Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  “Does it involve a girl?”

  “No.”

  He put his arm around my shoulders. “Come on, it’s a hike to get back to the car.”

  I froze. “Wait. I beat you into next week. I thought I might’ve killed you. How are you okay?”

  Dad sighed and shook his head. “I kept hoping you’d run across someone else who’d explain this to you so I wouldn’t have to. You think I’m just a cop, but I’m actually a knight. I have a duty to protect people from magical creatures and the disasters they cause. I have a few magical powers to help me with that duty, and one of them heals my body faster than a normal person.”

  The piece of me that hated him, the big one that wanted revenge and had pummeled him earlier wanted to tell him about the squid in the hopes he’d decide to go try to get the shells. Death by squid meant no body, and they’d definitely kill him. Even with a sword, he couldn't fight off that many of them by himself. Someone would eventually discover his car sitting in the parking lot and my cut path to the water’s edge.

  On the other hand, beating him hadn’t solved anything. When I’d thought him dead, I could only remember the good times. Besides, he’d let me beat him, because I knew he could defend himself. Why hadn’t I realized that earlier? I wanted him dead, then I didn’t, and he wasn’t, and I didn’t know what to think anymore.

  “You seem upset.” He touched my hair. “Were you in the lake? Did something hurt you there?” A strange fierceness overtook him. At the thought of someone else harming me, he turned into a bold protector.

  I almost laughed at the absurdity. “No, they let me go.”

  Stupid. Saying that invited more questions.

  “Who let you go?” He stopped and forced me to look at him. “What happened in the lake?”

  Shaking my head, I wanted the whole night to go away. “I tried to get these magic shells for someone, and there are squid guarding them. I’m fine. They didn’t hurt me.”

  Dad glared over my shoulder. “If you need those magic shells, we’ll get them.” He let go and drew his sword. “Your mom likes calamari, after all.”

  I’d never heard him say anything that ridiculous. And I’d made a decision not to send him to his death. He didn’t need to press me on it. “No, it’s fine. They just want to be left alone. I’ll live without the shells. It was just a thing I was doing for a-- For someone I like.”

  His brow rose. “So this does involve a girl.”

  “Yeah.” Better to lie and sort it out later than deal with the wretched truth while standing nearly naked in the snow. “And it’s not a big deal. Nothing’s worth the price of those shells.” Not even an easy fix for several of my problems.

  “You don’t think I could defeat that many creatures, do you.” He didn’t ask it like a question.

  I snorted. “Nobody could. I mean, maybe you could kill a bunch and take the shells, but they don’t deserve that. I’m fine, the girl can find some other option than those shells, and you don’t need to risk drowning.” Yes, I absolutely meant a girl.

  “If you’re sure?” Dad gave me a weird look, one that didn’t suit him. I wondered if he got that look at work when he’d discovered the final, critical clue to a murder case.

  “I’m sure. They’re not a danger, just guardians. Anything with guardians that serious probably shouldn’t be disturbed anyway. The girl maybe didn’t know what she was asking for.”

  Dad nodded and sheathed his sword. “You have a good head on your shoulders, son. And a good heart beating inside you.”

  His flesh burst apart and purple tentacles spilled onto the snow.

  I screamed.

  12

  A moment later, I felt stupid for screaming. The scenery melted around me until I floated in the air-water again, surrounded by squid. I hadn’t left the swarm. All the tiny moments that hadn’t seemed right added up to the obvious conclusion that the squid had gotten into my head.

  “Congratulations, knight, you have proven yourself worthy. You may take the shells and leave our domain in peace. We trust you will not inform anyone else of our presence or use the shells for ill intent.”

  I blinked at the wiggly tentacle forest surrounding me. None of the squid restrained me, which I counted as a blessing.

  The ability to determine reality from non-reality seemed like an important skill to develop. If I ever saw Tamor again, I’d ask him about it.

  “Uh, thank you. I won’t tell anyone.”

  “Assist him.”

  A squid wrapped tentacles around me in an embrace reminiscent of a friendly handshake. We sped from the swarm. This time, when I passed from light to dark, I felt the change ripple over my body. The squid dragged me through the water, scooped up five things glowing like tiny stars, and deposited me and them on the shore.

  I watched the tentacles slip under the surface in the starlight. The last tip to disappear waved at me.

  The previous moment with Dad hadn’t had enough bizarre in it. That alone should’ve told me not to trust it.

  At my feet, five small stars glowed. I crouched and prodded them. Each glow concealed a hard shell. If I carried these things to my car, would someone notice the light? Would the park ranger at the gate notice?

  The chill in the air made me shiver. Crap, I’d cut it close with the time. I looked at my feet and knew I’d feel nothing below my knees before I reached the car. My entire body needed clothing and heat. The climb down had taken at least half an hour. The climb up seemed impossible.

  Nothing for it but to try. I scooped the shells into my arms and struggled up the hill. My feet sank deeper into the snow than before. Water clinging to my hair and underwear helped nothing. Icy needles sliced my feet for at least five minutes before I lost enough feeling not to care. The shells did nothing to keep me warm, the bastards.

  I shivered so hard my teeth chattered. On the plus side, my strength seemed to have returned for good.

  Keep going.

  A tree dumped a load of snow on me. The powder shocked my shoulders and neck. I squealed and urged myself to take one more step.

  One more step.

  Keep going.

  Frigid wind blew from the side as I lifted the numb lump of frozen meat attached to the bottom of my leg. The unexpected gust knocked me over. My body sank into the snow. Renewed cold contact with my torso reminded me I couldn’t feel anything else. I dropped the shells.

  Numbness encased my entire self, from head to toe and inside my skull. The wind blew snow over me. I could’ve laid there forever. Nothing hurt or mattered anymore.

  Except I knew if I let myself, I’d freeze to death. Hypothermia worked like heat exhaustion, right? You didn’t know you had it until too late, then you fell over and died.

  Halfway up the hill, lying on top of the stupid shells, I’d die for not forcing myself back to my feed. What an idiotic way to go.

  That thought propelled me with singular focus. I would not die on this hill. Another day, I’d die on some other hill, but not this one. Pure, dogged determination lifted my head. It moved my clumsy, useless hands to scoop up the shells.

  Stiffness in my hips and knees conspired with the unstable snow to punish me more.

  One more step.

  Keep going.

  Don’t die.

  This idiot should’ve planned for this possibility and left my clothes by the river. Of course, my flip-flops wouldn’t have helped much. Would I lose toes from this stupidity? That would cut down my options for the future.

  What could I do without toes? Almost everything except play college-level sports. How about fingers? Ears? A nose? Calves? Arms?

  My brain needed to stop thinking about that. I thought about one more step instead.

  Keep going.

  Don’t die.

  Light from the parking area confused me, then I tumbled onto the frozen pavement.

  Get up.

  One more step.

  Keep going.

  Don’t die.

  There’s
the car.

  Go back for the shells in a minute.

  I plodded to the car, swinging my arms. How did I make it? A miracle.

  My numb hands batted at the handle, trying to open the door. Wait. I’d locked the door. The keys...I’d left them someplace safe.

  To the east, I noticed the pink glow of pre-dawn on a strip of thin clouds. I stared at it like a moron.

  No, dumbass, find the keys. Get in the car. Start the heater.

  I put the keys where Mom told me to. The hiding spot. Under something. A bumper. Yes, there, the front bumper.

  Forcing my body to kneel beside the front bumper took so much more thought than it should have. Everything creaked and strained. I thought my legs had frozen solid. Then I had to stick my hand up there and find the damned keys.

  The only way I managed it involved lying on my back so I could watch my arm move the frozen sausages attached to my wrist until they batted the keys to the ground by accident. If you have the opportunity to try this, I recommend against it.

  Since my fingers couldn’t mash the button to unlock the doors, I bit the remote. Don’t laugh, it worked. Suffice to say that opening the door, folding my frozen body into the driver’s seat, and mashing the keys into the ignition took a long time and some creative effort with my teeth.

  Cold air blasted me in the face because of course it did. I used my knuckles to turn the dial to heat. While I waited, I wondered how much damage I’d done to myself. Maybe I’d earned a helicopter ride to a hospital. That would change Mom’s reaction to my idiocy.

  The air took a minute or two to turn warm. In that time, I regained enough feeling to hurt like hell. Sharp knives stabbed me everywhere. Yes, even there. And there too.

  Every injury I’d ever endured before, from scraped knees to broken ribs and everything in between failed to come close to comparing to the pain caused by my body defrosting.

  I endured it for a thousand years before I screamed.

  The pain dulled to a livable level, at which point I could move again. With clumsy but moving fingers, I pulled on my shirt and pants, then found my flip-flops. The blast of cold air while I scooped up the shells made me cringe.

  As I put the car into gear, half-expecting Dad to pull in beside me at any moment, I noticed thin, weak glowing lines wriggling away from the crater at ground level. Tamor had mentioned that. The sight he’d taught me to use caused it. He’d recommended not using it most of the time. I blamed the lack of sleep and insanity of the night for making me forget.

  After shifting the car back into park, I took a deep breath and recalled the feeling I’d had when I switched it on. Inside my chest, something clicked with a snap that seemed audible to me. The glowing stopped. I could see the shells too. They looked like large clams.

  Victory for me. Again! Wow. I’d gone from prepared to die in a cage to dying in the snow to driving home in the sweet glory of success. Everything looked good for a smooth sail home. I got the car moving.

  Once home, I’d have to explain to Mom why I hadn’t come home last night and didn’t show up at school this morning. Which sounded awful. Except she’d spend her day at work, so I wouldn’t see her until the evening anyway.

  If I ran home, changed clothes, and dashed to school, I’d only miss... I checked the time--7:15. Five hours of driving, plus a stop for gas and coffee, put me home after 12:30. No, I had no reason to bother with school today. Besides, teachers didn’t expect much from anyone on the first day back from two weeks of vacation. If I could get there fast enough, I’d go in for the half day.

  Convincing Mom she should call in an excuse for me either way sounded like a challenge, especially since Matt and I went to the same school. She might buy that I’d done something stupid for a girl. Matt had done stupid things for girls before. None of them had made him miss a day of school, though. And I’d never done anything like that before.

  Crap, I’d forgotten to check for my phone again.

  With my luck, it sat in an evidence bag at the downtown police station. Wait, I could think of a worse option. Dad had recovered enough to pick it up and call Mom to tell her I’d beaten him. Goodbye, car keys, freedom, and lacrosse. No, I didn’t think she’d take away my best option for a college scholarship. The rest, though, I could expect to live without for the foreseeable future.

  Since I had nothing else to lose, I decided to go see Nick before heading home. I pictured the moment. With the shells cradled in my arms, I walked up the paved path until I heard that unearthly music again. My flip-flops thwacked against my feet with every step.

  When I found him, sunlight would glimmer off the water, throwing a golden halo around him. He’d stop playing to turn and smile at me. The moment would stretch to eternity. Then he’d set aside his violin and tell me how he knew I’d succeed. He’d never doubted me for a moment.

  Before doing anything else, he’d kiss me. I could feel his lips against mine and his arms holding me close.

  The fantasy kept me going until I could get a cup of coffee. Which I did when I stopped for gas three hours later in Eugene.

  Not ten minutes up the road after that, red and blue lights flashed in my rearview mirror. Gosh, I really needed a traffic stop to make my day. Night. Morning. Whatever.

  13

  Because I’m not a complete moron, I pulled over. Once I stopped the car, I popped open the glove box and retrieved my registration and insurance card. By the time the state trooper knocked on my window with his knuckle, I had everything ready for him.

  “Do you know why I pulled you over?” He sounded like he did this five hundred times a day and found the whole process tedious. Me too, officer.

  I squinted against the glare of early morning sunshine on my car’s hood and kept my hands on the steering wheel. “No, sir.” No matter how I felt about my dad, I knew to follow his advice for dealing with cops.

  “The speed limit through here is seventy. I’ve got you clocked at eighty-seven for over a mile.”

  “Sorry,” I said. I meant it. This unscheduled stop didn’t help my timing. If I could’ve kept from bothering this Statie, I would have.

  Though it annoyed me to do it, I pulled out my get-out-of-speeding-ticket-free card. “My dad always says to use the cruise control on the freeway, but I guess I’m kind of mad at him right now.”

  “Your dad sounds like a smart man.”

  “I guess so. He’s a homicide detective in Portland.”

  “Is that so? What’s his name?”

  “John Avery. He works out of the downtown precinct.” Dad had told us all a long time ago to name-drop him. I’d never tried to use it before. The only time Mom had, they’d given her a worse ticket than they otherwise would have.

  The Statie lowered his light. “Stay here.”

  “Yessir.” Did he think I’d drive off without my license? Maybe he did.

  I waited like a good boy while he trudged back to his car. The sitting and waiting, even after coffee, threatened to put me to sleep.

  An eternity later, the Statie returned and handed back my papers. “I know it’s tempting to go fast along an empty stretch, especially when you’re headed home, but keep it closer to the limit, Brian. If your plate gets called in for speeding again today, your dad could be the President of the United States and we’ll still give you a ticket.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you. I’ll watch my speed better.”

  “You do that. You can go.” He patted the roof of my car.

  I nodded, rolled up my window, and took exaggerated care while returning to the freeway. So much for getting home early. After setting the cruise control for the speed limit, I did the math as close as I could manage. Maybe I’d slide in around noon. Not good enough to bother with school.

  In my weary state, I made the questionable decision to go see Nick first. Anticipating the visit kept me alert all the way to Oaks Bottom. I parked the car without paying much attention to my surroundings.

  To carry the shells, I wrapped them in the bloo
d-smeared towel. A half-baked idea about leaving it behind to forget things bubbled in the back of my head. Damn, I wanted my hiking boots or regular shoes. In this weather, I would’ve taken cleats over sandals.

  I tried to jog. My body refused and settled into an easy walk. Almost dying for the second time in as many weeks had taken its toll on me, and I needed to respect that.

  Five minutes down the path, I had to stop and deal with the inevitable result of slamming a large coffee. Another five minutes down the path, I wondered why I didn’t feel like I’d had an influx of caffeine. Each step dragged, and I felt like I hauled two hundred pounds of potatoes instead of muscle.

  At the point when I considered giving up to get some sleep, I heard the first lilting notes from that queer violin. My everything melted and strengthened at the same time. I’d longed for those notes so hard they almost knocked me over.

  Still unable to run, I shambled toward him. Thank goodness I carried those shells in that towel, because I tripped over four different tree roots and would’ve dropped them every time.

  Then I saw him. My breath caught. I froze.

  Midday sunshine glimmered on the river’s surface, painting a golden halo around Nick. He drew the feather across the fins of his violin, creating an unearthly note. When his feather reached the end, he lifted it and saw me. His smile made me want to do lunatic things.

  “Welcome back.” Nick set aside his violin and bow.

  I leaned against a tree. Without the sturdy trunk, I would’ve fallen over. “Hi.”

  He smiled and approached me. His body moved with liquid grace. “Did you get them?”

  Answering his smile with one of my own, I raised the towel. “Yeah.”

  His smile broadened. “You’re amazing.” He held out his hands.

  For the towel, not me. He took the towel and cradled it in the crook of his arm. His smile turned odd. A shadow crossed his face even though the sun hadn’t shifted. While I basked in the glow of his praise, he turned his back on me.

  To the side, he said, “Go ahead. You can have this stupid kid.”