We're getting to the big reveal!
"Finally." Fitz unlocked the box containing the leaping crystal. It had been two long years since they had chosen to lock it away and finally now they could find out where it led.
So many things had changed. Maria had started Foxfire with a racket. Jolie was thirteen and in her last year of middle school. Amy had told him she was enjoying her new half homeschool, half private school schedule. The quintuplets had blended perfectly into Irish life, retaining their one identity when they went into town with their great aunt/grandmother.
He hadn't heard anything from Ry. Ro had sent him a single letter to confirm that he was fine and adjusting well. That was three years ago. Ogres weren't the types to send unnecessary updates, so he was probably fine. Hopefully his pyrokinesis wasn't out of control.
Tam stopped next to him. He was wearing human clothing, as was everyone else.
"This is it." Keefe whispered. "We finally find out what Sophie's big secret was."
Fitz watched Biana pick up the crystal. He glanced around, making sure they were alone this time and knowing the others were doing the same. Empty wind blew around the cliffs of long-abandoned Cliffside.
"Are we ready to do this, guys?"
Biana stepped forward, pulling them all into the light and they were whisked away.
When they landed, they were in a rickety, abandoned cabin. The walls were falling down, the floor only existed in some places, and there was no glass in the windows. There was a pine forest surrounding them and the air was thick and muggy, but smelled surprisingly fresh and piney.
Keefe voiced all of their thoughts. "Well, this is anticlimactic."
Tam agreed with him. "What is so important about this place that its location would be Sophie's last words?"
Biana glanced around. "Maybe this isn't it."
They all looked at her.
"Remember when we were reading Harry Potter? In the Muggle world, the wizards had designated Apparation spots that were hidden away. Maybe this is like that. A safe light leaping spot for when whomever that broken crystal belonged to needed to come here."
Fitz tested the rotting door. "This thing's pretty permanent and it's been used a lot, but not recently. Look at the floor. The breaking and more worn parts make a direct line to the door and these hinges have been replaced to keep the door working. But"-he tried the door again and opened it- "the door was pretty solidly stuck."
Tam walked over to him and examined the hinges. "You're right. And the main support beams have also been replaced, as well as parts of the floor. Somebody wants this thing to stay up."
"So let's go find out why."
They filed outside. The forest was lit and open, with gaps of sky between the pine and fir branches. There was a definite path and dirt road leading away from the clearing. The road was packed down with tire tracks, but from the branches and holes in it, had not been used in some time.
"It seems pretty simple. I guess we follow the road?" Tam said.
Everyone agreed.
It was not that simple. About two miles in, the forest turned into desert. Hot, flat and dry. There was sagebrush and cheatgrass everywhere. The dirt trail was growing harder and harder to follow. After another half-mile or so of desert, Biana glanced around and declared, "There's no one out here. I'm just going to be lazy and fly all of us. It's hot and dusty and there's bugs everywhere. I would like to get out of this as soon as possible. Agreed?"
Again, everyone agreed. Biana shifted fully into her dragon form.
A turquoise-teal light surrounded her form and expanded, dissipating as it went, revealing a graceful blue dragon, about six feet at the shoulder. Her eyes, now the brightest shade of teal possible, had shifted to a slit-shaped pupil. Every diamond scale tapered to a delicate point that slotted in between the two scales below it. Her wings were much larger than they were in her elvin form. Each flying arm was massive, with corded muscles showing through the scales.
They took up their war posts out of habit. Fitz and Tam grabbed each other's wrists and hung on either side of her neck near her shoulders. Keefe lifted Linh onto Biana's back and sat behind her, gripping with his legs for lack of a saddle.
The dragoness spread her great wings and took off. Fitz felt the immediate strain in his right arm as his feet left the ground and Tam's grip on his wrist was the only thing to keep him from plummeting.
The next fifteen or so miles of desert passed by in minutes under the power of Biana's enormous wings. She smelled a town before they saw it and landed. After they had dismounted, she shifted back.
The road had become asphalt now and there was a green road sign some quarter mile in front of them. A brief run later, they reached the sign.
Fitz read the sign aloud. "Blood Creek, one mile. I can't remember where I've heard that before, but I know it's important."
"Same here." Keefe stared at the white lettering.
"Does anyone else remember what that means?" Fitz started at the white letters.
Linh shook her head. "I am brain dead from lack of sleep lately."
"So am I." Biana murmured. "And feeling a bit sick."
Dex shrugged. "I don't know what any of you are talking about."
Tam sighed. "It's in the address Sophie gave us, remember? 6369 Sky Country Road Blood Creek, Montana, 30781."
The memory flooded back and Fitz pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh yeah. I remember now. So now we need to find the street, then the house number."
A truck heading into the town pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. The driver lowered the window and called, "You kids lost or something?"
They glanced over. Tam answered, "Yeah. We're trying to find an address but our ride ditched us."
The older man, he looked about fifty, glanced around, as if testing the story's credibility. "I should have room for all of you, if you don't mind a squish."
"Here y'are. Hope y'all find what you were lookin' for." The man rolled up the passenger side window and drove away.
Fitz stared at the tarnished bronze numbers. "Six-three-six-nine. This is it. This is what was so important to Sophie that it was her last words."
They all looked at each other. Tam ventured, "So who's going to ring the doorbell?"
They shared glances again. Keefe sighed, taking his wife's hand. Biana and Dex leaned into each other.
"You guys know that if we stand around, no one's going to do it, right?"
Fitz took a few shaky steps toward the raised porch. "Yeah, Tam, we know." He walked up the three steps to the door. "It's just nerve-wracking."
His hands were shaking. He stared at the small piece of plastic.
"Fitz, just push the doorbell." Biana's voice showed she understood, but was a bit fed up with his stalling.
He squeezed his eyes shut and pushed the doorbell. Expecting give, his finger hit the wooden siding next to the doorbell. Fitz shook out his hand and actually pushed the doorbell.
He heard an older woman yell, "Somebody get the door please!" along with complaints along the lines of "Why can't Bee do it? I'm busy!"
Running footsteps came up to the door and it opened. A young woman in jeans and a faded button-shirt set one fist on her hip. She had stick straight blond hair that gave a sharp contrast to dark brown eyes.
Fitz stumbled back, trembling slightly, eyes wide. "Sophie?"
Sorry not sorry. Please review! I absolutely love reading them and will respond of you have an account.
Shine brightly!
Ruby