by Elon Vidal
Teffa shook his mane as it floated around his head like it so often did, supported by a wind that only affected him. “No. And I don’t know that it will do anything to cleanse QT directly. I can rid the magic once it is outside of him, but I am not sure I can call it out by myself.”
Ella’s fists clenched at her side as Teffa answered the unspoken question. “Then we need to go see the Maven. Find out what they know about Underworlder possession.”
The others walked up to Ella where she sat against the wall. Teffa followed with them. His cheeks were a little pale from the rainbow exertion and his eyes were bloodshot. It seemed that magic had a cost for him.
The remnants she still felt had nothing to do with a physical presence of the ooze, but rather a presence that she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to get off her soul. QT’s murderous stare trying to end her had pierced a bubble in her. Her friend was far from her reach and she felt frustrated not having the key that would release him from his chains.
“Ella, we need to tell Hamit what is happening with QT,” Athos’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away, as if the ooze that had been coming off QT hadn’t been entirely cleansed from the training ring even though Ella had watched Teffa carefully: he got it all.
With a sigh, Ella hauled herself to her feet. They were right. Hamit deserved to know that his son was being used as a tool of Heroki Sintila and the Underworlders.
“All right, but I want to tell him.”
Athos nodded. “Come back here after you see Hamit and prep for the trip to the Equatorial Forest.” Athos placed his red furred paw on Ella’s arm for a moment and she could see the message deep in his golden eyes: use the balance of the banyans… Tap into your Durga.
Maybe she would even run into her father while they were there. He was spending more time with the Maven than with her these days. It would be nice to see him.
But, first… They had to tell Hamit about his son. Ella sighed, picking up her shoulder bag as her team turned toward the door. The suns had started to fade in the sky. They would make it just in time for evening tea, but that wouldn’t make the conversation any easier.
CHAPTER ELEVEN - MUSIC BOX
The hush of sadness still draped the Harra home. Saana brought a tray of thin metal snack plates lined with little cakes and ceramic cups of tea out to the team as they sat down in the living room. Then she disappeared again, without saying anything or even giving Ella a hug. Ella could taste her despair brewed into the tea leaves.
Hamit sat in his giant chair, tense and gloomy, as if waiting for news that he could sense was bad. He expressed that he was happy to see Luna was still safe, perhaps an attempt at gruff levity that would make whatever Ella and her team had come to tell him seem more lighthearted. Or beyond himself, he did care for the wellbeing of others. Oh, if only he had seen her display on the mat earlier.
As Ella finished telling Hamit of the confrontation with QT, the Master of Scorpene’s foot began to tap faster and faster beside his chair. He downed an entire cup of tea once Ella had finished and everyone waited in the silence that followed.
“I appreciate your update. I can only imagine how hard it was for you to face him. I know you are a true friend to my son.” Hamit’s jaw worked against words that Ella wasn’t sure he was ever going to say. “It is for this reason that I know you will do what you must to save him.”
Everyone was looking at Ella, letting her navigate the conversation. She didn’t know how to respond, though. What was Hamit giving them permission to do at this moment? Go up against Sintila? Had she really needed his permission before? Was it wrong that she hadn’t thought to ask for it?
“I expect you will all be working to find him, rescue him, and protect all that is good on Methula Four. That is what I will be working to do, too.” Hamit nodded and all present returned his nod gravely. Then, he looked at Teffa. “So, minicorn, can you tell me more about this rainbow vomit that cleanses Underworlder ooze?”
Hamit said it with such solemn regard that it made everyone burst out laughing and the somberness of the moment was broken.
Teffa explained to Hamit that it was a treasured treatment that all minicorns had through their own Durga that worked against a lot of anionic sources – there’s that anionic word, Ella thought.
As Teffa spoke, Ella kept her eyes on Juro. He seemed uncomfortable around Hamit. She elbowed him in the side, giving him a mocking frown.
“Uncomfortable around authority figures?”
Juro grinned. “Only ones that can arrest me.”
“Don’t worry, we aren’t in the law-breaking business. Maybe you’re on the way to discovering a golden heart in your chest.” Ella tapped her fingers on Juro’s coveralls. He caught her fingers with the lightning-fast movement that was so surprising.
“We are getting ready to go make a deal with werewolves to break into another realm and kidnap your best friend. Pretty sure your definition of which laws deserve to be broken is flexible.”
Ella’s eyes narrowed at him as she slipped her fingers out of his tight hold on her hand, but she couldn’t argue her way out of his words. He isn’t wrong… Doesn’t the end justify the means though?
Teffa finished bragging about the glitter he could spew over impurities and everyone looked at Ella again. She turned to Juro with a slight smile.
“QT is clearly stronger because of the Chaos Crystal. I think it is important for you to know that, Hamit. He may be alone and away from the people who love him, but he isn’t weak and he isn’t unprotected.” She had considered asking Nerka to show off something about her Crystal, but this might also be a good way to bridge the suspicion between Juro and Hamit. “Do you think you can demonstrate some of what the Attraction Crystal enables you to do, Juro?” Ella asked.
Juro was hesitant. He tapped his fingers against his biceps and looked from Luna, to Nerka, to Ella, as if looking for solidarity if he declined. Teffa, though, flicked a metal snack plate up in the air with his hoof and knocked it toward the young man. Juro caught it just before it hit him in the face.
“Why don’t you see what you can display with these? Nice and focused and a little bit astounding. Should be easy enough for you.” Teffa flipped up another plate and then another.
Before long, Juro had a pile of the tea plates in front of him. He looked one more time at Ella, but she just nodded encouragement. Juro cracked his knuckles and then spread his fingertips out onto the maroon tablecloth.
Hamit watched with great interest and a bit of suspicion as Juro began to array the line of metal plates. He floated them toward himself in the air, then rose them up over the table, leaving them hanging before him, slowly rotating, perpendicular to the table, suspended in a circle. They glistened and flowed together in a sphere, small bits of crumbs and tea droplets dripping down to the tablecloth.
Ella waited with the others for a wave of nausea to hit them, as Juro’s call for Attraction had been doing, but it seemed this simple demonstration was enough to focus his energies and not trigger any intense emotional response. Perhaps the training session had had some effect on him gaining control over this force. Or perhaps he was on his best behavior with Hamit.
The plates rotated and flickered in the light. Was Hamit taking comfort that his son might have some similar type of power at his beckon call? That he might be able to find strength in some construct that could protect himself and others from whatever might cause him harm? Even if he was under the control of another realm.
Juro looked up with a jerk as a tinny melody breached the air. Saana had entered the room and brushed against a wooden music box on a shelf. The bump had set the little mechanisms inside spinning, letting a few notes ring out. It wasn’t unpleasant, but Juro seemed on edge, completely jarred from the Attraction demonstration. Juro leaned to the side, his focus lost, letting the plates he was balancing collapse with a clatter.
“I’m so sorry,” Saana said, confusion passing over her brow as she placed her hand on the mu
sic box to still its errant melody. “It must have had a few winds to its gears. I apologize if it startled you.” She held the smooth wood in her hands, her fingers running over its lines.
“That’s okay,” Juro said, a faraway look in his eyes. He arranged the plates into a stack, but didn’t seem to be aware that his hands were moving. “I always like hearing music. You can play it, if you want. We weren’t allowed to listen to it very often. Especially music like that.”
“Allowed? What do you mean?” Saana’s smile was gracious as she wound up the little box and turned it so that it would intentionally play the lively, traditional Scorpina tune. She set it on the table in front of Juro.
“Where I grew up, I mean. In Sintila Labs.”
Ella caught Nerka’s eyes and she was surprised to see the message of alarm there. Teffa’s head swung sharply to look at Juro. Hamit’s back stiffened. The tall young man didn’t seem to realize how much his admission rocked everyone present.
“You’re one of them…” Luna’s whisper seemed to jostle Juro back from his reverie and he offered a sideways smile to everyone. Probably one he hoped was reassuring. Ella didn’t think it quite did the trick.
“Yep.” He ran his finger over the curving corners of the music box. “If by one of them you mean I’m one of the strange kids whose parents offered them up as an infant to the lab as living specimens… Growing up being poked and prodded. My nanny was a cyborg, and my instructors were brilliant —but arguably maniacal— scientists. My life was restricted to the compound. I had to hack my way through the system in order to escape. I’ve been on my own since.”
Ella considered Juro with a new regard. He had only offered small glimpses of himself to the team so far, but he also didn’t seem to be purposefully hiding anything. Maybe she just hadn’t been asking the right questions… “Is that how you knew how to break into Sintila Labs and get your Crystal?”
Juro shrugged. “Kind of. That’s how I knew the layout so that I was able to complete the job. I didn’t know it was a Crystal of Reality when I stole it, though. It wasn’t until later, when it bonded to me, that I realized what I had really gotten into.”
But that’s why you hate Heroki Sintila… Ella didn’t want to say the words out loud, but it was starting to make more sense now. At least she could know that there was true, earnest passion behind Juro’s decision to align with her and the others. His loyalty might not be entirely to their team, yet, but it certainly wouldn’t be to Sintila.
The tinkling melody of the music box faded and Saana picked it up to put it back on the shelf. She held up the teapot into the thoughtful silence. “Is there anything else I can get anyone?”
Hamit grunted and held out his cup. The tea was tasty, but that wasn’t what they really wanted. Or needed.
Ella sipped her tea and caught Hamit’s eye, as if he was having the same thought. She nodded to him and took a deep breath. They needed to head back to Athos and set out toward the Maven. They had to learn how to clear QT of the possession once they rescued him.
Who knew what plans Heroki Sintila was forming to get the Space and Attraction Crystals now that QT knew about them both? She would likely keep sending QT after them. And the next time it might not end so peacefully with him leaving through a portal.
The next time, it might be Ella wielding a weapon, instead. She shivered as she had the thought and shook her head. Never against QT. Not against my best friend…
Hamit’s words rang in her mind: “Do what you must to get him back.”
She reached out, surprising both herself and the Master of the Scorpene as she touched the back of his hand. They locked eyes and Ella sent every ounce of goodwill she could toward him, without having to say a word: I promise I will do my best.
CHAPTER TWELVE – HEROKI
Three black SUVs lined up outside the red brick walls of Athos’s training complex, moonlight pinging white glowing circles against the dark paint. The team slowed their approach and headed away from the front entrance.
Ella recognized the cars as the type of vehicles that Heroki Sintila and her minions drove. What would they be doing, approaching Athos so boldly in the open? For what reason?
If they’re messing with Athos…
She saw the same look of worry stretched across everyone else’s faces as they flattened themselves against the wall, but their unified concern spurred them forward in determination. Luna had taken off her outer blouse and was positioning her throwing knives in their loop sheaths. Nerka had her Nariasi staff in her hand and flicked it loose to extend its full length. Teffa’s golden eyes glowed. Ella brushed her hands down the length of the daggers, but kept them sheathed. She slowly, slowly pushed open the back door, hoping that it wasn’t locked yet for the night.
It wasn’t and it hardly made a whisper as it moved inward.
The team slipped into the shadows of the training warm-up rooms and slid past the massage tables and exercise tools. The soothing smells of sweat, salves, and incense that Ella associated with Athos’s training complex was at war with the growing sense of dread. Soon, they could hear voices out in the main training rings.
They kept their heads low as they slunk from the warm-up room out into the main lobby. The only thing separating them from the training rings was a waist-high divider made of bamboo. Guests to the training sessions commonly sat behind it on benches as they watched their loved ones practice their skills and learn from the wisest of the wise.
Now, that wise fox was in the center of one of the rings, his paws clasped calmly, as Heroki Sintila stood before him, her hands on her waist, a white cape flitting out from her shoulders that made her golden hair sparkle. She was tapping her foot and fingers in frustration, flashing angry glances toward her soldiers as four of them stood lined out behind her. They were in swaths of shadow but the gleaming blue markers of their heavy plasma guns stood out.
The weapons weren’t aimed at Athos, but they could be in a slight shift of movement. The threat to his life was not subtle.
“Harboring a fugitive is counter to Methulan law. You could find yourself in real trouble, Athos.” Ella was always surprised that Heroki’s voice had such a clear resonance to it. It was crystalline. Striking. The pure measure of someone practiced at giving command.
Ella saw Juro’s hands freeze to fists where they were braced against the floor as he peeked through a gap in the bamboo draping. Were the Sintila goons there trying to find Juro and the Crystal he had stolen?
“Hunting egrites also counter to Methulan Law.” Athos stepped a couple paces to the side and the guards stepped with him. He paused. “Any person who wishes to preserve what is good on this planet is welcome in my home.”
Heroki snorted. “You train warriors.”
“I train warriors who respect the old ways and embrace the new without succumbing to the temptation of easy routes to power.”
Her face hardened, frown lines appearing around her eyes in otherwise smooth skin. “There’s been nothing easy about all I strive to do and preserve for our world. You have no respect for the efforts of science. My technology touches your lives in ways you can’t even imagine. You and all your…” She flicked her fingers about the training ring dismissively. She cleared her throat and rolled her shoulders, leaving the thought unfinished, but her derision was clear. “I know Luna was here. I was a friend of her father’s and I worry for her welfare. I would like to offer her a place to stay at one of my complexes. Please let her know that she can call any of the Sintila numbers. She just needs to announce that she is trying to reach me and they will put her through to my direct line.”
Juro’s body relaxed. Heroki was there looking for Luna. Ella looked to her opposite side. Luna was kneeling on the floor, holding Cielle pressed to her cheek, trying to calm her shallow breathing. A thin trail of tears had ribboned down one side of her face. Luna suspected Heroki of killing her father, after all.
Heroki turned to one of her guards and began whispering to him. The guard
looked around the room and then turned, stepping into a shaft of light. Nerka gasped and mumbled to herself. Ella made a note to ask her about that later.
As the other guard sprinted from the training ring, back out the main entrance, Heroki signaled to the others. She stepped away from Athos, then paused.
“I know you helped the Larisse girl obtain the Eye of Evermore Sight.”
A cold grip settled over Ella’s heart. How did she possibly know that? Had QT told her?
Athos didn’t say anything.
“I need to study it. It will help advance some of my newest tech.” Heroki tapped her fingers against her full lips and tilted her head to the side at Athos. “Tell her that I might have something she wants, and I would be willing to discuss a trade.”
Athos again didn’t reply, just stayed looking at Heroki, a pillar of stoic calm. Acutely aware of the risk and brazenly dismissive of it.
Ella, on the other hand, had to restrict herself from standing up and launching herself from hiding, declaring that she would trade anything to get QT back.
Still, her higher thought patterns tried to get a grip on her emotional reaction: there’s no way she will ever trade QT and the Chaos Crystal.
If Heroki was talking about QT, then she knew how important he was to Ella. It didn’t make sense she would trade away the Chaos Crystal, so Heroki had to have something else Ella wanted… But, if QT was what she meant, then there must be something even more important about the Eye that made Heroki need it.
That meant it had to be important for Ella’s team to keep it, too.
Heroki smiled into the calm silence Athos used to punctuate the air and turned, her cape fluttering about her shoulders. The guards dropped in behind her and they stalked from the building.
The team let out a deep breath from behind the bamboo barrier. Nerka held up her hand to remind them all to wait a moment more. They listened for the start-up of the SUVs outside and the sound of tires crunching on rocks. When they were convinced that the vehicles had driven away, Ella stood up and the others followed.