Seven kids at the height of their psychic powers. That’s what was required to unlock the seven waypoints in the Faerie Ring. With a pool of young residents to choose from at his Foundation, the programme director had been close to achieving his dream. Yoshi, Livia and the twins had each been lined up to place their hands upon a particular waypoint. Indeed, the dog tags still locked around their necks were engraved with the number of the waypoint that best matched their abilities. Yoshi reaches for his now, and pulls at it anxiously. They may have discovered a more simple way of unlocking the ring, by asking Jenks to lay his hands on the waypoint within his lair, but there were hazards to consider.
“You can’t send him back,” he reasons with Julius, whose outburst had been met by shocked silence. Jenks seizes this opportunity to hide behind the boy once more, and from there he listens intently. “I’ve seen the cruelty the poor thing suffered at the hands of his people. His aura marked him out as different for all the wrong reasons. He might well have the ability to fire up the ring full circle from his lair, but if we return him they’ll tear him to pieces. If you’re going to send anyone, let it be me.”
Julius nods at the dog tag in Yoshi’s grasp. “What would be the point?” he asks. “You tried it yourself and nothing happened. I dare say that like Jenks you might tune into its wavelength eventually, but we don’t have time. Not when Aleister could be down there right now, free to master it for himself.” The old man brings his fist into his hand as he says this, but Yoshi doesn’t flinch. The twins glance at Livia, who shares their misgivings about everything he has said. Julius flattens his lips, vexed all the more by their silence. “I’m not sure you fully understand what would happen if we fail to tap into the Faerie Ring ourselves,” he says.
“You’ve told us,” replies Livia sharply. “A great big horned beast comes riding in, right? To be honest, it sounds kind of bogus.”
At first, the old man’s eyes pinch into triangles. His cheeks flush under his wild snowy beard, but he doesn’t explode. Not with fury, that is, but with laughter. If there’s a joke in the air, nobody else understands it. As Julius throws back his head and roars, the others simply stand and stare.
“Did we miss something?” asks Blaize.
“Not at all,” Julius replies, and dabs at his glistening eyes. “Livia is quite correct. The devil wouldn’t dare show up as you imagine he might. Quite frankly, in a city this sophisticated, people would take one look at him and assume he was promoting a new videogame or brand of spicy sauce! No, if Aleister seizes control of the ring, the citizens will find their lives cursed in very different ways. It might begin with something minor, like a breakdown in the traffic light system. In the chaos that followed the looters would be dispatched, which might well lead to riots and fires in which nobody is safe from harm.” He stops there, and seems pleased with the silence that follows. “The devil moves in mysterious ways, as everyone knows.”
“OK,” says Yoshi. “Let’s just say you’re right. Even if I could guarantee Jenks’ safety, there’s no way across that chasm any more. We made sure of it.”
Julius chuckles to himself. “We’re underground, dear boy. Everything is connected, just like I said. You simply have to find your way.”
“Not this time.” Yoshi dips down to collect Jenks in his arms. The creature may be sightless, but it picks up on the boy’s movement and sidesteps him effortlessly.
“Jenks will go,” he says, in that wheezing voice of his. “Even if it means I don’t make it out alive, I should like to see my home once more.”
“Thank you,” says Julius. “At last, someone who sees sense.”
“No way!” Livia’s aura glows fiercely all of a sudden, like a fire fuelled by bellows.
“Yoshi is right,” Blaize says hotly, who is backed up swiftly by her sister. “There’s no way that anyone is going back to that hellhole. Even if the traffic lights start behaving strangely!”
Julius draws breath to retort, but struggles to make himself heard over the protests that break out around him. He’s nose to nose with Livia, and even Jenks joins in with some choice screeches of his own. The twins are literally burning up with anger, and even turn to argue with each other. Which leaves just one among them to withdraw quietly from the Map Room and work out exactly what to do for the best.