Helpless (Blue Fire Saga) (4 page)

They repeated the process on a smaller section, packing it even tighter and then chopping off the corners first with their feet and then with their hands until they had rough ball of snow almost two feet across. Together, they were able to hoist it high enough to place it atop the base. Its weight and the stickiness of the snow kept it firmly in place.

“We’re really cooking now!” Cali said as they all admired their handiwork.

Leesa was ecstatic. She could see they were going to have a pretty giant snowman after all. They had just one more ball to make, the smallest and simplest yet, to serve as the head.

They set to work. There was really only room for three of them to make this smallest ball, so Caitlin backed away and let her friends do their thing.

When they were finished, they had formed a tightly packed ball of snow about the size of a basketball. Leesa and Caitlin hoisted it up into place. Except for some minor shaping and adding the decorations, the snowman was done!

Leesa stepped back and admired their creation. It was taller than any of them—at least six feet tall—with a big, bulging lower section. Just the way a snowman should look, she thought—big and fat. All their digging had created a small clearing around the snowman, making it stand out even better in the courtyard full of such deep snow. She couldn’t wait until they finished decorating it. She liked it so much she decided she would even donate one of her scarves to wrap around its neck.

Without warning, her vision began to grow dim. The snowman faded away, replaced by a swirling gray mist. Leesa blinked her eyes, trying to get rid of the fog and bring the snowman back into focus, but it didn’t work. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut but the mist remained, continuing to dance in whirling patterns. She understood now it was not her eyesight playing tricks on her—she was experiencing one of her visions, the first she’d ever had while she was awake.

Slowly, the mist began to coalesce, forming an outline very similar in shape to the snowman. It was not the snowman, though. It was a man—an enormous man with a huge bulbous belly and a round, hairless head. As the details continued to come into focus, Leesa could see that his skin was almost white. Not the clean, beautiful white of the snow—no, this was a milky, deathly white.

Next, his face became clearer, revealing a pair of thick lips, a broad, flat nose and no eyebrows at all. His eyes were closed, but his eyelids were so pale Leesa could almost see through them. She tried to pull her gaze away from his hideous face, but found she was unable to move her head.

Suddenly, the man’s eyes shot open. Leesa gasped. His eyes were without eyeballs—no iris, no pupil, nothing. Just a flat, pinkish film. Despite the empty eyes, Leesa was certain the man could see. She shuddered.

“Leesa, are you alright?”

The image of the fat man vanished. Leesa opened her eyes and found herself sitting in the snow. Somehow, Dominic was hovering over her. She blinked, wondering if this was another vision, but he was still there.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I think.”

“What happened?” Cali asked from behind Dominic. “You got this vacant look on your face, and then you plopped down onto your butt.”

Helped by Dominic, Leesa pushed herself put to her feet.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I had this weird vision—the snowman turned into this creepy fat guy. It was sort of like one of my dreams, only I wasn’t sleeping.”

Dominic guided Leesa a few feet away from her friends.

“I need to talk to Leesa privately for a moment,” he told them. They all nodded and moved back toward the snowman.

Dominic rested his hand reassuringly on Leesa’s shoulder. “Tell me what you saw.”

Leesa described the man she had seen as clearly as she could recall. Dominic’s brow furrowed as he listened and his eyes grew hard.

“The Necromancer,” he said when Leesa was finished. “You have just described the Necromancer.”

“How? Why?” Leesa asked, totally puzzled. “I don’t under-stand.”

“The how is easy. Waziri do not need to be asleep to have dream visions, though I am a bit surprised you were able to do it.”

Leesa sighed, not all that thrilled at the idea of possessing yet another talent she had absolutely no control over.

“As for why,” Dominic continued, “that I do not know. But you have now seen the face of our enemy. Remember it well.”

Leesa shuddered again as she pictured the Necromancer’s hideous countenance—there was no way she could ever forget it. The image had ruined the snowman for her—she couldn’t look at it now without seeing the Necromancer instead. She hoped that would stop soon.

“Did you see anything besides the Necromancer?” Dominic asked. “Any of his surroundings, perhaps?”

Leesa shook her head. “No, nothing. His image just kind of emerged from some sort of dense mist. Why?”

“I was hoping you might have seen something to confirm he is still back in Europe, that’s all.”

Leesa’s heart rate quickened. She hadn’t really thought at all about where the Necromancer might be. She hoped picturing the loathsome creature did not mean he was anywhere nearby.

“Do you have any reason to think he’s not?” she asked worriedly.

“No, not at all. It takes a lot to get him to leave his castle. I expect he will remain there until his plans are complete, or almost so. Still, some confirmation would not hurt.”

Leesa closed her eyes and forced herself to picture the image one more time, searching for any hint the Necromancer might be in a castle, but she saw nothing but the mist and his hideous form and face. She opened her eyes and exhaled deeply, hoping fervently that her vision was as close as she ever got to seeing him.

5. TREASURE

L
ate Wednesday afternoon, Leesa was alone in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed and practicing her everywhere/nowhere meditation. She had hoped the technique would be one of those things where once you got it, you could do it almost every time, but sadly, that had not turned out to be the case. About half the time she successfully reached the intended state of emptiness, but the rest of the time she was unable to flush interfering thoughts from her head. Dominic said this was normal and to try to stop fighting it, because fighting it almost guaranteed the opposite result from what she sought. Not fighting it was easier said than done, however.

She expected him to arrive any time now to work with her some more. Dominic didn’t have a phone, so of course they couldn’t make arrangements like normal people. Leesa shook her head and smiled wryly. Everyone had a cell phone nowadays—how had she managed to find a boyfriend and now a mentor without one? She wondered what the odds of that were. Probably about as small as a girl from San Diego coming to Connecticut and hooking up with a volkaane boyfriend and a waziri mentor, she thought.

Dominic had said he would come by after she was done with her classes, which had resumed today after being cancelled for two days because of the record-breaking snow. The area was slowly but surely recovering from the blizzard. The roads on and around campus had all been plowed and salted and were now drivable even without snow tires. Walls of snow six feet high or more lined most of the streets, making drivers feel like they were driving through roofless tunnels.

Leesa wondered how much snow would have to melt from the roads and sidewalks before Rave would be able to come visit her. It had only been three days since she’d seen him, but she missed him a lot. She had gone much longer periods without seeing him, but there was something about knowing he
couldn’t
come that seemed to make her miss him more.

She got up and limped over to her side window. There wasn’t as much to see in this direction, but she’d been avoiding looking out the back window, because it looked down on the snowman in the courtyard. Every time she saw the thing it made her think of the Necromancer.

From here, she could see most of a big parking lot off to the left. The lot was about half full with cars; on a normal day it would be packed. The snow had been pushed into several giant piles at least fifteen feet high in the corners of the lot. A group of kids were enjoying themselves playing King of the Mountain on the biggest pile. The snow made a wonderfully cushioned surface for falling and sliding.

A soft knock sounded at her door. She opened it to find Dominic standing there, dressed in the same clothes as always. Leesa had learned that his passive magic kept them clean and neat. That was one trick she couldn’t wait to learn—bye bye to laundry!

She stepped aside to let him enter.

“Is everything all right?” Dominic asked as he took off his jacket and draped it over the back of her chair. “You seem a little bothered.”

Leesa wondered if he was talking about something in her expression, or if he might be reading her vibrations.

“I’m fine. I was just thinking about how my most recent vision ruined our snowman for me, and I was wishing you and Rave had cell phones, that’s all. Nothing too important.”

Dominic smiled. “I can see why you’d wish that. Sometimes I wish I had a phone, too.”

“Why don’t you, then? Your magic doesn’t short them out like Rave’s, does it?”

Dominic sat down on Leesa’s desk chair. “No. In my case, it’s strictly for safety. I prefer to remain off the grid, as people call it. I cannot afford to do anything that might leave a trail someone could follow back to me.”

Leesa hadn’t thought too much about how a lone wizard made his way in the modern world with all of its myriad inter-connectivity. Rave had his clan and their settlement to fall back on; even Stefan had his coven and their hidden cavern. Dominic had no one and nowhere. She sat down on her bed.

“If I can ask, just how far off the grid are you?”

Dominic leaned back on the chair and crossed his legs. “One hundred percent. As far as any government or agency anywhere in the world is concerned, I don’t exist.”

Leesa sat down on her bed. She thought about all the things that could identify or locate her: driver’s license, social security number, cell phone and internet service, high school and grammar school records, college registration… even her bank account, small as it was. She couldn’t imagine how anyone could get by in today’s world without any of those—especially since Dominic couldn’t risk using any of his active magic.

“That’s amazing,” she said. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“It has its benefits, but it has its share of drawbacks, too. Do you how hard it is to find a public phone nowadays? It’s a good thing I do not need one very often.”

“Knowing what you’ve just told me, I’m even more amazed you were able to find me.”

“Public libraries are a godsend,” Dominic said. “Some still have pay phones, and most have public computers with internet service.” He grinned. “I’m getting better on the computer, but I usually still have to ask someone your age to assist me.”

Leesa thought for a moment. She had so many questions—which to ask first?

“How did you get to Connecticut from San Diego? I know you can’t fly without proper ID…or have you found a way around that?”

“Sadly, no. I use a combination of trains and buses. That’s something I want to talk to you about. I need a favor.”

Leesa was surprised. This was the first time Dominic had asked anything from her. She wondered what kind of favor a wizard could need.

“Sure, if I can. What is it?

“I need you to buy me a car.”

Leesa was certain her surprise showed on her face. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but it definitely wasn’t this.

“Ummm… I’m not sure if you know it, but cars are pretty expensive.”

Dominic laughed. “No, no. I didn’t mean I wanted you to pay for one, just to buy one for me. I have plenty of money, but I don’t know how to go about buying one without any identification.”

“Oh.” Leesa realized he was right. Any car dealer would need to see a driver’s license, at least. “This may sound stupid,” she asked, “but do you know how to drive?”

Dominic nodded. “Yes, I do. It’s a skill I have picked up over the years. I do not get to use it often, but I think now is a good time to do it again.”

“Why now?”

“Because I do not feel comfortable remaining so close to you for extended periods. As we continue your training, there will be times I do not need to be here while you practice, sometimes for days at a time. When that happens, I would like to be able to get far away as I can. Having a car will make it much easier for me to come and go.”

Dominic was right about that, Leesa knew. Still, she didn’t like the idea of him leaving her to practice alone. She supposed he knew best, though.

“We can look online,” she said. “That’s probably the easiest thing. How long will it take you to get the money?”

For a moment, Dominic looked puzzled. “How long? Unless cars are much more expensive than I imagine, I have it now. If I need more, I just have to find a pawn shop or a jewelry store.”

Now it was Leesa’s turn to be puzzled. She wondered how much money Dominic carried around with him and why he would need a pawnshop or jewelry store. He wasn’t wearing any jewelry that she could see. She looked down at the ring on her finger—she hadn’t been able to see that either. For all she knew, Dominic might have one on every finger. And maybe gold chains around his neck.

“Uh, how much money do you have on you right now?” she asked.

Dominic shrugged. “Ten or twelve thousand of your dollars, I think. Plus some gold and jewels.”

Leesa’s eyes widened in surprise. “Ten or twelve thousand dollars? You carry ten or twelve thousand dollars in cash around with you?”

“Plus gold and jewels,” Dominic reminded her. “Where else am I going to keep it?”

“I hadn’t really thought about that. I guess I thought you might a have safety deposit box somewhere, or something like that.” She studied the wizard closely. His clothes didn’t show any bulges where he could have so much money and jewels stashed away. She wondered if he might have a money belt under his shirt, but his slender form sure didn’t look like it.

Dominic stood up and extracted an old brown leather wallet from his back pocket. No, not really a wallet, Leesa thought. It was a little too big to be called a wallet, and it had an inch-wide strap and a brass clasp that kept it closed, like a purse. Yet it was too small to be considered a purse. Whatever it was, it was clearly very old—the leather was dark and lined with age. Surprisingly, the corners showed no wear at all. And though she had just seen Dominic pull it from his pocket, it now looked too large to have fit in there.

Dominic reached into the wallet and pulled out a thick stack of one-hundred dollar bills. Somehow, in his hand, the stack appeared thicker than the wallet. He placed the money on Leesa’s desk and reached back inside the wallet. This time he came out with a handful of gold coins and glittering jewels. He dropped them onto the desk beside the cash.

Leesa stared dumbfounded. The wallet was clearly magical to hold so much stuff, but that wasn’t what amazed her the most. Dominic was a wizard—that he had magical implements did not come as too much of a surprise. No, what amazed her was the small pile of treasure now sitting on her desk.

She got up and limped over to the desk so she could examine the treasure trove more closely. There were at least a dozen gold coins of varying sizes and designs, and even more jewels. The clear ones were almost certainly diamonds, the red ones rubies and the green ones emeralds. What the yellow, blue and orange ones were, she had no idea. She wasn’t an expert on jewels by any means, but she knew the pile of gemstones was worth far more than the cash beside it.

Dominic had a bemused smile on his face. “So, can you buy me a car with this?”

“Ha! I think I could buy you a yacht with it,” Leesa said, chuckling. “Maybe two. Where did you get it all?”

“My people have collected such things for ages,” Dominic explained. “Some of it is payment for services rendered in ages gone by. I managed to escape with quite a lot.”

Leesa looked at the wallet in Dominic’s left hand. “Lucky you had that thing to carry it all in.”

Dominic hefted the wallet in front of his stomach and smiled. “It does come in handy.”

“Is there still more inside?”

“Oh, yes. Much more than I’ve taken out. And some other stuff, besides.”

“That thing is obviously magical, but you don’t seem worried those guys chasing you can sense it when you use it. Why not? It seems like active magic to me, unless I’m missing something.”

“As with your ring, the spell I used to create it was active magic, yes,” Dominic explained. “But that was several hundred years ago. Once the spell is in place, it becomes passive magic. Using it carries no risk of detection.”

Leesa realized she still had an awful lot to learn about how the different kinds of magic worked, let alone figuring out how to use any of it. She thought of an old proverb she had always liked: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” She felt like she had taken only a very few steps on what was going to be a long, long journey.