The Two Worlds (9 page)

“
Kay!” Nia shouted, her eyes
wild with fear. She lifted her hands, and another ray struck, this
time hitting my captor squarely in the back. There was a loud groan
of agony, and I dropped face down on the ground, too terrified to
move. A body landed next to me with a thud, and I recognized him as
Beard Jack. A new surge of terror swept through me, propelling me
to my feet, and I looked around, quickly surveying the scene. Nia
was firing rays of light as though they were thunderbolts, and
Nipsin’s crowd was slowly retreating, snarling and throwing insults
Nia’s way.

A swoosh of air made me turn my head,
and I saw Rena, now lifting the house off the ground and moving it
back and forth. The KaKonian was beside himself inside the shack,
attempting to grab on to something sturdy and get out. He reached
for a table that by some miracle was still standing, but Rena moved
the shack forward again. He missed, grabbing on to the exposed
trapdoor in the middle of the floor. The trapdoor opened in his
hands as the lodge drove forward again, revealing in small cage
with a brown rock inside of it.

That must be Yolonda’s Finny
, I
thought and ran towards the front of the house, dodging an errant
ray that struck the ground with such a force my feet trembled. I
jumped up and grabbed the door handle, swinging with the shack as
it moved backwards again, this time picking up speed. I closed my
eyes as my stomach traveled to my mouth in time with the swaying of
Nipsin’s Lodge. Planting my feet on the door, I counted to three
and yanked it open, almost being thrown off in the
process.

Rena saw me and cried, “Hold on, Kay!”
She slowed down the house, and I swung forward again, sliding right
inside.

I lashed out with my arms and caught
hold of a chair, giving a feverish whisper, “You are
strong...still...bolted to the surface you rest on.”

The chair immediately went rigid, and I
pulled myself on it. The KaKonian offered a demented grin and
struggled to pull himself upright. I spotted the cage to my left
and hoisted myself over the chair, one foot caught in the bottom
rung to keep me steady. Stretching my arms out, I caught the cage
in mid slide as Rena shook the lodge yet again. Empty glasses,
chairs, and an occasional glass eye rolled around me as I shifted
back and reached for the door.

“
You’ve got company,”
Yolonda warned as the KaKonian lunged forward. The lodge moved
again and a coat hook caught my arm just as I was about to fall out
the door.

“
We will meet again
Awakener,” he growled, sending little flecks of spittle my way. I
stared into his purple, translucent eyes for a moment and then
shook him off. He slid to the back of the inn, and I pulled myself
out the door, falling to the ground with a thud.

Groaning, I stood up and headed towards
Rena, yelling. “Let’s move!” Rena nodded and whispered a few more
instructions to the house before running along with me. I darted
around the harsh sun rays that were still pounding on the ground
and signaled to Nia, who created a few more rays and then joined
us. Together, we ran back towards the edge of the bubble, leaving
Nipsin’s Lodge in disarray.

CHAPTER NINE

“
You almost got us killed,”
scolded Nia as much as she munched on a slice of Turgorian
pizza.

Rena and I were sitting next to her on
Dia’s front steps, chowing down as well. Excitement can create
quite an appetite.

“
I know, I know.”

“
I’ve never seen such a pack
of brutes before,” Nia continued, not completely satisfied with
Yolonda’s apology. “I would hate to be there when Beard Jack wakes
up.”

“
But at least we got Finny,”
Rena put in. “Now we can find out how to get into Caldbeck!” I gave
a tired, cheese and rumpkins filled grin and took another huge bite
of pizza.

“
So, how do we wake him up?”
She nodded towards the small, brown pebble that was basking in the
sun.

Yolonda gave a fond sigh and said,
“Bring him over to me.”

Rena picked up the pebble and held it
in front of Yolonda. Yolonda took a deep breath and suddenly went
ice cold, causing me to yelp and swallow a chunk of my pizza
whole.

“
Sorry,” she muttered. She
became quiet, and we all sat, watching her. A small line of amber
light began to stretch from Yolonda to her cousin, becoming darker
as the seconds ticked by. My chest vibrated while Yolonda hummed,
widening the light. At first, the pebble did not show any intention
of changing, but as Yolonda continued to feed it amber light and
hum, the pebble slowly began to acquire an amber aura around it.
Her cousin started to quake slightly, and a small mist resembling
Yolonda appeared. This continued until the brown pebble had
transformed into a larger pinkish one with the small mist now
whirling steadily in the middle.

“
Mmmm...w-where am I?” a
small, groggy voice said.

“
FINNY!” Yolonda shouted,
warming back up. “Man, I thought I would never see
again!”

“
Lo-Lo?” Finny said, still
sounding confused. “What are you doing in my cage?”

“
You’re out of that forsaken
place, Fin! My new boss and her friends got you out!”

“
Yeah?” Finny paused for a
moment as though he were thinking. “Where you been?” I noticed that
Finny sounded a lot like Yolonda, right down to her
accent.

“
I’ve been here and there.
How’ve you been?”

Finny snorted. “How do you think I’ve
been? I’ve been in a friggin’ cage for four hundred and fifty-two
years!”

Nia gave off an unimpressed harrumph.
“Rude little rock, isn’t he?”

Yolonda ignored her. “We rescued you,
Fin. And we need your help.”

“
Who exactly is
we
?”
he asked. “Who’s this new boss of yours?”

“
That would be me,” I
replied, clearing my throat. “I’m the one that grabbed your
cage.”

Yolonda introduced us, and we told Finn
how we got him from Nipsin’s Lodge. He seemed impressed.

“
Well, if that’s the case, I
owe you favors for a lifetime. Thank you, Kay,” he said. “What can
I do you for?”

Rena stepped in. “Um, we wondering if
you could help us get into Caldbeck. We’re looking for a few people
that we know in there.”

“
What type of people would
you know in there? You’re nothing but a kid!”

“
For starters, my mother,”
Rena quietly admitted. Nia stared at her, shocked.

“
And we’re looking for my
grandfather, who’s doing detective work. Plus, we’re kinda on
assignment,” I added, grabbing another slice of now cold pizza.
“We’ve got to wake up for a Death Walker.”

“
Lord!” Finny exclaimed ,
chuckling. “You’ve got your work cut out for you, Lo-Lo.” Yolonda
laughed in agreement.

“
Wait a minute,” Nia said,
standing up and placing her hands on her hips. “Before we run off
anywhere, I want to know what exactly you did to land yourself
underneath Nipsin’s in the first place. You owe us
that.”

“
Why are you being so
spiteful, Nia?” Yolonda retorted. “You trying to say my cousin’s a
thug or something?”

“
Maybe I am,” Nia retorted.
“Saints don’t end up in the KaKonian Bubble as
prisoners.”

“
Hey, hey!” I interjected.
“Calm down. No one is accusing anyone of anything, all
right?”

Yolonda glowed bright amber, and Nia
sucked her teeth, crossing her arms.

Finally, Nia asked, “Finny, I am
curious to find out how you got in the Lodge. What
happened?”

“
It’s actually quite a long
story,” he began.

“
We’ve got time.” Nia pursed
her lips with attitude.

“
Nia’s right. I do owe you
an explanation. There is a reason I know Caldbeck so well. I was
once the assistant to an Awakener that was a part of the Eromina
Faculty. They’re the ones that Awakened the cells the prisoners are
kept in. Of course, my Awakener had a large amount of work to do
and was fairly busy, so we ended up all over the place. Awakening
things day and night. After a while, we could walk the layout like
the back of our hands. Caldbeck is huge, but once you know your way
around, you’re suddenly impressive and a hot commodity. Could be
good business for someone with hidden agendas. I guess my Awakener
was thinking the same thing because one night, he was at his
favorite drinking spot, the Nipsin’s Lodge, and decided to boast
about it.”

Yolonda gasped. “But...that’s
ridiculous! Every Evrode knows never to speak of his boss’s
assignments to another person.”

Finny sighed. “You notice I’m not with
that Awakener, don’t you? His bragging got him into a fight with a
small group of drinkers, and they decided, as punishment, they’d
take his Evrode.”

“
You can’t just take an
Evrode, Finny,” Nia said, with an edge to her voice. “Once around
your boss’s neck, it stays around your boss’s neck.”

“
You’re absolutely right,
Nia,” Finny said, sounding sad. “Once around your boss’s neck, it
stays around your boss’s neck.”

“
So how’d they get it
off?”

“
They cut his head off.”
Finny said this with an air of finality. Nia sat down slowly, and
we all waited for Finny to continue. He cleared his throat and went
on. “My Awakener was a good fellow, and he didn’t deserve what
happened to him.”

“
What,” I began, “happens to
someone when they die here on Turgor?”

“
If they’re a wizard,
they’re buried here, on the planet.” Yolonda explained. “But if
they’re not naturally of this world, they die in their sleep in
another world.” I swallowed a lump that was forming in my throat
and looked at Finny.

“
Beard Jack himself decided
to bury me as a prize,” he said. “He’s a beast.”

“
Are you satisfied, Nia?”
Yolonda asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Nia nodded and
looked away. The sun had gone down and a round yellow moon replaced
it. A cool wind whipped around us, causing leaves to dance on
sidewalks among the feet of children running after one another.
Trees shivered and moved closer together. A chill ran down my
spine, and I suggested we go inside the house for
dinner.

Once we were back inside and had a warm
fire started, we began to figure out our next move.

“
Are you on assignment,
Nia?” I asked, helping myself to a buttered roll that was resting
near the fireplace.

“
Nope,” she said, shaking
her head. “My assignment was just to create you a house, which I
did. I’m done until further notice. I’ve been on Turgor for a
little over a year now, Kay, so I’m almost ready to take my exams.
Assignments slow down around this time, and you kinda start to go
out on your own.”

“
What exams do you have to
take?” Rena asked around a mouthful of roll.

“
They’re the Multi-level
Assessments of Graduating Individuals Ceremonies,” Nia answered
proudly. “Once you’ve successfully completed a number of
assignments, you are nominated to attend the exams, so that you can
receive your final authorization to practice your skill freely on
different planets, without having to bother getting permission from
the Senior Counsel. And a small number of really lucky souls are
invited to take a seat on the Counsel every year. It’s a huge
honor.”

“
Wow,” I said impressed.
“Does everyone have to attend?”

“
Yep. If you don’t, you may
lose your ability to practice, and then you won’t be allowed on
Turgor.”

“
It’s the Counsel’s way of
keeping track of everyone,” Yolonda said. I had placed Finny next
to her on my necklace.

“
Wait, if you’re supposed to
get the Counsel’s permission to use your magic, didn’t we break the
rules when we busted out Finny?”

“
Technically, yes,” Nia
explained. “But I’m going to talk to Senior Paul tomorrow and see
if he can be forgiving this time, since the two of you are
new.”

“
So what’s the plan?” Finny
asked.

“
We go to Caldbeck, find
Rena’s mom, and then find my grandpa and ask him what the heck this
legend is all about. We’ll drop down to the oogie-boogie graveyard
and wake up a Death Walker, assignment completed and then we’ll
come back home.” I said this all in one breath and sat back
satisfied when I was done.

“
You make things sound so
simple,” Dia scolded. “Have you thought about what you might be up
against when you get to Caldbeck?”

“
Well, that’s what we have
good ole Finny-Fin here for,” I said, poking Finny. “Tell me, what
are we up against?”

“
Are you sure you want to
know?” he asked. “Caldbeck is one of the most guarded places on the
planet. There hasn’t been a successful break-in since
1753.”

“
1754,” Yolonda
corrected.

“
Excuse me, 1754. You’ve got
the Crupians, first of all, that guard Caldbeck with their lives.
Fierce warriors. They’re small with serious attitude. And if you
make it through them, you’ll have to go through the second level of
security inside the walls that surround Caldbeck. That’s where the
Harpies come in.”