The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (41 page)

“I didn’t see,” said Becca.  “But either way, it’s clearly a
trap.”

“For people?” Hannah asked, still cleaning the blood from
her hands.

“Looks like it,” Elijah answered.

Elijah looked up and saw Paul staring off in the distance. 
Paul didn’t look sad or mad, but concerned.

“You okay?” Elijah asked.

Paul only pointed toward the trees.  Hannah shrieked when
she looked up and Becca clutched Adam.

Lined up along the tree line, with the fog beginning to fill
in the field, were six men, dressed in white-colored overcloaks.  They all had
on their hoods and they walked directly toward the five remaining teenagers
from Savenridge.

Chapter
19:

LOS ALIENTOS

Even though Elijah’s body instinctively prepared for battle,
his mind was relaxed.  He didn’t feel threatened, but he couldn’t place why. 
Maybe it was because he thought he and his friends stood a fighting chance.  He
felt prepared to use the elements, enough to defend himself if necessary.

The men stopped ten feet from Elijah and his friends and
formed a half-circle around them.  All six of the men wore white overcloaks. 
One of the men, the tallest and the one with the darkest skin, stepped forward
and took off his hood.  He looked young and strong, with a large chest and
cropped hair.

“¿Quién es Elijah?” he asked.

Elijah’s friends looked at him

“I think they want you,” Becca said to Elijah.

“How do they know your name?” Paul asked.

“I’m Elijah,” he announced bravely.  “How do you know me?”

The six men in white all took off their hoods revealing
their faces.  They looked at each other.  Some nodded.

“Ven con nosotros,” the largest man said, motioning for
Elijah to follow them.

Elijah stayed put.

“I think they want you to go with them,” Becca said.

“I know what they want!” Elijah snapped.  “I’m not going
without my friends,” he said to the men as they continued urging him toward the
forest.  Elijah made a motion toward his friends and again said, “My
friends…I’m not leaving them.”  He spoke deliberately as if the slower speech
made any difference.

The men looked at each other and then huddled to have a
short, soft conversation.  They looked around the field.  They seemed concerned
about something.  Finally, the large man nodded toward Elijah and motioned for
him and his friends to follow them into the woods quickly.

“Vamos al bosque,” he said.  “Estaremos más seguros.”

Elijah looked at Paul who immediately shrugged.  Then, two
of the men walked over to Adam and picked him up gently, carrying him north
into the woods.

“I guess we’re following them,” Paul said.

Elijah considered his instincts.  He knew he should have
been more apprehensive than he was, but he felt good about following these
men.  He just didn’t know why.  Once again, he wished he could read his
instincts more clearly.

The men formed a straight line into the forest and headed
deep into the trees until they became too thick to travel through.  The farther
they traveled, the heavier the wind began to pick up.  It started as a gentle
breeze as they left the field, but it slowly increased in intensity as they
moved.  They stopped at the edge of a gully.  On the other side of the gully
was more forest.  Elijah looked around, shielding his face from the frequent
gusts of wind.  There was nothing but trees to either side.  The only other
clearance was directly in front of them, but a thirty-foot gap, kept them from
moving. 

The lead man in white shot one of his arms up casually and
three small balls of fire shot out just like a signal.  As if on command, a
long bridge, completely covered in moss and leaves and branches lowered, giving
them safe passage.  They walked across the bridge, and Elijah looked down
below.  There was close to a hundred feet of cliff that ended in the rocky
river below.

The other side of the gully appeared to be a small island.  The
gully surrounded it as far as Elijah could see.  They walked deeper into the
island until they came to a small village.  Modest huts, built with sticks and
moss and branches, were huddled together in the center of the village.  The
huts on the ground were quite plain, but Elijah was fascinated by the handful
of huts built in the trees.  Spiral staircases and ropes clung to the base of
the trees that led to the entrance of each hut.

At the very back of the village, settled against the
mountainside, were two larger huts, five times the size of the others, longer
and narrower.  Elijah thought Savenridge was modestly built, but this village
looked positively primitive in comparison.

The men led them to the very largest hut in the back of the
village.  They were losing sunlight from the outside world, and here in the
thick trees, it appeared to be almost twilight, so the men lit a torch before
going inside.  The hut was filled with beds.  It looked like a large infirmary,
but only a handful were occupied.

Suddenly, Paul’s eyes widened.  He raced over to a bed at
the far corner where Isaac was laying.

Isaac was awake but not highly alert.  He recognized his
friends and attempted a smile, but he couldn’t sit up.  His head was bandaged,
just like Elijah’s, but he also had a splint on his left arm, other pieces of
cloth wrapped around his right arm, and a handful of cuts across his face, the
biggest just above his left eye.  His cheeks were puffier than usual, purple in
color, and he had a large welt on his forehead.  His eyes continued to blink
slowly as if he was fighting to stay conscious.  He seemed to recognize that
his friends were there, but he couldn’t keep from nodding off every few
seconds.

Hannah tried smiling through the tears streaming down her
cheeks.  Becca also looked like she was relieved enough to cry.  Instead, she
held onto Hannah.  Elijah sighed heavily, thankful his friend was alive.  He
didn’t want to admit it, but he was sure he had seen Isaac for the last time
when he was struggling down the river.

The men in white cloaks carried Adam to a bed next to Isaac
and a healer came over to work on Adam’s leg.

“You look awful!” Becca said when she arrived at Isaac’s
bedside.

“No you don’t!” Paul said and then shot Becca a look.  “You
look awesome.  Now you’ll get to tell stories to girls about how you got these
scars.”

Isaac attempted another smile, but it was clear that he was
too weak to move or talk.

Paul stayed by his side while Elijah turned toward the
mysterious men who had brought them here.  The large man who led the group was
talking with a short man in the hut.  This shorter man wore a green cloak and a
pair of eye glasses, which seemed quite out of place given their location.  The
man had a trimmed mustache and very long, white teeth that he showed frequently
as he smiled.  When he was finished talking to the other men in white cloaks,
he approached Elijah.

“I hear you are Elijah,” the man said.  He talked with a
British accent.  It was one more thing about this man that seemed out of place.

“I am,” Elijah responded cautiously.

“Forgive me for being so mysterious,” the man said, putting
his hand on Elijah’s shoulder.  “You must no doubt be wondering who we are and
why we know who you are.”  Immediately, Elijah was put more at ease.  Unless
his next words were “we plan on eating you for dinner,” he felt a little safer
than he had been during their entire trip to the village.

“Yes,” Elijah responded.  Immediately, the man’s face lit up
and he opened his arms wide, embracing Elijah.  “I am so glad you are here,”
the man said, still hugging.  Elijah wasn’t sure whether to hug him back or not,
so he patted the man, whose head only reach Elijah’s neck.  The man let go,
held onto Elijah’s shoulders and said, “Welcome!”

Just then, a tiny girl carrying a small stuffed rabbit
skipped along the floor and made her way to the man.  She grabbed onto his leg
and held her rabbit up to him.  “Papa, Mr. Sam is sick.  You need to fix him,”
she said.  The man chuckled, looking slightly embarrassed at the situation.

“May I take his temperature later, dear?” the man said.  “We
have guests, and I’m afraid they have many questions Papa needs to answer.”

“No, now,” the girl insisted.  She looked up at the man with
large, brown eyes and just the slightest pout.  Elijah watched this man turn
into a bowl of pudding as he took the toy from his daughter.

“Ah, yes,” he said.  “Mr. Sam indeed is very ill.  He will
need lots of rest.”

The girl giggled and grabbed her rabbit from her father. 
She found an empty bed by the back wall and placed her rabbit there.

“Here, Papa?”

“Yes, Anita.  That would be good.”  The man turned back to
Elijah.  “I’m very sorry.  Ever since her mother passed, she has been quite
taken with her little rabbit.  I’m afraid I’m not much of a firm hand.”  He
made a small chuckle, but his eyes were stormy.  “Where were we?”

Elijah didn’t answer right away.  He watched the little girl
doctoring her rabbit by herself next to the bed.  He considered how much
comfort such a simple toy brought her.  He thought about his own objects that
brought him comfort.  His father’s pocket watch.  His mother’s locket.  His
sister’s remaining diary.  Each of them was priceless to him.  They represented
his family.  In a small way, when he had them, it felt like his family was
still there with him.  Elijah wondered what a small rabbit felt like to little
Anita as she tucked him into the bed for the night.  Did that feel like tucking
in her mother in a small way?

It took a minute for Elijah to remember where he was when he
finally asked, “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

The man chortled again.  “I’m sure you have a lot of questions
such as how we know who you are.  I have been told by our lead watchman just
now that they have been following you and your company because we believe you
are the boy our guest has been searching for.”

“Your guest?” Elijah asked.

“Come with me,” the man said.

Paul looked hesitant.

“It’s okay,” Elijah said.  “Take care of Isaac.  I’ll be
right back.”

The man walked to the other end of the room and turned the
corner, leading Elijah up a set of stairs and into a private room guarded by
another man in a white cloak.  Elijah gasped.

Olivia Rose was lying in a bed, sleeping soundly.  She
looked worse than Isaac.  Her cheeks were sunken in and her arms looked like
skin and bones.  Her face was beaten, and she had a large wound on her side,
which was bandaged up, but she bled through the bandage.  Her entire body was
cut up.  Her wounds looked like they were severe, but most were scabbed.  A
woman, also in a green cloak, was tending to Olivia’s bandages as the man
talked.  Some place this was.  Already, two people Elijah cared about and
thought may have been dead were saved by this group, whoever they were.  Was
this just pure luck, or were they being looked after?

The man in green began to take Elijah out of the room, but
Elijah wouldn’t move.  He continued looking at Olivia, wondering what happened
to her.

“Please,” the man said in a gentle voice.  “We will take
care of her.  I will take you and your friends to a room so you can rest.  Then
I will explain everything.”

“Who are you and what is this place?” Elijah asked as they
walked back into the main part of the hut.

“My name is Rico,” he said.  “And you are among friends
here.  I can tell you much more at dinner, but first, let us be hospitable.  Come.”

Rico took Elijah and Paul to a hut in the treetops, closest
to the front of the village entrance.  The wind continued to howl all around
them and was stronger the higher they climbed.  Just climbing to the huts was
proving to be difficult.  Then, for no reason at all, the wind would die down. 
Then pick up again.  It was very unsettling.

Hannah and Becca were given a tree hut right across from the
boys.  There was a very unstable-looking rope bridge that connected the two. 
Elijah hoped they never had a need to use that bridge.  They were all told to
wash up and meet at the other large hut next to the infirmary for dinner.

Inside the boys’ hut were four beds.  Paul and Elijah put
all of their belongings on one of the unused beds and each picked out a place
to sleep.  Elijah took the bed closest to the door.  He sank into it
immediately.  It felt wonderful to be on a real bed again, and this one was
soft and comfortable.  He was tempted to roll over and fall asleep right then,
but he didn’t want to be rude to the man who quite literally saved the lives of
his good friend and mentor.

The second large hut by the mountainside was next to the
infirmary.  Inside were four long, wooden tables, each decorated with a basket
of fruit.  Two families were eating when Elijah and Paul arrived at the hut. 
They looked at the two of them cautiously at first but then continued eating.  Every
once in a while, some would turn and smile.  Rico arrived with Hannah and Becca,
conversing about the layout of the city.  When he saw Elijah and Paul, he waved
them all over to the far table and invited them to sit.  Anita, his daughter,
was dressed in very long robes, looking rather fancy.  Rico had also changed,
his green overcloak now a long, elegant tunic with green pants and sandals. 
Anita brought Mr. Sam, her rabbit, and placed him between her and her father. 
When they sat, she served Mr. Sam first.

Four plates of food were already waiting for Elijah and his
friends.  Elijah looked at his plate.  There was a type of steaming meat that
Elijah had never seen before.  Next to it was a pile of thick, yellow curd and
there was an open place for the fruit.  Elijah wondered if it would be rude to
only eat the fruit.  Paul looked disgusted by the place, but seemed to have the
same inclination that being polite was better than listening to his appetite. 
They held their breath and scooped in their food.

“Welcome, friends,” said Rico.  “I do apologize for not
introducing myself more plainly.  As I said before, my name is Rico.  I am the
healer here in Los Alientos.  We are Magi, just like you.”

“I’ve never heard of a place called Los Alientos,” Becca
said.

“Good,” Rico said.  “We prefer it that way.  We are what’s
left of the Orphean people.”  Becca looked intrigued.  “Hundreds and hundreds
of years ago, Orphea was the pillar of excellence for wind controllers.  If you
were a wind controller, Orphea was the place to be.  We had schools and
libraries and all sorts of institutions dedicated to further teaching wind
control.  However, the Maliphists invaded Orphea centuries ago and destroyed
it.”

“Why?” Elijah asked.

“We don’t know,” said Rico.  He took off his glasses and
wiped them on his unused napkin.  “But they left our beautiful city in complete
destruction.  The lucky few who managed to survive fled to other parts of the
world.  But the very few who stayed discovered this secluded land close by and
rebuilt the city in secret.  Since then, we have called it Los Alientos.  It
means ‘The Breaths’.  If you stay here long enough, you really feel the life of
the wind up here.  It’s almost as if the lungs of The Soul live right here.”

Rico looked like he was in awe of his surroundings, even
inside the hut.

He smiled widely and his eyes illuminated.  Rico was a small
man, but his energy was quite catching.  He grinned and laughed when he
talked.  Elijah couldn’t help chuckling along with him.