Myth

by Terri Todosey

  “Again!” the white haired faery calls out, and more arrows fly, filling the sky with resolve. Willow darts into the air, following the screen of arrows, with the other winged ones behind her and swords ready to strike down the hordes of Ludo’s army that remain.

  The wingless faeries attack as well. Their strength and agility make up for the wings they lack, as they slide down the foresail and land on deck, ready to duel with the demons who have boarded the ship uninvited. More male faeries swing out on rigging ropes and up into the air with the skill of an acrobat, striking the beasts with their swords and bold conviction.

  The hellkites that hold the humans hostage circle high above the tallest mast. They watch the battle unfold, like vultures waiting for death upon which to feast. Sulfurous smoke reaches up from the ship. The demons are falling, but the faeries are tiring and Ludo has held back her strongest demons for last.

  “ATTACK!” Ludo hollers as she herself dives down to the ship, her mouth full of curses and saliva dripping through her teeth. She ravenously searches for the Myth and smites anything that gets in her way.

  “Bring me the humansss!” she hisses and the birds swoop down towards the ship’s deck, releasing the boy and girl.

  Woe to the one who boards the ship without welcome. She is here for the Myth with deception on her tongue and destruction on her tail. She has no control over that she wants most.

  Woe to the one who follows her ways, for her path is proud and it leads to desolation. Her lips drip with accusation, but forgiveness is not hers to give.

  Woe to the one who wages war against the Myth, for the Myth has the Maker’s seal on her forehead and his love is in her heart. She has been given a shield of promises and wears a fiery sword around her neck.

  Blessed is the one for whom death has no sting.

  “Where are you hiding?” I heard Ludo’s snarl just outside the door. I looked up to see the door swing open and a black mass unfurl into the room like a shadow spreading out, darkening Ludo’s arrival.

  “Look who I’ve found,” Ludo’s voice surrounded me, and suddenly she was there in the room.

  I gasped, shocked at her grotesque transformation. Her face had withered against her chiseled skull and her red hair drooped in clumps, large patches of it having been pulled out.

  “HA!” she heckled. “I have that effect on most, but it pleases me that you of all people find me overwhelming.”

  My stomach tightened, as I stood up behind the desk. Three demons entered the room, each holding a sword to the throats of Justin, Emily and Willow.

  I didn’t know what to do; unnerved, I wanted to collapse under the responsibility that lay before me.

  “Tali!” Emily shrieked. “Where’s Henry? Where’s the Myth?”

  “The Myth?” Ludo’s eyes darted towards Emily. “You really don’t know?” she heckled. “Of course she hasn’t told you. Why would she? She needed to protect herself.”

  “Tali? What is she talking about?” asked Emily.

  “Yes Tali. Tell her!” Ludo’s foul face turned once again towards me.

  “I’m the Myth,” I mumbled.

  “COME and see your GREAT and MIGHTY MYTH!” Ludo mocked, waltzing over to me. “Look at the pitiful creature, hiding in here like the coward that she is. You don’t need to be frightened my dear girl!” Her breath reeked of rotten flesh. “For I’ve not come to hurt you. I have come to save you!” She smiled a wicked smile.

  All eyes looked at me for my response. ‘What would the Myth say?’ they all wondered. I wondered too, but no words came.

  “Oh dear,” Ludo pouted. “Seems that you’re lost for words again. Shall I help you as I did before?” She leaned down towards me just as she had done that day in town when I had first seen her. Back when she was still Lustro and I was just Tali. Her dark eyes spit venomous curses and her face was so repulsive that I had to look away. Her hand yanked my chin and pulled me back to face her.

  “I know who you are. Your eyes say it all, but your mouth I still command. Everyone is watching you, dearest Myth. So tell them, who is Queen?”

  A thick lump filled my throat. It ached as it rose up and I swallowed hard to keep it down.

  ‘Henry!’ I thought. ‘Why have you left me now?’

  My mouth quivered, as I fought to keep it shut, but Ludo’s hold on me was strong. The evil confidence of her smile made me wonder if I had already lost the fight.

  “Lu.. Lu...” My tongue contorted as I tried to bite it shut.

  “No Tali! Don’t say it!” said Justin.

  “Not a breath out of you!” hissed Ludo and with a flick of her hand she shot him back against the wall. She held him with a force I could not see. He was choking.

  I shut my eyes. I couldn’t bear to watch my failure unfold.

  ‘Please Henry! Don’t let me fail!’ I pleaded.

  ‘You will not fail.’ Henry’s green eyes glowed in my mind, as his voice assured me. ‘Remember, I adore you, and if I am for you, who is she to stand against you?’

  “SAY IT!” Ludo commanded.

  My eyes flicked open and I could hear Emily whimpering as she cowered on the floor.

  “Lu... ” I panted. My mind screamed at me for allowing Ludo to do this.

  Even Willow looked horrified. With her hand on her sword, she was ready for my command. More ready for battle than I.

  I grit my teeth, hating Ludo for her control over me. ‘No!’ I thought. ‘You have no control over me.’

  “LUDO!” I finally pushed out. “You will NEVER be my Queen!”

  Her eyes flinched. She hadn’t been expecting that, and all eyes widened in anticipation for what would come next.

  “Oh child,” she pouted, letting go of my chin. “You are still a child aren’t you?” she asked, nodding her head as though answering her own question. “I can see that you have no idea what you are saying, nor the consequence of your hostile assault towards me.” Smiling, she continued. “But you will see I am a generous Queen, giving to those that which they deserve. So I ask again, who is your Queen?” She put her face right near mine and whispered, “I can give you your heart’s desire, or unleash more destruction than you can possibly fathom.”

  “Let Justin go,” my voice quivered softly.

  “What’s that dear?” she tittered. “I couldn’t quite hear you. It sounded as though you were asking me to let your friend go.”

  “Let him go,” I said again.

  “Now why would I do that?” she sneered. “For all I know, you might be a traitor to my Kingdom.”

  “I’m not a traitor, for you were NEVER my Queen, and this is not your Kingdom!” I said with far more confidence than I felt.

  She gasped with rage and raised her hand up to smite me.

  “Let Justin go!” I said much more loudly, “Or I will impart the three woes I have written against you!”

  Not a breath could be heard as everyone stood frozen, waiting for what would come next.

  “Why do you treat me this way?” Ludo recoiled. “Don’t you see his trickery? It is Henry you should fear, not me,” she pleaded. “I only want to help you.”

  Justin’s face was turning blue as he gasped for air and I knew there was no more time to waste.

  “Woe to you who has come without welcome. You are not here to help, but have come to deceive and destruction follows you closely.”

  “You have no power over me!” she squealed loudly. Regaining her composure, she took a deep breath and sighed. “You cannot deny that our union would be matchless. If you renounce what you have said, I shall consider forgiveness.” Ludo’s eyes glowed as a broad, malicious grin spread over her face. “Together we will be indomitable!”

  “Woe to the one who follows your ways, for your path leads to desolation and forgiveness is not yours to give.”

  “STOP THIS NONSENSE A
T ONCE!” her lips spewed rage and her face burned red with hatred. “I will NOT have you ssssspeak to me thisssss way!” she hissed and took a deep breath before continuing. “Be careful what you say to me and what you take from me,” she said glancing at the Troth on the desk beside me. “If you are not for me, you are against me!”

  “Woe to the one against ME, for those who oppose me will be opposed by the Maker. His promises are my shield.” I took hold of the Troth. “His pen is my sword!” I grasped Spiritus around my neck. “I bear his name on my forehead and find his love in my heart.”

  Ludo writhed in pain and Justin fell to the ground, gasping for air. Refusing to give in to defeat, Ludo raised her hand and threw a massive bolt of lightning against me. It lit the room as it stretched towards me and struck the Troth before its forked tongue sunk into my chest. Spiritus surged brilliantly over my heart, whitening the room and all of those in it as it absorbed the fierce energy Ludo had sent to destroy me. Recoiling back, Ludo shielded her eyes from the blinding light and crumpled against the wall.

  “Leave,” I commanded while pointing to the door. “You are unwanted here, and as you can see the pen is eager to write your end.”

  “Your choice has been made and so be it,” Ludo muttered. “If it is war you want, then it is war you will receive,” she vowed, her wings sweeping around her like a veil. She exited the room with her demons groveling as they followed closely behind.

  As I watched the pathetic parade, the last demon turned at the door and glanced back at me sadly. I recognized Spero, and then he was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Worlds Apart

  When we reached the deck the only trace of Ludo and her demons was the horrid smell of burnt sulphur they had left behind. The sun was high in the sky and the red mist over the lake had been evaporated by the warm air of day.

  “Spiritus is still glowing,” said Emily.

  I looked down at the pen whose radiant glow out shone the bright day and I knew what it meant. It was ready to write us home.

  “It’s time to go,” I said, hardly believing it myself. We had lived a long adventure that few back at home would believe if we ever chose to tell them.

  I looked around the ship. Narina had been good to me, just as Henry had promised. The faeries had gathered around us and were waiting for my next move. Waiting for their purpose to begin. Waiting to take the Troth to the temple, where it would remain hidden until Ludo would find them again.

  “Stay on deck Willow, and have the others stay with you,” I said. “We need to go to a safe place now. A place where even Ludo can’t find us.”

  “But what are we to do without you?” she asked, and I suddenly felt the unabating weight of the role I had fallen into.

  “Listen carefully, and when you hear the book drop, you will know that we are gone,” I smiled reassuringly. “And remember, when horror strikes and all seems lost, it cannot be the end, for the story ends well,” I reminded her.

  “I will my lady,” she said.

  Stepping alone to the bow of the ship I looked out on the shimmering sea that sparkled in the light of the sun. “I love you Henry!” I whispered. “And I will never forget you.”

  “Come on,” I heard Emily holler. “It’s nearly noon and we don’t want to be late for lunch.”

  We said our goodbyes to the faeries and crept back down to the Captains quarters to hide, unseen by our companions.

  “I’m actually gonna miss this place,” said Justin.

  “Me too,” I said.

  “I miss my family,” said Emily.

  “Me too,” I smiled.

  Perhaps I was happy to be going home again? My thoughts drifted back to the world we had left so long ago. It seemed so far away, and yet we were only words apart really. Two worlds separated by the written words of the Myth and Troth.

  Pushing aside the single chair in the room, I sat down on the floor with Spiritus in my hand and the Troth in my lap. Justin and Emily followed.

  I flipped through the pages, reflecting back on some of the chapters. ‘The Craving Tree’, made me think about Yeri with his family in the forest of Saltus. ‘The Winds Eye,’ caused me to wondered what Alfred was conjuring up in the laboratory. My eyes settled on ‘The Maker’, and I longed to see Henry one last time.

  I quickly flipped to the first blank page.

  “So how will you be getting us back home then?” asked Emily.

  “The same way we came in,” I said.

  “We need to think back to that day we left. The day we were locked up in the cellar,” I said.

  We sat facing each other cross-legged on the wooden floor of the Captain’s quarters.

  “Remember that crazy helmet I found?” laughed Justin.

  “And the old viewfinder with all those trees?” added Emily.

  “Oh yeah,” I said. “And there were all those boxes filled with random stuff. Remember the room?” I asked. “Remember what it looked like? What it smelt like?

  “It smelled like dirt and mothballs,” said Justin.

  Emily and I giggled.

  “Now keep your thoughts on the cellar and imagine the way it would be now, not long after we had left. What time is it Justin?”

  Justin looked down at his watch.

  “11:54am.”

  “Just in time for lunch,” I smiled. “Now let’s go there.”

  I took a deep breath and looked down at the blank page of paper in front of me and the pen I held in my hand. Spiritus burned brightly with a white light that illuminated the full room around us. Its desire to write us home was obvious.

  A bead of ink sat waiting on its silver tip. I lowered Spiritus to the page but the pen could not contain its desire and a drop of ink fell, landing in one big blotch. The black stain spread out and bled deeply into the grain of paper.

  My thoughts entered the cellar as I read aloud the words my own hand wrote.

  ‘The cellar was cooler than the rooms above and the dirt floor and mothballs made it smell older than the day I was born. It was dark and quiet, except for the footprints of the many helpers we could hear above us. My cell phone was set to the flashlight app and although it was faint, it still provided enough light for me to see it sitting on the floooooooor w h e r e I had d r o p p e d itttt.

  “WHOOOSH!” I looked past the book to see a faint light burning through the floor boards not far from me. Spiritus had dimmed, causing the room around us to darken.

  “NO!” I heard someone cry, but darkness saturated the room and I couldn’t see anything but the dim glow of light on the floor. It was small, but grew in intensity as I looked at it. Slowly, other beams of light joined in and danced around the room and I found myself no longer in the Captain’s quarters of Narina, but in the cellar I had just described. The light from my cell phone although dim, shone up at me from the dirt floor. Then another beam of light swept across my peripheral and I looked up to see that we weren’t alone in the cellar.

  “We’ve got to get them out of here!” I heard Ms. Littner’s voice beside me and I looked over to see Justin coughing miserably, as she struggled to help him up the stairs.

  Emily sat on the concrete floor looking horribly pale with her mom in tears beside her.

  “We’ve got to get you up sweetheart,” she whimpered, but Emily looked despondent.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, but she said nothing as Mr. McGraw rushed into view with a flash light to help carry her up the creaky wooden stairs.

  —

  It was weird being home again. Back in my room I lay in the dark beneath my pink heart wallpaper. What had gone wrong? It wasn’t at all as I had expected. Maybe I was supposed to write a more cheery entrance?

  Emily and Justin both wound up in the hospital, injured on the way back home through the rift. Justin was released to come home, but Emily had been kept over
night for observation.

  I didn’t understand why, but my welcome home was less than welcoming. My parents cried for most of the afternoon and had gone to see Emily at the hospital. I think they were understandably upset with me for going down to the cellar. Worried that Emily’s mom might be upset with me as well, I decided to stay home. I hadn’t even had the chance to tell my parents about what happened to us, and I wondered now if I even should. They were too upset and probably would never believe me anyway.

  Something didn’t feel right being back home. Why hadn’t I gotten sick like Justin and Emily? Maybe my sickness had come in the form of a broken heart? I had just left the most amazing place I had ever travelled to and returned home, somehow feeling more homesick than ever. It had been a great story, filled with adventure, true friendship and love, so now at the end of it all, why was I so sad?

  I saw my knapsack at the side of my bed and leaned over to unzip the top. Inside was my cherry lip balm (which I opened and rubbed over my lips), my wallet and house key, the long overdue library book, and the one purple shoe with the note still tucked inside it. Pulling out the shoe, my mind went back to the day I had worn it. The day Henry had kissed me in the stairwell. I missed him immensely and imagined him back in his study, writing the note I now held. I envisioned how his lip would curve up into that adorable crooked smile of his.

  I yawned. ‘My day had been longer than the sun would allow,’ is what Henry would have said. Would he be thinking of me too? Had he read my letter?

  My mind drifted back to him and his green eyes I had promised never to forget. They carried so much expression, and I remembered how they’d looked at me when he smiled. How they had widened in surprise when I did something unexpected, and how they gazed at me before we kissed. They were eyes that told a story and I longed to see them again, even if only in my dream.

  ‘Go back to the water,’ I thought, knowing it was where I always dreamt of him. But I wasn’t in the water this time. I was on the shore, looking out towards the sea. The sun was shining brightly and I saw him. He was coming up out of the water and was walking towards me.