The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (42 page)

Elijah picked at the meat on his plate, which wasn’t too
terrible, but he didn’t touch the yellow curd.  He spread it carefully around
his plate so it looked like he tried some.  Paul looked at his food like he was
going to be eaten by it.

“Anyway,” Rico continued, “Those of us who remain here are
the descendants of those wind controllers who stayed.  And we have kept this
place secret, even from Magi, for fear that the Maliphists would return to destroy
us once more.”

“You guys think the Maliphists still want to attack the
city?” Paul asked.

“We know they do,” Rico explained.  “They’ve been searching
for this place ever since.  Something about it is valuable to them.  We are not
sure what they’re after, but they continue to turn up.  They’re the reason
Master Olivia is here.”

“The Maliphists attacked Olivia?” Elijah asked.

“Yes,” Rico said.  “And they probably wish they hadn’t.  She
was ambushed by a dozen.  Maybe more.  Beaten and bloodied though she was, she
still handled them mightily.  If any of them survived, they are worse off than
she.  Our watchers found her and rescued her once she had fought them all off.”

“You didn’t bother to help?” Paul asked.  Becca punched him
in the leg.

“We helped from afar,” Rico said, unfazed by Paul’s
judgmental comment.  “We did what we could, but the damage was already done by
the time we arrived.”

“So where do I fit in with all this?” Elijah asked.

Rico placed his hand on Elijah’s shoulder.  “Master Olivia
has been waking up for short periods lately.  She is quite concerned when she
does.  For a while, we thought she was disoriented and confused.  She kept
saying something about a boy named Elijah coming to find her.  Sometimes she
would wake up and just say your name and then fall back asleep.  Sometimes she
would talk for a few minutes, but each time was the same.  She wanted us to
make sure you were safe and to bring you here.”

“She must have known you would come looking for her,” Becca
said.

Elijah sighed.  He felt a small bit of relief knowing that
he did the right thing.  He made the right decision.  He needed to feel that at
least one decision he made was right because lately he had been feeling that
every decision ended up a disaster.  “So what do we do?  Is she going to be
okay?”

“I believe so,” Rico said.  “She has been doing quite well
lately.  Her bleeding has died down the last couple of weeks.  And she’s been
waking up more.  She can barely eat, but she seems to be getting stronger and
her appetite is improving slightly.  I think you should remain here until she
wakes up.  Feel free to roam around our little village, but I must ask that you
stay.”

“When do you think Olivia will wake up?” Elijah asked.

“As soon as she does,” Rico said, “I’ll call for you.”

“How long before she can leave?”

“I don’t know.  She’s still very sick.  She will need lots
of rest.”

Elijah grabbed a banana from the bowl in the middle of the
table.  Now he knew why Olivia hadn’t returned.  It seemed they were now on her
timetable.  Until she could communicate with them what to do, they were stuck.

“What about Isaac?” Paul asked.

Rico said, “He’ll be okay.  He needs lots of rest and
recovery time, but he will eventually come around.”

Paul didn’t say anything else.  He only fiddled with the
food on his plate.

After dinner, Elijah, Paul, Hannah, and Becca decided to
take a walk around the island of cliffs.  It was very small indeed.  They had
already seen most of the village just by going from their huts to the
infirmary, but there was an outer perimeter that was thick with forest brush. 
Elijah was tempted to try to walk into the brush but remembered the cliffs that
surrounded the island and decided it was probably best not to go exploring,
especially at night.

The temperature dropped significantly as the evening wore
on.  The boys had a small pit for fire in front of their hut, so they all
decided to warm themselves there until it was time to go to bed.  Elijah looked
forward to the time when he could sink his aching body into the comfortable
bed.  It had been a long, exhausting day, but they needed time to rest their
minds before sleeping.  He could sleep as long as he wanted tonight.

“You guys trust that guy?” Paul asked as they sat around the
fire.

“You mean Rico?” Becca asked.

“Yeah,” Paul answered.

“Why not?” Elijah asked.

“He seems a little odd to me,” Paul continued.  “Olivia
spits out your name and all of a sudden they’re ready to show a complete
stranger and his friends this city they’ve been hiding for centuries.  Sounds a
little weird.”

“But this is Olivia,” Hannah chimed in.  “She’s not just a
big deal in Savenridge.  Everyone knows about her.  If it were me, I’d take her
word for it.  I’d trust a stranger if she thought it was okay.”

“Maybe,” said Paul.

“Wouldn’t they have killed us if they had the chance?”
Elijah asked.

“Maybe they don’t want to
kill
you,” Paul said.  “I
don’t know.  It’s all just strange.  Plus, what’s with the Maliphists hanging
around?  They destroy a city years ago and then hang around for a thousand years
in case the city wants to rebuild?  Kind of a waste of resources if you ask
me.”

“Rico said they were searching for something,” Hannah said. 
“He said this place is valuable to them.”

“What could be valuable about this place?” Paul asked.  “I
mean, sure the tree houses are kinda cool.  Although I’m glad I’m not the one
having to cross that bridge tonight after we’re done here.”

“Such a gentleman,” Becca said.

“But seriously,” Paul said.  “This place isn’t exactly beach
front property.”

“Could they be looking for the sphere here?” Hannah asked.

“They already have it,” Elijah said.

“What about the cubes?” Hannah pressed.

“Olivia said they didn’t know about the cubes.”

“What if they do now?” Paul suggested.  “What if they’ve
always known?  Olivia thought she was the only one who knew.  What if the
Maliphists think they’re the only ones that know?”

“How would they know?” Elijah asked.

“The same way we found out,” Becca stated.  “They’re not
dumb.”

“Says the ex-Maliphist,” Paul said, and then flinched, expecting
retaliation from Becca.

“Even if they didn’t know,” Becca continued, “they found
Olivia here, so they know something’s up.”

Just then, snow began to fall straight down from the trees
without a breath of wind.  Becca got up.  “Well that’s it for me.  I’m going to
bed.  Don’t get up, Paul.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Paul replied.  Then he paused to
think.  “Actually, I am.  I’m gonna look for something to shoot with my
crossbow.  There’s gotta be something around here.”

Becca rolled her eyes and walked across the rope bridge to
her hut.  Paul started down the stairs.

Hannah smiled, staring at the falling snow.  “This reminds
me of Savenridge,” she said.  “I miss it there.  It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow. 
Did you know that?”

“I actually didn’t know that,” Elijah replied.  He was about
to ask what she thought her parents were going to do when she didn’t return for
winter holiday, but at that moment, she leaned into him and put her head on his
shoulder, her hair lightly brushing his cheek, and he could barely remember his
own name.

“What would you be doing in Savenridge right now if we were
home?” she asked.

“I actually don’t know,” Elijah said.  “Last year, I had
just come to Savenridge at this time of year.”

“I know exactly what we’d be doing,” Hannah said.  “My
brother and I would be setting out our presents under the Christmas tree.  We
keep them until tonight so we’re not tempted to peek at them before.”  Elijah
smiled.  “Then on Christmas Eve, we always take a trip to the marketplace and
buy the next day’s meal.  We each get to pick a dish.  I always pick the
dessert.  I have a huge sweet tooth.”

Elijah’s heart pounded.  He wanted so much to put his arm
around her, but he was still trying to decide if she was leaning into him for
warmth or friendship or more.  This wasn’t exactly flirting conversation, was
it?  After arguing with himself for several minutes, he finally gathered enough
courage to do it.  He figured since she leaned into him that his arm around her
arms wouldn’t provoke her to turn around and slap him.  He held his breath and
softly placed his arm around her shoulder, resting his hand on her wrist. 
Thankfully, she didn’t slap him.  Instead, she took his hand with both of hers
and held it against her stomach giving Elijah the thrill of his life.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck here instead of with your family,”
Elijah said, his voice quivering from holding his breath.

“It’s okay,” she replied.  “We’re doing a good thing.  I
think they’ll eventually understand.  I’ll have to leave out the part about almost
being killed by a raging river.”  She sat up and turned around to smile at him,
and for a brief moment, Elijah wondered if she was going to kiss him, but just
then, they heard footsteps coming up the base of the tree.  Elijah could have
killed Paul right then, but it wasn’t Paul’s head that appeared at the base of
the hut.  It was Rico.  He looked anxious.

“What is it?” Elijah asked.

“It’s Olivia,” he said.  “She’s waking up.”

Elijah jumped up.  “Is she okay?”

“Yes,” Rico answered.  “But we must hurry.  I’m not sure how
long she will stay awake.”

Elijah and Hannah followed Rico down the stairs of the hut and
into the infirmary.  On their way to Olivia’s private room, Hannah tugged on
Elijah’s arm and drew Elijah’s attention to the far end of the room.  Sitting
next to Isaac’s bed, gently doctoring his wounds was Paul.  His crossbow was on
the floor, unused.  Hannah looked at Elijah and smiled at the scene, though
they both knew they could never tell Paul that they saw him.

When they entered Olivia’s room, Hannah immediately put her
hands to her mouth upon seeing Olivia, who wasn’t quite alert when they
entered.  She moved her head back and forth slowly, opening her eyes for just
moments before closing them again.

“She does this at first,” Rico explained.  “It won’t be
long.”

Elijah waited patiently.  Olivia rolled her head and faced
him, then opened her eyes.  It was like looking into the eyes of a doll.  There
was no life behind her deep blue eyes.  Then, a strange and phenomenal thing
happened.  As if life was slowly being breathed into her, she began to gain
consciousness.  Elijah felt like he could almost feel her presence build upon
itself until she was all there, awake.  She blinked three times and then smiled
warmly at him.

“Oh thank goodness,” she said, her voice hoarse and soft. 
“I knew you’d come, even though I told you not to.”

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’ve been better,” she said.  She looked up at Hannah.  “I
figured you wouldn’t be alone.  Who else have you told?”

“Paul Hetfield.  Isaac Rogers.  Adam Flemming.  Becca
Uribe.  And this is Hannah Maybury.”

“Of course this is Hannah!” Olivia said.  “I’ve known your
father for years,” she said, now looking past Elijah at Hannah.  “Ask him if he
still remembers that water funnel technique I taught him his final Novice
year.”

“I will,” Hannah replied with a smile.

Olivia looked back at Elijah.  “So, you told your partners
in crime from last year.  Well done.  Is that all?”

“We told Mr. Button,” he answered.  “We had to in order to
get out.  I’m sorry.”

Olivia’s energetic gaze softened and she suddenly looked
rather sad.  “If you had to do it, you had to do it.  It won’t hurt our
mission.”

“Is everything okay, Mrs. Rose?” Hannah asked.

“Yes, sweetie.”  Olivia winced as she rolled slightly to her
left.  She looked straight up at the ceiling.  “Elijah, I’m going to need to
rest now, but I don’t want you to do a thing until I can talk with you for
longer than a few minutes.  Stay here.  Don’t go looking for…anything…until I
can tell you to.”

Elijah exhaled deeply.  He was relieved not to have the
burden of responsibility anymore.  “I understand,” he said.

“Good.  Now, I will see you when I wake up again.  You tell
Rico to come fetch you each time I wake up.  I like seeing your kind face more
than any other.  No offense, Rico.”

Elijah looked up and saw Rico standing at the corner of the
room.  He smiled and said, “Of course not.”

Then, just as fast as her presence had come, she lost
consciousness and fell asleep.  Rico gently pulled her blanket over her skinny
body.

Elijah walked Hannah to her hut and said goodnight.  Then,
he walked across the old bridge to his, only needing to catch his balance
twice.  He sunk into his bed feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted.  Olivia
was safe.  He had done the right thing by leaving Savenridge to find her.  Now,
he just needed to help nurse her back to health.  He fell asleep that night thinking
about his arm around Hannah outside by the fire, and he didn’t wake up until
well after noon the following morning.

Each day since the first day Elijah spoke with her, Olivia
woke up for a longer time.  Instead of talking about the sphere or the cubes or
anything related to why they were in the middle of the Spanish forest, she
talked to Elijah about Phinneas and Savenridge.  It seemed like a calculated
decision on her part to talk about things that weren’t stressful.  Slowly, she
began to gain weight, and her bruises and scars healed.  It took her four more weeks
to be able to sit up and move around in her bed.  And, it took an additional
two weeks for her to attempt to walk again.  It was a slow and painful process
that Elijah watched each day, but he was encouraged.

During Olivia’s slow progress to health, Adam had begun to
walk around as well.  He still hobbled with a considerable limp, and grabbed at
it every once in a while, but Rico confirmed there was no structural damage to
his leg that would last forever.  Rico told Adam that he would be lucky if he
never felt some effects from his accident, but in time he would be able to run
normally again.