“I have an idea about how to find Arden,” Merrick said.
“But the storyteller said there was no divinium to be found in that forest,” Jonathan said.
“He said he hadn’t heard of any divinium being found there,” Merrick said. “That doesn’t mean it’s not there.”
“He also said that its trees had never burned down,” Jonathan said.
“Maybe it hadn’t burned down back then,” Merrick said. “A lot can happen since the beginning of creation.”
CHAPTER 64
FROM THE FIRST DAY Cara met Merrick, she had always been the strong one—the one who knew where things were headed. She had been his teacher.
She knew that Merrick had a crush on her at first, but she was used to dealing with men who felt that way about her. She wasn’t the best looking woman in the world by far, but she was athletic, slim, and had a pretty face framed by short blonde hair.
Best of all—as far as she was concerned—she was also intelligent.
And Cara knew that Merrick was attracted to smart women.
If she was honest with herself, she had been attracted to Merrick when they first met as well.
For a while, they had thought that Ohman was their father by different mothers, and that had, of course, put a damper on any relationship potential between the two of them.
By the time Merrick discovered that Ohman wasn’t his real father, she and Merrick had become friends, and over the last six months they had built up a solid respect and even admiration for each other also as co-workers.
Merrick had matured more over the last year than Cara had expected him to, and she had found her opinion of him grow as well.
When Cara had first met Mona, she had been, not jealous, but surprised that Merrick was so attracted to her. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with Mona, but Merrick was so special. She used to think that he could do…well, better.
After their adventure together, Cara witnessed the fierce loyalty that Mona had for Merrick, and she saw Mona more than prove her value in a fight. Mona may have only been human, but she and Merrick started to make a little more sense to her as a couple. And over the last six months, she and Mona had become friends, further solidifying the fact that Cara and Merrick were not meant to be.
But while waiting for Merrick to return from the Cloud City, Cara could not help but admit to herself that she was more than just eagerly awaiting his return.
She was missing him and almost longing to see him again. And suddenly she realized how close she and Merrick had become since working together.
Despite this, when the Master Keeper said that he wanted Cara to sit on the throne as Merrick’s Queen, her first inclination had been to dismiss the idea as outlandish. After a few hours of mulling the idea over, however, parts of it started to make sense.
Merrick had royal blood in his veins. That was for sure. He at least had the Queen’s blood in him. Because he didn’t know who his father was from the Fire Tribe, it was also possible that he had a royal connection with them as well.
Then there was Cara. Even though she was a half-blood, her Drayoom half was also of royal lineage.
And now that Merrick had cheated on Mona—and Cara hated herself for even thinking of it—a part of her entertained the possibility that she and Merrick might not be such a bad pairing after all if Merrick and Mona didn’t end up staying together.
Cara was surprised and even ashamed of her thoughts and her feelings, but they were what they were, and she could not help that they existed no matter how much she tried to deny them.
She was also her father’s daughter, and she had been raised to think logically. And as much as it pained her to admit it to herself, she and Merrick made sense on more than one level, no matter how much that reality might hurt Mona.
It was with these thoughts in her mind that Cara arrived with Mona at the residence of the healer and helped her friend inside.
CHAPTER 65
THE SAME HEALER who had given Bradley a new leg was still there when Mona and Cara arrived, inquiring about Mona’s health. The healer was an old woman, but she appeared strong despite her advanced years.
“I apologize for intruding,” Cara said, “but Mona collapsed about fifteen minutes ago, and we don’t know what’s wrong with her.”
Cara turned to Mona.
“You said you haven’t been feeling well all week?”
The healer looked at Mona who had just sat down at the main table.
“I haven’t been feeling well,” Mona said, “but I think that might be because...”
“It’s all right dear,” the healer said, placing a delicate hand on Mona’s shoulder. “Anything you say will be kept between the three of us. Is that not correct, Cara?”
“Of course,” Cara said.
“You have to promise not to tell Merrick until I’m ready,” Mona said to Cara.
“You have my word,” Cara said.
Mona looked down at the ground.
“I’m pregnant,” Mona said as she started to cry. “I feel so stupid now that I know Merrick cheated on me. I’ve spent so long thinking about how happy we were both going to be when I told him. And now...”
Cara put her arm around Mona and hugged her while she wept.
“How far along are you?” the healer said. “Not more than eight weeks I imagine. I can barely tell from your figure. Tell me more about how you’ve been feeling, dear.”
Mona and Cara separated, and Mona dried her eyes with her sleeve.
“I started feeling sick after we traveled to the Wind Family’s outpost back in Virginia.”
“How many times have you traveled with the dragons lately?” the healer said.
“Too many times in the last week,” Mona said. “Twice with Araki, once with Sigela, and once with Terrada. I felt a little better after the trip with Terrada, though.”
The healer slowly nodded her head and knitted her eyebrows.
“I see,” the healer said, as she pulled up a chair and sat in front of Mona. “Let me look at your hands, my dear. Put them out, palms up, please.”
Mona did as she was asked, and the healer moved her fingers lightly over Mona’s wrists, the way a guitarist moved up and down a fret board.
“I’m listening to your pulses. A bit thready, but you’re all there at least,” the healer said, with a low chuckle.
“Pulses?” Mona said.
“Blood isn’t the only substance coursing through our bodies, even with human ones like yours. Now try not to talk, please. This won’t hurt at all. I just need to feel around a bit.”
The healer moved from Mona’s wrists to her abdomen. She put her wrinkled hands up Mona’s shirt and felt her stomach.
The healer closed her eyes and turned her head as if listening for a distant sound.
Cara opened her mouth to ask a question, but without even looking up, the old lady looked at her and shook her head only once before focusing again on Mona.
After a few minutes, the healer removed her hands from Mona’s stomach and sat back.
“I hear what I would expect to hear,” the healer said. “There are no sounds out of the ordinary, which is good.”
Both Cara and Mona seemed to relax a little, and their shoulders lost their tension.
“However, traveling with the dragons is not advised when you are with child. Your baby does not yet have its own identity, and even though your thoughts were enough to keep your child whole, each time you journey with a dragon...it opens up certain possibilities and makes your child vulnerable.”
Cara raised her eyebrows.
“Vulnerable?”
“To the dragons of course. The child inside Mona already has Earth, Fire, and human blood in its veins. It is likely that both Terrada and Sigela have whispered in the baby’s ear already to give your son his creation name.”
“Did you say, my son?” Mona said.
“Yes, my dear. Can’t you feel that it’s a boy?” the healer said. “How sad and
difficult it must be to be a human...
“As I was saying, both Terrada and Sigela likely have already spoken to your child, much as they both did with Merrick before he was born. There is a danger—and only a danger, mind you—that Araki may have taken the opportunity, when you traveled with him, to also speak to your child. This may not be a bad thing, but it’s difficult to say.
“The Wind Dragon can be gracious and kind one day and brutal and cruel the next. There is no way of knowing whether Araki added something to your son’s name until he grows older and begins to learn his magic. Possibly even not until he remembers his creation name.”
The healer got up from her chair with the dexterity of a middle-aged woman.
“For now,” she said, “there is nothing to be done about it. Other than to avoid traveling with the dragons again until after your son is born.”
Both Cara and Mona thanked the healer and made their way to the door.
Once outside the healer’s room, Mona turned to Cara.
“I know you and Merrick are very close,” Mona said, “but you promised me you wouldn’t tell him anything about this. He and I need to figure things out between the two of us, and I don’t want the baby to affect his decision.”
“You still have my word, but what decision are you talking about?” Cara said.
“Whether he wants to stay with me or not,” Mona said. “I’m angry and hurt as hell right now, but I still love him, Cara, and I’ll do what it takes on my end to fix this and make us work as long as he’s willing to do the same thing.”
“Maybe we should find him now. I’m sure he’s worried to death about you.”
“I’m not ready for that yet. Will you tell him that I’m all right, Cara? I’m going to see if I can stay with Balach and his mother for now. I just need a little time.”
CHAPTER 66
MASTER BANZO GRUNTED.
“How do you plan on finding a mythical piece of land that has remained hidden since the beginning of time?”
“Simple,” Merrick said. “I’ll recreate Abred’s journey. Travel to Annoon, build a boat, and keep sailing until I hit land.”
“That’s what happened according to the myth,” Jonathan said. “Stories change as they get passed down through the generations. A thousand years ago, the tale might have been completely different. There might not even have been a forest in the original version of the story, or maybe Abred and his family flew to their new home instead of sailing there. You have no way of knowing what really happened.”
“With normal cultures, I’d agree with you,” said Merrick. “But the Drayoom families have successfully remembered the names of every one of their ancestors across the millennia. I think there’s a very good chance the story we just heard is exactly as it was told the first time.”
Jonathan shook his head and stepped away from Merrick while Master Banzo eyed Merrick thoughtfully.
“Do you even know how to sail, much less build a boat?” he asked.
Merrick looked down at the ground.
“I’ll admit I haven’t figured that part out yet.”
“I’ve never built one before,” Jonathan said, “but I was practically raised on a boat, and I know the basics of how the hulls have to be shaped to stay afloat and cut through the water. I’ll come with you and help, even if I do think you’re crazy.”
“I agree with Jonathan,” Master Banzo said. “I will help you as well, if you are going to move ahead with your search anyway. If the forest exists, we will find it together.”
“I want to help, too,” Bradley said. “You’ve seen my leg in action. I’m ready.”
Merrick was quiet and stared at the empty tabletop in front of him.
“You don’t know how much it means to me that you are all offering to help,” he said. “But I have to do this alone,” he said.
“You can’t go by yourself, Merrick,” Jonathan said.
Merrick felt a familiar hand on his back.
“Where are you planning on going?” Cara said.
Merrick turned to face Cara and held her by her shoulders.
“Is Mona all right?” he said, his face filled with dread.
“She’s fine...physically,” Cara said, staring directly into Merrick’s eyes. “But the healer says she has to rest and not travel anymore for now with Terrada or any of the other dragons. The healer wants her to stay here for a few days and get her strength back.”
“Can I see her?” Merrick said.
“Let’s talk for a minute,” she said, as she pulled Merrick away from the larger group. “Mona needs to rest, and she needs some time to think. You really hurt her, Merrick, but she still wants to make it work.”
Merrick was silent. He inhaled and then let out his breath slowly.
“I’m not sure whether to be relieved or not,” he said. “Isn’t that sad? I used to try to find my passion and my meaning through my relationships, and Mona used to give me a lot of that. Now I have both of those things from being a Drayoom, working at Rune Corp, and carrying on Ohman’s work. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have a purpose. I have passion. And it’s not dependent on anyone else.
“I still love Mona, and I feel guilty as hell, but when I was in the Cloud City, I also felt alive in a way that I’m not accustomed to feeling. And I liked it. Even if Tamami or Mr. Kawagishi used some kind of magic to make me feel that way, I still liked the way it felt to be with…well, with someone of my own kind. Call me a bad person if you want, but I can’t help how I feel.”
Cara sighed.
“Sleeping with another woman was definitely a jerk move, but I don’t think you’re a bad person, Merrick. I think you’re just now coming to terms with some of the ways your life has changed over the last year—things you didn’t have time to process when you were worried about saving the world from your brother.
“Life is clear and simple when there’s a bad guy for everyone to rally against. Being that focused lets you ignore the other parts of your life. Dealing with your day-to-day life and relationships—that’s the difficult part.
“I’m not surprised that you like being with your own kind. That’s only natural. I’m only half Drayoom, but it’s hard for me sometimes to be with humans every day, all day long. I can only imagine how you must feel sometimes.
“But you owe it to Mona to decide whether you want to make it work with her or not, because that woman is not a quitter, and she’ll try to make it work if you let her. Figure out what you want to do, and then let her know. But right now she needs to be by herself.”
“Maybe this is a good time to go after all,” Merrick said.
“Go where?” Cara said.
“To find the Forgotten Forest of Abred,” Merrick said. “I think that’s where your father was getting the divinium for Rune Corp.”
Cara raised a single eyebrow.
“Did you say, Arden?”
“I understand that it might just be a mythical place that doesn’t really exist,” Merrick said, “but...”
“No,” Cara said, “I’m sure it exists. Unlike humans, we don’t tell stories about events that didn’t really occur. I’ve even heard of others in the past trying to find the Forgotten Forest, but no one ever has been successful. Why do you think you have a chance of finding it?”
“Because I’ve been to Annoon before,” Merrick said. “I plan on going back, retracing Abred’s path, according to the Master Storyteller, and finding the forest. Jonathan and Master Banzo both want to join me, but I think they should go back with you to Rune Corp. Just in case the Emperor decides to attack and just take what he wants.”
Cara looked pensive and pursed her lips together.
“I actually think that makes sense,” Cara said. “You know your way around Annoon, I’ll give you that much.
“I agree with you about Rune Corp, too. It’s a risk we can’t ignore. Plus, I’ve felt bad about being gone for this long anyway.”
Cara gestured to Master Banzo and the others
to join her and Merrick.
“I need you to return to Rune Corp with me,” Cara said. “After I make sure everything is in order back in Tysons Corner, I’ll come back here and check on Mona and Merrick.”
“You don’t need to do that,” Merrick said, “Doing all that extra traveling doesn’t make much sense.”
“Neither does going to Annoon alone,” Cara said.
Merrick thought about the trip ahead of him and knew Cara was right.
“I’ll take Jonathan, then,” Merrick said, turning to the younger Alpha. “If you’re still up for going. Your knowledge about boats will come in handy.”
Jonathan nodded.
“I’ll take Master Banzo, Bradley, and Heinin with me, along with the cube,” Cara said, “to prepare Rune Corp for the worst.”
“Maybe when I get back, I’ll have my head screwed on tighter, and Mona will be ready to talk to me.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Cara said, “or as close as we’re going to get to one.”
“But I need to speak to her for just a second before I go,” Merrick said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Cara said.
“I respect your opinion,” Merrick said, “but I have to let her know I’m not just running away—that I’ll be back.”
Cara nodded, and Merrick turned to the others.
“Master Banzo, I need you to lead the Alphas back home and get all of our people ready for an invasion. Bradley, I want you to arm the Alphas and any of the other employees who are willing to fight with the latest weaponry your brilliant mind can come up with. Heinin, I’ll understand if you stay here, but if something goes down, we could use your help back in Tysons, too.”
“I’ll go,” Heinin said, his young chest pushed out, showing his pride at being singled out for being able to help the cause.
“How can I help?” Balach said.
“Mona was hoping she could stay with you for a few days,” Cara said. “I dropped her off at your house on the way over here. Your mother was talking with her, giving her advice, when I left.”
The Equilibrium of Magic Page 32
