The Code Keeper: Fragments of Alchemy Book One, page 36
Chadwick’s face flushed red as oxygen flowed back into his lungs. Thea’s head went swimmy with relief. She didn’t know she could do something like that, but she was so happy that she could. Of course, if she could make him calm down when his claustrophobia bothered him, then making him breathe seemed like a related Conversion.
Then suddenly, Chadwick coughed weakly. He took another breath and went into a coughing fit. Tajana pushed him to his side, and after a long bout of coughing, he managed to swallow and take a breath. Finally, he groaned, and his eyes squeezed shut and then cracked open.
“Hmm?” Chadwick said around panicked gasps for air.
“Shh, Chadwick, I’m here,” Tajana stroked his face.
“Tajana?” His eyes trembled, and he gave up and let them fall shut again. “What … happened?”
“We made a homunculus, remember?” Tajana said patiently. “You were the Component, so you’re probably feeling woozy.”
“Did it work?” he asked in a confused slur. He seemed to be completely out of it.
“Yes, it worked,” Tajana said, gazing down at the miniature Chadwick on the floor. The tiny replica was wearing the same boots, white tunic, and slacks.
“Wow,” Thea breathed. “That is amazing.”
“Holy headache!” Chadwick complained with his eyes closed.
Tajana touched his forehead with one hand and her own head with her other hand. “Tactus,” she said softly.
Chadwick’s eyes fluttered up as he sighed heavily. “Thanks. I needed that. Bugger me, though. I need a ten-hour kip.”
Tajana blinked and swayed on her knees a little, and Thea wondered if Tajana was actually taking their pain onto herself when she performed that Conversion. “Push through it, Chadwick. We’re almost out of here.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he said, and he tried to push himself up, but he failed and let himself back down to the floor. Thea knelt down and offered Chadwick a helping hand. He grabbed her arm, and Thea helped him sit up. They leaned together against the side of the bookshelf, their shoulders touching. “Ta, Al,” Chadwick said as he rubbed his head.
“Are you okay?” Thea asked him, turning to put her hand on his shoulder.
He shrugged. “I’ll live,” he said in his typical comedic fashion, but Thea couldn’t let it go.
“That was some intense Alchemy you and Tajana just did,” she said, wondering just how much she could describe the Conversion without scaring him unnecessarily. “I had no idea there were Conversions that use people as Components.”
Chadwick nodded silently.
“It was so scary to watch,” Thea said. “Do you remember any of it?”
“Not even a little bit.” He yawned and blinked, his eyes on the red ripples going up and down the wall in front of them. He seemingly teetered on the edge of passing out.
Thea was impressed with how he had bravely agreed to be the Component for the homunculus, when Tajana had warned him it was dangerous. He had made her feel better about Todd’s death. He had been there for her in a very different way than Tajana and Quentin had. On top of all that, he had used the shelf to hit the Protection Conversion when he didn’t know what would happen, and he’d done that to save her. She was rather ashamed of herself for ever suspecting him of having ill intentions. She wanted him to be alright. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked him.
“Right as rain,” Chadwick said, looking sideways, though his eyes went past Thea. That’s when she realized that Tajana was watching them. “Don’t worry your pretty head over me.”
Tajana nodded as she knelt near them. She used the pen to draw an Augmentation Insignia on the floor. Then she gingerly placed the tiny homunculus over the Symbol. She reached out to the bookshelf, and with the wood as a Component, she said, “Augendi!”
Before their eyes, the tiny Chadwick became life-size, and Thea’s eyes went big. The homunculus was an exact copy of Chadwick. The hair, skin, and eye color were all a perfect match, the face was an exact copy, and the homunculus even had Chadwick’s Conversion Circle tattoos all over his hands.
“What a trip!” Chadwick said as he stared at the homunculus. Thea tried to imagine what it would be like to stare at an exact copy of herself, and she shook her head in wonder.
Tajana shut the homunculus’s eyes, grabbed one of the homunculus’s arms, and got to her feet. Thea grabbed the other arm and together they dragged the homunculus around the bookshelf, closer to the library entrance, where the Shadows were sure to see it. It was surprisingly light, and they easily positioned the homunculus so that it looked like it was sleeping.
That was when Thea noticed that it might look exactly like Chadwick, but it didn’t breathe. It lay there, unbearably still, obviously not alive. It made Thea think about how Todd had been so still when he died. Thea jolted as a vision assaulted her mind. Chadwick, eyes closed, lying in a puddle of water in some dark place. She shook her head with a jerk, and the mental image faded away.
Tajana looked up to see Chadwick tipped over onto the floor past the bookshelf. She sighed and went back around the shelf to him. Thea’s heart started to pound. What if the Shadows decided to come back right now?
Tajana shook Chadwick’s shoulder. “Chadwick … Chad? You need to stay awake.”
Chadwick opened his eyes and shook his head. “I know, alright?”
“Get up, then,” she said, not unkindly.
Thea offered Chadwick her hand again. Chadwick smirked and took her hand and Tajana’s as well, and the two girls pulled him up to a sitting position. Then they tugged again, and Chadwick slowly got to his feet.
“Keep your spirits up,” Thea said.
Chadwick gave Thea a real smile. “We’ll get through this together,” he said. Thea nodded, and then Chadwick took the pen and the sand back from Tajana and went toward the bathroom.
“Stay calm, stay quiet, and stay awake,” Tajana said.
Chadwick nodded and took a big breath.Then he started breathing heavily, his eyes darting away from the bathroom doorway.
“Chadwick, calm down, calm down,” Thea said, pushing on his shoulders with her hands. She closed her eyes and focused on her Kundalini, and then she sent him another rush of calm Energy, like she had in the secret passageway. He sighed heavily. “You okay now?”
He nodded. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Thea said in a rush. “Just get ready … and stay awake!” She nudged him toward the bathroom, and he went in and shut the door behind him.
Thea went back toward the shelf and took her position on the floor, ready to act like she was suffering from her Kundalini Syndrome.
Chapter Forty-Four
The Complication
Just as Thea slid to the floor near the bookshelf, she heard someone coming down the hallway, and she tried to act hurt. The room went silent as the Red Protection Conversion was canceled. The Nightmare shouted for them to keep still with their hands up, and then he came in, followed by a Shadow holding C.C.
The Shadow handed C.C. to Thea, and she tried to act relieved. She kept her eye on the Nightmare, who watched each of them carefully. His eyes lingered just a little bit longer on Chadwick’s homunculus, lying lifeless on the floor.
Finally the Shadow snatched C.C. back, but Thea held on tightly to her and managed to pull out a single feather from her wing. The Shadow didn’t notice, but simply left the library with the Nightmare right behind him.
The walls flared red.
Thea sat up and looked at the feather in her hand. This was perhaps the most important part of her plan. She tucked the valuable Component into her pocket and went for the bathroom door with Tajana and Quentin.
The door opened, and Chadwick stood hanging his head, cursing under his breath.
Now that the glass had been removed from the window, there was a hole in the Protection Conversion where the glass used to be. They could finally see out, though it wasn’t the view that made Chadwick swear.
There were bars in the window.
Thea’s heart plummeted into her shoes.
“All that work for nothing,” Chadwick said. “Todd died for nothing!” He kicked the door, and it almost hit Quentin, but Tajana grabbed it just in time.
“Calm down Chadwick, and stay quiet,” Tajana scolded in her motherly voice. “We still have a chance, so don’t ruin it.”
Chadwick inhaled, seething under the surface. Finally, he left the bathroom in a huff and Thea turned to watch him stalk up to the homunculus and kick it as hard as he could. Thankfully, the lump of glamoured flesh deadened the sound of Chadwick’s kick.
Thea watched Chadwick seemingly kick himself two more times before he collapsed on the floor beside his homunculus, stared at the ceiling, and put his arm across his mouth. He let out a strangled groan into his arm and lay still, gasping for breath.
“What about using the sand?” Thea asked around the lump in her throat. She refused to give up now. They were so close to getting out. “Can’t we erode the bars the way you eroded the light fixture?”
Chadwick rolled his eyes. “I nearly used it all. There’s barely a few grains of sand left. Besides, they’re iron bars. We’d need a truck load of sand to erode that much iron away.”
“What about water?” Thea insisted. “Can we do anything with water from the sink?”
“The sink doesn’t work, remember?” Tajana said. “We could wait for them to bring us more, but my guess is that would take days. We probably don’t have that long before they realize the glass is gone.”
“Maybe I can squeeze through?” Quentin said, going toward the window and grabbing two bars in his hands. He carefully put one leg up to the windowsill, planting his tennis shoe on the sill, and then he pulled himself up.
The bars looked just barely too close together for Quentin’s small frame to squeeze between. Quentin tried feebly to bend the bars just a little. Only an inch or two more, and Quentin could fit through. Of course, there was no way Quentin could bend the bars.
Thea gasped. She knew what to do!
“Guys! I know what to do,” Thea said. “We’re gonna get out of here.”
Quentin jumped down from the window sill and said, “What? How?” But Thea only dropped to the floor and untied Quentin’s tennis shoe.
Chadwick rolled over and gave Thea a quizzical look. Curious to see what Thea was up to, Chadwick came back toward the bathroom door. Thea dug her fingernail into the sole of the shoe and slowly pulled off bits and pieces of a Component. The shoe treads were made up of rubber triangles and squares.
Thea stood up and took the Endless Ink Quill from Chadwick. She went to the window, where she carefully drew an Air Conjuration Conversion Circle on two bars.
“Thea! You are a genius!” Tajana said as she dropped to the floor and grabbed Quentin’s other foot. She pulled his other shoe off, making Quentin laugh. Immediately she went to work on the sole of the shoe, peeling off the rubber. Thankfully, the shoes were rather old, so the worn rubber came off easily.
Chadwick crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. “What are you going to do with those shoes?” he asked with a skeptical tone to his voice.
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Thea said with a big smile. “Go find us some dust to make clouds; we’re gonna fly out of here.”
It took only a moment for Chadwick to find enough dust in the empty library to make three clouds. In that time, Thea and Tajana both gathered a small pile of rubber. Quentin put his shoes back on and smiled at the lopsided feeling from the stripped shoe soles.
“Alright, you guys ready?” Thea asked.
“Ready,” Chadwick said.
“We’re ready, aren’t we Quentin?” Tajana said as she took Quentin’s hand. Quentin nodded meekly. “Don’t be afraid,” Tajana whispered to him. “I’ll keep you safe.” Tajana held half of the rubber in her other hand. She stepped up to the window and said, “Aera.”
Thea came up right behind her and repeated the Code Word. Their Kundalini acted instantly to infuse the bars with rubber. Thea reached for the rubbery bars and bent them just far enough to squeeze through. Then she turned to see Chadwick’s big smile.
“Brilliant! I’m going first,” Chadwick said. “Evaporo … Solidum.” A cloud formed and solidified, and Chadwick sent it flying through the window. Then he held out his hand to Tajana, and she brushed what was left of the dust onto her hand.
Chadwick went after the cloud. He held onto the bars and pulled himself up on the windowsill. Then he squeezed between the bars, going through the window feet first, stepping onto his floating cloud as if it was a window ledge. He knelt down with one hand on his cloud and steered his cloud aside so Tajana could follow with Quentin.
Tajana made her cloud just outside the window, so she could make it large enough to hold Quentin as well. She passed on the last of the dust to Thea and gave Quentin a boost up. “Careful,” he warned her, his eye on the red Shield rippling below the window. Quentin went through the window headfirst, grabbing the cloud and sliding out on his belly. As soon as he was on the cloud, she followed him. Thea helped her crawl through the window. Tajana hugged Quentin with one hand and held onto the cloud below her with the other.
Now it was Thea’s turn. “Evaporo,” she said, and her mouth went dry as a small puff of cloud began to form. She let the Conversion go until the cloud was as big as Chadwick’s, just barely small enough to fit between the bars. Then she said, “Solidum,” and her Kundalini froze the cloud. It bobbed in the air, slightly crooked and shaky. Thea frowned as she steered it around the tiny room a few times until she had the hang of it. Finally, she sent the cloud through the window.
She stepped up onto the ledge, carefully avoiding the rippling Protection Conversion. She grabbed the bars, slipped through feet first, and came down on the window ledge. She climbed onto her cloud on her knees, held onto the cloud, and flew after her friends. As she flew, she checked to make sure that no one had seen them. They were above the deserted backyard, up more than twenty feet with nothing but frozen water vapor holding them. It made Thea’s heart race.
They hugged the side of the mansion, looking for a good place to fly down. Finally, Chadwick found a place without any nearby windows, and he descended to the backyard, followed quickly by Thea and Tajana and Quentin.
Thea’s feet touched the ground, and she broke out into a low crouching jog, her cloud puffing into nothingness behind her. “Okay, it’s time for phase three. Let’s get to the pond.”
Tajana’s and Chadwick’s clouds dispersed in puffs of white as they jumped off to follow Thea across the backyard, staying low to the ground to reduce visibility. Thea checked over her shoulder again to make sure they hadn’t been seen. Her heart raced as they reached the pond and ducked behind some bushes beside the water. “Quick, you two,” Thea urged. “Before they see us.”
Chadwick scooped out a handful of water from the pond and grabbed Quentin’s shoulder. “Visui!” he whispered harshly, and a ripple appeared and covered Quentin, turning him invisible. At the same time, Tajana performed the same Conversion on Thea. Then Tajana and Chadwick turned to face each other. They both held up water in their right hand and reached for the other’s shoulder with their left hand. “One, two, three,” Chadwick counted and then they both spoke the Word simultaneously.
Finally, Thea breathed a sigh of relief as all four of them were hidden by the Vision Conversion.
Thea couldn’t catch her breath. She sprawled on the ground panting for air, her face buried in the foliage. Every time she exhaled, the plants shivered away and then settled back near her face, creating ripples right in front of her eyes.
“Thea!” Tajana whispered harshly. “Stop; someone might see you.”
Thea sat up, trying to even out her breathing. She attempted to swallow, but her throat was parched. Her eyes caught on the shimmering green pond, and she licked her cracked lips and crawled closer. “Do you think this is safe to drink?” she asked under her breath.
Thea heard the soft sound of water splashing, and then she saw the ripple right above the surface of the water. “I don’t care if it’s safe. I’m drinking it,” Chadwick said.
“Me too,” Quentin piped up quietly. Thea smiled as she heard Quentin drinking straight from the pond. The ripple against the surface of the pond told Thea where Quentin knelt, just a little beyond Chadwick, right across the pond. She shrugged and reached down to cup some water in her hands, mesmerized by the ripple that spread out where her hands touched the surface of the pond. She brought the water up to her lips and drank deeply as the ripples faded. The water was cold and had a sharp, almost wild taste.
Thea’s hands were shaking.
After three more handfuls, she quenched her thirst and sat back on her haunches away from the water. She shivered, her stomach in knots.
This would be the most dangerous part of their plan, but it had to be done.
Now that they had escaped, Tajana had to sneak back into the mansion for their Chimaeras.
Chapter Forty-Five
Hide and Seek
Everyone had agreed that it made the most sense for them to split up, so that if something happened and they were captured again, at least some of them would be able to get away, to bring back help. The problem was that Todd had died. The original plan was for Chadwick and Tajana to go back in for the Chimaera’s while Thea and Todd stayed outside with Quentin and attempted to call for help. They hadn’t discussed who would be staying outside and who would be going back inside now that Todd had died.
To Thea, it made the most sense for her to go back inside with Tajana. The Chimaeras belonged to the two of them, after all, plus it left Quentin with Chadwick, who was capable of protecting him, while Tajana was the most experienced with Alchemy and would be the most likely to succeed in getting back in and out of the mansion.
“Tajana?” she whispered.
