Embrace

by Unknown

  Meghan. She had used that spell before, to free Timothy. He should have remembered it.

  Colin faced the door and said the spell. One second and a loud pop later, the door detached from its hinges and thudded to the ground.

  Bird flew in. Colin could not help but be disappointed; he had hoped to meet the Bird-Human.

  That is when Colin froze. They were not alone. Someone was coming.

  “You!” said Ivan, shaking off his confusion and readying himself for battle, once again.

  “How is this possible?” interrogated Meghan.

  Shocking blue eyes pierced her own, angrily, but this time, the hooded boy dropped his hood. His face was young and fierce, partially hidden by disheveled reddish-blond hair. He stared at the duo, but made no move to strike. He appeared confident, even considering his hasty retreat in Grimble.

  “I came here to make a deal,” he then told them. “I was betrayed by Eidolon and locked in a cell a few doors down.” He then added hotly, “Eidolon doesn’t seem to know about Catawitchs.”

  The boys evil Catawitch was nowhere in sight.

  However, another was.

  “Nona! Where did you come from?” asked Meghan, as her loyal pet came bounding in.

  Meghan was both relieved and confused to see her.

  “You’ll find out soon enough,” her cattish voice replied. Nona’s story would have to wait.

  The blue-eyed boy stepped closer to what he had been looking at. Meghan and Ivan now noticed there was something else in the room.

  A glass coffin.

  And there was a body inside.

  A small body.

  A child’s body.

  Meghan stepped back, taken off guard.

  “Why would someone leave a child here?” she questioned. Who could she be? She added silently.

  The boy answered Meghan as if he had heard her thoughts.

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  “I was trying to find the way out when I found her. And even stranger, I don’t believe she’s actually dead.”

  Not dead? Meghan’s mind repeated.

  “No, not dead,” the boy told her again.

  “Wait… How did you hear that?” asked Meghan.

  Ivan looked between the two, perplexed.

  “You didn’t say that out loud?” asked the boy.

  “No. It was only in my thoughts.”

  Then, in Meghan’s mind, she heard the boy’s response.

  “Why is this happening to me? This sucks! Why can I hear this stupid girls’ thoughts?”

  “Stupid girl!” retorted Meghan.

  The boy’s face contorted in anger.

  “Get out of my head!” he clamored.

  “Man does that sound familiar,” muttered Meghan, blocking the boy from her mind.

  He obviously could not do the same, and struggled with the extra thoughts racing through his own.

  Why can I block him, now? She wondered then.

  The boy heard her thought and demanded to know how blocking worked. Meghan just stared in disbelief.

  “How did you get here?” asked Ivan, trying to ignore whatever strange situation was occurring. “Why are you here?”

  “How am I supposed to function with her stupid thoughts raging in my head?”

  “You have to block me,” advised Meghan, unsure why she cared to help the boy that had a few months prior, attempted to kill her.

  “How do I do that?” he yelled.

  “There’s a point in your brain, you have to reach for it, and then set up the block.” Meghan was not sure how to explain it. With Colin and her, they had each just discovered it on their own.

  After a minute, the boy regained his composure.

  “I don’t know why I can hear your thoughts, but I’m done here. You’re lucky I’m not here for you today!” He then booked it to the room’s exit, but Ivan blocked him, using magic. The boy fell to the ground.

  “You haven’t answered any of my questions, yet!”

  The boy smiled.

  “I suppose that was payback for when I threw you up against that wall. You should’ve died from that blow I gave you,” he added. The boy then glanced at Meghan. He was quickly getting the hang of speaking to her while blocking what he did not want her to hear. Yes. I know about your little secret, he sent to her.

  Meghan was aghast.

  “Don’t you dare,” she shouted.

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  Ivan, again, looked between the two, ready to explode in anger himself. Meghan decided to take another approach.

  “What is your name?” she tried to sound calm as she spoke. The boy scowled, his palm readying again for battle.

  “Don’t know why you care, but its Colby.”

  “Colby. Huh. Well, Colby, if what you say is true and you were put here by Eidolon, you’re in as much danger as we are.”

  “Hardly. I came here to make a deal with Eidolon, and if he doesn’t make that deal, he will pay for that choice!”

  “You actually think you’re powerful enough to take on the Goblin King?” Ivan jested.

  “My magical energy has no boundaries, and I won’t leave before I get what I came for!” The three paced inside the stone room, circling the glass coffin, each staring and deliberating their next move.

  What kind of deal was Colby making with Eidolon? Moreover, why would Eidolon renege on that deal?

  For the first time, Meghan and Ivan found they were on the same train of thought and knew they needed to discover the answer to this before Colby could escape.

  Colby extended his palm, throwing a spell at Ivan, who blocked it, sending one of his own.

  Nona encouraged Meghan to hide behind the glass coffin, where she got a closer look at the girl sleeping inside. There was something familiar about her face.

  In the chaos of the moment, no one heard the footsteps rapidly approaching.

  Bird urged Colin out of his room, where the sounds of rock grinding against rock were edging closer. Bird flew deeper into the cave, the opposite direction that Colin wanted to go.

  He followed, nonetheless. Bird had never let him down.

  He ran and ran, passing empty cell after empty cell. He was running so fast that he could not stop. Not even when he heard spells cast, and rock blowing apart. He skidded past a room where from the corner of his eye, Colin saw his prize.

  “Catrina,” he yelled, sliding to the ground. The magic taking place inside the room ceased and all went quiet. Colin got up, leaving the fresh dirt on his clothes, and darted inside the room, where he again came to a sudden stop.

  “Colin?” yelled Meghan.

  “Wh-what are you doing here?” asked Colin, in shock over seeing his sister and Ivan.

  “Now you see what I meant,” advised Nona.

  “This is becoming a freakin’ circus,” mustered an ill-tempered Ivan. “Do I even want to know what you’re doing here?”

  Colin shrugged nonchalantly and nodded at Catrina’s glass coffin.

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  Before Ivan could question Colin further, Colin’s own memory had been trying to place where he had seen the blue-eyed boy before. He realized it came from his sister’s memory of her battle in Grimble.

  “Why are you here?” Colin asked him.

  “His name is Colby,” Meghan interjected.

  “And we were just getting around to finding that out,” added Ivan.

  Bird, fluttering over their heads, chirped a warning.

  “Hey, you did follow us,” said Meghan, seeing the bird for the first time.

  Ivan looked as though he might blow a gasket, seeing Meghan speaking to a bird.

  “We have to get out of here,” Colin announced, understanding Bird’s warning.

  Colin let Meghan back into his mind and hastily showed her all he had been up to, and that something was following him through the cave.

  “Okay,” she confirmed. “We have to get out now. Something bad is coming!”

  “Not without Catrina!” announced Colin.

  “
Catrina?” Ivan asked tensely.

  “Catrina Flummer, the girl in the coffin,” Colin replied as if everyone should already know this fact.

  “Flummer? The sick girl? From the other group? That’s not possible,” Ivan said, inspecting the coffin closer.

  “Yeah, I know it’s not,” agreed Colin. “But it is her. I’m not leaving her here.”

  “My job was to come here and fetch a man, not a girl!”

  “Ivan!” insisted Meghan. “We can’t just leave her!” Ivan sighed hard, putting his hand to his head, covering his eyes.

  “No, we can’t,” he agreed, sounding pained by the choice. Meghan knew he did not want to do anything that would jeopardize his place by Juliska’s side.

  “Maybe this is part of the test, Ivan? Or maybe she didn’t know!” suggested Meghan.

  “It doesn’t matter now. We have to take her.”

  Colin was at the coffins side in an instant. The lid was too heavy for him to slide off on his own. Ivan helped. While they did this, Colby seized the moment and ran.

  “Hey!” called out Meghan.

  “You didn’t really think he was going to stick around?” asked Ivan, as they successfully slid the glass top off the coffin, which shattered as it hit the cave floor.

  As it did, the silvery haired Catrina Flummer bolted upright. Her eyes flung open and she jumped out deftly, as if she had been awake the entire time. Her petite feet were protected by only soft slippers, but it didn’t seem to bother her as she landed softly on the ground.

  “Colin! You found me!” she flung herself around his shoulders, as if they had been friends who had not seen each other in ages.

  Meghan and Ivan stared in disbelief.

  Bird chirped again, wildly.

  “We have to hurry!” Catrina then advised. “We can’t allow Eidolon to keep what he has taken!”

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  “How do you know about that?” asked Ivan.

  She ignored him, grabbed Colin’s hand and dashed out of the room. Meghan, Nona and Ivan had no choice but to follow.

  Up ahead they heard a shouted spell. It was Colby. He was fighting Bird, who was transforming in mid air; light emanating from Bird’s body blocked anyone from getting a close look at him. He was clearly a talented fighter, transforming from human to bird in a split moment, and then throwing spells, transforming, and then flying to safety.

  The fleeing group caught up to Colby. He was agitated at the battle and quit, continuing his escape out of the cave. The rest followed behind, heading toward a small light, the cave’s entrance.

  Colby and Bird exited the cave, followed by Catrina (still holding Colin’s hand), along with Ivan, Meghan and Nona. Each skidded in turn to an abrupt stop.

  Although only late afternoon, and very much still light outside, the Valley of Eidolon had come to life, with Goblins of all shapes and sizes scissoring closer to the cave’s entrance.

  Two crashed into each other causing a hostile fight to break out. Rust-colored rocks slivered off their bodies, crashing to the ground, or shooting toward unaware victims.

  The fleeing group of youngsters stepped back, hoping to take cover inside the cave.

  However, more Goblins poured out from behind them, forcing them back out into the daylight.

  “We’re surrounded,” whispered Meghan.

  A deafening, yet delicate, voice stopped the Goblins in their tracks.

  “Stop this infantile fighting and get out of my way!”

  The Goblin King had arrived.

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  A thunderous movement shook the ground as Eidolon arrived. He slithered irascibly toward them.

  “How dare you sneak into my valley?” he demanded. Then Eidolon noticed Colby. “Ah. My newest partner in crime.”

  “Bull! You went back on our agreement. I will reveal the secrets of what you found, but not until I have the book! That’s the deal!” Colby shouted.

  “I do like to change my mind from time to time,” mumbled Eidolon, raising one of his red rock arms into the air as if to say “my prerogative.”

  He then dropped his arm and slid closer.

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  “Besides, I do not think you’re in any place to contradict me!” he roared into Colby’s unshaken face. “I will take the book and you will tell me what this is!” Eidolon then took out a velvet bag.

  “The man who wandered into my valley refused to tell me. It must have some great importance, seeing as he was willing to die for it!”

  Confirmation. The man Meghan and Ivan had come for was dead, and worse, Eidolon already held what they needed to retrieve. Ivan was in deep thought, ignoring the scene around him, calculating ways to get the velvet bag.

  “Colby,” whispered Catrina. “You cannot tell him what that is! Do you have any idea what would happen?”

  Colby snarled his reply.

  “I will do whatever I need, to survive, and return to my master,” he told Catrina. “With the book as agreed!” he then yelled at Eidolon.

  Fury erupted from Eidolon, causing even his minions to back away. The surrounded youngsters covered their ears from the deafening sound.

  “Or not,” mumbled Colby, taking a few steps back, suddenly humbled.

  Eidolon then made it clear that he was in charge. He grabbed one of his minions, letting out a thunderous cry, while crushing it to bits! Shards of rock spewed out of Eidolon’s hand.

  The other nearby Goblins squirmed nervously.

  “I am finished being nice!” Eidolon’s delicate voice had vanished.

  “That was nice,” whispered Meghan.

  Colin turned and whispered to Bird.

  “Where’s Magicante?” Colin knew Bird had hidden it, but had no idea where.

  Bird then flew around the corner. Am I supposed to follow? If he could run fast enough he just might be able to sneak through…

  I’m not fast enough, he admitted, knowing that if they could reach the Magicante, it could get them all home.

  But then what? What happened once they were home? Eidolon was not going to just sit back and ignore this invasion.

  The Svoda would have little warning.

  Colin, accepting what he needed to do, was about to send Meghan a thought when he stopped. It wasn’t Meghan he needed.

  “Ivan,” whispered Colin. “I need a distraction so I can get away. If I can get to my book we can all get out of here, fast!”

  Ivan, lovely Ivan, as usual, did not question, but immediately went into action.

  Colin allowed Meghan into his mind.

  “I need you to create the largest fire you can,” he explained. “We need a smoke screen, if even just for a few seconds.” Colin then remembered his first aid kit. He would need that smokescreen too.

  Meghan struggled with this bolder version of her brother, but realized he might be right.

  Without hesitation, Ivan then confronted Eidolon.

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  “I believe that what you are holding actually belongs to Banon Blackwell. I will take it now, if you don’t mind.” Ivan daringly stepped closer, ready to strike Eidolon with a spell.

  Meghan concentrated, hard. The fire began slowly, in her palm. Then it spread.

  Eidolon’s Goblins noticed first.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” They had clearly never seen someone light themselves on fire.

  The fire spread over Meghan’s body, leaving a tingly sensation wherever the flames licked at her skin.

  Ivan’s attention stayed on the velvet bag! He was not going back to Juliska empty handed, whether Eidolon knew how to use what was in the bag or not.

  Meghan thought furiously about the spells in her pocket guide. She wanted to be able make the fire spread. According to the book, she could catch anything on fire, even if it was not something normally flammable. She let the flames crawl from her body onto the ground, taunting the Goblins. They wobbled backwards as the unfamiliar flames taunted their red rock bodies.

  “You’re doing great, Meghan,” encouraged N
ona. “Keep going. Make it spread.”

  “This is nothing!” roared Eidolon. “Do not back away. Attack!” he ordered.

  Ivan threw a spell, which hit Eidolon straight on. It had no effect on him what so ever.

  “Silly boy!” he said, impressed Ivan would even try such a feat. “Your magic is too weak on someone like me.” Eidolon’s body slinked closer.

  Ivan dived out of the way.

  “Guess we have officially broken your no magic rule, Eidolon,” he egged.

  The Goblin King laughed boisterously.

  “I’ll say it again: Silly boy! I have no such rule.” Ivan was speechless for a moment. Perhaps Eidolon was lying. The Banon had specifically told them they could not perform magic, per the rules set forth by Eidolon.

  “I will also warn you again, that your magic will have no effect on me, so you might as well stop trying.”

  Catrina Flummer stepped forward then, her silver hair gleaming in the approaching sunset.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Goblin King,” she said confidently. Eidolon glared at her, ready to explode, but before he could respond, a fiery explosion blew up a smaller sized Goblin.

  Meghan had successfully thrown a life-sized fireball. It drained her, though, and she fought to keep her fires lit. Nona stood at her side constantly encouraging her.

  Colin, seizing the opportunity, dropped the bottle marked Smoke Screen, Advantage Yours! from his first aid kit, grasped Catrina’s hand tightly and bolted. Catrina was even shorter than Colin. However, with the assistance of the smoke screen, they easily slipped between two heaving Goblin bodies, unnoticed. They disappeared around the canyon wall, where Bird flapped anxiously, waiting to show Colin where the Magicante was hidden. He hoped it was not far.

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  Colby took advantage of the smokescreen and followed the duo. He narrowly escaped being crushed by the same two Goblins that Catrina and Colin had run between, but he made it through. He scurried after them, determined to claim his prize.

  Meghan stayed put, keeping her fires ignited. Her baby blue eyes dissolved to a blood red color. Streams of flame shot out of them blasting at the Goblins. They dared not go closer and ignored their King’s demand to advance.

  Ivan then did something that no one expected. He climbed up the canyon wall behind him, over the cave they had just exited, so that he was eye to eye with Eidolon.