Disclaimer: Will and Bran belong to Susan Cooper. Traci and Alana belong to themselves. nyah.
Ector worked fast. He moved the Fire orb away
and locked it inside a cabinet, then hastened back to the empty orbs and
the three evil ones. In one swift motion, he grabbed a long, shiny cylinder
from a shelf and jammed it into the Earth orb.
I could never remember what exactly happened.
Just, suddenly, the brown, swirling energies of the Earth orbs were captured
in the straw. The old orb was empty...and yet...it was more of an invisible
explosion, a surge of energy captured inside the orb, so that when you
glanced at it your eyes burned. It was evil in a container.
Ector siezed one of the new, empty orbs. I
could see the difference between the two now. The new one made your eyes
burn, but it was more like a bright light shining from the inside. The
brown energies flowed into the orb. The difference between the old and
the new was so subtle, you could barely tell-it was simply that one gave
you a nasty knot in the middle of your stomach and the other did not.
Ector did the same to the other two orbs and
grinned. It was the first time I had seen him smile; it transformed his
usually solemn face...He turned to me now, and began to speak.
"We are ready. We four will each carry an
orb. You three from the track will carry the Wind, Earth and Fire orbs."
I frowned at him, thinking about what he had
said. "From the track? But-"
Ector nodded. "Poetic license, you could say.
All three of you were normal mortals before powers of the Wild Magic chose
you for special positions. I'm like that sometimes..." His voice faded
off.
Could Ector know something about my past life
I didn't?
Suddenly, a new light began to glow in the
corner of the room. It was the blade Erias-and underneath was Bran. Next
to him stood Will.
"What about us?"
Ector snapped back sharply. "What about you?"
Will walked slowly down to stare at the orbs.
In a sing-song type voice, he began to speak like a child reciting a poem.
"When the Dark comes rising, six shall
turn it back.
Three from the circle, three
from the track."
Bran nodded. "Those who commit evil are not
unlike the Dark. More poetic license."
Ector stood in awe. "I never thought of it that
way before," he pondered. "But the rest of the verses don't coincide at
all."
Out of nowhere, Will pulled out the Six signs, clinking
and shining. "When they vanished, it turned out that they had simply returned
to where they had been previously."
Bran chuckled quietly. "Oy, was it tough to
get that sign of the Iron...we had no idea where Dawson had gotten it from,
and we couldn't find him...ended up finding it in an old shack...." his
voice trailed off.
Ector walked up to him, eyes locked on. "If
you come, prepare for a hard battle. The High Magic is not easy to combat,
even with the orbs." He eyed the blade Erias. "The sword will help; Excalabur
is one of the few blades that can harm the High Magic. And you," he eyed
Will. "Wield the Signs well." Will nodded.
Ector turned back to me.
"Hisame Ko Issun...this may be especially
taxing on you. The phrase specifically points you out. Take this." He handed
me a blade. The sword was ornatley carved, with the word Dimoltre written
on the hilt. "It is the brother sword to Excalabur." He turned to Traci
and Alana. "I dont think I need to teach you two how to cause havoc," his
eyes twinkled. "We'll use you two as destractions. Cause as much mayhem
as you possibly can." Finally, he handed me the Wind orb, Traci the Fire
orb, and Alana the Earth orb. "The King of the High Magic resides in an
undersea palace. Let's go."