by Linda Jordan
The pooka murmured among themselves. They were outraged and appalled. The shortest pooka, Marcus stayed silent. Edward knew he communicated what they learned to the elders, who lived on the other side of the City.
Edward asked, “Were you aware the Sorcerer communes with the Black Opal?”
A silence followed and Arron said, “We have long suspected it, but there is no proof.”
“I have proof. Mira and I saw him, standing between the Pillars of Life, Death and Mystery, bathed in the light of the Opal.” He still felt horrified at this. It was forbidden for any but the ruler chosen by the Black Opal, to join with the stone in this manner. What the Sorcerer did was an obscenity, undoubtedly why he chose to hide in the catacombs and steal power instead of going to the tower.
Anger burned in their eyes. “This cannot continue,” said a rangy, brown pooka, whom Edward barely knew.
“No, it cannot,” said Marcus. “By revealing this knowledge to us, the Black Opal has asked for our help. The Queen and her Sorcerer must be made powerless this night.”
Nods of agreement circled among all the pooka.
“Is your father coming to the feast tonight?” asked Marcus.
“I suppose he is, I have been out of touch with him for several days.”
“We should not make that presumption,” said the brown pooka.
“We have never interfered with the rule of this land, but it is time we did so. We have been satisfied, until Nakia became Queen, to serve the Black Opal. The Queen is under the impression we have become tame and are no longer great warriors, simply because we remain silent and seem subservient. The young among us have wanted this for a long time. Now our elders say it is time to act. Roderick is next in line, he should be prepared for the test,” said Marcus.
The pooka talked amongst themselves for a few minutes before agreeing. Arron turned to Edward and said, “We took you from human guards, saying we recognized you as a renegade and would take you to the dungeons so the Sorcerer could deal with you at his leisure. He should not return tonight, and tomorrow will be powerless.”
They motioned for him to become invisible. He did so and one of the pooka pushed straw into a pile and threw a velvet robe from the catacombs over it. In the darkness it looked as if someone lay face down on the floor.
“Jailer, we are finished here,” yelled one of the pooka.
After the door was unlocked, Edward wedged himself between two of the pooka who carried the board back out and followed them down a corridor towards the royal quarters.
Marcus whispered to him, “Leave us at this next turn and go upstairs. When it is safe, become Ronan again and warn your father to be ready. We will find the woman and lead her to the Queen’s quarters.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Our thanks will be if everything turns out well tonight,” said one of the pooka.
As they rounded the corner, he saw two pooka guarding the door to the stairs leading up.
His pooka guard stopped to speak with the others. Edward knew the pooka watching the door saw him, but they gave no hint of it. Finally, one of them turned, opened the door and looked inside as if he heard a sound. After he did so and found nothing, he held it open just long enough for Edward to slip past.
“May you feel the wind through your fur,” the pooka whispered to him.
He felt honored. This was the highest blessing one pooka could wish to another. It spoke of freedom. Although humans might not be able to see through his disguise, the pooka always did.
The news about the Sorcerer would spread quickly to all pooka before he even reached the upper levels of the palace. Remaining invisible, he reached the public part of the palace. The guests had begun to arrive for the feast. He did not see his father yet, although he saw Ewan and Amanda. His father joined them. Edward almost left to find a place to shift when one of the Queen’s human guards spoke to this father. His father looked relieved and he, Ewan and Amanda followed the guard out of the ballroom.
In a corner, Edward saw his friend Stephen drinking ale and watching the crowd, no doubt looking for some beautiful woman to flirt with. Stephen knew his friend could become a pooka, but not the true extent of his abilities. Still invisible, he walked up behind Stephen and said, “Do not move, I am not here.”
“Playing games again, are we?” asked Stephen behind his mug of ale.
“Hopefully, the last game. Where did my father go?”
“He requested an audience with the Queen. He is worried about your whereabouts, as you should have returned days ago, according to him. Since Ewan brought your horse back long before, Roderick is concerned something may have befallen you and is requesting her assistance,” said Stephen.
“Thereby assuring she is not involved in my disappearance.”
“You do catch on quickly for a young whip.” Stephen was a week older than him.
“When he returns, please tell my father to be ready to face the Opal tonight. The dragons will help us, as will pooka and many others.”
“You have been busy,” he said, eyebrows raised. Stephen could masterfully hide his emotions, but this surprised him.
“You have no idea.”
“What shall I tell him about you?” asked Stephen.
“You may tell him I am here and will be in touch with him, but I must be going now. I have work to do.” Upon seeing the Sorcerer enter the room, he slipped out another door and headed for the royal quarters. Several pooka guards passed him along the way and either ignored him or gave him a simple twitch of the ear.
When he reached the royal quarters, he slipped into the rooms reserved for family members. These rooms were set aside so they could live in the palace or stay after imbibing heavily at a party. The rooms lay empty of servants. Edward went into the rooms his father kept and found some clean clothes, then entered the bathroom. He removed his backpack and shook. Still feeling burning skin, he shifted very slowly back into Ronan. He felt relieved to be human again. To hold another form always meant bleeding off some of his energy, even if it was an easy form to hold. His head throbbed a little, but his leg had healed.
Ronan drew a bath and cleaned himself, puzzling over scaly, greenish iridescent skin on his hands and arms. When he stood in front of the mirror he saw the same thing on his back, forming a slight ridge along his spine. Three things came to mind. It could be part of the Sorcerer’s spell. It could be from an incomplete change from fighting with the other shape shifter or the demon. The third alternative he refused to consider.
After dressing, he collected himself for some time, filling up again. Then he left to find Mira.
How could he explain Edward to her?
Chapter 24 - Mira
Mira fled down the tunnel, away from the Sorcerer, feeling like a coward. She had left Edward to die.
Gasping for breath she slowed to a stagger. Her legs wobbled. How had she gotten so out of shape? What did she think she could do here? How could she accomplish anything? Her thoughts grew deeper, darker and more cutting. Sweat drenched her face, her head pounding.
She was alone, faced with an impossible task. Finally stopping and slumping, Mira took a ragged breath, then a deeper one, she tried to imagine all the negative thoughts blown away by a cool breeze.
After five more breaths, clarity returned. Danger. Hide.
She slid into the dark room on her left. This room, too, was filled floor to ceiling with bones. She pressed herself close to the cold wall inside the doorway. Foot steps came and went.
She shuffled back to the open doorway. It didn’t feel right. She moved inside the room again. More footsteps, slower this time.
Her concealment spell came easily, once she thought to even use it. She focused on becoming part of the rock wall. Heat grew in her belly, where the unicorn horn had entered. Was this a gift she received from the unicorn? She could feel the age of these rocks, and a deep, slow power that lay beneath thinking.She felt herself meld with them, actually becoming stone. A feeling of bein
g loved and cared for, of joining with others through the creation of beauty. It felt as if the mosaics made by humans and pooka had awakened the rocks. She struggled to shake herself back to an awareness of being human.
She lost track of which direction the last footsteps had gone. This room echoed more than the hallway. She felt along the wall moving still farther away from the door, then around a pile of bones. There were less bones than other rooms she had passed. She sensed a draft of cool air. After a few minutes she found a second door which led to a different corridor. It seemed to run parallel to the first.
More shouting and footsteps echoed down the first tunnel. She backed into the room again. Instinct told her to stay put. Sweat made her cold and clammy underneath the heavy velvet robe. According to the map this new hallway led to a part of the palace close to the Queen’s quarters. Provided the map could be trusted.
The old corridor she’d traveled was now a very busy arterial. She couldn’t understand the voices, too much echo, but it was clear they were searching all the rooms.
She went deep inside herself for guidance. The answer came back from her intuition, move down the new tunnel while you still can.
Leaving the bone room, she ran down the new twisting and turning hallway, past rows of skulls which grinned in the dim light. Side corridors crossed in several places, but she stayed with what looked like the main thoroughfare. She ran, walked to catch her breath, then sped again over and over, for what seemed like hours. The light grew so dim she could barely see, which must mean she was going away from the Black Opal and the central cavern. Hopefully, toward the entrance to the Queen’s Quarters. There seemed to be no end to this place, but she heard no voices or footsteps.
She felt exhausted. Her stomach rumbled so loudly it seemed to echo on the tunnel walls. Finding another bone room, she slumped down to the floor and pulled out her half of the bread and cheese, glad Edward had insisted on splitting it up. He had said, “Normally, I could go without, but my powers are weakened right now.”
Edward. There was no way she could have helped him. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye. He had been right though. Her job was to get Dylan and the soul. She had to stop the Queen. If she could rescue Dylan and retrieve the soul, she wouldn’t have to face the Queen. That realization made her feel slightly bolder.
She felt thirsty. Her water pouch was with the saddle in Jacob’s stable.
After eating she began running again. The path crossed over an underground stream with a little wooden bridge. Was it a branch of the River Angouleme? Mira wondered if there could be something about the crossing of this river and the Black Opal that gave this place its power.
She wished there could have been more time to explore the cavern beneath the tower and those amazing columns, but she needed to find Dylan and free Amanda’s soul. Then somehow find Aste and get the soul back inside Amanda. And get away from the palace before the dragons came. All seemed impossible.
After another couple hours of walking and running, she heard a keening noise. It sounded ghostly. Was it in front or behind her? The noise grew louder.
She moved into the next open room and stood still again, slowing her breathing and focusing on becoming one with the stone wall. The noise echoed unevenly, sounding closer one minute and much father the next. Dogs. The guards had brought dogs down here to look for her. The map said the tunnels ran parallel, fanning out from the central cavern, each corridor leading to a separate part of the palace. As she listened more, the dogs seemed to be ahead of her.
Unless the map was wrong. After all, Essail said he’d never been down here. Had she become lost in the darkness?
She ran again, then walked when she couldn’t run any more. As she touched the front of her velvet robe Mira realized she’d torn a hunk out of it somewhere along the way. That would give the dogs something to work on. She ditched the robe, to hell with any camouflage it could give her. It was too hot. Passing an open room on the far side of the tunnel, away from the first one she’d come down, she tossed the robe inside. She hoped it would leave someone as confused as she felt. Did dehydration cause confusion?
She heard water running again. Rocks glowed neon green and sickly yellow above her as they did in several of the darkest parts of the corridors. Were they uranium or something awful and was she now getting five lifetime’s worth of radiation? Her hair would fall out, her skin would peel off.
She climbed onto the same wooden bridge as before. She knew because the gashes on the wooden handrail were in the same places. She was going around in circles.
Panic filled her. She was lost.
She’d failed utterly and was unable to help her sister or Dylan. They were all doomed. She crossed her arms in frustration and ragged fingernails cut gashes in the skin..
She remained frozen on the bridge. Below her, white fish swam slowly through the water. Their long flowing fins streamed behind them. They helped her remember to breathe and gradually she released herself from the panic and frustration to think again. Out of her pocket she pulled a few bread crumbs and put her hand in the water. The fish swam towards her and eagerly sucked at the food and her hand. Their mouths felt like vacuum cleaners. The fish swam through her hands and let her pet them. It was clear they were used to being fed.
She took a handful of the water, tasting it. It was crisp, clean and refreshing. She drank only enough to wet her lips and mouth, in case it was poisonous. Rubbing some water on her face, she tried to clean it and cool down. The lump on her forehead had grown ever larger. It stuck out about two inches now. This was no simple bump from hitting herself. How fast did brain tumors grow? She trembled. It explained her constant headache. Maybe Aste would know what to do about it. If she ever saw her again.
There was no use trying this corridor again. Edward had the map and she was afraid to go back down the other tunnel, even if she knew the way. She might run into the dogs
The only thing she could think of was to go the other direction in this hallway and try to get back to the Opal Cavern and start again. Perhaps the men and dogs would have moved on by then. They wouldn’t search rooms they had already looked at. It might work.
Fighting her exhaustion, she forced herself to stand up, then turned and went the opposite direction this time, alert for any tunnels which crossed it. She listened for guards and dogs, but heard only her own heartbeat. She kept moving towards the purplish glow at the end of the corridor.
Finally, she was at the cavern. The stone wall felt cold on her cheek as she leaned and waited, listening. No guards speaking and no dogs. Perhaps they were in one of the other corridors like herself, watching and waiting.
She stood for some minutes. Mira gingerly crept out into the cavern, sticking as close to the wall as she could. She went a couple of feet and stopped. Nothing happened. No movement. No alarms raised.
Moving a little further towards the second corridor, she stopped again. She looked at the bone columns in the center of the cavern. The warm, purplish light pulsed as if calling to her. She felt it had a message for her.
She moved to the center of the cavern into the purple light beneath the Black Opal. She looked up at it. The Opal was massive, perhaps twenty stories up inside the otherwise empty tower. It lay suspended in a net of metal rope, glistening and swirling in a rainbow of colors against a black-purple cosmos.
The Opal’s potentiality flowed into Mira’s body as the stone’s voice vibrated within her mind.
“Welcome Mira, my child. Long have I waited for your arrival. I understand your confusion. To help bring clarity to you, I must first explain my long history.”
Images flooded Mira’s mind: the volcano that birthed the Black Opal, exploding and dying, the ancient peoples who found the stone in this massive underground cavern. Mira saw a small group of humans and pooka cleaning and anointing the Black Opal with herbs and wine. They kept her hidden for a long time, but that was not the Opal’s intent.
“I needed to be seen and shared with
every creature in this world.”
Eventually, she cracked and eroded the crust above with her longing and people began to understand her plans. They gained the knowledge necessary and over many turns built the tower, so the Black Opal’s light could be seen everywhere in their land.
Mira felt the land rise up in her blood and claim her.
“You need to live in this land,” the Opal told her. “You belong here. That is why your magic never worked in your world. That was the unicorn’s message for you.”
Mira began to weep with joy and gratitude. Her feet molded to the stone floor and she felt grounded. Her mind and priorities effortlessly reorganized themselves in ways that seemed completely natural. All excess baggage simply fell away. Confidence and faith in her abilities filled Mira’s being. Doorways opened and new knowledge flooded in from the Opal. Now, uncovered in her mind, lay the ability to be disciplined about her craft. Love and compassion emerged from a very deep place. She felt whole for the first time.
“You must hide! Hurry! Behind my columns. I will conceal you from the dogs.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“You will always have me with you now, can you not feel it? We are part of each other.”
Mira moved out of the radiance and behind the columns of skulls. The lump on her forehead became caught on it. Mira realized the lump now stood out four inches. She could actually see it when she looked up, red and angry.
A human guard came out of the tunnel from the graveyard. From the same opening that she and Edward used to enter the cavern earlier. The guard was pulled by three huge, black dogs. The same kind of dogs that had stolen Amanda’s soul. Noses to the ground, they followed her original trail. She spied a piece of her black robe in the dog handler’s hand. He put it to the dogs’ noses to keep their memories fresh.
The man and dogs rushed off into the first corridor she had gone down. If she hadn’t stayed just now, to speak with the Opal, they would be moving down that same corridor right behind her. She sighed with relief. But only for a moment.