by Brandon Mull
Suddenly Kendra’s sphere broadened to fill the room. It was a large chamber with many bones. But the bones before her were different somehow. They had presence. And the skull was wearing a crown. Kendra could hardly believe the implications.
“Is that you?”
Look into my eyes, the Underking invited.
“You don’t have eyes,” Kendra said. “Just holes.”
You’re still alive, the Underking ranted. This is impossible.
“No wonder you prefer the dark,” Kendra said.
Stop, the Underking demanded.
“No, you stop,” Kendra said. “You’re just a broken old skull. Unless those bones are part of you?”
Do not gaze upon me, the Underking said.
“Too late,” Kendra replied. “Is that all you have left? A few corroded bones?”
I will never pardon this insolence, the Underking said.
“Why didn’t you turn me into the undead?” Kendra asked. “Was that all just a lie?”
I have that power, the Underking said. But not while you are protected by the light.
“I get why you hide down here in the dark,” Kendra said. “This is where you pretend you still matter.”
I am appalled that you brought such resilient light into my sanctum, the Underking said. I am also impressed. I admire power. You have passed my trial and shown your strength. My crown is now yours.
Kendra looked at the crown. It looked like a void in the shape of a crown. The skull was pathetic. The crown was not.
Your crown knows, the Underking whispered. Your crown recognizes the power it would wield united with mine. Light and shadow! You could rescue those you love. You could end the war with the dragons.
Kendra could sense the truth of his words. A vision came to her of a new infusion of power, like what she felt from the Fairy Queen’s crown, but rich and dark, providing contrast. She could comprehend light and dark, life and death, above and below. Kings would kneel to her. Dragons would eat from her hand.
These opposing powers could only be united in a mortal, the Underking said. With these two crowns, you could go on to uncrown the other great monarchs. Nothing could escape your view. You would tower above all and penetrate the deep places. You would outlast this world. You would outlast the stars.
Kendra swayed, and she had to steady herself. This was no bluff. But she had not come here for a crown. She had come here to help Seth and Bracken. She had been warned to take only what the Underking had stolen.
“Why are you offering so much?” Kendra asked.
I need not offer, the Underking whispered to her mind. You have bested me. The crown is yours to claim.
“And I would keep it until I look like you?” Kendra asked. “No thanks.”
It is your only hope, the Underking insisted.
“Enough of your lies,” Kendra said. “It would be an end to hope. I’m not interested. My fear is becoming like you. I’m not going to do that on purpose. I don’t have to listen to you. I could completely shut you out of my mind.”
Do not close our dialog, the Underking conveyed.
“What’s the point of sitting in a dark room as a skull?” Kendra asked. “Wouldn’t you rather die than exist this way?”
No, the Underking maintained.
“But you’re not alive,” Kendra said. “Not in any of the ways that matter. There might be something better than this life. I think it’s likely. Why choose to remain stuck here? Why not move on?”
You do not understand, the Underking accused.
“I’m not going to wear your crown,” Kendra said. “But I might take it to the Fairy Realm. Maybe the Fairy Queen can figure out how to destroy it.”
My crown is infused with pure will, the Underking explained. Will independent of life and death. Will cannot be taken or destroyed by another. It can only surrender. You cannot destroy my crown.
“Then I can take it to the Fairy Realm and lock it away,” Kendra said.
You could, the Underking said, a smile in his voice. You would not be the first to attempt such a tactic. You may be resisting my crown now. Can you always? Can the Fairy Queen? Even when great need arises? What about her subjects? This was not always my domain. It once belonged to others. Any realm I inhabit eventually becomes the Under Realm. It only takes time. The Fairy Realm can become my new seat of power.
“But it would take time,” Kendra said. “Stopping you any amount of time is better than not stopping you at all.”
And there we have my problem, the Underking said. My crown would eventually corrupt the Fairy Queen or one of her minions. But it would take time, and I am comfortable here. I wonder if you have considered the chaos that would ensue were you to take my crown from this realm? No walls hold the undead here. They stay for me and for the darkness I provide. To remove my crown from here is to flood the world with darkness.
“I’ll let the Fairy Queen figure out what to do with the crown,” Kendra said.
That outcome is unacceptable to me, the Underking said. It is not worth the trouble. I prefer to remain where I am. I rarely make concessions, but today I am willing to bargain with you in exchange for your departure. What do you want?
“First tell me why you want me to claim your crown,” Kendra said.
We are not merely this skull, the Underking said. We live on. We never end. There is surety in it. You could join us.
“We?” Kendra asked.
We are every Underking. We endure. We increase. We never die.
“You want to add me,” Kendra said. “You want me to become part of you. It’s all a horrible trick. You don’t die because you’re not really alive.”
Your life is a ridiculous spark, the Underking asserted. A random flash. But you could become so much more. You could see back before the beginning and on past the end. You could know all we know. And combined with the crown you now wear, there would be unimagined horizons to pursue.
“I like who I am,” Kendra said. “I don’t want to be anything else.”
You will soon be gone.
“I know I’m not permanent in this world,” Kendra said. “But guess what—neither is the sun. I get to live my life. Someday death will free me and I will go someplace new. I don’t want to get stuck here. What if this life is just the beginning?”
What if death means the end?
“I don’t believe that,” Kendra said. “But I’d rather take that chance than become like you. Or like any of your servants. Being undead seems like a nightmare to me.”
What are your terms?
“I just want Bracken. And Seth. And the Sunset Pearl. Give me those things, and I’ll leave you alone.”
The skull remained as inert as ever. The Underking gave no response.
“You can keep your Under Realm,” Kendra said. “I don’t want to stir up more trouble with you. I don’t want to unleash the undead on the world. I’ll leave, and I won’t return unless you cross me again.”
My identity cannot be known, the Underking finally expressed.
“I’ll keep it a secret,” Kendra said. “I’ll say we reached an arrangement. It isn’t my business to reveal your identity. I can tell you think darkness is important. You can stay hidden.”
I cannot risk—
“I give you permission to see my mind only to check if I am telling the truth,” Kendra said. “I will keep your secret. I mean it.”
Interesting. Yes, I see it is so.
“It will be the same as your darkness. The information will not spread. Give me what I want and I’ll leave. And I’ll leave you alone. If you leave me alone.”
Your light desecrates my sanctum, the Underking expressed. You have sufficient power to disturb my contemplations. I admit that you have placed me in a difficult situation. Existing for days without end includes learning certain lessons in
practicality. What you ask is small compared to the relief of your absence. I grant your request.
“Thank you.”
Your brother is not here, the Underking conveyed. He has gone on an errand for me.
“Seth told me he is bound to you,” Kendra said.
True.
“Free him,” Kendra said. “And if he comes back, make sure he knows he is free, and send him away.”
Done, the Underking pronounced. What else?
“I need Bracken and the Sunset Pearl,” Kendra said. “And a way back to Timbuli.”
I will indulge your request, the Underking asserted. An assistant will take you to Bracken. He will be freed. The Sunset Pearl will be brought to you. None of my subjects will interfere with your departure. You will be escorted to my clever boat. It will take you to Timbuli.
“Bracken needs to leave with all of his possessions,” Kendra said. “Including his horn, if he had it.”
Agreed, the Underking confirmed. You have disturbed our environment long enough. You must promise to cause no harm to my subjects, to depart in peace, and never to return.
“As long as you don’t cross me,” Kendra said.
Away with you, the Underking insisted. Your light is tiresome.
“You killed the nova song,” Kendra accused, frustrated and sad.
Light has no place here, the Underking warned.
“Can I take her body?” Kendra asked, fighting the sting of tears. “I don’t want her to become something unnatural.”
Fairies cannot join the undead, the Underking expressed. Leave her. She sought my darkness, and here she will remain. Depart.
“Keep your bargain,” Kendra said.
I hold to my vows.
Kendra turned and walked from the room.
The Sphinx was gone when Kendra exited the sanctum of the Underking. The door of skulls reappeared after she exited. Without Mizarine, Kendra was alone for the first time since embarking on this adventure.
She had survived her encounter with the Underking, and he had agreed to deliver what she had come for, but she would not be at peace until she was back on Timbuli with Bracken and the Sunset Pearl. She was disappointed by Seth’s absence. Hopefully, wherever he was, he somehow knew he was free. Was there a chance he would come find her?
A robed figure glided into view, feet not quite touching the floor. She had long, dark tresses and was slightly translucent, leaving her skeleton somewhat visible beneath her skin. “Kendra Sorenson,” she said.
Kendra found it unsettling that the lich knew her first and last name. “Are you a lich?”
“And your guide to the prison,” the lich said. “Follow me.”
Kendra considered asking for her name, then decided she didn’t care to know. She wondered how much the brightness of her crown mattered, since the Underking had promised that his subjects would not harm her. She put no extra effort into increasing the output, but even so, it glared more on the scale of a lighthouse than a lantern.
There was no keeping track of all the twists and turns, but Kendra noticed that overall their route continued to descend. She saw no undead besides the female lich until they found a new lich waiting for them near the top of a stairway. He was dressed like a Viking, with a horned helm, leather armor, and a braided beard. He refrained from speaking but set down a sack before walking away.
“You will find the possessions you requested in the bag,” the female lich said.
Kendra opened the large sack and was surprised to discover two sizable unicorn horns, one slightly longer and thicker than the other. She had Bracken’s first horn, so these had to be the second and the third. But wasn’t his third horn part of the Font of Immortality? Not anymore, apparently.
In addition to the horns, at the bottom of the sack she found a pearl the size of a softball with a silky, variegated sheen. In the bright luminance emanating from Kendra, she could imagine numerous little sunsets reflected on its surface.
“Looks like it’s all here,” Kendra said.
They continued until they reached a cylindrical iron cage with a cat inside. Another lich awaited them—a man wearing a white tunic and a chain-mail hauberk.
“I am Ezabar,” he said. “Keeper of this prison. We seldom receive guests, and we almost never release prisoners. Must you shine so brightly?”
“It’s who I am,” Kendra said.
“Calumbra will await you here,” Ezabar said. “This way.”
The female lich remained behind as Kendra followed Ezabar into a subterranean junkyard of cages. Spaced haphazardly across the rocky terrain, only some contained prisoners. The occupants looked miserable. All flinched away from Kendra and her light. She searched for Bracken but did not see him.
As she followed Ezabar past numerous cages of varied shape and size, she wished she had asked the Underking to release all of his prisoners rather than only the people she knew. It just hadn’t occurred to her. And she was getting weary. So much time in the dark was making it harder to stay bright.
As she rounded a boulder, Bracken came into view inside a circular cage with a conical top. Unlike the other prisoners, he did not turn away as she approached. Despite his ragged surroundings, he looked healthy and fairly clean and didn’t even squint. He seemed at home in her light. Leaving Ezabar behind, Kendra ran to the cage.
“Please let this be real,” Bracken said.
“It’s me,” Kendra said. “I have permission to let you out.”
“What are you wearing?” Bracken asked. “Don’t answer that. I’m fully aware, just astonished. Will you take my hand and give me permission to see your thoughts? This seems too good to be true.”
“Sure,” Kendra said. “But you can’t look at my negotiation with the Underking. It was part of the deal.” Kendra held out her hand, and Bracken took it. The contact made him light up, taking on some of her shine.
“I don’t believe it,” Bracken said. “How did you manage this?”
“I can’t say too much,” Kendra said. “But I was destroying liches with light, and they couldn’t stop me.”
Ezabar arrived at the cage with a key, unlocked the door, and opened it. He stepped aside.
“What’s in the bag?” Bracken asked as he exited.
“None of your business,” said a voice from behind them. Kendra turned. It was Ronodin.
“We got these from the Underking,” Kendra said. “We have his permission to leave.”
“Maybe,” Ronodin said. “But you don’t have mine. I wish I could say I like your little hat, Kendra, but it brings back unfortunate memories.”
“The Underking told his subjects to stand down and let us go,” Kendra said.
“Fortunately, I am not his subject,” Ronodin said. “Those horns belong to me.”
“Where is Seth?” Kendra asked.
Ronodin smiled. “Fulfilling his most treacherous mission thus far. I confess I left him behind when I got word the Under Realm had been invaded.”
“Where?” Kendra demanded, her brightness intensifying.
“Don’t shine at me,” Ronodin said. “I may not like the light, but I also have no fear of it.”
“I know what’s in the bag,” Bracken said. “And I know what you meant to do.”
“I had your mature horns,” Ronodin said. “I only lacked the first. Now they’re all here.”
“You should run away,” Bracken said. He took the bag from Kendra and pulled out a horn.
“I came prepared,” Ronodin said, raising a black horn into view.
“What?” Bracken cried. “Your horns were lost.”
“I discarded them after they were corrupted,” Ronodin said. “I wanted nothing to do with my heritage. It was my biggest mistake. Others used them as power sources. It was messy work getting them back.”
“All of them?” Bracken a
sked.
“All three,” Ronodin said with a grin. “The Underking helped with two, and Celebrant assisted with the third. I have already paid in full.”
“What was the payment?” Kendra asked.
“You have no right to know,” Ronodin said. “A smart girl would guess.”
“The Sunset Pearl?” Kendra asked.
“That was one payment for the Underking,” Ronodin said. “All right. I’m bored. The other was releasing the undead from the Blackwell. Your brother performed perfectly. And the payment for Celebrant was the information about the Wizenstone.”
“What about causing the fall of Blackwell Keep?” Kendra asked.
Ronodin nodded. “He still owes me for that one. It dovetailed so nicely with releasing the denizens of the Blackwell, I wanted to make sure I got credit for the consequences.”
“You’re a monster,” Kendra said.
“I’m much more than that,” Ronodin said.
“You don’t want to fight me,” Bracken warned.
“I really do,” Ronodin said. “Desperately. A duel might surpass what I had planned.”
“He wanted to find out if he could taint me by corrupting my horns,” Bracken said.
“Once I had all three of mine it might have worked,” Ronodin said. “If I had all three of yours. But this is better. More manly.”
“Another time,” Bracken said. “Another place. Name it.”
“Here,” Ronodin demanded with more anger than Kendra had ever heard from him. “Now. What’s the matter? Worried Kendra could get hurt?”
“I don’t want to destroy you,” Bracken said.
“Really?” Ronodin asked. “You could have fooled me.”
“I discovered you were working with the demons,” Bracken said. “But you committed the crimes.”
“You share the same narrow view as all our kind,” Ronodin accused.
“Because of you, my father fell prey to the demons,” Bracken said. “He was trapped in Zzyzx for an unthinkable amount of time. Even after all that, unlike you, he never went dark.”