The Familiars #4: Palace of Dreams (11 page)

“To Bronzhaven,” Edan said. “To warn Queen Loranella that she may be next.”

“You’re a little late for that,” Aldwyn said. “What made you think the queen needed to be warned?”

“It was my loyal’s dying wish.”

“But he didn’t tell you why?” Skylar pressed.

“He didn’t have a chance,” Edan replied. “Has the queen already been attacked?”

“Yes,” Aldwyn said. “There’s been an assassination attempt. And the three of us have been framed. The best ravens and healers in the land are trying to bring her back, but she’s stuck in the Wander. We have less than two days to save her.”

“It is most unfortunate,” Edan said, “for the Mountain Alchemist had an antidote for such a curse. And only two others did, as well. Kalstaff and Queen Loranella. It was knowledge the original Prophesized Three had obtained long ago from their own mentor, Somnibus Everwake. And they planned to one day pass it down to the next Prophesized Three.”

“Then I’ll contact them in the Tomorrowlife, just as I did the great architect Agorus,” Skylar said.

“But it’s too dangerous for you,” Aldwyn said. “Last time you lost a feather. Who’s to say what you’ll lose this time?”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Now, if I’m to summon them forth, we’ll need to find their gateway. A place of profound importance that will connect them to this world.”

Edan gave a wrinkly smile.

“I know just where this place would be. Sixty years ago, after the defeat of Wyvern and Skull, Kalstaff, Loranella, and the Mountain Alchemist stood together on a cliff overlooking the Ebs. Zabulon, Paksahara, and I were at their sides. We were staring down upon the land we had saved from ruin when they said this was the spot they’d return to, if not in this life, then the next.”

“Where exactly was this?” Skylar asked.

“The Turn,” Edan replied.

The Turn was a bend in the river where cliffs had been raised by a powerful wizard to prevent a deadly flood. A wizard who just happened to be an animal.

“Before we go, could we trouble you for a time bubble?” Skylar asked. “We could certainly use the rest, and can hardly afford to waste the hours.”

“Of course,” Edan said. “Whatever I can do to help.”

Edan lowered his head so that his chin touched the snow, and he shut his eyes. Suddenly a translucent shell formed around the four of them. It appeared as if time had stopped entirely outside the bubble, while inside, the world seemed to go on undisturbed. Stopping time was the tortoise’s talent.

Skylar cast a flame fairy, causing the snow on the ground to melt and creating enough warmth so that they were comfortable. Gilbert was snoring within minutes. Aldwyn curled up to sleep. But Skylar was busy scratching her talon in the wet earth. She had written out the words again: “Spuowbip wjots sby udpjbm uosdwoyt.”

Edan turned his head to see.

“What does it say?” he asked.

“I was hoping you could tell us,” Skylar replied.

“I’m sorry,” Edan said. “It’s no language I’ve ever seen before. Are you sure you’ve transcribed it correctly?”

“I am,” Skylar said.

She stared at the message for a few moments longer, then slowly closed her eyes.

Aldwyn lay there. There was so much to think about. So many puzzles that needed solving. His mind raced from one mystery to the next. But the answers would all have to wait.

He had fallen asleep.

Not a second had passed outside, but it felt to Aldwyn as if he’d been lost in slumber for the better part of a day. Once he and his companions agreed that they were all fully rested, Edan lifted his chin from the ground and the shell disappeared. The chill of the mountainside returned and final farewells would be quick.

“What will you do now?” Aldwyn asked Edan.

“I suppose I will continue on to Bronzhaven. I have been a stranger to the land for many years. I am interested to see how it’s changed.”

The familiars gave one last nod and began their journey to the Turn, leaving Edan inching his way down the gentle slope to the north.

As the dark of midnight approached, the moon was not even a sliver, making it difficult to see. Aldwyn was taking cautious steps forward, feeling for solid ground so he didn’t fall off a cliff. The trip downhill was less tiring, but more strenuous on the knees. And unfortunately it was no faster than the trip up, especially given the low visibility.

“I had another dream about the queen,” Aldwyn said. “This time I was standing on a rug in the middle of a field of dandelions and my paws started to sink into the fabric like it was quickmud. I was being pulled in deeper and deeper, until I fell through a hole and landed in Queen Loranella’s royal chamber. She was standing there about to tell me something but I woke up.”

“I was dreaming, too,” Gilbert said. “Well, it was more of a nightmare really. Anura and I were swimming in a pool of maggots as far as the eye could see.”

Aldwyn shuddered. “That does sound terrifying.”

“No, that was the good part. Then they all disappeared and we were sitting in an empty hole. Talk about a cruel joke.” Gilbert had a faraway look in his eyes. “With Anura, I feel like it’s the first time somebody’s really gotten me. Everything in my life was finally starting to go so great. Now all of this. What’s Anura going to think? What’s my family going to think?”

“I don’t want to go back to the way things were, either,” Aldwyn said. “Before I met Jack and the two of you I was a nobody and an outcast. But no matter what happens, you’re still you and I’m still me.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of hammering. They quietly followed it to a wall of ice. Through the darkness Aldwyn could make out a trio of howler monkeys chipping away at the ice with pickaxes. They held glowing torches, barely illuminating the night.

“What are howler monkeys doing this far from the Forest Under the Trees?” Skylar whispered.

The monkeys broke through the frozen surface and one of them lowered a torch, bringing it close to the exposed object within. A mountain moose was revealed in the light, having been chilled solid for who knows how long. When the monkeys extracted it from the icy cocoon, they took knives to its hide and began to skin it.

“Ah,” Skylar said. “They’ve come for its hide. This must be what they use to make their drums.”

Aldwyn squinted and stared across the mountain slope. About fifty feet away, he saw stripes of red against the white snow. He looked closer and realized they were the wings of a giant moth, one born from the colossus sap at the tops of the great trees where the howler monkeys lived.

“Maybe we can ask to hitch a ride,” Aldwyn said. “That moth could make the half day’s journey by foot to the Turn in less than an hour.”

“Probably best not to let anyone know where we’re going,” Skylar said.

“Then we won’t ask,” Aldwyn said.

Skylar and Gilbert both looked at him.

“I thought you left your criminal ways behind,” Gilbert said. “That would be stealing.”

“I prefer to think of it as borrowing,” Aldwyn replied. “Besides, do we want to save the queen or not?”

As the howler monkeys continued to carve away at the mountain moose, Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert began a quiet approach toward the moth. The insect was even larger than Aldwyn remembered. An elephant could comfortably stand on its back. The closer the familiars got, the more agitated the moth became, beating its wings nervously.

“We better do this quickly,” Aldwyn said.

The creature snapped at them, but its leash was tied tightly to a rock, keeping it from snacking on cat, bird, and frog. The Three hurried atop the creature’s back, and Aldwyn telekinetically unfastened the rope, freeing the moth.

“Gilbert, you’re the only one with hands, so you need to take the reins,” Aldwyn said.

The tree frog took hold of the long coil attached to the enormous insect’s head.

“What, no complaints?” Aldwyn asked.

“I’ll save my croaking until after Loranella is okay,” Gilbert replied.

He snapped the reins, giving a tug on the moth’s neck. It immediately started flapping. The commotion alerted the howler monkeys, who turned from the mountain moose and were soon running toward them.

“What are you doing?” one yelled. “Get off our moth!”

The insect was already airborne, leaving the monkeys jumping to catch its oversized legs.

“Wait!” a second howler screeched.

“We’ll send the moth back as soon as we can,” Aldwyn called down as the creature soared higher, taking to the clouds.

The familiars were now at the mercy of an erratic insect not known for its grace in the sky. But a bumpy flight was better than an all-night walk, so they braced themselves for the ride and watched the mountains and forest pass below them.

T
he moth flapped over the Ebs and approached a series of high cliffs on the eastern portion of the river. Farther south the familiars could see the intermittent bright flash of the Split River lighthouse. Each time it shined, the giant insect seemed to be drawn toward it, forcing Gilbert to pull hard on the reins to get the creature back on track. Skylar pointed a wing to the tallest cliff overlooking the Turn.

“There’s the monument,” she called out over the rush of wind. “Let’s land.”

Gilbert did what he could to steer the moth to the grassy peak. It hit the ground with a thud and Aldwyn and Gilbert were quick to jump off the creature’s back. Skylar grabbed the reins in her talons and was trying to find somewhere to tie them down.

“Aldwyn, help me fasten these to that tree,” she said.

Aldwyn gave a mental tug, and together the two were able to wrap the rope around a small sapling. With one last pull of his teeth, Aldwyn made sure the knot was as tight as possible.

Skylar flew toward the monument commemorating the Turn.

“If Edan is right, this is the best place to contact the Mountain Alchemist and Kalstaff,” she said. “I’ll just need to prepare a few compon—”

Just then she was interrupted by a ripping sound. They all spun around to see that the giant moth had torn the sapling right out from the ground and was now flapping off with the tree dangling from its neck. It was heading back for the Peaks of Kailasa in the distance.

“Next time, we’ll have to find a bigger tree,” Skylar said.

She dug into her satchel and removed a talonful of silver dust.

Aldwyn’s attention had turned to the stone monument. Now that he was closer he could see that it was broken. The plaque once embedded in its surface had been ripped free and the gem that had been residing at its center was gone.

“That’s strange,” he said. “Who would want to deface something so sacred?”

“Probably the doing of Paksahara’s minions during the Uprising,” Skylar replied.

“I’m not so sure,” Gilbert said. “Those cracks look fresh. If it had happened months ago, the rain would have washed away all the little pieces already.”

“When did you become the detective?” Skylar asked.

“I’ve had my fair share of accidents,” Gilbert replied. “I know my way around broken stuff.”

Skylar closed her eyes and concentrated.

“Kalstaff, Yonatan, hear my call and speak once more,” Skylar chanted to the sky. She tossed the silver powder into the air and intoned,
“Mortis communicatum!”

The familiars waited. Aldwyn recalled that the spell didn’t take effect immediately when Agorus was summoned, either.

Suddenly a bluish mist began to appear. But as it materialized, the mist seemed to be getting sucked back into the hole that it was emerging from. The portal grew more solid, and Aldwyn could see two forms struggling to escape—the spirits of Kalstaff and the Mountain Alchemist. They were trying to break from the confines of the Tomorrowlife, but something was pulling them back.

“This isn’t right,” Skylar said. “A spell vacuum has been cast. Someone doesn’t want us communicating with the dead.”

Aldwyn watched as Kalstaff and the Alchemist trudged forward, fighting the invisible force that was trying to hold them back. While the vacuum might have been capable of preventing a lesser wizard from coming forth, it couldn’t stop ones as powerful as these.

“Familiars, is that you?” Kalstaff asked, his voice trembling in the turbulent gusts.