“I hope you know that you have done everything possible to put an end to this madness. I am so very proud of you.”
I wished I could have taken more comfort from that, but as nice as it was to hear, truth was that I had failed horribly. Many times over. You don’t get points for effort. But in spite of my gloomy assessment, Elli was right. As long as the Travelers were around, there was hope. The trick was to figure out what to do next. I gave her a squeeze of thanks, then pulled away and scanned the room. We had to find a way out.
“Saint Dane took Mark because he wants us to stay here,” I said, thinking out loud. “That’s good. It means he still thinks we can do some damage.”
I strolled around the large, empty room. The windows were up near the ceiling. No way to climb up there. The only way in or out of that room was the door-the solid wooden door with the heavy handle. I grabbed the handle and pressed the lever. It was locked. I looked to Elli and shrugged. “What the heck, it was worth a try.”
I stepped back from the door, debating about how hard it would be to knock down. I wasn’t sure if that was a good idea or not, seeing as there were probably dados outside guarding us.
“It may be time,” Elli offered.
“Time for what?”
“To use the power of Solara.”
I hadn’t even thought about that. I’d put that option out of my mind because every time the Travelers used the spirit, we were pushing Solara closer to extinction. How much more power was left? Was there a way to measure it? Was Uncle Press looking nervously at some big cartoon like gas gauge that was creeping toward “empty”? Each time we traveled, I cringed, expecting something horrible to happen. So far we were okay, but how much longer would that last? How much traveling were the other Travelers doing? It wasn’t just me and Elli, after all. There were eight other Travelers flying around, searching for the exiles.
“It’s supposed to be a last resort,” I said.
“I know,” Elli said with finality. “I believe we’re there.”
Glancing around that room, that prison cell, I knew she was right. We could choose to sit there and do nothing while Mark was executed and the dados marched. Or we could do something. But what?
“I guess I could go back to Solara,” I said. “Then come back here and hope that the spirit sends me somewhere else. Like the other side of the door. But that seems a little like overkill to move three feet.”
“Why don’t you just go under the door?” she asked, as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.
“Go under the-” I looked at the floor. It was an old door. Really old. It wasn’t airtight by any means. I thought back to when Saint Dane and I were fighting. He swung his electric wand at me, and I willed myself to become smoke. I don’t know exactly what happened, but his weapon passed through me with no effect. I had definitely changed my physical self. Was it possible to transform myself so completely that I could just float under the door?
“Yeah,” I said thoughtfully. “Under the door. Sure. Why not?”
I took a step back and stared at the wooden door. Nothing happened. I looked harder. Didn’t help.
“Feeling silly,” I announced.
“Don’t. It would be silly not to try.”
I shrugged and looked at the door again. How did this work? It was easy enough to move between territories. All I did was think about where I wanted to go and there I was. Compared to that, going under a door should be like, nothing. Right? I closed my eyes and visualized what I wanted to do. I wanted to float. I imagined what it would be like to move with the air. I pictured myself descending to the ground.
I didn’t feel any different. Disappointed and feeling like an idiot, I opened my eyes to discover… I was different.
It was like my eyes had become a moving camera. I didn’t feel like I had changed, but I had. I traveled down, toward the floor, in complete control. Looking around, I didn’t see myself. Had I become invisible? My eyes reached floor level, and I looked ahead to see the crack beneath the door. Was I small now? Could I sail right under? I imagined moving forward, and I did. I floated across the surface of the stone floor until I reached the bottom of the door.
I held my breath. At least, I think I did. Did I have breath to hold? I moved forward and passed underneath, seeing the width of the door passing over my head as if I were traveling under a bridge. I have to say, it was the coolest experience ever. If the whole thing wasn’t so alien, I probably would have enjoyed it. As it was, I was more worried about how to get back to normal than in taking the time to appreciate the fact that I had turned myself into some other kind of matter.
When I came out from under the door, I imagined myself returning to normal. I floated up. My eyes (or whatever it was I was seeing through) were on the door. I followed the lines of the deep, brown grain of the wood as I moved higher. The ascent took only a few seconds. I stopped. Was it over? Was I back to normal? I was still staring at the door when I sensed movement. I turned quickly to see a Ravinian dado coming for me, his silver wand high, ready to strike.
I was back to normal.
I dove to the ground to avoid the attack. If it hit me, I would be smoke again, and not the good kind. I side-kicked the knee of the dado. It was off balance from its attack and crumpled quickly. But it wasn’t in pain. Dados didn’t feel pain. As it fell, it was already swinging the weapon back at me. I thrust my hands out and grabbed its wrist. The thing was strong, but I had adrenaline on my side. There was no way I wanted that wand to hit me. I’d already wasted enough power to get out of that room. The other advantage I had was leverage. The dado was off balance, so it couldn’t use its legs. After I kicked out its knee, I was already getting my feet under me. It was using its arms to push the wand at me. I was using my arms… and my legs.
I won. I twisted the hands of the dado around, breaking its grip. The wand clattered to the floor. I swept it up instantly and hit the dado square in the chest as it was turning to reach around. I felt a sharp jolt through my hands as the power of the weapon unloaded. Instantly the dado went stiff. It was creepy. Like switching off a light. Its eyes went blank. Its body went rigid. With a quick little shove I knocked it backward, and it fell to the floor. Dead. Fried. Whatever.
It had been an interesting thirty seconds. “Pendragon?” came Elli’s voice from the other side of the door.
“I’m okay,” I said, breathless. “There was a dado. Now there isn’t.”
“You turned to smoke,” she said, her voice sounding a little shaky.
Oh. Right. That. “Really?”
“Yes. It was like you melted and floated under the door. Are you all right?”
“I guess” was all I could say. I was too numb for anything more insightful than that.
“Can you open the door?” she asked.
I went for the door, but there was no way to unlock it. I quickly checked the dado to find out he didn’t have keys.
“No,” I announced.
Elli asked, “Should I try to get out the way you did?”
I had to think about that for a second. Finding Mark was going to be tough enough. Having Elli with me would have made it that much harder.
“No,” I replied. “I’m sorry, Elli. Stay here for now. I’ll be able to get around faster on my own.”
She didn’t respond. I’m sure she wasn’t thrilled.
“Elli? You all right?”
She answered with conviction. She was trying to be strong. “Yes. I understand.”
“If I’m not back in a few hours, go back to Solara. Tell Uncle Press what we’ve seen.”
“And what will you do?”
“I’m going to find Mark.”
“And then what?”
I laughed. “Then I’ll figure something else out.” “I know you will.”
“I’m sorry, Elli, but I think it’s better that I do this on my own.” “I do too.”
It was an awkward moment, especially because we couldn’t see each other.