Tesser: A Dragon Among Us (A Reemergence Novel) (40 page)

The man makes a valid point.

Chapter Forty-Eight

A Leaf on the Wind

Outside of the Project Amethyst building, fallen leaves blew about in the early autumn cold. Golds, browns, reds: the colors of fall. It was unseasonably cold that late afternoon. Frost would come after the nearing nightfall.

One green leaf was lost. It had fallen very far from the tree whose branch it had sprung from, having been carried on a wind that came from a natural and pure magic. The very same wind had given the leaf enough magical power to stay green, to stay fresh for the chance it needed to return to its branch with a message. So far, the leaf had received no message. Here it blew in circles, somehow drawn to a parking lot like a moth was drawn to flame.

Deep below the pavement with the painted parking spots, and below the sand, stone, and earth, was a manmade cavern. It was enveloped by wires and cables, and all manner of technology. Some of that technology was manmade and some of it was a hybrid from beyond the Veil. Daemon-infused technology rife with raw evil from another reality pulsed with a life of its own. The thrum of evil in the basement thumped like half a dark heart beat. The other half echoed, beating in a different, much fouler reality across the Veil. The leaf wasn't aware of that, but the immaterial magic of it all drew it to that spot.
 

Inside that man-made cavern, so far below the earth, was Kaula. Her body was still imprisoned there, though her mind was strong enough to wander. Maybe the leaf sensed that.

Kaula had a net cast on the world. It was an insubstantial net, made of thought and hope, held together by the dwindling magic inside her body. The Veil-inspired technology pumping into her was rotten and evil. It kept nearly all her will at bay, but she was able to do this much to fight back. One last whisper from a sister on the wind to a beloved brother.

Through the stone and earth, the purple dragon spoke to the leaf, gave it a message, and the last bit of uncorrupted magic she had left inside. The leaf took those rare gifts and spun up into the air, reinvigorated with purpose. It would need the purpose; it had a long journey home. Especially for a leaf.

A magically imbued leaf that had fallen from the branch of a hamadryad, but still a leaf nonetheless.

Once high in the air, the leaf caught a wind current heading south towards the city. Its tree, the hamadryad, was currently living in the city, so it was fortunate to find a path through the air so quickly.
 

Hours passed. The wind discovered so fast turned sour and slow, causing the leaf to stall multiple times. It fell all the way to the ground twice and had to wait patiently for another gust to carry it high. But magic has a way of creating its own luck, and the last of Kaula's magic was no different than any of the magic she'd created her whole life. The wind came and up the leaf went.

Over trees and highways, the green leaf flew south. As the leaf was drowned in the cold whiteness of a thick cloud, a great feathery griffon flew by. Large enough for a grown man to sit astride, it had the head and wings of an eagle, and the body of a lion. The majestic creature of ancient myth sensed the noble purpose of the leaf and screeched in approval. It swung round wide and flapped its massive wings strongly, sending the leaf fast and surely further south and out of the cloud. The leaf couldn’t be grateful, nor did Kaula know of the griffon's gift, but the world now had a better chance at surviving because of it. Such strange fortune.

As the leaf moved out above the increasingly taller and taller gray and brown buildings of Boston, the wind funneled and sped up the leaf’s journey. By then, the sun was setting and the last bits of orange glow had died in the sky, leaving behind only the bitter blue cold of the night.
 

It was drawn along again, pulled in by the silent song of the branch it belonged to. Still miles away, the leaf soared unseen above. Down below tens of thousands of pedestrians and vehicles went about their business unaware of the leaf and what it represented.
 

The leaf glided over the water of the Charles River and over the lanes of Storrow Drive as cars sped by, heading east and west. Over the massive rows of old brick homes it went, eventually cresting high into an invisible column of air that descended down onto the branches of the silver birch it had originally come from.
 

The hamadryad's branch received the return of the leaf without effort or thought. The leaf simple reattached as easily as it would have fallen in the autumn, though this connection sparked something much more spectacular.

Ellen the hamadryad was still near to the side Mr. Doyle's home. She had been listening in on a very important conversation inside the home and most of the participants had just left in two cars. She had no interest in cars. They couldn't feed her, or water her, or bring her the sun, and they couldn't hold up a conversation either. They were useless.

But then the message in the leaf entered her sap and traveled through to her spirit at the core of the tree. Instantly, she knew the message. Her sending had returned successfully.

“Tesser," she said, interrupting the conversation. Her voice was low but urgent.

Somehow the dragon sensed it, and he turned to the window where she was rooted. "Yes, Ellen. You have an idea?"

"My sending. Something just came back," Ellen was swooning with the magical essence from Kaula. Having a pure element of Kaula's essence inside her was intoxicating. A touch of pure magic. She felt more alive than ever. Taller, wider, and greener.

Tesser got to his feet from the dining room table and strode across the room to Ellen. He crouched at the window. His face was full of hope. "What have your leaves told you?"

Ellen was breathless, almost drugged from the touch of Kaula. "Most of the dryads and hamadryads have been asleep for years. It is the way of our people to sleep for long times, even more so since the magic began to fade. I'd hoped more would've been awake for the sending. But a leaf came back to me. And it came with a message from your sister, Tesser. I have words directly from Kaula."

Tesser's hands dug into the wooden sill of the window, cracking the paint and splitting the wood. At his back Abe, Mr. Doyle, Alexis, and Spoon all moved closer to hear what Ellen had to say. She saw the looks on their faces and wanted immediately to share the news. Tesser pressed, "What did she say?"

Ellen had no tongue so she couldn't lick her lips nervously. Instead, her roots wiggled, and dug deeper, seeking reassurance in the cold earth. "She was captured by humans a decade ago. She's underneath the earth north of here, in a laboratory. I think it's under a parking lot, but I can't be sure. There were many silver birches all around. Dozens and dozens. That's why the leaf landed there. ‘Birds of a feather’ is the human expression. That's not from her message, that's just what I can glean from what the leaf felt."

"How can we tell what building the leaf came from? What facility? What parking lot? Did she say anything about Matty?" Tesser asked urgently.

Ellen continued, "She spoke of Matty. She is with Kaula."

"Safe?" Alexis asked.

"I don't think so. Kaula was very clear. You must come fast. Now if possible." Ellen tilted back and looked up at the cloudy sky. It looked like snow.

"How can I find this place where she is? Is Legion there?"

Ellen nodded knowingly, her eyes rolling up in a sudden surge of positive energy. "Yes. She is surrounded by the one with a thousand faces. She knows how to kill him. How to send it back across the Veil, she said. She knows who, she said. But she needs you now. Matty needs you now."

"How can I find this place?"

"Kaula said the redheaded one might know."

Tesser spun, still crouched and looked up to the now confused Alexis. "Where is she?" It wasn't a threat, but any question like that from Tesser certainly carried the unspoken weight of dire consequences.

"I... I uh... I have no idea," Alexis stammered, nervous.

Tesser took a deep breath and slowed his speech. "You have to think. Kaula knew you'd have an idea where Matty was taken. What do you know about Matty that the rest of us don't know? Something you two share that the rest of us don't."

"We're both girls. That's something." Alexis shrugged.

Mr. Doyle put a soft hand on her shoulder. "Alexis. Dear. Something that isn't obvious to us. Something that Kaula would know from where she was. Think location. Think personal."

"Well, we work together. Maybe she was taken by someone we work with?"

"The man at the door here who said he had Matty called himself Mr. Host. But he lied, he was Legion," Tesser offered.

"Oh holy fuck, Tesser," Alexis said, suddenly short of breath and nervous. She crumpled up a napkin in her hands reflexively.

"What is it? That name. You're familiar with it."

She nodded emphatically. "Yeah. He runs security for Alec Fitgerald. Fitgerald Industries? Where we work. I've only seen this Mr. Host dude once, but some of the people I know who went to work where Matty went have said he's creepy as hell."

"Where is your work?" Tesser asked.

"Not far from here. But Matty doesn't work at the same facility I do. She works in a new facility somewhere north of here. Oh shit. It's called Project Amethyst."

"Kaula is the purple dragon right? Amethyst? Somewhere north of here you say? That's gotta be it," Abe said. He went back to the dining room table and flipped open his laptop. Furious typing ensued.
 

"How can we find the address for this building, Alexis? Can you search it out on a company computer?" Tesser asked.

"No. It's well hidden. The facility was top secret R&D style stuff."

Abe spoke up from the table. "Says here that Fitzgerald Industries leapt up in the industry about ten years ago. Huge advancements in medical technology out of nowhere. Privately owned and supposedly incredibly profitable."

"Convenient," Mr. Doyle returned. Tesser stood and started to pace. His fists clenched repeatedly, anxiously.

"Guess what a Google search of Birch plus Interstate 93 also just turned up? Silver Birch Industrial park. About an hour north by car right off 93. No word of Fitzgerald Industries there, but it does line up. Worth a look?"

Tesser stopped pacing and looked over at Abe. "That's it. I can feel it." Tesser turned to Spoon. "Tell your government friend I am headed there, and they are to keep everyone away. Far away. I'll be doing things that could be… highly destructive."

Spoon simply nodded and reached inside his suit jacket for his phone with all the contacts in it. He stepped away with his cane to make the call.

"The rest of you are welcome to stay or come as you choose. This is not your fight," Tesser said, his golden eyes flaring red.

"Tesser. There is no sitting this out. I will come. I suspect Abe will as well, and we all know the good Special Agent Spooner will be there. Allow us a few moments to gather our things," Mr. Doyle said confidently.

"You could die," Tesser said.

All Mr. Doyle did was smile and say, "We are all going to die eventually, Tesser. Choosing how we meet that end is a wonderful human trait you may not realize you've given us."

"Fair point, that."

Mr. Doyle turned to the men gathered. "Abe, Mr. Spooner, when you get off the phone, there are a few things upstairs that we should bring with us. Old treasures that have been collecting dust that might be useful."

Chapter Forty-Nine

Spoon

Spoon hit the first speed dial on his phone. It went straight to Director Fisher's phone. The older agent picked up after a single ring. Spoon could hear the sound of the vehicle they were in still. They couldn't be far away.

"Agent Spooner? Does Tesser have a question?"

"Tesser has a purpose, Director. And you can call me Spoon, if you don't mind. People have been calling me Spoon since I was a kid. Agent still sounds funny in my head."

"Yeah, I know that feeling. What do you mean by ‘purpose,’ Spoon? Is he headed somewhere?"