Air Keep

by J. Scott Savage

  Mr. Z was suddenly at their sides, jumping around like his pockets were full of bees. “What are you doing? Didn’t you listen to the Aerisian’s warnings? You must leave at once.”

  Graehl brushed back his hair. “I’m sorry.” He reached to pick up the shovel, but Mr. Z grabbed his wrist. “No,” he piped. “You’ve done enough!”

  “We have to hear the rest of what Master Therapass told them,” Kyja said.

  But Mr. Z was grabbing them, pushing them together toward the door.

  Master Therapass reached a hand toward the current-day Graehl, his eyes dark with worry. Marcus and Kyja froze with fear, but the wizard’s hand went straight through Graehl’s body—as if he was a ghost.

  Master Therapass turned back to Cascade and Lanctrus-Darnoc. “You must both go now. Cascade grig to Land Keep first. As a water elemental, yig cannot enter. Only observe. Lanctrus-Darnoc, be wary. There may be powers beyond gygrun infin. Both of you, be careful.”

  Marcus felt a tug in his stomach, and they were back in the Abyss of Time. Something felt different, though. The frozen ground was slightly tilted, and when he looked up, he saw a crack in the ice of the Was. A trickle of water leaked down the face of the frozen waterfall. Mr. Z shoved Marcus from the back, into the Is, and they were in the storage room again.

  Chapter 34

  The Trill Stones Strategy

  What happened?” Kyja asked. “Why did you make us leave?”

  “Klutz!” Mr. Z howled, wringing his small hands together. “Bungler, lummox, lard-fingers . . .”

  “I knocked over a shovel,” Graehl said. “It was an accident. I don’t see why you’re so upset.”

  “Upset?” Mr. Z pulled off his hat, flung it to the ground, and stomped on it like a child throwing a temper tantrum. “Do I look upset to you?”

  He looked rather upset to Kyja.

  “You look bonkers,” Riph Raph said. “That’s what you look like.”

  Mr. Z clasped his head in his hands. “Didn’t any of you pay attention to what the Aerisians said? Do not touch anything inside the portals of the Abyss of Time, they told you. Do not change anything.”

  “That’s why the waterfall cracked, isn’t it?” Marcus asked.

  “I don’t understand,” Kyja said. “How could such a little thing as knocking over a shovel be all that bad?”

  Mr. Z reached into his pocket and pulled out a top. With a flick of his finger, he set it spinning on the lid of a crate. He looked at Kyja and Marcus. “A little thing,” he said, tapping the edge of the top lightly with his finger. Instantly, the top began to wobble. The longer it spun, the worse the wobble became until, at last, it lost its balance completely and flew off the crate. “Any change, any change at all, has effects that you cannot begin to fathom.”

  His message was clear. “Did we break the spindle of time?” Kyja asked.

  “If you had,” he said, snatching up the top, “you would not be here.”

  “We get it,” Marcus said. “It was an accident, okay? We’ll be more careful next time.”

  “There won’t be a next time.” Mr. Z picked up his hat, brushed it off, and pushed it back onto his head. “I’m returning to my . . . previous engagement while you . . . do whatever it is you do.”

  “You can’t leave.” Kyja grabbed him by the sleeve of his coat. “We need your help.”

  “Which is precisely what I have given you,” the little man said. He stared at Kyja’s hand. “If you will kindly remove your fingers from my person, I will be on my way.”

  “We have to go to Land Keep,” Marcus said. “That’s where Master Therapass sent Cascade.”

  “Are you out of your turnip-shaped noggin?” Riph Raph said. “If the land elementals are working with the Dark Circle, what do you think they’ll do when you show up on their doorstep?”

  Kyja knew that Marcus was right. If the elementals were somehow behind this, Land Keep and Water Keep were where they’d learn the most. But Riph Raph was right too. What would they do if they reached Land Keep and discovered the land elementals were now the enemy? Without the help of air elementals, they would be helpless. If only she could find a way to open the box.

  “We need to get the Aerisians’ help.” She pulled the Exsalusentia from her pocket. “Tell me the truth,” she said to Mr. Z. “Do you have any idea how to open this?”

  Mr. Z reached toward the box, nearly touched it with one finger, but then pulled his hand back quickly. “Find the key, I would imagine.”

  “What key?” Marcus demanded. “We don’t even know how to start looking for it.”

  Mr. Z shoved his hands in his pockets, a grumpy look on his face. “That is beyond my area of speciality. I trust you’ll work it out on your own. Now, if you’ll allow me to leave.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” Marcus complained. He turned to Kyja. “We have to go to Land Keep. We don’t have any choice.”

  Graehl shook his head. “If the boy from Tankum’s army was telling the truth tonight, an army stands between you and your destination. Besides, you’d never make it there before they attack Terra ne Staric.”

  Kyja looked at Mr. Z, an idea forming. “You said your snail is fast.”

  “A snail ?” Graehl chuckled. “Somehow I think you might do better with a horse or—”

  Mr. Z bristled. “Drymaios makes the fastest steed look like a tortoise. Why, I once raced her against a six-winged . . .” His words faded as he realized what Kyja was suggesting. “Out of the question,” he squeaked. “I agreed to take you into the Abyss—which you nearly destroyed. But I said nothing about putting some of the finest snail flesh ever seen by man or beast in harm’s way.”

  “You promised the Aerisians you’d help us,” Marcus said. “Should we go back and tell them you broke your word?”

  “Balderdash.” Mr. Z pulled out a handkerchief and blotted the back of his neck. “Who said anything about breaking my word? I hauled you to Air Keep. Rescued you from the jaws of certain death. Brought you back. Took you through the Was— where I was nearly killed, I might add. It’s enough, I say. More than enough. It’s a travesty. A disgrace. A misguided, wrong-headed, pernicious—”

  Kyja leaned down and hugged him. “Thank you.”

  Mr. Z’s face turned red. He wiped his forehead, opened his mouth, and sputtered, “I . . . that is . . . well . . . you’re welcome.”

  “Will you please take us to Land Keep?” she asked, staring down at him with her big, green eyes.

  Mr. Z turned to Marcus.

  Marcus grinned. “You might as well give up now.”

  Two minutes later, they were standing beside the door of the storage room. Mr. Z—who didn’t seem entirely sure how he’d been talked into this—ran his handkerchief over Drymaios’s gleaming brown shell, muttering about sweet-talking girls and green eyes.

  “Will you come with us?” Kyja asked Graehl.

  “I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got somewhere else I need to be.”

  Marcus sneered, leaning on his staff. “Running away when things get dangerous?”

  Graehl’s brow furrowed for a moment, then he broke into laughter. “You know, maybe I should have let the Unmakers keep you.”

  “Not that you didn’t try,” Marcus said.

  Graehl ran a hand through his hair. “As a matter of fact, I am going back to the cavern of the Unmakers.”

  “Why?” Kyja asked, her throat tightening. The cavern, high in the Windlash Mountains—where she’d been imprisoned in ice and where Marcus had been tortured by the Unmakers—was a terrible place. Even with the creatures gone, the idea of going back there was horrifying.

  “It’s where Therapass sent Lanctrus-Darnoc,” Graehl said. “I didn’t understand everything the wizard told them, but it’s clear he thought the cavern was still dangerous. I don’t imagine anyone knows those caves better than I do.”

  “But if even the land elementals didn’t return from the mountains . . .” Kyja said.

  “It means Thera
pass was right.” Graehl nodded. “If you succeed, and I don’t come back, send help. Right now I don’t think anyone can be spared from defending the city.”

  He was right, but Kyja didn’t like it.

  “I’ve got something for you,” Graehl told her. “Actually, it’s what I was talking to the blacksmith about in the Was. He finished it the day before yesterday.” He unbuckled his scabbard and took out the sword he’d used to stab the Thrathkin S’Bae. Kyja hadn’t been paying close attention before, but now she realized the red and gold hilt had the image of a skyte on it. The blade was silver metal that looked almost blue.

  “It’s belinium,” Graehl said. “Not the strongest metal for one-on-one combat, but light and very flexible. Almost impossible to break, no matter how much stress you put it under—like someone I know.”

  Kyja took the sword. It was so light she nearly dropped it. “Look,” she told Riph Raph, showing him the carving. “It’s you.” There was something engraved on the blade as well. She turned it and read, The Most Powerful Magic Is Inside You.

  “I can’t take this from you,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

  “It’s the least I can do,” he said. “After all, if it wasn’t for you believing in me, I’d still be a monster.”

  Kyja wrapped her arms around Graehl, hugging him until Marcus coughed. The tall man helped Kyja strap on the leather scabbard, then turned to Marcus. “I’ve got something for you too.” He reached into his cloak and took out the piece of silver wood he’d been carving.

  Marcus waved his hand. “I don’t need anything.”

  Graehl laughed again. “Once a trulloch, always a trulloch, huh?”

  “It’s not that. I just . . .” Marcus tried to refuse the gift, but Graehl forced the stick into his hands. “What is it?” Marcus asked, looking at the elaborately carved runes and figures.

  “It’s a wand. Shadow wood. Extremely rare. I discovered it in the caves. I haven’t tested it, but I’ve been told that being from neither Earth nor Farworld, it works equally well in both.”

  Marcus looked down at the wand. “It’s . . . well . . . thanks.” He held out his hand to shake Graehl’s, but the man pulled him into a rough embrace, pounding him on the back.

  “Don’t let her talk you into giving up that cynicism entirely. Not everyone is completely trustworthy. Not even me.”

  “Well,” Mr. Z said, pulling out his pocket watch, “are you coming? I don’t have all day.”

  Kyja and Marcus climbed onto Drymaios, Kyja with one hand on her sword, Marcus clutching his staff and wand. Mr. Z clambered inside. “Make sure you don’t scratch that shell!” his voice echoed.

  “Be careful,” Kyja told Graehl.

  “And you the same.”

  “I just wanted to say—” Marcus began.

  Before he could complete the sentence, Mr. Z shouted, “Run, Drymaios!” and the storage room was empty.

  Mr. Z tumbled out of the snail’s shell, his hat tilted back on his head, gray hair standing up in wild tangles and swirls. “What a ride!” He grinned, patting Drymaios. “Even I didn’t know she was capable of such lightning-quick speed.”

  Kyja looked to the door that led outside. “Through there?”

  “Where else?” Mr. Z said, as though it was perfectly normal to travel long distances without ever leaving the place where you started.

  “I don’t get it,” Marcus said, easing himself painfully off Drymaios’s shell. “If we’ve already traveled all that way, how can we still be next to this door?”

  Mr. Z pressed his lips together and looked at the ceiling as though he’d never heard such a foolish question. “This wonderful steed takes you all the way except for the first step and the last, and you complain about having to open a door?”

  Marcus looked at Kyja; she raised her hands. She didn’t understand it any more than he did. But if it worked, who were they to complain? “How long did it take us to get here?” she asked.

  “A little over a day,” Mr. Z said. “I do believe it’s a new land speed record.”

  “Are you all right?” Kyja asked Marcus as he limped toward the door. He looked like he was in a lot of pain.

  He gritted his teeth. “I’m fine. Let’s get this over with.”

  “All right,” Kyja said. They had less than two days left. Hopefully Land Keep would provide the answers they were looking for.

  She pulled open the door and was plunged into icy water. Something slammed against her back, and she turned to find Marcus flailing behind her. She just had time to see bubbles stream from his mouth before the door slammed shut, leaving them in total darkness.

  Chapter 35

  A Wet Return

  Marcus watched Kyja pull the doorknob. At the last second, he realized she was walking into what could be terrible danger. He reached for her arm, but she was already through. It was hard to see what was on the other side of the door; everything looked dark. Afraid she’d entered into a trap, he jumped through the doorway behind her.

  Cold water encased his body. Gasping in shock, he turned for the door, but before he could reach it, it slammed shut. Panic flooded his brain as everything went black. He kicked and swung his good arm, but he’d never learned to swim, and he could feel his body sinking.

  Where was he? Where was Kyja? In the pitch black, he couldn’t see a thing. The door was supposed to lead to Land Keep. Had Mr. Z sent them to this place on purpose? He coughed, and water filled his nose and mouth. Cold liquid ran down his throat, gagging him.

  A hand closed on his arm, and he nearly screamed before realizing it had to be Kyja. The hand worked its way down his arms until the fingers closed around his wrist, his fingers, and . . . his wand. He was still holding his wand.

  Kyja squeezed his hand twice. It was a message. He needed to cast a spell. But it was hard to think with his mouth full of water and his lungs burning. His brain seemed trapped in a fog. He had to have . . . air. Air. He needed to cast air magic.

  Fighting against the cold that sucked all the energy from his aching body, and the lack of oxygen that turned his thoughts to mush, he tried to remember the spells Master Therapass had taught him. Was there one that would give him air?

  His lungs screamed, and his arms and legs felt like lead. But Kyja still held tight to his wrist. He had to find a way to save them. Then he remembered: the umbrella spell he’d used to shield them from heat in the desert the first time they went to Earth, and later from the snow in the Windlash Mountains. If he changed the spell a little, he might be able to create a bubble of oxygen that he and Kyja could breathe.

  He tried to think of a rhyme to help, but his brain wouldn’t cooperate. Red and yellow lights flashed before his eyes. In desperation, he held out his wand and called out in his head, Help me. Help us breathe.

  Something warm and dry pushed the water away from his face, and he gasped. Precious air filled his lungs. He coughed, sucked in another mouthful, and pulled Kyja beside him. He couldn’t see her face, didn’t even know if she was conscious.

  “Breathe!” he screamed. “Breathe!”

  He heard a gasp beside him. And another. “I . . . thought . . . I . . . was . . . drowning,” Kyja managed to say, choking and wheezing.

  “Sorry,” Marcus said. “I was trying to think of a spell.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” Kyja’s voice sounded a little better. “You saved my life and . . .” There was a panicked splashing sound. “Riph Raph?” Kyja cried. “Riph Raph, where are you?”

  “Right behind you,” came the skyte’s voice. “Freezing my scales off. And if you don’t mind me saying so, one of you has breath that smells like dead mice.”

  Marcus couldn’t believe the skyte was complaining about bad breath at a time like this.

  “It’s probably me,” Kyja said. “I haven’t brushed my teeth in what feels like forever.”

  “Actually, it’s not too bad,” Riph Raph said. “I kind of like dead mice.”

  Marcus and Kyja clung to each oth
er, laughing in relief. Marcus felt his feet touch something hard. “I think I just reached the floor.”

  “Me too,” Kyja said. “But I’m freezing. Do you know where we are?”

  Marcus shook his head before realizing Kyja couldn’t see it. “Mr. Z said he was taking us to Land Keep. But he must have made some kind of mistake.”

  “Unless they installed an extra-large swimming pool without telling anyone,” Riph Raph said.

  Kyja squealed. “Ouch! Watch your claws.”

  “Sorry,” Riph Raph said. “Skytes do not like water.”

  Marcus tried moving his feet. He was definitely standing on some kind of hard, flat surface. “I’m not sure how long our air will last. Maybe we should call Mr. Z. I’m almost positive he didn’t come through the door with us.”

  “I’m not s-sure that’s a g-good idea,” Kyja said, her teeth chattering. “If we summon him into this, he and his snail might drown.”

  Marcus wasn’t sure if a creature of pure magic could drown. But she had a point. They should probably figure out where they were and what had happened to Mr. Z before deciding what to do.

  “We need some kind of light,” Kyja said. “And heat, if you can manage it.”

  “I can do that,” Riph Raph said, drawing in a breath.

  “No!” Marcus shouted. “No fireballs.”

  “All right. All right,” the skyte said. “Some people are so touchy.”

  “Let me try to cast fire magic.” Marcus remembered a spell on one of the scrolls he’d studied. “Flame and fire, ember gray,” he murmured. “Give us light to show the way.”

  The end of his wand began to glow. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Graehl, but the shadow wood wand was great. It felt like the strength of his magic had doubled, or even tripled. The wand also seemed to warm the water around them to make it almost bearable.

  “Look,” Kyja said, pointing through the murky darkness. “Aren’t those doors?”

  Clinging to each other, Marcus and Kyja half walked, half swam to a large pair of stone doors. Marcus held up his wand, and a symbol came into view—a gold loop on one end, and a square within a square on the other. “This is Land Keep,” he said, barely able to believe what he was seeing.