Free Everville: The Rise of Mallory by Roy Huff Page A

walk into Zee’s home and take it, like Drusilla and Owen did to us,” he replied.
    “No, but you can get someone from the estate who has a key to get it when Zee is gone. I don’t think the handler of the estate, Mr. Odious, will do it for you, but I think you know several people in his office who can get a spare set of keys to go and take a look, and since the jar is not Zee’s to begin with, he won’t miss it,” Jacob finished.
    “I’ll talk to some of my connections and see what I can do,” Mr. Hughes added.
    After he left, Jacob continued assembling the artifact. All he needed now was the jar so he could add some of the element.
    Several hours later, Mr. Hughes returned home.
    “Well, Jacob, I’ve found someone who is willing to do it. Mr. Odious will be out on business matters tomorrow before lunch, and they’ll take the key then. I’ll have them watch the house until Zee leaves and they’ll look for it then.”
    “Thanks. Now I can get back what’s mine,” Jacob said, knowing it wasn’t his in the first place.
     
    Back on the former ice planet, Mallory was growing impatient. It was time, he decided, to check on Jacob’s progress with the new artifacts.
    Mallory once again entered Rathlar’s mind and initiated a connection to Jacob in the earthly realm. This time, Jacob’s image appeared on the shapely bricks on the inside of Mallory’s new residence.
    “Mallory,” Jacob said, “I see you’ve got new digs. Nice.”
    “How are the artifacts coming along?” Mallory asked.
    “I should have your artifact ready by tomorrow. I’m missing just one more key ingredient. I’m going to have that taken care of in the morning. The others may take a while longer. I’ve sent Eli to get the materials needed, but we’ll get them soon enough,” Jacob finished.
    “Good. I’ll contact you again tomorrow,” Mallory replied as he severed the connection.
    Mallory’s slimy body had already grown accustomed to the warmer temperatures that Rathlar was making for him. By the time the conversation was over, the temperature had dropped enough to make him shiver. He squinted his eyes and wrinkled his slimy forehead displaying his anger and impatience.
    Rathlar reheated the planet once his focus left making the connection to Jacob. After allowing his body to warm a few moments, Mallory spoke aloud to the dragon.
    “This minor inconvenience will soon be over. Once I have the artifact, we can grow our power equally between us, and then we’ll no longer be limited to just one major action at a time.”
    Mallory had now perfected his plan regarding how he was going to gain unlimited power. The first part was nearly complete, but he would have to enlist the cooperation of the Alarians for the next phase. Once he had all the artifacts he could begin.
    First though, Mallory would need to ensure that he had enough power for himself before he gave the Alarians their artifacts. The problem, though, was that The Keepers used their mastery of the cave within Vermogen to limit the containment and dispersion of the element to only the worms.
    Mallory would need both the cooperation of Rathlar and a specially designed artifact to channel the element to the new artifact. Once that device was made, Mallory would no longer be restricted to relying solely on the dragon to channel the power. He could be free to make his own restrictions, and that is exactly what he planned to do.
     
    The next morning in Easton Falls, Mr. Hughes’ connection waited ten minutes until after Zee left to use the key to the front door that was left for the handlers of the estate. He was told he was taking something that shouldn’t be there, and he did have the key, but he wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints—just in case. He took a second look at the picture of the jar and the boxes where the jar would most likely be located, and then entered Samil’s former home.
    He looked around several of the rooms, first going into Zee’s bedroom