The Silver Sphere (42 page)

Max gaped at her.

"Well, we did spy them earlier," said Riley in response
to Max. "They must have walked off with the group of boys who were just in
here before."

They all snickered and admired their lush attire.

Bianca poked her head in the door. "Ready, Kin?"

"Yep, Auntie," Shelby answered for them, and they exited
to the hallway.

Max sidled over beside her and smiled.

Zach slid next to Morgana as they walked through the stone doorway.
"You are gorgeous, milady."

"Thank you, sir. You're not half-bad looking, yourself."

The Assembly lined the hallway just outside the door, garbed
in extravagant accoutrements. Each wore colors that would make a peacock envious.
Long gowns adorned the women, glittering with gems and metallic threads. Rings of
emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, and other blazoning gems adorned their slender,
gloved fingers. Necklaces hung around their thin, elegant throats.

The men of the Assembly were as handsome as the women were gorgeous.
Their coats and slacks fit them well. Each man had a single gold ring on his right
hand with the symbol of the Aulic Assembly on it—an armillary sphere. The men bowed
and smiled.

"You all look lovely," said Elita to them, akin to
a doting mother. She rested a palm on Emily's shoulder before proceeding.

They sauntered down the hallway to a large, scarlet double door,
their shoes clacking on the stone. Macklin swung it open to a cavernous ballroom.

The people at the packed tables rose and cheered, and everyone
clapped as the Kin entered. The vaulted dome hovered almost a hundred feet high.
Alabaster columns supported the painted ceiling, engraved with scenes of ancient
texts. The floor stretched forward with dark marble, highlighted with black and
white stone. A pattern sprawled across the ground, more like a mural than a checkered
floor.

The artwork, Shelby realized with surprise, gleamed of the night
sky. She gaped at a shooting star emblazoned with gold and silver as she walked
over it.

They passed a table occupied by a bandaged Milo and the Stonecoats,
and another dozen tables seated with the Battleswine. The newly appointed General
Gunther's head bulged out of a black leather tuxedo and oversized dotted bowtie.
Blunderbuss stood clapping with the Centurions. His pinstripe suit further elongated
his tall and gangly figure.

They strode forward until they reached Lord Achernar's table.
Musicians and balladeers populated the ballroom and played wonderful tunes, their
fabulous music floating to the highest point in the chamber and bouncing off chandeliers
of crystal and gold.

"Three cheers for the Kin," cried out Barrick from
a table that featured Sculptor, Cumber, Boozer, Vilaborg, and Healer Beekman.

Simon zoomed up to Shelby in a dapper blue suit. "They gave
my father a light sentence—three years confinement to his chambers—and he's been
dismissed from the army. And I get to visit a lot!"

She knelt down and hugged him. "That's wonderful. We put
in a good word with Bianca for him." She rustled his hair.

Just as they were about to sit, the doors to the ballroom opened
and the cheers subsided. In walked Drake, his hands clasped behind his back. Murmurs
flared up from the crowd, only to quiet a moment later as the Leshy held up his
hand.

"Normally, I do not leave my forest." His voice echoed
across the enormous chamber. "But, I have come to give my thanks to the Kin
and their brave companions." He scanned the crowd, and his green eyes glittered
when they landed on Morgana. "And to bring a family back together."

Loud barking came from outside, and a dog bounded into the room.
Shelby gaped at the enormous dog, which resembled a German Sheppard.

"Otis!" cried Morgana. Otis raced to her, and she knelt
and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, thank you, Drake! Thank you so very much!"

Drake approached and laid a hand on Morgana's shoulder, and spoke
with her in a quiet voice.

Shelby frowned and turned to Zach. "What's he saying? Do
you know?"

Tears slipped down Morgana's rosy cheeks.

"I think he just told her that her father is gone,"
whispered Zach.

Once Drake departed, Zach left Shelby to help Morgana to her
feet. Zach must have said something to her, because she nodded and smiled, then
took his hand.

With Otis by her side, she returned to the rest of the Kin. "My
father is dead, but he would be proud to know what we've accomplished, and that
Meridia is free once more."

Shelby agreed. "Your father was a brave man, Morgana. He
will never be forgotten."

"Thank you."

They sat down at the capacious round table. Waiters suited in
white emerged with trays of dazzling platters. Copious amounts of honey-coated shrimp,
truffle-fried squid, orange-infused duck, lemon-laced poultry, and seasoned steak
tips soon adorned the table. The air was thick with the scent of mouthwatering spices.

Shelby drank it in. The splendor of the chamber, the magnificence
of the people—all of it was hers to enjoy.

Morgana chatted as Otis gorged from a bowl beside her. Shelby
was glad to see her doing better.

She relaxed and let her gloved hand find Max's beneath the table.
Tomorrow, she'd be strong. Tomorrow, she could face her fears. Tonight was a night
for celebration.

The Kin talked amongst one another as they ate. They swilled
fine wines, ales, and juices amid the clamoring voices and sweet music. A bard sang
of the Kin's heroics as he danced from table to table.

Max turned and smiled at Shelby. His hazel eyes shone, and she
laughed.

Byron Pardow writhed in his bed. The room was freezing, the darkness
murkier than usual. Red-faced demons crowed over him as he moaned.

The mattress dissipated as a fog emerged.

He rose to his knees and rubbed the ground, then pulled his hand
up from the mud and stared at the wet dirt on his fingers.

"You are a pathetic man. You couldn't even hold your job,
you useless slob." The distorted voice of his ex-wife, Samantha, barked out
from the emptiness.

"P-please, Sam, I did my best. I l-loved you," he cried
out in anguish.

"Liar!" the Samantha-creature screamed. "Liar,
liar, liar, liar," echoed several venomous voices.

The figure approached him out of the mist, the sounds of its
bare feet squishing in the mud as it came into view. The Samantha-creature had a
pale green complexion. Her tawny teeth formed a morbid smile. She was his ex-wife,
but disfigured, wearing long black hair stringy and splotched with moss.

"I am so happy without you. You are a deadbeat loser. I
hope you rot," the Samantha-creature said with disdain.

The red-faced goblins accompanied her, dancing all around him.
"Byron the deadbeat loser. Deadbeat loser," they chanted in malevolent
whispers.

"P-please leave me alone. Leave me be," he begged from
his knees, his mud-splattered body trembling.

"I did leave you alone." The Samantha-creature then
cackled as the demons continued their chants of, "Deadbeat, loser, liar, deadbeat,
loser, liar."

A broad shadow loomed behind the demons as the sun rose behind
them. The head of a massive lion peered down on them with a broiling countenance.
Its crown sat perched on the body of a dark stallion. Hefty tiger claws protruded
in front. The creature was the most brilliant thing Byron had ever seen.

"What is it? What is it? What is it?" the demons chanted
in a whisper.

"I am the dream-eater, Baku." He lifted his head and
roared, rearing on his hind legs. Lightning flashed, illuminating his white mane,
and thunder crackled from above.

The Samantha-creature discharged a shrill cry of terror as Baku
swooped in and gorged her and the demons in one sickening crunch. Baku swallowed
them whole, and suddenly, Byron stopped trembling in fear and anguish.

He remained on his knees, his body immobilized as the ground
transformed into a groomed lawn, the sun toasty and welcoming.

Baku strode forward regally and licked his lips, and halted in
front of Byron.

"Wh-who a-are y-you?"

"I am Baku, the dream-eater."

Byron stood up. "B-Baku?"

"Your daughter has been deficient of a father. You are blessed
to have a Kin as your child. Go to her. You are liberated of these hellions. I am
full."

"Y-yes, of course. Thank you."

"I am the dream-eater. I am finished here." Baku whirled
and vanished into the woods.

Byron grew fatigued and slouched closer to the scent of the crisp
sod. His eyelids weighty, he sprawled out on the fluffy green and nodded off.

He roused in his bed, deluged in sweat. Sleep was a welcome respite,
and this time, it had been dreamless.

Outside his door, the kitchen light seeped in. With no volume,
his television illuminated the room in a flickering glow. The program showed Lucas
Denon joyfully playing an acoustic set on stage.

Byron exhaled, grasped a towel, and dried himself off. He shuffled
out the door on wobbly knees, shielding his eyes from the sudden light as he lumbered
toward the kitchen.

Shelby sat at the table, quietly drinking tea. Her black hair
was braided and there was something different about her. No longer did she look
young. Her shoulders were squared, her lips tight, and her gaze exhausted.

His eyes welled as he approached her. His daughter was beautiful.

"Oh, Shelby." Wet tears spilled down his face.

She continued sipping her tea.

"Baby, I am so sorry. I love you so much... so, so much."

Shelby's eyes watered and she rose from the table. "I forgive
you, Daddy."

Byron swept her into his embrace and held her tightly. Heartache
sped through him. The pain he'd caused her would never happen again. He swore it,
his voice quivering. "Never again, my little darling. Never again. Daddy is
here."

They held each other for several minutes, swaying back and forth.

The monitor peered upon the home of Shelby, but the image distorted
out of view. The dark figure hissed in front of the screen and slammed his fist
on the console.

"The mentors have clogged the channel," he barked as
he fiddled with a switch. A Nightlander soldier scowled next to him.

The door leading into the chamber slid open and a woman marched
in. Her obsidian leather suit squeaked as she strode across the dark, enormous hall
carved from black stone. A few torches guttered in their braziers, casting a wicked
light across the room.

"Master Hideux, the sinister Kin are ready," she said,
tossing her hair aside. She smirked and rested a hand on her hip.

"Excellent, Samantha. I will inform Father." Hideux's
black spiked hair stood rigid, and he glared back at the six flickering screens
with blood red eyes. "The Kin resume school on Earth soon." He lit a pipe
and inhaled, and a fiendish sneer curled on his pale lips. "Let's send them
a homecoming gift, shall we?"