Zak Turner - A Twist In Time Read online

  Bella, not usually given to much open emotion, couldn’t hide her own fear and relief, and ended up with tears in her eyes as she realised just how close she’d come to losing both her husband and eldest son that day.

  Sir Philip looked grave as he finished.

  “It was an attack on us love, on our family. An attack designed to send a message…”

  Lady Bella blanched. She’d feared this day would come, and now it had finally arrived.

  “Is it safe to leave them at the school, Philip?”

  “For one night, yes. I’m sure no-one can get into Mhonarr Castle to attack them, and certainly not into Moncero Tower. However, while the Malchus children are in the school, there will always be a threat. I’ll be very surprised if they take action themselves though, Malchus is very careful to make sure that he is never directly linked to any atrocity, and I’m sure that he’s instructed his children to behave likewise.”

  “What about Bjarne and Freya here at primary school, they must also be in danger now surely?”

  “Yes, and don’t forget Sophie Turner. The danger has multiplied alarmingly. Not just for our family, but for all those who oppose Malchus and his Black Coven.”

  “Black Coven? You’ve never mentioned that before Philip, is that what Malchus followers call themselves?”

  “It would seem so. We’ve been aware of the name for some months now, but were trying to keep it quiet. It’s the sort of name that will generate fear amongst witches and wizards. When people link it to Malchus, it will inevitably become associated with the Black Court of Eoghan in sixth century Ireland.”

  Sir Philip saw a slightly puzzled look in his wife’s eyes, and she shook her head when he asked if she recalled the history of Ireland from school.

  “Well, it was only lightly covered in my history lessons here at Lofthouse, but when Túathal Máelgarb was king of Ireland, legend has it that his chief courtier was supposed to have been the dark wizard, Eoghan.”

  “Eoghan used his powers to enchant the king, and so enjoyed royal patronage until the king’s death, which covered his heinous bloodthirsty crimes. It is said that more people went missing during Túathal Máelgarb’s reign than during any other decade, and that most of them were sacrificed in pagan rituals by Eoghan himself in the castle dungeons.”

  “Antares Malchus, like his fathers before him, delights to trace his family line back to Eoghan, and the emergence of the Black Coven earlier this year seems to be a symbolic gesture towards that evil past. My suspicion is that it will never be officially acknowledged, but that the spectre of the Coven will start to appear as the backdrop of wizarding life, a thing to be feared but not understood.”

  Bella was studying her husband’s face as he looked into her grey-green eyes. Both of them detected fear in each other.

  “It’s getting close now, isn’t Philip?”

  “Closer, certainly, but not yet at the door. This generation of wizards though will see either confrontation, or capitulation to darkness.”

  “It’s why Zak’s here isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And Tallion?”

  “Yes, he must join him, he already has joined him.”

  “And who else? They are powerful wizards Philip, but so is Malchus.”

  “I don’t know who else. Maybe another powerful young wizard will be revealed?”

  “It needs three. A threefold rope cannot be broken, a trinity of wizards is all that can stand against him.”

  “I know.”

  “We must look after them Philip, until they’re ready, we must guard them and protect them.”

  “With our very lives Bella, with our very lives… So much is at stake…”

  Sir Philip and his wife said no more because there was no more to say. After a few seconds they shared a hug, and reaffirmed their support for each other. They needed to join their other two children for dinner, but both adults were aware their world had lurched dramatically towards darkness during the afternoon. The coming days would see rumour rife as the magical folk in the country tried to make sense of what had happened.

  4. The Students Of Light

  David Porteous, the prefect who welcomed Zak and Tallion at the selection ceremony, led the two boys, together with sixteen other new ‘students of light’, through the school to Moncero tower.

  There was no password to get in, and the door didn’t open, you just walked through it, just like the massive gates at Lofthouse Castle. All access around the school was controlled magically by the castle itself and once the Orb, which was linked to the castle’s magic, placed you in a house, the castle automatically let you see what you needed to see, and go everywhere you needed to go.

  “Moncero is a little bit smaller than the other houses,” David was explaining, “more exclusive we like to think. However, what we don’t have in numbers, we certainly have in terms of brains. Tonight’s the only night that none of us will have any homework, so we always just enjoy getting back together again after the holidays. It’s a good chance for you to meet everyone. We’re a family, brothers and sisters, and we look out for each other, and help each other.”

  The Moncero girl prefect, Sasha Napier, then spoke for the first time, her rich Scottish accent catching them by surprise.

  “First though, we’ll show you up to your dorms and give you a few house rules, and we might as well start with the dorm rules. Boys and girls are not allowed in each other’s dorms or bathrooms, but all other areas of the tower are common. The boys dorms are all up those stairs on the right of the back fireplace,” she said pointing to the far side of the common room, “and the girls dorms are up these stairs here by the front fireplace. In Moncero, there are usually four students to a dorm, so for the girls it’s quite easy, as there are eight of you. The boys will have two threes and a four. We’ve put existing friends together, although we’ve been told that most of you only just met for the first time this afternoon.”

  “Okay gents, if you’ll follow me,” said David. “You’re lucky this year as your rooms are right at the top. You keep the same dorm room right through school until the end of your sixth year, then, in Moncero, you get a single room for your seventh year to give you peace and quiet to study on your own. So try to settle in quickly, and make it feel like home. You’re going to be living here for six years!”

  The new first years all trooped off up the stairs behind David, who showed them a couple of short cuts to get to the top without climbing the whole way!

  I hope we’re in the four person dorm Tallion, if we’re in a three person dorm, the other person is going to feel very lonely when we go home tomorrow!

  It’s a pity they didn’t do two fours and a two, with us as the two. Then the rest of them would have been all together.

  Except that we’d feel rather left out when we come for the holidays…

  True. Well, let’s see what happens.

  When the little group reached the top landing of the tower, Zak and Tallion both recognised it from their visit in the summer, and both of them immediately remembered the place where the invisible portal was to get into the upper room.

  We need to find out what that incantation is Zak; I want to be able to get into that room again!

  Me too, but I’ve no idea where to start looking.

  I think Lofthouse Castle library would probably be quite a good place to start. I’m sure any books in Mhonarr library with the incantation will have been hidden away!

  “Okay, each year group has its own floor in the tower, so this is effectively your space. There are four rooms on each floor, so that leaves a spare one for you guys. It’s been set up as a small study-come-common room for you so that you have somewhere quiet to do your homework. It sometimes gets a bit crowded in the other study rooms downstairs, but my suggestion is that you spend as much time as possible with the rest of the house. Don’t hide away up here as it’s very counterproductive.”

  “Right, Niall, Ross, Ganvard, you three are sharing this r
oom. It’s my old dorm, which I left at the end of last year. Your trunks are already here so time to get everything transferred to your cupboards. Ben, Agenor and Meissa, you’re in here, as are your trunks. Alfie and Harry, you two already know each other so we’ve kept you together, and the same with Tallion and Zak. You four are in here. Get yourselves squared away, and then come down to the common room in about thirty minutes where you’ll get chance to say hi to everyone.”

  The ten boys all nodded and moved into their rooms as David turned and headed back through the shortcut which would take him to his own floor.

  There was about ten seconds of awkward silence as the four boys located their trunks and went over to their own beds. Then, before he even opened his trunk Alfie looked across at Tallion and walked towards him with his hand outstretched.

  “Hi Tallion. Alfie Harwood, third son, and only magical son, of Sir Jackson Harwood of Rotherfield.”

  Tallion grinned and shook Alfie’s hand as he replied.

  “Hi Alfie. Tallion Middleham, eldest son of Sir Philip Middleham, eighteenth Baronet Middleham of Netherdale.”

  It was clear that Tallion had trumped Alfie’s attempt at being the senior aristocrat, but Alfie just grinned as he nodded his head at his roommate. Zak had walked over next to Tallion as the two aristocrats exchanged greetings, and now stuck out his hand to introduce himself.

  “Hi Alfie. Zak Turner, eldest son of John Turner of Lower Nettleton, but he doesn’t have a title!”

  As always when people shook hands with Zak, especially young people, Alfie fell headlong into Zak’s amethyst eyes, and found himself racing through a selection of memories about his family and home. After a few seconds, Zak realised what was happening and turned away, breaking the accidental mind reading. Alfie found himself dizzily back in the dorm, and was only still standing because Zak was firmly holding onto his hand.

  “Hi Zak, pleased to meet you,” he said in a slightly dazed sounding voice, “and I’m glad you don’t have a title, they’re a bit annoying really!”

  After he took a couple of deep breaths, Alfie turned to the other boy and beckoned him over.

  “Come on Harry, I told you not everyone would be as stuffy as me!”

  Harry walked over, rather shyly it seemed, and stuck out his hand to Tallion.

  “Hi Tallion. Harry Beech, only son of Thomas Beech of Shepherds Green.”

  He then shook Zak’s hand too and even though Zak tried not to do it, he couldn’t stop himself looking into Harry’s eyes because they were a rather startling silver grey! The result was inevitable, and he got a quick look into Harry’s mind, which was occupied with thoughts of the school, and the new experiences he’d been through that day.

  Alfie was watching, and saw Zak turn away from Harry before his friend shook his head and re-joined them in the room, obviously having experienced the same dizziness that he had. He didn’t say anything, but suspected that Zak could probably read minds or something!

  Zak made sure Harry was okay, and then broke the handshake and grinned at him as he caught his breath.

  “So,” said Alfie confidently, in his rather posh Home Counties accent, “how come you two already know each other?”

  Zak glanced at Tallion before he answered.

  “We live about two miles away from each other in Netherdale in Yorkshire, and we’ve also spent the last seven years going to the same primary school in the village. We only became really close friends in May though, after I sort of discovered by accident that Tallion was a wizard.”

  “Woh! That’s spookily similar to us! Are you a first generation wizard then like me? Harry’s family are all magical. His sister’s in fourth year here. He had to keep it secret of course, but eventually he realised that I was a wizard when he came round to our house for the village fete in May, and saw strange things happening.”

  “My parents weren’t too happy at first, but they realised that there was nothing they could do about it. I was supposed to be going off to some private boarding school somewhere but I ended up here instead.”

  It was very clear that Alfie was one of those children who simply never felt out of place or nervous. He wasn’t exactly pushy, and certainly wasn’t unpleasant, but he just had an air of being comfortable. No wonder he’s in Moncero, thought both Zak and Tallion to each other as they listened to him.

  Harry seemed quite happy playing second fiddle to his friend too, and it certainly gave him chance to keep out of the limelight! It was a bit odd that someone who seemed so shy on the surface had ended up in Moncero though, but no doubt the reason would become clear eventually.

  The boys carried on chatting and swapping information as they unpacked, and Zak and Tallion both started to feel sorry that they were leaving the following day. Life here would definitely have been good fun!

  “Zak,” asked Harry, his voice full of curiosity, “umm, I don’t want to be nosey, but what happened when the Orb was speaking to you? You stood there with your hands on it for ages!”

  Zak was caught off-guard, and rapidly cast about for something to say without telling either a lie or the truth.

  “Umm, well, I lost track of time a bit, but it only made up its mind where to put me right at the end.”

  “Was it talking to you all the time?! I mean, it spoke to me all the time, but I was done in less than a minute.”

  “Yeah, I think so, although it seemed to speak quite slowly. Err, it was sort of telling me what I would have to do in my life.”

  Harry nodded, “Yeah, that’s the sort of thing it said to me too. I was quite surprised about what it expected me to do with my life!”

  The boys had all stopped what they were doing and were looking at each other, but neither Harry nor Zak volunteered any more information, both feeling like it was a private thing. Soon the unpacking restarted, and a few minutes later they were done.

  I think we need to tell them we’re not staying Tallion, it doesn’t seem fair to just vanish tomorrow.

  I agree, but we’ll tell them tomorrow, when we’ve got to know them a bit better.

  Okay. Can you hear their thoughts? I can, but not clearly enough to follow them. I don’t like it very much; it feels like I’m eavesdropping on them.

  I can’t really hear anything Zak, our bond isn’t that close yet, but I’m sure I will soon if it’s that clear to you.

  * * *

  The evening in Moncero tower passed quickly, and about nine thirty, a couple of scrolls flew out of the common room fireplace and presented themselves to Zak and Tallion!

  Zak’s read:

  Please come to the infirmary before you turn in for the night so that I can check you over and give you a potion to allow you to recover properly while you sleep.

  Nurse Salvae

  The two boys looked at each other in surprise.

  “We might as well go straight away, Zak. My back’s aching and itchy, and I’m so tired that I was thinking about going to bed anyway!”

  “Me too. How do we find the infirmary?”

  “Er, it’s close to the main entrance, so I guess we just go back there and we’ll find it. We best tell someone we’re going though.”

  “David, he’s the prefect.”

  Zak and Tallion excused themselves from the other first years, and hunted around the common room for David, finally finding him in a corner hidden behind a screen with a couple of friends discussing the strange happenings of the day. It was only as they came round the corner that both eleven-year-olds spotted a familiar face. Sam, the seventh year who’d accompanied them to Kirkstall Abbey, was a Moncero too!

  “Hi Zak, hi Tallion. I’m Sam, are you two okay?”

  “Hi Sam, yes, apart from being very tired,” replied Zak.

  “I’m not surprised, although I expect Nurse Salvae gave you some restorative potion earlier? I was just explaining to David and Arcturus here what happened at Kirkstall…”

  “I didn’t realise you were in Moncero Sam. I’m glad you are though! Umm, you
need to keep it quiet what happened today okay, and how we all survived. It would be bad for us if word gets around…”

  “Don’t worry, we realise that, and only the three of us will ever know. You need to understand that there are different groups of students in this castle who have allied themselves to certain, ‘causes’, shall we say. We three are actively opposed to Antares Malchus and his plans, and it’s a rather dangerous stand to take. His son Sargas has made life very difficult for many students during his time here at Mhonarr, and no doubt Shaul will do the same, now that he’s here too.”

  There was a pause while the five students looked at each other carefully.

  “We’re going to need to look out for each other this year boys,” said David. “The rumours going round sound like Sargas might be about to step up his campaign of terror in an effort to ‘persuade’ students to support him, rather than those of us who are on the side of light.”

  Zak and Tallion exchanged a glance.

  Zak, I think we can trust them. We need to tell them that we’re not going to be here for most of the time.

  I agree. Having fought next to Sam in the Abbey, I already feel like he’s a special friend!

  The three seventh years were watching Zak and Tallion to see how they would react, but the response they got wasn’t quite what they were expecting. It was Tallion who spoke next.

  “Sam, after you were knocked out in the cloister, the seventh year girl managed to get all the other first years through the portal to safety. There was another seventh year boy though who fought with us against the two men and caused a diversion so we could all run for the portal and escape into the school.”

  “Ross Burns, from Leo. I haven’t seen him since we got to school, but we were quite late and came in through Raby portal. What happened to him?”

  Zak and Tallion both suspected deep down that Ross was dead, but no-one had actually told them, so they still had a hope which they were unwilling to squash.