Alliance of Blackbirds Page 7

  Chapter Seven

  “The tide is low and the time has come. Did you come to a decision for your companion?” The Queen asked.

  I squeezed Gabe’s hand before he let it go to announce our decision. “We have and we wish to retain his existence.”

  The Queen nodded with her expressionless eyes on him. “Then you must leave as soon as the storms pass. This creature draws the glass people here and our island is no battleground.” Her eyes focused on Gabe, suddenly filled with sympathy. “I see and yet don’t see how you wish to keep this creature alive, especially the darkness he draws. I must honor your decision and I give you my support in the battle you face.”

  Gabe bowed slightly and backed away as we were led out of the castle.

  “How and where is this Pandora’s Lock going to work?” Ian asked as I watched Claire go over to Jasper. I still wanted to smack him.

  “Just like I said before,” Rasmus said standing beside Gabe. “You’ve got the bait,” he nodded towards me, “you’ve got the light to guide them and the ability to make a portal—that’s you Ian.”

  Ian shook his head. “It can’t be that simple and what about my responsibility? I don’t have experience at making portals.”

  “It can be that simple. The glass people are powerful and cunning, but they do have limitations. Being outside their element takes from their power—they weaken and quickly do so without their power. It can be done my young portal maker.” He smiled at Ian who turned away with a huff.

  “You make it sound so easy and aren’t even the least bit worried. Worlds are in the balance of things. If the glass people gain control, we’ll never get it back. Both Atlantis and Eutopia will be gone and who knows where it will stop.”

  “If you think that way, then that’s the way things will go. You have the ability and the resources to win this because…I don’t like the other option.”

  Ian looked at Gabe then me.

  “You can do it and so can I. We don’t have any other choice.” I sent the message just for him to hear.

  “Talking is easy. It’s the doing that’s hard.” Ian replied verbally just as Claire joined us.

  “Jasper said we could stay in the guest building in the gardens,” she said motioning towards the tall palm trees.

  “The Mers do have wonderful accommodations and I bet there will be a feast tonight.” Rasmus rubbed his hands together with anticipation.

  “No,” Claire said coldly. “There are storms coming and everyone is in tonight. So, no dancing, no feast, no music, no Ambrosia, no…” With each word I could see tears pool in her eyes until she wiped them away and began to quietly sob.

  “Claire?” Ian questioned her with a confused look on her face.

  “I know, I feel like crying too,” Rasmus said with crossed arms.

  I looked at Gabe and motioned with my eyes that they should leave as I wrapped my arms around Claire.

  “Let’s go and check out our accommodations then,” Gabe said prodding them along.

  “Is she alright?” Ian even whispered his message to me.

  “She will be. I’ll talk to her.” I replied with a smile.

  They left leaving just Claire and I. I guided her through the gardens past some of the Mers that were tending to it to a private area encircled by vining yellow flowers that sweetened the air surrounding us.

  “What did Jasper say?” I asked trying not to say his name with venom.

  “He,” she started to say through her hiccupping voice. “He said he didn’t want me anymore since I look this way.” She looked at me with red, swollen eyes.

  I rolled mine and tried to compose myself and choose my words carefully. I had to tell Claire that Jasper, the once love of her life, was a jerk.

  “Claire,” I said softly. “If Jasper cared for you he would love you if you had no hair.”

  “You don’t understand the Mers.” She looked away. “Your appearance is important. It reflects what’s on the inside and he sees it as a change in me. The Mers look at things differently. Jasper didn’t accept the change and declared he won’t be seeing me anymore.” Even Claire’s lips were swollen from crying.

  I drew in a deep breath as Claire picked a flower and twirled it between her fingers.

  “Well then,” I said standing up. “Then if he doesn’t like the change in you, then maybe he isn’t good enough for you.” Claire continued to focus on the trumpet shaped flower. “There are lots of other fish in the sea. Did he tell you that?” I asked being serious and not knowing how to say ‘you’ve got to move on’ gently.

  Claire looked up at me. I wasn’t sure if she was going to cry or yell at me saying that’s an old stupid cliché. Instead her lips curled upward and she chuckled. “That’s lame advice, but…true. I’ve never dated many boys and besides my family on Kangee, I’ve never been around very much.”

  She tossed the flower to the ground and stood up. “That’s what I want to do,” she said in a loud voice. “I want to meet new people and do more things that I know I’m capable of.”

  I smiled back feeling relieved of Claire’s sudden new direction just as the distant rumble of thunder shook through the trees.

  “We better go. There’s a storm coming,” Claire said.

  There was a storm coming and one that I didn’t know if anything would survive.

  When Claire and I got to the building made of the same black sand, it had just started to rain. Rasmus had David sitting in front of him talking quietly to him. David nodded his head and listened as Rasmus looked like he was giving him instructions.

  “I’m going to go and get our dinner before it starts raining,” Ian said pushing the door open.

  “I’ll go with you.” Claire walked up to him with a smile.

  Ian looked down at her like she was a small kitten following him. “It’s going to rain and probably be lightening by the time I get back.” He warned with a shrug of Claire’s shoulders.

  “So, you can use the help and I won’t melt.” She gazed back up at him. “Well, let’s go or we’ll be soaked by the time we get back.”

  Ian pushed the door open the rest of the way letting Claire out glancing back at me smiling at him.

  There wasn’t too much to the cabin. In the center was a pile of stones that glowed orange and yellow and as I stepped closer, were warm. The cork-like floor was cushiony and felt good to sit on. There were no chairs, but shelves that had a few stacks of dishes, blankets and more of the clear stones that were in the fireplace.

  I stared at the glowing stones slowing pulsating with light and heat, almost like a real fire. Gabe came up behind me and wrapped a blanket over my shoulders. I looked up at him and smiled.

  “It can get cold here at night.” He sat beside me. “They’re fire stones and are only found deep within the ocean. The Mer mine and sell them. And as you can guess, they are a hot item,” he said smile at me.

  “A hot item, no,” I said laughing.

  “I mean not only is it hot, but it made them one of the wealthiest clans in Atlantis.” Gabe picked one up and immediately it flickered out. “Just think no more cutting down trees, no more fire hazard and they’re perfect except you can’t cook with them—at least not yet.”

  “What do you mean not yet?”

  “It means they’re working on it. The fire stones don’t get hot enough and the Mers are getting closer to doing so.” He put the stone back and it began to glow again.

  “So can you turn them off and on?” I held my hands warming them over the stones.

  “Yes by hitting them together.” Gabe picked up two and gently tapped them together. They quickly stopped glowing and were as clear as glass with jagged sides. “The ones the Queen uses are cut like diamonds and are really beautiful. And they last for a long time.”

  I watched Gabe tap the stones again and place them with the other ones. “You know a lot don’t you, I mean about Atlantis.�
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  “I have to if one day I’m going to take Abe’s spot.”

  “Are you scared?” I asked gazing into the stones.

  He didn’t reply at first. “Why? Are you scared that one day I’m going to lead the Blackbird clan?”

  I looked up at his smiling face. The warm light made his hair look like strands of gold thread and his usual grey eyes fill with shades of yellow and oranges. I leaned closer within breaths of kissing him when David cried out.

  Gabe pulled away and quickly stood up as David breathed heavily and glared between us with pale eyes.

  “Stop,” Rasmus said calmly. “You don’t have to react that way.” His voice was firm and David receded burying his face into his hands.

  Gabe put away the dagger I didn’t even see or knew he had pulled out.

  Rasmus put a blanket over David and whispered something in his ear guiding him to the floor where he slept. He gazed up at us.

  “He’s trying and I’m giving him the advice that was given to me,” he stepped closer to Gabe and me. “I don’t know if he can overcome it.” His voice was low as Rasmus glanced at his brother.

  “If this doesn’t go well…” Gabe whispered. “We’re going to have to take action because he’s only going to get stronger and if you can’t control him, I will.”

  “You won’t be able to kill him,” Rasmus said plainly.

  “Then we’ve better make Pandora’s Lock work or I will kill him,” Gabe warned.

  Claire and Ian came back with a stew made with vegetables and what looked like shrimp. It was amazingly good. Rasmus scooped up the last of the stew and took it over to David. He shook him gently until he woke and handed it to David with a smile. Rasmus said something to him and motioned our way.

  Gabe glared at them watching their every movement like a hawk. Rasmus coaxed David over to the stone fire inviting him to sit down.

  “If you continue to exclude yourself from the group the easier it is to give in.” Rasmus handed him the bowl as David shook his head and pushed it away. “You know the glass people don’t eat food either. We do.” He took David’s hand placing the bowl in it. “Now, eat and enjoy. The Mers know how to cook when they do cook their food.”

  David’s pale eyes were steady on Gabe. Both exchanged cold glances with Rasmus watching.

  “You know if there’s an underlining hate going on here, I need to know about it.” Rasmus paused glancing between them. “Well…”

  “I didn’t mean to almost kill the Shilander,” David said. “Zach is a good guy and I barely even remembering doing it and never wanted to hurt him it’s just that…” His eyes shifted to me.

  Gabe immediately got up and stood in front of me. “You leave Em alone,” he warned.

  “It’s in the past Blackbird, whatever happened is in the past and we’re trying to help David overcome this or Ulric will have us all if we fight among ourselves.” Rasmus got up and stood in front of his brother holding his hands out and speaking in a calm voice.

  I leaned over glancing at David. His darkening eyes met mine and he smiled in a sly way—a way that I remembered the old David smiling at me if St F. Part of him returned, but I wasn’t sure if it was good or not.

  Gabe didn’t reply to Rasmus. He sat back down beside me with his eyes on David.

  “I’m changing Gabe, weather you know it or not, and I don’t want to be the person I was. I mean not only glass person, but the one before that. Being poisoned by the glass people made me see how I really was, and I don’t like it. I’m changing Gabe and not into the person I was or the one my father tried to turn me into. I’m my own person now and each day I’ll grow stronger.” Rasmus smiled at his half-brother while Gabe pressed his lips together and looked away.

  I reached for his hand and curled my fingers through his trying to ease the tension. I could feel an iciness brush past me and I glanced over at David. His eyes had casted over with a frost of white that melted as soon as I looked at him. They had a distant look to them that faded in the matter of seconds. David smiled at me with the warmth returning to him. I tightened my curl through Gabe’s fingers.

  “My father is getting closer to us and I don’t want him to have the amulet as much as you don’t.” David’s eyes changed again into ones that were as sincere as his words. “I want to join you and help you.”

  “If you want my confidence in you, then prove it,” Gabe said. “If you want to change like you say, then the only way is to prove it when the time comes.”

  Rasmus nodded his head smiling. “There, that wasn’t so bad to reach a truce.”

  David smiled at Gabe and extended his hand over the glowing rocks. “Shake on it then?”

  Gabe looked at him for a moment, held out his hand gently placing the other on his dagger at his waist and shook David’s hand.

  “And even a little physical contact without spilling any blood, that’s great.” Rasmus gazed between them. “Our group is tightening and that’s good if we’re going to beat Ulric.” He shifted his eyes to Ian. “And that means we better get started. Pandora’s Lock won’t create itself.”

  “But I don’t know how to work this Pandora’s Lock.” Ian was standing beside Claire along the wall, “especially since there wasn’t anything recorded of it except for tales told to children before bedtime.” He stepped closer to us letting Claire’s hand go that I didn’t even notice he was holding.

  Rasmus smiled and walked towards Ian. “Pandora’s Lock isn’t something that already exists; it’s something you make by your own design.”

  Ian shook his head. “I’ve got no training, no idea on how to construct such a portal—there’s simply no way. I mean what if it fails, then what?”

  “The way I look at it is, if we do nothing then we die, and worlds are consumed. If we at least try, we’ve got a chance. Not taking a chance is letting the glass people win—at everything and I do mean everything. It’s silly to let it go especially if all your ingredients are right in front of you.” Ransmus smiled fanning his arms out.

  Ian huffed, ran his fingers through his dark hair and looked at me with his blue eyes.

  “Rasmus is right. We need to take the chance. There’s no other option.” I looked into his eyes and he shook his head pulling his eyes from me. “Hey!” I caught his attention.

  Ian looked over his shoulder at me.

  “We can do this,” I said aloud so everyone could hear.

  Ian let his breath out as Claire stepped beside him lacing her fingers through his with a smile.

  “We can do this,” she said. “I’ll help you.”

  “What do you know about portals? Do you know how big it needs to be? The force it needs to pull the glass people through? You know if it isn’t strong enough it won’t work.” Ian pushed himself away from Claire. “Do you know these things?”

  Claire didn’t answer. Her mouth trembled and pools of water formed in her eyes.

  “Ian…” I warned.

  His eyes darted to me.

  “If the portal fails, then I fail and so does this world along with others.” Ian darted past me and out the door.

  I went over to Claire trying to comfort her.

  “He can do it. He’s just frightened of it.” Rasmus looked at the door with crossed arms.

  “I’ll go talk to him,” Gabe said turning towards the door.

  “No,” Claire said stopping Gabe. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “Claire…” Gabe said gently.

  “No, I need to talk to him. I might not know much about portals, but I might be of some help to him.”

  Gabe gazed down at Claire then at me. I nodded at him and he opened the door letting her out.

  I wanted to send Ian a message telling him to listen to Claire, give her a chance, but I didn’t. He needed to do this by himself and by me prodding him, would probably just make him mad.

  “So,” Gabe said standing in front of Rasmus
. “Where do we build this Pandora’s Lock?”

  “Well,” he said. “It isn’t where you build it, it’s mainly on the construction and I can’t say that the surrounding area won’t be affected.”

  Gabe stepped closer with squinted eyes. “How much affected?”

  “I’m really not sure. The portal itself has to be large and with that amount of energy traveling through it not to mention the battle to get them to go in…”

  “You mean we’re going to have to fight them?” I stepped towards Rasmus. “How are we going to do that? There are hundreds of them.”

  “More like thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.” He looked at me with his pale eyes. “With the amulet as the bait and David as their guiding light, it won’t be much of a battle. And with Pandora’s Lock it not only contains them, but attracts every bit of their poison to it—no matter where it’s at or how afar away it is.”

  I looked away immediately thinking of the Wall surrounding the Crystal City in Eutopia. The Wall was constructed out of the glass people’s power and I was destined to destroy it bringing the power back to the real Eutopians—Quil’s race of Rangers.

  “Their power is vast and more than just Atlantis have been touched,” Rasmus said standing in front of me. “You don’t have to fight them alone my little Receptor.”

  “How do you know I’m a Receptor?”

  Rasmus smiled. “I can feel the vibrations in the air and don’t worry; I can’t pick up on your messages just feel them.”

  Gabe stepped closer to me.

  “What about Eutopia? What will happen to it?” Gabe asked.

  “You mean the Wall that was created by the people of the Crystal City on Eutopia?” Rasmus looked back at me. “Yes, I know of it even though many here do not. Once touched by the poison, you gain the knowledge of where the power lies. The Wall is large and vast and I’m sure destruction and death will be inevitable, but also it will save it.”

  “Quil is here, but what about Aria?” I looked up at Gabe.

  Aria with her dark hair and topaz eyes was leader of the Outlanders, the ones that lived outside the Wall and daughter to the leader of a hidden tribe of original Eutopians. They lived secretly outside the Wall that slowly closed in on them each time it expanded. Soon they’d be out of places to hide, to live and to survive. But could they survive the Walls destruction?

  “We have to tell them what’s going on…they’ve got to prepare…or maybe we can bring them here.” I suggested.

  “They need to stay where they’re at,” Rasmus said standing beside us.

  “But they need to know.” I protested.

  Rasmus took in a deep breath. “If anything is going to be saved, we’ve got to make the portal and quickly. If we take time to tell or round people up is taking time away from completing it.” His eyes softened behind the frost that covered them. “The only way to help them is to use your Receptor abilities and send them a message.”

  I nodded my head as Gabe wrapped his arms around me. “Then I’ll send a message.” It was my only way and I knew Aria could speak to me as well as Quil. I hoped I was strong enough to send one that far and have it reach them it time.

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