The Scepter of Fire. Морган Райс

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      Copyright © 2018 by Morgan Rice. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author.  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      Jacket image Copyright  Tithi Luadthong, used under license from Shutterstock.com.

      PROLOGUE

      Oliver gazed down into Esther’s eyes in disbelief. They seemed to be getting greener and greener with every second that passed, as the power of the Elixir restored her health.

      “You saved me, Oliver,” she said, tears glittering in her eyes.

      She pulled herself out of his embrace and up to standing. Oliver did the same, staring at her like she was a ghost. Just days ago, she’d been at death’s door. Now she was standing tall and strong, looking more beautiful and radiant than ever. In fact, she almost appeared to be glowing.

      “Esther?” Ralph exclaimed.

      “Whoa…” Walter murmured.

      “You’re glowing,” Simon stammered, his pale blue eyes as round as moons.

      “What was in that thing?” Hazel exclaimed, looking at the now shattered glass jar in which they’d transported the Elixir.

      Before Oliver found his tongue, a sudden judder like an earthquake brought him back to the here and now.

      He suddenly remembered he was back in the School for Seers and that for reasons he didn’t understand the whole place was violently shaking and crumbling around them.

      He glanced down the corridor toward the central atrium. Hundreds of bedraggled seer students were running around the atrium, injured, covered in debris from the crumbling walls. They were being herded by Doctor Ziblatt toward Professor Amethyst.

      That’s when Oliver realized what was happening. Professor Amethyst had activated the hidden time traveling portal within the kapoc tree and a swirling vortex gaped at its center. The seer students were hurrying inside, whooshing away to who knew where.

      The school was being evacuated.

      “That’s the last of them!” Doctor Ziblatt cried, her white lab coat covered in streaks of dirt. “The school’s empty.”

      “Then go!” Professor Amethyst exclaimed.

      She looked at him, tears shining in her eyes. She gripped his hand tightly. “Good luck, sir. I hope to see you on the other side.”

      The old headmaster nodded. Then Doctor Ziblatt leaped into the swirling vortex and disappeared.

      Oliver couldn’t quite believe what was happening. He’d known that activating the Elixir would have unpredictable results but never in a million years would he have thought it could cause his beloved school to cave in on itself! The School for Seers was supposed to be indestructible! Or at least, that’s always how he’d perceived it. But his meddling in timelines and with the course of history in order to save Esther’s life had clearly had a devastating, unexpected impact. He’d saved Esther, but at what cost?

      Just then, Professor Amethyst spotted them in the corridor. “Quick!” he cried, beckoning to Oliver and his friends from where he stood beside the vortex in the kapoc tree.

      Oliver looked over his shoulder at his friends hovering behind him—Walter, Simon, Hazel, and Ralph, the best friends a boy could ever hope for.

      “The school’s falling in on itself,” he stammered, disbelief making his throat tighten. Not the School for Seers. Not his sanctuary. “We have to evacuate.”

      “Let’s go,” Hazel said, fighting to stay upright against the force of the shaking.

      The walls shook and shuddered as the gang staggered toward Professor Amethyst. The quaking was so violent it was as difficult as wading through treacle.

      Inch by inch, the group closed the distance between themselves and their escape to safety. But they were an arm’s length from the kapoc tree when there came a very loud crack from above.

      Oliver gasped, his gaze snapping up. One of the kapoc’s enormous branches had cracked off the tree and was falling. It was coming right for Esther!

      Without even a nanosecond to think, Oliver dived, shoving Esther out of the way. They slammed to the floor with a painful crunch, Oliver landing hard on top of her. The branch slammed down beside them, bringing debris with it that rained down on them.

      Esther coughed and peeped out from beneath her arms. “Thanks,” she squeaked. Then she coughed again, the fine powder from the crumbling walls overcoming her.

      Just then, Oliver heard Professor Amethyst yell, “NO!”

      Oliver looked up, squinting through the cloud of dust, to see the swirling vortex had gone. Instead, a huge jagged zigzag had sliced across the entire trunk of the kapoc tree. The time portal had been destroyed.

      Now what? Oliver thought desperately as he heaved himself to his feet.

      If they could make it to the sixth dimension they might stand a chance, but that was located at the very top of the school, on the ground floor, and they were at the very bottom, fifty floors underground.

      Oliver felt distraught.

      Professor Amethyst hurried to them. “Quick. Come. Come now,” he said, beckoning them.

      Oliver had never seen the headmaster look so frantic. So scared. It only made it more clear how dire the situation they were in really was.

      The gang hurried along with Professor Amethyst. The elderly man led them down a corridor marked with an X, one forbidden to students. Oliver had no idea where it would take them or what Professor Amethyst’s plan was now. But he always trusted the headmaster. His mentor had never failed him yet.

      They ran through the corridor, the shaking so intense Oliver felt his teeth rattle in his skull. It was like standing beside a pneumatic drill. He could feel it in every fiber of his body.

      Finally, they made it to the end of the corridor. Up ahead there was a door. It looked very similar to the one they’d traveled through to get back here from Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop, where he’d helped them create the precious Elixir they’d used to cure Esther. The one, Oliver thought with bitter sorrow, that had set off this catastrophic reaction.

      Professor Amethyst threw open the door. A gust of wind seemed to suck Oliver toward it. He grabbed Esther’s hand. Ralph grabbed his other. He looked left and right to see that his friends were all clinging to one another, Walter to Simon, Simon to Ralph, and so on, in a chain, combining their strength in order to hold their ground against the battering force of the wind.

      “You must jump!” Professor Amethyst cried.

      Oliver looked through the open door. All he could see was darkness.

      “Where will it take us?” he yelled back.

      Wind whipped his blond hair into his eyes. He realized he was trembling. Esther squeezed his hand tightly.

      “Just go!” the headmaster yelled.

      Oliver glanced quickly at his friends. He realized they were waiting for him to lead. To take the first jump. To be brave and show them the way.

      Oliver swallowed his nerves. He let go of Esther’s and Ralph’s