The Eye of Elicion: The Kinowenn Chronicles Vol 1 (36 page)

Justin returned Lucy to Darren, but didn’t stay for small talk.

“He’s a better dancer than I am.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll learn.”

Darren seemed bothered by something, but Lucy didn’t feel like prying. He would either tell her or he wouldn’t. She watched the other dancers dancing and talking. After a few more sips of wine, it occurred to her that she and Justin had been talking mind to mind. To an observer, it looked like they were silently staring at each other and randomly changing facial expressions. Lucy wasn’t about to explain how Justin and she communicated so she asked Darren to dance again instead. He smiled and led her back out to the floor for some more songs. Justin did not cut in again. In fact, Lucy was pretty sure he was no longer in the Dining Hall. She wondered where he was for about a minute and then dismissed the thought and continued to dance.

When the musicians stopped playing, people started to drift out. The Dining Hall was always open so no one was kicked out, but the magic of the evening was ending and staying didn’t feel right. Besides, some couples had other destinations in mind. Lucy was ready to wash the tattoos off her body and get out of her dress. Granted, it was comfortable for a dress, but it was still a dress. Darren didn’t say much as he walked her to her room. When they got there, Darren looked at her intensely.

“You’re not going to ask me in are you,” he said more than asked.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m not.”

“You know I want to be more than friends.”

“I guessed,” replied Lucy trying to keep her answers short and to the point while making sure they maintained their current physical distance.

“You don’t want to be.”

“More than friends? No, I don’t”

“I had fun tonight with you.”

“I had fun too. Thank you for taking me.”

“If it wasn’t for Justin, would I stand a chance?”

“This has nothing to do with Justin,” responded Lucy, slightly confused.

“I don’t believe that.”

“You can believe what you want. That doesn’t make it true,” Lucy shrugged. She wasn’t going to spend a lot of time trying to convince him of something.

“I had hoped…”

Darren stepped forward as he said that, and Lucy wasn’t sure if he intended to kiss her or not, but she didn’t want to find out. She pushed open the door to her room and stepped inside.

“Good night, Darren,” she said firmly.

“Good night, Lucy,” he said with a sigh and a sad smile.

Lucy closed the door before he could say or do anything else. She washed off the tattoos and the make-up. Part of her wanted to take a shower. The other part of her wanted to crawl into bed and forget that the last conversation with Darren had ever happened. He did so well the entire evening. She had hoped they would be able to say good night without him saying things she didn’t want to hear or doing things she didn’t want him to do. She didn’t want classes to be awkward. You can ignore the fact that someone might have feelings for you right up until the point they say something. Lucy sighed as she decided to forgo the shower and climbed into bed.

“
So, are you alone in bed or do you have company?”

“
Alone, and you?”

“
Alone. I was making sure he behaved himself and that you didn’t need any help.”

“
I can handle Darren. He’s not the type to force a girl to do anything.”

“
Force no, but I’m sure he suggested or even tried.”

“
Perhaps. I didn’t give him much of an opportunity to.”

“
A good move on your part.”

“
I’m sure it was. Did you get to dance with your mystery girl?”

“
I did.”

“
Was it all you thought it would be?”

“
Better. I didn’t know if she could dance or not. The fact that she could was a pleasant, though not totally unexpected, surprise.”

“
I’m glad. Are you going to tell me who she is?”

“
I’m tired. I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“
No, you won’t.”

“
Probably not.”

“
Good night, Justin.”

“
Good night, Lucy.”

After the competition, it was difficult to go back to classes. Lucy did not find them as challenging as the competition had been and therefore, they also felt less satisfying. Not that she was bored by any means, simply less challenged. Darren hadn’t spoken to her much since the social event. He didn’t exactly ignore her, but he didn’t treat her with the same amount of friendship. Perhaps it had never really been friendship on his part. Perhaps it had been closer to flirting or friendship with the specific intention of it becoming more, and she had never wanted to believe that one excluded the other. Luckily, he didn’t try to press his suit, but things were still awkward. Her favorite parts of the day were still the evenings she spent with Justin, Maya, and Gavin. Justin was teaching her the art of subtlety and that was a challenge. It was also occasionally tedious.

“Tell me the point of this again,” said Gavin as he watched Lucy change the ribbon she was holding a fractionally darker shade of violet.

“There is not so much a point as a broadening of possibilities. Some spells or ideas need a fine touch. In other cases, a delicate touch can be more effective, or less noticeable. I’ll give you a simple example and then a more practical application,” said Justin. “I could turn my hair a different color in half a second. It would be immediately noticeable. However, if I varied it a shade darker or lighter every other day for a few weeks, I would get the same effect eventually without attracting attention. I know you don’t care about hair color, but bear with me. Little changes can be useful if you have the time to plan ahead. A more drastic use could go something like this. If you are planning to attack a fortified position, and let’s say it’s made of stone, you could open tiny cracks in the foundation and even help a natural spring of some kind to find its way into the cracks. Eventually the walls will crumble. Before they reach that point, the weakened foundation would make it easier to pull or push the walls down. Some planning in advance can make or break a battle.”

“I can see how it could one day be useful, but it doesn’t look like something I’d want to spend time learning,” said Gavin.

“I can’t do a lot, but I do find it useful,” commented Maya. “In some cases, the smaller the changes, the more believable they are.”

Gavin shrugged. Subtlety was not his strong point and never would be. He could use finesse with a blade, and that was about it. Politics and changing hair colors he would leave to the others. He went back to studying for a language test.

Lucy continued to work on subtlety. She was unsure that she would have the foresight to make the knowledge as effective as it could be, but you never knew when it might come in handy. The uses of the skills Lucy learned were learned more for their potential than for any specific purpose. Luckily, a more specific purpose was about to be suggested.

A couple of weeks after the competition, Eric called Maya, Gavin, Justin, and Lucy into his office. Gavin assumed Eric simply wished to congratulate them on their performance, but Lucy was not so sure. She was hoping Eric was going to answer some of the unanswered questions floating around the place. Justin was maintaining a suspicious silence about the whole affair which only served to confirm Lucy’s mental insinuations. They arrived at Eric’s office at the appointed time. He invited them in, and they all sat. Eric studied them for a moment before speaking.

“The competition was partially a competition,” Eric began. “In a way, it was also a test for your group. We are reasonably pleased with your results. The school, as a rule, does not directly interfere with other lands and what goes on there. If a student decides to go to a particular world and become involved in some aspect of life there, that is their choice. Generally, I would like to believe that our students have a positive influence, but whatever their influence, it is their choice and nothing that the school has ordered or requested. Quinn and I have been talking. In many lands, there are powerful magical objects. Some of these objects that should never have been lost have been both lost and forgotten. Some of the objects’ powers are not fully known, and some are misused. We feel this could be dangerous to these lands, their people, and potentially the school. There are a few objects that are so dangerous we feel they should be destroyed. Also, some objects that originally started in one world were transferred, often accidentally or without thought to possible repercussions, to a different world by our students. We thought it might be a good idea to train a group of students, rather than an individual, and if they were interested, ask that they find some of these objects and bring them to the school.” Again he surveyed the group. “Many of those objects are on Kinowenn. We feel that you are ready to try to retrieve some of them, if the idea of doing so appeals to you. Does it?”

Maya shrugged, “Sure, why not. I’ve learned about all I can about some things out of books, and I would enjoy some experience to go with the knowledge. A quest sounds like a good way to go about things. I’m will to participate if they want to go.”

Gavin shrugged too, “I’m always ready for an adventure. As long as I’m decently armed, I’m in.”

There was something about all of this that felt odd to Lucy, but she wasn’t sure what. Perhaps it was how casual the whole idea sounded. Eric made it sound like they were going to be simple errand boys. Nothing was that easy. However, she wasn’t going to learn anything by refusing to participate, and the idea was appealing. Both Justin and Eric were studying her.

“I’m sure Justin, as the unofficial ring leader was in on the idea from the start, and I certainly don’t intend to be left behind while you guys go off on an adventure and have all the fun. Count me in.”

Eric gave a half smile, and Justin winked at her.

“Where and when do we start?” asked Lucy.

“You may start whenever you are ready, tomorrow if you like. You can leave any of your things you do not wish to take with you in your rooms. The rooms will remain yours as long as you are in service to the school or dead.”

That sounded less than comforting, thought Lucy.

“What are we looking for?” asked Maya.

“You may find this amusing, but the first thing we would like you to find is the Eye of Elicion”

Lucy had no idea what that was, but Maya obviously did.

“What? You can’t be serious.”

“Why is that?” asked Eric, but there was a hint of smile around his eyes.

“The Eye of Elicion is a myth,” Maya insisted.

“Is it?”

“That may be debatable, but I feel like you are sending us on a wild goose chase so to speak.”

“I can assure you that it does exist, or it did once. Many myths do spring from truths. We want you to find it or definite evidence that it no longer exists.”

“Wonderful,” said Maya sarcastically. “Any good ideas of where to find this mythical object?”

“I would suggest Kleth.”

“Of course you would. The best place to look for a myth is in a mythical city.”

“I’m sorry I can’t be completely helpful. If we knew where the Eye was for sure, we’d go get it ourselves. I would suggest looking in old libraries and at old maps in any of the major cities. You have two months.”

“Two months!” exclaimed Maya. “Two months is not a lot of time to find a myth.”

“True. However, the search for the Eye waxes and wanes in popularity. Currently, not very many people are looking for it. You have a good chance of finding it, but you have to move quickly. If you start digging around in libraries, it could stir up interest and thus increase the danger of this assignment. We decided that if you didn’t find it in two months it was time to return, regroup, and figure out the next step. Good luck and happy hunting.”

With that, they were dismissed. They all got up feeling rather confused. Except Gavin. He wasn’t terribly concerned with where they were going or what they were going after. None of those details changed what he intended to pack, and frankly he felt he was part of the group more for brute strength than brains. Even though he patiently listened to Maya’s tirade on the many things wrong with the whole idea of this mythical expedition, he didn’t have much to add. Justin and Lucy trailed behind the other two.

“I suppose none of that was a surprise to you,” commented Lucy.

“Other than the time limit, no. In fact, don’t tell Maya, but they let me pick the first object.”

“You wanted a challenge.”

“Let’s call it pursuing an interest.”

“You can call it Fred, for all I care. I have no idea what this object is anyways.”

“Oh, I sometimes forget that you haven’t had certain Kinowenn literature courses yet. Basically, the Eye of Elicion is a stone that gives the rightful owner all sorts of powers depending on the story you read. Wealth, power, luck the usual kinds of things. There might be more powers as well. It’s caused quite a stir since its inception.”

“That sounds interesting and properly dangerous,” said Lucy, honestly interested. “I assume there is a much longer story there, but you can tell me all that during our long days and nights of traveling. Briefly though, how does Kleth fit in?”

“That’s the fun part. Kleth was created by the Eye of Elicion, but as such has some interesting properties. It exists in certain people’s futures or pasts and not everyone’s present. Maps and rumors plot it at different locations and no one who has found it once and left has ever found it again.”

“That does sound like fun, but I can see how Maya might be frustrated by that.”

“She’ll get over it and have a wonderful time visiting the many cities of Kinowenn and their libraries.”

“You’re sure it really does exist?”

“Yes,” said Justin simply.

“I do feel the need to ask though, was this group’s reconnaissance idea what you knew about and couldn’t tell me, or is there more?”

“That’s basically it. I couldn’t tell you about it from the beginning and then find out that you unable or unwilling to learn what we needed you to learn. Are you mad?” Justin asked tentatively.