Magics: Escape (Book 2)

Chapter Thirty-Two

"I'm assuming you're here for the magical relic I uncovered some years ago," their host said to Kai, crossing his arms across his broad chest and leaning against the doorway to the living room.

The stocky man had taken them inside and told them to sit in the living room while he stood assessing all of them (he didn't add the last part, but that's what he'd been doing). Chase, Abby, and Kai were seated together on a large brown sofa that was in the middle of the small living room, while Gabriel and Linda were seated in a smaller chair, Linda perched on the arm. Amy was sitting on a kitchen chair the man had pulled into the room. He'd introduced himself as Ezekiel, but told them to call him Zeke.

"We all are," Chase answered for Kai, crossing his arms and gazing sternly up at the man. "But not for the reason you think." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. 

"What do you think I believe you're here for?" Ezekiel challenged, raising his eyebrow skeptically at Chase. 

"You think we're here to get said relic," Chase said, "and use it to free Darkness itself from the cage that traps it. Am I correct?" he said in the same challenging tone, raising his eyebrow at the man with a small smirk. 

"Why do you need it, then?" Zeke asked instead of answering, but Kai figured that meant Chase had been right. "I don't think I trust you enough to simply hand it off to a group of teenagers." 

"Pardon me," Linda interjected with a slight raise of her hand. "I am not a teenager, thank you very much. And neither is our friend back at our camp, who could come here with a wolf that's loyal to us." 

"Hmph," Zeke scoffed, uncrossing his arms and returning his attention to Chase. "What makes you think I'm going to give it to you all? I have no reason to trust any of you, especially him." He gestured toward Kai.

Kai knew that Zeke had every reason not to trust him, but it was beginning to get annoying how many times he would mention it. "Because we need it to prevent The Dark Lord from rising," Kai said instead of expressing his annoyance. "Chase and Abby's father is Shintaro, the gatekeeper of the Abyss. If you know so much about the key and it's ability, then you should know what the Abyss is." Kai paused, and when Zeke nodded, he continued. "Shintaro isn't with us currently, but he assigned us to get to the relic before someone else could. If the key falls into that someone's hands, the whole world is in grave danger. Darkness will rise and take over everything, and believe me, you don't want to meet Darkness himself. We're here to take the key and stop this all from happening. If you give it to us, you'd be playing a big part in the rescue of everyone that lives on this earth." 

Zeke stared at him thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed. Finally, he spoke. "You're the ones who are going to prevent this?" 

"We're certainly going to try," Gabriel said gruffly. "What good is it if we sit back? It's not like anyone else will." 

"Very true," Zeke said with a sigh. "People today are too lazy to prevent terrible events from taking place. They're too scared to get off their butts and figure out the problem." He trailed his eyes over the group in his living room. "I suppose you're not those kind of people." 

"Not at all," Abby said determinedly. "We're going to end this. No one else is going to suffer in the hands of Darkness." 

"While I admire your determination," Zeke said roughly, "I don't know if you would be able to. Whatever you're getting yourself into... Not all of you will come out of it. I think you should all go home and do your best to stay safe. Whatever - whoever - is coming... I don't think anyone can stop him." 

Kai felt chills run down his spine, but he ignored them with a frown. "You're not going to help us?" he asked in disbelief. "Don't you want to have freedom? Don't you want to live a life without literal Darkness? Think of what would happen if we sat back and did nothing! This whole place would be doomed. The Dark Lord would play with us for eternity."