“Alistair, what are you doing?”
Alistair didn’t answer the question. “Try to act natural.” Seconds passed. Those seconds turned to more seconds. Still, more seconds. “Take a step behind you,” he said. Daniel did so.
As he watched, Daniel saw a shape materialize. The shape grew and took form until Daniel recognized what he saw—himself. It was an exact replica down to the tiniest detail, from the worn creases on the tips of his sneakers, to the faded spots on the knees of his jeans, to the soup stain on his t-shirt, to the backpack he wore and, of course, to the frightened expression on his face.
“Is that me?” he said. “No way. It looks like I’ve got a case of the shakes. Alistair, what is that?”
“It’s a diversion. The nearer we come to the mountain, the more spies Meruzilak will send. This will buy us a few minutes, but he won’t be fooled long. The more distance we cover, the safer we will be.”
Daniel watched himself on replay. “It’s awesome. Like a perfect hologram.”
“A hologram? I’m not familiar with that term.”
“Hologram, you know? Like in the science fiction movies.”
“This is a diversion. Nothing more.” Alistair ducked behind the image and signaled for Daniel to follow. “Meruzilak controls the mountain. As we get closer, my power becomes weaker. We will make it, though. I promise to bring you safely to the chasm.”
Chapter 30
Traveling Companions
Joshua held his nose and made a face. What, did a family of skunks die inside this thing?
It was freezing outside and this was the best they’d given him—a tattered coat that stank to high heaven? Joshua wrinkled his nose and put his arms through the sleeves. He didn’t have a choice; he could see his breath it was so cold.
This was obviously the journey Meruzilak was talking about, but where were they going? Joshua wasn’t cool on the idea of a sleigh ride through the mountains with Ralmaghar and Meruzilak, Jerks Number One and Two, and prayed for the light snowfall to turn into a blizzard and wipe out their trip. And if God couldn’t do that, he prayed Staggor would at least slow down a little (or a lot) on packing the sleigh.
Joshua looked around at his surroundings—the two-hundred-foot castle surrounded by snowcapped mountains and the teardrop-shaped lake—but the scenery was lost on him, as his chattering teeth and trembling nerves kept him from admiring it. Joshua felt his watch from the outside of his coat. He thought back to the cave and how excited he’d been to see the tiny beam of light cutting into the darkness. “It seems so long ago,” he whispered.
Staggor worked with methodical ease, as the horses stood quiet and still. The snowfall gave the land a silent calmness. There was no sign of Meruzilak, and Joshua entertained the hope that he wasn’t coming, that it would be him and Staggor on the journey. Joshua’s spirits lifted. He didn’t like Staggor any more than the next guy but was pretty sure he could handle a sleigh ride with him. Or perhaps, he considered, Staggor realized the sleigh moved faster without the others and planned to ditch them to cut the trip in half.
“Come on,” Joshua begged. “Hurry up, before they get here. Let’s go.” Joshua tapped his foot on the ground impatiently. “Enough dawdling, all right?” He pulled up his coat sleeve and checked his watch. They were losing precious time because of Staggor’s lackadaisical attitude. “Here, I’ll help you if you want. Just put the bags in the sleigh, already. Come on.”
No such luck, however. The castle door rumbled and Meruzilak, followed several paces behind by Ralmaghar, stepped out of the open doorway.
The first thing he noticed was that Meruzilak had changed. He wasn’t as good-looking as Joshua remembered. He also didn’t appear very happy.
Meruzilak grabbed Joshua by the scruff of the neck and threw him into the sleigh. “Let’s go,” he commanded. Ralmaghar took a seat at the reins.
“Am I not driving?” Staggor asked.
Meruzilak reached into his cloak and slowly brought his arm out. The look of dread on Staggor’s face, as he recognized what Meruzilak was holding, told a story a million words could not. Dread was replaced by deep sadness. Meruzilak threw the empty bag of berries on the ground and turned to face Joshua.
“There is a price for disobedience,” he said and raised his arm. An orb of light shot from his hand and struck Staggor in the chest.
Staggor didn’t bother to put up a fight. Instead, he looked at Joshua. It was the first time Staggor had shown any emotion, and Joshua realized it was a look of friendship. Staggor had been helping him. Joshua responded with an expression of kindness in return, and Staggor smiled. He kept his eyes fixed on Joshua until the end, which came quickly. The orb of light spread through his body and then, in a flash, Staggor was gone.
Meruzilak pointed his eyes at Joshua. “Should you try to escape, the same fate will await you.” He turned and gave orders to Ralmaghar. Ralmaghar cracked the reins and the sled took off with a violent jerk. Joshua, still hurting from the fall, as well as saddened by what happened, buried his head forward, not wanting to see anything else. This place was anything but peaceful, anything but calm. This place was evil.
The sled raced forward. Joshua thought he heard something in the air behind him but didn’t look. Meruzilak sat atop the sleigh, possessed, like a mad sea captain on a vengeance quest. They were soon out of sight of the castle, the sole reminder of their journey being the tracks they left behind and the empty sackcloth, now buried under the fallen snow.
***
Hours passed; they seemed like torture. The good news was that his voice had returned, though he dared not speak. The horses drew the sleigh along at a steady pace, as they approached the edge of a clearing.
It was a jumble of emotions for Joshua to experience. He was basically scared to death. He didn’t know where he was or where they were going. The one thing he did know was this Meruzilak guy didn’t like him much. In fact, he was pretty sure he hated him. But Joshua also marveled at the passing landscape. If someone were to take a snow globe of a wintry paradise, shake it up and set it on a countertop, this is what it would look like.
They were traveling through a forest with huge snowcapped pines in every direction. Large cones sat scattered on the trail, and Joshua was tempted to reach down and grab one. Joshua felt his face getting windburned and considered what his mom would say if she knew he’d been out all day without sunscreen.
His thoughts were interrupted. On the side of the trail was a fat little furry creature that wobbled as it walked. It had a nub for a tail and curly whiskers, and Joshua, as the sleigh drew close, reached out to pet it. The creature, without warning, bared its teeth with a loud hiss and lunged at Joshua with open claws. Joshua screamed and pulled his arm back, barely avoiding the attack. The animal retracted its claws, hissing loudly.
“A couple more seconds and you might have lost a hand.” Meruzilak spoke without a hint of concern. “Pity.”
“Wiffens do not like to be touched,” he added. “If you’re fortunate enough to be alive the next time we see one, you might remember that. I doubt you’ll be so lucky again.” Meruzilak went back to what he was doing before, which as far as Joshua observed was pretty much nothing, unless staring off into space and looking like an idiot counted as something.
Until now, Joshua had avoided eye contact with Meruzilak at all costs. But his curiosity was getting the best of him, so he gambled and stole a couple of glances.
Yuck! His parents must have spent a fortune on Acne-Cleanse when he was a kid. Under the sunlight’s glare, Meruzilak’s skin was definitely not as smooth as Joshua first thought. In fact, it was quite pockmarked. Maybe he scratched off chicken pox when he was a boy. How did I not notice that before?
Joshua covered his face with his hands, pretending to be asleep, and peeked through his fingers. He was taking a huge risk by staring, but he hadn’t seen Meruzilak blink yet and was dying to know if he actually did or not. He watched him for at least two minutes but never saw hi
s eyelids move. How are his eyes not burning like crazy? I can’t even go five seconds.
Meruzilak spoke, startling Joshua. “If you continue to press your luck, you’ll be seeing the world through fish eyes from this point forward.”
Fish eyes? Nobody’s giving me fish eyes. And I’m tired of this guy threatening me. Joshua spoke up. “What do you want with me?”
Meruzilak greeted Joshua with a look of contempt. “How old are you?”
“Nine. Not that’s it’s any of your business. How old are you?”
“I am nine hundred and thirty-seven years old, which is nine hundred and twenty-eight more than you. So until you are at least twelve and have grown an inch or two, you are not allowed to ask any more questions.”
“Smarta …” Joshua started to say but caught himself. He hated when people made fun of him for being short but also remembered what happened to Staggor, so he bit his tongue. “Well, at least I don’t have B.O.,” he whispered under his breath. Meruzilak ignored him and looked ahead.
The sleigh pressed forward while the sun began to set. Out of the forest now, they descended on an open plain. The weather had grown decidedly worse and the snow turned to a cold drizzle. Joshua wrapped himself tightly in his coat, but the coat was wet and provided little comfort.
“You could at least give me a hat,” he grumbled. “If you’re so magic and powerful, why don’t you put a roof over this thing?” Because he didn’t need to, Joshua noticed. The rain wasn’t touching Meruzilak. Somehow, the drops disappeared before they reached him.
Joshua felt a surge of anger. He resented Meruzilak for being mean enough to let him freeze to death while he stayed dry as a cactus. It was uncalled for to be that coldhearted. He turned his eyes to Ralmaghar, driving the sleigh, and considered asking him for help. Maybe he’d be decent enough to give Joshua an extra blanket. But no sooner did he consider the idea than he dismissed it. Ralmaghar had been cruel from the get-go; there was no way he was going to help. Besides, he’s a puppet. Staggor was the one who’d been decent to Joshua, and Joshua hadn’t realized it until it was too late.
Though he knew he wasn’t responsible for Staggor’s death—after all, he didn’t ask for the berries—Joshua still felt miserable. Not only was Staggor dead, he’d died in the worst possible way, by having an orb of light explode inside him. That must be the worst way for a person to get killed. Actually, the more Joshua thought about it, the more certain he became: Meruzilak had probably invented a ton of terrible ways to die, and he’d probably used them all. What if he’s got a special fireball with my name on it?
After all, Meruzilak had already threatened Joshua twice. What if it was “three strikes and you’re out?” If so, he might as well go ahead and get it over with. Joshua couldn’t remember why he got the first strike, and all he’d done for the second was try to pet a wiffen. What would the third strike be for, having to blow his nose?
Joshua, soaked and shivering, blew into his hands to keep them from freezing, while in the distance he heard a faint clap of thunder. He was cold, tired, and hungry. On top of that, he’d been forced to smell Meruzilak the whole way. Has he never heard of a bath? All in all, it had been the worst day of Joshua’s life.
No, take that back. Second to worst, he meant to say. This day may have been bad, but it didn’t come close to being the worst. He could live a hundred years, and no day—no matter how terrible—would take that one’s place. That day was worse than anything Meruzilak could dish up, yet Joshua survived it. They all survived it—he, his mother, and Daniel.
Joshua stood in the sleigh. He didn’t care what Meruzilak did to him, whether it was turning him into a charcoal biscuit or whatever else. He was going to get some answers one way or another. “Where are we going?” he said.
The words rang out over the landscape. Even Ralmaghar was surprised and turned to look. Meruzilak glowered at Joshua, so mad he could have shot fire out of his eyes. He was so mad even his ears shook.
Seconds passed without Meruzilak doing anything, as if the little devil on his shoulder was screaming, “Fry him! Fry him!” and he was deciding the best way to do it. Still, Meruzilak hesitated. Something was holding him back, perhaps the little angel on the other shoulder, though Joshua doubted he had one of those. Whatever the case, his rage quieted ever so slightly. It didn’t disappear—he was still mad enough to squeeze hornets—but it simmered for the moment.
“You brazen child.” He snapped his fingers and the sled shot forward with a scream. Joshua crashed to the floor. “That’s where we’re going,” he said, pointing to the mountain in the distance, the tallest point on the horizon. “That’s where I will find your brother.”
Chapter 31
Handstands
What little sun to be seen was seen through small breaks in the storm clouds moving quickly across the sky. The sky had grown so overcast the mountain itself was hardly
visible, though Alistair and Daniel had stopped to camp a few hundred yards away.
Daniel couldn’t guess how far they’d come—they’d walked all day and into the night. His mind was as tired as his body and it was a struggle for him to recount the events of the day. Breakfast with the dragons seemed so long ago he was no longer sure it happened. He sat on a stump and shut his eyes. Just a few minutes. Maybe long enough for a power nap. He’d almost nodded off when he heard Alistair whistling and took a peek to see what was going on.
Alistair was making shadow puppets in the sky. Daniel shook his head. He may be a good friend and a pretty cool guy, but he is still weird. That much will never change. Daniel watched him guide a hawk in between the thunderclouds. “Hey, don’t you believe in sleep?”
Alistair turned to him and flapped his arms. The hawk swooped down on Daniel, knocking him from his stump. “Real funny,” Daniel said, picking himself off the ground. “You caught me at a bad moment, that’s all. What are you doing, anyway?”
“Come here. I’ll show you.”
Daniel grabbed his pack and joined him, though he didn’t know what he was supposed to be looking at. Alistair was watching a cloud formation coming in from the east, so Daniel did the same. Several minutes passed without anything happening and Daniel grew restless. He turned his eyes to the mountain ahead. Completely uninviting with its frost-covered patches and steep terrain, someone may as well have put up a giant sign that read, “NO TRESPASSING! KEEP OUT!” Daniel let out a heavy sigh. The worst part was they were hiking to the very top. The climb itself would probably zap every ounce of his strength.
“Alistair, do you really think I can do this?”
“Yes, I do. I wouldn’t have brought you this far if I didn’t.”
“I’m scared, Alistair.”
“I know you are. But right now, maybe that’s a good place to be.”
“What’s going to happen when we get there?”
For the first time, Daniel saw true concern in his friend’s eyes. “I don’t know,” he answered. “Now get ready.”
“Get ready for what?” Daniel said then saw the lead cloud break formation and turn in their direction. “Hold on. Did I see what I think I saw?”
“Indeed. Pretty cool, huh?”
Daniel didn’t pick up on Alistair’s newfound vocabulary. The cloud was gaining speed and coming straight for them. “Uh, Alistair. Don’t you think we ought to run?”
Alistair stood perfectly still.
“Alistair, do something.”
“We’ll be fine.”
“Alistair, we have to run. It’s coming straight for us.”
“Trust me. Shut your eyes if you need to.”
“Are you crazy?” Daniel shouted. “I’m not going to close my eyes and let a runaway thundercloud demolish me.” He braced himself. For what, he had no idea, but he braced himself, regardless. He saw lightning flash inside the cloud. It was nearly on top of them. Oh, to heck with it. Daniel shut his eyes.
***
Somehow, everything outside kept raging while everythin
g on the inside remained calm. Hold on a second. Is this what I think it is? He felt under his butt. What was cloud even made of? He tried to remember from science class. It’s like vapor or something, right? Daniel stood and tried to find his balance. It was like walking on one of those jumper things the kids play in, only fluffier.
Alistair noted his surprise. “Go ahead.”
“I’m not going to fall through, am I?”
Alistair shook his head.
“Are you sure I won’t slide right out?”
“Quite sure.”
“All right, here goes.” Daniel got a head start and flipped over in a somersault. He landed softly on his back and jumped up with a huge smile on his face. “Who needs a trampoline when you’ve got this? Eat your heart out, Stevie!”
Daniel vaulted into a handstand, his fingers melting into the cottony floor. “Hey, Alistair. Time me, okay?” He locked his elbows in place and steadied himself upside down. What was his former record for a handstand? Two minutes, maybe three? “Hey, Alistair, how long has it been?”
Alistair didn’t appear to be counting. “Perhaps twenty seconds?” he suggested.
“Twenty seconds? Give me a break. It’s been at least a minute, probably more.” Daniel felt the blood rush to his head. It was a great feeling, made better by the fact he was suspended high above the ground, floating inside a cloud. The weirdest part was it was cold and rainy on the outside but perfectly dry inside. “Hey, Alistair, was this made by the Ancients, too?”
“No,” Alistair said. “This wasn’t made by the Ancients. This is an Ancient.”
Daniel’s arms gave way and he toppled to the floor. “What did you say? I must be having vertigo or something because I could have sworn you said …”
Alistair nodded in the direction of the far wall. The cloud was swirling around itself, like a milky hurricane, and Daniel saw an outline forming. He watched keenly as the details came into focus. Sure enough—the defined cheekbones, high-arching eyebrows—Daniel was looking upon the face of an Ancient. In the flesh … well, sort of. The face disappeared.
Daniel kept watching in case it decided to reappear. Alistair, meanwhile, moved to the corner where their packs were sitting. Daniel noticed Alistair’s calm demeanor then realized how silly he must look himself, still dizzy from the gymnastics, with a goofy grin plastered to his face. “I don’t see how you stay so calm while stuff like this is happening. Maybe it’s normal to you, but where I come from, it’s crazy.”