Behind the Sorcerer's Cloak (2 page)

It was all so overwhelming Chantel could hardly bear to think about it.

Owen pushed his plate away. “Our adventures were fun at first. Now they're scary.”

“Come off it. There was always a scary side,” said Holly. Her voice was determinedly matter of fact. “But they always ended okay. Don't you dare give up. This adventure will end okay too. Adam will be found. Myrddin's gone to rescue him.” Despite her resolve, her voice wobbled at the end. She too watched the sky and ignored her food.

Owen thrust his chair back. “I don't get it. Where are the other Wise Ones? Ava and Equus said to call if we needed them. We do. We called ages ago.” He stalked across the room, yanked the French doors open and stepped outside onto the patio.

“Come on, Ava. Come on, Equus,” he whispered.

“Oh, do shut up,” said Holly quietly, from behind him. “That's the hundredth time already. You're making everything worse.”

“Well, why aren't they here?” snapped Owen. “Know what? I think something bad's happened.” He challenged Holly. “You think so too, don't you?”

Holly flushed and jerked her head toward Chantel who was joining them.

It was too late.

Chantel burst into fresh tears and fled upstairs. The bedroom door slammed.

Mr. Smythe glared at Owen and followed her.

“Idiot,” said Holly. She slumped on the nearest wooden chair. “Chantel can't take any more. She's only seven. How would you feel if I'd disappeared?”

The hint of a grin tugged at the corner of Owen's mouth.

Holly gave him a little push. “No…don't bother to answer! Learn some tact.”

Owen flopped into a patio chair beside her. “I didn't mean to upset Chantel, or Mr. Smythe, but we've got to face it, Holly. Something's wrong.”

Holly grimaced.

“Come on, Holly. Admit it.” Owen thumped the table between them. “The Wise Ones are in trouble! I bet the Dark Being's got them!”

Holly stopped him again. “Don't even think that way,” she said fiercely. “We've got to keep light in our hearts. They said so.”

“All right, all right.” Owen shrugged. “So she hasn't got them. I'm keeping light in my heart. Now what?”

“Wait and hope,” said Holly firmly.

Owen slumped. “I'm fed up with waiting. I wish we weren't just kids.”

“What difference would that make? Mr. Smythe's an adult, and he hasn't a clue.”

“Well, something better happen soon. We go home tomorrow. We've gotta get Adam back,” said Owen.

They sat in silence, trying not to think the unthinkable.

Adam clung to the hem of Zorianna's cloak as she dragged him through the Mists of Time.

His eyes were scrunched shut. His hands gripped the fabric with fingers of steel.

He was terrified. He knew they were going to Zorianna's mistress, the Dark Being.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever done, he thought bitterly. But no way was he going to let go. No way was he going to let Zorianna steal the staff he'd worked so hard to get.

Zorianna sped up.

Adam groaned.

Among the stars, evil smirked.

“I found it!” crowed the Dark Being to her servant. She stared down at a small blue planet. “Insignificant Gaia, the place the humans call Earth. This is where the Tools of Power are hidden.” She chuckled. “The Wise Ones could not conceal their traces forever. The planet tingles with their magic.”

She studied the magical trail left by the Wise Ones, and her anger, always close to the surface, began to rise. “The Wise Ones know I have approached, yet they feel hope, not despair. Why? Old Magic will do them no good. I will prevail. I am the most powerful being in the universe.” She shook out her tumble of dark curls, lifted her face to rejoice in the darkness around her and stretched out her arms to the universe.

The large jet-black stone on the ring around her third finger glowed darkly. She looked at it and smiled as she rubbed the stone in a circular motion. “Darkness will triumph! My power grows as each day passes. My army has grown to millions, and my enemies are but four beings who gave up their Tools of Power.” She laughed. “How can the Wise Ones stop me? Soon the entire universe will understand the beauty of Darkness.”

She sent out a trumpet call of mindspeak to her Shades and emissaries searching the nearby stars.

Return, my emissaries. Come, come, come, my Shades.
The hiding place of the Tools of Power has been discovered.
Zorianna has descended to retrieve them. Gather so we can
celebrate and witness the final fading of the Wise Ones.

The Dark Being stared down at Gaia again. Her lips twitched. “What a ridiculous hiding place! What were the Wise Ones thinking? Earth Magic is pitifully simple and Old Magic almost forgotten. Neither can ever match my magic. Already I am more powerful than individual Wise Ones. With even one tool I can destroy Equus, Ava and Myrddin. Then I can overcome the Lady and take the necklace.”

She laughed, savoring the thought of victory, then shouted in mindspeak through time and space
. Hurry,
Zorianna. You are the greatest of my emissaries. Find the
Tools quickly. Bring them, and we shall celebrate everlasting
Darkness. I will reward you well.

Full of good humor, the Dark Being settled down to wait. She used the time to consider her next move. How should she best reward her loyal army of Shades? Should she entertain them by destroying Gaia? Complete annihilation was exciting and satisfying to watch. It would cement their belief in her power, though they had seen her destroy many planets before.

No, something different was called for this time.

What if she sent the Shades themselves down to Gaia? Yes. She would let them terrorize the humans and create a new race of Darklings to serve both themselves and her.

Below, the small blue planet humans called Earth spun on through the Mists of Time.

Holly, short of sleep from the night's activities, could no longer keep her eyes open. She cushioned her head on her arms at the patio table and dozed. Her mind fluttered in and out of a strange dream.

She flew over a silver sea toward a castle, built on a small island. From the castle's center rose a tall round tower, pointing like a finger to the sky.

Holly swooped over the castle walls.

A figure stood on the circular platform at the top of the tower, a cloaked figure wearing a glowing necklace. One arm was outstretched and silver threads of magic spun from the fingers, creating a delicate web of light that spiraled to the stars. The other hand gripped the necklace.

“Who are you?” cried Holly. “Please tell me?” She dove toward the tower.

The figure looked up.

Holly had a flash of recognition; she'd seen those eyes before.

Sea mist blew between them. The tower was gone.

Lost and disoriented, Holly flailed her arms desperately.

“Ouch.” Holly woke with a start. She had whacked one arm hard on the chair beside her.

She sat up, rubbing the bruise and wiping the shadows of sleep from her eyes. Faint images from the dream lingered. She tried to recapture them, distressed that she didn't recognize the figure. Then she stretched and yawned, and the dream was gone.

Once again, Holly watched the sky and wished for Adam's safe return.

Loud murmurings in the Mists of Time roused Manannan a second time. He climbed again through the walls and ditches of his fortified mountain, to stand on Barrule's peak, within the horseshoe wall of rocks. He stared deep into the bright morning sky.

He stiffened.

A patch of strange blankness marred the sky. It was as though a cloud hovered, though no cloud was to be seen. Feelings of evil and rage oozed from the place.

He had been warned to watch for this. The cloud that was not a cloud concealed the arrival of the terrible Dark Being. She was here and watching Gaia.

Manannan shut his eyes and probed the edge of the blankness. He shuddered at the hatred he sensed.

He tuned into the Mists again.

The magical Mists of Time hummed with information: Zorianna, an emissary from the Dark Being, had captured Myrddin's staff. A human child was trying to recover it.

Manannan listened with amazement. The Mists of Time had been silent for decades, their magic forgotten by humans. Now they rang with chatter for those who had ears to hear.

Manannan gasped. “This is unbelievable,” he said to himself. “A modern child challenging the Dark Being's emissary! No wonder the Mists are alive with talk.” He shook his head sadly. “The child has no chance unless it calls upon Old Magic. But modern children do not know about Earth Magic, let alone understand that Old Magic exists. What to do? What to do?”

Manannan cupped his hand to his ear and listened again. The disturbance was growing. Myrddin had entered the Mists to search for the child and his staff.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Manannan smiled. “The Wise One, Myrddin, need not worry about his staff. Its magic is alive and rebelling as it should. The staff will not allow itself to be removed from Gaia by any hand other than his.”

Manannan stretched out and caught a few wisps of cloud hanging around Barrule's summit. He pulled the wisps close to his face and whispered. “Go, hum in Myrddin's ear. Tell him the staff and the child approach Mann. Tell him they will find refuge here.”

The handful of mist swirled away.

“A pretty kettle of fish indeed.” Manannan shook his head. “Mann must be protected and the child saved.” He sighed. “First, I must confine the emissary within the magic of Mann, where she can do no harm.” He fingered his long white beard. “That may rouse the Sleeper, but perhaps her time has come.”

He swiftly plucked more fine strands of sea mist from the air around him and wove them into a ball of thickening magic. He tossed the ball far from Barrule, deep into the Mists of Time.

As the Mists of Time thickened, Manannan cloaked his island with an unseasonable fog. “Out of sight is out of mind,” he muttered. “The Dark Being may watch Gaia, but her eye must not alight upon the Kingdom of Mann.”