The Guardians of the Relic
Chapter 22

Emily followed Alastair and Glohone down the stairs. The wooden steps of the basement creaked as they made their way down. Emily held the wall for support. She had to rub her hands on her pants when she reached the bottom because the dust had formed on every wall and corner. Zugast, Erhan and Izdel were already there. She scanned the room.

There were oval shaped bottles containing various colored liquids on the shelves. A gigantic book lay on the table. On closer inspection she recognized it. She had seen Erhan reading similar books at the antique shop. There were smaller books stacked beside it. Large three-tier candle holders were perched on either side of the table. She turned to Alastair.

“What is this place?” she asked.

Alastair put on his thin rimmed glasses and smiled. “It is a home away from home for us.”

Emily’s only feeling of home now was Michael, and he was gone. She took out her phone and searched for a picture of him. Glohone came up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“We will replace him Emily. I promise.” He looked at the picture. “I know him. I have seen him before” said Glohone.

“I’m sure. He’s popular in Elgin. He’s an artist.” said Emily. Her eyes fixated on the picture.

“No, I saw him when I followed Athena. He was with a woman at the ballet. Athena was keeping a close eye on him, and I never knew why.”

“You must have seen him with Daisy,” she said, remembering now what Daisy had told her.

“So that means Athena is behind his kidnapping.” said Zugast.

Glohone didn’t look at him. He didn’t say a word. “I don’t think she is involved,” said Emily.

“It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is helping Michael,” said Alastair.

A loud thud came from upstairs. Alastair and Glohone exchanged looks. “Emily stay here,” said Glohone. He looked at Izdel, who merely nodded. They both went upstairs.

Ten minutes later they still hadn’t returned. Emily bit her fingernails. What was taking them so long? Finally she saw Izdel and Glohone coming back with a shadowy figure behind them. The shock hit her hard when she saw Jessica.

“We found your pretty friend snooping around,” said Izdel.

“What are you doing here?” asked Emily.

Jessica scanned the room. “I was just about to ask you the same question.”

This was bad, thought Emily. She really didn’t need this now. “Jess, you need to go home.”

“Go home? What the hell is going on with you? First I see you leaving town with Ethan Cunningham and then…”

“So you’re spying on me?” Emily interrupted.

“No. I am doing research for my case. The mayor hired me to take his nephew’s case.”

Emily looked at her surprised. “But you’re not a lawyer anymore and there were no arrests.”

Jessica stared at her. She obviously saw her with Athena. Athena was their main suspect. This was not just bad, thought Emily, it was a disaster.

“I decided to do one last case.” Jessica’s eyes shifted between Zugast and Erhan. “Who are these people?”

Emily grabbed Jessica’s arm and pulled her aside. “Jess, you need to trust me. Drop this case,” she whispered. Jessica looked at her like she was crazy.

“No. I will not.”

“Please Jess. You trust me don’t you? I promise I will explain everything to you. Right now I need you to go home. It’s not safe. Okay?”

Jessica folded her arms. She looked up. Emily turned around to see who she was staring at and saw Ethan walking down the stairs. Jessica shook her head. “Fine, but you owe me an explanation for all this or I’ll have no other choice but to go to the sheriff.”

“Thank you,” said Emily.

Ethan watched as Jessica left. She eyed him carefully before continuing up the stairs. He looked at Emily. “Is she going to be a problem?”

“No, I’ll handle it.” Although she wasn’t sure how she planned on accomplishing that. Her mind was only on Michael. “So now that everyone is here, what’s the plan?” Emily’s phone buzzed and she checked it. Daisy again. She had left her a several messages, but Emily didn’t know what to tell her.

Ethan turned to Alastair. “I think the first thing we need to know is what we are dealing with here. What does Alkron really want with the pendant?”

“He wants power,” said Alastair. He paused for a moment. “And revenge.”

“Revenge for what?” asked Ethan.

“Well, Alkron has not always been this way. We were once very close friends. We were young boys when we met. He had a good heart.” Alastair smiled at the memory. “Although I have to say he did get us into quite a bit of trouble with his tricks.”

“He didn’t stay that way for long though,” said Erhan. Alastair looked up at him but did not respond. Izdel and Zugast didn’t say a word.

“What happened to him?” asked Emily.

“The humans never accepted us. One night they came and set fire to our entire village. We tried to contain it with our magic but it was simply too much for us. We were too young. Alkron’s parents were asleep. By the time they woke, the fire had trapped them inside their house and they both died.”

“But why couldn’t they use magic to escape?” asked Ethan.

Alastair sat down on an old wooden chair next to the table. “Alkron was the first gifted wizard of his generation. He was special. His parents were mortal.”

“So now he blames all humans for his loss?” Ethan asked. He was beginning to understand.

“I’m afraid so. I tried to convince him otherwise, but he refused to listen. As he got older his hatred only grew worse. He called all humans murderers. He believed they all deserved to die. Eventually, due to our differences, we went our separate ways.”

Ethan stopped in front of Alastair. “What does he look like? I mean, I never actually saw his face.”

“During our last encounter he grew weak. In order to stay alive he needed to leave his earthly body. He no longer has a true physical form,” said Alastair.

“But I saw a person that night. Are you saying he can possess another body?” asked Ethan.

Alastair thought about it. “It hasn’t been done in many years, but yes, it is possible.”

Emily looked at him stunned. “So you’re saying he could be anyone? Then how the hell do we replace him?”

“I think I already have. Alexander Graham,” said Ethan. They all turned to him in confusion. He explained his discovery of Alexander Graham’s death certificate to them.

After a moment, Emily said. “It’s definitely him then. It makes sense now.” She turned to Alastair “What can we do to destroy the pendant?”

“The pendant possesses very dark magic. We will have to combine the powers of the council to destroy it, but even then we cannot be sure it will work.” Alastair paused and looked at her. She had a concerned look on her face. “We cannot allow him to get his hands on it. If Alkron is allowed to perform a bonding spell on the pendant, he will wield its full power,” said Alastair.

“What’s the good news?” asked Emily sarcastically. This was beginning to look more like a suicide mission.

“There is one sure way to destroy it, but it is dangerous.” He looked up at Glohone. Glohone shook his head like he didn’t want him to say it. Alastair had to consider it.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Alastair, I don’t think we should even try it. It is too dangerous for her. What if it doesn’t work?” asked Glohone.

Whatever these two men were talking about obviously involved her. Emily was willing to do anything to end this. She folded her arms. “Tell me what I need to do.”

* *

Michael couldn’t sleep. It was getting colder. He curled up and hugged his knees. He winced when the chain pulled on his leg. All the shifting around he did had left a red mark on his ankle. The ticking sound of his wristwatch seemed louder. He could no longer tell what day it was. Had it been days or weeks since he had been taken? He wondered if anyone noticed he was missing. Were they even looking for him? He looked at Fay. She was barely hanging on now. Her face had turned white and her eyes were sunken. She seemed to be in a deep sleep.

“Fay,” he said.

She didn’t move. He called her name again. Still no movement. Scared, he called her name again, but this time louder. He felt relieved when she stirred her head.

“Don’t worry, she is not dead yet.”

Michael slowly turned his head. “Alexander,” he said.

“I always hated that name, but what can you do when you’re running out of time?”

“I don’t understand,” said Michael. He studied Alexander’s face. His skin was much paler than he remembered. His lips were almost purple, and his eyes were so dark. “Who are you?” He was shivering now, but not from the cold.

“My name is Alkron.”

Michael kept his eyes fixed on him. He was afraid to look away. “What do you want from me?” Alkron laughed and a chill ran down Michael’s spine. He was more than just creepy, he thought.

“You have nothing to offer me,” said Alkron. He moved closer to the steel bars. Michael jerked his head back. “But Emily does.”

“Stay away from my sister,” he said and balled his fists.

Alkron smiled. “That’s just the thing; I don’t need to replace her. She will come to me now.”

Fay coughed. She lifted her head to Alkron. “She will not help you you son of a bitch,” she said.

“I see you’re just as feisty as your sister,” said Alkron. She coughed again and this time blood came out. He smirked. “Either way you will all die.”

“Go to hell,” she choked out the words.

Michael covered his head with both his hands when Alkron left. Suddenly he didn’t want Emily to replace him. He’d rather die than let her walk into a trap because of him.