by M. Arcturus
With a loud resounding clap, the hanger doors closed, and that’s when she saw Lord Oberon, Sorbek, and the Lady of Avalon return from their conversation with Pandora. Giséi was not sure where they had been or what they had just finished doing, but the scowl on Oberon’s face was menacing. After Oberon approached the elven guard, it appeared that they had some new pressing business to tend to. Not wanting to intrude, she wondered if she was ever going to get another chance to talk to them. Giséi watched them from a distance. Once again, she caught sight of Oberon’s face, which was riddled with conniption. She looked up at Kajaka with pleading eyes. He felt empathic and nodded his head in dismay. That was not the answer she wanted Kajaka to give. She tried one last time to silence the nagging voice in her head, but she knew this moment was the last opportunity she would have to let them know.
Picking the cloak up off of the ground, she ran to them as quickly as her legs could carry her. Lord Oberon, the Lady of Avalon, and Sorbek had already started to walk away following the elven guard when Giséi came up and tugged, ever so gently, on the Lady’s dress. The Lady peered down on Giséi with her omniscient eyes.
“I’m sorry, Giséi, I need to go now, but we can discuss whatever is on your mind when I return.”
Trying to sound as formal as possible, Giséi quietly asked, “Your current state of business is about the unicorns, isn’t it?”
“How did you know about that?”
“During the trial’s intermission, I was walking out in the gardens and saw Sorbek present the unicorn head to Pandora. In response to Pandora’s shock, he told her that he had bought it from the marketplace. Last night, I think I found the pin that held the unicorns. I want to show you what I found.” Giséi presented her the white hair from a unicorn’s tail. “I found this in the hinge of the gate and this—” she said handing over the cloak, “—I found toward the back of the pin.”
“Thank you, Giséi,” she said the words so rich and pure that Giséi knew she had meant it from the deepest region of her core.
“While investigating the pin, I also found a crystal protection grid. It had been turned off. So, I reactivated it in hopes of catching the perpetrators and figured there would be enough drama stirred up by morning that you would hear about it.”
“Well it worked, there was an uproar.” The smile on the Lady’s face glowed. “This morning, one of our small scouting parties found two people trapped by the protection grid inside of an animal pin. I think you had better come with us. Your information could be quite useful.”
By the time that Giséi and the Lady of Avalon got to the scene, chaos was in the making. They watched in the distance as the spectacle played out. Behind the pin, the unicorn reared as Sorbek held the rope around her neck straining to keep her steady as five elves tried to get near her to undo the other ropes that bound her. The other parts of Oberon’s forces were divided up into three teams.
One elven group guarded the front pin where the bound unicorns stood. At the back of the pin, another group was rounding up the freed unicorns to be taken to safety. The third elven group was holding off a large crowd of humans who were gathered around trying to get their hands on the unicorns, and in the middle of it all were two figures near the entrance of the pin trying to free their feet from the protection grid. The crowd was getting so restless that one middle-aged woman became mad with frenzy. She jumped over the first row of humans and overtook the guards. A handful of reinforcements dropped their own detail of freeing the unicorns to secure the barrier that the woman had broken.
The unicorns that had already been freed found themselves trapped once again by a whole swarm of people trying to take them hostage. There were not enough elves to hold the crowd back, free the unicorns, and see to it that the freed unicorns would make it to safety. Giséi did the only thing she could think of. Go after the freed unicorns one by one and make sure that they could reach open space where they could shimmer out of physical existence.
She pushed and pulled her way to the edge of the crowd adjacent to an open field. Looking into the fray, she saw the closest unicorn and took a leap of faith. Landing on its back, the unicorn went into a panic. It started to buck, trying to dislodge its rider. She quickly grabbed hold of the unicorn’s mane. Giséi was not too happy about being thrown about, but she was glad to see that the unicorn had taken out a couple of people with its bucking kicks. Once the people nearest to them were eliminated, the rest of the crowd looked up and noticed the rider. They gasped in horror and instinctively withdrew clearing some space between the unicorn and the open field.
Giséi lightly spurred its flanks, egging it on into a gallop. When the initial shock of her presence had worn off, the crowd tried to pull her off as she rode past. She wanted to free both sai from their sheaths, but realized quickly that one hand would need to keep a grip on the unicorn’s mane. After she smacked, hit, kicked and nearly killed a few attackers, she concluded that maybe one sai was enough. Her sai became a blurred weapon of destruction promising the unicorn’s freedom. The unicorn’s muscles tightened with pure strength as it made its final jump into the open field. Giséi hopped off and watched it shimmer out of sight. “Good, one down twelve more to go.” She told herself looking for the next unicorn.
The Lady of Avalon watched as Giséi sprang back into action for another unicorn. Wanting to be of assistance, the Lady diverted her attention to the captives in the pin. They had picked up a stick and were trying to rotate the key amethyst crystal by poking at it. As they felt her stare them down, they stopped and met her fiery auburn eyes.
“How is it that the likes of elves would concoct such an outrageous act?”
One of the elves swallowed hard, “It’s not what it looks like. We tried to stop the perpetrators, but they tricked us, and trapped us in here!”
“So, in other words, you have never seen this particular pin before?”
“No ma’am, we just saw it here this morning.” She could hear the quiver in his voice.
“You’re lying.” The fire in her auburn eyes grew.
“No, I swear!”
“Dear sweet Bryant of Oakshire, I know your family chest.” She lifted up the cloak, “This was found here last night. That trap was set waiting for both of you this morning. In other words, you’re screwed!”
They sat there on the ground staring up at her waiting for her to skin them alive. Their eyes were wide with fear and begging for mercy. Then out of nowhere, she bowed. Their brows furrowed in confusion until three large shadows came over them from behind. They looked at the three large hooded figures standing behind them giving the Lady a bow in return. Their height was intimidating to the two elves.
“I did not realize that you were around! I was in my childhood the last time you were on Atlantis!” The three did not respond to her. They just nodded. Little did the Lady of Avalon know that Selené had seen them in the Council room the day before sitting behind the human representatives. The one which seemed to be the leader knelt down and touched the shoulders of the two elves with his enormous, thick three-fingered hand. In an instant, the five of them grew transparent and sank down into the ground. Lord Oberon ran up beside the Lady of Avalon.
“What happened?”
“The Elders were here. Why, what’s wrong?” She looked up and saw that everything was quiet. The unicorns and Atlanteans were gone. “I wonder where they went.” Looking around, only the elven guards remained, and with a thud, Giséi fell to the ground. It was apparent that the unicorn she had been riding disappeared as well. The nearest guards tried to help her up, but she held up her hand gesturing that she wanted to stay on the ground for a moment. The Lady continued, “They must have come back to save Atlantis!” Her ears twitched with delight.
“I’m not too sure about that.” His response was very grave in comparison to her feelings. “I’m going after them.”
“How?” she asked. Her eyes were sad w
ith worry.
“I’ll try to channel their energy signature. I don’t think they’re going far.” A clear bubble formed around him as he started to spin drilling his way down into the earth. Sorbek tried to go after him, but the earth quickly covered itself back up. If it weren’t for a small mound of overturned soil, no one would have ever known that there had been a disturbance.
“Don’t worry, Sorbek. Oberon is stubborn, but he’ll be safe,” the Lady of Avalon said.
After regaining the wind that had been knocked out of her, Giséi sheathed her sai and sat up on the ground. In her other hand was a unicorn horn which had been etched with elven markings. Not understanding what it said, she stood up and rubbed her sore bottom, coaxing her stiff body to take the horn to the Lady for an interpretation. “I’m not sure what this says.”
The Lady took it to examine the words. “It’s a gift. The words state that they are thankful that you took the time to investigate the crime scene and went out of your way to free them. This is the horn of the unicorn that Sorbek had slain.” She handed it over with careful and delicate hands. “Keep it close to your heart. When they are not attached to the unicorn, they become very fragile.”
“If you haven’t noticed, I find myself in constant trouble. How am I to hang onto it?”
“I have an idea,” The Lady said and positioned the horn in Giséi’s open palms. She placed her own hands on top of Giséi’s, sandwiching the horn. As she pulled her hands away, the horn shrank up and was tied to a leather string. “Now you can wear it around your neck. With your thoughts, you will be able to control the size of the horn. It’s going to be a whole new adventure in learning how to use it.”
“That’s just what I need, some more adventure.” Though her comment was sarcastic, there was a little bit of gratitude buried deep within.
He paced back and forth like a mad man. His anger shook him violently as he tried to calm himself down before he entered the chamber. The guards on each side of the door watched him nervously for what seemed like hours. Without any notice, he stopped.
“Okay, I’m ready. Open the door.” He said with a heavy sigh.
With a loud click, the lock was turned, and Icarus watched as Shadow entered the room. He tried to jump up from the bed and get in Shadow’s face, but the chains held tight onto its prey. “How dare you leave me in here! This is an outrage! You can’t do this to me! Let me out!”
The guards provided Shadow with a chair. He positioned it across from the bed where Icarus sat and calmly took his seat. “I’m only going to say this once. I can hold you captive for as long as I like, and I will do it again if I have too. You’re way out of control, and if this is the only way to handle this type of situation, then so be it.”
“I have done nothing to justify this. You will let me go!”
“You have no clue as to how you are treating others or how much I would love to send you home,” Shadow said. “But I’m afraid sending you home is not an option. You see, your father thinks you’re dead. Unfortunately, we’re just going to have to deal with you.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Well, if truth be told, I wish it wasn’t true. To send you back now would bring great harm to the people who love and care about you.”
“I don’t believe any of that! They would be happy to have me return!”
“I sent a Bennu bird to your time to find the best way to send you back. Timing, of course, is everything. Unfortunately, the bag that fell from Apollo’s chariot was thought to have been you falling out of the sky. Your father saw the bag fall thinking it was you, basically watching you plummet to your death. To send you back would require the use of time travel, which is a very delicate procedure. If we were to send you back without bending time, it would create mass confusion, therefore, causing a rift in time. Your people are just not mentally ready for a resurrection. That’s not for a few more thousand years.”
“But you time travel all the time! That’s how humans come here!”
“Not exactly, when humans come here, they leave behind time. Atlantis doesn’t run on time. Even the days choose their own length depending on the human year, if the isle is moving, stationary, or attached to land. What I’m getting at is this: when humans go back home, it’s like they never left. I’m not sure how, but your time still moved even after you got here. It’s one thing to change the human world through ideas and thoughts. Knowledge changes events in a natural way. Humans instinctively accept that type of change, but to manipulate time itself is another story. It requires a lot of powerful people and a lot of careful planning. Due to the most recent events, the people who help with those sorts of things are either preparing for battle or refuse to come here due to the impending threat of war. In other words, we’re sunk. Now as far as handling your mannerisms—”
“There is nothing wrong with the way I act. I have done nothing to you!”
“It’s not about your actions toward me. It’s Selené I’m worried about.”
“My angel?” he asked appalled. “How dare you bring her into this! She is mine, and I will have her!”
“That’s just it. She is not yours. She belongs to no one and is very happy and content to be with Sir Anthony.”
“No!” He started ripping into his pillow as tears started falling from his eyes. “I refuse to believe that. She’s the only one that speaks my language. Because of that, she’s the only one that could ever possibly understand me. One day, I will be in his place. If only she knew how much I love her.”
“She does know that. Your feelings are not the problem. You suffocate her.”
“How could I suffocate her?”
“Take your flowers for instance. There were so many of them she couldn’t breathe. I regret ever giving you that kind of advice. If I had known how you would run the idea into the ground, I would have kept my mouth shut. Did you see how she kept his flowers instead of yours?”
“How could I forget? I can’t believe she did that to me!”
“Stop blaming her for your actions. You have annoyed her to the point where she will never give you a chance. Her heart belongs to someone else. If you really love her, you’ll leave her and Anthony alone. Calmly talking to her is one thing, but interfering is another.”
“I don’t understand?”
“There is a subtlety between interaction and interfering. I think I know someone that can help you understand. He’s far away from here, but I’m sure Kajaka and I can at least start the process.” Icarus just stared off into the distance hugging the pillow. “When did Selené speak Greek? I thought she only knew Atlantean?”
“When I first landed here, she spoke to me.”
“Was it through a translator?” he asked sincerely. “Even now I’m speaking Greek, but only through this translator.”
“No, she speaks Greek. I heard her!” Shadow looked for Icarus’s translator and couldn’t find it. Then he saw something. There was a piece of brown leather wrapped around his neck like a choker and there in the nape of his neck just slightly covered by his hair was the box.
“I’ll take your word on that.”
“You will?”
“Yes, but I would like to perform an experiment. I’ll need to see your translator.” Icarus was a little apprehensive giving it to him, but he unclasped the necklace and handed it over. Shadow pulled out one of his earrings, which was long and sharp, and used it to pop open the back of the translator and started reconfiguring the receptor. “I can’t adjust the frequency to just Selené’s voice, but I can with female voices in general. The next time you run across a woman, you will not be able to understand her, so I would suggest finding Selené as quickly as possible and ask her to speak Greek. She’ll still understand you because the translator will still be able to translate your words, but if she can’t respond in Greek, you’ll know your answer.” Shadow gave it back, and Icarus placed it back around
his neck.
“You said you believed me.”
“I lied.” He smirked, “I wasn’t there when any of that happened, but I can tell you right now that she doesn’t know Greek. If I would have told you that, would have you given me your translator? As a warning, I wouldn’t recalibrate it if I were you. If you break it, no one will understand you.” Shadow turned to the guards. “Release him from the restraints. He’s in my custody now.”
Icarus followed him out and felt as if he had been taken advantage of. He was still upset at Shadow’s betrayal and was embarrassed to be back in the open after being arrested. How were the others going to treat him? Were they going to treat him any differently?
He couldn’t fight Shadow; he would just end up being imprisoned again. He had no choice, but to do what Shadow said. Icarus didn’t feel like he needed help, but maybe he could use that to his advantage later on down the road. Who knows—it might even win his angel back.
Chapter Seven
As Light As a Feather
Unlike the clear glass dome that covered the side portion of Mt. Caspen near the main entryway, the cobalt-blue glass dome covering the archive consisted of triangular pieces of glass with beveled edges supported by an intricate metal framework. As the sun took its place higher in the sky, its rays hit the beveled sides of the glass and cast prism-like rainbow spots throughout the archive. The table at which she stood was littered with instruments for testing. Among the many tools were a nail, a piece of glass, sulfuric acid, and a Bunsen burner with a small poker lying next to it. She could still smell the maple syrup from breakfast as he peered over her shoulder as she examined the tiny gold object. The scent was beginning to make her hungry, but his breath had started to heat up her neck.
