by Kristen Pham
“No!” she felt herself suffocating in her fear, and felt her grip on her own sanity start to slip.
“Valerie, wake up!” Thai’s voice cried frantically.
“Come back to me!” Cyrus shouted.
Valerie was yanked out of her vision, and found herself slumped against Thai’s strong chest. Part of her half-awake mind registered that he smelled like vanilla and cookies.
“I’m back, it’s okay,” she said, but her voice was weak. She had never been pulled into a vision like that before, without being weak from a fight.
Her breathing was shallow, and she knew that if Thai let her go, she wouldn’t be able to stand on her own. Luckily, most of the visitors were gone for the day. The sun was setting, and gray clouds made the light dim.
She felt her heart slow to a crawl, and suddenly she knew that it would never speed up again. This was the end. This was a dream that she could not recover from. And to think that she had been so close to experiencing magic! Valerie’s eyes fluttered and she was too weak to keep them open. “I’m so sorry guys.”
“No, please! Stay with me!” Cyrus begged.
Thai fell to his knees and cradled her in his arms. His dark, chocolate eyes looked a little misty. “You’re a fighter, I knew it from the first minute I saw you. No way are you going anywhere!”
Valerie didn’t want to let them down, but she knew that unless a miracle happened, she was going to die. A large drop of rain splashed against her forehead, and in a matter of seconds, water poured from the sky.
Thai started to lift her. “We’ve got to get her out of this.”
“No, wait! Look!” Cyrus pointed the stones, which were being pounded by the rain. As they were drenched, the stones began to glow from within. “Take her inside the circle. I’ve heard that the stones have healing powers. It’s worth trying – there’s nothing any doctor can do to help her now.”
Thai carried her to the ring of stones, and she knew the exact moment that he stepped inside the circle. Suddenly, warmth ran through her body, and with the warmth came energy. She felt her heart beat almost normally again, and strength flow through her body. “Let me go,” she said to Thai, but he still gripped her tightly. “Let me go, seriously!”
He set her gently on the ground, and she laughed. She still felt weak, but she knew that she had enough strength to go on. She walked over to one of the stones, which wasn’t glowing anymore, and touched it. “Thank you,” she said, not even feeling slightly stupid for talking to a stone.
She turned to Cyrus and Thai. “I’m going to be okay – at least for awhile longer. Maybe I’ll even make it off this planet after all.” A feeling of hope spread through her as she realized that maybe she would pass the test of her magic tomorrow after all.
Thai slumped against one of the boulders in relief. “Thank God.”
“I heard that water on the stones can heal, but no one has seen it happen in hundreds and hundreds of years,” Cyrus said.
“Hey, you kids! Get out of there!” A guard yelled, jogging toward them in the rain.
“Sorry sir, only looking,” Thai said.
“Well, you have to be on a private tour to walk wherever you want. Anyway, we’re closing.”
Reluctantly, Valerie followed Thai out of Stonehenge. But as she walked toward the bus, she couldn’t help looking back over her shoulder at the stones that had saved her life.
An hour later, Thai and Valerie arrived at the Stonehenge Touring Park in Orcheston, which was as close as they could camp to the monument. The next day they would have to walk the four miles to Stonehenge in the dark, early morning before the buses started bringing visitors to visit the ruins.
Luckily, the rain stopped by the time they set up their tents. Valerie saw a small bonfire created by some of the other campers flickering in the distance. They decided to bring their cans of beans and stale bread to the fire to warm them up.
As they approached the fire, she looked over at Thai, who still wore his drenched sweatshirt with the hood up. “Why don’t you take that thing off and let it dry? Besides, you look kind of threatening with it on. You’ll scare people.”
“That’s the point. It’s better that people keep their distance.”
“God forbid that we should have any fun tonight,” she muttered.
But she cheered up as they approached the fire. She felt the chill from the rain finally vanish, and the other campers shared marshmallows for toasting with them. Valerie saw Thai’s eyes start to droop, and he made a small sound, like a child who was trying not to fall asleep. He stood up and went back to his tent.
Valerie slept lightly that night, excited to get up and go back to those magical stones, but still nervous that tomorrow would be the end of the only adventure of her life. At first, she thought she was dreaming again when she heard noises coming from Thai’s tent. She sat up, and listened harder. There it was again.
She went to Thai’s tent and pulled back the flap. “Thai, are you okay?” In the dim light, it seemed as if he was tossing and turning in his sleeping bag. “Who are you talking to? Is someone in there with you?”
“Get out of here!” he yelled, enraged, yanking the flap of his tent closed. “Leave me alone!”
Valerie, fully awake now, stood back, shocked. She couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night, and was fully packed and ready to go at 3am, when the two silently began the hike to Stonehenge.
After a mile of trudging in silence, she finally said, “Aren’t you going to say anything? It’s not like I meant to invade your privacy.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Because it’s none of your business,” he said without emotion as he pulled on his hood and retreated into its depths.
“Fine. But it’s not like I’m going to judge you. It seemed like maybe you needed to talk to someone or something. You sounded so miserable last night.”
Thai didn’t respond, and neither of them said another word until they reached Stonehenge. Valerie could barely make out the giant stones in the light that was starting to creep over the horizon, but her heart leapt at the sight of them anyway.
“So what’s the test?”
Cyrus appeared in front of her. “Simple. To find the map. Finding it will prove that your magic is too strong for you to survive on Earth.”
“Obviously the magic inside her is strong enough. It nearly killed her last night!” Thai burst out, angrily. “So tell us where the map is!”
“I don’t even know, dude,” Cyrus said. “But chill out, she’ll be fine.”
“Both of you, give me some space,” she said firmly, as she saw Thai about to shout at Cyrus again.
Valerie approached the stones slowly. She felt the hum of magic as she walked around the outside of the ring of stones. Inhaling deeply, she stepped inside, and the humming inside of her felt stronger.
Gently, she ran her hands over the rough stones, one at a time. At the fifth stone she touched, she stopped, puzzled. There was something different about the way this one felt. All of the stones contained power, she could feel that, but this one contained something else as well. It seemed – alive.
The dim light caressing the stone changed at that moment, and she gasped. How could she have missed it? Etched into the stone was a face. Were it not for the angle of light casting shadows on the stone, she would never have been able to see it. The etching had obviously faded over the hundreds of years that the monument stood. In direct sunlight, it would be practically invisible.
Valerie hesitated before touching the face with her hand, not wanting to offend it. Her fingertips brushed the cheek of the face, and she made a small sound of surprise. Instead of rough stone, it felt like warm flesh. At her touch, the eyes of the face glowed a gentle blue.
At that moment, her vision blurred, and when she was able to refocus she was looking out over Stonehenge through those blue, glowing eyes. She could now see the monument as it once was in a
ll its glory, with the stones all standing. She could see that another ring of wooden poles surrounded the monument as well. At the horizon, the sun was now peeking over the edge. She followed with her eyes the first direct ray of light from the sun as it passed through the two heel stones in the distance and struck a stone in the middle of the circle.
Suddenly, Valerie was back in her own body, and the stone in the center of the circle, the altar stone, was still glowing. She approached the stone, which was bathed in new morning light. She stepped into the light and a flood of power surged through her. A thousand images flashed through her brain of the Great Pyramid in Egypt, and she knew exactly how to get inside the launch room and operate the vehicle that would transport her to the Globe. “This is it,” she whispered. “I have the map!”
The bright light faded into normal morning sunshine. She was about to shout to Thai and Cyrus when a black shadow flickered in the corner of her vision.
“Val, look out!” Cyrus shouted, pointing to her right. Thai came running toward her.
She turned and saw the enormous man who had frightened her at the Oakland train station a few days ago. Thai was right – he was dangerous. As quick as lighting, the man crouched, and then jumped, farther than any human could possibly jump. As he flew through the air, she saw that his palms were covered in yellow, nasty-smelling slime, and he was reaching for her neck.
Valerie felt her body respond, easily dodging his grasping hands, despite his speed. Without knowing what she was doing, she effortlessly knocked his hand away with the back of her foot with an elegant spin kick. She could feel that her kick packed more power than it ever had before, as if the power of Stonehenge was giving her own magic a boost.
With a growl, the man was on his feet again, lunging at her. By now Thai had reached the fight, and he kicked the man on his back from behind. The man spun around to face him, and Thai punched him in the face. The man staggered back. “You better get out of here before you get seriously hurt,” Thai grunted.
The man’s body tensed and she saw that the slime on his hands also oozed out of his bare feet. Instinctively, she knew that if any of that goo touched Thai, he might not survive. For the first time since the fight started, she felt fear. It made her gut clench. There was no way she would let him hurt Thai. As the man’s foot left the ground, she tackled him to the ground.
Valerie made sure that she pinned him down, and expertly hit him in the head with her elbow. The man went limp, unconscious. At that moment, she thought that she heard a familiar woman’s voice scream, “Idiot!” from a great distance, but there was no one at the monument other than the four of them.
Valerie looked at the slime sliding down the man’s arm. The putrid smell stung her nostrils. “That must be poison.”
“You’re right,” Thai whispered, horrified. “If it had touched me…” He shook his head.
“Hey, Val, if you ever needed more proof that your magic is tied to your fighting ability, this is it,” Cyrus said with a grin.
“That felt – amazing,” she said, trying to process what she had done. She had never felt so powerful and in control. Then she noticed the stunned expression on Thai’s face, like he couldn’t process what had happened, either. “Thai, are you okay?”
“I didn’t see the poison on his feet. He could have killed me.”
“Let’s get far away from here before he wakes up. We’ll be long gone when he tries to look for us.”
“No, Valerie, you don’t get it. You saved my life.”
“No – we beat him together. And your life wouldn’t have been in danger if it weren’t for me.”
“Well, thanks,” he said in a tone that was a mixture of admiration and gratitude.
Valerie looked away. She never knew what to say when someone thanked her. “Any time.”
Cyrus crouched over the unconscious man. “Now that I see this guy up close, I think I recognize him. I’ve heard people talk about someone helping out the Fractus with tasks they need done on Earth. His name is Venu.”
“Why isn’t he dying from the magic inside him, like me?” Valerie asked, confused.
Cyrus glanced quickly at Thai before answering. “It’s rare, but there are exceptions. Venu doesn’t have a magic power, like you. He’s part amphibian or something, from what I hear. That kind of magic – a person possessing qualities from nature – doesn’t break Earth’s rules for some reason.”
“So he can’t come to the Globe? He must feel like a freak on Earth.”
“Leave it to you to worry about the mental well-being of a guy who tried to kill you,” Cyrus said with a roll of his eyes. “But anyway, I heard that he was offered the chance to come to the Globe from the Conjurors. But he refused. It was too late – the Fractus had already gotten to him. No one knows what they promised him, but he’s doing whatever they want.”
“I guess the Fractus want to stop you from getting to the Globe, Valerie,” Thai said quietly. “But we’ll make sure they fail.”
Chapter Five
Valerie and Thai traveled with a new sense of urgency, turning the trip from Stonehenge back to the London Heathrow Airport into a race to escape before Venu regained consciousness. Valerie couldn’t help looking over her shoulder every few minutes, half expecting to see his enormous shoulders in the distance, lumbering after them. Only when they were safely aboard their flight to Cairo, Egypt, and Thai had scanned all the passengers to make sure Venu wasn’t on board, did she finally feel her muscles relax.
“I wish there was some way we could know for sure that he isn’t following us again,” Thai said after they were safely in the air.
Cyrus popped into view, sitting in a cross-legged yoga pose on top of the bald head of the man sitting in front of them. Valerie couldn’t repress a grin, but Thai hissed, “Get down from there! That’s so disrespectful.”
“Whatever, he’ll never know,” Cyrus said, but he sat in the empty seat between Valerie and Thai instead.
Before they could start bickering, Valerie asked, “Did you find anything out about that Venu guy?”
“Sorry, Val. I tried to follow him to see what he’s up to, but he’s protected.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Usually, a Conjuror thinks about someone on Earth really hard, and we’re at their side in seconds. But no matter how long and hard I thought about Venu, I couldn’t find him. That means that someone on the Globe is using a charm to prevent anyone else from locating him.”
“So there’s no way for us to know where he is, then,” she replied.
“Nope. It’s kind of ironic – the charm was originally created to protect children on Earth from being bothered by the Fractus who like to scare kids. But eventually the Fractus found out about the charms and now one of them is using it to stop anyone from finding Venu.”
“At least we know he’s not on this flight,” Thai said. “We should take advantage of the fact that we’re safe for now and get some rest.”
Valerie nodded. She was exhausted, so she was able to sleep for most of the flight. It wasn’t until the wheels of the airplane came into jarring contact with the runway in Cairo that she awoke. Rested and confident that Venu was hundreds of miles away, she felt the thrill and worries about her adventure return.
“We made it! He’ll never find us now,” she said hopefully.
Thai didn’t look so sure. “I don’t understand how he tracked us to Stonehenge in the first place. It’s like he knows where we’re going. Maybe someone is watching us and feeding back our whereabouts to him. What if he knows about the Great Pyramid, too? He could be only a few hours behind us. We need to go straight there tonight so you can get off this planet!”
Valerie turned to him, her forehead wrinkling with worry. “Thai, you’re not going to like what I’m about to ask you, but it’s important. I don’t want to leave tonight. I want one last full day on Earth. Once I leave, I can never come back. And even though we’re in a foreign country right now, it’s not half
as foreign as the world I’m traveling to. Please, give me one day.”
Thai didn’t immediately reject her request with his usual condescending commands, as she expected. “I can understand that – I’d want the same thing if I were you. But you’re in real danger and I really don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I don’t know what Venu is capable of and who might be helping him.”
“I know, and it’s unfair of me to ask you to risk your life by waiting another day. I can find my way to the portal from here. The directions are all in my head. We can say goodbye now, if you want. The last thing I want to do is to put you in any danger.”
Thai’s eyes flickered with anger. “You really don’t get me, do you? I’m not afraid for myself! It’s you he’s after, and I won’t leave your side until you’re on your way to the Globe. To imply that I would abandon my quest at the first sign of trouble is an insult.”
Valerie felt awful for making him think that she underestimated him, especially when she thought he was one of the bravest people she’d ever known. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that at all. I meant–”
He interrupted, “You can have your day as long as no more trouble finds us. But the second anything weird happens, I’m getting you out of here right away and I don’t want to hear a word against it from you.”
Less than an hour later, Valerie and Thai had disembarked the plane, collected their luggage, and found the air-conditioned bus that would take them to a campground in Cairo where they would stay for the night. But just as they settled in, Cyrus appeared, perching on the arm of Valerie’s seat. His mischievous grin sparkled in the bright Egyptian sunlight.
“I’ve got a surprise, guys. Turns out we have a contact here who has pulled some strings for you two. Get off the bus at the Mena House Oberoi. A host will be waiting for you. He’ll take care of you.”
“But what about-” Valerie started to ask, but Cyrus had already disappeared.
Thirty minutes later, the bus passed through 20-foot, ornately carved iron gates that led up a flower-lined path, through a maze of elaborate gardens, and then pulled up to the front door of a building that resembled a palace more than any hotel that she had ever seen in Oakland.