“They’re coming,” Akeno whispered.
Nicole tucked all the Minya containers into a pocket in her backpack. She glanced at the Arete. “Is there another way out of here?”
He only stared at her in response. Nicole couldn’t help but wonder if something was wrong with him. Obviously, he didn’t speak English—expecting him to was ridiculous. But still, he should at least be able to tell what she needed or wanted. It was pretty apparent they’d want to leave the place. He was probably being dense on purpose. Or maybe he was so malnourished, he really couldn’t compute what she was saying.
Nicole started searching the room, pressing her hands against the walls, hoping to find a way out.
She found nothing.
“I should have shrunk you too,” Akeno whispered.
Nicole shook her head. There wouldn’t have been time for that. Plus, Akeno working alone would have been bad. If he’d gotten caught, no one would have been able to rescue him.
A sudden idea came over her. They’d hide under the cushions and pillows. She didn’t have time to try to figure out the talisman now.
As quickly as they could, she and Akeno dislodged the pillows, flinging them aside. She made sure Akeno was hidden, then jumped next to him into the concave bowl that the pillows and cushions had filled. Using her magic, she started pulling the pillows toward herself.
She couldn’t leave the Silver where he was. Nicole commanded the bit of magic she’d used to hold him in place to release the wood, letting it drop, then pulled the last of the pillows over her.
Soon, she couldn’t see or hear anything.
Moments after the last pillow had dropped, Nicole felt something heavy land on top of her. She gasped, wondering what it was.
The weight shifted, settled. It wasn’t so heavy that it caused pain, and she realized what was going on. The Arete had sat on her—he was helping! She made a mental note to thank him somehow.
She felt, more than heard, the Agarchs enter the space. She wondered how they fit through the narrow hallway, how they filled the room.
Nicole wished she could see. She wished she could hide her pulse. More than anything, she wished she wasn’t here, in this place. Hopefully, the huge amounts of magic pouring off the Arete would mask her own print.
She couldn’t hear anything—no one was talking. She’d expected at least the clacking sound the Agarchs had made while she’d been around them in Arches, but not even that much filtered through the cushions to her.
What was going on?
Resisting the impulse to squirm around so she could see, Nicole lay perfectly still.
After what felt like an eternity, but which was probably only five minutes, the weight on top of her lifted. The pillows and cushions were pulled away, and the Arete stared down at her.
He didn’t open his mouth, he didn’t smile, he didn’t frown. He did extend a hand, though, to help her out. Her mouth popped open and she accepted the hand.
Once Akeno was standing and the pillows and cushions had been replaced, Nicole and Akeno glanced at each other.
“Back to the thicket?” Akeno asked.
“That’s our best bet,” Nicole said. “Can you tell if any Agarchs are around?”
He shook his head. “I lost my plant somewhere in the hall while shrinking people. Do you have the talisman?”
She nodded, her hand straying to her pocket. “Safe and sound. I’ll try to use it.”
“What if they chase us? What if they find us in the thicket?”
Nicole frowned. “Let’s go back to the place where Jacob first keyed my group—it’s abandoned and in a good-enough place that we’d be able to see anything coming. We should be safer there.”
She stepped around the Arete, approaching the curtain. A sudden feeling of dread crossed over her when the thought popped into her mind—what if the Agarchs were on the other side of the blanket, waiting for them?
She pulled aside the blanket just enough to see into the hall. It was empty. She and Akeno sneaked into it, then she peeked into the room full of doorways. It too was empty.
So far, so good. Where had all the Agarchs gone?
Nicole took the talisman from her pocket and rubbed her thumb across the surface, exploring the raised bumps and edges in the dim lighting. She closed her eyes and concentrated all her magic together, coaxing it toward the talisman. Something stopped her, blocked her. What, though? Was there a safety on the talisman? A way to keep unwanted people from using it?
Nicole tried again, begging her magic to help her use the talisman. She coaxed, forced, pushed the thing. Finally, as she was nearly ready to give up, the talisman responded just a bit, warming in her hand. She felt a slight vibration that started in the object and soon made her hand and arm shake until they became numb.
Not knowing what else to do, Nicole reached over and grabbed Akeno. Soon, they were both shaking slightly. It made her vision dance and bounce.
“What-t-t are you d-d-doing?” Akeno stuttered.
“Hiding us,” she whispered. At least, she hoped that’s what was happening.
Nicole took a deep breath, then stepped out into the brighter room. She strode across it, trying to ignore how weird it felt to walk while her whole body was shivering. She headed toward the blanket she’d memorized the first time she’d come to this place.
They entered the hallway and cautiously walked up the stairs, then peered around the wall that held the lone candle.
The main room was full of Agarchs.
Nicole froze. Akeno bumped into her, then froze too. Neither said anything. Nicole barely breathed. Her heart pounded so roughly in her chest, she wondered that the Agarchs didn’t notice it.
But they didn’t. They were facing each other, facing the walls, even facing her and Akeno, from what she could tell, but they didn’t hear her heart, and they didn’t see her shivering body.
The talisman must be working!
Nicole’s eyes landed on the door at the top of the stairs opposite them. It was unblocked.
She took a quiet step forward, holding Akeno’s arm tightly. She might be hurting him, but she was unable to relax her grip. She took another step. The room was so silent, it creeped her out. The Agarchs towered over her, but didn’t move. What were they doing?
It dawned on her that they communicated telepathically. It was the only thing that made sense.
What were they discussing?
Nicole saw the Agarch that Austin had attacked—it was leaning against the wall, several of its antennae broken. Multiple roots from other Agarchs were streaming toward it, wrapped around its torso. A brownish fluid was being pumped through the roots—Nicole could see that much through the casing protecting the root. She wondered if the Agarchs lived off the brown stuff.
She stepped farther into the room. They were nearing the steps leading up to the door now. Still, none of the Agarchs had seen them. Nicole prayed the talisman would continue working.
She carefully headed up the stairs, taking them one at a time.
Three steps to go.
Two steps.
One step.
The door burst open, slamming into Nicole, knocking her backward. She lost her grip on Akeno, doing a somersault down the stairs.
She landed in a dazed heap near the center of the room. She shook her head, noticing as all of the Agarchs turned to face her.
Crap.
“Akeno?” she called.
“Here,” he said.
She looked up the stairs. The woman Arete had him by the wrist. She glared down at Nicole.
Nicole scrambled to her feet, still clenching the talisman, and dashed up the stairs. She grabbed Akeno’s arm again, but neither of them began vibrating.
“Crap, crap, crap,” she whispered, pushing her magic to the talisman while also stirring up a windstorm through the open door, blowing a sheet of dust into the woman’s face.
The woman screeched and let go. Akeno stumbled forward.
The Agarchs charged.
Nicole rushed out of the building, grateful for the cloud covering that protected her eyes from the sunlight.
The talisman began shivering again just as the Agarchs reached the doorway.
Nicole froze.
The Agarchs also froze, unable to sense her anymore.
Nicole pulled down the winds again, begging her magic to make the windstorm larger—big enough to hide the sound of her and Akeno running.
There was plenty of material to use, and soon, enough dust was in the air that even though Nicole was only five feet away, the Arete would no longer see Nicole if the talisman stopped working.
Not hesitating a moment longer, Nicole began running toward the hill. She raced up it, practically dragging Akeno along.
They dashed as fast as they could away from the compound, panting in the extreme heat.
It wasn’t until they’d gone over the hill and had been running for a good long time that Nicole let the windstorm go. By this time, every bit of her was warm, but she couldn’t tell if that was because of the horribly hot temperatures or because she’d overdone it with her powers. She suspected it was both.
Finally, Nicole released the talisman magically. It stopped shivering, and she let go of Akeno’s arm.
“Whoa,” Akeno said, bending and putting his hands on his knees. “That was intense!”
“Too intense,” Nicole said. She jumped when the talisman in her hands wriggled, then broke in half. “Holy cow,” she said, grinning, showing it to Akeno.
His eyes bugged. “It broke? What are we going to do now? And why are you happy about that?”
“Because Keitus can’t get what he wants with a broken talisman.”
Akeno grinned. “Point taken. So, to the abandoned buildings?”
“Yup.”
Akeno motioned. “Lead the way.”
Chapter Twelve
Nicole sighed, leaning against the door of the mud hut. She pushed her sweaty, dirty, greasy hair out of her face for the umpteenth time. At least things weren’t as horrible as they could have been—she’d been delighted when Akeno had opened his bag to show her what he’d brought. There was a refrigerator, shrunk to about four inches tall. Whenever they needed food, he opened it, and used a pair of tweezers to pull out what they wanted to eat. Using his Resend, he was able to keep the fridge running, and as a result, they’d eaten very well while waiting for everyone to wake up.
He’d also enlarged a large fan and had kept it powered constantly the entire time they’d waited for the others to wake up.
Akeno looked up from where he was preparing soup from foods he’d enlarged. “You okay?”
“When we get back, remind me to buy you whatever you want for the rest of your life.” It wasn’t the first time she’d said it.
Akeno chuckled. “After all the things I’ve been through with Jacob and now with you and your friends, it just made sense to pack food, and lots of it.”
Nicole wished they could share their food with the Silver back in the compound. But without the talisman to hide them, she knew that would not only be very unwise, it would be downright stupid. Instead, she’d contented herself with the plan to go home, get refreshed, grab her friends, then stage a rescue of all the Aretes here who wanted to be freed. She suspected that even though the Silver would protest, he’d end up loving it back on earth. And why wouldn’t he? This place was miserable! And she should know—they’d been there for three days now. Three stinkin’ days.
Akeno jumped, then grinned. “I think someone just woke up,” he said, pulling the containers out of his pocket where he kept them.
Sure enough, the lid on one of them shifted, then opened, and Dave clambered to his feet.
Akeno enlarged him and he and Nicole took turns relating what had happened. Like Nicole, Dave was enthusiastic about the talisman breaking.
He immediately brought up the possibility of getting the Silver.
“It’s not a good idea,” Nicole said. “Not until everyone is awake and we have a safe exit plan. Jacob’s still out of it, and there’s not much more of this heat and humidity I can stand.”
Dave agreed and sat down to join her and Akeno.
Pretty soon, Elyse and Austin also woke up, followed shortly by Jacob and Coolidge.
“How much time has passed?” Jacob asked.
“Three and a half days,” Nicole said.
“Not here,” he said. “Back home.”
Nicole bit her lips. This was what she’d been worried about. “If my math is right—and there’s a huge chance it isn’t, since I can’t think straight in this heat—I’d guess around four months.”
“Four months?” Jacob asked. “Four months! Oh, my gosh. My parents have got to be worried sick!”
Coolidge nodded. “But they understand, I’m sure.”
Jacob pulled the key from his pocket. “We’re not sitting around anymore.”
Nicole jumped up. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
***
The reunions with Lizzie, Jacob’s parents, and Aldo and the Fat Lady were joyful. The entire group was happy and grateful to be together again, but it didn’t take long for someone to ask Jacob what was going on with Keitus.
His eyes glazed over and he was out of it for several moments. “Something’s wrong,” he said when he came back, a worried expression on his face.
“What do you mean?” Coolidge asked.
“I don’t know—I can’t find Keitus.”
“Where have you searched?” Austin asked.
“His dimension, ours, Renforth’s.” Jacob’s voice raised in pitch and volume. “I can’t see him anywhere!”
Coolidge glanced at Nicole. “At least we have two of the talismans.”
She nodded. “Regardless of what Keitus plans to do, he’s going to have to find another way to rise to power. With the Water talisman broken, he can’t possibly use it now.”
Coolidge relaxed in his chair. “And thank goodness for—”
“Wait—what?” the Fat Lady said. “The talisman broke? Give it to me.” She reached her hand toward Nicole, waiting until Nicole had placed both halves of the talisman in her palm. She brought them up, inspecting them closely. “They’re designed to be unbreakable. There’s no way it just snapped.”
“I was putting a lot of magic into it,” Nicole said.
“Yeah,” Austin said. “She’s really powerful now.”
“No, no, no.” The Fat Lady shook her head emphatically. “A strong Arete would only need to gently coax the talisman—it should practically read the holder’s mind.”
Aldo took the pieces from the Fat Lady, inspecting them himself. His face paled. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
Finally, he looked up at the group. “This isn’t the real Water talisman. It’s a replica.”
###
http://andreapearsonbooks.com/myfreebooks.html
Note from the Author:
I hope you enjoyed Obscure! I had so much fun writing it. No worries, I’m madly, madly writing Enshroud, the next book in the series! If it weren’t for my sweet little kids, it would be done already. ;-) :-) Either way, if you haven’t already joined my readers group, do so here. I’ll let you know when I have new books come out.
Until the next story. :-)
- Andrea
About the Author
Andrea Pearson is an avid reader and outdoor enthusiast who plays several instruments, not including the banjo, and loves putting together musical arrangements. Her favorite sports are basketball and football, though several knee surgeries and incurably awful coordination prevent her from playing them.
Andrea graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor of science degree in Communications Disorders. She is the author of many full-length novels (the Kilenya Series and Katon University series), and several novellas. Writing is the chocolate of her life – it is, in fact, the only thing she ever craves. Being with her family and close friends is where she's happiest, and she loves t
hunderstorms, the ocean, hiking, public speaking, painting, and traveling.
Andrea and her husband and children live in a western state surrounded by mountains and rolling hills.
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Series by Andrea Pearson:
Kilenya
Kilenya Romances
Kilenya Adventures
Mosaic Chronicles
Ranch City Academy
Obscure, Mosaic Chronicles Book Seven Page 15