Wicked Path (The Daath Chronicles Book 2) (10 page)

hen I arrived at Romulus’ lab, he was nowhere in sight, even though I’d given the fool strict orders to prepare the scrying bowl before he started dabbling into his other experiments. Vials of bubbling liquids sat amidst scales overflowing with yellow dirt and jarred feet. On the table in front of me sat a giant obsidian beaker, empty. An acrid smell burned my nose. The black stone was the only element able to contain the acid from the pools in the Crags. Acid. A component used in some of the more potent spells. Whatever Romulus was concocting would have to wait until he found Jeslyn’s location.

I navigated the speeder across the red rolling sands to the pink gorge. Gnarled violet trees surrounded the dangerous pools. The acid pools bubbled in various spots, but most were small and full of yellow liquid that stank of sulfur and rot. Romulus preferred the big pool by the crescent hill.

The smell drove anyone of sound mind far from this place. The acrid scent would infiltrate everything, including skin. It would take a long, arduous salt bath to scrub the smell away.

Romulus’ silver racer was parked beside a wild tree and surrounded by a herd of ardvars. The giant, lizard-like creatures always had a curiosity for our shaped flyers. They would stare at their reflections, hissing and poking, until they grew bored or hungry and then move along. At one point in history, the lizards had been our mounts, but that was long before my grandfather’s days.

I parked the craft and stepped outside. Romulus stood near the pool using a long metal device to collect samples. The machine reached out over the liquid and dipped a black cylinder into it.

“You always pick the worst smells to work with,” I said, clearing my throat. Too much time spent out here, and the air would irritate the thorax and cause a very painful burn. It was yet another reason to stay away from the place.

“Have you found her location?”

A black gas mask with large bifocals covered Romulus’ face. He ignored my question, and finished collecting the sample.

Ordering Romulus to speak or do anything while he was in the middle of working would only cause him to move slower. I needed to choose my words carefully. “What new experiment has driven you to this horrid pool?”

“I needed the component for a spell.” The words came out muffled.

The sky crackled in the far distance, signs of an approaching storm. When the air became hot and lightning began to scatter, it would only be a few more nights before the acid rain would fall, scorching our world. While we had found ways to protect ourselves from the harsher climates, the storms were becoming more hostile and more unpredictable. Wildlife had decreased, since creatures who couldn’t find shelter during a storm were killed by the slaying rain. We didn’t have long before we needed to migrate our people into Tarrtainya.

There were parts of Mirth I would miss—the vibrant sky after a meteor storm, the red waters that spilled like blood through the purple wood, and the haddock. Haddock was the one fish I had yet to find in Tarrtainya. A simple white fish, and yet it didn’t exist in that world.

I’d have to convince Romulus to bring a few through the gate.

“You may come with me when I return,” I said.

Romulus reeled his device in. “Back to my lab in Daath?”

“Not exactly.”

Romulus grunted.

“We can’t let my father or The Council know of this little adventure. You can use the lab on Dune Island.”

“That doesn’t have all my supplies. I’ll need more.”

“Then you’ll have them. Jeslyn was strong enough to block my spell. She could block other powers. I need to complete the ritual, drain her essence, and discover the true source of her power.”

“I should study her. Cut her head open like the rest, hmmm? Then we would have answers.”

“Normally, I would agree, but not this one.”

Romulus walked to his racer, shooing the ardvars away. I was being too lenient.

“Have you forgotten the present I brought for you?” I dashed to his speeder, blocking the entrance.

He pulled off his mask, frowning.

“You have two days,” I said.

I tapped the side of the speeder and the door slid open. Romulus stood before me, his face wrinkled with age, but his eyes still intelligent and sharp. If only he could do something about that bulbous nose.

“You will have your answer,” he said, waiting for me to step aside.

I waved him into the speeder and he grumbled as he passed. While the old fool was a bit grumpy, he was the only Reptilian I trusted, and he would succeed.

The old man didn’t know how to do anything else.

hips sailed into the harbor, the setting suns descending behind them casting a cascade of shadows and vibrant colors dancing out across the water. One of my favorite pastimes since moving here with Grandfather was watching the sailors return from their days at sea, wind rippling the mighty sails, and dolphins frolicking beside the ships.

Once afraid of the gentle creatures, I’d since learned how intelligent and kind they could be, how playful their personalities were—something I’d never have known without watching them daily.

I gazed out across the sea, my eyes scanning the surface between here and the island a few miles out. Surrounded by reef, Grandfather and Becket had hunted for many pearls in the island’s waters and, soon, I planned to accompany Beckett to search for my own blue and silver pearls.

Grandfather’s ship,
Selene
—named after my mother—pulled up alongside the dock. Waves crashed against the barnacle-covered sides, splashing up onto the deck where Beckett, redheaded and pale, stood out like a sore thumb among the other sailors as he hurried to knot the buoys.

We’d often teased him about his fair skin, joking he wasn’t meant for sea travel, but Beckett was a fine sailor; one of the best, no doubt.

I clutched the basket of bread to my chest, my knuckles whitened by my tight grip. I shouldn’t have been nervous about being here, but I was. Grandfather didn’t care for my meddling, and that’s why I’d come to meet Beckett today.

“Jeslyn?” Beckett noticed me and waved as he climbed down from
Selene
. “Shouldn’t you be closing the shop?”

“We needed bread for supper and I wanted to watch the ships dock. How was the catch?”

“It’s getting harder to find the nicer pearls. Only got two today.” He stuck out his hand, presenting one silver and one black pearl. “Isn’t she a beauty?” Beckett said, rolling the black one around his palm. “Been awhile since I found one of these.”