The Selkie of San Francisco

by Todd Calgi Gallicano

  “Nothin’ gets past you, huh?” Vance remarked.

  Gilgamesh shrugged. “The Bishop Fish are advisors to the Assembly. Iaira, is that really you?” He studied the princess, and a smile broke out across his face that was broader than his shoulders. “By the legend of Sharur, it is you! Everyone believes you to be dead,” he disclosed.

  “We hope to change that,” Vantana told him. “Are things as dire as the selkie claimed?”

  “From what I’ve heard, war is looming. Iaira’s return could calm the waters, but it will be choppy.”

  “Then we need to get there A-SAP, but the problem is she doesn’t remember where it’s at,” Vance told him. “So now we’re on the path of the five sacred points.”

  “Let me guess. You believe the first one is at the top of the tower?” a smirking Gilgamesh asked.

  The doctor played it cool. “We’ve heard rumors. We thought we’d go have ourselves a look-see.”

  “You thought wrong,” the mayor informed him. Vance had anticipated this. Gilgamesh was not the type to just roll over because an entire civilization was at risk. He would see this as an opportunity to further his influence. “I will let Iaira pass, because I owe her mother a favor,” he said. Then he turned to Tashi. “You can pass because you are a Guardian and I have great respect for those whom Phylassos trusts with his life. But you two may go on only one condition,” he told Sam and Vance. “The DMW will owe me a favor. A big one.”

  “What kind of favor?” Sam asked.

  “The only thing I don’t know is the future, my boy. You’ll find out when I do.”

  “I know I’m going to regret this, but all right. Let’s get on with it,” Vance capitulated. Gilgamesh happily nodded his approval and gestured to the entrance of the tower.

  “Follow me.”

  As they stepped through the tower’s massive doors, they found the interior pulsating with cables of blue luminescence that snaked down from the top of the tower, along the walls, and to the floor, where it disappeared in every direction. There was an elevator on one of the walls that reached to the tower’s peak. It was a simple platform with three railings. Before they climbed on, Gilgamesh turned to Tashi and gestured to her shekchen.

  “If what I know about those weapons is true, you may want to leave it down here,” he suggested. Tashi glanced over to Vance, who nodded his agreement. She hesitated, then set it on the ground and got onto the platform.

  Gilgamesh handed out dark goggles, like something Sam imagined a welder would wear. Everyone put them on, and the platform rose until it reached the crystal’s chamber. The brightness was overpowering—without the shades, it would have been impossible to see anything.

  “What now?” Iaira asked as they stepped into the chamber.

  Sam pointed to the crystal. “She said it was above the crystal….Maybe you have to get closer to see it,” he suggested. Iaira looked to Gilgamesh for approval.

  “Don’t look at me,” he said. “I’ve never been near that thing. I don’t think anyone has. Much too dangerous.”

  “Come, I will guide you,” Tashi told Iaira, offering her hand. Iaira took it, and the two approached the massive blue crystal. It sat only a few feet off the ground and was positioned directly beneath the capstone. Up close, it seemed to pulse like a beating heart, the light shining strongly, then dimming, then gleaming again. Iaira stretched out her free hand to touch the crystal, as if drawn to it.

  “Don’t—” Vance warned her.

  “I won’t,” she told him, holding her hand a few inches from the surface. “I learned my lesson. I was just trying to see if—”

  There was a sudden and massive surge of blue energy that leapt from the crystal and poured into Iaira’s body. The crystal blinked off, and the building went dark as the electricity for the entire city shut down. Iaira’s body was instantly illuminated, and she rose several feet off the floor. She appeared to grip Tashi’s hand more tightly, and the Guardian’s eyes closed, her face grimacing. Then the blue energy shot out of Iaira’s mouth and nose and back into the crystal. The current instantly started flowing again, and Vance could hear the distinctive whir of power being restored. Iaira dropped to the floor in a heap. Tashi was thrown backward and slid across the floor. She caught herself just before she went over the edge. Iaira’s hair was now standing on end, and she appeared frazzled, pale, and terrified.

  “Are you okay?” Sam asked, rushing to Iaira’s side. “What happened?”

  “It was—in the water—it was raining down—on me,” she stammered.

  “What was?” Sam responded. She met his gaze and whispered ominously:

  “Blood.”

  Making the drive in her DMW-issued SUV from the Castle Crags dvergen subway station to her cabin was second nature to Ranger Penelope Naughton, but it hadn’t always been that way. Penelope’s memory had been erased—or, rather, suppressed—to help Phylassos investigate the threat to the gryphon’s claw not that long ago. Though the ranger’s memories had since returned in full and she had forgiven the creature for his unconventional methods, Penelope was still unsettled by the idea that her mind had been manipulated by magic without her permission. As the ranger headed home, she thought back on the plight of Pearl Eklund—or Princess Iaira. The young woman was also clearly suffering from a form of memory loss, the cause of which was still unknown.

  When Penelope pulled into the parking space in front of her cabin, she spotted a late-model minivan backing out and a troll behind the wheel. The ranger instantly recognized the driver as Trevor’s sister.

  “Bernice?” Penelope called out, waving as she climbed out of her car. The troll spotted her and lowered the window.

  “Hello there, Ranger Naughton,” she said in her signature singsong voice.

  “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” Penelope asked.

  “Oh, yes indeedy. I was just bringing the boys up from Benicia,” she replied.

  “The boys?”

  “Sam London and Trevor,” Bernice answered.

  “But Sam—” Penelope was just about to reveal that Sam was not in Benicia, then quickly thought the better of it and coughed. “They’re both in the cabin?”

  “That’s where they went. I’ve gotta hustle, darling. Sorry I can’t stay and chat. Bye now!” Bernice said with a wave, and pulled out of the lot, throwing up a cloud of dust and gravel in her wake.

  A curious Penelope entered the cabin to find Trevor and Sam London sitting on her couch, looking glum. Of course, the Sam she was seeing was Nuks, the shape-shifting raccoon-dog. She was inclined to ask Nuks to shift back into his natural form, but she didn’t know what would be stranger—seeing Sam’s double talking or seeing a raccoon-dog talking. She went with Sam’s double.

  “Ranger Naughton!” Trevor exclaimed, standing up quickly. Nuks followed. “We’ve been waiting for you to come home,” the troll informed her.

  “I just caught Bernice outside….She said she drove you two up from Benicia. What were you doing there?” she asked Trevor, then shifted her eyes to Nuks. “And why are you here? You should be keeping up appearances. Wouldn’t Sam be in school right now?”

  Trevor sighed, and Nuks bit his lip.

  “Guys, talk to me,” Penelope said. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s about Ettie, Sam’s mom,” Trevor told her.

  “What about her?” Penelope asked. Trevor shifted his eyes to Nuks, who appeared cautious. “Nuks.” Penelope glared. “Tell me.”

  “She was doing her spring thing—Sam said she does it every year, and I was helping. As Sam, of course. And this year she finally got to the attic. Sam said she never gets to the attic, but I was helping and—”

  “Nuks, just tell me,” Penelope interrupted impatiently.

  “She’s gone, Ranger Naughton. Just gone,” the raccoon-dog revealed in an exasperated tone.r />
  “Gone? Gone where?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve looked everywhere. I followed her scent to the door, and then it just disappeared,” Nuks said.

  “And I reached out to all of my friends, but no one knows anything at all,” Trevor added. “And that’s really weird, ’cause I have a lot of friends—”

  “Oh no,” Penelope exclaimed quietly to herself as she sat down on the couch.

  “Do you know what happened?” Trevor asked, hopeful.

  “No. Well, I don’t know for sure. But I have a theory, and it’s not good.” She tapped her badge. “Dr. Vantana?” she called out, but no one answered. “I was afraid the badges wouldn’t work once the doctor was in Atlantis. Not that it matters. It’s not like he could do anything.” She exhaled thoughtfully.

  “Maybe Carl can help,” Trevor suggested.

  “I don’t think anyone can help now.”

  Classification 480 (Employee Medical Records)

  SUBJ: Tashi of Kustos (SA)

  DATE: ████████

  INTERNAL MEMO

  With the cooperation of DMW Special Advisor Tashi, agency medical personnel have learned that Guardians enjoy a unique dreamworld that enhances their physiological and psychological well-being. In contrast, the function of dreams in humans is not entirely understood by scientists. There are many theories as to why humans dream, but nothing is conclusive. For Guardians, the purpose of dreams is to enrich their lives. Given their allegiance to the gryphon, Guardians were never expected to venture beyond their village at the base of Phylassos’s mountain cave. Phylassos sought to remedy this isolation by bestowing upon them the power to control their dreams—it was an ability the gryphon himself had mastered.

  With Tashi now living outside of Kustos, there is little opportunity for her to train in a manner consistent with Guardian standards. Fortunately, through the power of a Guardian’s mind and the magic of the gryphon’s blood, Tashi is able to engage in training sessions within her dreamworld. These sessions even have real-world physiological implications on her body. According to the Guardian, she has faced ultra-realistic manifestations of creatures in her dreams that challenge her and help hone her skills. She has also indicated that she can use her dream state to visit her parents or friends, but the difference in time zones seldom allows for such gatherings.

  There are rare occasions when Guardians and even Phylassos himself do not have control of their dreamscapes. For instance, the gryphon had no control of his dream when he found himself in Death Valley with Sam London. It is speculated that this was a sign that the universe had stepped in to ensure they meet. Several Guardians, including the Kustos village elder Yeshe, appeared to have experienced this same dream. This was revealed when Sam London entered Kustos on his first case (Case #SL001-180) and the Guardians recognized him as the boy who had met the gryphon in Death Valley.

  It should be noted here that just as the gryphon could not control his dreamscape with Sam London, Tashi of Kustos experienced a similar anomaly when she touched Princess Iaira in the Tower of Atlas (Case SL002-130). The Guardian did not believe the incident worthy of attention at the time but would later come to understand that it was another example of the universe sending a message.

  Tashi of Kustos did not know where she was, but she knew she was no longer in the Tower of Atlas. She had just witnessed Princess Iaira get hit with a jolt of energy from the Atlantis fire crystal. The energy had surged through Iaira and streamed into Tashi, until suddenly the Guardian was transported into a dreamworld, but it was one she could neither recognize nor control. Tashi took a defensive stance and quickly scanned her surroundings. She appeared to be outside—in a forest—and it was night. She could hear the calls of insects and the flutter of wings of what she imagined to be birds or possibly bats. And then she spotted a figure standing a few feet in front of her. It was Ettie London. But Ettie did not look like herself. Her face was paler than usual, her eyes hollow, her stare directionless.

  “Miss—” Tashi tried calling out, but Ettie was instantly swallowed up by the darkness. Tashi awoke on the tower’s platform, just catching Iaira saying something about being covered in blood. She also noticed that the crystal was glowing stronger than before.

  “Tashi? How are you holding up? You took a mighty big jolt back there,” Dr. Vantana said, giving her a once-over.

  “I am fine,” Tashi responded tentatively. She stood up and regained her bearings. “My body is uniquely equipped to handle energy of that magnitude.” She glanced over to Sam and wondered if she should tell him what she had experienced.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked, noticing her eyes on him.

  “No reason,” she replied. Tashi was not seeking to withhold the truth from Sam, but Guardian dreams were peculiar things and she didn’t know what to make of this one quite yet. She decided to follow up with Yeshe as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

  “I think I want to go home now,” Iaira announced, practically hyperventilating.

  “That’s where we’re headed,” Sam reminded her.

  “No, the other one. The fun one,” she replied with tears in her eyes.

  “I’m afraid we can’t do that, Princess,” Dr. Vantana told her.

  “I didn’t even touch it!” Iaira declared.

  “It reached out and touched you,” Gilgamesh remarked.

  “Why?” she asked, agitated.

  “It is believed the crystal is a living entity that holds the collective knowledge of every species on earth—magical and otherwise,” the mayor explained. “It likely knows you’re of royal lineage and wanted you to see that which is relevant to your journey.”

  “Blood?” she replied, disgusted at the thought.

  “Was it your blood?” he asked. She considered it.

  “I don’t know….”

  “Well, it’s not a ton to go on,” Sam said. “Maybe this isn’t the place.”

  “No, Sam,” Vantana said, pointing upward. “I reckon this is the place.”

  The doctor pointed to words that were now revealed on the interior walls of the tower’s capstone, and they all gazed up to see them. It seemed as though the words had been there the whole time but were just hidden in the shadows. This must have been why the crystal was brighter now, Tashi concluded. It was intended to expose these words. Sam craned his neck to get a better look.

  “What language is that?” he asked, staring at the glyphs on the stone surface.

  “It appears to be a mer-language of some kind,” Vantana answered, squinting his eyes.

  “I can read it!” Iaira said with surprise, then recited the words slowly, “ ‘The path to the kingdom beneath the sea lies beyond the falls in the frozen valley, where the austral waters run blood-red and the golden wolf rears its head, a place where all should fear to tread, for it fills the bravest heart with dread.’ ”

  “Where the waters run blood-red?” Sam wondered aloud. “What does that mean?”

  “I’ve got an idea, and it ain’t pretty,” Vance replied. Before he could elaborate, the tower shook and the tremor knocked everyone to the ground, except Gilgamesh and Tashi. A Klaxon sounded overhead.

  “What the—” Gilgamesh walked to the edge of the tower floor and gazed out onto the city. Tashi followed, with the others close behind. They peered out and saw that the buildings in the city were unfurling massive sections of shimmering fabric along their lengths.

  “Are those—” Sam began to ask.

  “Sails,” confirmed Gilgamesh. “But we’re not scheduled to move until evening. Excuse me a moment.” He pulled a small cylindrical device out of his pocket and spoke into it. “Why are we sailing?”

  “Two human ships off our western coast, sir,” a disembodied voice announced through the device. “Avoidance protocols have been automatically initiated.”


  Gilgamesh quickly turned to Vance. “Did anyone know you were headed here? Could you have been followed?” he asked anxiously.

  “No to both questions. We took the dvergen subway.”

  Gilgamesh considered that for a beat. “Perhaps the loss of power when Iaira touched the crystal shut off the cloaking mechanism.”

  “But it was so fast,” Iaira said.

  “Human technology may be good enough to have caught the island. Even if it was just a blip on their radar, it was likely a mighty large blip,” Gilgamesh concluded. “Let’s hope that it’s just these ships that are investigating.”

  “Sounds like it’s time for us to get moving, kids,” Vantana announced as he headed to the elevator. But Gilgamesh stepped in front and put up a hand.

  “You’re not going anywhere, Ranger. Any immediate departures would put the city at risk,” Gilgamesh explained. “You and the others will have to wait here for the next few days, perhaps weeks, until we’re sure we aren’t in any danger of exposing our existence.”

  “Sorry, but we can’t do that, Mr. Mayor,” Vance replied. “We’re on a case for the gryphon.”

  “And it was the gryphon who established these rules, remember?” Gilgamesh replied.

  “Mayor,” a voice called out over Gilgamesh’s device. He answered and stepped away.

  “We can’t stay here!” Sam quietly exclaimed to Dr. Vantana.

  “I know that,” the doctor told him. “But sometimes you just have to be agreeable, then do what you want when no one’s lookin’.”

  Vance gestured for them to stay quiet and led them to the elevator’s platform. They were almost halfway down when the elevator rocked suddenly. Gilgamesh leapt down from the capstone and caught up to them. The jolt knocked Iaira off balance, sending her over the side, arms flailing. Tashi dashed across the platform and grabbed ahold of Iaira’s ankle as the rest of the princess’s body swung perilously below the lowering elevator. Slowly Tashi pulled the frazzled princess back onto the platform.