by Danny Bell
I couldn’t even blame the staff. I knew that going after it was my choice. So, when the next wave of bad guys crosses my path, I’ll always know that there was another way and I didn’t take it. At that moment, for as much as I wanted to give myself an answer of whether or not leveling up early was worth it, I just couldn’t say for sure.
None of that mattered because I had done it. Oh boy, had I done it, no take backs at all. I wasn’t sure if the implications were really hitting me yet, but I’d left my friends as an idiot and I’d return an idiot wizard.
An idiot wizard who just rolled her ankle.
It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, gripping the staff had broken my fall, but a dip and a loose rock I hadn’t expected nearly sent me to the ground. I grit my teeth and tried to walk it off. Probably a mistake any other time, but there wasn’t anything out here for me, and I had a job waiting for me at home. Warm pain, more obnoxious than anything given the rest of my week, radiated up my ankle and seemed to remind other parts of my body that they were supposed to be hurting as well. My hamstrings tightened and my lower back knotted up; even my chest seemed to creak with the strain of breathing. But in a way, this was good. It wasn’t all that long ago that I’d be complaining, but now I think I got it, a hard-earned lesson Chalsarda has been trying to teach me.
I probably would’ve laughed harder if my feet weren’t bleeding.
It was impossible to tell how long the walk was given that the sun held the exact same position in the sky no matter how much time passed or how many steps I took. A dozen miles? Two dozen? I could proclaim it was five hundred miles, no one was around to stop me, but then again physical distance might not even be a thing here technically, so maybe it wasn’t worth thinking about. The staff had long been repurposed as a walking stick, and by the end of it, every step was agony, but I got there in the end. Too bad it didn’t have a step counter, I would’ve loved to count those steps. I wondered if I could go back later and look for the cartilage I’m pretty sure had a falling out with my knees? Hard as the walk was, it gave me plenty of time to clear my head and consider a plan for when I returned. Getting this staff, taking this power, it wasn’t an end to anything. It was an invitation to fight with the gloves off, sent to everyone who wanted me dead. If anything, it meant that now more than ever, I had to be clever.
I hesitated for just a moment at the door home. When I went through, that would be it. The clock would start again, and I had no idea what had happened in the time I was away, or even how long I’d been gone. Not to mention I was massively dehydrated and barely standing. What if I walked right into a fight? It was all scary enough, but for as bad as those unknowns may have been, I was pretty sure camping in the Knowing surrounded by the unknown was probably a worse idea.
Okay, no more stalling. It’s time to go.
I gripped the handle, steadied myself as best I could, and stepped over the threshold and back into my home.
Light from the other world bathed the darkened store for a moment. From what I could immediately tell, everyone was still there, and this was a wake-up call. Sleepy eyes churned out a rumble of understanding that quickly turned into shouts of excitement and disbelief as the lights to the store went on and the door behind me blinked out of existence. I couldn’t think of a single thing to say to them to explain what I’d just been through, and that was just as well because, before anyone was close enough to break my fall, I was shaking uncontrollably, unable to hold onto the staff; my legs finally buckled, and I collapsed.
I don’t remember hitting the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I felt a strain on my heart as if it had forgotten for a moment that it had to pump blood in order for me to live and was now working double time. My lungs felt dry as I gasped for air, a sharp breath that one might take when they’re brought back from the brink of death in a movie where someone, probably in a comedic situation that would otherwise be dark, had stopped breathing because they were choking or had been drowning or something else far more severe than the scene had been playing out. And with an exaggerated effort, maybe someone shouting the word “Live!” as they pounded on their chest, that person would miraculously and violently shoot up, wide-eyed with confusion, breathing as if for the first time. It was that kind of breath, but no one was laughing. There was a radiating ache where I could only guess my kidneys were located that was interrupted a disorienting rush of blood to the back of my eyes before I could concentrate too hard on it. I wasn’t even sure where I was for a brief moment.
“Hey!” a voice said at my side. “Hey, easy, are you up?”
I had to refocus and figure out what was happening. That was Jason. He was sitting next to me in one of the comfy reading chairs we had in the shop, and I had been propped up in the one next to him. I guess dragging me up to my bed seemed like either too much work or maybe just inadvisable. We were all still inside the store, the place was a wreck. Makeshift bedding everywhere and the stale smell of too many humans in one confined area for too long. I tried to focus on everyone, but it was impossible with something else in the room faintly drumming at my senses. Something I knew I needed.
“My staff,” I coughed. “Where is it? Get it.”
“Yeah, totally, I’ll get it, but are you all right? What happened to you?”
I got a look at my friend just then, and the look of concern on his face looked like it had been approaching dread. “Just…I’m alive. Please, my staff.”
Jason nodded and stood, and I closed my eyes and tried to adjust myself in my seat. He returned with Claire, who had my staff in her hands, and for the briefest of moments, I thought I saw another figure standing behind them in the shadows. “Hey, welcome back,” she said with a smile. It looked like she had been crying.
“Good to be home,” I managed. “How long?”
“How long were you gone, or how long were you passed out?” Jason asked.
Claire gave him a look of annoyance and turned back to me. “You were…wherever you were…for about two days. Since your return, you’ve been asleep for about fourteen hours.”
“I brought you some water,” Jason offered.
I ignored it, instead reaching for my staff. “And everyone’s still here?”
Claire awkwardly released it to me, hesitating for a second as she glanced at the bottle of water Jason held. “Yeah, well, we didn’t have a lot of options, right?”
I didn’t immediately answer her as I studied the sigils that had been burned into my staff, now understanding what they were. Each was a spell, created from a piece of me, something to be called upon when I needed it. The feeling of seeing each of them was exhilarating, like looking at a lost memory. But each was specific, not nebulous in the way that a memory can change over time, each of them actually did something. I could make them all out except the one, that final gift burned into my staff by the Knowing. It was overwhelming to see, and it made me swell with something deep in my gut that I couldn’t comprehend. Still, that aside, the power from the staff was maybe something I misunderstood before. I couldn’t be sure, but to hold it, it was like I had made this from my soul. It almost felt alive, and yet my well of magic felt deeper than ever. Maybe I’d pruned away the dead and stagnant bits from what was holding me back, allowing new pathways to be formed, I don’t know. I didn’t know how else to explain it, though, except to say that where there was once a well, now there were canals and streams, and it wasn’t just something that went deep, but it was expanding and trickling to find more and more hidden reserves. I had to wonder if this was how it was always supposed to feel.
One of the spells, it wasn’t offensive or explosive like most of the others. I could tell exactly what it did, and it was everything in me not to call upon it immediately. It would get me back on my feet, but it wasn’t any kind of healing spell, more like a shot of adrenaline mixed with a half dozen shots of magical espresso for my soul. Nothing injured about me would heal, but I’d be moving, that’s for sure. That said,
the spell was give and take. I’d be up and about for a bit, but whenever it wore off, I’d need a few minutes. Or hours. Hopefully not days. I’d need time, is the point; the spell wasn’t free. None of that was all that surprising to me, not at all the scary. The really scary part?
I could use it on someone else.
“Hey, uh, are you seriously not thirsty?” Jason asked, snapping me back.
“Yeah,” I said half-heartedly taking the bottle. “Thanks. Can you get everyone, though? We need to talk about our plan.”
“Plan?” Claire exclaimed. “Elana, a small part of me thought you might not wake up. You need a hospital, you’re not in any shape to plan or fight or—”
“It looks worse than it is,” I insisted. “And I have to do this.”
Claire’s gaze bordered on angry before she stood up and walked back to the rest of the shop, leaving me alone with Jason as I greedily drained a bottle of water. “She’s not kidding,” Jason added somberly. “It’s really bad out there, sure, but she really thought you might die. A couple of us did.”
“But not you?” I asked.
“It’s possible I may have an unhealthy idea of how invincible I think you are,” Jason quipped, forcing a smile.
A moment later, the gang was all there, even Kaida, who probably should’ve gone home at some point. Or maybe she was smart enough to recognize that by throwing in with me, she was fair game, and this might’ve been the safest place for her. Or she just really cared about her dad. Or just maybe the rain was too much to handle. Who knows? “You all look terrible,” I deadpanned.
“I’d punch you in the arm if I didn’t think I’d break it.” Olivia’s attempted joke fell flat against the concern on her face. I glanced down to see that she was clutching my rod.
“You didn’t have to hurt anyone with that thing, did you?” I asked, and almost automatically, Olivia seemed to demur at the idea of holding it and tried to hand it to me. “No, you hang onto it, I have a plan in mind, and I think it’s going to require you putting it to good use. But first, what did I miss?”
“What did you miss?” Ann asked incredulously. “Probably the wrong question! You maybe want to go first and talk about whatever hell you just crawled back from?”
It didn’t take me long at all to consider the question, because there was no scenario I could imagine at that moment that led me to any other answer but the one I had. “No,” I replied quietly, but firmly. “I don’t.”
Teague cleared her throat to break up that tension before it could form. “When you left, it stopped raining. Just like that. Clouds parted, clear skies, all of it. And then, we waited. Just stayed put. Outside is where we get eaten, right?” Teague stared a hole through me before she kept going. “Jason dicked around online—”
“I was researching,” he corrected, and then seeing that all eyes were on him, he fumbled his way to a conclusion. “I didn’t find anything, just in case you were wondering.”
“Claire made way too much coffee,” Teague continued, and then with a nod to Ann and Olivia, she added, “And these two did magic shit.”
“I tried to make potions,” Ann chimed in. “Didn’t go well, there’s not a lot to work with here. Spoke to Chalsarda an hour ago. She’s finally on her way back, for what that’s worth.”
“Nothing came from the potions, but she did walk me through some wards, though,” Olivia offered. “Between the rod and Ann’s magic brain, I probably did okay. I also managed to get back on the roof, made it as weatherproof as I could. Did a little earth magic, too, on the sandbags or whatever. Don’t think anyone saw me.”
I nodded in appreciation at the two of them and looked to Kaida. “And what about you? You’re cool with the whole magic thing?”
“I’ve seen it firsthand, and my father was possessed by an ancient snake monster from what is supposed to be mythology,” Kaida replied stiffly. “How cool would you like me to be?”
“I’m just saying, you don’t…” I trailed off for a moment, catching myself before I could get defensive and take this in a direction it didn’t need to go. “You don’t deserve to be wrapped up in all of this, and I’m sorry for what happened to your father.”
Kaida seemed to soften slightly before she replied, “Thank you. He did this to himself, though. And I’m appreciative of your help, I just want him back.”
I braced my body against my staff and began to stand. “Well, that’s what we’re—”
I underestimated how difficult standing was going to be under the circumstances. My knee buckled, and one of my hands shot to the arm of the chair to brace myself. Pain swelled in my wrist from the impact, and I could sense everyone ready to jump to my aid.
“It’s fine!” I lied, snapping at no one in particular. “It was a cramp; I’m going to be okay.”
“No offense, but you don’t look okay,” Ann said cautiously.
She wasn’t wrong; a lot had been taken out of me, but if I didn’t do this now, more people were going to die and there might not be a city to save later. “I know it looks like I’m being a stubborn asshole, but I know what I’m doing. So, we can huddle under a blanket and watch Murder She Wrote while L.A. turns into Atlantis, or we can talk about what we’re going to do about ending all of this.”
No one said anything, and that was good enough for me. I hobbled my way toward the counter, looking for my bag and stealing a bagel while I was there, ripping a chunk out of it with my teeth and chewing greedily. I hadn’t even noticed that it was a jalapeno and cheddar bagel until I bit squarely into a large piece of the pepper. Anything was going to taste good in that moment, though, might as well enjoy the spice.
“My bag? Anyone seen it?” I asked through a mouthful of bread. I absently noted that at least my phone had been left on the charger while I was gone.
“Behind you, on the ground,” Claire offered, visibly concerned.
I bit into the bagel with my front teeth and held it as I scooped up the bag and began to rummage through its contents. With a sense of disappointment, I hoisted the bag onto the counter and removed the bagel long enough to express my disbelief as I pulled something out of the bag. “Really? You left the kid in the bag the whole time I was gone?”
Ann looked flushed, and her mouth moved before she found words. “Honestly…it didn’t even occur to me.”
“You know you have to sing to her,” I said more to myself than anyone else as I moved back in the bag, nestling the Singasteinn back into her pouch. “You’re lucky she’s still asleep. Where is it?”
“What exactly do you need?” Olivia spoke up.
“Got it,” I called out, taking another bite of the bagel that accounted for about a third of the remaining bread. I held the business card between two fingers as I leaned into the counter like I was staring at a crowd of customers. “In a few minutes from now, I’m going to make a call that’s going to rile everyone up, but before that happens, I’m going to go over the plan. At which point, you can all tell me how clever and or stupid I am.”
The conversation went about as well as I could’ve hoped. It wasn’t the best plan, but it was what we had, and no one else had anything better. The problem wasn’t so much with the plan, but with everyone’s inability to believe that I was able to remain standing for more than the next few minutes. It wasn’t exactly a rousing speech either, all things considered, but I wasn’t in any condition to hype everyone up. I was trying to stick to the crucial pieces as much as possible.
“So, if you have anything to add, now’s the time to hit me with it,” I concluded.
“On paper, what you’re saying makes sense, maybe.” Ann heavily emphasized that last word. “But I’m just going to say what we’re all thinking. You took a gamble on getting that staff like it was going to be the missing piece that would turn all of this around. It’s probably awesome, but I think you came back worse than when you left and maybe…maybe you’re not up to this.”
“Anything helpful?” I clarified.
“Dude,
don’t dismiss my—” Ann started.
“It’s too late for that.” I snapped impatiently. “Ready or not, right? It’s done, and unless you’re willing to see the city flood, you have to trust me that I can handle it the way I’m trusting you all to have my back and do your part, okay?”
“Okay,” Ann finally relented.
“Okay?” I reiterated to stress my point, drawing a sour look from Ann and nothing more.
“Well, I have a note,” Kaida added. “It is understandable that you would leave half of your friends behind. Those without magical ability, you are concerned for their safety. The flaw in your plan is that I’m not remaining here. Wherever you’re going, I’m going as well.”
“Look, you’re new here—”
“Which is why you cannot order me around,” Kaida interrupted. “This is my family that we are talking about, and beyond that, we have a deal.”
“Oh, is that what we have?” I asked.
“We do,” Kaida answered defiantly.
Incredible. I’ve had a wizard staff for all of five minutes, and I’m already getting back sass.
“Fine, whatever, we’ll figure it out.” I sighed. “Anyone else want to tag along?”
Jason started to raise his hand but immediately thought better of it. Smart man.
“Then here we go,” I said, dialing the phone. It barely rang before someone on the other end of the line answered. The phone line was open, but they weren’t speaking, so I made the first move. “I have your treasure. You know who this is, and you know I’m telling the truth.”
Another brief pause before a voice came back on the line. “And just exactly how do we know you’re telling the truth?”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said dismissively. “I’m not dealing with goons today. Get one of the eight department heads on the line if you catch my meaning, otherwise I might just drop this in the L.A. River and—”