by MJ Fletcher
“What is it?”
“I know who did it; I know who is betraying me.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Status: What the hell do I do now?
“Tell me.”
“The symbol is the mark of the Polymorph... its Gavin Brimstone.” I leaned back in the booth and stared at the symbol in the mirror. How could this be possible? I’d talked with him earlier. I had been feeling good while chatting with Faith. Then when Gavin had called a headache came on and ever since I’d know him and been training with him I’d been having headaches. How could I be so stupid? The man I trusted to train me was actually betraying me. He’d been the one to tell me that I was a Polymorph and warned me not to tell anyone. And all the missions I had been on for him. What had they been truly about? And had Nightshade ever worked with him or was that a lie too?
“Chloe, I’m so sorry.” Val reached out and squeezed my hand.
“I need to talk to Edgar.” I’d told Gavin our plan and for all I knew I was putting Edgar in danger and everyone else. I’d been keeping everything from my friends and family at his command. That was going to end now.
I took out my phone and my fingers worked quickly shooting off text messages to Dad, Jess, Edgar, and even Slade. My phone blew up over the next few moments as everyone started responding and I made a quick plan to meet at the Reliquary.
“Edgar is going to meet you there as well,” Val said standing beside the counter in the Beanery. You can go out the back. She smiled weakly and I reached out grabbing her and giving her a quick hug. I didn’t know how Val handled watching all her friends run off to deal with crazy situations while all she could do was sit back helplessly and watch. I doubted I could deal with that.
“I’ll text you and let you know what’s happening.”
“Be careful,” she shouted after me.
The portal I opened dropped me directly into the Reliquary. I stepped out slamming it closed behind me and sliding my doorknob back into my bag. I dropped into one of the couches and started going over every conversation I’d ever had with Gavin. How he had told me about Nightshade and how that got me started working for him without question. Had Nightshade known that Gavin was a traitor? I couldn’t make myself believe that, it just didn’t make sense. Nightshade was too smart, how could he have not known about it?
Edgar came in shortly after me and not saying a word took a seat beside me, Jess and Slade soon followed. Jess ran up and hugged me and I had to admit I was glad to see her and Slade. He didn’t come up to me, instead he leaned up against the wall and didn’t speak. He’d let the stubble grow in on his face and he looked tired, I wanted to talk to him. But I stayed away.
“Just what the hell is going on?” Dad demanded walking in with Levi Miller and they both stopped in front of me their faces wrinkled with concern.
I pulled the mirror out of my bag and handed it to Dad. I stood up and looked around at everyone in the room. “I’m a Polymorph.”
Dad ran his hand through his hair and handed the mirror off to Mr. Miller.
“I’ve been working with Gavin Brimstone since Nightshade died. He was training me but I’ve also been doing missions for him, just like Nightshade did before me.”
“You’re serious?” Jess asked her voice trembling.
“Yes, but its more than that. The headaches I’ve been having aren’t normal. I went to a fixer and found out that someone was controlling me and according to my findings it’s Gavin Brimstone.” I pointed to the mirror that Mr. Miller was examining.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Mr. Miller said. “The craftsmanship is impeccable and it’s very old. Chloe’s right, the symbol is a Polymorph mark and I’ve seen Brimstone use it to sign his work.”
“Putting aside the Polymorph thing and the fact that you’ve been lying to all of us,” —Dad shot me look that let me know he was not happy— “what could he be using to control her?”
Slade spoke up staring at me as he said, “A Forget Me Not. When we rescued Val from the First Kind a few months ago, Gavin gave Chloe a Forget Me Not.”
“That would do it for sure. Prolonged exposure to a Forget Me Not will make you compliant and alters almost every memory you have,” Mr. Miller explained.
“How do we break the hold over her?” Dad asked.
“You have to either break the actual device or the person has to break through the perception filter to see things as they really are.” Mr. Miller played with the gears on the mirror as he spoke. “In most cases simply learning the identity of the person would break it. But that doesn’t seem to be the case here. So it appears you have no alternative... you’ll have to break the Forget Me Not.”
“First I need to find it,” I said pointing out the obvious, but it was true nonetheless “We’ve got another problem as well.”
“Of course we do.” Dad sat on the arm of the couch beside me. “What is it?”
“I told Gavin about our plan for The Tavern at the End of Time.”
“That’s just great.” Dad threw his hands in the air and stood up. “If he knows everything we plan to do, then they can easily set a trap for you or who the hell knows what else!”
He was close to losing it and damn if I didn’t feel guilty for screwing things up. “Look I messed up, I should have told all of you as soon as I found out I was a Polymorph. Stupidly, I didn’t, and there isn’t anything we can do to change that now. But we can’t let this end here, I say we go now and make our move on the Tavern. We get the book and get the hell out. If we move fast they’d never know a thing.”
“You’re kidding right?” Slade asked his eyes still boring into me.
“No, I’m not.”
“Do you want to get yourself killed, is that the plan? You just found out that you’re being manipulated and you want to run head-long into this thing?” he yelled and for the first time I saw real anger in Slade’s eyes.
“I rush in Slade, that’s what I do. Maybe I’m wrong, but if we don’t do this now he’ll catch on soon enough that I’m onto his scheme of controlling me and then any chance we have at the book is gone. We have to stop them.”
“You’ve lost your damn mind, and I for one am not going to sit around and watch you get yourself killed. I’m done with all of this.” Slade stormed out of the room and I turned to follow him and give him a piece of my mind.
Mr. Miller stopped me in my tracks. “Let him go.”
“Why?”
“He’s made his choice; I’ll talk with him later. But you’re right; we need to do something now.”
“I don’t like this,” Dad said his eyes smoldering with anger.
“The situation is against us, as it always seems to be. I’m going to head to the Engineers and distract them, I suggest you do the same with DS, Elijah,” Mr. Miller said and then turned to what was left of my team. “Can you three handle this?”
“I can’t go,” Jess said so low that I thought I must have heard wrong.
“What?” I spun to see her sitting with her hands in her lap.
“I can’t go. DeAndré’ has me working on tracking. It took everything I could to get here, if I’m gone too long he’ll come looking for me.”
“He knows it was me, doesn’t he?” I asked directly figuring it was better than beating around the bush.
“He’s asked a lot of questions about you and has been obsessed with finding the person responsible for ending the truces.” Jess looked up at me “I guess that’s you.”
“I guess it is,” I admitted guilt continuing to pile up on me.
“If I come with you, I risk putting you in more danger,” —she turned sorrowful eyes on me— “and I can’t do that.”
My heart sunk. It was bad enough that Slade wasn’t joining us, but not to have Jess by my side was killing me. And I had only myself to blame for this whole mess. I wished Nightshade was here to make some snarky comment and keep me in line. But he was gone too and that was also my fault.
“It can’t be
just the two of you,” Dad said, Mr. Miller standing by his side, both looking nervously at me. “The Tavern is too dangerous for that.”
“It won’t be only the two of us.”
“Oh, boy,” Edgar sighed.
“I’m going to bring Faith and her team with us.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Status: Time for some action.
Jess stood beside me looking out at the waves crashing on the beach. “For the record this is a bad idea.”
“Maybe, but Edgar and I can’t do this alone.” I glanced over at Edgar standing next to me, his head buried in a map going over the final calculations for the portal.
The Legend of the Mapmakers Union was resting comfortably in his bag concealed in a pocket dimension so no one could detect it. I was uncomfortable walking around with it, though we didn’t have much choice. We needed to get it into the Paladin Academy.
“I should be going with you.” Jess kicked at the ground while her fingers played with the skeleton key that hung around her neck.
“We can’t risk it. If DeAndré’ figures out who I am, we’ll be in even deeper trouble then we are now.” I slid my hand into hers, our fingers intertwining and she squeezed tightly.
Portal energy crackled all around us and a doorway opened. Faith stepped out, a smile from ear to ear on her face. Jackson, Mary, and Hitch followed quickly behind her.
“Here we are,” Faith said.
“Are you all sure about this?” I asked stepping forward and letting go of Jess’s hand. “This is totally off the grid. The Doorknob Society doesn’t know anything about it and that’s the way I want to keep it.” They all nodded in unison and I took a deep breath. “This is going to be dangerous and I’m not really sure what we’re in for, but I appreciate the help.”
“What is it we’re doing?” Jackson asked his face baring his ever present scowl.
“We’re looking for something,” I said.
“What?” Faith asked.
“No need for any of you to worry about that, Edgar and I will take care of it. What we need you guys to do is back us up. We’re walking into a complete unknown here.”
“Where are we going?” Mary asked.
“The Tavern at the End of Time,” I said and the questions stopped quickly as they all exchanged looks of disbelief and hints of fear.
“You think this bunch can handle it?” Jess leaned in close and whispered in my ear.
“Yes.” I had no idea if they honestly could, but I wanted to at least appear confident. Damn, though, what I wouldn’t give to have all my old friends by my side for this mission.
“I better get back before DeAndré’ ’ misses me.” Jess grabbed my hoodie and pulled me to her hugging me tightly. “Be careful and come back in one piece.”
“I’ll do my best.” She let go of me and turned grabbing Edgar and hugged him as well. He dropped his map and his eyes went wide.
“You come back too, you crazy little man.” She kissed his cheek and walked away, a trail of crimson energy following her as she activated her key and opened a portal, disappearing through it.
“You okay?” I asked Edgar as he picked up his map, rolled it up, and slide it into his bag.
“I’d be better if Jess and Slade were coming with us.”
“Me too,” I said under my breath.
“You really do hang out with Guilders. I thought that was only a rumor.”
I turned to see Jackson glaring at me. “You have a problem with that?”
“No, just surprised.”
Faith stepped in front of Jackson, trying to avert what could turn into a bad situation. “What’s the next move?”
“We head to Paladin Academy.” I walked past them with Edgar keeping stride beside me and headed toward the school. I didn’t wait for them, though their scurrying footsteps let me know that they followed after us.
I opened a portal and we crossed the threshold onto the academy grounds. It was already mid-morning and students were running to classes while others were enjoying the nice weather and milling around.
“Now what?” Faith asked.
“Follow me,” I said and walked into the academy making my way through its labyrinth halls and corridors until I reached the library. The mechanical librarians turned asking me if they could be of assistance but I passed them by and headed toward the back of the stacks.
I turned a final corner and walked to a small alcove that I had used as a secluded place to study and stopped. Everyone piled in joining me and I realized how small the space actually was. I pulled my phone out and fired off a quick text.
We didn’t have time to wait for graduation practice to make this happen, so we needed the next best thing... a massive distraction.
“Now what?” Jackson sneered.
“We wait.” It didn’t take long for Mr. Miller to come through with the distraction.
The noise started like the sound of distant thunder rolling towards us. But it grew louder with each second and the entire building began to shake.
“What’s that?” Faith braced herself against the wall trying not to fall.
“That’s the Impossible Engineers activating every device in the Paladin Academy.” I glanced to Edgar and nodded. “You ready?”
“Yes.” He blew out a deep breath and knelt down and taking a map from his satchel he placed it on the floor. His hand disappeared into the bag and then removed the Legend.
The air around us buzzed with power, the hairs on my neck standing on end. It took all my will not to activate my doorknob right then.
‘What is that?” Faith asked her breath coming in gasps as the power of the Legend washed over her.
I looked at Faith. “Nothing you need to be concerned about.” My mind began to race with a plethora of thoughts and emotions all jumbled together and something felt completely wrong but I couldn’t quite place what it was.
“Here we go,” Edgar said and I forced myself to turn his way and stop thinking about Faith. I needed to concentrate on the plan.
Edgar placed the Legend into his map and glowing symbols shot into the space around us, rotating and floating. Each one changed so fast it was impossible to see them all. Edgar’s hands moved through the symbols, adding all of his calculations into the map. One by one the symbols solidified until a long sequence hovered just above the map.
Edgar looked up at me. “Now.”
I activated my doorknob and pushed it against the wall. The glowing symbols floated forward and I felt them slide into my doorknob. A jolt of electricity shot through my body and every nerve-ending sparked to life with pulsating energy. I instinctively knew the exact location we needed; I could envision it perfectly. The path was obvious and so my abilities used the calculations to focus my portal more precisely than ever before.
I didn’t hesitate; I turned the knob and pulled the door open. The portal swirled like a vortex before us, the stars and universe itself shifting into focus. The portal took the path I had laid out, connecting and latching onto the spot that I had chosen.
“This is it,” I said as if the insignificant words would prepare everyone for what they were about to face. The other side wasn’t visible just the sparkle of portal energy glowing blue around the edges of the doorway.
“Are you sure?” Faith asked.
“Positive.” Edgar removed the Legend and the energy around us diminished as he placed it in his satchel. “I’m ready.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Then let’s do this.” I stepped forward and made my way into the Tavern at the End of Time.
Chapter Twenty-six
Status: The Tavern at the End of Time.
“Welcome to the Tavern.” A mountain-sized man stood in front of a door that seemed to hover in a grayish nothingness. Come to think of it I looked down and saw no ground beneath where I stood. Did that mean I was hovering in nothingness as well? It felt as if there was something beneath my feet but I couldn’t see anything. My stomach roiled a
nd I gritted my teeth to stop myself from being sick.
“Don’t think about it too hard or you’ll lose your lunch,” the guard said as he pushed the door open and gestured for us to enter.
I rushed in wanting to get away from the crazy non-existent place. I stopped a moment and leaned over placing my hands on my knees and took a deep breath. When I finally felt steady again I stood upright and looked behind me to see the others dealing with their own discomforts. Jackson and Hitch were both bent over, while Mary and Faith were holding onto each other to steady themselves. Edgar meanwhile leaned against a wall, scribbling on a map in his hand as if this was no big deal at all.
I took a moment to look around the Tavern and my mouth dropped open in awe. It was huge in size and scope, the wall Edgar leaned against seemed to go on as far as I could see. Instead of beams every few feet, trunks of living trees ran up the length of the wall as supports. Their branches stuck out in ever increasing distances and the higher they got they became supports for walkways that crisscrossed the Tavern. Bars wrapped around everywhere like a maze that had no end. There was no place you could be without being a few steps away from one bar or another. The tables and stools had grown out of the wood floor, which was not so much a wood floor but rather thick branches over lapping one another to form a floor.
But the most amazing thing was the people. I thought the Diesel Factories were crazy but this made that place look like kindergarten. People dressed in every period of clothing I was familiar with and then some; Romans, Geishas, knights, Turks, cowboys. You name it; every period in time was represented. And mixed throughout were people in unfamiliar dress. One man walked by me who was completely white. And by white I don’t mean albino. His skin was white and his eyes had no pupils and were completely clear. I did a double take on him and then in a distant area of the Tavern I heard a roar and saw a chained Gremlin struggling against its collar. People were using Impossible Engineer jetpacks to fly overhead, moving back and forth between the branch walkways. The immensity of the place made me feel small by comparison.
