“You saw what she did to Mikael,” I said. “We can’t fight her head-on. She’d have the advantage over us there. I don’t doubt she had some other nasty surprises planned for us had we stayed.”
Nicole looked back at her phone. “I recorded the whole thing. There might be something here that can help.”
That must’ve been the fidgeting I’d felt her doing behind me. I moved so I could look over her shoulder and see the footage. There it was, Marguerite’s face sneering at me all over again. “Why don’t you bring it up on your computer?”
Nicole went to the desk and waited for her phone to finish uploading the video to the cloud. “She can’t get away with this.”
“That’s been the plan, Nicole. There’s more at stake here than just Mikael. There’s an entire world at risk if she’s not stopped.”
“Then why do we keep trying to solve all these clues? Why do we care? It’s not like you want Meglana’s secret for yourself. I think we need to change tack and focus on finding Marguerite and killing her.”
“And how do you suggest we do that?” Alex asked, his soft voice cutting through Nicole’s passion.
“I don’t know, but I think we should go back there. There has to be some way to trace her magic or something, right?” Nicole looked between me and Millhook.
“Nah, it doesn’t work like that. Wish it did,” Millhook said.
Nicole pulled up the video on her laptop and played it for us. She had to turn the volume all the way up so we could make out the dialogue. The phone’s microphone had mainly picked up the wind, making Marguerite’s words almost unintelligible. It didn’t matter; they were burned into my memory. And even if they weren’t, the talisman had recorded the memory for me.
“It sounds like she doesn’t have the clue either,” I said. “All she’s done is find the location. Otherwise, she would’ve been more specific. I don’t think she knows how to get inside. It gives us an advantage.”
“That also means she’ll be back there once she figures out how to retrieve the clue,” Nicole said. “I say we should be waiting for her. Surely you have some type of magic that can make us a nice little camp there.”
It was hard to argue with Nicole because part of me agreed with her. The heat in my blood wanted an all-out fight. My magic was up to the task, but there were too many uncertainties, too many risks. “You know, even if we did go with your plan, you wouldn’t be coming along. Marguerite would pounce on the chance to use you against me the same way she has Mikael. I can’t let that happen.”
“Kat’s good, Nicole, and she probably could beat Marguerite in a fair fight, but I don’t trust Marguerite to fight fair. Do you?” Alex asked.
Nicole slumped. “No.”
“Our best bet is to keep following the clues, trying to solve the riddle. Marguerite is doing the same thing, so eventually we’ll end up in the same place. If we get there first, we’ll have leverage,” Alex said.
I nodded in agreement. “The best thing we can do is find out what the potion does. It may be the key to getting through the ice.”
“Well, since we’re here on Earth, we need to go ahead and get the golden monkey hairs. It should be easy enough for me to do in my panther form.”
“All right, so we’ll do that and then get back to Elustria. Millhook, Nicole, see if you can piece together anything else from the riddle. You did good work finding Borgtinderne. And, Millhook, if you know of a way to get a dragon scale, we may need one.”
“Dragon scales are mighty hard to come by. Never had to get one myself, and wouldn’t ever want to associate with anyone who could get one either. But if I think of anything, I’ll let you know.”
“All right, I’m going to brief Ess on our progress and see if the CCS can help out with the scale. Then we can leave. While I’m doing that, Alex, why don’t you and Nicole figure out where the best place to find a golden monkey would be?”
Nicole turned to the computer and started to type. I could tell she was upset that we weren’t somehow killing Marguerite right now. I could understand her frustration, but I couldn’t let it distract me.
I briefed Ess through the communication orb. “Are any missions going out yet, Ess?”
“No, not yet. We’re getting our stations up and running. We should have a station set up on Earth and running soon. I’ll let you know when it’s operational. They may be able to offer some support.”
“Good. I need a favor, Ess.”
“Of course you do. Everyone needs a favor. What is it?”
“There’s a good chance we’re going to need to make a potion that involves a dragon scale. Does the CCS have any?”
“That’s not something we keep around. We never use ’em. Anything else?”
The CCS couldn’t help if they weren’t operational yet. “No. Thanks, Ess. I’ll update you with any new developments.”
“I’d say stay safe, but that would mean you weren’t doing your job. So instead, stay smart.” Ess’s face disappeared.
I wondered what part of making my maniacal mother’s potion was smart.
Fifteen
A little family of golden monkeys sat about thirty feet in front of us. Alex was a master at stalking his prey. He had initially protested my presence, claiming that it would be too gory since he intended to eat the monkey, but I’d insisted. I stood next to him, using my magic to render myself invisible. As long as I stood perfectly still, the animals shouldn’t see me.
Alex sank lower to the ground, bending his knees deep and crawling forward. He stopped, only his tail twitching behind him. The monkeys chattered away, oblivious to the danger. I knew Alex regularly ate monkeys as a panther, but that didn’t keep me from feeling a little bad for his victim. It was the circle of life, and this way we could get as much hair as we needed. Alex described how he killed before we got there so I wouldn’t be shocked. I think he was actually trying to dissuade me from watching, but the whole thing fascinated me.
In a movement so quick I almost missed it, Alex leapt out from the underbrush and pinned one of the monkeys as the rest scattered. He opened his jaw wide, and with one swift bite, he punctured the monkey’s skull, killing it. Even though I had known what to expect from his description, I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. That an animal’s jaw could be that powerful astounded me.
The action done, I looked away as Alex ate, giving him privacy since he didn’t like me to see him that way. After Alex was done, we’d port back to Millhook, and he would make us a portal back to Penelope’s lab. The hope was that with the golden monkey hairs, a variable that was unknown to her, she would be able to run some tests and tell us what the potion would do without us having to gather the rest of the ingredients. It was a long shot, but if it worked, we could avoid getting a dragon scale. We hoped that once we knew what the potion did, we could devise a way to work without it, achieve the same end result without the hassle. After all, we had resources that my mother hadn’t. Not only did we have Millhook, we also had the resources of the CCS and the Council if need be, and we were hopeful that a solution would present itself.
“All right, I’m ready. We can go.”
I turned to see Alex composed, no hint from his appearance as to what he had just done. I kept my eyes steadfastly away from where I knew the remains of Alex’s meal were. “Did you get plenty?”
“Yep. I got several dozen hairs from his belly in my right pocket, and I have some hairs from other areas in my left pocket, just in case.”
We joined hands, and I ported us back. I hoped the monkey would be the only life sacrificed on our quest, but I doubted it.
“Very interesting.” Penelope examined one of the belly hairs and dropped it into a vial of yellow liquid. The mixture turned red, and Penelope frowned. “The appearance and texture of the hair are exactly as I suspected, but the properties of it that interact with magic are completely foreign. I’m afraid this doesn’t help me with your potion at all. We’re going to have to mix together the
entire thing. Only then will we know what it does.”
“So you want us to get everything to you, you make the potion, and then what? One of us will just drink it?” I asked. “I thought that was insane according to everyone.”
“Who said anything about you drinking it? No, no, no, my dear. Once the potion is made, I’ll be able to run tests on it that should reveal what it does. Right now, there are just too many unknown variables for me to give you any sort of helpful answer.”
“You’re saying we have to get a dragon scale?” Alex asked.
“I’m afraid so, if you want to know what this potion does. I know you don’t like the idea of it, I don’t either, but there are certain things that dragon scales can do. I can try to requisition one, but it requires submitting an application for a waiver and then going on the waitlist if it’s approved. I’d have to know more about why you need this potion for the application.”
“We can’t wait for an application.” I stopped myself from telling her more. She would have to accept my urgency without an explanation.
Penelope pursed her lips. “There are other options.”
“We’re not killing a dragon,” Alex said.
“Who said anything about killing a dragon? No, no, there’s a certain…vendor, shall we say, that I know of. He has a reputation for getting materials more quickly than they can be acquired through regular channels.”
“You mean the black market.” Alex turned to me. “She wants us to buy a dragon scale from a guy who illegally kills dragons.”
Penelope waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, I highly doubt he kills them himself, dear.”
“But going through him only provides the demand to justify the supply.”
“It’s the reality of the world. If you want a dragon scale, I can give you the name of a shade I’ve used.”
I turned Alex away from his mother. “I know you don’t like it, Alex, but we don’t really have much of a choice here. Maybe we can make a donation to some ‘save the dragons’ charity or something.”
Penelope wrote down the name of her dealer and instructions on how to contact him. “If you get the scale, I can provide the rest of the ingredients.”
“Thanks, Penelope.”
“Yes, thanks, Mom. I can always count on you to betray animals if it means advancing your knowledge.”
“Now, now, Alex, I doubt you just kindly plucked these hairs and then let the monkey go on his merry way. It’s the way the world works. You can’t escape that no matter where you go.” Penelope shook her head then went back to her experiments, clearly dismissing us.
Sixteen
“So what exactly is a shade?” I asked Alex as we walked through Concordia on the way to meet Penelope’s contact. “I thought that was one of the ingredients on the list.”
“No, shade of death is an ingredient. Shade is a kind of nickname given to elves who leave the fold.”
I stopped walking. “You mean to tell me I’m about to meet an elf? Like, a real-life elf?”
“Yep, though don’t judge them all by this guy. Shades are outcasts because they ignore the laws of elf culture.”
“Well, I wasn’t expecting a black-market dealer to be on the up-and-up. I’ll reserve judgment on the entire race of elves—because, you know, I’m so prone to judging an entire race of people based on the actions of one person—until I’ve met a good sampling that includes elves who aren’t engaged in illegal professions.”
Penelope’s directions led us to Leo’s Laughingstock where we would find Leo himself. From the outside, it looked like a ramshackle building, the exact place you’d expect to meet a black-market dealer. However, when I opened the door and stepped inside, a bright, cheery scene from a child’s wonderland greeted me. Happy, tinkling music filled the air. The room was the size of a department store and featured cute little toys and gag gifts. It was a jokester’s paradise. Clearly, the outside of the building had been charmed to conceal the size of the space within. It was a clever trick, one that would no doubt amuse even magical children.
“Welcome to Leo’s Laughingstock! I’m Leo.” A tall, blue-skinned elf wearing absurdly colorful clothing came from behind the counter with his arms spread wide to greet us. “What can I do you for today? Illusion dust? Popping powder? Perhaps some love potion—temporary, of course.”
“We were thinking more along the lines of a dragon scale,” I said. As much as I wanted to explore his shop, I knew if I started looking around, it’d be hours before we got down to business. We were under a time crunch.
Leo deflated, as if someone turned off the light behind his expression. “Oh, I see. Well, you better come this way then.”
We followed him toward the back office. When he opened the door and gestured us inside, I sensed a strong magical force coming from the doorway, and I held up my hand to stop Alex. “What is this?”
“It’s an intention gateway,” Leo said, “my way of protecting myself from those who have more nefarious purposes.”
“You deal in the black market. Everyone you do business with has nefarious purposes,” I said.
“Toward others, yes, but not toward me. All my business is done from inside this office. So if you want a dragon scale, you’ll go inside.”
I reached out with my magic, exploring the doorway, searching for anything that might do us harm. I had limited experience with such things, but from what I could gather, it did seem as if the doorway would simply refuse us entry if conditions were not met. I couldn’t detect anything that would actually do us harm, but of course, that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Stepping through would have to be an act of trust that Leo wanted to do business with us more than he wanted us dead.
“Seem safe?” Alex asked me.
“I think so.”
Before I could stop him, he shoved in front of me and walked through, testing it on himself first. I moved to follow, but Alex held up his hand. “Wait.” He stepped back through the doorway, proving that we’d be able to get out again once inside. “All right, I’m satisfied.”
We all walked into the office and took a seat at Leo’s desk. The office couldn’t have been more of a contrast to the rest of the building. It looked like a supply closet someone had converted to an office for a newly appointed assistant manager. If the person sitting across from us wasn’t an elf, I’d have no problem believing we were on Earth.
“Now, you were asking about a dragon scale,” Leo said as soon as we were all situated.
“Yes, I’m interested in buying one,” I said. “My sources tell me you’re the person to go to.”
“Well, dragon scales are becoming harder and harder to get. My supply has dwindled. If you’re really wanting one, I’m afraid the price is twelve hundred full golds.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Alex said. I didn’t know what the going rate for dragon scales was, but the price shocked me. All I had on me was a little more than four hundred full golds.
“I’m sorry that you have expensive taste. That’s my price. I haven’t had any problems moving them, so I have no reason to lower it. In fact, I only have two left, so if you’re serious about wanting one, you might want to act quickly.”
I hated to bring the Council into this, but I was desperate. “What we don’t have in money, we do have in connections—connections that can benefit you. This is for official business for the Magesterial Council. We can get them to look the other way in regards to your business.”
Leo laughed. “The Magesterial Council means nothing to me. I’m not a mage. They can’t touch me, and they can’t help me. And since when does the Council have a problem getting dragon scales or whatever else they want? I applaud the effort, but you’ll have to try a different way to lowball me.”
“Demanding a fair price isn’t lowballing,” Alex said.
“Look, I’m just a simple businessman. My pricing is determined by the market. I have something you want. The only question is, how much do you want it? Like I said, I only have two left. So you
will either find a way to get the money and come back here for one of them or I’ll sell it to someone who wants it more.”
Leo stood and gestured toward the door. On our way out, Alex took hold of Leo’s shirt and slammed him against the wall. “Maybe I’ll just kill you and sell your body parts on the black market.”
Fear flashed in Leo’s eyes, but he did an admirable job of suppressing it. “Be my guest, but you want a dragon scale. I don’t keep merchandise on the premises. So if you kill me, you lose the only chance you have to get what you want.”
“Let’s go. This isn’t solving anything.” I placed my hand on Alex’s arm, urging him to relax his grip on the elf.
Alex released him, but not before unleashing an intimidating growl. Even in his human form, it was enough to make a person’s hair stand on end.
Once we were out of sight of Leo’s Laughingstock, I pulled Alex into a little alley between buildings. “Time to plan. We don’t have close to what he’s asking, and it’ll take too long to get enough.” The money we were working with was Millhook’s. Once this was all over, I fully intended to have the CCS repay him.
Alex paced like the cat he was. While he was usually calm and collected, his panther side came out when he was especially angry. “There has to be a way to get to him. I’m willing to try force.”
“You heard what he said. Force isn’t going to get us what we want, unless what you want is to punish a guy who deals in dragon scales. And while I appreciate the sentiment, it’s not really useful here.” In these situations, there was no one-size-fits-all answer. Leo clearly wouldn’t be threatened or scared by the possibility of official action. So what was he scared of? He had to have a weakness, and there was only one person who had a chance of getting that type of information for me.
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