Cyrus nodded. “You’re right,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “You did do the right thing. What we know now is invaluable. We know what Nayara is up to and we can stay one step ahead of her. We just have to reach Oasi before she does, and this whole thing can be over.”
“What does it matter?” Katie cried out. “I’ve been here for, what, maybe three days? And now I’m supposed to magically be some powerful wizard or something and defeat this Queen everyone fears? I’m sure there’s a reason you haven’t mentioned how powerful she is.”
“I understand,” Cyrus said slowly.
“Do you?” Katie asked. She no longer let out tears but streaks were running down her face. “I’ve been trying to keep this together but I still can’t believe I’m here, or that this place even exists. I still can’t believe that my mom is d-dead!” she started to sob again.
Cyrus pulled her into a hug and gave her some time to cry into his shoulder. When she was done, she pulled away and stood up. Katie wiped her eyes dry.
“I can’t even fight,” she said.
“You will learn to.”
Katie shook her head. “No, not fast enough. This whole dream I’ve been having, it’s turning into a nightmare very fast. It doesn’t even make sense. I lost my mother,” she said. Cyrus expected her to cry again, but she didn’t. “My father has been kidnapped and I don’t even know if he is still alive. I’m told that I’m not even from the planet that I grew up on and that I am destined to defeat some all-powerful Queen. And I have to somehow learn everything I need to know on the way.”
Cyrus got to his feet.
“I thought queens were supposed to be good people,” Katie said. “That’s how all the good stories go.”
Cyrus smiled. “That isn’t entirely true,” he replied. Katie smiled a bit too. “Get some sleep. We will leave tomorrow. I promise that I will do all that I can to help you become stronger.” Katie nodded. “Good.”
He started to walk out of the room. Before he left, he turned his head and said. “Nayara isn’t a real queen. That’s just what she calls herself. There aren’t any queens of Narque, so you don’t have to call her that. You may call her, what’s that phrase you young ones use back on Earth nowadays? Oh, yeah, you can call her stupid, crazy bitch.”
Katie didn’t answer but chuckled. She watched Cyrus leave the room. She stood there for a moment before realizing that she was exhausted. She turned off the light, got into her bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
The next morning Katie was woken by a gentle knocking on her door. She crawled out of bed and opened the door to find Tyson cautiously standing there.
“Good morning,” said Tyson, the “morning” nearly inaudible because he spoke so quietly. He attempted a smile but managed only to pull off a slight grimace.
Katie smiled in reply and held the door open for Tyson to walk in. She closed it after him and walked up to Tyson to hug him.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed into his chest.
Tyson held her tighter. “I’m sorry too,” he said. “I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I’m just — I’m just scared.”
Katie let go of Tyson and took a small step back. “Scared of what?”
At first, Tyson didn’t answer. Katie gave him a curious look and went to the bathroom to wash her face. When she came out, she was holding a face cloth, drying her face.
“What are you scared of?” she asked.
Tyson stared at her. “Losing you, you should know that by now.”
Katie didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t. Tyson looked down and said, “Well, anyway, hurry up. Cyrus wants to check out early so we can get going.” He walked out of the room, leaving Katie staring at the door.
After Katie changed into new clothes that were in her bag, she met Cyrus and Tyson downstairs.
“Ah, key please,” Cyrus said, holding out his hand. Katie gave him the key who then gave it to the woman at the front desk. Katie looked around and noticed a much older man who had just a few white strands of hair left on his head. He stared at her with a seemingly permanent, animated smile plastered to his face.
“Ready?” Cyrus asked.
“Yeah,” said Tyson.
“Good.” Cyrus led them out of the hotel, but not before greeting the old man and shaking his hand.
“His name is Larry,” Cyrus said as they walked out into the sun. “He’s a nice guy, always staying at the hotel, and always greeting everyone he can, though I am the only one he remembers.”
“He seems a bit funny,” said Katie.
Cyrus laughed. “He’s even funnier to talk to.”
They continued walking down the streets through Ilon. They took the same roads as yesterday. Everything looked normal, though the further they went the emptier and lonelier it seemed. As they passed Hammond’s house, Katie stole a glance at it. All the windows were shut tight, and the curtains were drawn. Though it seemed like no one was home, Katie could tell that Hammond was watching somehow. The thought made her a bit uneasy, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
The gate of Ilon approached. The streets grew bare and deserted, all but for two guards.
“Jurgo,” Cyrus said to one of the guards. “We will be leaving the city.”
The man nodded, and the gates opened, though not fully; just enough to let the three of them out. Katie went through last. When she stepped outside, the gates closed so suddenly that the noise made Katie jump.
The day was just starting, but Katie could feel the heat of the sun beating down on her neck as they walked. They followed a narrow path that winded slightly, gradually moving away from the forest.
Behind them, the city looked like a thick, black line drawn on the cracked rock that made up the planet. Katie felt Tyson nudge her slightly. She looked at him and he pointed to his left. Katie looked and gasped. Just barely through the trees of the forest, she could see the top of the shrine.
Maybe it was because Katie knew what the shrine meant to the people of Ilon and the horrors within, but Katie got an eerie feeling throughout her body that chilled her to the bone. It wasn’t right; it wasn’t normal that a place could hold something so unknown and feared by everyone who came across it.
Tyson grabbed Katie’s arm and kept her walking. Cyrus was well ahead of them so that Katie and Tyson had to jog to catch up.
“I don’t like looking at it,” Cyrus said as Katie and Tyson walked behind him. He didn’t look back at them but kept talking. “Something about it makes me uneasy.”
Katie wanted to ask why, to hear his side of it, but she understood all the same. Cyrus seemed to have picked up on her question, though.
“It’s like a riddle I can’t find the answer to,” Cyrus said. “I just don’t know what is happening inside.”
“We know now that it is a spirit,” said Katie.
“This is true,” Cyrus said. “But then why is she so dangerous and angry? The spirits of the dead are supposed to return to the spirit world, where they are then sent back as another being, born again as a new child and ready to live life again. The spirits who never make it there… I don’t know. I’m not too sure what to think of them.”
Neither Katie nor Tyson had an answer, so they stayed silent. Throughout the day they carried on, occasionally stopping to eat some of the food Cyrus had bought earlier in the morning, or to just rest and rehydrate. When darkness fell, Cyrus stopped them.
“We will stay here for the night,” Cyrus said. “We’re better off resting now. It has been a long day.” He started to rummage through his bag. “I picked up a tent before we left Ilon and got it for a good price.”
The tent happened to be four separate canvas walls attached to poles on either end. One of the walls had a flap in it to be used as a door.
“Is there a top?” Katie asked as she slowly approached the tent.
Cyrus looked up at her and smiled. “I got it at a great price for a reason.” He started to prop up one of the walls. “Tyson, would you gi
ve me a hand?”
Together the three of them managed to set the tent up. It would have been better if there was a top, but when Katie thought about it, she sort of liked it.
“You can see all the stars like this,” Katie said, putting her sleeping bag down and lying on it. “Just as long as it doesn’t rain, I’ll be happy.”
They ate a quick dinner and talked for a while. Cyrus made a fire outside the tent, about ten feet from it. Tyson was going through his bag while Katie calmly sat just outside the tent, looking up at the night sky.
“This is to keep the wolves away,” he said, pointing to the fire with a large stick. Katie wasn’t sure where he got the stick from, or the wood for the fire, for that matter. She figured he must have also picked that up in the city.
“He’s joking,” Tyson said, trying to reassure himself.
Cyrus looked at him blankly. “No, I’m not.”
Katie looked at Tyson. “I mean, wolves are nothing compared to the shrine,” she told him, glancing back at it, which was just visible in the distance because it gleamed in the moonlight.
“Nothing from the shrine should reach us here,” Cyrus said. “You two get some rest, I’ll take the first watch.”
“First watch?”
“Well you can’t expect me to stay up all night, can you?”
“I only meant that – why are we taking watches?” Katie asked.
“I wasn’t kidding about the wolves,” he said and pointed to the fire. “The fire should keep them away, but what if it doesn’t? Or if something else comes our way?”
Katie looked around. “What should we do if anything shows up?”
“Stay silent,” Cyrus said casually. “And if they approach too close just shoot them with this.” He held up a shattered bamboo stick that had a shape similar to a rifle.
“Okay,” Katie said, and she went inside the tent. Tyson was already lying on his back. Katie lay down next to him.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over these stars,” Katie said. They truly were breathtaking.
“I know,” Tyson said.
“I’m sorry about last night,” Katie said. “I know I already apologized but still.”
“I know, me too,” replied Tyson.
“Hey!” Cyrus called back. “Are you two going to get some sleep or should you take the first watch?”
Katie and Tyson laughed slightly but did stop talking. It was like being told off from your mom when you made too much noise at night.
Soon they drifted off to sleep. Around five in the morning, Cyrus woke Katie up.
“Hey,” he said. “Tyson finished his watch, and I just did another short one just now,” he whispered. “It’s your turn.”
He smiled and sprawled down on his sleeping bag. Katie brought hers as well because it was quite chilly. She looked around at the blackness that was the night. The only light other than the moons came from the fire.
“Don’t forget to add more wood to the fire,” Cyrus said, making Katie jump. He pointed to a pile not far from the fire. “And if anything happens, just wake me up.”
Katie nodded and smiled. Cyrus disappeared behind the flap and Katie was alone once again.
She didn’t know how long her watch was supposed to be as Cyrus didn’t make that clear. Was it until daybreak? Or until she was too tired to continue? Katie wasn’t sure. What felt like an hour passed and she just sat there, clutching her sleeping bag to keep herself warm.
The fire started to die out, so Katie added some wood to it. She stroked it with a large stick until the fire was bright and warm again.
Katie gasped as she saw a movement in the distance. It was approaching slowly, but she could barely see it, even though it was a white, silvery substance no more than a vapor. It had no definite shape.
Katie was about to go in the tent to wake Cyrus when the figure materialized into a head. Curious, Katie stared at it until its full face was visible. It was a young girl.
“A-are you S-Se-Serena?” Katie asked, almost knowing the answer.
The ghostly figure dropped something with her hand that appeared only for moments. It was a piece of paper.
Your mother’s necklace is at the bottom of the sunken ship at Brickdale Ridge
Katie was barely able to read the message before it burned to ash. Katie gasped.
Katie looked behind her, contemplating again whether she should wake Cyrus, but the girl didn’t seem dangerous.
“Where’s Brickdale Ridge?”
The girl put a finger to her lips and then said, “She’s coming.”
The figure of the girl’s head vanished, leaving only blackness in her place. Katie sat there for a moment, looked around and let out a cold breath.
There was a gust of wind. Katie looked up. A tall silver-gray figure was coming fast towards her. Katie was able to make out a horrible face, and then she knew who the girl meant.
“Cyrus!” Katie got up and tumbled into the tent, falling on Cyrus’ legs. Tyson woke with a jolt, confused, and fell over Katie. Cyrus untangled himself from Tyson and Katie and got up. He looked outside.
“Run!” he yelled. He pulled Tyson and Katie from the tent and pushed them forward. They ran as fast as they could away from the woman. The closer she got, the uglier and meaner she looked. Though she shone bright, she left only darkness in her wake.
Cyrus, Katie, and Tyson ran, leaving everything behind. The stars glowed brightly above them, though their light was dimming as the sun, though still invisible on the ground, sent its first rays into the sky.
Katie tripped slightly in her run, but Tyson caught her and she didn’t lose much speed. The spirit was faster than them, though, and was steadily approaching.
All warmth left the air as coldness pierced Katie’s lungs. Her body stayed quite warm though the temperature of the air was rapidly decreasing. Together, she, Tyson and Cyrus ran desperately, each not wanting to know how the spirit’s victims had died.
The ghost was just a few feet away. Katie tried to put some energy into her running but she already felt as though she was running faster than she ever had before.
Cyrus looked back quickly and saw that the spirit was inches away from grabbing Katie. He yelled and shoved Katie to the side, causing her to fall hard to the ground as he toppled over her. Tyson skidded to a stop so he could run back and help Katie and Cyrus, but the spirit reached them first.
She drew out a long blade. Katie yelled and tried to block the spirit’s hand from stabbing her. Katie’s arm went right through the spirit’s arm like it was air, but when she brushed against the blade, it pierced into her arm, causing it to bleed.
The ghost hissed and made another move to stab Katie. Katie yelled again and put her arms in front of her face to shield it. Water cascaded upwards like an upside-down waterfall, and the blade was thrown into the air. The spirit’s arms went through the water and wrapped around Katie’s throat.
Katie tried to pry the hand off her throat, but when she tried to make physical contact, Katie only touched her own neck. Cyrus and Tyson were both hitting the ghost, though their efforts only led to them hitting each other.
Gasping for breath, Katie made another attempt to break free but to no avail. Her lungs were out of air, and she knew there was nothing that she could do now.
Palatinii Cycle Page 12
