The Box Omnibus #1 (The Box, The Journal, The Sword) (20 page)

Copyrigh
t©
2013 by Christina G Gaudet

Written by Christina G Gaudet

Edited by Patti Larsen (
www.PattiLarsen.com
)

Cover Image by
Nejron Photo (
www.Shutterstock.com
)

Cover Design by Christina G Gaudet

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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I let my shoulders relax as I take the last long breath of my meditation and slump for a minute, feeling both energized and zonked at the same time. After a minute of finding my bearings, I open my eyes and take a look at the items in front of me. A feather pen sits in the center of a semi circle along with a bottle of ink, one of Gran’s favorite ferns, and a vanilla candle.

After one last sniff, I blow the candle out, grab the pen and ink and stand up. It takes me a minute to stretch out my stiff back and legs and as I twist back and forth, I notice the obnoxiously loud clock.

Seriously? I sat there for almost an hour? No wonder I’m so sore. Though, that’s awesome. A few months ago, I could barely manage five minutes without becoming restless. The longer the meditation, the more power I can channel through the trigger objects. I’m betting this pen has some major oomph to it now.

I perch myself on Gran’s old wooden seat with one leg under me and place the ink next to the handmade leather journal I’d
grabbed earlier. It’s already open to a blank page I chose after some careful consideration.

This is Gran’s last journal, after all. I have to be respectful. Lou would probably freak out if she were here to see me ‘defile’ it. She’d go on about how I’m disrespecting the dead or some bullshit. She wouldn’t
understand. If anything, I’m being more respectful than if I never touched the thing again. I’m trying to continue where Gran left off. If I know anything about my grandmother, and I do, then this is exactly what she’d want.

Even so, I can’t dive in right after her last words as though nothing happened. I’m not her and I have no interest in being her.
I have my own life to live. So, I’ve left two blank pages between her last note and my first.

I rub the soft tip of the feather against my bottom lip and think for a final
moment before dipping the writing end into the ink and scratching out the first few words on the page.

Dear Gran,

I’m sorry I didn’t see Stewart’s betrayal until it was too late. I will never let my guard down again, and I promise to always keep Lou safe. Even though sometimes what she really deserves is a kick in the head.

I reread the last line and sigh. Sometimes I wish I could censor myself. Whatever. It’s true. No regrets.

I’ll never stop learning from you and will keep you with me always.

Your faithful student,

Sin.

It’s not the most elegant thing ever written, but it’ll do. I’ve been meaning to write something to her for months now, ever since
receiving the journal from the box. But I’d put it off, at first saying I had to worry about studying, and then I didn’t want it in the house where Mom and Lou might find it. Since I graduated, now living on my own in Gran’s old house, I have no more excuses.

It’s great to have my own place, but there’s way more shit to deal with th
an I ever thought possible. And there’s a seriously funky smell in the entire house I can’t figure out how to get rid of.

I don’t know where it’s coming from. I’ve checked everywhere, but I can’t find the cause. No dead rodents or rotting, forgotten food anywhere I can find. Then again, maybe it has to do with Farah’s nests
. The chimera attached herself to me after turning on the wizard who used to own her. She saved our lives and she hasn’t left my side since. Having her around is great, other than the occasional bit of fire breathing and the nests. There’s not a pillow or blanket she hasn’t ripped apart to force into the perfect shape for her. It’s ridiculous. I’ve gone through three comforters already, and I’m telling you, those things are not cheap. Almost all of my money from my shitty cashier job has been used to replace the crap Farah destroys. And I won’t even start about food, heat, electricity and everything else that’s come up.

Which reminds me; the electric bill is overdue. Again. They’ll probably cut it off in the next couple of days if I don’t pay, and I barely have enough to buy gas for the car to be able to keep going to my crummy job.

There’s a real chance I’ll be going to Mom on my hands and knees, begging for some cash to take me through until my next check. She’ll probably use it as another excuse to lecture me about managing my money and suggest once again how I should move home and go to the University of Shit within driving distance from her place. Not happening.

With my life being as crazy as it is, at least I managed to
finish one thing from my to-do list. I take a final glance at what I’ve written to make sure it’s dried, but instead of my letter, a blurred image takes over both pages of the spread.

I wait a second to give the magical image Gran must have left for me time to form. Nothing more happens. My eyes cross as I continue to stare at the image for too long while trying to force myself to see a proper image. Think, Sin. If this is a message from Gran, and it truly is meant for me, what would she expect me to do next?

I look around the room, hoping to find a clue, when I notice the objects I’d used in my meditation. Of course. Some representation of the elements needs to be used in every spell. The ink I used for my letter probably represented water and the feather pen must have been air. All I need are the other two elements.

I dig a handful of dirt out of the plant pot, but hesitate before dropping it on the paper. If I’m wrong this is going to make a mess and it will be impossible to completely clean it up. Well, as Gran always said, nothing’s gained without some level of risk.

The dirt clings to the page in clumps for a moment and then absorbs into the paper. As the earth is sucked into the spell, the image becomes clearer and it begins to move as though alive.

The final step is the most difficult
; putting paper over a flame so the two are close enough to touch, but not so close to turn the paper to ash. I’ve seen Gran ruin a spell or two at this stage, so I’m always a little worried I’m going to do the same. Yet as soon as I place the paper over the flame instinct takes over and I can feel exactly where the flame needs to be to keep the book safe.

When I’m sure the fire has done its thing, I place the book back on the desk
for a better view of what I’ve revealed.

A map.

The ink has formed into the rivers while the dirt has created trees and mountains as real as the plant next to me. Clouds form and dissipate as I watch, covering parts of the land. I recognize the map easily, since it’s a satellite image of North America. What I don’t understand is why Gran gave it to me. It’s pretty and all, but the internet has all the maps I need, thanks.

At the top of the page, a bit of script darkens from nothing until I’m able to read it.

Make her whole again. – Love Gran.

As soon as I finish reading the words three tiny flames burst into existence on the page. I jerk back for a second, surprised by their sudden appearance, and then I lean forward. They don’t seem to be causing any damage to the journal, though their light
casts shadows on the rest of the map.

I reach out with one finger to see if they feel like real fire, ready to snatch my hand back if it hurts. Instead, the second my finger passes through the flame the
image shifts as though I’ve hit the zoom button on Google maps.

The scene rushes closer and closer to the earth until it reveals a detailed view of a city full of people busy about their day. The buildings are all made of the same dark, glossy stone and are all similar in size and height. Tapestries, flags and other items
hang outside the buildings to give the places some colour. It’s not like anywhere I’ve ever seen or even heard of, at least not in this part of the world.

When the image shifts through the city to land on a black castle with a dark
green dragon draped around one of its towers, I realise why the city isn’t familiar. It’s not from this world.

But that means both this world and the one of magic connected through the invisible door upstairs have the same geography. I should have found the new bit of information way more interesting. Instead, my full attention goes straight back to the dragon.

Its long tail flows down and around the stone tower with the pointed end flicking every once in a while as though batting away invisible flies. A single wing stretches out, shakes and returns to the creature’s side without it seeming to wake from its sleep.

It’s incredible. I only wish I could be there to see its true awesomeness.

My eyes drift up to the note from Gran and I frown. ‘Make her whole again.’ No need to ask who ‘her’ is. It’s obviously Lou. It’s always Lou.

The three lights on the map also make sense since we already opened two of the five bags I helped Gran create to lock Lou’s magic. Gran would have left the three bags in places where she believed they’d be safe. In a castle guarded by a dragon seems safe to me.

“Make her whole again.”

With Gran gone, it’s up to Lou to start protecting the portal between worlds. Without the magic of a sorceress I can only do so
much, and with only part of her magic Lou’s not in any better shape than me. I know Gran never wanted this life for Lou, but now she’s in it and there’s no going back.

I examine the map one last time, the sight of the dragon causing my heart to race.

Helping Lou might not be on the top of things I want to do, but meet a dragon?

I’ll help her become whole again, Gran. You leave it to me.

If I’m going to the other world,
I need to dress for the occasion. I’ve gone through every inch of Gran’s house since moving in, including areas she never wanted me to go if the magical blasts and minor traps were any sign. I still have a long scar along the top of my hand as a reminder of the last time I poked my head in the chest at the foot of her bed.

Farah peeks out of one of the guest rooms where she’s made her latest nest. When she sees where I’m headed, one of her heads shakes while the other digs in to bury itself in her bed. Looks like I’m braving Gran’s room alone.

The trunk I’m interested in has two latches on the front, both twisted into the closed position. I cringe, squeezing my eyes shut as I open the locks and wait for the magic from last time to assault me again. All I feel is a slight tickle to my scar. I finish opening the chest, but don’t breathe any sighs of relief. Knowing Gran, there are probably still more traps for me to set off if I’m not careful.

A few symbols of magic carved into the lid
appear to be part of the spell Gran used, though it’s all well beyond my abilities. What I’m interested in is the pile of clothes and huge leather belt taking up the majority of the space inside. There are some bottles and pouches which I assume are spells Gran prepared and left here for safe keeping. But since there are no labels, there’s no way I’m touching them. I’ll make Lou deal with them someday.

There’s an outfit I found last time I went snooping I’ve been waiting for the best opportunity to wear. I thought about going out clubbing in it
, but luckily held back. Who knows what crud could get on me in the dives I usually end up? Plus, it is way more exciting to put it on for the first time when I’m heading out to meet a dragon. I flap out the loose fitting black shirt to flatten the few wrinkles it has. It’s pretty, but nothing compares to the blood red corset meant to go over it. 

I pull on both
, and when I click the front metal snaps into place, the back cords of the corset tighten to form perfectly around my body to give me a great shape and show off the girls while not being so stiff as to actually hinder my movement.

I’m about to put the rest back when I decide to give the belt another look. It’s a strange design, almost as though it
’s two belts fitted together. Doesn’t make sense, unless part of it is supposed to go over my shoulder, like a bandoleer.

A memory of one of my favorite fantasy movies pops into my head, specifically a scene with the leading male. He wore a belt like this strapped over his shoulder and waist, a bunch of pouches, knives and anything else that might come in handy
attached.

The belt is like the one he’d worn, though where his knives had been there are more pouches. With this on, I wouldn’t have to limit the amount of magic dust I can carry with me based on the space in my pants pockets. I
can carry a ton of readied spells with me without any problems or worries about them mixing together. I don’t have enough to fill them all right now, but I’m sure where I’m going I’ll be able to find stuff ten times stronger than anything I can create here.

The last touch to the ensemble is to strap the journal to my hip using some strips of leather I usually use to keep the book shut.

I do a sweep of the house with Farah walking cautiously behind me. I throw on an awesome pair of tall boots I bought with my last pay check when Farah ripped apart almost every other pair of shoes I had in the house. I feel awesome and look even better. With this outfit on I should have no problem fitting into the other world.

Once I’m sure I have everything I need, I grab my keys from my purse, including the one to the portal I’d stolen from Lou.

Farah finally catches on to my excitement and she bounds up the stairs two at a time. She stops in front of the hidden door as though it’s perfectly easy for her to see where it is while I struggle to find even the door handle, let alone figure out where the whole outline is. To me, the door and wall all appear the same.

Luckily the key seems to find its way into the keyhole all on its own
, as though the two shapes draw together like magnets. I take a big breath to calm my nerves, and then I turn the key and pull the door open.

The world of magic is exactly like I remember. Lots of trees and grass and green. I automatically check the skies to make sure there’s no hint of a griffin or other flying animal with a wizard on its back.

Beneath the door, set firmly against the wall with grass covering the bottom rung, is an old wooden ladder. When I see it, I become nervous. I’m sure I left it on the ground last time I’d come here so no one would notice it and get suspicious.

But, it’s obvious the thing hasn’t been moved at all this summer since the grass beneath
is undisturbed. I must have left it in place and only thought about tossing it to the ground. It doesn’t seem like something I’d forget to do, but here it is, and there’s no one else around to move it.

Farah pushes my leg out of the way, almost knocking me head first out the door to drop two stories to the ground, all so she can
have a better view of the way out. As soon as she sees the ladder, her mood shifts and smoke begins to billow from her noses.

“Afraid of a little ladder?” I
tease her even though I know she can’t understand. I don’t think. Though sometimes I wonder. “You don’t have to go down. You can always stay up here by yourself. I’m sure there’s some moldy bread around somewhere you can eat while I’m gone.”

One of her heads snorts in my direction, sending a poof of smoke at my face while the other continues to examine the way down.

“Well?” I nudge her with my knee. “Either go, or move out of my way.”

When I nudge her harder
a second time, she lurches forward and timidly puts her front paws on the top rung. After some awkward attempts to place one paw further down, just out of reach, she pulls back, ready to give up. If she didn’t weigh so much, I might have taken pity on her and tried to carry her down, but, as it is, there’s not much I can do besides watch her struggle and laugh at how silly she is.

As she tries to
find her footing on the top rung for the third time, one of her paws slips and she tumbles forward. I cringe and make a sad attempt to help her as she scrambles to grab a hold of the ladder. She misses and falls to the ground with a thud.

She stands
up almost instantly to shake off and take several steps to find a place to sit so her lion head can start cleaning her back paw as though nothing happened.

I laugh and shake my head, relieved she didn’t hurt herself too badly. As much of a klutz as she is, I feel much safer when she’s around. It would have sucked if she hurt herself too much to walk.

The first thing I do when I climb down, after giving her back a rub, is check around the rest of the house to make sure nothing has changed. The study is the most worrisome area. It’s similar to the one in my world in appearance, as with the rest of the house, but in this world there’s a pile of strange items Gran kept under a spell Lou broke when we were searching for a way to hurt Stewart. I’m sure almost everything in the room has a wizard trapped inside. It would be all too easy for someone to wonder in here and release them either by accident or on purpose.

Maybe I can figure out a way to hide it all again once I’
ve found the pouch for Lou. Or she could start picking up the slack and do something useful for once. She is the one with the shit ton of magic after all. She should be the one to lay down some protection spells.

All
I can do for now is add a new layer of my magic dust to keep everything hidden, at least to people who can’t see magic. Apparently the dust makes everything brighter for sorceresses and wizards.

Once I’m done checking inside this world’s version of Gran’s house, I do a quick sweep of the yard. There isn’t much out here to be worried about, except for one thing.

My eyes fall onto a barely noticeable mound of dirt and grass near the tree line of the house. It was a pain in the ass moving Stewart’s body from our world to this so we could bury him, but it was necessary. After all, we didn’t want to be caught digging a grave in the middle of the suburbs. It would suck to be thrown in jail for murder, especially since the person dead was Stewart.

The grave site looks undisturbed. I guess it’s been long enough now I can start resting a little easier. He probably wasn’t faking and won’t be coming back. If he was, he’d have done something long ago.

I whistle for Farah who ran off to chase a squirrel and head in the one direction I know there’s civilization. Although it’s been a while, I’m sure I still know the way to Al’s village. Hopefully no one will remember the last time I was there with Lou and Al when they made a huge scene. It’ll be hard to find help if I’m already thought of as a troublemaker. And I definitely need help. Otherwise, how will I find out how to get to the city on Gran’s map?

When I start to see signs of life, I dig out some dust I keep special for Farah and blow it over her. As long as she doesn’t start rolling around in the mud or jump into a lake, everyone should see her as a big, black, one
headed, perfectly normal dog. Even in this world chimeras are rarely seen, and the ones that are usually have a wizard controlling them. I definitely don’t want people associating me with wizards.

The moment I enter
the main street of the village I realize the disguise isn’t enough. Everyone stops what they’re doing and stares at us. None of them appear any too friendly either. I’m sure the spell on Farah is working, so is it me they’re upset by? I guess they remember me after all.

I have
no interest in looking for Al unless I have to, which leaves only one other person in the village who probably won’t treat me like a freak. I only hope Rose is working at the same place she was the first time I was here.

It’s not hard to find her merchant tent since it’s the only one in the entire village made with bright colors of reds and yellow
s and greens. It hurts to look at it for too long, but I guess it does the job of catching your eye. A kid dodges past me and runs into the tent. An instant after he disappears behind the door flap, a young woman pokes her curly red hair out and glances around. Her eyes widen into huge green lamps the second she sees me.

“Sin.” She says my name quietly at first, as though afraid
I’ll disappear if she speaks too loud. When I smile and wave at her, she immediately responds by picking up her skirt and rushing to my side. The boy watches me from the entrance as though he’s trying to stay out of my line of sight, but still keep an eye on me. Instead of giving me a hug as I’d expected from her expression, she reaches over and punches my arm. “Where have you been? You leave and then nothing. No word. No letter. You had us all worried sick. Where’s Aldric?”

When she looks
behind me and doesn’t find what she’s searching for, the worry returns to her face causing creases that shouldn’t exist on someone so young.

“You’d know more than me about Al,” I say while rubbing the tender area where she’d punched. She has a surprisingly decent jab for someone so small. “I’m fine by the way. Thanks for asking.”

“How would I know anything?” Rose’s expression is about one step away from tears, and I have the feeling these wouldn’t be the first she’s shed over the guy already. “The last time I saw any of you was when your sister woke and had the argument with Aldric in front of the entire village. Tell me he’s all right.”

She grabs my wrist and I take a step back, trying to separate myself from her desperation.

“Last I heard he was back in this world.” I try to pull my hand loose, but she only tightens her grip as though touching me somehow brings her closer to him. “Lou said he’d come up with an idea for his sister after he killed Stewart. Figured he’d need to be here to do whatever he planned, since, you know, she’s here and all.”

Rose takes a step back and rubs her face with both hands as though she needs to absorb the information through her skin.

“He’s alive.” She doesn’t seem to be able to believe it, and she’s definitely not talking to me anymore.

Still, I can’t help but answer. “Yup. Well, as far as I know. Haven’t seen him in a while. Who knows what trouble he’s gotten into without me there to save his ass?”

“And your sister?” I doubt the expression of worry she gives is for Lou’s sake. “He didn’t...”

“Take her magic?” I give her a reassuring smile. “Nope. After they dealt with Stewart, he took off. Neither of us has seen him since.”

“Then where is he? Why didn’t he come back? He didn’t take the time to let us know what happened. That’s not like him. No, there has to be something wrong. I can feel it.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I say. “I’m just letting you know what Lou told me.”

“You didn’t talk to him yourself?” The worry creases the space between Rose’s eyebrows.

I shrug. This is taking more time th
an I’d like. I want directions and to be on my way, not talking about my sister’s crush. “We were separated. He was gone before I made it back upstairs to them.” Rose’s stress over Al has become almost a tangible thing and it has turned the atmosphere in the small tent tense and uncomfortable. Time to leave. “Look, I’m sorry I don’t know more, but he’s not why I’m here. I need your help.”