Into the Dark (The Conjurors) (16 page)

“How did you discover your power?”

“I think it runs in my family – I’m just the only one who uses my magic. My parents are the keepers of the lighthouse on Messina. It’s a tiny island on a huge ocean, so it’s an important job. One night when I was really little, I couldn’t sleep so I went to the top of the lighthouse, which was my favorite place in the whole world. As I sat there, staring into the light, I felt hypnotized. It was as if every time I breathed, the light was pouring down my throat. It felt warm and tingly. I looked down, and my hands were glowing. Then, there was a bright flash, and I was holding a tiny ship made of light in my hands.”

“No way!”

Cyrus’ face darkened. “I looked up and saw my mom watching me, all worried. She told me that it was wrong for me to use my powers. She wasn’t angry, but I didn’t understand her reasoning. I still don’t. She thinks magic is evil, and that Conjurors will abuse their powers and end up destroying the Globe. But magic does so much good, too, and I don’t want to live the rest of my life hiding who I really am.”

“I never heard you talk about that before,” Kanti said, looking at Cyrus with interest. “I know what it’s like to have parents who wish you were different.”

Valerie felt a little irritated with them both. Didn’t they know how lucky they were to have parents who cared about them? Maybe his parents weren’t perfect, but at least Cyrus was loved.

    “Do you know what kind of magic you have yet, Valerie?” Kanti asked, interrupting her line of thought.

    “All I know is that a couple times when I was threatened, I was suddenly able to fight a guy who was a lot bigger than me. It’s weird, because I’ve never taken lessons in martial arts or anything.”

 “My roomie has fighting powers? I suddenly feel so safe,” Kanti teased.

“What about you, Kanti? Your magic must have to do with dance, right?”

To Valerie’s surprise, Kanti blushed. “Um, thanks. No, I don’t have any magic. That’s from practicing.”

“None? I thought everyone here had some kind of power.”

“Nope. There are a few Conjurors all over the Globe who have magic in their blood, but it never develops into a power. It’s kind of rare, though. All of my family has powers except for me. My sisters can all enchant people with their singing, and make them do whatever they want them to do. They once convinced two brothers to repaint our entire house. It took them weeks, but they came every day until they finished the job, grinning like fools the entire time. But all I can do is cause men to swoon from my drop dead gorgeous looks,” Kanti said with a grin.

“Does your family live around here?”

“No, they live up north in Elsinore. It’s really cold up there, and it doesn’t help that my house is made of ice. Sure, it looks cool, but I’m always freezing my butt off! At least it’s a good excuse not to go home too often. My family drives me nuts, and they’re always embarrassed when the ugly daughter with no magic returns.”

“Azra says you do have magic, Kanti, it just hasn’t manifested yet,” Cyrus corrected her.

Kanti narrowed her eyes. “She’s wrong. This is who I am, and I’m fine with that.”

“Azra’s never wrong about that kind of stuff.”

“What do you mean, Cy?” Valerie asked.

“Azra can sense the magical powers inside of people. She says everyone has magic of some kind inside them, and she can help bring out that power if they want her to. Even a regular human on Earth would have a power with Azra’s help.”

“Can all unicorns do that?”

Cyrus’ and Kanti’s faces suddenly turned serious. “She’s the last of her kind,” Kanti said softly. Valerie understood why she must have felt so instantly connected to Azra – she knew what it was to be truly alone.

Something of what Valerie was thinking must have shown on her face, because Kanti changed the subject, pointing out all of the different guilds that she could join. There were hundreds of guilds, ranging from the Inspiration Guild, which consisted of muses that inspired artists all over the universe, to the Glamour Guild, where Conjurors created fantastic illusions and disguises, to the Illuminators Guild, which put on brilliant light shows all around the Globe.

Despite how exciting all of the options sounded, Valerie quickly narrowed her choices down to two: the Round Table Knights Guild, who policed all of Arden to keep its citizens safe, and the guild of the Contego, who protected the barrier between the Earth and the Globe, to make sure no Conjuror was able to travel back to Earth in person. They also made sure that no one projected to Earth for evil purposes – like haunting people or jumping out from under kids’ beds to scare them.

Kanti and Cyrus had both finished their apprenticeship at the Imaginary Friends guild and were now craftsmen. They taught the young apprentices the basics about how to be a good imaginary friend to their companions on Earth.

“Why did you guys stop being imaginary friends and decide to teach?”

“Well, I was getting a little old for it. Mainly apprentices work as imaginary friends, because the younger Conjurors relate to kids better. And after you stopped believing, Val, I didn’t want another friend on Earth. Plus, I did a pretty stellar job, as I’m sure you’ll agree. I have to pass on my skills to the newbies. And as a bonus, it’s kinda fun telling them what to do,” Cyrus explained. To Valerie’s surprise, Kanti wasn’t smiling as she usually did at Cyrus’ cocky comments.

“I don’t like to talk about my years as an imaginary friend,” Kanti said. “But since we’re going to be friends, you should know. When I was an apprentice, I was the imaginary friend of a kid named Henry. We had so much fun together – he had such a huge imagination!” Her voice cracked, and she stopped talking.

Cyrus surprised Valerie by putting his hand on Kanti’s shoulder. “It’s okay,” he said gently.

Kanti seemed to draw some strength from Cyrus’ gesture, and she continued. “One day, I couldn’t find him when I projected to Earth. No matter how hard I concentrated, I couldn’t sense him anywhere. So I projected to his house. His father was there, dressed all in black, and he was crying. Then I looked around, and I saw a coffin standing at the end of the room. I realized that the reason I couldn’t sense him anywhere was because Henry was gone – forever.”

Valerie put her arm around Kanti, who had tears in her eyes. “I never even found out what happened,” she said in such a soft whisper that Valerie had to lean close to hear her. With visible effort, Kanti pulled herself together. “It took a long time, but I’ve accepted that there’s nothing I can do to bring him back.”

“I know. The pain never really goes away, but you learn to live your life around it,” Valerie said, empathizing with Kanti’s misery. Hearing her tone, Kanti looked up at her with surprise, and their eyes connected. At that moment, Valerie knew that she would have at least one other friend than Cyrus on the Globe.

In part to distract Kanti, Cyrus suggested that they take Valerie to visit the guilds that she was considering. First, they headed toward the guild of the Round Table Knights. The building was shaped like a ring. The trio walked through a tall arch that was etched with the words “Power, Courage, Mercy.” The words glowed gold against the gray stone. Once they passed through, they entered the middle of the ring, which was outdoors.  Valerie could see Conjurors practicing their combat techniques with many different types of weapons that ranged from swords to long jagged spears that shot lightning.

Immediately, a tiny fairy the size of Valerie’s hand flew over to greet them. “Hello! I’m Kellen. Are you all potential new recruits?” the fairy asked in a voice that was surprisingly loud and deep for someone so tiny.

“Only me – I’m new. I arrived yesterday from Messina. I’ve always dreamed of being a knight, so I thought this might be a good fit for me,” Valerie explained.

“Raised on tales of King Arthur and chivalry, no doubt,” Kellen explained. “You know, it’s not all glory and rescuing damsels in distress. We do serious work here. Not to mention, it’s no place for you if you don’t have a stomach for paperwork.”

Valerie nodded. “I’ve always wanted to be able to protect those who need it,” she explained, remembering the time that one of her foster fathers had kicked the family dog. Hearing it whimpering in the corner of the room, she had wanted nothing more than to avenge the animal, but she knew that if she did, his wrath would turn on her, as it had before.

“Her power is expressing itself as combat skills,” Kanti added.

“Let’s see what you can do,” Kellen said, and then called to a tall, wiry man. “Gideon! Spar with this girl.” Gideon strode over and seemed to size Valerie up in a single glance.

“But, I’m not ready! I thought I could take a look around,” she said nervously.

“Trouble never waits for you to be ready. Now, spar!” Kellen shouted.

Valerie reached out to shake Gideon’s hand. Without saying a word, he took her hand and seconds later, she was flat on her back. She had no idea how it had happened.

Quickly, she jumped to her feet, feeling adrenaline gush through her system. She felt her mind let go of nervous worries and allowed her instincts completely take over. The next time that Gideon reached out to hit her, Valerie blocked his lightning-fast punch. She countered with a kick of her own, which Gideon dodged.

Kanti, Cyrus and Kellen watched as the sparring continued. Valerie managed to land a few blows, but she spent most of her time barely fending off Gideon’s swift, efficient attacks. Finally, Kellen nodded.

“Acceptable. You may apprentice here if you wish. If you pass the written exam, of course,” he added.

“Thank you,” Valerie said to Kellen and Gideon. Then she turned to Cyrus and whispered, “I can’t imagine what a beginner like me could write about in an exam.”

Gideon turned to her and nodded his head briefly, respect in his eyes. Then he quickly disappeared through one of the many doors that led to the inner rooms of the guild. She realized that she had never once heard his voice.

“Frankly, we need every new recruit. The Fractus have been ambushing my Knights. They have some new creatures working with them who are almost impossible to beat. All of the Knights have a strong power, but these creatures seem born to defeat them.”

“What do you mean, sir?” Valerie asked.

“One of my best Knights was a great fighter who also had the gift of invisibility. He was unstoppable. Until a pack of animals, deranged bears, by all accounts, found him. They could see through his invisibility, and they ripped him to shreds. He didn’t stand a chance against thirty of those creatures.”

“That’s awful!”

“Yes, and unusual. No such creature has ever been reported on the Globe before. Strange times we live in,” Kellen said with a shake of his head. “I’m not trying to scare you, but I want you to understand what you’re signing up for. The Fractus are up to something, and you can bet that the Knights will be on the front lines of the battle that’s brewing. It’s only a matter of time before the Fractus try to attack key guilds like the Contego to learn their secrets. When that time comes, it will be up to the Knights to defend them and all of Arden.”

Kellen departed, leaving Valerie deep in thought. Could Sanguina somehow be involved in the increased attacks by the Fractus? Valerie’s gut told her that Sanguina was hungry for power, and controlling the guilds would give her the authority over the Globe that she craved. But why would she consider Valerie a threat to her plans? She shuddered as she imagined what Sanguina would do if she ever found her.

Kanti interrupted her thoughts. “That was killer! Do you know who you were fighting? Gideon is second in command of the Round Table Knights. Most people don’t last five minutes with him.”

Valerie blushed. “Let’s check out the Contego. I want to keep my options open.”

Cyrus was oddly quiet as they walked down the path toward the guild of the Contego.

“What is it? Something’s bothering you, I can tell,” Valerie said, worried.

“He doesn’t like it that you’ll be better at protecting him than he will be at protecting you. Gideon left him unconscious in 30 seconds flat when they sparred.” Kanti said with a loud laugh.