by M S C Barnes
gushy and emotional, I’ve sort of got to like you and now I imagine us being together, doing this for hundreds of years – like Dierne and Mr Duir – and then, when we’re done, you go back to being a Dryad on a different tree and I become an elf.”
“Seb, they tend all the flora and fauna in all the realities. Elves travel. Elves are the only ones, other than the groups, who can travel between the realities when they choose. They know everything, everyone and they can go where they like, when they like!”
The penny dropped and a big smile spread across Seb’s face. “Oh!”
“It’s the ultimate gift, Seb. You can see whoever you want, whether human, Dryad or fairy, go wherever you want, stay as long as you want. It’s the ultimate.” Now he whispered again, checking over his shoulder, “I wonder, actually, if that isn’t what Braddock was after, why he wanted to be a Custodian and not end up as a fairy.”
Both of them flinched as Dierne suddenly materialised.
“You two should be resting, not talking.” He sounded stern. “We have just over four hours.”
They both nodded back at him. Seb, with Alice’s help, slid down from the diamond and they headed for the fireside.
Confirmation
As Seb lay his head on the rug and closed his eyes his world went dark. Briefly he was conscious of mumbled voices, a giggle from Miss Angel, the squeaky tones of Mr West and then nothing, not even a dream, until he felt a gentle shake.
“Seb, you need to get ready.” Mr Duir said.
Seb was slow to rise. His body felt leaden.
“I know it wasn’t enough sleep, but we must continue.” Mr Duir had changed clothes. His torn and bloodied shirt and trousers were gone and in their stead he wore a black T-shirt and utility trousers. He looked tired and Seb guessed he had not slept at all.
Handing Seb some clothing, Mr Duir pointed to the open doorway into the cave of carvings. Seb made his way over as Zach, washed and changed, stepped back through a further door in that cave.
“Come on, Seb. Last as always.”
The door in the cave opened inside the door to the bathroom at the cottage. Seb showered, dressed and rejoined everyone for a breakfast of freshly baked rolls.
Finishing his food, and with Alice by his side, Seb approached Mr Duir who indicated for them to sit.
“You are nervous, Seb?” Seb nodded. “The solstice will be harder so it is good you have the equinox as a time to learn.”
Seb felt a tingling in his palm and his eyes were drawn to the branches of the Elder Tree. He felt a jolt of adrenalin and quickly said what was on his mind.
“Are you going to stay with me? I mean, the Question to End – will you stay?” He knew he was nowhere near ready to do this job alone and wanted reassurance Mr Duir wasn’t going to abandon him.
“Seb,” Mr Duir shook his head. “I cannot— ”
He was interrupted as Mr West approached.
“Aelfric, I can feel them. We need to sleep.”
Mr Duir nodded and stood up. The teachers and The Caretaker were already handing out cups of water. Only Seb and Mr Duir were not given one. All the others drank and in seconds nine people sat sleeping around the crackling logs.
“Dierne, Alice,” Mr Duir said. “I will call you.” The two Dryads disappeared through the cave roof. “Seb,” Mr Duir turned to Seb whose stomach was doing somersaults, “you will be fine.”
Seb doubted that but nodded anyway.
Mr Duir stepped onto the lake and with Seb at his side, strode over to the Elder Tree once more. Seeing the obvious fear in his eyes Mr Duir tried to reassure him, “Braddock is gone, Seb!” then walked around the vast span of the trunk.
Feeling totally alone in the darkness beneath the huge limbs of this ancient tree, Seb tried not to panic. Mr Duir’s voice, when it reached him, was calm.
“Open it, Seb.”
Taking a deep breath Seb shone light on the trunk and the massive door appeared, the worn doorknob glistening. He seized it. The many faces of those who had opened the door over the centuries filled his mind – Mr Duir’s the last – and then he opened it.
It swung inward. Seb closed his eyes, unable to look into the blackness, and waited for whispering, the touch of cold fingers. Instead he felt electric excitement and then heaviness, a growing pressure on his mind. It wasn’t physical; it was an emotional heaviness – the weight of time and knowledge. Like a warm blanket it passed over him.
He opened his eyes and gasped. The tree had vanished. Seb stood on the lake surface, opposite Mr Duir, a Dryad between them. This leaf-clad figure, two feet taller than Seb, had a face that looked as ancient as the tree he had apparently stepped out of.
The Elder Dryad studied Seb as if surprised to see him and then he placed a hand on Seb’s chest. He lowered his head to the sound of twigs cracking and rustling leaves.
The instant the Dryad’s hand touched him, Seb felt his soul laid bare, everything of which he was made, every experience he had been through opened up for the Dryad to see. He took a step back but heard Mr Duir say, “Stand still, Seb. They need to see you.”
Seb obeyed, taking a step towards the Dryad who put his gnarled hand back on his chest. The contact lasted only a moment and Seb felt himself once more unveiled then the Dryad dropped his hand and walked off the lake.
In the space he left, Seb saw a pinpoint of sparkling light.
“Just wait, Seb,” Mr Duir told him and the pinpoint of light grew bigger until Seb realised he was looking at a fairy. He could just make out the tiny hands and feet, the long golden hair and delicate male features. The gossamer wings fluttered rapidly and then the creature zoomed through his chest. In a millisecond he felt it lay open his entire personality as the Dryad had done, and then it was gone, flitting to the other side of the lake, opposite the Dryad.
Seb watched it go then, turning his head back, he jumped. Standing between him and Mr Duir was a seven-foot tall sparkling elf, dressed in sheer, flowing, silk-like fabric which moved in an invisible breeze. It was the closest Seb had ever been to one of these shining figures, and he was transfixed by the beauty of it. Staring at Seb, its silver eyes gave no clue as to its thoughts.
Seb stared back, bracing himself, waiting for the elf to touch him or pass through him. The tall figure did nothing.
After a minute or two Seb felt a bit awkward; he wondered if the elf was waiting for him to say something. The silver eyes still regarded him and Seb found them hypnotic. He knew his breathing had slowed, his heart beat too; he felt peaceful, happy even. In the back of his mind he could hear the faintest tinkling sound, such a nice sound. He found himself humming a tune in his head. He knew the tune from something, some memory deep in his past. The tinkling joined in the tune and images of his father, hugging him and singing, floated through Seb’s mind.
That was the tune his father had sung to him every time he put Seb to bed. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and then saw one fall from the elf’s eye too.
Without warning the tinkling stopped; the song stopped. For a further moment the elf remained, staring into Seb’s eyes and then he turned, gave a slight bow to Aelfric Duir, and walked to the bank.
Mr Duir walked across to Seb. “It hurts!” Seb nodded. “I am sorry.” With a protective arm around Seb he led him off the lake.
Once on the bank Mr Duir and Seb took a position facing the elf. The fairy hovered to their right, wings twinkling in the light; to their left the Dryad stood motionless. Between them all lay the undisturbed waters of the lake.
Into the silence Mr Duir spoke.
“Dierne, Alice, the Channelling Stone.”
The two Dryads appeared and began circling in opposite directions around the perimeter of the lake. They travelled so fast Seb could barely see their trails but he could see the effect their movement had on the water; as though swept up in the winds of a tornado it lifted at the lake banks and sank at the centre. The sides rose quickly forming the shell of a half-sphere, ex
tending and curving and now Seb gasped as the top section closed over completely, creating a massive hollow globe, the bottom of which fitted neatly into the lake and the top of which mirrored the arc of the cave roof.
Mr Duir waved his left hand. Sparkles flew and the water globe froze, solidifying into a transparent ice casing.
Alice and Dierne rematerialised as Mr Duir and the elf, visible through the globe, revealed two doors in the sphere which they opened.
Seb wondered what had happened to the millions of imps and squinted into the shell of ice just feet in front of him. He couldn’t see a single one, but what he could see, inside, at the very centre, was a large triangular granite stone on a plinth that stood twenty feet above the bottom of the lake bowl. He noticed, with mild surprise, one apex pointed towards the diamond.
“I’m on again!” Alice said silently to Seb, flitting into the hollow globe with Dierne. Whizzing back and forth in a line they created trails to form solid bridges between the granite stone and the doors in the sphere. Alice emerged, smiling proudly.
“Amazing!” Seb said out loud. His voice echoed around inside the massive hollow space, its volume ramped up in the process. The words bounced back out of the doorway far louder than he had said them – so loud he had to cover his ears. The whole cave rang with the sound and Seb heard a grunt and then shuffling behind him. He turned and all nine sleeping figures had snapped awake.
Dierne stepped out of the sphere, frowning.
Mr Duir turned his head to face away
