100% Hero (18 page)

'My dear lady, why ever not?' Chester smiled coldly.

'Because bad guys never win.'

'Oh, Ms Smith – this is real life. The bad guys
always win.'

They came to the dungeons.

'Now, Flasheart. Enough of this foolery. There is
no doorway here. Hotspur and I have searched it a
hundred times,' said Chester, staring at the cold grey
stone of the corridor.

'But you didn't know what you were looking for.'
The wolf laughed and pointed at a blank wall at the
far end of the passageway.

'What is this trickery?' Chester pulled Sugar closer.

'No trickery – it is the doorway you seek.' Flasheart
narrowed his green eyes. 'Do not hurt her.'

'Don't put your people in danger for my sake,' said
Sugar, struggling against Chester.

Flasheart smiled. 'All will be fine.' He walked to
the end of the corridor. 'We must put out the lights.'

'No!' Chester warned.

'I cannot see the secret way without darkness,'
Flasheart said calmly, and turned off the switch.

They were plunged into total blackness.

In the dark, Flasheart's Fangen eyes could see
what no others could – a faint sliver of light coming
from the cracks around the stones in the wall. He
pushed one with all his strength. The stone slid back
a little.

The blue light became stronger, shining in a square
beam into the corridor so that they could all see it,
swirling and coiling around.

'What's in there?' Sugar asked.

'The Treasure of Bane,' Chester cried.

'The treasure is nothing of use to you,' Flasheart
said evenly.

Chester laughed in disbelief.

'Why, what is it?' Sugar's dark eyes shone in the icy
light.

'The wealth of a nation,' the small man whispered,
his face gleaming. 'A worth that cannot be calculated.
Open it quickly!'

'May you not pay with your life.' Flasheart nodded
and took a small silver dagger that had lain in the hole
left by the stone.

'What game is this?' Chester demanded. Sugar
struggled against his tight grip.

'No game.' Flasheart's sharp white teeth glinted. 'It is
deadly serious.' He cut his hairy palm with the knife.

Mrs Mutton watched calmly but Sugar gasped.

'Only the blood of a Lupin can open the Halls of
Bane,' he said, and pressed his hand against the stone.
As if a thousand tiny lights had been placed in the
wall, all the cracks began to emit beams, pointing and
searching in every direction. One by one they focused
onto Flasheart's palm and then, with a sound as loud
as a thunderclap, the stones flew inward.

'Oh my word!' Sugar whispered.

The stone wall had completely disappeared and the
corridor now ran on, deep into the ground underneath
Farfang. The light was coming from a chamber far
below.

'This is your last chance to turn back, Puceley,'
Flasheart warned him.

'I'd listen to him, Slimey,' Mrs Mutton agreed.

'Now my triumph is at hand?' Chester roared.
'Never. Walk on – all of you.'

Mrs Mutton and Flasheart exchanged a look and
began to walk down the stone passageway.

Freddy stood in his tower room holding the huge
sword and shield he had dragged up the spiral
staircase. They were Sir Rathbone's own weapons,
taken from the suit of armour that stood at the top of
the Red Stairs. With it, Freddy's ancestor had defeated
his enemies and saved the werefolk from discovery.

Freddy stared at his fireplace. It was an old iron grate
with an intricately carved stone surround. During the
long hours Freddy had been banished to his room, he
had often been mesmerised by the shapes that sprang
out of the patterns like 3D puzzles. There was one he
had seen most often. He made his eyes lose focus and
then he saw it – the shape of a long, pointed sword
emerged from the stone.

He sprang forward and held Sir Rathbone's sword
against it. The edge of the blade cut his thumb and a
single drop of blood sped down the silver sword.

Freddy stared at the drop and felt his head go
strange. He staggered a little and then managed to
regain control. He didn't like seeing blood.

'Oh, great howls!' Freddy gasped as his fireplace
seemed to collapse and fall through the floor.

He looked down. There was a spiral staircase,
identical to the one outside his door, running down
and out of sight. Far below, there was a bright blue
light.

'I hope there aren't any spiders.' He bit his lip.
'Slide of Doom!' he decided with a grin.

'Woo-hoo!' Freddy cried as he shot down the stone
steps. He held the shield before him and the sword
aloft, as if flying towards his enemy. He thought that
he must look very brave and impressive indeed. Just
let Chester meet him now.

'Whoops.' He faltered as the tray slid out into a
stone chamber. Freddy rolled forward and slammed
onto the hard floor with a groan.

'That hurt,' he said and stood up uncertainly. His
heart nearly stopped beating.

Illuminated by the light was a figure lying upon
a cold stone bed. At each corner of the bed a blue
flame burned in a silver goblet. Freddy held his breath
and crept forward. The figure was that of a tall man,
dressed in silver chain mail and gleaming armour.
His face was half covered by the cheek guards of his
helmet. The man's skin was as white as snow, and he
had a short, pointed grey beard. On his breastplate
was a huge Moonstone and across his lips the perfect,
blood-red flower of a Blavendoch. Freddy looked at
the inscription in the stone above the bed.

'Sir Rathbone de Lupinne,
Huntsbane – The
Hunter's Enemy!
' he whispered in wonderment.
Bane
.
So this was the treasure. Sir Rathbone's gauntleted
hand lay waiting as if for his sword. Freddy now
understood the true meaning of the prophecy. Here
his ancestor lay, waiting for the day when he would
save all Wolfenkind from destruction – the day
when his sword was again held by a true hero. By Sir
Rathbone himself.

Freddy felt a trifle foolish for having regarded
himself so highly, when all along he had merely been
Freddy Lupin and not a great hero after all.

Freddy heard noises and walked across the room to
an archway filled by an intricately patterned window.
He flinched a little when he saw the faces on the other
side, but then realised that they couldn't see him. It
was a one-way mirror. He leaned forward and his
heart plummeted as he listened.

Flasheart had led them to a chamber that was
completely empty save for a silver goblet on a stone
table, behind which was a tall patterned mirror.

'This is the Hidden Hall,' Flashed announced
calmly. 'There is nothing for you here.'

'No!' Chester replied coldly. 'There is another
chamber. I know that the only way to reveal the
treasure is by filling the goblet with the juice of a
Blavendoch.'

'And you don't have one of those, do you, Chester?'
Flasheart smiled. 'I know you tried to trick Freddy
into bringing one.'

'No, I don't,' Chester agreed. 'But there Hotspur did
prove to be useful after all.' His moustache twitched.
'He told me that in place of a living plant, the magic of
a dead one could be revived when fed with the blood
of a Fangen.' He took a dried flower from his pocket
and dropped it in the cup. Flasheart's eyes narrowed
as Chester continued. 'Or even more powerful – the
blood of his loved ones.'

Chester grabbed Sugar's wrist and took out a silver
dagger. Flasheart gave a snarl and leapt, not seeing
Sir Hotspur arrive, hot and sweating behind him.
Hotspur dragged his brother down before he could
reach Chester.

'You'll pay now, Flasheart,' Hotspur hissed.

'Hotair?' Mrs Mutton cried. 'Where did he come
from?' She took out her wooden spoon and began
spanking the red-haired man on the bum, but Flasheart
could not break free.

Despite Sugar's struggles, Chester was pulling her
wrist towards the goblet.

'Hi-ya!' Freddy crashed through the mirror, the
sword of Sir Rathbone high above his head. Everybody
paused in surprise.

Freddy slammed the sword down on the goblet
and it fell to the floor. Chester leapt back in fright,
dropping his gun, and the boy brought the point of
his sword to his enemy's throat.

'Release the fair maiden,' he instructed, in the
manner of a true hero.

Chester did so and sank to his knees, shaking.

Flasheart overpowered his brother and threw him
to the ground. Mrs Mutton plonked down heavily
onto his back.

'Groof!' the poor man wailed. She gave him an extra
whack on the bum for good luck. Flasheart picked up
Chester's gun with a laugh of relief.

'Well done, Pinky.' He gave his son a wink. 'I knew
you wouldn't let me down.'

'My work here is done,' Freddy announced to his
audience.

'Flasheart.' Chester pressed his hands together,
pleading. 'We can share the treasure. You take
Hotspur's share, but give me the rest. I must have it. I
am desperate.'

Freddy wrinkled his nose in disgust. 'The treasure
cannot be shared,' he said coldly, 'and my father would
never betray the werefolk. Right, Dad?'

'Right, son,' the wolf agreed.

'Sweetie, you're bleeding,' Sugar cried suddenly
and ran to the boy's side.

'Am I?' Freddy wondered and looked down in
alarm. He saw a stream of blood coming from his
hand where the glass had cut him. He felt very faint –
not at all like a hero.

His knees began to wobble as they had upstairs.

'Freddy, do not let your blood fall into the goblet!'
Flasheart cried.

His words sounded like a rush of wind. 'Buddy fell
gob it
?
' Freddy frowned, staggered and flung himself
from the goblet.

Sugar snatched the silver cup away and Freddy's
Fangen blood fell harmlessly to the stone floor –
swiftly followed by the pup himself.

Freddy awoke to find himself lying back on Sugar's
lap. He grinned at her cheesily.

'Welcome back.' She smiled down at him.

'Hello, Pinky.' Flasheart's face appeared above him.
'I've never seen a wolf faint at the sight of blood before.'

'Well . . . only my own blood, not anyone else's.'
Freddy sat up uncertainly. 'I'm not very . . .
heroic
, am
I?' he said bashfully.

'One hundred per cent hero to me, sweetie. You
saved my life.' Sugar kissed his forehead and Freddy
went purple – he still couldn't stand girls.

'Where are all the bad guys?' Freddy looked around
at the empty room.

'In the dungeons where they belong,' said his father,
hauling him to his feet. 'Thanks to you. Mrs Mutton
is showing Hotspur the wooden spoon. I knew you'd
understand my clues. A genius like your father. Now
come and see your ancestor.'

They walked across the broken glass into the next
chamber and gathered around Sir Rathbone.

'Is he alive?' Sugar asked nervously, her hand
somehow finding its way into Flasheart's.

'He is somewhere between life, sleep and death,'
Flasheart told them. 'Waiting for the day when he is
called upon to save the werefolk once again.'

'He's the Treasure of Bane isn't he, Dad?' Freddy
looked down at his ancestor's peaceful face, resting as
it had for almost six hundred years.

'He is indeed. The wealth of our nation, a worth
that cannot be calculated.'

'And is Chester right? Would the juice of a
Blavendoch wake him?' Freddy looked at the flower
on the knight's lips uncertainly. He wasn't sure he
wanted to see Sir Rathbone arise from the dead.

'It would,' Flasheart said, 'but once he wakes, he
can only live until the beams of the next full moon fall
on his brow. That night he will transform into a wolf
for the last time – then he will hear the Final Howl
at last.'

'But Chester tried to use my blood – would that
have worked?' Sugar looked up at Flasheart.

'If Freddy's blood – that of a Fangen, a Lupin,
given freely – had fallen on the dead petals, then I
think that may have answered his purpose. But if it
had been your blood, Sugar, taken in violence for
greed, then I dread to think what might have
happened. The magic of the Blavendoch is powerful
but can be black and dangerous. I fear that it could
have destroyed us all. And I would have failed
as a Guardian of Bane – a duty handed down to
me by my grandfather. Hotspur never knew anything.'

'It's a good job I stopped Chester then,' Freddy
said, feeling very heroic once again.

'A good job indeed, Pinky, for many reasons.'
Flasheart smiled at Sugar.

Freddy looked down at the shattered glass. 'I'm
sorry I broke the mirror, but I had to save the fair
maiden.'

'Good decision. The mirror can be repaired,' his
father agreed. 'Fair maidens and noble knights are not
so easily mended.'

Freddy blushed with pride. He picked up the
shield that he had discarded earlier and posed a
little.

'And what did your cousin say about needing the
blood of a Fangen's
loved one
?' Sugar asked with a
cheeky smile.

Flasheart immediately went red. 'Erm . . .'

'Oh, der! As if my dad would like a
girl –
he's
a wolf!' Freddy scoffed.

'Oh. Well, I think I'll let you guys have a little
privacy for a moment.' Sugar drew in her breath. It
had all been rather too much for her to absorb in one
evening
.
'I just have to make a phone call. Something
I need to cancel.' She held up her mobile and with
a small smile, left the Hidden Hall.