Fated

gated into the Great Court, right at the foot of the stairs.

We weren’t alone. A dozen people were scattered around the court, mages and guards. All had turned to stare at us, and as we came to our feet a mage threw out his arm. He was at the centre of a cluster of three. ‘Hold it! Who are you?’

At least, that was what he would have said if he’d had the chance.

It was quite terrifying what Onyx did to those men. Normal people, when they’re dropped into a hostile situation, take an instant to orientate themselves. Onyx didn’t. In the time the leader took to open his mouth, Onyx slammed a bolt of force into the mage on the left, spun and did the same thing to the one on the right, then sent a blast straight at the face of the one in the middle, who was just in the middle of getting out the word ‘who’. If the mage hadn’t jerked back, it would have broken his neck; as it was it took him off his feet. A heartbeat later Cinder and Khazad joined in, engaging the ones remaining.

While everyone else was fighting, I was running, sprinting up the curving stairs. Behind me I heard the roar of spells as the battle kicked off. It took me five seconds to reach the top landing, and for that instant I was completely exposed to the people below. But everyone was too busy to pay attention to me, and I made it to the top in one piece.

I was getting pretty familiar with the British Museum by now, and as I ran I could pick out the sounds behind me; the roar of Cinder’s fire magic, the flat slam of Onyx’s force spells, the chatter of the automatic weapons of the guards. An instant later there was an explosion and the chatter cut off abruptly. I knew that Onyx’s side was winning, and that I wouldn’t have much time before they caught me up. I reached the staircase leading to the statue room. There were no guards and I raced up the stairs. Calling out the password and passing through the barrier without a ripple. As soon as I was through I dived and rolled.

A hammer of earth magic whistled above me, passing through the space where my head would have been if I hadn’t taken the tumble. I came up from my roll and threw my hand towards the man standing by the entrance. ‘Griff, you idiot, it’s me! Seal the stairs!’

Griff had just started a backswing with a maul of grey-brown energy; he checked, halting his swing. ‘Verus?’ He stared. ‘How did you get in? The guards—’

‘They’re getting their asses kicked, and so will we if you don’t seal the stairs!’

‘There’s a barrier—’

‘Which you just saw me walk through!’

‘I’d have to collapse the—’

‘Then do it!’ I was getting desperate; I knew Onyx and Khazad were less than twenty seconds away. ‘We’re out of time!’

Griff hesitated for a heartbeat, then turned and made a fist. There was a rumble followed by a roar, and the floor shook as a section of the roof of the British Museum caved in, turning the stairwell behind the barrier into a shaft full of rubble. The barrier shivered slightly, but held. Dust flaked from the roof as I picked myself up. I couldn’t hear anything from the floor below. We were sealed off – for the moment.

‘Alex!’

I looked around and there was Luna, standing alone in the corner of the room, her eyes shining. I felt something in my chest loosen as I saw her. ‘You’re okay?’

‘I’m okay?’ Luna’s voice wavered. ‘What about you?’

I grinned. ‘Let’s catch up later.’ I pulled the cube from my pocket and threw it to her; Luna caught it in reflex. Someone else peeked out their head from behind the statue; it was Sonder, his eyes suddenly alight with interest. ‘Oh! A crystal key! It must have micro-fissures that match the pattern of the light beams. Um, Mr Verus, where did you—?’

‘Sonder, this isn’t really the time,’ I said as I got to my feet. ‘And I told you to call me Alex. Luna? Do it.’

Luna shook her head with a smile as if at some joke, and slotted the cube into the statue’s hand. It fit perfectly.

For a moment there was silence, then a gentle white light sprang up around the statue’s hand. Needle-thin beams of light sprang out from the fingers, reaching into the cube and, as they did, the cube responded. It glowed red and more beams of light appeared, starting in the cube’s centre and stretching out. The two sets of beams moved, playing up, down, left and right as if searching for something.

‘Sonder?’ I asked after a few seconds. ‘What are we seeing?’

‘It’s …’ Sonder stared at the cube, utterly fascinated. The red-and-white light sparkled and reflected off his glasses. ‘Of course! That’s why we could never get it to work!’

‘What is?’

‘The crystal’s responding to the interrogation. Look!’ Sonder pointed eagerly. One of the needle-like beams from the cube had intersected with one from the statue, and the two had merged and gone still. ‘They’re matching!’ Sonder said. ‘That’s the locking mechanism.’

‘It’d better open fast,’ Griff said sharply, cutting Sonder off. We turned to see that Griff had one hand pressed flat against the wall next to the barrier, and his eyes were narrowed. ‘You were right. Someone out there wants in.’

Now that we were looking, I could feel it: the distant crunch, crunch, crunch of force effects carving through rubble, the vibrations growing steadily stronger. ‘That would be Onyx,’ I said with a nasty sinking feeling.

‘How long is he going to be?’ Griff demanded of me.

‘If you strengthen that barrier … about eighty seconds.’

‘How long till the door opens?’

‘About seventy.’