by Lynette Noni
Three
An indefinite amount of time later, Alex restlessly paced back and forth in a holding cell that was much cleaner than her current state of hygiene. The white walls surrounding her were immaculate, made more so by the slight glow of energy zinging along them: a seemingly innocuous halo of light that was augmented by a hair-raising electrical hum of warning. Despite the powerful barrier, Alex was tempted to reach out and smear dried mud across the pristine surface just to annoy some underling who clearly had OCD tendencies when it came to bleach—or whatever the Medoran cleaning equivalent was.
Suffice it to say, she and her friends hadn’t made it out of the ChemTech facility without being caught. They’d barely had time to cut the feed to the surveillance footage and disconnect their ComTCD link with Johnny before the door to the server room had flown open. Hoping that Bear’s brother was busy using his hacking skills to hide his digital footprint and the illegal download of the footage to his offsite Device, Alex and her friends had been left throwing their hands up in surrender when the guards stormed the room.
They’d quickly discovered that the ChemTech security team didn’t play around and were the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ variety of guards. Alex, Bear and D.C. had, therefore, experienced their first taste of what it felt like to be intimately acquainted with a blast from a Stabiliser.
For the record, it hurt like hell.
The weapon had caused a searing burn to spread throughout Alex’s body, stinging along her nerve endings fast enough to force her into unconsciousness within a fraction of a second. When she awoke ten minutes later, Alex found herself lying on the unnaturally clean floor of her cell and suffering from a splitting headache; one which was still thumping through her skull after what felt like hours of incarceration.
“What’s taking them so long?” D.C. grumbled, sitting on the floor with her head in her hands. “We’ve been in here for ages without anyone coming by. Why can’t they hurry up and tell us how much trouble we’re in?”
The only upside to their predicament was that Alex, Bear and D.C. had all been locked up together in the same cell. But since they were each dealing with Stabiliser-induced headaches, none of them had the capacity to offer good company or stimulating conversation.
“Standard practice for interrogations. They’re letting us sweat,” Bear said, standing with one hand massaging his temple and the other arm cradled protectively against his stomach. He’d been the unfortunate test dummy who had reached out first to touch the glowing walls, discovering that they were, in fact, charged with something akin to live electricity. His hand was covered in blistering welts from contact with the walls, which only added to his discomfort from the earlier insect bites.
Alex was just about to open her mouth and suggest they try to come up with an escape plan when the glowing energy around them deactivated and one of the white walls slid open. D.C. scrambled to her feet and Bear dropped his hands and moved forward until the three of them stood in a line, presenting a united front.
Four people entered the cell. Three of them wore the gunmetal-grey uniforms of the security guards, but the person leading the group wore the familiar black attire of a Warden. His fiery red hair was cropped close to his skull, but it was still thick enough to stand out vividly against his dark clothing and pale skin.
Alex felt D.C. stiffen and relax again just as quickly, apparently not recognising the Warden. This was good, since the last thing any of them needed was for word to get back to D.C.’s parents about their little… expedition.
“I’m Warden Renko,” the man in black said as he came to a halt a few steps away. The three security guards stopped beside him, their Stabilisers trained on Alex, Bear and D.C as a silent warning. “You three were caught trespassing on a secure ChemTech facility without authorised clearance. You’ve since been detained and transported here for questioning. Hands behind your backs, please.”
Alex blinked in surprise, not sure what to process first—the fact that they had been transported to an unknown location while unconscious, or the brusque manner of the Warden’s efficient command.
When the guards moved forward threateningly, she hastily complied and they roughly bound her arms together. She winced in sympathy at the thought of the pain D.C.’s sprained wrist and Bear’s burnt hand must be causing them.
“Follow me,” the Warden directed once they were all secured.
“Just a second,” Bear said, and Alex raised her eyebrows in question—and alarm. She wasn’t keen on repeating her experience with the business end of a Stabiliser if Renko decided not to indulge Bear’s interruption.
Fortunately, the Warden seemed curious enough to halt his forward movement and he turned back to her friend.
“We’re really sorry to have bothered you,” Bear said, “but you need to let us go free now. We don’t want any more trouble; we just want to go home. When you let us out of here, you’ll never have to worry about us again.”
His words were audacious, and yet Alex had to suppress a grin when the guards and even D.C. all began nodding along while listening to his hypnotic tone. It was fascinating—the last time Bear had used his gift around Alex, her own willpower hadn’t been fully activated, and the mesmerising nature of his ability had sucked her right in. But no longer did it affect her, since she was now fully in control of her own gift.
For a moment, Alex thought Bear had come up with the perfect escape plan. But then she realised there was one person, other than herself, who wasn’t nodding along with the rest.
“Nice try, kid,” Renko said, a hint of a smile curling his lips. “But you’re not the only one with a gift around here.”
As if his words broke the spell, suddenly the other guards— and D.C.—shook off the glamour of Bear’s charm and came back to their senses, frowning slightly in bewilderment.
“Now, let’s try this again,” Renko said, gesturing pointedly for Alex and her friends to follow him from the cell.
Throwing an ‘it was worth a shot’ look at Bear, Alex stepped forward and trailed Renko down a series of blindingly white corridors until they passed a guarded checkpoint and walked in single file through some kind of body scanner. It reminded Alex of stepping through airport security, and she wondered what the point of it was, since not even their ComTCDs had been confiscated from them during their imprisonment—though, they had somehow been deactivated, meaning no incoming or outgoing calls, despite their desperate attempts to contact Johnny for escape options.
Whether the body scanner was searching for weapons or something else—or perhaps it acted like an EMP field and was now reactivating their Devices, or so Alex hoped—it let them through without issue, and from there, Alex and her friends were pushed into an elevator. After an ear-popping journey upwards, it opened into a large room bustling with people smartly dressed and wandering about with purpose.
Until that moment, Alex had presumed from Renko’s words that they’d been moved to some kind of high-tech, uncommonly clean prison, but now she had no idea where they were. Not until she saw the sign posted directly above the spiral glass staircase they were being led towards. HIGH COURT OF MEDORA was written in large, bold letters, with an engraving of the Wardens’ emblem beneath it: two swords crossed together behind a crown.
There was an addition to this picture Alex hadn’t seen before, with the emblem positioned in the middle of a shield above the words: Sosaar de ne lenorsa.
“We are many, yet we are one,” D.C. recited quietly, answering Alex’s unspoken question. “It’s meant to be a reminder that our actions affect the lives of those around us every day.” Her eyes travelled over the room and she continued in a whisper, “I can’t believe we’re at the High Court. This is so not good, guys.” The guard behind her prodded his Stabiliser into her back and she snapped her mouth closed.
The moment their entourage stepped onto the spiralling staircase, Renko tapped something into the railing and it came to life, moving them upwards like an escalator. When
they reached what Alex judged to be about four floors up, she was nudged off by a guard to follow the Warden down another long hallway, this one with a glass-walled view that held Alex’s attention for the entire length of the walk.
“Mardenia. The city on a hill,” Renko said, tracking her gaze as he fell into step beside her.
Feeling as if he expected a response, she squinted out at the view and said, “It’s very… clean.”
As strange as her description was, it was the only thing Alex could come up with on the fly. Looking at the city sprawled across the side of what was most definitely a hill, Alex marvelled at just how white everything was. Much like the High Court, the buildings running alongside the vibrant blue ocean were bleached of colour. The scenery brought to mind a memory of the time she’d travelled around the Greek Islands with her parents when they’d been working on a dig outside of Athens. They’d taken a four-day vacation from their work and hired a boat, cruising around the Aegean Sea and setting foot on as many islands as time allowed.
Before Alex could properly indulge in her nostalgia, they came to the end of the windowed walkway and Renko ordered them to sit in a small waiting room.
“Your trial will begin in five minutes. Wait in here until you’re called.”
Alex anxiously flicked her eyes to Renko as he and the guards exited the room. “Our trial?”
He turned to her when he reached the door, his face blank. “You illegally infiltrated a top-secret facility. Did you expect to get off with just a warning?”
And with that, he locked them in the small room.
“So what are we looking at here?” Alex asked D.C.
“My guess?” D.C. chewed nervously on her lip. “Nothing good. We were caught red-handed, Alex. As much as it’ll suck, we may have to get someone to contact my parents.”
“I can see that conversation going well.” Alex pitched her voice to mimic D.C., “Excuse me, Warden Renko, do you mind contacting the king and queen to tell them you’ve got their daughter locked up in prison? No, really, I promise you, I’m the princess.” Alex finished her recitation by looking pointedly up and down her friend’s lightning-zinged, muddy appearance. “For some reason, I have a feeling he’ll have a hard time believing us.”
“Fortunately for you, little human, you won’t have to wait to find out if that is true.”
Alex whirled around only to gape at the sight of the huge Meyarin guard, Zain, leaning casually against the wall.
“I leave you alone for a few days and you end up incarcerated,” he said, taking in their messy appearances with a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “You once told me you didn’t need a babysitter, but all evidence points to the contrary.”
“What are you doing here, Zain?” Alex asked, amazed to see him standing there with them. “How did you even get in here? No, scratch that. How did you know where to find us?” She paused. “Wait, you are here for us, right?”
“Always so curious,” Zain said, pushing off from the wall and moving with Meyarin grace towards her. “Turn around, Alex.”
He didn’t give her the option of following his command since his heavy hands came to rest on her shoulders, swivelling her body until her back faced him. She heard a snick before her bonds fell to the ground. Massaging the pins and needles from her wrists, Alex watched him liberate D.C. and Bear with a lethal-looking blade. Zain didn’t miss their winces when their injured hands were released.
“Step closer, humans, and we’ll address your wounds back in Meya.”
When Alex opened her mouth to repeat her questions, he sent her a quelling look and said, “Unless of course you want to stay here and end up with criminal records and prison time?”
She snapped her mouth shut and the three of them moved closer to Zain. Almost immediately, the ground tore out from underneath them as the Valispath activated, shooting them straight through the walls of the High Court and out into the sunset horizon.
Zain, thankfully, had recently spent quite some time with Alex’s human self, so he knew to reach out and fiddle with the settings of the Eternal Path—settings that were invisible to human eyes. He pressed a patterned sequence into the transparent wall, causing the wind chill to disappear instantly. Even though they were soaring over the white buildings of Mardenia at a stomach-churning speed, their ride was smooth and silent. In fact, if Alex closed her eyes, she wouldn’t know she was moving at all.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” D.C. whispered, staring pale faced at the blurring scenery as the Valispath picked up more speed.
Alex had forgotten that only she had experienced the Path at full velocity before. Her friends had been on it with her twice, but only between Meya and Raelia, and at a much more sedate pace.
“Here,” Zain said, pulling a crumpled white flower from his cloak and handing it to D.C. “Chew this, it will make you feel better.”
Ill as she was, D.C. didn’t question him. She put the flower in her mouth, closing her eyes and taking deliberately controlled breaths. Within moments the colour returned to her face and she opened her eyes again, looking stunned. “Wow,” she said, still chewing. “This is good stuff.”
“Fraedonweed,” Zain said. “Cures most superficial stomach illnesses.” His eyes lit up with mischief and he added, “When ground into a paste, it’s a remarkably effective boot polish as well.”
D.C.’s rapidly improving face blanched again and she turned to Alex. “Am I eating boot polish?”
Alex hesitated. “Does it taste like boot polish?”
When D.C.’s colour continued draining away, Alex realised that she could have chosen her words more carefully.
“What I meant was, who cares if it’s boot polish if it tastes all right?” Alex tried again.
“I suggest we change the topic unless you want Dix to puke all over our feet,” Bear said pointedly.
Taking his advice, Alex turned back to Zain. “How did you know we needed rescuing? And where to find us?”
Zain answered with only one word, but it was explanation enough. “Hunter.”
Alex closed her eyes slowly. It figured that her Stealth and Subterfuge teacher would know what they’d been up to—and that they’d needed help. Somehow the mysterious man seemed to know everything, and not just because he had a supernatural gift of awareness and perception.
“Hunter was following us?” Bear asked, and Alex reopened her eyes to see his surprise.
“He thought it wise,” Zain responded. He didn’t get a chance to say anything else before the Valispath shot them straight into a snow-covered mountain, and for a few seconds, all light disappeared until they broke through to the other side and rejoined the open sky.
Bear let out a quiet groan. “Now I think I’m going to be sick.”
Zain shook his head and muttered, “Humans.”
Alex pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. He’d been with them for less than five minutes and already appeared eager to dump them in the forest below.
“You’re sure looking better than the last time I saw you,” Alex said, hoping to keep him from acting on his urge to abandon them. “Are you completely healed?”
It had been less than a fortnight, but when she’d last laid eyes on Zain he’d been suffering from a wound poisoned by Hyroa blood—the Meyarin equivalent of kryptonite—and he’d nearly died. Now, however, he appeared healthy and strong, much to Alex’s relief.
Noticing Alex’s clinical perusal, Zain sent her a warm smile. “As you can see, I’m fully recovered. And ready to assist in your training.”
Alex unconsciously scrunched up her face and resolutely decided to ignore his words, choosing instead to visit a happy place in her mind; a place where she never had to consider the worrisome idea of training with the hulk of a Meyarin. Or any others of his kind.
“It won’t be so bad,” Zain said, nudging her with his elbow. “I’ll go easy on you.”
Alex very much doubted he would. The reason she had to learn how to fight with the
Meyarins was so she could hold her own against Aven. Therefore, she needed to know what she was up against. Being babied, as much as she liked the idea, wouldn’t help her—or anyone else.
“You said you’re taking us to Meya,” D.C. said to Zain. “Is there a reason we’re not going straight back to Woodhaven?”
“Prince Roka planned on collecting Alex tomorrow for us to begin working with her,” Zain answered, causing Alex’s eyebrows to shoot up, “but then Hunter contacted us and said you could use… some assistance…”—his lips twitched at that, but he continued—“so I was sent to retrieve you all today instead. Now Alex will simply be able to begin her training earlier than anticipated.”
Oh, goodie, Alex thought. And I thought this day couldn’t get any better.
Four
Before Alex could ask Zain exactly what her training would entail, the Valispath began to slow. She hadn’t even noticed them gliding through the Silverwood. The snow-dusted forest was now darkening into hues of bright gold as they moved towards their destination. And sure enough, within seconds, they breached the tree line and soared over the Golden Cliffs, with the Eternal Path spiralling them down through the spray of waterfalls and into the valley below.
The silvery spires of the palace at the centre of the city lit up like a beacon, shining with the light of the setting sun that bounced off the snowy surrounds with an iridescent radiance. Alex could hear Bear and D.C.’s outspoken awe, and she knew that whether seventeen or seventy, there was nothing any of them would see in the rest of their lives that would rival the beauty of the Lost City.
It took hardly any time at all before the Path led them directly into the palace, stopping only when they reached a long corridor intricately decorated with swirls of Myrox and gold. Ordinarily it would have seemed gaudy and ostentatious, but given the rest of the opulence surrounding them, the décor was almost bland in comparison to the city.
“Prince Roka is expecting us,” Zain said, moving off the invisible transportation and towards the nearest door. Bear and D.C. followed directly behind him, both somewhat wobbly from their experience on the Valispath.