"Jazzy, it feels like we've been sitting here for hours. Can't we radio in and tell them we can just drop down and grab it?"
"No, we can't. Our problems just got bigger." She was walking back from the glass dome, obviously frazzled. "They have a guest speaker on stage right now."
"So? A lot of galas have that."
"Not everyone has Kristy."
I could feel my body get colder. "You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding."
"Sadly, I'm not. I think she's here to steal the idol. Or worse."
"What could be worse than Kristy stealing the idol?"
"The idol is already hers, and we've fallen into a trap." Her face changed expression as if she remembered something vital. She held her two fingers in her ear to activate her intercom. "Cain, are you there? Please respond." Nothing. "Cain, respond." Still nothing. "Dammit, we're in trouble, Nocturnus."
"Is Cain not answering?"
"Nope, which means he's either dead or there's a signal jammer we didn't know about, probably Kristy's doing."
"Hopefully it's the former."
"Nocturnus!"
"Sorry, sorry. I make dark jokes like that when I'm stressed."
"This is not a joke. We need this idol to lead us to the Temple. We need to get there first, or else the fate of the world and all Summoners, including you, will be in the hands of Kristy."
I sat a moment in contemplation. "While it sounds great to let someone else worry about me and my problems, I don't think Kristy is the one to sort it out." I stood up and walked over to the skylight. "All we need to do is wait until Cece walks in with Wages, have Wages undo the security in the room so we can melt the latch on the skylight, get in, grab the idol while Cece distracts Wages, and get out before anyone notices." As soon as I finished my thought, the lights of the room came on. Jazzy and I both jumped back, but I got on my hands and knees and crawled forward. "Jazzy, hand me the lizard."
Jazzy reached into her pocket to reveal Cece's lizard Hailee. Apparently, Cece had found a rare species of lizards called Inferni. This Infernus lizard happened upon Cece, and Cain instantly recognized it. Inferni lizards have similar properties to that of Pyros. They can heat their scales up to extreme temperatures on command or threatened. There are only a handful of species that can do what Summoners do, the Squaller birds and the Frost bears, which are similar in appearance to polar bears. Since we didn't have enough time to train a lizard to explode, I was assigned to make the lizard feel anxious and melt the lock on the skylight.
She pulled the sleeping lizard from her pocket and gently placed it in my hands. I gently put Hailee onto the lock of the skylight and stepped back in case I made her have a nightmare that was too bad. I turned my irises vibrant purple and focused on the sleeping lizard. I started making him feel anxious in his sleep, and I could see the lizard start to squirm. Its scales were getting brighter and brighter, and as the lizard squirmed even more, I could see the lock starting to glow as well, until it started to warp and melt. I might have been a tad overzealous in my job because not only was the lock melted, the entire hinge that the lock rested on melted.
"That's good enough," I heard Jazzy say from behind me. She went on one side of the skylight, and I went to the other, and we both lifted the skylight very gently. "I honestly can't believe that worked."
"Me neither. You got the rope?"
"Yep, tied it off to the roof while you were giving the little guy a nightmare."
YOU ARE READING
The Summoner Series - Book One - DUALITY
FantasyAfter an apocalyptic war, the world must come to terms with the existence of Summoners. These people can control the elements of nature at their will, but there are some people who are not too happy that they exist. As a result, many go into hiding...
