by Matt Ryan
Blood trickled from Manny’s nose. He didn’t speak.
“Very impressive. But, you do know how all this works, right? I’ll ask you again, what’s keeping this up?”
“There’s a stone,” Manny said quickly. “In the cave of Lost Souls. It’s what protects us. It is the most valuable thing we have here.”
“A stone? You sure?”
“Yes, it’s been here since after the Great War,” Manny said. “I am the keeper of that stone, and I have given my oath to protect it.”
“And you’ve done one heck of a job at that, Manny. I want you to go ahead and take me to the stone.”
Manny grumbled out what appeared to be, “No.”
Leo stood up. “Did you just tell me no? I should kill you, then go around this whole village until I find someone else that knows of this cave. But only three people have ever been able to resist a compulsion stone, so I must say I’m impressed.”
Manny collapsed onto the table, blood trickling from his nose and mouth.
“Oh, please.” Leo sighed and plucked a new stone out from a sack and placed it on Manny’s forehead. I couldn’t quite tell what it was from our angle, but in a few seconds, Manny jumped awake and looked around the room.
“You think you’re the first person to pass out on me?” Leo said. “The queen doesn’t like secrets, especially in a place like this.”
Manny glanced directly at me, then looked Leo.
Leo glanced at the mirror hanging in the small bedroom, then back to Manny.
“I’m cheating on my wife.”
“You think I care about your depravities? There is a reason the queen sent me here. Is there someone here the queen would want?” Leo said. “Why do you keep looking at that mirror?” Leo got up from his chair and walked toward it.
Jackie was all but shaking next to me. I wasn’t sure how she was keeping so quiet, but I could feel her body tremble against mine. I glanced back at Jin, who seemed resigned to hang out in the back of the pantry.
Leo reached into his sack and pulled out a yellowish stone with white flakes over it. He touched the stone to the mirror and pulled it back. Nothing happened.
He shrugged, then said, “What are you hiding back there? Show me.”
Manny got up from the table and walked to the bookcase, carrying a stone.
Jackie and Mark were on either side of my face, whispering to me. “The second he opens that door, I’ll take lead and hit him with the freeze stone,” Jackie said.
“I’ll back you up, and hit him with this other stone,” Mark said.
“Let me in, now,” Leo ordered.
Manny pulled the bookcase away from the wall, revealing the door. Then he used his stone on the door, and it swung open.
Chapter Eight
As the door opened, Mark and Jackie held me behind them. Manny appeared in the doorway first. Then I saw the black outfit of Leo emerging as the door swung open. His long, bright blond hair reached his shoulder blades, but didn’t hide the expression of shock. His eyes went wider than expected as Jackie thrust a stone into his throat. Leo went stiff as a board and fell to the floor.
Mark pounced and kicked the stone out of Leo’s hand, before taking the stone pouches off his hip. Next, he checked his pockets. “He’s clear,” he called.
Jin and I walked out of the room, and I stayed clear of Leo. “Jin, you got anything to help Manny?” I asked.
“I don’t think anything can stop that stone, but the passage of time. It shouldn’t be long now, though.”
“Manny, go to the table and sit down. Do not take orders from anybody else but me,” I said.
Manny obeyed without issue. Once at the table, he sat so still, I wondered if he had turned into a statue. Then I saw him blink.
“You son of a bitch!” Jackie screeched, kicking the side of Leo. “You know how long I’ve been searching for you? What’s that? I can’t hear you. Cat got your tongue?” Jackie kicked him again. Not hard, but enough that it might leave a bruise.
“What do we do with him?” Jin asked. “That’s one of the fingers of the queen. If he goes missing, she will come to find him.”
“Who knows what the queen will do,” Jackie said. “People could go missing for years before she might notice. All she cares about is collecting souls,” Jackie said, then knelt down to Leo.
Mark kept himself between me and Leo, and still held a stone in his hand, as if Leo might pop up and attack.
“Try to say something,” Jackie said and leaned close.
Leo spit in her face. Jackie, revolted, stood up and wiped her face. She pulled out a red and black stone and raised her hand.
“No, Jackie,” I said.
Jackie glared at me and seem to be considering whether or not to do it. She let out a huff and lowered her arm, taking a step back from Leo.
“He’s useful alive,” Mark said.
“You guys have no idea what this man has done.” She spit on him.
“Feel it wearing off. I can move my mouth,” Leo said.
“Let’s get him before it’s too late,” Jackie said.
“So, the daughter has returned. Most intriguing to find her here. And you, Jackie, I’ve missed you. It wasn’t too long ago we were together. I still think of those times now and again.” Leo laughed at this.
“We need something to keep him down,” Jackie said.
“I have a stone that may work,” Jin offered. “This stone is like an epidural; a localized anesthesia placed on his back. You will have him paralyzed for over several hours.”
“His arms, neck, and legs won’t work?” Jackie asked.
“No, but he will run the risk of stomach fluids building up. Can be dangerous,” Jin said.
Jackie went over to Jin. “Just give me the stone.” Grabbing it, she pushed Leo up to a sitting position and pulled his shirt down and gasped. “What the hell is this?”
From across the room, I could see it as well. Just below his neck was a stone stuck in his body. It was made up of a milky blackness, like from my dream.
“It keeps me and the queen connected,” Leo said. “Of course, not in this place.”
“What do you mean connected?”
“Just means when I’m outside of this bubble, she can direct me and tell me what to do. Communications are instant, but it also imbues me with special powers and strengths. Oh, look at that. I’m starting to get movement back in my fingers.”
Jackie took the stone and pressed it against the back of Leo’s neck. She pushed Leo and he hit his head on the ground hard.
“What’s your plan for him?” Mark said. “Because we can’t let him leave this place. The second he can, he will tell the queen that Allie is back. She could be searching for her right now, for all we know.”
“How long should it last, Jin?” Jackie asked.
“A few hours. Five, tops.”
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of what I’m thinking you’re thinking,” I said.
“Allie, I seriously doubt you know what I’m thinking right now.”
“Fine, I’ll say it then,” Mark said. “Even though it sickens me to say it, out best action here is to get Manny to give us the stone. Then we could be bubbled and free to move around the world.”
I hated to admit it, but I was thinking the same thing as Mark. But from the looks of it, Jackie had been thinking of something entirely different, as her face brightened up with excitement at the suggestion from Mark.
“That’s smart, and way better than me doing terrible things to Leo for as long as I can.”
“And don’t forget the reason why we’re here,” Jin piped up.
I nodded and understood exactly what he wanted. We needed to make the stone. And not just one. If we were taking the dome from Manny, we could at least leave behind a second stone.
“Manny, I want you to pick up Leo,” I said.
He hefted Leo over his shoulder and stood there, waiting for further instruction.
“Manny, when we go ou
tside, I want you to be nice to everybody, and tell them everything is okay. Then I want you to take us directly to this flower.”
Manny adjusted Leo on his shoulder and nodded. “Leo is a bit heavy, but I’ll manage.”
We exited the house and walked to the road between the houses. Many people stood on their front porches, or mingled out on the road itself. All were looking in our direction, though. If not just wavering glances, but outright staring.
The curiosity of why Manny would be carrying one of the fingers of the queen probably dawned on them. The fear that retaliation would be on its way was probably weighing heavily on their minds.
I tried to give them a smile to show everything was okay. “Manny, reassure your people everything is okay,” I said.
“It’s okay, folks. We’ve taken care of him and Allie has to be taken somewhere. Just go back to what you’re doing and everything is going to be okay,” Manny said.
This didn’t seem to calm anybody down and they all glared. Some had stones in their hands. Manny kept a good pace though, and kept waving with his free hand as best he could.
Once we were outside of the village, Manny went down a small path that led down to a stream. I was amazed at how well he could handle Leo. He must have been much stronger than he appeared to be. The compulsion stone could give you the strength though, or the ability to do the unfeasible.
Such a horrible stone. I felt gross to be using it on someone else.
Manny led us down the path following alongside the creek, until he reached a cave opening in a rocky wall. The black rocks glistened as a few rays of sunshine made its way through the tree canopy.
“Just in here. Not too far now,” Manny carried Leo down into the cave.
I paused at the entrance, looking into the blackness.
“I’ll stay here and stand guard,” Jin said.
“Oh no, don’t you even think that you’ve grown into our good graces yet,” Jackie said.
“So, you’re saying there’s a chance?”
She smiled and shook her head. “You’re coming in here with us.”
We all went into the cave and Jackie and Jin pulled out their cell phones to use as light. It was so dark, I couldn’t even see Manny anymore. I thought about calling out his name. There was something creepy about this place. I was afraid if I called out to him, something other than Manny might answer back.
We caught up to him at the entrance to a room in the cave. Coming to a stop, we could see that right in the center stood a flower with white petals and a white stem protruding from the cave floor. It rose several feet into the damp air.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “Is this the flower, Manny?”
“Yes, this is the one we were talking about.”
“And what about the stone shielding the village? Where is it?
Manny struggled with this question as he stared at the flower.
“Manny, where is it?” I asked again.
“Under that flower,” he said. “It grows from that stone. The stone is buried beneath it. When we cut this flower, it will take about ten years for it to grow like this again.”
“Manny, were you ever going to take us down here?” I asked.
“No, it is forbidden for ones like you to take this.”
I hated feeling like the bad guy. This wasn’t me, using manipulation to get what I wanted. It felt wrong. The thing was, we had to. If I didn’t take the stone below the flower, or take this flower to make the breaker stones, then Manny’s people would never have peace. That’s how I had to look at it.
In time, I hoped Manny would learn to forgive us for what we had done.
“Manny, I’m going to take the flower and the stone. I will bring the stone back once we’ve completed our tasks. This, I promise you.”
“Thank you,” Manny said.
“What about me?” Leo asked as he hung upside down on Manny’s back. “All the blood’s rushed to my head and it feels as if my head’s going to explode.”
“Manny, put him down. Gently, please.”
Manny sat Leo down on the dirt next to the flower. Leo turned his head and gazed at it. “The queen will want both stones, I assure you.”
“What the hell are we going to do with you, Leo?” Jackie said. “As much as it sickens me to be around him, I don’t want to kill him.”
“It might be best to kill him,” Mark suggested.
“Mark!” I said, aghast. “We’re not in the business of killing people.”
“But they’re in the business of killing us. The queen is going around, killing all alchemists in her way. And I see Leo as a grave danger to you personally. He’s seen you. He knows you. He knows who you are. We keep Leo around, and eventually, he’s going to escape.”
“Suspended animation stone?” Jackie asked.
I liked the idea of using a suspended animation stone, but it did seem like an impossible thing to do.
After more debate, we decided to keep Leo alive, and also tell Manny a few words to make sure he forgot everything he saw here. We weren’t sure how well the compulsion was working, so I gave him some parting words.
“Go back to your life and forget everything you’ve seen here. Go back to being a normal person, or whatever normal was for you before we came here. Oh, and stop being a pervert.”
“Of course. Anything for you.” Manny bowed and stepped back.
I went to the base of the flower with Mark and dug around the loose, sandy earth. Jackie held onto the stem. It didn’t take me long to reach down and feel the stone with my gloved hand, then Mark cleared the dirt around it. Gently, we raised the flower up and unrooted it.
Something told me to leave it as is, that the flower and the stone were one in the same. So, we wrapped the flower and stone up together.
“Where are we going next?” I asked.
“This is but the first part of our journey,” Jin said. “The next part takes us to Italy. I can take you there now, since we have the protection stone.”
“You can’t take that stone,” Manny said. He struggled with the words, but they were clear enough.
“Crap, the compulsion stone is wearing off,” Jackie said, and Leo laughed at this.
“Put it back now!” Manny demanded. This time clearer, concise, and with a shaky hand reaching to his side.
“We need to go now,” Jackie said.
We took Leo’s limp hand and put it next to the stone.
“You guys know the Porta de Alchemica in Italy, right?” Jin asked.
“Yeah, we know that well,” Jackie answered for all of us.
“Great. Jackie, you take Leo, and I’ll take Mark and Allie,” Jin said.
“You want me to control the stone?” Jackie asked.
Manny staggered across the floor and began to scream. Mark held onto the stone and the flower and extended his hand out to Jin. I checked with Jackie and she was doing the same with Leo’s. Then the stone struck my hand. Jin was taking control and the world shifted to the milky world between spaces.
Chapter Nine
My feet landed on soft grass, and I looked around at the familiar setting. It seemed like only days ago that I’d been there. Mark was standing next to me, holding the flower stone, and Jin was on the other side of me. I looked around for Jackie and Leo. They popped into existence about twenty feet closer to the portal stone door. Jackie was kneeling next to Leo, holding his hand.
“Help me with him,” Jackie said.
We all walked over and gathered around Leo and picked him up. He was limp all around, with no functions beyond his head and neck. Mark and Jin ended up on either side of Leo and held him like a drunken friend that’d had way too many. At least it was at night. Just some Americans and some weirdly dressed guy we’re carrying home.
“There could be alchemists anywhere around here,” Jackie said.
I looked around and didn’t see anyone suspicious, save for a few cars that were driving down the street. A couple of people walked down the sidewalk, but n
o one was in the park. No one was giving us a second look either.
“Where are we going, Jin?” I asked.
“I know a guy not too far from here. He’ll have all the stuff we need to make the stone, and then some.”
We continued to drag Leo through the park, and Jackie and I kept a sharp eye out for any people that might give us trouble. After a few blocks and a couple of turns, Jin pointed across the street to the door of a building on the corner. It was a green door, and the circle window on it was stained glass. To the casual observer, it might appear to be a window with a religious display; but as an alchemist, I knew it was a life circle.
We jogged across the street and went to the door. Jackie took Jin’s spot and held onto Leo.
“You guys are so stupid,” Leo said. Or at least that’s what I thought he said. It came out more mumbled and garbled. “She’s going to come after me, it’s only a matter of time.”
“Cathy might find you, eventually. But it’ll be just bits and pieces spread across the world,” Jackie said.
“Sure,” Leo said, unbelieving.
“Listen, this guy is a bit jittery so don’t tell him who you are, okay?” Jin said as he eyeballed me.
When I nodded my understanding, he tapped on the door a few times—hard knocks in rapid succession. Then he stepped back, as if waiting for something to happen. About thirty seconds went by and the door opened. A man stepped through the threshold. He had black hair and a thick mustache. Not a single finger was missing a ring, and he had multiple gold necklaces around his fleshy neck.
“Jin, is that you? I wasn’t expecting to see you—” The man stopped in his tracks as he gazed upon Leo.
“Hey, Pauly, looking to be an accessory to the kidnapping of one of the queen’s fingers?” Leo said.
Pauly’s eyes had been big before, but now they were the size of softballs. He staggered backward, as if trying to flee the situation. Jin moved forward and pushed Pauly with one hand, while motioning for us to follow him inside.
“No, no, you can’t bring him in here. The queen will be here any second. If she knows what’s going on, she’ll kill all of us. Are you guys crazy?”
