The Nexus Ring

by Maureen Bush

  “I guess…” Maddy said. She pushed her hand deep into her ­pocket.

  As we turned away, the troll began to shake and stomp and roar. He screamed at us, “It’s my ring. You stole it and i want it back!!!”

  Aleena ignored him. Maddy and I kept glancing back as we followed her to the far path into the ­forest.

  “We can’t go in there,” I said. “The troll will follow us.”

  “Don’t worry. We won’t be here long.”

  We hurried to the top of the boardwalk, then Aleena stepped off the wooden path onto the forest ­floor.

  “We’re not supposed to go off the path,” Maddy ­said.

  “It’s okay. You won’t hurt anything. Just be careful not to touch these,” she said, pointing to ­plate-­sized leaves near the path. “That’s Devil’s Club. Its prickles can give you a nasty wound.”

  Maddy and I glanced at each other, then behind us, wondering where the troll was. Maddy’s eyes were huge and dark. She looked terrified. I reached out to take her hand, then, together, we stepped off the boardwalk, eased past the Devil’s Club, and followed Aleena into the ­forest.

  We wound our way through the trees, stopping at a pair of huge cedars growing an ­arm’s-­length ­apart.

  “Let me touch the ring,” Aleena ­said.

  Maddy held out her hand. Aleena’s fist clenched as she reached for the ring, then slowly she opened her hand and touched the ring with one finger. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then gently blew out. As she exhaled, mist filled the space between the cedar trees. It deepened into a white glow, then a hole opened in the centre of the whiteness, a doorway in the ­mist.

  Maddy and I watched with open mouths, then backed ­away.

  Aleena stepped into the doorway, then held out a hand for Maddy. Maddy turned to me with wild eyes. I reached out to stop her, then heard pounding up the steps in the forest behind ­us.

  We could hear the troll roaring, “stop! That’s my ring!”

  Fear surged through me. I pushed Maddy into the doorway and jumped in behind her. I was immediately surrounded by a blanket of fog. I couldn’t see anything behind me. In front, I could just make out Maddy, and the back of Aleena’s head. The only sound was a strange whirring. I glanced at my watch; the hands were spinning ­wildly.

  Aleena’s head moved forward, out of the fog into dappled sunshine. I grabbed Maddy’s shoulder, and followed her through the fog. It thinned, then cleared as we stepped out from between two cedar ­trees.

  The forest was just like the one we’d left, except I couldn’t hear the troll. As I looked around, I noticed other differences. The trees seemed more vibrant here, in richer greens, and there was more birdsong. I could hear other sounds more clearly too: water tumbling in the creek, wind in the branches, ferns rustling. When I walked on the spongy forest floor, the scent of moss and decaying cedar drifted up on the cool ­breeze.

  The misty doorway was still open between the cedar trees. Aleena said it would dissolve in a minute. She led us up the mountainside, over fallen giant cedars, past ferns as tall as Maddy. We stopped at the base of a waterfall plunging down in a deafening ­roar.

  “If I’m to have human guests, I’ll need a firestone,” said Aleena as she stepped into the pool below the falls. She crouched down and ran her hands over the rocks lining the pool. Her eyes almost closed as she focused all her attention on her hands. Then, with a grin, she rose, her left hand closed. She opened her fingers and showed us a smooth stone, shining black with glints of ­gold.

  “What is it?” I ­asked.

  “Firestone. I’ll show you later,” she said, smiling. She slipped it into her cloak pocket. Then, as she stepped out of the creek, her smile vanished and the colour drained from her ­face.

  Maddy and I turned to see what she was staring at. It was the troll, climbing up the mountainside, slipping through the shadows, fuming. My heart hammered as I turned back to ­Aleena.

  “Gronvald! I thought I’d trapped him in the human world,” she said. “He must have slipped through the doorway before it shut.” She glanced around frantically. The troll had spotted us and was struggling up the slope. “Can you swim?”

  “Yes,” I ­said.

  “A little,” said ­Maddy.

  “Just a little?” asked Aleena. “Okay, then not the creek.” She hurried away, studying the forest floor. Maddy and I followed, while we watched the troll closing in, panting from the ­climb.

  Aleena stopped by a puddle of murky water surrounded by moss. As the troll charged towards us, Aleena grabbed our hands and yanked us into the puddle. I stumbled, and as I fell, the moss became a forest and suddenly all of me was wet in the puddle that was becoming a lake. The water felt cool and trickly on my skin. We moved through it into darkness, flowing deep into the mountains. Blackness suddenly shifted to blinding light, even through my closed eyelids, and then, with a splash, we ­stopped.

  Chapter Four

  Aleena, Water Spirit

  I opened my eyes to brilliant sunshine. Wiping water off my face, I looked up to a clear blue sky ringed by mountains. Dark trees lined the slopes of a valley surrounding a pale blue lake, where Maddy, Aleena and I stood in ­knee-­deep ­water.

  Where were we? There were no people, no cars, no boardwalk, and no towering cedars. I gazed around, awed. The trees radiated vibrant green, the water was a soft gleaming blue, and when I looked up at the mountains, the air ­shimmered.

  I glanced at my watch, wondering if the hands were still spinning. They all pointed straight up – 12:00. That wasn’t the time here; the sun was too low in the sky. I doubted we were anything close to five hours from home, ­either.

  I thought magic was just pretend, but this wasn’t Mom’s crazy game. This was real. I swallowed, my throat dry in spite of the water all around ­me.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  Aleena pointed to the nearest shore. “You’ll be safe on that island. The troll hates water, and there are no caves or tunnels he can travel to.”

  “Couldn’t he use a boat?” Maddy asked, ­nervous.

  “I cast a water spell over the lake so he can’t cross. A troll repellent for a repellent troll!” Aleena laughed, and her eyes laughed too. They were the deep blue of still water in sunshine. They would have looked peaceful, except for the flecks of dark ­grey.

  We waded to the island, squelching through mud to the shore. Aleena led us through a small forest to a meadow filled with sunshine. The view was breathtaking; everything seemed to glow with ­energy.

  Maddy looked like an otter, hair dark from the water, pigtails dripping onto her shoulders. I helped her peel off her clinging fleece, then tugged off my soaked hoodie and wrung it ­out.

  Aleena slipped off her cloak. Her black pants and shirt were as tight as skin. She pulled her hair out of its bun, moving as if she had fewer bones in her body than humans do, like seaweed under water. Her hair fell past her waist, light grey at the crown of her head, gradually shading into black down her back. Then she shook herself, like a dog shakes water off its fur. When she stopped, she was completely ­dry.

  I shivered as I watched. I leaned down to take off my ­water-­filled runners. “What are you?” I asked, as I struggled with the ­laces.

  “I’m a water spirit,” Aleena answered. “I can travel through water. That’s how I brought you here.”

  I yanked off my runners and poured water out. “What do you mean?”

  Aleena settled on the ground with her long legs folded under her. She spoke in a low singsong voice, like she was chanting an old ­story.

  “I am Aleena, water spirit, daughter of the rain, born of raindrops on moss. I have lived in this land of ocean, lakes and rivers for many ages. It was peaceful until the trolls came. They came for gold, over one hundred human years ago. They are nasty, greedy creatures. Many followed the hunt for gold north to the Klondike, but some stayed here. That troll stayed.”

  Another shiver ran up my back. When I helped Maddy dump o
ut her runners, I could feel her quivering. “We need to get dry,” I said. “We can’t shake off the water like you did.”

  Aleena nodded. “We’ll light a fire.”

  Maddy and I squeezed our feet back into sodden runners, then walked into the trees edging the meadow. Aleena showed us how to find dead evergreen branches. They broke off with a snap that reverberated in my ­ears.

  “So,” I asked, “how did the troll look human?”

  “His name is Gronvald. He used a scrim to disguise himself.”

  “What’s a scrim?” Maddy asked, huge eyes peering over her pile of ­branches.

  “A scrim’s an illusion that can be drawn around something to change how it looks. Humans expect to see other humans, not trolls, so it’s easy for him to maintain a disguise. I washed it away to show you how he really looks.”

  “Did you use a scrim too?” I asked, watching ­her.

  “No, I can’t create scrims. I can hide myself in a fog, or wrap myself in a rainbow, but that wouldn’t be much use on a ferry. So I just dressed myself to look human.”

  As we talked, we walked back to the meadow and stacked our ­branches.

  “Clear a place for a fire,” Aleena said, while she chose a handful of ­twigs.

  Maddy and I brushed away leaves and branches, then set stones in a circle on the ground. When we were ready, Aleena laid her twigs in the centre, then reached inside her cloak and pulled out the firestone. It was translucent black, with gold threads lacing the inside. She wove her fingers in a dance around the stone, then drew out a golden thread of fire. I watched, astounded, as she danced the thread from her fingertips over the pile of dead twigs. Soon they were smoking, then in ­flames.

  “That’s amazing!” I reached out for the stone. Aleena placed it on my palm with fingers like ice. I rubbed away her touch, then looked at the stone. I could see the threads inside, but all I could feel was a smooth ­coolness.

  Aleena took it back, then gestured at the pile of branches. “You feed the fire. I’m better with water.” She backed away towards the ­lake.

  Maddy and I stoked the fire, then warmed our hands while our clothes steamed. We propped our runners on ­nearby rocks.

  “Why is the troll following us?” Maddy asked in a small ­voice.

  “He wants the ring,” Aleena answered. “It’s made of nexus stone. Gronvald uses the ring to travel to the human world to steal gold.”

  I shook my head. Dad always says we have to deal with whatever life puts in front of us, but I’m not sure he had this in ­mind.

  “Our world is hidden behind a veil, like a curtain,” Aleena said, “to protect our magic from humans. There are doorways in the veil. Magic folk can open them, but that drains some of their magic, and it takes weeks to recover. The ring makes it easier to travel back and forth.”

  I thought about Mom’s “veils of mist.” Had she actually known something all along? That was too weird. Shivering, I laid more wood on the fire. I felt chilled deep ­inside.

  Aleena moved away as the fire grew hotter. Maddy and I stood with our backs to it, our clothes ­steaming.

  “Where did the ring come from?” I ­asked.

  “The ring was made by the giant at Castle Mountain for a child with a magic mother and a human father, so she could travel between worlds. After her father died, she stayed in the magic world, and gave the ring back to the giant.”

  Aleena stretched out on the ground. “When Gronvald learned about the ring, he set off a huge rock slide, then begged the giant to rescue the humans trapped in it. While the giant was away, Gronvald snuck into his castle and stole the ring.”

  Maddy started pacing as she listened. I felt like pacing too, but I didn’t want either of them to know how nervous I was. I locked my hands behind my back and planted my feet near the ­fire.

  “He used it to steal gold, but then he lost it,” Aleena continued. “He was prospecting for gold, and crossed a marsh where moose were grazing. Moose hate trolls. When they saw Gronvald in their marsh, they attacked. He dropped the ring while running away, and the moose wouldn’t let him come back for it. When I heard what happened, I searched the marsh and found the ring.”

  Aleena stretched, and smiled. “Gronvald’s been trying to get the ring back ever since. He can smell it, somehow, and every time I cross between worlds, he follows. I travel through water, and he follows through caves and tunnels.”

  “Why do you want the ring?” Maddy ­asked.

  “I use it to travel to the human world. I love human things – bathtubs and hot tubs and kayaks. But crossing between this world and the human world drains my magic too, so I use the ring to travel back and forth. It’s easy with the ring.” Aleena looked ­wistful.

  Maddy and I moved around the fire so we could roast our fronts and still see Aleena. “So how did I get it?” Maddy ­asked.

  I thought a scowl flashed across Aleena’s face, but it disappeared so quickly I decided I’d been mistaken. “I was hoping to trap Gronvald. I thought the ferry would be a good spot for it. He’d be distracted by needing a scrim in the crowds of people, and by being so close to water. I left the ring near sunlight. If he’d leaned down to touch the ring, the sun would have turned him to stone.”

  “Forever?” Maddy ­asked.

  “No, I’m afraid not.” Aleena sighed. “He only needs twelve hours of darkness to thaw. I was going to move him to a sunny meadow where he’d be stone until fall. Instead, you picked up the ring.” Her voice sounded ­tight.

  “Why didn’t you just say it was yours?” Maddy ­asked.

  “Even dressed as a human, I don’t look human. I didn’t dare talk to anyone on the ferry.” Aleena sighed again. “Gronvald won’t let you keep the ring.” She smiled at Maddy. “That’s why you need to give it to me.”

  Maddy frowned. “Everyone wants to take my ring from me!”

  Aleena’s smile tightened. “Think about it for a while. You’re safe here.”

  “We can’t do that,” I said. “Mom and Dad will be frantic.”

  “They won’t know you’re missing. Gronvald’s magic is good. He put Shadows in your seats; your parents won’t notice. And time shifts when we cross the veil. I can take you back to whatever time you want.”

  I picked up a stick and drew pictures in the dirt. I didn’t understand any of this. How could Mom and Dad not know we were missing? How could time shift? And how were we going to get ­home?

  Once we were dry, we walked through the forest to the far end of the island. A meadow filled with ­waist-­high berry bushes stretched across the point of the island. A black mama bear and two cubs grazed on the berries. Watching them left me longing for Mom and Dad. I felt a surge of anger at Maddy for getting me into this. I turned away to hide it; I wasn’t sure I wanted Aleena to know what I was ­feeling.

  When I turned back, Aleena was laughing at the cubs. We watched them from the edge of the forest. They were cuddly fat bundles, faces sticky with berry juice, but Maddy and I both knew to stay away from ­them.

  “What if they see us?” Maddy asked. “What if they try to…to…”

  “To eat you?” asked ­Aleena.

  “Yes,” squeaked ­Maddy.

  Aleena smiled. “They only come to the island for berries. If you want to pick some, I can make a spell to draw them away.”

  Maddy grinned. Berries are her favorite ­food.

  “The smell of rotting fish should get their attention.” Aleena walked to the shore, dipped her hands in the water, then laid them on the sand while she hummed an odd, tuneless song. Then she stood, wiped the sand off her hands, and joined us at the edge of the forest. We watched the bears amble over to the shore, sniffing and rooting around in the sand where Aleena had touched her wet ­hands.

  “That’ll keep them busy for a while,” Aleena said, nodding towards the bears. “So eat your fill.”

  The berries were a deep ­purple-­red, smooth and tangy like cranberries, but sweeter, with a dark aftertaste. Soon we were ­
sticky-­faced like the cubs, and red stained the front of Maddy’s pink ­t-­shirt. Aleena called the berries muskberries. I didn’t understand why until I sniffed my hands. The juice smelled dark and heavy. Somehow the scent settled deep inside of me, and I could feel energy flowing to my ­fingertips.

  When we’d finished picking berries, we hiked back to our end of the island. Aleena waded into the lake, crouched in the weeds and sat perfectly still. Her arms flashed out and she held up a struggling fish, silver in the late sun. Soon she had a pile of fish on the shore. She cleaned them, spitted them on a stick and roasted them over the fire for us. She left two raw for her own dinner. I had to turn away when she tore apart the raw fish with her ­teeth.

  Maddy and I feasted on crispy fish, luscious berries, and the sweetest water I’d ever tasted. Usually Maddy won’t eat fish, but she loved these. The sun set as we ate in a fiery blaze of orange and red, shading into purple in the ­twilight.

  Aleena showed us how to use evergreen boughs to make a ­lean-­to, facing the fire but not too close. Then we sat and watched the stars, Maddy and I warm by the fire, Aleena near the ­water.

  I thought about camping trips in the mountains with Mom and Dad and how cold it got at night. And how icy the lakes were. “Aleena,” I asked, “why isn’t it colder here? And why didn’t we freeze in the lake?”

  Aleena smiled. “The magic protects us, just a little. From winter storms, cold at night, icy water. It gives us pockets of warmth when we’re sleeping or swimming, so we need less fire and clothing and buildings, all those human things.”

  I wasn’t going to complain, lying outside at night, warm by the fire, happy under the stars. The lake shimmered in the moonlight, reflecting the sparkling ­night.

  “The sky looks different here, too,” I said. “There are so many stars, and they’re so bright.”

  “Humans do things that weaken magic,” Aleena said. “This is how stars really look.”

  “Oh yeah,” I said. “There’s no light pollution here.”

  “Yes, but it’s more than that. In your world stars are just objects in the sky. They’re a living part of our world.”