Answers

We spent the next few days in Altaire, Tyler and I learning swordsmanship by Noah’s hand. She worked us hard, but we took on every task she gave us with determination, eager to learn as much as we could as quickly as possible. We both wanted to continue our search for Lily soon.

Alec sometimes watched our training sessions, though for the most part he only teased Noah. Mi’ta hadn’t left the room he shared with Alec and Tyler since our discussion about my dream.

I was afraid to go to sleep at night, certain that as soon as I did I’d be trying to jump off the third-floor balcony again. Noah assured me that I wouldn’t be able to leave the room while she was there, but I couldn’t sleep even if I wanted to, too worried. Fio started sleeping in my bed with me in an apparent attempt to comfort me, and I showed him my appreciation by stroking his fur until he fell asleep every night.

I wanted to know what Mi’ta was doing. He’d told me not to mention the belt again, so I hadn’t, but I wanted to know why. Why were the elements suddenly protecting me? I wanted to question Mi’ta, but resisted the urge, choosing to wait until he brought it up, instead.

It was a frustrating wait.

“Jai,” Noah’s voice chided, breaking me out of my stupor. “What are you doing?”

I blinked and looked up. She and Tyler were standing before me, giving me odd looks. “Huh?”

“I killed you three times,” Tyler said, holding up his sword. We were behind the Dragons Wing, sparring once more while Alec and Fio watched from a rock a few yards away. Mi’ta was, as usual, in his room.

“You’re not paying attention,” Noah said, arms crossed over her chest. “Is there something more interesting to think about?”

“No. I’m sorry,” I said, rubbing my fist against my eye. “I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep lately.”

Sympathy flashed in her eyes, but was quickly replaced with annoyance. “You can’t start dozing in the middle of a fight, not if you want to stay alive. You have to sleep more.”

“Well, she does have to worry about being possessed,” Alec chimed in, scratching lightly at Fio’s ears. “I can’t blame her if it’s hard for her to sleep.”

Noah sighed. “Very well,” she said. “We’re done for the day. Jai, try to wake yourself up at the river. I know you’re worried, but staying awake every night isn’t going to help. You need to always be alert, in case something happens.”

I nodded and sheathed my sword, sighing as I left the inn. Tyler started to follow, but Alec called him back to practice with their guns.

On my own, I wandered along the streets to the nearby river. The people of Altaire had gotten used to us, and some even waved to me as I passed. I’d found that I kind of liked the place; it was much better than Corenth or Oyin, at any rate.

I found some kids playing in the river when I arrived, splashing and screaming in delight as they chased each other in the cold water. Two girls stopped and watched me when I arrived, so I gave them a polite smile and moved a few yards down the bank to stay out of their way.

I knelt by the river and watched the water flow for a moment, catching sight of a few small fish. I could see the blurry green images of the tall trees on the other side, reflected on the surface of the water. I reached down and scooped the chilly water into my cupped hands, splashing my face with it. The sudden contact made me gasp but woke me up quickly enough, and I splashed myself again before rubbing my eyes to clear them of the tiny droplets that clung to my lashes. I dried my face on my sleeve, having nothing else to use as a towel, and sighed as I looked down at the water again. My eyes landed on a blue blur, mingling with the green of the trees. That was odd.

“Hello there,” a voice said, making me start. “Long time no see.”

I looked up, eyes widening when I found the source of the voice. A young man was sitting on a tree branch above me, a vague smile on his face as he watched me. His long hair was tied back, a red band covering his forehead. Despite his mediocre disguise, I recognized him in an instant.

“Liske.”

“Oh, you do remember me,” he said, his face as blank as ever, other than that absent smile. “That’s good. I didn’t want to have to remind you.”

“What are you doing here?” I asked, stunned by the sight of him. “H-How did you even get here?”

His smile thinned a little. He leaned backward and swung from the branch, rolling in midair and landing easily on his feet. “You don’t seem to be catching on very quickly to the concept of magic,” he mused.

I stood, my hand moving uneasily to my sword. “Magic won’t get you from one world to another, will it?”

“No.” Liske stepped onto the river, walking across the water as though it was solid. “Humans can’t, anyway. But you really should consider the situation before jumping to conclusions.”

“What?”

“I’m a demon.”

I drew my sword almost without thinking. Liske held up his hands in surrender, his smile growing infinitesimally.

“Be calm.”

“Stay away from me,” I insisted. “I’m sick of demons.”

“Well, that’s awfully rude,” he said, almost grinning now. “I did save you back in Corenth, if you remember.”

“So what do you want now?” I demanded.

He sighed. “Honestly. You humans, always assuming the worst of us demons. I was the one who told you about your magic, too.”

“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course not.” Liske shook his head warily. “You aren’t very bright, are you? Especially considering that you’ve been wearing the source of your magic.”

I blinked at that and glanced down at my belt. I looked back at him and caught the amused look on his face. “That?”

He hummed in confirmation.

“Mi’ta told me not to mention it in case Damaen hears.”

“Hm. Than your magician is smarter than I thought,” Liske murmured. “If he chose, Damaen could hear every breath you take.”

I started to nod, then paused. “We are talking about the same person, right?”

He chuckled lightly. “Well, since your warrior killed Damaen of Corenth, I assume we’re talking about the demon prince.”

“Prince?” I repeated, alarmed. “Damaen’s the prince of demons?”

“Well, of course,” Liske said pleasantly. “He has been for the past three thousand years.”

I stared at him, waiting to see if he was joking or not. I judged that he wasn’t nd sighed, lowering my sword. “So what do I do?”

“About what?”

“You know what.”

“Ah.” Liske tipped his head slightly to one side. “Do I?”

“We were just talking about it,” I snapped.

He smiled. “You’re so impatient,” he teased, before growing serious (I hoped). “Your magician is right, I think. It would be best not to mention it, at least not until he can made sure that Damaen won’t be able to hear you.”

I nodded, then paused and looked at him. “Is it all right for you to-”

“I am a demon,” Liske interrupted. “My magic protects me from Damaen. At least while I’m outside the Demon Realm.”

I perked at that. “Where’s the Demon Realm?” I asked hopefully, wondering if that was where Damaen had taken Lily.

“I couldn’t tell you,” Liske replied, much to my displeasure. “It’s impossible to describe the realm. For a demon, anyway. You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

I sighed and sheathed my sword. “Thanks,” I said warily, and turned to leave the river. Liske trailed after me, following a foot or so behind.

“Noah’s probably going to kill you when she sees you,” I told him, glancing over my shoulder at him.

“I’m sure she’ll try,” Liske replied.

“Why are you following me?”

“You’re quite entertaining.”

I rolled my eyes, then paused and turned to him as a thought struck me. “You’re a demon.”

“As I’ve stated more than once, yes,” he said, raising an eyebrow slightly.

I ignored him. “Does that mean you’d be able to remove a curse placed by a different demon?”

Liske considered. “I suppose. I’ve never tried removing a curse, though. Placing them is more my forte.”

“Would you mind trying?” I asked, reaching to rub the spot on my neck that was always burning.

He hesitated, then shrugged. “I could try,” he confirmed. “But I don’t know if you want me to. I don’t know the exact spell that was used, and it was placed by someone much more powerful than I. It might only end up getting worse.”

Worse? That wasn’t very appealing. But I didn’t think I had much of a choice. A demon might be more likely to remove another demons curse than a human would.

“What happens if it gets worse?”

“Well, there are always plenty of possibilities,” Liske murmured, oddly casual, as though he couldn’t care less about the situation. I had to remind myself that he probably couldn’t. “It’s impossible to know what will happen. Tell me the details of the curse and I’ll see what I can do.”

I told him about the effects of the curse, about how as soon as I’d fallen asleep some demons showed up and tried to kill me. When I was finished he examined my neck, running the tip of one finger over the itching spot.

“A dream curse,” he mused. “A strange choice.”

“What’s so strange about it?” I asked warily.

“A demon as powerful as Damaen could cast any curse he likes,” Liske explained. “But dream curses are the simplest to cast, and typically had the worst results, as evidenced by the fact that you’re still alive. If he really wanted to kill you, he could have done it a dozen times by now.”

“Well, I do enjoy not being,” I said dryly. “What’s he waiting for? If he wants me dead, why doesn’t he just come kill me?”

Liske shrugged. “Perhaps he doesn’t want to kill you. Maybe he only wants to scare you, for whatever reason.”

That made sense. Damaen wanted to scare me away so I would stop looking for Lily. But why would he care if I was alive or dead? Lily might have been keeping him from killing me, but why would he listen to his hostage?

“I think it would be good for you to return to your friends now,” Liske said suddenly, distracting me from my thoughts. “You don’t want them to worry, and it’s not safe to wander around alone.”

I looked at him, weary. “Am I alone?” I asked.

Several silent moments passed as he considered me and my question. “Well,” he said finally. “I’m not your ally.”

“And you won’t get rid of the curse?”

“Can’t,” he corrected. “Damaen is far more powerful than I am, even if he did use a rather basic curse. Your magician should be able to rid you of the problem without much issue.”

“Thanks for the help,” I said with a sigh.

“I don’t owe you my help,” he replied, and disappeared without another word.

 

Upon returning to the inn, I learned from Tyler that Alec and Noah were gone; something had come up on the Seeker, and they had gone to find it. Mi’ta was still in his room, doing who knew what.

Tyler, Fio and I sat in my room around the wooden table. Tyler scratched at the dark surface with one fingernail.

“What do you think Mom and Dad are doing?” he asked suddenly.

I looked at him, holding Fio on my lap and petting the purring creature. “What would they be doing?”

He shrugged. “Alec said that it’s like we were never born,” he reminded me, as though I needed reminding. “So what are our parents doing without us?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they had different kids. Maybe they’re vacationing in Egypt with the money they didn’t have to spend on us.” I sighed and leaned back in my chair. “I haven’t thought about it.”

“I haven’t, either,” Tyler said, sounding oddly disturbed. I looked over to find him staring at the table, brow furrowed. I hadn’t expected him to worry about what our parents would be doing; he’d always claimed to hate them. But I had to suppose that it would bother him to think of what they would be doing without us.

I started to speak, and was interrupted by a knock on the door. Sighing, I looked over and called for whoever it was to come in.

The door opened and Mi’ta entered the room. He looked tired, and had an odd sprinkling of silver across his jaw and around his mouth.

“Jai,” he said, adjusting his glasses and looking troubled. “Will you come with me?”

“Sure.” I stood and placed Fio in Tyler’s lap, ruffling my brothers hair gently before following Mi’ta out of the room. Up close in the hallway, I could see that the magicians clothes and hair were rumpled, and his skin was paler than usual. The silver on his face, I realized, was the beginnings of a beard. “Are you all right?” I asked, frowning. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“I haven’t,” he answered, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes before slipping them back on. “But it doesn’t matter. I’ve found something that could help you, but we can’t talk about it here. Follow me, please.” Staff in hand, he turned and led me down the stairs and out of the inn.

I followed him through the town uncertainly. I trusted Mi’ta, but it still would have helped my confidence if I knew where he was taking me. I wanted to ask, but resisted the temptation, figuring that he probably wouldn’t answer until we reached his destination.

He led the way out of Altaire and into the forest. The sun was going down and darkness was rapidly spreading, but he didn’t seem to mind. As the darkness surrounded us, the color-changing stone at the top of his staff began to glow, lighting our way.

“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” I asked, tugging myself free from a low-hanging branch that had snagged onto my collar. “Maybe we should go back so you can sleep for a while before we come out here.”

“I’m fine,” Mi’ta told me, barely glancing at me. “Even if I had time to sleep, I wouldn’t be able to. This is much too exciting.”

“What is it that’s so exciting?”

“You’ll see.”

I sighed and continued to follow him deeper into the forest. At some point we’d started going uphill, leaving the valley that Altaire was rested in. The trees grew thicker, blocking out the last beams of sunlight.

Finally we reached a small cave in a steep part of the hill. The mouth was formed of rocks that looked ready to collapse at any moment, but Mi’ta paid them no mind, stepping across them easily. He led me into the cave, stopping and facing the mouth when we were a few feet in. He passed a hand through the air, murmuring under his breath.

I looked to the mouth and noticed an odd sheen in the space, reflecting the light of Mi’tas orb as though covered by a sheet of glass.

“What is that?”

“A spell,” Mi’ta answered, sitting on a rock and wiping a hand over his face. “To make sure no one can eavesdrop, no matter what kind of magic they use.” He frowned when he felt his silver beard. “We have a lot to discuss, and we can’t risk anyone hearing us.”

“What do we have to discuss?” I asked, sitting on a rock near him. I couldn’t help feeling excited, hoping he would be able to take Damaen’s curse off me.

He looked at me. “Where did you get that belt?” he asked in answer to my question.

It caught me off-guard, but I managed to recover. “A store on my world,” I told him. “My aunt bought it for me. I thought it was weird, because even after reality changed I had it.”

“May I see it?”

I shrugged and slipped it off, handing it to him. In the darkness of the cave I could see that the gems were glowing faintly. “Do you think it’s what’s letting me control the elements, like you said?”

“It is,” he confirmed, running his fingers over the gems. Each one glowed brighter under his touch. “This belt was created on a world called Antilok. Somehow it ended up on your world.”

“But wouldn’t it have come up on the Seeker if it belongs on Antilok?” I wondered.

Mi’ta shook his head. “It doesn’t belong there,” he said. “There are many artifacts of great power, a collection that some call the Sorcerers Armor. The artifacts were scattered across worlds. The belt is part of that collection, and according to every history I’ve read, these items choose a master, someone to control them, and attach themselves to the master. From that point on it is considered part of him. Or, in this case, her.”

“Chooses? You act like these things are alive.”

He smiled. “Some of them are. The belt is given life by the elements trapped within the gems. It has the ability to choose a master to serve and protect. It chose you.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Is it? You told me that in your dream, the fire and the wind were trying to hold you back. The elements were protecting you.”

“But why me?” I asked, eyeing the belt warily. “Why not someone who actually studies magic?”

“I couldn’t tell you. But you’re going to have to learn how to control it. If you don’t, they’re going to do whatever they want, and it could end up hurting you.”

I gazed at the belt, biting my lip. “What if I don’t want to learn?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Mi’ta asked, confused. “It’s an incredible honor to be chosen by the elements themselves. You’ll have control over all of nature.”

“You can have it,” I told him, shaking my head. “I don’t want it.”

He hesitated, looking wistfully at the belt, before sighing. “You can’t give it away. You were chosen, the power’s yours. Why wouldn’t you want it?”

“I don’t want anything life-changing,” I said, aware that my life had already been changed entirely. “Nothing permanent. I just want to find Lily and go home. I don’t want any magic.”

He sighed. “Well, I’m sorry,” he said, returning the belt to me. “As I’ve said, the belt is yours, and with it the power over the elements. You can’t give it away and you can’t ignore it. You’re going to have to learn how to use it whether you want to or not, and it’ll be much easier and safer if you cooperate.”

I sighed and touched the gems. They felt warm and almost seemed to vibrate a little, like purring kittens. “Fine. Can you teach me?”

Mi’ta was silent, and I looked at him to see him staring at me, his glasses sliding down his nose. He looked uneasy and a little embarrassed.

“No, I can’t,” he said finally. “I would have to follow my worlds laws and take you on as my official apprentice. I can give you basic instruction, but you’ll have to figure most of it out for yourself.”

I nodded and sighed. “All right,” I agreed, sliding the belt around my waist again. It was strange to wear it now that I knew it wasn’t an ordinary belt.

Mi’ta summoned a book from thin air and handed it to me. It was thick and old, with crisp, stiff pages and a heavy leather binding. There was no apparent title, but there was a large symbol drawn on the cover in black. It looked like a triangle, curved lines protruding from the corners and a half-circle in the center.

“What’s this?” I asked, opening the book and paging through it curiously.

“A list,” he told me. “Naming and detailing each artifact of the Sorcerers Armor. It’s been passed through a family of powerful wizards for ages. I spent sixteen years looking for it, but it was pointless, since all of the items had been either destroyed or scattered to other worlds.”

“But you’ve been traveling with Alec and Noah to different worlds,” I said. “Haven’t you found any of them?”

He shook his head. “No. You see, when the item reaches a world, it becomes attached to it. It doesn’t show up on the Seeker afterwards and isn’t considered missing. I’d have to take the time to search every world until I found the item I was looking for, and that could take hundreds of lifetimes.”

“Are there that many worlds?” I asked, looking up at him as wariness washed over me.

He started to speak, then paused, seeming to think better of what he wanted to say. Sighing, he took his glasses off and cleaned them on his sleeve, as though having better eyesight would make it easier to give me bad news. “There are a lot of worlds,” he said finally. “But finding a magical artifact is different from finding a lost person. She won’t be attached to the world she’s on, so she’ll show up on the Seeker.” He hesitated before reaching out, gently patting my hand. “We’ll find Lily.”

“But what if we don’t?” I couldn’t ignore how warm his fingers were over mine.

“We will,” he insisted. “Even if we have to enlist another team of Hunters. We’ll do whatever it takes to find her and return all three of you to your world.”

I looked at him and couldn’t help a faint smile. Not sure what to say, I merely nodded and waited for him to remove his hand. When he did, I looked back to the book in my lap, paging through it awkwardly. “So… this book will tell me how to use the belt?”

“It should, yes,” Mi’ta said, adjusting his glasses as he peered at the tome. “It will tell you what to do, anyway. It might not give precise direction, but it’ll be easier than going into it blindly.”

“True.” I flipped through the pages, passing long paragraphs on hand-written text and occasional drawings. I noticed a bracelet, what looked like a hand mirror, a pair of earrings, a feather, and a spider before I found a detailed sketch of a belt.

“There,” Mi’ta said, tapping the page with one finger. “Issdras’ belt.”

“Who?”

“Issdra Inal. She created the belt,” he explained, smiling faintly.

“Oh.” I observed the drawing, a sketch of the belt I was wearing. The paragraph below it was written like a diary, I supposed by Issdra herself.

The belt is complete, at least for the most part. The gems were the hardest to make; I had to crystallize a small sample of each element, and it was near impossible to crystallize air. After that, sealing away the Elementals was simple. They are angry with me, I’m sure, but I hope that won’t keep the belt from working for future users.

I don’t expect I’ll ever use the belt myself. Even if I wanted to, I doubt the Elementals would allow it. I just hope someone else will be able to put it to use.

“It doesn’t say how to use it,” I said, turning to the next page to find a new item.

“No?” Mi’ta leaned over to look, then sighed. “I suppose Issdra never used it, than. But at least the Elementals seem to be on your side.”

“What are Elementals?” I asked.

“Spirits of the elements. They’re very powerful. Sorcerers often summon them while casting spells. To think that she managed to seal some of them away…”

“Apparently that was the easy part.”

He smiled and stood. “We should go back,” he said, scratching at his chin and looking toward the mouth of the cave. “It’s late. Do you want to keep that book, or would you like me to put it away?”

I hesitated, thinking about what Liske had said. “I’ll keep it,” I decided. “It’s not going to do me a lot of good if you put it… wherever you send things.”

“ I send everything to my house,” he told me as he dismissed the barrier over the cave. “No one bothers with it so it seemed like the ideal place for storage.”

“Really?” I smiled and tucked the book under my arm as I followed him out of the cave. “Did you like your world?”

He helped me across the wobbling rocks and onto solid ground as he considered. “I… didn’t dislike it,” he said slowly. “I lived in the capitol city, which was always busy.”

“What did you do there?” I asked, remembering what Noah had told me on Corenth.

“Not much,” he confessed as we walked. “I worked as a healer, but I never had many patients. No one… Not a lot of people trusted me.”

I raised an eyebrow, a little disturbed. “Uh… Why not?”

“Because of my hair.”

“…What?”

He smiled softly. “I was born with silver hair,” he elaborated. “On Nyahal, silver is the color of evil. Demons, evil creatures, those who practiced dark magic, they were always identified as having silver features. At first people suspected that I was practicing dark magic, but of course that was impossible. I was only an infant. So then, of course, they decided it must have been my mother dealing with demons.”

“Was she?” I asked slowly.

“Of course not,” Mi’ta said dismissively. “Accusing her was completely ridiculous. And even if she had been, it wouldn’t have effected me, her unborn child. But they’re a superstitious lot on Nyahal, and no one was willing to listen to her.”

“So what happened?” I asked, too curious to realize how nosy I was being.

He glanced at me and gave a rather sad smile. “They waited until my sixth birthday, then killed her.”

I could almost feel the blood rushing from my face. “Killed her?”

“They executed her,” Mi’ta said, his eyes on the path below us. “They waited until I was six so I could be passed off to become a mages student, and then they executed her.”

I was quiet, feeling guilty for bringing it up. “You, uh. You started learning magic at six?” I asked, mostly to change the subject, if only a little.

He stirred a little and smiled at me. “Most of the children start learning at five,” he said. “It took them a year to find a teacher who would have me. My master was a good man, though. He took me in and taught me when no one else would, considering… well…” He absently reached up to finger a lock of his hair, gleaming in the moonlight.

I frowned. “I have a hard time believing that you’re evil just because you were born with a particular hair color.”

“I appreciate it,” Mi’ta said with a chuckle. “And I do wish more people felt that way. But I suppose our worlds are very different.”

I wanted to argue that they weren’t very different at all, besides the magic, but decided to keep quiet.

The rest of the walk to the inn was silent, both of us lost in our own thoughts. The town streets were empty of people; the only sign of life I spotted at this hour was a strange creature that looked like a dog with two tails. It was scratching at the front door of one of the houses whining pitifully until someone opened the door. The creature disappeared into the house and the street was empty again.

We reached the inn and went inside, heading upstairs. There, in the hall, we found something I never thought I’d see.

Alec and Noah were sitting on the floor beside the door to my room. They were close, her head on his shoulder, eyes closed and a blush staining her face. His large hand held hers, fingers laced and rested on her knee.

I froze at the sight, stunned. For a moment I wondered if maybe I’d passed out and was dreaming, or if this was some strange part of Damaen’s spell.

Mi’ta paused beside me, eyebrows raised at the scene. “Well,” he said mildly. “Aren’t we cozy?”

Noah shot to her feet faster than I could see her move, the blush darkening on her face. “Where have you two been?” she demanded.

“I brought Jai somewhere so we could discuss something in private,” Mi’ta replied. “What about you two? Did you find whatever came up on the Seeker?”

“No,” Alec said, standing and leaning casually against the wall. “It disappeared.”

“So it was either a demon or a different team found it,” Noah concluded.

“Demons show up on the Seeker?” I asked.

“Of course,” Alec said with a shrug.

“Oh.” I considered. “Than it might have been Liske.”

“Liske?” Noah repeated, the three of them treating me to odd looks. “Who’s Liske?”

“One of the men in Damaen’s gang on Corenth,” I explained. “The one with three eyes, who helped you find us.”

“He was a demon?” Mi’ta asked, before growing alarmed.

Alec apparently shared his thought, gold eyes widening. “He was here?”

“Why didn’t you come get us?” Noah asked, looking as though she was putting great effort into not smacking me in the head.

“I didn’t really have a chance,” I protested. “He just stayed long enough to tell me that the curse Damaen put on me is a dream curse, and then he left.” I paused and looked around them. “And he told me that Damaen is the demon prince.”

Noah started to speak, then stopped, blinking. “He is?”

“According to Liske, yes,” I said with a sigh.

The Hunters exchanged a glance.

“Traveler must have known,” Noah said finally. “Why wouldn’t he tell us?”

“He has his reasons, I’m sure,” Alec said with a shrug.

Noah bristled. “Oh, I’m sure,” she said coldly. “He’s always got his reasons. This information could have gotten us killed, Alec.”

Mi’ta sighed as Alec started his defense. “This could take a while,” he murmured, then looked at me and smiled. “You should go to bed.”

I nodded. “You too,” I said, and gave a small wave before going into my room.

Tyler was asleep on my bed, still fully clothed, Fio curled against his chest. I smiled faintly and got changed for bed before joining him. I sometimes missed the nights when Tyler and Lily would sneak into my bed, and even though Lily wasn’t here this time, it was a pleasant reminder of those nights that seemed years behind me.

I curled up under the blanket with my brother and his monkey-cat thing. The voices in the hall barely reached me, and I was asleep before I could even wonder how long it would take me to doze off.