He got out of bed and went to the bathroom to get a glass of water. His mom always told him to do this when he woke up from a bad dream, ever since he was a little kid. It usually helped. But tonight it didn’t. He still felt scared.
Beware the wolf.
That instruction still bothered him. Maybe that was why he was dreaming about wolves all of the sudden.
He drank the tepid water from the sink and went back to his bedroom. He didn’t feel like going back to bed. He was wide awake. He glanced out the window and decided to go out to his tree house for a bit. Maybe being in a smaller space would make him feel safer.
He put on a sweatshirt and crawled out to the tree house. He turned on the battery-powered lantern (he’d remembered to change the batteries) and pulled out his Prince Warrior book, turning to the sword page. He took out the Krÿs, just to make sure it was still there. He held it a moment, gazing at the small dull blade. It sure didn’t look like much. No one who wasn’t a Prince Warrior would think anything of it. He thought that was kind of funny—how a thing that seemed useless and boring could have more power than anyone could imagine. Forger-killing power.
He heard a low growling from somewhere outside the tree house. Probably the neighbor’s dog again. Levi looked out the window. He couldn’t see the dog anywhere. He turned back inside and froze. A huge creature hunched in his bedroom window, staring at him with glowing, yellow eyes, foam dripping from long, sharp yellow teeth.
A wolf.
Levi froze, the breath locked in his throat. The wolf jumped out of the window and onto the tree branch. It lowered its head as it slunk along the branch toward the tree house, growling in low, uneven rasps.
Levi scooted against the back wall of the tree house, still holding the Krÿs in one fist. Sweat poured down his face, dripping into his eyes. No place to run—he was trapped. The wolf paused at the edge of the tree house door and gathered itself, preparing to pounce.
Levi raised the Krÿs, his arm shaking. He could hear his father’s voice in his head: Be strong, be brave, hold steady. He pressed the Krÿs to his chest just as the wolf lunged with a savage growl. But nothing happened. His heart dropped into his stomach like a ten-pound weight as he remembered that it wouldn’t work. It couldn’t. He wasn’t wearing his breastplate. He saw the wolf’s eyes gleam, its teeth bared, the savage growling filling Levi’s ears. He huddled against the wall, still holding the small knife, and shut his eyes just as the wolf leapt—
Nothing happened.
Levi opened his eyes, one at a time. The wolf was gone. Vanished. Levi shook his head, trying to clear his vision. There was something else in the space where the wolf had been. The Crest. Rotating slowly, glowing as yellow as the wolf’s eyes. Levi reached forward and grabbed hold of it. He felt himself melting, as if his body were turning to vapor, sucked into a tiny gap between the wooden planks of the tree house. Then the tree house disappeared. Levi was spinning, formless, and then sensing all his separate parts knitting together as the spinning lessened.
When it finally stopped, he was standing on the edge of a crater. It looked a great deal like the top of the Mountain of Rhema, except there was no fire or smoke inside the hole at the center of the crater. There was only water. Above him the sky was yellow, smeared with red-black clouds and dotted with skypods. He knew for certain that he was back in Ahoratos.
He felt a sudden wind at his back and turned to see Xavier standing beside him. Then Evan. Manuel, Brianna, and Ivy appeared a half second later, materializing like ghosts blown in by the wind. Each of them was holding a sword.
“I dreamed I saw—a wolf,” said Brianna in a breathless voice.
“Me too,” said Levi.
“Me too,” said Ivy. The others only nodded, as if they too had seen a wolf but were too shocked to speak of it. “Then I saw the Crest. . . .”
Levi felt another sharp wind at his back, and then Finn appeared, also with his sword.
“Wolf?” asked Levi. Finn nodded.
“How did we get on the top of the mountain?” Evan whispered.
“I don’t think this is the mountain,” said Xavier. “At least not the same one. There’s just water down there.”
“It’s the Water,” said Manuel. “Look.”
They could see then the Crest shimmering on the surface of the Water, reflecting the yellow-red of the sky.
“What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Evan shouted as he jumped off the ledge and slid down the sloping crater toward the Water. The others quickly followed.
* * *
Ruwach spread his long arms in welcome to the kids when they arrived in the Cave after going through the Water. As usual, they were completely dry and dressed in their warrior clothes and armor. “You stood up to the enemy and did not let your fear overcome you. You are doing well in your training.”
“You mean the wolf—that wasn’t real? It was just a test?” asked Ivy, her voice tinged with relief.
“I’m not too crazy about all these tests,” Evan grumbled. Xavier nudged him.
“The wolf is very real,” said Ruwach with an ominous note in his voice. “All trials are real and necessary. Now has come the time—”
“Ru, we want to know about the pods,” Manuel said, interrupting. “My father wants to drill into one—I don’t know how to stop him—”
“How did the pods get through the portal anyway?” asked Brianna. “Was it because of the Sypher I brought back?” Everyone looked at her; she shifted her gaze to the floor.
Evan stepped forward. “No, Brianna. It was my fault,” he said glumly. “I did it, didn’t I?”
“Not you alone, Prince Evan,” Ruwach said. Everyone was silent for a moment, looking from one to the other as if wondering which one of them was to blame. “Something else was brought into this world and left behind.” Ruwach’s whole body turned toward Manuel.
“Me?” said Manuel, brows furrowed in confusion. Then his eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, the realization settling on him like an itchy woolen blanket. “My shield!” he said. “The one I made. But it was destroyed in the Olethron attack.”
“Not completely.” Ruwach raised his long arms in the air. Immediately the ceiling of the Cave disappeared, revealing a scene like a movie but with no sound. It was Manuel, on his knees on the hilltop, moments after the Olethron attack had ended. He was reaching to pick up a blackened shard of metal from the charred ground when it caught on his sleeve and cut his arm. Manuel saw himself grabbing his arm in pain and throwing back his head, mouthing the words “it’s destroyed” and tossing the fragment away. Then the scene faded, the ceiling turning back to solid stone.
Manuel shook his head sadly. “I forgot about that. I didn’t realize. . . . But what harm could one little piece of metal do?”
“The enemy will create chaos from any small thing. Even a scrap. It is not the object that causes the problem so much as—the choice. Do you understand?”
“The choice I made,” said Manuel, his voice trembling with regret. “I’m so sorry. I wish I’d never made that stupid shield.”
“It’s okay, Manuel,” said Ivy. “We’ve all made mistakes.”
“Yeah,” said Finn. “Definitely.”
“You can say that again,” mumbled Evan.
“So what can we do? About the pods?” Xavier asked.
“And when are we going to be in a battle?” Evan asked. He figured they’d had enough of practicing and tests; it was time for the real thing.
Ruwach raised his arms to quiet them. “Your questions will be answered in a little while. But first, you have a choice to make. Follow me.” Ruwach turned swiftly, heading for one of the tunnels that ringed the Cave.
The kids, baffled by his abrupt departure, hurried to follow. Ruwach picked up speed as he led them down the winding tunnel, which lit up purple as he went. They turned one corner after another, their
footsteps echoing down the long corridor. Soon the kids found themselves racing down a hallway that looked familiar.
“The Hall of Armor!” Evan said breathlessly.
They passed hundreds of sets of armor arrayed on the walls, each one different, some familiar and some very strange, although they were going too fast to read the placards accompanying each one.
Suddenly Ruwach stopped, and the kids skidded to a halt behind him. They recognized their own armor displayed on the walls, a placard under each one inscribed with their names and birthdates. It was funny to see the armor there on the wall, when they were actually wearing it at the same time.
Beside each suit of armor there was a padlocked door. After all this time, the kids still had no idea what was behind those doors, for Ruwach had refused to tell them or let them see. The doors had haunted them ever since they’d first seen them—taunting them with the promise of hidden treasure. Even though Ruwach had told them repeatedly that they had everything they needed to wage war against the enemy, it was each Prince Warrior’s dream to finally open his or her door.
Ruwach reached into his sleeve and removed a key. It was a strange-looking key with four twisted crosspieces on the stem. None of the kids had ever seen it—except for Evan. He recognized it immediately: this was the key he had “borrowed” and accidentally taken to earth. He shrank back a little at the sight of it.
Ruwach held the key in his illuminated hand. “Now you may choose to open your rooms.”
“Choose?” asked Evan.
“Remember what you have learned.” Ruwach said nothing more than that.
The kids were silent a moment, not believing the day had come. If they wanted, they could see what was behind those mysterious doors. More weapons or armor? There had to be a reason why the enemy had wanted that key so badly in the first place when he’d tricked Rook into stealing it for him.
Now, finally, they were being given the chance. The kids gathered around the key, each waiting for the other to grab it first. No one moved for a long time.
Then Xavier stepped forward. He reached out and took the key from Ruwach’s hand. He held it up, surprised that when he looked at Ruwach’s hand again, the key was still there.
“There are two keys?”
“There are as many as are required,” said Ruwach.
Xavier shrugged—this was Ahoratos, after all; anything could happen. One by one the other kids stepped forward to take a key: Ivy, Brianna, Manuel, and Finn. Then Evan took his turn, reaching out for the key. There was still a key left in Ruwach’s hand when they were done.
Levi’s key.
Levi started to reach for the key when Ruwach’s often-repeated words echoed in his ears: You already have everything you need.
If that were true, if he truly believed it, then why did he need whatever was behind that door? Perhaps this was a chance to prove to Ruwach, to prove to all of them, that he was willing to live by those words.
He took a step backward. “No,” he said.
The others looked at him curiously. “What’s the matter, Levi?” asked Brianna. “Don’t you want to see what’s in your room?”
“Yeah, I do. But—I have everything I need.”
Ruwach nodded and withdrew his hand. Levi watched the key disappear back into Ruwach’s robe. He expected to feel disappointed; instead he felt relieved. And a little encouraged: Ruwach’s quick retraction of his key gave him the feeling that he had made the right choice.
Xavier went to his door, staring at it a long moment. He took a breath and slid the key into the lock. He held it there a few seconds. There was still time to take it out, to give it back to Ruwach. To do what Levi had done.
But then, for some reason, he thought of Viktor. Viktor had made him feel that he didn’t have everything he needed after all. For the first time in a long time, Xavier had felt inadequate and insecure. Like what he had and who he was wasn’t quite enough. He had to be better somehow. Faster, smarter, more skilled. He had to know for sure that he could really make it in the world—in either world, earth or Ahoratos.
He turned the key slowly until he heard a click. Unlocked. Xavier felt his heart beating heavily in his chest; he wondered if the other kids felt the same, but he didn’t look around to see. Instead, he took hold of the handle and pushed open the door.
When he did, there was a brilliant flash, like the burst of a camera bulb, inches from his face. Only Xavier didn’t see it.
In fact, he didn’t see anything.
Because the room . . . was empty.
CHAPTER 16
The Gift
Xavier thought he must be mistaken. He took a few steps inside the long, narrow room, looking around in speechless disbelief. How could this be? Four bare walls. Nothing on the floor. Nothing hanging from the low ceiling. Empty.
“Hey!” Xavier heard Evan’s indignant cry and went over to see what was in his room. He hoped that Evan would have gotten something, maybe even enough that he’d be willing to share some of it with his older brother. But as soon as Xavier looked inside, his face and his heart fell. Evan’s room was exactly the same.
“There’s nothing here!” Evan blurted.
“Mine’s empty too,” said Brianna.
“Mine too,” said Ivy, disappointed.
“Perhaps there is a secret compartment—” Manuel began knocking on the walls and floor of his empty room, checking for a trap door or a hidden alcove.
“I don’t get it,” said Ivy. “Why was Ponéros so interested in the key if the rooms were empty?”
“That’s a good question, Princess Ivy,” said Ruwach.
“This stinks!” moaned Evan.
Brianna shook her head. “This just doesn’t make sense. All this time we’ve been wanting to open these rooms, for no reason at all.”
“There is always a reason for everything,” Ruwach responded. He raised one of his draped arms. A bright light shone from the far end of the long tunnel, and suddenly The Book was speeding toward them. It stopped in front of Ruwach, hovering on its glowing pedestal. Ruwach raised his arms and waved them over The Book like a conductor of an orchestra. The Book produced a series of musical notes as the pages flipped open. Ornate letters lifted from the page and hovered in the air.
eB trlae enmye dsreouv nda heT spowrl
Ruwach made another gesture and the letters rearranged to form words:
Be alert.The enemy prowls and devours.
“Prowls?” asked Evan with a small shiver.
“Devours?” asked Brianna.
“Like—a wolf,” murmured Levi.
“Or like the Ents,” said Manuel. “If the pods open, the Ents inside will devour the whole town. There’s no way we can protect everyone just by ourselves. Even with our swords.”
“You have everything you need,” Ruwach said, as serenely as ever. “Always remember that. Go now. Back to the Centrum. Wait for me there.”
“The Centrum?” asked Evan. “What’s that?”
“The main room of the Cave,” said Ruwach. “Where we began. The Sparks will show you the way.”
“You aren’t coming?” asked Brianna, frowning a little.
“I will be there in a little while.”
The kids started slowly down the tunnel, back the way they had come. As Levi followed, Ruwach put an arm out, blocking his path.
“Stay,” Ruwach said.
Levi stood waiting. Ruwach did not move until the others had completely disappeared around a bend in the tunnel. Then he turned to Levi.
“You did not open your room.”
Levi shrugged. “You said we had everything we needed.”
Ruwach’s hood nodded. Then he held out his glowing hand with the key. “Take it. Open your door.”
“But I thought—”
“Open it.”
Levi sig
hed and took the key from Ruwach’s hand. And when he did, Ruwach’s hand lay empty. There was no new key to replace it. Ruwach withdrew his hand into his sleeve.
Levi held the key a long time before going to his door. He’d seen the others’ rooms. They had been completely and utterly empty. He wondered if his room could possibly have something in it that the others didn’t.
Finally, he put the key in the lock and turned it. Click. The door creaked when he pushed it open. A blinding flash met his eyes, but unlike the others, he could see it. His eyes slammed shut. Slowly, he blinked back into focus, wiping away the tears that formed in response to the light. When he was finally able to open his eyes fully, he looked around the room—and sighed. It was empty.
Except for one thing.
A red object hovered in the center of the room, rotating slowly. It looked like a large gemstone, about the size of a softball. At first Levi thought it was hanging from the ceiling, but then he realized there was no string attached to it.
“That wasn’t in the others’ rooms,” Levi said in a hushed tone.
“It was. Only they couldn’t see it,” said Ruwach.
“So why can I see it?”
“Go in.”
Levi didn’t hesitate. At Ruwach’s command, he took a few steps inside, looking around at the blank walls. Suddenly the door closed behind him, making it completely dark in the room. He held his breath, unsure of what would happen next. The darkness around him felt very close, as if he could touch it. He had an urge to turn and run to the door and throw it open, to let in light, to get out. But he quelled the urge, breathing through his fear. His hand went to the hilt of the sword in his belt, the feel of it reassuring.
And then out of the dark the red gem began to glow, the light inside it pulsing like a heartbeat. Levi thought he could even hear it, feel it beating inside his own chest. The light soon became very bright, a steady beam shining in his eyes. But the beam did not blind him as the earlier flash had done; it made his eyes open even wider than before, melting away the darkness.
The Prince Warriors and the Swords of Rhema Page 10
