by J. J. Moody
The man's right arm extended to a half closed palm, fingers tensed, firm. From within his hand drew a jagged light, sparking outward as a fiery claw. In its path were an army, and behind in the distance a cluster of four figures, taller than the others, painted with more detail. Fear was drawn clearly on all of their faces.
Evander the mage.
He remembered falling asleep in the Blue Lady's carriage. He must be somewhere in her palace. At least he hadn't been thrown in a dungeon like Eva had been worried about. He wondered whether Eva and Goldie had been cast into one though.
He decided to get up, and try to find his friends. He found his trousers and long shirt hung inside one of the cavernous wardrobes around the room, and put them on. It took him longer to locate his shoes; he needed to hunt through all the wardrobes in the room until finally he came to them, placed discreetly in a little wooden box - ornately carved of course - at the bottom of the original wardrobe. They had been washed and polished, but still seemed very out of place there, like a fish finger under a cloche.
Fully clothed, he approached the stained glass door first, and peered through the glass, hoping to assess any danger. He glimpsed the edge of a balcony. It looked like he was high up as a bird flew past and there were no other buildings visible.
He turned the handle and carefully opened the door.
The air was crisp, and the sky was a beautiful mix of blue, green and pink, swirling above the building. The daylight filtered through as if the sky itself was a huge stained glass window tinting everything below.
Ben walked delicately to the edge, and saw a city.
He was high up in what must be the Blue Lady's palace. It was twice the size of Buckingham Palace back in London. It stood behind beautiful flowering gardens on the banks of a river, and across the water Ben could see a series of beautiful white stoned buildings rising up to the rainbow sky in spires, columns, walls and statues of careful shapes. Amongst them was the bustle of a city full of people going about their day. There were hundreds collected in a great square on the far side of the river, busily moving around a market. There were shouts and laughter. On the river, great barges and riverboats glided majestically back and forth like sculpted swans.
He stood transfixed.
Suddenly along the palace wall a door opened onto another balcony next to his, and Eva stepped outside. Her hair was ruffled, and as she stepped out she stretched and yawned.
Ben watched her with even more fascination than the city beneath them. A definite white streak was appearing in her hair.
She turned and noticed Ben as she was finishing her yawn. She covered her mouth, then chuckled. "Morning! Isn't it a beautiful day? Even if I do have a - what did you call it - a headache?"
Ben laughed. "I do too. And it certainly is! And wait till you see what's below the balcony!" Ben answered.
Eva carefully stepped to the edge of the balcony and Ben watched in amusement as her jaw fell open. It was refreshing to have had a head start on her in this world for once.
"It's fantastic!" Eva said.
They stared together for a while.
Ben searched above and below for signs of guards. "I think Melanise drugged us, with the water."
Eva nodded, anxiously looking back into her room. "Why would she do that?"
"I'm not sure. We were going along with her anyway. But I don't know how long we were asleep for."
"Shall we try to speak to her?"
Ben nodded. "Have you got Goldie with you?"
Eva shook her head. "No. He’s not with you then?"
"No I'm not sure what happened to him. He was in the carriage with us so he must be in the palace somewhere, unless he escaped when we fell asleep."
"I'm sure he can take care of himself. We can ask Melanise about him too."
"Yes OK then. Let’s get dressed and we can go find her," Ben said.
They jumped back inside and soon afterwards emerged almost at the same time through the heavy double doors at the other side of their rooms and into a long, dimly lit corridor. To the left was a dead end, a mirror reflecting their puzzled faces back. At the other end was a tall guard, blocking the way. He faced away from them.
"Erm, excuse me?" Ben shouted.
The tall man turned around, and waited. His expression indicated that he was not in the mood for a conversation.
"Could we see the lady Melanise please?" Eva said. "Or go outside - I need to get some fresh air."
The guard stared for a moment, and then marched towards them. He was very, very tall, and powerfully built. Again Ben could see that the Botilcester soldiers were in a different category to Ivor and Liam and the Peregrine fighters. It would have taken both of them and some help just to restrain this man. It seemed as though he was augmented, amplified in some superhuman way. He wore a uniform of black leather and cloth, and a black metal helmet showing a blue livery in the shape of a crescent moon crossed with a staff.
"The Blue Lady has ordered you are to be presented to her on your waking. Come with me," the man said.
He turned, and began walking away. Ben and Eva exchanged a glance. They fell in behind.
The guard took them along several long corridors, and down and up numerous staircases, to the extent that by the time they had arrived at a set of magnificent gold embossed doors, they had no idea how to return to their rooms. He knocked on the doors once, and waited for an answer. From inside the room they heard Melanise's voice, telling them to enter.
The man opened the doors, and then stood aside in the corridor, letting Ben and Eva enter ahead of him. He stepped inside behind them, and closed the door.
The room they now stood in was a sort of sitting room. All around the walls were giant tapestries and hangings, depicting glorious battles and brave deeds that Ben thought were reminiscent of the Renaissance art he had seen in text books and the occasional art gallery his parents had dragged him to.
Eva nudged Ben in front, and they made their way into the centre of the room towards a set of huge couches, arranged around a pit containing glowing hot coals. Seated on one of the couches was the blue shape of Melanise, watching them. She wore a different dress from the one she had worn at the Bitter Falls, but it was almost the same shade. Her white eyes watched them coolly as they approached.
"Come. Sit here by the fire coals. My brother wants very much to meet you, and will be here soon. He is just attending to some duties."
Ben and Eva drifted to the couches.
"Guard, bring food and water," she said nonchalantly, eyes never moving away from them.
The massive guardsman behind them obediently sped away to the door.
Ben and Eva reached the couches, and Melanise motioned for them to sit.
"Why did you drug us?" Eva asked immediately, to Ben's surprise.
"I didn't send you to sleep deliberately. It made for a rather boring journey home I can tell you. And just when it was starting to get more interesting as well." She shot a glance to Ben.
"It seems the water from the pool had some effect on you after you drank it. Probably some magic trickery again - the world is full of it. Evander would probably know."
Ben and Eva exchanged another look.
All of a sudden a trumpet sounded from far below them, and an enormous commotion began. It sounded like everyone in the palace had literally dropped what he or she was doing and was rushing around.
"Ah, here he is now," Melanise said calmly.
Ben and Eva looked at one another again. Ben saw some of the expression painted on the faces on his bedroom ceiling in Eva's eyes.
They listened as trumpets sounded closer and closer, and the noises played to a crescendo, until finally there was a moment of silence, and then the door was opened very slowly. A blond haired man walked through, smiling.
He was shorter than in the painting, Ben thought.
"Melanise my dear! And these must be your guests! Hello both! I hope my sister has been looking after you well!"
He walke
d across the room and Ben saw he had aged even further than the painting had conveyed. The weight of wisdom and wisecrinkling perhaps. He was also slightly overweight. His pose was proud and confident.
Ben felt like he was meeting the headmaster. He extended a hand to shake Evander's and introduced himself, and Eva. "I am Silverstone, and this is my friend Eva. We are very grateful for your seeing us."
"Not at all, not at all!" Evander beamed. "Happy to help any Peregrine folk as always. Sit down, and tell me what I can do for you."
They all sat down around the hot coals, and the guardsman brought in pairs of men and women dressed in ragged clothes, bearing trays of exotic looking food. Each platter was magnificently engraved silver. Although each would have been more than enough to make up several meals for all four of them, a single tray was placed gently in front of each person. The servers bowed and retreated, and Evander beckoned them to eat.
Ben looked across the food. He was starving. He saw something that looked like a small red apple and decided to risk it. Raising it to his mouth, he took a hungry bite, to find that this apple was in fact rather spicy. It was very sweet and warming, as if it had been stewed in a heavily seasoned vol mixture all week. He muffled a sputtering cough.
Eva began to speak. "Well we are from the Peregrine camp at Lake Kaidesh, and have travelled over the Drumald Mountains and down into Gentleleaf until we found the lady Melanise, in the hopes of speaking with you."
"I'm honoured that you have travelled so far just to talk to me!" Evander laughed heartily, but there was a flash of something in his eyes. Ben thought he already knew why they were there, and was impatient for them to get to the point. He supposed there was no point in beating around the bush any longer - after all he'd come all this way to find out if Evander could help him, and if he couldn't, there weren't many other options for getting home to Hulstead and his family.
"I came through a portal, like you and Melanise. At Lake Kaidesh. A couple of weeks ago. Through from the other world, the one with cars and buses and planes and.... schools."
Evander looked hard at Ben. The mask of congeniality was discarded.
"I want to get home. We've travelled from the Peregrine camp to ask for your help," Ben finished.
There was a moment of silence. Evander stood and walked to what looked like another terrace door for a moment, hands behind his back. The others remained silent, scanning the piles of food.
Ben tried to imagine where Goldie had ended up. Perhaps the cat wasn't so loyal after all.
Evander turned back, sat down, and smiled widely. "This is excellent news."
Ben frowned.
"You see -" he pursed his lips "- I can help you. We can help each other in fact." He sat in contemplation for a moment, sniffing the steaming cup of whatever it was in his hand. Ben imagined the blood of arcane creatures fizzing inside.
Finally Ben interrupted. "You can cast a spell to open a portal and send me home?"
Evander looked up from his hot drink. His eyes were locked with Ben's, but he addressed Melanise. "Melanise, leave us."
Ben was taken aback by the tone, and by the obedience Melanise showed him. She immediately rose, and walked out of the room. Her expression was blank.
"Eva, I hold the Peregrine people dear to my heart, but I will ask you to please admire the beautiful view from our balcony for a moment," Evander continued.
Eva looked at Ben nervously. He nodded in an attempt to reassure her. She stood up with a blue, donut shaped fruit, and walked to the balcony. As the doors closed behind her, Evander began again.
"Well I assume Silverstone is your taken name. What is your real one?"
"Ben. Silverstone is my surname."
"And mine was Evan, I still remember. Silly place with the one name thing."
Ben was silent.
"Anyway you're here. So let me tell you where here is." Evander picked at some purple and yellow prickled oval shapes. "You are in the western realms, a land within what is simply known as 'the world' for these people who live in it such as your friend Eva. I have spent the last forty years here, arriving through a magical portal just like the one you did. My sister Melanie - Melanise I should say - has travelled through also, though as you have no doubt established, while we departed together, we arrived separated by some twenty years.
“The day I 'landed' - as Melanise is fond of saying - I was in the same pond where you found my sister, all alone, in the middle of the night." His face creased, his speech slowed as he recalled.
"You would have suffered the same when you came through Lake Kaidesh, thinking you were going to drown. Our births into the western realm were through near-deaths in our home world.
"But it seems you were lucky enough to find yourself given into the midst of the Peregrine farmers my young friend." He chuckled. "I myself on the other hand stumbled from a world where I was bullied, outcast for my intelligence and ignored by my family, into the hands of a collection of violent men loyal to Boran, king of Botilcester.
“I was brought here to Botilcester in a cage, the people stoning me and hurling insults as I approached. There they threw me in a black dungeon with the redtongues. Tortured and prepared for a grand execution. And all because they thought I was a new mage, destined to destroy their world with wizardry!" he waved his hands in mocking gesture. But just beneath it there was still a rawness to the memories.
"That's awful. How did you manage to get out?"
"With wizardry and magic Ben Silverstone. I became the mage they feared. And then they were right to fear me."
Evander's face smiled a cruel, broken smile. "Come to the balcony."
Ben rose and followed Evander outside to the balcony where Eva was waiting. Chanting began almost instantly from the ground below them, as people all around stopped in their tracks and dropped to their knees, worshipping Evander. "Evander the saviour!" The noise spread, becoming deafening, like a chorus of bees.
"You see. The power I have now. The light in the sky you see above you," he waved upwards to the shifting waves of colour, "is my reminder to them always, that I am here. I am protecting them."
"From what?" Ben asked.
"From the others," Evander said quietly. "They see the message too, and know this city belongs to me."
Ben and Eva exchanged yet another look.
"They look, very grateful," Eva said, with a sarcastic tone that made Ben uncomfortable.
Evander laughed. "Oh they are. Without me their crops would have failed long ago, their trade routes to Murdimore would have been savaged by roaming bandits and the spies of Thane and the rest, and they would all undoubtedly be starving. That is why they call me their saviour. Soon we will hold the monthly feast in my honour and you will see."
He turned, and motioned for Ben to come back inside. Eva was left to listen to the dying chants as the citizens of Botilcester slowly turned back to their days.
"So, can you send me home? Can you cast a spell and send me back?" Ben asked, as they sat back down.
"When I arrived," Evander continued his story, "I knew no magic. But I learned the spells and incantations quickly."
"Did another mage teach you then?" Ben asked.
"Yes. A mage found me in the dungeons. He was too weak to break me free, but he smuggled his teachings to me. The day of my execution was the day I unleashed my power and wrought my revenge."
Ben knew what that meant. The king was long gone. Evander had installed himself instead. And what about the other mage? Evander had probably removed him too. And was he wrong to punish those who acted so hatefully towards him? After all, the king had had him beaten and tortured, and was planning on executing him simply for coming from another land.
"This world is full of magic, Silverstone. All around us it bubbles away unseen. I have learned to control that magic, wield it. If you become my student, I will teach you. I can tell you are a clever boy, and will learn quickly. It will not take long before you will be able to use it well enough to return hom
e." Evander casually offered him the tray of exotic fruits.
Ben chose his words carefully. "Thank you. I am very grateful for any help you can give me. Forgive my ignorance, but is it not possible for you to cast a spell to send me back yourself?"
Evander rose to his feet, and paced around the room, releasing energy. "Silverstone my friend, this world is on the brink of war. Great war. Soon the other mages will attack our innocent city and try to slaughter its poor citizens. I must think of them. I need your help.
"With your magic and mine, we will be formidable. The citizens will be safe from attack, and when we have defeated the barbaric armies of the other mages, I promise I will teach you the spell to open the portal and return home."
Ben stared down at his strange fruit. He felt as if he was cracking apart. His chest was dull, burning. He knew he had no choice; he did not trust Evander one bit, but this was the only way to get home. He would have to become Evander's apprentice.
As if sensing his torment, Evander spoke again. "Do not doubt that I have the power to send you home Silverstone. I do hate showing off, but come, let me show you that you are in good hands."
He stood again, and walked back to the balcony. The crowd had quietened, but quickly took up the call again, and a ripple of cheering spread away from the palace until it seemed like the entire city was shouting Evander's name.
Evander ignored them, and moved to the edge of the balcony.
He raised his hands high above his head.
The mood in the crowd instantly changed. Though the worshipping continued, there were interruptions, disorder. Something strained in the tone of the voices.
Ben and Eva looked down at the faces of the people nearest to them, and saw that behind the loud exclamations of adoration they were weeping. They were terrified, confronted by a beast but held fast from escaping.
Evander looked to the waves of colour above, and began reciting something quietly, under his breath. Ben discerned a few syllables of the spoken spell.
"Cru....bal......ish.........defens....opalesce."