“So this is . . . the mountain? Of Rhema?” Levi murmured. He sounded uncertain, as if he, too, were confused by the altitude or the otherworldliness of the view.
Xavier took several deep breaths, feeling as though there was not enough air to fill his lungs. He heard Levi breathing hard too.
One by one the others came up out of the cloud and took their places on the edge of the crater. They were all quiet, each of them as breathless as Xavier and Levi because of the beauty of the scene and the scarcity of the air.
And yet Xavier knew they all felt as he did when they saw that the breath of the Source had stopped flowing—discouraged and crestfallen. They had failed.
“The breath,” Brianna whispered. “Where is it?”
“We need it,” said Ivy, her voice weak. “I don’t feel well.”
“Altitude,” said Manuel, breathing in short gasps. “I could use my inhaler. . . .”
“But the sun has . . . not set . . . all the way,” said Levi, straining for air. “Maybe there’s a chance—”
Xavier gazed at the last bit of sun that rested on the horizon. He shook his head. No, it was too late. No breath. Gone. He wanted so badly to lie down and rest. Close his eyes for a moment. He struggled to resist this feeling, to stay alert, but it was getting more difficult.
Then something stirred from the hole in the center of the crater, which had been so perfectly still since they’d arrived. Xavier strained his eyes, struggling to focus. Had he only imagined it? A deep purple shadow appeared, slowly emerging from the depths of the red hole. Xavier blinked, thinking he was seeing things. Hallucinations, brought on by light-headedness, he was sure. But the shadow continued to rise until it spanned the whole crater, turning everything red to purple.
The shadow had a form that seemed familiar, a flowing cape, wide sleeves, a pointed hood. It was Ruwach. But he was huge, his robe not solid but transparent, rippling as if he were in the center of a storm. And his face, normally dark inside the hood, was now a brilliant shaft of light that nearly blinded the Prince Warriors.
“Prince Xavier.”
A voice rose up from the depth of that incandescent light—Xavier thought he could actually feel it against his skin. He swallowed. The voice was similar to Ruwach’s but different too.
“I’m here,” Xavier said aloud. To his surprise, all the other kids said exactly the same thing. It was like each of them had heard the voice say their own names.
“Prince Xavier, receive your sword.”
The fire of the inner crater suddenly burst into seven separate flames, each one extending toward one of the Warriors. Xavier drew back, sensing danger in the fire, yet feeling irresistibly drawn to it. Smoke encircled the flame, spinning around it, stripping it to a white-hot core, straight and true. Xavier could make out the beginnings of a blade.
The curls of smoke continued to spin, forming the hilt of a sword. Xavier sucked in a breath. There it was, hovering in front of him—his sword. The smoke dissipated as the core slowly cooled, the fire dying away. All that was left of the fire was the outline of the Crest of Ahoratos emblazoned on the hilt.
“Take it.”
Xavier glanced at the others, saw them reaching for their swords. Their eyes looked as though they were locked in a dream. Xavier still was not sure the sword was real. But the voice—Ruwach—had commanded him. He stuck out his hand toward the hilt, fearing it might be too hot to touch. But the hilt was cool, cold even. He wrapped his fingers around it, drawing the sword toward him. It felt real. Heavy, like a real sword. He wrapped his other hand around the hilt, staring up at the gleaming blade, reflecting the brightness of the sun—
The sun?
Xavier looked into the sky, realizing that the sun was no longer setting. It had reversed course, rising in the sky, creating a nimbus of golden light around Ruwach’s shadow.
The voice spoke again.
“Your armor is complete now. You were guided by the breastplate and given sure-footedness by the boots. You were held together by the belt, protected from the enemy’s lies by the helmet, and shielded from danger by the shield. But the sword is different. The other pieces of armor are used for your defense, but the sword is for offense, attack. Therefore, you must learn to wield it with wisdom. Only then will it be useful.”
The shadow of Ruwach began to recede, as if drawn back into the glowing red hole in the crater.
Wait, Xavier wanted to shout. Come back. Show us how to use them. But the shadow soon disappeared.
For a long time no one said anything, afraid to disturb the sacred stillness of the moment.
But then Evan began to shout. “This is so cool! We got the swords! Look at us!” He struck a heroic pose, sword pointed in the air.
The silence broken, the others began to laugh along with him, also striking cool poses for each other.
“Wish I had my phone,” said Ivy. “This would make a great picture.”
Xavier felt unsettled by their sudden playfulness. He wanted to remind them that the sword was not a toy, that they had to learn to use it correctly, to wield it with wisdom. And yet as he looked at his beautiful sword he couldn’t help but break into a wide grin. It hadn’t been a dream or a hallucination. They really did get their swords.
“It’s heavy,” said Manuel, holding his with both hands.
“Duh,” said Evan, rolling his eyes. “It’s a sword! A real sword!” Evan swung his sword in a circle; Manuel had to jump backward to avoid being hit.
“Please be careful!” Manuel cried.
“Sorry.”
“Let’s wait until we are not standing on the edge of a crater, okay?”
“There’s something engraved in the blade,” said Brianna. “But I can’t read it. The letters are kind of funny.”
“That weird Ahoratos language,” said Ivy. She tried to pronounce a few of the letters but gave up quickly. “Maybe Ruwach will explain it sometime.”
“We should go back down,” said Xavier. “We’ve been here long enough.”
Suddenly Ruwach’s voice rose up from the crater like a holy whisper, although his shadow was long gone. “Be alert and courageous. Descending with the sword can sometimes be more difficult than ascending without it.”
“What did it say?” asked Evan, too busy with his new sword to pay attention.
“He said going down might be more difficult than going up,” said Xavier.
“More difficult?” asked Evan with a huff. “Why couldn’t Ruwach just whisk us back to the Cave or at least take us to the castle for some ice cream? We completed the mission, didn’t we? We got the swords before the sun set. That should be enough. Shouldn’t it?”
“Don’t you think it’s strange that it was Ruwach we saw, coming out of the mountain? Where the breath was coming from before?” asked Brianna, her voice lilting as if she’d just thought of something she hadn’t considered before. “What if Ruwach . . . is the Source?”
“Huh?” said Ivy. Then she, too, appeared to be thinking about the connection.
“Nah,” said Evan, shaking his head. “Not possible.”
“Maybe . . . he is the breath,” said Finn in a low voice. The others looked at him.
“What do you mean?” asked Evan.
“He came up out of the crater . . . like the breath.”
“You’re saying Ruwach is the breath of the Source?” Evan said, his voice rising in disbelief.
“I can breathe a lot better now after he showed up,” said Manuel, inhaling deeply.
“So can I,” said Brianna. “I don’t feel dizzy or light-headed anymore.”
They looked from one to the other, amazed at this possibility.
“You mean he’s not just a little purple dude who runs around sending us on wild goose chases? Why didn’t he just say so?” asked Evan, throwing up his hands.
“He like
s it better when we figure stuff out ourselves,” said Brianna.
“Tell me about it,” said Evan with a deep sigh.
“Well, whatever he is,” Xavier said, “he told us to go down, so we better get moving.” He glanced around, wondering which way to go.
“I hope we don’t have to go back down the way we came up,” said Manuel, glancing at the cushion of cloud that surrounded them.
“This way,” said Finn. He was pointing to where the staircase had been. Only it wasn’t there anymore. Instead, the clouds had parted to reveal a wide rocky slope covered in green moss.
“Where’d that come from?” asked Evan.
“No ledge! Awesome,” said Ivy.
“Are you sure it’s real?” asked Xavier. He was breathing easier, and his head felt clearer. But he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that he could trust his own senses.
“Let’s go!” shouted Evan, who didn’t seem to be having the same trouble. He dashed past Finn and ran down the hill, swinging his sword around as he went. The others followed, laughing and shouting with joy.
“Wait!” Xavier ran after them, calling out the words Ruwach had spoken: “The descent is harder . . .”
But no one was listening.
CHAPTER 7
The Descent
The kids ran down the mossy slope to the tree line, relaxed and carefree, happy to be away from boulders and ledges and spikes and black dragons. The sun had risen higher, warming the air, which filled their lungs so they felt as though they had energy to spare.
Evan couldn’t wait to get back home with his beautiful sword. He couldn’t wait to show all the kids at school! It was going to be so much fun to see the looks on their faces.
“Evan, wait up!” Xavier shouted to his brother from farther up the slope. Evan ignored him. He turned on Finn and playfully brandished his sword, as if challenging him to a fight.
“En garde!” Evan shouted.
Finn didn’t seem to want to fight. He held the sword at his side, as if it made him nervous. “Nah.”
“I’ll fight you!” said Ivy with a daring grin, stretching out her sword to challenge him. Evan turned to face her, setting his legs into a lunge like he’d seen sword fighters do in the movies.
He heard a loud rustle and looked behind him, thinking someone or something was coming out of the trees. But there wasn’t anything. Must have been the wind. He turned his attention back to Ivy, brandishing his sword once again.
“Careful, Evan, that’s dangerous,” said Brianna.
“Danger is my middle name!” said Evan proudly. He raised the sword over his head and twirled the blade in a circle, accidentally slicing off a small branch of a nearby tree. The tree began to shake, its branches creaking and flexing in a way trees didn’t normally act.
Ivy saw it first. But before she had time to warn Evan, the tree had scooped him up and twirled him like a top, binding him up in its branches from shoulder to ankle, like a spider would a fly.
“Help!” Evan screamed. “It’s got me! Help me!” He started to cough. “I . . . can’t . . . breathe . . .”
Finn rushed forward and smashed his sword against the limb that held Evan. But the tree reached out more fingerlike branches and grabbed Finn’s sword arm. Soon he, too, was dangling helplessly, kicking and bucking as more branches closed over his legs and other arm, holding him fast. He grunted, struggling to get away, but he could barely move at all.
Around them more trees were coming to life, reaching out toward the other Warriors with long, bony branches, the thin, fingerlike tips curling into claws. Ivy screamed, dropped her sword, and turned to run, but a branch caught her around the waist, trapping her in mid-motion. Brianna grabbed hold of Ivy’s arm, desperately trying to pull her away as the tree slowly reeled her in. Manuel fell to his knees, put his hands over his head, and started counting.
Xavier and Levi rushed in and swung their swords at the branches holding their friends. They too became entangled as more and more trees came to life, their branches lashing out to form a kind of cocoon around the Prince Warriors, closing them in.
“Evan! What did you do?” Xavier yelled as he struggled to free himself from the branch that had him in a vise grip.
Evan squeaked in reply.
“We’re . . . doomed. . . .” Manuel croaked out.
Xavier closed his eyes, his breath almost gone. He had to agree.
CHAPTER 8
The Krÿsen
That’s enough.”
The voice rumbled through the trees, making the leaves shiver. The branches relaxed suddenly, dropping their quarries, who collapsed on the ground with gasps and grunts. The Warriors struggled to rise, weak and sore, gazing around in confusion. The trees looked like trees again, standing straight and still.
And Ruwach hovered before them, his arms folded in his draping sleeves.
“Ru!” said Evan, his voice still squeaky from his ordeal. “Boy, are we glad to see you!”
“Now do you understand?” asked Ruwach in the same, deep, rumbling voice.
“Understand what?” asked Brianna. Then she looked down at the sword in her hand and gasped in horror. The sword was not a sword anymore. It was a small thin piece of dull metal with a rounded top and a rather plain handle.
The same thing happened to all of them—beautiful swords becoming tiny, very dull little utensils.
“Hey!” said Evan in protest. “This isn’t a sword. It looks like . . . a butter knife!”
The others nodded in horrified agreement.
“What have you learned?” asked Ruwach.
The kids looked from one to the other, unable to figure out what he meant. Then Xavier spoke up.
“Wielding the sword with wisdom,” he said. “That’s what you told us. That the swords would be useless otherwise.”
Ruwach turned to Xavier and nodded his hood. “The sword has great power in the kind of warfare you will be facing, but it requires great care. It is not like the other pieces of armor. You have seen this already. The trees tested you and found you wanting.”
“So it was a test?” asked Levi. “That whole tree-grabbing thing?”
“And we failed,” said Ivy, her voice low.
“It was not a test for my sake,” said Ruwach. “But for yours. So that you would understand the importance of this lesson.”
“But our swords are like—gone,” said Evan, holding up the little knife glumly.
“Your swords are not gone. What you hold in your hand is the Krÿs,” said Ruwach.
“The rice?” asked Evan. “It doesn’t look like rice.”
“Not rice, KR-ICE,” said Brianna, sounding it out.
“How do you spell that?” asked Manuel.
“So it’s not a sword,” said Evan, confused.
“The Krÿs is the sword,” said Ruwach, ever patient. “It will rise to its full potential, in the right circumstances.”
“How does it do that?” asked Evan.
“You will learn the secret of the Krÿs if you seek it.”
“Oh, I get it, this is like The Karate Kid movie, right?” said Evan, growing excited. “And you’re like Mr. Miyagi, and we’re like the karate kids. And you’re going to make us go through all sorts of weird training so we can get our ‘black belt’ in sword fighting—”
“Evan!” moaned Xavier, rolling his eyes. “Will you stop?”
“Go now,” said Ruwach, unfolding one long arm as if pointing the way. Before Evan could ask another question, Ruwach—and the mountain—were gone.
CHAPTER 9
New Things in Old Places
Levi was getting ready for bed when he glanced out the window of his room and noticed the tree house.
He hadn’t been out to the tree house in quite a while. His dad had built it when he was six so that whenever Levi wanted to r
un away (which was pretty often in those days) he would have a place to go. Sometimes he went out to read his favorite adventure books by flashlight or practice sketching in a drawing pad he preferred to keep secret. Often he stayed out so long he fell asleep, and when he woke up he would find a plate of cookies and a thermos of milk sitting on the windowsill—a gift from his mother.
Lately though, he’d been too busy to go to the tree house. He thought maybe he was outgrowing it. He’d outgrown a lot of things, like wearing the same shirt every day and not brushing his teeth. He did that for a full week once—not brushed his teeth, that is. He came home from camp one summer and his mom had been horrified that he hadn’t even opened the brand-new travel toothbrush she’d packed. There were a lot of things he used to think were cool that weren’t anymore. The tree house was one of them.
He picked up his phone and looked at the screen: 10:00 p.m. Same day as the kayak race. Yet it felt as though a year had passed.
He grabbed the Krÿs and threw a jacket over his pajamas. Climbing out the window onto a thick tree limb, he crawled a short distance then shimmied through the narrow doorway. The neighbor’s dog started barking, which it always did at even the slightest movement in the yard. That dog never missed anything.
Levi turned on the small battery-powered lantern and looked around. Large, complicated spiderwebs inhabited every corner. The floor was very dusty. Levi cleaned off the top of the short three-legged stool he kept there and held the Krÿs to the light, wondering what sort of secrets it held.
The lantern dimmed and went out. Dead battery. Levi frowned, then went to find a flashlight in the wooden box where he kept his special tree house supplies. But something was lying on top of the box—a large rectangular object Levi had never seen there before. He reached over to pick it up. It was heavy.
It was a book.
Levi grabbed the flashlight from inside the box and shone it on the book. He recognized it then, the heavily embossed cover with the familiar symbol, the odd-shaped letter A for Ahoratos. This was the same book about the Prince Warrior that Brianna had, and Evan and Manuel too. He wondered if Brianna had brought it over and left it there for some reason. But even Brianna, his best friend for ages, had never been in the tree house. This was a place Levi kept all to himself.
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