The Winter War, epub

by Priscilla Shirer

“Yes, this gift is an extension of the one I gave you then. But with this Glass, you will now see more than you have ever imagined. It comes with a warning, however. This gift is the most difficult and perhaps the least desired. But it is essential.”

  Levi took the Glass from his eye. “You mean I’m going to see things . . . I don’t really want to see.”

  Ruwach’s hooded head dipped once. “It is your choice. To accept it, or not.”

  Levi stared at the Glass. A huge part of him wanted to give it back. He sensed in Ruwach’s words a terrible responsibility attached to this gift. But he knew as well that Ruwach wouldn’t have given him the Glass if he didn’t think he, of all the Warriors, could handle it. He closed his fingers around it tightly.

  Ruwach understood. “Now, I will show you something. Your father has asked this of me. Do you want to see it?”

  Levi nodded.

  “Look into the Glass.”

  Levi held the Glimmer Glass up to his eye once again. This time, instead of seeing the Sparks, he saw the image of a young man who looked remarkably like him, except his hair was longer and his clothes were really out-of-date. He realized it was his father, Mr. J. Ar.

  “Dad?” he asked.

  Mr. J. Ar looked really young, like he was in high school. The images changed quickly—first he was playing football, then hanging out with his friends, then arguing with a woman Levi assumed was his grandmother. Then Mr. J. Ar was wearing his football uniform and holding up the state championship trophy. Levi was impressed. His dad had never told him he won a state trophy.

  The setting changed again. To a group of kids on a dark night, setting off bottle rockets on a baseball field. They all had on football jackets with big letters on them. Everyone was laughing, having a good time. Levi’s dad was among them. He held up a large firework, the kind used in big displays. Everyone wanted him to set it off. He said he had to wait for his uncle to do that. But the others kept pressuring him until finally he put the firework in the tube, ran the fuse, and lit it. But something went wrong. The tube fell over, and the rocket went sideways, exploding close to one of the kids. Everyone screamed. The kid just lay on the ground, badly injured. The grass caught fire. Sirens started to blare. Levi’s dad ran to his friend, threw his jacket over him. He screamed his friend’s name. A large burning piece of ash fell on his arm . . .

  The Glass went dark. Levi put it down. He couldn’t even speak.

  “The boy did not die,” Ruwach said, seeing the unasked question on Levi’s face. “But the injuries were severe. He could no longer play football.”

  “He never told me.”

  “He would have, in time.”

  “I . . . don’t want to lose him.”

  Ruwach didn’t respond. Instead, he did something he had never done before. He moved to Levi and wrapped his long, robed arms all the way around him. The warmth of that embrace overpowered Levi’s pain. He had never felt so engulfed in love, except when his own father would give him one of his big bear hugs. He felt tears well in his eyes, knowing that whatever happened, he would still be loved well.

  He closed his eyes, thankful.

  When he opened them, he was in the doorway of his father’s bedroom, staring at his sleeping form. Mr. J. Ar seemed to sense his presence, for he awoke suddenly. Levi went to stand at his bedside.

  “Levi,” he said, his voice groggy. “Where’d you come from?”

  “Ahoratos,” Levi said.

  Mr. J. Ar heaved a sigh. “Did you have a mission?”

  “No. Ruwach just gave me a gift.” Levi pulled the Glimmer Glass from his pocket. “It helps me . . . see things.”

  “That’s a wonderful gift.”

  “Yeah. Maybe. Dad, I’m . . . I’m scared. . . .”

  “Don’t you worry about a thing, son,” said Mr. J. Ar, grabbing hold of Levi’s hand. “Everything is going to be all right. The battle is already won.”

  Levi hoped that was true. But at the moment, he couldn’t see how.

  CHAPTER 19

  The Fortress

  Day 25

  Ponéros clung to the back of the leviathan named Sybylla as she swam through the tunnels of boiling green water that led from Skot’os to the mountain. He was anxious to see the new fortress Thayne had built on the top of Rhema. Thayne had succeeded in cutting off the Breath and turning the mountain into a roiling volcano, spewing lava and gasses that hung in a poisoned cloud over the land. He was now building his army of Lava Forgers. Once the army was at full strength, they would be ready for a full-scale invasion of Ahoratos. They would take over every inch of Ruwach’s territory, even the Cave itself. This would be Ponéros’s crowning achievement—to defeat Ruwach and his band of Prince Warriors once and for all.

  Sybylla surfaced in the large green boiling pool. She shook the water from her gills and pulled herself up to the ledge, her two short flippers growing into long, tapered arms. With Ponéros still clinging to her back, she began to crawl steadily through the tunnel, which wound upward in a spiral, deep into the heart of the mountain and eventually emptied into a steam vent close to the crater.

  From there, Sybylla carried her master up to the rim of the crater. The fortress, a mammoth pyramid of sleek black obsidian, rose up from the crater into the clouds. It sat on a foundation of steep ramparts and ledges, surrounded by a moat of churning, fiery lava. Hundreds of Lava Forgers—huge lumpy creatures with hard rock shells and molten cores—were on the ledges, busily building giant catapults that could hurl fireballs of lava down the mountain.

  Sybylla crawled along the rim of the crater until she came to a bridge that led over the moat to the bottom of the ramparts. The bridge was made of obsidian, black and smooth as a newly paved highway. She slithered across the bridge and up the rocky slope as the Lava Forgers stopped their work to bow to their master.

  Thayne was there in the entrance to greet Ponéros when he arrived. The Prince of Skot’os slid from the leviathan’s back, observing the activity around him. He looked more human than the last time Thayne had seen him, although he had three sets of long, pulpy arms and a thick tail. His head was elongated, with large eyes that bulged out from both sides. Thayne bent to one knee and slammed an iron fist against his chest.

  “My prince.”

  Two Lava Forgers stood on either side of Thayne. They also bent low and grunted, for they could not speak.

  “Welcome to your new stronghold,” said Thayne. “I hope you are pleased with what I have done in your service.” He stood aside so Ponéros could enter the fortress.

  Ponéros moved slowly into the pyramid, his long limbs gliding over the obsidian floor. It was clear he wasn’t used to moving on solid ground, having recently spent so much time underwater. He stopped at a huge pit of lava in the center of the vast room. The crusty black surface rumbled softly, revealing orange veins of molten lava underneath. The floor all around the pit was littered with bones. Three tall skeletal figures in red robes tended the pit, stirring the lava with long white bones. They turned to Ponéros as he approached, and they bowed deeply.

  “Ah, Weaver,” Ponéros said to one of them. “What are you brewing?”

  The Weaver didn’t speak but picked up a few bones from the floor and tossed them into the pit. The lava roiled and rumbled as the three Weavers continued to stir. It clung to the bones, building up a thick coating. The bones began to move on their own, drawing together as the lava formed legs, arms, a head, and a torso all around the bones. A huge lumpy figure rose up from the pit and stepped out onto the floor, its outer shell instantly hardening into rock. But the fire still glowed from its eyes. A Lava Forger. Thayne made a gesture with one arm, and the Lava Forger began to move, lumbering out to the ramparts to join the others.

  “The Bone Breakers gather the bones,” Thayne said. “They are scattered all over Skot’os.”

  “Prince Warrior bones?�
�� Ponéros asked.

  “No,” said Thayne. “These are mostly the bones of escaped prisoners who never made it over the bridge. And dragon bones. We haven’t yet been able to get any Prince Warrior bones. But in time, we will have more than we could wish for.”

  “Yes. In time.” Ponéros let out a long, satisfied hiss. He continued his tour until he reached a black stone staircase that led to a massive throne made of sharpened spikes of obsidian. On either side of the throne, two enormous Bone Breakers sat on perches. Ponéros paused to admire the fierce-looking birds with their thick strong beaks, sharp talons, and ruffles of white feathers rimmed in red, as if they had been dipped in blood. Their eyes were perfectly round, concentric circles of red, white, and black that watched his every move.

  Ponéros glided up the steps and sat on the throne. His arms slid over the sides and dribbled down the steps.

  “You are certain the Prince Warriors cannot destroy this fortress?”

  “I am certain. They will not get to the top of the mountain, even if they tried. They will not get past the Forgers, or the catapults. Their armor is strong, but their flesh is still . . . vulnerable.”

  Ponéros looked up to the round hole at the very top of the pyramid. “Can you take me up there? I wish to see all of my new kingdom.”

  “Nesher,” said Thayne to one of the birds, “take the Master to the sky.”

  Nesher hopped down in front of the throne. Ponéros slid onto his back, wrapping two sets of arms around the bird’s neck. Nesher spread his wings, each one more than six feet long. He soared all the way through the hole at the top of the pyramid and perched on the edge, folding his wings again.

  Ponéros gazed down at the frozen landscape with immense satisfaction. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever beheld. He could see the Prince Warriors still in the field before the bridge, frozen in snake coils and ice-webs, new layers of ice forming over their trapped bodies. Soon the layers would be so thick there would be no possibility of rescue. Once the forty days were up, if they had not escaped or were not rescued, they would be nothing but dry bones and useless bits of armor.

  Fifteen days to go.

  Ponéros commanded Nesher to take him back down into the fortress where he settled himself once more on the throne, sighing with satisfaction.

  “Well done, Thayne. You trapped many Prince Warriors, I see. But—did you get them all?”

  Thayne hesitated a moment. “No, my prince. Not all.”

  Ponéros’s body reddened in anger. “What do you mean?”

  “There is always a . . . remnant.”

  “How many are left?”

  “I do not know. There cannot be many.”

  “Have they made any move to counterattack?”

  “No, my prince. We have seen no movement. There was one group of spies that found passage into the mountain, but they were repelled easily by one of the leviathans. They will surely be too afraid to enter there again.”

  “Repelled?” Ponéros turned to Sybylla. “Why were they not killed?” he demanded.

  Sybylla bowed her head. “They were clever,” she said. “They slipped away. It will not happen again.”

  “See that it doesn’t.” Ponéros seemed satisfied, but he was still quite uneasy. He did not want to be outmaneuvered by the Warriors again. “I must know what their plans are. Thayne, you must go into the Cave and see what that pest Ruwach is up to.”

  “I cannot go into the Cave. It is sealed. You know that, my prince. But I have sent Nesher to search for the Prince Warriors and to spy on Ruwach. He saw something quite interesting. In the Garden of Red.”

  “Well?” said Ponéros, sitting up straighter. “What did he see?”

  “He spotted three Prince Warriors. With Ruwach.”

  “Ah, excellent! What were they doing? Discussing battle plans?”

  “No,” said Thayne. “They said nothing of a battle. Ruwach simply gave them gifts.”

  “Gifts? You mean weapons?”

  “No. Just plain things. A rock. A root. A flower bulb.”

  “That is utter nonsense. Did they speak of destroying the fortress?”

  “No.”

  Ponéros rose up from the throne and nearly flew down the steps, greatly agitated. “What is going on here? What is that hooded flea up to?” He paced about, flinging his arms in all directions. He was disturbed by the gifts, which seemed so useless as to be truly frightening. But this was how Ruwach worked. He used not the mighty, not the most powerful and impressive, but the smallest—the most insignificant. Children. Rocks. Roots. Flower bulbs. That was Ruwach’s way. It was maddening.

  “If only we could get into the Cave,” Ponéros said as he paced about the pyramid. “There must be a way!”

  “There is nothing to fear, my prince,” said Thayne in a soothing voice. “Ruwach and the Prince Warriors can scheme all they like. We hold the power. We have the mountain and the skypods. We can see their every move.”

  “They got into the tunnel under the mountain, didn’t they?” Ponéros spat out.

  “That will not happen again. The tunnel has already been blocked. Frozen. As is everything else. Once they make an advance, we will utterly destroy them. Soon the forty days will be up. And then . . .”

  “Then,” said Ponéros, burying his worry in savage joy, “we will have true victory. We must have victory.” He did not want to think about what might happen if he were to fail again.

  CHAPTER 20

  Visiting

  Day 28

  The kids filed into the living room, tiptoeing as if they were afraid to make any noise. Ivy held a bouquet of wilted flowers. Brianna had a basket of her grandmother’s homemade cinnamon rolls and a large card she’d made herself. Evan held a mac-and-cheese casserole his mom had made. Xavier couldn’t carry anything because he was on crutches. Manuel had a book he had wrapped in the comics page of the newspaper.

  They gathered around Mr. J. Ar, smiling brightly and loading his lap and the coffee table with their gifts.

  “What’s all this?” said Mr. J. Ar, putting the recliner in its upright position. “You shouldn’t have.”

  “Sorry about the flowers,” said Ivy. “They didn’t do so well in the cold.”

  “Still cold out there, huh?”

  “Freezing.”

  “Why don’t I put them in water, see if I can resuscitate them,” said Levi’s mom with a grin. “And I’ll take that too, Evan.”

  “It’s mac and cheese,” Evan said, handing her the casserole. “I made it myself. Well, Mom helped a little.”

  “That’s so sweet of you, Evan.” Dr. Arthur took the flowers and the casserole into the kitchen.

  “Nana Lily made these just for you,” Brianna said to Mr. J. Ar, pointing to the basket of cinnamon rolls. “She knows they’re your favorite.”

  “Oh, yes, they are,” said Mr. J. Ar, smiling a little weakly. “I could smell them before you even stepped into the house.” He opened Brianna’s card. Inside was a picture she had drawn of Mr. J. Ar in his Prince Warrior armor, standing on top of the mountain with his sword lifted high.

  “Not bad at all,” said Mr. J. Ar with a little chuckle. He unwrapped the book Manuel had given him. Venus Flytraps and Other Meat-Eating Plants.

  “I couldn’t get to the store, so I just had this one in my room,” Manuel confessed. “But you’ll like it. It’s really fascinating.”

  “I’m already fascinated,” said Mr. J. Ar, flipping through the pages. “Who wouldn’t love to know more about meat-eating plants?” He glanced at Xavier, who had sat down to rest his bandaged leg. “How’s the knee?”

  “Only hurts when I move,” said Xavier with a doleful grin.

  “Good one,” said Mr. J. Ar. He coughed slightly, making Levi wince. “Surgery went okay?”

  “Yeah. They said in three months
I should be fine.”

  “That’s good news.”

  “The season will be over in three months.”

  “There’s always next season, right?” Mr. J. Ar smiled, but Xavier didn’t return the smile. Mr. J. Ar turned to the others. “So what’s been happening? Anything going on in Ahoratos?”

  “Finn and I found a way into the mountain,” Ivy said. “Through a hot spring underground. Unfortunately, it led to a pool with a leviathan. Kalle and Kristian almost got caught, but we helped them get out.”

  “You went on a mission?” said Brianna, frowning. “Without us?”

  “A leviathan—like a whale?” said Evan. “That’s so cool.”

  “It didn’t look like a whale, but it was pretty big.” Ivy described the leviathan while the others listened in amazement.

  “How did a thing like that get into the mountain?” asked Levi.

  “We think that underground spring must go all the way into Skot’os, or maybe Ponéros dug a tunnel or something. The tunnel might actually be a way to get to the fortress. But with the leviathans, it’s going to be pretty hard to get there. And we didn’t find any way to attack up the mountain without being seen. There are these giant birds called Bone Breakers staking out the skypods.”

  “Did you see any dragons?” asked Evan.

  “No,” said Ivy, “but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. I’m telling you, attacking that fortress is going to be virtually impossible.”

  “Ah. A virtual impossibility. Just the sort of challenge Ruwach loves,” said Mr. J. Ar with a tired smile. He turned to Xavier. “What do you think, Xavier?”

  Xavier looked from Mr. J. Ar to the other kids. “Me?”

  “You don’t have any thoughts on how this battle could be won?”

  “It’s not my job to win battles.” There was bitterness in Xavier’s tone. He glanced at Levi, who looked away. “I mean, I haven’t been called back, like everyone else. I’m . . . done.”

  “You so sure of that?” Mr. J. Ar arched an eyebrow. “You can’t think of any way to attack that fortress?”