The Key (47 page)

‘Yes, he has,’ Minoo replies.

‘Good,’ Sigrid says. ‘Do tell me if something troubles you. We must stick together.’

She places her hand on Minoo’s. Sigrid’s nails are nicely groomed, varnished blue with white, perfectly spaced white dots.

The double doors suddenly swing open. Nejla’s long dark hair swings from side to side as she stamps across the floor. Minoo picks up an amazingly loud mix of crashing, shouting and thumping from the large earphones on Nejla’s head. She settles on the chair opposite Minoo. Today’s T-shirt has got
ENTOMBED
on the chest.

They are such an odd collection of individuals. Minoo speculates on the difference between this lot and the Council members who gathered for the trial held here in the manor house. All of them, men and women, wore very proper, sober suits. Almost as if they were in uniform.

‘Hi, Nejla,’ Sigrid says.

Nejla pulls her headphones off and looks at Minoo.

‘Can you show us something?’

‘How do you mean?’ Minoo asks.

‘Apparently you can do, like, totally amazing stuff. Show us some of your tricks!’

‘I think we had better wait for the chairman,’ Sigrid says.

Nejla rolls her eyes. ‘Come on,’ she urges Minoo.

‘Why don’t you show something?’ Felix suggests.

Nejla smiles and a flame suddenly bursts out from Felix’s open book.

‘Are you out of your mind?’ he screams, throwing the book down.

The flame has turned into a small fire that scorches the pages until they are blackened with angrily glowing red edges.

‘Stop it!’ Sigrid says.

Nejla laughs and stares at the book. The fire goes out, the glow fades and disappears. The smell of burning hangs in the air.

Minoo has given up on Sigrid’s notion that Nejla is shy.

‘So mature,’ Felix says as he picks up his book.

Henry has woken up in Sigrid’s lap. He slips quickly up to her shoulder and drapes himself over it, while Felix carries on talking.

‘The guardians made a big mistake when they picked you to …’

He falls silent at once when the door on the other side of the room is opened. Viktor and Clara enter, followed by Walter. Felix, Nejla and Sigrid immediately get up from their seats. Automatically, Minoo follows their example.

‘Hey you guys,’ Walter says with a smile. ‘That is really not necessary.’

Clara sits down between Felix and Nejla, Viktor next to Minoo. He looks at her and smiles. She is glad he’s here.

‘What’s that smell?’ Walter says, and then he sees Felix’s book. ‘Aha!’

Walter sits down on the last free chair between Viktor and Nejla.

‘I see that Nejla was keen to get started.’

Nejla grins.

‘Not much harm done, it seems.’ Walter glances at what remains of the book jacket. ‘Oh, that one. Definitely no harm done.’

Sigrid and Nejla laugh. Felix puts the book away under his chair and then brushes the soot from his hands.

‘Before we begin today, let’s agree to do away with formalities,’ Walter says. ‘I don’t care for that kind of thing. Call me Walter and drop the “chairman” bit. The idea is that we’re doing this together.’

He pauses, and it is as if all the energy in the room is focused around him alone.

‘We have less than a year,’ Walter continues. ‘I expect you to give your all. The fate of the world depends on our circle.’

At the end of his last sentence, his eyes are fixed on Minoo. The way he looks at her makes her feel proud. And nervous, as she thinks of all the secrets she must keep from him.

‘All right,’ Walter says. ‘Time to get to know each other a little better. Let’s start by telling each other about our powers. We’ll go round each of you in turn.’

‘I guess you’ve already worked out that Nejla is our fire witch,’ Walter says and smiles. ‘Nejla, tell us a little more. Perhaps you can show us something?’

Minoo watches Nejla, who stands up. Her laid-back pose is gone. She looks focused. She lifts one hand with the palm upwards. There is a sharp glint of light, then they see a glowing, bright red ball of fire, the size of a ping-pong ball, floating just above her palm. It rotates and grows until it doubles in size. Nejla’s eyes glitter in the light of the fire.

A narrow pillar of fire emerges from the ball and shoots straight up in the air until it reaches the ceiling, where it begins to divide soundlessly into a branching tree. Minoo watches, fascinated. It is so beautiful.

The tree contracts back into a ball. Nejla abruptly turns her palm downwards. The ball hits the floor and branches into a burning root system that snakes across the parquet. Minoo pulls her feet away when the fire comes closer to her.

Nejla makes a fist of her hand and the fire goes out at once. The parquet is unmarked. She looks at the others, breathing heavily. The pride in her eyes is unmistakable.

‘Magnificent!’ Walter claps. ‘Thank you, Nejla. You can sit down again. Clara, please!’

Clara stands. Her expression is uneasy.

‘I believe you all know already what my element is and what I can do,’ she says quietly.

‘Show us!’ Nejla insists.

Clara disappears. Minoo senses Viktor turning rigid next to her. A few seconds pass. The only sound is the rain beating against the windows.

Until Nejla suddenly screams. Clara stands behind her with her hands on Nejla’s shoulders.

The whole group bursts into relieved laughter. Except Viktor. Clara shoots him an irritated look on the way back to her seat.

‘And I can communicate telepathically with my brother,’ she adds. ‘And control the wind, at least a little. That’s all. Nothing much.’

‘You are too modest,’ Walter says. ‘Felix, the floor is yours.’

‘My element is earth.’ Felix gets up. ‘I can … control earth and stone.’

He sighs and feels for something in his pocket. It is a small black stone. He holds it tightly and concentrates. When he opens his hand again, the stone has changed shape into a perfect, five-pointed star.

‘Nothing special,’ Felix says in a low voice.

Minoo looks intently at the stone star. What he has done is truly wonderful and, yet, in their strange world it is not very impressive – not compared to the others and their show-stoppers.

A wave of anxiety sweeps through her but she isn’t sure why. She is embarrassed, and she suddenly feels so ashamed she wishes she wasn’t here. She would like so much to have Clara’s power.

‘Thank you, Felix,’ Walter says, and then turns to Sigrid. ‘Your turn.’

Sigrid gets up.

‘This is my familiar. His name is Henry.’

‘I bet the lynx would like to munch on him for breakfast,’ Nejla says.

Walter laughs; Sigrid’s smile goes a little stiff. She gently lifts Henry from her shoulder and puts him down on her chair, before going to stand in the centre of the circle.

‘My element is metal,’ she says. ‘Nejla and Clara, could you please move a little apart?’

They do, and their chairs scrape noisily against the floor.

Sigrid turns to Walter with a smile, before facing the gap between the chairs. And vanishes. Suddenly, she appears standing by the doors to the garden.

‘That is totally cool,’ Nejla is leaning forward excitedly. ‘So you can teleport?’

Sigrid dissolves into nothingness and stands in the centre of the circle again.

‘Sadly, no,’ Sigrid admits, but looks pleased with herself. ‘I can move exceptionally quickly, but only over short distances and when there’s nothing in my way. I can charge certain amulets as well and shape metals up to a point. It seems I have a certain aptitude for clairvoyance, but it’s not at all well developed.’

‘Not yet,’ Walter says. Sigrid’s smile broadens.

He is looking at Minoo now. She feels quite anxious because she is so used to hiding her powers from the Council. But then she remembers what Matilda said in her dream.
You must do what is demanded of you and do it wholeheartedly
.

‘Do you mind if I take this?’ Walter asks.

Minoo shakes her head gratefully.

‘Minoo is unique,’ he says. ‘She has no element, which means that she is able to control the magic of the guardians in its purest form. Up to this point, and I emphasise, only
so far
, we already know that she can break a blessing by the demons, pull the life-force from a human being and even get hold of his or her
soul
.’

It is very strange to hear oneself described so enthusiastically. Minoo can imagine how impressed she would be if she had heard Walter describe someone else in the same glowing terms.

‘We have also established that she can manipulate other people’s memories. If this circle is to succeed in closing the portal, it will be thanks to Minoo.’

‘Won’t she show us something?’ Nejla asks.

‘You can look at Clara,’ Walter says. ‘A few months ago, you wouldn’t have seen her.’

But nobody looks at Clara. They are all looking at Minoo with admiration. Not even Felix can hide it.

‘Viktor,’ Walter says, ‘it will be hard for you to top that.’

‘I can’t.’ Viktor smiles a little. ‘My element is water. I can manipulate it in all its forms. I do have a familiar, perhaps not a particularly noble one …’

There is a light flapping of wings from the ceiling where his blue tit must have been hiding among the stucco ornaments. It lands on Viktor’s hand. Henry sniffs the air with renewed interest. Minoo wonders if he fancies a snack. Does it ever happen that one familiar attacks another?

‘I am able to detect lying,’ Viktor continues. ‘Unfortunately, I can’t make out what the truth is. I can communicate by thought with other water witches. And with Clara. At least in our case, the old saying about telepathy between twins is actually true.’

The blue tit flies back up to the ornamental ceiling.

‘There we are. Now I’m the only one left,’ Walter says. ‘You have all met my familiar, the lynx. My element is wood.’

He gets up, walks to the pot plant on the windowsill and holds his hand out over it. With little crackling noises, the dry stems straighten up and grow fresh green leaves. Then, a deep red flower opens up. It is a quietly beautiful sight.

‘As you can see, I’m able to influence living things in different ways. One might say that I’ve got green fingers.’

He grins boyishly at his poor joke and everyone laughs. Minoo, too.

‘Next, I need a little help from someone. A volunteer. It’s nothing dangerous. But I must warn you that it might hurt a little.’

He watches them smilingly while they eye each other.

‘Felix, come and help me.’ Walter goes to the centre of the circle.

Felix stands up and eyes him hesitantly.

‘Not to worry,’ Walter says. ‘Give me your hand.’

Felix holds out his left hand and Walter takes it between both his.

‘This will be quick. Promise. Just look at me now.’

Felix looks up. Clenches his jaw.

There is a dull cracking sound. Felix screams. Minoo feels a sudden, sharp pain in her left little finger. It hurts so badly she is almost sick. She sees that the others are grimacing with pain, too. And then the sensation is gone.

Confused, she looks at Walter and Felix. Felix’s eyes are brimming with tears. Walter holds up his hand. The little finger protrudes at an impossible angle. It is obviously broken. Minoo feels another wave of nausea.

Walter looks concerned and grabs hold of Felix’s hand again.

‘And I thought you had learnt to control that,’ he says. Minoo doesn’t understand what he means. Felix mumbles something.

‘Very well, we’ll deal with that issue later.’ Walter lets go of Felix’s hand.

Relief spreads across Felix’s face.

‘Show the others,’ Walter says.

Felix holds out his hand so they all can see it. He wiggles his fingers. There is no sign of any damage at all.

‘How do you feel?’ Walter asks.

‘I don’t feel anything at all,’ Felix says in a fascinated tone.

‘There, you see.’ Walter pats Felix on his back. ‘You survived.’

Felix sits down, still examining his hand.

‘This is all so awesome,’ Nejla says.

Walter looks around the room and smiles.

‘Yes, it is, isn’t it?’ he agrees. ‘All of you are unusual, special. We are in a magic epoch and natural witches are becoming more and more common, most of all here in Engelsfors. But I must say I can’t imagine any others measuring up to our gang!’

Minoo looks at him. When he says it, it feels so reassuring. And simple. As if they really could hope to succeed.

‘We’re a team now,’ Walter continues. ‘We must be straight with each other and trust each other. Keep the channels of communication open between us all and be completely honest. I’m here for you. If you experience any problems at all, with anyone or anything, just come and talk to me.’

He meets the eyes of everyone in the circle, but looks for a little longer at Minoo.

‘It’s time to start our training now,’ he continues. ‘It will be exciting to see what we can do together!’

He walks over to the garden doors and opens them wide. The air flows in, smelling of damp, freshly cut grass. It has stopped raining.

‘I think we should take the opportunity to spend time in the fresh air,’ he says.

They all get up.

‘Minoo, please stay here for a moment,’ Walter says.

She stays, feeling the others glance at her. Walter waits until they have all gone outside. He closes the doors after them and goes to stand by one of the windows, looking out into the garden. He plunges his hands into his pockets.

Minoo waits, wondering if she should come closer to him. She crosses the creaking parquet.

Walter looks thoughtful. The pale light shows up the stubble on his cheeks.

‘We need you. Have you solved the problem of how to be here every day?’

‘I have talked with my mother about taking a sabbatical year from school,’ she tells him, but can hardly bear sounding so ridiculous.

She can hear the scrape when Walter strokes his stubbly cheek with his fingertips. He clearly doesn’t want to say what he’s about to say. Her nerves begin to tie themselves into knots.

‘The guardians have informed me that Nicolaus Elingius is back in Engelsfors,’ he says.