Читать книгу The Shadowmagic Trilogy - John Lenahan - Страница 30

‘Is there any chance of getting another boarburger?’ I asked the Imp that was serving food. He replied with the customary blank look I seemed to get from everyone around here when I tossed in a Real World reference.

I was delighted to sink my teeth into some meat. The Fili food was amazing but I was tired of nuts and berries. The Imps had barbecued a couple of dozen boars. They were so good it made me think that McDonald’s should have McBoar on the menu. Araf, Fergal and I were chowing down, while most of the others were having high-powered meetings: Essa was off with Nieve, and Mom and Dad were with Gerard. After my second burger I spotted Essa walking among the ruins and excused myself.

I found her standing alone, staring at the stained-glass window of the woman sitting in the hazel tree. She saw me and quickly turned away, wiping her eyes.

‘Hey, are you OK?’ I said.

‘Yes,’ she said, putting on a brave face, ‘it’s just this place. How would you say it? – It freaks me out.’

I laughed, and so did she, but it was a bit strained.

‘Are you sure that’s all?’ I asked.

She looked away and didn’t answer.

I took her hand in mine and said, ‘It will be alright.’

She turned and looked at me, but I still couldn’t read her expression. ‘So you have become an oracle, have you?’

‘I have talents you can’t even begin to imagine,’ I said, flashing a smile that I learned from Fergal.

And then the strangest thing happened. She threw herself into my arms and kissed me – hard. It wasn’t a tender kiss. It wasn’t even passionate – it was almost desperate. Then she turned and started to run off, saying, ‘I can’t do this.’

I grabbed her arm before she could go. When was I going to learn never to grab Essa when she wanted to leave? She did her customary anti-attack manoeuvre – which meant I ended up on the ground, with her holding my arm behind my back in an extremely unnatural position.

‘Ow, ow, ow,’ was about all I could say.

‘We have a battle to prepare for,’ she said, letting me go, and stormed off.

‘Hey!’ I shouted after her. ‘You kissed me, remember?’

I sat there, rubbing my arm, and thought about Sally. She may not be as beautiful as Essa, but at least she was less painful.

‘Girl trouble?’ It was Dad, with a smile on his face, the first smile I had seen him wear since he heard about what Cialtie was doing.

‘Are all the women in The Land that fiery?’ I asked.

‘The good ones are,’ he said and helped me up. ‘I’m just about to meet with Lorcan. I think you should be with us.’

Lorcan and his generals were standing around the table, looking at the map of Castle Duir. They all came to attention when Father and I entered the room.

‘Lorcan, your army is not large enough to breach Castle Duir.’

‘It must be, my lord, we have to attack before Cialtie completes his circle of gold.’

‘How do you know it is not finished already?’

‘We must assume it is not. If it is finished – all is lost.’

‘We must assume that the circle is complete, but all is not lost. Cialtie thinks his weapon is a secret and therefore has not bothered to guard it sufficiently. Deirdre says that the perimeter of the castle is only patrolled by a single troop of Banshees.’

‘That is so.’

‘I assume you have some goldsmiths in your ranks.’

‘Half of my army are Leprechauns, my Lord, they know how to work gold.’

‘Give me ten of your most trusted goldsmiths. Cialtie’s ultimate defence may prove to be his downfall. Can your army be ready to march at dawn?’

‘It can, my lord.’

‘Can you make Castle Duir in two and a half days?’

‘We can.’

‘Good. Deirdre, Nieve, Conor, Fergal, Essa, Araf and myself shall try to gain entrance to the castle on the morning of the third day. If all goes well, my brother will open Castle Duir for you.’

‘And if all doesn’t go well?’ I said, and instantly regretted it.

‘Then,’ Dad said with a sigh, ‘there won’t be anyone left to worry about it.’

That night Gerard opened several barrels of his finest wine.

‘Remember when Cialtie came to visit me a little while back?’ Gerard said as he tapped another barrel. ‘Well, he came in person to complain about the quality of the wine I was sending him.’

‘What a jerk,’ I said.

‘No,’ Gerard said, ‘he was right to complain. I have been sending him swill for years. This is the good stuff, but I can’t let him have it. It shall go to people who deserve it.’

All of the army got at least a cup. It wasn’t a celebration, it was more like a ceremony – something solemn.

That night I had another dream. Dad’s right hand was on fire. I tried to run to him but I couldn’t move. I was forced to watch him burn as I was frozen solid.

Lorcan woke me at dawn. ‘Good morning, Lorcan the Leprechaun,’ I said, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

‘I would appreciate it if you stopped calling me that.’

‘Sorry, General, what can I do for you?’

‘Why did you not tell me you were a prince of oak and hazel?’

‘Well, everyone I ever told tried to kill me. Now that I think of it, you tried to kill me without even knowing.’

‘I am sorry for that.’

‘No probs, you were just doing your job. Speaking of jobs, shouldn’t you be leading an army into battle?’

‘My army awaits but I must show you something before we leave.’

I dressed quickly and followed him into the ruins of the Hall of Knowledge.

‘You left something behind last time you were here.’

‘Oh yeah, my banta stick, I almost forgot.’

‘Do you remember where you left it?’

I tried to think back that far. Days in The Land seem like lifetimes. ‘I think I left it in there.’

We rounded the corner into the courtyard and I saw it. The hazelwood banta stick that Dahy had given me, and had once belonged to my grandfather Liam – Runelord of the Hazellands. It was exactly where I had left it.

‘You cannot take it back.’

‘Why not?’

‘Take a closer look.’

I had stuck it into the ground in almost the exact place where Essa had found the roots of the Tree of Knowledge. I drew closer and had a good look. Three green shoots with tender leaves had sprouted from the sides of my stick. My grandfather’s hazel staff had taken root.

‘It looks as if a hazel will once again bloom in the Hall,’ Lorcan said behind me. ‘A new Tree of Knowledge perhaps?’

I touched it. It was too young to speak, but I could feel the life in it.

Lorcan placed his hand on my shoulder. ‘This is a good omen. Good luck, son of hazel and oak. When we next meet, it shall be in your father’s house.’

‘I’ll buy you a beer.’

He smiled and left me alone with the young hazel. ‘This is for you,’ I said aloud to a grandfather I had never known.

It was strange being on horseback without Acorn beneath me. Lorcan had lent me a mare named Cloud. She was smaller than Acorn and lived up to her name by giving a softer ride, but I refused to get too friendly. It felt like I was having an affair with another horse.

I was relieved to find that our route wouldn’t be taking us through the Yewlands – I didn’t want to go through that again. Apparently, the only reason we went that way the first time was to make sure no one was following us. I can understand that. There is no way I would take a walk among the yews again, unless my life depended on it. Even then I would have to think about it.

There were nineteen of us in our party. On horseback were: Mom, Dad, Nieve, Essa, Fergal, Araf, me and ten Leprechaun goldsmiths. Gerard and Dahy rode in the front of a wagon pulled by a pair of magnificent workhorses. I thought the horses I had seen here before were big, but these things were colossal! They might as well have been elephants for the size of them. Gerard’s wagon was packed with about three dozen massive barrels of wine, but they pulled them as if they were hauling feather pillows.

We kept a leisurely pace. We wanted to arrive at the castle only half a day before Lorcan’s army, so we didn’t have to press too hard. Nieve and Deirdre spent the first day gabbing on horseback like long-lost sisters. Essa and Fergal were both in introspective moods. I understood it with Fergal but I couldn’t figure out what was bothering Essa. The Leprechauns were a bit in awe of us, so they pretty much kept to themselves. I rode abreast with Araf – and you know how chatty he is. Actually, I wasn’t in the chattiest of moods myself. I know this sounds crazy (after all I had been through), but for the first time since I had been here – I was nervous. When I first heard Ona’s prophecy, I wondered – How could I possibly destroy the whole land? – but now it occurred to me, that that might be exactly what I was doing. Cialtie had a weapon that could trash everything, and we were on our way to provoke him. Maybe I was playing right into destiny’s hand.

That night around the fire, I put that point to Dad.

‘I remember when I was working at the university,’ Dad said, ‘I used to laugh at the science professors who were so sure that everything could be explained. They were all buffoons except for one of them. His name was Tobias, he was Italian.’

‘I remember him. He taught physics, didn’t he?’

‘That’s right. Even though his entire life was dedicated to provable facts, he believed in the Evil Eye.’

‘The what?’

‘The Evil Eye – some Italians think that a person with special power can harm you with just a look. Tobias even wore a gold necklace to protect him from it.’

‘That sounds like one of Mom’s amulets.’

‘Exactly. I asked him once how a man of science could be so superstitious and he told me about quantum physics. Apparently there are things going on in the tiniest of matter that just cannot be explained. He told me about an experiment where a scientist made an atom spin in some laboratory and it made another one spin in the opposite direction ten miles away. He couldn’t explain it – no one could. He said if the smartest people in the world can’t explain something like that – then he was keeping the necklace on. I liked him, he had an open mind.

‘One day, he explained the Chaos Theory to me by holding up a piece of paper. He asked, “What would happen if I let go?” I told him that the paper would flutter to the ground, but then he asked me – “Where will it hit the ground?” He let the paper go and it landed not far from his feet. He said he could explain mathematically how the air and gravity reacted with the paper and why the paper landed where it did – “but,” he said, “no one could ever predict where the paper would land before it was dropped.”

‘That is the essence of the Chaos Theory. We know things will happen but until they do, we cannot tell how they will happen. I am sure Ona was right – she always was – but we don’t know the how, or the when. Just because we have a glimpse of the future does not mean we should run and hide. We must do what must be done. Cialtie must be stopped and I must get my hand and fix the damage my brother has done.’

I looked at the man I had spent my entire life with, and realised just how much I had underestimated him. I remembered a Mark Twain quote: he said something like – ‘I left my family at fifteen because my parents were so stupid. When I arrived back home two years later, I was amazed how much they had learned in that time.’

‘I haven’t said it in a long time, Dad, but I love you.’

‘And I you, son.’ He kissed me on the cheek. ‘Get some sleep, we have a long day tomorrow.’

We spent the next day riding fields dotted with poplar trees – the Eadthlands. I think the poplars are my favourite trees in The Land. They are solitary, straight and unimaginably high, like huge green rocket ships. I leaned back to try to see the top of one as we rode by and almost fell out of my saddle. I wanted to stop and speak to one of them but Mom said they are not very good conversationalists – their thoughts are too much in the clouds. Apparently the Fili used to converse with them about philosophy, but only if they would climb to the top. If I was to climb that high, the tree had better say something pretty important. I would be angry if I risked life and limb to get to the summit and the only thing the poplar said was, ‘I can see your house from here.’

The other nice thing about the Eadthlands is that the trees are so far apart. It gives you a chance to notice all of the other plants and animals that populate The Land. Rabbits the size of puppies came out of their burrows to watch us go past. I saw a fox with a coat so red and lush I wanted to hug it. The wildflowers were in full bloom. Fields were covered with colours that you just don’t get in the Real World. There were reds, yellows and purples the like of which I had only ever seen in a tropical fish tank, and then colours I didn’t even have a name for.

Essa rode up beside me and said, ‘Stop it.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Stop looking at The Land like you are never going to see it again.’

‘That’s not what I am doing,’ I protested, but she had fallen back already. The thing is, she was right – that is exactly what I was doing. I think everyone was. Even Gerard was quiet. To give you an idea of how nervous we all were, Araf came abreast of me and started a conversation without me even saying anything to him!

‘I went to Castle Duir with my father once, when I was a boy,’ he said without prompting. I almost fell out of my saddle with shock. ‘I remember sneaking off and exploring the castle and getting terribly lost. I ended up in the library. I had never seen so many books before, but being a child, what interested me the most were the weapons. There was a beautiful oak banta stick on the wall. I was climbing on a desk to have a closer look at it when Lord Finn – your grandfather – came in. I must have startled him – he shouted, “What are you doing here?” I was terrified and ran out of the room. He gave chase and caught me at the end of the corridor. I kicked and screamed as he picked me up by my shoulders and held me at arm’s length. Then he laughed, that wonderful laugh that your family seems to own, and he gave me a smile – now that I think of it, it was a smile just like the one Fergal has.

‘I stopped kicking and Finn said, “You must be young Prince Araf.” I only managed a nod. Then he said, “Come with me. I want to show you something.” I followed your grandfather down, deep into the castle until we came to a chamber lit with a hundred candles. He told me that the Leprechauns make the candles with wax mixed with gold dust and that they burn for years. Did you know that?’

‘No,’ I said, smiling. This was an introspective and loquacious Araf that I had never seen before. I liked it.

‘I will never forget what he told me. He said, “This is the Chamber of Runes; some day you will undergo the Rite of Choosing here. I suspect, my young Imp, that you will eventually choose the Major Rune of Ur. When you do, you will be a Runelord. Most people think us lucky to become Runelords and they are right – but it is also a responsibility. We do not choose the runes – the runes choose us. To hold a Major Rune means that you give up part of your life to The Land, or even all of your life if The Land demands it.”

‘When I left, Finn gave me that oak banta stick. It’s in my room in Ur Keep. I wish I had it with me now.’

‘It will still be there when you return home,’ I said.

‘I hope so, Conor, but if we fail, and tomorrow we are no more, then at least I know I have done my duty.’

Believe it or not, Araf chattered on for the rest of the day. He talked about his home, banta fighting and the joys of farming. It worked for both of us – Araf talked and talked to allay his nerves, and I concentrated on what he was saying and didn’t have time to think about my possible impending doom.

I spoke to Fergal only once in the day. When I pulled up next to him he said, ‘If you ask me how I am, I’m going to punch you.’

‘How are you?’

He did punch me, on the arm. It made me sad that Fergal and I had just met. We should have grown up together. His punch was like a punch between brothers, not hard enough to do any damage but hard enough that it hurt.

I rubbed my arm and laughed. ‘Any time you want to talk, cuz, I’m right here.’

Long before dark, Dad called a halt and made an announcement. ‘This is as close to the castle I want to get in daylight. We will leave well before dawn tomorrow. Tonight we can camp at Glen Duir.’

Glen Duir was at the beginning of the Oaklands, and a more picturesque spot is hard to imagine. We camped near a stream nestled in rolling hills. I was helping set up camp when my father tapped me on the shoulder. ‘There is a tree I want you to meet,’ he said.