Creatures of Snow (26 page)

She looked away, not able
to stand his shaking hands any longer. A belt of laughter came out
of him, sending her back into her seat with a startled look in his
direction.

He was smiling out the
window, watching his reflection. “What on earth is Lee going to
think when we show up?” He turned to her, his eyes bright and
cheerful, it was a look she’d never seen on him before. “You two
must be very frightened, please come in and rest while I make us
some tea and cookies.” He mocked with a decent impression of
Lee.

She couldn’t help but laugh, “He might
actually say that.”

Sky laughed some more and brought his feet
up to the seat, resting his chin on his knees. “He’s a good
guy.”

She nodded in agreement,
unsure of what to make of his sudden mood swing, but quite frankly,
this side of Sky she might be able to stand.

Chapter Twenty

Sky hadn’t meant to fall
asleep, but as a streak of sunshine stretched its way over his eyes
he realized it must already be morning. He looked around with sleep
filled eyes - the room was neat, tidy and nearly empty. He stood up
slowly, the shirt he was wearing nearly reached his knees and he
remembered they were at Lee’s house. He didn’t recognize the room
and could only assume he had been carried there, just one more item
to be added to his recent list of embarrassments.

Lee had let them in the night before without
a second thought. To Sky’s surprise he lived alone, but, he
supposed, being a prince had its perks. There had been no tea and
cookies, just a lot of questions.

A light knock sounded on the door, “You are
up?” Lee’s voice questioned from the other side.

He had to clear his throat
and didn’t get the chance to answer the question before the door
swung open. “Good morning. If you are feeling all right, I suggest
we start moving.”

Sky nodded and smiled, “Aye, Aye.” He looked
around the room as if he was forgetting something, but no, it
wasn’t his room and he had brought nothing with him.

Lee stared at him quizzically, “We can stop
by your home, I generally walk past it on my way to the transport.
You may prefer to have your own clothing.”

He just laughed and lifted
his arms in the shirt that was at least two sizes too big, “What do
you mean, fits like a glove.”

Lee smiled an actual smile
and turned out of the room. Sky followed him down into the main
room where Sara sat on alert.

“Finally.” She gruffed and
stood, somehow making the grossly oversized clothing she wore look
good. Her face was cleaned up and he could only make out the
slightest shades of blue and purple spreading out beneath her
eyes.

“Sorry, you don’t stay
this good looking on lack of sleep.” Sky shrugged. “Did you sleep
at all?”

Sara looked at him with
her usual glare, “How could I?” She stepped toward him and he
braced for a lecture on. “With your snoring. You sleep like a
beast.” She almost smiled as she scooped up the lectro club she has
swiped the night before, “Let’s head out.”

Lee led the way down the
gravel path with Sara close at his side. Sky stayed a few steps
behind, trying to calm his thoughts and keep them quiet, not
wanting to bother Lee with his mess of a mind. It was just so hard
to imagine that most of what he saw and heard last night was just
an illusion, but it didn’t matter, what mattered now is that they
found Roland and he hoped to the highest Haven that old four eyes
had gotten in contact with Zeph.

“
Yesterday when you came
to us at the library,” Lee began, his head turning slightly, “I am
sorry that I did not believe in what you were saying.”

His step faltered momentarily, he hadn’t
gathered that at all from their conversation. “It’s fine, I
probably wasn’t making much sense.”

Lee shook his head,
looking down to Sara, “I do not trust your mentor.”

“Con? Or Ellie? Either
way, that’s ridiculous. They’re amazing.” Sara’s glanced back at
Sky for support.

“Skilled warriors know how
to mask their thoughts. This Con that I was introduced to
yesterday, he did not just mask his thoughts, but his entire
presence. I just can not help but wonder why someone would do such
a thing.”

“You’re being paranoid,”
Sara nudged him with a smile, “That guy is less than a threat than
this one back here.” She threw a thumb back over her
shoulder.

Sky wanted to say
something, anything, but didn’t. He was too un-nerved by what Lee
had said. Con was his mentor, and he would like to think he was a
friend, but if push came to shove, he trusted Lee’s intuition a
hundred times over. Something in the back of his head was pulling
at his brain, something Con had said before he had left…

“
Wow, look at that, a
ship!” Sara exclaimed.

Sky’s stomach dropped,
“What?” He looked up from the dirt under his feet and saw it, a
mile yet down the road, but clearly visible in the back lot
-The
Regan Fortuna
.

“Dad.” Sky felt a welling
in his chest. They were saved. They didn’t need Roland, they didn’t
need Zeph, all they needed was right there in his house. “Come on!”
He shouted and ran down the road with one goal in mind.

He veered off the road and
over the fence, heading straight through the tall yellow grasses.
He could hear Sara and Lee crashing through the brittle stalks,
growing farther and farther behind him as his legs carried him
faster and faster.

“
Dad!” He screamed as loud
as he could possibly scream, “Zero!”

He should have been
winded, but when he reached the stoop it was like he hadn’t even
ran. He leaped up the steps with nothing but relief in his lungs as
he reached for the handle. The door flew open before he could touch
it and the angriest face he had ever seen pushed its way towards
him, followed quickly by the sting of a hard, solid punch to the
side of his face. He stumbled back and hit the dirt.

“
Where were you!” Zero
screamed at him.

“
Zero, please,” He climbed
to his feet only to be shoved back down again.

Strong arms pulled him up and away from the
fuming Telic.

“Don’t touch him!” Sara
yelled back as Lee settled him on his feet.

“
Who are you?” Zero looked
her up and down with a snarl.

“
Who are you?” She bit
back.

“Stop. This is Al’s uncle,
Zero. He lives here.” Sky gently broke out of Lee’s grip and
stumbled forward. “This is Sara and Lee, friends from
school.”

Zero stared at him, his face a perfect mask
of hardened rage. “Zeph called us back and all we find is an empty
house and your room soaked in blood. Where were you?”

“Skyden?” His dad’s voice
called out, a voice filled with desperation. Zero snarled and moved
aside as his dad flew out of the house and threw his arms around
him. “Oh, thank the Havens.”

“
We thought you were dead,
or worse.” Zero crossed his arms and stood his ground. “And you
were just out frolicking with your friends?”

“You have a very violent
way of showing your concern, and he wasn’t frolicking.” Sara was an
even match for Zero’s growling tone.

His dad let him go and
held him out at arms length. “Zeph said you guys are being targeted
by some assassin or something, that your friends were in danger…He
sent this Roland kid over to search the house…” He shook his head;
his face still wet with the remnants of grief, “Why didn’t you tell
me. Why, why in this world would you keep something like this from
me?”

He wanted to cry, but he
just looked away. “I didn’t want you to lose that job.” It did
sound stupid when he said it out loud. “I just didn’t want to worry
you.”

“Priorities, Sky. Really?”
Zero snapped.

“That’s why you…” His
dad’s voice trailed off and his face went slack. The hint of tears
threatened the corners of his eyes, but with a sharp inhale, his
slouching posture straightened and he regained his composure. “Your
room, what happened in there?”

“Captain, sorry to
interrupt,” Roland strolled around the side of the house, his eyes
trained on his tablet, “What was in the attic? It seems that,
whatever the Man of Mist was looking for, was most likely
there.”

“It’s just a bunch of junk
from the old days.” Zero stepped between Roland and them, “Nothing
of value.”

Roland just nodded and
swiped across the screen. “hmmph.” Was all he said. He glanced up
and finally noticed the rest of them there. “Oh, you’re back.
Good.” He pulled out a pocket scan and ran it quickly over all
three of them, pausing only briefly when he ran over Sky’s side.
“You all seem to be in once piece.”

“He was here last night.
He came to my town, that freak attacked us.” Sara stepped towards
Roland, “Why is this happening?” Her voice, for the first time was
edging on panic now that they were safe.

Roland nodded in a robotic
manner, “Well, no need to worry now.” He said in a forcefully
chipper tone, “Master Zeph has called a meeting to discuss the
matter and how it should be handled.”

“Wonderful. A meeting.
That certainly does help.” Sara scoffed and backed away from
him.

“In fact,” Roland ignored
her snotty remark and turned towards his dad, “We should leave now
if we would like to arrive in a timely manner. He wanted us to meet
at the Kane estate.”

Zero snarled, but said
nothing. He simply turned his back to them and went back in the
house with a slam of the door.

“The Kane estate. Strange
place to hold a meeting.” His dad sighed.

“
I’m sure he has his
reasons.” Roland assured them.

His dad nodded warily,
“All right. Let’s get going.” He said and looked around at them.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think we were introduced.” He let a casual
smile soften his face as he finally noticed the other standing
around him, “I’m Victor, this little monster’s dad.” He extended
his hand towards Sara. “And who might you be?”

“
Sara,” She almost giggled
as she took his hand.

“Pleased to meet you,
Sara.” His dad shook her hand gently and looked over to Sky. “Is
this that friend of yours you were telling me about?”

“I put up with him on
occasion.” She laughed awkwardly, trying to pull his dad’s
attention back to her as she stared at him with pure
adoration.

Sky had seen it all
before. He was used to it, especially around his dad. He didn’t
know what the proper term for it was, but he had always heard it
dubbed the ‘Craze’. He let himself wander towards Lee who was
looking quizzically towards Sara and his father’s odd
exchange.

“We should get going if we
don’t want to be late.” Roland’s voice bit through the
air.

Lee looked uncomfortably
back at Sara, who was literally clinging to Sky’s dad, as he
escorted her forward a few yards behind them. “
Sara is acting a bit strange, would not you
agree?”

Sky’s heart dropped a bit,
he hated explaining it. “
My conclusion is
that she is strange in general, but yes, she is acting strange…for
her.”

Lee gave what could have
been considered a glare in his dad’s direction.

Sky shoved him a bit to
get his attention back. “It’s not her fault. Don’t worry Lee,
she’ll be back to normal soon enough. Meeting an Iko for the first
time is…sometimes, a pretty intense thing.”

“I do not seem to be
affected…or am I?” Lee looked down at his large hands and was
obviously fighting the urge to look behind them once
again.

“No,” Sky sighed. “You
probably won’t be, at least not with the Captain since he’s an Iko
of Protection. They sometimes call it the Craze, Iko’s
involuntarily attract humans that are in need of there
specialty.”

A light seemed to go off
in Lee’s massive head. “Oh, yes, I have heard of this.” He turned
back for an instant and came back around with a look of inquiry.
“If he is an Iko of Protection, then he would draw to him those
that are in need
, insecure, vulnerable or
weak, correct?”

“More or less.” He nodded
slightly.

“Are we not taking your
autobeil?” Roland questioned as his dad started leading the way up
the driveway on foot.

“Don’t got one. We’ll have
to walk there.” His dad shrugged without looking back.

“Wonderful.” Roland’s face
fell. “He owns a ship, but not a beil.”

His dad led the way with
Sara and Lee close behind. Sky hung back, feeling obligated to keep
Roland’s slow pace.

“Perfect.” Roland wheezed
as he came up beside him. “I was hoping to get a chance to talk
with you.” He paused and let out a series of disgustingly wet
coughing fits.

“Are you going to be
okay?” Sky slapped him on the back.

“Quite all right. It’s
just,” He put a hand to his heaving chest, “too much physical
activity,” He paused again, clearing his throat, “makes me
downright nauseous.”

“So,” Sky sighed, “What
did you want to talk to me about?”

“Yes,” Roland straightened
himself out once he caught his breath. “First off, are you all
right?”