“They wouldn’t be able to do anything,” I said forcefully, feeling my temper rise. It was an unusual feeling for me. I liked being a live-and-let-live kind of guy. Life was a game, and I loved playing it. But I didn’t like feeling like I wasn’t trusted. “I’d never talk. I’d find a way to keep myself quiet. Heck, I’d bite off my tongue before ratting. I’d never give them what they wanted. I’d die first.”
I was shocked at the conviction in my own voice. But at the same time, I knew it was true. I’d seen enough movies and read enough books where the bad guys captured the good guys and tortured them. I knew what to expect, what kind of head games people could play with you. Maybe I was nuts, but I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I’d have to go through. I wasn’t looking forward to it, but I was ready to face it if I had to.
Cara just looked at me. And in her eyes I saw the dawning of a new recognition. Like she was looking at me for the first time, really looking, where before I’d always been in the background.
She stood up and faced me, clenching her left fist and putting it over her heart. She bowed low from the waist. I was surprised, and more than a little uncomfortable.
“I am sorry for insulting you, my Lord,” she said quietly. “I dismissed you because of your age. I, of all people, should have known better. People misjudged me when I was younger as well. Please, I beg your forgiveness.”
“Um, sure,” I said, shrugging. “It’s whateves. I’m not angry, really. Heck, I’m actually scared out of my gourd. But the others don’t have to worry about me talking. That much I know.”
Cara straightened and took her seat beside me again. Darren looked back and forth between us, regarding Cara with some surprise and me with what looked like a new measure of respect.
The moment was ruined as he muttered, “On the contrary, my Lord, I am always worried that you are about to start talking.”
NAP TIME
CALVIN
THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE FOR me to do, so I pulled some food from my travel sack and chewed it slowly until Tess finally showed up. She came awake and looked around, seeming surprised to see only me. Nora knelt beside her and helped her to her feet.
“I thought Blade would have been here already,” Tess said quietly after she’d finished scanning the camp.
Despite the pit of fear sitting in my stomach at the thought of my body held captive on Earth, I couldn’t help but smile secretly at that. Tess and Blade had such goo-goo eyes for each other, it was ridiculous. And it was painfully obvious how clueless they both were about it. I was the group nerd, and I felt like I should step in and give Blade a little brotherly advice. Of course, he probably would have given me a wedgie.
“Um, yeah,” I said to Tess, bypassing that thought process before it could get out of my head. “There’s a little bit of a situation back home, and Blade’s not going to come over until it’s handled. Same with Miles and Sarah.”
“A situation?” Tess asked, confused. “What kind of situation?”
“I was kind of kidnapped,” I said briskly. “We’re pretty sure that it’s the Association. I’m guessing they’re going to try torturing me to find out who the rest of you are and where they can find you.”
Tess’ eyes widened—at least, the one I could see did. The other was hidden behind her hair.
“Oh,” she said in a mouse’s whisper.
“Yeah, so, goood morning Vietnam!” I said, putting on a face of bravado I didn’t feel. “In the meantime, I need you to do something. Can you contact Greystone and see if there’s a way to put me to sleep?”
“She should have something to eat first,” said Nora, her tone full of reproach. “She’s only just woken up.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Tess spared me the trouble. “It’s all right, Nora,” she said. “This is important. Breakfast can wait. But Calvin, why do you want me to put you to sleep?”
I ignored Nora’s look of disappointment. “Because I need to figure out where I am,” I said. “That’s the one advantage we’ve got. If I can figure out where I’m at on Earth, I can tell you guys when I come back here. Then you all can find me and stage a rescue.”
“Okay,” Tess said uncertainly. “But why don’t you just use the sleeping potion?”
“Because we’ve got a limited supply of them, and right now, they’re not working,” I said. “My body on Earth is drugged, so I can’t be woken up. That means that if I start to pass out here, I fade and then pretty much come right back.”
“Oh,” she said again, quieter this time. “Well, I guess I’ll call Greystone then.”
“Good on ya,” I said. “Take your time. As long as you realize I’m in desperately mortal danger.”
Rather than answer, Tess sat down and extended her hand to me, clutching the telestone in the other. I sat beside her and placed my hand lightly in hers. Darren, who had been watching silently, took a seat on the ground beside me while Nora sat beside Tess.
At first Tess was staring at me, and then her eyes refocused, like she was looking right through my head at something in the distance. Then her eyes went pure white. I shuddered. I knew there was nothing to worry about, but there’s only so much you can suppress after a lifetime of watching horror movies. The eyes always go white right before locusts start pouring from their mouths.
There was a sudden spark in the air, and then Greystone appeared at our side. I shifted slightly so that Tess and I were sitting beside each other, looking at Greystone as he “stood” above us. Nora took Tess’ hand, while Darren placed his own hand on my shoulder to establish contact.
“Yes, what is it?” Greystone said gruffly. He looked around, surprised. “Where are the others? Why is it only the two of you?”
“Okay, so there’s been a few developments,” I said, wanting to broach this with extreme caution. “It appears that I may have been…kidnapped…on True Earth.”
“What?” roared Greystone, his eyes flashing and his eyebrows leaping up and down like jumping beans.
“Someone grabbed me after school yesterday,” I said, as calmly as I could. “Sarah, Blade and Miles are doing their best to track me down. But we need your help here.”
“Who took you?” Greystone demanded. “Was it the Association?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “They knocked me out. I’ve been here ever since. And I can’t fall back asleep here. I tried drinking a sleeping potion, but I couldn’t fully wake up on True Earth.”
Greystone looked around wildly. “No, you wouldn’t, if you were knocked unconscious on the other side. The others must find you. Immediately.”
“They’re working on it,” I said. “They’re on Earth now, but without information, they’re searching blind. So I want Tess to be able to put me to sleep. I can’t keep drinking sleeping potions, but if Tess can work a little magic, we can keep trying and trying until I eventually wake up and see if I can figure out where I am.”
Greystone shook his head, his frown deepening. “Have you gone completely daft? If you wake up there, in the care of the Association, they will question you. Torture you. They will find out where the others are.”
“I won’t tell them anything,” I said. “I only need to hold out for a few hours, until I fall asleep or pass out again. If I can figure out where I’m at in that time, I can come back here and tell Raven. Then she’ll go over and alert the others. It’s the best chance we’ve got.”
Greystone looked skyward and shook his head. “Oh, of course. We should trust you, the one who hasn’t even crossed the threshold of adulthood yet. Nothing would give me greater joy than handing over the fate of the Realm Keepers and the Twin Worlds over to a mere boy. That is what is known as ‘sarcasm,’ by the way.”
“Hey, man, I know what I’m doing,” I said. “I’ve seen enough movies to know how to survive at least a day of interrogation.”
Darren leaned in. “My Lord, I am unfamiliar with the concept of these ‘movies,’ but I believe I have heard enough to know that they are a
poor basis for reality.”
I placed my hand firmly on Darren’s face and pushed him out of sight. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got this. Can you teach Tess how to put me to sleep, or not?”
Greystone harrumphed. “Very well. Since it appears we have few other choices.” His attention turned to Tess. “Lady Tess,” he said. “Do you remember the mind control you performed on Lord Calvin here in Morrowdust? The moment when you made him see the stone that was not there?”
Tess nodded. “Sure I do. That’s easy.”
“Hey!”
“A spell of slumber is quite similar,” Greystone went on. “All you must do is get into his mind in the same manner, and then plant the seed of thought there that he is tired.”
Tess nodded. “Okay. If that’s all there is to it, I’m sure I can figure it out.”
“But be exceedingly careful,” Greystone said. “You must hold the picture in your mind of physical weariness. If you go too far, you can weaken him, and it will require quite some time to recover. Go too much further than that, and you could render him little better than a vegetable.”
“Whoah!” I said. “What now?”
Darren spoke up again in concern. “Watcher, if the spell carries risks, it would seem unwise to chance it without your supervision.”
“What’s that?” Cara said from the other side of the camp. “What risks?”
“Yeah, so, it turns out the spell might turn me into a brainless zombie,” I said nervously.
Cara strode to us quickly and sat beside Darren, seizing his wrist so she could see Greystone.
“Watcher, we cannot risk the lives of the Realm Keepers,” she said emphatically. “Our entire quest depends upon them.
“Have a little faith in Lady Tess, Captain” Nora said, smiling. “She’s stronger than she seems.”
Tess nodded to Greystone, ignoring all of us. “Okay, I’ll try to be careful.”
“Hang on,” I squeaked. “I’m not so sure I like this idea any more.”
Greystone’s grin was almost sadistic. “It was your idea, Lord Calvin. But fear not—I have tremendous confidence in Lady Tess’ abilities. Much more so, in fact, than in your own.”
“Watcher…” said Cara anxiously.
Tess looked at me innocently. Her pure-white eyes made it hard to tell if she was staring at me. “I’ll just give it a try now, if that’s okay.”
I felt my mouth go dry. “Um, sure,” I said, my voice an octave higher than normal. “I guess that’s fine. Just…um…try to be careful?”
“Of course,” she said with a small smile.
“Wait!” said Darren. “Watcher, please. Let her try the spell on me first.”
I looked at Darren in surprise. “Dude, seriously?”
Darren looked at Greystone earnestly. “My oaths pledge me to protect Lord Calvin. If there is a chance of his coming to harm, I must place myself in that harm’s way instead. Let her try it on me first. If it works, then she can perform it on Lord Calvin. If it does not, he will not come to harm.”
“He’s right,” agreed Cara. “We have all sworn the oaths. Better that any or all of us should come to harm than even one of them.”
I put a hand on Darren’s shoulder, touched. “Man, Darren, it’s okay. You don’t have to do that.”
He looked at me, his solemnity dissipating for a moment as he arched an eyebrow and smiled. “Actually, I swore an oath to do just that. That’s how it works, my Lord.”
“Sir Darren is correct,” said Greystone, looking at him with approval. “A selfless and excellent suggestion. Lady Tess, if you would.”
“Okay,” Tess said, turning to Darren. “Don’t worry, I think I know what I’m doing.”
“You think?” said Darren with a humorous laugh. “Don’t worry. I trust you, my Lady.” But he gulped visibly as he said it.
Tess concentrated. Slowly, her eyebrows drew together.
Darren’s eyes snapped shut, and he slumped backward to the ground. His arms fell to his sides, his head lolled and his mouth fell open. A thick, wheezy breath leaked out.
“Darren!” I cried, letting go of Tess’ hand for the moment to reach over and grab his shoulders. I shook as hard as I could.
With a shout, Darren came awake, leaping up and throwing my arms off his shoulders. He threw me aside like a rag doll as he came to wakefulness, and I fell to the ground with a thud that cast the breath from my lungs.
“Lord Calvin!” cried Darren in dismay. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He knelt above me, distraught, and helped pull me up.
“No problem,” I gasped, fighting to take a breath. “I thought you’d gone brain-dead. Turns out you just have a really ugly sleeping face.”
Darren laughed. “Well, I guess I couldn’t have hurt you too badly, if you’re still trying to make jokes.”
“What do you mean, ‘trying?’” I asked, hurt and still hardly able to breathe in. “That’s Grade A humor right there.”
“Guys, could you make a connection again?” Tess said mildly. “Greystone’s kind of freaking out over here.”
Of course. Greystone couldn’t see us. Darren and I quickly sat back down. But as we reseated ourselves, Cara took a position next to Tess, meaning that I had to take her hand as I reestablished the connection. Her firm, strong fingers wrapped around mine, and I felt a little tingle. Her skin was pale, but rough and callused from a lifetime of wielding a sword. I risked a glance at her hand wrapped around my own, and suddenly I found myself with a whole other reason to have trouble breathing.
Greystone sprang back into ghostly life, hands twitching and face furious.
“What happened?” he demanded. “Are you whole?”
“We’re fine,” I said. “I thought Darren had been hurt, but he just fell asleep.”
Greystone gave a great sigh, but the anger on his face went nowhere. “Perhaps next time you could keep me appraised of the situation before disappearing from sight.”
“Sorry,” I said. “But the good news is, Tess’ spell works.”
“I never doubted it,” he said. “Now, what is your next step?”
“She’ll put me to sleep,” I said. “If it doesn’t work, she’ll try again in an hour. We’ll keep it up until the chloroform wears off on True Earth and I can come awake. Then, as soon as I can, I’ll sleep again on the other side and come back here. Raven should be up by then, and she’ll go back to Earth to help the others find me.”
“I suppose it is the best we can do, under the circumstances,” Greystone said gruffly. “Why am I not surprised that it would be you who would be captured and put the rest of us into mortal danger?”
“Hey!” I said, annoyed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Figure it out,” he said cryptically. “You have a reputation of being a genius. Now, Lady Tess—if you would?”
Tess turned to me. “Are you ready?”
I gulped nervously and nodded. As I watched, her brow furrowed in concentration. I didn’t feel anything. She wasn’t moving, and Greystone and the Runegard were staring at the two of us intently. Then—
—I was slung over a back with broad shoulders. All I could see was black pants. Something covered my mouth. I moved as the person carrying me walked forward, and out of the corner of my eye I saw an old warehouse—
—and then I was back in the camp, my eyes shooting open as my head, nodding to my chest, came up.
“It worked!” Tess said excitedly.
“Yeah, except I still can’t wake up over there,” I said, my stomach churning from the rush. “Everything was hazy, and my head hurt like it had an ice pick dug into it.”
“What did you see?” Greystone asked eagerly. “Could you determine your location?”
I shook my head. “All I saw was a building like a warehouse. But no idea where it was.”
“Still, a warehouse is something,” Tess said eagerly. “I mean, how many warehouses can there be in town? We should send Raven back as soon as she wa
kes up. Or maybe I should go back.”
I shook my head. “I don’t want to send anyone back until I’ve got something more concrete—Raven might have trouble falling back to sleep once she goes over. It’s been hours since I was taken. I might not even be in Cranston any more.”
“Is Cranston the kingdom from which you hail?” asked Darren, interested.
“Um, sure, if by kingdom you mean small town in America,” I said with a shrug.
“Lord Calvin is right,” said Greystone, surprising me. “We must learn more before we send back Lady Raven or any of the others. Lady Tess, you must keep trying to send him back, as often as you can.”
“I will,” said Tess.
“And in the meantime, you should withdraw,” he said. “Maintaining the link for much longer will begin to tire you. We do not want you to be fishing around in Lord Calvin’s mind and make a mistake out of weariness.”
“Agreed,” I said heartily. “I am on board with this.”
“Very well,” said Greystone with a wrinkled old smirk. “I will keep the scrying stone upon me. If anything new happens, inform me immediately. ”
“We will,” said Tess. “Good-bye.”
Greystone nodded and vanished from sight.
The others got up and slowly drifted away into the camp. I remained sitting, lost in thought. I’d spoken to Greystone, Sarah and the others with a little more bravado than I was actually feeling. Would I really be able to hold back information if the Association did torture me? I knew there was no such thing as a “truth serum” like you see in the movies. I thanked my lucky stars for that—I didn’t have the training to resist one if it did exist.
What if they loaded me up on stimulants and kept me awake? What if they never let me return to Midrealm to tell the others where I was? Worse, what if I couldn’t figure out my location?
“Lord Calvin?” said Cara, a snicker in her voice. “If I may please have my hand back?”
I started and looked down. My hand was still clutching hers tightly. I hadn’t even noticed she was still sitting next to me. I released her hand and wiped mine off. My palm was sweaty. Suddenly I was embarrassed.
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