by K V Deal
“If you will excuse us, there is a lot of work to do if we wish to recover,” Cyrus said, plopping down a pile of papers in front of the mayor.
Taking one look at the mound beside Gloria’s desk, I stood up quickly. Somehow, I got the feeling that if I stayed, I was going to somehow get sucked into helping sort through that mess.
Carah must have had the same thought, because she rushed to her feet, too, and hurried after me towards the door. The other two were just a step behind her.
“W-wait! I can help! Don't leave me here!” Gloria held out a hand, desperately seeking to escape the paperwork. My last sight of her, as I shut the door behind us, was Cyrus clapping a hand on her shoulder and holding her down in her chair. It was the first time I ever saw him grin.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Chapter 11
I was getting tired of walking everywhere.
Never really considered how convenient cars made things until they were gone. Guess that shouldn't be a surprise considering human nature, but still, you would have thought people would have figured out some kind of beast of burden by now. But, no. Everyone still walked. You saw hand carts and wheel barrows but everything was powered by people.
I wonder if I could train one of those giant lizards to pull a cart…
“Can’t we stop somewhere for food?” Carah complained again.
“Look, were almost there! Can’t ya just wait a few more minutes?” Charlie snapped.
“I know, but my stomach just won’t shut up.” Carah poked at her belly.
I gave Axle a quizzical look. I was sticking close to him because, well…that hoarding instinct thing.
He looked at me over the top of my book on fire magic. It was his turn. He raised an eyebrow. “I'm not hurting it.”
I shook my head and then slightly inclined it at Charlie.
He gave the slightest of shrugs, and a frown crossed his face as he watched her stomp down the street.
Well, at least I wasn't the only one who noticed.
I dropped back to walk beside him. “She really that angry about all of this?” I muttered, trying to keep her from noticing.
“No,” he whispered back. “She was like this before then…”
“Not to be crass, but…”
He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that time of month either,” he said. “No, this has been building since…” He paused. “If I had to guess, it’s been since we got back to the city.”
Huh…
“My house? The dead team?” I asked.
“Oh, she was upset about that all right, but that kind of stuff makes her angry at the perpetrator. This feels different, like she’s angry at everything.”
“Finally!” Charlie called out from up ahead. We both flinched before we realized what she was talking about. We could now see the river over the crest of a hill. Charlie picked up her pace.
“Hurry up, guys!” Carah called out to us, as she almost skipped along towards the waterfront.
Axle closed the book and handed it back to me. “Can I look more later?”
“Yeah,” I said reluctantly. If we could master this, even just one of us, it could be a huge advantage in future fights. Still…it was hard to give my book away even if it was only for short bits of time.
Axle and I reached the top of the hill, and I got my first real look at the river since the change.
“Holy...”
“I know. Awesome, isn't it?” Axle grinned at me.
There were the usual, expected changes. Just like everywhere else in the city, the buildings were now stone and wood things that looked like a blend of medieval and modern architecture. They descended down the hill to the river in tiers, each building about one story lower than the last. That much I remembered.
What was amazing was that the houses used to march their way down to within a few hundred feet of the water’s edge and then stop. Not anymore. Now the houses continued their march all the way into the…
Wait.
“Alright. I really don't remember the river being that wide or having… that!” I waved a hand at the sight before me.
The river had been about as wide as a six-lane freeway. Pretty good size as rivers went. This though? This thing in front of me was about three times the size it used to be. Stranger still, it was…farther away? There was a new body of water between it and us. I guess it would be called a lake. It certainly looked large enough to be called a lake.
And there, in the lake, was another large-sized portion of the city. It filled the whole lake! Buildings broke the surface one after another. Every one of them had at least one floor above water. And there were sidewalks! They fronted each building about a foot above the water. The sidewalks linked the buildings like bridges.
“You okay in there?” Axle nudged me to bring me out of my gawking stare.
“Huh? Oh, yeah.” I shook my head to clear it.
The girls were standing a few houses down the hill looking back up at us--Carah with her usual amused smile, Charlie annoyed at having to wait.
“We should probably pick up the pace,” Axle muttered.
“Right.”
A few seconds of jogging later, we’d caught up.
“So, first time seeing the marina?” Carah giggled as she wrapped an arm around mine and tugged me forward. “Tell you what. After we find this woman, we can look around for an hour or two.”
“If we can find her,” Charlie muttered darkly, throwing a look our way.
“You think it’s going to be hard?” Axle asked, stepping up beside her on the other side. He hesitated a second and then offered an arm to Charlie.
She either ignored or just didn't see it. Instead, she just kept walking. I looked away, pretending that I hadn't seen the hurt look that had flashed across his face. What the hell was going on with her?
Starting when we first got back to the city. What happened around then?
Axle had shot down my ideas. But if it wasn't one of them, what else? We were with her almost the whole time since this had started, yet I couldn't put my finger on what could have caused it. This thinking wasn’t doing any good.
I shouldn’t dwell on it too much.
I glanced back towards the sunken city that Carah was merrily dragging me towards.
Wait.
Sunken city.
Maybe…maybe I was thinking about this a little too mundane. Now, we’re living in a world where there are things like sunken cities, magical items and even magic itself. What if Charlie was being affected by something like that?
Without turning to look at her, I reached out, feeling for…
I felt something new. It was disgusting. Just knowing where it was made the nonexistent hairs on the back of my neck bristle. I couldn't help myself, I glanced over at Charlie in shock.
“What?” she grumped at me.
I didn't know how to respond. “Nothing.” I quickly spun back to the front.
Calling her out on…whatever it was I’d felt didn't seem like a good idea. It was affecting her mood. I didn’t know what she would do if I asked about it. Hell, I really didn't even know if that was what was making her mood drop. Even if I knew, how could I fix it? And this wasn't a good time, either. Our mission was important. But…would it be better to take care of it now rather than later? Could whatever it was spread to the rest of us?
I saw Carah eying me worriedly. “You okay?” she quietly hissed to me as she leaned in close
She felt clean of whatever this thing was, as did Axle. So, whatever it was, it was only affecting Charlie right now. I needed a moment to think.
“Jake?” Carah asked in a normal voice this time.
Looking at Carah. A light clicked on.
I shook my head. “Not feeling too great. Can we sit down for a second?”
Carah blinked and then nodded. “Guys, Jake needs to sit down. Let’s take a break,” she called to the others. Her request pulled Axle out of his funk but made Charlie huff in exasperation.
; Carah led me to some steps. I sat down and put my head in my hands, covering my eyes.
“What’s the dragon’s issue now?” Charlie asked as she stomped over to a spot a few feet away.
“You okay?” Axle asked, looking down at me.
I was fine, but I knew my pose made it look like I was pretty out of it. I was also kind of hoping that old thing about blocking off a sense made another stronger would work on my ability to feel magic, too.
“Just give me a second…” I tried to put that same ‘out of it’ vibe into my voice as I reached out to see if I could feel the source of the nastiness around Charlie.
“We don't have time for this, Jake,” Charlie said, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. She turned to glare down at the lake.
Axle leaned in and touched my forehead. “Not that I know what’s too hot for a dragon,” he muttered to himself.
Let’s see if those tall ears of his help his hearing.
“Charlie’s being affected by something magic,” I said in a very soft tone. I was hoping it low enough that she wouldn't notice.
Axle’s eyes opened wide with shock, but while he did twitch towards her, he managed to avoid turning to look at her.
The locus of the magic was taking some work to figure out. It almost felt like it was deliberately trying to hide itself.
“You and Carah are fine.” I continued to whisper. “So, it doesn't seem to be spreading.”
Axle hesitated a moment, biting his lower lip before he stood up. He turned to face Charlie. “I really don't want to leave Jake here, but you’re right. This mission is important. Charlie, you and I will go find this woman. Carah, stay here with Jake and try to get this sorted out. You know that shop in the market with the wooden whale over the door?”
Carah hesitated and then nodded. “But…”
“Good. That’s our meeting place. If we can’t find her, we’ll meet you there in an hour.” Not waiting for a response from Carah, he walked over to Charlie, who glowered but fell into step next to him without a word.
Carah stood up angrily, acting like she was going to say something, but I caught her arm.
And that’s not all I caught. I finally pinned down where the feeling of magic was coming from.
“I can’t believe he’s just going to ditch us here!” Carah said hotly before turning to face me. I let go of her. She knelt down and looked at me in concern. “Jake, what’s wrong? Come on, buddy, talk to me.”
I peeked up to make sure Charlie was out of earshot. “I'm fine. Look, something is wrong with Charlie.”
Carah raised an eyebrow under her single horn. “Gee, no surprise there. She’s been a bit of a bitch for a while now, but I'm worried about you, not her at the moment.”
“I'm fine. I just needed a moment to figure out what was going on with Charlie.”
“You’re a doctor now?” she giggled. “Not that you need to be one to know when someone’s being a jerk.”
I looked up at her, my dark expression contrasting with her smile. “Seriously Carah, she’s got something magical on her that just feels nasty.”
Her smile fell away when she heard the word ‘magical.’ “Oh, crap! Alright. Well, nice to know it's not just her.” She blew out a breath. “I take it that’s what you were muttering about to Axle?”
“Yeah.”
“So,” she said. She rubbed her hands together as she looked down the hill at the others. “What can we do about it?”
“I found the source before they left, it’s…”
“Under her jacket, right?”
I paused. “How?”
“I should have guessed something was up. Back after the Gray House collapsed, she wouldn't let the medics check under her jacket. Even got a bit angry about it. I've never seen her like that before.”
“It makes things more difficult.” I rubbed my forehead with a hand, avoiding my horns as best I could. “I was hoping I could use one of those cloths the Inquisitors have and sneak up and just grab whatever it is, but with where it is...”
“What?” Carah asked, tilting her head in confusion.
I just stared at her.
She frowned at me and then suddenly snapped her fingers. “Right! Sticking your hand down her shirt! Sorry, you know me.” She gave me a sad smile as she rubbed the back of her head. “So, we need to find another way to get to whatever this is.”
“That would be another nice thing to know before we do anything.”
“At least it's not killing her or anything?”
“Gods! I hope not.” Seeing Carah’s look I just shook my head. “Were talking magic. Who knows?”
Carah winced. “Nice to meet you, Captain Pessimist.”
“Are items like these common? I haven't heard of anything that does something like this to its user.”
“New to me. You think it would be the kind of thing you would hear about.” She sat down on the step and leaned her head against me with a sigh. “Have you ever felt anything like it before? Does this feeling magical things even work that way?”
“No, I…”
Wait. I have felt something like this before.
Right before we ran into the inquisitors at the dungeon. That brooch! The one…that…disappeared.
Shit.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Chapter 12
The meeting place that Axle had set up was easy enough to find…well, for Carah to find.
Me? Even with how serious the thing with Charlie was, I couldn't help gawking at what I was seeing.
When I’d first seen the sunken city, I was thinking something like Venice--everyone living in the parts still above water. I hadn't been expecting to see that there was more activity underwater than there was above. Hundreds of submerged people swam back and forth, flitting this way and that. Heads broke the surface here and there as people grabbed onto the sidewalks to haul themselves up into the fresh air.
We stopped a moment to watch as a teenager with blue skin and finned ears leapt out of the water to land on the sidewalk ahead of us to the sound of his friends applauding,
I guess it should have made sense, I thought to myself as I followed behind Carah. We were becoming beings out of myths, and there were plenty of things in those stories that lived in the water. Honestly, I was just happy that what had done this to all of us was fair enough to give these people a place to live. It did bring up some questions, though.
Before the change, the other side of the river had been the start of a rather nasty area of town. Not a great place, but still a part of the city where people lived. Now, as far as I could see, all that was on the other side of the river were trees. What had happened to the people? Were they now part of the underwater city?
Also, had everyone in this area been turned into something aquatic? I really didn't want to think about what it would be like to wake up down there if you couldn't breathe water.
The biggest thing in my mind, though?
People here looked happier here than they did in the rest of the city. The oppressive feeling that had been in the air was non-existent here. Instead, people were just going about daily tasks, smiling and talking as if the change and everything with the Inquisitors had never happened.
“There!” Carah called out, shaking me out of my thoughts. She was pointing across a gap between houses at a set of double doors with a large wooden whale set above them. Carved into a wooden spout of water coming out of the whale's top was the name 'Blowhole Barbecue!'
“Come on!” Carah hurried down the sidewalk towards the next bridge that crossed over.
As we walked into the restaurant, I quickly glanced around. The place was a two-story thing, with the upper level being where we had walked in and the lower level completely submerged. The upper floor was like a loft seating area that ringed around the water’s edge, where we could see down into the lower floor.
I was gawking again. I knew it, but I couldn't help myself.
“Wow! This is so cool!” Carah murmured.
/>
At least, it isn't just me.
However, she managed to keep her head in the game, looking up at me. “You see the others?”
Oops.
A quick glance around the room told me that they weren't here yet. I shook my head.
“Guess it would be just too easy if they were,” she said as a waitress approached us.
“Hi! Do you want dry, splash, or wet seating?” She was a Changed. I was sure of that by the way that her ears kinda looked like fish fins, but I really didn't know that much about water-based myths, never really been my thing, so I couldn’t say exactly what she was.
“Sorry, first time here. What’s the difference?” Carah asked.
“That’s alright! Dry is over there.” She gestured at a grouping of tables by the wall, well away from the water’s surface. “Keeps you away from the water. Splash is over there.” This time, she gestured at the tables by the water’s edge. “You get a nice view of the lower level but...” A female something climbed out of the water onto the deck next to a splash table, water dripping from her form onto a couple of patrons. “…well, that. You’re probably gonna get wet there, so splash. And wet?” She hooked a thumb down towards the water. “Lower level seating.”
“Makes sense.” Carah said, grinning at her. “As much as I would love splash, think we need dry. My buddy here isn’t exactly dressed to get wet.” She patted my arm.
“Right! I understand.” The waitress grinned back at us.
“There's going to be two, maybe three, more of us in a bit, too,” I added.
“Sounds good. This way please!”
She led us over to a table in the corner. “What would you like to drink?”
That surprised me, too. Since the change, I’d only seen water around. Of course, I hadn't exactly been out much…or at all.
“What have you got?” I slid into a chair facing the door and leaned forward eagerly.
“Water, beer and ale!”
Oh. Well, I was hoping for more than that. Ah, well.