by John Corwin
"A demon-forged mortal," Purah said. "Remarkable."
I knew this wasn't why they'd brought me in here. "Is there anything else you want to know?"
"Can this Percival truly concoct a cure?" Gallifer asked.
I nodded. "I have faith in Percival."
"That is good." Purah graced me with a smile. "Once we remember our past, we can help you reach Atlantis and beyond."
I returned a confident smile, but my hands trembled with anxiety. The future of Eden rested on Percival and his memory potion. I hoped he could come through.
Chapter 10
I spent the next two days relaxing, keeping off my feet as much as possible. Every time I slept, I dreamed of pulsating stars drifting in a void. Each time, they drifted closer to me, threatening to consume me in blue fire. I suspected it was related to the memories of Delectra and the rift guardians—another trauma scarring my soul.
To take my mind off my troubles, I played Granddad Stan in chess nearly half a dozen times, more interested in hearing his stories than playing the game. Percival locked himself in his makeshift lab, coming out only to eat.
Any questions regarding the memory potion were met with short, dismissive responses, or a rolling of the eyes. "This cannot be rushed!" he told me when I caught him getting a bite of supper on the evening of the second day.
Thankfully, his potion and poultice did wonders for my wounded leg. Though it still hurt to put my full weight on it, the puckered flesh evened out, leaving behind only a pale scar. By the morning of the third day, I walked with barely a limp to the breakfast table.
"Where in the world are Asha and Galfandor?" Max said before stuffing a slice of buttered bread in his mouth. "Should we be worried they haven't come back yet?"
"Well, they did say they had a few errands to run." Ambria shrugged. "I'm sure they'll be back soon enough."
"Not like there's much to do here anyway," I added. "I doubt they're in a rush."
Percival stumbled into the kitchen, pale-faced and drooping. He made a shot of espresso with the machine on the counter and tossed it back. Moaning contentedly, he leaned on the counter and stared out the window.
The rest of us shared curious glances, but had learned not to pester him. Percival huffed and turned to face us. "Well, aren't you the least bit curious to know my progress?"
"Of course, but I don't want to get yelled at," Max said.
"Glad you asked." Percival rubbed the dark circles beneath his eyes. "The fusion between the primary potions has completed. Since I don't have my notes, I had to manage the process completely from memory." He raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips.
Sensing this pause indicated he was fishing for a compliment, I said, "That's quite a feat."
Percival nodded knowingly. "Oh, it is. Mind you, it was touch and go for a time, but now, I have this." He produced a tiny vial of electric red fluid from his coat pocket. "A drop of this in each eye will dissolve the memory blocks."
Ambria clapped her hands together and gasped. "Oh, Percival, are you certain?"
He moved his head side-to-side. "Reasonably certain, but I will need a test subject."
Her face fell. "How long will it take to work?"
Percival shrugged. "Minutes, hours—I don't know."
Max dropped his fork and rose from his chair. "I'll get Ivy!"
"We volunteer." Purah stepped around the corner, flanked by Gallifer and Sithain. "Apologies for eavesdropping, but I overhead Percival talking about the potion and was eager to hear of his progress."
"Could the potion harm them?" Ambria asked.
Percival waved away her question. "Absolutely not. I tested it on a rabbit, and the animal is quite unharmed." He regarded Purah and her comrades. "I wouldn't recommend testing all three of you at once, in case there are other side effects."
Ambria looked aghast. "How is a rabbit supposed to compare to a Seraphim?"
"Because it just is!" Percival huffed.
"Very well, I will go first." Purah sat down at the table. "Please administer it to me."
I couldn't help but feel apprehensive at the idea of her regaining her memories and power before the others. Purah obviously looked down on us mere mortals even without her full memory. Once returned to her full strength, how much smaller would we become in her eyes? The only Seraphim I trusted fully was Nightliss.
But what if the potion did have unintended consequences? What if it induced madness or caused harm? In that case, I would much rather it happen to Purah. Her companions shared her knowledge of reaching Atlantis and Seraphina. The best way to handle this was to let Purah take the first dose. If it worked, Nightliss and Ivy would go next.
I needed Purah to be reliant on us until we had absolute assurance that she would show us the way to Seraphina. I blinked and noticed Percival staring at me with a quizzical expression.
"Well, is that okay?" he asked.
"Is what okay?"
"Giving her the first dose." Percival sighed. "Perhaps you need a shot of espresso."
"Yes, yes." I nodded. "It's fine."
"Very well, then. We shall proceed." Percival vanished back into his lab and returned a moment later with an eye dropper. He dipped it into the vial and filled it halfway then dripped a single drop into each of Purah's eyes.
Her irises shimmered with electricity. She gasped, her back arching so hard she nearly tipped over the chair. Gallifer and Sithain gripped her shoulders to keep her in place. Purah's head tilted back and a scream tore from her throat.
Ambria covered her ears. "My god, Percival, you've killed her!"
"Did you put ghost pepper in that thing?" Max shouted above the din.
"Of course not, you little fool!" Percival grimaced and pressed hands over his ears. "I don't know what's wrong!"
Ivy and Nightliss rushed into the kitchen.
"What's wrong?" Ivy said. "Did she eat one of Granddad Stan's spicy sausages?"
Granddad Stan rushed inside the back door. "Good lord, I heard her screams all the way down at the pig barn."
"She tested Percival's potion," Ambria shouted into sudden silence.
Purah went limp and quiet, sagging into the chair.
"You've killed her!" Gallifer exclaimed.
"No, impossible." Percival put two fingers to her neck. "She has a strong pulse, and she's breathing."
Purah's eyes flashed open. Rapid-fire sentences in Cyrinthian shot from her mouth.
Gallifer and Sithain exchanged worried glances.
"Who is King Thussor?" Nightliss said. "What is a bloodstone?"
"I do not know," Gallifer said. "I cannot remember."
"I remember some of these things from long ago," Sithain said. "I do not understand. Is her mind damaged?"
I remembered the strange flashbacks I used to have when still possessed by my parents' soul shards. It seemed as though Purah was experiencing one long flashback. Her abrupt descent into madness suddenly made sense. "She's thousands of years old, and the memory block cut her off from her past," I said. "Everything must be coming back to her in such a rush, her mind can hardly handle it."
Percival snapped his fingers. "Of course. It's like blowing a dam instead of releasing the waters slowly."
"You are the Fallen?" Nightliss's eyes flared. "I remember hearing of you!"
Natalia skidded through the kitchen door, morphing from leopard to naked girl in seconds.
Max's eyes went wide and his mouth hung open. "Clothes?"
"No!" Natalia's eyes widened with fear. "The wandslingers are here, and they've brought a posse!"
Purah's insane babblings filled the stunned silence.
"How in the hell did they find us?" Stan asked.
"Give me that potion." Ivy cracked her knuckles. "Time to blast some baddies."
"No, we've got to get out of here." I jabbed a finger at Purah. "We can't afford for you to end up like her while we're under attack."
"He's right." Percival tucked the vial of remaining potion into his shirt poc
ket. "It'll only incapacitate you, and we can't afford that while we're under siege."
I ran to the front room and peeked through the curtains. Talbot and Delilah stood in a waist-high field of wheat a hundred yards to the south, flanked by at least half a dozen men and women in dark blue robes. If the sight of the wandslinger bounty hunters wasn't enough to frighten me, another familiar face sent waves of ice-cold terror rippling down my spine.
"Bloody hell, it's Garkin." Max shivered.
Towering above the others, his thick beard laced with gray, Garkin led a group of mages in gray robes. Crimson streaks dripped from the Cyrinthian symbol for strength on each of their foreheads. Only the most devout and powerful of Garkin's mages wore the sign of the blooded. I'd never seen them before, but Kanaan absolutely despised them.
A shimmering portal hung in the air behind the posse, leaving little doubt as to how they'd arrived here. Talbot waved a hand and everyone but Garkin strode toward the house. A scowl on the man's face told me he didn't like Talbot ordering him around. Considering how Garkin had beaten Kanaan in their last encounter, I had little doubt the master of strength could easily handle Talbot and Delilah.
"They must have brought Garkin in case Kanaan was here," I said. "There's no way we can beat Talbot and Delilah without him."
The group halted and one of the blooded waved a wand at the ground. A wall of flame burst from the ground and just as quickly puffed into nothing.
"They're disabling the wards." Stan sucked in a breath through his teeth.
"Do we fight?" Ambria stared with wide eyes through the window. "Or do we run?"
"We should get the car," Max said.
"I knew this day might come." Stan pressed his lips into a thin line. "Everyone get down to the basement." He removed a picture on the wall to reveal a slab of dark wood engraved with symbols. "I'll activate the emergency protocols."
An explosion echoed outside as the mages disabled another set of wards guarding the perimeter.
The symbols glowed as Stan traced each one. The garage door rumbled open and the black Range Rover roared to life and sped away down the road, shadowy figures inside.
"The car!" Max shouted. "Someone took the car!"
Stan chuckled. "Not exactly."
"A decoy?" Ambria said.
"Exactly." Stan motioned toward the stairs. "But we need to go quickly."
Each of the blooded reached into a sack and pulled out a bundle of sticks. They threw them into the air. Wooden limbs unfurled, and stout legs planted themselves on the ground. The sticks formed a ribbed outline that quickly became familiar.
Max gasped. "They're wooden horses."
Garkin and his followers leapt onto the wooden steeds. The golem horses leapt forward, chasing after the car at incredible speed. Within seconds, the strength master closed the gap. He rammed his staff against the backend of the car. A boom echoed and the Range Rover spun out of control, flipping over and skidding on its roof into the ditch.
The golem horse slowed. Garkin slid from its back and held up a fist. His followers halted. Garkin examined the car and shook his head. He tapped a pendant on his robes and spoke, presumably telling the others about the ruse.
"I said go!" Stan shouted. "We have no time!"
That was all it took to get everyone rushing downstairs. Stan traced a symbol on the back wall and it slid aside to reveal a tunnel. Everyone dashed inside. I took a quick headcount. Nightliss and Ivy stood next to Natalia and Ambria, but Purah and her people were nowhere to be seen.
"Wait!" I grabbed Stan's arm before he closed the tunnel. "We're missing four people."
"Where's Percival?" Ambria said.
"Go find him," Stan said. "While you're up there, I need you to grab the high-capacity carpet stored in the closet in his lab. I have regular carpets stashed down here, but it might be better to have one that can carry heavier loads."
"What does it look like?" I asked.
"It's huge, leaning against the closet wall. You can't miss it."
"Yes, sir." I sprinted upstairs and went to Percival's lab. I found him inside lying on the floor. "Percival!" I turned him over. He moaned. Eyelids fluttered open.
"Where is that awful woman?" he groaned.
I patted his shirt pocket. It was empty and I had little doubt where the vial of memory potion had gone. Unfortunately, we had no time to waste. "Percival, do you have any more of the potion?"
He sat up. Groaned and rubbed his head. "Just ingredients."
"Where?"
Percival pointed to a box. "Everything is in there."
I grabbed it and tugged on his arm. "Get up. We haven't got much time." I noticed the closet Stan mentioned hung open. I looked inside, but the flying carpet wasn't there.
The healer staggered to his feet, teeth bared in a grimace. "I just went back to gather my things. The next thing I knew, Gallifer and Sithain demanded I give them the potion."
"Save the story." I grabbed his robe and yanked him after me. "Let's go!"
Percival stumbled after me. Brilliant explosions flashed through the front window as the mages dismantled Stan's wards. Talbot and the others all rode golem horses now, wands drawn, eyes on the house. Garkin and the blooded weren't in sight.
We rejoined the others in the tunnel.
"Where's the carpet?" Stan asked.
Ambria looked with alarm at Percival. "Where are Purah and the others?"
"The carpet is gone," I growled. "So are Purah and the others. They took the potion and ran."
"Ran where?" Max said. "There's nowhere else to go!"
"We don't have time to waste." Stan shooed us down the tunnel. "Go!"
I felt sick to my stomach as we scurried like rats through the narrow tunnel, leaving behind the only people who could help us reach Seraphina. With the memory potion, Purah, Gallifer, and Sithain would regain their memories and leave us behind.
We'll probably never see them again.
I couldn't let that happen. I slowed and stopped. "I'm going back."
"Are you insane?" Percival grabbed my arm. "You can't go back!"
"Why, Conrad?" Ambria stared at me with shock.
"We need Purah and the others. They're the only way to get to Seraphina."
Ivy's forehead wrinkled. "To get my brother?"
I nodded. "If we let them go, we'll never find out how they open a portal to Seraphina."
"Without powers, we can't fight them." Nightliss held onto Ivy's arm. "Conrad, we will find another way to reach Seraphina."
"No, he's right." Ivy shook her arm loose. "I can't blast 'em, but I can still punch them in the throat!"
I threw up my hands like a traffic officer. "No, you can't come with me. Ivy and Nightliss, you have to go with Percival so he can heal you."
"You're not the boss of me." Ivy jutted out her chin. "If you go back, then we all go back."
"Agreed." Ambria mimicked Ivy's rebellious stance. "We all go, or we all stay."
I pressed a palm to my face. "That's not how this works."
"Ooh, I remember my brother doing that a lot," Ivy said.
"Face-palming?" Max chuckled. "I'm surprised Conrad doesn't do it more often."
I paced back and forth. I couldn't risk my friends and the future of our rebellion against my father, but losing Purah and access to Seraphina would be even worse.
"They are the Fallen," Nightliss said. "Purah said it when she babbled. While I do not remember much, I do know the Fallen are ancient Seraphim. Very powerful."
Max groaned. "So once Purah has her memories and powers, it'll be an uphill battle trying to capture her?"
"Even if we find them now, there is no guarantee we can overcome her." Nightliss looked at me with pleading eyes. "Going back is too dangerous."
"I have to agree." Stan patted my back. "Conrad, we have to pick our battles wisely, and this is not one of them."
I stared back down the tunnel, fists clenched in frustration. Nightliss and Stan were right. We don't have a chance
if we go back. I slumped. "Let's go."
We turned tail and ran, leaving behind the only people who could help us bring Justin Slade back to Eden.
Chapter 11
The tunnel ended in a slab of stone. Stan took out his wand and traced an intricate pattern across its surface, leaving behind a slight glow in the rock. The dead-end rumbled aside and light flickered on in the belly of a metal room. The old man rushed over to a tarp and uncovered a pile of flying carpets.
"I hope there are enough for everyone to double up." Stan tossed them one at a time into the air. The carpets unfurled and hovered a foot off the ground. He got on the first one and Natalia hopped on behind. "Would've been nice to have the high-capacity carpet."
I took the last carpet and tossed it in the air. It flopped onto the floor.
"That's not a flying carpet," Stan said. "That's just an old rug I piled the others on top of."
"Get on!" Ivy grabbed me and jerked me onto her carpet before I could protest. "How do we get out of here?"
Ambria reluctantly climbed on behind Max while Nightliss took a seat behind Percival.
Stan flicked his wand and a trap door in the top of the shed slid open to blue skies. "Fly low so they don't see you and follow me."
Something besides Purah's treachery nagged at me, and I finally realized what it was. "Wait. How did the wandslingers find us in the first place?"
Stan shook his head. "I don't know, but we don't have time to figure it out."
"It couldn't have been any of us," Max said. "I don't think even Purah would sell us out."
"I agree," I said. "None of us would willingly lead the bounty hunters here, but what if it was unwilling?"
Ambria grimaced. "Do you think the wandslingers tagged us with a tracker?"
Max face-palmed. "I didn't even think about it."
"But my wards disable trackers," Stan said.
"We portaled into the south field." I rubbed my sore calf. "The wards wouldn't have disabled the tracker until we reached the edge of the field."