Un2talented (Book 3 of the Un2 Series)

“Why is this taking so long? Where in the hell is he?”

Shorty paced the cavern floor like an expectant father.

“He hasn’t been gone but fifteen minutes. Calm down before you pop something!” Lanky took him by the arm and sat him down on the edge of the wagon. Lenny took a seat alongside him and motioned for all to gather around him.

“Now that Dorian is out of earshot, we need to discuss the possibility of things going sideways.”

Gary released a low growl.

“I understand,” Lenny reassured, “but we need to be prepared.”

“Be prepared for what?” Leslie balked.

“We need to be ready in case someone or something unexpected comes back through the portal.”

“Like what?”

“We are holding open a doorway to the underworld. Anything down there can find its way up here. We need to engage the safeguard.”

Shorty furrowed his brow. “You make it sound like there’s something already in place.”

“Do you think that the ancients would create a portal to the underworld without having some sort of system for keeping the undesirables underground? Of course, there is something in place!” Lenny rose and walked to the nearest overturned gimbal and righted the vessel. “It involves the vessels.”

“Ugh! More water stuff?” Shorty groaned.

“No, but it does involve earth, wind, and fire.”

Shorty opened his mouth to speak and was immediately cut short by Lanky.

“No, he doesn’t mean the band!” He turned to Lenny. “You don’t, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” Lenny chuckled. “The ‘earth’ that we need can come from the cavern floor. The ‘wind’ and ‘fire’ will be provided by this.”

He walked to the lectern and pulled a panel from its side. He shook his head with dismay.

“I should have known that time would not be friendly to them.”

Lenny withdrew the withered maroon plumes of ancient feathers. “Fortunately, we have a source of replenishment. Which of you want to return to the aviary and gather five Phoecock tailfeathers?”

“We’ll go,” Lanky pulled Shorty to his feet. “It will give us something to do other than sit and fidget.”

“Thank you.”

“Do they have to be anything special or just ones we find lying around?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as they have the eye marking on them. Do you know what I mean?”

“Could you possibly mean the thing that looks like an eye? Duh!” Shorty quipped sarcastically.

Lanky glared at Shorty.

“Sorry, I’m a bit on edge,” Shorty sighed.

“No worries. I get it. Go quickly. We’ll watch over things here,” Lenny nodded. The henchmen headed up and out of the cavern.

“What now?” Leslie asked.

“We wait and keep watch.”

Reese rolled her head and raised her arms in a stretch then twisted her torso from side to side. “It feels weird to not be wearing the breastplate. I’ve only been wearing it for centuries!”

“You’re putting a lot of faith in Dorian,” Joey said.

“I. I mean we, needed to let someone else try. We were burning ourselves out both physically and emotionally.”

Gary brushed up against Reese’s legs and she bent down and hugged him around his neck.

“I’ve missed you guys so much!” Reese scratched behind Gary’s ear. “How long has it been, anyway?”

“For us? We last saw you about two or three days ago. What’s it been for you?” Leslie asked.

“Ugh, Joey and I have been through so many attempts at rescuing Sunny and Danny. Some of them ran for days. Some weeks. If you total everything up it could be years.”

“Reese has told me so much about you guys. About how we all are a family. I know this will sound kind of weird, but I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

Joey extended his hand, but Leslie pushed it aside and pulled him in for a hug. Reese wrapped her arms around both. After they parted Leslie asked hesitantly, “What happens to them, Sunny and Danny? You don’t have to say if it is too painful.”

“We find Sunny safe and at home. She’s a little worse for wear, but overall, she’s okay. Danny, on the other hand, repeatedly dies trying to save Joey’s sister. You know Danny, always thinking with his heart before his head. Now we are trying to find a way back to a place where we can avoid the events that led to his death. Each avenue we try ends up intertwined with Dorian and Cadence’s lifelines. Joey and I thought that helping them to resolve their conflict might lead to saving Danny.”

“I hope it also saves my sister, Jayne,” Joey added.

“Well, if saving Danny means saving that cun…”

“…cunningly despicable individual!” Joey interrupted.

“Then we shall save her as well,” Reese finished. “All I know is that we haven’t been able to access the lifeline that has the ending we need. It may be that we cannot access it because it isn’t under our control. It may lay with Dorian or Cadence or even DeLeon for that matter.”

“Are you prepared to face DeLeon if and when he returns?” Lenny asked.

“DeLeon is a morally bankrupt asshole, but nothing more. He isn’t a monster out to get us. He’s just in it for himself and doesn’t care who he hurts along the way. Don’t get me wrong,” Reese chuckled, “he let Danny die. Once I get Danny back, I’m gonna introduce my foot to his balls hard enough to wedge them into his eye sockets!”

All the guys twinged.

“That’s pretty charitable, all things considered!” Leslie gulped.

“There’s work to be done whilst waiting for the Lanky and Shorty to return with the tailfeathers. We should get to it,” Lenny suggested. “The first thing we need to do is set the vessels upright and fill them with earth.”

The group set about righting and filling the urns.

“Lenny, what are we doing, exactly?” Leslie asked.

“We have used the trammel to wedge the portal open which leaves it vulnerable. There are all kinds of things that might try to come to the surface. We are encircling the portal with a protective net that will snare unwanted entities if they should try to pass into our realm.”

“And we’re going to do this using dirt and feathers?” Joey doubted.

“Very much so,” Lenny responded without hesitation. “This ancient method of protection has been used by civilizations for eons. You’re probably most familiar with the version developed by the Ojibwe that’s commonly called a ‘dreamcatcher’. A web catches and holds the evil while the feathers guide the good to its destination. We’re making a big one of those.”