Everville: The Rise of Mallory (2 page)

Chapter 2

The Meeting

B
ack at Easton Falls, the dean of the university was patiently waiting in his office, ready to have a meeting with Jacob and his adoptive father.

“Please. Come in Mr. Hughes,” said Dean Swifthouse.

The dean was pale, slim, and stood just over six feet tall. He wore an expensive grey suit and blue silk tie. The wrinkles in his face revealed his age, but the dean was insecure and did his best to conceal it with black hair coloring and expensive face creams, though that did more to stink up the room than to slow the signs of aging.

“How can I help you?” the dean continued, motioning with his hand for Mr. Hughes to come closer and sit in front of his large black work desk.

“I wanted to bring to your attention to something that happened at my home while I was away. It involved two students here, Owen and Drusilla, both of which I understand were recently involved in another disturbance on campus,” said Carmine Hughes, Jacob’s adoptive father.

“Yes, I believe I’m familiar with those students,” the dean said.

“My son Jacob said that Owen and Drusilla had come to my home under false pretenses and then searched Jacob’s room looking for something expensive to steal. Jacob said that they damaged some of his property and stole an antique artifact. My butler confirmed what Jacob told me, and Jacob thinks some other people at the school may be involved as well,” Mr. Hughes continued.

“That sounds terrible, Mr. Hughes,” Dean Swifthouse replied. “I can assure you that we will look into this matter immediately, and we’ll take any and all appropriate action necessary. We have a zero tolerance policy against criminal activity at this university. While I am limited in what I can do regarding occurrences outside of the campus, if there is any connection with a disturbance on campus or other illegal activity that occurs related to the crime, then I will have more discretion with the punishment. If Owen or Drusilla are found to have engaged in what you have discussed, rest assured that there will be swift consequences,” the dean exclaimed.

“That’s good to hear,” Mr. Hughes replied.

“I’ll start an investigation right away, and I will get back with you as soon as I’ve find out anything,” the dean said.

“Thank you. I’ve been a generous contributor to this school over the years, and I wouldn’t want Easton Falls University to get a bad name from a few rotten apples like Drusilla or Owen Sage,” Mr. Hughes said with derision.

“I can assure you that we don’t take these kinds of issues lightly. Your contributions to this school are very much appreciated. We’ll do everything that we can,” the dean finished.

“Thank you,” Mr. Hughes said as he shook the dean’s hand.

As soon as Mr. Hughes left the office, the dean spoke to his assistant and asked him to contact several staff members who handled such matters. For the time being, he put everything else on hold while he followed up on the leads provided by Mr. Hughes.

Meanwhile, at the bus station near Owen’s home, Owen and his mom were waiting patiently for the bus to arrive.

“I’m going to miss you,” Amelia said lovingly, while squeezing him uncomfortably hard.

“I’m going to miss you too, Mom,” Owen said with some difficulty, while being suffocated by her over-affection.

A few moments later the bus finally arrived, and they began putting Owen’s luggage in the cabin underneath the bus. When they finished with the last suitcase, Amelia gave Owen one last hug.

“I love you, Owen. Please be safe.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Owen replied as he boarded the bus and took a seat.

Owen didn’t care much for bus rides. Most of the buses that he rode were usually bumpy and inadequately heated, especially for late November. It was the perfect time for Owen to check out, transport himself to Everville, and visit The Keeper. Time would be frozen in place in the earthly realm anyway, giving Owen some time to discuss with The Keeper what The Second Pillar had warned him about regarding Mallory.

Owen transported himself to The Keeper’s Workshop in Everville. He wasn’t looking forward to preparing for another battle or finding a way to defeat Mallory, but the massive interior of The Keeper’s Workshop was starting to grow on him. He gave himself a moment to take it all in, looking at all of the endless antique books and objects in the room.

The moment was stolen as Owen’s attention was quickly pulled away by the ceaseless movement of the creatures who were busy scurrying in and out of the doorway, with what appeared to be purposeful intent. To what end, though, Owen was not sure.

“Ah, Owen. It’s good to see you again. I figured you’d be back soon. Activity is starting to pick up around the border realms. What have you uncovered?” The Keeper asked.

The Keeper stood towering over Owen with his long grey beard and the usual attire of The Keepers—a long dark robe—and resting his staff on the side of the table while reading from a dusty, antique book.

Owen looked up at The Keeper and replied, “The Second Pillar appeared to me when I was at home. He said that Mallory took a baby dragon from The City of Worms and is going to use it to concentrate and channel his power. He also said something about Mallory setting in motion a chain of events that can’t be stopped and that the only thing we can change is how we respond to those events.”

Owen’s voice gave away his concern.

“That is indeed very troubling, and we must act quickly, but we must also employ careful deliberation. I will assemble a meeting of The Keepers later today. In the meantime, why don’t you go have some lunch with the Fron. I know they will be very pleased to see you,” The Keeper replied.

A few small, round creatures stood by Owen’s feet. One of them, a purple and yellow marmook named Grenmar, reached up and grabbed Owen’s finger with his hand. Once Grenmar had heard the words of The Keeper, he eagerly tried to pull Owen out of The Keeper’s Workshop in order to head above ground and get some tasty treats. Grenmar, who had journeyed to The City of Worms before its destruction, was also very interested in spending time with the growing legend that was Owen Sage.

The Keeper smiled and watched as the friendly marmooks, along with a few other creatures and a couple of muscle-bound miniature Ubaloo, escorted Owen out the door.

Once they left, The Keeper’s facial expression took on an air of urgency.

“We must assemble the others,” The Keeper said to Sako, the Fron leader.

“I’ll get right on it,” said Sako’s assistant, Toe.

“How bad is it?” Sako asked.

The Keeper put his hand on Sako’s shoulder and replied, “There is a great challenge that lies ahead, perhaps the greatest challenge that Everville has ever faced, but I am confident we can be victorious. We mustn’t be hasty. As you know, anything worth doing is worth doing slowly. It requires us to have patience and reflection.”

Sako thought to himself for a moment, nodding his head in agreement.

“Now Sako, join your fellow Fron in some feasting. Our deliberation will come soon enough,” The Keeper said in a lighter tone.

On the surface, above the underground catacombs of Everville, the Fron were busy preparing for the lunchtime feast. Owen breathed in the pleasant smells of the vegetation that bled into the complex aromas of various Fron dishes. He listened to the happy squeaking of Grenmar and the other marmooks that bounced along by his side as they headed towards the direction of the food.

Dozens of short, thick, hairless Fron made their way from the fields towards the Great Fron Hall. Most were carrying multiple dishes of food. The few that weren’t were carrying large wooden crates of wine and ale.

The Fron exuded an upbeat energy of carefree happiness. Owen knew underneath, though, that most Fron were more than capable of holding their own in a time of crisis.

“There you are,” Kearney said to Owen as he walked towards the Great Fron Hall with several of the Fron Owen had previously met.

“Hey, Kearney. It’s great to see you again,” Owen replied.

“Come on over here. Don’t be shy,” Kearny said, reaching around Owen’s waist and pulling him into the center of the crowd.

Owen nearly tripped, but he managed to get his balance.

“Guys, wait up,” shouted Toe, running towards them as they approached the entrance to the Great Fron Hall.

“And here we all are again,” Kearney said.

Toe proceeded to grab two sets of plates and stack them high with almost every food available before setting them down on a large center table in the middle of the hall.

It was no secret why the Fron were thick; they ate quite a lot.

“I don’t think I could survive if I ate that much,” Owen said looking at Toe.

“Well luckily for me I’m not a human,” Toe responded honestly.

“No need to insult the man,” Sako replied.

“No offense taken. I imagine it’s great living as a Fron, but I enjoy my life as a human just as well, even with all the extra work I have to do and the food I can’t eat.”

Kearney brought several bottles of wine to the table. Toe had already started digging into the food and barely lifted up his head to take a breath. He ate the food with remarkable swiftness, but once the wine arrived, he took a few seconds to fill his glass.

Toe drank a few gulps to wash down the food.

“Ah. Delicious,” Toe continued, with his mouth open and still partially full.

Owen raised his eyebrows in amazement and chuckled. He didn’t take offense, as he knew it was the custom of the Fron. He even found it a little bit charming.

Owen, however, ate slowly. His attention began to wander off as he started thinking about the upcoming meeting of The Keepers. It was difficult to take The Keepers’ advice and fully embrace the feast when he knew a great battle was likely in the near future.

“Well if you’re not going to eat it, I will,” Kearney said, reaching over Owen and grabbing some moist chunks of savory looking meat that rested on Owen’s plate.

“Cheer up, old friend,” Kearney said intently as he patted Owen on his back.

For the next half hour or so, the Fron continued to eat and drink, smile and laugh. The time had come, though, for Owen and a few others to return below for the meeting of The Keepers.

A while later, Owen and a few of the Fron returned below and gathered inside The Workshop of The Keepers. The room was filled with several different races of species from the different lands that surrounded Everville. Owen recognized many of them from the armies he fought alongside with in The City of Worms.

The Keeper, formerly known as Carwyn, stood tall in the center of The Workshop of The Keepers and began to speak.

“As most of you are aware, Owen proved pivotal in the destruction of the worms, but we have a new problem. We have recently learned that Mallory, whom you all know and used to love, was able to capture one of the juvenile worms before its destruction.

“The situation is even graver than it seems. We all know the power of the element with the worms, but when the worms gained sentience and became dragons that power was no longer contained. Now that only one dragon remains, all of the element within the universe will be channeled to the one remaining dragon, and Mallory has tamed it—at least for the time being.

“Despite the seriousness of the situation, Mallory’s arrogance will work to our advantage. Our quest will be twofold. We must first stop the element from being channeled into the dragon and find a new method to store the energy. That will be the easy part. The real challenge will be in removing the element from within the dragon that already exists. That can only be done willingly or through its destruction.

“We can discuss later how and where to channel the element. That will be our challenge, but Owen will need to find The Third Pillar of Truth. Before he can do that, he will need to find the only Keeper that knows three of The Pillars of Truth. His name is Varstock. All of the other Keepers are here with us today.”

“How come Varstock isn’t here with the rest of The Keepers?” Toe asked.

“Understanding three of The Pillars of Truth represents a significant concentration of power, more power than any other Keeper. He made the choice to sequester himself away from others and keep his location secret in the hopes of preventing self-corruption or temptation to use the power,” The Keeper responded.

Owen’s forehead wrinkled. He turned to The Keeper and asked, “Assuming I am able to find Varstock, what makes you think he would be willing to help? I mean, by requesting his help, aren’t we going to be asking him to do the very thing he set out not to do in the first place? Won’t he think helping us would lead to him using too much power?”

“Well, Owen, I didn’t say it would be easy. You will have to convince him, and before that you will need to find him, but like all Keepers he is very wise. The knowledge of an even greater evil and concentration of power should convince him that it will need to be stopped, which will require his cooperation in helping you find The Third Pillar of Truth.

“Be warned, though, Owen,” The Keeper continued, “you will not be able to find him with just the help of our friends in the surrounding lands of Everville. He has seen to that. You will have to discover some clues from creatures that have no loyalty in the border realms. I think the Mountain Dwellers in The Valley of Darkness would be a good place to start. I suggest you take Grenmar. He, like his father Dagda, will be a loyal and invaluable friend, as with most marmooks. Take one of the Ubaloo as well, but you will need to keep your contingent small as not to cause unnecessary trepidation for Varstock once you find him.”