Thellis laughed. No one had ever asked him that. “We want to go home. The only one who can open the doorway back to our dimension is Themrock.”
“The Neptian tigers–” Bosternd began.
“Can open a doorway for themselves and Themrock but not for anyone else. If we don’t protect Themrock, we’ll never be able to return to Genister.”
So, the Genisters needed Themrock in order to go home. But, if that was the case, then why would Therol want to kill Themrock? “Doesn’t Therol want to go home?”
“It’s complicated,” Thellis said. He flew out of the room before Bosternd could ask him anything else.
Bosternd leaned back in his chair and sighed. He hadn’t learned why Therol was targeting Themrock, but at least he now knew why the Genisters were so concerned about his safety.
Standing up, he reached for his weapons belt. It was time to go back to Thestran. He wanted to be there for Rhen’s final shot.
***
Bosternd walked into Rhen’s hospital room to find the guard elves packing up. “Where’s Rhen?”
Jack shoved some socks into the bag he was holding. “You just missed him. He and Ceceta disappeared the minute she gave him his last shot.”
Bosternd nodded. It made sense. He would have done the same thing. They hadn’t been alone together for some time. “Go to the University,” he told them. “Ceceta will convince Rhen to return to school.”
“We were thinking the same thing,” Aaron said. He lifted up his bag then reached for Sarah’s, surprising Bosternd. Did Aaron like Sarah? That would be scandalous. What would the Fire Elf King do if both of his children were to marry out? Jet appeared beside Bosternd and saluted. “Sir, you should know that Rhen told Ceceta he would no longer be the Black Angel.”
Bosternd hadn’t expected that. “Really?”
“Yes, sir. He told her that the Universe was uncharacteristically calm so there was no need for the Angel right now. He also said that since so many people knew he was the Angel, he’d feel silly wearing the outfit.” Bosternd smiled. That was good news. He’d always worried when Rhen had traipsed around the Universe saving people as the Black Angel.
“That’s not all he said,” Shno added with a snicker.
Bosternd waited for Jet to fill him in. “Sir, he asked Ceceta if Themrock was back, because the only way Universal peace like we’re experiencing right now would be possible would be if people were afraid Themrock might see them. He said, ‘People tend to behave when they think the Gods are watching.’”
Bosternd laughed. “And how did Ceceta respond?”
“She told him that Thellis hadn’t mentioned it, to which Rhen replied that Themrock couldn’t be back, because the moment he returned, Thellis would be all over him.”
“Good answer.” Ceceta never ceased to amaze him. She had a sharp mind. He turned towards the guard elves. “Did James tell you that the University’s Headmaster has given you rooms next to Rhen’s?”
“Yes and we also heard that Latsoh and Erfce will be joining us as well, now that they’re going to be married,” Sarah said. Students who were engaged or married were allowed to live in the Teacher’s Residence Hall on campus.
When Aaron reached out for Sarah’s hand, Bosternd turned away so they wouldn’t see him smiling. It looked like the Fire Elf King was in for a surprise. Sarah and Aaron were definitely an item. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told Jet.
“Yes, sir.” Jet saluted Bosternd again and then left to join his wife, Lilly, who had already returned to the University. The two of them had the apartment adjoining Rhen’s. They would be the first to know when Rhen returned.
***
When the guard elves arrived at the University, they found their parents had already sent their personal effects to their rooms. “Hey, Shno and I are right across the hall from you,” Jack told Aaron as he stepped out of his room.
Aaron had switched rooms with Shno so that he could be with Sarah, but he didn’t feel like explaining that to Jack. “We’re going to check out the campus. Do you want to come?”
“Yes,” Jack said as Sarah joined them in the hallway.
“Should we ask Shno if he wants to come, too?” Sarah asked, her chin lifting towards Jack’s apartment door.
“He’s not here. He ran home to have a quick visit with his parents,” Jack said.
They walked down the stairs at the end of the hall, pushed open the metal door, then paused on the concrete landing of the Teacher’s Residence Hall. In the distance was the academic building. It was a modern octagonal structure made completely out of glass. A brick dorm building was immediately in front of their building and to the left, in the center of campus, was the Great Lawn. On the other side of the lawn were more dorm buildings and in the distance beyond them, they could just make out the sparkling blue water of the University’s lake. The Great Lawn dipped lower in the center of the quad then ran past their building before ascending a hill towards the Wood Elf forest. Beyond the academic building were more student dormitories and classroom buildings, a stadium, an athletics building, the music and arts building, foreign studies buildings and more. Surrounding them on all sides was the Wood Elf forest. The University was located on the Wood Elves’ land, just a short walk through the woods from the Wood Elves’ castle.
They strolled across the campus following the brick paths, while checking for possible dangers. Fortunately, it appeared Bosternd had taken care of everything. As they walked, Aaron and Sarah reminisced about their days at the University. “You know we met here,” Sarah told Jack.
“Really?” He peered between two of the dorm buildings towards the lake. “Did you have classes together or something?”
Sarah smiled at Aaron as he reached out to tug on her ponytail. “We met for the first time when Reed organized some jetbike races for the students. After that, we both ended up with the same major so we saw a lot of each other.”
Jack was the youngest of the guards and had yet to attend the University. He stepped closer to Aaron and whispered, “Is it normal for the other students to stare at you?”
“No,” Aaron growled. He turned towards the students, who’d been trailing along behind them.
“Rhen’s not here,” he told them. “He’s off with Ceceta, so please go on about your business.” The students dropped their heads and shuffled off. It was obvious they’d been following the guards in the hopes that Rhen might appear.
“This is going to be harder than we thought,” Sarah said. She noticed Erfce walking to class and waved.
Erfce was happy to see them because it meant Rhen was feeling better. It also meant that Charlie would soon be there. He needed to talk to Charlie in private so he could ask him about buying Latsoh’s portrait. He had figured he’d blame the auction house that Naci had used for telling him who had purchased the portrait. Since Naci wasn’t speaking to them, it didn’t matter if Charlie questioned him or not.
Aaron watched Erfce until he disappeared into the academic building. When he turned around, he noticed Jack was walking up the hill past the Teachers’ Residence Hall. “Where are you going?” he called out.
Jack spun about. Grinning, he reached under his shirt for the blue whistle that rested against his skin. He’d hung Rhen’s gift around his neck on a piece of rope. Since he had some free time, he wanted to see if it would work. “I thought I’d check on my dragons.”
“Ha,” Sarah said, turning on her heel to follow him. She couldn’t wait to see the dragons again.
They found a secluded area on the other side of the hill behind the Teacher’s Residence Hall. Jack blew his whistle as Rhen had shown him. It made a strange, squeaking sound. Not the sound one would expect to come from a dragon whistle. After a little while, they saw two, golden dragons flying down towards them. “It worked,” Jack exclaimed. He laughed as the dragons, who were quite large now, circled their location before landing beside them.
“Hello,” the largest dragon clicked, bowing her head to Jack.
“Hi,” the smaller, male dragon roared. He stepped forward and rubbed his warm scaly head against Jack’s hand. Jack laughed and scratched him under his chin. “You came! I’m so glad to see you. How are you doing?”
“We’re well. We’ve missed you, though,” the female clicked. She lowered her head so that Jack could scratch her too.
“I’ve missed you, too. Do you remember my friends?” Jack asked, while pointing towards Sarah and Aaron.
“Of course.” The female dragon flicked her tail towards them in acknowledgement.
The male dragon hopped up and down on his front legs. “Let’s play.”
Jack was intrigued. “What do you want to play?”
“You chase me and I’ll try to run away,” the dragon suggested, it’s head tilting sideways.
Jack laughed. “That’s not much of a game. I can easily run faster than you on the ground.”
The dragon flapped his wings. “Then, let’s fly.”
Jack was confused. He’d thought the dragons knew he didn’t have powers. “Sorry. I can’t fly.”
“Why not? You’re an Air Elf. That’s one of the powers that the master has given you. Come on.” The dragon jumped into the air and flew in a circle around them.
Jack was dumbfounded. We can fly? Turning towards the others, he dropped the metallic whistle out of his hand. “Do you know what the dragons just told me?”
Sarah snorted. “Of course not, you’re growling and hissing.”
Jack shook his head. He was almost afraid to say it. “They told me that one of the powers the master will give the Air Elves is the ability to fly.”
“No way,” Sarah exclaimed. “Really?”
“Who’s the master?” Aaron asked.
“Yes,” Jack told Sarah before glancing at Aaron and adding, “The dragons call Themrock ‘the master.’”
Aaron nodded. It made sense, even if it did sound weird. “Ask them what other powers we’ll have.” He wanted to know what his powers were going to be.
Jack picked up the whistle with his right hand and turned to the female dragon. “What other powers will we receive from the master?”
“Well–” the boy dragon began, but the female dragon snapped at him, telling him to be quiet.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “It was wrong of my brother to tell you that. If the master doesn’t fully return to us before he’s destroyed, then you won’t be able to fly and you’ll regret it. It’s best if you don’t know what you’ll be losing.”
All of the joy Jack had been feeling at the idea of flying vanished. “Are you saying that Rhen is going to die soon?”
“No, we can’t see the future, but if the past is any indication, then we may not have the master for long. The bad Genisters are cruel and the master is quick to forgive.”
Jack understood what they were saying. “Just so you know, we will do everything in our power to protect the master.” The dragons dipped their heads at his remark. Jack dropped his whistle to tell Aaron and Sarah what was said, but hesitated when he saw Naci walking up the hill towards them. The Fire Elf King looked furious and his eyes were glued to Aaron and Sarah’s clasped hands.
***
“You want me to do what?” Yfetb asked his father incredulously. They were sitting in Te’s office in their manor house on Neptian. Te had demanded that Yfetb leave his class at the Neptian University early so that they could talk.
“I want you to enroll at the Elfin University. You should be on hand to do everything you can to help our Lord Themrock.”
Yfetb closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was trying to keep himself from screaming. When he knew he could speak calmly, he said, “Dad, you know I’m going to graduate at the end of this year. If I switch to the Elfin University, some of my credits might not transfer and I won’t be able to finish. Also, I’ve already sent in my application to the City’s Law School for next year, it’d look bad if I switched schools at this point.” He felt his objections were logical and hoped his father would listen. Instead, Te waved at him dismissively.
“It’s fine.” Te glanced towards the windows. Some tourists were singing at the Falls. Their voices, although beautiful, were annoying. Te wished his family’s homestead wasn’t quite so close to the Falls. It was distracting him from his work. He should petition the Neptian King to close the Falls to tourists. Turning back to Yfetb, he said, “While you’re at the University, I want you to join the Elves for Themrock Club. It sounds like a noble group. You can also court Crystam. She would be an excellent match for you.”
Yfetb shifted in his chair. It was taking every ounce of self-control he had not to jump over his father’s desk and strangle him. “Didn’t you hear that Crystam and Tgfhi have set a date for their wedding? There’s no point in my courting her. She’s getting married.” He clenched his hands with frustration, turning his knuckles a lighter blue than the rest of his skin.
“I have it from a good source that she’d prefer to have you.” Te lifted up his papers blocking his view of Yfetb, thereby indicating that their meeting was over.
Yfetb cocked his head as he stared at the paper’s headlines about Themrock. That seemed to be the only thing the news talked about these days. What had his dad meant, when he’d said he’d heard it from a ‘good source’? Was Loreth back?
His father had dropped the idea of his courting Crystam after his loss on the Council Chamber floor. When Te hadn’t gotten the votes he’d needed to take over Ventar’s trade routes, he’d stopped asking Yfetb to court Crystam. Now, suddenly, he seemed to be interested in it again? The only reason Yfetb could think of for Te’s returning to it was if Loreth were back.
“I’m not doing it.”
Te lowered his papers. He couldn’t believe Yfetb would talk back to him like that. With narrowed eyes, he pointed his finger at Yfetb and said in a barely audible hiss, “You will go to the Elfin University. You will join the Elves for Themrock Club and you will court Crystam. If you don’t, I will disown you.”
It was obvious he wasn’t joking. Yfetb contemplated refusing. No, he thought. He didn’t want to be on his own just yet. He didn’t have the means to support himself. Once he got his law degree, he’d be able to tell his father to go to Hell.
Chapter 14
Rhen’s Apartment – Elfin University
“I’m so out of shape.” Aaron heard someone say. He was supposed to be watching for Rhen and Ceceta’s return, but must have fallen asleep. Aaron opened his mouth to call out to the person in Rhen’s apartment, but jumped when he heard a sound behind him. Looking over his right shoulder, he saw Jet in his kitchen, holding a finger to his lips.
Leaning to his left, Aaron peered into Rhen’s apartment. Rhen was standing in his bedroom doorway pulling off a sweaty tunic. “Charlie’s right. I’m fat. I feel like a Tgarian Mormot–fat and out of shape.”
“You’re not fat,” Ceceta said. “There isn’t an ounce of fat on you. Come back to bed.” Rhen must have liked her suggestion, because he stepped forward and kicked his bedroom door closed. As it swung shut, Aaron heard Ceceta giggling.
“Well, I guess they’re back,” Aaron said, rising to his feet.
Jet nodded. He had gone into his kitchen four times that night to get a bottle for his baby and had seen Aaron sleeping on his couch. Since he hadn’t felt that Rhen was in any danger, he hadn’t bothered to wake Aaron up. “Indeed.” Jet would have said more but he heard his baby crying. With a sigh, he shook his head and walked back into his bedroom with the bottle.
***
When Rhen and Ceceta left their bedroom later that morning, they found their friends, the guard elves, Charlie, Mary and Jet waiting for them in the living room area of their apartment. Rhen laughed at the sight of them.
“Don’t we make quite the group? Let’s get Lilly and the baby out here to round out our number of women, shall we?”
“Ha, ha, ha,” Ceceta said, while stepping forward to kiss everyone hello.
Jet
saluted Rhen before saying, “You can speak in sentences now.”
Ceceta laughed. “He’s practiced a lot over the last two days.” She watched as Rhen’s eyebrows raised then blew him an air kiss. Turning back to the group, she asked, “How was everyone’s weekend?”
“Fabulous,” Latsoh said. She was looking forward to filling Ceceta in on her wedding plans at breakfast. She and Erfce had chosen a location on the Planet of Crithnians for their ceremony.
As their friends chatted about their weekends, Ceceta noticed that Crystam was sitting hunched over, her eyes on the floor. Tgfhi had left Ceceta a message saying that Crystam’s powers were getting stronger every day. Obviously, her friend was depressed. Ceceta reached out for Crystam’s hand and pulled her towards the door. “Come.” She wrapped her arm around Crystam’s waist and whispered, “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure things out.”
“Where are we going?” Latsoh asked, following along behind them.
Ceceta paused to look back at the others. “I’ve got my class to teach, unless the Headmaster gave it to someone else, and Rhen is going to check on Ngi to see how he’s doing with his class.” She leaned to the right around Latsoh to see Rhen. “I’ll meet you at breakfast?” When Rhen nodded, she turned and pushed the door open. As Ceceta walked down the stairs with her friends, she asked, “Do you know why the Headmaster moved my class to the auditorium?”
Rhen didn’t hear their answer. He glanced at Jet to make sure he was ready, then walked towards the door. Clomping down the stairs in his military boots, he pushed the exit door open, then paused long enough to hold the door for Sarah and the others. In the distance he could see Ceceta and their friends making their way to the auditorium. Rhen turned right towards the Great Lawn. Even though a lot of students had dropped his class when they’d heard he was no longer teaching it it was still the most popular class offered at the University and had to be held outside on the Great Lawn to accommodate the large number of students. The Surpen soldiers that Rhen had used to help him teach were now assisting General Ngi.
The Surpen King - Part 2 - Rise of the Elves Page 13
