The Silver Dwarf (Royal Institute of Magic, Book 4) Read Online Free

all in red, with a hood that partially covered his bright ginger hair. On his
lap was a small staff with a glowing orb at its tip. The dwarf was frowning, and making occasional twitches of his lips, as if he were involved in a bad
dream.
    “Hello?” Ben said, waving his hand in front of the dwarf.
    “He’s not going to hear you,” Charlie said softly, staring intently at the dwarf.
    “How about if I go louder?” Ben suggested.
    “It wouldn’t make a difference if you brought a full symphony orchestra down here,” Charlie said.
    “Why not? Do you think he’s in some sort of trance?”
    “Not quite,” Charlie said. He turned to Ben. “If I’m reading all the signs correctly, I think he’s gone into the void.”
    Ben felt his stomach do funny things at the mention of the void. It was a strange other-worldly place that, from what he’d read, sounded like a nasty
version of hell. While there in spirit, your body could not be harmed in the physical world. His parents had used it to protect themselves from the dark
elf king, and it seemed the dwarf was doing the same.
    “I bet his only way to stay alive was to flee into the void,” Charlie said.
    “But why hasn’t he come back?” Natalie asked. “I would have thought he’d want to return as soon as it was safe.”
    “I don’t know,” Charlie admitted. “Perhaps he doesn’t know it’s safe here, or perhaps he can’t return. I’ve read that it can be difficult to get back.”
    “Why didn’t the dark elves follow him in?” Ben said. Glancing around, there was clearly no sign of anyone else having entered the void nearby.
    “Oh, that’s obvious,” Charlie said, waving a hand. “The demons recognise the dark elves as a true threat to their domain, and always wipe out any that enter.
It’s not that the dark elves couldn’t hold their own, but it would take a concerted effort, and I think they’d rather focus on conquering the Unseen
Kingdoms.”
    The three of them studied the dwarf from every angle, and tried poking at the dome at numerous different places, but to no avail. It was only when they
finally stepped back to get a broader view that they noticed what they had been missing.
    In a small crevice next to the dwarf, hidden from plain sight, was a symbol etched in blood on the wall and drawn so that it must have been at least two
feet high. To Ben, who knew little of symbols, it looked like some sort of complicated Chinese character.
    “That is dark elf lettering,” Natalie said, frowning. “I don’t know what it says, but I recognise the style.”
    Ben ran a finger over the symbol. The blood was dry, and now firmly part of the rock. Eventually he stepped back, hands on hips, feeling a little
frustrated.
    “So, what do we have to go on? A dwarf mage in the void and a strange dark elf symbol etched in blood. I’ll be honest – I was hoping for a little more.”
    To Ben’s surprise, Charlie was smiling.
    “Don’t tell me you can understand this?”
    “Of course not,” Charlie said, waving a chubby hand. “But don’t you see? This symbol is a clue! Up to now, we had nothing, even with the dwarf, as
interesting as he was. But the symbol gives us something to go on.”
    “It may not be easy deciphering a dark elf symbol,” Natalie said, still frowning at the wall.
    “I bet we can work it out,” Charlie said. “I’ve seen several dark elf dictionaries in the Institute library.”
    Ben felt his optimism returning. He turned and took another sweeping look at the hall, cringing once more at the sight of the dead bodies. “So, what do we
make of this?”
    Charlie was tapping his cheeks thoughtfully. “This is what I think – and correct me if you think I’m horribly wrong. For some reason, the dark elves
decided to attack these dwarves. We have no idea why, but, from history, the dark elves don’t really need a reason to cause mayhem. The dwarves were
outnumbered, but, by the number of dead dark elves, gave a good account of