by Sarah Noffke
Carefully stalking in the direction of the statue-like chipmunk perched on the counter, the sisters stepped in time together.
“So, Biv Leaufont, huh?” Sophia questioned, giving her sister an amused expression.
She laughed. “That’s my alias. And now you have one too, Bophia Seaufont.”
“It definitely doesn’t have a ring to it.” Sophia shook her head. “And Serbia. Really? Couldn’t we be going to Venice or Madrid, or Athens?”
Liv shrugged. “I wish, but Serbia was the next flight about to leave that we could ideally make if allowed to cut the lines at security. Don’t worry, we don’t actually have to go there.”
Sophia shook her head, tensing as the chipmunk’s eyes darted to the right. “No, we just have to figure out what this little guy wants with us.”
“Either to deliver us to his soul-sucking master or show us the awesome stash of pecans he’s stolen from travelers,” Liv teased.
“Oh, I seriously hope not,” Sophia said, shuddering. “I swear, I hope this is the last time I have to hang out in a mortal airport.”
“If you think this is bad,” Liv began, shaking her head, “you should spend ten minutes in one of their bowling alleys. You don’t even have to touch anything, and you’ll walk out of there coated in a fine layer of grease.”
Sophia grimaced. “Seriously, that’s gross.”
The chipmunk, which Sophia was going to start calling Shorty, telegraphed a small movement. He was about to take off.
“You see that?” Sophia asked Liv in a whisper.
“Yeah, he wants me to turn him into dinner for Plato.”
“No,” Sophia scolded. “We need him alive, or we’ll never learn why he showed up when he did or where he’s leading us to.”
“Fine.” Liv sighed and halted, throwing up her hands when they were fifteen feet from the chipmunk. Travelers swerved around her to get by to their gate.
“Watch it, lady,” a grumpy old man said.
“Hey, you can see magic thanks to me!” Liv bellowed and then shook her head. She glared at the chipmunk, who was still glamoured to be hidden from mortal’s eyes. “Well, most magic anyway. You’re welcome.”
The guy spun to walk backward with his roller bag. “Yeah, you’re also responsible for those blasted dragons in the skies that are probably going to be the death of us!”
“No!” Sophia roared. “I am!”
The guy halted, narrowing his eyes at her.
Liv tensed beside her sister. “Not really well played, Soph,” she whispered from the corner of her mouth.
Sophia shook her head. “Just you wait, mortal. Those dragons will be the very reason you survive when you should have died. They’ll be what saves this planet.”
The guy shook his head. “A bunch of looneys. I swear everyone on this globe is going crazy. Dragons and ogres attacking small towns…”
“Hey, his name is Frank!” Liv yelled as the guy continued on his way. “And he’s a nice guy. Just misunderstood!”
“Frank?” Sophia questioned.
“Well, it’s short for Frankfurtenstein,” Liv explained. “But after a bottle of brandy, we both decided he was a more of a Frank.”
“I thought it was a glass of brandy.”
Liv laughed. “What Papa Creola doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
Right at that moment, Liv’s phone buzzed in her pocket. “Oh, hell.”
“What?” Sophia asked, still keeping her eye on Shorty.
“What Papa Creola doesn’t know is usually nothing.” She retrieved her phone from her pocket and checked the message before nodding with a knowing expression. “Yeah, that’s about right.”
“What?” Sophia asked.
Liv flashed the phone at her sister. The message read: “A whole bottle of brandy, huh? - Papa Creola.”
“Wait,” Sophia argued. “He’s the oldest being beside Mama Jamba, and he doesn’t know he doesn’t have to sign his text messages? Have you told him that it comes through with the message?”
Liv laughed. “He could tear this planet in two if he wanted, stop all of time, and pretty much do whatever he wanted to the human race and no, he doesn’t know how text messaging works. It’s kind of cute.”
Another message made her phone buzz. She glanced at it and laughed again.
Before Sophia could ask to see it, Liv showed her the message. It read: “I’ll show you cute. – Papa Creola.”
“You better stop tempting him,” Sophia suggested. “Shall we go and see what Shorty wants or where he’d like to lead us to?”
Liv nodded, pursing her lips. “Shorty is a good name. Better than the one I had.”
“Which was?”
“Pecan Breath.”
Sophia started in the direction of Shorty. “Yeah, leave the nicknaming up to me.”
As soon as they were only a few yards away, the tricky chipmunk grabbed a pack of gum from beside the newspaper stand register and leaped off the counter, hurrying down the main thoroughfare of the international terminal.
Chapter Seventy-Four
“A thief twice over,” Liv complained, taking off after Shorty.
The chipmunk darted between travelers looking for their gates, going unseen because he was glamoured but also because it appeared that in airport terminals, no one could be bothered to notice anything but the nose on their faces.
“Yeah, he’s definitely a klepto,” Sophia offered, running next to her sister and pulling ahead of her.
Several times the pair had to jump over luggage left in the middle of the walkway as the owners studied screens displaying the departing flights.
“Coming through!” Liv yelled. “A matter of global security.”
Looking over her shoulder at her sister, Sophia said, “Don’t you think that’s a bit melodramatic?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Liv panted between breaths as they ran. “We’re trying to recover a grimoire before a deranged seven-thousand-year-old witch uses it to restore her power and take over the planet.”
“Right!” Sophia agreed. “Global security emergency! Clear the way!”
An Asian businessman glanced at them and didn’t appear bothered to move to the side. Liv shook her head.
She pointed at his suitcase and threw her hand to the right. The bag flew off toward a set of couches against a wall and landed with a soft thud.
“Hey!” the man yelled, running after his luggage.
“Maybe that will teach him to stand to the side when a Warrior and dragonrider are coming in his direction, yelling about an emergency!” Liv bellowed.
Sophia laughed. “Do you really think that’s going to come up twice in that man’s life?”
“Hard to say,” Liv offered. “We’ve got to make it out of this zoo after this.”
Sophia studied the area ahead of them, having lost sight of Shorty. Then she noticed something small scurrying between feet and watched as it jumped up on a kneeling man’s shoulder.
Sophia sped up, wondering if the mortal was about to be in danger. The chipmunk might be in disguise and actually a Chupacabra or something else equally sinister. She flexed her hand next to her sword, ready to pull it as soon as she stopped.
Weaving around the crowds of people waiting for flights, she finally caught full sight of Shorty. He had rebounded off the crouched man’s shoulder and leaped onto a seat beside the guy—his back to the pair as they slowed.
The man was kneeling in front of his shoe-shine booth. Sitting casually on one of the empty seats was Shorty, giving them a giddy stare.
The sisters slowed and approached with caution. They were able to make it closer to the chipmunk than ever before without the rodent taking off and leading them on a wild chase.
With measured breaths, Sophia watched as the man turned around and looked at them.
He had a smile on his wrinkled face and a light in his eyes, although he was undoubtedly blind.
“There you are,” the man said. “It’s about time. I’ve been
waiting for you for a long time.”
Chapter Seventy-Five
Liv pulled Bellator from her sheath. The way no one reacted to it reassured Sophia that it was glamoured. She did the same thing, feeling Inexorabilis pulse in her hands.
“Can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard those words,” Liv said, pressing in close to Sophia, her sword up by her face. “And usually, it’s followed by a blood bath.”
The man, who had wiry silver hair and white eyes, smiled. His large ears were too big for his narrow head, and the hairs that protruded from them caught Sophia’s attention, reminding her of a terrier she’d met recently in West Hollywood.
The way the man’s tongue dropped out of his mouth and licked the corner of his mouth also reminded her of a dog. To further the imagery, she didn’t feel so much on guard by the fellow, but rather like throwing him a ball. Since he was obviously blind, that seemed totally cruel.
“Who are you?” Sophia asked. “And why have you been waiting for us?”
“Well, because,” the man answered like that was a sufficient response. He reached out and scratched the chipmunk on the head like he could see where it was sitting. The creature hunkered down and rubbed into the affection.
“I’m gonna need a bit more of an explanation if you don’t want me to spear and roast your friend,” Liv threatened, still holding Bellator at the ready.
The man looked in the direction of the chipmunk. “I told you to lead them. You didn’t play games with them, did you, Denmark?”
A few clucking sounds fell from the chipmunk’s mouth as he nibbled on the wrapping around the gum he’d stolen.
The man chuckled and turned his attention back to the girls. “I do apologize. He was told to fetch you, but it appears he took the liberty to tease you along the way.”
Liv groaned. “Yeah, we were almost thrown into a holding cell with a bunch of the other questionable travelers in this place. Believe me, I would not do well imprisoned with old men who refuse to take off their shoes and ladies smuggling their poodles through Security.”
“Denmark,” the man said, “you really shouldn’t be so naughty.”
“Denmark,” Sophia grumbled. “I think Shorty is a better name.”
The chipmunk spat out a piece of the paper from the gum wrapper and went back to trying to tear into it.
“You really should teach Den how stealing is wrong,” Liv spat. “He owes me roughly a dozen candied pecans.”
The blind man turned his focus back on the chipmunk. “You know what to do. Go make this right.”
A moment later Denmark disappeared, streaking back through the airport terminal and darting between passersby.
“Now, while we wait for him to return, why don’t you two hop up and get a shoeshine,” the man said, angling his arm to the row of leather chairs in front of him.
Liv gave Sophia a questionable look, which she returned.
“Yeah, I think we’re good. Instead, why don’t you tell us who you are and why you led us to you,” the Warrior for the House of Fourteen stated.
“I’m the advisor who has been waiting for you,” the man said. “You can call me Athens.”
“Because it’s your name?” Liv asked.
He smiled. “Because it’s easier than pronouncing my real name.”
She nodded. “Yeah, like Frank. I totally get it.”
“So, Father Time sent you?” Sophia asked, deciding it was probably safe to sheath her sword.
He shook his head, seeming to see them although she was certain he was completely blind. “Oh, no. You two have been foretold to go on this mission for quite some time.”
“So, you’re a seer?” Sophia guessed.
He toggled his head back and forth. “Not per se. But I’ve been stationed here for roughly twenty years, waiting for you two.”
“That’s a long time,” Liv said, sounding impressed. “Do you at least get a lunch break?”
He nodded. “I took the job long ago and have met many a nice traveler here. The work is mundane and the pay not good, but it will be worth it if you’re successful. My mother had the gift of seeing. She told me you’d be passing through here to stop the horrid Baba Yaga, and that I must advise you.”
Sophia had so many questions. “Why couldn’t you just come and find us? Why couldn’t your mother? Why did we have to come to…” she trailed off as she looked around at the crowded terminal. “Why did we have to come to a mortal airport?”
“Well,” Athens began. “Because this is where the journey to find Baba Yaga’s grimoire begins.”
“There’s that phrase again,” Liv complained. “Where it begins…” She gave Sophia an annoyed expression. “I told you this is just the beginning. Get ready for a long and convoluted adventure. Hope you didn’t have dinner plans.”
Sophia nodded, returning her attention to Athens. “Why did we have to wait, though? Why not have us find the grimoire before now?”
“The book can’t be found unless Baba Yaga is awake.” He glanced up, looking at the clock on the wall. “That was one minute ago if you two are here based on what my mother foretold decades ago.”
“This is very strange,” Sophia said.
“And the grimoire?” Liv asked.
“We always knew the path to find it would start here,” Athens explained. “You see, long ago it was torn into many pieces and its pages strewn in many different places. Your job now will be to find those places. Now that she’s awake, those pages will be visible, but finding them and assembling the book before she gets to it will be key.”
“How?” Sophia questioned. “How do we find the pages?”
He turned and pointed at the gate at his back with a confident expression. “Your journey will start by boarding that flight.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
“To Dublin…as in Ireland?” Liv asked, having read the digital sign over the bridge to the airplane.
A gate agent was busy scanning the tickets of boarding passengers. It looked like it was going to be a full flight.
“Dublin,” Athens mused. “Yeah, that sounds about right.”
“Did she tell you anything else, like what we’re supposed to do when we get to Dublin or how to find the pages from the grimoire?” Sophia asked.
He shook his head. “She knew it would be you two, and when you arrived, at whatever point that was in the future, that would mark the moment Baba Yaga was awoken.”
Liv gave her sister an irritated look. “Maybe we should have gotten drinks too, instead of rushing here since it was all based on our timeline.”
Sophia snickered. “I think Papa Creola was behind the timing of this whole thing.”
“You think?” Liv asked, sarcasm overflowing in her tone.
“Can you tell us exactly what this prophecy said?” Sophia inquired.
The ticketing agent’s voice blared over the speaker. “Those passengers who wish to board flight 2126 to Dublin, please line up now. We are boarding all groups.”
Liv sighed. “Damn it. Getting first class will be impossible now.”
Athens cleared his throat. “To the best of my recollection, the prophecy said, ‘When the two sisters find the advisor, my son, then Baba Yaga will have awoken a minute later. They must board the flight directly across from him and be aware of the chipmunks.”
“I have so many questions,” Liv said dryly.
“Me too,” Sophia began. “Starting with that we were led to you. We didn’t find you.”
“And yet, you did,” Athens disagreed. “Even if it was because Denmark teased you and made you follow him.”
“You said you’ve been here for twenty years,” Liv started. “Has your shoe shining business always been in this terminal? How do we know this is the right flight?”
“It’s the way it works,” Athens confirmed. “Whenever you showed up, wherever I was, the flight across from me would be the right one.”
Liv rubbed her temples. “This makes my head hurt.”
&n
bsp; Sophia nodded. “And the chipmunk? We’re supposed to be aware of Denmark?”
Athens shook his head just as the little creature returned with a bag of peanuts. He held it out to Liv.
“No, thanks,” she said in answer, making the animal harrumph with dissatisfaction.
“The chipmunks my mother spoke of will be Baba Yaga’s,” he explained. “They have long been known to do the bidding of the old witch…but only once she’s awake. My mother gave me Denmark when she foretold my future and explained what I must do. Denmark has been with me ever since.”
Liv eyed the little chipmunk. “That’s some really good longevity you’ve got for a woodland creature. Whatever you’re doing, please pass it along to me. Are vitamins your secret? Balanced diet? Exercise? Harassing tourists?”
Denmark held up the nuts again.
“Okay, so a diet high in fiber,” Liv said, taking the peanuts. “Got it. Does the stealing also help with lifespan? Because if so, I’ll probably have to settle for just my regular few hundred years that I’m projected to live.”
Denmark climbed up Athens’ pant leg and crawled until he was perched on his shoulder. The shoeshine man patted the chipmunk good-naturedly.
“So, you took this job just so that you could be here when we arrived to tell us this?” Sophia asked.
“Yes, and the way these things work, I could have taken any job in the airport, and that would have been the right one. You would have found me because you’ve been fated to find me,” he imparted. “But as you might have been able to tell, I’m somewhat limited in what duties I can perform, so I decided to go into shoe shining, and I’ve liked it just fine.”
“Yes, air traffic control wouldn’t have been my first guess for you,” Liv joked.
Athens joined in laughing with her. “Indeed, and I dare say it would have been harder for you to bump into me on the tarmac. I’ve liked my job all these years, and I’ll enjoy retirement even more.” He stood, stretching his arms over his head like he’d just gotten out of bed after a long slumber.
“Wait, you’re retiring now?” Sophia asked.