A Place Beyond The Map
Page 29
“They’re all right then, too? Crimson and Periwinkle?
“Yes, they’re fine, though they don’t deserve it. Not after everything that they have done.”
”What about the stone?” Phinnegan asked, ignoring the comment about the two Faë.
“Unfortunately,” she said quietly, “my father has it.”
Phinnegan’s eyes began to fill with tears.
“Don’t cry,” she said soothingly. “It will take time for him to grasp the stone’s powers completely.”
“No, it’s not that,” Phinnegan said, wiping his eyes. “I mean, it’s terrible, but…”
“But what?”
“But now I shall never get home. The stone was my only way home…I knew at least one of the visions would come true.”
“What visions?” Emerald asked softly, but Phinnegan only shook his head as he fought back the tears.
“Phinnegan,” she said, pulling his head so that he faced her. “I can send you home.”
“You can?” Phinnegan exclaimed, bolting upright so quickly that his head swam with dizziness.
“Yes, I can,” she said as she guided him back onto the bed. “But tomorrow. You need to rest.”
“But I want to go now.”
“I understand that, but you are already weak. This journey will tire you further. Tomorrow morning, I promise.” Her warm smile and gentle demeanor quieted Phinnegan’s insistence.
“All right…”
“Here,” she said, passing him a glass of milky liquid that smelled faintly of ginger. “Drink this. It will help you sleep and regain your strength.”
Phinnegan took the glass and drank its contents without complaint, though the taste was bitter and not at all sweet like he had imagined.
“Very good. Sleep now and tomorrow we will send you home.”
“Promise?” Phinnegan said sleepily, the draught’s effects already taking hold.
“Promise.”
CHAPTER 31
Home
When he stepped outside the following morning, Phinnegan found the three Faë, their green, red and purple hair dancing in a warm breeze. He had slept soundly, Emerald’s draught helping to clear his mind and ensure a deep sleep. He had awakened refreshed, and now the breeze and the warmth of the sun further energized him.
Today was a big day. Today he was going home.
But all did not appear to sit well with the three Faë. Phinnegan could see from Emerald’s body language that she was still angry with Periwinkle and Crimson for their abandonment of him - their use of him. As he thought about it, his face warmed at the memory of the disinterested shrug Periwinkle had shown him before disappearing with the Great Stone.
And now, Vermillion had the stone.
Phinnegan shook his head to push the thoughts from his mind.
He took a moment to take in the world around him, the last time he thought he would ever see it. The trees were tall and strong, not unlike any tree he would see at home. Nor was the sky or ground truly different from what he had seen his entire life. And yet, everything here possessed some air of surrealism - a color here was not quite right, or this one seemed too vibrant. The air, Phinnegan felt, had an energy to it that he did not remember from his own world.
“Feeling better?” Emerald questioned, pulling Phinnegan from his musings. Though she was now clearly different than when she was fading into a gholem, Phinnegan still detected a grayness to her eyes, and her hair, while still a bright green, had a less vibrant quality than the first time he had seen her.
“Yes, much,” Phinnegan said as he stood to greet her. “I never said thank you, for saving me.” Emerald waved a hand dismissively.
“Thank me? You did more for me than I could ever hope to repay. But I shall try,” she said, presenting a sly wink as she took his hand. “Are you ready?”
“You mean to go home?” Phinnegan asked, a tinge of excitement creeping into his voice.
“Yes. But first,” she paused, her smile fading, “they want to speak to you.” She jerked her head in the direction of Periwinkle and Crimson, who stood some several yards away.
“Why?”
“To apologize, I believe. You don’t have to listen, of course. If I had my way, they wouldn’t even be here.”
Phinnegan’s face hardened momentarily as he flicked his gaze to the two Faë.
“No, it’s okay. I’ll talk to them.”
The pair walked the several yards separating them from Periwinkle and Crimson. The two Faë could be seen to end their conversation as he and Emerald approached.
“Hallo, mate,” Periwinkle said with a short bow. Crimson cleared his throat, directing a sharp look at the purple-haired Faë.
“Well, I mean, I am sorry, you know. Hated leaving you like that, I did. Terrible thing. But, well, the giants were roaming and,” the Faë trailed off, his voice withering under a menacing glare from Emerald.
“Look, no excuses,” Periwinkle began, pulling Phinnegan aside and speaking quietly. “What I did…I understand if you can’t forgive me. Terrible friend, I was, but –“
“But what?” Phinnegan whispered sharply, the memory of Heronhawk blazing in his mind.
Periwinkle glanced quickly in Emerald’s direction before leaning even closer to Phinnegan.”
“I did it for her.”
“What?” Phinnegan blurted, confused by this confession.
“The Great Stone. I thought with its power I could find her, that I could save her.”
Phinnegan’s face softened as he heard the sincerity in Periwinkle’s voice. He remembered their conversation in the dark, the love that Periwinkle had confessed.
“Did you ever plan to send me home? Was it all a ruse?”
Periwinkle shrugged apologetically.
“I admit I wanted the stone first for her…but I always planned to send you home, mate. Honest, I did. But when you couldn’t pass through the doorway and I already had the stone, I….” The Faë’s eyes fell and he was silent for several moments, his eyes searching the ground for words his mind could not find.
“Here,” he said, handing Phinnegan a small purple gem he took from his vest pocket.
“What is it?” Phinnegan asked, accepting the gem.
“A symbol of the debt I owe you. You saved her when I could not…” Periwinkle’s eyes met Phinnegan’s, fierce and gleaming.
“One day, mate,” he said, nodding to the gem in Phinnegan’s hand. Without another word, Periwinkle turned and walked back to the other two Faë. Phinnegan stood alone with his thoughts, rolling the gem between his fingers.
“Phinnegan,” Emerald called. “We should get started.”
“All right,” he said, stuffing his hand, and the gem, into his trouser pocket. But as he moved to join them, Phinnegan’s knees buckled as pain lanced through him.
“Phinnegan, what’s wrong?”
The other Faë had noticed as well, and the three rushed to his side as he clutched his stomach.
“It’s nothing,” Phinnegan said through clenched teeth. “I’ll be fine.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing, mate. Here, let’s have a look.” Before Phinnegan could stop him, Periwinkle had lifted his shirt, exposing his stomach and the Mark now branded there.
The collective gasp from the Faë was followed by an extended silence. Phinnegan shifted his feet, embarrassed and awkward feeling now that the Faë had seen the symbol he bore.
Emerald was first to break the silence. She moved to Phinnegan and pulled his shirt down. When she looked at him, Phinnegan saw multiple emotions swimming beneath her eyes.
“I fear that though you may not wish it, you will return to us one day.” She took each of his hands in one of hers and leaned closer to him. “I will not forget what you have done,” she continued in a whisper.
“Come on,” she said, speaking normally with a weak cheer in her voice. “Let’s get you home.”
Periwinkle and Crimson moved to join them, but both avoided looking directly a
t Phinnegan.
“How will you get me home?” Phinnegan said, trying to deter everyone’s minds from his Mark. “I thought Periwinkle said it was impossible.”
“Well, we have a bit of an advantage now, haven’t we?” Periwinkle reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, which he proceeded to toss to Emerald. Phinnegan recognized it once it was in her hands.
“That’s like the stone that brought me here.”
“Not just like, mate. It is the stone.”
Phinnegan thought back to Féradoon when the juror had questioned the stone.
“It said its owner was Emerald Wren.” He looked at the green-haired Faë beside him. “You? But how did Periwinkle…” He stopped when she raised a hand.
“That is a story worth telling, but not now. Time is short. The effects of the Great Stone will not last too much longer.”
“How do you mean? Did it sort of…strengthen it?”
“Yes, something like that. Any ordinary stone would soak up some of the Great Stone’s energy if placed near it. Periwinkle had both for quite awhile. More than enough time for this task.”
“What do we need to do?”
“Just hold my hand,” Emerald said. When Phinnegan placed his hand in hers, she squeezed it reassuringly.
“Should I close my eyes?” he asked.
“You can if you like.”
Phinnegan closed his eyes, just as a gentle breeze began to playfully tousle his hair. The breeze became cooler, prickling his flesh with hundreds of tiny bumps. He expected the characteristic tug at his middle that he had come to expect from travelling in this world. The breeze became cooler still, and when the first drop of rain dotted his cheek, he opened his eyes to check the sky for he could not remember seeing even one cloud.
But he opened his eyes not to a sky aglow with the morning sun, but instead to darkness. Not a total darkness like the belly of Féradoon, but a more familiar, comforting darkness, one dimly lit by a full moon whose light only just penetrated the rain clouds.
When his eyes adjusted to the reduced light, they quickly settled on that most longed for sight. His heart seemed to skip a beat and a sense of relief coursed through him.
“Home,” he whispered.
“Yes,” Emerald said, squeezing his hand. “Home.”
Sitting alone in his room the following morning, the window shut fast against cold and relentless rain, Phinnegan sipped cautiously from the cup of black tea his mother had just brought him. The spicy scent of clove drifted from the cup to his nose. It was her way of showing that she was no longer angry, despite sending him to bed the previous night without supper.
After Emerald had said her goodbyes and disappeared in a faint distortion, but not before once again expressing her gratitude, Phinnegan had run all the way to the front door of his home. When he burst through the door, his mother had scolded him both for being gone the entire evening and missing supper, as well as tracking a bucket’s worth of water in with him and onto the floor.
One afternoon. It all happened in one afternoon.
The thought was so unfathomable that he nearly wondered if he had imagined it all. When he had awakened earlier that morning, the Mark on his stomach had almost faded completely. So faint were its lines that he thought perhaps those, too, were something he had dreamed.
But what about the book?
Setting his tea on the bedside table, he rushed to the pile of dirty clothes he had tossed into a corner. Finding the pants he had worn the previous night, he searched the pockets until his fingers touched the supple leather of the book’s binding.
Withdrawing the book, he stared at its cover for several moments, tracing the now familiar symbol emblazoned upon its cover.
“What secrets do you hold?” he whispered, turning the book over in his hands before opening its cover.
There, on the first page, the answer awaited him.
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Table of contents
Title Page
Cover Copy
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1 – Phinnegan Qwyk
Chapter 2 – A Late Night Visitor
Chapter 3 – Periwinkle Lark
Chapter 4 – A Second Visit
Chapter 5 – Under the Mountain
Chapter 6 – Féradoon
Chapter 7 – Judge and Jury
Chapter 8 – A Lack of Evidence
Chapter 9 – A Place Beyond The Map
Chapter 10 – Nightmares
Chapter 11 – A Friendly House
Chapter 12 – The Troll Under the Bridge
Chapter 13 – Riddles
Chapter 14 – The Plan Revealed
Chapter 15 – An Unwilling Thief
Chapter 16 – A-Door-Within-A-Door
Chapter 17 – Jack
Chapter 18 – ‘Pixy-Led’
Chapter 19 – An Ancient Token
Chapter 20 – Nightfall
Chapter 21 – Elevenses
Chapter 22 – A Man and a Quill
Chapter 23 – A House of Many Secrets
Chapter 24 – A Visitor
Chapter 25 – A Dinner Party
Chapter 26 – A Book of Secrets
Chapter 27 – The First Gate
Chapter 28 – Labyrinth
Chapter 29 – Cernon
Chapter 30 – ‘Escape’
Chapter 31 - Home
A PLACE BEYOND THE MAP
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Samuel Thews
Cover Illustration Copyright © 2011 by Larque
This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
To my first readers – Mom, Heather and Eva