by Jae Vogel
Dion had the previous evening on his mind when he led his friends down the bank to the secret entrance into the mall’s subbasement. It was still dark, so they were forced to be careful about where to step. Even with the Naiads in the water splashing around, they still had to avoid any slippery parts of the embankment.
“I’ll bet you wish I was a water nymph,” he overheard Emily say to Sean. “That way you could keep me in your mother’s fishpond.”
“Naiad!” he heard a voice call from the water. “Don’t forget we want to be called Naiads.”
“Naiad,” she corrected herself. “He’d like to have me quiet and some place where I wouldn’t be a bother.”
“Emily,” Sean repeated to her. “Sweetheart, we have the rest of our lives to be together. Let’s not get started off the wrong way.”
“Lives?” Lilly said to them. “Does that mean what I think it does?”
“Yes it does,” Emily said. “We’re pre-engaged.”
“You have to get a ring for that?” Dion stopped his transit and looked at them. What on earth had he provoked by keeping those too around him? Lilly turned and sighed at him with her big browns too. A few minutes away from the entrance and his companions were discussing marriage. What was this world coming to?
“Yes,” Sean said to him. “Didn’t you hear?”
“They just started selling them at the big jewelry store downtown,” Emily let them both know. “I’m sure we can find a place in the mall to sell one. Right, Sean?”
Sean leaned over and kissed her. “Let’s get Dion through his quest first, and then I’ll find you the pretty ring.”
“Pretty ring? Pretty rings?” he heard the Naiads echo from the stream. Any discussion of shiny objects attracted their attention. “We get pretty rings from our boys too?”
“Now see what you started?” Dion laughed. “We get through this and the chess club will be furious at me.”
Chapter 3
The entrance to the mall loomed ahead, just next to the culvert where the stream continued on its passage to the river. A small wall was built from concrete and stone next to the pipe to keep out accidental swimmers. A gate ran across the front of the pipe, but it was unlocked and swung open when the figure that stood watch over it saw Dion approach. It was difficult to see who stood next to the gate. Lilly put her hand over her mouth when she saw the form of a ghoul still in his cleaner uniform. Two more stood next to him.
“Don’t worry,” Dion told her. “They work for me now. They have ever since I acquired full earth elemental powers.”
Still with bad memories from her experiences with the ghouls the first time around, Emily shivered and hid behind Sean as they passed by them. The ghouls waited until Dion and his friends were inside the ledge of the concrete pipe and then fastened the gate behind them. One scampered over to the ledge and opened a hidden door on the side of the concrete pipe. He produced a flashlight and shined it into the passage inside it.
Dion led the way and continued into it with his friends behind him.
The ghoul cleaner with the flashlight stayed in front as his two companions locked the door again. It would be a long trip down the passage into the subbasement of the mall, but they were inside the perimeter. The security team could do all it wanted to keep him out of the parking lot, but Dion was inside the mall, no matter how far from the main shopping area. It would be another task to find the Fire Elemental Grandmaster.
The tunnel was quiet and no one said a word during the long walk to the subbasement. Lilly held tightly onto Dion’s hand. Sean and Emily stayed close together and as near as they could to Dion. There were no lights in this part of the tunnel and, should the one flashlight be extinguished, they would have no way to find their way out. The only sound anyone could hear was the slow drip of condensation from the top of the tunnel. It was very damp inside the tunnel and it had to have been built as a secret access point during the recent mall construction. The concrete walls were too fresh and appeared to be poured in sections. This meant that Dion’s Uncle Seth knew about the secret entrance to the mall.
The moment Sean decided to say something was the moment the tunnel came to an end. Before he could say a word, the door to the mall appeared before them. The ghoul in front produced a key and unlocked it. He swung the door open and placed a pair of mirror shades over his eyes. Sean glanced back and saw the other two ghouls also put on their shades. It occurred to him this was the first time he’d seen the ghouls without their mirrorshades. He knew the bright light hurt their eyes, but they had good vision in the dark.
“They see into the infrared spectrum,” Dion explained as he noticed Sean watch the ghouls place their shades on. “However, too much light of any kinds throws off their balance and hurts their equilibrium.”
They were in a small room next to a ladder. The room was made of poured concrete and led upwards through an opening in the ceiling. The room where they had emerged had very little light inside it. The ghouls opened the door next to them, which led to the ghoul’s part of the subbasement, and went inside. The last ghoul stopped and waited until Dion handed him some coins. Then he joined the others and left the humans inside the antechamber to the rest of the subbasement.
It was a brief climb up the ladder to the next level. Here they found a larger utility room with rows of chart data recorders that monitored the electrical power of the mall. It was still underground, but was directly under the red, or fire element, part of the mall. Dion pulled out his map and laid it on a desk. He pushed aside several rolls of blueprints left over from the contractors who built the mall. There was plenty of light in this section and his companions elected to sit down on several chairs next to the table.
“Are we close to the main floor?” Lilly asked him as she watched Dion pour over the map given to him by Mr. Jehuti. The map was special and changed its display of what stores were rented and which were available for merchants. It had a complete listing of the power lines, which ran through the mall and displayed all the internal access tunnels. It even displayed special passageways through the mall that could change their entrance and exit points if you knew how to work them. The map was priceless and given to Dion with the strict understanding it was never to fall out of his possession. Of course, the forces that wanted to keep him from locating the elemental grandmasters had taken possession of it several times, but Dion managed to get it back each time.
“We’re right under it,” he told her. “At least according to the map. All we have to do is find the passage in the next room to our right and take it up to the next level. We’ll emerge right behind an escalator and no one should notice us this time of day. All we need to do is find the Grandmaster and then we can all go home.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Emily said to him. “All we have to do is follow your plan and it will all go smooth. Why don’t I believe it will happen the way you just outlined?”
“Because it never does,” Sean said. “One of those things you can guarantee about this quest. But I have assurance in Dion getting us through it all.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Dion said as he studied the map. He rolled it up and placed it in the jean jacket he’d worn every day. “At least we know where we are in this place. I’d hate to be forced to find my way around here without this map.”
“One thing I did want to ask you,” Emily brought up. Today she’d dressed casually in a jean skirt with sandals and a tube top under a sweater. Sean had worn his thick boots just in case they were needed.
“What’s that?” Sean said. He took Lilly’s hand and felt how nervous she was today for some reason. Why was she so quiet?
“Where do you find your way around on the map? You don’t have a compass with you, do you?”
“The map knows true north. There is a directional sigil in one corner which always tells me where to point the map so it orients correctly. Maybe someday all maps will come with one, just not from an elemental source.”
He finished his speech wh
en the air in front of them began to swirl. Lilly jumped back and Sean grabbed Emily for protection. Dion faced the swirl and closed his eyes. He didn’t have any control over this elemental, which meant it was one of his uncle’s. It didn’t feel to be an aether elemental, which meant this was a fire spirit. In the enclosed space, this was not good as there was no source of water he could unleash on it if the thing was sent to do them harm. He found enough air slypes in the big room to blow it out if he needed to, but it was best to see what this thing wanted before he did anything else.
The swirl turned into a flame, which fused into the image of a small figure. Because it was burning, the fire creature didn’t have a steady form. This one couldn’t be a salamander; it had to be another, less powerful elemental. Dion stood his ground and decided to see what it would do before sending the sylphs against it.
“Dion Bach?” the creature spoke. “I am addressing Dion Bach?”
“You are,” he confirmed and waited. All it would take would be one command to blow it out, but too much oxygen at once on the fire had the possibility of sending it out of control. “What do you want?”
“Your uncle wanted me to tell you that he’s willing to release your parents if you transfer all your powers to him.”
So this was the reason for the small fire elemental. Dion’s uncle realized he was inside the mall and couldn’t be stopped. He was desperate to make the trade. But Dion knew that if he gave his uncle those powers, no force on Earth could stop him. He would be giving the launch codes of a nuclear missile to a mad man, someone who craved unlimited power.
“No deal,” Dion told the fire spirit. “Tell my uncle he is to release my parents at once before I will consider any further deals with him.” Dion stayed on his guard. He felt the air sylphs gather around him, ready to pounce if given the command.
“I will relay your message,” the fire being told him. The burning image slowly disappeared and was replaced by a pile of ash on the floor.
“So what was that about?” Emily asked Dion. “I was worried for a few minutes that we had a real problem on our hands.”
“It was one of the smaller elementals. They make good messengers if you can keep them from burning things down. My uncle employed that one to make me an offer. He won’t like the answer I sent, but it’s his problem, not mine.”
“He knows we’re here,” Lilly said.
“That is evident,” agreed Dion. “We simply need to figure out a way to get into the rest of the mall without drawing too much attention to ourselves. We’ll be forced to take a direct route.”
“Now that you’ve seen a fire elemental, what do you plan to use against them?” a voice called from across the room.
They turned to face the sound as a figure stepped out from behind a stack of wooden crates. They hadn’t noticed him when they entered the room, as he remained hidden when the four friends crawled up the ladder. The light was faint in that part of the room, but they could see his outline and there was no question whom it was. He was recognizable even in a set of overalls with a baseball cap stuck firmly on his head. The only thing he lacked was a toolbox in one hand.
“Hello, Edward,” Dion greeted him. “I expected to see you sometime today, just not so soon. I like the new outfit.”
“I don’t,” the little man replied. “They told me I needed to fit in better this time. I wanted my cricket uniform, but they wouldn’t let me use that one. So here I am.”
Edward was a mysterious little Englishman who appeared at various times on the quest to give and offer help. He couldn’t give them too much information and he wouldn’t do the work for them, but he was useful. He wouldn’t say where he was from, but it had to be outside their particular time circle. He wouldn’t even say who he worked for or which side he represented.
“Does this mean you’ll be around longer than you usually are?” Sean asked him.
“Regrettably so,” he told them. “They told me this was the last time I was allowed to make an appearance. I have no idea where they plan to send me next, but I hope the place has ice cream. It was the one thing I liked about this assignment. Now, do you have any idea what can neutralize a salamander?”
“One of the fire ones?” Emily asked him.
“Of course.”
“You are going to need a censer to counter them, “Edward explained. “I’m sure you will be able to find one around here someplace.”
“Censor what?” Sean asked.
“Wrong kind,” Edward explained. “I mean the kind you see the priest swing in a church.”
“I’m Baptist,” Sean said.
Edward shook his head and grumbled about Protestants and their lack of tradition. “It’s a small object which hangs from a chain that you put hot coals inside. Incense goes inside it to improve the smell of the church.”
“Oh, like an incense burner,” Sean concluded.
“You do have some idea about what I’m describing. The one you need is from the sixteenth century Island of Malta and has the ability to bind fire elemental salamanders. You need to invoke them into the censer and bind them in place or they’ll all over your house. Fire salamanders can be very dangerous as things catch on fire around them.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“The other things you’re likely to need are fire opals. The fire salamanders are attracted to them and will go out of their way to acquire one. You can’t lure them out as you did the earth elementals on the electric bull. They are a lot more difficult and will incinerate anyone who gets too close to them.”
“So how do we handle them?” Lilly questioned Edward. “If they are so dangerous, how are we supposed to get close enough to bind them?”
“You don’t handle them at all. You keep a good distance and don’t allow them to approach you. If they consume too much fuel, they’ll burn themselves out. You can starve them for oxygen and they’ll go dormant, but hard to set up that kind of condition.”
“Will they have human form?” Emily asked. “Every other elemental we’ve encountered has come to us in human form.”
“I don’t think there is any other way for them to function in the mall,” Edward said. “I’ve seen them released as balls of fire, but they tend to go out of control when that happens. They can hang onto their human form so long as the person who binds them issues the command. You can always tell they are around because the atmosphere around them rises in temperature.”
They talked for another hour as Edward described the kinds of jewels needed to control fire elementals besides the ones he’d told them about. He told them about the risk involved in combining fire opals inside a censer and how to trap a fire elemental inside it. Only so many fire elementals could be contained inside a censer. If too many were place inside one, they could turn the wielder into a flaming torch when they were released.
Edward pulled out his pocket watch on a chain and looked at it. “Oh dear,” he observed. “Time is up, I need to go. Take care my pretties.” And then he vanished.
“Guess we learned a few things,” Sean said. “Wish he could’ve stayed around longer.”
“I hope to see him again,” Dion said. “I don’t think he has much more time he can allot to me.” Dion returned to his map. It took him a few more minutes to find an entrance into the mall.
Chapter 4
Karanzen had left the parking lot to his team and returned to his office near the clock tower in the mall. He’d been outside all morning checking the perimeter for any sign of Dion or his friends. Each of his men was issued a picture of the van and told to summon him if they even suspected it was on the lot. Officer Karanzen was finished with halfway measures. This time he intended to stop the van the moment it was near the lot and pull Dion out of it. He still had the ability to summon elementals, but Karanzen had a few tricks to keep him under control. He didn’t want to use them this late in the day when shoppers were in the lot and headed to the entrance of the mall.
But the morning was uneventful. No sig
n anywhere of Dion and company. If he planned to get his final ability, it had to be today, this much Karanzen knew for sure. He’d been on the phone with Seth Back, Dion’s uncle, who was very disappointed his chief of security had failed for the third time in as many days. He couldn’t afford to lose another opportunity. The big man suggested that one more slip up would be his last. Karanzen had no desire to return to living in a van or running cheap roadhouses for sleazy operators. He liked his current position and planned to keep hold of it.
“Just so you know,” Seth Bach informed him that evening. “Dion only needs to be kept away from the mall tomorrow. I have set some plans into motion which will keep him away permanently if you can keep him out tomorrow. Can you do that much?”
“Of course,” Karanzen replied. “I can do more than that. If you would allow me to involve the local cops….”
“Under no circumstances. I want him out of the way, but I don’t need anyone asking questions and snooping around my mall. Is that clear?”
“Very clear, sir. I’ll have the men all over the parking lot tomorrow morning.”
“I said no problems,” his boss cut him off. “Don’t scare the customers away from the shopping. Their money is what keeps this place open.”
“As you say. I’ll have some reason for them to be out there. We’ll tell people they’re checking for stolen property. There’s always ways to make it work.”
He heard the phone line on the other end disconnect and placed the receiver down on the cradle. Karanzen ran his hand through what was left of his hair and tried to think hard. How had that kid managed to bring the water over the parking lot yesterday with such ease? It had to come from the creek. Now this meant he had some connection with whatever lived in the creek. It would be more difficult than he cared to think about to keep him under control. Of course, if he achieved his final power tomorrow, it really wouldn’t matter to anyone.
When he went back into his office, he placed his hat down on his desk and took off his belt radio. No news yet of Dion or any of his friends around the mall. They all knew what he looked like because of the picture, but did all of his men know what to look for if any of the other kids showed up in advance? He doubted it would happen. This wasn’t some Saturday morning cartoon show where he was forced to worry about meddling kids; the stakes were real at the mall. But no sign of them yet. He hoped it would stay that way.