by D P Rowell
Ace felt a little relief. At least Cameron didn’t hear everything. But why was it so dangerous to keep things from Cameron? Other than Grandpa telling him not to tell the other grandchildren, he really didn’t understand why he couldn’t tell Cameron what was going on.
“Cameron, I’ve already told you I can’t reveal anything to you. Why do you keep pressing me about it? I hate having to hold this stuff in and you’re not making it easy.”
“Because, I’m just tryin’ to find answers. I wanna know what happened to Grandpa Ace!”
“So do I.”
“Why do you trust that drake so much?”
“Because Grandpa trusted him.”
“But don’t you trust me?”
Ace sighed. It was no use trying to hide it anymore. He didn’t have to tell Cameron about the stone. Just enough to make him satisfied.
“Alright, but don’t tell anybody, Cameron,” he said. Cameron smiled and wrapped his arm around him, rubbing his knuckles on the crown of his head. A classic nuggie.
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, little bro!”
Ace laughed. “Stop it!” He shoved his brother away. “Okay. Grandpa has been running a secret business.” He began to whisper. Which may have been pointless under the disguise of the rushing waterfall.
“What kind of business?”
“He kind of hunts witches.”
Cameron’s face drooped almost immediately. “You gotta be kidding me, Ace.”
“What?”
“I thought you were going to tell me for real!”
“I am telling you, Cameron! It’s true.”
Cameron furrowed his brow. “You’re getting too old to still believe his stories, Ace.”
“His stories are true, Cameron! He took me to his armory even.”
“Armory?”
“Yeah, in a little cave about a thirty minute’s hike away from the cabin. It’s loaded with all kinds of weapons and blasters. But not just regular blasters. They have a setting that can only capture magic. That’s why he brought us to New Eathelyn. Rio’s a witch hunter who worked for Grandpa, and he can protect us.”
Cameron itched his head and squinted. Ace could tell his older brother wasn’t sure whether to believe him.
“So, you’re saying that witches are actually . . . real?” Cameron said.
“Apparently so. And they’re after us.”
“Why would they be after us?”
“Uh,” Ace stammered, “I’m not exactly sure.” Of course, he knew it probably had to do with the Emerson Stone.
“Okay, okay. But why did he decide to tell this to you and no one else? You said he picked you.”
“Yeah,” Ace said. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure how to break this to his older brother. Someone he looked up to, and someone who was ten times more qualified for the job than him. “About that. Grandpa kinda turned the business over to me. He wants me to run it.”
“What?” Cameron’s face flushed. “But why you? You’re the youngest!”
“Shh!” Ace covered Cameron’s mouth. He looked over to Rio and the Peppercorns still swimming around in the pool, paying no attention to their conversation. A wave of relief came over him and he let go of his brother’s mouth.
“Do you even know anything about witch hunting?” Cameron said.
Ace shook his head. “No. I trained with Rio one day for a couple of hours. That’s it.”
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Cameron said.
“I’m as shocked about it as you are. Look, I’ve told you something Grandpa asked me to keep a secret. You have to keep this between us. Grandpa told me that the more that you and the Peppercorns know, the more dangerous it is for all of us.”
“Okay, but on one condition,” Cameron said.
“What?”
“If we’re running away from witches, then we need all the protection we can get. You should teach me whatever you learn about witch hunting. If we have to defend ourselves, then two is better than one.”
Ace sighed at his brother’s persistence. He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. It did make sense. Cameron was probably going to be better at it than him anyway. He just didn’t know how he was going to be able to train Cameron in secret.
“C’mon. Halders stick together!” Cameron said. It didn’t seem Ace had much of a choice.
He sighed again and looked his older brother in the eye. “Fine. Deal,” he said. And they shook hands. Cameron pulled him into a tight one-armed hug.
“Now we really are sticking together, little bro. Like Halders are supposed to. No more secrets between us, okay?”
Ace gave a weak smile and nodded. “Sure. No more secrets.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Myrka
Myrka was a humble town. As they made their final approach from the forest to the beach, the city revealed itself. It stretched long ways on the beach. Most of the huts and tents and stone buildings sat on the sand, with a few here and there in the forest. Docs went on for miles along the beach as numerous ships pulled ashore. It was like a stretched-out version of the New Eathelyn Marina. Civilians passed by on similar canine and feline mounts as the drakes in New Eathelyn. Rio led the way as their mounts slowed to a steady walk, and the Halders were at the end of the line.
Drakes captained the trade ships, although there were a few jags and Evelanders here and there. Other than on television, it was the first time the grandchildren had seen jags. Frightening creatures, they were. It’s the reason why they were typically cast as bad guys in movies and shows. Ironically, they were generally considered to be the most peaceful race in the four borders.
But many things made jags fearsome creatures. Their eyes of red, yellow, or white, their spotless skin, gray as a thunderstorm and smooth as the stroke of a waterworn stone. While some jags maintained a dark, charcoal skin, other jags varied timidly in brighter shades of gray.
They soared in height. The average jag reached seven feet tall. The males’ brute strength was terrifying. Especially the fat ones; though most were cut like diamonds.
Two things summed up a jag’s physical identity, making them indistinguishable of any Yutarian race. Their antlers and hooved feet. The antlers were of a wide variety but resembled mostly those of a deer. Growing specific to an individual jag at their coming of age. Some twisted from their temples and curled behind their ears. Others grew long and twisted by their shoulders. Some antlers grew from their foreheads and twisted up high.
The heavy wind of the beach carried the ambience of the city. Merchants either yelled from their huts (in their strange click-clack language) or bartered and haggled with the sailors and residents of Myrka. Crews of the larger ships unloaded their cargo while the captains collected payment. The overseas trading was booming. Rio took the grandchildren left, leaving the path of merchants and bringing them to the open beach where ships were either anchored just offshore, or tied to a dock. Further down the beach, tens of drakes and humans formed a line under a tall wooden sign with drake language inscriptions. Pictographs clumped together to mean one thing. Below the pictographs was a translation:
Heorg Ferries
10 per ticket, 5 per mount
Once they all arrived at the line, the Peppercorns hopped off their wolf.
“Ugh, my butt’s starting to feel numb,” Tamara said.
Cameron nudged Ace and leaned in his ear. “It’s probably trying to match her brain.”
Ace laughed with his brother. Tamara scoffed at the Halders, then helped her little sister down and Ace and Cameron followed next. Ace stretched long and wide. He hadn’t realized how much his back had been hurting from riding the wolf for so long until standing gave him relief. The long line crept along. No doubt they would be there a while. Rio eventually hopped off his bear and held the reins as they stood in line. He reached in the saddle pouches and grabbed a few canteens, then tossed them to the grandchildren.
“Drink however much you l
ike. The ship tickets usually come with meals and beverages,” the drake said.
“And hopefully a big, soft bed!” Julie said.
Rio rolled his eyes and turned around. Ace unscrewed his canteen and gulped the water left inside. The very same pure water they had at the spring a few hours back. He tilted his head, eyes fixed on the purple evening sky, and the poufy scattered clouds, as he gulped every drop in a second.
“Haaa,” Ace said in approval.
“So, little bro.” Cameron said. He leaned closer into Ace’s ear. “What do these witches look like, huh?”
“Cameron!” Ace said under his breath. He pushed his brother back a little. “Not here! Someone could hear us.”
“Right. Sorry,” Cameron said. “I’m just a little excited and curious. My mind’s been thinkin’ ‘bout it nonstop since the spring.”
“I’ll tell you what I know whenever we get a chance to be alone,” Ace said. Cameron nodded and winked. This dropped a rock in Ace’s chest. For his older brother’s wink looked identical to Grandpa Marty’s. Ace rubbed his eyes to keep anyone from seeing them water. He turned his attention away from his projections of Grandpa on his older brother.
Rio turned to face the grandchildren. “All of you get your things from your saddles.”
Cameron and Ace looked at each other and shrugged but did as instructed. Ace didn’t realize how fast the line had moved. They approached the sign much quicker than expected. A cramped wooden hut sat on the sand directly under the sign. A few drakes smiled from the ticket-collecting window. One of them yellow as the moon with a head like a snake, another a water drake with shiny silver scales, and the last one looked like the snake one, only with red skin.
The yellow snake lady looked to Rio and spoke in the drake tongue. Rio responded. The lady looked at him with frustration and shook her head. Rio clicked his tongue again. She shook her head no again, now very annoyed.
“I think Rio doesn’t have any money,” Ace said.
“Oh! Say no more!” Julie said. She reached into her purse (which she apparently brought because it was a necessity for survival) and took a handful of credits out. Eveland credits. Parchments in different shades of blue. In the middle of each parchment was the face of an Eveland leader. On the one-hundred-credit parchment—the only ones Julie had—was the face of Angus Kar. Famous for winning The Heorg War. Not much was taught to Eveland students about The Heorg War. Other than the Evelanders helped free the jags from some dictatorship spreading through the country.
Well, Ace thought, looks like I was right about her huge allowance.
The little girl burst to the front of the line and slapped the credits down on the shelf.
“That oughta cover it!” Julie said. The drakes behind the window chuckled with each other.
The yellow drake clicked several times at Julie with a playful smile.
“She wants to know how old you are,” Rio said to Julie.
Julie gave a curtsy and smiled from ear to ear. It was time to put on a show and do what she does best. Soak up all the attention.
“I’m twelve and a half,” she said. The snake lady patted her head and handed her back the pile of credits.
“They don’t accept Eveland currency, Julie. Credits are no good here, only owes . . .” Rio’s eyebrows popped up, and leaned close with a glint in his eye. “Unless your rich dad somehow had a collection of fae crystals he gave you?”
Julie pouted and slowly shook her head no. Rio sighed and gently nudged her aside.
Fae crystals, Ace thought. That’s something I’d like to see.
The drake yanked the mounts with the reins in his hand and handed them to the snake lady. Rio and the drakes behind the counter exchanged a few more click-clack words with one another. The snake lady seemed to get angrier by the minute, and Rio wasn’t very persuasive. After a moment or two, Rio finally stopped trying to argue with her.
Rio looked around in frustration. “Fine.” He walked to the open beach area followed by the grandchildren. What was happening? No tickets? How were they supposed to get to Heorg?
They all gathered in a circle to the side of the ferry line.
Julie pouted and crossed her arms. “That lady was extremely rude.”
“What’s going on, Rio?” Tamara said.
Rio looked intensely at the snake lady behind the counter. “Ace, come with me quickly,” the drake said.
Julie put her hands on her hips as she scoffed at Rio. “What? Why do you need him?”
Ace waved at his little cousin and smirked as he walked to Rio. She stuck her tongue out.
“You all stay put. Don’t go anywhere here,” Rio said.
“Like, where would we even go?” Tamara sassed.
Rio grabbed Ace’s arm and walked him far enough away from the circle of the grandchildren, so they couldn’t hear.
“We’re in danger,” Rio whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that one day of training we had together better come in handy, because this town is crawling with witches.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Map
Rio looked around and pulled a small hand blaster from his pouch and slipped it to Ace unnoticed. The cool slick surface of the gun’s metal caught him off guard. The AMHB’s chrome body shimmered as it caught the light of the falling sun. Ace grabbed it and placed it in his back pocket, then threw the bottom of his shirt over it to hide it.
“I—is there one close by?” Ace said. He hadn’t anticipated being this nervous. What if the witch cast a spell on him or something?
Rio eyed Ace keenly. “I have a sense about these things, Ace. I’ve been doing this a long time. They are everywhere in this city, and the longer we are here, the more likely they will come after us. Or, to be more specific, the more likely they will come after you and your family.”
Ace swallowed a lump in his throat. “Shouldn’t we give some blasters to the others? I mean, at least Cameron. The more arms we have the better, right?”
Rio grabbed Ace by the arm. His sharp fingernails pinched Ace’s skin and the boy grimaced. “Do not tell them a thing about this. Your grandfather picked you. Not them, got it? Witches know it when they’re being sensed, and they don’t like people knowing they’re around. They want to stay hidden. Being a hunter makes you a target. And you, being Marty Halder’s relative, makes you an even greater target. You must be trained not to give it away when you feel one is near. I’m probably putting us in more danger by telling you about the witches here. If all of you are walking around sweating and shaking, scoping out every Myrkian you think might be a witch, they will pick up on it, know we have something to hide, and come after us.”
Ace’s heart pumped faster with every word the drake spoke. Rio’s eyes were wide, and his teeth showed through his snarl, and being this close revealed just how sharp they were. The boy nodded in silence and the drake let go of his arm.
“What can I do to not give away that I’m looking for one?” Ace said.
“For starters, don’t look for one. The last thing you want to do is snoop around. Just keep your eyes open. The witches are scoping out people themselves. And as many as there are in this city, one will eventually find us.”
“Why are they after us?”
“I think they know who you are and they’re trying to stop you from getting to Heorg.”
“Who I am? What are you talking about?”
The drake leaned close and whispered. “You’re Marty’s grandkid. They know him better than you think. Just keep your eyes peeled and lay low, okay?”
“How will I know it’s a witch?” Ace whispered back.
“Trust me,” Rio said as he placed his hand on Ace’s shoulder, “if they find out who you are, you will know right away.”
“Okay. But what makes you think there are witches here?”
“Drakes are natural barterers and hagglers. Our mounts are easily worth ten times the amount of money they were asking for those tickets.
Mounts are priceless in Oola. None of the ticket collectors acted strange when that lady turned down the mounts. And what’s even worse is that none of the drakes in the line did either. I think they’re lying. Trying to delay us. They must have some sort of suspicions.”
“Are you sure that means they’re witches though? I mean, the lady could have just been having a bad day.”
“I’ve been doing this a while. I know what I’m talking about.”
Ace looked around suspiciously, then caught himself. No snooping. Dead giveaway. “Okay, Rio. So, what are we going to do?”
“I know some Indies stationed here. I’ll bet somebody either has a ship or knows someone who does. But they won’t accept visitors, even a young hunter like yourself. You all will have to set up camp outside the city and wait for me while I look for them,” Rio said.
“Are you sure that’s the best idea? I mean, if there’s witches around, I would feel much safer if you were next to us,” Ace said. “You saw how bad I was in training. What if—I mean—I can’t do this Rio. This is insane.”
“You will be fine,” the drake said. “I will lead you to a safe place outside Myrka. If you stay off the roads and away from the shadows, you’ll be okay. I will move as quickly as I can, and hopefully bring help back.”
Ace stared wordlessly at the drake.
“Your grandfather picked you for a reason. Like it or not, protecting this family is your responsibility.”
Ace tipped his head with an agreeable hesitance. Rio led him back to Cameron and the Peppercorns huddled together.
“We’re going to set up camp outside the city for the night. I will have a ship ready for us in the morning,” Rio said.
“But how?” Tamara asked.
“I have my ways, little girl.”
“Why don’t we just go back to New Eathelyn and get Grandpa’s ship?” She said.
“Enough with that! I’ve already told you all that’s not going to happen, and I don’t want to hear another word about it!” Rio said with a growl.
