The Familiars #3: Circle of Heroes (15 page)

Orion moved forward, following the snout, which was pulling them toward a fork in the canyon. The eastern passageway’s walls were covered with crude drawings of white-tailed mongooses slaying king cobras with astral claws. On the western passageway’s walls, the cobras were shown as the victors, overpowering the mongooses with blasts of venom shooting from their fangs.

Grimslade’s magic tracking device was sniffing in both directions, tugging Gilbert back and forth.

“Now what?” asked the tree frog.

“The cobras must live in one canyon, and the mongooses in the other,” said Skylar. “Let’s split up and meet back here. Aldwyn, Banshee, and I will collect a mongoose. Orion, Simeon, and Gilbert, you’ll retrieve a cobra.”

“Whoa, hold on a sec,” said Gilbert. “How did I end up on the team looking for the snake? Last time I checked, they were poisonous and enjoyed eating frogs.”

“They do indeed have a reputation for being ruthless killers that shoot their venom blasts first and ask questions later …,” said Skylar.

“Not helping,” said Gilbert.

“… but they are also fair and noble, and I’m sure after they learn of our quest, one of their kind will join us.”

“No matter how you cut it, they’re still snakes,” said the tree frog.

Orion had walked up to an ancient painting in the center of the divide. “Everybody, look at this,” he called.

Aldwyn approached the picture and studied it more closely. Six animals—a bloodhound, a golden toad, a king cobra, a howler monkey, a wolverine, and a mongoose—were standing in a circle around a glyphstone, along with a man.

“This must record the time just after the lightmares left the First Phylum,” said Orion.

“Look how their magical energy is all connected,” said Simeon.

It was true: sunlight seemed to be shooting out from each of the seven in the circle, striking the glyphstone.

“So the Shifting Fortress could be summoned with a human,” Banshee said with surprise.

“Look how well the different species work together,” said Gilbert.

“Listen to you fools, reveling in its beauty,” snarled Lothar. “All I see is the foolish, trusting eyes of those animals, who have no idea of the traitorous deception that man is planning. Can’t you see that picture for what it is? An atrocity.”

“I warned you once already about trying to breed discord among us,” said Orion. “You will not poison our unity.”

“I’d listen to him if I were you,” Aldwyn told Lothar. “According to that painting, you can be replaced by a human.”

“I wish that were the case,” said Skylar. “But they’re all channeling magic, and no human in Vastia possesses any right now because of Paksahara’s curse.”

Lothar flashed a smug grin.

“Come on,” continued Skylar. “Let’s hurry before it gets any darker in this canyon. Banshee, Aldwyn, come with me. We’re going this way.”

“What about the Olfax tracking snout?” asked Gilbert. “We can’t both use it.”

“I’m sure you won’t need it to find the cobras,” said Skylar. “They’ll find you.”

Skylar started toward the eastern passageway, with Banshee and Aldwyn following right behind her. Gilbert gave a nervous gulp and the others headed west, quickly disappearing from view.

As Skylar, Banshee, and Aldwyn traveled deeper into mongoose territory, they came across constant reminders of the feud these white-tailed mammals had with their reptilian neighbors. The snakeheads on spears were a first clue. Cobra skins nailed to the wall were further evidence of the bad blood between the two species.

“Not exactly the friendliest way to welcome visitors,” said Banshee.

“Not if you’re a snake, anyway,” said Aldwyn.

“Well, luckily none of us have scales,” said Skylar.

Peering into the nooks and crannies of the rocky walls, Aldwyn saw small triangular beacons of aqua blue light floating toward him. At first he dismissed them as freak reflections of the moon, but then the beacons sped up and headed straight for Aldwyn’s neck and took hold. He stifled a scream and saw that Skylar and Banshee, too, had these strange, disembodied claws gripping their necks. They were in fact astral claws—sharp, blue, glowing blades attached to no hand or body.

“Spies of the cobras will suffer as they do,” said a mongoose standing in the shadows.

“We don’t stand with the cobras,” said Aldwyn, choking out his words. Skylar quickly added: “We need one from your species for a mission of the utmost importance. We need a white-tailed mongoose to help ensure the survival of Vastia.”

Another mongoose hidden in the darkness of the rocks, this one female, said: “Could she be telling the truth?”

“If you are in league with the fork tongues, we will put your heads on stakes, too,” said the first mongoose.

The astral claws released their strangleholds, and several dozen mongooses emerged from the shadows. They were small and rather adorable; certainly not the kind of animal one would expect to battle king cobras.

One of the white-tails stepped forward. The long, gray hairs growing from his chin gave him the appearance of having a beard.

“You must forgive our caution,” he said, and Aldwyn recognized his voice as the one they had first heard. “Our dispute with the cobras goes back centuries. They are a devious and untrustworthy band of belly crawlers. They eat their own young when they are hungry.”

“And those are some of their nicer qualities,” added the female mongoose.

“We need one from your clan to join us,” repeated Skylar. “The evil hare Paksahara is trying to conquer all of Vastia. She will not spare any human or animal that defies her. Even here hidden away in the Abyssmal Canyon.”

“We know about her plan,” said the bearded mongoose. “Her minions tried to recruit us but we refused. I’m sure the same cannot be said of the cobras.”

“I will go,” said the female mongoose.

“But, Marati,” the bearded mongoose started to protest. “We need you here. To help protect against our enemy.”

“I’m sorry, Father. There is a greater enemy out there. I’m going to help these animals with whatever it is they need me for.”

Marati walked to join Aldwyn, Skylar, and Banshee. Then she turned back to her clan. “But should I encounter any cobras on my journey, I will be sure to bring back their heads.”

The mongooses all let out a cheer.

Aldwyn and Skylar exchanged a look. If Marati stayed true to her promise, their plans just got a lot more complicated.

12

POISON DARTS AND POCKET DRAGONS

S
kylar and Aldwyn had taken the lead back down the canyon toward the agreed-upon meeting place at the divide. Banshee and Marati trailed a few yards behind them.

“You think it’s time to tell Marati that she’s going to have to team up with her sworn enemy to do this?” Skylar quietly asked Aldwyn.

“Absolutely not,” replied Aldwyn. “Sometimes it’s best to refrain from sharing all information.”

“You mean lie?”

“No. More like not tell the
whole
truth.”

Skylar shook her head.

“I guess you can take the cat out of Bridgetower, but you can never take Bridgetower out of the cat,” she said. “And I mean that as a compliment.”

The two shared a smile.

Suddenly, Aldwyn could hear laughter up ahead. It sounded very much like Gilbert. He came around the corner to see that it
was
Gilbert. He was sitting next to a large, dangerous-looking king cobra. Both were in hysterics.

“And I said, ‘Camel? I know my jaw can open wide, but not that wide!’” hissed the cobra.

Gilbert was doubled over. “Stop, my stomach hurts. It hurts.” He noticed Aldwyn and called him over.

“You have to come meet Navid,” said Gilbert. “This guy’s great. All the cobras are. We showed up and they welcomed us with open arms.” He turned to Navid. “Well, not arms exactly.”

At which point he and the king cobra cracked up again.

“Navid even knows where we can find a golden toad,” added Gilbert. “The border jungles on the western edge of Vastia.”

Just then Marati walked into view and Navid shot to attention. He bared his fangs, ready to strike. Marati lowered her belly to the ground and began circling the snake.

“What is a cobra doing here?” Marati demanded, never taking her eyes off Navid.

“I should ask the same question about this mongoose,” hissed the snake.

“In order to defeat Paksahara, we need both of you,” Skylar began to explain.

“If a mongoose has agreed to help on this mission, it is only so she can sabotage it from within,” said Navid. “She cannot be trusted.”

“He cloaks his lies with more lies,” said Marati. “The cobras are the deceivers. And I will not stand for his false accusations.”

Marati conjured her astral claws and took a swipe at Navid. The cobra dodged it and opened its mouth to send back a burst of jet-black venom. It landed a mere inch from the mongoose’s feet, causing the sand itself to vanish upon contact.

Orion stepped between them.

“Enough,” said the lightmare. “Your feud has blinded you. This task is far bigger than your rivalry.”

“Oh, but I am seeing perfectly clearly,” said Navid. “I will go on this quest. Someone has to protect you from this traitorous mongoose.”

“Your true nature will be revealed soon enough,” replied Marati. “Then they will see you for who you really are.”

“Good. It’s settled,” said Orion. “Now if you could just refrain from killing each other until the end of our journey, it would be much appreciated.”

“Well, this will be very enjoyable to watch!” said Lothar.

Gilbert turned to Aldwyn. “I think I liked it better when it was just the three of us.” Then he glanced over at Skylar and his eyes went wide. “What’s that?” he whispered urgently.

“What’s what?” asked Aldwyn.

Gilbert pointed at Skylar’s wing, and Aldwyn saw the feather that had been singed black. It must have come from a lightning bolt during Skylar’s storm berry attack on the zombie cats outside Jabal Tur.

“It’s just like in my vision,” Gilbert whispered to Aldwyn in full panic mode. “You remember my puddle viewing? The one where Skylar blasts a hole straight through me?”

“Gilbert, calm down,” said Aldwyn. “It doesn’t mean anything.” But he, too, was wondering whether Gilbert’s vision hadn’t been so crazy after all.

“If we wish to reach the border jungles by morning,” said Navid, “I know a shortcut.”

“A shortcut?” sneered Marati. “So you can lead us all into a trap? No thanks.”

“What do you think, Skylar?” asked Orion.

“We have to trust him,” she replied. “Only one glyphstone remains standing. And time is not on our side.”

Navid began heading toward a large hole in the far canyon wall. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” said Marati.

She followed right behind to keep a watchful eye on the snake every slither of the way. Navid stopped before the tunnel entrance and looked closely at Orion.

“You may have to squeeze to get through some of the tighter spots,” he said to the lightmare. “But I think you can make it.”

Once inside the pitch-black tunnel, Skylar summoned a trio of illusionary torches to light their way. Navid led the group through endless sloping passageways. Marati braced herself for some kind of ambush around every corner. Once she even called out a warning that they were headed straight for the mouth of a tunneler dragon, but it was nothing more than a row of stalactites and stalagmites. The truth was that there were no hidden dangers lurking in this corridor. The only thing attacking the group was exhaustion.

“It might be wise for us to take another neveryawn nut,” said Simeon. “We don’t want weariness getting the better of us. Skylar?”

“I carried them in my satchel only briefly,” she said. “Then I gave them to Gilbert.”

“And I put them into Orion’s saddlebag. I didn’t want the nuts to get mixed up with my private snacks.”

Orion poked his nose into his saddlebag.

“I don’t see them,” said the lightmare.

They all searched their bags, but none could find the neveryawn nuts. “Perhaps they slipped out while we were fighting in Jabal Tur,” said Banshee.

“Seems odd. Nothing else is missing,” said Skylar.