by Jae Vogel
This became evident when the number of security guards increased to eight.
Dion had led them to a display of a traditional bathroom where the shower was separate from the tub. The towels were all neatly folded in some free standing cabinets and the paint on the fixtures smelled fresh from the factory. This was a display some visual expert created with a great amount of love and devotion. It was also big enough for them to take refuge from the security guards.
Dion stepped behind the rear of it and looked out at the floor behind him to see four more guards at the line of the wall that had them under close observation. The guards did their best not to appear interested in the part of the floor where they stood, but Dion knew otherwise. He also understood they’d count them off. There would be no way they could exit the floor without encountering one of the elemental guards.
“We’re trapped,” he said as he returned to the display where his friends waited. “The entire place is surrounded by these new guards.” He sat the bag down he’d carried around on the toilet and looked at the censer inside. “I just might have to light this thing to get rid of them.”
“Are you sure that is such a good idea?” Lilly asked. “Didn’t you say they might revert to their original forms and set the place on fire?”
“It might be the only thing we can do. I’ll see about bringing them closer. If they are standing about five feet from me, when I fire up the censer it might be safe to use it.”
“And then we’d be surrounded by eight fireballs,” Sean said. “Not really a good option.”
Dion rubbed his head and looked around the corner at the guards on the wall. Still there and not moving. The guards had them surrounded. “I’m not sure we have any options left. They don’t appear to move and I don’t know what will happen if we make a run for it.”
As Dion sat there and tried to come up with a plan, the light around them began to fade. Soon it was absorbed by the darkness, which enveloped them, and there was nothing that could be seen. This had happened before, so Dion wasn’t afraid. Soon, the light returned and increased in intensity so they could see where they where.
They were in a library. It was not part of the mall and a fire blazed in the fireplace behind them. Outside, it was snowing and the drifts where high in the moonlit night. Dion looked around and saw the same big stuffed chairs, paints and books as before. He knew where they were before the door to the room opened.
Chapter 10
Once again, the door opened to reveal Edward in a smoking jacket with a glass of something in one hand. He shut the door behind him and waltzed in without a care in the world. He looked at them and sighed. It was plain to Dion he didn’t care much for visitors and only brought them here when it was an absolute necessity. He seated himself on of the stuffed chairs and motioned for them to sit down in the others.
“Welcome again,” Edward said. “You were trapped in that store and I am forced to break protocol and intervene again. The last time got me in a lot of trouble; I suppose my superiors will be furious at me for doing the right thing for the wrong reasons once more. However, I wasn’t about to allow you to be stranded in that hideous store forever. Trust me, you weren’t going anywhere. Those fire salamanders have long lifespans and would’ve guarded you for three lifetimes if so ordered.”
“We owe you our thanks, Edward,” Dion said. “I get the feeling it will be our last meeting.”
“You are most correct on that observation. I have used all my allotments up and then some to bring you here. But, to the subject matter. You were in a store, which didn’t have any exit you could have located. The shoppers were from a time similar to yours, but not exactly the same as your mall. The shoppers knew how to get around inside it, even if you didn’t. Your uncle played unfair by confusing you with the passage redirect. I have just showed him there are people who can play even worse. I will send you back to the fireside of the mall where you stood before you decided to pick up the censer.”
“What you need to understand,” he continued, “is that each of these elementals has a particular stone which attracts them. The gemstone, which appeals most to the salamanders, is a fire opal, as I have said. I’m going to send you back close to a jewelry store where you can get what you need to counter anything they try to do without causing a bonfire. Just be careful because opals crack if you drop them and a broken gemstone will have no functionality.”
“Got it,” Dion said.
“Thanks for your help, Edward,” Lilly said to him. She got up, walked over to Edward’s chair and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He tried hard not to blush.
“Be gone, my lions!” he said and they vanished.
The light resumed around Dion and company to reveal themselves back in the mall. They were in another store. Not the big department store from where there was no escape, but another one. This was a small store in the main red elemental section where the concourse was easily visible from the window. They blinked and looked around.
The man behind the counter looked at them in fascination. He was bored that day, but the universe burped five seconds ago when four young people materialized into his store. He was the only one to see them because he’d been left alone by his manager. One minute he stood there and wondered when someone would come into the store and buy something, the next he faced four young kids. Either a miraculous event just took place or he was on the point of losing his mind. He betted on the second option.
Dion looked around and decided to make sure. “Is this the Fromatius Mall?” he asked the man behind the counter.
There was no point in denying what just took place. The man was there when they transferred in from Edward’s study outside the time circle. Dion needed to make sure was that it was the right time circle.
“Yes it is,” the man told them. “And you are on Earth. Do you want me to call the president?”
Dion starred at him in disbelief. This one was going to be a challenge. “No,” he told the man. “That will not be necessary. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”
“Hiram,” he told Dion. “Hiram Abendroff. Are you from the other side?”
‘No, we are from down the road. You possibly noticed our sudden appearance. It’s from a test being conducted and you need to keep it quiet. Top-secret government stuff. What do you sell here?”
“We are the finest tableware company in the country,” Hiram boasted. “You will find five place settings, seven place settings, fork, spoons, kitchen knives, pie knives and dish packs. If it needs to be on the table, we can supply it for you.”
Dion and his friends began to look over the selection of forks and spoons in the store. Most were laid out in a display case where they could be picked up and examined. Most had numbers stamped on the back.
“So what’s with the numbers on the back of the silverware?” Sean asked.
“Tableware,” Hiram corrected. “Nothing we make here is from silver. You are using the wrong term. What we sell is made from stainless steel. The numbers you see show the percentage of nickel and other alloys used in the manufacture of the steel.”
“Thanks,” Sean told him. “I learn something new every day.”
“I thought, perhaps, you might be from the other side because his return was predicted a long time ago,” Hiram continued. “You made me hope he was about on his way back and you a vanguard.”
Now all of them turned and starred at the little man behind the counter. Finally, it was Emily’s turn to speak.
“We didn’t mean to startle you, sir. Exactly what are you talking about?”
“This company, Anita Tableware, was founded by the Reverend Charles Obadiah over a hundred years ago. He was a minister who predicted his return from the other side someday. We have suffered through much to keep this company running because we want to be here when he returns so he can use it as a base of operations.”
“I see,” Dion said to him. “So you expect him to return from death and reestablish himself on Earth?”
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p; “He never left a successor. The church became a corporation fifty years ago when we decided his time to return might be longer than we hoped. Since then, we have established stores across the world which sell our fine tableware.”
“I have to admit,” Lilly said as she picked up a butter knife, “they do look good. I like this style. How many do you have?”
“Four hundred and thirty-six,” he told her. “What you are looking at now was personally designed by the Reverend’s senior wife. She spent five months working on the pattern with his other wives until they came up with the design. It’s one of my personal favorites.”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we are merely human,” Dion said. “Just don’t talk too freely about what you saw. Like I said, top secret.”
“Of course. I will wait for another day to come. We have waited a long time, I can wait much longer.”
They thanked him for his time and quickly vanished out the door.
“Well, that was more than a little odd,” Sean said to his friends. “I guess he thought the prophet had returned and it was us.”
“Must’ve been quite a let-down,” Lilly said. “I could see the disappointment in his face.”
“He’ll go on hoping,” Emily said. “I wonder if he’ll spend the rest of his life waiting. I’m sure many people already have.”
“Sometimes the waiting is the most important thing,” Dion said to his companions as they headed down the hall. “So long as people like him have something to look forward to, they have a reason to get up in the morning. It’s easy to laugh at them, in spite of what we’ve already seen here, but so many people don’t have a reason to live, I’m glad when I run into someone who does. As for me, I still need to obtain full powers for the fourth element of fire.”
“But anyway,” Dion continued, “the next thing we have to do is find the jewelry store which sells the fire opal. It was supposed to be around here. At least Edward promised us we’d be dropped near the place that sold them.”
They stopped and looked around.
The concourse was full of stores and it was difficult to tell which one was a jeweler’s at a distance. The scanned the line of stores. Meanwhile, the shoppers continued to walk past them.
“I’ve hated shopping ever since I was a kid,” Sean told Dion as he kept one hand on Emily.
“Why is that? “ Sean asked him. He peered down one side of the concourse where it seemed one of the stores might be a jeweler.
“I saw Santa Clause wipe blood off a kid.”
Dion whipped around. “What did you just say?”
“I was six years old at the time but I never forgot what I saw,” Sean told him. “It was Christmas and we were in my dad’s car waiting for my mom to come out of one of the department stores at a plaza. There was a guy inside playing Santa Claus for the holidays. Kids would go in with their parents and get their picture made. Some kid broke away from his parents and hit a glass window, busting his head. Then Santa Claus went over and fixed a bandage to his head while they waited for the ambulance to show up. I hear the kid turned out all right, the head wound looked much worse than it really was, but you can imagine the shock to a kid who had to see that. I’ll be a lot of kids continued to believe in Santa Claus for years longer than they normally did.”
“I don’t think I ever had a Christmas memory that was bad,” Dion said.
“There it is!” Lilly shouted and pointed down the concourse. “I see it!” They turned in the direction she pointed to see a large plastic diamond turn on an axis over a store.
It only took them a few minutes to reach the store, even while they constantly checked for any signs of security guards it the background. There were none, at least no one interfered with them and they reached the jewelry store without trouble.
Once inside they were greeted by a tall man in his twenties who was dressed in a suit and tie.
“Thank you for coming into Plus Diamonds,” he told them. “Is there something special I can help you find?”
“I’m looking for a fire opal,” Dion said. “Do you carry those?”
“I believe we do.” The man slid behind a counter. He extended a hand to Dion. “Ted, I’m the manager at this branch.”
“Glad to meet you, Ted, I’m Dion and these are my friends.”
Ted unlocked the glass case with a key on his ring and pulled out a selection of them mounted on a small rack. He sorted through the gemstones on the rack and pulled a ring off after he’d glanced at them carefully.
“This is one of two rings we have and it is in a sterling silver setting. Note the fine work that has gone into its construction. We can have it sized to specification, but it will take a week because our jeweler comes by every three days. I can size you right now or you can bring it back later to have it done with a sales slip.” He handed the ring to Dion.
Dion held it to the light and looked at the pattern in the opal. It was a brilliant red and just what he needed according to Edward. He gave it to Lilly to try on. It fit her to perfection. The ring matched the glow on her face. Lilly went over to mirror on the counter and examined it on her hand. She turned and smiled at Dion.
“I’ll take it,” Dion told the manager.
“Good, an excellent choice. Let’s take it to the counter and I’ll ring the sale and get you a box for it.”
It only took a few more minutes for them to conclude the transaction and soon Lilly was leaving the store with the ring on her finger.
“You see,” the manager said to one of his clerks who’d come out of the back room after the sale was finished, “this is why I like my job. You saw the look on her face? The glow lit up the entire store.”
“I thought we’d never sell that thing,” the clerk replied to him. “It’s been in the case for the past five months. At least I don’t have to count it tonight for inventory.”
“So this ring will repel the fire elementals,” Lilly said as she held it up to the light while they walked down the concourse. “Thank you for giving it to me, Dion. I know you bought it for protection, but I’m glad you allowed me to wear it just the same.”
“I can’t imagine anyone more deserving,” he said. “You’ve been with me all the way through this quest. I just want to finish getting my parents back.” He stroked her cheek and she looked up at him with big eyes.
“So when do we get to see the ring in use?” Sean asked Dion. “I didn’t get to see you take out the bull on the first day. Will it work something like that?”
“It depends on the elemental,” Dion said. “My guess is that it puts them in a holding pattern, but we’ll know the first time any of the fire elementals makes a run at me.”
‘I think we might just find out real soon,” Emily said. “Look to your right.”
Coming down the side passage was a detachment of five of the new security guards. All wore the same grey uniforms they’d noticed earlier and had a build close enough to each other to be family. The red-haired guards marched down the hall, carefully sliding past the shoppers and doing their best not to be noticeable.
Shoppers turned with curiosity and agitation as the guards marched past them. A group of uniformed men was bound to attract attention. Several young mothers grumbled and pulled their kids out of the way as they guards slid past. A few more shoppers stopped to try to figure out where they were headed. One man jumped out of the way so he wouldn’t collide with them.
“You think we should move?” Sean asked Dion. “I get the funny feeling they’re headed for us.”
Dion started to agree and turned to see three more coming from the north of the main concourse. This group, also with red hair and wearing the grey uniforms, were focused on him. There was no question the elemental security guards wanted to capture them. Lilly’s fire opal ring was about to be put to a trial run.
Dion considered using the censer, but there were too many people in the concourse. He still didn’t know if it would create a wall of fire when activated. He might lure them outside
and try to use it where the heat wouldn’t be a problem. Dion turned and looked for an exterior door to the parking lot, but couldn’t find one. He would have to try to use the ring. Edward claimed the fire elementals could be bound by the use of it.
Time to find out.
“Hello, gentlemen,” Dion said to the elementals as they surrounded him. “I don’t see Officer Karanzen anywhere. Is he still employed by the mall?”
“I haven’t been fired yet,” a familiar voice announced through the crowd. They looked up to see Karanzen pushing his way through the group of shoppers that surrounded them. He was wearing the same uniform from yesterday. Whoever had brought the elemental guards in hadn’t insisted he change his uniform to meet the new style.
“Did I tell you guys to do this?” he said to the guards in grey. “In case you haven’t been informed, I am still the post lieutenant and you take your orders from me.”
“You didn’t summon us,” the guard nearest to Karanzen said. “Therefore you do not tell us what to do. We were instructed to isolate these four. They are now isolated. We await further instructions on what to do with them.”
“Are you as stupid as you look?” Karanzen asked him. “You’re causing a major scene here in the mall. Now get out of the way, I’ll deal with them, it’s my job. You are scaring the shoppers with your attitude.”
The guard bent over to Karanzen and looked directly in his eyes.
Karanzen was back in Korea. He huddled under a snow-covered slope. In the distance, there was rifle fire and he could hear voices in Mandarin all about him.
Dion watched as the security chief went into a catatonia. Whatever the elementals could do, it was tied into whoever summoned them. He betted on his uncle, but did his uncle know about the power of a fire opal?