by Jeff Altabef
My voice loses energy like a ball that is rolling to a stop. “What does that mean? Why does everything have to be a riddle?”
He brushes his fingers against my cheek. “It’s not a riddle. You know what it means.” He starts to walk again, and the tombstones appear to multiply.
Dawn starts to break. For a second, I’m transfixed by the colors as orange shafts of light knife into a purple sky.
When I look back at him, he’s gone.
I kick a rock against a tombstone. The morning light brightens the name on the marker—Alistair Cordingly—the headmaster at my old school, who died protecting me. I shake my head. He’s buried back in England, so he shouldn’t be here.
I stumble away from his tombstone and almost knock into another one. This one has Charles Roundtree’s name on it. I start to run, and dodge another marker for Samuel Brooks and Stuart Baker—all members of the Twisted Arrows Order who died protecting me.
A rock trips me up, and I face-plant on the clay dirt. I dust myself off and stand on shaky legs. Other tombstones surround me. There’s one for Stuart, and the Seeker I killed in Arizona, and Slicked Back Hair and Gold Tooth, who my father killed, and the two Deltites back at the Boathouse....
I start to run, desperate to get away from this death that surrounds me and threatens to suffocate me. I stop in front of a large white marble stone. It reads Jake Clearwater Stone, my grandfather’s legal name, and in the distance other markers made of white marble glisten in the starlight. I don’t want to go, but I’m pulled toward them and weave my way through them. There’s one each for Troy, Connor, Blake, and Akari. I spin and look for mine.
Mine has to be here someplace.
Where’s my grave?
I open my eyes and bolt upright. The sun peeks over the horizon just above the East River. I lean against a tree and shake my head. I’m not sure what that contraption did to me, but the world looks clearer than before. What had been solid is now a series of microscopic dots, each with its own color and shape. Noises sound louder too, as if someone has turned up the volume on Mother Nature.
A dog growls next to me. Every note she makes is so distinct that it’s no longer just one growl, but a million different ones that blend.
I know this dog. She’s the Alaskan Husky from when I fought the first Seeker. She attacked him at my bidding, and then the monster cut her down.
She sacrificed her life for me, but how can she be the same dog?
I follow the dog’s eyes and watch a middle-aged guy saunter over to me. He looks like he’s out for a jog, wearing a baseball cap, shorts, and a hooded sweatshirt. His aura is a mix of black and red. His thoughts are all bad.
He speaks slowly, as if I’m an idiot or stoned. “Do you need some help? Maybe a place to stay?”
The dog barks and this stranger looks anxiously at it.
“Get lost.” I wave my hand dismissively. “I don’t need your help.”
He takes a half-step toward me, but he won’t chance coming closer with the Husky barking at him, and his eyes flutter from the dog to me. “You can stay at my place. I’ll make you breakfast.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I grip him with my mind, feel the energy bands wrap around his chest, and toss him ten feet in the air. He collides with an oak tree, and I’m sure one of his ribs breaks in the collision.
He winces, looks at me with wild eyes, and runs in the other direction with one arm holding his side.
He’s lucky. He deserves worse.
I pet the Husky and realize that she’s not a real dog; she’s a spirit. She looks and acts like any other dog, but I sense her uniqueness. When I touch her, my hand tingles. I pull my fingers back and stare at her. When I concentrate, she shimmers as if electrified.
The dog licks my hand and wags her tail.
That drags a smile out from somewhere deep inside me, but the feeling is fleeting as the hair on the back of my neck stands at attention. Someone carved the Deltite symbol into the bark of the maple tree I had been leaning against—a simple triangle enclosed in a circle.
I have three days to find the maze at Hampton Court Palace and meet the Prime Elector. Only three days.
I glance back at the carving and scan the park, looking for monsters among the shadows.
The Deltites could be anywhere. They must be watching me.
Juliet
I jog at a normal human pace to the Underground, too weary to sprint. No one seems to have followed me. I sense no unusual auras, but does it matter? They can track me now. No place will be safe for me, or for anyone I’m with. No place will be secret.
The street is empty, so I use my mind to shift the manhole cover out of the way. After I climb down the ladder, I slide it back into place and open the door to the Underground.
The gang is bunched together by the bar, and I lock eyes with Troy. We’ve always been able to communicate without talking. That’s just what happens between best friends, especially those who have known each other their whole lives.
He’s been worried about me. I tell him I’m okay with a slight wink, and he tilts his head to the side and breathes deeply.
Connor darts forward, lifts me in the air, and twirls me in a circle. “I was so worried,” he whispers against my ear. Then he puts me down, steps back, and raises his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Are you okay? Did those tossers do anything to you?”
“I’m fine,” I say, although I’m not so sure.
Blake, Akari, and Troy mosey over.
“Well, I never had any doubts.” Blake smiles.
Akari kicks him in the shin. “Right.”
I rustle his hair, which he totally doesn’t appreciate. “It’s good to be back and know you’re all safe.” We form a loose circle with me in the center, and they crush me in a joint hug. If feels good, but then I remember what Jared told me—if I don’t meet the Prime Elector alone in London, he’ll kill them all—and my spirits plummet.
When we separate, Akari notices the Husky sitting quietly by the door, panting with her tongue happily flopping from her mouth.
“Who’s your new friend?” She walks over and pets her. “Her fur is really soft.”
The dog barks once at the compliment.
“I’m not sure.” I shrug. “She found me at the park, and we’ve been best buds ever since.”
“We call Juliet the Dog Whisperer back home. She has a special way with dogs.” Troy hugs me and steals a moment for just us two.
Suddenly, I’m wearing my most comfortable sweatshirt and feel the sunshine on my face like when we’re back home.
He pushes me back and says, “Hey, I thought we were best friends.”
“She understands me better.” I chuckle. “Besides, she’s a lot cuter.”
“That hurts.”
Blake squints his eyes and puckers his mouth. “Well, she’s got to go. Dogs can have ticks. Ticks could carry Lyme Disease and—”
“And the plague and a whole assortment of other diseases.” Akari rolls her eyes.
The dog walks over to Blake and sits on his feet.
I laugh. “She seems to like you.”
“At least somebody does,” jokes Connor, and we all laugh at Blake’s expense.
He looks down at the dog with a totally confused, what do I do with this thing expression on his thin face. He probably didn’t have any pets growing up.
“We don’t have to worry about diseases or bugs,” I say. “The dog isn’t....”
“Isn’t what?” Troy leans close to the Husky and looks into her eyes.
Good question.
I try not to sound totally ridiculous. “She’s not like other dogs. I think she’s... a spirit.”
Troy rubs the dog’s face and scratches behind her ears. The Husky wags her tail and thumps it against the floor. Whether she’s a spirit or not, she certainly likes him.
Akari squats next to Troy and looks over her shoulder at me. “How do you know? She looks so real.”
“
She feels different, as if she’s made from energy. I’m not sure what the deal is. I’m not controlling her like the creature I made at the Boathouse. Or at least I don’t think I am. She was just there when I woke.”
Troy glances at me with a confident I got this grin on his face. “She’s your animal spirit guide. I bet Sicheii sent her to help you.”
“An animal what?” Blake steps backward and looks at the dog as if she’s about to eat him whole at any second.
“An animal spirit guide.” Troy stops petting the Husky and stands. “If you’re lucky, a particular animal will present itself to you to help guide you through life. Sometimes they offer wisdom, other times warnings or protection.” He turns toward me, totally certain he’s right. “She’s your animal spirit guide. You’ve always had a special connection with dogs. It makes perfect sense.”
Maybe he’s right. As strange as an animal spirit guide sounds, stranger things seem to happen to me on a daily basis. Plus, it would be just like Sicheii to send me an animal spirit guide without telling me about her or what she’s here to do. She’s probably another one of his riddles, but at least this one is cute.
The dog turns toward me, barks in agreement with Troy, and disappears.
“Maybe it won’t come back,” says Blake.
Akari grins. “What’s wrong? Do you miss her already?”
“Right.”
Troy glances at me. “Don’t worry. She’ll come back... when you need her.”
“So what did the Deltites want?” Blake asks. “We were worried we might never see you again.”
“They invited me to meet with the Prime Elector. Apparently, he’s a big fan. He’s waiting for me in London.”
“Then why didn’t they just take you to him?” asks Connor.
“Who knows? They didn’t explain themselves to me.” It is odd. They made it seem like I had a choice, like meeting the Prime Elector alone was some type of test.
Why would he want to test me when he could have just dragged me to him?
“That’s all they wanted?” Akari crinkles her eyes and nose.
“That’s not all.” I explain the contraption they put on my head; how they captured my brainwaves on a crystal disc, and how they could use those brainwaves to track me. I describe the intense pain and how I woke up in the park with the dog. I leave out the creepy jogger, my appointment with the Prime Elector in the maze, and the threat that they’ll kill the others if I don’t go alone.
When I finish, Connor punches the wall. “The bloody wankers. What are they getting at? Why are they playing these games?”
Blake bites his lip. “They can track you at all times?”
I nod.
“Can they do anything else with that crystal?”
“Beats me.”
“Like what?” Akari touches my shoulder, her fingers warm and protective.
Blake shrugs. “Well, I don’t know, really. Maybe they can see and hear what Juliet can, or control her thoughts in some way, or her actions?”
Connor frowns. “Don’t be so bloody paranoid. Juliet would know if they do any of those things, and she’ll tell us.”
“No, Blake’s right.” Everyone stares at me. “We don’t really know what Alphians or Deltites are capable of doing. Sure, we’ve figured out some things, but I don’t have any idea what they can use that disc for. It might make me do something I don’t want or....”
Troy gets it, and his eyes transform into deep wells of understanding and sadness. “Or maybe they can use it against you—or hurt us with that disc?”
I twirl my hair and nod. “You’ve got to keep an eye on me and make sure I’m not acting any weirder than usual.”
“That’s not going to be easy.” Blake laughs, but it’s a forced laugh and no one else joins in.
We fall silent for a long moment, and I’m sure everyone has the same thought: How much of a liability have I become?
A cold fury burns in Connor’s eyes. “These Deltites really piss me off. That settles the matter then. We find the Prime Elector, kill him, and get this disc back. We can worry about the bomb afterward.”
Blake does something totally unexpected and loops his arm over Connor’s shoulder. “I’m betting on Juliet. She’s already saved my life three times now. The Prime Elector has no idea what he’s up against.”
Troy grins. “You should have seen her in elementary school, though. She wasn’t so impressive back then. I had to save her from lots of fights.” He starts ticking them off his fingers. “Matt Flynn, Joyce Janice—”
“Stop that or you’re going to see how tough I am now.” I step toward him.
He lifts his hands up, palms out in surrender, and starts to laugh. “Don’t hurt me.”
We all join him and laugh along for a moment. They have faith in me.
I hope they’re right, but I can’t imagine how I can best the Prime Elector. “We had better make a plan then. I wish we still had our swords.”
“We’re not defenseless.” Connor untangles himself from Blake. “You’ve got to see what Stuart had in that satchel.”
Stuart’s leather satchel lies on top of the bar. Next to it is a crystal hilt for a sword. Connor lifts it and the blade materializes. “They took our other swords, but at least we have this one. It must have been an extra.”
Blake lifts a palm-sized thin slice of crystal, and my heart skips a beat. “We don’t know what this is. We all took a turn, but none of us could make it to do anything.”
My breath catches for a beat. “That’s the same type of disc they recorded my brainwaves on! I bet it’s programmed for someone else.”
Blake hands me the disc and it starts to vibrate. I close my eyes and concentrate, but I only see shadows. Once the disc starts to heat, I drop it on the bar.
The others look at me expectantly.
“Nothing.”
A small orb floats by my face, and Connor sports a wide grin. He’s controlling it with his mind. “This one is really brilliant. Check it out.”
A vast holographic image of a lake appears, with large oddly-shaped islands covered in patches of lush greenery, and sparkling sapphire water.
“Wait for it,” says Connor.
After a second, a huge head breaks the water near one of the islands, and then I realize they’re not islands at all but giant creatures that look like turtles with oblong shells. The image disappears and the orb floats back to his hand. “It has to be a map of Alpha. We haven’t explored it yet, but if I concentrate on various spots we see different images. Some really odd bits, like this one crystal canyon that stretches on for miles.”
One other item lies on the bar: a small vial.
Troy lifts the crystal container and holds it out to me. “None of them can activate it. The vial looks like one of those Fusions.”
I take it from him and instantly feel a tingling sensation run down my arm as it starts to glow. This one feels different from the other Fusions I drank. Those liquids called to me in a weird way, as if I needed to open the vials and drink the fluid. It’s strange, but this one feels like the opposite, as if it wants me to give it something. I hold it for a few seconds and start to feel stupid. All it does is glow.
“Well, maybe it’s a light,” says Blake.
“Sure.” Akari elbows him in the side. “A cosmic lighter from across the galaxy.”
I place the vial back on the bar and ignore the disappointed looks on their faces. “We’ll figure that out later. We need to get to London and find the Prime Elector. Everything revolves around him.”
Blake grins. “I’ve got a plan.”
Juliet
Blake calls his dad’s company and commandeers the family jet. His parents had left instructions permitting him to use the plane for any reason, so no one questions him.
We take a cab to White Plains and board the executive airplane two hours later. In no time it takes off, and we’re headed to a private airfield South of London.
The cabin contains six rows with
eighteen leather seats, spaced farther apart than on normal planes. The front two rows face each other with a table between them.
Blake’s hunched in the last row, his seat buckle fastened tightly, his knuckles white as he strangles the armrests. He keeps muttering something about flying death traps.
Connor and Akari both snooze in their own rows toward the middle of the plane.
Troy glides over and drops into the seat next to me. “I could get used to this. It’s a little nicer than my bike.”
“Just a little. And last I checked, your motorcycle isn’t equipped with scuba gear, so that would make it hard to cross the ocean.” I smile at him. He’s such a good friend, always my rock. “I’m sorry. It feels like I’m dragging you all over the world.”
“Dragging me?” He points to his chest. “I should be thanking you. I’ve always wanted to visit Europe.”
“Right. Who do you think you’re kidding? You never wanted to leave our small Arizona town.” I glance out the window and see nothing but white cloud cover. “This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have brought you into this.”
He grabs my arm. “Who brought us into things?”
“Sicheii,” we both say at the same time and chuckle.
I let out a soft sigh. “Remember when he took us horseback riding for my seventh birthday? I begged him for weeks to take us. He made me keep it secret from Mom. She would have killed him if she had found out. She still doesn’t know.”
“You had to ride the palomino.” Troy smiles and shakes his head. “You could barely stay in the saddle.”
“Hey, if I remember correctly, you fell off.”
“That’s only because your horse tried to bite mine and mine bolted forward.”
“I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.” I push against the seat in front of me. “Sicheii bought us ice cream in that shop in Old Town to keep us quiet. Everything with him was a secret.”
“He did what he thought was best.” He brushes hair from my eyes. “So, what’s up? What aren’t you telling me?”
“Me? Keep secrets? Whom could I have learned that from?”
