Fragments of Alchemy: The Code Breaker

Chapter Forty-One ~ Dark Thoughts and Dark Energies ~ Part I

Chadwick's stomach started growling, and Thea noticed. He tried to pretend everything was okay, but when Thea's empty stomach started to growl right along with his, they both couldn't ignore it anymore. They were stranded in the middle of a blizzard without anything to eat. This would become a problem soon enough.

Chadwick slammed his fist into his palm. 'I left my bag back in that hut. All that food ... Oh blast! I've lost my Divination Mirror!'

'My things got left behind, too,' Thea said. 'I lost Tajana's Replicating Notebook.'

'Oh bugger!' Chadwick said as he realised this meant they couldn't communicate with Tajana; not unless Stella could manage to reach her. Which wasn't bloody likely.

'What are we going to do without all our stuff?'

'No idea,' Chadwick said. 'We've got a serious problem, too. Those Shadows are going to come after us.'

'Will they be able to find us?' Thea asked.

Chadwick nodded gravely. 'Absolutely! There's tons o' different Conversions they can use to track us. Like the Transmission Conversion I used to find you and Tajana when you snuck off into the city, remember? But there are others that don't even need a Component from us; with the Cerulean Fragment, they can see where we went, easy peasy.'

'Do you think they'll wait until the blizzard ends?' Thea grabbed Chadwick's shoulder

With his Protégé holding him like that, he noticed how much he was shaking, and not just from the realisation that the Shadows were coming after them. He was beginning to panic from the tight space again.

Chadwick was about to ask for another one of Thea's calming Conversions, but she stood up and said, 'We need to figure out what to do before it's too late.' She paced the small area of the cave where the ground was mostly level. 'We need food. We need a place to go spend the night. And we need to go rescue my dad as soon as possible.'

'What?' Chadwick said.

Thea stopped pacing and turned to look at Chadwick. 'We have to go save my dad.'

'Have you lost your head?' Chadwick blurted, jumping to his feet; his head nearly bumped the ceiling of the cave. 'My godfather died to make sure we didn't have to go back to that bloody Shadow Mansion! We are never ever going back there!' Chadwick's arms trembled as he clenched his fists.

'Chadwick!' Thea snapped. 'We need to go rescue my dad. You promised me we would.'

'I know I promised, but there are bigger things happening here than your dad being trapped in an Eternity Prison.' Chadwick's breaths started to quicken.

Thea shot Chadwick a petrifying stare. 'You're taking back your promise? How can you go back on your word now?'

Chadwick glared at the cave floor, unable to fight off the guilt and the panic that was slowly rising up his body. 'In case you hadn't noticed, nothing is working out the way it was supposed to. I'd gladly help you rescue your dad, if the Keeper was around to help us. If the two of us go back there on our own, we won't stand a chance!' Chadwick noticed, almost as an afterthought, that he'd started shouting.

'But we still need to try!' Thea insisted. She was yelling now as well.

'You'd be mad to try!'

Thea made a violent gesture, and Chadwick felt her Kundalini surge around her in a blast wave of power. He took a step back as he realised that her aura was dark with Energy like he'd never felt before. It was terrifying to feel that much pent up rage standing this close to him. 'I'm not crazy! We need to rescue my dad. He's the only one that can help us. Think about it. Your parents! My mom! Tajana... We don't know where any of them are. But we know exactly where my dad is. We just have to go rescue him from the Eternity Prison!'