for a king. More alcohol was exactly what they didn’t need right now, particularly an unending supply of it. Madrick knew this goblet would continually refill itself, so he dropped it surreptitiously into the ditch by the road before Tung was alert enough to work out exactly what was happening.
“Next spell,” demanded Madrick. “Come on. There’s no time to waste. Next spell please.”
Over the next couple of hours Tung created six more unhelpful spells. It was like being back in Mifal’s dungeon; they were under severe time pressure and the useless spells just kept on coming.
Then, like the last time, their luck changed. As Tung described the image, Madrick became more and more excited. He clapped his hands and made strange but happy guttural noises. Tung didn’t know what he’d created, but he knew it was good so he punched the air while he waited for Madrick to explain how his latest inception was going to be their salvation.
Madrick couldn’t contain his delight and he started his strange little dance again. This time he wasn’t restricted by cell walls, strewn banquet food or a mad stallion. This time he had room to express himself and so he did; with gusto. It was even stranger than before; it was bordering on the bizarre.
Eventually he calmed down. The dance stopped and he hugged Tung.
“You have done it again, my friend. This time you’ve created the Wings Spell. This enchantment will give you the wings of a giant eagle, the wings of an angel, wings that will allow us to fly away from this place. Once you lift off into the sky, the wings will be with you until your feet touch the earth again. We can be miles from this sinful town and our pursuers will have no trail to follow. We’ll be gone without a trace.”
“Gone? Great, where are we going to go to?”
“We’ll know when we get there,” said Madrick rather profoundly. “Anywhere is better than where we are right now.”
As soon as the spell was said, Tung sprouted magnificent, magical wings. They were a wondrous sight to behold and they gave him the look of an angel, albeit an angel who’d recently been out on the tear.
“Hang on,” he said as he lifted off into the sky clutching Madrick to his chest.
As they swept through the air, they marvelled at the sights below them. It was spectacular as they glided high over the trees and soared above the great lakes.
“Nice one, Tung, we’ve made a clean getaway. They’ll never catch us now.”
Fifteen minutes later all three groups of pursuers arrived almost simultaneously at their take-off spot … well, two groups plus Gravalar.
Chapter 20 - Just Good Friends
Faith and Suzie lived together in a small flat in North Acton, a relatively nice commuter suburb of London. It was quite a trek into the city centre where she worked, but she was close to a tube station which brought her, without changing trains, to Bank station. From there it was just a short walk to the IIBE headquarters building. She could have found a place which was handier, but she was delighted to have the opportunity to live with her best friend.
She’d lived with Suzie for about four months now, but they’d been friends since childhood, having met at secondary school. They’d hit it off more or less immediately partly because they were two out of only three children who received free school meals. They both came from poor families so they never had the latest fashions, accessories or gadgets. In fact, they often came to school in hand-me-down clothes and they were teased mercilessly about it.
There was one incident, early on in their relationship, which cemented the friendship. Suzie was being tormented by a group of older children in the playground after school. That in itself was a fairly common occurrence and the girls had agreed that their best defence was to ignore the unpleasantness as much as possible.
The ringleader was an extremely nasty boy called Brian Clarke. He’d spearheaded the harassment over
“Next spell,” demanded Madrick. “Come on. There’s no time to waste. Next spell please.”
Over the next couple of hours Tung created six more unhelpful spells. It was like being back in Mifal’s dungeon; they were under severe time pressure and the useless spells just kept on coming.
Then, like the last time, their luck changed. As Tung described the image, Madrick became more and more excited. He clapped his hands and made strange but happy guttural noises. Tung didn’t know what he’d created, but he knew it was good so he punched the air while he waited for Madrick to explain how his latest inception was going to be their salvation.
Madrick couldn’t contain his delight and he started his strange little dance again. This time he wasn’t restricted by cell walls, strewn banquet food or a mad stallion. This time he had room to express himself and so he did; with gusto. It was even stranger than before; it was bordering on the bizarre.
Eventually he calmed down. The dance stopped and he hugged Tung.
“You have done it again, my friend. This time you’ve created the Wings Spell. This enchantment will give you the wings of a giant eagle, the wings of an angel, wings that will allow us to fly away from this place. Once you lift off into the sky, the wings will be with you until your feet touch the earth again. We can be miles from this sinful town and our pursuers will have no trail to follow. We’ll be gone without a trace.”
“Gone? Great, where are we going to go to?”
“We’ll know when we get there,” said Madrick rather profoundly. “Anywhere is better than where we are right now.”
As soon as the spell was said, Tung sprouted magnificent, magical wings. They were a wondrous sight to behold and they gave him the look of an angel, albeit an angel who’d recently been out on the tear.
“Hang on,” he said as he lifted off into the sky clutching Madrick to his chest.
As they swept through the air, they marvelled at the sights below them. It was spectacular as they glided high over the trees and soared above the great lakes.
“Nice one, Tung, we’ve made a clean getaway. They’ll never catch us now.”
Fifteen minutes later all three groups of pursuers arrived almost simultaneously at their take-off spot … well, two groups plus Gravalar.
Chapter 20 - Just Good Friends
Faith and Suzie lived together in a small flat in North Acton, a relatively nice commuter suburb of London. It was quite a trek into the city centre where she worked, but she was close to a tube station which brought her, without changing trains, to Bank station. From there it was just a short walk to the IIBE headquarters building. She could have found a place which was handier, but she was delighted to have the opportunity to live with her best friend.
She’d lived with Suzie for about four months now, but they’d been friends since childhood, having met at secondary school. They’d hit it off more or less immediately partly because they were two out of only three children who received free school meals. They both came from poor families so they never had the latest fashions, accessories or gadgets. In fact, they often came to school in hand-me-down clothes and they were teased mercilessly about it.
There was one incident, early on in their relationship, which cemented the friendship. Suzie was being tormented by a group of older children in the playground after school. That in itself was a fairly common occurrence and the girls had agreed that their best defence was to ignore the unpleasantness as much as possible.
The ringleader was an extremely nasty boy called Brian Clarke. He’d spearheaded the harassment over
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