The tiles against his stomach were hard in contrast to the fleshiness of his body. The air was chilly, and he felt a light breeze pass over his skin.
Body! Chris thought. Skin!
Laughing, Chris grabbed his torso, moving his hands all over it, feeling the ribs and the collar bone and all the squishy flesh. He laughed again as it dawned on him that he was no longer in the void of nothing, floating around in his smallest components, but was back in one piece, one solid piece. And that one solid piece was back in reality.
Now, he just had to work out what reality he was in.
He heaved himself up to sitting and looked around. The room was familiar. Crimson walls like fresh blood. A big, wooden throne. A conference table made of oak. A high, vaulted ceiling. A glass cabinet filled with vials of potions and weapons. A window, through which gray light filtered in.
He stood, his legs wobbling, and went over to the window. It overlooked a large grassy field that stretched all the way to a line of forest trees, black silhouettes on the horizon.
Grass! Chris thought with delight. Trees!
He’d forgotten all about them. And seeing them now sent peals of delight rippling through his body. His laughter turned to hysteria.
“Christopher Blue,” came a cold female voice.
With a gasp, Chris swirled on the spot. There was a woman standing in the room. A scowling woman wearing a long black cloak that reached the floor. Her arms were folded.
The name came back to Chris with sudden ferocity: Mistress Obsidian.
A jolt of terror went through him. He staggered backward until he collided with the stone wall and there was nowhere left to shrink to.
“You…” he stammered. “You’re the one who tortured me!”
It was all starting to come back to Chris now.
“That was your punishment,” Mistress Obsidian said without even the smallest hint of remorse. “For failing me. For going against my expressed command. I can do it to you again. Anytime I want.”
Chris shook his head. He felt like he was reaching the verge of insanity. Just knowing he could be sent back to that place of turmoil, of unending agony, was enough to send his mind reeling.
“Please, no,” he begged, falling to his knees. “Please don’t send me back.”
“Get up, you sniveling wretch,” Mistress Obsidian said. “Begging won’t save you.”
“Then what will?” he asked desperately, heaving himself to his feet. “What can I do to make sure I never go back to that place?”
“Follow my instructions,” she replied. “And kill Oliver Blue.”
Oliver…
That name had been all that had accompanied Chris during his time in the void. Oliver, his little brother. For years he’d hated him. Wanted nothing more than to hurt him and make him suffer. And then for reasons he no longer understood, he’d balked at the last second. Just when he’d had Oliver, he’d changed his mind and let him go.
But Chris realized now, he would not change his mind again. There wasn’t the smallest hint of compassion left in him. Not toward Oliver. Not toward anyone. His time in the void seemed to have extinguished any positive feelings he’d ever had, leaving behind just the anger, just the fear, just the hatred.
“I will not fail you again,” Chris told Mistress Obsidian. “I will kill Oliver Blue.”
CHAPTER TWO
Oliver’s stomach swirled. He hated the sensation of portal travel. It didn’t matter how many times he went through it, it was always unpleasant.
Purple flashing lights blinded him. A noise like crashing waves made his ears ache. And the whole time, he looked about frantically behind him to see where his friends were, desperate for evidence that they’d jumped too, that they’d followed him into the portal and had escaped the School for Seers before it had collapsed.
Just then, he caught sight of Hazel’s butterscotch hair. A jolt of relief went through him. She was flailing in the vortex, being tossed around like a piece of flotsam in a current. Then Ralph came into view, his black hair flying every which way, his long, thin limbs moving as though he were doggy paddling and trying desperately to stay above water.
Oliver watched as Ralph whooshed up beside Hazel, and the two of them managed to clasp hands. They reminded him of synchronized skydivers. Without parachutes, of course, at the mercy of the elements, being thrown about all over the place like they were feathers caught up in a tornado.
As relieved as Oliver was to see Hazel and Ralph, there was still no sign of Walter, Simon, or Esther. Oliver prayed they’d made it through the portal in time. Especially Esther. It would be far too cruel of a blow for the universe to take her from him now, after everything they’d just gone through to save her life.
“Hazel!” Oliver cried over the loud, whooshing wind. “Ralph! Over here!”
Somehow, in spite of the roaring wind, Oliver’s voice was able to carry all the way to his friends. They both glanced up at him and relief flickered for a moment in their otherwise fearful eyes.
“Oliver!” Hazel cried, her tone seeped in relief.
Oliver was surprised that he was able to hear her so loudly and clearly. He’d expected her voice to be swallowed by the wind, as would usually happen during portal travel. He wondered why that wasn’t happening in this one. Maybe it was a different kind of portal from the ones he’d traveled through before. Professor Amethyst had conjured it under duress, after all.
Using his arms, Oliver swam breaststroke toward his friends. He grabbed them and they held onto one another tightly.
“Where are the others?” Ralph cried, glancing furtively around.
Oliver shook his head, the force of the wind making his dark blond hair fly into his eyes. “I don’t know. I can’t see them.”
He craned his head, searching through the black and purple flashing swirls to see if there was any sign of Walter, Simon, or Esther. There was none. He couldn’t see them at all, and the thought filled him with fear. Had they even jumped into the portal? Could they be stuck inside the crumbling school? He couldn’t bear the thought of having saved Esther’s life with the Elixir for her to then lose it only moments later in the school’s collapse. Why hadn’t he kept hold of her hand when he’d jumped?
“Oliver, can you hear me?” Professor Amethyst’s voice suddenly came from nowhere.
Shock struck Oliver. His eyes widened with surprise. He looked all about him but could not see the headmaster. It was as if Professor Amethyst was talking to him from another dimension.
Worried he was going mad, he turned to the others. “Did you guys hear that?” he asked, as the wind battered them.
“Yes,” Hazel gasped. “It’s Professor Amethyst. But how is he talking to us?”
“I have no idea,” Oliver stammered in reply.
“Listen,” the headmaster’s voice continued, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. “This is very important.” He spoke hurriedly, in an urgent, insistent tone. “The School for Seers is crumbling and there’s only one way to save it. You must find the Scepter of Fire.”
The Scepter of Fire? Oliver thought, racking his mind for any sense of familiarity. But there was none. He’d never heard of the Scepter of Fire.
“What is that?” he called into the vortex. He didn’t know where he should project his voice because he had no idea where the professor actually was. “Where do we find it?”
This time when Professor Amethyst spoke, his voice seemed distorted. It was like speaking on a cell phone with a poor connection. His words cracked in and out. “Lost in time…”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Oliver cried, desperately.
There was silence.
“Professor?” Oliver tried again. “I can’t hear what you’re saying!”
But suddenly, Oliver’s attention was diverted by Ralph. His friend was tugging on his arm furiously.
“Oliver, look,” Ralph said.
Oliver turned his head over his shoulder. And the sight that awaited him made his whole body flood with relief. It was Esther, Walter, and Simon. At last!
The three were holding tightly to one another, just as Oliver, Ralph, and Hazel were. Oliver was overcome with relief to know they’d gotten out of the school, and that they’d now all be in this new quest together. Whatever this quest was…
Oliver was just about to ask Hazel and Ralph whether they could try to “swim” over to the others, when the headmaster’s voice cut back in.
“Oliver?” Professor Amethyst called. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes!” Oliver cried. “I can! Tell me about the Scepter of Fire!”
“It has been lost,” the headmaster said. “I do not know where. I do not know when.”
Oliver felt his insides tense. If the Professor didn’t know where or when the Scepter of Fire was, then where and when was this portal sending them to! Perhaps that’s why it didn’t seem to be behaving like a normal time portal. Because it didn’t yet have a final destination!
The thought troubled Oliver. But just as he always did when things felt too perilous, he reminded himself of Professor Amethyst’s immense wisdom. Oliver trusted his mentor with his life. He knew the headmaster would never, ever put him in undue danger.
“How are we supposed to find it?” Oliver called out to Professor Amethyst, who he now deduced must still be inside the School for Seers, and was projecting his voice into the vortex that was currently keeping them trapped between time and space, rather than transporting them through it.
“I have narrowed it down to two possibilities,” the Professor shouted. “The first—”
But his voice cut out.
Oliver grew frantic. He needed to know where he was going! He needed to know why! He needed the guidance of his mentor if he stood any chance of finding the Scepter of Fire and saving the School for Seers!
“Professor!” he cried into the twirling void. “Professor? Professor!”
But once again, his voice was met by silence.
He looked up at Hazel and Ralph, who were still gripping him by the upper arms. They both looked just as troubled as Oliver felt.
A sense of hopelessness started to grow in Oliver’s stomach. How would he ever find the Scepter of Fire if he didn’t even know where he was going and where he needed to be?
But then a sudden thought struck him. The bronze compass he’d been given by Professor Nightingale at Harvard University was still in the big pocket of Oliver’s overalls. It was an ancient piece of seer technology, one of the myriad of inventions created by seers to aid in their task of protecting the universe from time traveling rogues. Perhaps it might give him some clues and help guide him on his quest.
Oliver reached into the big central pocket, feeling his fingers brush against the cold metal casing, and pulled the palm-sized instrument out. Though he was shaking tremendously from the force of the wind, Oliver could just make out that the main dial was pointing toward a symbol of a flame.
“Oh no!” Hazel suddenly cried.
Oliver looked up from the compass to see that her gray eyes were wide with anxiety. He glanced ahead and saw the strangest sight he’d ever encountered. The portal was splitting into two separate tunnels!
Oliver gasped. Never before had he seen such a thing. Time travel portals were a mind-bending enough experience, and for him now to see the tunnel dividing into two was utterly confounding. Was it destabilizing? Ripping apart before their very eyes?
But no. Oliver put the pieces together in his mind. Professor Amethyst had said there were two locations the Scepter could be in. Now, he, Ralph, and Hazel were hurtling toward one tunnel, while Esther, Simon, and Walter were hurtling straight for the other.
“Oh!” Oliver cried, his chest clenching from the painful realization. “Professor Amethyst is splitting us up!”
It all happened so fast. Before Oliver had time to fully comprehend the strange happening, the tunnels were upon them and they were tumbling toward the entrances; he, Hazel, and Ralph heading one way, Esther, Simon, and Walter the other. He would end up in one place in time with Hazel and Ralph while the other three would end up somewhere entirely different. A different time. A different place. Maybe even a different dimension.
The thought was too much for Oliver to bear. He’d only just gotten Esther back and now she was being torn away from him again. He felt a sudden sense of anger toward Professor Amethyst for putting him through this unnecessary torment.
Acting on his instinct to protect the girl he loved, Oliver threw the compass toward the right-hand tunnel. He just had time to watch it disappear into the void, followed by the tumbling, turning figures of Esther, Simon, and Walter, before he flew into the left-hand tunnel and out of sight.
Where are they going? Oliver thought anxiously. Come to think of it, where are we going?
There was no way of knowing. There was no way of even knowing whether he’d ever see Esther, Simon, and Walter again. One team was on course to find the Scepter of Fire. The other, Oliver could only guess.
All he could be sure of was that the Scepter of Fire was the key to saving the School for Seers. And that wherever and whenever he ended up, whatever point in history the portal spit him out in, it would be without Simon and Walter.
And it would be without Esther.
CHAPTER THREE
Screaming, Esther felt herself catapult out of the vortex and go flying through the air. She hit the ground hard and rolled, sending a cloud of desert dust into the air.
“Oof,” she exclaimed, finally coming to a halt.
Dazed, bruised, and a little dizzy, she sat up and looked around. It was a blazingly hot, sunshiny day. She was in some kind of desert, with very little around her but some sparse, spindly shrubs.
Glancing into the distance, she saw that a mile or two away from where the portal had decanted her, there were signs of a flourishing town, from the turrets of a castle to the spire of a synagogue. Behind the town were vast mountains and a forest of pine trees.
Before she had a chance to attempt to work out when (and where) she might be, she heard the sound of screaming coming from behind, growing louder and louder as it came closer and closer.
She turned to see Simon come hurtling through the vortex. Walter was right behind him.
They both flew through the air and hit the dry, desert ground. Esther winced as she watched them go rolling across the hard earth.
“Argh!” Walter grunted.
Finally, they came to a halt, and a cloud of dust poofed into the air.
Esther jumped to her feet and ran to them. As the dust cloud they had stirred up started to disperse, it revealed that the two had become an entwined tangle of limbs.
Esther reached the tangle and grasped for a hand. She found Simon’s and gave it a tug. The two boys managed to free their legs and, with Esther’s help, Simon sat himself up.
“Golly gosh,” he said, panting. “That was a rather rough journey.”
Walter extracted his arm from beneath Simon’s behind. “You could say that again.”
He rubbed his head, then looked over at the portal. Esther did too and saw that the crackling lines of purple electricity had stopped. Then, with a zip, the portal closed. Silence descended.
Walter blinked rapidly as a look of fear overcame his face. “Where are the others?” he asked.
“Oh!” Esther exclaimed as she suddenly recalled the moment she’d seen Oliver, Hazel, and Ralph careen through the left-hand pathway of the portal, just before she and the others had disappeared down the right. She felt an ache deep in her heart. “They went the other way.”
Simon and Walter exchanged a sympathetic look.
But Esther didn’t want their pity. And she didn’t need it either. Since taking the Elixir, she felt better than ever. Her mind felt sharper, her senses more alert. She felt healthier than she ever had, and the last thing she wanted to do was dwell on negativity.