Kendra Kandlestar and the Crack in Kazah (17 page)

THE NEXT FEW WEEKS were lonely ones for Kendra. Thunger Thunderfist was ever present, but he continued to be a wall of stony silence. She tried engaging some of the cooks and messengers in conversation, but a rumor had gone through the army that she was either Eengel or spy, and most were too spooked to offer the Een girl much more than a hasty nod.

She saw very little of Oki and Gayla during this time. If she was lucky, she would catch a glimpse of them, but she was never allowed to speak to them, or even get close enough to exchange a hand signal. On the luckiest of days, Clovin would scamper up and chatter something in her ear. She always hoped it was a message from Oki, but she could never understand the squirrel.

And so time wandered slowly, each day the same as the last: wake up, eat, break camp, march, eat, make camp, eat, sleep, and start all over again. The only thing that ever changed was the landscape. In her own time, of course, Kendra had known the lands of the Wizard Greeve to be desolate and decaying—and that’s how she expected to find them here. And yet, with each step the army took towards Greeve’s domain, the forests only seemed more lush and green, the rivers swelling their very banks.

And it wasn’t right.

This Kendra knew as sure as the braids on her head.
It’s part of Greeve’s trickery,
she told herself.

Six weeks after they had set off from the lands of Een, the army arrived at Greeve’s Green. Before them lay a carpet of emerald-green grass sprinkled with white and yellow flowers, sloping gently up towards a magnificent white palace. Each towering spire looked as if it had been built from a single sparkling stone, shimmering against the azure sky. Bedazzled, the Eens rubbed their eyes and gasped.

It was truly a place of wonder and beauty—but Kendra’s stomach reeled with a terrible, sick feeling. “Now what do we do?” she asked Thunger.

“We make camp,” he replied. “And wait for Greeve.”

There was an extra buzz of activity among the army that afternoon. No one complained about thin rations or sore feet; all anyone could talk about was the white palace. “Can we live here?” Kendra heard more than one Een ask.

She could only shake her head in dismay. Other than herself, it seemed everyone—even the brothers—was under a spell.

Then, just as the sun was beginning to set, a tall figure robed in white appeared at the top of the slope, in front of the gates of the palace. In one hand he clenched a long, crystal-white staff; the other hand was raised open-palm to the sky.

“Brother Greeve,” Thunger murmured in awe.

He gestured for Kendra to follow him to the head of the army, where the other brothers had assembled. There at last were Oki and Gayla, chaperoned by their guardian wizards. Kendra would have charged forward to embrace them, but Thunger put his heavy hand on her shoulder; she didn’t dare budge. Now all eyes turned to the white wizard standing at the palace gates. Everyone watched. Then, just as the sinking sun enveloped the Wizard Greeve in a blaze of light, a giant moth fluttered from his hand and crossed the plain. It delivered a scroll at Drake Dragonclaw’s feet and buzzed back to its master.

“It’s an invitation to dinner,” the brother with the tousled hair said after reading the parchment. “Every Een must come. Even the soldiers and the helpers. All are to feast at the table of our brother.”

“No!” Kendra cried. “Don’t do it.”

Every brother turned to gaze at her.

“Kendra!” Oki squealed. “B-be careful. The timel—”

“It’s a trap,” Kendra declared. She knew Oki was worried about the fabric of time, about disrupting the future. But how could she think of such things? This wasn’t a story in a book anymore. Standing behind her were a hundred and fifty Eens—real, living Eens—and they were about to go to their doom.

Thunger lowered himself to one knee and looked solemnly at Kendra. “These past weeks I have watched you, child. Not once have you stepped out of line, nor betrayed my confidence.”

“Then you believe me?” Kendra asked.

“I believe that you
think
this is a trap,” Thunger answered. “But I do not see this trap. I see a world of wonder, a palace of peace.”

“It’s a trick,” Kendra urged.

“Listen, child,” Izzen said. “We shall go and dine with our brother. And if it is a trap, we are six wizards to one, with an entire army at our command. He cannot harm us, even if he wished.”

“You don’t understand,” Kendra persisted. “His magic is strong—”

Izzen raised his hand and Kendra’s words caught in her throat. The matter had been settled.

If the outside of the palace had seemed magnificent, then the inside was even more so. If you had seen it, then you might have been reminded of a Romanesque castle, for the palace had high, arched ceilings, recessed galleries, and tall, austere doorways. Yet unlike most castles, this place was not built of ordinary gray stone, but of pure white marble.

It took them some time to follow the Wizard Greeve through the corridors.
It’s like a maze,
Kendra thought with a shudder. By the time everyone was assembled in the opulent banquet hall the sky had reached full dark, with a round moon glowering down from a round window above.

In the very center of the hall was a crystal-white cauldron on a pedestal. Around it, arranged in radiating circles, were curved, white tables to seat the large assemblage. And now, amidst this lavish splendor, there came swirling from the cauldron the most intoxicating and tantalizing aromas. Even Kendra, despite her apprehension, felt her nose twitch at the redolent smells.

Everyone was seated, with the six wizard brothers guided to the innermost circle of tables, closest to the cauldron. Kendra, Oki, Gayla, and Clovin sat at the next ring, right behind Leemus.

It was the first time Kendra had been able to talk to her companions in weeks. Frantically, she whispered, “We have to get out of here.”

“Yeah, I missed you too,” Gayla retorted. “How about a hello or ‘How have you been for the last six weeks?’”

“How about we’re all going to die if we stay here?” Kendra snapped.

“Oh, don’t think of eggs,” Oki mumbled, and Clovin added a chatter for good measure.

“Are you sure you’re not wrong about everything?” Gayla asked Kendra. “I mean, look at this place. It’s amazing. Maybe the history books got it wrong.”

Grendel Greeve took to the pedestal and, in his hooded white robe, almost seemed to glow. Standing tall and magnificent, he raised his staff and proclaimed, “Welcome, Brothers, welcome all, to my domain. For many moons you have journeyed the wilds of the world, far from your homes and loved ones. But now your travails shall receive just reward. Now you shall know what is coming to you.”

With these words said, he lowered his staff into the great cauldron and began to stir—vigorously—and as he did, what had been a pleasant, delicious aroma began to turn sharp and bitter. It was as if the room started to spin (Kendra clutched the table to steady herself) and the white all around them began to evaporate, like sheets of paint peeling from the walls, revealing rough gray stones. The cauldron had changed too, from dazzling white to rock as black as death, and now the Wizard Greeve—his own robe having shimmered to the color of midnight—stirred his pot like a creature possessed, his eyes glowing fierce red and a chortle cackling in his throat.

There was a louder sound, though. It came from the cauldron itself, a high-pitched wail that grew in intensity, like the sound of a teakettle coming to a boil.

“Y-you’re right, Braids!” Gayla cried over the shriek. “We have to get out of here!”

Kendra looked desperately at the Een army and then at the rest of the elders. They were all frozen, as if captivated in some sort of trance. Quickly, Kendra scurried under the table, which was beginning to show its true form: a crude block of stone supported by two pillars.

“I said we have to leave, not hide!” Gayla yelled.

“We’ve got to get Leemus!” Kendra called over her shoulder.

She came out the other side of the table and with a wave of her wand yanked Leemus’s chair so that he tumbled backwards with a crash. Another motion of her wand pulled him across the floor and under the table to where Oki, Gayla, and Clovin were anxiously staring at the cauldron.

Kendra looked at it too. The sinister stone urn was beginning to splinter and crack, and through these fissures she could see its contents glowing angry and hot. The whole cauldron was swelling, like a balloon. The shriek grew to a painful, unbearable whine. At any moment Kendra knew the black kettle would burst and cast its dreadful curse.

“Quickly—flip the table!” Kendra shouted at Gayla.

Together they raised their wands and turned the table on its side with a heavy thud. They ducked and took cover—just as the cauldron shattered in an explosion of burning light. The curse, like a vicious and frenzied creature escaping from its cage, screeched across the banquet hall. Kendra felt claws of light smash against the table; even though it was made of stone, it trembled from the impact. Panic-stricken, Kendra squeezed her eyes shut.

Only seconds later, the hall had fallen into complete silence. Kendra opened her eyes, rose to her feet, and—even though she had known all along what would happen—gasped.

They were completely surrounded by monsters.