Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series)

by C. Deanna Verhoff

  “The girl can’t help being born Tullahn,” Needle said. “She seems very young, even by their standards. There must be something special about her; else, how would she know not to remove the Elboni with bare hands?”

  Suddenly alarmed, she inquired. “What would happen if someone removed it with bare hands?”

  “Instant death.”

  “That can’t be right…” She was about to tell them of her own experience, refuting their statement, but that would give her away. She bit back the words and found new ones. “Why is that?”

  “The Elboni be pure.” White Feather said. “Nobody, not even a Wybbil can directly endure its power and live. Ye being Tullahn makes it even worse because the Elboni’s magic does not dwell within you.”

  “It dwells with everyone,” Needle pointed out.

  “Aye, but in varying degrees, with Tullahns it barely registers.”

  “Nevertheless,” Needle replied, “she sensed the stone’s sacredness. Such innate knowledge be a gift. Perhaps her world be moving closer to the power than predicted.”

  “Have ye seen the wars, violence, hatred, and suffering that exists here? I quake to think of the magic unleashed in such a place.”

  “Regardless, let’s give the Rock Collector every chance to return what she has stolen before it’s too late.”

  “Too late for whom—for her?” He swept his arm at Glory. “Who cares about one obstinate Tullahn? If she doesn’t comes to her senses it will be too late for the millions of inhabits of Wybb.”

  “What do you mean?” Glory asked.

  “We already explained how removing the Elboni from its pedestal brings great danger to all magic-based worlds.”

  “And I told you about the danger to my family. The authorities on Tullah want to split us apart. Our only hope is magic.”

  The Wybbils shook their heads. “We already explained the magic cannot be manipulated that way.”

  “But what if I should happen find your rock?” Glory asked timidly. “Could you arrange to pay me back with a wish?”

  The Wybbils stopped and their spines seemed to stiffen.

  “Careful,” Needle said. “Words matter. Do not use that word lightly.”

  “You mean wish?”

  “Shhh!” Bone held his hands to his ears. “Stop saying it.”

  “That’s right,” Needle said. “Use it carefully.”

  “Why—is it a swear word where you come from?”

  “Of course not.”

  “In that case—wish, magical favor, request—just give me what I want and I’ll call it whatever you like.”

  “Quit saying it!” Bone spoke through clenched teeth. “You’ve got to be the most stubborn creature this side of the universe.”

  “And the other side as well,” added White Feather.

  “I know, I know.”

  A fierce screech sounded from somewhere above. Pathetic squealing followed. The Wybbils spun in place, looking up at the trees. Bone held his bone to the air.

  “Battan!” he said with a flick of his wrist.

  A small explosion like a firecracker followed. From the end of the bone a pure white saber sailed upward, spinning as it came back down to land firmly into Bone’s waiting hand.

  “Whoa!” Glory gasped. “How’d you do that?”

  “Shh!” Bone admonished, ears pricked to the wind. “It’s still up there.”

  Glory snickered as the other two Wybbils hid behind Bone who was swishing his sword around glancing nervously at the branches overhead.

  Up until now, she had seen them as threatening. Now they were the ones feeling threatened. In this perspective she realized that they if they got scared over wild animals, even though they had the magic, they weren’t invincible. Perhaps they could even be hurt or killed. Seeing them afraid was strangely reassuring.

  “Calm down fellas.” She laughed. “It’s just a bird and I’m pretty sure Wybbils aren’t on its menu.”

  “Then let’s get moving,” Bone said, pushing Glory along. “When ye’ve been where we’ve been, and seen what we’ve seen, ye learn to expect the unexpected at every corner.”

  “Can you guys die?”

  “Of course,” Needle said.

  “But our lifespans be longer than yours.”

  “How much longer?”

  “Barring a terrible accident, we live five thousand years, no more, no less.”

  “Wow. That is a long time.” She twisted around to gaze at the remarkable weapon gleaming under Needle’s light. “How’d you make that sword come out of the rib like that?”

  Bone held up the rib bone. “The Thunderbone. Through it substance can be created or destroyed.”

  Glory gazed on it wonder. “You guys really are magic—aren’t ya?”

  “Mere conduits we be.” Bone replied.

  “Only one thing’s magic in this universe,” Needle said. “And that be the Elboni.”

  “Aye,” the other two Wybbils replied.

  White Feather pushed her forward a second time. Glory started walking again, but kept her eyes on the sword, which appeared to be made of the same substance as the bone.

  She slowed to gawk at it. Bone scolded with a brow crinkle, then tossed his saber in the air. It came down making a sizzling noise accompanied by tiny puffs of smoke, appearing to evaporate into the atmosphere. As she walked past the spot where the sword had disappeared the air felt extra warm there.

  “Incredible.”

  “Aye,” White Feather agreed without offering explanation.

  The wind picked up, whipping her hair around. She searched her coat pockets for something to tie it back. The list of conditions she’d been working on brushed her fingertips. Better leave it be. Fingers went to another pocket where she found a rubber band. Practiced hands quickly tied back her hair into a single ponytail. Nobody talked for several minutes and Glory’s mind ran a marathon as she tried to keep tabs on every piece of new information.

  *Wish was a word to be avoided.

  *Only the Elboni was magic, but somehow Wybbils could use it.

  These tidbits brought up more questions than answers. She cleared her throat again. “Why can’t you use magic to find the Elboni?”

  “We just explained it,” White Feather huffed. “Weren’t ye listening?”

  “Silly Tullahns don’t know nothing,” Bone said.

  The group halted under a balding pine tree.

  “The Elboni’s magic be everywhere, even on an indigo planet like this one.” As Needle explained, Glory decided he was the more patient of the three. “Therefore, it be like a single drop of water in an endless sea, in plain sight yet impossible to see. Do ye get what I’m saying?”

  “It’s cloaked?”

  Needle nodded. “Exactly.” He dimmed his light and faced Glory. “I’ve answered your questions. Now it’s time for you to answer ours. Should we bother checking the mesa or no?”

  Glory shoved her hands into her coat pockets. The stars peeked through the canopy of branches. So…life on other planets existed and she was with some of their inhabitants now. In some ways, they seemed almost human.

  “Well?” Needle said folding his arms across his chest.

  “I thought you guys already checked the whole mesa?”

  “Aye. But, it’s a big place, as ye well know.”

  “That’s true,” Glory sighed. “I guess it won’t hurt to check again.”

  Needle gave her a side longs glance. “Very well then, let’s be on our way.”

  “Instead of walking,” Glory said. “Why not draw a door with your magic feather and get us there lickety-split?”

  “The Paraplume cannot open doors from one part of a world to another part of the same world,” said White Feather. “It only opens doors between one dimension to another.”

  “I see,” Glory said, even though she didn’t. “Like a parallel universe.”

  “Not parallel exactly.” White Feather explained. “The Elboni transcends space and time, sending it
s colors throughout the universe. This allows us to travel from world to world very quickly.”

  “It hasn’t sunk in yet that I’m with genuine aliens.”

  “Where I’m from, you’re the alien,” Bone replied.

  “Wild,” Glory said.

  The group fell silent as they meandered through familiar territory. As she thought about what it must be like to visit other worlds, she forgot to be afraid. Clash would love this. The boy was obsessed with anything having to do with outer space.

  “Sounds like you guys have been all around the universe. Which planet would you say is most like Tullah?”

  “Earth, probably,” White Feather said. “It’s younger than Tullah, but everything seems to be rolling out the same way. Earth be a place of emerging science, not magic, a violent place full of suffering and sadness. I should think a Tullahn would feel quite at home there.”

  “I’d like to see Earth sometime.”

  “Why bother?” Bone said gruffly. “Ye’ve seen one indigo planet, ye’ve seen them all.”

  Glory ignored Bone and continued to address White Feather.

  “Could a spaceship travel from Earth to Tullah—or the other way around?”

  “Doubtful. For a physical contraption traveling through space Tullah and Earth might as well be an infinity miles apart, but through the Elboni they’re only a step away.”

  “How can that be?”

  “It’s a great mystery. Best I can explain it is that the closer worlds are in the color spectrum, the closer they are in appearance, lifestyle and history. Tullah and Earth are barely a shade apart, suspended next to one another on the indigo side of the Elboni.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Let me put it another way,” Needle offered. “If a girl playing in a park on Tullah stepped into a park on Earth unaware, she wouldn’t notice any difference, but when she tried to return home, a different house would be standing where hers should be, and a strange family would be living inside it.”

  “Weird,” Glory replied and left it at that.

  Her pink puppy pajama bottoms were no match from the frigid night air, but at least she could count on the temperature in the caverns to be warmer than the outdoors.

  “The Elboni’s tabernacle,” Bone announced, pointing toward the shadowy mountaintop. The moon glowed behind it like a silver halo. Glory had never been to the mesa so late at night and she thought the place never looked as majestic or so sinister. Her stomach felt queasy just thinking about going in there.

  “Is the Hoogula...uh, Budd...still there?”

  “Indubitably,” Bone said, “but we can handle the likes of him."

  “What if I can't show you where I dropped the Elboni? Will I end up like the rabbit?”

  Needle was about to reply, but was cut short by White Feather.

  “Aye, but then again, maybe we'll just throw ye to Budd.”

  Tired of being scared, she shouted defiantly, “If you eat me, may you choke on my bones!” She folded her arms over chest and she tossed her nose in the air. It felt good to be bold.

  The Wybbils hearty laughter confused her.

  “Rock Collector,” Needle placed a hand on her shoulder. “If ye cooperate, there be nothing to fear. Star Riders we’re called, we be the emissaries assigned to guard over the green side of the Elboni.”

  “You literally ride the stars?”

  “Of course not, the title be a misnomer, but it’s here to stay. We fill in for places like Tullah which has no emissaries of its own. Over the course of two thousand years, plus two hundred, we have traveled from one spectrum of light to the other. Protecting all of creation be our mission, but know ye this, there comes a time when the good of all, outweighs the good of a few.”

  The three star riders stared at her with looks of expectation.

  “I’m cold,” she said yanking her shoulder out from under Needle’s grubby hand. “Can we just get on with it?”

  They walked to the bottom of Queen’s Mesa. It was a tiring climb up a steep hill, but despite their thin legs and round bellies, the star riders seemed solid on their feet. By the time they reached the foyer at the top of the mesa, Glory was the only one panting.

  “Nonru,” Needle said. His spike brightened, illuminating the words carved above the entrance.

  Beware: this mountain and everything in it

  be private property.

  Trespassers devoured on sight.

  “We better not go in,” Glory said. “The sign says it’s private property.”

  “It never stopped ye before.” Bone called her out with admirable sarcasm. “So get going.”

  “But what if the person who wrote it catches us?”

  “Too late,” Needle replied. “I’m the one who wrote it.”

  “But that sign is hundreds of years old!”

  “Thousands,” White Feather corrected and shoved her forward through the opening.

  “You guys weren’t kidding about living five thousand years.”

  “No more, no less, barring an accident.”

  “It hasn’t been that long,” White Feather corrected. “Our last mission to Tullah was also our first one. What’s it been now—five hundred years or so?”

  “Aye,” Bone agreed. “Tullah’s a forgettable place.”

  The cavern’s was coated with rock dust and evidence of Budd’s thrashing lay in huge rock piles on the floor. Thoughts of meeting him again made her want to turn tail and run home.

  “Onward,” Bone said.

  With Needle breathing over her shoulder, Glory retraced the twisting route she had taken on that fateful trip. Due to Needle’s spike of light, the caves had never looked as bright, but Glory had never felt more nervous. Spelunking was always dangerous, but the rocks and tunnels had never consciously plotted her destruction, unlike the Wybbils and Budd. If only she didn’t need a wish she’d turn over the blasted Elboni and be rid of them.

  The rocks she’d dropped during the chase with the Hoogula were in a pile near the tunnel’s exit. She sifted through them, pretending to look for the Elboni. She held up a large one full of lovely crystals. It was a shame to leave it there. “She’s a beauty!” Glory said. “Is this it?”

  “No,” Needle said.

  Bone and White Feather shifted their weight around from foot to foot, crossing their arms, looking vexed in general. “The search continues,” Needle said.

  After hours of more exploring, they came to a sheer cliff with a nasty drop-off into nothingness. Glory never liked looking down into endless darkness, made her feel dizzy, scared and exhilarated all that same time. She had taken them around in a circle. One more tight tunnel, another five minutes, and they’d be back in the cavern’s foyer. Memories of the Hoogula’s mighty jaws made her skin prickle. She zipped her coat collar higher. Sometimes the cold damp caves pulled the warmth out of a person’s body so gradually; one could freeze to death unaware. Oh, how she longed for her toasty snuggly bed.

  When they entered the foyers, she was stunned to see it wasn’t the foyer it all, but the fairy tale cavern. The pearly pillars and the vaulted ceilings that glittered like a starry night took her breath away again. For a moment, her troubles evaporated into thin air.

  “How did we end up here?” she gasped. “Is this place enchanted?"

  “Without a doubt.” Needle's black bottle cap eyes gleamed. “It’s the point where Tullah interconnects with every place in the universe. I do not fully understand it myself, so I shall describe it to ye as it was described to me.

  “See, each dimension be a looping string. And those strings are tied together in a knot at the center. On Tullah, the knot be here.”

  “You mean this very cavern is the inter-looping knot?”

  “Aye, and each world has a place like this—similar in function, but different in appearance. These tunnels here don’t just lead through Tullah, but to other dimensions. All worlds intersect here.”

  “Like a big cosmic intersection.”

 
“Aye, with the exception of Hoogulas, there be no way to unlock the gates to travel through them, except via the Paraplume.” White Feather pointed to the feather in his hat for emphasize. “This very special gift from the Elboni allows me to bypass time and space, hopping from dimension to dimension, from time to time. Hopping be an acquired art that only a select few ever master.”

  “Very true,” Needle said. “My fellow star rider has been doing it for several millennia and still hasn’t mastered it.”

  “Humph,” White Feather snorted. “There be only one master of time and space—the Elboni. That’s why it helps to be as close to the knot as possible, because that’s where the Elboni dwells, or at least it’s supposed to.” He paused to glower at Glory. “Even though the Paraplume allows me to mystically unlock the gates from afar, being in the physical proximity assures accuracy.”

  Needle added. “Trust me when I say we’ve logged thousands of unexpected side-trips due to Hops that have gone astray.”

  White Feather folded his arms and frowned at Needle.

  “Times a-wasting,” said Bone, motioning for everyone to go ahead. “Were you here, Rock Collector?”

  Glory looked around the beautiful cavern. Its smooth marble floor glistened with wetness. Slabs of varying height lined both sides of the cavern. The same creamy stalagmite stood alone at the center of everything, but its indigo ball was missing. A sharp breath caught in her chest…this was where she had touched the Elboni for the first time…this was where the Elboni had touched her back…this was where everything had changed. She’d never forget its mystical burns and caresses… the incredible peace…

  “Rock Collector, we asked ye a question.”

  Needle’s voice snapped her to attention.

  “Huh?”

  “Were ye here last time?”

  The Wybbils inched closer. She sensed their growing annoyance with her subterfuge. She had to give them a nugget to go on.

  “Yep. I remember this place for sure.” She full out lied. “But I don’t remember any Elboni.”

  White Feather pointed at the lone stalagmite rising from the stone floor like a twisted tree limb. “The Elboni sat right there since the beginning of the universe, then poof, one day it disappears. Ye wouldn't be having anything to do with that, would ye now?”