The Gatekeeper Trilogy

by Scott Ferrell

  Seanna chuckled. “It’s just a frog. Of sorts.”

  “Of sorts?” Aoife asked.

  “That’s what you call them on your world.” She went on as if that was a sufficient response. “We have another hard day of walking tomorrow. You two should sleep.”

  Aoife yawned.

  I fought off one of my own. “It’s too cold to sleep,” I complained. “If you can catch wood on fire with your magic mojo, can’t you warm us up with it? It’s basically the same thing, right?”

  “I’m sure I could try,” she said. She flicked a thin hand. “Of course, there’s always the risk of catching your clothes on fire. It’s not an exact…science, so to speak.”

  “Not much risk of that for me,” I muttered.

  “Or there’s the possibility of you burning from the inside out. We can try if you like.”

  “I prefer to shiver.” I huddled into a tighter ball.

  ***

  And shiver I did. All night. When sleep came, it hit hard and fast. I was out like a light, but when I woke the next morning, I was still shivering, even though Seanna was already awake and had stoked the fire. I felt worn out and completely out of it. I nearly fell over several times while trying to pull on my still damp pants and managed to put my shirt on backward.

  After we woke, Aoife and I ate a breakfast consisting of those weird nut things and tough leaves shaped vaguely like a toeless foot. They tasted like spinach and just a hint of Doritos. Seanna hurried us on to another animal trail. She spent the first ten minutes into the trek complaining about the time we lost when I fell into the river, despite her proclamation of the opposite the previous night.

  “Well, excuse me. I felt like a refreshing dip fully clothed, is all,” I muttered in irritation. “Didn’t you say last night we made good time?”

  “Not good enough. Keep close.”

  “What were those things, anyway?” I asked.

  “Felesh .” Her jaw tightened, and she started walking, not bothering to elaborate.

  I took up the rear, plodding one foot in front of the other with barely a thought. If nothing else, at least the terrain leveled off more or less once we had crested the last ridge. Halfway through the morning, I stopped to look at a large tree. It reminded me of a weeping willow back on Earth, except twice as big as any I had ever seen. Its trunk rose from the ground in a straight shot to tower over us at least four or five stories tall. Its branches hung out in a massive mushroom-shaped canopy over us. The only difference was, instead of long, drooping limbs covered in leaves, the tree had single leaves that hung down ten to fifteen feet each.

  I stepped closer and reached to touch one of the long leaves. When my finger got too close, however, the plant moved. I jerked my fingers away when it did, but the leaf continued to curl around itself, pulling away from me.

  “They are shy,” Seanna said as she stepped beside me.

  “It’s just a tree,” I said.

  She smiled. It was the type of smile that said, “you’re an idiot.” She blew out a small breath, her throat vibrating, and reached out her hand. The leaf didn’t continue to curl. Instead, it let her touch it. When she did, it unfolded itself as if relaxing. The leaves spread out a little, and the whole thing moved, twisting around her arm.

  “Whoa,” I said.

  “You can touch it now,” Seanna said.

  I reached out and brushed a finger against the leaf. It didn’t pull away from me that time. It felt soft and smooth. I could have sworn it grew a deeper shade of green.

  “It likes you,” Seanna said.

  I didn’t get how a plant could like anybody, but I kept my mouth closed. Instead, I reveled in the smile Seanna gave me.

  ***

  I stared at the motocross logo on the back of Aoife’s sweatshirt with hazy eyes. After the tree encounter, the walk had grown long and tedious. Seanna had refused to allow us to stop to inspect the other varying trees. So, I watched the fox head blur and stare back at me. Its mouth twisted up into an almost human grin. I blinked and shook my head. When I looked at Aoife’s back again, the printed fox was motionless.

  I thought maybe Aoife was right. Maybe I wasn’t in my right mind. I had no reason to be there! Seanna had promised this Daresh dude could help my mom, but could he really? Magic? Really? I was so willing to believe it the previous night, but who’s to say Seanna hadn’t just started that fire with a hidden flint? Or a Bic lighter? There’s no such thing as magic. I ran a finger along my forehead where the nasty gash had been just the day before, but all I felt was smooth, if a little dirty, skin. Seanna had healed me, I thought. With magic. Or something. It can’t be real. What can’t be real? Magic? Seanna healing me? This whole experience? An image of me sitting on the floor in a padded room, muttering about magic and Jo-Shar, a thin line of drool sliding down my chin, muscled its way into my mind.

  The fox laughed, a high yipping that pulled me out of my thoughts, but it remained still on Aoife’s back.

  “Gaige!”

  “Huh, what?”

  “Look at that tree.” Aoife pointed to the right.

  I glanced at the tree fifteen yards off, squinting at it. “Yeah, it’s a tree,” I started.

  But it wasn’t just a tree. Not like any I had seen before. Its leaves anyway. A thick trunk jutted from the ground about twenty feet, and thin switches of limbs jutted out everywhere with diamond-shaped leaves. They hung from the limbs, some getting two inches long, wide at the top and pointed at the end. The sides of the leaves curled around to touch each other. They twirled slightly, giving off a slight glitter when the sun hit them. I wanted to go off the path to pluck one, but Seanna hadn’t slowed.

  My eyes focused past the leaves to the tree almost completely hidden behind the umbrella of vegetation. “What the…”

  Aoife half turned. “Keep close,” she said in a near-perfect imitation of Seanna’s voice and tone.

  “I thought I saw something,” I said.

  She peered at the tree. “What?”

  “I don’t know.” I wasn’t exactly sure what I had seen. I knew what I thought I’d seen. I hesitated a moment before putting it into words. “I thought I saw a face.”

  “A face?” She stepped closer to me and stared more intently at the tree. “Where?”

  “Behind the leaves. Near the trunk.” I shook my head in frustration. “But I don’t see it anymore.”

  “I don’t see anything either,” she said.

  “Must have been a shadow or something.” That had to be it. I only caught a glimpse. Less than a glimpse. And it wasn’t like I was paying that close attention. The padded room wiggled back into my mind, this time occupied by Mom. “Let’s go.”

  My Mom. Was she really capably of being returned to her former self? I felt a determination bubble up in me and rushed past Aoife to fall in step with Seanna. “You promised answers,” I reminded her.

  “Later. Save your energy for walking,” she said. “We have a long ways to go and time is short.”

  “Time for what?” I asked.

  She didn’t reply.

  “You promised,” I said again.

  “Fine, ask your questions.”

  “Time for what?”

  “Walking,” she said.

  I ground my teeth, shifting gears away from that subject. “What about the gateways?”

  “What about them?” Her step was quick and light. She kept her head up, looking forward, but I noticed her blue eyes darting to the forest around us from time to time.

  “Tell me about them.”

  She looked like she debated saying anything, her jaw working under her pale skin. After several long moments, she glanced my way. “They are passages between worlds. Nobody is sure how they form. There are four on Alisundi and they’ve been here since before written records.”

  “So, they just pop up and people fall into them or what?

  “They are found by Gatekeepers. As far as we can tell, Gatekeepers come into their job when a gate opens.”<
br />
  “And I’m a Gatekeeper?” I was still not sure what that even meant.

  She nodded.

  “What if I don’t want to be a Gatekeeper?”

  She shrugged. “Gatekeepers don’t choose to be. They are chosen.”

  “By who?”

  “Whom,” Aoife muttered.

  Seanna shrugged again.

  “What about the Gatekeepers here?” I asked after a moment’s thought. “Can they control that gate, too?”

  “There are none here. The Gatekeepers always come from the other side of the gates. Alisundi is only a stopping point of sorts. A way from one gate to another.”

  “What if all the gates are locked like the one to Earth? Er…my gate,” I said, uncertain at putting that notion to words. “How do people pass through to other worlds?”

  “They don’t. At least not through here. It’s been deemed Alisundi is too dangerous to leave the gates open.”

  “Dangerous?” Aoife asked. “How?”

  Seanna ignored her. “They’ve been closed and locked for many decades. Centuries.”

  “There’s other ways to travel between gates other than Alsundia?” I asked.

  “Alisundi. And yes. Other gates exist out there on other worlds other than Earth and Alisundi.”

  “How did…er, my gate open?” I tentatively asked. “I didn’t open it.”

  She shrugged a thin shoulder.

  I realized I had started to grind my teeth. She was still holding back from me, but at least I was getting some answers. “Was my gate found on accident?”

  “I don’t know, but it is a fairly new gate.” She was quiet for a moment.

  I felt like we were going round and round in verbal circles. I glanced at Aoife, but she stayed quiet. I thought about the pieces of the puzzle she had been giving me the past couple days. “Can I at least get a corner piece?” I grunted under my breath.

  She glanced at me but said nothing for a few more moments. “What do you know of the founding of Gate City?”

  I thought back to middle school. In eighth grade, I took a local history class. My teacher spent a long time on the founding of Gate City. At the time, I’d thought it was pretty cool, but most of the details had faded from memory.

  “John Wesley Powell,” Aoife said from behind us.

  “Who?” I asked.

  “Oh, come on. We were in the same history class together.”

  “Yeah, and?”

  She rolled her eyes. “John Wesley Powell explored the Colorado River.”

  “That’s right,” I said, a faint hint of memory creeping in on me. “He spotted the land during his explorations.”

  “There’s more to it than that,” Seanna put in.

  “What are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Are you talking about all the ridiculous conspiracy theories?” Aoife asked.

  “Oh, yeah!” I exclaimed. “Forgot about those.”

  “Although, all things considered, they don’t seem so ridiculous anymore. So, they’re true?” Aoife asked Seanna.

  “I’m sure some of them are,” she replied.

  “Refresh my memory,” I said.

  “Officially, Powell’s party made it through the exploration intact,” Aoife said, puffing a little. “But there were some people back in the fifties who claim they saw an unaltered account of the exploration party’s time in the Gate City area.”

  “Half the party disappeared and local Native American tribes were blamed,” I put in as she stopped talking to grab a breath. I felt a little hint of pride in remembering.

  Aoife didn’t look impressed. “That’s completely ridiculous, of course. The tribes they blamed were located miles away and never strayed to that section of the river. Anyway, a party of marshals was formed to go flush out the ‘hostile’ Native Americans. Only one out of the twenty returned, raving about demons attacking in the night. A larger force was sent, but they found nothing. No Native Americans, no demons. Nothing but a perfect spot not far from the river to found a city.”

  “That’s real tabloid stuff right there,” I commented. “Belongs right alongside Bat Boy.”

  “I thought so, too,” Aoife agreed. “Especially when all the crazies claim they saw the ‘demons’ that killed that party even today. That story about demons is real?”

  “Most likely,” Seanna answered. “The gates were open for anything to pass through back then. There was talk of having—” She cut herself off, whipping her head around. “They’re coming.”

  I didn’t have time to ask what was coming. Seanna snatched my arm and we took off running through the forest. Birds scattered at our passing, launching themselves from the undergrowth to flap noisily into the trees overhead.

  “What’s coming?” I called out between breaths.

  “Would you for once not question when I tell you to do something?” Seanna said effortlessly, like we weren’t running for our lives from…

  And then I heard them. A sound all too familiar from yesterday. The huffy grunts of the big cats. How did they find us? I thought they were gone, swept away by the river. But found us they did. I could hear them crashing through the vegetation with reckless abandon.

  I risked a glance back but couldn’t see them. I slowed to let Aoife catch up before grabbing her elbow and pulling her along faster. Sunlight slicing through the trees overhead flashed as we ran. Light. Shadow. Light. Shadow. They blurred together and I felt my head lighten. My legs became like rubber in an instant. I thought I might pass out.

  Before I could, we pushed through some bushes into a clearing, the sun shining its full glory down on us. We kept moving, but before we reached the other side, the trees attacked us.

  Or pieces of the trees.

  Or something.

  There was an explosion of movement as trees and branches moved in, tightening the gap around us. We came to a skidding halt. Aoife bumped into me.

  One tree came at me, holding what I thought was a wooden dagger. Out of reflex, I threw up my hand to ward off the attack, palm facing out. To my surprise, the tree-thing went flying backward, disappearing into the surrounding brush. I looked at my hand in surprise.

  Seanna yelled something I didn’t catch and everything went still in the little clearing. I looked at my palm, at the bushes, and back to my hand.

  “Gaige!”

  Seanna’s voice brought my attention around.

  “Don’t do that again,” she said.

  “Do what?” That was the question. What did I do?

  One of the things moved closer, and I saw they weren’t trees at all. Well, they were, but they weren’t. I had no other way to describe them other than as human-like…trees. They were basically human in form, standing at least a foot taller than me. They were extremely thin and had long brown hair. Their skin, a rough grayish-brown, helped them blend in perfectly with the trees. They wore clothing made of plant material wrapped around their waist and nothing else.

  “We’re being chased!” Seanna said.

  “It is being taken care of,” the tree answered, his voice harsh like two sticks rubbing together.

  True enough, I heard the sounds of the large cats heading off to the right until the sound faded completely. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath fear and panic had stolen from me. When I opened them again, I was surprised to find the trees bent on one knee with bowed heads. There were eight in all. I heard Nashashir whispered among them.

  The one who had flown into the bushes pushed out, his barky face twisted in anger, but he bent on a barky knee, too.

  “Seanna, what’s going on?” I asked.

  “They recognized who I am, that’s all,” she replied, trying to sound a little too casual.

  “Sorry we did not recognize you at the first, Nashashir ,” one of the things said. “We pray the Leaves and Roots forgive us for startling you.”

  “Gaige—” Aoife started, but I cut her off.

  “Nashashir ? So, they know you’re an Ashling princess?” I ask
ed.

  “Gaige!” Aoife said louder.

  “Ashling princess?” one of them asked in confusion.

  “Gaige.” Aoife yanked on my sleeve.

  “She is Nashashir ,” said the first one who spoke. “Daughter of our people.”

  “She said that meant Ashling princess,” I said, thoroughly confused.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you thick-skulled, brain-rattled jock!” Aoife exclaimed. “She is an Ashling princess! The daughter of their people! These are the Ashlings, you idiot!”

  “Oh,” I replied. I felt my brows fall together in the middle as I tried to work out what Aoife had just said. Then they shot up as it finally dawned on me. I looked at Seanna, then at the tree things, the Ashlings. I turned my gaze back to Seanna, remembering how the skin covering her wrist felt rough when I grabbed it back in the Jo-Shar village. “Oh…”

  16

  Into The Trees

  I’d like to say I really, truly got it at that moment, but I didn’t. Even with Aoife putting it in her oh-so-polite and courteous way, I stared blankly from the moving, talking trees to Seanna and back to the moving, talking trees. Moving, talking trees. Did I mention they were moving, talking trees? They moved and talked. And they were trees.

  A tree stepped forward. He leaned in and said something to Seanna in its creaking language.

  Told you. Moving. Talking.

  I was going on the assumption it was a dude. It only wore the plant clothing around its waist like some kind of freaky Arbor Day Adam. I figured the tree Eves would wear tops, right? But then again, what did I know?

  He bent slightly at the waist, his hands limply hanging around his knees, which bent in the wrong direction. The leaves at his waist were held up by a thick vine tied at his hips. Another vine wrapped around his torso with bulging pouches hanging from it, also made of leaves. His dark black eyes were set deep inside his bark. He regarded us with mild curiosity. I watched the black orbs move up and down as he turned to take me in like I was a curiosity in a traveling circus. After a moment, he nodded his head once, the tight, wiry braid slipping over his shoulder.

  I leaned closer to Aoife. “You’d tell me if I accidentally ate some bad mushrooms, right?”