Marcus bent over and plucked it up. “Thanks!”
“That’s mine!”
“You just threw it at me, so I believe the coin now belongs to me.”
“Give it back, Marcus!”
“No.”
Lael paced between the stone and the fire. She reminded Marcus of Agnes in her pen.
Finally, Lael stopped and faced Marcus. A mischievous grin spread across her face, her nose tilting to the air. “Fine,” she said, “keep the coin, but I am going to Dokur. And what’s more, I’m going to camp right here tonight—with you.”
“Here?” asked Clovis, casting a wary glance at Marcus.
“Yes, here. So if you two don’t mind,” she added, unrolling her blanket and smoothing it out on the ground beside the fire.
A stunned Clovis politely moved his blanket over several inches. Lael lay down on hers. “Good night, boys.”
“Good night, Lael,” said Clovis, a second before Marcus stuck an elbow into his ribs.
Once they were all settled, Marcus held up Lael’s coin and studied first one side and then the other. As much as he felt justified in keeping it, he tossed it onto Lael’s blanket instead.
Lael looked at the shiny disk for a moment before closing her fingers around it. She looked up only briefly, her expression still hard. Then Lael rolled away from Marcus onto her side, choosing to face the darkness rather than him.
Fourteen
The next morning, Marcus was already tying up his belongings when Clovis awoke with a yawn.
“Why does it have to be so cold?” Clovis asked, pulling his cloak tightly around him. He got to his feet and stretched. “Where’s Lael?”
“She wasn’t here when I woke up,” answered Marcus. He handed Clovis a biscuit from his pack.
“Oh,” said Clovis, disappointed.
“Don’t tell me you wanted her to come with us.” Marcus was still angry at her from the night before and was glad she had gone.
“What if something happens to her?” Clovis said. “What if she gets hurt?”
“Lael get hurt?” said Marcus, finishing his biscuit and starting another.
“She might meet a wild animal.”
“Then it’s the animal I’ll worry about,” Marcus scoffed. “She probably had a rough night and decided to head for home. That’s what I’d do if I were her.”
“But you’re not me,” said Lael, stepping through the trees. She held up a dead rabbit by its legs, a triumphant grin on her face. “Breakfast!”
It was good of Lael to share her morning’s catch, considering the way Marcus had treated her the night before. After they cooked and ate their meal, he mumbled his thanks. Then he put out the fire and started off toward the edge of the Black Forest. Lael tagged along, keeping far enough behind the boys to not be bothersome. A few hours later, they emerged from the forest and found themselves at the foot of a rock mountain split by a tall, narrow opening.
“Vrystal Canyon,” Marcus announced before drinking from his water skin.
Clovis paused beside Marcus and let his gaze travel up to the cliffs above. “Do you think we’ll meet any more of them in there?” he asked nervously.
Lael marched past them into the canyon, but Marcus grabbed her by the shoulder.
“Let go of me,” she said, but the serious look in Marcus’s eyes silenced her.
“Last time I was here I was attacked by a groc,” he told her.
“That’s right,” added Clovis, “shape-shifters. Monsters that parade around in human form waiting for the perfect moment to strike.”
Lael pulled her arm free. “I know what a groc is. I heard you talk about him in the village. Name was Bread, wasn’t it?”
“Bryn,” said Marcus. “His name was Bryn.”
“Bryn ended up saving you from King Fredric’s soldiers, didn’t he? Well,” added Lael, “if all grocs are as noble as Bryn, then we haven’t anything to worry about, have we?”
As Lael disappeared into the mouth of the canyon, Clovis and Marcus gave each other a worried glance. Marcus drew his knife, and Clovis readied an arrow. Only then did they follow.
Fifteen
The canyon was even colder and darker than Marcus remembered. The air rushing through the winding passages moaned as if the mountain were in pain. Marcus brushed his hand against the smooth, stone walls coated with a thick layer of damp moss. He had once believed the canyon was the remains of a dried-up river or the scar left behind from an ancient earthquake. But Kelvin had said that behind these walls was an underground lake. Marcus wondered if there was some way into the rock itself so that he could find out.
Marcus kept Lael in his sights as best he could. It was obvious by the way she now marched ahead that she didn’t think she needed protection, and maybe she was right. She was dead on with her sling and could down any prey with ease. However, as the pathway narrowed and twisted, Marcus doubted there would be space or time enough to use her weapon.
Nearly an hour passed without a problem, but Marcus’s dread did not let up. Rather, each step made his heart beat faster. Several times Lael disappeared around a curve, and Marcus would hurry to catch up with her, but then he would lose sight of Clovis.
Lael had once again gone out of his sight while Marcus struggled to keep up. He finally found her leaning back against the canyon wall.
“Why did you stop?” asked Marcus, grateful for a moment to rest.
Lael closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. “Guess I’ve tried so hard to get away from you that I finally wore myself out.”
“Get away from me?”
“You made it very clear last night that you don’t want me along. So I figured I’d do my best to put some distance between us.”
“This isn’t the place to travel alone, Lael.”
“I can take care of myself, apprentice.”
“Really?” replied Marcus. “Then why did you offer to pay me to be your guide?”
“I just thought it would be nice to have some company.”
“That’s a high price to pay for company.”
“Too high for yours, at least!”
“Listen, Lael, this isn’t Quendel. You really don’t have any idea—” Marcus stopped suddenly and cocked his ear.
“What was that?” asked Lael, but Marcus put his hand up, signaling silence.
After a few moments he spoke cautiously. “Clovis?”
Clovis had fallen behind again, but he should have caught up by now. There was a sharp, grating sound, like rock scraping against rock, and Marcus thought Clovis would appear at any moment. But when he didn’t, Marcus felt the same fear he had felt that day he first met Bryn, the day Jayson had appeared out of nowhere and sent the groc running. If it hadn’t been for Jayson, that day might have been Marcus’s last.
The sound came again, closer this time, but now there was also a low hum—or mumbling. What was Clovis saying? wondered Marcus. As he tried to make it out, he realized that what he heard was not one voice, but many, like the soft murmuring of a hundred whispers.
He took Lael’s arm and shoved her forward. “Run!” he hissed. “And no matter what, don’t look back!”
Sixteen
Lael didn’t look back. Instead she ran, just as Marcus told her to. She didn’t have to know why. The urgency in his voice was enough to convince her that whatever they were running from was dangerous at the least, deadly at most. Lael soon outpaced Marcus. Only seconds had passed, half seconds really, before she realized she was running alone. For a half second more, she wondered whether she should keep running or turn back for Marcus and Clovis. But half a second was all she had.
A horde of creatures unlike Lael had ever seen came up behind her. The creatures varied in form and size: Some were ferocious monsters with thick tails and razor-sharp claws. Others had arms and legs and faces that were almost human. Still others were something in between. They not only chased Lael on level ground but also crawled behind and above her along the cavern walls like the
spindly-legged spiders that nested in Lael’s barn at home. Soon these creatures had passed her and started climbing down the walls directly in front of her. Lael had no choice now but to stop running. She was surrounded. The hideous creatures circled her in ever-shrinking rings. She held the leather straps of her sling in her hand, but the creatures were too close for her to use it. She searched desperately for anything she could use as a weapon. There was nothing.
“Stop!” a voice growled. The creatures eyed Lael hungrily as they parted to allow one of them through. Though not as tall as the others, this groc was still frightening. Its gray skin was covered in lizard-like scales, with claws as long and sharp as daggers. Its snout carried several rows of jagged teeth. Its breath smelled of rotten flesh.
“Wait,” the creature said, grasping Lael’s upper arm in its paw.
Another groc with the distorted face of a man but with a body more like some animal clung to the rock wall overhead. “Why wait?” it bellowed. “This meal easy for us all!”
“No!” shouted the first. “Hyer wants them! Eat we our catch, and leave nothing for him?”
“Hyer does not know!” said the second. A trail of saliva dripped from its mouth, landing on Lael’s shoulder.
“Hyer knows all! The stone knows all!”
A murmur rose from the crowd of grocs, and Lael noticed that some even backed away from her. The first, however, tightened its grip on her arm.
“Who takes first bite?” it asked, lifting Lael off the ground. A sharp pain shot through her shoulder. She struggled to free herself, but the groc only held her higher. “Who eats,” it continued, “and be forever banished?”
No reply came from the crowd. The groc with the human face growled and then crawled away. The first groc lowered Lael and motioned to another groc beside him, one with green scales and a long, broad tail. It held a stone in its hand, which it lifted above Lael’s head. The last thing she remembered was the loud crack against the back of her skull as a sudden darkness descended.
Seventeen
Marcus awoke in darkness. It was impossible to tell whether hours had passed, or days. He remembered running and being attacked by what could only be grocs. His head still throbbed from being hit from behind. He blinked now, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the weak light cast from a single, smoldering torch stuck in the ground nearby. Both Clovis and Lael lay unconscious beside him.
Marcus reached over and pushed Clovis’s shoulder to wake him.
Clovis groaned, rubbing the back of his head. “What a dream I had,” he started to say. Then he opened his eyes, blinked, and glanced around. “Or was it a nightmare?”
“Neither,” said Marcus. “It was all real.”
Lael awoke then and immediately scrambled to her feet, only to lose her balance and collapse onto Marcus’s lap. She glanced up at him and then pushed him back.
“Hey!” Marcus said.
“Where are we?” Lael asked, ignoring him.
Clovis got to his knees. His bow was there beside him, his quiver of arrows still slung across his back. Marcus was relieved to find his knife nearby, too. The grocs, it seemed, had no fear of human weapons.
“Are we in a cave?” Clovis asked.
The three of them stood up, but Lael wobbled unsteadily. “I’m a little dizzy,” she said. Clovis offered his arm, and she leaned against it gratefully.
Marcus walked forward a few steps into a shallow pool of water. The darkness of the cave made it difficult to see more than a few feet ahead. He bent over, picked up a small rock, and threw it as far as he could. A few seconds passed before a faint kerplop sounded in the distance. “Kelvin was right,” he said. “We’re standing at the edge of an underground lake.”
“Actually,” said Lael, “I think we’re in the lake.”
Sure enough, they were standing on a small mound of earth, no more than ten feet across, surrounded by water. No matter how far they threw their stones, each one landed in more water. They could see nothing but darkness all around them.
Without knowing how far the water extended or what might be lurking in it, none of them dared try to swim to safety. Instead they stood and waited.
Soon they heard the splashes of a boat paddling toward them. Marcus could just make out a small speck of light that grew larger and larger until he could see the outline of a boat and the tall, monstrous creature standing in its bow.
The creature wore a pack of some kind that partially hid its hunched back and elongated snout. Only its claws were visible. As it approached their little island, it said nothing but motioned for the three prisoners to step into the boat, which they did without a word. The groc turned the boat with a long oar, and they glided slowly away.
Marcus peered into the darkness. There was light ahead of them, several torches on a distant shoreline. As they drew nearer, he saw dozens of grocs awaiting them. The boat slid quietly onto the sandy shore. Their guide stepped out and helped Marcus and the others do the same. It walked forward, silently beckoning for them to follow.
Eighteen
Why are you here?”
The voice was gravelly and hoarse. At first Marcus could not tell who had spoken. He, Lael, and Clovis were surrounded by grocs of all shapes and sizes, but one groc, so thin the outline of his bones was visible through his sickly yellow skin, sat on a tall boulder rising from the sand. His face was hidden in shadow.
“Why are you here?” repeated the groc, whom Marcus assumed was the leader.
Marcus hoped Clovis or Lael would answer, but by the fear in their faces it was clear the honor fell to him. Their guide still stood beside them, saying nothing.
“We are on our way to Dokur,” Marcus said, mustering as much courage as he could. “My brother is ruler there and needs our help.”
“Fredric has no brother.”
“Fredric was our grandfather. He’s dead. My brother rules in his place.”
“Fredric dead?” asked the groc leader. “How?”
“I don’t know,” answered Marcus, and he didn’t, though if he had known, he wouldn’t have revealed anything to this monster.
“And your brother now rules?”
“Yes.”
“He is a wise ruler, a just ruler?”
“I suppose so. Why?”
“Because for many years grocs are captured, tortured, killed! Perhaps your brother changes that.”
“Maybe grocs are killed because you eat humans.”
The groc leader lifted his snout in the air and roared. The sound of it made Marcus shudder in fear.
“Perhaps we eat humans because we are killed!” said the groc.
Marcus wondered just how far he could go before he pushed his host too far. “If you want justice from the new king, then maybe you should show some justice yourself. Let me and my friends go, and I promise to talk to my brother about your, um . . . people.”
“I see your face before,” the groc said thoughtfully. “That is why I send for you.”
“You sent for me?”
“You are the one in the stone.”
Marcus was confused now. The groc was curious about him, but he knew grocs rarely took the time to chat with their prey before eating it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Marcus.
“You challenge me? The stone sees everything! The stone never lies!” The groc’s voice rose to a frenzied pitch. “Do you know who I am?” he shouted, his teeth glinting through his drool. “I am Hyer, keeper of the stone’s secrets!”
“I don’t understand,” said Marcus. “What stone?”
Hyer growled and thrashed his head from side to side. The other grocs growled back. Hyer held up his hands and spread his webbed fingers.
“Many seasons past she come to us. Alone. She has only her child. When I learn who she is, I want to make her suffer. Make her father suffer! But she is wiser than I. She swears oath that my kind will one day walk in daylight, drink from the rivers, not be tormented by other creatures of Imaness. To p
rove her word, she show me vision of future.”
Hyer lowered his hands and fell into silence. He stared at Marcus with a strange longing, as though he were waiting, or hoping, for something to happen. After a few moments, Marcus began to feel uncomfortable and wondered how long he had before he and his friends would be eaten.
“You said you saw me before,” said Marcus.
“I see you in the stone! The stone does not lie!” Hyer shook with rage.
Clovis, who had been quiet until now, leaned forward to whisper in Marcus’s ear. “Maybe he’s talking about Ivanore’s Celestine seal.”
Marcus thought about what Clovis said. When Marcus and Kelvin’s mother, Ivanore, ran away from Fredric, she would have had to pass through Vrystal Canyon to reach Zyll in the village of Quendel. But she had broken her seal and given half to Jayson before she escaped. And even now, restored again, the seal was simply that—a royal seal. Marcus had never even seen his own reflection on its polished surface, let alone a vision of the future. But he did not doubt she had somehow convinced the grocs to believe her promise and free her.
“So,” said Marcus, “you saw a vision of me in the stone. If so, then what are your plans for me?”
Hyer remained silent for a few moments, though he grew more agitated by the minute. “The stone,” he shouted, “reveals that you are to go free!”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it,” replied Marcus, relieved. “We’ll need a guide to find our way out. Now, if you don’t mind, we’ll be going.”
“Yes, you go free,” repeated Hyer, pressing his webbed fingertips together. “But the others must stay.”
Nineteen
I won’t leave without my friends,” Marcus said.
Hyer pulled his knees up to his bony chest and rested his jaw on them. “You are not glad to be released?”
“No!” said Marcus. “I demand you release all of us.”
Hyer stared at Marcus from his perch on the boulder. The other grocs stood by, but Marcus sensed a growing uneasiness among them. Some of them paced restlessly, while others let out low, growling sounds. Still others glared hungrily at Marcus and his friends as if they were imagining what they would taste like.
The Last Enchanter Page 4
