A Timely Knight

A Deep, Cut Off Voice

Three days later, Timothy was feeling much better. His recovery had been faster than expected, but the physician ordered him to stay in bed rest for at least two days. Both Emmu and Master Nilla insisted he obeyed. By the third day, he literally jumped out of the bed, unable to stay a minute longer between linen sheets.

The day went by calmly enough. Both he and Emmu spent the morning and most of the afternoon helping with the finishing touches for the blimp's construction. It was a refreshing change from the constant training they had been enduring. It also gave them some time away from Master Nilla, who had been quite nervous ever since receiving a letter from the Marquise early that morning. Apparently, Arabella had found two unexpected allies in the capital, a SteelCorps captain and the Viscount of Aronport. Far from being impressed, Master Nilla probably saw it as one more thing to worry about.

Night fell upon Ravenport with the subtlety of a hammer. After dinner, Alder and Master Nilla said goodbye and left for their reconnaissance mission. The prisoner's indications would lead them to a hill, under which the entrance to the scorpion lair supposedly stood. They said they would be gone for most of the night, which gave Emmu and him the perfect opportunity to take a trip of their own.

His sapphire had told him they'd be going to meet someone who would give them all the answers they were missing. Timothy trusted Emmu. After all, he had been locked in the library, reading and studying from the Marquise's impressive collection of books. Now, with the Marquise certain that the Crown Prince was the definitive host, Master Nilla and Alder close to discovering the location of the scorpion lair, and Emmu possibly finding something that would aid them in the final fight against the Indigo parasite, Timothy was, at last, seeing the end of this long and tangled up road.

As soon as they found themselves alone, they ran towards the yard. Timothy had been expecting they'd take one of Alder's carts. Instead, Emmu simply stood in the middle of the space, eyes closed as he began taking deep, controlled breaths. For some brief and confusing moments, Timothy thought his sapphire was coming down with something.

"I've never done this kind of travel with anyone else, so you'll have to be patient."

"Emmu, what are you doing? Where are we going? And why didn't you pack anything?"

He had packed enough food to last for the whole night, as well as two overcoats and even two guns. But Emmu had nothing with him, save for whatever he was hiding in the pockets of his red velvet vest.

"Emmu..." Timothy began, but the young man shushed him at once, taking him by surprise. Considering he had never seen Emmu so concentrated, he remained silent, as intrigued as he was confused. Emmu stayed that way for several minutes, and for a moment, Timothy wondered if this might be a prank.

Then everything changed. The wind became stronger, as if a small tornado was coming their way. The night seemed to get darker and more enveloping, and all the sounds that generally accompanied it became faraway whispers. Now there was only the wind's howling and, much to his horror, it seemed to be coming from inside Emmu's body.

And then, right in front of his eyes, a shapeless black shadow came out from Emmu's chest, and began floating in front of him. It was like liquid, fluid and light, and it seemed to have life of its own. It moved and twisted for some time, before expanding and beginning to form what seemed to be a wavy circle, large enough to fit the two of them.

Emmu finally opened his eyes. Sweat made his forehead shiny and his hands were a bit shaky but, to Timothy's surprise, he was smiling, apparently pleased with whatever he had just done.

"Okay, in we go," Emmu screamed, trying to overcome the roar of the wind, which blew with such strength, Timothy was sure it would eventually carry them to the portal, whether they wanted it or not.