Venom and Song

by Wayne Thomas Batson

  Kiri Lee continued to sing, the melody working its wonders, mesmerizing even the lords with its beauty. Astonishingly, the wolfhound approached the diminishing wall of fire and stepped over it, moving slowly toward the cistern and the lords gathered near.

  “I don’t like this,” said Jett. “Johnny!”

  “No, wait!” demanded Kat. “Look!” The others gazed up at the wolf as it approached, its head lowered, its hackles flattened down. No, it was moving toward the song. Listening. It tilted its head.

  “Whatever you do”—Tommy whispered to Kiri Lee—“don’t stop.” She nodded slowly and kept up the momentum of the melody. The rest of the lords followed after the wolf and watched, hoping for the best. Tommy and Kiri Lee both stepped aside as the large animal drew close and placed its head directly over the cistern. Jett tensed, but Kat held up her free hand, warding off his concern. As if completely disengaged from anything else that was going on around it, the wolf placed the tip of its snout in the pool and began to drink. Jett, Tommy, and the others who neared peered into the pool as the water receded. It slipped past Kat’s hand until she was free, at which point Jett pulled her away. But she refused and struggled out of his grip, pressing back toward the cistern. All Seven now stood around the well, watching the wolf drink its fill. And then the unimaginable happened.

  There, seated on a stone pillar in the middle of the cistern two feet down, was an unusual geometric object about the size of a basketball. Hewn from what looked to be a single piece of quartz, the pale white sculpture shimmered in the moonlight as the wolf pulled its head away and then looked down at the Seven.

  “I could be wrong,” said Tommy. “But I think our friend here just handed us the Keystone.”

  To which Johnny looked up at the beast and said, “Sorry about the whole fire thing.”

  29

  Lyrics of Light

  UNSURE IF the absence of her song would cause the giant wolf to return to its mad ravings, Tommy motioned for Kiri Lee to keep singing as he leaned into the cistern and grabbed the Keystone. He kept one eye on the wolf’s snout as he wrapped his arms around the sculpture. But the mass turned out to be far heavier than he had first believed. That or it was attached to the pillar somehow.

  “No way,” Tommy shook his head. “Give it a shot, Jett.”

  Jett passed Kat—who felt all the better for Jett’s healing touch— off to Jimmy, and then moved in to the cistern. He, too, cast the wolf a passing glance and then tried the object. But it wouldn’t budge.

  “So we’ve risked our life to find the Keystone, but we can’t take it with us,” said Johnny. “Great.”

  “So now what?” asked Jimmy.

  “Here, let me touch it,” Kat said, reaching out her hand.

  “Hold on, Kat,” Tommy stepped in. “You’ve touched enough today.”

  “So what do you think we’re supposed to do with it?” Jett asked. The stone resembled a basketball with a flat bottom. Along the roundish upper section were seven flat panels—one on top and six directly underneath it, like a geodesic dome. The panels were flat, recessed about half-an-inch deep, and had circular boundaries. Within each circle were strange symbols etched seemingly at random. Everyone gathered close, eyeing the dazzling quartz as it glittered in the firelight.

  “Can you interpret the lettering?” Jimmy asked Kat.

  “Well, I thought it might be First Voice.” Her months of studying the ancient Elven language in Whitehall came rushing back to her. Imagine actually using what I learned in school. She pointed to several spots on the Keystone. “See how these symbols are, with the dots over them? And here the swirl beneath these others, that looks like First Voice, but the rest . . . I just don’t recognize.”

  “Some sort of code?” Autumn offered.

  “I guess,” said Kat. She looked at Tommy. “Maybe, if I touch it, maybe I could pick something up.”

  “No!” burst out Tommy. Then he shrank back. “I mean, no. What if—?”

  “What if something happens?” she answered. How many times had she wondered the same thing? But now, in this very moment, new wisdom came to her. “Something is always going to happen, Tommy. It’s part of being on a journey. But that’s why we have each other.” She paused. “That’s why I have you.”

  Hearing the final thought, meant for him alone, Tommy blushed.

  It was then that Kiri Lee abruptly stopped singing.

  “Why’d you stop?” asked Johnny.

  “It looks content,” she replied. “Peaceful.”

  “That thing could turn on us and—”

  “He won’t,” said Jimmy. “He’s just going to sit there.”

  “Well?” asked Kat.

  Reluctantly, Tommy relented. “Go ahead.”

  Kat bent over the cistern and reached down. Her fingers just inches away, she gasped.

  “Kat, what is it?”

  “No, I’m okay. These symbols on the Keystone, I recognize them. I used to draw them, more like doodles, really.”

  Kiri Lee looked strangely at Kat. “You doodle in First Voice?”

  “Not exactly. It started back home—er, in California, when my powers first began to develop. I couldn’t get these symbols out of my head. Now I know it’s not just the ones on the Keystone that matter. When I bent over to look more closely, my medallion hung down from the top of my tunic.”

  She held hers aloft, and simultaneously the other six withdrew their own medallions, their tribes’ seals, first given to them in the lordship ceremony.

  “Is it the same?” Jett asked, scrutinizing his medallion.

  “Not the same,” said Kat, slipping the chain over her neck. “But unless my memory is completely messed up . . .” She leaned over the cistern wall once more and held her medallion up to the Keystone. “Here,” she said, and there was an audible click. “It fits!”

  Everyone held their breath. But nothing happened.

  “Weird,” said Johnny. “I thought it might do something cool.”

  “Maybe it’s broken,” said Jimmy.

  “Or maybe we all have to put our medallions in,” said Jett. “Here.” He took his off and leaned over the side. He worked around the well until he spied what he thought was a perfect fit. “Booya!”

  “The rest of you,” Tommy prompted. “Come on.”

  One by one, the rest placed their medallions into the Keystone, until the only place left was the panel on top. Tommy held his medallion over it. “You might want to stand back, gang. I’m not sure what’s going to happen.”

  Ever so slowly, each lord moved back, their eyes never leaving the stone. Tommy tried to steady his hand as he lowered his medallion into the remaining recess. Then—clink. He winced.

  Everyone stood, wondering. Waiting. Even the wolfhound seemed alert. An echo from a distant drip of water. The flickering of the dying flames behind them. And all the while the Keystone was still. No sound. No flashing lights. It was just a rock with seven medallions filling seven recessed panels.

  “Well,” said Jimmy. “I didn’ see that comin’.”

  The others nodded. Kat glared down at the Keystone.

  “Is it First Voice?” asked Autumn. “Can you read it?”

  “It certainly looks like First Voice,” said Kat.

  “It does,” Kiri Lee agreed. “But nothing makes sense.”

  “It’s almost like the symbols are at a different angle, or backward,” said Kat.

  The wolfhound emitted a growling sort of squeal and backed up a few steps.

  Johnny’s illuminating fires snuffed out and again they stood in darkness.

  “Um, this is definitely not cool,” said Kat, backing away. The rest took a few steps back, too, as a faint hum came from the well.

  Tommy looked to his right. “Jimmy?”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”

  “What did you see?” Tommy asked.

  Jimmy hesitated. “Well, nothin’ actually. But I have a feelin’ we’ll be fine.”

  Great,
Tommy thought.

  The hum grew louder until finally the Seven noticed a subtle glow coming from inside the cistern. The big wolf let out a small whine. “If he’s afraid, I’m afraid,” said Kiri Lee.

  Then, as if someone flipped a switch, blasts of emerald light shot out of the cistern. The Seven shielded their eyes. Even the wolf winced and pulled back.

  “Oh my goodness!” Autumn finally remarked. “Look!” She pointed to the ceiling. To the walls.

  “It’s—it’s magnificent!” said Kiri Lee.

  All around them were glowing Elven characters inscribed in electric green. They stretched out across the domed room in every direction, appearing like a nighttime sky full of stars . . . only, to the trained eye, these were no mere constellations; these were words. Written by the ancients. Hidden for countless ages. The team spun around slowly, taking it all in. The wolf strained its head up to see as well.

  “What does it mean?” Tommy looked to Kat, then Kiri Lee.

  “I’m working it through right now,” Kat replied. “It’s in First Voice.”

  “It’s poetry,” said Kiri Lee. Kat wrinkled her nose.

  “Poetry?” the others repeated.

  “How about . . . song lyrics,” replied Kat.

  “Nice, Kat,” said Jimmy.

  “The Rainsong!” Tommy exclaimed.

  “So the prophecies”—Jett shook his head, still mesmerized by the inscriptions painted on the walls—“they’re real after all?”

  “Seem to be,” said Kiri Lee. “In fact, judging by the syllables in First Voice, they fit that crazy melody that’s been drifting through my head all this time. Like . . . perfectly.”

  “Then what does it say?” Jimmy asked.

  “Yeah, can you sing it?” Tommy drew close to Kiri Lee.

  “I can try. I’m putting it in English so everyone can understand. It won’t rhyme.”

  Kiri Lee closed her eyes yet again, willing the melody to come forth. She found it more easily this time, having only held it in her mind’s eye moments before. But this time, rather than a solitary silvery thread of notes streaming together, she opened her eyes and scanned the domed room, searching for a beginning. And then she began to sing.

  “Beneath the burning firmament of heaven

  Live the Children of the Light.

  Blood of kings, strength of queens,

  Sons and daughters, each we stand.

  Let every crooked road be straight.

  Let injustice suffer our wrath.

  By the hand of the justice bane,

  We dispatch the ruthless, wicked, and foul.

  See now, comes the dawn in darkness.

  Hear now, the song of the Chosen.

  We lift our voices as one Body,

  Righting ancient evil with our union.

  Let the captive be set free—

  The chains of slaves be broken at last.

  We shall cross ancient borders to defeat our enemies,

  And wake those who have slept for too long.

  The Lords of Berinfell take up their thrones,

  And the Mighty of Allyra, their mantel awaits.

  For Ellos empowers those who draw near,

  Holding hands as one, their destinies intertwined.”

  The song itself seemed alive, each Elvish script character brightening as Kiri Lee sang it. The presence of the song filled the hall with energy, the lords getting goose bumps as the presumed meaning of the lyrics washed over each one. Their people would not be subject to tyranny anymore. No more slavery. No more injustice. They would be free of the Spider King and his dominion. Without even realizing it, the Seven found themselves weeping.

  Kiri Lee’s voice, the melody, the words, the images—striking in their beauty.

  It meant hope.

  Kiri Lee sang the song a few more times until each lord had memorized the lyrics. When she let the last note fade, so too did the images. And once again the Seven stood in darkness. Darkness, no longer frightening, but like an enveloping safety. Like being held.

  The massive wolf gave out a low growl and then a bark, startling everyone.

  “Johnny!” Tommy yelled.

  A blast of fire raced to the ceiling and stuck there, casting a bright light over everything. But surprisingly the wolf was still in place, staring at the high ceiling.

  “We need to get out of here,” said Jimmy. “Right now.”

  The wolfhound barked again, then lowered its body flat to the ground.

  “What’s going to happen?” Tommy asked.

  “The roof’s about to cave in.”

  Then they all heard it, a rumble, followed by a sharp crack. “Look!” Tommy yelled, pointing to the opening in the high ceiling where the moonlight still shone down. A silvery crack had appeared. Suddenly a piece of stone dislodged and fell.

  The Seven dove in all directions. The heavy piece of rock plummeted, shattering the cistern and burying the Keystone under rubble.

  “Lords!” called Tommy. “We need to leave and right now!”

  “Bottomless pit behind us,” said Jett. “Dead end up ahead. How do we get out of here?”

  WOOF! They all turned to the wolfhound, still squat on the floor. It stared at them, its expression completely different from that of the ferocious beast they’d first encountered. It pawed the ground and whined.

  “I think it knows we need to get out of here, too,” said Johnny.

  “But this is a giant wolf-dog thing, Johnny,” said Autumn. “How could it—”

  Wooooo, WOOF! More pawing. More whines.

  “Ohhh,” said Jimmy, his eyes fixed as if watching something on TV no one else could see. Jimmy suddenly ran at the wolfhound.

  “Jimmy!” Kiri Lee cried, but it was too late.

  Jimmy leaped up on the beast’s foreleg and clambered up onto its shoulders. “C’mon!” he yelled. “He’s our way out!”

  “It’s a he?” asked Autumn.

  “I don’t know,” Jimmy retorted. “We can check later. Just get on!”

  More cracks. More debris fell. The Seven said nothing more and climbed aboard the wolfhound express.

  WOOF! WOOF, WOOOO! The beast rose up and took off like a shot into the darkness-shrouded corner far behind and to the left of where the cistern stood. The Elves clutched armfuls of fur as the beast gained speed and emerged into a curving gray-lit passage. The wolfhound had plainly traversed these corridors often for, without hesitation, it raced over obstacles and around blind turns.

  Stone, timber, and other debris began to rain down on them. But the wolf was equal to the task. A huge plank fell in their path. The wolf darted left and leaped over the fallen wood. It came down on all fours and slid sideways to the brink of a dreadful-looking black hole in the floor. Grrrrrr, ROOF! The beast’s claws found purchase, and with the Seven still holding on for dear life, the wolfhound sped away from the potential fall. It was a perilous journey, stretching the lords’ collective nerve to its breaking point. By the time the wolf emerged under the stars on the backside of the fortress, the lords were barely conscious, barely holding on.

  When the wolfhound entered the woods some two hundred yards away, the colossal mountain that hid the Burcherond collapsed.

  30

  Return to Nightwish

  JIMMY WAS alone on the back of the giant wolfhound. How long he’d been on its back and how far they’d come through the deep woods, he had no idea. But at last the creature came to a stop in a clearing where a small fire burned.

  Woof, WOOF, WA-OOOOO! The creature howled.

  Glistening eyes appeared all around the clearing. To Jimmy’s horror, gigantic wolves emerged from the woods and closed on their position. It seemed the whole world shook with their growls. Jimmy frantically tried to climb off the creature’s back, but the beast caught the back of his tunic in its jaws and flung Jimmy into the center next to the fire.

  When Jimmy looked up, he looked into a massive grin of white teeth. The jaws opened and . . . AHHHHHhhhhhhhh!

>   There came a beautiful, melodic voice . . . like an angel: “Jimmy, wake up!”

  Jimmy opened his eyes and found himself face-to-face with a gigantic wolf. He screamed as the beast opened its jaws and . . . felt himself knocked backward by a rough, wet tongue the size of a diving board.

  Kiri Lee was at his side in an instant. “Jimmy, are you okay? You were having a bad dream. I called to you.”

  “Wha-whaa?” Jimmy’s eyes finally focused, and he stared at Kiri Lee. “Yu’re the angel,” he said.

  The other lords gathered around. “I think he’s delirious,” said Jett. The others laughed mightily.

  Jimmy finally cleared the cobwebs. “Yu would be, too, if yu woke up next t’ that, that, thing there! I thought it was gonna eat me.”

  “What, Bear?” said Autumn. “C’mon, he was just being playful.” She nuzzled the giant wolf under its chin. “Weren’t you, ya big fuzzy, wuzzle, fuzzer bear!”

  Jimmy looked on in disbelief and then back to the other lords. “Yu named it Bear? It’s a giant wolf!”

  “Well,” said Tommy, “Autumn named him.”

  “I wanted to name him Sam,” said Johnny. “After our dog that disappeared back home.”

  “But I said no,” said Autumn. “Sam will find us. He’ll come home. He always does.”

  “So Autumn was snuggling with him,” said Jett, “just like now, and she kept calling him her big fuzzy bear, so . . .”

  “So,” said Tommy. “So the wolf’s name is Bear.”

  Jimmy stood up and rubbed his side. “So where are we, then?”

  “Near the Spine,” said Tommy. “And the Spine will lead us back toward Whitehall, and Jett and I can piece together the way to Nightwish from there. You about ready to ride?”

  Jimmy looked at Bear. “If I have to.”

  Had it not been for Bear, the trip back to Nightwish would have taken far longer than six days—if they ever got there at all. But at long last, the Seven Elven Lords of Berinfell began to recognize some of the environment.

  “These are the big trees,” said Autumn, the only Elf riding Bear as the others chose to walk for a while.