Paragons 1.1.3

This is Chapter 3 of the Paragons episode The Invisible Stranger.

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“This plan is going to work,” I told myself, tightening my backpack around my shoulders.

I sucked in a deep breath that rattled my whole ribcage, then marched across the room like I didn’t have a worry in the world—or a doubt in my mind.

I passed Dante’s bed. It lay empty now, not a snore to be heard. I stifled a sniffle. As stupid as it sounded, my brother’s annoying snoring had long been one of the pillars of my existence. At the Fortress, he would have his own place. Which meant I wouldn’t get to throw pillows at him when he snored.

Nevada’s bed was further out, close to the exit. She didn’t snore, but every night she covered her headboard with a chain of wildflowers that she’d gathered and woven that day. But tonight there was no Nevada and no wildflower chain.

I missed the sweet, earthy scent of Nevada’s flowers almost as much as I missed Dante’s snoring.

I slunk down the hall, careful not to make a sound, and soon I was outside the big, blue building. The building I’d called home my entire life. That would change tonight, when I left this place forever.

I took a moment to let that sink in—and say a quick goodbye to Dame Ikea. I didn’t know who she was, but she must have been a great and powerful Knight. Why else would her name adorn the building’s facade and the forest of flags outside the back entrance?

Just kidding.

Of course I knew there had never been a Dame Ikea. I’m young, not stupid.

Though, ok, so maybe I was just a little disappointed the day Mom told me our home was not a castle but rather a former furniture shop. Apparently, there’s something not entirely normal about that, but it’s the only life I’ve ever known.

I made my way across town, keeping to the shadows, passing empty parking lots and run-down buildings. Someone had painted the words Magic is Death on a half-collapsed brick wall. Beneath the red letters, I could still make out a few old advertisements: deals on ice cream, electric scooters, and a bunch of other Old World products I’d never seen in real life.

Graffiti blanketed Bayshore like a bad rash it just couldn’t shake.

Perhaps our most famous street art was ‘Lost Childhood’, a painting of a little boy standing alone at the center of a dilapidated playground. It spanned an entire block.

Oh, and who could forget the 3D, two-story-tall letters that spelled out the word Earth over a vibrant painting of our world from space? That old name for Gaia, a name from a time before the Curse, greeted anyone who walked past the old airport. It was a message from the Brotherhood of Earth.

The Brotherhood of Earth was…well, I guess you could call it the post-Curse religion. The Brothers wore ugly brown robes with ugly brown hoods attached to them. They stuck up posters all over town, calling on everyone to join them in public prayer for those we’d lost to the Curse.

Most grownups liked the Brothers because they did nice things like take care of orphans and cook for the elderly, but, honestly, they kind of creeped me out. Maybe it was their robes. They looked like greasy old dishrags. They smelled like greasy old dishrags too.

“Finn, are you sure about this?”

I’d nearly made it all the way to the gates of the Forbidden Zone when I heard that voice cut through the darkness.

“Of course, Sean. It’s a brilliant plan.”

I recognized those voices. They belonged to two boys in my class. I slowed my pace. The boys were close.

“But it’s against the rules,” said Sean.

“The rules don’t rule our lives. We do.”

“We’re going to get caught, and then the Government is going to turn us into Scavengers and throw us out in the Wilderness.”

“Stop being such a sissy, Sean,” Finn snapped. “By the time anyone realizes what we’ve done, it will be too late.”

“I don’t know…” Sean said, his voice wavering with uncertainty.

“This plan will work,” Finn assured him. “The Black Knight promised us it would.”

Black Knight? Who was that? And what were these boys up to?

“How are you coming along with that lock?” Finn asked.

“Give me a minute,” replied Sean.

I heard a fence rattling, like someone had bumped into it.

“Hurry up,” Finn said. “If this is going to work, we need to get the timing just right.”

I peeked through the foliage. The boys were standing in front of a chain-link fence. Sean held a bolt cutter, Finn a walking stick. Both had big backpacks. They stood in darkness, their faces cast in shadow.

But their intentions were clear. They were here for the same reason I was: to break into the Forbidden Zone, the restricted area which lay beyond that gate.

Finn turned slightly, and the moonlight illuminated his watch. “The Ceremony is only an hour away.” He adjusted his red scarf.

“I’m working…as fast as I can,” Sean grunted. “The lock on this gate is thick.”

“The locks on the Chosen will be thicker.” Finn began to pace. “If we don’t get moving now, we won’t have enough time to break them before the Ceremony starts.”

Those words were still buzzing in my ears when I noticed their overstuffed backpacks, hanging low, straining their shoulders. Each boy carried something heavy in his pack. Something like a big, fat metal lock.

That’s when I realized what the boys were trying to do.

Every year on this day, an hour before midnight, the General’s men chained Bayshore’s Chosen to our local Spirit Tree and left them there. The spirits wouldn’t come if the soldiers stayed. They wouldn’t perform the magic-giving ceremony if there were any human witnesses. The soldiers even had to knock the Chosen unconscious before the Blending, or the spirits stayed away.

Finn and Sean were going to unchain Dante and Nevada from the Spirit Tree and shackle themselves there instead. And then Finn and Sean would receive the spirits’ gift of magic in their place.

“Almost there,” Sean said. “Just a sec…”

I couldn’t let them rob Dante and Nevada of their chance to be Knights. I had to do something. But I didn’t like the odds of two against one, especially considering that both boys were a lot taller than I was and—I glanced at the bolt cutter and the walking stick in their hands—they had weapons too.

The only weapon I had was my magic, and it wasn’t much of a weapon at all. I only knew two spells, and they were both pretty pitiful. They wouldn’t help me here.

I had to find another way to stop the boys.

“Got it!” Sean exclaimed.

I heard a snap!, the sound of the lock on the gate breaking. And a thud! as it hit the hard, cracked ground.

Chuckling, Finn thumped Sean on his back. Then the two boys pushed the gate open and marched into the Forbidden Zone. I waited until they’d moved out of sight, until their voices had almost faded away. And then I slipped through the gate, clicking it shut behind me.

I had to stay quiet, stay hidden. I had to stop the boys from hijacking Dante’s and Nevada’s futures. And, somehow, between all of those impossibilities, I had to stake a claim on my own.