The Serpent's Ring (Relics of Mysticus)

by H. B. Bolton

  “Thanks, Evan. But I already know how much you adore me,” said Claire, chuckling some more.

  “Evan, I promise you will return to normal—very soon. Just stay calm,” said Sigurd.

  “So, does this happen to you every time you eat one of these?” Claire asked.

  “No, the bark from the Dawgbark tree has no effect on me now.”

  “What’s a Dawgbark tree?”

  “It is a rare tree, found only in Asgard. Very little is used in the Woofout Bar, but needless to say, it is extremely potent.”

  “Well, I’ll just have to eat my bar before I go to sleep tonight. I don’t want to sound like Evan.”

  “Rrrrr-ruff!” growled Evan, running his hand over his throat.

  “Sorry, Evan. But you have to admit you sound pretty hysterical,” said Claire. “Sigurd, do you have extras of these. I’d love to play a few tricks on my friends back home.”

  “I do have extras, but the effect will not work in Terra. Remember, humans cannot see nor hear magic from any of Sagaas’ realms.”

  “Darn, that would have been a great prank,” said Claire. “Well, Evan, are you ready to fly?”

  “Ruff!”

  “I think he just said he was ready to go,” said Claire. “Right, boy, or does doggy want a treat?”

  “Grrrr!”

  Sigurd interrupted, “I believe he just informed you that he will bite you if you do not stop teasing him.”

  “Fine. Let’s get this rescue business over with,” said Claire, looping her arm through Evan’s. “At least I don’t have to hold onto your tail—I know, I did it again. Sorry, sorry. I won’t say anything else about your ‘condition’.”

  Somewhat camouflaged by the starlit sky, Evan and his two companions rocketed over the labyrinth. Light from orange torches bounced off walls in the courtyard, making it easier for Evan to see. Pretty soon, he could easily hear the sounds of angry giants arguing about how to catch those pesky kids. And, unfortunately, he was flying closer and closer to them.

  “Hey, that giant just called me a kid,” hissed Evan.

  “Evan, they’re just big dumb giants. What do they know?” Claire whispered. “Hey, the Woofout bar must have worn off.”

  “Yeah, I guess it did,” said Evan.

  “This is it. Evan, you know what to do,” said Sigurd, standing between Evan and Claire, his arms casually draped over both of their shoulders.

  “I’ll be back for you. I promise,” said Evan to his sister before climbing the tower.

  Evan crawled effortlessly up the chiseled surface. In fact, his fingertips barely even scraped the stone. He slithered around many windows, peering into each one. Although, the locket had shown the imps location as up high, he wanted to make sure no giants lurked in the shadows. When he reached the top, he spied two shapes that looked like Dunkle and Barfel. But the room was black, making it difficult to tell.

  A tremendous growl came from somewhere below, and Evan looked down. On the ground below him, he could see his sister and Sigurd. It was just the two of them, keeping lookout. Evan searched, but couldn’t figure out what had made that noise. Suddenly, a hatch hidden under the dirt-covered ground, flung open! What came out was truly shocking. At least eight mini polar bears charged Sigurd and Claire!

  “Those must be the giants’ idea of ‘hounds’!” yelled Claire, backing toward Sigurd.

  Claire and Sigurd were surrounded by furry, white bears. They looked like baby cubs. If his sister hadn’t been in immediate danger, Evan would have found the polar bears sort of cute.

  And then, giants began to pour in like cockroaches. Claire pointed her finger toward the ground and spun around in a circle. Dirt beneath her and Sigurd’s feet swirled around and around. Two circular pillars shot upward, lifting Claire and Sigurd up high above the fleet of white bears and fierce giants. Sigurd used a slingshot to pelt bits of rock at his enemies below. Claire extended her right hand and flexed her fingers; spikes shot up, trapping a few of the giants inside.

  Polar bears tried to scramble up the pillars, digging in their sharp, black claws. But it was no use; each time one would climb a few feet, it slid right back down. One of the giants threw his club at Sigurd and knocked the hero to the ground. He tumbled down, but still managed to land on his feet. He used his sword to deflect an axe and broke its handle into shards.

  “Impressive,” whispered Evan. He sighed and began to turn back toward the room. When suddenly, a garbled sound came from behind him, and a bag dropped over his head and down to his sneakers! Total darkness! Evan clawed at the burlap, first with his fingers, then with his mind. He tried to use his powers to lift the bag, but this giant was too strong.

  “Help!” shouted Evan, but he was jabbed by what felt like a huge finger.

  “You be quiet! No yell. You not be saved,” said the giant. Evan thought it sounded like the giant had a mouth full of marbles.

  The space was cramped and breathing was difficult. Warm air surrounded Evan’s head. He had to get out. Hopefully, Sigurd and Claire had been able to escape unharmed.

  A thunderous BOOM erupted each time the giant’s mighty feet hit the floor. The bag swung back and forth and Evan thought he was going to be sick.

  “Lars, where girl?” garbled Marblemouth.

  Evan strained to decipher what came from a distant giant as all he could hear were some grunts and groans.

  Then Marblemouth asked, “We be only giants left? Where rest of ’em?”

  Evan could hear more grumbling from the other giant, Lars.

  “Stuck in stone? Ugh, I go free ’em,” said Marble-mouth, lifting the bag before dropping it hard on the ground. “We gots boy, now gets girl.”

  Without thinking, Evan shouted, “Ouch! Be a little more careful; there’s precious cargo in here!” Another hurtful jab pushed into Evan’s side.

  “Quiet!” yelled Marblemouth.

  Evan stopped squirming. He sat back and sighed. At least he had just heard that his sister and Sigurd managed to get away.

  “Boy go to dungeon wit dem imps,” ordered Marblemouth. “An’ Lars, no you sleep.”

  The bag was lifted and heaved over Lars’ shoulder. Evan crashed against what must have been the giant’s broad back. Something small and sharp pressed into Evan’s side. It didn’t take long for him to remember what it was. The dagger! He struggled to move his hand, but it was difficult with all of the bouncing and squeezing of the bag. At last, he managed to free the dagger and sliced through the burlap. Unfortunately, the hole was too little for him to slip out. But through the opening, he was able to pick up a familiar odor: imps.

  “Yuck,” Evan grumbled, and then called out, “Dunkle, Barfel!” But all he could hear was some scuffling. “They’re probably gagged,” he murmured to himself.

  The bag tore open, and Evan dropped hard on the stone floor. “Aahh!” he cried. His shoulder throbbed with intense pain. The giant then grabbed Evan’s sneakers and yanked them right off his feet!

  “Har, har, har!” laughed the nasty giant. “You go there.”

  “Hey, give me back my shoes!” yelled Evan.

  “Me keeps ’em. Put on belt, next to human heads.”

  “Fine, whatever you say.” Evan winced as searing pain shot from his shoulder down his arm. He spied a wobbly stool in a corner and managed to hobble over. When he attempted to sit, it tipped, and Evan fell again. The giant roared with more laughter.

  “Har, har, har!” roared Lars. “I be out there.”

  The giant walked out, slamming shut the thick wooden door.

  “Good riddance,” said Evan.

  Pain grew in his shoulder, and he grasped at it with his other hand. He didn’t bother to get up and stayed on his side, trying to lessen the ache. A familiar sound came from the dark corner. Evan knew the scratch and scuffle of imp toenails when he heard them. Out of blackness, two imps slid their feet in his direction. Just as Evan had assumed, they were gagged and tied to each other, back to back. Dunkle mumbled something a
nd motioned behind him.

  “I can’t move my arm,” Evan whined.

  Dunkle shook his head and then widened his eyes before motioning toward his bound wrists.

  “I don’t understand. Sorry, but I need to rest,” said Evan, closing his eyes. Just then, an idea occurred to him. “Oh, I can use my powers to untie you.” And Dunkle sighed.

  Evan concentrated and imagined removing the gag first, then untying the ropes.

  “I’m free! I’m free!” Barfel cheered, waving his long arms.

  “Shh, you don’t want the giants to hear you,” said Evan firmly. “Besides, we’re stuck in this prison, and I think I dislocated my shoulder.”

  Dunkle and Barfel rushed to Evan’s side. Staring at Evan’s shoulder, Barfel exclaimed, “Use power! Use power!”

  Evan couldn’t believe he hadn’t considered trying that before. With his eyes closed, he imagined the inside of his shoulder, underneath muscle, down to the bone. He tried to set the shoulder back into the socket. He felt a pop followed by instant relief.

  “Who knew Biology class could come in handy? I amaze myself,” said Evan, carefully rolling his shoulder in a circle. “It’s still sore, but I’ll manage.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  FRENZY OF FUR

  A SOFT HUM VIBRATED OFF the dungeon walls. Evan shifted around, alarmed.

  “Evan, Evan, this is Claire. Evan, can you hear me?”

  “Claire, where are you?” Evan asked excitedly.

  “Great, I’ve finally figured out how to work this locket,” said Claire.

  “What? Where are you?” Evan rushed around, but there were no windows and the only door was shut. “Is there a secret tunnel or something? I can’t see you.”

  “Evan, listen, I’m not sure how long this will work,” said Claire. “Sigurd and I managed to trap a lot of the giants, but more kept coming. We needed to rest, so we hid in the labyrinth.”

  “How can I hear you?” Evan asked.

  “Not only does the locket show us what we ask to see, but it also works like a cell phone.”

  “I’m afraid it didn’t work so great at seeing the future, fifty-eight minutes or whatever. Dunkle and Barfel weren’t up in the tower,” Evan sighed. “Sigurd was right, it was a trap.”

  “The locket worked fine. We didn’t ask the right question,” Claire corrected. “Most likely the imps were in the tower. The giants must have moved them before we arrived.”

  “Yeah, they were probably moved down to this medieval looking dungeon. So, we should have asked where they would be in the future,” Evan realized. “That information would have been great two hours ago.”

  “Look, I’m learning how to use the divining locket as we go,” said Claire, sounding irritated. “We’ll get you out of there. Just hang tight.”

  The room filled with light, and then returned to darkness.

  “Claire, Claire. I guess time was up,” said Evan, searching for his sister’s lost voice. He stood beside a wall and ran his fingers around a cluster of stones. “Dunkle, Barfel—we need to get out of here. Do either of you know where we are?”

  “Let me see,” said Dunkle, his fingers stroking his chin thoughtfully. “We came from the hall on the other side of that door.”

  “I already gathered that,” said Evan. “Which wall leads outside?”

  “This wall. Yes, yes this one,” Barfel chimed, pointing off to his left.

  “Dunkle, do you agree with Barfel? Lars the giant will most likely hear us break out. So, we have only one shot at this,” said Evan.

  Dunkle shrugged his shoulders. “I would listen to Barfel. He is usually right about such things.”

  “You’re sure you believe him?” Evan asked, looking over to where the red imp was hugging the mildew-stained wall. Dunkle nodded enthusiastically and, although reluctant, Evan agreed. “That will have to be good enough.”

  Using his finger as a guide, Evan outlined the shape of a rectangle. As he drew imaginary lines, stones rattled and shifted apart. Cracks appeared and then stretched. Stones crumbled and, for good measure, Evan slammed them against the wooden door. Large fists pounded on the other side, and Lars’s anger could be heard in his voice. Evan wasn’t sure what Lars was saying and hoped to never find out.

  Barfel leapt over to the hole, and then hopped through. Dunkle was quick to follow. Evan was about to dash over when he stopped and looked back at the door. The barricade of stones started to budge, and the giant’s head popped into view.

  “Stop!” shouted Lars.

  “I am so outta here,” said Evan, rushing behind Dunkle.

  “Back! Back!” roared Lars.

  Evan and the two imps now stood on the outside of the fort in the dried up moat. The labyrinth wasn’t very far. Evan judged the distance and had to make a decision: his sister or the imps?

  “For now, Claire’s safe with Sigurd. Imps, we need to hurry,” said Evan, reaching for them. “Grab hold of my hands.”

  Dunkle and Barfel didn’t ask questions, they scurried over and clung to Evan. The imps’ long nails dug into his hands and both of their heads buried into Evan’s legs.

  “All right guys, you’re inflicting a lot of pain. Can you ease back? I need to be able to concentrate while I search for Claire,” said Evan, and the imps loosened their grip a little. “And whatever you do, don’t look down.”

  Evan felt rather accomplished as his flying skills had clearly improved. With relative ease, he shot through the sky while surveying below. But Claire was nowhere in sight.

  As soon as their feet touched the ground, Evan instructed, “I need to go back. Stay right here. I shouldn’t be too long. Oh, and stay away from the cave. There’s a dragon in there. But don’t worry.” He leapt up and zipped back toward the labyrinth.

  Evan searched for his sister, guessing she would be surrounded by metal ivy. Most of the labyrinth still flourished with green vines, and Evan was getting frustrated. That was until he finally spotted a trail of brown metal and heard the sound of battle armor clanking together. Some of the labyrinth’s green walls shook, transforming instantly into sharp barbed wire and spades.

  “Please be Claire,” he whispered and dove closer into the labyrinth, careful not to touch the walls.

  Chains rattled and swords clanked. And was that Claire? She must have been battling ten or more giants. Odd, she didn’t look frightened. Was she actually enjoying herself? Just as he suspected, there were at least ten giants doing their utmost to capture Claire and Sigurd. Sigurd battled two and three giants at once. His sword flashed with speed and efficiency. Sigurd knocked down the slow and clumsy giants, preparing them for Claire’s stone and dirt prisons. Within a matter of minutes, most of the giants were trapped in strange-looking cocoons. But more could be heard a few yards away. And mini polar bears circled around Sigurd and Claire, snarling and snapping at them.

  One bear leapt and knocked Claire to the ground! While it might have been the size of a large dog, its teeth were much bigger. Just then, five more giants turned the corner.

  “Heel!” shouted one of the giants, and the bear sat back. “Must keep girl ’live.”

  Another giant threw a piece of red meat, and the bear jumped off Claire, attacking his reward with a vengeance.

  A giant hollered to Sigurd, “Weapon down!” and pointed a long spear right for Claire’s throat. “Slice her, I will.”

  Sigurd looked at Claire’s frightened face and laid down his sword.

  “Sigurd, keep fighting!” shouted Claire.

  “Now, you stand,” said the giant, pointing his spear toward Claire. She sighed and sat upright, when suddenly, her left foot was pulled off the ground!

  “Hey, where you go?”

  Her body flipped upside down and her hair dangled toward the ground. She thrashed, swinging her arms. Evan learned a few new words as they hurled from her mouth.

  “Claire, how are you—” began Sigurd, but then he too was swept up. Evan managed to lift Sigurd by both feet. But he to
o was upside down and the polar bears bat his head a few times with their paws. Evan raised himself higher, and once Claire and Sigurd were beyond reach of the giants’ massive clubs and bounding polar bears, Evan pulled Claire and Sigurd over to where he hovered.

  “Claire!” shouted Evan.

  “Evan, flip me over!” cried out Claire.

  “I’m not so sure if I can,” said Evan, but in truth, he knew if he tried hard enough, he could. “I didn’t even know I could make you fly without touching you. I thought I would have to hold onto you to make you fly. With all of the giants coming, I panicked. I tried to figure out how to reach you and wished for you to fly. And then up you went.”

  “I guess that would only make sense. I mean, you can move other objects around without touching them,” Claire rationalized.

  “We better hurry out of here, it is only a matter of time before those giants figure out how to throw their clubs at us,” said Sigurd, staring at the ugly faces beneath him.

  “Yeah, and I’m feeling dizzy. Make sure you fly high enough so my face doesn’t whack into a tree or something,” said Claire.

  “Right, good point,” said Evan. “You know, you don’t look so good.”

  “You think? I’m hanging upside down here,” said a green-faced Claire.

  An orange glow illuminated off the cliff, lighting the way, as if Evan were a ship lost at sea. The imps must have built a fire. He looked over at Sigurd and Claire, and decided it was time to turn them upright. Evan rotated both his hands as if he were turning the steering wheel of a car. Claire and Sigurd spun around in a few cartwheels before settling.

  “Thanks,” said Claire.

  “No prob. I guess I could have flipped you earlier, after all. Funny thing, huh?” said Evan.

  “Not really; just get us back to the cliff. I want to stand on my own again,” said Claire.

  They approached the mountain. Dunkle and Barfel leapt up and down upon seeing them, looping their arms through each other’s and doing a little square dance.

  “Hurray! Hurray!” sang Barfel.