Catching Epics

by Halie Fewkes

  “I need to go,” I said, and my friends turned like they’d forgotten I was there.

  “Why are neither of you accosting Allie?” Emery demanded, the flames in each hand growing brighter. “Nobody’s even asked if she’s alright.”

  “I’m... fine,” I told them with a tired smile. I tapped my temple and said, “It’s just psychological damage. Nothing a needle and thread can fix.”

  “You need to be careful,” Emery said. “She’ll still try!”

  Karissa shot me a joking look of manic glee, and Robbiel asked, “Seriously, are you alright? Why were they here?”

  I looked up at the ceiling, preparing for their scoffing disbelief as I said, “Sav wants to help get Ebby back to Sir Avery.”

  “What?” the three of them demanded.

  “I don’t know any more than you do,” I said, hands up in exasperation. “We need to talk to Prince Avalask. He might be able to explain Sav’s sudden interest in her. And he needs to know the kids are escaping in three days.”

  “We’ll get down to his hall, and if he’s not already there, we’ll get his attention,” Karissa said. “Archie still hasn’t come back though. Somebody should wait here for him.”

  “I will,” I said. Naturally.

  “I’ll wait with you,” Emery said. “You shouldn’t be by yourself, considering what just happened. And the less of Karissa’s face I have to see, the better.”

  “Alright,” Karissa said, ignoring Emery entirely. “Come down to Prince Avalask’s hall as soon as Archie’s back. I have an idea to get us in.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Allie

  I crouched in front of my wooden chest to examine my short sword while Emery stood attentively at the door, watching for the return of trouble. As angry as I was to see my blade tainted, I had to admit the swirls, dots, and twisting shapes were… beautiful. Sav must have been in my room half the day etching them.

  “Sav left you a message?” Emery asked.

  “Ohhh, they are words,” I realized.

  In Escalira, words are made by thick shapes to represent vowels, surrounded by smaller dots, loops, and slanted lines to represent consonants. A name like Allie only contained three marks. Two side by side shapes, for the A and the E, and a tilted loop that meant L, positioned above the E to lead.

  Savaul’s thick vowels had a style of their own, nearly running together, and hardly looking like letters at all.

  “What’s it say?” he asked.

  The vowels were disorienting, so I read slowly, “I am the one from whom you cannot hide.”

  “Shanking scat-brained lunatic,” Emery muttered as irritation crept into my chest as well. These blades had been with me longer than I could remember. The simple sun on each pommel was usually a glimpse of familiarity and comfort, and every scratch and dent in the metal had been my own doing, until now. Now they’d been violated.

  My irritation began bubbling into anger, so I set my etched blade off to the side and opened the lid to my chest, digging down to the bottom to occupy myself with something else. “Hate to ask, but… Did Karissa get a chance to tell you about Archie?”

  “No,” I said, “but Sav did. I know where he comes from, and I know Sav will use me to get to him, in all the worst ways.”

  Emery just folded his arms and leaned against the doorway. “What joyful lives we lead,” he muttered.

  I tugged at the knot hole in the bottom of my chest, pulling up the false bottom with a woody creak as it scraped the edges.

  I gasped as my eyes fell on something even more precious and valuable than I’d imagined.

  I would have been happy to find a bar of gold or silver.

  I would have been thrilled to find some sentimental family heirloom from my past.

  But I was absolutely ecstatic, as I reached down and ran my fingers over an aged leather cover in disbelief.

  “Hey,” Emery said, glancing over my shoulder. “It’s your old diary.”

  I brandished the book of worn, uneven pages, and would have thrown it at him if it wasn’t so valuable. “You knew this was in here?”

  He scowled back and said, “No. If I’d known where you hid it, I would have torn all the pages out and slid them under everyone’s doors.” He shook his head and grumbled, “It’s like you don’t even know me.”

  I ignored him and flipped carefully through the pages, past rough sketches and scrawled passages in both Human and Escalira. I saw the little nuances that made my handwriting mine, like the extra curl I always added to my L-loops, and the way my Escali vowels were always taller and thinner than necessary.

  I ran my fingers over the beautiful ink strokes, the light indents all over the page sending a thrill of sentiment into my heart.

  “Archie’s back,” Emery said.

  I gently closed the diary and wound the attached leather cord around three times to secure it as Emery took off and something else occurred to me.

  It was no wonder Vack knew of Archie. The Golden Princess would have been Prince Avalask’s sister too, which made Archie and Vack… cousins?

  I heard a quick, “You alright?”

  And a short, “Yep,” before Archie reached my room. I expected him to look distraught, but he carried himself with casual ease, like the unwelcome family reunion hadn’t ruffled him.

  “You spoke to Vack?” I asked, not sure how he could look so unaffected.

  “Yeah. Turns out he would also like for Ebby to leave with us.” He grinned like I couldn’t begin to guess the understatement, and then he drew his eyebrows together in uncertainty. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “Like what?” I replied. “I’m not even… looking at you. Where did Emery disappear to?”

  I couldn’t hide emotions to save my life, so I stepped past him to the hall where he wouldn’t have a clear look at my face.

  Emery had left the furthest door ajar, a door which certainly did not belong to him, and Archie noticed too. “Why in life is he in Robbiel’s room?”

  Emery emerged with what looked like a puppy in his hands.

  Curiosity drove me to approach him until I recognized black fur with one white stripe running down the middle, and I hissed, “Are you insane?” I would have shouted the question, but we’d all smell for days if the monster in his hands startled.

  Emery used one hand to open the door to Karissa’s room, and he shut the creature safely in without incident before shooting me a look of wide-eyed innocence.

  “What?” Emery asked. “Stripes is an upstanding member of society. Robbiel rescued him a few weeks ago and he’s been nothing but a beloved companion.”

  Archie broke into laughter as I gaped in disgust.

  “Why,” I demanded, “has Karissa not put a lock on her door?”

  Archie tried to compose himself enough to ask Emery, “What was it, five years ago we had the great doorknob war?” He turned to me to explain, “There’s a whole graveyard of disassembled doorknobs and hinges out in the woods from when people started trying to lock their doors.”

  Emery said with a gloating smile, “Let’s get down to Prince Avalask’s hall. I’m sure Karissa will love to tell you all about it.”

  We encountered one small problem outside Prince Avalask’s hall where two guards refused to let us in, saying the Epic was out on business. But when the massive glass doors opened of their own accord, the guards stood at attention and allowed us to pass.

  Once they’d swung shut, Karissa became visible with a proud smirk. “They think Prince Avalask is the one opening the doors. That’s their cue to let people through.”

  I should have commended her for the idea, but I found myself gaping at a large fire built in the middle of the beautiful glass hall, on the stone walkway that ran down the middle.

  “This is how we’re getting Prince Avalask’s attention?” I asked, gesturing toward it. Firelight flickered off every glass pillar lining the hall, dancing brilliantly into every corner, and Corliss and Nessava had pulled up
fancy chairs which looked incredibly out of place beside the bonfire. Celesta must still be up in the Tally caves, because I didn’t see her.

  “Well, now he can’t possibly ignore us,” Karissa said, walking to sit on an upholstered bench beside Nessava. “Now be quiet. We’re playing funniest moments, and the three of you just interrupted Corliss’ story.”

  Corliss directed a grin at me and said, “I was just telling everybody about last year when you introduced yourself to Archie.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” I said as I felt my cheeks redden. “That isn’t fair. I can’t remember any stories to tarnish your good name.”

  Emery leapt into a chair and said, “Sh! We can tarnish her good name later. I want to hear.”

  “So, you’d both just made it into the Dragona?” Karissa prompted her.

  I cringed inwardly and moved closer to the fire as Corliss touched a hand to her laughing lips and went on. “Yes, so Archie and I have made it in, and we’ve planned this thing out meticulously,” she narrated with her hands. “We’ve got our entire fake backstory memorized, I’ve got Allie right next to me, we’ve even rehearsed how the conversation will go—”

  “You’re the one who made us rehearse the whole thing,” Archie said, sinking comfortably into the nearest armchair.

  “—and I’m about to introduce the two of them, when BAM! Allie falls off the roof and smashes him.” Corliss swung her arms into a dramatic clap and could hardly continue the story through her laughter. “The irony of it! She just knocks him over, knocks everything he’s holding to the ground — I laughed so hard I cried. My stomach hurt for the next three days, worse than the time I bet Karissa I could eat three pounds of prunes—”

  “Ugh, can we not relive that night please,” Karissa said, which inspired a round of light laughter, myself reluctantly included.

  “Here I was, just about to introduce him, like hi Allie, this is my super attractive friend, Archie, and I want you guys to be friends—”

  “Come on, Corliss, can you give somebody else a turn already?” Archie said as I tried to look unaffected. Having flaws is the worst.

  “Allie could go next,” Emery suggested, dancing away and holding up the diary that had just been in the pack on my side.

  “You thief!” I said, getting to my feet, glancing at my opened bag in shock. He brought fire into his hands to keep me from lunging at him, which by some miracle wasn’t leaping onto the paper — but that diary was my lifeline!

  I shot Archie a look that said, fix this! and he threw up his arms, saying, “I have no control over what he does.”

  Karissa was the one who gave me a look that could form alliances, right before she turned invisible.

  Emery jumped onto a fabric chair, flipping through the pages. “Alright, lots about Archie, blah blah blah, pretty blue eyes and a pretty-boy smile. Ugh, Allie, you’re making me nauseous.”

  Archie leapt to his feet, suddenly taking the matter more seriously. “Alright, give it back.” I was about to be sick.

  “I’m kidding, just kidding,” Emery said, glancing at a few more pages as Archie took a threatening step toward him. “Haven’t even seen your name yet, friend.”

  “Wait! Find a part with all of us!” Karissa became visible between the two of them, the turncoat. She threw her arms wide and crouched to keep anyone from pushing past her, exchanging a grin with Corliss. “I want to know what she’s said about us.”

  “Close it.” Archie deepened his voice to a growl. “Or I will rat both of you out for all you’re worth.” Emery just raised his eyebrows and Karissa folded her arms. “I will tell Robbiel exactly what happened to his first pet rabbit. I will tell Corliss who broke her entire set of ceramic cooking bowls—”

  “I already know it was Emery.” Corliss grinned as though she couldn’t be bothered.

  Archie didn’t pause for breath. “Karissa, I swear on stitches themselves, I will take care of all my own wounds for the rest of my life—”

  Karissa interrupted, “Good, I’d love to see you die of dysentery. Start reading!”

  Emery cleared his throat loudly, and I moved closer so I could tackle Karissa, giving Archie a clear shot to the diary, but Archie held up one finger to say wait.

  Robbiel had suddenly clenched his jaw and glanced between every face in the room. “You guys told me Sparky escaped.”

  Everybody froze like his words were the rattle of a desert snake.

  Karissa was the only one who didn’t sense imminent danger and rolled her eyes. “Ok, so he escaped into a bowl of stew,” she said without remorse. “We were all starving. Do you even remember that winter?” She got the hint when he lowered his shoulders and got to his feet as well. “Emery’s the one who did it!” she exclaimed, vanishing on the spot as Emery’s eyes grew wide and he leapt down to grab a large stick from the fire. “He and Jonnath snuck into your room, back before the great doorknob war!”

  “Where is Jonnath?” Archie asked. “I thought he’d be back by now.”

  The mood in the room shifted noticeably.

  “He’s up north visiting family,” Nessava said quickly.

  I wanted to grimace as Archie tilted his head in clear suspicion. “What are you talking about? Jonnath doesn’t have family in the north.”

  Nessava’s eyes grew suddenly and unforgivably large. “Friends! Did I say family? I meant to say friends.”

  The prior game of keep-away was suddenly forgotten as Archie looked straight at Emery. “Where’s Jonnath?”

  Emery let his breath out before shutting the diary and tossing it back to me. “Come on,” he said, throwing his burning stick back into the fire. “Let’s go outside.”

  “Why don’t you just tell me in here?” Archie asked, anger creeping into his features. “It looks like I’m the only one who doesn’t know.”

  “Because,” Emery said, grabbing Archie by the shoulder to push him toward the door, “neither of us are about to get emotional in front of Karissa. She’ll diagnose us with something and try to feed us witch-craft stew.”

  Archie shot me a look that asked did you know about this, and I mouthed the words I’m sorry. Archie shook Emery’s hand furiously off his shoulder before leaving the hall with him, silence following their departure.

  Karissa was the first to sigh and explain, “I tried being nice to him one time. I made him soup when he was sick, and this is what I get for it.”

  I gave her half a smile, but I found myself dwelling again on the loss of Jonnath and the fact it barely troubled me. Maybe I should count myself lucky that I didn’t have to endure one extra bit of misery… but looking around at the faces of Corliss, Nessava, and Karissa as they fell solemn and thoughtful, I felt like I’d lost something important.

  Without any fond memories on which to ponder, I was forced to remember why we were here, waiting patiently, hoping Prince Avalask would show up. We were cutting this way too close…

  The kids were escaping in three days.

  Assuming we talked to Prince Avalask by morning, we’d have all day to introduce him to Tarace and start negotiations, then one more day to hopefully get the kids home, or at least convince them to sit tight. The next day was the escape. How could we possibly pull this off?

  I fell asleep with flames dancing through my eyelids and woke much later to a loud, exhausted sigh of frustration.

  “All I want to do is go to bed,” Prince Avalask said, leaning heavily against one of the obsidian pillars. “There was a flood, and I’ve been up for thirty-six straight hours, and...” he gestured to the smoldering embers, looking like he might just cry. “Then you Tallies build a fire in my hall. Why do you hate me?”

  I was the first to gather my wits and say, “We needed to talk to you. The Dincaran kids are planning to make their escape—”

  “In three days. I know,” he said. “I do glance down there every once in a while. So while your concern is touching, unless you’ve decided to help negotiate their return, I’ve pretty well got
the situation handled.”

  Emery and Archie were back, and I glanced at Archie to see a look of pure disinterest on his face before I said, “We’ll help.”

  “You’re aware I’m keeping Ebby, and that’s final?” Prince Avalask rubbed at his eyes, causing a shift in his black fur cloak which shimmered in the firelight.

  “We know,” I replied, “but we’ll still help you. Also… I’m not sure if you know this, but Sav has suddenly taken an interest in getting her back to Sir Avery.”

  Prince Avalask frowned before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. “I’m not surprised. He and I argued pretty hard about this attempt at a truce, and our compromise in the end was that we wouldn’t give back the mages and the Human Epic. It’s just one or the other.”

  He watched us like he was ready for outrage, and when none of us reacted in alarm, he said, “We’re either giving back the mages and keeping Ebby, or we’re giving back Ebby and keeping the mages. Sav strongly prefers to send Ebby home and hold onto the rest of them. If he can get Ebby back to Sir Avery, then the decision’s been made.”

  Karissa stared at him and asked, “What would you even do with a thousand Human mages?”

  Prince Avalask looked ready to collapse on the spot, incredibly tired, but also sad and hopeless.

  “Another source of debate. I think we could train them to our own benefit, but it’s wishful thinking. Savaul will likely convince Izfazara to kill them.”

  A chilled silence swept through the room, and I tried to catch Archie’s eye, but he had his teeth gritted like a bad taste soured his mouth.

  “We can still fix this,” I said slowly. “We just have to get the Human leaders to agree to peace in exchange for the kids. They’d be idiots to pass it up. We could introduce Prince Avalask to Tarace tonight, and then we’d have two days—”

  Archie jerked his head up, revealing the fury that had been festering behind his indifferent stare. “That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said,” he snarled. “You want us to walk in and introduce Prince Avalask to Tarace? Why don’t we just…hand them a map of our family trees while we’re at it! Why don’t we just give ourselves ten thousand years of Time for being traitors and save them the trouble?”