The Silver Owl

18

"Him?" Zac questions for me, "Who is this 'him'?"

"Me," Our eyes adjust to the dim lighting. An old man sits in a old dusty chair pressed against a wall with the drywall falling off the wall. The smell of musty dirt and decaying wood fills my nose.

"Uh..." Zac is at a loss for words. Neither I nor him know what to do or even how to react.

Zac looks at me for something to go off of, it is my little project after all, but I stare blankly at the man. I barely know what's going on right now.

"Well, um- Uh..." I stammer, okay so we found Leafcrossing... What do we do know? I thought maybe it would be an object or something. Like we would take it with us, I thought it would magically guide us somehow... that was silly. How would it magically guide us? By flying around? How strange would that look?

I almost smile at my own thought, but the reality of the situation... If only I had a book...

A boy suddenly bursts through the doorway, or what's left of it, he stumbles a bit, and is panting heavily.

"Chris!" He addresses Leafcrossing, "Crossers, er- Oh. Are these new Crossers, sir?" The boy looks like a classic teenage boy, acne speckled forehead, carelessly tangled short black hair, basketball shirt, and beige cargo pants.

Seriously? He looked like he was 14. All these people knew about Leafcrossing and not me? What did I miss? And from what I see everyone who knows about it is a kid, with the exception of Leafcrossing himself.

"Ron, I have no idea what these strangers want." Leafcrossing tells the so called Ron.

"Er- Crossers have found another Zäsacan, sir. It has been handled, but we haven't seen one in months, sir. What's going on?" Ron's horrified look catches me off guard.

"Ron, can you run to Kelly? Remember the meeting on Sunday. She wasn't here last time." Leafcrossing commands.

"Is that all, sir?" Ron nods.

"Yes, thank you."

Ron huffs, mutters, "It's a good thing I love to run," and take off running out the door.

"Who was that?" Zac asks.

"Ron, the messenger. He keeps us running." Leafcrossing replies.

"What are 'Crossers'?" My curiosity bursting forth.

"People who work with me. Help me."

"Oh. How do you become a Crosser?"

"Someone tells you, or you find out. Not many people know about it. So it's safe."

Zac looks at me, green eyes gleaming, "We're looking for a Silver Owl."

"I can't help you," Leafcrossing retorts. He turns away curtly and looks out a window that was made of wooden planks that had rotted away.

"Why not?" Zac demands, it's not a question.

"I need a bribe."

"What do you want then?" Zac asks.

"Well, being a so called 'criminal' I cannot leave my home."

"Would food work?" Zac asks. Leafcrossing looks pleased, "Ah, a smart one."

I stare at Zac, "Aber wir haben kein Essen." (But we don't have any food.)

I feel panicky. I refuse to show it, but my stomach feels like it is squirming.

"Wir haben die Orangen." (We have the oranges.) Zac reminds me.

"Werden zwei Orangen genug sein?" (Will two oranges be enough?)

"Two oranges will suffice quite nicely." Leafcrossing replies to my question.

"H-how?! D-do you speak German?" I stammer.

"Basic."

Zac swings my backpack off his shoulder, and it thumps the decaying wood, shaking the whole floor. He pushes things aside rather hastily, and pulls out two oranges we picked form the tree near Alexandra.

"Here," Zac says bring the oranges to Leafcrossing.

Leafcrossing accepts the bribe and clears his throat, "Call me Chris. That is my real name."

"Chris?" Zac repeats. I do this too. It's a good habit, to repeat someone's name after they tell you. Just to make sure you heard them correctly.

"Yes." Leafcrossing- er- Chris- says, "What you will need, are three things. These three things will come together and make a compass. Which, ironically, will not direct you. You," Chris says looking at Zac, "will need to be the one who has this at all times."

"Where are the pieces?" I ask. This seems important.

"Well hidden from the Terragorran government." Helpful...

"Where?"

"There is the glass, the compass itself, and the needle. Fortunately for you, I have the glass."

Chris kicks a floor board by his feet. As the old plank shifts, there is a small box, that is hardly visible.

"Mack-" Chris begins, only to be interrupted by Zac.

"It's Zac, actually."

"Mack, Zac, whatever," Chris sighs, "I can't hear all that well in my old age. I apologize."

Chris clears his throat, "Zac, would you lift that box out of the floor boards for me?"

Zac obeys and grabs the sleek black box from the floor boards. He brushes the dust off of it.

"There, now you only need the compass itself and the needle. That will be the equivalent of her necklace to you, Zac."

"How do you know about my necklace?!" I cry out in shock. I look down, checking to see if my necklace is visible. It's not.

"I can feel it. It's got an almost- it's like the compass, you just know." Chris explains, almost sounding bored.

"I see," Zac says, putting an end to that topic of discussion. He removes the lid of the box revealing a clear glass top. It doesn't even look like it would go to a compass. It just looks like a rounded glass bubble cut in half.

"Zac- I think we should leave now." I advise.

"Where are the pieces?" Zac demands. He's actually a little frighting when he's like this.

"Find the needle of fire. Then the compass of sea. You have the glass of the earth." Chris says. Can we not get some straight forward answer?

"So, just so we're clear, something to do with the ocean, and something to do with fire?" I resent not having clarity.

"Yes. Somewhere and Terragorra." Chris confirms my worries.

"Okay. Thank-" I begin, but am interrupted by Ron, who comes bursting in again.

"-Ray. Bitten. Zäsacan. Fine. Venom. Removed. Second. Attack. Two. Months."

"Okay. Good to know." Chris replies. Completely calm. Never mind Ray was bit by a Zäsacan. Never mind that.

Why was the venom removed? Was mine removed?

"Za-"

"Yes, the venom was drained out. I removed the venom from yours."

"How did you know I was go-"

"I read minds." Zac smirks.

"No you don't." And we laugh a little.

"Thank you, Chris. We'll be on our way now." Zac states as we leave.

"Stay safe."

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the extra long chapter.