by John Corwin
I met the uneasy stares of the others. "She's dead," I said.
Treek's mouth fell open and a tear ran down his rough face. "Dead? How are we supposed to save her now?"
I told him how Cora had been my foster mother, and how the living curse had killed her. He listened patiently as I recounted my dealings with Naeve and the information I'd discovered about the Broken Relic. "It might be possible to bring Cora's memories together with Naeve's body and restore her."
As I told my story, roots grew from Treek's feet and spread into the ground. His bark skin began to heal faster, and the broken vines on his head grew back out. When I was finished, he nodded sagely. "With love and devotion, anything is possible."
"Oh, spare me," Gwyneth said. "Love doesn't restore life. Magic does."
"Magic is will. Love strengthens will." Treek turned to me. "Where are we going?"
"North," I said. "Something to do with ducks."
"Quackers," Evadora corrected me.
"The aenids." Treek shook his head with the creak a tree in the wind. "Dangerous territory. I will make sure you reach it safely." He closed his eyes and the roots shrank back into his feet. "I am ready."
Ambria held her ribs and winced. "I think you really hurt something when you threw Gwyneth at us."
Max nursed his shoulder. "Yeah, nothing like being hit with a hundred and fifty pounds of flesh."
Gwyneth's eyes flared. "I am not a hundred and fifty pounds, Max!"
He frowned "One-sixty?"
Her mouth dropped open. "I'm one-twenty, thank you very much!"
"I am sorry." Treek towered over them, but managed to look small and ashamed with slumped shoulders and sagging limbs. Leaves rustled in the wind and Treek tilted his head as if listening. "I will miss you too."
Max leaned over and whispered to me, "Did he just talk to the forest?"
"Looks like it." I watched the tree man and hoped his madness didn't return. We couldn't afford to fight him again.
We continued walking for miles, through villages with slumbering denizens, across hills and dales, over rivers and through forests. The unbroken land ended in a vast marshland of dark waters, mud and waist-high grass.
Treek brushed his hand over the grass and closed his eyes. "It refuses to talk to me."
Evadora tried, squeezing shut her eyes, gradually clenching her teeth. She slapped the grass in frustration. "Why won't the land listen to me?" She sat down and stared into the distance as tears streamed down her face. "Why is it so hard to control the land?"
"There is another force at work," Treek said. "I feel its pull."
"Another force?" I looked around. "Like Naeve?"
He stared into the distance. "I do not know. It is not strong, but it is enough to disrupt the land."
"Do you think Naeve can affect the Glimmer from the reflected world?" Ambria said.
Max blew out a sigh. "Man, I hope not, or we're cooked."
Gwyneth walked along the edge of the marsh a hundred yards and came back. "We'll have to make our own path or fly."
I turned to Evadora. "Is it dangerous to fly?"
She looked up and turned in a slow circle. "I don't know. Maybe."
Gwyneth opened the door to the lost room. "I'm willing to risk it." She grabbed our brooms and the flying carpet.
An image of Shushiel crouching on the carpet next to Evadora flashed through my mind and sorrow choked me. How will I tell Galfandor or Shushiel’s family that she's dead?
Clear your mind for the present, Della said. If Ezzek Moore hid the heart out here, he would have set protections in place.
Like what? I asked.
Tread carefully. He was no one to be trifled with.
Treek climbed onto the carpet with Evadora after she assured him it was safe. The rest of us mounted our broom saddles. We rose into the air, wands at the ready, but there were no signs of airborne threats. In fact, the only life I saw were some ducks floating peacefully in the water some distance away.
"Quackers," Evadora said.
Treek agreed. "Beware the aenids."
"Are they flesh-eating ducks?" Max asked.
Evadora frowned. "I don't know. Yoghra didn't tell me much about the quackers."
"I have only heard they are dangerous," Treek said. "Be on your guard."
Max snorted. "Yeah, we'll do that."
The marsh stretched to the east and west for miles, but ended a half mile to the north in what could only be described as a field of rubble floating in space, quite similar to a belt of asteroids. Unlike the islands to the south that hovered in place, these were much smaller. Some resembled miniature planets no larger than a hundred yards in circumference. Grass, trees, and other vegetation grew on the larger ones. Smaller asteroids rotated like miniature moons around the larger ones and even smaller meteoroids filled the gaps between.
"It's like the land was smashed up into bits and pieces here," Max said.
Ambria shook her head slowly. "The end of the world."
Some sections of the asteroid belt were violent, great rocks crashing into each other, rebounding and scattering. Before they traveled too far, an invisible gravitational force pulled them back in where the process started once more.
"I know it's quite the sight," Gwyneth said, "but we have a lot of ground to cover." She looked up and down the marsh. "Let's form a search line and fly east over the marsh until we reach the end."
"What are we looking for?" Ambria said.
Gwyneth held out her hands helplessly. "I guess we'll know when we see it."
Ambria gripped the pommel of her saddle. "What a marvelous plan." She waved a hand at the vast marsh. "How are we supposed to see if the heart is underwater or perhaps buried in mud?"
"I have just the thing for that." Gwyneth pointed to a pouch secured to her broom. "Each of you have a pouch filled with divining stones." She caught a questioning look from Max and clarified before he could ask anything. "They send aether waves into the water and mud and send a signal to my arcphone that allows me to build a map."
As Gwyneth explained I pulled up next to Ambria and spoke in low tones. "Maybe you can sniff it out with the nose." I slipped the relic to her, blocking Gwyneth's view with my body.
Ambria stayed to my side so Gwyneth couldn't see her face and put on the nose. She sniffed, frowned, and sniffed some more. "That's odd."
I glanced back at the others, then turned to Ambria. "What is?"
"Now I smell two relics. One is close, somewhere to the northeast of us, and the other is distant, somewhere south." She bit her lip. "The other one definitely wasn't there before."
"Please stop talking and listen," Gwyneth said, drifting closer to us.
Ambria's eyes widened and she quickly pulled off the nose and handed it to me. I fumbled the handoff and the relic fell to the ground.
"What's that?" Gwyneth zipped lower and picked up the nose before I could react. She rolled it between thumb and forefinger, confused at first, then her eyes flashed with anger. "Is this the Nose of Jura?"
I flew closer and held out my hand. "It's mine."
"You've had the Nose of Jura all this time and failed to mention it?" Her voice rose. She clenched the relic in a fist. "You obviously know what it does or you wouldn't have just used it."
"Yes I know how to use it." I held out my hand. "Now kindly return it."
Gwyneth reluctantly handed it back. "I don't understand, Conrad." Her tone changed from angry to hurt. "Why would you keep that from me?"
"Because you work for Underborn, and you're a relic hunter." I tucked the nose back in my pocket. "He stole the map and key from Ezzek Moore, you know. Why he left the nose, I don't know."
"Yes, he told me how he broke into Moore's vault," Gwyneth said. "He claimed the map and key were the only two relics inside. Moore must have added the nose later."
"We had no reason to tell you," Ambria said. "We checked to make sure we were headed in the right direction at the start of this journey, and we planned to us
e it closer to the relic as well so we wouldn't have to search all over the place."
Gwyneth folded her arms. "Then where is it?"
Ambria pointed in the direction the nose indicated. "Somewhere over there."
"Perhaps you could put on the nose and guide us there." Gwyneth leaned back in her saddle and waited.
I gave Ambria the nose and she put it back on.
Gwyneth couldn't seem to help leaning forward and watching. "How interesting." She looked at me. "Why did you give it to Ambria instead of using it yourself?"
"She smells things better," I said. "I don't know why."
"I can't smell anything but yuck," Evadora said.
"Fascinating." Gwyneth sighed. "Let's go."
Ambria led us northeast out over the marsh. As we drew closer to the muddy creek wending through the pointy reeds, a bright red duck flapped its wings and rose from the water. I took out my wand and the others followed suite.
Evadora hugged herself. "Oh no, a quacker!"
Though its eyes were larger than that of a normal duck, the bird had no fangs, no claws, and seemed otherwise ordinary. "Don't worry," I said, I'll—"
We were nearly to the last village we'd passed on the way to the marsh and heading south. "Have to get home," I mumbled. "Not much farther." It was vitally important to get back to Arcane University and forget all about coming back here.
Conrad! Della shouted. Stop this instant!
I jerked to a halt and shook my head. Max nearly bowled me over, marching purposefully toward the dark path in the forest, Ambria and the others right behind. I gasped when I saw their eyes. Their irises were frosted over, faces slack. I gripped Max by the shoulders but he wouldn't stop walking. I shook him. "Max, wake up!"
No response.
Try this, Della said. The image of a pattern hung in my mind. Concentrate on their foreheads.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but I pulled my wand and while marching backwards in front of Max, waved the wand and focused on his forehead. Pale suffuse energy drifted out and funneled into his head. He blinked his eyes, stumbled, and jerked to a halt.
Ambria plowed into him and fell on her hands and knees. She pushed up robotically and began to walk again. Max gained his feet in time for Evadora, Treek, and Gwyneth to shove past him.
"What—what's going on?" He looked around, completely bewildered.
I didn't have time to answer. I cast the spell on the others one at a time and was soon surrounded by disoriented comrades.
"Beware the aenids," Treek groaned.
Gwyneth bit her lip. "Now we know why."
Max squeezed his eyelids shut and shook his head like a wet dog. "What happened?"
"They brainwashed us," Ambria said.
"I was going home," Evadora said. "I wonder where I would have ended up."
It was a good question. Would we have ended up at the house on Dowling and Bucket, or Moore Keep?
"This is rather vexing." Ambria looked around. "Where are our brooms?"
"Probably back near the marsh." An unpleasant thought sent a jolt into my system. "I hope we didn't drop them in the water!"
Gwyneth looked at my feet and shook her head. "Our shoes are dry—no mud. We probably landed the brooms and started walking."
"Why didn't they command us to fly home?" I said.
"Probably didn't want us turning around and flying right back when we realized what happened," Gwyneth said. "How did you snap out of it so quickly?"
I tapped my temple. "Della got my attention. She gave me a spell to cast."
I used to use that spell to aid my study, Della said. It clears the mind of distractions.
I relayed what she'd said. "The question is how do we get past the ducks without them using another mind trick on us?"
"Maybe we can blast them out of the air," Max said.
I waved my hands defensively. "Don't even think about it. The next time they might tell us to drown ourselves."
That warning sent shudders through the group.
"You do realize we would have surely died trying to walk across the southern islands?" Gwyneth said. "They didn't kill us outright, but the bronies and gruffaloes would have made short work of our mindless bodies."
I hadn't thought of it that way, but unless we'd come to our senses by the time we reached the crooked mountain, we probably would have walked right to our deaths.
"Again, how are we supposed to beat mind-controlling ducks?" Ambria said.
No one had an answer.
Chapter 30
We stared blankly at one another until Della spoke in my mind. You need to test the perimeter. She told me how.
I told the others her plan and they agreed it was the safest way to proceed. We turned around and trudged several miles back to the marsh. We found our brooms and equipment in a pile at the edge of the reeds.
"I'll go first," Gwyneth said as she boarded her broom.
I climbed into my saddle. "I'll be your backup." I'd taught the others the mind-clearing spell during the walk so anyone could cast it.
We flew out over the marsh. I hung back while Gwyneth tried to make it past the ducks. Another red aenid met her in the air. She hovered for a moment, then turned around and made a beeline for land. The aenid settled back into the water, apparently unconcerned with me. I caught up with Gwyneth.
"Can you hear me?" I said.
Her glazed eyes stared into the distance. I cast the mind spell and held out an arm to steady her when she blinked from her stupor. Even so, she nearly tumbled from her broom.
"It got me," Gwyneth said.
"Yeah." I motioned further down. "Let's try the next spot."
"Your turn?" she asked.
I nodded and steeled myself against the unpleasant thought of losing my mind again. We traveled a quarter of a mile east and tried again. Once more, I saw a red duck leave the water and come for me. The yellow and green ducks remained where they were.
I jerked back to my senses after Gwyneth cleared my mind of the spell. Once the disorientation fled I groaned at what lay ahead. "Let's get Max and Ambria started."
It took us several hours, but we came to the realization that not an inch of the border wasn't guarded by one of the red devil ducks, as Max called them. Aside from quacking at our approach, the green and yellow ducks did nothing to stop us.
We even sent Evadora out on the carpet to see if she could talk with them, but the ducks ignored her pleas and sent her away as they did everyone else.
"I don't know what we're supposed to do," Max said. "Even if we zap one of the devils, there are more of them just waiting down there."
"The red aenids swim in groups," Ambria said. "There are just too many to take out before they get us."
"Where do we go once we get past them?" Max threw up his hands. "This is hopeless."
I hovered on my broom and stared into the distance, hoping inspiration might strike.
"I think I know where the relic is," Ambria said. She jabbed a finger due north toward a group of colliding planetoids. "Look."
At first I didn't see what she meant, but then I saw a barren rock with a lone tree growing from the top. It rotated in a circle with two other planetoids, deviating from its pattern only when it reached the bottom of the circle. Once there, the three spheres knocked against one another, placing the tree perfectly in the center.
Three connected circles with a tree in the middle.
"It's the Arcane Crest!" I said. "The heart must be on one of those asteroids."
"Might as well be on the moon," Max groaned.
We landed and made camp for the night. I couldn't stop thinking about the red ducks, about the look in their strange, large eyes when they approached. It was the last thing I remembered every time one of them reached me. It seemed there was a flash, and then nothing. I bit into a biscuit and chewed on it slowly.
They fly up, make eye contact, and then—a brilliant idea slapped me in the forebrain. I jumped up and searched for a loose article of clo
thing, but couldn't find anything suitable.
Ambria clapped her hands to get my attention. "Conrad, what are you looking for?"
"I think I know how to get past the ducks." I put my hands over my eyes. "I need a blindfold."
Gwyneth jumped to her feet. "Brilliant!" She pulled a scarf from her satchel and handed it to me. "How are you going to see where you're going?"
"I need someone to shout directions," I said. "Let me know if I'm past the ducks."
Max grabbed his broom. "We'll all go and keep you on the straight and narrow."
I slung the satchel over a shoulder, mounted my broom, and lined it up with the three planetoids then throttled up. Gwyneth, Max, and Ambria followed close behind. They drifted to a halt thirty yards from the duck zone. I tightened the blindfold over my eyes then kept my hands steady on the broom and accelerated.
"Slight right!" Max called.
I followed his directions.
"Now back to the left a bit," Ambria shouted.
"The duck is coming," Gwyneth hollered. "It's staring at you."
"It's on your broom!" Max said. "It's trying to pull off the blindfold!"
I felt the weight of the bird settle on the broom handle and then a questing duck bill trying to grasp the cloth. I held it firmly to my face with one hand and used the other to knock the duck off the broom. It quacked angrily, beating me with its wings.
"Leave me alone!" I covered the left side of my face as powerful wings slapped it. "I'm here to retrieve the heart for Ezzek Moore!"
That didn't convince the duck to leave me alone. The air grew distinctly colder. With one last quack, the beating wings faded into the distance.
"You're on the other side!" Max said.
I lifted a corner of the blindfold and saw the edge of the world and beyond it, the asteroid field. The target lay at the outer reaches of the belt. Being closer gave me a different perspective just how big some of the rocks were. They varied in size from head-shaped meteoroids, to oblong asteroids larger than a house. The ones I deemed planetoids were perfectly round, even larger, and some had vegetation.
My broom drifted toward the ground at the edge of the world. I tried to keep it steady, but no matter what I did, it wouldn't stay aloft. I checked the aether battery in the handle. It had a nearly full charge.