“Bo! Get back!” shouted Tam, Nix barking wildly too.
Bo ran, all the while yelling for the dragon-worm to follow. For a moment he wondered what it would be like in the kroklops’s stomach. Would he be swallowed whole or would the razor-sharp teeth slice him in two on the way through?
Selene kept shooting bolts of magic at the dragon-worm, slowing it down. But she couldn’t focus all her magic on it—the scouts were still swooping, attacking her with their talons and beaks. With a roar, Tam ran and jumped onto the dragon-worm’s side and clawed her way up to the top.
The kroklops shrieked in pain, writhing, trying to shake Tam off, but the Korahku had dug her talons in deep.
“Over here!” yelled Bo. He stooped to pick up a rock and hurled it at the dragon-worm’s giant yellow eye. “Come eat me, you big ugly worm.”
The kroklops slithered toward him, moving with lightning speed.
All Bo could do was watch in horror as the beast bore down on him, fangs as big as tree trunks. He didn’t have time to crouch or fling his arms over his head before the kroklops was right in front of him, knocking him back with a foul stench.
But Tam had reached the dragon-worm’s head. She kicked downward, stabbing her talon deep into the beast’s eye. The eye exploded and a river of yellow pus gushed everywhere, splattering Bo. The dragon-worm reared back, screaming and thrashing in agony. Tam was flung off and landed with a sickening thud.
The beast writhed and screeched before coming to a juddering halt. It made a final gurgle of pain before . . . silence.
Bo sprang to his feet, dripping in the revolting yellow gunk, and ran for Tam, reaching the Korahku just as Selene and Nix did. He dropped to his knees and shook Tam’s arm.
“Tam? Wake up! Tam?”
She sat up, rubbing her head. “Is it dead?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Bo, and screwed up his nose as he looked down at the yellow gunk dripping from his cloak. “Very.”
An echoing caw, caw, caw from above alerted Bo to the swooping scouts. He ducked but Selene shot balls of ice from her hands and clipped the wings of one. Caw! it screeched before retreating. The five birds stopped swooping and flew above them, circling much higher than before.
“Will your flock be back?” asked Bo.
Tam nodded as both Selene and Bo helped her to her feet. “They can see through the eyes in the wings. They will already be on their way.”
“Then we need to leave,” said Bo.
“Wait.” Selene grabbed his arm. “What happened to Galvin?”
Bo looked back to where the Irin had attacked him but no one was there. “He’s run away!” He slapped his hand over his trouser pocket—the three keys were still there. He heaved a sigh of relief as he pulled them out to show the others. “We’ve got all three now,” he said. “We need to go to Lindorm Mountain.”
“Galvin is on his own, then,” said Tam. “We must keep moving. My flock will return and—”
It grew Dark all at once, as though someone had hung a giant black cloak over the sky. It couldn’t be Dark yet—it was still morning!
“What is it? What’s happening?” Bo twisted around. He had visions of a flock of Korahku so thick they could block out the Light. Or scouts. Or cryven.
But it was none of those things.
It was Shadow Creatures.
A horde of them had gathered at the south end of the crater, like a rolling wave of writhing shadows on the ground and in the air, blocking out the Light—teeth and claws and wings and forked tails. A medley of monstrous creatures, every possible nightmare come to life.
“Is th-th-that—” stuttered Selene, pointing.
“Run!” cried Tam.
They ran.
“Head for Lindorm Mountain,” shouted Bo, but he doubted they could hear him over the roar of the approaching Shadow Creatures, hooves thundering, wings flapping, claws scraping. He just had to hope his friends knew where to go.
Bo ran, a tangle of limbs and panting breath and rocketing heartbeat. He wasn’t sure they could climb up the walls of the crater quickly enough. They were shallow but . . .
“What if we—” yelled Selene, but then she let out a bloodcurdling scream, and there was a loud crash. Bo watched in horror as Selene disappeared, swallowed by the earth.
“Selene?” Bo ran to where she had been only moments ago. “She just . . .” There was another cracking, crashing sound and Bo felt the ground give out beneath him as suddenly he was falling, tumbling down, down, down through a hole and into the Dark below.
The True Histories of Ulv, Vol. IV
The Mystery of Lindorm Mountain
Listen. You might look at that gentleman over there and say, “Gosh! Isn’t he a tall fellow?” or you might wander into the forest and say, “Golly! Isn’t that tree mighty tall?” but it’s not until you stand at the base of Lindorm Mountain that you understand the true meaning of the word “tall.” Because it is gigantuous.
And do you know how the mountain came to be? According to Korahku legend, it was formed when Kragona, the queen of the kroklops, curled up for a sleep and never woke up.
Inside the mountain is a labyrinth of tunnels, a remnant of when Lindorm was mined for precious minerals and jewels. And if you happen to find yourself wandering these tunnels, you may solve one of Ulv’s greatest mysteries.
You see, even on a still day the winds of Lindorm Mountain can be heard howling. But is it really the wind or something else? According to Korahku legend, just before she took her sleep, Queen Kragona had swallowed a wolf, trapping the poor creature in her belly forever.
Alas, none of the adventurous souls brave enough to enter the labyrinth in search of the wolf has returned to answer the mystery. Because as tall as the mountain is—monstrously, outrageously tall—it is nothing compared to how twisty and tricky those tunnels are. You see, once you have entered the belly of the mountain, the chances of finding your way out again are . . .
Zero.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Bo landed heavily on the cold, damp earth.
It was Dark. He sprang up, wobbly on his feet because he couldn’t see a thing. The Korahku had confiscated his rucksack filled with candles and matches—what would he do now? He held his hands out in front, the cold, wet air caressing his skin. He couldn’t see where the others had landed—if they had fallen too.
“Nix!” he called, and the fox whimpered beside him, gently nuzzling his arm, assuring Bo he was okay. There was another crash and Tam groaned somewhere nearby as she landed. At least, Bo hoped it was Tam . . .
“Tam? Where are you? What happened?”
“Fell,” said Tam, voice rough. Where was Selene?
“Fell where?” Bo looked up, but there was no Light from the surface to show from where they’d fallen. The hole had closed, trapping them inside whatever this place was. His heart thudded in his ears. There could be Shadow Creatures all around them, right this second, waiting to pounce. Now that he had thought it, Bo could feel the creatures creeping toward him. He trembled, heart racing.
Bo heard a strange scritch scratch nearing him—he held back a cry. Who was it? What was it?
All at once a small orb of Light bobbed in the air. Bo’s breath hitched—was it Mads? But his crystal pendant wasn’t burning. The orb grew bigger and bigger until the whole cave was awash with Light, and Bo finally saw that the orb was attached to Selene’s hand as she approached, scritch scratch, scritch scratch, scritch scratch over the rocky ground.
She grinned, shoulders jiggling with giddy excitement. “I just thought how great it would be to have a Light and then—zap!—there it was,” she said. She gazed up at the Light in awe. “I think . . . I think perhaps magic really is good sometimes. And maybe I don’t mind having it.”
“Can your magic tell us where we are?” said Bo.
“We have fallen into the tunnels below Lindorm Mountain,” said Tam as she stood and looked around. They were in a large cave, water dripping down slime-covered wa
lls, boulders scattered here and there, and pointed rock formations on the ground and on parts of the ceiling, too.
“Well, that’s good,” said Selene. “We’re right where we needed to be. Sort of.”
They each looked around the cave—those pointed rock formations made it seem as if the cave had teeth. Like the kroklops had been turned to stone. Bo hugged his arms around himself; he was still shaking, despite his warm cloak.
“So how do we find the wolf’s cage?” asked Selene. She pointed at the numerous tunnels branching off from the cave. “There’s no telling where they lead. This mountain is gigantuous and these tunnels are a maze—we’re more likely to wander lost for the rest of our lives than find the wolf. It would be like trying to find a lillepieni in a valvstrompstak!”
Despite Selene’s magical orb, Bo felt as though the Dark was pressing in around him. Any of the surrounding shadows could be a Shadow Creature waiting to pounce—they weren’t even afraid of the Light anymore! Bo looked to Tam, hoping the Korahku had the answer. But all she had was a shrug.
“The girl might be right,” she said.
“The girl?” said Selene, rolling her eyes. “You mean the girl who has saved your life countless times now?” Her orb of Light was strobing brightly. “Of course I’m right. Who out of us four has read the most scrolls in the Great Nev’en Library?”
Tam ducked her head. “Ah well. All we can do is walk and hope to find our way to the wolf. Unless there is a map of the Lindorm Mountain tunnels in the Great Nev’en Library that you have memorized?”
Bo’s thigh began to pulse with heat. What on Ulv?
Selene poked out her tongue. “All I know is people who wander beneath this mountain never come out again,” she said. And then she grinned. “But maybe that’s because they never had a friend with magic.”
Tam chuckled. “Perhaps.”
Bo shoved his hand into his pocket and rubbed his fingers over the three keys. They were warm! He pulled them out; they were pulsing with heat and Light. It was just like the crystal pendant around his neck, glowing each time Mads’s ghost was near. Did that mean the keys were trying to tell him something too?
“Maybe we’ll hear the wolf,” said Selene. The orb cast an eerie glow across her face. “Or he can hear us.” She howled loudly, the sound echoing off the walls.
Bo held his breath, almost expecting to hear a return call. There was nothing but silence save for the steady drip, drip, drip of water and their ragged breathing.
“You are a smart girl,” said Tam with a click of her beak. “Please tell me you did not think that would work.”
Selene puckered her lips sourly. “Well, do you have a better idea?”
“I do,” said Bo, holding out the three keys for the others to see. The keys were pulsing, warm and glowing in his palm. “I think it’s magic,” he said as Selene pressed close, almost with her nose in Bo’s hand. “I think the closer we get to the cage, the warmer they glow. What do you think?”
“Well, we can’t stand here forever, so I think it’s as good an idea as any,” said Selene. “Which tunnel, Bo?”
He stood in front of the first tunnel, but the keys did not change. He moved to the second; it had no effect on the keys either and Bo’s shoulders slumped. Perhaps he had been wrong. He moved to the third, holding his breath. The keys pulsed, bright blue and hot against his palm. He was right! The keys would lead them to the wolf!
“This one! It’s this one!”
“Let’s go,” said Selene.
“Stay close,” said Tam. She placed a hand on Bo’s shoulder before she made to lead them into the chosen tunnel. She took two steps before Selene cleared her throat loudly. Tam stopped, turning with a furrowed brow. At the sight of Selene’s tapping foot and pursed lips, Tam tilted her head.
Selene cleared her throat again and muttered under her breath, “The most scrolls in the Great Nev’en Library.”
Tam bowed grandly and then motioned for Selene to lead the way. “After you,” she said.
With a smile, Selene marched toward the tunnel entrance. “I like you, Tam. You’re a quick learner.” Light bounced off the walls as she hurried ahead. “Follow me and don’t get lost.”
“If the Queen of Ulv doesn’t make her head guard, then she’s not a very smart queen,” said Bo.
Tam chuckled as she let Bo walk in front, Nix keeping pace just ahead of them both. Though the moment felt strangely light, considering all they had been through, the one thought Bo could not untangle from his mind was how Tam must be feeling after seeing her father again—the father who had sentenced her to death. He knew what it was like to be rejected by a parent. He understood the grinding, blazing, pulsing anger.
“I’m sorry your fa—ah, the King of Korak didn’t forgive you,” he said. “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. You’re the best fighter I know. And the bravest. He’s such a trollhead! It must make your blood boil. After we free the Stars, we can go back and you can teach him a lesson.”
Bo heard Tam sigh, but the ground was too uneven to risk a glance over his shoulder while trying to keep up with Selene.
Tam didn’t answer for a long time, so Bo guessed she didn’t want to talk about it; he understood why—Bo didn’t even know why his mother had abandoned him, and it still made him so mad he thought he would burst.
But then Tam did speak. “Forgiveness is a tricky thing,” she said, and Bo jumped at the sound.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Well, do you think we would be here today if the Shadow Witch had been able to forgive the Moon for casting her out of the heavens?”
Bo couldn’t help the stirring of anger that bubbled, sour and rotten, in his stomach when he thought of the Moon. “Sister Vela told me that story,” he said. “I thought the Moon was very mean.”
“The Moon was powerful, especially when she was full. But she changed her mood as quickly as she changed her shape. So, yes, she could be mean but she could also be gracious.”
Bo shook his head. “Wait. You’ve seen the Moon? I thought she vanished with the Stars centuries ago. How old are you?”
Tam chuckled. “Korahku do not age like Irin. I am young for Korahku but old for Irin.”
“So, fifty?”
“More like seven hundred and fifty.”
Bo almost fell face-first into the rocks. “Seven hundred and fifty?”
“But I do not look a day older than four hundred,” said Tam.
“How long do Korahku live for?”
“Many centuries. They say we were born when an Ulvian prince fell in love with a shape-shifting Elfvor. He was not allowed to love her, of course—the Ancient Ulvians and the Elfvor were enemies—but she would come to his window every day in her bird form and sing to him until one day he asked her to carry him away so they could be together forever. Elfvor are immortal, so that is where we get our long life from.”
Bo sucked on the inside of his cheek as he thought. “So really,” he said, “you’re just as young as me. In Korahku years, I mean. Can I call you ‘little Korahku’?”
Tam dug her hand gently into Bo’s back. “Keep walking, little Irin.”
Bo watched Selene’s deft footwork as she bounced lightly over the rocky ground, and he tried to match her graceful gait. He stumbled.
“But you are right: what the Moon did was cold-hearted,” said Tam after they had walked in silence for a while, “and Freja could not forgive her for it. Mathias could not either. So they wanted revenge. That is why Freja went to war with the heavens, why she bewitched the wolves to try to eat the Sun, the Stars, and the Moon. And even when the Stars were gone and the Moon had vanished, Freja’s angry heart fed on the Dark, and her hatred grew.” Tam sighed deeply. “Should she have forgiven the Moon, do you think?”
Bo looked down at his clenched fists: What would he do when Mads returned for good? Bo no longer wanted everything back to the way it had been, being lied to, bullied, and taken for granted. Did Mads deserve to be forgi
ven?
And what about his mother? She had abandoned him! Just like the Moon! Bo had learned that no matter what you did, you could never force someone to want you, to love you, if they just didn’t have it in them. And it hurt so much to try and try and try and always fail. But did that mean he should hate her, the way Freja hated the Moon? Could he forgive her?
Tam nodded at Bo’s troubled expression. “See, little Irin? That is what I mean: forgiveness is a tricky thing. It is a wonderful gift, to forgive or to be forgiven. But it must be earned and it cannot be forced. Very, very tricky.”
Selene paused where the tunnel branched into two. She held out her orb and peered down each possible direction. Bo pulled out his keys; they glowed blue in his palm when he moved toward the tunnel on the left. “Left,” he said.
Nix trotted ahead, barking over his shoulder for the others to follow.
“You heard the fox,” said Bo.
“What do you think will happen if the Shadow Witch rises?” asked Selene. She was not walking quite as far ahead now. Instead, she kept her pace slow, turning to look over her shoulder every few steps. “Will she come for the Stars? Strange we haven’t seen any sign of her yet.”
Bo frowned. Selene was right, but maybe they just didn’t know what signs to look for.
“There is no doubt she will come for the Stars,” said Tam. “Her hatred consumes her; all she can think about is death and destruction. You see, forgiveness is tricky but letting go of anger, once you have allowed it into your heart, is even trickier.”
Bo shivered as he turned Tam’s words over in his mind. They made sense to him but . . . the anger was so strong! It wrapped him tightly like the vines in the Labyrinth of Liars and he didn’t know how to break free.
The magical orb in Selene’s hand sparked and hummed. “Keep up, you two,” she called over her shoulder.
“Daughter of the King of Korak and here I am taking orders from a child,” said Tam under her breath.
They came across several more forks in the tunnel, each time allowing the glowing keys to choose the way. They were getting hotter and hotter.
The Boy, the Wolf, and the Stars Page 21