Free The Two Worlds by Alisha Howard Page A

again
Awakener,” he growled, sending little flecks of spittle my way. I
stared into his purple, translucent eyes for a moment and then
shook him off. He slid to the back of the inn, and I pulled myself
out the door, falling to the ground with a thud.
    Groaning, I stood up and headed towards
Rena, yelling. “Let’s move!” Rena nodded and whispered a few more
instructions to the house before running along with me. I darted
around the harsh sun rays that were still pounding on the ground
and signaled to Nia, who created a few more rays and then joined
us. Together, we ran back towards the edge of the bubble, leaving
Nipsin’s Lodge in disarray.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER NINE
     
     
    “ You almost got us killed,”
scolded Nia as much as she munched on a slice of Turgorian
pizza.
    Rena and I were sitting next to her on
Dia’s front steps, chowing down as well. Excitement can create
quite an appetite.
    “ I know, I know.”
    “ I’ve never seen such a pack
of brutes before,” Nia continued, not completely satisfied with
Yolonda’s apology. “I would hate to be there when Beard Jack wakes
up.”
    “ But at least we got Finny,”
Rena put in. “Now we can find out how to get into Caldbeck!” I gave
a tired, cheese and rumpkins filled grin and took another huge bite
of pizza.
    “ So, how do we wake him up?”
She nodded towards the small, brown pebble that was basking in the
sun.
    Yolonda gave a fond sigh and said,
“Bring him over to me.”
    Rena picked up the pebble and held it
in front of Yolonda. Yolonda took a deep breath and suddenly went
ice cold, causing me to yelp and swallow a chunk of my pizza
whole.
    “ Sorry,” she muttered. She
became quiet, and we all sat, watching her. A small line of amber
light began to stretch from Yolonda to her cousin, becoming darker
as the seconds ticked by. My chest vibrated while Yolonda hummed,
widening the light. At first, the pebble did not show any intention
of changing, but as Yolonda continued to feed it amber light and
hum, the pebble slowly began to acquire an amber aura around it.
Her cousin started to quake slightly, and a small mist resembling
Yolonda appeared. This continued until the brown pebble had
transformed into a larger pinkish one with the small mist now
whirling steadily in the middle.
    “ Mmmm...w-where am I?” a
small, groggy voice said.
    “ FINNY!” Yolonda shouted,
warming back up. “Man, I thought I would never see
again!”
    “ Lo-Lo?” Finny said, still
sounding confused. “What are you doing in my cage?”
    “ You’re out of that forsaken
place, Fin! My new boss and her friends got you out!”
    “ Yeah?” Finny paused for a
moment as though he were thinking. “Where you been?” I noticed that
Finny sounded a lot like Yolonda, right down to her
accent.
    “ I’ve been here and there.
How’ve you been?”
    Finny snorted. “How do you think I’ve
been? I’ve been in a friggin’ cage for four hundred and fifty-two
years!”
    Nia gave off an unimpressed harrumph.
“Rude little rock, isn’t he?”
    Yolonda ignored her. “We rescued you,
Fin. And we need your help.”
    “ Who exactly is we ?”
he asked. “Who’s this new boss of yours?”
    “ That would be me,” I
replied, clearing my throat. “I’m the one that grabbed your
cage.”
    Yolonda introduced us, and we told Finn
how we got him from Nipsin’s Lodge. He seemed impressed.
    “ Well, if that’s the case, I
owe you favors for a lifetime. Thank you, Kay,” he said. “What can
I do you for?”
    Rena stepped in. “Um, we wondering if
you could help us get into Caldbeck. We’re looking for a few people
that we know in there.”
    “ What type of people would
you know in there? You’re nothing but a kid!”
    “ For starters, my mother,”
Rena quietly admitted. Nia stared at her, shocked.
    “ And we’re looking for my
grandfather, who’s doing detective work. Plus, we’re kinda on
assignment,” I added, grabbing