“I expected such things would happen,” Adom said to her. “I even heard some of it in the mountain when Lindsay mentioned a possession. No one expected you to be perfect. I would be surprised if everything had gone smoothly thus far. But I am proud of you and of what you have accomplished on your way.”
“We all are,” Emilia said. Carrie jumped. She had not heard the princess’ approach. The princess’ ability to move so silently unnerved her.
“You scared me,” Carrie said. Her face felt hot, and she knew she was blushing horribly.
“I am sorry. I forget you cannot hear as well as the people from this world,” Emilia said. “I could not help but overhear your conversation with Adom. You and your friends have come so far. Despite our little disagreement, I feel that you, Rebecca, and Lindsay are my friends. It takes someone with a kind and brave heart to rescue a total stranger like you did me. For this I remain in your debt. I still regret that I was dishonest with you, and I hope you understand why I did what I did. But please know that I am being truthful when I say I believe you and your friends have the power to stop my father and right the wrongs he has committed against this world.” Emilia’s face was flushed, and she looked at Carrie with an almost hungry look in her eyes.
“Thank you, Emilia,” Carrie said. “You don’t have to apologize anymore. I believe you.”
Emilia gave her a little bow with her head. “It pleases me to know that things are right between us once more.” She turned and went to walk with Rebecca and Lindsay, who were a short way away.
“I believe her,” Carrie said to Adom. “But something still seems weird about her. Do you think it’s because she’s a dybbuk?”
Adom cocked his head to one side as if he were considering her question. “I never knew Princess Emilia personally,” he began. “It is possible that you are correct in your assessment. Dybbuks are known to be wild in their emotions. She seems to have a strong desire for revenge against her father, and this could contribute to her behaviour. He has wronged her most severely.”
Carrie mulled this over a moment. “I suppose that does make sense,” she replied. She turned once more to Adom. “You know,” she said to him, “I missed you quite a bit.”
The little fox appeared to be smiling. His face broke into a wide, toothy grin. “You did? Truly?” he asked.
Carrie nodded. “Mm-hmm,” she answered. “So tell me, how much farther do we have to walk? It seems like we’ve been going for hours. My feet are killing me.”
“I do believe that we are nearing our destination,” Adom informed her. “It will not be much longer. We are leaving the forest presently.”
Fear descended upon Carrie in an icy grip. A large knot had formed in the pit of her stomach. Not much longer? She had not expected things to go as quickly as they had. She saw they were passing some caves not too far in the distance and had to fight the urge to run into one of them and hide. She looked around with interest as she saw the trees thin. She and her friends broke through the tree line and found themselves approaching the precipice of a large cliff. As if through a fog, she heard Emilia’s voice calling for her attention. She turned and looked in her direction.
“There,” Emilia called. “The Mountain of Darkness is directly ahead of us.”
Carrie forced herself to look. Looming above her, black against the starless sky, was their destination. Its ruthless, sharp crags stood out, piercing the night. The castle stood atop the tallest peak; a lone light illuminated where one of the windows broke its walls. Carrie could see the tall, forbidding walls that surrounded Asmodeus’ home like a fortress. Its many towers rose from behind the walls and jutted tall and proud into the sky. Everything about their destination said power and danger. Carrie could not imagine anyone calling such a dark place home.
She stood trembling in fear. She was not ready for this. Who was she kidding? She was no hero. She was just a kid. Just a kid with no real idea as to what she was going to do with her life. She was no champion, no fighter, and had no protection or weapons to defend herself with. She stood there transfixed, staring up at the castle atop the mountain as if at any second it was going to come alive and swallow her whole. She broke out into a cold sweat and stood shaking. She wanted nothing more than to be back home with her parents, snuggled up with her dog. It wasn’t too late to turn back, was it?
“Oh Lord,” Lindsay breathed. She sounded terrified.
The sound brought Carrie out of her silence. She turned and cautiously met Adom’s eyes. “We have to go in there?” she asked. It came out in a squeak.
Adom nodded, his face full of warmth and encouragement. “I will be with you the rest of the way,” he reassured her. “I promise.”
Carrie turned back to look once more at the castle. Somehow, the fox’s encouragement made her feel better. “Okay,” she said. “Now how do we get in?”
Rebecca had been quiet up to this point. “Well,” she said quietly, as if she were scared to talk any louder than a whisper because Asmodeus could hear them from atop the mountain. “We don’t have the shamir, so we can’t tunnel in. I think trying the door or windows may be too risky. I don’t know about you, but I’m not one for climbing mountains. I know Lindsay’s definitely no good at it.”
Lindsay playfully swatted her friend’s arm. “That’s mean, Becca!” She laughed. The weak joke did much to lighten the mood of the group. Lindsay looked around as if she were trying to come up with a plan. “Hey,” she said. “There’s a town down there.”
Carrie walked over to the edge of the cliff. Even in the dark, she could just make out small dwellings laid out in neat little rows, much smaller than the homes she was used to seeing at home. She wondered what the people who lived there would think of her house with more bathrooms than family members. Even from where she stood, she was certain she could fit two of those houses in her rec-room. She asked herself what kind of people would willingly live in the shadow of Asmodeus’ mountain. Were they willing inhabitants at all?
“Maybe we could find a way in from above?” Rebecca asked, breaking Carrie out of her musings.
“You mean fly?” Carrie asked dubiously. “How the hell can we do that?”
The three girls sat down on the ground, taking the opportunity to rest their weary feet. Adom and Emilia soon joined them.
“I, myself, do not possess the ability of flight,” Emilia admitted wistfully. “Some dybbuks do, but I have never mastered it.”
“As a fox,” Adom said, “I cannot either…” his voice trailed off. “But I may know some beings who would be willing to help us.” His whiskers quivered in excitement. He stood and began pacing in restless circles, muttering to himself as he formed a plan.
“What is the fox doing?” Emilia asked apprehensively. “Has he gone mad?”
“I think he may have an idea,” Carrie said. The girls watched him intently, waiting impatiently to be let in on his plan. They were getting tired just watching him pace with tail twitching, ears turning this way and that as he worked his way through a problem only he could see. Finally, he stopped mid-stride and turned to look at them.
“Rebecca is correct,” he said to them. “The only logical way to enter the castle is from above. But as we cannot fly, we need to enlist some aid in getting us to our point of entry. I have some friends who owe me a favour. I am sure they will help us achieve our goals.”
“Who?” Carrie asked.
“C’mon! Please tell us,” Lindsay said.
“I shall ask the golden eagles,” Adom said. His black eyes gleamed with pleasure. “They are sufficiently large enough to carry us to our destination.”
Emilia sat fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. She did not seem to be too happy with this arrangement. “They will not help me,” she said quietly. “The golden eagles would rather die than fly with a dybbuk atop their back.”
“I am sure the golden eagles will make an exception once I have explained the circumstances to them,” Adom assured her. “They would not let pride g
et in the way of the chance to stop Asmodeus.”
Emilia looked at Adom hopefully. “Do you really believe that?” she asked. Carrie had never before seen anyone with such a strong desire for acceptance. It made her feel even worse about her previous mistrust toward the princess.
“I assure you, Princess,” Adom said. “I will personally see to it that the golden eagles will carry you as willingly as they will Carrie, her friends, and me.”
With that promise made, Adom turned and scampered off into the distance, leaving all four girls waiting impatiently for his return.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ha Ayit ha Zahav
Sitting and waiting for Adom’s return, Lindsay turned to Rebecca. “Tell us about the golden eagles.”
“There are many legends surrounding eagles,” Rebecca said. “It’s written that King Solomon used to fly over his kingdom atop an eagle so large it could easily carry a man. He had eagles carved out of gold to be used as decoration in the temple in Jerusalem. But the story I remember most was about the son of a rabbi in Guadalajara. When he turned eighteen, an enormous eagle flew out of the sky and took him from his home. He found himself deposited on the roof of the palace in Madrid. There, he was appointed the teacher to the Spanish princess and soon became her husband. The eagle returned after he had spent some time with his new bride, and their love for each other was tested. But, as is the case in most fairy tales, their love was strong, and the princess found her way back to her husband, and they were reunited and lived happily ever after.”
“I know this story as well,” Emilia said. “It is told that the boy languished without his bride and was on the brink of death when she found him again. It was her love that saved his life.” As she spoke, Rebecca could see a sadness in her eyes.
“You miss him,” Rebecca said quietly.
“Who?” Emilia asked.
“The guy you’re in love with,” Rebecca stated. “You miss the man your father was trying to keep you from.”
Emilia nodded sadly. “I hope our love is as true as that of the Spanish princess. Stories such as this give me hope that we can be together once more.”
“Tell me about growing up with your dad,” Rebecca said. “I want to understand how someone can be so cruel to his child.”
“I do not think my father believes his actions to be cruel,” Emilia told her. “He acts out of the notion that all he does is for my own good. He does not believe that I think before I act. He does not believe that I understand what love truly is. He thinks I am too young to know what I am doing and claims that he knows what is best for me. His punishment, in his mind, is a just one, and he believes I will come around to his way of thinking. I do not believe he meant for me to get hurt. In his own way, he loves me. I am sure of that. I know in my heart that he acts out of love for me. But he does not know the proper way to show it.”
“If he loves you,” Lindsay asked, “why did he steal the violin’s strings? Doesn’t he realize that you will die when this world is destroyed? He’s killing you along with everyone else.”
“He knows this,” Emilia agreed. “But I am sure that somehow he feels it is for the best. This action I do not fully understand. I hope that when we enter his castle I can somehow reason with him—make him see the error of his ways. I know he did not listen to me before now, but maybe… My father is a stubborn man. I have so many happy memories with him. I cannot believe he would wantonly throw away his own life, the life of his people, his children…” Her voice broke on the last word, and she hung her head and cried. She sat like that for several moments, tears trailing down her cheek.
Carrie sat in uncomfortable silence, watching Emilia cry. She inched closer to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “We’ll do our best to talk to him,” she said. “We’ll help you in any way we can.”
Emilia looked up at Carrie, her eyes red and puffy from crying. “You will?” she asked. She seemed surprised that anyone would want to help her. “After all the lies I told you, you still want to help me?”
“Of course,” Lindsay said, agreeing with Carrie’s promise. “We’re your friends.”
“Thank you,” Emilia said. “That means so much to me. I have never really had many friends. Most tend to shy away from pursuing a true friendship with me because of who my father is.”
“We almost made the same mistake,” Rebecca admitted sheepishly. “I’m glad we didn’t.”
“Me too,” Carrie and Lindsay agreed in unison.
All four girls spent the remainder of their time joking and telling stories of their childhoods. The Asmodeus in Emilia’s stories seemed nothing like the tyrannical dybbuk they feared facing. He seemed like a good man, though possessed by a formidable temper and a harsh notion of how best to punish his children.
As Carrie listened to these stories, she kept finding herself staring off at the castle atop the Mountain of Darkness. She could not reconcile Asmodeus the father with Asmodeus the king who had stolen the strings of the violin.
“We need a plan,” she said to her friends. “We can’t go in there and just expect Asmodeus to hand over the strings. We need to go prepared with an idea. We can’t fight him. I’m sure he’s a heck of a lot stronger than we are. Also, he’s got magic on his side. We need to find a way to outsmart him.”
“You’re right.” Lindsay said. “But how can we do that?”
“Emilia,” Rebecca said suddenly. The redhead turned at the sound of her name and gave Rebecca a quizzical glance. “You could distract your father. Go to him all apologetically and tell him that you’re sorry for all you’ve done against him. While you’re having your little heart-to-heart with him, Carrie, Linds, and I can nab the strings. All we need to know is where they are.”
Carrie vehemently shook her head. “No way,” she said. “It’s much too dangerous for her. Look at how she was punished before. Her dad basically left her to drown out there! And that was over the fact that he didn’t like the guy she wanted to marry! If he found out that she had a hand in him losing the strings, imagine what he would do to her.”
Lindsay and Rebecca mulled this over a moment while Emilia looked at Carrie with an odd look on her face.
“You truly care about what happens to me,” she said.
“Of course we care,” Carrie said. “What kind of people would we be if we didn’t?”
“But I agree with Rebecca’s plan,” Emilia said confidently. “I believe it could work. This may be our only chance. My father would never truly harm me. Trust me about that. I know that is true.”
“Do you know where he keeps the strings?” Rebecca asked. “For this to work, we need to know where they are.”
Emilia nodded. “Yes,” she told them. “He keeps them upon a dais in his throne room. This way, he can keep watch over them at all times. Recently, it has become nearly impossible to remove him from this room. He takes his meals there, sleeps there, takes meetings there…”
“Do you believe you can get him to leave the room?” Carrie asked.
“I believe my escape from the rock upon which you found me will be surprising enough to get him to leave,” Emilia said.
“If you’re sure you won’t get hurt,” Carrie said, eyes full of concern, “and only if you’re sure, we’ll go through with it. I will not be responsible for someone else getting injured, or worse.”
Lindsay sharply turned toward Carrie. “Or worse?” she asked. “You mean…”
Rebecca put a hand on her shoulder. “We knew there was a chance of this when we came, Linds,” she said to the blonde. “But if my plan works, we won’t have anything to worry about. I promise.”
Lindsay looked less than convinced about that. She cocked her head to the side and seemed to be listening to something. “Do you hear that?” she asked.
Emilia rose quickly to her feet and pointed at into the distance. “Look!” she cried.
“Whoa!” Carrie scrambled upright to stand beside the princess. In the dark sky, four shapes were quickly
coming toward them. Carrie could just make out their enormous wings pumping against the air, quickly eating up the distance as they flew directly at them. As they came closer, she could see their shining golden plumage and razor-sharp talons as they flexed their toes for landing. Soon all four majestic eagles were standing before the girls, scrutinizing them with their yellow eyes. The largest eagle kneeled before Carrie, and Adom lithely jumped off his back. Carrie bowed her head to the eagle in respect as he righted himself.
“Greetings, mortal,” he said in a high screeching voice. “Adom has informed us of your need for our services. We come willing to do your bidding.”
“Th—thank you,” Carrie stammered. Though his manner was polite, the eagle was less than warm toward her.
“We will fly you to Asmodeus’ castle and wait atop the tower for you to return. We will then take you where you need to go,” he said to her in his businesslike manner.
“That would be most appreciated,” Carrie told him. The eagle nodded and bowed his head as if expecting her to climb on top of his back. She looked down to where Adom stood beside her, waiting. He nodded, encouraging her to climb aboard. She pulled herself onto the eagle’s back, positioning herself behind the joints of his shoulders, and watched as Adom leaped up and settled himself directly in front of her. She smiled at him and gave him a friendly scratch behind his ears.
On either side of her, Lindsay and Rebecca followed suit, giving friendly greetings and clambering up onto the backs of the eagles which were to take them to Asmodeus’ castle. Carrie turned to see how Emilia was doing and was disheartened to find that the eagle she was to ride was staunchly refusing to aid the dybbuk princess. No matter how polite and patient Emilia was trying to be, he would not give in.
“I will not allow my back to be defiled by allowing that thing to ride,” he shrieked.
Carrie’s eagle turned to shoot him a sharp glare. “I will not allow our world to suffer through your refusal to follow through with our side of the agreement we have made with Adom,” he screeched back. “You will put aside your petty feelings and do as we promised.”
The Song of Hadariah: Dybbuk Scrolls Trilogy: Book 1 (Dybbuk Scrolls Trillogy) Page 14