by TR Cameron
When she was ready, she kicked the wall to either side of the spear she stood on and most of the way up toward the lid to create holes for her feet that would be more stable than standing on one of the protrusions. She stabbed a spear near the top to use as a handhold, then climbed so her back was rounded against the barrier that separated her from the room upstairs.
With a shout, she lurched upward with all her might. The lid lifted a foot, which gave her the space to jam a spear at an angle between it and the floor. She positioned several more and clambered through the opening she’d made, then rolled over to stare at the ceiling as she panted with exhaustion and relief.
Fyre’s concern washed over her, and she returned giddy laughter. “It tried to kill me, buddy, but I’m okay. I don’t suppose y’all are any closer to finding me, are you?” What he sent back didn’t feel like a positive response. She shrugged. “It’s fine. It seems as if it would be against the rules to not have a way out, so as long as I can steer clear of the traps, I should be able to get the shard and find a door or something.”
She climbed slowly to her feet and the pain reminded her of the strain she’d put her body under. Before she continued, she retrieved a healing potion and drank a fourth of it to undo whatever damage had been inflicted.
“Okay. I’m halfway there.” She was, however, now at the right distance to avoid the ground entirely and took almost a full minute to scan the ceiling to ensure there weren’t any surprises waiting for her. Finally, she decided to hedge her bets, stated, “Aspida,” and launched herself in an arc toward the table at the far end and the sword shard that lay upon it. Stalactites fell and bounced off her shield, and both fire and electrical attacks surged from the columns she passed, but the protective legacy her parents had left for her was adequate to defend against them all.
Cali landed on the raised platform that held the table and banished the shield. The opening scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark played in her mind, and she hoped to not find a gigantic boulder awaiting her. She wrapped her hands in force magic and grasped the blade. Nothing happened for the first moment, then a grinding sound issued from the wall in front of her. It lifted to reveal a passage. She shook her head. “Nope. No way. I’ve had enough.”
She attempted to summon a portal and was half-shocked when the spell completed and the outside of the mountain was revealed. Before anything could go wrong, she ran through it and a surge of happiness from Fyre streamed across their connection.
It took them a dozen minutes to find each other and another ten to compare stories. When she’d regained enough energy for the spell, they returned to the basement of the Drunken Dragons. They climbed the stairs together, Cali barely able to put one foot in front of the other, and claimed seats at the bar. She looked at her watch and saw that she had exactly an hour before her shift started. With a sigh, she handed the blade to Zeb. “Put that somewhere and wake me in fifty-five minutes.”
He shook his head. “You’ll need to shower before you work, girl. You look like you’ve been swimming in a swamp.”
“Fifty minutes, then,” she mumbled, already on her way into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Six
After work the night before, Cali had returned to the bunker and stored the shard safely before she collapsed for twelve hours of blissful sleep. She’d bounced out of bed in the early afternoon filled with energy. Frye wasn’t nearly as peppy and looked at her with one eye open while she raced around getting ready. Finally, when her hair was clean, conditioned, and properly wrangled and she was dressed in her favorite jean shorts and t-shirt, she poked him.
“Let’s go, lazybones. We’re taking a walk.”
With a growl that changed pitch as he stretched, the Draksa jumped to the floor. A ripple formed around him as the illusion took hold and he became a Rottweiler to everyone but her. She opened the front door and he dashed through. The sun glowed fiercely beyond the confines of the building, and she squinted and slipped on a pair of gaudy white plastic sunglasses.
He looked over his shoulder and smirked. “I didn’t know you were an Elton John impersonator.”
“Shut it, you.” She rolled her neck and stretched her arms over her head, then bent to touch the ground with her palms. “Okay, let’s keep it under a brisk walk. I don’t want to be all sweaty when we see Scoppic.” It was a dozen blocks or so to the library, and she kept her gaze moving and her mind open in case a threat should appear unexpectedly. Fortunately, none did, and she was soon inside the air-conditioned splendor of one of her favorite places.
It was quiet and only a few students and about the same number of adults worked at tables, while a handful more made their way through the shelves of books. The visible staff was all human, and each gave her a smile as she passed through the huge, well-lit room. She had spent many hours there doing schoolwork or simply hiding out from the rest of the world before she discovered the full extent of her magical ability. In all that time, she’d never paid attention to the door she headed to now.
It lay at the back of the large first floor and claimed to be only for staff. She knew the proper words and magics to defeat the wards, however, and in moments, she entered the arcane library that existed beneath the public one. Three levels high, the expansive space was a cross between an elegant living room and a work of modern art with glass stairs, bookshelves on the walls reaching to the ceiling, and scattered desks, couches, chairs, and tables. It was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever seen and was also the frequent domain of the gnome, Scoppic, who was as pleasant and encouraging as the library was impressive.
She found him at his desk at the rear of the middle level, with a tower of books stacked on a side of the wooden surface. He broke into a grin at their appearance. “Fyre, Caliste, welcome back!” Thus far, he’d given her no reason to believe that his enthusiastic goodwill was anything other than genuine.
Cali sat across from him, and the Draksa walked in a circle once beside the desk, then lay where the librarian could see him. On an earlier visit, Scoppic had been very excited to meet one of the creatures in the real world that he’d only read about previously, and Fyre had basked in his appreciation.
“You are such a glutton for attention,” she sent and received mirth over their mental connection.
She looked at the gnome. “So, I had a few questions I wondered if you could help me with.”
He nodded. “It’s what I do, Matriarch.” He laughed. “Such an exciting time for you, being named leader of your house!”
His sincerity was undeniable, and she had no wish to quash it. “Exciting is a good word for it.” She chuckled. “Actually, that’s part of the reason I’m here. I’ve discovered that a member of my line was once exposed to a certain poison. Because of the danger of it happening again, I’m looking for any records that might exist of magical poisons, especially those from Atlantis Old or New.”
He tapped a finger against the desk and remained silent for half a minute, then brightened. “I don’t have much on New Atlantean poison craft, but we do have a copy of the book that’s considered to be the definitive work on potions, which also includes poisons.” He gestured for her to rise and led her and the Draksa down a flight of stairs to the base of one of the bookshelves. He looked up, and she did the same. “Up there…the red spine. Do you see it?”
She did, but her telekinetic abilities were limited enough that she’d probably bring down the whole shelf if she tried to retrieve the tome in the usual manner. “Oh, I can see it but I can’t reach it. I could send Fyre up, but his claws are fairly sharp.”
A look of horror appeared on his face in the moment before he realized she was kidding, then vanished under a smile. “Very funny, Caliste. Very funny indeed.” He raised a palm and the book slid out from the shelves and descended to hover above at chest height.
Quickly, she caught the oversized tome and hugged it to her chest. “Thank you, as always. I’ll spend some time with this and see you if I have additional questions
if that’s all right.”
“Of course. Please do.” He moved away to do something else on the bottom level, and she climbed the stairs to a desk large enough to hold the book. She set it down softly to avoid making noise and bothering the other patrons who circulated quietly throughout the magical library before she glanced at Fyre. “If I’d known this place existed a year ago, I would have spent all my time here.”
He smiled but chose not to respond and instead, curled under the desk. She hadn’t had an opportunity to research it but had warmed to the belief that most Draksa wouldn’t or couldn’t talk. Nylotte had said that Fyre was different and perhaps that was why. In any case, it didn’t matter as long as her partner remained happy and safe.
Cali turned her attention to the book. It was written longhand in a sweeping and beautiful style. A vague hint of vanilla coated her tongue. She wasn’t sure why her strange ability to read people had also become a magic detector but assumed it had to do with the overall increase in her power and magical knowledge. This felt like a protection spell of some kind, probably to prevent the pages from degrading over time.
Maybe it’s part of Scoppic’s job to keep the magics on all the books active or topped off or whatever. That would be a mammoth task.
The table of contents informed her that the chapters on poisons lay near the back, so she leafed through until she found it. An index filled the front page of the section, but none of the names seemed familiar. With a sigh, she turned to the first and started reading.
After several hours that brought her not a single step closer to finding a cure for Atreo, it had been time to go to work, time to sleep, time to train, and time to take the new shard to Alessand in the Kemana Stonesreach with Nylotte’s assistance. He’d looked at it, given her a wide smile, and told her to return in a few days, when he’d have something to show her. Now, twenty or so hours after she’d entered the library, she had to return to New Atlantis. Her appointment with the Malniets for later that night weighed on her mind as she headed to the Drunken Dragons Tavern.
Zeb held down the fort alone with Janice scheduled to come in to help out in the evening. They exchanged a few words, but he was busy and she was distracted, and the conversation quickly faltered. Invel chose the perfect moment to enter, and they both greeted the Dark Elf. His ashen hair was pulled into a ponytail, which made his handsome face with its patches of lighter colored skin his most notable feature.
“And hello to you two as well.” He wore a formal outfit, a black suit over a matching shirt, with a fashionable cane to assist with his limp.
Of course, for all I know, that’s an affectation. You can never tell what lengths some people will go to in order to confuse their enemies. That truth was always a good thing to remember, given her deepening involvement in the cesspool of New Atlantean noble politics.
Zeb sounded exceptionally gruff. “Are you headed to New Atlantis with the girl, then?” Cali rolled her eyes. The dwarf knew he was and also the reason behind it. She could never fully understand the relationship between the two of them and only knew they tended to be allied when it came to arguing with the other members of the council.
The Drow smiled. “Indeed so. I’ve never been there so this should be an interesting experience.”
Fyre snorted and she grinned. “Yeah, interesting is a way to describe it. I have a few other words that aren’t quite as polite but also apply.”
Invel chuckled. “As with all places, doubtless good and bad wage their eternal battle there as well.”
“Speaking of battles, it’s time we headed out. I need a couple of hours with Emalia before the fight tonight.” She hefted the large backpack that contained the gear she’d retrieved from the bunker so it would sit more comfortably on her shoulder. Turning to Zeb, she added, “I should be back for work tomorrow.”
The dwarf nodded. “Send word if you can’t make it.” He refrained from teasing her about Janice—which was a smart move, all things considered. With a short wave, she turned and strode to the basement, trusting that the Draksa and the Drow would follow.
Cali stood awkwardly in the doorway as Emalia and Invel hugged one another. “Is this weird?” she sent to Fyre. “This is weird and it feels weird.” He responded with the kind of amusement that left no question that he was laughing at her, not with her.
She stepped forward with a growl. “Okay, you two, break it up. Jenkins, introduce yourself to Invel and show him where his room is.”
And if he doesn’t plan to stay in it, I do not want to know.
The ghostly presence announced himself and did his trick with the lights to lead the Dark Elf away.
Emalia grinned at her. “Are you blushing, Caliste?”
She shook her head. “No. Whatever. Did you find any more pieces of the sword?”
“No, but I did discover something else useful.” She made a motion like a magician plucking a coin from the air, and a charm appeared in her hand. “This one is for creating light. Your intention sets the bar for how much is created, from merely a dim candle to a wickedly blinding glare.”
Cali pulled the chain holding her other charm over her head and handed it to her great aunt so she could attach the new one. “Like, permanent blindness?” That was a little more power than she’d be comfortable using under most circumstances.
The other woman nodded. “I think it could be. Again, it’s all about intention. You tell it what you want, and it seems to provide it.”
“Okay.” She accepted it and put it on again, noticing that Emalia had also added another pendant with the shield logo on it. “What’s the command? And does this double the shield, or what?”
“No, not double. But the second one will be a good backup for when the first is consumed.”
“Smart. Thank you.”
Her aunt rewarded the compliment with a small smile. “The trigger word for the light charm is Iubar.”
She chuckled as it sounded like you-bar, which fit her life fairly well. “Iubar. Got it. Does it make a globe or something?”
“No. It merely glows. You’ll want to shut your eyes if you use it as a weapon.”
“Will do. Fyre, I’ll warn you ahead of time.” The Draksa nodded and she turned to face Emalia. “Okay. We only have a couple of hours before the fight. I need you to try to teach me a few things.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Jenkins had recommended the main ballroom for their training session, to which Cali had replied, “The main what now?” But when he led her to it, she recalled seeing it in passing, although she’d thought it was a formal dining room waiting for furniture. With her current level of knowledge, though, she could easily see how a gathering of the Nine would fit perfectly as the chamber had enough space to accommodate forty or so with ease.
The floor was made of beautiful wood planks polished to a high shine. One wall was entirely windows, and the others were blank. “Was there furniture in here once?” she asked,
“Oh yes,” Jenkins replied. “This room was to be redone before your parents were forced to leave. After, with all that had happened, the work was never completed. The items that were removed are in storage in one of the outbuildings.”
Emalia nodded. “So that’s what I saw. I wondered where all that was from since it was clearly too big for the place in which I found it.”
The lights reached full intensity, and Cali walked into the center of the room. “Okay, we should leave the conversation about home furnishings until later, I guess, or at least not a couple of hours before I have to fight for my life.”
Her great aunt followed and stopped a few feet away from her. “What do you want to learn?”
“Lightning.” She’d told the older woman about the lightning net she’d faced recently, the lightning line the Malniet had used during the last battle, and her desire to generally be able to use that form of magic. She was comfortable with her control of fire and force and had no interest in learning shadow, which somehow seemed like an evil power.
> Of the dark side, it is. She laughed at her internal Yoda voice, exactly as she always did.
“In some ways, lightning is the most challenging power to master, as it requires extreme focus to maintain. Are you sure that’s the right choice for you?”
Cali chuckled at the double meaning of the words. “Yes, I’m sure I want to pursue it and yes, I think I’m competent enough to handle the challenge.”
Emalia grinned. “Okay, then. Clear your mind.”
She went through her mental routine, locked the unnecessary thoughts in their corners, and confined them with caution tape. The process took notably less time than it used to and no longer required her to close her eyes. “I’m ready.”
“Imagine your electrical power is something like a disobedient animal.” Fyre interrupted with a growl and they both laughed, and the woman swiveled her head in his direction. “I would never call you disobedient or an animal, Fyre.” She returned her gaze to her niece. “You will tell it to do the thing you wish it to do, but the power will strive to do whatever it wants to do when you release its leash—even more than fire does.”
She nodded. Her early experiments with fire magic had taught her that lesson well. It wasn’t quite alive but definitely had its own opinions on where to go. “Okay. I get that.”
“Good. Now, unlike fire—which you can think of as similar to water coming out of a hose—electricity has to be gathered. It’s already everywhere and you need to draw the strands together into a point and push that point forward. The lightning will seek to branch out again because that is its nature. You must fight constantly to shape the power into what you need it to be.”
“Wait, so you’re telling me that the lightning line and net were both magics that required a continuous battle to maintain?”
“That’s very well put. Exactly. You’ll apportion a part of your mind to maintaining and controlling it. Eventually, that should become second nature. Until then, though, you’ll have to be vigilant.” She walked to the far end of the room and conjured a transparent wall of force in front of her with an absent wave of her hand. “Now, try to strike me in the chest. Don’t worry, my magic will block yours.”
