Into the Dark (The Conjurors) (20 page)

“Well, if Kanti’s right and this is her old friend, then he used to live in America. Also, in my vision he spoke English without an accent of any kind, so I think chances are he probably does live there.”

“I’ll go straight there. And as soon as you find him, I’ll be ready.”

“Thank you so much. I feel so much better knowing that you’ll be there to protect him.”

Valerie let herself be pulled back to her body on the Globe, and she opened her eyes. Kanti rushed around the room, yanking clothes out of drawers and throwing them into a silver box that stood in the middle of the room. Valerie looked inside and saw that it was full of food, clothes, a water jug, and an assortment of other strange objects.

“How will we carry that box on our journey? Wouldn’t backpacks be easier?”

Kanti put the lid on the box. “It’s a call box. We leave it right here in this room, and when we need something, we call for it and it appears wherever we are on the Globe. I packed you some clothes and food, and Cyrus is grabbing his stuff as we speak.”

“That is so cool,” Valerie said as she bent over the box to examine it more closely. It seemed like any ordinary silver box, but she felt the slight hum of power that indicated that it had been touched by magic.

 “It makes traveling much easier. Plus, someone is bound to stop three kids wandering around with suitcases and ask where they’re going. And trust me, there is no way Dulcea is going to be okay with us traveling to another country on our own.”

 “Shouldn’t we let Dulcea know we’ll be gone? I don’t want her to worry.”

“Not going to work. She will insist that we have a chaperone, and that could take days. She’ll probably punish us when we get back, but this trip can’t wait.”

Valerie shook her head regretfully. “I know you’re right, but let’s at least leave her a note so she knows we haven’t been kidnapped or something.”

“Good idea – she won’t be back for a couple hours anyway. Can you write it, Val?”

Valerie quickly jotted down a note for Dulcea explaining their quest and apologizing. When she was satisfied with what she had written, she turned back to Kanti. “So how do we get to this Oracle, anyway? I’m guessing it’s not by bus.”

 “You’ll see,” she said with a grimace. “It’s not my favorite way to travel, but Cyrus said you’ll love it.”

Before they left, Valerie took the flower of light from her nightstand and slid it into her pocket, where it glowed through the fabric. It somehow didn’t feel right to leave it behind, and she might be glad to have a light at night during their journey.

Cyrus met them gliding down the stairs and hopped on to their platform. “I dumped my stuff in the call box. We’d better hurry; the next car leaves the station in fifteen minutes.”

“Car, huh?” Valerie said curiously. “I thought you said–”

“It’s a surprise!” Cyrus said, and then refused to add another word.

Before they left, Valerie dropped off the note for Dulcea. Minutes later, they arrived at the station, which seemed ordinary enough, like a train station on Earth. But when they reached the tracks, the sight made Valerie’s heart leap. “Conjurors travel by rollercoaster cars?!” she shouted with glee.

Stretching into the distance, the silver track was full of twists, turns and loops. A red rollercoaster car was waiting at their station. Valerie boarded and sat between Cyrus and Kanti, and a conductor came over and strapped them into their harnesses.

“It’s totally safe, too. The harnesses are something to hold on to; the magic in the seat will prevent you from falling out,” Cyrus explained.

“Sure, you won’t die, but the magic won’t protect you from getting hit with my puke,” Kanti said. “So if I start turning green, be prepared to duck.”

“Disgusting!” Cyrus said. “Thanks for that image.”

“Last call, Ephesus!” the conductor called, and then the rollercoaster inched slowly forward.

Once the car had exited the station, it immediately whooshed forward at top speed. Valerie felt the wind yank her hair straight back, and she screamed with joy. It was so much smoother than the old wooden rollercoaster she had ridden two years ago on a school field trip. That time, she had been jostled so much that she left the ride with a headache. But not this time. Every loop and corkscrew was as smooth as glass, and Valerie could enjoy the speed and the thrill without distractions.

At one point, the rollercoaster sped next to the lake where Valerie had met Azra the night before. They came so close that Valerie could reach out and touch the water, sending a spray all over Cyrus, who laughed and repaid the favor. Valerie was drenched, but she felt herself quickly drying in the wind.

Finally, the rollercoaster slowed down at the edge of the shady woods as the sun sank behind the horizon. Even Valerie had her fill of riding at that point, and solid ground had never felt so wonderful. Kanti looked green from nausea, and Valerie hoped that she wasn’t going to throw up.

“We’re definitely walking home,” Kanti said grumpily. “You’ll never get me on that thing again!”

“I feel a little dizzy, but that was so worth it,” Valerie said. “I have to hand it to you, Cy, you know how to travel in style!”

“I knew you’d love it, Val,” he replied triumphantly as the rollercoaster took off, roaring as it zoomed away into the distance.

“Where are we? I don’t see anything out here,” Valerie said. The rollercoaster had stopped at the edge of Arden’s forest, and stretching out before them were a smattering of trees that gradually became sparser and more ghostly, giving way to nothing but the yellow sands of a vast, barren desert.

“This is as far as we can travel by rollercoaster,” Kanti said. “Travelers to the Roaming City in Ephesus must enter on foot.”

“The Roaming City is where the Oracle Conjurors live?”

“Yes – not many Conjurors ever get to see it,” Cyrus said, clearly excited by the prospect of the adventure ahead of them.

“How far away is the Roaming City from here?” Valerie said, straining her eyes to see anything other than miles of sand.

“That’s the tricky part. You don’t find the Oracle, the Oracle finds you. It’s called the Roaming City because it’s never in the same place twice. It can only be found by those in great need of guidance. People have come here searching for the Roaming City until they go crazy, but you’ll only find it if the Oracle wants you to.”

“Well, our need is great, so we’ll find it for sure,” Valerie said with determination. “Let’s go.”

But before they could take a step, she heard a rustling in the trees behind them, and what sounded like the whimper of a wounded animal. Instinct told her that someone was in danger.

“Did you hear that?” Kanti asked.

“Let’s check it out.”

“But Val –” Cyrus protested, but Valerie interrupted him.

“Someone could be hurt!”

She made her way back through the trees quietly. After she had walked for a couple of minutes, she heard a boy’s voice say, “We’ve been waiting a long time to get our hands on you.”

Again, Valerie heard the weak whimpering. Peering through the trees, she saw a lanky older boy who wore grungy clothes that were full of holes and looked as if he hadn’t washed in weeks. The small creature he was talking to was no larger than a baby bear cub, and looked like no animal Valerie had ever seen on Earth. He had wide, innocent eyes and was covered in soft golden fur that was trembling from fear. But the strangest thing about him was that it looked like something was glowing deep inside him. It was his heart, Valerie realized with surprise as she watched the red light pulse softly under his skin.

“It’s Darling!” Cyrus said in surprise. Seeing Valerie’s confusion, he explained, “He’s a haelan, the last of his kind, like Azra. He has healing powers, and he visits sick children all over the Globe.”

Seeing a helpless creature at the mercy of someone much bigger unlocked an anger inside of Valerie that made her feel fearless. After all, this scraggly boy would hardly be a threat when she unleashed her powers. She stepped out of the trees.

“Valerie, wait, no!” Cyrus called behind her, but it was too late to turn back.

“Really? Picking on someone one-fifth your size? You’re such a coward that it makes me sick,” Valerie said, stalking over to the boy.

The boy laughed, saying “You have no idea the world of trouble you walked into, just to help this little rat.”

“You’re not the first person to underestimate me and regret it,” she snapped back. Never breaking eye contact with the boy, she knelt down and felt Darling run into her arms. A wave of protectiveness washed over her, and she hugged him close. Darling’s safety was more important than her urge to fight this thug, so she turned to leave.

But before she could take two steps, the boy’s voice said mockingly, “Going so soon? We haven’t got a chance to get to know each other.”

 “We’re not going to let you hurt him,” Cyrus said harshly.

“Do you really think you have a choice? And he’s not the only one who will be giving us what we want. Give us a taste of your magic, or we’ll take it,” he said with a dark grin. The trees behind the boy moved, and then seven dirty kids of various ages stepped out of the shadows with nasty sneers on their faces.

“Take a hike, jerk,” Kanti said, stepping forward. Valerie tried to yank Kanti back. The dynamics of the fight had changed dramatically. Couldn’t she see that they were completely outnumbered?

“Those are some nasty words for such a pretty little yellow thing,” the leader replied sarcastically. He stepped forward threateningly. “They call me Shade – and I’m your worst nightmare.”

Kanti laughed out loud. “Really? Nice line, Shade. It goes so well with your super-cool name.”

Shade’s eyes narrowed. “Witch! I’m going to teach you a lesson.”

“Kanti, no!” Cyrus whispered. “You don’t know what you’re doing! They have a weapon!” Then he spoke more loudly to Shade, “How much do you want? Our powers are still developing.”

Kanti looked at Cyrus incredulously. “Are you kidding? We’re not giving these thugs anything.”

Without another word, Shade whipped something out of his pocket. To Valerie, it looked like a small black cone. But was clearly much more, because she felt dark magic humming from it. “Run, Darling!” Valerie whispered before releasing him behind a tree. He scampered into the forest.

Shade lunged at Kanti as the other attackers closed around her in a circle, leaving her nowhere to run. Shade pressed the cone against Kanti, and she turned pale and fell to her knees.

“No!” Valerie said, and felt her defenses automatically kick into high gear. Two of the thugs stepped closer and grabbed her, trying to pin her down. But she swept her leg underneath one of them and he fell to the ground hard. The second attacker pulled out a sharpened stone from his pocket, but she kicked it out of his hand before he could even try to strike her.

Valerie’s grin of victory was brief. As she looked over, she saw that Cyrus had tried to tackle Shade and blind him with a shield made of light. But Shade pressed the cone against Cyrus’ forehead, and he cried out in pain. The light in his shield was instantly extinguished. To her astonishment, she saw that Shade’s hands were now glowing.

“Cool power,” he said, playing with the light in his hands. Something inside of Valerie snapped, and her fear temporarily vanished. No one hurt Cyrus. Ever.

“Get away from him!”

Shade ignored, her, fascinated by the way he could draw light to himself. Valerie took advantage of Shade’s distraction and approached him from behind. With an elegant jab of her elbow, she hit him in the back, hard. He grunted and turned around. She noticed with triumph the pain in his eyes. But then Shade turned the cone on her. She felt something tugging inside of her, sucking away her strength. It was as if her fighting powers had vanished, and the cone hadn’t even touched her skin yet.