Embrace (6 page)

“I will consider this, Banon. I appreciate your candor,” he told her.

“I knew you would. That is why I like you, Ivan Crane. No Bull. No ego. Get to the point and get the job done!” she said vivaciously.

Ivan nodded firmly.

“I will leave it up to you, to follow the path you see fit. If you choose to find a confidant, choose wisely. Follow your instincts, Ivan, for I have seen that your instincts are very keen.” Ivan narrowed his eyes again, wondering what the Banon had seen of his future.

There was a knock at the door.

“Meghan Jacoby, ma’am,” announced Pantin Hollee. Meghan sauntered in, raising her eyebrows in a cold hello to Ivan, but smiling widely at Juliska.

“Ah, good. We can get down to business now,” said Juliska, motioning for the two to sit.

Meghan’s eyes could not leave the back of Juliska’s head, where Pajak, her pet spider, slept with one eerie, glass-like eye remaining open.

She attempted, poorly, to ignore it, and listen to what Juliska was saying.

“The task I put before you, Ivan, will be the most difficult I have ever asked someone to do.

I do not ask it lightly, and, I will even give you a chance to say no, if you feel you are not ready for this challenge. It will take great skill, but I feel you are ready, or I would not ask.” Ivan sat on the edge of his seat, eager to understand his mission. Meghan grew anxious. Did Juliska truly believe she was up to this task, too?

27

“I will also add that no matter the outcome of your task, that I already consider you an Initiated member of the Svoda, Ivan. Because I already know that you will not say no, and I know that failure is not a word you are fond of.”

How well she knows Ivan, thought Meghan. Failure is so not his style!

“So now, I lay it bluntly before you. A man, from the previous Svoda group that visited here, wandered into Eidolon’s Valley. He never returned. And although Eidolon denies any knowledge of this man, I believe he is being held prisoner, or, that he may be dead.” Meghan could not believe what she was hearing. Juliska stood and paced three times around the room before continuing.

“What I need from you, Ivan, is to venture into Eidolon’s Valley and seek out this man. If he is alive, I want you to break him out and bring him to me. If he is dead… well in that unfortunate case, there is something on his person that I need you to recover. Something that cannot be left in the hands of Eidolon.”

Ivan soaked this information in.

Meghan frowned. Sneak into the valley and find a prisoner? How? And won’t that upset Eidolon even more?

Juliska guessed her questions.

“First, let me say this, Ivan. I chose you for this most delicate mission because you are qualified. Moreover, people know you will be on your Initiation task and will not wonder where you have gone. If I were to send the Viancourt or Balaton, questions and worries would spread like wildfire. I would like to avoid this. Plus, well, let’s just say my Balaton, they are the muscle, but not so much the brains.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows jokingly.

“I also fully realize,” she continued, in a more serious tone, “that our actions in this matter could upset the delicate nature of our relationship here. Nevertheless, I simply cannot leave behind an innocent man if he is yet alive, or what this man possesses, if he is not. I have prepared a backup plan should things…go badly.”

Ivan interrupted.

“You mean if Eidolon is guilty of this charge, discovers us and wages battle?”

“See what I mean, Meghan. I hardly need to explain myself at all with this young man,” said Juliska.

Ivan had practically been sitting on air while listening to the details of his mission. He leaned back now, inhaling and exhaling deeply. After a few minutes of hard concentration, his face turned from calculating to acceptance.

“I agree that we cannot leave a fellow Svoda behind, Banon Blackwell, and I accept your task. When does the journey begin?”

“In three weeks time we celebrate the Feast of the Blest Arcane. This will keep the people pleasantly occupied, while you two enter the valley.”

Meghan wondered what exactly she could do to assist Ivan on this task. I suck at magic. He remembers that, right?

“Meghan, I have a special favor to ask you,” Juliska then said.

28

“Yes,” she answered.

“I want you to be as ready for this journey as possible. I realize you have much left to learn.

Being a Firemancer is a lifetime of learning. However, Ivan will need your talents on this journey. I request that you move in with me for the remainder of our time here in the valley.

This will make it much easier for me to train you.”

Meghan’s face lit up brightly. She need not speak her answer aloud. She had already begun packing in her mind. Oh drat! What about Colin. Well, it’s just for a few weeks. He’ll live.

“Good. That’s settled then. I will expect you later tonight, Meghan. We need to get started right away. Now, Ivan. You do not need to be here for all of Meghan’s training. However, I will ask that you be here sometimes. It is vital you are able to work together, and understand her limitations.”

Ivan smiled upon the Banon’s last word.

Meghan scowled.

Why did this great event, of her being able to spend extra time with Juliska, also have to be mired with spending extra time with weirdo boy, Ivan? Then, the reality of what she was training for set in. Just the two of them, on a journey, possibly for days … her heart sank.

Ivan agreed on times to come and train with Meghan, and then bid his goodbye. Meghan remained behind, looking overwhelmed. Juliska sat down across from her.

“I have one other request for you, Meghan,” she said. Meghan gave Juliska her complete attention. “I realize this situation is not one you ever thought you would find yourself in, but I trust Ivan explicitly. I would not allow you to follow him on this journey if I felt it were too dangerous for you. In addition, I fully realize your dislike for him. I cannot change your mind on this, you either like someone, or you don’t. I am sorry to have to make you spend so much time with someone you absolutely loathe.”

“Is it that obvious?” mumbled Meghan.

“Honestly, it’s quite apparent to see that when the two of you are in a room together, the tension is thicker than a knife, and not in an ‘Oh they’re so cute and will grow to love each other some day’ kind of way.”

“Sorry. I do find him infuriating. But I will… persevere,” Meghan answered weakly.

“Good. Because I think, like it or not, Ivan is bound for great things, and I would like to see you in this direction, too.”

I could be great! She knew she would never defy a personal request from Juliska, regardless.

“I will leave you to go home and pack now,” said Juliska.

As Meghan arose to depart, Juliska stopped her.

“Oh, one other thing, in regards to your brother. I understand this may be difficult, but I need this task to remain a secret. You can tell him you are moving in with me for additional training for Ivan’s initiation.”

Meghan nodded that she understood and left.

29

What would Colin say when he discovered she was moving out? He would probably have a fit. But he would have to get over it, because she was moving in with Juliska Blackwell whether he liked it or not!

“What are you doing?” asked Colin, walking in on Meghan, packing a suitcase. She sighed, unsure of how to break this news to him.

“It’s only for a few weeks, Colin.”

“What is?” he asked.

“Jul…Banon Blackwell feels I need some full time training, in order to assist Ivan,” she puckered her nose, “on his Initiation.”

“Okay. Still don’t understand why you’re packing.”

“I’m moving in with the Banon, upon her request, so we can train more often.” Instantly Colin disliked this idea, and then almost as instantly, he accepted it. I can spend more time searching for Catrina this way.

Meghan saw his face change from anger to acceptance and wondered why. But still, she could not nudge past the seemingly permanent block surrounding his thoughts.

“I guess that makes sense,” said Colin. “It’s just for a few weeks. I’ll be fine here.” Meghan was about to question him when Jae walked in. She gasped, stunned by his appearance. Colin followed with a gasp of his own.

“What happened to you?” she asked, concerned.

“Yeah, I guess I should go to the doctor, huh. I… fell, slid down a rock,” he explained.

“Stupid really. Clumsy. It looks worse than it is. If we were allowed to do magic, I’d just heal it, although, I feel so drained lately I probably couldn’t even do that!”

“Bad day?” Meghan asked, grabbing a damp cloth.

“You could say that,” he said, wincing as she dabbed at a large bump on his head. Jae used another cloth to wipe off bloody bits of dirt, which had ground its way into the side of his scraped up arm.

Meghan’s nightmare sat at the edge of her thoughts. When would she figure out what was going on with Jae? She felt Colin’s mind trying to link with hers and she accepted his thoughts.

“Maybe he did just fall?” suggested Colin. Meghan frowned, pondering his injuries. They did seem plausibly caused by a fall down a rocky surface.

“I dunno, Col. Maybe.”

Colin grabbed the bloodied cloths used to clean Jae’s wounds to dispose of them. Meghan’s thoughts entered his mind again.

“I only know I can’t worry about it right now, Col. I have too much on my plate, already.” Colin secretly agreed with her there. Once again, Jae’s problems would have to wait.

Jae popped out from behind the dressing area with a stack of torn and bloodied clothes.

“Here, add these to the trash too, Colin. They’re ruined at this point.” Just as he tossed them to Colin, both boys jumped in surprise.

30

“Nona! Nona!” Meghan shouted, repeatedly.

Nona had just entered the room, clearly not her usual, well-balanced self. Her head bent to one side and she stumbled while attempting to jump onto Meghan’s bed.

“What’s wrong with her?” asked both Colin and Jae.

Meghan did not answer. She tried to get closer to Nona but found it impossible as her faithful Catawitch’s body began shifting strangely. It began with frantic stretching, and then evolved into hitting her head with her own feet, and then even more strangely, into a full on fight with herself. She scratched and meowed raucously, running in tight circles, climbing walls and in general, appearing to have suddenly gone quite crazy.

Colin, in attempts to help Meghan catch Nona, tried to grab the Catawitch, only for Nona to scratch him with her sharp claws.

“Nona!” yelled Meghan. “Please stop this!” She could sense that her loyal pet was in torment,

but

could

not

see

or

sense

what

was

causing

the

problem.

Then, to the shock of the petrified trio, Nona’s meow turned into a clear, cat-like, girly voice.

They looked on, stunned, as Nona shook herself, and then began licking one of her feet, acting like nothing out of the ordinary had occurred at all. After a moment, Nona looked up at the stunned three.

“Sorry,” she purred. “I’ve been trying to get that out of me for days, now.”

“Nona …you are…talking,” muttered Meghan in relieved disbelief.

“Of course,” she said so only Meghan could hear. Nona added, aloud, “Sorry, Colin, about scratching you. Did not mean to do that,” her cattish voice explained. She hopped onto his lap and began licking his wound. Colin burst out in relieved laughter as Nona healed his arm.

Once finished, Nona turned to Jae.

“Would you allow me to heal you as well?”

Jae, not excited about a trip to the doctor, nodded yes, heartily.

“I guess I should’ve expected you to be able to talk,” breathed Meghan, shaking her head,

“after all, the first Catawitch I encountered could.”

“Ugh. Let’s not talk about that Catawitch!” demanded Nona, sounding annoyed that she had not done more damage in their previous fight back in Grimble.

Meghan laughed, immediately understanding Nona’s thoughts.

After healing Jae’s wounds, Nona went immediately back to business and reminded Meghan they needed to go. Nona was anxious about their upcoming journey; Meghan could sense this. Nona wanted Meghan to get started with her training as quickly as Juliska did.

Nona bounded out of the stone house and headed toward their new home. Meghan picked up her suitcase, and explained to Jae what she was doing, asking him to pass the news along to his parents.

It was a strange goodbye, and although temporary in the twins’ minds, they both felt an unexpected appeasement at being out of each other’s lives for a time.

After Meghan’s departure, Colin and Jae sat in the Mochrie’s kitchen. Both were deep in thought and neither paid any attention to the other, when they heard a stone door creak 31

open, startling them both. An old, withered hand shot out of the door, holding a piece of paper.

“Corny,” whispered Colin, eagerly grabbing the sheet. The door abruptly slammed shut.

“Thank you,” Colin said, unsure Corny could even hear him.

He examined the page. It made no sense, but Colin could not help but smile eagerly. He hoped whatever Corny was trying to tell him, the answer would come soon. This time, he was listening.

7

Amelia Cobb bent down to the ground, hovering over a puddle of newly fallen water.

“Speculo.”

She whispered the incantation, and there, in the puddle, appeared a murky and distorted face. She had to pass along the frightening news of the Projector to her informant.

“I am sorry to contact you so abruptly, but there is news. News that cannot wait!” The informant, a male voice, spoke back.

“Has something gone wrong with the plan?”

“Not exactly. But the plans may have to change.”

The informant waited, breathlessly, checking his surroundings to be sure he was truly alone.

“Go on,” he said. “It’s safe to speak.”

“We have become aware of something that changes everything. A …Projector has emerged, not yet in full power, still a child.”