The Cypher Wheel (19 page)

Another scoffing laugh came from the vicinity of the
floating chair.

“Why would I want to have anything to do with you?”
Alyssa asked, her voice still hard and unfeeling.

Etyran looked down at his feet for a second, took in
a deep breath and huffed it out before looking up again. “Because
until last night, I thought I was all alone and, well, I don't want
to feel that way anymore. I really am sorry for what I did, but in
my defense, I was only protecting the people I love, and I thought
you had a spell on you to make you invisible. I never dreamed you
were another Lightbender.”

Etyran focused his eyes just above the floating
chair, hoping he was looking into those of the girl holding it. A
silent moment passed, then he heard a soft sigh as the chair was
lowered back to the ground. The chair scraped along the floor until
it was placed back against the wall next to the table.

What happened next surprised even him. Alyssa
unwrapped
herself.

Etyran tried his hardest not to stare but he lost the
battle, she was just too beautiful.

Alyssa looked up at him through her long lashes and
offered a shy smile. Etyran's heart melted.

“I don't want to feel that way anymore, either,” she
said.

Etyran, realizing he was still staring, cleared his
throat and started speaking. “Well, I guess I should introduce
myself. My name is Etyran.” Etyran copied the graceful head nod
that Faen always did in these situations.

“Alyssa.” Alyssa inclined her head in greeting
also.

Alyssa sat down on the bed and scooted herself back
so she could lean against the wall. She gestured for Etyran to take
the chair opposite her. He took a tentative step forwards, half
afraid that she would disappear again if he made any sudden
movements.

Alyssa, sensing his hesitation, let slip a muffled
giggle. “Sit down, you told me you are not here to hurt me, and I
believe you. Actually, I'm glad you came.”

“You are?”

“Yes, I was angry and more than a little scared of
you at first, but you made a good point; you were only protecting
your friends. I hope one day we can be friends enough that I would
garner that kind of loyalty.”

Etyran's cheeks flushed and he scooted over to take a
seat opposite the other Lightbender, concentrating on his hands
until he got his emotions under control. At that moment, he truly
sympathized with Faedra. If he couldn't control a simple blush, he
couldn't imagine how unbearable it would be not be able to control
feelings that were any stronger.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he looked
up at the girl who was watching him with interest from across the
tiny room.

“Is Faedra okay?” she asked, breaking the
silence.

Etyran's eyes widened with realization. Of course,
that was the reason he was in the room with Alyssa in the first
place. He was supposed to be finding out what she had said to the
Custodian to make her lose control in such a bad way. He inwardly
cursed himself for allowing a pretty girl to turn his head to mush
and forget the reason he was there. Was he really that easily
distracted? He decided not to answer that.

“She should be, soon.” Then he added, after a pause.
“I hope.”

“I like her. She's been very nice to me. I was
worried when she got so upset.”

“Yeah, we worry when she gets that upset, too. Things
have a tendency to get blown up, or since absorbing Savu's power,
melted. Neither of which I ever want to be on the receiving end
of.” He gave Alyssa a cheeky grin. “Which brings me to the reason
I'm here. What exactly did you tell her?”

“I told her how Arawn was planning to lure Lord
Todmus back here so he could get rid of him for good.”

“Well, I admit that's pretty crappy, but I can't see
Faedra losing it over that. She'd just get us all together and
figure out a way to stop him,” Etyran mused, resting his chin on a
fist. He admired that about the Custodian, she always tried to
figure out a way to solve a problem with the least amount of harm,
even if her ideas seemed a little hare-brained at times.

“No, that didn't seem to upset her too much. It was
when I told her that he had swapped Lady Allora's essence for some
princess's that she lost it. Her eyes started glowing and these
purple balls erupted in her hands. I have to admit she looked a
little scary at that point.”

Etyran sat bolt upright. “You didn't happen to know
the name of this princess did you?”

Alyssa nodded. “Vivianna, I think that was the name
he used.”

“Oh, for the love of Kernunnos!” Etyran shot out of
his chair and bolted for the door. He turned to Alyssa and held his
palm up. “You stay right here. I'll be back later.”

“Well, I'm not going anywhere,” Alyssa said, but she
was talking to the door. Etyran had already exited the room and
locked it behind him.

When Etyran reached Faen, Faedra was still sending
chunks of rock flying into the corridor. Etyran peeked his head
around the corner to see that Faedra was making good progress with
the room she was carving out. He dodged back quickly as a chunk of
rock narrowly missed his ear.

“You found out something?” Faen asked when he saw the
look on Etyran's face.

“Did I ever. Oh, mate, you're not going to like this.
Arawn somehow switched Vivianna into Allora's body.”

“What?!” Faen's eyes widened. He looked around the
corner at his charge, the anger still carving lines across her
face. “No wonder Faedra wants to pummel her power into the
rock.”

“Yeah, but what do we do? It's obviously a trap.
Arawn is getting Allora, or rather Vivianna, to lure Todmus back
here. When she does, he has plans to finish him off once and for
all. We can't let that happen.”

“We will not let it happen, but first we have to get
Faedra to calm down enough for us to plan our course of action
without raising Vivianna's suspicion that she has been
discovered.”

“How are we going to do that? She's this mad just
hearing about Vivianna being here. How's she possibly going to keep
it together when she's face to face with her? Let alone, pull off
an act that she thinks Vivianna is still Lady Allora.”

Faen paused. “Good question. I am sure we'll think of
something.”

Etyran held his arm up, gesturing towards where
Faedra was still blasting bits of rock out of the cave. “Off you go
then, mate,” he said with a wry smile and a small shove.

Faen gave him an uncomfortable look before edging his
way towards the Custodian. As he got closer, he could hear Faedra's
angry mumbling.

“When will I ever be free of that woman?” she spat
before throwing a purple orb at the wall. “I'll kill her this time,
I swear I will!” Another orb blasted the wall. “Well, she's not
going to get to Todmus, not on my watch.”

She was about to throw another orb at the wall just
as Faen cleared his throat to get her attention. She swung around
distracted and hit the roof, shattering rock which rained down
large chunks over the two of them.

To Faen's amazement, Faedra put her hands up
defensively and all the chunks of rock floated harmlessly in
midair. She gave him a look of surprise. Then she gave her
shoulders a nonchalant hitch and moved her hands to one side, the
rocks followed until they were clear of her and Faen, and then fell
to the floor.

“Another manifestation?” Faen asked.

“I guess so,” Faedra said with a smile, before
realizing why she was blowing holes in the wall in the first place
and her face turned to thunder. “I bet you're wondering why I'm
blowing up the cave,” Faedra said.

Faen opened his mouth to speak but Faedra carried on
before he could get a word in.

“She's here, Faen.” Faedra paced back and forth.
“Bloody Vivianna. She's right here in this compound.” When Faen
didn't react, Faedra stopped pacing and turned to her Guardian.
“You know.”

Faen nodded.

Faedra closed her eyes and huffed out a breath. Then
losing the wind from her sails, she leaned up against the wall and
slid down it, bringing her knees up to her chest. “When will I ever
be rid of that woman?”

Faen couldn't think of anything to say, so remained
silent. Instead, he joined his charge on the floor and put his arm
around her shoulders.

“How do you know?” Faedra asked, leaning her head on
his shoulder.

“Etyran went to see Alyssa.”

Faedra lifted her head, eyebrows raised. “He did? How
did that go?”

“I do not know, but it must have gone well because
she told him what she had divulged to you that made you so
angry.”

“Is the coast clear?”

Faedra and Faen both turned towards the entrance of
the dug-out to see a sheepish looking Lightbender poking his head
around the corner.

Faedra managed a smile, then looked at her Guardian,
and, for some reason, couldn't help but giggle. She wasn't quite
sure where she was finding the humor in all of this, but the fact
that her two friends cared about her so much warmed her heart.

“Come on in.” She beckoned with her arm. “I'm done
blowing things up for a while.”

Etyran gave her a nervous smile and edged his way
into the hole.

“We need to figure out a way for Arawn's plan to
backfire on him and send Vivianna away once and for all,” Faedra
said.

“Any ideas?” Etyran asked as he joined his two
friends and sat cross-legged on the floor.

“Honestly? Not a sausage.” Faedra sighed.

“Where is Jocelyn?” Faen asked, noticing his sister's
absence.

“She knows I went to see Alyssa.”

“Ahh,” Faedra said, sensing the guilt from her
friend. “How did she take it?”

“Actually, she was very understanding.”

“Well, if fae girls are anything like human girls,
she's probably feeling a bit crappy right now.”

Etyran hung his head. “Yeah, I know. It's not
something I feel good about but she kind of pushed me towards
Alyssa.”

“That's my sister for you,” Faen chimed in. “Always
thinking of everyone else before herself.”

“Etyran, can you go and find her? We need the gang
together so we can brainstorm what to do,” Faedra asked. “Oh, and
get Carina, too. She will have to give me reverse coordinates for
the cypher wheel so we can get back to the World of Men.

Etyran jumped up. “On it,” he said before heading out
of the dug-out towards the main chamber.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Faedra felt better having all three of her friends
around her. They sat in a circle on the floor of the room she had
just carved out, hidden away from prying eyes and ears. Ideas about
how to stifle Arawn's plan were flying back and forth. One thing
was certain, they had to warn Todmus before they 'introduced' him
to his long lost wife and daughter. However, they were still a
little sketchy on what to do after that. Maybe Todmus himself would
have some ideas of his own. Faedra knew that he practiced magic and
now she was pretty sure he was much more powerful than any of them
ever suspected.

Jocelyn had reported, when she joined them, that
Allora was busy with the ovates who were holding her in endless
conversation about her time in captivity. So she was not likely to
be gatecrashing their little soiree anytime soon. Faedra found that
her newly developing powers were more and more useful as time went
on. She ramped up her senses so she would be able to tell if anyone
was coming down the corridor. Short of a person turning off all
emotions, she could 'feel' when anyone was close. She couldn't
necessarily tell who it was unless it was someone she was close to
and was used to their particular energy. Faedra was getting to the
point of being able to tell where any of her three close friends
were within a hundred foot radius.

Jocelyn's eyes widened in horror as she listened to
what Alyssa had divulged to the Custodian earlier that day. Allora
had been so friendly to her, and all the while she was being taken
in by none other than Faedra's arch nemesis.

“Okay, so we all agree we have to warn Todmus before
we take Allora and Skylar into Azran,” Faedra said, looking round
at her three cohorts. They each nodded.

“My next suggestion is sending Alyssa back to
Arawn.”

“What? No!” Etyran spouted. “You can't send her back
to that monster.”

Jocelyn put a calming hand on Etyran's forearm.
“Listen to what she has to say first.”

Faedra could feel his protective energy explode
proving what she predicted, that it wouldn't take long for him to
bond with his own kind. Not that she was surprised, and she
certainly couldn't blame him. If there was one thing she loved
about her friend, it was his fierce protectiveness of those he
loved.

“Hear me out, Etyran,” Faedra said, trying to sooth
his angst.

“This better be good.” Etyran huffed, throwing a
scowl at the Custodian for good measure.

“Well, Arawn doesn't know that Alyssa has been
discovered. He will be expecting a status report on his plan. He
will also expect Alyssa to be going back and forth between him and
us with progress reports. If she doesn't report back to him today,
he'll know something is wrong and we'll have lost the element of
surprise.”

“Okay, then I'm going with her,” Etyran said.

“No way, it's too risky,” Faedra responded.

“You're expecting her to do it,” Etyran shot back
indignantly. “So, don't even think you can try and stop me.” He
crossed his arms over his chest to send the message home.

Faedra looked at the Lightbender for a moment, took
in a deep breath and admitted he had a valid point.

“Can she be trusted?” Faen asked,

Faedra turned to face her Guardian, thought about his
question for a moment, then responded. “I believe she can, yes. She
wants her freedom from Arawn and she sees us as her way of getting
that freedom. He was holding Etyran over her head all these years,
that's why she has been doing his bidding. He threatened to kill
the only other Lightbender alive. Now that she knows who that other
Lightbender is, and that he's safe, this is her chance to escape
and live a normal life.”