The Monster Hunter's Manual (6 page)

“Tell your mother that Angerboda walks again,” the woman said. “I see Perrine has already chosen her heirs.”

Eleanor looked bewildered by what they were saying. “I don't understand.”

“It is not yours to reason why, little phantom. We speak and you do. Thus it has always been. You must tell your mother Angerboda walks again.”

“Yes, My Lady,” Eleanor answered.

“Alex…” The woman turned to my brother. “You have come with questions.” Her voice was like the wind, like birds flying away. Bugs crawled along her arms. Ladybugs climbed up her legs. Flowers grew at her feet.

“Y-yes,” Alex stammered.

“What have you to ask Druantia the Forgotten?”

“I…I,” he stammered again and stepped backwards.
“I…I want to know…if there are other…ghosts?”

“You seek your parents?” she said.

“Yes.”

“I am of this earth and this life. I do not know the dead.”

Druantia turned to leave, but Alex chased after her. “Please, don't you know anything that could help me?”

“The dead bring danger with them. Not all ghosts are sweet like Eleanor. Not all skeletons are funny like Roger. Be careful what you seek.”

Alex was desperate. “Please.”

“Light the Lantern of the Dead. It will guide lost spirits home.”

Alex nodded and stepped backwards again. Druantia turned to leave, but before she vanished she leaned towards me and her body grew long so that even though her feet were rooted to the ground she could whisper in my ear. “Be brave, little prince,” she said. “It is a dark road before you.”

With that Druantia and her army of old ones moved back to the forest. They raised their arms and grew back into the ground until they became the very trees that protected the dolmen.

The air grew cold and the wind blew. I shivered. The clouds parted and the sun shone down on us like nothing at all had happened.

“Wow,” I said.

Eleanor began to drift away from the stone circle. Her light flickered in the shade of the trees. “I like Druantia. I used to come here all the time, but she says she is too old and too forgotten for this world. She says I should let her rest.”

I reached out and touched the tree that had once been Druantia. “But you don't let her rest?”

Eleanor hopped down off the rock. She was barely
visible in the noonday light. “Sometimes I do get lonely,” she confessed. “It has been so many years. She remembers the old days, when my father was lord of the land and I was betrothed to one of the king's sons. I was going to be important, a princess. She remembers the good days, before the dragons and the fire.”

“Dragons?” I asked, remembering Aunt Perrine's story.

“Before all the wars and battles,” Eleanor continued. “She remembers how it was.”

“I guess it must be lonely up there in that tower. Can't you cross over now…now that your mother is gone?” I asked.

Eleanor laughed and shrugged. “We should go back. Your Aunt will be back soon. She might notice you are gone.”

There were so many questions I wanted to ask Eleanor. So many things I had to know. Why did everyone keep calling me little prince? Why did the Molemen give me the cross. Why did Druantia tell her to tell her mother about Angerboda? Who was Angerboda? But before I could open my mouth to speak, Alex was standing beside Eleanor.

“Where's the lantern of the dead?” he asked her.

“Not far from the castle. In the village. In the cemetery. You have to light it at night.”

I cast a harsh glance at Alex. “At night? Oh no, don't even say it, Alex, because there is no way we are going to the cemetery at night to try to call back the dead. We are not doing it. End of story.”

I began walking back to the castle and everyone followed me. I was walking as fast as I could without running. Alex caught up to me and walked with me. He looked at me with his biggest puppy eyes, but he knew enough not to say anything.

“When I was young,” Eleanor said. “They used to light
the Lantern of the Dead for funerals, and on All Soul's Day, but never at night. That's why it had no power. We had power. My mother and I knew the secret magic, but we had to be quiet or we would be called witches. Eleanor of Aquitaine's mother came here once and was so impressed by mother and me that she named her after me…”

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked at the fading ghost. She looked like a child in the sunlight. She looked even younger than Alex.

“But you said that you were named after Eleanor of Aquitaine?” I said angrily.

“I did? Sometimes I forget things. I meant that she was named after me.”

“When did you live in the castle?”

Eleanor looked up in the air above her as if she was searching for an answer. “1012.”

“I read a book about France on the plane and it said the Eleanor of Aquitaine lived in the 1200s or something like that. You were dead a long time before her.”

Eleanor opened her mouth and then closed it. She shrugged her shoulders. “I lie sometimes,” she said. “It was all so long ago and hardly anyone ever listens to me in any case. I didn't think it mattered.”

“I am so sick of all this,” I said. I stomped away down the road to the castle leaving everyone else behind.

I trudged all the way back to the castle, thinking about how irritating all of the monsters and ghosts and spirits were. I thought that it would be better if I learned French and found some nice, normal friends down in the village.

I walked in the house, sat down at the table and turned on the CD. “Bonjour,” it said. And I answered back because sometimes it is better to sit alone talking to a CD player.

I didn't know where Alex went. I didn't even care. I spent the next hour practicing my French. I learned how to say
How are you?
and
Where is the bathroom?
I learned how to say a lot, when Aunt Perrine came in, I was happy to show her everything I had learned.

She sat with me and listened and checked my work. “Very good,” she said and slapped her hands together in delight.

“It is too bad your brozer didn't study,” Aunt Perrine said with a sigh. She opened a bag and gave me my special treat. It was incredible and it wasn't little. It was a small replica of an old castle with tiny knights, ogres and monsters. Each piece was perfect in its detail and the castle was so realistic I could almost see the moss on the gray stone.

“You like?” Aunt Perrine asked.

“I love it.” I threw my arms around her and hugged her. She hugged me back.

“I'm very glad you and your brozer are 'ere,” she said sweetly.

“Me too. I mean, out of every place we could have ended up, this is the best.”

“Merci.”

She took me in the kitchen and we ate a lunch of fresh bread, strange cheese, ham, and fruit. It was delicious. Even the Orangina was pretty good. I told Aunt Perrine about our life as we ate. I told her about our little house just outside the city and about our school. I told her about my friends and karate. I even told her about my favorite video
games. She listened attentively.

“Do you miss it terribly?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I do. Sometimes I miss it so bad my chest hurts, but it's not so bad here and you are really nice.”

“Merci. And what about brozer?”

“He misses our parents. He was always a little impulsive, but he's gone a little bonkers lately.”

“Bonkers?”

“Yeah. You know, crazy?”

“Oh, yes. We all go crazy sometimes.”

I looked at Aunt Perrine and wondered how many secrets she kept hidden in the old castle. I knew nothing about Chateau Larcher. I didn't even know when it was built. Big Foot could be hiding The Holy Grail in the basement for all I knew. “Tell me something about this castle. How old is it?”

“Zey built zee first walls around 900 and zey didn't finish until 1066.”

“It's a strange place.”

“Every place 'as secrets if you 'ave zee eyes too look.”

“My mom used to say that.”

“Your mamman was a very smart woman.”

Aunt Perrine seemed to like my mom. She smiled when she talked about her. She spoke with such fondness it seemed like they would have wanted to spend more time together. You would think they would have looked for every chance to visit and talk. I thought Aunt Perrine was someone my mother would have loved. I couldn't imagine what fight my father could have had with her to keep them apart for so long. “What did you and my father fight over?” I asked.

“Hmmm,” she said thoughtfully. “Zat's a hard question. I 'ave no children. No family. Your grandfather and I were
very close. He loved me deeply and I helped your grandmother and he care for all their children. I always felt closest to your fazer. I vanted him to have zis castle and its responsibilities. Your fazer said yes, but later changed his mind. I told him he couldn't change his mind. We fought. Zat's all. He didn't want the responsibility.”

“Why not?”

“Zis castle is a lot of responsibility,” she said.

“I would never turn away a gift like that,” I said firmly.

She smiled. “I hope you won't.”

The door slammed and Alex strolled into the room. He looked happy, but he was covered in a fine film of filth. He left a trail of mud and leaves behind him. He looked like the swamp monster.

“Oh Mon Dieu!” Aunt Perrine yelled. “To zee shower with you. Vite! Vite!”

Aunt Perrine dragged Alex upstairs and I was left alone to my thoughts. I went over the couch and sat down, it was covered in a thick fabric; on it were tiny pictures of people wearing old clothes. The pictures repeated over and over again, to form a pattern. My mother had something like it on her bedspread at home. I remembered her calling it toile. Seeing the pattern made me homesick.

Looking further about the room, there was a TV, but it was small and somehow, I just wasn't interest in TV anymore. There were a few books on the shelf. The windows stood open and the lace curtain fluttered in the soft evening breeze. It was peaceful sitting there.

Dinner came and went with a duck roasted in fat and potatoes smothered in cheese. The evening came and the sun faded, Aunt Perrine put us to bed.

“I will tell you anozer story tonight,” she said as we lay on Alex's bed. “Tonight I tell

You
La Grenouillebienfaisante
. In English, it is zee kind frog.
…Once upon a time, zere was a very good king. Zis king married a queen he loved greatly. When zee king was attacked by his enemies, he sent zee queen to safety. She was sent far away from him and was away from him for a very long time. She missed her love terribly and resolved to return, despite the guards the king had sent to make her stay away from his battles
.
The queen was determined. She was also clever. She had a carriage made for herself, and took advantage of a distraction to escape. In her rush, she lost control of her horses and they bolted
.
She was thrown from her horses and was badly injured. She lost consciousness

“A gigantic woman, wearing a lion skin, was zere when she woke. The giantess said she was the Fairy Lioness, and took zee queen to her home, a frightful cave crammed with ravens and owls. It had a lake filled with the most fearsome monsters. The water of the lake burned with a blue flame. There was almost no food and the queen was always hungry. Zis Lion Fairy kept zee good queen, and zee good queen drowned in her sorrows
.

“Zee queen worked hard for the Lion Fairy, but one day she saw a raven devouring a frog. She saved the frog and the frog was so overjoyed to be alive, zat he told the queen that he would grant her any wish
.

“The queen wept, for the Lion Fairy was cruel and harsh and the queen was pregnant. She knew when her baby was born the Lion Fairy would eat it. So she begged the frog to tell her husband where she was and how to save her
.

“The frog was honored to help such a beautiful and kind queen, and he went many miles through many dark forests to bring the king. Zee king came with all his best knights, but he found it impossible to pass the lake of monsters. Zee king fought and fought and many nights passed, but the monsters were too strong
.

“But the frog was wise and he knew an old dragon that lived
not so far away. He went to fetch the dragon, and zee dragon promised zee king that if he gave him his first-born daughter, he would defeat the monsters. The king agreed and the queen and king were reunited
.

“Their joy was short, however, and soon zee queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The dragon took the girl while the kingdom slept and for sixteen years, the kingdom mourned. So long, zat it was called the kingdom noir – the kingdom black
.

“But the frog did not forget the kindness of zee queen or her beauty and he wanted to save the lovely princess. He knew the old magic. He knew dragons, so he went out and found a prince of great strength and honor. The prince was a famous monster hunter who had slain the Lion Fairy and others like her. The frog told the prince that if he killed zee dragon and cut it open he would find zee most beautiful princess in the world. The prince did as the frog said and he killed the dragon and saved the princess. The kingdom rejoiced and as a wedding present, the king gave the prince his castle, The Chateau Larcher, and the prince became king of all he saw and the frog lived with them forever in the castle. The king and queen ruled for a thousand years and were beloved of all the people.”

The story ended and I looked over and saw that Alex had fallen asleep.

“Is it true?” I asked Aunt Perrine.

Aunt Perrine closed the book. “It is an old fairytale.”

“But…but you said this place is magic, so couldn't it be true?”

“I zink zat all fairytales carry a piece of truth.”

I yawned. It was late and I was tired. “I think it's true.”

I got up, and went back to my room. I thought about Lion Fairies as I fell asleep. I dreamt of dragons and knights fighting wicked Lion Fairies and terrible monsters. I woke up and Bastet was sitting on my bed, watching me with sleepy green eyes. She purred loudly and I reached out to
pet her. I knew that Alex was standing by my bed, but I tried to ignore him.

I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but I could hear Alex breathing. I put a pillow over my head, but he just came closer.

“Go away!” I yelled.

“I'm going to the cemetery tonight,” Alex said. “And I think you should come.”

I sat up in bed. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

“I never got to say goodbye,” Alex said. “I just want to say goodbye.”

I nodded reluctantly and getting out of bed, put on my sneakers. “Ok,” I said.

The village was quiet at night. In France, everything seemed to shut down after seven. All the stores were closed. Everyone went home. There were few streetlights and darkness spread out over the village like a blanket. There were no twenty-four hour gas stations, grocery stores, or fast food restaurants. So especially in the small village of Chateau Larcher, there was a sense of utter quiet.

It wasn't cold, but I was still shivering. I'd never say it to Alex. Maybe I'd never say it at all, but I was really scared. Wandering an ancient cemetery at night looking for ghosts to me sounded like something of which most adults might be afraid. I followed my brother, because I didn't want him doing it alone. I didn't want him getting hurt.

Uno and Roger were waiting for us at the gates with candles. Uno smiled and he looked like a boy in a Halloween costume with the silly smile on his face.

“Time to call the ghosts,” he said in a fake creepy voice.

Roger looked a little cross. “This stuff never works.”

“It worked for you, didn't it?” Alex said.

“Well, yeah, but that was different.”

“How?” I asked.

Roger smiled a strange, skeletal grin. “I don't know. I guess it isn't.”

“Have you ever done anything like this before?” I asked Uno.

“Are you kidding me?” he replied. “I'm afraid of myself sometimes and I can't even see my reflection in the mirror. I think I see my reflection and jump.”

I laughed and Roger made a funny face.

“So I guess we should do it?” Alex said.

No one moved to open the gate. They just stared at it. I could see the cemetery through the gate. It was pretty. There were traditional gravestones, modern stones, old angels praying over ancient graves, and graves so old they were hardly there. The Lantern of the Dead was not what I expected. When the old ones told us to light it, I had imagined it being a lamp. The lantern wasn't a lantern at all, but a large, oblong tower that reached up above the cemetery.

“I'll do it,” Roger said and he pushed the gate open and walked inside. “Hello!” he called to no one in particular. “If there are any other dead people wandering around here make yourselves known!” His call was answered only by silence.

“OK then,” Roger said. “It looks like Uno and I are the only living dead around. Let's go in.”

Alex went in after Roger and I followed him, but Uno hesitated and looked out on the cemetery with fear.

“Are you coming?” I asked.

“I don't know.”

“Why not?”

“It's a cemetery.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And you're a vampire. I thought vampires lived in cemeteries.”

“I don't like cemeteries.”

“Are you afraid?”

Uno shrugged. “A little.”

“Don't you have super powers? Aren't you immortal?”

“Yeah, but we're actually much more vulnerable than you think. I mean, stakes to the heart, garlic, holy water, tanning beds, bright lights, a good blow to the head. There are a lot of things that can hurt me. I don't even think we're
supposed to go on hallowed ground, technically speaking, and cemeteries are hallowed ground.”

“He's a big chicken!” Roger called.

Uno didn't even argue with Roger. “I'll just watch from here.”

“OK,” I said and I ran to catch up with Roger.

“He's even afraid of the dark,” Roger whispered in my ear.

“What? But light hurts him, doesn't it?”

“Yeah, but he's still afraid of the dark.”

I walked away from Roger, who was still laughing at Uno and caught up with Alex. Alex was standing at the base of the lantern and looked up. It was beautiful in the soft light of the moon. It was covered in stone vines and angels that crept upwards to the window, where it could be lit. Alex took a deep breath.