The King's Man by Christopher G Nuttall

Author:Christopher G Nuttall [Nuttall, Christopher G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, Magic School
Publisher: Christopher G. Nuttall
Published: 2020-02-14T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

“What the ...”

I broke off as the wards vibrated again. A disconcerting sensation swept over me, my head spinning as if I’d been deep underwater and suddenly surfaced at terrifying speed. My ears hurt, then popped so painfully I almost cried out. Caroline rubbed her ears, her face stricken. I had the horrible thought, just for a second, I’d been deafened. It was hard to hear anything. It wasn’t until Sir Griffons turned and ran for the door that I realised I hadn’t been deafened. My ears just felt weird.

We followed Sir Griffons into the morning room. The windows had been covered with wooden slats when we’d arrived and we’d never bothered to take them down. Now, Sir Griffons tore at them until the windows were exposed, peering over the city. A nasty haze hung over the city, flickering with dark magic. Smoke was billowing up from the direction of Magus Court ... slightly beyond the weirdly-shaped building, if I was any judge. I glanced at Caroline, her face slack with horror. What the hell had happened?

“Grab your protective cloaks,” Sir Griffons snapped. Our master ran down the stairs, moving like a teenager. “Hurry!”

I followed him, snatched my cloak from the hooks and ran outside. Dark magic hung in the air. It was dissipating, but not quickly enough. Dogs howled as we hurried through the gatehouse and up the road towards Magus Court. I could taste the scent of human agony in the haze. Whatever had happened, it had been bad.

My heart raced as the scene of the disaster came into view. A large building had been badly damaged, its white walls blackened and scarred by dark magic. There had been a gatehouse once, I recalled; the gatehouse was now nothing more than a smouldering crater fuming with dark magic. I shuddered in horror as I remembered what the building was. It was a dorm for scholarship students, brought in from the countryside and made to wait until the new term began. I hoped it hadn't been full of new students. The people close to the blast might be lucky if they were merely killed.

Sir Griffons raised his voice as a handful of armsmen came into view. “Seal off both ends of the street,” he snapped. They were so stunned they followed orders without question. “Don’t let anyone in or out until we can get a decontamination team up here.”

I peered into the crater and felt my gorge rise. There were a couple of bodies, warped and twisted into a teeming mass of flesh. They were still, yet ... somehow, I knew they were still alive. The stench was appalling, horrific beyond words. I couldn’t help myself. I turned to one side and threw up, emptying my stomach of everything I’d eaten. Beside me, Caroline looked as if she wanted to be sick too. Sir Griffons glanced at us, but said nothing. He seemed to take the horrifying scene in stride.

A senior armsman arrived with a small army of assistants.

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