Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2)

by Garrett Robinson

  Blade stared at me like I’d lost it. “Okay, animal nut. Save the biology paper for school.”

  I sniffed. “I’m just saying, it could be a significant contribution to my scientific field.”

  Blade rolled his eyes. “Whatever, weirdo. Can we go to bed now?”

  The adrenaline had worn off once again, and I was twice as weary as before. I nodded weakly. I turned to find Cara standing with Samuel and Melaine. She embraced Melaine first, the two of them clasping each other’s wrists and then wrapping their left arms around each other. Cara repeated the gesture with Samuel. I smiled softly. I often forgot that the Runegard had been fighting together far longer than they’d been by our sides.

  “Okay, I guess that’s our cue to hit the hay,” I said. “Cara, have you gotten any sleep?”

  “Yes, thank you, my Lord,” she said with a nod.

  “Great. Do you mind taking the first watch? Samuel and Melaine have been up for who knows how long.”

  “It would be my honor, my Lord,” she said, clasping a hand to her breast in a salute.

  “Hey, that reminds me,” said Blade. “How long have we been out, exactly? Calvin, what time is it on Earth?”

  Calvin thought for a moment. “Probably about ten at night. I came back early to look for you guys, but I’ve been here for a few hours now.”

  “Oh, jeez,” I moaned. “My mom’s gotta be freaking.”

  “Okay, no biggie,” said Blade. “Let’s just get back there and take care of things.”

  “Don’t forget to give the girls a text, let them know we’re safe,” I said.

  Blade waved a hand dismissively. “I’ll give Tess a call.”

  I sighed. I’d probably have to be the one to let Sarah and Raven know we were okay.

  “Okay, we head home, check in, and come back here after a few hours,” I said. “Spend the rest of the night here trying to find a way out of the caves.”

  Blade grunted in agreement.

  My blanket and travel sack were still on the floor where I’d left them. At long last I crashed down on top of them and let myself drift off to a near-instant sleep.

  I woke on Earth.

  No sunlight streamed in through my window blinds. It was night.

  I heard a murmuring voice and kept my eyes closed. It was my mom. She was standing just outside my room. In my room, I heard soft breathing. There was someone else in there with me. For the moment I let myself appear asleep, listening hard.

  “Yes, well if he doesn’t wake up soon I will definitely be calling them,” my mom said. No change in the breathing within my room. “Thank you so much for the info. I appreciate it. All right. Bye.” There was a click as my mom hung up the phone.

  I didn’t know who she was talking about exactly, but I could guess. There was nothing good that could come out of that conversation.

  I opened my eyes and sat up. My little sister Monica was asleep in my desk chair, slumped down, her lips pursed as she wheezed through them. I’d clearly been worrying her if she was spending time in my room waiting for me to wake up. But I couldn’t wake her. She looked too peaceful. I slipped quietly out of my bed, donning some pjs before I made my way to the hall.

  I stepped out from my bedroom door. My mom and dad were standing a little way down the hall, deep in conversation. It took them a second to notice me. Finally I cleared my throat. Their eyes shot up, and for a moment they paused in silence. Then they both came down the hallway at a walk so fast it was almost a run. They wrapped me up in a big hug.

  “Hey, son,” said my dad.

  “How long was I out?” I murmured.

  “More than a day,” my mom said. “I thought those spells were over with.”

  “I did, too,” I said. I’d spent more than a few days in Midrealm weeks before when we’d been defending Morrowdust from an all-out attack by Chaos. The trip across Midrealm was supposed to be more predictable, schedule-wise. But apparently that was just wishful thinking.

  “How are you feeling?” my dad asked.

  “Totally fine,” I said with a shrug as they finally released their death grip on me. “You know how it is. Doesn’t matter how long I sleep, I feel fantastic when I wake up again.”

  My mom leaned in and gave my eyes a hard, penetrating look. “You sure you’re all right, baby?” she asked. “You had us worried.”

  I shrugged again. “I feel fine.”

  Her lips pursed. “Miles, I think it’s time we revisited that conversation we had about Medicorp.”

  I sighed. I knew that’s what she’d been talking about on the phone. “Mom, I already told you. I don’t want to go.”

  Her jaw set, and I prepared myself for her to launch into one of her lectures, but my dad put a hand on her arm. She glanced at him. “Why don’t we all head to the living room?” he said. “We can sit down while we talk about it.”

  “Sounds good,” I said, deliberately avoiding my mom’s gaze. I let them lead me down the hallway. I made a quick pit stop by the kitchen and grabbed myself a glass of water. One thing about sleeping for dozens of hours on end—it left you plenty thirsty.

  As soon as I was seated, my dad began. “Listen, we’ve been talking to some of the other parents,” she said. “A lot of us think it’s a good idea to go see what this Medicorp place has to offer.”

  “Well, I don’t want to go,” I said. “I thought I told you that already.”

  My dad gave my mom an uneasy look. “You did. But the spells aren’t getting better, Miles. It might have looked like they were, but they aren’t. You were just out for more than a full day.”

  “Yeah, and now I’m here.” I shrugged. “So what?”

  “So what?” said my mom, an edge creeping into her voice. “What if you didn’t wake up again? What if you slipped into a coma? Miles, you slept for almost two days.”

  “Day and a half,” I said.

  “Don’t split hairs. What if you sleep for three days? Or four? No water, no food. The sleeping might not even be dangerous. But you could starve or get dehydrated.”

  My dad picked up the thread. “And there’s nothing we can do about that. But in a hospital, they can take care of you when these things happen. They can provide for your body’s needs while you sleep. They can do things we can’t.”

  “Yeah, and they can experiment on me while I’m asleep, too,” I said. “They can also keep me cooped up in a building with a bunch of psychos. What if one of the crazies goes even crazier and comes into my room while I’m out? What if I start hanging around a bunch of crazy people and go crazy myself?”

  My mom’s nostrils flared. “This isn’t the eighteenth century, Miles. It’s not a sanatorium, and crazy isn’t contagious. You of all people know that’s not how it works.”

  I shrugged. “So what then? You want me to go. I don’t want to go. We’ve done this before. I haven’t changed my mind.”

  My dad put a calming hand on my mom’s knee before he responded. “Listen, Miles, I understand you’re scared. Truly, I do. But if you don’t want to go for yourself, think of the others. Your friends who have the same problem. They’re all scared. But what if this facility is the only thing that can make sure you’re all safe? If you’d at least go check it out, you could set an example. You could show the others that it’s not so scary after all. If you’re the first to get over it, the others could do the same.”

  “Get over it?” I snapped. “Just get over it? What, this is just a phase to you?”

  “Watch your tone,” said my mom.

  I shook my head. “I can’t believe you guys. This is my body. It’s my health. My decision.”

  “And we’re your parents,” she said. “We’re as responsible for you as you are. I’m respecting your wishes right now. But if you have another spell like the last couple of days, I’ll take you to the Medicorp facility myself.”

  I couldn’t find my voice for a second. “You wouldn’t. You can’t! You don’t have any right to do that!”

  “Well, yo
u don’t have the right to drive me and your father crazy worrying about you,” she said. “God forbid, what if you had something worse? Something life-threatening? You think I wouldn’t drag you in to the doctor? What kind of a mother would that make me?”

  “It’s not life-threatening!” I said. “I just sleep!”

  “You don’t know whether it’s life-threatening or not,” she retorted. “Because you won’t even let yourself get checked out.”

  I stood from the couch. “Forget this. I’m done.”

  “Sit down, young man,” she said.

  “Whatever.” I walked past her and out of the living room. I made my way to my room and slammed the door, knowing but not caring how childish it was.

  I leaned my head into the door for a moment, fighting to keep my breathing in control. It didn’t work. I just kept picturing my mom pulling up in front of Butler Hospital with me in the back seat. I could see the orderlies carrying me in, my sleeping body suspended on a stretcher. In my imagination I saw Terrence waiting for me at the hospital’s front door, his thin lips pressed together in a smile. I passed in through the front doors, and they swung shut behind me like a gunshot.

  My breath was hard and fast. Too fast. I began to feel lightheaded. My hands were shaking. My stomach roiled, and my limbs felt weak. Monica had cleared out of my desk chair and I fell into it, bending over to stick my head between my legs. I forced myself to breathe in deep, hold it, and slowly exhale. In. Out. In. Out.

  I hadn’t had a panic attack since the siege of Morrowdust. But I couldn’t help my fear—my parents could deliver me right into the enemy’s hands at any time.

  A soft knock came at my door.

  “Go away!” I said. “I’m done talking, mom.”

  “It’s me,” came a smaller, younger voice. Monica.

  “Oh. Okay, I guess.”

  The door clicked as it opened, and Monica stepped into the room. “Hey,” she said quietly. “You okay?”

  “Not really,” I said. “Got a lot going on.”

  “How?” she said, smiling. “You’ve been asleep for more than a day.”

  Despite myself, I chuckled. “Yeah, fair point.”

  “I heard you guys talking from up here,” she said. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “What’s so bad about the Medicorp place? I mean, I don’t think you should go if you don’t want to,” she said quickly, as my face grew stony. “But I guess I just don’t get it.”

  I sighed. I could never fully explain to anyone, of course, just why I didn’t want to go to Medicorp. But maybe I could use Monica to unload. Just a little bit.

  “You want to know what it really is?” she said. “It’s the guy who runs the place. Have you seen him on TV? He’s creepy. He looks like a bad dude. No one that I want to spend any time with. Not even in a company that he owns. I don’t want to get near him.”

  It was as close to the truth as I could come without saying, “Oh yeah, and I’m a wizard in another world called Midrealm.” But it seemed close enough. Monica nodded thoughtfully.

  “I get that, I guess,” she said. “It’s like when some jerk rapper starts a clothing company. You don’t want to wear them even if they look cool because of who’s in charge.”

  I looked skyward. “Um, sure. Not the analogy I would have picked, but sure.”

  Monica stuck her tongue out. “Hey. I’m trying to sympathize.”

  “I appreciate it,” I said with a laugh. “Seriously. Thanks. Mom and dad don’t always get it. I’m glad I’ve got a twerp like you.”

  She gave me a smack on the leg, but then got up and gave me a hug. “Whatever, jerk. I wouldn’t buy your clothes, either.”

  I pushed her away, but gently. “Of course not. You’d look like a chicken in a raincoat.”

  Monica made a face and left my room. I felt my smile die as I lay back on my bed.

  No more overnight stays in Midrealm. If my parents took me to the Medicorp facility, it was over.

  A few hours later, I traded my soft mattress on Earth for the hard stone floor in Midrealm. I got up quickly, repacking my blankets and strapping them to the top of my travel sack. Calvin had stayed up, already having gotten a good night’s sleep. Blade was still snoring in his blankets, along with Cara and Samuel. Melaine was on watch.

  “Hello again, my Lord,” she said, her voice weary.

  “Hey. Everything quiet?”

  “I have seen nothing,” she said.

  “We’ve been talking while you were away,” Calvin said eagerly. “I was telling her about the stories of goblins on Earth and how they’re different from the real thing.”

  I looked at Melaine. “I’m so sorry.”

  She smiled.

  “What?” asked Calvin, looking back and forth between us with wide eyes.

  Within the hour, Blade had awoken. I thought about letting the other Runegard get a few more hours of sleep, but we had to get moving. Wyrmspire awaited. So we roused them and ate a quick meal before we left. We ate half of the meager food that remained, but that was barely more than a couple mouthfuls. My stomach started growling again before we had walked for an hour.

  The tunnel wound on and on. In a few hours—what I figured was about noon time—we found the fork where Cara and Calvin had argued about which way to go. We chose the other path, which sloped downward and deeper into the earth.

  “Shouldn’t we be going up?” Blade said.

  “This is the only way we’ve got left,” I said. “Both the other ways lead to dead ends. Unless you want to go back and chat up the goblins, we’re going down.”

  “And what if this is a dead end, too?” he said.

  I shrugged. “If that’s the case, I guess we’ll have to figure out a way to go back and sneak through the goblin colony. But I don’t want to do that unless it’s our only option.”

  “I could totally just fly through the goblin town,” Calvin said, looking smug. “Right over their heads and to the other side. Just in case we need to go that way.”

  “Right, and can you carry all six of us?” I said. “And keep up plates so that they don’t bring us down with rocks? And keep defending us once we’re in the tunnel on the other side that, by the way, is also chock full of goblins?”

  Calvin blinked twice. “Okay, so let’s hope the tunnels work out.”

  “Let’s,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  The tunnel leveled out after a while. And the further we walked, the more my mood rose. It was funny. We were still stuck under the earth, with no idea how we were going to get out. But with every step we took, I got a little bit happier. A bounce crept into my step. I found myself quietly humming a few notes of a song.

  “Um, Miles?” said Blade. “What the hell, dude?”

  Okay, so maybe not so quietly.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I’m just feeling hopeful. Happy even. You guys don’t feel that?”

  Melaine’s eyebrows raised. “You’re…happy?”

  I shrugged. “Whatever. I just think we’re going to get through this, is all. I’m feeling hopeful.”

  Melaine kept staring at me as we walked, watching me out of the corner of her eyes. She was clearly uncomfortable. Probably worried. But what did she have to be worried about? So I was in a good mood. So what?

  Then the tunnel opened up into a cave, and I realized why.

  It was a huge underground cavern, perhaps half as big as the one in which we’d found the goblin colony. But occupying more than half of this cavern was a massive lake. It was so big that we couldn’t see its other side, even with the glow of Blade’s fireball. On the wall to our left there was a small waterfall that spilled out from the wall to tumble into the dark water below. An underground stream.

  “Oh, thank God,” I said, smiling. “Finally, something I can work with.” I reached out and scooped up a giant ball of the water, twisting it into patterns, spirals and shapes. Then I detonated it, sending a shower of spray t
o douse our whole party.

  “Aaah!” cried Calvin, trying futilely to ward off the water with his hands. “What the heck, dude?”

  I just laughed. “Come on, man. Doesn’t it feel great?”

  Calvin shivered. “Actually, it’s a little cold.” He gestured, and a gust of air blasted him, whipping his cloak and hair into a tangled mess. When it was done, he was bone dry. “That’s better.”

  Cara knelt at the edge of the pool. She scooped some of the water into her hand and sipped it, swishing it around a bit before swallowing. “The water tastes clean,” she said. “A little coppery, but drinkable. We should fill our water skins.”

  “I don’t suppose there’s any fish in there, are there?” said Melaine wistfully.

  I had an idea. I reached out into the water, swirling around in its depths. I felt with my mind, probing, exploring its expanse. It was deep—maybe thirty feet deep in the center. And then I found something that made me smile. I wrapped the water around it and froze it, then propelled the ice to the surface. It splashed from the lake about forty feet from the shore where we stood, flying through the air toward us. With a final flourish, I dropped it on the ground at Melaine’s feet.

  She looked down, confused, and picked it up. She held it up to the light of Blade’s fire. Then she smiled. Encased in the foot-long chunk of ice was a silver fish, still alive.

  “Your wish is my command, my Lady,” I said, bowing low.

  She glanced up at me, her mouth twisting into an embarrassed wince. The Runegard don’t hold land, meaning they aren’t nobility. Calling her “my Lady” was like calling a soldier in the Army “Senator.” But it was fun to catch her off guard, to put her off balance for once.

  “Any chance the rest of us can get one of those?” asked Blade wryly.

  It took a few minutes to snatch a dozen fish from the depths of the lake. Soon we had them roasting over an open flame provided by Blade. We moaned with relief as the hot, tender fish slid down into our bellies. It was the first real, hot meal we’d had since entering these underground tunnels.

  “See, things aren’t so bad, are they?” I asked.

  “It would appear not,” said Melaine, smiling at me. “A full belly dispels many fears.”