"that's not an answer."

"that's all that the answer you're going to get."

"why me?" i yelled at him.

talbot didn't answer but looked at me, eyes squinting joyfully, knowing that he held the answers i was so desperate for.

"why not?" he intoned taking another step away from us as fanny and i took a step closer to him.

"where's tenya? where is joss' sister? what have you done with her?" the questions poured out as i realized he was starting to play a game and was refusing to answer my questions. i desperately needed him to answer these ones, if any.

"oh, she is far from here. don't worry. she is safe in the hands of my faithful septori, experiencing their humble hospitality." talbot spoke with his hands dramatically; he cocked his head to the side as if he were listening for something. "but i fear my welcome here has come to an end. it's such a pity that you chased away xiven. i'm very eager to personally see how strong you've become. but that will be another day." the noise talbot was listening for became louder and drew closer.

unsure of what talbot's next move would be, i tried to prevent him leaving by draining him of his life energy. if i could drain him and make him pass out then he couldn't escape. but it wasn't there; there wasn't any power or life force for me to steal. how could it be? was he somehow shielded from me?

"i'm tired of playing games with you, like a cat and mouse. this time you will come to me and i will show you what your greater purpose is. i shall be waiting for you, thalia." talbot bowed deeply before us and waved farewell. "till then." he turned and walked into the shadows.

"stop him!" i yelled to fanny. "use your powers."

she turned to me with defeat on her face. "i can't. i only have powers of healing, nothing more."

i took off at a run but found that i could only stumble along painfully after him into the darkness. "kael!" i yelled loudly. "kael, help! where are you, you stupid swordbrother? kael!"

a shadow jumped from one of the balconies of the jesai home and landed in front of me, grasping my shoulders to steady me. "thalia, what's the matter?"

swinging with all my might at him, i pushed kael roughly into the wall, not bothering to notice the blood and ripped shirt he already sported. "where have you been? where were you when i needed you?" i cried desperately, my hands shaking as i grabbed his shirt. "go after talbot. it's talbot. talbot is raven and he is getting away."

kael looked at me, his face a blank mask. a deadly blank mask. he only spoke one word. "where?"

"he went that way." i pointed into the darkness and kael flew after him. his hands reaching for the throwing knives he kept hidden within his vest. kael's footsteps were silent as he chased after him and i wondered to myself how long it took him to learn to run so silently.

a soft hand touched my shoulder and i turned quickly to see fanny. standing this close to her, i realized how petite she was. she was even a few inches shorter than i.

"i'm sorry, thalia. you must hate me. i've disappointed you twice now." fanny looked devastated as. her head dropped in shame and she dropped her hammer into the dirt and fell to her knees. "i couldn't stop him. i'm not strong outside of my workshop shield. plus, there wasn't anything i could have done."

i dropped to my knees next to her and put my arm around her. "no, fanny, don't blame yourself. i'm not disappointed. it was wrong of me to ask you to do something i couldn't. i just assumed you had other gifts besides healing. it was my fault." i wrapped my arms around her and comforted the older woman.

"i was coming to tell you that i found the information you asked me about. i didn't think you wanted to wait until morning so i was going to leave a message at your home. i was on my way when i heard his voice. i would recognize that voice anywhere, although he wasn't speaking with an accent. i hung back in the shadows to be sure and when i saw him, i knew it was him."

"what did you find out?" i asked.

"well, i was right about the fake name." she ruffled in her apron pocket and pulled out a much worn, yellowed piece of paper. "the order was placed by a balto varen from thunder valley. that man was definitely him except that when he spoke with me he wore a wig and spoke with an accent." fanny stood up and i walked with her as we headed to the closest entrance to the jesai home. we parted ways and i told her to come by if she remembered any more information for me. heading up the stairs to the main room door, i opened it to find that the place was quiet, empty.

was i gone so long that everyone had departed and gone to sleep? that's when it hit me. i had forgotten about mona. she was a traitor, in league with her father. i flew up the stairs as fast, or should i say as slow, as my wobbly legs let me and burst through the observatory door. what i saw left me speechless. the room was destroyed.

chapter 26

furniture was broken, tables overturned with food spilled all over the floor. what looked like either blood or wine was splashed across the marble walls. people were lying in heaps on the floor. i saw berry's body lying protectively over avina.

crying in fear, i stumbled through the room and knelt down to them, touching their skin. it was warm. in fact it was too warm. and that's when i saw berry's eyes wide with fear blink at me.

she was alive! i moved berry's hair aside and saw that avina was alive and well too. they were only paralyzed. avina tried to speak through frozen lips.

"shhh, shhh. it's going to be all right." i tried to comfort them. "it will wear off in a while and then you will be good as new. i promise." i knew all too well the emotions they must be feeling. first it would be fear and helplessness, followed later by anger.

standing up, i surveyed the rest of the room and damage. i checked every guest in the room and all of them were no worse for wear. a few bumps and bruises; a couple cuts and scrapes as some guests were unlucky enough to fall on glass. but everyone was in the same condition; paralyzed, but alive. had mona done this? what had happened after i had left?

hemi, joss, nero, gloria, darren and mona were unaccounted for. i tried to reassure everyone that was still in the room that i would be back in a moment and began a hunt for the missing jesai family. it wasn't until i had checked in gloria's room that i found them. they were mostly unharmed.

what surprised me the most was that mona was gagged and tied up in a corner of the room. she had been tossed there like a bag of rotten potatoes. joss had a fat lip, and nero sported a bruised cheek. both of them were sitting on either side of gloria's bed, clasping her hands. darren stood guard over mona and kept giving her disgusted looks. as soon as hemi saw me, he rushed over and picked me up, giving me a large hug. he then crushed my wrist within his large hand and held on for dear life as if he were afraid i would disappear again on him.

"what happened?" i asked. my voice sounded loud in the near silent room.

joss glanced at me but looked away from me in shame, refusing to make eye contact. nero's shoulders were shaking as if he was crying.

it was darren who finally answered me. "we aren't really sure what happened. one minute we were happy and celebrating, and then the next we were all fighting amongst ourselves like dogs. i can barely remember who started it. but i think it was meant as a distraction. only i don't know how it happened or why." darren gave a seething look at mona before looking over to gloria again.