Colin Well: The Wizard

Chapter 12-The Magykal Mark

        Colin had to squint. The air was filled with an orange haze. Dark smoke drifted through the air as they listened. In front of them a huge chant was being spoken, echoing in the cavern. The children couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but Colin guessed they were up to no good. A parting in the smoky air revealed an unpalatable sight. Colin shuddered at what he saw.
        Hanging from a platform was a rusty metal cage. The platform was connected to stairs that led into the crowd of people. The cage was hung over the steaming lava, it's heat floating through the cavern. But what frightened Colin was the thing in the cage—Septimus Heap.
        The cavern was wide with a platform made of stone that went in a half circle around the pit. The lava boiled below, waiting for its prey to fall.
        Colin glanced at Eliza. He saw her take a deep breath in, getting ready to scream, but Colin git to her first. He wrapped his hand around her mouth and dragged her behind a rocky hump in the stone platform. Tod, Kloud, and Marston followed. From behind the rock, they could see clearly through the smoke. The terrible man from the Knight, the Captain, stood on a raised platform. He looked over the crowd of various people. All were completely different, just like on the Knight.
        The Captain waved his hand and immediately the chant stopped. Everyone looked up to the Captain. "Later this morning we will all leave for the Castle. You all will be arriving on ship—the Ancient Ways are too fragile for this amount of people. In only one hour, the sun will rise, and we will depart." The Captain stepped off his platform and walked onto the one the cage was hanging from, over the lava. Ignoring his captive, the Captain continued, "But first we must get rid of him!" He pointed angrily down at Septimus.
        Everyone in the volcano cheered. The Captain smiled an evil grin as he looked down at the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. The people yelled "Throw him in!" and "Down with the Castle!"
        Before anyone could stop her, Tod ran out from behind their hiding place. "No! Stop!" she screamed. Tod, realizing what she had done, clapped her hand over her mouth. Hundreds of eyes turned to Tod. The Captain let out a high cackle as he looked down at Tod.
        "Alice TodHunter Moon. The ExtraOrdinary Wizard Apprentice. I was hoping you would be here. Guards!" The Captain swiftly moved his hand through the air and immediately a man and a woman in heavy armor, carrying spears, grabbed Tod's elbows. She screamed and kicked, but they held on tightly.
        A sudden movement in the corner of the Captain's eye caught him off guard. In the shadows, he saw a few children huddled behind a rock. He didn't think that the Apprentice had brought friends. "Don't forget her friends, too!" he told more guards. The guards hurried over and grabbed Marston, Eliza, and Kloud the same way they were holding Tod.
        But they hadn't noticed Colin slipping back into the shadows near the edge of the stone platform. A large rock hung over Colin, obscuring him from the Captain's view.
        The Captain looked at the children he had caught. Smiling nastily, excited that his plan was working, he waved his hand. Tod watched in horror as the Projection of Septimus Heap disappeared in the cage. It had all been a trick. Now her friends were going to pay for her stupid mistake.

Down the mountain, in the Hub, Septimus, Marcia, and Milo walked out of the Way the children had just come through a little while before.
        "The Trail stops here. It leads up the stairs. We have to hurry, we only have a few more minutes until it wares away, then we'll never know where Tod is," said Marcia. They had stopped in a small Hub right after they escaped the Captain. They gave it a few hours rest, then they were off again.
        "Do you think Colin will be with her? And the others?" Milo asked, wearily. He was still confused from the Magyk that had been put on him. He looked around. "Marcia, we're back in your Hub. . ."
        "No, Milo. It just looks very similar. Hurry now, we must find them." Marcia ran up the stairs into the next room. Milo looked at Septimus. Septimus shrugged and followed Marcia. Milo, wondering why Marcia could never do anything normal, followed Septimus.
        He found Marcia already outside the building. Gingerly closing the door, Milo made sure to be quiet. He may not know what Marcia was doing, but he did know when she was serious.
        The trio walked up the hill to the cliff face. Faster than the children, Septimus found the moving chamber and looked uncertainly at it. The last time he'd used one of these it hadn't gone so well. It had broken down and the scariest thing was Magyk didn't work in the moving chamber.
        He looked at Marcia and she said, "The Trail is gone. We must hurry." Septimus opened the moving chamber doors and they stepped inside.