Archie’s whole world collapsed. He stared in shock. How could Gideon Hawke be Fabian Grey?
And then suddenly it all made sense: Hawke’s extraordinary magical ability, his mismatched eyes and his mysterious past, even his illness – his supposed madness! It all fitted. Why hadn’t Archie seen it before? It had been staring him in the face all along.
Hawke had said that he felt like he was chasing his own tail – and he was. All this time he’d been desperately searching for Fabian Grey when in reality he was Fabian Grey!
Ripley snatched the package and tore it open. ‘Thank you, Gideon,’ he said, ‘or should I call you Fabian?’
In his hand he held a slim white book. ‘Finally, I have what I desire,’ he cried. ‘The Opus Magus is mine and with it all the power of magic!’
He turned his greedy gaze on the book. ‘For the first time in three hundred and fifty years new eyes will know its secrets, and when I commit it to the Black Flame then magic will enter a glorious new dark age.’
Ripley turned to The Book of Night. ‘By the power of the Dark Flame, I command you my dark servants.’
Archie felt someone tug at his sleeve. It was Bramble. ‘We’ve got to do something,’ she hissed. ‘We’ve got to stop him!’
The three Pale Writers rose from The Book of Night like a foul fog. Their faces flickered and their eyes burned with a hungry fire. Archie felt the same sudden terror grip him that he’d felt before. He recognised two of the three, but not the third. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Morgred stepped forward. ‘Here is some azoth to write the spell with,’ he said, producing a small phial of the magic ink and placing it on the plinth beside The Book of Night. ‘I took it from the Royal Society. Let the new age of darkness commence,’ he cried and his cry was picked up by others and rang around the room.
Ripley opened the white book in his hand, and as he did the Pale Writers rose into the air. Their ghostly faces flickered with malice as they anticipated the ultimate act of darchemy. But in an instant their expressions turned to rage.
‘What is this?’ the first Pale Writer hissed.
‘It is a trick!’ spat the second.
‘Someone must pay for this deception!’ screeched the third.
Ripley was staring at the writing in the white book. He read out the words in disbelief. ‘This is to remind me who I am and of the vision that I saw …’ he read. He riffled through the book.
‘This is not The Opus Magus,’ he cried. ‘It is a changing spell. What good is that to me?’
He slammed the book shut. ‘These are the ramblings of a madman!’ he roared.
He turned his wrath on Hawke. ‘Where is The Opus Magus?’ he screamed.
Hawke shook his head. ‘What you hold in your hand is my memoir,’ he said. ‘It is to remind me who I really am. No more and no less.’
‘But you have a bibliographical memory,’ raged Ripley. ‘You remember every spell you ever saw. The Opus Magus must be in your head somewhere.’
‘Perhaps it was once,’ said Hawke. ‘But I lost it along with all my other memories. And if it means you cannot corrupt it, then I am glad.’
Ripley stopped ranting. A knowing look passed across his face. ‘Wait. If you don’t remember The Opus Magus spell then someone else has to – otherwise the magic would have been extinguished long ago. So if it’s not you, then who is it?’
His eyes turned on the crowd of dark followers. ‘It’s Archie Greene!’ he snarled. ‘He’s here somewhere. I can sense his presence.’
‘He is Fabian Grey’s heir. Somehow the memory of The Opus Magus must have passed to him. That’s why he has a forked fate – Archie Greene is part of the prophecy!’
He turned to the Pale Writers. ‘He’s here, I know it. Find him!’
The three phantoms hung into the air. Archie felt their dark minds searching for him among the crowd. He could feel their evil presence as they used a dark delving spell to draw him out.
The person next to him pulled back his cloak. It was Rupert. ‘I am Archie Greene,’ he cried.
The Pale Writers hissed and turned towards him.
‘That’s not Archie Greene. The other boy is trying to shield him! Kill him!’ screamed Ripley.
Archie threw back his own hood. ‘Sorry, Rupert, but I won’t let you do this,’ he cried. ‘I’m the real Archie Greene.’
‘No!’ cried Arabella. ‘You don’t have to do this, Archie!’
‘But I do,’ said Archie. ‘I’m a Grey and only a Grey can stop the Dark Flame. My fate has always been intertwined with Fabian Grey’s. This is my destiny.’
The crowd parted. A hush had fallen on the room. Archie walked towards the stage where Ripley stood.
‘Finally, Archie Greene, I have you where I want you,’ laughed Ripley.
There was a roar of outrage and a stooped figure charged towards the stage. ‘You are a disgrace to the name of magic, Ripley!’ cried Aurelius Rusp. ‘You are nothing next to Fabian Grey!’
‘Ah, Aurelius,’ said Ripley. ‘I should have known you were Hawke’s man.’
‘My loyalty was always to the museum,’ snarled Rusp. ‘I’m prepared to die for it!’
He hurled a banishing spell at Ripley, but Ripley blocked it. Before Rusp could use a guarding spell to defend himself, the Pale Writers descended on him, surrounding him and muttering dark spells. For a moment Rusp resisted and then Ripley pointed his hand at him.
‘Power of darkness
Power of night
Take his soul
Put out his light.’
There was a shocked silence.
Archie had never liked Rusp but he’d died trying to protect the museum from the Dark Flame. Hawke had been right to trust him. Archie felt a surge of anger.
But before he could react there was a loud thumping sound – hundreds of ravens crashed against the leaded glass window. A huge flock of them had gathered outside the house. That was the black cloud Archie had seen in the sky earlier. Now he could hear their wings beating and the tapping of their beaks on the window. There was total chaos in the hall now as the birds blocked out the light from the moon, plunging the room into semi-darkness.
In the confusion Archie felt someone grab his arm. It was Hawke – or Fabian Grey as he now knew him to be.
‘We don’t have much time. Listen carefully. To extinguish the Dark Flame requires a sacrifice,’ he gasped, ‘an act of total selflessness. I have read the memoir now and I remember. The memoir contains the changing spell that will allow me to transform into a raven by choice, but once I use it I will need your help to save magic.’
‘What is it I have to do?’ asked Archie.
‘When the time comes, you must rewrite The Opus Magus, Archie. It is the only way!’
‘But where is it?’ cried Archie desperately.
At that moment there was a blinding flash of lightning. When his vision returned, Grey had gone. He was alone. He saw the cold eyes of Arthur Ripley.