The Winter Letter (16 page)

“So the spell didn’t hit Jabber?”

“Those kind of spells don’t work on butterbugs, they are immune to a lot of magic actually. When the spy saw them all fly into the cave he set you down and blasted through the middle of them. He
flew
! Do you know what that means?”

“Umm, he’s really strong?”

“To say the very least. Jabber tried to keep up, but couldn’t. He lost him at the Sudden Peaks. Jab said the spy flew over the mountains toward the city.”

“Where’s Jabber now?” Will asked.

“He’s outside somewhere, he doesn’t like the indoors very much. While you were still sleeping we carried you back to camp, but when we got there—” Gatnom swallowed hard and looked away. “—when we got there, the carts were still there, but the boys were gone. We looked everywhere, but finally one of the trees told us some men had come and taken the boys while we were asleep. It was a trap the whole time. The spy drew us out of the camp so he could send in the raiders to get the boys. I practically
gave
the boys to the King!”

“No Gat,” Wohie said. “Don’t say that.”

“We have to find them Will,” Gatnom said with new tears in his eyes. “They are helpless against such evil. That’s why I was asking so strongly. You fell from the sky and for a moment I assumed... I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool man. It’s okay.”

“Can you remember anything he said in the cave? Anything?”

“Everything is so blurry. I can hardly remember my name right now, but I know he told me. It was Andrea, no And.. Andrias! That was it, Andrias from the City of Neba!”

Wohie and Gatnom both looked up with big eyes. It seemed the color drained from both of their tanned faces.

“What? What is it?” Will asked.

“Are you sure?” Gatnom asked.

“Yeah, positive.”

“Gat, is that... Why would
he
be in The Foot Forest?”

“I don’t know. I need to talk with Master Jared.”

The door slammed. Master Jared stood there. “I already know. I hear everything in my castle,” Master Jared said. “William, there is no room for error here. Lord Andrias is the strongest knight in King Mel’s regime. He is one of the original three. Once he and Lord Markus served together under King Neba, before King Mel turned the knight to evil. That said, tell me, why did he not take you if he came for you?” Master Jared raised his voice to an accusing tone at the end.

Will felt a rush. He was tired of being accused of being the bad guy. “I
tried
to fight him!”

Master Jared looked at Will, who had stood up during his answer. He smirked slightly. “I see your getting much bolder now,” he said. “Good. We will need that.”

Will felt his blood cool. He didn’t like this guy very much.

“Master,” Gatnom interjected, “if this is true then the boys are already at The City of Neba. What will happen to them sir? We must get them back.”

“You speak like a fool, boy. With one spell he knocked all three of you out for hours. He absorbed all you threw at him, and now you want to charge off into the city of the king and take them by force? You would die.”

“Send an army. Send the strongest knights you have! We must get the boys back! We—”

“Silence!” Master Jared screamed. “I know you care for them, but there is little hope now. They have been taken like hundreds of other boys east of the peaks. Anyone who tries to rescue them will die, and more importantly, if you take off into the city and cause problems the war could start before we’re ready for it — before Lord Markus is ready. Besides, all the knights are serving at the war games and there are no other groups capable of lasting even a minute against Lord Andrias, much less if you met King Mel!” He spit on the floor at the mention of the King’s name.

“But sir, the boys. We must do something!”

Master Jared tossed Gatnom a stone hard stare. Gatnom turned around and dropped his head to his chest. “Young one,” Master Jared said. His voice was softer. “Listen to me; trust my council. The best way to help your friends now is to take your place in the War-Games. Win, become a great knight and give our enemies the wrath they deserve. You have dreamt of this moment for years, take it now in the face of sorrow and adversity. Push the pain down deep and use it to make yourself strong.”

Master Jared turned and walked to the door. Just before exiting he stopped and turned around. 

“Young Magi, remember what I said. I hear
everything
in my castle. Everything. Do not attempt anything stupid.” With that he disappeared through the door, letting it slam hard. The boom bounced through the round stone room, but was soon drowned out by Wohie’s sobs. Gatnom held her, letting her tears wash his filthy striped shirt. Will sat. When would he wake up from this nightmare? How could he do nothing? It just wasn’t right, no matter how dangerous it was.

“Gatnom,” Will said. “What are we going to do?”

“I am afraid we must listen to Master Jared.”

“But—”

“There is no questioning this. I’m sorry. He knows best.”

“But what about Jubal and Randiby? What about the younger ones?”

“I know it’s not easy. It’s not easy for me either, but it is what we
must
do. We have no choice.”

“Why? We have a choice, there is always a choice!” screamed Will. The red began to come back to his eyes. “I don’t know anything about your world, but in my—” 

Wohie stepped in between Will and Gatnom and yanked Will by the arm, half dragging him over to a desk. She grabbed a piece of paper and a feather and began to write. Meanwhile, Will turned back to Gatnom.

“We can’t stay here and do nothing,” he said. “Either let’s go get our friends or take me back to Mt. Highness. I—”

Wohie jerked Will’s arm and shoved a piece of paper in his face. In messy letters it said:

Master Jared HEARS everything in his castle. 

STOP TALKING!

Will was silent in an instant. 

Wohie flipped the piece of paper over. 

SAY THIS 

I’m sorry Gatnom. 

Forgive me, I will not do anything against Master Jared’s wishes.

“I’m sorry Gatnom. Forgive me. I will not do anything against Master Jared’s wishes,” said Will, lifelessly.

Gatnom stepped closer to Will. “We must obey,” he said quietly. “The war games start in three days. If we are forbidden to fight now, let us take our anger to the games. We will win our right to fight in this war.”

“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Wohie said. “I only want to see my brother and go home.”

“Ascena.” This was the first time Will had heard Gatnom call Wohie by her real name. “Don’t you see? Our home has been lost. The enemy knows exactly where we live. We have no home. Our only hope is to be accepted as a magi for the revolution.” 

“I just want to see Seth.”

“He will be at the War-Games. You will see him then.”

Will couldn’t be quiet anymore. “Gatnom, how can you change your mind so quickly? Just like that?”

“I must; it is the order of Master Jared. He has raised me from a child. He’s right too, what would we do if we got there? How would we rescue them?”

“I don’t know, but we could at least try.”

Gatnom walked over to the window. The sun was setting, but you couldn’t tell because the sky was overcast and ugly. “Let’s get some sleep,” he said. “This day has been long and cruel.” Will couldn’t deny that, although he had slept for days, the emotions were draining.

Gatnom continued, staring into the distance. “Perhaps the King of All will grant us peace in the night. Will, you sleep on the couch upstairs, I’ll sleep on the floor besides you. Wohie, you can have this room.”

“No thanks Gat. I’m staying with you guys.”

“Wohie, we’re safe here. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t care. You’re the only family I have other than my brother, and I’m not leaving you.”

“We’re not going anywhere. You’ll sleep here tonight, understand?”

A few hours later Jabber flew in and perched on the window seal to sleep. Will and Gatnom slept on the floor, while Wohie snored from the couch beside them.

Seventeen
Three Different Similar Dreams

Inside, miles beyond their dancing eyelids, all three sleepers were in different places. 

Gatnom found himself suddenly standing in a room just like the one he had fallen asleep in, except now the only furniture was a short table set on a raised circular platform. On the table was a thin sheet of glass that sparkled as glitter in the sun. It stood on its edge like a tiny window without a wall.

“Come,” said a voice.

Gatnom spun around to the short, big eared servant. He wasn’t wearing his hat, which made him look even shorter, and he seemed more relaxed than before, but still without even a hint of a smile. He stood by the table and stared at the sheet of sparkling glass standing on edge. As he did the sparkles began to multiply and group and grow, like a plant breaking through soil, until they took shape and settled into the full-sized form of a woman floating a foot above the piece of magic glass. Waves of new glitter fell from her into the flowing train of her dress, which waved up and down, as if under water.

The sparkly woman stared straight ahead, far above Gatnom. “Stranger, what is your name?” she asked. Her voice sounded like a wave on top of a wave on top of a wave. She held a smile while she spoke, much unlike Big-Ears who had turned and was now staring blankly at Gatnom.

“I am Gatnom, but it seems you may already know that.” 

The lady nodded and turned to the short man. They seemed to speak to each other with their eyes. 

“Come,” said the man again, motioning Gatnom to stand on the platform. He moved the little table, being sure not to knock the lady off balance as he set it off of the platform onto the level floor. Gatnom stepped onto the raised circle of scratched wood. 

“Go,” the woman and man said together. 

With that, Gatnom felt a sudden pull at his feet, then the platform plunged downwards at the speed of a falling star. It was like this one circle of floor had fallen from the bottom of the world.

“Float or fly will I!” Gatnom screamed as he shot both arms up like a superhero. The magic pulled upwards, but his feet stayed firmly planted to the platform. Everything wanted to fall slower. Gatnom’s cheeks floated up, his hair stood high, his hat nearly flew from his head, even his cloak reached up for help. Above, the light faded, then as abruptly as the fall had began it ended. Gatnom took the shock of the sudden stop by collapsing to one knee.

When he looked up he was in a room shaded with a strange blue hew. The walls were dark brown on one side, but directly ahead, as if built between two worlds, the dark brown dirt instantly, in a perfect line, changed into a beaming blue wall of water. It was like an aquarium, without the glass. Men and women with fins, fishes with smiles, and trees and houses went about their day to day business on the other side. Staring out from the water was the woman from the glass, but no longer was she made of sparkles, but rather beautiful pale skin. Long strands of her hair and material from her thin dress floated around her. To her side was a small table with a thin sheet of upright glass set upon it. Above the glass stood the small sparkly image of a short man with big ears.

At that moment a rumble shook the ground for ten seconds or so. Gatnom felt the vibration in his chest, until it subsided, but then after a short silence the rumble returned. In random intervals it came again and again. There was silence for a moment, then the roaring for a moment, then silence for a moment, then an even louder roaring. It seemed to be originating from behind, somewhere beyond a double door at the end of a pipe like hallway on the dirt side of the room.

“What is that, Madam?” Gatnom asked.

The beautiful woman lifted her arm towards the door at the end of the hallway. “Go,” she said kindly.

Gatnom bowed slightly, then turned and walked towards the door. With every step the roar grew, as did the nervousness in his belly, until at the end of the hallway Gatnom pushed one of the doors open and stepped through. The roar nearly blew his hat off. The smell of food came rushing onto him instantly. 

He was standing on a high ledge over looking an open field twenty times the size of a football field, with small mountains and craters spread randomly about. Far below, specks ran back and forth with sparks of fire shooting between them. Tens of thousands of screaming and cheering spectators were seated in the bowl like stadium that continued up until out of sight. Above, suspended from the black ceiling, was another giant piece of glass, but this one did not show sparkles, but crisp close-up images of the competitors. Below one of the competitors landed a water attack against his opponent, who floated in a bubble up and out of bounds. 

“Gatnom!” a young voice screamed as the roar subsided for a moment. Gatnom turned just in time to catch a boy who had every intent set on a tackle. 

“Goh!” Gatnom said, catching the boy in mid tackle and lifting him high.

“Isn’t this exciting?!” asked the boy, beaming.

“What’s exciting, Goh? Where am I?”

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

“You’re at the War-Games!”

Gatnom turned and looked down at the field, then up at the giant screen. He gasped. In the glass was an image of himself, with Will and Wohie standing beside him. All three were smiling from ear to ear. What was going on? What type of magic was this? He already knew he was dreaming, but was this a sign? Would he win the games? Would they really join the army and become a leader in the fight against King Mel? Could this be a message from the King of All? A wild wonder filled the hollow of his chest. 

Suddenly, the image faded; the lights dimmed; the field disappeared; the crowd disappeared; the floor beneath him disappeared; Goh disappeared; he disappeared. Gatnom held his hand out in front of his face. It was as if he didn’t exist. He couldn’t even see the outline of an outline of himself. 

“Light,” he whispered.