The Cypher Wheel (3 page)

She shifted her thoughts back to driving as she
pulled up to the church. Faedra saw Jocelyn and Etyran waiting for
them outside the ancient wooden gate that was the entrance to the
church grounds.

Jocelyn gave her a big beaming grin as Faedra pulled
up. She was about to lean forward to open the back door, but Etyran
beat her to it and opened the door for her.

“Milady,” he said as he gestured for her to get in
with a sweep of his arm.

Jocelyn blushed bright red at his gesture and gave
him a fidgety curtsey in response, before sliding herself onto the
back seat. Etyran closed the door behind her and ran around the
back of the car.

“Hi, Faedra,” Jocelyn sang as she settled in behind
Faedra. “This is so exciting isn't it? I'm so glad you decided to
come and do this with us.”

Faedra was about to respond when a wave of energy
slammed into her as Etyran settled himself onto the back seat and
closed the door. Her eyebrows shot up and goose bumps flashed up
her arms. She turned her head, giving each of them in turn a
considering look.

“What?” Etyran said. A look of puzzlement washing
over his features when he saw the scrutinizing look he was
getting.

She turned her look to Jocelyn, who gave her an
equally puzzled look.

Faedra gave her head a quick shake to push back the
feeling before blustering a quick greeting.

“Something wrong?” Faen asked when Faedra returned
her attention to the front of the car.

She gave him a quick sideways glance. She cautiously
evaluated the surge of energy filling her, scared that it may be
something bad. Then she realized just what it was that she was
feeling and a huge smile crept across her face.

A crease formed in Faen's brow. Puzzled at the
absolute joy filling the Custodian's features. It was something he
hadn't seen for a long time.

“Nope. Nothing wrong,” Faedra answered, the smile
still plastered on her face.

Faen opened his mouth to say something else, thought
better of it, and closed it again.

“Let's go, shall we?” Faedra said as she put the
indicator on and pulled out onto the road.

CHAPTER THREE

The journey into the city was filled with chatter
about the upcoming treasure hunt. It was a bright spring day, with
not a cloud in the sky. There was still a nip in the air, requiring
the use of a lightweight jacket, but it was the kind of day Faedra
loved to be out in. Right now she was feeling good about her
decision to go along with her friends.

As they neared the meeting point for the beginning of
the hunt, Etyran explained a little bit about what to expect.
Faedra was glad of this because she had no clue. Apparently, the
hunt would be conducted within the city and could be done easily on
foot. The use of a car would not be necessary, which was a good
thing because trying to find parking in the city was like pulling
teeth. Painful at best, nigh on impossible at worst.

They pulled into the car park of a pub called Adam
and Eve. It had been welcoming guests for over 750 years, making it
the oldest pub in the city and the perfect venue for the start of a
treasure hunt. Faedra could see a small crowd of people milling
about outside the pub. She watched as they ducked their heads to
get through the doorway, and one by one filed into the ancient
building. People were a lot shorter centuries ago and historical
buildings were prohibited from changing their structure, so it
didn't matter that the average person would hit their head on the
door frame. They had to duck or stay outside.

She found a parking space and pulled in. They made
their way towards the entrance to the pub. Faedra looked up at the
cobblestone and brick walls, accented by gables at either end of
the diminutive building. As well as being the oldest pub in the
city, it was also the smallest. She wondered if there would be
enough room to fit everyone. Picnic tables were spread in an
orderly fashion outside on a paved patio, and a few people were
sitting at one of them, deep in conversation while they smoked
their cigarettes. The smell of cigarette smoke hung in the still
air as they passed. The muffled sounds of talking and laughter
emanated from inside the pub. Etyran opened the door and gestured
for Jocelyn to enter, then he followed behind leaving Faen holding
the door open for Faedra. She paused for a second and gave him a
hesitant look before stepping into the room filled with people. She
froze on the spot and time stopped, as all the different energies
circulating around the medieval room slammed into her without
warning.

Faedra felt anger from a man sitting at the bar,
giving a dirty look to another man, across the room, who had his
arm around a lady. Anticipation and excitement resonated from a
majority of the occupants. And, then pain. Fear and pain, quite
unlike anything she'd ever experienced before, hit her full force
in the chest from somewhere in the room. She followed the energy
and it stole the breath right from her lungs.

A man, dressed in 16
^th
century clothing
that hung in shreds from his battered body, was standing at the top
of the stone steps that led down to the lower bar. Open wounds
covered his torso and face. He jerked his head up and looked
straight at the Custodian. The fear and desperation ingrained in
his eyes turned to realization that she could see him. He had
obviously been murdered and quite gruesomely, too. From the looks
of the remains of his clothing, Faedra thought he must have been a
Nobleman.

He made a move towards her. She choked in a lungful
of air, trying to fight the heavy weight in her chest that
threatened to force all the life out of her. He took one more step
towards her before she came to her senses and backed up sharply,
bumping into Faen's chest and standing on his foot as she did. She
turned and looked up into the worried eyes of her Guardian.

“I have to get out of here!” She pushed past him and
shoved her way through the people who were waiting to enter the
pub.

“Hey, watch where you're going!” a man grouched as
she barreled through the growing band of people waiting to get
in.

“Sorry,” she threw over her shoulder, but Faedra
didn't stop before she got to the furthest corner of the patio and
started pacing, weaving in between the picnic tables as she
did.

“I can't do this, I can't do this,” she mumbled
breathlessly into her palms.

“Faedra?” Faen said, as he caught up with her. “What
happened in there? Are you alright?”

Faedra had her head in her hands; her breathing was
sharp and fast.

“Ghost,” she spat out between sharp gasps of
breath.

“But, you've seen ghosts before,” Faen reminded her
as he reached for her wrists. He hissed in a breath as the heat
from her skin seared his palms and he withdrew them sharply. Hiding
them behind his back so she wouldn't see that she'd hurt him. They
would heal in a moment.

She stopped her pacing and looked at him. “Not bloody
and beaten ones, I haven't. And his pain, oh, God, his pain. I felt
it all, Faen, everything they did to him. I feel sick.”

She sat down on one of the picnic benches and put her
head between her knees. A few seconds later, she felt the closeness
of Faen's body as he sat down beside her.

Steam started to rise from the water in a bird bath
that was nestled among the flowers bordering the pub walls just a
few feet away. Faen watched as the water started to boil in the
sculptured cement dish. He put his hand on his charge's back and
softly rubbed up and down. Faedra drew from his calming energy and
the slow rhythmic motion of his hand. A moment later her breathing
started to return to normal and the water in the bird bath subsided
to a slow simmer.

Faedra extracted her face from her hands and turned
her head sideways to face her Guardian. He was also leaning forward
to look at her, his hand still rubbing her back.

“Better?” he asked when she gave him a weak
smile.

“Yes, thanks.” At that moment, a mixture of love and
worry swept through her and she looked up to see Etyran and Jocelyn
standing in front of her, watching her with concerned looks on
their faces.

“What's up, Fae? What happened in there?” Etyran
asked.

“Faedra is having a bit more of a problem with energy
than we thought she might,” Faen explained.

“And I just happen to live in one of the oldest
cities in the country,” Faedra chimed in. “Oh joy, Norwich is
teeming with ghosts. A lot of bad things have happened here in the
past. I think it's the more passionate energies that are going to
be harder to block,” she continued, suddenly realizing that she
felt the negative energies much stronger than the positive ones. At
least she now knew what to expect and could work on blocking
it.

She put a hand either side of her on the bench and
pushed herself to stand up. She was still feeling a little shaky
and took in a deep breath. “Well, I guess I need to try this
again.”

“Are you sure?” Faen asked. “We could just go home,
if you want to.”

Faedra looked at the faces of her friends and knew
they would take her home in a heartbeat. But at that moment, a
feeling of determination pushed its way to the surface. It was like
someone flicking a switch in her psyche. For the first time in six
months, she felt determined to take her life back.

“Yes, I'm sure. You're right. I need to do this. I
need to mix with normal people again; I'll never feel normal if I
don't.”

“That's the spirit,” Etyran said with a smile and
doffed her on the arm.

They made their way back to the entrance of the pub.
Etyran and Jocelyn entered first. Faen held the door open for
Faedra. “Ready?”

Faedra took another deep breath to steady her nerves
and gave her Guardian a little nod before stepping, once again,
into the ancient building. Again, she was slammed with all the
energies in the room, but this time she was ready for them. She
breathed deeply, waiting for the fear and pain to hit her again.
When it didn't come, she cautiously looked around the room. The
16
^th
century ghost was nowhere to be seen. Her body
relaxed a little. There were other ghosts, though, but they were
benevolent energies. A couple of monks sat at a table, supping on
flagons of ale. They smiled at her and raised their jugs; she
returned a nervous smile.

As her gaze continued around the room, she noticed
three cloaked figures. They were standing in another room off to
the side of the top of the steps where she'd seen the tortured soul
just moments ago. Two men and a woman draped in blue robes looked
up at her. The woman smiled and broke away from the others. She
moved towards Faedra and her friends, her robes billowing around
her as she moved through the crowd. As she drew nearer, she lowered
her hood to reveal olive skin, almond shaped, pale blue eyes, and
jet black, wavy hair that shone in the lights from the ceiling.
Faedra braced herself as the ghost approached. The woman reached
them and held out a hand.

Faedra took a hesitant step back, even though she
tried with all her will to stay planted to the spot. Baby steps,
she told herself. At least she wasn't running for the door this
time.

“Welcome to Falconchase,” the woman said. “Do you
have your tickets?”

“Right here,” Etyran responded, handing over the red
and gold tickets.

Faedra looked at Etyran and let out a nervous giggle.
This wasn't a ghost at all; this was one of the organizers of the
treasure hunt. Etyran's brows creased, to which Faedra responded
with a barely discernible shake of her head and a silent 'it's
nothing, don't worry about it' look.

The lady took their tickets and led them to a table
at the end of the room where they had to sign in for the treasure
hunt. She went to stand behind the table with the two men.

“Simon, can you pass me a cypher wheel?” she asked
the man to her left.

Faedra looked at Faen. “A cypher what?”

Faen shrugged.

Etyran leaned over to her and whispered, “It's a
cypher wheel. We use it to decipher the codes we’ll get to find the
clues.”

Faedra's eyebrows rose with interest. “Oh, okay.
Well, that sounds...interesting.”

She turned her attention back to the lady standing
the other side of the table.

Simon went to hand the lady a fake fur pouch with a
long strap. She gave him an irritated look. “Not that one,” she
snapped. “I want that one.” She pointed to another fur pouch that
was sitting under the table by itself.

Simon looked puzzled. “What's wrong with this one?”
he asked.

The lady looked back at Faedra and blushed a little.
Faedra could sense anxiety coming off her in waves and gave the
woman a considering look.

“That one sticks,” she answered, regaining her
composure.

Faedra's eyes narrowed as she felt the anxiety being
sucked away from her and hidden. If it was tangible, she would have
seen the energy shoved into a box, the lid being slammed and locked
up tight.

The lady looked at her and smiled as she held the
pouch for Faedra, one hand on top and one underneath, as if she
were handling something very precious.

“Here is your cypher wheel,” the lady said, her smile
unfaltering.

Faedra took the pouch. The fur felt soft under her
touch and it contained something solid inside. She undid the toggle
on the pouch and opened the flap, revealing a solid circle of wood.
She pulled it out and put the pouch on the table.

“Wow, that's different,” she said.

Faedra ran her fingers over the cypher wheel. It was
made of wood; the solidness of it felt good in her hands. There
were three separate wheels layered on top of each other and held
together in the middle with a small fastener. Each ring of the
wheel moved independently from the others and had a couple of
different alphabets carved into them, the letters stained black.
Only two of the alphabets she recognized. One was the modern Latin
alphabet, the other, which was carved around the outside edge of
the largest wheel, was Runes. The rest were new to her.