by Matt Ryan
“Then we’re doomed.”
“There has to be another way.”
“Who could we trust with such a monumental task?”
The answer was obvious, but I wasn’t going to let Mark take the stone any more than I wanted to do it myself.
Axiom grunted, and we both turned to watch him shake in his chair.
“This is it. Be proud, Axiom. You put up a valiant fight,” Mom said. “Now it’s time for you to go and see her. Just let go.”
He screamed, and the stones dissolved into his hands. His scream reached such a high pitch, I thought the warehouse windows might shatter. When his body turned to light, it lit the building more than the sun ever could.
I shielded my eyes and could only imagine the beams of light shining through each of the windows and cracks in the warehouse. It would be a beacon that anyone could see for miles around.
Mark, Niles, and Jackie pushed the door open and ran in, made their way through the second gate and ran up to us. I didn’t want to look at Mark. I felt dirty, being a part of killing Axiom. He sat next to me and put an arm around me. Axiom’s ceaseless screams were getting to me. I wanted to bury my face against Mark’s chest and get lost there, but I couldn’t. I needed to face what I had created.
The scream stopped and the lights went out. I pulled away from Mark and looked at the empty chair. A life stone was sitting in Axiom’s place.
“You okay?” Mark asked.
I sniffled and looked up at him. “Yeah.” I hugged him again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Did you see how much light that made?” Jackie said. “I mean, I’ve read about it and heard Chang talk about it, but to actually see it . . .”
Mom dashed to the chair and looked at the stone. “I can’t believe we’re another step closer.” She pulled out a black cloth and picked up the stone, then held it up under the faint ceiling light, staring at it.
“Axiom,” Niles said, kneeling next to the vacant chair. “You were a dastardly person and deserved every pinch of what you got, but I will say an apology now to the ones you left behind. I hope their memory of you will be as distorted as your view of the world.”
“Well said, Niles.” Mom said, never taking her eyes off of the stone.
“So, now what?” Jackie asked.
“We wake up the dead guy.”
“Everyone should stay back. I’m not exactly sure what will happen next,” Mom said, standing next to Blane. She pulled back the sleeve on his right arm. Hesitating, she held the stone over his exposed skin. “Screw it.” She pressed it against him and took a step back like she had just lit a firework. Niles raised his gun and aimed it at his great-grandfather as a precaution.
I wouldn’t have been able to blink if I’d wanted to.
Blane’s arm moved and then his leg. His eyes popped open. I saw him looking around, the strain evident on his face. Blinking rapidly, he was obviously confused. Then he spotted me and locked in on my gaze. He recognized me.
“You have to use your muscles now, Blane,” Mark said.
He lifted his head up and moved it side to side as if for the first time, stiff and shaking. “What is this?” he asked in a gravelly voice.
“You’re with us now,” Mom said. “Just as promised, we got you back to our world.”
“I tried to take that girl and that boy over there,” he said in his thick British accent.
“Grandfather?” Niles walked closer. Seeing them near each other, I could see a strong family resemblance.
“Who are you?”
“I’m your many great-grandson.”
Blane tried to raise his arms and tugged at the restraints we had secured in place before waking him up. “I can’t move. Can I still fly in this world?”
“No, you can’t, sorry,” Niles said.
Blane closed his eyes and then opened them wide. Then he closed them again, and opened them. “I can’t portal anywhere.”
“You’ll need a stone for that,” Niles said, getting within a foot of Blane.
“There are stones that can portal you now?”
“Yes, and a great many other stones,” Mom said.
Blane jerked forward and pulled at all the restraints. “Has someone made the stone?”
“Not yet,” Niles said.
“Thank heavens. I couldn’t live with knowing someone else got to it first.” He pulled at the restraints again and seemed to comprehend that they were keeping his arms and legs from moving. “What are these?”
“We wanted to keep you safe,” Mom said. “When someone has been under for as long as you have, we have to take precautions.”
“For you more than me. Don’t worry, I mean no harm to these young ones anymore. I’ve got my body back. Can you please take the restraints off?”
“Not quite yet. Soon though,” Mom said.
“Take them off!” Blane screamed.
“Easy does it,” Niles said.
“Don’t ‘easy’ me. No relative of mine would allow me to be chained to a chair like some inquisitor’s pet. I won’t have it.”
“Sorry, Pops, it’s going to have to come with time. Maybe you can tell us about the stone and the missing parts of it from your notes.”
He laughed. “I should have known what you wanted from me.”
“You have us at your disposal. We can fetch all the materials and make the stone while you watch.”
“You fools have no idea what it even is, do you?”
“We know it will bring peace,” Mom said.
“Madness is what it will bring. You’ll wish you’d never laid a hand on it.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You.” He looked to me. “I recognize the voice. You are the one I gave clues to about my book. Did you get it?”
“Yes, and we’ve collected all the ingredients,” Mom said. “But there are items missing and we’re not sure of the quantities. We have many questions about the stone, so anything you can do to help us would be appreciated.”
“Appreciated?” Blane laughed. “I’ll tell you this: you let these restraints go and I will tell you more about the stone.”
Mom nodded.
Niles stepped back and lifted his gun at Blane. “Allie’s going to untie you. Just don’t try anything.”
I walked over to unlock his leg shackles and Mark stood next to me.
“Ah, I remember you as well,” Blane said. “The young man with the angry fists. Isn’t it sad this woman has bested you?”
“She bested you,” Mark said. “Not me.”
Blane mumbled to himself and nodded. “Yes, yes. Most peculiar what she was able to do in my world. It confused me for the longest time. It was as if she had harnessed her quintessence and focused it directly into a pinhole. I’ve never seen anyone do alchemy in quite that way.” He threw a look to me as I moved to the restraints on his hands. “Who are your parents?”
“That lady right over there is my mom.”
Mark and I worked on his wrists and unlocked them. Blane pulled his arms free and we walked backward. I half-expected him to elevate out of the chair and then go on to take over the entire world.
He lifted himself using the armrests and got to the edge of the chair. He took one step, then fell flat on his face.
“Give him some room. He needs to get those land legs going,” Niles said.
“Indeed, this will take some getting used to.” Blane rolled onto his back and then to a sitting position. “The real world . . .” He trailed off, looking at the ceiling and the walls. “Things look so much different. How long has it been?”
“Four hundred years,” Niles said.
Blane slumped forward and shook his head. “The world has moved on without me,” he whispered.
“We’ve let you out of the chair. Now pay up your end of the deal, or it’s back to the chair with you,” Mom said.
Blane rubbed his head and then felt his face with both hands. He smiled and looked to Mom. “Y
ou’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Cathy Norton.” A loud voice sounded from the outside.
“Who’s that?” Blane asked, and I had the same question.
My mom walked to the dirty window and peeked through a clear spot. “Shit, he’s found us.”
“Who?” I asked.
“He’s here,” Mom said. “Where were the damned alarms?” She lowered her head and rubbed her eyes. “Please tell me someone has a portal stone.”
“I still have mine,” I said.
“Hand it to me.”
I walked to my mom and handed her the stone.
“That’s the last one,” Mark said. “We’ve used all of ours.”
“I’ve got one as well,” Niles said.
“Give it to Mark. Mark, you make sure Allie gets out of here safely. We’ll see you guys on the other side. We’ve lost this town.” Mom looked past me to the doors. “I only hope our people were able to get out as well.”
Niles dropped the stone in a bowl and then ran to Mom, and the two of them grouped up next to a confused Blane. “What are you—” was all Blane got out before they disappeared.
“Son of a bitch,” Jackie said, looking into the bowl. “This isn’t a portal stone.” She lifted the brown stone out of the bowl.
“No, it has to be.” I looked at her hand. A growth stone, maybe, but all the portal stones I’d seen had been purple. “Maybe he gave us the wrong one?”
“I just want what you have, Blane,” the man outside said in an amplified voice. He must have been using a bullhorn. “Hand him over and I’ll let everyone live.”
“They lied to us. I knew it,” Mark said, looking into the empty bowl. “We gave them what they wanted, and now they’re gone to who knows where.”
“No, she needs me still,” I said, refusing to believe my mom had known that Niles had left a bogus stone. She’d probably berate him when she learned about his error.
Mark walked next to the open window, hiding against the wall next to it. “Who are you?”
“You should know me by my voice. I’m Quinn. Hand over Blane, and I suspect Axiom is in in there as well. I want him back.”
“Quinn?” I mumbled under my breath and walked to a hole in the warehouse wall. “Oh, man, we are screwed.”
Outside the warehouse stood no less than twenty dark alchemists. They were all holding stones and looked pissed off. How had they known where we were? I searched for Iggy in the crowd, but couldn’t find her. I spotted Quinn, pacing at the front of the pack, wearing black slacks and a matching jacket. His dark hair blended in with streaks of gray.
His gaze passed over me, giving me the chills. I moved away from the hole and Jackie took my spot.
“There doesn’t have to be any blood spilled,” Quinn said. “You have one minute to comply. And don’t try to portal. It’ll just make me angrier and force me to take it out on this nice town of yours.”
“Crap, what do we do?” I whispered.
“Wait,” Jackie said, as if she had come to a great realization. “I stole one. A portal as a backup.” She ripped into her sack and pulled out a purple stone. “I had Angela make me one on the sly.”
“What are we waiting for?” Mark said.
The wall behind us exploded, and debris peppered me as I fell to the floor. I grabbed at my sack, picked a stone, and threw it. It hit the ragged edge of the new opening and exploded in a blinding light. The first few alchemists trying to enter fell back, grabbing their eyes.
My ears rang from the explosion and I coughed at the dust swirling around. I spotted Jackie first and helped her get to her feet. Mark rushed to us, covered in dust. He held out his hand and formed a triangle between us.
Jackie raised her hand over ours and dropped the stone . . .
Something struck me in the neck as Jackie’s stone hit my hand. I floated and felt Jackie and Mark leaving me. This wasn’t the milky swirl from before, but a raging tornado of matter swirling around. I hoped Jackie’s stone had hit my hand first, but when the ground firmed up, I knew I was somewhere completely different.
Black bars surrounded me, even on the floors and ceiling, encasing me in a cell. I’d been captured.
“Hello,” I called out, pulling on the steel bars. “Anyone out there?”
Axiom’s laugh sounded in my head and I heard the words he’d said to me about Quinn using me up and then disposing of me. My breath became rapid and ragged. I couldn’t be in this place for a second longer.
“Hello!” I yelled, but my voice echoed through the cavernous room, bouncing off the bare walls. I squinted, trying to see the ceiling. Up above, lights hung from long wires. Next to my cell sat an empty cell. Cells actually lined the place, but they were all empty.
No one answered my calls for help, and I wondered if I wanted someone to.
I cried.
I couldn’t tell if it was night or day, or even if I was still alive.
I’d stopped screaming after the first day. Going to the bathroom was an experience in itself and I was grateful for the funnel below me. But just because I was sick of screaming didn’t mean I couldn’t bang on the cage for hours at a time. My foot hurt from all the kicking, and the palms of my hands were red and sore.
The second day I felt much worse. Thirst consumed much of my thoughts and I felt weak. I’d given up entirely on grabbing anybody’s attention. Nothing moved, the lights never flickered and the only things in motion were dust particles floating around in the dim light.
The worst was not knowing what was going on. Had Mark and Jackie gotten out okay? Where had my mom gone? Had they left us on purpose? Was Blane sane?
I didn’t know if I could take another day. I didn’t know if I’d live another day. Maybe this was a hell of sorts, and this was my punishment for letting them kill Axiom. I plopped down on the steel bars that made up the floor and pulled my knees close to my face. What I wouldn’t give to still have my portal stone, or any stone for that matter.
Being alone gave me way too much time for reflection, mostly thinking of Mark and how much I knew he’d be worried for me. This single thought made my solitary confinement all that much worse, knowing my absence was hurting him.
My mom often came to my thoughts, along with the philosopher’s stone. I hated to admit it, but I felt a pull towards it. Chang would often talk about the underlying urge all alchemists had to seek out the stone. I hadn’t really paid attention to it until my mom told me she wanted me to take the stone. What I wouldn’t do to have it in my hand right then. I don’t know what its powers were, but I bet I could figure out a way to get past the stupid steel door.
I screamed again and pounded my fist against the steel bars spread over the floor. I was going to die in here and the feeling of not being able to control it made me feel like the smallest person in the world. I was at the mercy of the cage.
A whoosh of air blew by and I looked over at the cage next to me. “Bridget?”
She looked terrified. She was hunched over, breathing hard. “Allie?” she said, looking up. “Where the hell are we?”
“Are you real?” I asked. Several times I thought I’d seen shadows, and I would call out to them, but I’d never gotten a response. Bridget could be just an advancement of my mental deterioration.
“Yes, I’m real,” Bridget said. “So, this is where they’ve been holding you?”
I yelped, and as much as I hated seeing Bridget trapped in a cell next to me, my heart filled with joy at having another person around. I hadn’t seen Bridget since she had decided to go back to the other academy; her mom had all but forced her to. She’d said it would be “the only safe recourse.”
“Where are we?” Bridget asked, taking in her new surroundings.
“I don’t know. Some alchemist jail. Quinn was attacking our town when I was sent here. Have you seen Mark? Have you heard anything?”
“Have you found any possible way out?” Bridget asked.
“No. It’s so nice here
, I’ve decided to stay.” I put my hands on my hips. “Tell me what’s going on out there.”
“It’s gotten ugly. They made a run at the real academy. I went to defend it, but I guess I got struck with a stone.” She rubbed her neck, looking around.
I knew the feeling. Having a portal stone thrust upon you felt like a violation. I took a deep breath and tried to not scream my questions at her. I had to let her become acquainted with her new situation first.
Bridget walked around the edge of her cell and felt each steel bar. I again wanted to scream at her, but if anything, prison makes you patient.
“This sucks.” She looked up at the high ceiling and walked around her cage, keeping her footing on the steel bars. “No windows. Do the lights ever change?”
“Nope.”
“So, what do they do to you in here? Torture us, question us?”
“There hasn’t been a single person in here but me. They haven’t done anything.”
“How have you been eating? Who gave you that nasty bruise on your face, then?”
I touched my face, feeling around until I felt the tender spot. It was sore to the touch and felt a bit puffy. How had I not noticed it until now? I had probably slapped my face against the steel that surrounded me. I knew how many times I had just lain there with my face against it.
Bridget walked around her cage, stopped and shook the steel door.
“You have any stones on you?” I asked.
Her eyes lit up and she reached for her pocket. She sighed and pulled her hands back out. “Nothing. I think I used them all back there. You?”
“No, though I’ve been tempted to try to make one while I’ve been in here.”
“So, what do they want with us?”
I spread out my hands. “There hasn’t been a freaking soul in here but me.”
Bridget frowned. “You’ve been here for how long?”
“A couple of days.”
She sighed, and I got annoyed with her. She wasn’t wearing her usual revealing clothes, but her tight white shirt and designer jeans looked great on her, taking me back to our schoolyard days when she’d mercilessly picked on me.