Firemancer Collection (Fated Saga Box Set Book 1) (52 page)

“Nona,” whispered Meghan.

Nona stood at attention, sensing a request from her mistress.

“I have a very huge favor to ask of you.”

Nona knew already what she wanted, and though she was not happy about it, she understood Meghan’s concern and agreed without argument.

Being able to stall their departure no longer, Meghan advised Ivan she was ready, and they took their first steps into the red rock valley of Eidolon.

Chapter Four

Colin grabbed his bag at the last minute deciding to tag along a small amount of food and water, just in case. Jae paced anxiously in the Mochrie kitchen. The rest of the family was off attending the opening of the Feast.

Jae was late, which typically would not have been tolerated by his father. However, since the outburst a few weeks prior, Irving had been unusually quiet and easy going.

“Ready,” announced Colin finally, securing the bag over his shoulder.

Jae stopped pacing and stared. The look on Jae’s face was not one of confidence. Colin gulped, nearly canceling his excursion on the spot.

“Maybe …Maybe I
should
come with you!” said Jae. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea for you to go alone.”

Colin, on one hand, would have loved to have company. On the other hand, with Jae’s strange behavior as of late, perhaps going alone would be best. Colin did not have to make the choice.

“No. The original plan is better. You should go alone. It’ll be easier for you to sneak through the valley.”

“Okay then,” said Colin. “I’d better go.”

Colin followed Jae out the door. As expected, it was deserted. All Svoda were celebrating the Feast, deep inside the canyon. The Viancourt had announced just the night before that the opening day festivities would take place inside, in order to maintain the nature of the festival, as well as the safety of those in attendance.

Colin and Jae walked side by side to the edge of the valley and stopped. Jae nodded to Colin, who did not verbally reply, but rather grunted, attempting poorly to control the rocket of nerves taking off in his chest.

As Colin took his first step in the forbidden valley, a voice startled them from behind.

“And just where do you think you’re going?”

There was no need to guess. It was Darcy Scraggs.

Of all the people to have to follow me…

Darcy’s two bullies were paced a few feet behind her: the eloquent speaking Dulcy Hadrian, followed by a towering Daveena Troast.

“I warned you I’d be watching,” Darcy sneered triumphantly.

“You are
so
in trouble,” chimed Dulcy. “Darcy knew her extra-century complexion would find you up to something.”

Both Colin and Jae burst out laughing.

Even Daveena could not hold back a thick snort.

“Thanks, Dulcy. That is just what I needed, a good laugh!” Colin exclaimed.

“Extra-century complexion… good one,” agreed Jae.

Darcy growled, ignoring her counterpart’s babbling.

Colin contained his laughter. Joke or no joke, this situation did not bode well.

“How did you ever graduate to intermediate level, Dulcy?” Jae questioned.

Again, without thinking, dumb Dulcy made her admittance.

“There’s a little thing called cheating,” she revealed proudly.

“Cheating is impossible,” argued Jae.

Darcy threw her hand over Dulcy’s mouth, cupping it, before implicating herself any further.

“You found a way to cheat?” muttered Daveena’s hardening face.

The other two had clearly not shared this information with her. Colin hoped the distraction would be enough to sneak away. However, three steps in Darcy roared for him to stop.

“We’ll fix this later, Daveena,” she promised, in an overly apologetic tone. “And as for you two,” she turned to Colin and Jae, “I’ll be turning you in now.”

“How am I going to get out of this one?” asked Colin under his breath.

As if in tune with his thoughts, his book, Magicante began to shake. He dropped the bag as the top popped open and out spun the leaf tornado, the same one that had helped him to locate Meghan back in Cobbscott, when she had first become ill. The leaves shimmered in the morning beams of sunlight, expanding in size as it furiously twisted toward the now distracted trio.

Daveena dove into a small crevice, avoiding the blow.

“Stop!” demanded Darcy, thinking this tornado would somehow stop its advance on her command. When it did not, she sacrificed Dulcy to the whirling chaos, and scurried away.

The tornado lifted off the ground, leaving Dulcy scrambling in the dirt.

It formed a cone shaped leg, which it then proceeded to use as a foot, kicking Darcy’s backside. She went sprawling into the red dirt, yelling a non-stop stream of profanities as she fell.

The tornado caught the tongue-tied Dulcy trying to slip away and pushed her onto the ground next to her swearing counterpart. Both frantically crawled away, but not before Darcy got in one last hideous glare.

Colin did not care. She was a nuisance that he did not have time to deal with.

Daveena snorted in laughter as she watched her counterparts flee in humiliating defeat.

The leaf tornado returned to the book, which promptly slammed shut, leaving behind a trail of swirling, dusty air.

Daveena slid from her hiding place, eyeing Colin. Would he have to fight her now? He felt certain she was much too large for him to win. She stepped closer, her face showing signs of uncertainty. To both Colin’s and Jae’s bewilderment, her mouth twisted with the slightest hint of a smile, and she turned and sauntered away.

“Okay, was not expecting that!” Jae mustered out.

“Which part?” Colin said hotly. “That they were spying? That Daveena didn’t pound on us? Or that Magicante once again saved the day?”

“All of the above, actually,” answered Jae.

“Our lucky day I guess,” said Colin, more calmly. “I’m sure peace won’t last on the Daveena front. Darcy is sure to win her back, somehow.”

“Very true,” replied Jae. “And on that note, you’d better get going, Colin.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he agreed.

He looked at the great expanse before him.

“Wish me luck,” he mumbled, taking his first steps into the valley of Eidolon.

##

##

A dust covered, oblong shaped mirror stood aside eight others, forming a circle inside a darkened room. A weathered and gaunt face materialized into one of them, followed by another and then another, until all but one held similar ghostly silhouettes.

“Why have you summoned us Freyne Rothrock?” a penetrating female voice demanded.

“Patience, Narona,” replied an ashen faced man, from a nearby mirror. His voice lowered sardonically. “I have learned a terrible truth about our
fearless leader
, Fazendiin.”

“He’s not our leader,” another spoke firmly. “Simply the original of us.”

“Oh get on with it then, Rothrock. What is it you have discovered?” another spat out impatiently. “It won’t be long before he is aware of the summons, too.”

“Very well. I summoned you here today because we have
all
been betrayed!”

“This is not news, Freyne,” replied a bored voice. “We already know about the Projector. If this is all you called us here for…” the voice trailed off and the man’s face began to dissolve from the mirror.

“This has nothing to do with the Projector,” declared Freyne. “Fazendiin has broken the oath!
He has fathered a child
!”

Horrified chokes emanated from the mirrors, turning into malicious snarls as the gaunt faces sounded their fury over this revelation. The mirror of Narona Fentress cracked under the pressure of her enraged face.

“We all swore to it!” she bellowed.

“How dare he?” another voice barked in displeasure.

“How do you know this?” the man with the bored voice asked. His face reappeared, feigning interest.

“
How
is not relevant!” Freyne retorted. “A Projector is
nothing
compared to this treachery! Power will no longer be equal amongst us if this Grosvenor’s offspring is allowed to live!” his grating voice echoed.

“Our offspring would be immortal, they cannot be killed,” Narona reminded. “Which is why we each took the oath. How did he break it?” 

“He is coming,” a voice warned before Freyne could answer. 

The displeased grunts quieted as the ninth mirror fogged over and a face materialized in the glass. Jaurekai Fazendiin: the first born of the immortal Grosvenor.

“I thought I felt a summons, though weakly,” he said, peering at the others suspiciously. His gaze stopped on the mirror belonging to Freyne Rothrock.

“Yes. We grow tired waiting to make a decision about the Projector,” Freyne replied haughtily. “Something needs to be done! And now!”

The others agreed ardently.

“The Projector is of no concern,” said Fazendiin with amused insistence. “As we speak, the Projector is being tracked. There is no need for us to come out of hiding, when others can do the job for us.”

No one objected.

“Once the Projector is dead,” continued Fazendiin, “we simply need to collect the last remaining copy of Magicante. With this book safely in our hands, there will be
nothing
left that can stop us!”

The eight listeners roared in agreement, at the same time eyeing each other in distrust. If what Freyne had told them was true, the meager trust they had kept in each other all these long years was now at an end.

“Soon, my friends,” Fazendiin added, “
we
will control
all
magic, and will no longer hide but rule side by side, as equals.” Fazendiin stared directly into the eyes of Freyne Rothrock as he spoke, as if daring him to counter his claim.

Fazendiin’s face dissolved into mist, leaving behind an empty mirror. The remaining Grosvenor followed, each mirror returning to its empty state.

Freyne Rothrock’s face was the last to dissolve. As it did so, he echoed a warning:

“And once
we
come out of hiding, the real war will begin…”

##

##

Colin Jacoby came to an abrupt stop.

He hoped he was out of sight from any wandering eyes of Svoda that might happen to be peering into the valley.

He needed to figure out where he was. He dug into his backpack and took out Corny’s map, and even though it was clearly a map of the E Valley, Colin could not figure out where he was. He turned it this way and that, trying to find something that made sense.

Caught off guard, Colin shouted as something yanked the map from his hands, and he watched it soar into the air. He grabbed for it, but it was just out of reach.

“I haven’t even gotten started yet!” he yelled in frustration.
This trip is not starting well…

A face he did not expect to see again peered over the map’s edge.

“You! So you did follow us from Grimble,” Colin exclaimed, immediately feeling relieved.

It was the bird-human, flapping its wings and holding the map in its beak.

“Can I have it back please?” he asked nicely.

The bird chirped and lowered the map in front of Colin’s face, so that light could filter through it. Colin was enthralled as the map changed before his eyes. The path he was currently standing on glimmered, continuing before him.The bird-human flew backwards, encouraging him forward. With each step, the map changed. Colin stopped when a rock formation blocked his path. On the map the glimmering path ended and words appeared that stated, turn right.

Colin obliged, along with the bird-human. The path glimmered again, showing Colin he was heading in the right direction, but also indicated a warning: do not touch any plants found along this particular path. Doing so would cost you greatly!

“Wow,” said Colin. “I think I get it now. I was reading it completely wrong.”

The bird dropped the map back into Colin’s hands. He studied it for moment longer, realizing that his current path went on for some distance, so he tucked the map inside his shirt. 

“Thanks,” Colin told the bird. “We are going to have to figure out some way to repay you.”

The bird perched onto a nearby rock, nodding its beak and squawking in reply.

Colin followed the path and was delighted when the bird-human followed him. Perhaps he would not be alone after all. When his current path suddenly veered off into two directions, he consulted the map again. He held it in front of him and the light filtered through, pointing out which way to go. He continued in this manner until late afternoon, when upon looking at the map again, a warning message appeared.

“You must get to a safe spot before dark!”

Colin’s heart sped up. The closest safe spot shimmered red on the map. It was not far, but he would need to hurry to make it in time. The bird-human chirped aggressively, encouraging Colin to move faster.

Finding his way through the Goblin like formations would have been impossible without the aid of Corny’s map. He took one last look through the failing daylight. His safe spot was close. He lowered the map and with his actual eyes, saw the entrance to a cave. He took off running as fast as he could, with the sun light fading behind his heels.