Free Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) by Sky Corbelli Page A

minutes and
several nightmarish stops later, his hair clipped to a curly cap
around his head, bouquet of Englemann Legacy roses in hand, Ezra
found himself at the park in the center of the University Plaza. He
glanced at Kirsten, standing beside him and organizing something on
the net. She was careful not to look directly at the Converatorium,
bright yellow caution displays surrounding it to keep pedestrians
out. The university port station was also declined notice, as
technicians frantically attempted to bring the wormhole he had
hijacked during his escape back online.
    Kirsten suddenly looked up and smiled
politely to someone in front of Ezra. He whipped his head around
and snapped his best smile in place, roses held stiffly out in
front of him. Liza Crawford was tall, at least two inches taller
than Ezra, the picture of a conservative Legacy heiress. A flowing,
lace trimmed dress with a particularly high neck complemented her
silver necklace and earrings. Strands of silver bells had been
woven into a long, dark braid that hung over her shoulder. Her eyes
were cast demurely down, honey colored freckles dusted over her
light olive skin.
    Suddenly a huge bear of a man loomed up in
front of Ezra. Mr. Crawford scowled down at him from behind bushy
eyebrows and a shaggy beard. “Hrmph, doesn't look like much, then,
does he.”
    “ Daddy,” Liza gave Ezra a hesitant smile, “be nice.”
    “ Now listen here young man,” Mr. Crawford placed a massive hand
on Ezra's shoulder. “I can understand about gallivanting around on
a nice Founder's Day night and stirring up a little trouble. It's
good to give those DOLT boys a little exercise from time to time. I
was a young man myself once, after all. But there is a time and a
place for everything, and I don't want to hear about any funny
business while you are entertaining my little girl. You understand
me?”
    “ Yes sir.” Ezra squeaked out. The man's hand seemed as big as
his head. He made a note never to speak poorly of historians
anywhere they might hear him.
    “ If you are referring to the events of last night, Mr.
Crawford, I can assure you that Ezra was only working through a
rather strenuous experiment that may have resulted in some
unfortunate side effects. You know how these things can be.”
Kirsten stepped smoothly up next to them, placing a hand on
Crawford's enormous arm.
    The man's face split into a genuinely
pleased smile. “Kirsten O'Donnell, I heard you had taken up with a
bunch of these egghead types. Keeping them in line, eh?” The big,
shaggy man chuckled. “Always a pleasure to see you girl, how're
things with the old crowd down in the Division?” Kirsten put on a
tolerant smile and began fielding a myriad of personal questions
from the huge Mr. Crawford.
    While they were talking, Liza inched up to
Ezra. “Is it true that you rerouted a dozen wormholes and stole the
entire twentieth century culture exhibit from the Conservatorium
last night, then hid it in a secret pocket dimension, and that's
why it's closed?” She spoke in a hushed, rapid whisper, brown eyes
watching him intently.
    “ That I... what?”
    “ And Mitzi Parnasus told me that she heard from a very reliable
source that a whole team of elite DOLT special forces spent all
night hunting you down, and when they finally brought you in you
just laughed at the cell where they locked you up and were gone
without a trace by morning!”
    “ I... no, that didn't happen. It was all an... experiment that
I was conducting. And that's why the wormholes aren't on the, um,
network anymore and now...” Darn it, how
had Kirsten made this look so easy ? “You
know how these can be?”
    Liza nodded her head sagely. “You really
can't take everything that Mitzi says too seriously. She probably
got something confused. But still, I heard that you-”
    “ Ezzy!” A familiar voice rung out across the lawn. Ezra's heart
tried to stop. No ,
he thought, not here, not now, not
her .
    He turned and saw Galois