The Key

by Marianne Curley

  I sit back on my heels and wonder what’s happening to me. It’s as if my powers have been magnified. How am I going to handle this? I try to focus, to slow my own thoughts down enough to control the voices.

  It’s then I see Isabel. She’s experiencing something strange too. The glow over her body is only now dissipating. Untouched by the light, the rescue workers and Ms Burgess stare as if we have each grown three heads.

  ‘Are you all right over there? The five of you were sucked into the air,’ one of the firemen calls out. He shakes his head. ‘This is turning into one hell of a day.’

  Ethan nods to reassure them, though he still looks dazed. But it’s Isabel who looks the strangest; her stare is odd and vacant. I try to single out her thoughts from the others bombarding my brain. For a moment I can, but there’s way too much power in her head right now. I get a strange buzz like an electric shock and pull away.

  Suddenly the boulder crushing Mr Carter’s legs lifts. And as the medical team moves in to shift Mr Carter to a stretcher, I understand what’s going on. The gasps of awe from the medical crew are the first signs. They’re saying now how the earth beneath Mr Carter’s legs must have collapsed with the impact, creating some sort of cushioning effect. Another medic says it’s just a miracle and that he should be dead, or even paralysed. But Mr Carter is neither dead nor paralysed. He’s not even burned, even though his pants are ashen shreds. He’s just shaken up. And if it didn’t attract too much attention I’m sure he would simply stand up and walk, but he knows better than that. Isabel has healed him. Whatever that golden light did to me, it also had an effect on her, and by the looks of Ethan, on him too. Even Neriah looks strange, kind of vague.

  Ms Burgess runs to Mr Carter’s side. Just before she gets to him, he nods once at Isabel, and his look is filled with awe and gratitude.

  She smiles at him with glassy eyes. ‘You’ll be OK,’ she mouths.

  Isabel healed Mr Carter without so much as laying one finger on him. She healed him from a distance! A short distance, but a distance all the same.

  Ethan comes over and takes my hands, turning them over gently. I look down and see them for the first time. They make me gasp.

  ‘Do they hurt?’ he asks.

  I’m lost for words. I can’t stop staring at my hands. Streaks of vivid colours are running across them like little electric currents. ‘They tingle. What happened to them? Do you think it’s permanent?’

  He shrugs. ‘One thing’s for sure, they’re going to attract attention.’

  He’s right. I pull them away and shove them into my coat pockets. ‘What’s happening to us?’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘How have you changed?’

  Softly Ethan says, ‘Those rescue workers didn’t have a hope of lifting that boulder even with all their equipment. Whatever it’s composed of, it’s heavier than any rock or mineral found on this earth.’

  ‘You lifted it?’

  He nods. ‘When that light came down on us I got a sense of … I don’t know, it felt like a thrust of power surged through me. I felt stronger. So I tried to use my skill of animating objects, and it worked.’

  ‘Luckily for Mr Carter.’

  Matt hears us talking, and his mouth hangs open.

  ‘Anything happen with you?’ Ethan asks him hopefully. Everyone knows how desperate Matt is to gain his powers. According to the Prophecy, Matt is supposed to lead the Named into the Final Battle against Lathenia and her Order of Chaos. It will come to pass that a king shall rule, but not before a leader pure of heart awakens. But so far Matt can’t even lead himself. And his doubts are destroying his confidence.

  Matt’s eyes flick to the sky, where the meteorite shower has slowed to a trickle of shooting stars in the distance, then jerks his shoulders.

  ‘Nothing, of course.’

  Chapter Two

  Matt

  The Prophecy is wrong. I’m not the one who’s supposed to lead the Named. I doubt I was ever named in the first place. The Tribunal, or whoever it is who decides these things, are wrong.

  We’re on our way to Arkarian’s chambers now. He should have some answers, at least answers to what happened back there at school. Ethan says Arkarian knows everything. But Arkarian thinks I’m one of them. So Ethan’s theory can’t be true.

  Mr Carter is on his way to the hospital, but they won’t find anything wrong with him. Somehow he’ll avoid unwanted attention. There’s enough turmoil with that bizarre meteorite shower for him to slide into obscurity soon enough.

  Rochelle is taking care of Neriah. If I didn’t feel so strongly about seeing Arkarian, I would have volunteered. There’s just something about that new girl that invokes a strange protective impulse inside me. It’s not like how I feel about protecting my sister Isabel. That’s a responsibility I wouldn’t have any other way. But with Neriah it’s as if she’s made of everything that is soft and beautiful and … strangely real. But why I feel this way, or how this can be, I have no idea. I’m not looking for a relationship, and, well, Neriah is Marduke’s daughter. And he’s the opposite of anything good.

  Beside me Ethan and Isabel are quiet, and my thoughts drift back to Neriah. I start to wonder what it would be like to be together in a girlfriend–boyfriend kind of way. But who am I kidding? This will never happen. No girl is going to have free access to my heart ever again.

  We arrive at the secret entrance to Arkarian’s chambers, halfway up the mountainside. He knows we’re here; an opening the size of a small doorway forms before us. Ethan and Isabel hurry inside, but now that I’m here, I’m not in such a rush. Maybe the answers to my questions are not what I want to hear. If there has been a mistake, and I’m not really named, do I want it confirmed? I’ve been involved in the Guard for over a year now. I’ve seen things, some of them stranger than life itself, especially when I was in the underworld. And while I haven’t been allowed to go on any real missions yet, the thought that it might never happen fills me with dread.

  I take a deep breath and go through the opening. Instantly the rock wall reforms behind me and I’m swamped with that uncomfortable feeling again. The same one I always get when I’m in Arkarian’s chambers. I’m not quite sure why. I’m not claustrophobic or anything. Maybe it’s because this otherworldly stuff suddenly becomes real and I have to face it. The technology Arkarian uses to monitor the past is just one example.

  Isabel comes back down the candle-lit hallway towards me. ‘Are you OK? I turned around and you weren’t there. This morning didn’t freak you out too much, did it?’

  ‘Yes, it did,’ I reply honestly, but with a small smile.

  She yanks on my sleeve. ‘Come on.’

  She’s in a hurry. A hurry to see Arkarian, of course. He’s there waiting for us in his octagonal chambers, surrounded by soundless hi-tech machinery. The 3-D holographic sphere illuminates the room from its centre, humming with the rhythm of a softly-beating heart.

  Arkarian is talking to Ethan, but looks preoccupied, and keeps glancing towards the hallway. When he sees Isabel his whole face breaks into a wide grin, his violet eyes softening and creasing at the corners.

  Isabel runs over and jumps into his arms. The power of her embrace propels them backwards. They stumble and look for some privacy behind a silver screen. It’s hardly enough. Arkarian’s vivid blue hair affords more of a screen as it falls across Isabel’s face. They kiss, and well, keep kissing. Ethan glances at me, grins and shakes his head. I can’t help but groan and look away. My sister’s relationship with Arkarian makes me uncomfortable. Their relationship has developed in intensity just a little too quickly for my liking. Everyone knows they’re soul-mates. They have the rest of their lives to be together. So what’s the rush?

  Finally they pull apart and have the manners to look embarrassed. But it doesn’t take long for the seriousness of this morning’s events to bring us back to reality quickly.

  Arkarian greets me by clasping my forearm. Picking up on the tension I’m fee
ling towards him, he lets go slowly. After a lingering look, he motions for us all to sit on wooden stools he provides.

  ‘What happened out there?’ Ethan is first to ask.

  ‘There was a meeting,’ Arkarian explains, ‘between the immortals. It didn’t go well. While my reports are so far incomplete, it appears that both of them lost their temper.’

  Ethan makes a scoffing sound. ‘So what did they do? Play ping-pong with the universe?’

  Arkarian attempts to give a small smile. ‘Something like that.’

  ‘What about Angel Falls?’ Isabel asks. ‘The school took a beating this morning. Did you see? Mr Carter had to be taken to hospital.’

  ‘Yes, but thanks to you two,’ Arkarian indicates Ethan as well with a brief look, ‘Marcus is going to be fine. There have been reports of damage as far east as the coast and west to the border of South Australia, but you’re right about the school, Isabel – the heaviest impacts occurred directly over Angel Falls.’

  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what this means. ‘Lathenia tried to kill us! She almost eliminated Mr Carter!’

  Isabel frowns. ‘What about her own people that live here?’

  Ethan has the answer. ‘She was willing to sacrifice the lives of her own soldiers for a chance to kill off some of us.’

  ‘I’m sure Lathenia would love to see you all eliminated,’ Arkarian explains. ‘But she’s a very clever adversary. She lost her temper in the way that siblings are prone to occasionally …’

  My mind drifts off with this thought. It’s something I can relate to. Isabel and I get into fights sometimes, mostly about how I’m overprotecting her, or ‘smothering’ her as she likes to say. But lately she’s been really quiet. She won’t even take a bite. There’s something on her mind that she’s not ready to talk about, or is scared to. Although the idea of Isabel being scared is a strange concept. All I know is that something happened to her when we were in the underworld and she hasn’t been the same with me ever since.

  Arkarian is staring at me intensely. He’s heard my thoughts about Isabel and looks worried. He realises Isabel is watching us both and pulls himself together, pretending nothing happened. He turns his attention back to Ethan. ‘Lathenia has worked long and hard on her plans to achieve her ultimate goals. She’s not stupid enough to let her temper get in the way. What happened in Athos is a one-off.’

  ‘Something else happened during that cosmic shower,’ Isabel says softly.

  Arkarian clasps her hand in his. ‘Yes, I know.’

  You too?’ she asks.

  ‘All of us. All nine of the Named have had our powers magnified.’

  ‘I knew it!’ Ethan exclaims, starting to get excited.

  I can’t help but scoff at the idea. I don’t feel any different, which only confirms my doubts more. Nothing ‘magnified’ is still nothing.

  Arkarian turns to me. ‘I have news for you.’

  I brace myself for what can only be a dismissal, or an acknowledgement that I’ve been right all along and the Tribunal has made a mistake.

  His head starts shaking and now there’s a smile. ‘Such little faith! Now listen to me. You’re not Ethan’s Apprentice any more.’

  I see the others; they look as confused as I feel. ‘But … how will I come into any powers without a mentor?’

  ‘Oh, you will have one.’

  ‘Is it going to be you, Arkarian?’ Isabel asks.

  ‘No. And I can’t tell you any more about Matt’s new Trainer. There’s something else he has to know first.’

  Ethan interrupts. ‘I failed,’ he says. ‘I couldn’t train Matt and now the Tribunal is disappointed in me. I’ll never get another Apprentice.’

  ‘Don’t even think it!’ Arkarian replies. ‘You’re a fine Trainer, Ethan. Just look at what you did with Isabel, and in only those few short weeks you had with her.’

  ‘Yeah, but she was already skilled.’

  ‘There are other things that need learning besides the physical arts.’

  ‘But that’s all I was able to do for Matt. And now the Tribunal’s dumping me for someone else.’

  ‘Matt’s new Trainer will teach him things that you couldn’t in your whole lifetime.’ Arkarian holds a hand up. ‘Things that no one can. No one from this world.’

  Arkarian’s explanation doesn’t lessen my confusion, although Isabel and Ethan are more content to accept it.

  Arkarian turns to me. ‘There are other things beside managing your powers that you have yet to learn. It is your destiny, Matt. And your new Trainer is a Master, a master above all others. He has been waiting his whole life for this chance.’

  ‘He has been waiting his whole life to train me?’

  ‘So I am told. Now we’ll speak again on this when the time for your training draws nearer and I am given more information.’

  ‘But Arkarian –’

  He cuts me off. ‘Enough for now. While we can assume to be safe in these chambers, we can’t forget that a traitor walks among us. I’ve told you all I can.’ He turns to Ethan. ‘As for you, Ethan, you will be getting a new Apprentice.’

  Isabel’s head bobs as if she knows already. ‘It’s Neriah, isn’t it?’

  ‘Really?’ Ethan can’t keep the smile off his face.

  ‘Yes, but Neriah is classified as high-risk. Her life is in danger from Marduke. She is under the protection of the Guard. So the two of you must never train alone. You will be allocated an assistant. Someone who will stand watch at all times.’

  ‘Do you want me to do it?’ Isabel asks.

  ‘I’m assigning Rochelle.’

  ‘Rochelle!’ Ethan’s enthusiasm takes a nose dive. ‘But Arkarian, do you think that’s wise?’

  Arkarian studies us all in turn. Not one of us holds eye contact for more than a brief second. ‘Haven’t you learned to trust Rochelle yet? She is Named, just like the rest of you. That means she is trusted by those who are above you. Where is your faith?’

  When he puts it like that, it makes sense to let our guard down where Rochelle is concerned. But my distrust isn’t simply because Rochelle was once Marduke’s spy, it’s because of all the things she did for him.

  ‘Rochelle will be your assistant, Ethan,’ Arkarian confirms. ‘Her Truthseeing skills – now magnified – mean she can pick up the thoughts of others outside normal hearing distance. She can even hear the thoughts of people coming from behind a barrier such as a brick wall or thick glass.’

  Ethan nods and says nothing, but it’s clear he’s still unhappy about working with Rochelle. He’s better off keeping away from any emotional entanglement, anyway.

  ‘There’s one final thing I have to tell you.’ Arkarian gets our attention quickly with these words. ‘An unusual mission is planned.’

  ‘Yes!’ Ethan says.

  ‘Where are we going?’ Isabel asks, then adds hopefully, ‘Are you coming too?’

  Arkarian takes his time answering. ‘I will be going, Isabel, but this mission is not what you think.’

  She’s picked up on Arkarian’s serious tone and has already started to worry. I know my sister – she can’t hide her emotions from me, or from her face right now as she stares up at Arkarian, waiting with anxious worry lines around her eyes.

  He explains, ‘We have to go back to the underworld.’

  ‘Isabel screams out, ‘No way! Why would they send us there again?’

  Arkarian touches her arm. ‘They’re not. At least they’re not sending you there, Isabel.’ His eyes shift to Ethan. ‘Nor you, Ethan.’

  His head moves in my direction and this time his eyes are not saying no. ‘But they are sending you, Matt. You, me and Rochelle.’

  ‘What!’ Ethan calls out.

  Isabel jumps to her feet and stares Arkarian down with her hands on her hips. ‘If you and Matt are going, then so am I!’

  Arkarian reaches up to touch her arm as he tries to explain. I tune out as he says something about Rochelle’s touch and how she can now visualise
the different compounds or layers of the earth beneath her hands, and how he is needed to open the rift between worlds.

  All I can think is that the Tribunal chose me. Me! ‘But I have no powers.’

  Everyone goes quiet and Arkarian says, ‘Without your presence, Matt, our mission would be pointless. Even without your powers, you are the only one who can touch the key to the treasury of weapons with your own hands and not die as a result. You did it once before, when we escaped from the temple. You thought it was a dial that opened the secret passageway between our worlds. In a way it was, but it has a much more valuable purpose. So now we have to go back to the temple and find that key in the rubble of what’s left after Lathenia and Marduke destroyed it. And we have to hurry. We have to secure that key before Lathenia gets there. Movement has been detected at the rift. That’s why we have to go straightaway.’

  Isabel is still standing with her hands on her hips, her face drawn tight and hard. I’ve seen her fired up before, but right now she looks as if she’s about to explode. ‘Now wait a minute!’

  Arkarian looks up at her and for a second I feel a moment of empathy for him. A small smile breaks out on my face and I pretend to cough into my hand. When my sister sets her mind to something, heaven help anyone who gets in her way.

  Getting up, Arkarian reaches out and touches her face with an open palm. He holds it there as if through it he is passing a wave of calmness and reassurance. ‘We’ll be all right without you. Trust me as I trust you.’

  She inhales deeply, then relaxes her head against his chest. His arms weave around her and they stand holding each other. Glancing over the top of Isabel’s head, Arkarian looks at Ethan. ‘When I’m gone I want you and Isabel to monitor the sphere.’

  Ethan sits forward on his stool, his eyes widening.

  ‘What are we watching for and which time periods?’

  ‘There are two under suspicion. But so far no portal has opened. When it does, we’ll have to act fast. We can’t let the portal close without getting a team in there.’