Whistlestop (8 page)

She bowed ceremoniously and said,
“Lord Winslow, it is an honor to have you with us.” Still bowed
down, she looked up at him and said, “It is customary to return the
gesture.”

“
I’m sorry,” he said as he
bowed. “And please call me Jerry.”

She rose and giggled. “You honor me,
Lord Knight.”

“
Just Jerry, okay? What’s
your name?”

“
I am Lydia Amaranths
Iron-Heart,” she replied. "Your grandfather and mine were brothers.
I suppose that makes us cousins, once removed.”

“
You’re my cousin?” he
asked. “May I hug you, Lydia?”

She threw her arms around his neck and
they hugged each other tightly. “Jerry, I am so happy you have
returned. Now the emperor’s reign of terror is at an
end.”

“
Don’t put too much
pressure on our guest his first day, Lady Lydia,” the abbot said as
he approached. “There is much he must learn before we can allow him
to leave us.”

“
You expect me to stop the
empire?” Jerry squeaked. “I’m just an ordinary man.”

The abbot laughed and replied, “That
was never true, Jerry. Your father was stranded on Earth, where he
met your mother and had you, but that was not the emperor’s plan.
When his men came and killed Mordechai, it had been their intention
to kill your father as well. When his troops were obliterated, he
thought better of returning to the Empty Realm. He assumed the elf
had caused their destruction, but that was only partly true. Your
family has some amazing friends, and your mother is the most
amazing of all.”

“
Abbot, there is much to
show Jerry, and twilight will arrive before we know it,” Lydia
interrupted.

“
What about my
mother?”

“
Jerry, Lydia is correct.
We can talk more at dinner. She will share her quarters with you
and make certain you are comfortable. After night falls, we will
meet in the grand hall for dinner and can speak then.” The abbot
turned and walked away.

“
Lydia, what about my
mother?” Jerry insisted.

She took his arm and pulled him along.
“The abbot will tell you everything you want to know,
Cousin.”

“
And what’s the big deal
with twilight?”

“
I’ll tell you once we are
inside, okay?” He followed her out of the courtyard and down a
narrow street. Lydia was almost running down one street and then
another. The cluster of structures and lanes on the temple grounds
seemed like a maze. Jerry hoped his life would not depend on
remembering how to return to the courtyard. She hurried up a
stairway and they entered a long building. He followed her down a
long hallway lined by heavy wooden doors on one side. The opposite
side was all windows looking out on the street, where long shadows
were now stretching from the buildings on the other side of the
street.

“
Lydia, is the sun setting
already? It didn’t seem that late when we were in the
courtyard.”

“
This is not your home
world, Jerry. This is Winterpast, and it is not nightfall, it is
twilight.” She stopped at a door, turned the handle, and pushed the
door open. “Please come in quickly.” He followed her inside and she
slammed the door behind them. “Okay, we are safe now.”

“
I don’t understand. I
thought the Temple of Light was a sanctuary, and what is the
difference between twilight and nightfall?”

She walked over to a long couch and
sat down. “Please sit with me and I’ll tell you.” The quiet of the
room was broken by growling and a screeching like fingernails on a
chalkboard. He looked up at the ceiling where the sound seemed to
emanate and stood open-mouthed. “You are safe, Jerry. Please sit
down.”

“
What the hell is going on
out there?” he replied as he sat next to Lydia on the
couch.

“
Did you look up in the sky
since you’ve been here?”

“
Huh?”

“
Like I said before, this
is Winterpast in the era of the Empire of Axis, not some minor
planet in the Empty Realm. If you had looked up, you would have
seen that the sun we orbit is actually a triple star. There is
Bong, the old yellow giant, Bit, the young white star that provides
most of our light and heat, and Tor, the red dwarf.”

“
That’s amazing! I will
definitely look the next time.”

“
Great, but my point is the
time we call twilight is when Bit and Bong drop below the horizon.
Tor orbits at some distance from the others, so there is often a
period of time where the red dwarf is the only star above the
horizon. We call that time twilight.”

“
What does that have to do
with the noises we heard?”

“
In the time of our
grandfathers, nothing, but now, it is the time of
dragons.”

“
Dragons, you’re kidding
me.”

“
First, I am not kidding.
Second, those monsters are not native to Winterpast. They were a
gift from the emperor. After the destruction of the knights, the
emperor wanted to ensure that the remaining citizens of this planet
would not rebel. He imported the dragons from some other realm, no
one knows for sure where, to enforce a kind of curfew on us. The
beasts make certain we are off the streets during twilight. It
reminds us of his power, and the risks we face if we attempt to
fight back.”

“
I don’t hear anything now.
Does that mean twilight is over?”

“
Do you want to go outside
and find out?” she laughed. “No, we know twilight is ended when the
bell sounds. One man within the temple and in each city on
Winterpast is charged with sounding the alert when darkness falls.
From his hiding place, he can see the beasts flee the darkness of
night. Then we can continue our lives.”

“
This is so bizarre! Why
are the dragons only out at twilight?”

“
Over the years, we have
reasoned that the beasts must come from a planet with a red sun.
The white light is too intense for them. The coming of night chills
the air too much for them, so they head back to their haunts and
huddle together for warmth.”

Jerry rose and began to pace back and
forth. “This is insane. How am I supposed to destroy the empire?
I’m one man against an empire that controls dragons and God knows
how many planets. Can’t I just go home?”

She stood and put her arm around his
shoulders and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry, Cousin, I am here to
help you.”

“
So, the two of us are
going to do all of that? Pardon me, but that seems like more
insanity.”

“
We are a lot more alike
than you imagine, Jeremy Davis Iron-Heart II. Did you know that I
am a Halfling like you?”

“
What? My last name is
Winslow, and what is a Halfling anyway?”

Lydia released him, walked over to a
cabinet and withdrew two glasses and half-filled them with a liquid
that looked like whisky. She returned and handed one of the glasses
to Jerry. He tasted the drink, and it was strong and smoky, like an
Islay Scotch Whisky. She took his hand and pulled him back to the
couch and they sat together. “First of all, your surname was never
Winslow. That was the village on this planet where your father was
born. Your father took that name on Earth to help hide you. My dear
Cousin, our grandfathers were brothers, and your mother and my
grandmother are cousins. All your life, I suppose you’ve believed
your parents were both humans from Earth, just like you, isn’t that
right?” He stared back without expression. “Well, now you know that
your father was a Knight of Winterpast, and believe me, your mother
is not human at all.”

“
This is just stupid. Of
course, my mom is human, what else could she be?”

“
You should ask her or your
father the next time you see them.” She took a long drink and
smiled at her cousin. “I was a great disappointment to my father;
can you imagine how that feels?”

“
Why? You seem crazy, but
other than that, you are a young and beautiful woman.”

She laughed. “Of course, he wanted a
son. Like you, my father was named after the elf who saved our
family from the emperor. His name was Jedidiah Davis Iron-Heart. I
was supposed to be Jedidiah the second. When I turned out to be a
female, his dreams were dashed. The name ended with him, and he
always thought that shamed his namesake, Jedidiah Beetleweed
Mosscatcher. Is that name familiar?”

“
Is he Jeremiah’s
brother?”

She nodded and drained her glass, then
rose to refresh it. “Of course he is. Are you beginning to see the
similarities? Grandfathers are brothers, your mother and my
grandmother are cousins, and both families name their children
after one family of elves.”

“
Yes, I see that, but what
does it mean?”

The sound of a bell ringing broke the
silence. “Ah, twilight is at an end, and about time. If I drank any
more whisky, I would miss dinner altogether. What it means, my
darling Cousin, is that you and I were chosen by God to defeat the
Empire of Axis.”

Minutes later, Jerry and Lydia found
their way to the large dining hall. The room was vast, and hundreds
of monks and visitors sat at long tables heavily laden with food
and wine. The center of the room was open to the air, and a large
bonfire burned under the opening, warming the tables nearby.
Nearest the fire, the dance floor was filled with revelers enjoying
the heat of the fire and drink. Lydia held Jerry’s hand firmly in
hers as she led him to the abbot’s table. The abbot’s face was
bright red from the combination of the heat of the fire and the
three empty glasses in front of him. He waved excitedly as Jerry
approached. Lydia pushed Jerry into the seat next to the abbot, and
then took the next seat for herself. Immediately, waiters placed
plates of food in front of them. Lydia started to eat immediately,
while Jerry watched the unusual events unfolding around him. The
abbot, sounding thoroughly drunk, turned to him and asked, “Well,
what do you think of our temple, young knight?”

“
I don’t quite understand
yet, Abbot. Lydia told me about the dragons, and that doesn’t make
any sense at all. She also said my mother wasn’t human. If that’s
true, what is she?”

“
Please just call me Rick,
Jerry. I know our reality doesn’t make sense to you, but this is
all we have ever known. From what the elves tell me; your world is
pretty odd as well.”

Jerry put his hand on the abbot’s arm
and said, “What about my mother?”

“
Your mother is a gift from
God, Jerry,” he grinned, “but some things are better left
unsaid.”

“
I’m afraid that’s just not
good enough, Rick.”

The abbot frowned angrily and said,
“Jerry, imagine there is one secret I could tell you that would
unleash all the forces of evil on us at this second, and the
assault would end in all of our deaths. Would you want to know such
a thing?” Jerry stared back at him blankly. “There are some things
that must never be said. The Emperor has large ears. He must not
know what we know. He may learn that your family is in hiding on
Whistlestop, and that’s okay, because he cannot defeat the elves,
as too many of his men have already tried and died. But if he knew
what I know, and what you and Lydia are capable of, then he would
kill us without a second thought. I am very afraid for you, Jerry
Iron-Heart. The emperor has his eye on you, and his power is almost
limitless. If he could turn you, convince you to help him, I’m
afraid that only the knowledge that I hold would be able to stop
him. I need you to focus on the job ahead. You must learn to master
the arts of a Knight of Winterpast with your cousin. Those skills,
along with the help of the elves and your mother’s family can
change the fate of the universe, end the tyranny, and liberate us,
the dragons, and all the realms of reality.”

“
I don’t know what to say,”
Jerry replied. “What do you want me to do, Rick?”

The abbot clapped him on the back and
said, “I want you to drink too much, eat too much, dance too much,
and when you are ready, I want you to meet the Trehbor of
Thrace.”

“
Are you certain my family
is okay?”

The abbot put his hand on Jerry’s
forehead. Images began to flash across his mind. He could see a
darkened room in an odd stone building. There was a large bed and
he could see Lynn and the children sleeping together. “If only you
could be as safely hidden among the elves, Jerry.”

Jerry felt a hand on his shoulder. He
turned to see his cousin smiling at him. “Let’s dance, Cousin,” she
said. She pulled him to his feet and led him toward the bonfire.
Soon, the two were dancing with a large crowd. The dance seemed
quite random, as everyone was a bit inebriated. Jerry was laughing
and flying around the bonfire without a care in the world. Lydia
was beautiful, but she was also family. She was clearly drunk and
had lost all inhibition. The mass of humanity seemed almost alike a
moving orgy until the fire suddenly went out. It became deathly
quiet in the frigid night air without a single light.

He felt Lydia’s body pressing against
him. “We have to escape while we can,” she said in his ear. There
was a loud whooshing sound and the crowd began to panic.