Chapter 8

AFTER taking a break from helping Lilo, Nolan found his sister sitting beneath a not-so-charred oak tree where a small table was laid out before her with various fruits, confectionery, and a water pitcher. He took a seat opposite her on the soft cushion that was laid on the ground, one knee propped up so that he could rest his elbow on it. Nyla smiled at her brother as she buttered a slice of bread.

“Father said the Preators are sending their Sybils to Jade Forest to begin the quest to find and destroy the rest of the Althea Sphere.”

Nyla rolled her eyes as she poured herself a cup of water. “Quest, what a strange word to use. Might as well use expedition, mission, or voyage, or even—”

“Nyla.” Nolan interrupted, “What’s bothering you?”

“What? Me? Ha, I’m great. Why would something be bothering me?” she asked into her cup.

“I think I know my little sister well enough to know when something is wrong.”

Nyla took another sip of water before setting her cup down with pointed agitation. “I just think this ‘quest’,” she emphasized with finger quotes, “is not a good idea for me.”

“Why wouldn’t this ‘quest’,” Nolan mimicked Nyla’s finger quotes, “be a great idea for you?”

“You know why,” Nyla muttered, plucking at the grass beneath her.

“Yes, I do, but I also know that you are strong enough to do this.” Nolan titled his head and blinked rapidly. Nyla pouted in annoyance.

“What about Lily Cove? I need to be there in case something happens.”

Nolan picked up an apple. “I think father and I can handle Lily Cove on our own, Pêkan. With your knowledge of the Althea Sphere, you are needed elsewhere.” After polishing the apple on his shirt, he bit into it.

Nyla nodded, she hated to admit it, but her brother was probably right. “You sure you guys will be okay without me?”

“I’d be more worried about the other Sybils having to deal with you.” Nolan pointed out, making Nyla pick a grape and chuck it at him. She stuck her tongue out at her chuckling brother before standing. “I’m going to make myself useful. Enjoy your dessert.”

“Bye!” Nolan called after her as she strode away.

It wasn’t like Nyla could do anything helpful though, Lilo wouldn’t allow her to help with anything on the account that it was not suitable for a Lady. She despised the term that seemed to follow her everywhere. She was a warrior, a protector of her region, one of the best, but that didn’t change the fact that others still viewed her as a damsel causing distress. So, to live up to her distress-causing nature, she decided to craft herself a target and pretended that every person that ever referred to her as a lady was standing in front of it.

Nyla had just released her seventh arrow hitting its mark when a voice broke through her thoughts. “How long did it take you to make that?” She turned to see Kai standing there, hands behind his back. Nyla turned and looked toward her handmade target: several pieces of wood crookedly nailed together with ash circles drawn around the centre bullseye.

“Several hours,” she admitted with a sigh before looking back at Kai who had a small smirk on his lips. Just like old times when Nyla would do something silly just to see him smile.

“The other Sybils have arrived.” Nyla nodded and followed after Kai who led her to the large tent where they had gathered a few days before. The other Sybils had gotten here faster than Nyla would have expected. Probably Kesmet’s doing, teleporting everyone by momentarily lifting the protective barriers.

Inside the tent stood the other three Sybils along with Lilo and her father. A small wooden box, about a foot long, rested on top of the table, the Kesmet sigil carved into its surface.

“Now that you are all here, we can begin,” Lilo said, “As all of you know, we need to find the remaining pieces of the Althea Sphere and destroy them before they fall into the hands of our thief.” he nodded toward Enid who came forward to open the box revealing five charms, large glass spheres the size of a baby’s fist. “The Kesmet crafters have created special charms that can be used to neutralize the power of the sphere pieces, rendering them useless to our thief.”

Enid held the box before them, allowing each Sybil to pick one up. “Our crafters have managed to compress pure magic within the crystal spheres which will theoretically, as Preator Lilo said, neutralize the pieces of the sphere. Whoever gets their hands on the piece first will have to activate the charm immediately and toss it at the sphere piece to neutralize it. It is a bit dangerous to be too close to pure magic, so make sure you’re not too close when the charm activates. We need to act as soon as we find a piece in case the thief trails after us, or he might get the jump on us and steal it.”

“What if the charm doesn’t work?” Rowan asked, shaking the crystal orb in his hand.

“Don’t be such a pessimist,” Nyla said.

“I’m being a realist. We need a plan B if this doesn’t work.”

“There is no plan B.” Enid said, “This needs to work.”

“I guess that’s the attitude we’ll need if we are going to have any hope of pulling this off.”

Lilo smiled. “You have the rest of the day to rest then you shall leave in the morning.”

“But we just got here!” Rowan dropped his arms.

“Rowan,” Enid warned.

“I was just kidding, Sybil Bossy Pants.” he picked at his nails.

Nyla tossed the crystal sphere into the air and caught it before turning to continue her training, but she didn’t make it far as Rowan caught up with her.

“Hey, Petal!” he called after her.

She rolled her eyes. “Are you ever going to use my real name?”

“Maybe one day,” Rowan replied as he walked beside her. “Where are you heading?”

“To train.”

“Oh, cool. Let me join you.”

“I’d rather you not. You’re going to distract me.”

“So, you think I’m distracting?” Rowan echoed before he chuckled. “Come on. I could use the training too.”

Nyla glanced at him. “Fine, but don’t bother me.”

“Trust me Petal, you won’t even know I'm there.”