Lord of Monsters

by John Claude Bemis

  “But what is it?” Lazuli asked, following after him.

  “I hope I’m wrong. Oh, please be wrong.” The owl shook his head. “I’ll explain it all in the library. Prester Pinocchio—”

  “Sop will get him,” Mezmer said, catching up to them.

  The cat gave a groan from where he sat on the floor. “Do I have to?”

  “A knight of the Celestial Brigade never shirks his duty, dear,” Mezmer called back.

  “But when there’s only two knights in the whole kingdom, I wind up having to do all the duties,” Sop complained, staggering to his feet.

  When they reached the library, Lazuli and Mezmer cast each other worried glances as Dr. Nundrum first searched one bookshelf and then another, muttering all the while under his breath. Moonlight filtered through the delicate stone of the palace walls, bathing the room in its silvery glow. It would be too dim for reading by.

  Lazuli opened a box on the nearest table, releasing a swarm of pixies into the air. She took the lid off a glass lamp and, with a wave of her hand, a breeze gathered the pixies into the lamp’s globe. Their warm orange light pooled on the table’s surface just as Dr. Nundrum deposited a stack of books with a dusty thump.

  “Now, where is it?” he murmured—flipping pages, stopping occasionally before scanning a passage, pushing one book aside for another, searching, searching.

  “What’s going on?” Geppetto entered the library with Pinocchio and Sop. Maestro fidgeted on Geppetto’s shoulder.

  Lazuli noticed that Pinocchio was now wearing a pair of gloves. He wasn’t one for fancy additions to his attire. Had he injured himself in the fight?

  “Yes, here it is and…can that be?” Dr. Nundrum muttered, his hooked beak pressed nearly to the page of a book. “Oh, but…no! No, no, no.”

  “Can you please explain why you’ve brought us here, Dr. Nundrum?” Lazuli said, her patience wearing thin.

  The owl looked up, turning his gaze to each of them in turn. “The monster tonight—”

  “About that,” Sop interrupted, crossing his arms. “I thought there weren’t any monsters left in Abaton. You know, peaceful kingdom and all that we don’t need an army because we’re perfectly safe business?”

  Maestro hopped from Geppetto’s shoulder onto the table beside Dr. Nundrum’s book. “There aren’t supposed to be any left.”

  “Well,” Sop said, “somebody needs to tell that monster.”

  “If you’ll please allow me to explain,” Dr. Nundrum said, his voice quavering. “Did any of you notice the manticore’s forehead?”

  “Not me,” Mezmer said, her ears flicking with agitation. “Especially since we practically missed the entire fight because nobody thought to call the knights of the Celestial Brigade the one time there’s an actual threat!”

  “I saw her forehead,” Pinocchio said. “She had a mark. Sort of like a diamond.”

  “So what I saw was true,” Dr. Nundrum said. “Oh, dear.”

  “What’s it mean?” Lazuli asked.

  Dr. Nundrum jabbed a feathery finger to the page before him. “It’s the mark of Diamancer. If the manticore had that mark, it means she belonged to Diamancer’s army.”

  Lazuli felt an icy finger of fear run up her spine at the name.

  Maestro too looked alarmed as his wings fluttered and his six tiny legs danced frantically. But Pinocchio and Geppetto were exchanging bewildered looks with Mezmer and Sop. Lazuli knew, of course, that they—being from the Venetian Empire—would never have heard about this dark chapter of Abaton’s history.

  Noticing Pinocchio’s confusion, Dr. Nundrum said, “You’re aware, Your Majesty, that Abaton was not always peaceful as it is today. Centuries ago, not long after the time when Prester John began trading with the humanlands, we went through a terrible war. One of Prester John’s most trusted advisers was Diamancer. But Diamancer had come to believe that Prester John’s eternal rule was unfair. He also resented that Abaton’s magic was being shared with humans. So he gathered the races of monsters—manticores, wyverns, ghouls, and the like—and led a rebellion.”

  Dr. Nundrum fluttered a hand at Mezmer. “It was your ancestor the general Mezmercurian who commanded the celestial knights that defeated Diamancer’s forces. And since that day, we have known only peace.”

  “How were they defeated?” Mezmer lifted her snout a little higher and pulled back her shoulders. “Did dear Mezmercurian kill Diamancer in single combat?”

  “No,” Dr. Nundrum said. “Diamancer would have fought to the end, and made his army of monsters do the same. But when the Celestial Knights cornered Diamancer’s forces in the canyons of Magorian Wastes, the monsters surrendered, knowing this was the only way to spare their lives.”

  “Spare them?” Mezmer said. “They were traitors. Weren’t they executed?”

  “Certainly not!” Maestro squeaked. “They might have been traitors, but they were children of Abaton all the same. Prester John could never kill his own children. It would have betrayed his vow as prester-protector and undermined the magic of the Ancientmost Pearl.”

  “So what happened to Diamancer and his monsters?” Pinocchio asked.

  Pixie light glittered against Dr. Nundrum’s glasses. “The books of history tell us that they were locked in a secret prison.”

  Geppetto furrowed his woolly brows. “But how could the manticore who attacked tonight have been one of Diamancer’s monsters? It was so long ago.”

  Dr. Nundrum bobbed his head. “That is precisely why I didn’t realize at first who this manticore was! That’s why I had to search these books for the explanation. You see, the prisoners are called the Thousand Sleeping Traitors because Prester John cast Diamancer and all the rest into an enchanted sleep until they could repent.”

  “But that would mean…” Lazuli found her words coming out as the barest whisper. “…that at least one of these monsters has awakened.”

  “And found the means to escape,” Mezmer added.

  Sop swished his tail. “Doesn’t look like they’ve repented, does it?”

  “This is most worrisome. Most worrisome indeed!” Maestro looked ready to fly into a fit of panic.

  Lazuli was trying to keep calm. She wished desperately that her aunt was awake, that Lady Sapphira was here advising her, telling her what she should do. Everyone was now looking at her expectantly. Even Pinocchio. She had half a mind to remind him that he was the prester too. She wasn’t the only one running the kingdom!

  She frowned. “I think it’s safe to assume that this manticore is the only one so far to have escaped from the prison. Otherwise, the attack would have been much worse. But how long until others wake and find a way out? We need to secure the prison before they do.”

  “Agreed!” Dr. Nundrum said anxiously.

  “So?” Lazuli asked the owl. “Where’s the prison located?”

  “Oh, yes.” Dr. Nundrum was running a feathery finger down the page, reading rapidly. “Well, I can’t be sure exactly…His Great Lordship, your father, made the prison secret, after all.” He continued flipping through books.

  Sop gave an impatient tap of his foot. “Can somebody wake up the palace librarian?”

  “I am the palace librarian. It’s just our collection is not as extensive as the one in Grootslang…ah, here’s something!” Dr. Nundrum squared his glasses as he read. “It’s a brief mention of Prester John building an enormous pyramid not long after the Rebellion.”

  “Does it say where it is?” Geppetto asked.

  “The Upended Forest,” the owl murmured, giving a quizzical look.

  “Upended Forest?” Lazuli said. “I’ve never heard of it.”

  “Neither have I,” Maestro said. “Is it in one of the jungle realms?”

  “No,” Dr. Nundrum said, looking from the book around at the others. “Oddly enough, it appears this forest is in a remote portion of the Caldera Desert.”

  “There aren’t any forests in the Caldera,” Lazuli said.

  “True enough
, Your Majesty,” Dr. Nundrum said. “But there it is! On the page. Quite perplexing. Maybe this Upended Forest is in fact an oasis. Or was once a forest that the desert has ruined. Whatever the case, it makes sense that such an obscure and clearly quite uninhabited portion of Abaton would be the best location for a secret prison.”

  “So how do we find it, darling?” Mezmer asked.

  “I’ll have to investigate further,” Dr. Nundrum said. “But once I discover it, we must send Prester Pinocchio right away—”

  Mezmer reared up like a mother bear. “Pinocchio go to the prison? We can’t send our prester into that kind of danger! Are you mad?”

  Dr. Nundrum blinked his gilded eyes. “It’s because he’s the prester that we must. How else will the prison be opened? It says quite explicitly here”—he touched the page—“that the lock to the prison can only be opened by the prester’s hand.”

  “Then it doesn’t have to be Prester Pinocchio,” Lazuli said. “I’m the prester too! Ever since I’ve returned to Abaton as prester, my powers commanding air seem stronger…when the manticore attacked, I felt it!”

  “That might be true,” Dr. Nundrum said. “But Prester Pinocchio commands the Ancientmost Pearl. Only he has the powers to ensure that no more of these monsters escape. There is no one else who can!”

  Lazuli saw Pinocchio and Geppetto exchange worried glances.

  “Prester Lazuli,” Dr. Nundrum said quietly. “I hope that your responsibility to your people will persuade you to stay where you’re most needed—here at the Moonlit Court. Your people depend on your presence to assure them all will be safe.”

  Lazuli tried unsuccessfully to hide her scowl. How was this fair? She didn’t want to sit around on the throne while Pinocchio went off on some dangerous—and most likely exciting—mission.

  Pinocchio wrung his gloved hands. “So I have to go to this prison…alone?”

  “I’ll go with you,” Geppetto said, giving a squeeze to Pinocchio’s shoulder.

  “And of course the knights of the Celestial Brigade,” Mezmer added.

  “All two of us.” Sop rolled his eye.

  “Very well,” Lazuli said, masking her disappointment. “Dr. Nundrum, you’ll continue to search for more information about the location of the Upended Forest.”

  “I will search all night if necessary. What’s critical is that Prester Pinocchio leave as soon as possible! Abaton depends on him.” The owl gave a bow and then hurried off across the library.

  “We should get some rest,” Lazuli said to Pinocchio and Geppetto. “I’ll need to talk to the high nobles first thing in the morning so our people know we have a plan of action.”

  “Sop and I will keep watch tonight on the upper balconies, in case the manticore returns,” Mezmer said, pulling the grumbling cat by the arm toward the door.

  “Wait,” Pinocchio said. Then turning to Lazuli, he whispered, “We need to talk. Somewhere we won’t be overheard.”

  Lazuli rubbed her eyes, exhausted. “Can’t this wait?”

  But the look of urgency on Pinocchio’s and Geppetto’s faces told her that it definitely couldn’t.

  Up in Pinocchio’s chambers, with the cool night air blowing in through the windows, Lazuli stared in disbelief at his outstretched hands. The grains of wood ran from his fingertips down to his wrist, merging back into smooth, soft flesh.

  She had to open and close her mouth several times before she could get any words out. “How did this happen?” she gasped.

  “When I used the Ancientmost Pearl,” Pinocchio whispered.

  Geppetto frowned, dark circles under his eyes.

  Maestro flittered with agitation. “But they’ll turn back, right? They have to! In the empire, the Pearl changed Pinocchio from wood to flesh and blood. It’ll do it again. Won’t it?”

  “Only if he doesn’t use the Pearl,” Geppetto said.

  “But if more monsters begin escaping from the prison, he’ll have to,” Mezmer said, digging her fingers into the coppery fur on her face. “Darlings, I think we’re in big trouble.”

  “There has to be a way,” Lazuli said.

  Sop was wringing his tail in his paws. “Any ideas, Your Majesty?”

  Lazuli frowned. “If we only knew what caused the manticore to awaken.”

  “And how to get her back to sleep,” Mezmer added.

  “But we don’t,” Geppetto growled. “And we have no time to figure this out before we have to leave to locate the prison.”

  Pinocchio squeezed the wooden hands into clacking fists. “I…I don’t even know if I can open the prison. Dr. Nundrum said it could only be opened with the prester’s hands. What if they won’t work, because mine are…like this?”

  Lazuli could see the solution plainly enough. But how would she explain it to her aunt and Dr. Nundrum and the high nobles?

  “I’ll come,” she said.

  “You’ll what?” Maestro chirped.

  “I’m coming with you. I’ll have to,” Lazuli said. “You heard Dr. Nundrum. If the prison can only be opened by the prester’s hand, well…I’m the prester too. We’ll just have to hope it works for me.”

  No one argued. Pinocchio even smiled, a look of relief washing across his face.

  Lazuli smiled back. She was glad for the excuse. She didn’t want to miss out on the fun, after all—if you could call facing a prison full of potentially awake and ferocious monsters fun.

  In the morning, everything around the Moonlit Court seemed in a hurry. Servants were frantically trying to clean up the decimated gardens. Palace officials were rushing letters from Dr. Nundrum up to the palace aerie, where they’d be sent to historians all around the kingdom, anyone who might have clues about the location of this ancient prison where Diamancer and his monsters had been hidden. Even the wind coming off the ocean blew in wild, panicky gusts.

  The palace grooms were fighting the gales as they brought the various mounts out from the stables. The elemental nobles, eager to get back to their respective cities, were pouring out from the palace with their belongings, ready to depart.

  The djinn boarded a luxurious carriage as big as a cabin lifted by a flock of flaming birds. The undines did their best to keep a safe distance from the djinn’s birds as they passed, heading for the harbor, where they’d shed their sloshing shrouds and swim back to their underwater realm of Piscaray.

  The gnomes sat in long lines down the multitude of saddles strapped to the backs of massive millipede-like creatures called slithersteeds. Chief Muckamire called his farewells to Dr. Nundrum, Pinocchio, and Geppetto before departing. The sylphs were waiting for their lady while the grooms brought out their half-eagle, half-lion griffin mounts, who were snapping their golden beaks and flexed tawny muscular wings in the morning sun.

  Lady Sapphira, her arm bandaged, was still speaking to her niece at the top of the steps.

  “What do you mean you have to join them?” she asked.

  “Aunt Sapphira,” Lazuli said, keeping her voice low to not be overheard by the servants and nobles collecting on the palace steps. “You know Prester Pinocchio isn’t familiar with our kingdom. He’ll need my help.”

  Her aunt’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, and she gave a hint of a smile. “You have always longed for more adventure than the Moonlit Court could provide. It’s what has set you apart from all your father’s other children. But your people need you here, on the throne, assuring them that Abaton is in safe hands.”

  Lazuli opened her mouth to argue, but her aunt cut her off. “Please listen to me, my dear niece. It’s not simply your people you must reassure. I hesitated to share this with you, lest it cause you undue concern. But given this grave turn for our kingdom, you must know that the other three high nobles were advocating to have you and Prester Pinocchio replaced by a regency council.”

  “What?” Lazuli gasped. “They don’t feel Pinocchio and I can rule?”

  “I hope for now I have persuaded them otherwise,” Sapphira whispered. “But do not underestimate t
he power and ambition of the elemental houses. If they decide to work against you, they could convince the people of Abaton that their presters are too young and inexperienced. You must show them otherwise!”

  Lazuli felt torn. Part of her longed to unburden herself from having to rule. Let the high nobles have it—especially if her aunt was part of this regency council. But she also realized all their hopes for rescuing the slaves of Venice would fall away. And besides, the council would expect to be given the Ancientmost Pearl.

  “Lazuli,” Aunt Sapphira said, taking her by the hands. “You know how dear you are to me. With no children of my own, I have come to see you as the daughter I never had, especially after my sister’s death. You are clever and bold. I feel if you will allow me to guide you that you will make a truly great prester.”

  Lazuli felt her cheeks grow warm at the compliment. She couldn’t help but think if things had been different, her aunt, however, really would have made the best choice for prester.

  “I can’t imagine how I could rule without your guidance, Aunt,” Lazuli said.

  “Then you must assure the high nobles and your people that you can keep them safe, that you can rule decisively. Send Prester Pinocchio to end the threat of this monster. He will have his knights to protect him.”

  “But if I joined, wouldn’t that show our people that Pinocchio and I can keep them safe?”

  “Leaving the thone unsecured? No! You must focus on what is in the best interest of your people. Your presence in the Moonlit Court will instill confidence that you are in command.”

  Lazuli understood what Lady Sapphira was saying, but her aunt didn’t know what was going on with Pinocchio, the truth they were hiding from the kingdom.

  Lazuli looked her aunt in the eye. “Aunt Sapphira, you saw what happened when Pinocchio used the Pearl last night.”

  She pursed her lips. “Prester Pinocchio protected us. Maybe he did more damage to the gardens than to that manticore. Still, he’s capable of handling this undertaking without you.”

  “I’m not sure he can,” Lazuli said, wrestling with how much to reveal. “You see…Pinocchio can draw powers from the Pearl, but I feel he needs to be cautious in doing so.”