The Warble

by Victoria Simcox

  “We’re more than ready,” Hester said, grabbing Graham by his arm.

  Ugan put on his cloak and tucked the Book of Prophecy inside it. Then he led the three children out the back door and down a path to the forest. A few minutes into their journey, they smelled smoke, and when they turned around, they saw Rumalock’s cottage lit up in flames. Now Ugan realized the meaning of the last words he saw appear on the page in the Book of Prophecy.

  13

  Kristina and Werrien were in the second day of their journey, and everything was going quite smoothly; even the rain had let up.

  “It’s going to get dark soon, so we’ll need to stop and set up camp for the night,” Werrien said to Kristina.

  Kristina noticed a smooth spot on the ground not far off in the distance. “Look! There’s a good spot over there,” she suggested, pointing toward it.

  “Good eye.” Werrien smiled at her.

  Kristina liked the fact that she and Werrien were getting along better, and she was starting to see that he had a nice side to him. They dismounted Taysha, and Werrien led her to a shady area under a large tree. Then he and Kristina went to look for wood to build a fire. While they were looking, they could hear Taysha talking. “Watch where you’re going! I almost stepped on you!” she said.

  “Well, excuse me, Madam, but I don’t see very well, not to mention that I have no idea where I am,” a huffy voice replied.

  Kristina and Werrien both stopped what they were doing to listen. Then they went a little closer to Taysha to see who she was talking to.

  Kristina’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “Raymond? Is that you?” She walked quickly toward a small gray mound in the grass.

  “Yes, it’s me, and am I glad to see you!”

  Kristina scooped up Raymond and then headed toward Werrien. “Look!” she said excitedly. “This is my pet rat, Raymond,” She kissed Raymond on his head.

  “Your pet rat?” Werrien chuckled.

  “Yeah. His name’s Raymond.”

  “How’s it going Raymond?” Werrien tried to pet the rat on his head but as he reached out to him, Raymond crawled into Kristina’s sleeve.

  “I’ve been better,” Raymond said in a muted voice.

  “Finicky little fellow,” Werrien said. Then he went back to looking for wood to build the fire.

  Kristina quickly joined Werrien. Raymond poked his head out of her sleeve and said, “Would you happen to have a little morsel for me to eat? I’m very hungry.”

  Kristina opened the food bag and pulled out a few crumbs of bread and gave them to Raymond. “I can hardly believe that Raymond can talk,” she said to Werrien.

  “I can’t believe animals don’t talk where you’re from.”

  “It would make headline news if they did.”

  “That’s odd. I couldn’t imagine a world without talking animals.” Werrien arranged the wood into a teepee-shape at their campsite and then lit the fire.

  Evening set in, along with a thick fog. The two children sat by the crackling fire, eating the soup that Leacha had prepared for them. When they were finished, Werrien took the Warble out of his pocket and swirled it around on the palm of his hand.

  “Do you know how much farther we’ll have to travel to get it to where it needs to be placed?” Kristina asked.

  “If all goes as planned, I’d say we’ll reach the city of Salas by evening tomorrow. From there, it should take us about a half a day to reach the bottom of Mount Bernovem. Then we’ll climb as far as Taysha can climb. After that, I’ll send her home on her own, and we’ll travel the rest of the way on foot to the very top of the mountain.”

  “Why can’t Taysha come?”

  “It’s too steep for her. I’m just hoping we’ll be able to make it. I haven’t told you yet, but it’s a very treacherous climb. Nobody I know of has climbed to the top of Mount Bernovem—that is, at least since Queen Sentiz took over.”

  As Werrien stared at the Warble, its rich dark-purple color swirled around inside it and changed to blue. “Hold out your hand,” he said. Kristina held her hand out, and he dropped the ball onto her palm. “Thanks for letting me carry it. It’s been an honor for me to hold onto something that will finally bring peace and justice to our land and allow my mother, Lafinia, the true Queen of Bernovem, to be able to reign again.”

  “Lafinia is your mother’s name?” Kristina asked.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s an unusual name.”

  Werrien didn’t respond as he stoked the fire.

  Kristina wondered if she may have hit a sore spot. She thought quickly and then said. “I like it though; it’s pretty. What about your father? Where is he?”

  “I don’t know where he is or if he is even still alive. All I was told by my mother was that he and my uncle Corin—he’s my father’s brother—had to go on a long journey. They never returned, and so we figured that they must have been killed.”

  Except for the crackling in the fire there was silence. Kristina placed the Warble back in her pocket. Their conversation was making her feel awkward. “I’m sorry,” she finally said.

  “Don’t sweat it,” Werrien said and he began rolling out hid sleeping mat. Kristina did the same.

  As they lay on their mats, under the bright stars, Kristina couldn’t help but notice that the moon in the sky seemed quite different than the moon where she was from. It was larger, more pearly-white, and its texture was different. “Werrien,” she said.

  Werrien turned to face her. “Yeah?” he said.

  “Where is your mother?”

  “She’s imprisoned in the top of a tower.”

  “Has anyone tried to rescue her?”

  “There have been many attempts, but so far they have all failed. The tower is surrounded by the shark-infested Citnalta Sea. Her room is at the top of the tower and has only one small, barred window.”

  Kristina turned to face Werrien. “It sounds like a very lonely place.”

  Again Werrien didn’t respond.

  “You must really miss her,” Kristina said softly.

  “I used to think that I’d never see her again, but now that the Warble has come, I have hope.”

  They turned back on their backs again to gaze up at the moonlit sky.

  “Werrien, I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about the Warble?”

  Werrien rolled on his side again to face her―his sandy blond hair partially blocking his blue-green eyes. “When it is put back in its resting place, the spell that has allowed Sentiz to reign as sovereign queen over Bernovem will be lifted—at least, that is what the believers believe.”

  “Who are the believers?” Kristina looked curiously at Werrien.

  “The ones who have held to the belief that the Warble will return someday.”

  “Are there many nonbelievers?”

  “Actually, there seem to be more of them than believers. It started out the other way around, where there were more believers, but over time, many gave up hope and became nonbelievers.”

  “What do the nonbelievers believe?”

  “They have accepted the horrible Sentiz as their sovereign queen, and they’ve been brainwashed to believe that the Warble is just a fable.” Werrien changed the subject. “Anyhow, tell me about where you are from. Is it much different than Bernovem?”

  “In some ways it is, and in some ways not.”

  “How is it different?”

  “Well, for instance, we don’t have dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, or talking animals.”

  “Weird.”

  “And another thing, my world is much more modernized. We have motorized cars, trains, and airplanes, as well as computers and cell phones. Bernovem seems to be at least a century or more behind the time in my world.”

  Werrien yawned and closed his eyes. Kristina could see that he was growing very tired so she reached out and gently shook him. “Werrien,” she said.

  “Yeah?”

  She sat up and took the Warble out of her pocket. “I
want you to carry the Warble,” she said.

  Werrien looked inquisitively at her. “Why?”

  “I feel it will be safer with you, and besides…I would like you to have the honor of carrying it to where it needs to go.” Feeling shy, her eyes gravitated toward her sleeping matt.

  “You’d do that for me?” Werrien said drowsily.

  Kristina’s eyes sparkled in the fire-light as she smiled at him. “Just don’t let it go to your head,” she said and handed the Warble back to him. Then they went to sleep.

  14

  While Ugan was filling his canteen with water at the Indra River, Davina, Hester, and Graham sat on a washed-up log on the riverbank.

  “We’re tired of walking! How much longer until we get to this so-called queen’s palace?” Hester nagged Ugan.

  “Now, now, patience, my dear. It’s not much farther, and once you arrive, you’ll have so much fun that you won’t even remember how long the walk was,” Ugan answered. But he actually was thinking that he couldn’t wait to get the brats to the palace to meet her ladyship, “Sentiz the Horrible.”

  “This hiking stuff is really a boring drag. I sure wish I was home, where I could be gaming with my bros’,” Graham griped as he flung dirt from a stick toward Hester.

  The dirt hit Hester on her cheek. She quickly grabbed the stick away from Graham and was about to hit him with it. “You little, filthy—”

  “Lovely children,” Ugan interrupted as he finished tightening the lid on his canteen, “save all that energy for the fun and games at the palace.” He looked at Davina, who was calmly gazing out at the Indra River and picking her nose. “Why don’t you follow her example? She seems to be having a nice time.”

  Hester threw the stick on the ground and said, “Can we just get going? This walk is taking way too long.”

  Ugan started walking back to the forest and the three children followed him. They passed through the fairy colony, and they were fascinated by the very tall trees.

  “Wow, I’ve never seen such gigantic trees in all my life,” Davina said amazed.

  Three fairies suddenly came from out of nowhere and zoomed around Graham’s head, like bees around a flower. Graham ducked and waved his hands around as if they were attacking him. The fairies laughed and continued to torment him.

  Davina, who was always game to whack at something, grabbed a branch off the ground. “Don’t worry. I’ll get the little pests. I’m not afraid of bees.” She swung the branch at the fairies but it was Graham she almost hit in the head.

  “You idiot! Watch my head!” Graham shouted.

  The fairies were too fast for Davina and they flew away without as much as a scratch on them.

  “Those were the largest bees I’ve ever seen,” Graham panted to Ugan.

  “They’re not bees at all; they’re fairies,” Ugan replied.

  “Fairies? Like the ones in little-kid stories?” Graham asked, excitedly.

  “There called ‘fairy tales’ dimwit,” Hester said curtly.

  Graham’s face broke into his bothersome grin. He looked at Ugan and said, “Do you happen to have a jar or something? I’m gonna catch some of them and take them home. Then I’ll charge people to see them, and I’ll get super rich.”

  Ugan looked irritated at Graham but then he smiled and said, “Why, yes. We have just the sort of jar you’d need, but it is at the palace, so why don’t we hurry along so we can get there? Then we can look for that jar.” If Ugan didn’t get back to the palace soon, he knew that the queen would punish him for taking too long.

  ~~~

  Meanwhile, at the palace, Queen Sentiz sat at her ornate table, once again looking into the seeing crystal. Her loyal counselor, the old Sir Rupert was at her side, now in a wheelchair because of his failing health.

  “Can you see them?” the queen asked impatiently.

  “Patience, my lady, they will appear shortly,” Rupert said.

  Queen Sentiz got out of her chair and started pacing the floor. “Why hasn’t that nincompoop dwarf returned yet?”

  “Quick, my lady, come look.”

  She hurried back to the crystal to look inside it. “Where are they?”

  Rupert pointed his bony finger between the tall trees in the forest, and the queen rubbed her hands together with satisfaction. “Oh, yes, there are the little dumplings. I can hardly wait for their arrival.” A wicked smile appeared across her gaunt face. But then her expression changed to an insecure worried look, and she began nervously tapping her long red nails on the table.

  Rupert looked concerned. “What is it, my lady? Is something distressing you?”

  “I’m wondering where that good-for-nothing son of mine is. Make the crystal do its thing again, so I can see his whereabouts.”

  “As you wish.” Rupert closed his eyes and waved his bony fingers around the crystal, but just as he was about to begin his chant, the itch in his throat came back. Queen Sentiz glared down at him with ice-cold eyes as he tried desperately to hold in his cough. Thankfully, the itch went away, and he was able to continue on with his chant.

  The crystal lit up, and it began to spin again. Its colors swirled around the room. Then, once again, they formed a tornado-like funnel over the crystal and, just as before, were suddenly sucked back inside it. Ramon appeared in the crystal, sitting against a fallen tree, in a field, with his horse standing by his side.

  “What is he doing?” the queen asked.

  Rupert took a velvet handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sweat from his brow. “It looks to me, my lady, like the prince is whittling wood.”

  “Whittling wood? Why that lazy—”

  “Someone is coming from off in the distance. Look, my lady.” He pointed his finger for her to see, but before she could see who it was, Rupert’s nagging itch came back in his throat. His face turned lobster red and he began to sweat heavily. He tried to hold back his cough, but it was no use and he let out such a loud hack that it knocked the crystal over. Then it turned dark and teetered back and forth on its side.

  Queen Sentiz was furious, and in her rage she stomped over to the door and flung it wide open. Two dwarfs were standing at attention right outside.

  “Take him!” The queen pointed to Rupert.

  The two dwarfs ran into the room and quickly rolled Rupert’s wheelchair out. The queen slammed the door shut behind them. She could hear Rupert coughing as he was being rolled away down the long hallway to his bedroom. She stormed back over to the table, took a deep breath, and then calmly sat down. She stood the crystal up and, just as Rupert had, waved her hands around it, but nothing happened. Her anger began to bubble up inside her, though she managed to calm herself. She tried for a second time to wake up the crystal, nevertheless again, nothing happened. Furious, she grabbed hold of the edge of the table and dug her nails into the wood. Then she grabbed the crystal in both hands and held it over her head, as if she was going to smash it on the table. However, before she could do it, a soft knock came at the door. She took a deep breath and then gently laid the crystal down on the table. “Enter!” she bellowed.

  It was one of the dwarfs. “Your Majesty, Ugan has arrived with the three children.”

  “How wonderful.” Queen Sentiz smiled. “Where are they?”

  “They have just entered the palace garden.”

  “Very good. I will have time to freshen up before they enter the palace.”

  The dwarf bowed and then left the room.

  Queen Sentiz quickly went to her vanity mirror and applied white powder to her already pale complexion. Then she put on her red lipstick, brushed her hair, and admired her reflection in the mirror.

  Another knock came at her door.

  “Enter!” the queen sang cheerfully.

  The same dwarf opened the door again. “The children have arrived and are waiting in the atrium for you, Your Majesty.”

  The queen smiled one last time in her mirror. Then she blew herself a kiss and got up to meet her guests. Little did they kn
ow they actually were her victims.

  15

  Kristina, Werrien, and Raymond slept peacefully under the stars, but unfortunately, not far off, things were not quite as peaceful. Queen Sentiz’s zelbocks had split up into bands and were scouring the land in all directions. One of the bands was not far off from where the two children lay asleep. Their fire torches lit up the dark, damp forest as they carefully looked for any clues of the whereabouts of the children. Werrien had done his best to cover up all of Taysha’s tracks, but unfortunately there was one that was left behind.

  The lead zelbock of one of the bands noticed something white hanging from a tree branch, so he stopped and dismounted his horse. “Look here,” he said in a gruff voice.

  The rest of the band brought their attention to where he stood, holding a few strands of white horse tail in his hand. He sniffed them and said, “This is not one of our horses; it must be the boy’s horse.” A wicked smirk filled his grotesque face.

  “They’re not far off,” another zelbock said.

  The leader got back on his horse and quietly led his crew onward. They rode under the tree where Roage, the raven, and his fellow mates were perched, sleeping. One of the ravens woke from the sound of the horses passing under them. He pecked at Roage to wake him.

  “Can’t I get any sleep?” Roage snapped.

  “Sorry, Roage, but a band of zelbocks just passed under us,” the other raven said.

  “Ah, you’re just dreaming. Go back to sleep.”

  “No, I saw them with my own eyes.”

  “All right, I’ll go take a look.” Roage flew off to see for himself, and it wasn’t long before he was back. “It’s the zelbocks, all right, and they’re traveling in bands. I have no idea what they’re searching for, but we can’t take any chances. We must notify the fairies at once.”

  “Would you like me to go to tell them?” another raven asked.