Creeping Shadow (The Rise of Isaac, Book One) by Caroline Peckham Page B

materialised in front of them which reflected on the ceiling in flickering strands of light as if they were underwater.
    Oliver leant back in his chair and May gasped. He remembered the spiral diagrams they had found and realised what they were.
    "One world is connected to the next and that one is connected to another, all via Gateways."
    Coloured spheres representing each world appeared along the spiral and, as the names of the worlds materialised beside them, Oliver recalled the words from the diagram.
    Ely paused before continuing. "There are also mages in our intraverse: people who possess magic. As you can see, I am one of them."
    His eyes flicked between the two of them, gauging their reaction.
    "This is crazy," May said, blinking hard as she looked to Oliver for support. "What is this? Some sort of hologram?"
    Oliver didn't answer. He had seen it twice now and could come up with no better explanation for what it was.
    "It's magic," Ely stated.
    May snorted and glanced at Oliver once more but he stared back at her with nothing to offer.
    Ely rubbed his fingers together and lightning appeared in his palm, crackling and sparking.
    May jumped to her feet. "Oh my God," she said, eyeing the magic with fear.
    Oliver felt his entire body tense as he gazed at the lightning. He wondered what else his grandfather was capable of and then, in a panic, what he himself might be capable of. He stared at his hands like they were about to combust.
    "There's no chance I'm a, I mean, I'm not a-?" Oliver asked in a fluster, gesturing towards Ely's hands.
    "No, you're not a mage. Magic inheritance is complicated." Ely tittered, extinguishing the sparks.
    "You wish." May laughed halfheartedly, keeping her eyes on Ely's hands.
    "Shut up," Oliver said, his cheeks warming.
    "And now I can stop looking this old." Ely chuckled and ran a hand over his face, the lines decreasing and the grey in his hair disappearing.
    Oliver narrowed his eyes as he took in Ely's appearance. "This is how you looked when we first met."
    Ely nodded. "Mages age a little slower than other people. I was careless not to have aged myself before we were introduced, it completely slipped my mind."
    May's eyes roamed over his face. "And do you not work? You never leave the house."
    "The tree within Oakway Manor contains the Gateway to the next world, Aleva. I am its Keeper. I'm employed by the Council to regulate the challenge for those who wish to go through to Aleva."
    "And that's why so many people are here all the time? They're from the other worlds?" May said slowly, clearly trying to understand.
    "Yes, precisely," Ely said. "Your arrival coincided with the celebrations for those who had just won keys to Earth. Anyone coming through from Aleva for the first time has to be briefed about the rules here. I've also been telling anyone who came through the Gateway that you two were unaware of the other worlds so they didn't reveal the truth."
    "Why don't we already know about these other worlds though?" Oliver interjected, confronting the notion.
    "A King decided long ago that Earth wasn't to know the truth. It was at a time where Britain was undergoing great change; the Normans had just taken the throne and the new King, William the Conqueror, wanted the secret kept."
    "How come?" May asked, tilting her head to one side.
    "The King wanted to be the first to step through to the other worlds but he was unable to complete the challenge. So, in the meantime, he established a secret society to make sure word never got out, on pain of death. However, he never passed the test and instead told his son the truth about the other worlds.
    "But as each King was succeeded the secret was passed down from son to son, none of them ever managing to complete the challenge. Today, the descendants of that society still uphold it, though it is unknown whether today's royal family are aware that it exists. You, yourselves have met a member of that society."
    They looked at him with confused