Colin Well: The Wizard

Chapter 7―PathFinding

        In the Hub, Marcia and Septimus waited for Milo. Marcia's arms were crossed, tapping her foot on the ground she said, "Where is he? He was supposed to be here when you arrived."
        "I have no idea. I'm sure he'll be here soon, though." Septimus sat down by Claudius on the steps.
        "I hope so," said Marcia impatiently.

Upstairs, seated around the fireplace on the floor in the Great Chamber were four figures.
        Marston had been telling Tod, Colin and Eliza all about his Apprenticeship with Edd Heap and how Edd's twin, Erik, was jealous because he didn’t have an Apprentice. Soon after he finished, Colin felt something that he had only felt before with Eliza. These people were his friends. He trusted them enough to tell the story of the Knight while Eliza nodded in agreement.
        When he finished, Marston said, "Then that must be what's guarding the Ways."
        "It all makes sense," said Tod. She pulled out a much-folded piece of paper. Unfolding it, she laid it out on the floor. It was a map. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll have an explanation."
        While Tod wrote down numbers on a different piece of paper, Colin, Eliza, and Marston watched intently. After about ten minutes, Tod held up the paper.
        "I've looked at all the different ways. The reinforcements could come through the Ways to the Castle. That's why they're blocking them, so they don't have any inconveniences―like Seals or people coming through. Also, if they're sailing I've taken the time of how long you said until they'd be here and I've found three places that equal that amount of time. Here."
        Tod pointed to three different places on her map. One was on an island, one was on a peninsula, and the other was inland. "These are all the places that it would take to sail here in that time." Colin, Eliza, and Marston nodded in unison. "But I've also taken time for them to get ready to leave. I've subtracted three days from the week they were going to be here. That means they'll be leaving tomorrow."
        "Oh." Colin was frantic. If they were leaving tomorrow then there was no time to stop them.
        "But," Tod added. "I've got this." She held out the box that contained her PathFinder. "With this we can track them down and explore all the places. We'll be able to find them by tomorrow. But we must leave now."
        "But what about Septimus?" asked Eliza.
        "Milo and Marcia? We need time." Marston added.
        "Didn't you guys hear? There is no time. We have to do this now," said Colin. He knew this was important. Even though he'd only been to the Castle once, it felt like more of a home than the Port ever had.
        "Thank you, Colin." Tod nodded and stood up. Colin stood up with her. He held out his hand to Eliza.
        She sighed. "Okay, I'll go. If it really means that much to you." Eliza grabbed Colin's hand and stood up. Marston shook his head, smiling and stood up.
        "I'm not staying here by myself," he said, throwing his hands up in the air.
        Suddenly, Septimus and Marcia appeared. "We're going out to meet Milo on his ship. Are you coming?" asked Septimus eagerly.
        Tod shook her head. Septimus looked crestfallen, but he and Marcia hurried outside.
        "If we're doing this, let's go right now," said Eliza.
        The four walked down into the Hub. Claudius was sitting at the bottom of the steps. They passed him and walked over to Way XI. Tod turned to Claudius and said, "Claudius, when Marcia comes back, please tell her that we've went to stop the reinforcements." With that, Tod stepped into Way XI. "Grab each other's hands."
        Holding out her PathFinder, Tod stepped into the Way. Together, they walked to the end of the tunnel. The white must surrounded them and Tod gasped. She loved going through the Ways. It always made her head spin, but it was amazing.
        Light streamed from the PathFinder as they walked into the mist. As each person walked into the Vanishing Point, they were enveloped in a shining silver bubble. The mist outside the bubble swirled around it. Colin was overawed. He'd never felt this sort of Magyk before, not even when he came from the Castle into Marcia's Hub. At last, when the bubble closed around Marston, Colin was almost sick. He felt as if he was traveling at breakneck speed. The feeling of traveling to anywhere in the world overcame Colin and he laughed. Eliza looked at him like he was insane, but Colin ignored her.
        In front of Tod, she saw the outline of an archway. A moment later, she was walking out of the Vanishing Point. At last, when Marston finally exited, there was a pop and they were plunged into sudden darkness.
        "It's okay, guys. Here, use this." Tod let go of Colin's hand. There was a crackle and a stick of light appeared, held by Tod. She handed it to Colin.
        "What is this place?" Colin asked as he walked out into a Hub, looking around the derelict place that was covered in vines and creepers. The floor was littered with animal skeletons. Small streams of water ran all across the floor, and more water dripped from the ceiling.
        "It's a Hub, but it's been left to ruins," explained Tod. She held up her PathFinder as it pointed to a mass of rubble where an Ancient Way should have been. "Oh, this one's caved in. We'll have to move the rocks."
        Half an hour later, a small space was cleared, just big enough for everyone to fit through. They went into the Way and continued their long journey.
        Way after Way, they traveled. They went through one that was partly filled with water, one that smelled of earth and dirt, and one that smelled of the salty sea. Finally, they reached an archway and Tod said, "This one leads to one of the places where the reinforcements might be. Get ready."
        Colin readied himself to kick, punch or bite. Anything could be through there. They stepped into the Way. After the bubble surrounded them, and the feeling of traveling at breakneck speed kicked in, they saw darkness ahead. When the bubbles finally left them, Colin understood why it was so dark. Huge rocks―too big for them to move―covered the Way, blocking light from entering.
        Colin, Eliza, and Marston began trying to shift the rocks, but it didn't do any good. The rocks stayed put.
        "They wouldn't go through here. It's almost impossible to move the rocks," said Colin. Tod nodded and turned back into the Way. Together, the four went through it again.
        After a few more Ways that ranged from incredibly hot to unnaturally cold, they came to another Way that Tod stopped at.
        "This is another. Get ready again. I have no idea what might be through here." But suddenly Tod was confused. She remembered that you needed a piece of the earth from where you were going for the PathFinder to work. So why was it working now? Tod tried to push it out of her mind. At least it was taking them to where they needed to go. But Tod had no idea that if the people from the Knight had control over a Hub, they also had the ability to put a Darke Charm on Tod's PathFinder that would lead her right into a trap.
        After emerging from that Ancient Way, the bubbles left them and they stood blinking in the sunlight that shone down the tunnel. They stepped out of the Way into a courtyard. The air was cold, but the sun shone in the sky, casting a bright glow that lit up the courtyard. In the middle was a fountain and the walls of the courtyard were lined with the other Ways. On the opposite wall was a pair of large golden doors with lapis streaks.
        Cautiously, the children walked up to the fountain. The water was running smoothly from the top into the pool at the bottom. It was as wide as Tod was tall. It was about ten feet high and when Colin stuck his hand it the water, it was warm. Not only that, but it was also Magyk. Carved along the basin were pictures were hewn into the side. They showed images of a great serpent, one of a dragon, and one of―this surprised Tod―an Orm.
        Colin looked up at the sky. Surrounding the courtyard were towers and turrets made from an orange stone that none of the children had ever seen before. In one of the towers, a bell was ringing, sending the chiming sound all throughout the courtyard.
        Suddenly, the golden doors on the far wall burst open and a great woman swathed in orange came walking out. She saw the children and stopped.
        Before they could do anything, the woman came rushing over to them with her arms outstretched. She threw them around Colin and squeezed him until he couldn't breathe.
        "Ra! It is so nice to finally see you!" said the woman in a very weird accent, letting go of Colin and looking at him. "Come this way, please, Ra. You have people to meet. I knew you would come." With that, the woman ushered the children through the golden doors into whatever lay beyond.