Shadowglade

by Kay L. Ling

  Jordy took a big bite of pizza and managed to talk while he chewed. “On the bright side, my dad’s starting to see I gotta live my own life and make my own decisions.”

  “Maybe they’ll let you major in art after all,” Greg said.

  “I hope so.” Jordy licked barbecue sauce from his fingers. “Lana, if you want to come over some time, I’ll show you some of my best work. I have a whole wall full of sketches in my room.”

  “Come up to my room and see my etchings, huh?” Franklin teased. “Isn’t that pickup line awfully outdated?”

  Lana snorted, choking on her Coke.

  “It certainly is,” Jules said. “I’d better go with her to defend her honor.”

  Jordy blushed furiously.

  Lana smiled. It was great to see everyone laughing and having a good time. Good thing Franklin had come. He wasn’t the only one with problems, and hearing what others were going through would make it easier to keep that in mind.

  She sat up straighter and said in her most official tone, “I’d like to call our meeting to order. The SSS—Shadow Secret Society—is now in session.”

  “Secret Society? Cool!” Greg’s face lit up, and he looked over at Jordy who asked hopefully, “Is there a secret handshake or anything?”

  “The group is so secret, and there are so few of us, we don’t need one,” she said. Jordy’s disappointed look made her laugh. “Okay. You and Greg can come up with the secret handshake.”

  “Don’t make it so hard we can’t remember it,” Jules cautioned.

  To be perfectly honest, Lana loved the idea of a secret society. Their little group could help shape Shadow’s future. How cool was that? Too bad Elias couldn’t be here. “Jules, why don’t you give Franklin and the boys an overview of what’s happened in the last two weeks.”

  Jules set his plate on the end table. “I’ll probably forget things, but here goes. After we turned S into a beetle, the four of us headed to Strathweed, but we stopped at S’s alamaria obelisk on the way. Lana thought the obelisk might amplify gem powers so we could heal Franklin’s crippled arm and legs, and he agreed to let us try. First, Elias turned Franklin back into a human, and then Lana and I used our Fair Lands healing gems. As you can see, it worked.” He flashed a grin at Franklin, who nodded and flexed his formerly crippled arm. “When we got to Elias’s cave, we stashed S in her pet carrier near the underground river so we couldn’t hear her cursing. Then we sat up half the night celebrating.”

  “Was the pet carrier one of ours from when we were rats?” Jordy asked eagerly.

  “Yes,” Lana said, grinning. “They were still in my trunk.”

  “The next day we took S to Shadowglade where she spent a week in her own dungeon while I made a special cage for her, infused with Fair Lands gems.”

  Lana still loved the irony of putting S in her own dungeon.

  “Good idea,” Jordy said. “She won’t escape from that.”

  “What happened to the gnomes in the mining camp?” Greg asked.

  “We let them out,” Jules said, smiling at the recollection. “I was afraid the breghlin guards would be a problem, but Elias waved his hands and made me disappear. While I was invisible, I screamed and begged him to release me from the spirit world. You should have seen their faces! After a couple minutes I reappeared, lying on the ground, sobbing. Sobbing with laughter, but they didn’t know that. They handed over their weapons and helped us free the miners.

  Jordy and Greg burst out laughing.

  “With help from the gnomes, we spent a few days disarming S’s breghlin staff. The ones we could find, anyway, since a lot of them had gone into hiding when they heard we’d defeated S. We had to use gem powers on a few of them, but most left peacefully. There are thirty in the dungeon right now. They think S will rule again someday.”

  “Breghlin could still be hiding, waiting to attack you,” Greg said, sounding worried.

  “Possibly,” Jules agreed. “We’ve stationed gnome guards everywhere from the dungeon to the equipment barns, but for the most part, I think Shadowglade’s breghlin have abandoned S.” He paused and glanced at Lana. “Lana had a good idea. She said we should let them visit S to prove she’s really a beetle. Elias liked the idea. Now breghlin come to the library, one or two at a time, and quite frankly, they’re more likely to kill S than help her escape.”

  “Really?” Greg said. “They hate her that much?”

  “Most of them do,” Lana said. “Any allegiance they felt for her went out the window when they realized she couldn’t hurt them anymore. Elias says some respect her for being vicious and cruel. If so, they’re the minority.”

  “A few stayed on to clean the castle, work in the kitchen, tend animals, and drive carts, but armed gnomes keep an eye on them. I won’t say there hasn’t been friction, but so far, it’s working out all right.”

  Jordy helped himself to another slice of pizza. “It sounds like everything’s going great.”

  “Not exactly,” Jules said. “Lana, tell them about the spell book.”

  “We went to the throne room—Elias, Jules, and I—and Elias discovered S’s spell book. Naturally, he wanted to look inside. Well, that was a bad idea. There was a ward—some kind of spell—and it erased every word in the book, and we’re afraid it triggered other spells, too.”

  Greg’s eyes widened. “Like what?”

  “We don’t know. We didn’t even know the text had disappeared until we got the book back to Strathweed. Elias had planned to study it, and when he opened it, there was nothing to see but a few maps and drawings. The worst part is, the book is sentient and really snarky.”

  Jordy’s mouth dropped open. “It talks?”

  “It sure does,” Jules muttered.

  “Anyway, that’s the bad news,” Lana went on, “but we have some good news. We killed Sheamathan’s pet pythanium. Well, Jules did. I was cowering.”

  “Wow!” Jordy cried. He turned excitedly to Greg. “Back when we were rats, we were afraid that pythanium would eat us.”

  “And it almost did,” Greg said darkly, “more than once.”

  Jordy let out his breath in a rush. “Remember the time it caught us listening outside the throne room door? We never ran so fast in our lives!”

  “That’s the day we found the hidden room.”

  “Hidden room?” Lana, Jules, and Franklin said in unison.

  “Yeah. Just outside the throne room, in the passageway, there’s a hole in one of the stone blocks. About a foot off the floor.”

  “We woulda been pythanium chow except for that hole,” Jordy said. “When the pythanium came after us, we didn’t know where to run, and then we spotted the hole. It was barely big enough. Greg almost got stuck.”

  “It was totally dark inside,” Greg said, “so we couldn’t see anything. It was a narrow room, sorta like a passageway. We must have stayed there three or four hours before we found the nerve to peek outside.”

  “A hidden room,” Lana said, fascinated by the idea, “with nothing inside?”

  “It seemed empty. We went from one end to the other without bumping into anything. It was a great place to hide and spy on S and the breghlin,” Greg said. “We crawled in there a few times so we could hear conversations in the throne room.”

  “I’d love to look inside,” Lana said, turning to Jules. “Maybe we could chip some stone away and widen the hole.”

  “If it’s nothing but an empty room, it can wait. We have more important things to worry about now that breghlin miners are walking off the job and getting into fights. Our top priority should be finding a way into the armory. The gnomes want to form militias, and they need weapons.”

  “Last I knew, you hadn’t even found the armory,” Lana said.

  Jules leaned back on the couch and sighed. “We found it, thanks to your friend Xenon, but it’s warded with dark powers . . . which I verified the hard way.”

  “Oh no! What happened?”

  “A shielding ward triggered a dange
rous gem. Even holding the Challenger’s blade, I got welts on my arm.” He broke off. “Speaking of the knife, I have news about the experiment we discussed last Sunday. We were in a meeting with gnomes and—”

  “The experiment?” she interrupted.

  “Our plan to test the gnomes for gem powers.”

  “Oh, that’s right. What happened? Could any of them make the knife glow?”

  “Two out of six—brothers. Afterward, Elias tested them with a phorish gem. They both had physical sensations, and one brother could actively draw power to amplify his emotions. The strange thing is, until then, they’d both handled gems and never felt a thing.”

  Lana’s eyes narrowed. “That’s odd.”

  “So, what do you make of it?” Franklin asked.

  “We discussed several theories. Our working hypothesis is that gem powers are a hereditary ability in gnomes just as they are in humans. Something activated the brothers’ latent abilities. It may have been something to do with my knife.”

  Franklin said, “If gnomes have gem powers, it could stabilize Shadow. You and Elias can’t disarm every breghlin in Shadow. The gnomes need to defend themselves and control the breghlin, and gem powers would work even better than weapons.”

  “That’s what we’re thinking,” Jules agreed.

  “How do we verify your theory?” Lana asked.

  “I don’t know.” Jules let out a long breath. “There’s no doubt the brothers have gem powers, but how can we tell what activated them?”

  Franklin looked worried. “Is there a chance—and I hate to even bring this up—could breghlin have latent powers too?”

  “It’s not likely,” Jules said, “but if they do, let’s hope they never learn how to activate them.”

  Lana said, “According to the gnomes, S controlled the breghlin mutations. If so, she would never allow them to have gem powers.”

  “That makes sense,” Franklin said, but he still looked concerned. “I’m overly cautious, I suppose, after spending twenty-five years around them. Watch your back, even around the ones that seem friendly. They’re a vicious lot. They were just following orders when they beat and crippled me, but they enjoyed my suffering.”

  Lana said quietly, “In a way, when S turned you into a bird, you were better off, weren’t you?”

  “Absolutely. Under the circumstances, it was more privilege than punishment.”

  “What’s it like to fly?” Greg asked wistfully.

  “Pure freedom,” Franklin said, and his eyes took on a distant look. “I’d rather be a man than a bird, but I do miss flying. Riding the air currents and looking down on the forest and the land below—there’s nothing like it.”

  “That reminds me,” Jules said. “The other day we were discussing what’s beyond Shadowglade. Elias and I haven’t been farther than a two-day walk. You’ve seen more than we have.”

  “There are miles of forest, fields with struggling crops, and vast tracts of desert-like land with nothing but scrub brush. I’ve seen a few dry riverbeds, but not much standing water. Now and then a creek or a stagnant pond.”

  “So, I guess you’ve never seen lakes. What about mountains?” Jules asked.

  “There’s a swampy area that might have been a lake long ago. I’ve never seen anything but rolling hills—nothing you’d call a mountain.”

  “We found a map,” Lana said, “and it showed lakes and mountains and lots of roads and villages. None of it looked familiar to Elias, but he’s never been far from home.”

  “Where did you find the map?”

  “In S’s spell book. But since all the words have disappeared, nothing is labeled.”

  “I’ve seen ruins of stone-and-timber buildings near the larger mines, but that’s about it. Maybe generations ago, before Sheamathan’s reign, there were sizeable towns and cities.”

  “We’re hoping to find old buildings and settlements. Anything to help us piece together the gnomes’ history,” Lana said.

  “What about S’s library? Anything useful there?” Franklin asked.

  “Probably, but many of the books are written in runes. Elias says there’s a translation gem, but we haven’t tried it yet. Too many things to do.”

  Franklin said, “One more person won’t do much good, but I can lighten the load a little. How can I help?”

  “The gnomes need a government,” Jules told him. “Elias says they’re content with their present clan structure and don’t want a unified government. We need to work on that.”

  “Any society needs structure,” Franklin agreed. “But I don’t suppose you can force them.”

  “Equally important, we need to civilize the breghlin, teach them trades, and get them involved in rebuilding Shadow,” Jules told him. “Lana wants to open an office—The Ministry of Breghlin Affairs. Even though we’d provide technical help and hand out supplies, breghlin would be in charge.”

  “Breghlin don’t trust humans, especially humans with gem powers,” Lana said, “so we need to stay in the background.”

  Jules said, “If the breghlin form peaceful, self-governing communities, there will be less need for gnome militias. But right now, we need those militias, and we need weapons.”

  “I’ll help any way I can,” Franklin promised.

  “Maybe you and Raenihel can contact a few of the gnome clan leaders and see what supplies they need to manufacture tools and weapons. Gnomes have metalsmiths, but it’s hard to come by the raw materials, and they’ve had to work discreetly to keep breghlin from finding their workshops.”

  “Franklin could open an office at Shadowglade. Gnomes could come there to requisition supplies,” Lana suggested.

  “A Ministry of Gnome Affairs,” Franklin said. “Sure, why not? It would take a while to spread the word, but once they knew the Ministry was there to help them, they’d come.”

  “Keep in mind, we’ll run out of goods to distribute if the mines shut down and crops are abandoned,” Lana said. “We need the gnomes and breghlin to stop fighting and start producing things.”

  “I hate to say it, but S’s economic system worked,” Jules said. “She used gem powers to enslave and control her subjects, which was cruel but effective. Freedom can lead to chaos, and if Six Wells Mine is any indication, we’re on the verge of chaos now.”

  Lana thought back to her conversion with S. “S expects us to fail and says we’ll be sorry we defeated her.”

  “We’ll prove her wrong,” Jules said.

  “I wish we could do something to help,” Greg grumbled, “but how can we help the secret society from here?”

  Lana gave the boys an encouraging smile. “You can help us solve problems. Put yourself in the place of gnomes and breghlin and try to think like them.”

  Greg said gloomily, “We don’t know how they feel or what they want.”

  Jordy seemed to be giving the matter serious consideration, and the look in his eyes said he wasn’t a shallow, self-centered kid anymore. “Maybe we know more about them than you think, Greg. They’re sorta like us. They haven’t had much say in their lives. If they tried to go anywhere they risked getting killed or enslaved. Now they’re free, but they’re afraid of change. And the breghlin—they had to obey S all the time and she was like the meanest mom in the world. Now she’s gone. They don’t know what to do, and they’re running wild.”

  Lana said, “So, you’re saying we shouldn’t push the gnomes too hard. They need to discover on their own that change can improve their lives. And the breghlin will rebel if we come across like a new mean mother.”

  Jordy nodded. “Yeah. Both groups need to think they’re in control and making their own decisions.”

  “Out of the mouth of babes,” Franklin said.

  “There’s some real wisdom there,” Jules agreed.

  A car horn tooted twice. Greg stood and said, “That’s my mom. She’s picking us up.”

  Lana walked the boys to the door and handed them their coats. Jordy shoved his hand into his coat pocket.
“Oh, yeah—I brought something for you.” He pulled out a small pen-and-ink drawing, matted and framed. “I hope you like it.”

  “Thanks! It’s wonderful,” Lana said, and meant it. “You’re very talented.”

  “You really like it?” he asked.

  “Absolutely.”

  The horn tooted again and the boys struggled into their coats as they hurried down the stairs.

  Lana shut the door behind them and took another look at the drawing. Shadowglade. The detail was amazing, right down to the dead, shattered trees in the courtyard and a pythanium in the air, three sets of wings spread in flight. There was no doubt—Jordy was a gifted artist.

  Chapter 11

  Lana showed the drawing to the men and they were impressed too. Jordy, an artist—who would have thought? She hung the sketch near her kitchen table so she could see it first thing every morning.

  The group had eaten most of the party food, but there were a few leftovers. She wrapped pizza and wings in foil packages while Jules and Franklin gathered up paper plates and empty plastic cups and put her folding chairs in the coat closet. Once the apartment was back to normal, she urged Franklin to sit at her kitchen table. She planned to use gems, as she had at the store, to transmit optimism and peace of mind. The minute he learned what she had in mind, he started to protest, but Jules laid a hand on his arm and said, “Let her do this. It will only take a minute.”

  When she returned with the gems, she sat down and took his hand. “Jules and I draw powers whenever we need a boost. There’s no reason to be embarrassed.”

  The gems must have helped because he thanked her afterward.

  Jules glanced up at the kitchen clock. “It’s still early. I’d like to make a side trip before we go home.”

  She pushed herself up from the table. “Side trip? Where? The pizza shop?”

  He laughed. “Don’t tempt me. No, I’d like to stop at the Tree Home. Six gnomes tried my knife at Shadowglade, but I’d like to test Raenihel and some of his clan.”

  She wished she had seen the test at Shadowglade. At least she could watch this one. “Sure. I’m game.”