Corridors

Stephen Hayes

Description

The fourth instalment in the epic Magic Crystals series, following the events of Hunt and PowerA great war has enveloped the world, sweeping all before it and sending John and his friends, now wanted criminals scurrying for cover.While those who can must take the frontline to protect as many innocent lives as possible, the Hammerson family and their army of loyal Hammerhearts swiftly take control of two thirds of the world, using magic to impact the minds of those previously in power to make them cave.John must struggle on two fronts as his social and romantic lives become ever more complicated, and he must be mindful of his safety every time he leaves the shelter of the Woodward Sorcerers headquarters. Several of his friends would learn this lesson at enormous cost.The only chance our heroes have of survival is in the shape of a jittery old man, who may have all the answers; but in order to find out, the Chopville teens must undergo a journey of discovery and understanding first.

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780987133991
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Magic Crystals
 
 
Corridors
Clean Edit Edition
 
 
by
 
Stephen Hayes

 
Corridors
Clean Edit Edition
 
Book 4 in the Magic Crystals series
 
Written by Stephen Hayes
 
Published 2015 by Stephen Hayes, Australia
 
Formatted by www.eBookIt.com
 
www.StephenHayesOnline.com
 
Copyright © Stephen Hayes 2015
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon, Facebook or similar organisations) in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
 
Disclaimer: All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
 
ISBN-13: 978-0-9871339-9-1
Previously on the Magic Crystals…
Corridors is the fourth volume in the much larger ‘Magic Crystals’ series, and picks up about eight weeks after the last book left off; but don't worry, all the important stuff that you missed will be covered throughout the story, so there's no need to look so sad as you ponder these words on the page, screen, or whatever else you're using to read this. In fact, if you haven't read or even heard of ‘The Seventh Sorcerer’, ‘Rock Haulter’, or ‘Hunt and Power’, then what on earth are you doing here? Go back and read them, or you may find yourself floundering as you try to imagine what a bludginator is supposed to do, or why just about everyone hates Mr. Hall so much. Go on, go and read them now; I can wait.
…You're still here. Now why is that? Is it that you're too lazy to go and find them? Can you not afford the twenty-five dollars or whatever it is to get the Ebooks? Can you not even be bothered looking for a pirated copy? If it's the latter then good, 'cause it means I'll get to eat sausages for dinner tonight. Or maybe you have already read them and just want me to get to the point, or perhaps you're a daring soul who thinks they can take this mammoth tail on without the background knowledge. If so, I would tip my hat to you—or my headphones, as that's actually what I'm wearing on my head at the moment.
But since I'm so generous, I'll grant you a quick recap. In the beginning, a bad man by the name of Bernard Moran, who works for an even worse man by the name of Arnold Hammerson, was tasked with finding all of the Sorcerous Crystals—the source of all the Sorcerers' power. But Moran decided to doublecross his masters and take all the magic for himself, including that belonging to the Hammersons. If it hadn't been for his sons Marc and Lucien, and an army of their teenage friends, who knows what Moran might have achieved. Unfortunately, Marc turned out to be the Seventh Sorcerer, and only needed to hold all six Sorcerous Crystals to have magic at his disposal—it was the reason why the Hammersons had wanted him out of the way in the first place. With his friend Tommy's help, Marc was able to defeat his father's Beast of Magic, Fewul, and return the magic to its rightful owners.
The victory was short-lived, however, for as soon as the Hammersons got their magic back, they regrouped, broke Moran out of jail, punished him for his failure and betrayal, and hatched another plan—to steal the most powerful source of magic in the world: The Sien-Leoard Crystal. It was protected on an island called Rock Haulter, a strange place only accessible a few times a year from certain locations around the world. One of those times was conveniently near, and so Moran was given the job and a chance to redeem himself. Once again, he failed, this time because Marc had used his Seventh Sorcerer powers to call on Fewul, the same Beast of Magic Moran had used against him just days earlier, and was able to get to the crystal first.
Moran didn't make it off the island until weeks later, but news of his failure preceded him. The Hammersons decided to use Stella, Arnold's daughter and a not-so-secret traitor to her family, to lure Marc and his magic into a trap. Marc came willingly, but without his magic and with plenty of backup. After Arnold accidentally killed the wrong person, he was forced to take swift action against Marc and his friends before his opposite number, Frederic Woodward, took action of his own. A raid was launched, in which the Hammersons reclaimed five of the six Sorcerous Crystals, as well as took three teenagers—including Frederic Woodward's daughter Amelia—captive.
It took two days for them to escape, in which time the Hammersons captured eight more teenagers through Mr. Hall, their secret agent within the Chopville high school, and all eleven of them were subjected to unspeakable horrors. It was Stella who saved them, by first pretending to kill three of them so that she could take their bodies away, and then secretly restoring Amelia's nullified magic so that Amelia could break them all out. The very next day, the Woodwards stripped the Hammersons of their powers just as Moran had done, and gave them to the Fletchers. They also took the Hammersons and a few of their followers captive.
But the Hammerhearts, the army of loyal followers the Hammersons had been raising for years, rebelled spectacularly the very next day, launching an attack at the high school, killing many of the teachers, some students and a few of the Woodwards' soldiers. It was bad, but beyond that, they seemed like a rudderless pack of troublemakers. The Hammersons re-joined them quickly, though, either having broken out themselves or been broken out by a traitor within the Woodwards' ranks, and many suspected Stella of being responsible. And that was when John (how could it have taken me so long to mention his name) went into the Hammerheart base to attempt to recapture them, assisted by his friend Tulip. They were both captured, she was killed, and he only escaped because Moran chose that exact moment to return to base.
When we last left them, John felt terribly guilty for being responsible for Tulip's death, and had resolved never to try to be a hero again. But how long will that last? Given that he currently has possession of the Sien-Leoard Crystal, I'm willing to bet it won't be long.
Still have questions? The Light, Darkness and Villain Crystals? Agonators? Bludginators? Solid-outliners? The strange connection between John and Stella? The domination charm? The influential charm? The Hammerson base? The Woodward base? Well, if you're really curious, there are three lovely books just waiting for you to go out and buy them. If you still can't be bothered, well, neither can I. So without further ado, let's just pass it over to John Playman and get this ball rolling…
Prologue
The plan was made. The long preparation was complete. The moment of truth, after weeks of effort, had finally arrived. Was it any wonder that I was nervous as I knocked on the door and stood back, waiting for it to open? When I had been asked about what this job would involve, I hadn't been able to give much of it away, for who would really understand it, anyway. Basically, and it was true enough, I would meet someone, I would take something from him, I would give him something that he wanted (if I absolutely had to), and then I'd get the hell out of there. With a bit of luck, and not just for myself, I wouldn't have to give him what he wanted, but I had to be ready for him, because he would be ready for me this evening.
I stood for only ten seconds before the door flew open, and the man I'd hoped to see was standing before me. However nervous he made me feel, I was always extremely grateful whenever I saw him in good health, as he was almost the only person left in his family whom the Hammerhearts hadn't managed to kill. I gave everything in the doorway a cursory glance before looking at his face, making sure to note as much of his intentions by his surroundings as possible. He hadn't bothered to wear anything particularly special, which made my heart sink because it meant that he intended to waste very little time this evening. The room beyond was dimly lit and had a sensual smell to it that I'd never known a man who lived alone to be capable of manufacturing—not that I had been in many such dwellings.
“Hello,” he said, smiling slowly and deliberately taking half a step back from me. “You're a little earlier than I expected. Come in.”
“Thanks,” I said pleasantly, moving carefully past him and into his apartment, swerving ever so slightly to prevent his free hand from making contact with my waist. Whatever happened tonight, I would only make it easy for him after making sure playing it hard wouldn't work.
He closed the door softly and turned to face me, raking me with his greedy eyes. I let him do it, knowing it was part of the ritual. He couldn't help himself, in any case, and I'd made sure to make the most of it when planning my attire for the evening. As though reading my mind, he said, “You do look nice tonight. As always, of course.”
“Thanks,” I repeated, wondering briefly if I should return the compliment, then deciding not to. He hadn't gone to any particular effort, after all. He was smooth talking, but that didn't mean I had to smooth talk. I would need a different kind of persuasiveness this evening, one I'd fortunately become practised at over the last few months.
Realising that I wasn't going to compliment him on his appearance and reacting before I could become awkward, he moved swiftly forward and hugged me, allowing his hands to roam wherever they so desired. This time I had to return the gesture and did so graciously enough. When he drew back from me, though not letting go entirely, he said, “Would you like anything to drink?”
“No thanks,” I said, staring around over his shoulders and head, my eyes falling on the couch and fixing there, hoping he would invite me to sit down.
“You sure?” he asked.