Book of Fates ✔

Wizardry

There was plenty of time before the boarding, so the daitias­­—Amarillis—decided it would be nice to have lunch in advance.

They found a cozy table in the corner of the airport cafe, facing the runway. Rill ordered an exotic salad and persuaded Anya to eat the same somehow.

"What is it?" Anya creased her forehead involuntarily once she saw a giant bowl of greens in front of her.

"Lettuce, arugula, zucchini, corn salad, blood oranges and quinoa," licking her lips, Rill enunciated. "Oh, and pine nuts, of course!"

Anya sighed, staring at her food. What else can you expect when let a daitya choose?

"Maybe, you'll eat something too, Daph?" Nikk gave his sister a concerned look, sitting by the table with a mug of hot cocoa. "Or at least, I can bring you your favorite black coffee."

Daphne didn't ever glance at him, continued watching the rainy sky through the window. "No. We need our senses to stay sharp. Food and drinks relax your body. And your brain."

Nikk said nothing in reply, neither did the others.

The pause scratched over them, transformed into a cloud of awkward calmness. Then it turned into a billow of bare bleakness that swallowed the whole world, drowned it at the bottom of the ocean of unreasonable perturbation and...

Anya blinked, shoving strange visions out of her mind.

She forced herself back to reality, looking around as if saw her surrounding for the first time. On her right, Rill was chewing her salad with blissful face; on her left—Nikk warmed his hands on his mug. Across the table, Daphne settled in her chair motionlessly, only her eyes flicked at the timetable, as though she was trying to mesmerize it.

Stillness broke into pieces the moment Eirney appeared. Crackling sounds followed him from around the corner. Then, shouts of agitated people came and, at last, a loud crash when something massive fell to the floor. The same shouts sounded happy now.

"I think I wrecked a drinks machine," the curly-haired daitya confessed, sliding into the chair beside his friends, a can of Coke in his hand.

"Seriously?" Nikk's mouth quirked into a smirk. "You switched off the power in the building less than hour ago and couldn't deal with a primitive drinks machine?"

"I've got no cash, so I put a slice of a shattered crystal in there."

"And?.."

"And," Eirn made an irritated gesture with one hand. "That stupid metal feeder went crazy, started vomiting cans out!"

Everyone burst out laughing. Eirney's eyebrows constantly going up and down and the passionate way he spoke—like he'd come from a battle with Vikings—made the narrative even more comic. Even Daphne failed to conceal a taunting half-smile.

"Sure, make fun at me," Eirn groaned. "But my life was in real danger! You should have seen a hundred of free-drink lovers darting right at me! I risked being trampled to death."

The others gasped, barely managing to take a breath as another blow of uncontrollable laughing overwhelmed them.

"I hope," Rill said, still tittering, "the airport's suffering is not in vain, and we will find something in that bunker in Peru."

Nikk's face instantly became serious. "Taking into account that we have no idea where exactly the map leads us?" He let out a bitter chuckle. "Hell yeah, we will find something in that bunker. Something we don't expect to find."

"What we actually need to worry about is," Daphne leaned forward suddenly, putting her elbows on the table. "How not to be found by the fomoires." She eyed a yawning man passing by, and the man quickened his pace in alarm. "Maybe, humans see nothing particular in us, but those morons from Pateal... Hm, a slightest suspicion is enough for them."