Page 10

The Right Players

Elite: Alice

––––––––

E veryone shuffles into the gym early on this aggravating Saturday morning. I sit in the front row this time, so I don’t have to crawl over people to get off the bleachers. Evangeline is next to me wearing pink bunny slippers with matching gym shorts while Billie saunters in with a pillow tucked under her arm. Her hair is puffy and tangled, much to Evangeline’s delight. Most of us have the day off, so this mandatory meeting better be good.

“Oi. How much you wanna bet this could’ve been an email, too?” Billie asks. She yawns and places the pillow on her lap.

Evangeline smiles and scratches the back of her ear. “I’ll bet three cans of soda, yes?”

“Deal!”

Rebecca walks in with Brooke in her shadow. Deep circles caress their eyes, with frizzy hair hanging loosely on their shoulders. The members grow quiet, waiting.

“Alright, I’ll make this quick. I need documentation of anyone’s last communication with Natasha Redly,” Rebecca announces. She clears her throat as people murmur. Brooke steps forward.

Someone asks. I look up and see Rachel and Robert at the top of the bleachers, in uniform. Do they ever get a break?

“Natasha still hasn’t returned to the base,” Brooke replies. “We’ve reached out to her emergency contact, but they haven’t seen her either. It’s been a week.”

Panicked voices grow louder. I look at Evangeline and Billie.

“She’s missing?” I ask.

“This could be a big deal,” Evangeline murmurs.

Billie shrugs, yawing again. “I’m just saying, this...could’ve been an email.”

“Would you stop with that?” Evangeline smacks her leg.

“Okay, okay! Everyone shut up!” The rasp from Rebecca’s voice rips through the members’ chatter.

Master Azul strolls in with black boots and her uniform on. Her black leather gloves tighten around her baton.

“Apologies for my late arrival, team,” Azul begins. “I hope the news Rebecca brought to you isn’t too upsetting as we like to foster transparency.”

Her eyes lock onto mine longer than her normal visual sweep of the gym.

“Natasha Redly is officially declared missing. We understand she had some animosity toward Ultima before running away, but her failure to check in only leads me to believe something terrible happened. The family is aware and devastated. I only pray to our Superiors she’s alright.”

The tremors rock through Evangeline’s body as she quietly sobs beside me, wiping her eyes every few seconds. I look back at the rest of the team and see some with hung heads, a few shaking in disbelief, some red in the face with wrath in their eyes, and others sniffling or outright weeping.

This is a lot to take in, even for me. After that confrontation, we were back on Garnet Island for mere minutes when it rained blood from another dragon’s death. Now we’re getting news of missing a member? It’s scary; that could’ve been any of us facing Ultima.

“While the conflict some of you participated on Emerald was tense and scary, Rebecca had nothing but great things to say about how well everyone handled everything. I’d like to remind everyone how valuable you all are to Elite. I appreciate your hard work and keeping the people of Zeala safe,” Azul continues. Rebecca and Brooke are leaning against the wall and gosh, do they look exhausted. “We must follow protocol for a week after documenting a missing member. Security escorts, domestic concerns, and safety hazard complaints. No HOA, no rogue animals, no traffic regulating, no petty complaints, none of that miniscule nonsense we get summoned for. Limiting our exposure is for our safety until we can figure out what happened to Natasha. Rebecca and I will meet with the King for assistance and then Master Cedric in regards to the Emerald matter. Thank you again for your time.”

The squeaks and groans of the bleachers begin as people leave the gym. I turn to Evangeline and hug her tiny shoulders as she continues wiping her eyes. Billie offers her pillow, but it’s infested with blond strands tangled in the fuzzy bits of the pillowcase.

Azul points the baton at me. “Alice Reid, meet me in my office in ten.”

“H ow are you feeling ?” Master Azul asks, half-sitting on her desk. “You’ve been avoiding me since your trip to Onyx Island.”

“Apologies, ma’am.” I scratch my head. “Things have just been . . .”

Chaotic . Just in the span of a week there’s: Onyx Island and the weird boy, Emerald Island with Ultima, and Garnet Island with another dragon death.

“A lot to handle,” Azul finishes. “I spoke with Master Cedric. Funny that he had not heard anything about you stopping by to apologize like I ordered you to.”

Her eyes study me, but I’m too tired to react. I loathe that man.

“I suppose I have your report to thank for your lack of inaction. Anyway, Master Cedric would like to drop the issue regarding the cave, but I’m concerned about your performance. I made you our Special Agent five years ago with the simple purpose of handling these sensitive matters, and you’ve been everything but smooth.”

My heart pounds loud in my ears. There’s so much I want to say, but I’m exhausted. Azul will never understand the gravity of everything she’s tossed in my direction. Dragons are dying, I’m tasked with secretly figuring out why, a guy tried to choke me to death, Ultima tried to attack my best friend, and I’m ordered to apologize to the man who ruined my life five years ago?

Yeah, it’s been anything but smooth, lately.

“Well?” Azul snaps. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“If you want to punish or fire me, please do so with haste. I only ask that you consider without me, someone else will need to handle the Special Agent assignment on dragon investigations.”

Azul waves her hand. She’s wearing her Elite jacket with her badge pinned to the collar. Okay, so she must know how ridiculously cold her room is then. She has to know.

“I have no problem with doing so. This is your second formal warning. The first for the cave mishap, and the second for failing to apologize,” she says.

I nod stiffly. “Understood, ma’am.”

“Moving on.” She pivots from sitting on her desk to sitting in her chair. She works on the computer before looking at me and gesturing the chair across from her. “Sit. I’ve been thinking about the report on the boy and what he said. Did you see if he had a Trace Mark?”

I ignore the chair awaiting me. “I did not check; he had bruises that indicated some abuse in his living situation. I was focused on that.”

“His rambling you described sounds like someone with the gift of sight,” Azul notes. “A young boy can’t articulate what’s happening because he doesn’t understand either. Mentioning a woman narrows our search.”

Oh, maybe this is what Wren meant when he said he looked at the lady and saw everything. One glance and he saw the future? That explains all the staring.

“So, he must’ve saw it happening before it happened.” I murmur.

Azul’s eyes flicker toward the surveillance cameras behind me. A slight chuckle whistles from her lips. “Hmm. We have company.”

I whirl around, disoriented. I don’t know which screen she looked at until I settle on the one that is angled outside the front doors. My skin tingles from the sight on the hazy screen of the baby dragon sniffing around the top of the steps of Elite.

Azul’s leather gloves squeezing her baton disturbs me. “Come.”

I follow her, unsure of what to expect, but she swiftly moves as she descends the stairs. There’s a dragon outside of Elite, and I’m ready to scream from excitement and fear.

The baby dragon perks up and scurries backward when Azul and I step outside. Members returning from missions or arriving to work gawk at the dragon as they walk by, but security is also on standby at the doors with wavering grimaces.

Master Azul stops short in front of the dragon and bows, but the dragon tilts their head and looks at me. Big silver eyes meet mine but widen the longer they stare. A smile creeps across my face as I contain the joy of seeing this silver creature with gorgeous wings resembling a butterfly.

“So beautiful,” I whisper. The dragon trots by Azul and stands face to face with me, big smile and all. “H-Hi there.”

“This one likes you.” Azul comes around to softly pat the dragon’s shoulders.

I touch the dragon’s snout. “Master Azul, could Superiors ever communicate with dragons? Do you have any lingering powers as an Air Superior?”

“No.” She frowns with a distant, haunted look. “I have nothing.”

The dragon sniffs my hand, tickling me like a feather. Azul comes to my side as the dragon whips around at the incoming visitor. They’re in a pouncing position with their back arched upward, scales rolling and clicking along the body. The incoming heels are louder, along with the dragon’s menacing growl as they stand defensively in front of us.

“Well, well, well. What a lovely beast,” the voice drawls. She moves from around the dragon, who turns slowly to keep their eyes on her. In full view, the woman is taller than me and Azul, so I’m sure heels aren’t necessary. She makes the Guards clinging behind her look like tiny punks as she towers over Azul and me in a plain navy business suit with small matching pumps. Her grayish-blond hair hangs loosely around her square jaw, with deep-set brown eyes boring into my soul. “Master Azul, always a pleasure to see you.”

“Advisor Mildred Anguine,” Azul asserts at ease with a steady smile. “I was not expecting a visit from you today. Is everything well?”

They exchange a brief but firm handshake while maintaining intense eye contact. Guards carefully eye the dragon, tightening their grips on their guns and crossbows.

Wait! Mildred is the tall lady who was standing behind King Remington during his dense speech on TV. She looks like she can swing one chiseled arm and knock us out if she wants to.

“Ah. My heart is not well.” Mildred reaches into her blazer and pulls out a small photo.

My stomach drops from the sight of the young girl wearing a purple, flowy dress with a flower crown on her head. Her bright green eyes are a dead giveaway. I ossify beside Azul, tightening my own pleasant smile so I don’t panic suspiciously.

“Have your eyes made contact with this young girl?” Mildred asks with a deep grimace. “She’s an extension of family, a little troubled little branch at times. She broke off the tree and I’ve been ill at ease in my attempts to find her without disrupting the media.”

I’m hoping my poker face is good enough. “Nope. Can’t say that I have.”

“Neither have I,” Azul adds. Her voice is stern and creaking on the edge. “We are on a light lockdown due to missing a member, but if you’d like to discuss deploying us to search for her, we can certainly arrange for that to happen discreetly. I was planning a visit to the King regarding the matter of our lost member.”

Mildred smiles. “You’ve lit a fire of hope in my heart, Azul, thank you. You see, Fae shares the tongue of dragons. Poor thing was overwhelmed when asked to use her abilities to help save them. She keeps to herself, but suddenly, everyone was paying attention to her.”

I’m sweating through my shirt. The dragon turns their attention onto the photo in Mildred’s hand and looks at me with those same enormous eyes. They look at the picture again and unleash a quiet whimper while Azul and Mildred are talking.

My thoughts are interrupted when I catch Evangeline rushing outside and going around the building toward the forest. I’m tempted to run after her and get away from this whole interaction, but my shoes are glued to the pavement.

“Well, I best be going now,” Mildred sighs so hard, her posture slumps heavily with dramaticism. “Thank you for lending your ears and eyes. Please keep me abreast in your search. I’m hoping the winds will guide her home soon.”

Mildred gives one last parting stare at the baby dragon. Her thin lips draw back in an awkward smile. The dragon sniffs and shrinks away from her before looking at me. The Guards salute us and retreat down the stairs behind Mildred. Azul stares ahead with a smile and brief wave as Mildred’s limo pulls off.

“M-Master—”

“That’s the girl, isn’t it? The one you met on Topaz?” Azul finally turns to me with a pointed look.

I gulp. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And the boy? You said he looked at you and asked if you were looking for dragons, right?” she presses. I bob my head and look at the dragon inching closer toward us.

I scratch my arm and shift my weight. My thoughts fall back to Evangeline in the forest and hoping she’s okay. I need to catch up with her and Billie.

The thoughts pour in like a busted faucet.

Fae fears the Guards and ran away. Mildred is looking for her and has Guards accompanying her. The boy possibly has the gift of sight and saw something when he looked at me. He also said he looked at a woman and she killed dragons.

I look at the baby dragon resting by my feet. They sniffed Mildred and didn’t react positively toward her. She didn’t seem particularly pleasant, either.

I gasp from the revelation.

“It’s Mildred, isn’t it? She’s the strong influence coming from Garnet.”

She doesn't want Elite or Ultima involved.

Master Azul scrunches her face. “We need to be careful going forward. We’re being watched.”

“Y OU MET A DRAGON?” Billie’s roar reverberates in the tiny dorm room, it hurts my ears.

So, I caved and told Billie and Evangeline everything. It only took an hour after Mildred left to crumble and suggest a sleepover.

We take some of Billie’s blankets and lie them on the floor. Evangeline brings extra pillows from her room, while Billie steals a few more from the laundry room. I grab snacks from the self-service upstairs and hoard a bunch in my arms all the way back. Rebecca rounds the corner quickly, looking down at a notepad, so I slip by unnoticed.

“Yes!” I hiss. “Why you make it sound like an impossible thing? It wouldn’t leave unless I followed it.”

I sprawl the goodies on the blankets and dim the terrible fluorescent overhead lighting. Evangeline digs right in for the gummies and pours popcorn in a plastic bowl.

“How far did you get, hmm?” she asks.

“I got pretty far until I realized it was heading toward Topaz train station.”

“Topaz is where you met the girl,” Evangeline’s eyes and shoulders drop as she zones out on the popcorn.

“Mhm, that dragon reacted to the picture of her.” I grab a spare blue pillow and shove it under my butt to ease the incoming numbness. The blankets aren’t doing any justice in making this floor feel softer than it is. “I think I’m gonna go back to Topaz Island and try to find her.”

“Wow, I can’t believe how much you’ve done! Aaand, you met the boy on Onyx with that rare sight thingy and fought his dad who went Berserk So cool!”

Evangeline blinks, appearing lucid again. “You need to relax.”

“Right, sorry. R.I.P. to Berserker dad,” Billie mumbles.

The dragon death is probably the worst part of the sequence of events because it’s deliberate and increasing while making the world worse. The news hasn’t reported any environmental observations so far, and who knows how many murders it will take for it to become noticeable. We still have our hands busy with an open homicide case the Guards are still clueless about.

If Mildred is the ringleader, then we’re talking about the Garnet government here. Meaning King Remington is probably in cahoots with this dragon killing spree too. Until Master Azul finds another lead, locating Fae is the world’s best option right now.

“It’d be great if Master Azul sends you back to Topaz. But remember, you’re probably desirable to Ultima now, so watch out, chicken.” Billie reaches for bottled water, but she squeezes it too hard, and it overflows on her lap. “Agh.”

“Is that guy determined? Like... um, will he actually come after me?” I know the answer, but I’m nervous. The fascination was in those teal eyes, lips parted in awe as the sun hit his Topazian glittered freckles.

I’m sweating profusely again, so I open a bag of salty chips to distract myself.

“Commander Rio Shackler? Oi, absolutely. I think Ultima has Natasha, and I guarantee he’ll be coming for you next,” Billie assures so confidently. I frown and focus on the chips, but nausea slithers down my throat, so I’m ready to hurl everywhere.

The vibe is shifting into an unsettling and unspoken sense of urgency and worry. It doesn’t feel good in my gut and the chips taste like bitter pieces of thin rocks. The anxiety weighs in the depths of my mind until I jump from Billie sneezing.

“Sorry,” she sniffs. “I was thinking maybe we can help with the search for Natasha?”

My forehead wrinkles. “Whatever it is, I can’t participate. I’m on my second warning.”

Billie smirks, taking a gulp from her water bottle. “You in, Eva?”

“Heh, sure, as long as I can say I was just the accomplice.” Evangeline tucks overgrown tufts of hair behind her ears, but that tremor in her hands is back. Her Trace Mark flashes unusually fast—associated with a rapid heartbeat. I’ve been meaning to ask her about her trip to the forest earlier; it seems too soon to visit her tree again.

Billie seems to have outlandish ideas, but this may be the most out-there she’s reached for. Proposing to taunt Ultima into admitting they have Natasha is the perfect swan-dive into regrettable choices they will have made in a long time.

S unlight spills over my face, waking me up from a long rest. For a moment, I forget about my worries, the dragons, the murders, Mildred, Fae, and remember why I’m here—what my purpose in Elite is, and how I will make Ultima crumble to the ground someday.

When I sit up, my vision is blurry.

I’m not awake.

My view of the woman holding the girl in the expansive field is fuzzy. This memory is a constant cycle of a forlorn and unfulfilled nightmare.

The woman cradles the girl and hums a lullaby that squeezes my heart into a pile of mush. I don’t know how many more times I can watch this, but it’s all I have left of me.

A man with black hair approaches the woman and child as she finishes her lullaby. She sweeps some of the child’s hair from her face. With a simple kiss on the forehead, she passes the child to the man, but the little girl is screaming and crying. She writhes in the man’s arms, reaching for the woman as she backs away.

“I’ll always love you,” she says, blowing a kiss. She straightens her back and waves to the man. “My heart is yours, forever, my dear. Both of you.”

My thoughts are desperate for relief. No, no, no. Please don’t go.

I scream as loud as I can but with that, the dream grows fuzzier until everything darkens and I’m left in darkness. Undetected, despair crawls in and my body shudders violently from the chilling, unwanted company of agony.

My eyes open sharply. I’m sweating and staring up at Billie’s mattress seeping through the thick metal wires of the bed frame. I share my bed with Evangeline; she’s in a fetal position snuggled next to me. I’m relieved that her bright Trace Mark is flashing slower in sync with her deep sleeping.

I wipe the sweat from my forehead and take deep breaths, hoping sudden movements won’t wake anyone. I’m more exhausted than before I went to sleep. The side of my face is streaked with dried tears, and I’m overheating from this stabbing heartache hiding in my bloodstream.

Closing my eyes, the weight of my past presses on my chest until I can’t breathe.