Havoc!: The Untold Magic of Cora Bell Read online

  ‘Just a witch?’ Hythia echoed as she walked past Tick and Tock. ‘There is no such thing as just a witch,’ Hythia said. ‘And every witch knows that.’

  Cora could feel her entire body shake from holding the dark magic back. What would happen if she grabbed it? She thought of the gremlins.

  Hythia came to a stop in front of Cora. Up close, Cora could see that the witch’s skin was a pale grey colour. It glistened darkly in the fire-lit room.

  ‘Do you know why they call it a witch’s mark?’ asked Hythia pointing to Cora’s scar. ‘Because some spells require a sacrifice. Spells for manipulation. Spells for location. Spells for protection.’ Then the witch placed a hand on top of Cora’s head and grabbed a fistful of her hair, jerking Cora’s head upwards to look at her.

  ‘You’re not a witch,’ said Hythia, glancing at her up and down. ‘You don’t have the bone structure.’

  Cora glanced over at Tick and Tock who were still held against the flames. She knew that once she grabbed onto her magic, anything could happen. It also meant showing the council what she was.

  ‘You’re right,’ Cora whispered. ‘I’m not a witch.’

  A triumphant smile stretched across Hythia’s face.

  ‘I’m . . . worse,’ Cora finished. She reached a hand upwards and grabbed ahold of the hand Hythia had placed on her head. Using the strength of the Jinx, Cora peeled the witch’s fingers out of her hair. Hythia’s eyes widened in alarm. Then the witch let out a shriek as her fingers bent backwards, almost to breaking point.

  Plimryll stood up from his seat.

  ‘Leave her, Plim,’ said Sircane to the elf. ‘We wanted to see for ourselves, remember.’

  Tick and Tock. Cora clutched onto Princess Avette’s magic. She felt the wind swirl up around her and then she threw it forward towards the firepit. Like extinguishing the wick on a candle, the fire went out and Cora saw Tick and Tock fall safely to the ground before the room was completely eclipsed in darkness.

  ‘What are you —’ came a voice in the dark.

  ‘Stop her!’

  ‘Nobody move!’

  Cora felt the witch’s magic flow through her hand. She heard Hythia gasp and then scream but Cora held on. She heard noises around her but they were drowned out by the thumping beat in her ears as the witch’s magic swirled into her. And just as she thought it would, the dark magic came alive under her skin. Cora pulled her hand away from Hythia’s quickly. She heard the witch fall to the ground, exhausted.

  Then Cora’s arm suddenly flew back up into the air on its own and her hand reached out to the magical beings on the chairs. The council. Cora tried to pull her hand back but her arm stayed firm out in front of her. Then she felt herself pull the magic out of another council member’s body.

  ‘NO!’ Cora cried out. How was it possible? She wasn’t even touching anyone! Shouts bounced off the walls and the pounding in Cora’s ears grew louder. Cora saw sparks of magic fly back and forth, lighting up the darkness like fireworks in the sky.

  She grabbed onto the strength of the Jinx and with her other hand, she pushed against her outstretched arm with all the strength she had until, with a painful thump, it dropped back down to her side.

  She felt light-headed as the walls around her slowly spun in the dark.

  ‘Don’t let them leave!’ came a strangled cry from the other side of the room.

  Bright red sparks flew towards her. Cora ducked and covered her head. She stumbled on her feet. Then she heard Tick and Tock fly over to her side, deflecting the sparks that were being sent her way.

  Escape. They needed to escape.

  Frantically, Cora searched for the witch’s magic inside her. But there were so many different things rippling, rolling and sticking to her like oil. She reached for one of them that bubbled like a stew, hoping it was the right magic. Then grabbing onto Tick and Tock, Cora snapped her fingers, just like she had seen Hythia do.

  SNAP!

  Chapter Twenty

  Instantly, the room around them vanished and Cora, Tick and Tock were thrown into a pool of cold water. Cora tried to gasp for air but there was none. There was only water and she was falling down through it like a heavy stone in the deep sea. The coldness stung her skin as it soaked through her clothes. Cora peered through the dark blue but her vision was blurred. She continued to drop deeper and deeper until, suddenly, she felt lighter. Like she was floating instead of sinking. The magic quietened inside her. And Cora sunk slowly down into the deep darkness that waited below.

  Cora lay on her bed. She was back home in Urt. Scratch sat next to her, lazily licking his paw. She wondered briefly what it would be like to be a cat. If she were anything like Scratch, it would involve a lot of sleeping.

  ‘What are you doing?’ came a voice from nearby.

  Cora turned to find Dot, standing by the door. She held her pocket watch in her hand.

  ‘It’s time for another drill,’ the old lady said. ‘Let’s go.’

  Cora moved to sit up. But she found she couldn’t. Something was holding onto her. It was like an invisible hand wouldn’t let her move.

  ‘I . . . I can’t,’ Cora said through gritted teeth. She pushed against the invisible hand that held her down.

  ‘Don’t just lie there,’ said Dot.

  ‘No, Dot. I can’t move!’

  ‘You’re stronger than you think,’ Dot said. ‘Now more than ever.’

  Cora opened her eye. She squinted into the dark blue sea, Dot’s words drifting in her mind. She searched inside her for the witch’s magic. It was bubbling quietly. Then holding it steady, Cora pushed herself upwards. The magic was like a slingshot, shooting her up through the water like an arrow from a bow. In seconds, she broke the surface.

  Gasping, Cora gulped down the cool night air in big, panting breaths. She kicked her legs beneath her to keep afloat and peered around. She was in water. The dark water stretched out either side of her, the light from the stars above reflecting across the water’s surface. Ahead Cora spied a beach. But she couldn’t see Tick or Tock. Twisting from left to right, she searched for the fairies, but they were nowhere in sight.

  Cora took a deep breath and dove back under the water. She pushed herself down and opening her eye, Cora squinted through the deep blue. Below her, drifting downwards, Cora spotted two pairs of wings and four fairy arms and legs.

  Tick and Tock were too far down. She couldn’t reach them by swimming. Quickly, Cora held the witch’s magic that still bubbled close by. She pushed out her palms in the water and pictured Tick and Tock flying towards her. And then, she felt a weight attach itself to her palms, and watched as the fairies shot through the water towards her.

  Then before she could run out of air, Cora seized the strength of the Jinx and caught the fairies. Thinking of the shoreline she knew was nearby, Cora snapped her fingers.

  In a spray of water, Cora, Tick and Tock landed on the hard ground. Rolling over, Cora coughed and spluttered into the dirt. She turned worriedly, her thoughts on the fairies, and then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Tick and Tock do the same.

  Cora fell on her back, collapsing to the ground in a soaking, worn-out puddle. It felt like she had just been trampled by a Jinx. No, make that three Jinxes. She grabbed her head with a hand and groaned.

  ‘Excuse me, young ladle.’

  ‘Lady.’

  Cora opened her eye to find Tick’s and Tock’s faces only inches from her own. Peering up at them, Cora could see the fairies’ faces were red and the little hair that they had on their heads was sticking up at odd angles.

  Cora slowly sat up.

  ‘Where are we?’ asked Tick. He looked around them. ‘And how did we get here?’

  Cora glanced around. Behind them stretched a large field of tall grass. The blades looked grey in the moonlight. Each one was so tall that it would’ve reached up to Cora’s shoulders if she were standing up.

  ‘Did you bring us here?’ Tick asked Cora.

  She nodded. Not s
ure where exactly here was.

  ‘You syphoned the witch’s magic,’ said Tock.

  ‘We weren’t getting out of there any other way,’ said Cora. She felt the new magic swirl around inside her. And it wasn’t just the witch’s magic. She didn’t know who exactly the second magic she syphoned belonged to, but it rolled around sluggishly. Cora stared up at Tick and Tock. Everything that she had been keeping from her friends flooded her mind. She had to tell them.

  ‘It wasn’t just the witch’s magic,’ said Cora.

  Tick and Tock raised their hairy eyebrows at her.

  ‘I . . . I need to tell you something,’ she said. ‘Something happened in Jade City. Something bad.’

  Tick and Tock flew closer, worry on their fairy faces.

  Cora pulled up her jacket sleeve to reveal her bare wrist. The wrist where her bracelet should have been.

  Tick’s and Tock’s eyes widened.

  ‘Cora, where is your bracelet?’ asked Tick.

  ‘It’s worse than that,’ said Cora. She turned her arms over. Tick and Tock looked down at them. The black, jagged lines sizzled and cracked, moving along her skin. Once no longer than her wrist, they now stretched all the way up to her elbows.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The fairies stared at Cora. Tick’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Tock looked like he was about to faint.

  Tick grabbed his head in his hands and whirled to look at Tock. ‘This is bad.’ He flew back and forth in the air, his head still in his hands. ‘This is worse than bad,’ he said. ‘This is a carrot!’

  ‘Catastrophe,’ corrected Tock. The fairy grabbed Cora’s hand and took a closer look at the lines moving up her arms. ‘Cora . . .’ he said softly.

  Tick stopped fluttering back and forth. ‘Is this why your eye . . .’ he said pointing to his own.

  Cora nodded. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,’ she said. ‘I should have, I know. But there was never the right time, and . . .’ she looked down at her arms. They were strange to her now. Like they were somebody else’s. ‘And I thought, I thought that if you knew, that you would . . . leave.’ She peered up at the fairies.

  Tick and Tock paused.

  ‘We’re not going anywhere,’ said Tock firmly.

  Tick nodded. ‘We promise.’

  Cora felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. ‘But . . . I could be dangerous,’ she said.

  ‘You can’t get rid of us that easily,’ said Tock, crossing his arms over his chest.

  ‘People have tried and failed,’ said Tick.

  Cora smiled at the fairies. It felt good to have them know what was happening to her. For the first time since they set off on their journey, Cora felt her worry lessen.

  Tick flew next to Tock and peered at the black lines running up her arm. Then the brothers shared a worried glance.

  ‘Your magic is too much,’ said Tock.

  ‘If we don’t stop it, you’ll become a Havoc,’ said Tick.

  ‘But you’re not a Havoc yet,’ said Tock.

  ‘I think my magic speaks to me,’ Cora said. ‘In dreams,’ she explained. ‘But like it did with the gremlins, my hand shot up on its own when we were in that room with the council, and I felt it take someone else’s magic. I wasn’t even touching them.’

  ‘Whose magic?’ asked Tick.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Cora said. It was dark. She really hoped it wasn’t the vampire’s.

  There was silence. A cool wind blew through the tall grass making a soft ruffling sound in the air.

  Cora felt a hand on her shoulder. It squeezed gently.

  ‘We will fix this, Cora,’ Tick said.

  ‘We will,’ Tock added. ‘We promise.’

  Cora smiled at her friends, relief enveloping her like a warm hug.

  ‘But first, we need to keep moving,’ Tock said.

  Cora nodded, standing up. She gazed out at the tall blades of grass that sat behind them. She pulled out the map that was in her pack. And as soon as she grabbed it, she realised it was soaking wet. Opening it up carefully, she could see the lines and names Gromp had written were now smudged and unreadable. The sad faces and happy faces drooped sideways. Parts of the map even fell apart in her hands. The water had destroyed it.

  ‘Crud,’ she whispered.

  ‘Well,’ said Tick, looking over her shoulder at the falling apart map, ‘let’s hope we’re still in the northern towns.’

  ‘And as far away from the council as possible,’ said Tock. ‘If you took magic from the council, they know what you are. And if they know what you are . . .’

  ‘They will be coming for me,’ finished Cora.

  ‘And they will be angry,’ said Tick. ‘Very angry.’

  ‘To the council, the only thing worse than a Havoc,’ said Tock, ‘is a syphon.’

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Cora walked wearily through the tall grass. Her mind was overflowing with thoughts. Thoughts of the council, thoughts of the unusual magic that swam beneath the surface of her skin, thoughts of . . . Havocs. She pictured them as snarling, drooling people with black eyes and black teeth. She tried to shake away the image but it stuck to her mind like a sticky pudding.

  They had been walking for half an hour amongst the thick blades of the grassy field. Peering ahead, Cora could see that the grass seemed to stretch on endlessly in front of them. Together, they made a path through the grass by swatting the tall blades out of their way.

  ‘We could be in Mittlelor,’ said Tick. ‘Father said the grass there was wild like the sea.’

  The grass is definitely wild, thought Cora as she swiped at the blades in front of her. One sprung back and hit her in the face.

  ‘Father also said Mittlelor smelt like fruit buns,’ said Tock.

  Tick sniffed the air and Cora did too. But the air in the field smelt more like old, damp pillowcases than sweet fruit buns.

  Tick crinkled his nose. ‘Definitely not Mittlelor.’

  Wherever they were, the smell hung in the air making it thick and heavy. There wasn’t a hint of a breeze. Besides the rustling of the grass with their movements, the field was still. Cora glanced down at her arms for what felt like the hundredth time.

  ‘We could be in the Korkle Plains,’ said Tick.

  ‘It’s too warm to be the Korkle Plains,’ said Tock. ‘We must be somewhere else.’

  There was silence amongst them as they trudged through the dense grassland. The fear of the council appearing behind her in the tall grass was the only thing that kept Cora moving one foot in front of the other.

  ‘Has anyone ever outrun the council before?’ she asked.

  Tick and Tock shook their heads.

  Cora swallowed, regretting ever asking the question.

  ‘What happened to your bracelet?’ asked Tock.

  ‘Archibald melted it in Jade City,’ Cora said.

  ‘He melted it?’ echoed Tick. ‘With fire?’

  ‘No. He just . . . dissolved it,’ Cora said. ‘With his magic. It disintegrated right off my wrist into . . . nothing.’ Cora remembered watching the bracelet fall from her wrist like snow.

  ‘That’s not possible,’ said Tock, shaking his head.

  ‘What do you mean? I saw it,’ said Cora, pushing blades out of her way.

  ‘The bracelet was tied to you,’ said Tick. ‘Unbreakable.’

  Cora wasn’t sure how Archibald had done it, but he had definitely dissolved her bracelet.

  ‘Unless the warlock knows something we don’t,’ said Tock.

  ‘Well, most magical folk do know things we don’t,’ said Tick.

  Tock sent him a sideways glance. ‘The members of the council don’t know your magic is unstable,’ said Tock. ‘That’s one good thing.’

  ‘Amongst a whole lot of very not good things,’ said Tick with a forced smile.

  Cora groaned. Then before she could ask how they were going to stop her from becoming a Havoc, something sharp shot through the grass from behind her. It flew past
her, slicing through the air and a blade of grass next to them. Then a whole cluster of somethings sharp zipped with wild speed through the air, peppering the blades in front of them with holes.

  Tock gasped.

  Cora and Tick looked over at the fairy to find him staring down at his leg. Sticking out of his thigh was a dart. It was about the length of Cora’s hand and had a small yellow feather tied to the end of it.

  ‘Tock!’ said Tick, alarmed.

  Tock grabbed his leg and then looked up, his eyes wide. ‘Hunt —,’ he said. The fairy dipped in the air. Tick quickly grabbed onto his brother, holding him up.

  A loud fluttering noise filled the grassy plain with a humming buzz. It sounded like wings.

  Cora turned and stood in front of the fairies. Reaching for her magic, she searched through the grass. She saw movement ahead in the bent and broken blades but with only the light from the moon shining down, she couldn’t make out much else other than darkness and grass.

  Her magic at her fingertips, Cora threw the princess’s magic into the grass. Wind soared into the blades, blowing them over and revealing a pair of creatures staring back at them.

  There was a woman with yellow hair and hands that glowed red like fire and a short man who knelt on all fours. Then Cora looked up and saw a third soar on wings above them.

  ‘Hunters!’ cried Tick. ‘Run!’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Cora didn’t need to be told twice. She turned on her heel and set off as fast as she could. Tick, carrying Tock, flew ahead of her into the grass. She sprinted after them, brushing the thick blades out of her way, her eyes unmoving from Tick’s and Tock’s flying bodies zipping in the dark.

  Before she could catch up to them, something fell on top of her, bringing her crashing down to the ground. Her face, arms and legs skidded along the dirt. Cora went to get up, to continue running, but as she moved, she realised she couldn’t stand. Flipping over to her back, Cora found herself stuck inside a giant net. The ropes that twined together glowed red where they touched her skin. She watched as each strand of rope curled and slithered like a snake.