I was awake before either Timmy or Victor and quickly slipped from the tent into the cold autumn air, Taz following sleepily behind me. The lingering mist seemed eerie as I stepped into the surrounding forest and decided to take a walk to warm my stiff limbs. I was glad to be free of the other two and not for the first time, considered not going back. A drunk and a crazy kid for traveling companions didn’t seem the best of choices on my part.
It had been three long days since leaving Azure and the traveling had been frustratingly slow. Victor was suffering from his abuse of the alcohol or whatever had gotten him so drunk. But even now that he was clear headed I had refused to speak with him.
Taz yawned beside me and pawed at the ground restlessly before deciding to go ahead without me. I followed behind him for a while till we reached a small clearing and I sat down on a boulder and placed my head in my hands wearily. We had a long day of narrow road ahead of us with no towns in sight for at least two days. Not such a big deal, but I realized that we probably should have stocked up in Azure on provisions.
I heard Taz whine and he came slinking out of a bush to lie at my feet. I closed my eyes and let the small amount of sunlight warm my back as I relaxed and listened. It was unexpectedly cold and as I counted up the days I realized that winter would be upon us soon.
The morning birds were beginning to wake and stir from their nests as they rustled and chirped among the brush, scavenging for breakfast. A twig snapped behind me and I jumped, turning around quickly.
Victor was standing behind me. His eyes were red and puffy and he had grey undertones beneath them. His clothes were clean though, along with his skin and hair. Magic.
“Good morning, Zavier.” He attempted a small smile and I turned away in disgust.
“What do you want?”I growled in a low tone, I wasn’t in a very forgiving mood this morning, but at least I would try speaking with him now.
“I...I guess I wanted to come and apologize. To tell you the truth, I don’t know what made me end up like that down there. I mean, the moon that you disappeared I became depressed and mad at myself for not being there for you when Earl attacked you-”
“Really?” I scoffed in disgust. Victor stared at me, I could tell he was pleading with me and I groaned. I had never been good at staying angry very long unless you counted Earl and Father.
“I started working at the local Pub,” Victor continued slowly, “and ended up getting a bad drinking habit. I thought I was over it… but I guess I was wrong-”
“You think!” I interrupted, causing Victor to scowl.
“I’m really trying here, man. I mean I know what I did was wrong but we all have our flaws, Zavier. At least let me try to apologize!” Victor demanded and I nodded complacently.
“That morning at Donña s I came down to the kitchen and found you sleeping there at the table with Zoey. You do so much for us so I decided I wanted to do something nice for you in return. I wound up searching around the cathedral and found the alehouse and decided one drink wouldn’t hurt anything.... I guess it did.”He sighed and sat down in the fallen leaves, his hand fidgeting with a loose thread on his tunic. Was he really sorry for what he’d done to himself, Xyle, and the group?
I sighed.
“Victor. How can I know that you really are sincere about this? I mean you thought you were over it before and look what happened...”
He seemed relieved that I was at least willing to talk to him so he turned to face me.
“Because I would use a wizard’s oath to seal my promise to you. I would be bound by magic so I wouldn’t ever be able to drink again. Sound good?”
I looked at him. He was begging for me to understand.
“I guess-if you say so-”
“Look, Zavier. I want to be your friend again, not your enemy. Please let’s make up and forget the whole thing. Alright?” he pleaded, an earnest look shining in his gaze.
I pushed away my nagging thoughts and nodded. Why not? I could give the guy another chance, I guess.
“Alright.”
Victor stood up and came to stand directly in front of me. He held out his hands and I took them. Closing his eyes he started mumbling something in another language. I closed my eyes too but I could still feel the powerful magic gathering around us. I realized, as the power stirring the air around us continued to gather, that this was a very, very strong oath and I started to feel nervous about being included in the magical weaving. It lasted for a long moment before he released my hands, the magic fading.
“Come on, Timmy will probably have woken by now.” Victor offered me a hand.
“What exactly did you just do?”I asked uncomfortably, feeling the lingering presence of his magic.
Victor smiled.
“I made a promise to you in the ancient language that I would never again knowingly consume alcohol and that if I were to do so, my magic would utterly consume me in death.” I stared in disbelief.
“Seriously?”
He nodded as if he’d just announced that he’d only get a severe scolding, not death! I shivered before pushing the image of a burning wizard from my mind’s eye.
“I’ll still have the desire…to drink,” he explained slowly. “But now I have a pretty good incentive not to.” He laughed sheepishly.
“For all of our sakes you had better keep your oath then,” I replied, turning to look for my dog.
“Taz, here boy!” I hollered out into the forest around us. All was still for a moment, then Taz came storming through a bush behind me and landed on my back as I was shoved into the soft soil.
“Gee whiz you awful mutt, get off!” I spat out a mouthful of leaves as Victor dragged Taz off. Taz turned and growled at the wizard in a low rumble. Taz’s reaction caused me to laugh, breaking the tension in the air.
“Friends?” Victor asked hesitantly, helping me to my feet. I nodded.
“Friends.”
The smile that crossed Victor’s face was genuine before he turned and led us back through the trees towards camp. After a few minutes of walking the canvas tent came in view. Timmy was sitting outside, his head thrown back as he leaned against the taught tent in the warm sunlight.
“Hey.”
He looked up as I knelt down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Where were you, Zavier?”Concern filled Timmy’s voice so I smiled and patted his shoulder.
“I just decided to go for a little walk. I wasn’t gone too long.”
He nodded.
“Zavier, I wanted to tell you about a dream I had last night.”
I looked over to Victor who passed me and went inside the tent to eavesdrop. I decided not to deprive him of the opportunity and who knew, I might want him as a witness later.
I sat down on the soft leaf-strewn ground and looked at Timmy. He’d returned to his previous position and was rocking back and forth.
“So? Was it a nightmare?” I asked quietly, realizing that my anger for both boys was quickly fading. For some unknown reason I was overly attached to this small broken child, he seemed more a brother to me than Earl and we weren’t even related.
“It wasn’t really a dream, just a long forgotten memory,” Timmy mused quietly, his large green eyes thoughtful as he stared up into my own identical ones. “I was back with Auntie. A storm was raging outside and I was scared so she took me up to the attic where she would tell me stories of my mother and her childhood.” Timmy shivered despite the morning sunlight illuminating his pale skin. “But this night, she sat me down in an old dusty chair and hobbled off to rummage through some old boxes.
“Finally, she returned with an old piece of parchment. A beautiful woman was pictured there, alongside a handsome man. They were in fancy clothing and Auntie told me that they were my parents on their wedding day.” Timmy smiled thoughtfully, probably envisioning the two people he had never known.
“They don’t know who they missed out on raising, Timmy.” I reassured him, but he seemed undaunted as he shrugged his small bony shoulders.
“It’s alright, I know they must have had a good reason, I don’t blame them. Anyways, Auntie gave me the picture and said that I could keep it if I liked. We put it somewhere special but after that the memory gets a little fuzzy. I really can’t remember where we put the picture.” Timmy finished and I sat back on my heels.
“That must have been a nice dream…?” I asked hesitantly, wondering why he had decided to share it with me. Understanding filled his expression as his eyes brightened.
“Anyhow, I remembered the painting clearly now and Zoey and Victor aren’t my parents. I don’t really understand why I thought that in the first place...”He shrugged again before struggling to his feet as I breathed a heavy sigh.
“Thank goodness, Timmy. For a while there you had me concerned,” I couldn’t keep the relief out of my voice and Timmy smiled sheepishly.
“Yeah, sorry about that, sometimes my mind gets off on weird tangents,” he chuckled quietly before using his crutches to walk towards the forest. Was it really that easy? Could everything go from crumbling to pieces back to normal just like that? Somehow I doubted it. Victor was addicted and oath or no oath he would have a rough road ahead of him in order to clear up his problem. Timmy on the other hand was an ongoing mystery.
I remained in my crouched position and as soon as Timmy was out of sight Victor snuck around the tent to sit beside me, startling me.
“What did you do that for?” I snapped in surprise.
He smiled.
“Sorry, Zavier, I just wanted to ask you a question about that little pathetic waif-I mean Timmy. Why did he say he thought I was his dad? Has he gone crazy or what?”Victor demanded.
“I don’t know. It started the day after you vanished and ended this morning. I thought he’d gone crazy but I can’t tell you why he thought you were his dad. Sorry.”I rose to my feet and summoned for Victor to come and help me take down the tent. He reached up to pull the canvas off the top of a pole and cringed from pain as he clutched at his side and stumbled to the ground.
“Victor!”I rushed over to him and at once remembered his horrible wound and the vial the mage had sold to me. I ripped his shirt off and gasped. The sore was red and puffy, the scab that had healed over it cracked and pussy.
“Victor, this is so gross!”
He hissed as he sucked in air, his face a mirror of pain. A long crack ran the length of the sore. It had split when he’d reached up. Ouch.
“Here, hold still, I have something for it.”I quickly pulled the vial out of my rucksack and allowed a few drops to land on the sore. They soaked in and the scab seemed to steam and bubble repulsively and I almost threw up. It finally settled down and looked a shade pinker and less blistered. The crack had healed over.
“Thanks, man, it feels much better.” Victor swallowed hard before allowing me to pull him to his feet. I looked up just as Timmy came wandering back through the trees. Together we pulled the tent down and rolled the canvas up around the smooth wooden poles and tied them to Xyle who was looking much perkier this morning.
I hurried over to Shika and scooted up behind Timmy while Victor made room in front of the tent to mount Xyle.
“Alright, let’s go,” Victor urged impatiently. He had decided to lead and I allowed Shika to fall back a few paces behind the black unicorn.
“Where to, Zavier?” Victor asked almost excitedly. Silence followed as I sorted through my thoughts. So far we’d had no signs to the whereabouts of the two girls as the one girl had promised. I looked down at Timmy and realized how much I wanted to help the poor boy find his parents or, since it didn’t really seem like they wanted a crippled son in the first place, the place where he could be healed.
“Timmy? What did you call that place, the Palace of something or another?”
“Not The-Palace-of-Something-or-Another, Zavier!” Timmy joked happily. “Gee, that sure would be a funny name. It’s the Palace of Eternal Sleep-”
Victor let out a snort.
“Not that old tale,” he muttered disgustedly.
We both looked over at him in confusion and he rolled his eyes.
“Every wizard in training has to read a collection of fables and myths. The only story not complete in the book is the one of The Palace of Eternal Sleep. It has haunted mankind with its mystery since history began. Anyhow, the story was finally rewritten and put into the book.
“The story in a nut shell told of a young prince who found his true love. After years of peaceful ruling of their kingdom she became ill. It tells of him making the hardest decision of his life and allowing her to go to the Palace of Eternal Sleep. Just a really messed and gussied up way of saying that he allowed her to pass away to death.” Victor paused and Timmy scowled at him angrily.
“The reason why people just can’t let go of it though is that a few people have actually claimed they’ve found the Palace. No one would believe them though, and just pass it off for crazy obsessed fools except for one fact. Every person who has claimed to see the castle states the same identical sentence. When asked where the castle lies they say the same exact words: “The prince has forbidden remembrance of the place to me until the day of reconcile.””
I looked down at Timmy worriedly. “Did you know this?” I asked quietly. He shrugged.
“It’s complicated-”
Victor laughed. “I don’t see how it’s complicated, it’s simply a lie. According to history, most of the time the people who claim to have been there also mention that either their loved ones are now dead or old or they are confused about the date and year. I know because I was there when an old lady came to our school, claiming that she had been there before. It was over all-a rather odd experience-”
Victor jumped as Timmy grabbed a crutch and hit him in the head with it.
“But it is true! My Auntie went there herself. She told me about it. I don’t care if you wizards are a bunch of dried old prunes who wish to pass it off for a lie but I know it’s true!” Timmy implored angrily.
Victor threw me a look and I knew he still thought Timmy wasn’t right in the head. I was unconcerned though and my mind was abuzz with thoughts. What if we really did find the Palace...? Timmy could be healed and then his parents would want him back. He would be the happiest boy alive, and what an adventure!
“Victor-”
He glared at me as he recognized my tone of voice.
“No way!” he interjected, his scoff implying he thought us both crazy.
“But supposing this place was true, where do the experts believe it is?”
Victor let out a snort of disgust.
“Not you too now. Besides, that’s one of the reasons it’s such a mystery. No one has the slightest idea where the place is. Besides, I thought you wanted to search for those two girls, not go looking for a fairy tale castle,” he muttered bitterly.
I sighed.
“I know, I know. But we haven’t had any...sign or whatever. I mean I know we need to find them,” her blue eyes pleading with me, he sister laying there deathly still. I could never forget them, I would never stop looking. “This castle interests me though-”
“That’s the point! It interests most everyone. People have rotted their lives away searching for it, and just think about it! All that wasted life! What if that person might have done great things if they hadn’t heard about the stupid castle?”
“But it’s not stupid, it’s not a fake and Zavier and I are going to find it!”Timmy interrupted, looking up at me as I gave him a half-smile.
“Um, Timmy. I never said that. I just said that I was interested,” I corrected quickly.
Timmy sighed and I felt sorry for shattering his hope. I probably shouldn’t even have mentioned it at all.
“Even if we do go looking for it, Zavier, hundreds of people have tried. What makes us any different!?”Victor demanded, fed up with our plight.
“Then where do you propose to go, Victor?” I demanded, causing him to shrug.
“Well, we’re headed towards the Badlands, we might as well go check that place out. The town of Greed is legend to be a magically historical place. Maybe that’s where the girls decided to hide, who knows. Besides, there’s like twenty small communities out there scattered along the road. Sounds like a neat place to go if you can make it through the Pass alive,” he muttered as he glanced at me and I ignored him.
He sighed then pulled out a crumpled map and pointed in the general area of the pass before speaking.
"Why don’t we stop at the Pass Hamlet tonight? It’s a tiny village where we can get a few supplies and we can camp there for a good night’s sleep. I want to make it through the pass in a single day and get out of there before dark so we can move on to Greed.”
“But isn’t that impossible?”I asked, knowing it normally took three days, two if you were lucky.
“Well, we have two nice unicorns don’t we? And what about my magic?” he asked coyly. I stared in horror.
“You’d better not get any crazy ideas,” I demanded.
“Sorry, you and Timmy already have.”
I sat up, quickly realizing where I was. Rushing to my feet I took off into the deathly-still forest, the branchless trees allowing the moonlight to bathe the forest floor. She would be waiting for me there, like she always was.
Time passed quickly and before I knew it I found myself in the wide clearing; the throne-as always- seemingly awkward and out of place. My heart fell as I realized it was empty.
“Zavier.” Her soft voice was a mere whisper and I turned to find her standing beside a huge black tree trunk.
“Hello,” I replied, my heart calming as I realized it was really her; she’d come. I approached her and realized she looked different. Normally she seemed hurt or sad, but tonight she stood erect and her eyes burned with determination; she was angry.
“What-”
“No,” her voice shook with emotion as she cut me off. “Zavier… the castle, it hides too many secrets better left hidden,” she hissed, her anger melting into sadness as tears covered her cheeks like small diamonds.
“It wasn’t for certain,” I assured her. “I mean Timmy really wanted to go there but-”
“Timmy…” she spoke thoughtfully, a smile finally playing at her lips. “Such a curious boy… you two have so much in common yet you don’t even realize his worth yet.” She laughed, her anger seemingly forgotten for a moment before her gaze darkened and she grew still.
“The only way to heal him is the Palace-”
“I don’t care about the castle, I care about finding you.” The girl’s shocked face reflected my own and slowly she smiled.
“Why haven’t you given us a sign yet? Why does this have to be so complicated!” I demanded. “Just tell me where you are and I don’t care how far, I will go there, I’ll do whatever it is you need me to do!” I urged, wanting more than anything to help her. Why wouldn’t she let me?
“We’re already with you, Zavier.” I stared as she spoke, her voice a quiet whisper.
“I haven’t seen you-”
“Soon,” she murmured calmly, all signs of anger gone. “I give you a warning Zavier, if you travel to the castle be beyond careful. The balance between outcomes is very fragile. If you find the right secrets, avoid certain doors you will be fine. But if you don’t the results could be disastrous.” Tears filled her eyes as she watched me, obviously struggling inside.
“So should I go?” I asked distractedly, my excitement of her promise to join us soon was the only thought I wanted to dwell on.
“Know this, Zavier. The palace is Timmy’s only hope to live a full life. Deep secrets are buried within those walls, ones that should never be awoken. There are doors there. Enter the wrong one and your family, my sister and I, everyone you know; will die. Open the right ones and you will find the key that will answer everything,” she cautioned slowly, the hairs rising along my arm.
“To be healed, Timmy must die. For you to find us, two others must die. Choose to do nothing, and you will die.”
qqq
