The Final Storm (21 page)

“Mallik!!” Nock shouted as he sprinted into the dining area of Guard’s Keep. “At last I have found you!!” The hammer-meister was so startled he spit stew halfway across the table.

“Great moonrascals!” Mallik bellowed, swabbing his bearskin tunic with a clean cloth. “What in The Realm is the matter?!”

“You will never believe it, my friend!” Nock said. And he grabbed and tugged on Mallik’s thick arm. “Come, you must see!”

Mallik had barely enough time to grab his hammer before Nock dragged him out of Guard’s Keep, down several flights of stairs, and out into Alleble’s late afternoon sun. At last, they cut behind the gatehouse and made their way to the dragon pens.

There they found evidence that someone had been very hard at work. All of the pens had been raked clean of dragon scat. Huge, steaming mounds were piled in the dump zone beyond the last pen. The dragons all seemed to be resting contentedly on fresh straw. And that was not even the wonder Nock had brought Mallik to see.

For a young blond warrior with unusual pinkish skin lay upon the back of an enormous dark gray dragon. His eyes were closed, and his head rested between the creature’s shoulder blades. The dragon’s tail curled protectively over the knight’s legs. But what really caused Mallik’s eyes to bulge was seeing the four ivory-white spikes protruding from the dragon’s tail.

“King Eliam, save us!” Mallik cried. “Is he dead?”

“Nay, my friend,” Nock said. “Only sleeping.”

“But that is Splinter he is lying on!”

“I know!” Nock said. “Why do you think I came to get you?”

“Who would be so foolish as to sleep on that beast?” Mallik asked. “I would wager my beard he is another from the Mirror Realm!”

“That is Robby,” answered Nock. “A good friend of Sir Aidan’s. Lady Merewen told me he is to be Twelfth Knight on the mission into King’s Forest tomorrow. But hush, we must rescue him without waking the monster.”

Mallik and Nock tiptoed to the pen, and Mallik held his ham-mer high above Robby’s sleeping form. “Go ahead,” Mallik whis-pered urgently. “But mind the eyes!”

Being incredibly light on his feet, Nock leaped to Mallik’s broad shoulders and walked across the haft of his hammer. Nock hooked his legs around the huge steel head and dangled down until he could reach Robby.

“Robby,” Nock whispered. “Robby, wake up!”

Robby shrugged his shoulders, but his eyelids did not even so much as flutter.

“Robby!” Nock said a little louder. “Wake up! You are in danger!” This elicited a growl from Splinter. And finally Robby opened his eyes.

“Oh,” Robby said. “I’m sorry! I was fixin’ to get back to work, but I guess I must have dozed off.” Then he looked strangely at Nock and Mallik. “What are you guys doing?”

“We are trying to save you!” Nock exclaimed. “This dragon is untamed—very dangerous!”

Robby sat up with an amused look on his face. “What, her?” he asked. “She’s just a big ole pussycat!”

“Nay, Robby!” Mallik argued. “She is ornery and tempestuous! Trust us. We have seen her aroused.”

Robby laughed. “You’re joking! I know I’m the new guy, so I should expect it, but c’mon. You could at least come up with some-thing serious!” Robby folded his hands behind his head and made no attempt to get off the dragon’s back.

“Grab on to Nock’s hands!” Mallik bellowed. His shoulders were beginning to wear down. “She is dangerous, I tell you!”

“Oh, stop!” Robby said as he spun around and straddled Splinter’s back. Then he made a clicking noise with his tongue and his teeth. Immediately, Splinter rose on all fours and spread her wings. She brought her nose close and nuzzled Robby’s chin.

“Ya see?” Robby said. Nock fell off Mallik’s hammer, and the two of them stared.

“I do not believe it!” Nock said. “No one has been able to sad-dle—much less befriend—that creature!”

Robby made another clicking sound, and Splinter took off from that spot and soared into the sky. She did a shallow loop, scattering loose straw all over Nock and Mallik before finally landing again in her pen.

“How did you do it?” Mallik asked, brushing straw from his armor.

“I don’t really know,” Robby replied. “I was cleaning her pen, and well, she just kind of warmed up to me. I’ve been that way with animals for most of my life.”

Mallik, Nock, and Robby talked about many things: the goings-on in The Realm, their adventures with Aidan, and the possibilities of Robby’s mission. Robby didn’t know much about that. Mallik and Nock did, but they would tell him precious little. They did not want to say anything without leave of their Sentinel.

Often their conversation turned to Pennath Ador. They found that the three of them had in common a love for mountains, and in short order they became friends. With the sun beginning to fall toward the horizon, Mallik and Nock needed to leave. “We are due to meet with Kaliam,” Nock said. “But we will see you tonight at the ceremony.”

“What ceremony?” Robby asked.

Mallik laughed. “Kaliam certainly enjoys keeping the new ones in suspense, does he not?”

“C’mon, you guys,” pleaded Robby. “Tell me something!”

“You will see,” Nock replied with a wink.

They started to go, but Robby asked, “Before you leave, I was wondering . . . do you know if it would be okay for me to take a little walk at the foot of the mountains?”

“That would be no little walk,” Nock replied. “But certainly it is permitted. I often go there myself. There is the beginning of a trail on the other side of the Elder Guard’s training compound. The path follows a steep incline through a dense patch of pines and will eventually lead you to the base of Pennath Ador. But do not linger past sundown, or you will miss your own ceremony!”

And with that, they departed.

Robby followed the narrow winding path through the pines, and just as Nock had foretold, it grew quite steep. Eventually, he broke through to the other side of the evergreens. And there it was.
It really looks different up close,
Robby thought. He couldn’t even see the snowcapped peaks. Just a sheer face of stone, much of it gray and angular with juts and clefts, and a few large fields of another kind of rock, smooth and white. Robby continued to look up until his neck ached. Standing at the foot of such a giant made him feel very small. Yet Robby felt a sense of peace—a sense of being pro-tected by the great walls of stone all about him. Robby actually walked up and placed the palms of his hands on the stone. It felt cool, but somehow vibrant. Robby smiled.

“You like these mountains, do you not?” came a voice from behind. Robby turned and saw an older Glimpse warrior, clad all in white, sitting upon a stone. Robby hadn’t heard anyone approach, but there he was as if he’d been there all along.

“You like these mountains?” he repeated, and Robby found his voice somewhat familiar . . . though he could not say where he had heard it before.

“They’re awesome,” Robby replied. “Where I’m from, we don’t have any mountains like these.”

“Yes, I know,” the Glimpse replied. “There are no mountains like these anywhere in this world. These are the first mountains born in all of history. They are very powerful.”

“When I touched them, I felt . . .” A word came to Robby’s mind, but he did not speak it aloud.

“You felt loved.”

Robby stared at the old Glimpse.
How did he—

“Of course the mountain itself does not express love,” the Glimpse continued, interrupting Robby’s thoughts. “But like all pure things at the dawn of time, they were washed in the love of their creator. In spite of The Schism, there are some who can still feel the pulse of that time. Some who can touch the memory of The Realm undefiled. You are such a one.”

Robby stared. The old Glimpse stared back and sat so very still that he almost looked like he was carved from the stone upon which he sat. He was a curious being. Long, straight white hair flowed like a river over his broad shoulders. His mustache and beard were also long, straight, and white. Only his eyebrows were a bit unruly. They too were white, but they were bristly and thick, especially at the bridge of his nose where they seemed almost to meet. His eyes were utterly blue—even in the failing light. And as Robby stared into them he saw a depth of intensity he had never seen before. There was bright, beaming gladness there, but also wrenching sorrow. There was great fatherly pride, but also disappointment. Empathy and indignation. Love and wrath. The only emotion Robby did not see in his eyes was fear.

And there was one other thing that Robby did not see in the old Glimpse’s eyes: He did not see them glint a color. Not even once. “Please, sir,” Robby said. “Tell me your name.”

“My name?” he echoed. “I am surprised that you do not already know it. But come closer and let us talk.”

He saw that the strange being was girt with an immense sword, but Robby felt no threat. He stood right before him and waited. At a gesture, Robby sat down upon another stone. They were silent for many moments. Robby’s mind was a whirl of thoughts and emotions—like a barely simmering pot that suddenly came to a rolling boil.

“You still have doubts,” said the stranger. It wasn’t a question.

“Doubts?”

“About all this,” the old Glimpse replied, holding out his arms. “About many things.”

Robby suddenly felt on the spot. “Doubts, I’m not sure if—”

“It is okay to have them,” he said. “A doubt is nothing more than an invitation . . . an invitation to think. So, tell me, what have you been thinking about?”

“My father,” Robby whispered. And as soon as the words came out, he wondered why he shared them with this stranger. But his deepest thoughts began to pour freely out as if he were talking to his closest friend. “Well, it’s just that Dad’s on the other side. I don’t think he’ll change, and . . . I don’t want him to die.” Tears streamed down Robby’s cheeks, and he choked as he tried to speak again. “There’s so much at stake, but he doesn’t see. Mama and Jill—them too! I don’t know . . .”

“I know the separation that you feel,” said the Glimpse. He put a warm hand on Robby’s shoulder. “And I never intended for you—for any—to have to feel it like this. But take heart! You are never alone.”

“But my family . . .”

“There is yet time for your mother and your sister. But your father made his decision a long, long time ago. He was deceived, and because of his willful refusal to seek the truth, he can no longer see it.”

“But there’s a chance, right?” Robby asked.

The Glimpse nodded.

“I’ve got to try, don’t I?”

“Very well, Robby,” said the Glimpse. And it seemed that the sun had gone down, for the base of the mountain was robed in shadow. “You have decisions to make, beginning with this one: You can aban-don your mission here and return to your realm—”

“But I don’t even know what my mission is,” Robby said.

“You know that you have been given a mission,” said the Glimpse, “and that is enough. The choice is whether you will fulfill that mission or return to your world in the hope of bringing your family to the point of turning. Some good will come of either deci-sion, but you must choose tonight.”

Robby nodded miserably. “It’s . . . it’s hard,” he said.

The old Glimpse stood. “You demonstrated your trust,” he said quietly, “when you entered The Door Within. The only thing you must decide is whether you will continue to trust.”

Robby watched as the Glimpse walked slowly to the path that led through the evergreens. He turned and looked one last time at Robby, and he smiled. Then he vanished into the trees.

Robby buried his head in his hands and wept.

Not a moment later, someone put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Robby?” came a deep voice. “Are you all right?”

Robby looked up and there was Mallik, leaning on his immense hammer. “Nock told me you had probably come this way. But you are distraught. Has something happened?”

“I’m okay,” Robby said, standing and wiping the last of his tears away. “It’s just that I kind of lost it when I was talking to the old knight about my family.”

“Old knight?” Mallik looked confused.

“Yeah,” Robby replied, pointing to the path. “I mean, he looked old—still real strong—but old. You must have passed him on the path.”

“I passed no one on the path,” Mallik said.

“But you must’ve.”

Mallik shook his head. They stood in awkward silence for some time.

“Come, Master Robby,” Mallik said at last. “I cannot solve this mystery you have suggested. But perhaps Kaliam can. Now we should go. Many have gathered in your honor. I came to bring you to the main hall on time.”

“The ceremony?”

“Yes,” Mallik replied. “The very one.”

They turned to leave, but Mallik stumbled over a pumpkin-sized gray stone. “That smarts!” Mallik said, laughing at his own clumsi-ness. “But I suppose it could have been much worse. That stone could have just now fallen from up high and hit me in the head!”

Robby laughed so hard it hurt.

“Hey,” Mallik said, with a mischievous wink of the eye. “Before we go, would you like to see something?”

Robby nodded vigorously.

“Right, now stand aside,” Mallik said, a grin widening on his face. He snatched up his hammer to a great height. “Now watch the stone. You will see sparks for sure!”