Chapter 5

Viridis Company

The Stone Round

Luca Dirac reached a spot near the center of a circle of old stone arches and stopped by a low bench.  The circle was unfinished or damaged by age, some columns missing or perhaps never raised at all.  Kenley followed him, taking her moment to say goodbye to one of the dragons - its name escaped him. Her hopeful plan had failed.  The dragons didn't retrieve Jay Lombardo or any other random Lombardo so here they were.  He avoided looking at her empty eyes and swept the empty meadow with what power he did have which was all they had left. 

Luca called out a name, drew a symbol on the air, and the air moved. Yellow light followed his hand, rising, falling.  If he was able to succeed in calling someone from this place, what would he get?  Helpful, hostile, simply detached?  

The same light blinked by the nearest of the old columns, and a man appeared.  He was elderly, wore a pair of black casual pants and a sports coat, a crew neck sweater, and boots, the style of clothing worn by a man of more than moderate means back in the Crossing. He smiled at them, and said, "Hello Luca, Kenley, it's good to see both of you."

Don Lombardo, Gabe's father.  He had done it.

"And you, Don. Thank you for responding, I know you didn't have to."

There was a long quiet moment as Don turned his attention completely to Kenley.  "Pirene?" 

She touched her face, her eyes, in what might be a sorrowful gesture in someone else but it was simply an acknowledgement. Pirene's attempt to force her through pain and fear to give them what they wanted had not given them what they wanted at all. Her eyesight was far more than adequate. Her personality had changed somewhat, but he could live with what they created. The love hadn't changed.

"Yes," she said.

He nodded. He'd been a renowned surgeon but of course he'd never encountered anything like what had been done to Kenley.

"Don," Luca said to him, "Kenley and I were working on that physics problem I discussed with you years ago, something I thought would create enough energy to fold back space and open dimensions.  It works, but it's not stable, I'm missing an element.  I need...well I need a Lombardo, a living one."

The old man shook his head although he looked sympathetic.  "You can't get home, can you. Why come to me for help?"

"Gabe. Kenley let him through.  He's here.  I can use him if I can find him."

"Gabe.  Ah, I see.  You mean if he'll agree to let you use him even if you find him."  His relationship with his son had not been good.  "He wasn't fond of the countryside.  You're wasting your time here."

Luca shook his head.  "Gabe told Kenley he would meet her at Twelfth Street.  He was literally halfway through the cut when he said it so we think it was more than a casual 'later'.  What does that mean?"

Don shook his head.  "It's something he shared with Camilla when they were teens.  I think it's more like a myth than a real place, something about going to the end of the world to hang out, that sort of thing.  If he gave it to you deliberately, he meant it as a reference to something similar but the only one who might know what the original looked like would be Camilla herself."

Luca knew there was no way he could interrogate Camilla of all people about something she'd shared with Gabe, of all people as well.

"Thanks, I'll try to come up with something," he said because he wanted to sound grateful.  It seemed hopeless.

Lights began to sparkle.  Luca was losing his hold on the man and had no idea if he could get him back or when or what it would take, and he suddenly had an idea.  

"Fiona can do what I just did.  If she attempts to reach you the way I've done, can you reach back to her?  Can I come with you?  I know she'll be looking for us.  I can try to give her something to use and maybe she can talk to Camilla."

He shrugged.  "We could try."  He looked at Kenley again.  "Kenley, after what happened in Pirene you have more power than Luca - in that sense it backfired on them. If we try this, you should be the one to come with me."

"If  Jay is with her," she said in a very still, steady voice, "I can communicate with him.  Fiona may have him by now."

The old man smiled.  "There wouldn't be much time, but I can see no harm in trying."

A set of stone stairs abruptly appeared behind him, jammed between the columns and rising up into nowhere.  He turned back to them with a small smile.  "Meet me here again tomorrow, the same time works for me, and let's see what we can accomplish."

They saw him walk halfway up the stairs before they vanished.  Luca hesitantly reached out for her hand, knowing she may refuse to touch him, a response he had come to learn was protective of him, not a rejection.  This time she took his hand and laced her fingers through his.

He took another look around. He could see the dead here, some distant, some possibly dangerous. He tightened his grip on her hand. They'd return tomorrow. After that, who the hell knew.