The Keeper

by David Baldacci

  I glanced over at Lackland to find his gaze fixed on the pair. He looked like I imagined I did. I didn’t know if he had any particular feelings for Petra, but they had been together for a while. Or maybe he was only having a difficult time adjusting to our presence.

  I scrambled to my feet and walked over to them.

  “Delph, aren’t you cold without your shirt?”

  I expected him to look embarrassed and quickly don his clothes. But he didn’t. He looked up at me and said, “Pet’s been cleaning up me arm. Whatever that stuff is, it feels right good, Vega.”

  I felt myself do a double take. Never in all his life had Delph called me simply Vega. It was always Vega Jane. But not this light.

  And there was something else. “Pet?” I said.

  She gave me a look that had a coy smile tacked on to it. It was all I could do not to pull my wand and turn her into a, well, I don’t know what, but it would be pretty disgusting.

  “That’s what my friends call me,” she said. “Petra is a bit formal.” She looked around. “And I don’t think formal is what we are. Not me and Delph here.” She looked at her pail. “I could use some more water. Would you like to fetch some, Vega Jane?”

  Okay, two could play this game.

  I told Petra to hold her pail next to a nearby tree. I pointed my wand at a spot above the pail and said, “Springato erupticus.”

  Water flowed into the bucket.

  “That’s amazing,” said Petra.

  I gave my wand a bit more of a flick and my mind, body, spirit a bit more of a kick and the water came out like a gusher, blasting her so hard she was knocked off her feet and doused.

  “Whoops,” I said. “I’m so sorry.”

  But she was laughing. “ ’Tis fine, Vega. Haven’t had a proper bath in forever.”

  Despite how I loathed her, I had to laugh. It sounded like something I would say myself.

  I glanced at Delph before telling her, “You need to take us to the hyperbores.”

  This statement caused Lackland to join the discussion. “The hyperbores? Why?”

  “We’ll need their help to make it through the Second Circle.”

  “But how can they help us?” Petra asked.

  “I won’t know until we meet with them. You said they live in nests?”

  “Aye, way up in the trees,” said Lackland.

  I said, “And I can fly. Now let’s get on with it, shall we?”

  WE MADE OUR way through the denseness of the trees. Petra gripped her crossbow. Lackland was armed with his rough-hewn sword. Delph wielded an ax that Petra had provided him. And I had my wand.

  Lackland held up a hand and we all stopped.

  We drew together in a little cluster behind some bent trees. In a whisper Lackland said, “The nest is up that way about fifty yards. And they’re up there.”

  “How can you be sure?” I hissed back.

  In answer he cupped his hand behind his ear. “Have a listen.”

  I cupped my ear too and strained to hear. What reached me was a low buzzing sound. I looked at Lackland. He nodded and attempted a smile, which faded quickly. “How they talk,” he said. “Like bees.”

  I gripped his arm. “How do they defend themselves?”

  Petra said in a low voice, “Amarocs were after some of them collecting water down by a stream. Came on ’em fast, no time to fly away. Me and Lack were watching from a stand of trees a little ways away. The amarocs were just about to reach their prey, when out of nowhere came a dozen fully grown hyperbores. They were on the bloody amarocs before they knew what hit ’em.”

  “What did they do to them?” I asked.

  Petra said, “They beat them all to death with their wings and then ripped them apart with their claws. Then they carried the carcasses to their nests.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “To eat them,” she said simply.

  “They … they eat meat?” I asked breathlessly. Petra nodded. “But they’ve never attacked you?”

  Lackland said, “Well, we were never stupid enough to try and attack them.”

  “But you take things from them,” I pointed out.

  Petra said quietly, “But just odds and bits. Nothing they would truly miss. And like I said before, I think they feel sorry for us.”

  “Do you think they know what the beasts did to your families?” I asked.

  Lackland shrugged, but Petra nodded. “I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, Vega. I think they do know.”

  This positive comment from her surprised me. But when I looked at her, she had already turned away. I would much rather have simply loathed her. If she was going to turn out to be all complex, that was going to make me even more ruddy upset!

  Delph looked at Petra. “Do you think the hyperbores care about you and Lackland?”

  “Why does that matter?” Lackland asked as I glanced at Delph in surprise.

  “ ’Tis important. Do you?”

  She said slowly, “Once when I was up there, one of them came back to the nest. I had just gotten hold of some provisions when it flew in. It was male and he was very large. He could have wrung my neck easily enough if he wanted.”

  “Pet, you never told me that,” Lackland said sharply.

  “The thing is, he just looked at me. It seemed that there was sadness in his eyes. He saw the things I’d nicked and then reached down and handed me a few more odds and ends.” She gazed earnestly at Delph. “So, yes, I’d say they do care.”

  Delph turned to me. “Then we might have a chance.”

  I nodded and said, “Okay, but we need a plan.”

  “Oh, a plan, eh?” said Lackland sarcastically, eyeing me severely. “You just thinking-a that now? What a leader you turned out to be, you useless twit!”

  I bit my lip and with it my tongue. I was so hotheaded sometimes and Delph was calm. If I was going to be their leader, I wanted to be more like —

  WHAM!

  Delph had slammed Lackland against a tree. He put his face to within an inch of Lackland’s and snarled, “Was it my imagination or did you not beg Vega Jane to ‘lead’ you out of this here place? And just so you know, she’s ‘led’ me and Harry Two all the way through to this very spot. And case you forgot, Vega Jane saved your arse from those colossals. So if you ever talk that way to her again, I will rip your bloody head off.”

  I stood there and stared at Delph, my heart fluttering weirdly, and my mind all jargoled.

  Delph let Lackland drop to the dirt, but he quickly scrambled up, looking both angry and embarrassed. He scooped up his sword where he had dropped it, and for a moment, I thought he might be contemplating something very stupid. I stepped forward and said, “If you’re not with me and Delph, then just say so and we can go our separate ways. No hard feelings.”

  I glanced at Petra to let her know she was definitely included in this ultimatum as well. She took a step closer to Delph as her answer.

  Figured.

  I turned back to Lackland. “And you?”

  Rage and calm seemed to compete across his features. Finally, the latter won out. He lowered his weapon. “So what’s the plan?”

  Delph answered, “To begin with, Pet has to climb a tree.” He looked at me. “And you, Vega Jane, have to fly.”

  TWENTY SLIVERS AFTER Delph explained his plan, Petra had climbed sixty feet up the massive tree where the hyperbores had one of their nests. Then she stopped and looked down at me. I looked up at her. We waited for a count of five. I could see in her eyes a wariness that I would have felt too if I was in her position.

  She screamed. Another forty feet above her I saw three blue feathery heads poke out from the branches.

  I gave Petra the signal. She drew a quick breath, closed her eyes and let herself fall. I pushed off the ground and shot upward.

  Up above, I could see two hyperbores fling themselves from their perch and soar downward. Their wings were surprisingly compact and did not spread very wide from their lean, muscled blue torsos. />
  They were fast.

  But I had the advantage that Petra was falling toward me.

  I saw Petra open her eyes. She looked dead at me as she plummeted.

  I saw fear in her eyes, which was to be expected when one was falling a long way to, potentially, one’s death. But was she afraid for another reason? Namely, that I was going to let her die? And what was I feeling? Well, I wasn’t feeling so much as I was seeing her and Delph together. I held on this image for a moment too long.

  “Vega!”

  I had let her pass right by me. I turned in midair and shot downward. The image of her and Delph had been replaced by one of her lying crumpled and dead on the ground, due entirely to me. I was not about to let that happen.

  I passed her, swooped back underneath and caught her smoothly in my arms.

  I looked at her and she looked back at me. Fear receded and gratitude returned to her features.

  For my part, I felt incredible guilt.

  “I’m … I’m sorry about that, Petra.”

  She studied my features, and in her look I thought I could see that she knew exactly what had happened. “ ’Tis okay, Vega. I might have done the same if I’d been you.” Was it my imagination or did I see something in her eyes that told me she would not have chased after and caught me?

  As I carried her in my arms to the ground, the pair of hyperbores caught up to us and landed. I put Petra down and looked at them.

  They were both males. Their skin was the blue of water when the sunlight hits it just so. Their heads were lightly feathered. Their wings, when not in use, retracted nimbly behind their shoulders. They wore tight leggings and no shirts. Their torsos were heavily muscled.

  One of them looked at me. “You can fly? How?” he asked. I was both stunned and immeasurably relieved that he could speak Wugish.

  I pointed to my chain. “This is how. My name is Vega Jane. This is Petra Sonnet.” I pointed over at Delph, Lackland and Harry Two as they emerged from the trees, and introduced them too.

  “I am Troy. This is Ishmael,” said the larger of the two.

  Troy looked at Petra. “Were you coming for food?”

  She nodded. “And then I fell.”

  Troy looked at me. “And you saved her.”

  “She’s my friend,” I answered. “Friends have to help each other, especially here.”

  Troy said, “You speak wisely for someone so young.”

  Ishmael said, “We have not seen you before. From where do you come?”

  “A village. Wormwood.”

  Troy said, “We do not know this place.”

  “Most don’t. We left Wormwood and entered the Quag.”

  “Why?” asked Ishmael.

  “In order to travel through it.” I paused. “And beyond it.”

  “Beyond it,” repeated Troy. “And what do you think lies beyond it?”

  “I want to find out. Can you help me do that?”

  The hyperbores exchanged a glance. Then Troy pointed up. “Come with us.”

  Without another word, they spread their wings, kicked off and soared straight upward.

  I looked at Delph, my heart hammering in my chest. I had no idea if the hyperbores were going to eat me or not. “If I’m not back in sixty slivers, just head on without me. I’ll find you.”

  “If you’re not back in sixty slivers, I’ll find you,” he said.

  I pushed off with my legs and rose quickly to join the two hyperbores aloft. A sliver later we alighted on the edge of the largest nest I had ever seen. It was not made of bits and pieces of twigs as normal bird’s nests were. It was made of logs chinked with hardened clay and packed leaves. I looked around and saw dozens of small encampments where groups of hyperbores, young, old and in between, were working, playing, talking. They all stopped what they were doing and stared at me.

  Troy pointed to the far end of the nest, where I could see a large canvas tent had been erected.

  “You will talk to Micha. He is the chieftain of our race.”

  When we reached the tent, Troy called out, “Micha, we have one who seeks your counsel.”

  “Enter,” said a powerful voice.

  Troy pulled back the tent flap and motioned me in.

  “Aren’t you coming?” I said.

  Troy shook his head. “Micha will see you alone.”

  The tent flap dropped, and I turned to find myself in a surprisingly large space. There was a sleeping mat on the floor. In one corner was a big wooden table with chairs around it. A huge tree trunk rose up in the middle of the space, and thick ropes tied to it supported the tent. Perched on a thick branch sticking out from the tree trunk was Micha. His feathery head was as white as his skin was blue. He peered imperiously down at me.

  He said, “Your name?”

  “Vega Jane,” I said, as firmly as I could.

  With a leap and a short flap of his wings Micha descended smoothly to the floor and stood erect. His torso was still powerfully developed, but the muscles, I could tell, had passed their prime. Still, he was an imposing figure.

  He motioned for me to sit at the table. I did and he joined me. He passed me a bowl of fruit and then poured out water into wooden cups. I contrasted this with King Thorne, who had servants do all this for him, and my impression of Micha became instantly more positive.

  I bit into an apple and drank some of the water.

  “What counsel do you seek?” prompted Micha.

  “Passage through the Second Circle.”

  Micha became instantly rigid and there was a guarded look in his features.

  “You speak of circles?”

  “Because Astrea Prine taught me of them. I want to pass through them so that I can leave this place.”

  “Indeed?” He picked up an orange from the bowl and used his claws to tear it open before putting a chunk of it, skin and all, into his mouth. He chewed slowly.

  “So Madame Prine wishes this?”

  I pulled out my wand. “Yes. So you know her?”

  Micha held his gaze on my wand. “Of course. She is the Keeper of the Quag.”

  “We will accept all the risk. We only … we only seek to be better informed.”

  “It is always a good thing, to be better informed.” He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. “There are many challenges in this place.”

  “Which is why I’m here.” I held up my wand. “Astrea has trained me up, yet I would never turn down either helpful information or any element or other tool that might prove advantageous to us.”

  He considered my words carefully. “One hears of things that reside in the Quag. And I do not mean simply beasts.”

  “What sorts of things?”

  “Things hidden here and there that might prove useful to one such as you.”

  This piqued my curiosity. Astrea had never mentioned anything like that. Perhaps this was why Silenus had directed me here. “Do you know of any specific things like that?”

  He nodded slowly. “There is a magical element known as the Finn.”

  “What does it do?”

  “It can do a great many things. Useful things,” he added.

  “Did Astrea create it?”

  “No. Not all things in here were created by those who made the Quag.”

  My spirits plummeted. “Are you saying that a Maladon created the Finn?”

  “So you know of Maladons, do you?”

  “As, obviously, do you.”

  Micha said, “It could be that the Maladons created the Finn. I am not sure about that. But I am sure that it is heavily guarded.”

  “By what?”

  “A coven of alectos. Creatures with vile serpents for hair, and blood dripping from their eyes. They have the power to drive one to kill themselves through the hypnotic sway of the serpents upon their heads.”

  Oh my holy Steeples. “Where is this coven?”

  “Two miles from here in a cave upon a knoll. I will take you, if you so desire.” He eyed me curiously, obviously awai
ting my answer.

  I was feeling confused and terrified that there were Maladons in the Quag. This made me suspicious. Of everyone. Voicing this thought, I said, “Why are you helping us, Micha?” I demanded. “You don’t know me.”

  “But I do know Madame Prine. And I admire courage, particularly in one so young. To be frank, I doubt you will survive. But I admire your courage nonetheless.”

  Why did that not make me feel any better?

  I COULD NOT USE Destin without another storm commencing, so Micha was carrying me. Other hyperbores, including Troy and Ishmael, had ahold of all the others. When I looked over at Lackland and saw his panicked expression, I had to smile. Petra, on the other hand, seemed perfectly comfortable. We started to descend and when I looked down, I saw why.

  There was the knoll. From here I could not see the entrance to the cave, but that was probably because it was also growing dark even though it wasn’t night yet. The bloody Quag! We landed gently and Micha set me down.

  The others landed next to us. When we were all gathered around, Micha warned, “Remember never to look the snakes in the eyes. That way you will not be fooled into killing yourself.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Good luck.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He unfolded his wings, and the hyperbores soared upward.

  “Okay,” I said, and turned to the others. “I’ll go into the cave while you stay out here and keep watch. If I get into any trouble —”

  “Are you mental?” interrupted Delph. “I didn’t let you have a go at the colossals on your own. Do you really think I’m gonna let you go in there alone to face these alecto things by yourself?”

  “There’s four of us,” added Lackland forcefully. “Better we all fight.”

  Harry Two immediately let out a bark.

  Lackland looked down at him and said with an amused expression, “All right, five, then.”

  “I’ve got a wand,” I pointed out.

  “And I’ve got me sword,” countered Lackland.

  “And me my crossbow,” added Petra.

  Delph hefted the ax and said, “And in a dark cave, you need someone good with directions and that’s me.”

  I started to protest, but looking at their faces, I knew it would do no good. I would have to knock them all unconscious to keep them out of the blasted cave. And then another emotion hit me: gratitude. They were willing to risk their lives to help me do this. I should appreciate that, and I bloody well did.