The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (46 page)

Suddenly, Elijah had a strange feeling like something was
terribly wrong.  He looked both directions, but he couldn’t put his finger on
why he felt so nervous.  Then, like a bolt of lightning, he realized it.  None
of the watchers who led them here were around to bring them back.

“Where is everyone?” Elijah asked.

Becca moved closer to Elijah, sensing his concern.  Paul and
Becca looked around cautiously, not daring to move.

The silence grew more and more intense by the second.  Small
rustling in the bushes and flaps of wings by birds drew attention more than it
normally would.  Elijah slowly stepped forward and cautiously led the other
three back through the opening of the valley and into the dense forests from
which they arrived.  As soon as they got to the other side, Rico stumbled
toward them, clutching something on his stomach, and looking very frightened.

“What’s the matter?” Paul asked him.  “What’s going on?”

Rico could only look back and make small gestures.  Becca
gasped when she looked down at Rico’s stomach.  He was bleeding profusely
through his garments.

“Rico, what happened to you?” Becca exclaimed.  She looked
at the others.  “We need to get him to a healer immediately!”

Then Becca’s face went white.  Rico
was
the healer,
and getting help from around here was not going to happen.

“I’ll be…okay,” Rico managed.  “Mali…Maliphists.  They heard
the explosion from the tower.  They…they know where we are.  And they’re
coming!”

Chapter
21:

THE SACRIFICE

Elijah looked directly into Rico’s eyes and spoke slowly and
clearly.  “Where are the Maliphists?”

Rico was looking more grave by the second.  “We…we ran them
out.  For now.”  He let out a yelp and clutched his gut tighter.  “We kept
them…kept them away for as long as we could.  We fought them…to keep you safe. 
But they got away…to get reinforcements.  Now, they will come back to…to finish
the job.  We…we have to…evacuate…evacuate Los Alientos.  I…I…I tried…”

“It’s okay, Rico,” Paul said.  “Let us help you.”  Paul
heaved Rico up on his shoulders.  Rico looked gray.  His eyes were bloodshot
and his fingers and hands were turning blue.

Elijah helped carry Rico when Paul needed a break, but Paul
did most of the lifting.  Rico would grunt and howl in pain at first, but the
closer they got to Los Alientos, the less sound he made.  Not having the
watchman around to guide them made the trip back difficult because the forest
began to look the same.  It took all four of them to remember the correct path
back to Los Alientos, twisting and turning through the trees and brush.  As
soon as they arrived at the gully that separated the forest from the small
village, a watchman ran out and met them to help bring Rico back inside.

The village was in a complete panic.  Families were
gathering supplies and food and taking children out of their huts.  They put
out fires, grabbed extra clothes, searched for missing members of their families,
and left the city.  Elijah looked at the fear on each of their faces and
couldn’t help feeling responsible for the chaos.  It was his fault that they
were forced to flee a city successful in hiding for hundreds of years. They had
saved his mentor.  Saved one of his best friends.  Helped another of his best
friends heal.  They had taken him in as one of their own.  Fed him.  Protected
him.  Even took him to their beloved city of old, and all he did was lure in
their enemies.  To these families, now leaving their homes and running for
their lives, the quest for the sphere didn’t matter.  Their reality was much
worse now than the potential threat of a deadly weapon being discovered by the
Maliphists.  Elijah hated what had resulted because of his quest.  How was this
protecting the good in the world?  It seemed to him like he was the one
inviting evil in to overpower good.

The watchman pointed to the closest bed as they entered the
infirmary.  Olivia was already up, looking much healthier and alert than she
had ever been since Elijah arrived at Los Alientos.

There were two remaining infirmary assistants who hadn’t yet
fled, and they ran over to tend to Rico.  Elijah and his friends stepped back
to let them work, but their faces said more than enough.  They looked fearful and
concerned as they worked.  One of them began to cry as she exposed the large
wound on Rico’s stomach.  His left hand dangled lifelessly at his left side and
his right hand rested on his chest.  He looked strange without his glasses.  He
looked older somehow.  His head faced Elijah.  His eyes were open, but they
were blank and unfocused.

Just when Elijah thought he could hardly stand it, he saw
something that made him choke up in spite of himself.  Another of the
assistants was ushering Anita, Rico’s little girl, through the infirmary,
desperately trying to block her vision from the commotion around her dying
father.  As she held the assistant’s hand, she pleaded, “We have to wait for
Papa.”  She reminded Elijah of Lizzy just then.  Naïve.  Innocent.  Not knowing
that her world was about to be turned upside down.  Elijah wanted to cry with
her when she found out, but Anita was out of sight before he could say or do
anything.

He approached Rico and got as close as he could to his face
without getting in the way of the assistants.

Elijah took his hand and held it.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered.  “I wish I could have more
time to thank you for what you have done for me.  For the Magi.”  He wasn’t
even sure he believed what he said, but Rico didn’t need to hear that.  Second-guessing
himself in the face of a dying man seemed like a waste of his final moments. 
Then, Elijah felt Rico’s hand move inside his.  His hand was so tiny, but Elijah
squeezed it firmly and gave him a small smile, even though he was sure Rico
couldn’t see it.  Elijah could sense Rico’s connection to the Soul being broken
and his spirit leave.  Just like that.

Even before the assistants realized it, Elijah knew.  He ran
out of the room, afraid he would explode into tears.  He didn’t even know Rico
well, but his death seemed too familiar.  Another Magi giving his life to
protect Elijah.  Why did everyone think he was worth this?  Who was he to
deserve such a sacrifice?  No answer would make sense to him.

Olivia and the rest of Elijah’s friends met him just
outside.  Paul was helping Isaac walk.  Elijah wiped his eyes hurriedly.

“I know this will sound insensitive,” Olivia said, “but we
must leave here now.  There’s nothing more we can do here.”

“No, I think we’ve done enough,” Elijah snapped.  He half-expected
Olivia to smack him after that, but her eyes only looked sad.  Elijah stood up and
dug into his pocket.  “Here,” he said flatly, and handed Olivia the cube.

Olivia took it carefully and inspected it for a moment
before she said, “Follow me.”

On their way out of Los Alientos, Elijah spotted a small
object lying on the ground, covered in dirt.  As if he didn’t have enough
agonizing images burned inside his memory, he recognized the dirt covered
object.  It was Anita’s rabbit, Mr. Sam.  Stepped on.  Run over.  Torn.  Elijah
picked it up and brushed the dirt away as he hurried toward the bridge outside
the city.

Elijah figured they must have left just moments before the
Maliphists attacked the city because soon they could smell the scent of burning
brush and could see the large flames rising from the general direction of Los
Alientos.  Everyone, including Olivia, couldn’t help but turn and catch
glimpses of the flames rising through the trees.  But as mesmerizing as it was,
they continued their escape, trying to put as much distance from the secret
city as they could.

Olivia took Elijah and his five friends a different way out
of the forest.  Instead of heading toward Pozo Alcón, the way they came in, she
headed west through more forests.  No one dared ask why she was taking a
different route.  Elijah didn’t even care.  He was just glad to be told what to. 
He was done making decisions.

The others were glad too!  Olivia took them a way that was
much easier than Elijah had.  She obviously knew the area because she walked
with a purpose, making decisive cuts and directional changes through the trees,
around a large valley, and across two wide rivers.  Although she walked slower
than usual with a considerable hitch, Olivia kept up an efficient pace.

It took them three full days to reach the base of the
mountains, well inland from the Sierras de Cazorla.  They talked very little
during their hike.  Elijah wouldn’t have known what to say anyway.  Each night,
he went to sleep immediately, clutching Anita’s rabbit and avoiding
conversation.

They reached the base of the mountains at mid-day and
decided to make camp in the late afternoon, just before the sun set.  Elijah
could feel the tension loosen as Olivia casually suggested they camp next to a
collection of large boulders in the middle of the field.  Whatever urgency
there was to leave the sierras was apparently relaxed.  Elijah shivered every
time the wind blew across the fields.  There was no snow on the ground, but it
felt cold enough for it.  His breath was clearly visible as he worked with the
others to put up shelter.  Elijah glanced back every once in a while at the
smoke, still continuing to plume periodically from the area around Los
Alientos.  He hoped everyone made it out in time.

They sat around the fire, watching it in silence before they
turned in for the night.  Olivia spoke first.

“If we leave at sunup tomorrow, we should be able to make it
to a suburb just outside a town called Úbeda,” she said.  “I know of a foreign
marshal hideout there, and they will most likely be able to get us back to
port.  It’s a little out of the way now, but if we can get in contact with our
transport system, it will save us days, maybe even weeks.”

“Are we safe here?” Hannah asked.

“I believe so,” Olivia said.  “The further we get from Los
Alientos, the safer we are.”

“What about Orphea?” Paul asked.  “Do you think the
Maliphists found Orphea?”

“I don’t know,” Olivia said.  “I know as much as you do, but
when we get to the marshal’s hideout, I will ask.”

“How did they find us?” Paul asked.  “How did the Maliphists
find the city?”

“I don’t know that either,” Olivia said.  “They were close. 
I know that much.  I believe whatever that explosion was while you were
searching for the cube drew them close.  Then, they found the city.”

“So had we not gotten the cube, they wouldn’t have found Los
Alientos?” Elijah asked.

Olivia sighed.  “I know it’s hard, but try not to think that
way.  You did what had to be done.  It wasn’t your fault.”

Elijah turned his head and looked away from everyone.  He
wasn’t so sure.  It certainly felt like their fault.

The following afternoon, they arrived in a small town with
architecture that reminded Elijah of the Renaissance.  Olivia led the six
teenagers through a row of old shops that led up to some of the museum-looking
buildings.  She slowed down and gazed at a particularly run-down set of stores
at the very end of the row, seemingly trying to remember or recognize
something.  Then, she picked one and walked in.

The shop was an antique shop, filled with dusty-looking
trinkets and items Elijah had no interest in even viewing.  It was so crammed
full of toys and tea sets and old pieces of furniture that it was hard to even
see the back of the store where the attendant stood wiping down an old book. 
The store smelled so profusely of lavender that Elijah hoped this was the wrong
store so he could get out and breathe the fresh air again.

The attendant noticed the potential customers and put down
the book.

“May I help you?” a voice with a heavy accent called from
the back.

“Yes,” Olivia stated so that the woman could hear.  “My name
is Olivia Rose and I’m looking for Gracia Enriquez.”

“No!” the woman exclaimed in pleasant disbelief.  She walked
through the store so that Olivia could see her.  “It can’t be Olivia Rose!”

The woman embraced Olivia as an old friend would.  She gave
her two kisses on her cheeks and looked at Olivia.  Gracia was tall and thin. 
She dressed in a very colorful dress and so many beads around her neck and
wrists that they made loud clicking noises whenever Gracia made the slightest
movement.

“I’m sorry, Gracia,” Olivia said, “but this isn’t a friendly
visit.  These are my friends.  They have come to help me on an important
mission, and it’s very important that we leave here immediately for
Savenridge.  Is there any way you can contact our transport system and have a
boat for us at the closest stop?”

“Oh sure!” Gracia said.  “In fact, I will drive you to the
port.  It will give us time to catch up.”  Gracia put her hand on Olivia’s
face.  “Just one moment.”  She walked back to the desk and pulled out something
Elijah recognized.  It was an old telegraph machine just like the one at Uncle
Stan’s hideout.  Gracia sent off the message and then returned to Olivia.  “Is
everything okay?”

“So far,” Olivia said.  “I hope we’re not going to pull you
away from anything important.  Is there any news on Maliphist activity in the
area?”

“Yes,” Gracia replied.  “We’re too small here to stop them
on our own, but we’ve heard they destroyed a secret city.  We had never heard
of such a city.  My partner is out trying to get more information, but we think
the Maliphists have already left the area.”

“I see,” Olivia said.

“Ah.  A reply,” Gracia said, looking back at her desk. 
“Good news!  You will be picked up tonight at Malaga.  I can get you there in
three hours.  Come.”  Gracia took all of them through the back of her store.

She owned a large, white van with no windows that Elijah had
doubts would actually make it a single mile.

“Hop in,” Gracia said.  She opened the double doors on the
side as Olivia took the front passenger seat.  Adam immediately got in.  Elijah
looked at his friends, who all slowly approached the van as though it was going
to bite them.  Hannah went in first.  Paul and Becca were much more
apprehensive.  Isaac, however, circled the van, sizing it up.  He carefully touched
the side and then quickly took his hand back as if it burned him.  Paul had to
practically force him inside the tightly cramped space.  The second Gracia
turned on the ignition and roared the engine, Isaac bolted for the door, but
Paul caught him and dragged him back to his seat.  Just as Gracia had promised,
they arrived in three hours and boarded another galleon ship being taken to
Corinthias.