Newton scrambled down the rocks towards Ethan, but Ethan had cast him one long, hard look and then ignored him, racing with the witches to the treasure chests stacked at the side of the beach.
A ghost manifested directly in front of Newton and he shot it, satisfied to see it explode and vanish. He marched through it, firing at another one that appeared right behind it.
Mariah was focussing on bagging up the treasure with Ethan, but Zane, the weasly-faced witch who Newton had a vague recollection of from All Hallows’ Eve, had paused and faced them. Even from a distance, Newton could see his mouth moving.
Briar was next to Newton, and she threw a blazing fireball at Zane, but he deflected it and threw one back, causing them both to dive to the floor.
Then something very peculiar started to happen. The skeletons lying across the cave began to twitch, and as Newton regained his feet, so did they. Every single one of them. And they weren’t animated by the spirits, who, although dwindling in number, were still fighting furiously. Newton could barely keep track of his friends, lost in the melee.
“What the actual—”
“Holy shit!” Briar exclaimed. “He’s animated the skeletons.”
“I can see that!” Newton said, reloading quickly. “How?”
“Let’s worry about that later.”
Briar stamped her foot, and a ragged crack split the ground from her feet to Zane’s. Zane was holding another ball of fire in his hands, ready to hurl it, but Briar’s magic caught him off guard. He staggered backwards and the fireball shot into the roof, sending shards of rock flying like shrapnel.
Distracted, Newton didn’t see the charging skeleton coming at him until it was too late, and the next thing he knew, he was flat on his back.
El fought her way free of the immediate group of spirits that had ambushed them and stood next to the water’s edge, buying herself a few moments to assess what was happening and where she should go next.
Ash was still fighting his own battle, his huge wings sweeping back and forth as he laid waste to the spirits and skeletons that were clambering from the wreck. He balanced on the bowsprit, incredibly agile, and El was lost for a moment as she admired his skill. A shout distracted her, and she turned to see Avery struggle under another onslaught, Dylan right next to her. El was about to abandon her position to help them, when a familiar figure appeared out of nowhere with a whirl of magic that scattered the spirits.
Helena.
El grinned. She had escaped and now wanted revenge.
Did that mean…
El scanned the cave, hoping to see Gil, and to her relief saw him helping Alex fight the hulking spirit of Coppinger on the upper level. A few tiers down Cassie and Ben fought back to back, and on the far side of the cave Briar was hauling Newton to his feet as she threw a skeleton against the wall. Despite the madness of the situation, El felt herself relax slightly.
The very fact that the spirits had so much physical substance was helping them. Everyone seemed to see them, and although they vanished and reappeared bewilderingly quickly, her friends seemed to be keeping one step ahead. But Alex clearly had no time to banish them, and that was a major problem—especially now that the skeletons were on the move.
Zane and Mariah’s arrival had further complicated things, and El wondered how best to thwart them. Mariah was gathering the gold coins with Ethan, Zane protecting them more than attacking anyone, and for a fleeting moment, El wondered what they thought they would do with it. They couldn’t possibly think they could get away with it? There were too many people here, witnessing their actions.
And then she realised there was only one reason for their confidence. They were planning to kill them all. They either thought the spirits would do it, or they had another plan.
A spriggan suddenly exploded out of one of the chests, showering gold everywhere, and Mariah shrieked as it sent her sprawling. In a split-second its shadow grew, swelling until it was towering above them. It swung its enormous club, catching Ethan in the chest and throwing him into the rotting ship, where he landed with a splintering crash.
Everyone froze—including the spirits.
The spriggan didn’t, however, and as the club swung towards her, El ran.
Avery grabbed Dylan, and without warning used witch-flight to take him to the edge of the cave and the entrance to the tunnel they had entered in.
He collapsed on hands and knees, retching. “Herne’s balls, Avery! That’s bloody horrible!”
“Would you rather your brains be bashed in?”
“Er, no.” He staggered to his feet and then stopped, transfixed as he watched the spriggan sweep his enormous club back and forth.
Their friends were running and ducking as old barrels and boxes went flying, and Ash flew around the spriggan, trying to distract it. Sensibly, everyone else was scurrying to the edges of the cave, and El appeared next to Avery, breathless from her scramble.
But something else was distracting Avery.
It was starting to feel very cold. She could see her breath in front of her, and the green, underwater quality of the cave was turning a glacial blue. Alarmed, she looked at the water, and saw ice forming where it met the beach. In mere seconds it spread across the bay and towards the wrecked ship.
“Guys, I think Caspian and Reuben are doing something. It’s freezing in here.”
Looking back to the cave, she saw fingers of ice clawing up the rock walls, across the ground, and over the barrels and splintered wood.
They needed to leave, quickly. Avery turned to Dylan. “You stay here and guard this exit. This is our only way out. Have you got any salt shells left?”
He patted his pocket, and immediately reloaded. “Yep. No problem.”
“Good.” She turned to El. “We need to get everyone out of here—right now!”
El didn’t wait, and ran towards Briar and Newton, shouting loudly.
Avery manifested next to Ben and Cassie, halfway up the tiers of rock that were now sheer ice, appearing in front of them so unexpectedly that Cassie yelled in shock. Avery pointed to where Dylan stood at the side of the natural amphitheatre. “Join Dylan, and make your way to the end of the tunnel. There’s a set of steps cut into the cliff face. It leads upwards to safety.”
“But—” Ben started to object.
“Look around, Ben! This place is turning into one giant ice cube.” As if to punctuate her point, snow started to fall, and an icy stalactite crashed to the floor next to them, along with Ash.
“She’s right,” Ash said, and without waiting for Cassie’s permission, he wrapped his arms around her and soared across the cave.
“You too, Ben!” Avery shouted. “Go!”
She watched him scramble away, and then looked up to where Alex and Gil were still fighting Coppinger. She grabbed the icy stalactite and flew to Alex’s side, catching all of them unawares, especially Coppinger. She hefted her weapon like a spear, plunging it straight through his chest, and he flew backwards.
“Alex! Time to leave!”
He looked at her with a mixture of relief and bewilderment on his face. “But I haven’t banished them yet!”
“I don’t think you’ll need to. Look around! We’ll end up an ice exhibit if we don’t move.”
Snow was falling thicker now, stinging their skin as it hardened into hail. But it seemed Coppinger had no intention of letting them leave. He charged them like an enraged bull, and just as Avery was about to respond, Helena joined Gil and they both shielded Alex and Avery as they faced down Coppinger together.
Helena extended her arms and flames flickered along her entire body, thick black smoke pouring from her, creating a barrier that Coppinger couldn’t pass.
Gil turned to them. “We’ve got this. Helena has a lot of anger to burn off.”
Avery stepped towards him, wishing she could hug him. “Gil! I wish we had more time. Will we ever see you again?”
He gave her a weak smile. “I’m aiming to retire after this, so I hope not.”
“But you can’t stay! You’ll be caught up in whatever’s happening here!”
He winked as Helena screamed like a banshee and launched herself at Coppinger. “We’ll be just fine.”
He ran to join Helena, and all three of them vanished from sight in the thickening blizzard.
Alex’s hands were already around her waist, and without waiting another second Avery transported them to the tunnel’s entrance.
Only El was waiting there, and she sighed with relief at their arrival. “Come on, everyone else is out.”
“Ethan?” Avery said, catching sight of his twisted body now partially consumed by ice.
“Already dead.”
The ice was already spreading down the tunnel, so with one final look at the icy maelstrom, they raced to join the others.
Reuben stared into the heart of the block of ice, continuing to lower the temperature.
The pool of elemental water that he’d connected to deep within him was powerful, and he closed it like a fist around the spell, his hands on either side of it as it turned slowly above the pages.
Little by little he’d lowered the temperature, seeing the ice form first around the outside and then thicken, moving ever towards the centre, where the words of the spell were now trapped. Caspian had offered him some power, but he found that he didn’t need it. Once he’d tapped into his own, it was like he’d released a dam. It was actually a struggle to slow it down.
He glanced up at Caspian, who was unmoving, opposite him. “One more push and it will be frozen solid. What do you think?”
“It’s been a good fifteen minutes already. That should have given them plenty of warning. Hold on.” Caspian ran back to the thermal imaging camera, and then returned within seconds. “It’s an icy blue over the island now, but I can see odd heat spots right on the top of the cliff. I’m no expert on thermal imaging, but I think they’re human signals. Go for it.”
Reuben lowered the temperature again, watching the ice become cloudy and more dense, the words within it disappearing entirely. Reuben knew it was now solid all the way through. Minute crystals formed over the surface, building up and creating starburst patterns, and Reuben accelerated the growth, until the cube was contained within a giant, beautiful snowflake.
Reuben smiled at his handiwork. “Call me Picasso. I could make money out of this.”
Caspian’s lips twitched. “Maybe in another life.”
“What now?”
“Now, we break it. May I?”
“Be my guest.”
“You might want to lean back,” he warned.
Caspian uttered a short phrase that Reuben couldn’t quite catch. Instantly fractures ripped through the ice, the cube exploding outwards with such force that Reuben shielded his eyes. The words of the curse flew up and out, letters tumbling over each other, throwing Caspian and Reuben off their chairs with a resounding crash. Reuben lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling, seeing letters still whirling before they dissolved into nothing.
Winded, he shouted, “Caspian? Are you still alive?”
He groaned. “Yes. But I’ll have a serious headache.”
“When you tell me to lean back, you may want to specify an area next time.”
“Sure, Reuben. The next time we crack an evil curse, I’ll bear that in mind.”
The second Avery reached the cliff face, she realised just how precarious the steps were, and it didn’t help that the rain was steadily falling, making them treacherously slippery.
But Ash was hovering in the air in front of them, his enormous wings protecting them from falling, and although Avery wasn’t worried for her own safety, she was relieved for everyone else. She could have used witch-flight, but she wanted to be with her friends, escaping together, and as soon as she reached the grassy cliff top, she saw them clustered a short distance from the edge.
“Is that everyone?” she asked, quickly scanning the group.
They were a bedraggled bunch, shivering and soaked from the rain, and Newton hustled them into action, shouting to be heard above the wind. “That’s it, we’re all here. Head down the slope to the beach. The police launch is on the way.”
They raced across the grassy headland, and then down the long slope to the shore that faced White Haven, slipping and sliding on the slick grass, and it was only when they reached the beach that they stopped and caught their breath. The rain finally fizzled out, but a damp wind buffeted them, catching their hair and ruffling their clothes. Across the waves the town glittered, its warm yellow lights clustered around the harbour and scattered across the hills like stars. A lone engine broke the silence of the night, and they saw a boat streaking towards the shore.
“That must be Mariah and Zane,” Briar speculated. “I saw them race out of the cave, but there was no way I could follow them.”
Newton was watching them with narrowed eyes, his lips tight. “I’ve called Moore and told him to back off in case they get violent. The police will have no defence against their magic, and right now, I’m not sure what they’re capable of.”
“I agree,” El said. “I honestly think they were planning to kill all of us in there. Otherwise, why be so brazen?”
That was a horrible thought, but El was right, and Newton nodded. “We’ll catch up with them eventually.”
“That reminds me,” El said, reaching for her phone, but it rang before she could dial and she smiled as she answered. “Reuben!”
Even from a distance, Avery could hear his voice and El drifted away to talk to him in private, reassuring him of their wellbeing.
Ben, Dylan, and Cassie had caught their breath and were grinning from ear to ear, Ben asking, “Did you see that bloody spriggan? Even the spirits were scared of it!”
“I’m not surprised!” Cassie said. “We just came face to face with the ghost of a Cornish giant!” Her eyes took on a faraway glaze.
Dylan snorted. “And the ghosts of many, many murderous pirates!”
“Like I’d forget that! It will give me nightmares!”
“At least,” Alex said, brushing his hair away from his face, “you weren’t face to face with Coppinger. He was determined to kill me.”
Avery slid her arm around his waist. “But he failed. Are you okay?” she asked, drawing him away from the others as they continued their excited chat.
“I’m fine. A bit shocked from seeing Gil, but it was good, too.”
“At least we know Helena is free!”
Alex stared down at her. “Remind me not to piss her off. She’s mean.”
“But she helped us!”
“I’m just glad she’s on our side.”
Newton joined in again. “I’m going to have to come back here tomorrow, to see if we can get any evidence.” He looked inland uneasily, as if he was staring through the ground and into the cave. “I’m giving it overnight in the hope that it will be safe tomorrow.”
“We should come with you,” Alex immediately said. “Just in case. Will you have a drink with us tonight? We’re heading to Reuben’s.”
“Unfortunately not. I have many things to do, including contacting Ethan’s relatives.”
Avery’s good mood immediately vanished. “You saw his body, then?”
“Flying across the cave like a broken doll? Yes, I saw it. We’ll collect that, too.” He hesitated a moment. “Do you think the treasure will still be there now that the curse has been broken?”
“Probably,” Alex said cautiously. “Why?”
“I was just thinking that it would be an excellent addition to the White Haven exhibition. It would be nice to salvage something from this bloody mess.”