by Kay L. Ling
“We’re here,” Lana said, trying to shake off her gloomy thoughts. “We should have the park to ourselves. No one comes this early.” Who’d want to come here, even later in the day? There’s no reason to come unless it’s to see the destruction.
She opened the door for the rats. “Meet you at the rotted stump by the trail head.” They took off at a run. She followed, taking her time. It was good to see them run and play.
Shuffling through the leaves, she could see brown grass underneath. Brown grass? During a rainy September? Definitely not normal. A cold breeze lifted her hair. She pulled her sweatshirt zipper higher, shivering, and not just from the cold. The park felt tainted with evil. The diseased forest was giving her the creeps. She wrinkled her nose at the sour tang in the air. It smelled like rotting compost.
When she caught up to the rats, they were arguing good-naturedly over who had reached the stump first. She ignored them and started digging.
“Okay. You first, Greg,” she called as she set the stone on the ground and brushed dirt from it. “Touch the stone. Tell me what you feel.”
He scrambled over and touched it with both paws. After about ten seconds, he said, “It feels weird. My paws are going numb.” After another few seconds, “Wow! My paws are so stiff and cold I can hardly move them!”
Jordy circled him impatiently, clearly wanting to try it himself.
“Can I stop now?” Greg asked. “I can’t feel anything. My paws are totally numb!”
“Sure. Thanks, Greg.”
“My turn!” Jordy sang.
“Okay. Go ahead.”
After a moment he cried, “You’re right! It didn’t feel like this before!”
She gave a satisfied smile, but only for a moment. This is a Shadow stone, the first you’ve ever seen. Is it a good stone, or a bad one? Her smile turned to a wary frown. Sheamathan was mining alamaria. Was that reason enough to suspect it held dark powers? The stone was unusual, beautiful, and it either drew energy or interrupted its flow. Handling the stone hadn’t produced any harmful side effects so far, but it paid to be cautious.
“You can let go now, Jordy. Our experiment was a success.” And I’m going to bury this weird stone again.
“We’re going somewhere else now?” Jordy asked, chaffing his paws and shivering.
“I’ll show you where I found this. First, let me bury it.”
The rats’ boundless energy made her laugh. As they all walked to the campfire, Greg and Jordy scampered through dead leaves, jumped over fallen branches, climbed onto every stump, and dove squealing and laughing into the leaves. Lana found the destruction too depressing to enjoy the hike. No one, not even the “experts,” knew how to stop the blight’s progress. How long before it spread beyond the park?
When she found the narrow, unmarked path, she let the rats go first and followed gloomily after them. It was painful to think how much everything had changed. The dense forest had lost its pleasant green canopy. The trees lifted bare branches to the heavens as if in a plea for help.
After ten minutes they came to the clearing where she’d found the remains of the campfire. She stopped short, surveying the scene.
“Someone’s been here, all right,” Greg said, scooting forward to investigate. A pile of dirt covered in gray ash, and pieces of charred wood sat beside a two-foot-deep hole. Jordy and Greg moved forward and peered into the hole.
“Why would somebody dig a hole here?” Greg asked, glancing back at her.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe whoever buried the alamaria was looking for it.”
“I don’t get why they buried it,” Jordy said.
“Me, either.” Were there any clues to suggest who had been here? Anything left behind? She looked around but didn’t see anything. “We should start back now.” The rats looked disappointed but they didn’t ask to stay longer. “We’ll do this again,” she promised. “Maybe not here, but I’ll take you somewhere you can run.”
As she drove to the exit, a solemn hush fell over the car. She felt certain Greg and Jordy were thinking about the force field. Slowing to a crawl, she realized she was holding her breath, waiting nervously for Jordy’s yelp of pain. They passed the area where he had cried out before and he didn’t let out as much as a squeak. How was that possible?
“Ow!” Jordy squealed a moment later, and then he gave a shaky laugh. “Hey, it didn’t hurt as bad this time.”
“Good,” she said in a flat tone. “That’s good.”
“Then why don’t you sound happy?” Jordy asked.
She debated keeping it to herself, and decided against it. “The border of the Amulet has moved,” she said in a tight voice. “The Amulet is expanding.” Her hands tightened on the steering wheel. More and more land lay unprotected as the blight spread; the Amulet didn’t recognize the diseased land as part of its own and had stopped defending it. “Do you understand what this means?” she asked the boys.
“I think so,” Greg said slowly.
She looked at the rats in her rearview mirror. Their tails twitched nervously. Turning her attention back to the road she said, “The area of our world that Sheamathan can occupy is growing.” She felt sick at the thought. Time was running out.
“I don’t want her in any of our world,” Greg said.
“Will she ever—can she get to my parents’ house?” Jordy asked in a small voice.
“Yes, if the Amulet keeps expanding.”
“Your secret papers, do they mention anything that might help?” Greg asked.
“I wish I could say yes, but I just don’t know. I learned it’s possible for Fair Lands gems to disrupt some of Sheamathan’s gem powers. That might help us. And drawing powers from multiple gems at the same time creates new powers, but I don’t know enough about that yet. I learned new ways to use the Challenger’s blade.” Her voice trailed off. “Bottom line, we don’t have much time, and I still don’t know how to defeat her.”
“So what’re we gonna do?” Jordy asked in a panicky voice. “We can’t let her come here and take over like she did in Shadow.”
Their best hope was the wolfhound, which wasn’t very encouraging. “I’m hoping to meet Jules during the next full moon. I think he knows how to break his enchantment, and if I can help him, I will. When he’s human again, he’ll challenge Sheamathan.”
“If he changes back,” Greg said, “Will he be more powerful than you?”
She sighed. “I hope so. We’ll see.”
By the time she took Jordy and Greg home, it was time to go to work. She was in no mood to stand behind a jewelry counter. How would she keep her mind on business?
Driving to the store, Greg’s question about Jules circled in her head: “Will he be more powerful than you?” Quite honestly, she didn’t know, but she suspected it didn’t matter. Neither of them were any match for Sheamathan.
Last time, Jules had faced Sheamathan unprepared. Was it any wonder things had gone wrong? And seriously, was he any more prepared now after spending the last century as a dog? She laughed bitterly. If anyone had ever had a chance of defeating Sheamathan, it had been Elias, back when he could use both Fair Lands and Shadow gems.
She looked down at the speedometer and let off the gas. “Darn that old fool!” she muttered. “If I ever meet Elias, I’m going to tell him exactly what I think of him.”
Chapter 26
Lana marked off the days on her kitchen calendar with a big, black X. Normally, time flew much too quickly; now, it seemed the full moon would never come. Jules would come through the portal. She felt certain of it. He’d want to talk to her about the hidden papers she had promised to read. This time she would open her mind and listen to him. Together they might be able to break his enchantment. He had better have a plan to stop Sheamathan, she told herself grimly, because the blight was spreading at an alarming rate.
Lately, she’d been sharing parts of the ledger with the rat-boys. They’d become fascinated with gems, and it was nice to have someone to use as a
sounding board. She had stopped thinking about finding them another home. They weren’t so bad, really, now that she was used to them. They got bored and cranky at times, but thanks to the new pet carriers, she had started taking them to the village park, and that had helped a lot. In the dark, they could pass for dogs.
Emily had called a couple times, wanting to get together. Refusing would have raised questions, so Lana had reluctantly agreed. There was no way she could have company here, of course—not with the rats camped out in her living room, so they had gone out for dinner and then hung out at Emily’s.
It was increasingly difficult to keep her mind on business. Between worrying about the rat-boys, County Forest, and Shadow, she was jumpy and irritable, and others were starting to notice. During free moments behind the sales counter, she worked on her gem powers. If Jules needed her, she wanted every possible gem power at her disposal. The only good thing about being distracted all the time was that she hardly noticed Arlene’s snide remarks. At the ten-day mark, Lana told Arlene that she was planning to take a few vacation days.
The weekend before the full moon, Lana drove to the forest to speak to the gnomes.
The sun was setting when she arrived at the park, and she hoped the rangers were gone. She didn’t want to explain why she was here after hours. As she walked to the Tree Home, she debated with herself. How much should she tell the gnomes? She had promised to share information from the secret papers, but who would have thought she’d learn that Elias was Folio? She didn’t want to be deceptive, but she could just imagine Raenihel’s reaction if she told him. Still, it seemed the right thing to do.
When she arrived at the Tree Home, Raenihel and other gnomes were outside, examining diseased plants.
Raenihel straightened and held out his hand. “Lana, it is good to see you!”
“I see you’re keeping an eye on the blight,” she said, clasping the gnome’s callused hand. “It’s spreading at an alarming rate, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is very troubling. Did you find the secret papers and learn anything useful?” When she nodded he took her arm. “Come. Let’s talk inside.” He drew her into the Tree Home.
With a growing lump in her throat, she followed him to the circle of glowing stones and sat down with the assembled gnomes. They looked at her expectantly. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“I found my ancestor’s hidden papers,” she said without preamble. The gnomes nodded, clearly up-to-date on her efforts to help them. They looked at her with hopeful smiles. “The papers described Fair Lands gems and Shadow gemstones, and told about their abilities. I found a sketch of the Challenger’s knife, and a letter that explained how it was made, but it didn’t say much about what the knife can do.” She paused, wishing she could be more encouraging, but there was no point giving them false hope. “I’m sorry, but even after reading everything I still don’t know how to defeat Sheamathan.”
The gnomes’ faces fell. They looked at one another with expressions that said, “Now what?” From the beginning they had put too much faith in her and had set themselves up for disappointment. Once she told them about Elias, they would probably hate her, even though she was nothing like Elias. They’d tell themselves that she couldn’t be the one who was destined to save them, which is what she had tried to tell them all along. So why did she feel so miserable?
“I learned something that shocked me,” she said hesitantly, staring down at her hands. “I’d rather not tell you, but you deserve to know.” Hatred for Elias tightened her throat. For a moment, despite her resolve, she wasn’t sure she could go on.
Raenihel patted her hand soothingly. “I can see how much it troubles you.”
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and forced herself to look at the gnomes. “It won’t be any easier if I give you all the background, so I’ll just say it. Your Challenger Jules, and my great-great-grandfather Elias, were friends. Elias came to Shadow and studied your gems, and he used their powers to extend his life. He’s the man you call Folio.”
The gnomes’ expressions showed a mixture of horror and confusion. She glanced aside at Raenihel who looked troubled, but he kept patting her hand. “No wonder you’re upset,” he said gently. “The family connection is embarrassing. Don’t worry, dear one. You’re not to blame for the things he did. And you’re nothing like him.”
An awkward silence fell but, to her relief, the gnomes didn’t look angry with her. A female got up and brought Lana a plate of food and a cup of fialazza, like a mother trying to soothe a child after a bad day at school. If only the matter were as trivial as that. Lana let out a shaky sob and smiled through tears as she took the food and drink.
After a few sips of fialazza that helped settle her nerves, she said to Raenihel, “I know I’ve asked you this before, but could you tell me about the Challenger’s meeting with Sheamathan? Anything you know might be helpful.”
The old gnome stroked his beard thoughtfully. “I didn’t tell you much because there isn’t much to tell, but I’d be happy to recount the tale.”
“Thank you, Raenihel.” She picked at her food even though she wasn’t hungry.
“Here is the tale as my ancestors passed it down,” he began. “When we first met the Challenger we didn’t trust him. The man we called Folio had misused us, and we had little use for humans. The Challenger seemed very different, however. He knew that Folio had exploited us, and that the woodspirit had tortured and enslaved us. He seemed as concerned about Shadow and our fate as he was about the fate of his own world. My clan held a lengthy council with him, then we took him to some of the other clans, and they told him everything they knew about Sheamathan and her stronghold, Shadowglade. He was disheartened by their reports, but even so he was determined to challenge her.”
When Raenihel paused, Lana glanced at the other gnomes. Their expressions suggested that they never got tired of this story.
“The next time my people saw him, a few days later, he was dressed formally in a black frock coat and trousers. His face glowed with a righteous fervor. He wore around his neck and on his arms pieces of jewelry with large gems of various colors, and at his waist he wore the Challengers blade. Our people were proud that such a good and powerful man would act on our behalf.
“The next day, he came to us again, but he wore no gems. He gave us his jeweled knife and told us to keep it safe—we might need it in the future. We never saw him again.” Raenihel sighed. “There ends the tale. There is nothing more I can tell you.”
Lana held back a sigh of frustration. The story was interesting, but not very useful. She left County Forest Park feeling discouraged. The original perimeter of the Amulet had failed. The blight now extended beyond the park, which meant the Amulet was expanding and more of the Fair Lands was vulnerable. Before long the Amulet would extend for miles, and Sheamathan would have access to all of that land. The situation looked hopeless, Lana thought bitterly, but she and the gnomes would keep looking for an answer.
The morning of the full moon, Lana got out of bed with a nervous headache, her stomach in knots. She didn’t feel like eating, and that wasn’t like her.
Why am I up so early? I don’t need to leave for hours.
The best therapy for her jittery nerves was activity, she decided. She cleaned the rats’ litter box, refilled their food and water, and left an open bag of chow by their bowls. If she didn’t come home for a few days, they’d be fine. After that she scrubbed the sink, took out the trash, read all her unopened mail, wrote checks, and then dropped her bills in the mailbox. It was only nine o’clock, and she had run out of things to do.
Collapsing into the chair in the living room, she picked up a romance novel she had started weeks ago. By now she barely remembered the plot. After reading the same paragraphs over and over, she gave up in disgust.
Just then Jordy and Greg finally woke. They jumped off the couch and came over to her chair. She could tell by their quivering bodies and sad eyes that they were wrecks, too.
“I don’t want you to go,” Greg said, crawling onto the arm of her chair and looking up at her dejectedly. “What if Jules drags you off on some dangerous mission and we never see you again?”
Jordy, near her feet, stared up at her, whiskers twitching. “Now that it’s time for you to go, we’re scared.” He jumped onto the chair’s other arm and sat nervously thumping his tail against it.
She smiled at the rodent bookends and patted them affectionately. “Jules might not even show up. I’m pretty sure he will, but who knows?”
“I hope he just wants to tell you stuff,” Greg said.
“Well, whatever he wants, I hope I’m ready. I’ve been working a couple hours a day with the knife and my gemstones.”
“You’re gonna take the knife with you?” Jordy asked.
“Of course. And I’m taking a pouch with lots of gems.”
Greg asked, “Will you be seeing the gnomes in the Tree Home?”
“I hadn’t planned to, but if Jules doesn’t come, I’ll go to the Tree Home and see if there’s any important news from Shadow.”
After that, the rats watched TV and she watched a couple shows with them just to keep her mind occupied. At one thirty she spent an hour holding gemstones for strength, courage, and foresight. At two thirty she forced herself to eat, and then she filled her canteen, put on her travel pouch, and packed her backpack with things she’d need if this turned into an overnight trip.
Last time she’d seen the wolfhound at about three o’clock. So apparently, unlike the gnomes, he had no problem using the portal in the daytime when the energy field was stronger. If he normally came in the daytime, the gnomes probably never saw him.
After checking her provisions one last time, she walked into the living room. Greg and Jordy sat near the door, looking like two orphans about to lose their only friend. Actually, she thought with a heavy heart, that was painfully close to the truth.