by Lee Magnus
Trey thought the little thing was so scared. When it didn’t react to him opening his eyes, Trey said, like he would to a puppy or a baby – not expecting a response, “Are you scared?”
It made the cutest, tiniest little sound somewhere between a bird whistle and a chick peep – seemingly in acknowledgement. The sound transitioned from low to high.
“Are you scared of me?”
Its eyes shifted left then back to Trey as if it were processing the question. It then made a different sound from high to low.
Trey thought it was uncanny that it seemed to respond to his questioning but dismissed the thought and continued trying to comfort the creature.
“Are you hurt?”
Again, a sound from low to high.
Trey was certain it was exactly the same as the first response. He questioned whether it could understand what he was saying. He began to test the theory, as would any reputable scientist.
“I’m going to move now. Don’t be scared.”
Its eyes shifted nervously then back to Trey’s as if in acknowledgement.
Trey slowly rolled onto his stomach. The tiny creature inched back but didn’t seem too alarmed.
Now looking eye to eye with it he said, “Show me where you are hurt.”
It looked down then back at Trey. The lower area of fuzz lifted on the right side revealing a tiny little foot.
“Amazing,” he said out loud at the creature’s response. “You understand what I’m saying?”
It made the low to high sound as before.
“Low to high means ‘yes’ and high to low means ‘no.’”
It made the low to high sound.
“Ha ha! Excellent! You have the cutest little feet. Just like a tiny little bunny.”
He then looked closer. A tack was caught between his toes. It shook its foot a little to show it was stuck good.
“Oh gosh, little guy. That must sting. Can I help?”
It held out the injured fuzzy foot and made a low to high sound.
The tack was awkwardly positioned.
“I’ll have to use something else. My fingers are too big.”
He slowly pushed himself away before standing to search the surroundings. He found several pens on the floor, grabbed two and returned to the previous position on his stomach facing the injured furball but resting a little further away so he could use his arms. Bringing his arms above his head he attempted to wiggle one pen under its foot. It jumped a little then yipped in pain but seemed to understand what Trey was doing. It looked at Trey then down then placed the injured foot on the pen and returned its eyes to Trey’s. Trey then used the writing tip of the other pen to gently pry down on the tack until it loosened and fell out.
The tiny foot wiggled then its eyes widened, looked at Trey then it began hopping up and down. Tiny pops and sparks emitted from its furry body. It peeped and whistled as it performed a sparky dance.
“Ha Ha! Look at you go!”
It swiftly ran to Trey and much like a cat would by walking back and forth, pressed his body against Trey’s forehead. Trey brought a hand toward it. It let him touch it. The furry body didn’t quite feel like fur – it had a stiffer feel but soft all the same – like a stiff silk, if there were such a thing. He slowly scooped it into his hand then lightly stood, looking the little guy in the eyes. He couldn’t tell he was holding anything. The tiny thing seemed to have no mass at all.
“I will call you Sparky. Is that okay?”
It answered affirmatively.
“Trey,” Lyza casually called to him.
“Yeah?” he said as drew his attention away from his new friend.
“You don’t have to talk to that kid anymore.”
He turned his gaze back to Sparky and replied, “Who Donald? Great! Why?”
“I figured out why Don had this place. Come take a look.”
“I have something to show you too,” he said as he began to walk toward her voice.
Sparky then made a high to low sound indicating his disagreement with Trey.
“What? You don’t want her to know about you?”
It answered affirmatively.
“Ok. We’ll keep you a secret for now.” He then looked at Sparky with a very serious expression and said, “Do you want to stay here, in this place?”
It made the high to low whistle indicating it didn’t want to stay.
“Okay. Do you want to go with me? I may be doing some very dangerous things. You might get hurt again, even worse than before.”
It thought about Trey’s question then answered with the low to high whistle.
“Okay. You can stay with me. I’ll take care of you.”
It made a soft whistle. It then sparked and disappeared.
“Sparky! Sparky! Where’d you go?” he said in a low panicked voice. He bent over to search the floor thinking he dropped him.
Several sparks popped on the floor in front of Trey then Sparky appeared. He sparked and disappeared again. Several pops to his left drew his attention just before Sparky appeared on his left shoulder.
“That’s an amazing trick!”
Sparky made a playful peep then sparked away again.
Trey was unsure where Sparky had gone but confident he was still with him.
Trey carefully walked in Lyza’s direction, dodging overturned waste cans and large empty boxes that could have held the reams of paper scattered about the floor.
“They even looked in the ceiling,” he said as he crunched pieces of collapsed ceiling tiles.
“What is it? What’d you find?” he said curiously as he approached.
She ran her finger over a smooth six-inch by six-inch flat stone sitting next to a larger stone housing encased in what looked like a podium made of copper wire. Two large copper rods exited the structure into the wall.
“What is it?” he asked again. He glanced to his shoulder, expecting to see a blue fuzz ball looking back.
“A portal.”
“Really? A portal like the one we used to get here? Can we use this portal to get back to Egypt or better yet, home?” His posture softened and his shoulders inched together as he thought about home. He knew he wouldn’t be going there anytime soon.
“No. Don miraculously built a one-location portal. Well, he almost built it. This stone here must be somehow joined to that one.“
“And look at that,” Trey said pointing to a chunk that had been forcibly removed from the corner of the housing. “It looks damaged.”
“Someone must have used the blunt end of this to smash it,” Lyza said inspecting a wooden handled ax lying behind the portal.
“What good is a one-location portal, anyway?”
“They are very rare and only used for very specific purposes. I’ve only heard of one, and it isn’t on this Earth”
“Where does this one go?”
“To where we discussed earlier, the Etherios.“
“The Etherios? Didn’t you say that’s were ghosts and Khaitu reside? How do you know that’s where it goes?”
“This space here,“ she said pointing to the small indention in the otherwise solid stone surface, “is where the user would hold the Eye of Kartho. Only with it can one open the portal to the Etherios. Since it was designed one way, the user doesn’t have to use a key or worry about getting fluxed.”
“Why would he build it then try to destroy it?”
“I’ve known Don for a long time. He never struck me as someone who would intentionally build a portal to the Etherios. I think what happened was that he was misled to build this portal but tried to destroy it when he realized what he almost built.”
“But someone stopped him before he could complete the job,” Trey finished.
“It looks that way. Then they ransacked the office looking for the diagram to finish it. The piece we found earlier must be what’s left. I bet he destroyed the instructions.”
“Probably.” She regarded him solemnly then said, “I believe this portal was built
for Commerand to use to bring the relics to Khaitu. It is through this portal that they intend to free him.”
“Then we should smash it now!” Trey said. He picked up the ax and charged the metal and stone structure.
Before Lyza could stop him, he raised the ax overhead then leveled the blunt end against the stone surface of the housing. The ax bounced off, violently shaking out of Trey’s hands – just missing his head as it fell wildly to the floor.
“That thing’s robust!” Trey said huffing. “No wonder he was only able to chip off a small piece.
“The stone is nearly indestructible. Come on. There’s nothing more to see here.”
“We can’t just leave it there!” Trey cried.
“It’s okay. We now know it’s here. We’ll send a team to dismantle it.”
“Okay. But you better send them quickly.”
Just as they turned toward the exit, four men busted through the front door – not four separate men, four of the same man. They entered in a single file line then spread out blocking the only exit.
“Those are some crazy quadruplets!” Trey exclaimed.
“Those aren’t men, Trey.”
“Of course not. Why would normal humans attack us when we have these pleasant guys,” he replied gravely.
The men’s faces melted into bloody, oozing disgust. Their bodies swelled into muscular forms, ripping ill-fitting clothing. Claws emerged from the tips of their fingers.
“Lyza! These are not ordinary rogglets!”
“No, they aren’t Trey,” she said calmly.
“What do we do?” he said as he moved several feet behind her.
Trey was scared. He was surprised when they were attacked at his house – he reacted out of terror but Lyza and Mr. Johnson did all the work. She also single handily defeated the one on the train while he sat motionless in fear. He now stared down four gruesome formidable beasts and was petrified.
“I’m not sure, Trey. Give me a second to think.”
“What do you need to think for! They’re right there!” he said as he cowered steps behind her.
She glanced at him – worrisome terror etched on her face. She contemplated a decision that would ensure his safety. But they were trapped. The only way out was through that door – through those monsters. She prepared to fight for their lives.
The rogglets brandished long knives in each hand as they slowly proceeded in a unified formation toward Trey and Lyza.
Trey heard a popping sound then leveled the palm of his hand in response to the sparks. Sparky appeared.
“What are you doing,” Trey whispered. “You can’t be here. Go away before you get hurt.”
Sparky looked at the ghastly quartet then popped and sparked.
“Yeah. We’re about to die! Go away!”
He looked again holding a foot toward the rogglets then looked back to Trey.
“Those guys are trying to kill us!” he continued in a low voice so Lyza wouldn’t hear as she was focused on the approaching hoard.
Sparky then made a high to low whistle then sent a bolt of electricity into Trey’s hand.
“Ow! Why’d you do th… Oh. You want me to throw you at them so you can do your little sparky thing?”
Sparky hopped and answered affirmatively.
“No way. I’m not sacrificing you so you can try to hurt them. No way. You get out of here!”
Sparky replied.
“What do you mean no? No, you don’t want to do it now?”
It answered no.
“You mean you won’t get hurt?”
It answered yes then popped onto Trey’s shoulder, rubbed itself against Trey’s neck then popped back into his hand.
The rogglets continued to steadily approach as Trey and Lyza retreated.
“Lyza can handle these guys,” Trey said to Sparky. “You go away now. Stop fooling around.”
He knew Lyza was good but didn’t think she could stop all four. Her indecision confirmed Trey’s thoughts.
Sparky said no in his whistle language.
“You know she can’t win this fight on her own don’t you and you think you can help?”
He answered affirmatively. His golden eyes exuded confidence.
“If you think you are such a tough guy, why do I have to throw you? Why don’t you just pop over there, do your thing and pop back?”
Sparky looked down and made a sad low sound.
“You can’t go that far can you?”
He answered affirming his inability to travel that far.
“So, throwing you is the only way? And you are our only hope?”
Sparky made a low to high sound and hopped again with big beaming eyes.
“Arrrgg! Ok. You better not get hurt. You get out of here when your trick doesn’t work.”
Sparky beeped in excitement.
Trey and Lyza ran out of room. They had to make a stand. Trey looked into his hand at the cute blue fuzz ball that was quite possibly giving his life for Trey only to have them slaughtered by the rogglets anyway.
Two of the rogglets bared black teeth. They snarled as if victory was already a reality.
Trey held Sparky at his side, unsure if he could actually toss the helpless creature to his death. Trey hoped something else would save them.
Suddenly the rogglets sprinted toward them in full attack. Trey reflexively underhand tossed the tiny creature and yelled, “Lyza! Get down!”
They both fell to the floor as the blue ball sizzled in an ill thrown arc. Trey watched in dismay, knowing he mis-threw Sparky, ending their chance to escape with his help. The bright side, Trey thought, was that Sparky would land out of harm’s way.
Suddenly Sparky sparked mid-air then disappeared. Instantly, an immense flash of light erupted amid the rogglets, momentarily blinding Trey.
When his vision returned, he found Lyza regaining her feet and approaching the fallen rogglets. The air was filled with a horrendous odor from burning putrid flesh.
“What was that!” she said in astonishment. “Trey! What was that!”
“I, I don’t know!” He stammered. He looked around frantically for Sparky but didn’t see any sight of him.
“Let’s go while we can!” she yelled.
She led them out of the building. Trey hurtled a downed rogglet.
Trey whispered, “Sparky. Sparky,” periodically as they ran.
They rushed out of the office to the white sedan. Trey fell into the back while Lyza took the front passenger seat, startling Xhau who had been asleep.
“What? Huh? Oh!” he spluttered in mandarin.
“Xhau! Drive!” they both said in unison.
Trey silently cried in the back while Xhau drove them all the way to Old Town Shanghai, rather than attempting the Metro again. He sent Sparky to his death. Had he known Sparky would have died, would he have still thrown him? Trey couldn’t get this question out of his head. He felt horrible. The little guy saved their lives. He was a hero. He reminisced on the beautiful big golden eyes of the little creature and how playful he had become when Trey removed the tack. He held his head in his arms pretending to sleep so Lyza wouldn’t see his tears.
“Karim,” Lyza said on her mobile phone. “It’s worse than we suspected.”
“How so?” replied Karim.
“He built a portal, but it wasn’t complete.“
“How?”
“I don’t know where he learned how. Karim. It is to the Etherios.”
“That is bad. That means Commerand believes he is close to acquiring all of the relics.”
“Exactly. You have to send a team to disassemble it.”
“Okay. I’ll do that right away.”
“There’s another thing. The rogglets – they take the form of people. They could be anyone.”
“You saw one?”
“Yeah. It tried to attack Trey on the train and there were four at Don’s.”
“So, they know Trey is involved. Do you think they know who we think he is?”
<
br /> “I’m not sure. All I know is the one on the train was definitely targeting Trey.”
“How’s he holding up?”
She glanced over her shoulder to the back seat. “He’s handling it all really well considering the circumstances. He looks pretty shaken up but is asleep in the back right now.”
“Good. He needs to rest. I’ll send a team to Don’s. You be careful and keep him close.”
“Ok. I’ll call you later.”
She set the phone to her side, laid her head back and closed her eyes amid tumultuous thoughts on how to proceed.
Xhau drove them to the front of the building that housed the original portal from which they arrived. Lyza thanked Xhau for the ride with a courteous bow. After they entered the empty building, she bolted the door behind them. She formed the key into a triangle within a circle and returned them to Egypt in a nauseating flash.
“What’s wrong?” Lyza asked noticing Trey’s sullen demeanor.
“Oh. Nothing,” he softly replied. “Just a little nauseous,” he added, hoping she would drop it. He was immensely saddened by the loss of his tiny blue friend and was having a hard time hiding it.
She lowered onto a knee, placed her hands on each of his shoulders and looked deep into his eyes. With a caring voice of a mother to her child she said, “You’ve had a long day. However, we have much more to do. Hopefully, the remainder of today will be uneventful.”
He sighed and looked down and away.
“It’ll be ok, Trey. We’ll figure this out,” she said in a comforting manner then turned toward the car.
They walked the short distance and found Allain reading a book in the car. Lyza rapped on the window, startling him. They drove north with the great black river to their East. Trey noticed when they passed the road that led to where he met Karim and Mallory, looked again to his shoulder then closed his eyes.
