One is Come

by C. H. MacLean

  Chapter 21

  Books

  Haylwen didn't like being dragged along, but was still dazed by whatever the snake-head monster had done to her. She fuzzily knew her brother was just trying to help, but she didn't like being forced to do anything. Besides, the anger seemed to be helping her think more clearly, so she allowed herself to really feel it.

  “Lemme go!” she said, ripping her arm from Cadarn's grip as he shut the door. She fell back, stumbling into a stack of boxes. She tried to hold herself upright, but the stack of boxes was moving. Well, it seemed like it to her. She ended up pulling the boxes on top of herself as she fell to the side. She, the boxes and their contents tumbled against the several other stacks of boxes in the room.

  Cadarn rushed over, and Haylwen's anger subsided when she saw the concerned look on his face. When he saw she wasn't hurt, he started laughing. Haylwen saw herself, sprawled on the floor amongst all the books and couldn’t help but start laughing too. Haylwen could hear that they were laughing wildly and tried not to think about why. All of a sudden, she saw something that served as a better distraction. In an instant, her fuzzy head was clear, and she sat up straight, still smiling. “Did you do that?”

  “Do what,” Cadarn asked, “knock you over? No, that was all you.”

  “No... make those boxes glow,” she said, pointing.

  He shook his head. “What glow? I don’t see anything.”

  She walked over to one stack, lifting the top box off. Cadarn came over and looked over her shoulder.

  “Statues, very fragile,” he read. “Dad's very delicate art.” He looked at her, puzzled.

  She opened the box, and saw densely packed books. She stared at them for a moment.

  “What?” Cadarn said. “Crumpled newspaper for those stupid statues.” He looked from her to the box and back to her. “You see something else, don't you!” he half whispered.

  Haylwen reached in and pulled out a large book. She sat down, putting the book in her lap.

  “Hoy crap!” Cadarn half-whispered, half shouted. “How did you do that?”

  “Do what?” Haylwen replied, distracted. She stroked the cover of the book, running a finger over the embossed lettering of the title. It was in a foreign language, but it looked familiar, somehow.

  “Turn that statue into a book!” he whispered.

  “Oh, it was always a book,” she said, then turned and looked at him. “Can you read this?” She pointed to the lettering.

  He shook his head.

  She opened the book and quickly flipped through its pages. She thought, Maybe it was an encyclopedia of some kind? There were pictures of monsters, old but in incredible detail, with that same strangely familiar, but unreadable language. They saw giants with rhinoceros snouts and rabbit ears, elephants and hippos on two legs, several kinds of dinosaurs, and what looked to be butterfly people. Other pages had apparently normal things, like cats and trees, and still others had scepters and jewels. They both gasped when they flipped to a page that showed a picture of the snake-head creature they had just seen.

  “There it is!” Cadarn said.

  “Yeah,” Haylwen echoed.

  Neither could read the words, but they both stared at the picture. They had only seen the top half of the one in their living room, but now saw the rest of the creature. Its muscular arms were matched by just as muscular legs, and it had feathers all along its back. Its stomach was scaled, and it had a thick, scaled tail with protruding ridges.

  “It looks like a wicked rattlesnake ostrich,” Cadarn said, standing up. “I wish I could read what it said.”

  “Me too,” Haylwen said, as Cadarn was turning to walk away. She gasped as the words crawled over the page for a moment, then stopped. Haylwen stared at the page. “I wish I could read what these words said,” she said again.

  “We just said that.”

  Haylwen didn't bother trying to explain. “I know, just say it again.”

  “I wish I could read what it said,” he said.

  Haylwen zipped her eyes back to the page. Nothing happened. Maybe...

  She closed her eyes tried to find the place where her breath came from. She didn’t even try to ignore the peripheral light, and a ball appeared quickly to her mind’s eye. But she didn't know what color to pick, so just watched as the light went through a rainbow, never slowing down. She opened her eyes and sighed, frustrated.

  “What are you trying to do?” Cadarn asked.

  “Use magic to read the book,” she said. “But I don't know what color to pick.”

  “Color?” Cadarn said.

  Haylwen looked at him narrowly. “Isn't that what Mom taught you?”

  “No,” he said.

  They looked at each other for a moment, eyes widening when they realized they had learned different things. “You first,” Cadarn said.

  Haylwen quickly explained what she was taught. She mentioned the peripheral light as an afterthought. “But he didn’t mention that at all.”

  Cadarn shook his head. “Well, that is the only part that matched what Mom taught me.” He explained what he had been taught to feel an emotion and let it fill out, and how it felt like it was coming from just beyond. Maybe that was the peripheral light. “But Mom didn't tell me about making a ball, or show me that punch, or yell, that was all me,” he said.

  “Yeah, Dad told me to pick a color and command the energy out, but just letting it pick itself and guide what it wanted to do, that was all me.” She paused. “But that yell and punch does sound like a command…”

  Haylwen looked at the book, then at Cadarn. “Let's see what happens if I combine what we learned.” She looked at Cadarn, then at the book. “What are you feeling?”

  Cadarn came over and ran a finger down the page. He smiled. “I think it would feel great to be able to read this book!”

  Haylwen nodded, and closed her eyes, imagining the excitement of reading the words of the book. She held onto the feeling until she started humming again, but she stopped suddenly, her eyes popping open, when Cadarn gasped.

  “Wow,” they both said together.

  They watched as the letters started crawling again. They wriggled into recognizable letters, then scrambled around, to form words. After a minute, the squirming stopped. They could read what it said.

  “Baskilon,” Haylwen read, “magical being, no magic using ability beyond...” she paused.

  “Intrinsic visual paralysis,” Cadarn finished.

  “What?” Haylwen said, despite knowing very well.

  “It means it can freeze you just by looking at you.” Cadarn knew she knew, but said it anyway. He wasn't really paying attention, reading the rest of the page quickly. “It says they are not very intelligent, fiercely loyal, and are often used as assassins. During the Great War...” he mumbled, looking away from the book. “I wonder if that means World War II?”

  Haylwen didn't think to answer, and flipped a few pages, reading parts of pages. It was all readable, or at least she supposed it was, but it sounded like a science text book. There were a lot of words she didn't understand, and some she couldn't even pronounce.

  She got up. Cadarn held onto the book and sat in her place, flipping back to the baskilon and reading more.

  She watched him for a moment. Yeah, she thought, we need to learn, and fast. I never want to be that helpless again. She went back to the box and closed her eyes, recalling the joy of being able to read the strange language. This time, she saw the light just beyond her vision clearly shift into an orange-yellow. She thought about the bright yellow ball that appeared in her center, but didn’t pay attention to it. She started humming again, and the light grew brighter. She opened her eyes and could feel the yellow light grow brighter, move and trickle like water over the box of books. As the light hit the book spines, the lettering scrambled on them to become readable. She used her other hand to pull out a few books as she read their titles: “A History of Kings,” “The Foretold,” and “Leaves and Hides,” mo
stly at random. She put them on the floor and sat on the floor nearby Cadarn. She opened at random, “A History of Kings.” History class was the one class that was interesting in school, it was like a collection of short stories, but better than fiction as they were real. She flipped pages until she was captivated by one picture of a man with a great mustache, curling up at the ends to form neat circles. His sideburns had similar curls down both sides of his face. His expression was stern, but his eyes sparkled. He winked, and Haylwen rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Must have been her imagination. He looked like such an interesting man, if only she could read his story.

  But the writing was the same. Where the light hit the page, she could read. It was a bit of a hassle to keep moving the book. Still humming, she thought about the yellow ball moving to the book, settling on it. The yellow ball then appeared out of nowhere, landing on the book. The words swam and all the pages of the book ruffled. The scrawl on the page danced, then settled into words she could understand, and the book lay still.

  “King Faustas,” she murmured, reading the caption under the picture, “known as the Traitor as he betrayed the Conclave in an attempt to overthrow those honest, loyal people and replace them with his own evil faction called the Rogues. Only through the brilliance and discipline of Joslachar was the plot uncovered.” She read his sad story quickly.

  She finished and turned the page, to see a picture of Joslachar, apparently the next king. His eyes were fierce, and he looked so familiar...

  Then the door opened, and she yelped and slammed the book closed. Their father walked in. “Your mother and I took care of the... problem, but we wanted to know if you would...” He stopped mid-word when he saw what Cadarn was reading, staring at each of them in turn.

  “Where did you get that?” He walked over and stood over Cadarn.

  “Haylwen turned one of your statues into this book,” Cadarn said, looking up at him sheepishly.

  Haylwen saw her father look at the opened box, the books next to her. He shook his head and smiled. “Well, I guess I can't be held accountable for what you learn on your own.” He then looked from Haylwen back to Cadarn, and his face contorted in confusion. “How are you reading that?”

  “We used magic to translate it.” Haylwen thought it was her idea, her magic, really, but wasn't sure if she was going to get in trouble for it.

  Their father gave a low whistle of amazement. “Wherever two or more are gathered...” Haylwen heard her father mumble, but didn't know what it meant.

  “Well, come on, we have to go.” He helped Haylwen up, briefly glancing at the books she had taken out and shaking his head again. He motioned for Cadarn to follow, and left the room.

  They went into the dining room, which smelled vaguely of sage and camp fire smoke. Their mother sat at the table, looking tired and angry. There was a slight humming coming from the stove fan in the kitchen.

  They took their usual dinner places, side by side across from their mother. Cadarn pushed a box from in front of him to the side of the table. Their father sat in his usual chair, and looked at their mother. “They were reading my books,” he said.

  “Oh,” she said.

  “No, they were reading my books, he said.

  Her eyes lit up, and she looked at Haylwen and Cadarn, then at their father. “What? How? That's impossible.” She looked back at them, then gave a slightly hysterical giggle. “Guess we can't be responsible for what they learn on their own.”

  Their father smiled, then leaned over and gave their mother a kiss. “Nope,” he said.

  Haylwen rolled her eyes as she heard Cadarn make a gagging sound.

  “Yes… well… to business,” their father said. “We obviously can't stay here. And since the movers have… ah… been asked to leave, we can only take what will fit in the car.”

  Haylwen noticed the smoky smell getting stronger. “What happened to my box?”

  Her father looked at her. “We had to get rid of it. Sorry. Speaking of which, Hayl, once you two decide what needs to come, will you please look it over? For… ah… anything you might see with your necklace on?”

  Their mother chimed in close on the heels of that statement. “And make sure you each have at least one week’s worth of socks and underwear in that, please.”

  “How long until we can get the rest of our stuff?” Cadarn asked.

  “Probably never,” said their father.

  Haylwen looked into the kitchen and saw smoke coming from the back of the stove. “Um-mm, something is smoking.”

  Their father eyes snapped to lock on hers. “Like last time? You can see a dark energy?”

  “No,” Haylwen said. “I see regular smoke, from the oven.”

  “Oh, right,” said their mother. She went into the kitchen and pushed a button. The stove fan hummed louder. She came back, and declared over the noise, “The stove is on self-clean. There might be some smoke as it has a lot to... clean.” She looked at their father, and sat down. “Nothing to worry about.”

  The stove fan was a drone in the background. Haylwen could see the smoke was now a steady stream, growing thicker, deep black, with little bits sparkling here and there. It poured from the stove, and was sucked into the overworked fan. Cadarn looked from her to the smoke and back, eyebrows raised.

  “So we are going to stay at a hotel until we can get this figured out,” their father said.

  “Where are we going?” Haylwen asked, fiddling with her ring under the table. “Too bad we don't know a hotel in a Dragonway.”

  Both of her parents gave her a look of astonishment.

  “What did you say?” her father asked. Her mother looked at her wide-eyed for a moment, then nodded.

  “Um, I don't know. Must have read about Dragonways just now. Don't we need a place that is safe from magic?” Haylwen said.

  Her mother looked at her father. “Feabee.”

  Her father looked up, sighed, and then nodded.

  Cadarn looked lost. “What's a Dragonway? Or a Feabee?”

  Haylwen fiddled with her ring, feeling uncomfortable. “A Dragonway is a special area, protected by magic.”

  Their father cut in. “And Feabee O’Park is a friend of your mothers who just happens to live on one,” he said tightly.

  Haylwen searched her parents' faces. Something was going on, but she knew better than to ask. She had a thought, something about that book in the office... Haylwen looked at Cadarn, who just shrugged.

  “Feabee O’Park,” their father said, “runs…”

  “Organizes,” their mother interrupted.

  “Yes, she 'organizes' a school on a farm,” their father resumed.

  “Community of like minds in a natural setting,” their mother interrupted again.

  Their father shot her a look, but she just smiled. He continued. “As I was saying, she was given… ah… some land and turned it into a farm.”

  Cadarn looked from one to the other. “And we'll be safe there?”

  Their parents tried to talk, and choked. Their mother managed to nod firmly and was the first to be able to speak. “I am sure she will be happy to have us while we figure everything out. I'll call her right now.”

  At that moment, a muffled explosion from inside the stove rattled its door, and both of their parents spun to look. A second passed, and Haylwen and Cadarn gaped at their parents who were poised and ready. Haylwen could see her father's jaw clench as his left hand gripped the table tightly. She looked to the kitchen to see glowing streaks start mixing in with the dense black smoke, and the sparkles increased. Her parents looked at each other, nodded, and slowly relaxed. Haylwen and Cadarn shared a glance as their mother got up to go to the phone.

  “So, right after that, we'll get going,” their father continued. “We are going to be leaving in...” he looked at their mother.

  She turned to look at the stove clock. “Two and a half hours,” she said.

  “Any questions?” their father finished. There was another, though smal
ler, explosion from the stove. Their parents didn't seem to care about that one. The stove fan started clunking, like there were pieces in the smoke. They didn't seem to care about that either.

  Haylwen dragged her attention away from the kitchen to notice her father looking at her and her brother intently. She looked at her brother, who was blankly staring at the kitchen. She bumped his knee. They looked at each other and the oddness of it all reflected back and forth between them. Questions? Too many to even start. Cadarn shrugged. She twisted her ring one more time, decided she had asked enough questions and shrugged too. Their father nodded and said, “Ok, then.” He shooed them into their rooms with a last warning to pack only what they needed. Haylwen packed quickly, a sneaking feeling she had no idea what she would need in the days to come.