The Wicked Wand (4 page)

ABOVE THE WIDE GREAT SEA

In the morning we were away while Acrotwist Clowns not on Clock Watch still snored. Kar, shifted to winged blue cloud, drifted nervous circles high above Fan Wa's Island. She waited impatiently for me to explain to her what I meant by what I'd said at the break of dawn in her Queen Jebb Chamber. What had I said? I'd told her to wait for me above the Island where I would join her with a pleasant surprise. So she flitted this way, that way, an impatient cloud. I rose in lazy circles on my broom to deliver my surprise.

“What is it?” she hissed, shifting to half-Dragon, half-cloud as I neared.

“You're the burst ... first half-Dragon, half-cloud,” I commented.

“I don't care. What's the pleasant surprise?” she snapped.

So such was she that eager. Never before had I known her to sweep aside a first. I wasn't worried my surprise would fail to please her. I knew it would. It did.

“I am going to bruise a sting ... no ... use a ring,” I announced.

“Oh! What? Which one? For why?” she bubbled, shifting all the way to slender silver Racing Dragon with curve back horns and moss green neck fringe.

“This double diamond ... for greed ... no ... speed! Yoss! That's it!” I said, wiggling the first finger on my right hand where I wore the double diamond ring and its neighbor, the black jade. “I can cake ... make the ... the both of us ... flash across the pie ... the sky like as ... like as ... like as ...”

“Like as what?” screamed Kar, zipping around me, fro, to, to, fro. “Oh, I don't care. Whatever it is, do it!”

“Lightning,” I finally finished. “But first we need to be drier ... higher.”

Kar zoomed off and up with no delay for thought, and from time to time glanced back at me and, even though with silver Dragon shoulders, shrugged like we do as if so such to ask, “Is this high enough?” When Fan Wa's Island below us was a speck on the Wide Great Sea, I waved at Kar to stop. She skidded a turn and threw herself down next to me.

“Try it out, Bek. Go ahead. Use the ring,” she grinned at me with her Dragon fangs.

“I want my pond ... wand. Great Sea Fire Spout. North,” I said, and I mumbled a chant to the top diamond, twisted the ring to bring the bottom diamond up, top diamond down, repeated the chant.

Flash! A blur. A rumble hiss. Stillness.

“Did you do it? Was that it?” asked Kar, gliding along beside me.

“I ... think so such ... maybe not,” I said, sighting a speck on the Wide Great Sea far below.

Fan Wa's Island? Or some other? I motioned Kar to follow me down. If the double diamond chant had failed, it would still be Fan Wa's Island. A jumble of lively thrill swept up through me when the island took size and shape with our descent. Not Fan Wa's Island. No. Red. Puffs of red. Spitting!

“The Island of Spitting Sand! I'm the first to say it!” roared Kar.

We swooped to settle on the red dunes of sand, Kar first, me second. Here, there, all around us, geysers of red sand fountained.

“We passed everything other so sudden from the Gwer drollek story of when Dak played Ledgemoon with the twins that we didn't see ‘em,” said Kar, excited and disappointed all mixed together.

“On the way ... stack ... back, we'll visit ‘em all, Edge ... Daze ... Maze ... Hollows ... Circle ... Circle Island, all of ‘em,” I reassured her. “Wand first.”

“We're on the Island of Spitting Sand, Bek! All right. All right. Wand. Let's find your wand. Great Sea Fire Spout.

North, I said. I said north, didn't I? Well, this is as north as any Gwer drollek story goes. My father Dak led the twins to the Ledgemoon here. Right here! Spitting Sands! It's ...”

“Kar, settle. We'll flow ... go ... norther,” I said, pointing a trembling finger to the distant horizon.

Why was my finger trembling? From a point on that distant Wide Sea horizon a tiny plume of smoke curled upwards. I could make it dance on the tip of my trembling finger. Great Sea Fire Spout? Or not?

ENCASED IN A BUBBLE

I took command of myself and announced, “I'm going to lose this string ... use this ring. And you must lift ... shift ... to bendo dreen, Kar.”

I showed her the lodestone patched in white jade on a silver band. Without comment of any such sort, she nodded her silvery Dragon head and shimmered a shift to bendo dreen Kar. On the island of red dunes we stood while all around us puffs of sand popped in hissing gusts, spattering misty red-grain showers. Kar's gaze was fixed intently on me. Her yellow green face wore a solemn expression tinged with admiration. So such was she impressed by my confident manner and bearing.

“Why do I have to be bendo dreen? What does that ring do?” she asked in a tone of hushful respect.

“You should see ... be ... bendo dreen ... because ... because because. Just because. The ring will bloat ... no ... float us ... encased in a ... in a ... protective ... yoss ... protective ... trouble ... rubble ... bubble! Yoss! That's it!” I told her with some force, if not logic.

“Why do we have to be encased in a protective bubble?” asked Kar, this time whispering with respect.

“It will allow ... allow us to boat ... coat ... float through livers of wire ... rivers of ... of ... of ... of ... brimstone lava!” I replied.

“But I can shift to fire. I don't need ... wait. I'll be the first jrabe jroon to float encased in a bubble! Such! Make the bubble, Bek! Use the ring!” said Kar, suddenly impatient and hopping about.

Why did I want to be encased in a protective bubble? If the plume of smoke on the horizon was for truth the Great Sea Fire Spout, I felt a need to plunge into it, descend in a search for orruneries and my wand. I remembered when Kar and I visited the orruneries under the Orrun Mountain Hollow and how the heat of the place blasted me far from comfort. I wanted the calm cool of a protective bubble. And so such truth besides, I thought it would be fun.

“Settle, Kar. Stand quiet!” I said without a pause or a flaw.

Kar settled and stood quiet. I rubbed the lodestone the proper number of times in the proper circular manner while muttering the proper bubble chant. Ploop! We floated up, encased, from the sandy red dunes. I pointed my broom at the plume of smoke on the horizon. The bubble floated in that so such direction. Kar's grin traveled from ear to ear. She nudged me a good one in the side, causing the broom to swerve to the left, and therefore the bubble, too. I gave her a frown and recovered my stance, broom pointing at plume.

“Sorry,” said Kar. “Can I roll? Jump? Will it trampoline? Seems slippery. Can I slide? Can I ...”

“Settle! Yoss, yoss, yoss, and yoss. Do it all, but don't jump ... bump me. I have to ride ... guide ... by ... pointing ... the ... loom ... broom,” I said.

Kar asked me if she could shift to Queen Jebb, and I nodded that I supposed she could. She did so and tumbled and jumped and bounced and slid all around while laughing and singing. She crashed into me eight or ten times. Our bubble so such zigged and zagged through the sky. I didn't care. I got the giggles. I found I could bounce and keep the broom aimed true. The long happy day drew to a close, and we collapsed exhausted at the bottom of the bubble, giggling weakly and nibbling on conjured lemon cottages. We observed with satisfaction a giant cone of volcano spouting a plume of smoke fair near below us.

“Great Sea Fire Spout,” said Kar, no longer Queen Jebb, but once again bendo dreen Kar.

“At sunsink,” I murmured.

I yawned a great yawn, and Kar yawned, too.

“In the morning. Vest now. Rest. I'll point the bubble to hide the bee ... ride the sea,” I said.

“You could ruby ring us alert,” suggested Kar.

“Morning,” I insisted, pointing the broom downward.

We sank to the sea and rode there, rocked on gentle billows to sleep. But first, of course, I remembered to cap the broom with my witchly hat and to chant the anchor chant. Cap and chant. So such I knew some unknown how to keep the bubble in place while we rested on the sea beside the great cone mountain of volcano.

DOWN THE SPOUT

In my dream, Comb the Hutkeeper jabbed at me with what I knew was the wand while at the self and same time she chanted over and over and over again ,”Imagine my pleasure.” I squirmed away from her and said, “Pop it!”

“Pop what? The bubble?” asked Kar. I fell up from the dream and pried open my eyes.

I looked at my lavender hands. Shock. Twenty-two rings. Shock. Harick. Harick. I was Harick, no longer bendo dreen. Such was so. I sat up. Encased in a bubble floating on the sea. Kar pointing at the red dawn sky. Broom. Hat. I took the hat and placed it on my head. The broom I held in my hand.

“Orruneries ... Wand,” I croaked, guiding the bubble up the steep flank of the volcano.

Cracked crust, black. Ember fires glowing in fissures. Up. Up. Up. Over the rim and into the smoke. Smoke swirling in gray bands all around the bubble. Descent. Smoky swirls thicken, engulf the orb. Tinge orange. Tinge red. Molten fire lava below. Brimstone. Descent. Bubble surrounded by rage of red, yellow and white gold magma. Cool in the bubble. Kar glanced at me. We shrugged like we do.

“Well, are you going to summon ‘em, talk to ‘em?” asked Kar.

“Yoss,” I replied. “Orruneries! Orruneries of the Great Sea Fire Spout! I am Bekka Ja Harick! I beak ... seek my frond ... wand. I fish ... wish for my towers ... powers to be complete. Yoss! That's it! Neatness counts!”

Kar rolled her eyes. Outside the bubble a shape with willowy arms wriggled into fluttery view. Kar gave me an elbow. I gave her one back. We shrugged.

“When we go to live on the sun, it might be warm enough,” hissed the orrunerie, dripping blue flames from its knowing fiery buckletar eyes. “When we go to live on the sun, what bliss it will be. Our minds will be cleared of ice. We might be able to remember.”

“Remember what?” interrupted Kar.

I nudged her hard. She nudged me harder. We had a short nudge fight. Meanwhile, the orrunerie blended away, but quickly so such two more appeared above us at the top of the bubble.

“When we go to live on the sun,” they boiled in unison, “we will for once and for all and forever be warm enough. Never more will we have a care or a worry or a troublesome chill.”

The orruneries blended away. Though we could not sense it, the bubble was sinking lower and lower. We discovered so such when of a sudden under our feet it bumped to a stop.

“What's this? Where now?” asked Kar.

“I ... I ... back up,” I said just so such to say something, and I pointed the broom up just so such to do something.

“Wand! Orruneries! Where is ... is ... is ...,” I struggled to shout.

“The wand?” Kar helped me spit out the question.

A mass of orruneries waving their willowy arms appeared all completely surrounding the bubble. In chorus they sang. Such was thrillingly so.

“When we dream on the sun, we'll remember the days when we lived in the chill next to the Vault. When we dream on the sun, we might wonder, too, if ever the wand was released.”

The orruneries blended away. The bubble ascended up and out of the volcano's spout. I guided it to float on the sea. I popped the bubble with a proper twist of my lodestone ring, and laughed when Kar flopped splat on her back into the sea while I rode my broom in circles above her. She splashed around laughing and shifted to Dragon.

“What do you know, Bek? What do you know? You must know something to do so such!” she eagerly hissed, venting curly blue flames from her nostrils.

I did know something. Kar knew I did. We know each other so such that well.

WAND!

“They rang ... sang about giving ... living in the ... the ... hill ... no ... chill! ... next to the ... the ...”

“Vault. I heard ‘em. Vault. What about it?”

“The chill is ... is ... the Great Sea ... the Great ... the ... that!”

“The volcano.”

“Yoss! That's it!”

“The chill is the volcano? The wand is in a Vault next to the volcano. Where Vault? What Vault? Nothing around but open sea. Nothing but ... oh, what's that little ...”

“Bump of socks ... clump of rocks? Yoss. Tiny island. Vault!”

“That? That little ... It's barely more than a speck. It's ... Wait! Wait for me, Bek! I should be the first to touch it!”

“You go ahead then, Kar. You band ... land first.”

“It's way too so such small for me as a Dragon. I'll fly low, and then drop as bendo dreen Kar. That's what you like anyway. Truth?”

“Truth. Now flow ... go! Ahhh ..... yoss.”

“Yoss, what? One big boulder and two smaller. No Vault. Where's the Vault? This can't be a Vault.”

“It pan ... can. I need to ...”

“Use a ring? Oh, good. Which one? What for? How?”

“This one behind my sink ... pink diamond drinking ... shrinking ring.”

“Ahh! Are those little flecks sapphires?”

“Yoss.”

“What does the ring do?”

“It finds hidden floors ... doors.”

“Ahh. Then opens ‘em?”

“No. Finds ‘em. This ... this one next to the trouble ... bubble maker ... this blue sapphire ... opens ‘em.”

“The flecks of sapphire find the door. The big blue one opens it. How? What if there's no door? What if there's no Vault? What if you're so such wrong? What ... Oh! What did you do? I didn't see you do anything.”

“I thought a rant ... a chant ... at the ... the sapphire flecks.”

“Well, rant a chant to make the door open! Looks heavy. Looks thick. Open it, Bek! The wand might be in there!”

“I'm ... buying ... lying ... trying.”

“What's wrong? Maybe if I kick it ... Owww!”

“Kar, step aside. I ... I ... There! Yoss!”

“Bek! It's so such like as a giant scooped out emerald! The green glow! I'll go in first. Bek, Bek, look.”

“I see it.”

“Look at the pillow it's on. Creamy crimson velvet.”

“Yoss.”

“The wand.”

“The ... wand.”

“It doesn't look so such dangerous, does it? You should touch it first, Bek.”

“My powers will be ... be ... be ...”

“Complete.”

“Yoss.”