Chapter 101: Interlude 2

Tiki Conad’s POV:

I walked over campus, limping as I went. My leg had been crushed by a rock a week ago during the incident and had to be amputated. The healers had regrown it perfectly, but it didn’t feel the same. I’d been told this was a rare but not unheard of reaction to recovery after limb-loss and it fucking sucked. I could tell my leg was there, I could feel it just fine, and everything worked when I purposefully tried to move it. But for some reason, when I tried walking from muscle memory, it wouldn’t listen. I’d begin therapy for it soon, but it might be weeks if not months until I could walk like I had before the explosion.

I still remembered the screams and the panic as if I’d just lived through it minutes, instead of days ago. It was getting better, and the counselor I’d talked with had given me some very useful advice and a listening ear. But just like my leg, I knew it would be a long time before I could close my eyes without seeing the terrified faces of the students around me.

Shaking my head to get rid of the unpleasant thoughts, I focused back on my surroundings and tried not to think about the splinters of bone—focus. I was almost at my destination, and to my surprise, I saw both Viggi and Sekara standing by the entrance to professor Scott’s office. They were standing very close together and had leaned in.

I walked up to them. “Hey, I didn’t expect you two here. Are you also here to ask for news?”

Viggi jerked in surprise, his head whirling towards me. When he saw who I was, he relaxed and smiled. “We are, yeah. I ran into Sekara on my way here so figured we’d ask together. Though, um, you might want to wait outside for a bit.”

I tilted my head at him. “How so? Is professor Scott bus—”

“What do you mean you lost my son?!” a voice yelled from inside and I winced from the sudden loud volume.

I rubbed at my ear. “Right, nevermind, I get it now,” I told Viggi. He just nodded.

“I’m sorry Elias, there was nothing more I could’ve done in the moment,” I heard professor Scott say to who I assumed was Felix’s dad. We’d all fallen quiet to listen in. “We’ve done everything we can to find him since, but there’s just no trace of him or his friend.”

There was some mumbling and talking, followed by a moment of silence. Then I heard sniffling. It was faint, but still clearly identifiable as crying. I suddenly felt very guilty for listening in.

I poked Viggi in his side, and when he glanced at me, I gestured away from the office “Come on, let’s give them some privacy,” I told him.

He and Sekara nodded, and we left. But before we got out of earshot, I heard a loud sigh from inside. “It’s alright, I’m fine,” Elias said. “Let’s go through this again from the beginning. I want to know who did—”

The rest was cut off as we got too far away, but I’d heard enough to figure out what Felix’s dad wanted to talk about. The perpetrator. Little was known about them, except that they’d hired an assassin to plant the bombs. I had a pretty good idea of who it was, and I’d already reported him. Mom and dad would freak out when they learned what I did, but if Alfred really did it… there was no excusing that. I wasn’t sure what I’d do if they still tried to, though.

“So, how have you been holding up?” Viggi asked me, shaking me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, I’m fine. Or well, as fine as anyone can be given the circumstances. My leg is still giving me trouble, but fixing that is just a matter of time.”

He nodded. “I’m still sorry about your leg. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

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“Same for me. If you need any help, just give me a shout,” Sekara said.

I smiled. “Thanks, guys. Anyway, enough about me, how are you guys feeling?”

Viggi shrugged. “I try to keep myself busy with schoolwork and normal work, but I can’t say I’ve slept particularly well these last few days. I keep imagining what might have happened with Alex and Felix.”

Sekara nodded. “Again, same for me. Though with me it’s Zhalia who keeps me busy. I don’t think she quite understands why I’m so worried, honestly.”

I glanced at her. Every time we spoke, she said stuff that made me worry about her. I’d asked about their relationship, but she said things were fine. That they were still just adjusting to campus life. Even to me, it sounded like a weak excuse. But we weren’t that close friends, so I didn’t interfere.

I opened my mouth to respond, but the sound of a door opening interrupted me. I turned around to see a man walking out of the office. He was maybe a head taller than me, wore a very expensive suit—though it was frumpled and not entirely clean in places, and had light brown hair. His expression was unreadable, though. There were hints of sadness there, but also of anger, and confusion. It must be Elias, I realized. Felix’s dad.

He noticed us standing together, then changed direction to come talk to us. I took a deep breath and tried my best to stay calm. If he was anywhere near my dad’s level at all, he could probably destroy the island we were on with a twitch of his finger. But I could talk with dad, so I was sure I could remain calm and polite with Felix’s father, too.

“You must be Felix’s friends,” he said in a cold tone. He must have realized it as well, since he sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Sorry, it’s been a long day. Let me introduce myself, I am Elias Sythias, Felix’s dad. And you are?”

“I’m Tiki Conad,” I introduced myself, “and these are Viggi Cragfoot and Sekara. And to answer your question, yes, we’re Felix’s friends. More or less.”

He nodded. “I’m glad Felix has made some more friends while I was away. You’ll have to come over for dinner sometime after Felix is found again.”

I just nodded, not sure what else to do. Powerful and important people like Elias didn’t just invite people over for dinner for no reason. “That sounds lovely,” I said, then switched the topic away from dinner. “You’re confident they’ll find him, then?”

He sighed. “Honestly? No. I talked with Scott and he told me they just finished scouring the entire cave network. There wasn’t a trace of Felix or his friend.”

I blinked, both at Elias calling Alex just Felix’s friend and his informal tone. I was starting to get an idea of who Elias was. In hindsight, that offer for dinner might have been just that.

“But if that’s the case, isn’t that proof he’s alive?” Viggi asked, speaking up for the first time. “I mean, if there wasn’t a single trace, I assume they also didn’t find a… corpse,” he finished the sentence awkwardly.

Elias nodded. “Very astute. You’re right. But there isn’t anywhere else for him to have gone, so we’re doing another search of the entire cave system. If he’s not there, we’re not sure where else—”

A voice interrupted him. “Sir, we found something!”

We all turned around to see an older man wearing glasses and an old robe covered in dust and stone chips run up to us. He stopped near us and took a moment to catch his breath.

“Whoa there, careful. Don’t fall now. Catch your breath, then tell us,” Elias said, catching the man before he fell. The man took a few minutes to recover, then spoke.

“Sorry sir, I sprinted all the way here from the Dungeon caves. They think they found where Felix stayed for a while. They found a cave with signs of habitation. There was excrement found in a corner, traces of food, a few shed scales—both blue and black—and a message scribbled into the stone. I have it transcribed here.”

He handed Elias a small package. Elias opened it, revealing a small container containing something brown, one containing specs of what looked like jerky, another with a few scales, and a letter. He opened the container with scales first. He took out a blue one and held it against the light.

“That’s Felix’s alright, and I’m guessing the other one is Alex’s,” he said, putting the scale back and opening the letter. He read through it twice before putting it back as well. He turned to the messenger. “This mentions something about a door. I assume a team is already exploring whatever lies behind it?”

The men looked down at his feet. “Um, no.”

Elias raised an eyebrow. “No? What do you mean ‘no’?”

The man cringed back, but Elias didn’t stop his stare, making the man squirm slightly. “There wasn’t a door sir,” he said. “We found the cave that was described, but there wasn’t a door. Just a blank wall.”