Read Online The Heart of the Phoenix by Brian Knight - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Brian Knight
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eclipsed.
“Does it get confusing when a lot of people are around? I think I’d get motion sickness if I was looking through a dozen sets of eyes.”
“No… the more the better. I have extra brains to process the extra information.”
The girls answered this latest claim with silence.
“Just because I kind of look like you doesn’t make me human.” He illustrated this point by letting slip a half dozen waving dreadlocks from beneath his fez, one of which twirled a wand. “I evolved differently from you.”
“What from, a squid?” Katie spoke in a near whisper, which Erasmus heard clearly.
“That’s rich coming from a semi-evolved primate.”
Penny interrupted the bickering before it could evolve into a fully-fledged argument.
“You do have eyes though. I saw them when we were fighting, right before you hypnotized me.” She paused for a moment to consider. “Is that what they’re for?”
“I didn’t hypnotize you… I only borrowed your brain for a moment.” He shrugged. “And I gave it back in roughly the same condition I found it.”
“That’s why you wear dark glasses,” Ellen almost shouted, as if pleased to have solved the mystery. “So you’re not accidentally borrowing people’s brains all the time.”
Katie laughed. “Don’t be stupid.”
“It’s more of a problem than you’d think,” Erasmus said. “It comes in handy from time to time, but people do get angry when they’ve got them back.”
Ellen favored a stunned Katie with a superior smirk.
“And the cane?” Penny asked, already half-convinced she knew the answer.
Erasmus tapped the red tip of the white cane sharply against the ground, and it began to shrink, shortening into a white wand with a glowing red tip. “I don’t have to explain blindfolds or dark glasses to the simians if they think I’m blind.”
“So, if you’re not human, what are you?” Katie asked.
“Wait,” Ellen said, “did you just call us simians?”
Erasmus ignored Ellen’s question and considered Katie’s for a moment.
“We’ve never been self-important enough to name ourselves, but where I come from everyone else calls us South Island Monks.” He shook his wand and extended it to cane-length again and boosted himself up onto his stool. “My entire race emerged, evolved, and developed our society on one large island off the southern coast of Gallia. The other races used to come to us seeking the storied wisdom of the South Island Monks, but very few of us ever leave the island.”
Erasmus grinned widely, a toothy display that took up more of his face than it should have. “I’m the black sheep of my family.”
In the brief lull following Erasmus’s predatory grin, Penny remembered her most pressing question and sprang it. “How do you know Ronan?”
Erasmus laughed. He laughed until he slid off the stool again.
“That is a long story, and for another day. I think we’re done for today, girls.” He held up a small mirror, identical to the ones they all carried. “Ronan told me about your adventures with my Conjuring Glass and supplied me with this, so I’ll be in touch.”
“ Your Conjuring Glass?” Penny planted her hands on her hips and planted her feet firmly to brace for an argument. “I took it from the Birdman. It’s mine.”
“And he took it from me,” Erasmus said. “Along with all the other relics Ronan tracked down.”
At this revelation, Penny forgot her irritation. “What?”
“All those doorknobs?” Katie held up her own mirror. “These?”
Ellen resumed her pacing and failed to look interested.
“You can hold on to the Conjuring Glass for now,” Erasmus conceded. “Just be careful. That thing’s not a toy.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “I haven’t broken it yet.”
“If I thought you could break it I would give you my blessing to try. Just be careful it doesn’t break you.”
* * *
The rest of Penny’s day passed in the usual monotonous blur of activity. She helped
“Does it get confusing when a lot of people are around? I think I’d get motion sickness if I was looking through a dozen sets of eyes.”
“No… the more the better. I have extra brains to process the extra information.”
The girls answered this latest claim with silence.
“Just because I kind of look like you doesn’t make me human.” He illustrated this point by letting slip a half dozen waving dreadlocks from beneath his fez, one of which twirled a wand. “I evolved differently from you.”
“What from, a squid?” Katie spoke in a near whisper, which Erasmus heard clearly.
“That’s rich coming from a semi-evolved primate.”
Penny interrupted the bickering before it could evolve into a fully-fledged argument.
“You do have eyes though. I saw them when we were fighting, right before you hypnotized me.” She paused for a moment to consider. “Is that what they’re for?”
“I didn’t hypnotize you… I only borrowed your brain for a moment.” He shrugged. “And I gave it back in roughly the same condition I found it.”
“That’s why you wear dark glasses,” Ellen almost shouted, as if pleased to have solved the mystery. “So you’re not accidentally borrowing people’s brains all the time.”
Katie laughed. “Don’t be stupid.”
“It’s more of a problem than you’d think,” Erasmus said. “It comes in handy from time to time, but people do get angry when they’ve got them back.”
Ellen favored a stunned Katie with a superior smirk.
“And the cane?” Penny asked, already half-convinced she knew the answer.
Erasmus tapped the red tip of the white cane sharply against the ground, and it began to shrink, shortening into a white wand with a glowing red tip. “I don’t have to explain blindfolds or dark glasses to the simians if they think I’m blind.”
“So, if you’re not human, what are you?” Katie asked.
“Wait,” Ellen said, “did you just call us simians?”
Erasmus ignored Ellen’s question and considered Katie’s for a moment.
“We’ve never been self-important enough to name ourselves, but where I come from everyone else calls us South Island Monks.” He shook his wand and extended it to cane-length again and boosted himself up onto his stool. “My entire race emerged, evolved, and developed our society on one large island off the southern coast of Gallia. The other races used to come to us seeking the storied wisdom of the South Island Monks, but very few of us ever leave the island.”
Erasmus grinned widely, a toothy display that took up more of his face than it should have. “I’m the black sheep of my family.”
In the brief lull following Erasmus’s predatory grin, Penny remembered her most pressing question and sprang it. “How do you know Ronan?”
Erasmus laughed. He laughed until he slid off the stool again.
“That is a long story, and for another day. I think we’re done for today, girls.” He held up a small mirror, identical to the ones they all carried. “Ronan told me about your adventures with my Conjuring Glass and supplied me with this, so I’ll be in touch.”
“ Your Conjuring Glass?” Penny planted her hands on her hips and planted her feet firmly to brace for an argument. “I took it from the Birdman. It’s mine.”
“And he took it from me,” Erasmus said. “Along with all the other relics Ronan tracked down.”
At this revelation, Penny forgot her irritation. “What?”
“All those doorknobs?” Katie held up her own mirror. “These?”
Ellen resumed her pacing and failed to look interested.
“You can hold on to the Conjuring Glass for now,” Erasmus conceded. “Just be careful. That thing’s not a toy.”
Penny rolled her eyes. “I haven’t broken it yet.”
“If I thought you could break it I would give you my blessing to try. Just be careful it doesn’t break you.”
* * *
The rest of Penny’s day passed in the usual monotonous blur of activity. She helped
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