by Gabi Moore
But as Dion made clear, there was no other person who could free them. The mall builders created the shopping center over the abyss and it was obvious that they feared his abilities. The only way to keep Dion at bay was to hold his parents captive. Or so they thought. Instead, it had the opposite effect. He was more determined now than ever to free them.
The mall rose from the field as if it was constructed as a fortress on a plain to guard the approach to a city. Although the lands around it were flat, it was also possible to imagine the interstate next to it a great river. The cars racing down it resembled fish in the river.
It was early, but the sun was already in the sky, drying the morning dew without leaving too much of an imprint in the soil. If you were still enough, it was possible to see the rabbits in the grass, munching on whatever they could find. Not too far away, from where the mall was built was a quiet stream, which wound its way to the Miami River in silence. It would appear from concrete pipes and vanish into them over and over again. The hand of humanity made itself known felt by the sounds of concrete trucks bouncing to the latest subdivision under construction.
Dion parked the van close to the entrance of the second part of the mall, the part that corresponded to the element of air. Now that the powers of the earth elementals were bestowed on him, he needed to obtain the other three. Only when he had all of them could he hope to master the fifth element, which ruled in the center of the mall. He had no hope of freeing his parents until he had the power of it under control. As Dion was once told, no element worker had mastered this fifth element in hundreds of years; his difficulty could not be understated.
Dion stepped out of the van and leaned back on the metal of its side. He looked at the mall and closed his eyes. It was there, the power of the element of air in the section he faced. He could feel it in the sky and around the entrance. He could see the small air gusts and wind elementals frisk around the mall and make patterns over the ground. They didn’t have much form, but these did not concern him. They were useful if you need to summon up a breeze for a kite or to push a sailboat, but not for much more. The stronger ones where higher up in the atmosphere. They were not easy to manipulate. Work with them the wrong way and you could get a lightning bolt sent down on top of your car. One had to be very careful with the elementals of the upper atmosphere.
“Do you feel anything?” Lilly said as she noticed Dion’s expression. He seemed quiet and relaxed.
“Just the sylphs who are already outside.”
“What?” Dion’s terminology drove her a little mad sometimes. This was only the second day she was with him, but the adventures they’d experienced together the day before were enough for two lifetimes.
“Sylphs,” he told her. “Air elementals. Some people call them fairies. But they’re a lot different from what you’ll find in literature. No, they don’t go around with sugarplums and they don’t have wings. They don’t have much material form at all. I see them a lot around fast air currents and in air ducts. It’s how I did the falling card trick with the police detective. I found one and cut a deal with it to knock over some stacked cards in return for allowing it to leave the building. They’re pretty easy to please. At least the smaller ones which are close to the earth. I don’t know a lot about the ones who live in thunderclouds, but they seem to be quite dangerous.
There’ll be more elementals inside and I have no idea what form they will take. The ghouls can’t bother us again as I have dominion over them. I can use them if I need to, but I don’t want to get dependent on them, it won’t look good to the other Elemental Grandmasters.”
“Do these new elementals inside the mall have any special forms? Or do they all float around the skylight?”
“We’ll know them when we run into them There is no way the mall builders will allow me to run around inside without some kind of opposition. We didn’t realize the cleaners where ghouls until we got close to them. I suspect it will be the same way with any other kind of elemental we run into today.”
Dion wore the same jeans jacket he had on the previous day. It matched the flared pants he wore too. Although he didn’t have any kind of logo on the back of his jacket, no one would’ve mistaken him for a mechanic or someone who worked with machine tools. Dion was refined, but not as obnoxious as the officers’ kids from the local air base. They let everyone know that their families shopped at the commissary and had access to all kinds of things civilians didn’t. Lately, a completely new class had moved into town: the university brat. With the rise of the state colleges built around the Midwest, academics from the coasts were flocking to the hinterland in search of work in their fields.
“So, what do you know about this Jupiter Hitch?” Lilly asked.
“According to Ms. West, he’s the Grandmaster of the Air Element. He’s the one I’ll need to meet if I’m to be granted all the powers which come with the second element.”
Athena West was a pharmacist who ran the Alchemist Shop inside the mall. She was also the Grandmaster of the Earth Element. It was she who’d given Dion his power over the earth elementals the day before. The entire day was spent in an attempt to reach her. The builders of the mall were intent to keep Dion away from her store. The ghouls, who were employed as cleaners, did everything possible to block him from reaching his destination. They’d even kidnapped their friend Emily and taken her away. It took an underground trip to the subbasement where the ghouls lived to free Emily. Lilly doubted her friend would ever come anywhere near the mall again.
Lilly was smartly dressed that day in platform shoes which added a few inches to her height. She didn’t want the real high ones that gave her an extra six inches, as they were difficult to walk in around the mall. Her blouse showed enough shoulder, but not too much. It was hidden beneath the jacket she wore over it. No reason to go on a hunt for an element grandmaster and appear to be a slob. She doubted at college it would be easy to keep up appearances when she started in the fall.
“Where do we find this one?” she asked Dion.
“He owns a hobby shop. It’s on the first floor of the mall, so we don’t have to deal with the escalators this time. Pretty nice place from what I can remember. Miniature airplanes, model rockets and toy trains. There was a hobby shop near me when I was growing up in California. I still remember buying those tiny bottles of paint to decorate model airplanes.”
Lilly never had much interest in model airplanes or rockets when she was younger. It was just not on her radar. But if it helped Dion locate his grandmaster, she was willing to help him. By now, she trusted him and his abilities.
“You think he moved here to the mall when it opened?” she asked him. “I heard something about it at the time.”
“I talked to Uncle Rich about it last night. The mall went out of their way to get him to move inside it. They claimed the reason was because they didn’t want bad relations with the local businessmen, but I think there was much more. They especially wanted him inside the mall because he’s an elemental grandmaster. They went to a lot of trouble to get them to move inside and reorganized their shops. Ms. West’s pharmacy was somewhere down in Scipio. They did the same to all of them: made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Now the mall builders have all the elemental grandmasters under one roof, where they can keep them all in sight.”
Jupiter Hitch was an older man who opened the hobby store after he retired as an engineer from the local air base. He’d worked as a civilian contractor for the United States Air Force after he graduated college in 1940 with a degree in engineering from a prestigious technical college. World War II kicked off almost a year later and his skills were instantly in demand. He spent the war in uniform and cashiered out to a growing aeronautical industry. In 1946, he found himself working for a reclusive millionaire turning out experimental aircraft. When his designs had a high success rate, he was promoted to the head of the department. Hitch quit when his employer refused to listen to his concerns about a high altitude aircraft they were trying to te
st. When an entire crew was killed in an experimental design, he quit and moved east to work for the government.
Hitch became the elemental grandmaster in the middle of the Second World War after the other elemental workers decided he possessed extraordinary abilities with the air elementals. He provided information that allowed American bombers to avoid storms on the way back from missions over Germany. No one in the American government knew where he came by his information, but it saved thousands of lives.
He used his air elemental insider information to build better planes in the years after the war. The sylphs could tell him instantly if a particular airfoil design had the ability to work. The air elementals of the higher atmosphere would let him know about conditions in their part of the clouds. In return, he let them know when any kind of testing might happen in the elementals’ part of the sky. During the nuclear tests, this information was crucial to the elementals. He was also instrumental in bring the nuclear atmospheric tests to a halt. His reasons were humanitarian, but he also understood how furious the atomic explosions made the elementals.
All the years he worked for the air base, Hitch experimented on small model aircraft. He became a legend among the tiny aircraft builders, people who flew small model planes with miniature gas engines. Due to the air base and its need for skilled technical people, there was a large local community of model aircraft and rocket enthusiasts. On any given Sunday, he was down at the city flying circles or launching another model rocket into the air. Hitch never married so he had plenty of time to devote to his hobbies.
When he retired, he opened up a hobby store, which allowed him to pursue what he really enjoyed: building the latest and best model aircraft he could find. It also allowed him a cheap way to buy parts. After he hired some people who knew about the business and sales side, it allowed him to do what he wanted all day long. The hobby store was quite profitable and allowed him to interact with other hobbyists. In time, his store, Hobby Visions, became a popular source of tools and material. Hitch would also put out a catalogue that became known all over the world.
“Good morning,” a voice said to their left and they turned to see Edward again. This time he wore a USAF uniform. The rank said “Major” on the nametag.
“You can get in trouble walking around impersonating an officer,” Dion said to the little man.
“It’s the least of my concerns. I’m more concerned with your current situation.”
Edward was a strange little Englishman who popped in for brief moments to offer advice it seemed. They could never get a straight story out of him as to his origins. He claimed he was allowed to give them guidance on their adventures, but not to do anything else. Edward was corporal for only five minutes at a time, but he was vague as to how long he was allowed to appear. The only thing consistent so far was that he showed up in a different outfit each time. The last time he’d appeared, Edward wore a concert t-shirt, jeans and a pair of suede leather shoes. As far as clothing went, this was a vast improvement.
Edward pulled out a cigar, clipped off the end with a pair of tiny scissors, and lit it. He took a long inhale, much to the disgust of Dion and Lilly. “Ah, one of the few pleasures I am still permitted. Just don’t say a word if anyone asks you what I’ve done, please.”
“Anything special we need to know about what is on the other side of the glass doors?” Lilly asked. “Are you going to call in an air strike?”
“It wouldn’t do many any good if I had the authority. They could drop blockbusters all over that structure and the builders would find another way to create a new one. They are that powerful.”
“So, does this explain the Air Force uniform?” Dion asked him. “It looks a lot better on you than the last outfit.”
“While thank you. No, I get a brief opportunity to make a request before they send me back. I’ve spent my time on the other side looking into what is considered proper attire these days. Beastly, I tell you, just dreadful. This was the best outfit I could find on a short notice. What I came here to let you know, is that the builders of the mall are furious you walked out of it with your earth elemental power yesterday. They have threatened to replace all of the ghouls, although what good it would do is beyond me. Any other earth elementals they can bring inside will automatically be under your authority. The chemist is leaving and has told the management she will end her lease next month.”
“Chemist?” Dion asked.
“Oh, dear, that is right; you call them pharmacists in this country. Anyway, she feels it is time for her to move on to set up shop somewhere else. I’m guessing her work is finished in the mall. This might be another reason all the Element Grandmasters were so willing to relocate to the mall. They knew you would find it easier to locate them if they were in the same area. She spoke highly of you, my lad, so keep up the good work.”
“You went ahead and talked to her?” Dion asked. “How did you manage to do that?”
“I have my ways. They wanted me to do a follow up, so I had tea with her yesterday after the mall closed. We spent a good hour together. I want you to know that she gave you the highest recommendation ever for a new Master of the Earth Element.”
Dion thought for a few moments. He was pleased she would think so well of him, but did it really make a difference? So long as his parents were imprisoned inside the inner part of the mall, he had to find a way to get them out. If the other Elemental Grandmasters thought well of him, well then maybe it would all work out in the end. But until he had all five powers, no single one of them would do him any good.
He thought back to his early years and remembered his father showing him how to make small creatures out of clay. They didn’t last very long and soon crumbled back to the soil, but it was fun. He remembered luring the wind elementals to push sailboats along when the air was calm. At an early age, he would play with the air elementals in the backyard of the house. He liked to watch the sylphs of the lower air fly around the trees. They could tell you if company was headed down the road or when the big storms were on the horizon. The air elementals didn’t interact much with humans.
He remembered several talks he had with his parents about what he could and could not say in front of the “English”. “The English” were the elemental workers’ term for those who couldn’t manipulate elements. No one seemed to know where the term originated; it was just something they used among themselves. The elemental workers even had certain signs and terms to use whenever they were afraid an outsider was listening in on the conversation. He remembered the first time his father told his mother there were too many “spirits in the night” at a restaurant. This was a coded term they used. It meant there were people listening in on the conversation who shouldn’t hear what was being said.
“And it’s just about time for me to go,” Edward said as he looked at his wristwatch. “I prefer a pocket watch, but this Rolex is smashing. I hope they let me use it the next time.”
Once again, he was gone without so much as a flash.
“I can’t get used to him popping in and out like that,” Lilly said to Dion. She turned and looked at the entrance to the mall. Nothing at the front to stop them.
“Did you know there’s a town in Ohio called Revenge?” Dion said.
“You’re kidding? Why would a town have a name like that?”
“Nobody really knows. I ran across it in the library. The best theory is that there was a competition between two men over who would get to name the town. The loser of the competition was to get the chance to name it. What the town officials didn’t tell him was that the award of naming the town went to the man who lost the competition. So, as the story runs, as his retaliation on everyone for losing, he named the town ‘Revenge’. At least that is the story I was told.”
It wasn’t yet ten in the morning so the mall was still closed to everyone but the employees. Dion watched the security guards come to the glass doors and let the workers in. Every time they opened the door to let someone inside, the guards would ma
ke a point of glaring at Lilly and himself. There was no love between Officer Karanzen, who was in charge of the security guards, and Dion. They’d spent the previous day avoiding Karanzen and his goons while they hunted for Emily after she was kidnapped by the ghoul cleaners. It was only after the appearance of Dion’s grandfather, who was Karanzen’s commanding officer in the Korean War, that the overbearing security chief left them alone.
“I was surprised your grandfather was here yesterday,” Lilly said. “Do you think he’ll be back today?”
“No. It takes a lot to bring him and grandmother back. He has some of the same restrictions Edward has, just not as severe. I don’t think we’ll see much of them. By the way, did your parents seem concerned about last night? It was late when I took you home.”
“My mother and father understand I’m a big girl,” Lilly laughed. “After my sister married and moved out, they eased up a lot. I told them the truth: we had to go get gas for your van after it ran out.”
She avoided telling them the gas was stolen by thieves who were after a tire on his van. She didn’t tell them how Dion caused the ground to open up around the getaway car until they returned the tire. Had he known that the same thieves had also siphoned off the gas in his van, he would’ve made them fill it up. Luckily for the thief, they didn’t learn the tank was empty until they tried to start the van.
There was a small crowd of shoppers in front of the glass doors ready for them to open. Likewise, the best parking places were taken by people who arrived early. Dion and Lilly were standing toward the back of the lot as they expected to be there most of the day. The builder of the mall had thrown all forms of hurdles in front of Dion to keep him from reaching the Earth Elemental Grandmaster yesterday, and he had every expectation they would do it again.