Eranox- Cursed

by Katlin Murray

  It was time to go home.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  When the fireflies finally appeared, Luna was the only one who seemed excited to see them.

  “I’ll let you say goodbye,” Luna smiled, “see you on the other side.” She tipped her head to Lucas and the Knights before she turned back to the door, pressing her hand against the wood and allowing herself to be carried through to Earth; leaving Lucas and the Knights a chance to say their final goodbyes in private.

  The air rushed through her hair and a moment later her feet found the ground. She took a deep breath and stepped away from the grove before she could be taken back through.

  There was a cool chill in the night, Luna pulled her cloaks tightly around her, glad that she had chosen to keep them with her to remember Eranox, because in that moment she was cold, and it bit right to the bones.

  Autumn had turned cold on Earth, and Eranox had remained the same balmy temperature. Her return to Earth’s weather had certainly come as a shock, she hoped that the others would be prepared for it when they evacuated. Nights on Earth were much colder than those in the other world.

  Soon there was another flash. Lucas and the Knights appeared in the clearing.

  Lucas looked the same, but the Knights eyes were wide with surprise.

  “This is it?” One of them whispered to the others, looking around the clearing with curiosity.

  “This way.” Luna called to them, she lead the way down the path away from the portal to her home.

  It felt good to be back on Earth with the dangers behind them, though the heavy weight of the fate of Eranox still hung in the air, it seemed farther away for a moment.

  “The light is on.” Luna turned to Lucas, that meant her mom was waiting for them.

  Luna hurried out of the woods and across the backyard towards the back door of the house, suddenly nervous. What was her mom going to think of the escort that had arrived with her, surely she would presume the worst; and she wouldn’t be wrong.

  The back door slid open and her mom came rushing out before she had even made it to the back patio.

  “Luna!” Her mom ran towards her, pulling her in for a hug, “I’m so glad you are okay.” She held Luna tightly, “Thank you for bringing her back Lucas.” She smiled.

  Lucas shuffled his feet uncomfortably, seemingly a bit relieved that he had managed to keep his promise.

  “Let’s have a look at you.” Luna’s mom held her arms out, stepping back to look her daughter over. “I love your robes.” She leaned back to take a better look at the new cloak that Luna wore over her shoulders, “You look like a real High Wizard…” Her eyes twinkled.

  And then she saw the Knights.

  Her face fell in an instant, “What happened?” She whispered, leading Luna and Lucas back into the house, “Why are they here?” She glanced back at the three Knights waiting in the backyard.

  The Knights waited out back, clearly unsure if they were meant to keep guard.

  “Come in.” Luna called back to them, “There is no danger here.”

  The Knights clunked into the house through the back door, suddenly their armor seemed quite out of place as they tried to squeeze in around the couch to find room to stand.

  Luna’s mom walked towards the kitchen and put on the kettle, rummaging through the cupboards for snacks, “Get in here and tell me what happened.” She called over her shoulder to Lucas and Luna, “Did it work?” She asked, carrying an armful towards the table.

  Luna paused for a moment, staring at her mom. Luna could tell by her eagerness that she thought Luna had returned to tell her it was working, breaking the news was going to break her heart.

  “Why don’t we sit for this…” Lucas suggested, holding a chair out for Luna’s mom.

  “That doesn’t sound good…” She slid in to the seat at the table growing quiet, her glances towards the Knights becoming more suspicious.

  “Do you want to tell her.” Lucas asked Luna as he sat at the table, his voice cracked and Luna knew that she was going to have to do it. He was still reeling from the loss of his sister.

  Luna nodded and found herself a chair.

  “It can’t be that bad…” Luna’s mom was staring at her, her face was quiet and unreadable, she was preparing herself for the news.

  “It did work…” Luna sighed, “at first…”

  “It did?” The eagerness returned and Luna had to continue before her mom hopped up to get more cookies for the table.

  Luna reached for her mom’s hand, holding her still so she could explain.

  “They asked me to test the cure on a cat first.” She explained, “And it worked, the curse lifted from it easily.” She continued slowly, “So they decided that we should try him next, Alec Blackwater, so they could have another High Wizard to help, so we could cure them faster…”

  “You saw him?” Luna’s mom gasped.

  “I did.” Luna nodded, remembering her talk with Alec, and how she had wanted to visit him again and would never get the chance to. She cleared her throat, “He was cured,” Luna smiled sadly, “for a while day, I even got to talk to him…” She felt a lump rising in her throat again, “And then night came… and it didn’t work…”

  “Oh, Luna.” Her mom squeezed her hand, “That must have been so hard…”

  Luna nodded, trying to compose herself.

  “But they can probably find a way to make it stick, right?” She glanced at Lucas, “They just need more time?” She looked back at Luna, “You need to go back there?”

  Luna shook her head, “He escaped, in the castle…” Luna stared, her mom’s face falling from sadness to horror, “He spread the curse, he… he attacked everyone.” Luna bit her lip, “Eranox is evacuating… it’s over.” She looked down at the table, she didn’t want to see the look on her mom’s face, not then, not after she just told her that her home world was ruined.

  The room was silent for a long time, the hiss of the kettle on the stove sounded far away, even the Knights had stopped moving, the clink of their rustling armor growing silent as they waited for something to happen.

  “Lucas?” Luna’s mom broke the silence, staring across the table, her eyes soft, “What can I do to help?”

  Luna looked up, her mom seemed less distraught than she had expected, she was sure that she was imagining it, but there still seemed to be a hint of hope in her eyes.

  “We need a place for them all.” Lucas began, “The council has taken my advice, they will be arriving under the guise of a traveling Renaissance Festival. We will need flyers up around town, and some tents for them and supplies.” Lucas wrung his hands together, “They should be okay out there.” He looked at the woods through the back door.

  “That sounds very clever…” Luna’s mom smiled, “When do they arrive?”

  “They will be traveling the Gateway during the day, they should arrive at nightfall.” Lucas answered urgently.

  “Okay, then we will have some work to do.” She nodded, rising from the table without another word.

  A moment later she walked past Luna with a tray of treats and tea, presenting it to the Knights in the living room with a strange curtsy as she spoke to them in a hushed tone.

  “She took that well.” Luna stared at her mom, curious.

  “A little too well.” Lucas agreed, “Do you think she knew that it would fail?” He asked, “She really didn’t want you going with me, maybe she knew…” He sighed.

  “No,” Luna shook her head, turning back to Lucas, “This is something else…”

  Luna stared out at her mom, she was still talking to the Knights, her voice barely above a whisper. They seemed to be smiling.

  Her mom glanced back and caught Luna staring. She excused herself and walked back towards the kitchen, the twinkle still in her eye.

  “Come with me.” She hissed as she entered the kitchen, reaching for Luna’s arm, “You too.” She turned to Lucas.

  Her eyes were bright with excitement.


  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Luna followed her mom through the kitchen to her office with Lucas behind her.

  “What’s going on?” Lucas whispered, watching as Luna’s mom closed and locked the office door behind them.

  “When you left Luna, I had some thinking to do…” She turned to her laptop waiting for it to warm up, “I was so proud of you for not giving up, really I was ashamed that I had.”

  “Really?” Luna stepped towards her, “So you found the mirror?” She asked, her excitement building.

  Her mom shook her head, “No. I don’t think I ever will, it’s guarded too well.” She sighed, “But I might have found something else.” She started typing on her computer.

  “Something that will help Eranox?” Lucas asked, leaning forward, his voice eager.

  “Maybe.” Luna’s mom stopped typing, and turned the computer to face them.

  The Saneville Sleuths read the title of the web page that her mom had opened.

  “A blog?” Luna didn’t get it.

  “Not just any blog…” Luna’s mom scrolled down, “No one knows this much about Hobgoblins and Gnomes without seeing them for real…”

  Lucas looked at her like she had a second head, “You think this person, the person who wrote these… knows how to get to Avidaura?” He asked.

  “I think they’ve been to Avidaura.” Luna’s mom answered.

  “So they could help us, they might know where the mirror is, or another way through…” Luna felt her chest lightening, “We can still get help….”

  “Eranox can still be saved.” Lucas smiled.

  “It’s a long shot.” Luna’s mom had turned serious, “And it’s going to take time, but I think it might work. It’s at least worth checking out.” She added.

  “What about the evacuation?” Luna turned to Lucas, the King and what was left of Eranox would be arriving in a day, and they still had to prepare.

  “We will still have to prepare for the evacuation,” Lucas nodded, “they can’t stay there…”

  “Yes.” Luna’s mom agreed, “They will still have to come through, we can keep them safe while we look into this.”

  “And when my father arrives, we can tell him. I am sure that he will agree, it is worth looking into…” Lucas was beaming, though Luna knew that they were still a long way away from saving Eranox.

  “So it’s settled then.” Luna’s mom clapped her hands together, “We aren’t giving up, not yet.”

  Lucas nodded, his smile was contagious.

  “How long have you two been up?” Luna’s mom changed the subject suddenly, “Dawn is coming soon, and I imagine you have been traveling for some time…” She raised her eyebrow, giving Luna a once over.

  “A long time.” Lucas answered, “But there is a lot that needs to be done, I already had the posters made…” He shook his head, “They are at my house, over on the back lane, the one that has a for sale sign.”

  “So it’s been you squatting there.” Luna’s mom laughed, “Good to know.” She smiled. “Why don’t you two get a bit of sleep, I can get started on the posters before the town wakes up…”

  “Oh, I almost forgot,” She stopped, shaking her head, “That friend of yours stopped by, Jess, I told her you were out of town visiting family for a week.”

  “Thanks mom.” Luna yawned, realizing how tired she was.

  “Lucas, you can take my room.” She tipped her head towards the stairs as she opened the office door.

  ***

  Luna woke up at noon, surprisingly fully rested after her long adventure. Though she was tempted to roll over and try to sleep a little longer, she knew that the rest of Eranox was arriving at nightfall, and there was a lot that probably still needed to be done before their arrival.

  Lucas was already downstairs, though Luna’s mom was nowhere to be found.

  “She went to pick up more tents and tarps.” Lucas answered her question before she could even ask it.

  “And the Knights?” Luna looked around, surprised that she couldn’t hear them.

  “In the woods, getting everything ready.” Lucas, opened the fridge, emptying the bag in his arms.

  “You need a hand?” Luna asked, not sure what else there was to do.

  “Yeah, there is a load of groceries on the front steps, it all needs sorted.”

  “Got it.” Luna walked towards the front door and opened it, there were more bags of food than she had ever seen in her life.

  Luna wasn’t sure how they were going to afford keeping up with all of the new visitors, but she was sure that her mom would find a way. She carried as many as she could manage back into the kitchen where Lucas was rummaging through another pile.

  “Cold stuff in the fridge, if you can find room, everything else goes out back to the Knights.”

  Luna looked down at the bags in her arms, there didn’t seem to be anything that needed to be kept cold, “I’ll take this out back then.”

  She walked to the back doors, they were already open, saving her having to put the bags down. She could see the Knights before she had even stepped out the door, they were busy tying tarps and fabric across from tree to tree. The place was really shaping up nicely, though it would never be anything compared to the real Eranox.

  She walked towards them, staring out into the trees, they had cut back the brush, making room for living in the forest with ease.

  As she approached one of the Knights stopped, walking to greet her. He had taken off his helmet and most of his metal plates to make it easier to work. He smiled at Luna, a twinkle in his eye.

  “I can take those.” He tipped his head at the groceries in Luna’s arms, “Here.” He held out his arms so Luna could pile them up.

  “It looks really nice out here.” She smiled, “Is there anything I can help with?”

  He considered for a moment, turning to look at the other Knights working behind him, “I’m not sure there is much that you could do out here, no magic, all has to be done by hand….” He shook his head.

  “I guess that will take some getting used to.” Luna chuckled, “I’ll go get some more food for you.” She turned back to the house.

  By mid-afternoon when her mom finally returned, the forest was ready for Eranox to arrive.

  It looked like a festival, event tents and tarps as far as the eye could see. Luna imagined that the residents of River Falls would believe the ruse for a while, they would probably even come to visit them, thinking that they were a real Renaissance Festival.

  Luna just hoped that the Eranoxians, after a tiresome evacuation, were up to entertaining the strangers that would come to see them in the new world. It was going to be a lot for them to get used to.

  Lucas and Luna were sitting at the table, counting down the hours until the portal could be opened.

  “Are you just going to sit there until night falls?” Luna’s mom asked, walking into the kitchen to start the kettle again.

  “Yes.” Lucas answered anxiously.

  “How do we get that many people through?” Luna asked, she knew that she wasn’t able to pass through the portal without her necklace, did everyone in Eranox carry a piece of the stone with them?

  “A human chain with enough stones should get them through.” Lucas answered, “But you and I have to go down and hold it open.” He added.

  “Hold it open?” Luna frowned, “How does that work, can’t you just go through?”

  “I already explained it to the Knights.” Lucas leaned forward, “They’ll have to tether us here, and then we go through, we get stuck halfway. Eranox comes through, and then they pull us back.”

  “Is that safe?” Luna’s mom asked, she had been listening from the kitchen.

  “I’ve done it once before.” Lucas answered, “It should be just as safe as going through normal.” He assured her.

  “How long until nightfall?” Luna asked, glancing out the window, the Knights were still unloading her mom’s car from the last trip, carrying it all out into the wo
ods.

  “Hours.” Lucas sighed, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling.

  “How many do you think are left?” Luna asked quietly.

  “Left?” Her mom slid in at the table with a pot of tea and an armful of mugs, “How bad was it?”

  “It was pretty bad.” Luna answered, still waiting for Lucas to answer her question.

  “There were so many at the gates last night…” Lucas stared off, “I have no idea how many will be left…”

  Luna’s mom filled the silence, pouring them tea.

  “Let’s go check on the camp.” She suggested, nodding her head towards Luna.

  Luna got up and followed her, leaving Lucas alone at the table, still staring at nothing.

  “Is he okay?” Luna’s mom asked when they were finally outside and out of earshot.

  “He’s nervous, I’m sure of it. His family is out there right now, waiting in the Gateway for night to fall…” Luna sighed, “and with all of the people that got cursed last night… even Ezzie, oh…” Luna glanced back.

  “Ezzie?” Her mom prodded.

  “His sister.” Luna answered, “She was bitten, and they sent them all, all the ones that were cursed, into the Gateway. She’s out there right now, while the rest of Eranox is waiting to be saved…”

  “The wait must be driving him crazy…” Luna’s mom observed, “He doesn’t know if the rest of his family is okay?”

  “We can’t make time go any faster.” Luna sighed as they reached the tree line and entered the camp.

  “It is all ready.” One of the Knights called to them, he had taken a seat at the base of a tree and was resting his eyes, he didn’t even look up to see who was walking towards him.

  “Looks good down here.” Luna’s mom walked around, looking at the tarps and tents with a sense of nostalgia that made Luna stare at her.

  “Hey Mom…” Luna followed behind her, curious.

  “Yeah?” she glanced back.

  “Do we have any other family in Eranox?” She asked quietly, afraid that she was about to send her mom through some memories that weren’t so pleasant.