The Secret of Spellshadow Manor 2 by Bella Forrest (top ten ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Lintz barely acknowledged the trio as he turned back to the creature on his workbench, but they moved slowly closer to him, fascinated by the work. As they neared, Alex saw it was an elaborate clockwork owl, each gold and silver feather painstakingly put into place on the outer shell of the creature, forming layered plumage that gleamed in the light of the lab. Around the owl’s wide eyes, exquisite carvings had been etched into the metal itself; sharp-edged fleurs-de-lis that flowed out into twisting vines and spiny leaves, coiling and curving around the edges of the eyes, appearing white or black, depending on how the indentations caught the light.

A hatch in the owl’s stomach was open, and Lintz tinkered with the inside clockwork. A complex system of cogs and devices and metalwork made up the innards. Lintz twisted and checked the mechanisms, his focus never leaving the delicate handiwork. None of the three could take their eyes off the impressive creature. They watched Lintz insert and rearrange parts and pieces as he saw fit, his fingers moving dexterously, his hands steadier than a rock, without even a tremor to disturb his fine work.

Looking content at last, Lintz placed the tweezers down on his piece of paper and held his hands over the clockwork, closing his eyes. It was the closest thing to surgery Alex had ever seen. The familiar burning glow of magic appeared beneath the curve of Lintz’s palm, trickling up his fingers like molten gold as he poured the spell into the clockwork; it dripped from his hands into the mechanisms, flowing through with an oily ease, and the elaborate, minuscule pieces began to move. A few turning cogs to begin with, until the whole being came alive beneath Lintz’s hands, the neck moving from side to side, the wings flapping up and down, practicing the movement, the small beak opening and closing.

Lintz closed the hatch on the owl’s stomach and locked it into place. He lifted the creature gently in his hands, the wings still flapping, and raised it into the air. It took a moment, but, after a rocky start, the owl flapped harder and faster, picking up a rhythm, until it lifted itself up, away from the safety of Lintz’s hands. It flew through the air, swooping low and surging skywards again, making a low hooting sound as it performed a lap of the lab. The clockwork moved fluidly, the magic keeping the owl in the air. A weak smile played beneath Lintz’s moustache as the beautiful metal owl began its second lap, the gold and silver feathers glinting with each ruffle of metallic plumage.

Finally, the exquisite bird came to rest on one of the shelves lining the mechanics lab, each one filled with endless boxes of screws and cogs and metal plates and solder—everything one could ever need to make whatever the heart desired.

Lintz scraped his chair back and walked over to the shelf where the owl had perched, reaching up to remove the magic from the creature. Within an instant, the golden pulse that gave the owl life had coiled back into Lintz’s palm, the cogs ceasing to whirr. The neck stilled, the wings frozen mid-flap. He took down the owl and carried it gently over to a trunk in the corner, lifting the lid and placing it gingerly inside. Then he clipped a padlock to the front of the trunk and softly patted the heavy wooden surface as he pushed the lock into place.

“Did you like him?” Lintz asked, saying his first words to the trio as he slipped the key to the padlock onto a chain around his neck.

“He was beautiful, Professor.” Alex nodded, awestruck by Lintz’s undoubtable skill with clockwork.

“I’ve spent a long time on that one.” Lintz smiled sadly. “Worth it, though, isn’t he?”

“My goodness, yes, Professor—I believe he is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen!” Natalie gushed.

“I’m glad you like him,” Lintz remarked, an unexpected note of friendliness in his voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever shown him to anyone,” he added wistfully, patting the small key beneath the fabric of his robes. “Haven’t had much chance to do any of this business, really, until recently. Nice to get back to it for a bit, you know?”

“Absolutely,” Alex agreed.

“There’s nothing like clockwork to calm the mind,” Lintz went on. “What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be in a lesson of some sort?” The professor’s eyes were drawn to one of the many clocks ticking away on the far wall. Alex thought the question was a tad hypocritical, considering that Lintz hadn’t shown up to teach classes for weeks.

“We were supposed to have the morning with Professor Renmark, but he got called away,” Jari explained.

A dark look passed over Lintz’s face at the news. “Did he now?” he muttered.

“Yes, Professor,” Natalie said.

“I’m afraid I must be on my way,” Lintz said suddenly, a curious look on his face, his mind seemingly already elsewhere. “Clear up after yourselves,” he added as he disappeared into the hallway beyond. The three of them were left alone in the mechanics lab, with no sound but that of the endlessly ticking clocks for a long moment.

“That was weird,” Alex noted as he wandered over to the trunk in the corner, checking the lock with a quick tug.

Jari hopped up onto one of the stools lined neatly around the workbenches. “Lintz is weird.”

“That owl was beautiful, though, no?” Natalie smiled.

“It really was,” Alex admitted. He checked out some of the shelves, reading the labels on the boxes. The bottom shelves seemed to be reserved for clockwork projects. Alex dipped down onto his haunches, running a hand along some of the creations—a frog, the metal tinted green; a small hummingbird, the metalwork tempered to be multi-colored, like the surface of an oil spill, pink and blue and yellow and green. A few others, though none of them were