"Can I say good-bye to my family?"
"No," said Bone.
"Not even to my father?”
“No.”
“Oh, well. He probably won’t even miss me, but for the sake of my brothers and sisters I wish he would quit with the booze, so he can be nice again, like he was before Mom died."
The last wish had rolled off her tongue as if it had been sitting there for ages. Wouldn’t it be awesome if all three wishes took hold? She could only hope. In hindsight she wanted to kick herself for wasting a wish on something as inconsequential as the Nightburner, dangit, but it was too late to take it back. The time had come to trick the star riders into swearing their oaths.
"We’ve made the provisions to honor your last request, Rock Collector,” White Feather said. “Let’s leave this forsaken planet."
"No!” Glory stamped one foot in the dirt. "I’m changing my request. I want to see my family one last time instead of being buried here."
"Ye can’t do that," Needle said, shaking his head from side to side.
“Why not?”
Needle looked to the other star riders, who shrugged.
“Ye just can’t.”
“That’s a stupid reason.” Glory folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. They made no reply, so she pushed the issue. “I’ll be dead, and there will be nobody left to hold you accountable, so how can I trust you’ll honor my wishes?"
“You mean your request,” Needle said.
“Wishes, requests—it’s all the same to me,” Glory said with a dismissive wave of hand that belied her careful choice of words. “Why should I go back to Wybb without promises that you’ll honor your end of the deal?”
Needle replied with an exasperated sigh, "Don't worry, I'll make sure everything be taken care of-—ye have my word."
Glory’s heart flip-flopped in her chest when Needle gave his oath, sealing the wish.
Next she turned to Bone. "What if Needle can't do it alone—will you help?"
"I said we’d give ye what ye asked for and like all Wybbils, I always keep my word."
“Aye,” White Feather grumbled. “I shall honor whatever I’ve agreed to do. Now, let's get out of here."
Joy! "Dragon's Bane! Dragon's Bane!" She danced in place and jumped out of the circle.
“Enough of this nonsense,” White Feather said, looking at her as if her brains had fallen out. Bone made a move to grab her arm, but his fist hit something invisible. White Feather tried to detain her, but his nose hit something unseen.
“Ow!” White Feather rubbing the end of his face, sounding shocked. “The Tullahn punched me. She was so fast, I didn’t see it coming.”
Needle made a grab toward Glory. “Yowch!” he cried out again when his knuckles hit something invisible, but solid.
Dawning comprehension spread over Glory’s face. A force field had sprung up around the Elboni, holding the star riders in.
She had been at war. This was her triumph. She pointing at the three men trapped in the circle of stones and jumped up and down. “I bound you! I bound you!"
They jerked to attention. Puzzled expressions crossed their faces. Needle scratched at his wormy beard.
"I didn't bind just one star rider,” she cried happily. “I got three!”
"Rock Collector.” Needle’s civility was forced through his teeth. "Ye have not met the requirements for binding."
“But the force field is up and...”
“I do not feel compelled to give ye the wish, therefore the ritual must be incomplete.”
"Shush," White Feather admonished. "It be forbidden to reveal the secrets of the binding."
The three men plowed toward Glory causing her to flinch, but try as they might to break the barrier with their shoulders, it held fast.
Bone threw a rock at it, but it bounced around inside the bubble-shaped field like a pinball. The Wybbils ducked and dodged before the rock lost momentum and fell harmlessly to the ground.
“Stop it! Ye idjut!” One of them hollered.
“See,” Glory said, her voice calm and even. “I win.”
A whoop rose up from the bushes, followed by clapping and cheering. Clash came up to stand by her side. “Is it over?” he asked, looking at the trapped star riders. “Did you get your wish?”
“I think so,” Glory said. “but they stingy boogers are hem-hawing.
Needle pressed his cheek against the invisible wall. “I thought ye were off getting help, friend of the Rock Collector, but instead ye brought technology. By what despicable Tullahn gadgetry are ye doing this?” he asked. “Shut-off this science right now or ye will be in big trouble."
"What’s more trouble than having my essence sucked out and my mortal remains tossed to the Weinling?” Glory said, feeling more than hurt by their willingness to turn her over to Lady Gost. “Besides, it’s not science that holds you, it’s magic. I told you—you are bound. You can't come out until you grant my wishes.”
"I don’t remember of you asking for any wishes, and I certainly didn’t agree to anything,” Bone replied.
“Me neither,” the other Wybbils agreed.
"A few minutes ago, I specifically wished for my mother to be alive again, for my dad to quit getting drunk, and for a Nightburner of my own. And when I asked you if you’d honor my wishes, you said you would because Wybbils always keep their word and are honorable—stuff like that.”
"Wh-what?” Needle tilted his head to the side and his jaw dropped.
“Yep,” Clash said. “Heard you with my own ears.”
“Liar,” Bone said.
“I’ll prove it,” Clash said, holding up Matthew’s Sliver. “When you batted it to the moon, the power came on. I could hear it playing music from a mile away.” He held it up to the force field for the star riders to see. When the video finished, the three men stood in the circle, mouths agape. Then they quickly rehashed the last twenty minutes of their lives.
“Crimeny,” White Feather finally said.
White Feather paced the perimeter of the invisible barrier.
The Wybbils went over their conversations with Glory, replaying their conversations out loud. Bone threw his hands up in the air when Needle discovered the circle of willow reeds around them. Try as they might to pull it out of the snow, it was glued in place by magic.
“My handiwork,” Clash said, rubbing his nails on his jacket.
Angry words were exchanged amongst the Wybbils. They argued and shoved each other around inside the circle.
The conversation inside the circle dimmed to a whisper. Glory and Clash came close to the circle cupping ears in an effort to hear. The Wybbils formed a huddle on the far side of the circle, and when finished, they turned to Glory giving wicked-looking grins.
“Ye be missing three essential items for a valid binding,” Bone said smugly. “And, one of them be the Elboni itself.”
Glory tossed her nose in the air. “Says who?”
The Wybbils cried out, “It’s here!” They frantically began searching the rocks that formed the monument.
When they got to the last one, Bone said with an acid frown. “The Rock Collector be lying again. None of these be the Elboni.”
"Where is it?” Needle pressed his nose against the invisible barrier, nostrils flaring. “I felt sorry for ye, thought ye were just a misguided child who didn’t know no better. Come to find out all this time ye knew exactly what ye be doing, but ye just didn’t care who got harmed in the process. Ye be a no-good-common-thief with soiled hands who deserves whatever she gets!"
Needle’s anger startled her, but she shot back. "At first I had no idea what I’d found in Queen’s Mesa. I didn’t know it belonged to anybody, and I certainly didn’t know it was your stupid ole Elboni.”
“Blasphemer!” Bone gasped. "She called the Elboni stupid!”
White Feather shook a finger. “Even among Wybbils only the rarest of persons, in the rarest of circumstances, have been found worthy of a wish from t
he Elboni. By deed and by word, ye have proved that ye are not rare, nor worthy—and therefore ye have failed to meet the conditions of the ritual.
“Even if we had wanted to trade some magic for the stone, an agreement with the likes of ye would be impossible. Repeatedly we tried to make ye understand this, but in your pride, ye failed to see the most important and obvious conditions. No Tullahn, especially a stone-napping-thief such as yourself, can ever receive a wish, because the Elboni knows the truth in every man’s heart.”
“My heart isn’t perfect, but the Elboni wants to give me a wish anyway.”
“You propose to know the mind of the Great Stone?”
“He called you a stone-napping-thief,” Clash said from behind, resting his chin on Glory’s shoulder. “I like that.”
“Not now,” Glory said, pulling her shoulder away. Typical Clash, focusing on trivial things that didn’t matter in time of crisis. “Are you saying my wishes don’t mean anything?”
“Aye,” said Needle.
There was a long silence. Glory and the Wybbils stared at each through the barrier.
Finally, Glory said, eyes looking at the ground.
"I didn’t mean to steal the Elboni. After checking my rock collector’s guides and not finding it, I figured it wasn’t worth any money. Still, it was so beautiful that I thought it would make a nice present for my mom. By the time you guys came along, I’d already given it to her for her birthday, so it’s really no longer mine to give away.
“Then, when I saw what was behind the black door. You see, the authorities came to my house. They were taking me and my brothers and sister away. And my father got shot. He was dying, star riders, my dad was dying.” Her voice crackled. “So, even if you hate me, at least try to understand why I saw the Elboni as my last and only hope.
“I still don’t know—did it really happen? Is my Dad okay? Are my brothers and sister still at home or have they been scattered across Tullah?”
The star riders looked at one another, raising their palms, apparently not knowing the answer themselves.
“What would you do in my place?” Glory asked. “Would you sacrifice your family for strangers—strangers who’ve done nothing but threatened you, pushed you around, and got you sentenced to death?”
Clash squeezed her shoulder. “Anybody would have done what you did—that is if they had the courage to even try. Don’t feel bad for loving your family, Glo. You’re the bravest girl I know.”
The three star riders stood there tight-lipped, each tapping a foot, looking every which way, except at Glory.
“You can't blame a girl for trying to save her family,” Clash said. He walked around the perimeter of the circle. “Don’t be such duds-in-the-mud. Dare to bend the rules just this one time.”
“Careful,” Glory warned. “Stay away from the edge.”
“Wybbils have families too,” Needle said, holding up the Nightburner, trying to light it, managing only a faint glow. “The magic will be gone by morning, taking Wybb and all our loved ones with it.”
Not paying attention, or not realizing only a thin rope of magic held the star riders, Clash’s foot stepped across the willow reeds into the circle.
“No!”
Glory’s warning came too late. Bone didn’t waste a second. He pounced on Clash’s foot, dragging him by the ankle into the circle. In a flash, he had Clash in the nook of his elbow, pressed tight against his chest.
“Battan!” he said. A puff of smoke came from the Thunderbone. A knife of bone appeared out of nowhere, twirling in the air, landing deftly in Bone’s outstretched hand. He set the blade against Clash’s throat, drawing a trickle of blood. “I’m sorry it has come to this, Rock Collector, but ye have left us no choice.”
Glory froze looking across the barrier to Clash. He looked like a laptop dog surrounded by hungry wolves.
“We’ve exhausted all the civilized options,” Needle hissed. “Time to negotiate in the only way a Tullahn can understand.”
“About time,” said Bone. “Your friend’s life in exchange for the Elboni.”
Mind spinning, Glory stood there in shock, fighting for the right words, a clever way to get them out of this mess. The delay angered the Wybbils even more. She could see their chests heaving. Bone pinned Clash’s elbow behind him, causing him to cry out in pain and gasp for breath.
“Stop it!” Glory yelled. “You’re hurting him.”
“What’s his pain compared to the suffering of Wybb? Hold him down fellow star riders, while I strike the fatal blow!” Needle took hold of Clash’s shoulders, while White Feather took his feet, pinning him to the ground. “Our world be in great peril,” Needle pleaded. “If either of ye know where the Elboni be, tell us now!” Bone stood with his bony knife raised overhead, ready to bring it down into Clash’s chest. Clash turned his head away, unable to watch his own bloody end. “One Tullahn life won’t make up for the millions of Wybbils about to die,” Bone said, “But it’s a start!” The knife raised a little higher, rallying strength in order to deliver the fatal blow. “For the glory of Wybb!”
“You win!” she rushed forward into the circle. “I’ll tell you where it is! I’ll tell you where it is!”
Bone slowly lowered the knife.
Chapter 30
The snow came down like fluffy cotton balls, floating leisurely to the ground. How could such a pretty world be so cold and indifferent?
“What will happen to me if I confess now?” Glory said.
“The Law says a life-for-life,” White Feather said. “If any Wybbils have died on account of ye, that’s the price.”
“There,” she pointed to the ground. “Take the useless thing. It’s been under your feet the whole time.”
The star riders dived for it, digging in the dirt with their bare hands, losing all interest in Clash. Glory hurried over to him, pulling him into a big bear hug. “I’m so sorry for dragging you into all of this,” she sniffled. “I shouldn’t have let you get involved. I should have returned the stone sooner. You were right the whole time.”
“Glory,” Clash said, voice cracking. “You worked so hard for a wish, risking your very life, but you gave it all up to save me. I don’t know what to say.”
“I couldn’t let them hurt my best friend.”
“Look at them,” Clash said, lip curling in revulsion. “Digging in the dirt like filthy animals.
White Feather found a rock the size of a baseball. He scooped it up with a silky green handkerchief from his vest. Needle ran the Nightburner over the stone. The dirt seemed to melt away, restoring the stone so its green painted coating was bright again. Yellow flowers and pink hearts were dotted on its surface. White Feather paused, glanced up at Glory with a scrutinizing stare and then tossed the rock over his shoulder.
Bone found a larger rock buried in the dirt, picked it up in his own handkerchief, and then handed it to Needle for a cleaning. A scene with pine trees emerged.
“That’s a present from last year,” Glory explained. “It’s supposed to look like the woods behind our house.”
Bone rolled his eyes and smashed it out of the cemetery with the Thunderbone.
“Humph.” Glory pulled her jacket collar up around her ears. The air was getting colder by the minute. “That was rude.”
White Feather found a third rock as big as Glory’s head, although the rock was covered with X’s and O’s of many colors, he gasped in recognition. The sight of it overjoyed the star riders, but Glory’s chest felt heavy.
The battle was over and she had lost. Her family was blown apart. Her future was a road to nowhere. And, considering all the problems she’d caused, the Wybbils mercy would certainly be scanty. Running was an option, but the will to fight had drained away.
“Go ahead and kill me. I don’t care anymore.”
Amongst the flurries, she watched as the Wybbils patted each other on the back, congratulating one another for uncovering the fruit of their labors.
“I can’t believe
the Rock Collector defaced the Elboni,” White Feather grumbled as he picked it up with a handkerchief, being careful not to touch it with bare hands. “Blasphemer.”
“What foul thing did the Tullahn write?” Bone wanted to know.
White feather turned the stone around and read it aloud.
“Dear Mother: I give you this beautiful stone, because it’s forever, like my love for you.” The Wybbil’s voice cracked with sudden emotion. “Happy Birthday. From Glory.”
The star riders grew quiet.
White Feather’s hands shook. One-by-one, they started to sniff. Bone blew his big nose like a trumpet. A gleaming Wybbil tear dropped from Needle’s button eye. White Feather knocked on the invisible barrier with his knuckles.
“This be not Tullahn gadgetry. ‘Tis magic which holds us firm.”
“What fools we’ve been!” Needle said. “Clearly, the Rock Collector met the final condition of a binding or we wouldn’t be held fast within this circle. Anybody else getting the feeling?”
“Aye,” said Bone. “Now that ye mention it, I’m feeling strangely compelled.”
“She didn’t steal the Elboni for selfish purpose,” Needle said. “In fact, she gave it away with the noblest of intentions.”
“And then she willingly sacrificed the things she wanted most for the sake of her friend,” Needle said. “There’s no greater treasure in the universe than that.”
“All the conditions have been met,” White Feather announced. “The Rock Collector’s hands and heart be cleansed.”
“Aye,” said Bone. “How blind we’ve been! The three of us be bound or we wouldn’t be in such an embarrassing predicament.”
Needle, Bone, and White Feather took off their hats and bowed respectfully her way. Glory felt like a great lady at that moment, at least until the Wybbils started laughing. They held their bellies, building into a hearty round of chortling and guffawing.
"Wait until they hear we were bested by a Tullahn girl. We shall never live it down!" But the jovial moment lasted only a minute. White Feather’s tone became most solemn. “Rock Collector, ye cannot understand the depth of these things ye have asked for. Your life will never be the same.”
Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) Page 27
