by Rin Chupeco
“O’course,” West said. “How else are we gonna get to the Cheshire’s?”
“R-ready when you are,” Dexter’s disembodied voice reported from somewhere behind the new portal. “You’ll all have to hurry. I can’t hold this up indefinitely.”
“Get Lumina through first,” Tala’s father suggested, his voice low.
General Luna lifted her mother gently, nodded at the others, and stepped through the mirror. The light faded slightly as they passed through, becoming almost translucent, but soon regained its brightness a few seconds later.
“We got them,” Dexter announced. “Who’s next?”
A loud boom echoed through the tower, strong enough for Tala to lose her balance. There was another thunderous barrage, and then came the sound of rocks breaking apart.
Cole yanked the door open, took a look outside, and slammed it shut. “Shades,” he reported tersely, taking a step back. “Sanctuary’s been breached.”
“What?” Zoe shouted, dashing to his side. “But that’s impossible!”
The tower shuddered again, and a familiar roar crackled through the air.
“The ogre,” Loki volunteered quietly.
“The ogre got through the barriers?” Ken was stunned. “But the enchantments specifically prevent them from—”
As if in answer, a singsong voice, high and mocking, wafted up from below. “The queen’s army comes, the queen’s army comes! Yes, yes, my pretties, the prince is upstairs, the Snow King, the Flame and Ice. Upstairs; upstairs and downstairs, in my lady’s chamber, ho-ho!”
“Blast!” Ken cried. “It’s Cassim! He let them in!”
“What’s guh-going on over there?”
“We’re running out of time, Dexter!” Lola Urduja said sharply, as the door shuddered. “Mga hijos at hijas—alis!” She stepped away from the mirror, drawing out her fan, and the other Katipuneros did the same. Tala’s father took his position beside them, hefting his axe. The door burst open, and swarms of shades began crawling in through the passageway.
“What are you doing?” Tala sputtered.
“No time to argue,” her father said tersely. “Get to the mirror. We’ll be right behind you.”
Tala wasn’t sure. There were far too many shades. Hundreds. “But…”
“I said go!” her father roared, swinging his ax and shattering two of the shadows with one mighty cleave. “We’ll be all right. Now off with you, lass!”
Still Tala hesitated, but West took matters into his own hands by seizing her arm, his grip strong despite his lanky frame. The firebird had the same idea in mind, latching on to Alex’s collar and dragging him forcibly toward the mirror.
“Let’s go, let’s go!” Ken yelled over the din as more shades slithered out from the cracks in the walls, the breaks in the ceiling, hissing, cackling.
“Wait!” Dexter yelled, frantic. “Give me a couple of seconds to—”
That was all Tala heard. The last thing she saw was the roof above them ripping open and the baleful glare of an ogre’s eye staring menacingly down at her father and the rest of the Katipuneros, before the light from the mirror grew so intense, she had to close her eyes to shut out the glare.
Then she was landing, face-first, on to rough ground, a chilly wind and the smell of cold mist fierce against her nostrils. Behind her a different mirror, presumably the one she had just popped out from, was glowing fiercely. No sooner had Cole, the last one out, landed nearby than a sharp, cracking noise whipped through the air.
The mirror shattered.
Everyone dove for cover as shards flew. For a couple of minutes nobody moved. Then Loki hoisted themself off the ground, looked around, and signaled that the danger had passed.
“Well,” Ken said. “Not the destination we planned for. But we’re alive, at least.”
“No!” Tala scrambled to her feet and limped toward the broken mirror. But try as she might, she could find nothing of the sanctuary within her splintered reflection. Where was her father? Lola Urduja and the others?
“Did they make it?” she asked, her voice rising in panic. “Did they?”
“I think,” Loki said, “that we have another problem on our hands.”
They were no longer inside the sanctuary. Instead, they were standing outside the remains of a burnt-out cottage, long since taken over by heavy snow and sleet. The firebird soared above them, and Tala followed the path of its flight with her eyes until it plummeted low to disappear behind the gnarl of barren trees. Several mountains were visible on the horizon, frosted with the worst of winter, receding into the far distance. The tips of what was unmistakably a castle loomed somewhere up ahead, gray and solid and real. The cold gripped her, fingers already numb, her clothes no defense against the chill.
There was a low cry. Alex fell to his knees, staring around him in disbelief. “Impossible,” he said, voice cracking. “Impossible. This place. We passed through the frost’s barriers. This is Avalon. We’re home. I’m home. I’m finally home.”
15
In Which an Unwanted Road Trip Begins
The firebird saved them. It surrounded the group in a blazing ring of tiny flames that moved when they moved and melted the snow before it could touch them. It was, as Zoe had pointed out, the least it could do, considering it was most likely responsible for landing them in Avalon in the first place.
“How sure are we that we’re in Avalon, exactly, Zo?” Ken asked. “We could be in Antarctica for all we know.”
“Yes, Ken. We’re obviously in Antarctica, with all these trees and those mountains and that castle in the distance and this cottage over here.” The cottage in question had clearly seen better days. Its roof had fallen in at some time in the past, and its walls lay broken and derelict, dusted with frost. What few items remained, bits of candy too hard to eat, frozen moldy bread, unidentifiable debris, were scattered about, half-consumed by wild animals. Metal pots and pans lay dented and rusted in unsorted piles.
“It’s made of gingerbread,” Zoe muttered, rubbing at her cold nose. She prodded at one of the walls with a finger. “Or what used to be gingerbread, because I doubt it’s edible now. The sugar must have helped preserve parts of it over the years.”
“My fathers tell me there used to be a lot of gingerbread houses in Avalon,” Loki said. “Mostly used as outposts, in case someone’s lost in the woods and hungry.”
“More likely they all packed up and left for some other places with dentists,” Ken added, scrutinizing the broken mirror. “I think I’ve figured out the major flaw with these sanctuary setups. If the Cassim assigned to guard it was suicidal and traitorous to begin with, binding them to the place hoping to curb their behavior ain’t gonna help much. Also, I’d like to go on record and say there’s absolutely no way we’re going back the way we came out.”
“You think, Ken?” Zoe asked sarcastically. “We’ve got no phone reception, no cell towers.”
“And no Wi-Fi,” Ken moaned. “How am I gonna live without Wi-Fi?”
“What would have happened,” Alex asked Loki, the prince’s legs still visibly wobbling from their recent brush with death. “if the mirror was destroyed while we were all inside?”
“I don’t think you’d want to know.”
“I’ve heard stories,” Ken admitted, wincing, “about people never coming out at all, if it wasn’t done right. And those were the lucky ones. Sometimes people that get out aren’t as right in the head as when they went in. Or they come out missing a few important body parts. Remind me to thank Dex for not killing us the next time I see him.”
“I’m assuming the mirror wasn’t sufficiently powered up enough to take us all the way to London, so Dex had to send us to the nearest available spot. That, or the firebird took matters into its own hands. It’s more than capable of bypassing whatever barrier’s in place, preventing the rest of our group from enter
ing Avalon.” Zoe sniffed at what remained of the gingerbread wall and coughed. “It’s definitely not edible.”
“What happened to the Cassim?” West asked, stray brown locks hanging down over one eye.
“Gone.” Ken frowned. “As is the sanctuary, probably. I don’t understand. Why would he let them in? He’s bound to the sanctuary. If it’s destroyed, he knows he’s toast.”
Zoe sighed. “Like I said, most Cassims aren’t sane to begin with.”
“Cassims are people convicted of murder using magic,” Cole said unexpectedly. “In Avalon, magic is a responsibility. Killing an innocent is the worst thing you can do with it.”
“How do you know that?” Zoe demanded.
Cole’s gaze met hers, slid away. “We’ve dealt with them before.”
Tala said nothing. She’d spent most of their discussion sitting back, staring at the broken mirror, waiting. A thousand reflections of herself stared back.
There was no way her father and the Katipuneros hadn’t escaped the sanctuary. Lola Urduja had never lost a fight. Surely she would have found a way to overpower the ogre and shades. It didn’t matter that the mirror was in a hundred thousand pieces. Any minute now, they were going to find a way to come through…
“Tala.” Loki slid down beside her, balancing themselves easily on the soles of their feet. Their voice was gentle. “We’ll have to go soon.”
But Tala had no intentions of moving. “They’re coming,” she said stubbornly. “Give them five more minutes. They’ll find a way. I know it.”
Loki paused. “I don’t think so, Tala. Not through this one. I’m sorry.”
Tala’s fists dug into the snow beneath her, ignoring the cold against her palms. “You don’t know Dad,” she whispered fiercely. “You think he survived all those years, only to lose to an ogre? If he really is that damned Scourge, you’d think one ogre and a handful of shades are going to stop him?”
“True. But there are other ways to escape besides the looking glass. Via car like they’d originally decided on. Another rabbit hole. Maybe the Cheshire’s found some new transport. But what I am very sure of is that once a looking glass is destroyed on either end, there is absolutely no way to get back in.”
Tala paused. “They did escape, right?”
“I believe so.” Loki paused. “As you know now, your father is…resourceful. So are the Katipuneros. They’d never go down this easily.”
Tala nodded, rising to her feet. Loki had a quiet way of instilling belief, and for now she was willing to accept their hypothesis. Her titos and titas were gonna be all right. Lola Urduja was gonna be all right. Her father was gonna be all right. Even if he was the…
She swallowed, unable to finish the thought. Her father, Ryker…so many parts of her life were lies.
“Well, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” Zoe said.
“We’ve never been in Kansas,” Loki said.
“I’m quoting the Wizard of Oz movie, Loki. The old historical one, with Judy Garland—look, never mind. I don’t suppose any of you have an available compass on hand?”
“Well, we don’t even know if this is actually Avalon,” Ken protested.
“No,” Alex said quietly. “This is Avalon.”
“How can you know for sure?”
“I know.” Alex stretched his hand up into the air and closed his eyes, as if he could sample that knowledge with a touch of the breeze.
“I mean, more along the lines of whether you recognize certain landmarks or if you’ve been here in this specific place before or—”
“I know my own kingdom, Ken.” Alex sounded irritated.
“His Highness is right. This is Avalon.” West pointed at something in the distance. “See that? That big spirally thing? With the towers and the green flag and the windows?”
“You mean the castle?”
“That one. It’s my uncle’s. Maybe we can reach it before dark.”
“West,” Ken said, skeptical, “that castle’s too far away for you to know if it belongs to your uncle. And you have a terrible sense of direction. I remember you getting us lost inside a manor once.”
“Manors are huge places.”
“It was your own house!”
West looked hurt. “It’s a really big house. And it is my uncle’s castle. See that flag? He’s the only one with that color. I’ve been there before. He lives with my great-aunt Elspen. She’s one of the Hundred Seers.”
“I don’t believe in seers,” Ken scoffed.
“Tell that to my great-aunt Elspen. She told my dad he’d get a golden tongue one day, and he did.”
“So he’s a good orator?” Alex asked.
“I wouldn’t know,” West said. “A piece of gold falls out every time he opens his mouth, so he doesn’t talk much.”
“I can believe he’s got an uncle in that castle,” Loki said. “West literally has hundreds of uncles. If he isn’t somehow related to every clan with a longstanding lineage in Avalon, he comes pretty close.”
“That’s one huge family tree,” Alex murmured. “I’m not even sure my family can beat that.”
“Mum says it’s more like a forest,” West said proudly.
“The sooner we find food and shelter, the better,” Zoe decided. “The others will be sending out search parties, but they won’t know where to begin looking. Maybe there’s a way to bring down the barrier from inside Avalon so they can find us.”
“Avalon’s a big place,” Cole said quietly.
“I’m sure we’ll find a way. For now, let’s make for the castle. Wandering around these forests after dark is a definite con on my list.”
“We’re gonna need to hide it once we reach the castle.” Ken pointed at the firebird. “It’s going to raise a lot of questions I don’t care to answer.”
“Then it’s settled!” West turned and marched off, in the wrong direction. Ken sighed.
“Loki, you better take the lead.”
Tala was glad she had worn comfortable sneakers. It was a long walk, and in the withered forest there were no defined roads. Every step filled the air with the crunching of snow underfoot. Icicles hung down every tree, and the ground was unexpectedly wet in some places, forcing them to slip and slide along. There were no other animals that she could see, like the frost that had overtaken Avalon had robbed the kingdom of all life. It had been night back in Invierno, which meant it was probably sometime in the afternoon here, but very little of the sun filtered through the overhead branches. Dark clouds rolled above them, a blizzard threatening at every moment, held at bay only by the firebird’s warmth and the fire barrier it had surrounded them with. With every minute, the woods grew darker, what little light there was gradually ebbing.
Every now and then, Loki would pause to inspect sections of tree bark, or pick up a stick and stare at it intently for a minute before moving down a new path, with Cole bringing up the rear. The others said nothing, trusting their lead, though this all was strange and new to Tala. When not flying, the firebird perched on Alex’s shoulder, rubbing its head against his neck from time to time.
“They’re all right, aren’t they?” she asked Zoe again, needing more validation. Despite her initial hope about what had happened to her father and the Katipuneros, the snow was doing its best to dampen her optimism. Her only consolation was that General Luna and her mother were all right. “Lola Urduja and the others? And Dad?”
“I’m almost positive,” Zoe assured her. “Something must have disrupted the spell when our turn came, not just the firebird.” She frowned. “Odd too. Dexter’s usually careful about these things, but the looking glass hadn’t been used in years. There might have been some defects that none of us spotted.” Despite the cold, she seemed more at home with their surroundings than Tala, who jumped at every unexpected noise.
There was very little conve
rsation at first. Eventually Ken, a natural-born talker at heart, started a steady stream of chatter as they made their way through the frozen woods.
“My dad’s a lord from Altai. But you can trace his ancestors all the way back to the Meiji period, fighting alongside Musashi back in Edo when he carried the Avalon sword. My mum’s from England, and she raises horses; they met at a county fair. Classic love story. Avalon and England aren’t exactly enemies, but they’re not friends either. Some people think it’s just as bad as an outlander marriage. Bugger them, my folks always said. In any case, Dad moved to England, and they spent their honeymoon there—turns out Dad’s a huge Anglophile; hanging gardens and London and Buckingham Palace.”
“Altai?” Tala asked, remembering the map on the wall of the sanctuary.
“In Avalon. Dad’s several-times-grandpa found refuge in Altai after this thing called the sakoku came into effect back in Japan.”
“Closed-door policy,” Zoe murmured. “Tokugawa shogunate, I think? They wanted to restrict Europe’s influence.”
“And also to drive out their undesirables,” Ken said with a shrug. “Including magic-users, since they considered it anti-Shinto and anti-Buddhist, or something. Avalon welcomed my ancestors in. Avalon welcomes refugees the world over.”
“I’ve never been to Japan or England,” West said. “My family moved to Prague when the ice settled here.”
“Well, your family’s got the right kind of name recognition, and all those Eddings curses make you practically a celebrity, so you don’t have to hide for being Avalonian. Unlike the rest of us.”
“I know,” West said sadly.
“Wouldn’t a family curse be a bad thing?” Tala asked.
“All us Eddings come from real old Avalonian stock,” West said. “Real…what’s that English word when your family’s got a good reputation and everyone else knows it?”
“Distinguished?” Zoe asked. “Celebrated?”
“Vērō, both of those. Mother comes from old blood too. She’s a Flax. Old families got curses running in their veins—all the years fighting and adventuring and being put under spells—it’s…what’s that other English word where everyone’s aware of your status?”
