Ember and I scaled the school’s front steps and went through the front door. I turned to give her a final hug. “See you at lunch, I guess,” I said. “And if you still want to talk, shoot me a text or something. I don’t have any important classes this morning anyway.”
“Do we ever have important classes?” asked Ember with a smile. She looked uneasily down the hallway behind her. “Actually, maybe I’ll just hang with you until class starts.”
Panic. “Um, don’t you need to grab your books and stuff?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just don’t care right now. I mean, do I really need an hour of Mister Shumacher’s lectures right now?”
I smiled weakly. “Um. Ha. I guess not.”
I turned and headed for my locker, Ember at my side. Well, this was going to be perfect.
Sarah, Tess and Calvin all looked up as I approached. Then their eyes darted to Ember, and then back to me, all in unison. It would have been hilarious if I wasn’t desperately trying to think of a way I could politely ask my best friend to take off so I could talk to my fellow Realm Keepers.
“Hey, Raven!” said Sarah brightly, pretending that nothing was wrong. “How are you doing?”
“Oh, you know,” I said with a shrug. “Hey, guys, do you know Ember?”
Tess smiled shyly and waved. Calvin’s smile looked panicked, his teeth too showy and bright. “Hi! Pleasure to meet you.” His eyes darted to mine. “Hey, Raven, didn’t you have to talk to us about that…thing? With Miles? Or whatnot?”
I looked at Ember out of the corner of my eye. She was trying to smile, oblivious to the sudden tension between us. With a start I realized she was trying to be polite to the three of them, trying to get friendly with my new friends.
“Um, yeah, well, nothing new, I guess?” I asked, knowing that was hopelessly vague.
“Nothing we’ve heard of,” said Sarah.
Finally, a spark hit Ember’s eyes. She looked back and forth between us. “Oh, is this about the sleeping thing?”
“Er…yeah,” I stammered. “Looks like Miles is having another one of those sleeping spells. You know. Where he’s not waking up. I just kind of wanted to find out if…if the doctors had learned anything. But I guess they never do, right? Ha.”
My nervous laughter drew a couple of scattered, wary smiles from the others. “No, I guess not,” said Sarah. “I mean, if there’s anything new, I certainly haven’t heard about it.”
“Me neither,” said Tess. “Or with Blade.”
“Yeah, with Blade,” said Calvin.
An even more awkward silence settled.
“Well!” I said. “I guess we’d all better be getting off. Mind letting me into my locker?”
“Oh, of course!” said Calvin, darting away from it like it was a hot stove. “Sorry.”
“No problem. See you guys later…maybe at lunch?”
“Oh, hey, we could all eat lunch together,” said Ember. “I mean, if that’s cool with you guys.” She eyed Calvin and Tess, and gave a particular look at Sarah. Ember had always sort of resented Sarah, who had been my best friend for a long time. Now she was trying to be polite with her, to share me. It was sweet, and it was incredibly bad timing.
The first bell rang, and I grabbed my school stuff out of the locker in a rush. “Okay, lunch it is, then,” I said quickly. “See you all later.”
I did my best that morning, but I was useless. Getting my attention off of Miles and Blade before school was because of Ember, and once she left, I was a mess again. I barely heard anything that was said to me through all of my classes. I was called on twice to answer questions, and both times I had to answer my teachers with a simple shrug and an, “I don’t know.” Truth was, I didn’t even know what they’d asked me, much less the answers.
After what seemed like three long eternities, lunch finally rolled around. As soon as I was out in the hallway, I texted Sarah.
Meet in restroom. So we can talk ahead of time.
I went to the restroom and waited. But after ten minutes, Sarah still hadn’t shown up, and I was practically ready to explode from nerves. So I bailed and went to the cafeteria instead. After getting through the line with a tray of food, I went out into the tables and found Calvin waiting for me. He looked up with haggard eyes as I came to the table. His fingers were tapping ceaselessly on the formica tabletop.
“Where the heck are Sarah and Tess?” I hissed.
“No idea,” he said. “What took you so long?”
“Forget it,” I said in exasperation. “Just tell me what happened on the other side. Quick, before Ember shows up.”
“Okay, here’s the Cliffs Notes version,” said Calvin, his finger tapping increasing in pace. “After I got thrown off the path by the goblins, they chased me through the woods. I couldn’t escape them, so instead I bailed off the horse and flew away. Eventually I found Blade and Miles by the fireball Blade was using for light, but I couldn’t see you. We ran for a rode bit, and then we fell into a hole in the ground.”
I blinked. “A what?”
“Yeah, just a hole in the ground. It led to this big underground tunnel. During the fall is when I got separated from the other guys. It’s just me and Cara, who’s keeping watch while I sleep.” His face grew suddenly sad. “She’s probably terrified down there. It’s completely pitch black. All she’s got is this little torch that she only lit while we were moving. And she must be exhausted. I’m going to stand watch for a bit when I get back, just so she can get some sleep.”
“You probably don’t have to worry too much,” I said wryly. “Cara can handle herself better than most. Better than any of the other Runegard. And ‘terrified’ is never a word I would use to describe her.”
Calvin looked at me curiously. “She’s still just a person. And she’s not even that much older than us. She’s only nineteen.”
He was right. I always forgot how young Cara was; she was always so in charge, so commanding. It was easy to remember that Darren was as old as I was—he acted like such a goofball.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” I said reassuringly. Calvin’s face eased somewhat. But then a thought struck me. “Wait, if you all fell down the same hole, then why don’t you know where Blade and Miles are?”
Calvin shrugged. “I don’t get it either. But the tunnels we slid down were long and twisty. Only thing I can think of is that the four of them—including the Runegard—went down one shaft, and we went down the other.”
“So at least you’re all probably pretty close to each other,” I said hopefully.
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Calvin nodded. Finally he looked down and seemed to notice his fingers tapping. He stopped them with obvious effort.
“Where were you?”
I looked up, exasperated, as Sarah appeared at the table with Tess, both of them holding their food trays.
“I was in the restroom!” I replied, my voice growing too loud. I looked over my shoulder nervously and brought my voice down low again, just above a whisper. “I was waiting for you!”
“Wait, which restroom?” Sarah asked in confusion.
“The one in the main hall, of course!” I said. “Where else?”
“I thought you meant the smaller one in the west hall,” Sarah said. “No one ever uses it, so I thought it would be more private.”
“Ew!” I said, curling my nose. “There’s a reason no one ever uses that one. It always smells like some huge wild animal crawled under the toilets and died. It’s totally gross.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Okay, I didn’t think our personal standards of hygiene were that important when we’re planning how to save our friends’ lives.”
I sniffed. “There are some standards I won’t compromise.”
“Have either of you heard from Blade?” Tess asked urgently, cutting through our bickering. “He still hasn’t texted me.”
“I haven’t gotten anything,” said Calvin, shaking his head. “But at least I haven’t gotten
an angry call or text from my mom. That means she hasn’t found Blade under my bed. By the way, do you know what a pain it is to move him when he’s asleep? The guy’s got to weigh three hundred pounds.”
“One-eighty, tops,” I said.
Tess ducked her head, looking for a moment like she might cry.
Calvin’s fingers had resumed their rhythmless tapping. He slammed his other hand down on them, growling. “That’s it. There’s no point in me staying here any longer. I’m not getting anything done, and I can’t stop thinking about…over there. I’m going to go home.”
“What?” I said, amused as I was surprised. “You’re going to ditch? But you’re such a nerd.”
He held up a warning finger. “Yes, I’m a nerd. I’m not a goody-two-shoes. There’s a difference. You’re mistaking me for Sarah.”
“Hey!”
“Still, you don’t seem like the type to just ditch,” I said. “Don’t make a habit of it or you’ll get caught.”
“Oh, I never make it that easy to track,” Calvin said with a grin. “I’m going to fake food poisoning. Head to the nurse’s office and puke on her floor. They’ll get me home in no time.”
I wrinkled my nose. “So gross. What, can you puke on command or something?”
Calvin waved a hand vaguely. “Oh, I’ve got something I can take.”
Sarah looked at him, shocked. “What are you talking about? Calvin, you’re not—”
He stopped her with a single finger. “Don’t worry, it’s totally safe. It’s just a chemical mixture I whipped up. As for where I learned about it—it’s really better if you don’t ask.”
I shook my head. “Such. A. Nerd.”
Calvin grinned “Thank you.” He grabbed his tray and stood, right at the exact moment that Ember approached the table from behind. Calvin’s head came up right under her tray, flinging her food and milk right across her outfit. She screeched in shock and shoved him, catapulting his tiny thirteen-year-old body across the top of the table, where he slid into Sarah’s tray, spilling her lunch into her lap.
“Calvin!” she shouted.
Calvin rolled off the table to land heavily on the floor. “Sorry!” he groaned, prone on the ground. He scrambled to a kneel. “So sorry!” he repeated to a seething Ember. He found his feet and backed away slowly, hands held out like he was praying. “I’m just…I didn’t mean to…um, sorry.” He turned and bolted for the cafeteria door and out of sight. Somewhere in the back of the room, someone started a slow clap.
I shook my head and stood, grabbing a wad of napkins from the dispenser on the table. “Come on,” I said to Ember. “Let’s clean you up.”
Once the day was done, I got home as fast as I could. I shoved open the front door and rushed in, closing it too hard behind me. I wanted to get right to bed and head for the other side. There had to be some way we could track down Calvin and find out what happened to Blade and Miles.
As soon as Calvin had pulled his stunt and been sent home, he’d sent us a reassuring text that Blade was still alive—but still asleep. Again, that was good, but a lack of any word from Blade or Miles was troubling.
“Ester!”
I sighed as my mom’s voice rang out from the kitchen. I dropped my backpack to the floor of the front hall with a thud and poked my head into the kitchen.
“Estow!”
I gave Emery a smile and a wave, entering the kitchen the rest of the way. I went to him and ruffled his stringy hair while he leaned over to hug my waist. He was in his high chair at the table. There was an mess of food on the tray in front of him that was probably the remains of his dinner.
Standing behind him where he couldn’t see me, I gave my mom a sullen look. “What do you want, mom?”
My mom looked up from the counter, where she was sitting and reading a book on her ereader. I didn’t need to see the book to know what kind it was; my mom was totally addicted to romance novels. Meanwhile, the dirty dishes filled the sink and the counters. Mom had never seen fit to do the dishes in her own house. She left that to the maid she hired to come once a week. Hired, that is, with money that my dad gave her for child support and alimony. Just one of the things that grated endlessly on my nerves.
My mom adjusted her horn-rimmed glasses and pursed her lips as she looked at me. “How many times have I told you not to slam the front door? Are you trying to break it?”
I sighed, resisting the urge to growl. “It was an accident. I was in a hurry.”
“Oh, really?” she asked, running her long, painted fingernails across the linoleum counter. “To do what? Go to bed and sleep the rest of the night away?”
“Maybe,” I said. “What do you care? Is that all you wanted to ask me?”
“What, you’re in such a rush that you can’t even talk to your mother at the end of the day?” she complained.
I looked skyward. “Mom, if you don’t have anything to talk to me about, I’d rather just go upstairs. Do you want to talk to me about something or not?”
She gave a shrug. “Oh, well, I wanted to talk to you, sure. I wanted to know how your day was. I wanted to see if you were doing okay. But I guess I’m just your mother. What should I care?”
“You never want to know how my days go,” I said, annoyed. “You just want me to talk to you so you feel like you’re being a good mom. And whenever I tell you something that happened in school or with my friends, you listen for about ten seconds and then start telling me a story from your day. Because you don’t honestly care what happens to me.”
“Ester, that is not true and you will not take that tone with me,” she said angrily.
“Totally just did,” I said. I snatched Emery from his high chair, putting him on my hip and walking toward the kitchen door. “Come on, buddy. It’s almost your bed time. Do you want me to read you a bed time story?”
“Yeah!” cried Emery. He wrapped his arms around my neck as I carried him upstairs.
I thought my annoyance and anger at my mom would dissipate by the time I had Emery tucked in, but it didn’t. It sat inside me like a black hole, sapping my attention. I shoved it down, forcing it away from my thoughts. Emery didn’t need me angry. He was oblivious to the problems me and mom had. It would be better for all of us if it stayed that way.
For the millionth time, I thought about moving out. I could do it. I was eighteen. I could just go live with my dad. He even had a guest room that he never used—it could be my room.
But that would wreak havoc with our family. My mom would make my dad’s life a living hell. And I didn’t want to know the toll that my leaving would take on her already-weak motherhood of Emery.
No, it looked like I wouldn’t be free from her until I finally graduated high school and moved out. Where to, I didn’t know.
“All right, what story do you want me to read you?” I asked brightly, smiling down at Emery as he pulled his superhero blanket snugly around his chin.
“Don’t wanna read,” he said.
I frowned. “What? Why not? You always love a bedtime story.”
“Tell me. Tell me stowy.”
I blinked and smiled, a little put off by the request. “You want me to make something up?”
Emery nodded eagerly.
A sigh gusted between my lips. I wasn’t a story teller. What was I supposed to do, come up with a magic animal or something?
Where’s Calvin when you need him? I thought.
And then that gave me an idea, and I smiled.
I turned and leaned against the wall by his bed. Emery rolled to his side to look up at me with his big eyes. I knew that look; he’d be asleep in minutes, and then I could get back to Midrealm to find Miles and Blade.
“Okay. Well, once upon a time, there were six friends in school who all got detention on the same day.”
THE ELVES
RAVEN
HALF AN HOUR LATER, I woke on the ground of the cave. Sarah and Tess had already arrived.
“Hey,” said Sarah as soon as I rose, wip
ing sleep from my eyes. “I already called Greystone. He’s not thrilled, as you can imagine, but he’s happy to know that the others are alive, at least. He advised that we all get back to the path and meet back up as soon as possible. That sounded like good advice to me.”
“I’m all for it,” I said. “Let’s get moving.”
Together with the Runegard we led our horses into the woods. Immediately we hooked left, walking through the woods along the base of the mountain.
“That way is east,” explained Darren, pointing. “Which means that we want to head north in order to leave Elven territory and find the path.”
“Aye, and quickly, too,” grumbled Barius. “Before they realize we’re here. They’re merciless with humans.”
“They’ll bite off more than they can chew if they try to tangle with us,” I said confidently.
Darren looked at us uneasily. “Don’t underestimate the Elves. If even half the stories I’ve heard are true, they’re positively deadly. Your magic won’t help against an unseen arrow flying from the shadows of the trees.”
“Actually, it could,” said Sarah. “Tess, do you think you could maintain a field around us as we move? Nothing major, just enough to stop the Elves in case they decide to take a potshot at us?”
Tess’ visible eye widened. “I can try,” she said. We drew our horses to a halt. She sat for a moment, lost in thought as she stared at her saddle. Then her eyes flashed, and when the light died away they were pure white.
“Okay, I’ve got it,” she said.
Darren dismounted and picked up a rock, tossing it gently toward the trees a few dozen yards away. Halfway there, the rock rebounded from an invisible wall and fell back to the green grass.
Sarah smiled. “Great job, Tess. That makes me feel a lot better.”
Tess ducked her head, flashing a small grin.
Knowing Tess’ shield was up put my mind at ease, and I was able to pay more attention to the woods we were traveling through. They’d seemed beautiful last night in the pale glow of the moon. In the autumn sun, they were radiant. I saw trees I didn’t recognize, trees with twisting white trunks and bark with patterns too complex to understand. Other trees I recognized, but they were different somehow. There were ancient oaks with bright purple flowers scattered among their branches. I saw rowan trees that had thick blue fruit hanging in place of the usual small red berries. We passed a small group of birches that had bark of mellow gold rather than white. It was like something from a painting, or some crazy computer generated scene from a movie.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 20
