Beyond the Forest

by Kay L. Ling

  They set down the carriers and she handed Folio his coffee. “Sorry. I had no idea how you like your coffee, so I left it black.”

  “I’m not particular. Thank you.” He sipped the coffee, looking contented. “It’s been a very long time,” he said with a sigh.

  Lana was surprised that the rats didn’t say a word. She tended to be grumpy until she’d had her morning coffee, so maybe they figured they’d better be still until Folio drank his. After a moment Folio said, “Now then, let’s take care of your friends.”

  Lana unfastened the carrier doors and Greg and Jordy scrambled out, trembling with nervous anticipation. Jordy said in a small voice, “We’re very grateful for your help, Mr. Folio.”

  Folio wore the gray shirt and pants he’d worn since they’d left Strathweed. His gray hair hung to his shoulders, and his long, gray beard covered most of his toad-like skin. When he drew himself to his full height and looked down at the rats, he looked like a towering gray thundercloud. “We need to move away from the alamaria.”

  He walked a distance through the woods and the rats followed. Lana and Jules trooped behind. “Far enough. This should do,” Folio said. He stretched his arms upward, then slowly outward, palms toward the rats. Lana felt the air vibrate. One moment Greg and Jordy were rats, the next they were human. The boys fell into each other’s arms, sobbing.

  This was the second time she’d seen Greg and Jordy as boys. She smiled through her tears at the redheaded Greg with his prominent nose and the stocky, brown-haired Jordy. Their nightmare was over. They could go home.

  Lana felt an arm slip around her shoulders. Surprised, she looked up at Jules. “I’m always crying about something, aren’t I?”

  He brushed a tear from his own eyes and said softly, “That’s one of the things I like about you.” She gave him a skeptical look, but he squeezed her shoulders reassuringly and said, “You feel things deeply. You think that’s a weakness, but it’s not—quite the opposite. Your depth of emotion makes your gem powers stronger.”

  She looked down, too overcome to speak. Was he serious? She cried whether happy or sad. Her friends said she was a good listener because she was so empathetic, and maybe they had a point, but sometimes it was embarrassing. Now he was suggesting that her “weakness” made her powerful. That was hard to believe.

  The boys finally stepped away from each other and Greg sniffed and said, “We’ll get the shovels now.”

  Lana handed her keys to Greg. “Take the pet carriers with you. You won’t be needing them anymore.”

  Chapter 33

  Lana, Jules, and the boys buried the alamaria in a wide, shallow hole just outside the portal, and then carefully replaced the sod so the ground looked undisturbed. Standing back, arms crossed, Lana inspected the ground and smiled with satisfaction. “Good work, guys.”

  Digging had left her tired and sore. Any other time she’d use a few of her gemstones to ease the pain and give her energy, but if this alamaria worked the way it should, her gems would be useless. Time for a test, she told herself, reaching into her gem pouch. She found a fire agate that normally gave her energy and stamina and closed her fingers around it, trying to draw its power. The stone felt cold and lifeless in her hand.

  “It works,” she announced triumphantly.

  “What works?” Jules asked.

  “The alamaria. It’s blocking the power from my fire agate.”

  “That was smart—testing it,” Jules said, leaning on his shovel. “If the alamaria doesn’t work, it’s better to know it now.”

  “I was sure it would, but I still had to check,” she said, putting the fire agate away. “When you get this many stones together, they’re really powerful.”

  “Like Sheamathan’s obelisk.” Jules put down his shovel and walked over to her. “What about infused powers? Are we sure it will block them, too?”

  Folio, who was busy tamping down two pieces of sod that refused to lie perfectly flat, looked up and said, “Yes. I ran a test of my own.” He gave the offending sod one more determined stomp and continued, “I restored the boys outside the range of the alamaria and left my gems there. Normally, I could read your thoughts without my gems, but now I can’t.”

  “So your infused powers are gone. Good to know,” Lana said with a grin. “Now you can’t hear what we’re thinking about you.”

  He gave her a sly look. “Enjoy it while you can, my dear.”

  Jordy piped up, “I’d love to see Sheamathan’s face when she finds out her powers don’t work.”

  Greg grumbled, “Me too, and we have to miss it.”

  “We don’t know when she’ll show up,” Lana said, “so you can’t hang around and wait. You need to get home.”

  “I know,” Jordy said with a sigh, “but you guys are gonna kick her butt, and I’d give anything to see it. Promise to tell us every juicy detail.” His smile reminded Lana a lot of his rat grin.

  “I promise,” she said, wishing she were as confident of their success.

  “I’ve been thinkin’,” Greg said. “Could you take us to the bus station—instead of home? I need to come up with a story about living in the city and all that, and I’m not sure how you’d fit in.”

  “Yeah, sure. Good thinking.” She reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out a five, a few ones, and some coins. “Here. You’ll need money for a phone call, and besides, you can’t go home penniless. After you paid your bus fare, this is what you had left.” She gave Greg a conspiratorial wink.

  Greg hesitated.

  “Take it,” she insisted.

  He took the money and stuffed it into a pocket in his tattered jeans. “Thanks. I’ll pay you back.”

  Jordy grinned. “And we owe you for a bag of rat chow.”

  She shrugged. “No problem. Someday you can take me out for pizza.”

  “Deal,” Greg said.

  “So, now what?” she asked Folio who was listening with an amused smile.

  Why don’t you and Jules take the boys to the bus station. I’ll head back to Strathweed, and you can come when you’re ready. We’ll discuss how to lure Sheamathan through the portal. I have a few ideas.

  “All right with me,” Lana said. She had two more vacation days, followed by the weekend, and Mom and Dad weren’t expecting her to do chores. She said to Jules, “If you’d rather head back with Folio, I don’t mind.”

  “Elias is used to traveling in Shadow and knows the dangers. I don’t mean to offend you, but you really should have an escort.” He paused and gave her a sidelong look. “Have you ever gone through the portal by yourself?”

  Her face fell. “No, that’s a good point. I’ve always crossed with Raenihel or Folio. I guess I need you.” Besides, he had the knife now, and all she had was a bag of gems. It would be better to stay together. She turned to Folio. “After we take the boys to the bus station, there’s something I need to get from home before I come to Strathweed. It’s critical.”

  He looked concerned. “What?”

  “A bag of coffee.”

  “Ah!” His face lit. You’d think she’d volunteered to bring a sack of rubies. “Do hurry back,” he said and walked through the portal.

  * * *

  Elias walked the last stretch of the trail feeling unusually cheerful. The prospect of guests lifted his spirits. A hermit’s life could be tedious. The thrill of examining new gems and unlocking their secrets had kept him busy for decades. But even in the early days he had sometimes felt lonely and despondent. His isolation had grown harder to bear the longer he was trapped here. He had lost his home, his family, and his friend Jules. How could he have been such a fool? He heaved a sigh. If he dwelled on his mistakes, he would go mad.

  Despite his relationship with the woodspirit and his reputation for dark gem powers, a few gnomes came from time to time, looking for a lucky talisman, an aid to fertility, healing for an injury, or a cure for insomnia. In exchange, they made him clothing and brought him food. Their visits were more business than social; ne
vertheless, he enjoyed the brief respite from his loneliness.

  He rounded the bend, smiling as his cave came into view. This was the start of a new era, and he hoped it heralded the end of Sheamathan’s reign. Jules was himself again. Lana was aware of her gem powers and had come to Shadow. Elias had never met anyone like her. Her eyes burned with the fire of a thousand lightgems. When she looked at him, he saw his own selfishness and shortcomings and every dark shadow that lurked in his heart. She had only been here a few days, and she was already infusing Fair Lands gem powers. In time, he could teach her many things about Fair Lands gems and Shadow gemstones as well—if she would let him.

  She had despised him at first. Her hatred had been palpable. It had been painful to feel the depth of her disgust and contempt. But her contempt had given way to wariness and distrust, then to grudging acceptance, and now, he thought with a smile, to more promising emotions. She still called him Folio, but someday, he fervently hoped, she would call him Elias.

  He approached his woven-branch front door and was about to pull it aside, when something swift and dark overhead made him stop and look up.

  “Franklin!” he cried in surprise, recognizing the giant, black bird. How odd. Franklin hadn’t signaled that he was coming. The bird circled, wings outstretched, and made a gliding descent to the ground. Franklin resembled a black bird known as a skreet, but he was several times larger. His abnormal size was a hallmark of Sheamathan’s enchantments.

  “Let’s go inside, Franklin.” Elias wrenched the door aside. No one must see his feathered messenger. “I’ll get you something to eat while you tell me why you’re here.” The bird followed obediently and they entered the inner cave. Elias poured a handful of seeds into a wooden bowl and filled a goblet of fialazza for himself, hoping it would steady his nerves. He settled into a chair and set Franklin’s bowl on the floor nearby.

  Hidden among his feathers, Franklin wore a rare purple gemstone on a leather cord around his neck. Elias wore a matching gemstone on a necklace. The gem allowed Elias to open a two-way link. If Elias or Franklin summoned each other, the purple gems grew hot and transmitted each other’s locations through visions.

  After a moment, Franklin looked up from the bowl of seeds, blinking intelligent black eyes. In a high, musical voice he said, “Sheamathan is sending a cart to bring you to Shadowglade. She wants to speak to you.”

  Elias leaned forward. “When?”

  “Soon. When I left, the breghlin driver was hitching a maraku to the cart.”

  “I see,” Elias said, running his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. “The invitation is timely. I need to speak with her. Unfortunately, two human friends are on their way here, and I don’t want the driver to see them.”

  Franklin rustled his feathers. “Do you want me to warn them?”

  “Would you?” he asked, brightening.

  The bird bobbed his head. “Certainly.”

  While Franklin pecked at the seeds, Elias sipped his fialazza, turning the goblet absently in his fingers. “I suppose Sheamathan wants to discuss the missing miners.”

  “I heard her mention them,” Franklin said, sounding apprehensive.

  Elias nodded. Being a bird had advantages. Franklin could perch overhead and spy on Sheamathan. “What else did you hear?” Elias asked, frowning.

  “The wolfhound is gone. It didn’t return after the full moon.”

  Elias sipped his fialazza. “What does Sheamathan think about that?”

  The bird screeched—a sound like laughter. “She says gem powers are at work. She thinks the wolfhound outwitted his enchantment.”

  Elias smiled faintly. “She’s right, he did.” His smile faded. “Does she think I had a hand in it?”

  Franklin cocked his head. “I don’t believe so. She suspects a human woman.”

  “You’ve been a great help to me, Franklin. I wish I could repay you. The human woman, and the wolfhound who is now a man, are the ones I’m expecting.”

  “I’ll tell them to hide if they hear the cart.”

  “Bless you, my dear friend.” Their relationship spanned fifteen years. Sheamathan’s enchanted victims lived long lives if they managed to avoid predators. Franklin’s plight still made Elias furious. Over the years, Elias had restored a few enchanted beings, but Franklin had refused his help. It was beyond Elias’s abilities to heal him, and Franklin would rather be a skreet than go home a crippled man. Franklin had spent months in the dungeon, starved and beaten for refusing to give detailed information about his home and family, and the beatings had left him crippled. When Sheamathan had finally seen she couldn’t break him, she had turned him into a giant skreet.

  Elias said, “You should go. Before the breghlin comes.”

  “I’ll find your friends.”

  He walked Franklin to the entryway. The bird bobbed his head in farewell, and with a heavy heart, Elias watched him take to the air with rapid beats of his powerful wings. Elias stared after him and then shook himself from his gloomy thoughts to concentrate on the matter at hand. Sheamathan was like an impatient child, he told himself with a sigh. She would expect him to come immediately. If he wasn’t home, the driver would wait, but Sheamathan would grow more irritated with each passing hour.

  Hurrying to the inner cave to change his clothes, he put on a green robe and a pair of leather sandals, and then brushed his hair and beard. Inside a box beside his bed he kept several ornate gold bracelets set with powerful gems, and a number of heavy gold chains that held pendants with gems. He emptied the box onto his bed. He would wear the entire assortment.

  His body had long since become infused with gem powers, but if he went a few weeks without touching the gemstones, his powers began to weaken. Touching the gems boosted his infused powers. With some gems the difference was barely discernible, but with others it was like a jolt of power. Whenever he met with Sheamathan he wore all his gems. She would be similarly gem-laden; in fact, her array of gems would eclipse his. He smiled bitterly. It was her way of reminding him that she ruled Shadow, and that she was a more powerful gem master. Today, as always, he would avoid looking at her gray metal collar. It galled her to wear the restrictive device and they never spoke of it.

  He slipped seven necklaces with pendants over his head and let them lay in plain view on his robe. Four of the gems held dark powers. He never used dark powers these days, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to today. He placed four cuff bracelets on his right arm, and three on his left. Even in the dimly lit cave, light flashed from the faceted gems and shimmered across the domed surface of the cabochons. He drew power and let out a long, shuddering breath as strength and vitality surged through him. Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes, drawing intuition, foresight, and confidence.

  These meetings were always unnerving. He must measure his words carefully and guard his thoughts. With practice, he had learned to hide his true feelings and shield his mind. Nevertheless, she would try to read his thoughts. He stroked his beard thoughtfully. She would probe, hoping to catch him in an unguarded moment, and he would do the same to her. All the while they would smile and drink tea or rakka, and eat fruit that had survived Shadow’s blight. An onlooker would think they were the best of friends. He scowled. Hopefully, this charade would be over soon. Sheamathan was a detestable creature. In his darkest moments, he had been a saint compared to her. With help from Lana and Jules, he would end her reign of terror.

  The shrill, high-pitched blast from an animal horn echoed through the cave. The driver was here. Smoothing his expression, he walked to the front door, looked through the woven branches, and said curtly to the breghlin standing there, “Good day. What can I do for you?”

  “The woodspirit sent me to get you.”

  “I see. Give me a moment to refresh myself and I will accompany you.”

  The breghlin’s lumpy, malformed features and dull eyes registered no emotion. Jerking a thumb at the cart, the driver said, “I will wait.” The cart was drawn by a maraku—the same
kind of animal that Sheamathan used to haul alamaria. The beast reminded Elias of an ox, but it was smaller and less powerfully built. Its thick, curly reddish-brown coat made a fine rug once the animal was too old to work.

  Elias hurried to the inner cave and finished getting ready. After taking another drink of fialazza, he slipped a small knife and a few loose gems into his inner pockets and then looked around. What was he forgetting?

  Ah, yes. The sedative. I don’t know when I’ll need it, so I should have it with me.

  His pulse raced at the thought of Sheamathan stepping through the portal and finding herself defenseless. With Lana and Jules’s help, he would drug her, and then he would ensure she was defenseless—permanently. He retrieved a vial from a high shelf and examined the murky red liquid. The idea of drugging the woodspirit both excited and terrified him. He was nearly certain this potion wouldn’t kill her, but it should incapacitate her for two or three hours. He slipped the vial into his inner pocket, and wiped his clammy palms on his robe. Now it was time to go. This visit was essential to their plans, but there were so many things that could go wrong, and the prospect of failure made him numb.

  He secured the door to his cave, walked to the cart, climbed in, and sat on the padded bench behind the driver’s box. “Go ahead, driver,” he called. The breghlin cracked the beast on the rump with a stick and the cart lurched into motion. Elias grabbed the side of the cart to steady himself.

  Deep in thought, he stared unseeing at the passing scenery. Sheamathan believed that Jules had broken the wolfhound enchantment and that Lana was involved. That should make the woodspirit feel vulnerable, and he could use that to his advantage. He would convince her that her campaign to win the Fair Lands was in jeopardy now that Jules was human again, and she should check the Amulet to see if he had interfered with the blight. Elias frowned, considering. If Sheamathan was worried enough, she might want to go tonight. Would she ask him to go with her? He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He had planned to wait for her in the Amulet with Jules and Lana. He had never considered walking through the portal with her. It might make little difference, he supposed, as long as Lana and Jules were expecting it.