Land Keep

by J. Scott Savage

  “Good to see you, too,” Marcus sighed, knuckling him just behind his ears.

  “You haven’t seen the bag with the food in it, have you?” Kyja asked.

  “Sure. It’s right over there.” Riph Raph waggled his ears and ducked his head. “I might have had a little taste while you were gone. Just to make sure nothing went bad.”

  Kyja attacked the combination of Earth and Farworld food as if she’d just returned from a hundred mile hike. Marcus slowly picked at his—nibbling a little here and a little there, but not actually eating much of anything.

  “You have to eat,” Kyja said. “You have to keep up your energy so we can get you out of here.”

  “I’m trying. I just don’t have much appetite.” He peeled the plastic off a cheese stick, took two bites, drank a few swallows of water, and lay on the floor to rest.

  “What happened in there?” Riph Raph asked, gnawing on a piece of dried meat. “One minute I was on your shoulder, and the next, it felt like something swatted me into the air.”

  “We just had a couple of tests,” Kyja said. “And we met a weird little man in a room full of books.”

  Riph Raph snorted and looked at Marcus, who was snoring softly. “Why did you take him instead of me?”

  “I didn’t,” Kyja said. That still bothered her. Why didn’t she go alone? It didn’t seem like an accident. Not that Marcus wasn’t helpful. In fact without him, she never would have made it to the Augur Well. How would she have reached the gem of knowledge if he hadn’t been there to pull the rope? She never would have had the time to find both the fairy’s heart and song by herself.

  Looking back on their journey, it almost seemed as if both of the first two tests had been designed specifically around the strengths and weaknesses of her and Marcus. Mr. Z had mentioned her stubbornness and Marcus’s tendency to take chances. And it was both because of and despite those weaknesses that they’d solved the raft puzzle.

  What if her being forced to take chances and face one of her greatest fears while looking for the fairy’s heart was intentional? What if she was supposed to learn from Marcus’s strengths while he learned from hers as he searched for the song? Could it be they were intentionally sent too late to keep the tribrac from killing the fairy?

  Even the third test required one of them to sacrifice for the good of the other. Could she have raised the courage to give up her magic if Marcus hadn’t been there and in danger? But why design a test that could only be completed if . . .

  Her mouth dropped open as the pieces of the puzzle came together in one bright flash of understanding.

  “Wake up!” she shouted, shaking Marcus’s shoulder.

  Marcus opened his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything is absolutely wonderful! Knowledge illuminator!” she shouted. “Where are you?”

  The glittering cloud floated down from the tree. “I am a knowledge illuminator. What information may I—”

  “Take us to the doors of eternity,” Kyja called, cutting her off.

  Marcus pushed himself up to his elbow as the floor began moving them toward the upward spiraling ramp of the tree. It seemed to take all his strength, but if she was right, she knew he wouldn’t need to hold on much longer.

  “I think I know how to find the land elementals,” she said, bouncing on her toes with excitement.

  “But the Augur Well said we never would.”

  “No,” she said as they neared the first branches. “That’s what we thought it said. But Mr. Z warned me. He gave me a hint, even though I didn’t know it was a hint at the time. He said that even oracles can get things wrong sometimes, or that maybe we just misinterpret what we hear. The Augur Well wasn’t wrong. At least not about that. It answered exactly what we asked. But we asked the wrong question.”

  Marcus pressed a hand to his forehead. “Maybe it’s just because I’m sick. But I still don’t get it.”

  Kyja looked for the top of the tree, eager to reach it so she could test her theory. It had to be right; there was no other explanation, and yet her stomach was a bundle of bouncing balls. “We asked the Augur Well where we could find a land elemental. It said we would never find a single land elemental. What we heard was that there were no land elementals. But that’s not what it said.”

  Marcus wore a look of incomprehension.

  “Think about it. Why did you and I get pulled into the tests together? Why wasn’t Mr. Z surprised that both of us were there? Why did the tests require two of us to work together and learn from each other? Why did we have to get past our own weaknesses and draw on the strengths of each other?”

  “Because there were supposed to be two of us?”

  “Exactly!” Kyja said. They were almost to the top of the tree now. The black inverted pyramid was in sight. “When the Augur Well said we would never find a single land elemental, it wasn’t saying there were no land elementals, just that there we’d never find one by itself. They come in pairs. They’re a team. That’s why the tests required two of us.”

  Marcus slowly grinned. “Okay. I get it. Two. That makes sense. But what does that have to do with the door of eternity?”

  “Not the door of eternity,” Kyja said, her heart pounding. “The doors of eternity. When we saw them we thought it was one door with two sides—one silver, one black. We went through one side and then through the other. We didn’t realize there is no such thing as a land elemental. Only land elementals, plural. There was one thing we never tried with the door.”

  Marcus’s eyes lit up. “We didn’t try opening both sides at the same time!”

  Chapter 37

  Lanctrus-Darnoc

  You’re sure this will work?” Marcus asked from the silver side of the door.

  “No, but I hope so,” Kyja’s voice answered from the black side. “Because if it doesn’t, I’m out of ideas.”

  Marcus gripped the knob, its metal surface sweaty beneath his fingertips. “What’s the . . .”

  “Plan?” Kyja laughed. “I count to three, and we both pull. After that—if something happens—we’ll make it up as we go.”

  “I like it.” Marcus dried a hand on his robe and took the knob again. “Ready when you are.”

  “One . . .” Kyja counted, “two . . . three!”

  Marcus pulled. Half of him expected to feel Kyja tug at the same time. When he didn’t, he stumbled and nearly fell over backward. Only his grip on the knob saved him.

  “Come on in!” Kyja called. Her voice no longer seemed to come from the other side of the door. It sounded far away, like an echo.

  Marcus stepped through the doorway. A sharp sense of vertigo hit him, as if he’d looked down into a well, only to see clouds floating across a blue sky. He was in what looked like a large silver bowl, standing at the base of a black pyramid. At the top of the pyramid, two circles were joined at ninety-degree angles. Above that, a pair of silver ramps wound upward, with branch-like walkways and gold leaves.

  “We’re standing on the ceiling of Land Keep, aren’t we?” he asked, gripping his staff tightly with both hands. He’d never been scared of heights in his life. But looking up—down—at the top of a tree he knew to be hundreds of feet tall terrified him. Finally he understood how Kyja viewed heights.

  “Either that, or the ceiling was really the floor all along.” Kyja walked around the corner of the polished black pyramid with apparently no fear at all. Riph Raph, however, seemed to share some of Marcus’s concern. He clung tightly to Kyja’s shoulder, silently eyeing the immense tree above them.

  Marcus found he did better if he didn’t look up. Instead, he studied the pyramid. “Do you see any kind of entrance?”

  “Not from over here,” Kyja said.

  Somehow Marcus didn’t think knocking would be the way to go this time. But what were they supposed to do now? Fortunately, he didn’t have long to ponder. A glittering, golden cloud floated down from the tree branches.

  “You knew about this all alo
ng?” Kyja asked.

  The cloud flashed. “I’m sorry; the information was not accessible.”

  “But it is now,” Marcus said.

  “What information may I help you locate?” asked the tinkling voice.

  “We would like to speak to a—I mean the—land elementals,”

  “They are listening,” the cloud said.

  Marcus gulped. He looked at the tall black pyramid. Was that where they were? “H-hello,” he stammered.

  “Only land elementals are allowed through the doors of eternity,” a deep voice thundered from the general direction of the pyramid. “How did you get here?”

  “We reached the Augur Well,” Kyja said.

  “Humans may not seek the Augur Well!”

  “We did.” Marcus wiped a hand across his hot forehead. “We passed all the tests and Mr. Z gave us the key. Doesn’t that at least make us honorary land elementals?”

  The pyramid was silent for a moment, as though considering this information. When it spoke again, it sounded a little less hostile. “We must consider this. What do you call yourselves?”

  “I’m Kyja,” Kyja said with a curtsy.

  Marcus gave an awkward bow. “And I’m Marcus.”

  “Why do you seek us?”

  Kyja motioned for Marcus to lift the sleeve of his robe. Feeling the awkward embarrassment he always had when showing the mark, he revealed the brand on his arm to the pyramid. Ridges of scar tissue he’d had as long as he could remember formed the image of two creatures doing battle inside an elaborately designed circle.

  One of the creatures was part snake, part dragon—with a long, serpent body, a mouthful of wicked teeth, great wings, and sharp talons. It was locked in combat with a creature with the head of a boar, the tail of a fish, and the body of a bird with feathered wings. Two pairs of horns sprouted from the bird-boar-fish’s head, and a pair of human arms held a flaming sword in the air. The serpent’s talons locked on the front of the bird’s throat, while the tusks of the boar were closed on the snake’s writhing body. According to Master Therapass, this symbol marked Marcus as the person who would either save or doom Farworld.

  Kyja explained. “He was sent to Earth to keep from being killed by the Dark Circle. I was sent to Farworld in his place. The only way we can return to our own worlds is to open a drift.”

  “A drift would require the cooperation of elementals of land, air, water and fire,” said the voice. “Such a thing has never been done.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” Marcus said, figuring he might as well get to the point. “We need one—or, I guess, two—land elementals to help us.”

  “We already have the assistance of a water elemental,” Kyja added.

  “Oh, and you might want to do something about your harbingers,” Marcus said. “The Dark Circle turned them into monsters, filled the entrance to Land Keep with mud, and blockaded the exit tunnel. There are a thousand or so people stuck just outside the doors to the library right now.”

  The pyramid thundered. “Is this true?”

  “Yes,” tinkled the knowledge illuminator.

  “It has been long since land elementals left Land Keep,” rumbled the pyramid.

  “Over three thousand years,” Marcus added.

  “Perhaps it is time to examine the world firsthand again.”

  Through bleary eyes, Marcus watched a layer of shiny, black material peel itself from the pyramid. A moth, he thought as a pair of glossy, black wings rose into the air, flexed, and flew several feet away, landing gently on the edge of the silver bowl.

  A pair of heads appeared between the wings of the “moth” and Marcus wondered if he was experiencing some sort of fever-induced dream. One head looked like a lion with a thick golden mane. The other was a ferocious-looking dragon with yellow eyes and shining black scales. The creature perched on a pair of heavily armored black legs as its paws clutched a silver scepter.

  The lion-dragon flapped its wings and bright colors flowed over the shiny black of the pyramid. The colors weren’t just the typical patterns of a butterfly’s wings, but what looked like crags and valleys, trees and streams. Focusing became hard for Marcus—if he looked too long, he could lose himself in the landscape that changed each time the wings flapped.

  “Come,” roared the lion head.

  “Forth,” finished the dragon.

  Another layer of the pyramid peeled itself off and flew across the bowl to land beside the dragon. It also had two heads—a hawk and a rabbit. A pair of talons jutted from its torso as it balanced on furry white feet.

  Another layer peeled off and flew across the room, and another, and another, until the pyramid was completely gone and the entire rim of the silver bowl was filled with two-headed land elementals.

  Were each of these a pair of creatures that sought out the Augur Well together? An image appeared in his mind of himself and Kyja attached together between a pair of color-changing wings. Maybe he wasn’t quite so anxious to become an honorary land elemental after all.

  The last elemental to form had the heads of a beautiful red fox and a boar with long, curving tusks and a ridge of black bristles above the thick shelf of its forehead.

  It had red and white forepaws and stood on a pair of bristly, brown-hoofed feet.

  “Showoffs,” Riph Raph said. But Marcus noticed he said it quietly enough that none of the land elementals could hear.

  “A council of Land Keep is called,” roared the dragon and lion heads in unison.

  “A council,” repeated the other land elementals.

  “Land Keep has been defiled. We must restore the library to its former status.”

  “Aye,” called all the heads.

  The dragon head nodded. “So be it.”

  “Kyja-Marcus seek our aid in opening a drift between Farworld and Earth,” the lion said.

  “The creation of a drift has never been attempted,” said a wrinkled head that looked like a turtle except for its long curved beak.

  “So we keep hearing,” Marcus muttered. Kyja put her finger to her lips and scowled.

  “We are knowledge gatherers,” said the rabbit.

  “And teachers,” said the hawk.

  “This-s-s drift is none of our concern,” hissed a pair of heads that looked like great angry lizards. Their black eyes fixed on Marcus and Kyja.

  “We do not know if opening a drift is possible. Even our knowledge of this is limited,” said the fox and the boar. “If such a thing can be done, the knowledge gained would be most valuable.”

  The dragon and lion heads both nodded and turned to Marcus and Kyja. “You have reached the Augur Well, Kyja-Marcus. As such, you are granted honorary land elemental status, and with it comes certain rights and privileges. Who will volunteer to help them?”

  “If this-s-s-s is-s-s to be, we will go,” said the lizard heads.

  “No,” said the lion. “I do not wish you two to leave. Lanctrus-Darnoc, you are the youngest. Will you go?”

  Marcus crossed the fingers on both hands. With curiosity, Kyja looked at what he was doing, shrugged, and crossed hers, too.

  “We will,” said the silky voice of the fox.

  “Yes,” grunted the boar, baring its long, upward-curving tusks in what Marcus hoped was a smile.

  The dragon nodded slowly. “Very well. Lanctrus-Darnoc may join you for as long as they desire.”

  The lizard heads muttered something to themselves—their long tongues flicking in and out.

  Kyja grinned at Marcus, eyes shining. He gave her a thumbs up. Somehow they’d managed to get both water and land elementals to join their cause. They were halfway there.

  He should have been ecstatic. Instead, he felt exhausted. As the stress from the past few days lifted from his shoulders, he dropped to his knees. The room felt as if it was slowly rotating on an off-center axis.

  “Lanctrus-Darnoc,” rumbled the voice, “Return Land Keep to its previous state. Re-open the library. Join Marcus-Kyja for as long as you are need
ed.”

  The silver bowl gave one last spin, the creatures around it a blur of wings and faces. Marcus passed out.

  Chapter 38

  Friends

  When Kyja walked out of the tunnel from Land Keep, struggling to drag Marcus beside her, no one in the cavern noticed. Working in the gardens, preparing food, none of the prisoners gave her a second glance. It wasn’t until Lanctrus-Darnoc flew out behind her that people looked up in alarm.

  “What is that thing?”

  “It must have killed the boy!”

  “Don’t worry!” Kyja called out. “They’re land elementals. They’re here to help you.”

  Most of the people still fled the gardens, running back to safety of the stone buildings.

  “How could this happen?” said the land elementals, looking at pitiful plants struggling to grow, the cracked stone floor, the general grime.

  “It’s a travesty,” said the fox half, which Kyja had learned was Lanctrus.

  “Someone should be held accountable,” said Darnoc.

  The land elementals flapped their wings, which changed colors with each movement. The grime disappeared, returning the stone to a pristine white. The cracks in the rock repaired themselves. The brook, which had been small and silt-filled, now gushed clear and full. The gardens filled with a variety of plants, fruits, and grain.

  “Look at the harbingers!” shouted a bent woman with short black hair. “They’re changing.”

  “They’re . . . they’re beautiful!” cried the man beside her.

  “They look like fairies,” whispered a girl a few years older than Kyja. Tears ran down the girl’s cheeks as she stared in wonder and amazement.

  Kyja couldn’t see them any more than she could earlier, but she imagined the clawed horrors turning into beautiful, winged helpers.

  “Do we go back up the stairs?” Kyja asked the land elementals as she watched the people stare in wonder at what had happened to their prison. They pointed, laughed, and shook their heads in wonder.