World's End (45 page)

Alfonso forced his exhausted, freezing hands to open the box, remove the protective wrapping from a syringe, and draw out the liquid from one of the bottles. He took his father's left arm and extended it toward him. He slapped the flat area between the forearm and the bicep. The yellow-white skin bloomed pink and a tiny vein popped up. Alfonso felt the vein with his index finger. Sweat ran freely down Alfonso's back. He focused his entire world on the tiny vein, took a deep breath, and plunged the needle into his father's arm. After the syringe emptied, he extracted the needle and did the same with the second one. When it was done, the empty needles clattered to the floor. Alfonso didn't notice. He stared at his father, waiting for a reaction.

There was nothing. Leif lay motionless on the bed, his yellow-white skin gleaming in the candlelight.

I
N THE HOLD OF THE SLAVE SHIP
Resuza cradled the Foreseeing Pen in the palm of her hands. She hugged the wall and pretended to look out a rusty porthole. Hill peered over her shoulder to get a better look. The pen was made of two equal-size segments that fit seamlessly together. Resuza pulled the two segments apart and looked inside. It was empty: no cartridge, spring, or mechanism of any kind. Instead of a metal nib, like those used in fountain pens, the small tip of this pen was made of hollow glass and filled with a tiny amount of a milky orange liquid. On the other end, the top of the pen was crowned with an incredibly brilliant emerald. The following diagram was carved across the barrel of the pen, just below the emerald:

"Any idea what those symbols mean?" whispered Resuza.

Hill stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Oddly enough, I believe so," he replied. "They're astrological symbols."

"Really?"

"Yes," said Hill with a nod. "I used to spend a lot of time browsing in an occult shop in Chicago. The symbols represent the five classical elements. The top triangle represents fire and the bottom one is water. The triangle on the left is earth and the one on the right is air."

"What's the symbol in the center?" asked Resuza.

"That's the fifth symbol—ether," explained Hill. "Sometimes it's also known as quintessence and it is supposedly a magical property—the fabric of the cosmos and whatnot. In Dormia, they believe that the sap of the Founding Trees consists of ether. But the idea of ether exists in many cultures. The Hindus call it akasha. They believe that the knowledge of all human experience is recorded within something called the akashic records—and all of these records are encoded in every single drop of akasha."

"Do you suppose the pen has any other powers?" asked Resuza.

Hill motioned for Resuza to give him the pen. He took it from her and gently examined both segments. He then peered closely at the glass tip filled with the milky orange liquid.

"
Ether,
" he whispered. "By Jove, I believe that's ether from a Founding Tree."

"That orange liquid?" Resuza asked.

Hill nodded. "I believe so," he replied. "Ether is rumored to be orange, and the symbol on the barrel clearly refers to it."

Resuza smiled cautiously. "We just need some sort of ink and we'll be able to put this pen to the test."

Hill furrowed his brow. He looked around, and his eyes settled on the stove and the tired clump of coals inside. He then returned his gaze to the pen. His fingers ran over the symbols of the five classical elements.

"I don't think the pen uses ink," replied Hill excitedly. "We use one of the classical elements, and right now, fire is available."

He approached the stove, opened the pen, and pointed the bottom segment of the pen at the burning coals. At first nothing happened, but when he drew nearer and the distance between the pen and the coals was no more than a few inches, a darting blue flame shot out of the stove and into the pen, lighting it as if it were a burner on a gas stove. Hill quickly fit the two pen segments together, capturing the flame inside. The pen looked and felt completely normal. No one would suspect that fire was nestled inside.

"Amazing!' said Resuza.

"Indeed," replied Hill as he handed the Foreseeing Pen back to Resuza, who immediately placed it deep within an inner pocket of her coat. "My dear girl, we took a chance by destroying that sphere, but I suspect our gamble has paid off. If this pen can manipulate the five basic elements of nature, we've got quite a weapon on our hands. Now we'll—"

Just then their conversation was interrupted by harsh shouts. The red-haired man who had captured Hill and Resuza was standing on the stairway and addressing the prisoners.

"What's he saying?" asked Hill.

"He said we'll be getting off the boat in an hour and we'd better look strong and healthy."

"Why's that?"

"Because," explained Resuza, "we're about to be sold."

M
ANY HOURS PASSED
before Leif regained consciousness. During that time, Alfonso never left his father's bedside. Although he was fairly certain that Leif could not understand him, he spent the time telling him about Judy and Pappy, World's End, and all the adventures that he had been through in the years since Leif had disappeared. At other times, he sat and stared intently at his dad, alternating between wild optimism and deep pessimism.

It was late morning the next day when Leif suddenly opened his eyes, sat up unsteadily in bed, and raised a thin, trembling hand to ward off the harsh sunlight. Alfonso didn't notice his dad wake up. He was asleep in a chair, after spending most of the night awake.

Leif stared at the young teenager sitting next to his bed. He tried to say something, but his throat was too dry. Slowly he raised one of his large hands to his face and rubbed it over his thick beard and then further up, over his high, pronounced cheekbones. Tears welled in his eyes and he felt faint.

"A-A—" Leif tried hoarsely to say Alfonso's name.

Alfonso stirred awake and for a second looked confused. Then he saw his father sitting in bed, only feet away, and he too began to cry. Leif motioned for Alfonso to sit next to him. Father and son sat on the bed, arms tightly clasped around each other. Alfonso buried his face in his dad's shoulder and started to shake with deep sobs. It was too much. After all these years, to see his dad alive was beyond overwhelming. Of course, Alfonso hoped that he'd find his dad, but to actually do it and see him living and breathing ... Alfonso immediately thought of his mother. If only she were here to be part of this reunion.

"I thought you were gone," Alfonso sobbed. "Dad, I thought you were gone, y-you were dead."

"I know, son," whispered Leif. His voice was barely audible. He smiled for the first time in what felt like years. "Alfonso, my dear, dear boy. The light of my life—" His voice cracked again. "I can't believe how you've grown!"

They spent a few more minutes together and then Alfonso helped his father get out of bed. Soon, Leif met the other occupants of the cabin: a young girl, an enormous, hulking man with white eyes, and a large wolf that stood attentively at the man's side.

Alfonso introduced Leif to Marta, Bilblox, and Kõrgu. Leif took one look at Bilblox and said, "Magrewski longshoreman?"

Bilblox nodded proudly.

"I figured that," Leif replied with a smile. "You all look the same!"

Over food and hot tea, Alfonso and the others explained everything that had happened to them in the past few weeks. Leif listened intently.

"We're going home, Dad," concluded Alfonso, as he hugged his father again. "And I can't wait for you to see Hill and meet my friend Resuza. They're waiting for us at a lighthouse not far from here."

Leif smiled. "That no-account brother of mine!" he declared. "I can't believe he's become foreign minister of Somnos! Our father would have laughed at the very idea! I'm sure he's foreign minister mostly when asleep—that's when he tends to be a showoff! Well, we'll meet him soon enough, and we'll have a grand old time." He looked at Marta, who had been sitting there staring quietly at Leif the whole time. "But I understand we have to settle things here first, and pretty quickly too."

"Very quickly," insisted Marta. "We have to help my parents."

"You feel up to movin'?" asked Bilblox.

Leif nodded wearily, and his head drooped low between his bony shoulders. It was clear that he was still very weak. "I'll do my best to help," he said. "Any friends of Alfonso's are friends of mine."

"So how we gonna get into Jasber?" asked Bilblox.

"I only know of the gate that the sweepers use, which will be guarded," replied Marta. "They have orders to kill anyone they see who is not a sweeper, even a Great Sleeper. We wouldn't stand a chance there."

"That's true," replied Leif. "It's a terrible thing. A Great Sleeper risks his or her life to get them their Founding Tree, and how do they repay this gift? Leaving them to rot in this miserable cottage."

"So you don't know of any other way in?" Marta asked mournfully.

"I don't think so," replied Leif with a shake of his head. "Here, take a look."

He limped over to a corner of the cottage, opened an old wooden chest, and pulled out a large piece of parchment. It appeared to be a map of the labyrinth. Leif explained that he had copied this map from the lid of a rosewood box that he had found in Alexandria.

"I had that same box lid, but Josephus and then Kiril took it!" exclaimed Alfonso. "But I didn't see any map on it."

"That's because the map only appears when exposed to moonlight," explained Leif. He pointed out three landmarks on the map—the sweepers' entrance, a large lake, and an
X
at the center of the labyrinth. Leif explained that the
X
marked the spot where the cottage was located. Alfonso and Marta studied the map closely. The only writing of any kind on the map lay at the very bottom, where a set of Dormian hieroglyphs and the number 1109 were printed.

"What's that writing at the bottom?" asked Alfonso.

"It's probably the name of the person who made the map, and the year it was made," explained Marta.

"I assume that we're talking about the Dormian year 1109?" asked Leif.

"It would have to be," replied Alfonso.

"So I was meant to deliver my plant here to the cottage," said Leif. "That's what the
X
is all about, you see? The Great Sleeper arrives in Alexandria, gets the box with seeds, hatches the plant, and then delivers it to the spot marked
X.
" He shook his head. "I can't believe the Jasberians are so paranoid." He looked slyly at Alfonso. "They'd get along well with Pappy."

"The Jasberians weren't always so fearful," interjected Marta.

"What do you mean?" asked Leif.

"Once upon a time the elders allowed Great Sleepers to enter Jasber," explained Marta. "There was even something called the Great Sleeper's Gate. But they closed it long ago."

"She's right," said Alfonso. "I read about it in the book from Josephus's study. Here, I can show you the passage."

Alfonso reached into his bag and pulled out the curious book titled
Un Destin Solitaire: Les Dormeurs Géant de Jasber.
He then flipped it open to the relevant page, read silently for a minute or so, and then offered a rough translation.

"It says the Great Sleeper's Gate was closed in the Dormian year 2021 and that both the labyrinth and the cottage were completed five years later, in the year 2026," explained Alfonso.

Leif furrowed his brow. "That's odd. It means that the map on the rosewood box is older than this cottage." He looked at Alfonso. "It's older by almost a thousand years!"

"Why does that matter?" asked Alfonso.

Leif and Bilblox both smiled.

"What yer old man is sayin'," said Bilblox, "is that the Jasberians had Great Sleepers coming to this
exact
spot long before there was ever a cottage here. So, Leif, what do ya reckon was here before the cottage?"

"I have a hunch," said Leif with a sudden grin. "I'd be willing to bet that the Jasberians simply built the cottage right over the place where the Great Sleeper's Gate once stood. It makes sense. It would be an easy fix for them. That way they wouldn't have to go back to Alexandria to change the map."

"So you're sayin' that the Great Sleeper's Gate is in the cottage?" asked Alfonso.

Leif nodded in a deliberate manner. He still looked weak and sickly, but his blue-gray eyes flashed with excitement. Alfonso smiled and fought back a sudden welling of emotion. It was a look he'd thought he would never see again.

"Come on," said Leif. "There is something I want to show you."

***

Leif led the way down a set of winding stone stairs that descended into the basement of the cottage. It was dark and gloomy, but Leif carried a lantern, and in the light of its flickering glow one thing was apparent: the basement was cavernous. Alfonso had assumed that a small cottage would have a small basement. Not so. The basement resembled a cave with its high ceiling and rough-hewn walls that looked as if they had been chiseled with pickaxes. The cave smelled dank and the air was alive with the sound of nesting bats. There was also a faint gurgling noise, as if a very small stream were running somewhere nearby.