A week passed uneventfully. With each dreamless night—and with no further mention of the dream from Ralin—Leesa’s concerns slowly ebbed. The first night, she had considered attempting to summon the dream to see if it might have more information for her, or at least to try to see as much as Ralin had. She had discussed the idea with Dominic, but the wizard had offered no real advice, telling her this was one decision she would have to make for herself. In the end, she had decided that letting sleeping dogs lie was probably the best course. Unless Ralin brought up the dream again, she was not going to risk stirring things up.Ralin continued to struggle with the everywhere/nowhere technique—it now appeared as if his progress the day he told Leesa about his vision had been an anomaly, not a marker of some hurdle crossed. Dominic was a patient teacher, though. He continued working on it with Ralin each day, because it was the foundation upon which so much more could be built. Ralin did no
Leesa performed the spell several more times. Each time, the dimness grew larger and darker, though it was still nowhere near where she wanted it to be. Ralin provided her with proof of that.“I can still see you, Momma,” he called from the other side after the last incantation. He ran toward Leesa and jumped through the shadowy curtain into her arms.She caught him with a grunt and gave him a quick hug before setting him down. He was getting too big for her to hold him up like that for very long. She wished she had Rave’s strength, so she would never have to put Ralin down.“My turn now,” Ralin said. “I want to do magic.”Dominic looked to Leesa, who nodded. She was satisfied with today’s progress and wouldn’t mind a bit of rest while Dominic worked with Ralin. She crossed over to Rave and put her arm around his waist while Dominic turned to Ralin.“Okay, your turn,” the wizard said
“You have made your world safe, for the time being at least. Now, will you come and help save ours?”The words of the mysterious female voice from out of the black portal echo in my head. Less than an hour has passed since my Power finally appeared, triggered by the scorching fire of the balrog. The confrontation with the lava dragon was the penultimate challenge of a five hundred mile journey by land and sea, a journey marked by danger and death, by attacks from a swarm of wyverns, a kraken and a snake-haired gorgon, among others. Am I ready to step into an Anomaly now and journey to the nightmare world from whence those monsters sprang? I don’t see how I could be—how anyone could be.My friends are all staring at me, waiting. I look at my fellow Miracles first. In all the world, these six are the only others we know of who possess a Power. I’m pretty sure they would all come with me if I were foolish enough to go. I’m certain Radar
Jordy pulls his arm from Radar’s and steps in front of my dad. He snaps off a sharp salute.“Permission to go, Sir,” he asks.Dad nods. “Granted, son.” He looks at me. “I’m coming, too, of course. Which leaves one more.”Lieutenant Gregerson steps forward. “I’d like to volunteer, Sir.”Dad smiles. “I know you would, Lieutenant. But someone has to lead the rest of the men back to San Diego. It’s not going to be an easy trip, without the Miracles or Kai. I need you to go with them.”Lieutenant Gregerson nods. “Yes, Sir,” he says, though I can hear the disappointment in his voice. “I’ll get them home, don’t worry.”Dad looks over the ranks of his men. They all volunteered for the mission to Alcatraz—he knows every one of them would volunteer for this newest mission. His gaze fixes on Sergeant Moss, our grizzled weapons expert.“What do you say, Sergeant?” Dad asks. “You got one more mission in those old bones of yours?”Sergeant Moss’s face lights up like a kid who just received an early
“You heard her,” Dad says. “Let’s get out of here. Down to the dock, everyone.”We make our way over the lowest section of the old wall and head down toward the water, staying grouped together for safety, just in case. I walk alongside my dad, with Radar on my other side. The Miracles are all close by. A ring of very alert Marines with rifles at the ready surrounds us. I notice that most of them have their faces turned skyward, which makes sense. Other than the serpents Kai warned about who only come out in darkness, there shouldn’t be any danger left on the island. Threats from the air, we’ve learned all too well, are another story. A gauzy layer of fog blowing in from the ocean masks portions of the sky, adding to the atmosphere of danger.As I follow the soldiers’ gazes upward, I’m a bit surprised to see the sun floating so low in the eastern sky, where the fog hasn’t yet reached. With everything that’s happened already today, it feels like it should be later in the day. We landed
Radar sees me looking and grins. The rest of the Miracles turn around to face me and break out into the Happy Birthday song.“Happy Birthday to you,” they sing. “Happy Birthday to you. Happy birrrthday dear Blaaaaaze, Happy Birthday to you.”I feel my cheeks begin to grow warm from the attention. It looks like my friends have chosen my new nickname, too. I kind of like it. Blaze. It’s simple, to the point, and strong.“I would have baked you a cake, Blaze,” Radar says, grinning. “But in case you hadn’t noticed, we’ve been kind of busy the last day or two.”I can’t help returning Radar’s grin. We’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since we were young tots, and I can safely say I’ve never known Radar to bake anything.“Yeah,” I reply. “I’m sure that’s the only reason you didn’t bake a cake. Let’s just forget that you w
The crossing doesn't take long, fifteen or twenty minutes maybe, which is just fine with me. Every time we hit a patch of rough water, my stress level bounces upward with the boat, despite my best efforts to remind myself that everything is fine. As we slow down to approach the wharf, the mermaids swim closer to our vessel. The dolphins remain a bit farther away.“I guess…this is farewell…for now,” Selene calls up to us.I realize we haven’t had a chance to tell them about our plan to go into their world. I wonder if they’ll be returning as well, or if they’re stuck here in our world.“The woman who sent you here has asked for our help,” I explain quickly, knowing our time to talk is short. As soon as we dock, we’ll be hurrying away from the water.“We’re heading for higher ground,” Radar adds, “so she can open a portal for us to enter your world through.”Selene’s almond-shaped eyes widen in surprise. She clearly had not been expecting this.“Be careful,” she says. “Our world…can be
We haven't even made it across the road when the silence is broken by the last sound any of us could have expected to hear—the roar of throbbing motors.I have no idea what kind of engines are making the clamor, but it’s far louder and more powerful than the noise generated by the boat we just rode on across the bay. And it’s getting louder by the second.“Motorcycles!” Sergeant Moss shouts. “Coming this way.”None of us Miracles has ever seen a working motorcycle, but the sergeant is certainly old enough to recognize the sound. I wouldn’t doubt that he rode one in his younger years, either. He seems like that kind of guy. I catch myself holding my breath, wondering whether the riders are human—or something else.Dad recognizes the sound as well. “Get out of the road!” he orders. “Now!”We race across the street. There’s no time to get any farther than the sidewalk