The Winter Letter (26 page)

“Involved? Involved in what?” Gatnom asked. He took a step back, even with Will. 

“Mount Up!” screamed Jared. “Since this boy has come you have been nothing but trouble. Your loyalties have been wavering unknowingly. He is not who you think he is.”

“My loyalties are to King Markus and the Under-Kingdom. That has not changed, Master.”

Jared paused the conversation for a moment, then turned to Seth. “Captain, go ahead and lead your men out of sight. I’ll take care of this.”

“Yes, Master,” replied Seth, and he and his men rode off into the woods. 

Once they were gone Jared turned back to Gatnom. “If your loyalties remain true to Lord Markus then I’m afraid you have befriended the enemy.” Jared looked at Will. “As soon as Lord Markus saw that letter he knew things had been complicated. I did not see it at first. It was a sly attempt.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Will.

“Stop your theatrics. I don’t know how Mel figured out how to bring you here, but your trick is over.”

“Will is not the enemy,“ said Gatnom.

Jared’s stare snapped back to Gatnom from beneath the dark hair hanging in his eyes. “You don’t know what you are talking about.”

“If he was, why would Andrias attack him? Why were his parent’s killed by King Mel?”

“Can you verify any of those claims? Did you see him fight back? Did you see his parents die?” 

Gatnom thought for a moment. He pulled his hat tight onto his head. “No Master, I can not, but I know that Will—”

“You know nothing!” Jared screamed. “You have been deceived. I know for a fact his parents were not murdered by King Mel.”

“What? How do you know that?“ Will stepped towards Jared. Gatnom put out his arm and stopped him. “What do you know about my parents?”

“What is your full name, Will?” asked Jared as he slid from the saddle.

“I’ve told you already, my name is William Wesley!”

“What were your parents’s names?”

“Helen and Eli!” Will screamed. “Tell me what you know about them!”

“Calm down Will,” said Gatnom.

“No! If he knows something he needs to tell me.”

“Do you really not know? How sad! What a shame! We really could have used you, but it is too late now.”

“What do you mean, Master?” asked Gatnom.

Jared looked down at Gatnom, a smirk growing on his face. “Your friend’s real name is not William Wesley. His name is William Guardian, son of Eleazar and Helen Guardian, High Knights of King Mel!”

Gatnom snapped his head towards Will who looked just as confused as before.

“What?!” Will said in a high voice. “This is crazy!” 

“This can not be,” said Gatnom. “Eleazar was an evil knight, long disappeared before Will was born.”

“Oh, but he lived somewhere, and that somewhere was called
Earth
. But, he came to Baru often. I bet your father traveled a lot, didn’t he Will? And that pendent around your neck? I bet your mother kept it closer than any other possession. It was her carrier!”

Gatnom looked at Will, who was trying to put this all together in his head — his Dad’s traveling, his mom’s pendent, no family, the diary, the letter.

“Your parents were the biggest threat to the Under-Kingdom, the most trusted knights of King Neba. They are the reason we have ravished this entire world. It took us almost fifteen years to find them!” Jared took a step closer to Will. “Now tell me, where is the book?”

“What book?” Will asked.

Jared lifted his left hand towards Will. “
The
book, the one entrusted to your father to protect!”

Gatnom stepped in between Will and Jared. “Wait, wait. Something is missing. This doesn’t make sense.”

“Move boy. Don’t be foolish. Get out of the way.”

“Why are you doing this? Please, wait a moment.”

“Move!”

“Stop sir. Don’t—”

“If you do not move I will kill you. Move!”

“NO!” Gatnom screamed back. This time the voice was not the same as he faked when trying to be intimidating. It was true, raw, strong. His sudden change took even Jared by surprise.

Jared’s brow lowered. “There are high hopes for you Gatnom. Lord Markus will not be pleased if I return with neither of you.” Gatnom said nothing nor did he perform his usual bow of the head when talking to an elder.

Suddenly something dawned on Will. He stepped side to side with Gatnom, his eyes already hinting a glow of red. “How do
you
know about Earth?” he asked through clenched teeth.

Jared looked surprised at the question, but only for a moment. “Oh I know lots about Earth,” he said. “I recently returned actually. But I’m afraid it was my last trip there for a while. My job there is completed.”

“Your job? What job?” Jared’s smirk made Will want to choke him. 

“My job? My job was to search down and kill the enemies of Baru, starting with your parents!”

That’s when the fight began. 

Jared and Will spoke fire words at the same time. A very unstable, yet fierce ball of red flame started forming in Will’s hands, but before it was fully made Jared released one of his own. Gatnom pushed Will out of the way just in time.

“Stop!” Gatnom shouted as he turned to Jared, but Jared did not hear; his eyes were wild. With everything the elder magi had, he conjured a fireball so hot it was transparent. Gatnom looked to Will, who was so focused on speaking a spell of his own that he wouldn’t know what hit him. There was nothing else to be done. It was not suppose to be this way, but there was no other choice. There was no time to throw a defense spell. There was no time to warn.

Gatnom lunged in front of Will and took the full force of the clear fire, a direct hit into his own chest. 

The next thing Will knew he was back at the tree line, blown back by the explosion. Gatnom lay motionless beside him. His face and shirt was charred, and his chest was bare and black and burned. Will’s eyes erupted. The light red glow flashed to rage.

“
Pur kaio
!” he roared, thrusting both hands straight out. From Will’s fingers spun a tornado of blue flame, swirling in horizontal vengeance directly at a surprised Master Jared.

Jared yelled, and a bubble of water enveloped him. When the firestorm smashed into the water shield the water itself turned orange and black and red. Will screamed with all the hate he felt inside. He pushed the fire without knowing how. He pushed with more than he had, emptying the reservoir of rage he had stored up over the last few months. Parts of Jared’s shield began to evaporate, and from inside you could hear Jared grunting to hold on. Will felt his knees buckle. He felt lightheaded. The day seemed not as bright. The magic was taking his strength, but he made himself push a second more - exhausting the last tiny drop of anger from his empty soul. Then he crumbled to the ground as the fire ceased.

The shield Jared held slowly faded back to clear and dissipated. Jared stood from behind it covered in soot, but unharmed. He glared at Will with wide eyes. Will pushed his legs with his hands, trying to stand, but they felt asleep, numb like the rest of him from the neck down. He was seeing sparkles in the air, and at first he could not make out the words Jared spoke as he approached.

“...know that you are lying now! Look what you have made me do! Where did you learn those words? Tell me!”

Will grabbed at his throat. It felt like fingers were tightening around it. He gasped for breath.

“Not so easy, is it?” Jared said from fifteen feet away. Will forced his eyes up. Jared was standing with his hands out like he was choking an invisible person. Every time he twitched his fingers Will felt the finger’s movement on his throat. “I said, where did you learn those words?! Where is the book?!” 

Will couldn’t answer even if he had known the answer. He could barely breathe. With a jerk his feet left the ground, and he was suddenly hanging by nothing, suspended by magic. He hung there, barely struggling, with no energy left to fight.

“You know it was I who crashed into your parent’s car. It was I who drove away laughing. Until this all came to light I had forgotten about the boy in the red jacket standing too close to road. If I had only swerved it could have saved us a lot of trouble, but we didn’t know about the second son until you came here. Bad move, William.”

“It’s Will,” coughed Will, then everything went black. Will revived a moment later, jolted awake by hitting the ground. Jared now stood directly over him. From this angle he looked all black in front of the sun; a gloating shadow.

“Oh no, you’re not dying that easy,” the shadow said.

Will jerked himself up and started to speak fire words, but he was once again dangling in mid air before he could release his first syllable. 

“Enough of this,” Jared said, as he ripped the pendant from around Will’s neck and put it in his pocket. Will searched for his bag, which was on the ground a few feet away.  “Where is the book?!” Jared screamed. The grip on Will’s throat loosened just enough so he could speak.

“What book?” Will asked through the choking.

“You know what book! The history of Baru, the Great Book entrusted to your father?! Do not play ignorant with me. I have searched this world and killed more people than you would like to know in search of it!” Jared was an inch from Will’s face, screaming.

“I don’t know.”

“I think you do. This is your last chance. I warn you, if you do not tell me where the book is you will join the hundreds I have killed before you. Believe me, I have no worries killing one boy. I have ripped entire villages apart.” 

Once again the grip loosened, but Will looked away in defiance. From the corner of his eye he could see Seth’s horsemen setting into place at the wood-line. He suddenly had an idea. He caught his breath and spoke. “It was you? You killed the parents of the orphans and took them to make them soldiers, didn’t you? You dressed up like the King’s men!”

The choke hold tightened again and up Will rose until his feet were once again searching desperately for the ground. His lungs burned, begging for air. As he dangled he felt the invisible hand begin to get cold. Jared smirked and flipped his cloak around. It was the same kind as Gatnom had given him before they set out in search of the spy.

“What is the saying in your world,
even a devil can dress up like an angel of light
? We’ve dressed up quite a few times over the years.” Jared’s cloak began to fade and soon it was a brownish yellow with the emblem of King Mel Masih on the back. “Creative, don’t you think? Now, this is your last chance. Tell me and you will die quickly.”

Will felt lightheaded. This terrible piece of trash had killed his, Gatnom’s, and Wohie’s parents. There was no telling how many more he had orphaned. With weak arms he motioned for Jared to come closer. Jared leaned in slightly, keeping his hand ready to choke Will with magic if need be. Will looked Jared directly in the eyes. Jared waited expectantly. Will dangled.

“The book. It is... It...”

“Where?! Tell me!”

“It’s...” Will’s voice got lower. Jared leaned in more. “It’s—” Will flung his head down as fast as he could, head-butting Jared hard in his already crooked nose. When Jared looked up his face was bloody. “Even if I knew I’d never tell you!” Will screamed.

Instantly, the grip tightened and the cold returned. Will’s skin, impressed by the magic choking hand, turn red to purple, until the skin began to freeze and crack. If he would have had breath he would have screamed, but he could not, which made the pain all the worse. A clear, almost dry ice, smoke started to rise from his flesh into his panicked eyes, which were in the process of rolling back into his head. This was it. Will stopped fighting as the day faded. What would be, would be. So be it.

Will suddenly felt himself hit the ground.

“Jared, turn around,” said a deep voice from somewhere.

Jared, who was shaking his hand like a flashlight that had run out of batteries, turned to see the dark spy, Lord Andrias, standing with his left hand lifted. Wohie was with him and Jabber was on her shoulder. She immediately ran over to Gatnom.

“Is he okay?“ Will asked weakly. 

Wohie placed her face close to Gatnom’s. “He’s alive, but he’s hurt bad. He needs help. Oh Will, your neck!”

“Oh, the great Lord Andrias,” Jared said, this time faking a smirk. “I have no quarrel with you, not yet anyway.”

“If you have a quarrel with the boy then you have a quarrel with me.”

“Dark Knight of Mel Masih, you are outnumbered and out maneuvered.”

Andrias peered out from his black mask. “It seems it is only you, and that is not an advantage.”

“CAPTAIN! NOW!” Jared screamed to his men in hiding. 

Nothing happened. 

“NOW!” Jared screamed again, this time louder. 

Slowly, Seth and his men walked out. They were not charging nor flanking, simply walking. Jared had always underestimated Seth and this time was no different. He and his men had made it to their position long before Jared had finished his little speech. Will’s plan had worked. In his arrogance Jared had forgotten that Seth, and all of those with him, had been orphaned by men dressed in the uniforms of King Mel Masih. They all had believed, up until this very moment, they were fighting the murderer of their parents. The horses stopped still. Seth dismounted and ran over to Wohie to help care for Gatnom. Andrias eyed the horsemen for a moment, then at the nod greeting of Seth he turned back to Jared.

“Like I said, it seems it is only you, unless the
trees
are on your side.” Every tree in the area laughed. “You will orphan no more children after today, one way or another.”

“I don’t need them to handle you,” snapped Jared.

“Your pride is embarrassing. Surrender.”

Jared’s eyes began to glow the same color red that had invaded his heart years ago. He took a step back and maneuvered into a magi battle stance, with his right hand over his own heart, and his left stretched towards Andrias.

“Very well,” Andrias said. He bowed his head for a moment. When he lifted it, his eyes were blue and his fists were clenched. The first blow came from Jared, trying to get a quick shot for an early finish. Will and Wohie had to shield there eyes as Jared’s strange magic blasted at Andrias again and again and again. Andrias deflected each of the attacks with nothing more than the twitch of his right hand. The magic bounced away like a pinball hitting a flipper, flying high in the air and dissipating. Without even throwing a shielding spell Andrias began walking straight into the barrage. When Andrias was a few feet from Jared the attack ceased and Jared jumped high and backwards, landing near his spooked horse. He pulled a long straight sword from his saddle.