Eighth Fire (14 page)

“Mr. Young, are you saying you witnessed her
perform Maode Maharaw?”

“I don’t know if it was that or not, but for
a second she blurred, and then the guy’s hand fell off.”

“LeOmi, how did your assailant react when
you went for his hand?”

“He didn’t have time to react.”

“Miss Jones, I know you have the utmost
confidence in your skills with a sword, but I assure you that a
Magi that wears a ring indicating the skill level this one does
would not have had a moment’s difficulty in defending against the
move you obviously used to sever his hand. In which case, you are
most fortunate to have all of your parts still firmly attached.
There can be no doubt that the One True God intervened in this
matter on your behalf, of which I am confident you will find time
to express your gratitude.

“It is also evident that this man’s intent
was to kidnap you. Do you have any insight as to why?”

“Kidnap me?”

“Yes. I believe as soon as you shook his
hand he would have remanifested with you.”

“There’s no reason. The book and knife are
in the museum as I requested.”

“Then there must be another reason which we
must discern. Have you had any unusual dreams of late or perhaps
come across any unusual information?”

“No ma’am. Maybe it’s revenge.”

“If they wished revenge, they would just
have killed you. For kidnapping, you have something they want. And
to risk being captured, it’s something they want badly. If you can
think of anything that it might be, tell Bekka or David at once. In
the mean time, we’ll consult the Ummim-Thummim.”

The door opened behind them and David came
back in. He said, “Honored Council, I have further business to
report.”

Mrs. Shadowitz’s voice said, “Miss Jones and
Mr. Young, you will wait outside for David.”

Mark and LeOmi walked out and the door
closed. Mark’s brother James was waiting by the door. Mark
exclaimed, “Why are you here?”

James shrugged and mumbled, “Agate
Tribe.”

“Agate Tribe? What about Agate Tribe?”

The doors opened and David motioned, “James,
you can come on in.”

James whispered sideways as he passed Mark
and LeOmi while hurrying in, “Pre-chosen.”

A moment later the doors closed behind James
and Mark said with a bit of surprise in his voice, “Pre-chosen!” He
turned to LeOmi, “James was pre-chosen! That makes six of us, but
why Agate Tribe?”

LeOmi said, “We can talk about it later.
We’re already late.”

Mark and LeOmi were a full hour late for
their meeting with Gerod when they walked out onto the balcony.
Gerod was standing with his back to the door and his arms resting
on the balcony wall. The wind was stiff enough to blow strands of
his long golden hair about like wisps of a tattered flag. Two small
black canvas bags were on the floor at his feet. He turned and
said, “I understand you guys have had an unusual morning.”

“You could say that.” LeOmi put her hands on
her hips. “We are running a bit late.”

Mark felt a wave of impatience wash over him
and he looked disapprovingly at LeOmi. She glanced at him and
shrugged as if to say ‘it slipped,’ and folded her arms in front of
her.

“This is a bit more important than touring
the different sections of Magi City. Besides, you’ve already missed
all of the good stuff today. If you get a chance over the next
couple of days; make sure to stop by Utman’s House of Chocolate.
David makes some of the most unique and delicious chocolates in the
world.

“Now, to the business at hand.” He bent,
picked up the bags and handed one to each. “These are your primary
emergency kits. Keep them stocked. If you use an oxy-cap, replace
it. A bug bomb, replace it. A flair, replace it. If you break
something, replace it. Keep this kit with you at all times, even in
class. When you sleep make sure it’s in easy reach. If you get up
to go to the bathroom, take it with you. At some points in your
life, someone’s life will depend on what you’re able to do. Count
on it. And also count on not knowing when you’ll need this kit.

“You both will be required to take the
novice rescue and first aid class as well as an accelerated
communications class. Mark, last year you told me you were
interested in learning communications techniques at an advanced
rate. You’ll start that this year. Are you interested in trying
some of the advanced rescue classes?”

Mark nodded and said, “Yes sir.”

“LeOmi, how about you?”

“Sure.” She relaxed her posture a little,
unfolded her arms and let them hang at her side.

Gerod reached in his pocket and removed two
small vials. “In that case, this is an anointing oil used for
healing. It’s very rare. It’s made using compounds that only occur
in waters occupied by leviathan; specifically the sail-back
ornathoptus and the trigibbereras. Now you know why they live in
the moat. One drop per person is all you’ll ever need in any
situation. You put a drop on the victim’s forehead and if there’s
any life left in them, they immediately fall asleep and depending
on how much physical damage there is, within an hour or so anything
that was damaged or diseased is healed. Sometimes it takes a bit
longer. Also, putting it into Aaron’s Grasp destroys it, so keep it
in your pocket and never put it with anything you might put into
Aaron’s Grasp.

“When you get your class assignments you
will see a spot for you to select an elective.” He handed each a
sheet of paper. “Here’s a list of advanced rescue classes. You will
get one-on-one instruction from the very best instructor in
whichever class you select. Look the classes over very carefully
before you decide which one you’ll select.

“Now, for my opinion. Mark, Krisa says you
have a keen aptitude for tactical planning. I suggest you strongly
consider either a military or law enforcement based course of
study. LeOmi, your background and abilities in sword fighting and
the martial arts suggest you’d be well suited to a course of study
in the intelligence services, maybe even espionage.

“That’s just my opinion based on what I know
of you. You may also want to get your counselors to give you their
opinions since they know you better than I do.

“Okay, that’s it, unless you have any
questions, you’re free to go.”

Mark held the small bottle up and examined
the thick liquid inside. “Why isn’t this stuff given to
hospitals?”

“That’s a complex question to answer. We
have healers and rescue people at most hospitals and visit those
that aren’t staffed.”

“Then why do people die?”

“How do you know who to rescue?”

“I get a headache that leads me to where I
need to be.”

“How do you know you’re the one that is
supposed to act?”

“Because I’m the one with the headache.”

“What if you don’t get a headache?”

Mark nodded, “I get it.”

Gerod smiled, hopped down off the wall, held
his elbows out and said, “You guys ready to go?”

Mark let go of Gerod’s arm, looked around
and couldn’t visualize where he was in relation to the maps he’d
seen last year. He knew where LeOmi had been dropped off in the
back pasture area of The Stables since he’d been there last year.
He’d also been to Magi City but had only seen a small part of
it.

About fifty yards behind him were enough
auto-cars to fill a parking lot and stretched out before him was a
vast plane resembling a manicured lawn for as far as the eye could
see. Large white stones were evenly spaced and protruding just over
an inch above the grass. A strange feeling of familiarity came to
his mind, like he’d been here before, many times. Only he hadn’t;
not even in any dreams he could remember.

Gerod said, “Kind of takes your breath
away.” After a moment he pointed to a group of students some
distance behind them. “Mr. Foran is over there. I’ll see you
later.” Then he was gone.

Mark walked over to the closest stone, knelt
and rubbed his hand across its smooth surface.
It’s got to be a
tombstone.
He looked closer and saw a name and number carved in
its surface.

He heard his name shouted from behind,
turned and saw Chenoa running toward him. Her hair was flapping
behind her and it reminded him of the first time he’d seen her and
how pretty he thought her hair was. He also remembered how
embarrassed he was when she realized she’d been picking up his
projected thoughts about her. He stood, waved and started walking
toward her.

When they were just a few feet apart Chenoa
said, “Come on, we’re leaving.”

“Where’re we going?”

“There’s an elevated train that goes around
Magi City.”

“I want to stay here a while. I feel like
I’ve been here before. It might be important.”

When they reached the group, Chenoa pointed
to an average size man with a mustache and goatee that was talking
to another student. “That’s Mr. Foran.”

The man heard his name and turned to see who
had spoken. His eyes were bright brown.

“Mr. Foran, I’d like to stay here for a
while if it’s possible.”

“That’s a bit inconvenient. We don’t have
anyone that can stay with you.”

“Sir, there’s something about this place. I
mean, it’s like I’ve been here before, but I know I haven’t.”

“Déjà vu?”

Someone in the crowd of students said,
“Gesundheit.”

Mr. Foran looked to where the voice had come
from, grinned and said, “Donkey shin!”

Mark smiled and when Mr. Foran turned back
to him he said, “Much stronger. It’s like there’s something
important here.”

Mr. Foran nodded his head slowly. “Well,
we’re coming back here on Thursday. Can it wait until then?”

Mark nodded. “Yes sir.”

The el trail ride was a bit boring with
sixteen stops along the route. The scenery had been nice, but once
you’d ridden a train through the countryside, every other train
ride through the countryside was basically the same. There was just
nothing new to see or do.

Returning the auto-cars to the Engineering
Section provided a surprise. The sunstone had been mounted on the
top of a triangular shaped pedestal at least thirty feet tall,
making the combination’s silhouette look like a giant keyhole.

The car stopped by the power generation
building. Mark got out and found Mr. Foran. “What’s going on with
the sunstone?”

Mr. Foran thought for a split second and
said, “That’s right, you weren’t here this morning.

“The scientists discovered that the writing
on the back of the sunstone is only visible under a particular type
of polarized, ultraviolet light. This kind of light occurs
naturally during a solar eclipse. There was a diagram and some
writing and based on that, this is what they did.

“Other tests indicated that it’s some kind
of machine, only nobody can figure out what powers it or what it’s
supposed to do.

“That Aztec warrior is clueless too. The
Council of Elders ordered him interrogated with a fast pen and that
got zilch.”

“A fast pen?”

“Technically, a reed of fast writing. You
just make a mark and the mark transforms into a representation of
whatever happens to be in your front mind at that moment. They’re
very, very rare. Less than two dozen known left in existence.”

“So they’re still trying to figure out how
it works.”

“They say it needs a power source before
they can figure out anything else about it.”

“Haven’t they tried to power it yet with
something?”

“They don’t want to take a chance on
damaging it.”