Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah

by Lee Edward Födi

  Kendra knew the last thing Oki wanted to do was spend the day with Uncle Griffinskitch, but the little mouse managed to squeak, “Y-yes, sir.”

  “As for you,” Uncle Griffinskitch said, turning his steely gaze to Kendra, “you can clean the house.”

  “What about Gayla?” Kendra asked.

  “Humph,” the wizard grunted in an anxious, worried type of way. “She didn’t come home.” Then he looked sternly at Kendra. “Do you know where she is?”

  Kendra shook her head, nervously twisting her braids.

  “She must go before the elders and formally explain her accusation of Master Brown,” Uncle Griffinskitch said. “If she returns home then tell her to immediately go to the Elder Stone. May the ancients help her if she does not!”

  Kendra nodded and Uncle Griffinskitch shunted Oki out the door, leaving her all alone in the kitchen. Only a day ago, Gayla had been dancing across the floor, singing merrily, but now the house felt cold and somber, quiet as a tomb.

  Kendra sighed and began tidying up the kitchen, her mind fretting. It only took her an hour to clean up the bottom part of the house; then she began scrubbing the long staircase that led to the upper chambers.

  She had made it only halfway up when she suddenly noticed that one of the paintings on the wall was askew. It was an enormous portrait of an ancient Een wizard (Kendra couldn’t remember who he was, just that he was some long-dead ancestor). Kendra had always disliked the picture, but now, as she reached for the heavy wood frame, she realized that it wasn’t crooked at all. It just looked that way because it was angled towards her, like a door that had been left slightly ajar.

  Strange, Kendra thought as she wriggled her fingers behind the frame. She tugged, and sure enough, the painting swung towards her, creaking ever so quietly on a pair of hidden hinges.

  It was a door.

  A strange mixture of scents reached Kendra’s nostrils: dust, incense, and decaying parchment. Kendra instantly knew she had found entry to her uncle’s study. It was a private place, one that the old wizard kept hidden with secret doors and passageways. Kendra had managed to find her way in a few times as a child, but Uncle Griffinskitch was careful to relocate the door every few months. This particular portrait was an entryway that Kendra had never before discovered.

  Why would he leave it open? she wondered. It’s not like Uncle Griffinskitch to be so careless.

  She couldn’t resist the temptation to enter. Casting a weary glance over her shoulder, she tiptoed inside.

  A long, narrow staircase spiraled up towards the top of the tree. Kendra began the climb, carefully feeling her way in the darkness. With each step the smells grew stronger, but it took a few minutes for her to reach the chamber itself. It was a gloomy place, utterly quiet. Row upon row of bookshelves towered over her head. More books could be found on desks and ledges, arranged in high piles. Here too were scrolls, parchments, and even a tusked skull: An Unger, Kendra thought with a shudder.

  Suddenly she heard a noise, like the flip of a page, and it caused her to gasp—though she managed to catch the sound in her throat. Someone was in the room.

  Kendra slowly turned and peered around one of the bookshelves.

  It was Gayla.

  She was sitting at a tall desk where an enormous book lay open before her, and she was reading it quietly to herself, tracing the lines of text with one long finger. She seemed completely lost in her own world, and for a moment Kendra just watched her. Then Gayla reached into her robe and lifted something to the faint light.

  Kendra cried out in surprise. Gayla looked up, wide-eyed and startled; in her hand, brooding dark and purple, was the Kazah stone.

  THE EENS HAVE A FAMOUS SAYING: “The sharpest burr is the one you find in your shoe,” meaning that it’s those closest to us who can cause us the most pain. Kendra had never really understood that adage until now. Why, she had been betrayed by her own mother—and it wounded her as surely as the snap of a dragon’s tail.

  “You lied,” Kendra uttered as she stared at the wild Teenling girl. “You said you didn’t steal my ring. But you did.”

  “It’s not your ring,” Gayla said defensively. “It’s your master’s.”

  “It is my ring,” Kendra retorted. “He gave it to me.”

  “Why would a wizard entrust his twelve-year-old apprentice with a Kazah crystal?” Gayla demanded. “That’s right, Braids; I know this is no ordinary rock.”

  “So?” Kendra snapped. “You still took it. You still lied.”

  Gayla gave her a dismissive wave and turned back to the mysterious tome that lay before her. “Look,” she said. “It’s all explained here. The stones come from the Kazah Caves in the Crystal Peaks, beyond the borders of Een. Kazah has powers—strange ones, it says. And when you become a true Een wizard you are given your own stone to wear. But those aren’t pure Kazah crystals, just cut gemstones with the slightest of powers.” She paused and gazed upon the ring in her open palm. “But this stone . . . this stone is round . . . perfectly round. Or at least it was before it cracked.”

  She seemed mesmerized by the ring, and now Kendra stepped forward impulsively to touch it. Gayla instantly pulled back, cradling the stone close to her chest.

  “The elders, the wizards, they keep everything so secretive,” she said, staring at Kendra. Her eyes were wild and exhausted, and Kendra suddenly realized that she hadn’t slept all night. “Who do you think sees these books?” Gayla asked, pointing at the shelves. “No one! You can’t find them in the library. Old Beards keeps this knowledge squirreled away in his own private study, so that no one can learn, no one can understand the mysteries of Een. The mystery of Kazah.” Gayla glared at Kendra. “You know it, don’t you?” she asked in an accusatory tone. “You understand Kazah! Does it work? Does it do what the book claims?”

  Kendra shook her head in bewilderment. “I don’t know how to use it,” she said. It was the truth.

  “It says Kazah can let you hear an echo of the past or catch a glimpse of the future,” Gayla murmured, gazing down at the dark purple ring. “You just have to concentrate your will, focus your mind on a particular time.”

  “Like meditating,” Kendra pondered, remembering her training with Uncle Griffinskitch.

  “If you can imagine a specific time vividly, then you should be able to catch a glimmer of it through the ring,” Gayla said. “But some ancient Eens believed that Kazah could do more than just gaze upon time. They believed it could be used to travel through it.”

  Kendra fumbled for something to say. Gayla was staring at her with one raised eyebrow, expecting a response.

  In the end, Kendra decided to change the subject. “You’re wanted at the Elder Stone. It’s Roompa’s trial. And you’re supposed to be there.”

  Gayla’s expression thawed. “They think I’m lying. They think I made up the story about Burdock sabotaging Roompa’s wand.”

  “Did you?” Kendra asked, the words leaping from her lips before she could think better of them.

  “Don’t you dare take his side, Braids,” Gayla said, thrusting a finger at Kendra. “He’s a terrible . . . disgusting man. You have no idea.”

  “As a matter of fact, I do,” Kendra said hotly. “But . . . but you lied about taking the ring.”

  “So you think I lied about this?”

  Kendra stared at her. She didn’t know what to think. For such is the danger of a lie, gentle reader; like poison, it can seep into friendship’s every crack, contaminating even that which is pure and true. Kendra had no trouble believing that Burdock had lied and cheated. She just couldn’t be sure that Gayla wasn’t doing the same.

  “Come with me, okay?” Gayla implored. “I need someone in my corner right now.”

  “Give me back my ring,” Kendra said. “And I’ll come.”

  “I will. I promise,” Gayla said. “Right after the trial.”

  “Why not now?” Kendra asked.

  “I . . . I just need it for the trial,” Gayla replied. />
  “Why?”

  “Well, it might bring me some luck,’ Gayla said. “And let’s face it. If they’ve called me before the council, I’ll need all the luck I can get.”

  The Elder Stone was one of Kendra’s favorite places in all the land of Een. She loved its rainbow fountains and the cryptic stone faces that peered from every nook and cranny, each one seemingly with a story to tell. Yet today, there was not a moment to be spared marveling at the stone’s wonders. As soon as they reached the grand hall, Gayla was ushered inside by a stern-looking badger with a set of nasty claws and an even nastier pike. Kendra was allowed to go as far as the door to the council chambers and then made to wait in the corridor. She spent several anxious moments sitting alone, until the doors opened a crack and Oki darted out to join her.

  “Your uncle has had me running all over Faun’s End asking after Gayla,” the mouse explained. “But now that she’s arrived, I have to wait out here.”

  “How do you think it’s going?” Kendra asked, plucking at her braids.

  “Not well for Roompa,” Oki replied. “Gayla’s his only hope. But it sounds like she doesn’t have a very good reputation. I guess she’s been known to tell a fib or two.”

  “Tell me about it,” Kendra sighed. “You were right; she’s had the Kazah stone the whole time.”

  The trial didn’t last long. Only an hour later, the doors to the council chambers opened and Roompa appeared, his head hung low in shame. He was quickly led away by the badger. Then Burdock strutted out, followed by Uncle Griffinskitch and a dejected Gayla.

  “Looks like everything has been settled,” Burdock declared, puffing out his chest. “Well, except for one last matter to arrange between the girl and me.” He cast a salacious smile at Gayla. For a moment she looked as if she was forming some retort, but then she just flushed red, turned, and bolted down the corridor.

  “Gayla—wait!” Uncle Griffinskitch called, but she was already gone.

  “We’ll fetch her,” Kendra said, grabbing Oki’s paw.

  They headed off in pursuit of the temperamental Teenling and found her only a few moments later. She was sitting at the bottom of a lonely staircase, tears streaming down her face.

  “They took away Roompa’s wand,” Gayla said. “Permanently. Can you believe it?”

  “It’s exactly what Ratchet said happened to his grandfather,” Oki murmured thoughtfully. “He went to live in the southern outskirts of Een in shame.”

  “Who’s Ratchet?” Gayla asked.

  “Er . . . just a friend of ours,” Kendra said. “But what about you? What did the council say?”

  “I’m being punished too,” Gayla said, wiping her cheeks with one sleeve. “They’re going to suspend my training. They say I’m too arrogant. Too brash.”

  Kendra gasped. She couldn’t help thinking that this wasn’t the way things were supposed to turn out. How could her mother grow into one of Een’s greatest sorceresses if she wasn’t allowed to study magic?

  Then Gayla reached inside her robe and pulled out the Kazah stone. She cradled it in her palm, staring at it longingly. “I didn’t lie,” she said. “How come no one believes me? Burdock’s the one. He’s getting away with it just because I’m so young and he’s . . . he’s so old.”

  Kendra looked down at Oki and sighed. She knew all too well the nature of Burdock’s slippery tongue. He could charm a dragon from its egg.

  “I can’t stay here,” Gayla whispered. “I need to be free. This place . . . it’s like I’m being strangled. I can’t live the life they’re laying out for me.”

  “What are you talking about?” Kendra asked. “What life?”

  “Don’t you get it?” Gayla said in exasperation. “Burdock wants to marry me.”

  “That’s disgusting!” Oki cried.

  “And what about Krimson?!” Kendra exclaimed.

  “He’s just a gardener,” Gayla said. “Beards wants me to marry someone ‘proper.’ Like a wizard. Like Burdock.”

  “But he wouldn’t make you marry Burdock,” Kendra persisted.

  Gayla looked at her, wild-eyed. “This isn’t a fairy tale, Braids. It’s real life.”

  “But—”

  Gayla didn’t let her finish. “I know you don’t come from here,” she said. “I worked it out. You come from the future, don’t you? You are related to Krimson. You’re his daughter or granddaughter or something aren’t you? He went off and married some pretty girl, like that wretched Miranda.”

  Kendra pulled fiercely on her braids. She didn’t know what to say.

  “You have to get me out of here,” Gayla urged. “You have to take me to your time.”

  “I-I can’t,” Kendra said. “I don’t know how. We came by accident.”

  “Fine,” Gayla said. “I don’t need your help. I can do it without you.” And with that she closed her eyes and clutched the Kazah stone tight to her chest.

  “What are you doing?!” Oki squealed.

  “Shut it, Eeks, or I’ll tie your tail in knot,” Gayla snarled.

  Then she breathed deeply, her whole body seeming to relax. Kendra could see she was disappearing into a quiet corner of her mind.

  She’s way better at mediating than me, Kendra thought. She could almost sense the world Gayla was imagining. It was another place, another time—one without Burdock.

  Then the ring began to glow. The whole corridor filled with a soft purple light that soon began to grow whiter and hotter.

  “She’s disappearing!” Kendra cried. She clutched Oki’s paw and reached out for Gayla’s sleeve.

  “Eek!” Oki squealed. “What about the timeline?”

  It was too late. A sheet of white flashed in front of Kendra’s eyes—then, in an instant, she felt herself sucked away.

  IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN STUCK in a car or on a plane for more than a few hours, you’ve probably found yourself asking, “Are we there yet?” If only you had the Kazah stone! By its magic you would reach your destination quicker than an Eenling’s heartbeat. This was certainly the case with Kendra. One moment she had been blinded by the white light and the next everything had returned to normal. In fact, it felt too normal. Kendra was still with her friends at the bottom of the staircase in the Elder Stone, as if nothing had happened.

  “I don’t think it worked,” Oki squeaked nervously.

  “Of course it did,” Gayla said. “Can’t you sense it? The temperature is different. The smell, too. The ring will drop you in the exact same physical place where you start from—it’s just the time that’s different.”

  “Oh,” Kendra murmured, sniffing at the air. “That’s why we were falling when we first used the stone, Oki. When we went back in time the cloud ship didn’t even exist yet—so we just started tumbling through the sky!”

  “Fuzzlewinkle,” Oki murmured, clutching his forehead. “We have to be careful!”

  “Don’t be such a furry-worry, Eeks,” Gayla chastised. “C’mon, let’s go explore.”

  “Wait a minute,” Kendra said. “You promised to give back the ring.”

  Gayla turned and looked at Kendra pensively. “Sure,” she said, dropping the ring into Kendra’s palm. “All I ever wanted to do was to escape. And now I have.”

  “But what time exactly have we escaped to?” Oki wondered. “When are we?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Gayla declared, marching down the passageway.

  Kendra and Oki exchanged a weary look and followed after the impetuous girl. They hadn’t gone very far when they rounded a corner and found themselves before a larger-than-life statue of an old Een wizard.

  “Oh dear,” Oki murmured.

  “It’s just stone, Freak Eek,” Gayla said.

  “I know that—but it wasn’t here before,” Oki said.

  “Hmph,” Gayla mused, casting a critical eye upon the statue. “Who is this old geezer, anyway?”

  “He’s Leemus Longbraids, one of the first elders of Een,” Oki said. “Surely—”

&nb
sp; “BOR-ing,” Gayla muttered. “C’mon; let’s keep moving.”

  She continued down the passageway with Oki shaking his head after her. Kendra couldn’t help but linger and gaze upon the statue, with its long, tangled beard and solemn expression. Then she noticed an inscription at the base of the statue: Fret not the future, nor pine for the past.

  Kendra plucked at a braid, only to realize her friends were no longer in sight. She hurried to catch up, pondering the inscription.

  It wasn’t long before they neared the council chambers. They could hear footsteps—a lot of them—so Gayla slowed everyone down and together they cautiously peered around a corner of the passageway.

  They had arrived at the palatial doors to the council chambers, and here a number of Eens were headed inside. Kendra counted five elders. Two were old Eens, but the rest were all Een animals: a hedgehog, a toad, and an owl.

  “This is odd,” Kendra whispered. “In the time Oki and I come from Een animals aren’t even allowed in the Elder Stone, let alone allowed to be Elders.”

  “Really?” Gayla snorted. “If we’re not in your time, then just when have we landed?”

  A sixth elder now came into view. This was an incredibly ancient woman and she instantly captured Kendra’s curiosity. She was leaning heavily on a twisted stick of Eenwood, so there was no doubt that the woman was an old and powerful sorceress. But there was something that seemed to ail her, something more than old age. Kendra couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  Then the old sorceress turned and stared right at the corner of the passageway where they were hiding. Kendra instinctively shrank back, but noticed that the woman’s eyes were wide and vacant, as if she was staring not at Kendra, but through her.

  “She’s blind,” Gayla murmured.

  The ancient woman put one crooked finger to her lips, as if to make a “shhh” sound. Kendra gave her head a shake. Had she really seen that? The old sorceress merely smiled, then turned her head and hobbled into the council chamber. A tiny ladybug came last (he held a spear, so was clearly the Captain of the Een Guard) and shut the doors behind him.