The Winter Letter (18 page)

“I didn’t do anything! I told you!”

“Well, what happened?”

“William did nothing,” said a voice from behind. “It was I.” 

Will, Wohie, and Gatnom spun around. They were in a big room. On one side dark brown dirt made the ceiling, walls, and floors, but the opposite side was a free standing wall of bright blue water, like an aquarium without the glass. In a perfect line the change from dirt to underwater happened. The water world seemed to go on forever, with fish and swimming people passing to the left and right, floating up and down and in and out as they carried on about their business. Staring out from the water-wall, like a person looking through a shop window, was a beautiful woman wearing a flowing thin dress. Below, standing on the dry part of the room was the servant from above, ears big as ever, but now with a smile.

“Welcome Gatnom, William, and Ascena,“ the woman said. Although she was speaking underwater her voice was still heard clearly.”

“You, you were in my dream!” Will said to the lady. “You were the nurse!” The woman smiled kindly at Will’s recollection. Wohie saw the ears and remembered the tree. 

“I know you as well, from my own dream,” Gatnom said as he stepped forward. “Who are you, Madam? And, where are we?”

The lady lifted her arms gracefully. Her sleeves waved with the current of the sea. “My name is Urim, and this is Thummim,” the lady said gesturing towards the short servant. “And yes, we are they who gave you your dreams, and we are they who will help you begin your quest. This is Sandaqua; the land where earth and sea meet. You are safe here, for the moment.”

“Why are you helping us?” Gatnom asked.

“We serve the same Master. We serve the same purpose,” Urim answered.

“Is your purpose to save the boys?” Gatnom asked.

“Yes. We will do our part to save the lost sons of Baru, which we do now in the beginning of your adventure.” Urim turned and looked at Will, who looked away quickly. He felt her eyes were seeing directly through him, that nothing was hidden from her piercing gaze. She continued. “If the will of the King of All is done, all the lost sons will be recovered, even those who do not know they are lost.”

“The King of All? You mean the maker? Has he come to Pugian?” asked Gatnom.

“Young Magi, he has come many times, when everyone was looking at other things. But we will talk as we go. We must be moving; you have a long journey ahead, and that wall will not keep your pursuers out for much longer.“ 

Urim turned and half swam, half floated past where the dirt wall met the clear water. Wohie, Will, and Gatnom looked at each other, then they turned to Thummim, who was standing beside a dirt door, holding it open. He said only one word, with a smirk. 

”Come.“ 

Eighteen
New Friends

Through the door there was a half and half hallway. The left half was black soil, the right blue water. Urim glided across the aquarium faster than the others walked, doing little more than flipping her webbed fingers. Wohie, who was walking in front of Will and behind Gatnom, reached out and slid her fingers into the water wall. They streamed across like a mother’s hand checking the temperature of bath water. 

Seeing this, Jabber hopped off of Will’s shoulder and dove straight in, causing a tiny backwards splash. The water rippled in every direction, bouncing off the floor and walls when it reached them. On the other side Jabber flapped his wings instinctively different (more like fins than wings) and swam swooping circles around Urim, who smiled kindly. After a few loops Jabber shot out of the water and was hovering in the air next to Will.

“That was cool, Jab,” Will said.

“It was kinda cool, but I’m used to cold water,” Jabber answered, having not yet learned Will’s strange way of talking.

At the end of the hallway another door led to a room of complete dirt. Just above eye level were hundreds of living tree roots dangling from the soil ceiling. Everyone but Thummim had to duck to dodge the wooden tentacles, which twitched from time to time like giant wood earthworms.

“Are these Xylon roots?” Wohie asked. Thummim nodded. She reached up and tickled one of the dangling tentacles. Instantly it twitched away and curled up into the dirt ceiling. “I knew it! I knew it! They
are
ticklish!”

“Come,” said Thummim, “You will ride the roots to the river. That is as far as we can send you. King Mel Masih has disabled all non-tree root travel beyond the river.” 

Gatnom and Wohie stepped forward, but Will stood still, not knowing what to do. He had heard of
riding the root
s before, but never understood. 

“What’s wrong?” Gatnom asked.

“What’s riding the roots?”

“You have done it before, when you were asleep. It is the quickest way to travel in Baru. It is magic discovered by Lord Eleazar Guardian before he turned to evil. You travel by the root system, entering at one end, jumping from one to the next, until you arrive at your destination, like a Xylon tree. It is how we got to Master Jared’s keep after we crossed the river and the great field. It can be a little tough to handle at first, but after a few times it’s fun. Come on.”

Will stepped to the center of the room. Wohie grabbed Gatnom’s hand then reached out and took his. “Ready?” Thummim asked. Gatnom was ready. Wohie was ready. Will was not.

The next words were unintelligible. Will felt himself shoot up and then everything went blurry as faces like drama masks streamed by as wet paint in the wind. Only by Wohie’s laugh did Will recognize the smiling cartoon holding his hand. They swooped and dipped; a dream world roller-coaster in neon. After a few minutes of upside down twisting, the direction turned, then, like a weakly shot spitball, Will came lobbing out of a tree root hanging on the edge of a riverbank. He splashed into shallow muddy water. When he gathered himself he realized he was on the edge of a small river in the middle of thick woods. Light from the sunrise peaked through the trees as dawn danced on the ripples of the water.

“That was crazy,” Will said as he wobbled about. “I think I’m going to be sick. Wh—” 

Gatnom hushed Will with a raised hand. “I think there’s something in the water.” 

Something brushed Will’s leg, then a large fin appeared, swooping around and swerving between the three young magi in an s pattern. 

“What...was...that?” Wohie asked one word at a time.

The fin appeared and disappeared again, but then, like a spear thrown at the moon, a blue marlin launched from the water. At the peak of its dive it bucked hard to the left, and two giant wings unfolded on each of its sides. The long needle nose shortened to a beak, and the shiny blue and silver skin puffed into feathers. The marlin was suddenly an eagle in mid air. The big bird flapped its wings twice and alighted on the opposite bank. When it looked up its beak had turned to fangs. Its feathers were now fur.

“Oh snap, a lion!” Will said too loudly. Then two other lions stepped out of the tree line, standing just behind the first, all the size of small horses. “Umm, I mean lions?”

The lions stared unblinking towards the group of bewildered travelers. Their eyes were strong and unflinching, and in the young morning light their flexing shoulders looked like armor. Around these rippling shoulders hung braided ropes of leather, a different color for each lion. The front and largest wore red and gold, the one to the left wore blue and silver, and the one to the far right wore black and gold. 

All three of the young magi stood gaping. The lions reminded each of something, but none of them could remember exactly what it was. They felt like they should bow or run, faint or sing, but were unsure of which to choose.

“Fallen ones,” said the center Lion. “Come ashore.”

Will, Gatnom, and Wohie all looked at each other. “Did that lion just speak to us?” Will asked.

“Yes, I did. Do not be afraid. We are friends. I am Tselem. My friend in the blue and silver is Parah. The beast in the gold and black is Radah. We are of the Unfallen.”

Wohie and Gatnom gasped at the same time. “What? What is it?” Will asked. Gatnom seemed to not hear.

“Sir, how can this be?” asked Gatnom. “I thought after the Unfallen were slaughtered by the horde of Amok, those reaming left Pugian in search of a pure world.”

Tselem said nothing for a moment. His eyes moved to the left and right as if he were listening to the other two lions beside him. They seemed to communicate without speaking. “Young Magi, my kind did not die, but they did suffer; not from weakness, but because it did not seem right to kill the bewitched. All of our kind left this world many years ago. We have returned, but we should talk about this later. We must be going. What are your names?”

“I am Gatnom, this is Wohie, and this is Will. But what do you mean going? Going where, sir? We are on a journey to the City of the King.”

“Then we shall see you through the peaks.”

Gatnom climbed the bank with one long legged stride, and Will and Wohie made there way up behind him. Even on level ground Gatnom was only just above eye level with Tselem. “Forgive my rudeness sir, but in these days we must be careful. Why are you helping us?” Gatnom asked. “How did you know we would be here?”

“We are helping you for the same reason we did not fight back against the Amokians all those years ago; it seems right. As to how we found you, we are led by something you are not yet able to understand. I say this not as an insult, but as truth.” 

Tselem turned his head slightly towards the other lion, Radah, who was scanning the woods of the opposite bank. “Yes I see,” said Tselem. “Hurry magi, we must be moving. You are being followed.”

“Followed? By who?! We just rode the roots all the way from the ocean!” Will said.

“Radah senses a small regiment of men riding this way from near the Abandoned City. However, it is not those he is concerned with; we are over a day’s hard ride ahead of them. It is another, a magi clothed in black. We spotted him nearby, but are having difficulty tracking him. That is what concerns us. Radah is the most excellent tracker of our kind.”

“How did he know we would come here!” Will asked Gatnom. “We didn’t even know! Oh man, what do we do now?”

“Do you know who is pursuing you?” Tselem asked.

“Yes, Master Tselem,” Gatnom answered. “It is Lord Andrias, the highest knight of King Mel.”

There was silence for a moment while the three lions seems to talk to one another without words. “Is this true?” Tselem asked after the silent conversation was over. His lion eyes seemed narrowed as if he was trying to figure out a complicated riddle. “I am familiar with Lord Andrias Shielder, but only of King Neba. Explain.”

“It is said that after the Great War he surrendered to King Mel. Ever since he has turned on the people of Baru. He came to our camp and kidnapped our friends. That is why we are going to the city, to try to rescue them. The other men from the sea, they are my master’s guard. He forbid us from going on this quest and is trying to stop us before we get to the city.”

“Why is an entire regiment perusing three young magi on a quest to rescue their friends?” Tselem asked after a moment.

“Master Jared thinks we could cause the war to come early. And, I disobeyed an order. I—”

“I am not looking for an answer young friend,” said Tselem, interrupting. “It is the question you must consider. The regiment causes no worries to me, but if what you have said about Lord Andrias is true, we must move fast. He and I were once friends, and he is mighty.” Tselem looked away, towards the fresh rods of light falling through the trees. “The night is ended. We will need all of this day and the next to make it to the foothills of the Sudden Peaks.”

“Sir Tselem,” said Gatnom, “forgive my correction, but I fear you may remember wrong from your long time away. A trip to the peaks from the river is four days by land.”

Tselem smiled slightly, which looked a lot like a growl. “I am afraid this world’s memory may be the one that is mistaken. There is none of Pugian, above or beneath, sea or air, faster than the Unfallen. Today, we shall carry you while you sleep. We will need your eyes to be sharp when we are near the mountains.”

“No way. We’re gonna ride Lions? Oh wait, are we gonna fly?” Will said, unable to help himself. 

“You are not yet strong enough to ride on our backs while we fly. It takes the strongest of magi to hold on while our power is in effect. Ride upon our backs in our current form. It is much safer.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Will, I trust em. We’ll be okay,” Jabber whispered into Will’s ear.

“Thanks, Jab.”

“Sir, whom shall ride with whom?” Gatnom asked.

“You, the eldest, mount me. I am the captain as you are. Young woman, mount Parah, he is the youngest of us three. And you, William, mount Radah.”

The three climbed onto the backs of the beast, taking the colored leather rope in hand. 

“Yes, there. Now, you three sleep for a while. When you awake I want to hear more about what has happened in this world in our absence.”

With those words all three lions spun and took off. Usually a walk and trot comes before a run, but the beast skipped the first two stages all together; first gear was full speed, and before the young magi had a good grip they were already jumping fallen trees and dodging the standing ones. The lions made almost no sound as they ran, even at such a pace that the wind pressed against Will’s cheeks. As they went Wohie held on to Parah’s mane with one hand, especially down the steeper hills; Gatnom sat quiet, swaying with the gait, his hands resting on his thighs; and Will prayed to survive and held on for dear life. It was like he was riding a graceful bull. The Lions were quiet the entire time, but Will was sure they were communicating by the way they would glance back and forth at each other. Once the terrain was a bit more predictable the Lions gait fell into a smooth rhythm and all three young magi drifted into sleep. Little did they know, Parah was a master of sleep spells, and he had been silently insistent that the young magi needed rest.

When the spell wore off late that afternoon the three Lions were running at the same ridiculous speed as the morning before. All afternoon they pressed on. Not once did they stop for water or food or rest. It wasn’t until the terrain began to grow steep again that Tselem stopped.