by Sanders, Dan
They stopped at a grove of crumpled, tightly knit trees. Her guide paused, looked around as though searching for something, removed his Pandrien Pipes from his transparent tunic and began playing. Emily thought something must be wrong with his pipes as she couldn’t hear any sound, even with her heightened hearing. For some time the silver-haired Agramond played as though making the most exquisite music, his head rising and falling to invisible notes, his body bobbing in the air. Emily hopped backwards as the grass beneath her suddenly parted to reveal an ancient wooden door. Her guide placed his thin white hand on the door and whispered. The door silently slid open.
The guide buzzed into the hole. Rather than fumble down the ladder, Emily pumped her legs and hopped straight into the opening, only to find the drop much deeper than she thought. She tumbled and bounced on dirt walls until she hit a sandy floor.
Emily rubbed her crooked ears and looked around the dim room. She must be standing near the bottom of Thilameth. She scratched the dirt and thought the sky to Annwyn must be only a paw length beneath her. She hopped as gently as she could through the corridors.
They eventually entered a cave lit by the same clear crystal walls used in the other Thilameth buildings. An intricately carved crystal dais stood in the middle of the room, its golden leaves cradling an unseen object. Emily was surprised to see a man standing to attention next to the dais. As Emily approached the centre of the room, she noticed the man guarding the bowl was no ordinary Annwynian. He was made entirely of a beautiful solid-blue crystal that dimly reflected the light generated by the walls. He had no clothing. As tall as Daimon, his head almost touched the low ceiling. His face and body were in perfect proportions, rounded, smooth, hairless, almost carved. His arms rested gently by his sides. His large black saucer eyes looked into the space directly ahead. Emily bounced in front of his face and waved her paws. He didn’t recognise her presence.
The only other door leading into the room opened. The Queen entered, her hair and gold robes wafting daintily beneath her feet, her face serious. Emily wondered if she had considered Emily’s request for the Agramond to help her fight Torek and Gorgos.
“I am glad you could make it dear,” the Queen tinkled at Emily. “Sorry about the secrecy, but my aide and I are the only ones on Annwyn who know the whereabouts of this place. I have been sworn to secrecy by Avira the Air Elemental herself.”
“I understand, Your Majesty,” Emily said. Her nose twitched nervously.
“He is beautiful, isn’t he?” Queen Arvani said, running her fingers over the back of the guard’s shoulders.
“Who is he?” Emily said, resisting the urge to join the Queen.
“He is the Bardi, made by a Melder of Eostra in the early days of the Lore. They are few in number. He was called as the guardian of Eostra’s Egg.
“Has he a name?” Emily asked.
“Of course.” The Queen gave a tinkling laugh. “Zane Siok. Although speech is a rare treat.”
“How old is he?”
He turned his head and for the first time his black crystal eyes looked down impassively at Emily. He blinked once before returning his gaze to the space ahead.
The Queen answered for him. “Nobody knows for sure, but Magas says he is nearly two millennia, crafted at the hand of Melder Raewyn Tillposs.”
He looks new, Emily thought before asking, “What happens now?” She reached up to the dais. “Is the Egg in there?”
The Queen grabbed her paws and said, “You must not touch Eostra’s Egg until the appointed time. To do so now would waken other powers and elements you are not ready to control.”
“How do I carry it to Havendel?”
“The Bardi are the only ones who can touch the Egg without awakening its power,” said the Queen. “Zane is made from the rarest crystal on the Twin Worlds. He is impervious to any power wielded by the Lore on Annwyn. He has no power of his own, so is unable to harm others directly, even in your defence. Zane will carry the egg until the appointed time. Remember he was specially created as the protector of the Egg, and as such will not intervene, or protect you from any trials you may face.”
Emily withdrew her paw from the Queen’s hand, stood on her hind legs and peered into the bowl of gold crystal leaves. A large multi-coloured crystal, in the shape of an egg, hovered in the dish. As Emily’s eyes adjusted to the flashes of light, she saw movement inside the Egg, but was unable to make out what gave the egg its shimmering effect.
The Queen saw Emily’s puzzlement and said, “Eostra’s Egg is the controlling crystal of the four elements in their raw form. As you may know, the elements are always struggling for domination, for their own power to be heard and felt. What you see inside the Egg is the struggling of the elements, much like what happens in the world around us.” The Queen waved her silky arm around the crystalline cave.
Emily gazed longer into the Egg and saw lightning flashes, fluffy clouds, flames and wild water swirling madly inside the perfect oval shape. She thought it the most beautiful object she had ever seen.
“What should I do with it? What is its purpose?”
The Queen thought for a moment. “All I can say is that the Twin Worlds have been out of balance since the tear in the energy lattices. The Dark One, Gorgos, has been unbinding what was bound by the original Elementals. The Elementals, including Eostra, are losing their power as His power grows. You and the Circle of Six must use the Egg and the other Artefacts of Harmony and restore the balance. You must heal that which had been blackened and introduce the cycle of rebirth into the Twin Worlds.”
“But Queen Avani, I am a simple animal, and although I bear the mark, I don’t have the power to do what has been asked.”
The Queen’s singsong voice echoed in Emily’s head for a long while afterwards. “Eama, you are special, and have been since birth. You must know that. At the appointed time, when you know all there is to know, and when all is in place, you will wield the pure healing power of the elements. You must send the voice of doubt away and act as though you have been born to the greatness asked of you.”
Emily looked away. The Queen lifted the young rabbit’s muzzle and tenderly stroked her whiskers. Emily tried to smile but found the weight of her task drained her of a response.
“Eama, you will be tested now. When all seems lost, look inside your mind and trust yourself. Remember the Circle, and you will find your way back. The Circle, Eama.”
Emily was about to ask what the Queen meant when the ancient Agramond laid her crystal sceptre between Emily’s ears. The room spun. Emily felt herself falling to the floor before the room went black.
****
When Emily woke her head ached. It was dark. She rubbed her head and felt feathers. She jumped up and squinted at her paw. Through the dim sunrise light she saw a red wing. Wing? Emily tried to yell and only squawked. She stepped backwards in shock and tripped over a bundle of feathers behind her.
“Hey watch it, Em,” a tiny voice squawked.
Emily spun around and saw her little sister Pippin.
“Pippin, is that you?” Emily’s head was reeling.
“Of course it is, silly, who else would be in the nest with you?”
Emily saw the criss-crossed sticks of the nest walls surround her. It dawned on her that she was in her old home. It must be a dream. She must get back to Annwyn to save her friends and fulfil the prophecy. She reached up and felt for her long rabbit ears. Nothing but smooth red feathers.
Emily yelled into the forest night, “Lupi, Rupurt, where are you?”
“What are you talking about Emily? Please be quiet. Papa will be mad.”
Could she really be home? That would mean Noogie was here. Emily hopped out of the nest and onto the branch. Without her intention her claws bit into the bark. It felt so real. The red of the sky cut like a knife against the horizon. Emily sniffed the air and realised she had a beak. She clacked her black beak open and closed. She flapped her wings. They felt real. Only one way to see if this was real!
She pumped her wings to feel them again, then looked over the branch into the darkness below. She felt a little scared, much as Pippin did not so long ago when Emily taught her to fly. Emily took a deep breath and jumped. She stuck her beak skywards and pumped feverishly. She headed straight for the ground, but then remembered she had to use the rear wing-feathers to control her loft. She steadied and felt her little feathered body rise above the leafy canopy of the trees. The morning smell of sap-oil and bark filled her with joy. She stretched her wings, and instinctively rode a warm air-stream to the clouds. She hung in her silent sanctuary, free from cares. Suddenly Noogie was beside her, lifting on an air current and smiling.
“Noogs, oh Noogs, it’s you.”
The reddy-brown bird, her life-friend, looked warmly at Emily. It was her, Emily thought. Was Annwyn all a dream? What about Daimon, and Rupurt, and Magas, and Aldrick, and Lupi, and Sabina, and Bevan and Kato? One big dream? She shook her beak in disbelief.
“Noogie, do you remember the cave and Daimon? Do you remember Annwyn?”
“What are you talking about? Are you feeling unwell? We have the Malmour festival today. You’re just nervous.”
“What about Magas?” she squealed into the fresh morning air.
Noogie looked concerned. “Did you fall from the nest? We should head back and eat before the big day.”
Emily shook her head. Their heads rocked in rhythm to the stop-start beating of their wings.
She had been here before; this very same spot. She remembered what happened last time she was in this position with Noogie. She had persuaded Noogie to follow her to the human settlement. Emily’s head ached from confusion. She checked her body. She was still a bird. Her vision blurred at the edges. She followed Noogie back to the nest. Her senses seemed dulled compared to what she had on Annwyn. A world like Annwyn with power in the land, in the crystals, in the elements couldn’t be true. Annwyn wasn’t true. She could relax and be a bird. Emily and Noogie frolicked together in the greying skies.
Then Emily was standing on the sandy shores of the marshlands, hundreds of her brood hovering everywhere. Emily was confused. How did she get here? She saw Mama and Papa, Pippin and Noogie, talking together in a circle. They turned and looked at Emily. Was it a worried look? She was home. It was all a scary but beautiful dream. She didn’t have to lay Eostra’s Egg, to restore balance. In relief, she flew upside down loops. She didn’t have to fight Gorgos. She would have to tell Popere about it though. He might know where she learned those things, to be able dream about them.
The morning passed and activities continued; races between the birds, competitions for the best aerial tricks. Emily watched silently. Nobody seemed to mind. She tried to think about her dream, but it became fuzzy. She found it harder and harder to remember the names of the people. As the day wore on she felt herself becoming thin and dizzy. Suddenly beside her was Zazi, her brood enemy; the one who had picked on her for being different. Wasn’t it good to be different? Somebody had told her that.
“Haven’t you got somewhere to be?” Zazi sniggered.
Somewhere to be. She thought she had somewhere to be. But her dream, like all dreams, was fading. She could hardly remember now. A blue rabbit? Flying people with wings? Strange. Was there a giant eagle? Now, that would be strange.
Emily was back in her nest with her family eating grubs. She thought about the dream again, but it was almost gone. She was glad to be home. No worries. A bird.
From her branch she looked over at the sun’s yellow rays. She loved the way they danced through the trees at sunset. Emily thought she had somewhere to be, but couldn’t remember. A worried feeling crept over her. She shook her beak. She thought she should just enjoy the end of the big day with her friends.
Perhaps Noogie would like to fly with her before returning to night-nest. And she was flying again, out towards the sea.
“I wouldn’t do that,” said Noogie.
“Why?” said Emily.
“You should know better, Em. Cooper hawks and dusk. You’ll be an easy meal.”
Emily thought for a moment, remembering the survival rules of being a bird.
“Emily, are you sick?”
“I am meant to be doing something important, but I cannot remember what it is.”
“Come inside; don’t let your mind run in circles.”
“Circles?” Were circles important?
Emily was in her nest again, next to big Papa Bijou.
“Papa.”
“Yes Eama,” Papa said.
“Eama; that name means something,” Emily said.
“It’s your name. Names are important.”
“Yes, that’s it. Did I tell you about my dream? There were many names in my dream Papa.”
“Tell me about your dream,” said Papa.
“I can’t quite remember now. It’s all blurry,” she said.
“That’s what happens with dreams,” Papa comforted.
“You flew great circles in the festival today,” Pippin called out from the darkness in the nest.
“Circles?” Emily thought about circles. She had to remember Circles.
Emily didn’t want to remember circles or any dream she had. She was happy to be home. It was as though she had been on a long trip and returned home to the comfort, the warm and the familiar. She was glad to be home. She wouldn’t go on any long trip again; not her.
The sun had nearly said good night and Emily was suddenly swooping among the branches and tree trunks. She paused at a tree and looked into the trunk. She saw the coloured face of her sister Pippin carved into a knot of the old wood. She bobbed closer to the trunk and stared. The face changed to Papa Bijou, his proud red feathered mane standing tall, with a look of sympathy in his black eyes. The face swirled again and became the face of Noogie staring blankly. Emily shook her beak. Noogie had warned her to stay inside the nest at night. “You will become the meal,” she would say. Then why was Emily out flying circles in the night? ‘Circles. Yes, circles.’ She shook her beak again and wobbled on a gust of falling wind.
That was it, the Circle… Something about Six… The Circle of Six… Emily remembered her dream of the Twin Worlds. She had to save the Twin Worlds. That was it, the Circle of Six, Daimon, Lupi, Sabina, Bevan and Kato. She had to get back and save the world. But she loved her own world. She could let her quest go and be happy here on Earth. After all she was just a bird. Somebody else would do it. Five would be enough.
Emily hovered on the swirling night winds. The sounds of crickets and birds clawed at her; her mind was troubled, her vision not quite clear.
She was flying over the ocean now, the silver of the moon reflected off the glassy blackness. The salt air filled her beak. Emily dived and skimmed at speed just above the water. Splashes of cold smacked her wings and her beak.
She gazed into the watery abyss and saw another world staring back. It was Annwyn. Maybe it wasn’t a dream. But she didn’t have to go back. Earth was her real home. How would she go back anyway? It wasn’t possible. They were all standing there. She saw Bently just below the water, helping her when she was first found dying in the snow; teaching her how to be a rabbit. Magas with his long white beard stood in the water looking up at her, expressionless. Lupi, with no wings, had tears in her eyes; Sabina played with the Seltan on her neck, her eyes searching; Daimon sang a voiceless song as his face wobbled in the water. Kato smiled a knowing smile, her tail swishing behind. Bevan stood tall with his hands on his hips and his sword on his back. And then Aldrick, his round belly protruding, shimmered a scowl in the water. It was real. They were beckoning her to come back. It was so unfair. She had to choose. She could stay here on comfortable Earth.
Emily looked back into the night, towards her Earth-bird family. A tear stuck in her eye. She could stay here on Earth but she knew that wasn’t right. She knew what she had to do. Slowly, she wanted to follow her new path. She loved her new world. Only now she truly felt a part of the Twin Worlds. She couldn’t go backwar
ds in time now that she had been forwards in time. Her heart smiled as a tear ran down her little red bird-face.
Emily pumped her tiny wings as hard as she could, straight up into the inky moonlit sky. If the animals on the sandy shore looked closely, they would have seen a black shadow climb slowly and stop near the top of the single, white Earth-moon. She was a dark speck, a single flaw in the round heavenly perfection. For a moment Emily paused, looked back at the distant land, and contemplated her birth home. She took her biggest breath, and then dived, rushing, as fast as her wings could carry her. Beak first, she crashed into the slapping water of the Earthly Aegean Sea.
Chapter 35
Korak Prison
KORAK,
ANNWYN
When Bevan first woke the right side of his head thumped, as though somebody had jammed a rod of Jalpari stone through his ear. He wouldn’t have been surprised. The Korakian assassins were notoriously cruel. Holding his ear, he drew in a deep breath to clear his head and gagged on the stench of rotting flesh-water. As his eyes cleared and the wool that had filled his mind eased, he had a sinking feeling that they had been captured. His bleary eyes tried to make out the surroundings.
They were deep underground in some rotting animal cage— he hoped it was animal. The only light in the room pulsed from the purple crystal bars of their cell. There were three other empty cages.
In a corner of his cell he saw Sabina. Hunched over in her ochre tunic and tied silver hair, she cradled Daimon’s head in her arms. She rocked back and forth humming a sad tune. At first he thought he was dreaming about her again.
Dreams had filled his mind. Being dragged along the ground by horses, dust filling his mouth; hanging by his arms from a tree while being beaten; never-ending laughter, of derision and contempt; and the soft face of the girl looking down on him. His mind started to clear and the dreams faded. He brushed his hands along his back and winced at the barely dried welts. He hadn’t been dreaming; they had been torturing him for their pleasure while he was drugged.