“Victoria?” her father said as he slipped his glasses on.
“Daddy!” Victoria said, rushing to embrace her father. “Are you all right? The alarm went off and we came as soon as we could.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” her father said, gently brushing water from his daughter’s face. “I’ve only been here a moment. I ran over when the alarm went off and found the place like this.”
Victoria’s father gestured around the workshop and Alex noticed, for the first time, it seemed even more disorganized than usual.
“Have we been robbed?” Victoria asked, shaking water from her hindquarters.
“Ransacked more than robbed,” her father said. “They made a bloody mess of the place, but once they located the safe, they seemed to have found what they wanted. I still don’t know how they managed to get past the enchantments on the safe door.”
“What did they take?” Victoria asked as she walked over and examined a large metal safe partially hidden beneath a pile of boxes. Scorch marks blackened the open door of the safe. Alex could see several small boxes and a stack of papers still inside.
“That’s the oddest thing,” Victoria’s father said. “They left all of the money and valuables and only took my Wall Walking Belt.”
“What is a Wall Walking Belt, Sir?” Alex asked, stepping up to Victoria and her father. The older centaur blinked in surprise and looked around the room as if suddenly realizing Alex and the rest of the Guild were present.
“Ah, Alex,” Victoria’s father said. “I’ve sent for your father. He should be here soon. I thought you were all supposed to be confined to your house.”
“We couldn’t let her come alone,” Alex said, nodding toward Victoria.
“Yes, good friends,” Victoria’s father said with a slight smile. “Well, the belt is a simple device, really. But, not the sort of thing one leaves lying about where someone might find it by chance. It does exactly what it says it does. It allows the person wearing it to walk through walls. Can’t imagine how they knew about it.”
“You’re always talking about your inventions, Daddy” Victoria said to her father.
“Yes, I suppose,” her father muttered. “But I’d swear I only even mentioned it to Melvin over a game of ale and pint of chess. I mean a game of chess and a pint of ale.”
Alex felt a cold certainty filling his body, amplified by being soddenly soaked to the bone. “Does the belt allow you to carry something with you while you walk through walls?” Alex asked.
“Naturally,” Victoria’s father said. “That’s why I had it in the safe. Too tempting for some people who might want to run off with their neighbors’ things.”
“The bank,” Alex and Victoria said as they looked at each other and spoke in unison.
“What about the bank?” Victoria’s father asked, looking between Alex and his daughter.
“It’s a long story, Mr. Radcliff, but we have to go to the bank,” Alex said as he headed toward the open workshop door and the wall of rain outside. “When my dad gets here, please tell him about the belt and that I said he should go the bank right away. He’ll know what it means.”
“Yes, of course, but I don’t know what it means,” Victoria’s father protested.
“I promise I’ll explain everything,” Victoria said, kissing her father quickly on the cheek before following Alex out into the rain.
“Well, take care of yourself,” her father shouted after her.
Alex and the Guild gathered up their bikes at the front of the house and explained to Rafael what they had learned as they rode toward the bank and the center of town.
“So what do you think they’re trying to steal from the bank?” Rafael shouted through the roar of the pounding rain.
“Sword,” Ben shouted over the constant drumming of the rain. “Maybe that’s where the sword is. The bank has a room with personal vaults. My dad has one.”
“How in the name of Poseidon’s Pustules could the Sword of Silas be in a bank in Runewood?” Daphne yelled.
“Hmm, how did it end up in Runewood at all?” Clark rumbled.
Alex didn’t know what to answer and he was having enough trouble staying on his bike in the ever-increasing and ever-shifting wind. The rain became like a fire hose constantly aimed at his head from different directions, the wind threatening to sweep his bicycle from the sidewalk and into the air at any moment. They rode into the town center and took shelter under the wide awning of the local movie theater marquee. Alex was thankful for the respite from the rain as he looked across the street at the tall pillars of stone holding up the roof of the bank.
“Empty,” Ben said, climbing off his bike. “It looks deserted.”
“Hmm, all the shops look empty,” Clark said, peering through the cascade of rain at the shops across the street.
“I don’t think the bank was even supposed to be open today,” Rafael said, pulling the hood of his poncho back so he could shake the water from his thick, black hair.
“Maybe they are already gone,” Victoria said as she edged her horse half under the awning and out of the rain.
“Or they went in through the back,” Daphne offered, wringing water from her long hair.
“You should check it out, Brother,” Nina said, turning to Alex.
“Right,” Alex said, looking back over his shoulder at the others.
“I’ve got you,” Victoria said, reaching out to place her arms around Alex and hold him to her side so he could not fall down.
“Thanks,” Alex said, looking up at Victoria. Water still ran in small rivulets from Victoria’s horse flanks, but her embrace was warm, even through the plastic poncho, and somehow, she still smelled like honeysuckle. As Alex closed his eyes and breathed deeply to focus his mind, he noted that even given the rain and the wind and the smothering humidity, being in Victoria’s arms was the best way to astral travel.
Then Alex was in his astral form, hovering outside his body, and watching as Victoria held his physical form upright. Alex floated out into the rain, the water passing through him with no effect, as he glided over the street and toward the bank. A moment later, he passed through the thick front doors of the bank and into the main lobby.
The lobby of the bank was old and ornate, carved granite columns supporting a peaked ceiling with skylights allowing flashes of lightening to bounce off the polished marble floor and briefly illuminate the large space. Alex floated over the black marble banking counter running along the back wall and toward the large round metal door of the bank vault. He saw no evidence of Esmeralda or the other carnies and no sign anyone had been in the bank all day. It was Sunday, after all.
Alex noted the geared workings of the vault door’s multiple locks as he passed through its thick steel frame. The vault inside was black and lightless. Alex shifted his vision to see more thoroughly in the astral realm and could perceive the ghostly blue outlines of the shelves along the vault walls, lined with stacks of paper money and large sacks of what Alex assumed were coins. He would have been impressed with the amount of wealth held within the small room if he hadn’t been so much more concerned with what might have been stolen from it.
Alex drifted back through the vault door and into the bank. There was another steel door, beside the main vault, and Alex slipped through it as easily as he had the first. This vault was smaller, but just as dark. Alex again shifted his vision into the astral realm.
The chamber was composed of a hundred or more lockboxes of various sizes built into the walls. A good half of the lockboxes were blasted open, their charred doors hanging at odd angles. Only one small box, the size of a loaf of bread, was empty.
Alex released his astral presence.
His first thought when he opened his eyes was how pleasant Victoria’s warm breath felt on his cheek. He stood up a little straighter and Victoria released him.
“Thanks,” Alex said, reluctantly stepping away from Victoria. “The private vault has been robbed. They’re gone already.”
“What did they take?” Daphne asked, staring up at Alex.
“It’s hard to tell,” Alex said. “There was only one box that looked empty. Whatever they took was small.”
“Something to lead them to the sword, most likely,” Victoria said, a worried look on her face.
“Hmm, so how do we find them now?” Clark asked, looking out at the rain as though hoping to catch sight Esmeralda and her cohorts.
“Beowulf,” Nina said, almost bouncing with the word.
“That mutt can’t find its own tail,” Rafael said with a grimace.
“Beowulf can find them,” Alex said. “We just need to give him something to get the right scent.”
“What did you give the dog to smell for hunting the Rune Tree?” Victoria asked.
“I showed him a picture,” Alex said as he climbed onto his bike.
“How in the name of Cerberus’ canker sores did you think that was going to work?” Daphne asked.
“It was worth shot,” Alex said, pushing down on the bike pedal and shooting off into the torrential rain. “Beowulf is much better with something to smell.”
“Should we use the whistle Mom and Dad gave us?” Nina shouted as she and the others followed Alex back into the rain.
“Once we track down Esmeralda and the others,” Alex yelled back. “We’re going to need some help when we find them.”
The town jailhouse was only a few blocks away and they fought to ride against the wind the entire distance. The jailhouse was locked, but a small, hinged flap cut into the bottom of the front door whipped wildly in the wind. Nina jumped off her bike and bent down on both knees. She grabbed the small flap as it flipped violently and thrust her head inside the tiny doorway.
“Beowulf,” Nina called out. “Here boy. We need you to find someone.” Nina rocked back as the little beagle dashed through the doggie door and licked her face. “So where do we find something for him to track them with?” she asked, looking up at Alex as she petted Beowulf’s head.
“I know exactly what we need,” Alex said, his eyes narrowing as much in determination as to keep the rain out. “It’s at the carnival.”
It took Alex and the Guild much longer to reach the carnival grounds than he had hoped. The wind from the storm grew so strong it forced them to abandon their bikes in an alley between two houses and continue on foot. Daphne and Nina chose to cling to Victoria’s horse half rather than continue risking being sucked up into the air by the buffeting winds.
The main carnival gate was empty, the attendant apparently having abandoned his post to seek shelter. It looked as though nearly everyone in the carnival had done the same. Townspeople and carnies huddled together, crammed into tents and wagons, peeking out at the storm. The lanes between the tents were empty as Alex and the Guild marched toward the center of the carnival and the grand tent at its heart. As they turned around the corner of a small row of wagons, they all skidded to a slippery stop on the muddy ground. Before them, three others slid to a stop, as well.
“What are you all doing out in weather like this?” Elaeda shouted from beneath an oiled, leather cowboy hat. She wore a long, well-waxed leather coat reaching down past the tops of her boots.
“It would take too long to explain,” Alex yelled above the roar of the storm.
“Have you seen Leanna?” Kendra said, her scaly skin glistening in the lightning as the rain flowed off it in sheets. She had changed her skin to make it impervious to the water.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” Rafael mumbled beneath a rumble of thunder.
“She’s gone missing,” Nathan said. He wore only a dark blue shirt, now plastered to his well-muscled form. “Nearly a dozen carnies were missing this morning. We’ve been looking all over for them. Esmeralda and Mr. Apollo are gone, as well.”
Alex glanced at the other members of the Guild. Leanna. The fact she was missing wasn’t likely to be a coincidence. Alex turned back to the three carnies. “We don’t have time to tell you everything, so you need to trust us. Esmeralda and Mr. Apollo are trying to free the Shadow Wraith. Esmeralda is a Spirit Mage. She’s got Leanna and the others under her control.”
“Are you out of your mind?” Nathan yelled. “Leanna would never work to free the Shadow Wraith.”
“She’s not herself,” Victoria said, fruitlessly wiping water from her face.
“We’re going to track them down,” Nina said, raising her hand to shield her eyes from the rain.
“Woof,” Beowulf barked from beside Nina, as through making clear exactly who was going to be doing the tracking. The little beagle wagged his tail, his magically compressed mass pulling him down into the mud so he appeared to be all belly and no legs.
“We’ll go with you,” Eleada said, stepping forward.
“I’m not sure…” Alex began to say when something behind the three carnies caught his eye. The carousel spun wildly, flinging water in a wide arc as the rain cascaded off its pointed, multicolored canvas roof. Why was the carousel still running? In the middle of a sky-shattering storm? Now that he thought about it, every time he had seen the carousel, it had been spinning. Even the first day the carnival had arrived.
Alex walked past Eleada, Kendra, and Nathan as though they didn’t exist, his entire focus suddenly on the carousel.
“Hey,” Nathan said, shouting at Alex as he strode past. “We said we’ll go with you.”
“Does that carousel ever shut down?” Alex asked, still staring at the spinning metal unicorns, griffins, and dragons.
“It’s broken,” Elaeda said. “Melvin says if he lets it stop, he won’t be able to get it going again.”
“And does it always spin that fast?” Alex said, still walking toward the carousel, the others following behind. “Clark, can you smell any magic from the carousel?”
Clark stretched his legs to catch up with Alex. “Hmm, I can’t smell anything at this distance. Not with all this rain. Let me get closer.” Clark broke into a puddle-splashing jog and ran to the carousel.
“What does this have to do with Leanna and the others?’ Nathan asked, placing a hand on Alex’s shoulder to get his attention.
“It’ll make finding them easier,” Alex said, staring up at Nathan.