Taken (Book Six) (Fated Saga Fantasy Series) (16 page)

Ardon picked herself up. “Get up!” she ordered. “Run! Now!” She started running as f
ast as one could run through sand.

Billie and Noah helped th
e others get back up and followed.

“Maria! Come on!” said Billie. But Maria was stiff as stone, her eyes wide and frozen on something else on the beach.
They stopped, afraid to turn and look.

“Kalila?” whispered Billie.

The elderly woman had hobbled onto the beach, far away from them. She was dancing, recklessly, making no attempts to stay quiet or hidden. There was something else with her, a ghostly shadow that danced alongside her.

“Is that a ghost? Is that her sister?” asked Maria.

Kalila and the ghost of her sister, Kalida, danced as if hand in hand, in circles, as if nothing perilous was happening around them.

Maria felt someone tug at her arm and once
again, they were running toward Ardon and the others, who were nearing the water’s edge.

Behind them, they heard raucous laughter. It wa
s Kalila. But they didn’t turn to look. They reached the others just as Ardon waved her arm and a ship appeared. A plank lay in the water running up the side so they could climb on board. Only one person could board at a time. The process was painstakingly slow. The ship was about half the size of a full ship; a tall mast arched inward, catching the wind, ready for immediate departure.

Billie realized as she waited for the others to board what Kalila was doing. Her loud l
aughs, her wild dancing... the Scratchers didn’t notice them getting onto the boat.

Directly o
ver Kalila’s dancing frame, a vortex of winged shadows formed, lowering.

“Get on board,” Ardon shouted. Billie realized she was the last person still
on the beach. Ardon caught her arm as she jumped onto the plank.

“Juliska spoke of two others that escaped. T
wo she wants returned. If you can, warn them. They probably have no idea they are being hunted.”

“Who?” asked Billie.

“Their names are Ivan and Meghan. That’s all I caught.”

Billie said nothing, but nodded curtly.

She bounded up the plank and hopped on, surprised when Ardon pulled it down after.

“You’re not coming with us?” she asked.

“The ship has to be cast off from this side. I cannot do it on board unless KarNavan is with me.”

“But you’ll...”

“Just find help,” Ardon spoke calmly.

“Look,” called out Noah.

Out of the tree line, figures were appearing. Stripers, materializing. Storming the beach. Heading directly for them.

Kalila stopped dancing, suddenly turning to the group on the ship
. She took a deep bow, putting her hand to her mouth, outstretching it towards them. She looked upward as a Scratcher came diving down.

“I’m coming
for ya, Sis,” she shouted madly. The ghost of her sister had disappeared. “Have me a warm brandy waiting!”

Kalila’s body disappeared
, engulfed in deadly wings.

Ardon cast
off the ship. The last thing the castaways saw on the island was Ardon being grabbed from behind, and dragged away.

The island disappeared.

Instantly, they faced open sea.

T
he moon was rising and the sun setting.

The ship creaked and moaned, sloshing back and forth with the waves.

Maura comforted an inconsolable Maria.

Billie stepped over and patted her on the back.

“It’s truly a loss. But if you think about it, I can’t imagine her going from this life any other way.”

Maria looked up and wiped her eyes.

“Those two sisters lived a good, long life,” Billie spoke, her throat tight.

“She went out just like she lived,” added Noah. “I s
ure will miss those crazy sisters. They were one of a kind.”

“We wouldn’t have made it,” said Maria, sniffling. “I think she knew that.”

“I think you’re right,” said Billie. She looked at each of the passengers, covered in sand, feet wet, hair disheveled, tired, and hungry, with no idea where they were headed. “Let’s make sure that no one’s death is in vain.”

They set in to inspecting the ship. Below deck was a stock of food and water.
In addition, rows of beds were built into the ships hull. Hammocks hung wherever there was free space.

“It’s a shame we couldn’t bring enough people with us to fill them all,” muttered Maura.

Up on deck, Billie and Noah looked out over the vast, empty ocean.

“I still feel like
something isn’t right. The timing of our escape. Us getting away a little too easily, and Ardon, right before I boarded, told me that Juliska was looking for Meghan and Ivan,” said Billie, sucking in the cold sea air. “They did escape.”

Noah nodded.
“I didn’t want to say anything around the others,” he said. “Kalila did grab their attention away from us, but I agree, it was too easy. The old woman just didn’t want to go on. I could see it in her eyes the moment her sister died.”

“So what do ya think? A trap?” asked Billie.

“Does it matter? If they are following us, they are following us. We cannot stop that. All we can do is
try
to stay a step ahead.”

“You’re right,” Billie agreed.
“Starting with, can I remember how to steer a ship? I worked on my dad’s for a time, but that was a lot of years ago.”

“It’ll come back to you,” said Maur
a, stepping up onto the deck. “Ardon didn’t lie about the supplies. We’re stocked. She said there was enough for a week, but I’d wager at least two.”

“Coffee?” asked Billie, hopeful.

“Already being brewed,” she replied.

“Things are looking up,” Billie said, trying to sound positive.

“Do we try and find Meghan and Ivan?” asked Noah. “If this
is
some kind of trap, it seems it may have been set for them, not us.”

“I agree. I don’t think we can chance it.”

“Then where do we go?” asked Maura. “The banished? From what you’ve told me, Amelia is off her rocker near as much as Juliska Blackwell.”

They looked
at each other and then out across the ocean, just waves as far as the eye could see. No roads. No path before them.

How were they going to save the Svoda?

##

It was late into the night but Colin was
wide awake, electrified really, unable to even think about sleep. His Uncle Arnon, along with Kanda Macawi and the Jendayas were only too eager to talk about magic and answer any questions that Colin had, if they knew the answers.

It helped to
o that they were sitting in a tropical setting, dangling their feet into the water after a sumptuous feast hours before.

They had filled in many blanks for him, about himself and Meghan, all they knew about the banished Svoda, and Amelia Cobb’s plans, as well as Juliska Blackwell, the leader of the Svoda on the island and everything they knew about her.

Arnon had explained that he had never truly agreed with Amelia and her plans to return magic to the world, but they had been friends their entire lives, and he had never believed until these last few years that she was capable of true evil. This was why he never returned to her after Meghan and Colin had left. That plus he was in love with Kanda.

Colin had known Juliska
was evil, but until tonight, he had no idea just how evil - he learned that she had created the Scratchers, the flying monsters that hunted their own people. It was a sickening thought.

“The magica
l community is being ripped apart,” said Kanda. “We must do everything we can to heal it.”

Colin did not know what part he still played in all of this, but he didn’t want to add to the problems. He still needed to know more. More about where h
e came from. Who his parents were. Why had they not kept him? Did they know what he was, what he would become? To these big questions, no one present had the answers.

“
Getting back to magic,” Colin said. “Just how many kinds of magic are there?”

Arnon glanced at Kanda and she motioned for him to go ahead.

“It’s not so much that there’s different kinds of magic, just different ways of accessing and using magic.”

Colin nodded.

“For example,” took over Kanda, “when the Svoda use magic, they learn to search out and collect magical energy from around them; this energy is left behind from living things. It has limitations, though. If you use up the energy around you, you must be able to reach out from yourself far enough, to gather more. Something it takes many years to learn, and many cannot do it. Normal use of magic will not drain the natural energy, as it is constantly replenished. There’s also natural limits inside of each person which presets how much magic they can use or save up, inside themselves.”

“So that’s why they have stored
magic,” said Colin. “If they suddenly find themselves needing more than they can collect, they have extra.” He was thinking of the magical belts lined with vials that he had seen a few times.

“Yes. Having to use a lot of magic all at once requires a lot of energy
. If they are unable to reach out far enough, to get more, they have to resort to their stored supply,” explained Arnon.

“The Tunkapog,” continued
Kanda, “are a little different. Our people access magic differently. We were not born with the ability to collect and use this magical energy, within ourselves. We do, however, possess the ability to create magic from all the living things around us. Think of it sort of like the Svoda’s stores of magic, but on a larger scale. You’d be surprised what the perfect mixture of seemingly simple things you walk past every day can create. Beauty, serenity,” she waved her hand around the tropical room they sat in currently, “healing sickness and injury, causing sickness and injury, or even death.”

“Okay, I get those differences,
” said Colin. “So what about the Grosvenor? What can they do? Why is everyone so afraid of them?”

Milo
spoke up first.

“The Grosvenor are dangerous. Never doubt this. They are very old and with this age comes great wisdom.”

He saw a confused look on Colin’s face.

“I don’t mean great like in
good
great. Just great as in you can’t even begin to imagine all the knowledge they have collected and have at their disposal.”

“Ah
. Okay.”

Arnon continued
the explanation. “The biggest thing they have going for them is their immortality, Colin. What you must understand is that their immortality is not naturally given, but magically created.”

“So can it be magically taken away?” he asked.
Arnon looked as though he didn’t want to answer him, knowing that Colin wanted to know this not just for the destruction of the Grosvenor, but the possible destruction of himself, should it become necessary.

Kanda answered.

“There is a belief that if the Immortality Stone could somehow be destroyed that their immortality would be stripped... but keep in mind, the Projectors who hid the stone found no way to destroy it. They could only hide it.”

He knew this. Jasper had told him. Still, it made things seem just the slightest bit less hopeless.

“The Grosvenor,” chimed in Milo, “are really no stronger than anyone in the magical world. What makes them so dangerous is their knowledge and the many, many, many years they’ve had to harness and use this knowledge.”

“Plus, they
’ve got that super hard to kill thing going on,” added Colin.

“Yes. There is that.”

“And even if one could find the Immortality Stone,” spoke Kay in her soft tones, “the danger just bringing it out into the open would create would be...” she couldn’t find the right word to express what she meant.

“Devastating,” said Arnon. “That stone in the wrong hands would wield terrible power. Just the t
hought of more Grosvenor being created should be frightening enough...”

“That stone is nothing but trouble,” agreed
Milo. “No one in their right mind would even consider using it! That is, of course, if it could even be found.”

“Let us hope that day never happens,” added Kay, yawning. “Oh my. I think it’s time to say goodnight.”

She and Milo departed to their dome house just next door.

Colin, Catrina, Kanda and Arnon left the tropical room and headed back into the main room.

Colin didn’t move to head to bed.

“You have more questions?” asked Arnon.

Colin opened his mouth
to ask but stopped. He wasn’t sure exactly how to ask the next question. Arnon took a seat at the long table, motioning for him to sit. Catrina and Kanda did as well.