Conrad Edison and the Broken Relic (Overworld Arcanum Book 3)

by John Corwin

  "I got so angry," I admitted. "Vic kept telling me that it was Cumberbatch's fault that Cora died. I just wanted to kill him."

  I tried to warn you. Della sounded hurt. You shut me out.

  "Maybe Plinth is right," Gwyneth said. "Maybe you need to be cleansed of those soul fragments."

  My fists tightened. "Cumberbatch had no intention of helping me."

  "Did you see that lunatic with the scars?" Max asked Gwyneth in a disbelieving voice. "He certainly wasn't there to help."

  "That's for sure," Ambria said.

  Gwyneth held my gaze. For a moment, she looked unsure, vulnerable. She might have a few years on me, but I could tell she was wrestling with what to do next.

  "Do you always work for Underborn?" I asked.

  She shook her head. "Not always, but he pays the best."

  I didn't break eye contact. "Are you the best at what you do?"

  Gwyneth paused. Shook her head. "No, but I can be trusted. Others, not so much."

  "Trusted by your employer," Max clarified. "Not necessarily by us."

  Jack snorted.

  She gave him a sharp look. "You can trust that I'll do what I promise."

  Underborn is slippery, Della said. You may think you heard exactly what you wanted. You may think he is dealing with you fairly. More often than not, you will discover you're wrong just as the deal concludes.

  I had a feeling she was right.

  Chapter 26

  We took a door back to London early the next morning and returned to Queens Gate by walking into the secret entrance and riding the elevator down to the cavernous way station. We reached Arcane University and went into the dorm to gather our equipment for the journey. On the way in, I noticed tiny divots forming in the snow.

  "I'll wait out here," Gwyneth said, shivering in the cold wind. "I don't want to run into Gideon Grace."

  "I'd rather freeze than see him too," Max said with a grin.

  Once inside, I spoke. "Shushiel, are you there?"

  "I am." She appeared. "Where have you been?"

  I told her about our small adventure. "We're about to leave for the Glimmer."

  "May I still come?" she said.

  I didn't even have to think about it. "Of course."

  "What if we have to fly?" Max said.

  "I saw some flying carpets in the lost room," Ambria said. "She can use one of those if needed."

  Shushiel bobbed in a nod. "That would be acceptable."

  "Okay, let's get our things." I stroked the fur on her leg. "Don't reveal yourself to Gwyneth until I say so, okay?"

  "Agreed." The spider faded into invisibility.

  We packed our clothes and our magical gear and ate breakfast in the dining hall.

  Gwyneth sighed and looked around wistfully. "Sometimes I miss this place."

  Liana entered the room, eyes flashing wide when she saw us. She rushed over, a worried look on her face. "Is today the day?"

  Gwyneth nodded. "It's important you keep quiet about this, Liana."

  "We were nearly killed by a giant demon last night." Max savagely bit into a sausage. "You definitely don't want those people on your case."

  Liana's mouth dropped open. "What have you gotten yourselves into?"

  Gwyneth looked at me and I felt the weight of guilt pressing on my shoulders.

  "They wanted me," I admitted. "It's a long story."

  Liana closed her eyes as if to compose herself. She opened them and nodded. "Please be careful, sister."

  "I will." Gwyneth stood and embraced her little sister then motioned us up. "We should go."

  I got up, took a last look around the dining hall and nodded. Liana put her hands on my cheeks and surprised me with a kiss right on my lips. She released me and backed away, caramel skin blushing. "Do as my sister says."

  "Y-yes," I stammered, for some odd reason wishing she would kiss me again.

  Gwyneth burst into laughter and left the room.

  "Do I get a kiss?" Ambria asked sweetly.

  Liana looked at the floor. "Sorry."

  Max elbowed me. "Let's get a move on before you forget how to walk."

  I looked at Liana a moment, determined to make it back alive if only to explore why her kiss made me feel so light-headed but good. I was tempted to try for another kiss, but Ambria took me firmly by the elbow and guided me down the hall.

  I waved goodbye as we left Liana and we headed across the snowy campus to the Fairy Gardens. The pond was covered in slush, but thankfully not frozen over when we reached it. I suspected it was due to the Lady of the Pond, Mirjana who lived beneath the waters with her husband.

  The field of stumps had transformed into a grove of saplings sprouting from the wood of the old trees. Evadora skipped into view and waved with both hands. I introduced her to Gwyneth who seemed entranced by the girl's silvery skin.

  "You're certainly pretty," Gwyneth said. "Like a little jewel."

  "Thanks!" Evadora beamed and clapped her hands. "I like being pretty."

  I stepped to the water's edge. "I need to take a peek at the other side just in case." I held Cora's green pebble in my palm. "Evadora, can you help again?"

  "Okay," she said, "but I can't hold you for long. You're heavy!"

  Gwyneth frowned. "How is that little girl supposed to hold you up?"

  Evadora flexed her arm and failed to display any bulge of muscle. "I'm stronger than I look!"

  Once again she held me over the water and submerged my head into the reflected world. The world on the other side rippled with my entrance, like a pebble in a lake. I craned my neck and saw no sign of the evil Naeve.

  Evadora pulled me back and dropped me unceremoniously on the ground. "Heavy boy," she complained, rubbing her shoulders.

  "You're definitely stronger than you look," Gwyneth said.

  I opened the pouch of anchor stone necklaces and held it out. "Shushiel, you'll need this."

  Gwyneth frowned. "What?" She shrieked and jumped backwards so fast she fell on her backside when Shushiel blurred into visibility. She pushed to her feet, face red. "Has that ruby spider been here all this time?"

  "She's our protector." I calmly looped a necklace around Shushiel's proffered foreleg.

  "Thank you, Conrad," she said in her whispery voice. Shushiel rotated toward Gwyneth. "I am Shushiel."

  Gwyneth brushed off her pants. "I'm Gwyneth. Nice to meet you."

  "Likewise." The spider crawled closer to the water. "Will I have a reflection, Conrad?"

  "That's a good question." Evadora clapped her hands together. "Let's go see!"

  "I'm sure you will, Shushiel." I rubbed her furry leg. "Let's not stay too long and find out, okay?"

  The spider shivered from the tips of her legs all the way to her abdomen. "I agree."

  "Equipment check." Gwyneth tugged on my backpack and made sure it was closed while Ambria did the same for Max. Then we turned around and did the same for our partners while Evadora looked on with an amused expression.

  "Wish we could've put everything in the lost room," Max said. "These packs don't feel heavy now, but they will in a few miles."

  "If we get separated, you'll need survival supplies," Gwyneth said.

  Shushiel tapped a webbed pouch beneath her abdomen. "I have brought my own supplies."

  "What's in there?" Max asked.

  "Rodents," the spider replied. "I prefer spider bats, but they are too bulky to pack."

  Max grimaced. "Those things look disgusting. I don't know how you eat them."

  Whispery laughter emanated from Shushiel's mandibles. "I think the same of broccoli."

  "It just needs lots of cheese," Max said with a grin.

  Gwyneth gripped the stone in her necklace. "Everyone ready for the jump?"

  I took my stone in hand and saw the others do the same. I went to the water first. "As above, so below." I jumped, spinning to face my comrades as I slid into the water. My insides felt as though they'd turned inside out. Dizziness washed over me in an i
nstant. I emerged dry on the other side, my momentum carrying me back on shore. Unlike my first time visiting this strange place, I managed to land on my feet.

  One by one, the others followed me through—Gwyneth, then Max and Ambria. Evadora came through atop Shushiel, cackling with laughter at the top of her lungs as the giant spider galloped around with her on its back.

  "You are the best!" Evadora cried.

  Shushiel pranced around, delighted.

  Gwyneth leaned close to me, hand on my shoulder, her breath in my ear. "That girl is an odd one."

  The hairs on the back of my neck stiffened with pleasure. I cleared my throat. "You'll get used to her."

  "Hmm. We'll see." Gwyneth stepped away. "What now?"

  I suffered a mild shock to my nerves when I remembered where we were. "We've got to run!" I made a circling motion in the air with my finger. "Everyone gather up and go!"

  "We should've used the brooms for this," Max said. "Remember the last time we ran?"

  "One moment." Gwyneth took out the door fragment and swiped the side of it. The door to the lost room opened. We ran in and gathered our brooms and a flying carpet for Shushiel and Evadora to ride.

  As she closed the door, I sensed a cold prickle coming from the right. Everyone else seemed to feel it too. We turned and looked across the grassy field to see a group of people rushing our way. They weren't just any people—they were us. A ruby spider leapt over the wall in the distance and skittered our way.

  Shushiel unleashed a hissing screech that scared me half to death. "We must go!" she said.

  Evadora activated the flying carpet and pointed ahead. "To the crack!"

  We zipped away, leaving our reflections far behind. The opening in the cliff wall was just as large in this realm as in the real world, allowing us to fly through, albeit at a slower speed. The Rift guardians weren't present in this realm, so we flew across the starry divide unopposed.

  On the other side of the Rift, we flew through the enlarged crack there and emerged in the reflected version of the Glimmer. Still flying low, I raced the broom through a glade of tall purple grass. The scaly blades writhed like snakes. Gwyneth yelped as she encountered the grass for the first time.

  Thorny black bushes snagged on my clothes so I rose higher and flew over a copse of crooked leafless trees, their thorny black bark like old leather.

  In the middle of the copse was a pool of dark water—our gateway out of this realm. There was no time to waste, so I gripped the green stone. "So below, as above!" I dove my broom into the water so close to edge, I nearly caught my arm on the shore.

  Another gut-wrenching yank seemed to turn me inside out. I flew out of the other side and nearly spiraled out of control as the laws of physics reversed back to normal. Max emerged an instant later and narrowly missed a collision with me. Everyone else followed in short order and soon our group of frightened adventurers caught their breath on the shore of the pond.

  "I'm going to take a look around," I said, and flew up above the trees. A huge green moon, the anchor stone that bound together the realms, hung above a crooked mountain. Broken islands of land drifted in space against a tapestry of stars and galaxies.

  "Wow," Gwyneth breathed. "It's beautiful."

  I pointed to the twinkling spheres around the moon. "Those are the other realms." I let my finger drift up toward a swirling black vortex that blotted out the stars above the moon. "That's the Void where the Sirens trapped the Apocryphan."

  "You're so young to know so much." Gwyneth blew out a breath. "I wish I could've been alive to travel the realms back when the arches worked."

  "Maybe we can fix the Alabaster Arches." I shrugged. "Maybe there's a way to travel to other realms from here."

  She turned her broom toward me. "How old are you?"

  "Thirteen." Though it was considered an unlucky number, Max and Ambria had made it one of the best birthdays I'd ever had.

  "Hmm." Gwyneth rested her arms on the pommel of the broom saddle. "You seem older."

  "I guess constant danger made me grow up faster." I looked at the moon and wondered if I could fly all the way to it. Maybe once Evadora had this world under control I could give it a try.

  Ambria rose beside us. "Do we plan to dally here all day?"

  I looked once more toward the moon and turned to Gwyneth. "Do you plan to share the clues with us now?"

  "Yes, but I need to consult with Evadora." She descended back down to the pond shore so I followed her. Gwyneth took out her arcphone. "Evadora, can you tell me if this means anything to you?"

  "What means what?" Evadora leapt off the carpet. "Life?"

  Gwyneth's forehead wrinkled. "No. I'm going to read a riddle left by Ezzek Moore. Maybe it means something to you." She cleared her throat and began. "Calm though we may seem, we are all this creature."

  Evadora blinked several times. "People?"

  "Are we supposed to track down the heart using riddles?" Max said incredulously.

  Gwyneth shook her head. "Moore left a series of riddles leading us into the Glimmer, but we couldn't understand how this final one fit in with the rest."

  "Ducks," I said. "One of my foster parents used to complain about how good their neighbors had it, but his wife would always tell him that we're all ducks."

  Max scratched his head. "I don't get it."

  "Ducks glide along the surface of the water effortlessly," I explained, "but beneath the water, their legs churn furiously to make them go."

  "While everyone looks fine on the surface, they're struggling like everyone else," Ambria said. "It's a neat little saying, but what does it have to do with the Glimmer?"

  "We deciphered what it meant, but not where it pointed," Gwyneth said. "I hoped Evadora could tell us."

  "Oh." Evadora drew out the word. "We have to go to the other side of the world." She pointed toward the crooked mountain. "We have to find the quackers."

  "Quackers?" Max said in disbelief. "That's what you call ducks here?"

  "That's what I named them," Evadora said. "That side of the world is weird."

  Ambria scoffed. "I think all sides of this world are weird."

  I hoped the riddle was pointing us in the right direction. Then again, I had a way to confirm that. I gave Ambria a knowing look and then said, "I'll be right back. I slipped away into the trees. A moment later, Ambria joined me.

  "Did Gwyneth notice?" I asked.

  "Think she might be jealous that you sneaked away with me?" Ambria puckered up and made smooching noises.

  I hadn't thought of that. "Do you think she would be?"

  Ambria groaned. "Just give me the nose."

  I gave it to her and watched in fascination as it molded to her face. Her eyes watered and she shuddered. "Eww. That first snoot full is so awful."

  "Do you sense the heart?" I asked.

  Ambria held up a hand. "Hang on; I'm filtering out the blink stones." A few seconds later she gazed toward the crooked mountain. "I smell blood."

  "Is it the relic odor?" I hadn't counted on that.

  She nodded. "Yes. There's the acrid odor, but that metallic blood scent on top of it."

  I grimaced. "I hope the heart isn't pumping fresh blood."

  "You and me both." Ambria stared into the distance. "Looks like Evadora is right about where we need to go."

  Although cardinal direction didn't have much meaning in the Glimmer, I always thought of the crooked mountain as being north. "Looks like we're following the riddle."

  Ambria removed the nose. "I agree." She put it in the side pouch of my backpack. "I just hope ducks in the Glimmer aren't horrific monsters." Ambria glanced back. "I'll rejoin the group first. I don't want them to think we've been out here together."

  I answered with an absent-minded, "Okay," still thinking about what might lie ahead.

  "Gwyneth might think we were kissing or something gross like that," Ambria said.

  I blinked and looked at her, puzzled. "Kissing? What are you talking about?"

/>   "Nothing, Conrad." She sniffed and walked away.

  I watched her go and wondered if I'd said something to upset her. Then again, Ambria was rather easy to upset. I waited a few seconds and then went back to the pond. Gwyneth looked up from a conversation with Evadora the moment I returned. Ambria already stood next to Max acting as if she'd been there the whole time.

  "Anyone else need a bathroom break?" Gwyneth said. "If not, I suggest we move out."

  "One sec," Max said. He stood in place, a look of concentration on his face and grunted. "Okay, I'm ready."

  I burst into laughter. Ambria slapped him on the shoulder. "Maxwell Tiberius, did you just poop your pants?"

  "Pooped his pants! Pooped his pants!" Evadora giggled and danced in circles while Shushiel blinked curiously.

  Gwyneth laughed and shook her head. "Boys."

  I walked over and patted Max on the back. "Need some toilet paper before we move out?"

  He shook his head. "Nah, I'll wait til it dries up."

  Ambria made a face. "Gross."

  The moment of laughter passed and then we climbed on our brooms while Evadora and Shushiel got on the carpet and flew across the broken land.

  Our quest had begun.

  Chapter 27

  We flew due north until we were forced to land on the third island when a flock of mewlies erupted from a forest, intent on sinking their sharp teeth and claws into us. There were too many to fight in the open so we took shelter in the trees.

  The few that forced their way through the thick branches were easy to dispatch with spells. Evadora winced every time we killed one, but she seemed resigned to the violence.

  "Why won't you listen to me?" she screamed into the air.

  The dark cloud of mewlies swirled above the trees like a swarm of bees, a chorus of hisses and mews sending shivers down my spine. Gwyneth held a wand of her own, a slightly twisted rod of golden wood, polished to a sheen. She zapped one of the cat-bats, knocking it from the air. The creature flopped around on the ground, evidently just stunned.

  I finished it off with a dagger of ice from the arcwand. The defensive spells I'd scripted into it made it much easier to use.

  Gwyneth watched me dispatch another intruder. "You must get your power from your mother's side."