Fallen One (Book three of Alfireán age)

- Obsolete Junk? -

"Whoa, this sure is a mess," Rex said, coughing and waving his hand in front of his face.

"Ya," Zaphaniea sputtered, trying to blowback the dust with a wind spell only to stir up more. "But if they wanted a skylight, this sure was the way to go," she said pointing at the gaping hole in the roof.

Olivia glanced up at the hole caused by flying debris which had ripped through the above floors and crashed out through the side of the building. At one time, the structure appeared to have been over four stories tall, she noted, but after the attack, most of the upper floors had been smashed away. Now multiple, narrow beams of foggy light filtered down through the gaping fissure and into the shadowy room.

Alf stepped forward, raised his hand, and a bright light flooded the shop.

"Wow," Rex whistled. "What in the world is all this stuff?" he asked staring wide-eyed at the bizarre paraphernalia hanging off the walls and crowding the shelves and floor.

Olivia gazed at the space in wonder. Through the years, she and Harold had procured similar-looking contraptions, but never to this extent. If only I could gather all of this, she thought glancing over at Alf's chest where the medallion hung.

"It's old-world tech," Zaphaniea said in surprise as she made her way over to one of the shelves and grabbed what looked like a silver robotic dog.

"Indeed," the prince answered. Ignoring the mess, he weaved through the crowded aisles and swiftly made his way to the far side of the store. "The spy who oversaw this place was quite the enthusiast. As it turns out, his passion served as the perfect cover for him to scour the globe and stick his nose in all sorts of places."

The sound of rustling fabric sounded in Olivia's ears and she turned to see Pony kneel down. She picked up a curved object with a flat bottom and several buttons on top. "What's this?" the maid asked curiously as she clicked on one of the two flat buttons located at the front of the silver device.

Olivia stepped over several pieces of debris and leaned closer to get a better look. "I don't know," she answered, her curiosity piqued as she peered closely at the hand-sized object made out of plastic—a substance that was now mostly obsolete thanks to advanced earth magic and magical gems.

Pony glanced up and over at Drake with expectant eyes as if he could unravel the mystery.

The prince looked back, shrugged, and continued strolling over to the far left wall where a wooden shelf had been ripped away. Shadows played across his face while he knelt down among the rubble. Picking up the shelf, Drake tilted it backward and frowned at a shattered green gem attached to the backside of the broken display case, then stood back up. "Alf, Rex, could you two remove this wall for me?"

"Sure," Rex said punching his right hand into his left palm. "Physically or magically?"

"Carefully," Drakovian answered, clearing away several objects in their path. "Without its proper opening, the tunnel may have a self-detonation security feature."

The vice-champion frowned in disappointment. "Figures," he said as he and Alf moved over to the wall and Olivia smiled to herself. Although she hadn't known Rex long, it was apparent the champion liked to make a big splash and do things in a colorful manner. That was probably one of the reasons he and Zaphaniea got along so well.

"So what do you guys think it is?" Pony asked, still insistent on discovering what the mysterious item was. She held the electronic device up for her sisters to see while Alf placed his hand on the back wall.

"It's locked," Alf said a moment later as Scarlet shrugged and continued to dig through a pile of old-world paperbacks she'd found in one of the corners.