Wraith(95)

At the top, there was a wooden cover. I heaved my shoulder against it and it thudded open. Holding my breath I looked out, immediately recognising the Tolbooth dungeon. I was right. The upper floors might have been almost destroyed but down here, other than an overpowering reek of decay and burning, the cells were intact.

The tunnel was located in one of the far cells and, judging by the straw and bits and pieces in it, had been covered up with debris to conceal it. Marrock had dared even more than I’d realised; he must have had inside help from some of the Filits to create it. I wondered who they were; I’d have liked to shake them warmly by the hand for their help. I pulled myself out of the tunnel and stood up, glancing around.

Gabriel followed, hot on my heels. ‘It doesn’t make sense,’ he commented. ‘If the Stone of Scone is here, the goblins would have found it already.’

I grimaced, nodding in agreement. ‘It must be concealed somewhere. Maybe we should start checking the walls and the floor.’

‘I’ll start this end.’ He jerked his head to the left.

‘Okay. I’ll try this way.’

I wandered through the cells, trying to avoid letting the lingering sense of ghostly desperation from old prisoners get to me. The knowledge of all the fallen bricks above our heads didn’t help the claustrophobic feeling and I could swear that the cells were even danker and more miserable than they had been when Ange was here.

‘Saiya!’ Gabriel spoke urgently.

I turned away from the gloomy cell I was inspecting. ‘What is it?’

‘I have something here.’

I darted over to join him in another cell. He pointed to the far wall. ‘There’s something there,’ he said. ‘I can sense it. There’s an entire room beyond this one. It might just be a quirk of the building but I think there’s more to it.’

I stared at the wall; it looked exactly the same as the others. I stepped over to it and thumped it. It sounded normal as well. ‘I don’t know how…’

‘Stand back.’

I moved out of the way. As I watched, he raised his hands and started to murmur, concentration etched on his face. ‘I have to be careful,’ he muttered. ‘The foundations are probably already weak. We can’t afford to have the rest of the Tolbooth come down on top of our heads.’

That was a strategy I could get behind. I pressed my lips together, tension stiffening my body, as Gabriel chanted a few more lines. A fissure appeared in the stone, then another and another. I blinked. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before. He really did have massive amounts of power at his fingertips.

With a grim smile, he fell quiet then lashed out with his foot, kicking the centre of the wall. Clouds of dust rose up, momentarily obscuring our vision. When it cleared, there was a large hole in the wall – certainly large enough for us both to fit through. We exchanged looks and I shuffled up and peered through. As soon as I saw what lay beyond, I gasped and pulled back.

‘It’s there. The Stone is really there.’

Gabriel grinned, looking smug. ‘See?’ he said. ‘I told you that you needed me.’

I couldn’t stop myself smiling back then I raised my body and heaved myself through the gap.

I didn’t approach the Stone until Gabriel joined me. He murmured again, using the same magic as he had in the cave to create a glowing ball of light. The Stone of Scone stood before us, in the centre of a small chamber. It was as if it had been waiting for centuries just for this moment and for a second we stared at it. It was an oblong rock, grey in colour, with four sturdy stone legs. Set into its top was a rusted iron circle. Despite its nondescript appearance, power throbbed from it.

‘Unbelievable,’ I whispered.

Gabriel nodded. ‘It’s a thing of wonder. I can feel its magic from here. The strength is unbelievable.’ He paused. ‘Now you need to do everything you can to render it useless.’

I shook myself from my reverie and crouched down next to it. ‘Can you move the light?’ I asked. ‘I need to see the shadow.’

He did as I asked. Bit by bit, the dark shape of the Stone of Scone’s shadow elongated along the floor. I brushed my fingers against it. I could feel it – and if I could feel it then I could take the shadow away.

Curving my fingers round it, I searched for weaknesses. Just at the point where the shadow joined the far leg of the Stone, I found one. I lifted the shadow slightly, grunting with the effort, then I tugged. The only thing I felt was resistance. Trying harder, I shifted my position to get a better grip. I kept gaining purchase and losing it but, just when I thought I was never going to manage to get a proper hold on it, my hands tightened and I felt the shadow shift slightly. Awe flooded me. Come on, Saiya. Bloody come on. I heaved all my weight, effort and concentration towards spooling it away from the Stone. Bit by bit, it yielded.

‘I’ve almost got it,’ I said through gritted teeth. ‘I can feel it pulling away.’

The magic of the Stone trembled through my fingertips as if it were doing everything it could to resist losing its shadow. That was nuts, I told myself. It was just a stone. It might have ancient magic running through it but at the end of the day it was a hunk of rock.

I peeled away an edge, gasping at the effort. ‘Almost there…’

There was the sound of footsteps from beyond the dark chamber. I yelped and fell backwards. A moment later a face appeared in the gap in the wall and there was a loud shout of triumph. Pat! Bloody hell.