by Tom Hoffman
“Quite correct, Haukesworth Mouse disappeared on a planet called Tectar. There was a short caption next to the image of his hat stating he never returned from his third visit to Tectar.”
Amanda left three stunned mice standing at the front desk.
Sophia clutched Haukesworth’s hat tightly in her paws. “This is vitally important information, but we have to use logic. We know someone named Haukesworth Mouse traveled to Tectar three hundred years ago, and it was his hat which appeared in our world when it began to overlap with Tectar. It seems clear that whatever is causing the worlds to overlap must be located near where Haukesworth Mouse lost his hat, since it’s the first sign of the two worlds overlapping.”
Orville snorted. “You’re saying we need to find out where Haukesworth Mouse went on Tectar, and where he lost his hat? That’s impossible, how do we even begin to–”
Orville was cut short by a sudden exclamation from Master Marloh. “The journals! That’s where we’ll find it! Your papa and I have been sorting through thousands of old Metaphysical Adventurer journals down in the archives. If Haukesworth Mouse was indeed a Metaphysical Adventurer, and if we can find his journal, it could answer all these questions. Members almost always leave a detailed entry before they leave on a mission, in case a rescue party needs to be sent out. We’ll start today. I’ll bring in some of the other members to help us. There are thousands of journals to sort through.”
It took four days to find Haukesworth Mouse’s journal, and it was Orville who found it, surrounded by towering stacks of weathered and worn volumes, many with barely legible pages, some written in cryptic cyphers or unrecognizable languages. Orville pulled a heavy journal off the pile, his eyes blurry from long hours of searching.
“I found it!!” He jumped to his feet, holding the heavy gray volume over his head. In faded brown ink on the cover of the old journal was the drawing of a coiled snake, beneath the snake lay the words they had been searching for.
Haukesworth Mouse
His Journal of Adventuring
Cheers rang out from a dozen weary Metaphysical Adventurers. Orville’s papa clapped him on the shoulder. “There is no doubt now that the universe has chosen you for this mission.”
Master Marloh nodded in agreement. “Take a few days off and read Haukesworth’s journal. Let us know as soon as possible what you learn.”
Sophia said, “We need to know how he was planning to get to Tectar. One of the twelve World Doors leads to Tectar, but I think the existence of the World Doors was unknown to mice three hundred years ago.”
Orville’s papa agreed, saying, “You’re quite right. The doors weren’t discovered until long after Haukesworth Mouse disappeared on Tectar. If we can find out how he got to Tectar, it might give us the precise location of his arrival.”
Orville set the massive journal on the floor. “Whew, that’s heavy.” He gently lifted the front cover, examining the first page. “There’s at least three hundred pages of tiny cursive writing and a lot of it is faded, hard to read. It’s going to take a really long time to get through all this.”
The room was strangely silent.
“So, um, I guess I’d better go home and get busy reading.”
Sophia snorted, whacking Orville’s arm. “Come on, I’ll help you carry it home.”
Chapter 11
Haukesworth’s Journal
“It is my fervent hope that on this, my last expedition to Tectar, the location of that lost mythic land, the deepest held secret of Tectar, shall be revealed to me. In my bones I have felt it, I am closer than I have ever been to success in this endeavor, my inner voice speaking daily words of inspiration and encouragement.”
Orville stopped reading and set the journal down on his desk.
Sophia frowned. “That was his last entry? It doesn’t really tell us what he was looking for.”
“He was looking for a lost mythic land.”
“That still doesn’t help us much. Was there anything about his other trips to Tectar?”
“That’s the good news. I found out how he got to Tectar, and you were right, it wasn’t through the World Doors. I’ll read it to you, I bookmarked the page.”
Orville opened the tattered journal again, running his paw down the page until he found the entry.
“Great fortune has smiled upon me this day, for within the journal of the brave and stalwart Parzifal Mouse I have found clear mention of a waypoint, a path to Tectar. He has made mention of an island far below the southernmost point of Symoca, a journey of ten days by sail during the months prior to the setting in of the frigid snows of winter. It was Parzifal himself who discovered this island, and Parzifal who so named it the Isle of the Serpent, for the island’s uncanny resemblance to a writhing serpent. His choice of name bodes auspiciously for my journey, filling me with great expectations, as it echoes the symbol of my own guild, a coiled serpent. In the snake’s eye shall be found a cave, coming and going with the tides of the day. Woe to he who is caught unawares by the inward rushing sea, but in the darkest recesses of the cave lies an ancient gateway to Tectar, a passage created eons ago by noble architects unknown. There is no safe return for the adventurer who takes this path. If the timing be misjudged, the unfortunate soul shall return, only to perish beneath a thousand tons of sea, never again to witness a setting sun.”
Orville stopped reading, looking up at Sophia. “What do you think the lost mythic land was that Haukesworth was looking for?”
Sophia shook her head. “I don’t know. It must have been something really important. It sounds like he spent most of his life trying to find it. It’s strange, I’m starting to care about him even though I know he died three hundred years ago. I hope he found it, whatever it was. He seems true, sincere.”
“I know, I like him, too. He must have been a good Metaphysical Adventurer. There’s more in the journal. This is the part that kept me awake last night.” Orville opened the journal and began to read.
“The name of Caligari has been given to me by those dwelling to the west of the murderous Forest of Thorns, bordering the great Obex Range. The once resplendent Castle Caligari now lies abandoned, in aging disrepair and decay. It is Castle Caligari I seek, my inner senses directing me to this rumored edifice, the spot on which I have pinned my hopes, where the question shall find its answer. Despite such glad tidings, I am filled with grievous concern regarding this perilous undertaking, questioning my own abilities, whether or not I may possess the fortitude to pass through the Forest of Thorns and safely journey across the frigid Obex Range, even with such powers of shaping as I possess. Only time shall reveal the outcome of this, my last great adventure.”
Orville stopped reading, flipping several pages ahead in the journal. “Look at this drawing.” Orville held the book up for Sophia to see.
“It’s the castle from our dream! You found it, this is it, this is where we have to go. Your dream was about Castle Caligari, the mythical location Haukesworth Mouse was searching for.”
“I’m not the first one to dream about it. Look what he wrote underneath the drawing.”
Sophia hunched over the book, squinting to read the faded brown cursive writing.
“I have sketched to the best of my limited ability a likeness of Castle Caligari, shown to me by a favorable and near miraculous dream. I shall not rest until such time as I stand before this dark and forbidding edifice in the land of the dead.”
“Land of the dead? What does that mean?”
Orville closed the journal. “I don’t know, but I don’t like the sound of it. Do you think he ever found the castle? What do you think the murderous Forest of Thorns is? A forest with a lot of stabby thorns doesn’t sound so bad. You could just pop up a sphere of defense and that would take care of it.”
“There must be more to it than that. He was a shaper, he would have known how to create a sphere of defense. We really have no idea what kind of lifeforms we’ll encounter on Tectar.”
“Maybe Master Marloh
will know something about Isle of the Serpent. We should ask him.” Orville did not mention Mendacium the Dark Wizard, something notably missing from Haukesworth Mouse’s journal. He found himself wondering if Mendacium the Dark Wizard and his horde of spectral demons had brought Haukesworth Mouse’s life to a tragic and untimely end.
“Orville, you’re worrying again. What is it?”
“I’m not worried, I was just wondering what happened to Haukesworth.”
Sophia nodded, but she knew Orville’s thoughts were haunted by visions of Mendacium. “Okay, first we need to formulate a plan. We know Haukesworth traveled by sailing ship to the Isle of the Serpent. We have something a lot better, we can take a Dragonfly and be there in eight or nine hours, maybe less. No need to sail there on the autumn winds. Once we land, we’ll find the cave and go through the gateway, more than likely it’s an ancient spectral doorway.”
“He said we had to be careful about the tides, that they flood the cave.”
“Proto can check the tidal charts before we leave. The important thing is we know to keep our eyes on the rising tide. Once we get to Tectar, Haukesworth said we travel east through the Forest of Thorns, then cross the Obex Range to Castle Caligari. Once we reach the castle we figure out what’s causing the Void to disappear and put a stop to it.”
Orville smiled. Sophia could make the most insurmountable obstacles sound like insignificant little bumps in the road. She had a natural confidence, and it was infectious. Maybe that’s why he liked her so much, she always made him feel hopeful. “I’d say we have a plan. I’ll pack tonight and have Proto check the tide charts. He’ll be thrilled when I tell him we’re off on another adventure.” Orville heard a small cough outside his bedroom door. “Proto, have you been eavesdropping on our conversation?”
The bedroom door swung open and Proto poked his head in. “Oh, good heavens no, that would be dreadfully rude, quite inappropriate. I just happened to be dusting the picture next to your door and couldn’t help but overhear your discussion regarding Haukesworth Mouse and his journeys to Tectar. I fear Sophia might be quite correct, the Forest of Thorns may not be at all what it seems, perhaps it is not inhabited by trees at all, but by hordes of slithering creatures covered with long deadly poisonous thorns.”
Orville gave a mock look of terror, well aware of Proto’s penchant for frightening creatures. “Great heavens, with creatures like that we’ll certainly need you there to protect us. You’d better pack tonight, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We have to tell Master Marloh what we learned about Castle Caligari and the doorway to Tectar, then pay a visit to Mirus Mouse to requisition a Dragonfly for our trip to the Isle of the Serpent. We can leave tomorrow afternoon.”
Proto rubbed his silver hands together. “Tectar sounds simply dreadful, far worse than Periculum or Varmoran.”
Chapter 12
Red Sea Rising
“What’s wrong with you, mouse? How many times do I have to remind you to oil the duplonium motors before a flight? Do you want your Dragonfly to burst into flames and go down in the Vesarak Sea?”
Orville stared blankly at Mirus Mouse. Mirus was also known as the Mad Mouse of Muridaan, the greatest inventor in all of Symoca and arguably Symoca’s most eccentric mouse. His memory, or lack of it, was legendary among Metaphysical Adventurers. “Oil the duplonium motors? They need oil?”
“What?? They need oil??” Mirus’ eyes were bulging. “You’re a copilot in the Dragonfly Squadron and you don’t know a simple thing like that? How old are you, mouse??”
“Sorry, I know you must have mentioned it, but it slipped my mind somehow. Sophia, do you remember anything about oiling the motors?”
Sophia shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mirus, I don’t recall any mention of that. Could you remind us again how to oil them?”
Mirus gave a great screech. “That was a test, and you both failed miserably! You never oil duplonium motors! Never! I’ve told you that twenty times! Your ship would burst into flames and you’d go down in the Vesarak Sea.”
The pair of adventurers stood mutely before Mirus. Orville was staring at his feet, afraid to look at Sophia, afraid he might start laughing.
Mirus exploded in laughter, a raucous sound quite similar to the screeching of the wild East Symocan Kukululu bird. “Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! You two mice are all right! Oil the duplonium motors? Ha! I use that one on all the new pilots!” He slapped Orville on the shoulder. “Let’s go, mouse, time to hit the clouds!”
Proto stepped out from behind the Dragonfly. “I believe the ship is ready to go, Captain Orville. I have thoroughly oiled both duplonium motors.” He gave a loud snort and poked Orville in the ribs with a long silver finger.
Orville glared at Proto. “Yes, very funny, Proto, even funnier than your poisonous vegetable jokes.”
Sophia eyed the gleaming ship, a thirty foot long iridescent green flying machine resembling an enormous dragonfly, capable of vertical take off and speeds up to one hundred and ninety miles an hour. She hopped into the cockpit. “Come on, Captain Orville, the Isle of the Serpent is calling our name!”
Proto’s eyes lit up and he scrambled into the rear seat of the craft, maneuvering his enormous backpack into the ship’s storage compartment.
Orville jumped into the ship, giving Mirus a wave. “Ready to go!”
“It’s about time, mouse! Let’s get this bug in the sky!” Mirus stepped over to the hangar doors and swung them open.
Orville slipped on his flight goggles, one of Mirus’ many amazing inventions. Turning a dial on the left side of the goggles magnified his vision up to eight times, and pushing the silver tab allowed him to see in the dark.
“Engines on!” Orville flipped the main switches, listening closely to the sound of the two duplonium motors as they whirred to life. Duplonium is a rare element which reacts violently with water, causing it to boil instantly, with no decrease to the mass of the duplonium. In a closed system like the one on the Dragonfly, it provided virtually unlimited steam power for the ship. As Mirus Mouse put it, “She’ll fly till her wings fall off!”
Sophia slipped on her goggles. “Engines sound good. Let’s take her up.”
Orville pushed the left stick forward, watching as the four sparkling transparent wings became a blur.
“Wings look good. Lifting off.” He pushed the stick forward and the ship rose ten feet above the hangar floor. “Taking her out.”
Sophia grinned. She loved this part. “Let’s go, Captain Orville. I hope you’re not going to fly this bug like an old grandmum.”
Orville snorted, “Not unless a grandmum flies like this!” He slapped the right stick forward and the engines roared, the Dragonfly shooting out of the hangar above the long grassy runway. Within seconds they were streaking down the field at eighty miles an hour, the three adventurers pressed back against their seats.
“Hold on to your hats! Here we go!” Orville jammed both sticks forward and they shot up into a brilliant blue sky at one hundred and sixty miles an hour.
Sophia raised both arms above her head and shrieked, “Whoo hoo! That’s what I call flying!”
Orville slowed the ship down as they circled a thousand feet above Mirus Mouse’s vast complex. Sophia was still grinning when she pulled a map from its storage tube, spreading it out in front of her. “Mirus marked our route on the map. It looks simple enough, we head due southwest until we spot the island. It’s seven hundred and twenty-three miles so it will take a while, even cruising at a hundred miles an hour. We shouldn’t have any trouble finding it, the island is over twenty miles long and it’s the only island in that section of the Vesarak.”
Several hours later the ship was winging its way across the Vesarak Sea, Proto in the middle of a seemingly endless reminiscence of his early years, back when he was known only as Prototype Model 10E Deluxe Rabbiton with the Expanded L7 Sincere Friendship Simulation Package. Proto had been created by the Elders, a race of very tall and technologically advanced rabbits who
made a sudden exodus at the end of the Anarkkian War, moving on to Mandora, a peaceful new world of their own creation. Prior to their departure they had played a vital role in the war against the brutal Anarkkian invaders.
Rabbitons were a ubiquitous fixture in the world of the Elders, tireless workers capable of performing any number of tedious and mundane tasks, but they were incapable of experiencing feelings or emotions.
At the end of the Anarkkian war there was a great clamoring by the public for Rabbitons who possessed emotions, kind and gentle Rabbitons who could assist in the care and raising of their young postwar families. Proto was the first friendly Rabbiton ever created by the Elders, a basic prototype for all others to follow. Trial runs for the new and revolutionary Sincere Friendship Simulation Rabbitons began with Proto’s placement into a family of two adult Elders and three rambunctious young bunnies. He often said these had been some of the happiest days of his life.
“And then, on his fourth birthday, the idea just popped into my head out of nowhere that the party should have a thrilling space pirate theme. What young bunny doesn’t like space pirates? I made the cutest costumes for all the guests, twenty-two bunnies in total, quite a considerable undertaking, I assure you. It was a lovely party, and the look on their faces when I appeared as the infamous bloodthirsty Dread Pirate Blackbones was a moment I shall never forget. Those dear little bunnies were so overwhelmed by the time and effort I had spent creating my costume that they burst into tears at the very sight of me. It was a deeply moving experience, and one I shall treasure to the end of my days. Their parents had to assure them over and over that I was not the real Dread Pirate Bones and I was not going to cook them and eat them. So delightful, those sweet little bunnies, such fond memories I have of them. Of course I baked a lovely cake, six tiers, each one a different flavor, decorated with little bones made out of…”