Disclaimer: Diadem: Worlds of Magic does NOT belong to me. It belongs to Peel and his publishers, currently Llewellyn Worldwide. I highly respect his work and am making no profit from this, nor do I intend for this piece of fan fiction to interfere with his profits.
Author's Note: Takes place sometime after Book of Nightmares and before Book of War
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Diadem: Book of Thoughts
CHAPTER 12: “Twisted Games”
by Luna
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A piece of paper fluttered to the ground from where Morphos previously sat.
‘‘Did he make himself invisible, or did he teleport?’’ Score asked.
The trio remained unmoving and alert. The thought that Morphos was spying on them while invisible was unsettling.
Helaine removed her hand from its reflexive place on the hilt of her sword. “He’s not here. I no longer sense any danger.”
Score and Pixel relaxed
slightly, and Pixel went to the chair to retrieve the piece of paper. It
was a map drawn with crayons, the scrawl similar to a child’s handwriting. Mountains,
bodies of water, caves and forests were illustrated and labeled. A large
‘X’ was written over a wooded area labeled the ‘‘
Pixel showed it to the others.
‘‘He obviously wants us to follow him to
this ‘
‘‘It’s a trap,’’ warned Helaine. ‘‘Just like the open door of the castle. Morphos wanted us to come in. He used Shanara and Blink as bait.” Anger towards Morphos rose and nearly choked her throat. She stubbornly forced it into submission and concentrated at the task at hand. “He’s toying with us; first with our minds, and now with this ridiculous chase.’’
“I for one am tired of being played around with!” shouted Score, knocking down one of the study chairs in frustration.
“A warrior who loses his temper loses his head, Score!” chided Helaine, alarmed at his uncharacteristic conduct. Score usually tried to keep her temper in line, not the other way around. For once, Helaine tried to soothe his temper. “I know the illusion Morphos had you play out must have been terrible, but --”
“But nothing!” Score turned his face from his friends, his hands clenched into fists. “You couldn’t possibly understand.”
Helaine angrily grabbed Score and turned him around to face her. “How dare you presume that you alone suffered from what that demon showed us?” hollered Helaine, equally upset now.
His eyes were full of repressed sadness and violation. Helaine calmed herself down a notch and placed a gentle hand on Score’s shoulder.
“How am I supposed to understand if you don’t tell me? I’m not a mind-reader, Score.” Her voice was both gentle and firm.
Score was not to be consoled and roughly shook off her touch. “As if you’ve been square with us!” he accused. “All those nightmares you’ve had, you won’t even share them with us, and you expect me to tell you everything?!”
“Uh, guys?” interjected Pixel, trying to break up the argument before it became ugly.
“What!?” they shouted at him in unison.
“Can we resume this stupidity later? I think it’s more important to stop Morphos than bicker.”
“Agreed,” she answered, crossing her arms.
Score sighed in response. “Well, what are our choices, Spock?”
Pixel cocked his head and decided to ignore Score’s Earth expression. He could never understand them. ‘‘We don’t have many. We can’t let him roam around causing trouble, but if we refuse to play along, he’ll only hurt innocent people, or Shanara and Blink, in order to make us cooperate.” Pixel folded the map and put it into his pocket. He didn’t like being manipulated like this anymore than Score did, but he felt obligated to help Shanara and Blink. They had helped them more times than they could count.
“So we just play along with another one of his twisted games?” shouted Score, his temper beginning to rise again.
Helaine’s voice remained calm and steady as she tried to cool her agitated friend. Their roles had been reversed, and it left her feeling uneasy. “It’s the better of two evils, Score. At least this time, we’ll be more prepared.”
‘‘We don’t know Rawn that
well,’’ pointed out Pixel. ‘‘Finding the
Helaine smiled. “The Goblins.”
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
