by K. G. Wilkie
Aeron ignored their talk to focus on the others in the room. "I will have to plan some strategy for all of this, and, in the meantime, I have to make sure all of my dependents are kept safe. That means," he spoke directly to Cillean, "I will have to have the girl's guard brought here, along with a few backups to make sure she does not mysteriously go missing again," he frowned at the thought. "Obviously, I will also have to send for some guards to serve as a backup escort for you all. I trust that your man will not interfere with my people's visit?"
Cillean and Daerick exchanged looks while Layel shifted nervously in his seat. The vampire king sighed. "I realize it's necessary, so I think I will have to allow that, but I must mention that this is, technically, still our people's safe house. I'm afraid we're going to have to blind them," he said.
"That's fine," Aeron responded.
"I really think you shouldn't dismiss this Aeron! Alyss is in danger," Darien insisted.
"Yes, I got that when you said it earlier," he responded testily. "People in a position of authority have to worry about all the people under their power and not just the people they care about, though," Aeron said. "I can't say that I think having you around could help with that problem in any way, though. Your judgment may be clouded by your affection."
"Of course I have a personal interest in her wellbeing, but it would also be a bummer for you that she's going to be killed. If, however, you think that you'd like to keep her safe, I know enough about my people that I could help you stop their rebellion," Darien wheedled.
"I will consider your offer. First, I need to make sure that she is safe," he snarled. "Cillean, be sure to look out for Jackie as well. I'll send my orders for all of you once I've got her secured," he added. His transport spell consumed him in his usual black fire.
CHAPTER FOUR
Spirited Away
The black fire slowly dissipated to reveal Aeron stepped onto a leaf-littered path. He started pacing.
The girl was at risk; that was for certain. He had hunted her for so long out of an affection and friendship they'd once shared. Others had hunted her because of who she was, and what she was. To the rest of the world she was a pawn, a very powerful and useful pawn. He knew what happened to useful people. They were either held and kept as prisoners by jail keepers who were lax on their welfare and didn't take good care of them; or, even worse, she might be kept by more aggressive peoples and used to extract information about her kind and all of the rulers of the land from her, not knowing that she remembered less than nothing of who and what she was before.
He didn't really know how he could keep track of Alyss, how he could keep her safe. He had searched for her for all this time, spent so much of his resources hunting her down, gone against the wishes and rulings of his father and her parents, but he had done it anyway at great cost to himself and to his career. Now he stood there just simply worrying over her. What else could he do? He didn't know what exactly he could do at this point to keep her safe.
No, his experience had all been in getting her found. He had no clue how to keep her found, how to keep her safe in a world full of lunatics. Would she be safest here, on the Original, where the Mundane humans peacefully went through their days and lives and never had to worry about magic disasters? But that was no good, because the wizards planned to ruin the safety of this world, destroy the lives of these very same Mundanes.
Would it be best to leave her in this human-run world anyways that was so famous for murders and thefts? His world was no different; no world was perfect, but still he at least had power in his own realm. Power could help him keep those he cared about safe. Here in the human world he was just a nobody, even less than a nobody. He was viewed as an insignificant young person here. What good would it do to keep Alyss here?
But then what would be gained from taking her away? Sure, he had power in his home world. But it was an unsteady power, his stability and strength were being threatened by the rebels and by the disloyal followers of his brother all the time.
It was a hard choice to make--A decision split between the world he knew, and the world he didn't, and the problems of them both. He sighed and set up a locator spell to track where the girl was. In the end with such a choice, it was clear the only option was to keep her safe the only way he had any experience in the matter, and hope she wouldn't loathe him forever for doing his best to care for her.
The spell whizzed about the town and checked every inhabitant before it finally zeroed in on its goal. Once it had found her, it scryed the image to its master so they both had a clear visual on the target.
Alyss was at the front of the school yard talking to her teacher, Mr. Yates. He'd obviously noticed he'd had a few missing pupils. Jackie had now been out of school for more than a week, as well as Aeron. Darien hadn't been seen for several days. Alyss was the only person who regularly spent most of her time with all of the missing students, but she was as much at a lost as to their whereabouts as the teacher was. When she told him as much, of course, he became very upset. She wasn't sure if it was out of concern for the wellbeing of his students or merely because he thought she was hiding that they'd all gone on a joyride to Vegas together or some other silly adventure, but it did no good trying to tell him she honestly knew nothing about the situation. The crowd of students slowly filed out of the school until the campus was empty. She started to get antsy about how long she'd been kept after. Finally Yates seemed to realize all of the students had gone home before them and he consented to let her leave as well. He left her with a stern reminder to give the missing students a stern talking to if she knew where they were, or to call the police as soon as she got home if she still hadn't heard or seen from her brother after so many days. She started walking away from him. She was eager to leave before he could think up something else to say and hold her there longer, but she also had a weird feeling of being watched somehow and she was eager to leave.
The tracker followed all of her movements from its spot resting on the roof of the closest building. It reported that at first she stood in place, talking to someone out of view, and it soon revealed she was walking away from the school. The tracker followed her along the way, and she kept twitching at the feeling of eyes on her back.
He sent out another spell that solidified into the form of a shadowy green spirit dog that soon took to casting about on the streets. The creature ran as quickly as the wind and could gather scents more accurately than a pack of bloodhounds combined, so he was sure it would be able to guide him in the right direction. He followed the path she took every day to get to and from school, and she caught several glimpses of the moose-sized canine around corners. She pinched her arm the first time she saw him. The second time she saw him, she slapped her face to try to bring herself back to her senses. She kept seeing him again and again around the city no matter how hard she tried to wake up, though, so eventually she started to just run faster to home, as the creature seemed to be following behind her.
Soon it barked to let him know it was finished. He crouched low to give the creature a friendly pat on the head and followed it to the point on the other end of the park. The spirit dog started pawing at a spot on the ground, then walked back and forth on a small loop of forest trail that led from the neighborhood to dip briefly into the trees and then emptied out in front of houses. "This is the route she takes each day, you are certain," he asked. The creature looked at him with drooped ears. He laughed and tousled them. I do not mean to doubt your abilities, Wengyar, I just want to double check. This is very important to get right, you know.
The canine tossed its head and panted at him. The message was clear--this was the best spot, the right spot, the only spot for the job. He gave the creature a pet and it returned a lick to him, once more giving a doggy grin and, obviously, very happy to be helping his master. He gave it a last hug around its ruff before sending it away to return to the spirit realm he had summoned it from.
The spot his friend had chosen for him was poorly kep
t up and lined with mud, thanks to the melted snow left after unseasonably warm weather they'd had that week that was in the high sixties. It looked more like an animal track than a proper path like the other ones in the park that were paved in asphalt, but he supposed it would make sense for a shortcut made by people passing through to not have been planned and maintained by the park authority like the official ones were.
He was inching his way around a poorly maintained corner that seemed to have a cheerful mosquito and mud population. He suddenly stood still, his body twinging in anticipation. He held himself as a dog on point, then he started to mumble to himself. One quarter of a mile, approximately fifteen minutes, this point here, surprise tactics, drop maneuver b. "Yes, that'll do." His muscles bunched, and he shot up seventy feet into the air, far overshooting any nearby trees. There was the faintest sound of ripping fabric, and two fiery red wings burst from his back, twirling in the air in a quick figure eight, certain no one would see him, as camouflage came naturally to his body and didn't even require the effort of making a spell and he was unlikely to cause any commotion this way. Some more airborne acrobatics were done. He had time to kill until she came close to his target point, and in the meantime he'd missed flying and enjoying the rush it gave him. It was as good an excuse as any to play.
Then she could be seen coming closer, a mere mile away now, and he knew it was time to get serious once more. He coasted, lazily drifting down in altitude until he was only twenty feet from the ground, landing on a sturdy branch that was partially obscured by leafy branches and some diligent squirrel's dray.
She walked along that same path, cutting through the trees. Something was wrong here, everything was wrong here, and she didn't like it. It had been fun to be in this place at the beginning, but the appeal of good health and making friends had long since been soured. Mr. Yates had asked good questions. Where had everyone gone? Jackie had disappeared in the middle of a party. Aeron had been gone for a while, and good riddance, but then her brother had disappeared shortly after him.
Was that Aeron's fault? She knew the two of them didn't really get along. They were always fighting with each other. What could any decent person dislike about her kind and friendly Darien? He was such a nice guy. It was already a major warning sign that the jerk disliked him. And now that everyone went missing at about the same time it sure looked suspicious. In fact, not long before Jackie had disappeared, she'd been so sneaky warning her about the dangers of that jerk. Had he gotten rid of her for daring to go against him? Had he gotten rid of her brother for the same reason?
Jackie had told her that almost fling Warren was bad news. What if there were other guys like him, guys who didn't spend most of their time as playboys, but instead focused on getting up to trouble? Aeron had acted like he was the leader of a creepy cult. It wouldn't surprise her if in real life it turned out he was the head of a gang or the mafia or something. She wasn't willing to rule out any terrible possibility when it came to a jerk like that.
All of this was insane here. What happened to the friendly and peaceful image people always had of the Midwest? What kind of so-called sleepy, small town had gangs that went around kidnapping people's brothers? She wanted to go back to Florida, and who cared about being sick when there were dangerous psychos running free through the city? What kind of place gave the criminals all the power? It was like the Medieval Ages, a country ruled by whoever had the most strength and battle skill. It seemed it wasn`t just that Aeron jerk either. In fact, there seemed to be a few gang bosses. Maybe even my brother, he seemed to be getting into fights and stirring up trouble too, she thought. But she hastily waved that possibility away. How could he be involved in anything creepy after being here for only a few weeks? No one else could be safe though. Everyone seemed to be a gang leader, a subordinate. In this new school, this new state, it was mob rule. It was scary. Even more importantly, it was dangerous, and she didn't like it. Who would? Maybe being unhealthy in Florida was better than this anarchy," she thought. She toyed with the idea, looking at it from different angles, but it seemed to be inarguable logic. It seemed safer, and better. Smarter even. Maybe, after this, it would be best if she went through the hassle of getting them moved again. Florida wasn't the only option, after all; she could go somewhere new. Maybe a different country, Canada might be a good place to live. Mind made up, she set through the trees, thinking her thoughts.
The sun slipped in the sky the briefest of increments, and the crouching man tensed up. There was the faint sound of whistling in the distance, steadily growing stronger. And then she was walking directly under his tree, the flash of her hair catching his attention. He shook his head, shaking off the distraction. He leaped down, landing in an animalistic crouch. He quickly leaped forward so that he stood directly behind her, and he pulled the back of her shirt up, revealing twin birthmarks on her shoulder blades. The faint outline of slits, and a small pattern that seemed to be unfurled wings beside them. Ignoring her protests, he now pulled her shirt back down for her and swung her around. The familiar black fire with shining white specks rose around them, and they were standing in the middle of a deserted field.
"Hello, there," he said with a smile, the words mellow and friendly.
She looked wildly around the meadow in alarm. "Where--, what--, huh?"
He smiled with more confidence. "Precisely. That`s what will be happening to you." A ball of clear fire with the faintest of blue outlines bloomed around his palm, and he blew the substance at her. It clung and grew, becoming a giant bubble with the faintest iridescent green sheen gracing the surface. Slowly the bubble rose in the air, its ascent halted when it hovered a few feet above the ground. She frantically pushed and pulled at the clear substance, trying to claw or bite a hole through it in desperation.
"Ah, do you have claustrophobia? Or perhaps cleisiophobia? That's the fear of imprisonment, you know," he added. She was still frantically pulling and pushing at the stuff, trying to gather it in her hands to rip it, but it always bounced back to the way it had been before she messed with it. The cries for help and pleas for freedom were surely loud, yet they were completely silenced by the thin walls of the bubble, surely the deadening effects possible only with the magical nature of the substance. With a spark of intuition she started to push at it and rocked herself and the bubble from side to side. "Even if you manage to move it to the side in some way, it will only move with you," he deadpanned.
He stood still for a moment, curiously watching as she struggled desperately. "I suppose you`ll only get more upset if I leave you like this," he said. She looked at him with shining eyes, a ray of hope piercing her heart. His fingers suddenly danced through the air, and her bubble was filled with a whirlwind of sickly green smoke. She swayed, caught in the middle of her pounding on the flexible walls, and slumped on the bottom of the bubble. Her hand weakly raked at the sides closest to her, then all was still. The dark green smoke swirled more calmly, clinging more and more definitely to the form of the sleeping girl until they became a cocoon, becoming more and more substantial as more of the smoke clung to her. The stuff held onto her even while it gained the texture and substantial feeling of cottony. The girl slept on, snuggling into her imprisoning blanket. Each exhale was punctuated by the faintest of whistles, and he smiled fondly at her slumbering form. They both were caught in the fiery black blaze of his transportation spell, and they were gone.
He transported them directly to the guest room connected to his suite in the palace. The bubble hovered in midair over the bed, its occupant safely held inside. He released the spell, it floated over the bed, and popped, so she tumbled onto the soft covers. He rolled her to the side to flip the blankets down, and then rolled her to the exposed sheet area and pulled them back up to her chin. She slept on without even a flicker of her eyelids, so he left the room.
He went to a door in the hall and opened it to reveal several women dressed in maid uniforms. He gave the closest one orders to care and provide what was needed for the gi
rl during her stay there, with an added warning to not let her leave or help her do so. The woman nodded her understanding and he returned to the guest room.
He pulled the sleep spell out from inside of her, but still it took a body time to wake up even after a magical influence was removed. He selected one of the spare chairs kept in the storage wall and brought it around so he could sit by her bed while he read his latest book. She didn't need to know everything that was going on, but he didn't know if she'd be alarmed when she woke up in a new place, so he thought it would be best to stay close by for now and be prepared to comfort her if the change had scared her.
She woke slowly, groaning as she clutched her head. Her eyes fluttered open, fluttering closed again as a ginormous yawn split her mouth wide open. She looked around and noticed she was wrapped in a fluffy, dark green blanket. In a fuzzy flash of memory unique to that state of being somewhere between slumber and wakefulness, she felt compelled to fling it away from herself. Her eyelids slowly drifted shut again, and she burrowed into the remaining innocuous white blankets and sheets. A man`s chuckle rumbled through the mattress. Wait. A man, in her bedroom? She opened her eyes with a snap, and there was Aeron, lounging in a chair on the side of what was definitely not her bed. The thought that it must be someone else's bed, maybe even his bed, made her pop up and tumble off her feet on the springy mattress until she rolled over to the other side.
"What are you...? Why are you... ," she sputtered.
He looked at her and tried to give a soothing gesture. "It's okay; it takes a bit of time for people to come back to themselves after a spelled sleep. You'll be fine in a minute. We just need to help you burn it off. Do you want to go for a jog or something to wake up your brain?"
"A jog?" She screeched. "Why the heck would you think I'd want a jog right now? What happened to me anyway, and why the heck am I in a bed with you next to me?" she demanded.
