The Angel of Elydria (The Dawn Mirror Chronicles Book 1) (19 page)

“Oh come now, Hector. What’s life without the simple pleasures? But don’t you worry your little head, I was completely harmless. Besides, I didn’t get any complaints―they didn’t seem to mind at
all
.” He grinned, overcome by another wave of devilish laughter.

Hector lifted his finger at Simon, but the arrival of Armonie carrying three plates full of dinner for each of them interrupted his reprimand. As the young priestess was handing everyone their own plate, she delivered surprising news.

“Madam Elise has asked me to relay a message. She wanted to tell you that she can no longer ignore the frequency in which the wraiths are appearing in the area and has decided that she and I are to go to the capital to request assistance from the Grand Cathedral,” Armonie announced, as if reciting something Madam Elise had just dictated to her. She smiled at the three of them, adding, “…and we are extending a formal invitation to you to join us.”

P
enny leapt from the carriage as it came to a halt in the middle of a wide meadow. The long journey to Iverton was halfway over, and she was desperate to stretch her legs after being cooped up inside the tiny space, crushed between Hector and Simon. Elise and Armonie drifted out behind her, blinking in the sunlight. Penny wandered over to where a tired Humphrey drank from a nearby stream. She stroked his fur as Simon approached.

“You’re really attached to this smelly beast, aren’t you?” he asked, grimacing as he looked over Humphrey with apprehension.

“I guess. I can relate well to animals―or at least I like to think I do. Animals are honest in a way people aren’t, you know?” she reasoned, running her fingers over Humphrey’s back.

Simon stepped closer and flashed Penny a seductive smile. “Maybe you just haven’t met the right person,” he purred, extending his arm to touch Penny’s face. She batted away his wrist, their hands connecting as a flash of light burst behind Penny’s eyes and the world melted away, replaced by a strange, dreamlike image flooding into her mind faster than she could process what was happening…

A sixteen-year-old
Simon stood on a stage. The theater was empty except for two men sitting in the front row, watching him with vague interest. Darkness clouded the windows outside of the dingy theater as Simon flipped cards into the air with flicks of his palm, a look of intense concentration on his face. The cards spun in midair for a few seconds before being drawn back to his hand.

The lanky man with mahogany skin in the front row gave a great laugh and Simon dropped his cards.

“What are you laughing at?” Simon glowered as the man tried to suppress his warm smile.

“I’ll tell you what I’m laughing at―the string you’re using to fly those cards around is a little obvious. What do you think, Olly?” he addressed the man sitting beside him. Olly grinned underneath his bushy mustache and rubbed his bald head.

“Let’s see what else you’ve got, kid,” Olly grumbled in a deep voice. Simon’s heart flooded with shame and determination as he gripped his deck of cards. His mind raced to think of a good trick and he….

The scene was ripped from Penny’s mind as she blasted back into reality, her eyes still swimming with stars and cards. Simon choked as she stumbled back, trying to regain her balance.

The magician sputtered for a moment. “Wh-what was that? What did you just do?” he demanded, his voice pinched and frantic.

Penny looked at Simon with wide eyes. “I-I don’t know! Could you see that, too?” she gasped.

“Of course I saw it! It was
my
memory...It was like I just re-lived it or something,” Simon said, shaking. He staggered back to where Penny was leaning against the carriage, glancing over his shoulder at the others. Armonie, Hector and Madam Elise all seemed to be immersed in their various activities and weren’t paying any attention to the two of them. Penny took a moment to calm down before speaking again.

“That was too weird...It happened when I touched your hand just then―it was like I was dreaming. I mean, it had that sort of dream logic. You know, where you know exactly what’s going on for whatever reason, you know? I felt what you were feeling,” Penny tried to explain.

Simon looked anxious as he smoothed his hair. “Has that―ever happened before?” he inquired, still shaken.

“No. Not ever.”

“Try touching my hand again. I’ll think of a memory,” he said, offering his hand and closing his eyes.

Penny took a deep breath and steadied herself, then pressed her fingers to Simon’s wrist, bracing for what was to come. The two of them stood still as statues for several long moments, but nothing happened. Penny let her hand drop and shrugged. Simon looked as baffled as Penny felt.

Armonie strolled up to the carriage. “What’s going on? You both look awfully pale,” she observed.

Penny glanced at Simon and they made a silent agreement to say nothing. Simon offered an excuse as he and Armonie walked back to the carriage and climbed inside. Penny’s head throbbed as she followed.

They exchanged a few more looks before Madam Elise and Hector rejoined the company and the journey resumed. As the carriage shook back into its bumpy rumble, Penny shut her eyes, thinking hard about what had just happened. She couldn’t remember experiencing anything like what she’d just seen. No matter how she thought about it, no answers appeared for all her questions, and her train of thoughts turned toward the future.

PENNY SHOOK THE glass orb, marveling that the encased sand didn’t appear affected by the motion.

“The subtle approach you take to problem-solving is astounding,” Hector teased, and Penny realized he had been watching her examination of Della’s mysterious gift. She glared at him with narrowed eyes.

“Have you got a better idea?” she challenged, lips pursed in annoyance.

Hector plucked the orb from her hands with a swish of his bony fingers, and pushed his glasses upward to get a better look. He examined it for several long minutes before handing the tiny sphere back to her without saying a word.

“So?” she prompted, waiting for a response.

Hector cleared his throat. “I have no idea,” he announced with a shrug.

Penny shook her head and went back to staring into its depths. The miniature hurricane of dust was hypnotizing. It drew Armonie’s attention next.

“What is that?” she asked curiously, reaching her hand out to receive the glass ball.

“Maybe you could tell me,” Penny said, tipping it into her fingers. Armonie turned it over and over in her hands and handed it back to Penny with a shrug.
Guess not
, Penny thought, and put the cherry pine box and its treasures away before settling in for a nap. The darkness that clouded her eyes was meager, but even through such a thin veil of sleep, a dream still visited.

Penny was marching down a street wearing a strange costume. The dusky sky was tinged with pink and purple clouds, and balloons painted with grotesquely comical faces floated in the trees. White sheets flapped in the wind.

Ahh, of course. It’s Halloween! I’ve got to go meet Maddie.

Penny was at a door. She knocked and a man with a serious gaze answered. He was angry and seemed to be fed up with Penny. Was it already too late to trick-or-treat? Maddie couldn’t come out to play. Penny turned from the house, singing a song at the top of her lungs. It was cheerful and loud and felt magnificent as it reverberated in her throat. Then she noticed the sky. Black. It killed the music. The ghoulish cartoon balloons didn’t seem so funny anymore. A crowd of people rushed by, their faces obscured. Penny tried to catch a glimpse of one of them, but they were gone. Her eyes focused on the area they’d run from, and she saw it.

NO. NOT HERE.

The masked entity, the same one that Penny had met at the bottom of the Grotto’s pool, stood all the way across the street, silent as mist. Its death-mask smiled back, peering at her with its ghastly visage that was just as terrible as she remembered. Penny’s chest heaved with horror and the dream suddenly lost its thin quality. It was now cold and harsh and all too real, like nails and ice. The inky black of the sky bled down until there was nothing but darkness. Penny knew she was dreaming, but she couldn’t make herself wake up. She struggled, her teeth grinding against themselves, begging her mind to let go as the void-like eyes of the mask stared deeply into hers.

It’s hungry. It’s starving.

She felt it speak, its voice like warm poison in her ears, “Life is but a dream...Life is but a dream.”

Her heart buzzing with fear, Penny tried to move her arms and legs to no avail. She tried to scream, but something was stuck. A frantic burst of terror hit, and control flooded back into her limbs as she jerked awake with a whimper.

It was pitch dark all around her, but a midnight blue square of light provided a reference to where she was. The carriage was still bouncing. Clutching her chest, Penny caught her breath and stared out the window of the carriage, where night had fallen. Though it had only been a dream, sickness still clung to her body like a filmy sheet of gauze. Her panic was just beginning to subside when a soft voice spoke in the darkness.

“Is something wrong?” Hector sounded as if he, too, had been asleep mere moments ago.

“Sorry. It’s nothing―I just had a weird dream, that’s all,” she whispered, rubbing her eyes. The spinning in her head worsened. She didn’t notice Hector had drawn near to her until he put a hand on her forehead.

“You’re fine. Go back to sleep, okay?” Hector comforted in the gloom. She nodded, feeling her dizziness rise to a crescendo as magic was drawn from her. Before she could realize Hector’s intentions, her limp body was falling against the wall of the cab. There were no dreams this time.

The next thing Penny was aware of was the twittering of excited voices. Her eyelids fluttered open. The creaks and cracks of her bones suggested that she had slept in the wrong position.

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. We’re here!” Simon shouted at Penny, and she groaned in reply. The light from outdoors stung her eyes.

“How long have I been asleep?” she croaked.

“Ages.” Armonie smiled at Penny for a brief instant as she pushed her way over Madam Elise’s lap to get a look out of the window. Hector was also attempting to get a glimpse. Penny rubbed her sandy eyes until the sunlight was no longer an enemy, and turned her attention toward the window. Outside was a striking scene.

The languid, stretching grasslands had become a bustling cityscape. Peaked roofs split the cerulean blue sky, their tiled sides made of red clay that burned in the autumn sunlight. The plaster faces of the buildings were painted in soft pinks, yellows, and greens, oftentimes trimmed with bushels of flowering plants. Steeples, towers, turrets and domes rose high into the air all around the wide stone streets. Their carriage was traveling in a line of carriages, which cut through the middle of a crowded lane so wide it could’ve passed for a city square. Cars that ran on steam and magic-powered engines, street vendors with eclectic bursts of colored merchandise, busy pedestrians, and a vast assortment of creatures overflowed in the streets. Everywhere she looked, flags bearing the crest of Iverton waved in the breeze. Meticulous iron work decorated the signs and lampposts of the city, and flowering purple trees lined the sidewalks, towering in the alleys between the neat rows of buildings. A group of elves stood together on a street corner beside a lively café, and the terrace jittered with tiny birds the size of bees. People of every variety imaginable were enjoying lunch on the green pavilion in front of the café. Buoyant lacy parasols bobbed over the heads of the crowd.