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The Object
ZOE DAWN
The protective shield glimmered just slightly from inside the barrier. They had reassured me it would appear as an empty space of trees, rocks, and flowers to anyone who came near on the other side.
I had woken early, wanting to spend my morning creating fire and finding out what I could do with it, which was the ironic part. I really couldn’t do anything but ignite fire, either by my hands or fingertips, or engulf my entire body. There were no fun tricks—no breathing fire, shooting fireballs, or nifty little dancing fire ruses that would ensure my safety if those pesky enemies invaded these lands.
As Malcolm and Aly had explained to me several times yesterday, I was simply the element of fire, with no fancy fighting powers to accompany it. Disappointment had settled heavily over my high expectations. I was determined to prove them wrong.
The sun was high in the sky, meaning it was nearing meal-time and I was already starving.
Something caught my eye so I twisted just as a strange winged creature flew past me, followed by two others. I stared in amazement at their beauty. Their blue wings were adorned with swirls of white and black, making them appear like little fairies.
I took a quick step back and glanced around at the otherwise empty space. Were fairies real as well?
“No way!” I exclaimed, chasing after the winged little people.
They fluttered around a patch of various flowers, some I had never seen before. I squinted over at one of the fairies who had landed on a blossom.
I leaned in close. “Can you understand me, little friend?” I asked, my smile so wide I thought I would burst with happiness.
It flapped its wings a few times, then flew to a blossom a few feet away. Her friends joined her, and they danced around in a circle as if listening to music only they could hear. I clapped my hands and sank to my knees.
“Elementals and fairies,” I gushed, holding my hands against my lips. “Who would have imagined this would ever happen? Not me.” I pointed at myself and laughed. “We are both magical, which means we must be friends.”
“Zoe Dawn,” I heard Aly call. “Who are you talking to?”
I twisted around, my smile still plastered on my face. “The fairies! Aly, I cannot believe you didn’t tell me about these lovely creatures. What other magical beings are out in the world?”
Aly hovered above me and squinted at the fairies. Then she burst with laughter and doubled over as if she were in pain.
My smile melted from my face. I glanced back at the fairies, but her laughter had scared them away. I bounded up from the ground and shoved her.
“Why did you do that?” I cried, stomping my foot like a child.
Aly looked at me with tears in her eyes and sputtered out more laughter before covering her mouth with her hands. “I’m sor-r-ry,” she said, stammering her words out, then laughed more. Now her tears were rolling down her cheeks, and she laughed even harder.
I folded my arms over my chest. “What is so funny?”
She pointed at me and pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing more.
Now, I was just irritated I missed my chance to speak to the fairies.
“Oh, my dear Zoe Dawn,” Aly finally spit out between short giggles. “Those are not fairies, and as far as I know, fairies do not exist here.”
“I just saw three of them,” I said in protest. “They were right there, dancing around in the air together.” I pointed at the flowers.
“Those are butterflies,” Aly replied, taking my hand and patting it. “They are an insect—a lovely one, but most definitely an insect.”
My face scrunched up even more. “Why would there be an insect that looked like a fairy? I have never seen an insect like this butterfly you claim it to be.”
“They have been a dying species ever since the stars struck Mother Gaia.” She smiled as she dropped my hand and beckoned me to follow her. “I will show you more. The people here protect them and have created a sanctuary for them to thrive. With the uniting of the elementals, this will be one species you will save from extinction.”
I followed her, still not convinced they were not fairies. I don’t know why, but it made more sense to me after everything that had happened.
We walked down a stone stairway, and a small clearing of multi-colored flowers opened before us. I stopped and stared. It was the most stunning view I had ever seen. All around the blossoms, thousands of butterflies swarmed the space, dancing and playing in the wind. There were blue ones and purple ones, pink and rainbow ones... all creating a festival of colors with an array of flowers beneath them.
I was in love.
My hand flitted out and folded over Aly’s. She glanced over at me with a smile.
“They are a beauty, a creation of our Mother Gaia that is loved and protected in our community. From what I hear, there are only a few other sanctuaries like this one across the entire globe, preparing for the union of you three elementals with Her.” She reached out her hand, and one of the butterflies landed on her finger.
I blinked several times at the sight as a smile spread across my lips. “Can I do that?” I bounced on my toes with excitement.
Aly nodded toward the flurry of wings. “Absolutely.”
I stepped down a few more steps and held out my hand. One butterfly landed on my outstretched finger, and I slowly drew it closer to me but stopped when more of them fluttered around me and landed one after another across my arms and shoulders.
Glee must have danced across my face because Aly nearly laughed again, but she stuffed her fist against her mouth to smother it. I did not want to scare them away again. This was the most amazing moment of my life.
That was when I heard a rumble deep beneath me. I was already frozen, but now my heart must have stopped beating as well. Something was wrong.
I whirled around to face Aly, and the space filled with butterflies. All of them surrounded us, not just the ones that had been resting on me. I swallowed hard, trying to push back the terror rising from within.
“What is wrong?” Aly’s expression had melted into a frown as she looked at me and then all the butterflies.
I shook my head, unsure what the quaking could be, when the answer dawned on me. “Aly, they must know where we are.” Our eyes met. “I can feel them coming, but instead of over, they are burrowing under us.”
“How do you know?” she asked, pulling me up the stairs and toward the central building.
“I don’t know.” I nearly tripped over my feet as I tried to catch a glimpse of the butterflies. “Maybe they told me.”
“Butterflies don’t speak,” she snapped, skidding to a stop in front of the building. “Are you messing with me, Zoe Dawn?”
“No. Absolutely not. I can still feel it, but the intensity is wearing off.” I started walking back to the butterflies, but she yanked me to her side. “I need to be with them.” I shook my arm to break her grip, but she held on tightly.
“We need to speak with Malcolm and Tiordan.”
As if they knew we were coming, the two of them met us at the doors of the building. Tiordan wore a harried expression. He knew they were coming as well.
“Tiordan believes our enemies have discovered a way to dig under our protection barrier,” Malcolm said, staring at me. “And he says you know this. Is that true?”
I nodded and pointed in the direction of the butterflies. “They told me. Those beautiful flying insects. They warned me.”
Malcolm looked taken back. His gaze flashed to Aly, who nodded, and then to Tiordan, who shrugged.
“Are you telling me the butterflies spoke to you?” he asked with a slight edge to his tone.
“Spoke, no.” I patted each of my arms. “Dozens of them landed on me, and it was as if I could sense the troubles, so they planted the information directly into my mind. It sounds crazy, but that seems to be my life now.... a large dose of the insane.”
Tiordan grinned, and Malcolm’s lips twitched just enough to give me a tiny bit of satisfaction.
“How do we halt their attack?” Malcolm asked, his expression already sullen once again.
“We will have to go outside the barrier and stop them,” Aly replied, raking her fingers through her hair. “I can’t see any other way. We need time to bring the three girls together, and Nikita’s goons will reach us before that happens.”
“Nikita?” I asked, confused by how Aly spoke of our Sister. “Do you mean Sister Nikita? She has goons?”
Aly held up her hand to quiet me, her eyes never leaving Malcolm.
“Then we find a way to speed up our plan,” Malcolm barked, as if it were an order. “We leave the barrier to fetch those two girls and that is all. We cannot put our people at risk if we can end this by uniting them with Mother Gaia.”
Aly bit down on her lip as if to stop herself from speaking further. Instead, she gave him a curt nod.
He nodded back and quickly turned back to the lift. “This is the way it has to be.”
“Wait, I thought you could not find Kia Lynn,” I said, waving my hand at Malcolm.
Tiordan grabbed my raised hand. “Someone has shattered the block on my view.” He sighed happily. “A truly extraordinary moment.”
“Then, yes, we must bring her here.” I nodded, agreeing fully with Malcolm.
“We will begin preparations. Zoe Dawn, have you had your midday meal?” Aly asked, linking her arm within mine.
“Not yet. I would like to return to my room first and clean up before I eat,” I said, unsure of what just happened. I needed to be alone to think it all through.
“I will do the same and meet you in the cafeteria afterward.” Aly glanced at Tiordan who had remained with us. “Would you like to join us, Tiordan?”
He bowed his head. “Yes, I would very much enjoy that. Thank you, Aly.”
“Then it is settled.” She smiled at us both, then patted my shoulder as she walked away. “I will see you both soon.”
My questions about Sister Nikita would have to wait.
I hurried to the lift that led to my room and was back inside the safety of my small space in a matter of a few moments. After digging in my pack that Aly had retrieved from the mating ceremony, I yanked out the silver device I had hidden in there. Something told me this would assist me. I had no idea how, but it called to me like a voice that echoed in my skull, similar to when the butterflies had showed me our enemies were on their way.
I ran my fingers down the edges, like I had done a dozen other times. Pressing in with my fingertips, I searched for a groove that would make it possible to open, but still I could not find one. I turned it over and over again, pressing every inch of it until the tip of my finger was raw. I groaned and tossed the ridiculous contraption onto the bed.
It flipped open.
I stared at it for a moment and threw my hands up in the air. “That’s all it took! I could have done that ages ago,” I grumbled as I turned the device toward me.
The side closest to me glowed a pale fuzzy blue. A wave of white would flash across it every few seconds, but there was nothing significant from this viewpoint. I turned my attention to the side farthest from me. Strange symbols were scrawled across it.
I climbed onto the bed and flopped to my belly, placing the device in front of me. With closer examination, the symbols appeared to be stamped on dozens of outlined squares. I ran my fingers across them, and they lit up blue just like the other side as my fingers touched each one.
My smile returned. “Well, lookie here. Enchantments from insects and from silver anaman objects.”
The fuzzy blue side crackled loudly. I jumped to my feet and dropped the device on the bed. It crackled again, almost like the sound of hundreds of rocks crashing into one another. As I leaned closer, a blurry face shone through the blue light, but as quickly as it was there, it disappeared again.
I picked it up and brought it closer to my face, but only the fuzzy blue remained.
“What an odd little—”
“Zoe Dawn,” someone called from the object.
I dropped that sucker again, but this time I leapt several feet back as my pulse quickened to the point I could feel my heart ram against my chest. “Bless me, Goddess,” I cried. My hands clasped over my mouth, biting back any other words.
“Zoe Dawn, are you there?” The object crackled again when the person spoke.
The voice... I moved forward one step. I knew that voice.
“Hold on, Zoe Dawn. We are coming.”
