Shattered (5 page)

“But you just condemned Jocelyn and Matthew because they refused to adhere to their own Life's Plan. Are you now saying they’re a mistake? That al this time you’ve al been wrong?”

“Not at al . They may not have always been perfect, but they were important. And it was important you young adults fol ow them… to the letter. Rules are rules and your friends chose to ignore those rules. Like I said, we did the best we could. As genies, we have the power to control humans… sometimes in ways that are subtle, imperceptible; sometimes more directly. Humans have at times been treated like dol s in a dol house, maneuvered and manipulated into doing what Arcadian society needed… sometimes wanted.

We’re pretty clever in our way of getting a desire effect on humans, including Pim. When I…. we, the Magical Ones, brought this talent to his attention, he was impressed.”

Liam gasped and I could feel his heartbreak.

I wanted to console him. I turned to Dr. Sanz to ask for a moment alone with Liam, but the grim expression on his face told me he had other plans.

“Sorry to have to announce to you how your father came to build Arcadia, but I guess you're now old enough to understand the true man your father is.” With a firm hand, Dr. Sanz pul ed me away from Liam. “Now, we’ve got other matters to tend to.” While a guard escorted Liam, Dr. Sanz held onto me as we al headed to the main entrance of the Committee Building. We passed through the doors and out into the heart of the revolution.

Catchers ran about, doing their best to control the djins in armor that continued to descend on Arcadia. Despite the leather bands on their wrists, they fought hard and achieved a degree of success. Magical Ones were also working hard, banning together in order to get their hands on as many djins as they could.

The scene was chaotic and discerning good from evil was difficult, if not impossible. For al their efforts, djins seemed to have the upper hand, often nabbing Catchers and destroying them in the blink of an eye.

The violet sky spewed warring djins in a nonstop flow that seemed endless. Their constant arrival was accompanied by smal clear fragments.

The pieces fel to the earth like sleet that neither melted nor froze.

“What is al this?” I asked. I tried to bend down to pick up a piece, but Dr. Sanz kept a firm hold on my elbow, keeping me from moving.

The fragments became larger, some several inches wide.

“This, dear Kama, is the work of your father.” In the distance a huge shard fel . The size of a smal car, the piece hit the ground and shattered into thousands of smal er pieces.

I looked up, trying to understand why the sky was fal ing apart and my heart sank as I realized what was truly happening. High above, almost beyond what the human eye could see, was an opening.

Shaking my head in disbelief, the reality of what Arcadia real y was final y sank in.

“Our protective bubble has been shattered.” Dr. Sanz fol owed my gaze and glimpsed the hole in the sky.

The perfect world we’d live in… our perfect lives were al kept under a huge transparent force field, and that force field was crumbling around us.

We lived in a world encased within a giant glass dome so far out that human eyes could not see it.

Arcadia had been like a smal dol house town in one of my snow globes. This was what the Magical Ones have been using their magic for…to keep up this perfect il usion of a real town.

Feeling desperate and lost, feeling a complete lack of control, over my life, over my destiny, over al the chaos that surrounded me, I searched for one face; the one person I knew I could rely on in such turmoil. The one person I needed to see; Torrid.

His handsome features came to my mind and the longing to see him intensified. His thick black hair and dazzling blues eyes… it’d been far too long since I’d last seen him.

“Where are you, Torrid?” I whispered into the chaos. “What have Pim’s Catchers done with you?”

“What do you intend to do with us?”

Liam’s voice broke my search and brought my attention back to the reality of the situation.

Dr. Sanz offered him a smal and victorious grin. “Lure the big guns out. You N> We walked to the edge of the top step and looked down at the fighting. Dr. Sanz straightened his shoulders, gazed arrogantly at the deadly scene and smiled. “General Adar! Pim Seer!” His voice echoed over the scene, carrying much further than any human voice ever could into the clouds and across the air. Many stopped fighting to look up at the doctor. Many also looked cautiously around, searching for any signs of Pim Seer or General Adar.

“Make yourself seen, gentlemen,” Dr. Sanz added.

Glass shards fel in increasingly larger pieces, sometimes stopping smal battles with its force. The ground was covered with a thin layer of glass, giving the scene a strangely fairy tale appeal that strongly contradicted the rage of war that pressed on.

Shouts of pain rang out, piercing through the din and letting us know of the increasing number of fighters hit by the sharp shards of glass.

A large warrior djin, oblivious of the glass, undisturbed by the chaos, came up to the steps, his gaze steady on me as he approached.

My heart skipped a beat. He was as handsome as Torrid and I al owed myself an optimistic glance around. Perhaps Torrid wasn’t too optimistic glance around. Perhaps Torrid wasn’t too far away.

The

djin

disappeared

suddenly

and

reappeared at Dr. Sanz side, startling the diminutive doctor. “What do you want with General Adar, little genie?”

Dr. Sanz, caught off guard by the sudden appearance and the question, stood back and stared at the djin.

“Speak up, little genie. We’ve a fierce battle to fight and I’ve not the time to waste with smal talk.

What do you wish of General Adar?”

Pul ing himself to his ful height, Dr. Sanz narrowed his eyes, obviously offended by the djin’s insolent behavior. He grabbed my elbow and yanked me closer to him. “This is General Adar’s daughter, the lovely, and I do say, helpless Kama.

Let him know that I have her in my custody and tel him that I’d like to speak to him. I think I now have the leverage I need in order to negotiate my terms. I think General Adar would be very interested to hear what I have to say.”

The young genie, barely older than Torrid, glanced quizzical y at me then turned his gaze to Dr.

Sanz. “You mean…”

A flash of blinding light cast it rays on me and just before everything around me disappeared, I heard Liam gasp and Dr. Sanz curse.

The warm air brushed through my hair and the rays of the sun welcomed us higher and higher. I looked beneath us, looking for a magic carpet or other such device that could explain our flight, but saw only the white puff of thick clouds. I flew on some unknown force, gliding through the air with ease as I clung to the hand of the young and handsome genie.

His smile was reassuring, reminding me again of Torrid. The more I looked at him, the stronger the resemblance. I wanted to ask, perhaps he knew Torrid. Perhaps he was even related.

It wasn’t hard to imagine them as brothers, the resemblance was that striking, and al the while, though I flew with a complete stranger, I felt comforted and secure.

After a few short moments, we descended, piercing through the clouds and seeing that vast land stretched out below us, a land so vastly different from the world I’d grown up in.

I should have felt lost in this new and strange land, and, as we flew lower and lower, I should have felt increased anxiety, but, despite the strangeness of it al , I felt familiar. I’d seen it al once before, through distance.

Torrid… it was his memories; his home.

He’d shown me this strange and beautiful place before.

As we prepared to land, a palace, bril iant in its shimmering light, appeared. It glistened like fine crystal, every angle and every curvature sending out a rainbow of light. It was more fabulous than Torrid could have ever described.

The palace of the Western Nethers.

The closer we got, the more bril iant and vivid the colors. I could feel the smile creep across my face. Taken in by such beauty it was al too easy to forget the anger and war we’d just left behind.

At the palace perimeter we came upon scores of men and women who worked to prepare a huge feast. Bakers set their loaves of flat breads, long breads, and round breads in large stone ovens.

Sausage makers ground their seasoned meats while pie makers rol ed out their dough and prepared their perfect fruits. Two women worked arduously on a sugar sculpture while N widtmak several younger boys took care of the vegetables that needed peeling, paring, cubing and slicing.

Beyond them, in the lavish gardens, dozens of boys and girls gathered a variety of fruits and vegetables, al laughing and singing as they did so.

Aromas, welcoming and enticing, fil ed the air, but above al , it was the sense of joy, of pride and of harmony that exuded from the large gathering; it was captivating and I could easily envision myself caught up in the festivities, eager to do my part, my share of the work. No one fought or argued. No one tried to get out of the task that they’d been charged with. There was obviously no place for enlarged egos here. Work needed to be done and they al set about doing their tasks without complaint.

Even in the perfect world I’d grown up in, this was not quite the case. Though work managed to get done and everyone did as they were told, an underlying resentment was often felt. I’d always thought Arcadia was a peaceful and happy place to be, to grow up in, but happiness, true joy was brought to a whole new level here.

Here, young children played in the courtyard, games of wild imagination, creation and validation.

The warrior genie at my side took me by the hand. “Come,” he said softly, his gentle command like a loving bal ad. “This is the land where we are from.” As we walked through the crowds, he nodded his greeting to the workers.

Amidst al the hard working people of the Nethers, the young genie stopped for a moment and stood aloft, his hand just barely holding the tips of my fingers. With a loud clearing of his throat, he captured the attention of everyone around us. “We welcome you at last,” he said in a clear and strong voice. “Kama, daughter of General Adar, his one and only child.”

The men and women around us smiled, some curtsied and bowed. A young boy, barely six years old, walked up to me, his eyes shy, but proud. He pul ed from behind his back a large translucent blue lol ipop.

My heart swel ed. “Is this for me, young man?”

man?”

The boy nodded. “Blue is my favorite color.” I winked as I knelt before him and took the lol ipop. “You know what? Me, too. It’s been my favorite since I was a little girl. Thank you so much.” With his fingers gentle on my elbow, the handsome genie guided me up and on through the crowds and on to the palace.

“Why have you brought me here?” I asked, my thoughts suddenly reverting to the troubles of Arcadia. “I should be in Arcadia with everyone else, fighting with everyone else.”

He shook his head, though a gleam of approval shone in his eyes. “General Adar mentioned you were strong… brave. It’s a commendable quality… a quality worthy of V>

“But,” I prompted.

“But, the danger remains too great in Arcadia. That renegade djin, the plans he had concerning you put you at too great a risk. With you in such danger, in the hands of one who has so few scruples, General Adar would find himself at a disadvantage and Dr. Sanz knew that. We must never underestimate what he is capable of. He has a vicious streak he hides wel , masked behind that fake grin and mock laughter. The truth is that he wishes only to rule al humans… and djins.”

“The al ure of power,” I said absentmindedly.

“Absolutely.”

“So I’m to remain here in order to keep me safe? In order to ensure I don’t weaken General Adar’s chances of a victorious battle?” He looked down at me with his gorgeous blue eyes, laughter creasing them. “Absolutely.” I wanted to ask him about my destiny, my cal ing to battle, to save my people. If I remained here I was of no use at al . I thought of Dr. Sanz’s stunning revelations about the Magical Ones and their desire to hurt and destroy humans… perhaps this had al changed my destiny, perhaps my role in this war had changed.

The young genie smiled. “That’s absolutely right,” he said, ignoring my stated question and answering my thoughts instead.

I blushed, suddenly realizing his ability to read my thoughts.

“Torrid is not too far away,” he added, no doubt answering the question I’d been dying to ask al along. “He should be here shortly. With great understanding, I can see why he would want to hurry back and see you, but, in addition to that, his brother, the crowned Prince Rodin, awaits his visit.” I nodded, remembering Torrid’s mention of several older brothers. “Are you from my father’s army?” I asked, trying to find the connection between him and Torrid. “Wil you return to Arcadia to battle?”

“Yes and yes,” he said. He pushed out his chest in pride as he gazed at the land he so prized.