The Song of Hadariah: Dybbuk Scrolls Trilogy: Book 1 (Dybbuk Scrolls Trillogy)

by Alisse Lee Goldenberg

  Lindsay stopped walking and reached down to rub her thigh. Every part of her body was tired and aching, and she had a large bruise on her hip from where she had landed earlier. “I think a rest’s a great idea,” she said. “By the way, Carrie, I think Emilia’s referring to the fact that they’re now all in perfectly straight rows.”

  Emilia shook her head. “No,” she said. “I mean, yes, the rows are what I was referring to, but we cannot stop just yet. We can stop when we reach the mountain. We’re almost there.”

  “How much farther?” Lindsay whined.

  “Just beyond the next hill,” Emilia replied with a gesture to some point in the near distance.

  Rebecca peered into the trees, trying to make out any hint of a hill. “I guess we can keep going until then,” she said. “It’ll be great to have a break from all these trees. Why are they growing like this anyway?”

  “We are walking through someone’s orchard,” Emilia replied.

  Now that Emilia mentioned it, the girls could see that the trees surrounding were all of a uniform height, nicely pruned and heavy with ruby-red apples that glinted in their flashlights’ beams.

  “Where does the farmer live?” Lindsay inquired. “We didn’t pass any farmhouses.”

  “There is a small village past the mountain,” Emilia responded. “He would live there, I imagine.”

  “Maybe we should visit there,” Rebecca suggested. “The people there could give us some help. Maybe some more supplies or something.”

  Carrie nodded in agreement. “I think that sounds like a good idea.”

  “They might have food,” Lindsay added longingly. “A hot meal would be so good right about now.”

  Emilia shook her head. “No,” she said firmly. “You will receive no help there.”

  “Why not?” Lindsay said. “Are they on Asmodeus’ side?”

  “No,” Emilia responded. “No one has ventured outside of their homes since the strings were stolen. The king and queen of this land told all to keep their doors and windows shut and locked. They are not to open them for any reason. All are terrified. They fear that any plea for help and knock on their door may be a dybbuk playing with their minds.”

  “Oh,” Lindsay said. Her face was pale. Carrie knew her friend was remembering her ordeal.

  Together they kept going, stepping carefully over fallen apples and pulling themselves slowly and painfully up the hill Emilia had pointed out. Just over the top of the hill, the girls emerged from the forest into the open night air. Carrie was too tired to lower her pack and pull out her flashlight, and without its aid or the stars above, she found it difficult to see. Rebecca and Lindsay pulled out their flashlights and turned them on. They turned their beams around them, and they saw in front of them, not too far away, a large grey mountain, rough and craggy, rising up to the sky.

  “It’s not golden at all,” Carrie said in confusion.

  “No,” Rebecca said. “It’s not.” She turned to Emilia. “Is this the right mountain?”

  Emilia nodded. “You were not told this story?” she asked Rebecca.

  “No,” Rebecca said. “I wasn’t. I’m sure of it. I don’t think it’s possible to know every single story that could come out of a land as vast as this one.”

  “You are probably right about that,” Emilia said. “I am quite sure that even I do not know everything about my world.”

  “So why is it called the Golden Mountain?” Lindsay asked.

  Emilia smiled. “Like many other things, it is what is on the inside that shows a thing’s true nature.”

  “You mean,” Carrie said, “it’s full of gold?”

  “Yes,” Emilia answered.

  “Can we get inside?” Lindsay asked. “It’s got to have all sorts of fabulous treasures and magical things inside.”

  “It is possible to enter the mountain,” Emilia told her. “It can be opened at midnight of every night when a certain magical word is spoken.”

  “We should go in,” Lindsay said. “We could find so much stuff we could possibly use!”

  “But how can we know when it’s midnight?” Rebecca asked. “It’s always dark here. Always night. It’s impossible.”

  Carrie reached up and touched her neck. “Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” she asked. “What if something lives in the mountain? Something dangerous?”

  “I have never heard any story about anything or anyone living within the Golden Mountain,” Emilia reassured her. “And my people are blessed with the gift of time. I shall know when it is midnight. Until then, we shall rest.”

  Midnight—the witching hour. The group sat and waited in silence, unsure of when the magical moment would arrive. Carrie had never really known what it was about midnight that made her uncomfortable. Neither night nor morning, that hour had many myths about it—the hour where the dead would walk, when goblins and witches would become all-powerful. She sat with her friends, feeling an unearthly chill creep up around them. She shivered and turned to look at the others. Lindsay and Rebecca both sat shaking. She could see goose pimples dotted all along Rebecca’s arms, and she knew her friends felt just as she did. She turned again to look at Emilia and saw the princess sitting calmly, eyes closed. If she felt the chill, she did not show it.

  Emilia’s eyes flew open. “It is time,” she said, standing and turning toward the mountain. She reached up and touched the stone wall before her. She muttered something unintelligible, and to Carrie, Lindsay, and Rebecca’s amazement, the stone wall began to shift. Where there had been no semblance of any sort of opening before, cracks began to appear. The mountain’s face slowly cracked open, and cracks began widening and shifting, the crags and shadows becoming a long entryway offering admittance into the secrets that lay within the Golden Mountain.

  Carrie gasped and tried to peer into the darkness within the mountain but saw nothing inside. She squinted, trying to see beyond the murk. “I don’t see anything,” she admitted to those standing around her.

  “You must enter the mountain to see its treasures,” Emilia explained. “You and your friends should enter the mountain to see what lies within. I will stand guard out here while you explore.” She stood aside, motioning for them to enter.

  Carrie hesitated. “The cave won’t shut behind us?” she asked. She was dubious about letting Emilia remain outside guarding their belongings, but she quickly squashed the feeling, reminding herself that if it weren’t for the princess, Lindsay might have been lost to them forever.

  Emilia shook her head. “Just do not stay inside too long,” she told them.

  Rebecca took Carrie and Lindsay by the hand. “Let’s go.”

  “If you’re sure,” Lindsay said as she followed.

  Together, the trio walked bravely into the inky blackness, leaving Emilia standing outside keeping watch. They crept through the darkness, clutching each other’s hands as if they could will the light to come through sheer determination. As they walked on through the twists and turns within, their eyes adjusted to the dark, and they soon found themselves deep within the heart of the mountain.

  Lindsay let out a small squeal of surprise. “I can’t believe it!” she squeaked.

  They found themselves in a large cavern. They no longer needed to squint in the darkness; the walls of the cavern were adorned with torches flickering with a magical fire. The cavern itself was filled from floor to ceiling with golden coins, chains, and pieces of jewelry. There were statues of solid gold and silver with jewelled eyes, depicting any animal a person could imagine. Some were adorned with pearls, others with wreaths made of flowers perfectly sculpted out of precious and semiprecious stones; the details in these pieces were so intricately crafted that they looked real. Carrie reached out to touch one of the petals, expecting to feel the silky softness of a living flower and was mildly surprised to find the coldness of gold and jewels. Everywhere they looked, their eyesight was assailed with more treasure. They saw diamond seashells glinting in the firelight, suits of armour mad
e of solid gold, and Rebecca found herself transfixed by a sword with a sapphire-encrusted handle. The girls wandered around the cavern examining the treasure, handling the pieces with delight. They had never seen such riches in all their lives or dreams. They tried on pieces of jewelry, laughing and modelling for each other, necks dripping with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, tiaras perched atop their heads. They gleefully brushed knots and burrs out of their hair with golden hairbrushes whose bristles felt soft as silk upon their scalps.

  “Oh my god! This place is amazing,” Rebecca gasped. “I don’t believe all this.”

  “I wonder if we could fit all this into our bags,” Lindsay said as she twirled with a diamond tiara perched atop her head. “I could totally rock this look at school.”

  “I bet two handfuls of this could put me through university and grad school,” Carrie said.

  “If you ever figure out what you want your major to be,” Lindsay giggled.

  “Shut up,” Carrie said, though she was still smiling. She was glad that Lindsay was feeling well enough to poke fun at her. A small clinking noise from one of the piles of treasure caught her attention. “Did you hear that?” she asked, spinning around in the sound’s direction.

  The sound repeated itself, a clinking sound, almost like footsteps among the coins and chains that covered the lower parts of the piles of treasure. All three girls turned in its direction.

  “I definitely heard it,” Lindsay whispered. “What do you think it is?” Her eyes were wide with fear. Rebecca reached out and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

  “Could Emilia have followed us in?” Rebecca asked.

  Carrie carefully looked around. “I don’t think she did,” she said. “I’m pretty sure we would have seen or heard her if she did.”

  Lindsay nodded. “I agree. I’m pretty sure that she would’ve said something to let us know she was here. She told us she was just going to stand guard at the entrance. I don’t think it was her we heard at all.”

  “Then who was it?” Rebecca asked.

  “Maybe it wasn’t a who at all,” Carrie said. “Maybe it was a what.”

  “I think we should head back,” Lindsay said. Her voice was shaky. “I’m a little scared,” she admitted. “I really don’t want another run-in with a dybbuk.”

  “We came in here to find things that would help us on our quest,” Rebecca said. “We should take what we want and go.” She picked up the sword and turned to go. “This could be useful. We have nothing to help us fight, and I highly doubt that Asmodeus is going to just hand over the strings quietly.”

  Carrie nodded. “I agree. We should just go now.”

  “How long do you think we’ve been in here?” Lindsay asked. She looked around nervously.

  Carrie looked at her watch. “I’d say that we’ve been here about a half an hour,” she said. “Why?”

  “Emilia told us not to stay in here for too long,” Lindsay explained. “I was just wondering. That’s all. I really think we should go now. Okay, guys?”

  “Sounds good to me,” Carrie said in agreement. “Rebecca, take the sword. Let’s go.” Carrie turned and led the way back the way they came.

  They walked through the tunnels, becoming increasingly apprehensive as the light grew dimmer. Both Rebecca and Lindsay switched on their flashlights to combat the darkness. The farther they went, the more scared they became. Suddenly, Carrie stopped short and grunted in annoyance as both Lindsay and Rebecca walked into her.

  “Why’d you stop?” Rebecca asked, irritated.

  “We can’t go any farther,” Carrie said. “We have a problem.” She gestured to the space in front of her—their way was blocked by a vast wall of rock.

  Chapter Twenty

  Malkodet

  “Help!” Lindsay cried. “Emilia! Help! We’re trapped in here! Get us out! Heeeeelp! Can you hear us? We need to get out of here! The wall closed! Emilia! Someone! Help us! Please!”

  “I don’t think she can hear you,” Rebecca said. “The wall’s too thick.”

  Lindsay ignored her friend and began pounding on the wall continuously, screaming for help. She stood there beating her hands furiously against the rock until they bled. She had tears streaming down her face. Her friends looked on in horror.

  “I can’t stay here! I can’t! We have to get out!” she cried. She began hyperventilating in her fear. “Please let us out! I can’t be trapped like this! I have to get out of here!”

  Carrie pulled her friend away from the wall. “Calm down, Lindsay, it’s okay.”

  “No! It’s not okay!” Lindsay shrieked. “We’re trapped! We’re trapped, and we’ll never get out of here! Not ever!”

  Carrie rubbed her friend’s back, trying in vain to make her calm down and feel better. “We’ll be fine. We just need to calm down and think of a plan.”

  “Promise?” Lindsay asked, sniffing.

  Carrie nodded. “Of course, I promise,” she said. She prayed she would be proven right. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.

  Lindsay nodded and took a deep breath. “I just don’t like feeling trapped like this,” she said. “It’s like when that dybbuk was in me. I felt all shut-in inside my own mind. I could see through my eyes. I could feel everything that was going on. I just couldn’t control my own body.” She shuddered. “It was horrible. I never ever want to feel like that again. It was such a nightmare.” She went and sat on a nearby rock and wrapped her arms around herself.

  Rebecca approached Lindsay. “We’ll find a way out of this,” she said, smiling. “Don’t worry, just stay calm, okay?”

  “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Carrie said, “but it might help. What did it feel like when the dybbuk took over?”

  “I… I…”

  “It’s okay,” Rebecca said. “We’re here for you. You know that. You don’t have to do this.”

  Lindsay gave them both a wan smile. “I know,” she said. “I want to tell you.” She took a deep breath. “I was resting by Carrie, watching, making sure nothing was sneaking up on us, when all of a sudden I heard this voice. It was like a weird sort of whisper. It was laughing, saying, ‘She’s no longer protected,’ and stuff like that. It came closer to me, and I noticed that the closer it got, the louder it got, and the colder I got. It got to the point where I was freezing. I started to shiver, and I wanted to cry out, to wake you Carrie, but I couldn’t. I had no voice anymore.”

  Lindsay stopped. She looked at her friends, eyes bright with tears. “It was awful. My limbs felt like they were stone. I couldn’t get up to move or to even reach out and shake you so you would wake up. Even the smallest movement was impossible. Then I heard the whispering again. It was so close, and I realized it was coming from me! From inside my own head! I was so scared. It said, ‘I can hear your every thought, girl. You are mine now. My king will thank me for this. I am sure of it! Together we will destroy your little friend there, and my king will be victorious!’ Then you woke up, and all he said to me was horrible things about you guys, about me. He kept trying to make me feel bad about myself, break me down from the inside.

  “The strange thing is,” Lindsay continued, “he had an odd reaction to Emilia.”

  “How?” Rebecca asked.

  “He recognized her and seemed like he was scared of her,” Lindsay answered thoughtfully.

  “Well, let’s get out of here and ask her about that in person,” Rebecca said. She strode purposefully toward the wall. “Maybe we can break our way out of this.” She raised the sapphire sword and took a hard swing at the wall. A hot shower of sparks flew from where the blade made contact with the stone. Carrie and Lindsay yelped and leapt out of the way to avoid getting hit.

  “Warn us next time, okay?” Lindsay asked, highly annoyed.

  Carrie walked over to the wall and examined where Rebecca had struck. There wasn’t a mark. The blade hadn’t even scratched the stone. “At least we established that we can’t break our way through
the stone,” she observed. She sat down on the ground and both her friends joined her. “Something’s bugging me,” she said to them. “Why did the cave shut behind us?” she asked. “Why didn’t Emilia find some way to warn us?”

  “Both good questions,” Rebecca agreed. “Something’s not right here. Not right at all, and I’m getting sick of it. She ran from the giant; she wouldn’t let us explore the caves, yet you found a shamir in one; the dybbuk knew her; that bird warned us about her; and now this. I don’t like this one bit. I feel like we’re being played.”

  A small scuffling noise drew the girls’ attention down the path behind them. All three turned their heads in the direction of the sound, barely daring to breathe.

  “There’s definitely something in here with us,” Lindsay said, face full of fear. “I’m not imagining it.” The sound became louder as it approached them. “What could it be?”

  Rebecca lifted the sword in front of her and positioned herself in front of her friends. “Show yourself!” she cried out. Despite the fact that she was attempting to be brave, the shaking in her voice betrayed how she was truly feeling.

  The noise came closer and closer. All three girls sat in terrified silence. What could it be? Carrie thought. Could it be another witch? A monster of some kind? Her hand reached up to seek the necklace that was no longer there. She felt vulnerable and scared. She knew that trading her necklace had been a mistake. Nothing had gone right at all since it had left her neck.

  Suddenly, a flicker of movement was caught in the beams of the flashlights. Their eyes saw a flash of red. Their breaths caught in their throats as it approached. Lindsay let out a loud sigh of relief as she saw fully what it was that came their way.

  “Adom!” Carrie exclaimed. The fox walked out of the darkness toward where the three girls sat full of relief.

  “What are you doing here?” Lindsay asked. She was still shaking. Despite the fact that Adom was with them, she was still afraid of being trapped inside the mountain.