The Chain (The Secret of Spellshadow Manor #3)(100)

Alex knew this was his opportunity. He threw back the chair and ran for the antechamber, hoping his silver mist would keep Alypia at bay for long enough. Seeing the rows upon rows of smoky black bottles, he knew he didn’t have the time or the space to take them all, and so he ran the length of the room, scooping as many as he could into the satchel still around his body, filling the bag until it was full to bursting.

Satisfied with his bounty, he reached for the first rack at the side of the antechamber door and wrenched it down as hard as he could, watching as it smashed into the next one, and the next, and the next, collapsing like dominoes, the countless bottles exploding into shards, releasing the long-trapped wisps of red-tinged life essence. He did the same with the other side, until the antechamber was a writhing mass of pulsing red light that had begun a mass exodus back into the earth, sinking into the ground where it belonged, never to be used for any unnatural purpose as it ebbed away.

Alypia was still screaming when he ran back into the study, slamming the antechamber door shut behind him. Her arms flailed wildly as she tried to fight the silver mist that clawed at her with hungry desperation, but Alex knew the anti-magic wouldn’t hold her for much longer.

What would, however, was life magic.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about using it, but there wasn’t time to balance the morality as he picked up two of the bottles from his satchel, apologizing softly to the unknown people they had belonged to. Plucking out the stoppers, he poured the shivering vines of pulsing red light into his hands. The essences burned his palms as they met with the coiling silver twist of his anti-magic. He wasn’t certain how to manipulate life magic that belonged to someone else, but he figured he had come this far by making it up as he went along. Trusting his instincts, he fed his own anti-magic into the glowing bands of red, watching in wide-eyed awe as they crackled into life, pooling liquidly from his hands toward the flagstones below.

Before they could reach the floor, Alex exploded the blazing pools into two gargantuan beasts of golden and scarlet-tinged magic. They charged in a surge of raw energy toward Alypia’s trembling figure, their monstrous eyes glowing black like the clockwork mice he had so adored. As they crashed into the white-haired mage’s body, a red miasma snaked from within the jaws of one and wrapped around her, squeezing tighter with every breath she took. The life magic retaliated against her, trying to claw and scrape at her inner essence, drawn in a frenzy toward it.

Golden jaws snapped and red-tipped talons tore within the confined room. There was nowhere for Alypia to run. Tentatively, Alex withdrew his anti-magic from the roaring, snarling beasts, pleased to see that the monsters remained as he took his influence away. It was almost as if they had a mind of their own now, urged on by whomever they had once belonged to. They attacked Alypia with ferocious vehemence, and the shiver of the spilt, nearby life essence seemed to join with the monsters, fueling them, making them more powerful and more autonomous than Alex could ever have imagined.

Almost fearful for his own life, Alex scampered from the room, worried they might turn on him if he stayed too long. As he ran, the horrifying screams of Alypia followed him, echoing through the hallways. Had it been anyone else, he might have felt worse about how he had left her, but he was in no doubt that she would fend off the glowing golden creatures eventually.

Just not until we’re long gone, he hoped.

The bottles clinked in his satchel as he sprinted toward the prison cells, his lungs burning with the exertion. On his way toward his friends, he almost took out Helena, who was running in the opposite direction, careening into her at full force.

“Whoa!” he yelled, grabbing her shoulders to stop her from going flying.

“Alex?” She seemed stunned.

“No time,” he gasped.

“Who’s screaming?” she asked, pointing the way Alex had come.

“Your mother.” He shrugged apologetically, his chest heaving from the sprint. “I’m… keeping her… busy. We’re leaving.”

Understanding flashed in Helena’s eyes. “The others?”

“Cells.”

Drawing on his last stores of strength, he tore off down the hallways with Helena running beside him, not stopping until they reached the prison cells. Leaving Alex to regain his breath, Helena hurried along the passageway, removing the key from around her neck and unlocking the doors that contained Jari, Aamir, Natalie, and Ellabell. Alex saw that her hands were shaking, but whether from fear or excitement, he wasn’t sure.

Alex ushered everyone out, yanking the doors open and helping them to their feet, assisted by Helena. It was a rushed affair with no time for explanations, and there was panic in the atmosphere as Helena led them all back through the labyrinthine school toward the door with the portal. With a gut-wrenching smack of dread, Alex realized, as they neared the room midway down the dingy corridor, that the portal itself could well have been removed, just as Natalie had removed the one that brought them to this place.

“Please still be there,” he muttered, pushing open the door.

To his overwhelming joy, it was still there. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been more thrilled about anything in his life. Whooping loudly, he scooped Ellabell into his arms, spinning her wildly around, and though her expression was one of total bemusement, she laughed as he set her down.

His delight was short lived as he heard the piercing sound of Alypia’s screams, echoing into the room. The howling, animalistic sound could be heard from where they were, making Alex worry about the rapidly closing window of time they still had.