Ruwach turned, the shining white doors opening to let him pass.
“But will we get to come back?” Brianna called after him.
“And will we get swords?” Evan added.
“What about unicorns?” Brianna asked.
Ruwach didn’t answer. The gate closed behind him. They all stared at it for a few moments, not knowing exactly what to do next. Brianna was the first to turn around.
“Look!” Brianna said. The table of food was gone.
“Where’d it go?”
The kids huddled together, Mr. J. Ar with them. The walls seemed to be fading away, melting into the clouds beyond, so that soon they could see only clouds and light in all directions. The clouds wrapped around them, turning everything white and formless. The whiteness became unbearably bright—as if they were looking into the sun itself.
“Close your eyes,” Mr. J. Ar said.
So, they did.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Back to the Beginning
Levi sat up and looked around, blinking. He was sitting on the bench outside the Rec building, watching the skateboarders. His sketchbook was in his hand. He looked up at the sky. An after-dinner sky. It looked familiar. Was he—?
“Hey.” Brianna sat down next to him.
He glanced at her but didn’t speak. He looked down at his hands, his arms. They looked normal. They felt normal. He held up his fingers, and one of them had something on the tip. He touched it—it was hard, like metal.
“So that . . . really happened,” he said.
“Yeah.” Brianna was swinging her legs and looking listlessly into the distance.
“But how can it be, if we’re—back before we left?” As far as he could tell, the scene in front of him was a repeat of the events earlier that day.
“I don’t know. Time went backward, I guess,” Brianna said with a shrug. “It happens.”
“It does?”
She looked at him. “Why not?” She smiled. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He put his head back against the wall. “I really messed up.”
Brianna thought for a moment about how to respond. Her best friend had made a mistake, but he already knew that. She didn’t need to rub it in. “So did I,” she said after a few seconds. “Led Evan right into a Maribunta attack. Without the armor, we probably would have been goners.”
“But you—you figured out how to break the Forger’s hold on me.”
“Yeah, how about that?” said Brianna with a grin. “So we mess up sometimes, but we get another chance. And maybe, we shine a little.”
Levi shook his head. “Not me. I’m done.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s no way Ruwach would trust me with another mission.”
“Levi, you know that isn’t true. He even said so. So did your dad.” She paused. “Can you even believe your dad is a Prince Warrior?”
“Yeah, my dad’s cool, I guess.”
They were silent a moment, watching the skateboarders.
“So—what do we do now?” Levi said finally.
“I think it’s time for you to go out there and skate,” Brianna said. “And I go in to decorate. Right?”
“Yeah, I guess so. But I don’t really feel like skating right now.”
“Too tired?”
“No. But I kind of have a stomachache.”
“Well, you did eat a lot of ice cream.”
They were interrupted by a commotion from inside—raucous laughter and shouting. The skateboarders stopped riding and looked around. Some jumped off their boards to see what was going on.
“That would be Landon and his buddies,” Brianna said, a keen sense of déjà vu settling in. “This is pretty weird, huh?”
“Yeah,” Levi said. “Guess we need to go in now.”
“Yep.”
The skateboarders were already running to the building. Levi and Brianna got up and followed them.
It was the same sight as the last time—maybe this was actually the first time. Were they getting a second chance? Levi wasn’t sure. He only knew that something had to be different.
Landon was taunting Manuel as the other kids laughed and pointed.
“Do you miss your mummy?”
The college student Mary Stanton emerged from the office, latte in one hand, cell phone in the other. “What’s going on here? What are you kids doing?”
Brianna tugged on Levi’s arm. “What are we supposed to do?”
Levi thought about the instruction he’d gotten in Ahoratos: Wide is the gate that leads to destruction. He knew what it meant now: The right way is not always the easy way.
All the kids were laughing. Jeff grabbed his elbow and whispered, “Get a load of that, huh?”
Levi glanced at his friends, the boys he hung out with every day. They all made fun of Manuel, with his goofy red glasses and enormous satchel that he carried around. He wore old-fashioned shoes and pants that never quite made it all the way to his ankles. Levi didn’t know why Manuel came to the Rec at all—he never did any sports or games. Levi had always laughed right along with the other kids.
But looking now at the kid wrapped in toilet paper struggling on the floor, he remembered how it felt—to be stuck, unable to move, helpless, while all around him those awful Ents watched him, probably laughing, if Ents actually laughed. He imagined what all these kids would do if they had seen him struggling. And then he wondered what Ruwach would say, if Ruwach could see him now, standing on the outside of the circle, doing nothing. Watching.
But Ruwach probably can see me, can’t he?
Levi took a breath.
“Hey, man, where you going?” Mikey asked, as Levi pushed through the crowd of onlookers to the center of the room. He stood before Landon, breathing slow, hoping no one could see how he was shaking inside. The kids around him quieted, wondering what he was up to.
“Get out of the way, stupid,” Landon said, moving forward to push him aside.
“No,” said Levi. Landon stared at him, surprise and anger moving over his face. Levi turned to the other kids. “You really think this is funny?” He looked at his skateboard friends—they were watching him, brows furrowed, like they thought he had gone crazy. “What if you were that kid? Would you be laughing then?”
Silence. The kids stared at him, shocked. Miss Stanton looked shocked too. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.
I’m gonna get creamed, Levi thought.
Ruwach’s words came back to him: You have everything you need.
I have everything I need, Levi repeated to himself. I don’t need to be bigger, or tougher, or smarter. I just need to do the right thing.
He glanced up, hoping to see the Crest shining above Landon’s head, as it had before. It wasn’t there. But he thought he could feel Ruwach’s presence around him, the glowing white hand that had warmed his arm and healed him. He stood a little straighter. He felt a wave of something like courage flow through him.
He turned toward Landon. “You want to pick on someone, Landon?” Levi said. “Pick on me.”
A murmur swept through the crowd—no one moved.
Except Brianna.
“Yeah,” she said, stepping up next to Levi and folding her arms together defiantly. “Me too.”
They stood before the bully, unflinching. Landon’s eyebrows knit together in rage. He balled his fists like he was about to take both of them out. But before he could make a move, another one of the girls came forward and stood with Levi and Brianna. Her name was Ivy, Levi remembered. She was about his age though much smaller. But she stood straight at Brianna’s side, her hands on her hips, like she was ready for a rumble too.
Seeing the two girls stand up to the bully made the other kids shift around uneasily. For a moment, everyone was silent. But then Mike
y came to stand beside Levi, then Jeff and Logan too. One by one, more kids stepped forward, forming a circle of protection around Manuel, who was lying on the floor, peeking through the folds of toilet paper, stunned. Miss Stanton dropped her phone.
There was a long moment of silence.
Landon’s eyes glanced around the room, flickering slightly, no longer quite so certain he was in control. He balled up his fists, his arms stiffening, like he was about to explode. The bullies behind him shifted nervously. Tension hung in the air like a thick fog.
Finally, Landon relaxed his fists, shaking his head. He let out a braying laugh and backed away, punching one of his friends lightly with the back of his hand.
“Come on, dudes,” he said. “Let’s bounce.”
Landon turned slowly and strode out of the building. After a moment his three friends followed him.
Levi saw his dad standing in the doorway. The bullies had to walk right past him as they left. Mr. J. Ar’s eyes glowered, but his lips pursed in a settled, proud smile. Levi took a breath, his first full one in several minutes, and looked at Brianna. She grinned and hugged him. He pulled away quickly, turning to the others, who started to laugh and high-five each other as they reveled in their long-overdue victory.
Miss Stanton rushed forward to help Manuel off the floor and unwrap him from the toilet paper. Manuel smiled shyly at Levi.
“Thanks,” he murmured.
“No problem.” Levi felt lighter suddenly, older. Like he’d just climbed a mountain. “I know what it’s like to have friends help when you need it.” He glanced at Brianna, who grinned at him.
“You want me to call your dad, Manuel?” Miss Stanton said, balling up the toilet paper.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” Manuel stood straight, adjusting his glasses, although they still looked crooked.
Mr. J. Ar walked up to them and put a hand on Levi’s shoulder. Levi thought he saw a tear in his dad’s eye. “You okay, kids?”
“Yeah,” said Levi.
“Stellar,” Brianna said.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Waking Up
Evan sat up in bed suddenly.
Bright sunshine poured in from his window. It was morning. He glanced down at the floor, where his book and flashlight still lay. Everything looked the same as when he’d gone to sleep. Maybe none of it had really happened. It was just a dream. He sighed, disappointed. He swung his legs out of bed and felt a chill. His legs were cold. One of them a bit more than the other.
He looked down at his pajamas, the same old knight pajamas he wore every night, except for when Mom took them to wash. And that’s when he noticed that one of his pant legs was torn.
He remembered that when he had fallen in the race through the trees, a big branch had toppled on him, and Xavier had torn his pant leg to get him out.
So had it really happened, after all?
He still wasn’t completely sure. He got up and went to look out at the backyard. Everything looked pretty much normal. There was the pond, glistening in the morning sunshine. Evan wondered suddenly if Tannyn was sleeping in there. Tannyn—he smiled to himself. He didn’t think he had to be afraid of the Loch Ness monster anymore.
But something was different. He stared out the window, trying to figure out what it was. His eyes flitted around the familiar backyard for a few moments.
Then he saw it. The tree. The giant oak tree with the tire swing. It was split right down the middle and all blackened, like it’d been . . . struck by lightning.
Evan stood still—the wonder of it all, the terror and the beauty and the adventure, coming back to him. And now, his torn pajamas. And the wrecked oak tree in the yard.
So—it wasn’t a dream after all!
It was real. He’d been to Ahoratos. He really was a prince. A Prince Warrior.
He knelt down and pulled his play armor from under his bed. He sighed, disappointed. It hadn’t changed into his new armor. Not yet anyway. Ruwach had said they would get to take their armor back with them, someday. So that meant they would go back to Ahoratos. Ruwach would come for them again. He was sure of it.
Xavier—he had to talk to him. He burst into his brother’s room, but he wasn’t there. Strange. Xavier usually slept in. Had he gone back to Ahoratos already? Evan felt a little knot of anger form in his belly at the thought. Follow the paths of old, and you will find peace. Evan relaxed as Ruwach’s voice flitted in his mind. He knew he didn’t need to be angry about stuff like that anymore.
He got dressed and raced down to the kitchen. He was relieved to see Xavier sitting at the kitchen island, halfway through a bowl of Cheerios. Xavier looked up when Evan came in but didn’t smile. Mom was pouring herself a cup of coffee.
“There you are, sleepyhead,” she said. “I was about to come up and wake you.”
“What happened to the tree?” Evan asked. Things weren’t adding up. Xavier didn’t seem all that different—he was still ignoring him.
“Bad storm last night. Didn’t you hear it?” Mom asked. “I’m afraid lightning struck that big old tree. So sad. I know you boys loved that tree. I called the tree service to have it removed.”
Evan looked at Xavier. Finally, his older brother met his gaze. He smiled the tiniest little bit and nodded. An exchange their mother did not notice.
“Yeah,” Evan said. “Must have been a bad storm.”
Real bad.
“I’m surprised it didn’t wake you up,” Mom said.
“Yeah, me too.” Evan sat down to pour a bowl of Cheerios. “Hey, Mom, can we go to the Rec today?” he asked. “I mean, am I allowed?”
“Sure, baby,” Mom said. “Xavier, you want to go too?”
“Yeah,” said Xavier, nonchalantly. “Sure. Whatever.” Xavier got up to put his cereal bowl in the sink. He glanced over at Evan, eating his cereal. Evan seemed so happy. But Xavier had felt funny ever since he’d woken up, bothered by something. He knew what it was.
The truth holds everything together.
The belt in Ahoratos had fit every situation. It always made things right, even when it didn’t seem like anything would work. He began to see why it was called Truth. Only truth would hold him and his brother together. He knew that he needed to tell it. The truth.
He cleared his throat. “Mom?”
“Yes, honey?” Mom leaned against the counter, the coffee mug cradled in her hands.
“I have something to tell you. About yesterday.”
“Oh?”
Xavier saw Evan looking at him with worried eyes—he obviously thought Xavier was going to tell Mom about Ahoratos. Xavier shook his head slightly, reassuring him.
“You know when Evan got in trouble for fighting? Well, it was sort of—my fault.”
“Oh really?” Mom didn’t look all that surprised.
“I sort of—provoked him. I was making fun of him for being afraid. I’m sorry.”
Mom let out a big sigh. “I’m glad you told me. That was the right thing to do. Maybe you should stay home today. I have lots of chores you could do—”
“No!” Evan interrupted. “I mean, I don’t care what he did. I think he was trying to help me in his weird way. But anyway, I don’t want him to stay home. I’ll help do the chores, if we can both go to the Rec. Okay, Mom?”
He smiled winningly at her. She looked at him with narrowed eyes.
“Who are you, and what have you done with Evan?”
He rolled his eyes. “Mom . . .”
“Okay, okay,” Mom said, glancing quickly at Xavier. “I’ll make you a list, and when it’s done, you can go to the Rec.”
“Cool!” Evan was grateful. Now he and Xavier would have time to talk about what happened without the danger of any parents or adults overhearing them.
“But don’t forget, school starts next week and we still have some school shopp
ing to do.”
“All right,” Evan said glumly. He was not looking forward to going to a new school and having to make friends all over again. He knew Xavier wasn’t either. But at least they knew Levi and Brianna—that would help.
* * *
Xavier and Evan rode in the backseat of the van to the Rec. Mom had the radio on and was singing along with the music.
“I turned on the phone this morning when I got up,” Xavier whispered to his brother. “And this was on it.” He showed it to Evan, whose eyes widened. “Did you download it?”
There was an app on the phone that hadn’t been there before. The word UNSEEN stood out in capital letters underneath a familiar symbol.
“It’s the Crest!” Evan said, keeping his voice low so his mom wouldn’t hear. “Maybe Ruwach sent it. Awesome! What does it do?”
“I don’t know. I’m afraid to open it.”
“Maybe it’ll take us back to Ahoratos!”
“What, an app?”
“Sure—try it!”
“We’re in the car! If we disappeared right now Mom would freak out and probably drive into a tree. Let’s wait until we get there.”
Evan slumped back in the seat. “Okay.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A Is for App
Evan saw Levi in the skateboard park and ran up to him.
“Hey!” he shouted excitedly. Levi spun around on his skateboard and looked at him with a blank expression. For a second Evan thought Levi didn’t know who he was, and he was about to feel very dumb standing there, waving. But then Levi raised his hand in a small wave, and Evan let out a breath of relief. He watched as Levi skated toward him, spun around, and flipped his board into the air, catching it one-handed.
“Hey,” Levi said. He bobbed his chin up slightly, his version of a greeting. Evan thought it was cool.
“Hey,” Evan said. Xavier walked up as well, his hands in his pockets. He didn’t say anything at first, just smiled awkwardly.
“What’s up?” Levi said.
Xavier shrugged. “Not much. You?”
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