1.04 – Loved Ones Lost

“How did you find this place, Rayn?” Xironi demanded.

“Why Xironi, I’m hurt,” Rayn shot back mockingly. “Not even a hello for your old flame?”

“Old flame?” the Felician spluttered. “That’s SO over, you narcissistic whackjob!”

“Ah ah ah, watch your temper, or the girl here will get her nice clean clothes all bloody,” Rayn replied calmly, placing the edge of his dagger dangerously close to Michelle’s throat. “As for how I got here, since you asked SO nicely… Academy technicians registered a power spike in this vicinity on the spatial magic spectrum. I was dispatched to investigate. Never expected to find the home base of one of the Academy’s Most Wanted Fugitives.”

“That’s impossible,” Xironi countered. “Grandpa built this place to be impossible to detect.”

“What’s he talking about?” Echo inquired.

Rayn glanced at Echo, and his eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed. “Well well, if it isn’t Xelor Semaeri’s daughter. Oh, this is QUITE the catch.”

Echo blinked. “I don’t know who you think I am, buster, but you’ve got the wrong girl.”

Rayn grinned as he intentionally misinterpreted Echo’s statement. “Really? Then maybe I should just dispose of this one and take you instead!”

“That’s not what I—!” Before Echo could finish her sentence, and faster than anyone in the room could react, Rayn opened a spatial rift and shoved Michelle through it, then hurled himself at Echo, blade flashing.

“NO!” Carda dived towards the rift, but Xironi grabbed him in mid-leap.

“You idiot, it’s too dangerous!” she yelled as the rift sealed itself shut.

Carda tore free from Xironi. “That was my SISTER!” he yelled at no one in particular. He glanced over towards Echo. Rayn’s dagger had only slipped in between the strap of her necklace and her throat. She must have dodged backwards, Carda assumed. The necklace now lay on the floor behind Rayn’s feet.

What surprised Carda the most, however, was the fact that Sera stood between Rayn and Echo, a shining sword in her hands. Where had she gotten that?

“You have no business here,” Sera stated calmly. “I suggest you leave.”

Rayn laughed. “Please. I’ve faced your kind before. You don’t have it in yourself to kill me.”

Sera stood firm. “Maybe I don’t, but the girl you just tossed into subspace? She was HIS sister.”

“And just who would ‘he’ be?” Rayn’s answer came from behind with a loud crack as a solid wooden staff connected with his skull.

“That would be me,” Carda growled as Rayn rolled expertly to one side and back to his feet.

“That hurt,” Rayn said, throwing in a curse for good measure.

“Good. I aim to make it hurt a lot more.” He expertly whirled the staff into a ready position, having managed to summon it to his hands only seconds before.

Sera laid a hand on Carda’s shoulder and as she did, Carda felt strange, as though his senses were expanding beyond their normal capabilities. He suddenly saw a shadowy cloud surrounding Rayn’s form. The cloud vanished as Sera lifted her hand away. “Don’t kill him, Carda,” Sera warned. “He’s not in control of himself right now. I’ll get Echo out of here.”

Carda made a mental note to ask everyone, especially Sera, what the heck was going on. But later. Right now he intended to extract answers from Rayn. Preferably in the most painful way possible.

Carda waited until Sera and Echo had made it safely out of the room, keeping his eyes on Rayn the entire time. When the girls were gone, he advanced a single step.

And Rayn was gone.

“Behind you!” Xironi yelled, and Carda pivoted, swinging his staff around expertly. It caught Rayn in the ankle and spilled him to the ground. Carda planted one end of the staff against Rayn’s breastbone and applied pressure. “Where is my sister?”

“You really expect me to tell you?” Rayn scoffed, which only made Carda angrier. He jerked back to thrust downward and break a rib or two, but his staff only hit the floor.

Carda was knocked off-balance by the unexpected disappearance of his target, which gave Rayn the advantage. The superior strider appeared to Carda’s right and aimed a kick directly at his ribs. Carda collapsed against a sofa seat, the wind knocked from his lungs temporarily.

Rayn pressed the advantage, moving in for the kill. His dagger was inches from Carda’s spine when his wrist was caught by Xironi.

“STOP,” the Felician commanded.

Rayn struggled as Carda slowly rose to his feet, still trying to regain his footing.

“If you want someone so badly, take me,” Xironi told Rayn.

“WHAT?!?” Carda gasped, leaning on his staff.

“What?” Rayn repeated, taken aback.

“You came here looking for my grandfather. He’s not here. Hasn’t been for a while. But if you take me, you have a bargaining chip. Besides, you’ll be seen as more successful in Octavius’ eyes than if you just beat up or killed a novice strider who couldn’t even fight back.”

Carda wanted to say so many things in response to Xironi’s proposal (and backhanded insult) but was still too breathless to contribute to the conversation.

Rayn considered this for a moment, then smiled. “So you’ll come quietly?”

“I won’t guarantee quietly, but at the very least I won’t resist. It was my idea after all.”

Carda finally found his breath. “Now JUST WAIT a second—!”

Xironi held up a hand to interrupt him. “It’s best this way, Carda. You’re no good to Michelle or Echo if you’re dead or beaten to a pulp. Go take care of them. I can take care of myself.”

Carda tried to think of a rebuttal, but could only stare dumbly at her as Rayn grabbed her by the shoulder and they disappeard with a green flash.

“Now what do I do?” Carda muttered to himself. A yell from the front hallway provided an answer, so he limped in that direction, leaning heavily on his staff.

What he found when he reached the hall made his spirits sink even lower than before. Echo had collapsed on the floor. Sera and an unfamiliar figure knelt over her.

“What happened?” Carda inquired, as if the answer weren’t blindingly obvious.

“She’s fading fast,” the newcomer replied, not bothering to look up.

“I’m taking her to the hospital,” Carda shot back.

The stranger looked up, and Carda got a good look at his face. A well-trimmed beard and piercing blue eyes clicked in Carda’s memory. They’d met before, but he couldn’t place where… “Look,” the stranger countered calmly, “this isn’t a normal malady. I know people who can—”

“No. Screw that. I may have gotten myself wound up in some huge supernatural conspiracy, but I’ll be damned if I let Echo get wrapped up in all this, too. I’m taking her to the hospital, and that’s FINAL,” Carda shot back in a tone that invited no debate.

The stranger drew himself to his full height, coming eye to eye with Carda. “You may come to regret that decision,” he replied softly, making no move to stop Carda.

Sera rested a hand on Carda’s shoulder, and Carda once again felt a strange sort of energy flowing through him. “Carda, maybe it’s best if you listen to him—”

“NO,” Carda snapped, wrenching away from Sera’s grasp. He didn’t feel as winded now, and his side didn’t hurt. He guessed it was adrenaline. Supporting Echo’s inert body with one arm around her waist, he looked at the pair. “You can help, or you can open the door for me and get out of my way.”

Sera and the stranger opened the door for Carda and stepped aside, sadness evident on their faces.

Carda glowered at them both, then stormed out the door and into the night.

They watched him go. “Do you think he realizes?” the stranger asked.

Sera shook her head. “I don’t think so, Indal. And Xironi was right. Time is running out, and if Carda doesn’t make the right choice, and soon, Octavius’ war will be the least of our problems.”

“Rayn is lucky I was distracted by Alatha,” Indal growled.

“I wish I could have TOLD him,” Sera sighed. “About Echo… About EVERYTHING.”

“Don’t worry about it, Sera. You’re bound by an oath; protection without interference. Once he comes into his own, you’ll be able to speak freely.”

“IF he does,” Sera said after a moment.

Indal favored Sera with a surprised look. “An Angelus has doubts? I’ve seen what comes to pass, Sera.”

“That’s only one possible future, and you know it.”

“We’ll see,” Indal replied with confidence.

Carda drove like a madman to reach the hospital. He was constantly checking Echo’s pulse and breathing, both of which were becoming shallower as they approached the hospital.

Careening into the emergency room parking lot, Carda began to panic. He slammed on the brakes as he double-parked, leaped out of the roadster, and bolted around to the other side of the car to extricate Echo and carry her inside.

As he opened the door, all he saw was an empty seat with a buckled seat belt.

He stood there for a good five minutes, mouth gaping, before he calmly got back in the driver’s seat, drove home, and stumbled into his room, collapsing on the bed. It was nearly one in the morning.

Carda fell asleep around six hours later, after he had finally stopped crying.

He woke up around two in the afternoon.

Greeting him at the dining room table was a note. “James,” it read, “Felix called us over to the Museum for a meeting. If I know Felix, this could take all day. Sera dropped something off this morning while you were asleep. It should be on the mantelpiece. Love, Mom.”

Carda let the note drift slowly to the tabletop as he checked the shelf over the fireplace. There it was: a key. Carda recognized it as the key that Xironi had used the night before to enter her house through his door.

The sight of it brought back a torrent of memories and emotions, none of them good. Nevertheless, he pocketed the key, plodded upstairs to shower and change into fresh clothes, and got into his car.

The passenger seatbelt was buckled. Carda had difficulty recalling why.

Speedway Grill was the daytime hangout of most of the local street racers. Carda slipped inside, ordered a meal that would have fed two people, and hunkered down into a booth, hoping no one he knew would spot him.

His hopes were dashed as Slicks, the mechanic, slid into the bench across the table. “You feeling okay, Carda?”

Carda favored him with a look that said, “Ask again in about three decades.”

“Sera came by and said you’d had a rough night last night. Since you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll leave it at that.”

Sera again. Carda wondered why she was always around whether he wanted her to be or not.

“Just take care of yourself, man. Don’t let one night determine the rest of your life.” And with that, Slicks left Carda alone with a triple bacon cheesburger, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, two chocolate milkshakes, a cherry cola, and his misery.

Half an hour later, the food was gone, the bill was paid, and Carda was walking out the door. As he pushed it open, he found Shades blocking his way.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Houdini,” Shades growled. “Now I got a broken hand on top of my car troubles.”

“Shouldn’t have thrown that punch, then,” Carda retorted, attempting to push past him.

Shades grabbed Carda by the elbow. “Hey, I’m not finished with you!”

Before Shades knew what had happened, he found himself pinned to the wall with one of Carda’s hands wrapped around his throat.

“I suggest you drop the whole thing before a broken hand becomes the least of your worries,” Carda threatened.

Shades could only stare, dumbfounded, as Carda let go, got into his car, and drove off.

Carda wasn’t sure how he found Xironi’s house in the first place, since the front door had deposited him back on his porch the night previous. He had never been in this part of town before, but something — perhaps the key in his pocket, perhaps something else — had guided him here. He was positive this was the right house.

The key fit perfectly in the lock, and the living room looked the same. He was in the right place.

The first order of business was to research “subspace,” which Sera had mentioned last night. How had she known about that, anyway?

Sera had a lot of questions to answer. But right now, Carda had his sister to worry about; of all those who had been here last night, she was in the most danger.

Carda found the library wing through the eight o’clock door branching from the lounge. He began perusing the shelves for anything that might help.

Not that he had a clue what he was looking for. After ten minutes of fruitless searching, Carda crossed the room to a table to make a few notes of where NOT to bother looking on his second pass.

A chill swept through the room just then. Carda’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t bother turning towards the door. “What do YOU want?”

A figure congealed from the shadows and stepped forward. “I want to help you, Carda. You know that.”

“Sometimes I wonder, Dimetrius,” Carda shot back. This wasn’t the first time Dimetrius had “dropped by” for a visit. The mysterious individual had appeared to Carda on multiple occasions during the past several years, making tempting offers of power and wealth each time. Carda had always turned him down, for one reason or another, and each time Dimetrius promised to return with an even better offer.

Carda held no delusions that this time would be any different, but with everything he had gone through recently, a visit from Dimetrius was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now. “You always seem to come along for a visit when I’m having a bad day.”

“Are you implying I have bad timing?” Dimetrius countered. Carda could tell that he was smiling just by the tone of his voice.

“Bad timing or worse judgment,” Carda snapped.

“Come now, Carda. I know you had a bad day yesterday. What if I could help you fix it?”

Carda finially did turn around at this. “Yeah, right,” he replied. “You’ll excuse my skepticism, of course.”

“Of course,” Dimetrius smiled. “But it’s true. I can grant you the power to go back and change history.”

Carda paused. “Really. And how would this benefit you?”

“What makes you think I want to benefit from helping you?”

“Because you don’t strike me as the altruistic type, Dimetrius,” Carda countered.

“Touché. It is true, helping you would also help me in the long run, but that’s not what’s important right now, is it? You need my help if you want your sister back.”

“I think I can manage on my own for now.”

Dimetrius seemed annoyed at this. “I don’t know why you continue to refuse me, Carda. My power can be yours, and all you have to do is accept it.”

Carda sighed, staring at the table. “Just… give me some more time to think about it.”

“Very well then,” Dimetrius replied, seeming satisfied for the time being. “When next we meet, I expect a solid answer.”

“You’ll get one. I promise.”

Dimetrius nodded, then melted into the shadows and vanished from sight. The room seemed to brighten just then, and Carda turned to see who was entering the room. “Sera? What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see if you were okay after what happened yesterday. Who were you talking to just now?” Sera inquired.

“Hmm? Oh, uh, nobody. Just muttering to myself.”

Sera didn’t appear to be convinced (at all), but she dropped the subject. “So, I see you found the key I dropped off, but I didn’t expect to find you here so soon. What are you doing?”

“I figured I’d do some research on everything that’s happened in the past few days. This library seemed like the best place to start.”

“So what have you found out so far?” Sera glanced over the handful of books Carda had left open on the table.

All three had pictures of angelic-looking figures and references to a race of beings several Latin scholars had called “Celestius Angelus”. She glanced at Carda, who merely stared at her.

He knew, she realized. “How did you figure it out?”

“The way you always seemed to be around when I needed someone. I finally came to the conclusion that it couldn’t have been coincidence.” Carda pointed to the book he had been reading. “That’s when I came across Arthur’s copy of ‘Peoples of the Multiverse’and looked up anything that could possibly be similar to angels. Sure enough, right there in the A’s: Angelus. Winged humanoid race with an affinity for healing magic, which you’ve used on me several times in the past. That’s when it clicked. …By the way, you can stop hiding the wings now. I know they’re there.”

Seraphim grinned as she unfurled a brilliant pair of white, feathery wings. “I guess I knew you’d probably uncover my true identity eventually. I’m surprised at how sudden all this is, though. You’ve taken a huge step, Carda.”

“Several huge steps,” Carda agreed. “And it’s become clear to me what my next step needs to be.”

“What’s that? Rescue Michelle?”

Carda shook his head. “You said last night that Michelle was trapped in subspace. That sounds very dangerous and I don’t want to risk my life trying something stupid.”

Sera folded her arms and stared quizzically at Carda. “So how are you going to find her?”

“I’m going to rescue the one person who can help me find Michelle. Xironi.”

“How are you going to do that? You’ve never been to the Strider Academy; you won’t be able to find your way around, much less stand a fighting chance if they happen to catch you.”

“Which is why I’m going to get in touch with the one person in this world who can give me inside information.” Sera could see determination in Carda’s eyes as he continued. “We’re going to find Arthur Heartlight. And I have a good idea of where to start.”