by Mazhar, S
Armana pulled Rose into an embrace, running a hand down her back. “People die, Rose,” she said. “Their souls leave this existence, their bodies perish, but their hearts live on forever.”
Rose pulled away, staring at Armana with wide, tear-filled eyes. “What do you mean?”
“The heart,” Armana said. “It never dies, not truly. It leaves something behind.”
“What?” Rose asked.
“An echo.” Armana smiled sadly. “The ones who die and leave us, they’re not truly gone. Their echo lingers in their wake.”
“You mean like...like ghosts?”
“No,” Armana said. “Not ghosts. Just echoes.”
Rose leant closer. “Is...is this a...a mage thing or...?”
“Humans have it too,” Armana said. “Anything that once lived, that once loved with a heart and soul, will leave behind an echo.” Her unseeing eyes stared past Rose but she managed to reach out and touch Rose’s cheek. “You don’t have to mourn. Your parents have left behind their echoes. A part of them is still here, still alive.”
“How...?” Rose asked, her voice desperate and raw with pain. “How do I find them? Their echoes?”
“You can’t,” Armana said with great regret. “Not here at least. An echo can only be found at the place that person once lived, in the streets they walked, the house they slept in, the things they touched or wore. It’s there that their memories reside.”
Rose felt her hope break into a thousand little pieces. She would have to go back to her own world, her realm to see if she could find her parents’ echoes, but the human realm was a place she could never go back to. Despite knowing this, she asked, “Can...can I speak to these echoes? If, somehow, I get the chance to go back to my world, back to my house, will...will my mum and dad...their echoes, will they be there? Could I speak to them?”
A tear rolled out of Armana’s eye, trailing down her cheek. “They’ll be there,” she whispered, “and if you were close to their heart, you’ll see them too. But you can’t talk to them,” she told her sadly. “I’m sorry, Rose. The echoes are just that: an echo. Their souls are gone to another plane of existence. Their bodies are no more. The echo is all that’s left behind, retracing the steps they once walked, over and over again. They don’t interact with anyone. They don’t see you. They are nothing more than a memory. All you see is a glimpse of what once was.” She caressed Rose’s cheek. “But, sometimes, a glimpse is all you need.”
***
The days slowly passed and, to his surprise, Aaron found he actually liked working in the orchard. With Sam by his side and under Drake Logan’s guiding hand, Aaron quickly picked up the basics, but realised very quickly how different this realm was. For a start, things grew in a matter of hours, not days. All Drake had to do was put his hand on the trunk of a tree and the fruit slowly grew before their eyes. Small, red bobbles grew into big, shiny apples in only two hours. The first time Sam and Aaron saw this, it left them open mouthed.
Drake taught Sam and Aaron the correct way to sever fruit from its tree, how to plant new seeds, and even corrected the technique of piling fruit into baskets so as not to bruise them.
“Treat them gently,” Drake had said, taking the peach from Sam’s hand and placing it carefully inside the basket. “As if they are newborn babies.” He’d smiled to himself. “Which they are.”
Sam had turned to Aaron the moment Drake walked away and whispered, “That dude needs help.”
Working in the orchard for the majority of the day meant Sam and Aaron were exhausted by nightfall. With an equally tired and unusually quiet Rose, all three would fall asleep the minute they lay down in their beds.
It was on the fourth day of this routine that Aaron realised he had barely seen Kyran. Despite living in the same house, he never saw Kyran around the cottage. In the last two days, he hadn’t seen Kyran at the table at mealtimes either.
As Aaron and Sam carried smaller baskets of assorted berries to the Stove, they saw Kyran walk down the path from the entrance. Aaron slowed down, staring at the older boy as he passed Jason Burns’s house and disappeared down the dusty path.
“Haven’t seen him around for a while,” Sam commented. “Wonder what he’s been up to.”
“On assignment again?” Aaron guessed. “Wonder what kind of assignments mages have.”
“Something tells me I don’t want to know,” Sam said.
They dropped the berries at the Stove, and spent a few minutes talking to Rose – who was struggling with preparing the dough for pizza – before making their way back. They were barely ten steps away from the Stove when they saw Skyler and Ella, along with their entourage, coming up the path from the lake.
“Ignore, ignore, ignore,” Sam chanted in Aaron’s ear.
“Don’t worry, I will.” Aaron replied quietly.
Skyler smirked at him but didn’t say anything. They had just passed each other when a yell sounded across the street.
“Skyler!”
Everyone stopped and turned to see a furious Kyran, his fists clenched and jaw set, coming straight for Skyler.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Kyran spat, livid. “You messed around with Lexi!”
Everyone turned to Skyler with expressions of surprise and disgust, including Ella.
“Sky?” she groaned. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Skyler, for his part, looked completely calm. “I had to get him back for his little ‘joke’ with my roof.”
“So you used Lexi?” Ella asked, outraged. “That’s sick!”
Kyran got near enough to throw a punch, and would probably have clocked Skyler right in the jaw if four mages hadn’t stopped him.
“Hey, Kyran!” Ryan called, holding him back. “Whoa! Take it easy.”
But Kyran’s narrowed eyes were on Skyler, ignoring everyone else. “How dare you touch her!” he growled, fighting their hold.
“Calm down,” Skyler drawled. “You deserved it and you know it.”
“Oh yeah?” Kyran freed himself but didn’t lash out this time. He stepped closer until he was right in Skyler’s face. “Come on then, Sky.”
Skyler’s eyes brightened with glee. “Yeah?” He grinned. “Eager for another beating?”
Kyran smirked. “We’ll see who takes the beating this time.”
Skyler chuckled. “When you gonna get it?” he asked. “I’m an Elemental. You can’t beat me.”
“No,” Kyran agreed, “but I can make you bleed.”
Skyler’s eyes narrowed, the mirth and amusement gone. “Let’s go,” he said.
Aaron and Sam watched as the group hurried behind the two boys, headed for the path behind the cottages.
“Are they going to that ring place again?” Sam asked.
“Think so,” Aaron replied. “Should we follow them?”
“You seriously need to ask?” Sam grinned.
Both boys threw down their baskets and ran behind the mages.
***
It turned out that Kyran and Skyler were indeed headed to the ring. This time the only ones watching the fight were members of Skyler’s gang. Aaron and Sam inched closer and closer to the ring, and found that no one stopped them. It seemed the surrounding mages had eyes only for the two boys stepping through the stone archway that Skyler had lifted, to enter the ring. The crowd was thinner, yet the rumbustious cheers were just as loud and energetic as last time. Ella, Aaron noticed, wasn’t looking very happy, and stood to the side with her arms crossed, glaring at Skyler and Kyran.
The symbol on the ground – the strange circle with the inverted V, spiral and three wavy lines – started to glow. The light had barely faded when the two boys started. Kyran leapt at Skyler, his fist raised but it didn’t touch the other boy. Aaron thought Kyran had missed, that his punch was ridiculously badly aimed, but something hit Skyler, making him stagger a few steps back. Skyler recovered and threw out his hand, sending an unseen jolt of what Aaron now realised was power in retaliation. Kyran twisted o
ut of the way, so fast that Aaron would’ve missed it if he had blinked.
“Whoa,” Sam breathed. “Did you see that?”
Aaron nodded, open-mouthed, staring at Kyran.
Kyran threw out his hand and Skyler was hit again. Gathering himself, Skyler kicked out, but Kyran dodged the blow. Twisting to the side, Kyran punched, and this time his fist connected with Skyler’s face, knocking him aside. Before Skyler could catch his breath, Kyran sent him flying across the ring with a sweep of his hand.
Aaron stared, awestruck to his very core. He had thought the Hunters of Balt were impressive, but none of them had managed to strike Skyler. Kyran, on the other hand, was knocking the Elemental to the ground.
Skyler swung his arm, like a punch in the air, and Aaron could hear the wind whistling as unseen power tore its way towards Kyran, who ducked to avoid it. The surrounding mages cheered, some calling out praise to Kyran while others yelled at Skyler to, “Make a hit already!”
Before long, Skyler and Kyran were both out of breath, a fine sheen of perspiration covering their faces. Most of their punches and kicks were in the air, but the jolts of power flew across the ring, sometimes hitting their mark, other times swiftly avoided. The stones around the ring were keeping the blows of power from crossing outside, but this time Aaron could hear the strain. Even through the cheering, clapping and shouting, Aaron could detect the whistle of every throw and a faint zap as the power hit the invisible barrier.
One of Skyler’s kicks caught Kyran, sending him careening backwards. He hit the ground, visibly winded but quickly rolled out of the way of Skyler’s next attack. Leaping onto his feet, Kyran pulled back his hand and then shot out, as if wielding a whip. Skyler doubled over, pain lighting his features. Kyran lifted up his hand and Skyler was thrown up into the air, like a weightless doll.
“Whoa!” Sam cried.
Kyran pulled downwards and Skyler smacked to the ground, face first, hitting it so hard that Aaron swore he felt the ground tremble. Being thrown around like a ball didn’t keep Skyler down for long, though. He was soon up on his feet, enraged, his platinum hair messed up and falling into his slitted blue eyes. Both of his hands were balled into fists and he swung them, double punching the air. Kyran stumbled back, taking both hits and falling to the ground. When he straightened up, he froze, green eyes widening. Aaron saw why and it stole his very breath.
Skyler was holding a gun, and it was aimed at Kyran.
Sam cursed before gripping Aaron’s arm and pulling, trying to get away, but Aaron refused to move. He felt as if he were glued to the spot, watching in numbed terror as Kyran regarded Skyler warily. The surrounding mages quietened too, surprised at Skyler’s tactic.
“Sky! Don’t!” Ella shouted, but Skyler didn’t look like he was listening.
He cocked the pistol and glared at Kyran. The shot rang out, so loud it almost popped Aaron’s ears. Sam ducked, taking Aaron with him, not trusting the invisible barrier to block bullets. Aaron’s gaze never left Kyran, who twisted out of the way with speed no human could match. Kyran pulled out both of his handguns.
“We’re getting out of here!” Sam pulled again but Aaron refused to be dragged away.
Kyran fired three shots from each gun but Skyler dodged them all. They were fighting with bullets now and the surrounding mages were yelling their disapproval.
“Stop it, Sky!” Ryan yelled. “Not cool, man!”
“Kyran, don’t!” Ella was yelling. “You both are going to get hurt!”
“Boys! No! STOP!” a voice thundered, and Aaron looked around to see Scott come belting towards them. A wave of Scott’s hand and the rocks lifted to give him access. “Stop it! Stop!” Scott cried, grabbing Skyler and pulling him back. Scott stood between them, his expression twisted in rage.
Kyran and Skyler were out of breath and stood glaring at each other, but had lowered their guns
“What is the matter with you two?” Scott yelled. “Shooting at each other? Really?” he asked with fury. “There are enough forces trying to kill mages, without the two of you hurting each other! You want to have a go at each other? Fine, so be it! But keep guns out of it!”
Both boys looked away, fidgeting where they stood. Scott ran a hand through his hair, struggling to calm down.
“There’s a meeting starting in two minutes,” he said a lot quieter. “Get inside, both of you.” He looked around at the surrounding mages. “All of you, inside the Hub – now.”
The crowd walked towards the circular building, climbing up the steps. Kyran and Skyler followed after them, quiet but with furious expressions and darkened eyes, their weapons slotted back into their holsters. Scott lowered the rocks, sealing the ring and walked up to the building.
Aaron followed after them with Sam, but had only set one foot on the wide steps when Skyler held up a hand.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, face still pink and beads of perspiration on his forehead.
“Scott said all of us–” Aaron started.
“I don’t think so,” Skyler growled. “Get lost, Adams.”
“What’s going on?” Scott asked, anger still in his voice. “What’s the problem?”
Aaron quickly spoke up. “I want to join the meeting.”
Scott didn’t say anything right away. He studied Aaron with quiet eyes before nodding. “Come inside.”
“What?” Skyler turned in fury. “Scott, he’s not a Hunter!”
“He’s a mage, isn’t he?” Scott replied. “Every mage has the right to get involved.”
“He may be a mage,” Skyler argued, “but he doesn’t know the first thing–”
“That’s irrelevant,” Scott cut him off. “Besides, Aaron is an Elemental.” He held Skyler’s gaze. “Are you really going to stop an Elemental, Skyler?”
Skyler didn’t say anything. His jaw clenched and he threw a furious look at Aaron before turning and walking past the doors into the building. Scott gave Aaron a tired, weak smile.
“Come on in,” he said, “but only you.” He looked pointedly at Sam. “Sorry, but it’s mages only.”
Sam took a step back. “Yeah, sure. That’s okay,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to work, anyway.”
Aaron looked back at Scott, ready to protest but Sam had grabbed his arm. “It’s cool,” he whispered. “Go. Tell me everything.”
Aaron nodded and turned to follow Scott into the Hub, feeling horribly guilty at leaving Sam behind.
11
The Hub
Scott led Aaron down a set of metal stairs, heading for the double doors at the end of a wide corridor. Aaron looked around at the glass-panelled walls, silver rafters and white marble floors. It all looked completely out of place in the otherwise very rural city of Salvador. Aaron stepped past double doors and entered a chamber. Like the building, it was round, with six lines of benches circling the entire room. In the middle of the chamber was a gleaming white table which, in keeping with the style of the building, was also round, but with a concave top.
Aaron walked up to the table to see what lay in its hollow. He couldn’t make sense of it. It looked like an image, depicting of a whole mess of lines with letters dotted around in a random order. Thick wavy lines made odd blob-type shapes with fine spidery lines sprawling every which way inside.
“Admiring the table?” Scott asked, coming to stand next to him.
“Sort of,” Aaron replied. “What is it exactly?”
Scott turned to look at the table with a smile. His previous anger and agitation seemed to disappear. “This,” he held the edge with both hands, his eyes sparkling with pride, “is the Hub.”
“And this,” Skyler called, “isn’t a class. Can we get on with the meeting already?”
Scott gave him a cold look before turning back to the table. He extended his hand over it and the image started to change. The fine lines began to fade and the thick-lined, random shapes began to lighten until they were barely visible. A different image began to take form,
one that Aaron recognised at once.
“See what it is?” Scott prompted.
Aaron nodded. “A map of the world.”
“Wrong,” Skyler called out. “A map of the human world.”
“The human realm,” Scott corrected. His hand hovered over the table again and the map changed to the first image. “This is our world,” Scott said. “The mage realm.”
Aaron stared at the thin stretches of ink, circling and outlining a whole map of different shapes and sizes. He noted the increased number of marked areas when compared to the continents of the human world. What he recognised as South America had three areas marked on it. Africa was divided in eight areas – some big, some small. A quick glance and Aaron counted twenty-six areas covering the world map.
“These are zones,” Scott explained, pointing to the thick-lined areas, each with a letter of the alphabet on them.
“Where are we?” Aaron asked.
Scott pointed to a small area, with the letter I on it. “Salvador is located here.”
Aaron smiled. On the map of the world he had lived in, Scott was pointing to the United Kingdom. It seemed he was somewhat close to home after all.
“If we’re done playing ‘Where in the Realm is the Idiot?’ game, maybe we could start the meeting?” Skyler asked.
Aaron didn’t let Scott fight this time. He silently moved away from the table and took a seat on the wooden bench next to Ryan and a pretty, dark-haired Asian girl.
“Alright.” Scott rubbed both hands together and stood before them. “Today’s meeting has officially started.” He raised both hands to gesture to Kyran and Skyler, both seated at opposite sides to each other. “That is, if two of our best Hunters have recovered from trying to kill each other?”
Kyran shifted in his seat and Skyler looked away, avoiding Scott’s gaze.
“Good, so we can start,” Scott said. “First, the update. Kyran accompanied me to Harban, where we spent ten days trying to get the Pecosas to talk.”
“Any luck?” Ella asked.