The Last Summoning---Andrew and the Quest of Orion's Belt (Book Four)

by Ivory Autumn

  There it was. The bell. About five miles away from where he stood was the tower, surrounded in a circle on all sides by the ancient hills keeping it safe from prying eyes, totally protected and situated in the heart of the ancient city itself. That was the secret the land held. And it held it well.

  On the top of the tower, Gogindy could see the outline of the legendary bell. Yet it did not look like he had expected. In the light of day he had thought the bell would have shone and glistened. But it did not gleam. Nor did it shine. It looked dull and lifeless. It stood planted atop the tall tower looking very old and wise, as if it were weary of its stationary spot. Its silvery sheen had been tarnished by time, like a diamond once polished and cut, then thrown back into the dirt and bonded to its old prison and hidden in layers of black coal.

  It looked like the bell had never been rung. Nor did it look like it wanted to be. It looked stern, unmoving, rusty, and ugly. Its voice forever frozen.

  As Gogindy looked at it, his heart filled with the oldest of fears. Fear of failure. He had thought the bell would be agile, unweathered unfettered, ready to be rung. He had thought it had been waiting for him to ring it.

  It did not look ready. And somehow he did not feel ready either. Why didn’t anyone tell him to bring a host of donkeys carrying barrels of oil to dump over its rusty metal?

  “There it is,” Gogindy breathed, unsure, yet excited at the same time. “The bell of Conroy. And you’re going to ring that ugly hunk of metal. Yes, you are! I did not think I would find it. But there it is. And so tall, too. I did not think it would be so lofty. I don’t like heights. I don’t like towers. Don’t like…oh quit your complaining. I’m getting sick of it. Shut up,” he told himself. “You sound ridiculous.”

  “I do?”

  “Yes, you do. So keep your thoughts where they belong. In your small little head.”

  “But I don’t like the sound of silence.”

  “I do.”

  “No you don’t.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “You’re bluffing.”

  “Why would I bluff myself? I made an oath to be very honest and brave.”

  “I know, but you didn’t promise anyone that you wouldn’t talk to yourself.”

  “You’re right. I’m right. I didn’t. Did I?”

  He laughed out loud and looked quite pleased that he had resolved his inward conflict.

  “You’re such a peacemaker,” he complimented himself. “You don’t know how much I amaze me. And look, you led yourself to the tower, without a map. You are a clever Twisker. Very clever indeed.”

  He thumped his hand on his chest as if thanking his heart for taking him where he needed to go. His nose twitched, his ears trembled. He could smell the bell now, like a mouse smells a piece of cheese.

  The bell smelled clear, and crisp, metallic, and heavy. It called out to him, urging him forward. He licked his lips as if the smell made him hungry.

  “I’m coming,” he whispered. “I’m coming.”

  Chapter Thirty-three

  Deception

  Andrew groaned, and coughed, spitting up bits of coal. He opened his eyes, but saw only blackness. He tried to move, but he felt strangely immobile. His face, arms, and body were covered in a layer of coal. He gasped and coughed, pushing himself up. As he sat up, heaps of coal fell away from his body. He looked around him, confused. His head throbbed. His arms felt sore where Freddie had dug his fingers into his skin. He looked above him at the opening of the coal enclosure. The moon was up, shining through a veil of clouds.

  He had lost all concept of time. He rubbed his head, trying to remember what had happened.

  Croffin peered over him, looking worried, and very agitated.

  Andrew could smell Croffin’s unpleasant skunk-like odor that lingered about him like a ghost, especially when he was upset. “You awake?”

  Andrew nodded. “Yeah…I guess so.” He slowly stood, and looked around the pit. Except for Croffin and himself they were alone. “Croffin…” Andrew questioned, his voice filled with alarm, “where’s Freddie and Ivory?”

  “Gone,” Croffin said, his voice flat, and hollow. “They’re both gone.”

  “Both gone?”

  “Yes. The Codes took them both.”

  “You let those terrible fiends take them?” Andrew’s face twisted in pain. “How could you!”

  “It wasn’t me. Freddie did it. He’s the one to blame. Not me” Croffin’s little paws trembled. “I…I’m sorry…I, didn’t know what to do. Honestly, I didn’t. After they took Freddie, they came back for Ivory. I was worried that they’d come back for you too, so I buried you in coal, and waited. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  Andrew placed his hands on his head and looked up at the sky. “How long have they been gone? Maybe I can catch up to them.”

  Croffin shook his head. “No. Don’t be silly. You can’t catch up to them. They’ve been gone for hours.”

  “Hours?” Andrew repeated. “Oh, Freddie. You never listen...” He turned, and began scrambling up the slippery pit of coal.

  “Where are you going?” Croffin shouted.

  “I’m going to find them!”

  “But they’ve been gone for hours, HOURS, Andrew.” Croffin cried, pulling on Andrew’s pant leg. “You’ll never catch up to them now.”

  “I don’t care!” Andrew retorted, heaving himself up and over the edge of the pit. “I’m going after them.”

  “Wait!” Croffin called, scrambling after him. “Freddie was right. You’re not thinking clearly.”

  Andrew continued forward, stumbling on shards of sharp glassy sand and hard rocks, until his shoes were torn, and his feet bled. When he could run no longer, he fell to his knees and pressed his face into his knees shivering in the cold.

  “Andrew…” Croffin ventured, peering over Andrew.

  Andrew looked up at Croffin, his eyes desperate, and filled with pain. “They’re gone, Croffin…gone.”

  Croffin breathed out a sad sigh, and nodded. “Yes, Andrew. They are.”

  Andrew glared at Croffin, his eyes flaming. “Why didn’t you do something to stop them?”

  Croffin’s face fell. He looked truly hurt. “I did all I could do, Andrew. Do not think I am so heartless. I cared about them too. You must get a hold of yourself, Andrew. We must move off the main road, or we, too, will be taken.”

  Andrew clenched his jaw, and moved off the road, walking well ahead of Croffin, feeling as though Croffin had somehow done him a great wrong. His head throbbed. His heart ached. He felt angry, tired, and hungry. But mostly he felt forsaken. He forged ahead, not caring to stop for food or water, or rest. All that mattered was to get to The Fallen. He could not stop, could not rest. He was worried that if he stopped he might have time to think. And he did not want to think.

  Perhaps there was still time to save his friends.

  Croffin trudged slowly behind him, moaning that he was tired and hungry. Andrew ignored Croffin’s constant complaining. Being too near Croffin disgusted him. He knew it wasn’t right to blame the creature. But still it felt good to have something to blame, something to direct his anger on.

  Andrew paused on a low knoll that overlooked The Fallen’s citadel. Here, he could see the vastness of The Fallen’s empire---the towns, the streets, the hills, the cities. Fields of glowing starflowers spread out on both sides of the road leading to The Shadelock castle, like sheets of shining-white carpets, luminous, inspiring and foreboding. They glowed and shone like thousands of lanterns, magnificent, and stirring.

  Just before the castle was a large bridge that covered a huge gaping chasm that was belting steam, smoke and fire. Row upon row of slaves trudged to the edge of the gaping chasm, dumping lumps of coal, wood and other flammable objects into the lake of fire, adding to the illuminating effect of the land. Thousands of flickering lights embroidered the Shadelock castle, like small stars trapped in stone, steel, iron, and brick. Its spires shone and sparkled, gleaming like they were ma
de of crystal and glass. Their light reflected on the drifts of snow, amplifying their luminosity ten times over, so that the earth, sky, and land surrounding the castle were nearly as light as day.

  The castle was so brilliant and luminous that it seemed to laugh at the moon and stars, daring them to outdo its grandness. Its spires towered higher than any structure Andrew had ever seen. They seemed to touch the sky, their gleaming lights heralding the coming of a being within its walls that was powerful and full of light. A creature that did not seem dark at all, but brilliant and good.

  Croffin rubbed his one eye, and blinked back tears from staring too long at the brilliant land. “How could such a miserable being live in such a beautiful, brilliant place? I’m beginning to wonder if this Fallen one is so bad after all.”

  Andrew clenched his fists, turning away from the radiant scene. “That’s the great deception. Not everything is as it seems or looks. The darkest being of all puts on a cloak of light in order to deceive. It has always been that way. If such beings were to shed their cloak of deception, everyone would know them for what they are and run far away. But as it is, people believe what they see, and forget the things they know, because what they see blinds them from the real truth.”

  “I don’t know…” Croffin mused, mesmerized by the city of light. “This being of darkness does not seem dark. Perhaps we are wrong, Andrew. What if we are fighting on the wrong side? Why would such a creature who loves light, want the world in darkness? I can’t quite understand that.”

  “Because,” Andrew replied, “then all will look to him to see by. That is why.”

  Chapter Thirty-four

  Taken

  The Codes entered The Fallen’s castle, dragging Freddie and Ivory along with them.

  Freddie and Ivory were covered in coal and oil, and wet with dripping snow. Freddie’s eyes looked sad. His lips were pinched together in defiance. He had not expected them to take Ivory along with him. And that made him feel as if he had betrayed her as well as Andrew. He had tried to do the right thing, and now look where it had gotten them.

  “I have brought you the boy,” One of the Codes cried.

  Freddie was thrust before The Shade, and made to kneel.

  “The boy?” The Shade looked up, his face shrouded in a black mantle. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” The Codes all breathed at once.

  The dark being walked around Freddie as soundlessly as a drifting cloud, ignoring Ivory. Then he stopped, leaned over and stared into Freddie’s eyes. The Shade’s presence was strong, like the coming of night itself. His body was thick, and yet thin, like thousands of sheets pressed together.

  Freddie groaned, and closed his eyes, feeling an instant headache coming on. The Shade’s presence made him feel confused and nauseated. After a long pause, the Shade straightened, then turned to the Codes. “This is not the boy! How dare you bring an imposter! The Fallen will hear about this, and when he does, he will not be pleased!”

  “Please,” one of The Codes cried, “he bears the marks. Pray, look at his hands.”

  “Fine!” The Shade snapped, causing shadows to swirl and scatter around the room. “Show me! But that does not change who he is.”

  The Code grasped Freddie’s hands and forced them open, revealing the two diamond marks.

  The Shade sniffed, and then breathed out a host of shadows, in an angry gust. “Those marks mean nothing! He is not the one. He is an imposter.”

  “But…” The Code pled.

  “But, nothing! I have seen the boy myself, and this is not him!”

  The Shade circled around Freddie, his anger swelling with the host of shadows that followed behind him. “Don’t close your eyes!” The Shade snapped. “Open them! You must look at me, long and hard.”

  Freddie slowly cracked his eyes, trembling in the cold room.

  “Yes,” The Shade crooned. “Open your eyes, and gaze upon me. For in my shadows lies the future of the world, where The Fallen will finally draw the black curtain over all the earth, where we will all be equals.”

  “Equals?” Freddie ventured. “I don’t see how that will make us equals.”

  The Shade held up a finger. “Do you not see? Inequality is the universal problem that has always existed in every age of man. And now it will no longer be a problem. In darkness every color, cast, race and creed will be erased. Every man, woman child, beast and creeping thing will not know the shape of his face, nor the color of his hair. We will all finally be united!”

  Freddie frowned, clearly unimpressed. “That is the most diluted thinking I have ever heard!”

  The Shade laughed a dark, muffled laugh. “Don’t you see? All will finally be at peace. It is the sun, moon, and stars that separate us. It is these celestial objects that cause wars to be waged, differences to arise, blood to be shed. With such light gone, we will live in peace!”

  “But, what kind of peace?” Freddie scoffed. “To be awake in a dark nightmare is not peace. It is something you can never escape from. Peace? What you call peace I call chaos. Where there is no light, peace cannot exist. Only torment and misery. Without light, you cannot define right from wrong, goodness from evil. If the light is what divides us, then so be it! I would rather die than be equal with what you are, and who you stand for.”

  “So proud. So arrogant. This is the type of thinking that has gotten us into trouble,” The Shade let out a weary sigh and shook his head. “You will soon see that what you fought to keep from happening will come. When it does, unity will fall over the entire land in one moment. We will all be equals at last.”

  “Even in darkness,” Freddie spat, “you will still be a shadow, and I will still be a follower of light. The only thing that will be changed is that I will not see you when you strike.”

  The Shade laughed, emitting great billows of shadows from his mouth and nose. “Oh, your ignorance is great. You follow light. But it is the very thing that cuts us apart. Darkness is beautiful because there are no lines, no boundaries under its covering. The Fallen’s light will be enough for all, great and small.”

  Freddie turned away from The Shade’s dark stare. “Such darkness will only cause everyone to fall.”

  The Shade grabbed Freddie’s head and forced him to look into his murky eyes. “Ah, but if you fall, you will not know that you have fallen because in darkness, flat or level, it is all the same.”

  Freddie forced his head away from The Shade’s grasp. “Get away from me. You are the darkest being I have ever met in my entire life!”

  The Shade smiled. “Thank you. I take that as a most appropriate compliment. But you have yet to meet The Fallen.”

  Chapter Thirty-five

  The Poisonous Book

  Andrew and Croffin rested on the knoll overlooking The Fallen’s luminous palace.

  Although Croffin had complained of being tired, he could not sleep. He stood transfixed by The Shadelock castle, his eyes gleamed with its light. Its brilliance confused him, caused him to doubt, caused him to wonder. He felt drawn to the place, like a moth dazzled by mesmerizing light.

  Surely nothing evil could live in such a glorious place. He cocked his head to the side and scratched his ear, perplexed. How could something so dazzling be evil?

  He withdrew his little book out of his pack and clutched it to his chest---his little Book of Weeds. After they had left The Shade’s forest, the book had remained for the most part, ordinary, and dull. Except for a few instances where it had come in handy, and saved his life, no words of comfort were found in it at all. It was most distressing. At first he felt hurt that its pages remained blank. Yet, after some time, he had almost forgotten about it. Several times he nearly tossed it away. But something had stopped him every time. Like an empty box of chocolates lingering with pleasing smells, he sniffed the book, hungering for the pleasurable words they once contained. The words that he had once read inside satisfied something inside his mind, gave him justification, gave him comfort, like a drug, its addictive effects l
ingering in his memory, of a happier time.

  The words had spoken to his ego and massaged his complaints, giving them relevance. He missed that. He missed their understanding nature. Yet, as the days had gone by, and still no words came, he did not miss them much.

  He began to feel somehow guilty for keeping such a book. It had told him some very terrible things, and it had had him do some shady deeds he wasn’t very proud of. Yet, he still hungered for the words it once held. He hungered for the comforting, understanding words now, more than ever. Andrew had somehow shut him out, making him feel very lonely. Why had Andrew blamed him for something Freddie had done?

  Angry and sad, he slowly cracked the book open, then stopped. He glanced nervously around to make sure Andrew was still sleeping. Satisfied that he was, Croffin turned the pages, looking for some words, one letter. The pages were all blank white, and unusually ordinary. “Words…” he breathed, “where are you?” He thumbed through the book, carefully studying the pages for any sign of a word. Some hint. Anything. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” he muttered, flipping through the pages faster and faster. Reaching the very last page, and still only finding it blank, he lifted the book up, ready to toss it over the edge of the knoll.

  “Good riddance!” he cried, letting it fall. “I never needed you anyway!” Just as he dropped the book over the edge, the pages fluttered, and a page filled with words caught his eye. “Wait!” he called, scrambling after the discarded book. He grabbed it back up, and held it close, and ever so slowly opened the book. It fell open to a page that shimmered and glowed a golden hue. He stared down at the page, his face illuminated by the words written in gold lettering on its surface. “You’re back?” His heart thumped against his chest wildly. “Tell me that you are.”

  Yes. Brilliant words appeared across the page. I am back.

  “Why did you go?” Croffin wondered.