Home > Witch Wars (The Witches of Orkney #3)(5)

Witch Wars (The Witches of Orkney #3)(5)
Author: Alane Adams

Oskar leaped to his feet. “Me. I volunteer.”

“Me too,” another said.

The crowd of boys began shouting and pounding their feet on the ground, all except Hugo.

DeGroot held a hand up, and the boys quieted. “Your enthusiasm is noted. I expected nothing less from my young recruits. I took the liberty of dropping your names in a hat.”

He lifted his helmet off the desk and shook it in the air. With his other hand, he made a show of churning the names around before drawing out a slip of paper.

The boys sat forward, holding their breaths as they waited for him to say the name.

“Hugo Suppermill.”

There were groans and boos. Hugo sat back, stunned.

“Boys, I want you all to congratulate Private Supper-mill.” A look of satisfaction crossed DeGroot’s face. There was no hint of surprise. Or disappointment. As if DeGroot had wanted his name to be chosen. Or maybe … had known his name would be chosen. Which meant … Hugo’s name was likely the only one in the hat.

Oskar jumped up. “This stinks. Suppermill’s a coward, and everyone knows it.”

The boys all grumbled, ready to revolt. DeGroot said nothing, his eyes sliding over to Hugo, challenging him to disagree.

Hugo ignored Emenor’s warning glare and stood. “Just because I don’t like the idea of war doesn’t make me a coward, and anyone who has a problem with that can see me outside.”

The room went completely silent. Not even Oskar challenged him.

DeGroot clapped loudly. “I knew you had salt in you. Take your seat, Private. You outrank every boy here. You give the order, and I’ll expect them to obey. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, the study of invasions. We have invaded the main hold of the Orkadians, Garamond, several times over the centuries.” He turned to the board and motioned with a pointer. “In the past we’ve had some success with a sea attack followed by a ground army with battalions of the Black Guard and the witches to back them up. But all have failed eventually. I believe this time we have an edge.”

“What kind of edge?” Gregor, a boy from Hugo’s class, asked.

DeGroot waved the pointer at the ceiling. “The skies. From sea to ground to the air. The Orkadians won’t stand a chance.”

“How will we fly?” Oskar asked. “Are we going to get wings?”

The boys chuckled, but DeGroot slapped the pointer on the desk, and they snapped upright.

“We’re not going to fly, fool. The witches will be carried on the backs of Omeras.”

“Those beasts will rip us to pieces,” Gregor said in awe.

“Not if we control them. Enough talk. Classroom time is over. I want you lined up outside in formation. We will be busy making history, not learning about it from books.”

The boys spilled out of their seats. Hugo stayed behind until the Assembly Hall was clear, then approached Lieutenant DeGroot.

“Why me?” he asked.

The lieutenant looked up from the papers he was riffling and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Why did you choose me?”

“I didn’t. You saw—it was a random selection.”

“No. You knew it would be me. Why would you want me?”

DeGroot grabbed Hugo by the collar and hauled him close. “Who says I want you? Someone in high places wants you gone—I’m the one stuck with you.”

“Vertulious,” Hugo whispered to himself.

DeGroot released him and jerked his head at the door. “Get out. We sail at dawn. You better be there waiting, or I’ll hunt you down myself.”

Hugo hurried away as icy fear trickled through his veins.

He wasn’t going to stop this war.

He was going to be in the thick of it.

 

 

Chapter 4

 


Abigail lay on her bed in her tiny attic room, staring up at the ceiling. She had loads of homework to do but found she didn’t care. Why bother when she was just going to fail unless she did whatever Vertulious asked? He would always be able to threaten her over Hugo. If only her heart really were made of stone, life would be so much easier.

A tap sounded on her shutters. She leaped up and ran to throw them open, expecting to see Hugo, but it was his mechanical bird, flapping its creaky wings. It carried a note in its beak. She pried it loose and quickly read it:

Meet me by the jookberry tree. Urgent!

 

Abigail threw a cloak over her uniform and laced up her boots. The sun was just setting, but with luck, the other witchlings would be busy studying, and she could shimmy down the thick ivy without being seen.

When she arrived at their usual meeting place out of breath, Hugo stepped out from behind the tree.

“I’m sorry about earlier,” she blurted out before he could speak. “I don’t know why I said those things.”

He looked distracted and merely nodded at her words. “It’s okay. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m being deployed.”

“What?” Shock rooted Abigail to the ground. “But how? Has the war begun then?”

Hugo shrugged. “I don’t know. I was chosen to be a cabin boy on one of the ships. I’m leaving in the morning.”

“No. You can’t.”

“I just said I am.”

“I won’t accept it. I’ll go talk to Vertulious. He’ll listen to me.”

He grabbed her arm as she brushed past him. “Abigail, he’s the one who arranged it.”

She blinked as she took that in. “You know the last three witch details that left haven’t come back yet. No one’s even heard where they went to.”

“So it’s up to me to find out what’s happening. Remember, I’m a scientist. Nothing bad is going to happen to me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m smart. Listen, there’s something else. DeGroot said they have Omeras. That they’ll be able to destroy the Orkadians from the sky.”

Abigail’s face flushed with guilt. “Not yet they don’t, but they will if Vertulious has his way. He made me use a metamorphis spell in class today, and we turned a shreek into an Omera.”

“Why didn’t you refuse?”

She bit her lip. “I tried—but he threatened to hurt you. I don’t think he really needed me though—he didn’t ask me to remove my sea emerald, and my blue witchfire is a lot more powerful.” She put her hands to her head. “I don’t see any chance of the Orkadians winning. It’s all so lopsided without Odin’s Stone.”

Hugo’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! What if we found a way to balance the sides?”

“How? It’s not like we have a spare Odin’s Stone lying around.”

“I know … but what if we found something to replace it, something equally powerful?”

“Like what?”

Hugo’s face fell as he shrugged. “I don’t know.”

A snap echoed in the swamps.

“What was that?” Abigail asked.

Endera stepped out of the shadows. Her face was pale as snow, her eyes brittle and hard. “Why, Abigail, what a surprise to find you out here plotting against the coven.”

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