Draiks and Angels: Rescued

8 - The Others

Cona stood at the library table with the two silver pieces and crystal laid out in front of her. She didn't think she should try to fit them together until she was ready to call the other... Draiks... and she didn't want to call a bunch of strangers to her house. She didn't understand how these three items were supposed to "call" anything. It was as if it was going to be an... ultrasonic frequency and the Draiks were some kind of animal to be attracted to it. Or a high-pitched whistle that only they could hear.

Getting back on topic, she figured she had better find a different place to "call" the Draiks. More neutral. Maybe her favorite skyscraper would work? She should wait until was dark so that it would make it harder for anyone to see any Draiks as they came over. She glanced out the window. The sun was setting, so it would not be too long.

Nervously, she changed clothes, though her new outfit, a dark blue tank top and jeans shorts, was almost identical to her old one. There weren't a lot of options for shirts that would fit around her wings unless she felt like modifying them herself. She knew how to sew well enough, but didn't like to take the time.

Grabbing her satchel once again, she packed up the silver pieces and wrapped the crystal in a hand towel before packing it in as well. She glanced out the window and it was still too light. She sat at one of the tables in the library with her bag on top, drumming her fingers and waiting.

She thought about Peter and Daniel. They knew a side to her father that she didn't really understand. He had felt it necessary to wait to tell her and now he couldn't. She wondered if they would be able to tell her anything else about her father... anything not related to the "Draiks?" But it wasn't like they were friends and having lunch where she could just casually ask. She would have to call specifically and that felt awkward. Maybe if she had to meet with them again she could ask then.

She hoped the pictures she took would be helpful to Daniel. He was awfully nonplussed by her "walking through a wall." She didn't worry much about it then, but if only she could see that doorway, how was that possible? Was he teasing her? He obviously wanted to enter the room badly but wouldn't. Couldn't? She wondered what else the carvings said and how they knew what they said at all. How does one translate a dead language? If it was a dead language... she didn't know.

Bored, she thought about her impression of Daniel. He seemed mature to her, which made sense considering he was probably around ten years older than she. He seemed confident in his knowledge of the ruins, and obviously excited, which was cute. He was tall, and his face was attractive enough. She assumed he was in a relationship, at his age, but she was pretty sure her father never married, and so maybe archaeologists don't have time for such things.

Cona looked out the window and it was darker. Maybe not dark enough, but she was tired of waiting. She decided she would fly to the skyscraper and wait there until it was full dark before trying to call the others. She left through the kitchen and locked the door behind her. She headed northwest, climbing the air as she normally did, assuming it was dark enough that she would be unrecognizable.

When she reached the black stone monolith, she glided around it once just to make sure no one else was there. She landed near the copper roof, on a stone ledge that surrounded the bright green structure. Kneeling with her wings stretched out behind her, she pulled out the silver pieces and the crystal. She lined up the wings and slid the hooks into the holes of the opposing wings. They were still loose, so she carefully set the pair on the stone. They stood as Daniel said they would.

Unwrapping the blue crystal, Cona placed it in between the wings. It sat perfectly inside so that the greatest diameter of the crystal was at the top edge of the wings. She tucked the towel back in her bag and looked at the assembled caller. Was it working? How would she know? She didn't feel or hear anything.