The Questory of Root Karbunkulus - Quill (33 page)

While the boys tossed out ideas, something
occurred to Root. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of it
before. Perhaps CPR had Quatra. If she did, and was still alive she
could direct them right to her. Root concentrated. She felt around
for a wave of CPR, a familiar frequency. Just as she thought she
was getting close, a terrible clashing of power, an electrical
shock, jolted her. She felt like her brain was tin foil in a
microwave and immediately released her search, clutching her head
as she did.

“You okay?” Lian asked.

“ Yeah, I was seeing if she had Quatra.
But,

obviously it didn’t work.”

The fog had already begun to lift when
they

arrived and now its last wispy threads were
trickling away. A bright new moon picked up where it last left off,
sending silvery light to the Valadors as they began to look for
signs. Perhaps there would be tracks they could follow in the
fluffy white ground covering that now glittered in the moon’s
fanfare. It was just like snow but without the cold or the
melt.

“Wait a minute” Dwyn said and threw himself
to the ground. He lay on his back and flapped his arms and legs

A snow angel? Root was about to explode. This
was no time for…But Dwyn stood up and she stopped herself short.
Behind him, something had moved. She watched as the groundcover
smoothed over the snow angel as if the area had never been touched.
Indeed, as they tromped around for more confirmation, they realized
the whole of the White Woods was magically swayed to cover up the
prints of its inhabitants.

“I
thought
something was weird.” Dwyn
said.

This was not a happy revelation.

With time teetering heavily away from them,
they were at a complete loss. Soon it would be morning. Perhaps
they could wait until then. At least they would have a better view
of things. But then would they be too late?

“I wish we had a flashlight!” Root said.
“Wait! Lian, what about your Sea Light!”

Good idea!

Lian threw the travel pack off and began
rifling through it. When he pulled out his prize invention, his
face was far from happy. The Sea Light was snapped in two.

Hope fell off their faces.

Lian slumped over the travel pack. Root could
hardly blame him for being mad. She would totally understand if he,
in fact, wanted to just leave, go back and forget all about
CPR.

But despite Lian’s clear disappointment, he’d
come to enjoy CPR’s company. Having been raised by a Fuffleteez, he
had had his fair share of pets, all of which had chewed and
destroyed something or other. And all of which had turned out to be
beloved mates in the end.

There must be a way
.
Without knowing
it Lian began to pace.

“Pssssst.” Dwyn said to Root and pointed.

Lian was doing his figure eight. That meant
the wheels were seriously turning in his brain. Something would
come to him. They just knew it.

They waited and watched and watched and
waited until finally Lian stopped mid-eight. He looked at his
mates, a twinkle in his eyes.

“It’s only an idea...I can’t guarantee it
will work.”

“What is it?” Root pleaded.

Lian dug into to the travel pack. He emerged
with a bottle in his hand that read ‘Pansy Path’.

“There’s not much left. Which actually might
be a good thing. A very good thing.” His friends were hovering over
him anxiously as he explained. “Remember when CPR knocked over the
travel pack?”

“Which time?”

“The last time. Outside of the
Drinkhouse.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she’d knocked over most of my Pansy
Path and gotten it all over herself, too. You can’t see it. It’s
like a really fine powder.” Lian held up the bottle. Inside it they
could see a mound of soft, yellow powder. “I was gonna brush her
off but then we were going to eat and I thought I’d do it later.
Well, thank goodness I didn’t because…”

Lian plucked the stopper of the bottle. He
stuck a finger in and sifted around. When he saw what he wanted, he
sighed with relief and pinched the object out of the powder. “This
is the Primary Pansy, the plug-in.” He held up a tiny bulb.

“Plug-in?”

Lian crouched low and started to dig into the
fluffy white soil. Shortly he reached firmer ground and kept
digging. When he was satisfied with the depth he took a deep
breath. “If CPR is still covered in Pansy Path, we will know very
shortly.”

“How?”

“When I plant the Primary seed, it will
literally plug in to the line. Every powdery grain will light
up.”

“Woah!” Dwyn said and crouched excitedly
beside Lian.

Root bit her lip as she watched Lian drop the
bulb into the ground and cover it up. He closed his eyes and
mouthed something silently.

They waited. It was a long shot for sure. But
worth betting on, all the same.

Nothing happened. Dwyn stood up, anxious.

Lian remained. If there’s one thing he knew
about nature. It had its own sense of timing.

Then, in a magical kiss of creation, it
happened. A twinkle. Right in front of them! It flickered as if it
were growing. They watched in awe as before their eyes a tiny
little bulb of light blossomed open in the shape of an exquisitely
perfect pansy.

And then, a few paces down, another! This one
erupting from the trunk of a nearby tree. Another blossomed and
flickered a short way from that one. And another. And another.

A path of pansies! Literally. A beautiful,
twinkling, glowing ribbon all along the ground and trees, lighting
their way in the darkness.

The team cheered. Lian was met with a round
of hugs. He’d done it again. He’d given them hope.

“So, all these tiny lights had fallen from
CPR?” Root asked as they followed the path.

“Yeah, thank goodness she managed to get a
whole lot of powder seeds on her. Let’s just hope there’s enough to
take us all the way.”

They walked for a long time. Though still
dim, the woods were beautiful and refreshing. The Pansy Path kept
springing up ahead of them, bolstering more and more hope. As they
followed Root tried to imagine what CPR’s unwilling journey had
been like. Much of the Pansy Path sprang up from trees and Root
wondered if CPR had been prodded and pushed so that she sideswiped
them. They also came across a large expansion of Pansy Path where
the tiny lights seemed to run amok, like a chaotic dance. Had CPR
tried to escape here? Was there a struggle?

The sun began to rise, seeping a layer of
pale orange watercolor into the sky. Root started to panic. Soon,
they would not be able to see the Pansy Path over the light of day.
And they had yet to find CPR.

They walked faster.

They ran.

And then, just like that the Pansy Path was
gone. Not because of the sun. It was simply gone. Disappeared.

They were in an opening of the forest, a
small meadow. The White Woods were a spectacle of sparkle in the
surging sun. Trees were frosted from root to mounding top in
glittering white. It reminded Root of the hoar frost back home but
this was not a frozen covering. It was simply summer decked out in
white diamonds.

Dwyn followed a winsome little sound and came
upon a pair of happy birds, round and fluffy and brightest red.
They stood out like rubies against the glistening white
branches.

“Look at this.” He called to his friends. He
thought they too would marvel at the beautiful contrast but when
Lian arrived, his face drained of color.

“No.” he whispered.

“What?” Root asked, suddenly seized with
fear.

“Birds of Death.”

A terrible screech split the air. They looked
up. Another bird, this one three times the size and black as the
night from which they had just come, was circling overhead. And
another. And three more giant, ugly cawing beasts,.

Without saying anything Lian ran. He ran
faster than he’d ever run in his entire life. He ran straight for
the spot below the swooping, black cloud of black. He tore through
a hedge of white trees…
please, no, please, no, please
no
…

When Root and Dwyn caught up with Lian, he
was sunk to his knees. In front of him the mangled bodies lay still
and silent.

The glorious white of the woods was
splattered in deep, murderous red.

“No!” Root cried and ran forward. She fell at
the head of the first body. Without its spirit it was so heavy. So
robbed of light. She looked into its eyes. This beast was the most
beautiful creature she had ever seen.

When she realized what it was, she was
overcome with anguish.

The HaloEm lay cold and lifeless. Blood was
seeping from its nose. A great rack of antlers sunk heavily into
the white earth.

Root heaved its magnificent head into her lap
and looked at her friends.

Lian was still on his knees. Great sobs were
coming from him. Dwyn stood in stunned silence. Above them the
black vultures circled, cawing, awaiting their turn. Root wanted to
scream at them but nothing came from her throat. Her eyes drowned
in tears.

Dwyn approached the second body. He could
hardly bear it. Its soft white coat was smeared in blood. A pair of
magnificent iridescent wings fell mangled and torn. He carefully
rearranged and folded them back into the HaloEm’s side, noticing a
single space where a Quill was missing. He looked to his friends
who were already locked on the wing, noticing the exact same space.
No one said anything. What words could suffice? The universe had
shifted. Something deep in each of them had changed forever. Dwyn
kneeled down and stroked the soft, beautiful muzzle.

And that’s how they remained while Time in
all its efforts stood perfectly still and bowed its great head.

Awhimper broke the team’s silent eulogy.

She was hanging from a tree, in a net. Her
clumsy skinny legs were sticking through here and there. Her skin
was torn in places and a cut over her eye was dripping blood onto
the white ground below.

But she was alive!

“CPR!” Root cried.

They had her free in minutes and were all
over her with praise and love and relief. Lian did a quick
inspection. Nothing was broken but she was trembling wildly. Root
took her cloak off and slipped it over CPR’s raw shoulders and
back. The beloved animal was too weak to even lick Root’s hand like
she always did. Her watery legs attempted a few steps and
collapsed. Root raced to her side and wrapped her arms around her.
That’s all she could do in this far away place where color
hibernated. CPR shivered and whimpered under the cloak. Was she
dying, Root thought.

Another crack in time found the team huddled
next to CPR, beside the dead bodies. Something needed to be done
but grief and horror wouldn’t allow it. Their brains were numb. All
that their tired bodies and stricken spirits could conjure was
blank confusion. Loss. Whiteout.

They felt utterly defeated.

In that hour the Quest had become something
more. Something terrifying. Something dark and mad. And they wanted
no part of it.

As they slid further into the quicksand of
grief Root reached out. Her mind stretched as far as it could
before going under…Jorab?

Jorab found the Valadors shivering and
huddled over an animal. He had arrived with Mordge by Skywagon.

“Oh! Oh have pity!” Mordge saw the
HaloEm.

“I will bury them. You take the children.”
Jorab said.

The burial was brief. Root, Lian and Dwyn
stood around the plot that Jorab had made, still shivering and
blank despite the relief of Mordge’s medicinal offerings. Jorab
spoke a language even Lian did not know. It was an ancient tongue
that ran like lightning along the branches of the forest. When he
was finished he plunged a long golden staff into the heart of the
mound. A flash of light blinded them and when it was gone, two
brilliantly blue birds were in its place. The Birds of Life.

Root watched them fly away.

Mordge sat atop the sky wagon. Normally Root
would be thrilled to see that it was pulled by six giant geese with
long green necks but as Jorab offered his hand to help her inside
the wagon it was all she could do to just breathe. She turned one
last time to the White Woods. A pity the warm snow couldn’t cover
up the blood that still stained its white floor. Jorab had said the
power behind the murder was so strong that it had created a rift in
the woods’ magic.

A glint of something caught Root’s eye.

It was half buried. A…a glass?

Root dropped Jorab’s hand and ran. She picked
up the object and looked at it. Her heart exploded in her chest. A
mad rush of rage surfaced as her mind wrapped around the
discovery.

The vial in her hands had a label.

Gut Oil.

It was empty.

The return to Hotel Gub was unheralded. Root
slipped away unnoticed to her room and fell upon her bed. Her head
was hot and rushed with blood. She’d spent the entire flight back
to the castle blind with rage and confusion, unable to share her
heinous discovery. She had to grasp it first. And, right now that
was asking too much. She just could not fathom the evil required
for such an act. And yet, the proof was now in her hand. She held
the empty vial up.

“Visitors!” Her door hand called, making her
heart jump.

“Who is it?”

“Master Lian Blick and Master Dwyn
Puffler.”

“Tell them I’m sleeping.”

After a moment. “They don’t believe you.”

Root sighed. “Fine. Let them in.”

“Hey.” Dwyn said and collapsed into Root’s
chair.

“Hey.”

Lian sat on the edge of her bed.

They looked awful. Pale, tired and shaken.
Nothing was said. They hadn’t come for conversation, only the
camaraderie of speechlessness. No one wanted to be alone right
then.