Safehaven

Chapter 17

"...So, it just burst into dust?" Badon looked mystified as we told him the story. Currently, my 5 friends and I were, again, sitting and talking to Badon. If this continued, he would become our second father! Anyway, as we told Badon our tale, he sat silently through the whole thing. Several times, Jada broke into tears. She had several empty boxes of tissues around her feet. Only toward the end did Badon ask questions. "Just like that. It disintegrated?" The man asked, his brow furrowed. Beside him, Angel looked just like her master, heavy eyebrows set low on her face. As we nodded to his question, Badon sat back in his chair and groaned. "I knew it. Why didn't I do something?" He grunted, rubbing his eyes like an old man. Antigone, who had a bandage wrapped around her head, leaned forward, intently. "What? What should you have done?" Badon looked up. I was surprised to see small tears running down his face. As quickly as they had appeard, the man brushed them away and continued, as if nothing had happened. "As soon as Jada called the unicorn, I knew something was up. Nobody in history has ever summoned a creature as pure as that." The man took a deep breath. "Since you each have taken up the path of an elder, save Shiloh, I had a vague idea what each one of you would call. The unicorn was Morian's mistake." Badon let that hang in the dense air. Seeing the look of confusion on our faces, he started once more. "Did it ever occur to you that is was odd that the man appeared at the treeline at the precise moment you did? Has it struck you as abnormal that Morian seems to know our every move? Just last night, we had an attempted break in on your sleeping quarters. Though we drove them off without a hastle, did you ever wonder how they just seemed to know where you were?" Again, our faces were slack. "Morian sent spies!" Badon practically shouted, hands up in the air like a touchdown. "He sent dark magic to summon the so called "unicorn" and control Antigone. That was very dark magic indeed." Badon stopped, out of breath. Antigone and Jada both looked appalled. "And that, my children, is the tactics of our enemy. They are cunning, cruel, and intelligent. They are resourceful and ruthless. Today was a close call, and I intend to not let anything of the sort happen again." Badaon relaxed in his chair. His eyes were closed. The silence lasted for only minutes. "But what about Jada soul mate?" I had to ask. It had been bothering me for the entire hour. "Hmmm?" Badon mumbled, opening one eye. "Jada's creature, the one she is supposed to bond with!" Holly carefully enunciated. Being the oldest of five children, she was great at it. Badon straightened. "Oh, yes. How could I be so daft? Here, dear girl. Use this." Again, Badon placed a red stone on a gold chain around Jada's neck. For a moment, nothing happened. Suddenly, thunder pealed outside, though there was not a cloud in the sky, and a streak of light seemed to come from the girl herself. When the light cleared and our eyes returned to normal, a sleek, winged wolf sat at Jada's feet. It had cinder grey fur that was tinged with gold and black. Most startling, the wings were pure sliver. Badon chuckled. "A fwen. I should have guessed. It is quite suitable for a young huntress to have such a noble companian." Jada just glared at the Fwen menacingly, as if daring it to crumble to ashes. When it didn't, Jada seemed to relax to the slightest degree. "Well, I'll just give some time to recooperate. Now, off to your dorms, you troublesome children!" Badon chuckled, shooing us out with his hands. Going through the door, I could hear Antigone grumble, "I'll give you something troublesome, old man.". Without much adventure, finally, we reached our rooms. This was the tricky part. Remember when I said that the personal rooms had talking doorknockers? Well, the entrance to the neutral ground was only a blank wall with a poster tacked up onto the wall. During most of the day, the paper remained blank. Though when you approached it, words appeared. Normally, it was a riddle. If you answered it correctly, a door materialized and you could get through. Get it wrong, and you would have to wait for another person to solve it. Right now, we all gathered around the blank poster. "What three numbers can be added together and multiplied together and still get the same answer?" The words appeared on the sheet. Holly chuckled. "That one's easy." She produced a pencil out of her pocket and wrote on the poster. "1, 2, and 3, of course!" The numbers and words vanished, replaced by a door. I opened it and led everyone through. The fire was still blazing. Inside, our animals were already there, all calmed down. From the way all of their heads hung, I could tell that they were ashamed of the way they had acted earlier, even if it wasn't completely their fault. Gwindol's shoulders slumped, his head hung even lower. I stepped over to him and cupped my hand under his chin, making him look into my eyes. "It's alright." I whispered. I’m sorry.  The words echoes through my head.  I smiled gently, and Gwindol sat up straighter.  I glanced around.  My friends were doing teh same thing with their beasts.  Jada, though, was keeping her distance from the fwen.  I guessed that she didn't want to make friends with something that could disappear just like that.  After her encounter with the unicorn, it would take some time for this bonding to occur.  I sighed, and led my dragon up the stairs and onto the landing.  Everyone els was either doing the same thing or laying on the couches below.  We were all tired out.  I uttered my password to the knocker and the dorr swung open.  I practically collapsed as soon as I hit the bed.  There was a dull thud as the door to my room shut.  Gwindol leaped up onto his "bed".  I lay in the unmade covers of my bed.  Glancing at the clodk that hung over the dresser, I knew that I had at least 4 hours till lunch.  Just the right amount of time to curl up with a good book.  Back at home, my bookshelves had been stocked with best sellers.  The thought of home weakened my spirits.  What were my parents going through right now?  Badon had tole me that compared to the "Below", time ran very fast here.  I still didn't know how that worked, or even how my friends and I had crossed over here, but I felt a little reassurance at that.  I crossed over to the shelves and pulled a thick volume down from the top.  "Everything you need to know about the care and keeping of a soul mate."  Great.  A how to maintain a magical beast for dummies.  Just what I needed!  Seeing nothing better on the wall of books, I curled up in my covers and began to read.  I flipped page after page, hoping that the lunch bell would soon ring.  Maybe things would be better after a little food in my stomack and some energy in my bones.  But boy, was I wrong...