by J. M. Lee
The Skeksis with the mechanical eye jabbed a talon-like finger at Rian.
“Retire for the evening, guard.”
Kylan felt Rian’s memory more than he saw it: anger, fear, anxiety. He knew he should trust the lords, or at least obey them, but his gut was telling him that something was wrong. Then impulsiveness as Rian followed, knowing if he were caught, he might be discharged, but if his instinct was right, Mira could be in danger.
She was. The memory was a rush of disorganized fragments of sounds and images: Rian’s path through the castle, the jarring echoes of the Skeksis’ harsh laughter. Mira’s questions that started calm but escalated into alarm. Over it all, Kylan heard the memory of a grating crank, as if an enormous piece of architecture was in motion on a hundred gears and cogs.
Here the vision was sharp and painful. Rian found his way to where the Skeksis had taken Mira. The Skeksis Scientist’s lab, deep in the gut of the castle. The door was open a hair, just a sliver of fiery red in the dark hall. Mira’s voice was quiet now, just whimpers, and Rian peered through the crack in the door. He saw her bound to a chair, facing a panel in the stone wall. skekTek, the Scientist, stood near the panel with his claws on a lever. The cranking and shuddering of machinery intensified, and then the panel opened and flooded the room with brilliant red.
“Look into the light, yes, Gelfling,” skekTek said. He reached to another lever and maneuvered it, bringing a second piece of the contraption into view—a reflector, suspended in the cavern of fire beyond the wall. Mira began to cry out for help, struggling against the bonds. Rian almost burst in then, but skekTek rotated the reflector, placing a blinding dagger of light on Mira’s face. The instant she looked into the light, she went still.
Kylan felt the memory weaken as Rian’s focus lapsed.
It’s all right, he said. You don’t need to show any more. I understand . . .
No, Rian replied. No, it’s important. You should see it. You should see just how terrible the Skeksis really are.
Kylan watched through Rian’s eyes as Mira’s limbs went limp. Her skin paled and dried, her hair turning withered and brittle, as if her life force was being drained from her body. As she slowly died, her eyes turning milky and unseeing, another machine went into motion. A series of tubes shuddered to life, slowly filling with a glowing liquid. The substance was pristine, blue tinted, almost like liquid crystal, and it passed slowly through the conduits until it finally filled a glass vial, drop by drop.
The worst came next. The Skeksis Scientist plucked the vial once it was full. He sniffed it and gave a pleased sigh, and then, to Kylan’s horror, tipped the vial into his mouth for a tiny, sickening sip. As the drops touched his tongue, light flashed in his eyes, clearing them of their aging haze. The wrinkles and distortions in his withered face and beak smoothed, the hairs on his scalp growing thicker and filling with a glimmer of shine. Mira’s life force was now his, her youth flowing into his old and deteriorating veins.
Her vliya, Rian said. As if it’s wine.
Kylan shuddered. Naia had told him as much, but seeing it so clearly in Rian’s memory was horribly different. He was relieved when the vision dissipated.
I’m sorry about Mira, he said.
Me too, Rian replied. Yet the grief had given birth to courage and purpose, it seemed, Now tell me the tale you and Naia share. Tell me how you came to join me in the fight against the Skeksis, who’ve sent the rest of our people after me as a traitor and a liar.
Kylan took hold of the dreamfast, remembering what he knew of Naia’s journey. He had to speak for her as well as himself. Although they had dreamfasted together during their travels, and she had shared with him the story of how she’d left her home and traveled north, it was impossible to dreamfast another’s dreamfasted memories. Instead, he had to speak it, so he kept it short and to the point.
Tavra, one of the All-Maudra’s daughters, came to Naia’s village searching for you and Gurjin. When Tavra didn’t find Gurjin there, Naia left for Ha’rar to defend Gurjin’s honor. I met her north of Sog, when she passed through the Spriton plains.
Kylan remembered the day Naia had come to his village, knowing that as he called up the memory, Rian would see it, too. He remembered Naia’s aloof appeal, and how reluctant she had been to make friends, but Kylan had liked that about her. He had seen his own outsiderness reflected in her. It might not have meant much to her, but for Kylan, it had been the beginning of the journey that had eventually brought him here, to share in this dreamfast with Rian, and to fight against the Skeksis.
The lands were filling with darkness, he told Rian. We saw the darkened creatures, mad with a sickness from looking into the earth. Even the trees in the Dark Wood were ill.
He showed Rian the night they had been lost in the woods. Kylan stood watch while Naia dreamfasted with the Cradle-Tree, trying to calm its madness. She had healed the tree, but it hadn’t soothed the darkness. Those shadows had been born somewhere else.
In the end, we went to the castle . . .
That was where he’d learned that the Skeksis Lords had betrayed them. That they had captured Tavra, the All-Maudra’s noble daughter, and put her in front of the reflector in the Scientist’s laboratory. That the Crystal itself was the source of the darkness, and the Skeksis were responsible.
And Gurjin? Rian asked.
The solemn question brought only one memory to mind: the terrifying Lord skekMal hunting them in the wood, chasing them like a shadow storm with glowing, fiery eyes. That was all Kylan had seen, and so that was where the dreamfast ended.
Kylan folded his arms around himself. His senses returned to reality, but it wasn’t immediate, just as one couldn’t be instantly dry after emerging from a swim. Naia sat on a patch of moss, waiting attentively beside the sleeping horner, while Mythra ate a fat peach-berry plucked from her traveling pouch.
“He sacrificed himself so that we could meet you and warn the rest of our people,” Kylan said. “As did Tavra.”
Kylan watched Rian’s face, trying to guess what was going through the soldier’s mind. Seeing Rian's memory had been difficult, and he couldn’t imagine what it was like to relive it. Rian shook his head, thick brows eternally furrowed.
“Gurjin died proud as ever,” Rian said. “We won’t waste his effort. Nor Tavra’s, nor Mira’s. The Skeksis will pay for what they’ve done. I’ll see to it single-handedly if I have to.”
“You won’t. Gurjin is—was—my brother,” Naia said. “If anyone will teach the Skeksis what Gurjin’s sacrifice meant, it will be me.”
“You? Who haven’t seen a day of duty in the castle?”
“I’ve seen plenty of days in other places.”
“The Skeksis would crush you a second time! I will do it alone.”
“Stop it!” Mythra scolded, so forcefully that a bit of fruit flew out of her mouth. “Rian always tries to go it alone. Look how that’s worked out for you so far, big brother!”
Rian scoffed, blowing his shaggy bangs away from his face.
“I do it for you. And for Timtri, and Mother. I always have, and I’ll continue to do things on my own if it saves the Gelfling people. I don’t need anyone else’s help.”
Naia rolled her eyes so hard, her whole head moved. Kylan couldn’t decide what to think of the Stonewood soldier. He was certainly brave and willing to act, but he had a streak of nerve that had nearly been the end of him at least once. Following the Skeksis scientist into the depths of the castle could have been the last thing he had ever done, but instead he had escaped and lived to tell the tale. Either his courage was being rewarded or he was just plain lucky.
Mythra finished the peach-berry and threw the pit at her brother, who deftly avoided it.
“Speaking of Mother. She wants to invite you all to supper—like we used to do, before Rian left to serve at the castle.”
“I should stay here
in the wood,” Rian said. “I’m a traitor, remember?”
“Mother says it’s important for you to come home. She left early this morning to go digging for your favorite merkeeps. She wants to thank Naia and Kylan for believing in you. Joining us is the least you could do to show some gratitude, since you don’t seem very interested in thanking them yourself.”
Rian flinched.
“I’m not ungrateful. I just don’t want anyone else to get hurt. After what you’ve done and seen, you might want to consider keeping out of sight, too.”
The warning was all too practical. It didn’t matter if they were innocent. The Skeksis’ accusations were more important than the truth.
Mythra snorted. She hopped down from her perch and headed up the path, back toward Stone-in-the-Wood.
“Just be home in time for supper.”
CHAPTER 3
After Mythra left the three of them alone, the glade was silent save for the sounds of birds chirping beyond the tree line.
Kylan didn’t know what to do or say next. The problem at hand was immense, almost too big to think about. How could they take on the Skeksis, those who were lords among the Gelfling and held the Castle of the Crystal? The Gelfling were peaceful and spread in seven clans across a great land. Some clans were so far afield, Kylan had only heard of them in song.
On the other hand, the Skeksis were few and focused. They controlled the Heart of Thra, and because of that, their word was law.
Kylan hoped that Naia or Rian might initiate the conversation that needed to be had, but both were too stubborn and lost in their own thoughts. It fell to Kylan, then, so he broached the topic as gently as possible.
“What do you think we should do?”
“We need to tell the All-Maudra,” Rian replied immediately, as if the answer were so obvious, the question had been unnecessary. “I’m leaving for Ha’rar soon. I have a vial of the horrible essence. If I can just get to Ha’rar and show the All-Maudra and her court, they’ll know that I’m telling the truth.”
“Have you tried telling your own maudra first?” Kylan asked. “The journey to Ha’rar is long, and you don’t know that the All-Maudra will believe you. But it’s your maudra’s duty to care for her clan. Maybe she would surprise you . . .”
The soldier shook his head and lowered his voice, almost talking to himself.
“I used to think telling everyone, as many as I could, was the answer. I tried it after I left the castle. To reach people I knew before . . . but the Skeksis have turned everyone against me. They even sent my own father after me. If I tell Maudra Fara and she sides with the Skeksis, my family will be at risk. At least if the All-Maudra fails me, I’ll know I did all that I could.”
Naia struck the earth beside her with a fist.
“Not everyone is against you! We’re here. And we’re going with you. No matter how much you want to go alone. I’ve seen the darkened Heart of Thra, and what happened to Tavra after they put her in front of the crystal mirror.”
“Naia’s right,” Kylan agreed. “We’re in this together.”
Kylan could see that Rian was calculating the benefit they would bring if he took them along. Perhaps Rian would have preferred Gurjin as his travel-mate, but that was no longer an option. Three Gelfling who sang the same song was better than one who sang alone. Rian tossed his hair and huffed.
“You’ll only slow me down. I’m leaving in two days—”
“Are you going to see your mother tonight?” Naia interrupted.
Rian’s cheeks turned pink. He crossed his arms and muttered, “Of course I’m going to see her. That’s the only reason I’m here.”
“Then you can tell us the details of our departure tonight. In the meantime, we’ll leave you alone with your glorious troubles right now.”
Naia sheathed her dagger to punctuate the sentiment and left the way Mythra had gone. She was not one to soften her feelings with words, and Rian was not being particularly inviting. Kylan waved an awkward goodbye to Rian and trotted after his friend.
“He’s quite a charm, isn’t he?” Naia said when he caught up.
“I’m sure he’s been changed by the things he’s seen.”
“So have we.” She sighed. “At least we’ll have someone who knows the way to Ha’rar with us when we go. Tavra showed me in dreamfast, long ago, but it was a direct route. I don’t think she expected any of this to happen. Now we’ve got to get there without the Skeksis finding us.”
Kylan agreed, though he envied that Naia had the gift of the dreamfasted memory. All he had were ancient songs telling the path to the fabled Gelfling capital.
Stone-in-the-Wood emerged from the lush wood ahead of them, a crescent-shaped rise of rocks and boulders of every proportion. It looked as if a giant had stacked pieces of mountaintops there and left them to grow together over time. Nestled within the rocks and trees were dozens, if not hundreds, of Gelfling huts, all connected by narrow pathways and steps. Some of the huts were stone, others built of wood in the arms and trunks of the huge trees that grew in the spaces between the rocks.
At the bottom of the hilly formation was a clear lake, whose calm surface reflected the stone obelisk that stood watch from the very top of the rise. It was that impressive centerpiece that gave the village its name.
They paused to rest, even though the climb had not been particularly difficult. They’d had plenty of difficult days in the past, so any chance to enjoy the breeze was a gift, no matter how brief. Kylan took a seat on the rock beside his friend and looked down on the village. It looked so peaceful—so unaware. These people had no idea what was going on outside their corner of the Dark Wood. The inevitable truth-telling would be difficult. Wind blew through the forest, and the sound of the leaves rustling was like a thousand voices singing.
Naia rested her chin on her fists.
“Thank you, by the way. For dreamfasting with Rian in my place. I would have done it if I’d had to, but . . .”
She didn’t finish, and Kylan shivered, though the wind wasn’t chill at all. Rian’s dream was enough to make him cold. No wonder the soldier was so standoffish, after all he’d been through. Kylan considered telling Naia the story Rian had shared, but he decided against it for now. She had enough to worry about, and they would have time to go over everything on their coming journey. For now, he wanted her to rest.
“Of course,” he said. “That’s what friends are for.”
“You know, Kylan . . . you offered to go on without me so I could go back to Sog to see my family. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t offer you the same? You could stay in Stone-in-the-Wood. In the legendary home of Jarra-Jen. Isn’t that what you left Sami Thicket to do?”
It was, but it seemed silly now. Kylan had failed at every part of being a Spriton, except for his studies in dream-etching under Maudra Mera. He had thought when he’d run away that he might find purpose in Stone-in-the-Wood . . . but now that he was here, he didn’t feel like anything had changed. Jarra-Jen had lived hundreds of trine ago, maybe even before the Skeksis had assumed control of the Heart of Thra. Had Jarra-Jen discovered what the Skeksis had done to the land of Thra and his fellow Gelflings, Kylan wondered whether even he would have known what to do.
“When I met you, back home, I didn’t have anything but those stories to tell,” Kylan said, standing. “Their wisdom might help us once in a while, but now we have our own villains to defeat. The Hunter . . . skekMal. He’s still out there, and he knows our faces. They all do, and they’ll be coming for both of us. It would be irresponsible to hide in tales now, and I certainly won’t leave you to fight them alone.”
“I wouldn’t be alone,” Naia chirped. “I’d be with Rian!”
Kylan glanced at his friend and saw the grin, and they both laughed quietly at the thought. Naia followed his gaze toward the center-top of the village rise and elbowed him gently.
Kylan did, more than almost anything, but it felt like a luxury he couldn’t afford. The rock on the rise was where the stories of Jarra-Jen—and countless other tales—were inscribed.
“I don’t know . . . We have more important things to worry about. Once we figure out this business with the Skeksis, and once the All-Maudra takes over, then I’ll come back and do all the exploring and reading I like.”
“Come on, let’s go take a look. We have all the rest of the day.”
Naia swung to her feet and stretched, nearly dislodging Neech, and pulled her traveling pack over one shoulder. The sack had been her father’s, worn on one’s back, but since her wings had blossomed, she’d taken to carrying it over one shoulder. It was a man’s pack and would soon need to be traded for something that accommodated her new wings, especially if they meant to travel any farther than Stone-in-the-Wood.
“Just because we’re hunted by the Skeksis and the world is falling apart, it doesn’t mean you can’t treat yourself a little.”
It was a wry comment, but she smiled, and Kylan knew she meant well. The rock on the rise beckoned him from above, and when he gazed at it, he could almost hear the whispers of the songs that were etched into it. So, albeit with caution, he found an ascending path through the wood and followed it, Naia at his back.
CHAPTER 4
The rise turned out to be loftier than it looked, and it took them some time to hike all the way to the top. The boulders that composed the large mound grew more jagged and more ancient as they climbed. When they finally reached the flat slab at the top and looked down, Stone-in-the-Wood was minuscule and shrouded in the woods below.
The center obelisk was actually only one of many pillars like it, though it was the only one large enough to be seen from below. Half a dozen wide moss-covered stones were arranged around it, all etched with Gelfling writing and some with pictographs and swirling geometric diagrams. Kylan approached the big stone in the center and touched it, feeling the damp moss where it grew in the deep marks of the words.