Cirque Periculum

Chapter 22.1

Adam, arriving to the site for the circus, found the performers in disarray. People sprinting around to and fro, frantically.

"They're at the border!"

"Hurry and summon the boats, a battle is coming!"

Kirk wasn't hard to find, being the only one that vanished and reappeared sporadically throughout the whole camp, carrying things and shouting frantically. Adam allowed his mind to race as he gathered energy into the same green wave that allowed him to escape the prison cell. The wave of energy propelled him in an upward arc toward Kirk.

Before he disappeared again, Adam shouted to him, "Kirk! Over here!"

Kirklane looked over, confused by the flying boy. Adam sent a soft blue pulse to slow his fall, and he landed nimbly next to his tall lanky friend.

"What's going on Adam?" Kirk asked, sweat dripping down his brow, but not stopping for him. Adam fell into pace with Kirk, though he had to run to keep up with the tall boy's long strides.

"No, you answer that question first," Adam said, looking around at the panicked faces racing past him in all directions.

"Camp Caute is here, at the border. Two big ships full of them. It looks like they brought their whole crew, which just smells like a fight. Where's Connor and everyone else?"

"Connor and Riley are in trouble. Mr. Summertin is going after the Alchemist's Mirror, and he took them with."

Kirk's face paled. "No... the mirror is here? I suspected he was after it... but I didn't think he was that close to getting it."

"Well think again," Adam said. "Point is, they're out for this fight, which means we need more firepower. Before Riley went in to get the mirror, she told me to go back to the mainland to get Meridian."

"That's ridiculous!" Kirk exclaimed. "There's no way we get through the shield magic around this island, and even if we did, Camp Caute is just waiting for us on the other side. I can't just teleport past it all."

"We have to. Most of the circus has already betrayed us, they won't help us at all."

A bright red light exploded above them. Adam looked up and saw the barrier around the island shakily materialize then disappear again. Camp Caute's boats were drawing closer, and he saw more lights explode from their ships and hit the barrier. Glancing at the dock, Adam saw a ship drawing up out of the water.

His mind raced as a plan formulated. He turned to Kirk, cracking a grim smile. "Okay, I won't ask how far you can teleport then. My question is how much you can teleport."

Kirk looked at him with his brow furrowed. "The only time I've tried was with Connor. Why? Oh..." He followed Adam's gaze down to the rising ship. "You want me to teleport with a whole ship?!"

"Yes. Yes I do. Can you do it?"

"I have a feeling it doesn't matter how I answer and that we're going to figure out either way."

"You feel right. Come on! We gotta go now, before anyone else boards it."

"Okay, grab my arm. Hold on tight, don't let go. We're probably going to have to jump a few times in order to get there before anyone else."

Adam clutched his friend's arm, and less than a second later they vanished.