Keystone (Gatewalkers) (6 page)

The Mara, formless as the world surrounding her, deftly slithered through the bridge’s twisted “terrain.” She could see the evidence of Maelyn’s wandering efforts: Gates between the worlds that were closed once more. She considered trying to rip a few open again, but decided not to waste the time. It made little difference to her. She only cared about one Gate, and it was sealed shut.

The Mara followed her instincts to the Gate as familiar to her as that of her own home world.

The blood seal held fast, keeping the Gate and its surrounds unmoving, unchanging for centuries. The seal itself pulsed in living ribbons of crimson across the Gate, but a thin crack ran through its center. That crack had been just wide enough for her to slip free at last.

Before the Gate knelt its vigilant guardian. Encased in black and silver armor, his feathered wings spreading behind him like a storm cloud of grey and lightning, he held a flaming sword before him and shielded the sealed Gate at his back. He, too, had gone unchanged for centuries, preserved by the timelessness of the bridge, still bearing the wounds of his final battle, the blood wet on his armor. Guarding his king’s lifeblood.
 

The Mara had never been a warrior. Her weapons were deception and magic. Yet, the Gate taunted her with its nearness, her lord trapped behind its crimson surface.

“Soon,” she whispered. Princess Maelyn, with her tormenting green eyes that were so beloved and so hated and her blood that tied her to the sovereignty of the kingship, might yet provide the key to the Gate.

CHAPTER THREE

Into the Labyrinth

Charlie popped the “Seinne Sonne” data key into the reader and felt a fresh surge of giddy excitement. As she stepped into the room, she felt a sharp, dizzy jolt as if she’d missed a stair. Her foot met ground, but for a second she still felt like she was falling. The air rippled around her, turning warm and moist, tinged with the salty tang of seawater. Bright sunlight surrounded her.
 

Her sneakered feet sank slightly into sandy ground. She stood on a hill covered in tall, undulating grass. Beyond the rise of the surrounding hills ahead of her, grey-blue ocean stretched to meet the pale horizon. Seagulls screamed nearby.

Charlie glanced down at herself. She still wore her cade uniform, complete with sneakers. Wasn’t this supposed to be a sword and sorcery? Odd. The game had skipped straight past character creation, unless this was the tutorial phase. At least she hadn’t started out as a prisoner.

This was no low budget production either. Some company had put major hours into this game. Most productions didn’t bother with such vivid sensory detail because most of the subtle nuances would be lost in the home editions, and that was where they made most of their money.
 

Charlie paused to enjoy it, breathing deeply of the beach-side air, then descended the hill to head toward the ocean. It was as likely a starting point as any. She felt the tensions of the day flaking away like a crusty shell, leaving her feeling light and feathery.

Once clear of the hill, Charlie could see boats on the ocean. A lot of them were small, fishing types, but there were also several full-masted beauties. She always loved this part. It was just like stepping back in time. Like stepping into another world.
 

There was nothing of the ordinary and everyday left; no cars, no jets, no mag rail, and for a little while, no policy changes or store managers.

A fair hike down the beach line, where the ocean curved inland to meet a river, the walls of a small castle rose above the hills. The smaller buildings of a town peppered its shadow, and more masts bristled in the small harbor fronting it.

Civilization was always the best place to start. Charlie struck out for the town.

***

The pixies collapsed in a puddle on the beach.

“We made it,” Tom moaned, and spread out his arms to dig into the sand of their own world.
 

“That was worse than the first Gate.” Good thing they’d slipped through the Gate practically on their hero’s heels, because it snapped shut right behind them, catching them in a back wave and nearly sending them
in between
. Lallia shuddered and clung to Tom.

“I never want to leave Seinne Sonne again.”

Lallia wasn’t so sure about that, but she very much agreed that she didn’t want to go through any more Gates for a while at least.

“Wait.” Tom lifted up his head. “Where’s she gone?”

Lallia gasped. “Our hero! She doesn’t even know where to go!” She would be completely lost in Seinne Sonne.

“Like you do? Where are we, anyway? This isn’t Iomara.”

Lallia fluttered upward to look around. She sighed in relief. “We’re exactly where we need to be.” She pointed down the beach. “There’s Alta.”

“Alta? That’s the end of the world! Why would we want to go to Alta? The Keystone was stolen from the palace vaults. We
should
be in Iomara!”

“No, we need to go to Alta,” Lallia said. “
Trust
me. Oh! There she is! Come, come!” She sped after their hero.

***

A large ball of pink light shot out of the tall grass straight for Charlie’s face. Startled, Charlie automatically slapped it away, sending it tumbling.

“That wasn’t very nice!” said a small male voice. “Especially since we went through all the trouble of finding you and bringing you here.”

A palm-tall boy appeared before her on the sandy ground, a glare on his tiny face and a green plastic sword in his hand, pointed at Charlie. “What have you to say for yourself, human?”

“I thought brownies were brown,” Charlie said.

The boy gave a derisive sniff and rested his sword on his shoulder. “I thought a real hero would know a pixie when she saw one. Though I suppose it is good to see that you did not die when crossing through the Great Gate.”

“Of course she did not die.” The pink light was back. “She’s been through hundreds of gates, and slain dragons and all other manner of creatures. I heard her speaking of them. She is Seinne Sonne’s true hero.”

The turquoise haired pixie didn’t seem convinced.

“Welcome to Seinne Sonne. Call me Lallia,” the pink pixie said, fluttering to hover before Charlie’s face, apparently having forgiven her for the slap. “Are you ready to save princess Maelyn?”

“You can’t expect her to save the princess with her bare hands,” the boy pointed out. “Call me Tom, by the way,” he added to Charlie.

Lallia buzzed in irritation. “Of course I don’t expect her to save Maelyn with her bare hands. Not alone, either. That’s why we’re going to Alta first.” She pointed downward of the sandy hill.

 
“Alta?” Tom said. “Why would we want to go to Alta? The Keystone was stolen from the palace vaults. We need to go
this
way,” he pointed inland, ”to Iomara.”

“No, we need to go to Alta,” Lallia said. “
Trust
me.”

“Where
is
Alta,” Charlie said. It sounded like as good a starting point as any.
Two pixies have requested to join your party,
she thought.
Request accepted.

“Right over the hill down the coast,” Lallia said.

Lallia started drawing in the air, a little pink streamer of light following her finger as she created a shape something like a ragged edged gibbous moon. She drew a ragged circle roughly in the middle, leaning toward the right side, with a squiggle that trailed upward and off to the left side. “This is the kingdom of Seinne Sonne.”
 

She pointed at the circle in the middle. “This is Iomara and Sonne Lake.” Her finger followed the scribble coming off the lake. “This is the Great River, and Alta is right here, where the river meets the ocean.” She indicated a little cove just above where the river met the edge of her drawing. Her finger indicated the space to the left and down of her drawing. “South of Seinne Sonne is the Black Forest. No one goes there if they want to live. North is nothing but mountains and snow.”

“All right, if we’re so close to Alta anyway, why don’t we start there, and then catch a ride upriver to Iomara. Sound reasonable?” She looked at Tom.

Tom grudgingly nodded. “I still do not see why we need to go to Alta.”

“Trust me,” Lallia said again, this time smugly. She waved her air map away.

The road Lallia led them to wound over the hill and down toward the walled town.
 

The detail that went into designing the town was pure awesomeness. The castle really looked as if it had been standing on its reinforced hill for centuries, collecting cracks and moss. The architecture looked appropriately medieval, with most of the buildings two stories at best, tiny thatch roofed hovels at worst. There were a few standard wattle and daub buildings, but the bulk of them were actually stone. Probably implying that there was a quarry nearby, or it was just plain the most available building material.
 

The wooden docks projecting out into the harbor crawled with people, and beyond them the harbor bristled with masts, spars, ropes, and sails. Smaller vessels out on the water were probably fishing vessels, and judging from the breeze laden with rotting fish, the fishing was probably good.

“Now can you tell us why you insisted we come to Alta?” Tom said, materializing on Charlie’s shoulder. He settled in cross legged, holding Charlie’s collar for balance. His phantom weight felt strange.
 

Lallia fluttered up and settled on her other shoulder. “Not yet. Wait until we get into the city.”

“Well, come on, feet,” Charlie muttered, and started down toward the gates in the wall. “How about you guys give me some background on this quest,” she said. “And how this world works, so I am not completely lost.”

She felt Lallia shift slightly on her shoulder.
 

“All right,” Lallia said, with the air of one contemplating where to begin a long story. She daintily cleared her throat and straightened her back until she perched primly on the slope of Charlie’s shoulder. “Long, long ago, before Ard Ri released the Nightmares from their dark and fiery realm –”

“Oh, you’ve gotten her started,” Tom moaned.

Lallia hissed at him. “She needs the whole story, so I’m going to tell it properly.” She pointedly cleared her throat again. “Before Ard Ri released the Nightmares from their dark and fiery realm, High King Gwalchmai ruled in peace and prosperity over all of Seinne Sonne.”

“It was even before we were made,” Tom said, “so you
know
it had to be a long time ago.”
 

Lallia continued as if he hadn’t interrupted. “But an evil grew in hiding. No one remembers where he came from, hidden in the mists of time, but Ard Ri rose up and opened the Great Gates to the Nightmare Realms, releasing all manner of creatures to over sweep the land, leaving devastation in their wake. Thus the Nightmare Wars began. High King Gwalchmai brought his armies against them, but there seemed to be no end to the red tide, and Seinne Sonne’s fields were washed in blood.

“To preserve Seinne Sonne and what remained of his people, High King Gwalchmai took the Keystone and in his dying breath sealed all of the Great Gates closed, trapping Ard Ri and his armies in the Nightmare Realms forever.”

“Not forever,” Tom corrected. “Only so long as the seal on the Gates holds.”

“For as long as the seal holds,” Lallia said. “Which was supposed to be forever.”

“For as long as Gwalchmai’s bloodline holds the throne and the Keystone,” Tom interjected again. “But the Great Gates are opening up again.”

“That’s how we came to find you,” Lallia said. “We found an open Gate and it brought us to your world.”

“So we could find a hero to save Princess Maelyn and find the Keystone. We can only hope that you’re the one.”

“What does the Princess have to do with this?” Charlie said before Lallia could get into a fresh tiff.

“Princess Maelyn and High King Edouard are the last remnants of High King Gwalchmai’s bloodline,” Tom said. “King Edouard and Princess Maelyn are tied to the Keystone in a way no one else could be. They are the only ones who can control the Keystone and use it to close the Great Gates before it is too late.”

“Why can’t King Edouard do anything about it?” Charlie said.

Tom’s black eyes grew large as dimes. “Put the last High King of Gwalchmai’s blood in mortal danger? If both he and Maelyn were killed, then all would be lost.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised it the Council has the poor man locked in a vault,” Lallia said in sympathy.

“I’m guessing someone is trying to free Ard Ri?” Charlie said.
 

“Let us hope not,” Tom said solemnly.

Make that a “yes.” Charlie mentally noted “Ard Ri = Boss Monster.” “If this bloodline is so important, why are there only two of them left?”

“Two generations ago,” Tom said, “High King Tolencal hunted down and killed all the other branches of Gwalchmai’s line to protect the Keystone.”

“Awful bloodthirsty way to do it,” Charlie commented. She felt Lallia hopping with barely restrained glee.

“Yes,” Lallia said, “but such attempts have been made before, and all failed to eradicate
all
other branches.”

Tom leaned forward to peer suspiciously around Charlie’s neck. “Do you know something I don’t?” he said, as if it were the worst betrayal in the world.

“Maaaaybe,” Lallia said maddeningly.

“Is this why you wanted to come to Alta?” Charlie said.

“Maaaaaaybe,” Lallia said. Make that a “yes.” So they were finding someone else from Gwalchmai’s bloodline that King Tolencal didn’t manage to kill.
Your mission, should you choose to accept it….

The temperature cooled slightly as they passed into the shadow of the walls. The spear wielding guards stared at her as she approached. It wasn’t like she was the only one on the road. More walkers and several ox drawn wagons trundled their way toward the gates. Then again none of them wore khakis, sneakers, and a black light t-shirt. But the guards let her through without demanding to know her business or questioning her sanity.

“Ok, Lallia, where are we going?” Charlie said, settling her hands on her hips as she surveyed the branching roads. Every passer by seemed to give her a questioning eye.