Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah (16 page)

DRAKE DRAGONCLAW now raised his staff in the moonlight and with some formality announced, “Tonight we hold council to decide our response to the plea of our fallen brother. We shall begin by hearing once again his letter so that his words are fresh in our minds. Brother Nightstorm, the letter is in your possession. Please read it for us now.”

Nooja Nightstorm nodded and reached into his tunic to produce a small roll of parchment. After fiddling with his spectacles, he read:

Brothers,

I write with the humblest of hearts to entreat your forgiveness. I tell you all in earnest, I am an Een transformed. Wandering in exile, lo these many years, has washed away the treachery of my heart. Hear me, brothers! It is with ardent joy that I tell you I am like a garden which flourishes without weeds. Listen: I have built a sanctuary in the wilderness, a palace of peace amidst beauty and bounty. I call it Greeve’s Green, and I beseech you to visit me, to be my noble guests. The stars shall direct you; come to me, my brothers. Let the brotherhood be whole again.

With all humility,

Your Brother Greeve

Kendra listened to all of this in wonder.
Greeve’s Green?
she thought. She had been there—it was anything but green. In her time, it was called the Greeven Wastes, a desolate place of rock and ruin. It was here that the dark temple stood, guarded by the Door to Unger, the very one she had destroyed—well, in the future, at least. She shuddered to think of it in
this
time, standing newly erected.

The council of brothers was now silent. Kendra looked over at Gayla, and noticed her staring intently at the circle of wizards. She wondered what was going through her mind.

Finally, Thunger Thunderfist cleared his throat. “This message fills me with terrible unease,” he declared. “I do not trust the words of our fallen brother. I have spent many sleepless nights considering our path forward, and this is what I propose. Let us, indeed, journey to Greeve’s Green, to meet our brother. But let us take Eens armed with spear and sword, so that we might be prepared against his further betrayal.”

“An army?!” Leemus cried (he was now sitting, having taken a place between Thunger and Izzen). “What
ticklewickle
is this?” he demanded. “My brothers, I implore you. War is not the way of Eens.”

“Nor is treachery and darkness,” Drake said. “Yet these are the traits demonstrated by our fallen brother. I, for one, agree with Brother Thunderfist’s plan. We go not to make war, but to guard ourselves against danger.”

The other brothers now broke out in heated debate, but at last Izzen was able to quiet them. “Enough!” he boomed, banging his staff against the Elder Stone. “Each of us has contemplated this for seven moons: long enough. Let us put it to the vote. Who supports the plan put forth by Brother Thunderfist?”

Three hands immediately went to the air. After a moment, two more joined them. Only Leemus did not agree with the decision.

“The council has spoken,” Izzen proclaimed. “Let us make arms and in three moons set forth to meet with our fallen brother. It will take us several weeks to reach the palace of the Wizard Greeve. It will be an onerous journey, but hopefully a fruitful one.”

“And what of the Eengels?” Leemus asked. “Should we not consult them? They have come from the beyond to give us counsel in these most
gindly
times.”

“I do not know what to make of these strange Eens,” Izzen said. “Perhaps they are for us; perhaps not. So let them accompany us to Greeve’s Green. This way they shall never leave our watchful eye. We shall know their purpose yet.”

“What shall we do with them in the meantime?” Nooja asked.

“Split them up,” Thunger declared. “That way, they shall have no chance to confer or plot. I shall take the younger sister. Nooja can take the other. As for the mouse . . . why, Leemus, you so relish the company of critters. The mouse stays with you.”

“They are not our prisoners!” Leemus exclaimed, rising to his feet.

“Sit, Brother,” Izzen hissed. “Indeed, they are
not
prisoners, and we shall not treat them as such. But they shall not meet or speak to one another during these next three days, nor during the journey itself. These are troubled times, and we must take caution.”

“We’re in a
wongle
now,” Oki moaned from their tree branch. “See!? We should have left when we had the chance. Now we have to go back to the Door to Unger! Oh, don’t think of eggs, don’t think of eggs.”

“What do you mean
back?
” Gayla snapped. “What is this door anyway? And this mark on your hand, Braids? There’s a whole lot you little sneaky snirtles haven’t told me and I want answers.”

Kendra yanked hard on her braid. Luckily, she didn’t have to come up with an answer, for just then Thunger Thunderfist lumbered over to her and with one mighty hand scooped her from the tree branch and led her away. She cast a frantic look over her shoulder and managed a wave to her companions. She was thankful Oki was staying with Leemus and Clovin. She could only imagine how panicked he would be to be put under the watchful eye of the giant Thunger Thunderfist.

Like her.

We’re in trouble,
she told herself as she walked in the enormous shadow that Thunger cast in the moonlight.
I can’t jump while we’re split up. That would mean abandoning Gayla and Oki. And now we have to go back to the Door to Unger. The Wizard Greeve is going to curse the elders—and us too.

There have probably been times when your friends or family have become embroiled in a fight, causing you to endure some long and uncomfortable silence over dinner or on the ride home. For Kendra, the next three days were exactly like this. She could tell both the temper and anxiety of Thunger Thunderfist were high, and the giant wizard spoke only to give her the simplest of commands.

Kendra caught him looking at her palm from time to time, trying to glimpse the mark, but he never directly asked her about it again. She supposed he simply did not trust her. And so she was confined to his house (a humble abode, in a hollowed-out ledge of rock) and spent her hours meditating by a small crack that served as a window. She could not see the preparation of the Een army, but she could often hear it. The sounds of weapon-making filled her ears: the smash of hammers against metal and the sharpening of stone.

After three days, early in the morning, Thunger roused her from the hammock he had strung for her in one corner of the cave-like dwelling. After a simple breakfast Kendra followed the wizard to the edge of a vast field, where she estimated over one hundred and fifty Eens had assembled. They were divided into regiments, each marked by different colored uniforms and flags to represent the brother that commanded them (Thunger’s men wore gray and brown). There were also many women attached to each regiment; Kendra could tell by their garb and supplies that they were the cooks and messengers of the army. But for the most part the field was full of men, each of them burdened with heavy weapons: swords, axes, and spears.

An entire army of Eens,
Kendra thought in wonder.
The history books never said anything about this.

Try as she might, Kendra could catch no glimpse of Oki or Gayla, though she did at one point see Leemus. His regiment was clothed in uniforms of forest green, and even Clovin was wearing a long cape that fluttered in the morning breeze.

I guess he’s coming too,
Kendra thought, but he was the only animal in the entire assemblage (other than Oki, whom she hoped was somewhere).

Then, with a wave of his staff, Izzen Icebone gave the order for the massive army to march. And march they did.

“You,” Thunger said to Kendra, putting a sturdy hand on her shoulder. “You will not leave my sight.”

Kendra nodded. She still had no idea what part she was meant to play in all of this. Was she meant to stop the curse? Was she meant to save Leemus from it? Then she heard once again the voice of the blind old sorceress, her elder self. It reverberated in her mind, clearly as if she was standing right next to her:
Surrender, Kendra,
the voice said.
Trust.

Kendra trudged forward and pulled on a braid.
Easily enough said,
she told herself.
Much harder to do.