"Could be worse. Please, Marcia. I don't want to lose the Manuscriptorium. I'd do anything to stop that. Anything."
Marcia knew that Beetle was not going to change his mind. "Very well, Beetle. I'll do as you ask. I'll Activate the Hermetic Seal."
Leaving Marcellus Pye with a firm grasp on Merrin and Jillie Djinn staring into space, Marcia and Beetle made their way to the entrance of the seven-cornered passage. They stopped outside.
"You'll find the secret siege drawer in the table by tapping the tiny black circle in the center seven times. The drawer contains emergency supplies and the Suspension Charm with instructions," Marcia told him.
"I know," said Beetle.
"You're a brave young man, Beetle. Good luck."
"Thanks."
Marcia wondered if she'd ever see Beetle again. "Right then. You'd better go in. As soon as you get into the Chamber, sit in the Chief Hermetic Scribe's seat. It's in the very center and you'll be all right there. The Sealing Magyk will be very intense and that isn't always pleasant."
"Oh. Right."
Marcia gave Beetle a strained smile. "I'll count to twenty-one and then I'll Activate the Seal. Understood?"
"Yep. I'll count too. One . . . two . . ."
Beetle was gone. He ran through the narrow stone archway into the darkness of the seven-cornered passageway, and before he had finished counting to ten he was in the brightness of the circular Hermetic Chamber. Feeling as though he shouldn't, Beetle sat down in the Chief Hermetic Scribe's seat at the table and, still counting, he watched the archway that he had just run through. The next few seconds were the longest of his life.
The Activating of the Seal began. A hissing sound filled the Chamber, immediately followed by a rush of cold air as the Seal was driven along the seven-cornered passage. Beetle watched in awe as a shining wall of purple Magyk came around the last corner and stopped at the arch that led into the Chamber. The brilliant Magykal light pulsed over the archway and the circular white walls of the Hermetic Chamber intensified it, sending currents of Magyk swirling while Beetle sat in the calm at the very center of it, hardly daring to breathe. After a few minutes he could see that the purple light was beginning to fade, wisps of Magyk were drifting off. They hung in the air, and the bittersweet taste of Magyk caught in Beetle's throat and made him cough.
As the last vestiges of Magyk disappeared, Beetle understood what it meant to be Sealed in the Chamber. Where the arch had been there was now solid wall, indistinguishable from any other part of the walls that surrounded him. He was entombed. Above his head rose the dome of white stone that formed the ceiling of the Hermetic Chamber and below his feet was the Sealed hatch to the Ice Tunnels.
Remembering what Marcia had told him, Beetle tapped the tiny black circle in the center of the table seven times. A small drawer below the table sprung open. He reached in for the Suspension Charm - and drew out a handful of licorice bootlaces.
Chapter 29 Retreat
The Darke Fog was rolling on. It had reached the door to Larry's Dead Languages. It seeped in around the edges, finding out the cracks, pouring through the knotholes, needling through the woodworm burrows. It gathered around the piles of translated papers, swirled into the much-repaired vase and snuffed out the candles in the window display that had been lovingly created by Beetle. It rolled on through the shop, up into the gallery, along the landing and up the rickety winding stairs. In his little room deep in the back of his house, Larry awoke. He sat up in bed and pulled the bedclothes around his chin. He stared into the darkness, listening hard. Something was wrong. Larry swung his sticklike legs out of bed and, as his bare feet flinched at the cold touch of the floorboards, he saw black smoke pouring underneath the door. Aghast, he leaped up - the house was on fire!
The smoke advanced toward him; it began to curl around his frozen toes and slowly, as if in a dream, Larry sat down again. A great feeling of contentment overwhelmed him. He was back in his old school, getting the Latin prize for the seventh time, and he had just seen his father in the audience, in the front row, smiling at him. Smiling at him. Larry. Clever Larry . . .
As the Darke Fog layered around him, Larry sank back onto the bed. His breathing slowed and, like a tortoise in the depths of winter, he slipped into a dark and dreamless state somewhere between life and death.
Marcia ushered Jillie Djinn and Marcellus, who had custody of Merrin, out into Wizard Way. She quickly locked the Manuscriptorium door behind her. Marcia could hardly bear to think about what she had left behind, but what was facing her was even worse. Advancing up Wizard Way like a pulsating black toad was a Darke shifting blackness.
Marcia was horrified to see that the rolling Fog was accompanied by a line of Things - the outriders of the Darke Domaine. Like the sweep of a terrifying search party, they spread out across Wizard Way, with the Fog tumbling behind. She stared in shock, unable to tear herself away from the disaster unfolding before her.
Marcellus tried to draw Marcia away. "Marcia, you must get to the Wizard Tower at once," he said.
Merrin's eyes flashed angrily at Marcellus. With the Darke Domaine advancing ever nearer he felt he was growing stronger. The Two-Faced Ring was growing hot on his thumb and the vicious green faces were beginning to glow. The top face winked up at Merrin, and suddenly he knew he could beat Marcia. He could beat them all. He was in charge now. He was the best.
First Merrin broke the Silent with the worst insult in the Castle, then he broke the Restrain. With a violent twist, he tore himself from Marcellus's grasp and delivered a vicious kick to the Alchemist's shins. As Marcellus hopped up and down, gasping in pain, Merrin raised his arms in the air and, in a taunting gesture, he pulled his wrists apart, snapping the Locking Band as if it were no more than tissue paper. Relishing his moment of triumph, Merrin darted forward and waved his left thumb in Marcia's face, laughing as she instinctively drew back. The ring's evil-looking faces glowered at her, their jade complexions gleaming.
Marcia knew that there was only one possible reason for Merrin's sudden surge of power - the oncoming Darke Domaine had indeed been Engendered by him. Up to that moment she had found it hard to believe that Merrin was capable of such a thing but now, as he pranced away, defiantly punching the air with his fist, with his Two-Faced Ring glittering, Marcia realized just how much control Merrin now had. It was a terrifying thought.
"You idiot!" she yelled at him. "You have no idea what you are messing with, do you?"
"Neither do you, Wizard-face." Merrin laughed. "Run away to your twinkly little Tower and take old haddock-brain with you. I don't need her anymore. See ya! Ha, ha, ha!" Merrin could hardly contain himself. He had never had such an attentive - such an astonished - audience. It was wonderful. It was what he had always wanted.
"That's what I think of your stupid Magyk!" he yelled at Marcia, flicking his fingers at her. Gesticulating and laughing, Merrin danced backward, his pale face lit by the still-burning torches and the ghostly candle displays shining onto the empty streets. "Come and get me if you dare!" he yelled.
Marcia did dare. It was undignified but she didn't care. Inside Merrin's nasty little stomach the precious half of the Paired Codes was churning, and she was not having her last chance to defeat him escape her. She tore down Wizard Way in pursuit. Merrin laughed and ran, his scribe's cloak streaming behind him, his outstretched arms flapping like a demented bird flying toward his flock.
Marcellus raced after Marcia. It was a long time since he had run anywhere and his shoes were not ideal for the job - particularly after their encounter with the Manuscriptorium door. But Marcia's pointy purple pythons were even less suited to running and he soon caught up with her.
"Marcia . . ." he puffed. "Stop."
Marcia shook Marcellus's hand off her arm. "Let go," she hissed.
Marcellus stood firm. "No. Marcia, don't you see? The closer you get to that" - he waved his free hand at the advancing Darke Domaine and its outriders - "the more power it gives him and the more it takes from you. Come away before something awful happens."
"Something awful has happened," snapped Marcia, setting off in pursuit once more.
Marcellus kept up with difficulty. "It could be worse . . . you still have the Wizard Tower . . . don't risk it all on a nasty little scribe."
Marcia stopped. "You don't understand - he's got the Paired Code!"