Beyond the Forest

by Kay L. Ling

  “I’m not sayin’ I could. I’m just sayin’ I wouldn’t leave you,” Greg protested, and he looked at Lana and added. “We’ve been friends since fourth grade.”

  Lana said to the scowling gray rat, “I’m sure Jordy wouldn’t leave you, either.”

  “Yeah, only a rat would do something like that,” Jordy agreed unable, even now, to resist a rat joke.

  Raenihel finally joined the conversation. “So Sheamathan turned you into rats.”

  Greg nodded. “Yeah. Anyone who comes here, or causes trouble, gets turned into something.”

  “Last year rats were in vogue,” Jordy said bitterly.

  “The breghlin,” Raenihel began thoughtfully, “Do you think they captured you, planning to take you to Sheamathan, like a gift?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Greg said. “She was happy to see us at first.”

  Lana gave the rats a confused look. “Happy to see you? Why?”

  “She asked us a lot of questions. Mostly about home,” Greg said. “And she seemed really interested in everything we told her.”

  “What did she want to know?” Lana asked, alarmed. She glanced at Raenihel but his blank look said he didn’t understand why she was so worried.

  “All kinds of stuff,” Greg said, wriggling his whiskers thoughtfully. “Things like how many people there are. Do we live in a forest, or a village or a city? Are there walls around the cities? You know, stuff like that.”

  Jordy said to Lana, “When you were talkin’ about gems and the knife, it made me think. Sheamathan asked us a bunch of stuff about gemstones. Like what kind of gems people have, and if they have a lot of them. My mom has diamonds. Sometimes she wears turquoise.” When he paused Lana could see Jordy’s mental gears spinning.” Cocking his head, he looked at her with shrewd black eyes. “I get it now. I couldn’t figure out why the woodspirit cared, but now I do.”

  Greg gave a squeak of excitement. “Right! She showed us a bunch of gems and asked if we had the same ones back home. Then she made us touch the gems and tell her how they felt. That seemed pretty dumb at the time. I told her they felt like stones—cold and hard. Duh. How else would they feel?”

  Raenihel still didn’t understand. “Why would she question the boys? She learned about the Fair Lands from the Challenger long ago.”

  “Exactly. Long ago,” Lana said. “Unlike here, things change quickly in our world. And what makes you think he told her the truth? I sure wouldn’t. Anyway, you’re missing the point. She had the boys touch the gems. Fair Lands gems and Shadow gems can’t hurt them. She knows that. So she had another reason. Don’t you see? She wanted to know if they had gem powers.”

  “Ah, I see your point. That makes sense,” the gnome said thoughtfully. “It was a test.”

  “And we flunked it,” Greg said.

  “Yeah, and a failing grade gets you turned into a rat,” Jordy added, flicking his tail angrily.

  Greg blinked. “Huh?”

  “Lana didn’t get turned into a rat,” Jordy explained impatiently. “She can do stuff with gems and we can’t. Plus, she has the knife. Sheamathan won’t mess with her.”

  Raenihel said, “We’re still learning about the knife. We don’t know what it can do. Maybe Sheamathan doesn’t, either. So, anyone with gem powers is a threat.”

  Lana thought back to her encounter in the throne room. “If Sheamathan had been able to touch the knife, I bet she would have taken it from me.”

  “She can’t touch it. Breghlin can’t touch it, either,” Raenihel said. He frowned as he added, “Of course, there is a way. A human or a gnome could take it to her.”

  This time, Raenihel was a step ahead of her. Lana hadn’t stopped to think about that. “I wonder how long it will take Sheamathan to figure that out,” Lana said.

  “Not long,” Jordy muttered under his breath. He sat up on his haunches and rubbed his stomach with one paw. “All this talk has made me hungry. It’s nearly dinnertime and I didn’t get any lunch.”

  Raenihel said, “We won’t keep you. Thank you for all you’ve done.”

  “Yes, thanks, guys,” Lana said. The words sounded so inadequate. “We’ll find a way to help you. We won’t forget about you, I promise.” No, she certainly wouldn’t. How could anyone forget these sadly comical rat-boys? But her offer to help was mostly wishful thinking. “We plan on rescuing the gnomes in the work camps, too,” she added, remembering what X had told her. She said to Raenihel, “Your people are in a mining camp. I know where it is now. X pointed in the general direction and said it’s not too far from here. Maybe we can free them.”

  “Forget it. It’s hopeless. We’ve seen the camp,” Jordy said, shaking his head. “The hills above the mining pit are crawling with breghlin. There’s more down in the pits, too, where the workers live.”

  Her heart sank. A girl and an elderly gnome would never be able to free the gnomes from a place like that. It would take gem powers beyond her capabilities, and an army of gnomes. “I think we’ve done all we can this trip,” she said reluctantly. “I should go home, learn more, and come up with a plan.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” Raenihel agreed, his shoulders sagging. “I’m tired and discouraged. Your revelation about the wolfhound was a terrible blow. I need to go home and discuss this with my clan.”

  Greg and Jordy jumped down from the grain sacks and walked to the low door. Greg said, “If you come back, look around here and you’ll probably find us.” Jordy raised a paw in farewell. Then they were gone, leaving Lana and Raenihel to their gloomy thoughts.

  Chapter 19

  Jordy led Greg into an empty storage room. “We gotta talk,” Jordy said breathlessly. His tail was twitching, a telltale sign he was nervous, but he couldn’t keep it still. He was pretty sure Greg wasn’t going to like his idea.

  “Talk? About what?”

  Jordy took a deep breath and plunged in. “I got this idea. Listen up. We go to Sheamathan and offer to steal the magic knife. If we’re lucky, we shouldn’t have to hurt anybody and—”

  “Huh?” Greg cut in. “I don’t get it.”

  “I’m talking about stealing the knife with the gems—the Challenger’s knife, dimwit.”

  “Yeah,” Greg said with a fierce scowl. “That part I got. Are you crazy? Why would you help the woodspirit?”

  Jordy sat back on his haunches. Just as he’d thought. This was gonna be a tough sell. “Don’t look at me like that. Think, Greg. We make a bargain with the woodspirit, and the knife can be our ticket home!” He spread his paws in a helpless gesture. “Maybe you’d like to spend the rest of your life as a rat. Not me. I wanna go home, ride my bike, and play sports.” Meeting a stony silence, he tried a new approach. “Don’t you want a girlfriend? One who doesn’t have fur and a tail?” It was hard to look his friend in the eye and see such disappointment and disgust. “Look, it’s easy. Sheamathan turns us back into boys and we steal the knife and take it to her. Lana and the gnome won’t even know it was us that did it.” He was hoping that last angle would win his friend over.

  Greg’s answer was frigid. “Maybe not, but we’ll know. I don’t think I could live with that.”

  “Don’t go all soft on me now.” Jordy’s tail flicked angrily. “When will we get another chance like this?”

  “You’d trust Sheamathan? After she turned you into a rat?” Greg shook his head. “She’ll never let us go home, Jordy, no matter what we do for her. The minute we give her the knife, she’ll turn us back into rats.”

  Jordy wasn’t an idiot. He’d thought about that, but as long as there was a shred of hope, they had to try. “You don’t know that for sure. Besides, what do we have to lose? Look, I’m cutting you in on the deal ‘cause you’re my friend. Stay here and be a rat if you want. I’ll go by myself.”

  “Once you’re a boy again, Lana and the gnome won’t recognize you. But I will,” Greg said quietly.

  “Um, right. Is that a threat? If you’re gonna rat on me, my plan isn’t goi
ng to work.” Bad enough Greg didn’t want to play along, but to actually turn against him? He’d better be bluffing.

  “You’ve talked me into a lot of stuff I wasn’t too happy about, but this is over the top. Way over. Sheamathan pretty much destroyed this world. Ours may be next. How can you help somebody like that?”

  “‘Cause I don’t want to be a rat for the rest of my life,” Jordy said irritably. His thoughts snagged on those last words and his stomach did a slow, sickening roll. “Hey, how long do rats live?”

  Greg wriggled his whiskers thoughtfully. “Cats and dogs live ten to twenty years. I dunno about rats.”

  Jordy’s trembling voice was no act. “Well, what if rats only live three or four years?” He paused, letting his words sink in. He’d never really thought about that. They were just kids, he and Greg—miserably unhappy turned-into-rats kids, but still. As long as nothing made a meal out of them, they’d be fine. Well, not fine, but alive, anyway. Now he wasn’t so sure. “Just because humans live to be seventy or so doesn’t mean we will. We’re rats now. Maybe we only got a couple more years.”

  Greg looked decidedly alarmed. “Gee, I never thought about that.”

  “If we don’t do something soon, it may be too late.”

  “Maybe you’re right.”

  “Of course I’m right.” This was the only argument that had fazed Greg so far, and Jordy clung to it. “We’re wasting time. Are you in or out?”

  “You win,” Greg said miserably. “I’m in.”

  “Lana and the gnome will have to do without the knife. Let’s get going. Before you chicken out.”

  Jordy led the way to Sheamathan’s chambers, running as fast as his short legs would go. They had to cut the deal right away before Greg lost his nerve. Lana and the gnome were headed to the portal, so there wasn’t much time. He didn’t want to see Sheamathan. She was mean. He and Greg hadn’t done anything to deserve being turned into rats. Like, what could a person even do that was bad enough to deserve something like that? They would escape, as soon as they gave her the knife. Before she did anything even worse to them. Sheamathan had to go for this bargain. She just had to. He and Greg knew where to find the knife. They couldn’t steal it, though, unless she turned them back into boys.

  They’d get the knife away from Lana—somehow. He didn’t have a plan, exactly, but he’d make one up on the fly. He bared his teeth in a snarl. The gnome was just a little guy, and pretty old, so he shouldn’t be much of a problem. And Lana, well, she was a girl. Yeah, she was older than he was, but he could take her, for sure.

  The knife with the jewels was a totally awesome weapon. Too bad he couldn’t keep it, ‘cause it would be by far the coolest thing he’d ever stolen. Way cooler than the iPad or the DVDs, and the jeans and sneakers he’d lifted from the department store were too boring to count.

  Breathing hard and starting to tire, he ran down the hallway that opened to the throne room. A terrible thought came to him. What if the guards wouldn’t let them in?

  “Wait up,” Greg called, panting heavily a few feet behind Jordy.

  Jordy stopped and looked back.

  “Let me catch my breath.”

  Jordy gave his friend the once-over. Greg wasn’t just tired. He was scared. Reaching out a paw, he touched Greg’s back, and it felt like Dad’s recliner on the vibrate setting. “Just think. After this, I won’t pick on you anymore for havin’ red hair and a big nose. No matter what, you’ll look better than you do now.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  “Sorry for the way that sounded, but you know what I mean.”

  He was scared too. Only an idiot wouldn’t be. His stomach was going around like a sock in the dryer. Holding his head high, he trotted to the throne room’s massive, closed doors. Since he couldn’t knock, he’d have to shout and hope the guards could hear him. Right now, no one would be able to hear him. Not over the loud voices in there. He sat back on his haunches and motioned for Greg to be quiet and listen.

  “She said she had powers.” The voice was deep, guttural, definitely a breghlin. “There was voices from nowhere.”

  He and Greg exchanged wide-eyed glances. The breghlin was talking about Lana!

  “Enough excuses!” Sheamathan shouted. “You let her go. You helped her escape! It was a trick. I can hardly believe you could be fooled so easily.”

  The breghlin’s voice shook with fear. “She had the knife, and it glowed! I was afraid!”

  “I will give you something to be afraid of,” Sheamathan said, her voice cold and dangerous. Jordy shivered, glad it was the guard facing her and not him. Maybe she’d turn the guard into a rat or a snake or a toad. He cast a quick glance at Greg who sat quaking beside him. “A year or two in a cell will give you time to gather your wits, assuming you have any,” Sheamathan continued.

  Another voice spoke. “My Queen, sssomething mussst be done.”

  “Done about what, my pet?”

  “The woman and the rumorsss ssspreading through the castle. We know that the Challenger wasss defeated. He can no longer vex you. But can another Challenger arise?”

  “Unlikely. Gem powers are not common in humans. We must put an end to the rumors. The woman has stirred up more trouble than I anticipated.” A pause followed. “X, tell me, do the rumors say that she speaks on behalf of the Challenger, or that she is the Challenger?”

  “I’ve heard both.”

  “Sssshe is dangerousss.”

  “We do not know everything there is to know about the blade. Perhaps neither does she. The knife would be safer in my possession, but that poses a problem. Guards, escort this buffoon to the dungeon. Put him in the woman’s cell.”

  “You are merciful, My Queen,” the breghlin groveled.

  “I will have your head, fool, when the image of your head on a pike brings me more pleasure than the thought of you rotting behind bars.”

  Jordy let out a squeal when the doors burst open sweeping Greg and him aside. They rolled and floundered, trying to get to their feet. The guards flanking X frowned down at them with a look of disgust, and then marched X away. The doors began to swing shut.

  “Hey, wait!” Jordy shrieked.

  The doors stopped as another breghlin looked out. He curled a lip when he saw them. “Off with you!”

  “We have something to tell Sheamathan! It’s really important!”

  The breghlin’s sneer reminded Jordy of a snobby butler. “Important? Is that so?” he growled.

  “Please let us in. It’s about the Challenger’s knife.”

  Sheamathan commanded, “Let them in. I will see them.”

  Shaking with a mixture of fear and relief, Jordy gave Greg a “don’t mess this up” look and walked into the throne room. This place had bad, bad memories. He felt like running away, but he couldn’t afford to be a wimp. Taking a deep breath he looked across the room at Sheamathan on her throne.

  “Come along. Do not keep me waiting.”

  A pythanium rose up behind her throne, weaving sinuously. Jordy let out a terrified squeak. The serpent’s wide, flat head bent protectively over Sheamathan’s throne. Shivering with dread, Jordy prodded Greg to move. The pythanium’s watchful yellow eyes followed them as they crossed the room. Then, from the shadows, the black wolfhound appeared and sat down at Sheamathan’s feet.

  Sheamathan looked down at Jordy and Greg in front of her throne and leaned forward, eyes intent. “Now, what is your news about the Challenger’s blade?” she asked, almost kindly. “What do you know of it?”

  Jordy tried to keep his whiskers from twitching at the poisonous glint in her black eyes. Those eyes gave him the creeps. He felt like he was staring into a dark well and if he dropped a rock in, it would fall and fall and fall and fall. Long waves of black hair tumbled around her shoulders. Her skin was white and lifeless—like skin under a week-old bandage. Her black dress seemed to absorb the torchlight. Looking at her made him feel weak and numb and it was hard to think. The dog showed its teeth, which didn’
t help, either. Dogs didn’t like rats. And the pythanium was staring at him like hot food on a buffet line. It stunk to be on the bottom of the food chain.

  “We have a deal for you!” The rest poured out in a jumble. “We met the woman—Lana—the one with the magic knife. Me and Greg know where she’s going. Turn us back into humans and we’ll bring you the knife!”

  Sheamathan had been watching him with a flat, dead smile. Now, her expression grew interested. “How do I know you can get it away from her? Or that once I change you into boys you will bring me the knife?”

  He trembled under the intensity of her gaze. “We wouldn’t think of betraying you and sneaking off or anything like that. We want to go home. If you agree to our bargain, you can send us home after you get the knife. That will be our reward.”

  Sheamathan angled her head and studied them, wetting her lips. The motion, and the coldness in her eyes, looked reptilian. “An interesting proposition. Tell me where to find the girl.”

  “She’s with a gnome. They’re headed to the portal. But knowing where she is won’t do you any good since, well, since you can’t touch the knife. You need us to bring it to you.”

  “Do not be impertinent; I am quite aware of that.” If being blunt offended her, he couldn’t help it. She had to realize she needed them. Sheamathan’s eyes narrowed as she regarded him thoughtfully. He looked back with keen, bright eyes. Trustworthy eyes, he hoped.

  The woodspirit swept back her hair, and Jordy saw a gray metal necklace close around her throat and an assortment of longer necklaces with pendants holding gems. The gems glinted in the wavering torchlight in a fascinating display of shapes and colors. She lifted her arms upward, and then moved them slowly outward, her palms facing the rat-boys. The motion made her wide, sheer black sleeves slide back, and his eyes flicked to the gem-studded silvery bands encircling each upper arm and the stacks of gem-encrusted bracelets on her wrists.

  A wave of energy washed over him. One moment he was a rat, the next, his old self again. He staggered—his balance on two feet suddenly unreliable, but after a moment he felt steadier. He looked down. He was wearing the clothes he’d worn when he arrived—the same dirty jeans and worn-out sneakers. Running his hands excitedly over his unruly dark hair, he felt for that place where his hair never quite laid down. Still there. So was the big zit on his left cheek. And the dirt under his nails that his mother always nagged him about. He felt like shouting for joy but he just grinned.