The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (28 page)

“I’m sorry, Phinneas.  Olivia told me to look after you and…well…”

Phinneas turned around with a warm smile.  “Bless her
heart.  I miss my little lady.”  He turned back to his clock and polished some
more.  “You do what you need to do, Elijah.  Just promise to let me help in any
way I can.”

“Actually, there is something,” Elijah said.  “I need this
house.”

“Sure,” Phinneas agreed.  “What for?”

“I need a place to assemble a search party for Olivia and
the sphere.”  Phinneas looked at Elijah curiously.  “I can’t do this alone,
Phinneas.  I need help.”

Phinneas nodded his head, his back still turned to Elijah. 
“I can’t say that I blame you.  But I must warn you, think long and hard about
who you let into your communion.  If they’re not up for the challenge, they’ll
only be a liability.  Choose wisely, Elijah.  Not everyone can handle it.”

“I will,” Elijah said.

“Right then.  I will make arrangements for your guests. 
What do you need?”

“I’m not sure yet,” Elijah said.  “The maps.  The back
room.  We just need a secret place to meet at first.”

“When do you plan on meeting?” Phinneas asked.

“Soon.  Today, if possible.  It’ll be later in the
afternoon, if I can round everyone up.”

“I’ll get to work,” Phinneas said.

Elijah began to feel an excitement in the pit of his
stomach.  He left Phinneas around eleven, taking one of his horses as
transport.  He arrived at the barracks a little over two hours later and marched
straight for the front office by the doors.

“Can you tell me if Adam Flemming signed out today?” Elijah asked
the pimple-faced clerk.

The clerk looked at the sign-out log.  “Doesn’t look like
it.”

“What about Becca Uribe?”

“No.  Why?”

“Thank you,” Elijah said, leaving the clerk with a confused
look on his face.

After searching the barracks, Elijah found Adam sitting
alone on the far side of the oval fire pit.  He was reading a book.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked as Elijah approached him.

“I’m fine,” Elijah said.  “I need you to do me the biggest
favor you’ve ever done for me.  I need you to get Paul, Isaac, and Hannah to
sneak out of here and meet me at Olivia Rose’s house.”

“May I ask why?” Adam asked.

“No time.  Just get them to come.  But you probably shouldn’t
say that you’re doing this for me.”

“When do you need them?”

“Right now.”

He left Adam without waiting for him to agree and flew down
the two flights of stairs into the library.  He found Becca working at the
front desk.

“What’s got you so frazzled?” Becca asked.

“Leave.  Get someone to cover your shift and come with me.”

“I hate to break it to you,” Becca said, “but
you’re
the one who’s supposed to cover
my
shift today, remember?”

“I’ll think of something.  I’ll say I’m sick.  C’mon.  We
need to leave.”

“What’s the hurry?” Becca asked.

“Nothing.  Okay, everything.  You know what I told you
yesterday about the—y’know.”

“Sure, okay.  What about it?”

“I need your help.”

“Fine.  I’ll help you.  Why do I have to leave?  Let’s just
talk.  What’s up?”

Elijah growled.  “Not here.  We have to leave.  Now!”

“Ah, geez,” Becca said.  “Hold on.”

She jogged into the back.  Elijah could hear her saying
something to the librarian.  Then, she signed out and followed Elijah back up
the stairs.

“You now owe me twice,” Becca said.  “So do you mind telling
me why all of a sudden you can’t wait to tell me what it was I had to pry out
of you yesterday?”

“Sure,” Elijah said.  “But not now.  I’ll tell you when we
get to Phinneas’s.”

Becca suddenly halted. “You’re taking me all the way up
there
? 
No way!”

“Becca, trust me,” Elijah pleaded.  “It’s important.  You’ll
understand when I tell you.  Please, just follow me.  You can make fun of me
the whole trip there, I promise.”

Becca squinted at him incredulously.  “The
whole
way?”

Elijah grinned.  “Thank you.  Now hurry.  I don’t want to be
in the last group to leave.”

When Becca and Elijah arrived, the counters were cleared
off, the knickknacks were dusted, and the couches were cleaned.  Everything
looked tidy.  Elijah was shocked.  It was a completely different house.  He offered
Becca a seat on the couch and poured her some of the hot cider Phinneas
purchased from the markets.  After Becca had gotten settled, Phinneas left the
room.

Becca whispered, “Okay then.  I’m here.  I’m warm.  What
then?”

“Just wait,” Elijah said looking at the clock.

“Wait for what?  You brought me all the way here to tell me
to wait some more?  Spill it, Hawk!”

“The others won’t be here for another couple hours since
they’re on foot,” Elijah said.

“The
others
?” Becca exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, Becca.  I can’t explain now.  Just sit tight. 
There’s some old books in the Roses’ library if you want something to read.”

“I work in a library, Elijah.  I didn’t come here to read.”

Elijah didn’t respond.  He didn’t say anything for the next
couple hours.  He continued to peer out the curtains until he eventually saw
the shadows of his friends appearing through the trees.  The sun had already
set, and he was getting worried they weren’t going to show.  “Oh, good,” he
said.

“What?” Becca snapped, irritated at sitting in silence for
the last two hours.

“The others showed up.”

“I should hope so,” she said.

Elijah opened the door.  As soon as he did, Paul stopped in
his tracks and turned toward Adam.

“So
this
is what Phinneas had to say, huh?” Paul
snapped.

Adam turned to Elijah, “I told them that Phinneas needed to
talk with them.  I didn’t know what else to say.”

Hannah smiled sheepishly.  She didn’t make direct eye
contact with Elijah as she handed him her scarf and gloves.  Elijah tried to return
her smile, but he couldn’t catch her glance.

Isaac, on the other hand, looked like he was about to burst
out of his seams.  He grabbed Elijah and then quickly let him go, shaking like
a kid who had eaten too much candy.

Paul glanced around and saw Becca sitting on the couch.  “You’ve
got to be kidding me!” he shouted.

Becca threw her arms up.  “I swear I had no idea!  Elijah’s
been playing us all, it seems!”

“I haven’t been playing anyone,” Elijah said.  He knew this
was his time.  “Can you all please sit down?  Just hear me out.  Then, if you
want to leave, leave.”

They each sat and looked at Elijah expectantly.

Elijah sighed.

“I know things have been weird lately.  Okay.  Not just
lately, but for a while.  Paul, I know you’re mad at me for not telling you
what was going on, and I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to make you feel…whatever you
felt…I just had things I had to deal with.”

Paul softened his intense glare.  He lowered his voice. 
“It’s cause you’re a big weenie, that’s why.”

Elijah tried to grin.  Isaac looked uncomfortable.

“Hannah,” Elijah said.  “I don’t even know what to say to
you.  I’ve been a jerk.  I know I’ve been ignoring you, and I miss hanging
out.  And I’m really very sorry about yelling at you.”

“In front of everyone,” Paul added.

Becca punched Paul.  “He gets it, moron.”

“I think that most of all, I’m sorry for being distant.  To
all of you.  I really should have relied on you guys.  At the time I really
thought I was doing what was best, and I’ll try to explain, but honestly, I
should have done this a lot sooner.”

Elijah stole a glance at Hannah.  He couldn’t read her.  She
seemed like she was listening, but she had herself curled up tightly on the
corner of the sofa and gazed at the floor.

Elijah didn’t feel as relieved as he thought he would.  The
wound was still there.  He just hoped it wasn’t too late to start healing.

“Okay then,” Paul said in an upbeat voice Elijah hadn’t
heard from him in a long time.  “Are we going back, or was there more?”

“There’s a lot more,” Elijah said.  “I have something to
tell you.  Something big.  Really big.”

“He’s dying!  I knew it!” Paul joked.

As annoying as it was, Elijah was glad Paul was back to
making inappropriate comments.

“What is it?” Isaac asked.

“Before I go on, I need you to swear on your life that what
I tell you will be kept to this room.  We can’t talk about it anywhere else. 
To anyone else.  No one!  For any reason.”

“Elijah, what the heck kind of creepy cult are you
initiating us into?” Paul asked.  “Are we going to be drinking blood soon or
something?”

No one laughed.

Elijah sighed.  “I’ve been given a quest.  But I can’t do it
alone.  I need help.  You are the people I trust the most.  I want your help. 
All of you.  But if you offer your help, you will also be swearing your
secrecy.  And I don’t want that to be taken lightly.”  Elijah looked at each of
their faces, one by one.  “I want to build a council.  Our own council.  To
keep a very important secret safe.  Are you all willing to join me?”

Isaac was the first to respond.  “I will.”

Adam put his hand up after thinking a minute.

Becca frowned.  “How can we join you if we don’t know what
we’re joining?”

Paul nodded.  “That’s what I was thinking.  What if we say
yes, and then you tell us, and we don’t want to anymore.”

“You can’t,” Elijah said.  “You’re going to have to make a
blind commitment.  I realize asking you this just after I apologized for being
a complete jerk isn’t the best timing, but I really can’t have it any other
way.  What I am going to tell you is too big.  If you’re not sure you can make
the commitment before I tell you, then you shouldn’t make it at all.”

Becca and Paul exchanged glances.  Hannah still looked at
the ground.

“Well, I don’t want to be left out,” Paul said.

“Is that a ‘Yes’?” Elijah asked.

“Sure,” said Paul.

“Becca, how about you?”

“All I’m agreeing to is keeping the secret.  Count me as
suspect for everything else,” she said.

“What about you, Hannah?”

For the first time, Hannah looked at Elijah.  She had tears
in her eyes, which took him off guard.

“You know I will,” she said.  Then she looked down and
dabbed at her eyes.  Paul shifted uncomfortably.

Elijah breathed a long, heavy sigh.

“Okay.  Then that does it.”  He looked at his friends.  They
looked worn and embattled.  He wanted to give them all a huge hug for plunging
into this unknown promise that would change their lives forever.  They made a
promise to him after all he had done.  He felt like the luckiest guy in the
world to have such loyal friends.

“Well then,” Elijah finally said.  “Let’s get something warm
to drink because we’re in for a long night.”

Chapter
14:

THE SECRET MEETING

Paul looked out the window at the wind blowing fiercely
through the trees, creating a roaring howl as it passed by the house.  He
closed the curtain.  “Looks like we’re here for the night.  We’re well past the
final return trip.”

“Will they be coming to look for us, then?” Isaac asked.

“How would they know where to look?” Paul replied.

“You signed out, doofus!” Becca retorted.  “They’ll know.”

“We’re just going to have to get as much done as we can,”
Elijah said.  “If they come for us, then we’ll just say we missed the return
trip and act like it was an honest mistake.  But until then, we’ll get through
as much as we can.”

“Then let’s get to it!” Paul demanded.  “I gotta say, I
finished my cider already.  What are we waiting for?”

Everyone returned to their seats.

“Do any of you know anything about the legend of the
sphere?” Elijah began.

Becca was the only one to raise her hand.

“Really?” Becca asked.  “I thought everyone knew about the
sphere.”

“Not everyone’s from—”

Paul stopped himself.  “Never mind.”

“Awwww, look at you,” Becca said to a scowling Paul. 
“Despite your noble attempt to stop from saying something rude, it’s true.  The
legend of the sphere is required knowledge in Malpetra.”

“Why don’t we learn about it here?” Isaac asked.  “Is it not
required?”

“Maybe we learn about it later,” Elijah responded.  “It’s
kind of a big deal.”

“I’ll say!” said Becca.  “Maliphists know of it before they
even get to the Malpetra Academy.”

“All right already!  What the heck is it!?!” Paul demanded.

“It’s a legend,” Elijah began.  “But it’s true.  Apparently,
long ago Maliphist created this sphere as a weapon of sorts, and whoever possessed
it would be invincible, or something like that.”

“
Controlled
it,” Becca interjected.

“Yeah, what’d he just say?” Paul snapped.

“Elijah said possessed.  I said controlled.  There’s a
difference.  A child can possess a sword.  But they can’t control it.  It takes
a skill to control.”  She turned to the others.  “We talked a lot about this in
Malpetra.”

“So how’s that important?” Paul asked.

“If you find the sphere, it doesn’t mean that you can use it
as a weapon,” Becca answered.  “You have to have the skill.”

“Either way,” Elijah said, “it’s dangerous and we don’t want
the Maliphists to get it.  Even if it takes a skill, it’s not worth the risk. 
Someone will eventually be able to use it, and most likely, it will mean the
end of the Magi.  Probably the world too.”

Hannah raised her eyebrows and spoke for the first time
since agreeing to keep the secret.  “Wait a minute.  I think I
have
heard about this.  But my parents told me not to tell anyone.”

“Why?” Becca asked.

Hannah shrugged.  “I never asked.”