Land Keep

by J. Scott Savage

  “But what about the other stuff?”

  Kyja raised her hands in confusion. “What other stuff?”

  “You know, math, science, writing, art, geography.”

  Kyja looked at the building in front of them again, her mouth dropping open with wonder. “Is that what they do here? Study those . . . other things?”

  Marcus looked at Kyja as she examined the old elementary school with obvious longing. He realized how little he still knew about her world and how much he’d taken for granted. Sure, he’d had a tough time having to go everywhere in a wheelchair. But at least they hadn’t kicked him out of school because he only had one good arm and leg.

  “We’d probably better get going,” he said. The sun was almost completely up now. Apparently it was morning. He didn’t want to be found here once students and teachers began arriving. And besides, just because he and Kyja hadn’t seen them didn’t mean the Dark Circle wasn’t still looking for them.

  “All right,” Kyja said, tearing her eyes away from the school. “But how are you going to get around?”

  Something landed on the front walk of the school with a soft fwump. Marcus and Kyja turned to see a newspaper delivery boy. He looked to be about twelve or thirteen. He wore a ragged old carrier bag around his neck—now mostly empty. But it was the mountain bike he was riding that caught Marcus’s eye.

  “Hey,” he said, waving to the boy. “Wanna sell that bike?”

  Chapter 9

  Ups and Downs

  Watch out for that car!”

  “I am—I am!” Kyja steered around the SUV that pulled out in front of them, the front wheel of the bike wobbling dangerously before she brought it back under control.

  “That was close,” Marcus breathed, clutching Kyja’s waist in a death-grip with his right arm.

  “Stop being a baby,” Kyja called over the wind roaring past her face as they raced along the city street. Her long hair stuck out from under her helmet, whipping back and forth as she dodged around parked cars and pedestrians. She still couldn’t believe she was riding her own Earth machine—even if it wasn’t a car. Of course she’d seen plenty of bikes on her various jumps to Earth, but she’d just assumed that, like cars, they required some kind of license to drive.

  “I think we should move to a less-busy street,” Marcus gasped, pushing Kyja’s hair out of his face as they bounced over a dip in the road.

  “Fine, fine.” Kyja turned right at the next street, leaning the bike so far over that Marcus squeaked in terror.

  “Do you have to do that? What’s the hurry?” he asked, squeezing her so hard she could barely breathe.

  “No hurry. It’s just fun!” Kyja said, a huge grin pasted on her face. She fumbled briefly with the gears, found the one she was looking for and peddled harder to make her point.

  Her first attempts at driving an Earth machine had been a little bumpy. When she’d realized Marcus was buying the bike and that she would be the one operating it, she immediately jumped on—and just as quickly fell off again.

  “You have to balance,” Marcus had explained, holding out his hands to show her what he meant.

  Picking the bike back up, she examined it more closely. It reminded her a little of a wheeled horse. The handles, like reins, were used to turn left and right. You put one leg on each side—resting your feet on what Marcus called pedals. And there was even a small saddle to sit on.

  For her second attempt, she took a firm hold of the handles and gave the machine a hard push with her feet. The next thing she knew, she was lying on the grass, the front wheel of the bike spinning slowly next to the tree she’d run into.

  “I’ll think I’ll stick to the air,” Riph Raph called, buzzing over her head.

  Kyja picked up the bike. It looked like a horse, but it certainly didn’t ride like one. “Are you sure this doesn’t require some kind of magic?”

  “No magic. Just practice.” Marcus had tried to hide his smile, but Kyja could tell he was laughing at her. Still, the idea of operating her own machine—one that didn’t require any magic—fascinated her enough that she got back on again. This time she was more cautious, listening as Marcus explained how the pedals and brakes worked. It took several more tries—and multiple scrapes and scratches—but after a couple of hours she got the hang of it.

  Now, as they turned onto a bike trail that ran along the levee of the wide Mississippi River, Kyja cut the wheel left and right, laughing with delight as the bike obeyed her every command.

  “I think I almost prefer riding in a grocery cart,” Marcus groaned.

  “Stop fussing,” Kyja called, happily looping the bike left and right across the mostly empty trail. “We’re making great time. Do you think we can bring this thing to Farworld with us when we jump back?”

  “I think a bike might make us stand out just a little.”

  He was probably right. They’d been trying to remain undercover as much as possible—avoiding anything that might alert the Dark Circle to their whereabouts. Now they had the Keepers to worry about as well. But it was still fun to imagine riding a shiny bike through the streets of Terra ne Staric. The other kids would be so jealous.

  “When do you think we should jump?” she asked, hoping Marcus would say not for several days at least.

  Jumping between worlds anytime and anywhere they wanted was a great benefit in their search for the elementals. The Dark Circle was limited to coming and going through the permanent doorway they’d created with dark magic. But neither Kyja nor Marcus were sure whether the Thrathkin S’Bae could track them by their jumps. And Marcus and Kyja could remain in each other’s worlds only for a few days at a time. Any more than that, and they began to grow progressively sicker.

  Master Therapass had explained that while they seemed to be completely in the other’s world, half of them was actually suspended in the gray nothingness between them. The only way to recover was by returning to their own world for a few days.

  Marcus pointed ahead to a large city. “That’s New Orleans. I’d guess we’re no more than nine or ten miles away. We’re probably getting close to the city Riph Raph saw downstream on the Noble River. I think we’d better go back tomorrow morning. Hopefully someone there can give us a clue where Land Keep is.”

  Kyja nodded, already missing her bike. “What about the Keepers?”

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” Marcus said. “There could be more of them in the city. We’ll just have to make sure they don’t spot us.”

  Watching a flock of birds soar out over the river, Kyja didn’t see the old man that stepped up onto the levee until Riph Raph, flying just over her shoulder, shouted, “Look out!”

  Kyja whipped her head around in time to see a man with a bushy, white beard carrying a fishing pole over his shoulder. He was standing in the middle of the bike path, eyes wide with surprise and fear. Kyja grabbed the brakes with both hands. The bike’s back tire skidded on the loose gravel.

  “Turn!” Marcus yelled, leaning away from the skid.

  Kyja turned the handlebars, but she overcorrected, heading straight toward the edge of the levee and the river below. She tried to steer away, but Marcus had overbalanced the bike. Instead of turning away from the fall, they leaned into it.

  “We’re going over!” Marcus called, his arm like a vice around her stomach.

  Kyja yanked on the handlebars with all her strength, but it was no use. The bike was tipping over, and she couldn’t control it. Then, just as she was sure they were going over the side, it was as if a giant hand lifted the bike, pushing it upright again, and bringing it to a stop inches from the edge of the levee.

  “That was some mighty fancy riding,” the old man said, shifting his pole to his other shoulder. “Thought you two were heading into the drink for sure. Guess I surprised you there.”

  “You did,” Kyja said, trying to catch her breath. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

  “Happens to me all the time,” the old man said.
“It’s the river. Brings to mind flights of fancy. Sometimes I set out my pole and completely forget where I am for hours at a time.” He held up a string of fish. “I’d better get back home and clean these.” With that, he crossed the path and disappeared into the woods beyond.

  Kyja glanced back at Marcus, whose face had gone an alarming shade of green. He was breathing in hard, quick gasps. “That was close,” she said. “Good thing you used magic to stop us.”

  Marcus looked at the spot where the man had disappeared. “I don’t think I did.”

  Chapter 10

  Aster’s Bay

  Wake up.” Marcus nudged Kyja, who was sleeping curled in her cloak next to the trunk of a large pine.

  Kyja cracked open an eye and looked around at the Louisiana woods still wrapped in darkness. “What time is it?”

  “Not sure.” Marcus peered into the trees, listening for any unusual sounds.

  “It’s nighttime,” Riph Raph buzzed sleepily at Marcus. “Go back to sleep.”

  “I think we should jump now.”

  “It’s not even close to morning.” Kyja sat up and rubbed a palm across her face. “Are you crazy?”

  “Of course he’s crazy.” Riph Raph, who’d stayed up late gorging himself on mosquitoes, buried his face in Kyja’s hair.

  “It’ll be breakfast time in Farworld. We could be at the city before lunch.”

  “I know you don’t want to ride with me anymore,” Kyja said, stifling a yawn. “But this is ridiculous. Go back to sleep.”

  “I can’t sleep. I don’t think we should stay here any longer than we have to.”

  “Why not? You need at least another day or two here to recover. Besides we’re safe from the Keepers.” Kyja pushed herself to her feet, brushed the pine needles from her clothing, and stretched both arms above her head.

  “Something isn’t right,” Marcus said, tapping his foot against the ground as though anxious to start a race. “I didn’t stop the bike, and you sure didn’t. That means someone around here has magic. Doesn’t that make you nervous?”

  “You think the old man with the fishing pole was a Thrathkin S’Bae?” Kyja asked with a sarcastic smile. “The only ones who can use the Dark Circle’s doorway use black magic. No one else from Farworld could be here.”

  “That’s my point!” Marcus slapped his hands together, then looked around, afraid the noise might have attracted someone’s—or something’s—attention. Ever since they’d jumped to Earth, something had felt wrong. At first, he’d assumed it was the usual disorientation of moving from one world to another—“super jetlag,” he’d come to think of it. But now he wondered if there wasn’t more to it.

  “You probably cast the spell without realizing it,” Kyja said. “We were about to go over the side, and you panicked.”

  “Of course I panicked. You were driving like a maniac. But I’ve never cast a spell without meaning to before.” He had felt something as they were pushed to a stop. It was the same tearing feeling as when the sniffler attacked him. What if Kyja was right? What if he’d used magic without knowing it? What might that mean? One thing he was coming to realize about magic was that it wasn’t a toy. Like fire, it was a powerful tool as long as he could control it.

  But if it escaped his control . . .

  “Fine. I’m awake now.” Kyja stomped her feet, getting the tingles of sleep out. “We might as well go to Farworld. But you have to promise we’ll buy another bike next time we’re on Earth.”

  “I promise—I promise.” Marcus gripped his staff, tensing for the jump. They’d been in Farworld for just over two days. He knew he should have stayed at least two more days on Earth to fully recover, but after what happened with the bike, he’d feel much more comfortable once they were gone. “Watch out for Keepers when we arrive. They should have left by now, but there was something strange about those snifflers. I don’t want to meet up with them again.”

  Kyja gave one last, longing glance toward the mountain bike then closed her eyes. “Here we go.”

  A moment later, Marcus found himself lying on a riverbank, head resting on a moss-covered rock. He’d been a little afraid that the horrible feeling of being trapped in the strange gray place on the last jump would happen again. He was relieved not to spend any more time trapped in that in-between place.

  “Look who’s here!” called out an amused voice.

  Marcus sat up quickly and spun around, raising his staff in preparation to use magic. But it was only Cascade resting easily against his sailboat as a half-dozen water creatures of his creation dove and twirled through the air.

  “I still don’t understand how you know where to find us,” Kyja said, helping pull Marcus to his feet. “You have no idea where we were on Earth. How are you always wherever we land when we jump back?”

  Cascade waved a finger as though leading an orchestra, and his creatures rose in a graceful swirl of movement before losing their shapes and splashing back into the river. “Where else would I be?”

  “Full of information, as always,” Marcus said, climbing the ramp onto the boat. It was strange coming from Earth to Farworld. He had more movement in his bad arm and leg here, but the pain was much worse. “You don’t happen to know if the Keepers are still around, do you?”

  Riph Raph stretched his wings as though glad to be returned to his normal shape and launched himself into the air. “I’ll fly up and take a look.”

  “No need to,” Cascade said. “Despite your doubts about me, I am pleased to tell you that the Keepers of the Balance have taken their pets and returned to Aster’s Bay. Between your sudden disappearance and the arrival of your friend, they seemed rather shocked. I suspect they left to report to their superiors.”

  “Screech is no friend of mine,” Marcus said, clutching the gunwale of the gently rocking boat.

  Cascade only tilted his head and smiled.

  “Did he . . . get away?” Kyja stared off into the trees.

  “Indeed.” The water elemental nodded. “Cave trullochs are slippery creatures. In more ways than one. The snifflers were unable to track him.”

  “What are snifflers?” Marcus asked as the boat began sailing downriver.

  Cascade seemed to be in an especially good mood this morning. He stood before the wheel of the sailboat, though he didn’t need to touch it to steer, and waved his arms expansively. “I believe you already know. Snifflers are the larval form of a much more dangerous creature. They are what you might call babies.”

  Marcus thought for a minute. There had been something familiar about the creatures. Something that had seemed almost . . .

  “Unmakers. The snifflers are baby unmakers, aren’t they?”

  The water elemental nodded.

  “But why would anyone want an unmaker for a pet?” Kyja asked, crinkling her nose in disgust.

  Again Marcus thought he might understand. “Does it have something to do with how the unmakers feed on magic?”

  Instead of answering the question directly, Cascade looked out over the water. “When we first met, you accused the Fontasians of selfishness. Yet we consider ourselves to be quite fair. We take only what we need and always give equal to what we ask. Your kind is very difficult to understand. At times, you give far more than is expected—such as feeding the creature who imprisoned you. Other times, you take far more than you could possibly use but offer nothing in return.”

  Kyja frowned. “If you want your gold rock back, you can have it.”

  But Marcus didn’t think Cascade was talking about them at all. He was starting to get an inkling of what the Keepers of the Balance might be up to, and he didn’t like the idea—it felt far too much like something that might happen on Earth. Before he could finish piecing the concept together though, the sailboat rounded a curve and the river opened into a wide bay, and beyond that, a broad expanse of greenish-blue water that must be the Sea of Eternal Sorrows.

  On a finger of land, between bay and ocean, was a city surrounded by imposing-looking
walls of stone and rock. Dozens of ships were docked at a bustling harbor. North of the city, farms and clusters of small wooden houses spread out for several miles.

  “Aster’s Bay,” Cascade said, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. “This is a dangerous place but a necessary stop if you intend to find the land elementals.”

  With that said, he slowly faded away, like mist evaporating on a hot day. When his voice spoke again, it came from what looked like a reflection rippling in the river water. “You took the Keepers of the Balance lightly before. It would not be wise to do so again.”

  Chapter 11

  Charmed to Meet You

  Are you coming?” Kyja asked, a growing frustration in her voice.

  “Sure. I just . . . did you see that?” Marcus stood at the edge of the pier and watched open-mouthed as two men loaded bushels of corn onto the deck of a heavily-laden ship.

  It was the sort of activity he might have seen at any Earth harbor. But the way they were loading the boat was like something out of a fairy tale. One man seemed to be in charge of the corn. He held a leather-wrapped scythe with both hands. He raised the tool, and the heads of corn twirled into the air, using their husks as propellers. A second man snapped a leather strap between his hands; the empty bushel bounced like a rubber ball up the ramp onto the boat. Once the bushel was in place, the corn dropped neatly into the wooden basket.

  “Come on,” Kyja whispered, tugging Marcus by the arm. “People are staring.”

  People were staring—not at the flying corn, but at him. Some with amusement, others with suspicion.

  “He’s cloud-eyed,” Kyja explained, cupping her hands to each side of her face, and a group of fisherman burst into laughter.

  “What does ‘cloud-eyed’ mean?” Marcus hurried to catch up with her, his leg aching, staff knocking against the cobblestone street.

  “Just that you’re easily amused.” Kyja glanced quickly around to see if anyone else was watching as they walked toward the city’s western gate. “You’re drawing attention to us. For all we know, the Keepers have told people to watch for a boy and a girl who are new in town. Hopefully they didn’t notice your leg back in the woods, or we’ll be spotted for sure.”