Sonora, and the Scroll of Alexandria Read online

  “You OK?” Allora asked the freshman.

  “Yeah, thanks,” he said, running down toward the freshman hallway.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Allora asked authoritatively.

  “I thought that was how it worked around here,” the boy said. “Seniors introduce the freshmen to high school.”

  “You know, he is right,” Dax said, walking up with Tanner and Katie. “The seniors tried to stick me in a trash can when I was a freshman.”

  “Didn’t you almost get expelled for beating them up?” Tanner asked.

  “Like I said, they tried to stick me in a trash can.”

  “Well, it’s not going to happen while I’m around,” Allora said, looking back at the boy. “Got it?”

  “Loud and clear,” the boy said, stretching out his hand. “The name is Marcus. I’m new to the school.” He smiled again, looking as if nothing had happened. Allora reluctantly shook his hand, telling him her name. He remained there for a few seconds longer than was comfortable, staring into her eyes. She couldn’t help stare back at the extremely attractive boy.

  “I think it’s time we got to class,” Tanner said, moving up and grabbing Allora by the hand.

  Marcus stepped forward in a show of aggression. “I think that she will go when she’s good and ready.”

  Tanner stepped forward, mimicking Marcus’s gesture. “Here for not even a day and you already think that you’re big man on campus?”

  “You scared?”

  “You wish,” Tanner said, getting right into Marcus’s face. The two were touching chests, wondering who would throw the first punch. “Why don’t we go outside and find out?”

  Allora split the two with her hands and pushed them both back. “Stop it.” She could see something new and strange in Tanner’s eyes. It was more than just anger. She turned to Marcus. “I think that you should go.”

  Marcus took a few slow steps backward. “Well, I hope I get to see you again.” His smile was arrogant but charming at the same time.

  “Not likely,” Allora said, smirking back at him. Marcus left, and she turned back to Tanner. “What was that all about?”

  “I don’t like that guy,” he said. “And what were you doing flirting with a guy like that?”

  “Flirting?” Allora exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. “Seriously?”

  “Whatever. I’m going to class,” Tanner said, walking away. Dax left with him.

  “Are you kidding me?” Allora yelled down the hallway, holding out her palms.

  Katie put her hand on Allora’s shoulder. “You were kind of flirting,” she said. Allora rolled her eyes and then went to her locker. “I don’t blame you.”

  “Shut up,” Allora said, slamming her locker door. “The guy was a jerk.”

  “Yeah, but a super-hot jerk with big muscles,” Katie said as they walked to first period. “I would love to be jerked around by that guy.”

  Allora couldn’t help but laugh as she left Katie for her advanced placement calculus class. She stepped into the classroom and sat down in a seat near the windows. From her book bag, she pulled out her textbook, paper, and a few pens. The new teacher at the head of the class started writing on the blackboard as the students settled into their desks.

  “Hello, class,” the new teacher said after he finished writing his name. “I am Dr. Lucas Smith. I’ll be your AP calculus teacher for the year.” The man was tall, around six feet five, and was wearing brown loafers, a tight, button-up, collared white shirt, starched dark-brown khakis, and glasses. His eyes were dark blue, and his perfectly combed blond hair was parted on the side. “I’m new, and it will take me some time to learn everyone’s names, so just bear with me. Let’s get started.”

  Halfway through the class, Dr. Smith finished discussing the expectations for the semester and dove into a lecture.

  “Pythagoras was one of the greatest mathematicians of his age and was credited for the creation of the Pythagorean Theorem,” he said while writing it on the blackboard. “Much of his work was preserved at that time in Egypt but was said to have been destroyed by Julius Caesar when he invaded. Does anyone know of the famous location I’m speaking of?” The rows of students glanced at each other. “It was a city in Egypt. Still exists today. Had a famous library that burned down. Anybody?” Even Allora couldn’t come up with the answer. With no hands raised, Dr. Smith said, “It was Alexandria.”

  As if she were being pulled through a portal, Allora’s mind flashed suddenly. She fell out of her chair and passed out. A bright light filled her sight. An intense pressure pushed her mind forward through the light, as if she were being transported. Then her surroundings became dark. It was nighttime in a forest somewhere. From the shadows, a man appeared. He looked younger, but the man had the same sharp facial features, muscular build, and charismatic swagger that Allora had grown up with. Uncle Ben stepped over a log, stopping only inches from where Allora was watching. She wanted to call out to him, but it was as if she was a ghost without a voice.

  “Were you followed?” Uncle Ben said.

  From the right, two pairs of eyes glowed in the night. They were large and golden, with a certain pained seriousness. Allora tried to make out any additional details, but whoever it was kept to the shadows.

  “No, I made sure to take extra precautions,” the other figure said in a low, booming, deep voice. “But this will be the last you see of me. It is becoming much too dangerous to continue these meetings.”

  “What about Hades?” Uncle Ben asked. “Is he after the Eye of the Titans as well?”

  “No, he’s after something else, something far more important,” the dark shadow said.

  “A weapon?”

  “A scroll. A memory scroll that contains the truth about the ancient Titan Wars.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “I intercepted a coded message from a Triple S back channel, meant for the king. I was able to decipher it using an ancient codex. I have no doubts that it was Hades. If he finds this scroll, we may be in trouble.”

  “Where did they say this scroll was?” Uncle Ben asked.

  “The lost city of Alexandria.”

  The forest slowly faded, and the darkness became light. Allora blinked, and her vision became fuzzy. A splitting headache followed as the light took on shapes. She tried to sit up, but the headache pounded against her skull like a hammer.

  “Hey there, darling. Just lie back down,” a lady said as she laid Allora’s head on a pillow and placed a warm, wet cloth on her forehead. Allora glanced to her right and looked up at the lady sitting in the chair at her bedside. She had blond hair, green eyes, soft facial features, and was wearing a white gown. On her left shoulder was a nametag that said “Nurse Campbell.”

  “Here you go,” she said, handing Allora some aspirin. “Memory flashes can be excruciatingly painful.” Allora was bug-eyed at the comment. “Don’t worry, dear. Come from the same place you do. Your uncle told me about memory flashes. He said that your mind should be able to process the information much better with time, depending on how intense the memory is.”

  “You knew my uncle?”

  “Yeah, you could say that.” Nurse Campbell grabbed a cotton cloth, dabbed it with rubbing alcohol, and wiped away the dried blood from a cut on Allora’s head. “We met during the Rebel Wars. I was a military doctor at the time, and he’d been wounded during battle.” Nurse Campbell chuckled and shook her head. “We dated for a bit.”

  “How did you end up here?”

  “He somehow convinced my superior officer to have me transferred here during the last parts of the war,” Nurse Campbell said. She peeled off the sides of a Band-Aid and placed it on her patient’s forehead.

  “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but why didn’t he ever tell me about you?” Allora asked reluctantly, unsure whether it was a rude question.

  “Your uncle was a very complex man and kept most of the important aspects of his life hidden,” Nurse Campbell said
, pressing down the sides of the adhesive. “He thought that if too many people knew about our relationship, then those who wanted to hurt him would come for me. It’s the same reason that your family is so protective of you. Sometimes we keep secrets so that we can protect the ones closest to us.” She gently brushed back Allora’s hair. Nurse Campbell had a soft and gentle touch, but pained eyes, as though they had seen the worst of the world. She noticed her patient’s examining look and got up quickly. She grabbed a clipboard from the counter and jotted down a few notes. “We’re going to categorize this as an epileptic seizure, should anyone ask about it.”

  The door to the nurse’s office opened, and Dr. Smith walked in. “Can I come in?”

  “Of course,” Nurse Campbell said.

  “How are you feeling?” Dr. Smith asked, standing over her. “You gave us quite the worry.”

  “I’m fine. Just a mild seizure, I guess,” Allora said, glancing at Nurse Campbell, who gave her a slight nod.

  Someone else rushed into the room.

  “Are you all right?” Mr. Swan asked, looking worried.

  “She had an epileptic seizure, but she should be fine. I’m going to recommend that you take the day off and rest.”

  Mr. Swan and Dr. Smith assessed each other.

  “Kurt Swan, history teacher,” Mr. Swan said, extending his hand.

  “Lucas Smith, math teacher,” Dr. Smith said, shaking Swan’s hand.

  They stared at each other for another few tense seconds.

  “Well, I’m glad that you’re going to be all right, Allora,” Dr. Smith said, releasing his grip. “I’ll see you next week.”

  He left the room and shut the door.

  “Has he been vetted?” Mr. Swan asked Nurse Campbell.

  “Winters did a thorough background check, along with blood work.”

  “I thought that after last year’s incident we weren’t bringing on any new staff members.”

  “A few teachers left,” Nurse Campbell said. “She’s got a school to run, remember. You can’t do that without a full staff.”

  Mr. Swan turned his attention to Allora. “What did you see?”

  Allora reenacted the memory.

  “Of course,” Mr. Swan said with his hand on his chin, pacing over the cot. “Alexandria was an ancient base back during the Titan Wars. It was said to have been the main headquarters of the Egyptian resistance. Did Ben mention any details about its location?” Allora shook her head. Swan paced around again, thinking intently. “I need to do more research. If you get any more memory flashes, I want you to let me know immediately.”

  Mr. Swan stopped and grabbed the side of the door, pausing to address Nurse Campbell.

  “Thanks for taking care of her, Maggie,” he said, smiling warmly. “Did you do something with your hair?” He awkwardly went out of the room and then popped back in. “What I mean to say is that it looks good…you look good…I mean, you look nice.”

  “Thanks, Kurt,” she responded.

  Swan paused, glancing over at Allora. “OK, bye.”

  Nurse Campbell and Allora giggled a little when he left.

  “He totally has a thing for you,” Allora said, getting up from the cot. Nurse Campbell just shook her head and handed Allora a few more aspirin. “He does. He totally does. You should ask him out or something.”

  “All right, Cupid,” Nurse Campbell said, pushing Allora out the office door. “Make sure to ice that bruised head of yours, and get some rest.”

  Allora smiled, contemplating how she could play matchmaker, and then left the school and headed home for her bed.

  chapter

  FOUR

  Giants

  Her finger lay loose on the smooth, sleek wood bow. Each footstep was steady and stealthy as she moved quietly through the creek bed. The trickle of water gave off a natural sound that covered the occasional crunch of leaves underneath her soles. The foliage above rustled in the wind. Every sound made her heart beat faster. She took a deep breath, slowing down her anxiety and trying to focus while negating the fear that crept up. The snap of a branch dropped her to a knee. She silently pulled an arrow from her quiver. Blinking slightly, Allora strained her eyes in the night, trying to catch a flicker or flash of her objective. Nothing moved. Then she felt the hairs on arm raise. The feeling was subtle, but familiar. Instinctively, she swung her hand around, pulling up a hadron shield as a burst of light exploded in her face and the energy shot her body backward.

  Gaining her footing, she notched an arrow and scanned the forest. Her target had vanished. There was no time to wait. She had to change positions, keeping low in the shadows of the night. The movement didn’t go unnoticed. Another flash of dark-green light shot through the trees. Allora found its origin, rolled to miss the hadron burst, and fired off an arrow. It missed the shadowy figure, which flashed across the forest at alarming speed. Allora ran, knowing that she needed to alter her tactics. Changing her trajectory every five steps, she sped up the hill from the position of the last attack. Suddenly, a hairy arm swung out from behind a tree, knocking her to the floor. Allora put up her hands, creating a hadron shield that blocked the foot that was coming down on her head. The energy of the shield knocked the creature off balance, which allowed Allora to focus a hadron burst and shoot it at her opponent. It was small but gave her enough time to attack. She picked up her bow and fired off another shot, focusing the hadrons into her arrow.

  The power within somehow felt stronger. The arrow burst into a purple fireball, growing in strength as it got closer to its target. The creature only had a second to focus a shield, but the strength of the attack was too strong. It exploded, and the creature broke through three small trees, flying through the night. Allora sprinted through the dark. In the distance, a slight purple flame was dancing in the brush. The creature was rolling and slapping the fire frantically. The purple flame subsided. The smell of burnt hair wafted from the floor as Allora stopped running. The creature burst out laughing as he got to his feet.

  “I’m so sorry, Sas,” Allora said, breathing heavily.

  “You pack quite the punch there, don’t you?” he said, patting down his smoking fur. “That training be paying off.”

  “I don’t know what happened. I didn’t do anything different than I normally do. The arrow wasn’t supposed to do that.”

  Sas put his hand down on her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. It’s perfectly normal. As you get older, your body will be absorbing and focusing more hadrons. At first it will seem strange, but you be learning to control it.” He put his arm around her back, leading her through the woods. “Your instincts be getting much better. I thought I had you there for a minute.”

  “You wish, buddy,” Allora said, slightly pushing her hairy friend. She could still smell the burnt hair on his chest.

  After a few minutes of hiking through the forest, Sas stopped suddenly, his head cocked to the right. The alarming motion caused Allora to scan from side to side, searching for what had caused Sas’s odd reaction.

  “We’re being tracked,” Sas whispered, getting down on all fours and moving across the forest floor sideways. He whipped his head, motioning her to hide behind a tree. Allora pulled an arrow out, holding it firmly on the horsehair string. From the edge of the tree, she looked out into the darkness. In the distance, two small lights flickered from a branch. They quickly dissipated. Sas had disappeared, leaving Allora alone. The silence was interrupted by a sound like tiny tap dancers on the branches above. The odd noise grew louder. Allora slunk down, moving slowly, with an arrow pointed upward. Backing through the underbrush, she saw the black ceiling fill with pairs of small white eyes. It was like walking into a bat cave. Unsure of what they were, Allora chose flight over fight. She quickly jammed the arrow in the quiver, slung the bow over her shoulder, and ran as fast as she could.

  The forest floor was riddled with obstacles. The darkness of the night didn’t help her traverse the trees and fallen branches. This time the danger was
real. The path opened up, allowing her a chance to look back. Squinting her eyes, she noticed small, skinny legs leaping across the branches toward her. They were numerous, traveling through the canopy like monkeys. Allora took a right just as a small ball of light crashed into a tree.

  “Oh, really!” Allora said, pulling in a purple ball and swinging around in a pirouette. She flung one hadron burst into a branch, knocking the beady-eyed, small creature off the tree. Another burst hit two other creatures. From the corner of her eye, she saw the incoming burst. The yellow ball exploded into her hadron shield, and she shot another burst into the tree, knocking a few others off the branches.

  Then the entire canopy lit up with small yellow, orange, and white balls of light. There were over thirty of them—miniature people. They were skinny, with muscular, long limbs. Allora spun around with her hadron bursts ready to fire. With her knees bent and chest up, she stared down at the creatures with complete abandonment of fear. All that training had prepared her mind for this moment.

  “Wait!” Sas screamed, crashing through the forest. “It’s OK. Same team, same team!”

  Behind Sas, one of the creatures walked out, brushing leaves from his pants and pulling a twig from his brown ponytail.

  “Stand down, gnomes,” the creature said. Upon hearing the order, the other gnomes leapt down from the tree branches while repeating the word. They were all dressed in tight bodysuits with varying leather straps that had various weapons attached to them.

  “Sorry, Bartimus. I forgot that you guys would be out here.”

  “Very all right,” Bartimus said. He extended a hand. “I can tell that Milly has been training you. It’s not every day that someone can catch my soldiers off guard.” He gave a few of them a dirty look and shook Allora’s hand. Then he turned his attention to Sas. “Something triggered one of the hadron detectors out beyond the perimeter that we’ve been setting up.”