“Hey Ruth,” Alix said, answering her phone.
“This is extremely helpful,” Ruth said. “How did you think to do that?”
“I didn’t. We told Logan what the situation was, and he did that on his own.”
“I think he’s going to come in handy,” Ruth said.
“Do we know what’s happening with the factory yet?”
“I believe the Warriors are going to try to take out the Grynn one at a time, as to not cause panic for the workers.”
“We need to try and do this as soon as possible,” Alix told her. “Once we have control, we still need to figure out the whole process of getting the magic into the contacts.”
“I’ll talk to the team leader again.”
“Are you still in Fox Hollow?” Alix asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you think we should meet in Beijing so that we’re ready when we have control of the factory?”
“Not just yet, Alix. You still haven’t tested this on a hidden Grynn location yet.”
“Speaking of that, do you have somewhere for me to test that?”
“Actually, I do,” Ruth said.
“Do I get to go somewhere tropical? I’m a little tired of the winter.”
Ruth gave her a small laugh. “Sorry Alix, but what I have in mind has about the same weather as you do, if not a little colder. But it’s a relatively safe place to test your magic.”
“The suspense is killing me, Ruth.”
“I’m sending you to Edmonton, Alberta.”
Alix was a little bummed that it wasn’t somewhere warm. Alberta was just north of Montana and it was always exciting to go to a new country.
“Okay, but next time let’s try for somewhere with white sandy beaches.”
“I’ll see what I can do about that. I’ll email you all the details after we hang up.”
“Thanks for trusting me with this, Ruth,” Alix told her.
“I’m really hoping we can make this work. We need some sort of advantage they aren’t expecting. Bye Alix.”
She hung up and waited for the email. It came a few minutes later. She could take whoever she wanted with her. They were to use the blue door tomorrow morning at 9:00 and meet someone named Donna at a safe house just outside the city. They were to dress warm because the temperature was supposed to be around 0oF and were going to have to be outside. Ruth also said to be prepared to be gone for at least the day. She also told her to always be ready for the possibility to fight Grynn.
They gathered everyone in the house, including Sean, and Alix relayed the information to them. Ben was going, but Shay had to stay home since they didn’t know what the danger level was going to be. Logan volunteered to stay with Shay. Rick, Kris, and three other Warriors were going to accompany them.
Shay was disappointed because she knew there was a huge mall there. “Maybe you could drop me off at the mall before you go hunting Grynn,” she said to Alix.
“I don’t think so. But if we ever have a chance, I promise I’ll take you to the great big mall.” Alix told her.
“I’m holding you to that,” Shay said.
Alix just smiled and nodded. She needed Shay to stay safe and that was in Sunset Creek.
Deciding they’d had enough surprises and revelations for one day, Alix went to the den and turned on the TV. As usual, Ben and Shay were arguing about what to watch. Alix smiled at them because no matter what was going on around them, two of the most important people in her life could still be themselves. That something could be normal made her smile.
Chapter 19
The next morning, Alix said goodbye to her parents. The team went down to the room of rooms and through the blue door. They found themselves in what looked like a basement.
“You must be Donna,” Alix said to the lady waiting for them.
“It’s an honor to meet you Kaelneth,” she said.
“Please call me, Alix. I only use the title if I absolutely have to.”
Donna smiled at her. “Very well. Please follow me.”
They went upstairs. This was the smallest safe house she’d been in yet. It wasn’t exactly small just not mansion sized.
Donna took them to a room that looked like something from a crime show on TV. There were maps and pictures everywhere.
“This is a layout of Edmonton,” Donna said, pointing to the map. “To the east are several oil refineries. We fear the Grynn are getting close to attacking them. There has been increased Grynn activity in the last two weeks around the city and this target makes the most sense for them to hit. It would do the most physical damage as well as economic.”
Alix studied the map for a minute. “Is that a suburb right by the refineries?”
“It’s actually another smaller town,” Donna said. “As you can see there are housing developments very close to the refinery. If there was an explosion there it would level a lot of the surrounding area causing thousands of deaths. That’s why we need to find this Grynn location. Ruth tells me you have a way of doing that?”
“I hope so,” Alix said. “It works on Nykara magic, but I have to know if it does the same for Grynn cloaking magic. Do you have any idea where it might be?”
“Our team has been working on it and we’ve come up with five possible locations.” Donna went over to the map and showed them. “The first possibility is an abandoned office building downtown. The second is out of the city a little ways at Cooking Lake. The third is a wooded area close to the Botanic Gardens. The fourth possibility is north of the city in farming country. The last one is here in an industrial area.”
Alix got closer to the map and looked at the places Donna had circled. She didn’t think it was downtown or the industrial area as it would be difficult to cloak and entire building and not have anyone notice anything. Her best guess was one of the places away from the city where it would be easier to conceal their activity.
“Donna, can you show me these three places in closer detail?” Alix asked, pointing to the ones she thought were the best places.
“Sure.” Donna got out a tablet and showed her the satellite images of the three different locations.
Alix ruled out the one north of the city since it was pretty open and didn’t have much cover to hide anything. The ones close to the lake and botanic gardens were the most likely spots in her opinion.
Alix told everyone what she was thinking and why she’d come to that conclusion.
“Which one are we going to check out first?” Ben asked.
“Which place are we closest too right now?” Alix asked Donna.
“The Botanic Gardens. Let me call the rest of the team and we can go check it out.”
Roughly thirty minutes later, Alix’s group was in one van with Donna driving and the second van held another six warriors. They were told it was about a twenty-minute drive to the area indicated on the map. Alix watched as businesses and buildings went by. There was at least two feet of snow, but the roads were clear.
Eventually, they reached their stopping point. They pulled off to the side of an isolated country road. Alix bundled up and got out of the van to see what she could sense. She gathered energy to her and thought about what it felt like to find her cloaked Nykara friends yesterday.
Her searching energy was ready and so was her pink aura. She sent it out in rapid pulses as far as she could. She wasn’t sensing anything. They moved down the road a little bit and repeated the process. And again, when they found a different road to go down. They repeated this a dozen times with no results.
“I don’t think they’re here,” Alix said, getting back in the van to warm up. “I think we should go to the next location.”
They all agreed and headed back toward the city. As they drove on a freeway, Alix once again found herself watching the scenery go by. They eventually left the city and they were back in the country, but on a highway at the moment. Houses, cows and horses dotted the countryside.
Ten minutes later, they turned onto another co
untry road. They’d decided to drive around the area first to see if Alix could sense anything. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the magic.
“Stop,” she said suddenly.
Donna found a place to pull over and Alix got out. She could sense something and started walking in that direction.
“Everyone cloak and shield,” she told them.
Alix walked down the road until she came to a very well-hidden driveway. She saw tire marks in the snow and knew someone had been down it recently. She told everyone to touch the person in front of them so they could see each other and to stay in the tire marks, so they didn’t leave new footprints.
About a half mile down the driveway, they turned a corner and Alix knew her magic was working. There was a large building that was lit up with a bright pink aura.
“I see it,” she told everyone. “But I don’t see any Grynn yet.”
She sent her magic out to search for Grynn. She wasn’t sensing any, but wasn’t sure if it was the cloaking or if there wasn’t any there at the moment. She needed to find a way to get rid of the cloaking on the building so everyone could see it.
With Ben and Kris at her side, she went over to the building and felt for the magic that was keeping it hidden. She reached out with her hand and touched the Grynn magic. As with the other times she felt sick to her stomach when touching the evil energy. But since that was the only way to learn about it, she sucked it up.
After about a minute, she knew how to undo it. She pushed her own cloaking magic into the barrier and with the two different types of magic fighting each other the cloak was suddenly gone.
“Wow,” Ben said.
“Amazing as usual,” Kris told her.
They were standing next to a huge barn. The nine Warriors left the group to scout the outside of the building. They were back several minutes later. There were four entrances to the building. One overhead door and three normal doors. They split into four groups and each took an entrance. The plan was to all enter the building at the same time.
Of course, Ben and Kris stayed with her. They also had a Warrior with them. Their group was in charge of the man door at the far end of the building. The Warriors gave the signal and all four doors opened at once. They swarmed in, but the building was empty.
Alix used her magic to “see” if there were any cloaked Grynn in the building, but she saw nothing.
“I don’t understand,” Alix said. “If I was able to see the building, I should be able to see a Grynn.”
“Maybe we caught them at a time when they’re just not here,” Ben suggested.
“No, something’s not right,” Alix said, and started pacing.
She suddenly got a bad feeling. “Everyone to me now,” she yelled.
Her group came to her immediately, but not all of the other Warriors listened to her. She didn’t have time to wait for them. She could feel the press of magic all around her. She waited as long as she could, but when the first door opened, she put a shield around as many of them as she could.
Three of the Edmonton Warriors weren’t close enough and they took the first hit. The other three doors flew open and energy balls started flying through the air. Alix fortified her shield so that nothing was going to get through but the three Warriors outside her circle weren’t that lucky. She saw them get hit by energy balls and knew they were dead. The Grynn weren’t trying to wound them but only had killing on their minds.
Donna tried to run to her Warriors, but Kris held her back. Soon they were surrounded by at least twenty-five Grynn. Alix couldn’t see past the wall of bodies, but heard the door open and close again. The Grynn in front of her parted and she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Victor was standing there with a smug smile on his face.
“We finally meet again, Alix. That’s right we finally know your true name.”
Alix stared at him, not knowing what to say. How did he know she was going to be there when twenty-four hours ago even Alix didn’t know?
“Victor,” she said, trying to keep her voice even.
“I see you’ve grown in power since our first meeting. I told my father to make sure you were dead on the island, but his arrogance will be my gain when I take you back to him.”
“You’re not going anywhere with her,” Ben yelled.
“Ahh, you must be Ben. I’ve heard about you. Some great Protector you are. It seems that Alix is always saving herself instead of the other way around.”
Ben’s fists balled up at his sides. Alix put her hand on his arm. She knew what Victor was like and knew it was best not to encourage him. Ben took a few deep breaths and unclenched his fists.
Alix started thinking furiously. She had to find a way for everyone on their side to get out safely. She didn’t think she could stop time again since she still had no idea how it had happened in the first place. She knew she could cloak them, but since Victor already knew where they were, she didn’t see much use in that. She was still thinking when he started talking again.
“And you,” he said, pointing to Kris, “must be the famous Warrior Kris. I know a few Grynn families who would like to get their hands on you for killing their sons.”
Kris stayed silent. He wasn’t going to give Victor the satisfaction of acknowledging him. Ben had stepped in front of Alix when Victor knew Kris’s name. This gave her the perfect opportunity to tell him something.
“Keep him talking,” she said, in barely a whisper. “I need to figure a way out of this.”
Ben nodded his head just a fraction, letting Alix know he’d heard her.
“What do you want?” Ben asked Victor.
“That should be obvious shouldn’t it?”
“Spell it out for me. Or, don’t you know how to use your words.”
Alix could see Victor’s face get a little red at Ben’s taunting.
“We’re going to capture little Alix here and kill the rest of you.”
“That hasn’t worked out so well in the past has it,” Ben said, with a smile.
Alix had to think fast. She didn’t know how much longer Victor would continue letting Ben get to him. They were shielded, so he couldn’t hurt them but how were they going to get away?
She was mostly hidden behind Ben, and Rick was behind her. She slowly reached out behind her and took Rick’s hand. When she had it, she squeezed, hoping he would figure out what she wanted him to do. She still didn’t have a plan, but at least if they were all touching, she could use the extra energy when she did think of something.
Ben kept talking. “You’ve had Alix in your hands, what, maybe three times? And every time she’s managed to escape you. I think that means that a little girl is better than all of the Grynn.”
Victor was getting angry. Hopefully, he would make a mistake that would allow them to get away. What they needed was a distraction.
“Enough,” Victor yelled. “Alix, I suggest you step forward and come with me. Unless you want everyone here to die.”
“I’ll never go anywhere with you,” she told him.
“I’m going to give you one more chance. Step away from your friends and they can go free.”
“No Victor,” she said. “I told you I’ll never go willingly with you and I meant it.”
“I was going to try and let you live but you give me no choice. Fire!”
They were suddenly bombarded with twenty-five powerful energy balls. The entire time Victor was talking Alix had been making the shield stronger. She was confident it would hold, and it was the perfect time for her distraction.
She thought “fire” and instantly the wood of the building was in flames. As she hoped the Grynn scattered. She sent her magic out to the fire and made it hotter and with lots more smoke. She knew her shield would protect them from both the fire and smoke, but she still had to find a way out of there and get away from Victor.
Everyone protected by her shield instinctively got closer to her when the fire started which was a good thing. She started walking toward the closest door.
She could feel the apprehension of her group when they started through the fire, but she knew what she was doing. She made sure the shield was as solid as she could make and then she cloaked them. With confidence she walked into the fire and out the door.
Just like in Wyoming she made the snow as hard as concrete, so they wouldn’t leave any footprints. She walked about a hundred yards from the burning building before stopping to take a look. She wasn’t happy with what she saw when she turned around.
Chapter 20
The building was no longer on fire and the Grynn appeared to be regrouping.
“We need a way out of here,” Alix said. “As fast and quiet as possible. If we don’t get away from Victor, he won’t stop. It’s about his pride now that we escaped the building. I’m open to ideas.”
“The vehicles are out of the question,” Donna said. “I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they discover them.”
“So, that means walking,” Alix said.
“We’ll freeze in these temperatures,” one of the Warriors said.
“No, we won’t,” Alix told him. “I can make sure we are protected from the cold behind this shield.”
“I have an idea,” Rick said. “We need to draw them away from Alix. What if two of us take the vehicles and get the Grynn to follow. Even if some are left behind, it’s better odds than we have right now.”
Two of the Edmonton Warriors volunteered to take the driving duty. The hard part was going to be getting back to the vans. They were currently on the opposite side of the building from the road.
Alix knew from personal experience that if a Grynn touched her while cloaked they would know she was there. That’s how she was discovered in Paris. It would be easier for them to move individually, but if they separated from Alix, she wouldn’t be able to keep them from creating footprints in the snow.
“We’re going to have to move as a group in order to get to the vans. I need everyone to keep touching and get as close to each other as we can. I can keep the snow hard enough not to make tracks, but we’re going to have to make a wide circle to avoid the Grynn. Keep your eyes open for Victor. He’s going to be even more dangerous now that we’ve escaped.”
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