The Word Guardians: and the Twisting Tales

by Lawrence Yarham

  Orfeo threw a string of words towards Akoni. They circled in the air, forming wider ribbons and wrapping the mirror, dimming the reflection. Akoni dropped the mirror and started to form another, but further ribbons started to wrap around his arms, trapping his hands. Akoni struggled to free himself.

  “You’re just not good enough,” Orfeo added. “You never were. You know it’s true. You’ve always felt unworthy, somehow.”

  Akoni looked at Orfeo in shock. The ground underneath his feet started to darken and dissolve, spiralling away like a dust devil. Akoni lost his footing and slipped downwards. Orfeo took advantage and pulled on the binds wrapping Akoni’s hands. Akoni slid towards him.

  At the wall, the scaled sides of a large sand creature, appeared above ground. A large sand worm moved quickly, arching up and then down. It burrowed underground creating a huge trench and leaving chaos behind it.

  Sam and Yas continued to scramble backwards. Eddie had also scrambled in their direction, but he had not been fast enough. The sand liquefied under his feet and he slid downwards.

  “Eddie!” Yas cried out, seeing what was happening. “We have to help him,” she shouted to Sam.

  Sam begrudgingly agreed.

  “A rope,” Yas said urgently as she looked down at her hands. One began to form, and she quickly threw one end to Eddie, Sam grabbing the other end to help steady the two of them.

  “Grab the rope,” he shouted. “Put it around your neck,” he quipped. He couldn’t help himself.

  “Sam!” Yas admonished.

  Eddie grabbed the rope hesitantly, half expecting Sam to trick him. Then, he started to slide down more. He yelped and grabbed the rope firmly, with both hands, hanging on for dear life. He slipped over the edge and out of sight.

  “Eddie!” shouted Yas in alarm, thinking the worst. Then there was a yank on the rope and she and Sam were both pulled forwards. They scrabbled for grip in the dirt, trying to get a foothold before they were pulled in. Sam managed to dig his heels into the sand and halt their slide.

  On the other side of the creature and unseen by both Yas and Sam, a doorway appeared. Four of Orfeo’s soldiers rushed through and split up. Two grabbed Prana. She kicked and tried to twist free but to no avail. The other two ran over to where Akoni was. He was still struggling against the binds. One of the soldiers hit Akoni, knocking him unconscious, and slung him over his shoulder. The soldiers ran alongside the creature to where Orfeo was.

  The creature disrupted everything around it as it moved. About ten feet across and more than fifty in length, it flexed hundreds of muscles along its flanks, like tiny legs, to pull itself through the sand. Occasionally, the suggestion of a head appeared above ground before it then dived back in, its body moving in a wave formation. As it reached the central structure, the columns around its path gave way and the garden above started to collapse.

  The worm continued forwards, past where Orfeo was standing and crashed into the central structure, then dove downwards into the well.

  Orfeo twisted his hands around, keeping the ground steady that he and his soldiers were standing on, while also forming a raft underneath them. Then he created a harness that stretched forwards and attached to the back of the creature.

  “We’re done here,” he said to his soldiers.

  There was a sudden jolt forwards, and the raft accelerated off, down the slope the worm had created.

  Meanwhile, Yas and Sam were still trying to pull Eddie up.

  “It’s okay,” shouted Eddie from over the ledge. With the creature having moved away, the ground became steady again. Eddie let go of the rope and dropped down into the trench.

  “Eddie?” Yas called out nervously, making her way carefully to the edge.

  “We need to follow them,” shouted Eddie from below, pointing towards the shadows.

  “Where’s…?” asked Sam, looking around for Prana and Akoni.

  “Akoni?” Yas shouted out, hoping he was still there. There was no reply.

  “Orfeo’s taken him,” said Sam, putting two and two together. “And Prana too, I bet.”

  He looked around him, wondering how they were going to be able to catch-up. “Something fast would be handy about now?”

  “How about a flying carpet?” Yas asked rhetorically, remembering the carpet shop she and Sam had seen in Alexandria when they had travelled there together. She held her hands out, holding the image in her mind’s eye. Down in the trench, next to Eddie, a beautiful blue and gold embroidered carpet formed.

  Sam and Yas slid down the side of the trench to join Eddie and they all sat down on the carpet.

  Nothing happened. The rumbling in the ground was becoming fainter by the moment.

  “How do we start it?” asked Eddie.

  “I don’t know,” replied Sam. “Up?” he quipped.

  To his surprise the carpet rose up and hovered about two feet in the air.

  “Holy crap!” he uttered. Then, looking ahead, he pointed. “Follow that worm!” he commanded.

  The carpet accelerated smoothly, hovering just above the ground and steadily gained speed. They shot into the shadows, underneath the crumbling upper structure and down into the underground waterway.

  Meanwhile, at the Palace of Versailles, Janine, Peter, Dai and Kierra had made their way cautiously from the riverbank onto the palace grounds. Actors, portraying aristocrats and members of the palace court, were walking leisurely on the gravel pathways. Gathered around and flowing past them were ethereal readers. Other actors were sat in groups near the lake, with readers hovering around them.

  “Come on,” signalled Janine to the others, as they made their way towards the back of the palace.

  They looked around as they walked, watching for signs of anyone other than actors and readers. With the different storylines playing out around them, it was a challenge.

  Janine and Peter took cover behind trees lining the sides of the path they had been on.

  “How do we get in, d’you think?” Peter asked.

  “There!” pointed Janine, towards a doorway that an actor had just emerged from. He moved away from the building and down the steps onto a gravel path to join another group.

  Peter made to move ahead but Janine grabbed his arm.

  “Hold up,” Janine said, quietly.

  “What?” he asked, puzzled why she was pulling him back. “Let’s go.”

  “We need to get some idea of what to expect first,” she said.

  “I know what to expect,” he said. “There’s actors,” he gestured around them, “and a palace. Let’s go.”

  She gave him a disapproving look indicating that he could be rash at times.

  “I just want to make sure no goons surprise us, like the last time,” she added, to make her point.

  “What?” he replied. “You’re referring to when I got kidnapped?” Previously they had been trying to infiltrate Controllers at a country mansion and Peter had become trapped. “That wasn’t my fault!” he added defensively.

  “You think?” she confirmed, sarcastically. In truth, his kidnapping had shaken her, and she didn’t want to be caught unawares again.

  She looked back to the palace.

  “I can’t see if there’s anyone inside watching us,” she added.

  “So, we move quickly,” suggested Peter.

  “Or we sit and wait a while longer,” sighed Janine. “For a senior police officer, how the hell do you cope on stakeouts?”

  “I cope,” he replied, defensively. “I just feel that time is of the essence here. We need to move while the coast is clear.”

  He looked behind to where Dai and Kierra were crouching. “Cover us?”

  They nodded.

  “Ready?” Peter asked Janine.

  She sighed and nodded reluctantly.

  Peter formed word arrows, ready if needed. Then, in a half crouch, he moved out from the trees and started to run. Janine followed him.

  They covered the ground quickly and arrived at the doors at the
back of the palace. They looked around to make sure that their movement had gone unnoticed before signalling to Dai and Kierra to join them. They waited, watching, while Dai and Kierra sprinted across.

  Safely together at the rear of the palace, they peered through the large glass doors. They could see into a large hallway leading left and right, the Hall of Mirrors.

  Inside, more actors moved around in small groups, talking. Peter opened the door a little to gain a better view inside. They could hear the voices, but not what was being said.

  “What can you see?” asked Janine, peering over Peter’s shoulder.

  “Just actors and readers, as far as I can tell,” he replied.

  “So, where is everyone, then?” Janine asked, rhetorically. “Why is there no-one around?”

  “Maybe they’re off somewhere else?” Peter offered.

  “If it’s so important to them, though,” continued Janine. “You’d think there’d be guards, or something?”

  “Or traps?” added Dai, behind them.

  “True,” agreed Janine.

  “Oh crap!” Peter caught sight of two men moving along the hallway towards them. He pulled back, closing the door quietly and quickly. Janine and Peter moved to one side of the door, Dai and Kierra to the other, each taking cover against the stonework.

  “Who is it?” asked Janine, as quietly as she could.

  “I don’t know,” replied Peter. “But they looked out of place here. Dishevelled. Homeless maybe. But moving in formation. Military like.”

  “Soldiers?” mused Janine. “As in Orfeo’s army? Like Yas, Sam and I saw at the library?”

  They both chanced a glance through the doors. The men had turned and were moving away from them.

  “Looks like they haven’t spotted us,” Peter commented, chancing another glance. “What the?” he said, spotting a portal open for the men to walk through.

  “A doorway?” Dai asked, also having taken a glance. The portal disappeared once the men had stepped through.

  “I wonder where that leads?” asked Janine. “I think we could be onto something.”

  “Yes,” nodded Peter. “I think a closer look is in order, don’t you?” He winked at her, then opened the door and stepped inside.

  “Peter!” exclaimed Janine, exasperated. “Wait!”

  She followed Peter inside. “This was exactly what went wrong when we tried to get to the mansion, remember?”

  He ignored her and continued forwards to where the portal had been.

  “Peter…”

  It was too late though. He had activated the portal and had put his head through.

  Janine moved next to Peter, quietly fuming. “There you go again. Not listening and running into God knows what!”

  He pulled his head out of the portal and smiled at her. “The coast is clear,” he said, cheekily. Then he grabbed her hand and stepped through, pulling her with him before she had a chance to resist. Dai and Kierra followed cautiously.

  They entered a large castle hall, gothic in decoration. On one side sat large arched windows facing onto a partially enclosed courtyard and lake beyond. The outer wall of the castle housed equally large mirrors, the styling matching that of the windows. Large arched doorways at either end of the hall led to similar rooms, shafts of light coming from the windows in each. Columns in each chamber supported the cathedral like ceiling. Small windows high on the walls allowed further shafts of light to stream down. The result was eery. Parts of the chamber near the windows were bathed in light while the remainder had more of an ethereal feel. The hall felt as though it were part crypt, part castle.

  “Where’d the soldiers go?” asked Janine quietly, taking a few steps in either direction to peer into the other rooms.

  “Another doorway, perhaps?” suggested Dai, moving closer to one end of the hall to see further. “I don’t see anything though.”

  Peter joined him. “Let’s tread carefully.”

  “What happened to gung-ho?” Janine quipped sarcastically.

  Peter replied with a look of ‘not now, honey.’

  “Let’s just find what we can quickly, and get out of here before anyone spots us,” he continued.

  They split up and made their way around the chamber as quietly as they could, their footsteps still echoing on the stone ground. They moved tentatively, expecting someone to appear or a trap to be sprung.

  “What d’you think this place is?” asked Dai, wondering aloud.

  “I don’t know,” said Janine, moving to the left and admiring the ornate, stonework on the walls. “It’s a mixture of different cultures,” she added.

  “I don’t like this at all,” replied Kierra, moving across to look at the mirrors. “There’s definitely something creepy here.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out,” reassured Dai, bringing up the rear of the group.

  Peter moved further along, trying to determine if there were other doorways.

  Kierra stopped and stared into a panelled mirror.

  “It’s like there’s something here,” she said, moving her head from side to side. “There’s something odd about the reflection, something missing.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Janine, moving over to join her.

  “Look,” pointed Kierra. She indicated to an area about chest height in one of the panels. “As you move about, it’s not reflecting. It’s like an imperfection in the surface, but it seems flat.” She continued, moving her finger towards it to touch it.

  As she did so, the surface of the mirror bent outwards to meet her finger.

  “Woah!” Kierra said in surprise, jumping backwards. The mirror stretched to a point and then collapsed back into the flat surface, a ripple moving across its centre.

  “Curious,” said Janine, stepping closer to the mirror. She moved her fingers close to where Kierra’s had been. The mirror started to bend outwards.

  “What in the world?” asked Kierra, standing beside her.

  Janine glanced at her in agreement, and then moved her hand a little closer to the mirror. The mirror continued to stretch outwards to meet her fingers.

  “Is it another doorway?” continued Kierra, looking at Janine for answers.

  “I don’t think so,” Janine replied, holding her hand very steady. She could see the point of the mirror splintering and stretching further, to try to make contact with her hand.

  “I’m going to touch it,” said Janine. “Pull me back if anything starts to go weird.”

  “Weird? Like what?” asked Kierra, concerned.

  “I don’t know,” replied Janine, concentrating on moving her fingers close but ever so slowly. “I don’t get a sense that it’s sinister,” she added.

  “What makes you say that? Maybe it will set off some sort of trap?”

  “I don’t think so,” reassured Janine. “It could have grabbed hold of me before now, and it hasn’t.”

  Kierra nodded.

  “Ok,” said Janine, and she moved her fingers close enough to the mirror so that she could touch it.

  There was a warm, liquid like sensation, accompanied by a tingling, that moved up her arm and into her head. Images started to flash in her mind while she also watched the reflection in the mirror. The images played out, as if flowing along a stream. They gradually came into focus, stayed and then faded.

  “Fascinating,” remarked Janine.

  “What is it?” asked Kierra, wondering if she needed to pull Janine away.

  “The mirror is showing me images,” Janine replied. “Like little movies.”

  “You mean like in fairy tales?” continued Kierra, wanting to understand. “Do you think I can try it?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Janine absent-mindedly. “It’s probably best if you stay on guard duty, just in case.”

  She watched more images moving past. Some she vaguely recognised from stories, but they didn’t stay long enough to be able to make any sense of them. They were like little snippets. Then, one image came to mind that she did rec
ognise. The Boston Library. She mentally reached out and tried to zoom into that one. In response, the mirror held onto that image for longer.

  “I can see the Boston Library,” Janine explained. “These are like windows into realms.”

  “How is that possible?” asked Peter, who had moved over to join them.

  “I don’t know,” replied Janine, still watching the Boston Library. “I wonder if this is the present, past or future?”

  “How would you know?” asked Kierra.

  “I’m hoping I’d see something that will tell me,” replied Janine. She mentally moved through the library in the image, looking for something that helped.

  “I think I can only see what’s there now,” she continued, after a pause. “I can see the doorway we came through,” she continued, seeing the projection from the artwork onto the central column in the stairwell of the library,” but it looks different. It’s not of the palace, any more. It’s brighter. More yellow.”

  “So, what do you think it is?” asked Kierra.

  “I don’t know,” replied Janine. “I was hoping Yas and Sam would still be there.”

  “What? They’re not there?” exclaimed Peter, stepping closer to Janine. “Where are they then?”

  “I can’t see,” shrugged Janine. “Maybe they went through the doorway?”

  “Damn it!” added Peter. “Couldn’t they just stay put for once?”

  In one of the other chambers, a door closed. The sound echoed through from the distance. They all turned and looked. Janine jerked backwards but tried to hold onto the connection. She saw a book fall from a shelf in the gallery that led from the staircase where De Chavannes’ paintings were.

  Kierra and Dai moved towards the sound, Kierra near the mirrors and Dai near the windows. Both of them held their hands ready to conjure word magic.

  “Son of a bitch!” Janine exclaimed, realising that the tremor they had felt while in the library was the result of something similar. “So that’s why we’ve been steps behind.”

  “What?” asked Peter, a little confused. “What do you mean?”

  “Orfeo has been using the mirrors to observe us,” she replied. “A book fell as I jerked backwards and almost broke the connection. It caused a tremor in the realm. That’s what we felt when we were in the library the other evening.”