From Out of the Ashes

“So, who’s spooky old house is this?” Jake asked as they looked at the decayed, burned out mansion in the middle of the great dead lawn on the hill front of them.

“Van Harkov,” Silver said. “A rich man. An eccentric and adventurous man, before the Twisted attack of fourteen years ago. Suffice it to say, he did not survive. My employer believes he had something which would be useful to him. A book.”

“What’s in the book?” Kraelin asked.

“Not my business,” Silver said. “So, if you want to help…”

“After you,” Alex said, letting Silver walk ahead. “You ready, Stick? You’ll find the book before anyone! Yes you will!” Alex started scratching the whiptail’s head.

As Kraelin started to walk, he noticed Elysia wasn’t moving. “Hey. You alright?” he asked her.

“Yeah. I know it’s probably me being in this town, but…I feel like I’ve been here before.” She stood there, staring at the old manor.

“We don’t have to…” Kraelin started, but Elysia began walking.

“What did I say in Gravine? Yes, I do,” Elysia said. Then she turned and smiled at Kraelin. “But thanks for the thought.”

“Swear the girl is going to…” Kraelin trailed off as he followed her. Jake slapped him on the back.

“Don’t worry, big brother. The girl knows what she’s doing,” Jake said.

In front of the great double doors of the Van Harkov manor, they paused. Alex tried opening the door. “Huh. Locked. Who locks an abandoned mansion?”

“Technically this is illegal,” Silver said.

“Wait, we’re breaking the law?! I’m breaking the law?!” Alex cried out.

“You know, we kinda did when we broke into the old factory in Oakmont Falls,” Jake said.

“And I got kicked out of Lugara because we all disobeyed the elders rules,” Elysia said.

“And as a Sweeper you spend a lot of time killing sentient creatures,” Kraelin said.

Stick stood up on Alex’s shoulder and started chittering loudly.

“I hate you all. I’m going to Hell…” Alex moaned.

“Amusing,” Silver said. Then she bashed the double doors open with her metal arm. “Would you all like to enter? Or are you still stuck on the moral dilemma or robbing a man who has been dead for over a decade?”

Jake quickly walked in, followed by Elysia and Kraelin. Alex looked into Silver’s mirrored mask. She looked him dead in the eyes.

“What?” he asked her.

“Something about Treasure hunters,” Silver said. “Sometimes they don’t make it east because of the journey itself. Sometimes they stop because they don’t like the people Treasure hunting forces them to become.” Silver walked into the mansion, leaving Alex on the doorstep.

“I don’t even know what she meant, but I do not like it,” Alex said, following the group in.

*

“What are you doing?” Kraelin asked as Alex kept tapping the walls of the burned out library, the smell of char still lingering over a decade later.

“Looking for secret passages,” Alex said, his ear up to the wall. “Spooky mansions have secret passages. All the movies I’ve watched about spooky mansions told me they have secret passages.”

“Sometimes I don’t know when you’re serious or when you’re a moron,” Kraelin said, looking through the decayed old books. “None of these look like diaries.”

“Didn’t honestly think we’d find it here,” Alex said. “A special diary some mystery guy pays somebody like Silver to find? It’s gonna be hidden well.”

“Thus the secret passages,” Kraelin said, a slight smile on his face.

“Damn straight,” Alex said. Soot started falling from the fireplace, and a dirty Stick popped out, coughing. “Hey Stick! Find anything up there!” Stick happily presented Alex with a tiny decayed bird skull he found stuck in the chimney. “Oh. I see. You are disgusting.”

“I think we’re done here,” Kraelin said. “Hopefully the rest of the bottom floor won’t be so useless.”

“Hopefully Jake and the girls find something upstairs so we can get out of skull house,” Alex said.

“Alex…what do you think of Silver?” Kraelin asked as they left the library, traveling the dark hallways.

“You’re asking my opinion? Like you think I’m smart? Holy crap, I’m flattered” Alex said. “Honestly, though, I get why you don’t trust her.”

“I never said I don’t trust her,” Kraelin said as they stepped into the decayed kitchen.

“No, but you seemed surprised Elysia did,” Alex said as he opened cupboards.

Kraelin hesitated before answering, turning over old pots and pans in the forgotten kitchen. “Elysia trusts too easily. What happened with Saphira…it should never have happened. But Elysia is an innocent girl with a terrible power in her. Whether it’s through incompetence or malice, the wrong person influencing her…”

Alex let the thought dangle for a moment. “What about Jake and me?”

“You two?” Kraelin smiled, shaking his head. “You two jumped into a life threatening worldwide journey on her say so. Yeah, I think she’s okay around you.”

“Kraelin…” Before Alex could finish, a loud call echoed through the house.

“Alex! Get up here! We think we found something!” Jake cried out.

*

A locked door stood resolutely upstairs. Its hinges wouldn’t move, no matter how much force was applied. “Magic lock. Nothing but a magic key could open it. Quite suspicious,” Silver said. She turned to look at Alex, who already had one of his magic daggers out.

The lock clicked. Slowly the old door swung open, the study looking pristine before them, with no trace of either fire or time touching its shelves of artifacts or books. “Exactly what I thought,” Silver said as she gazed upon the untouched room. “This one room was built with flame resistant, blast resistant materials. We wouldn’t have had a hope of getting in here if not for Alex’s lock picking daggers.”

“You’re welcome, by the way,” Alex said, sheathing the dagger.

“So why does some rich guy have a doomsday bunker in his house?” Jake asked, looking around.

“A question I’m guessing my employer desperately wants to know the answer to,” Silver said. “During the Great Massacre, the Heights was one of the most heavily damaged areas. Van Harkov gave his life to protect his house while other rich men fled. Most people thought he was simply a crazy, wealthy man defending his money. But this…”

“Elysia?” Kraelin asked. He looked at her, seeing her eyes widen. “What is it?”

“Déjà vu again.” She looked around the room, as if she knew the locations of the statues, the books, the chairs. “I was found here in Havenbrook. My parents died here. But I have no idea who they were. I’ve never known. Augarium didn’t even know. But maybe…”

Everyone let Elysia wander the room. She made her way to the desk, papers still scattered over it. Following her, Kraelin picked up some of the papers. “These are all about the Eastern Treasure,” he said.

“A Treasure hunter,” Silver said. “Makes sense then. The rich ones are always protective of the secrets they uncover about it.”

Elysia tried tugging the top drawer on the desk. “Alex?”

“At your service, witchy lady,” Alex said, popping the lock. Elysia pulled out multiple papers, all still related to Treasure facts. Then she paused and dug her fingernails into the sides of the bottom of the drawer.

“What are you…” Jake started to ask.

“I know. I don’t know how but I do,” Elysia said. She pulled up the false bottom of the drawer. There, under the covering, was an old leather bound journal.

“Well. It’s certainly lucky I had you people around,” Silver said, grabbing the journal. “You have no idea how much work you saved me.”

“Glad we could help,” Kraelin said, somewhat disingenuous. “Now, can we go?”

Silver flipped through the journal, making sure it seemed like the book her employer wanted. As she did a photo fell out, fluttering to the desktop. Elysia picked It up, and she gasped.

“It’s them…”

They all gathered around her. The photo showed three people in a forest, dressed in hiking gear. The center man was a chubby, bearded fellow, smiling widely. The other two were a man and a woman, both young blonde haired people full of life. The caption read “Harkov and the Thornfelds, Varhi jungle exploration.”

“Them?” Kraelin asked. “You don’t mean…”

“My parents…I could only see their faces in my dreams. But it’s them. Thornfeld…I’m a Thornfeld. Elysia Thornfeld. I…I’ve never had a last name. I…” She collapsed back into the chair.

“Hey! Are you…you okay, Elysia?” Jake asked gently. She looked up at him and smiled, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Yeah. Better than okay. I have…a past. An identity. A…a family. My mom and dad…and they were Treasure hunters! This…all of this! It feels like fate! Like I’m going to finish what they started!”

“Damn right,” Jake said, his hand squeezing her shoulder. “Damn right you are.”

They all stood around Elysia, letting her enjoy the moment. Even Silver, the cold and cynical woman behind the mask, couldn’t help but smile under the metal covering her face. Looking at Elysia and her friends, the way they all gathered together, she allowed herself to feel something she rarely did anymore.

“I’m happy for you, Elysia,” Silver said. And she honestly meant it.