Keeper of the Realms

by Marcus Alexander

  ‘But there isn’t,’ said Charlie, finishing his line. She wasn’t happy about it but she could see his point. Hoping to avoid looking like a rank amateur, she swallowed any further protests and nodded. ‘OK, I get it.’

  ‘I don’t like this either,’ said Marsila. ‘There are too many unknowns. The Serpent’s Tail could be anything: a building, a spire of rock, a statue, a carving … it could even be something foolish like a dead snake nailed to a tree.’ Looking far from happy, she crossed her arms. ‘We cannot afford to fail and we cannot afford to be anything other than certain. We have no choice but to take the pendant to each temple and try each Gateway.’

  ‘Check each temple?’ said Charlie. ‘That’s going to take days!’

  ‘Then we had better get started,’ growled Marsila.

  ‘Wait,’ said E’Jaaz. ‘I think I can cut our workload. Come.’

  They followed him outside and at his urging turned to face the Winged Mount.

  ‘We think that the Gateway is going to be in one of these temples. That’s a given, correct?’

  The others nodded in agreement.

  ‘And although we don’t know what or where the Serpent’s Tail is we can at least be confident that it lies in the Winged Mount’s shadow. So logically it becomes merely a matter of checking not all the temples but only those found in shadow.’ Picking a branch from off the floor, he used it to scratch a diagram into the ground. ‘This is the Winged Mount.’ He sketched a circle. ‘And this is where we stand.’ He marked a cross to the north-east of the circle. Reaching for a dried twig, he stabbed it into the centre of the circle hard enough for it to stand upright. The twig cast a shadow that fell to the south. ‘As the sun rises in the east and sets in the west we can expect the shadow to fall from here –’ he marked a spot – ‘to here.’ He marked another. ‘And at this time of year we can expect to get, say, this length of shadow –’ he carved a wavy line around one side of the circle – ‘which means we need to be looking for temples in this area only.’

  For the first time that Charlie could remember, Marsila gave E’Jaaz an appraising look. ‘So we only need to check the temples on the southern face. You’ve cut our workload in half – I’m actually impressed.’

  ‘Does that mean I get a kiss?’

  ‘Don’t push it,’ snapped Marsila.

  ‘I’ll settle for that dance you owe me.’

  ‘Idiot … I tell you what, if you find us the right temple I’ll consider giving you a dance. A short one.’

  Charlie wanted to grin, but she couldn’t stop looking at the diagram of the Winged Mount and its play of shadow. Something about it felt wrong. ‘I don’t get it. I’ve seen Dridif’s maps and I know we’re in the northern hemisphere and I know it’s summer … so shouldn’t the southern face be getting the most sun?’

  ‘That would be right for the realm of Earth,’ agreed E’Jaaz. ‘But not for Bellania.’

  ‘Uh … really? So how does that work, then?’

  ‘Yeah,’ said Nibbler, adding his interest. ‘I’d like to know too.’

  ‘It normally takes an apprentice Keeper three years of education to decipher the mysteries of this realm, but you’re a bright girl, Charlie, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard for a Hatchling to pick up. I think you’d get the hang of it in a couple of years,’ said E’Jaaz.

  ‘We’re in bit of a rush. Can’t you just give us the layman’s terminology?’

  ‘Sure,’ said E’Jaaz. ‘You’re taught that Earth is a globe and it orbits Sol giving it different plays of shadow on the northern and southern hemispheres. Well, when it comes to Bellania, think of it not as a globe but more as a cylinder turned partially inside out.’

  Nibbler went slightly cross-eyed and Charlie kneaded her head.

  ‘That doesn’t help,’ said Charlie.

  ‘In that case, let’s save this conversation until we’ve got more time to –’ The shriek of approaching predators cut E’Jaaz short.

  The group turned to see a wave of Shades crest a nearby slope. Squealing and mewling, they raced closer.

  ‘This is starting to get bothersome,’ muttered Marsila. Hands bright with Will, she ripped open a Portal and jumped through. The others hastily followed suit.

  14

  Up the Ante

  As soon as the Portal irised shut behind them, Marsila spun round.

  ‘Right, this is it. They’re not playing around so neither should we. We need a game plan and we need one now. We cannot afford to get bogged down with fighting, so swift movement is going to be the key to our strategy. Portal in, check our target, then Portal out before the enemy have a chance to close in. E’Jaaz, what’s your suggestion for tackling the problem of the temples?’

  ‘We need to know the lie of the land and the location of each temple. I think we should put Nibbler to good use and get him to reconnoitre.’

  ‘What does recon knighter mean?’ asked Nibbler with a suspicious look.

  ‘It means to scout ahead,’ explained E’Jaaz.

  ‘Oh. I can do that. No problem.’

  Happy that Nibbler was willing to do his part, E’Jaaz continued. ‘I think it best not to spread ourselves too far afield. Let’s cut our search area into sectors. Once Nibbler has identified the temples in a sector we go in and mark off all the incorrect Gateways before moving on to the next. Sound good?’

  ‘Sounds good,’ said Marsila. ‘The Stomen are still a problem. I don’t doubt that we will stumble across some from time to time; it’s inevitable. But to prevent them from getting wind of our strategy or tracking us I think it best to check non-sequential sectors. Any questions?’

  There were none.

  Marsila pulled one of Dridif’s maps from a pocket. Unfolding it, she showed it to Nibbler. ‘We’re here,’ she identified their location. ‘I want you to search this area, then meet us here.’ Her finger moved across the map. ‘Once you regroup with us you can mark the temples. Got it?’

  ‘Yup,’ said Nibbler. ‘Should I go now?’

  ‘No, I want you to stay here and regale us with witty stories and tall tales of adventure. Really, we have all the time in the world.’

  ‘Er … I’ll go now, then.’

  ‘Please do.’

  With a hop and a flap, he beat his way into the skies.

  ‘He’s descending,’ said Charlie. She stood with her eyes shielded from the sun so she could better track Nibbler.

  ‘Good,’ said Marsila.

  E’Jaaz opened a Portal and together they stepped through.

  Nibbler landed seconds later. Trotting over to Marsila’s side, he pointed at the map. ‘Here, here, here and here.’ Marsila pencilled crosses on the map. ‘Then there were three more here, here and … here.’

  ‘Seven?’ said E’Jaaz with surprise. ‘That’s more than I had expected for this sector. If the other regions are similar that’s going to give us a total of ninety temples. More than our original estimate. That’s not good.’

  ‘Good or not, we’re sticking with this plan,’ stated Marsila.

  A squad of Stomen broke cover from where they had been lurking. Shouting and bellowing blood-curdling war cries, they raced towards the small group.

  But having grown used to similar occurrences, the Keepers ignored the threat. They knew they had long seconds to spare before the enemy could be on them.

  ‘This temple first,’ said Marsila. She held the map up so the others could see. ‘Triad up and let’s go.’

  The three joined forces to open a Portal and stepped through.

  As the Portal winked shut, something whistled through to bury itself in the dirt between E’Jaaz’s feet.

  A spear.

  Its head was wickedly barbed and the end of the staff quivered with unspent momentum.

  Charlie looked at it in shock.

  ‘That could have put a crimp in my stride,’ admitted E’Jaaz.

  Marsila didn’t look too thrilled either. ‘We must not grow careless. We’d better take steps to ens
ure our next departure goes more smoothly.’

  With grim faces they headed towards the temple.

  Once again Charlie repeated the process of awakening the concealed doorway. Unfortunately it was another failure.

  ‘Cheer up, Charlie,’ said E’Jaaz. ‘With every dead end, the chances of our finding the Gateway increase.’

  ‘Huh?’

  E’Jaaz chuckled. ‘Supposing there’s a hundred temples that we have to check …’ Marsila spluttered and E’Jaaz shrugged in response. ‘I know we estimated ninety but I’m using a round number of a hundred to better illuminate my point. So when we started, the chances of us getting it right were one in a hundred. We’ve checked three Gateways so theoretically there’s only ninety-seven left –’

  ‘There’d better not be ninety-seven,’ muttered Marsila.

  ‘Which means that our chances have increased to one in ninety-seven,’ continued E’Jaaz with a bright smile. ‘Always look for the golden lining.’

  ‘Enough chit-chat,’ said Marsila. ‘Let’s go cross another temple off our list and see if we can’t increase our chances some more.’

  15

  Shared Stories

  Eight temples later, Charlie was a wreck.

  They’d had three close encounters with Stomen and one fraught episode where a Shade had nearly succeeded in jumping through the Portal with them.

  ‘I’m knackered,’ said Charlie. Reaching for her lower back, she tried to knead her taut muscles in the hope that they would unknot. Having to use her Will to constantly open Portals and try Gateways was draining.

  ‘Yeah, you don’t look so good,’ admitted Nibbler. He peered at the dark shadows under Charlie’s eyes.

  E’Jaaz nudged Marsila. ‘I think a break might be in order.’

  ‘Not yet,’ argued Marsila. ‘We’ve only covered eleven temples. We need to do more. We must. At best Sylvaris has sixty hours left before Bane’s armies commence hostilities, at worst forty-eight hours.’

  E’Jaaz frowned. ‘What? Do you think we should continue through the night? With the multitude of Shades nearby I don’t think that’s wise. Facing a pack of the dark brethren in the daylight is one thing but facing them at night while we’re exhausted is a different matter.’

  ‘We have an hour or two of sunlight left,’ countered Marsila. ‘I’m for pushing on while we can. I would be happier crossing another four temples off our list before calling it a night.’

  ‘Hey,’ said Charlie. The thought of Sylvaris in peril was heavy in her mind and she crossed her fingers in the hope that Kelko and Jensen were safe. ‘I’m not for stopping either. Let’s keep rolling.’

  ‘All right,’ said E’Jaaz. ‘Let’s go. Just try to avoid overdoing it. We’re going to need your Will in good shape for the next couple of days.’

  They managed to visit another three temples before the light started to wane and E’Jaaz insisted that they stop.

  ‘We’ll do better in the morning when we’re fresh,’ he reasoned. ‘And I would consider it safer to make camp now and take what rest we can rather than risking greater fatigue and the potential of making a fatal error next time we encounter Shades.’

  Marsila thinned her lips but could not help agreeing with him. As much as she felt the pressure of their impending deadline, it made no sense to blunder blindly ahead.

  ‘OK. But we’re up and ready to move with first light. Agreed?’

  ‘Agreed.’

  ‘Nibbler,’ continued Marsila, ‘we cannot afford the Will required to return us to Sylvaris so we’ll need a place of refuge for the night. Did you see anywhere that would suit as a campsite? It needs to be somewhere safe and secure from prying eyes.’

  ‘I saw a couple of islands,’ said Nibbler. ‘They weren’t anything big and the river that surrounded them wasn’t particularly wide, but would they do?’

  ‘Sounds possible,’ said Marsila. She unfolded their map. ‘Show me where.’

  Nibbler gave her the location and after a brief conference with E’Jaaz it was decided. Summoning their Will, they cut a Portal and leaped through.

  Nibbler’s description was correct. The islands weren’t big and the river that ran on either side wasn’t wide, but it looked deep and very fast. Crossing it by foot would not be easy.

  ‘This will do,’ said E’Jaaz. ‘Let’s make the best of it.’

  After her travels across Bellania Charlie had grown proficient at pitching camp, but tonight’s experience was something different. They were in hostile territory and being hunted, so above all they had to be discreet. Marsila and E’Jaaz were required to put their remarkable wilderness training and survival skills to full use.

  As Marsila worked, she talked about staying out of sight and making sure that no smoke or light was visible. In a remarkably short time (with Nibbler and Charlie’s aid) she had created a series of bedding piles hidden behind a bluff and dug what she called an ‘Alavisian firepit’. To Charlie’s eyes it looked like little more than two pits dug into the ground that met at the bottom; one side held firewood, the other supplied a source of ventilation. She did, however, have to admit to being impressed when the campfire emitted no smoke and, as the flames were below ground, they were impossible to see from more than a metre away. And yet for all the ‘low profiling’, as Marsila liked to call it, the campsite felt remarkably cosy.

  And just as they were about to ask where E’Jaaz had disappeared to, he sauntered back into their camp with three fish, cleaned and wrapped in herbs, and a handful of bulbous roots that he called jerritots (which he promised would taste like ‘fluffy marshmallow and butterlime’ once they were cooked).

  ‘Is camping always like this with you guys?’ asked Nibbler.

  ‘I wish,’ chuckled E’Jaaz. ‘Six years ago I was fulfilling a commission for one of the Ice Chieftains and I failed to check if the cave I was overnighting in was vacant. A giant skunkbear took offence at me intruding (or maybe it was an interest in the pie I was cooking) and chased me out into the snowdrifts. I spent the rest of the night clapping my hands and stomping my feet to keep warm and bemoaning the loss of my meal. And the year before that I was running away from one of the Hilat Tribal Kings and even though I made my camp far enough away to avoid detection I made the mistake of going to sleep right on one of the lizardmammoths’ migration paths. I’d only gone to sleep for a minute or two before the ground started shaking. In the few seconds it took me to realize that it wasn’t an earthquake I nearly got trampled by a horde of wandering lizardmammoths.’

  ‘And why were you running away from one of the Hilat Tribal Kings?’ asked Marsila.

  ‘There was a slight misunderstanding after I was caught dancing with one of his daughters.’

  Marsila snorted. ‘Why am I not surprised?’

  Unabashed, E’Jaaz gave her a wry smile. ‘And what about you, dangerous lady? Any camping endeavours to share with us?’

  E’jaaz Keeper

  ‘I nearly got caught during one of my first missions for the Winged Ones. I was exhausted and didn’t have enough Will left to escape through a Portal so I avoided being captured by hiding neck deep in a stinking swamp. The place smelt so bad that no one came near and I was left in peace for the night. I even caught some sleep.’

  Charlie and Nibbler stared at her in awe.

  ‘And then there was the time I had to sneak into the Lachi Temple in Tibet to copy one of their maps for the Folded Realm –’

  ‘Tibet?’ said Charlie, interrupting Marsila’s flow. ‘On Earth?’

  ‘That’s right. Don’t forget we operate in the realm of Earth too. With your family’s house, that’s something you should know.’

  ‘But … Tibet?’

  ‘Of course Tibet. Do you want me to finish the story or do you want to talk about Earth?’

  ‘Finish the story!’ said Nibbler and gave Charlie a look that said in no uncertain terms that he expected her to stay quiet, at least until Marsila and E’Jaaz had finished their awesome stories about ca
mping.

  ‘I needed to sneak into the Lachi Temple,’ continued Marsila, ‘but the monks had shielded the region to prevent the use of Portals so I had to go in by foot. The Temple was at the top of a mountain so I had no choice but to climb. It took me three days and two nights. And each night I spent in a tent that hung from the side of the mountain with nothing beneath it but icy air and a three-thousand-metre drop to the rocks below.’

  ‘Wow!’ exhaled Nibbler. ‘That’s amazing! Charlie, do you think we’ll have stories to tell like that when we’re older?’

  ‘We’ve got stories already. And if we want to get any older we’re going to have to stop that chump Bane first.’

  ‘Good point,’ admitted E’Jaaz. ‘But talk of Bane can wait. Let us eat, get what rest we can and continue our task upon the morrow.’

  Kneeling down to better reach their campfire, he began to prepare their dinner. Their meal was good and after the fatigue of the day it was a welcome relief. The conversation was pleasant too, but this was not a camp like those Charlie had enjoyed when she had first met the Tremen; this was the end of a day that was heavy with purpose. And knowing that tomorrow would be just as fraught and just as hard, the group soon put an end to idle chat and retired to their beds.

  16

  Screams in the Night

  E’Jaaz roused Charlie from her dreams.

  ‘Your watch,’ he said. ‘I saw a squad of soldiers march up the far riverbank an hour ago but other than that it’s been quiet. Keep an eye out for an hour and a half, then wake Nibbler for his turn.’

  He flashed her a reassuring smile, unfurled his blankets and was asleep in a matter of moments.

  Charlie pushed her way past the few shrubs and trees that shielded their camp. She found a vantage point at one end of the island that allowed her to see both sides of the river. Stifling a yawn, she slid her back down a tree trunk and tried to make herself comfortable.