“You mean you really believe in Midrealm?” I said, somewhat surprised. “Ever since Greystone told us about the Association, I kind of thought they were a bunch of mercs who just worked for money. I didn’t know they were all on board.”
Anna shrugged. “Some are, some aren’t. Me, I was working with two of the last Keepers for more than a decade, and neither of them aged a day. Plus, they’d tell me things sometimes. Stuff about what life was like there, what they did on a day to day basis. Either they were telling me the truth, or they were totally crazy, or I just got a decade of really awesome storytelling. But I choose to believe them.”
I nodded and looked at Briggs. “And how about you, Pinky? Are you a believer?”
Briggs stared for a second. “Pinky?”
Anna giggled. “Does that make me Brain?”
“Seriously though. You think I really go to another world every time I go to sleep?”
“It’s my job,” said Briggs. He looked at Anna. “Give him the injection.”
“Wait, I—”
I felt a prick in my arm, and in a surprisingly short span of seconds, the world went black.
A half hour later, we were sitting in a circle in the middle of our campsite in Midrealm. Everyone was silent, processing what I’d just told them. Each of them were wearing various shades of thoughtful and troubled looks. Sarah had been absolutely silent the whole time I was telling them the story. The others interrupted occasionally, to ask questions or, in Blade’s case, make jokes. He’d high-fived me when I told them about the Pinky and the Brain joke.
“Well, I’ll start,” said Miles, the first to speak since I’d finished. “I don’t think we should trust them.”
“I agree,” said Cara, the only one of the Runegard who had said anything during the story. We’d invited all of them to sit in, but the rest of our bodyguards still treated us with too much deference to contribute to a conversation like this.
“My first instinct is to agree with you,” said Raven carefully. “But this whole time I’ve been trying to figure out why. If they’re messing with us, if this is all a trick, what’s the endgame? What’s the point of it all?”
“To gain our trust and get intel on our activities in Midrealm,” said Miles immediately. “That way Terrence can beat us the next time he comes knocking on Morrowdust’s door.”
“Doesn’t make sense,” I said, shaking my head. “Terrence could have them kill us right now. The barrier would go down, and then he’d overwhelm Morrowdust in an hour.”
Miles opened his mouth, thought about it, closed it again.
“I think it is clear that their intentions toward you are not sinister,” said Cara. “But I still would not trust your lives to them.”
Sarah looked at her with interest. “Why not?”
“Because they are only two,” said Cara. “If what they say is true, and the entire Association is in league with Terrence, what good will the two of them be when it comes to protecting your lives? Here in Midrealm, each of you has a personal Runegard to watch over you. Beyond that are five more legions of Runegard, each of whom is sworn to guard your lives with our own. Beyond them lies the entire kingdom of Athorn and more besides, all of whom will guard you to ensure their own safety. And even with that, we find ourselves hard pressed to keep you alive. What can the two of them guarantee you on True Earth?”
“That’s a false comparative,” I said. “Two worlds, vastly different rules. Terrence can’t move against us openly on True Earth. If he just came at us and killed us in the open, he’d face repercussions. Also, on True Earth, he doesn’t even know who or where we are. Here, we’re an open target, and Terrence can do whatever his army is strong enough to do. We’re an open target, a sitting duck. We need an army to guard us. On True Earth, we’re nothing. Think of us like peasants here in Midrealm. If you knew there was a peasant named Bob who you wanted to kill, where would you find him?”
Cara frowned at the sudden change in topic. “What…I do not know any peasants named Bob. From what city?”
“Exactly,” I said. “You don’t know what city Bob lives in. You don’t even know what kingdom he’s from. All you know is his name and what he looks like. Secrecy is our best asset over there. If we had an army behind us, we’d be even easier to find.”
Cara nodded. “I see. In this case, two are mightier than many.”
“Especially with Anna,” I said, looking around at the others. “Guys, she’s crazy good. You all think I’m a computer guru, right? She crushes me. She can watch out for us constantly online, make sure our trail stays nice and dead. And she can give us warning if the Association does get on to us.”
Raven nodded. “That’s definitely a relief. Ever since I almost walked into Medicorp, I’ve been freaking out about them finding out about me.”
“Guys, there’s no other way to sum it up,” I said. “If they were the bad guys, we’d already be dead. There is literally no reason for them to be helping us except that they’re on our side.”
Sarah looked around at the others as they took that in. Then she nodded. “I think you’re right.”
“You do?” I asked in surprise.
“What other way is there to look at it?” Sarah asked. “But even on that assumption, there’s a question: what next?”
“Well, they want to meet with us,” I said. “Set up a time and place and work out a strategy so that they can keep protecting us. They…well, they actually want us to uproot ourselves and go to some sort of safe house situation where they can protect us full-time.”
“Not going to happen,” said Miles firmly.
For the first time, Barius leaned in and spoke. “I have learned how pointless it is to argue this point with the six of you, but my duty compels me. Stashing yourselves away on True Earth would be the smartest course of action for you to take. It keeps you safe, and by extension, Midrealm.”
“We’ve got lives,” Sarah said. Inwardly I groaned. She was starting to sound like a broken record with this speech. “I’m not giving up everything I’ve built my life toward on True Earth just to be a Realm Keeper. One day, things will get back to normal, and I want to have something somewhat normal to look forward to when they do.”
I gave an exasperated growl and stood up. “Are you freaking kidding me, Sarah?”
She blinked and stared at me in astonishment. “Excuse me?”
“Things will never get back to normal for us!” I said. “Normal does not include traveling to another world every time you go to sleep. Even if we win the war and kill Terrence, you will never, ever, ever have a normal life. Ever. Normal died for us when we came here.”
I sat back down, a little calmer. “And here’s the thing. Anna told me herself that she probably can’t protect us forever. She’s right. Eventually, the Association’s going to find us. Hopefully it’s not before the end of the war here in Midrealm. But if it is, we’re going to have to disappear anyway. They’re an international network, Sarah. It’s not like we can just fight them off and then go back to high school the next day. They’re going to keep coming until they find us. We might as well get out ahead of this now, while we’re still in control of the situation.” I stared at my hands in my lap. “We’re going to regret it later if we don’t do it now.”
Sarah just sat there for a moment, breathing slowly and distinctly. It sounded like she was measuring her breaths. Maybe counting them.
“We’re not vanishing off the face of Earth with two ex-Association members we just met,” she said harshly. “That’s final. I’m not, and you’re not. I’m not going to let you do that to our family. You understand?”
“Whatever,” I said. “I said my piece. You’re the boss.”
“I’m not the—” she stopped herself. “Okay. Fine. We’ve got to get to sleep. School’s in an hour and a half. Calvin, you tell Briggs I’ll meet with him. Tell him to get in touch with me to set up a time and place. Just me. I’m willing to trust them for now, but that doesn’t mean I wa
nt to deliver the whole group all at once.”
“Yeah,” I said.
“All right. Let’s hit the sack,” Sarah said.
Tess’ head jerked up suddenly. “Wait,” she said.
“Wait what?” Sarah asked irritably.
“We forgot to tell Greystone.”
I groaned. I’d been so intent on getting back here to talk to the others that I’d completely forgotten. Apparently we all had.
“That one’s all yours, cuz,” I said, getting up and meandering off toward my bedroll. “I don’t want to hear you argue with Greystone about the exact same thing I’m trying to convince you about.”
There was no answer as I walked away.
I lay on my bedroll. I’d just woken up from my impromptu nap/visit with Briggs and Anna, so I knew it would take me a second to fall asleep. I closed my eyes and waited to drift away from consciousness.
A moment later, though, I heard the creak of leather and the soft clank of iron armor as someone settled to sit beside me on the ground.
“Hey, Darren,” I said. “Joining me for sleep, or do you have first watch tonight?”
“Darren does indeed have first watch,” said Cara. “But I am not he.”
My eyes shot open and I sat up. Cara had a small smile on her face at my shock.
“Hi,” I said. “Sorry, I thought you were—”
She cut me off with a wave. “It’s all right. I enjoy sneaking up on you. And, like you, I had no wish to sit idly by while Greystone tried to convince your cousin of the correct course of action. You showed surprising gumption there, my Lord. I am impressed.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, well, it didn’t work. Sarah’s too stuck on the idea that we can have a normal life.”
“She is an odd one,” Cara agreed, looking over at her. “She is willing to accept the responsibility of being your leader, and yet she cannot fully give herself to this life. She still clings to the one she has always known.”
“It’s not that surprising if you know her,” I said with a shrug. “She’s had a plan since she was five years old. This is just throwing all of that into the crazy blender. She’s trying to keep both things going at once.”
“I only worry that both plans will fall into disarray because of it,” Cara said softly.
“You and me both,” I muttered. “Sarah’s not a bookworm or a movie buff like me. She never learned the lesson I’ve been learning all my life.”
Cara looked at me with interest. “And what is that, my Lord?”
“That when adventure washes upon your shore, you’ve got to sail with it,” I said. “Otherwise it’ll sweep your house and your whole life out to sea and leave it in shambles.”
Cara’s brow furrowed. “An interesting piece of advice. Who wrote it?”
I ducked my head and turned to lay back down with my back to her. “No one. I kind of came up with that one on my own.”
She sat there in silence a moment longer. Then I felt a soft squeeze on my shoulder. Cara’s hand.
“You sail your ship well, young Lord,” she said. “And I am proud to call you shipmate. I will see you on the morrow.”
I smiled as she got up and walked back to the group.
OUT OF SIGHT
CALVIN
THE NEXT MORNING, ANNA BID me farewell and Briggs drove me to school. I tried my best to ignore the looks I got from others in the yard when I stepped out of his big, dark brown sedan that had windows so darkly tinted it was hard to see sunlight through them. Briggs was able to set up a time to meet with Sarah a week later. He’d wanted to make it earlier, probably hoping to convince her and then whisk us all away to a hiding spot, but Sarah was adamant.
All day at school I was nervous, constantly looking over my shoulder, expecting the Association to bust down the doors and come in guns blazing at any moment. Of course, that was ridiculous—Anna had assured me they were nowhere close to finding us. And she’d be able to give us plenty of warning if they did. But that didn’t calm the constant nervousness I felt, the instinct that our days in high school pretending to be normal teenagers were over.
I finished a paranoid day at school and went home immediately. That night was one of my nights with Blade. He was still alternating between couch surfing and spending nights sleeping in his car—for some reason, he wasn’t going back home. I wasn’t about to pry into that situation. I knew his home life was a mess. Mom had dinner ready as soon as we got home. Blade tucked in, eating heartily. I could barely touch my food. Being on edge all day had ruined my appetite.
As he wiped the last of dinner from the edge of his mouth with a napkin, Blade looked over at me with interest.
“Want to watch some TV?” he asked.
In all the turmoil of my thoughts, I could only stare at him. “What?” I finally asked.
“TV. You know, the giant black screen in your living room that can show moving pictures?” he asked.
My mom laughed lightly. “Winston, be nice.”
“Sorry, Mrs. W,” said Blade. “It’s just that Calvin looks like he’s never heard of one before.”
It had been so long since I had just sat down and watched TV, I’d almost forgotten that we owned one. Video games used to be such a big part of my life, but they kind of faded away after my life became better than the best video game I could possibly imagine. Now, just sitting down and watching a boring old TV show sounded like the least productive thing imaginable.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Don’t you think we should…I don’t know…work?” I wanted to say “go to sleep,” but that would have sounded weird.
“Work on what?” Blade asked, shrugging. “I don’t have any homework assignments. Do you?”
“Well, no, not tonight—” I started.
“Okay, perfect,” said Blade. “I think there’s even a game on. We could watch some football.”
“Calvin’s never really been into football,” my dad said. “We’re not really a sports household. But you’re certainly welcome to watch the game if you want.”
Blade shook his head. “Never mind, then. Whatever you want to watch, little bro. You just seem stressed. I think you could use some unwind time.”
“Winston has a point, sweetie,” my mom chided. “You look completely distracted, and you’ve barely touched your dinner.”
I looked back and forth between the three of them, unable to think of a way out of it. A tiny part of my mind laughed as I realized I was trying to think of an excuse not to just veg out in front of the TV. It was something I would never have believed a few months ago.
“Okay, sure, I guess,” I said. “Blade, you can kick on the game. I don’t have anything else I want to watch.”
“Awesome,” Blade said with a grin. He got up, bussing his plate (it always creeped me out when he did that) and headed for the living room.
“I’ll take care of the dishes tonight,” my mom said. “You two go hang out. Or whatever you guys say these days.”
“We pretty much just say ‘hang out.’ Thanks, mom,” I said. I got up and stole out of the kitchen, completely forgetting my own dishes in my haste. Having Blade over definitely wasn’t such a bad thing—my parents were usually way easier on my chores and stuff.
I entered the living room to find Blade already kicked back on the couch, remote in hand. Two teams were playing on the screen. For the life of me, I couldn’t have identified either one of them.
“What was that all about?” I said in a quiet voice. “What are you up to?”
“I’m up to precisely squat, bro,” Blade said easily. “We just never get any downtime. And do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been able to watch a game on TV? Now shut up and let me enjoy this.”
“Don’t you think we should be getting back to, you know…” I checked over my shoulder to make sure my parents were nowhere in sight. “Over there?”
“Why?” Blade asked. “We’re not set to start traveling for another two hours. And we could both use the chill factor. You,
especially. What’s with you today? You’re freaking me out a little.”
I sighed and plopped down on the couch next to him. “I don’t know. I’ve just been stressing a lot today. Before Anna and Briggs found me, for the last few days I just thought of the Association as this vague thing out there somewhere in the world. It wasn’t really real to me. Now that I know we’ve already been found by some of its ex-members, I’m wondering how long it is before the real thing comes knocking down our door.”
Blade snorted. “The Association. Such a stupid name.”
“I know, right?”
The room dissolved into silence. I watched as six of the guys in red shirts landed on one guy in a blue shirt. Blue shirt had the ball. I guessed he was the quarterback.
“Good play,” I said, hoping it sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I figured it didn’t, because Blade looked at me funny.
“Sure, if you’re rooting for San Francisco,” he said. “Where’s your home team love?”
“I’ll be honest,” I said grudgingly. “I have no idea where either team is from. Or what just happened. Or who it’s good for.”
Blade chuckled and began pointing out each team’s players and what they did. Turns out that the blue shirts were the New England Patriots—the closest thing Rhode Island had to a home team. The red shirts were the San Francisco 49’ers, who I thought were a great team. Blade had to inform me that my knowledge was more than a decade old, when they were really big in the nineties. He went on to point out individual players, what they were doing and how good they were at it. Soon I was lost in a sea of names and positions, more than half of which seemed to end with “back.” After a while my dad came in, chiming in occasionally and trying to pitch in the way grownups do when they’re trying to be “cool” in a conversation with their kids. Soon, realizing he knew far, far less about football than Blade did, he got up and made a quiet exit.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 13
