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"Kitten, calm down," she said. "I'm not mad at you, okay?"
With a huff, Delilah flounced to the sofa. Menolly sat beside her, stroking her hand. I motioned to Trillian.
"You might as well sit down too," I said, keeping out of his reach. "Why don't you first explain why our father asked you to play messenger boy. I know exactly what he thinks of you."
Trillian slid into one of the overstuffed armchairs and stretched out his long legs, crossing them at the ankles as he leaned back. "The answer's simple enough. Your father thought my arrival would go unannounced. I don't arouse suspicion, because I can't possibly be a member of the OIA." He grew serious and leaned forward. "Listen, girls, there's trouble in Y'Elestrial. Serious trouble. Your father wants you to know that the OIA may not be able to offer much support in the near future, even though they won't tell you so. He heard Johnson's report, as well as the official response."
"Then Father believes us," I said, relieved. With our father on our side, we stood a better chance of coping with whatever might be headed our way. "We have more. We've confirmed that Shadow Wing has taken over the Subterranean Realms and is planning an attack on both Earth and Otherworld."
Trillian's face clouded over. "I know. I just returned from the Sub Realms, and I've seen the chaos going on there. How do you know all of this?"
I silently walked over to the table where I'd dropped the finger bones and picked them up. "I visited Grandmother Coyote tonight."
Trillian shuddered. "Hell's bells, Camille. The Hags of Fate? You know they're nothing to mess around with. Those visits come with a price."
"I'm aware of that," I said, feeling the smooth ivory roll under my fingers. "And I owe her… well… what I owe her isn't going to be all that easy to repay, but it was worth it. She provided me with invaluable information that apparently OIA doesn't know—or doesn't care—about." I avoided his eyes. "Have you ever heard of the spirit seals, Trillian?"
He frowned, then nodded. "Vaguely, when I was a child I heard whispered tales about a wondrous treasure that could force the three realms to reunite—either in peace or in war. Why?" he asked, leaning forward. "Did you find one of them?"
"No, but Shadow Wing is searching for them. He means to use them as a key. He can open the portals with them and let his army pass into Earth. To make things worse, he knows where the first one is. And now, so do we. It's up to us to find and retrieve the seal before he does." I filled him in on what I'd learned. Like all Svartans, Trillian was good at hiding his emotions, but I could tell that he was both surprised and concerned.
I picked up the book Grandmother Coyote had given me and headed into the dining room. The others followed me, and we gathered around the table as I flipped open the pages. The text was in an ancient script, but I could read it haltingly, enough to decipher the basics of what it was saying.
In the fourth age of our world, there arose a great leader in the Subterranean Realms named Tagatty. A demon overlord, he united the lower realms and led a great army into Earth to battle the North men with snow and with fire. The war raged, threatening to spread throughout the lands, until the gods went to the Elemental Lords and begged for help.
The Elemental Lords agreed to assist, although the Hags of Fate declined, stating they would only watch as the situation unfolded. Together, the gods and Elementals forged a great spirit seal which separated the three Realms and created the portals—limited nexus points through which travelers could pass from one world to another.
Delilah frowned. "So, what happened to the seal? How did it get lost?"
"How else?" Trillian asked. "Clumsiness. You've got to admit, when you're facing eternity, you're bound to lose track of things along the way, and the Elementals and gods tend to be scatterbrained. Too much power isn't always a good thing. Look at Earth's history to prove it—Hitler, Stalin, Good old Vlad."
"Vlad doesn't count; he was a vampire posing as a mortal. But you're right," I said, continuing to read.
The spirit seal was broken into nine pieces and given to the Elemental Lords. Guardianship over most of the portals was given to the Guard Des'Estar, off of which branched the Otherworld Intelligence Agency thousands of years later.
As eons passed, the Elemental Lords grew careless. The great wars were forgotten, and the nine seals were lost, only to be found by mortals who unwittingly became their hosts. Anyone finding one of the spirit seals can unlock and use its secrets. If all of the seals are found and once again joined, the portals will shatter, and the three realms will again become intimately bound. And there will be no stopping any wishing to cross between the worlds.
I pushed the book away. "Before the Great Divide, Otherworld, Earth, and the Subterranean Realms intermingled freely."
Menolly traced a pattern on the table with her finger. "Then the Elemental Lords created the seals as a way of protecting OW and Earth during the great war, and they left the portals as the only real means to cross between worlds—other than natural nexus points. If Shadow Wing gets hold of the seals, he can tear them apart and allow his armies to ravage the land."
We stared at one another as the ramifications set in. The potential for devastation was tremendous. Unless we could stop him, Shadow Wing could decimate Earth and march on Otherworld. Earth's militaries were no match for a horde of Demonkin, and while OW had an army, it had been a long time since they'd heard any sort of call to battle. It would take time to muster forces.
I cleared my throat. "There are nine parts of the seal. As far as we know, he doesn't have any of them yet. Thanks to Grandmother Coyote, we know the name of the man who possesses the first one, and we know where to find him. Trillian, you have to go back to Father and let him know what's going on. Maybe he can convince the OIA that this is serious. Meanwhile, we'll search for Lane and sneak him to Otherworld before Bad Ass Luke discovers what's going on."
"If Grandmother Coyote told you what's happening, do you think she might tell the demons that you came to her if they asked?" Delilah asked.
When Menolly and Trillian looked at me, waiting, I realized that I'd become the leader of our little group. I shrugged.
"I have no idea. You never can tell what the Hags of Fate will do—she might tell them to balance out the situation, or she might not. Hell, she might even bite off one of Bad Ass Luke's fingers. That's what I owe her—the finger bone of a demon for her collection."
Trillian coughed. "Nice. Simple, but effective."
"Yes, but if I don't pay her, then my own finger is forfeit, so I think I'll do my best to give her what she wants." I grinned at him, and he broke into laughter, his voice echoing through my body. "I thought you'd see the joke in that," I said, waving away Delilah's pale look of surprise.
"What about the other seals?" Menolly asked. "Shouldn't we be finding out where they are?"
I pushed myself out of my chair and peeked through the heavy velvet drapes that closed off the dining room from the outside world. Rain cascaded on the roof in sheets, but a glimmer in the east told me that morning was near.
