by Elon Vidal
Ella yelped as Nerka flicked her on the almost healed welt on her arm.
“Hey. I just introduced you.”
Ella focused on the seventeen-year-old social media debutante languishing in a faux-fur clad high-backed chair. The blue-eyed girl had purple hair, a new color since the death of her parents when her last transmission had shown her with an ombre effect of orange and red. She had an oversized bow tied in her purple hair with tiny braids lacing through it.
Is this the color of her mourning?
“It is nice to meet you, Ella and Nerka. This is Cielle.” Luna tapped her fingertips against the arms of the chair and clicked her tongue against her teeth. A white blur streaked from across the room and slowed to settle on her shoulder. A snowy ferret with brown feet pulled itself up to a foot tall, its little head slinking from side to side, beady black eyes following its head bob, peering from Nerka to Ella, taking them in as if it was analyzing them for future reference.
Ella knew there were ferrets that acted as conduits for the Durgic magic, but she hadn’t heard anything about Luna being very skilled with that practice. Was this just a pet or did it provide other purposes?
Luna reached up to her shoulder and ran her pale fingertips, nails painted a bright yellow, over the ferret’s head. The ferret nestled into her palm, then shot away again into some corner of the room. Ella realized some of the strange structures in the room that she hadn’t recognized before were for the little animal. Built up towers and tubes that were entertainment for Cielle. It was kinda cute.
Luna stood up. In a way, Ella reflected, it was like she ascended from a throne. She had a way about her that was graceful and powerful. Like a dancer who was ready to move to fight if challenged. Her movements were not without purpose but they also said “look at me” in a way that made Ella roll her eyes. She was wearing a silver blouse with large, bunched shoulders that had a long train that swept away from her behind but was short at the waist in front. Her pants were a bright purple to match her hair. She was a riveting figure. QT had been so obsessed with her feeds.
Ella’s heart thudded and her cheeks flushed. Her fists tightened at the rush of pain that accompanied the sincere sensation of missing her best friend. Again, she was forced to shove and shove and shove aside that pain as it threatened to creep back forward. If she gave into it, she wouldn’t be able to function, wouldn’t be able to make it to the library, to training sessions, to the safehouse to interrogate Luna. She had to use the sorrow and anger as an impetus to find QT, not allow it to swallow her whole.
Luna walked to a silver cart that held three different freshly squeezed juices in carafes on ice. Ella couldn’t resist saying yes to a glass of dragoneye fruit. She had only had it once before and she remembered it as both tangy and sweet. Nerka, on the other hand, snubbed it and got down to business. Ella hoped the juice would calm the pitter patter of her heart and help her focus on the purpose of their visit.
She took a sip as Nerka asked, “We are not here to ask the same questions that Master Harra of the Scorpene asked you.”
“Well, that’s good because you would have gotten the same answers. I see no reason to hide anything that would help with the investigation into who killed my parents.” Luna lifted her chin a little at the mention of her parents, but even though Ella looked for any sign of weakness, all she saw was a brimming strength in the girl’s stride, the rigidity of her backbone, and the clench of her hand on the glass. She might be feigning a lack of sadness and the appearance of having it all together, but, if so, she was doing a good job.
“What about the mention of a Crystal in one of the mines that Heroki Sintila had said to her Communications Director, Ingar Velt Hof? Especially now that he is proven to be an Underworlder.”
There was a slight tension in her jaw as Nerka mentioned Heroki, but Luna’s voice was clear.
“My grandfather was the one who closed operations in the Balite chromital mines of the north. He returned their sanctity to the dragons. The only time I heard my dad mention them, he said that there is ‘nothing more valuable there than what should stay there.’”
Ella and Nerka looked at each other, sharing the same thought: Could that mean a Crystal?
“What do you think he meant by that?” Ella asked.
Luna shrugged. “I just always assumed he meant that the dragons had their hoards there. If that’s truly a thing.”
Luna shook back her hair and pushed up the sleeve of her long, designer blouse, revealing a multi-horned dragon tattoo. It was an artist’s brushstroke etching that streaked up her arm with the dragon in flight toward her wrist. It was powerful, beautiful.
Nerka asked a few follow-up questions, but Ella was lost in the idea of a Crystal perhaps hidden under the Balite mines. The Maven had protected the Space Crystal. The Scorpene had been protecting the Chaos Crystal. Perhaps the dragons were pledged to protect one of the others? Were all the Crystals designated to be protected by a strong force? Designated to keep them away from each other, in case something very serious might happen with them all brought together at once?
Heroki Sintila seemed to want the Crystals and there was certainly something sinister about the head of the most powerful scientific and engineering tech firm on the planet. That goal, then, had to be suspect.
As Ella continued to look around, lost in her own thoughts, she saw a small black duffel peeking out from under a gaudy, brightly sequined blanket that seemed to have been hastily thrown over it. Above it was a slightly cracked open window. The window was high, but not entirely unreachable with the right devices. Was Luna planning her own escape? Ella grinned. That made Ella like her a little more.
“I told Master Harra I would reach out to the people I know in my dad’s organization, but I really don’t know much more,” Luna said.
As Ella swung her gaze back toward the girl, she realized that Luna was speaking to Nerka, but watching Ella. Ella smiled, despite herself. She hadn’t realized she had been so lost in her thoughts and she hoped Nerka would catch her up on whatever Luna had been saying.
“Do you think you could gain entrance to the Balite mines?” Ella wasn’t sure she surprised Nerka and Luna or herself more with the question.
Luna tapped her yellow nails against the luxurious sleeves of her blouse, her lips pursed in an amused pout. “Why do you think I could? I already told you, there’s no Turum operations there any more.”
“Yeah, but maybe your grandfather’s good relationship with the dragons… or, something he left you…” Ella shrugged, inviting Luna to fill in the blanks. The girl just looked at her, lavender eyes not revealing anything more.
“Well, thank you for your help, then.” Nerka’s voice was brisk but Ella could tell she sounded as disappointed as Ella felt Worth a shot.
Ella set down her glass. “Yeah, thanks, Luna. I, uh, like what you’ve done with the place here. Much less “safehouse to not die in” and more “how does a princess play hide and seek”? I’m sure your followers will really appreciate hearing from you once you’re allowed to have a transmitter back. Good luck.”
Luna’s sideways smile was almost worth the ill attempt at a joke. Ella and Nerka turned to leave.
“Wait!” Luna called. Ella and Nerka turned back. The little ferret scampered up Luna’s arm, perching on her shoulder, darting its look from one girl to the other. Luna took Cielle down into her hands, brushing the soft fur coat and holding her wily friend to her alabaster cheek.
Ella and Nerka shared a look, waiting for the mining princess to continue.
“I was just wondering if… If, or maybe, when, you think you’re going to come back? You know, to see if I have any more information for you?”
The look Ella shared with Nerka was suddenly more understanding: Luna was lonely. She was accustomed to having thousands of people clamoring for her… Even if they weren’t really her friends, they were giving her attention. Now, she really was alone.
“Well, I’m sure that Master Harra will le
t us come back to chat with you again. He takes the investigation very seriously.” Ella gestured to the window that had been cracked open in the corner and the black duffel that was tucked at the foot of it. “You sure you’ll be here when we come back to see you?”
Luna’s smile was the most genuine one she had given so far during their visit. Ella remarked that it changed the features of her face. Lunardia Turum, well known social media streaming “In Real Life” Princess and cultural icon was beautiful, no doubt. When she dyed her hair a different color, every store in the vicinity and online retailers immediately ran out of that same color. When she said a certain brand was her favorite, their stock skyrocketed. But, now, the way she flashed that earnest smile, Ella could understand how she might be able to bring even her father, the mining magnate, to his knees in any terse exchange. There was something powerful about a zest for life behind the grin that made Ella want to latch on and see where the adventure would take her. A pull toward something exotic, a push away from a life mundane.
And Ella’s life was already anything but mundane.
Luna tossed Cielle up onto her shoulder again and walked to the duffel. She threw back the blanket, zipped open the duffel and jerked out a grappling hook gun, a set of magnetized wall-walkers, a strip of small explosive devices, and a tablet that said Turum Mining on it.
Ella was stunned. This was way more preparation than she was expecting from the social media princess. What in the prism could the explosives be for?
“This was my dad’s private tablet. It has all the sources and entry keys for the backdoor code to his complexes. It will take a little bit, but I’ll be able to hack our way into any of his compounds.”
Ella and Nerka whistled low, simultaneously. “Why are you telling us you have this but not Master Harra?”
“Because I’m banking on the fact that you want to get to the Balite mines and find out what’s there, too. And you don’t want an escort of authority any more than I do. Right?”
Ella shifted uncomfortably. Hamit was trusting her to find out anything she could to help get QT back. This wasn’t quite aligned with that goal. But it might align with different ones to figure out what Sintila was up to. Learning more about the stones might help learn more about what Q.T.
“Trust me, I’m the only one that will know how to decipher my dad’s codes in here. And I’m not handing it over to anyone. You need me and I need you.”
That held up Ella for a second. She looked around the room, resplendent with toys for Cielle, the finest silk thrown over plush cushions in an otherwise sparse safehouse, chromital silverware, half-eaten rare fruits and vegetables from the Equatorial Forest that had surely been flown in for her, and Ella wondered: what could Luna possibly need from her?
So, she grunted, “I’m not quite sure I’m expensive enough for your taste.”
Nerka’s raised eyebrows echoed the sentiment.
Luna tossed the grappling hook gun back in the duffel and crossed her arms so that the dragon tattoo’s rapid flight practically leapt into the air before them. She blew out a long breath, wisping back a purple line of hair that had fallen across her pale blue eyes.
“You have the Eye of Evermore Sight, right? You know how to control it.” Ella couldn’t fathom how Luna even knew that tidbit of information. Luna’s blue eyes narrowed at her, not quite icy, but very clearly used to command. “Well, I want to know what Heroki Sintila is thinking. She killed my parents. I need to know how to bring her down.”
Ella traded a glance with Nerka as they headed toward the exit of the safehouse. The first step would be to figure out a way to get Hamit’s permission to let Luna have more freedom. The mining princess’s plan to escape through the high window might work in a pinch, but it seemed to Ella they would get a lot closer to their goals if they had the backing of strong leaders like Hamit and Athos. While it seemed like the next best goal would be getting to the mines to see if another Crystal was really there, Ella knew, deep down, that her training was really the thing holding her them back. She had to find her balance. Ella had to be able to secure her ability to trust in her control over the Eye so that when she faced Heroki Sintila, any Underworlders, or whatever else might arrive on this quest, she would have every chance to keep herself and her friends safe. Ella wouldn’t be able to bear it if she lost a second friend through a portal into another dimension. She had to recommit to her training and make sure she wasn’t the weak link. She was starting to think that, if Luna accompanied them on this task, the social media princess was going to surprise them with what an asset she actually was. She seemed to have a few tricks up those silken designer sleeves.
CHAPTER FIVE – ATTRACTION WIELDER
Nerka and Ella threaded their way through red clay hand-hewn back alleys on the outskirts of market entrances to hide their access to Luna’s safehouse. It would take them a while to get back to Ella’s house, but it was necessary to make sure they weren’t followed.
They were pacing at a mild jog through a dimly lit, narrow pathway, only wide enough for two abreast and made up of tight turns, when a shadow fluttered overhead. They dove forward, ready to break into a run as the figure landed behind them.
“Ella Larisse and Nerka Ombra, I mean you no harm.”
Run… Ella grabbed Nerka’s arm and turned to face the tall newcomer who had just dropped down from the heights of the carved rooftops in the under caverns of Scorpina, her curiosity winning out. Her intuition didn’t sense any immediate threat: but how could she really be sure?
The young man who stepped into a slight shaft of light had pale skin, active brown eyes, and black, medium-length hair that looked fairly greasy. He was probably close to twenty-years-old. Ella recognized his pretty high-quality leather riding suit and wondered if his monocycle was just as top-of-the-line. There were a few scorch marks on the knees and elbows of the suit and what could have been marks of blood streaking down the front. Surely not. Maybe oil…
“Have to say, for people who are supposed to be keeping a safehouse safe, you are not doing a great job.” The young man spoke with a slight drawl, but it seemed to be affected, as if he wasn’t wanting them to place where he was from.
Ella narrowed her eyes at him as Nerka stepped in between her and the man.
“What are you talking about?”
The man nodded down the route they had just come. “Lucky for you, I’m not after some social media princess.”
Ella stepped up beside Nerka, tension snaking up her back and gripping her neck and temple. How does he know about Luna? We have to tell Hamit. Right away…
Ella was also a little bummed that Nerka thought she needed to step into the fight first. Of course, Nerka would automatically want to be the first one into the fray. Her innate warrior training would direct that. But how much of it was due to how poorly Ella was doing in training? Her mind was just so often elsewhere these days.
Not even realizing she was going to do it, she swept her hands down the line of her daggers. The man grinned at Ella’s gesture and it was infuriatingly cocky. Partly because it was so charming. And he likely knew it.
“My name is Juro. I’m just here for a conversation. No reason for things to get nasty.”
“I like to start my conversations over tea. Maybe a little pixie dust cake on the side. Not by dropping in on people from rooftops in secluded alleys.” Ella realized that rubbing her daggers might very well have escalated the situation into a fight that this young man could be quite capable of handling. After all, he had taken a thirty-foot drop with zero trouble. That was only possible if he had some type of enhancements. If she had tried that, she would have broken her ankles or knees. Or worse.
Juro shrugged, leaning back against the red clay walls of the narrow passageway. He spread his arms out, flat on the stone, fingers curled so that the tips pressed against it making a cup out of his hands.
“You better shield your eyes.” The words were almost gentle.
“Wait--” Nerka said, but in
the next moment, Juro had released the little cup of his fingers to flatten his palms to the hand-hewn stone. With the slap of his skin against the rock, ancient dust swirled into the air from all around them.
Ella squeezed her eyes shut and tucked her arms in tight to her body, fearing the familiar pinprick of needle-like slivers that pebbles could make against your skin when trapped out in a sandstorm, but it never came.
She still heard the whirl of a dust devil around her, so she opened her eyes.
Nerka and Juro were locked in a dead stare.
Juro’s palms were pressed into the wall, his chest and head leaning outward toward Nerka, as if drawn to her, his brown eyes blazing.
Nerka’s hands were flung upward, fingers rising into a beckoning curl toward the space between them, as if she could signal each molecule to rise to her call.
Around all three of their bodies was a tight, vacant bubble of clear air. No dust had touched the inside of that bubble. It rippled an outline against their individual profiles.
Time seemed to have slowed as the dust that Juro commanded within the tiny passage stormed against their safe space of air. There was a layer of buildup on the outside of the bubble. A sheath of red dust glossing over the space that allowed Ella to breathe and feel untainted by the rushing whirl of ancient dust.
“Get back, Ella!” Nerka’s voice seemed from far away, stretched between the space between us.
Juro’s black hair waved in the suspension of the bubble that Nerka had hovered around him, protecting him, too.
Why? Why is she protecting him, too?
Ella wasn’t sure how much longer Nerka’s Space control would last as Juro assailed her with the dust, pounding repeatedly against her control. Nerka had been working a lot with Athos, but how long would this last?
It really has only been seconds…
Juro flared the dust at them, Nerka held the space untouched by his dust. Their heated stare was unrelented.
And still, the dust didn’t seem like an attack. It was just a gentle brushstroke, a caress.
