Only there was another shadow coming from the other side of the shore . . . tall, muscular, and astonishingly fast, smashing out of the trees. “Oh my God! He’s coming!” she choked, as she raced towards the magic cloak, waving madly at Tedros and Agatha. “Help! The School Master’s coming!”

But it wasn’t the School Master at all.

It was a pallid, dark-haired boy, weasel-quick and charging towards Sophie, black eyes aflame.

Agatha gasped. “Hort, no!”

Forces collided into the cloak, knocking Agatha into free fall. Losing consciousness, she looked up in horror as four bodies, not three, tumbled through a starry purple sky . . .

Then a blast of white sun blinded her and the universe went dark.

PART II

21

Peer Pressure

Sophie dreamt of the strange man again.

She was in the same pitch-black tunnel, her path barred by the towering gold ring.

Only this time something waited for her beyond the ring. It was Tedros, a king’s crown of silver and diamonds upon his head. Bathed in sunlight, he stood before a white-rose altar in a royal blue jacket, the spires of Camelot rising behind him. Between his hands shimmered a matching queen’s diadem, casting sun flares on his cheeks. The young king met Sophie’s eyes and smiled.

Sophie lost her breath, gazing at the crown in his hand.

This was it.

Her heart’s wish come true.

All she had to do was destroy the School Master’s ring.

Without thinking, Excalibur was suddenly in Sophie’s hands, the jeweled hilt warm against her clammy fingers. Lifting the blade over her shoulder, she crept towards the giant gold circle . . .

But as she drew closer, she saw a familiar reflection in its broad surface, blocking her from her prince. It was the dark, fiendish man she’d seen once before, with untamed hair, skin like rawhide, and a bulbous nose.

Sophie bared her teeth at him, undaunted. She hoisted Excalibur higher, poised to shatter the ring and the stranger inside it—

But the man’s eyes stopped her cold: two onyx pools, dead and devil-like, as if daring her to strike.

Sophie’s hands weakened on the sword.

“W-w-who are you?” she whispered.

The stranger grinned cryptically.

Paralyzed, Sophie looked between Tedros and the devil man . . . between a queen’s crown and a gold ring . . .

Do it!

Do it now!

With a rousing cry, she raised the blade over the ring—

Two hands stabbed out and caught Sophie by the neck.

As she choked, the dark man smiled sadly from inside the ring, as if she’d given him no choice.

Then his eyes turned punishing and he ripped out her throat.

Agatha woke, gripped with terror, wheezing for air. Peeking down at her black-and-green uniform, it took her a few frantic breaths before she realized she was still alive and sopped in sweat on a hard, thin mattress. She looked up, but her surroundings were washed out by blinding red-orange light.