Distant Rumblings

by John Goode

  The prince furrowed his brow in concentration as he said again, “He had nothing to do with the fire at all.”

  The older man’s body began to shake as if he was having a stroke. “But… he… did….”

  “He is resisting,” Ruber commented, pointing out the obvious.

  “Thank you for that,” Hawk said acidly.

  “What are you doing?” Kane asked, confused and horrified.

  “The same thing I tried on you the first time we talked,” Hawk said, sighing with weariness. Seeing the officer’s distress, he commanded, “Sleep.” The man’s head fell forward to the desktop immediately.

  “Fairies are able to charm individuals with lesser wills,” Ruber began to explain. “Think of it as an instant form of hypnotism.”

  “You tried to mind wipe me?” Kane asked, his voice growing louder in shock.

  “Of course I did!” Hawk snapped back. “You had seen me, were somehow immune to the magic of my blade, and I had no idea why. What in the Dark did you expect me to do?”

  Kane tried to calm down, realizing he was more upset by the circumstances than at Hawk himself. “So then why isn’t it working on him? Maybe it wasn’t me?”

  “You’re insinuating I am lacking in my Talents?” Hawk asked, giving him a dark look.

  Kane ignored it. “Don’t start getting all princey on me! You just broke into a police station, and I’m still in trouble!”

  “Perhaps the key word is hypnotized,” Ruber said, floating to the other side of the table and hovering over the file.

  Both boys looked at the gem and called out, “What?”

  Ruber’s voice became even more controlled as he explained, “As I was explaining to Kane, The Charm is nothing more than hypnotism, simply an accelerated version of it.”

  Hawk shook his head and practically snarled, “That word means nothing to me.”

  “You mean he can’t make him do something he wouldn’t normally do,” Kane answered, ignoring Hawk’s outburst.

  “Exactly. Those who are formally skilled in The Charms are indeed able to sway a person’s mind into thoughts and actions they normally wouldn’t perform, but Hawk here is not so skilled.” As Ruber had talked, the folder’s cover had floated open, and the papers inside flipped over as if blown by a gentle wind.

  “Thank you for pointing out my shortcomings,” Hawk muttered under his breath.

  “You’re welcome, but that was not my intent,” Ruber replied, sounding distracted. “I believe you are trying to make this man do something he would normally never do.”

  “And what is that?” Hawk demanded.

  “According to this report, the reason the police were looking for Kane in the first place was because a witness came forward stating that they had heard him saying he was in the theater before the fire.”

  “You told someone?” Hawk asked, incredulity lacing his words.

  “No!” Kane said loudly. “No,” he said again, this time softer. “No!” he said a third time, this time in realization. He looked at Hawk, his eyes wide in disbelief. “Jewel!”

  Hawk didn’t seem to understand for a second and then he got it. “The girl!”

  “And her boyfriend,” Ruber added.

  Kane turned to the ruby and exclaimed in protest, “Jewel doesn’t have a boyfriend!”

  “Well it seems she does now,” the gem said ominously. “A boyfriend named Spike.”

  “Oh fornication!” Hawk said darkly.

  SPIKE WOKE slowly. Once the fog in his mind cleared, it tried to move and realized he could feel nothing from the neck down.

  He looked up and was not the least surprised to find himself staring into the cold eyes of a dark elf. He forced down the panic forming in his gullet and stated in the calmest voice he could muster, “My father sent you.”

  Ater nodded as he stepped back a pace, a poison-laced dagger still in his hand. “You don’t look surprised.”

  Spike sighed as he tried to shift his body even a little, but he knew the assassins were more than skilled at dealing with his kind. “He said he would give me seven days.”

  “He lied,” Ater said, watching his men cart the unconscious human forms upstairs. Once they were gone, he knelt back down to make eye contact with the shape shifter. “Using Charms against untrained beings. That’s punishable by death. Escaping to an abandoned world. That’s punishable by death. Making exodus from a world with unregulated artifacts. That’s a death sentence for each item taken. You aren’t having a good season, Changeling.”

  “An assassination attempt on an abandoned world. That’s a death sentence. Harming a royal guardian. That’s a death sentence. Making a hostile move against an heir to the throne. That’s a death sentence.” Spike smiled up at Ater, showing all this teeth. “How many times can they kill us anyways?”

  Ater placed the tip of the knife under Spike’s chin. “I am thinking one is more than enough.” Spike closed his mouth when he saw the deadly intent in the elf’s eyes. “Fortunately for you, I am in the middle of what seems to be a moral quandary. So I am going to give you one chance to end this without anyone dying.” Ater rolled the knife over his knuckles and caught it in mid flip. The sheer dexterity it took to perform the feat was not lost on Spike. “Your father wants the key to Ascension. The prince has it. Now, I don’t want to kill the boy if possible, but the prince’s fate rests on the path you choose next.”

  Spike didn’t even see the blade move before he felt a sharp pang of pain explode in his neck. His body went from numb to overwhelming agony as every nerve ending came back to life. He screamed and rolled around on the floor as he clutched his sides, trying to ride the white-hot wave of pain that rolled through his body. Ater’s voice cut through the haze that had descended on Spike’s consciousness as if he was whispering in the Changeling’s ear.

  “You know what the key is. Go, get it, bring it to me. If you do this, I don’t care what you and the boy do. My orders are to kill both of you, by the way.” Spike froze at those words. “Your father’s betrayal is far deeper than not giving you your time. Again, I am offering you a great kindness.” His face was next to Spike’s now. “Bring me the key or I will kill both of you. You have until the sun comes up.”

  Spike closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable physical punctuation at the end of the threat.

  When he opened his eyes he was alone in the house.

  The clock had just started to count down for Spike.

  “SHE’S IN trouble!” I yelled, kicking the chair out from under me as I stood up.

  Hawk’s hand closed around my wrist as he held me in place. “We are all in trouble. One problem at a time.” His voice was annoyingly calm considering his pet shape shifter was out there with my best friend.

  “If she gets hurt it is my fault!” I pleaded with him.

  “No,” he said in a soft voice. “It will be mine.” Despite the danger, I could feel the sorrow radiate off of him like it was an open flame. “Ruber, what can we convince the officer about Kane?”

  The lights under the floating ruby continued to flicker over the papers. “Well, according to the witnesses, they place him in the theater before it caught on fire. I would assume at the very least he would think Kane saw who started the fire.”

  “He wants to play games,” I heard Hawk say under his breath, a dangerous tone entering his voice. “Then let us play games.” He turned to the police officer, and from the look on his face, was concentrating on something. “You questioned Kane and were convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he had nothing to do with the fire. He did see someone who resembled this Spike person who was questioned, and you think you should look closer into that.”

  Unlike the other commands, the cop seemed to accept what Hawk was saying. I tried not to feel sick about what we were doing.

  “After I walk out of this room you will forget I was ever here and allow Kane to leave. Is that satisfactory?”

  I saw the older man nod like a zombie and had to look away be
fore I lost my lunch. Hawk seemed too casual about it, twisting the man’s memories as if they were nothing. And he had wanted to do it to me! Hawk asked Ruber, “Anything else?”

  “I believe that will do it.” I could feel Hawk’s gaze on me as the room grew silent.

  “Kane,” I heard him say.

  I looked over at him and felt that same half a second of exhilaration I had every time I laid eyes on him. He smiled, and I realized that he felt the same thing. “We are going to wait for you outside. As soon as you’re free we will go see Jewel, okay?”

  I nodded but knew if I tried to say anything I’d end up bawling.

  He leaned down next to me, taking my hand between both of his and squeezing. “I know you didn’t ask for any of this. I am truly sorry I brought this into your life.” I felt a tear roll down my cheek as the mental dam that I had walled my emotions behind began to crack.

  “I-it’s just too much,” I said, hating the way my voice cracked and made me sound like a wuss.

  “I know,” he said, leaning his head against mine. “And you’re not a wuss.”

  I looked up quickly, knocking our heads together. “How did you—ow!” I shouted, rubbing my head.

  He was doing the same with a grin on his face.

  “How did you know what I was thinking?” I asked, albeit a bit more forceful than I intended.

  “You were thinking that?” he asked, his smile dropping instantly.

  “You called me a wuss, what does that even mean?” I asked, knowing there was no way the bauble could translate a word like wuss.

  It was obvious he didn’t know what it meant but he was just realizing what he had just said. He tried to cover it up quickly by saying, “I’ve heard you use it before.” But we both knew I wasn’t buying it.

  He was losing it too. I wouldn’t have noticed before, but as he got up and started giving orders I could see it in his eyes. “Ruber, stay with Kane, I will wait for you two outside.” He began to walk to the door and looked back at me with a fake smile. “It’s all right, I promise.”

  I didn’t know who he was lying to, me or himself.

  I saw Ruber float toward me, shrinking down as he slipped into my ear. Once the gem was in place, Hawk nodded to me and walked out the door.

  “Just because you didn’t do anything doesn’t mean you aren’t in trouble,” the officer said out of nowhere. I turned around quickly, trying to piece together the imaginary conversation he thought we were in the middle of. “You should have come to us immediately.” He looked down at the papers and frowned. “And you are sure you saw this Spike character in the theater as well?”

  I nodded, not sure what words his mind had created for me to say.

  “And this Jewel girl too?”

  “No!” I half shouted. “I mean, she wasn’t even there.” I tried to cover quickly.

  “Then why would she say she saw you in there if she wasn’t with her boyfriend?”

  I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from blurting out. “He isn’t her boyfriend!” Instead, I said in the calmest voice I could muster, “She was scared he might get in trouble, I told her she could say she saw me instead.”

  It made no sense but then I was pretty sure that today would never make a lot of sense to him. “Well, I still need to find this boy. I will let the school know you weren’t involved, but not coming forward wasn’t right either.”

  “I’m sorry?” I offered.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, his features clenching in pain for a second. “Just don’t let it happen again,” he said, obviously distracted. “Just go on, you can go.”

  I was unsure if I should leave him, since his pain was directly my fault but then I thought about Spike with Jewel and found the will to walk out. “I’m sorry, sir,” I said honestly. He waved me off, and I walked out of the room.

  It took everything I had not to sprint out of the police station.

  HAWK STOOD outside the police station masking his presence from the few people who walked by. There was something in the air, a scent there, just a trace at about head height that made him anxious. He could see nothing out of place, but he knew he was being watched.

  He looked up and saw Spike hanging upside down from the roof, looking down at him.

  Hawk shifted his pack around so he could draw Truheart but realized he had left it at Kane’s. Spike flipped down and held its empty hands out, pleading. “Wait, I beg you to listen.”

  Hawk said nothing, and they both knew the prince was reciting magical spells in his mind.

  “The Dark are here, and they have been sent to kill you,” Spike said quickly. “Your life is in danger.”

  “My life has been in danger longer than that,” Hawk said as he continued to weave the combat magic around him.

  “Listen!” Spike implored. “They just want the key, surrender it to them, and they’ll let you live.” The coldness that was reflected in Hawk’s eyes was doubly chilling to the Changeling. “We have a chance to escape; they don’t want to kill you.”

  Spike’s gaze darted up and over Hawk’s shoulder for a moment and then shifted back to the prince. “Just give them the key!” he hissed.

  Hawk looked over his shoulder quickly but saw nothing at all. When he turned back he wasn’t that shocked to find Spike no longer standing in front of him.

  Hawk realized the clock had just started counting down on his time left in this realm as he turned back around and studied the skyline behind him.

  “DOES HE know we’re here?” Pullus asked the First.

  Ater shook his head and held his hand up to his Second for silence. He was reasonably sure the prince had not spotted them, but he wasn’t going to take any chances.

  “Why don’t we just kill them?” Acerbus asked.

  Both dark elves shot the younger man a withering stare. The Third felt himself pull back from the glares, wondering if he was the one about to die.

  When Ater looked back at the fairy, the youngling was staring across the street, searching too close to where they were concealed. He froze, knowing only a novice dropped down once spotted. Visual identification was registered in moving targets, if the boy was looking their way it was because he couldn’t see anything. He cursed the elders once again for ordering him to lead this expedition as he waited for the damned noble to look away.

  A human came bounding out of the structure, diverting the heir’s attention immediately. Moving as one, the three assassins ducked down out of sight, crouching on the roof, waiting. Pullus put two fingers to his eyes and then gestured behind them, asking in the silent language of their people, “Did he see us?”

  Ater’s hands moved in a blur as he answered, “I don’t think so, but if he did, I am killing that one.” He pointed at Acerbus and made the universal slashing motion across his throat. The junior member of their trio flinched.

  Ater and Pullus had been part of the same team for over three hundred years, trained killers for the Lords of Arcadia. Their Third had been lost in hostile action off world, and they had been forced to take on a new recruit to train.

  So far, Ater had threatened to kill the new man sixteen times.

  Pullus gestured, “I am going to check.” Ater nodded as his hand tightened on his weapon. When the Dark revolted against the throne, the dark elves threw their allegiance behind their own kind, taking orders for the rebellion. Thus far, their action had been limited to gathering intelligence on Arcadia’s defenses and determining how best to storm the capital. This was the first assassination they had been given since going rogue.

  Ater knew he should have been concerned about the ease with which they had switched sides, but there was no time to think about it at the moment.

  Pullus ducked back down and reported in whisper, “They’re gone.”

  The three dark elves gave a sigh of relief as they readied themselves to move. “We’ve been over this. We cannot just kill him,” the First said, spinning on Acerbus. “That boy has the secret to ascension on his person, and
if we were to kill him, we wouldn’t learn what that secret is, would we?” Acerbus shook his head silently, as Ater continued. “If you compromise our location again, you won’t even know your head isn’t connected to your body until it hits the ground. Are we clear?”

  Acerbus swallowed hard and said, “As you command.”

  He could feel Pullus standing behind him, concerned. His Second knew that a rooftop in a strange world was not the place for explanations, but Ater was quickly losing patience for their mission and this world. He had never even heard of this realm a week ago. He had absolutely no working knowledge of the place since no one had been here in centuries. There were strict accords preventing incursions such as theirs into Abandoned worlds. The Changeling knew what he had been talking about as far as that went. The rules agreed on by the nine worlds were inviolate and meant to be abided by, yet here he was, breaking every one of them.

  Again, he wished it hadn’t been so damn easy to not care.

  “Pullus, track the Changeling. We will follow the prince,” Ater commanded, trying to calm his own inner turmoil. The Second nodded and bounded off the roof without a second’s hesitation. Ater double-checked that his blades were secured before turning to follow. “Keep up. If you’re seen, you’re dead,” he informed Acerbus before leaping after Pullus.

  Chapter Fifteen

  HAWK STOOD waiting for me when I jogged out of the police station.

  He looked like he was watching the stars from the way he was watching the skies. “C’mon!” I said, pulling him by the arm. “Jewel’s in danger!” I felt some resistance; he was reluctant to move. I wasn’t in the mood to ask what was wrong. Bad enough Hawk’s insanity had invaded my world, but if Jewel got hurt because of me….

  I banished the thoughts and opened my stride into a run, heading straight to her house.

  Hawk kept pace with me since I knew the way, but his lack of conversation seemed odd. The silence wasn’t what made me uneasy. I couldn’t explain it, I took it as a sign of the dangerous situation we were walking into and began to run faster. The first word he said was a question. “Ruber?”