Kari jogged her head to indicate the direction. I reached out, grabbed her free hand, and we started running as fast as we could. Kari’s hand gripped mine so hard it hurt, but if I had learned anything at all today it was that I knew we could make it if we stuck together and kept trying. Letting go just wasn’t an option. Not anymore.
Kari was my strange, crazy, brave, and strong sister. I wasn’t leaving her behind.
Something very, very close to us that definitely wasn’t human screamed over the sound of the wind. With the storm howling like a banshee now and branches falling all around, I had no way of knowing if the basilisk was gaining on us. The ground shook continuously, though whether from the coils of the basilisk close behind or from large branches slamming to earth on all sides I couldn’t tell.
A branch the size of a decent tree dropped out of the murk, crashing down so close that Kari and I had to dodge to one side. My foot slipped on wet leaves as I skidded sideways and I almost fell, but Kari’s grip on my hand kept me up and steadied me enough to keep going, knowing my slip had slowed us down and wondering if I was really feeling the hot breath of a basilisk very close behind. Something snagged at the back of my clothes as we went around the branch. I jerked free without looking back, Kari pulling me forward with her as she kept running, the sword in her other hand shining amid the horrible gloom.
One of the giant trees ahead of us uttered a tremendous series of bangs like a ragged volley of cannon fire as its trunk cracked. With a huge moan the whole massive tree began falling. Falling just in front of us, trying to cut us off from home. I didn’t think I could run any faster, but I did, putting everything into a final burst of speed, while Kari somehow ran even faster than me and pulled me along.
A hissing filled my ears even over the wind and the crackling groan of ancient wood breaking as the tree fell like the giant it was. If you’ve ever stood next to a skyscraper, imagine one of those toppling sideways toward you. We crossed under the still-falling tree as I wondered how far we would have to go to clear its trunk and branches, and how close behind us the basilisk now was. Then the tree trunk hit and the earth jumped beneath us like a frightened cat. Kari and I both almost fell, but we kept our feet somehow and ran onward, blinded for a moment by showers of leaves from the fallen tree.
We ran into an open, grassy area and the wind stopped. There were only a couple of trees and we could see the stars again.
We both stumbled to a stop, gasping for breath after our run and staring around us. I couldn’t hear any sounds of pursuit, so I turned very slowly. Nothing there but a wooden fence that was overdue for the repainting I had promised Dad I would get around to someday. “We made it. We’re in our backyard. You got us back, Kari.”
Kari started laughing very softly even though she looked like she was about to cry. “We are home. You brought me home, Liam.” Before I knew what she was doing, Kari slammed her sword into its scabbard, then with both hands free wrapped me in a hug so tight I thought my ribs were going to pop.
Okay, I sort of hugged her back. But only for a second. Because we had just escaped death and everything, you know.
“You are the bravest, strongest, and best brother ever,” Kari whispered, then seemed to realize what she was doing and broke the hug, jumping back from me. “I mean…thank you, dearest brother.”
“I think you had a lot to do with us getting home,” I said, feeling really awkward. Man, if somebody had seen me hugging my own sister like that I would have had to spend the next ten years in hiding.
Remembering something from our run, I cautiously felt my back, finding a rip in my jeans pocket. I pulled out my wallet. There was a jagged scratch running down its length.
Kari used one finger to trace the path of the scratch. “The mark of a basilisk’s fang. It seems the beast was rather close at the end, Liam,” she noted, her voice shaking a little.
“Yeah. Thanks for holding on to me back there.”
“The credit is yours, dearest brother. You were holding on to me.”
“No, no, when that thing almost grabbed me, you were holding on to me.”
“No, I wasn’t!” Kari insisted.
“Yes, you—”
“Liam?” I saw Mom’s silhouette against the light in the open kitchen door.
I looked up again at the stars. “It’s late. Real late. Mom’s going to be very, very upset.”
Kari grinned. “She cannot be any worse than a basilisk.”
“You don’t know Mom when she’s very, very upset.” But we couldn’t exactly turn around and go back to face the basilisk, so I faced the house. “Here, Mom,” I called.
“Liam? Are you…are you…alone?”
“No. Of course not. Kari’s here. I brought her back. I told you I would and I did.”
Kari gave me a startled look. “The third promise, Liam. You have fulfilled the third promise.”
Oh, yeah. Three for three. Our quest was successful and we were both home. “All right, I admit it. The Archimaede was right.”
Mom stepped back to let us into the kitchen, eyeing our clothes, which bore the marks of a day involving a lot of traveling on foot through wild fields and forests, encounters with various beasts and the occasional monster or dragon, a vicious storm between worlds, and a very near miss with a basilisk. “You’re pretty late getting back from that little walk.”
I started to give some sarcastic answer but saw the strain still visible on Mom’s face. All she had had to do was worry about us. Yeah. That’s all. I had never really thought about that before, but now I could remember how I had felt when Kari had disappeared in the castle. “I’m sorry, Mom. I honestly didn’t know things would be this complicated today.”
“Complicated?” Mom poured herself some tea, offered some to us, but then stood there at the kitchen table like she couldn’t move. She lowered her face into her hands for a moment, her voice muffled. “I can’t tell you how hard it has been the last few hours.”
“Mom. I’m really sorry.”
She looked up and tried to smile at us. Kari had kept standing there like a soldier, and I figured I had to stand by her to keep her from feeling like a dope. Mom raised her eyebrows when she realized what we were doing. “Why haven’t you two—Are you waiting for me to sit down first?”
“Of course, honored Mother,” Kari replied.
Mom looked at me.
“I’m just making sure Kari’s comfortable,” I replied.
“Wow,” Mom said. I wasn’t sure what that meant. “But you two don’t have to stand on ceremony at home. Sit down, please.” After we had all sat down, Kari tasted her tea tentatively, then smiled. “Do you like that, Kari?”
“Yes, honored Mother.”
“It’s herbal tea. I thought you might like it from what I’d seen of you earlier.” Mom looked away for a moment. “It wasn’t easy wondering if I’d see you again. Especially when it started getting dark. Okay, you two. What have you been up to while I’ve been here worried sick?”
There are times to stand tall and times to pass the buck to someone else. There was no way Mom would believe me if I told the story, so I quickly pointed to Kari. “Uh, Mom, I bet Kari would do a lot better job of telling you than I would. Especially if there are any parts in elvish.”
Kari didn’t seem in the least put out by being put on the hot seat. “There should not be any parts in elvish,” she told me.
Kari stood up, stepped back from the table, raised her open hands about even with her shoulders, palms up, and started half-singing/half-talking. “Witness all here the tale of Liam the Steadfast Brother, Keeper of Promises, He Who Fights Without a Sword,” she sang, “and his sister once unknown and yet known to him, Kari, She Who was Born to Elven-kind, Bearer of the Sword of Fate, Spirit Daughter of White Lady of Eveness, She Who Was Once Apart. Listen as I tell of the perils they have overcome, frustrating the evil designs of Lady Meyer of the grim fortress of Hillcrest, crossing the terrifying walls between the worlds, fighting unwavering against the wolves
of Graysinder, destroying the Demon Mirror of Lady Amelia’s Keep, facing down the Elves of the Westerwood, standing firm against the spells of the Wight of the River Crossing, slaying the dragon guardian of the rock from the Moon, finding lost items of great portent, and together challenging and overcoming the grim basilisks which stood between them and their home. Listen and wonder as I sing of their exploits.”
Mom just sat and stared, her mouth often hanging half open again, as Kari sang her way through what had happened. Kari had to pause at times as she improvised the next verse, but never for long. She kept her lower body pretty much in place, but used her arms, hands, and upper body to act out stuff, which made it pretty cool to watch as well as listen to.
Finally, Kari ended in grand style. “This do I sing, and this do I swear to be true on my honor and on my sword.” She paused, then swept into that graceful kneel of hers, facing Mom, her head down and arms extended.
It took Mom a moment to recover. “Umm…thank you, Kari. That was…an interesting story.” She looked over at me. “Am I to understand that you are the Steadfast Brother and Keeper of Promises?”
“Yeah.” I probably sounded a little defensive, but who wouldn’t?
“He is everything I sang of and more,” Kari said from her kneel, raising her head to look at Mom again. “Honored Mother, if you could only have seen my brother Liam when we faced our greatest perils. You would be so proud of him. I am certain of it.”
Mom smiled at both of us. “As a matter of fact, Kari, I am proud of him.”
Cool. But I pointed at Kari. “She played down what she did,” I insisted. “Kari did a lot more than me. She broke the mirror—”
“After you saved me from its spell,” Kari interrupted, still kneeling.
“And if she hadn’t gone after that dragon so hard and killed it—”
“You distracted and dazed the monster, thus saving us both.”
“All right.” Mom waved her hands to stop us. “Kari, please get up. We don’t usually kneel in this family. Who is this White Lady of—?”
“Eveness,” Kari said, standing. “She raised me, honored Mother. Shall I sing of her beauty, her grace, her flowing mane and tail, her shining horn and hooves—”
“Horn? Hooves?”
“She’s a unicorn,” I explained. “A real tough, mom unicorn. You’d probably like her. She talks a lot like you.”
“Talks?” Mom rubbed her face for a moment, then looked at both of us. “Kari, that was really lovely, and I’ve never had an excuse for getting home late sung and performed for me. It’s also unusual to hear a brother and a sister competing to say nice things about each other. But, let me make one thing absolutely clear.” She raised one hand, the forefinger extended toward us. “I would not believe one single word of this story—”
“Mom!”
“Honored Mother!”
“—if Kari wasn’t here telling it.” Mom shook her head as she looked at Kari. “Compared to you being here, compared to the daughter I never had showing up in my life, things like talking unicorns and dragons don’t seem all that remarkable.”
“Your pardon, honored Mother, but why are talking unicorns hard for you to accept?”
Mom twisted her mouth as she thought. That’s when I finally realized where Kari got that expression from. “I’ve never met one, Kari,” she said.
“That won’t be the case much longer,” I said, thinking of what White Lady had told Kari about coming to visit.
“Uh huh. Sure.” Mom shook her head once more. “What I meant, Kari, is that compared to you being here, nothing else seems all that impossible. If you can walk into this family from out of nowhere—”
“Elsewhere,” Kari and I both said at the same time.
“Jinx,” I added, “you owe me a soda.”
“I owe you a what?” Kari asked. “Am I under a geas?”
“No,” I assured her. “I’ll let it pass this time.”
“My dearest brother has been telling me about this world,” Kari explained to Mom.
“That’s nice.” Mom looked like she was about to laugh. “That’s very nice of you, uh, dearest brother Liam. So, you came from Elsewhere, Kari. The point is, I can’t think of any possible simpler explanation for you, Kari, and as for you, Liam, if you were going to make up a story to explain where you were, I think you’d have picked something a little less bizarre.”
“It really is the truth, Mom,” I said.
“Truly, honored Mother,” Kari added.
Mom sighed. “All right, call me crazy, but I believe your story.” Then she raised a warning finger once more, her face stern. “But let me make sure of one thing. Neither of you is planning to make a habit of wandering around other worlds fighting dragons and then getting back home late, right?”
Kari and I both nodded. “Only if the fate of the universe is hanging in the balance again,” I said.
“Sure,” Mom said. “Even then, you’d better count on getting permission. Well, I guess I can overlook it this once. Next time you tell me you’re just going for a walk, though, I’m going to demand a little more information before you leave this house.”
I grinned. “You’re the greatest, Mom.”
Mom snorted and looked skeptical. “Are you going to start calling me ‘honored Mother’, too?”
“Do I have to?”
“No. Neither do you, Kari. As much as I like hearing you say it, just having you call me Mother is enough to take my breath away. We’ve got a spare bedroom,” Mom continued. “It’ll be yours now.”
And then Mom looked at me like she expected some comment.
“What?” I asked.
“You don’t have any objection to Kari getting the spare bedroom?”
“Why would I object to that?”
Mom looked at me for a moment longer, then smiled again. “No reason. No reason at all. I can’t wait for your Father to get home tonight.”
“Tonight?” I asked. “I thought he wasn’t coming home until the weekend.”
“He called to say he was getting home early. I left you a message about it on your phone.”
“My phone?” I spread my hands apologetically. “I lost it, Mom.”
“Oh. Yeah.” Mom rested her chin on one hand as she looked at me. “The enchanted phone that saved you and Kari from those elves. I guess we’ll have to get you a new one. But that’s a lot of money, Liam. We’ll need to try to make a claim on the replacement policy. I donh’t think it covers encounters with elves, so we’ll have to say something else, like a bear broke it when you were hiking.”
“Um…Mom, we shouldn’t lie about it. I can wait a few months until we can afford a replacement. It’s just a phone. I can live without it.”
Mom stared at me, like I had said something completely bizarre, then grinned. “You’re right, Liam. We shouldn’t lie about it, and we can live without it.” Mom switched her gaze to Kari. “He’s only spent one day with you.”
I wasn’t sure just what that meant, and Kari didn’t know what to make of it, either. “It was a very long day, honored Mother,” she said.
Silence fell for a moment, and I realized that it seemed like a million years had gone by since this morning, when we had been in this same kitchen and I had been trying to figure out how to ditch this strange girl as fast as possible because she didn’t belong in my life. Maybe my life was a little bigger and contained a lot more than I had realized. Maybe by giving up a few things, I had gained a lot of other things.
I was still thinking about that when I heard a car pulling into the driveway.
“There’s your father,” Mom said.
Kari gasped and put her hand to her heart. “Father.”
Mom smiled at her again. “I wasn’t sure what to tell him when he got here. But now I’ve got you two.”
I took a deep breath. “How are you going to tell him?”
Mom got a really wicked expression on her face. “The same way I found out. Come on. Your father’s got a s
urprise coming.” She took Kari’s hand and led her toward the front door.
I followed quickly. No way I wanted to miss this.
We stood in the entry, waiting. The front door’s lock turned, the door opened, and Dad stepped in. He shut the door and looked at each of us in turn. “Hi, darling. Hi, Liam. Hi, Kari.” Dad turned enough to toss his briefcase on the hall table. “Liam and Kari didn’t have to stay up for me, even though it’s nice to see you all—”
His voice cut off and Dad froze. Like, motionless.
His head turned really slowly until he was looking at Kari again where she stood next to Mom. “Our daughter?”
Mom nodded, smiling cheerfully. “Yes. I still don’t entirely understand how, but she is your daughter and mine. She’s fourteen, by the way.”
Dad’s eyes went back to Kari and stayed there a while before he said anything else. “Kari. You…have a sword.”
Kari smiled tentatively. “Yes, honored Father.”
“What have you been doing all this time? Why do you have a sword? Where have you been?”
I held up both hands. “It’s a long story, Dad.”
“Yes,” Mom agreed. “Well worth listening to and seeing, by the way, but I expect that Kari is a little too tired to go through it again tonight. What counts right now is the ending, which is here. It has ended, hasn’t it, Kari? Is anything else supposed to happen?”
Kari bit her lip, She stepped back and went into her graceful kneel, head bowed and hands clasped before her, facing both Mom and Dad. “That is up to you, honored Mother and Father.”
“What do you mean?”
Kari kept her head lowered as she spoke. “I am here…but I will remain within these walls only if you wish me to stay.”
Mom looked as if she couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. “If we wish you to stay? Kari, sweetheart, of course we want you here, always.”
“Told you so,” I reminded Kari.
Mom went down on her knees and hugged Kari. “I’ve spent so many years wondering where you were.” Mom looked surprised. “I did! I didn’t know you were anywhere, but I wondered where you were. I never realized that until now.”