Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (9 page)

With a spear at his back, Jake marched into the castle’s open courtyard. In the center, under a tree the size of a giant redwood, more soldiers lounged and laughed. To the left, backed against the castle wall, rose a set of stone stables and wooden corrals.

A soft chuffing noise came from their escorts’ mounts, sensing home and food nearby. The
Othneilia
threw their heads a bit, but the soldiers in the saddles tapped the beasts’ flanks with small sticks like batons, guiding them and calling out in soothing voices. Elephant riders in India controlled their mounts in the same manner.

As they passed through the gate, a group of soldiers approached. They came from exercise fields on the opposite side of the courtyard, where practice skirmishes with swords and spears were under way. Two-story barracks lined the fields. A tall man wearing a helmet that sprouted
a crimson plume led the soldiers.

“The Saddleback Guard,” Marika whispered at Jake’s side. “Heronidus is in training to join their ranks.”

Heronidus stepped forward and saluted the soldier in the plumed helmet by raising his right fist to his chest. “Centurion Gaius, we have strangers to our lands to present to the Council of Elders.”

The centurion glanced to Jake and Kady. His only reaction was a slight widening of his eyes.

“We believe they may be spies sent by Kalverum Rex,” Heronidus added, and stiffened his back to the point Jake thought something might snap.

The centurion studied Jake and Kady. The hardness in his face softened with amusement. Crinkles around the corners of his eyes deepened, indicating the man laughed often. Jake found himself liking Gaius though he hadn’t spoken a word.

“If these are spies,” the centurion said, “then the Skull King certainly starts with them young.”

Heronidus shifted his stance. His face was beet red at the doubt in the centurion’s voice. He glanced quickly over to Pindor, as if blaming his younger brother. To save face, Heronidus turned back to the centurion and sputtered, “But shouldn’t the Council of Elders decide such matters and rule—”

Centurion Gaius clapped Heronidus on the shoulder, silencing him. “You are correct, young Heronidus. These
two should be brought before the Council. Strange tidings mark their arrival here. Especially with rumors of late from our scouts sent into the deep jungle—at least those few who have returned….”

His face darkened, and he nodded to the two mounted riders. “I will take your charges to the Council. You two return to your posts at the gates.”

Gaius turned back to Jake and Kady after speaking to a young boy in a belted toga. The boy took off on foot, running toward the castle. Probably a courier, sent ahead to announce their arrival. “I am Marcus Gaius, first centurion of the Saddleback Guard.”

“Jake…Jacob Ransom. This is my sister. Kady.”

“
Katherine
Ransom,” his sister corrected, standing a little taller, though she blushed a bit at the man’s attention.

Gaius nodded. “Names as peculiar as your dress. If you’ll both follow me, we shall seek an audience with the Council.” He turned his gaze upon Heronidus, along with Pindor and Marika. “You shall all come and give a full report to the Council.”

To Jake’s right, Pindor groaned under his breath. He plainly was not happy that he would have to explain where he had been with Marika. On the other hand, Marika nodded sharply, fully ready to cooperate, to prove she was right about the strangers.

As a group, they set off toward the castle’s main entrance. Passing into the shadow under the tree, Jake heard a rustling
overhead and stared up. Among the lower branches hung small creatures with scaly wings and pointed heads.

Tiny pterodactyls.

“Any word from the hunters in the field?” Gaius asked one of the lounging soldiers, who snapped to attention.

“No, Centurion Gaius. Not a single dartwing has returned from the jungle in a fortnight. We’re preparing to send one out now.” The man pointed to where another soldier sat on a stool. The soldier had one of the pygmy pterosaurs secured between his knees and set about tying a small silvery tube to its back, like a little saddle.

“We’ve been sending out two dartwings a day as ordered,” the soldier walking stiffly next to Gaius said, “but not one has returned.”

The seated soldier finished his work, stood, and tossed the tiny pterosaur into the air. Its wings snapped out, and it caught the wind. The creature sailed across the yard, and with a fluttering beat of its wings, cleared the castle wall and headed away.

Jake watched its flight, then stared up at the branches full of pterosaurs. They must be used as messengers. Like homing pigeons.

Distracted, Jake banged his knee into a box on the ground. A spitting hiss drove him back. The box was a wooden crate with bars across one side. A creature hunched at the back of the cage. Jake couldn’t make out what it was, only that it was angry at being disturbed. All
he saw was a pair of golden eyes, reflecting the shine of the setting sun.

He stepped nearer, curious—then it suddenly lunged against the bars. Startled, Jake dropped back and landed on his rear. The caged creature was no larger than his dog, Watson. But this beast was all black fur with ripples of fiery orange. Hackles were raised and a short mane framed a muzzled face that sprouted fangs as long as Jake’s outstretched hand. The creature spit and hissed. Its curled lips revealed the full length of those fangs.

Like a saber-toothed tiger but smaller, Jake thought. Perhaps an early ancestor of the larger saber-toothed cats. Something like
Rhabdofelix
.

“Get back from there, boy!” a guard warned.

The commotion drew the centurion’s attention. The soldier at his side explained. “A patrol trapped it in the Sacred Woods. Thought maybe we could train it. Can’t be more than a year old. Maybe as young as nine moons.”

Gaius hunched down. “Nine? She’s going to be big.”

The soldier next to Gaius sighed. “But she’s too wild, too dangerous. Almost took a chunk out of Huntmaster Rullus. So we’re saving it to use as bait during a practice hunt.”

Jake tensed. During the discussion, he had moved closer to the crate again and stared inside. They planned to kill her.

Jake couldn’t say why he did what he did next. With a
glance over his shoulder, he reached toward the latch that secured the cage. Kady noticed him and mouthed,
No
.

He stared hard at her with his eyebrows high. Kady might sometimes be a self-centered, stuck-up brat, but she had a soft spot for animals in need. Last year, she even got her cheering squad to sponsor a walkathon for the local animal shelter.

Kady rolled her eyes and turned her back on Jake. She pointed off across the yard and yelled quite sharply, striking a pose of terror. “What’s that over there?”

As usual with Kady, everyone turned and stared.

Using her distraction, Jake flipped open the latch, then hurried a few steps away. He checked around. No one saw what he did. Not even the cat. It remained crouched in the back of the cage.

Jake risked a hushed
“Go,”
willing it to move.

The
Rhabdofelix
finally slinked toward the bars and creaked the door wider with a nose. As it swung open, she slipped out, low to the ground, her long tail curled into a question mark, her posture all suspicion and wariness. Her eyes were fixed on Jake. Her nostrils flared, taking in his scent. Her ears, high and alert, swiveled like radar dishes.

“Run,” he urged under his breath, and waved toward the open castle gates.

With a surge of muscle, she suddenly shot away. The only mark of her passage was a panicked burst of wings as
the flock of the dartwings took off in fright from the tree branches.

Their squawking drew the attention of the soldiers upward—then down to the cage with its open door. A flurry of commotion and yelling erupted, but it was too late.

The cat swept out the gate and vanished into the tangle and tumble of the city. Soldiers took off on foot, but Jake suspected the cat would never be caught.

Trying his best, Jake kept his face innocent. He caught a spark in Marika’s eyes. She stared at him a few seconds before she turned away. If she suspected anything, she stayed quiet.

Centurion Gaius spoke sharply and pointed toward the castle. “Enough. We should not keep the Elders waiting.”

The castle of Kalakryss filled the back half of the courtyard. Jake studied the fortification as they approached the main gateway. As he craned his neck, he spotted something shining atop the right tower. The slanting sunlight sparked brightly off a domed structure made of beaten bronze. It looked like an observatory used to study stars.

Before he could examine it further, they passed under the archway and through a set of huge doors. Jake had expected the inside of the castle to be dark and gloomy. Instead he found the entryway warmed by colorful tapestries on the walls and rugs underfoot. The air was
refreshingly cooler, well insulated against the heat of the sun. A massive bronze chandelier lit the space—but not with flickering candle flames. The light shone steadily.

Jake thought there were lightbulbs up there, but the shape of each bulb was jagged and angular. They looked like chunks of raw crystal—only each shone with a brilliance that stung the eye.

Jake looked away with a frown.
What was powering the crystals?

Gaius led them down the center aisle of a long and narrow hall. Wooden benches, like church pews, lined both sides, all facing toward the hall’s far end. The walls were hung with banners, a dozen to a side. Each was emblazoned with symbols, like a collection of knights’ coats of arms.

Flags.

Marika saw his interest and said, “The banners represent each of the Lost Tribes.”

They stopped at the front of the hall under a set of high, narrow windows, flanked by archways. Beneath the windows stood an upper and lower set of judicial benches with three tall chairs on each level.

Three people marched out of the left archway, each wearing matching expressions of concern. But they couldn’t have been more different. One wore clothes like Pindor and Heronidus, but a crown of laurel leaves
marked his brow.

He was flanked by an old man with Asian features, bald except for a long white mustache that draped below his chin and a thin beard. On his other side strode a long-limbed middle-aged woman with braided red hair, dressed in a green tunic and pants. A helmet with two curled horns sat atop her head.

“Calypsos’s high Council,” Marika whispered.

Pindor hung back with the spear, trying to hide behind Gaius.

Under the heavy gaze of the Council, Kady moved closer to Jake.

Before anyone could speak, a sharp voice rang out from the right archway. “Newcomers! Surely that isn’t possible. But if true…can you imagine?”

The speaker appeared. He was short, and his gray hair stuck out a bit, like he had just woken up. He was clearly Mayan from the square of cloth tied around his shoulders, called a
pati
, adorned with feathers at the sleeves.

Another man waddled alongside him. He was as wide as he was tall. This rotund man wore a long robe with a hood, though the hood was down, revealing a head of bushy brown hair that was shaved on top. He looked like an English monk out of the Middle Ages. The monk pointed toward their group, and the Mayan man turned. His eyes widened, and he took a step toward them.

“Mari?” he said. “What are you doing here, my dear?
Why aren’t you at school?”

“Papa, it was Pindor and I who—”

Papa?
Jake glanced over to her.

She was cut off by a deep voice booming from the upper bench. “Pindor?”

The man with the crown of laurel leaves stood up from his chair. His eyes searched the floor below. Pindor reluctantly showed himself.

“What is this all about? What mischief have you and your friend conjured up? If this is some hoax?…If you’re wasting the Council’s valuable time…”

“No, Father.” Pindor spoke to the floor. “It is no hoax.”

Before anyone could explain, a third man appeared in the archway behind the monk. He moved silently, as thin as the shadow of a sundial. He wore a solid black robe that brushed the floor. Shaved-headed, his skin was dark, and his manner darker. His black eyes were cold and stony. His gaze swept the group without any flicker of emotion. What made his appearance even more disturbing were the tattoos across his forehead, inked in blood red. They were Egyptian hieroglyphics.

The man joined the first two, and together they crossed to the lower level and took their seats. Jake noticed each man wore a small silver hammer on a chain around his neck.

Jake glanced at Marika. She whispered, as quiet as a breath. “Those three are the Magisters…the three
masters of alchemy.”

Pindor’s father had remained standing on the upper level. “With the Council fully assembled, let us discover who these strangers are and what danger they pose to Calypsos.”

Jake felt the weight of six pairs of eyes fall upon him and his sister.

“…and that’s how we came to bring them through the Broken Gate,” Marika finished.

Silence settled over the Council. Marika and Pindor had already been questioned at length, and there had been some commentary from Heronidus. So far, Jake and Kady had been ignored.

Marika’s father finally spoke up. “I would like to see a demonstration of this strange alchemy that drove away the thunder lizard.”

The monk nodded beside him. “I agree with Magister Balam. I would like to witness it myself.”

The third of the Magisters merely stared at Jake.

Pindor’s father waved from the top bench for them to obey.

Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out the dog whistle. “I don’t know if you’re going to hear anything.” He lifted the whistle to his mouth and blew into it.

Jake heard nothing more than a whispery keening note. The Elders at the bench seemed to hear even less. They shook their heads and shrugged shoulders.

“And
that
chased off a thunder lizard?” Pindor’s father asked, the doubt evident in his voice.

“It did, Elder Tiberius,” Marika declared. “It bears a strange silent alchemy.”

Jake spoke to the bench and held up the steel whistle. “This did not come from alchemy. It came from what we call
alchemy
.”

Jake frowned. He had been thinking
science,
but the word had come out of his lips as
alchemy
.

Confusion spread along the benches—all except for the Egyptian, who remained expressionless.

Jake touched his fingers to his throat and remembered what Marika had explained. Some mysterious force helped to translate his words into this All-Worlds language. Did the universal translator think
alchemy
and
science
were the same? And maybe in some ways they were. Didn’t ancient alchemists dabble in chemistry and physics? Even Isaac Newton considered himself an alchemist.

Jake tried again, concentrating on his words. “The whistle came not from alchemy…but from
science
.”

This time the word came out the way he wanted it to, but it took focus. His tongue fought forming the word. Sort of like trying to talk after the dentist had totally numbed his mouth.

“Sy-enz?”
Marika’s father echoed.

Jake sought some way of demonstrating. He swung to Kady and pointed to her vest pocket. “Show them your iPod.”

“My iPod?”

“Let them listen to it.”

She frowned but obeyed.

As she fished out her iPod, Jake explained. “Where we come from, we use a different sort of alchemy called
science
.”

Kady fixed one of the earpieces in place and switched on the music player. Her eyebrows shot up. “Ohh, this is ‘Straightjacket Lover’!” she blurted out loudly. As all the eyes fixed on her, her voice turned meek. “It’s…it’s one of my favorites.”

Jake waved her forward. “Let them hear.”

Kady moved to the lower bench. The Elders and Magisters gathered and took turns listening though the earpieces. Eyes widened in surprise, but they didn’t freak out as much as Jake had been expecting. Afterward, the three Magisters leaned together in discussion.

Jake overheard a few words from Marika’s father: “…some type of farspeaker…an amalgam of green crystals perhaps…”

Jake lost the rest of the words as Pindor’s father pounded a fist on his side of the bench. “Enough of this. I would know more about the grakyl that tried to attack you at the
Gate. Are you sure it was one of the Skull King’s minions?”

“I am certain of it, Father,” Pindor said.

The woman with the horned helmet—who had to be of Viking descent—spoke. “Kalverum Rex grows more bold with every passing season. If what the children say is true, he is scratching at our very gates.”

“It is indeed worrisome, Astrid. What is the latest word from your huntresses?”

She shook her head. “We’ve still not heard from those sent deepest into the jungle. We pray to Odin with each moonrise for their safe return.”

“We will add our own prayers,” the Asian man assured her. He turned to Jake and Kady. “Before we judge these newcomers, I would know more about what land they have come from. How did they come to be here?”

Jake felt the weight of the half coin around his neck. He cleared his throat first, fearing Kady might explain about the coins. He didn’t want that to happen. The coins might be their only way home. If they were taken away, it could leave them stranded here forever. But deeper down, Jake simply refused to be parted from them. They were the last gifts from his parents.

“We don’t know how we came here,” Jake said hesitatingly, cautiously. “One moment we were in a…in a great hall. During a big thunderstorm.”

He turned to Kady, who nodded.

“And the next, a bolt of lightning cracked and—
bam
—the world went dark. It felt like we were falling, then—
wham
—we are standing in the jungle.”

Nods from the Elders followed his words. He heard the word
lightning
repeated from the top level of the bench. It seemed such stories must be recorded from their own peoples’ landfall here.

“We come from a town called North Hampshire,” Jake continued. “In the land of America.”

“Ah-Merika?” Pindor’s father said with a crinkled brow. “This is an unknown tribe to us.”

Jake raised his voice a little to make it stronger. “We don’t know how or why we were brought here. But we know nothing of this Skull King, and we certainly are not spies for anyone. I swear.” Jake held up his right hand like a Boy Scout—though he’d never been in the Scouts.

Elder Tiberius stared down at Jake for a long breath. Jake kept his hand up and matched the intense gaze. Finally the Roman waved to the centurion guard. “Take these two somewhere private while we talk about all we’ve learned here.”

Gaius tapped his chest with a fist and motioned Jake and Kady to come.

Tiberius called out once more. “And have the boy leave his pack and the girl her strange musical tool. They will be examined by the Magisters for any sign of the Skull King’s alchemies.”

Their makeshift cell had no windows and was hardly larger than a walk-in closet. The floor was covered in dry hay. Shelves climbed the back wall and were stacked with green glass jars, sealed in thick wax, which hid murky contents. Wooden barrels and waist-high clay pots lined another wall. The place smelled musky and peppery.

Some sort of pantry, Jake thought, earning a growl of protest from his stomach.
How long has it been since I’ve eaten?
London seemed a million miles and a million years away. And maybe it was.

Kady paced back and forth in the small space, her arms folded over her chest.

Jake crossed to one wall and studied the single light in their cell. An iron torch was bolted in the stone and held aloft one of those brilliant-glowing crystals. It was too high up the wall to reach, but he searched for any wires or cords, some connection to power. He saw none, but he wanted a closer look.

Maybe if I dragged one of those barrels over here…

Kady kicked one of the clay pots and faced Jake. “How
did
we land in this insane place?”

Her eyes had grown a little wild. Jake shrugged, sensing she needed some answer, any answer. “Maybe we triggered some sort of…I don’t know, maybe a quantum wormhole.”

“A quantum
what
?”

“Some rift in time and space. A spatial anomaly.”

Kady rolled her eyes. “In other words…you don’t have a clue.”

Jake frowned at her—but in fact, she was right. He pictured the glowing artifact. “Well, I
do
know that it must have something to do with the broken coin Mom and Dad gave us.”

Kady lifted a hand to her throat. “Then why did they send us these stupid things to begin with?”

Jake retreated and sat on one of the barrels. “I think…just to keep them safe and hidden. But I don’t know….”

His voice cracked at the end. All he knew for sure was that he was growing more worried with every second. What if the Council banished him and his sister back into the jungle? They’d never survive.

Kady crossed and sat on a neighboring barrel. “Maybe you’re right, Jake,” she said softly. “Mom and Dad couldn’t have known we’d end up sticking our coins in that pyramid thing.”

She hugged her arms around her chest and looked worried.

Jake pictured the glowing artifact in the British Museum. He also remembered Morgan Drummond running toward them, warning them away. Had the man known something? Or was he merely worried about them messing with an ancient treasure under his charge? Jake shook his head and tried to settle the questions bouncing
around his skull.

“What we know for sure is that we are not the
only
ones who landed here,” Jake finally said, centering on what he knew to be true. “Someone or something has been collecting bits of Earth civilizations—from different times and different places—and stranding them in this world.”

“Lucky those
tribes
didn’t just kill each other off when they got here,” Kady said.

“They must have banded together for survival. In this dangerous place, the enemy of your enemy is your friend.” Jake touched his throat. “Plus that universal translator effect. Being able to talk must go a long way to keeping peace here. Wherever
here
might be.”

“But where are we?”

Jake shook his head. “Maybe another world? Another dimension? If we can figure that out, we might be able to figure out how we got here.”

Kady sighed loudly, as if it were all too much work. “Forget
how
we got here. How do we get home?”

Jake again noted a rising edge of hysteria. Before it could spread to him, he spoke out loud, keeping his head busy against the fear in his own heart. “The two mysteries are tangled together.
How
we got here,
how
we get home. We won’t be able to solve one without solving the other.”

Kady reached over and squeezed his fingers. “You studied all that archaeology and ancient history stuff. If anyone can figure this place out, it’s you.”

Jake shook his head, but at the same time, he pictured the stone dragon floating above the neighboring forest. The pyramid had to hold some answers. He had to find a way to get inside. But he remembered Marika’s warning.

It is forbidden to trespass there. Only the three Magisters of Alchemy are allowed to enter and gaze upon the crystal heart of Kukulkan.

Jake stared up at the glowing fist-sized gem atop the iron torch and began to piece together a sketchy plan.

“What we need to do first…” he mumbled.

Kady leaned closer, listening.

Jake firmed his voice. “What we need to do first is gather
information
.”

“Information?”

“Find out as much as we can. But in order to do that, we’ll have to cooperate and lie low while we investigate this place”

Kady crinkled her brow. “So we have to do what we’re accused of doing. We have to
spy
on these people.”

Jake nodded and understood the danger. “As long as we stick together, we’ll be fine. We should be able to—”

A loud knock made them both jump. With a creak, the pantry door swung open, and Gaius entered. His voice was hard and unforgiving.

“Come with me,” he ordered. “The Council of Elders has decided your fate.”

All eyes turned to them as they approached. No one spoke. The silence made the air feel heavier as Tiberius stepped forward to meet them. He wore a stern, unwelcoming expression.

Uh-oh.

The Roman’s first words offered no relief. “You’ve come upon Calypsos in troubling times. Dark creatures haunt our borders. Rumors abound of even greater monstrosities deeper in the jungle, of forces building like a storm against us. So your arrival is not without suspicion.”

Jake’s stomach tightened.

“But from its founding, Calypsos has been a place of peace and welcome. And even in the face of darkness, we will not forsake all our principles. Additionally, through your strange alchemies, you saved not just one of our children—” Tiberius raised an arm toward Marika. “But you also saved my son.”

Pindor’s shoulders, already slumped, bowed even further.

Tiberius continued, “Magister Balam’s daughter has also testified as to the terror on your faces upon seeing the grakyl, one of the Skull King’s minions. She believed that fear was real.”

Jake remembered the creature pinned between the towers, writhing in midair, trying to break through. His fear had been real all right. Jake glanced over to Marika, silently thanking her for supporting their story. She
glanced shyly down to her toes.

Tiberius continued, drawing back Jake’s attention, “While the decision was not unanimous among the Council, the majority voted to allow you to remain in Calypsos for now.”

Jake let out the breath he’d been holding. It wasn’t the warmest of welcomes to this strange land, but he’d take it.

Tiberius pointed to Marika’s father. “Magister Balam has been gracious enough to open his home to you, young Jacob. He has expressed interest in learning more about your sy-enz.”

Jake found his voice. “Th-Thank you. We’ll be no trouble. We promise.”

Tiberius held up his hand. “You mistake my words. Your sister will not be going with you.

“What?” Jake stammered. “Wait. I don’t think—”

Tiberius silenced him with a frown. “Elder Astrid Ulfsdottir has petitioned for Katherine Ransom to join her at Bornholm Hall.”

The tall woman nodded. “She is fit and strong of limb. I see the makings of a warrior in her.”

Jake turned to his sister. Kady’s face had paled.

Tiberius continued, “A final condition upon your dwelling here in Calypsos is that my sons will be assigned to the two of you as…as attendants. You are not to roam our streets without their company.”

Jake understood the meaning behind his words. They were being assigned
guards
.

“Pindor will see to you.” Tiberius nodded to Jake. “And Heronidus will attend to your sister. At least, for a period of time.”