What you don't know can kill you...
It's just a pretty pendant. A harmless necklace. Everyone wears them, like a talisman.
At least that's what sixteen year old Shai Eli has always believed. But why does her community enforce a law that keeps people...
Conley's Supply House resembled Lael's, with jars of fruits and vegetables lining the shelves and tables with a variety of household items running down the center aisle. Akan was bent over an object lying on a long table that ran the length of the room when Aliah found him.
Ellersly shifted his weight back and forth as he stood red-faced beside Akan. He looked like he could explode any minute. The leader made no motion to leave. Aliah looked over Akan's shoulder to see what occupied his attention. A large, brown leather book lay on the table. Aliah chewed his lower lip and squinted but he couldn't see what it was. The only book he'd ever seen was the Book in Lael.
Akan poked it with his index finger. "Now what do you suppose this is?" He ripped his hood off and turned to look at Aliah. His dark eyes gleamed. Something about the way Akan looked at him made Aliah's blood run cold. He'd never seen the Book up close, but this one looked so similar. But it couldn't be it, could it? This far from Lael?
"What do you think, Ace? It was on a shelf behind some jars of pickled carrots... just there for the taking." Akan's hollow cheeks filled with air as he whistled long and low. "Won't 'ol Sammy be pleased? He's been wanting it for a long time."
Aliah just stood there, stunned. If Samael was Lael's Leader, he had access to the Book whenever he wanted. What Akan said didn't make sense.
Akan cracked his knuckles and reached for the book just as the door burst open and several men rushed in.
Ellersly hopped from one foot to the other. "Sir, that's what I've been trying to tell you. We, uh, ran into some trouble."
Akan reached for a knife that Aliah knew he kept hidden beneath his cloak. A man several inches taller than the others with silver hair stepped forward. He held a lantern in one hand and a knife with a long hilt and thick blade in the other.
"I'm Mallak, the leader of Sector Three. We don't want any trouble here. Take what you've come for and leave. But do not return." Mallak spoke softly and evenly, his eyes holding Akan's. "Take what we've come for?" Akan sneered. He stood in front of the book, but stepped sideways to grab it. In a flash Mallak and his men descended on the Watchers. Akan's hand brushed the book, knocking it onto the floor. It fell open at Aliah's feet.
Aliah kicked it under the table just as someone landed on his back. The weight of the person knocked the wind from Aliah and made his legs go out from under him. His forehead struck the floor with a crack. He struggled to get his arms out from under him, to shove the person off him. Pain sliced into his left side. A strangled cry escaped him and he touched his side. His fingertips grazed the hilt of a knife sticking out of the soft flesh above his waist. He kicked out with his legs, connecting with someone's head. They rolled away from him as he pulled the knife from his side. Warmth gushed from the wound. The sounds of chaos flooded his ears. Shouts and grunts mixed with cries and the smell of blood and something sour. Someone had vomited.
Aliah rolled over and pushed himself up. His attacker rocked on his hands and knees a few feet away, then lifted his head. The frightened eyes of a child looked back at Aliah. He'd been knifed by a kid?
The boy's jaw hung slack and blood dripped from his mouth and nose. He reached for a garden tool on a shelf above, his sleeve falling away from his skinny arm. The Conley crescent marked his wrist too.
Fury drained from him when he realized it was just a child. He could kill him but what good would it do? He'd only have it on his conscience.
Aliah shook his head at the boy who dropped his hand and backed up on his hands and knees then got up and took off running. Aliah gripped the edge of the table with one hand, and grabbed the boy's small knife in the other.
His eyes fell on the open book under the table. A symbol in dark ink marked the top of the right-hand page and below it in bold script read:
The Division of Edan and the Coalition of Three: Eli and Elyon under one Commanding Officer, The Son of Thunder.
Below that there was a map which was labeled: The Seven Sectors.Lael was a circle in the center with a larger circle, twice the size of Lael, around it divided into seven sections like pieces of pie. A flash of heat raced across his chest. How the Book got all the way out here he didn't know.
"Grab it, Ace! Let's go!" Akan's voice rang out behind him. Aliah withdrew his hand and glanced around. Akan rolled out from beneath Mallak's slumped body. Ellersly sat on someone's chest a few feet away pummeling their face with both fists, his own nose and mouth streaming blood. Akan's bird call rang out and the Watchers ran into the night.
Aliah grabbed the Book and shoved it inside his cloak. He put the knife in his waistband and struggled to his feet. A sharp burn tore through his left side with every movement. He leaned against the table, gasping. The Book fell from his cloak and landed on the table in front of him, opening to the same page. Footsteps sounded behind him. He ripped the page out and shoved it into his pocket before Akan approached. Aliah slammed the cover shut. The leader grinned at Aliah, his dark eyes gleaming. All around them Mallak's men lay unconscious or dead, he couldn't tell. His stomach turned. Akan handed him a sack and Aliah dropped the Book into it.
"Go on, Ace. Lead the group back. I'll catch up."
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