Circles of Seven (15 page)
Walter wiped his sleeve across his forehead. “Way too weird!” He then plunged into the sea of beating black wings, found the rock, and set Apollo on the ground. “How much time?” he yelled.
Ashley pulled her watch up close to her eyes. “About fifteen seconds!”
Walter jerked his hood out and pressed his head into it. “Put your hood on and get over here! And don’t forget to wrap your sleeves over your hands.”
Ashley pulled down her hood. “I want to know if the opening is visible from here. Maybe they’ll be able to see it in their dimension and make a run for it.”
“Won’t they need cloaks?” Walter shouted.
The bats began closing in. Walter could barely see Ashley as the bustling vermin enveloped Excalibur’s glow. “Good question!” Ashley shouted back. “I don’t know!”
Suddenly the entire cave exploded with light. A stream of energy poured from Apollo, painting a new portal door within a foot of Walter. He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Can you see it from there?”
“Yeah! I’m on my way!”
“Hurry up! It’s already getting smaller!”
Walter jerked his sleeves down over his hands, forming mittens over his fingers. He waved his arm frantically as Ashley dashed toward him. The portal’s ragged edges contracted, the glowing rectangle dwindling to the size of a fireplace. When she reached his side, she pulled her sleeves over her hands and clutched them tightly. Walter snatched up Apollo, and they both dove through the hole.
Two seconds later the light evaporated, and Walter blinked away the spots in his field of vision. They were back in the woods where they had begun. Ashley sat on the forest floor, her arm around one knee, shaking her head. She slowly pulled off her hood and stared at Walter. “You were supposed to remind me not to dive through portals.”
Walter propped himself up on his elbow and rubbed a crick in his neck. “Must have slipped my mind.”
He jerked his head around. “Billy and Bonnie aren’t here!”
Ashley rose shakily to her feet and lumbered toward the log where she had left her handheld computer. “Sir Barlow! What do you see? Are the bats still attacking them?”
Barlow’s scratchy voice replied. “No bats, Miss. But it is an amazing sight, indeed!”
Billy swung Excalibur and sliced a bat’s wing cleanly off, knocking down two more with his follow-through. The transluminating beam didn’t affect them at all. He had to resort to old-fashioned slice and dice with the blade. “They’re closing in!” he shouted.
Bonnie beat the air with both arms, slapping away a bat with every swipe. “If you have a plan, I’m listening.”
Billy pointed with Excalibur. “What’s that little red light?”
“I see it!” Bonnie shouted. “It’s moving away through the bats!”
Billy lit up Excalibur’s glow to full force. “Follow it! Hurry!”
They ducked their heads and charged through the screaming mass of flapping wings, Billy waving the sword frantically. “There’s a door!” he yelled.
With bats snapping at their faces, they suddenly burst into a field of blazing light. The shrieks died away. The razor teeth vanished. Billy fell onto a patch of soft grass and rolled to a stop. He jumped up and rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust to the new light. A lush meadow stretched out for thousands of yards with thick green grass and purple and red wildflowers swaying in a gentle breeze. Bonnie sat only a few feet away, squeezing her eyelids closed.
Letting out a deep sigh, Billy returned Excalibur to its sheath and adjusted his belt. “You okay?”
Bonnie opened her eyes, stretched out her wings, and nodded. “I think so, but jumping through these portals is kind of painful. Did you feel an electrical shock?”
“A little bit.” He reached down and helped her to her feet. “But Excalibur seemed to form an energy shield of some kind that sort of punched through that door. I was closer to the shield than you were.”
She brushed off the seat of her pants, and when she lifted her gaze, she thrust out her arm. “Look behind you!”
Billy reached for his sword and spun around, then pulled back, laughing. “Food!” he yelled happily.
A picnic table sat in the midst of the grassy field. A white cloth covered the top, and dozens of traditional picnic foods spread across it like a hungry teenager’s dream come true—hamburgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, baked beans, apples and bananas, leafy green salads, corn chips, and a variety of bottled drinks. On one end of the table, two paper plates sat neatly trimmed with napkins and plastic utensils.
“Think it’s for us?” Bonnie asked.
Billy spread out his arms. “Who else? There’s nobody here.”
Bonnie placed a hand on her stomach and smiled. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty hungry. Sir Patrick’s pizza was good, but my trans-Atlantic flight burned a ton of calories.”
“Yeah. And fighting those bats worked up an appetite.”
They sat down side by side and began heaping their plates with a sampling of everything. Billy twisted open two bottles of root beer and handed one to Bonnie. Just before he could pull a leg of fried chicken up to his mouth, Bonnie nudged his forearm. “We have to give thanks first.”
Billy nodded and bowed his head. “We’re thankful for this food. Please bless it and strengthen us for the rest of our journey. And thank you to whoever left it all here for us. Amen.”
“You’re welcome!”
Billy looked up, startled by the new voice. Joseph sat on the other side of the table, now dressed in long khaki pants and a striped polo shirt. He untwisted the cap on a bottle of water and took a long drink.
“Did you put this food here?” Bonnie asked.
Joseph set the bottle down and patted his stomach. “Yes. I hope these foods are to your liking. It’s traditional American fare.”
“Yeah, it’s great.” Billy scooped a pile of baked beans onto his plate and stared at Joseph. “You look different. Not just the clothes. . . . It’s like you’re younger or something.”
“You look younger to me, too,” Bonnie chimed in.
Joseph’s bushy eyebrows twitched, and a hint of a smile wrinkled his lips. “Younger? Ah, yes. Not surprising. Perceptions change, always change.” He swirled the water inside his bottle and nodded slowly. “Video games; once a pastime, now a waste of time. Grandma’s stories; once a burden, now a treasure.” He propped his foot on the bench. “Yes, flowers fade to ashes. Coal becomes diamonds. Such is life.”
“So what’s that got to do with you looking younger?” Billy asked.
Joseph waved his hand at Billy. “Now, now, let’s not dwell on perceptions. You’ll learn that perceptions are volatile in this place. Visible properties change without warning. What you see will often be generated by your thoughts and fears or by how you project those thoughts and fears onto others. What really matters is the quality of the heart, not the shell in which it resides.”
Joseph slid a steaming casserole dish toward Billy. “Right now you must eat your fill. You will need your strength, and there will be no food fit to eat in the remaining circles.” He waved his arm across the meadow behind him. “Your journey continues in that direction. The grass is still green, for this path is now rarely used, so you will have to watch carefully to stay within its boundaries. This will be the last circle that will have a physical path to follow. The remaining ones will be spiritual paths.”
“How will we know how to get to the next circle?” Billy asked. “We just kind of stumbled into this one.”
Joseph drew his head back. “Stumbled? I should say not!”
“Well,” Billy said, using his hands to explain. “I just followed this little red light through the cave. That’s all.”
“That’s all?!” Joseph repeated. “That’s everything!”
“Everything? What are you talking about?”
Joseph took a hotdog from a plate and squirted a line of mustard along the top. “Have you forgotten your lessons so soon? I thought the son of Merlin was a better teacher than that.”
“You mean Professor Hamilton? He’s the best!”
“Aha!” Joseph took a bite of his hotdog and spoke with his mouth full. “Then you did remember. You followed the light, just as he taught you.”
“Uh . . . yeah. I guess so.”
“Good.” Joseph swallowed, and his voice cleared. He raised a finger, and his brow seemed to arch farther out, shading his eyes. “Your journey will become darker, much darker. The light will always be there, sometimes dim, sometimes appearing only as words of truth, but it will be there.”
“What about the prisoners I’m supposed to find?” Billy asked. “Are there any in this circle?”
“No, no. Not here. Deeper realms, darker circles. You will see. But for now, you must eat, and I will take my leave. You will not see me again until your mission nears its goal.” Joseph stood and walked away, heading in the direction he had told Billy and Bonnie to go. His body shrank in the distance, more quickly than his pace should have allowed. In less than a minute, he was out of sight.
Ashley shoved the black hood into her backpack and held the computer close to her mouth. “Amazing, Sir Barlow? What’s amazing?”
“The cave is gone,” Barlow replied, “and William appears to be sitting at a primitive banquet table in the middle of a battlefield. I saw a great deal of food, but since he sat down, it is now above my view. He turned for a moment, and I saw Bonnie sitting next to him.”
Ashley helped Walter to his feet, still keeping the computer close. “So they’re safe?”
“They appear to be quite safe, Miss.”
“I guess our portal got them out of the bat cave.” Ashley pulled a pair of twigs entangled in spider silk from her cloak and tried to fling them to the ground, but they stuck to her fingers. “So, how do you know it’s a battlefield?”
“When William was standing, I noticed the way the grass was growing. The lawn is uneven in distinctive patterns, scalloped and thick in portions with nearly vertical divots that mark the gallop or rearing of a horse. Wildflowers have grown where the dirt was exposed, so I would guess that it’s been three months or so since a battle took place there.”
Ashley brushed the twigs onto a rock, then retrieved her backpack from the ground. “Barlow, that
is
amazing!”
“I am not expert in much, Miss, but I do know the battlefield. And there is a saying that red flowers mark the trail of blood. I’m afraid much blood was spilt in that field.”
Ashley pointed, as though she were in the room with Barlow. “Go look at the compass circles and see if there are any lights in the drawings.”
“One moment, Miss.”
Ashley bit her lip, then brushed a leaf from her sleeve. “I guess they can go through the portal without cloaks. I wonder why.”
Walter pulled a mass of web-entwined leaves from his own black cloak. “I’d rather not try to guess. I’m already more confused than a two-headed chicken.”
After a few seconds, Barlow’s voice returned. “Yes, Miss. The eastern circle has two coins, and the faces in the coins are glowing red.”
“Cool!” Walter said. “It’s about time we had some
change
for the better!”
“Stuff it, Walter,” Ashley snapped. “This is no time for puns.”
Walter held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Just trying to lighten the mood.”
Ashley put a finger on her lips. “Now that I know they’re both in the second circle, I can calibrate my readings to follow them.” She hurriedly punched a series of keys.
Walter tried to peer at the handheld computer’s screen. “So are there any bad guys around?”
Ashley gazed at the screen while pulling a cell phone from her belt. “Yeah. A bunch. I don’t like this at all.” She pressed a single button and lifted the phone to her ear. “Professor! Any news? . . . Good. You found Markus. . . . You’re going where? . . . Isn’t Avalon a myth? . . . I see. . . . I guess Markus knows where Patrick might look for a dragon. . . . Yes. Billy and Bonnie are fine. Just a run-in with a few bats. . . . It’s nothing. Don’t worry; we’re keeping an eye on them. . . . Listen, any news on enemy movements? . . . Really? . . . No, actually that makes a lot of sense. . . . Sure thing. I’ll talk to you later.” Ashley re-clipped the phone to her belt.
“What makes a lot of sense?” Walter asked.
“Markus’s spies say there’s no sign of the remaining knights of the New Table, even the lower ranked ones.”
“Don’t tell me. They’ve all gone trick-or-treating in the land down under?”
“Yep. Take a look.” Ashley handed the computer to Walter. “They’re with knight number six in the second circle. At least forty of them.”
Chapter 11
Billy and Bonnie walked across the meadow in the direction Joseph had vanished. It seemed that the trail sprouted more wildflowers than did the rest of the field. It looked as though a careless painter had shaken his brushes out as he walked the long green carpet, splashing the path with every color of the rainbow.
When they passed over a rise in the field, the highway of flowers split into two colorful roads that slowly diverged across the plain. Billy stopped at the junction. “Now what do we do?”
Bonnie plucked a white flower and twirled it in her fingers. “Well, do you see any difference between the two paths?”
Billy studied the grass where the trail split. “There’s a rock here. It looks almost like a road marker.” He lifted the palm-sized stone. “It’s flat on one side, and there’s writing on it.”
Bonnie leaned over Billy’s arm. “What’s it say?”
“It’s faded, but I think I can make it out.” He began to read out loud, hesitating at times as he changed the angle to cast light on the more illegible words.
The second circle’s path of . . . blood
Instructs the . . . king his debt to pay,
For . . . all who seek a higher . . . call
Must patiently await their day.
“That sounds like Merlin’s style!” Bonnie said.
“That’s what I was thinking.” Billy surveyed the two paths, his eyes picking through the splashes of color. He pointed to the path on the right. “That one has red flowers, and the other one doesn’t.” He turned and looked at the path behind them. “See? Red flowers all the way to this point. Maybe that’s what the ‘path of blood’ means.”
Bonnie picked a red flower and held it next to her white one. “Makes sense to me.”
Billy returned the stone to its place, and they marched down the path to the right, drawing in the faint scent of the tiny blossoms as their feet brushed the petals. Billy quoted the poem as they walked, making it sort of a marching chant. The bouncing rhythm helped him anchor the words in his brain. The sun warmed his skin, and the breeze blew constant refreshment, but the walk still seemed long and tedious, nothing but grass and flowers as far as he could see.
Billy plucked a yellow wildflower without breaking stride. “You know, I’ve been thinking about what Joseph said about perceptions, something about us seeing what we fear.”
“Uh-huh. I remember.” Bonnie touched her cheek, then quickly lowered her hand.
Billy halted and pulled her to a stop. “You don’t have scales, Bonnie. Trust me. This creepy place is just playing tricks on you.”
“But I can feel them, and the dragon saw them. I wonder why you don’t.”
“That’s what I was thinking about. We have to be real careful and not always trust what we see or feel. We—”
“What’s that up ahead?” Bonnie pointed toward the horizon.
Billy stepped in front of her. “Some kind of animal. A horse, maybe?”
“A horse would be great. I hope it’s not just a perception.”
As they continued on, the form became clear, a riderless horse ambling in their direction. When the horse drew near, it stopped, its gear clicking against a leather saddle.
“Seems friendly enough.” Billy extended his hand slowly forward and stroked the horse’s neck. “Maybe it’s for us.”
“Do you know how to ride?”
“Yeah. Dad used to own a horse, and I rode it once in a while.” Billy put his foot in the left stirrup and vaulted into the saddle. He reached down to Bonnie. “Your choice. You can fly up here, or you can put your foot where I did, and I’ll pull you up.” With a heave, Billy helped her into place behind him, and she placed her hands lightly on his sides. He grabbed the reins and guided the horse down the path. “This should make our trip faster. Hold on. Let’s see if he’ll change gears.”
Bonnie wrapped her arms around Billy’s waist as he gave the horse a nudge with his heels. It broke into a steady trot, and the trail of flowers zipped by underneath. With the rhythmic beat of hooves drumming in his ears, Billy shouted, “Now this is the way to travel!”
Walter and Ashley tramped through the woods, Ashley with the computer near her lips. “Barlow, what do you see?”
“Young William has mounted a fine war stallion, and he is making haste down a trail of blood.”
“How far have they gone?”
“Let’s see. In your American measurements, I would say five miles or so.”
“Five miles!” Walter repeated. “How are we going to catch up? We don’t have a horse.”
Ashley halted and squinted at the screen. “It looks like they’re traveling in a wide circle. If we blaze a chord straight through the circle, maybe we can intercept them. The forty goons are probably near an entry portal setting up a trap, so if I calculate the speed and direction we need to intercept. . . .” She pushed her hand through her hair and shook her head. “I . . . I can’t figure it out. These coordinates are relative, and there are too many variables. I can’t compute our vector speed without—”
“Larry?” Walter offered.
Ashley nodded. “Yeah. Larry.” She continued her march across the tangled undergrowth. “Karen, did you ever get that new mathematics engine loaded in Larry?”
“Yep. Trig functions last week, and advanced calculus theory two days ago. He’s a geometric genius.”
“Perfect.” Ashley punched a series of keystrokes before speaking again. “Larry, I just entered Billy’s approximate coordinates of origin and the central density point of the New Table knights. Take Billy’s current coordinates and plot an arc to the location of the knights. Next, assuming Billy stays on his current pace, what direction and speed should we maintain to head him off at the knights’ location?”
“Shaky assumptions, Ashley, but if you bear right nineteen point seven degrees and maintain your current speed, you should intercept him.”
“How long will it take?”
“If you don’t get tired and slow down, as humans often do, you’ll intersect in twenty minutes and seven seconds.”
Ashley angled to the right, keeping her exact pace while Walter followed in single file. “Okay, we’re starting a right turn. Tell me when we’re on target.”
“Twelve degrees . . . eighteen . . . twenty!”
“So we’re on target?”
“Just a hair back to the left.”
Ashley cut back, stepping over a fallen log. “How’s that?”
“Close enough for now.”
“Okay, let me know if we have to speed up. Just correct me as we go along.”
“Correcting you, Ashley, will be a pleasure.”
Billy slowed the horse to a walk. A breeze had kicked up, blowing his hair back and cooling his face. The darkening horizon boiled in the distance. “Storm clouds?” he asked.
Bonnie’s grip around his waist loosened. “Looks like it.” She untied the sleeves of her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head. “It could get nasty real soon,” she added.
Billy nodded toward a dense stand of tall trees to his left. “We could take to the woods. I don’t want to get caught in the middle of a field in a thunderstorm.”
“Being in the woods isn’t much better, especially if we don’t know what’s in there. Besides, we’d have to get off the path.”
Billy urged the horse closer to the trees and peered in through the gaps. A shadow dashed from one tree to another and hid behind the trunk. Its long, bony fingers wrapped around the smooth bark as its hate-filled eyes glared at them. Two other ghostly figures, dark, spindly men who seemed more skeleton than human, crept from behind a bush and slowly approached the edge of the woods. One of the men bared his angular teeth and howled like a lonely wolf.
Bonnie shuddered. “I hope those are more perceptions!”
“We’re not sticking around to find out.” Billy grabbed the reins. “Hang on tight!” He gave the horse a firm kick, and it bolted down the path, snorting like a wild bull in full charge. Bonnie’s arms squeezed Billy’s ribs, almost taking his breath away.
As the trail of red flowers zoomed by, the dark clouds rolled across the sky, covering the sun and stirring the breeze into humid swirls. Nickel-sized raindrops splashed on their faces, and peals of thunder rumbled all around.
“What’s that up ahead?” Bonnie called out.
Billy pulled on the reins, and they slowed to a halt. “It looks like a bunch of riders. They’re wearing black cloaks and hoods, like the guy who tried to kill me.” Billy turned the stallion around, and another line of horses trooped across his path. “More riders!” Billy called. “We’re surrounded!”
A muscular stallion in the middle of the pack took three steps forward. With a quick tug, the rider pulled off a hood, and long black tresses fell out from underneath, framing a delicate, feminine face. “Welcome to the second circle, young Arthur.”
Bingo! You’re right on the mark, Ashley. Billy and Bonnie are within a few feet of Apollo’s location.”
Ashley and Walter gazed at the computer together. “Yeah, I see that,” Ashley said, putting her finger on a data reading, “but Apollo’s not showing the frequencies we saw at the other portals. We have to find a way in, fast. Those New Table creeps are getting too close.”
Walter held Apollo at his hip and kicked away the leaves near his feet. “Well, forty people have to leave some kind of trail. Let’s just look around.”
Ashley raised her finger. “Good point.”
Walter and Ashley walked through the forest with their eyes focused on the ground. Walter circled a hefty oak and found a narrow strip of moist earth covered with shallow impressions. “Here!” he shouted. “Lots of footprints!” He and Ashley followed the trail, stopping at a point where the prints ended abruptly. He set Apollo on the ground. “Is this the spot?”
“Yep!” Ashley said, reading the computer screen. “The frequency we’re looking for is maxed out.”
Walter picked up Apollo and wiped the moisture off the base with the sleeve of his black cloak. “Can Larry give us another flash?”
“We’ll need two flashes again.” She turned and eyed their search path. “It looks like we walked about fifty feet from where we think Billy and Bonnie are. We’ll have to get into their dimension, find them, and make another flash. What’ll that take? Thirty seconds?”
“Sounds right. But we don’t want to take forty bad guys with us.”
“Another good point.” Ashley spoke into the air. “Larry, can Apollo give us another pair of flashes, say, thirty seconds apart? Use the same frequencies, but give the second one about a third of the power. The portal door might be small, but we’ll have to squeeze through it.”
“Apollo needs time to recharge, and you have very little light there. It has enough juice for one flash. Given the current environment, it will take approximately two hours for it to be ready for two flashes.”
“Two hours!” Walter moaned, pulling his hood from the cloak pocket. “That might be too long.”
Ashley reached for the backpack and yanked out her hood. “Larry, will Apollo recharge in the other dimension?”
“If there is enough light, yes. The recharge time is dependent on available light energy, not on dimensional position, but I cannot estimate the necessary time in another dimension when Apollo is in this one.”
“Barlow!” Ashley barked. “Is it dark or light where Billy is now?”
“There is some daylight, Miss. But storm clouds are brewing, and young William is in dire trouble. He is surrounded by horse-mounted knights clad in those dark cloaks.”
“Horses?” Walter repeated. “Where did they get horses? I didn’t see any hoofprints anywhere.”
Ashley pulled her hood over her head and slipped off the backpack, letting it fall to the ground. “Larry, send us now. We’ll let Apollo recharge there. Maybe we can help them while we wait.”
“Ashley, I don’t know if I can send the signal for the second flash across the portal, and I also don’t know if I can detect when it is charged. I will program it, and you can press the manual switch when you think it’s ready.”
“But how will I know—”
“Just do it,” Walter said, putting his hood on. “We’re wasting time!”
Ashley and Walter stood hip to hip, and Ashley put her arm around Walter’s shoulder. “Let’s walk through this time, okay?”
Walter laughed. “Exactly what I was thinking, as usual.”
“Okay, Larry,” she said, closing her eyes. “Hit it!”
The lead rider dismounted and withdrew an ornate box from her saddle pack. Her companions pulled off their hoods, revealing young men with closely cropped hair and neatly trimmed beards. The host of male riders stayed put on their black stallions as the restless animals snorted and pawed the ground in a wide circle.
A peal of thunder rumbled across the sky. Black clouds churned overhead while drops of rain pelted Billy’s hair and shoulders. He sniffed the air. The odor of sweating horses and ozone filled his nostrils; no hint of a scentser.
The lead knight walked toward Billy, presenting the box in her outstretched arms. “We have come so that we may put an end to this dangerous exercise, young Arthur.” She set the box on the grass, opened it, and pulled out a gold crown trimmed with rubies and diamonds. She then dropped to one knee, extending the crown with both hands, her head bowed. “Our order recognizes you as the true Arthur, and we have the power to enthrone you in your rightful place.” She lifted her head, raindrops streaming down her cheeks. “I am one of your New Table knights, and this garrison is your escort. With you and Excalibur leading the way, our full army will overwhelm any opponent.” Bowing again, her voice trembled with passion. “We have long . . . awaited your coming, Your Majesty, and we hope . . . hope you will join our righteous crusade to free the captives in the seventh circle.” She looked up once more, her lips quivering.
Bonnie grabbed a fistful of Billy’s shirt and tightened her grip. Billy sat up straight and cleared his throat, attempting a deep, formal tone. “Speak plainly. What is in the seventh circle, and why should I join you? I’m already on a quest to rescue prisoners.”
“To rescue prisoners, my lord?” A bright smile spread across the knight’s face as she rose to her feet. “God be praised!” She spun in a slow circle and lifted her hands. “God be praised!”
The other knights shouted in unison, “God be praised!”
Another peal of thunder rolled across the plain.