The Eye of Elektron: A Clean Urban Fantasy (The Sumrectian Series Book 1)

by Leigh G. Wynn

  “No one,” Ansel repeated.

  “That’s not true! You’re lying!” Quinn sounded frenzied. “The spell says—”

  “The spell means nothing!”

  “It means everything! I’m going to ask you again.” Quinn breathed heavily. “Where have you hidden Ovra Brighton?”

  Ansel bowed his head but did not say a word in return.

  That was the last straw.

  Without warning, twenty Sumrect soldiers spilled in from the double doors behind Dawn and instantly swamped the study with their intimidating presence.

  “I warned you, Ansel, I warned you!” barked Quinn. “I told you to do as I say, but you did not comply. This was not how I wanted to play.”

  “Me either. Please leave Chesterfield before—”

  “Before what?” Quinn threw his face inches in front of Ansel’s. “Before you blow us all up? Even your own powers are useless at Chesterfield! I think you understand that better than anyone.”

  “You are absolutely right. We are all as defenseless as humans in this household.”

  Quinn smacked his lips in anticipation. “Not us, Ansel. We came better prepared.” As he backed away, he whipped out a small handgun from his pocket and aimed it steadily at Ansel’s chest. The three captives on the floor squirmed.

  “If I were you, I would put that gun down,” said Ansel coolly, taking a step forward.

  “Don’t move!”

  “A quick suggestion… Pick a better weapon next time.”

  “You think I’m going to shoot you, Ansel?”

  “The fact that you are pointing a gun at my chest leaves me with little doubt, I admit.”

  “If that’s what you think, then you have highly underestimated my intelligence. I know a bullet won’t even leave a mark on you. This blasted place forbids us to use non-human powers, but it can’t change the fact that you are a Sumrect. Nothing we do can kill you… yet.” Quinn did not shift his aim.

  “Right again. You can’t kill me anytime soon. Many have tried. Many have failed. Perhaps you are smarter than the rest. You cannot harm me in any way, so why bother? Why threaten someone you can’t kill at gunpoint?”

  Behind Quinn, Delia stirred. Suddenly, Dawn suspected if Ansel was merely stalling.

  “Because I’m not threatening your life. You need more motivation than that.”

  At the word “motivation”, Quinn swung his arm around to point the gun at a female human captive while Ansel slammed Dawn to the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut. Two loud bangs and a muffled scream reverberated in the study. Then, a scuttling of feet and chaotic shouting. “Grab them!” “Get her!” Rough hands forced her head down to the uneven tile, and she could feel the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed into the back of her head.

  When Dawn opened her eyes a few seconds later, the situation in the study had taken a drastic turn. Two soldiers were prying Ansel away from the captive, who was alive but pale with fright. Delia had awoken and was positioned in front of the window, wielding a crackling ball of white light in her hand, surrounded by soldiers skeptical of approaching the infuriated old Sumrect. Quinn pointed his gun to another captive on the floor. This time, his arm trembled. The control he had over the situation a minute ago was now gone.

  “I’ll shoot. I’ll shoot!” He kept repeating.

  The soldiers dragged Ansel across the study and forced him to kneel next to Dawn with a kick behind the knees. When she glanced over at him, she inhaled a sharp breath. Fresh blood soaked through his right sleeve. A bullet wound was clearly visible in his shoulder.

  He was stalling. But he is a Sumrect, and bullets aren’t supposed to have any effect on him. Quinn said so himself. What’s going on?

  Meanwhile, in the back of her mind, she also registered: Ansel just saved another life.

  A hard object rolled to a stop at her knees. She glanced down and saw the Eye of Elektron, which had fallen out of Quinn’s hands during the chaos. Everyone was too focused on Delia to notice.

  “I guess Ansel forgot to mention that I’m the only Sumrect allowed to use her powers in this house,” Delia stated. “Quinn, put down your weapon.”

  “You don’t have the advantage here. Put the gun down,” Ansel said as well.

  “I’ll shoot!” Quinn repeated. Panic must have had kicked in because he was not listening.

  This is all because of me. Dawn felt a surge of guilt. I must stop Quinn before he kills us all.

  While keeping her body stationary, she slowly reached down to her knees and wrapped her fingers around the cold, hard glass, hoping the Eye would light up just as it did before.

  If they are looking for the one who can make the Eye glow, then I’m willing to bet they won’t kill me just yet. She took a deep breath and rose to her feet.

  “Hey Quinn, looking for this?” She held up the Eye of Elektron, glowing as brightly as ever through the gaps between her fingers.

  Everything next happened in slow motion.

  When Quinn saw the illuminated orb in Dawn’s hand, shock and confusion flooded his features, twisting them into a terrifying configuration.

  At that precise moment, Delia blasted white electricity from her hands, knocking out the soldiers behind Ansel and Dawn. No match for Delia, the Sumrects dropped their weapons and scrambled for the door while those surrounding the old Sumrect tumbled out of the window.

  Ansel flung himself at a still baffled Quinn. The gun dropped from Quinn’s hand with a clunk as Ansel yanked him to the window by the throat. “Out of my study, you filth!”

  “Ansel! That’s enough! Leave them,” Delia called, but Ansel could not be stopped. He hurled Quinn out the window and leaped after him.

  The rain stopped. A blinding blue light erupted from the grounds outside. It filled the study and shook the walls, shattering all the windows in the room.

  Delia yelled for Dawn to take cover before she, too, left to join the fight. Crouched into a ball as the study continued to shake, Dawn watched the painting of the smiling young woman on a deserted beach slide to the floor with a dull thump.

  Then, as quickly as they appeared, the lights vanished, and all fell quiet except for the human workers’ terrified sobs. Shaken, Dawn crawled over and untied them one by one. She jumped when a teenage boy emerged from the opening of the secret passageway, still soaked from the rain.

  “My God! Did I miss something? What happened here?!”

  “Oh, Kai,” Dawn said, “it’s a long story.”

  ✽✽✽

  As Regina’s thin fingers ran through Moira’s smooth blonde curls, she let her thoughts wander to the first time she met the child’s father. He was only sixteen in Sumrectian years, and she, twelve. They still resided in Panatomius then, innocent as could be. It was during the Atlantis Bowl, where young Sumrects competed to be chosen as warriors to defend Panatomius against the Etherians, that she first laid eyes on him. Charismatic and handsome, albeit with a slight air of youthful arrogance, he became her idol, her first real love. His bravery, his fearlessness in the face of even the mightiest opponent, drew her to him. She knew then she could never love another.

  She adored that Moira, from her thin bowed lips to her dimpled cheeks, took after her father. The child reminded her of a happier time. Things had certainly changed. He was no longer the same Sumrect she had fallen in love with, and Regina knew deep down he would never look at her again in the same way he did during the summer of the Atlantis Bowl.

  “Mom, you stopped brushing. What are you thinking about?” Moira woke Regina from her reverie.

  Regina looked down at the mirror on the back of the brush she held where she met her own unblinking eyes. Sometimes, she wondered if she had indeed made the right decision.

  “Just thinking about how big you’ve gotten in so little time,” Regina finally said with a smile.

  “Really now, Mom? It took me a long time to turn eleven!”

  Not long enough, Regina thought. Every eleven years in a human’s life equated to rough
ly one year in a Sumrect’s lifespan. Moira should still be only a toddler.

  “Why don’t I have powers yet? When will I get them?” Moira said.

  Regina tucked the child’s curls behind her ears. “Soon, Moira. Maybe this year.”

  “I want to be just like Uncle Ansel, the most powerful Sumrect to have ever lived!”

  Regina recalled the blue bunting that was Moira’s first morpheum. You are already more like him than you can ever imagine.

  There was a knock before Vance appeared in the doorway. From his stern expression, Regina gathered something serious must have happened.

  “Give me a few minutes while I talk with your father,” Regina said.

  Moira nodded and picked up a half-opened picture book on her bed as Regina left the room silently with Vance.

  Once they were in the hallway, Vance revealed in a low voice, “Ansel went back to Chesterfield early this morning.”

  This did not surprise Regina. “Didn’t you hope he would head right back the minute he discovered you had sent soldiers to Phyon?”

  “It was my intention, of course. I never blunder in my calculations.”

  “And that’s why you are jumping with joy right now,” said Regina, her tone steeped in sarcasm.

  Vance shot her a dark look. “No, I’m not thrilled because Quinn never procured the information I needed. I still don’t know where Ansel has hidden Ovra Brighton. My brother may not be cleverer than me, but he can outsmart Quinn any day.”

  “I’m sure with time and a little manipulation, you’ll find the Brighton girl.”

  “There’s no doubt I could find her if I really tried. However, as of last night, she’s no longer of my interest. I have a new target.”

  Regina’s hand flew to her mouth. “You mean, you found the bringer of new light?”

  They entered a dimly lit circular room. Vance carefully locked the door behind them. In a controlled voice, he answered, “I do. She has been within inches of our grasp this past year. Her name said it all… bringer of new light.”

  “Dawn.” The name escaped Regina’s lips in a rush of revelation.

  Vance nodded, scratching his head in frustration. “I had her within my fingertips! She was painting for us three days ago, and where is she now? She’s with HIM! At Chesterfield!”

  “Do you suppose Ansel knows?”

  “No! Of course not! There is no way he could’ve known! Since when did Etherian words mean anything to him? But he’s always there to thwart me. Always!” He circled the room like a mad Sumrect.

  “Calm down, Vance. You are acting like a child.”

  “Don’t you tell ME what to do! You know better than anyone the horrible things he has made me do!”

  “He never made you do those things…” Regina stopped out of fear that she had gone too far. However, much to her astonishment and relief, Vance regained some composure upon hearing her remark.

  He stared at her straight in the eyes and said, “Ansel’s a monster, Regina. You know more than anybody just how depraved he really is. He took everything from me… and I will make him pay. I swear it.”

  “But you have already, haven’t you? By exiling him. Isn’t that enough?”

  “No. His brought it upon himself. Besides, once I complete the Etherian spell, he will be history. Do you know what else I found out today?”

  “What?”

  “Quinn shot him with a human gun,” Vance said.

  “By accident, of course, because he’s not that stupid,” he added. “The bullet was meant for a Chesterfield worker, but as usual, Ansel got in the way. Quinn said he saw blood on Ansel’s shoulder where the bullet hit.”

  Regina did not flinch. “Quinn must have been delusional. There’s no way a bullet could have harmed a Sumrect as powerful as Ansel.”

  “That’s what I thought at first, but Quinn swears by what he saw.”

  “I just don’t see how that’s possible. Don’t fall for his tricks, Vance. Your devious brother probably staged it to throw you off track… make you second guess…”

  Vance stroked his chin. “Yes… Whatever Ansel’s playing at, he won’t stop me from catching the bearer of new light and completing the spell.”

  Expressionless, Regina blinked a few times. “How do you plan to get the bearer of new light back from Ansel?”

  A sly smile broke across Vance’s face. “I have the perfect human for the job.

  Chapter 7

  An hour had passed since Quinn left with his soldiers. Mary, the worker whose life Ansel saved, would not stop asking him how she could repay him and was in such hysterics Delia had to put her on a tranquilizer before sending her home with the other hostages.

  Admittedly, it helped to have a Sumrect’s powers around the house. While Dawn updated Kai on what had happened, Delia stopped the bleeding in Ansel’s shoulder, mended a fractured scapula and dressed the bullet wound with the skill of a seasoned professional, all the while scolding her patient for entering into some forbidden “pact” and not thinking before he acted.

  Ansel allowed Delia to ramble on, but before long, he was back among other victims of the night’s attack, assessing and repairing the damage. While he and Delia worked rapidly to set up shelters for families whose homes had been burned down, Dawn and Kai handed clothing and supplies to thankful residents.

  The care with which Ansel treated the humans and the gratitude they expressed in return were further confirmation that the stories Dawn heard about him at Crimson Estate were nothing but lies. She had never witnessed a Sumrect so well respected and loved by humans.

  Tempeia was a whole other world.

  “Sumrects should only be worthy of power if they could use it for good… to protect rather than devastate, to build rather than destroy.” Ansel grimaced as they came to a burned church which was to be used as a shelter.

  With incredible facility and finesses, he cleared the debris blocking the entrance using just one hand and restored the door to its previous condition. Awestruck, Dawn followed him into the empty church where the pungent residual smoke made them all cough uncontrollably.

  Delia was not as impressed.

  “You told me the pact won’t be effective for another hundred years. But please explain this!” Covering her nose and mouth, she pointed at Ansel’s injured shoulder.

  “Delia, I said the pact won’t be executed for another hundred years.” Although the bleeding stopped, he still looked as white as a ghost.

  “A matter of word choice,” Delia grumbled.

  “Er,” Dawn interrupted in a small voice, “what exactly is this pact we keep talking about?”

  Ansel did not respond right away. Instead, he hurled a membrane like substance over the walls and ceilings of the church, clearing the air instantly and rendering the commotion outside inaudible.

  “This is information I share only with a few,” he finally said when all was quiet, “because of the potential danger it may cause should my secret be made public.”

  “I promise I won’t say a word.”

  “You don’t need to assure me.” He smiled at her. “I trust you’ll be discreet.”

  He flicked his left hand, and a dense white fog formed over his open palm. “Some time ago, I made… an agreement—for lack of a better word—that would strip me of all my Sumrectian powers and turn me into a human within a reasonable amount of time. As of today, I’m about a fifth of the way there with a human right arm…” The fog drifted from his hand and floated toward a row of broken stained-glass windows.

  “Few are aware of my condition, not even Vance, because not all my powers have yet been compromised, and, if you would excuse my overconfidence, I can still do heaps with one hand.”

  As he spoke, the fog melted into each window frame and transformed into spectacular stained glass.

  Dawn remembered the mesmerizing auroras and induced rain. And I thought he was a lefty. Vance would kill to be the most powerful Sumrect in modern times, yet Ansel was speaking nonchalantly
about giving up all his talents.

  “Why?!” It was hard for her to imagine any Sumrect choosing to give up his powers to become weak like a human.

  “That’s what I keep asking him too,” Kai bemoaned.

  “At first, I thought Vance threatened him, but Vance couldn’t have cursed him even if he tried. Later I learned, alas, Ansel agreed to the transformation himself!” Delia said as she laid down new tiles on the floor. “And have you ever considered maybe—just maybe—you could keep me up to date on which part of you is human and which is not? I don’t want accidents like tonight to become a frequent occurrence!”

  “Sorry, Delia. To be truthful, I struggle to keep track of the changes myself. As for why…” Ansel paused, turning back to Dawn. “There are a couple of reasons. One, like you said to me this evening, nobody should be trusted with too much power. I’m no exception.”

  “But that’s exactly what your brother wants! Once you are human, he will have no difficulty killing you.”

  “That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? A thousand years is an insanely long time to live.” He chuckled, directing the fallen beams back to the cathedral ceiling.

  She did not find it funny. “And what’s the other reason?”

  He examined the reconstructed ceiling and offered only a vague reply, “Sometimes, the twists and turns of fate leave you with no other choice. For instance…” He gazed at her again, tilting his head in the distinct way he always did when intrigued. “Why did you risk your life tonight to grab the Eye?”

  Dawn raised an eyebrow. “Why did you throw yourself in front of Mary?”

  “Because it was instinctive. The only choice I had.”

  “Well, I also had no other choice.”

  She held his gaze in tacit understanding. For the first time since meeting Ansel, she experienced a deep respect toward him, and somehow, in her gut, she knew he could have never committed the horrendous crimes Vance accused him of.

  “Imagine what would happen if word got out that Ansel Cassadian, the most powerful Sumrect in history, is turning human!” Kai said. “Imagine if Vance found out! There would be chaos!”