Lord Koen stood. There was no hope for it—he would have to carry Cadoc. He’d open the hatch first, though.
After hurrying to the metal access door, he grabbed the spindle wheel and turned it.
The spoked handle spun perhaps a quarter inch before it stopped with a clanking sound. He tried a few times, but it refused to move beyond that.
“What in hells?”
He looked over the handle and blinked. Why was the padlock attached? While the men were setting up the package in the mechanical room, Cadoc was supposed to remove the padlock after unlocking the door. The room had been open, so why was this still here?
He grabbed the hefty-looking lock and yanked. Nothing. “Cadoc.”
Silence.
Lord Koen ran back and shook him. “Cadoc, you moron! Wake up! You have to remove the padlock!”
“I’d worried that he would be with you, but it seems Quillan did more than just disable the control device.”
There was a shadow in the far door, a dark silhouette in the light from the hallway. “Tobin?”
“Nothing ever makes you happy, does it?”
“What are you talking about? Can you open the—”
“The people who serve you, the food you eat, the merchandise presented to you. No one and nothing is ever good enough.”
Was that fool still mad about the trunks? “I had to pretend to care about the clothing trunks, so you wouldn’t suspect their true use.”
Tobin shook his head. “You’ll never be happy.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You will never have enough. And do you know why?”
Lord Koen stared at him.
“Because you are never satisfied with what you already have. You could own all the gold in the world, could rule over the entire planet, and you’d still be unhappy that you didn’t rule the moons.”
Tobin chuckled. “Well I, at least, have seen the error of that way of thinking. I’m quite happy with biscuits and honey. I do want to keep my family safe, however,” he reached to the side, “and as there are no convenient nahual . . .”
Lord Koen’s eyes widened as the door closed.
The sound of a key being inserted came to him. The scrape of it turning and the thunk of the bolt engaging the door frame were surprisingly loud.
+ + + + +
As they’d drawn close, Anaya mentioned hearing a kind of explosion. Now, after coming around to the front of the building, Aeron stared as flames rose from the top balcony. Get down there, fast!
Anaya descended quickly toward the plaza below.
Reaching up to the mouthpiece, he activated the small device. “Quillan’s efforts must have failed. The theater is on fire.”
“Aeron, help me clear a path through these people so we can evacuate the building.”
Below, Guildmaster Millinith and Itzel were trying to head up the wide steps in front of the building, but people seemed slow to move.
Master Doronal was in the plaza, too, standing by Chanté and Nantli. Chanté was crouched over someone.
When Anaya landed, Aeron saw that it was Quillan that Chanté leaned over.
What had happened?
“Clear the way, people!” Willem and Balam landed beside them. “Make way!”
Balam rumbled and headed off.
Willem looked back. “We’ll help with this, too.”
Aeron nodded.
Anaya chirped and turned her amber gaze on him. We should try to put out the flames we saw above. If the building begins falling, people may be trapped inside before they can escape.
Aeron took another look at Chanté. He seemed to be busy doing something to Quillan’s arm, and Master Doronal was with him, so . . .
“Willem will assist you, Guildmaster. Anaya and I are going to deal with the fire up on the balcony. We don’t need debris falling while you get people out.”
“True enough. Have a care, though.”
Alright. Let’s hover near it and I’ll shoot water in.
Anaya crouched and leapt into the air. After a few powerful beats of her wings, she hovered several yards out from the balcony.
Aeron created a water sphere with the opening aimed into the wide doorway. Moments later, a powerful stream of water pierced the flames. He altered the barrier, rotating the stream so it struck the fire on the doorway itself, quickly extinguishing it. Small anchor adjustments slowly moved the water sphere just inside the room. Again, he changed the direction of the stream, pointing it directly up to the ceiling. He started to rotate it around.
Can you rotate the stream very quickly in that circle? It would create a wall of water that you could move forward. It would put out any flames as it passed by them.
Aeron grunted. You are a genius, dear-heart.
It was actually pretty cumbersome to do the barrier rotation, and because of that, he wasn’t sure he could rotate it very quickly. But what about a sort of . . . ‘helper’ spell? In the same way an enchantment to create the spigot hole in the barrier was layered onto the barrier spell, could he add one in to handle the rotation of the barrier?
It took him a bit, geometry made his head hurt, but he came up with a relatively simple enchantment that he could toggle on and off to whip the barrier around in a circle.
He wove the new enchantment in and watched the barrier spell’s vibrating bands of color shift and adjust as they took a slightly new form around the addition.
Cross your . . . claws, I guess?
Anaya’s chuckle vibrated his thighs. It looked correct. It should work.
He activated the sub-spell and the barrier sphere spun much faster than he could have hoped to do so himself.
It was kind of pretty. It looked something like a throbbing, pulsing flower with petals of water.
Anaya barked. Well done!
Aeron smiled and began slowly moving it farther into the room. After a few yards, however, it stood at the edge of what he could see inside. He would not be able to move it deeper into the room.
He eyed the balcony. I’m going in.
Is that safe?
I can’t direct the water sphere if I can’t see it. Besides, the balcony should be fine. I’m guessing that explosion you heard was the start of it, so the fire hasn’t burned for very long. On top of that, it was the doorway and room inside that were burning, not the balcony. I’ll levitate myself to it, but I’ll stand ready in case it collapses.
Worry came through the link.
There is another narrow balcony just below that one. Even should the balcony collapse and I am somehow unable to re-levitate myself, I won’t fall far.
Fine. Close the water sphere in the interim.
He grunted. Good idea.
Not wanting to tempt Ulthis’s dice, once he set down on the balcony, Aeron quickly entered the room.
Water dripped on him from the ceiling. The room was soaked out to where he’d ended the water sphere. Beyond that point, flames licked along the floor and from a pile of wreckage near the door.
He opened the small water sphere and directed its stream over the remaining fires in the room.
As he was putting the bigger ones out, he noticed small flames licking up now and again from a few torn pipes on the back wall to the right of the door. After dealing with the other fires, he directed the powerful stream of water down each pipe for a few seconds, then ended the portal.
The room is free of flames, now.
Good.
Aeron stared at the torn and twisted ends of the metal air ducts. The accelerant must have been sent down them into the building. And that wreckage must be the air circulator. When he’d said he disabled the device, Qu—
“Quillan!” The voice had come from outside the door.
Aeron hurried over and looked out. “Master Gella?”
What is wrong?
Nothing. Master Gella showed up and surprised me.
The master investigator stood on the other side of a patch of fire that blocked the hallway just out
side the room. “Aeron, is Quillan alright? When I heard the explosion . . .”
“He’s down in the plaza. It looks like he was injured, but Chanté and Master Doronal are looking after him.”
“In the plaza? How did—” She shook her head. “If he’s alright, then I need to get back to helping the staff and the High Lady’s agents get people out of here before the fire engulfs the entire theater.” She turned to head back down the hallway.
“Hang on, I’ll come with you to put out any fires you come across.”
Brows drawn together, she looked at him across the flames. “Put out—?”
He used the water sphere to soak the hallway, extinguishing the last of the fire from the mechanical room. He then closed the tiny portal.
She eyed him and grunted.
“Earlier tonight, a couple of dragonlinked came up with the idea for the water sphere to help the fire brigades.”
“I see. Well, let’s see if we can’t put it to use in here.” She turned and hurried down the hallway.
Aeron quickly followed. I’m going with her to put out any fires we come across.
I will wait on the roof in case you need me, then. But be careful!
I will, dear-heart.
Aeron pressed the activation stud on the mouthpiece. “I’ve met up with Master Gella. I’m going to assist her by putting out fires in here.”
“Noted. Let me know how things progress. And be careful, Aeron.” The Guildmaster sounded a little worried.
“Yes, ma’am. I will.” He pressed the stud again, deactivating transmission, and entered the elevator Master Gella had ducked into.
Less than two minutes later, a happy-sounding ‘ding’ preceded the elevator doors opening.
Master Gella stepped out and turned to the right. Her face was lit up in red. “Barbs and blades! I wasn’t even gone for that long!”
Aeron looked out. Flames filled a door at the end of the hallway. He quickly followed as she ran toward it.
She frowned. “Those flames bar our way.”
“No worries.” Aeron wove the water sphere and got to work, spraying water at the base of the flames and working it around.
The door now flame-free, he re-positioned the sphere to douse the remaining fire in the hallway just beyond. He pointed. “Where does that lead to?”
“The dressing rooms are farther along that way, then there’s backstage, the stage itself, and the auditorium. People should be gone from there, but I want to make certain.”
When they reached it, he saw that the fire had spread quite a bit on each end of the stage, even onto the very high walls up to the ceiling. He extinguished all the flames nearby, then worked his way across the stage itself to the other side.
“That’s a very useful spell,” Master Gella noted.
The fires taken care of, Aeron ended the water sphere for the moment and slumped a little where he stood. “And extremely tiring. I don’t know how much longer I can continue.”
“Well, have a bit of rest,” she said. “We didn’t come across anyone, so I’ll go see how the evacuation is going in the lobby.” She pointed into the auditorium, to doors up beyond all the rows of seats. “Meet me out there when you’re ready.”
“Alright.” He sat on the stage and watched her take stairs at stage right to the aisle at the side of the auditorium.
He looked around the huge room. It looked pretty fancy. Well, what wasn’t burned. It was quiet in here, too. He could even hear the dripping of water from various places he’d shot it.
Pissing blades, but he was tired. He lay back, arms spread, and to hells with the water he lay in.
The water sphere was an incredible idea, was fantastic for putting out fires, but damned if it wasn’t exhausting when used a great deal. Which only made sense, he supposed. It used a portal, after all.
“The High Lady is off in her secure carriage. Coatl and I are going to fly escort.”
Aeron grunted. The High Lady was safe, at least, and Fillion and Coatl were going to make sure nothing else happened to her while she made her escape.
Where was she escaping to, though? And what of the rest of the people in here? Would they escape? Not if the place burned down, that was certain.
Aeron took a breath and let it out. Enough resting. More fire . . . putting . . . outing.
With a groan, he got to his feet and made his way stage right.
When I’m done in here, I want to take a very long nap curled up in your forelegs, dear-heart.
I will cancel my prior engagements.
Aeron chuckled and jumped down into the auditorium. He headed up an aisle to a door at the back.
There was a relatively narrow but very wide area outside the auditorium. He’d exited into one end of the rectangular entry area. On the long side opposite the auditorium were several doors, four pairs in a cluster in the middle, which must lead to the actual lobby. There were doors along the wall behind, pairs at locations that appeared to correspond to the aisles inside, and at the far end of the entry area was a doorway, perhaps leading to the exits along the auditorium’s far side. There was a doorway on this side of the area just like it.
He started to jog to the lobby when flickering light in the far doorway caught his eye. Fire! He turned and looked into the near doorway. There was fire there, too.
Pissing blades! Which one should he—
What is wrong?
There are more fires in here than I thought.
Do you need help?
I . . . don’t know. Let me see what I can do. I’ll shout if I need help.
Do not try to do everything yourself.
I won’t, dear-heart.
He hurried to the near doorway and opened a water sphere.
It was as he thought. This short hallway ended a few feet ahead and turned right, whereupon it angled downward along this side of the auditorium. As far down as he could see, the passage was engulfed in flames.
Barbs and blades. He’d not seen one damn hint of this from inside the auditorium. If he’d have known, he’d not have sat on his ass for so long.
Jaws clenched, he moved the barrier sphere along, aiming the jet of water first at the floor, then angling it up to the ceiling. The heat, steam, and smoke made breathing a bit difficult in the confined space. And, too, the lower part of the angled hallway lay ahead, and thus the heat and smoke and fumes rose from down there up toward him.
A loud groaning, creaking sound came from somewhere within the burning hallway before him, and part of the ceiling collapsed, throwing flaming debris and embers around.
Shit! He raised his arms in front of his face to protect it from the smoke and sparks blowing up toward him.
Aeron?
I’m alright.
Time to try the spinning enchantment again. He wove the spell in and activated it, moving the whirling sphere along the angled hallway.
This was definitely better. Even though it was a little trickier to move the sphere at a decline to match the angle of the descending hallway, this method was much faster at putting out the flames than doing it onesie-twosie.
He stopped a few feet before the collapsed portion of ceiling but continued moving the water sphere to the bottom.
He had to put a glow on his shoulder after the last flames were extinguished. All the light fixtures in this hallway had been destroyed. He didn’t have time to think much on that, however. The other side was still in flames. He turned and headed back up.
The dripping of water and the creaking of wood and metal and stone accompanied him as he ran. He had to cough a few times to get rid of the tickle in his lungs from all he’d breathed on the way down.
When he rounded the corner, his eyes widened. The entire entry area just outside the auditorium was aflame.
He activated the spinning sphere and moved it through the fire.
We need to get the people out of here, and soon. The fire is spreading very fast.
Are you safe? I see a great deal of heat in many spots
in the building.
I am for now, but as you can see, the fire is everywhere. Are people leaving the theater yet?
I will go find out.
He continued to extinguish the flames. The spinning sphere, the flower of water, made things go fairly quickly. He was halfway through the entry area on the way to the other side, when a loud rumbling sound came from above. It ended with heavy thumps and the ceiling shaking, which sent shivers through the flames that still licked across it ahead of him.
Aeron crouched and looked around, prepared to dodge.
Had something collapsed in the room above? Pissing blades, but this fire would not be held back for too much longer. While he could hold it at bay here, flames were still spreading through the building in rooms and hallways he could not see. At the very least, he needed to ensure he had a clear path to the lobby. Hopefully, Master Gella was almost done evacuating everyone.
He drew his brows together as he moved to extinguish the other half of the area. Would she come find him to tell him they were done?
+ + + + +
Renny stared at the scene in the courtyard where Uchu had flown them.
Shall I land?
He blinked. Sorry. Yes, please.
They set down near the middle of the courtyard in front of the theater. Hunter and Chuki landed next to them. He spied Nantli and Chanté a bit closer to the theater. The odd-looking boy was kneeling next to someone on the ground, was hunched over them. Master Doronal watched whatever it was Chanté was doing.
Aside from a clear area around those three, a great deal of people milled around the plaza, and a few new arrivals made their way in through the gate from the street. Crowds had gathered at the other fires they’d been at, but whether these arrivals were drawn by the smoke and fire or by the commotion, he wasn’t sure.
It seemed as if dragonlinked and their dragons were trying to get people to move away from the doors of the theater, but a group of people up there, faces twisted in anger, didn’t look like they would leave.
Renny grabbed his bo, dismounted, and started to walk toward the steps. He should to try to help.
There are s–so many humans here, and some are angry.
He turned to the green dragon. “Don’t you worry, Uchu. I’m here.”
Of Gods, Trees, and a Sapling: Dragonlinked Chronicles Volume 4 Page 95
