A Measure of Disorder (9 page)

Jenni held her breath in surprise.

Ms. Pap recovered enough to speak. “Brandon?”

“The one and only,” the beast replied. He shuffled from side to side and unfurled his wings to display them. “What do you think? Pretty cool, huh?”

“Amazing,” Ms. Pap said. “Are you okay?”

“Okay?” Brandon chuckled. “Okay? I’m flippin’ fantastic!”

“We’re glad to hear that,” Ms. Pap replied cautiously. “Thank you for your help.”

Brandon eyed her for a second and folded his wings again. “Yeah, about that,” he said. “See, here’s the deal. I’ve found someone who can help me. Really help me — learn about myself I mean. I just came back to see if anyone wanted to go meet him with me.”

“I see,” Ms. Pap said. “Who is helping you?”

“Someone who actually knows what’s going on in this place. He calls himself Mogritas.”

The
Faerstrastenai
behind them in the tree hissed. Crank inhaled sharply.

“So, anyway,” Brandon continued, “anybody who’s tired of following the runt to some mystical fairy town can come with me and get some real answers to what’s going on around here.”

After a breathless moment, Alisha stepped forward and walked to Brandon’s side. She was quickly followed by Maggie, Lori and Zoe. Todd and Will joined them, along with Vic, and lastly, Kim sighed and moved to him.

“Okay,” Brandon gloated. “Anyone else?”

“Mr. Kain,” Alisha said to everyone’s surprise, “you should really come with us.”

Jenni almost laughed at the absurdity. Brandon huffed and glared at Alisha, which she ignored, her attention focused on Mr. Kain.

Then, to the shock of all of them except Alisha, Mr. Kain shuffled toward her.

“Roger?” Ms. Pap asked, dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry, Judy,” Mr. Kain said woodenly. Alisha smiled.

“All right then,” Brandon interjected, “if that’s everyone, we need to get going. Climb on and grab hold.”

Jenni shook herself.
This can’t be happening!
“So, you’re just leaving us here? That’s it?”

Brandon looked at her and smiled as Kim, Alisha, and the others crawled onto his back and seated themselves. “Yep,” he said, “that’s pretty much it. I’m just not interested in trudging along, following the advice of a dwarf whose people didn’t even want him in the first place. Good luck finding your fairyville.”

Brandon stretched his wings. With a heavy grunt, he leapt into the air, furiously flapping to gain altitude with the added weight. He circled twice, then headed off across the forest to the east with a roar.

Jenni couldn’t believe it.

The setting sun cast an orange glow on the grass in front of them. Crank managed to bring himself to his senses and turned to the bird riders, still watching from the tree. “I ask again, may we pass through
Lodir’naie
?”

The middle rider seemed saddened, but still shook his head. “You still travel with a
festri’i
.”

Sara sighed in exasperation. “What can we do? Pretty soon those guys,” she said, pointing at the
Gobinstratstorai
,
who still stood on the hill, “are going to figure out that our protection is gone and come after us again.” As she said it, the drums began to beat.

Sara took up a defensive stance in front of them and Denny picked up his two remaining bombs.

They watched in fear and the fading light as the
Gobinstratstorai
worked themselves up for a second charge. It didn’t take them long, their confidence boosted by the departure of the dragon.

“Get behind me!” Sara shouted, and they did their best to wedge themselves between the forest and the river.

Denny pulled out his lighter and took a practice swing with one of the bombs. He was less than half his former height and the bomb bounced on the ground his first swing. He wasn’t tall enough anymore to use the full length of string.

Mrs. Osorio reached out to him. “Let me,” she said.

Denny sighed and gave her the lighter and the bombs. She moved just behind and to the right of Sara and took a couple of swings to gauge the weight of the bomb.

“Wait about ten seconds to throw after you light it,” Denny instructed.

Mrs. Osorio nodded and sparked the lighter to life.

The
Gobinstratstorai
charged down the hillside, yelling and waving their weapons. A line of spearmen stopped about thirty yards away and hurled a volley of small, lethal shafts.

Sara was a blur of motion, dancing with her tree branch from side to side, parrying the spears away. One landed near Jenni. She picked it up and held it in front of her.

“It’s me,” Mrs. Osorio said, staring into the flame of the lighter.

A second wave of spears hurtled toward them. Sara flashed her branch faster than Jenni’s eyes could follow, deflecting the spears away from her friends.

One slipped past her to Jenni’s left, and struck Charles square in the chest.

He yelled and tumbled backward into the river before Jenni could grab him. The raging waters washed him out of sight.

“It’s me!” Mrs. Osorio said again. “I’m the fire spirit. Get back, I know what to do!”

Marco’s mother lit both of the bombs and strode forward, twirling them, one in each hand.

“Mom, no!” Marco shouted.

“Stay back, Marco,” she yelled over her shoulder. “All of you, get out of here!”

Sara took a couple of steps with her and knocked aside two more spears. The
Gobinstratstorai
had stopped their charge to throw their weapons. Now they watched uncertain, as the two balls were fully ablaze and spinning furiously.

Mrs. Osorio flung the bombs high in the air. The
Gobinstratstorai
watched the two fireballs arc toward them and backed up to let them fall in front of their line.

Jenni saw Marco’s mother reach out with her arms and draw lines of fire to herself through the air, screaming in rage.

The bombs exploded at the feet of the horde and Marco’s mother burst into flame.

She motioned with both arms and fire swept out in sheets away from her, catching the prairie grass as it went.

Jenni lost sight of Mrs. Osorio in the flames while the grass fires attempted to encircle the
Gobinstratstorai
.

Someone grabbed her arm. She turned and saw Sara pulling her toward the trees.

“C’mon, Jenni!” Sara shouted at her.

Jenni ran.

Carrie and Matt were on either side of Ms. Pap, helping her move faster. Sara let go of Jenni and caught hold of Marco, dragging him back with the group.

He yelled and fought Sara, but she was stronger and pulled him along.

They passed unmolested under the tree which held the three bird riders, then farther into the forest along the river. Behind her, Jenni could hear the screams and shouts of their unlucky attackers, who had the tables turned on them once again.

Sara nearly carried Marco, lost in his grief.

They kept running.

Some time later, someone in the front of the group stumbled and fell in the dim light, and they stopped to check their surroundings.

The canopy of leaves and branches above them almost entirely blocked the sky. Only over the river to their right, could they see stars.

“We should be safe here,” Crank stated, winded from their flight. “The
Gobinstratstorai
won’t be able to pursue us into
Lodir’naie
. If any are left from Mrs. Osorio’s attack.”

Marco fell to the ground and sobbed. Rachael and Carrie went to try to comfort him.

“All right, let’s try to get some rest,” Ms. Pap said, sorrow evident in her voice.

Everyone dropped their belongings and sank to the ground.

Jenni noticed she still held the small spear in her hand. She stabbed it into the ground, fell upon her bag, and cried.

Lodir’naie
in the daylight was a sight to behold.

Every shade of green imaginable competed for dominance in the landscape. Rays of sunlight speared through the natural ceiling of branches and leaves. Trees towered above them, many reaching a hundred feet or more into the sky. Next to them the river continued on its southeasterly journey, running fast and muddy.

The place teemed with life. Birds of every sort chattered and sang to each other from different levels in the trees. Insects buzzed and chirped. Frogs croaked along the river bank. Rabbits, squirrels and other small creatures ran from tree to tree, and signs of bigger game were evident as well. Occasionally, Jenni saw
Faerstrastenai
wardens flying through the forest on their bird mounts.

The life the forest exuded was a sharp contrast to the emptiness of their hearts.

They had seen no signs of pursuit, or Mrs. Osorio, so they spent the next day resting, and tried to pick up the pieces.

The group was down to fourteen, including Crank.

Over half their original party from the field trip had been left behind, lost, or had gone off on their own.

Marco stared into the distance and was unresponsive for the most part. Carrie stayed with him, offering what comfort she could.

Jenni and Sara scouted around in the morning and resupplied the group with
Tolenton’naie
and some tasty nuts that Crank pointed out.

The three of them sat down midday for a snack at the base of a modest-sized oak tree, facing the river.

Jenni didn’t have much of an appetite, but knew she needed to keep up her strength. “Crank, I still can’t understand what happened yesterday.”

“What do you mean, Jenni?”

“Well, first, what happened to Mrs. Osorio?”

Crank paused. “The possibility hadn’t occurred to me, but it seems some of your friends are becoming elemental spirits. Fire spirits are called
festri’i
and it’s these spirits that the guardians of the forest won’t allow within. Water, earth and air have spirits as well.”

“So Mrs. Osorio turned into one of these fire spirits?” Jenni hesitated. “Did she die then?”

“I don’t know. It is possible her essence survived as the spirit, but elemental spirits don’t have physical bodies. They can … manifest using the element they control, but I don’t know how intelligent they are, or if they have a soul.” Crank sighed. “It’s my hope we can find answers in
Seren’naie
to all these questions.”

“So, maybe some of us that you haven’t been able to guess at, like Bonnie and Matt, are turning into other spirits?”

Crank nodded. “That appears likely.”

Sara asked, “Do you think that’s what’s happening to Jenni?”

Crank looked Jenni over. “I still don’t see any change in her at all, unlike all the others. The only thing we can be certain of at this point is she isn’t
festri’i
or the guardians would not have let her pass.”

Jenni breathed a small sigh of relief — she didn’t like the thought of burning alive. Then she had another thought. “How did we pass? Last I heard they’d said ‘no’.”

“Once Marco’s mother separated herself from the group, I asked again, and our passage was granted.” Crank smiled. “You were too busy dodging spears to hear me I guess.”

The girls laughed softly, then Jenni said, “That was all Sara’s doing … you were amazing, girlfriend!”

Sara blushed, which made an interesting color on her coppery skin, then she frowned. “I couldn’t stop all of them though.”

Jenni closed her eyes and thought about Charles. In her mind, she watched again as he fell helplessly into the river, just out of her reach. She shuddered. “It was my fault. I didn’t grab him in time.”

Crank put a hand on each of their shoulders. “No blame is to be had for either of you. While we certainly grieve for those we’ve lost, what happens, happens because it is Mother’s will.”

Jenni put her hand over Crank’s. “Thank you, Crank, but I don’t think that’s true. I want to believe I’m still in control of my life; that my decisions matter.”

Crank nodded. “You are and they do. What I believe, is things that happen out of our control, happen for a reason. Even if we can’t always understand what that reason might be.”

“But —”

Crank held up a hand. “Just hear me out.” He turned to Sara. “Do you think you could have moved or reacted any faster than you did to stop
all
of those spears?”

Sara thought about it. “No,” she said, “I honestly don’t know how I stopped the ones I did.”

“And, Jenni,” Crank said, turning back to her, “do you believe you could have moved any quicker to keep Charles from falling, and —” he held up a finger to keep her from responding, “even if you had, that we could have saved him from so serious an injury? Our supplies and healing knowledge are very limited.”

Jenni sighed and had to admit he was right, even though it pained her. “I guess … but I still feel bad, like it was my fault.”

“I understand. I grieve for him also. But I ask you, please do not blame yourself for his passing.”

Jenni nodded and the three fell silent, lost in their own thoughts, listening to the sounds of the forest.

Later, Sara asked, “Who was Brandon talking about? The person he said was helping him: Mog-something.”

“Mogritas.” Crank spat on the ground. “He is an enemy of Mother.”

“How did Brandon find him?” Jenni asked. “He was only away from us for a few days.”

Crank considered. “I’ve heard it said Mogritas can enter one’s dreams. Perhaps that was it. He is very powerful.”

“Powerful and bad,” Sara said.

“Yes,” Crank agreed. “He is the darkness to Mother’s light.”

Jenni shivered. “And now Brandon and the others are going to join with him.”

“It appears so.”

“And Brandon’s a dragon,” Sara added.

Crank sighed. “Yes. Again, I didn’t see because there have been no dragons for hundreds of years. They are mostly stuff of stories and legends now.” He chuckled, trying to relieve some tension. “You and your friends are certainly making things interesting around here,” he said, grinning at Jenni and Sara.

They smiled back at him and Jenni offered, “Well, you were off looking for adventure when you saw us … I’d say you found it!”

“Be careful what you wish for …” Sara added.

They shared a laugh and later walked back to where the others were resting.