by Nixon, Diana
“Sure, but I don’t understand… He doesn’t want her to know who the present is from. Right?”
“As far as I can understand, yes. In addition, he wants to go to Norfield for a weekend. He has some business there.”
“Well, okay, I'll do it. Isn’t he afraid to leave Eileen alone here?” I wondered.
“He will come back at midnight on Sunday when her birthday officially ends, and she becomes really an adult. Until then, he said, leaving her with us is safe enough. Have you found a present for Eileen?” my father asked, reading some documents.
“Yes, though it took me long to decide what to choose.”
“Excellent. So is everything ready for the weekend?”
“Ready, Dad,” I smiled. “And you seem to be worried about Eileen’s birthday more than about the first test.”
“Why should I worry?” he shrugged. “I am sure about my abilities.”
“Something in your aura tells me otherwise,” I said with a grin.
“Of course. I’ve forgotten whom I’m talking to,” he said, smiling.
“So, still excited?”
“Just a little bit. A little more than last time... Well, very much, actually” after all, he confessed, sitting in his chair. “It feels like everything will be for the first time. And I think this time the Keepers will choose appropriate tests with responsibility. I can’t imagine how Nora managed to cheat everyone on the previous test and put Alexis on this post.”
“I agree. They won’t allow that to happen again. Has mom already arrived?”
“Yes. I’ve taken her to the apartment. She will stay here until the weekend.”
“Do you know where the first test is to be held?”
“The spot where the arena for the festival was. Everyone was told to be there at two o’clock.”
“No one but the participants are allowed to come, right?”
“Right. But everyone will be able to watch the trials through the screen in the administration building. A crowd of Keepers is here today, it’s impossible to hide from them anywhere!” he said irritably.
“That's true. Well, good luck, Dad. I hope this time luck will really be on your side.”
“Thank you, Christian. I'll try really hard to pass the tests.”
“By the way, I wanted to ask what time tomorrow we are planning to leave for the search,” I asked already at the door.
“In the morning I think. I still need to talk to Frederick. I think he wanted to join us too.”
Saying goodbye to my father, I decided to visit Eileen. Her classes with Frederick were already finished, and I went to her room, hoping to find her there. Amanda opened the door.
“I knew it was you,” she said letting me into the room.
“Why are you in such a bad mood?” I asked noticing some dark-purple spots in her aura.
“I’m not. Put out as usual,” she muttered.
“Quarreled with Lucas?” I assumed.
“Christian, how do you always know everything?” she snapped, sitting on the edge of her bed.
“Just guessing. So what was the quarrel about?”
“Because of nothing!” she exclaimed upset. “That's the whole point. Lucas said that it was dangerous for me to go out with you tomorrow, and I told him that I would decide myself what to do. That's all!”
“He's right,” quietly I noted.
“What? I can’t believe that - you think so too!” she rolled her eyes angrily.
“Don’t get mad, Amanda, but Lucas can already feel the auras, so it’s easier for him to sense the danger. And you still need training. Tomorrow Eileen needs someone to stay on campus with, since Frederick is likely to come with us.”
“You want to leave us alone here?”
“It’s not dangerous here, and you know perfectly well that Eileen can’t leave the campus territory. Stay in Evan’s room. It's safe enough.”
“Perfect!” Amanda muttered leaning back against the pillows.
“Hasn’t Eileen come back yet?” I wondered.
“As you can see, no. She spends a lot of time with Frederick, she likes him. How do you think she will react when she finds out the truth?”
“I don’t know and, frankly, I still don’t want to think about it. Most likely, she won’t tell him anything, but...”
“She will rant and rave and storm around because we knew everything,” my sister said.
“I know that. That's why I’m trying not to think about it yet. The first test will soon begin, do you want to go to see it?” I asked her, looking at my watch.
“Already? Oh, right, I came back later from my training today... Of course, let's go.”
I left Eileen a note indicating where she could find us, just in case, and went to the administration building. Even from the distance it was clear that a lot of people gathered there. Getting closer, we realized that the administration had made a mistake in determining the number of present there.
“Do you think we can get inside?” asked Amanda.
Beatrice answered instead of me.
“Come with me, guys. Go through the back door to my waiting room, there is a screen there where you can see everything.”
“You are our salvation!” I told her.
“Today I’m everyone’s salvation, Christian. First your father needed some pills, and then Frederick urgently needed to see Anna.”
“Anna?” Amanda repeated.
“Yes. He wanted to talk to her, and Mrs. Weber was so busy that she couldn’t take him to her. So I had to do it myself.”
“Do you know what he wanted to talk to her about?” I asked exchanging glances with my sister.
“No. But he and Eileen were in a hurry.”
“Eileen?” Amanda and I asked with one voice.
Beatrice looked at us with suspicion.
“Are you all right, kids? You are acting funny.”
I pulled out my cell phone and wrote a text message to Eileen: “What's going on? Why did you need to meet with Anna?”
In response there was written: “Will explain later. Have no time. I’m with Frederick.”
“What does that mean?” Amanda asked, reading her message.
“I wish I knew,” I said thoughtfully.
“Well, at least it’s not so noisy here, and the air conditioning works well,” said Beatrice when we entered the reception room. She turned on a small TV on the wall in front of her desk. Amanda and I sat on the couch against the opposite wall. “It’s soon to begin,” added Beatrice making us two cups of tea.
“Christian, don’t worry,” Amanda squeezed my hand. “She’s with Frederick, so she couldn’t have better protection.”
“I know, I just keep wondering why they needed Anna.”
“Here’s your chamomile tea, this should help us to calm down a bit. Honestly, I shouldn’t say this, but I really want Patrick to become the winner. It’s a pleasure to work with him, not like with Alexis,” Beatrice grimaced at the memory.
Amanda and I stared at her moon-eyed. Usually, she always maintained neutrality when it came to discussing her superiors, but now, apparently, really supported my father.
“So, dear participants of the qualifying stage,” said from the screen one of the Keepers who was appointed to conduct the tests this year. “Today our challenge will test your ability to recognize talents. As the future head of Dever, you should be ready to do this. We have specially prepared for each of you three envelopes. There is a letter in each of them, written by the owner of some talent. Your task is to determine what talents the authors of those letters have. You have half an hour to complete the task. You may start.”
The Keeper put envelopes on the desks of each member and started the timer. I looked closely at how my father begun to scrutinize envelops. I didn’t know what methods he was using, but almost immediately the first envelope was put aside, and my father made some notes in his notebook. The second envelope took longer and putting that aside too, he crossed out some of his previous
notes.
The third envelope, as well as the first one, drew his attention just for a few seconds. Making the last note he raised his hand to sign that the test was finished. The Keeper nodded. We had to wait until the other two candidates completed their tasks.
“All the participants are ready,” he said an hour later. “Let’s proceed to the discussion.”
Lavender Wilson was able to identify only one talent of each of the authors. Caroline O’Brian missed only one talent. And then my father’s turn came.
“The author of the first letter, in my opinion, has no talent at all,” he said. “He is just a human.”
“That's right,” agreed the Keeper.
“The author of the second letter probably is a descendant of the Fairey family. A strong power of the spirit can be felt here, but he may not be a direct descendant but a child of mixed families. So I still see his tendency to control the water element.”
“Very good, and the last envelope, Mr. Fairey.”
“In the last envelope, I can feel the power of magic. Very strong magic. I would say that this letter was written by a direct descendant of the Wizardy. But also there is the energy of the earth here.”
“You are absolutely right,” said the Keeper with a smile to my father. “So we have determined the two finalists. They are Mr. Patrick Fairey and Miss Caroline O’Brian. Thank you for your participation, Miss Wilson. Now the others I will meet tomorrow at the same time, at the same place.”
Beatrice happily clapped her hands. Amanda and I shared joyful smiles.
“He is brilliant!” Beatrice exclaimed.
We could hear shouts and applause downstairs. People were congratulating the finalists.
A few minutes later our father entered the room.
“We are so happy for you!” Amanda said.
“Thanks, dear!” replied my father embracing me and my sister.
“I'm so proud of you, Mr. Fairey!”
“Thank you, Beatrice. Hopefully, we nevertheless still have an opportunity to work together.”
“Does mom already know?” I asked, walking with Amanda into father’s office.
“Yes. She just called me. She didn’t come here; there are too many people downstairs. By the way, the last letter was written by Evan,” my father said. “I didn’t even have to open it, to feel his power. He is really a very gifted young man. Where is he? When I saw him last he was going to join Frederick and Eileen.”
“They are up to something, but we don’t know what it is,” said Amanda. We told my father about what Beatrice had said before and about Eileen’s message, sent to my cell phone.
“Have you tried to call them?” he asked, dialling someone's number.
“No one answers,” I said.
“You are right,” he agreed.
“Maybe we should also go to talk to Anna?” Amanda suggested.
“There’s no need to,” said Evan, entering the room.
“What's going on?” asked our father.
“You won’t believe this. Eileen is just a genius! She, Frederick and I were coming back after class, passing by the western gate. Eileen stopped suddenly in front of the bench Anna was lying on after I brought her from Eric. We asked why she had stopped, and she said that she had felt something. Something very similar to the bond between two people. We didn’t immediately realize what she was talking about. But then Eileen said that we needed to see Anna. We followed her to Mrs. Weber’s office. On the way, she explained that she had felt some traces of dark magic, like the ones that I taught her to recognize. She suggested that Eric had left these marks on Anna when was taking her strength, and she, in turn, transferred them to the right place at the gate.”
Evan stopped and tried to catch some air. While he was telling us about that it seemed as if he simply forgot to breathe.
“Well,” he continued, “we went to Anna and a closer look at her was enough for me and Frederick to notice the same traces. She suggested that Eric had done this without even realizing that he was bonding himself to Anna, trying to mix his vitality with hers.”
“Wait, Evan,” interrupted my father. “Are you saying that Anna is now bonded with Eric? That means that she can feel him. Is that right?”
“Absolutely. She was able to tell us about all his recent movements.”
“But she had to notice this before, hadn’t she?” asked Amanda.
“She said that she simply didn’t know how to explain the images of different places and actions flowing in her head. She doesn’t see Eric himself, just what he is doing and where he is.”
“And she knows where he is now, right?” asked my father.
“She described some place that Frederic and Elena are trying to find at the moment. If Eric is really there, they will sense his presence and call us.”
“Where is Eileen?” I asked Evan.
“We had left her in my room. She needs someone to be there with her. Maybe you, Amanda, would stay there while we go to find Eric?”
“We don’t have much time,” my father pointed reaching for his cell. “Amelia! You need to go to Evan’s room to stay there with the girls. They will explain everything to you, and we have something very important to do here.”
My father put the phone down and turned to us:
“Take care of Amanda and find Darcy.”
“Darcy is downstairs,” said Evan. “I'll call her.”
“We are going with you, Evan. We are running out of time,” my father said worried.
Anna promised to get in touch with us if her visions about Eric changed. Meanwhile we headed for the place where Frederick and Elena were staying at the moment.
That place turned out to be a mountainside above the cave, located not far from the area that we explored last time.
“There is definitely someone there,” Elena whispered. “I can feel it.”
“His energy is too weak,” Frederick admitted.
“We need to separate. If Eric is really there, he will sense our presence. But there is no other way out of this cave, so if he decides to run, he will use this exit,” said Elena, pointing toward the dark slit in the rock.
“Maybe we should tie him up with the forces of elements?” Darcy suggested. “We have fire, water and earth. The air is not necessary,” she added looking at me and Evan. She possessed the water herself.
“Good idea, Darcy. At least we will have a few moments of benefit. Patrick, Elena and I will grab him,” said Frederick.
“If everyone is ready, then let’s go,” whispered Evan.
We came down the hill slowly making a semi-circle near the exit of the gorge. At first, we were just listening to the silence. There was nothing special, except for the slight flutter of living energy. Then the flutter became stronger, as if someone, maybe its owner, tried to collect the remnants of his forces. We felt the energy coming. My hands were already tingling with fire. Evan kept his hands ready, turning them down to the ground. Darcy stood to my right, with her hands put together as if trying to keep the stream of water eager to burst outside. My father, Frederick and Elena stood at the entrance to the cave. They couldn’t the sight of the inside. A few more minutes passed and someone’s dark figure appeared in the gorge. The closer it came to the light, the more we all concentrated our forces. Not giving Eric, whose silhouette was already well-recognized, even a chance to come out, Evan made the ground shake beneath his feet. Eric didn’t was surprised and shook a little. In the meantime, I threw several waves of flame in his direction, making him even more confused, and forming a tight fire ring around him. Darcy was the last one to act. Water didn’t let him breathe freely, and in combination with the already limited by fire access of oxygen, simply reinforced the suffocating effect. All our actions took no more than a few seconds, but just as Frederick had predicted, it was enough to let them knock Eric down, joining their forces. I didn’t know what spell they were using, but Eric’s body seemed to be absolutely motionless. We were still helping the others with our elem
ents. When my father gave us a sign to stop, the three of them were already holding our fugitive. Coming closer, we realized that Eric was enveloped by subtle lines of magic rings. Prudent Darcy brought a bottle of potion weakening powers. Frederic gave it to Eric and we went back to Dever, where we left him under the supervision of the local Keepers, in one of the chambers of the dungeon.
“Too bad he didn’t have the Cup,” Evan complained. “We wouldn’t have to go back to the cave again.”
“Even if we don’t find anything there, we need to know where Eric has hidden it,” my father said.
“I doubt that he will tell us just like that,” I replied.
The next few hours we spent carefully searching every millimeter of the gorge. Unfortunately, no traces of the Cup were found. Anna couldn’t help us in this matter, saying that she didn’t see anything related to that thing. As we expected, our attempts to make Eric tell us anything voluntary failed.
“He must be under some silence spell,” Frederick suggested. “Even I didn’t manage to find out where the Cup is. Probably the spell had been imposed by someone before Eric lost his powers.”
“ Nora,” we all said at once.
“Maybe you are right,” my father nodded. “Shall we try to talk to him again?”
“It will hardly give us anything new, except for...”
“Except for what, Frederick?”
“If he is really spelled, he can’t, of course, give us a definitive answer, but he can give us some prompt.”
“What prompt?” Evan asked.
“The spell of silence can’t make a person to simply remain silent. He has no right to give direct answers, but he still can prompt. It's like a puzzle that you need to solve.”
We went to the chamber to meet with Eric again. Frederick was right. When thinking about the answer to our questions, Eric was vague and dreamy, as if he didn’t understand why he couldn’t answer our question. But then he began to repeat over and over again completely meaningless phrases:
“Where the sunset meets sunrise,