destiny’s knights · destiny’s knights 2 for mom & for nathan and kelli my oldest and...

Destiny’s Knights 1

Destiny’s Knights

By Cris Allan Pace


For Mom &

For Nathan and Kelli My oldest and closest friends,

and the only two people insane enough to drive me from the real world into one of my own imagining.

All persons, places, and events in this book are works of fiction. Any resemblance to any real persons or events is

purely coincidental.


Chapter 1 Chance Meetings?

Bridget Hunt slept soundly not knowing that she was being watched.

The sound of the alarm clock pierced into the deep sleep of Bridget Hunt. She had an hour before she had to leave for school. She groggily stumbled into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water onto her face. The shock of the cold water woke her up immediately. She put on her glasses and started to comb her hair. She stopped suddenly and began to stare at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t know why she did it, but this morning had a strange feeling to it, almost as if a great change was coming and this was the last chance she would get to look at her face. Her face was slender, with flawless tanned skin. All of her features were soft and delicate, from her small nose, to her smooth chin. The tomboyish look that she had held only a few years ago was gone, but not quite all of the attitude that came with it. Her wavy, dark auburn hair hung just below her shoulders. But her real attention focused on her eyes. They stood out more forcefully than any other feature. Dark emerald green irises glowed with a magical tone to them. There was an enchantment in Bridget’s eyes that a person could become lost in and never truly find a way back. They spoke of a person who was intelligent, clever, and strong-willed (although her parents would say stubborn). She quickly got dressed, the usual slacks and a plain light green blouse—bought and worn for comfort, with little care about appearance—and made herself a small breakfast. Her parents had already left for work. She grabbed her books and headed out the door towards school; they knew they could trust her to take care of herself. The streets of Fountainhead, California were simple and plain. Simple middle class houses lined both sides of the streets. Neatly


trimmed lawns, trees, small well-kept gardens were visible but in no way stood out. Everywhere people were getting up and going to work and school in minivans and simple 4 door compacts, only a year or two old, for the adults; for the teenagers the cars were a little older. Halloween decorations lined the windows and front yards, but nothing garish or extreme. Bridget was constantly amazed that this conformity was just natural and not enforced by a homeowner’s association. It was a typical day, but still Bridget felt something odd about it. Every morning for the past two months, since her family had moved to Fountainhead, Bridget walked to school. It was not a long walk, only about three-quarters of a mile, and she enjoyed it because it gave her a chance to think. She was glad that is was a nicer place than New York City; still from time to time she did miss the life of the big city. She missed having a nice coffee shop between her parent’s condo and the school, having the nice jolt of caffeine in form of vanilla cappuccino rather than plain coffee from the kitchen; a warm muffin instead of cold cereal; the steady hum of the subway instead of the soft sound of her sneakers on the sidewalk. But she was overall glad to be out of New York, she just missed the small things. That morning was strange for some reason, she couldn’t see anything different in even the smallest detail, but there was just a feeling in the very back of her brain that said today was different. She looked around again to possibly see what was nagging her. It was the third week of October; the trees in the yards of people's houses were shedding leaves of bright brown, red and yellow. Not quite as pretty as the New England version, she thought. The sound of some of the leaves crunching under her feet as she walked along the sidewalk filled the cool, crisp air. Nothing unusual, just like yesterday and the week before, and just like tomorrow will be, she thought. But still the feeling remained.


Before she knew it, she reached the front gates of Fountainhead Academy. Faux marble facades on all the walls of the buildings surrounded by corrugated steel fences gave the whole building an austere, if not slightly pretentious feel. The front gate, now wide open had a high arch over driveway, with the school’s detailed crest with heraldry symbol portraying the cardinal virtues and the school’s motto—in Latin of course—COGITO, emblazoned over the whole crest. Best education money can buy, Bridget thought with wry analysis.

It was still half an hour before classes, but already it was bustling with students. She slowly moved through the crowd. At her old school in New York, The Minerva School (another private school like Fountainhead), she would have spent this time before class with her friends, but she hadn’t made many friends in the past couple of months that she felt truly and completely comfortable with. In fact she would say she was close to only one person in the entire school, and she had no idea where Dana spent her mornings. Dana’s probably with Shawn, Bridget thought. Not to say that she didn’t have any new friends beyond Dana, it was just that she felt no strong connection with the people of Fountainhead. That and she tended to avoid Shawn if she could; there was just something about him she didn’t like. Bridget found it strange; she usually was very friendly and sociable, but ever since she had arrived in Fountainhead that had changed. She told herself that she was just giving herself time to adjust to her new surroundings; but it was more than that, the same inner voice that was bothering her this morning, kept telling her to try to keep to herself. She continued to cross the campus, heading to her first class. When her eyes caught a glimpse of something on the grass field she was walking on. It shimmered in the soft rays of the morning sun. She was attracted to it immediately; it almost felt as if it was calling to her. What is that? As she


approached, she could see it was some kind of yellow, almost golden, coin about the size of a half dollar piece. She bent down to pick it up. Just as her fingers were about to grasp the coin her hand collided into another hand. It was larger than hers was and she began to trace the hand to its owner. Their eyes met in electric shock; dark emerald green starring at soft sea-blue, and he was staring just as intently as she was. She tried to take her eyes off him, but couldn’t. “Was that yours?” he asked her; his voice was deep and soft, though she only barely paid attention to what he said. “Well...” she tried to say something else but nothing would come out of her throat. “Sorry, I am not usually in the habit of taking the property of someone else.” He reached down again to pick up the coin for Bridget, but when his hand reached the ground the coin was gone. “That’s odd. I could have sworn there was something there a second ago.” His voice wasn’t filled with any kind of puzzlement; only because he was still slightly dazed with meeting Bridget but not bothered by the coin. There was something strangely familiar about him; that kind of déjà vu-ish feeling one got when something that they had dreamed about occurred. I know him? She was surprised herself to find the question at the end of the thought. I’ve met him? I know I have? she asked herself. Did I? But who is he? Is that what’s bothering me this morning? I don’t think so…I think. No that can’t be it, I’ve been feeling weird all day, but… The first bell rang, breaking the thought, signifying that they had ten minutes to get to their first class. “I must be going. See you later,” he said and headed in the opposite direction she was going. She noticed the tenor of his voice sounded as dazed as her thoughts were, he almost seemed to be uncomfortable with meeting her. Bridget didn’t find this odd as she was feeling the same thing. As he walked off she got, for the first time, a look at his whole face. It was hard and


well defined. Every muscle and bone stood out on its own, from his high cheekbones to the cleft in his chin. His thin face seemed to have been chiseled quickly by a great sculptor from a piece of stone into the gaunt angles and planes of his face. His short sandy hair rustled slightly in the morning breeze. He was extremely well built: tall, broad shouldered, seemingly strong, and he carried himself with an air of confidence and power; or was that just arrogance? she thought. With his head held high he was suddenly and easily recognizable as Cary Serenity. He was a minor celebrity in Fountainhead for his achievements for the track and gymnastics teams, and some other activity she couldn’t remember at the time, as well as being the most likely candidate for the valedictorian for their class. He was in the same grade as Bridget, a senior, but she had never met him before that she could actually remember…or have I? No. I don’t have any classes with him…? Do I? Maybe. No…But— She spun around suddenly. She thought she had seen something out of the corner of her eye, but when she turned to see there was nothing there. What did I just see? She continued on her way, still troubled about the entire morning... The crowd had died down; everyone was now on their way to class. Four figures stepped out of the shadows where Bridget had thought she had seen something. The lead figure was flipping a coin with rhythmic precision—the same coin Bridget and Cary had seen. “They’re definitely two of the three. Get ready to test the third. Do we all share classes with those two for every period?” The others nodded to answer ‘yes.’ “The last test is this afternoon. After that we can move forward. Let’s make sure we keep an eye on them.” Three of the figures stepped back into the shadows and melted into thin air. The last figure continued to flip the coin. Abruptly he grabbed the coin in his hand and looked at it. “Bridget Hunt,


Cary Serenity. Both of your fates have been sealed.” A smile crossed his lips, he nodded his head slowly telling himself that what he had come to do would finally be done, and then, he too, vanished.

* * * Bridget walked into her second period class, still strangely bothered by the morning’s events. For one thing, she knew she had seen a coin on the ground, but when she had looked down again there had been nothing there. She was sure that Cary Serenity hadn’t palmed the coin; his hand had never gone closer than a whole foot from the ground—the coin had just disappeared. She ran the scene over and over again. The coin had just disappeared. Which wasn’t possible. And then there was Serenity, she had seen him dozens of times, (she could remember even talking briefly with him on several occasions, but where or about what she couldn’t remember, which was disturbing in itself considering her near perfect photographic memory) but now she couldn’t seem to get him out of her mind. Oh well, she tried to tell herself, I should try and concentrate on class. She paused for a moment, and then realized that she was in Mrs. Lander’s AP English class. While it could be a challenging and interesting class (roughly as often as Halley’s Comet appeared in the sky), many also found it a good time to catch a quick nap. She sat down in her seat directly to the left of Lander’s lectern in the center of the class. What was it that I read last night for this class? She closed her eyes for a few seconds trying to remember. Oh, yeah, Hamlet Act 3. Let’s see how Lander will desecrate another good work of literature today. She opened her eyes to find Cary Serenity sitting directly across from her. This day is getting weirder and weirder…and how do I completely ignore someone who’s been sitting directly in my line of sight for months. She began to rub her temple, hoping that an answer to the strange events would come to her. This is not right.


“Morning class,” Mrs. Lander said as she went up to the front of the class. A small woman, with short black hair, thick rimmed glasses and dull blue eyes. Everything about her said “do not respect me.” Several groans were heard in response, some of them almost sounding like English. What does she expect this early, Bridget thought, coherent thought? “I’m simply going to assume everyone did their reading last night.” Assume whatever you want Quixote, common sense tells me that half the class didn’t do the reading. Bridget had to restrain herself from saying that aloud. Although she had personally done the reading, she knew a great many people in class hadn’t. She couldn’t blame them, considering how poor an English teacher Lander was, although Bridget would grant that she never had a really good English teacher. “Something really strange I found out from Hashim in first period when we read this book is that the famous soliloquy, ‘To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether its nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…’” Lander told the class, “is also an anagram for ‘In one of the Bard's best thought tragedies our insistent hero Hamlet queries on two fronts about how life of’ turns rotten!’ Neat, huh.” Bridget couldn’t resist speaking this time, “That is so close to being even remotely interesting, not quite, but almost. How long did some lunatic sit trying to find a coincidence in Shakespeare where they could come up with something that stupid?” Lander shot a cold look at Bridget, but Bridget really didn’t care. She had learned long ago that teachers seldom liked her smart-ass, cynical comments, and it didn’t bother her since she did the work assigned her better than anyone else.

On the other side of the room Bridget saw Cary lean over to the desk beside him and say to Arin, “Actually I’d be


more interested in when Hashim actually took the time to read these books.”

“Beats me,” Arin told him. Bridget had Hashim in a couple of her classes, so she understood the joke. Hashim was a walking encyclopedia, but had given up on doing a lot of the school work that was simply below his mental abilities; besides, as Hashim would often point out, you didn’t really even need to read any of the things Lander assigned to still get by, the fine art of BSing would fool Lander any day. Though a lot of things would fool Lander easily, in fact just about anything would fool that idiot. Bridget would agree with him in theory, but still found herself reading all of her assigned work, mainly out of habit more than anything else (certainly not out of respect for Lander).

Bridget’s attention drifted to Arin. Arin was about Bridget’s height, although much thinner, with very fair skin and strawberry blonde hair. Arin was a friendly, intelligent girl, with a good sense of humor and was always willing to help other people out. Bridget somehow had always felt that given time she and Arin might become good friends. Yet, sometimes, Bridget found it extremely annoying that at one moment Arin wouldn’t have enough faith in her own outstanding abilities, then at the next have an exceptional arrogant attitude toward those around her, as if she knew something no one else did and was thus superior. At some level Bridget suspected that one, or both, faces were an act of some sort, but she wasn’t quite sure which. I should ask Dana, which one is the defensive mask, she thought as she pondered the situation. Not that Arin ever boasted about her abilities or belittled someone intentionally, quite the contrary, but Bridget had still seen Arin treat some people like she was superior to them; Bridget sometimes wondered if Arin even knew she was doing it to other people. Still, Bridget usually counted herself lucky to have Arin as a friend. But is Arin a friend of Cary’s. Why is it as if I completely ignored him for so long, but


now can’t get him out my mind? God this is so annoying! She even found herself simply annoyed merely by Cary for being at the root of this disturbing feeling she felt.

“Fine, lets get back to the play,” Lander told them. “Any burning questions about Act 3?”

“Yeah,” James said in the back of the class. Bridget didn’t know much about James except for his name, his slave nature to ever fad fashion, and complete his inability to master proper English. Bridget had gotten the feeling that he was rather spineless, and generally not the sharpest tack in the box. Although he occasionally did say something clever, but Bridget just figured that it was just the odds that once in a while the dumb thoughts would by chance form an intelligent sentence (like monkeys given typewriters and an infinite amount of time being able to produce the works of Shakespeare). “Um…at the point when like Hamlet sees the ghost in scene IV and like the Queen don’t see it, it’s as if Hamlet like is imagining the ghost’s appearance, like since everyone could see the ghost in like Act I. So, is like Hamlet really losing his mind in that scene?”

Or more importantly, Bridget thought, not even listening to Lander’s poor attempt at answering the question, am I going crazy? It’s almost as if Cary Serenity doesn’t even exist in my memory, yet I see him almost every day! Is it just something about his personality that has caused me never even to acknowledge his existence? Something is definitely wrong here! I feel it in my gut. Something bizarre is going on here. For almost the rest of the period Bridget went over every memory she had since the day she arrived in Fountainhead. She could recall nothing specific about Cary Serenity other than his name and random things other people had mentioned about him in passing. She found herself thinking about people she had only met once and never shared a class with, and she knew more about them than she did a person whom she had spent at least one class with for the year so far. There is something amiss here! I know I should remember at least


something about him, yet I don’t recollect a thing about him personally! I at least need to talk to someone about this. Who knows just about everyone on campus?…Dana! Dana should know something about Cary Serenity. Maybe it’s just that’s he’s boring, and that’s why I’ve ignored him. Yet, Bridget knew that it wasn’t that Cary was uninteresting; she felt something truly strange was at work here. The worst part of it was not the agony of not knowing, it was that he hated the fact that she was getting perverse pleasure out of the fact that there was something totally unknowable being presented to her. The mystery was both infuriating and so attractive. It only caused her more aggravation.

Third period, AP Government with Mr. Lancing; it was quite possibly Bridget’s favorite class. She walked in the door and immediately spotted the person she needed to see. She was only a little shorter than Bridget. She had short, dark brown hair that covered the sides of her small, slender, and cute face. Her name was Dana, and she was the only close friend that Bridget had at the school. “Dana, you have a minute?” Dana looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at Bridget, “Sure, Bridge. What is it?” Bridget thought for the briefest of moments that Bridget that Dana was the only one who called her “Bridge.” No one back in New York had done; she had always thought that she would hate such a nickname, but from Dana she did not mine. “Oh, I was just wondering if you could tell me about somebody?” “Most likely. I know a good portion of the people on campus. Who is it?” “Cary Serenity. I met him this morning and he seemed...interesting,” Bridget hated that word choice, but nothing would come to her. The block in her mind around Cary Serenity seemed to continue.


Dana gave Bridget a quick, almost mischievous, smile; Bridget wasn’t quite sure what it meant; she had never been very good at reading other people…noticing and remembering even the smallest details, she was exceptional at; even making conclusions about situations she was just short of Holmes in her skills of deduction—but people were an eternal mystery to Bridget. “He has that effect on people. Every time I see him I don’t know whether I should kiss him or slug him.” “You know him?” “Fairly well, I’ve known him for several years. He can be a little annoying at times, and he thinks highly of his abilities, but he has every right to; anything he does, he does it well. He is very kind, caring, and loyal to those he likes, which are usually any one who he believes he can talk with for any length of time, like myself, or those who he can simply respect.” “And what about those people he doesn’t like?” “He tries to avoid them, but if he can’t, he doesn’t hide his feelings. Why? How did you meet him?” “Oh, I bumped into him when we both thought we saw some strange coin in the grass, but it wasn’t there.” “Really, same thing happened to me a few minutes ago; I thought I saw a gold coin on the way here, but when I reached down to get it, it wasn’t there. Weird, don’t you think?” “Yeah,” Bridget said, her mind still too occupied with Cary Serenity to make any connection between the coin Dana had seen and the one she and Cary had this morning. “You all right, Bridge? You seem kind of distracted.”

“Um…well, actually…” Bridget stammered. She was hiding her anxiety over the bad feelings she was having extremely well, so it came as even more of a shock when Dana noticed. I shouldn’t be surprised; Dana can read any person as well as those books she always has her nose stuck in. “Do you ever


just have the feeling in your back of your mind that something just isn’t right with the world.” She knew that what she had just said didn’t perfectly convey the troubled feeling she was having, but she was so bothered by it to find the right words.

“Yeah I get that feeling almost every time I turn on the evening news,” she joked.

“I’m serious here.” “Yeah, I guess you are, because you’ll usually at least

give me a sympathy laugh.” Before she could ask if this had something to do with Cary, the bell rang, and Lancing began telling people to get into their seats. Not that anyone actually started moving for anther minute or two.

As Bridget went to her seat on the other side of the room, she started thinking about Dana. Dana was the first friend Bridget had made after she moved to Fountainhead. Do I even know Dana’s last name? Bridget suddenly asked herself. The answer was sadly: no. Why have I never asked? She came up with no answers. She realized she knew almost nothing about Dana’s personal life. What do I know about her personally? I know she’s skipped a grade and is still near the top of the class. I think she has an older brother who is also a Senior; who is her brother? Bridget found she came up with no more answers. The day is getting stranger and stranger. I know nothing about Cary Serenity and almost nothing about Dana. She sat down and momentarily put her head to the desk and closed her eyes trying to figure out what this feeling in her stomach was.

Meanwhile, Dana Serenity was entertaining her own thoughts. Cary and Bridget? Dana thought. There are two people who were never meant to get to know one another. They’re both stubborn, opinionated and gifted but have personalities that would clash. She’s impulsive and cynical while he’s rational and optimistic. This might be interesting. Dana laughed to herself. Now the only question is whether or not Cary is thinking about her? Judging by the fact that Bridget had to ask her if she knew Cary, Dana came to the


conclusion that Bridget didn’t know that she was Cary’s younger sister. Oh well, Bridget has always seemed to be a little scatterbrained at times. I guess she never associated the last names. Or does she not know my last name? No, that’s not possible; if there is one thing about Bridget, it’s that she’s highly observant. She may be scatterbrained but she notices everything. In the couple months Dana had known Bridget, she had always been amazed by Bridget’s attention to details, no matter how insignificant. It was more than just a photographic memory; she could remember almost word for word, a conversation that taken place over a month ago or every small detail in a room even days after being in it. But then why doesn’t she know anything about Cary? By now even she should have gotten an impression of him by now. He’s one of the most popular people on campus, let alone the honors classes they must share. She couldn’t have just not noticed him, or could she have? It’s just not possible. That could be what’s bothering her. But why would she have just ignored him for so long? Something is wrong with this situation.

When Lancing started talking, Dana’s attention immediately shifted to him. She started copying down everything from the Power Point slides shown ceiling mounted projector. Dana, and just about everyone in the class, had learned almost everything that would be on one of Lancing tests was on those Power Point slides he had so much fun making. “Today we start on Congress. As one of the founder’s said, ‘One useless man is an idiot, two are a law firm, and three or more are a congress,’ or something close to that effect.”

“John Adams?” Alaric asked. “Yeah,” Lancing said, a little impressed someone knew

where the quote came from. Alaric was the closest thing to a teacher’s pet the AP classes had. He didn’t suck up to the teachers, in fact he was downright rude to them sometimes, but he was always the most eager to answer any question put to the class; it was more to test himself than to impress


anyone. Now there’s someone Bridget might get along with, Dana thought. They both were extreme cynics (although deep down Dana suspected both of them had a Pollyanna like optimism that they didn’t usually show) and they both believed that they weren’t opinionated, just always right. But all in all, Alaric was a very likable guy. Dana had dated him for the whole of the previous year; their relationship had just died, but Dana was grateful they were still close friends. Yeah, they’d make a cute couple. Although if she’s attracted to my brother, blonde haired, grey eyed, and non athletic Alaric might not do it for her. Alaric wasn’t unattractive, she thought, but he wasn’t anything like Cary.

For the rest of the period Dana became increasingly bothered by the fact that Bridget didn’t know she was Cary’s sister. She wasn’t hurt by it, but it just wasn’t in Bridget’s meticulous attention to detail to never pick up on something like that. As she began to think about it, this unusual behavior of Bridget wasn’t the only thing bothering her. Since the moment she awoke this morning there was just an odd feeling about the day. Only since talking to Bridget had she actually acknowledged what she had been feeling all morning. She had no idea what it was, but all day she had felt that something was wrong. Is this why Bridget asked if I ever just feel if something in the world is wrong? Probably. I’ve got a hunch Cary has this same feeling. But it can’t be just Cary, there is something larger going on here. As Dana entered her fourth period Calculus class she could see Cary approaching her almost immediately. That answers the question about his interest in Bridget, Dana told herself. “Dana, I have a question for you.” “And what would that be, dear brother?” As his younger sister, Dana knew her brother better than he knew himself. In fact, she knew most people better than they knew themselves. It was a gift she had, to read people easily. She was often thought as one of the few people (if not the only


person) in the school who could rival her brother’s intelligence. Dana would usually agree with this observation, except for the fact that she recently realized that Bridget was far more Cary’s equal in that department than she was or ever could be. “By pure chance, I met someone today. I was wondering if you knew her? I think her name is Bridget, or something like that.” “I think I know who you’re talking about, Bridget Hunt?” “I believe it’s something like that,” the look on his face indicated he was in a state of complete confusion, a state he wasn’t used to being in. “Why do you ask?” “When I bumped into her today, there was just something terribly unusual about her. I can’t really describe it in words.” “I really wouldn’t know, I only know her in passing.” True, it was a lie, but Dana thought that this might be interesting to watch as her brother and Bridget get to meet on their own. This also confirmed a suspicion of Dana’s: Cary, who was only slightly less observant than Bridget, had somehow ignored an entire human being for two months. “I thought she was in band, isn’t she?” She could easily tell he really didn’t know. “Is she?” Dana was almost taken aback by the look of confusion on Cary’s face. He was never this confused about anything, even when he didn’t know something; she had never seen him affected like this. He was bothered by not knowing; bothered by the fact that he should know this. “What instrument does she play?”

“I think trumpet, but I’m not sure,” she lied again, she was quite sure that Bridget played the trumpet. “I’ll have to try and spot her. Thank you, Dana.” “No problem, what are little sisters for.”


“Stop the chatter,” Mr. Stevens told the entire class. Slowly the students ended their conversations and made their way to their seats, although not necessarily in that order. Dana sat down in her seat in the front of the class. As she ran what she had just learned from Cary’s face she became increasingly worried. Something is not right about any of this. Bridget should have known who Cary is and that I’m his sister. Cary should have known who Bridget is, and for that matter that she’s a close friend of mine (why doesn’t he know that! I’ve only mentioned her a hundred times). And why, in a school this small, have the three of us never been in the same area at the same time? As the questions mounted, and every fact that occurred to her only confirmed her suspicions. She realized that they all were troubled by not knowing things they should know. She could see that they all could feel that this was more than just ignoring some one. She didn’t know how they all knew this, or even how she knew it; but in her soul she could feel that there was something else at work…Something that for some reason filled her with dread. Where Bridget slightly enjoyed the mystery at a deep level, Dana did not. Each layer she dug deeper into the illogic of the situation she lost even more of the puckish delight that the idea of playing with Bridget and Cary in a relationship. Cary tried to ignore that haunting feeling in the back of his mind. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind that had been disturbing him ever since he had seen that coin…and Bridget. He focused his attention on Mr. Stevens as the class started. “Today will be starting off with something we don’t usually do in here.” “Learning something interesting,” Alaric ventured hopefully, yet sarcastically. “He said something new, he didn’t say he was going to perform a miracle,” Hashim corrected his friend from the back of the class.


“Put a sock in it, Hashim, or I won’t tell you the meaning of life.” Hashim, lackadaisically put his head down on the desk, to resume his nap, only his black hair was visible to the rest of the class. “And when did you learn the meaning of life?” Michaela asked before her friends could. “Yeah I would like to hear this one,” Alaric said. “Me too,” Hashim threw in his vote without raising his head. “Like I care whether you guys want to hear it or not.” Stevens picked up the Calculus book from his desk. “The meaning of life is in there? What is it? ‘Do Calculus and don’t complain?’” Michaela said in disbelief. “Close. You’ll find all the answers in Calculus.” For a second before opening the book he chanted, “Ommmm…” then read a quote from the book, “the meaning of life: ‘The knowledge known is finite, while that unknown is infinite, and for a man to have a truly meaningful life he must make some of the infinite, finite.’ Now that I have told you the meaning of life, I don’t want to hear any more complaining about Calculus.” “Just when you thought derivation and integration were about as dull as this class could get,” Alaric commented. “Does that quote mean we get to learn something new today?” Hashim asked. “No,” Stevens said without hesitation. The scene had very briefly taken Cary’s mind off his troubles. Michaela, Hashim, and Alaric had the tendency to entertain most of the classes they were in, with their almost nonstop smartass remarks. Michaela was by far the most interesting of the three. She was exceptionally intelligent although a bit lazy, extraordinarily quick witted but she used most of her mind simply to aggravate teachers. The greatest class clown ever might have been a good description of her except for the fact that it didn’t convey her rapier wit adequately. Hashim was


the kind of person who could sleep through all his classes, never do any studying, and still get straight A’s (actually that’s what he did do for most of his classes.) With his seeming knowledge of almost everything, and a very cynical outlook on life, he could easily get on a person’s nerves (especially teachers), but a more loyal friend a person would be hard to find. Alaric was possibly the one person more loyal than Hashim to his friends. He was nowhere near as funny as Michaela or as smart as Hashim (though still above average in both areas). He was very friendly, a great person to discuss things with, and was in possession of an unusually contagious laugh. Why am I thinking about Michaela, Hashim, and Alaric? Cary suddenly realized. Is it that they have some connection to this feeling I’ve been having since waking up? Deep down he felt that there was some connection between them and this feeling. But how could they have anything to do with it? It’s not like they have made me simply ignore Bridget for two months. “Cary, are you all right?” Darby asked. Cary almost jumped by the unexpected sound of her voice. The shorter girl sat directly in front of him. Although in front of him, he seldom saw the back of her head and long brown hair, as she was often asking him for help with the Calculus problems. “Yes, I’m fine.” “Good, you looked bothered by something.” “No, I am perfectly fine,” he lied. No need to bother her with my problems. “Great, then you can help me with this problem. What am I doing wrong?” Cary glanced at the problem Stevens had just put on the board. He worked it out in his mind for a second then turned to help Darby with the problem. Darby, a French Horn player like Cary, was friendly, happy, and highly enjoyable to have around as a friend when she was in a good mood, but she got stressed out easily (some feared she would have a nervous breakdown one day) at which point


those around her would have to try and calm her down. She had been one of Cary’s closest friends for the last few years; she always had a way of cheering him up (although Cary was already usually very cheerful). As he began to show Darby where she had made a minor mistake, his mind began to drift back to the dark feeling inside of him. Something is about to happen, I know it, don’t know how I know it, but I do. And I don’t think I’ll like it when it comes…


Chapter 2 Afternoon at Fountainhead

Bridget made her way through the tidal wave of the people at lunch. She tried to get through it as quickly as possibly, since there was something about the herd mentality of large groups of people that had always made her uncomfortable. She was a solitary kind of person who enjoyed the company of only a few people at a time; crowds inspired a mild claustrophobia in her. Most recently large groups had given her the feeling that she was being watched. She was trying to find Dana in this mess but couldn’t find anything. Where is she? She looked through the crowd trying to find Dana, she had the feeling that somehow she had forgotten to ask Dana something about Cary. For some reason she had suddenly felt that there was some kind of relationship between Cary and Dana, but Bridget had no idea what it was. About 10 yards away she spotted the next best thing to finding Dana: Dana’s boyfriend Shawn. He was about five-eleven, thin, with gaunt sharp angled features. She had never liked Shawn very much, although he had always been extremely friendly to her. She really didn’t know why she disliked him; she could never find anything wrong with him, no matter how hard she tried. Maybe that’s it, he’s too damn perfect to be likeable. Whatever the reason, she would have always preferred not spending time with him. However, he and Dana were often joined at the hip, and if she followed him, he would probably lead her to Dana. She followed Shawn through the crowd for about twenty feet, when he abruptly stopped and turned. “Is there a reason you insist on stalking me, Bridget?” “How did you know I was there?” “Ever get a sixth sense kind of feeling when you’re being followed?” “Yeah, all the time,” Like right now. “Well, there you go. So, why were you following me?”


“I wanted to talk to Dana, I figured you were probably heading towards wherever she is.” “Good assumption. But why the need for cloak and dagger?” “No reason, just didn’t want to bother you really.” More like I didn’t want to really talk to you, but I won’t say that to your face. “Well, I think she’s eating lunch in Stevens’s room.” “Lead the way.” Dana looked up from her lunch on the table at the sound of the door opening. Dana’s face brightened as she saw two of her favorite people step through the door and into Stevens’ classroom. Bridget had already been on her mind almost the entire day, constantly bothering her. But seeing Shawn relieved almost all that had been distressing her thoughts. From the day she had met him she had fallen in love with him. He was a hopeless romantic. He was always caring, had a wonderful sense of humor, and was always honest (which was a good thing because she had once seen him try to lie, he didn’t even come close to having a straight face). And what she considered best of all was that their minds worked almost identically. Everything about him made her feel better when he was around. Even though she had only known him for six months she was deeply in love with him. Dana wasn’t the especially “girly” type—certainly more feminine than Bridget’s cool standoffish demeanor—but when it came to Shawn she knew she was little more than the archetypal love-sick teenage girl hopeless in love with her boyfriend…and Dana was comfortable with that. “Hey guys, what’s up?” “I wanted to talk to you,” Bridget said. “I have no idea what he wants though,” Bridget added motioning towards Shawn. Dana remembered that Bridget had never been that


friendly towards Shawn; why that was Dana had never been sure. “Well, as always I just loving spending time with you,” answered Bridget’s snide comment. He sat down next Dana and kissed her on the cheek; as he did all Dana’s worries simply disappeared. “Well, Bridget, what did you want to talk about?” “Ummm…I forgot.” What was I going to say? Something about Cary, but what? Why is my memory so bad today? “I had it on the tip of my brain.” In her frustration she began waving her hands trying to come up with the thoughts she had just had. “Something to do with that bad feeling you said you had earlier?” Dana asked. The same feeling I’ve been having all day. She considered for a second that she should tell Bridget she wasn’t alone in this feeling, but quickly she dissuaded herself from doing that. If I do that I would also have to mention that Cary is bothered by something and that will just make Bridget even more worried and frustrated. Having only one of us know that something is wrong with all of us is enough. “Yes…no…I don’t know. My mind suddenly went blank.” She took a step back in desperation, hoping that movement might help her jog memory. As she stepped back she felt her leg bump into another person’s leg, accidentally tripping whoever was walking behind. She turned around to apologize, only to hate whom she saw. Of all the people, why did it have to be Lilith? “Watch were you’re going b-Bridget…” Lilith stuttered as she saw Bridget.

As if this day couldn’t get worse, Bridget thought, I have to accidentally trip the one person in the entire world with a shorter temper than my own. Lilith was the kind of person that sane people tried to avoid; she had an exceptionally short temper and a violent streak. She had few friends that Bridget knew of due to the fact few were insane enough to even think of tempting Lilith’s wrath. However Lilith had never actually physically


harmed anyone (that Bridget knew of), but her verbal lashing were as bad as being beaten to a pulp. The only reason Bridget was annoyed and not afraid, was Lilith was afraid of her.

Bridget remembered about a month ago, after school she had been talking to Dana, Shawn, Arin, Jane, and Merle when Lilith was walking by. Bridget had said hello to Lilith, which, for reasons Bridget felt she would never fully understand, Lilith took offense to. Lilith began to yell at her for making fun of her (which Bridget wasn’t) and had actually tried to hit Bridget. Bridget quickly responded by ducking and then tried to apologize for any unintentional insult. Lilith calmly responded by not listening and tried to hit her again. At that point Bridget quickly pushed Lilith up against a wall and reminded her that she was one of the only two people on campus that had a black belt, and that Lilith wasn’t the other, thus any attack made by Lilith would be futile. She then had let Lilith go unharmed, and ever since Lilith had watched her temper out of fear of Bridget.

“Lilith, I am so sorry. I…I didn’t know you were there, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah right,” Lilith snapped. “Are you all right? I’m so sorry.” “I’m fine, no thanks to you.” Bridget rushed her hand

out to help her up. She was surprised when Lilith actually took hold of her hand; usually Lilith’s overwhelming hatred for all people even extended to never accepting help. Maybe she is actually becoming a bit friendlier. As she helped Lilith to her feet, Bridget could feel Lilith intentionally driving her finger nails deeply into Bridget’s wrist. Then again, maybe I’m overestimating her. Bridget just gritted her teeth and then apologized again, all the while thinking, If it wasn’t my fault for this accident, I’d hurt her for this. Lilith really does need to be slapped down one of these days…and I will enjoy it when that day comes, whether I’m the one to do it or not.


“Watch were you’re going next time, twit,” Lilith curtly said before storming out the door.

“Bridget? Is that blood on your wrist?” a concerned Dana asked.

“A gift from the ever kind Lilith Eves. Don’t worry, it’s more like a scratch; it’ll clot up in a few seconds.”

“What is wrong with her?” “She’s evil. She hates everyone she meets and tries to

treat everyone like an inferior.” “You don’t think maybe she’s just trying to hide some

fear or insecurity by always being so mean?” Shawn asked her.

“No. She’s just cold and mean. We’ll see her on the news one day, being led off by the Feds, the neighbors telling the press ‘she was always so quiet, never bothered anyone’ while the camera catches the multiple corpses being hauled out of her basement.” She usually tried to see the best in people, and might be willing to agree with Shawn in theory, but the fact was that Lilith was just without any redeeming value.

“You’re too cynical,” Shawn stated. “And you’re too naïve,” she responded without missing

a beat. “How my best friend can tolerate someone so unable to grasp the basics of the runnings of the universe is beyond me.” Dana cocked her head and raised her eyebrows; Bridget took the hint to shut her mouth. “Maybe so,” he simply conceded. There was just something about the way he said it that really annoyed Bridget although she didn’t have the slightest clue why. For that matter, I still don’t have the foggiest what I was going to ask Dana. “But I’m probably happier,” Shawn finally added. “Dana, I’m sorry I just can’t remember what I was going to ask you,” this was driving her mad she knew she wanted to ask Dana something but couldn’t think of what. It infuriated her so much she almost felt the need to break


something. “If I can think of it I’ll find you again. Otherwise, sorry for bothering you.” She left still trying to remember what she had been thinking. As she walked out of the Stevens’ room she caught sight of Jane and Merle. Like almost everyone else in Fountainhead they were, in Bridget’s opinion, a little eccentric in their behavior. “Hey guys, what are you doing?” “Not much, Bridge.” “We’re trying to figure out how much of the marching show we play,” Merle told her. “W-What?” Bridget stammered. That made no sense to her, but with Jane and Merle that was nothing new. “We, the baritone section, for instance, play forty-seven point eighty-six percent of time during the opener of the marching show.” “Uh-huh,” said in disbelief. They are so strange sometimes, she thought. I know they’re serious. I know they just like to come up with the strangest stuff intentionally. I know they’re really quite sane (deep down), so why am I always so stunned by their nutty behavior? “Okay, how much do you play in the rest of the show?” “We don’t know yet. We’re still calculating all the notes. Jane remember the number forty-six point five,” he said as he went back to counting individual notes on the sheet of music he was reading. “So what have you been up to today, Bridge?” Jane asked. “Well, Going out of my mind slowly…but surely.” “Aren’t we all,” Jane consoled her. “Well I’m usually not, Jane, so it’s really bothering me.” “What exactly is wrong?” “Oh, I’m finding there are large gaps in my memory where there shouldn’t be.” “What? Did you forget a few facts and miss a couple of questions on a test?”


“No, recently I realized I haven’t been noticing someone who I spend a lot of time around, at least I think I did, even though I know I should have paid more attention to him.” “What do you mean notice? You’ve been rude to them when they’re around.” “No, I mean I did not realize he existed until today.” “Unusual. But you seem to be taking it a little too seriously for just not paying attention to someone. I mean I cross paths with a lot of people each day; doesn’t mean I’m good friends with each and every one of them. I don’t think I can even name every person I share a class with, even though I spend a lot of time with them.” “I know, but…I’m just,” she sighed trying to figure out the words to describe the rotten feeling in the pit of her stomach. “I’m just feel that something is wrong about this situation. I can’t explain it other than in the back of my mind something is simply out of joint.” “Huh, Dana Serenity was mentioning having the same kind of feeling this morning.” “Dana…Serenity?” “Yeah, Dana, your friend, Cary Serenity’s sister. You know, Dana.” Dana Serenity! her mind screamed. That is what I wanted to ask her about. I knew she was his sister! Why couldn’t I think about it back there? What is wrong is wrong with me. “Oh, yeah, Dana,” she laughed and tried to cover up her shock. “Uh, I am losing my mind, I can’t even remember the names of my friends.” “You’re just stressed, probably having a bad day that’s all. We all have them.” “It’s just weird; I’ve never felt anything like this before.” “Oh well, such is life. Just try to make the best of it,” Jane reassured. “I guess. Well, I’ll see you guys later.”


“See ya.” Bridget walked away. As she did she heard Merle state that he and Jane played forty-two point five-eight percent of the time in the second song.

She knew that this feeling wasn’t just a bad day. It was a deep feeling one felt before something horrible happened. It’s like the feeling one gets when you’re being watched and followed. From a distance she was being watched and followed.

* * * “Are you okay, Cary?” Darby asked as they ate lunch, sitting on the grass courtyard with Arin. It was a daily ritual that they found very comforting. “Yes…I’m fine,” he simply automatically said, not even thinking about his answer. “Yeah, like I believe that,” Darby responded, obviously worried about him. “What’s wrong?” “Do you know Bridget Hunt?” “Sure, what about her?” Darby seemed a little shocked by his question, as if to say ‘Why care about Bridget Hunt?’ “I just get this really strange…almost sickening feeling…when I was around her today.” “Ah, like butterflies in your stomach?” Arin jested as she suggestively raised an eyebrow. “Your palms get sweaty and you feel a little light headed?” “No! It’s not that kind of sick feeling!” Cary quickly rebutted. Why do I only have women as my close friends? “It’s the kind of sensation that something horrible is going to happen in the immediate future.” “What? You think she’s going to hit you in the head with her trumpet during marching practice?” asked Arin jokingly. “She plays the trumpet?” Darby and Arin looked at him, their mouths half open in shock. “Yeah, Cary, she plays the trumpet. She sits directly


behind the two of us in band,” Darby told him. “Have you been living on another planet this whole year?” “I’m beginning to wonder, myself,” he told them. He looked up and saw Dana and Shawn approaching. Dana, Bridget, and myself. The three of us are all involved in this somehow, but I wish I knew what this feeling was, he thought. “Hey guys, how’s it going?” Shawn asked as they approached. “Well, Cary here thinks the end of the world is coming and Bridget Hunt has something to do with it,” Darby told him. “I never said that,” he protested, but this feeling in the back of my mind almost makes me wonder if the world is going to end. “Well it’s only a slight exaggeration.” “How has your day been, Dana?” Cary quickly changed the subject. “Pretty much the same as before, just kind of a typical day.” she stated. She did not want to announce to the others that she too had the terrible feeling in her gut. What is it that’s going to happen to the three of us? God, how I wish I had the ability to see the future with perfect clarity. “Oh, I don’t know how typical it is,” Shawn said, “I mean it’s not over yet. Anything could happen, and if Cary has a feeling that something bad is going to happen maybe we should keep our eyes out.” “Thank you, Shawn, I’m glad somebody is on my side.” Cary thought about how much he liked Shawn. Dana had always had exceptional taste in men (in that as her older brother Cary had never had to worry about looking out for her), but there was something about Shawn that stood him apart from anyone else. He could easily tell that Dana thought that Shawn was the one for her, but that was not the reason that he liked Shawn. There was something about him that endeared and made him a good friend to almost everyone. Everyone but Bridget, he thought. He sighed, suddenly


frustrated by the fact that once again the name “Bridget” intruded into his thoughts, and with it that dark feeling. “Well, despite the fact that I hate to leave, I have a presentation to make in my next class that I have to prepare for,” Shawn stated. “So unfortunately I have to go.” He leaned over and kissed Dana on the cheek. “Goodbye, my dearest. I’ll see you later.” Cary tried running through his thoughts only to come up with only blocks in his memories “Oh, that reminds me Arin and I have to go talk to Mr. Johnson about some of our music.” “Anything I should be concerned about?” Cary asked. “Don’t you have enough to worry about? But to answer you question, no, just few questions about the show we have for Johnson. If we change anything we’ll tell you,” Arin said as they got up and gathered their stuff. “Very well, I will see you in the band room.” They left Dana and Cary by themselves. The siblings stood in silence for a moment to collect their thoughts and try to work up the courage to broach the topic they knew they had to discuss. Finally, Dana broke the impasse.

“So, have you figured out what this feeling is that the three of us have?” Dana asked her brother. I have to tell someone about this, she finally decided, maybe the only way to get rid of this feeling is to get the three of us together.

“The three of us?” Cary tried one last time to dent the block, but to no use.

“Yeah, Bridget is experiencing the same feeling.” He turned and looked her in the eyes. “Only that the more I think about it, the worse I feel this situation is. It’s like I feel this dark force all around us. Something bigger than our teenage lives is coming.” “Anything else? Maybe some more cryptic phrases of doom?”


“It’s just a feeling I have, and I know you have it too…after all, I’m not a powerful psychic, Dana.” Cary told her. “No, you’re not,” she admitted. “What do you think about it?”

“I know it has something to do with the fact that the three of us have never once been together.” “True. Further, whatever it is, it’s coming soon.” “I know,” the words were barely whispered. There was silence between them for almost a minute until the bell rang, ending lunch. “I’ll see you at home?” “I look forward to it, maybe we’ll make some headway on whatever it is bothering us. Shall I bring Bridget?” Cary nodded his accent. The two siblings parted, not noticing the shadowy figures that hid just around the corner. There were two of them, and they watched Dana and Cary like a lion watches a herd of gazelle. “They’re the ones. The question is now, how exactly do we go about eliminating them?”


Chapter 3 Home Away From Home

The Band room before class started: It was loud, chaotic, disorganized, and for over a hundred students at Fountainhead Academy it was a home away from home. The walls and shelves were covered with awards and honors (some first place, some last place)…but it was their home, albeit a very disturbed one.

A look around the room would quickly reveal some of its more interesting members. There was the flute section leader Arin. The xylophonist Alaric, as usual, was organizing the usually chaotic mallet section. There was baritone section leader, Jane, who didn’t quite live in reality, and her assistant section leader Merle, who was only slightly closer to sanity. The hyper-stressed Darby was practicing her French Horn already. There were the half a dozen members of the trumpet section, most of whom had highly outrageous and outgoing personalities; only one of them was comparatively quiet and reserved: Bridget. There were other interesting members and groups in the band, but, needless to say, the band had the largest cross section of the school’s population as well as some of the most eccentric individuals in the school. And then there was Cary and Bridget. As they entered opposite ends of the room, they caught sight of each other. It was a strange feeling for both of them, considering they suddenly realized they had seen the other frequently in the band room, hundreds of times in the last few months but had never paid any attention to the other. They got out their instruments, Cary his French Horn, and Bridget her trumpet, and sat down without a word. They resisted the urge to speak…that would make it all too real and they refused to give that final admittance that something was wrong with this day. They took their usual seats only to find that Bridget sat directly behind Cary. They both began to wonder how they


had never noticed each other before. Not a word passed between the two of them as the class began to settle down. The situation still felt too bizarre to both of them to speak to one another. Several uneventful minutes went by. The band tuned their instruments, and began to play a piece of music the director had recently bought. They played through it, but the director quickly took time to work with clarinets on their part. At that point Bridget leaned back to talk with Alaric, as she usually did when she could, whose xylophone was directly behind the trumpet section. “Alaric, got a moment?” she whispered He raised his head from a book he was reading and making notes, “Sure,” he replied, “What’s up?” Bridget needed to talk to someone other than Cary. Before she could respond, the band room began to shake violently. Many of the students ducked under their chairs in fear. Bridget had never been in an earthquake before and was frightened out of her mind. Why on earth did my parents ever want to move to this forsaken state in the first place? Maybe this is what I’ve been feeling would come all day? She looked around to see exactly what was going on. She saw loose awards on the wall fall off and hit the floor; she watched many small items all around the room move all around. Most of the band had ducked beneath their chairs, but Bridget was stunned that several people seemed completely unaffected by the commotion the earthquake was causing. Are they insane, why aren’t they ducking for cover? She heard Alaric, who had remained standing, say behind her, apparently to someone who was also unaffected by the quake, “Cowards, this is California, it’s no more than a three-pointer. We sleep though these things.” Bridget then observed Cary, who also was unmoved by the quake, nod in agreement to Alaric’s statement. The strength of the


earthquake suddenly increased over ten-thousand-fold. Both Cary and Alaric ducked under the nearest piece of furniture. “What was that, Alaric, about cowardice?” Bridget taunted. “There is a difference between a three-pointer on the Richter scale, which is what it was, and a seven-pointer, which is what it currently is. Three, you sleep through; seven you duck for cover; you’ll learn these basics the longer you live in California. Hey, Bridget, just be grateful you don’t live in Southern California; there you would also have disasters such as fires, floods, riots, and L.A. in addition to the earthquakes.” Almost to prove his point about the severity of the increase of the earthquake’s strength a large cabinet fell to the ground; luckily no one was injured by its fall. “Wonderful,” she groaned. She looked around and was grateful that none of the huge cupboards had fallen on anyone. Damn miracle no one is hurt, she thought to herself. Then suddenly the quaked died. “I think it might be a good idea to get out of here, that might have merely been a foreshock,” Cary commented, but the members of the band were already far ahead of him. They dashed out of the room in a chaotic panic. Bridget, resisting her immediate impulse to rush out, figured it would be safer to simply remain in the back until all the others had cleared out. As with most large groups panic prevailed over reason and there was a helter-skelter mad dash by everyone to get to the two door out of the band room. Had it not been that about a third of the band had initially run for the door frame when the quake began, thus allowing them to exit quickly, and Bridget, Cary, and a couple others helping up those who tripped as they tried to bound over chairs and stands to get to the door, there would likely have more injuries caused by the rush out than by the quake itself. Bridget shook her head watching how they were all letting fear get the better of them; she had been terrified by the


quake itself, but she knew better than to let it control her. The band got out of the room with Cary and Bridget, strangely, the last ones to exit; but as they reached the door they were pushed back into the band room by an unseen power. “What was that?” Cary looked back toward the door. In a stunned whisper he said, “On second thought I have a better question. What is that?” Bridget looked to the door and saw a large creature standing in the doorway. It appeared to have a body something like that of a horse, but attached to the neck was the mane and head of a lion. Protruding from the yellow fur of its forehead were two long horns and its feet had claws instead of hooves. Bridget felt the terror rise in her again. She was seeing something that should not logically exist. Worse, if it did exist, then it certainly meant them only harm. She forced herself to breath slowly, panic would only lead to her death, that she knew; she had to think not react. She drove her fingernails into her palm to distract herself from the gripping fear. The two backed away from the animal slowly, trying not to alarm it. They reached the other door of the band room only to find that it had suddenly become locked. There was no escape.

It opened its mouth, showing a full set of sharp teeth. “No escape, my prey,” it growled. Cary and Bridget were too afraid for their lives to be shocked by the fact that it could talk, nor did its repetition of what they already knew help. It licked its teeth slowly, quietly purring as it watched them. Bridget and Cary were looking in every direction for a way to get out; there was none. The creature sprang into the air. Instinctively Cary picked up the nearest large object that was in his reach: a chair. Just as the creature was about to land on him, Cary ducked and simultaneously swung the chair against the side of the creature’s chest knocking. As it hit the floor, Bridget seized


a music stand and hit the beast on the head. She then picked up another stand and threw it toward Cary, “Catch.” “Thanks.” Cary caught the stand and launched himself forward to help Bridget. Both Bridget and Cary kept the creature at bay, knocking it in the face and side in rapid succession, but were unable to do anything more than defend themselves. “Just give up,” the thing growled as it swung at them with its claws. Bridget responded to the comment by slamming the base of the stand into the creature’s face. Cary followed this by slamming one leg of the metal base against the creature’s neck, cracking the leg; he then ripped a deep gash into the neck with the now jaded metal base. The creature stepped back, bleeding and disoriented. Bridget slammed it in the face again. “Cary, are you in here?” Dana’s voice came from the door. She walked in quickly. “I was wondering why you weren’t out with...what the hell is that?” She stood motionless looking at the creature. The creature turned its head. “Ah, Dana Serenity, my third victim. Might as well take care of you since I can’t get at these two at the moment.” It turned and once again sprang into the air, this time heading straight toward Dana. Just as it was about to land on her, Dana stretched out her arms. As she stretched out her arms the creature was thrown through the air, over the heads of Cary and Bridget, and slammed against the far wall. As it struck the wall it vanished. Silence filled the room for several seconds. Bridget, Cary, and Dana looked at each other, waiting to see if the others had any answers. None of them did. Bridget was the first to speak. “What just went on here?” “We were attacked by an animal that should not exist in reality,” Cary bluntly stated. “In other words, I don’t have a clue.” Several seconds of silence followed. Bridget was having trouble putting everything together. What was that?


Why was it after us? Why did it change directions in mid air? Where did it go? The thoughts blurred and several of her question drifted to the back on her mind leaving only the most pressing one “What are we going to do about this?” “What do you mean, Bridget?” Dana asked. Cary had gone over to where the creature had been thrown. He raised a piece of paper from the ground. “Let me read to you what this says: ‘Cary and Dana Serenity, Bridget Hunt, Congratulations on surviving your first major test. There is more to come.’ Signed: ‘Someone who is to be very important to your destiny.’ I don’t know about you, but I just don’t like the sound of that.” “Sounds pretty bad,” Dana stated. “Bad? It sounds like someone is out to end our lives. Dana why did you come in here?” Bridget suddenly inquired. “I didn’t see Cary out on the field where everyone else was. I was worried about him, and I had a feeling I should check for him in here. I guess it’s a lucky thing that I did.” “Yeah, there’s an understatement,” Bridget responded. “But how, and why, did that thing just disappear?” “I’ve got a suggestion, ladies,” Cary broke in, “We should go out to the field before any one else notices that we’re gone. For the moment let’s act like this didn’t happen.” “But it did happen!” “Great, Bridget. Try telling someone that. They’ll haul you off to the asylum faster than you can finish your story about what went on here. Besides this letter we have no physical proof.” “What do you mean, that thing tore up the room.” “That can all be blamed on the earthquake…and I’ll bet you whatever was behind that creature was somehow behind the earthquake.”


“And how do you create an earthquake?” Bridget protested. “The same way you have a creature out of a fantasy story just disappear,” Cary said calmly. “For lack of a better term, I’ll just say magic.” “Then what do you suggest we do? That letter suggests there may be more attempts on our life. Should we just ignore that?” “No, but...” “But what!” Bridget cut in before Cary could finish his sentence. Both were about to start a shouting match if Dana hadn’t stepped in at that moment. “Both of you, quiet! Tonight we’ll meet at our house, and we’ll discuss this. Bridget I’ll give you the address, be there at six. Cary, Mom and Dad are gone tonight, right?” “Yes, they’ll be out by six.” “Fine, then until then, lets just go back out there as if none of this happened.” They started walking out slowly to join to the other students who had gathered on the football field after the earthquake. Bridget and Dana split up from Cary. “You’re his sister?” Bridget turned to Dana as they came into the crowd. “Yeah. Why do you ask?” “Well when I asked about him earlier that might have been helpful information.” “You didn’t ask. So have you made any decisions about him? Not to overstep into areas that don’t concern me, but it seemed you were interested in him earlier today, possibly romantically.” “You are right this probably doesn’t concern you.” “Well he is my older brother. I have to look out for him. But since it’s none of my business I won’t tell you about how interested I think he is or is not in you.”


“Tell me.” Bridget ordered. “No…it’s none of my business.” “Why you,” Bridget could see she wasn’t going to get anything out of Dana, but she still tried for almost half an hour.

* * * “Well they’ve passed the second major test,” the girl said to her companion. “Yes they did, better than I thought they would,” he replied. “How so?” “There isn’t a scratch on them.” “True, and poor Shasas is badly wounded. It will be days before he can do anything. Knocking him across the room broke more bones than I could heal at one time.” “Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s survived worse than a couple of teenagers beating him with metal poles and throwing him against a wall with magic. Besides he knew what he was getting into and he’s now back in the stables of Castle Marduk receiving the best of care.” He focused his eyes on Dana and Bridget through the crowd. “Go tell the others that we will be visiting them personally tonight.” “Do you think that’s wise? I mean so soon after that attack.” “Yes it is the perfect time. I think they’ll listen now, more than ever.”

“Very well.”


Chapter 4 Unexpected Guests

Bridget came up toward the door. I think this is the right address. She looked at the address on the door, yeah its the one Dana gave me, 444 Michael St. She rang the doorbell. Waiting for a few seconds, she looked around, taking in everything. She could see nothing out of the ordinary workings of suburbia; cars driving by occasionally, families in their homes, a few children playing in the various yards on the street, the trees were still shedding their leaves, and as the sun set it was getting colder. Everything was as it should be, yet, somehow, it wasn’t. She had the feeling she was being watched. It was the similar to feeling she had experienced before meeting Cary. “I know you’re there,” she whispered convinced someone did hear her. Only a few seconds after ringing the doorbell, but what had seemed like an eternity, Cary opened the door. “Bridget, come in.” She stepped into the warm house. She looked around the large, comforting home. As she was beginning to look around the living room in which she had stepped into, Cary asked her, “Can I take your coat?” She handed it to him slowly. She still had that feeling of being watched; as she looked around she looked for what was causing this feeling. She saw the furniture and pictures on the walls; nothing seemed wrong with the room, yet there was something odd about it. She caught the sound of a TV in the background, probably a news story covering the small quake Fountainhead had experienced today. “Oh, by the way, I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier today in the band room,” he said. She smiled, almost amazed at the apology, she had already realized that they were both shaken by the incident and had held nothing against him. “No prob, we were both disturbed by what happened. Where’s Dana?” she asked. “Oh, she is up in her room, doing some research. She should be done in a few minutes.”


“What on earth could she be researching?” “The thing that attacked us today. She says she remembers seeing it somewhere before in a book. I really didn’t catch everything she said before she went up to her room. Did you have any problems finding the house?” “No, Dana’s directions were fine. But all day I’ve had this feeling I’m being watched, I was wondering...” “I know exactly how you feel. It’s like just around the corner you’ll find someone waiting to murder you, but there’s nothing there.” “That’s it. What do you think it means.” “That someone is trying to kill us,” he bluntly stated. Dead silence followed for a few seconds. “If you’ll excuse me for a few seconds.” “Why?” “Oh, I started cooking dinner a few minutes ago. I need to make sure it doesn’t burn.” “I’ll come with you. What are you making?” “Well I found three steaks in the freezer so I thought might as well cook them.” “Three?” “I figured you probably haven’t eaten yet, and since you are our guest I thought it would be nice to offer you dinner.” “Thanks, that’s very nice.” She stepped into the kitchen without really looking around. She did not see the small puddle of water Cary had spilled onto the tile floor just before she rang the door bell, and it had slipped Cary’s mind to warn her until was too late. “Watch out,” Cary quickly said as he remembered, but he was too late, Bridget had already stepped on the water and slipped. As she fell backwards, Cary dashed to catch her from hitting the ground. He caught her in his open arms just in time to save her. As he grabbed her a strange feeling came over Bridget; she had never really felt it before but it almost


felt like, it was almost a sickening feeling in her stomach...No I will not think about that at a time like this, not when someone, or something, is trying to kill us—maybe after we deal with that problem, but not now…or maybe it’s just that this is the first time I’ve lost my balance in years, she thought to herself. She knew she had a bad habit of always burying her emotions (when she didn’t she found she would act almost purely on those emotions rather than any kind of logic) and now was certainly not the time to stop. She jerked herself out of his grasp and regained her composure. “Thank you,” she blurted out. She was searching her mind desperately for anything to talk about; she did not even want to think about what had just happened. “You’re welcome. I’m so sorry I forgot about the spill.” “Ummm...d—don’t worry about it.” “I...really don’t know what to say, after that,” Cary found that he was experiencing somewhat of an unfamiliar emotion, usually he didn’t find himself in a position of being embarrassed, but right now he couldn’t forgive himself for screwing up like this. Further he could feel that awful feeling in his stomach get even worse. “Cary! Get up here!” Dana yelled from her upstairs room. “Could you hold on one second! Or do you want your dinner burnt?” he yelled back as he turned the steaks in the oven broiler and found them to be cooked to his satisfaction and pulled them out. “Do you want Bridget to come? She is here, you know?” “I heard her come in. No, just you will be fine. I just need someone to check my insane logic for a second. Just want to make sure I’m not seeing things.” “Oh, is that all.” He turned to Bridget, “Have you ever tried to understand Dana’s mind?” “Not really. Why?”


“Well it’s just a little odd, or at least according to most people. She comes up with ideas that no one understands, with the exception of myself. And that’s only because I’ve known her for years.” “She’s a little crazy?” Bridget tried to joke. “That, or she’s such a incredible genius and most people are too far below her to understand her greatness.” “Cary, I need you right now!” her voice had a sense of urgency and desperation. “I’m coming!” He smiled at Bridget as he left the kitchen, “If you’ll excuse me, shouldn’t be too long…I hope,” he rolled his eyes as he added the last part. He left Bridget alone in the kitchen. She looked around. As Cary left she felt great calm come over her. Now, with Cary gone, she was feeling much better, more like herself. She looked around the kitchen and stopped when she saw the back door. It was open, and she knew it had been closed when she came in! She froze. Slowly she looked out of the corner of her eye for something...anything. She had the same feeling as before of being watched, but now it over a thousand times worse. There was nothing in the room, but she could feel there was something terribly wrong. Several minutes seem to drag on. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel every vein in her body with every beat. She felt someone grab her waist. She screamed! A hand came over her mouth quickly and a large blade was at her throat. “Not a sound, or I slit your throat,” a deep voice said behind her. “Go find the other two,” the voice ordered someone Bridget could not see. “Now which one are you?” Fear gripped her to the point where she could barely move. Her mind raced with hundreds of ideas on how to get free, but each one ended in her throat being slashed. Her heart was pounding even harder; she was surprised she wasn’t having a coronary. “You can’t be Cary, and you don’t quite look like his sister, so you must be Bridget. I was quite


surprised when you survived that Baku attack earlier today. You could very well be the chosen saviors we were told about. But, alas, I got to you first.” She had no idea what he was talking about and she didn’t care, all she knew was the fear ripping through her body. Once again she did everything she could to not let the fear take control. God, I hope Cary and Dana get out of here before they get killed. “They’re not here,” a woman's voice said. “What, but no one has left the house, and you said you saw all three of them go in, so where are they?” “I don’t know, maybe...” “Maybe what! They disappeared into thin air!” He tightened his grip on Bridget. “Tell me where they are, or I’ll snap your neck.” “I’m right behind you,” Cary’s voice rang out. “I’m the one with a butcher knife to your throat.” Bridget’s heart leapt in hope. “Now, slowly remove the sword from Bridget’s neck. Now!” he shouted the order. The sword blade was slowly removed from her neck—a little too slowly for Bridget’s tastes. When she was clear of the blade she bolted away from her captor. She ripped the sword out of his hand. Finally she was able to get a look at the man. He was a ugly man, with a bent nose (which had obviously been broken numerous times in the course of his life), several long scars on his face, and dark, almost black, eyes. She looked over at the man’s accomplice who was slightly shorter. She had long, dark brown, wavy hair. There was something familiar in her soft features, yet Bridget knew she had never seen the menacing face before; or had she? They seemed somehow out of place in their off the rack clothes, like they didn’t belong in average 21st century American clothing…But this sword doesn’t belong here either, she thought gripping the handle of the blade tightly, moving it slightly to get a feel for the balance of the blade.


This strange woman was then truly caught off guard. She had a knife at her throat, but it was being held by a man who looked like an elf from a Tolkien book. He was tall and thin, very pale complexion, with bright blonde hair and pointed ears! She was so stunned by her first glance she didn’t really take in any more of his appearance. “What is going on here?” Bridget demanded. “Well that could take a while,” the words came rushing out of Dana who was a little too dazed to realize the full implications of the situation, “In fact I don’t fully understand it myself.” She looked around, completely clueless about where to start. She began explaining with her finger pointing to people and places as she talked in a calm and monotone voice, “Let me see...I was up in my room looking up in a book of mythical creatures the thing which attacked us this afternoon. Then he appeared,” she said pointing to the elf. When everyone’s head was turned toward the elf, the man Cary held shoved his arm into Cary’s stomach. Cary doubled over in pain. The man immediately took a defensive stance with another sword he had pulled from his belt. “Don’t try it Arioc,” the elf said. “I’ll slit her throat right now if you don’t surrender.” “I have my orders to kill these children, and I’ll do that no matter the costs.” “And I have my orders to bring them back to Marduk, so don’t think I’m bluffing,” the elf responded. “And keep in mind I do have reinforcements watching right now. Three of them. Which in final count makes it seven to two; surrender.” “I never really liked her anyway, so please save me the misery of ever having to deal with her again.” “You’ll pay for this,” the woman began to say before the elf pushed his sword slightly farther into her skin, drops of blood stained the edge of the sword at her throat, but she showed no other reaction.


The man, Arioc the elf had called him, didn’t heed the elf’s actions and lunged for Bridget. Bridget raised the sword she had taken from Arioc into a defense posture over her head. As he charged toward her, she swung her sword down, knocking the sword out of his hand and cutting a deep gash in his arm. Instinctively she brought the sword back up quickly, this time digging the tip of the blade into Arioc’s shoulder. As Bridget pulled back on the blade Arioc fell to the floor. “You have far from seen the end of this,” he said. “Come, let’s leave the elf and his chosen knights alone for the moment.” Both Arioc and his companion magically disappeared. Bridget threw down the sword in disgust. “What is going on here! Somebody tell me now! Am I losing my mind?” “Miss Hunt, if you’ll please sit down, I’ll try to explain,” the elf said. “Thank you,” Bridget sneered. “It’s about time.” “Now as Dana was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, I appeared before her while she was trying to find out what had attacked you earlier. I proceeded to tell her that I am from another world called Marduk. Marduk is currently under siege by an evil power. Recently, a wise prophet told us of three mystical knights that would be able to save Marduk from the evil that is attacking us when he visited the Queen of Marduk. He further said that these warriors would be in the parallel world of Earth. At this point in my story, Dana called up Cary to see if she was hallucinating. Cary came up and was of course stunned, like Dana, by my presence. I was about to continue my story to them when I felt an another presence here in the house. We then all rushed down here, and I believe you know the rest of the story, Bridget.” “Great,” Bridget said, “now onto a more important question: What are you doing here? Are we these three knights you were talking about?”


“I believe you are. I and three compatriots were given orders to come and find these warriors and we were told that there would be several signs that would show us who they were.” “And those signs would be?” “It’s a long list, but of the important parts, seeing this magical coin.” He flipped a coin into the air. It landed into Bridget’s hand. She looked at the gold piece in her hand and then held it up for the others to see.

“It’s the same one we all thought we saw today.” “Correct, the three of you were the only ones at the school who could see it.” “Sounds like kind of a dumb test,” Dana commented. “I thought so when I was told about it,” the elf said reluctantly, “but apparently only people with a certain type of soul can see it. It worked, so who am I to question its validity. The second sign we were told of said you would be able to survive the attack of a Baku; in Marduk a Baku is one of the deadliest of creatures known. Amazingly you survived the attack without a single injury.” “Wait a second, you sent this thing to kill us?” “No, I sent it to attack you, it would have stopped immediately and left if it had seen you couldn’t survive its attack.” “Well that just makes me feel all better,” Bridget said sarcastically. “I don’t expect you to be pleased with the situation, but I do hope you understand my reasons.” “So we’ve passed all the tests?” Dana inquired. “Not quite.” “Why? What could possibly be left?” “Well the third sign I was told about was that the three of you could discover the true identities of myself and my three friends. You see we came here posing as humans of Earth; appearing to be high school students, in fact. We had


been told that we would find these knights in the Fountainhead Academy, and we believed the best way to discover the knights would be to disguise ourselves within the student body.” “Sounds logical on your part, but it still sounds like a asinine way to test us.” “I’m following the orders of my Queen to follow the Prophet’s instructions, and this is what the Prophet said would be the signs of how to tell who you were. Now, the four of us are people you all know. Now you have to find out exactly who we really are.” “And what if we don’t want to?” Bridget asked. “What if we don’t want to be your savior knights?” “At this point you don’t have a choice. As you just saw the force that is attacking Marduk also apparently knows about you. That man that attacked you is named Arioc, and he is one of the chief warriors of this force’s army. I have personally seen him lead soldiers into battles where no quarter, no mercy, is given to anyone, even those who surrender. Whoever is in charge of their army has desire in subjugating a populace; they’re only interested in killing everything in their way. They believe you are the knights that can defeat them, and thus they will do anything to stop you from reaching Marduk. If you don’t come with me back to Marduk, you don’t stand any chance of surviving. Oh, and there is the good chance that after they’ve finished conquering Marduk they might just attempt to come to Earth and conquer it too. So it’s really in your best interest to become the prophesized knights.” He forced a half-smile onto his face as if to say “sorry, for getting you involved in this.” “Thank you for the long list of options,” Bridget said. Silence ensued for a few seconds. Cary looked at his watch the entire time. “Cary, what are you doing?” his sister asked.


“I’m seeing how long it takes for Rod Serling to show up and give that little monologue he has before the beginning of each episode. Let’s be honest about where we have apparently entered.” Another few seconds of silence. “Sorry, bad joke. But this makes no sense.” “When does life ever?” The elf observed, “It makes as much sense as my world being attacked for no other reason than we were there.” “So, do we get any clues as to who the four of you are?” Dana once again asked. “Maybe your name? How long you’ve been here.” “Not a single clue...yet.”

“Can I ask yes or no questions?” Dana asked. “Maybe, depends.” “You’re still new to our world, would it be illogical to

think you don’t always blend in well.” “A logical assumption,” the elf agreed. “But I don’t get a definitive answer?” Bridget pointed

out. “Nope.” “Do we know all four of you?” Bridget asked. “A definitive yes. Each of the three of you know all

four of us,” the elf answered. “Good luck, I have faith that you three are the chosen ones.” With that, he too faded out of the kitchen. The three looked at each other. “He has a point, if we don’t agree to his terms then, we’re dead. Our only hope is to figure out who they are,” Cary said. “Agreed,” Dana and Bridget reluctantly responded. Bridget’s mind was already rushing with details of possibilities for who the elf might be, but more importantly looking for ways to get out of this situation. “So who doesn’t blend in well in school? I haven’t been here long enough to know everyone.”


“Well let’s see they have to be odd, probably keeping to themselves a lot of the time, appear to have little if any understanding and use of what we would consider common social practices, in all likelihood they are very intelligent, and of course there are four of them.” Realization struck all of them at the exact same time. “Alaric, Hashim, Michaela, and Sari.”


Chapter 5 Eccentricities

Cary and Dana arrived at school early the next day. Cary looked like he hadn’t been able to sleep all night, probably writing another extensive entry in that diary of his, she thought. Dana could sympathize, he thoughts had been a jumble all night. The night before had gone smoothly after realization struck them all. After that they ate dinner with little conversation. Bridget had left about an hour later. They had decided that there was only one possible group on campus strange enough to be from another world. Alaric, Hashim, Michaela and Sari. They were highly intelligent people, some of the brightest in the school. Incredibly lazy, they were known to do almost all of their work, only periods before they were due (then receiving A’s on those assignments and papers). Further they questioned everyone and everything, even things that most people took for granted. Their attitude often made people believe they were slightly crazy. They were rude and abusive to their teachers yet respected by them at the same time…at least it appeared that way on the face of things. “At least it seemed that you and Bridget were getting along well last night,” Dana said as she and Cary waited by the school gates. “What planet were you on?” Cary said in shock. “I didn’t think we got along at all. The only thing worse than everything that happened last night was the fact that it means I have to spend time with Bridget through all of this.” Dana looked at him confused. From her recollection Bridget and Cary had really seemed to enjoy each other’s company, in fact she had thought that they seemed closer to each other than she was to either of them…but my mind was occupied mainly by the attack and the elf, maybe I just missed something. Bridget, who looked sleep deprived as well, met the Serenitys outside the gate of the school. “I was thinking about


this last night, guys,” Dana said, “I know those four extremely well. I don’t think they’re the ones we’re looking for.” They moved out of the front gate area and headed to the library where they would have a bit more privacy in their discussion. “Why? Can you name any group more out of place with normal people?” “No, and that’s exactly the reason why I think they’re not the ones. They’re too obvious.” Cary got the door for Dana to enter the library but followed her in leaving Bridget to keep it open for herself. What did I miss about these two not liking each other, Dana thought to herself. “I’ve gotten to know Alaric in the past few months, I’d say he’s fairly unusual…a very good friend…but definitely not normal,” Bridget pointed out, ignoring Cary’s behavior. “Agreed, but I think I know him better than you do.” “Oh, and why is that?” Bridget asked as she sat down at one of the tables at the far end of the library. “Because I dated him for a year. I think that gives me a better perspective on his personality. Trust me his intentions were not to discover if I, or any one I knew, was some kind of prophesied warrior; he was interested in getting to know me, that was all. Besides don’t you think they would space themselves out more.” “How do you know it wasn’t a clever scheme?” Cary asked. “Oh I don’t think kisses like that could lie.” Silence from Bridget and Cary followed; they were both searching for a way to refute that. “So why did you to breakup?” Bridget asked. “Personal differences; we just saw that relationship wouldn’t really continue for any extended period of time, so we ended the romantic part of our relationship and are now just good friends.” “Okay, but I still say that those four could be it.” “And your reasoning would be?” Cary asked.


“Maybe they were replaced, possessed, anything is possible.” “Replaced?” Dana and Cary were both a little puzzled. “Replaced? Bridget that could very well be the most bizarre thing I’ve ever heard,” Cary said. “Yes the people we all knew were abducted and they were replaced by the elves we are currently looking for.” “It’s possible...” Dana reluctantly said. “However, very doubtful,” Cary added. “After all, supposedly this elf is on the side of the good guys.” “But possible nonetheless, Cary. Let’s first find out if it’s them, if it’s not, oh well; but how would you feel if we go through everyone on campus then find that the one group that we didn’t want to look into turned out to be the people who we’re looking for,” Bridget observed. She seemed quite pleased with the irrefutable logic of her statement. By the look on his face Dana saw that even if Bridget’s argument was convincing, Cary was going to dig in on this one if she didn’t jump in. “Fine, we’ll look into them. But how do we do that? We never really discussed this last night,” Dana asked, but before they could respond she answered her own question. “Subtlety is what is called for here,” Dana said breaking up Cary and Bridget. “I say we just start dropping slight hints and watch their reactions. If it appears they know what we’re talking about then drop less subtle hints until you’re sure it’s them. The thing is that we have to be sure to start out so subtle that they don’t just think we’re crazy.” “I see what you mean, even Alaric or Michaela might think we’re insane if we just went up to them and said, ‘Hi, are you an elf?’” Cary pointed out. “Actually that might be kind of fun,” Bridget suggested. Cary looked at her like she had lost what little sanity she had. His head was shaking and his mouth was partly open.


“Are you out to get us killed or thrown into a straight jacket?” he asked her. “I’ll take Alaric, since I know him better than any of you,” Dana said before Bridget could respond. “But I still don’t think it’s them.” “Whatever. I sit next to Hashim and Michaela in my AP Government class; I’ll deal with them,” Cary stated. “I guess that leaves me with Sari, I think we have Calculus together,” Bridget depressingly said, slightly unsure as to how she would talk to someone she barely knew. “Okay, I would suggest we meet at lunch,” Dana suggested, “to share what we may or may not have learned.” “Perhaps somewhere out of the way,” Cary pointed out. He looked around the library and it was already getting so crowded that they had lowered their voices below the whisper they had started at. “Mr. Lancing’s room, he lets me eat in there even when he has to go out, which I believe he has to today,” Bridget suggested. They all agreed on it and then went their separate ways.

* * * Dana walked into the AP English class first period. Mrs. Lander’s class was a rather boring class where little was done, but that was okay for a first period class. She looked around. She saw all four of the people who were suspected in the corner talking with Mrs. Lander. Knowing them they were probably lovingly insulting the boring nature of the class. How to get Alaric away from this group for a few moments to talk amongst ourselves? Oh heck, I’ll just try the direct approach. But what to talk to him about? She then smiled as she looked into her book bag. Just the thing that will catch his interest, he can never resist a good book. She walked over to the group. “Hi, Alaric.” “Oh, hi, Dana,” he said, smiling as he saw her as if to say ‘nice to see you.’


“I wanted to talk to you too.” They were about to move over the far corner of the room where they could talk, when the first bell suddenly rang. Slowly, the students reluctantly took their seats. Mrs. Lander took her place in front of the class. The talking died down a little, but not much. “Did anyone do the reading last night?” Lander asked. The day before she had assigned a section of the novel which they were currently reading; a novel which most of the students could have easily lived without reading. About a third had done the reading last night, another third had finished the book on the first day they got it, and the last third either was going to read it the day before the project assigned with the novel was due or were never going read it at all. It was a strange, but common, thing in the Advanced Placement English class because that last third seemed to be doing extremely well in class (or as Alaric would say “Let’s hear it for the fine art of BS and having a completely inept English teacher.” She closed her eyes and shook her head when only about half the class raised their hands. It was looking like it was going to be a typical day in the Advanced Placement classes. For about a third of the period the class discussed some of the plot devices and symbolism in the story. Some took notes, some offered insights (mostly stuff they made up without having ever looked at the assigned reading), some completely ignored the proceeding for they felt that the over analyzing literature was pointless and sacrilege to decent literature (of which they seldom had been assigned by the school). “So would you say the hero’s actions are brave?” Lander asked. “No,” Alaric responded. “Why not?” Lander asked, astounded that anyone would argue with what she thought was the truth of the matter.


“Well first off, he has nothing to lose. He’s not risking anything, he’s putting nothing that is of any value to him on the line. Bravery involves risk of some sort and overcoming that risk. He risks nothing how can be called brave?” “He risks his life,” Lander was now desperate to defend her argument. “That’s not an argument,” Hashim chimed in. “He was going to die anyway. Only by facing the villain was there even the slightest chance of survival. It’s not bravery, it’s desperation and lack of options. Besides the book clearly states he goes into the battle without fear.” “Yeah,” Landers said, thinking Hashim had just made her point. “Without fear, that means he’s brave.” “No it doesn’t,” Hashim and Alaric said almost simultaneously. Hashim continued, “It’s not brave to be without fear; it’s stupid. Only a fool is without fear, especially in these kind of circumstance. That point was made clear enough, Mrs. Lander, if you would remember the book, from when we read it in Aristotle’s Ethics, Book III.” “Two,” Alaric corrected his friend. The mere mention of that book pushed Lander closer to desperation as Alaric and Hashim had made short work of her lectures when she had tried to teach it without understanding it. “Whatever, a brave person is one who is afraid and goes ahead anyway. A person without fear is merely reckless, or perhaps enlightened, but certainly not heroic. If anything the greater fear they overcome the greater the hero.” “But a person does need to face that fear and come to terms with it before they confront the thing that they are afraid of,” Darby chimed in, “Otherwise one might say that they were just too afraid to turn back; if that was the case then they couldn’t be said to be heroic either.”

“Okay,” Lander said trying to just stop the conversation without admitting her defeat, again. “I know I


can’t force you to do the reading, but, it gives us very little to talk about during class. Work on your assignments, they’re due next week.” With this most of the class went back to talking amongst themselves and ignoring the excuse they were forced to call a teacher. Even at a private school like Fountainhead the old adage of ‘those who cannot do, teach,’ like so many other schools, was true. Not that all of Fountainhead’s teachers were inept, quite the contrary, but even the best schools have their weak points. Alaric and Hashim continued their own conversation. “Why do they let her teach? She’s an idiot.” “Is she crying just because we proved her wrong,” Hashim said looking oddly giddy. Dana once again went over to Alaric. “Could we talk now?” “Sure.” They walked a little out the way of almost everyone. The only people around them were Merle and Darby, but it was doubtful that they would pay close attention to their conversation, as they appeared to be working on their assignment. “So what did you want to talk about, Dana?” “Oh, not much really. I just know you like fantasy books, right?” “Yeah,” Alaric said. He seemed to be preoccupied with something else, but trying to give Dana his full attention. “Well I just finished a new one. Fun stuff, good versus evil, kind of cliché at times but still pretty good, some of my favorite characters were these four elves.” She put a slight emphasis on those last two words. It was true she had just finished a fantasy book, but there hadn’t been any elves in it. But that didn’t really matter. She watched his face to see if there was any reaction. “I’ve recently discovered a love for elven characters in books.” His face remained calm, almost stone-faced. There was no reaction to her words. However her slight emphasis on the words seemed to have caught the


attention of Darby and Merle who were looking at her strangely. “What are you talking about, Dana?” Darby asked, somewhat suspiciously. Darby always has been an exceptional listener. She caught the change in tone in my voice, and now she must think I’m a little nuts. “Oh, nothing, Darby, just a book I thought Alaric would enjoy.” “Which I probably would, but currently I’m snowed under by a long list of books that I want to read. So maybe in a few weeks?” “Okay.” I don’t think he’s one of them. Yet, he usually isn’t this stone-faced. Maybe...just maybe...she shook her head trying to shake the thought out of her mind. “You look distracted, Alaric, what the matter?” he did look bothered by something. His kept tapping his fingers on the desk and kept looking around to see if anyone was listening. “Nothing, really.” “You’re lying,” she said, maybe about who you really are? “Trust me, I doubt it would interest you.” “I’m one of your closest friends, Alaric, you can discuss anything with me.”

“It’s a little awkward talking about it with you?” he admitted. He kept trying to avoid eye contact with her. Is he trying to tell me something or not?

“Something you don’t want to discuss with your old girlfriend,” she goaded. At the mention of the word ‘girlfriend’ his eyes met hers. Get to the point Alaric, I need to know who you really are. He looked over to check that Merle and Darby had gone back to their own conversation. When he was convinced they were no longer listening, he turned back to Dana. “You know me all too well, Dana.” “Your mind is on someone else?” He nodded. If he says Bridget, I’m going to take that as being he’s an elf.


“So, who is it?” “Arin,” he said in a lowered voice. Certainly not the answer I was expecting, Dana thought. “What!” Darby said. My goodness, they’re nosy! Dana thought. “Alaric,” Darby said her voice slightly lowered as not to catch everyone’s attention, “you and Arin agree on almost nothing. You aren’t a major conversation topic when I talk to her, but I’ve always got the feeling that she doesn’t like you all that much. I mean she doesn’t dislike you…” she raised her hand and rotated in the air to indicate how shaky his chances were. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” Alaric protested. “We just don’t always get along. There have been some occasions when we have really enjoyed each other’s company; at least I have.” “It’s your funeral. Go for it. Ask her out on a date,” Darby suggested. Darby rolled her eyes, clearly thinking this was a very bad idea. Dana nodded in agreement. Something then struck her. How could I have forgotten? Oh God, how could I be so stupid? “Darby, are you going to see Shawn before lunch?” “Probably. Why?” “I need to talk to him, just tell him to meet me in Lancing’s room during lunch.” She couldn’t believe she had almost forgotten her date with Shawn tonight. With all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours it had slipped her mind. Considering her current situation she was planning on canceling it; she didn’t want Shawn to be hurt if Arioc, or that girl who had been with him last night, tried to make another attack on her. She would have told him immediately, but she didn’t have a single class with him. “Sure, I’ll tell him,” Darby said cheerfully. Well that takes care of that. The only question now is was Alaric so stone-faced because he was trying to show reaction to the elf comments?


Or was his attitude caused by his doubt of a relationship between him and Arin working? While she was running these thoughts through her mind, something else occurred to her. Why is it, that I found that elf so familiar? His face, his voice...there was just something, like I knew...very well...maybe it was Alaric?...

* * * Cary sat down in his chair in Mr. Lancing’s AP Government class. Hashim and Michaela sat right next to him but he had no idea of how he was going to talk to them. Mr. Lancing’s was typically not a class one usually had time to talk to friends; most of the time you were too busy laughing at Lancing’s comments on anything and everything. He looked around for Michaela and Hashim. They had just walked in, and were discussing something with each other. He had only one hour to try and talk with them about something that might reveal whether they were the elves. One hour, then lunch started and they would have to make a decision if they were really the elves or not. The bell rang. Lancing got in front of the class. “For those of you who forgot, today we have a test.” “But, Lance, I forgot to study, can’t we delay it for a day?” a student protested. “I don’t care about your bad study habits. It is time to take the test,” he firmly stated. “Yeah, and I guess it’s time for me to fail the test,” another student commented. “I can see a big ‘F’ in the future for me,” another joined in. “Oh, stop whining,” Lancing said, “you all pass these tests every time I give them.” “Yes, but it’s tradition to whine to you before we take a test,” Hashim said. “You wouldn’t want us to break a tradition would you, O great and wonderful teacher,” Michaela added. “Shut-up, and stop mocking me.”


“Sorry, O wise one,” Michaela taunted him. “Be quiet.” “Mean old man.” “You bet.” Cary watched the two as the discourse continued. They did this every few days. It was one of the most enjoyable shows ever seen, for Michaela and Lancing as well as the entire class. It was very odd, to say the least. It wouldn’t be too hard to imagine Michaela being from another world, Cary thought. The test was passed out after several minutes of conversation between Michaela and Lancing. Cary went through it quickly without any problems. He sat back and wondered how to reveal if Hashim and Michaela were really elves. The minutes dragged by slowly as the rest of the class finished the test. Lancing collected the test near the end of the period; Cary was still unsure how he could segue into any topic that would help him discover if they were who he was looking for. He then noticed that Hashim and Michaela were talking to Lancing. Maybe he would see an opportunity in their conversation. “...What are you saying, Michaela, that I’m stalking you?” Lancing said. “You won’t leave me alone.” “Probably because you won’t shut up in my class. Trust me if I was going to stalk someone, I have much better taste than to stalk you.” “Oh that’s right, it’s only the voices in my head that are stalking me,” she joked; at least they hoped she was joking. “The voices in your head?” Cary asked. “Yes, they’re my friends,” she said, trying to imitate the voice of someone who had completely lost touch with sanity. In truth, it wasn’t too hard for her. “Of course some of them aren’t voices, some are just invisible.”


This is almost too easy, Cary thought. “I see. So what are they little elves?” “How on earth did you guess?” “Lucky guess.” The only question is this just her being her normal (does the word normal even apply to Michaela?) self, or was that an intentional hint. He looked over at Hashim who didn’t show any sign of reaction to the elf comment. Maybe...but I doubt it...


Chapter 6 Discovered

Lancing’s class cleared out after the bell rang. Cary stayed behind waiting for Dana and Bridget to join him. “Did you want something, Cary?” Lancing asked him. “No, Lance,” the usual appellation used by students when addressing Mr. Lancing. “Dana said you would let us eat lunch in here.” “Oh that’s fine, but I have to go to a staff meeting so don’t let the entire Senior class come in.” “I won’t,” he said as Lancing left the room.

A few minutes later Dana came in with Bridget. Dana was already ranting, “Personally, I don’t have the foggiest clue if they’re the elves, or if they’re just a little insane,” he told them. “This is high school, everyone is going through some kind of personal crisis caused by their egos and hormones and because of that everybody is weird. How are we supposed to find four weird people in all of that?” “Only a little insane?” Bridget asked. I question whether or not they need to be locked up in straight jackets and all she says is ‘a little insane.’ Of course that could all be part of an act…Of course the three of us might the ones who need the straight jackets. “Did you talk to Sari?” “No, she was sick and didn’t come today, but I did talk to Hashim. We got into a conversation about advanced theoretical physics and fantasy books, which I don’t have to tell you, is incredibly unusual. I didn’t get any response out of him when I mentioned parallel worlds or elves.” “Just out of curiosity,” Dana question, “who brought this conversation up?” “He did.” “Could be a hint to us,” Dana suggested. “A possible hint, or it could be his typical conversation,” Cary pointed out. “Judging from all their


previous behavior, it isn’t exactly a far departure from their usual conversation.” “I guess. But they seem like they’re intentionally trying not to react to our comments.” “Why do you say that, Dana?” “Oh, it’s just Alaric was extremely unresponsive to everything I said.” “Okay let’s just take a quick vote,” Bridget said, “all those who think that these four still might, and I would like to emphasize might, be the elves that are after us, raise your hand.” All three raised their hands. “Let’s run down the reasons why,” Cary started. “They bring up topics that allow us to easily bring up our comments about elves.” “Why, what did they bring up with you?” Bridget asked. “Michaela was joking about the voices in her head, some of which are small invisible elves. However, on the other hand these actions are, arguably, part of their typical behavior.” “Well, that elf last night said that they might give us a few clues. But these aren’t exactly what I was expecting for clues. Still, I say it’s them,” Bridget reassured herself. “But the only thing I still don’t understand is how at one point I thought Alaric was in love with me. And that leaves me with two options: either he was a really good actor, which I doubt, or he was in love with me and lied to me which I doubt he shouldn’t be able to do if he really loved me.” “Wait you have only one problem with this situation,” a voice coming from the door said. “Shawn! How nice to see you,” Dana forced herself to smile.


“I bet,” Shawn gave a small sneer at her blatant lie. As the sneer disappeared all that was left on his pale face was a look of complete confusion. “Shawn, may I ask what are you doing here?” Cary asked. “Well, your sister gave a message to Darby, who passed it along to me, that she wanted to see me and that she would be here during lunch. I came as requested, although I’m not sure if I should have actually come.” “Oh, that’s right, I forgot about that,” Dana said, extremely embarrassed, as shown by the bright red tint to her face. She couldn’t see for herself, but she knew her face was a very bright shade of red at this moment. “Yeah, I’d be embarrassed, Dana. I mean if I had been talking about trying to find elves on the campus, and my boyfriend walked in, I could see that as being highly embarrassing,” Shawn said. “Now the only question is, are the three of you on something, or is this something I should be let in on?” “You wouldn’t buy the idea that we were joking around?” Bridget suggested. “I’ve been listening for a couple of minutes from the window. I was about to come in when I heard that you were looking for elves. Needless to say this peeked my curiosity, so I thought I would listen in. You were all too serious to be joking. Now, are you going to let me in on this?” “Last night an attempt was made on our lives by beings from a parallel world,” Cary stated in a monotone voice. “We were saved by an elf who said that he and three companions of his world came to find three prophesied warriors who will save their world. They are posing as humans on this campus. They believe we are the aforementioned warriors, and to prove ourselves we have to discover who they have disguised themselves as. If we don’t find them, we run the risk of being killed by the same forces of


evil that are destroying the elf’s world. I think that brings you up to date, Shawn.” He stood looking at them for several seconds without making a sound. His mouth was hung slightly open, and for some reason he didn’t blink. “You know, I was expecting something odd, but...this...” “Is beyond anything you conceived?” “Almost. Dana, is he telling the complete truth,” Shawn turned to Dana, looking with desperation as if to be told this was all a joke.

“Yes, he is,” Dana answered staring him directly in the eyes.

“I believe you. Mainly because those beautiful gray eyes of yours cannot lie very well. So from what I heard, you suspect Alaric?” “Yeah, but you probably heard my problem with that theory,” Dana pointed out. “Well I don’t see it as much of a problem.” “Oh really,” Bridget said doubtfully, “please explain your theory, Shawn.” “Well, I can speak from personal experience, on how easily a person can fall in love with you, Dana. Now, if you think it was Alaric, but can’t explain how he could be in love with you but at the same time lie to you about who he was. I assume he must have some love for the land he came from, which I believe you said needed to be saved. Thus, if it is Alaric, he would be torn between two loves. The love, and not to mention duty, to his country, and his love for you. Of course that’s just me trying to make sense of things, even in a situation like this which seems to defy all common sense, so the real explanation could be very different.” “But why would he fall in love with me, if all he came to do was find the warriors?” “Perhaps if he was watching you for any extended period of time, it seems more than possible that he might fall


in love. But I could be biased in this opinion. But really who couldn’t fall in love with someone as lovely, kind, intelligent...” “Stop it, Shawn, you’re making me sick,” Bridget cut in, and a little jealous, she thought, maybe that’s why I hate him, I envy the relation he and Dana have. “But you’re theory makes sense.” “I’d agree,” Dana said, “With only the last part of what Bridget said,” she quickly added. “Wonderful, but onto something a bit more important, at least to me. Dana, do we still have a date for tonight?”

“I guess. I need to talk to you about a few things, in private,” she said after briefly considering calling off the date. “Great,” Shawn gladly said. “Will my life be in danger?” “I hope not,” Dana sheepishly smiled. It was, after all, the most she could promise given the events of the previous night. “Moving back to the important topic,” Cary stated, “which would be keeping us all alive. What do we do now?” “I say we forget trying to figure out if they are the elves and go up and ask them,” Bridget bluntly stated. “What’s the worst that can happen?” “Um...hmmm...we could actually be asking what was his name? Arioc, or his companion and they kill us right there. Or how about we just ask everybody in the school and if we’re lucky we’ll find the elves before they haul us off in straight jackets!” Cary responded. “Think for once, Bridget, think! We need more evidence.” Bridget only gave him a cold stare. She looked as if she was going to respond when Shawn quickly spoke, cutting her off. “Let’s not get into another argument like in English today. Truthfully, that is a pretty bad possibility. May I make a suggestion?” “What, Shawn?” Bridget snapped.


“Well, has Alaric done anything weird lately?” “It’s Alaric. Do you want to be a little clearer in the on the term weird,” scoffed Bridget. “Fine, anything really weird, even for Alaric. Something to maybe distract you from the truth of what he might be.” “Well,” Dana pondered, “he did reluctantly mention he was thinking of asking Arin out.” The other three tried, very hard, not to laugh. “Alaric...and...Arin?” Cary asked skeptically. “Never gonna happen!” Bridget stated. “What drugs is he on? She really doesn’t like him,” Shawn pointed out. “Hey did I say I understood Alaric’s mind completely?” Dana stated. “No, you never did, but why on earth would Alaric like her?” “Alaric likes who?” another voice came from the door; it was Arin. All eyes went to Shawn. “Shawn I need to talk to you. But who does Alaric like?” Arin asked, the usual teenage need for gossip overcoming her. “Oh, we really can’t tell you,” Bridget told her. Is the entire school going to drop by before lunch is over? “Why not? I’m not going to tell anyone else. I promise.” “Yeah this isn’t exactly something you would brag about,” Shawn stated. Several seconds passed before Arin understood the full implication of Shawn’s emphasis on the word ‘you’ and ‘brag’, but when she finally comprehended what Shawn said it became obvious to everyone in the room. Her mouth dropped open and the blood literally drained out of her face. The shock was so complete--nothing from the outside world seemed to be getting through to her. “Arin...Arin...Arin!” Shawn’s shouts had no effect. “I think I better get her out of her now and splash some water on her face. She continues like this, she won’t even look human in a


few seconds.” He leaned over to Dana and kissed her on the cheek. “Goodbye, my dearest. I’ll see you tonight.” He then led the stunned Arin out of the room. “That was interesting,” Cary commented, “if not unspeakably bizarre. Okay, Bridget, we have band practice this afternoon?” “Yeah.” “As does Alaric,” he pointed out. “Sounds good.” The bell rang. “And I think we better get to band. Lets hope for less excitement than yesterday.” “Agreed.” The three left the room quietly.


Chapter 7 Disaster at Practice

“What was your comment about English class about?” Dana inquired. “Beg your pardon?” Shawn responded as they walked down to the parking lot, hand in hand. “After Bridget started to get really angry at lunch you said something about not repeating the argument in English.” “Oh, you didn’t hear about this? Well, second period, Mrs. Lander’s second AP English class, we were discussing Hamlet today.” “Good story, one of the few I actually read for that class.” “Same here, but anyways, we started getting into a discussion of tragic heroes in general, and Bridget and Cary turned it a personal argument. They were downright vicious. Until today they barely talked to each other, but they were on the verge of yelling at each other today. I couldn’t believe it, if you want my opinion those two hate each other. I don’t know what kind of heroes they’re going to be. I think they’ll kill each other before they have a chance to save Mordock? Murdack? What did you say the name of that place was?” “Marduk,” she said, disturbed by how poorly they seemed to be getting along. And I thought they were getting along so well last night. “Well, whatever, I just don’t think those two should be kept together for extended periods of time.” “I still have hope for them,” Dana reassured him. “Well hope springs eternal.”

* * * “Band! Attention!” The drum major, Louise, shouted

out from her raised stand; the band followed the command quickly and snapped to attention. They were sprawled out over the football field. Only from higher up in the stands could a person see that their seemingly random positioning


made shapes and complex patterns. It was quite a sight to see when the band went through their entire show, playing and moving from one set to another, with out making a single mistake. However, the times that not a single mistake was made by a single member of the hundred members of the band could probably be counted on a single hand. Still, this was one of the last rehearsals and most major mistakes were long gone and the band only made slight, almost unnoticeable, errors here and there. They ran their show through several times before they stopped for a break.

The point at which they had stopped, had been one at which Bridget, Darby, and Alaric were all on the sideline of the field playing a sonorous trumpet, melaphone, and xylophone trio.

Bridget had, for the last couple of months, listened to Alaric and Darby’s nonstop conversations. They had discussed almost any topic, ranging from schoolwork to their personal lives. Currently they were discussing Alaric’s chances with Arin (otherwise known as zero).

“You’re kidding me,” Alaric said, his attitude was somewhere between depressed and amused (for even he saw if the situation hadn’t involved him, he would find it very funny) at the ridiculousness of the event.

“No, I’m not, Alaric. The blood drained out of her face when she heard.”

“Who told her?” “Shawn, but from what he told me happened, he

didn’t really tell her. Bridget you were there what did he say?” “Something like she wouldn’t brag about who Alaric

liked if we told her.” “Sounds like something Shawn would say, saying

something without really saying it,” Alaric replied. “Shawn will make a great politician someday. Well, this would explain that evil look she gave me today during band. Oh well,” he sighed, “not the first rejection I’ve ever received, it won’t be


the last. So how has your life been Darby, anyone new in your life?”

“No, but I’m still looking for that special someone, but he just can’t seem to find me.”

“You, Bridget?” Alaric asked. “Pretty much the same. I’m looking for someone but

can’t seem to find him, it’s almost as if he’s hiding from me,” Bridget remarked. It’s completely true, she thought to herself, I am looking for a bunch of elves that are hiding from me. She noticed that Alaric didn’t seem to have any reaction to her subtle innuendo toward the elves.

“Well that would bring me to slight problem I have now,” Alaric said. “I had two tickets to a concert this weekend, which I had hoped to go to with Arin. It would seem that is no longer a possibility. Know anyone who might want to go to a concert with me?”

“What concert?” Darby asked. “Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Holst, and Copland,” he

answered. Bridget saw her opportunity. Not only was this be a

chance to get some time alone with Alaric to discover if he really one of the elves, but she loved classical music. “What time should I be ready?” she blurted out.

“5:30, Saturday evening. Where is your house?” Before Bridget could answer, Louise’s melodious yet

temporarily loud voice shouted out, “Band! Attention!” The band members ran back to their positions in a mad scramble. She began to count off and Bridget had to march away from her spot near the sideline. She was overjoyed. Not only the chance to find out if Alaric was actually one of the elves, but she could hear a concert of some of her favorite composers. Just as her conscience began to kick in telling her to be ashamed about using Alaric in such a way, she bumped into something. She realized that she had not been paying attention to where she was supposed to be marching and she


timidly turned around. To her amazement, she found Cary on the ground in a dazed stupor. She suddenly realized as she was occupied with her thoughts she turned, while playing her trumpet, and had hit Cary in the head with the bell of her horn. He showed signs of a mild head injury however no blood was visible. “Sorry,” she said quite embarrassed by her clumsiness. He was still too dazed to respond. She grimaced at having caused this.

“Halt! Take five minutes!” Louise shouted. Several people were already rushing to see if Cary was all fine. “Cary, are you going to be fine?”

After a moment of contemplation, he slowly got up and said, “I don’t think there will be any permanent damage.”

“You want to sit the next few minutes out?” “No, I’ll be fine.” He then lost his balance and almost

fell face down. Luckily, Darby, Louise and Bridget were able to catch him.

“Take a seat, Cary,” Darby told him. “Very well. Could someone escort me to the sideline in

case I fall over again?” “Sure, I will,” Bridget volunteered. “Great,” he said half-heartedly. The band members

dispersed quickly. As they walked slowly to the side line Cary turned to Bridget, “Any new developments in discovering the truth about Alaric?”

“I’ve got a date for this weekend.” “Either you decided to get completely off topic or I’m

assuming you mean you have a date with Alaric.” “Duh...How hard did that trumpet hit your head? I see

it impaired you mental processes...oh wait, that was impaired before the hit to the head.”

“Too hard, in response to your original question. I would be pleased to show you if you lend me your trumpet for a second.”


“No thanks,” she sarcastically smiled. “Let’s not start a holy war, just yet, Bridget, we’ve

probably got all the time in the world before we need to reach that point. Could we meet over at my house this evening, I wanted to go over some thoughts I had with you and Dana, but since she’s leaving early on her date...”

“Yeah I can make it over. I am going to leave you now to wallow in your pain.”

“Oh, thank you. You’re just such a good friend.” “I know,” she smiled a Cheshire cat smile and left with

a spring in her step. He began to mumble to himself, “I don’t know who’s

going to get to her first? Arioc, and his female companion...or me?”

“What are you saying, Cary?” Arin asked him. “Did she really hit you hard enough to make you take a leave of your senses?” “No. I just talk to myself occasionally.” “Oh, so you’ve always been a little insane?” she sat down next to him. “I would say that’s a fair assessment. But didn’t you always know that?” “Well I always wondered, but that’s a good thing to know. I always enjoy the company of a kindred spirit.” “You’re not insane.” “I know, but I figured you could use a little humor to relieve the pain, my friend.” He smiled, only to have a sharp pang of pain go through his head. Arin had always been a good friend. He had known her for four years, and almost from the moment they had met they became the best of friends. She was the person whom he could always rely on to be there for him when he was down; she was loyal, kind, and at times he thought he had a stronger bond with her than he did with Dana. Their relationship had never been anywhere near romantic, and such a thought had never really occurred


to either (or so they had both told themselves); it was merely an incredibly strong bond of friendship (that’s what they admitted to themselves). “Thanks. It’s good to know that I have good friends.” She put her arm around his shoulder and gave him a quick hug. “Oh, no problem. Hey, you are my oldest friend in this world. Would any less be expected of me?” “I guess not, but thank you none the less.” “So, besides sustaining massive head injuries, what have you been up to recently?” “Nothing much,” he lied, but he didn’t want to drag another person into this insane search for elves. “Just some minor school work.” “For you all school work is minor. What have you come up for that story that Lander assigned the other day?” He was glad she reminded him, he had almost completely forgotten about the fact he had to write a short story for his English class. With the recent turn of events he hadn’t given too much thought to schoolwork. All his thoughts had turned to finding out who these elves were, but he was now unsure if Dana, Bridget and he were right in their suspicion of Michaela, Alaric, and the others. Suddenly an idea occurred to him. “I haven’t gotten very far into it because I’ve been trying to create some really unusual characters and haven’t had any luck. Maybe you could help.” “Sure. I hope to be a professional writer someday, what do you need.” “Who would you say are the four weirdest people on campus?” “What type of weird?” “Weird enough to be from another world.” “Ah...well I can’t quite narrow down my mental list to only four. So I’ll just give you all the candidates I can think of. I’m probably biased right now, but my first choice would be


Alaric...” Cary desperately tried to stifle a laugh. “Quickly moving on, I would then have to have Merle and Jane. Do you know what they’re doing right now? They’re figuring out the exact percentage of time they play during each song in the show.” “Beg your pardon,” he was a little stunned by what he had just heard. “I’m not joking. Merle has determined that he plays exactly fifty-two point six-seven-two percent of the time.” Cary knew band members were a little strange, but even that seemed a tad too eccentric, even for the band. “Let me think...then I might include Lilith.” “James’s girlfriend?” “Yes. Why so shocked?” “I said strange, not homicidal.” “You’ve got a good point, she is a little violent. Next I might add Hashim and Michaela. I would round off this list with Darby...and maybe your sister.” He quickly shot a cold look at her. “Dana...hmmm...Note to self: insult not the family of close friends.” “It’s all right.” The band received a warning that the break had only a minute left. “Looks like I shall have to leave for the moment. Hope you feel better.” She got up and left to go back to her marching set. He began to rub his temples, trying to relieve his headache. He began to contemplate the suggestions Arin had brought up. Jane, Merle, Darby, and Lilith? Each of them was a possibility; they all seemed to lack normal behavior. Then again what exactly was normal behavior in high school? Especially this school. He thought. Still it could be any of them, and Michaela, Hashim, Alaric, and Sari were all still suspect. The elf the night before had said that they might have problems blending in, but who was just strange and who was from Marduk? He tried to clear his mind and let everything just wash in. He looked over and Alaric and didn’t pick up


anything that would suggest he was being deceptive, but the elf has probably learned how to hide that, he told himself.

* * * “Well they’re close to us...and only after one day. Give them a week or two and we’ll all be back in Marduk,” the elf said. “If they live that long,” said his female companion. “Speaking of which, any word on Arioc and his friend?” “Considering you can’t tell us who his companion was...no,” another of the elf’s friends said. “She was masking her true appearance from me, just as I’m masking mine from our three knights. You know it works even if you showed me a picture of her true appearance I wouldn’t be able to put the two together until the spell has been lifted.” “So she could be anyone except the four of us or our three warriors.”

“Just keep your eyes open for anyone who uses even a slight amount of magic. She is the greatest danger to their safety right now...”


Chapter 8 Another Night...Another Surprise

The door opened shortly after Bridget knocked. Dana was there to open the door, “Ah, Bridget, welcome once more to our humble house. Hopefully tonight will not include any sword fights where our lives hang in the balance. My parents are working late tonight so we shouldn’t be bothered by them either.” “Refreshing change,” Bridget commented. “Cary should be back shortly.” “Why? Where did he go?” “To pick up a pizza for dinner, and Tylenol for his headache.” “How hard did I hit him?” “It’s not a concussion, but it was close.” “Well, it wasn’t intentional.” Dana looked at Bridget skeptically. “It wasn’t,” Bridget protested. “I’ll believe you. Anyway...Cary had some new suspects.” “Really, where did he get them?” “From Arin I believe. Well anyway, add Merle, Jane, Darby and Lilith to our list of possible suspects. I hear you have a date for this weekend with our prime suspect?” “Alaric? Yes, I saw an opportunity to hear some of my favorite music and to learn more about him at the same time. Can you blame me?” “Not really. Besides I think you two might make a cute couple.” “So when is your date with Shawn?” “In an hour. I still have to get ready.” Suddenly a loud whistle came from the kitchen. The sound made Bridget jump. “Oh, my tea is ready. Would you care for some?” Bridget was not usually a paranoid or nervous person, but the current situation called for something other than her calm demeanor. Now every slight sound wasn’t just ignored as


normal background noise, it was taken as a new chance to tense and prepare for her life to be attacked. She knew that the people out to kill her could teleport anywhere they wish, but she also knew that they used the door last night, probably not to tip off the elf of their presence too soon, Bridget thought. A side effect of this nervousness was she was fidgeting everywhere she went her hand reflexively feeling for the old style fountain pen, the kind with sharp hard metal tip, she had on the inside of her wrist under the band of her watch. It will make a decent weapon in a pinch, she told herself as she relieved the moments of Arioc’s sword at her neck in her mind. “Uh, sure.” They walked into the kitchen without saying another word. When they entered the kitchen, Dana looked around. For several seconds she contemplated something. “That’s what I forgot. Mugs, oh well.” Without warning a cabinet door flew open and two small mugs floated off a shelf and toward Dana. As this happened Bridget stood motionless, mouth open, eyes going between wide open yet blinking rapidly. It occurred to Dana that she had sent Bridget into what was commonly referred to as “Deer-in-the-headlight-Syndrome.” The mugs continued to float through the air until they were in Dana’s hands. When she had a firm grip on them, two tea bags, which had been near the stove, and the teapot lifted off the stove and floated toward the mugs. The tea was poured while Bridget remained in a near-catatonic state trying to get a grasp on this latest development. Dana let go of the mugs, which floated over toward the small table that was in the corner of the room. She then slowly led Bridget over to the same table and helped her sit down. “You’ve been attacked by mythical creatures and magical villains from another world, and approached by an elf...but my having psychic powers completely shocks you? How odd.” “What do you mean odd?” Bridget protested, still very stunned. “How was I to know you can move things with your


mind! You don’t exactly have a neon sign over the house saying ‘Here Lives Powerful Psychic!’ You never mentioned it, even during all of this insanity which we’ve wound up in.” “Sorry, I’m fairly secretive about it, but I figured with all that’s going on it wouldn’t shock you. And I thought you would have suspected my powers after what I did to the Baku the other day.” “You were wrong. I listed you throwing the Baku across the room as one of the highly strange things to happen to me that day that would never be fully explained.” “I’ll say it again, I’m sorry.” Bridget just stared at Dana. She understood why it wasn’t something a person wouldn’t just announce to everyone around them. But given the last forty-eight hours, Bridget just wasn’t fully prepared for another shock. “Do your parents know about this?” “Yeah. We don’t make a big issue about it. My mom says it runs in her side of the family, although I’m a lot stronger than any of my relatives have ever claimed to be.” “Does Cary have any powers I should know about?” “None that I know of...” “What powers are you two talking about?” Cary said walking into the kitchen. “How come I didn’t hear you come in?” “Because, my dear sister, right now I prefer the least amount of noise as possible. You see, Bridget’s knock to my head brought on one of my wonderful migraine headaches.” He withdrew a Tylenol bottle from a small brown bag, opened it, and swallowed three of the small capsules. “Now, what powers are you talking about?” “This power,” Dana said.

Bridget did not notice any objects moving around the kitchen. But when she heard Cary order, “Please, put me down,” she noticed that he was floating an inch or two above the floor.


“You’re no fun.” “Put me down now, Dana.” “Why should I?” “Very well, you forced this upon yourself. Bridget did

she tell you about some of her accidents when she was just learning to use this power of hers?”

“You wouldn’t dare tell her...” she said realizing he was about to tell one of the many event where she had used her powers and was embarrassed by its results.

“Try me.” He was lowered to the ground. “To late, Dana. One day she actually tried to move our parent’s car, which was parked in the driveway at the time. I had advised my sister, then six, not to even attempt it. After all, she had already broken several windows, glasses, and various other small items. Well she attempted to move the car, just an inch off the ground...when the entire ground begins to shake. Later we would be told that the two-point-four earthquake had an epicenter directly under...yes, you guessed it...our driveway! Dana here has caused earthquakes with her interesting ability.” He knew she still felt embarrassed by this accident for some strange reason, and exploited it when necessary.

“Excuse me, you claim I have caused an ‘earthquake’ not ‘earthquakes.’ And it was a coincidence that was all, I had nothing to do with that earthquake.”

“I’m sure.” “Whatever...” Bridget cut into the minor disagreement

between the siblings. But its nothing like the fights I’m sure Cary and I are going to get into. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Oh, Dana and I have come up with a list of everyone to arrive at this school in the last four years.”

“That’s great! What four people all came at the same time?”

“That would be a slight problem. No group of four people came at the same time. So then we added people who were saying that their parents were moving, but apparently


changed their minds later on, thinking that possibly they did move but that our elven friends then pretended to be those people who had moved...again no group come up even when you cross reference the lists. Now we only did it of people we know since it would make little sense for the elves to enter the school to find us then never have any contact with us.”

“That’s just great. May I see the list?” “Sure.” Cary dug around in his pockets for a moment

and then pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed the paper to her. “We tried to list them in the order they arrived.” She skimmed the names and times they arrived. She stopped after the top two lines:

Name How long ago they moved here

Bridget 3 Months “Why am I on here?” “We were trying to be complete,” Dana told her calmly. Bridget began to skim the list once more. She saw both names that she knew and only barely recognized. Shawn 6 months Alaric 8 months (thought that he would move) Hashim 1 year 4 months (thought that he

would move) Lilith 1 year 5 months

Cacy 1 year 6 months Derrion 1 year 7 months Amandah 1 year 10 months Arin 2 years Rene 2 years 1 month Bret 2 years 1 month Darby 2 years 2 months

Merle 2 years 3 months Sari 2 years 4 months


Rich 2 years 7 months Jane 3 years Michaela 3 years (thought that she would move) James 3 years 4 months Rebecka 3 years 6 months Artor 3 years 11 months Hashim 4 years 1 months? She continued to glance down the list, which had a second part, titled: People we know only in passing. This three-page list had a massive amount of question marks next to the dates. “So basically all of our suspects are on the main list and have moved here in the last four years." “This town has boomed in the last four years,” Cary told her. “Four years ago we didn’t have a tenth of the current population. I don’t know of any reason why this boom has occurred...but it makes tracking down our elves a living nightmare.” “Why does Hashim appear twice, and why is there a question mark on the second date?”

“The question mark is there because he was supposedly home-schooled before he came to high school. We can’t remember if he was living in the area before he came to school or not. And he is on the list twice because after he came, his parents supposedly were thinking of moving out of the area.” “So pretty much everyone is still under suspicion.” “Yes, that’s an accurate assessment of the situation,” Cary confirmed Bridget’s worst fear. “Great...do we want to go through everyone on the list one by one and discuss everything we know about them? Or is there possibly a harder way to do this?” Bridget asked. “I’m sure there is, Bridget, but let’s look at the up side to this...we now have a fairly definitive list of suspects.”


“Great so what do we do now? Cross them off one by one.” “Well that’s what I was thinking...of course we could just beat them all with the bell of a trumpet until somebody confesses.” Bridget glared at Cary with contempt. “While I would love to stay and watch World War Three begin in my kitchen...I have to go get ready for my date,” Dana said as she went to leave the room. “Oh, with the second person on this list?” Bridget jabbed. “I’ll have you know, that I took an interest in Shawn before he took an interest in me; not exactly the behavior of someone trying to discover if I really am some warrior of prophecy, at least in my opinion.” “So he wasn’t interested you at first?” “For the first day or two I don’t think he knew who I was, but I already knew I was in love with him.” “How could you possibly know that so soon?” “Oh, she didn’t tell you about that either did she?” Cary mentioned. “Tell me about what, Cary?” “That she occasionally has dreams that predict the future.” Bridget once again slightly stunned, just looked at Dana for a moment. “Let me get this straight. You can move objects with your thoughts, and you can see into the future. Is there anything you can’t do, Dana?” “There is a lot I can’t do! I can’t see into the future on will. I only occasionally have dreams that show possible futures...and then only small bits and pieces. All I saw in my last dream was that I would fall in love with Shawn; and I have. I can’t read minds, I can’t see auras, I can’t heal injuries, and I can’t accurately predict the future. I believe that covers the full extent of my powers. Any questions?” She


shrugged and stood in front of Bridget with a smile that said she had nothing to hide. “None at the moment,” Bridget conceded. “Good, then I have to go get ready.” She left the room. “Care for a piece of pizza, Bridget?” “Sure. So where do we start on the list?” she asked. “I would suggest at the bottom: Hashim. What do we know about him?” “He’s highly intelligent, never pays attention during class yet still pulls off A’s. He is friends with almost everyone. He is incredibly in love with a girl who doesn’t live anywhere near here.”

“You forgot that while intelligent, he has absolutely no common sense.”

“Now, he befriended me quickly when I arrived; how long have you known him?”

“I have known him ever since he got here, and I think the same goes for Dana.”

“So he stays on the list. Okay the next two Rebecka and Artor, I really only know them in passing. Since the elf said that we know him and his companions, I would suggest for the moment we take them off the list.”

“Fine with me. James is next.” “Spineless, not that bright, horrible taste in women,

and not exactly the closest friend I’ve ever had. There is no way he is an elf.”

“While your description is cold, it’s unfortunately quite accurate. Especially his taste in women, I’ll never understand why anyone would ever date Lilith, let alone fall in love with her. No accounting for taste, I guess.”

“Now why would you say that about that homicidal lunatic, Lilith?” Bridget sarcastically asked. “She only has a temper shorter than mine; but love is blind, so maybe we should cut James some slack.”

“Next on the list would be Darby.”


“Miss Nervous Breakdown?” “Darby is a close friend...so watch where you sling

those remarks. Granted, she is a little high strung at times, but you will be hard pressed find a more loyal friend or such a sharp mind.”

“Sharp mind,” Bridget said in disbelief. “When she doesn’t stress out over things she can grasp

almost any concept far better than most people. She is also an extremely cheerful person.”

“I can see you French Horns are all good friends and stick together. She friends with Dana also?”

“Yeah, why?” “I know her fairly well too. She stays on the list.” “You don’t really think Darby could be one of the

elves?” “Not really, but you never know.” “Michaela would be next on the list. She is either the

greatest comedic actress in the history of civilization or a certified lunatic.”

“Should we give her the benefit of the doubt, that it is just an act?”

“No, trust me on this, I’ve known her for years. She has always found insane humor in every situation. She is a master of humor, insults, zany behavior, innuendo, and all around insanity. Now while she has never been my closest friend in the world, I would say that there was no change in her behavior from when her parents thought they were going to move and from when they decided not to. I honestly don’t think it could be her, unless these elves are incredibly good at emulating the personality of one of the most unique people I have ever known.”

“I would agree, she is interesting, but for the moment lets leave her on the list...”

“Very well. Jane?” “Could you go over that again...I don’t get it.”


“That’s a very mean comment about Jane. Speaking of which, do you always like insulting people?”

“I only make comments that I know are true. I see her always, and I do mean always, saying that she doesn’t get anything in my Calculus class. From what I’ve heard from others it’s what she has been saying for years.” She glared at him coldly, daring him to respond.

“So she’s not the greatest math student, but she does have an incredibly brilliant mind in almost every other area. You’re rather quick in judgments of people aren’t you?”

“I’m quick in my judgments about everything. I simply take my first gut reaction and go with it.”

“And you actually find following your gut works better than thinking things through?” Cary scoffed.

“Do you know who is number two in the class?” “I thought Arin and Hashim were tied for the

position,” he responded, unsure of where she was going to take this.

“Maybe they were, but that was before I arrived. I currently hold the number two position. My gut reaction has gotten me this far academically, and I can’t complain about any other part of my life.”

“Really? So what was your gut reaction to meeting me?” he said, almost eager to hear what insult she would come up with.

“I wasn’t sure at the time, but now I’m quite sure that it was somewhere between complete detestment and utter hatred,” she gave him a cold smile.

“Well it’s always good to know feelings are mutual,” Cary stated harshly. “Meanwhile, I’m beginning to believe everyone in the Fountainhead school system is highly insane. Are we going to leave Jane on?”

“Well, she does often seem to have some strange ideas. For the moment, why not, everyone else seems to be going on this list.”


“Any progress?” Dana asked from the doorway. She was now dressed simple blue grey dress with a matching jacket. Bridget smiled while at the same time thinking, why can’t I pull off a look that lovely.

“Not really. We’ve only been able to get three people off the list so far,” Cary told her.

“Oh well, it’s a start at least. So how do I look?” “Wonderful,” Cary complemented her. “Thank you. So who’s next on the list?” “Rich.” “I don’t know him too well, actually I think I only

know his name and nothing else about him,” Bridget stated. “Well I don’t know him too well either,” Cary added,

“I guess he’s going off the list. We now have Sari.” “Okay, while I do know Sari, I don’t think she’s one of

our elves. She is just too shy.” “I would agree with Bridget on this one-“ “How unusual,” Dana quickly added. “She just doesn’t strike me as an elf. She is really not

all that insane...with the obvious exception that she hangs out with Alaric, Michaela, and Hashim. She doesn’t talk much, and even when she does talk she just clams up when a group of people come around.”

“It would however be the perfect cover for someone who doesn’t want to stand out,” Dana pointed out.

“Then I guess she stays for the moment. We’re going to have to do something soon to start weeding them out.”

“And how would you suggest we do that, Cary?” “I don’t know, just point blank asking them may

unfortunately be the only option left to us.” The doorbell rang. “That must be Shawn. I’ll have to

be going.” “Dana, wait a second. Bring him in here for a

moment.”


“Okay.” Dana disappeared for a few seconds then returned with Shawn.

“Still hot on the trail of elves, I see,” Shawn said. “Shawn, you’ve made it onto our list of suspects. I

figure just asking will be the only way to shorten this list. So, are you one of the four elves we’re looking for?”

“One of the four elves you looking for...you’re joking right?”

“No.” “Okay, then I shall tell you I am not one of the four

elves you’re looking for.” “Well that’s one down, several more suspects to check.

At least we get to cross another person off this list.” “So, you really haven’t made much headway have

you?” Shawn queried. “Does it look like we’ve made much headway?”

Bridget retorted. “I guess not, judging by your bad mood.” “Good guess,” Bridget stated sarcastically. It was clear

to everyone that she wasn’t thrilled by Shawn’s presence. “Well I guess, we should be going, Dana; before

Bridget decides to make my internal organs external.” “Maybe you’re right. Cary, if Mom and Dad get back

before I do, tell them I should be in around eleven or so.” “Sure, I’ll tell them, Dana.” Dana and Shawn left the

house quickly. After a few moments of silence, Cary decided to ask the question that was bugging him, “You seem to hate Shawn more than you dislike me. Why is that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just that my gut reaction to being around him is similar to the one I get around you, but it’s stronger a hundred-fold. No real reason why, but I just always go with my first reaction to a person like I told you.”

“Is there anyone you don’t have negative feeling about?”


“Dana. Most of the people in the band, except of course you. I get along with Alaric, Michaela, and Hashim fairly well. That enough of a list for you?” Cary only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah it’s fine.” “Where did we leave off?” “We decided that Sari shall stay on the list for the

moment. So we now have Merle...Enough said, but I think his unusual behavior is an act.”

“Now we have Bret, followed by Rene, two people who I don’t know, so they’re off. Ah, now we come to Arin...”

“And what insulting remark do you have against my best friend?”

“None.” “There’s a first.” “Oh, shut-up. She’s a nice person, not too many

unusual qualities.” “Don’t forget, extremely friendly and intelligent.” “Yeah, but a lot of times she’s very unsure of herself.

She has a few quirks, but then again that seems normal around here.”

“Are you now just insulting the entire school?” “Well, my last high school was never like this. Sure we

had one or two nutty people, but not half the campus. I’ve just noticed that you people all seem to walk a thin line between sanity and insanity. Are all California schools like this?”

“I wouldn’t know, but you’re mainly in the honors and Advanced Placement classes, correct?”

“Yeah mainly, with the exception of band.” “Well you know as the old saying goes, ‘there is a fine

line between genius and insanity.’ I don’t know about you, but I have to admit that the people in the honors courses are some of the brightest people I could ever imagine. I can hardly believe that I receive higher grades than some of them,


considering I personally believe there are many people in this school brighter than me.”

“So, since all the people we know are smart, they’re allowed to be slightly nutty? Is that what you are saying?”

“Exactly.” “That is a fairly asinine idea, Cary.” “Well then, can you come up with a better theory as to

why we are all a little...what’s the word?” “Completely and totally insane.” “Please, be quiet.” “Not likely.”


Chapter 9 ...Meanwhile on the Other Side of Town... Shawn and Dana walked down the street of downtown

Fountainhead. Dana hung onto his arm as they talked. “So who would you guess the elves are?”

“Me? I really wouldn’t care to guess, Dana. Why this topic all of sudden?”

“What do you mean?” “I mean you’ve almost avoided this subject for the

entire night. So why all of a sudden did you go back to this topic?”

“Well it’s just that I wanted to enjoy my evening with you. I knew that if I started talking about this it would get me really depressed.”

“Why?” “Because it means that when we finally discover the

elves, I’m going to be leaving for some mystical land called Marduk. I’ll be leaving my friends and most of my family behind; but most importantly I’ll be leaving...” tears were welling up in her eyes. “I’ll be leaving...” she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She grabbed onto Shawn arm tighter.

“You’ll be leaving me?” She nodded in acknowledgment. He stopped walking and turned to face her and look her directly in the eyes. “Dana, I will love you as long as I live. I have faith that even if we are separated for a time...we will eventually meet again. I promise you, I will always be there for you because I love you.” This only made Dana cry more, but now they were tears of joy. He kissed her, as if to add to his point, and from it she could tell he was completely truthful about his love for her. She began to smile, but only a little.

When Shawn stopped, he looked up and an even larger smile over took his face. “What is it?” she asked.

“I just realized we’re only a block away from your favorite place for food that always seems to make you happy.”


“Baskin Robins! You’re right just the idea of it makes me a little happier. You still have money after that wonderful dinner and the theater?”

“Of course. Do you think I would ever skimp around you?”

“Well, then lets go.” When they arrived, Shawn was about to get the door for Dana when another couple came out of the shop. It was James and Lilith. “What a surprise to meet you here,” Dana said. Her mind was already racing with ideas of how to handle this opportunity of being presented with two of her prime suspects; yet at the same time it was two people whom she would rather not have to ever deal with. “What have you two been up to tonight?” Suppressing what would usually be displeasure at running into these two, Dana clearly saw an opportunity to gather information.

“We were like just heading home after dinner and a movie. You?” James said.

“Oh, Shawn took me to the theater at the college to see King Lear performed.”

“I tried to like get tickets, but they were sold out. How on earth did you ugh get tickets, Shawn?” James said.

“I have some connections.” “Well did you enjoy your little play?” Lilith asked.

Dana couldn’t figure out why, but she seemed slightly annoyed just to have met up with Shawn and herself. Maybe she just wants to spend her time with James completely uninterrupted.

“Yeah,” Dana said, “I know it was a tragedy and I was completely prepared for the ending, but something in me still would always prefer a happy ending; I don’t know I just like it when the heroes win totally and completely.”

“Really, I love it when the heroes die, it’s far more realistic,” Lilith pointed out.

“So you don’t like it when the heroes win?”


“Never. The side of good never makes a complete victory in real life,” Lilith said. As she made her point she stared at Dana with an expression that bordered on vicious.

“Well, how pessimistic of you Lilith,” Shawn commented in slight disgust of her point of view.

“No it’s realistic. The fact is the strong will always destroy the weak, and those usually considered good are not the strongest.”

“That’s where you’re very wrong, Lilith, the truly good are always the strongest.”

“Then why do heroes always meet tragic ends. Even in real life all you ever really get is murdered martyrs, if they were truly powerful they would never have been killed.” Rage was beginning to well up in Lilith’s eyes. “And I’m never wrong.”

“Uh...Lilith, I think like we need to get going,” James sheepishly cut in before Lilith and Dana turned the argument into a full-blown fight. Dana was personally having to desperately restrain the urge to pick Lilith up with her psychic abilities and thrown her several feet down the sidewalk. She wasn’t usually a violent person, in fact she was usually very peaceful and understanding of people, but she couldn’t tolerate Lilith’s condescending attitude. Every time she had ever been around Lilith, Dana could tell that she looked down on everyone as being inferior to her. Not the attitude I would expect from an elf trying to find a savior for their planet. James and Lilith left with only a short and quick goodbye.

“Well wasn’t that an interesting experience,” Shawn stated after a few seconds.

“Why do you think Lilith dislikes everyone she meets?” “Not everyone. She gets along fine with the vicious

gossips on the newspaper staff.” “Okay, excluding James and maybe a half dozen

others, everyone I know says that even at her most civil points


she can still be a pain, not to mention a health risk, to be around.”

“Granted, but she really seemed to have it out for you in particular.”

“She always has...Maybe she thinks that I am going to try to steal James away from her.” She gave him a half smile at an idea so preposterous.

“You really think that she’s that jealous?” “From what I’ve heard from others, jealously of

everyone is an understatement in the extreme. I personally have always tried to avoid her like a plauge. Whenever I’m around her she seems to try to start arguments with me. Still, I understand that she is rude and mean to almost anyone who comes between her and the time she spends with James. I think she goes out with James because he is really one of the few person she is superior to, and it helps maintain her self image as being superior to everyone else.”

“Well let’s just face the fact that there are some strange people around here. Do you think she could be one of your elves?”

“She’s a suspect.” “That is not an answer.” “Quite frankly, I don’t think so. She’s too hostile to be

an ally. She has alienated Cary, Bridget, and myself rather completely so she has never really had a chance to be around us...not the best course of action for someone trying to find out with we are actually these prophisied warriors.”

“Can I help you?” the server behind the counter asked them.

“Um...give me a minute, please. Where was I?” Dana asked Shawn.

“Explaining why Lilith couldn’t be one of the people from Marduk.”


“Thank you. Further she just doesn’t strike me as ever having any interest in any of us. Do you think she could be one of them.”

“No. I’m pretty sure she is not one of the people you’re looking for.”

“Fine. One suspect off the list for the moment.” She turned back toward the person behind the counter. “I’ll have strawberry in a cone, please. Do you want anything, Shawn?”

“Not really. You know ice cream really isn’t my thing.” They got Dana’s cone and were about to leave when

they heard a voice call them from the other end of the shop. “Dana, Shawn! Over here.” It was Arin sitting in a booth in the back of the building, with her was Hashim. They accepted the invitation, went over and sat down.

Dana’s mind was racing with suspicion, Am I going to meet every single suspect tonight? She had to remind herself that the town was small. Up until a few years ago it had been a simple sleepy college town, where the college students and town residents didn’t have much to do with each other (they still didn’t). But for some reason in the mysteries of macroeconomics the town had gone from a few thousand with a down town that hadn’t changed in over a decade to small modernized city triple it original size. Still not large by any legitimate standard, but disconcerting to someone like Dana who had grown up in Fountainhead; but the town was still small enough that you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing someone you know.

“Arin, why are you and Hashim here all by yourselves?” Shawn inquired.

“Because guess who drove away all of our study group with her charming personality?”

“Lilith?” Shawn ventured. “How on earth did you guess?” was Arin’s sarcastic

reply. “We met them on our way in.”


“Poor you,” Hashim commented before diverting his attention back to writing something on a piece of paper in front of him.

“So why did you stick around?” Shawn asked. “I haven’t finished my bowl of ice cream. And not

even Lilith will stop me from enjoying these simple joys of life on earth.”

“Good reason,” Dana agreed. “What are you up to, Hashim?”

“I’m busy writing a letter to my girlfriend.” Dana suddenly remembered that Hashim was desperately in love with a woman on the east coast...or perhaps really with someone he left behind in Marduk.

Arin quickly changed the subject, “So are you two going to the Halloween dance next week?”

“Of course, although I don’t think we’ll stay the entire time. I often think the dances are horrible. Crowded, bad music, lighting that gives me a headache.”

“Then why go?” “Because I have nothing better to do...” “Kind of a lame reason,” Hashim observed, not

removing his gaze from the letter. “I know. It’s just that, while I usually avoid thing like

that, I feel I have to go to this one. So are you going, Arin?” “I don’t think so...for one thing, I’m currently lacking a

date.” “Yeah, I know, I haven’t heard of anyone wanting to go

out with you,” Hashim jested. He then winced in pain (both Arin and Shawn had kicked his shin).

“Be quiet,” was the quick verbal response Arin gave to Hashim’s allusion to Alaric.

“Why don’t you and Cary go to the dance,” Dana suggested. For the second time that day Arin was stunned into silence. Well at least the blood is staying in her face this time, Dana thought, I guess that’s a good sign. However, she does seem opposed to


spending time with Cary...is it because she doesn’t want to expose the fact that she’s an elf...or am I just becoming paranoid? I’m being paranoid, there are several more likely reasons why Arin would be shocked by the idea of going out with Cary. Dana chided herself as she ran through her current bought of paranoia in her head. Every name that came into her mind was suddenly the elf…or Arioc…and she couldn’t shake the need to over analyze every facet of every gesture and work. Every sound was making her nervous for fear of another attack. She was keeping her psychic powers at the forefront of her mind to use as a weapon if necessary. Stop it, she told herself, one way or another these are friends I’m with…even if they are from another world, Arin and Hashim are my friends and I have nothing to worry about.

“Beg your pardon?” “Why don’t you and Cary go to the dance,” Dana

repeated. “I don’t mean romantically, just as friends going out to have a good time.”

“I’ll...I’ll...I’ll think about it.” “Fine, I will work on Cary being open to the idea.

Shouldn’t be too hard.” “Why? Are you saying he has no will power?” No, I’m saying that I know Cary subconsciously would jump at

the chance for a date with you, but never would consciously admit it, she thought, but dared not speak. “No, he has a lot of will power, except where it concerns me...he just can’t refuse his little sister anything. It’s one of the perks of my position.”

“So are you going, Hashim?” Shawn asked. “Only because I was forced to volunteer to help run the

dance. And don’t even think about trying to get a date for me, Dana.”

“I would never think of it, Hashim. I know you’re quite in love with a girl that no one has ever met.”

“So it’s a very long distance relationship. What’s wrong with that?” his defensive nature was more because he hadn’t seen the girl he loved in a while, as he would usually explain.


“Hey, if it works for you.” “It does. And with any luck I’ll be going back to see

her soon.” His smile beamed from ear to ear as he looked at Dana.

“Why is that? Are you leaving us, Hashim?” He’s aiming these comments at me...is he trying to tell me something?

“I possibly may be leaving dear ol’Fountainhead soon yes...it’s all really out of my hands, my departure dates depends on the decision of someone else. Don’t you hate it when a job requires you to move.”

“So what strange far off land will you be moving to?” Dana continued to prod. Everything he’s said can either be interpreted to mean he’s normal, at least as normal as Hashim can be, or that he’s one of the ones from Marduk...when the elves leave depends on when Bridget, Cary, and myself decide who the elves really are...and it is his job of bringing us back to Marduk that would require him to move.

“Completely different from here...a big city. Of course I’m sure it’s filled with some of the most evil creatures in existence; I wish someone would be able to rid it of all that filth. And you know how strange large metropolitan areas are...I wouldn’t be surprised if I see all known forms of insanity, probably people who think they can do magic, maybe some who think they’re elves.” That does it! He’s one of them...this conversation is just too weird to be anything else. One down, three to go!

“Arin,” Shawn asked, “do you know when the last time Hashim got some sleep. He’s ranting like a mad man.”

“Don’t know...but he’s been drinking anything with caffeine like his body depends on it.”

“It does depend on it...” answered groggily, “and I think the last time I slept was when I caught a nap Saturday afternoon.”

“Hashim! It’s Tuesday!” “Your point?”


“Get some sleep! If you haven’t noticed you’re beginning to hallucinate.”

“No hallucination comes only after five days without sleep.”

“You’re speaking from experience, I assume?” “Yes. But I think you may be right...I’m going to go

home and catch a few hours sleep,” Hashim got up to leave, folded the letter and put it in his book bag. As Dana looked at the bag she could swear that she saw what looked like a small dagger in the bag as he slung it over his should. She recognized it as similar to the sword the elf had used the previous night. As if I needed more conformation on this one.

“I think Hashim has the right idea...I better be off as well,” Arin said following Hashim out. “Bye, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Arin...” Dana said. Silence between Dana and Shawn continued for several seconds. “...well that was...unusual.”

“At the very least.” “I’m quite convinced that Hashim is one of the elves.” “That, or he’s on crack. Otherwise, after that I

regrettably would be forced to agree with your conclusion, I think he must be one of them...usually he’s never that bad even after a week of no sleep. He must have been trying to tell you who he was.” He looked at his watch. “Should we be going, I’m sure that Bridget and Cary would like to hear of your marvelous revelation.”

Horror struck Dana’s face. “What time is it?” “Almost ten-thirty.” “Oh my god! They’ve probably killed each other by

now. We need to hurry.” “Do you really think they’ll get violent?” “They’re arguments shouldn’t ever result in death...but

I do think there might be some serious damage to the house if I don’t get home right now. I still can’t understand it, apart


they are the nicest, friendliest, most wonderful people I know; but together they change into different people.”

“Okay. We’ll hurry back.” * * *

“Bridget! Put the chair down!” Dana ordered. “It’s a foot stool,” Bridget corrected her. “Whatever it is...put it down.” She looked around for

her brother...she didn’t have time to kill him, so the question is where is he ducking for cover? “Cary, where are you?” Cary came out of the kitchen, brandishing a large metal platter as a shield. “What happened?” The scene was just so ridiculous, Dana found it hard to believe. Her evaluation of the situation kept going back and forth between humor and rage. She couldn’t believe that Bridget and Cary had gotten to this point in their argument…and yet, it was such a ridiculous scene that she had to stifle the automatic reaction to laugh.

“She’s was trying to maim me because I decked her,” he stated.

“Slightly understandable...except for the fact that you would never hit a woman unless you had a really good reason.”

“Well, it was hit her or let her get to the knife drawer.” “Do I even want to ask?” “After a heated argument over who Arioc might be,”

Bridget explained, “I was convinced that, Shawn here, was actually the guy who’s trying to kill us. I had this idea of extracting the truth out of him by holding a knife to his throat and...well in retrospect I can’t see why I didn’t see the idea as stupid and insane...”

“A knife?” Shawn asked. “Yes, a knife.” Bridget responded coldly. “At my throat?” “Exactly.” “Well...look at the time...” he feigned looking at his

watch as he took a step back. “I really have to be


going...Goodbye, my dearest.” He kissed Dana on the cheek and left in a rush (checking every few seconds to make sure Bridget wasn’t following him). When he closed the door, it sounded as if he took off running as fast as he could.

“Thank you, ever so much, Bridget, for frightening off my boyfriend.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking...it’s just that in my anger...I...I...can we move onto a new topic?”

“Okay,” Dana agreed furiously, “why on earth do you think Shawn is Arioc?”

“I just get this really bad feeling when I’m around him...I am sure he is hiding something...and that he means us no good.”

“This coming from the genius that thought holding a knife to someone’s throat would be a good way of finding out?”

“...Well...when I lose my temper I get extremely rash...”

“Thank you for the understatement,” Cary interjected. “So how was your date, Dana?”

“Oh fine...enjoyable play followed by running into the one person who might be more violent than Bridget. I want to place special emphasize the might.”

“Lilith?” “Yes...now there’s someone who means no one any

good. Following that unpleasant meeting, Shawn and I spent some time Arin and Hashim. I have come to the conclusion that Hashim is either an elf or on drugs?”

“And what makes you think he’s an elf?” a new voice said. It came from the same elf that had visited them last night. He was reclining in a chair in the middle of the living room. “I never said we were all elves.”

“What do you mean by that?” Bridget asked, the venom in her voice all to evident. At this point she was too


frustrated to be amazed at how he had appeared out of nowhere.

“What I mean...Miss Hunt...” he said getting up from the chair and turning to face her, “is that I’m the only elf from Marduk...the others are all human...” he let the idea hang in the air for a moment.

“Fine,” Dana jumped in, “Hashim is one of you.” “Are you sure?” “You tell me?” “Sorry, you have to guess all or nothing,” he

condescendingly said. “Any news on the Arioc and his accomplice?” Cary

asked the elf. “Unfortunately, that is both a mystery to you and me,

Mister Serenity.” “Great protection you’re giving us,” Bridget frowned. “Are you alive right now?” the elf replied. “You’re

going to stay that way, even if I have to give my life to make sure of it.”

“Fine, can we get another hint?” Dana cut in before Bridget could escalate her argument with the elf.

“I’ll tell you this, Dana...If you ask us a direct question we will not lie to you. And all four of us will be at the Halloween dance.” With that he disappeared.

“Oh, that reminds me, Cary. I got you a date for the Halloween dance.”

“Who would be?” “Arin.” Don’t let him go into the same shock Arin has been

going into all day, Dana thought. “As just friends?” Cary cautiously asked. “Yes.” “Very well.” Well, that went better than I had expected. “Out of curiosity...Am I just going alone or should I

convince Alaric to take me?” Bridget questioned.


“You mean prime suspect for that elf?” “Yeah.” “Of course you take him! I have no doubt that Hashim

is one of the ones from Marduk...and Hashim is one of Alaric’s three best friends,” Dana told her. “Which seems to clearly implicate Alaric.”

“Which thus also implicates Michaela and Sari,” Cary pointed out.

“Yeah but when was the last time you even heard of Michaela going to any social event,” Dana asked her brother.

“Never...so if she shows up...then she’s probably from Marduk.”

“So if our suspicions are right...then we only have one person left to identify.”

“Well we must now wait for the Halloween dance.”


Chapter 10 Natives of Marduk

“Hashim! What in the names of the gods were you thinking?” the elf shouted at his companion. “Why didn’t you just reach over, shake her hand and say ‘Hi. I’m from Marduk, pleased to meet you’?”

“And another thing, since I know we were all watching him make a fool of himself, I have to ask,” one of the ladies in the group interjected, “why did your conversation seem like that of a deranged lunatic?” “First of all, I just want to go home,” Hashim said in his defense. “We all know that these are the three we were sent for. Let’s just forget what that crackpot Prophet said and take them back now with us.” “While I would love to do that, Hashim,” the elf told him, “and I definitely agree the Prophet is nuts, we have orders that are more important than the Prophet’s. You may seem to remember that our orders come not from the Prophet or directly from his prophecies...but from Queen Jordanne who was acting not only on the advice of the Prophet but of the prophecies discovered within the castle libraries. The Prophet only said that the prophecy was to be fulfilled now, and he told us how it was to be fulfilled.” “Fine. But understand I’m tired. I’ve been having to get the gateway to Marduk open twice already for the Baku, that takes time, and more importantly energy. For those of you who were listening to me talk to Dana, I haven’t slept since Sunday.” “It’s fine, Hashim, at least they’re now on the right track.” “Was it just me or did anyone else sense something around Dana?” Hashim asked. “Yeah, I felt it. Something like the feeling I got near Arioc,” the elf said. “Did you feel anything while keeping an eye on Bridget and Cary?” he asked of one of the women.


“Briefly. I think whoever it was sensed my presence and got out of there as quickly as they came. Besides Cary and Bridget had more to worry about being killed by each other than by Arioc or his mystery friend. And poor Shawn should be the person most fearful for his life. I can’t believe Bridget almost slit his throat.” “Did she really try to slit his throat?” Hashim asked. “Not really, she just threatened to extract a confession with the knife against his throat,” she answered. “Yes, that girl has got some serious problems controlling her temper. However, I don’t think that she’s usually this bad; our magic must be affecting her mind somehow so from now on no more spells to cloud her perception on anything.” “That or she’s acting,” Hashim proposed. “We know Bridget has a temper, but nothing like that has ever been indicated.” “Acting?” the elf asked. “Why would she be acting?” Hashim could offer no rational explanation. “Let’s just pray we can keep all of them alive long enough for Bridget to have a chance to unleash her temper on the scum invading Marduk. But we need to find out who Arioc and his friend are masquerading as, agreed?” They all nodded in response. “Good, tonight is Hashim’s and my turn to keep an eye on them during the night, so you two ladies go and get some sleep you’ll need it.”

* * * At the same time, in a back alley within Fountainhead, Arioc and his associate met.

“Why didn’t you kill Bridget and Cary?” “One of their bodyguards from Marduk was in the area. If I had tried to kill them I would be dead.” “Fine.” “How was your date? Dana doing well?”


“My date was fine, and Dana is doing well,” the snide answer came. “You say that as if you wanted to kill her.” “Oh how I wish I could. Every second I have to spend around that little twit I just want to strangle her.” “Why don’t you?” “Because as you well know, you idiot, that stupid elf and his group from Marduk are always hanging around them. I don’t know who they are pretending to be, but I can always feel them hanging around those three, especially Dana.” “We’ll just have to get them when their watch dogs are not as close.” The two looked at each other with contempt for a few seconds. “Who do you think is the one hanging around Dana most of the time?” “De Ailbhe would be my guess?” “Why would you guess that stupid elf?” “You can’t spend two years with someone romantically and not get to know when they’re around; even if your entire relationship is merely a clever ruse.” “Are you sure you have no feelings for De Ailbhe?” “Don’t dare question my resolve. When the time comes I’ll slit that fool’s throat along with the chosen three.” “Just making sure. I personally have had my doubts.” A hand shot to the figure’s neck, raised them off the ground, and began to squeeze. “Let me make something clear. I’m in command, you are a pathetic excuse for a warrior in Lord Dougal’s army and I will not think twice about having to break your neck right here. Now you will never question my loyalty, my resolve or my orders ever again.” The choking figure nodded their head violent in recognition as they stared into the homicidal eyes of their attacker. “Good.”


Silence came between the two of them for several minutes. “I would keep my eyes on Arin and Hashim. When I was in Baskin Robbins I felt the presence of someone from Marduk, and they were the only two there the entire time. That and I think we need to kill the Hunt girl as soon as possible before we attempt to kill the others.” “Why her first?” “You didn’t see her pull a knife. She’s hates this whole situation and is out for blood, mostly ours, so if we want to live through this we need to kill her first.” “But how?” “She’s going to a concert this weekend, from what I understand. That many people and I think we might not be noticed by those fools from Marduk. Which will give us the perfect opportunity to kill Bridget Hunt.”


Chapter 11 A Night at the Symphony

“Cary, what are you doing?” “Homework,” he responded in a dull monotone voice. He turned from his head from the computer at his desk to the textbook beside it, giving little attention to his sister. “What do you think I would be doing?" He had been racking his brain over the mystery of the elf and decided that if he focused on something else, like homework, the subconscious connections he needed to make would click. It also helped him forget about the life and death struggle he had been thrown into, if only for a few minutes at a time. “Getting ready to go with me to the concert tonight.” “And the reason I’m taking you and Shawn isn’t would be because...why?” “Well for two reasons. Shawn is busy tonight for one, and I can’t read lips as well as you can.” Cary turned away from his textbook to look Dana in the eye. He was trying to figure out what his sister was up to; at this point he was justifiably getting very suspicious of her. “And why do you need me to read lips?” “Because I need to spy on Alaric and Bridget tonight. Mainly because if Alaric turns out to be our elven friend I’m going to seriously hurt him for lying to me...but also in case Bridget flies off the handle again and tries to maim him. So hurry up, I already dug your tuxedo out of the closet.” Cary sat, trying to contemplate his sister’s words for several seconds. “So...let me see if I understand the situation. It’s perfectly fine for you to hurt Alaric, but it’s not okay if Bridget hurts Alaric. Am I viewing this situation correctly?” “No. First she might try and hurt him whether or not he actually is from Marduk. Second what I mean by hurt him is mainly hyperbole...when you apply the word hurt to Bridget it might actually be homicide.” He sat there for


several seconds contemplating her words and why she would think Bridget was that violent. “Point well taken...do you have the binoculars?” “Yes...and the keys to your car...and the tickets...now get in your tux quickly.”

* * * The amphitheater of Fountainhead (a section of the local college that was often used by the community) was filled to its full capacity. Cary hadn’t been looking as they came so he wasn’t sure which orchestra it was that was going to be playing tonight. It really doesn’t matter, he thought, but then something else occurred to him. “Dana, where did you get the tickets? It looks like this concert was sold out.” “It was sold out. Shawn originally got the tickets and was going to take me, but a family emergency of some sort came up earlier today and he said he couldn’t take me. But he knew that I wanted to go so he gave me the tickets anyway.” “What sort of family emergency?” “From the tone of his voice when he gave me the tickets, I got the impression I shouldn’t ask.” “Strange when you consider your typical level of curiosity.” “I trust Shawn has his reasons for not wanting to tell me.” Like maybe he’s an elf currently watching us from a distance, Cary thought. “Very well. Where are our seats?” Dana looked at the tickets, “Over here,” she led the way to two seats with a good view of most of the amphitheater. “Do you see Bridget or Alaric?” He said as he removed the binoculars from their case. “I think that’s them over there she pointed down and to the left. He strained to see what she was pointing at; they were extremely close to the stage.


“How on earth did Alaric get tickets that close to the stage?” “Well he either bought his tickets very early, was very lucky, or...” “Or what?” “Or is an elf,” Dana ventured. “Whatever the reason...they’re so far off I might have trouble reading their lips.” “Just do the best you can,” he told him. “No one’s asking you to perform a miracle.” No, he thought, I’m not being asked to perform any miracles beyond saving an entire world with the help of a close friend and my sister. “Okay...I need them in focus. This is not the best angle in the world, but I shall try. She’s asking him about...his writing hobby.” “Alaric’s main passion in life,” Dana commented. “No kidding. He’s turned his head; I can’t tell what he’s saying. Wait she’s now say... ‘Are you planning on casting any of the people you know in your book?’ ‘Yeah, but the problem I’ve found is that once I do that, people take offense where none is intended because a lot of times the character takes on a life of their own and deviate totally from the person they were based on. That and some people try and see themselves or people they know in characters that are completely creations of my own...mainly the reason why I never cast anyone I know as a villain, although I’ve been tempted with a few people.’ I can’t make what she’s saying...no, wait...something about since he’s writing a fantasy novel, if he had to cast anyone he knew as...magical beings like elves.” “I think we all need to work on being a little less obvious about this elf thing.”

“Quiet!” he told his sister, “I need to concentrate on what he’s saying. He won’t answer. Wait...he says he is thinking of casting himself and some of his closest friends as


elves in one of his novels.” Cary put the binoculars down. “I think that’s a confirmation, don’t you?” “No. Alaric has been working on that novel for years. He once, over a year ago, mentioned to me he was trying to work characters based on his friends into it. It could be he’s trying to give us a hint, or it could be the complete truth that he is actually working on a his novel...which I may add I have seen parts of, so he’s not making up the fact that he is writing a novel.” “It would be nice to actually get somewhere in this vast search for our associates from Marduk.” “Well, it’s pretty much a given that Hashim is one of them.” Before Cary could respond, the amphitheater erupted in applause as the conductor walked onto the stage. He watched the man in the tuxedo take his place at the front of the symphony. Almost immediately they began to play Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.” As the first slow and calm note filled the amphitheater, Cary continued to watch Alaric and Bridget. As the music continued all Cary could make out from Bridget’s lips was the occasional comment on how the music was not being played not fast enough or too slow, with not enough emotion or any other flaw Bridget seemed to find with the music. “She really likes to complain a lot, doesn’t she?” “She’s a pessimist, Cary, she has been since the day I met her. Not everyone can be a Pollyanna at heart like you.” “Granted, but still it can really get on my nerves.” Almost an hour of music passed, but Bridget made no headway in determining if Alaric was an elf. “Maybe her conscience finally kicked in and she felt guilty about using Alaric to just see this concert.”

“Maybe you could stop whining about her personality flaws, Cary?”

Not if Bridget and I can help it, Cary thought and smiled.


As the time elapsed, Cary found the muscles in his neck were cramping from the constant bending over with the binoculars, and every once in a while he had to rotate his head to loosen the muscles in his neck. As the final notes to Copland’s “Rodeo” rang out, Cary turned his neck to stretch and saw something that he didn’t want to see. He put the binocular to his eyes and brought them into focus. Seated in the far corner of the amphitheater he saw Arioc looking down at Alaric and Bridget.

“Dana, we’ve got a big problem.” “What?” “Arioc is here,” he said rapidly. Bridget, please look up and

see him there, he thought looking down in desperation and fear for his friend.

“The nameless woman too?” “No, I don’t see her.” “How are we going to get to Bridget and Alaric

without Arioc noticing and killing us?” “Well I’ve got an idea, just be prepared to run to

Bridget, Dana. Follow me, and keep an eye on Arioc.” They made their way into the aisle. As they quickly made their way down the stairs to Bridget and Alaric, Cary glanced back to where Arioc was seated to find that he wasn’t there. “Arioc’s gone, Dana!” he said quietly but forcefully.

“I think you have far larger problems, Serenity,” a woman’s voice said. Cary turned his head to see Arioc’s nameless companion standing in front of the both of them. An impish smile crossed his lips as he inhaled a deep breath and then screamed, “Ohmygod, there a bomb!” As Cary had expected, the entire amphitheater erupted in hysteria. Dana merely looked at her brother in disbelief for a second; Cary smiled at her with a look that said, “Well, it worked.” Caught off guard by the confusion, the woman never saw Cary’s fist hurtling for her face until it was too late to react. She fell back


dazed and being trampled by the herd of people rushing out of the amphitheater.

“That was your idea? Yelling ‘bomb’?” “Of course. The herd mentality caught them off guard

and it will offer us the perfect cover.” “Fine,” Dana said rolling her eyes. “Hurry up we need to get to Bridget and Alaric.” They

pushed their way through the crowd that was running for the nearest exit. They found Alaric and Bridget keeping to the rear of the mob.

When Bridget saw Dana and Cary, she stopped for a second and then yelled at Cary. “I thought that was your voice. What the hell are you two doing here?”

“Spying on you.” His gaze froze on Arioc who was only a few yards behind Bridget. “Guys, RUN!”

Alaric clueless as to the danger they were in understandably asked, “What is going on here?” However, instead of answering Dana and Cary grabbed his arms and pulled him with them. The ground where they had been only a second before exploded.

“Arioc?” Bridget asked as they ran. “And his friend,” Dana told her. “Wonderful. Is there anyway I can blame this all on

you, Cary?” “You can blame this mob on me, but since it probably

saved your life, you should be thanking me, not blaming me.” “But it’s easier to blame you, I’m sure you could have

come up with a better idea than this thoughtless solution,” Bridget shot a cruel look at Cary as they pushed their way through the rushing mob.

“Could you please tell me why we’re running?” Alaric asked.

“Didn’t you see that explosion back there? Isn’t that enough of an answer for you,” Bridget snapped.

“No, because we were running before that.”


“There’s no time to explain now, Alaric, just trust us,” Dana told him.

They came running out of the amphitheater and into the parking lot outside. “Alaric, where’s your car?” Cary asked, “Mine is on the far end of the lot.”

Alaric was too stunned by all that was happening to answer. “Alaric! Your car?” Bridget shook him.

Trying to think quickly he responded, “Oh, it’s…it’s over there.” He pointed to a run down tan car about fifty feet away from them. Just as they began to rush toward the car, Bridget was knocked to the ground by Arioc’s fist that had just appeared out of nowhere. Cary and Dana rushed to Bridget to see if she was fine. Meanwhile Alaric threw himself upon Arioc, both went tumbling toward the hard concrete ground.

“Foolish little man. Stay out of matters that don’t concern you.” Arioc grabbed Alaric by the neck with his hand and flung him flying through the air. Alaric’s body fell to the ground several feet away from Cary, Bridget, and Dana. “Now for your deaths,” Arioc grimly stated as he stood up. Bridget, once again on her feet, only smiled. Her hand darted for the inside of side of her skirt, removing a cleverly hidden kitchen knife. In only a fraction of a second from pulling it out of it’s hiding place she threw it at Arioc where it cut into and became imbedded in the center of his stomach. With great pain, Arioc pulled the knife out and dropped the bloody blade one the ground. “I’ve got another one, Arioc,” Bridget warned. “This time I’ll aim for your throat.” “I don’t think so.” Arioc simply stretched out his arms and a magical force threw Bridget into the air; she fell on top of Alaric’s unconscious body. “Do you two want to try me?” Arioc asked as he coldly looked at Cary and Dana. “No, they don’t, but would you care to face me?” the elf’s voice filled the area. Suddenly the elf came running


through the mob of people still streaming out of amphitheater, plowing into Arioc. Before he could react Arioc had been tackled to the ground; he desperately tried to wrestle the elf but could not seem to take control of the situation. “Run!” the elf screamed to Dana and Cary. “Get out of here before the other one shows up.” Cary and Dana quickly ran to Alaric and Bridget. Bridget was still conscious, but she had to hold onto Dana for balance. Cary was forced to carry the unconscious Alaric. They once again disappeared into the crowd.


Chapter 12 Truths Discovered At The Hospital

Alaric opened his eyes. “I think he’s coming out of it,” he heard a voice say; it sounded like Dana Serenity’s voice. His eyes began to come into focus and he saw Dana, Cary and Bridget standing around him. He quickly looked around at the room he was in…it looked like a hospital room and he was lying in a bed. His eyes darted around the room as if he was trying to recall what had happened to before he blacked out. “What exactly happened?” Alaric finally asked. “You have four cracked ribs and a fractured arm, but nothing serious. We called your parents and they’re getting here as quickly as they can,” Dana answered him. “No, I mean how did I get here? What was going on at the amphitheater? “Well that’s actually quite an interesting story,” Dana shyly said, “you sure want to hear it?” “Yes.” They told him everything about the elf, his friends, Marduk, Arioc and his companion and how they were chosen to be the saviors of Marduk. “Are any of the drugs that I’m being given hallucinogenic?” “No I’m quite sure I only prescribed pain killers,” a tall doctor dressed in a white lab coat with a clipboard in front of his face said as he walked into the room. The clipboard lowered to reveal the face of the elf. “You!” Bridget jumped out of the chair she had been sitting in, seemingly almost ready to kill him. Cary and Dana grabbed her by the shoulders before she could wring the elf’s neck. “Why are you here? And more importantly why were you not there at the concert the entire time to protect us?” “I can’t be everywhere,” he said defiantly. “I’m sorry. I was preoccupied elsewhere trying to find Arioc and his companion. I would never have guessed Arioc would have


tried to kill you in so public a place. I’m sorry, it will never happen again.” Bridget, still angry, simply told him, “It better not.” “Why did you come here?” Cary asked. “Mainly to apologize to Alaric for letting him get mixed up in this. As you three have probably already guessed he’s not one of my friends. I feel I should have given you some kind of clue that he wasn’t one of us. But all I can say is I’m sorry.” “Well you could tell us who you are,” Bridget suggested. “You know I can’t do that, the Prophet said we had to make sure you figure out who we are on your own. I think it’s stupid and can’t even imagine why this is. But supposedly the fate of my world is at stake, and I’ve been told that if I don’t follow the instructions to the letter then my world is doomed.” “And if you don’t tell us, we’re doomed,” Cary pointed out. “No you’re not,” the elf scoffed, “you’ve survived so far. The gods willing, you’ll make it through all of this. Besides you all seem to be smart enough to avoid being killed, as demonstrated by Cary’s quick thinking in causing a small riot. It’s a miracle no one was seriously hurt in by that mob.” “Fine, but you didn’t just come to say you’re sorry,” Dana stated, “why else are you here.” “Well, Dana, I wanted to ask Alaric not to reveal the truth of what’s happening to the three of you. Alaric you need to know that should you tell anyone, it could be exceptionally threatening to your life.” “Was that a threat?” Alaric asked. “From me? No. But Arioc and his friend are already out for blood and I doubt that they want their presence known any more than I want mine. Besides if you mentioned it to someone who turned out to be Arioc you most certainly would be killed.”


“Thank you for the warning,” he rolled his eyes, not quite capable of being able to accept the surrealness of the situation. “Oh, but it’s safe for us know the truth?” Bridget snapped. “It’s not that it’s safe, it’s just you have no choice in the matter, Miss Hunt.” “Wonderful,” Cary groaned; he made sure to stay in between Bridget and elf, knowing she might lunge at him (not that he didn’t want to do the same). “Oh, it’s not so bad, Serenity,” the elf said to Cary, “Remember, all of my companions and myself will be a the Halloween dance, and we might drop several hints during the next few days.” “It better be a lot of hints,” Bridget warned. “I’ll see what I can do,” the elf said as he walked out of the room. Bridget rushed after him, only to find that there was no one outside in the hall. “Oh well, but one of these days I’m going to get my hands around his throat.” “Sure, whatever, Bridget,” Cary mocked her, “back to more pressing business: Who that elf is?” “Who are your main suspects?” Alaric asked. “Up until a few hours ago, you were,” Bridget told him. “So you agreed to go out on a date with me so you could find out if I was an elf.” “Not entirely,” a guilt ridden Bridget said as she stared at the floor. “Great, and your other suspects would be?” “There’s quite a long list. But we’re fairly sure that Hashim is one of them, and we have our doubts about Michaela,” Dana said. “Hashim and Michaela? My best friends? I think you’re crazy.”


“Oh, I’m pretty sure Hashim is one of them. Other than that pretty much everyone else going to Fountainhead is considered a suspect.” “Well until I see solid proof on Hashim, I’m going to doubt him being one of these people from Marduk you’re looking for.” “Very well,” Bridget said, “Guys, I see Alaric’s parents coming down the hall. Maybe we should give them a moment alone.” The three said goodbye to Alaric, and quietly slipped out of the room.

* * * “Well, since we don’t have to worry about Alaric as much anymore,” Bridget started, “would you mind telling me what you were doing at the amphitheater?” “Spying on you,” Dana bluntly stated. “Why do you think we were there?” “You didn’t trust me to figure out if Alaric was an elf on my own?” “Not exactly, it’s just since I’ve known Alaric so long that I thought something might slip out that would have significance to me but not to you. Oh well, you should be grateful we were there to save your life.” “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Thanks, Dana.” Cary did not miss that she had intentionally not thanked him. “I haven’t eaten in hours,” Dana quickly changed the subject, “does anyone know where the cafeteria is?” Using her psychic powers had always draining “You’re going to eat hospital food?” Cary asked. “No, I’d never be that desperate for food, but I figure there might be some vending machines in the cafeteria that can provide me with something prepackaged and loaded with preservatives, but edible.” “I think,” Bridget told her, “that I heard someone say it was down this corridor to the right,” she pointed in the direction she thought was correct.


“Thanks, I’ll try to be back shortly. Can you two behave?” “Sure, we’ll try and once again figure out who are friends from Marduk are.” Dana left them standing the hallway. As she followed the signs to the cafeteria her mind began to wander. How did Arioc know Bridget was going to be there? Arioc or his friend must be someone close to one of us, or at least someone close enough to find out what goes on in our personal lives. But I’m sure anyone with open ears in any of our classes could have picked up on this fact. So that really doesn’t help. But who and when will they strike again if they know where we are all the time?…Where am I? She looked around again through the halls. While wrapped up in her thoughts she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. She turned around several times to find a sign but couldn’t see anything but labels on individual patient rooms and directions to different labs. “Great I’m lost,” she whispered to herself. She looked around again, but was still unable to find a clear way out; but she did hear someone faintly muttering to himself and crying a little in the distance. I know that voice, she told herself, but who is it? It sounds so familiar, but something is wrong with it. She followed the sound around the corner of the hall. To her great surprise, it was Shawn who was crying. He was sitting on a chair against the wall. She stopped only a few feet away from him. Dana noticed that none of the rooms around them seemed to be occupied. Even this close to him she could tell what he was muttering, but by the way he was quickly saying things with great emotion and the several tears dripping from his glassy eyes it was obvious it was something that was bothering him greatly. “Shawn…” Dana softly said. Shawn’s head jerked up. “Dana! What are you doing here?” “It’s nothing much, we came to the hospital to make sure Alaric was all right.” “What happened to him?” he quickly said.


“Minor run in with the people trying to kill us; he’ll be fine. Why are you here?” She sat down in a chair next to him. “Ummm…remember that family problem I told you not to ask about when I said I couldn’t make it to the concert…” “Yes, I remember.” “I would really appreciate it if you still didn’t ask, I’ll tell you at some point, but not right now.” Dana, forgetting about all of her own problems, was simply worried about Shawn. She had never seen him this sad and confused; while she had seen him cry at numerous movies she had never seen anything this extreme. “Are you going to be all right?” she said, taking his hands in hers. “Oh, yeah I’ll be fine, this problem I have is really going to work itself out and all with be right with the world again.” Dana forced herself to smile. “If you say so, but if you need to talk about this…” “Don’t worry I know you’ll always be there for me.” Just as soon as Shawn finished speaking a fist unexpectedly appeared and knocked him out of his chair and down the corridor. Dana swung her head around to see the fist belonged to the mysterious comrade of Arioc’s. “Did I interrupt anything?” she sneered. “Yes!” Dana shouted as she picked up and threw the woman against the wall through her psychic powers. Dana was about to hurl the woman all the way down the corridor when she found herself being lifted and shoved against the wall. “Don’t try me little girl, I’m far more powerful than you are. I hope you’ve enjoyed life, because it’s about to end, and then I’ll be able to leave this cursed planet and return to conquer Marduk.”


“I wouldn’t count on it,” the elf said, appearing in the hallway, and pinning the woman against the wall. “Are you sure it isn’t your turn to die?” “Oh, I don’t think so. After all, you can’t kill me.” “And why would that be?” the elf inquired, pulling a sword from his belt. “Because you failed once before, dearest.” As she said it, Dana could see, that it deeply troubled the elf. The woman’s face changed into a sickeningly coy expression. “Who are you?” “Look at my eyes, you always said they were my most attractive feature.” The elf starred at her for several second. His mouth slowly dropped and his eyes widened in shock. “Satrina? No! It c…can’t be you.” “But it is!” she said with a sinister glee. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled his face toward hers where she tried to kiss him. The elf jerked back in revulsion. She sighed maliciously, “Ah, you didn’t always react to my kisses that way.” “I thought I killed you,” he whispered with contempt. “You saw what I wanted you to see.” For several seconds the elf just glared at her unsure of what to do. Dana was thinking about trying to drag Shawn’s body and get away. However, before she had the chance to escape she saw Arioc appear in the hallway. “Look out!” she yelled at the stunned elf just in time for him to avoid Arioc’s blade. The elf raised his sword and rushed Arioc pushing him to the ground. Both their swords flew out of their hands. They wrestled on the ground, desperately trying to reach a sword. “Hashim, I could really use some help here!” the elf shouted. Just as magically as all the others had appeared, Hashim was suddenly in the hallway. Hashim dropped to the ground and threw the sword to the elf. As the elf caught the sword, Arioc jumped away from his now armed opponent.


“Pathetic,” Satrina whispered, drew a sword and threw it to Arioc. She then drew a dagger and once again went toward Dana who was now checking on the unconscious body of Shawn. Satrina was about to strike and kill Dana when she remembered Hashim was now in the hallway. She did not have time move out of the way of his fist bashing into the side of her face. Satrina, barely conscious, fell beside Dana, who quickly picked the vile woman with powers and flung he body across the hall. The elf, embroiled in a fierce battle, parried another thrust from Arioc; while Arioc’s sword was held down by his own blade, the elf ripped the wood sword sheath from his belt, brought it up and cracked it against Arioc’s skull. Thrusting his sword at Arioc he yelled at Hashim who was behind him, “Get her out of here!” “What about you?” “Don’t worry about me, she’s far more important than I ever could be!” Hashim responded by trying to drag Dana away from Shawn. “I’m not leaving him,” she said in a commanding voice. “Trust me the best thing would be to just leave him alone here,” he tried to tell her. “In the middle of this battle! Are you crazy? If you want me to go you take him with us.” “Fine,” Hashim gave in, annoyed at the absurdity of the situation. He closed his eyes, muttered something Dana could not understand, and he, Dana, and Shawn’s body disappeared from the corridor… …and reappeared in Alaric’s hospital room. Cary and Bridget were once again talking to Alaric, but suddenly stopped as the three appeared.

Alaric was the first to break the silence, “Want to explain what just happened, Dana?” His voice was calm and


not showing any real shock about the most recent proceedings. “Because, quite frankly, I’m either losing my mind or I’m stuck in a weird fantasy novel; either way I’ll believe anything you tell me.”

“I ran into Shawn and then Arioc and his pal, whose name is Satrina, in the hallway. Luckily, the elf and Hashim here came to our rescue.” As she talked to them she placed Shawn in a bed by Alaric, checking to see if he was alive.

“Hashim,” Bridget asked calmly, “why were you helping the elf?”

“I think it’s a fairly obvious reason,” Hashim said. “You’re one of them?” Bridget asked rhetorically. Hashim hesitated for a second, “Yeah, you guessed

correctly, so I’ll tell you I’m one of the ones you’re looking for.” Bridget just smiled briefly, nodding her head waiting for Hashim to stop looking at her. The moment his eyes moved away from Bridget, she rushed him, pushing him against the wall and gripping her hand around his neck.

“Now, Hashim, I would greatly appreciate you telling me who you’re three compatriots are. Or I’m going to make your life very unpleasant you for turning my life into a living hell.”

“Bridget,” Dana shouted, “let him go!” “Have you completely lost it?” Cary asked, yet he

made no move to stop her. “No, I have not lost it and I will not let him go.

Because of him and his friends our lives are threatened by supernatural forces, in some sick cat and mouse game running from Arioc and Satrina while Hashim and his friends are hiding from us. And even if we find out who the four of them are, it won’t be over. They’ll take us to Marduk where our lives will just be put in further danger. This will never end...at least until we’re dead. And who’s to blame? Hashim and his friends! So, if I’m going to die, I at least want a fighting


chance to prolong it as long as possible. Now who are they Hashim?”

“I can’t tell you,” Hashim chocked out the words. “Yes you can,” she said as she tightened her grip on his

neck. “You want a fighting chance to live,” he gasped for air,

“I want a fighting chance for my home…We were told if we needlessly just reveal to you our identities then all is lost for Marduk.”

“He’s telling the truth,” the elf said walking into the room. “We don’t understand it, but the Prophet said you must discover us or there is no hope for Marduk…or Earth for that matter. So quite frankly Hashim would rather die than tell you.”

“But I’d prefer to live Bridget,” Hashim begged, his face beginning to lose all of its color. Bridget shook her head, realizing she wasn’t going to get anywhere with Hashim. She loosened her grip; Hashim dropped to his knees and gasped several times for air.

“I understand you’re upset,” the elf tried to explain to her, “do you think I like keeping you in the dark, risking your lives through this asinine game of hide and seek? I hate it! But I have no choice in the matter! Now, if you’ll excuse me I have to go worry about how to deal with Satrina.”

“Wait, what about Shawn?” Dana almost screamed. “Keep your voice down, Dana; do you want to attract

the entire hospital? What about him?” the elf asked indifferently.

“He’s lying here in God only knows what condition…can’t you help him.”

He walked over to the bed and looked at the unconscious body for a second. “He’ll be fine,” he said almost uninterested.

“How do you know!” the worry stricken Dana yelled at him.


“He just got knocked out. Trust me, he’ll probably wake up in a few minutes.” Once again he went towards the door. “Oh, Hashim, I’ll have the others rounded up in an hour or so. We’ll meet close by.”

“How close?” “Not close enough for you to find us, Serenity,” he told

Cary. “But close enough to get here if Arioc or Satrina show up.”

“Who is Satrina? You seemed to know her well.” Dana asked.

“That’s a personal matter I’d rather not go into. But rest assured I’m going to kill her.”

“Is that before or after she kills us?” Bridget jabbed. “Hopefully before,” he said before leaving the room. They all once again turned to Hashim. He backed

away from them, specifically from Bridget. “I can’t tell you anything.” “Can you give us a hint?” “No. Well let me think about it I might have a…” “What happened?” the confused voice of Shawn interrupted. Dana hugged him tightly overjoyed he was alive. “Shawn. You were knocked out in the fight.” “Fight? Let me guess this whole Marduk, elf, save the world thing?” “Yeah,” Dana said, ecstatic that he appeared to be fine. “What’s Hashim doing here?” “He’s one of them.” “Oh,” Shawn said still a bit dazed. “Where’s that hint you were about to give us?” “I’ll answer yes or no questions.” “I hate playing twenty questions?” Cary groaned. “Take it or leave it.” “Do they share classes with at least one of you for every period?” Alaric asked.


“Yeah, at least one of us is in every class you have?” “How many in the band?” Cary asked. “Yes or no?” “One?” “No.” “Two?” “Yes. Don’t even think about going through section by section, because I won’t answer.” “What will you give us?” “I’ll tell you one is a woodwind player, one is a brass player. And I will tell you that the composition of our group is two males, obviously my elven friend and myself, and two are females.” “Well, that does narrow it down a little,” Dana said optimistically. “Very little. Anything else?” Bridget asked. “Nope,” and with that he faded out of existence. “I’m never going to get used to that,” Cary remarked. “So, whom do those clues leave us with?”

“Just about everyone that was on the list before,” Bridget pointed out.


Chapter 13 Old Love and Enemy

“Bad news, Arioc’s companion is Satrina,” the elf told his two female companions. Both of their mouths dropped in response. “How is that even possible, she…you…I remember seeing her,” one of them stuttered, unable to deal with the horror this presented. “Who is Satrina?” Hashim demanded. “A very sick, sadistic, and bloodthirsty woman. We’ve been able to tie thirty different murders to her from as far as four years before the initial attack.” “But who is she to you? And if she’s so deadly why haven’t I heard of her before?” “Because I killed her, or at least I thought I had.” “Could you start from the beginning, because I’m confused?” “A little under a year before the initial attack on Marduk,” the elf started, “I met a woman named Satrina. At the time she was like a dream, almost perfect, and I fell in love with her.” “There’s an understatement,” one of the ladies said. “I remember her fooling the two of you as well. Well I was completely taken in for almost two years. All the time she was begging me to introduce her to the queen. Well a few months after the attacks on Marduk started, the three of us began looking into a rash of murders and disappearances in the palace. And eventually all the evidence began to lead back to Satrina. At first I thought it was someone trying to frame her, but then I actually caught her in communication with Arioc.” “And you did what at that point?” Hashim asked his friend. “Well after getting over my initial shock, I killed her when she tried to kill me.”


“Are you sure she was dead?” “I’m sure. Or at least I thought I was.” The elf closed his eyes and could still remember the screaming, the smell of searing flesh, and the blinding light as her body was consumed by the blaze. He felt the long scar on chest where she had shoved a knife through in the battle that preceded her supposed death. “Trust us, Hashim,” one of the ladies told him, “we made sure what was left of the body was dead.” “Left of the body?” “I had to resort to using magic to kill her, and what was there wasn’t much left of the body.” “She must have teleported out when you tried to destroy her?” “Obviously, but the fact that I didn’t feel any magic being used by her worries me.” “Why?” “To have the ability to hide the fact that one is using magic is something I’ve never heard of anyone being able to do, which means that she may have others powers that will come up to harm us at just the wrong moment.” “So…” one of the ladies said, “considering it’s Satrina, do you have any idea whom her alter ego at school might be?” “What do you remember about her?” Shawn said. “She was quiet, reserved, never showed even an ounce of anger, very thoughtful of everyone around her. Which we found out was the exact opposite of what she was really like.” “Exactly! She is apparently a great actress as well as a sociopathic murderer. She could be anyone, but if I had to take a guess it will be someone who stays mostly to herself and attracts almost zero attention.” “So in other words, we’re clueless?”


“Exactly…” the word hung ominously in the air. “Now I know why Bridget is so hostile to everyone around her right now.”

Chapter 14 A Lead At Last

“It’s too early to do anything…” Dana moaned, half asleep. She sipped her tea at the kitchen table, her half closed eyes staring blankly at her brother. If her hand wasn’t propping up her head she would have just put her head on the table and gone to sleep right there. “I will never understand how you can be happy and chipper waking up at six on a weekday, but if I even try to get you up before ten o’clock on a weekend you’re dead to the world.” “Because I like to rest on weekends, always have, and getting me up early on a weekend is not in my usual schedule,” she groaned as she continued to sip her tea. “When did Bridget say she was going to get here?” “Nine…” “That was ten minutes ago,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “Maybe she had the good sense to stay in bed.” Dana struggled to stay awake. Not only had they arrived home late from the hospital, but also it had taken over an hour to calm down their parents, convincing them they were all right, and that the explosion at the symphony had never been a threat to them. Most her story had been a blatant lie, but she simply felt that it was best not to tell her parents about elves and Marduk and mystic prophesized knights just yet. Dana was also glad that Cary let her tell most of the story, since she had always thought of Cary as a terrible liar. The door banged shortly after, “And, then again, Dana, maybe she was just running late. Besides, I would never even think of using the word ‘good’ and ‘sense’ in the


same sentence when in reference to Bridget.” Dana gave him a disapproving look as he got up. “I’ll get the door,” they both heard their mother say from the other room. “Do you think Bridget will try and mutilate her under the belief she might be one of the ones from Marduk?” “No, Cary, I don’t think Bridget will try and hurt mom…” he couldn’t see but she crossed her fingers just in case. She got up to follow Cary into the other room. They entered just as their mother opened the door. Wendy Serenity was an exceptionally nice, middle-aged woman, with long brown hair and a very large smile. “You must be Bridget,” she said as she opened the door. “Dana has told me a lot about you, I’m glad to finally meet you.” “It’s nice to meet you too,” Bridget giddily smiled and replied. That’s the word for it “giddy,” Cary thought, but why is she so deliriously happy. What made her suddenly forget to act like she hates the world? “So, Bridget, you ready for a long study session today?” Dana inquired. “Oh yeah!” she beamed, “And last night I think I found the answer to that problem that’s been bugging us.” “Really?” both Cary and Dana said in amazement. “What kind of problem?” “Calculus, mom,” Cary lied. Oh God, I hope she wasn’t paying attention, he never could lie very well, Dana thought, but at the same time suddenly realized that he had actually sounded completely sincere in his lie. I wonder what else he might have lied about over the years? “Ugh…I never could stand the three years I had of that stuff so please don’t remind me about how to do any of it.” “If you couldn’t stand it, why do you force us to take it?” Dana asked.


“So you can get into a good college…I thought that was obvious.” Dana didn’t respond, content in making sure no attention went to her brother’s lie. “Well you two, I have to go into the office really quickly this morning, but I should be back in a couple hours. Have a good time studying,” she smiled as she walked out the door. “Bye Mom,” both of the siblings said as she closed the door. When the door firmly shut Cary quickly turned to Bridget. “Are you sure you have figured out who they are? Or have you just come up with another violent measure to try and ring the truth out of people?” “No I think I’ve figured part of it out. Partially at least.” “Go on,” Cary said, arms crossed defensively, appearing unwilling to believe anything Bridget said. The three of them sat down at various points around the living room. “Well I think it would help to explain how I arrived at this realization. Ever since meeting you, Cary, I’ve been getting a very bad feeling, and I think partially it had to do with our friends from Marduk. I think they were using some magic to slightly control us so that we would not meet until that morning. The fact that they used magic is I think part of the reason why I couldn’t remember ever being around Cary.” “Might also account for your recent violent outbursts,” Dana suggested. “You mean she usually don’t have a violent streak?” “No, but it’s usually not as bad as it’s been the last few days, I may have a bad temper but I’m not usually the homicidal nut I have been the last few days. Hell, I realized that in addition to what I had figured to be a spell that made us ignore one another, there was something else that kept my attention away from you.”


“And that would be?” “Hashim. In retrospect I realized that almost every time I even came close to recognizing your existence, Hashim would grab my attention in one way or another.” “Yeah, but we already know Hashim is one of them. So where is this leading?” “If they had someone with me then they probably had someone with you Cary. As I continued to look back on the last couple of months I tried to remember if there was someone always around you who might have distracted your attention away from me when they needed to.” “And who did you come up with?” Dana asked. “I want Cary to think about this first and see if he comes up with the same person I did. Cary, any clue?” Bridget sat back into the couch, quite pleased with herself as she watched the wheels turn in Cary’s brain. Cary closed his eyes trying to recall the last few months. His eyes shot open as he came to a realization. “No, it couldn’t be her,” he said sternly. “Hey, you were the one to say she has been your best friend for the last few years. And as well as I can recall she was almost always around you. No other person, besides Arin, can I actually remember being around nearly one hundred percent of the time.” “For Arin it would be closer to sixty or seventy percent of the time,” the elf’s voice came across from the room. He was relaxing in a reclining chair and appeared to be reading a very large book, although none of them could make out what it was. “Have you ever heard of a door!” Bridget snapped and gestured her hands in exasperation at his constant intrusions. “And what do you mean sixty or seventy percent of the time?” “Well keep in mind I have to keep my eye on all of you very closely, and I would say that while in truth Hashim was


assigned to stay with you almost constantly, maybe ninety-five percent of the time at school, Arin only hangs around Cary about sixty, at most seventy, percent of the time.” “So Arin isn’t one of you?” Dana asked. “I didn’t say that, Dana.” “So she is one of you.” “I didn’t say that either.” “Fine,” Cary said, “but is Bridget correct in her assumption that there was someone around us to make sure we didn’t pay attention to each other?” “Yes she’s correct in that. At all times at least one of the four of us was with each of you, ensuring you wouldn’t meet. At times we just had to talk to you to distract you, at other times we did have to use some magic to control your minds. And Miss Hunt is also right, the magic, when it begins to wear off and your memories come back to clarity, it has been known have the adverse effect of causing a person’s temper to flare far more easily, though seems to be hitting Bridget especially hard.” “I told you I wasn’t usually this violent,” she then stuck out her tongue at Cary. He returned the gesture. “Why one earth would you do this?” Dana inquired ignoring the two. “Well, we knew someone was here to murder you even though we didn’t know who. Since we knew they would be looking for a group of three we tried to keep these two away from one another while we confirmed our suspicions that it was the three of you. Thus we guaranteed that Arioc and Satrina would not have a group of three to actually suspect.” “Uh-huh. What did you do this entire time while you kept us apart?” Bridget asked. “We had a long list of criteria you had to meet given to us by the Prophet that we had to make sure each of you met.” “The ever mysterious Prophet, remind me to kill him when we finally meet him,” Cary muttered.


“I might help you after you save Marduk,” the elf muttered. “Any more useless hints?” scoffed Bridget. “No, that’s enough for today,” and he disappeared from the chair he had been sitting in. “So, how are we going to figure out if Arin is or is not one of them?” Dana asked. “Don’t look at me,” Bridget said, “I’ve thought about it all night and I haven’t a clue how we’re going to get the truth out of any of them.” They were quiet for the next few minutes thinking about how to find an answer to their problem. Bridget didn’t mention the tossing and turning she went through before the thought came to her. Her nights were becoming more and more sleepless, as she feared the inevitable was approaching. But was it inevitable death or inevitable leaving of home? She wasn’t sure, and that more than anything filled her with dread. “I have an idea,” Cary came to a realization, “we were pretty sure about Hashim the other night when Dana said he simply began saying things that could only be interpreted as him being from Marduk. I would bet anything that they all want to tell us who they are and get this all over with as quickly as we do, so we just have to give them the chance to slip up and say something that will prove that they are the ones we are looking for. Be it conscious on their part or not, if we just let them talk long enough, something is bound to slip.” “Are you just suggesting we simply listen to what everyone says and wait for something to slip?” “No, Bridget, why don’t we all get together for the next few nights, under the pretense of study sessions for Mr. Lancing’s dreaded upcoming midterm, get together with some of our suspects and try and steer the conversation until something from someone slips.” “That’s the best you can do?”


“Yes, they want to tell us. We just have to give them the opportunity.” “Okay, Monday night we’ll set up a study session. How about at my place, my parents are going to a movie tomorrow night and would be more than willing to let me use the house to entertain a few friends.” Bridget offered. “Sure, sounds like a plan. Monday night it is then.”


Chapter 15 Meetings on Monday

Bridget yawned as she walked towards the school’s gate. Who ever invented the concept of a Monday should rot in hell…she lazily thought as she passed through the iron gates. I need more sleep, she told herself, but sleep continued to elude her. Every day the dread of what was coming filled her more and more. It took everything she had to push that fear away when she was with others. She could see that it had been draining Dana and Cary aw well. She started looking in the crowd that was gathering in the courtyard. “Where are you Alaric?” she said under her breath and then yawned. She then saw him working his way through the crowd coming towards her. His right arm was in a cast and he had a slight limp as he walked. She met him about half through the crowd. “So, how are you feeling?” she asked. “Not bad, for having been thrown through the air.” “So how long are you in the cast?” “Not long, it was just a really bad fracture and they don’t want to risk it breaking.” “That’s good. Sorry for getting you into this.” “Not a problem,” he shrugged, “Besides it will make a great book someday.” “And actually, we—Dana, Cary, and I—were thinking of getting together this morning and go over how to solve our little problem. They wanted me to bring you to see if you could help us out.” “Fine with me. Doesn’t include risking my life again does it?” “I can’t guarantee that, Alaric. We’ve had…let me see,” she paused to count, “I think, four individual attacks on our lives, one by the people who are trying to help us, so in all likelihood by helping us you make yourself a target.” “I’ll take the chance.”


“Thanks, Alaric.” What have I gotten him into? The worries of how this could all go terribly wrong were mounting and she could do nothing about it other than take a deep breath and try to ignore that pessimistic part of her brain.

* * * “So, are we all here?” Dana asked. She looked around, and counting herself there were six present: Herself, Cary, Bridget, Shawn, Alaric, and Hashim. Everyone who they knew of whom was involved in this. They were all standing behind the science building; few people passed by so it was a relatively safe place to have a conversation without anyone hearing. “Why is Hashim here?” Shawn inquired. “It’s not like he’s going to be forthcoming with hints or anything like that in our search to find his compatriots.” “I figure maybe if we keep a close eye on how he reacts to things we say we might get an idea if we’re even close. Besides he might drop a hint here or there if we’re lucky,” Cary told him. “Okay onto our main reason for being here. We have moved Arin up to our chief suspect,” Dana checked out of the corner of her eye to see if Hashim reacted in any way to this. He remained almost stone faced. “So Shawn and Alaric if you wouldn’t mind dropping a few hints here or there to try and elicit a reaction from her that might show her to be one of the ones we’re looking for.” “Any hints on how we’re supposed to do that?” Alaric asked. “Besides appearing out of thin air in front of all of us, did Hashim here give any signs that he was from Marduk.” “Yeah, I dropped a few hints, but it was mainly due to sleep deprivation on my part. Trying to figure out who Arioc and Satrina are is taking up all my spare time. I’m still a little sleep deprived actually so I’m going to leave before I say anything that would give too much away.”


“No, Hashim, stay, ramble as much as you would like,” Bridget sarcastically offered. She the grabbed this shirt collar and pulled him back into the circle. “No thanks. I’ll see you all later,” he pulled away again. “Oh, Hashim, tonight at my house at six we’re having a study session for Lancing’s big test, please try to make it.” “And if I don’t make it?” “You don’t want to know what will happen if you don’t make it,” Bridget threatened and smiled at the same time. “Enough said, I’ll be there.” He walked away from the rest heading towards his first class. “That reminds me, Shawn, Alaric, could both you also make this study session?” “Let me guess you’re also inviting your prime suspects and your intent is not to study, but to get them to trip up somewhere and admit to who they are?” “Perceptive as always, Shawn,” Dana congratulated him. “Okay, so Arin is coming. Who else?” “Well at first we thought of going with Hashim’s closer friends,” Cary said, “But that would have led to, among others, Alaric here, and since we know he isn’t one of them that theory is out.” “Wait,” Shawn said, “I’ve probably just not been told of something, but, no offense Alaric, how do we know he’s not one of them.” “Our ever elusive elf told us he wasn’t one of them.” “Ah.” “And you can’t be one, Shawn, much to my disappointment,” Bridget stated, “Because you were unconscious in the same room with the elf and Hashim; and Hashim told us that there were only two males in this group


of four. So we are sure about you two not being from Marduk. The rest of the school is a mystery.” “But back to who else is coming,” Dana brought the conversation back to the matter at hand, “the three of us decided to each invite a close friend. Cary will bring Arin, I’ll bring Michaela, and Bridget is bringing Darby. So both of you will be there?” “Yeah.” “Of course.” “Good, why don’t we all try to be there at five-thirty to see if we found anything out.” The first bell rang, giving the warning to get to class. “Goodbye, my dearest,” Shawn said as he kissed Dana goodbye. They all left headed off to class.

* * * “Wow!” Cary said in disbelief. “That’s a big house. What do her parents do?” He simply stood still to admire the three-story house, far larger than what was common in the small town of Fountainhead. “I think that her mom is a corporate lawyer of some sort, can’t quite remember what exactly, and that her father is founding member of some technology company,” Dana answered. “No offense to our humble little burg, but they moved here…why?” “I believe Bridget mentioned something about the freezing New England weather and some business reasons.” “Uh-huh, but still why here?” “Destiny.” “Beg your pardon,” Cary said as he started knocking on the door. Dana looked at her brother for a few seconds then calmly repeated the word, “Destiny.” “What about destiny?” Bridget asked as she opened the door. “It’s what brought your family here.”


“No what brought us here is that my dad wanted to be closer to Silicon Valley and my mom could do her job better a lot closer to San Francisco, Sacramento, and reasonably close to L.A. That and we decided we needed to put some space between us and New York…like a whole coast.” “Yeah, but why did they chose Fountainhead. We’re really in the middle of nowhere. It’s a small farming town in Northern California with one college invaded by several yuppies from the surrounding areas. Why here over other places?” “Well I’m sure there were a lot of good reasons,” Bridget said not sure what Dana was driving at. “Destiny being at the top of that list. You had to come here and join up with Cary and I.” “Are you suggesting it’s always been our destiny to save Marduk?” “Exactly.” “I don’t believe in destiny.” “Neither does Cary here, but the fact remains that we were somehow chosen to be the saviors of Marduk. And a prophecy can’t work without a healthy does of destiny.” “So then you don’t believe in free will, all our actions our guided by some mysterious thing called fate?” “No, as I’ve told Cary many times, destiny is only something that sets up certain situations that you will face, it’s completely up to free will as to how to face those situations. Destiny is a wonderful little outline on how everything will work out, but free will can rewrite the outline as things come to pass. It’s like the highway system, the road is already laid out for you, but there are numerous interchanges, off-ramps, and forks you can take; the road is set, the final destination isn’t. But in the end I think we were destined to be the ones to save Marduk.” “Unless Arioc and Satrina’s free will changes that,” Bridget jabbed.


Dana shook her head in disappointment. “Never hold a conversation with a pessimist,” Cary added. “It’s called being realist, Cary, and why are you two so early? It’s only five o’clock, we still have another hour.” “Mainly because today in journalism class I basically pulled every picture taken of and article written by or about everyone on our list of suspects in the last four years. I though maybe something might turn up. I have copies of all the articles with me.” “That must have taken a while to compile.” “Not when you get help.” “Who?” Bridget asked. “Michaela and Sari, they were more than eager and it gave me a chance to keep an eye on two or our suspects.” “Turn up anything interesting?” “Yeah, Lilith besides being a sociopath is the most boring person on earth. She belongs to no clubs or organizations, does nothing for the community or school, has no extra curricular activities…or at least none that I can find.” “The newspaper keeps track of things like that?” “No, but when I couldn’t find a single thing related to her in our paper, I looked through the yearbook staff’s paperwork, which does list every member of every organization on campus: nothing in there. Then I discretely asked several people if they knew anything about her: again absolutely nothing. She appears to do two things: date James, and be in a really bad mood all the time. So, am I out on a limb here, or do you think it’s just a really bad cover for one of the ones we’re looking for?” “That…” Cary said as he considered his sister’s words, “Or she could just be a person with a really bad attitude. Or, worse yet, Lilith is really Satrina. They both seem to have the same homicidal streak.”


“Yeah, but I would assume Satrina would be smarter than to just appear out in the open with everything but a flashing neon sign saying ‘Psycho Murderer.’ Don’t you think?” Bridget asked. “I mean there has been nothing in her character to suggest that she’s stupid. In fact, the elf seemed almost afraid of her which I have a feeling means she actually quite cunning and devious.” “Good point,” Cary conceded reluctantly. “I don’t think Satrina would actually be that stupid as to flaunt her violent nature right in front of us.” “Well I don’t care if she is one of our suspects she does not come to any of these study sessions we set up. You put her and me in a room for too long, and I promise there will be casualties.” “Okay, I’ll make a note of that. Well other than that, I couldn’t find anything that could be very relevant.” “Maybe we should work backwards,” Cary suddenly said. “What do you mean?” “Well you were looking for stuff that tie individuals to being the ones we’re looking for.” “Yeah, basically.” “Well did you look for anything that would tie anyone directly to Hashim. I mean did you look to see if there was someone who might spend an incredible amount of time with Hashim. Or even better, look at any photos that include the three of us and see if there is someone almost always hanging around us. We know they’re always around us, attempting to protect us from Arioc and Satrina so they might actually always appear in photos around us.” “No I didn’t look for anything like that, but I’ll start going through all the photos with a magnifying glass tomorrow.” “But how are you so sure they’re always hanging around us Cary?” Bridget asked.


“Heck, I’d bet one of them is looking in on us right now.” “And you would be right,” the elf’s voice came filled the room, however he did not physically appear. “I hate him,” Bridget muttered. The next hour revealed little else in the search as Bridget, Cary, and Dana combed through all the articles Dana had brought with her, not exactly sure of what they were looking for. One by one their friends (and suspects) arrived and they began to go over the U.S. Government textbook and assignment; Bridget, Cary and Dana carefully paying attention to what everyone said, giving little attention to the textbook. At first the entire conversation was completely on task and stuck to going over government… this lasted for maybe six minutes. “I hope Lance doesn’t get into questions about obscure facts and figures found in this book. You know he’ll pull out some obscure Supreme Court case that scholars don’t even know about,” Shawn whined. “Yeah might as well give us a test in…ancient Babylonian mythology,” Darby said. At hearing that Dana, who had been lazily resting her head in her open hand with her elbow propped against the table, almost bolted up. Only Cary and Bridget seemed to notice this reaction, but they were clueless as to why she was acting this way. “Why did you say ancient Babylonian mythology?” she inquired, her words deliberate and much slower than she usually spoke. “I don’t know, first obscure subject that came to my mind.” Dana pounded her hand on the table. Jokingly she said in an official tone, attempting to imitate Lance’s voice, “Let the test on ancient Babylonian mythology begin. Question one: Who was the king of the Babylonian Pantheon of gods?”


Her eyes darted around looking at each person at the table individually, looking for some sign of knowledge of the answer to the question. She smiled, everyone thought it was in response to her making fun of Lance; but she had found what she was looking for… The night drug on for another two hours. Everyone finally got tired of going over the boring material and closed their books. Even nerds can only take so much. “Okay everyone, how about we meet here again Wednesday night and go over some more of this stuff?” Bridget asked. “Oh what joy, more of the ever exciting AP Government review for the midterm, I can’t wait,” Alaric said, knowing full well that it was not for the purpose of studying that Bridget wanted everyone there. “Sarcasm aside, is that good for everyone?” “Yeah,” they all agreed. “Okay, well I’m headed home, does anyone want a ride,” Shawn asked. Alaric, Hashim, Arin and Darby took him up on his offer. “Well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Dana. Goodbye, my dearest,” he said and kissed Dana goodbye. “Bye, Shawn,” she said still wearing the smile she had worn all night. After the others had left, Michaela stuck around. “Can I ask you guys something?” “Sure, what Michaela?” Cary told her. “Why were you watching all us so closely?” “What do you mean?” Bridget believably feigned ignorance. “The three of you weren’t paying much attention to the government work, but you did seem to be paying close attention to how everyone acted and what everyone said. Why did you want this study session anyway, I mean, the three of you could pass with near perfect scores any of Lancing’s tests in your sleep.”


“Well, Michaela,” Cary said calmly, “would you believe we’re looking for four people from the magical land of Marduk?” Michaela just stared at him for a few seconds, then busted out laughing, “Do you really want me to answer that? Are you getting enough sleep Cary?” “Yes I’m getting enough sleep. Sorry there is no special reason and we weren’t intentionally paying attention to everyone; I guess we were just all bored with the material.” “Fine, don’t tell me, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she said as she walked out the door. Cary thought he heard her mention something about “And they think I’m crazy,” as the door closed. As soon as the door closed Dana jumped up into the air. “Yes!” she shouted, “We’ve got them!” “What are you talking about?” Cary asked. “Arin and Darby!” she exclaimed. “They’re the ones.” “How do you know that?” Cary asked. “Okay when I asked that strange question about the Babylonian king of the gods, did you notice Arin start to get nervous?” “Yeah I did,” Bridget confirmed Dana’s statement, “She began to fidget and twirl her hair all of a sudden. But what does have to do with anything? I thought you were just trying to get a laugh out of everyone.” “No chance either of you know what the name of the Babylonian’s chief god was…well at least one of his names.” “No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell us, Dana,” Cary responded. “Marduk. Yes, the name of our magical land happens to also be the name of an ancient deity that hardly anyone remembers anymore.” “You’re kidding,” Bridget gleefully exclaimed.


“Nope. And if you looked close enough you could see Arin knew that answer. And there is only one reason why she wouldn’t answer…” “…It would be a clear admission of guilt?” Bridget asked. “No. She could cover it up as just extensive knowledge. However, by not answering but showing us that she did know the answer, she was giving us a clear clue that she was one of the ones from Marduk.” “Aren’t you reading a little too much into this, Dana?” Cary asked, doubtful of his sister’s logic. “Cary, why are you in denial over this?” Bridget asked. “Oh that’s easy,” Dana answered, “he’s had a crush on her since the day he met her.” Cary’s mouth dropped open. “But he’s afraid to ask her out because he fears that dating her could eventually not work out and also end their relationship as friends.” “H…H…How do y…you know that?” Cary stammered. “I’m your sister, I know you better than you know yourself. Don’t worry I don’t think she knows. But I do know that she also has a crush on you.” Bridget remained silent, enjoying watching Cary squirm too much to say anything. “How do you know that?” “I watch people closely. But back to how I know it’s Darby.” “Let me guess it’s the mentioning of the Babylonian thing.” “Yep.” “I got to admit it was strange, but then again our entire lives lately have been strange. It was strange for you to find Shawn in the hospital, but as we found out that night, he isn’t one of them. So honestly we could file it under coincidence,” Cary tried to offer.


“Then there was the fact that Michaela noticed we were watching everyone so closely,” Bridget pointed out, “Maybe she was trying to tell us who she was.” “I don’t know, I’d be more worried about why Darby and Arin didn’t seem to notice, we were kind of obvious” Cary countered her observation. “Besides, if you’ll remember the elf said that they would never lie to us is we asked them a direct question. We did…we asked her if she would believe us if we told her about Marduk, and she didn’t. If she was one them she would have been lying.” “She said nothing of the sort Cary,” Bridget shot back. “She avoided actually answering it with a yes or no. Avoiding a question does not mean she is lying. Now it doesn’t prove she was intentionally looking for a way not to answer, but it also doesn’t exonerate her from our suspect list.” “Okay fine,” Dana stopped both of them. “We’ll approach Arin tomorrow. Darby, Michaela, and even Lilith are still up in the air. We’ll worry about that tomorrow. Agreed?” Dana and Cary said goodnight to Bridget and left. All the way back to their house Cary was worried about Dana’s conclusion being true. Countered to this was Dana’s anxiousness over the same issue. No words passed between them.


Chapter 16 Discovery on Tuesday

“Arin?” Cary said as the three approached her at lunch. She was on the lawn reading a book. No one else was very close. “What?” she asked happily. “We have a question for you,” Dana said. “Have you ever heard of Marduk?” “Yeah, finally looked it up, it’s the answer to that obscure question you asked last night? Why?” Her face told them that she had no clue as to why. “Well have you ever heard of the kingdom of Marduk?” Bridget rephrased the question. “What do you mean?” Arin said even more confused as to what was going on. “It’s yes or no question, Arin. Just answer it,” Bridget peacefully demanded her arms folded across her chest. Arin rolled her eyes and then took a deep breath; the confusion simply disappeared from her face. “Yes…I’ve heard of it.” “Are you from Marduk?” Bridget asked, already knowing the answer. “Yes.” “And you’re one of the ones we need to find?” “Right again,” she said, a large smile beginning to cover her face. “So that’s two down and two to go for you three.” Cary, who was completely in disbelief at this point, blurted out, “Arin, how could you lie to me these last two years, pretending to be my closest friend. Lying to me all the time! How could you do it?” “Cary!” she said apologetically, “I never lied to you. And I am your friend. I may not have been forthcoming with the truth, but I never once lied to you.”


“And that’s supposed to make me feel better,” he snapped, obviously hurt. He felt that someone he had trusted for years, a friend whom he had felt closer to than anyone else he knew, had deceived and betrayed him. Dana shook her head, This could end up really well or horribly. I’ve never seen Cary handle himself well when someone has taken advantage of his trust. Cary’s trust was a hard thing to earn, and even harder to recover after betraying that, as Dana herself had discovered one or two times in her childhood. Please Cary, she said to herself, don’t screw up the best friendship you’ve ever had over this. However she could partially understand it, she was sure that deep down somewhere Cary was actually in love with Arin and this betrayal was ripping him up, and could understand being upset if someone he cared for took advantage of him. If Shawn ever lied to me like that, I’d probably rip his throat out. “No, and I can’t undo how I’ve deceived you,” Arin told him. “No, you can’t,” he snapped again. His face was already showing contempt for her. “But I had hoped you would understand why I had to do it. I had to keep part of the truth from you, I had no choice in the matter if I wanted the homeland that I hold dearly to survive, but I am your friend. You know that. But besides that, I always have been your friend, and trust me I always will be your friend.” “Uh-huh,” he said, not bothering to look her in the eye. “I see I won’t get through to you right now,” Arin said more to herself than to Cary. “Hopefully you’ll have gotten over this by tonight,” she turned to leave. Cary did not say a single word. However, before she had made a dozen steps away she slipped on something and was about to fall onto her back. Cary, instantly forgetting everything he had just been thinking, acted out of instinct and unexpectedly sprinted the short distance and caught her just before she hit the ground.


He held in his arms for several seconds. And then he held her in his arms for several seconds longer…Arin didn’t seem in a hurry to leave his hold. “Umm…” Bridget, suddenly very uncomfortable watching the scene that was occurring, whispered to Dana “by the look in their eyes, maybe we should,” she motioned to move away. “You actually want be considerate toward Cary and give him some privacy. Wow. This is a first,” she whispered back as she turned to leave. “And a last.” Once they were a dozen yards away, Bridget turned to Dana. “Do you know what’s weird? That night we first met the elf and got involved in all of this, I slipped in your kitchen and Cary caught me, much the same way he caught Arin. Kind of strange don’t you think?” Dana only grinned. “Oh I knew about you slipping and him catching you. It’s what gave me the idea. If he would catch you whom he doesn’t like, then he’d defiantly catch Arin.” “What are you saying, Dana?” “Did you actually see what Arin slipped on?” “No. Where are you going with this?” “I learn a new use for telekinesis everyday. Today’s use: matchmaker. It wasn’t too hard, for months, heck since the first day they met, I’ve seen the way they look at each other, they fell in love a long time ago, it’s only that neither of them had the guts to say anything. I just figured this was the appropriate time to help things along and force their feelings into the light.” “You intentionally tripped Arin so that she and Cary, would…would…”she said, mouth agape. Dana left Bridget trying to get her words out. As she went off on her own, Bridget could hear Dana forcefully whistling the tune from “The Matcher Maker Song” from Fiddler on the Roof. After a few second of just watching Dana walk off, Bridget ran after


her. “Dana! If you would help your brother, who we all know is a fool, and then of course you would help your dear, sweet, wonderful, and loyal friend Bridget when she might need that help one day? Wouldn’t you?”

* * * “So, Arin was one of them too. I would never had suspected her actually,” Satrina commented to Arioc as they watched Cary and Arin from across the courtyard. “I had thought she was too close to Cary to be one of that stupid elf’s friends.” “You were romantically involved with him for over a year, didn’t you meet his friends?” Arioc chided. “I did. I just didn’t pay any attention to them, and I can’t remember what they bloody looked like. I was too busy picking out and trailing my victims to notice his friends. And he’s disguised himself as a human so I don’t have a clue who he is either.” “Don’t you even have a hunch?” “I do, but I’m more worried about how to kill those three.” “It’s so tempting to just walk up and before they notice just slide a knife into his back.” “Arioc, you are stupid. They’ll sense you coming a mile away; they won’t be sure who you are but they’ll certainly sense you’re near. And the minute they see the knife, they’ll be on you before you have a chance to defend yourself. Now get out of here before anyone sees you.” “What do you mean?” “They must certainly sense that both of us are here right now; or did you forget that I’m the only one disguised as a student in this infernal school.” “And a wonderful disguise it is.” “Well they haven’t seen through it yet…”


Chapter 17 Wednesday Excitement

Dana, Cary, Bridget, Shawn and Alaric gathered around a large table in the courtyard. It was early in the morning and none of them were quite coherent. Bridget sipped on the coffee she had made before she left her house—it still wasn’t enough to counter the draining effects of constantly worrying that Arioc or Satrina might pop out at any moment. “What exactly are we looking for?” Shawn asked. In front of them were massive piles of pictures.

“We’re looking for pictures of Cary, Bridget, myself, Hashim, or Arin. This is every picture taken by the school paper or yearbook of myself, Cary, Bridget, Alaric and you Shawn for as long as we’ve been at this school. We going to see if a pattern appears in who is always around them or us. If we’re really lucky we may even catch a picture of the elf. Be sure to check the backgrounds of every picture. Now everyone take a stack and start going through them.”

“How did you get the pictures from the newspaper and yearbook?” Alaric asked.

“Wasn’t easy. So every picture you find bring to Bridget’s house at five tonight we’ll go over them before the others get there at six. Any questions? None? Good. See all of you later.”

* * * “I can’t see a single pattern in any of the photos I

have,” Shawn told Dana. He dropped a large pile in front of her; she raised her strained eyes from the table. Every free second in every class she had gone over the pictures she had straining to look in the backgrounds and make out faces. “That’s all the one’s I could find. I’m sorry Dana but I couldn’t see much of a pattern arising from those photos.”

She looked at the inch and a half stack for several seconds. “Wow, you went through all of that already. I’m impressed. Have a seat, I’m almost done with my lunch.” She


put down the photo she had just been looking at. “So, no headway?”

“Nope.” Shawn sat down next to Dana and kissed her on the cheek. “I’m taking that as an ‘I’m sorry I don’t have anything for you either’, Shawn.” He nodded in response.

“Well maybe when we put all the photos together one might appear. But it was a long shot anyway,” she said in despair.

“Don’t you have any other hints?” “Yeah they’re all going to be at the Halloween dance.

Lot of help that is.” She gave a heavy sigh then leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m just so tired and frustrated, Shawn. I’m still looking for two people with few leads to go on. I’m having to watch my back every second to make sure Satrina or Arioc isn’t there to put a knife in it. And I also have to make sure that Cary and Bridget don’t put a knife in each other. I just want it all to end. But Bridget was right that night in the hospital, there won’t be an end to this; once we find out who they are we’ll be fighting to save Marduk. There is no end to this.” “Come on, remember you’re a optimist,” Shawn tried to comfort her. She felt his hand on her cheek and a kiss on her tilted forehead. He then pulled her closer to him. “And what’s to be optimistic about this?” “You get to go off to exotic lands, meet interesting people, save a whole world almost single handedly. It’s like joining the Marines but better…and no boot camp.” Dana looked up towards Shawn’s face and a slight smile came to her face. He leaned in and kissed her. “Oh, how could I forget, you still have my love.” “That’s not a plus! I’m going to be going to Marduk, and you’ll be staying here.” “Don’t worry about that.” “Don’t worry? How can you be so calm about this?”


“Maybe I can talk my way into letting those people from Marduk let me come with you.” “We hope.” She took another deep sigh. She saw Bridget coming towards her. “Be careful, Bridget is coming, and she doesn’t look happy.” “So how are you Bridget?” Shawn asked as she approached. “Tired, a little infuriated, and my eyes hurt,” she said removing her glasses and rubbing her temples. “Why infuriated?” “Well, I almost found a pattern, but then it left me really at square one.” “What pattern?” Dana asked, suddenly sitting up straight, curious at what Bridget had found. “A little under half the photos I could find with both Hashim and Arin I found them with Michaela, and a little under half of them with those two had them with Darby. In other words we’re left with the same two suspects.” “Anything from the others? No male suspects propping up for the elf?” “Nothing on the elf. But I did run into Alaric and Cary. They said they were coming up with about the same. However there is a slight problem with all of this.” “And that would be?” “Well when I saw Cary he was with his new other half, Arin, and she assured Cary and myself that we would not find any conclusive evidence in all these photos.” “She said that?” “She said that they figured we might get desperate and intentionally setup to be in photos with people who were not part of their group.” “Clever aren’t they. Did Arin give you any hints?” Shawn asked. “No,” she groaned.


“What do we know? We know there’s one of them in the brass section of the band. That points to Darby. We know that someone must have helped keep Cary away from you when Arin wasn’t around. That would point to Cary’s other closest friend, again Darby. We also have that veiled reference to the god Marduk, Monday night and she’s in the photos; all pointing to Darby.” “Confront her tonight like we did with Arin yesterday?” “Sounds like a plan to me.” “Still leaves us clueless with the elf, though.” “Oh, be optimistic, Bridget,” Shawn told her, “I’m sure he’ll turn up quickly after you find the other three.” “Ya wanna to bet?” Bridget offered. “Yeah, I’ll bet that within two days of you finding the third member of the group from Marduk, you’ll discover the elf.” “What will you put up?” “Fifty bucks.” “You’re on.” She extended her hand and Shawn shook it. “Trust me, Shawn, I just earned fifty dollars.” “We’ll see. I’ve got to get going,” he leaned over and kissed Dana one last time. “Goodbye, my dearest.” “Bye.” Shawn got up and disappeared into the crowd of students. “Dana, I’ve noticed that Shawn always kisses you goodbye and says ‘goodbye, my dearest.’ Doesn’t the lack of originality bother you? Because it bothers me, it always has.” “No. When he stops saying that, that’s when it will begin to bother me.” She smiled at Bridget, rejuvenated by Shawn’s love; Bridget just rolled her eyes.

* * * “Where’s Cary?” Bridget asked as she opened the door and saw Dana by herself. “He went to go pick up Arin.”


“You realize what you created when you tripped Arin?” “A loving couple?” “An extreme annoyance. They’re already worse than you and Shawn! He better be pumping her for information.” “He’s probably trying to get some information, but let’s all admit that Arin can, at times, be very stubborn.” “Okay, during band practice today I asked Darby to come early,” she told Darby. “Alaric and Shawn should be arriving at the same time.” She looked at her watch. “They should be getting here any minute.” “Bridget,” her father called from other side of the house, “who is that at the door?” “It’s Dana, Dad. Remember, I invited some friends over to study tonight?” “Oh yeah, well your mom just called, she said she would be working late tonight and we should have dinner without her. Pizza okay with you?” He walked into the living room. He was a man of average height, with light brown hair and a seemingly perpetual smile on his face. “Yeah sure, but we should wait until 7:30ish to get it unless you want to buy pizza for everyone.” “I don’t mind. Do you think anyone would object to pepperoni?” “No, I don’t think so.” “Okay, I’ll be back shortly with the food.” As he walked out the door, he quickly kissed Bridget on the forehead. “See you, pumpkin.” “Bye, Dad.” “When did your say that Darby would be arriving?” “Any…” there was a knock at the door, “Must be them.” She turned the door, and suddenly found the door slammed against her side. From the force of the door she lost her balance and fell to the ground. “Even a twitch of your psychic powers, Dana, and Bridget dies,” Bridget heard as she


was falling. After she hit, she looked up to see Satrina holding a semi-automatic handgun, a Beretta .45 caliber she saw, and pointing it straight at her head. “Isn’t a gun a little below you?” “Magic requires concentration, which can be broken by unexpected visiting elves, a gun only requires I point and pull the trigger.” It also requires you take the safety off, you idiot, Bridget tried not to laugh looking at the gun in Satrina’s hand. Also it’s going to take your thumb off it did fire the way you’re holding it. She put all her effort into not allowing her face to show that she knew she was in no danger whatsoever. She looked at Arioc and began to try and figure out how best to take them both without getting herself and Dana killed. If I just rush her, she might figure out to turn the safety off just in time to shoot me…but if I don’t do anything, she’ll definitely figure out about the safety. Then again she seems so unsure of it I wonder if there’s even a clip in it. “One question. Where is Cary?” Arioc inquired. “Not here,” Dana said. “Where is he?” “Like I said he’s not here. He’s on his way with Arin and probably Hashim.” Another knock came at the, now open, door. “Guys you in here,” Darby’s voice came from the doorway, “what the heck…” “Get in here.” Satrina grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the ground. “Darby, bad time to show up. Your friends have gotten you in a situation that will get you killed.” “No…” Darby said in a confident tone, “I think it was more that I helped get them into this situation by believing them to be the prophesized warriors.” Realizing she was one of the ones from Marduk, Satrina turned and aimed the gun at Darby. She tried to pull the trigger but, due to the safety, it wouldn’t fire. Thanks Darby for giving me the distraction I needed, Bridget thought as she jumped up. She threw her whole body


against Satrina and they both tumbled to the ground. Oh no, Bridget saw Satrina finally remove the safety from the gun as she tried to wrestle it from her hand. In the confusion, Dana picked up the CD player on the other side of the room with her mind and hurled it at Arioc’s head. Arioc ducked before the machine decapitated him and it crashed and shattered against the side of the door. Bridget and Satrina had rolled against a wall. Bridget, one hand on Satrina’s arm wrestling for control of the gun, the hand beating Satrina’s head against the hard wood paneling of the wall, tried to ignore the pain as Satrina’s free hand grasped her throat. Satrina’s fingernails had already cut gashes into her neck and she could barely breath. I’m going to love killing you Satrina, ran through her mind as she beat her foe’s head against the wall even harder. Dazed only for a second by a kick from Darby, Arioc swung around and hit her directly in the stomach causing her to double over and drop to the ground. Before she could react, Arioc grabbed Dana by the throat and began choking her. He pulled out a knife from his belt. “You and your friends have been annoying me for too long.” He brought the knife back, preparing to strike. As the knife came forward Darby’s hand shot forward brandishing a shard of a broken CD. While not razor sharp, the force of Arioc’s arm moving forward and Darby’s pushing the shard into his arm was more than enough to make the sharp cut deeply into his flesh. He screamed in pain and dropped the knife before it reached Dana’s head. Dana kicked him in the crotch and he loosened his grip. Bridget and Satrina still wrestled for control of the gun. The gun, still in Satrina’s hand, was now dangerously pointed towards both of them. Satrina once again made sure the safety was off and depressed the trigger and a loud shot filled the room. Unused to the recoil from weapon, the force of the shot jolted Satrina’s hand against the ground causing her to


drop the gun. At that moment Bridget shoved Satrina’s head against the wall one last time and rolled off her opponent. As she moved away from Satrina she grabbed the gun, and aimed it at her foe. “Time to go, Arioc,” Satrina said, fading out of existence. She evilly smiled at Bridget as she was disappearing. “Darby, are you okay?” Dana asked. “Yeah.” Dana turned to Bridget who was on her knees still holding the gun pointed at where Satrina had been. “Bridget, you okay?” No response, other than a confused look came from Bridget. “Bridget!” “Call…” she gritted her teeth in pain, “call an ambulance. She…Satrina…shot…” She then lost consciousness and fell face first to the floor. Dana hadn’t noticed anything wrong with her a second ago when she had been looking at her front, but as Bridget fell to the ground, Dana could see the back of Bridget’s blouse was soaked with dark blood. “Oh God! Bridget!” She rushed to Bridget and quickly applied pressure to the wound. The bullet Satrina had got off must have gone in from the front of her side and come out her back. “Darby! Call an ambulance!” “Arin! I need you. Now!” Darby yelled.

“What happened here? Let me guess Arioc and Satrina.” Arin said appearing out of nowhere. She was staring at the wound. “Darby calm down. You too Dana. I’ll handle this.”

“What do you mean you’ll handle this, we need to get her to a hospital now!”

“Honestly, I just can’t understand for an advanced society, why you have such primitive medicine,” Arin said annoyed yet calm. She quickly strode over to Bridget.


“Excuse me,” she said pushing a shocked Dana’s hands out of the way. “What are you..!?” “Shhh…I need you to be quiet while I do this.” Arin closed her eyes for several seconds and then removed her hands. “She should wake up in a minute or two.” “What did you just do?” “A variation on what you do with your telekinetic powers. All it takes is a little power and a little knowledge of medicine.” “Are you saying you have psychic powers too?” “To a point. My magical abilities are limited, and I’m no where near your power.” “What do you mean my power? All I can do is move a few objects around.” “You don’t realize that you have all that power without training. It took me years of training to just get a few small powers with healing. With a little training you could be the most powerful sorceress ever.” “What the hell happened here!” the elf said storming in. “Darby you said you would keep an eye on them!” “Arioc and Satrina came out of nowhere and immediately stormed in. They were going to kill them right then and there if I didn’t intervene instantly, so I had the choice to either save them or call for help. Don’t worry Bridget will live.” “Of course I’ll live,” Bridget said groggily. “Now what just happened?” “I healed you,” Arin said matter-of-factly. “No, I mean usually we’ve had protection from those two. Where was our help this time.” “Well actually right before they came here,” the elf said. “I could feel they were hanging around Cary. I thought they were about to attack him. So I left Darby hanging around you two, while I, Arin and Hashim were around


Cary. Then they waited till the three of us were all in public sight and thus couldn’t just disappear and come to help you. They caught us off guard. I know I promised you that this would never happen again at the hospital. But they’ve got the upper hand on us, they seem to know who we all are, at least the three of us you know, and thus they can force us into situations that are in their favor. Besides you survived this attack too.” “Barely, you jerk, you didn’t even know I was shot! And how am I going to explain this disaster to my parents?” “Well I think we can get rid of the blood stains.” Arin waved her hand over the carpet and the blood disappeared. “And I’ll have Hashim go quickly pick up a stereo CD player exactly like the one you had before.” “And the bullet hole in the ceiling?” “Pray it doesn’t rain.” “I’m going to hurt you when I find out who you are.” “I doubt that, Miss Hunt, I really doubt that. Now if you will all excuse me I must be off.” “To where?” “To trying to track down Satrina and,” he stated coldly and then angrily added, “and make sure she stays dead this time.” He walked out the door and disappeared. “What was that about?” Bridget asked. “He and Satrina are old enemies. Since the moment he learned it was her, he’s been out for blood.” “What did she do, break his heart?” Bridget asked, half joking. “Yeah. That’s exactly what happened,” Arin told her. “Can we get the mess we all made cleaned up before my dad gets home?” They began picking up the over turned furniture and making sure everything was in it’s proper place. Cary and Alaric walked in a few minutes later. “What happened? Why was it that one minute Arin was in my car with Alaric and myself, and the next minute


she disappeared right before our eyes…and apparently reappeared here? “We had a visit from our two favorite people who are out to kill us.” “Okay.” He looked around for a second, and saw the handgun now tucked into Bridget’s pants. “Tell me you stole the gun from them, Bridget, and you just don’t carry that thing around with you all the time.”

“Of course I got from them, dimwit, if I had it with me all the time you would have been dead a long time ago.”

“Do you know how to use it?” “I’ve known how to use a gun for years, although not

very well, but I can hit center mass without a problem, so don’t worry about me accidentally shooting you. It will be totally intentional when I do that. Of course if it would make you feel safer you can have it.”

“I’d appreciate that.” She handed the gun over to Cary. He promptly turned the safety on and ejected the clip.

“Can we get back to something serious, children?” Dana interrupted. “Okay, Cary to recap for what you and Alaric missed. Satrina and Arioc obviously attacked us. Satrina did happen to shoot Bridget but Arin healed the wound. And we found out that Darby here is our third member. That leaves only the elf for us to find.”

“Well, since Hashim was closer to Bridget than the two of us, and Arin and Darby are my two closest friends, I would assume the elf would be someone close to you, Dana,” Cary speculated.

“Yeah but who?” Bridget asked. All three looked over at Arin and Darby who were intentionally looking off to avoid eye contact.


Chapter 18 Thursday Mysteries

“It can’t be either of them, besides it’s probably someone else” frustrated and tired, Dana sighed. The night before had yielded little help after discovering Darby’s true identity. Darby had said she was under the elf’s orders not to reveal anything. All their leads had dried up at this point. They had no further clues, to go on other than the elf was male and was someone they all knew. “Who else is that close to you, Dana?” Bridget reminded her. “But we’ve seen both Alaric and Shawn in the presence of the elf. The elf said Alaric wasn’t from Marduk, and when point blank asked Shawn he said no he wasn’t one of them.” “He could have been lying,” Bridget countered. The three were having lunch once again alone in Lancing’s room. “Why would he do that? Arin just flat out admitted it when we asked her. Why would Shawn be any different?” Cary countered. “I don’t know, but it has to be one of those two they’re the only males as close to Dana as Arin and Darby are to you Cary.” “Bridget! I was just guessing that it would be someone close to Dana. But we don’t have any suspects who are close to Dana.” “Around me…let’s be honest, we don’t have any suspects. Who is male and close to Arin, Darby and Hashim?” “Besides Shawn and Alaric…I don’t know. Maybe Merle.” “No he’s not one of them.” “How do you know that, Bridget?” “The last few days I’ve been asking people outright if they’re an elf. I tell them I’m doing a psychological study to see how people react to strange questions.”


“And that works?” “Amazingly enough, yes. And Merle said he wasn’t.” “Oh,” Cary snidely said, “I see. If Merle says he’s not an elf, you take his word. If Shawn says he isn’t an elf, you assume he must be the elf. I like your theory here, Bridget, it’s very you know…lacking in common sense.” “Drop dead.”

“Who else is off the list?” Dana asked. “Just about everyone we know except Shawn and

Alaric. I asked every male member of the band and everyone in all of our classes. I got nothing. But where does that leave us?” “That leaves us with nothing.” Silence filled in the room for over a minute. As Dana closed her eyes trying to find an answer out of this problem, Cary rested his cheek on his palm and Bridget rubbed her temples. All of them were going over every person they knew desperately trying to find a suspect.

Cary head bolted out of his hand as inspiration struck. “Could it be one of our teachers?”

“I don’t know,” Dana said skeptically, “the elf seems a little too young to be one of our teachers. I mean the youngest teacher we have can’t be less than thirty-five and the elf can’t be older than twenty…tops.”

“Yeah, but he’s obviously changing his appearance. He could add a few years for good measure…and who knows how elves age compared to humans.”

“The elf said that they would all be at the Halloween dance tomorrow night. If you’re right, Cary, which I doubt, but if you are, then we’ll just have to see which teachers show up. But then again it’s your theory so it probably will turn out to be untrue.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Bridget. And actually this was originally Dana’s theory, she came up with it


the night we sat down and made that list of everyone who could be a suspect.”

“Yes, it was my theory, but after some thought I gave up on that theory, I’m telling you I just don’t think it’s one of the teachers. By the way, are you bringing anyone to the dance, Bridget?”

“I’m going with Alaric. I’m quite surprised actually; a sane man would have found a good hiding spot and stayed there considering the fact that Satrina and Arioc are more than likely to drop in.”

“Well, Alaric never was quite sane. Besides he’s a romantic at heart who refuses to admit that chivalry died out,” Cary pointed out.

“World could use more people like that,” Dana added. “Well in the mean time what do we do until we find

out if it’s one of the teacher’s or not?” “Figure out what to do if it’s not one of them and pray

that Satrina and Arioc don’t kill us.” * * *

“Cary could you please pay attention to me,” Cary rolled his eyes as he held himself in a handstand

on the parallel bars. “No, Dana, I need to concentrate right now. But I am listening, so please go ahead and talk.”

“Yeah right. You never listen to me while you’re practicing.”

“Yes I do, but I’m sorry if this does require a bit of mental focus,” he said walking on his hands on the bars, grabbing them, then dropping his legs and bringing his body into an L-shape holding himself only by his arms under the bars. “And I need to practice. I can hardly get anything done here with you here.”

“Cary, you’ve been practicing for two straight hours. Everything you’ve done has been above sevens, probably in the range of eight. You need to face it, Cary, you’re not going


to lose all your skill if you just take a break of a couple days. It’s not like you’re ever going to be Olympic quality.”

“Doesn’t mean I should give up.” He said bringing himself back into a handstand and then flipping off the bars. He made a perfect landing.

“What was that three spins you made in the air coming down?”

“I think so.” “Show off.” Cary only smirked in response. “Now onto

more important business. I can tell you’ve been holding back something from Bridget and I. What is it?”

“How could you tell?” “Just something in the way you’re saying things. You

look as if you always are wanting to add something in, but stop yourself before you say anything.”

I never could hide anything from her, he thought wiping the sweat off his forehead. Luckily she doesn’t suspect what I am really thinking. She’d kill him if it turns out to be true, and kill me if I falsely accuse him. “I’m not going to tell you just yet.”

“You don’t really believe that one of our teachers is the elf, do you?”

“No, I don’t. And don’t ask me who I really think it is.” “But you think you know for sure?” “I only have a shadow of a doubt, but before I tell you

I want to be completely clear of all my doubts.” “Why? We asked Arin with only a little proof and you

didn’t hesitate this much.” “Let’s just say revealing them at the wrong time might

be dangerous for their safety.” “What, are you afraid Bridget is going to kill whoever

the elf might be.” “Something like that.” “What are you holding back, Cary?”


“Let me just say that if I’m right, then this person has intentionally deceived to hide his true identity from us. Far beyond the deception that Hashim, Arin, or Darby put up.”

“You mean lied to us?” “I don’t think he ever lied, he just skirted the truth.” “Alaric?” “I didn’t say that, Dana.” “Well let’s say it was Alaric, how would he and the elf

have been in the hospital room at the same time?” Cary sighed. He’d play her game if only to get her off

his back. “Well, if it was Alaric, and I’m not saying it is him, but if it was, our elf is very powerful magically. He could have somehow created an illusion of either himself as the elf or of himself as Alaric. It could look and sound just like Alaric, might even feel like a human body if we had ever tried to touch him. We’d never know that one was only an illusion.”

“But the elf said Alaric wasn’t one of them!” “No, he said Alaric wasn’t one of his friends; he never

said that he wasn’t Alaric. This elf plays games with his phrasing, and he’ll try to mislead us with finding just the right loophole in his words to make us look in the wrong direction.”

Dana considered his words for a moment. She realized he was right. There was always something about the way the elf had always spoken to them that suggested he carefully chose each and every word to reveal and mislead at the same time.

“But again let’s say it’s Alaric, why not tell Bridget and myself.”

“Well because if Alaric were just our friend like Hashim, Arin, or Darby, I wouldn’t be all that afraid. But I’ve gotten the feeling that Bridget may be falling in love, or she at least has a crush on him. I find Bridget to be the kind of person who doesn’t take heartbreak very well. She is far too impulsive and something like that could seriously hurt inside,


though she’d never admit it or let us know it; and it might also result in her seriously hurting Alaric physically.”

“Okay, but why would you care if Bridget gets hurt emotionally?”

“Because taunting and annoying her is one thing, it’s more fun than anything else. Actually hurting her is quite another.”

“Well that’s a little nicer than I think she would treat you.”

“Her loss.” “Do you think it’s Alaric?” she finally asked Cary. “I never said I thought it was Alaric; I’ve just been

coming up with a possible scenario for if Alaric was our mysterious elf. Dana, by the end of tomorrow, if we haven’t figured out who the elf is, I’ll tell you who I suspect.”

“Why not now?” “Dana just trust me on this one.” “Fine. Until the end of tomorrow.” “Don’t worry I think we’ll know who he is before

then.” * * *

Cary made sure Dana was asleep as he went passed her room. I hope I know what I’m doing. He did not want either Dana or Bridget finding out whom he suspected. Silently he made his way downstairs to the phone. He quickly dialed a number and waited for what seemed like an eternity for someone on the other end to pick up.

“Hello,” a voice finally said on the other end. “It’s Cary.” “What do you want at this godforsaken hour?” “Are you an elf?” “You finally figured it out, huh?” “Yeah I did.” “Does she know?”


“Not yet. I figure it would be better if you tell her. She might not want to kill you if you tell her personally.”

“Do you really think she’ll be that upset?” Cary was stunned by lack of perception on the elf’s

part. “Yes!” he said emphatically, yet quietly as to not wake anyone in his house.

“Well, I’m still bound not to reveal myself unless all of you confront me. So…I’ll figure out someway to tell her tomorrow without really telling her.”

“By the end of tomorrow, or I tell her.” “Tomorrow night?” “Very well, tomorrow night. Good night.” Cary hung

up the phone and went back to bed.


Chapter 19 The Last Day

Cary walked into Lander’s classroom slowly. He looked around the walls, at the posters, the whiteboard, the desks…everything. He felt that this could very well be the last time he would ever spend a day in this classroom. By the end of today the elf would be revealed...And then it’s off to Marduk for Dana, Bridget, and myself. And after that who knows…

“Morning, Mrs. Lander,” he said cheerfully, putting up an excellent façade of being happy. In reality he was already beginning to feel the loneliness of losing most of his friends. True he would still have Arin, Dana, Darby, Hashim, and Bridget; still he would miss everything he had grown up with, all the familiar surroundings. Even though it was his Senior year and he would have had to leave it all anyway for college, he thought he would have had a few more months to take in the fact that he was going to have to bid farewell to Fountainhead.

“Good morning, Cary,” Mrs. Lander said, but he didn’t pay as much attention to her. He sat down at his usual desk, leaned back and closed his eyes. Last day, Cary, he told himself, make it worthwhile. What was I supposed to do last night? He searched his memory for what he was assigned to do last night. He didn’t really care since he always kept ahead of the readings in all his classes, but it would be helpful to know what he was supposed to have read if he was going to discuss it today. Oh, yeah, Hamlet Act 5 scene 2. Almost everybody in the entire cast of the play dies. As the thought of death entered into his mind, he realized what else had been bothering him since the moment he awoke. Tonight at the dance will be the ideal opportunity for Satrina and Arioc to kill all of us. It’s crowded, dark, loud, and everyone will be in a costume. They’ll be able to sneak up on us without our knowing it until it’s too late; the perfect time to eliminate us.

“Good morning, Cary,” Arin gleefully said as she set her books on her desk next to him. She knelt down hugged


him, and kissed him on the cheek. He placed his hand on hers and their fingers became entwined. “So, I hear you solved the last piece of the puzzle last night. I’m so glad I’m attracted to intelligent men.”

“Well, have the four of you thought about how easy it will be do away with all of us tonight for Satrina and Arioc.”

“Actually, yes we have. We figured it was worth the risk, besides it might just help us flush Satrina and Arioc out in the open long enough to do away with them.” Several seconds passed. “Do you really think that’s wise?” “Do you really think I would let something bad happen to you if I could avoid it, Cary.” “Fine. Is he going to talk to her today?” “Yeah. He said he would once he figures out exactly what to say to her so that she won’t get too angry and kill him.”

* * * “Bridget, I need to talk to you later,” Alaric said to her as they passed on their way to class. “Not now, Alaric,” she said slightly discouraged. She felt the end was near, and the elf would be discovered within the next few days. Bridget sighed as she looked around the Fountainhead campus. She found the whole situation ironic; I’ve been here for only a few months, half that time under a spell to insure I wouldn’t notice certain people, and yet…I’m going to miss this place. I’m going to miss it more than I already miss my old school. “Okay, but when you get a chance, I do need to talk to you.” “Is it something important?” “Mildly. I think I may have come up with who the elf is.” “Great,” she said, although it really didn’t make her all that excited; finding the elf would mean leaving. Leaving her parents, her home, friends, and quite literally the very world


that she had always known. But I have no choice, if I stay Satrina and Arioc will eventually kill me. “Okay, Alaric, find me later. See you.” She continued on heading for what could be her last class of Calculus. It disturbed her that she was actually going to miss that boring class.

* * * “Anything difficult in Calculus today?” Dana asked Bridget as they walked towards Lancing’s government classroom. “Are you kidding? We’re probably leaving Fountainhead any day, and you’re worried about Calculus?” “Don’t remind me we’re leaving.” The hard truth of their departure was also hitting Dana. She didn’t want to deal with it until she had to. “Besides when do you ever find anything difficult?” “In school? Never, but that’s beside the point.” “And what is the point, Dana? Is it the fact that you’re on the verge of crying?” she said quietly. “Is it that obvious,” Dana asked as she wiped her eyes. Her eyes were still glassy. “Only if you look, I don’t think anyone else will notice. Are you going to be okay?” she had never been good at comforting people, even those that she felt great sympathy or empathy towards. “Okay? I have to leave the man I love with all my heart, but sure I’ll be fine,” she said with a harsh sarcasm. “I realize you and Cary must also be distraught over leaving all that’s dear to you, but I don’t think you can comprehend what it’s like to leave someone you love.” “No you’re right, we can’t. Cary will still have Arin with him in Marduk, and I’ll be leaving Alaric, but while Alaric is nice I never foresaw any lasting relationship between us. But who knows…maybe, just maybe, we won’t have to be in Marduk that long. And if Shawn loves you, which I’m sure he does, then he’ll wait.”


“Thanks, doesn’t do much for me though.” She stopped walking. “I know. Sometimes you just have to accept the things you cannot change.” Great, Bridget, she scolded herself, I’m sure clichés are really going to help at this point. She then did something very unBridget, she hugged her. “Thanks,” Dana tried to smile. “Oh, did Alaric mention to you that he might have an idea who the elf is?” “Yeah he did. Do you think he really might have figured out something, or is this going to be a dead end?” “Maybe he’s the elf, and he’s just going to admit it to us.” “I hope not. I’d have to kill him for blatantly lying to us.” Dana opened the door to Lancing’s room. Wow, the last time I might ever come here, Bridget considered as she walked in. As she had done for every class so far in the day, she quickly killed the urge to cry. She looked around the room; Where is Alaric? she asked herself. She sat down next to Dana. “Where is Alaric? He’s usually one of the first people to get to class.” “How should I know?” “Okay, just asking.” As she looked around the class one more time, Alaric opened the door and strode into the class. He briskly walked over to Dana and Bridget and knelt down between their desks. “Okay what do you have?” “Not much actually, but I thought it might be a lead.” “Please, end the suspense.” “Well I was going through all those photos Dana had us looking through again last night, and I found what might be our elf, but…well take a look for yourself.” He pulled out of his backpack three pictures and a magnifying class. All three pictures had arrows drawn of them. Bridget picked up one of the pictures and looked at where the arrow pointed. When she focused the image she the small shapes of what at least appeared to be the small shapes of Hashim, Arin, and


Darby all talking to a man with his back to the camera. The picture was fuzzy and all that could really be made out was that he wore blue jeans, a school sweatshirt (the kind half the students on campus owned) and had brownish-blonde hair. She picked up the next picture; again Hashim, Arin, and Darby talking to the mysterious blonde with his back to the camera. The third picture was the same. She handed the pictures. “‘You were right Alaric. This isn’t really helpful.” “Although it is probably the elf,” Dana tried to point out. “Even if it is,” she strained to keep her voice down and not attract attention, “what does this tell us about him.” “Height, build, hair color.” “Average height, average build, blondish brown hair. Doesn’t narrow it by much. Only two people met those qualifications from our original list: you and Shawn. And we know it isn’t either of you or him.” Dana realized how rude she was being to him for trying to help. “Alaric, thank you for the help, who knows it may be useful, but you yourself see its limitations.” “Yeah, but I was hoping you might catch something that I didn’t that might be the final clue to put it all in place.” “You see anything, Dana?” “Nope. We are still where we started.” On the other side of the room Darby whispered to Arin, “Is he going to tell her or not?” “Give him time…he’ll tell her by the end of today.” “Should we drop some hints?” “I asked him that, but he said he wanted to handle this himself.”

* * *


“I’m annoyed with this whole thing, Arin,” Dana declared just before walking into their Calculus class. “I want answers and I want them now!” “You’ll have them by tonight,” Arin calmly told her. “What?” Dana said in disbelief. “You have my word you’ll know who the elf is by tonight. By tomorrow morning you, Bridget, and Cary will be in Marduk with the four of us. If I were you, I would pack what you’ll need and write a letter for your parents to find after you’ve left.” Every last remnant of denial was washed out of Dana’s mind: she was leaving everything she knew and loved. “Why did you have to pick us, Arin?” she despondently asked. “Why? Because you met the criteria to the letter. Why? Because Destiny chose the three of you. Can I ask you a question? Why was my beloved homeland invaded, raped, and destroyed by an unknown army? Why did I have to befriend the three of you only to betray your trust? Which I can assure you I took no pleasure in,” she said bitterly. “Why?” “Because that’s just the way things turn out,” Dana admitted. She saw Cary open the door and slowly walk in. “Cary, could you look at these,” she said as he approached and handed him the photos Alaric had given her. “Who is that with our friends from Marduk with his back to the camera.” Cary looked for several seconds at both pictures. He gave them back to Dana. “Couldn’t tell you for sure.” “Any guesses?” “Yeah, my suspect, whom I’m going to tell you about tonight.” She glared at him with an icy stare, she just wanted it to be over. “You should be so glad I love you, Cary, otherwise…” “Oh, don’t try and frighten me, you’d never hurt your wonderful brother, would you?”


“There are days, like this one, when it almost seems tempting.” Her displeasure with him quickly abated and realized she should tell him the bad news. “Ummm…Arin says we’re definitely leaving tonight.” “Yeah, I know.” “You say that so calmly it disturbs me.” “Despairing about it won’t do me any good.” “Always pragmatic and optimistic at once,” she sighed in desperation. “I’m not up to writing anything today; you can write a letter to Mom and Dad explaining all this, I’ll just sign it.” She sighed again. She bit her upper lip as she always did when she was upset. “Have you told Bridget that we’re leaving tonight?” “We were going to tell her over lunch,” Arin told her. “It’ll be interesting to see how she reacts to this.”

* * * “WHAT!” “Tonight. We leave tonight,” Cary heard Hashim say as he left the group. His being present wasn’t going to make Bridget any more reasonable, and he needed to talk to the elf. He spotted him through the crowd and approached him. He was now so amazed at how similar the face of the elf was to the human face he used as his disguise. The only explanation for my not seeing it sooner has to be he was using magic on our minds once again. “You haven’t told her yet.” “Give me time.” “‘I’ve lied to you,’ how long does it take to say that?” Cary said, regretting making that cold statement to his friend. When he got past his emotions he did understand the necessity for the lies. “How long does it take? Well you just saw the condition she was in. If I just flat out tell her then I’m a dead man,” he said with conviction. “I don’t want to hurt her, but I


don’t want to be hurt either. I’m sure you know the kind of temper she has.” “Yes I do know the kind of temper she has, trust me I’ve probably been the brunt of that anger more than anyone else; but I can assure you the sooner you tell her the better.”

“I’ve got an idea on how to approach this, but I’ll have to wait until the end of the dance tonight, I’ll take her home and tell her on the way there.”

“Very well, but once the night is over, if she doesn’t know, I’m exposing you.”

* * * Cary turned around in his chair to see Bridget scribing

furiously on a notepad. Band class had just ended and all of the students were moving around and getting ready to leave, all except Bridget and Cary. She appeared to be crossing out every few words she wrote. Her naturally stoic face was clearly upset. “What are you doing?” he asked softly. The bell had rung and students were already filling out.

“Writing a letter to my parents. Trying to figure out how to explain all this, why I’m—I’m…” she took a deep breath, “leaving.”

“I know how you feel,” he said. “I just have to have hope we’ll be coming back.” “We will.” “How can you be so sure?” “Because if we’re the ones foretold about, then I’m sure we we’re also foretold to win.” “You don’t really believe in destiny do you?” “No. And a month ago I didn’t believe in elves.” “Point taken.” “So what are you saying? I’m curious because I have to write the same letter.” “I’m just trying to figure out how to explain everything that’s happened in the past couple of weeks.”


“I just guess we should just say exactly what happened, it’s not as if we can tell this in a way that makes sense, because it doesn’t makes sense.” “Oh sure it makes sense, if we were characters of a second rate fantasy novel, it would make perfect sense.”

“But back here in reality,” he said, “we are caught in a cruel joke of destiny that makes absolutely no sense. And who knows it could be fate stuck us in a first rate fantasy novel.”

“Please, don’t mention destiny again, I’ve had enough of destiny and fate and prophecies for the moment.”

“Okay. I didn’t mean to upset you.” “Thanks.” She put away all of her papers. “Are we all

meeting at your place tonight?” “Yes, everyone will be there at around, I think, around

five o’clock.” “I’ll be there.” She stopped and took one last look at

the band room before leaving…for the last time. * * *

Bridget finished the final sentence of her hand written letter and wiped the tears away from her eyes. Her suitcase, with about a week’s worth of clothing and various other personal effects was packed and lying in the corner of her room. It was unlikely that her parents would come into her room until it became clear that she was not coming back; that probably wouldn’t find the letter until the next morning. “Love, Bridget” she signed the letter. She took a deep sigh, and finally accepted everything. This is real and fighting it is probably what will get me killed more than anything else. If this is the path that is set out for me so be it. I am destined to save Marduk, end of story nothing to fear. As she thought the words, she also accepted them.

She stood up and was about to leave her room, her house, her previous life. She stopped, turned, and added one last line to her letter. As she walked over to her bed and


picked up her Halloween costume to change into. The ink on the final words “PS—I will be back someday” quickly dried.


Chapter 20 A Dance to Remember

“You’re saying the two of you were actually civil to each other,” Dana asked in disbelief. “Yes, we were even friendly,” Cary said recounting his afternoon trying to cheer Bridget up. “It’s a good thing we’re leaving Earth, because apparently the end of the world is at hand, as far as I can tell.” “Shut up,” Cary said putting on his green coat and hat. He thought his costume of Robin Hood looked exceptionally good. “So how do I look?” “Like Errol Flynn…only not as attractive,” she joked. “That’s a matter of opinion,” Arin said from across the room dressed up as a fairy with two transparent wings attached to her back, “I think you look wonderful, Cary. By the way Dana, what are you supposed to be?” Dana was dressed in a white dress with a decorative breastplate over her chest. At her side was a large helmet and shield. Strapped to her shoulder was a stuffed owl.

“Athena.” “Oh, yeah, duh. I should have known that.” “Why should you have known that, Arin, it’s not like

they have Greek mythology in Marduk. Do they?” “Not exactly…I’ll explain it later. When are Bridget

and Alaric getting here? And where is Shawn?” “Shawn’s in the kitchen getting me a soda.” Dana said, playing with the skirt of her costume. “Better question, where is Hashim?” “Oh, Hashim is with Bridget just in case Satrina or Arioc try something. Well then since only the people involved in our group are here right now,” she glanced over at Darby who was seated on the couch across from her, “I have to ask, are you both packed?”


“Yes, we both packed this afternoon,” Dana said regrettably. “Only essentials?” “Only essentials.” “And you have a note written to your parents?” “‘Note’ doesn’t exactly express ten pages of trying to explain everything and saying goodbye at the same time,” Cary said, “but yes we’ve said our goodbyes.” “Cary, Dana, I am so sorry we have to do this to you…if there was any other way…” Arin tried to apologize to them. “But there isn’t,” Cary finished her sentence. “No.”

Shawn came in from the kitchen, he was wearing a long blue cloak covered in gold colored runes and symbols. Under his arm was a pointed blue cap that looked very similar to the cap Mickey Mouse wore in Fantasia. “Your Coke, my dear,” Shawn said handing her the can. “Your fridge is a disaster, it took me forever to find that. What were you all talking about?”

“Nothing important.” “If you say so.” There was a knock at the front door. “Come in,” Cary

responded. Darby walked in dressed in a long, flowing, gown. It was stunning dark blue, hand-made, medieval-style noblewoman’s dress, she had used it for the last few years when she went to the local Renaissance Faire. Draped on her shoulder was deep purple velvet cloak.

“Nice gown, Darby,” Arin complemented. “Any sign of Arioc or Satrina?”

“Nope I’ve spent the last hour trying to find some trace of them in the area. They’re nowhere to be found. Which means either they’ve given up trying to kill the three of you—”

“Yeah, lots of luck,” Dana interjected.


“—or they’re planning something for tonight.” “A likelier option. So what are we going to do?” “Go to the dance and try not to get killed,” Arin

answered. “And of course try and figure out who our elven friend is.”

“Comforting, thought.” “We will keep you alive, don’t worry, Dana. We know

they’re coming, that gives us a huge advantage.” “Fine.” She continued to fidget with her dress. This whole thing was tearing her apart. Possibility of dying, leaving her parent, her home, Shawn…leaving Shawn was the idea that hurt the most. From the moment she met him she knew she would love him. The brief glimpses of possible futures she occasionally got told her that her life would be miserable without Shawn. But since I got those visions…I guess I will be losing him. Then there was that dream she had last night… “Dana could you please stop playing with your skirt, it’s driving me crazy,” Shawn asked. “Sorry, I’m just a little nervous about tonight.” “Everything will turn out fine, I’m sure,” Shawn tried to reassure her. It won’t work Shawn, she thought, words are not going to comfort me now or ever. Her thoughts were rattled by the sound of a knock on the door. Must be Bridget…took her long enough to get here. Cary opened the door; Bridget, Alaric, and Hashim stepped in. Bridget was dressed in a loose fitting long-sleeved cotton shirt, with a leather vest and chain mail. Leather boots came halfway up her calves covering part of tight fitting brown pants. At her side hung a sheath with a sword in it. She didn’t look like she had just come from a Renaissance Faire as Darby did; she looked like she had just walked out of the medieval ages. Alaric was dressed in ragged green and brown clothes, a wreath of twigs crowned his head; everyone recognized it as his costume for Puck in last year’s production of A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream. Hashim stood behind the two of them, dressed in a similar medieval style


clothes as Darby was wearing, although his had more of a upper class look to them; a fake gold crown rested on his head. “Does it bother anyone that we all look like we’re characters out of a B fantasy movie?” Bridget asked as she looked around the room at everyone’s costume. “You’re one to talk,” Cary pointed out. “I needed some way to hide the fact that I’m carrying a deadly weapon with me.” She tapped the hilt of her sword. “You expect to take that into the school gym and not have one teacher question it.” “Oh, it’s a plastic prop,” she said facetiously, “besides who would ever believe the number two student in the entire school of carrying a weapon to school. And I’ll bet anything that that quiver over there is full of real arrows and not just props since I see a real bow right next to it.” “Fine you got me.” “Now that it’s settled that almost everyone in this room is carrying a deadly weapon-” “Excuse me, almost everyone?” Arin indignantly asked. “You can kill people with your magic easily…that’s a deadly weapon in my opinion.” Arin made no comeback. “Now back to my question, why are we all dressed like fantasy characters?” “Elves, magic, swords, mystical lands; with all of this stuff around us our minds our kind of set towards a fantasy kind of theme,” Dana pointed out. Bridget sighed and rolled her eyes, she accepted the answer, although she did find the all of their costumes to a strange situation. “So when are we heading out?” “Anytime, Shawn.” “I’m good to go right now, Dana, how about the rest of you?” Bridget asked. Several “Fines” and a few simples nod followed. “Then lets go.” As they all got up to leave Cary mouthed to word “Tell her” to the elf, although nobody


besides the elf saw him do it. The elf only rolled his eyes and sneered at Cary in response. I have enough to worry about Cary, without you constantly on my case about this. I will tell her tonight, you know this, just leave me alone, he thought.

* * * Dana laid her head on Shawn’s shoulder as they slowly danced on the gym floor. The gym was nearly full with almost three hundred students in the building. Ben E. King’s voice floated from the large speakers in the background singing “Darling, darling, stand by me.” The song did not make Dana any happier. Dana tightened her grip on Shawn. Her mind raced with the options before her. Last night had been the most vivid dream of the future she had ever experienced. A jumble of possible futures of which roads could lead to what ends. She knew she had to stay with Shawn. If she was ever to find happiness in life, it would have to be with Shawn at her side. To leave him would be to never find complete contentment in life. However, at the same time she also knew that if she did not go to Marduk with Cary and Bridget then the evil that was invading Marduk would one day come to Earth and kill everyone, including Shawn and herself. Still, she had seen countless, almost infinite roads, of failing even if she went to Marduk. She never saw a possible future that ended in her success. Yet somehow she felt a slight glimmer of hope was at end of a road not shown to her in her dream. An almost nonexistent feeling that there was possibility that they could turn this evil away and save Marduk. Do I leave for an almost certain death in Marduk, or stay for a few short years of happiness here on Earth, with Shawn? “Shawn what would you say if I told you I was thinking of staying here on Earth and not going to Marduk,” she whispered to him as they danced. “I’d say I would support you in any decision you made.” “You don’t care whether I stay with you or not?”


“I don’t want you to make this about me, I want you to do what you think is right for you.” “Even if it meant leaving you?” “Yes.” “Well I think…I know that if Cary, Bridget, and I don’t go, then Marduk is doomed.” “Damn Marduk. This isn’t about people in Marduk or me, what do you think is right for you?” the absolute sincerity of his words was obvious. He meant every word. Still there is that hope, that infinitely slim hope, that the three of us can stop this evil. But is it only hope with no real substance behind it. Yet there was hope. If she went there was that chance she could survive…that Shawn would survive. There was hope. “You’re fine with whatever decision I make?” “I love you and will only be happy if you do what you think is right for you.” She looked at her options as she stared into his eyes. She had not seen the future with hope but she felt it was there. There was a slim chance that she would defeat the evil and return to Earth alive…return to Shawn…A lifetime of happiness after that, she thought. “I love you,” she said and gave him a quick kiss. “You’re going,” Shawn said knowingly, he could see what she had decided. “Yes,” he smiled as she answered. “Will you miss me?” “Whenever I’m not with you, I miss you. But I’ll always love you.” “Always?” “Always,” he said in a firm voice. “I’m going to hold you to that.” She kissed him again. “It looks like Dana isn’t as worried about leaving anymore,” Bridget commented to Alaric as they danced. “You know, you’re unusually quiet tonight, Alaric, it doesn’t fit you.”


“Sorry, my mind has been occupied.” “With what? The fact that you have a beautiful woman in your arms?” He smiled at her comment. “While that should be what I’m thinking, I’m thinking more about the fact that all of you will be leaving for Marduk. What on earth can I say to any of you about that. Any goodbye seems inappropriate or inadequate expressing how I’ll miss you all.” “You mean ‘have fun’ didn’t seem like a good way to bid us all farewell?” His mouth hung open for just a second. “How can you joke about this? You’re leaving, possibly for your death, and your joking about it.” “Earlier today Cary pointed out to me that I can either accept it and make the best of it, or like Dana has been for the last day or so I can wallow in sorrow since I can’t change the fact that I don’t see much of a choice here. My only chance for survival is to go. Hopefully I’ll live. But that can’t be all that’s on your mind?” “Well no, but…I’ll tell you later.” “What, you going to ask me if I be willing to go on a date with you if I ever get back.” “Maybe…” “Will he just tell her.” “Relax, Cary, he will. I’m not sure how he’s going to do it, but he will. Meanwhile, on a more important matter, are you going to dance with me?” He looked at her with a slight disbelief, “Important for you is dancing?” “Yeah, in the war zone that is Marduk we don’t do much dancing nowadays, so I’d like to get a dance or two in before I go back.” “Fine,” he said chuckling, and making a slight bow added, “may I have this dance, my lady?” They walked out


onto the dance floor and danced three or four dances until Alaric and Bridget approached them. “And what can we do for the two of you?” “Well, if she doesn’t mind, I would like to have one dance with Arin, since I may never see her again after this night.” “Just me in particular?” Arin asked, hesitation and doubt in her voice. “No, actually I plan to also dance with Dana and Darby as well. Think of it as my saying goodbye.” “That’s sweet of you. You can have one dance.” “Thank you.” All were grateful the blood stayed in her face. The two began to dance as different song started up, this time it was Sing, Sing, Sing. Cary turned to Bridget, “Bridget, would you care to dance?” “With you?” “Yes, with me. We’ve been civil today, and I thought we could maybe continue that.” “Fine. Can you swing?” “Fairly well.” They began to dance to the music, both impressed with the other’s dancing ability. “You’re pretty good at this,” Bridget complemented Cary as he spun her around. Before he could thank her or return the sentiment she continued talking. “Did you notice how willing Arin was to dance with Alaric?” “What do you mean?” “Oh, I’m not suggesting you should be jealous, but considering how she reacted to the idea of Alaric asking her out on a date just a week and a half ago…it seems kind of odd.” “Well I’ll admit the blood draining from the face thing was a bit odd, but I think it was more the shock of an idea she had never considered rather than revulsion as I think you’re suggesting.”


“No, what I’m suggesting is that the blood drained from her face initially to throw us off of the idea that she and Alaric are close…that Alaric is the elf.” Cary remained silent. “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Cary was about to tell her something when she spun her out and felt his grip on Bridget’s hand suddenly, and completely unintentionally, loosen. He could see the disaster even before it actually occurred but was helpless on could only watch and wince; Bridget had given herself enough inertia that without Cary’s hand holding onto hers she could not stop herself. As she desperately tried to stop herself she found herself tripping over her own feet and falling onto someone who was wearing a pure black dress. She then fell to the ground, taking this person whom Cary could not see down with her. “That’s it for me,” he said to Dana who had come up behind him, “there is going to be no way to convince her that it was an accident…I’m a dead man.” “Cary, you’re a dead man,” Dana agreed with him. “You think?” Dana looked on for another second, “Maybe not, it would appear Bridget landed on Lilith…so one of you is surely going to die.” Bridget got to her feet, humiliation covering her face. She looked down to see an incredible rage in Lilith’s face; her fists were clenched and it was obvious she was grinding her teeth. “Lilith, I am so sorry, I did not mean to do that,” she tried to sincerely apologize, “I’m sorry, it was an accident.” “I’ve had it!” Lilith shouted at her. “I’ve had it with this school, with your stupid customs, and with you three!” You three, the words screamed in the minds of Bridget, Cary, and Dana. She was right in front of us the entire time, Cary thought. She never even tried to hide her real self from us, Bridget realized, tightly gripping the handle of her sword. The features of Lilith’s face subtly changed and distorted; just sitting on the floor she seemed to grow two inches in height.


When her quick transformation was over it was not Lilith on the floor, but Satrina. Anger grew in her eyes. Suspecting something was coming, Bridget dropped to the ground just in time to avoid being hit in the chest by bolt of lighting. The lighting hit the ceiling and began a small fire. The sight of electricity and fire immediately caused panic among the multitude of students in the gym. Much like the stampede out of the symphony a week ago, the students and teachers rushed out haphazardly in an effort to escape a disaster although they weren’t sure what kind of disaster they were escaping from. Soon only nine people were on the floor: Dana, Cary, Bridget, Hashim, Arin, Darby, Alaric, Shawn, and Satrina. “Alaric, Shawn,” Dana said, “you should leave, this doesn’t involve you and I don’t want either of you hurt.” “If you think I’m leaving you Dana you’re crazy,” Shawn said firmly. “And I have a couple ribs and a fractured arm to pay you and your friend back for,” Alaric joined in. “By the way, Satrina, where is Arioc, was he pretending to be James all this time?” “James, no James was some idiot I was dating to help keep just a little hidden. Arioc has never pretended to be a student at this bloody school. But he’ll be along soon enough. Where’s your elf?” “He’s already here,” Arin assured her. Satrina cocked her head as she looked at Shawn and Alaric. She starred at both of them for just a second. “Ah, yes I can see your elven face hiding behind your magic. I should have seen it before considering you didn’t choose to change your name.” “I’d give up Satrina, it’s eight against one, eight to two if Arioc ever shows up,” Arin pointed out. There were two loud groans followed Arioc’s voice, “I’m here, and it’s six to two.” Everyone saw the bodies of Alaric and Shawn seemingly unconscious, but otherwise


unharmed, on the floor. Arioc held a sword in hand by the blade so that he had been able to hit the heads of his victims with the handle of the sword. “You idiot, why didn’t you just kill them and be done with them,” Satrina shook her head. Her head came up as she felt a blade against her throat. The blade belonged to the elf. “Because he is an idiot, Satrina…that and he really doesn’t hit someone hard enough to always knock them out.” “Hoping to finish the job this time and kill me?” Satrina asked the elf. As she asked him, she shoved the back of her head against his face, disorienting him long enough for her body to disappear out of his grasp and reappear beside Arioc. “Well you’re going to find it just as difficult as the last time.” Satrina and Arioc both drew swords, Bridget followed suit, and Cary grabbed an arrow from the quiver at his back (as Bridget has suspected they were real arrows) and lined it up in his bow. Small daggers appeared in both hands of Hashim, Arin and Darby. “Oh did I mention, I called in some help from Marduk,” Satrina sneered. Four tall men materialized behind Satrina and Arioc. All four men were clad only in some pale brown leather armor, each with a sword in his hand. “That makes it now six to seven doesn’t it?” “I’ll take those odds,” Cary said, letting an arrow fly into the shoulder of Satrina. As she screamed, Cary chided himself for his aim being off and missing her heart. Satrina ripped the arrow out and rushed toward Cary in rage. Arin threw a dagger toward Cary and he caught it in time to deflect Satrina’s sword. Arin, Darby, Hashim, and Dana took on the four warriors that had joined Satrina; Arioc was kept busy by Bridget; the elf joined Cary in the battle against Satrina. Hashim, Arin and Darby were able to keep their opponents at a draw while Dana pummeled her rival with numerous hits with her psychic powers. After knocking her


foe out Dana picked up the sword he had dropped and threw it to Arin, whom she could see was having the most difficulty. Arin grabbed the sword, dropped her dagger and dropped to the ground; she rolled to avoid a sword swipe of her foe and then shoved the sword up under his rib cage. Dana picked up her opponent and launched him against the warrior fighting Hashim. Meanwhile, Arioc and Bridget fought, the sound of the steel clanging hundred of times ringing in their ears. He’s good, Bridget thought fearing she would make a mistake and die because of it. Her years of fencing had never prepared her for something like a real sword fight. Yet she found she had enough talent to at least hold her ground. Their swords clanged once more, but this time neither drew the sword back, each trying to simply push the other back through sheer force. Oh, the hell with a fair fight, my life is on the line here, Bridget thought and kicked Arioc in the stomach. He stumbled back in pain. As he staggered backwards he bumped into Cary who had just been kicked in the gut himself by Satrina. Cary ducked the sudden sword swipe made by Arioc against his head. Arioc, it appeared, had been so desperate to inflict harm against someone he did not notice that he left himself open to an attack by Bridget. Bridget took her opportunity shoved her blade through his left side. Arioc once again withdrew, this time knowing he now had Cary and Bridget to deal with. “Looks like it’s now just you and me,” Satrina jibed to the elf. “Just like old times, dearest.” Just as she had expected, it only increased the elf’s rage to kill her. He swung his sword several times, desperate to find some weakness in her defense and kill her. Finally he found it, and cut a deep gash in her arm. Once again she drew back. She looked around, her four helpers had all been knocked out or killed, she was wounded, and Arioc was retreating one step at a time from Bridget and


Cary’s onslaught. Arin, Darby, and Hashim were moving in on her. “Arioc, this is pointless, we’ll just kill them in Marduk.” She looked the elf directly in the eyes, “Don’t think you’ve even come close to winning.” Satrina, Arioc, and their four warriors (three of whom were now dead) disappeared from the gym. Those left in the gym looked at one another slowly. No one spoke for almost a minute. “That…was almost too easy…,” Bridget observed. A strange sound filled the room, like metal bending under pressure. Bridget looked up to see the ceiling concaving. The last thing she remembered before blackness surrounded her was covering her face as the wall began to fall on her.


Chapter 21 Off to Marduk

Bridget removed her arms from her face. She looked around herself, to find she was standing atop the hills behind Fountainhead Academy. She looked down to see a pile of rubble where the gym had once stood. She turned her head to see that everyone was there with her, including the elf and the unconscious bodies of Alaric and Shawn (one of which is only an illusion, Bridget told herself.) In distance she could hear the approach of police, ambulances, and fire trucks. “Where are we?” she asked. “Outside,” the elf said in a monotone voice. “Sorry, I meant how did we get out here?” “Magic,” the elf again blankly responded. “Why did you use magic to bring us here?” “If you hadn’t noticed the gym was collapsing. No doubt, Satrina’s last ditch attempt to kill all of you.” “And for my final question…which one of these two unconscious men is really an illusion?” she asked as she pointed to Alaric and Shawn. “I’ll break that to you in a few minutes, I just feel it would be easier if I can tell you later tonight, first in my human disguise.” “Is that the best you can do?” Bridget said, completely infuriated by his answer. “Yes, I have worked all day on my speech on how to break it to one of you; but it will only work if I’m first break it to you as you think you know me.” “Fine then just get on with it,” Dana ordered him. The elf turned around to face Dana, “I will, Dana, now excuse me while I disappear. Goodbye my dearest,” he said as he kissed Dana on the check and began to walk off. He abruptly stopped and silently mouthed several obscenities as he realized the mistake he had just made, falling into a habit


without even thinking. Dana only stood looking at him, mouth open, fury blazing in her eyes. Bridget stood next to Cary amazed. Only one person would ever say that to Dana. She had suspected him, yes, Bridget admitted to herself, yet something in her had never wanted to believe it was him, mostly she knew how it would hurt Dana. “Shawn!” Dana shouted infuriated (‘Hell hath no furry…’ crossed the minds of everyone watching Dana and Shawn). No one noticed, but the image of Shawn’s unconscious body disappeared. “You’ve lied to me all this time.” “Dana,” Shawn, the elf, tried to defend himself, “I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, to lie to you. Well actually I did intend to lie to you about my identity, but I never expected to fall in love with you. And I do love you, you must know that Dana.” Dana walked over to him and gave him a hard hit to the jaw with her left fist. Shawn was thrown to the ground by the force of the hit. As he began to get himself up he told her, “I deserved that.” Bridget leaned over to Cary and whispered to him, “Shouldn’t we try to help him?” “Not when she’s this angry. Shawn should be glad she’s only using physical force and not her psychic abilities against him.”

Dana put out her hand to help Shawn get up. Dana helped him up and helped him dust off his clothes. Then she decked him again, this time with her right fist. “Are you finished?” Shawn asked despairingly from the ground. Dana glared at him. “For the moment. But you will spend the rest of your life making this up to me.” “I know,” he groaned. She helped him up again, and kicked him in the shin, but not as hard as she could have. “On to slightly more important business,” Arin interrupted the beating. “Like what?” Bridget inquired. “Well, you had discovered all four of us. It won’t take a minute to get your luggage here. Shall we be off to Marduk?”


The words seemed unreal to Bridget. She had been preparing to leave, but nothing could prepare her for actually leaving her own world. “Marduk?” was Cary could say. He too could hardly believe what was occurring. The shock settled in a little too quickly for all three of them. Solving the mystery of the elf and staying alive had been so much at the forefront of their minds that actually leaving for Marduk had always been a distant third in terms of things to worry about, until this moment. Their minds raced to comprehend this radical change. Anyone who has ever left the comfort of home for college, and how that first moment in the dorm after mom and dad drive away has a fraction of an idea of how Bridget, Cary, and Dana felt with a whole new world being thrust upon them—but only a fraction of the gut kick that this was to them. “Yes, Marduk,” the elf said, once again brushing the dirt off of himself, “You know, the place we were going to take you to save. Hashim?” “The portal is all ready, it’s just taken me three days trying to open the blasted thing and stable enough to leave at a moments notice, but we can leave whenever we want.” “Good,” the elf said and snapped his fingers. The world quickly went out of focus for Dana, Cary, and Bridget. Then just as soon as it had gone out of focus it amazing back into focus and they found themselves not on the hills above Fountainhead Academy, but in town standing right next to the large fountain at the very center of Fountainhead. The fountain was a large stone edifice with a large seven pointed star at the apex of the fountain. The fountain, the town’s namesake, was possibly the oldest standing edifice in the town, dating back over a hundred years to the founding of the town. The few bags they had packed were already there. The town square was empty (everyone had left for Fountainhead Academy to make sure their children were safe.


“Where’s Alaric?” Bridget asked. “Oh he’ll be fine, they’ll find him unconscious near the debris of the gym. I’m sure he’ll come up with some story to cover for our disappearances. I left him a note reassuring him we’re all fine. Hashim if you wouldn’t mind.” “No problem,” Hashim said as he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. In the middle of the fountain what seemed like a doorway opened. It at first seemed just a sliver of color seven feet tall but it soon grew longer until before them a scene of a green valley was before them, seemingly just pasted in front of the fountain. At the far end of the valley they could see the outline and lights of a castle. “After you three,” Shawn invited them in. They took his invitation and walked into the scene, as they did Fountainhead disappeared, and was immediately replaced by Marduk.

Please Check the Destiny’s Knights Page on http://conservativenewager.wordpress.com

For more information on the adventures of Bridget, Cary and Dana.

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