Trial By Fire (Going Down in Flames)

by Chris Cannon

  Clint walked over and picked up one of the Days of Knights books Bryn had left stacked on the library table. “We still don’t know how these tales fit into the system.”

  “They may not fit into it at all, except as a way to needle the Directorate,” Valmont said.

  Clint lined the books up in various patterns. “Wait a minute. That looks like a staircase.”

  Bryn gazed at the area of the leather book cover. “You’re right.” She grabbed another book. “This one has the same pattern.”

  “Are they stairs going up or stairs going down?” Ivy asked as they crowded around the table.

  Bryn shuffled the books until a pattern came into line. There was a building, with a star on top of it. Underneath the building stairs went down for two stories. “This makes it look like there’s a secret staircase leading down to a basement somewhere.”

  “I don’t think any of the buildings on campus have basements,” Ivy said.

  “The dorms don’t.” Clint scratched his head. “Maybe some of the other buildings do.”

  “We should start with the library,” Valmont said.

  “Why?” Bryn asked.

  Valmont shrugged. “Isn’t that where people go for answers?”

  It was as good a logic as anything she could come up with. Checking the time, she said, “We have about ninety minutes until curfew.”

  “Let’s fly over and see what we can find.” Ivy headed for the window, which led out onto the terrace. The rest of them followed. Once they were outside, Bryn shifted. When Valmont settled between her wings, she felt the now familiar rush of power and connection from the bond.

  “Whoa,” Ivy said. “You’re glowing.”

  “That’s normal,” Bryn said.

  “Since when?” Ivy sounded ticked off.

  “Did I forget to share?” Bryn asked.

  Ivy dove off the terrace without responding. Clint followed his girlfriend.

  Bryn dove after them. “It’s not like I didn’t tell her on purpose.”

  “I’m sure she knows that,” Valmont said as they flew toward the library. “But she wants to be included in your adventures.”

  “Even if she’s safer not knowing some things?” Bryn asked.

  “Yes,” Valmont said as they soared toward the library.

  They landed, shifted back to human form, and entered the building.

  Miss Enid waved at them from the front desk.

  “Do you want to ask her about the basement, Ivy?” Maybe if she included Ivy more, her friend wouldn’t stay mad.

  “Sure.”

  They gathered at the desk, and Bryn let Ivy lead the conversation.

  “We have a question about the buildings on campus,” Ivy said, and she asked about the basement.

  Miss Enid shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of. There are some storage vaults below ground here and at some of the other buildings, but no true basements. Why do you ask?”

  “Bryn told us about the shelter at her grandparents’ house. We wondered if the Institute had anything like that here.”

  “Unfortunately no, but that would be a good idea.”

  “Could we see the vaults?” Ivy asked.

  Miss Enid shook her head. “No one can access the vaults without approval from the Directorate. I have to fill out a form to request access to the keys.”

  “What do they keep down there?” Ivy asked.

  “Mostly old books and artifacts, which are too delicate to be displayed year round,” Miss Enid said. “Research material the general public would have no interest in. Things of that nature.” She picked up a stack of books. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to return these to their rightful places.”

  “Thanks for the information,” Ivy said, and then she turned to Bryn with a smile on her face. “Now that we know the vaults exist, we need to figure out where they are.”

  “Good idea.” Bryn smiled back. Huh, Valmont had been right. Ivy just wanted to be included. Having friends on her “adventures” would probably make things easier on her, too, as long as she could keep them out of danger. “There have to be doors to the vaults on the first floor somewhere.

  Valmont looked left and then right. “This place is huge. How do we know where to start?”

  “We could start with the blueprints.” Bryn headed toward the file cabinets. She knew where they were kept since she’d tried to find the plans for her grandparents’ mansion.

  “Sounds like a boring place to start,” Clint said. “I’d rather skulk around like we’re in a spy movie.”

  “Fine. You and Ivy can skulk, while Valmont and I check the blueprints. We’ll meet at the entrance to the library in half an hour.”

  The blueprints showed vaults underneath the corners of the building, but no entrance points. No stairs and no outside doors. Bryn turned the paper over, thinking maybe she’d missed something. “There have to be doors somewhere.”

  “I’m guessing they don’t want to advertise the entrance.” Valmont took the blueprint from her, folded it back up into a neat rectangle, and re-filed it in the appropriate slot. “Let’s head for the corner of the building and see what we find.”

  They ended up in the far back right corner of the building and stopped at a mahogany door with huge iron hinges and a plaque, which read, Maintenance.

  “Do you think this could lead down to the vaults?” Bryn asked.

  Valmont ran his fingers along the edge of the door. “These hinges look like they predate the modern architecture of the building.”

  “So they built the library around something that was already here?” That was an interesting thought. “I don’t suppose we can just turn the knob and walk in?” Bryn placed her hand on the knob and turned to the right. Something clicked.

  “It can’t be that easy,” Valmont said. “And if it is, there is probably someone or something on the other side of the door waiting to jump out at us.”

  Applying light pressure, Bryn tugged on the door testing to see if turning the knob had opened it. It didn’t move. What had she expected? “Yeah, that would have been too easy.”

  The sound of Valmont unsheathing his sword had Bryn spinning around with a fireball in her hand. All she saw was her knight staring at the door in awe. “What’s wrong?”

  Valmont pointed at the door with his sword. “The words. You don’t see them?”

  The dark wood of the door shone in the light, but its surface appeared as blank as it had always been. “No. What do you see?”

  “Only those who have given their all may enter. Those who have taken everything must give to see,” Valmont recited.

  “Well that’s not creepy or ominous at all.” Bryn stared at the door until her eyes watered. Nothing. “What does the writing look like?”

  “It’s calligraphy, like in the books.” Valmont held the sword in his left hand and reached for the doorknob with his right. He gripped the doorknob and turned it to the right. A click sounded, but when he tugged on the door nothing happened.

  “Maybe there’s a clue in one of the tales we haven’t read,” Bryn said.

  “We finished the first book. I guess we need to read the other four.” Valmont checked his watch. “We better go. We don’t want to be caught out after curfew.”

  The giant wall clock behind the front desk displayed the time. “Crap, we have fifteen minutes to get back to our dorms.”

  They should have watched the time more closely. Where were Clint and Ivy? “Should we wait for them?” Bryn asked.

  “We don’t have time.” Valmont glanced around. “I don’t see them. They probably headed back already.”

  Bryn didn’t feel right about abandoning her friends but it wasn’t like she could yell in the library at closing time without causing a scene. If cell phones weren’t banned on campus, she’d be able to find her friends right away.

  “We better go.” Valmont grabbed her hand.

  “Wait.” Bryn snatched a piece of paper off Miss Enid’s desk and wrote. “C&I We lef
t. Call me.” And set it up like a tent. “They’ll know what it means. Hopefully, no one else will.”

  They darted for the front doors and exited the building. Bryn shifted, Valmont climbed on her back, and then she shot into the air, flapping her wings with powerful downward strokes, flying faster than she’d ever flown while carrying a passenger.

  “No one else is out,” Valmont said.

  “We’ll make it.” Being incarcerated without food or water for twenty-four hours wouldn’t kill either of them, but it would infuriate her grandfather. She knew, without a doubt, his reaction would be far scarier than the punishment.

  Wind buffeted Bryn’s wings as she came in for a landing on her terrace, knocking over both chairs.

  Valmont hopped off her back and opened the window while Bryn shifted. As they climbed inside, Bryn could hear her heart beating in her ears.

  “Why does it feel like I’m waiting for someone to jump out and yell, ‘Gotcha’?” Valmont asked.

  Goose bumps broke out on Bryn’s arms. “I know what you mean.” She grabbed his hand and led him to the living room. “I’m going to call Clint and Ivy.”

  “I’m sure they’re fine.”

  Bryn dialed Ivy’s number. The phone rang and rang.

  “Crap.” Bryn hung up. “What if they didn’t make it back?”

  “Maybe they flew to Clint’s room.”

  “I don’t have his number.” Bryn paced the living room, hoping her phone would ring.

  “Do you know anyone else’s number in the Black dragon’s dorm?” Valmont asked.

  There was only one other number Bryn knew, and she didn’t want to use it.

  Valmont seemed to read her mind. “Zavien is the only other number you know, isn’t it?”

  Bryn nodded. “He was my friend before the other stuff happened, so yeah.”

  Valmont huffed out a breath. “If Ivy doesn’t call in ten more minutes, you should call him.”

  They sat on the couch and watched the time tick by.

  “Damn it.” This would be beyond awkward. She dialed Ivy’s number one more time. No answer. Double damn it. “I guess I have to call him.”

  She punched in the number. When he answered, she had a strange sense of deja vu. “Zavien, sorry to bother you—”

  “Bryn?” He sounded surprised.

  “I’m afraid Clint and Ivy were out after curfew. Can you check their rooms? I only have Ivy’s number.”

  “What were you doing out after curfew?” His accusatory tone made the tinge of sadness go away.

  “We were at the library and lost track of time. And before you tell me how stupid I am, could you please check on them and call me back?”

  Zavien sighed. “I wasn’t going to call you stupid. It’s just…I worry about you.”

  The present tense of the statement made her stomach go cold. “I’m fine. Please check and have them call me back.”

  “Okay.”

  Bryn hung up and turned to find Valmont. “Just so you know, I didn’t love having to do that, either.”

  “I know.” He walked over and flopped down on the couch. “Come here.”

  She joined him and cuddled against him. A sense of warmth and rightness settled over her. “There. That’s better.”

  Valmont sat up, pushing her away in the process.

  “What the hell?”

  “Sorry, but look.” He pointed at the books on the table. “There’s an extra book.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What are you talking about?” Bryn counted out loud and then leaned forward. “A sixth book. Why would someone break into my room and leave a book for us?”

  “Good question.”

  Before her induction into the fine art of almost being blown up several times over, Bryn might have reached for the book. “Should we call someone to come look at it?”

  Valmont stood and peered down at the tome. “If someone wanted to blow up your dorm, I doubt they’d go through the trouble of creating an exact replica to match a set of books you already had. Books no one was supposed to know were in your possession.”

  He was right. “Miss Enid, you, Clint, and Ivy were the only people who knew about the books.”

  “Miss Enid must’ve told the librarian in Dragon’s Bluff who the books were for,” Valmont said. “Maybe there was something in this book the librarian didn’t want to risk falling into the wrong hands.” He reached for the new book. As he flipped open the cover the phone rang, startling them both.

  Heart racing, Bryn grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

  “They aren’t here.” Zavien’s worry came through the phone line loud and clear. “I checked both their rooms. No luck.”

  “Crap. Now what?”

  “There’s a chance they realized they were out too late and holed up somewhere.”

  That would be the best-case scenario. “If they were arrested, what would happen to them?”

  “Incarceration overnight without food and water, to start.”

  “To start?”

  “If the Directorate finds their behavior suspicious, they could be questioned and kept longer. Use your connections. Call your grandmother and tell her you’re worried about them, because you were studying late, and you can’t reach them. She should be able to find out where they are.”

  “Okay….thanks for helping.”

  “I’ll always be here for you, Bryn.”

  What did she say to that? Of course he meant as a friend, but it was still awkward. “Thanks. I’ll let you know if I figure anything out.”

  Bryn hung up.

  “No luck?” Valmont asked.

  She shook her head. “Time to call out the big guns.”

  She dialed her grandmother’s number and Rindy, the all-knowing phone operator, answered on the second ring. “Sinclair estates, how can I help you?”

  “Rindy, this is Bryn. May I speak to my grandmother?”

  “One moment, please.” The line went silent. Unease built up under Bryn’s skin with every passing minute.

  “Bryn? Why are you calling so late? Is something wrong?”

  “I’m fine, but my friends might not be. I was hoping you could help.”

  “Which friends?”

  Did it matter? Shouldn’t her grandmother help, no matter what? “I was studying with my friends Clint and Ivy about an hour ago. Time got away from us. Valmont and I flew back to my room. I’m afraid Clint and Ivy may not have made it back before curfew. I called their rooms, but they aren’t there.”

  “You must be more careful. Sinclairs abide by all Directorate-sanctioned laws.”

  Hello…this was about her friends. “I promise I’ll pay closer attention to the time. Can you check on my friends, please?”

  “I’ll see what I can do without directly mentioning their names. If your grandfather found out you were associated with anyone who has been arrested, he would be most unhappy.”

  Like he wasn’t a freaking ray of sunshine already. “Thank you. I’ll be waiting by my phone.”

  After hanging up, Bryn filled Valmont in on what her grandmother had said.

  “Well,” Valmont picked up the sixth book, “there isn’t much we can do until she calls. We might as well read.”

  They sat on the couch.

  “Why don’t I read out loud? You can close your eyes and listen.”

  “Thank you.” She leaned back and waited.

  Bluffstone was a village like any other village. There was a bakery, a blacksmith, and even a small bookstore. The people were happy until one day a dragon named Bain came to town and demanded they hand over all their gold.

  Bryn opened her eyes. “That’s different.”

  Valmont nodded and scanned down the page. “It says this dragon was unlike any others the villagers had dealt with. Bain was consumed with desire for gold and treasure to the point of insanity.” He read a few more pages. “The gist of the story is the dragon associated with the village tried to reason with Bain. In the end, the knights of the
village and their lead dragon killed him.”

  Bryn tried to make sense of the story. “Do you think dragons can literally go insane with greed, or is that a parable?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The shrill sound of the phone made Bryn jump. She answered, hoping for the best.

  “Bryn,” her grandmother spoke in a solemn voice, “two black dragons were arrested for being out after curfew, a male and a female. Since it’s their first offense, they are being held overnight without food or water. They’ll be released in the morning.”

  “Held where?” Bryn asked.

  The dial tone was her answer. She hung up. Smoke shot from her nostrils. Clint and Ivy were arrested because of her. Guilt pressed down on her like a giant invisible hand.

  “Not good news?” Valmont asked.

  “They’ll be released in the morning.” Fire banked in Bryn’s gut. Sparks shot from her nostrils.

  “They wanted to help,” Valmont reminded her. “And like us, they should have kept better track of time. But they’ll be all right.”

  “I hate this.” She punched Zavien’s number into the phone and explained what she’d learned.

  “Promise me you’ll be more careful from now on,” Zavien said.

  She didn’t owe him any promises about anything, but she didn’t say that. Instead, she kept it short. “I will. Good night.”

  …

  First thing in the morning, Bryn called Ivy. No one answered. She went to breakfast and scarfed down waffles, made two carryout containers, and hurried to the Black dragon’s dorm. She found Zavien standing outside Ivy’s door, holding similar Styrofoam boxes.

  “Looks like we both had the same idea,” Zavien said. “But they aren’t back yet.”

  “Did you try Clint’s room?” Valmont asked.

  Zavien nodded.

  “Now what?” Bryn didn’t know what to do.

  “Go to class,” Zavien said. “I’ll let you know when they’re back.”

  “No.” Bryn leaned against the wall. “I’m waiting here until I see they’re all right. And before you say it, I know I’m being immature. Deal with it.”

  Instead of yelling, Zavien’s mouth turned up in the lopsided grin that used to make her heart flutter. “Now, there’s the Bryn I remember.”