“The Plan is set in motion and won’t be so easily ruined,” he smiled.
“We’ve only set her aside for a time and set a few spells. Do you feel confident we’ve done enough so far?”
He squinted at the board. “I think we`ve spent enough time on the preliminary moves,” he added, deep in thought.
“I hope those children don`t make too much of a mess of it,” she replied. Her lips lifted in the smallest of smiles over her move.
“Don`t worry,” he laughed, slapping the table. “They`re going to make a disaster of it, and come out the better for it!”? He then moved a pawn that had somehow snuck onto her side of the board. “Checkmate,” he smiled.
“Why don`t we just watch over them and be sure nothing goes to wrong],” she asked.
“A touching sentiment for your stepson.” She blushed and admitted she was fond of the boy. He slung his arm around her shoulder, creasing the velvet robes. With the other arm he opened a curio cabinet on the wall. There were vials and odds and ends, but the star of it was a shining crystal. It had uneven jagged sides, and stood like a single crystal flame on a gold disk base. He set it on the desk then. Both of them leaned in to look. Then, a burst of light shot out of the pointed end of the crystal, straight into the air. It stopped, then expanded out, a flat plane with the images of several people scrolling across the surface. Then it stopped, focusing in on one point. There was a girl with shining hair sitting on a city bench underneath a single street light.
CHAPTER TWO
Accidental Encounters
She went from store to store at a run. The weekend was usually a time for relaxation but she couldn’t afford such luxuries. She was already so very late to start the school year and really couldn’t afford to be delayed any longer by being unprepared. Each of her bags was filled with notebooks and pencils and pens and all of her school supplies which has mysteriously gone missing during the move, and now was the time to pick up anything vital before heading to classes on Monday.
There were many clouds overhead and fat raindrops falling on the ground so it was difficult to move at such a speed without slipping.
Alyss continued shopping. Everywhere she went dark eyes followed her, hiding in the mist and dark corners lurking about and unseen by any human eyes.
“It’s her, it’s her,” they whispered to each other. “It has begun. We need to tell master.”
Two creatures hidden in the shadows huddled together and formed a bright ball of pure power between themselves. Slowly a face appeared on the surface.
“Yes? Did you find her? I’ll be very disappointed if you called to report on desserts again, I’m well aware they sell cinnamon rolls in that realm but I do not pay you to spend your time on frivolous pastry eating.”
The squat blue creature wiggled its tapered bat like ears. “We may eat all the pastries if we do succeed though because we have a very kind master, yes?”
The red creature was tall and spindly and had no ears of any sort that could be seen on its smooth head, but it still waggled its webbed hands at the projection. “We are very good servants, very loyal to master. Master will reward us if we find the girl?”
The face in the projection sighed. He looked humanoid, with dark hair that draped across his forehead and a form that could easily have entertained millions on the silver screen or draped across a motorcycle in an advertisement. His eyes, though, glowed with the strength of his magic, brighter than the green eyes of any common human. “I already promised you both a feast with all your favorite fishes and foods and allowed you to move into your own townhouses to upgrade from your shared apartment in my staff quarters. I suppose, because of the special circumstances and how hard you’ve been working, I can change your arrangement somewhat. If you manage to find the girl this year and promise not to cause any trouble for three whole months then I will also buy you each one hundred pastries. You’ll have to both make a binding promise though.”
The red one wiggled its nose. “No trouble? For three whole months? What counts as trouble?”
Their master glared at them. “That means you are not allowed to steal even one thing from any human ownership for three whole months, you may not injury or blight a single mortal, and you are not allowed to kill them or their pets. Not even a single barn cat can be hurt.”
They both pouted. “You never let us kill people or pets anyways,” the one grumbled. “Now we can’t even have the fun of stealing,” the other agreed.
The man in the projected lit up in magical fire that he couldn’t fully suppress when angered. “I am your prince, the crown prince of the entire realm. You will promise me this and do the magical binding to hold you to your promises, or you will not be allowed any more pastries on Earth at all ever.”
“Ever?” They both gasped at the command. “Aeron, that’s not very nice,” the blue creature protested.
The prince just shrugged. “If I had realized you two were so addicted to stealing I would have banned you from doing it before you visited that realm anyways. You are there to do a job and find a person, not to play around and enjoy your old bad habits
