Palace Of Dreams Part 10

"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 n.o.body 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 coc.o.o.n, 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 b.u.mpy flight was better than an all-night walk, so they braced themselves for the ride and watched the mountains and forest pa.s.s below them.

9.

OLD FRIENDS.

The 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 gra.s.sy 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 compona""

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 escapea"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.

"Yes," Skylar replied. "We've come to seek your help."

He was clearly having trouble hearing, as he spoke right over her.

"The children, are they safe? Did Queen Loranella hurt them?"

"They're okay," Aldwyn shouted back, loud enough to be heard over the spell vacuum. "And it wasn't the queen who captured them. It was Paksahara, posing as the queen."

"The trickery of a shapeshifter. I should have known."

Another strong pull from behind made Kalstaff stumble, but he stayed steady on his feet. The Alchemist was using his cane to push himself forward, coming up alongside Kalstaff.

"I've been murdered, haven't I?" he asked warily.

"That's right," Gilbert responded. "Just a few days ago."

"We have a question for you both," Skylar said. "An attempt was made on Loranella's life. She's been given a parasitic poison. Ravens and healers have been able to keep her in the Wander, but nothing's been able to heal her. We understand that the original Prophesized Three were told of a way to reverse such a curse."

"I know just the potion by heart," the Alchemist said. "Forty-three components are needed. First I will recite the essential liquids. Echo drool, water from the Wildecape Sea, dew dropsa""

The force of the spell vacuum was getting louder. Now the familiars were struggling to hear. The Alchemist dug his cane into the ground, or at least tried to. But his desperate attempt to brace himself was futile. He was being tugged back.

"You'll never be able to say them all," Aldwyn said. "Were they ever recorded somewhere?"

"In one of my spell journals," Kalstaff replied. "I transcribed them myself. There's a secret room in the cellar at Stone Runlet."

"We know, we've been there," Skylar said. "How can we find the journal? There were hundreds of them."

"The inside page is labeled *The Spells of Somnibus Everwake,'" Kalstaff said.

The power of the spell vacuum was becoming even stronger, and Aldwyn could see the two old wizards struggling mightily to stand firm. The Alchemist lost his footing for just a brief moment, but that's all it took for him to be sucked back into the Tomorrowlife once more.

Kalstaff continued to stand fast, refusing to give in to the force that had taken his ally.

"There's so much I want to know," Kalstaff said. "Please. Before I, too, am taken."

"The circle of heroes was reunited," Aldwyn said. "Human and animal now rule together."

"And the Prophesized Three?" Kalstaff asked.

Aldwyn, Skylar, and Gilbert didn't need to respond. All Kalstaff had to do was look at their faces and instantly he knew.

"Then Vastia is in good hands," the old wizard said.

"You were part of the Noctonati," Skylar said. "Do you know of any of its members who would want to betray the queendom?"

Kalstaff's resolve was weakening and the spell vacuum was overtaking him.

"There will always be enemies afoot in this land. Be the good that prevails."

And with that, Kalstaff was gone.

Skylar slumped down to the ground. Two of the blue jay's feathers, brittle from her tampering with the dead, fell to the dirt.

"Skylar, are you okay?" Aldwyn asked.

"I'm fine," she said.

"So I guess it's back to Stone Runlet," Gilbert said.

Skylar shook her head.

"No. Once I told the queen what we discovered in Kalstaff's cellar, she wanted all of his possessions studied and archived. Commander Warden volunteered to house them in the library at Turnbuckle Academy."

All three familiars shared a moment of realization.

"You saw my puddle viewing," Gilbert said. "The queens' guardsmen have the grounds under twenty-four-hour surveillance. We may as well turn ourselves in."

"Warden said those guards would be keeping watch over our loyals," Aldwyn replied. "So we'll just have to avoid them."

"Sounds like a technicality to me," Gilbert said.

"It's the only way," Skylar said. "We'll just have to be extra careful."

"That moth sure would have come in handy for the trip," Gilbert said. "Without it, we'll be lucky to arrive there by midday."

"We better start moving," Skylar said. "We don't have any time to spare."

The Academy was located at the foot of the Yennep Mountains, to the north of the Chordata Plains, not far from Bronzhaven. Aldwyn didn't care that their journey was leading them in a circle; only that a remedy for the queen was finally in reach.

The pungent odor of stinkweed permeated the dead forest. Centipedes and millipedes scurried over the mold- and fungus-covered ground. There were few places in Vastia that gave Aldwyn the creeps, but this was one of them.

"Did I ever tell you how the Weed Barrens came to be?" Skylar asked.

"No, but I have a feeling you're going to now," Gilbert said.

"This was once the most fertile land in the queendom. As green as the sky is blue. It was home to the elves, when elves were brave, before they became the scourge of the rivers. They cared for the plants, and got fruit and pure air to breathe in return. So abundant were the forest's offerings that others came to claim this wooded paradise as their own. But the elvin warriors would not be displaced. Until the Brotherhood of Hexes, a cult of curse-wielding warlocks who could twist the supernatural to their whim, overpowered them with deadly magic. Many of the elves were turned into centipedes and millipedes. The ones that escaped would go on to become the elvin pirates we know today. Unfortunately for the warlocks, once the elves were gone, the forest became this: the Weed Barrens."

Skylar perched herself on a nearby branch, one so dry that it almost snapped when she landed on it.