by Patrick Hatt
Max Blizzard
and
The Scroll of Fate
Patrick
Hatt
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, locations, and events are either a product of the author's imagination, fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any event, locale, or person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright 2017 by Patrick Hatt
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or part in any format.
Cover Art by Anurag Singh
Chapter 1
Graduation
Max found himself face first in a golden pile of sand. His brown mop of hair tugged at his scalp as Trudesile cackled and rubbed his face within it. The sun beamed off her white teeth while she grinned. The kids that had crowded around her cheered, making her want to continue her assault on the eight-year-old Max Blizzard. She hated hearing his new thoughts. She wanted to beat them out of him after failing to understand the concept of imagination. Max tried to squirm free while his lungs searched for air. He gasped for breath after his only loyal friend, Frolic, ran to his side and shoved Trudesile away from him.
“Max, are you okay?” Frolic brushed the sand from Max after helping him to his feet.
“Miss Dina, do you have something to say?” Mr. Lions stood before a class of twenty students, grinning at Dina, who shook her head in disgust over the fate he described as they watched through a viewing window setup at the front of the class. His rainbow eyes swirled and then a beam of rainbow light flew from his bald head, causing the viewing window to vanish. He straightened his multi-colored robe and stared at the class, pointing as Madar flung his hand in the air.
“I know. I know.” Madar wiggled around in his chair. The few colors in his eyes lit up while he waited for Mr. Lions to acknowledge him. His bald head quickly began to gleam with the few colors he had acquired.
“All right, Madar. What do you think is wrong with this being’s fate?”
“Nothing is wrong. This one is just showing us things like not picking on the little guy, how girls can be just as mean as boys, how…”
“Please. How did you ever make it this far?” Dina rolled her almost complete rainbow-colored eyes at him. Her glare clearly showing her disgust for his lack of knowledge.
“You aren’t always right, you know.” Madar snubbed Dina and tried to continue while hiding his hate for how easy fates came to her.
“First of all, it wasn’t Trudesile who did that to Max, it was Frolic. Secondly, it was grass and not sand. Thirdly, there were not that many kids around him. And…”
“Little Miss Know It All,” Madar mumbled.
“Madar, maybe if you worried less about Miss Ferris and more about fates you are supposed to protect, you would be as advanced as she is.” Mr. Lions grinned as Madar continued to mumble. His hope remained high for Madar, even though he knew he would not be graduating tomorrow. “That will be all for today class. Be sure to study and get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow’s test will decide if you graduate to protector status or not. These hundred years I have seen you learn and grow have been a true pleasure. I wish you all the best.”
The students stood up from their desk chairs and eyed a solid wall in the classroom. A rainbow light shined from Mr. Lions’ head bringing forth a doorway. A sense of peace coursed through the students as his light shined over their bald head upon leaving. Each left hopeful that they would pass tomorrow’s test and take the next step in their fate journey.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Lions. I’ll pass, get the rest of my light, and be the best protector you’ve ever seen.” Madar smirked at Dina. He straightened up his multi-colored robe and then stepped through the door.
Dina rolled her eyes and went to step through behind Madar, but the door faded, along with Mr. Lions’ light. She turned to him while he sat at his desk, having no idea what he wanted from her.
“Mr. Lions, I must go and study more. I’m meant to pass this test and put all others to shame.” Dina stared at Mr. Lions, getting no response. She then focused on the door, trying to make a rainbow light appear from her bald head. Her eyes swirled but she failed to do so.
“Please, Dina, take a seat.” Mr. Lions pointed to the chair directly in front of him.
“What is this, Mr. Lions? You may be a few centuries older than me, but if you don’t let me out of here I’ll…”
“Sit!” Mr. Lions shot a rainbow beam from his head and it wrapped around Dina, picking her up, and dropping her in the desk chair.
“I…” Dina’s jaw dropped open. Her keen mind quickly deduced what the constant shifting of his form meant, but she sat surprised while experiencing it. “How come I haven’t seen this? How do we? How…”
“Dina, you are probably the smartest student I have ever taught. You have knowledge of the fate of thousands of beings. You are going to be a great protector and you will probably have my abilities and even rival Oxom’s in a very short time. But you don’t know it all. The moment you think you do is the moment you will fail. If you let that wonderful mind of yours stall, you’ll never reach your full potential. Just take Mr. Blizzard as an example. If he had remained quiet, fates of so many would be very different. Sir Dreadvent would have taken over everything in existence. He never thought he knew it all and kept pushing for answers. In doing so more questions arise and your mind becomes that much more powerful.” Mr. Lions took human form once again and grinned at Dina before pointing to the faint rainbow glow coming from her head. “I can see your mind working. One answer I shall give you to your many questions.”
“Why human? There are far stronger beings out there that we could take the form of. Why does everyone in Momentus take the form of humans?”
“Yes, compared to some they are fragile, but they have a resilience about them. That and they are beings that came out practical. From their two arms and two legs to their plenty of brain space to their ability to reproduce with ease, but not too much ease, they were the smart choice. Oxom and the council decided centuries ago that it would be the way and so it has been. We tried it as Grumbions and that failed miserably.”
“Don’t they have like fifty babies at a time?”
“And that’s the low end. Momentus only has so much space but we need new protectors for the many new fates. After careful consideration this was the best choice as we take on those beings we mimic and all their strengths and weaknesses. I trust though that you will keep this between us. Only a select few know the truth until they gain the ability.”
“I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”
“I know you won’t, Dina. Now go and prepare for your graduation. I have no doubt that you will pass tomorrow.” Mr. Lions’ head glowed and once again revealed the doorway. “Oh, and Dina.”
“Yes, Mr. Lions?”
“Never forget what I said. You don’t know it all and never will. Life is so much better that way. Trust me.”
Dina smiled and stepped through the door. She remembered the crush she had on Mr. Lions for her first decade in his class, no longer embarrassed over it, finding him to be as true and wise as she thought he was then. She took his words seriously as her bare feet met the green grass of her home’s luscious field. She sprinted to her front door full of hope for her future and the mysteries that could come with it.
“How was your day?”
Dina heard her mother’s voice upon opening the door. She ran to her and hugged her. She soon wondered what form she truly loved. Thoughts and questions jumbled her mind. She wanted to talk about it, but she refused to break her promise to Mr. Lions.
“It was a great day, Mom. Soon I’ll be a protector and the
n Luna and I can get a plot of our own. You and Dad won’t have to hide things anymore.” Dina winked at her mother, grinning over the confusion plastered across her face.
“Don’t get too cocky, Dina. You don’t officially pass until you officially pass.” Trinny loved the enthusiasm in her daughter, barely having seen it in the last decade. She hated the thought of her leaving home, but she knew her daughter could survive anything.
“Come here, Luna.” Dina tapped her leg and a small golden house cat with black spots ran out of her bedroom. She sat at the kitchen table waiting for Luna to jump up on her lap. Dina brushed her and then whispered, “I wonder if you are what you really are.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, Mom. I’m just going to grab an apple and then get to studying. Like you say, I’m not officially a protector until I pass.” Dina grabbed an apple and patted her leg, smiling, as Luna followed along behind her.
“She sure seems perky.” Dralam yawned. He stepped into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around his wife while nibbling her ear.
“I think she knows.”
“Knows what? About the cat? She can’t know that no one else in Momentus has a pet. Visiting other plots is forbidden so fates don’t accidentally interact.”
“Not the cat, well maybe the cat, but that we can shift forms.”
“She is a smart girl. Sooner or later she was going to figure it out. Don’t worry. She will be fine. She’ll never create an incident with that knowledge.” Dralam spun his wife around and kissed her, causing their bald heads to fill the room with a rainbow glow.
“I’m sure you are right. I just hope that she is ready.”
“After a century, she better be.” Dralam laughed and then stepped to the door. “I’ve got a council meeting tonight and then we’ll prepare for the graduation testing tomorrow. I may be home late.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Always the worrier.”
“You should worry as well. Those old farts on the council aren’t to be trusted.”
“I love that you worry. See you soon.” Dralam waved to his wife and then closed the door.
Trinny peered out the window as his head glowed and a doorway opened. She feared for his safety. She knew the council’s secrets and always worried until he came back to her side.
“No, Luna. That is the wrong answer. His fate is to be a father and a husband, not a super spy.”
Trinny calmed her worry by listening to her daughter for a while. She then stepped into their plot’s sanctuary and did her daily check of the fates that she protected. The rainbow room lit up and all colors shined brightly, each displaying a tiny speck of the thousands of fates she protected. Her bald head glowed and within minutes she found that none of them had any deviations.
“That is right. He did use his imagination to save many realms. That Max Blizzard is my favorite fate. I know. I know. We aren’t supposed to have favorites. This will just be our little secret though, right, Luna?”
Trinny heard her daughter giggle and Luna purring as she stepped from her sanctuary. She knew it could be the last time she heard such delight in her home and took it all in as Dina studied well into the night.
“I think I have them all memorized, Luna. Time to rest. This human body needs it. Wouldn’t it be nice to be a Plummit? They only require a minute of sleep a day.” Dina stretched and yawned, not bothering to change into a clean robe. She flopped back in bed and closed her eyes, brushing Luna as she curled up on top of her.
Trinny leaned against the doorframe, smiling, as they rested peacefully. She closed Dina’s bedroom door fully, not noticing Luna eyeballing her.
Luna sprawled out further on Dina when she was sure that Dina had fallen asleep. She perked up her ears, hearing Trinny pacing the floor, as she did every night while waiting for Dralam, and then concentrated. A light blue bubble, only flickering when dust clung to it, fully circled her and Dina. Luna remained on alert, expecting trouble, while only Trinny’s footsteps broke the silence of the night.
Luna squinted as night became day and a sunbeam shined in through the bedroom window. She readied to drop her shield as Dina stirred but she sensed trouble and then heard Trinny’s pacing suddenly stop. A huge wave of energy quickly followed and bashed against the shield as it went over their entire plot.
“What was that?” Dina mumbled, failing to notice Luna take the shield down. She then eyed the clock through her blurry vision and sprung out of bed. “I’m going to be late. Thanks for waking me, Luna. See you tonight.”
Dina stroked Luna once. She pulled off her dirty robe and threw on a clean one before quickly running to the bathroom.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” Dralam asked, grabbing Dina and hugging her. “Good luck today, Honey. I know you’ll do great.”
“Dad, where’s Mom?”
“The council meeting ran late. She’s still there waiting for you, I’m assuming.”
“Council meeting? But you’re on the council, not her.”
“I think that century of studying has fried your brain, Honey. I’m the protector, your mother is the council member. Now quickly eat breakfast and be on your way. You have a test to ace.”
Dina stared at her father for a few seconds, thinking they were playing some mind trick on her and that they had a surprise waiting for her when she passed. She sat down at the table, inhaling her food, while her bedroom door quietly closed without either of them noticing.
Trudesile flipped the lock. She ran to Dina’s closet and grabbed a robe, throwing it over her head to cover her body. She then stared in the mirror at her shoulder length brown hair.
“Bandaid and Dad better be right about this.” Trudesile sighed and then used her imagination power to make scissors appear. She quickly began cutting away her hair and then used a razor to finish the job. She then made two rainbow colored contact lenses appear and placed them in her eyes.
“Crap. That girl moves fast for being a hundred years old.” Trudesile kicked her hair under the bed as she heard the front door fling open. She yanked open the bedroom window and climbed through, spotting Dralam opening a doorway for Dina. She crept around to a nearby tree and then made a rock appear. She heaved it at their front door, catching their attention for a split second. She then slipped into the doorway ahead of Dina without being seen.
“I’ll make you proud, Dad.”
“I’m sure you will, Honey. Ace it.”
Dralam kissed Dina on the forehead and then waved to her as she stepped through the doorway.
Dina stood in awe of the decorated courtyard. She had never seen it so lit up during the few times in her life she had visited. The floating rainbow lanterns caught her eye as they stood over a specific section of the courtyard. She noticed one empty spot and sprinted toward it, not paying any attention to the hundreds of spectators.
“About time you arrived. Afraid my score would be higher?” Madar snickered while glaring at her from a few spots away.
Dina ignored his badgering, loving the softness of the cushy stone as it molded around her feet.
“Now that everyone has arrived, it is time to see who moves on to protector status and who will have to try again next year. Those of you who advance will gain your own plot and the ability to come and go throughout Momentus as your duties necessitate it. I wish you all the best of luck.” Oxom stared down at the hundreds of students from a floating perch above the courtyard. He twirled his moustache while his bald head began to glow.
Dina giggled to herself, finding the sight of hair funny, as Oxom was the only one she had ever seen have it. She swore it was fake, but she had no want to offend him by asking. She smiled at her mother as she caught her staring her way. She sat with the rest of the council behind Oxom, acting like she belonged there. Dina wondered what she and her father had planned, but quickly turned her thoughts to graduating as a rainbow glow emanating from Oxom’s head lit up the lanterns.
“Begin,” Oxom commanded.
<
br /> Light streams flew down from each lantern and covered every student, leaving them in their own world with only their fates to sort through. Each student waved their hands picking the true fate of each of their given beings while to everyone watching on, they looked to be swatting the air.
Trudesile slunk through the crowd, trying to get herself positioned to protect Dina if the need arose. She eyeballed everyone, trying to figure out where the threat truly lied. She wished Max and Lester were by her side, missing their companionship and support. She wanted her undercover mission to be over, but she knew that their very lives counted on her, which spurred her on.
“Who is that Momentium?” Oxom asked Trinny after catching a glimpse of Trudesile.
“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen her before.”
Oxom’s head glowed and then he sent a beam of light toward Mr. Lions as he patrolled the courtyard. He nodded to Oxom and then strolled toward Trudesile. He gasped as he caught sight of her, remembering her from the lesson the day before.
“This can’t be good.” Trudesile took a few steps back within the crowd.
“How did a human get here? It’s not possible.” Mr. Lions shot a beam from his head. He stretched it through the crowd and wrapped it around Trudesile.
The crowd cleared and eyed where the beam had gone, finding nothing.
“That was close.” Trudesile crawled into a corner, now in the form of an ant.
“Well, what is it? Who was she?” Oxom shouted.
“I’m not sure.” Mr. Lions wanted to learn the truth before trusting Oxom with his theory. He feared what he might do to a human, even one as heroic as Trudesile, who found Momentus.
“Where did she go?” Trinny asked.
“I have no idea. I’ll find her though.” Mr. Lions began to leave the courtyard when the lanterns started beeping. He turned around to find their exam drew near its end and watched over Dina, excited to see her pass.
One by one the students finished and stared at the lanterns above them. Many began to glow and shine upon the students while a few remained barren of any light.