the extra leg Matron had lent him from her spare parts cupboard was the wrong size and he kept tripping over it. He finished fifteen minutes after the other two teams, but still got the bronze medal.
Orkward sat on a rock outside the treasure cave and looked down into the stadium far below him. Even from this far away he could hear the sounds coming from the crowd. They were sounds that Orkward hated and despised, the sounds of people having a good time and being happy.
He would teach them.
He would give them a new sound, the sound of five revolting Floods children exploding into a billion little pieces that even Matron wouldnât be able to reassemble. As he watched, Narled trundled across the grass towards the medal winnersâ podium. The Floods, as Orkward had predicted, had won the three-legged race and were standing there lookingdisgustingly happy, waiting to get their billionth gold medals. As Satanella ran round the stadium doing a lap of honour, the hatred Orkward Warlock felt for the Floods grew so big he felt as if his head would explode. It was bad enough that they won everything, got all the gold stars, had more friends than anyone else, had the most beautiful mother in the entire universe and just looked so horribly pleased with themselves, but now they had made him get a pounding headache too. As Merlinmary held her hands high in the air and theentire stadium cheered when she sent fabulous bolts of lightning soaring up into the clouds, Orkward felt the veins on his neck throbbing louder and louder like a bass drum. Blood began to trickle down his nose, blood that no longer tasted sweet on his tongue but was as bitter as his soul.
Narled disappeared beneath the stand and re-emerged a few seconds later. Orkward took out a remote control box from his backpack and switched it on. The red light on it started to flash. It throbbed like a heartbeat and Orkward felt his thumb twitch in excitement. His mouth went dry and his own heart began to beat in time with the red button. He felt faint with excitement.
Ten, nine, eight â¦
Professor Throat walked forward carrying the medals.
Seven, six, five, four â¦
The Professor reached down and pinned the first medal to Satanella Floodâs collar. She wagged her tail with such enthusiasm that she threw herself off the podium.
Three, two â¦
Orkward pressed the button.
Time seemed to stop. The wind that always ran down the valley stood still. The split second seemed like an hour. The blood on Orkwardâs tongue, though as bitter as before, now tasted like fine wine, and in that last split second he realised who his true father was.
He, Orkward Warlock, was the devilâs child.
He, Orkward Warlock, was son and heir to the dark forces of the underworld and he, Orkward Warlock, would make everyone fall at his feet.
Except then the world exploded.
Orkward was amazed by how loud it was. It sounded as if it was right behind him.
And it was.
The mouth of the cave erupted in an amazing ball of fire. Narledâs treasure trove burst out of the cave in all directions. It flattened trees, shattered rocks and blew Orkward Warlock into more pieces than there are grains of sand in the whole world. 37
Down in the stadium the crowd looked up and, thinking the school had put on a special fireworks display, everyone cheered. Seconds later, hundreds of wonderful things began to rain down on them. Seventy-three iPods, countless gold coins, seven hundred and nine lost buttons, bits of Lego, ballpoint pens, missing pieces of jigsaw puzzles, shoes, andtwelve thousand pages of missing homework covered the playing field and half the valley. In the fourth year common room, twelve gold crowns, three French hens and a partridge in a pear sauce flew out of the fireplace as the explosion shot out of the back of the cave and down the secret tunnel Merlinmary had discovered.
âWow, that was some firework,â said Nerlin Flood as a diamond the size of a
Orkward sat on a rock outside the treasure cave and looked down into the stadium far below him. Even from this far away he could hear the sounds coming from the crowd. They were sounds that Orkward hated and despised, the sounds of people having a good time and being happy.
He would teach them.
He would give them a new sound, the sound of five revolting Floods children exploding into a billion little pieces that even Matron wouldnât be able to reassemble. As he watched, Narled trundled across the grass towards the medal winnersâ podium. The Floods, as Orkward had predicted, had won the three-legged race and were standing there lookingdisgustingly happy, waiting to get their billionth gold medals. As Satanella ran round the stadium doing a lap of honour, the hatred Orkward Warlock felt for the Floods grew so big he felt as if his head would explode. It was bad enough that they won everything, got all the gold stars, had more friends than anyone else, had the most beautiful mother in the entire universe and just looked so horribly pleased with themselves, but now they had made him get a pounding headache too. As Merlinmary held her hands high in the air and theentire stadium cheered when she sent fabulous bolts of lightning soaring up into the clouds, Orkward felt the veins on his neck throbbing louder and louder like a bass drum. Blood began to trickle down his nose, blood that no longer tasted sweet on his tongue but was as bitter as his soul.
Narled disappeared beneath the stand and re-emerged a few seconds later. Orkward took out a remote control box from his backpack and switched it on. The red light on it started to flash. It throbbed like a heartbeat and Orkward felt his thumb twitch in excitement. His mouth went dry and his own heart began to beat in time with the red button. He felt faint with excitement.
Ten, nine, eight â¦
Professor Throat walked forward carrying the medals.
Seven, six, five, four â¦
The Professor reached down and pinned the first medal to Satanella Floodâs collar. She wagged her tail with such enthusiasm that she threw herself off the podium.
Three, two â¦
Orkward pressed the button.
Time seemed to stop. The wind that always ran down the valley stood still. The split second seemed like an hour. The blood on Orkwardâs tongue, though as bitter as before, now tasted like fine wine, and in that last split second he realised who his true father was.
He, Orkward Warlock, was the devilâs child.
He, Orkward Warlock, was son and heir to the dark forces of the underworld and he, Orkward Warlock, would make everyone fall at his feet.
Except then the world exploded.
Orkward was amazed by how loud it was. It sounded as if it was right behind him.
And it was.
The mouth of the cave erupted in an amazing ball of fire. Narledâs treasure trove burst out of the cave in all directions. It flattened trees, shattered rocks and blew Orkward Warlock into more pieces than there are grains of sand in the whole world. 37
Down in the stadium the crowd looked up and, thinking the school had put on a special fireworks display, everyone cheered. Seconds later, hundreds of wonderful things began to rain down on them. Seventy-three iPods, countless gold coins, seven hundred and nine lost buttons, bits of Lego, ballpoint pens, missing pieces of jigsaw puzzles, shoes, andtwelve thousand pages of missing homework covered the playing field and half the valley. In the fourth year common room, twelve gold crowns, three French hens and a partridge in a pear sauce flew out of the fireplace as the explosion shot out of the back of the cave and down the secret tunnel Merlinmary had discovered.
âWow, that was some firework,â said Nerlin Flood as a diamond the size of a
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