I heard shuffling in the room, and a weird buzzing sound. Risking exposure, I peered through the crack in the door when a blue light filled the room.
Kelly and a strange man walked through what was surely a portal, but it was unlike any I’d ever seen. It was almost holographic, and glowed around the edges with a bright blue light. I opened the door further to see better, but stepped immediately to the right so I’d be in the shadow of the large bookcase.
They’d walked through into a room filled with…I couldn’t tell. I stepped closer, terrified they’d see me, or the portal would close before I could discern what was in the room. Dozens of pods were lined up. I froze when I heard voices. “How are they?” Kelly asked. I could still see her across the pod-filled room, luckily facing away from me.
Another strange man replied from out of my line of sight. “Growing beautifully. The first group should be born within weeks.”
Born? What the…I got as close as I could. If they looked back they’d probably see my face shining through the portal.
My hands shook as I processed what I was seeing. Fetuses lay in pods, seemingly flexible pods. They were completely transparent, with the fetus floating in the center, an umbilical cord attached to the baby, and then going off to a spot I couldn’t see from my vantage point.
They were growing… humans? Kelly spoke again, and I shrank back as she moved to the closest pod. “They’ll be treated well? You promised they’d be treated well.”
“They’ll be revered as the saviors of our race. They’ll be stronger than any other creature we’ve ever seen,” the strange male voice answered her.
“What about the ones that come next? There will be too many to be able to raise, to adopt out to our people.”
“We will raise them in special schools with nurses. These children of the Leyak and the Sárkány will ensure our survival in the coming war. Now, tell me what you know of the Sárkány, what have you learned from yourfriend.” He sneered the last word.
I stifled a gasp. They were growing more children like Linna, artificially. And Kelly was a shapeshifter, and definitely not my friend. I’d seen enough. I looked at the ground, where a silver disc with different lights and buttons sat. I didn’t dare touch it since I had no idea how it worked.
Backing quietly out of the room, once in the main shop I turned and ran, cursing our lack of cell phone use. We all had them, but nobody used them, preferring to use magical means. Mine was sittingon my bedside table. I had to run all the way back to the castle, and I was no runner. By the time I arrived, I felt like I was going to keel over, dead.
The front door slammed against the back wall as I thundered through it. One of the staff was passing through the front foyer and looked at me, startled, one hand on his heart. “Get Alexander or Roan, fast! It’s an emergency.”
He dropped the rags in his hand and took off, leaving me bent over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. Alexander ran into the room after about a minute. My heart still raced, but I was calm enough to talk.
“Kelly is a shapeshifter,” I said then took a second to breathe again. He opened his mouth to reply, but I held up my hand. “The Leyak are growing Sárkány and Leyak cloned babies in pods. I saw her go through some sort of scientific portal.”
He staggered back. “That can’t be. That’s barbaric.”
“They’re planning for war, and they’re in for the long game. They’re growing an army of children that will be stronger than any other creature. Those were the words they used.”
“Are you sure they’re Leyak?”
I nodded vehemently. “Yes. She’s been feeding them information about the Sárkány. I’ve been sharing everything I’ve been learning with my new friend, and she’s been sending it along to them.” My gut clenched, devastated. It was my lot in life to never have close friends, apparently. Something always happened to ruin friendships.
“Come,” he barked, walking through a door I’d never seen behind a tapestry. I ran to catch up, and found a stairwell behind the door, leading down. And down. Then down some more. Eventually I was pretty sure we were either in the dungeon or under it.
A huge fireplace burned with rainbow flames. Not like the flames flickered different colors, but like the fireplace was huge and there were multiple flames in different colors. Alexander pulled out what looked like a stereotypical magic wand and pointed it at the flames. As he did, steam flew from the wand and caressed the flames. As he pointed it, he said “Emergency. Now,” then repeated that several times. Eventually the steam stopped, and he grabbed my hand, pulling me through the stone wall to our right.
The wall was a portal—of course—and we ended up in a big room with stone stadium-style seats on one side and a huge wood table with chairs as the focal point. Along the rows of seats, portals were opening and creatures of varying shapes and sizes stepped through. Most of them looked like humans, but a few were definitely out of storybooks. “What are they all?” I whispered to Alexander, who stood beside me. We’d come out of our portal behind the massive table.
“Lower ranking factions of the Unseen. The main council is reserved for the biggest groups like the Dannan, Magicians, Supay,” he said as he pointed out the representatives from each as they walked into the room. “The Nereid, the Yama. Most of the Weres, and I guess technically the Sárkány are Weres, are represented as a group, as their numbers dwindle. They’re frequently barren. The Sárkány population is probably twice as large as any other Were faction, even without Sárkány like you that we’re finding on Earth.”
“So that’s why we’re offered our own spot?” I asked as I watched the Nereid, a woman that shimmered. “Why is she all glowy and sparkly?” I didn’t give him a chance to answer my question about our council position.
“She’s not really here. She’s a Nereid, a mermaid. They don’t shift, and we haven’t yet found a practical way to physically bring her here, so that seat is spelled to show her in her private chamber. You’re seeing her under water.”
I itched to move forward and study her, but that would be a teensy bit rude, so I resisted. The opening of portals was slowing down, and finally Alexander took my hand and walked me around the table to address the room at large.
“We have devastating news from the Leyak. Jen stumbled upon a strange portal. She was able to see through it for a few minutes. The Leyak are artificially breeding Leyak-Sárkány hybrid children to create an army. I’ll let her tell you exactly what she saw, and then we must be swift and deal with the situation.”
My stomach clenched, and bile rose in my throat as I stepped forward to tell them what I‘d witnessed.
I’d never been good at public speaking. Put a piano in front of me, and I’d perform like the best trained monkey, but I could never talk to crowds easily.
Before I could begin, a shout came from the crowd. “I told you we should’ve put them all down like mad dogs! They’re causing nothing but heartache. Send them back where they came from!”
