by Lady Ellen
“Uh-oh,” sniffed Benson. “I’ve got an idea I’m not going to be thrilled with this...”
“Yes, well...you see, Necromina’s going to see you as a fairly tasty-looking snack. We need a diversion at the left side of the alcove as Thaddeus and I place the jar into the right side,” said Persy, grinning shamelessly.
“Crikey!” cried Benson. “I knew it. I knew I wouldn’t like the sounds of this plan.”
“C’mon, Benson,” said Thaddeus. “You’re the fastest thing on wings...shouldn’t be any problem for an ace flier like yourself.” He too was smiling, unable to stop himself.
“Never mind the buttering-up routine,” Benson grumbled. “You two aren’t fooling anyone.” He flew off to sit on a shelf to the left of the alcove, awaiting further instructions.
Thaddeus looked around and spied a short squat candle. “Perfect,” he said, picking it up and taking aim at the red lacquered box on the pedestal behind Necromina. The bird, meanwhile, all nine of her heads fixed on Benson, drooled out of two of her beaks, so wasn’t aware of Thaddeus’ intent.
“Easy, Thaddeus,” Persy spoke quietly. “Necromina’s going to throw a complete hissy after this, so we’ve only got one chance.”
“Never fear, my dear,” chirped Thaddeus. “Ol’ Isaac Newton isn’t the only dude who can knock an apple off someone’s head at fifty paces. Here goes.” He threw the candle at the box; hitting it square in the centre, causing it to fly behind the pedestal.
Necromina, startled, squawked her displeasure repeatedly, flapping her wings and generally creating chaos in her alcove. Benson zipped up to a higher shelf, fearing he’d be sucked into the morass.
“Good one, Thaddeus,” congratulated Persy. “Right. Now, we have to get this jar, which I’ve sealed tightly, into the alcove. Benson, start flying around Necromina’s heads. Make sure you’re really, really fast, so she doesn’t stand a chance of catching you.”
Persy and Thaddeus lifted the jar together, walked over to where they wanted to insert it into Necromina’s space, while Benson did his rendition of a ‘Cirque du Soleil’ aerial performance.
Thaddeus was able to set the jar down well inside the alcove, Necromina jumping, snapping and flapping at Benson, as he whizzed tauntingly over her heads.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad,” said Thaddeus relieved at their success.
“Oy, maybe not for you...But I’ve got nine snapping beaks, trying to make lunch out of me.” huffed Benson. “Ok, I’m outta here,” And he flew up to a top shelf to rest and pout a little.
“Ok, Persy, let’s get that air frozen. Well, beyond frozen,” Thaddeus corrected himself.
“Wait. I just thought of something,” said Persy. “What’s going to happen to us when Krak Ling takes the lid off that jar? We can be affected by the lack of oxygen too. I don’t know if we can stand back far enough to be safe.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” muttered Thaddeus, scratching the side of his head, eyes glazing over in deep thought.
His perusal of the room stopped dead at the scuzzy aquarium.
“That’s it. Yeah, that’ll work.”
“What will?” It was Persy’s turn to be out of the loop.
“Algae. One of the things it’s known for is how much oxygen it gives off. If we skim some off of that tank and put it in...um...,” he looked around for an appropriate container. “That.” He pointed to small glass beakers with stoppers. “Then when Krak Ling takes the top off the stone jar, we un-stopper these and inhale the oxygen.”
Thaddeus grabbed two of the containers and ran them carefully over the top of the water to collect a good amount of algae, without disturbing whatever was in the tank.
“Yeah, right...like he’s not going to notice us holding those beakers in our hands when he comes back.” said Persy.
“He won’t if he can’t see them.” declared Thaddeus putting the stopper on the last bottle. Persy broke into a full grin, withdrew her wand and together they tapped the tips of their wands on the beakers. “Vanquesta!” The bottles vanished.
Heng leaned into the room. “Someone comes,” he stated flatly.
Quickly, Thaddeus turned to face the jar in Necromina’s alcove. “C’mon Persy, we have to get the jar ready.”
They pointed their wands to the jar and chorused “Athermos!” concentrating on minus 196 centigrade. The jar first frosted, then small pops and cracks could be heard as the air froze and compressed. They scurried back toward the hearth at the other end of the room and sat huddled in a corner, as if still bound.
“It LOOKS frozen,” whispered Persy as they crouched down “He’s not going to pick it up if it looks like that.”
“He wouldn’t pick it up anyway. He’ll just wave his hand over it to open it, don’t worry.”
Sniv slunk back into the room, as if he’d never left. Within seconds Krak Ling and Huanshu made a grand entrance, flinging the door wide open, Krak Ling hollered, “SNIV!”
Persy watched Sniv cower.“Yyyeeesss Father,” Sniv answered quietly, stuttering.
“Where are the Guei?” Krak Ling demanded, scanning the room at lightening speed. “Where are...,” he trailed off, eyes fixed on the pedestal behind Necromina.
“WHERE IS THE HAGSTONE!” he bellowed, his face distorted by anger.
Krak Ling wheeled around to face Persy and Thaddeus. “YOU! Where’s my Hagstone. Tell me.” He started to raise his right hand, obviously intent on assaulting the kids in some way.
“There.” cried Persy, nodding to the stone jar.
“Wha...? Why...?” Krak Ling stammered, trying to make sense of why the stone would have been put into a jar. A jar which was apparently Arctic cold; judging by the thick frost on its exterior.
“Come Huanshu” he ordered, “Grab the stone after I open the jar.” Perfect.
Huanshu walked up to the side of the jar, waiting for his Master to open the vessel. Krak Ling stood close beside him. As Thaddeus predicted, he waved his right hand in an arc to raise the lid of the jar. “What’s the point of...,” He didn’t finish. The lab was dim enough to see the nitrogen gas escape from the jar.
“Benson!” Persy called. He was on her shoulder in a flash as she and Thaddeus opened their invisible beakers and the three inhaled the precious oxygen.
Sniv scampered out of the lab when his Father’s attention was diverted by the stone jar. And the Guei? Well, what did oxygen matter to them?
Persy and Thaddeus stood motionless, eyes wide, watching Huanshu and Krak Ling fold up on their selves. In no time, they were both unconscious on the floor, Necromina in a dozy heap beside them. She was obviously not as affected by the gas as the others.
“Lovely,” declared Benson. “Nice job, you two.” He puffed his chest out at their success.
That broke the spell of concentration, and Thaddeus and Persy ran up to Krak Ling, lifted his right hand and removed the coveted ring.
“Here, you are,” said Thaddeus, giving the ring to Persy. It swam on her finger, but she lifted her hand at Necromina, passing it as an arc over her. Persy concentrated on seeing Necromina in a near coma state and in a millisecond, she was completely out.
Thaddeus crept around the hideous bird; her heads splayed in every direction, bent down and grabbed the lacquered box. He turned and came back to Persy’s side.
Quickly, they did an about-face and ran out of the lab to the main room, where Sniv and the Guei were hanging by Xian’s cage. At his side, Sniv had a completely unrecognizable creature lying passively, gnawing on a enormous long, bamboo spear.
Persy and Thaddeus came running down the room and the creature looked up, piquing its little ears. It has something like an oxen body but scaly and dragon-like head and hooves, not paws. It was about the size of a small pony, and it had a slightly blue tinge to its colouring, but was relatively harmless looking.
When Persy and Thaddeus got close to Sniv, the creature got up and started prancing around, like a dog waiting to be petted.
“What is that?
” asked Thaddeus, pointing to the animal...if that’s what it was.
“He’s a Qilin,” replied Sniv. “It’s the third most important creature in China, next to the dragon and phoenix. Very smart and gentle. He can walk on grass and not bend a single blade. He will punish the wicked, though, not a pretty sight.”
“What do you call him?” asked Persy, scratching behind the creature’s small ear.
“Pid,” Sniv said.
Persy’s and Thaddeus’ eyes immediately lock and their eyebrows arch in synchrony. Pid Ling?
Sniv didn’t miss the look. “Honourable pet is cursed with small bladder.” he muttered in a subdued manner, blushing slightly.
Pid sat up straighter, knocking his head against Persy’s hand as if to ask for more petting.
“Friendly dude,” said Persy.
“Oy, never mind about friendly whatevers,” cried Benson sneering down at Pid. “We need to do a bunk...right now.”
Heng, apparently the head Guei agreed. “I don’t know how long Krak Ling will be out, but believe me, you don’t want to be here when he wakes up and finds his ring and Hagstone gone.”
Sniv stepped up to Thaddeus. “The Guei is right, you must go. I will show you the fastest way out.” Sniv turned and pressed on a decorated tile in the wall, just to the left of Xian’s barred area. A door swung inward, revealing a set of stairs going up.
“Quickly,” urged Sniv.
Benson zipped into the hallway and up the stairwell, followed closely by the three Guei. Persy hit the first steps in seconds after Sniv.
As Thaddeus passed Xian’s cage, he happened to glance at her. The bird opened her mouth in a sneer (birds sneer?), revealing a sharp, dart-like tongue. He ran for the stairs, and couldn’t help but mentally register how weird that was.
They charged up four flights of stairs, reaching a heavy wooden door at the top. Sniv again depressed a tile at the side of the door and it opened a crack. Benson and the Guei were gone well before Persy and Thaddeus helped Sniv force the door to open more.
They passed through the doorway and found themselves outside the Forbidden City, on the Eastern side, the door shielded by gnarled hedges and cherry trees.
Persy faced Sniv, “I don’t get it. Why did you help us?”
Sniv looked down, embarrassed somehow. “Long story, no time now. We shall meet again. Hurry. You know how to Tunnel?”
“Yes, of course,” said Thaddeus, “But I think we need to be less apparent first.”
“Benson!” Persy called. He flew back to her in a flash and lodged himself in her pocket.
“Vanquesta!” called Thaddeus and Persy together, and to Sniv and Pid, they were gone.
“Eogorum!” They instantly sped to the entrance of the Time-Linx portal. As before, the guards were around the entrance to the Forbidden City, but this time didn’t notice Persy or Thaddeus at all.
Persy and Thaddeus had but one goal, get back to Vadoma and give her the Hagstone to search for the Cimaruta at Bodesnoir.
Just as Persy entered the portal, Thaddeus became distracted by something one of the guards was talking about. She only caught the words, ‘dragon’ and ‘amulet’. More importantly, she suddenly realized that Thaddeus was not paying attention and they may wind up Time-Linxing separately. There was no telling where they’d end up, but most likely it wouldn’t be together.
Persy leaned out of the energy winds, grabbed Thaddeus’ cloak in her left hand to connect their energies. Her forceful effort made her right hand fly up into the air and Krak Ling’s ring went spinning into the dirt in front of the guards. Just as the blurring became almost all she could see and Beijing 1442 was vanishing, she saw the foot of one of the guards accidentally grind the ring into the ground.
“Nooooo,” she cried out as she concentrated on Vadoma’s Hermannstadt, chanting Totus Temporis, over and over in tune with Thaddeus.
They landed with a clunk and staggered out to the familiar nesting of pine trees. Persy fell to her knees, grief stricken.
“The ring,” she cried. “I lost the ring. How could I be so stupid?”
Benson buzzed out of her pocket into the evening light. “N’er mind luv. We’ve got the stone, that’s the main thing,” he said to Persy, trying to cheer her up.
Thaddeus put his arm around her and gently helped her to her feet. “Benson’s right, Persy. We never thought we’d get the ring, didn’t even know about it when we started. We have the stone, that’s everything right now. Thing is, too, Krak Ling doesn’t have it either. He may never find it, ya never know. C’mon, let’s go find Vadoma.”
Persy slowly got up and followed Thaddeus. He was right. Nothing could be done about the ring right now and the Cimaruta was the critical concern. She caught up with him and walked through the trees and the bushes turning right to the vardo.
But, much to their complete and utter shock, as Persy and Thaddeus made that right turn, there the vardo wasn’t—it was gone.
A Peek Is worth A Thousand Finesses
Persy and Thaddeus spun their heads in all directions, while Benson zipped back and forth over the clearing where Vadoma’s vardo had been. Then Thaddeus looked down.
“Look. There are tracks. At least that indicates it’s moved and not been zapped into oblivion by some dark force.”
“Yeah,” said Persy. “That’s the good news. Let’s follow them.”
The tracks lead to the other side of the clearing to a pathway which wasn’t evident until you stood right in front of it. The wall of foliage was actually much sparser there and Persy and Thaddeus could see now how the vardo had been driven through.
They started walking down the path, Benson deciding to be cute and ride on the top of Persy’s head.
She rolled her eyes up as far as they would go and sighed, “You really are a pest, you know.” Benson grinned and glanced ahead, his eyes bulged and he flew up to one of the highest tree branches.
“Wha...?” Persy said as she looked in front of her.
Standing about ten feet down the path was a very tall, broad man, all dressed in black; although his shirt was oddly buttoned up incorrectly, arms crossed over his barrel chest and he carried a very large wooden club. He stood still, face set in a deep frown, his black diamond eyes filled with suspicion and malice. His hair was ruffled, collar length and as black as everything else about him.
“What is your business here in my forest?” he growled.
Thaddeus stepped up in front of Persy. “What’s it got to do with you?”
Who thought it possible, but the man’s eyes blackened more and the scowl deepened.
“I am Bran, Lord Leshii and Protector of this forest. Everything here is my business.”
It struck Persy that a calming female approach may work better with this guy. “We’ve come to find a friend, Vadoma, the Rom. We have something which was stolen from her and we’re here to return it.”
“And how do I know whether it was not YOU who stole it in the first place?” he snarled, eyes shifting from Persy to Thaddeus and back.
“If you just let us pass, you can follow along and see for yourself,” exclaimed Thaddeus, who thought this was more than obvious.
“Well, we’ll just see, won’t we? But it’s going to be my way,” the dark figure stated firmly. He raised his club up over his head with his right hand, and with his left, took a corner of his cape and swung it around in an arc and very quickly turned in a circle.
Thaddeus and Persy were slammed with an overwhelming sense of weakness, the air around them filled with circling black smoke, gaining speed and momentum until they fell in a heap against each other.
Within moments, the smoke started to slow down and clear, although it never totally disappeared. They began to feel less queasy and were able to check out their surroundings.
They were in a normal, plain room, a small fireplace on one wall, two average sized windows and four chairs around a low table. Thaddeus and Persy sat on the floor. The smoke in the room was moving very
slowly, in waves and whorls, not even noticeable after a few minutes.
Bran stood in one corner. “This is my world, Cradora, a different dimension from yours. Here, I bring those who would offend or harm the forest and its habitants. Here, you cannot lie to me or I will see a purple aura around your heads. Now, tell me again, what you are doing in my forest,” he demanded.
Persy spoke first, “Vadoma is a Rom shuvani and she’s helping us with a quest we have. But in order to help us, she needs an object which was stolen from her. We’ve found it and are here to give it back to her.” she explained, as Thaddeus watched the air around Persy’s head. No colour that he could see, other than shades of smoke.
Bran glared at Thaddeus and asked him the same question. Thaddeus essentially repeated Persy’s answer, underlining the fact that they were friends of Vadoma’s and it should follow, friends of the forest as well.
Meanwhile, Benson, having watched the swirling smoke build up around Persy and Thaddeus, and their ultimate disappearance, was in a state of panic. He zoomed around in circles over the pathway and up and down it, trying to figure out where they’d gone.
“Oy!” he muttered to himself. “You two put Houdini to shame. Where the heck?”
Finally he flew down the path to its end, where he came upon another clearing near the river. There, right as rain, he spotted Vadoma’s vardo. Hoping one of the windows were open, (for knocking on a door never proved very productive for him), he flew down to find a way in. Luckily, the evening was warm and there are several open windows.
Benson soared through the closest one and found Vadoma sitting at her table, gazing into her crystal ball, speaking softly to a man sitting across from her. The man was astoundingly gorgeous, even Benson noticed. His clothing was obviously of the finest silks; a sky-blue shirt, ruffled down the front and at the edges of the sleeves, the suit was of spun gold brocade and shoes were made of the softest blue leather. His hair fell in perfect cinnamon waves, albeit a little thin at the crown. His face was like a cherub, but unnaturally pale. He had perfect skin, immense peacock blue eyes with heavy, long lashes and a full-lipped mouth.
