Colin Well: The Wizard

Chapter 5―At Night

        "We'll be taking a few of the alleys and streets out to Maker's Mile then we'll go down it and turn onto Alchemie Way. That'll take us to Wizard Way which leads straight to the Wizard Tower," explained Marwick as they weaved through streets, "You're going to love this place―even if you're thinking about other things." Marwick referred to the trouble with the ambush. "I'm taking Maker's Mile and Alchemie Way because I need to stop by the Palace. Queen Jenna needs to know about the ambush too."
        Colin nodded and remained silent. He was still speechless from how brilliant the Castle was. Eliza reacted differently however. She thought it had looked different from the outside, but inside the Castle it still just felt like The Port.
        Colin looked to the sky. To the west the sun was setting and it cast a golden glow over the Castle making it glint. His breath fogged in the chilly air when Colin exhaled. He loved the Castle so much. What harm would it cause Barnaby if Colin stayed here?
        Soon, the trio reached Maker's Mile. It stretched the length of the Castle. One end stretched all the way to the South Gate and the other led to the North Gate. They set off in the direction of where the South Gate was located. But after awhile, they reached a huge chimney sticking up out of the middle of the street. Behind it was a wide street―Alchemie Way―and in the distance, at the end of the Way, Colin could see the Palace, it's windows gleaming in the setting sun.
        "This is the Alchemie Chimney. It leads down into the Fyre Chamber, but that's another story for another time," explained Marwick.
        Colin noticed lettering carved into the granite slabs at the base of the chimney. He motioned for Eliza to come look at the lettering which read:

Marcellus Pye: Last and First Alchemist.
Simon Heap: Alchemie Apprentice.
Lucy Heap: Architect.
Heather, Elizabeth and Samson Snarp: Stonemasons and Lighthouse Builders.

        Colin looked at the names for a few minutes, reading over it several times. Marcellus Pye. Colin thought that he had heard that name before. Marcellus Pye. It sounded so familiar. Suddenly, he remembered. Back on the Knight there was a drawing of a man with black hair a black robes. Colin recalled the scribbles that were at the bottom. It had said: Marcellus Pye, Castle Alchemist and TROUBLEMAKER. Colin didn't know what it had meant by "Troublemaker". If Marcellus Pye was the Castle Alchemist, then he couldn't very well be a troublemaker for the Castle.
        Marwick broke Colin out of deep thought by pulling Colin away from the chimney. "Now we're almost to the Palace."
        As they walked along Alchemie Way, Colin and Eliza watched the orange sun set on the horizon. Colin looked up at the sky. Faintly, he could make out the stars in the sky and near the horizon was a light that he presumed was the moon. But Colin didn't realize that the moon wasn't going to come up in the west. Nor did he know that in the distance out in the Forest, across the Moat, the Wendron Witches were listening to Phillip from the Knight explain the ambush. He also didn’t know that the light that he thought was the moon, was just the Wendron Witches celebrating the expected fall of the ExtraOrdinary Wizard.
        When the trio reached the Palace, Marwick stopped and turned to Colin and Eliza. "You must be polite to Queen Jenna. She's a great person and―"
        "We've met her before," interrupted Eliza.
        "Oh," Marwick said. "Where?"
        "In The Port. She actually saved us from people chasing us."
        "Cool. Well, come on then." Marwick said, leading them up to the Palace doors. Once inside, Marwick shut the doors, blocking out the cold. Colin and Eliza turned around. In the entrance hall, Queen Jenna stood, awaiting them. She had a blood red dress that swept along the ground and her torso was covered with a black wool―knitted sweater. She looked like a child that had decided to dress themselves, but the trio said nothing.
        "Wolf B―" Jenna stopped herself. "Marwick. It's good to see you!"
        "You too." Marwick looked down at Colin and Eliza.
        "You guys! What? Marwick, what are they doing here?" Jenna realized that what she said had sounded rude. "I'm sorry. It's very nice to see both of you. And it even nicer to know that you're not out very late at night."
        "Yeah. Hi, it's nice to see you too, Queen Jenna." Eliza shifted uncomfortably. She felt very nervous.
        "Um, Jen? We've got something very important to tell you," said Marwick.
        "Of course. Mum's sitting room?" Marwick nodded and Jenna led them to a wooden door down the hall. She opened it and walked inside. The dim light from the fireplace cast shadows dancing along the walls. In the middle of the room was a sofa cluttered with books and other trinkets. Along the walls where shelves lined with more books and weird looking objects.
        Jenna cleared away some of the mess from the sofa and two chairs―with the assistance of Marwick. "It's a bit of a mess, I'll admit, but it's a great place to concentrate on important conversations." Queen Jenna and Marwick sat in the armchairs, leaving the sofa for Colin and Eliza. "Okay then. What is it that you wanted to tell me?"
        Marwick explained everything with the help of the children. After he finished, Queen Jenna looked shocked. "Oh," she said as she leaned back in the armchair. "That's not good at all. We must tell Septimus."
        "That's exactly where we were going," said Marwick. Colin nodded in agreement and looked at Eliza. She was staring into the fire.
        "Let's go now, then," exclaimed Jenna as she stood up. "We haven't a moment to lose."
        Ten minutes later, the four were out on Wizard Way, walking along to the Wizard Tower. Lining the street were shops full of anything you could think of―cloaks, sandwiches, books―anything. Colin felt excitement rising in him. He felt as if he were in a dream. The Castle was so amazing. At the very end of Wizard Way was the Wizard Tower. It reared up into the sky and Colin let out an "Oh my..." because the Wizard Tower was better than anything. It was so tall and at the very top was a beautiful golden pyramid. Surrounding the Wizard Tower were hundreds of different colors―green, purple, pink. Colin had never felt so amazed.
        On either side of him along Wizard Way, we're tall silver torch posts. Near the end, the group stopped. A wall surrounding the Wizard Tower had a silver gateway that was the entrance to the Wizard Tower courtyard. The Great Arch glinted in the torchlight. The inside of the arch was lined with lapis lazuli. They passed through the Great Arch and entered the courtyard. In front of them, the marble steps leading up to the tall brilliant silver doors looked welcoming. Colin and Eliza were overcame with a sudden dizziness, but they continued to walk up to the silver doors.
        Colin was so lightheaded, he didn't hear what Queen Jenna mumbled as the silver doors swung open. Colin had never ever been around this much Magyk. He thought he was dreaming when the grainy floor spelled out: Welcome, Colin Well. Welcome, Eliza Ellys.
        Colin looked around the entrance hall. A young man in purple hurried up to them, but before they could greet him, both Eliza and Colin toppled over onto the man in purple. Before everything went dark, the last thing Colin saw was Eliza falling into him and he felt himself crash into the purple man.