Chapter 2
1578 Words
2
I couldn’t process what he was telling me. Alec-my Alec-remembered who he was.
Blackbeak leaned down from my shoulder and studied Alec with his sharp eyes. “What kind of magic is this? A memory changer?”
Alec’s eyes bulged out of his head. He scrambled back a foot and pointed at the bird. “T-that bird talked!”
Blackbeak frowned. “Of course, I talk. A lot of birds in this world talk.”
At mention of the world Alec swept his eyes over the area. I never would have guessed they could get any bigger, but they did. “W-where am I? What is this place?”
The fear in his face and voice was a jolt. My strong, confident dragon lover had changed to my frightened fiancé, and I wasn’t sure which one I missed the most.
Blackbeak pecked me on the side of my head. I whipped my head to him and glared at the bird. “What was that for?”
“For not hearing me the first time,” he snapped as he used a wing to gesture down the street. “We have company.”
I followed his feathers and saw four olive-green clad people in uniforms rushing toward the fiery remains of the monstrous bird. The olive brigade had arrived, and late as usual. Fortunately, that was to our benefit.
I grabbed Alec’s arm and tugged him to his feet. “We need to get you to Rodney.”
He frowned. “Rodney? Who’s Rodney?”
Blackbeak flapped his wings. “Whatever this magic is, it’s pretty strong stuff.”
I pulled him toward a nearby alley. “I’ll explain everything later, but right now we need to get out of here.”
Alec stumbled along beside me like a man in a daze. His eyes saw everything, but they couldn’t comprehend what they were seeing.
I was hardly in better shape. Every corner of every street and alley made me conjure up images of that strange little man returning and shooting me with those sparkles. I didn’t want to find out what memories I would lose or gain.
Your time as a child in this world.
Shut up! I snapped at my inner thoughts. I couldn’t think of myself right then, not with the bumbling man at my side.
“Left,” Blackbeak snapped as I made to turn the opposite direction.
“Thanks. . .” I murmured as I dragged Alec that way.
Blackbeak looked across me at Alec. “So why does he think he’s this Alec guy?”
“Because he is, or was,” I revealed.
Blackbeak wrinkled his nose. “So that was what? His name before he became Shade?”
“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you it later after we’ve had Rodney look at him.”
Alec gave a soft tug on my hand that held his. “Could you explain what’s happening to me right now?”
We paused under the eaves of a small shop and I half-turned to him. “Well, what’s the last thing you remember?”
The color drained from Alec’s face and he lifted up his trembling hand. “I…I remember holding a gun, and then-” A look of terror distorted his features. He shut his eyes and turned his face away.
I winced. His suicide. The catalyst that had brought him into this world to protect me. I gave his hand a squeeze and jerked my head over my shoulder. “Come on. We’re almost there.”
A few more minutes found us at the doorstep of Rodney’s house. My father’s house. I still hadn’t gotten used to that. Rodney’s preternatural instincts were as strong as ever as he opened the door for us with a bright smile on his lips.
“I hope your mission was-” The smile died when his attention fell on Shade. He stepped back and to the side. “Take him into the parlor.”
I rushed him inside and Rodney shut the door behind us. He followed as I led him into the parlor where the warm and protective fire burned brightly in the hearth. I sat Shade in his customary seat close to the soothing flames. He looked even worse with the lines of his face sketched by the dancing firelight.
Rodney set his hand on my shoulder. “If you would step aside, Elly.”
I reluctantly moved closer to the fire as Rodney knelt in front of Shade. Alec, that is. It was weird calling him by his old name.
Shade studied the old man like a man searching for a lost jewel. His memories. “Do I know you?”
Rodney arched an eyebrow but otherwise showed no other alarm. “We have met. I am a doctor. Do you feel any pain?”
Alec clasped his hand over his chest where the sparkles had entered his body. “Here.”
Rodney held out his hand to Shade with the palm up. “Would you let me examine you?”
Alec’s eyes flickered up to me and I nodded. He set his gauntlet-covered hand in Rodney’s palm and my father examined the fingers.
Blackbeak landed on the back of Shade’s chair and leaned down. “Why are you looking at his fingers? It’s his chest that hurts.”
“For a very special reason,” Rodney replied as he grasped the gauntlet and drew off the armor.
My eyes widened when I beheld not the familiar clawed hand, but a human hand with smooth fingers. Rodney furrowed his brow before he looked up at me. “Tell me everything that happened, and leave nothing out.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. After a few minutes I finished my recap, and I couldn’t help but notice a dark cloud fell on Rodney’s brow at my description of the short man. “Do you know him?”
Rodney eased himself onto his feet and nodded. “Unfortunately, I do. His name is Boris Diefenbach.”
Blackbeak wrinkled his nose. “Never heard of him.”
“He adopted a far more appropriate name, der Hort, some years ago.”
Blackbeak shrugged. “I still don’t know him.”
“What does ‘der Hort’ mean?” I asked him.
Rodney sighed. “It means ‘Hoarder’ in the tongue of his people. He has the unique and terrible gift of being able to take the abilities of others and hoard them unto himself.”
My eyes widened. “Abilities? You mean like Shade’s dragon form?”
Rodney gestured to Alec’s normal hand. “So it would appear.”
“So. he probably came here to steal Elly’s powers over the Heaven Stones,” Blackbeak guessed.
“Could someone tell me what’s going on now?” Alec spoke up as he looked around at our company. His gaze fell on Rodney and he squinted his eyes. “I know your voice, don’t I? You were in my dreams telling me to save Elly.”
Rodney bowed his head. “That was I.”
Alec cupped the side of his head in one hand and furrowed his brow as he stared hard at the floor. “I…I remember talking to Elly. We had a fight-” I winced at the memory of that long terrible day. “Then I…I went into the bedroom. I took out the gun.” He shut his eyes and a shudder ran through his body.
He wasn’t the only one shaking. I dropped onto my knees beside the chair and grasped his arm. Warm tears filled my eyes. “Stop. Please stop. You don’t have to remember that.”
Rodney arched an eyebrow. “What do you remember after that scene?”
Alec shook his head. “Nothing other than waking up on the ground on that street with Elly and that-” He jerked his head toward Blackbeak, “-over me.”
Blackbeak scowled and puffed out his feathers to make himself look bigger. “I am not a ‘that.’ I am a sentient, highly intelligent avian who lords over wide swaths of forest and to whom humans bow down.”
“Only Alec has lost his memories,” I reminded my boasting friend before I looked up at Rodney. “So, this Hort guy took his powers, but why did he lose his memories?”
Rodney cupped his chin in one hand. “They were apparently intricately connected, so much so that to take one was to take the other.”
Blackbeak frowned. “So now we’ve got this little wart of a guy with Shade’s powers and memories strolling the streets?”
Rodney shook his head. “Fortunately, no. Der Hort’s ability, like all magic, has its price. Taking anyone’s powers leaves him vulnerable for several days afterward. If we find him before those two days are finished then we may be able to ‘convince’ him to relinquish Shade’s powers and memories.”
“Did he ever try to take Shade’s powers before?” I asked my father.
Rodney nodded. “Yes, but Shade was always able to outmaneuver him. Unfortunately, he had you to protect.” I couldn’t help but wince. It felt like a hand tightened around my heart as the guilt that settled on my shoulders.
“So what other downsides to we have to worry about?” Blackbeak spoke up.
Rodney folded his arms over his chest and sighed. “The greatest downside is all those skills Shade developed over the years to protect Elly are now no longer there for us to rely on.”
Alec stumbled to his feet and shook his head. “I’m missing something. How long have I been out after…after what I did? Why is Elly-” He froze and his wild eyes fell on me. “You…you didn’t-” He whipped his head to Rodney and his eyes flashed with anger. “You didn’t have her kill herself, did you? You said I could save her!”
Rodney nodded. “I did, and you have, but you need to remain calm-”
“Remain calm?” Alec snapped as he grabbed the front of Rodney’s shirt. “How can I remain calm when-” The color drained from his face and he fell back against the chair.
“Shade!” I shouted as I grabbed his shoulders and gave them a shake. “Wake up!”
Rodney’s hand fell on one of mine, and I looked up as he shook his head. “The shock is too much. Allow him to rest.”
Blackbeak shrugged. “I guess that’s how to remain calm.”
- Writer
