by Zara Zenia
I rubbed my hands together. “If she can just hold on for a little while…”
“A little while?” Lortnam scowled again with confusion. “What will happen in a little while?”
“Hopefully we find her,” I said in an irritated tone.
“I know.” He rolled his eyes. “I didn’t mean it like that. We need to think of another response to send to her.”
I gave him a diligent nod, attempting to focus. “Right.” I drew in a deep breath of motivation. It was time to set my attention on the task at hand.
I began typing into the screen.
“What are you imputing?” Lortnam leaned over my shoulder to glance at the words.
Thank you for sending me another note assuring me that you are okay for the moment. I’m so sorry you are in this mess and I promise you that I’m still working diligently to find and rescue you as quickly as possible.
I could hear Lortnam breathing down my neck. I glanced at him with annoyance. “Do you think you could take a step back?”
“Sorry,” Lortnam said and took a few strides backward.
Please don’t give up hope yet. Stay strong, I am coming for you.
I read the last note aloud to my inquisitive brother and then hit the send button after reading over it one last time in my head.
“Alright,” I said with a sigh. “It’s sent. Let’s hope she gets the message before Nora does.”
“Yeah.” Lortnam nodded. “The last thing in the world we all need right now is Nora realizing that Ariana is attempting to communicate with you.”
I shuddered at the thought. “I can’t even imagine what kind of hell and wrath Ariana would be under if that happened.”
“It’s still worth the risk of keeping in contact with her,” Lortnam said, stripping away a few layers of my guilt.
“I guess you are right.”
“Just be wary and as long as you stay careful, everything should stay under Nora’s radar.”
“That’s true.” I managed a smile. “I suppose if Ariana felt endangered, she wouldn’t even bother to send the messages in the first place.”
“She probably has the aid of a sentient artificial intelligence who knows what it is doing and how to slip past Nora,” Lortnam mentioned.
“That’s what Yadav said too,” I nodded.
“Did someone say my name?” David Yadav announced himself with a smile, entering Lortnam’s office with a suave stride and a briefcase carrying what I already knew to be his laptop.
“David.” I extended my hand to pump enthusiastically with his. He had a solid, firm handshake. “I hope you have some good news for us.”
“I have actually made a few leaps in the research involving Nora Morse that I think will prove helpful to the investigation into Ariana’s disappearance,” he stated with a gleam of pride flashing through his eyes.
“That’s great news.” I gestured for him to sit down at the long board room style table in the office. “Please, take a seat.”
Lortnam sat at the head and Yadav and I were positioned across from each other on the sides flanking Lortnam.
Yadav pulled out his laptop from his briefcase and then popped the screen open. He seemed animated, giving off a sparkly vibe of excited anticipation. I couldn’t wait to discuss the findings he had gathered against Nora. There was nothing more I wanted in this world than to bring her down, other than finding Ariana safe and sound of course.
I tried to wait as patiently as possible for David to get his programs pulled up so that he could divulge information to my brother and I about the potential leads to Nora Morse’s virtual reality pods and their whereabouts.
My heart drummed anxiously in my chest. I shifted my weight and did my best not to fidget until David cleared his throat and peered at Lortnam and I through his wire-rimmed glasses.
“Well?” Lortnam sounded even more impatient than I did.
“My team and I have reason to believe that Nora Morse’s funds have been wire-routing toward a newly constructed automated facility.”
“Before we get started, I just wanted to say that I got another message from Ariana just this morning,” I blurted out.
I didn’t want to get off track, but I figured that Yadav might need to know that information.
“What did it say?” He looked at me curiously through his glasses.
I pulled the message up on my screen and handed it over to Yadav so that he could inspect it.
“It’s written in that same delicate script as before,” he said and glanced between me and Lortnam.
“Yes.” I nodded. “What do you suppose that means?”
“Whoever is helping her get the messages out to you must be using that type of font for a reason.”
“It’s clearly not Nora,” I said.
Yadav frowned. “No. Absolutely not. It can’t be.”
“She’s the witch that Ariana is referring to,” Lortnam mentioned. “Or at least that is what we suspect.”
“It’s probably accurate,” Yadav said. “At least Ariana has an AI source to aid her in communicating with you. Just be careful and continue to be vague and short, to the point in your responses.”
“That’s why I think she is encrypting our messages with these little poetic rhymes,” I said. “That way, if something happens, Nora might not immediately be red flagged that Ariana is up to no good and sending out communication channels to the outside world.”
“Yes.” David nodded and repositioned himself in the seat. “There are certainly loads of factors to consider here.”
Lortnam propped his elbow up on the surface of the table. “So, tell us more about this automated facility?”
“Yes.” Yadav nodded and went back into focus mode. “My sources revealed after prying into her banking information that she has been wiring money to this private island off the coast.”
“What coast?” I asked.
“The east coast,” Yadav mentioned. “It’s a private island surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay, but we still don’t know the name of it thus far.”
“Well that’s okay,” I said. “We are making progress and that’s all that matters to me.”
“I agree that the island name matters not as long as you have the coordinates to get there. Do you have such information?” Lortnam cast Yadav an expectant glance.
“I do.” David nodded diplomatically.
“Wonderful.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
We were so close to finding Ariana I could taste the victory. I didn’t want to raise the bar of my hopes of accomplishing that goal just let. As Yadav clearly stated only seconds before, there were still a lot of factors to consider and Ariana’s life was at stake.
“The facility has been proven via electronic funds and various connections of Nora’s, such as her staff and engineers to be directly associated to Nora’s current virtual reality project. There was a building constructed there only six months ago that we believe houses the virtual reality pods.”
“Wonderful.” I grinned at Yadav. “Excellent work.”
“Also, she has been paying for flights for her engineering employees back and forth off this island to the mainland which leads us to also believe that they have been there working on the set up.”
David leaned across the table. “And I saved the best for last…”
His voice was hushed and mischievous.
“What is it? Spill the beans,” I said.
“Nora’s current assistant was just brainless enough to post a picture on social media of the construction of the building, saying how proud she was to be a part of such a spectacular project that was going to rocket launch the virtual world into a whole new realm of possibilities.”
“Let me see,” I said. My excitement was through the roof.
David had already pulled up the picture of a girl wearing glasses with fiery red hair and too much heavy makeup caked onto her face. She was grinning eagerly. She looked young and naïve. She was pointing to a building behind her that look
ed newly constructed and big enough to do the job, but small enough to blend in and not stick out like a sore thumb.
“Bravo,” I said and clapped my hands for David. “Job well done.”
He gave me a humble bow. “It is in fact my job.”
“Can we prove that Nora Morse has a direct affiliation with the building?” Lortnam asked.
“She is not directly related to the construction of the building, but I do have sources with documentation that she rented space in the building itself.”
“This is brilliant.” I stood up and walked around the room, practically jumping for joy. It was impossible for me to bottle up my elation over these findings. “Now all I need is the coordinates and I can be on an airplane as quickly as this evening.”
“Not so fast,” Lortnam said and gave me a cynical frown. “You need to prepare for this. Nora might be waiting for you, ready to wage war. Someone like her will be expecting a fallout. You can’t just surprise someone like her. She’s going to be ready for your arrival. She will pull out all the stops as she did with us. She’ll have a team of goons ready to take you out the moment you step foot on the island.”
I looked at Yadav. “I suppose it’s a possibility?”
“The likelihood grows stronger by the minute,” Yadav admitted somewhat reluctantly. He gave me an apologetic smile. “As Nora grows her company and her virtual reality brand, she is going to become even more protective of it and making sure it doesn’t crash and burn before its even formally launched. And she was pretty adamant about killing Lortnam and Kelly a few months ago, I have no doubt that she will be prepared for you to come after her.”
I groaned and sat back down, feeling befuddled as my posture drooped slightly. “Well, this is a setback…”
“It doesn’t have to be a major one,” Lortnam stated vibrantly. “We can pull together a detachment of soldiers and use one of our own private military jets to fly to the island well stocked and loaded with defenses of our own.”
I pointed my finger at Lortnam and gave him a praiseful smile. “You are on to something, twin of mine. On to something and it just might work.”
“If I may offer my advice too, in agreement with Prince Lortnam here,” Yadav said with a respectful nod in my brother’s direction. “It is probably wise to use the utmost caution when dealing with someone as high strung as Nora Morse.”
“Good.” I nodded and then lightly tapped the table top with my fingertips. “Then it’s settled. We won’t fly to her private island until we are fully prepared with a battle zone of our own.”
“To be fair, it isn’t exactly her private island,” Lortnam said, then with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes, “but that’s a technicality, right?”
I chuckled. “Right.”
Nora would need a Trilyn prince in order to solidify that kind of wealth in order to start buying islands.
“Then let’s get to work.” Lortnam stood up, his features set with determination. “There is still so much to do to get the troops ready, and we don’t know how much time Ariana has left.”
“True.” I felt my heart impulsively drum quicker than usual. “We can’t let Nora’s brainwashing sessions get to Ariana’s head before I get a chance to prove myself worthy of her attention and love.”
Lortnam gave me a fond, brotherly slap on the back. “That’s the spirit.”
“I’m going to reach out to my security team,” I told the other two. “See what they can set up.”
“Sounds good to me.” Yadav began packing his laptop back into the briefcase.
“Uh-David, before you take off…I need you here.”
David appeared to be confused. “You want me to stay?”
“I need you to come with me to the island,” I clarified.
Yadav grinned. “You didn’t think I was going to miss it, did you?”
“Of course you wouldn’t.” I nodded with a chuckle. “I know I’m going to need your expertise. Your aggressive approach to cracking codes and hacking into computer systems is going to be vital to this operation. Not to mention you’re pretty handy with a gun too.”
“You’ve got it, sir.” David reached his hand across the table and enthusiastically shook with mine. “Hopefully we’ll take her down and get Ariana back where she’s supposed to be. With you.”
“He hasn’t even had the chance to meet her in person,” Lortnam tisked with a click of his tongue. “Such a shame.”
“That day is coming,” I stated with a ring of optimism in my voice. “With the help from both of you.”
“I’m willing to do whatever you need me to do,” Lortnam said insistently.
“You will probably need to stay here,” I said.
I hated to disappoint my brother and steer him away from the course of action-packed thrilling excitement, but in case something happened back on the mainland, I needed to ensure that my palace was going to be secure. I needed Lortnam and some of our troops to stay behind and guard our vital information and our own computer and security systems.
We had to have back up. We couldn’t allow everything to fall apart while we were out trying to combat the craziness that swirled around Nora Morse and her ridiculous antics.
“I can go with you to the Intergalactic Space Station,” Lortnam offered. “It’s not far from here. I can help you round up a detachment of troops that will jump at the chance to come to the aid of one or more of the Trilyn Princes. And you know Manzar trained them well, so they will be fully capable of taking on anything Nora throws at you.”
“Yes,” I nodded as we headed out of his office and ventured to exit the palace in one of our hovering vehicles. “Agreed. We might not have time on our side, but we certainly have Trilyian forces at our disposal.”
“I just hope I’m able to help, once we are in there. I don’t know much about the virtual reality world she’s building.” Yadav frowns, looking a bit uncertain, which is unusual.
“I am sure you will do fine, you’re a genius,” I reassured him with a grin. “Without you Yadav we have little to no chance of ever finding Ariana, and even if we did happen to get lucky enough to stumble upon her, we wouldn’t have the knowledge to breech the security systems that the building undoubtedly has put in place.”
“Not to mention, there is probably a lock on the virtual reality pods that will have to be broken by some kind of code that we would never be able to hack,” Lortnam added.
I looked at Yadav and gave him a solemn nod. “Seeing as I am no computer genius, I am at your mercy now if I ever want to have the chance to see Ariana again.”
“You will be in good hands with Jinurak, he is much more of a warrior than I.” Lortnam nodded approvingly. “You saved my hide, as well as Kelly’s last time we went up against her. I have no doubt you will do well at Jinurak’s side, maybe even keep him from getting killed.”
David chuckled.
I grinned at my brother. “Thanks. That means a lot, coming from you.”
Lortnam rolled his eyes playfully. “Come on,” he said and beckoned us with an excited wave of his hand. “Let’s formulate some troops to bring to this mysterious island.”
“You still have the coordinates, right?” I looked at Yadav for confirmation.
He patted his trusty briefcase. “Right here on my laptop.”
“Good.” That was satisfactory enough for me.
About half an hour later, we arrived at the Intergalactic space station. There was a recruiting post in the event of war where we could enlist soldiers trained by Manzar to help us. This situation didn’t deem itself quite as frantic as war, but chaos could ensue. Thus, we had to be prepared to take out whoever on Nora’s side was willing to kill or be killed for her hellacious cause.
As I walked in through the frosted glass set of double doors with my heart set on plucking up a resilient team of allies, I glanced at Lortnam and Yadav.
“Are you ready for this?”
Lortnam nodded. “Let’s pick the biggest, the fastest and the best
.”
I agreed. Nora Morse won’t even know what hit her by the time we are finished tearing down her empire.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins. It was now or never, and Ariana was counting on us. I owed her every ounce of purpose I had to find her and bring her home.
Chapter 12
Ariana
I was sitting out by the stream listening to the peaceful song of the birds carrying their tunes of chirps through the air. They danced from limb to limb in the trees, playfully flapping their wings as they enjoyed the bright and sunny afternoon.
I had always been the type of person to be well in-tuned with nature and appreciating the wilderness and the splendor it had to offer.
I was sitting at the edge of a rock near the embankment with my knees tucked up to my chest and my arms wrapped around my legs. I had been spending most of my time here at the stream.
I knew it was a safe location for me to hide out, away from both the dragon and its lethal green fire, but also away from the smarmy trolls who I was quickly learning the hard way were gruff, aggressive pranksters who were also controlled by Nora and ordered to keep me in line and within the perimeters of the castle.
Last evening, I had been trekking back from the stream when I noticed the trolls bursting through the barn doors near the stables. I now knew that the trolls were the source behind the fairies fright.
I couldn’t understand why they were so afraid of the dopy looking trolls who did nothing more than grunt and drool while giving me menacing stares. It wasn’t like they could breathe fire or something, but for whatever reason that was still unknown to me, the fairies trembled in fright every time the trolls lurked nearby.
The trolls approached me, trying to swat at me and lift my shirt. I had shrieked with disgust and managed to get away from them, but they had chased me all the way back up to the door leading into the castle.
I had made sure to lock the door tightly behind me, still hearing the banging of the trolls’ chubby fists against the wood planks. They were grotesque and obscene, so I did my best to avoid them at all costs.