Whistlestop (12 page)

“
Yea!” the boy
cheered.

“
Arthur, what about our
ages? He is just a child and I’m not young anymore. Isn’t this a
waste of time?”

“
First you must know that I
would never endanger your grandson, but he must be able to defend
himself. There may come a time for him to join the fight, but he
will be much older then. As for you, I know how you feel, but we
have been living in a different reality. Life is short and hard in
the Empty Realm. Things are very different in the more enlightened
realms. Do you know how old your father was when you left
Winterpast?”

“
I’d guess he was younger
than I am now, because I was just fifteen.”

“
Mordechai Davis Iron-Heart
left Winterpast when he was just over fifteen hundred years old.
How does that make you feel?”

“
You’re lying,
Arthur.”

“
No, he’s not!” said a
voice behind them. They turned to see a pretty, redheaded woman
wearing gleaming silver armor. Jedidiah and Jeremiah stood on
either side of her. “Cousin, it’s good to see you
again.”

“
You can’t be Lydia. I was
fifteen when she was born, and now I’m sixty.”

She bowed deeply and said, “A blessing
on your home, Cousin. It is I, Lydia Amaranths
Iron-Heart.”

He returned the bow and replied, “A
blessing on your home, Cousin. How did you stay so
young?”

Arthur put his hand on Jeremy’s
shoulder and said, “Now that you are away from the Empty Realm, you
will feel your youth and strength returning. Within seven to ten
days, you will be like her.”

“
Although not as pretty, I
fear,” she said and they all laughed.

Jerry found himself in a darkened cell
with thick stone walls and heavy bars blocking the entrance. The
Emperor of the Universe was nowhere to be seen. There was a steel
toilet, a small sink, a table with one chair and a narrow cot in
the cell. There was no window, but he could feel a gentle breeze.
One bare lightbulb hung just out of reach over his head. He walked
over to the bars and looked both ways down the corridor. There were
other cells on both sides of the corridor, although none close
enough to see if they were occupied. To his right, the hall ended
in a solid stone wall. To the left, a single wide metal door stood
closed and locked. His first experience with folding had left him
nauseated, but this second trip did not affect him at all. He
wondered if he was getting used to it, or whether some repressed
memory of this kind of magic was beginning to surface.

With no other options, he sat on the
cot and thought about his life back in San Diego. He wondered
whether the image the abbot had shown him of his family safe on
Whistlestop was real. Perhaps they were still living on Earth and
wondering what had happened to him. Or if the demons really did
attack, they might all be dead. A shiver traced itself down his
spine and he pushed that thought far away. “I’m on a mission!” he
blurted out. “Maybe this really is my destiny?”

“
I would agree with that!”
exclaimed a voice he had not heard before. He looked up to see a
man standing outside the bars wearing a long white hooded robe. He
appeared to be quite young with a trimmed beard and short-cropped
black hair. His eyes were luminescent turquoise, which caught
Jerry’s eye.

“
Who are you?” he asked.
“How come I didn’t hear you approach?”

The man raised the hem of his robe to
reveal bare feet. “My name is Linger Bartholomew Breakneck, however
you may call me Linger and I shall call you Jerry. Is that
satisfactory?”

“
What do you want from
me?”

“
Our most gracious emperor
has asked me to educate you in the ways of our empire. We recognize
you have been raised on a small planet in the Empty Realm and are
not accustomed to our ways. His Majesty wishes you to be part of
his court, and as such training is critical so that the emperor
will be pleased and so that you will be allowed to keep your head,”
Linger replied with emphasis on the last phrase. He turned to his
right and shouted, “Guard! Please let me in this man’s cell!” There
was a loud clanging sound, followed by the clanking of a key in a
lock. A loud creak signaled the opening of the door at the end of
the corridor. Jerry heard the thudding of heavy feet on the stone
floor. After a few seconds, a large beast stood in the hall next to
Linger. “Please open the door, guard.” The guard looked
suspiciously at Jerry, but obeyed the order and unlocked the door.
“Thank you, guard, you may lock me in and then go back to your duty
station.” Linger stepped into the cell and the beast locked the
door behind him and plodded back toward the exit. Linger did not
move or say anything until the beast locked the outer door behind
him.

“
I don’t understand why I
am still alive,” Jerry noted. “If that guy is really the Emperor of
the Universe, why does he need someone like me?”

Linger pulled off his hood. The added
light revealed his neck was heavily tattooed with odd symbols. He
went to the single chair and sat down. When he crossed his legs,
Jerry could see they were similarly tattooed. “Of course you are
aware of your heredity, yes?”

“
My grandfather was a
Knight of Winterpast. That’s what I’ve been told.”

“
And what of your
mother?”

“
Can you tell me? I’ve been
told she isn’t from Earth but no one will tell me where she is
from,” Jerry asked.

“
You honestly don’t know?”
Jerry shook his head from side to side. “That’s too bad. I was
really hoping to test my theory.”

“
Which is?”

Linger frowned and replied, “Which is
none of your business. The emperor and I wish to know the truth
about her and one other whom you do not know.”

“
My cousin’s
mother?”

“
Who is that?”

“
Never mind, I was just
guessing.”

Linger frowned again. “Okay, we will
let that pass, for now. First, the emperor would like me to teach
you folding.”

“
Isn’t he afraid I would
just disappear then?”

“
No, the emperor fears
nothing, Jerry,” he lied. “Besides, with me close to you, escape is
impossible.”

“
Linger, what exactly is
your role in the emperor’s court?”

He chuckled softly and looked down.
“Well, I guess I would call myself a spiritual advisor, confidant,
and trusted friend.”

“
How long have you known
Karl?”

Linger looked up with a look of
surprise at hearing the other casually call the emperor by his
given name. “He did tell me that you two would have a special bond.
Until now, I thought I was the only one who could call him that.
Not even his wives get that pleasure.”

“
I’m sorry. I don’t want to
get in even more trouble.”

“
Don’t worry about it,
Jerry. Perhaps the three of us can be close friends, sharing our
given names and camaraderie?”

“
How long have you known
him?”

“
How long have stars shone
in the firmament, Jerry?” He sighed. “Perhaps even longer still, it
is difficult to remember. But we are wasting time when you should
be learning. Please stand up.” Jerry complied. “As Karl has told
you, there are ten dimensions to physical space and one of time, at
least that’s all we are aware of.” He stood next to Jerry so that
their shoulders were lightly touching. “Now, the languages of the
advanced species of the universe each have their own words for the
physical dimensions. For simplicity’s sake, we will call them zero
through nine. Currently, we are on the home planet named Axis.
Since it our home, we shall say its dimensions are zero, one and
two. Of course you remember the dragons that held you for ransom,
right?” He nodded. “Their home planet is called Evermore. Its
dimensions are zero, one, and seven. I want you to close your eyes
and concentrate as hard as you can on our current dimensions, zero,
one, and two. Think of nothing else, not your family, the dragons,
your breathing or the breeze touching your skin. Only think of
those numbers, okay?” Jerry nodded again. “Now I will be sensing
your mind. When I feel you have focused sufficiently, I will put a
thought in your mind. When you sense that, you must focus only on
those words. That is crucially important!”

“
Got it,” he replied. Jerry
pushed the thoughts out of his mind, but it was not easy. He had
been through so many changes and faced such perils and now his
nerves were shot. But he knew he had to learn this skill if he was
ever going to be with his family again.

“
Jerry, you’re thinking
about escaping and your children still. You must
concentrate!”

“
Sorry.” He redoubled his
effort to concentrate. After a few seconds, all he could think
about was zero, one, and two. He began to feel light-headed and
slightly queasy, but refused to let those thoughts arise. Then in
the back of his mind he heard, “Seven, not two.” He forced his mind
to think only about that phrase. He felt faint and his knees began
to buckle. Just then, he felt raindrops on his head and the air
became hot and humid.

“
Open your eyes, Jerry,”
Linger said.

When he did, he saw they were standing
on a rock outcropping in a vast jungle. Rain was pouring down on
them. In the distance, snow-capped mountains formed the horizon.
“Is this Evermore?”

“
Yes it is, my friend.”
Jerry looked at the other man and could see his full body was
covered in the odd tattoos through the soaked robes. “You did very
well for your first time. I am proud of you.”

“
How do I know you just
didn’t do this?”

“
Why would I do such a
thing? The emperor wants you to learn. If I did everything myself,
I would fail you both.”

“
But how did we get to this
particular spot? I mean, couldn’t the dimensions be anywhere in
this realm?” There was a loud screeching sound from above them and
Jerry looked up to see a group of several dozen dragons approaching
from a distance. Linger put his hand on Jerry’s arm and instantly
they were back in the cell. Jerry was on the verge of fainting, so
Linger set him on the bed and pressed his head between his
knees.

“
I’m sorry about the quick
exit, but hungry dragons would enjoy a couple of morsels like us.
The second fold was too much for you, but you will get used to it.
As to how we ended up in that spot, I must confess I did
help.”

Jerry looked up at him blearily.
“That’s what I said, you did it all.”

Linger sat next to him on the bed and
put his hand on the other’s shoulder. “I helped, that is all. In
order to learn to fold, you have to start somewhere. The most
difficult part is what you did. You consciously changed the
dimensions of space where we existed. We will keep working on that
and eventually it will become second nature to a Knight of
Winterpast like you. The second step is to project your mind into
that new realm before the change and select a landing point. That’s
what I did. As you can imagine, without seeing and selecting a
place to appear, we could have ended up in open space or the bottom
of an ocean or the center of a star, all of which would have been
unfortunate, and our passing would have upset Karl.”

“
We don’t want that,” Jerry
said sleepily with his eyes nodding.

“
Get some rest, Jerry. You
will progress quickly, but your body must be trained to take the
changes. When next we meet, we will relocate you to more suitable
quarters; after all, you are a special friend of the Emperor of the
Universe.” Jerry did not reply. He was sleeping sitting up. Linger
rose and helped him to lie down, and then covered him with a thin
blanket. He smiled and disappeared.

The bed of embers glowed in the night
sky. The dragons prostrated themselves with their faces pointing
toward the egg sitting on the coals. The Winterpast night was much
too frigid to fly or celebrate like on Evermore, but the promise of
a new child brought them out of their huddle in the cave to see the
new one born. “What race of dragon comes from red and black eggs,
Archimedes?”

“
How would I know,
Beatitude? I am a dragon, not a biologist. It doesn’t matter
anyway. Whatever kind of dragon it is will be our
child.”

“
Do you think we should
turn it over? The night is so chilly.”

“
That is not part of the
ritual!” Archimedes bellowed with a blast of fire rising into the
night, illuminating the empty desert around them.

“
I’m sorry; I was just
trying to help.”

“
No, I apologize, Crimson.
We all are happy to have the egg, and will love the new baby, but
of course we are concerned that it was not a black and silver
egg.”

There was an audible crack and the
dragons raised their heads and strained for a closer look. A piece
of the thick shell popped into the air and landed on the embers.
The dragons held their breath. A thin stream of blue flame shot
upward from the opening in the egg, forcing the dragons to close
their eyes. None had ever seen that color of dragon fire. When they
opened their eyes, they saw a pure white dragon chick sitting on
the remains of the egg. The dragons gasped. “What is
it?”