by Sariah Skye
Jealous Gabriel grunted from across the table, but didn't say anything. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
“There has to be some other way,” Daniel insisted, his tone concerned. “Something about this makes me uneasy.”
My eyes shot up and looked to him pleadingly. “Oh?”
Daniel seemed to struggle internally but, he just sighed, saying he couldn't speak. “Just trust me when I say it's not a good idea.”
“There. See, the Seer thinks it's a bad idea,” Gabriel said defiantly to the Loremaster.
“I understand it's not ideal, but without proof, without anything to bring to the court we don’t have a choice right now,” I said. “It's our best option. If we just simply showed up at the Court—claiming Nicodemus was Shadowtouched—”
“—if they didn't kill us immediately first,” Maxxus insisted, raising a brow.
“Exactly. We don't have a snowball's chance in hell to get through to them.”
Gabriel sighed, sitting back down in his chair, removing his black-rimmed glasses with one hand and scrubbing across his face with the other. “There has to be another way to get proof. Are we sure Kit can’t help somehow?” he asked.
Kiarra shook her head, still stone-faced. “No, no one would believe a human anyways and especially not a friend of Leo’s.” She glanced at me apologetically. “No offense.”
I snorted. “None taken. You’re right, though.”
Daniel was fidgeting his hands in his lap, avoiding everyone’s gaze. “Then there is no other choice.”
Kiarra’s expression was grim. “We should at least be allowed to come with, but, maybe if we could somehow speak to someone over there they could help; Braeden or Elder Aleron maybe, they could act as some sort of protection.” She exhaled slowly, burying her face in her hands. “If nothing else just warning them this was going on might help diffuse some of the threats on the Court in the meantime. I wish I could tell Braeden, somehow. So he can be prepared.”
My hand flew to my mouth and I gasped. Given everything that had gone on in the past few days I barely registered that, if Nicodemus was Shadowtouched there was a good chance that he'd be coming after my brother and grandfather now too, to get to me. Kit had already been targeted and as much as I adored her, I wasn't as close with her as my grandfather and brother. That would be ugly indeed.
Maxxus, who had been watching his own feet shuffle along the ground as he paced impatiently, shifted around and looked up. “We do need to warn him. Them.”
“But how?” I asked, exasperated, throwing my hands up in the air. “We can’t just call them because then they will know where we are. Won’t they? Can they do that; trace calls?”
Kiarra laughed shortly. “If they can work with the Shadows, what can’t they do, is the real question.”
Gabriel meekly held up his hand, like a little kid in kindergarten afraid to go up to the chalkboard. “I… might be able to help with that.”
I grabbed Gabriel by the shoulders, staring at him intently. “How? What? Some magic spell? Some conjuring? Can you send a message or—”
He waved me off. “No, nothing like that. This isn’t magical. It’s technical.”
“Technical?”
He nodded. “I can go into one of our phones and set the GPS to say somewhere else. That’s easy enough, but still traceable if they want, but chances are, they won't have the knowledge in how to do it, if you are all as backasswards as Leo says.” He glanced at me expectantly and I nodded.
“Oh yes, we are.”
“Perfect. I can get into the internet and have the—”
“You can do it, and have the phone call be untraceable?” Maxxus asked. “That’s all I want to know. You can do that?”
Gabriel nodded. “I’m pretty good with computers and all that.”
Daniel piped up then. “He is. He found my phone clear across the country when it got stolen. Not to mention hacked into our school’s system a time or two,” he said, giving a wink to his brother who just shrugged.
“Child’s play. It is kind of my job to know the Internet,” Gabriel said, with indifference. Before coming to Minnesota to essentially find me, Gabriel was a game moderator and web designer; he knew his stuff. “This crap isn't hard at all.”
“But you can do it and have it untraceable to us, here?” Maxxus asked.
Gabriel nodded. “Yes… but to be sure, we should probably destroy the phone afterward.”
I let out a little yelp. “Destroy my phone?”
Maxxus immediately took his phone from his pocket and tossed it at Gabriel. “Do it. If you can do it, do it. I don’t care about it; it’s only a material possession.”
I frowned at him sympathetically. “Aww, and you just got it too.” Maxxus sighed and just shrugged.
“Yes, but this is more important.”
“Actually…” Daniel took Maxxus’ phone from his brother and handed it back. He pulled out his own phone and handed it over. “Use mine. It’s an older model anyways and anyone I really need to contact is here. Besides, when all this is over I’ll just say it was stolen and use my insurance to get a new one,” he finished with a grin.
Gabriel nodded. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. Just…” he grabbed the phone. “Let me write down a few of the numbers on here… in case we come out of this all right, and I need a date to celebrate.”
I chuckled, and Daniel went off in search of paper and pen in one of the kitchen drawers.
“Okay… good. So who do we call to?” Gabriel asked me.
I wanted to say my grandfather, but there was no way to know if he’d get it or not. My brother’s phone would be more reliable, and him more likely to check and or answer it. “Braeden is the best. He can tell Grandfather and hopefully, they can be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”
Kiarra nodded quickly. “Yes. That will make me feel better.”
I glanced at her dejectedly. “Me too.”
Daniel re-entered momentarily, shoving a piece of paper in his pocket and reluctantly handing his brother his phone. “Do what you will.” He pretended to shield his eyes from a horrific scene, as Gabriel rolled his eyes and pried off the protective outer shield of the phone. Daniel let out a pained noise as he pretended to faint into the couch. Kiarra elbowed him, looking stern but the corner of her mouth was slightly upturned.
Gabriel turned to me. “Get my laptop, will you?” I nodded, and grabbed his computer from the case next to the bed he had set it on. He took in into the kitchen, set it on the counter and sat down, getting to work.
“What else can we do?” I asked, looking to Kiarra.
She shrugged. “I really don’t know. We should prepare or something, Finn,” She rose from her seated position and gestured towards the Loremaster pointedly, who’d been fairly silent throughout Maxxus’ and my confession.
Finnian took the hint and rose to join her. “Right. Let's do that now.”
I looked at them strangely, but Kiarra just said, “You work on getting the message to Braeden.” She forced a smile. “Tell him I say hi.”
“You don’t want to talk to him?” I asked and she shook her head.
“Do I want to? Yes. Is it practical? No.” Kiarra sighed. “He might not want to hear from me, anyways. And you were the one to hear it from Kit so you should be the one to tell him about it.”
I frowned, hearing the wistfulness in her tone. “I’m sorry. I’ll tell him you’re safe, at least.”
“For now. I’ll be back.” She exited the room, sullen, predictably for Finnian’s office. Finnian trailed behind, offering me a shrug before he disappeared.
Chapter 2
It was awhile before Gabriel had finished his hackjob into the phone and the internet and… whatever he did. He claimed that it was something bill collectors and what not did regularly, changing the origin of the number, causing it to somehow bounce the signal around multiple towers, therefore scrambling it and making it hard to trace. Not impossible, he clarifie
d but made even more difficult by the magic he used to help hide it further.
He instructed me I would have only about five minutes or less, after that and the chances of the call being traced went up exponentially.
“We have to hope he answers, because leaving a message is a bad idea,” Gabriel explained. “Even if he deletes it, it can still be retrieved and they’ll know he’s had contact with you.”
“And put him at risk.” I shook my head. “Yeah… bad idea.”
“What about a text message?” Maxxus inquired.
Gabriel considered this. “Might be okay, but there's no way to know if he'll get it. Don’t want to risk it.”
I nodded. Gabriel was typing furiously on his computer keyboard before finally satisfied. He handed the phone to me. “Hurry. You have very little time. Make it count.”
I swallowed nervously. I entered my brother’s number into the phone and waited.
Everyone was looking at me expectantly as I waited for the phone to ring. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. I knew after about six rings it went to voicemail. In the middle of the fifth ring, he answered.
“Hello?” my brother asked, sounding confused from the other end. “Who is this?”
“Brae, it’s me. I don’t have much time,” I said quickly.
“Leo?” he whispered, hushed into the phone.
“I have to be quick. Are you alone?” I asked.
“Umm... yeah. I’m at home. Why?”
“Good. Okay, I know this will sound weird, but the Court is in danger,” I said, trying to sound persuadable.
“What? How? And where are you?” Braeden asked.
“I can’t tell you. The less you know, the better. But we’re safe,” I said.
“We?” he repeated.
“Yes. Me. Kiarra. Maxxus.”
Braeden breathed out on the phone. “They’re with you? Kiarra? What happened—”
“—look, I can’t get into that. I just need you to know there is something evil going on in the court. I don’t know how to explain it, but there is something called the Shadows from the Shadow realm, and they’ve infiltrated the Court. Grandfather might know what I’m talking about; but they haven’t surfaced in over a thousand years.” I explained, rather quickly. I had to turn away from the expectant stares of Gabriel and Maxxus and plug my other ear to prevent hearing Daniel’s whiny mumbling about the impending demise of his phone.
“Shadows?”
“Yes. Nicodemus is one of them, I know for sure. I don’t know how many others. But you’ll know because they will just… not feel right. You’ll feel angry. Hopeless. They won’t look right either. We hope it hasn't gotten much past Nicodemus, but we're not sure right now and it's best to assume that it has spread past him.”
“Huh? You’re not making any sense,” Braeden protested.
“Hurry up!” Gabriel whispered intently, tapping at an imaginary wristwatch when I turned back to him briefly.
“I know it doesn’t make sense. But I need you to tell Grandfather and just watch out for anything weird, okay? Please. You don’t want to have anything to do with these Shadows, believe me. I’ve been attacked—” I shivered at the memory, “—trust me.”
Braeden exhaled. “All right. I’ll tell him. But if something happens, how do I call you?”
“You can’t,” I said. “And don’t try calling this number, it’ll be disconnected soon.” A squeak from Daniel. I heard Gabriel cursing at his brother.
“Okay… are you sure you’re okay?” my brother asked, sounding unconvinced.
“As well as can be expected,” I replied, with a short laugh.
“Gotta hang up, Leo,” Gabriel instructed sternly. I nodded at him.
“Who is—” Braeden began, but I interrupted him.
“I have to go. Just tell what I told you to Grandfather. Tell him I love him. I love you,” I said, trying to hide the emotion from my voice. “And… don’t be mad at Kiarra. We’ll explain everything in time. She loves you too.”
“Kiarra?” Braeden’s voice cracked. “Leo—don’t hang up, I—”
Gabriel was glaring at me and I reluctantly pulled the phone away from my ear and hit the ‘disconnect’ button. I handed the phone back to him. He placed it in a glass bowl sitting on the counter and summoned a plasma ball between his palms. It crackled and hissed in his hands, glowing a bright purple and blue with electricity.
Daniel groaned from the couch, covering his face with his hands. “I can’t watch!”
I tried not to snicker, as Gabriel shot the phone with his plasma ball, followed by another ball of fire and then, water. The remains of the phone steamed, and my nostrils filled with the scent of burnt plastic.
“Gross,” I said, wrinkling my nose. I waved the smell away from me. I peered over Gabriel’s shoulder; the phone was little more than a black blob of plastic and circuits.
“Just in case...” He shot more fireballs at it until the blob broke into dozens of smaller pieces. Finally, he took it outside and tossed balls of earth at it, shattering what was left into little more than dust.
Daniel whimpered when Gabriel came back in empty handed. I giggled, sitting next to him on the couch. I snaked my arm through his and patted his leg. “Your sacrifice to the cause is duly noted.”
Daniel sniffled, pretending to wipe away mock tears from his eyes. “I’ll be strong.”
“We probably can find you a new one, temporarily if we can go into town,” Gabriel said. “We should all have some way of getting a hold of each other if need be.”
“Where’s the nearest town?” Maxxus inquired.
“Two Harbors is nearby, but it’s a very small town; not sure if they’d have a place that sells phones there,” Gabriel replied. “Duluth would be our best bet. That’s about twenty minutes away.”
“Do we dare though? I mean… really?” I asked nervously.
Even Daniel hesitated. “No, she’s right. It’s probably not the best idea.”
“We can talk to Finnian, see what he thinks?” Gabriel suggested, and we all agreed. “Besides…with that dreamwalker connection you guys have now it might not be necessary.”
Daniel let out a pretend gasp. “Oh, Leo! Maybe you’re a psychic!”
I chortled. “Yeah… right.”
Gabriel looked thoughtful. “Leo, do you still have that book that your Grandfather gave you?”
“The one that no one can read? Yeah, why? It’s in my backpack.” I had forgotten about it until now. I jumped up to go get it. I set it gently in his hands as he gingerly thumbed through it.
“Well… we’re kind of in the right place for it,” Gabriel said. “I’m sure Finnian or one of them other Lore Dudes can decipher it. Maybe it can tell us something about your powers or… something.”
I shrugged. “I guess… curious to hear his take on everything anyways. Even if I still want to throttle him.”
Kiarra was just leaving the Loremasters’ office as we were entering; she spun on her heels and followed us right back in. “I was just coming to get you guys.”
“Ah… just the group of folks I wanted to see,” Finnian said, giving us a grim smile.
“Now what?” I questioned.
Finnian sighed a long sigh. “We need to sit for this.” He led us through one of the frosted glass doors into a room with a wooden table and cushioned office chairs. We each sat down, Finnian choosing to perch on the table, feet resting in the chair.
“Let's say the Shadows have in fact gone past just Nicodemus and penetrated the Dragon Realm and Court… its dire indeed, especially depending on how high it goes up, of course.” Finnian, who had had a pencil tucked behind his ear, removed it and bounced the pink eraser part on the table nervously. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Maxxus next to me glaring daggers at him, his palms placed firmly on the table, one over the other. Gabriel on the other side slung his arm casually over the armrest of my chair, his forearm resting on my leg. Daniel, still looking mopey about his phone slumped list
lessly in his chair, had perked up in the presence of the handsome Finnian. Kiarra was opposite the table, knees tucked into her chest, arms wrapped around them. She looked like she was set to burst into tears any second.
I suddenly remembered that I was holding the old book in my lap and I set it on the table, with a light thwack against the wooden table.
Finnian’s eyes narrowed and then widened upon me producing the book. “Leorah… where did you get that?”
“This? Oh my grandfather gave it to me. He’s had it in his library for a long, long time. I just remembered I had it,” I said, with a shrug. “Not that anyone can read it; he had thought it was Gaelic but it’s not. Why?”
Finnian was thunderstruck. “Leorah… do you have any idea what that is?”
I stared at him blankly. Sounding surly, I replied, “Surely not.”
He ignored my insolence. “May I see it?” I shrugged and tossed it to him but he hollered.
“No! Don’t throw that… don’t ever throw this… it’s a priceless relic.”
I shot him an odd look and passed it to Maxxus who handed it to Kiarra who glanced at it momentarily before passing it carefully to Finnian.
I didn’t think his eyes could get any wider, but they did as soon as the book was in his possession, and they shifted to the muddy yellow-brown color briefly before changing back to the normal sky-blue. “I… I cannot believe this. It’s been missing so long… I…” he stammered, not able to articulate.
“Well, what is it?” I urged.
“This,” he held it up to show. “This is the very first written record of the Loremasters. Ever.”
Kiarra sat up higher in her chair, perking up. “You’re kidding…?” Finnian shook his head.
I raised a brow, still not understanding the significance. “I don’t understand. My grandfather told me it was a book about pink dragons or something. Something that will help me.”
“Well, perhaps, it just might but it's not specifically about pink dragons; at least not solely.” he explained, the excitement in his tone was overwhelming. His pale blue eyes flipped from gray, then yellow and then bright, sky blue; indicating that he was in fact, extremely overjoyed.