“Very. I can’t wait to go back.” Especially now that she knew what to do once she got there.
“You’ve learned much in a short period of time,” he said. “Feel free to visit again to ask any other questions you may have.”
Onyev got to his feet and Nicole followed suit. She turned to him, extending her hand. He looked at it curiously, then smiled, took it, and squeezed. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Nicole.”
“Same. Thank you so much for answering my questions.”
Nicole waved goodbye and left the room, passing the guards before joining Jacob at the base of the tree.
“How was it?” he asked.
She could only shake her head. Her brain was circling and spinning. So much to think about.
Jacob didn’t pry, and it wasn’t until they’d left the city that she spoke. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Chapter Two
The first two things Nicole did when she got home was grab something to eat and use the restroom. Then she quickly told Lizzie and Jacob about her visit to Onyev’s place. Their reactions were predictable—surprise, intrigue, amazement at the possibilities. She decided not to say anything about Azuriah. As Onyev said, that was the Shiengol’s secret to keep.
When she was ready, Jacob got Austin, who’d been in class during Nicole’s trip, then took them all back to Eklaron to give a report of her visit to the Fat Lady, Aldo, Dmitri, and Arien. Coolidge was unable to attend the meeting, but Austin took notes for him.
“I need to go back to Shonlin,” Nicole said once she’d finished her update. “And soon. I really wish we could find a way to get past the contraption that prevents Jacob from taking me directly to the library.”
Dmitri laughed. “There is one. Didn’t Onyev say you could find any magical item ever invented?”
She nodded, seeing where he was going with that. “Yes, and that’s a great point.”
“Whatever King Broalt put in place can be found and removed. You can find it.”
“But what should we do first?” Nicole asked. “Get the talisman or King Broalt’s object?”
The Fat Lady slapped her hand on the table, making everyone jump. “It’s easy enough to see. How long does it take to walk from Akeno’s new door to the library? Several hours. And how much time will it save to take care of that thing so we can then focus on the talismans? At least a day per talisman.”
Nicole thought that over. The Fat Lady was right. If it took a full day to walk to and from the library, and they still needed to find three more talismans, it would save several days if they found Broalt’s contraption and deactivated it as soon as possible.
“Maybe we could do both,” Aldo said.
Austin and Lizzie nodded, but Nicole shook her head. “Onyev said I won’t be able to transfer knowledge of the locations to other people. I’ll have to get them myself.”
Dmitri steepled his fingers. “Then we’ll retrieve Broalt’s contraption first. Hopefully, it’ll be quick.” He looked at Austin. “You’re competent. I want you in charge of this trip. Pick people to accompany you.”
Austin paled, making Nicole smile. She didn’t think he’d ever been in charge of an expedition before. He would do so well—she couldn’t wait.
“Are you sure?” Austin asked.
“From what Mr. Coolidge has said, you’ve got a good brain on you. Nicole will focus on where the object is, and you’ll focus on everything else.”
Austin agreed to do so and Dmitri ended the meeting.
Austin looked at Nicole. “Any preference about who should come?”
Nicole glanced around the room and lowered her voice. “Anyone but Azuriah.”
“He’s powerful, Nicole. He’d add a lot to our group.”
“I know . . . I just can’t stand being around him.” She took a breath. “But . . . I’m fine with whatever you decide—really, I am.”
Austin looked worried for a moment. “You’re sure? This isn’t one of those moments when you say you’re okay with something, but if I do that thing, it’ll mean that I don’t really care about you and you’ll have to break up with me?”
Nicole laughed. “Heavens, no. In fact, maybe we should bring him—he has more information on Edana Kingdom than we do at this point.” Plus the fact that he was a guardian too—that could only help their situation.
Austin only hesitated a moment longer. “All right, we’ll invite him. And Jacob too, obviously.”
“And Akeno,” Nicole said. “What about Coolidge?”
“Yes, of course. How about Lizzie?”
Austin and Nicole both glanced at Lizzie. She was chatting with Jacob about his girlfriend, whom Nicole still hadn’t met.
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I haven’t had the opportunity to practice with her yet.”
Austin sighed. “We’ll bring her. She needs more experience.”
He was right. Nicole still hesitated to take Lizzie on trips like this, though. “Anyone else?”
“We should be good with seven team members. We’ll have pretty much everything covered.”
Nicole agreed and Austin asked Jacob to let the others know they’d need to be ready to leave early the following morning.
***
The next morning, Jacob rounded everyone up and took them all to the outskirts of Edana kingdom, where Akeno had set up a door. Nicole still hadn’t fully adjusted to how wonderful Jacob’s key was—this whole creating-a-link-to-other-doors-in-completely-different-places thing was pretty convenient.
She was especially grateful they were able to bypass the vampire-bird area.
They reached the library right before noon and decided to set up camp and have Nicole get the contraption’s location after lunch.
Once they’d finished eating, Nicole entered the library and headed to the fifth floor.
The guard didn’t react when Nicole approached. Maybe he was getting used to her visits. She still hadn’t figured out if the creature was male or female, but decided just to think of it as a guy.
Nicole paused near the corner of the room where the lantern sat, already lit, and took a deep breath. She’d never seen the contraption and had no idea what to picture. Instead, she concentrated about the effects of the object in general and made sure her thoughts were focused on finding out where it was.
Then she picked up the lantern and entered the forest.
Instead of the usual four glowing lights, there was only one. She approached it, walking the trail carefully. The ferns brushed her legs and the fog swirled around her. As she neared the light, she sensed the presences that were always there. She made a mental note to ask Onyev about them—whether they were friendly or dangerous. They just felt creepy.
Once she’d reached the light, Nicole hesitated. Now what? It hadn’t yet shown her anything. And was this what she was supposed to do, anyway? She’d just assumed the glowing light represented the object—especially when before, there had been four glowing lights. One for each talisman. And now, there was only the single one.
Nicole swallowed, then reached out and touched the light.
Visions flashed into her mind of a glowing trail that led from her current point and headed back through the library. This must be what Onyev had been talking about. It was a complicated trail she saw in her mind—over and under branches and fallen trees and through crumbling buildings until finally, it stopped deep inside a decrepit castle.
The glowing trail started receding back on itself to Nicole, and the only point of it she could still see was the part that led from Shonlin and down to the first floor near the main door of the library.
She could no longer remember the rest.
Nicole opened her eyes, somewhat surprised to see the path physically glowing before her. But what about the rest of it? Was she not supposed to know where the contraption was located? Why had the path been given to her, then most of it taken from her just as quickly?
She was probably meant to follow what she remembered. Maybe mo
re would be fed to her once she reached the library door.
Nicole turned and exited the forest, replacing the lantern and leaving Shonlin. She rushed down the stairs where the group waited. Instead of pausing near them, however, she ignored their questions and strode to where the glowing path ended at the doors to the library.
Nicole watched as another section of path began glowing, leading to the right.
Her intuition had been correct—it would be revealed bit by bit. Thank goodness it all hadn’t been lost.
She was still frustrated, though, that the only thing she remembered from the initial vision was that the contraption was somewhere near a castle. And that it hadn’t been far away.
Not waiting for the others to catch up, Nicole followed the glowing trail. Who knew how long the path would stay in her memory? She had no desire to waste time by needing to go back to the fifth floor again.
“Sorry. We’re going now,” Nicole called back as the rest of her group scrambled to follow.
She led them down that first street, then off to the right under several massive trees that had fallen over, their branches dead and scratchy. At first, the trees were nearly impossible to get through until Nicole, Austin, and Coolidge used their powers to shred the dead branches.
Nicole led them through ruins, past tunnels she assumed the natives had made, through deteriorating buildings, and to the doors of what must have once been a very impressive castle.
Jacob called for Nicole to stop.
“This is where Ayunli lived,” he said in awe after catching up. “I would have been prince of this castle if my ancestors had stayed here.”
Nicole could appreciate his sense of wonder. She herself was fascinated by the dark stone and gaping windows. She couldn’t help but wonder why they’d left in the first place. Apart from Broalt being a murderous dictator, that was. “Why didn’t they take the kingdom back from King Broalt?”
Jacob glanced at her. “They did. Onyev stepped in and removed him from the throne.”
“And no one got rid of the thing that prevents keys from accessing the place?” Nicole asked.
Jacob shrugged. “I guess by that point, they were no longer using the keys and didn’t care or possibly even know about Broalt’s contraption.”
Nicole couldn’t imagine why they’d stop using such powerful items. She’d keep one nearby at all times, if it were up to her. “Ready?” she asked everyone.
Jacob and the others confirmed that they were, and she led the way inside the castle. The glowing path led them deep into the heart of the building, then down into the dungeons. Several members of the group turned on flashlights.
The farther down they went, the more a horrible stench filled the air. Soon, Nicole and the rest were covering their noses.
“Is there some sort of gas down here that’s going to kill us?” Lizzie asked. “Shouldn’t we get a canary or something?”
“She makes a valid point,” Coolidge said.
Azuriah grunted. “Should we stop?”
Everyone paused to discuss the situation, and it was finally decided that yes, they needed a system in place to alert them if they came across dangerous air.
Jacob and Akeno returned to the surface so Akeno could capture a bird. Nicole felt bad that they might need to sacrifice an innocent animal, but that would be better than to have her group die.
It took half an hour for Jacob and Akeno to return, and the trail was starting to disappear when they did. Nicole breathed a sigh of relief when they came down the stairs. Akeno had fashioned a cage from branches and twigs. It held a bird.
He handed the cage to Nicole. “Since you’re leading the way, you should carry it.”
Good point. Nicole peered at the little bird, trying not to feel bad for it. She needed to focus—follow the path before it disappeared. She continued forward, glad that the trail brightened again once she’d covered some ground.
The stairs they’d been following finally came to an end, and they stepped into a dank tunnel. Water dripped down the sides and a breeze stirred the air, making the stench not as bad.
The tunnel opened into a massive room. Nicole came to an abrupt halt and gasped, covering her mouth.
The room was full of skeletons. They covered every inch of the place.
She waited until the rest caught up, then turned to them. “Why are there so many?”
Austin, Coolidge, and even Azuriah looked concerned. “There shouldn’t be,” Austin said. “Not for a standard dungeon—from what I’ve read and seen in documentaries.”
“Not by a long shot,” Azuriah said.
Nicole could tell immediately that the bodies belonged to more than just prisoners. There were skeletons that she assumed had been guards and were still wearing uniforms, and many, many who appeared to have been royalty and weren’t even chained. How horrible!
“It’s like they were just tossed down here,” Lizzie said.
The comment stirred something in Nicole’s mind, and she and Austin glanced at each other. “The plague,” Nicole said.
“Or something like it,” Austin responded.
“So, they got sick and were put down here to keep the illness from spreading,” Lizzie said.
Nicole nodded. “Looks like it.”
Coolidge rubbed his chin, then the back of his neck. “No one has ever said why Jacob’s ancestors abandoned the city. I’m willing to bet we’re looking at the reason.”
After a moment of silent contemplation, Azuriah cleared his throat. “Where to, Nicole?” he asked.
“Straight through, unfortunately.”
“Let’s get going.”
Nicole was surprised that he didn’t snap at her. She tucked the conversation into the back of her mind where she could examine it later, but in the meantime, she and the others moved forward.
Using burned-out torches like shovels, they took turns making a path through the skeletons by shifting them to the side. It was hard, creepy work, and the flashlights and Akeno’s finger didn’t give much light.
Nicole and Austin were taking their turn when a massive scurrying and squeaking filled the room after they shifted a large pile of bones.
Tons and tons of rats—both adults and babies—scattered.
Nicole and Austin both hollered in shock, jumping back. Nicole laughed when she realized Austin had pretty much screamed too, but he held up his hands, defending himself.
“I hate rats just as much as the next person,” he said.
“Since these bodies have been dead for a long time,” Lizzie said, “there’s no chance we’ll be infected, right?”
Nicole glanced at Austin before answering. “No—the rats probably cleared out the disease years ago. But we should still be careful. Stay away from them in case they’re the source of the disease.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Lizzie said, her nose scrunched up.
They finally reached the other side of the room, where Nicole led them into a small cell. She pointed at the stone wall opposite the door.
“The contraption is there.”
“Good—I can’t wait to get rid of it,” Jacob said, approaching the wall. Not waiting for instructions from Nicole, he put his hand on the stone. His fingers sank into it.
“What are you doing?” Nicole asked. Her jaw dropped when he began pulling chunks of the stone away, now soft and pliable, and she knew she’d asked the wrong question. “Wait—how are you doing it?”
Jacob looked back at her. “The very first magical power I discovered is the ability to sense weakness in inanimate objects. I’m able to heat up that object and then either pull it apart or strengthen it.”
“That’s crazy,” Nicole said, wondering if it had anything to do with Earth Arete powers.
“Yeah, it is. It’s basically how I create my shield.”
Nicole frowned. “How?”
“I don’t know, honestly. But I can mold and manipulate the air too.”
He turned back to the stone wall. �
��How deep? I don’t want to risk going too far and damaging the thing, especially if that makes it so you can’t turn it off.”
Nicole closed her eyes, seeing the glowing trail and how far it went into the wall. “There’s a box that houses the contraption about a foot in.”
Jacob continued until he’d pulled away the rock from the front of the box, revealing a stone dog inside that was about four inches tall.
Austin approached, peering past Jacob and into the chest-high box. “Looks like a German Shepherd, if they have those here.”
“What do we do with it?” Jacob asked.
“I’ll take it to Shonlin,” Nicole said. “I’m willing to bet that once objects are there, regardless of how powerful they are, their powers are diffused. I’ve never sensed a magical pulse there.”
She reached inside, but when she put her hand around the dog, a bright flash burst from the object, shocking her. She jerked her hand back, yelping. “What was that?”
Coolidge and Austin both stepped up next to her. “I definitely felt that,” Coolidge said.
“It electrocuted me!”
Coolidge bent over and stared into the box. “For some reason, I find myself hesitating to try it myself.”
Nicole snorted a laugh. “I don’t blame you. That hurt.” She inspected her hand. No residual damage was visible. She hoped the insides hadn’t been fried.
“Get a branch or something,” Coolidge said. He glanced at Nicole. “When in doubt, poke it with a stick.”
Nicole chuckled, and Austin handed over an old torch. Coolidge pushed it into the box, prodding the dog. But a flash of light blinded them, and Coolidge pulled the stick back.
“Are you sure this is the right contraption?” Azuriah asked.
Nicole glared at him. “Yes, I am. How about you try to get the dog?”
Azuriah sighed in exasperation. “I’m able to learn from others’ experiences, thank you.”
“What now?” Lizzie asked.
“I’m missing something,” Nicole said. “Something Onyev might not have told me. I don’t know.”
“Do you need to go back to Shonlin?” Jacob asked.
Obscure, Mosaic Chronicles Book Seven Page 2
