The Questory of Root Karbunkulus - Quill (37 page)

Root knew every lump and fold of CPR’s back,
having stroked it a zillion times over these past weeks. A new bump
bubbled up right under her hand. She pulled back. The bump cracked
open and a leak of blood spilled out. Root jumped up. “What’s
happening?”

Mordge looked at Jorab. “It’s time.”

“What? What’s time? Time for what? Tell me!”
Root backed away in fear and inadequacy.

Just then CPR cried out a shrill howl that
snapped the heart in two. The cut in her back split further and
that’s when Root saw another one tear open. CPR howled again. Root
went to run to her but Jorab stopped her. She looked at him.
Something told her not to interfere. It was the course of nature.
She released her strength and gathered everything within herself to
find God somewhere in the distance between her and CPR. God would
know what to do.

A crowd was gathering, having come from the
theatre. Amongst them Hyvis Punyun and Studaben Picklepug, pushing
their way through to the front.

“What is the meaning of this?” Picklepug
demanded. He resented there being an ‘event’ occurring of which he
had not been informed.

When Hyvis caught sight of the happening she
was staggered. “This is not appropriate for the impressionable eyes
of our youth, Jorab! Hilly, I demand you come with me this
instant!” She grabbed hold of her daughter, but Hilly pulled away.
She was not about to miss the death of Root Karbunkulus’ ugly pet.
Besides, it was fascinating.

The skin of CPR began to crack and peel back,
to pull away from her bones. It looked like she was splitting into
pieces. Root buried her face into Jorab’s shoulder. Mordge stayed
with CPR, offering a soft cooing voice in the midst of her pain and
writhing.

When Root looked out again, she saw
something. Something that sent a rush of goose bumps over every
inch of her body. She had spied what was underneath the shell of
CPR’s discarding skin, a hint of pale pink.

A hint of pale, fresh, healthy pink.

“Oh my goodness…she’s…she’s molting!”

Jorab, still with his hands on Root’s
shoulders, squeezed tenderly.

A murmur spread through the crowd, raising
the bar of excitement to its loftiest level.

“Oh so now it’s gonna be a bigger ugly!” a
familiar voice called out, scraping Root’s nerves bare. She felt
her blood boil at the mere sound of Kor. It was all she could do to
stop from hunting him down and sticking a grenade down his
throat.

But before she could say anything something
happened that sent a tidal wave of shivers through the entire
crowd.

CPR wailed in a wrenching tone that had never
been heard from her before.

“Stand back!” Mordge called out and stepped
away.

The open cuts of CPR’s back erupted further,
tearing strips along the spine. Blood splattered.

Something was pushing, pushing. pushing…

All eyes were wide and transfixed.

Nature itself closed around them in maternal
expectation.

CPR moaned…she pushed…and pushed….then…her
great heart cried out…

And a set of wings burst into the open!

Wings!

The entire world seemed to lose its
breath.

CPR got to her feet. A shell of old loose
skin fell away, helped by the awkward flapping of new celestial
feathers She was wet, and shivering with a smooth new blanket of
fur, coated in a whitish chalk. Root saw that she now stood twice
her previous height. Yet it was a frail composure. It wobbled and
strained under its new shape and weight. CPR’s unstable legs gave
out and she collapsed in a pile on the ground.

Root was about to run to her when Jorab
stopped her again.

“You will need this.” He pulled out a small
object. Root recognized it immediately. The soft sponginess. The
beautiful ivory surface. Up close she could also see for the first
time hundreds of tiny holes.

The Song.

Jorab smiled. “When I told Haverly what I
suspected your CPR was, she thought you would need this.”

Root gulped. She took the ivory shell into
her hands and walked toward her beloved CPR. CPR lifted her head.
In that moment Root saw the entire universe look back at her.

She raised the Song to the sky.

As if waiting for this moment since the dawn
of time, the wind gathered. It gathered and fell upon every single
tiny round opening of the shell.

And the Song began.

CPR heard it at once and her skin rippled in
answer.

The Song fell like a gentle, miraculous
snow.

Nothing else existed. It was as if a pure
strain of love was being set to music. It sang around CPR, touching
every strand of hair and anointing it in white. It spun a chorus of
light around her legs and her chest and her back. And still its
heavenly melody played on. A swirl of sound brightened over CPR’s
head and in a glorious moment the beginnings of antlers sprung
forth. The music sparkled and danced around them as they grew and
grew…and grew. Into a majesty of power and strength.

The world awed.

The Song played on.

A host of angels. The ringing of bells. The
hope of a harp.

The Song melted into CPR’s skin and lungs and
heart and blood. Her legs strengthened. Her body ripped and
muscled. Her eyes sparkled into silvery light. Her head raised,
tossing great antlers into their power. And her wings. Oh, her
wings!

They opened to the Song, welcoming it like a
breeze into their folds and down. Gleaming liquid silver, thick as
syrup spread into their Quills. And from them blossomed the most
beautiful, softest, firmest of plumes, pulsing in light and color.
CPR spread her wings open, a long awaited stretch of muscle,
reaching, reaching across the pen, past the imaginations of the
onlookers. In them could be seen the sun and the moon and the
stars.

A great sound came from the majestic, noble
beast that now stood before the crowd.

CowPigRodent indeed.

They were standing in front of the nobility
and power of the last mighty HaloEm of DréAmm!

“Karbunkulus won!” Someone called from the
stunned crowd. “The Valadors are the last team!”

“No, they’re not! So, it’s a HaloEm. That
doesn’t mean anything. They still don’t have a Quill!” Hilly Punyun
yelled, then, at the sight of Dwyn backed off and hid behind her
mother.

“That is correct! This Quest is not complete
until a Quill has been submitted to committee for approval.” Hyvis
supplied.

“But she’s got better than that! She’s got
the full meal deal, man! A whole HaloEm!” another kid called out,
triggering a hot debate amongst the crowd.

“Ahem.” The Guardian had found and was now
standing upon a platform. “Now, now children. Let’s not get too
carried away. As Guardian of DréAmm and head of the Quest Committee
it is my duty to inform you that a single Quill is what was
required and I am sorry but I do not believe this HaloEm has gifted
anyone as far as I can see.”

“Let her at least try!”

“Yeah, let Root Karbunkulus try!” A
collective chant broke in. “Let Karbunkulus try! Let Karbunkulus
try!”

The Guardian turned to Root. His eyes were
greedy and expecting. Piggish.

Her heart skipped. She looked at CPR who was
still just CPR to her.

“This is preposterous!” Hyvis Punyun broke
in. “She can’t attempt to pluck from the beast! It will tear her
from limb to limb!” She had found her own box upon which to stand
and was now higher than the Guardian. “Master Picklepug, I demand
that you cease this endangerment immediately. Pet or no, a HaloEm
will become fierce even to loved ones if it perceives selfish
motives!”

The Guardian did not answer. He had succumbed
to his own greedy curiosity as to the fate of this exchange.

But Root had heard Hyvis’ words and now she
was swimming in doubt. Yes, she was CPR’s friend but who was she to
just suddenly show up and pluck a Quill?
Hi, congrats on your
molting, mind if I help myself to one of your brand new
feathers?
It didn’t feel right at all. CPR hadn’t even flown in
them yet and now here was Root being asked to take one. And, maybe
Hyvis was right. Maybe CPR would turn on Root if she tried to pluck
one. Because if Root really thought about it, her intentions
were
selfish. She only wanted a Quill so that she and her
team could win this race. Somehow the exchange didn’t match up. No,
it was all wrong. She couldn’t do it.

She faced Picklepug who, in that very moment
reminded her of the Squawnch Loathsbin. He was leering. Waiting to
get his hands on the prize. This wasn’t about her at all. This was
all a part of the Picklepug package. She could already hear him in
media interviews supplying a tag after his name. Studaben
Picklepug, discoverer of the last HaloEm. And if it ended as Hyvis
had determined, he would simply cover it up, like he covered up
everything. Like he covered up Krism.

Root stood straight and looked him in the
eye. “I will not violate the HaloEm. My decision is firm.”

The crowd leapt into a gossiping frenzy.

Picklepug kept his smile but Root could see
that behind it all light had dimmed save for his eyes that briefly
flashed fire. They extinguished in the next instant, determined to
reclaim their blue-eyed persona.

Someone pushed through the crowd and halted
in plain view of the Valadors who were now huddled together.

“Dad!” Lian said.

Lord Blick’s eyes were blazing. “The last
time I looked, there were three of you to this team.” He zeroed in
on his son, a fierce desire overtaking him. “Now is the time, son.
You must accept your destiny. A Brédin Master must seize his
leadership when the time comes.” It was the same old argument but
now there was an inherent threat to it. He stepped closer to Lian,
patience flying from him. “There can be no hesitation! That is the
kiss of death. That Quill belongs to the Valadors. If the girl is
without courage, you must step up. Act now, son, despite your fear!
You are a Blick!”

Lian looked at his father. There was no
recognition of himself anywhere on the great man. His father was an
icon. A legend. And Lian was nothing of the sort. But he knew what
felt right and wrong to him and Brédin Master or no, when it felt
right, he would stay with it to death.

“I’m not scared, dad.” he said. “I’m me.”

He took a clear and definite step of support
beside Root.

Dwyn, very purposefully stood on her other
side.

The crowd erupted and gathered round them
like flies. A heated buzzing that congested and squeezed for
attention.

“Y’mean you’re…you’re not mad that we lost
for sure now?” Root whispered to her teammates.

Dwyn put his arm around her. “How can I be
mad when I’ve got a promising career as a Royal Silken Oxback?” He
smiled with a teasing wink.

“I just know that there’s no way I could’ve
done it either, Root. It didn’t feel right.” Lian added, all the
while keeping his eyes on the unforgiving glare of his father. Lord
Blick briefly allowed himself to be jostled by the crowd before
turning away. Lian watched the stately purple and gold of his
uniform get swallowed up and disappear. He realized that his father
never wore anything else anymore. Nothing of the easy, earth tones
that had made famous roast potatoes and piggybacked his children.
Nothing huggable. Lian felt a spasm of loss. His stomach ached all
the way to his heart.

All around the Valadors were the faces they’d
come to love and hate. Jorab rose like a lighthouse over the waves
of heads. He caught Root’s eye and nodded. Mordge was beside him.
She too bowed her head and added a tender, honoring smile.

Farther back Hyvis and Hilly Punyun were also
smiling. But theirs were wicked grins. They had taken yet another
victory. It made Root’s insides squirm.

“Let’s get outta here,” she said.

The crowd that had amassed around them began
to open up. But as a hush came on its heels Root realized it wasn’t
opening to let the Valadors through. It was opening up to make room
for the magnificent creature that was now walking toward them.

The HaloEm looked like a surreal vision,
something angelic and not of any flesh. And yet as the gap between
them grew smaller Root recognized a twinkle in the eyes. It was not
like the celestial light and color of the wings. It was a spark of
mischief and innocence and wonder and trust and loyalty. All the
moments of their time together. It was the twinkle of
friendship.

Root felt a lump in her throat. Would CPR
remember her in her new life as a HaloEm? Now that she didn’t need
Root anymore?

The magnificent white stag continued toward
her. Whispers of the crowd drifted into silent awe. Once directly
in front of her, Root could feel the presence of power.

And then a thick wet tongue across her
cheek.

She flew at CPR, wrapping her arms around her
neck, laughing and crying at the same time. “I thought I’d lost
you!”

It wasn’t her mother. It wasn’t her father.
But it was the Embrace all the same! Another glorious addition of
family. Lian’s eyes were brimming. Dwyn threw his arm around him
and took a sleeve across his own sniffing nose.

And then the moment that put even the famous
Silken Oxback resurrection scene to shame.

CPR raised her great antlers. She spread her
glorious wings. She roared into the night, a mighty HaloEm staking
claim of its time. She locked onto the eyes of her beloved Root
Karbunkulus. And bowed.

Her strong, muscled legs bent all the way to
the ground. Her head drew low. Her wings drifted flat along the
entire length of the pen.

Root swallowed. It was incredible and
overwhelming at the same time.

“Look!” someone gasped.

All eyes turned to the wings where a single
feather, long and silvery and claiming the light of the aurora,
gently lifted away from its hold and drifted into the air.