Firemancer Collection (Fated Saga Box Set Book 1) (36 page)

A new voice filled the night sky.

‘I am humbled to be amongst friends. We are forever in debt to our new neighbors, the Tunkapog, for their help these many months in preparing our new home, and for tonight, this needed and gracious feast. I am also delighted to learn that we were able to cure the Tunkapog from the fatal disease brought here by bad magic.

‘To my fellow settlers, I have also made the decision that from this day forth, in memory of our journey and those lost to us, that this day each year we will hold such a feast. It will be called Thanksgiving, a day to remember and give thanks for what friends and blessings remain.’

He toasted the entire group, which filled the massive beach. Cheers and cries returned the toast.

‘If I could have your attention, one last time,’ Nethaniel then spoke. ‘I have made another decision, one that affects us all. Now that we have a home, I feel it is only fitting that we also have a name.’

Full attention was on Nethaniel Bedgewood as he spoke, from the audience in the sky, and on the ground below.

‘From this day forth, as a neverending reminder of the peace each and every one of us strive for, we shall be known as the Svoda, the People of Light.’”

The crowd in the scene roared, along with the crowd watching on the ground below. The scene above began to fade and the sky once again became dark and starless, as a light snow began to fall. The stone chairs moved back into normal sitting position, the pumpkin lanterns were lit once again, and the crowd began to disperse.

Ivan tilted his head toward Meghan.

“Not what you expected was it?” he said snidely.

“You talking to me?” she questioned.

“I was simply noting the fact that you did not think this would be worth your time!” He got up and left, leaving a speechless Meghan, for the second time that night.

Colin and Jae swore they saw steam bursting from her ears, and after a tense minute, she finally mustered out the words, “I hate that boy.”

Sheila leaned her head on Irving’s shoulder as they walked home. He held her arm tightly in one hand, and grasped his daughters in the other. Jae walked behind alongside the twins. Ivan sauntered behind them, deep in thought.

Meghan had the strange feeling he was watching her and wanted to turn around and throw something at him.

“Wasn’t that incredible?” exclaimed Jae.

“That was pretty wild,” agreed Meghan.

“Banon Blackwell stores up extra magic all year for that,” Jae added.

Colin had questions he wanted to ask Jae, but Meghan cut him off.

“This is not the place, Col, we better wait.”

Before they reached the Mochrie house, Darcy Scraggs confronted the trio.

“So, Mr. Jacoby, do you have what I asked for?”

“No. I have nothing for you,” he stuttered back.

“Well well well, going to be some trouble brewing, isn’t there?” She raised her hand as if she were going to use a spell; the three gasped and ducked as Darcy shrieked with laughter and scurried away.

“Is it possible,” thundered Meghan, “to go just one day without having a problem around here?”

“What kind of problem?” It was Ivan, looking smug (so Meghan thought at least).

“Just Darcy Scraggs, Ivan, been hassling us a lot lately,” explained Jae.

“What about?” he asked.

“Oh, no one thing, just our general ability to exist.”

“Sounds like good ‘ole Darcy. Good luck with that!” He sauntered off, losing interest.

“That was too close,” said Jae, relieved.

“I agree,” chorused the twins. They hurried inside, where an odd scene was unraveling. Irving, Sheila and Mireya knelt over the basement door, their ears glued to floor.

“Is that knocking?” asked Jae.

“Corny?” questioned Sheila.

Irving bent over to open the door. The others stepped back, waiting as the door creaked open, but nothing happened. They leaned in closer, when from the musty darkness below a wrinkled hand holding a tablet of paper pushed up through. Jae grabbed the paper and Corny’s hand disappeared; they could hear the sandpaper shuffle as his shoes skidded across the basement floor.

“I think this is for you, Colin,” said Jae, humorously. Colin grabbed it. The drawing was identical to the others.

“That’s four now,” counted Meghan. “You totally have a new best friend,” she joked.

“Whatever,” he snapped back.

Ivan’s eyes combed over the page from the top of the stair; he took a fleeting glance at Colin before disappearing into his room.

“How strange,” said Sheila. “He does appear to have taken a liking to the boy.”

“That’s good, for Corny,” replied Irving. They shielded their laughter, disappearing into the kitchen.

##

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Later, upstairs, they waited impatiently for Mireya to fall asleep. Meghan had told Jae they wanted to ask him about the retelling. Once she was soundly sleeping, Jae motioned for them climb up to the loft. The twins eagerly followed. Jae opened the small door to the hidden crawl space and they crawled inside. After two feet they entered a square room, which was tall enough only to sit in.

“We need to talk softly, but it’s safe,” he said, lighting a candle. Colin’s heart raced. He felt as though he were passing along dark secrets to a spy, and as he thought that, he realized it was somewhat true.

“I’ve never figured out what this room was built for,” said Jae, “but it sure is handy tonight.”

Colin’s curiosity got the better of him and he assaulted Jae with questions about the retelling.

“That was an unbelievable story, Jae. Do those enemies still exist? Have you ever seen them? I can’t believe there are scarier things out there than Scratchers.”

“I can’t say for sure that they do,” answered Jae. “But our real enemy does; the one who actually ordered those creatures to take down our ships.”

“Who is that?” asked Colin, not sure he wanted to know.

“The Grosvenor,” replied Jae. “Immortal beings,” he added in a low whisper.

“That sort of thing exists?” muttered Colin.

“Unfortunately. Do you remember when I told you, back in Cobbscott, that magic was nearly wiped out a long time ago? The Grosvenor are responsible for the battle that caused that. They even killed off their own kind, it didn’t matter to them.”

“Their own kind?” questioned Meghan.

“Vetala. Otherwise known as Vampyres. Not Vampyres in the sense of what your world thinks of them, as they do not suck blood. What they do is just as monstrous though. They can suck the life force out of any living thing,” Jae told them.

“And the Grosvenor still hunt you?” asked Colin.

“Yes, and if they get the opportunity, they will destroy all magic but their own.”

“You mean they want to take over the world kind-a-thing,” Meghan confirmed.

“On the bright side, though, even in all the years since that battle, they have not succeeded.”

The twins exhaled in unison. They were now included on the list of magical things to destroy. They saw no bright side.

“Do they send the Scratchers after you?” Colin asked after a minute.

“It’s likely. I think the Viancourt believes that the person you heard speaking to the Scratchers, at the pine tree back in Cobbscott…”

“The one you called the Scratchman,” interrupted Colin.

“Yes. It is possible that what you saw could have been one of the Grosvenor, which is a terrifying thought to consider, that one of them could have been so close.”

Meghan did not want to think about terrifying any longer and decided it was time to discuss the Tunkapog.

“Did you know that Camp Agunkpot is owned and run by someone from the Tunkapog Tribe?” she asked.

“Yes,” answered Jae slowly. “That’s right. I don’t know why it never dawned on me before now. You’re good friends with the owner of the campground, Kanda Macawi,” he remembered.

“She is our longest friend,” said Meghan. “Our Uncle Arnon knew her long before we were even born.”

“I guess nothing should surprise me about you two anymore,” Jae noted.

They sat for a moment trying to figure out what it meant. But again, there were no answers. After awhile, Colin got a chill and they decided it was time for bed.

“This new world we are stuck in sure keeps getting stranger and stranger,” sent Colin. “I wish we could talk to Uncle Arnon. I have so many questions I want to ask him.”

“Yeah, well that ain’t gonna happen,” she shot back more harshly than she’d meant to. They were both tired of having no answers to their ever-growing pile of questions.

The trio crawled out of the tiny room and disappeared behind their curtains.

Two dreadful things happened during the night:

First, Meghan had a nightmare that was identical to her vision of Jae, and once again, her new ability forced her to watch her friend being tortured. She awoke, petrified. Jae had been happier lately. Why would this nightmare return? A sense of helplessness settled like a suffocating veil over her thoughts.

Second, much to the dismay of Colin, he was abruptly awakened in the night by a foul smell, and opened his eyes to see the face of Corny Tibbit bulging down at him. He handed him two more sheets of paper, covered in the same scribbling as before, and then shuffled away.

Jae was the only other in the room to witness the occurrence. “Weird! Wicked weird,” Jae said, locking the bedroom door.

The smell of sour breath and the sight of rotted teeth sifted through Colin’s restless mind.

Meghan, once again in a deep slumber, found her dreams invaded.

“My dreams may be dangerous,” she silently yelled at him, “but yours are just gross!”

##

##

An unexpected knock at the door interrupted breakfast. Ivan, who was racing down the stairs, shouted, “I’ll get it.” Shortly after, he walked into the kitchen holding two letters in his hand.

“Pantin Hollee delivered these.” He kept one and half-heartedly handed the other to Meghan. Irving glanced at the letter in Ivan’s hand.

“Is that what I think it is? Hard work does pay off!” Irving said, as if a point he had made a thousand times, was now proven true.

“What is it?” asked Colin eagerly.

Meghan opened hers. Inside was a letter written expressly to her.

To Meghan Jacoby,

You are cordially invited to the annual Up and Comer’s Christmas Dinner, as the invited guest of Banon Juliska Nandalia Blackwell.

Formal attire required, 7pm on December the Twenty-First.

Congratulations on this honor,

Pantin, Hollee Troast

“Such an honor,” breathed Sheila, dreamily. “Only youngsters Banon Blackwell feels are truly worthy are asked to attend each year,” she added.

Ivan’s letter read the same. Colin wanted to be happy for Meghan, but hadn’t both he and Jae done better than she had on the school exams?

Jae watched his father gloat over Ivan, who, if Meghan was being completely honest, appeared to be humbly embarrassed.

Sheila snatched Meghan’s letter, gazing longingly at it, reminiscing.

“These dinners used to be grand balls when we lived on the island. They have been put on for years, long before Banon Blackwell became our leader. How I dreamed of getting a knock at the door delivering my invitation, but it never came.”

She sighed, longingly, caressing Meghan’s letter. After a minute, Irving “hm hm’d” Sheila, dragging her back into reality. She handed the letter back to Meghan.

“Yours does not surprise me in the least, Ivan,” said Irving proudly. “I’ve never seen anyone work so hard.”

“Thank you, sir,” replied Ivan.

Irving looked at Meghan questioningly but said nothing.

“Oh, I forgot!” burst out Sheila. “I received your exam grades last night. They’ve been sitting on the kitchen table all this time!”

Irving shook his head at his forgetful wife.

“You three all passed!” she went on. Mireya already knew she had not, and sat with a far off look in her eye, dreaming of receiving her own invitation. Irving pinched his daughter’s chin.

“If you work hard enough, you could get your own letter in a few years.”

She giggled in reply.

“At least I’ll have something to go on about at the bank for a change,” Colin overheard him tell Sheila. “I can hear the jealousy now! Two letters in the same house! Has that ever happened before?” he asked the air.

“Getting to meet Banon Blackwell in person is a great honor,” said Ivan, in his usual dry tone.

“I’ve already met her, in person,” Meghan retorted back without thinking. The rest of the room went silent. Meghan realized too late what she had done.

“When?” asked Sheila.

To Colin’s knowledge, Juliska had visited her only once at the hospital. And he could scarcely count their first encounter, after arriving here, as a personal meeting.