Plot Summary
When Toki and Kita return to the Kaita village with their younger sisters and Mara, they are planning on a peaceful vacation with their friends. However, it isn't long before trouble stirs up for the Keyholders -- and Llania may be pulling the strings.
Preview
They were about to turn off from the wooded trail onto the dirt road when Reka suddenly veered away and stooped down to examine something in the grass.
“What’s up?” Kita asked, curiously trying to peek around him.
Toki, too, came over to see what had caught his attention. Reka was holding a metal object about the size of a quarter that had a small, netted pattern like a microphone in the palm of his hand. “What is that?”
Reka’s face darkened. “It’s part of a communicator.”
“What’s the hold-up?” Sharon called ahead as she and the others joined them on the dirt path.
Reka showed them the piece of equipment in his hand. “A communication device,” he repeated for the others. “It’s standard issue for the Llanian Guard.”
“It’s so tiny!” Shiori commented in awe.
“Why would somethin’ like that be around here?” Sharon pondered aloud.
“Maybe it was left over from when the village was occupied?” Kita guessed.
“No, it’s fresh,” Reka said grimly. “Too clean.”
Takeshi’s eyes widened with fear. “Are you saying…?”
“Let’s not panic yet,” Sharon said. “There’s no need to worry the village over what could just be some visitor’s gadget.”
“Sharon, nobody in the Water Gate has this kind of technology,” Mara reasoned.
“Travel between the Gates is tightly restricted right now. There are guards at all of the regular portals that connect to the Fire Gate. If someone from Llania did get through, as Reka is suggesting, it would be considered an act of open hostility,” Takeshi said urgently. “We have to alert the Kaita village!”
