The Traitor of Belltroll Read online

  Albert saw a flash of golden yellow swimming beneath the surface, just a few feet below. His heart rate settled as he watched the CoreFish swim along the side of the stream, until it disappeared into the depths. Everything looked normal, save for the darkness, but then something caught Albert’s eye.

  Something that sent a chill racing up and down his spine and caused a cold sweat to bead on his brow.

  “Dad,” he heard himself say. “Look.”

  Professor Flynn turned, his torch shedding its creepy light across the stream, toward the door to Belltroll.

  The torch tumbled from his hand, landing in a sizzling heap on the stone floor of the Main Chamber.

  “This can’t be,” Professor Asante said. She whispered something, words in another language that Albert couldn’t understand, but he didn’t need to.

  What stood before them was proof of how dire this situation really was.

  Birdie and Leroy gasped as they too saw what everyone else saw.

  The door to Belltroll was cracked down the middle. One large, jagged crack—as if lightning had struck the door—gave way to endless darkness on the other side.

  It was a message from the traitor, Albert knew. And he had to admit it was impressive.

  How had they done it?

  And more importantly, who had done it?

  CHAPTER 9

  The Realm of Belltroll

  Lunch in Lake Hall was unusual, to say the least.

  When Hydra arrived, the turtles that usually escorted them to their docks were nowhere to be seen. Everyone had to trudge through waist-deep water to get to their tables.

  To make matters worse, the Whimzies were lethargic, only dropping a few light baskets full of sandwiches instead of their usual big, mouth-watering meals. They perched at one side of the cavernous room, resting their wings on the outcroppings of rock. And once everyone was done eating, instead of arriving with desserts, the giant birds simply disappeared into the darkness high above.

  “This feels all wrong,” Birdie said as she picked the crust off of her sandwich.

  “I’m soaking wet, I’m starving, and I would literally befriend Hoyt right now for a slice of chocolate pie,” Leroy added. “What’s going on with this place?”

  “Everything is off,” Albert said.

  Lake Hall was full of buzzing voices all around. It reminded Albert of the atmosphere at his school in New York City after the quake just yesterday.

  But Albert could feel it. Even with the dire circumstances at hand, there was something here in the Core that people on the surface didn’t always have in the face of disasters like this—hope.

  Unlike people on the surface, Albert and his Balance Keeper teammates had the power to stop this destruction, even if they didn’t yet know how to do it. That alone lifted the tiniest bit of dread from Albert’s shoulders as he sat up in his bed later that night in the boys’ dorm of Cedarfell.

  Still, with Farnsworth beside him, his little blue eyes shining just enough that Albert could read without waking Leroy, Albert was having trouble concentrating on the Black Book in front of him. He’d spent months poring over the images—hundreds, thousands of Tiles—learning skill after skill. All he had to do was focus on the symbol with all his might, and the Master Tile responded with a rush of power.

  Elasticity (the ability to stretch one’s body in an unnaturally extreme way). Albert had used that once in Ponderay, to stretch out his arms and save Hoyt from the Hammerfins.

  Size Shift (the ability to manipulate one’s body size). That Tile image was two circles side by side, one much larger than the other.

  There was Animal Control, and Healing, and Ice Manipulation. All these Tiles, all these symbols to memorize and learn, and the only thing Albert could think about was the fact that the traitor had the other two Master Tiles. No matter what, they would always be stronger than Albert ever could be.

  The traitor had already created two horrible Imbalances, and a third was well underway. Albert had stopped the Imbalances in Ponderay and Calderon, sure, but he hadn’t done it alone. He’d had Birdie and Leroy in Calderon, and even though Hoyt almost ruined everything in Ponderay with his selfish move, nearly allowing the Imbalance to destroy the world because he deviated from the plan, Hydra still couldn’t have stopped the Imbalance without Team Argon’s help.

  But only Albert could face the traitor. Only he had pulled a Master Tile from the Waterfall of Fate. How was he supposed to face the traitor and actually win?

  Farnsworth let out a big, heavy sigh, and his eyes began to droop.

  “You can get some sleep, buddy,” Albert said. “Thanks for staying up with me.”

  The dog’s eyes shut, and in seconds, he was snoring almost as loudly as Leroy.

  Albert closed the Black Book and lay down, too, but sleep wouldn’t come, no matter how hard he tried not to think about anything.

  Could the traitor be Lucinda? Another Balance Keeper, or maybe a Core worker who had Balance Keeper blood?

  Could it be, Albert hated to think, a Professor?

  Everyone had been in the Pit when the door to Belltroll was broken.

  But was there some sort of Tile symbol that could do things from far away? Or would it have been possible for the traitor to be wearing the two Master Tiles but keep them hidden? It’s not like someone was walking around with two jet-black Master Tiles dangling from his neck.

  There were too many thoughts. Too many questions, and Albert was getting a headache.

  Enough was enough. Albert nudged Farnsworth awake. “Go wake up Leroy,” he said.

  Farnsworth yawned, then crossed the tent and licked Leroy from chin to forehead.

  “KILLER SASQUATCH!” Leroy suddenly shouted and sat up straight in bed, his arms held out in front of him in a ninja pose. His hair was sticking out in every direction, and without his glasses, he looked wild-eyed as a cornered animal.

  When he noticed Albert and Farnsworth, he blinked a few times, like he’d just realized he wasn’t dreaming.

  “Killer sasquatch?” Albert chuckled. Farnsworth wagged his tail.

  Leroy yawned and wiped the slobber from his face. “Look, I have crazy dreams after I eat ham sandwiches, okay?”

  Albert nodded and tossed Leroy his hat and glasses. “Whatever you say, dude. Sorry to wake you up, but I’m going to get a closer look at the door to Belltroll while the Main Chamber is empty. You coming with me?”

  Leroy popped out of bed like it wasn’t three o’clock in the morning. “If you tell Birdie about this, I will personally shave your eyebrows off in your sleep.”

  Albert laughed and held open the flap of their tent. “Not if the sasquatches get you first.”

  It turned out Birdie had the same idea. When Albert and Leroy tiptoed into the Main Chamber, following the light from Farnsworth’s eyes, they saw her kneeling by the river that led to Belltroll, a fat notebook in her lap.

  “I figured you’d be showing up here at some point,” Birdie said. She had a little copper lantern beside her, casting just enough of a glow on her notebook to see that she had already been writing before they’d arrived.

  She’d scribbled a long list of names. In fact, when Albert leaned in, it appeared Birdie had already listed half the Core.

  “Is that your list of possible traitors?” Albert said.

  “But that’s, like . . . everyone,” Leroy said, crossing his long arms over his chest.

  “There’s a few I’ve checked off,” Birdie corrected him.

  Professor Flynn, Trey, and Petra were all crossed out. They knew those three weren’t guilty.

  “It’s true,” Albert said, sighing. “It could be anyone.”

  Farnsworth licked the paper, and Birdie rolled her eyes. “Whatever the case, we’ve got to be vigilant. We have to start narrowing this down before—”

  A clang sounded from a tunnel to their left.

  Birdie quickly doused her lantern. The three of them rushed into the shadows of one of the arched bridges a
nd waited as a Core Cleaner shuffled past, sweeping the floor with an old, worn-out broom. Albert held his breath.

  For one moment, his imagination went wild. He pictured the traitor, using two Master Tiles for Invisibility, somehow sweeping the Core Cleaner off his feet. Stealing him away to some unknown lair.

  But if the traitor was taking people, what was the point? And were those people okay?

  Albert put everything he had into hoping that they were.

  “You know, statistically speaking, we’re overdue to get caught for sneaking out,” Leroy whispered.

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen for a while,” Albert whispered back. “We can’t afford to waste time in a detention right now.”

  Farnsworth’s tail thumped across Albert’s ankles as if he agreed wholeheartedly with this.

  A few long minutes later, the Core Cleaner had swept his way down one of the tunnels and Albert let out a long exhale. At least that Cleaner was safe. They walked back to the Belltroll door to examine the destruction.

  It looked like it had been through battle. The jagged crack down the middle was peppered with sharp splinters of wood where the door had broken apart. Albert noticed that the door didn’t have hinges.

  He thought back to the first time they’d passed through one of the doors, into the Realm of Calderon. The river leading to the door had turned into a great wave, splashing into the face of the door. Then there was simply a giant empty hole where the ancient wood used to be.

  How would they enter Belltroll tomorrow if the door was broken?

  “What if this prevents us from going inside?” Albert asked, moving closer to where Leroy and Birdie were standing near the right side of the door.

  Leroy shook his head. “I don’t know, dudes. But I do know that wasn’t there yesterday, before the door was broken.” He knelt on the river’s edge and pointed at the far right corner of the door, closest to the water.

  “What is it?” Albert asked. “I can’t see anything.”

  Farnsworth turned on his brights, illuminating the door in blue.

  “There’s a smudge,” Leroy said. “It’s hardly noticeable . . .” He reached down and lifted his Synapse Tile with his fingertips. “But I can’t help but notice. I definitely didn’t see that before.”

  “We just walked past the door for, like, two seconds when we got to the Core,” Birdie said. “And you saw the absence of a smudge?”

  Leroy shrugged. “The Tile does what the Tile does, Guildacker Girl.”

  Albert leaned in for a closer look.

  Leroy was right. Sure enough, at the middle right of the door, where a handle would have been, was a small black smudge.

  Albert reached out and skimmed his finger across it. It came away a little sticky, like paint still only half dry.

  “Think that means something?” Albert turned to show Birdie and Leroy the smudge on his pointer finger.

  Birdie scribbled something into her notebook, not looking up when she said, “Definitely.”

  Birdie split from the boys soon after, and Albert, Leroy, and Farnsworth quietly made their way back down the tunnel that led to Cedarfell.

  “You know, this is starting to really feel like home,” Leroy said as they passed the Frog Man statue. Albert remembered the way Leroy used to angle the bill of his hat over his right eye as they passed the Frog Man when they’d first arrived in the Core. Now he marched past it like a soldier, eyes wide.

  “You’re right,” Albert said. “Which is why this traitor stuff feels all the more personal. This is our home. Someone can’t just come in here and . . .”

  Just as the tunnel turned right, Albert saw a tiny, yellowish glow.

  He grabbed Leroy by the arm and yanked him backward, just in time for Professor Bigglesby and Professor Asante to come walking around the corner.

  Invisibility, Albert thought, squeezing his eyes shut. He held on to Leroy’s arm and felt the warmth of his Master Tile working through both of them. When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see his body or Leroy’s.

  They backed slowly up against the wall, careful not to make a sound.

  “The point is this situation is amiss,” Professor Bigglesby was saying. He held a tiny, flickering candle, and in the dancing light it made the frown on his wrinkled face look far deeper than normal. The Professors were getting closer to them than Albert was comfortable with.

  “There’s no point to see,” Professor Asante said. “We’re in the middle of a crisis, and we must act with vigilance.” They stopped walking mere inches from Albert and Leroy.

  Albert gripped Leroy’s arm tight, hoping Leroy would stay quiet. If they could do that, they’d get away just fine.

  That was when a realization hit him like a punch to the chest.

  He’d forgotten to Invisible-ize Farnsworth!

  The little dog sat beside them, stone still in the darkness, his eyes faded to a normal-dog blue. If he moved, or scratched at his collar, or let out a typical Farnsworth burp . . . they’d be caught in an instant.

  Please, buddy, Albert thought. Don’t mess this one up for us.

  He focused instead on what the Professors were saying.

  “Vigilance is good, yes,” Bigglesby said. The candle flickered with the force of his words. “But the dangers far exceed anything we’ve yet to face. Imagine, Milena, if we run into someone we don’t want to see.”

  “What are you getting at?” Professor Asante asked.

  Bigglesby lifted a hand, then dropped it in frustration. “Festus,” he said. “I’m talking about Festus.”

  Professor Asante hissed between her teeth, like Albert’s mom had that time Albert used a different four-letter word to describe Farnsworth’s poop. She’d made it clear he’d be changing his little brother’s diapers full of that word if she heard it from him again.

  Festus? Albert didn’t know who that was. He looked to Leroy, but only saw the stone walls of the tunnel. At least he knew the Invisibility was still working.

  Professor Asante took a step closer to the dwarf and lowered her voice even more. “That’s not a possibility, and you and I both know it.” Her whisper was so fierce it made the hairs on the back of Albert’s neck stand on end. “You’ve been entertaining that notion for years, and it’s one that needs to go. Festus has been handled. There are other, far more important worries ahead.”

  “Like the Flynn boy,” Bigglesby growled.

  Albert had to fight to keep in his gasp. Beside him, he felt Leroy stiffen.

  Even Farnsworth looked up.

  The Professors took several steps forward, their voices fading away. Albert had to use the Hearing symbol, fast, to catch their words.

  “Think of the situation. Think of the similarities . . . ,” Bigglesby said. “He’s a danger to us all, Milena. I don’t like the idea of him entering a third Realm, specifically one as pivotal as Belltroll, and with that Master Tile of his, it’s only a matter of time before he does what . . .”

  “I won’t allow you to speak ill of him,” Professor Asante snapped, fire in her voice. “The boy did well in the other two Realms, and many will stand by that. Myself included. He is good. Down to the very beat of his heart.”

  “But the past,” Bigglesby started. “The past will—”

  “Not repeat itself,” Asante finished for him. “Not this time. The boy won’t fail in Belltroll.”

  “And if he does?”

  They moved on, but Albert still heard Professor Asante’s final, haunting words float down the tunnel like ghosts. “If he fails, the Core could cease to exist.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Debriefing, Belltroll-Style

  Morning came all too soon.

  Albert’s head was thick, as if someone had stuffed his ears full of cotton balls while he slept.

  What had he ever done to Professor Bigglesby? He’d never really spent time with the dwarf other than during a class or two during his First Term in the Core, when Bigglesby taught the students about Calderon.

&
nbsp; So why did Bigglesby not trust Albert?

  He tried his best to lock that thought away and make it stay there.

  But it wasn’t easy, because today, Bigglesby was debriefing Hydra and Hoyt on the Realm of Belltroll.

  Albert and Leroy met Birdie in the hallway just outside the little dwarf’s office. Hoyt was already there, standing awkwardly beside Birdie.

  When he saw Albert and Leroy, he perked up. “Hey!” he said and pushed off of the wall where he’d been leaning. Leroy scrambled backward and almost tripped over his own feet. Hoyt, mercifully, ignored the opportunity to make fun of him. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you guys. I’m, uh . . . looking forward to working with you again.”

  Birdie, who obviously still hadn’t forgiven Hoyt since the incident in Ponderay, rolled her eyes. “Sure you are, Hoyt.”

  “Look, you guys, I just . . .” The smile fell from his face. “Never mind. I’ll see you guys in there.” He turned and went inside Bigglesby’s office, his shoulders drooping as if he were a dog who’d just been scolded for stealing the meat off the table.

  “Maybe he meant it,” Leroy whispered when Hoyt was out of earshot.

  Albert shrugged. “I want to believe that. But he’s going to have to show us that he really has changed. He could have gotten someone killed last term.”

  “No,” Birdie said as she yanked her ponytail out and began feverishly raking her fingers through her curls. “He could have gotten the entire world killed by letting the Imbalance come that close to its breaking point.” She took a deep breath and leaned back against the cool wall of the tunnel. “Anyway, enough about him. It looks like you guys had a rough night.”

  Leroy bit his lip. “Don’t. Even. Ask.” He gave Albert a sideways look, the kind he’d been giving him all morning.

  “What happened?” Birdie asked anyway.

  Albert filled her in on the conversation that he and Leroy had overheard.

  Birdie’s forehead creased so deeply her eyebrows threatened to touch in the center.

  “If Bigglesby doesn’t trust you,” she said, flicking her fingertips through a green torch on the wall, “then I don’t trust him.”