Embracing the Flames (14 page)

Chapter 10

A Hidden Message

ASTRAL MUST HAVE BEEN A step ahead of us somehow because as we fell, his loving light surrounded us and set us down safely outside the door to our house. I yelled out in anger as we landed. Lexi rushed out, followed by Myrdinn, and then Eve. I was exhausted, distraught, and overwhelmed. I could barely think straight.

“They took Astral. The Fates took him from me. They tried to deplete me. They wanted me to fall into Zordon’s trap. Astral was right, they are corrupt,” I choked out as I frantically paced in front of them.

“Not all The Fates, Aurora,” I heard my dad say, but I ignored him and continued.

“I didn’t even try to stop them.” My words were jumbled and all over the place. “He told me to run so I ran, like a coward. I should have stayed. Oh my God…” I gripped Fenn’s shoulders, my face stricken with panic. “Oh my God! What are they going to do to him? They took him to the Inferno.”

I yanked my father towards me.

“What’s going to happen to him? Tell me, are they going to kill him?” A frenzy of panic consumed me. He looked lost for words. He was as shocked as I was.

I looked to Eve. Her face blurred for a moment, and I rubbed my eyes, trying to see her clearly. We locked eyes, and for a brief second, the color of her irises changed to a light blue and her hair fell in golden locks. I shook my head, and then her brows furrowed as her gaze left my face.

She stepped behind my father, concealing herself from me before turning and going back into the house, probably ashamed of my lack of courage.

“You did what he asked of you, Aurora. You did the right thing,” Myrdinn said, trying to rationalize for me. “You need to calm yourself. You are letting your heightened emotions grow out of control. Where was the Council?”

“He was there in the Hall,” Fenn answered for me as I took in a deep breath to calm myself. “Astral said they summoned us there, but it was a trick to get him there. There was never going to be a title.” There was so much pain in his sweet voice.

“There was dark magic there,” I said, looking over at Fenn’s hand. Astral’s eyes continuously haunted me.

“They are The Fates. Why would they have dark magic in the Hall of Knowledge?” Fenn questioned, fingers tangling inside my slicked-back hair. “They can do whatever they please. Why would they need it?”

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to compose myself. I had to be strong, for Astral. “Like Astral has been saying. There is corruption. But why?”

Fenn’s fingers continued to weave through my hair, helping to ease the edge of my hysteria as we all awkwardly glanced around. No one knew what to say. No one knew how to fix this.

I looked to the breeze, tossing around what happened and thinking of Fenn’s encouraging words. “That’s right. They can do whatever they want,” I declared, a light bulb going off. “They could have taken me, but instead they chose Astral. Why? I thought all this time they were after me to keep me under their wing.”

“He ignored their summons, Little Flame. He was to return your Oraculus. Nothing goes unseen when it comes to the Hall of Knowledge. He knew this day was coming. I don’t think it was ever about you. Astral said that there was only one Fate that he didn’t trust, but he never spoke his name for fear that it would summon him.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “All that matters is that you’re safe. That’s what Astral would have wanted,” admitted Myrdinn.

My face went dull, and I stared at him. All this time I had thought that they were after me. That I had done something wrong. But it was Astral. He had to have known this day would come.

Myrdinn shifted uncomfortably. “Astral did what needed to be done, Little Flame. Shift the focus off of you and onto him. It was always the plan. If he was the one to break the rules, then they wouldn’t have a reason to bring you in. You haven’t committed any crimes. He knew what he was doing and what’s done is done.”

I moved to say something, but stumbled. Fenn steadied me as I tried to keep from fainting.

“That’s the end of this conversation,” my dad said. “You need to come inside and rest before you spark the connection again.” He turned from us and headed back inside.

“We have to fix this,” I said under my breath. Feeling faint wasn’t a reason enough to give up. I looked up at their retreating forms. Only Fenn and Lexi stopped. “We are all pawns in their game of chess. They are probably just waiting for someone to make a move. They had freaking dark magic in there. Something is wrong, just like Astral said and now he’s stuck there.”

“I have an idea on what we can do.” We both looked at Lexi. “Astral once told me that something like this would happen, though at the time I had no idea he was referring to actually being abducted, but anyway, he gave me something.” A glimmer of hope exuded from her words.

“Well?” Fenn and I both spoke in unison.

“Follow me.” And with that she turned on her heels and went back into the house. Fenn grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers through mine, and squeezed.

Myrdinn instantly knew what was up as soon as we crossed the threshold. “You have remembered what Astral left for you, Alexis?”

She stopped, her eyes shooting up to the ceiling in aggravation. “It appears so, Myrdinn.”

“After you,” he said dryly, extending his hand out so we could all walk by.

Inside her room, we all gathered around while Logan scooted as far back on the bed as possible, trying to disappear behind the plethora of pillows. His Morbit was on the very top of his head, picking at his hair and making squeaking noises. “She’s an alien again,” he said, gawking at me like I was a science experiment.

My earlier insecurities about how I looked in my dragon form resurfaced. Myrdinn glowered at him and then shook his head in dismay. “We really should be returning him to his realm.”

“We already know this, Myrdinn,” Lexi said with a very long sigh.

He perked his eyebrows up at her, clearly challenging her to continue. I felt caught between the awkward banter that always arose when they were in the same room.

“
He,
” Myrdinn said, pointing at Logan like he was picking out a criminal in a line-up, “is a constant reminder of that plaguing problem.”

Lexi huffed again and threw her hands up. “It’s always a fight with you,” she said as she turned to a shelf that hung on the far wall. She grabbed a small box from it and then handed it to me. “He said if something were to happen, if someone of importance was taken, that this would take Rory to the answers she is seeking.”

A knot formed in my throat. This was the same box I had seen him working on when he had taught me how to conserve my energy. “There’s an inscription on the outside of it,” I mumbled, remembering his glowing eyes as I twirled the box in my hand.

“Yeah, I know. I never could quite figure out what it meant,” Lexi said indifferently. She walked around me and went to sit with Logan who was petting the Morbit that now sat in his lap.

“Read it out loud,” Myrdinn advised. Fenn rested his chin on my shoulder, waiting for me to read what his eyes were skimming over.

“A hidden gem of knowledge awaits…” I paused, turning the box with unsteady fingers, “in the trees of wisdom where He mandates…” I turned it again, “the right to read the tomes of our people…” And one more turn, “to find your answers on defeating the evil.”

I looked up at Myrdinn.

“In the trees of wisdom…why does that ring a bell?” he pondered while rubbing his chin in thought. “So familiar…give me some time to think about it. I’ve heard something like that, but it can’t possibly be—” He turned away from us, continuing to talk to himself as he left Lexi’s room.

“At least Astral was a step ahead. He must’ve seen this coming,” Lexi said as she jumped off the bed. She took the box from my hands before plopping back down again.

Logan poked his head up and peeked over her shoulder at the box. “I don’t see what’s so interesting about it.”

She opened the box and flipped it upside down. Nothing was inside of it. “There’s nothing in it?”

I felt cheated.

Fenn reached around me and took the box from Lexi. “Why would he go through the trouble of inscribing this with a message and not put anything inside? It doesn’t make any sense. He could have written that on a scroll. Why did it have to go on a box? Something’s not adding up.” He scratched his head.

I turned and grabbed his face, planting a big kiss on his lips.

“Eww,” Lexi teased.

“What’s that for?” he asked, smiling.

“Because you’re a genius. He
would
have written it on a scroll if it were simply a message he wanted me to have. He put it on the box for a reason. Maybe what we need is in the box, we just can’t see it!” Both Lexi and Fenn’s smiles doubled in size.

“You think he used the Obscuro spell?” Lexi asked, sitting up on her knees. She looked like a child waiting to open presents.

“Let’s find out,” I said. “But let’s do it in Astral’s office, away from Logan and my dad. No offense,” I added when Logan sucked his teeth. 

Lexi turned to him and kissed his cheek. What he didn’t see was her palm lighting up in its green hue as she whispered, “Insomnus,” into his ear. He fell back like a stiff board. The Morbit whimpered as it tucked itself in between his shoulder and his head. Lexi brushed a stray hair from his face and then slid her blanket over Logan’s sleeping body. “Just in case we’re gone for a while.”

“What if we’re gone longer than a while?” Fenn asked warily.

“Then I hope he stays put because, if not, he’ll have Myrdinn to deal with.” She didn’t sound apologetic as she turned and headed out her door.

Fenn and I both looked at each other. “We really do need to get him back to his realm,” Fenn proceeded. “I think Brohm is swaying her affection. He doesn’t belong here.”

As we tiptoed down the hallway, Lexi poked her head around the side of Astral’s door. She was waving her hand, silently hurrying us along.

Once the door was shut and the objects had whizzed by us to their shelves, the earlier feelings of loss flooded my heart. I bit my trembling lip, trying to keep it all in.

Fenn reached for my hand and squeezed it lightly. Lexi’s eyes filled with sympathy. “Since he left it for you, you should be the one to unlock it.” She handed me the box.

I took it and turned to face them both so we formed a triad. I closed my eyes, praying that this would work.

“Obscuro,” I chanted into the box, letting my energy wrap around it. The box lifted out of my hand and floated in front of me, wrapped in a bubble of sizzling energy.

“It’s working!” Fenn said spiritedly. I couldn’t help but smile as he took my hand.

The box rapidly spun before us, growing in size.

“It’s a portal!” Lexi said in delight.

“Yeah, but to where?” Fenn asked, staring at the box eagerly.

I stepped forward, curiosity ruling out all fear. “Don’t know, but we should at least find out. He obviously wanted us to go somewhere. Maybe the Hall of Knowledge?”

I was thrilled at the prospect.

“I doubt it will take us there, Rory,” Lexi said. “You need to have the port key to get there, and I don’t see this being a port key. Besides the one planted inside the cave in the other realm, there’s only one other that I know of, and it’s being protected by the Draconta,” she explained.

“The Stone of Immortality,” I stated. The same Stone that I must find a way to protect from Zordon now that he has spilled Zane’s blood.

“Exactly,” she answered, stepping towards the portal. “Ready?”

Fenn pulled me back as I stepped forward. “Rory, you really should rest before we do this. Your energy must be close to depletion. You can’t risk it anymore.”

I knew he was right, but finding out what Astral wanted me to know felt more important at the moment. “I’m fine,” I lied, putting on my best smile.

He looked at me, pursing his lips.

“I swear,” I said. “I feel great. Besides, what if we can’t get this to work again. We can’t pass this chance up.”

He hesitated, contemplating my words, and then his eyes narrowed on me. “I can feel how tired you are. The perks, remember?”

Lexi huffed loudly. “And I can feel how annoying you are, Fenn. Now, can we go please?” She grabbed him by the shoulders, pushing him towards the portal as she winked at me. He started to pull away from her.

“Of course we can,” I said, not giving Fenn the chance to debate. I pulled him the rest of the way to the portal, and then we jumped.

For a weightless moment, I drifted inside the void, unsure of what I would find on the other side. It took a few moments of free-falling for me to realize that I actually was falling. The port had been successful, only the other side opened in mid-air.

I flapped my wings as hard as I could, the force halting my rapid descent into nothingness, but Fenn had accidentally let go of my hand. Terror snaked around my heart as I nose dived towards him. I was plunging through a tunnel of air from the force of my speed.