by Simone Pond
A young girl with large violet-blue eyes tapped on my shoulder and patted the bench. “Here, Jordan. You lie here.”
“But what about you?” I murmured, in a daze.
Her beauty was mystical and ethereal, almost translucent. I felt mesmerized. Slowly, I wriggled out from under Matthias’s arm, ignoring whatever he grumbled under his breath, and lay my head down on the bench. The young girl rested her hands on my head and within seconds a deep, long-awaited sleep fell over me …
A gentle hand shook me awake. As my eyes fluttered open, a figure of radiant light stood before me. I thought I was home and that my mother, Charity Bachar, had come to wake me up from what felt like a year-long slumber.
“Mom?” I whispered into the gleaming light.
“You must go see him, then return to the left bank. From there you will lead them back home.” The voice resonated all around me like an echo chamber.
I shot up off the bench. That wasn’t my mother. Was it part of a dream? I stood there trying to piece it together. I glanced around to the others; some were still sleeping with their heads resting on each other’s shoulders. I did a head count. There were still ten of us in the cramped space. But the young girl who had helped me go to sleep wasn’t among the strangers. A familiar tingling came over me—warm shivers up and down my neck, something I’d experienced many times before, but ignored time and time again.
“You okay?” Matthias asked, rubbing his eyes. He must’ve been sleeping too.
“There was a girl,” I murmured.
“What are you talking about?” he yawned.
“Did you see that glowing light just a second ago?” I asked.
“Sit down, Temple. Before you hit your head. Or maybe you already did?” He pulled me down on the bench next to him.
“What time is it? How long was I asleep?” I asked.
“You were out for most of the day. I’d say it’s nine or ten at night. We’ve got another night of travel before we reach the next border. Must’ve been an intense dream.” He smiled, doing his best to be polite.
Another night of travel … Wonder what we were supposed to do to relieve ourselves. Also, hunger had kicked in and my stomach was grumbling something fierce. But at least I got some rest—it felt like I’d caught up on years of sleep deprivation.
A jolt rocked the boat, nearly tipping us sideways, and I fell on top of Matthias. The others dropped from their side of the boat, landing on top of us. We leveled out and scattered across the wooden beams, grasping at each other. The men on the upper deck shouted and hollered back and forth. Was it a storm? Another blast careened into the side of the boat, making a hole in the planks of wood. We were under attack.
CHAPTER 18
Water rushed in where the blast had created a hole in the side of the cargo boat.
Matthias lunged across the space, ripping off his jacket and shoving it into the hole. “Toss me whatever you can to plug this up!”
I started for the ladder to the upper deck.
“Where are you going?” he shouted.
“We’re under attack! I’ve gotta do something!”
“They can handle it. I need you down here,” he said.
Another eruption hit the boat, tipping us again.
I clung to the rungs of the ladder and dangled in the air. “Yeah, they’re doing an awesome job!”
I climbed up to the hatch and tried to pull the handle, but it was locked. I banged on the lid, calling up to the men, but nobody came around to open it. This wasn’t a promising sign.
“Do you have a key to this thing?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I jumped back down. “Why would they lock us down here?”
“For our safety,” he said. “You’re gonna have to use your magic.”
“If I blast through that hatch it could have a boomerang effect and really mess things up,” I said.
Something heavy landed on the upper deck, then boots thumped across the wooden planks.
“Looks like we’ve got company,” I said.
“You’ll have to teleport up there and take care of it.” He made it sound like this wasn’t a big deal.
I laughed. “Teleport? I don’t teleport. I have protective magic, binding powers, I can blast things, but—”
Matthias rested his hand on my shoulder. “You’re the Chosen One, Jordan. You have the magic of the Ancient One. All you have to do is call on it and believe.”
All I had to do was believe.
“So, does that mean I can teleport?”
“Let’s go, Temple. We’re running out of time. This boat’s gonna sink with us in it.”
Icy water was already sloshing around and rising fast. The boat was rocking and bouncing. Whoever was on the deck above stomped back and forth—probably a river pirate looking for booty to steal. Sorry sucker had no clue he was standing over a gold mine with this group of runaways and Mysterium’s most-wanted. I had the advantage of surprise, if I could figure out how to teleport before he found us.
I steadied myself and drew in a deep breath, trying to let what calmness I could muster settle through me. I delved within myself to call on my source of magic. The violet light flickered and sparked to life. I knew what I needed to do, but actually doing it … How was my physical body supposed to transfer through solid wood?
“Picture yourself up there,” Matthias said.
I peeked open my eyes. “What?”
“Visualize yourself on the deck. Maybe that’ll help.”
I closed my eyes again and thought about the deck, envisioning myself above. My body tingled with magic. As I concentrated, the lock on the hatch clicked and the handle turned.
“Hurry, Jordan!”
“Not helping …”
If that river pirate discovered us, that would be the end. I couldn’t let these runaways be captured again—they’d been through enough already. I had to get to the upper deck. I called on my magic with more intensity. An inferno of heat rose up through me, seeming to split apart each and every cell in my body, spraying them into the cosmos.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing on the upper deck of the cargo boat. It worked!
The largest and bulkiest man I’d ever encountered was crouched by the open hatch. He peered into the lower compartment, then slapped his knee in delight, slamming the lid back down.
“Jackpot!” he roared as he stood up.
When he stood at full height, I shrunk back against the railing. The man was a giant. Literally. The hulking creature looked to be carved out of a twenty-foot-tall boulder. He was the reason the boat was so unsteady; it dipped wherever his boot landed and rocked whenever his weight shifted. I didn’t move from my spot, fearing he’d snatch me up and toss me overboard before I had a chance to use my magic.
“Hey, fellas!” he shouted over to another ship. “Hit the motherlode!”
He caught a whiff in the breeze, then turned and rushed toward me. The giant careened into my magic shield and stumbled backwards a few yards. He got his bearings and stomped toward me again, but stopped before making the same mistake.
“Who are you, girl?” he asked.
“You’re the one who’s trespassing and pilfering. And I’m going to assume you murdered the captain.” I kept my tone bold and fearless. Command presence is what they called it in the Academy.
A low grumble rolled up the giant’s throat. “I’m not to be trifled with, girl. Now tell me who you are, and I may let you continue breathing.”
I’d been around cocky blowhards most of my life and knew the best response to this type of intimidation tactic is deflection, so I laughed. This, of course, infuriated the creature even more. He came at me again, smashing his large fist into my protective shield. That time his huge body skyrocketed across the length of the boat, nearly capsizing us when he clunked his head against one of the metal posts. He stayed down for a few moments, gathering his wits. I didn’t know anything about giants, but I assumed this fellow’s ego matched hi
s size.
Across the way, the pirate ship’s black flags with red triangular symbols rippled in the breeze. The main sail displayed an enormous depiction of the god Ashtar. I couldn’t tell how many others were on board, but the ship was large enough to hold an army.
“You might as well cooperate,” I said.
The giant grumbled again and pulled himself up. “Tell me, who are you, girl? I’ve never seen such magic.”
We kept our distance, eyeing each other. The boat wasn’t going to last much longer with water pouring in underneath. I had two options.
“This boat is sinking,” I told him. “You can either work with me or sink with the boat.”
The giant smirked and stepped forward, then the smart-ass sat on top of the hatch, trapping Matthias and the runaways in the compartment below.
“So, sink with the boat?” I said.
He folded his ginormous arms across his chest. “Tell me who you are, or we’ll all go down together.”
I chuckled. “You’re bluffing. Nobody is that spiteful or stubborn.”
The giant lifted one of his arms and motioned to the pirate ship, signaling something. A blast came hurtling toward our boat at lightning speed. It was a massive grappling hook that caught the starboard rail. They were going to reel us in and take us captive. Or at least that’s what this behemoth and his pirate buddies thought …
I reached both hands skyward to the bright star, calling for help. A beam of light poured down onto the boat, then lifted our vessel a few feet above the river’s surface. Like a comet, we shot down the River Elin, leaving the snapped-off rail and the pirates’ hook in our wake.
Matthias shouted my name from below, but I couldn’t move, speak, or breathe. My entire essence was tethered to that star.
The young girl with the violet-blue eyes reappeared before me. “Stop, Jordan. You’re safe now.”
I exhaled and lowered my arms to my sides. The boat came to an abrupt halt, landing in a mound of sand on a riverbank in the middle of nowhere. The giant was gone. I ran over to the hatch and lifted the handle.
“It’s safe. Come out,” I called down to Matthias and the others.
One by one, the runaways came out of the cramped space below and stood shivering on the upper deck. Matthias was the last one to come up. He leaned against the broken railing.
“What happened?” He rubbed his temples.
“Hard to explain.”
“We should keep going,” he said.
“Where are we?” I asked.
One of the runaways, a young boy with shaggy black hair, came forward. “We’re near the border of Lycaeon and the Madlands. Close to the trading port.”
Matthias groaned under his breath.
Lycaeon was the one place he needed to avoid. He wasn’t welcome in the city after he killed the Alpha’s lover.
“Worried about the Alpha?” I teased.
He pshawed.
I turned to the boy. “Can we walk to the trading port?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Let’s go,” I told the group. “Maybe we can find another boat there, or see if someone can take us down the river the rest of the way. We’ll find some dry clothes …” I grinned. “Don’t worry, if any Lycaeon shifters sniff you out, I’ll protect you.”
He leapt over the side of the boat onto the sand. “I don’t need protection from any damn shifters.”
I helped some of the runaways down, and the ten of us started our trek along the riverbank to the trading port. Matthias made a point of staying ahead of the pack, leaving me to bring up the rear.
Along the way, we got to know each other. The family had been roaming the lands ever since they had escaped from Pyre, where they’d been vampire slaves. That explained their low energy and thinness. The youngest of them, Abe, took a shine to me and stuck by my side. He kept glancing at the sheath in my waistband containing the silver knife Matthias had given me.
I unfastened it and handed it to him. “Here, kid.”
“Your knife?” he whispered in awe as he pulled it out of its sheath and studied the sharp silver edges.
“For protection,” I said.
“But what about you?”
I smiled and ruffled his hair. “I have my special magic.”
“Thanks, Jordan Temple. I’ll take good care of it.” He sheathed the blade. “I have magic too. Wanna see?”
“Sure.”
He stopped and picked up a white rock. He held his hand out, then closed it around the rock. “Okay. Now give me back the rock I just had, please!”
“What?” I’m not sure when or how it happened, but I opened my hand and there is was: the very same rock.
He opened his now empty hand, and I dropped the rock into it. He smiled.
“Nice one, kid.”
We trudged toward the trading port. The rustling in the trees was constant, and the distant howls of wolves and other pack animals grew more frequent. For Abe’s sake I pretended not to notice the multiple sets of glowing red eyes continuously peering at us from the forest.
CHAPTER 19
The trading port ended up being about a mile from where the cargo boat had landed on the bank. The onlookers kept hidden and hadn’t give us any trouble … yet. Either they were studying us and awaiting the right moment to strike, or they had sensed my powerful magic and figured we weren’t worth it. I wasn’t all that familiar with Lycaeon and its shifters, but not for a moment did I assume they were just curious friendlies.
“There.” Abe pointed. “Do you see it?”
In the distance, a sprinkling of lights dotted a modest harbor. Judging from the moon and stars, we guessed it was around ten o’clock. Still early enough for pubs to be open, if there were any at this sparse location. We continued walking until we reached the trading port. Several dilapidated shacks stood along the riverbank, all propped up against each other. This was where the merchants conducted their business. The hand-painted signs listed the type of goods they sold—teas, spices, and fabrics.
“Looks like nothing’s open,” I said.
“Dead,” Matthias agreed.
“Should we sneak into one of these shacks and settle for the night?”
“I don’t have a good feeling about that,” he said.
“You think we should keep walking?” I pointed to the shivering runaways. “It’s only gonna get colder. And that forest sounds like it’s getting busy.”
“They’ve been holed up in Pyre’s blood-leaching prison camps. This is paradise.”
“Paradise or not, it’s still freaking cold,” I said.
“You need to get your head in the game, Temple. We’ve gotta get to the Madlands before … so we can … uh.”
The selfish ruffian was more concerned about himself than the runaways. He was rushing to get out of Lycaeon and avoid a potential run-in with the Alpha. Incorrigible! I was about to blurt out something I’d probably regret, but Abe reached for my hand.
“I poked around and the shack over on the end has some reams of fabric,” he said. “Maybe we can use some to bundle up and keep walking?”
I gave Matthias a nasty side-eye, then patted Abe on the head. “Best idea I’ve heard all night.”
We walked down to the shack. A giant padlock hung from the front entrance. We didn’t want to make any noise trying to break the thing off. Matthias suggested teleporting, but I didn’t want to use up my resources in case of an emergency. Nor did I want to call attention to my magic for the stealthy onlookers in the forest.
“Old-fashioned way,” I said, pointing up to a window.
“You like to complicate things, don’t you?”
“Me? You’re the one—”
Abe stepped between us. “It’s getting late.”
“Fine. Come on.” Matthias leaned forward so I could climb onto his back.
I balanced on his shoulders and reached for the window sill, pulling myself up the side of the shack. Then I propped open the large window and climbed through, lan
ding on the dirt floor with a thump. The dark shack reeked of mildew, musty cloth, and dampness. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw thick reams of fabric along the walls. On a table, I found a heap of loose material strewn in a pile. The textures varied from cotton to wool. We needed the wool.
I found a sack and shoved the largest cuts of wool into it. Satisfied with the amount, I leaned a table against the wall so I could climb up and out through the window. I tossed the sack through the opening, pulled myself up and through, then came down the other side.
When I hit the ground, I rolled to the side to soften the impact of the fall … and right into a pack of snarling wolves. So, the onlookers had finally decided to introduce themselves. I scooted backwards in a crab-like crawl until Matthias yanked me up. I glanced around for Abe and the others. They were huddled together near a thicket of trees.
“Not good,” I whispered.
“Now would be a great time to use that magic of yours,” he said.
I concentrated and tried calling on it, but nothing happened. “It’s not working,” I said.
“Well, fix it.”
“It’s not something I can just fix, you—”
A low chuckle came from the trees, and a man in a black-hooded cape trimmed in sparkling gold stepped forward. He held his hands high, and at the end of each fingertip curled a dagger-like claw. He lowered his hood to reveal a face that was half-man, half-wolf. He focused on me with the most wicked of grins. Once again, I tried to thrust my magic forward, but absolutely nothing happened. The beast had bound up my powers.
“No dice,” he said with a growl. Then he targeted his gaze upon Matthias. “Welcome back.”
Matthias nudged me with a wince of defeat. So this was the Alpha of Lycaeon; the one with the broken heart and a vendetta. I assumed there’d be no chit-chat. My assumption proved correct when the beast lunged forward, grabbed Matthias by his neck, and flung him into the trees. A few of the runaways cried out and scattered.
