Steven silently nodded in agreement and put his book back on one of our towering piles.
I grabbed the Leather Book from the chest underneath my bed and opened it to the first page. Written on the page were two words: Nayila Yevalaf. I tried flipping through the other pages, but they were all blank.
I flipped back to the first page, looked up at the other Legendary Keepers, and said, “Does ‘Nayila Yevalaf’ mean anything to anyone?”
Gabrielle nodded. “Nayila Yevalaf is the name of an Elven girl Regina befriended before the Legendary Keepers formed. I traveled with both of them for some time. Why? What does the book say about Nayila?”
“That's all it says,” I answered. “Just her name. Nothing else.”
“That isn’t much of a lead,” Tom commented. “What does Nayila Yevalaf have to do with the Zemayta Stone?”
“I don’t know,” I responded, “but I intend to find out.” I turned to Gabrielle, addressing her directly. “Gabrielle, where can we find Nayila?”
“Last I heard, she was in Mezanif, a region of Lamea,” she answered. “We can easily get there by portal.”
“It’s one in the morning, so it’s too early to go now, and we could all use some sleep,” I said after a glance at my watch, “but we leave for Mezanif as soon as we’re ready tomorrow morning. Sound good?”
No one protested, so I assumed there were no objections.
“We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” I continued. “We should all get some sleep.”
Felix yawned. “Fine by me. Good night.”
We all trudged off to bed. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
◆◆◆
The next morning, a portal dumped us in the middle of a village square. Elves, the only creatures walking around, stopped and stared at us as, one by one, we stepped out of a portal.
Elves were beautiful. They looked nothing like the elves in the Christmas movies I would watch as a kid. Rather than being short, toy-making helpers, they were tall, good-looking warriors. Some of them were armed with bows and arrows, others with swords, and even one with a mace. They were clearly prepared for a fight.
“Now that’s something you don’t see every day,” one of them, a girl, remarked as she approached us. She had dark purple—almost black—hair that reached her waist. Her violet eyes matched her cloak and dress. “The Legendary Keepers and the Magenta herself—very exciting.”
“Who are you?” I asked, hoping she wasn’t going to impale me with any of the arrows in her quiver.
She held a hand out to me. “I’m Nayila Yevalaf.”
I shook her hand. “Magenta Valida Smith. We’ve been looking for you.”
Nayila noticed Mallum for the first time since our arrival. Her eyes narrowed. “Why are you with him?” she spat.
“Mallum changed sides,” Lena answered. “He isn't the Hunter anymore.”
“It's a long story,” Mallum sighed.
“He...changed sides,” Nayila stated skeptically. Her grip tightened around her bow.
“Yes, I've changed,” Mallum confirmed impatiently. “And if we don't find the Zemayta Stone in the next eight days, Umarek is probably going to melt my brain and everyone else's. If you can help us, it would be greatly appreciated.”
Many of the Elves who were passing by had stopped to stare and now watched the escalating conversation intently, whispering among themselves.
“We need to find the Zemayta Stone by the next full moon,” Gabrielle explained. “We opened the Leather Book, hoping to find something about its location, but the only thing written in the entire book was your name.”
“I think I know why,” Nayila said. “I'd like to show you, but after everything the Hunter put me through…” She trailed off and shot a glare at Mallum.
Mallum grimaced. “Don't remind me.”
“Remind you of what?” Nayila snapped, her face growing red with outrage. “Murdering Coppercrusher? Sending a manticore to hunt Regina and me for years? Setting fire to my home? Leaving Landon to die on the battlefield to save your pathetic—”
“He said he had it under control!” Mallum shouted, interrupting Nayila. “He told me to run and that he would catch up! The next thing I heard about him was that he was dead! If I had known—”
“LANDON LYNN IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU!” Nayila screamed at him. The crowd of interested passerby visibly jumped.
“Leave my brother out of this!” Gabrielle ordered. Her face was as red as her hair and her nostrils flared. “He died saving lives! Mallum being one of them doesn't make Mallum a bad person! Yes, he has messed up horribly in the past, but I trust him!” She made solid eye contact with Nayila and forcefully concluded with, “He's changed, Nayila.”
Lena placed a hand on Mallum’s shoulder to help calm him down, then turned to Nayila. “If it makes you uncomfortable to have him present, I understand. If it will help, I can stay out here with him while you show the others what you want to.”
Nayila nodded, almost instantly relaxing. “Thank you for understanding,” she said. Then to the rest of us, she instructed, “Follow me.”
“Do you think she knows about...you know...Regina?” Felix asked me softly as we followed. “I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially after that whole episode with Mallum.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. She mentioned that Mallum sent a manticore to hunt her and Regina. Do you think it could have been the same one?”
“But that would mean…” Felix trailed off, his face going pale. “If that's true, Tom is going to freak out.”
“Why would I ‘freak out’?” Tom asked, joining the conversation. “What are we talking about?”
Before we could answer, Nayila announced that we had arrived. We were at the door of a stone cottage. Nayila opened the door and beckoned for us to follow her inside. The cottage was clean and comfortable, making it feel like home, despite it not being at all like my home in New York.
“I’m back!” Nayila called out. Then, under her breath, she muttered, “She’s going to kill me for this.”
Before I could question her statement, an impossibly familiar girl popped out of a nearby room, her back toward us as she closed the door. Her black hair, embellished with a single streak of red, was longer and more uneven than I remembered. A sword hung by her side. She turned toward us, then froze when she saw the Legendary Keepers. Her brown eyes, which were normally guarded, piercing, and calculating, were now wide open in shock.
We all stood frozen in shock for a few seconds before Tom broke the silence. “You’re alive?”
Regina snapped out of it, ignoring Tom and whirling on Nayila instead.
“Nayila, what have you done?”
Chapter 4
“Regina, I can explain—” Nayila began.
“You know why I didn’t go back!” Regina yelled. “How could you bring them here? We could all be killed because of this!”
“Just hear me out,” Nayila pleaded.
Regina ignored her request. “You know that if Mallum finds out—”
“Regina, I wish you would hear me out,” Nayila interrupted.
Regina’s mouth shut midsentence, which was unusual. Usually, she didn’t take garbage from anybody, especially when they told her to zip it. She gave Nayila the deadliest glare I’ve ever seen in my life. I shuddered. Regina’s glare was deadlier than my former math teacher’s.
Nayila somehow managed to ignore the death glare and explain everything that we told her since arriving in Mezanif, finishing with, “—and I’m done now, so consider my wish fulfilled.”
Regina shot her one last glare before grabbing Tom by the collar and yanking him down to her height, making it so they were nose-to-nose with one another. She glared directly into his eyes. “You brought Mallum Frond with you? Explain yourself, Jones!”
Tom gulped, raising his hands in surrender, and said, “It’s a long story. Ask Smith; she knows it better than I do.”
Regina released him and turned
her attention to me. “Well?” she prompted with crossed arms. Her foot was tapping impatiently.
“Your story first,” I decided boldly. “How did you survive the manticore and why didn’t you tell us?”
“For all of our sakes,” Regina responded, “I’m not answering that.”
Gabrielle, the last to recover from the shock of Regina not being dead, finally seemed to process what was happening and spoke up. “I understand why you don’t want to tell them about you-know-what, but can’t you at least tell us how you survived? I don’t like to pry, but I really want to know.”
Even someone as guarded as Regina couldn’t resist Gabrielle’s pleading eyes. “Fine,” she yielded. “Nayila was tracking the manticore in the forest when it dragged me off. She heard me screaming and managed to find my location. She killed the manticore, clamped a hand over my mouth to stop me from screaming and attracting any other predators, and dragged me through a portal to Mezanif. She’s been helping me heal ever since.”
“Unfortunately,” Nayila added, “not all of her injuries will heal completely. She’ll be able to move all of her limbs, but her scars are permanent.”
“Scars?” Tom questioned.
Regina took off her jacket, revealing vertical pink scars covering her entire right arm, right down to the wrist. “The manticore’s teeth cut my arm really badly,” she explained.
Tom examined the scars, his face growing more and more astonished. “You’re lucky you were able to keep your arm!” he finally said. “Do they still hurt?”
Regina shook her head. “Not really. They used to be unbearably itchy, but that recently subsided as well.” She turned her attention to me. “Your turn for a story, Valida.”
“Fair enough,” I said. I explained everything I could remember from the manticore attack to our current situation—in condensed form, of course—making sure to emphasize the legitimacy of Mallum’s change of heart.
When I finished, Regina questioned, “You want me to believe that the Hunter changed his mind about his destiny, which he believed was to kill you, because of a girl from his past?”
“Yeah, that pretty much sums it up,” I answered. “Why?”
“Seems a bit unbelievable, don’t you think?” she suggested. “Someone changing his whole world around just because he reunited with an old friend?”
“P-people can change. I-it’s not impossible, nor is it uncommon. Change is the only way to make p-progress,” Steven pointed out.
A quiet moment later, Regina said, “Alright, I’ll rejoin, but if Mallum makes one wrong move…” She left her threat hanging.
“Fair enough,” Tom agreed.
“One more thing,” I added. I pulled the Leather Book out of my bag and handed it to Regina. “I believe this is yours.”
She accepted it, holding it close to her chest. “Thank you.”
I gave her a small nod and a smile in acknowledgement.
“I’m confused,” Felix remarked before we could settle into silence. “The Leather Book told us Nayila’s name when we were searching for the location of the Zemayta Stone,” he explained, turning to Nayila. “Nayila, do you have any idea why the Leather Book would send us to you? Do you know where the Stone is?”
“I don’t know where the Stone is,” she answered, her eyes narrowing, “but I know how to find someone who does.”
“Who in the Dimensions would know where the Zemayta Stone is?” Tom challenged. “Isn’t supposed to be ‘lost in the mists of time’ or something?”
Nayila shook her head grimly. “Regina and I accidentally helped release her from the vanishing spell a few years ago. She was the last one known to have the Stone, so she might have an idea of where it ended up.”
Regina added, “She also agrees that she owes us big time, so I can cash in on the favor.”
All eyes turned to me. Oh yeah, I’m supposed to be the decision-maker.
I shrugged. “Fine by me. Let’s go.”
Regina chanted the portal-opening spell, followed by a combination of sounds and syllables that I didn’t understand. A purple portal opened.
“This doesn’t seem normal…” I commented.
“Of course it’s not,” Regina acknowledged. “We aren’t going to a normal place.”
Although I was still a bit skeptical, I stepped through the purple portal.
Chapter 5
“Here to collect your favor, Dyseo Fa’ema?” a misty voice mused aloud as we exited the portal. A woman sat on a rickety rocking chair, examining two vials of similar colors. Her hair was long and white, but there wasn’t a single wrinkle on her face. A beautiful, thin gold band was wrapped around her forehead. At her feet sat a massive black cauldron of glowing silver liquid.
Regina’s hand immediately went to her sword, but she didn’t unsheathe it. “Don’t call me that,” she growled.
A small smile played on her lips. “You still have your thorns, I see.”
“Enough, Denayka,” Regina said. “Yes, I’m here to collect my favor. I require the location of the Zemayta Stone, which you were said to have possessed last.”
“I did, indeed, possess it last as the final Enchantress,” Denayka confirmed, setting the vials aside. She lifted one of her long sleeves to reveal a mark on her forearm. It was in the form of a strange symbol I’d never seen before. “After all the trouble it caused me, I hid it away in a place where even I can’t find it easily. However, I can help you find a way to locate it...for a price.”
Regina’s eyes narrowed, her grip tightening on her sword. “Need I remind you that you owe me a favor?”
“This surpasses a simple favor, young one,” she informed Regina. “I will provide additional help for your journey, of course, since I am indebted to you, but the way to locate it? That is more than I will do for the sake of a debt.”
“What’s your price?” Tom asked. Regina shot him a look.
Denayka’s eyes, which were the color of the midnight sky, flickered toward me before answering. “I require a vial of the Magenta’s blood.”
“Um, no,” I said, shooting her idea down as quickly as possible. “I’d like to keep my blood, thanks. I might need it.”
“No payment, no deal,” the Enchantress informed me.
I crossed my arms. “Why would you want a vial of my blood anyway? What purpose would it serve?”
Tom groaned and facepalmed. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Your parents didn’t even tell you that?”
“I don’t know if you remember this or not, Tom,” I reminded him with waning patience, “but my parents didn’t tell me anything about the Dimensions or being the Magenta, so no, they didn’t explain why my blood would be valuable.”
“Do we have a deal, or not?” Denayka prompted impatiently. “I don’t have all day.”
“You still owe me a favor,” Regina reminded her. “I don’t understand why this won’t count as a favor!”
“I used my last drop of Magenta blood over a century ago and would like to replenish my stores,” she responded calmly. “You are traveling with a Magenta, so it would benefit both of us if I got a vial from her.”
“I’m not seeing how losing blood would benefit me,” I pointed out.
Nobody acknowledged my statement.
“If Valida agrees to let you draw her blood, then deal,” Regina accepted, “but you would still owe me a favor.”
Denayka sighed. “Very well. What do you say, young Magenta?”
I kept my arms crossed and glared at her. “If you stick any sort of sharp object in me, no way.”
“I can give you a potion to cough up blood if you’d rather,” she told me. “I mean, there is the possible side effect of death, so…”
“Fine!” I yielded. “None of that! Just keep the pain to a minimum.”
She grabbed a syringe with a needle on it—I could only hope that thing was sterilized—from her cabinet and stabbed it in the vein in my right arm. As magenta-colored blood filled up her syringe, I felt more and more
lightheaded.
“I don’t feel so good…” I said. I managed to stay conscious for only a few seconds after she withdrew the syringe.
Then, dizziness took over and I hit the floor with a thud.
◆◆◆
I woke up flat on my back on the ground next to the cauldron. Regina had the Leather Book open as she watched me carefully.
“She’s awake,” she announced to the others before allowing the Leather Book to vanish.
A few of the Legendary Keepers audibly sighed in relief.
“How long was I out?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing my temples.
“Not more than a few minutes,” Gabrielle answered, giving me a cookie from a little container in her bag. I ate it gratefully.
I noticed a bandage wrapped around my arm where the blood had been drawn. At least Denayka had been thorough, assuming she had been the one to give it to me.
“Okay, you have your vial of Valida’s blood,” Regina told Denayka. “Now, how can we locate the Zemayta Stone?”
Before Denayka had a chance to answer, Gabrielle’s communication pen beeped. She clicked the top and said, “This is Gabrielle. What’s going on?”
“You’ve been at Nayila’s for an awfully long time,” Lena’s voice crackled over the pen. “Mallum insisted I check in. He’s worried you abandoned us or got captured or something.”
“We’re getting a lead on the Stone,” Gabrielle reported. “Meet us back at headquarters, okay? We’ll see you there when we’re done.”
“Okay,” Lena responded. “We’ll meet you there.”
Gabrielle clicked the top of the pen again, the communication pen equivalent of hanging up. She put it back in her pocket. “Sorry for the interruption. Continue.”
Denayka gave her a curious look. “The person on the other end...did she say Mallum? As in the infamous Hunter?”
“Yes, but according to the Legendary Keepers,” Nayila answered, “he’s changed.” She still didn’t sound convinced that Mallum was on our side and didn’t bother hiding it.
Denayka snorted. “Mallum Frond, known as the Hunter, changed his ways? Joined the Magenta? It’s clearly a trap.”
The Stone of Power (The Legendary Keepers Book 2) Page 2