by Brian Olsen
Zane puts his arm around my shoulder and squeezes. I look away, out into the foyer.
Nate tilts his head. “Is that a yes?”
Alisa raises an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, guys? Did we miss something?”
I take a deep breath. “The Nightmare Queen has been visiting me in my dreams. Making me dream about the world before the Moment. It’s why my magic’s getting stronger. I’ve been getting the Common King’s memories back.”
There’s a long moment of silence. Tannyl puts the roll in his hand back on the tray.
“Hold up.” Alisa grips the mantel tightly with one hand. “You told me on Monday that you only remember the illusions Miller showed you. No real memories. You promised you’d tell me if that changed.”
“I know.”
“Were you lying? Were you already having these nightmares then?”
“Yes. I didn’t know it was the Nightmare Queen yet, not for sure, but yes. Since right after prom.”
“Oh, Chris.” She shakes her head. “Guess I should have left that lie detector spell running after all.”
“Why, dude?” Nate holds Jasmine’s hand tight. “After…” He gestures towards Zane. “After everything with him. Why lie again?”
Zane rubs my shoulder while I collect my thoughts. I can’t believe Zane’s sticking by me. I don’t deserve him.
“A lot of reasons.” I rub my sweaty palms on my thighs. “I knew you’d all want it to stop. To find a way to block her out. And I was hoping I might see something useful. Something we could use against Miller, something that would help us understand the magical creatures we want to rescue. Or something about my mom. Something that would help me bring her back to me and Dad.”
Nate nods at me. “What else? Because that sounds like bullshit. If you learned something that might keep us safe, you would have told us, right? You wouldn’t have kept something back that puts our lives in danger?”
“No! Of course not.”
“So she hasn’t shown you anything useful. Right?
I sink back into my chair. “Not really.”
“But you kept going anyway.”
“Yeah.” I put my hand on Zane’s knee. “I didn’t want to put any of you in the position of having to lie to Tannyl. I know he has orders from Dyllic to watch me, make sure I’m not turning back into the Common King. You wouldn’t want us to fight, so you’d have to decide whether to keep this from him or not if I told you.” I look at Tannyl. His face betrays no emotion but his eyes bore into me. “I’m not becoming the Common King. I’m not. It’s like the Nightmare Queen is showing me movies in my head. Like the kitten and the box. My personality isn’t changing. Not at all.”
The elf’s expression doesn’t change.
“Okay.” Alisa folds her arms. “And that may be partly true, but it’s also partly, like Nate said, bullshit, because you were having these nightmares before we freed Tannyl. So what else?”
“Dude.” Nate’s jaw tightens. “Make this good.”
I can’t look at them for this one. I look down at the pizza rolls. “I wanted the power. With the memories came more access to the Common King’s logomancy. Every dream brought something new I could do, or more control over what I could already do. I’m sorry. I guess that’s the real reason.”
“No.”
Tannyl looks like a normal teenager, dressed in an old pair of my jeans and a t-shirt with the logo of a band called Foghat on it. He must have got it from Nate’s dad, it’s way too big to be one of Nate’s. The elf’s not wearing the wool cap we gave him, so the only thing preventing him from looking like just another part of the gang is his pointy ears. But unlike the rest of the gang, he’s got a real big knife hidden on him somewhere.
“No?” Zane repeats. “What do you mean, no? Be mad at him for lying, sure, but he’s telling you the truth now.”
“I mean, no,” Tannyl replies. “I mean, that is not the real reason. You wanted power, yes, but why did you want it, Chris? Why did you want that power? That is the real reason you lied to your friends.”
“Dude.” Nate puts a gentle hand on Tannyl’s shoulder. “This is Chris. Whether he lied or not, this is Chris Armstrong. I know you know the other guy, but I know this guy, and if he wants more magic, it’s because he wants to use it to help people. That’s what he does, help people.” He looks at me. “Right? You want to be able to defend your friends. To save all the little fairies or whatever. Right?”
Alisa moves to Tannyl’s end of the couch and sits next to him. “Tannyl, please. Nate’s right. Chris may do the wrong thing sometimes, but it’s always for the right reasons.”
Tannyl doesn’t look at her. He keeps his eyes on me.
“They’re right,” I say to him. “But so are you.”
Zane takes his arm from around my shoulders. “What? What’s he right about?”
“I wanted the power for its own sake.” I fold my hands in my lap. “Yes, I want to be able to protect my friends. Yes, I want us to get the magical creatures out of their prisons. But I like being a logomancer. I like using my magic and I like getting better at it and I want to keep using it. I’m going to keep using it.”
Tannyl narrows his eyes. I hold my breath.
He nods.
“Yes,” he says. “Thank you.”
“So…” Nate looks back and forth between us. “We’re good? No stabby stabby?”
“My orders are unchanged. If I see signs that the Common King is returning, I will take what action I feel is appropriate. I see no such sign. But I would recommend honesty from this point forward, Chris.”
Nate exhales in relief, then picks up a pizza roll from the tray and throws it at me. “We don’t have secrets, Chris. Not you and me. Come on.”
“I’m hurt, Chris. I think we all are.” Alisa puts a hand on Tannyl’s back. “We’ve put our trust in you. You need to return that trust.”
My face burns. “I’m sorry, Alisa.”
She shakes her head. “Apologies are all well and good. Do better. Our lives depend on one another.”
“Honesty, Chris.” Tannyl leans forward and his pale gray eyes drill into me and I swear I can feel his knife’s presence. “Total honesty.”
“I promise.”
“We shall see.” He picks up a pizza roll. “We should finish these miniature cheese pies before they grow cold.”
He takes a bite and most of the tension leaves the room.
Zane kisses the top of my head. “Listen to the elf, dummy.”
“I will.”
Nate grabs a roll. “Zane, did you know about this?”
“Found out right before you got here,” he replies.
“I knew!” Jasmine blurts out. She covers her face with her hands. “I found out yesterday! I promised not to tell!” She sobs heavily. “Chris and I had our first bonding moment and I didn’t want to ruin it!”
Nate glares at me and puts his arms around her. “Hey, hey, hey, it’s all right, babe.”
“You’re not mad?”
“Are you kidding? You and my best friend finally bonding? I’m thrilled.”
“Aw!” She leans her head on his shoulder and sniffs. “Natey, you’re the best. I’m so lucky.”
“I’m the lucky one, babe.”
I lean against Zane. “It feels good to have that out. It’s sucked, keeping that from you. I’m sorry, everybody. Feels like I was worried about nothing.”
“Not nothing.” Alisa picks up a roll. “We do want to stop the nightmares she’s sending you, potential useful info or not. And we’re going to stop them, and you’re going to help us. Right?”
I salute her. “Ma’am, yes ma’am.”
Zane murmurs in my ear, “You’re not done yet. The floating room, remember?”
A lump forms in my throat. The four on the couch look at us in confusion.
“What’d he say?” Nate asks.
“Um. I should tell you about my dreams,” I say. “I didn’t find out anything about my mom, but I learned
a lot about Miller’s history, and a little about the Nightmare Queen, too.”
Alisa nods and mumbles through a mouthful of cheese and sauce, “Good idea.”
Nate squints at me. “Is there something else, though?”
Zane slides off the arm of the chair and sits on the carpet at my feet. He holds my hand. “Tell them.”
I press my knee against his shoulder. “Yeah. Okay.”
“Oh, god.” Alisa clutches her necklace. “What now?”
“It’s…it’s about the Common King, and the way his memories are locked away in my head. It’s…” My throat goes dry. “I’m sorry. I feel panicked whenever I talk about it, or even think about it. Something to do with the Moment, I think. Like, a failsafe to keep me from poking around in there.”
“Try, Chris.” Alisa leans forward, one hand on Tannyl’s back. “It sounds important.”
“Yeah,” Nate adds. “If it’s about your mirror universe evil double, we’d better hear it.”
I squeeze Zane’s hand. Okay. Time to tell my best friends about the terrifying fear that’s both haunted and tempted me for the last three weeks. No problem.
A breeze from nowhere blows across my face. Mr. Liefer appears in the archway between the living room and the foyer. His whole crew stands behind him – Lily, Andy, and Mr. Ambrose. They’re slightly bent at the knees, hands up in warding positions. Ready to do magic. Ready to fight.
“Common King,” Mr. Liefer yells. “We’re here for you!”
Twenty-seven
We jump to our feet. I set my hands alight and Zane steps in front of me protectively. Tannyl pulls his dagger. Nate grabs the tray from the coffee table and holds it up like a shield in front of him and Jasmine, sending pizza rolls flying.
Alisa runs to the middle of the room and thrusts her arms towards both groups, palms out. “No magic fights in the house! Everybody, dial it down! Right now!”
“He broke the truce, Alisa,” Mr. Liefer says. “I promised to leave him alone if he lived his life quietly with no magic. He lied.”
“He lied so that he could help people, Mr. Liefer.” She drops her arms and faces him. “The magical creatures that you imprisoned. We’ve been finding them.”
“Yes, I know. Lily’s confessed everything. I know you have the book and I saw what happened in London. Chris has learned some new tricks.”
“I had to,” I say. “Whatever your reasons for imprisoning the magical creatures were, it wasn’t right.”
“You should have trusted the artifacts to me!” His face turns red. “Of course I want the best for the magical species. Everything we did was for them! I’ll make sure that they are tended to, after the immediate threat is dealt with.”
Nate thrusts his shield-tray towards him. “Oh, sure! ‘Sorry, displaced people, we’ll make it up to you someday.’ I know Miller was the history teacher, Mr. Liefer, but you’ve gotta know how that always turns out.”
“That’s not—” He exhales sharply and rubs his face. “That’s not fair, Nate. This situation is unique.”
“Indeed it is.” Tannyl waves his dagger. “Do you know the nature of the world you’ve cast my people into, Rahk Ungsilchild?”
Liefer takes Tannyl in. “You’re an elf. You got out of your artifact?”
“For now. Thanks to these good friends you threaten. But my people remain trapped, suffering a bleak existence in a false, lifeless world.”
“I…” He blinks. “We didn’t specify the nature of the realms inside the artifacts. There wasn’t time. The spell was supposed to create appropriate habitats for each species.”
“Appropriate.” Tannyl sneers. “Was it appropriate to leave the fairy folk with no access to the fay? They would have all died if Chris has not brought us to them. You’d have done the Monster Child’s work for him. How many others may die because you did not think through the consequences of your great spell? How many will die before you find the time to right your wrong?”
Liefer stands still for a moment, then relaxes his menacing posture. His allies follow suit, so I put out the flames around my hands, and Tannyl puts his knife back wherever he got it from.
Lily, Andy and Mr. Ambrose come forward slightly, out of the foyer and into the living room. Their faces are worn and tired. More nightmares, I’m guessing. Mr. Ambrose has always looked strong and healthy with his stocky frame, but now he’s slumped, showing every one of his fifty-plus years, and more gray than ever before dusts his kinky black hair. Lily’s hair is loose from its usual ponytail and obviously hasn’t seen a brush in a while. Liefer looks like he’s hanging on by a thread, even more than when he visited me in my room a few nights ago. And Andy…
Andy Palakiko, my former drama teacher and object of a major crush. In our fight three weeks ago I burned him badly, all over his body. I thought he’d die. I thought I’d killed him. Lily said he healed himself with his magic. That he was almost back to normal.
His face is badly burnt. His skin, once golden tan and blemish-free, is red and scarred. His smooth black hair is gone, leaving him bald. I would barely know it was him if it weren’t for his eyes. His deep blue eyes like the ocean, which I used to fantasize would look at me with love. Now they’re glaring at me, with accusation. With hate.
I look away.
I’ve seen the Common King burn so many people, in my nightmares. His own parents. He didn’t care. How could he not care? I’ve burned one person and I’ll never forgive myself.
“Uh, so.” Nate picks a pizza roll off the floor. “Anybody hungry?”
Liefer ignores him. “I take your point, elf. What’s your name?”
“Tannyl. We have met before.”
“I’m sorry, my memory is still patchy. What did you say my name was?”
“Rahk Ungsilchild.”
“Huh.” Liefer nods. “Thank you. I couldn’t remember that, no matter what I tried.”
“Can we cut to it?” Andy asks. “We need the book back. We’re not leaving it in his hands.”
“And the trophy,” Mr. Ambrose adds.
“The trophy?” Nate says. “The one with all the minotaurs inside it?”
Lily nods. “Stolen, last night. From…uh…from the place where they’ve been staying.” She shakes her head. “I told them you wouldn’t have taken it, but apparently my opinion isn’t valued anymore.”
“I still value your opinion, Lily,” Mr. Liefer says. “But after you stole the book and gave it to them, I have doubts about your judgment.” He flexes his fingers. “We’ll be taking both the book and the trophy back, along with any other artifacts you’ve collected. Your intentions may be good, Chris, but you are the last person who should have power over the magical creatures. It’s too big a risk.”
“Yeah,” I say. “About that. We didn’t steal the trophy. It must have been Miller.”
Andy sneers at me. “Why should we believe you?”
“It’s true,” Alisa says. “Miller stole from us, too. He has the book.”
Liefer’s jaw drops. “This is catastrophic! How could you be so careless?”
Zane snorts. “Come of it, asshole. He got your trophy easy enough, you think he couldn’t have taken the book from you, too?”
“Zane!” Jasmine covers her smile with her hands. “You called the headmaster an asshole!”
Zane sticks his thumbs in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “Not my headmaster. Now he’s just your every day, ordinary, arrogant prick.”
Liefer bristles and starts to reply, but Mr. Ambrose interrupts. “What do we do?” He drops down on the edge of the couch. “He could exterminate all the magical creatures at once. How do we find him?”
“Haven’t you made any progress on that?” I ask. “Wasn’t finding Miller supposed to be your number one priority?”
“It has been,” Liefer says. “But…no. We’ve made no progress.”
“I’ve tried!” Mr. Ambrose hangs his head in his hands. “I’ve used my disruption magic all over town, trying to dispel a
ny illusion he might be casting to hide them. But it’s so difficult! These damn nightmares. If I could only get some sleep…”
“You’ll find him, Mr. Ambrose.” I know he’s sort of my enemy now, but Mr. Ambrose has always been so supportive of me, on the lacrosse field or off. “It’s like when we played better teams than us. You always told us to play smarter, not tougher. You’ll figure this out.”
He smiles at me. “Thank you, Chris.”
Mr. Liefer puts his hand on Mr. Ambrose’s shoulder. “You’re doing your best, Darryl. That’s all we can ask.” He lets his hand drop. “But time is clearly running out. Mr. Miller and his allies are holed up somewhere we can’t find. They may not even be in Charlesville anymore.”
Andy kicks the wall. “Or they might be sitting in this living room, right now, hidden by an illusion Ambrose isn’t good enough to break.” He crushes a pizza roll into the carpet with his foot. “Laughing at us while we stand here gabbing, completely oblivious.”
“That’s enough, Andy,” Liefer says sharply.
Andy shrugs and goes out into the foyer. He leans one arm up against the window next to the front door, looking out onto the street.
“What other artifacts did you find?” Liefer asks.
“The lightning birds were in a coin,” I say. “At the mall.”
“Yes, the mall.” Liefer sighs. “We went on a wild-goose chase tearing that place apart looking for Miller. Lily convinced us he must have somehow freed the creature without the book.”
“Oh, whatever, Mr. Liefer.” Lily bundles her hair back up into a ponytail, securing it with a pink scrunchie. “I lied to you. Get over it. Zane’s right, you’re not our headmaster anymore and you can’t give me detention.”
Liefer closes his eyes for a moment. He takes a deep breath before opening them again. “I’ll take the coin, please.”
Alisa looks at me, and I nod. She takes the double-tailed quarter out of her pocket and hands it over.
“There’s a painting, too,” I say. “With fairies. That’s what we got in London. But we had to free the fairies, so it’s out in the woods.”
“Oh no!” Jasmine grabs Nate’s arm. “Without the book, we can’t let the fairies back out! They’ll die!”