Robby’s door flew open so hard that it slammed into the wall. Robby jumped up, scattering pages of parchment.
“What are you doin’, son?” Robby’s father asked, his jaws so firmly set they appeared to bulge. “And why was your door locked?”
Robby shook his head and retreated until his back hit the wall on the other side of the bed. “I… I have Aidan’s Scrolls,” he whispered, trying desperately to summon more courage. “I was reading them.”
“I thought I made it clear you were not to see Aidan again.” Robby grabbed up all the loose pages and clutched them to his chest.
Mr. Pierson glared at his son. “Give those to me right now, Robby!”
Robby swallowed and stood to face the man in his room. “I know what happened in Alleble that night,” Robby said quietly. “Aidan saw it. And now, I’ve seen it. I know that Paragor plotted behind King Eliam’s back and murdered him and his Elder Guard. And at last, I know that everything you ever told me about The Realm is a lie!”
Mr. Pierson raised a fist, but Robby was too fast. He ducked the blow, slipped out of his room, and swiftly pulled the door shut behind him. Then, Scrolls in hand, he bounded down the stairs and out the front door. Mr. Pierson slammed open the bedroom door and leaped down after him. But by the time Mr. Pierson strode out into the front yard, Robby was on his bike and a hundred yards down the street.
“You won’t get away, Robby!” Mr. Pierson screamed. “Paragor will find you!”
Robby pedaled with all his might. At the turn in the road, Robby tried to jump the curb. But he didn’t make it. His shins and elbows burning from new scrapes, he stood up and saw that the bike chain was broken.
Not knowing what else to do, Robby grabbed up the Scrolls and sprinted into the woods.
The sun was just about gone, so when Robby disappeared under the canopy of trees, he found himself in a landscape of shadows. Gnarled trees with grasping branches rose up on both sides of the narrow path. Unseen briers ripped at his pant legs. Invisible spiderwebs caught in his face and mouth. Still, Robby ran on! Not knowing where he was going-just running… escaping. Then a voice inside his head said. ..
“There is nowhere for you to hide. You cannot escape me. You are mine.”
Robby’s heart hammered against his rib cage as he sprinted up the path recklessly. His gait, normally graceful and athletic, was now awkward, frantic, even crazed.
“I will never let go of you. I am always waiting, even in death.”
“No, stop it! Get out of my head! Stop!” Robby tripped over a root and flew headfirst into a thicket of briers. His face stung from a dozen fresh scratches and his body ached. He clutched the Scrolls and curled up at the base of a tree, staring out into the dark woods.
A great winged shadow rose up among the trees, and Robby heard the cracking of branches. This thing was getting closer.
Robby shook uncontrollably. From the shadows came a long hissing intake of breath and then a deep, angry growl.
“Please, King Eliam…,” Robby cried. “I… I don’t know if you’re out there! I don’t know if it’s too late, but please help me.”
No sooner were those pleading words spoken than there was a blinding flash of blue light up ahead. The creature roared, but the roar was cut short by a crack of thunder. And then, all was still.
Robby’s mind raced, and he wondered what had happened. Had King Eliam rescued him? Robby tried to remember everything Aidan ever told him about the King of Alleble. But the thought that kept coming to his mind was to look at the Scrolls.
Robby stared at the Scrolls. It was impossible. Too dark to see anything. But then Robby felt a tingle in his right hand. And suddenly that page of parchment began to shimmer. Words began to appear written in bright golden light, as if an invisible hand was writing upon the Scroll.
Line after line appeared until, at last, there was a glowing block of text right there in front of Robby. He gasped and began to read:
There are passages and doors
And realms that lie unseen.
There are roads both wide and narrow
And no avenue between.
Doors remain closed for those
Who in sad vanity yet hide.
Yet when belief is chosen,
The key appears inside.
What is lived now will soon pass,
And what is not, will come to be.
The Door Within must open,
For one to truly see.
A poem! Robby thought. Aidan had said something about a poem. But it’s like a riddle. What is “The Door Within”?
Then, as before, in glistening golden light, two new lines of text appeared.
Do you see?
Believe and enter.
Yes! Robby thought. I want to enter! I want to go where Aidan went. I want to get out of here right now!
He waited a few heartbeats, wondering if King Eliam would just suddenly appear and whisk him off to The Realm. Nothing happened, and that, Robby thought, meant there was more to figure out.
Robby had never been very good at riddles. Still, he felt passion stirring inside, and he wanted desperately to understand. Realms that lie unseen-that’s got to be The Realm, he thought. Doors remain closed for those who in sad vanity yet hide. Robby knew that vanity was kind of like being conceited or prideful. His sister Jill and her constant primping came suddenly to mind.
“But no,” he voiced his thoughts aloud to the Scrolls. “I’m the one who’s been hiding, aren’t I, King Eliam? Aidan tried to tell me about you, but I didn’t listen. My dad came home, and I bought every one of his lies just because I wanted a father again. I figured I was finally getting life to go my way. Now look at me. I feel more powerless now than I ever have in my whole life, and I still don’t have a father!”
“My power can work through your weakness.” A voice spoke to Robby. Not the raspy, condemning voice he’d heard before. No, this voice felt warm and somehow wholesome. There was safety in this voice-and understanding. “No servant of Alleble will remain fatherless.”
Tears streaked down Robby’s face, and he stood up. The terrors of the woods were gone-vanished like storm clouds driven by strong wind. When belief is chosen, the key appears inside. It was all starting to make sense. One by one, the answers to the riddle began to appear.
“I choose to believe in you!” Robby cried aloud. “I want the key!”
A warm breeze flowed over him, and he stared down again at the golden text upon the Scroll. What is lived now will soon pass, and what is not, will come to be. Robby felt a yearning, an aching of his heart to let everything go-to leave all the frustrations, fear, and loneliness behind. To throw himself on the mercy of King Eliam and be a servant of Alleble.
The Door Within must open, for one to truly see. The final piece of the puzzle became as clear to Robby as the dazzling golden text upon the Scroll. I need to enter a door inside me! he thought excitedly, and he closed his eyes.
At first, Robby tried to imagine a picture of a door, but soon he simply relaxed and let his mind wander. The darkness lifted and before him was a cliff. A narrow, rickety-looking plank and rope bridge extended out over a chasm of unknowable depth and disappeared into the white haze far away.
Robby pictured himself approaching the bridge, and somehow it was clearer in his mind’s eye than anything he had ever imagined before. He looked warily down at the foundation of the bridge, staked down to the cliff. It seemed secure, as if it had been there for many ages past and would be there for many ages to come. Robby took a step closer, and peered over the edge. The distance fell away so quickly that Robby caught his breath and hurriedly stepped backward.
It was silly, Robby thought, to be afraid of something that he had just conjured up in his imagination. But there was little comfort in that thought, for the bridge-and the potential to fall-began to feel more real than the woods on the edge of his neighborhood. Tentatively, Robby reached back with his free hand to feel the large tree that should be behind him.
But there was nothing behind him.
The bridge beckoned, and Robby knew he must cross.
22
THE DOOR WITHIN
A gentle breeze played with Robby’s long blond hair as he stepped out on the bridge. With the Scrolls clutched in one hand, he used the other hand to grip the rope guides and bring his other foot out as well. Slowly, one tentative foot after another, being sure not to look down, he made his way across. But the whole time, his legs were shaking and unsteady. C’mon, Robby! he berated himself. Get a grip. You’re a star athlete. This should be easy!
But it was anything but easy. Sweat poured down his face, his throat dried up, and he felt his stomach twisting in knots. And even though the planks beneath his feet had not even so much as creaked, Robby had a constant, nagging fear that his next step might break a board, and he would fall through… fall into nothingness.
He quickened his pace-all the while staring ahead into the haze for some sign of where the bridge might end. It seemed to go on and on, and Robby certainly wasn’t going to try to look back over his shoulder to see how far he’d come.
The wind picked up, and the bridge began to sway. Robby shook so hard he had to stop and crouch down. The wind increased even more, howling and gusting at times. “No!” he cried out, but it was too late. The wind took the Scrolls right out of his hand. He watched them fly away, and then he shut his eyes.
Robby wanted to turn around and run back to the safety of the ledge where he’d begun. Slowly he stood, and the idea came into his mind that if he turned back and made it to the cliff, he could open his eyes and find himself back in the woods near his neighborhood. His old life would still be there waiting.
“But I don’t want that old life,” Robby said aloud. He knew all too well the kind of life it would be. A life of uncertainty, a life of fear-his biological father would see to that, he felt sure. C’mon, Robby, let’s get going.
He took a step. Then another. The wind shrieked and the bridge swayed, but Robby held the guide ropes and coached himself as he pressed on. Four years of gymnastics-I’ve got good balance. Nine years of baseball, football, and soccer-I’ve got the strength.
He felt a subtle change in the incline. The bridge had bottomed out and now began to climb. I’m doing it! Robby thought excitedly. I’m going to make it!
He walked faster, with more confidence, and his hold on the guide ropes wasn’t as severe. He even released his grip a couple of times and walked more casually. The incline steepened, and Robby was so pleased with his efforts that he ventured to look over the side. Just once.
His left foot slid off the side of one of the planks. His right knee buckled, and he fell. All Robby’s worst fears came rushing back. Frantically, he grabbed the left guide rope with both hands. But his hands slipped off.
As his body fell below the bridge, Robby grabbed the planks with both hands. He felt the tendons in his hands protest, and his fingernails felt ready to rip right off the ends of his fingers. But still he hung on.
And with the wind howling, Robby dangled from the bridge, trying desperately to hoist himself up. He managed to get a hand between two planks where he could get a stronger hold. Then, using the strength of his upper back, arms, and shoulders, he pulled one knee up to the edge of the planks. But, try as he might, he could not get his knee or foot over the edge because the wind kept blowing.
His muscles ached. Robby knew he wouldn’t last much longer. So he pulled with all of his athletic might and yanked his body as high as he could. His right knee found purchase, but only for a moment. Robby struggled, trying to heave himself up, but felt himself slipping. “I can’t do this!” he yelled. And then one of his hands slipped off the plank. He let go and fell backward. “King Eliam, help me!” he screamed as his body lost all contact with the bridge.
Robby closed his eyes as he plummeted into the unknown.
A hand found Robby’s hand in midair. The grip was absolutely strong and would not let Robby fall any farther. And as if Robby were made of paper, the hand lifted him up and over the guide ropes and placed him securely in the middle of the bridge.
Robby opened his eyes, but there was no one there. “You are never alone,” a voice said. And behold, the mist ahead of Robby spread apart, and before him-like a solitary monument-stood a door. Robby raced up the remaining planks and seized hold of the door’s large ring. Robby exulted with gratitude, knowing that he had been rescued from his own feeble efforts-rescued and guided at last to The Door Within!
“Thank you! Thank you, my King!” Robby repeated over and over, as the door opened and brilliant light streamed out. It was the glad, golden light of the sun and stars-the very same light that had illuminated the Scrolls and chased away his fears in the dark woods. Robby smiled and entered The Door Within.
PASSAGE
The golden light faded away to a tiny distant point, and a narrow path rolled out like a carpet into the darkness before Robby. Still smiling, he walked up the path, and as he did so, he realized that his senses were behaving strangely. His senses of sight and hearing were dulled, making him feel as if he were underwater. But his sense of touch was alive, and he felt like he could almost feel the texture of the air as it tingled all around him.
Robby held his arms up as he walked, letting the marvelous, peculiar air wash over him. Then the darkness on both sides of him began to flicker. Peculiar blurred images began to appear. Slowly they began to focus.
Dark storm clouds, swirling and brooding, raced overhead. Lightning flashed, shedding eerie flickering light on a sea of armed knights in black armor. This army stretched all the way to the horizon and was as wide as Robby could see. Robby quickened his pace, for he did not want to remain in the midst of such a terrible army. Lightning flashed again. The vision wavered and changed. The storm clouds melted into the deep green canopy of a forest. A great pit opened up in the forest floor, and suddenly the vision took Robby beneath the surface.
A knight appeared there, illuminated by strange gray subterranean light. And before him spread dozens-no, hundreds-of furry brown humps. The humps began to move. They were advancing toward the knight. The knight backed away. As the things grew near, Robby saw a sea of glassy black eyes. Robby turned away from the visions. He kept his eyes on the path as best he could and ran.
In spite of his attempts not to watch, Robby saw images out of the corners of his eyes. The vision flickered and changed again. This time he saw a battle before massive walls of stone. Knights in a great many types and colors of armor fought desperately. Their swords clashed. Arrows flew in swarms.
But suddenly there was something burrowing beneath the knights, and as it traveled it threw great numbers of knights violently into the air. Then, as it neared, Robby caught a glimpse of a large scaly claw reaching out of the crowd of soldiers. Then there were several claws. And each one grabbed a fistful of knights, crushed them, and tossed them aside like broken dolls. Robby felt an unrelenting fear that this creature, whatever it was, was coming after him. He forced himself to look straight ahead, but he could sense the visions begin to speed up-one replacing the next-until it was just a blur.
Robby ran as fast as he could. Just a few feet ahead a shimmering window appeared in the darkness. Robby ran for it and dove, disappearing through the window.
23
KINDRED SPIRITS
L ady Merewen stood by Kaliam’s side on the wide balcony above Guard’s Keep. Her silver hair glistened in the moonlight, and her almond-shaped eyes shone with hope.
“Do not fear, m’lord. You chose rightly in this matter. The Blue Mountains must be defended, out of loyalty-and of need. And if our dragon force is quickly victorious… it will give Paragor something to think about.”
“If?” Kaliam replied thoughtfully. “That is what troubles me. Too often as of late I am left here to stare and wait while my friends venture forth to war.”
“There will be war enough for us all before too long,” she replied, staring at the shadows of dark mounta
ins in the west.
“Nay, m’lady,” said Kaliam, and he turned to her. “It is not war that I desire. But… I am averse to ordering good knights into danger, while I remain safe within the walls of the city.”
Lady Merewen took Kaliam’s strong hands into hers. “There is not a single knight in all the armies assembled here who would question your mettle… or your courage.” Kaliam’s determined expression melted, for Lady Merewen had guessed his secret fear. “Do not forget who chose you for this position,” she continued, capturing Kaliam’s gaze in her own and refusing to let go. “You have been called to be Sentinel of Alleble, and King Eliam does not make mistakes.”
Kaliam was silent for many long moments. Indecision played upon his brow as he searched her eyes. But then a subtle smile appeared on his lips, and he seemed to have come to an unspoken conclusion. Lady Merewen looked at him questioningly.
“M’lady, you are most extraordinary,” he said at last. “But come, it is time now to meet the new Twelfth Knight.”
Robby found himself sitting on a chair in the dark. But it was not his room. He turned to his side and stared at a large window that was shuttered except for a crack. Through this narrow portal, Robby saw the twinkle of stars and beneath those, indistinct gray shadows.
He stood and slowly, as if afraid of what he might see, he threw wide the shutters. And then he laughed. Laughed out loud. The kind of joyous laughter he had not experienced in a long, long time. For beyond the shutters lay a wide, sleeping kingdom. Castle turrets, powerful stone walls, keeps and many small cottages lay quiet beneath the stars. But surging with unmatched grandeur, towering higher than many rooftops, plumed the great fountains of Alleble. And something inside of Robby formed the words in his mind, and he whispered, “I’ve come home.”
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