Dominance

Chapter 24: Deal? Or No Deal?

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"So that's it? Game over?"

"Sorry, Sara. But at least we have one of the two taudogs. It's like Drayton said, maybe we'll find him again in the future?"

Ashlee's voice was sad and she couldn't seem to look at Sara as she spoke. The unlikeliness of that actually happening was clear. 

Tyson said nothing on the subject, still seething. He had removed the bandages from his arm revealing impressive bruising around his wrist that consisted of shades of purple and black.

Sara felt hollow. She crushed her fingernails into her palms and looked back at the group with determination in her eyes.

"No. We can't accept that." Sara said firmly. "I'm going to make a deal with Aleron and Ashton."

"What?" Ashlee seemed surprised by Sara's determination.

"They said they could help us find Sparkie if I agreed to help them."

"How are they going to help us though? Plus, how can you be sure this deal is not going to bite us in the arse?" Ashlee hesitantly replied.

Sara followed Ashlee as she continued her rounds to check and re-power her magical seals. They were fascinating, oddly pretty intricate symbols plastered against the outer walls of the building.

Twister had refused to hold Sara's hand, so she had gripped around his wrist instead. Although his expression was like a pouting toddler being towed along, he was looking much better. His stomach was probably sloshing uncomfortably from all that soup Lilian had insisted he devour in one sitting. But the colour had returned to his face and his demeanor was steadier.

Twister would just have to suck it up. Once he was better, Sara would let go of her insistent hold on him. Then he could pretend this never happened if that's what made him sleep better at night.

Tyson had been told to stop antagonizing Twister about the situation, but they still continued to come to blows with silent expressions. It was approaching midday now and the sky was clear. But the temperature was still brisk which caused Sara's cheeks to flush.

"Well, I'm not sure how it works exactly," Sara admitted. "But Ashton mentioned a tracking spell. And you've already seen that Ashton or Aleron can do that transporting thing with the crystals they have." Sara shrugged as she guessed the suggestions. 

Ashlee gave Sara an unconvinced gaze before she covered her chin in thought. Some of the strange, green, chalky paint-like substance she was using to refresh the spell circles smeared against her face.

"Can either of them do what they're offering, though? Tracking spells are forbidden and not easy to do. Ignoring that fact, you need a heavily enchanted crystal and also an extremely powerful enchanter to control it. And even if they could, it requires blood or hair or something of that nature of the living subject. Taudogs are a weird species that don't leave usable remains for spells like that. So how are we supposed to even make that work?"

Twister moved swiftly to put some distance between them the moment Sara let go of her grip on him. She pulled up an overly long length of the pant leg, kicked off one of her filthy sneakers, and held it up. Atop the toe of the shoe, some blood had smeared and soaked into the fabric.

"Do you think they could use this?" She asked confidently.

"Um, ew. Whose blood is that?" Ashlee asked with repulsion in her tone.

"Shale's." Sara grinned proudly. "I kicked him so hard that I broke his face."

"Nice!" Tyson remarked humoured by the deed.