anywhere? The comings and goings of you insignificant beings are of little concern to me. I have seen your kind before and I will see them come again.”
Amanda opened the Grim and smiled. “Last chance,” she warned the dragon.
She locked eyes with the great beast and after a long staring contest she looked back down at the book. “Don’t say I didn’t ask nicely.” She said aloud.
“Very well, you giant worm,
With these words,
I make you squirm.”
Elkor’s reaction to the spell was subtle at first, like remembering a joke and chuckling quietly to oneself. But then the great monster began to chuckle. His chuckle, progressed into a series of strangely high-pitched giggles. Finally, the leviathan began to laugh great huge belly laughs. He rolled on his back, as though he was being tickled by hundreds of invisible hands. He squirmed about, great spasms overtook him and him quivered uncontrollably. The cavern walls rocked and cracked as he struck them with his massive body.
“Enough!” cried the dragon trying to control his mirth.
“Your word,” demanded Amanda.
“My word. You have the word of Elkor. Now please stop tickling me,” said the dragon breathlessly. Amanda muttered some words and the dragon gradually began to calm himself. He was still breathing hard when Everett pulled Amanda to the side.
“I’m not so sure I like your plan. I’ll come with you to get Sarah. Then we’ll warn Windy together.”
Amanda was about to concede to her uncle when she heard the song screaming in her head.
She dropped to her knees. The Grim fell from her hands and landed open to a spell.
The song stopped abruptly and Amanda read the words aloud. A film like projection appeared before them. There, two
stories played out before them. In one story Amanda was with Percy and Sarah, in the other Everett was riding Trevor with the Queen holding on tightly behind him.
“What does that mean?”
“I think it means that I’m supposed to go to Windy and you’re to go after your sister.”
“I guess that’s that then. Decision made.”
“The Grim has never done that for me before. I’m not so sure. I still think we should go together.”
“Look Uncle Everett, The Grim says that you have to save the Queen. I’ve got this, Percy will be with me, and there’s Elkor. I’m pretty sure that whoever has Sarah will respect his authority.”
“Are you certain you want to do this?”
“No, I’m certain that I don’t want to do this. But that hasn’t worked out for me so far, has it? Look, I just want to grab my sister and blow this popsicle stand. Uncle Everett, the sooner you let us get moving the sooner I’ll be back at home trying to convince myself this never happened.”
The look on his face said that he still needed convincing. “Go. Go warn the Queen. I’ll get Sarah.”
He still looked uncertain.
“Have faith Uncle, I’ve got this. Percy won’t let anything happen to me. We’ll be fine. Go save you wife’s kingdom.”
He sighed. “You’re just like your mother. Stubborn. Nothing I say is going to make you change your mind. Is it?” His tone verged on exasperation.
Amanda blushed. Inwardly, she was surprised that she was proud that he’d compared her to her mother. She lunged out and hugged him like she was his own.
A Crack in the Sky
Amanda clung onto Elkor’s magnificent frill as he flew through the air. The rushing wind made her eyes tear up, and she could barely breathe. She glanced towards Percy who was grinning with excitement, and she joined him as he laughed with glee.
She looked down from the dragon as it rose into the sky. Almost immediately, the white wolf and the wizard riding away below with the horse trailing along behind looked like tiny specks. Her eyes followed them as long as she could, but they were moving in opposite directions, and suddenly, they were gone, and she was on her own.
Higher than the mountains they flew towards a blue green body of water that she assumed was the Great Sea of Tarsinia that everyone kept referring to. She got that feeling in her stomach of being too high on a swing and attributed it to the flight until she found herself constantly staring off in the same direction.
“What’s over there?” she shouted over the whistling wind.
“Where?”
“Over there?” she pointed out over the sea towards a darkening of the sky far off in the distance that looked like a smudge on an otherwise clear blue sky.
“That’s Perpetua, the never-ending-storm.”
“Is there anything there? I mean other than the storm.”
“No one knows. Anyone who’s gone looking has never returned.”
In her gut, she could feel that the magic was directing her attention that way to tell her that the storm in her dream was a precognition of an event to come. She looked down from the sky and tried to enjoy the splendid view that was like nothing she’d ever seen or probably would ever see again, but the gnawing in her gut returned along with worries about the future.
“Imagine the outcome you want,” her mother had always told her was the best way to create the proper mindset before any difficult task. She closed her eyes and pictured Sarah’s smiling face as she arrived to save the day. Immediately, she felt just a little better and inwardly hoped that the magic was listening.
-----
As Elkor flapped to slow their rapid descent, Amanda could see the ground buffeted by the downdraft of wings bigger than the parking lot at the local shopping mall. She could feel the rapid breaking of his descent and his sudden impact with the ground rattled her teeth as the leviathan came to rest. Slightly shaken, she looked back along the length of the dragon, and even in the bright light of day, she could not see the tip of his tail as it trailed off in the distance curling around hills and dropping over the horizon. She could imagine where a great ditch would remain after his departure and wondered at how much of the landscape would be affected by the presence of the dragon larger than one could even image.
In front of them, a large golden meadow spread out in every direction. A gentle breeze sent waves across the tops of the tall grasses and rustled the crowns of lush blue-green trees that adorned the surrounding foothills. The tranquil setting was juxtaposed to the eerie quiet that accompanied it.
Cautiously, she clamored down off of the great winged leviathan all the while, surveying her surroundings for a clue as to the whereabouts of her sister. A moment later, Percy landed beside her. Two pony sized green dragons appeared immediately from the mouth of a nearby cave, cautiously sniffing the air, with what Amanda thought were the mannerisms of nervous cats, as they approached their father.
“My sister. Where is she?” demanded Amanda.
Nothing.
“Do you talk?”
The dragons looked up at Elkor and then back at
Amanda.
“Where is the girl?” roared Elkor.
“Not here,” said Jade meekly.
“Yes, not here,” mimicked Esmeralda.
Fearing the worst, that they had possibly eaten the little girl, Elkor rose up to his full height and looked down on them like a God from the heavens. His voice thundered, and the ground trembled as he spoke with the full might of his being.
“WHERE IS THE LITTLE GIRL!?!”
“She’s gone. She escaped through a hole in the cave. We went to check on her, but she wasn’t there.” Jade cowered, and Esmeralda was so frightened that she was unable to repeat her sister’s words.
“Show me,” insisted Amanda.
They followed the dragon twins up a tall hill and found the hole nestled between a shrubbery and a sprouting sapling. Amanda looked down through the crack and saw nothing but blackness.
“Over here,” called Percy. There was a strip of cloth and a footprint in the dirt that indicated her passing. He examined the trail further and looked over at Amanda with a curious look on his face.
“If I didn’t know bette
r, I’d think that she was being followed by another dragon. See, look at these prints,” he said as he pointed to three toed tracks next to the sneaker’s waffled imprints.
“That’s Jasper, the little traitor,” said Jade.
“Yes, the little traitor,” repeated Esmeralda softly so that Elkor might not hear.
Suddenly, the ground began to dance about more violently than it had ever quaked before. Amanda grabbed hold of the sapling to keep from falling down into the hole. The ground beneath him shifted and Percy lost his footing. He slipped and slid halfway down the hill that was rushing downward like water over a waterfall. He struck a rock, tripped and then tumbled
head over heels, scattering his belongings in a yard-sale of chaos that led all the way to the bottom where he landed in a heap.
When the earthquake subsided, Amanda rushed down the hill as quickly as she could, slipping and sliding on the loose dirt and gravel, leaping from side-to-side as a nimble as a deer.
Percy lay motionless half buried in debris. “Omigod! Omigod! Omigod!” Amanda said urgently as she rushed towards him.
She knelt down to check on him. His eyes were closed, a trickle of blood ran down from his hairline across his forehead. She patted his face gently.
“Wake up,” she pleaded.
A flashback to a forgotten memory of Papa lying injured in the orchard intruded into thoughts. Before she could consider it further, Percy opened his eyes then gasped. He sat up straight away, bits of ruble rolling down his chest, and took another deep breath. “Knocked the wind out of me,” he said.
Relieved, she hugged him.
She caught herself, pushed him away and angrily chastised him. “You be more careful! You scared the heck out of me.”
“Apologies Milady. I’ll try to make sure I get properly injured next time,” he said with a shrug and smirk.
She laughed at herself, hugged him again then helped to his feet.
After cleaning his wounds and helping him collect his scattered belongings Amanda looked back up the hill. “Can you follow their trail?”
Percy said nothing. He was mesmerized by something in the sky. Amanda followed his gaze and stared at two different skies that looked as though they'd been stitched haphazardly together. The clear blue Tarsinia sky was interrupted by a strip of a sky that she assumed was from her world where it was cloudy and dark. Her tablet dinged.
She pulled it from the bag and there on the screen it read.
“You are now connected to the Public Wi-Fi network. Please enter your password.”
Amanda quickly logged in. There were IM’s from Devon wondering why she hadn’t replied to his invitation to a party, and another long rant of messages from her mother. She sighed, decided to read them later and went straight to the local news. “Earthquakes Near Sweetwater Confirmed to be from Local Fracking,” read the headline.
Her heart tightened as she read the story about Royal Oil.
“That’s the Queen’s Uncle Rufus!” exclaimed Percy pointing to the picture of the man by the story.
Amanda looked through the crack in the sky. “That’s how he’s going to return. He’s broken through the barrier between the worlds. We have to find Sarah and get to Uncle Everett. Oh, Percy, we have to hurry!”
Elkor looked down on them. He brought his massive face so close that each breath forced them to brace themselves lest they be knocked over.
“Can you tell me what that is?” he asked.
“Rufus has cracked the barrier between the worlds! The oil, the contamination, he’s doing it from the other side with massive machines that break the ground!” exclaimed Amanda.
“I need to see this for myself,” said the dragon.
He turned and began to slither away, flapping his mighty wings like a duck on a pond trying to gain enough speed for take-off. The powerful gusts of wind from each subsequent flap knocked over trees and scattered debris. Massive clouds of dust swirled around them, and the forceful winds knocked Amanda and Percy to the ground. When the dust finally settled, they looked up and saw the dragon flying off towards the crack in the sky.
Airmail
Otto soared overhead on the back of a royal swan commandeered from the Queen’s gardens. The reluctant bird squawked and balked and honked and cried as Otto navigated it over Tarsinia searching for Everett. A group of g’nolls by a pond pointed the way when Otto landed to let the bird stop and get a drink. The spell the wizard had put on the pond was dissipating and the water was now only barely drinkable.
The sprite examined the land carefully. The poison was spreading faster now and he could feel it in his system. He coughed up phlegm into his palm. There were spots of blood with black flecks in it and he felt an increased urgency to find Everett.
He harassed the bird to fly as high as it would dare. His view of the distant ground below was occasionally interrupted by thin wispy clouds. His keen eyesight still allowed him to see even the tiniest of details on the ground as though they were right in front of him.
He found the wolf and the wizard high hill overlooking the Great Plain. He guided the swan downwards in a steep dive, crashing awkwardly next to them. Small clusters of soldiers were forming around fires and it was apparent that the false king’s army was assembling. Otto scrambled off the bird and bounded towards them. The disgruntled swan seized her opportunity to escape and flew off among a furious rustle of feathers and angry honks.
After a warm welcome using a series of pantomimes, Otto conveyed the story of the Queen and the Eye.
“God, I wish you could talk,” said Everett.
The sprite stopped, stood stiffly; his arms folded across his chest. On his face, he bore had an offended expression if to say, “Well I can’t, so suck it up buttercup.”
“Where was she headed?” asked the wizard after begging
forgiveness.
The sprite shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.
“We need to find them,” said the wolf.
“Tell me again about the image that the Eye showed Windy,” said the wizard.
The sprite gave him an angry look as if to say, “You should pay closer attention, this isn’t exactly easy for me either.”
After hearing Otto’s story witnessing their battle with trolls Everett spoke.
“The Queen will likely head towards the bridge.”
Everett scooped him up and they dashed off towards where they hoped Windimere was heading.
-----
Windy was trapped in the middle of a battle; her escort was completely surrounded when the wizard and the wolf arrived at a hill that gave him a clear view of the bridge. Her troop of mounted knights, all resplendent in their polished silver armor, was proving to be no match for the hoard of trolls who had seized the initiative and were pressing their advantage. Though clearly overmatched, the knights fought bravely; their horses bucking and whinnying in terror as the trolls assaulted them with spears and clubs and rocks.
-----
Deep with its cell within the dungeon of High Tower Castle, the Eye, observed the battle through the Queen’s eyes and soaked up the misery like sweet syrup. It absorbed the pain and its window frame’s worn appearance became brilliant blood red.
“Yes,” it moaned as the emotions it had been deprived of for so long filled it to overflowing.
Through the hole, hacked by the Queen through the door, waves of its evil influence spread through the lower floors of the castle like a virus. The prisoners in the cells closest felt urges and impulses that they had long abandoned. Servants and staff within the keep had difficulty concentrating on their daily duties;
objects of proximity became desired objects of attraction. Each falling prey to their basest desires. Passionate encounters between the strangest of pairings took place within the nooks and secluded corners nearest to the Eye. Violence erupted between two footmen who under normal circumstances were the best of friends. Petty thefts took place wherever opportunity presented itself.
With its a
ttention elsewhere, the malevolent being became aware of the wizard’s presence a moment too late.
-----
Everett studied the battlefield for a moment and then waved his hands. A roaring wall of flame erupted behind the troll’s flank. The startled monsters turned to face it; shrinking back from the heat. He made a pushing motion and pressed the flames towards them.
From his perch he could see the haggard looking queen look around frantically to see where he was casting his magic from. She smiled weakly in relief when she saw him. Curiously, after a moment, her expression hardened.
“Later,” he decided, and turned his attention back to the battle.
As the trolls retreated from the approaching wall of death, Everett elaborated on Amanda’s spell from the bridge. He conjured up a thick stream of oil and as he released it, he lit it on fire. The desperate cluster troll’s broke ranks and fled from the burning rain towards the nearby river. But before they reached the bank, Everett cast another spell and a wall of earth burst up in front of them and then around them; trapping them in a burning cauldron.
The troll commander, not easily intimidated by the magician grunted orders to a group of his fiercest warriors and they rushed towards the wizard and the wolf shrieking and screaming furious war cries. Everett tried to pull more oil from the air and the water but wasn’t a drop left within the grasp of his magic.
The furious trolls were quickly within striking distance and began to hurl their rocks and spears. With a wave of his hands bright green shield of light extended out before him. As the missiles passed through it, they transformed into feathers - duck feathers, turkey feathers, chicken feathers, feathers of all sorts and sizes piled up on the ground only to be blown away by a wind that the wizard began stirring up around him.
It started as a small funnel of air that grew and grew as Everett waved his arms in great circles around his head. The wind gained strength and formed into a dust devil that blinded the oncoming monsters. It grew in size and intensity as the wizard spun his arms above his head faster and faster.
It continued to grow and quickly formed into a tornado of destruction that sucked the trolls up and carried them higher and higher until they were nothing but little specks in the sky. With a final wave of his hands, the tempest sped away from the battle carrying the tumbling trolls along with it.
Amanda Applewood and the Return of the False King: An Everworld Book Page 22
