The Shadowsong Conspiracy

Chapter 19

 At ten o'clock that evening, Sawyer, Piper, and Caspar sneaked out of the school. A carriage was already waiting for them on the road. One of the local landlords had a ball that evening, and most good carriages had been taken, so Dexter had managed to book them only a very basic one. Sawyer had raided his closet for blankets and snacks to take on the journey, Caspar had forged the notes of absence, and Christian had promised to stay behind to watch over Maddox with a couple of the best Resistance members.

They spent the drive going through the study course. Piper threw in questions at regular intervals, but Sawyer let Caspar do most of the answering and concentrated on memorizing as many Shadowsong chants as possible. He had an inkling he might need them soon.

"I wonder why the Force would suddenly drop you as a target, Saw," Piper said with a yawn when the carriage drove to Londinium. "It doesn't make sense."

"I guess they have other more pressing targets now that the school changes have been halted," Caspar said. "I heard a rumor that they've sent a direct threat to the Council. That makes even less sense, though, because Council security is rigorously tight."

"I'm still going to hack through that News link as soon as I get the chance," Piper said stubbornly.

"Forget it, we have a weapon to fight the Force now. It's Maddox we need to worry about," Sawyer said and rubbed his eyes. He still had a light headache, but Caspar had given him some peppermint tablets that had taken out the worst edge. So far, he and Caspar hadn't talked about anything else than the current situation, and Sawyer was careful not to; he knew that even though Caspar was anxious to help, the rift between them was still there.

The carriage turned to the narrow, dingy alley and stopped in front of the Scouts' headquarters. Seán stood waiting at the door. He seemed to recognize Caspar's name, and he was particularly friendly to him while merely inclining his head to Sawyer and Piper.

They tiptoed through the silent, gloomy house, descended the dark staircase, and arrived at the basement room, where two people were waiting.

"These are Balthazar and Lancelot," Seán said and swung himself in a chair. "So, your friend is Wraithing. Are you quite sure?"

Sawyer gave a short account of Maddox's actions and their meeting at his door the previous day.

"Trust me, he's Wraithing," Caspar added. "I've seen it happen."

"Fine", Seán said. "It sounds like he's pretty far into the process, though, so I'm going to be honest here. I'm not sure we can save him. If he has progressed this fast, it means every minute counts. An hour can be fatal."

"Then let's do something," Sawyer said. "What can we do?"

"We can try to de-Wraith him. That means we'll reverse Shadow's influence on him and drag his spirit back. It's a specific task and requires at least two de-Wraithing experts, but in this case, I'd recommend three. We also need one or two people to rip the Shadowsong he'll attempt to use on us while we do the de-Wraithing."

"I can do that," Sawyer said at once. "Caspar knows how to rip, too, so he can be the other one."

"You got the course the day before yesterday, and you claim you can already rip Shadowsong?" Seán asked, his lip curling.

"Feel free to test me." Sawyer shrugged. "I'm a fast learner."

"So I shall." Seán kicked his chair back and spoke a chant with such short and simple sentences that it made Sawyer cringe. A bald figure shot up in the air; a man so generic he looked like a doll.