The Orb of Kandra

Oliver stared back, wondering if Armando recognized him. He couldn’t tell. And there was no time to dwell on it. He had to find the threat.

Oliver looked about frantically. There was nothing amiss. No sign of a trap. Nothing to suggest Armando’s life was in imminent danger at all. He couldn’t help but second-guess himself. Was this whole trip back a mistake? Had he sacrificed his beloved school for no reason?

Suddenly, Lucas burst into the office. “The guards are coming, you little pest!”

He lunged for Oliver but Oliver jumped out of the way. He looked about frantically, searching for the threat. He didn’t have long to save Armando’s life. What could it be?

“Get back here!” Lucas snapped.

Armando jumped back as Oliver rushed past him, sliding under his desk and right out the other side. Lucas reached him but the wide desk provided a barrier. He lunged for Oliver, knocking into the desk over and over in his frantic attempts to get hold of him.

That’s when Oliver saw it. A coffee cup on the side of the desk was being sloshed all over the place from Lucas’s movements. And Armando was now reaching for it to stop it from spilling. But there was a strange shimmery glistening on its surface.

Poison!

Oliver jumped up onto the desk and kicked out. The coffee cup went flying from Armando’s hands. It smashed onto the ground, a puddle of brown liquid pooling from it.

“What is going on?” Armando exclaimed.

Lucas got hold of Oliver’s legs and pulled. Oliver fell, landing heavily against the desk.

“It’s POISON!” he tried to cry, but Lucas was covering his mouth with his hands.

Oliver thrashed at the old man, kicking out, trying to get free.

Just then guards barreled into the room.

“Take this boy away,” Lucas said.

Oliver bit down on his hand.

Lucas reared back and screamed out in pain. Oliver leapt from the desk and darted left and right in his attempts to evade the guards. But it was no use. They got hold of him, twisting his arms roughly behind his back. They started to shove him toward the door.

“Armando, please listen to me!” Oliver cried, digging his heels in. “Lucas is trying to kill you!”

Lucas was nursing his sore hand. He narrowed his eyes as Oliver was dragged to the door.

“Preposterous,” he sneered.

Just then, Oliver noticed a small mouse had scurried out from the shadows in the corner. It sniffed the spilled coffee on the floor.

“Look!” Oliver cried.

Armando turned his gaze to the mouse. It licked the coffee spill. Then in an instant, its whole body went stiff and rigid.

It fell to its side, dead.

Everyone froze. The guards stopped dragging Oliver.

They all turned to Armando.

Armando stared at Lucas, and slowly, his expression changed. It became pained. A look of betrayal.

“Lucas?” he asked, his voice heartbroken, disbelieving.

Lucas’s face flushed with shame.

Armando’s face hardened, and slowly, he pointed a finger at Lucas.

“Take him away,” he instructed the guards.

Immediately, the guards released Oliver and rounded on Lucas.

“This is madness!” Lucas screamed as they roughly pinned Lucas’s arms behind his back. “Armando! You’ll believe this scrawny little boy over me?”

Armando said nothing as the guards dragged Lucas away.

The old man’s face contorted with rage. He screamed, looking as deranged as Hitler had when Oliver had broken his bomb.

“This isn’t over, Oliver Blue!” he yelled. “I’ll get you one day!”

Then he was dragged through the door and disappeared from sight.

Oliver let out a deep breath of relief. He’d done it. He’d really done it. He’d saved Armando’s life.

He looked up at the old inventor, standing there in the chaos of his office looking shocked and stunned. For a long moment, they held one another’s gaze.

Then, finally, Armando smiled.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to see you again.”

CHAPTER TWO

Malcolm Malice took aim with his crossbow. He steadied himself. Then he let it fly.

It sliced through the air at lightning speed before smashing into the bull’s-eye. A perfect shot. Malcolm grinned.

“Great work, Malcolm,” Coach Royce said. “I’d expect no less from my star pupil.”

Filled with pride, Malcolm handed him back the crossbow and went to stand beside the rest of his classmates. They narrowed their jealous eyes at him.

“Star pupil,” someone mimicked.

There was a smattering of laughter.

Malcolm ignored their teasing. He had more important things to think about. He’d only been at Obsidian’s for a few months but already he’d leapfrogged kids who’d been here for years. He was a powerful seer. Atomic—the strongest kind, with a rare blend of cobalt and bromine.

So what if none of the other kids wanted to hang out with him? He’d been friendless before coming to Obsidian’s. It didn’t make much difference to Malcolm if it remained that way. He wasn’t here for friendship anyway. He was here to excel, to become the best seer he could possibly be, so that when the time came he could crush those Amethyst losers into dust.