by Unknown
"We'll find her," Solana tried her best to console him. "We won't stop until we do."
Rexajon let out a low growl. "How do you suppose we do that?"
Solana shrugged. "Well, I don't know yet," she admitted. "But we can figure it out! I mean, there can't be many blobs of darkness out there in the universe, right?"
Rexajon sighed and rubbed his temple. Under normal circumstances, he was very patient and understanding of Solana's limited magical worldview. She was only sixteen, the youngest dragon child in Wizteria, and for fourteen of those years, she spent them in a magic-less realm. She did not know any better. It was just so frustrating, especially now that they had a real, serious problem. "The kidnapper is not a blob of darkness," he explained as slowly and patiently as he could. "Whoever is responsible is smart. He or she knew that we would try a spell to figure out what happened. He erased himself from the past."
"You can do that?"
Rexajon nodded. “You can if you are powerful enough. To create such a spell, break into this house,
and to capture Mother, we're dealing with someone who knows what they are doing.” He closed the grimoire. He concentrated on it, and with a flash, it disappeared until it would be needed again. "And by knowing what he's doing, he has made our jobs significantly harder."
"Maybe not," Solana suggested. "Kuri told him that he could 'not have her.' Call me crazy, but I'm sure she was talking about me. We weren't here, so he failed. He'll be back. We can get him then."
Rexajon spat another curse in Wizterian at the realization Solana evoked. "He'll be back," he repeated as he grabbed Solana's arm and pulled her along. "We need to go."
"But wait!" Solana protested. "It's our chance to save Kuri!"
Rexajon stopped and pulled her towards him. Brown eyes met her amber ones. His words were calm, but his eyes were intense, "My primary mission is to keep you safe, Princess. Please don't jeopardize it."
"But Kuri...," Solana whimpered.
"Would want you to be safe," Rexajon said with a sigh. Solana searched his eyes, but soon conceded and lowered her gaze. "Come on."
They made their way out of the study and down the stairs. They started to the front door when Rexajon suddenly stopped and shuddered.
Solana looked at him with concern. Before she could say anything, Rexajon roughly pushed her towards the door. He spun on his heel and shot an energy blast at the wall.
One of the shadows let out a pained squeal and fell to the floor. Rexajon growled and stalked towards it.
"What is that?" Solana asked cautiously from her place at the front door.
"A familiar," Rexajon answered. He shot the body once more to make sure it was dead. "They were going to lead him right to you. That or be overzealous and try to take us out themselves—."
Solana let out a scream. Rexajon's head shot in her direction, and he scowled to see another
shadowy familiar standing intimidatingly over her.
He bared his teeth. He had to get rid of this familiar and all that may have been lurking.
"Theiwoan!" His body radiated. The glow quickly spread until it encompassed the entire room.
The shadowy figure dissipated into nothing. Once she was safe, Rexajon quickly rushed over to Solana. "Are you okay?"
Solana nodded. "Thanks to you."
"Come on," he said as he took her hand again. "We're sitting ducks here. It's not safe."
Rexajon led her out of the front door. They did not stop until they were miles away from the house. He guided her into a nearby restaurant. She was not hungry after all the excitement of the house, but she knew that he was making an effort to calm her nerves after the chaos of the afternoon.
She stepped inside and managed a smile for the hostess. "Two, please," she said politely.
The hostess nodded and showed them to a booth. Solana slid into it, and Rexajon followed suit.
Once the hostess left, Solana looked at Rexajon in concern. "Are you sure we're safe here?"
"I think so," he replied. "We have two things to our advantage. First, they don't know who you are.
No one has seen you in fourteen years, and you don't have a magical signature. You can easily pass for a normal human girl."
Solana nodded slowly. Rexajon frowned. "Well, almost," he muttered. He waved his hands, and her beautiful amber eyes turned to a more common shade of blue. "Princess Solana is known for her bright yellow eyes. We should at least make it hard for them."
Solana inwardly pouted at her new eye color. According to Kuri, she inherited her eye color from her mother. She and the Sun Goddess, Queen Stellaria, were among the very few in the kingdom that were "sun-kissed." She would miss her eyes.
Still, she knew it was for her safety. She could not be a brat about this. "And our second advantage?"
"Me," Rexajon answered. "The rumors knew that Kuri was in charge of your protection. They don't know
about me, and now that the familiars are dead, they will not know. Even if they find you and try to attack, we have the element of surprise on our side."
"We could have another advantage," Solana suggested.
Rexajon frowned in confusion, but it only lasted for a moment. He groaned and shook his head.
"Not this again..."
"Rexajon, this is the time!" Solana insisted before he could object. As she spoke, he kept shaking his head. "I could fight, too! My magic is strong enough to find Kuri and defeat this enemy! I know all the right spells. I could override their spells, so we can know who they are. We would win guaranteed
— why do you keep shaking your head instead of just considering it?!"
"The answer is no. I will not unlock your powers."
"But why not?" Solana demanded, almost standing in her seat.
Rexajon let out a sigh in frustration. He slammed his hand on the table. "Because I don't know how, Solana,” he admitted.
Solana slowly sat back down as she took in what he said. She furrowed her brows. "What...?"
"I don't know how to restore your powers, Princess. Even if I did, I couldn't. It was your father's spell that suppressed your magic. My mother and I were just secondary casters for the spell. I don't know what spell he used."
"My father's...," Solana frowned as she processed the new information. "My father is the one that took away my magic?"
Rexajon nodded. "And my mother is the only one among us that knows how to communicate with Wizteria and who might know the spell to reverse it.”
Solana groaned and ungracefully buried her face in her arms on the table. This was just great. Here they were, trapped on Earth with no way to communicate with the only person that could restore her magic.
Things were perfect, that is, for the enemy. It almost seemed coordinated to perfection.
Solana frowned. What if it was?
She sat up and looked at Rexajon. "So you mean to tell me, without Kuri, there is no way for the Hope of Wizteria to return home and fulfill the prophecy to save the kingdom from the coup?"
It only took Rexajon a moment to catch Solana's point. "That is convenient, isn't it?" he said thoughtfully. "By eliminating my mother from the picture, they were able to win without even facing you. You were not the target when they attacked. She was."
"But why?" Solana asked with a small frown. "Why not just go after me directly?"
"They could fail," Rexajon answered easily. "There are too many variables. You're hard to find.
There could be too many guards around you. You could be too powerful for them to beat."
Solana bitterly scoffed at the last one but allowed him to continue, "My mother was a small risk target. Going after her instant of you was a stroke of genius, honestly."
“Then we have to be smarter,” Solana replied. “There has to be a way to restore my magic that doesn't require a spell. Spells always have a loophole.”
Rexajon sighed. He stayed quiet as he thought of a solution. The waiter came, wrote down their order (Solana had to order for them both), and
left before he spoke again. "King Rulland's spell was not to limit your powers, per se. It was to camouflage your magical signature with those around you.
Because Earth possesses no magic, your magical signature reduced to nothing and thus..."
“No powers,” Solana concluded with a sigh.
Rexajon nodded. “If we were to somehow raise Earth's magic signature, we could increase it enough for you to use your magic freely.”
“How do we do that? It's never been done before.”
“On Earth,” he corrected.
“On Earth?”
"On Earth." He waved his hand and his mother's grimoire appeared on the table. He flipped through
it until he found the page to prove his point. He read, then reported. "All places start with the same magical potential. That is why I can still use magic while on this planet. Earth, Pluto, Miranas, Wizteria. All of them started the same way: a sulfuric cesspool of disgusting potential. How they turned out was due to the cultivation of their magical poles."
“You lost me,” Solana said with a shake of her head. “Magical poles?”
"Do you remember learning about the North and South pole?" He waited for her affirmation. "Well, like there is a magnetic North and South pole that holds the planet's gravity together, there are magical poles that hold the planet's energy together. Wizteria has eight. Miranas has twelve. Pluto has one.
Earth has..."
He ran his finger against the page of the grimoire as he read. “4, in the shape of orbs. All it takes to cultivate them is a touch from a powerful being. That would be you, Princess.”
“Me?” Solana asked in surprise. “But I don't have magic.”
“You don't have a magical signature,” Rexajon corrected. “But you are the daughter of the Dragon King and the Sun Goddess. You have more magic in your little finger than most sorcerers dream about.
The orbs don't care if you can perform spells or not. They just need a powerful being. You have to be the one to cultivate the orbs.”
Solana took a deep breath. She nodded. “Alright. Where are they?”
“I don't know,” Rexajon admitted. He closed the book and it disappeared. “The book doesn't say the exact location of the orbs.”
Solana tapped on the table and let out a little hum as she thought of a solution. The waiter walked over to deliver their food. Solana looked up at him. “Excuse me,” she said politely. “Where do you think the most magical place on Earth is?”
“Oh, Stonehenge!” the waiter said effortlessly. “I mean, no one knows how those rocks got there!
It's crazy. It has to be either magic or aliens.”
Rexajon smiled politely to dismiss him. “Okay, thanks.” The waiter nodded and walked away. Once the waiter was gone, Rexajon dropped his smile and look at Solana incredulously. “Seriously?” he asked with annoyance in his voice. “On this planet, I've found dogs know more about the world around them than humans.”
Solana sighed. “You're probably right. I mean, any way you cut it, Stonehenge is just a bunch of rocks. We're on our own for this one. Alright, Solana... Think...”
She absently chewed a french fry as she thought. “Alright... When you use magic, you pull energy from yourself and the environment... Magic is energy,” she said slowly. “I've got it. Show me a map of Earth, please.”
Rexajon followed her command, tracing the outline of the table. It glowed a soft blue, then a holographic map of the Earth appeared. Solana took a moment to study the map. “Now show me every energy source on Earth.”
As quickly as she commanded it, little yellow dots of light appeared on the map. The yellow of the dots overwhelmed the map, leaving the blue parts unseen. "Now delete all animals." A number of dots disappeared. "And all plants... Now all the humans. And man-made energy sources..."
The dots kept disappearing until there were about fifty left. Solana sighed and relaxed a little. That was a lot more manageable. “The orbs are four of these dots.”
“It is still too many locations to visit in a reasonable time,” Rexajon objected.
“I know,” Solana agreed. “Rexajon, can you vary the color of the dots based on energy intensity?” “Yes, Princess,” he answered. The dots slower changed colors, from their original yellow to colors varying from white to red. “The red ones are the most powerful energy sources.”
“Alright,” Solana said with a slow nod, eyes still on the map. “Eight. Our orbs are one of the eight. I have one more task for you, Rexajon.”
“Name it.”
“I need you to create a storm. A storm over the whole state. I want a lot of lightning and thunder.”
Rexajon flashed her a look of confusion. Usually, Solana hated storms. She shrank at the sound of thunder and actively sought his protection from lightning. Now she wanted a storm?
Still, he did not question her. Instead, he focused his magic on the spell she asked for. “Wijilia,” he whispered as he created the storm.
Solana looked at the nearby window to see the forming clouds, then at the map again. She quickly grabbed a napkin.
As Rexajon worked on creating the storm, the dots on the map went crazy. Solana worked quickly. She ripped pieces of the napkin and placed them wherever she saw a dot fluctuate. She stopped and commended herself for her quick thinking once she successfully covered four fluctuating dots.
Thunder boomed outside, and Rexajon let out a tired sigh once Solana's request was done. “What was the purpose of that?”
“Look,” Solana gestured to the map. “These four points flashed from red all the way down to white.”
She lifted the napkin off one of the dots. “And look—it's red again. These are our orbs.”
Rexajon gave Solana an impressed smile. “Brilliant,” he complimented. “Let's see where they are.”
“This one is the Amazon Rainforest,” she announced.
Rexajon pulled off a napkin and set it aside. “Mauna Loa volcano.” He pulled off another. “Khone Falls.”
Solana pulled off the last one and smirked at Rexajon. “And Stonehenge.” Rexajon did not seem as entertained. “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.”
“Fun killer.”
Rexajon ignored her insult and looked at the map. With a swipe of his hand, he focused on their four points of interest. “The Amazon Rainforest—the largest rainforest on Earth—life. Mauna Loa
volcano —the largest volcano on Earth—fire. Khone Falls—the widest waterfall on Earth. Water.”
“And Stonehenge is Stonehenge,” Solana finished. “Earth.”
Rexajon nodded. “We're ready.”
Solana smiled. “We sure are.”
Chapter 2
Solana pushed the curtain of the hotel room aside to casually take in the lights of the city night.
London was six hours ahead of Wisconsin, and although it was a little disorienting to go straight from early evening to night, Solana felt this was the best time to see the city.
“Away for the window,” Rexajon chided from his place on the bed. He flipped through the channels on the television and eventually settled on a courthouse show rerun. He tossed the remote away and relaxed.
Solana pouted but did as he commanded and closed the curtain. She plopped onto her bed and looked over at him. "What are the chances that the enemy would be lurking outside my hotel window in London?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
He kept his eyes glued to the television. "I don't intend to find out," he mumbled. "Keep away from the window."
“Oh, you're no fun!” Solana scoffed. “We're in London, England, like the movies! There's so much to see and do!”
“So long as the enemy is out there, you're a danger to yourself and others,” Rexajon said. “We're not here to be tourists. First thing tomorrow, we set out for Stonehenge, find the orb, and we're out of here. Don't forget the mission.”
Of course, Solana would not forget. She was doing this for Kuri, for her powers, and for Wizteria.
The burden was
far too heavy to just forget. Still, it was her first time even leaving Wisconsin since she and Kuri's family settled there! She wanted to see what other cities—and other countries had to offer. The only way to do that was to get out of the hotel and explore!
She crossed her arms and hopped over to Rexajon's bed. She tapped on his shoulder. “Tell me,
Rexajon. Did it beg?”
Rexajon frowned in confusion. “Did what beg?”
“Fun,” she delivered the punchline with a straight face. “Did fun beg for its life before you murdered it in cold blood, or did you kill it so quickly that it did not get the chance?”
Rexajon rolled his eyes and focused back on the television.
Solana took that as an invitation to elaborate. “Because you're a fun killer.”
“I am not,” Rexajon retorted.
“Oh, yeah?” Solana crossed her arms. “I want to see Big Ben.”
“It's closed for renovations.”
“I want to ride the London Eye.”
“The line for that is terrible.”
“Buckingham Palace?”
“The Wizterian Palace is much nice than that one.”
Confident that she proved her point, she raised an eyebrow. Too quiet, Rexajon glanced over and immediately blushed. Alright. He got the message. “Are you hungry?” he offered. “We can eat dinner at the hotel restaurant. And after, I will...take you to the gift shop. You can get any souvenirs you want.”
“Careful, now,” Solana said with a sarcastic smirk. “You're living on the edge there.”
Still, going to the hotel restaurant was better than staying cooped up and watching the courthouse show marathon. She stood and grabbed a jacket. She threw it on, grabbed the hotel card key, and looked at Rexajon. He stood and led the way out of the room.
They were silent during the elevator ride and the walk to the restaurant. Only when the hostess politely asked, "Table for two?"
Did Rexajon answer, “Yes, please.”
After that, they fell into silence once more. The hostess led them to a table by the window and
walked away.