by Jon Evans
"The Center Kingdom!" the male exclaimed. "I've heard of that. You're right, it's in the Archipelago."
"I told you so," the female scolded him. "You never believe me."
"Pardon me," Silver said, "but with whom do we have the honour of speaking?"
"Oh," the female said, embarrassed. "I am Dizzy daughter of Silent, and this is my mate Leafcutter son of Tallclimber, we're both Gobbler clan."
"Of what tribe?" Silver asked.
Dizzy and Grubhunter exchanged looks. "It's not like your Archipelago here," Grubhunter said. "This is the Endless Empire."
Explanations soon ensued, on both sides. From what Dizzy and Grubhunter said, the Endless Empire had no tribes, like the Hidden Kingdom, although for the opposite reason. The Hidden Kingdom was tribeless because there were not enough trees for squirrels to congregate in those numbers: the Endless Empire because its expanses were too vast and borderless for tribes to make any sense. Squirrels simply moved on if they had any trouble with their neighbours, so no tribes had ever been formed. Some squirrels of the Endless Empire clustered in loose little clan-groups, but many just lived with their families or even alone.
It didn't sound dangerous. There were owls and raccoons at night, and occasionally foxes and dogs by day, but according to Dizzy and Grubhunter, this corner of the Endless Empire was a safe and easy place to live. They doubted any other squirrel would trouble Patch, White and Silver as they travelled south to the Archipelago, although many would stop them from curiosity.
"It sounds better than the Center Kingdom," White said wistfully, watching Dizzy and Grubhunter scramble away through the underbrush towards their drey after saying their goodbyes.
Patch looked at her. "What do you mean?"
"It's safe here. And they don't think I'm cursed by the moon. They don't even know what albinos are."
"Do you want to stay?" Silver asked.
White looked at Patch, then looked away. She did not answer.
The uncomfortable silence was broken by a totally unexpected voice from above.
"Good heavens," a voice said in Bird. "I think I know you, squirrel. You with the little white patch on your forehead. Do you remember me? Do you know where my home is? I'm looking for my home, and I can't find it!"
Birds in the Wind
"It's very strange," Daffa the pigeon said, as he drifted down and landed on the ground before Patch. "I remember exactly where I met you before, both times, and it was very far away. I don't think I've ever known any animal that wasn't a bird to travel so far. Do you remember me? Was it a long time ago? I'm not good with time."
He waited anxiously.
"Not so long ago," Patch said slowly, "not so long."
Daffa winced, deflated. "Then you don't know where my home is?"
"I'm sorry."
"Oh well. It has to be somewhere. It can't just have disappeared." The pigeon sighed and made ready to fly away.
"Wait!" Patch said. "Wait, Daffa, the three of us, we're all from the Center Kingdom, and we don't know how to get home."
The bird hesitated. "I suppose you can't just fly."
"No. We can't. But maybe, I was thinking, if I told you where the nest of my friend Toro was, he's a bluejay, maybe you could bring him to us, and he could help us get home?"
"I'm not very good with messages."
Patch thought a moment. "You wouldn't have to bring him a message. Just tell him my name, and bring him back here. You could do that, right?"
"Oh, of course. I know exactly anywhere I've been. Exactly. But it's a long way to the Center Kingdom..."
"Do you have anywhere else to be going?" Patch asked gently.
Daffa sighed. "No. Not until I find my home."
"Then..."
"Oh, all right. What was your name again?"
"My name is Patch." He left out the rest of his usual introduction; no sense taxing Daffa's mind unnecessarily. "Do you know the place in the Center Kingdom where the human-carved animals go round and round, while their music plays?"
"I know the place."
"Toro's nest is on top of that building. He's a bluejay. Just tell him my name and bring him here."
"And your name is Pitch," Daffa said doubtfully.
"Patch! Listen, Daffa. This is so important. We'll never get home without help. Keep saying my name the whole way there. Patch, Patch, Patch."
"Patch, Patch, Patch," Daffa repeated. "All right. I'll try. I'll try to be back soon. Patch, Patch, Patch, Patch, Patch!"
The pigeon rose chanting into the sky and soared southwards. Patch waited hopefully. With Toro's help, scouting the territory, watching them from above, they would have a much better chance of making it through the mountains and back to the Center Kingdom.
"Do you want to stay here in the Endless Empire?" Silver asked White, for the second time. Patch twitched; he had forgotten the exchange that Daffa had interrupted.
This time nothing prevented White from answering. But it took her a long and awkward time before she finally answered, in a low voice, while staring at the ground, "I don't want to go back to the squirrels of the Center Kingdom. But I want to go wherever your son goes."
It took Patch a moment to realize 'your son' meant him.
Silver looked at Patch and said, almost accusingly, "What do you think of this?"
He blinked. "I think it's stupid the way all the other squirrels treat her. I think she's the bravest, smartest squirrel I know. She went into the Kingdom Beneath to help save your life, and she didn't even know you."
"Yes," Silver said, "but what do you think of her?"
Patch didn't understand the question. "She's my friend."
In the long silence that followed White muttered something under her breath and turned away from him. Patch looked at her, bewildered, and said, "What's wrong?"
"I can't believe you even have to ask!" White sniffled.
"She doesn't only want to be your friend," Silver said softly. "She wants to be your mate. And I agree with you, Patch, it doesn't matter that she's albino. She's a hero. I can think of no better mate for my son. But if it is not what you want -"
"My mate? But - but it's not even chasing season!"
"There's more to sharing a drey than just chasing," Silver said dryly.
"Oh. Well." Patch hesitated. He had always liked being alone. But he didn't want White to go away. He thought he would miss her if she did. "Okay then. We can share a drey when we get back, if she likes."
White turned and stared at him, her eyes alight.
"Other squirrels might say terrible things about you living with an albino," Silver warned.
Patch shrugged carelessly. "I don't care what other squirrels say."
And that was that. White walked slowly over to lie very close to Patch's side as they waited. Silver sat a little distance from them. It occurred to Patch as he looked over to White that she was now, technically, his mate. It seemed odd that the word applied to him, when he had always chosen to live alone until now. But the thought of sharing his drey with White made him feel happy. He lay quietly beside her for a long time.
"Patch!" a voice cried out in Bird.
It was quickly followed by a second voice. "I told you I knew where he was. You see, I knew exactly!"
Daffa and Toro landed on the dirt path before Patch, Silver, and White.
"Patch, I can't believe it!" his bluejay friend exclaimed. "I heard you went into the Kingdom Beneath. I thought you must be dead!"
Patch smiled. "Almost. Many times." His smile faded. "You can see my tail. But I'm alive. We need to get home, back to the Center Kingdom. Can you help us?"
Toro hesitated. "I don't think you want to do that."
"What? Why not?"
"Bad things are happening in the Center Kingdom right now, Patch. Terrible things, worse than the rats, worse than you can imagine. I think it's best to stay away. I don't know if there'll be any Kingdom for you to go back to."
A Murder of Crows
"It's the
crows," Toro said. "They're attacking every mammal in the kingdom. Cats, dogs, even horses, I've seen them go after humans. But most of all they attack squirrels. Flocks of a hundred, sometimes more, the biggest flocks I've ever seen, they look like swarms of big black bees. They leave other birds alone. But anything with fur that walks or crawls is a victim."
"They just started attacking? Out of nowhere?" Patch asked, aghast.
"No. They started a few days ago." Toro hesitated. "After the coming of the King Beneath."
The three squirrels stared at the bluejay. Daffa covered his face with a wing.
"It's true!" Toro insisted. "He's not a myth, he's real, I've seen him! I saw him last night, in the Northern Sea. He's bigger than a horse, and he's covered with scales like a lizard, and he's all white, and he's got fangs like you've never seen. He comes out at night and devours everything he comes near. He's so fast. Last night I saw him kill and eat a sleeping human! He's real, Patch, I saw him!"
"You don't have to convince us," Patch said quietly. "We've seen him too."
"Oh. Good. Well, not good, but...He's risen from the underworld. He's the reason the crows are attacking. He's made an alliance with them. I've heard they're moon-sworn to him. And between them they're killing every mammal in the Center Kingdom."
As Patch relayed this awful news to White and Silver, he thought of what Lord Snout said to him. I hope you don't think you've won the war ... All creatures of darkness serve the King Beneath. And when he comes, all will flock to his command.
"So many crows," Silver breathed. "There were hundreds of them, no, thousands, remembered how they covered the trees, how they clouded the sun? We can't stand against them. Nothing can. They'll drive us from the trees."
"And then the rats and the King Beneath will take us," White said. She smiled darkly as something occurred to her. "It's funny, I never thought of the Center Kingdom as 'us' until now. Now that it's too late."
"It isn't too late," Patch said hollowly, but it felt like a lie, and both White and Silver only smiled sadly at him.
"I'm sorry," Toro said.
"Oh, I am too," Daffa agreed, sounding even more heartsick than the bluejay. "I know what it's like to lose your home, Patch. It's like a hole in your heart that will never heal."
"It can't be lost!" Patch exclaimed. "There has to be something we can do!" It wasn't right, not after what they had been through and survived in the Kingdom Beneath, that they finally emerged into the world only to discover that they had become homeless refugees of a doomed and faraway land.
"It would take us days just to get there, Patch," Silver said quietly. "If we were very lucky. And even if we succeeded, what could we do? Three squirrels against a caiman monster and thousands of crows?"
"The crows must be moon-sworn to him, they must owe him some kind of debt, or they wouldn't be flying at night and attacking squirrels," Patch argued. "If we could just deal with the King Beneath -"
"Is that all?" White's laugh held no mirth in it. "You've seen him, Patch. Every squirrel in the Center Kingdom could go after the King Beneath, and I doubt between us we could so much as scratch one of his scales before he killed us all. Your friend Zelina can't help, he'd do the same to cats."
"I'm sorry, but she's right," Silver said. "There's nothing we could do. Survival is our victory. Nothing more."
Patch paced angrily along the dirt path, as the two squirrels and two birds watched him with concern. They were right. Of course they were right. Of course there was nothing a little squirrel like him could do to defeat the King Beneath. Patch turned, ready to admit defeat.
He caught a momentary whiff of a rich, feral scent.
Patch stopped in his tracks and looked around. There was nothing moving, no other creature in sight. But there was something gleaming by the side of the path. He walked over and discovered a small glass ball, half-buried in the dirt, with a strange patterned and multicoloured double helix trapped within.
Patch had discovered such things before, in the Center Kingdom. Human children played with them, and sometimes lost them. It was nothing of consequence. But it sparked a memory.
Patch stood and stared at that glass ball. Thoughts and ideas churned in his mind for what felt like a long time but was probably no more than a few heartbeats. Then he turned and raced back up the path.
"Toro! Daffa!" he said.
The birds looked at him quizzically.
"Bring Karmerruk here." Both birds flinched at the mention of the hawk's name, but Patch carried on. "Both of you. I need all three of you."
Toro peered at Patch carefully. "Are you mad? Do you rave?"
"No."
"What in the good sky do you need Karmerruk for?"
Patch said, "I need him to carry me to the Hidden Kingdom."
Through The Sky
"I fail to see why the whimsical desires of a ragamuffin squirrel should have anything whatsoever to do with my chosen course of action," the Prince of the Air said haughtily. "You presumed greatly on our acquaintance even in requesting my presence. I will have you know I came here only because the hunting is excellent."
Patch nodded. He had expected the hawk's reluctance. "Where do you live?"
Karmerruk's stare grew even harder. "What business is it of yours where I nest?"
"It's near the Center Kingdom, isn't it?" Patch asked. "Somewhere in the mountains. You have children, don't you? You mentioned your nestlings once."
"My personal life is none of your concern -"
"But the Center Kingdom is. You know what's going on there, don't you? You know the King Beneath is no myth."
Karmerruk beat his wings once, and dust flew, and Patch feared the Prince of the Air would fly away; but the hawk let his wings lapse back to his sides, and admitted, "I have seen the King Beneath."
"And you've seen the crows."
"I would have to be blind not to have seen them."
"If they win, they'll eat every mammal in the Center Kingdom, and then what will you do for food?"
Karmerruk shrugged. "There will still be pigeons and bluejays."
Daffa and Toro backed surreptitiously away from the hawk.
"Is that good enough for your nestlings?" Patch asked. "No mice? No chipmunks?"
The hawk thought a moment, then sighed. "I do like mice ... I see your point, groundling. What is it you want of me?"
"I want you to carry me to a particular place in the Hidden Kingdom."
"What particular place?"
Patch said, "Daffa knows where."
Daffa blinked with surprise, then wilted backwards as Karmerruk turned his penetrating gaze upon the pigeon.
"I don't know anything!" Daffa squawked nervously.
"Sure you do," Patch said. "You told me once you met a big cat that knew how to speak Bird. And you can go right back to that big cat any time you want."
"Oh, the big cat, yes, of course, I can take you there exactly," Daffa said, relieved.
"Big cat?" Karmerruk asked suspiciously. "Does this have anything to do with the Queen of All Cats?"
"No," Patch answered truthfully.
"Hmm." Karmerruk looked around as if seeking some excuse. "It's a long way to the Hidden Kingdom."
"That's why we need to leave as soon as possible."
The hawk considered for some time. Then he sighed, long and loudly, tilted his head towards the sky, and said as if musing about the weather, "I cannot help but to think, Patch son of Silver, in retrospect, my life would have been considerably simpler if I had just eaten you on first acquaintance."
Patch said nothing.
"All right. Let us fly."
"Stay here," Patch said to White and Silver. "He can't carry more than one of us. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"You still haven't explained what you're doing!" Silver exclaimed. "Where are you going?"
"I have an idea," Patch said vaguely. He didn't want to explain what he was doing. He had a notion that any such explanation might sound completely insane. "Don
't worry. I won't be in any danger. I won't be long - oh!"
This last expostulation was one of pain and surprise, as Karmerruk's talons dug into his flesh and lifted him away from the ground. Patch winced with pain as he watched White and Silver dwindle from squirrels with alarmed expressions into pale blurs and dots, until finally they were invisible, all he could see were the trees of the Endless Empire like a field of grass beneath them, and the mountains and great waters to the south, and the clouds and setting sun in the sky around them. In his paws Patch carried the glass ball he had found half-buried in the dirt path above the Croton Road.
Daffa and Toro flew beside and behind Karmerruk. The strange and improvised flock of three birds and a squirrel made their way first above the human buildings, and then, as they grew from houses into mountains, between them. The journey was no more comfortable than the last time Patch had travelled by hawk, but in a strange way, the talons digging into his bleeding back made him feel safe; they were so sharp, and Karmerruk so strong, that he knew he ran no risk of falling. Patch watched the approaching Island of the Center Kingdom spread out below him as if it was no more than a single little patch of earth, lit by the rays of the falling sun. He committed the sight to memory. He wondered if perhaps he was the only squirrel ever to have seen the world like this more than once.
The rhythm of Karmerruk's wingbeats began to grow ragged, his movements more spasmodic and less smooth.
"You're too heavy," the hawk gasped. "I can't take you all the way to the Hidden Kingdom. I'll have to leave you in the Center Kingdom overnight, while I rest."
Patch winced. That wasn't part of his plan - but there seemed no choice. "All right." He thought a moment. "Can you take me to the middle of the western frontier?"
"Yes."
"Toro, can you meet me at my drey tomorrow? And bring Daffa. Keep an eye on him. He forgets things."
"It's true," Daffa admitted, ashamed. "In fact I've completely forgotten what I'm doing with the three of you. Have I gone mad?"
"Of course not," Patch assured him. "Just stay with Toro here and you'll be fine."
Daffa looked unconvinced, but didn't argue, as Toro led him south towards the bluejay's nest, and Karmerruk swooped down towards what had once been the territory of the Treetops tribe, when such a tribe had existed. The trees of the North were so covered with crows they seemed to have been infected by some awful blackening disease, but to Patch's relief, the trees near his drey seemed empty of crows - and of all other living things.