Paul and Becca were safe, but he knew that would raise suspicion, so he stopped himself. He just had to hope that they would make it out safely on their own.

The guard walked him all the way out of the prison, and a few of the other guards followed the commotion. Elijah lowered his head through all the attention. He was eventually brought all the way to the tower and held in front of the warden. The guard explained his story and what Elijah had told him. The warden was a lot less amused with Elijah’s story than the guard was. He looked down contemptuously at Elijah.

“You’re a long way from the academy,” he hissed. “The first thing I want to know is how you got in.” Elijah panicked for a moment. He couldn’t tell them about the loose stone because they would surely go and investigate, which could mean the end for Paul and Becca, who were still inside. He also didn’t think it was believable to say that he just walked in during the change of guards. Finally, he came up with something.

“I snuck in under a loose stone. Over there.” Elijah pointed to the farthest place from where he thought Paul and Becca would be. The warden looked over at the area where Elijah pointed and called over some more of his guards.

“Go and search for the tunnel this little rat was able to make and fix it,” the warden commanded. He turned his attention back to Elijah. “Well young man, you’ve done something very foolish tonight. I’m going to have a word with Chancellor Billings at the academy, and you will be severely punished. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Elijah said.

“Very well. You let your friends know that if they try something like this again, the punishment will be much, much worse,” said the warden.

“I will, sir. Sorry, sir,” Elijah said. The warden called a few of his guards over and instructed them to take Elijah back to the Maliphist academy. Just as he was leaving with the guards, the warden called over.

“Oh. What’s your name, young man?”

“Isaac. Isaac Rogers.”

The guards took Elijah into a small boat and paddled him swiftly up the river. The trip was long, and even though the stakes were high, Elijah drifted off to sleep to the tempo of the rowing paddles.

It was daylight before Elijah was awakened by the guards telling him to get out. He looked down at his robe and clothes and saw that his brown gear was more obvious in the daylight than in the night. He tried to wrap the oversized Maliphist robes around him in hopes that no one would notice.

Malpetra was almost the exact opposite of Savenridge. It was massive! Very gaudy and important-looking buildings and statues were scattered everywhere. The streets, narrow but clean, were made of evenly spaced cobblestones. The shops and buildings were two or three stories high, and they were already bustling with business. Elijah saw an amphitheater with marble columns, a huge building made with solid gold trimmings, a gigantic garden and fountain with people meandering about for their morning stroll, and a larger-than-life coliseum at the center of the city.

Even the canyon cliffs were a sight to see! Long, high, fantastic-looking buildings that Elijah had never seen before were built up on the sides of the canyon walls. Large bridges connected the two sides of the cliffs. Homes with courtyards and fountains were built up on the cliffs that overlooked at least five waterfalls that Elijah counted, which flowed gracefully into the river running through the city.

The plants and vegetation made it look like Malpetra was in the thick of spring already. Flowers were growing in abundance. The streets, although made of stone, had thousands of containers of greenery scattered about, beautifying the land. Elijah would never have guessed that this would be the dwelling of people with such a destructive nature. It was like wandering through a fairytale painting.

After walking through the winding streets, and leaving the center of the city, they came across a large wide-open countryside with fields and grasslands. Elijah found it hard to believe that there was so much space in a canyon like this. The guards guided Elijah down the street that led up to a very large building reminding Elijah a lot of Saint Phillip’s Academy. He followed the guards up to the front doors, and suddenly, a voice that he recognized came booming from ahead.

“Let me get the door for you,” said a friendly-sounding Detective Scott as he was walking out of the academy. Elijah hid his face the best he could and hoped Detective Scott didn’t see him, but he was pretty sure they had made eye contact for a brief moment. Luckily, Detective Scott didn’t seem to recognize Elijah.

“Wait here,” said one of the guards as he left Elijah just inside the front doors. It was then that Elijah realized a problem. They didn’t know him here. He had gotten away with saying he was from the school to the prison guards, but the teachers and trainers would surely know that he was lying. At least, he though to himself, by this point Becca and Paul would have had enough time to get themselves out. Even if Elijah was caught now, it would be too late to catch them, assuming they were able to escape.

A very tall man with dark, curly hair briskly walked up to Elijah. His look told Elijah he was mad. He reached back and instantly struck Elijah across the face. Elijah fell over mostly out of surprise.

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked the tall man. Elijah held his tongue. “If you don’t answer me, you will spend a week in solitary detention!” He didn’t know what this meant, but Elijah figured he ought to know if he was a Maliphist, so he tried his best to look fearful. The man waited for Elijah to answer, but no words were said. “Very well.” The man grabbed Elijah by the cloak, and he was dragged toward a room in the very corner of the building. As he was being dragged, Elijah caught sight of something that made him furious! Dressed in full Maliphist robes and walking the halls of the academy was Samuel, on his way to class—very much free. They made eye contact as Elijah passed him.

The door to the detention room opened, and Elijah was thrown inside.

****

CHAPTER 19: EXODUS

Wait. That’s all Elijah could do. He had absolutely no idea what was happening beyond the four walls that surrounded him. The chancellor wasn’t kidding when he said this was a solitary detention. Elijah felt completely alone, and there was nothing to do but wait. Wait to hear about Paul and Becca. Wait to find out why Samuel was here at the academy and not in the prison. Wait for his own fate, whatever that might be. Sitting alone for hours, being forced to live with his inner conversation, drove Elijah crazy.