The Door Within

by Wayne Thomas Batson

  20

  SHORTCUT

  In the tunnel, Aidan and Gwenne could hear the howling winds of the Tempest churning up the Grimwalk above the opening.

  They found themselves sliding on their rear ends and picking up speed. Gwenne was ahead of Aidan, and she was the first to exit the tunnel. She landed with a clumsy crash and looked up just as Aidan slammed into her.

  They stood up awkwardly and looked around. They found they were in an underground chamber of some kind, lit dimly by several glowing streaks gouged into the ceiling. The chamber was circular and had other openings to tunnels all around.

  Aidan was the first to notice they were not alone.

  “Look!” he pointed. “Look, Gwenne, moonrascals!”

  Gwenne did look, and huddled in several of the tunnel openings were little groups of white moonrascals. They stared at Aidan and Gwenne with their peculiar glowing eyes as if trying to decide if their uninvited guests were friends or foes. Then, one by one, the moonrascals scurried away up or down the various tunnels.

  Aidan and Gwenne stood for a moment in awkward silence. The reality of what had just happened came crashing down on them. Aidan was the first to speak.

  “Gwenne, the other knights, is there any chance? I mean . . . are they?”

  “If anyone was caught in the Tempest, yes . . . they are gone,” Gwenne confirmed grimly.

  Memories flashed through Aidan’s mind. During the time he’d spent with the knights, many had become his friends. Aidan felt as if his insides were being crushed.

  “But if there is anyone besides the King of Alleble who could somehow lead the knights to safety, it would be the noble Captain Valithor.”

  Aidan nodded. Valithor, Mallik, the twins—all gone in an instant.How could this happen? Aidan searched his heart for answers. There were none.

  “What now?” Aidan asked. “Do we try to climb back up that tunnel?”

  “I don’t think that will work,” Gwenne replied. “Those tunnels are slippery, and even if we could somehow climb, the Tempest has probably filled in the top of the tunnel with snow and debris.”

  “What about these other tunnels? Are they blocked too? Are we trapped underground then?” Aidan asked, pointing frantically at the openings all around the chamber.

  “Aidan, I know it’s hard,” Gwenne said. “But with King Eliam’s help, we will find a way. Most of the tunnels come out somewhere on the Grimwalk. It may be that they are not all blocked.”

  “So, what if we do get back out on the Grimwalk? What’ll we do then?” Aidan asked pathetically. “Eleazar was supposed to meet with the King of Mithegard, but he’s gone. Captain Valithor too. I mean, it’s just the two of us. Are we just supposed to go back out there and plod our way to Mithegard without any help?”

  “Thanks to that double-crossing, foul Glimpse Acsriot, the Grimwalk will probably be crawling with Paragor Knights,” Gwenne raged. “I know we are sworn to complete our mission, but I don’t see how—”

  “Shhhh . . . I hear something,” Aidan whispered. There came a scratching sound from one of the tunnels. Aidan looked from opening to opening, and then he saw it! There was a glowing arrow on the inside of one of the tunnels.

  Aidan had been on the verge of despair, but now there was something he could grab hold of, a thin strand of hope. “Look, Gwenne!” Aidan exclaimed excitedly. “The moonrascals are trying to help us! I bet that tunnel will lead us somewhere safe. Maybe even to Alleble!”

  “Alleble is leagues away,” Gwenne argued. “And so close to Paragory, how do you know that those snowy moonrascals are not under a spell of the Prince? That tunnel could lead us right to the enemy’s front door!”

  “Yeah, but what choice do we have?” Aidan said. “We can’t just stay here!”

  Reluctantly, Gwenne agreed. She paused for a moment, looked thoughtful, and then said, “You have made quite a knight, after all, you know. With the Tempest bearing down on us, you could have made other decisions, and the disaster would be complete. When you pulled me off my unicorn and threw me into the tunnel, you . . . you saved my life.”

  “C’mon,” Aidan said. “You’re acting like I did something brave. I was scared out of my wits when the Tempest came tearing through!”

  “That is the very essence of bravery,” she said. “We all become frightened in the face of danger, but it is those few, like you, who act in spite of their fear—who are the heroes.”

  Me? A hero? Aidan thought. If Mom and Dad . . . if Robby could see me now.

  While Aidan was imagining sharing his adventures with Robby, Gwenne came close to him and kissed him on the cheek. All the thoughts in Aidan’s mind quickly turned to mush! He felt dizzy and short of breath, and the place on his cheek Gwenne had kissed felt warm and tingly.

  “Sir Aidan,” Gwenne called, snapping Aidan out of the trance. “Shall we travel this tunnel?”

  “Verily, we shall,” Aidan replied, trying to sound herolike.

  The tunnels had been created by moonrascals for moonrascals—not humans. It was always night in those narrow passages, and the air was thin and foul-smelling. Aidan led the way, but he didn’t feel much like a leader. His heart raced the whole time, and he felt like he could barely breathe as he inched along the passage. It seemed like forever passed between each glowing arrow, but they always appeared.

  Every once in a while the tunnel would split, and a glowing arrow would direct them left or right. The moonrascals were obviously leading them somewhere.

  The tunnel had been level for several hours, but it gradually began to rise.

  “We’re going up,” Aidan whispered back to Gwenne. “Maybe we’ll come out soon.”

  “I hope so,” Gwenne replied. “My knees are aching rather fiercely!”

  But they did not come out soon.

  The tunnel curled, swerved, and banked. Occasionally, it would level out for a time, but it always began to rise again. Though their straining muscles suggested that they had been crawling for an eternity, Aidan and Gwenne had lost any real sense of time.

  “How many arrows have there been?” Gwenne asked.

  “I stopped counting,” Aidan admitted. “I think there were thirty-three when I stopped, but that was hours ago.”

  More time passed, and Aidan simply fell over on his side.

  “How can it keep going up like this?” Aidan asked, weariness in his voice.

  “I do not understand it either,” Gwenne agreed. She fell to the side of the tunnel. “By my reckoning we should have come out by now. Though where we might come out, I have no idea. There have been so many turns, I have completely lost any sense of direction.”

  After another couple of hours of climbing, Aidan felt a warm breath of wind sail through his hair. It was startling in the dark.

  “Did you feel that?” he asked.

  “Yes, we could be nearing the surface!” she replied excitedly.

  They increased the speed of their climb, hoping to find an exit soon, but what they found was a large hole in the floor of the tunnel. It had glowing arrows all around it.

  “Uh-oh,” Aidan muttered.

  “What?” Gwenne asked, straining to see.

  “There’s a hole with arrows around it. I think it’s a slide!”

  “A slide? You mean . . . like the one in the hole when the Tempest was coming?” she asked.

  “Yes, exactly. I think this is another one. And unless you want to crawl all the way back the way we came, it looks like this is the only way. The tunnel ends here.”

  “There is no way we are going back,” Gwenne argued.

  “I know, but I feel like we’re so high up . . .” Aidan was unsure. The warm breeze wafted up through the hole. What if the slide leads to some fiery dungeon in the pits of Paragory? he thought.

  “Look, Sir Aidan,” Gwenne said as if reading his mind, “we need to go. We will die anyway if we stay in these dreaded tunnels any longer.” With that, Gwenne gave Aidan a surprisingly strong push, and he tumbled into the ho
le. Gwenne quickly eased herself over the edge, and just like that, they were gone.

  SPEED! It was the only word Aidan could think about as he screamed headfirst down the tunnel slide. He had always enjoyed the power dive of a roller coaster, but this was ridiculous! It was almost straight down, and his hair whipped in his eyes as he struggled to see what was ahead. Aidan felt his cheeks stretching backward as he picked up even more velocity.

  He tried to bring his hands up over his head in case he hit something, but the wind pressure kept his arms pinned to his sides. Besides, he thought, if I hit anything going this fast, it won’t matter one bit if I have my hands over my head.

  Gwenne didn’t know it, but she was sliding only about twenty yards behind Aidan. She couldn’t hear Aidan screaming because the wind whistled in her ears as she sped down the slide.

  They continued to plummet for several minutes, accelerating as they went, but suddenly, the slide began to bottom out. It curved at the bottom and then went back up.

  Aidan’s stomach did flip-flops as he hit the bottom of the slide and jetted up the other side. He opened his eyes a crack and saw he was nearing a light—it was an opening. Yes! he thought. A way out!

  But he was going too fast. What good would it do to escape the tunnel, only to slam into a rockface or a tree trunk at a hundred miles an hour? But there was nothing he could do.

  With a yelp, Aidan launched from the tunnel like he had been shot out of a cannon. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sailing through the air far above the ground. He looked down and saw that his momentum was carrying him through the air over some rocky foothills and then over some trees. But slowly the speed from his launch started to wear off, and he began to arc downward.

  That’s it! Aidan thought. I’m dead. I’m going to smash into a tree or splatter all over the ground somewhere!

  He screamed as he looked ahead and saw the ground rising up to greet him. He closed his eyes and tried to curl into a ball just before impact.

  Gwenne shot out of the tunnel feetfirst, so the only thing she could see as she flew was the sky. But she could feel herself starting to fall, and she, too, thought the end was near.

  They hit the ground in different spots, fortunately, but rather than being smashed to bits on hard ground, they bounced and rolled on something purple and very springy. Aidan rolled a couple of times and flopped onto his back.

  Relieved to be alive, Aidan stood up, wiped something sticky off of his face, and turned to look for Gwenne. She stood up about fifteen feet away. And she was laughing hysterically.

  “What?!” Aidan yelled.

  “You . . . you have . . .” She was laughing too hard to speak clearly. “You have moss hanging out of your nose!”

  Turning bright red, Aidan swiped at his nose. Sure enough, there was plenty of purple moss up there! It was everywhere else too. The force of impact had jammed tons of the stuff into his hair, behind his ears, and all over his armor. Aidan shook his head, laughed, and let himself fall backward into the moss. It was good to be alive!

  After cleaning themselves off, they climbed down from the huge mound of purple moss.

  “The moonrascals’ tunnel must have taken us under the Prince’s Crown!” Gwenne announced, looking back at their exit from the tunnel. “Those tunnels are an incredible shortcut! Sir Aidan, do you know where we are?”

  “Near Alleble, I hope?” Aidan answered.

  “Nay, Sir Aidan. Apparently, the King of Alleble has decided that we must continue our quest without the other knights. Look over there, not five miles from here . . . Mithegard!”

  Aidan looked in the direction Gwenne had pointed. Indeed, across the fields, dotted with mounds of that purple moss, was a beautiful city with seven towers. It was Mithegard—their destination!

  21

  MITHEGARD

  Their quest had begun with Twelve Knights, but in a matter of days, decimated by a Tempest and treason, their number had dwindled to two. And the storm on the Grimwalk had taken more than just their companions. They had no unicorns, no spare clothing, no fresh water, and very little food. After eating the last of the dried meat from their pouches, Aidan and Gwenne rested for a short time before making their way between huge humps of moss across the plains to Mithegard. Now it was up to the two of them to complete the mission for King Eliam and the Kingdom of Alleble.

  “So the Glimpses of Mithegard haven’t decided whether to join Paragory or Alleble?” Aidan asked, still picking pieces of purple moss out of his hair. “And we’re supposed to help them understand that Alleble is the right way to go?”

  “Yes, Aidan,” Gwenne replied. “Mithegard is an ancient kingdom, and they have great pride in their own sovereignty. For ages, they have turned aside all offers of allegiance from Paragory, as well as those from Alleble. It is said, however, that their new ruler, King Ravelle, is more open to agreements.”

  “But if the Prince is so totally evil, why would anyone follow him?” Aidan asked.

  Gwenne smiled sadly. “Lies, Sir Aidan . . . lies. You see, the Prince promises wealth, power, fame—anything a Glimpse might desire! He gives them all of these things to try to trick them out of what they truly need . . . the peace and love that can be found only in the Kingdom of Alleble. Many Glimpses are fooled by the Prince and willingly become his servants. He is wicked but cunning beyond compare.”

  “So what chance will the two of us have compared to the might of the Prince and his armies?”

  Looking him straight in his eyes, she replied, “Very little chance, Aidan. Even were our party of twelve still intact, we would accomplish nothing by force of arms. Mithegard is a powerful realm. Their mounted cavalry is fierce, and their foot soldiers are valiant. It is for this reason alone that Paragor has not before now attempted to overthrow Mithegard by force. But his dark armies have grown. Even the famed Seven Towers of Mithegard may not withstand Paragor’s new strength. And so, we come bearing only truth, our greatest weapon. We bring King Eliam’s offer in peace—and should they refuse, we will depart in peace.”

  Aidan pondered Gwenne’s words as they approached the great outer walls of the city. Mithegard was not as vast or as tall as Alleble, but its grandeur was in the craft of its design.

  “Mallik told me once that his people constructed these walls,” Gwenne explained. “They are not made with stones and mortar in the traditional way. Instead, his people carved whole slivers of granite from the Blue Mountains and cut them into solid blocks as tall as a man and as wide as a young dragon, tail to snout. Do you see the blue color in the stone of the walls?”

  “Yes; it’s in the castle too!” Aidan replied, looking up beyond the walls to the magnificent blue castle with seven towers.

  “Mallik’s people carried each block sixty leagues,” Gwenne continued. “Then, they were shaped and assembled such that they fit together perfectly, so perfectly that not even a hair can be passed through their joints.”

  Aidan had trouble carrying a couple of gallons of milk from the van to the house. He could not imagine what a massive block of solid granite would weigh. He thought of how strong and crafty the Glimpses of the Blue Mountains must be. And . . . he thought of Mallik.

  Mithegard’s front gate, an enormous triple portcullis, was raised, and a pair of tall, well-armed Glimpse knights stood at attention on each side of the entrance. Each of the Mithegard Knights wore a pale blue tunic over his shining armor. They stared at Aidan and Gwenne as they approached. Aidan stared back, for there was something different about these Glimpses, but he wasn’t sure what.

  “A little far away from home, are we?” one of the Mithegard Knights asked scornfully. “We seldom have such young visitors from Alleble!”

  The other Mithegard Knights laughed. “Yes, do the elders in your land allow their youths to venture out so far from home?”

  Aidan bit his tongue. Okay, I’m pretty much a little squirt, he thought. But insulting Gwenne? This has to stop!

  Hand on the hilt of Sil Furyn, Aida
n stepped toward the first knight, but Gwenne gently but firmly held out an arm to hold Aidan back.

  “We have business in the city,” said Gwenne. “We were told that Glimpses here are friendly, so we should have no fear to travel here.”

  “Oh, but we are friendly,” said the first knight. He made a show of stooping so he could look eye to eye with Aidan. “And you are welcome to enter. Join the many guests who have arrived of late. And, there’s a toy shop near the fifth tower for your, hmmm, business.”

  All four of the knights shared a great laugh at this. Aidan wanted to draw his sword and cut off the Glimpse’s nose. Toys, indeed!

  Aidan and Gwenne entered the walled city and marveled at the formidable defenses. Beyond the first wall and the triple portcullis stood another immense wall, this one much higher and pitted with narrow windows, through which volleys of arrows could be fired. Bands of archers could just barely be seen along the length of the inner wall.

  As they passed through the gatehouse of the inner wall, they saw enormous barracks for Mithegard’s soldiers. Aidan had no doubt that knights armed to the teeth would issue forth like hornets if the city was attacked.

  Once beyond the defenses, they found Mithegard strangely empty. There were a few Glimpses here and there: a blacksmith sitting by his hot kiln and hammering out shoes for a unicorn, a woman hanging wedges of various cheeses in a storefront window, and, of course, Glimpse children scurrying about. But it wasn’t the expected bustle of thousands of Glimpses, out traveling and doing business on the city’s many shop-filled avenues.

  “So, where is everyone?” Aidan asked. “The guards said there are a lot of visitors.”