The Key of F: a young adult fantasy romance (Freedom Fight Trilogy Book 1)

by Jennifer Haskin

  Fale entered the pub with a new sense of purpose. She strode to the bar and rested her guitar case on the stool next to her. She almost greeted the bartender as if she knew him, but remembered she was supposed to be hiding. She slipped her sunglasses back on.

  Ordering two sets of wings to go, she had a drink while she waited. Fale sat with her back to the bar and watched people come in the door, looking for anyone of her friends. She listened to the music and tapped her foot to the beat. Seeing no one, she turned back to the bar. “Your orders are up." The bartender handed her two boxes and a tab. Fale scanned her wristband and saw a thousand credits reappear. She smiled and thanked the man, taking her boxes and instrument with her.

  Fale was early. She was sure she would beat Keron to Izzy’s, but when she got there, he was already planted on the couch. “Why are you here?” she asked.

  “Got nervous,” he said. “What did you do?” he pointed to the case. “You didn’t go to my apartment, did you?”

  “Well, your place had the balcony fixed so I kept walking.”

  “Fale,” Izzy groaned.

  “So, I went to the Plaza and bought you a new one. Surprise.” She held up the case. “And wings.”

  Keron looked unsure of what to do. “Well?” Fale asked. “What?”

  “Don’t know whether to strangle you or kiss you,” he said.

  “Kiss me?” Fale blushed a rosy pink.

  “Not here,” Izzy said.

  “Let me see it,” Keron said excitedly, sitting back.

  Fale set the boxes on the coffee table and laid the case on his lap, clicking open the clasps and lifting the lid.

  “Whoa,” Keron said in appreciation. He gently lifted the guitar out by its neck. “It’s gorgeous, Fale. Mine was a piece of crap. I can’t take this.”

  “You have to,” she said forcefully. “It’s a gift. You don’t turn away a gift.”

  “Thank you,” he looked at her with longing.

  “Find a room, you two,” Izzy said. “No, don’t.”

  Fale laughed. “I miss you, Iz.”

  “Yeah, we haven’t had much alone time lately,” Izzy said.

  “You’ve made me over twice in the last two weeks,” Fale said

  “Doesn’t count. They were both completely necessary. I want to spend some time with you, just being us. I’ll even read a book, if you’ll hang out with me.”

  “Soon,” Fale promised.

  Keron and Fale ate their lunch at the coffee table and talked with Izzy until Lisle came crashing through the door.

  “Hey, Lisle,” Fale said.

  “H-hey.”

  “What’s wrong?” Izzy asked.

  “What’s not wrong? I need to leave. Where do I go? I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Lisle babbled, running his hands through his hair, and pulling it into messy spikes. His face was pale, and his brows were drawn together.

  “Slow down. What happened? Did you go to the council meeting?” Fale asked.

  “Yes,” Lisle affirmed.

  “Did you get something?” Keron asked.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Do you know where the machine is?” Fale asked.

  “Not exactly, but I know where it isn’t.” He looked around the room at anything but the three faces who were counting on him for information.

  “Spit it out, man,” Keron said.

  “Come in here, Lisle, and sit down,” Izzy gestured to another chair.

  “Where does Gasten have the machine?” Fale asked.

  “He doesn’t have it,” Lisle pulled a hand down his face.

  “But how is he transporting machines?” Keron asked.

  “And Nelson?” Izzy added.

  “He has a spell that will take one or two people at most between dimensions.”

  “Hmmm. I guess we could try to find a spell like it, but once they caught onto us, who knows what those monsters would do to punish the remaining slaves. We need to free all the people of Garrith at once,” Fale observed. “That’s why we need the machine.”

  “Gasten wants it, too,” Lisle said.

  “What for?” Izzy asked.

  “So, he can take his whole army of machines into new dimensions. He wants to wage battles and take over weaker people. He can absorb their magic and become more powerful,” Fale volunteered.

  “OMS,” Izzy said. “Is it why they’re helpless against him? Effailya and her family were mages, but how many of her followers were, too? Does he drain all their power?”

  “That’s it exactly. But it’s not enough, he wants to conquer and corrupt other dimensions,” Lisle agreed.

  “You sure about all this?” Keron asked.

  Lisle looked offended. “It was a small council. I heard everything they said. I was sitting in as an apprentice in the back and heard them talking. The spell is called Aperio.”

  “No one doubts you, Lisle. It just begs the question, where is the machine? And will we know it when we see it?” Fale looked sideways at Keron.

  “You were a wreck when you got here. What’re you so worried about?” Keron asked Lisle.

  “There was a guy who followed me here,” Lisle said.

  “Lisle, no,” Izzy exclaimed. “And you led him to my place?”

  “What does it mean?” he asked. “Do they suspect me? I sent them the wrong direction and looked up files on Effailya. And I don’t know what they’ve ‘seen’ in visions. Have you had any visions or anything at all, Fale?”

  “Not much, but I have a feeling,” she said.

  “What kind of feeling?” Lisle asked.

  “Like something is ending, but I don’t know what. There’s a beginning, too, but I think that’s for me. I can’t be sure," Fale tried to explain.

  “How so?”

  “Maybe I am beginning a new chapter here? My time to act is coming and I’m getting ready for it,” Fale said.

  “Don’t you mean we?” Izzy asked.

  “No, it would be my responsibility to these people if I decide to fight for them.” Fale felt the mages represented all the family she’d never had. As much as she loved and appreciated Nelson, missing her real family had plagued her. Now it felt like she had a big one, and it was her new duty to protect them, even though she wasn’t sure if she could do it. She wasn’t absolutely sure she wanted to.

  “We’re still here to help you, right guys?” Izzy said.

  Fale looked at the two men, who both looked worried. “Thanks, Izzy,” Fale said. “What should we do about Lisle? We have to keep him safe.”

  “Who knows if they have someone watching my apartment,” Izzy said. “I mean, my parents work for Control, but you made it sound like these guys aren’t from around here.”

  “They’ll be watching now,” Keron said, “if someone followed Lisle here.”

  “We won’t be able to meet anymore,” Fale said.

  “There’s not much more information I can get anyway,” Lisle said. “They don’t know anything we don’t know. It’s a race to find the machine at this point.” He let out a sigh of defeat.

  “But nobody knows how,” Izzy said. “What are we going to be able to do now with Lisle being watched?”

  “Why don’t we take him back with us today?” Fale asked Keron. “We can hide him at the house.”

  Keron looked uncertain. “How? Fale, we haven’t really talked about this.”

  “What’s there to talk about? Lisle needs us. You agreed he could sleep on the couch if things got sketchy. I’d say this counts. They must know Lisle sent them looking in the wrong direction for us. If he’s being followed, he needs us to protect him,” she said. “No offense, Lisle.”

  “We don’t even know our next move,” Keron countered.

  “Let’s take him for a couple of nights, long enough to lose his tail, then we’ll come back to meet Izzy at the pub and recheck the situation,” Fale suggested. “She can tell us if she’s seen anyone lurking by then.”

  “Good idea,” Izzy said.

  �
�I’ll do it,” Lisle said.

  “Stop agreeing with her all the time. She is reckless enough already,” Keron said to Lisle and Izzy. He met all their determined faces one by one, threw his hands up and exhaled loudly. “Okay. How do we do this, mastermind?”

  Fale ignored his outburst. “First, you two get Lisle’s bags. You are the best at hiding and at losing a follower. When you guys are gone, I’ll go back on my own," Fale suggested.

  “I don’t like it,” Keron complained.

  “You don’t have to,” Fale said, full of confidence.

  “Will it work?” Lisle asked.

  “Of course, it will,” Fale crossed her arms. “The guy will follow you once you leave and Keron can lose him before you guys get to the marsh.”

  “Hopefully,” Keron had his doubts.

  “I’ll take your guitar,” Fale said to Keron. “Maybe you should go now, before this guy is joined by others.”

  “Okay,” Lisle said, rising. “If you’re sure you’ll be all right. There really is no turning back for me now. I’m in this up to my neck, so count me as one of your team.”

  “Thanks, Lisle,” Fale said sincerely.

  Keron stared at her. “You’d better be at the house when we get there,” he said sternly.

  “I will be,” she said.

  “Do you have your dagger?” Lisle asked.

  “It’s in my bag, why?”

  “Have your hand on it,” Keron said.

  “Okay, I will. Are you guys happy?” Fale asked.

  “I feel better,” Izzy said.

  “I’ll be fine everybody,” Fale said. “Now go.”

  Lisle led Keron out the door and Fale relaxed.

  “You’re spicy today,” Izzy said. “I like it.”

  “It’s the new, improved me. I’m tired of being sheltered. I’ve been through too much, Iz. It’s time to prove how strong I am.” Fale hadn’t liked the way the guys had treated her, like she was a weak and needy girl. She vowed to herself not to be so helpless and to work harder to master her feelings and reactions.

  “You show them. You are Takanori.”

  Fale wanted to beat the men back to the house, so she didn’t stay long. Gathering Keron’s guitar, she slung her shoulder bag across her body and stepped into the doorway. “I’ll see you soon, Iz.” Fale hugged her friend with her free arm. “Meet us at the pub in two days, same time, unless you hear from us first.”

  “Be careful,” she said.

  “Of course,” Fale slipped her right hand into her bag to grip the handle of her dagger as she walked.

  As Fale snuck around the back of Izzy’s building, a man waited for her. His arms were crossed, and he pushed off the building with his shoulder. It was toothless, from the night behind Keron’s apartment.

  “Knew when I saw that feller wit’ Lisle, you hadda be nearby,” he said.

  “Looks like you found me,” Fale said, gripping her dagger.

  “You jus’ come wit’ me real ladylike now,” he said, reaching out his hand.

  “Don’t bet on it.”

  “Oh, I din’t,” he leered, taking a knife out with his other hand.

  Fale set the guitar down and walked away from it, pulling out her dagger, she dropped her bag too.

  “You din’t have much luck wit’ that one there last time,” he pointed to her blade, laughing.

  “Try me again,” she baited him. “I’m not the same girl.”

  “Can see it. Wait’ll they hear you’s white headed now. Ya can’t be hidin’ forever." Panic flashed through Fale’s mind, she couldn’t let him leave knowing what she and Keron both looked like.

  He’s one of “them,” she thought with a sour taste in her mouth. Anger rose in her like steam in a kettle. She had to protect what she had just won. He had to die. Nelson would want, Nelson would- he would want her to act with honor. She shook herself internally. Takanori warriors didn’t kill if they didn’t have to. She would protect herself and try to get away.

  “Better ya git used to losin’. The boss’ll be havin’ a great time breakin’ you. He’s gonna let all o’ us men to take a turn wit ya.” He cackled like an old woman.

  “You talk too much,” she said, circling him.

  “Do I now?”

  “Yeah, I think you’re overcompensating.” She raised one eyebrow at him.

  “I should’a taked you down when you come around the corner,” he sneered.

  “So, go ahead,” she taunted, and he jabbed at her with his knife. Fale jumped back, then readjusted her stance, lightly resting on the balls of her feet. Her elbows were in and her hands up defensively. He stabbed and swung. She countered, their blades zinging against each other. Little beads of perspiration gathered on his forehead and she knew he was going to get fatigued quickly. Fale stepped into him and blocked his arm across her body, but he switched his knife to the other hand, and swept up catching her bicep. She brought her palm down on his hand and cleared the blade from her arm, swinging her hip into him and thrusting her shoulder into his sternum.

  They stepped back from each other breathing heavily, and he lunged again. Fale attacked the man’s weapon arm, hitting it down with all her strength, then giving him a roundhouse kick the way Keron taught her. She was proud of herself momentarily and lost focus. The man punched Fale with his free hand in the eye and her head snapped back.

  She shook it off and bounced from one foot to the other. “Where is the machine?”

  “You askin’ me? I ain’t seen it.” His eyes kept darting over her left shoulder. She started to get nervous as she considered the possibility that more of the Control rats were surrounding her at this very moment.

  Why didn’t I check the area?

  “But you know where it is. Someone must know. Is it in the underground or at the wizard’s village? You must have an idea,” she said, watching him look over her shoulder again. Was there someone behind her?

  “Why ya think I knows so much?” He struck out and their blades clanged together. She was close enough to smell his sour breath.

  “I think Gasten was onto Lisle and that’s why he said he didn’t have the machine,” she said fiercely, planting her foot on his thigh and pushing him back.

  The man regained his balance and laughed heartily. “Yous kids are always thinkin’ you be the center of everthin’. All I knows is, I wouldn’ be sent to git ya ‘round the clock if’n everbody knowed where the machine be already.”

  She was surprised at his confession. “Why tell me this?”

  He grinned with a toothless mouth and pointed over her shoulder. “So, you be payin’ attention to me an’ not him.” She spun to the left, but felt an instant pain, like an ice pick to her temple, and saw blackness.

  She woke up with a pain in her stomach. Everything was fuzzy. There were two male voices arguing. Fale tried not to move, she wanted to have the advantage. Her stomach was pressing against a bony shoulder and she hung down the back of one of the men, probably the one who was waiting for her, she assumed by the familiar stench. They were fighting over where the portal was located. Her eyes shot wide open; she couldn’t allow them to take her through a portal. They could be taking her anywhere, Garrith included. As the man shifted to adjust her weight, she made her move. Pulling her foot back with lightning speed, she kicked him as hard as she could wherever her foot would connect. By the way they fell, she could tell she kicked him in a good place. He roared as she rolled and tripped over her feet trying to stand. She pushed against the cement with her fingers and ran. She wasn’t sure where she was, so she simply ran away from the direction they were facing.

  The men gave chase, the smaller man leading and the larger one limping. They were too close. As soon as she recognized her surroundings, she found an apartment building to hide in. She ducked behind a set of stairs in between the wall and a food machine. She heard their feet slapping the concrete, running past her, shouting to each other to split up. When she couldn’t hear them anymore, she quickly checked to se
e if they were out of sight, and ran as fast as she could back to Izzy’s apartment. Her bag and the guitar lay outside and she bent to grab them before running back to the house. She had her hands on the handles when she heard him.

  “We back to where we started, huh? If’n ya give up, I might go easy, but I ain’t goin’ back wit’ empty hands this time,” he spat.

  She spun around and backed away from her things. “I’m afraid you have to, because there is no way in hell I’m going with you.”

  Her hands were outstretched, and he lunged for them. She punched him in the face, backing up again.

  He laughed. “That all yous got?”

  “I’m a little busy,” she breathed. Her head throbbed. She knew she was losing blood; her hair was warm and sticking to her face. She needed to end this.

  She felt her pockets.

  “You lookin’ fer this?” He pulled her dagger from his jacket pocket and wheezed a laugh at her.

  Oh stars. She would have to let him get close to her to take it back.

  “I can sees ya thinkin’ an’ it ain’t gonna do no good,” he taunted.

  “You don’t really want that dagger, it’s deadly for you,” she warned.

  “I ain’t afraid of yous.” He narrowed his eyes and switched the dagger to his other hand, taking out another knife and pointing them both at Fale.

  She tried to think, her vision was getting spotty. The other man ran around the side of the building, and when the first man turned to look, she stepped forward and raised her back knee, snapping her leg forward and rapidly kicking him in the face. She recentered her weight and gripped his wrist, wrenching the dagger toward his palm and breaking his grip. He recovered quickly and thrust his other blade into her shoulder; she pushed against him and they both took a step backward, but she had her dagger back.

  “Gettin’ tired?” He grinned at her.

  Where did the other guy go?

  The man before her stayed where he was, but his quick glance over Fale’s shoulder told her all she needed to know. She ducked as she turned and dodged the henchman who had meant to grab her around the neck. She turned herself invisible and moved from between the men. He had been right behind her. She had almost gotten caught.