Surrounding his right arm, the collected, swirling mass of soot and cinders was still building. He just had to draw Kendra in a bit closer. The blazing maw of the dragon drove down at him, and he raised his left arm up to block it a moment too late. The half-formed shield of air dispersed on impact and white-hot agony consumed Rai's arm. He rolled to the side and screamed in pain but managed somehow to hold his concentration. He was on his back, and there she was right above him. He thrust upward with his right arm and channeled an ebon blast of ash directly into the heart of the beast.
***
One moment, all was light and pain, and the next, choking, noxious darkness covered her. Kendra gasped as she fell, coughing up soot before landing on top of Rai Aoi. He grunted painfully but held her securely with one arm. There was smoke everywhere, but the air around Rai was somehow clear and fresh.
"Can you stand, Kendra?" he asked quickly while draping his ruined jacket over her. She could see that his left arm was a burned and bloody mess.
She managed a nod. "I... I can try."
"Good, we have to get clear."
“Emma? Where’s Jade?” Rai inquired with concern.
“She’s gone, Rai,” Emma replied, “Her dad got her out.”
***
There was no saving the rest of the mansion. Even without the dragon's continued destruction, the fire was too far spread to be contained by the arriving fire crews.
The good news was that both Mrs. Radcliff, Eric, and various staff members had escaped out the front of the house when the fire first started. Rai, Kendra, and Emma got to spend two interesting days in the local ICU. Rai was treated for minor burns which the admitting physician had somehow mistaken for third-degree burns only hours before. Kendra was found only to be suffering from acute dehydration, of all things. Emma had the worst of it with second-degree burns on her arms and face, and smoke inhalation.
35
THE LUNCH CLUB
It was the last week of the school year, and Emma and Olivia sat at the rickety table in the corner of the cafeteria. A light, spring rain was falling outside the nearby window, putting Emma into a reflective mood. She could never have imagined how her world would change in just a few months. Maybe Rai could have imagined it, but not her. She popped open her bag of chips and rifled through the scant contents idly. Olivia was chewing on a carrot stick that looked more yellow than orange, and Emma could only guess at what her friend was thinking.
Their eyes met, and Olivia flashed a conspiratorial grin. “Some year, right?”
“And the award for most understated comment goes to…” Emma retorted with a matching grin. It had taken over a week after the Radcliff Fire for Olivia to forgive Emma and Rai for not bringing her along. Eventually, even she had to admit that they hadn’t had time to track her down at the post-prom party. She didn’t like it, but she grudgingly admitted they had a point. The pint of Chunky Monkey ice cream Emma had used as a peace offering hadn't hurt either.
***
Jordan wasn't so reasonable. He had been furious with both Emma and Rai for not getting hold of him to let him know what they were doing. Especially since he had left Kendra’s house probably minutes before they arrived. “I was Right! Freaking! There!” He had shouted to both of them in turn.
“I’d texted you earlier and you never answered,” Emma had countered.
She looked up from her fingers coated lightly in BBQ powder and watched Jordan cross the room with a food tray in each hand with Kendra walking beside him. Kendra’s arm was still in a sling, though Emma suspected she could have gotten along without it just fine by now.
After the eventful night of the prom, Kendra and Jordan had reconciled in a surprising way. Kendra began, tentatively and very awkwardly at first, to have lunch with Emma’s group. The redhead nodded a smile to Emma and Olivia as she seated herself at the table. Jordan set the trays down and slid into the seat beside Emma.
Kendra made a practiced suffering look as Rai dropped into the seat beside her, causing the table to lurch. “Why are we sitting at this crappy table again?” she protested.
“Because your friends all sit at this ‘crappy table’,” Rai supplied.
It hadn't taken Rai long to recover from that night entirely. Emma's hands were still tender, but Rai wasn’t sporting so much as a Band-Aid. They still weren’t sure what Kendra had truly done, but Rai seemed in no hurry to find out. Emma suspected that he was reasonably afraid of what Kendra’s transformation meant for him. Emma didn’t blame him. What she had seen terrified her to the core. At Rai’s request, she had produced a drawing of what they had witnessed. Everyone seated at the table, other than Olivia, had reviewed the picture and had all agreed that they were looking at a dragon. That was fairly obvious. The ongoing debate was about the exact nature of the thing. They wondered if it was simply a ‘construct’ Kendra had made out of the fire, or if was it something more. Emma didn’t know. She didn’t have enough pieces to put this one together, yet. She wasn’t sure she wanted all the pieces anymore.
Then, there was Jade. There had been no word on her condition—no obituary, no record of her at or in the local hospitals, and no sign of her at school. The absence and no communication were not something Emma was prepared to tolerate. She had personally been to the Jones’ house three times in the last week and checked once later on Saturday afternoon, but Mr. Jones hadn’t even opened the door. She heard his quiet voice on the other side politely, but firmly, telling her to please go home.
***
When got home from school, Emma found her mom on the porch. Cassandra was sitting in the dark, looking severe. “Emma, you need to stop going to the Jones’ house,” she plainly scolded.
“I’m sorry, mom, but I’ll go every day until I find out how Jade is.”
“Your friend is recovering, Emma. You just need to stay clear of that house, please.”
“Why is that, mom?” Emma replied with more anger than she had ever turned on her mother. “Did your boyfriend tell you to tell me that?”
Cassandra looked stunned, but only for a moment. “What are you talking about?”
“Come off it! I know something is going on between you and Jason Jones.”
Cassandra’s expression went from confused to unreadable. Then, she surprised Emma by breaking out into a laugh. “I guess it could have looked like that to you,” she finally managed to say. “Come sit. It’s all over for me now anyway, so I’ll tell you about Jason and me.”
Emma listened as Cassandra detailed her membership in the League of Saint Michael for nearly ten years. She had been one of the better clerical volunteers and worked with the Jones family often during that time. It was very casual fundraising duties until recently.
“Why was it such a big secret?” Emma shook her head and looked confused. “How come I never knew you did work for the LoSM?”
“Because it had been something your father was into before we got married,” she said and looked pained. “It was important to him that we didn’t involve you, and I respected that.”
Cassandra paused to take a long slow breath, her face cast in shadow. Emma heard a slight catch in her mother’s throat as she continued, “I never really understood why until he left us.”
“He left to do work for the LoSM?”
Cassandra nodded. Some things were starting to make sense and other things not so much.
“So, what changed?”
“I didn’t like being asked to pick up and deliver items when they wouldn’t tell me what I was transporting.” Cassandra admitted.
“What sort of items?” Emma pressed. A hollow feeling in her stomach began forming as her mind jumped back to the trip to Galveston.
“I’m not sure, Emma. There were a few packages. I wasn’t comfortable with it. I just know that I’m out now. I want you to stay out, too.”
***
Later the same night, Emma sat in her room brooding. Her father was out in the world somewhere working for the League—a group of
monster slayers from ancient times turned into a modern-day charity. Yes, but how much of it remained a charity? How many members were training to go back to work in the slaying business? It didn’t take a genius to figure out that her mother had probably been used to muling weapons for Mr. Jones. Would they come after Kendra again, or Rai, or Jordan? Emma was about to chew a hole in her cheek with such questions when she heard the expected tap at her window. At least Rai didn’t come by after midnight this time, she mused as she opened up the snack stash.
Emma pulled the curtain aside to find Jordan crouched outside instead, smiling warmly at her. She grinned widely and opened the window.
“Rai couldn’t make it tonight,” he said. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“Not at all,” she replied.
EPILOGUE: THE GATHERING
The high, arched ceiling was lit by flickering torches held in ornate sconces. Thirteen men stood in a circle with their faces shadowed under wide hoods. They wore robes dyed a shade of crimson so dark they were nearly black, and each bore an embroidered emblem almost but not identical to that worn by the League of Saint Michael. They raised their hands toward the marble obelisk in the center.
As one, they began a whispered chant and stepped into positions carved into the floor. After several minutes, a responding tone echoed from the walls that began steadily increasing in volume. The energy of the gathering built as the intense concentration of the participants continued to focus on the shimmering column at the center.
A slightly muffled refrain of Kansas’ “Carry on Wayward Son” disrupted the entire scene.
“Damn it, Christopher!” a few voices griped, “No cell phones during a ritual.”
Christopher Radcliff frowned as he fished the device from his robes and regarded the screen. “My apologies, but we need to stand down the ritual. This is important.”
Grumblings from the others followed as they broke up into smaller groups and began conversing. Radcliff tapped a key and set the phone to his ear. After a few moments, he put the phone away and motioned for one of the others to join him. “That was my security team.”
“What happened?”
“Jones’ daughter showed up at my house with the sword and tried to kill everybody from the sound of it.” Radcliff kept his voice low.
“Your family! Is Kendra…?”
“Keep your voice down! It looks like everyone
survived,” Radcliff said carefully. “My house seems to be the only casualty.”
“Jade had the sword the whole time?”
“So, it seems.” Radcliff glanced at the others over his shoulder before continuing. “Look, I need to catch a flight back to Texas tonight to see to my family, but we have other problems now.”
“Such as?”
“It looks like both Kendra and the Aoi boy have Manifested, and your daughter was right there with them. If she is the catalyst, we need to know.”
Michael Vanora drew back his hood and nodded slowly. “I’ll deal with it.”
Pronunciation Guide
Mansión de Magia - “Mahn-See-on” “dih” “Mah- djee-Ah” or “Mansion dee Mag- ee-ah”
Rai Aoi - “Ray” “Ah-oh-wee”
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About the Authors
Richard P. Rigoli
Richard has been writing stories for books, graphic novels, on-line communities, and podcast audio dramas over the years. He enjoys well-planned epic fantasy tales, games, and book with storylines that reveal complex fleshed-out characters, and of course, well-placed snarks. A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, Richard has been known to lead family and friends on harrowing and entertaining epic gaming adventures.
Suzanna Reeves
Suzanna has toyed with fantasy story ideas since childhood and has a folder full of ideas, outlines, and drawings for stories. Suzanna is an accomplished musician and prolific artist and has published various works throughout her life. Suzanna currently daydreams and lives in an enchanted forest somewhere in south-eastern Texas.
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COPYRIGHT
RED
A Scale of Elements
Book 1
By Rigoli & Reeves
© 2019 Second Revised Edition. Richard P. Rigoli and Suzanna Reeves. All rights reserved. Library of Congress, United States of America.
Previous editions © 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Richard P. Rigoli, Suzanna Reeves, and Suzanne C. Moore All rights reserved.
Library of Congress, United States of America.
ISBN-13: 9781481902496
ISBN-10: 1481902490
No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means graphic, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, and/or audio, or by information storage retrieval systems without written permission of the publisher and author except in cases of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This novel/book is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, places, and events portrayed within are products of the authors’ imaginations and used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely used for fiction. Please buy only authorized electronic editions, and do not take part in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the authors’ rights and protection of creative pursuits is appreciated.
For more information about this work and the authors, please visit rigoliandreeves.com. Requests for guest or panel appearances, inquiries, or other requests should be directed to rigoliandreeves.com
Cover Art & Layout: Red, by Suzanna Reeves, 2019. Original image used as base, Adobe, License #226951413
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