The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (5 page)

“Suit yourself,” Paul shrugged, and he and Isaac headed off
toward the city center again.

“G’bye, Elijah,” Isaac called as they disappeared through
the trees.

On Saturday morning, Elijah told the Roddicks that he had to
visit Olivia.  He knew they would never turn down a request from Olivia Rose,
but it surprised him when they didn’t even question his trip.  They just told
him to be careful and use one of the guarded paths.

Most of Elijah’s friends lived north of the city center, in
the more remote areas of the city.  The Savenridge River ran north and south,
which created a natural clearing where residents liked to build their houses. 
Isaac lived in the Eastern Forest, just north of the city center where the
Roddicks lived.  Elijah visited Isaac once during the summer to practice riding
horses.  Isaac was only available during the beginning of the summer because
his parents, who were marshals, came back for a month on leave.  Hannah lived
north of Isaac.  Elijah had only seen Hannah at the marketplace, but he had
seen her house the year before when Mr. Maybury took him to see Arthur.  He
liked her house.  It was just like her.  Elegant.  Peaceful.  And warm.

Paul lived on the west side of the river, and Olivia and
Phinneas lived north of Paul’s house, deeper into the Western Forest.

The day was quite warm, a dramatic change from the past few
days.  Even in the shade of the trees, Elijah felt his back covered in sweat as
he hiked through the woods.  When he arrived at the doorstep of their house,
Phinneas, Olivia’s husband, greeted him warmly.

“Welcome, Elijah, welcome.  No trouble I presume?”

“None so far,” said Elijah.

“Good to hear, good to hear.”

Phinneas Rose looked much stronger than Elijah remembered
seeing him.  Elijah could recall him at his worst when he was rescued from the
Maliphist prison.  He was extremely pale with lifeless eyes, and his cheeks
were sunken in so that it looked like two large caves led up into the roof of
his mouth.  A soft breeze would have easily toppled him over.  Now, he looked
like a different person.  He was tall and thin, but still healthy.  He had a
full head of white hair and an overly large nose, which was just slightly
pinker than the rest of his skin.  He wore an eye patch over his right eye, but
behind his left eye, Elijah could see an energy that was not present before. 
Phinneas still needed to walk with a cane, but he was able to escort Elijah
into the house with ease.

“Have a seat, young Elijah.  Tell me, tell me, what’s new
with you?” Phinneas asked.

“Nothing much, sir,” Elijah responded.  “Summer has been
good.  I’m ready to go back, though.”

“There’s a good lad.  And how has that wonderful family of
yours been faring?”

“Sir?”

“Your family,” Phinneas said.  “How have they been?”

“You mean the Roddicks?” Elijah asked.

Just then Olivia walked into the room.  “Phinneas, dear. 
I’ve set up your rocker and a pot of tea on the back porch for you.  Would you
like me to bring you your book?”

“Oh, yes.  That would be fine,” said Phinneas.  He turned to
Elijah.  “Tell your mother not to worry about any of it.  It’s what needed to
be done.”  Phinneas stood up and walked to the back of the house with Olivia,
leaving Elijah very confused.

“I’m very sorry about that, Elijah,” Olivia said when she
returned.  “Phinneas hasn’t been doing well lately.  I’m afraid his mind comes
and goes in an instant.”

“Do you think he means Mrs. Roddick?” Elijah asked.

“It’s hard to tell what he means sometimes,” said Olivia. 
“Some days are wonderful, but there are times that he slips into his own little
world, and it’s often hard to bring him back.”  She looked warmly at Elijah. 
“But you needn’t worry about that.  You have enough to keep your mind busy. 
Would you like something to eat or drink?  I just made a baked tart and have
some chilled cider or tea if you would like.”

“Cider sounds good,” said Elijah.

Olivia retrieved Elijah a glass of chilled citrus cider,
which felt wonderful to Elijah’s parched throat.  Olivia opened the front
window to let in a breeze.

“Do you remember why you’re here?” she began as she sat
down.

“You told me you needed to talk to me about the sphere.”

“Yes,” said Olivia.  She sat down across from Elijah and
talked softly.  “I also told you to keep secret the discussions we have about
the sphere.”

“May I ask why that is?” Elijah said.

“I need someone else to know the plan,” she said with a
gentle smile.  “Naturally, Phinneas would have been that someone, but as you
can see, his mind isn’t as reliable as it once was.  I’m sure you’re still
wondering why I chose you in particular, but for now, just know that I chose
you because I like your mind.  It’s very unique, and I hope it’s ready for work
because I’m about to cram you full of information.  It may or may not make any
sense at this time, so we’ll go slowly so you have time to process everything.”

Elijah took another drink of his cider and prepared his
mind.

“I will start with the legend first,” Olivia began.  “As you
know, there was a very powerful man by the name of Maliphist who was feared by
all the Magi.  He was not only powerful, but as you may have guessed, he was
also quite cunning.  In order to have the kind of power that he had, wisdom and
intelligence are necessary.  You can probably imagine that that made him even
more feared.  He was a man with a desire to destroy and the brains to carry out
his plans.

“During his life, it was rumored that he created a weapon—something
that harnessed the ultimate power of all the elements.  Not much is known about
the specifics of this weapon other than that it was a sphere.  Throughout his
reign of terror, it is documented in our archives that the Magi feared he would
use his sphere to destroy the world.  To them, it wasn’t a matter of
if
he would use it but
when
he would use it.  Thankfully, he never did. 
Either that or he died before he was able to.  Are you with me so far?”

“Yes,” Elijah answered.  “But I don’t understand why he
wouldn’t use the sphere.”

“You’re not alone,” Olivia said.  “That’s why many don’t
believe the sphere ever existed.”

“But you do,” Elijah said.

Olivia grinned.  “I’m certain.  And what’s more, the
Maliphists are too.  They are desperate to get their hands on it, which is
devastating enough.  They have been relatively quiet because they are divided. 
Many are content to live in secret while many want to carry out Maliphist’s
wish.”

“To destroy the common people,” Elijah said.

“Yes.  Luther Cain is the unofficial leader of this search
for the sphere.  But the most troubling part about this search is that it’s
uniting the Maliphists.  More and more are dedicating their lives to finding
it.”

“Okay,” Elijah said, rubbing his forehead.  “So there’s a
secret weapon that’s lost.  All the Maliphists are after it.  And then there’s
us.  Where do we even begin?  I’m assuming the goal is to get to the sphere
before the Maliphists do?”

“Oh, that is just the beginning,” Olivia answered.  “There
is more to the legend of the sphere than the sphere itself.”

“To be honest,” Elijah admitted, “I’m not sure I even
understand the sphere.”

“And it will be your job to learn.  But I must impress
urgency on our task.  Everything we do must be done quickly, because I believe
the Maliphists are very close to finding the sphere.”

“What else is there to know?” asked Elijah.

“The sphere is not the only thing we’re looking for.  I have
poured most of my life into reading archives from this time period, and I have
discovered that when Maliphist died and the Magi Wars ended, the sphere came
into the hands of the Magi.  I’m sure you remember enough of our history to
know that at that time, we were almost all killed off.  In secret, leaders and
nobles from the remaining Magi communities gathered to discuss what to do with
the sphere, and after weeks of discussions, they decided to destroy it.

“The trouble was, they couldn’t.  No matter what they did,
the sphere withstood every attempt to destroy it.  So, they decided to hide
it.  Now here’s where it gets interesting.  As the Magi studied it more, they
found that the sphere was only a casing.  Inside the sphere were four
compartments, each holding one of the four elements.  Therefore, in order for
the sphere to work, the four elemental compartments needed to be present
inside.

“Do the Maliphists know about that?” Elijah asked.

“No,” Olivia said.  “And we need to make sure it stays that
way.  The elders back then knew that too, so instead of destroying it, they
separated the four compartments, and gave each one to a different nobleman. 
The four nobles were then instructed to hide the compartment somewhere safe,
where no one would ever find it.”

Elijah shifted in his seat to get more comfortable.  “Okay. 
So you’re saying that even if the Maliphists uncover the sphere, it will still
be useless unless they also get the four compartments, right?”

“I imagine that the sphere will have slight power,” Olivia
said. “But yes!  It will not be as devastating without the insides.”

“Are you suggesting we look for the compartments?” Elijah
asked.

“Yes,” Olivia answered.

“But why?  If the sphere is useless without the
compartments, and the Maliphists don’t know about them, then everything’s
safe.”

“For now,” Olivia agreed.  “It may be safe during my
lifetime—even yours.  But eventually, they will discover the truth.  Cain is
very crafty, and he will not stop until he has found the secrets to the ancient
sphere.  If the sphere cannot be destroyed, then it must be kept somewhere
safe.  If we do nothing, the Maliphists will eventually find everything.”

“Where do we start?” Elijah asked, feeling suddenly
overwhelmed.

“Unfortunately, our first task will be up to you,” Olivia
said solemnly.  She rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes.  “When we talked
last year about this, you told me that your parents owned a book that the
Maliphists are looking for, remember?”

“Yes, I remember,” Elijah stated.  “My uncle Stan told me
that the reason the Maliphists were after me was because they thought I knew
some of the information inside.”

“Well, if you
did
know anything from inside the book,
they were right to look for you.  If that book is the same book I am thinking
of, it contains many clues to the whereabouts of the sphere.  Our first
mission, or rather,
your
first mission will be to retrieve that book and
bring it back here to me,” Olivia said in a very hushed voice.

“How?” Elijah questioned.

“We will need to work that out in a moment, but there is
more to this task than just the book.  I believe you also have something
else—something just as important—with the book.”

Elijah looked at Olivia with a puzzled expression as she
waited for him to process the contents of his parents’ possessions.  He
wondered how she knew so much about his parents’ things.

“The book isn’t the only thing that the Maliphists wanted
from me?” Elijah asked.

“Actually, the book
is
all they want from you, but
the Maliphists don’t yet know about another item you have which is just as
important,” Olivia said.  “That’s why I know it’s safe.  Elijah, I believe you
may have come across a glass cube, about the size of a large walnut.  Am I not
mistaken?”

Elijah’s eyes widened.  He remembered back almost a year ago
when he lived with his uncle.  He remembered picking up the glass cube,
thinking it odd that his mother hadn’t put a label on it.  Inside the cube was
dirt, which he thought must have been the ground from a region his parents
traveled to.

“Yes,” Elijah said.  “I saw the cube.  It had dirt inside. 
Why is that important to our quest?”

“Because,” Olivia said, “that cube of dirt is one of the
hidden compartments inside the sphere.”

Chapter 3
:

     REGION 2

For almost a year, a piece to the most dangerous weapon
known to the Magi had been sitting inside a storage unit back where Uncle Stan
used to live.  Elijah couldn’t believe it!  When he first saw the cube, he knew
nothing of the Magi, nor did he know his parents were also Magi.  And yet, all
along they had possession of not one, but
two
artifacts relating to the
acquisition of the sphere.  Elijah couldn’t help but question how these things
linked together.  The book.  The cube.  His parents living in secret, away from
the Magi, knowing what they had was dangerous.  Clearly, his parents were not
just Magi.  They were on a mission.

Elijah looked up at Olivia who had been waiting patiently. 
“I have so many questions, but each question continues to go back to how this
all relates to me.”

“I know,” Olivia said regretfully.  “And I’m sorry, but I’ve
told you as much as I can for now.”

Elijah couldn’t help feeling frustrated.  Here he was being
included on something extremely secretive, and yet, he wasn’t even allowed to
know why he was included.  It didn’t make sense.  What good was he to the
mission if he didn’t know why he was so special?

Olivia shifted in her seat.  “Let’s get down to business,”
she said.  “I’m not going to lie, Elijah.  I’m about to ask a lot of you, and
this mission I’m sending you on will require you to do many things without me.”

“You’re not going with me?”

Olivia shook her head and said, “It’s too risky.  The
Maliphists suspect I’m up to something.  If I was spotted, it could compromise
the mission.  Now let’s get to it.  This first task is the most important. 
Without the book, we have no hope of going on.  And if we don’t acquire the
book, it’s only a matter of time before the Maliphists do.”