“It’s all right Zindle.” Annie called to him “Larry will take care of you and we’ll be back soon.” John turned up the burner and the balloon rose more quickly. In moments, they were above the trees. The houses below grew smaller and smaller. Annie pulled on John’s arm. “I think it’s time for the spell.” she told him. John looked at Chloe and she nodded her head in agreement. John took the paper from his pocket again.
Annie wrapped her arms around her brother tight, bracing for what would happen when he said the spell. She looked up into the balloon. It was very pretty with rainbow stripes. Then she closed her eyes tight and listened hard. She wanted to make sure she soaked in every word of the spell while John was saying it.
John took a deep breath and held the most wonderful thought in his mind of when he would get to see his parents again and hug them. He kissed Annie on her forehead and then he began. “I call upon the greatest echoes, bring forth the roaring wind, wind true and swift that only ends when we come to Xi’an, China, to the place where the terracotta soldiers stand guard underground.”
The wind began to blow. Slowly at first, and then suddenly it increased a hundred-fold. Chloe and Annie each gave a startled yelp as the balloon took off. Annie shivered. It was freezing cold. Annie huddled close to her brother to keep warm. Chloe on the other hand just simply changed into a mist. As a mist she couldn’t get cold.
They traveled along in the balloon for what seemed like hours. Annie actually fell asleep snuggled against John sitting at the bottom of the basket. John noticed that the balloon seemed to have fallen a little low. He got up being very careful not to wake his sister. He turned on the burner and balloon rose again. It was a little hard to stand with the wind pounding on him as it blew the balloon. John noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was far way. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. They were dry from the wind but, he could swear he saw Santa’s sleigh being pulled by flying reindeer. It was only there for a moment and then it was gone.
Chapter 17
John sat back down. He could see Chloe’s mist in the corner. She seemed ok, but it was hard to tell when all you could see was a little cloud of fog. He snuggled back in with his sister and before long he too was asleep.
All three awoke suddenly as they felt the basket hit something. It startled Chloe so much that she screamed and popped back into her human form. John and Annie jumped up. They were hitting trees. The wind was still blowing them but, with no one working the burner they had dropped down to the level of the tree tops. John quickly grabbed for the burner and turned it up. The balloon began to rise just in time to barely miss a large pine tree.
After only a short time more the wind began to slow. “I think we must be getting close” Chloe told Annie and John. Chloe looked down at the ground below. She wondered if that was China under them. She stared hard at the ground. It really didn’t look that much different from up there. She could see what looked like rivers or streams and some trees maybe. Of course, it was pretty dark. Somehow she thought it would look more exotic and there would be some way to tell just from looking that you were in a different country.
Then the wind stopped altogether and the air was still. The balloon began to drop gently towards the ground. No! Now it was dropping more quickly towards a giant rock!
John dove for the burner turning it on just in time to lift the balloon over the rock. He wiped the sweat from his brow. That was close. It was the second time they had almost crashed into something. John looked over the side of the basket. There…he saw a nice clear spot to land. He directed the girls to move around in the basket to create more weight on one side and help land the balloon in the right spot.
Luck was with them…or maybe something more. The balloon bumped across the ground as it came to a stop in a nice flat spot. John climbed out of the balloon first. He told Annie and Chloe to stay in the basket while he got it tied down. First John looked for any large rocks, bushes, or trees to use for tying down the balloon. He was in luck again. There was one larger rock and a perfectly placed tree root to tie the balloon to. John stepped back and looked at the balloon. That should hold it he thought. He waved to the girls to get out of the basket. Chloe and Annie helped each other up over the sides.
Now out of the basket, Annie looked around. It was dark but, China still didn’t look much different from home except for some bamboo growing at one side of the clearing they had landed in. Chloe reached in her pocket and pulled out three candles. She handed one to Annie and one to John. She lit them. “These are enchanted with echoes. They won’t go out unless they are held completely under water” she told them. Annie put her hand near the flame. It didn’t even feel hot.
Then without another word the three went to work looking for an entrance to the underground city with the soldier statues. They looked all around. No one was surprised when it was John who found the entrance. He was after all the special one. It just made sense he would find it first. It looked like a cave of dirt against the bottom of a mountain with a large door that was locked tight with a very large lock. John pulled on the lock. He felt a little defeated. He hadn’t thought about it being locked. The girls were next to him now. Annie felt just as deflated as John but Chloe smiled. She reached in her pocked again. This time she had something familiar in her hand. Something Annie and John had seen more times than they would have cared to. It was her pet, the cockroach Hubert.
Chloe whispered something to her faithful pet and then held him up to the lock. Hubert crawled onto and then into the lock. Moments later it popped open. Chloe put her hand out and Hubert crawled from the lock onto her hand. “I couldn’t use Hubert to unlock the locks at the Library because they have extra mystic protections. This is just a regular od lock.” Chloe said as she placed Hubert her shoulder. Annie couldn’t be sure but, he seemed proud of himself and almost seemed to smile.
The children stood there for a moment looking back and forth at each other. Finally, John stepped forward and pulled the lock from the door. He put his hand on the old rusted handle and pulled. It didn’t budge. He put his other hand on the door, braced himself and pulled with all his might. Slowly the door creaked open.
They peered into the darkness. They saw some shelves with tools and a row of lockers. There were signs with what must have been words in Chinese. They continued down the dark passage. It seemed to be going deep into the mountain. They all strained their eyes as they made their way down. At any moment Annie expected she might see the soldier statues.
After walking a long time one of them saw something. This time there was no surprise it was Chloe. Her eyes were made to see through the darkness. “There!” She whispered to the others “I see the statues”. Before any of them realized what they were doing, they were all running as fast as they could.
It seemed like a dream to John. He could hardly believe they were there. There were rows and rows of hundreds of statues. John reached out and touched one of them. It was very cold. It sent a shiver down his spine. The cold wasn’t what made him shiver though. What made him shiver was that all this somehow felt familiar. John walked through the statues looking for something. He didn’t know what but, he knew he would recognize it when he found it.
Chloe and Annie weren’t sure what to do now that they had found the statues. “What do we do now?” Annie asked her brother. John didn’t answer her. He didn’t even seem to hear her. He just kept walking through the statues. Annie looked at Chloe. Chloe just shrugged her shoulders and started following John. Annie followed too.
They weaved in and out of the soldiers until finally John stopped. This was it he thought as he saw it. It was a statue of a soldier but, instead of a sword or weapon he was carrying a box. Somehow John just knew that box was what they were looking for. John turned to Chloe and his sister. “What should I say Chloe? How do I make the past replay like on Halloween?” He asked her. “I don’t know.” Chloe answered “Each spell is different. For that, you have to kno
w something about the past to put into the spell. We have the reveal spell but, that’s not the same.”
John closed his eyes tight “Please help me” he thought. “Let me know what to say. Bring it to me on the echoes. Please help me.” A tear ran down his cheek. He repeated it over and over in his mind like a spell.
Annie couldn’t stand to see her brother cry. She reached for his hand. Her fingers had just touched his when suddenly his eyes popped open. He wrapped his fingers around hers and gripped her hand tightly. Then he held his hand out for Chloe to take. “Say what I say” he commanded. Then he began.
“Huisheng dai lai shenme yijing shi ni he wo guoqu de yibufen. Xianshi suo xu de xiangmu di lujing, xianzai zhege weida de zhanshi Qin juxing. Zhiyou dang gai xiangmu yi faxian di difang, rengran shi xiuxi jintian rang kongling de xiju tingzhi.” John heard himself say.
Annie and Chloe stared at John with mouths gaping wide. It sounded like he was speaking Chinese. Actually, more like chanting than speaking. John squeezed their hands tight. Both girls began chanting along with John as best they could. They weren’t sure what they were saying but they tried to make it sound as much like what John was chanting as possible. All three repeated it over and over until suddenly a faint glow seemed to come up from the ground under their feet.
Then the room was full of glowing, ghost like figures. Right in front of them stood the transparent figure of the soldier with the box. There was another figure with a royal looking cloak that seemed to be giving him instruction. Soon four other soldiers joined the one with the box. They seem to be there to help guard the box. The five soldiers then turned and began to walk toward a side corridor.
John, Chloe and Annie scrambled to follow the soldiers. As they entered the side corridor Annie turned to look back at the soldiers in the main hall and something caught her eye. There was a figure that didn’t belong with the rest. He was dressed in clothes of the magi, like the costumes at Halloween. Annie turned back to tell John and Chloe what she saw but they hadn’t noticed her stop. They had continued down the tunnel and were getting pretty far ahead now.
Annie made up her mind then. She had to see what the magi was doing. She ran toward the figure. It was a man who looked an awful lot like Mhotep. He headed toward another corridor and Annie was right behind him. It was a little scary to be all by herself but, the soft glow coming from the magi and the candle Chloe gave her offered some comfort. It was strange. Annie could see the corridor wind deep underground as she looked ahead. As she entered it, however, it felt as if she was walking through sand. When she looked next to her it looked as if she was walking right through a dirt wall. The deeper she went the more narrow it looked in front of her and then it widened again. Annie realized she was entering a large cavern like room. She looked beside her and it seemed she had emerged from the dirt.
In the corridor above, Chloe and John were also entering a large cavern like room. They were totally oblivious to the fact that Annie was no longer with them. Annie was in fact entering a room just below them. They watched as the soldiers carried the box towards a large pool of water in the center of the room. The soldiers placed the box on the water. John and Chloe were surprised to see that the box was floating on the water. A moment later the pool began to swirl and the box was sucked into the center and then below the water. Suddenly the room became darker as the glowing transparent soldiers disappeared.
In the room below Annie watched as the magi raised his arms. He said some words Annie did not understand. It sounded more like the ancient language she had heard on Halloween than Chinese to Annie. A bubble of water formed on the ceiling. The water in the bubble began to swirl. It wasn’t long before she noticed something else was swirling in the bubble. It looked like the box the soldier had been carrying. The swirling stopped and the box settled at the bottom of the bubble. She looked around the room and the magi was gone.
Up above John tried to dive into the water to get the box but the top of the water had turned hard and smooth like glass. He banged on it hard but, it was no good. “Chloe, try turning to mist and see if you can get inside” he called out. Chloe stepped out onto the glassy surface and then turned into a mist but she could not get inside. John felt very defeated and lost. They had come all this way. The thing they needed most was right in front of him. He could see it but, he had no idea how to get to it. He peered through the water. There was a light and something that looked like a person below. Maybe there was a way to get to the box from underneath he thought. “We have to go back to the main hall and find a way down below” he yelled as he ran back down the corridor. Chloe, no longer mist, ran to follow him.
Down below Annie stood staring at the box trying to figure out how to get up to it when a voice came out of the darkness. “I am very disappointed. I have been waiting here for your brother.” and then sarcastically “The Great One”. She could see the outline of a boy taller than John, a teenager maybe. He spat on the floor and then continued. “I needed him to get the map and so I could take it from him. Instead I get you. My master tells me you have no power at all. No power, that is, other than to be very annoying.” He snickered. “Don’t worry, your death will be quick. By the way they call me Cham. I think you should at least know my name before I take your life” he raised his hands and a great blast of whirling wind flew from his fingertips towards Annie. Instinctively she raised her arms and screamed one word. “Krustallos!” She was very surprised at herself. The word was used for the clear Myesfera. Odd that it was the first thing she thought to say. The air turned cold and a large ice crystal formed like a shield blocking Cham’s blast.
His eyes grew wide. “How did you? This cannot be…but, it is!” His eyes widened as he realized the truth, the truth that Annie had been hiding. “So you do have power after all. I can only imagine, how powerful your brother must be….” Annie could not herself believe what she had done. In the past she had made some things happen like when she said the spell in John’s closet but, she had no idea she could do something like this without even a spell to say.
Cham continued. “We watched, my master and I, after I sent my tornado down on you. We saw the spell those so-called mystics tried and failed.” Cham gave a great laugh. “I remember you, the tiny weak little girl clutching your brother’s hand. You didn’t look like you could have any power. And I bet the stupid Coterie have no idea either. Killing you would be a waste. The master will be so pleased when I bring you to him and tell him everything.”
Annie lifted her head looking Cham square in the face. She had heard very little of what he said after the words “I sent my tornado”. He had hurt her parents. It was because of him that she was not safe at home being tucked into bed by Mommy and Daddy. Tears flowed from her eyes as a rage grew in her heart.
Cham looked back at Annie with a smug little grin. He reached his hand out. “Come little girl. There is no need to fight. I would hate to bring you to my master in a damaged condition. I think you will like him. If you are nice and do as you’re told he will make you a princess. What do you think?” he said in fake sugary tone.
If it was possible Annie’s stony glare became even harder. “Very well then.” Cham said after looking at Annie’s face. He made a waving gesture and with that a wind began to whirl around the room closing down upon Annie. She found that she was being enveloped in a funnel cloud. “Stop!” she commanded stomping her foot. The wind did not stop but, it seemed to lose much of its form and she could see Cham holding his head as if in pain. “Good!” She thought. “He should hurt for what he did.” Annie screamed out of rage and stomped her foot again. Cham stumbled backwards. Annie smiled as the winds slowed.
Cham clenched his fists and stood himself up again. He said words Annie did not know. The winds grew fierce again. They whirled and spun around Annie so quickly she could hardly breathe. It felt as if the winds were pulling the air right out of her lungs. She could not move. She began to panic. Then suddenly she felt calm and warm. She felt as if someone was hold
ing her hand. Squinting through the wind she thought she saw the magi she had followed standing beside her.
Annie smiled. A great thought had come to her. If calling out one Myesfera let her use the echoes, what would happen if she used another? She opened her mouth and choked at first. She swallowed hard and cried out “Fulgav!” Bolts of electricity filled the air. Several struck Cham. The wind stopped and the boy crumpled to the ground. A stray bolt hit the bubble on the ceiling. Water came crashing down on both of them from above.
Unaware of what was transpiring below them John and Chloe had made it back to the main hall. It was then that they had noticed Annie was missing. John realized it must have been her he had seen below the water. The glowing must have been coming from her candle. Chloe again called upon her pet to help them find Annie. Once on the floor Hubert headed oward a passage near the wall dirt wall Annie had walked through. As John and Chloe entered the passage they could hear the battle raging. Then they heard Annie scream. They ran as fast as they could to come to her aid.
As they neared the entrance to the chamber they could see the electricity in the air and feel the wind hit their faces. As the tunnel opened into the large cavern they could see Annie and Cham on the other side of the large space. They were not at the same level as the ground. John quickly lowered Chloe down to the floor and then jumped down himself. As John hit the floor water came pouring down from the ceiling with such force that he and Chloe both fell to the ground and their candles went dark. Drenched John stood up and began looking around for Chloe and his sister. Chloe was easy to find. He could hear her just to his left coughing and sputtering from the water in her lungs. He helped her up. “Annie!” He called out. Chloe relit her candle.
Annie had collapsed from exhaustion as the water fell. As a result, she hadn’t seen her brother and Chloe enter the room. She was surprised to hear her brother calling her through the darkness. At first, she wondered if she was asleep and dreaming. Then she saw a light. It was one of Chloe’s candles. “I’m here.” Annie choked out waving her hand toward the light. John and Chloe rushed over to her.
A Mystical Journey Page 17