‘Everyone stay close!’ Bloodstone bellowed, his voice echoing loudly, as he walked swiftly to the front of the group, the edged of his coat flapping behind him. 

Another right and two more lefts. 

Elizabeth was writing the directions down on James’ arm.

‘Why don’t you use a piece of paper?’ he asked.

‘I don’t have any. I tried the timetable, but the ink won’t stay on the page; it just sort of rolls off. I think they must be bewitched,’ Elizabeth replied, still writing directions on James’ exposed arm.

‘Well, why not your own arm then?’ he asked.

‘Listen mate, they already suspect me of making trouble… but they don’t know you well enough to suspect anything… yet,’ she said, grinning at him.

James shook his head and smiled as Elizabeth continued taking notes.

They made several more turns before they reached their destination. When James told Elizabeth he was sure this was the place, she snuck out her wand and pointed it at his arm.

‘Behydan,’ she whispered, tapping the map that had become rather large. It appeared, for a moment, as if it had been covered in a thin layer of frost; then it faded into his skin and couldn’t be seen.

‘Where’d you learn that?’ James asked in awe and envy.

‘I found a little booklet full of this stuff in my dormitory. I’ll make you a copy when we get back.’

James wondered if he’d take to magic as quick as his friend.

‘Boys and girls, welcome to the sanctuary of the Seven Kings!’ Fletcher announced, leading them into a large, stone, room that was brightly lit with torches and candles. Long red, blue, green, and black drapes hung in meticulous succession around the edges of the huge room. To the left, there stood an incredible round, oak, table with seven chairs around, it and a sword placed on the table in front of each chair. Straight across from the entrance to the chamber were two large, stone, statues of powerful looking warlocks, their wands crossed as if to bar entry through a doorway sunk a little ways into the stone wall; which was covered in cobwebs, making it look like it had not been used in a very long time. 

There were a few tunnels that led off of the main chamber, but most had been boarded over to restrict access. The boards had large sections missing, as though they’d been torn away. James thought, surely, they were big enough for him to crawl through. With his inclination towards exploring and creating mischief stirring inside – though it wasn’t nearly as powerful as Elizabeth’s – he stepped over to Elizabeth as the rest of the students were scattering around and looking at all sorts of old artefacts.

‘Take a look at those,’ he said, pointing out the blocked tunnels. ‘What could be back there?’ he smirked.

‘We’ll have to find out some time,’ Elizabeth responded, making a couple drawings on her own arm and then hiding them. 

After some time, Fletcher gathered everyone together. He had a quick story about his first duel with a friend; then taught them a few defensive curses. They were difficult to pick up at first, and a large chunk of cave wall was destroyed when a boy named Jeremiah Foulberg said the incantation backwards.

All in all, it seemed to be a very productive lesson. Fletcher repaired the cave wall with a small tap from his wand, and then started to gather everyone back into a group. James looked around the room; he hadn’t noticed Bloodstone throughout the whole lesson. He scanned the crowd, but couldn’t find a trace of him.

‘Have you seen Bloodstone since just after we started into the cave?’ James whispered to Elizabeth.

‘No, why?’ 

‘If he’s supposed to be here to protect us… shouldn’t he actually be here?’ James mused.

‘He’s probably standing guard outside the door,’ Elizabeth said, pointing to the entrance of the large room.

‘All right boys and girls,’ Fletcher piped up over the excited jabbering, ‘let’s get back to the Orphanage. Miss Hannonspell has promised me a most spectacular lunch; seeing as how I missed breakfast. Let’s go!’ he cried loudly, and began to lead the way out of the cave. 

James and Elizabeth hung back to take a last look at one of the covered tunnels. Just as they were about to leave, they heard some scuffling; suddenly a pair of round, bloodshot, eyes appeared through one of the holes in the board. They were large eyes with a dark pigment. As James and Elizabeth stepped back, the face of a slight man appeared at a lower hole in the boards. The strange face was old, but not wrinkled. It was thin, with a sickly, pale, yellow colour to it. Slowly the man crawled out of the blocked-off tunnel and crouched in front of James and Elizabeth, staring up at them with those dark, bloodshot, eyes.

‘Hollow,’ he smiled sickly, a blood-like substance leaking from his gums. 

‘H-hello,’ James responded cautiously, wanting to turn and run, but not able to look away from the skinny-limbed man in tattered clothes that looked like they were hundreds of years old. The thin-limbed person rose up into a low, hunched, position.

‘Have you came to plaay?’ he grinned wickedly, as his gaze darted from James to Elizabeth.

‘No we were just leave-’ Elizabeth tried.

‘Staay… Plaay!’ the little man coaxed in an eerie, haunting, voice.

‘We really should get going,’ James said with determination, his heart hammering in his chest.

The sickly thing began to blubber and whimper softly. ‘I am aloone for so loong,’ he cried, but stopped suddenly, his eyes widening like he’d just had a wonderful idea. ‘Staay! We caan discover the secrets together!’

‘What secrets?’ James asked, his curiosity overwhelming his caution and fear of this wretched beast.

‘You cannot hide yous desires from me,’ the little man said, now with menace dripping from his voice, and blood oozing from his mouth. He pointed at James. ‘You want poweer. Ahh, yes powers.’ Then he turned a cut and bloody hand to Elizabeth. ‘Yous want strength! Cruushh thems who are against yous…’ He smirked and whispered, ‘Like befores!’ He laughed before continuing. ‘These are your deep, deeep, deeeepest, desires,’ he finished clapping his hands together.

James was concerned, now more than ever. This embittered thing was claiming to know what they wanted; what would happen if they upset him?

‘You should came with me!’ he persisted waving towards the tunnel where he had emerged. 

James shook his head.

‘Where did you come from?’ Elizabeth wondered.

The little man threw his head back, laughing a long and insane laugh, his eyes filled with an inner torment and vicious pain. ‘From back in there,’ he howled, pointing back at the hole. He stared straight at Elizabeth as big tears rolled down his cheeks. ‘I come from there… THERE!’ he roared. ‘There,’ he said again, more softly, almost timidly, ‘where they torture me… Come, I shows yous,’ he finished, an eerie, unsettling, laugh returning to his voice.

‘No, we have to go now!’ James said seriously. He grabbed Elizabeth by the arm and started to walk out.

‘I has secret majik… I would teach yous!’ he called after them. James didn’t stop. ‘I can open the Gateway!’ he finally screamed, as if he were trying to save this for a later revelation. 

‘You can what?’ Elizabeth balked, unbelieving, breaking away from James and walking back towards the vile, yellowish, sickly-looking man. He laughed wickedly and danced in a circle. 

‘I am a Gatekeeper, come and see!’ he chortled, skipping over to Elizabeth, taking her hand and trying to pull her towards his boarded off cave.

‘You can’t be a Gatekeeper,’ James reasoned with a growl. ‘They’re dead, they never trained a successor; Fletcher just told us.’ 

‘Secret lies!’ the thin man began laughing wildly, a crazed look in his eyes. ‘If I is dead, no hope for enemies to opens the gateway…’ more blood dripping from his mouth. He fell down holding his stomach, laughing like a madman. ‘… now I am the lasst one,’ he croaked. ‘The lasts… and all alones…’ Composing himself, he stood up again. ‘I am Horace Bleggard, at yous service,’ he declared, bowing low and spitting on the ground.

‘I don’t believe it,’ Elizabeth said, dumbfounded.

‘Came to my house, I teach you majik! Teach you secret majik!’

James had to admit, despite the ugly dark feeling that he got from this poor thing; he was intrigued to learn what kinds of secret magic he knew. It was more likely that the man was mad, claiming to be a Gatekeeper – an unbelievably feeble Warlock, hundreds if not thousands of years old. James shrugged off these thoughts and shook his head.

‘We have to go, they’ll be wondering where we-’

Horace cut James off. ‘All I want is yous to step into my cave, just for a moment, what harm can come to yous?’

James didn’t like how adamant Horace Bleggard was being. Why did he want them to go with him so badly? These thoughts conjured up pictures of the little man feasting on James’ dead body. 

Now James was really scared. He grabbed Elizabeth’s arm tightly. She looked all too happy to leave as they quickly moved out of the room, Horace calling after them.

‘You’ll came back! You’ll came back! And I will teach yous all my secret majik!’ Horace didn’t yell after them, but just spoke, in what was to James, an all too calm and knowing voice.

Hurrying out of the chamber, James and Elizabeth scuttled through the stone tunnels, running to catch up to the other students. They melted into the rear of the group, confident that no one had noticed their absence. When they were nearing the entrance of the mountain, James saw Bloodstone swiftly walking up behind them. He rushed past James and Elizabeth and took position at the front of the cluster of students. James noticed a fresh, deep, cut on the Bloodstone’s face; it was red and bleeding out slightly.

‘I wonder what he was doing,’ James voiced aloud as he walked beside Elizabeth into the bright, warm, sunlight of the morning. Bloodstone glanced back at them, the crimson streak on his face shimmering in the daylight. His eyes looked cold and hard as ever as he turned away again. James saw Bloodstone lean in and whisper something to Fletcher before taking another, cold, fleeting, look back at the mountain.

‘What do you mean the Witches?’ Fletcher hissed, his voice carrying over the heads of the students.

James felt his blood chill, at the concern in Fletcher’s voice. Bloodstone whispered something else; the Headmaster nodded, and hurried the students away from the mountain.

All the way back to the Orphanage, Elizabeth and James discussed their encounter with Horace, wondering if he was completely insane, or if there was truth to his claims. No matter what, it was clear: something was happening in Shadow Mountain.