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n~~

nTrinity

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nThe blue fog quickly faded and we were all left stunned by what the apparition had told us. The warlocks were staring at me stunned into immobility.

n

"Trinity?

" Reece said my name, breaking the tension.

n

"Luna?

" Vincent was being formal because of the situation.

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"Trin?

" Noah dropped all formalities. Three different men, three different ways of addressing me, all people I couldn't imagine my life without. But I wasn't sure how I was supposed to imagine my life anymore. What is my life now? Is it even my life to live?

nI just continued to stare at them, stricken with shock, completely dumbfounded, at a loss, whichever way to word it, it applied to me in that moment. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, a numbing cold spreading again. Then, the three warlocks moved.

nFirst, Henrich broke out in a smile, it spread slowly across his face, brightening and lightening his features. Eldrige moved next, he bowed with his head tilted forward and put his right hand over his heart. And last, Crawford knelt to the ground, his eyes never leaving mine as his gaze was locked onto me.

n

"My Queen.

" The three of them said at the same time, as if it had been planned.

nThe sight of yet more people acting like I was their reverent leader was a little more than I could handle at this moment. I just wanted to get a move on and finally find the children.

n

"Please, stand up.

" I told them.

"We have work to do.

" I didn't want to explain to them that I just didn't want to be treated this way. But it was bound to happen wherever I went outside of the pack, I might as well stop complaining about it.

nAll three men nodded and stood side by side.

n

"We are at your command, Queen Trinity.

" Crawford seemed much less oppositional than he had ever seemed to be before. Was it my new status or was he just used to me? Probably the first one.

nThe magic circle was still active, the lines still glowing red as it hadn't even been ten minutes since they had activated it. They said it was best that Henrich was here, having four of us here was beneficial for the spell in the long run.

nEach of us stood on one of the runic symbols at each corner of the sheet. I didn't know the spell, but Crawford said he would be reciting the words, the rest of us were responsible for focusing on the names of the children and our objective.

n

"Aided by Thoth's guiding light, help us find those we seek. Show us where those that hide from us are waiting unseen. Reveal their location and help us to bring them home. Thoth, great God of Wisdom, please guide us.

"

nI listened to Crawfords words as I thought to myself. 'Help us to find the children. Sammy Taylor, ten years old. Marcus Black, nine years old, Spencer Hall, eleven years old. June Addams, eight years old. Tiffany Justice, eleven years old. Brandon LeMac, twelve years old. Jacob Little, nine years old. Liz Townes, twelve year old. Help me to bring them home Thoth, please. Show me where they are.' I just kept repeating their names and my simple request with my eyes closed as Crawford chanted his words.

nI was hoping to get a mental picture of the location the kids were. Something pointing me in the right location. Or maybe a whispered name to the city they were in. But I didn't expect what happened next.

nMy body felt heavy, like I couldn't stand up any longer, but I fought against the feeling, forcing myself to stand. I faltered a little, leaning forward in a slight slump like I was about to fall asleep on my feet, but I straightened my back and stood up.

nWhen I stood up straight was when I noticed the light breeze on my cheek. I snapped my eyes open and saw that I was standing in the middle of nowhere. Well, it wasn't exactly nowhere, there was a small town, more of a village really, off in the distance. I was surrounded by barron looking farmland. It was either beyond its prime or had yet to be readied for the next growing period. Dilapidated old farm buildings were scattered and falling down around the area.

nNothing was very close to anything else. Even back when this place was new it never had to worry about an overpopulation problem. But, it looked like this place had never seen a boom in its economic growth cycle, it was nearly a ghost town.

nI did wonder briefly what I was doing here, but I figured it had something to do with the spell, so I didn't worry too much about it. Instead I focused on what was around me, doing my best to remember everything that I saw. I noticed a faint light flickering in the distance, it looked to be just beyond the small village. The light almost seemed like a beacon, calling me to it, like I was the rescue party and that was the S.O.S. signal.

nI did the only thing that felt right, I followed the light. I moved quickly but cautiously, keeping my eyes and ears on everything around me. When I reached the small village I saw a sign telling me where I was: KANORADO POPULATION 154.

nKanorado? I knew where that was. It was a joke of a city with the names of two states meshed together. Kansas and Colorado, hence Kanorado. It was on the same list as places like Texarkana, though that one was more famous.

n

"Are the kids really just over the state line? They had to be, right. That's what I was here to find out anyway.

nI continued to walk forward, following the light. The village of Kanorado was extremely small, it was maybe a quarter of a mile in length. The most lively thing I saw was a highway in the distance that looked like it exited here, but didn't have much traffic getting off to see the sights.

nI just continued following that beacon. I had started a good distance from the town and was now beyond it, all the while I saw nothing but this little, old timey Main Street. But now, that light was finally growing bigger and brighter.

nI saw a large, but still very old, house begin to form. It looked like it hadn't lived in for many years, but was still standing firm. The house was once white, but had long since yellowed and then grayed with age and time. It was a two story house, obviously beautiful when it was first built, with a lot of windows and a wrap around porch. It should have looked sweet, homely, something you would see in a movie.

nWell, you could say it belonged in a movie alright. A horror movie. This place just radiated sinister. I could tell it had a lot of secrets hiding in its depths.

nThe light was now coming from within that house, deep inside it, guiding me to where I needed to go. I climbed the porch, not leaving a footprint behind but hearing my footsteps and the creaks of the floorboards.

nThere were no little puffs of smoke when I walked on all that dust, like they teach you to expect in books and movies. When I reached the door I extended my arm and touched the door, it was very much solid. This wasn't like a dream, nothing like what Reece said he experienced.

nPushing the door open I saw a living room filled with furniture that was covered in white sheets and several hundred layers of dust. I could smell that dust, it tickled my nose and made me want to sneeze. There were two halls leading off the room as well as three doors and a large staircase leading up on the right side of the room. The light was not flashing anymore. It seemed I had to narrow the locations down on my own.

nI slowly started to explore the house. I checked the doors leading off the room first. The one to my immediate left was a coat closet, which is what I would expect given its position in the room. The door to the far right led to an office. There was a desk, also covered in a sheet, and what looked like a desk chair, also covered in a sheet. I noticed a really old filing cabinet in the corner and nothing else. The room was nearly empty.

nThe last door leading off the room had a flight of stairs leading down to a basement. I decided to wait on going down for the time being. This door had been in between the two hallways leading off of the living room.

nThe hall to the left led to a large eat in kitchen. The cabinets doors were hanging off, their hinges long since rusted. The table in the room had no sheet but was covered in dust, dirt and leaves as the window in the back door had been broken by a fallen branch that was still pushing through the frame.

nThe kitchen held nothing of importance, the only interior door leading off this room was to a small walk-in pantry. It looked like no one had lived here in a long time, given how old and outdated the appliances looked.

nBacktracking to the living room, I investigated the other hallway. Down here there was a small bathroom and a bedroom. There was an empty bed frame and a busted chest of drawers in the room but nothing else. The bathroom, which was filthy, at least had nothing broken inside of it.

nI once again went back to the living room and made my way up the stairs. The second floor was one long hallway with six more doors. The one to the left was a linen closet, the one on the right was another small bedroom, this one completely empty.

nThe second door on the left was a small bedroom, nearly the same size as the last one but this one had three pieces of furniture. There was a dresser and mirror, a night stand, and an armoire, all were broken, complete with shattered glass on the floor. The door opposite it was another bathroom. It too was filthy but all the base components were there.

nThe last door on the left was another storage room filled with empty and broken shelves. The door opposite that was a master bedroom. I only knew this because it had two doors, not just one like the others. Both doors had been removed, one had led to the closet and one to the en suite bathroom for the parents to have for themselves. Yet, in terms of size it wasn't much bigger than the rest of the rooms.

nWell, that was everything upstairs and on the main floor, guess I had to check the basement now. I had avoided that because I didn't want to be without any light when I found the kids so I had hoped they were elsewhere.

nI started down the stairs slowly, step by step inching my way forward. There were more stairs than I expected, way more. Instead of around a dozen, I had already counted sixty and wasn't done walking down. This was not a normal basement.

nWhen the descent leveled off and I was no longer on stairs but solid ground I had gone down more than a hundred steps. And, contrary to what I had thought, there was light down here. But I seemed to be in a long corridor with another six doors leading off it. And at the far end of the corridor there were two men standing guard. I thought they had seen me as they were staring right at me, but that was when I heard someone coming down the stairs behind me.

nTheir steps were light, nearly quiet even though they seemed to be moving fast. I turned and saw a man who looked to be in his late twenties coming toward me. He had long black hair that reached to his waist and eyes that matched. He looked like he was only a little taller than me, way shorter than the men I was used to dealing with. And his build was slight and thin, he didn't look strong, but that didn't mean he wasn't powerful.

nI moved to the side, knowing it was too late to hide myself but trying to buy myself time. He had just reached the bottom of the stairs, his eyes on the end of the hall. He never even glanced at me, he just continued to walk on.

nI followed after the man, more confident now that I knew I couldn't be seen. Slowly, I crept along after him until he was about ten feet away from the men, and three feet in front of me.

n

"Lord Phillip, we are honored by your return.

" The man on the left spoke as they both bowed their heads and knelt to the ground.

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"Is there word from his majesty?

" The other man asked.

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"There is indeed. The wolf pack has arrived and provided aid to the council. The attack was not successful.

" The man who seemed to be called Phillip answered. I could not see his face but I saw fear wash over the other men.

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"Is the king's daughter with them?

" The man on the right asked.

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"She is, in fact she seems to be leading them.

"

n

"But, does the king plan to eliminate his daughter now? I thought he still needed her.

"

n

"He does, without her the binding will be impossible. But, we can now send warriors to her home and have them lie in wait.

" Phillip sneered and seemed to be laughing.

n

"Yes, Sir.

" Both of the still kneeling guards answered in unison.

n

"We will ready the children to be moved tomorrow. And make sure the others fortify the puppetry as well, King Gannon plans to send a horde at the same time we move the children.

"

n

"Yes, we will have them ready, Sir.

" The man on the left answered.

n

"Good, I will be back by noon.

" Phillip spun on his heels and I stepped aside out of his way. I didn't need to push the issue of if I was really here or not, I mean doors were solid to me, would I feel solid to these people?

nPhillip went up the stairs just as quickly and quietly as he came down. The two guards stood when he was gone. They looked at each other before walking down the corridor. I quickly moved with the, avoiding the two of them so they didn't run into me, or walk through me. That would have been a little too horror movie for me to deal with. The man on the left opened the door closest to the stairs, in the room were about a dozen more people in what seemed like a large barracks. The man on the right opened the middle door on his side and in there I saw four women and the children. There were indeed more than just the eight. It seemed like there were two dozen altogether. All of them looked to be twelve or under.

nI had found them and now I would come back for them. I'd save them and get them home to their families.

n

"Hang in there kids.

" I said, more to myself than anything else, but the two men who had just opened the doors paused and looked at each other like they were asking if the other made the sound. Oops, time to get out of here.

nNo sooner had I thought that than I felt a tugging in the back of my neck. It felt like someone had grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and started to drag me. I closed my eyes, afraid I was going to hit the ceiling as the tugging sensation started to lift me off the ground.

nThe next thing I knew, I was laying in Reece's arms as he crouched next to the magic circle.

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"Trinity.

" He breathed my name and hugged me when he saw me open my eyes. I saw the other men in the room standing around us, watching me closely.

n

"What happened?

" Noah asked me.

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"You were there, weren't you?

" Vincent asked me.

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"Yes, I was. I saw the children, where they are being kept.

"

n

"How did you know that she had gone there?

" Henrich asked Vincent, uncertain of how he had reached that conclusion.

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"It's not the first time something like this has happened to someone in our pack. Plus, what else could explain it?

" Vincent's answer seemed simple but it was indeed knowledgeable.

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"What exactly happened here?

" I asked, curious to know why I was actually laying in Reece's arms.

"And how long was I gone?

"

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"While Crawford was chanting you swayed forward and collapsed. You were only out for like two or three minutes.

" Noah's answering voice was full of concern for me.

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"I almost had a heart attack.

" Reece whispered quietly into my ear.

"Why are you always scaring me like this?

"

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"I don't mean to.

" I consoled him with a returned whisper and a quick small hug.

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