train car, and when she rose up on her hind legs to confront them, her broad, smooth leathery wings spread open like a sampans’ ribbed sails.
“Stay back!” commanded Percy.
“How dare you presume to order me about little soldier boy,” she replied.
“What do you want?” he demanded.
“Strangers have come from the other world, and I have merely come to greet them.”
“You’ve met them. Now move off!”
“I think that I should like to take them home for a visit,” she said with a sly grin.
“You’ll need to go through me first,” said Percy - flourishing his sword.
“Very well,” said the dragon.
She pounced like a cat on a mouse.
Percy was quick and he dodged her razor-sharp claws and slashed at her muzzle with his blade. His blow struck true, but it was no match for the beast’s thick scaly hide. “Run! Hide! I’ll hold her off,” he said to the girls.
Sarah was frozen in terror and unable to move. Amanda scrambled around and between the circling combatants to get to her.
“Run!” she screamed as she grabbed her sister’s hand. The two girls fled back towards cover as fast as they could run.
After several failed feints, Celestra lost patience with Percy and knocked him down with a sweep of her giant head and set off after the fleeing other-worlders. The ground trembled as the mighty beast thundered after them. The girls made it to the pumcornfield first and ran quickly along the tracks in an attempt to hide. There was a shallow dip in the ground, Sarah tripped and fell dragging Amanda down with her.
“Uuugh,” she grunted as she slid to a rough stop.
“Shhhh,” whispered Amanda as they lay in the depression, their hearts racing.
After moments of silence, they could hear the dragon sniffing about. The sniffing immediately turned into a deep growl, and grew louder as the dragon moved towards them. Amanda could see an interrupted view of Celestra through the stalks as she hunted them, catlike, her movements graceful despite her size. She pointed back the way they had come, and they crawled along among the rows as quietly as they could. Suddenly, everything thing went still. Then with a great WHUMP! the dragon landed directly in front of them shaking the ground and flattening the stalks down all around.
Frozen in fear, the girls stared up at her. Intensely, she gazed back at them with her golden snake-like eyes and grinned a wide grin as she brought her face, a face the size of a small car, towards them. Suddenly, Celestra shrieked so loud that they were forced to cover their ears. She looked away and brought her tail close to her muzzle with Percy dangling from the hilt of his sword. He’d climbed up onto her tail and rammed the point of his sword through her thick hide. “I’ve grown tired of you little man,” she snarled.
She flicked him off of her back, and he landed heavily on the ground. She opened her giant maw to strike, but before she could devour him, Amanda clamored to her feet and screamed.
“STOP!”
As soon as she spoke, the distant sound of whale song like when she touched the book in her uncle’s library filled her mind. She felt a surge of power flow through her as a wave of yellow light crashed into the dragon. The force of her word shoved the dragon several steps away from the fallen warrior giving him time to roll away to safety.
Surprised by the turn of events, the dragon hissed angrily and began to flap her wings furiously causing such a strong wind that it knocked both Amanda and Sarah to the ground.
As Celestra rose into the air, each powerful beat of her
leathery sails created blasts of air that flattened the field,
stirring dust and debris all around. Amanda was forced to cover her eyes and look away. Through the cloud of dirt, the dragon batted her to the side with one of her fore claws. She fell hard to the ground bruising her hip on an unseen protrusion. She heard Sarah scream.
The first thing Amanda saw when the dust settled was the dragon flying off, higher and higher in the air, with Sarah clutched tightly in her grasp.
Trevor
“Girls!” called Uncle Everett as he emerged from the car. Trever scrambled out the driver’s side past him sniffing the air.
“Girls?” he called out again. He wandered out onto the porch to check, thinking they were so immersed in their new toy that they didn’t hear him. He was surprised to see the empty box with papers strewn about the porch.
“Trevor!” he called.
The phone in the out cove started to ring. “Ring.”
The marble eyed dog appeared from somewhere and immediately started to sniff around. Trevor barked three times and ran into the house. Everett followed after and found him in his office leaning on the stand with the mysterious leather-bound book.
“She wouldn’t have,” said Everett.
Ring, went the phone in the out cove.
Trevor yipped twice as though saying, “of course she would’ve.”
Ring.
Everett quickly opened the lid of the stand and stuffed the book into a large canvas satchel and slung it over one shoulder. He grabbed a cloak that was hanging hidden behind the door and looked around the room for a moment.
Ring.
Trevor ran out of the office, and Everett was right behind him running as fast as he could. They scrambled up the lane that led right to the covered bridge. When they arrived, they found the gate wide open.
“That woman!” exclaimed Everett as he and Trevor stormed straight across the bridge and emerged in Tarsinia.
“I thought they’d be right here,” said a gruff voice.
Everett looked over towards the sound of the voice and saw that the source was a large blue grey wolf the size of a horse.
“Glad to hear your voice again Trevor,” said Everett.
“You and me both. You don’t speak dog very well.”
“What do you think happened?” asked Everett.
“It must have been Otto, the oak leaf sprite. He’s one of the few creatures that can sneak past me. I suspect the Queen sent him with that in mind,” said Trevor.
“They can’t be far,” said Everett.
Trevor sniffed around. “They were here. Someone was with them.”
“How long?”
“Five, maybe six hours,” said the wolf.
Everett nodded. “Damn. They could be anywhere.”
“Climb aboard. We’ll catch them,” said Trevor.
With a practiced leap, Everett climbed onto the wolf’s back, and they galloped down the road towards the castle. As they rode, Everett thought the roads were strangely empty. Even on a work day, farmers and travelers would still have errands to run, or crops to carry to market. At least one merchant caravan should have passed them heading to or leaving from the capital city, Salonica.
As they approached a rise, a squad of guardsmen could be seen standing at its peak peering off into the distance.
With an outstretched hand one of the men stopped them. Before he could speak his penturion smacked him across the back of his head knocking him off balance and casting his cap into the gutter.
“You idiot!” he barked.
He quickly turned to face Everett. “My apologies Your Eminence, some of the country boys don’t know your face.”
“I understand, and am not offended. He was clearly doing his duty.”
“You boy,” he called to the young soldier who was standing off to the side brushing the dirt off his cap. “Perhaps
this will help you recognize me next time.” He flipped a coin into the air towards the boy.
The boy caught the coin and gasped as he looked at the thick silver coin in his hand. “A whole mark!” he exclaimed. The others looked on; envy on their faces. Recognition struck the boy like lightening when he compared the face on the back of coin to the man standing before him. He dropped to one knee and lowered his eyes. “My Lord,” he said.
Everett smiled warmly and the small group of men sighed collectively.
“Now
, man. What goes? Why the roadblock?”
The penturion collected himself and stood straight to deliver his report. Eyes forward as he’d been instructed.
“Milord, a force of g’blinken in the company of a giant ambushed our troop as were providing escort to the castle. We managed to drive them off, sir. The Tribune has ordered all travelers to be searched and recorded until further notice.”
“Where did it happen?”
“About a league down the road. You can’t miss them.”
Without a word, Everett mounted Trevor and they dashed off towards the wood.
The sounds of carrion squawking reached them first - the smell shortly after. G’blinken give of a pungent aroma when agitated, several hours in the hot sun would not improve it.
Everett covered his mouth with a cloth as he approached the gruesome scene before him. Fallen soldiers covered by their bedrolls had been laid out to one side of the road, piles of g’blinken lay across the rise. Soldiers sweating in the hot sun were minding cremation fires that gave off a thick smoke that drifted across the road forming a macabre fog.
Everett scanned the road and saw a giant lying on his back, soldiers standing around as though trying to determine what to do with his oversized corpse.
On his brown warhorse, Aban approached at a gallop. He stopped his approach and bowed his head.
“Your Eminence, I take full responsibility for the loss of your nieces. You may do with me what you must. I accept my fate.”
His words took Everett’s breath away. “Loss? Are they…” he couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
“No Milord, not dead, at least not as far as we have found.”
“What happened?”
“My troop was tasked with escorting your nieces to see the Queen. A full line of horse and two centuries of foot. They came at us from over that rise. Hundreds of them.”
“Did you not have scouts out?” Everett’s tone got away from him and he barked louder than he’d wanted.
“Milord, a full retinue. In six directions, all on the fleetest of beasts. None of them have been found Milord.”
“My nieces, what do you know? Were they captured?”
“We don’t know Milord. One of the men was seen leading them off away from the battle. One of the few survivors of their guard says he if hadn’t led them away they would most certainly have been captured. We followed their trail off towards that rise over there. Our patrols have encountered several rebel groups. Any that we’ve interrogated haven’t been able to tell us the whereabouts of your nieces.”
“And the guardsman?”
“No sign of him.”
Everett blamed himself. Had he come when summoned, “Would this have happened?” he wondered.
A horn alerted them to the arrival of the Queen.
A procession of four lines of horse preceded the arrival of a great white covered coach drawn by a team of eight cream colored draft horses. Several centuries of finely dressed foot followed and fanned out to form a perimeter as the carriage rolled to a stop.
Despite the anxious look on her face, Queen Windimere looked radiant as she emerged from the carriage. Upon seeing
her husband, she looked shyly down like a child expecting to be scolded. But only for a moment, she quickly collected herself and allowed herself to be assisted down the hastily placed steps onto the road. Her amber colored dress trailed along the road behind her as she appeared to float towards her Everett and Aban.
Her regal air completely dissipated when she looked into the hurt expression of the love of her life. She ran the last dozen steps and flung herself into his arms. Tears began streaming down her face as she pulled herself in tight.
Everett pulled her in close.
“Shhhh. It’s my fault,” he whispered softly. “I should have come when you asked.”
“No, my love, what I did was inexcusable.”
“Not for a moment would I think you would intentionally put them in harms’ way.”
“But if I’d only…” she began. He gently touched her lip with his thick calloused finger - an act that would have been cause for anyone else to hanged.
“What will be, will be. We’ll deal with what is, not what might be.”
The Queen sniffled and looked up into his eyes. “Yes, yes, deal with what you can. Your mother always said that. You will have to go and find them,” she said.
“I agree. But the trail has gone cold. I’ll need to see the Eye,” he said grimly.
A grave expression spread over the Queen’s face, and she placed her hand over her mouth to suppress a shriek.
The Eye
In the deepest darkest cellar of the castle, beneath the dungeon that housed the worst offenders in the kingdom, a set of bars guarded a passage painstakingly carved deep into the bedrock. At end of the long sloping corridor was a locked chamber without a guard. Through the door was an evil so vile that any living thing left near it would be corrupted and driven mad.
“Are you certain this is the only way?” whispered Windy.
“No. But I’m sure this is the fastest way for me to get the information I need to find the girls,” replied Everett.
Wordlessly, she removed a key from around her neck, the tumblers ground noisily as she opened the lock. Everett pulled with all his might, but the door wouldn’t budge. The rusted hinges and swollen wood had stuck the door fast. He withdrew the book from his bag and opened it to no page in particular. As though reading his mind an image of the door appeared on one leaf and words appeared on the other. The Queen looked over his shoulder but saw nothing but blank brown pages.
He placed his hand on the door and read out an incantation that translated to
“What is old become new.
What is worn become fresh.
What is caught become free.”
As soon as he cast the spell, the queen noticed that one of his hairs changed from the dark brown of youth to the gray of age as the magic sucked the smallest amount of life from the wizard. After a moment, a pale green glow spread out from the wizard’s fingertips across the worn wood and the old battered door rejuvenated to its original state freely swung open.
The chamber of the Eye was dark and dank, the air fouled with mildew and decay.
“Lights!” the sorcerer commanded. The flame from the
torch in his hand leaped around the room to the candles and torches surrounding the walls of the cell. On a stone pedestal in the center of the room was a very simple window made of very fine glass. Its frame was worn and cracked; its paint so faded that the color was impossible to determine. An engraving on the tarnished silver plaque affixed to the window read,
“Ask me a question. And I will show you the truth.”
“It has been long since someone has sought my help,” said a raspy voice.
As it spoke a feeling of dread and anxiety filled both of their hearts. Windimere trembled, and Everett had to concentrate to keep at bay the dark thoughts that were being projected into his mind by the Eye.
“You know what I want?” said Everett.
“Yes. I know all,” said the Eye.
“Will you show me what I seek?”
“Will you pay me what I ask?”
“No. I will not free you to corrupt another. No. I will not provide you with a soul to devour. No. I will not give you light with which to power the spread of your tainted thoughts out into the world. It is what you will ask. And I will not pay it,” said Everett.
“What do you offer then?” asked the Eye.
“For a glimpse of the truth I will give you a year of my life,” said the wizard.
“Not enough,” said the Eye. “Windimere summoned the girls to this world. So, she must pay.”
“No!” said the wizard.
“I’ll pay,” she said.
“Yes,” said the Eye hungrily. “A year of the Queen’s life for the whereabouts of your nieces.”
“You can’t,” insisted Everett.
“Where ar
e the girls?” she demanded of the Eye before Everett could speak again.
The window went hazy at first, then Amanda appeared before them seated on the back of a horse with Percy in the saddle. They were riding in the woods. Everett studied the image for clues because he knew from past experience that the Eye wouldn’t give them everything they’d asked for.
The image changed quickly. An image of a dragon appeared then it shifted, and Sarah was in a cave where the pale light of day barely illuminated her face. She was crying. The window went blank.
“You have what I promised. Now, pay me my price!”
The Queen stepped forward tentatively and reached out to touch the plaque at the base of the window. As soon as she touched the engraving, she screamed and collapsed. The frame of the Eye healed ever so slightly, and the suggestion of red appeared in its finish.
-----
Back in her chambers she looked up from her chaise weakly and gazed into her husband’s eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that,” admonished Everett softly.
She placed her hand on the side of his face. “I needed to pay for my selfishness,” she replied.
He pulled a blanket over her. “You’re like ice,” he said.
“Do you know where they are?” asked the queen.
“Amanda, I think. Hopefully, she knows where Sarah is.”
“Go then,” said the Queen. “I’ll be alright.”
“Will you do something for me?” he asked.
“If I can,” she replied.
“The key. Give it to me. And promise me you won’t go back to the Eye. Once it has touched your thoughts, it will try to find its way back in. It once almost drove me insane,” said the wizard.
She slipped the fine gold chain off from around her neck, and he slipped it around his own. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He kissed her tentatively, and she kissed him back fiercely.
She looked out the window moments later and watched the wizard and wolf speed away from the castle and off into the distance.
Amanda Applewood and the Return of the False King: An Everworld Book Page 7