by J. W. Lolite
“Lesia’s been kidnapped by the Ankida!”
Meissa and Rigel looked up from the map that was laid in the center of the wooden table. They appeared to be more annoyed than startled. Rigel shook his head in disgust and returned his attention to the map.
“We are well aware of the situation and have been since this morning,” he sneered. “Fortunately, we have more reliable means of obtaining our information.”
“You already knew, but how?” My best friend gets kidnapped, and I’m still that last person to know. This just sucks. Wait. I’m getting off track. “Look, it doesn’t matter. We have to go rescue her now! If you guys have known since this morning, you’ve got to have a plan, right?”
“Ursa called us this morning after speaking with her parents,” Meissa explained, answering my first question anyway. “As for rescuing her, it isn’t that simple. Lesia’s been taken to the Ankida World. Until we locate a keystone, we have no method of reaching her.”
I looked at Meissa and Rigel sitting idle at the table, and my already burnt fuse ignited once more. “Then what are you doing sitting around? Let’s go find one!”
“Kaira and Markus have already been deployed to a possible location,” she replied with a sharp cut in her words. Despite her efforts to appear calm, I could tell she was just as on edge as I was and was steadily becoming irritated at my questions. I didn’t care. If it meant getting these people to move their asses and save Lesia, I’d take any verbal abuse Meissa could dish out.
“That’s all you’ve got? One possible location?”
“We might’ve had more had an interrogation not interrupted our progress,” Rigel lashed out at me.
I promptly ignored him and turned back to Meissa. “You must have something else. We have to do something. Send me,” I said, desperation setting in.
“All we can do is wait and see if they bring back a stone,” Meissa said. “You are too inexperienced to go out on your own, and Rigel and I must look for clues to the other keystones.”
“I can’t wait! They’ve already had her for almost a day!” I argued. I spat the words out before it really dawned on me what that could mean. Lesia had been in the enemy hands for at least fifteen hours. They could have done something to her. They could still be doing something to her. My breath caught in my chest, and I struggled to breathe. Panic began to fill me at the implication of what could be happening to her. She had information they wanted, and she was so, so pretty . . .
“The Ankida won’t kill her if that’s what you’re worrying about. As the Locksmith, she’s far too valuable – ”
“Kill her? That’s all you’re worried about?” I choked out. “They could be torturing her. They . . . they could be . . . right now . . .” I couldn’t bear to say it out loud. The thought alone was horrible enough. I gasped air in and out to calm myself. In and out.
“Calm down!” Meissa shot at me. “She has yet to find the Gate. The Ankida won’t harm her to the point where she is unable to help them. I imagine they’ll want to keep her as undamaged as possible until she discovers the location.”
Callous though they were, I tried to take some comfort in Meissa’s words. If this was true, Lesia might still be safe – for now. But how long would that last. How long would they wait for her to find the Gate? How long before they tried to force it from her? No, I thought, I won’t let that happen.
“What do I need to do?” I asked, determination filling my voice. I’m coming, Lesia. Just hold on a little longer.
“Go away,” came a very serious reply. Oh, how witty, Rigel.
“Enough, Rigel,” Meissa stepped in, diffusing the situation. “But in all honesty, we need to concentrate. Stay near the temple and wait for Kaira and Markus. We may need you to leave with them if they return empty-handed.”
“Right,” I answered, turning to leave.
“Try not to get lost, silly girl.”
I didn’t need to see her face to know that stupid smirk was there, and damn it, there was one taking over my mouth as well. We had an understanding. “Right,” I repeated.
“Ow! Shit! I hate nature!” I shouted into the lush green while nursing my latest scrape from her evil, pointed shrubbery. It was almost enough to make me wish I’d stuck around the temple waiting. Too bad for my legs I had to be a person of action.
It took me all of half a second to decide there was no way I was going to sit around and wait for Markus and Kaira. Lesia needed me now, and I needed a keystone. And seeing that I was the Therion Lockkeeper and all, that meant I had a special connection with the stone. Simple as that. Or it should have been anyway.
I can be a reasonable person when I want to be, and that being the case, I knew that this might take some effort. It wasn’t like I expected the thing to just jump out of the bushes and yell “here I am” as soon as I entered the woods. My life isn’t nearly so perfect. But one would think after three hours of trailblazing, I would’ve at least felt, I don’t know, some kind of vibe or something. Yes? Not a chance.
Whose bright idea was this? I pushed through the now dark foliage until finally coming upon a small clearing with a tree stump. After sitting on the stump, I pulled off my shoes and started to rub my throbbing feet. I should have just taken a cab. Or the bus. Or stolen a car. Fatigue caught up to me, and I leaned back against a nearby tree trunk and closed my eyes. I really didn’t want to sleep out here, but I was so tired. I sat with my eyes closed, listening to the chirping of all the nasty creepy crawlies, the wind whirling through the treetops, the heavy rustling beside me . . .
My eyes shot open, and I sprang to my feet, watching as the bushes shook. So this was how it all ended: failed rescue plan, lost in the woods, and eaten by the wildlife. Terrific. Somehow, the intense disappointment of the situation outweighed my fear. Spotting a fallen limp on the ground, I snatched it up and raised it high above my head. This snack wasn’t going down without a fight.
“I’ve got something to stuff in your face,” I challenged, waiting in anticipation for the animal to emerge.
“Ingrid, is that you?”
Surprised, I nearly dropped the limb behind me. A pair of light blue eyes lit through the darkness.
“Loxley!” A wave of relief washed over me, and the limb slipped out of my grasp and onto the forest floor with a loud thud. A hush swept through the woods, filling me with an awkward sense of embarrassment. “How did you find me?” I asked in a flash, trying to fill in the void.
She smiled at me through the darkness and pointed to the ground. “I’m pretty good at tracking. Grandmother sent me after you. She said having one missing person was enough to deal with.”
“She predicted I would get lost? That’s just great. No faith at all,” I grumbled. “If she knew that, why did she let me go?”
“Grandmother said that there was no stopping you anyway, so why waste the energy?” Loxley answered. “Besides, she knew we would have to send you out eventually. We have a much better chance of finding a keystone with two Lockkeepers searching.”
“Ha, see? That’s exactly what I was thinking. We need to use everyone possible to save Lesia.”
“It certainly seems that way, though I’m afraid I won’t be of much help,” Loxley said, a remorseful look creeping on her face. “As long as the Ankida have the Orion Stone, I won’t be able to sense it.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” I reassured her. “There’re still four other keystones out there just waiting to be found. And I wouldn’t be so sure about not being much help. I’m no tracker, and I don’t know about you, but I have no idea where we are.”
Loxley smiled again despite her sullen mood and indicated for me to follow. “Let’s go this way. We shouldn’t be too far from some campgrounds.”
“Wow. Do you really know that or are you just trying to keep me calm?”
“I grew up exploring the forests around here,” she explained. “It used to make Grandmother so furious, the way I would just disappear for hours. I never meant to scar
e her, but I always felt so comfortable out here. Never once did I worry about getting lost or hurt. It was like I had some kind of connection or something. I don’t really know how to describe it. I know it sounds silly . . .”
“No,” I countered, “I think it’s great. It’s good you have something you feel close to.”
“What about you?” she redirected the question. “You’re close to the Locksmith girl and the Leo Lockkeeper, aren’t you? It’s a shame he was so horribly injured. Having a third Lockkeeper would really benefit us.”
A strange tingle ran down my spine, and my eyes were drawn to the side. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. A white flower caught my eye, and I sized it up. Was that what caught my attention? It was pretty, I guess.
“Trust me, he’d be out here if they discharged him,” I finally responded, trying to focus back on the conversation. What was over there? I really wanted to go check it out, but that would lead us off further into the forest. And that would be counterproductive.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that,” Loxley apologized. “I know he’s in no condition to be searching with us. Grandmother said he must have fought hard against the Ankida even though he’s just a beginner. The fact that he survived is an impressive feat.”
“Ty’s strong, all right, and far too stubborn to get killed off like that. He’ll bounce back . . . and . . . back . . .” My eyes darted to the trees when the pulling feeling intensified. It was so strong now; I couldn’t even concentrate long enough to finish a sentence. What was up there? “Do you feel that?” I managed to get out. I’d felt something like this before . . . in the . . . where?
I saw Loxley spin around out of the corner of my vision and follow my line of sight. “What is it? What are you feeling?”
“I don’t know. I can’t . . . go away. . .”
“You can sense it? It’s all the way out here?” Loxley asked, stunned. Whatever it was, at least one of us had an idea of what was going on.
“It’s close . . . I can’t – ”
“I believe I have something that belongs to you.”
I jumped at the unexpected announcement and glanced at Loxley. I had to blink and take a step back at the sight that greeted me. It seemed that while it took me a whole instant to just be surprised, Loxley could do all that and set her bow. I sure had a long way to go.
“Who’s up there? Show yourself,” Loxley demanded in a harsh tone that reminded me of her grandmother, “or Maid Marion will save you the effort of climbing down.”
Despite the dangerous situation, I couldn’t help but quirk my eyebrow at her. Maid Marion. Seriously?
“And here I was trying to be friendly. Very well.”
The limbs of the tree rustled, and a dark figure shot out into the air. It must have been at least twenty-five feet to the ground, but the intruder descended like it was nothing, coming to a graceful land, knees bending from the impact. The person’s head tilted up, and I squinted when bright pink illuminated the surrounding area. To my side, I head Loxley’s bow creak as she pulled the arrow back further.
“What do you want, Ankida?” she queried the stranger in a hard voice.
The figured laughed – a strange, feminine, and cheerful sound I didn’t expect to come from such a being. She raised her arms, her hands gripping the sides of her cloak hood. She pushed the material back, revealing a pretty, youthful face and the brightest red hair I had ever seen pulled into an incredibly long, spiky pony-tail.
“Don’t you listen? It must be the human in you.” She sighed. “I have something that belongs to you,” she repeated, looking towards me. The girl reached into her cloak, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Loxley tense but she didn’t fire. We waited with bated silence as the Ankida searched through the folds of cloth muttering to herself.
“Ah, here it is,” she announced, pleased. From the cloak, her hand emerged holding a dark object. The pulling sensation increased dramatically, and I took a few steps forwards. It was some kind of rock, blackish-gray in color. Purple, blue, and pink light bathed the object, making it glitter as though encrusted with thousands of gemstones. Looking closer, I noticed it was in the shape of some kind of animal: a beast of some sort. It could have been a wolf.
“The Therion Keystone,” I whispered. I don’t know how I knew that; I just did. I looked up at the girl, confused. “But why . . . why are you giving this to me?”
“Because, Ingrid Fairheit,” she began, looking at me through that intense pink, “it’s what your father would have wanted.”
Chapter 24
Solar Flare
“How do you know what my father would have wanted?”
“Because I used to serve him. I was one of his protectors.”
I gave the woman a skeptical look. My father died a little over fifteen years ago. She couldn’t be more than a few year old than me at most. So unless my old man was into using babies as shields, there was no way she could have known him. Then again, what did I know? If nothing else proved consistent in my life, it was that I was constantly in the dark about everything. Far be it for me to call her a liar.
“But why give this to me now?” I hesitated. “Aren’t you people trying to collect them and destroy the world?”
The girl shifted between her feet for a few moments, a thoughtful look on her face. Her lips moved, though no words loud enough to hear came out. And here I thought I was the only one that talked to myself. After concluding her personal debate, she looked around and waved at Loxley and me.
“Come with me,” she said.
“Why should we trust you?” Loxley countered, glaring at the stranger. “How do we know this isn’t some kind of – ”
“Ambush?” the girl supplied. “There was ample opportunity for that a few minutes ago. If I didn’t do it then, what makes you think I’m going to do it now?”
Loxley remained quiet, mistrust still evident in her posture. I didn’t really know if this was a trap, but somehow, I didn’t get that impression from this woman. What she said was true; if she’d wanted to jump us with her chain gang, it would have been all too easy.
“Believe it or not, I’m not exactly in the position to come up with such a force,” she continued. “I have a site not far from here I’m using while staying in this world. What I have to tell you is a long story, and I, for one, would like to rest in more comfortable settings while telling it.”
I watched her move through the foliage out of sight. Looking back at Loxley, I saw she still wasn’t convinced of the Ankida’s motives. I glanced around the dark forest. Well, looks like a potential trap beats standing around in the wilderness. Shrugging my shoulders, I glanced back at Loxley before walking after the girl. Sitting down sounded good right about now. The sound of leaves crunching behind me indicated that Loxley might have thought so as well. Or perhaps she was just trying to ensure I didn’t get myself killed. Either way worked for me.
We followed after the red-head for about twenty minutes. I was about to ask her to clarify her definition of “not far” when we reached a small, secluded campsite. I remembered Loxley telling me we were close to some campgrounds. I wondered how this woman had found the site and claimed it for her own – hopefully by nonviolent methods. A few logs and abandoned camping gear lay spread out around a tiny fire pit. It was there I found the most telltale sign of a foreign visitor. Instead of bright orange, the flame was dusky pink, flitting with red tips. The light it gave off was dim and much easier on my eyes than a traditional flame. I eyed the fire warily before taking a seat on one of the logs. Loxley joined me, and the woman sat on one a few feet away, stretching out her legs.
“That’s so much better.”
Ignoring her comment, I couldn’t help but ask, “How did you make the pink fire?”
She didn’t move her head, but her eyes turned towards me, looking at me from the corner of her vision. A mischievous smile lit her features and her cheeks dimpled. “You don’t know much about us, do you?
”
“Sorry about that,” I scoffed. “My dad kicked it when I was a baby, and everyone else took a secret oath to never talk about it. It’s amazing I’ve found out as much as I have.”
“That’s not what he would have wanted,” she replied.
“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you die. You don’t exactly get a say in what happens to the people you abandoned.” Bitterness filled me. Who gave him permission to go off and get himself killed like that, leaving me and mom to deal with the pain and shame of having a cursed child. If he’d been alive, he could have protected us. He could have protected her.
“My Lugal died to save you and your mother,” she shot at me in anger. “You aren’t doing a good job of showing respect for that.”
“And you didn’t do a good job protecting him, did you?” I fired back. The moment I glared at her, I was instantly filled with regret. Her features twisted in shock and sadness, and she lowered her gaze to the ground.
“I’m aware of that,” she whispered mournfully.
“I’m sorry,” I said, genuinely meaning it this time. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry, um . . .”
“Emba,” she said, looking up. “My name is Emba.”
“I’m sorry, Emba.” I repeated, getting a feel for the strange new name. “It wasn’t your fault he died. I already know it was mine.”
“No,” she disagreed. “It was hers.”
“Her?”
“A woman of great power and equally great scorn – Lady Aureliel,” Emba growled out the name like it was a nasty curse.
“A Lady?” I heard Loxley mutter to herself. The words stirred something in me, and I couldn’t help but feel this wasn’t the first time I’d heard about this Lady. The unpleasant memories of my attackers flitted to me, and I struggled to recall what they talked about. Didn’t they mention something about some woman? And then, there was also that stuff in the attic. I grimaced at the recollection, but pushed through my aunt’s words. What was it again . . . Father and the Lady?