He was regal in his manner, and every step he took was laced with authority. He stopped moving when he got to my seat. “You ever make it rain?” His voice was smooth like butter.
Talk about being hot under the collar. I fumbled with my fingers, anything to keep his piercing gaze off me. “I… I… don’t know how.”
He looked at the water on the floor and then back to me, a small twinkle in his red eyes. “Sure you do. And when it rains, you control everything.” There was no answer to that, and so I said nothing.
I expected him to take a seat at the head of the table, but instead he opted for hanging off the side. “Do you know what tacium is?”
I shook my head. “Never heard of it. Why?”
He picked up an apple out of a nearby basket and bit into it. “It’s the reason that you’re here. Hasn’t anyone told you already?” He looked from the twins to their father, then turned back to me. “Tacium is the life blood of this realm. We use it in our food, drinks, clothing, all material, every building. There is nothing here that doesn’t have a bit of tacium in it.”
I couldn’t help but wonder why. “What does it do?” Because it had to do something. If not, then why use it in the first place?
He took another bite of the apple, then proffered his hand as if to offer me some. I shook my head no, and he went on. “Tacium makes us immortal. We can still be hurt, but we’ll always heal, and we’ll always come back to life.”
I nodded my understanding and he went on.
“We lose the tacium, we lose our lives. We can only last three, maybe four days without it until we’re weakened to the point of being immobile. It’s been that way for as long as anybody can remember. It’s all we’ve ever known.”
Well, that explained a lot about Greg and his miraculous recoveries. From the sound of it, they were addicted to the stuff. Still, I had no clue what that had to do with me. “Okay?” I said, as a way for him to go on.
He popped a few grapes in his mouth. “The only place tacium grows is here in Kelm.”
Of course it is, but no, wait a minute. “Why are you trying to take over Langunda then? If you’re the ones with all the tacium?”
Yama raised a brow, an amused look on his face. Bale sat up with a stir. Klenaya looked confused, and Kyle laughed out loud.
Yama gave each one of them a stern look, then turned back to me. “Lies roll off Langunda tongues like honey in the wind.”
Huh? I shook my head; sure I’d get a headache if I tried to understand what he meant.
Leon grunted under his breath, which probably meant he didn’t get it any more than I did. “So you control the purse strings?”
Yama shook his head. “It’s not that simple. We buy and trade with many other countries. Not everything grows here.” Another bite. “Not everything we need is made here. Each country has goods unique to its landscape and climate, so it works out for everyone.”
“Langunda?”
“Made some bad investments, bad trade deals, and have been looking for a way to pull themselves up for the last twenty years or so. Then they found you.”
Leon snorted, and all eyes turned on him. “Look,” he said, holding his hands out in front of him. “I ain’t saying you’re lying, but twenty years is a hell of a long time to wait to rob someone.”
Yama chuckled as if this was the silliest thing he’d heard all day. “And time means what to a man such as myself? Twenty years is no more than a couple of hours when you have all the time in the world.”
That was my cue to get the hell out of there. “Leon and I don’t have all the time in the world, so if you would just open up one of those little portals for us, we’ll gladly be on our way.”
Bale sat with his hands folded on the table. “What makes you think they’re not there waiting for you?”
Leon nodded. “I’m almost certain that they are. Probably got people staked out at the station as well. Think about it, Delia, you really believe they’re going to let you go that easy?”
I slid a slow foot across the floor, not at all liking what I heard. “So, what do we do then?”
Yama pulled up a chair, placed it beside me, and sat in it backward. “You stay here until we can neutralize them. I’ve already been in touch with a few other countries, alerted them to the situation. The majority of them should be here by morning.” He put the chair back and stood. “Until then, accept our hospitality and know that we mean you no harm.”
It wasn’t only up to me. I turned to Leon. He thought about it for a minute, then begin to negotiate. “We can stay, be kinda pointless not to, but let’s have a look at this here tacium that’s causing such a ruckus.”
Klenaya bounced up like a spring. “How about I take you where it grows? Give you a look at it up close and personal?” She seemed eager to leave, or maybe she really liked riding.
Leon sure seemed keen to go. “Coming?” he asked me, rising to his feet.
Of course I was coming. What the hell else was I going to do?
Yama smiled as if he was used to Klenaya’s flights of fancies, and at this point, it was just inevitable. “Take your brother with you, please.”
She glared at him like he’d slapped her. “Cause I’m the one who needs a babysitter.”
Yama shook his head and smiled at her in an almost fatherly manner. “I never said it was you who needed watching.”
Her grin was filled with glee. “Why yes, Yama. I’ll gladly keep my brother on a chain today.”
He clicked his tongue at her and walked out of the room.
We arrived in what looked like the opening of a cave. Men dressed in blue and green uniforms surrounded the place and all the entrances.
If tacium was as important as they’d said, then I understood the precaution. What I didn’t understand was making yourself dependent on something that may one day dry up and kill you anyway.
What would they do if the tacium suddenly stopped growing? It seemed like a heavy price to pay for the promise of everlasting life.
We stepped out of the car, the air so suffocating that it almost hurt to breathe. I wiped the sweat from my face and followed behind Klenaya.
When we were a few feet away from the cave entrance, she stopped suddenly and whipped around, her voice urgent and hushed. “Don’t make any sudden moves and stay close to me or Kyle. Got it?”
We nodded our agreement, and she allowed us to walk on.
The men at the mouth of the cave were dressed in the same blue and green uniforms as the others, and stood talking and laughing about something, but straightened the moment we walked up. “Klenaya, Kyle, your father alerted us to your arrival. Remember to stay together and don’t touch anything.”
Her gaze shifted to Leon and myself as if we were naughty kids whom she’d already warned multiple times to behave.
“Geez, you’d think they had liquid gold down here or something,” Leon whispered to me.
The caves were as wet as everything else, and the sound of sloshing water could be heard everywhere we stepped. Clouds of dust crowded in on us, sending both Leon and myself into unstoppable coughing fits. Kyle and Klenaya walked without affliction as if they did this every day. As far as I knew, they probably did.
“You think gold is more valuable?” I asked Leon.
He thought about it for a second and then shook his head. “Unlimited resilience, immortality? Yeah, I get it. Was just trying to say something to lighten the mood, you know?”
I got it, this place was dirty, depressing, and I could feel it pressing in on us. Every few minutes the ground would shake and rumble, and I just knew we were going to have a cave in. I tried to keep the annoyance off my face, but it was hard. I hadn’t wanted to come down here in the first place.
Overhead, lights shined down on us, making our steps a little steadier than they otherwise would’ve been.
We walked for a bit until we came upon more men and women dressed in uniforms. With eyes intent on their task, they used telekinesis to shake cave
walls open. “Does the tacium protect us from a cave in?” I asked as the ground trembled around us.
“No,” Kyle answered. He rubbed a hand through his hair. “Really think I’d risk all this if it wasn’t secure?” He shook his head. “I think not. They’ve been doing this for years. Nothing to worry about there.”
I’m glad he had so much confidence. I, on the other hand, didn’t share his optimism. “Yeah, well, I think I’ll stay on my guard just in case.”
He chuckled, as if I was being silly, and walked on.
Once the workers broke through the walls, they brought out a blue powder substance and loaded it into the many miniature boats circling the cave.
Tacium. So that’s what it looked like. That’s what had made my life hell for the last five years. I kind of wanted to reach out and run my fingers through it. Considering they’d probably be chopped off if I tried, I decided not to risk it.
In the next room the tacium was loaded onto a table and then packaged twenty to a boat.
Kyle’s eyes shone as if all his dreams lay in this damp, sad, cave. “So what do you think?” He really seemed to want to know. Did he expect us to be amazed? He sure looked like he did.
I bit my lower lip and tried to keep my cool. I couldn’t be in a good mood because none of this was fun for me. “Stunning. Fabulous, can we please leave now?”
His face fell hard, and I felt like an ass for taking away his shine. “I’m just tired, Kyle. It’s been a long day, right, Leon?”
Leon, apparently seeing the situation for what it was, readily agreed. “Yeah, buddy. This really is an impressive setup you got going on here. But I think I’ve seen enough. Wanted to know what all the fuss was about, is all.”
We arrived back at the white building in time for dinner. Leon and I were served a good meal and then showed to our separate quarters. An armed guard was placed on each of our doors, and that helped me feel a little more secure.
I was still a little nervous and ended up doing more tossing and turning than I did sleeping.
I must have dozed off at some point through the night because a hand over my mouth had me screaming awake.
4
My only instinct was survival I jumped up, clawing, and biting at the hand holding me down. “Guard! Guard!”
“Hey, hey, babe, calm down. It’s just me come to see you is all.”
Greg removed his hand, and I immediately began to call out for help again.
“Shhh.” He tried to put his hands back over my mouth, but this time, I sunk my teeth deep into his fingers.
“Ouch.” He snatched his hand back and had the nerve to look shocked that I hadn’t fallen immediately into his arms. Pompous bastard. What the hell had I ever saw in him?
I kicked him off the bed and sat up. He fell to the floor, splashing water on my face, and hair. I was too angry to care, and simply swiped it away. “What the fuck are you doing in here?”
I thought about the fact that no one had rushed in to save me. “Greg, what did you do to my guard?”
“He’s just sleeping.” He made a move to sit on the bed again, but I raised my leg, letting him know what would happen if he tried.
He stayed standing, but his voice dropped low and was suddenly filled with honey. “Oh, babe. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. I miss you. How long has it been since we’ve been together? I know you have to be missing me too, babe.” He smiled, and the only thing I could do was shake my head in disgust. “Do you think we can try again, Delia? Please?”
I laughed in his face. I couldn’t help it. He didn’t really think he still had a chance, did he? If so, he was more delusional than I’d thought. “Get the fuck out of my room before I rip you apart.” I came to my feet, and he flinched back, but still tried to look brave.
He puffed his chest out. “What are you going to do without me to protect you, girl?”
I looked at him with disgust. “When have you ever--” Screams and large crashes came from the other side of the door and kept me from completing that sentence.
“What have you done?” I ran for the door.
He hopped ahead, jumping over my bed, and blocking me from leaving. “You didn’t really think I’d just let you go, did you?”
I called out to the water in his body and hurled him across the room. I didn’t even have to think about it, I just did it and flew out the door.
My guard lay bleeding on the floor, but there was nothing I could do to help him. I stepped over his body and rushed straight to Leon’s room.
He could defend himself, I knew that, but for how long? I skidded around the corner, as two Langunda went flying through his door. He came out, arms outstretched, chest rapidly rising and falling. “Are you alright?” he asked me. “I was just on my way to get you.”
“I’m fine. Let’s get the hell out of here.”
A loud boom sounded from the right, and we charged that way, Leon probably because he was a cop and that’s what they did, me because I just needed to know that the twins were okay.
Kyle was on his knees, his sister on his back. Both were shooting light from their eyes and neither seemed to be hit yet. They did a flip, and reversed their positions, but never once stopped fighting.
I felt compelled to help, and without even thinking, jumped right in. Leon followed suit, him using his TK, and me with my water skills.
Klenaya and Kyle came to their feet, and the four of us stood back to back. “The tacium! We must get to the tacium. It may already be too late.” Klenaya ran for the nearest exit, and we followed right behind her.
Bale and Yama met us on the way. Both men wore battle scars, and each were running at a breakneck speed. Bale grabbed both twins by the arm, cradling Klenaya’s face in his hands. “Are you hurt? Are you okay?
Klenaya detangled herself. “We’re fine, father, but we have to get to the caves!”
Three Langunda rounded the corner and came right at us. Bale picked up one and slammed him so hard that the man’s skull shattered and cracked.
Yama crossed his hands, and blue light exploded from them, slicing the remaining Langundas in half. His feet never faltered. “Bale has this. We have to protect the tacium,” he yelled.
Instead of Klenaya’s cute little boatcar, we loaded up in Yama’s much larger black one. He yelled at everyone we passed to follow. “Most know to go, but some will heedlessly try to protect their homes and land. We’re taught since birth, no matter what, secure the caves!” Yeah, who cared if you lost everything you’d ever worked for, just protect the tacium. What a messed up way of life.
The car was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside and had enough room to fit about twenty. Leon and I sat side by side, the twins in front of us. Many Kelm residents loaded in, all eager to save what meant the most to them.
I hurriedly buckled my seatbelt, and the car took off with a lurch. We were only in the air for a couple of minutes, before landing in front of the caves, the fight already fully in progress.
All around us, Langunda and Kelm fought hand to hand, power to power. All I could see were blue lights, and bodies being tossed and thrown. The smell penetrated the car, and I put a hand over my mouth as the scent of blood and charred flesh invaded my nose.
My whole body began to shake and my hands went slick. I felt like someone had sucked out all the air and I found myself struggling to breathe.
I couldn’t do this. We couldn’t do this. I grabbed Leon before he exited the car. “We have no stake in this. We don’t have to get out the car.”
He nodded as if he agreed, but his expression read differently. “I can’t just sit back and watch. Maybe it’s the cop in me, but I can’t…” He ran for the door and then turned back at the last minute. “You stay in here and keep safe if you have to, but I’ve got to get out there.”
I watched from the window, my soul tormented. My mom and sister would never approve of this, they just wouldn’t. They’d want me here in the car, out of the line of fire, and harming no one.<
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That’s what I’d been taught all my life, and the last couple of days I hadn’t been living up to that at all.
An explosion rocked my ears and I jumped from the sound. The truth was I didn’t owe loyalty to either of these countries.
The Langunda wanted to take what wasn’t theirs, and the Kelm wanted to hold on to their monopoly, neither affected me or my life in the slightest.
Water splashed against the window and shook the car. The sound of loud bombs and men and women alike crying out in pain rocked my eardrums, as Langunda and Kelm fought hard in battle.
A shiver ran over me, and I got down on my knees, wrapped my hands around my arms, and begin to rock.
Every part of my body was pulling me out that door, but one flash of my mom’s disappointed face kept me rooted to my spot. Another explosion and smoke filled the windows. I needed to get out there, I knew that, and yet I couldn’t move.
A screamed, “stop!” and I was on my feet in an instant. I knew that voice. That was Klenaya, and she needed my help.
I didn’t take time to think. All I knew was that I had to get to her. Not caring what happened to me, I ran toward the front of the car, blowing the door off its hinges in an effort to get outside.
Four Langunda circled her, and three circled her brother. With the flip of my hand, I tossed them all away and then turned to get back in the car.
Before I could make it, a hard right sent me spiraling. Fire exploded in my jaw, and I looked up to see Amber standing over top of me. I wasn’t going to fight her, all I wanted was to get back in the car.
I turned to go, but she kicked me hard in the ribs before I could get away. I fell to the ground, clutching my stomach, and trying desperately to crawl away.
Her voice was like acid as she pulled me to my knees. “All you had to do was help us, but no, you wanted to be a bitch about it. Well, this is what you get.” She kicked me again, this time in the mouth, knocking my head back, and causing my mouth to explode with blood.
A Magical Reckoning: Magic and Mischief Book 1 Page 9