Septimus Heap, Book Six_ Darke - Angie Sage [159]
Those who fell into the Darke Trance while in the open air fared the worst. Many succumbed to the cold and it was feared—from bloodstains found on the more exposed areas of the Castle—that the Darke dragon had taken those who were missing. Some people had been overtaken by the Darke Domaine at a dangerous moment—one died when climbing a ladder, two while trying to escape from a high window and five people fell into a fire they were tending. Three could not be woken and were taken to the Wizard Tower sick bay for DisEnchanting.
Two names on the commemorative plaques placed around the Castle will be familiar:
Bertie Bott. Ordinary Wizard. Missing, presumed eaten.
Una Brakket. Housekeeper. Found frozen in Little Creep Cut.
MAIZIE SMALLS & BINKIE
Maizie Smalls was overtaken by the Darke Domaine in her mother’s house just off Wizard Way. They were sitting down to their traditional Longest Night supper prior to going out to see the lights when their front door blew open and the Darke Fog came tumbling in. They both survived, although Maizie’s mother was ill for some time afterward.
The first thing Maizie did on waking up—once she knew her mother had survived—was to rush to the Palace to try and find her cat, Binkie. Although Binkie was apparently fine, it did not take Maizie long to realize that there was something odd about the cat.
Binkie, like all the Castle cats, had been greatly affected by the Darke. The cats had acted like sponges, soaking up the stubborn pockets of Darke that lingered in dark corners and hidden places where cats liked to go. Binkie was no longer a house cat. He snarled, he spat and he scratched Maizie when she tried to stroke him. He would no longer eat the cat food that Maizie lovingly brought him—Binkie wanted blood: birds, baby rats and mice. And what Binkie wanted, Binkie got.
Five days after The Great UnDoing, Binkie left the Palace with Maizie as she set out to light the Wizard Way torches. Maizie was much encouraged by her cat’s sudden desire for companionship as he followed her down the drive—but she never saw him again. Binkie stalked up Wizard Way, padded across the Castle drawbridge just before it was raised for the night and went to join the growing band of newly Darke Castle cats in the Forest. Within a few weeks there were—much to Stanley’s delight—no cats at all left in the Castle.
STANLEY AND THE RATLETS
Stanley and his ratlets spent the rest of the Darke Domaine on the Outside Path. While Stanley fretted about Jenna, Flo, Mo, Bo and Jo had a great time racing up and down the path, playing Silly Statues. When the Darke dragon roared, the one who struck the silliest pose—and kept it for the duration of the roar—won.
Once the Darke Domaine ended, Stanley and the ratlets cleaned up the Rat Office—or rather, Stanley cleaned up while the ratlets had a broom fight and then went off to hang out with their friends. Stanley did not object; he was just pleased to have everything back to normal once more and his ratlets safe.
Stanley soon found that his worries about staffing the Message Rat Service were unfounded. As word got around the Port rat community that the Castle was a cat-free zone, Stanley found he had the pick of “quality staff,” as he called them. The Message Rat Service began to thrive once more—and it even acquired new drains.
EPHANIAH GREBE
Ephaniah Grebe, Conservation, Preservation and Protection Scribe at the Manuscriptorium, very nearly did not survive the Darke Domaine. He locked himself in his Fume Cupboard but the Darke Fog seeped in and overpowered him. Ephaniah was weakened by his two previous encounters with the Darke: the permanent rat hex when he was fourteen and, more recently, being InHabited by a Thing.
The new Chief Hermetic Scribe found his missing Con-servation Scribe squashed into the Fume Cupboard, his little rat mouth open and his tongue lolling out. Beetle thought he was dead, but a sudden twitch of Ephaniah’s