It was one of the few Commands that I knew I could use with any chance of success.
I often used it to find missing socks and such, and it only required that I have in my possession, the other half of the pair.
The idea behind the Reunite Command was fairly simple. That which belongs together tends to want to link up with its mate, even if that missing mate, or mates, are out of sight, or even hiding in plain view.
The implications of this Reunite Command for missing children and spouses was well-known, suggesting that, at least in the realm of magik, love and socks had much in common.
Unfortunately, this time around, it did not work as it should.
The book in my hand did not try to lead me to any of its brethren, nor did it make any minuscule half-hearted attempt to follow my command.
It did nothing, in fact.
Talk about embarrassing.
I stood there with the book raised in the air, looking more and more foolish as it remained stationary, like that proverbial bump on a log (in which case, I was the log and it was the bump).
Simon giggled.
I gave him the death stare.
"Well—that explains it." Corwin sighed and threw his hands up.
"I did say she was a powerful mage," Connor uttered.
"Pshaw," Simon cackled with glee. "She can't even get a simple Command like Reunite to work."
Corwin turned and glared at the younger mage. "Do you understand the reason why the book didn't follow her Command? Because it couldn't. It is the ONLY one of its kind within the magik's sphere of command, that's why.
Connor clucked his tongue. "Yeah Simon. If we'd just stop to think for a few seconds and searched magikally, instead of tearing up this place trying to look for something that's not physically here, we would have known immediately."
I pressed my lips together and turned to stare at the floor. Corwin and Connor had both come to my defense.
"And now we have to clean up this big mess," Corwin sighed and began putting the books and scrolls back into the shelves that he had so recently pulled off.
Simon winced as he began to help the twins with the clean-up process.
"Does this mean whoever took the books from us has absconded with them and they're gone forever?" Simon asked.
"I'm not going to say forever," Connor slid another book back onto the shelf, "and I don't think anyone absconded with them because they had been ordered and delivered to the right place."
"That place however, is obviously not here within this long-forgotten room. You all had obviously walked through a portal to another classroom somewhere and delivered it to an actual group of students."
"But as long as we have this book," Corwin continued without missing a beat, "there's a good chance we will find the other books before they fall into the wrong hands. However," he looked up from his tidying,
"whoever has those books will be faced with the same issue we are facing now, namely the inability to unseal the book, which means..." he turned to me, a new concern growing in his eyes, "Nana's in danger because—"
"She could be kidnapped by any means and forcibly used to gain access to the books," Corwin chimed in, finishing his brother's sentence.
They glanced at each other with full understanding.
"Looks like we'll have to keep an eye out for you, Nana." Simon spoke up from behind the twins. He stood up, his stack of books and papers neatly put away. "Can't have you disappearing on us."
Despite the fact that I was about to lose much of my freedoms, I nodded my acceptance, grateful for the offers of protection.
We had just finished de-cluttering the classroom when we heard a quiet knocking.
The twins glanced at each other. The only person who knew we were here was Blackstone.
Connor, who was closest to the entrance, went to the door and touched his forehead to the wooden panel sensing for the aura signature of the person outside.
"It's Uncle Blackstone. Guess he can't get in without help either," Connor said as he pulled the door open.
"Uncle." He greeted with a nod.
"Good morning young mages." Dean Blackstone said as he levitated into the room, waving about a short chunky Mage's Staff.
I stared at him, not sure whether to laugh out loud or groan with despondency.
Gone was the comical ostentatious garment and bright red ermine robe. Gone was that infernal pipe with its magenta colored smoke that he loved to chew on.
In its place was a dwarf-sized black body suit similar to the ones the twins wore, and on his feet, a pair of neon green high-tops.
The same outfit that looked beast and hot on the tall ripped twins just looked pathetic on the dwarf Blackstone.
"What's up, Dean?" Simon asked the one question on all our minds.
He turned and gave Simon an odd unfocused stare, "Simon, have you talked to your friend Torrence Edinger, lately?"
"Tory?" Simon tilted his head, his blue eyes widening with sudden concern. "The last time I saw him was right after we helped Nana carry the books to this classroom. Why? What's going on with Tory?"
Dean Blackstone turned steely eyes at Simon. "Torrence has disappeared. His summer school teacher has not seen him for two days. His roommate said he did not come back to the dorm room at all during the last couple of days, and he has not been answering his mobile phone."
The Dean sighed. "We called his family, hoping he was with them, but they have not heard from him either. They thought he was just busy at the dorm and didn't have a chance to call them back."
Simon looked at Dean Blackstone, horrified.
Blackstone shook his head. "I was hoping you might know of what may have befallen him since you and your fellow classmates were the last to have seen him but it looks as if you do not know either."
"Did you try looking for him magikally?" Corwin asked.
Dean Blackstone glared at him. "Do you think me an imbecile? It was the first thing I tried."
"Several other professors at the Academy tried various methods to locate him as well, but if a mage does not want to be found, there are several very effective methods to erase magikal trails, and remove one's aura from the known universe."
Simon frowned. "I don't think Tory would know how to do that. He's just not all that bright."
Dean Blackstone scratched his forehead. "It is quite advanced magik and not usually taught to students at the high school level, but it is also possible someone who knows how to execute one of these Commands could have put one on him, with or without his knowledge."
He shook his head and sighed. "However, it's not the only problem we have."
Connor and Corwin looked up at the Dean and then at each other.
"Almost half of the Academy's staff primates have been taken. I have a feeling it is linked to Tory's disappearance. Find the primates and you will find the boy."
I banged my hand over my forehead. "How can anyone lose more than half of the Academy's worker apes?"
"They aren't lost. They've been taken," Dean Blackstone corrected.
"By whom?" I gasped. My mind zeroed in on Tarzan. "The apes are smart. They wouldn't just follow anybody unless that person gave a magikal Command that they have no way to fight against."
"You are correct in your assessment, young lady. It was an inside job done by a group of Overlords that had been commandeered by a certain high level group," Dean Blackstone confirmed.
"The Mage Elites?" Connor asked.
Dean Blackstone nodded. "We have reason to believe it was the Mage Elites who pulled off this heist. I believe they have commandeered the Overlords and taken the staff primates."
"I saw a group of Mage Elites on Thursday wearing black suits and dark sunglasses. They were checking out the dinning hall." Simon spoke up.
Dean Blackstone nodded. "Yes, that group was there to round up the Kitchen Primates. If it hadn't been for Inanna's quick thinking the other day, every single Primate Worker would have been taken."
He shook his head sadly. "The Elites were here at the invitation of various heads of the Council of Mages to assist with solving a few anomalous magikal situation, but unfortunately, they had their own agenda, and part of that agenda involved the theft of our primate work force."
"Thank heavens Nana sent all the Primates back to the Primate Compound." Blackstone heaved a sigh of relief. "I had Cob Morton stake down the stronghold. He kept them under a protection bubble so they wouldn't be taken away like the Guardian Primates had been."
"Wait, Professor Blackstone," I held up a hand. "When did the Guardian Primates get taken?"
"Monday was the day we held the vote. Tuesday morning, the majority of the Guardian Primates had been rounded up. We were on the hunt for them, but they had been hidden by magik so we couldn't locate them. By Wednesday there wasn't even the markings of magik used to hide them. They had completely disappeared."
"Ahhhh," I whistled. "That was why Professor Morton sent me to check on the Kitchen and the Gardening Primates on Tuesday. That was the day he was looking for the missing Guardian Primates!"
"Yes. Your presence helped stabilize those two groups greatly. None of the Overlords dared to do anything outside the ordinary with you checking up on everything."
"Me? I was just…"
"Inanna. You are one of only four Overlord Generals. One of you Generals was murdered by a Mage Elite. I think you know him. His name was Philip Mars."
My eyes misted over. Poor Philip. "Oh my God! The Gardening Primate Overlord. But wait a moment, I was there on Tuesday around noon…"
"It was a good thing you showed up at that time and sent the primates back down to the Primate Compound or they too would have been taken away. We know that the Construction Primates and the Gardening Primates were their next target."
"How did…how---why did they kill Philip?"
"It was because he resisted when they wanted to take the Gardening Primates away. The murdering scums shoved his body into the temple at the top of the Commons Garden. We didn't find him until Tuesday night, after we combed the area looking for the Guardian Primates."
"No wonder Professor Morton looked so…"
"Pathetic?" Professor Blackstone sneered. "After fighting me tooth and claw for a week, he was finally convinced about the debauchery of the Mage Elites, and only because half the Primate Workers he had worked so hard to nurture and develop had been stolen away."
Blackstone looked livid. "I sent him to the compound and made him stay there to keep a watch on the remaining primates that hadn't been taken away, but it was almost too late."
"So if we know it was the Mage Elites who took the primates, why don't we just go to where they are and take the primates back?" Corwin scratched his head.
"Would that it be that simple…" Blackstone grimace. "The entire kidnapped primate group has vanished into thin air. Nobody knows where they went."
"Auratic scans?"
"None."
"So the Mage Elites all disappeared?" Connor's eyes widened.
"No, a large faction of them are still here, and because of Houses that have either fallen or defected, there are more of them now than ever before."
"Are you fighting against the Mage Elites at this time?" Simon asked.
"Our people are in place and ready to defend the kingdom, but the boy is a more delicate situation. I do not want him to be an easy target for those who think they might be able use him against us."
Connor whistled.
Dean Blackstone's eyes narrowed with worry. "We have to find them, whatever it takes. I do believe the boy is in grave danger."
Simon's face paled. "I can't believe this is happening to Tory. The last time I spoke to him, I told him to hand his book over to Nana, but he said he was going to find someone who would help him open it."
He rubbed his head in frustration. "I don't know if you can feel it, but this book oozes some kind of strange aura, not the normal kind that everyone has, but a really spooky one. It creeped me out and I didn't want to hang onto it."
"What are you talking about? Nana's got the book in her hand!" Connor exclaimed.
Simon sulked. "Truth is, that day, I wasn't the only one who filched a book. Tory did too."