Available Darkness Season 2

places Shadow had at his disposal. As many as Larry? More?
    John asked, “What is this place?”
    “My last resort,” Shadow said. “I can’t trust that no one knows ‘bout it, but at least I have a head start.”
    “Where are you going to go?” John asked.
    “Like I’d tell you.”
    “Fair enough,” John said. “But I need to know about the vessels, please. Shadow, tell me while you get ready.”
    “OK, but pay attention,” Shadow said, “because I’m only saying this once. I need to get the hell outta here.”
    “OK.” John watched Shadow move supplies and wads of cash from smaller bags to a larger one, stuffed with weapons, of this world and John’s.
    “When your mom came over, she was helped by a powerful wizard. The last of his kind, after the Great Purge.” Shadow turned to John. “You know about the Great Purge, right?”
    “Yes,” John nodded. “I’ve read in The Unwritten Tomes .”
    “So, this wizard was taken in by your father when the North initiated the genocide of all magick users within the Northern Realm. Your father appointed the wizard as his realm’s Head Wizard. After he betrayed your father by helping your mother, you, and Caleb escape, Jacob forced him to create a new portal to follow you.”
    Shadow stopped moving boxes and turned his full attention to John.
    “The wizard knew he had to do something before your father came over, too. So he had an apprentice make one last portal, then had the woman kill him and split his soul, spreading it to be stored into six crystals, so he couldn’t be forced to do whatever it was your father would have him to do. The apprentice then came, placed the gems inside five people, or vessels, then sent each of them here. The vessels had no idea what was inside them. Once they came here, their minds were wiped, and they were blended into society never knowing what they were or what they were carrying.”
    John asked, “How the hell is that even possible without anyone knowing?”
    “Because my father organized it on this end. He was the only one on this side the wizard could trust, and in turn, the wizard put the sixth crystal in him. My father was so committed to keeping the secret, he killed everyone who helped. The only person who knew anything on this side was him. He hid his secret until he was dying. He said I had to take the gem from his body before anyone found it, then told me there was a list of the other vessels, which he’d written in the Old Language, just in case.”
    “In case of what?”
    “I don’t know, in case all hell broke loose on Earth.”
    John held up a finger. “Wait a second. If this wizard was so ‘all-powerful,’ why didn’t he just go after my father and kill him?”
    “Because your father had infected him years before. He controlled enough of the wizard to prevent him from ever harming your father. It was surprising that he’d been able to help your mother escape without your father finding out beforehand.”
    “Shit,” John said. “So, where is the list?”
    “Do you think I’m just gonna give it to you?”
    “What choice do you have? You think you can keep it safe after your people betrayed you?”
    “How do I know you won’t turn it over to Omega? If my father didn’t trust them, why the hell should I?”
    “Because I’m not them, and I would never let them have the list.”
    “Yeah, what if they use your woman as leverage? They obviously earned your devotion enough for you to betray your people for a year. What’s a little thing like a list?”
    “I don’t know what to say to change your mind,” John sighed. “But I do know one thing: If Jacob is after you, then he will find you. What happens when he gets the list?”
    “I imagine he’ll go after the crystals and get them, one way or another. If he gets them all, my father said the wizard’s soul, and his power, can be brought back and either absorbed by someone, like Jacob, or another host. Whoever brings him back, will have all of his power and knowledge.”
    John sighed, “Then you need to give that list to me.”
    “What are you going to do with it, John?”
    “We destroy it. With the list gone, no one has the power, right? Everyone on the list is protected. Nobody, on either side of the war, will ever find the crystals.”
    “I don’t know,” Shadow said, then fell into silence.
    “What?” John said. Shadow stared, his expression slightly off.
    Shadow wasn’t moving. He was frozen in place, mid-thought.