by D P Rowell
Footsteps stomped across the ceiling. He looked up and traced them with his eyes. Growing louder every second, knew they were heading for him in the cellar. He stood to his feet and waited by the bars. Moments later, the scarred fae rushed to the bottom of the stairs with no weapon in hand and placed his other hand on the chrome plate. The anti-magic fled, and the bars lifted.
“Hurry, we don’t have much time,” Trilo said.
Ace nodded and rushed to the fae. Trilo stopped him and pulled a loaf of bread from his pocket.
“Eat this,” he said as he handed it to Ace, “You’re gonna need all the strength you can get.”
Ace took the bread and bit into it. It wasn’t stale. It was still slightly warm and fluffy on the inside. “Actually,” Ace said, one cheek bulging with food, “I’ve been feeling much better lately.”
Trilo nodded. “You can thank your girlfriend for that. She gave me some fae nutrients, so I could sneak it in your food for the last week.”
“She’s not my—”
“You’re gonna have to eat and sneak with me at the same time. We only have one chance to make this work.”
Ace nodded and swallowed. He took his second bite as they hurried up the winding staircase.
“You’re sure no one will come down and see I’ve left the cellar?” Ace said.
“Positive,” Trilo said. “We’ve looped the cameras and the elite have harshly instructed every hunter not to see you unless instructed otherwise.”
Ace swallowed the fluffy loaf and his senses heightened almost right away. Whatever nutrients Kareena had been giving him, there were a few extra doses in his last meal. Once they reached the door leading to the hall, Trilo stopped and turned.
“You sure you wanna do this, Ace? It’d be far easier to just bust out and run away.”
Ace stared at Trilo darkly. “This isn’t about saving me, Trilo. Without us bringing to light what’s happened to the Indies, Yutara will spiral out of control and will fall to the council. We have to take a chance.”
“What if the elite don’t buy it?”
“They will,” Ace said, remembering Sebastian’s eyes. “I’m sure of it.”
Trilo shrugged with unsure eyes. He held his hand up, signaling Ace to wait. He cracked open the door and looked out. He left the door and crept along the hall. Ace crouched low and slowly made his way to the door. He peered outside. Trilo was waiting by the door just across the hall from him, scoping out the other hunters walking by. The large double doors to Ace’s right shut as a group of hunters walked through them. Trilo looked down the other side of the hall, then back to Ace. He waved his hand rapidly, signaling Ace to run. Ace bolted from the cellar door to Trilo. He nearly ran straight into the wall, for the sun blaring through the windows had been too much for his eyes to take in at once. Having been used to the draping darkness. Trilo caught him before he ran into the wall and led him into the open door. The scarred fae stepped inside and slammed the door shut. Ace caught his breath and rubbed his eyes. He soon saw they were in one of the AM shooting ranges. Trilo locked the door and swiftly walked to the other side of the room.
“How did you get the elite in position?” Ace said.
Trilo pressed his ear to the door. “Your fae lady’s mom has some seriously awesome medicine apparently.”
Ace sighed. “Great. We really need this to work now. The Indies and the faes already have issues. The elite will be even more hard-pressed against the faes if they don’t believe us.”
“You,” Trilo said. He turned and looked Ace in the eyes. “If they don’t believe you.”
Ace nodded, and a rock dropped in his gut. He hardly felt qualified for such a task, having already let down the entire world by losing the Emerson Stone.
Trilo looked back to the door and quietly opened it. He peered around, turned back to Ace, and nodded. “Quickly.”
Ace stood up and followed the scarred fae along the hall. If just one hunter saw him running through Headquarters with Trilo, they would both be goners. And once Ace was in position, how much time would he even have? Doubts of the plan circled his mind. His whole body shook from the fear and a little bit from his lacking nutrition. His callused feet hardly noticed the cold tile floor. The lights blaring off it and into his eyes kept him running with his hands just below his nose to lessen the intensity. Trilo led him through a few more turns and finally to the door they were searching for.
“This is it, Ace,” Trilo said, “good luck.”
Ace nodded. Trilo opened the door and Ace stepped inside. It was followed immediately by the door being shut. He breathed a small sigh of relief. They’d made it through the castle without being caught. But now came the difficult part. He stood in the bedroom and glanced around. The elite hunter lay on her bed, breathing quietly and dreaming peacefully. On the right side of her bed stood a bookshelf. Wooden panels lined the cylindrical-shaped room, and a wooden door on his left led to a bathroom. Between the door and the bed hung a closet full of hunter gear. Ace stepped closer inside, ignoring the creaky wooden floor. He’d been in this room once before. When Rio and Keele made plans to go to Hillrun. The witch’s room reeked of her betrayal. She lay peacefully asleep while his cousins were trapped by her master. Her parcel. His blood boiled with every step he took. He reached her bedside, eyeing her expressions in deep sleep. He smiled, ready to take his revenge. But he knew what he had to do first.
He placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered, “Rise and shine."
Keele’s eyes flickered a little between opened and closed. The fae medicine must’ve been working great. Once her eyes opened enough to see Ace standing before her, she shot from the bed and screamed. Trying to stand from the bed, she fell off the other side. Ace chuckled.
“Hi,” he said, “let’s talk, shall we?”
CHAPTER FOUR
The Armory
Keele ungracefully pulled herself to her feet. She stumbled over the sheets she’d taken with her to the floor until she stood straight in her sleeping pajamas. Her eyes were ominous, and her face looked a wreck. She stared at him strangely for a moment, then bolted to her nightstand. She opened an empty drawer then looked back at Ace. He waved her AMB in her face mockingly with a sly smile.
“All your weapons have been taken from your room,” Ace said.
Keele curled up the left side of her mouth in an almost smile. “What are you doing, kid? You know how stupid this is? There are cameras in here. The elite are bound to be rushing in any second.”
Ace shrugged. “Then I guess I don’t have much time.” He aimed the blaster at her, “You and I both know why this gun is more frightening for you than it is for me.”
Keele raised her hands slowly and furrowed her brow. “What are you planning on doing? Shooting me with anti-magic and dragging me
through headquarters? You won’t get two feet before hunters took you down.”
Ace smirked. “I’m planning on doing whatever I have to.” He stepped closer. “Where’s Rio and my cousins?”
Keele laughed in his head. Ace ignored the shrillness of it banging against his skull and kept his face determined.
You really have no idea what’s happening, do you? Keele said in his thoughts. Her eyes grew darker.
“Tell me what Rio’s plan is,” Ace said. He didn’t yell or lose control. He spoke calmly and with authority.
Acce. You’ve losst.
Ace tightened the grip on his anti-magic hand blaster and fixed his aim again. “You have no power here, Keele. You can’t use your magic. The cameras are watching.”
Keele laughed aloud. Her laughter nearly cracked the glass in the room. Ace thought his ears might bleed, but he kept his face like a statue. Other than a few twitches here and there. Something dark and round appeared at the palm of Keele’s right hand. Her eyes grew dark until they were pitch black. The dark ball on her hand grew to the size of a melon. She threw it at him. It smacked him in his stomach and sent him flying to the wall. His back stung as it cracke
d the wooden walls. He stood on his hands and knees, realizing he’d lost the blaster in the fall. He looked back up at Keele, who was marching his way.
“You think the cameras are a problem for me, kid? I’ve been casting spells on the elite since Rio and I have been here. Making them see what I want them to see. As one of the elite, I have access to all the security. We own the Indies. Soon, we will own Yutara.” She stuck her arms out and her bones cracked and popped horridly. Ace felt himself lift in in the air. She used her magic paralysis to send him flying across the room again. His body slapped the other wall. Something popped when he fell to the ground on his shoulder and he groaned with pain.
Keele said, “I thought you were gonna make this a little more challenging for me, honestly.” She picked him up with paralysis and pinned him to the wall. Ace grit his teeth. As the witch walked toward him with her hand stretched forth and victory in her eyes, it felt as a rush of waves were pinning him to the wall. He grit his teeth and moaned to no avail. “Go ahead, Ace. Break my spells with the elyr.” Her skin grew progressively darker and began to emit pockets of black smoke, “light me up, kid. You see, the second you do, you’ll have been caught using witchcraft on camera.”
Ace struggled to get the words out as the force of Keele’s magic pressed against his throat, “You’re using witchcraft—on—camera.”
Keele’s smile stretched from ear to ear and dark fog seeped from her teeth. “Like I said, the elite see what I want them to see. It’s very simple really. You, the most powerful, and youngest parcel, used his magic to evade security, escape the cellar, and tried to assassinate me in my bedroom.” Keele laughed loudly and Ace thought his head might implode. “It’s a perfect story.”
“Not—perfect,” Ace struggled to say. “One—one flaw.” The room grew harder to see as the blood began to rush from his head.
Keele chuckled. “What flaw?”
“We’re—” Ace coughed, “We’re not—” he coughed again.
“Not what?” Keele said.
“Not—not—in your—your—bedroom.”
Keele’s head tilted. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could, the room around grew darker. She let go of her magic spell and Ace fell to the floor. The boy grabbed his throat as the stinging began to settle. He coughed and hacked his breath back into his lungs. He looked up to find Keele cluelessly looking around the room. Every piece of the room began to darken and turn into tiny squares. Squares like pixels. The pixels peeled apart and drifted away until they vanished in thin air, revealing a bright white light behind them. Ace slowly stood to his feet, ignoring the throbbing in his entire body. Soon the image if Keele’s bedroom had completely vanished and they stood in the simulation room. The white LED lights under the glass floor and ceiling blared onto Keele’s startled witch face. She glared back at Ace and furrowed her brow. Ace pulled an AMB from his back and shot her before she could make a move. Keele dodged it just in time and went to throw another dark ball of magic at Ace. Before the magic left her hand, another orange sun landed on her ribs and sent her straight to the floor.
“No!” She screamed. The anti-magic wrapped her up in a bright orange cocoon. She shrieked and rolled around, trying to stop it from consuming her. The air filled with her shrill cries. Whenever she touched one part of the anti-magic, it would envelop the part she touched. Soon it had captured her up to her neck and she’d given up trying to fight it. Ace turned away from her to find Sebastian standing outside the watch room door, a thin line of white smoke streaming from the barrel of his AMB. The elite man lowered his weapon and gave Ace a blank stare.
Ace rubbed his shoulder where the throbbing had been the worst. “You believe me now?”
Sebastian said nothing and simply stared at the boy with anger across his face. From the watch room door came a few others. First, George and Ihana. They slowly walked to Keele, keeping their anxious and unconvinced eyes on Ace the entire way. They picked up the witch and began hauling her away.
“No,” Keele yelled, “you’re making a mistake. You don’t know what you’re doing. Let me go! Let me go!”
Her shrill voice was silenced behind George and Ihana slamming the door to the trainee hall. Ace turned back to the watch room door. Trilo walked out, smiling at Ace and throwing two thumbs up. Ace grinned. Then, one familiar face stepped forth. Before Ace even had the chance to say anything, Cameron rushed from the door to his younger brother and wrapped his arms around him.
“Ace! You got her to use magic! That was amazing!” Cameron pulled from his embrace and stared at him.
“Thanks, Cameron,” Ace said, his smile growing wider. The sound of footsteps on the glass floor caused Ace and Cameron to look at the watch room door again. She stepped forward with eyes even more purple than Ace had remembered. Silver hair reflecting the LED lights brighter than the source itself. Her silver robe gracefully stroked the glass and glimmered underneath the blaring lights. Ace rushed to her without thinking and wrapped her around his arms.
“Kareena! I—” Ace’s eyes widened and he pulled away from his hug. He stepped back and took notice of the red splotches on Kareena’s cheeks where her smile ended. He felt his face flush red. He hadn’t ever hugged her before. Seeing her for the first time brought it out of him like an impulse.
“Ace,” She said with a timid smile, “Glad you’re okay.”
“Yeah—” Ace said, rubbing his arm, “you, uh, you too.” He looked to his right as another fae stepped inside from the watch room. He stood over six feet tall, his hair was short and golden. His tattoos were sharp and followed the curves of his jagged bone structure.
“Ace,” Kareena said, “this is my dad, Tharuach.”
Ace went cold as ice. He looked at Tharuach with clueless eyes. Tharuach looked at him like the way you look at people you want to do bad things to.
Trilo burst into loud laughter from behind. Everyone looked at the scarred fae. “What?” Trilo said. “This is as awkward as a water drake’s gills.”
For a moment, they all stood silently in the simulation room. Unsure of what to do next. Ace took notice of Sebastian, who faced away from everyone, hands on his hips. Trilo had accurately pointed out how awkward things were. Now they’d proven Keele was a witch to the elite. What next steps needed to be taken? Ace finally broke the silence.
“Sebastian,” Ace said. The elite turned his head but not his body, “We need to talk about the future of Gathara.”
CHAPTER FIVE
A New Topic
Sebastian stood speechless, eyes on the floor. Trilo, Cameron, and Kareena all opened their mouths at different times, as if they were going to say something, then decided against it. Ace stood confidently watching Sebastian, awaiting a response. Ihana, who paced the floor slowly around the simulation room biting her green nails, finally marched the glass floor to the pale elite. She spoke in a sharp whisper; soft for the illusion of secrecy, yet harsh to reach all present ears.
“I don’t trust him. He—he—he set her up. We ought to put him back in the cellar until we know for sure.”
“That’s garbage!” Cameron yelled. He stomped to the water drake. Ace noticed Cameron seemed a bit taller than he remembered. His older brother stood nearly eye level with the adult drake. “He’s just proven all your ideas about him false!”
Sebastian gently nudged both Cameron and Ihana away. He took a few steps toward the door, paused, then turned back around. “I don’t kn-
ow who to trust anymore.”
Ace stepped forward and spoke with certainty, “You have to trust me, Sebastian.”
Sebastian shook his head and waved his hands dismissively in front of his face. “Leave Headquarters.”
Trilo's face went sour. “What? How—how can you say that? You just saw Ace prove to you he was being set up.”
“The elite need time to discuss this,” Sebastian said.
Ihana jolted toward Sebastian. Her rattling tongue sizzled the air through her teeth. “This is a bad i
dea, Sebastian. We shouldn’t let them escape.”
“If we were trying to escape, we would have just escaped,” Ace said. “Why would we risk setting all this up and putting you all in the Simulation Watch Room if we just wanted to escape?”
Ihana’s cheeks grew red and her yellow eyes grew brighter. Se furrowed her brow and snarled at Ace. “You drugged us in our sleep, bound us, and dragged us into this room! It’s such a high offense, I don’t even know how Sebastian isn’t considering jailing you all for life!”
“It was the only way to get you to listen to us!” Cameron said.
“How do we know you didn’t just cast some spell on us?” Ihana roared.
“This is ridiculous,” Trilo said. The scarred fae took three steps toward the pale elite. “Look, Sebastian. You know me. I’ve been a loyal hunter ever since I began training here at a young age. I would never do anything to deceive you.”
Sebastian stared at the scared fae with dark eyes. The wrinkles on his face grew harsher as his mouth hung downward.
“Sebastian,” Trilo said, a plea in his voice, “Ace has this gift. It—it’s incredible. It’s the only thing that—”
“Trilo!” Ace said, “Now isn’t the time, they aren’t ready to—”
Trilo waved Ace away with his hand. “It’s the only thing that can stop the council!”
Ihana yanked her AMR free and aimed it at Ace. “Witchcraft! I knew it, he’s a sorcerer!”
Sebastian gripped the barrel of Ihana’s weapon and jerked it from her. The water drake stumbled forward at the force of it. She regained her balance and exchanged eyes of dominance with the pale elite. After a moment passed, she caved with a scrunched face and marched away. The tall elite threw the weapon down and grabbed Trilo by both arms. His knucles were yellow as they pinched around the scarred fae’s arms. Trilo winced. Sebastian shoved his face close to Trilo’s, their noses practically touching. Sebastian spoke with iron in his voice. His lips moved, but his teeth remained stuck together, “I. Said. Leave.”