The Last Stand of Daronwy Read online

  Jeremy crept closer, staying low and moving slowly. He hid next to a lone skinny tallow tree on the edge of the Mini Desert. He couldn’t go any closer without putting himself in the open. Jeremy watched as a head popped up from beneath the scum lining the surface, followed by another. It was Travis and Lee. Jeremy shuddered at the thought of being in that green scum; the tepid, tannic water dappled with little rainbow slicks of oil. He certainly wouldn’t swim in it, but Travis and Lee could do whatever they wanted. Jeremy turned, walking toward the overgrown trail that led to the Tree.

  “Hey!”

  He froze, hair on his neck rising. He did not turn.

  “Hey!” Travis’ shrill voice karate-chopped Jeremy’s eardrums. He had been seen.

  Jeremy glanced back. They were getting out of the pond.

  “Hey, Jeremy!” yelled Lee.

  Jeremy judged the distance from his feet to the trees. He could make it before they got their shoes on.

  “Jeremy! You better not tell on us!” said Travis.

  “Why would I? I don’t care if you’re stupid enough to swim in that pond.”

  Travis was out of the water now, completely naked, and bending down over his clothes, looking for something. “I’ll make sure you don’t tell on us!” Travis straightened, leveling a pistol at Jeremy. It looked like the guns the A-Team used on TV, but Jeremy didn’t stare at it long. Heart slamming against his ribs, Jeremy dove into the thicket as Travis aimed. Jeremy rolled through the undergrowth, came up on his feet, and bolted for eight strides. Then he dropped, staying low and listening.

  Lee was out of the water now, running naked across the sand.

  “Get him, Lee! Get him! We’ll teach him not to spy on us!”

  Jeremy ran again. Vines and blackberry brambles bit at his skin, twigs and branches raked across his arms and tore through the simple cotton of his shirt. He pounded through the forest, weaving through the vines. He passed the trail to the Tree. Footsteps crashed behind him and he knew that Lee was not far behind. Ahead, the vines seemed to open, revealing a light-dappled path of ancient fallen logs ahead of him. Jeremy took it, vaulting over the logs, glancing right and left for a place to hide. He looked back. There was no trail. Behind him, the tangled morass of vines grew together even thicker than usual. A light, electric touch danced on the back of his neck, as though he were sitting with the Tree.

  “Ow! Bring my shoes! Bring my shoes!”

  Jeremy could hear Lee fighting his way through the underbrush and Travis running through the Mini Desert. “He’s behind Twin Hills! I can see him! Come on!”

  Jeremy didn’t think they could see him; he certainly couldn’t see them. He slowed, jogging along the path. The underbrush started getting thicker, and he had to walk as he picked his way through the growth, careful to move as silently as possible. Each twig he cracked, each dead leaf he shuffled, would lead them to him. Cold sweat beaded across his forehead. He estimated he was somewhere behind Twin Hills in the beginnings of Helter Skelter, but since he could only see a few feet, it was hard to tell.

  “FREEZE!”

  Jeremy jumped, his blood turning to ice. His shoulder slammed into a tallow tree with rotten roots. It began to fall, and he whirled, grabbing its slender trunk. He struggled to hold it up, praying that it wouldn’t fall and crash. His biceps burned. How could such a small tree be so heavy?

  “Whoa! Don’t point that thing at me!” said Lee. Jeremy couldn’t see them, but imagined Lee and Travis had circled the Twin Hills from each direction. He could envision Travis leaping behind the hills pointing the pistol, holding it with both hands like on Chips.

  “What the—he was here!” Travis said. “He must be in Helter Skelter. Come on!”

  Jeremy couldn’t stand there and hold the tree upright forever. Footsteps cracked on the edge of the thicket. They were coming. His shoulders burned. He couldn’t see them yet; the vines were too thick, but it wouldn’t be long before they caught up to him. His breath came in ragged gasps. As sweat collected on his palms, the tree began to slip.

  “No, no no.” He tried to hold it.

  “Jeremy, where AAAARRRREEEE you?”

  Jeremy watched the tree begin to fall, crashing into the other trees and vines in the thicket. Before it hit the ground, Jeremy was already diving through bushes and through thorns, sprinting as fast as he could in the dense wood.

  “That way!”

  He leapt over fallen logs, slogged through sucking puddles, and bounded over clearings of quicksand. He pushed trees down behind him, sending the rotten tallow trees to the forest floor in hopes of slowing his pursuers.

  “Jeremy! We’re going to get you!”

  Jeremy veered right into a nasty tangle of blackberry bushes, leaping over most of them, then picked his way along a fallen log over a carpet of needles floating on the black water, careful to be silent. Quick-stepping from fallen log to fallen log, he stole across the top of the bog. Sprinting from there, he came to the top arm of Dry Creek and dropped inside its shallow depth. Travis and Lee crashed through the forest like stampeding boars.

  “Jeremy, where aaaarrrreeee you?”

  “I bet he was going to steal our clothes.”

  “Or tell on us.”

  “What were you going to do to us Jeremy? Huh?”

  Jeremy bit his lip, not stupid enough to respond. He pressed his shoulder harder into the edge of the creek bed, tucked his chin into his chest.

  “We’re gonna find you Jeremy. You can’t stay here forever.”

  They weren’t close, but they were definitely not far away. He didn’t dare lift his head to see. Jeremy imagined them spread out through the thicket, wearing only their shorts, walking through the woods, Travis with his gun in hand. How did he get a gun?

  As if in answer, Travis yelled, “You spying on us again, Jeremy? This will teach you!”

  Jeremy braced himself against the creek wall, flattening his body against the mud. Three shots ricocheted through the forest, BBs bouncing off trees. He had been running this hard from a BB gun? Jeremy shook his head as the sweat on his skin turned clammy. His shoulders relaxed a little, but his heart still hammered in his ears. Three more shots bounced through the trees, then Jeremy heard his pursuers’ feet crunching away, moving back toward Twin Hills. Travis and Lee continued talking, but he couldn’t hear them over the noise of their feet. They would watch for him at the entrance of Twin Hills, he knew, and wait for him to try to go home.

  Raising his head with aching slowness, Jeremy scanned the woods. Pine needles scratched into his cheek. Nothing moved, but he could only see a few feet ahead of him. The only sound he heard was the berserk cadence of blood throbbing through his ears. Jeremy climbed out of the creek bed, but stayed low, creeping from root to root in his soggy shoes and mud-caked jeans. He bent no leaf, cracked no stick, rustled no needle, floating like one of the gnarled shadows of the vines in Helter Skelter. One with them, he wafted to the head of the woods, near the pavement of Nevada street.

  Jeremy saw Travis and Lee walking alongside each other, now fully clothed. Travis still carried his gun. Rage boiled in Jeremy, his hands balled into fists. But what could he do? It might be a BB gun, but he was outnumbered and without a weapon. He didn’t even have a rock. Best to stay hidden, Jeremy decided; he stepped back into the tangle of Helter Skelter.

  The two boys walked past, so close he could have reached out and tripped them.

  “Do you think he’s still out there?”

  “Probably out there peeing in his pants,” laughed Lee.

  “Ha! Probably. I never seen him run that fast before! Wanna go find him?” Travis turned to stare at the thick line of Helter Skelter, arms askance.

  Jeremy held his breath, pulling himself deeper into the shadow.

  “Naw, let’s go play Atari.”

  The con
versation continued, but the words were muddled by the wind. He waited until they walked down Nevada and turned onto Vermont. He waited a bit longer, knees aching from his crouch, back burning from the hunch. When he could no longer maintain that posture, he straightened and walked toward Nevada Street. He peered around the corner of Roland’s house. Travis and Lee were halfway up the street, talking and waving their arms. The gun hung forgotten in Travis’ hand. Jeremy had disappeared like Strider, gone invisible like Bilbo. And he didn’t even need a ring to do it. He laughed, tension falling away from his shoulders, as he crossed the street to his house.

  At recess, when most kids stood about and talked, Jeremy imagined himself as Eaglewing. He sprinted over the stair-stepped chunks of old telephone poles sunk in the ground, hoisted himself over the bright orange tractor tires, wobbled along the balance beams. Jeremy didn’t see the boy’s shoulder until it rammed into his chest. He landed on his back, staring up into Travis’ face. A wild kick flew at him. Jeremy rolled and scrambled to his feet, walking backwards, eyes darting from Lee to Travis.

  “You got nowhere to hide this time, Jeremy.”

  “What were you doing yesterday in Twin Hills?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Liar! You were spying on us,” said Travis.

  “No, I wasn’t. Why does it matter so much what you were doing?”

  Travis stepped forward, desperation in his eyes. “Who did you tell?”

  “No one. I didn’t tell anyone!”

  “I think he’s lying,” said Lee.

  Jeremy backed into a balance beam. He’d have to climb over it to escape, and if he did, they’d catch him. He stood, looking from one bully to the other. “Who cares if you’re swimming in that pond?”

  “I do. And you’re not going to tell anyone. Got it?” Travis said, punching his fist into his palm.

  “I think we should teach him a lesson for spying on us.” Lee smiled an evil smile. “Grab him.”

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Mira pounced onto the balance beam next to Jeremy, towering over everyone.

  “Nothing,” said Travis.

  Lee squinted at her. “It’s boy stuff. None of your business.”

  Travis waved his hands. “Go away.”

  “Okay.” She reached down, snaking a hand beneath Jeremy’s arm. She pulled him up, and he clambered over the balance beam backwards. “Come on Jeremy. Let’s go play Red Rover.”

  Jeremy and Mira jogged away toward the two lines of people linked arm in arm on the other side of the playground.

  “Thanks!”

  Mira’s smile flashed as her eyebrows rose and she cocked her head. “What was that about?”

  “I caught them swimming in the pond in Twin Hills yesterday.”

  “Were they, like, naked or something?”

  “Yes, actually.”

  “Naked!” She doubled over, laughing.

  Chapter Nine

  Jeremy and Daniel stood at the edge of Faker, frowning into overgrown shadows with sword and staff ready. Their makeshift grappling hooks—old nylon rope tied around a sturdy branch—were wrapped across their chests like the pictures of mountaineers in the encyclopedias. They looked the parts of their doppelgangers, one standing in mail, the other in robes, both staring down a green glowing hallway of stone.

  “What do you think is in there?” Eaglewing whispered to his brother.

  “One of the Stones, if we’re right.”

  “It can’t be this easy.”

  “There are traps. Follow me.”

  Running into the ghoulish darkness, Eaglewing trusted the wizard’s magical sight. On Faker, they jumped the trip cords and skirted the makeshift pongee traps. Around a bend in the trail, they came to a high line, nearly chest high. Daniel and Jeremy ducked beneath it.

  “Let’s play we flew over that,” Daniel said without breaking stride, “and darts flew from the walls.”

  “Poisonous darts. They’re shooting everywhere; I’m deflecting them with my sword.” Jeremy twirled his stick to either side of his body. “Let’s pretend there’s a huge crack in the floor and it’s a hundred feet and we have to swing across it, but there are goblins on the other side.” Jeremy threw his homemade grappling hook through a tree and swung across the black water of Dry Creek, swinging his stick to fend off goblins on the far shore. He threw the rope back to Daniel. “Lightningbolt!”

  Daniel swung across, then pulled the rope down from its catch in the vines above the narrow creek. “Come on!” Jeremy said, starting to run even as he secured the rope.

  They ran deeper into darkness, following the trace of power in the Stone. Drums beat, bells tolled. Shouts of warning echoed from other hallways, passages so old that the great-grandchildren of those who forgot them were themselves forgotten. They rushed down stairs chiseled out of the rock, beneath columns and broken arches that might topple with the slightest shove. The choking stench of rot stole their breath. Eaglewing coughed. “What is that smell?”

  Lightningbolt dared a small orb, and they found the ground littered with bones. Sound came from above: bells tolling, feet hurrying.

  “Let’s play that we found our way into their trash pit, and we’re running through it because they’re coming down.”

  “Arrows hit around us, but we keep running deeper and deeper into the passageways. Come on.” Daniel took the lead, running breakneck through the trackless tangle of Helter Skelter.

  Squeezing through a small passage of rocks, they found themselves in a large chamber. An ambush of goblins lunged at them from both sides. The brothers fought through them, then became lost in the center of the giant room, fighting back-to-back.

  “Which way?” screamed Eaglewing over the din of the crowding creatures.

  “I don’t know yet. I’m casting too many spells to feel the Stone’s energy!”

  “We can’t hold them off forever!”

  “Take my sword and buy me some time.”

  “On the count of three, duck. One… two… three!”

  Lightningbolt dropped to the ground as Eaglewing unsheathed Lightningbolt’s sword. He spun in place with both swords whirling, sending a half-dozen goblin knights clattering across the stones. More goblins pressed forward, taking their place.

  “Liiiiiightningboooolt!”

  “Up. Go up, then follow me.”

  “Wait!” Eaglewing blocked a high cut at his head. “Now!”

  They jumped into the air, unfurled their wings, and pumped them. Eaglewing turned in midair to follow his brother toward the far side of the cavern. Dark crystal knives whistled through the air; one sliced Eaglewing’s leg. He tried to keep up as Lightningbolt raced ahead. Below, the goblin army surged like the tide, following them. Mucus-colored light sneezed in fitful flickers from a dark crevice to their right, far over the heads of the goblin horde. Lightningbolt veered away from that light, whizzing past crumbling columns and stalactites.

  “That’s a cavern wall! What are you doing?”

  Lightningbolt didn’t answer. He dove straight into the wall, turning at the last second to move through a nearly-invisible crevasse. Too constrained to beat their wings, they fell through it and crashed onto a sloping cavern floor littered with broken scree. They half slid, half tumbled down it. Covered in dust and blood, rubbing his elbows and knees, Eaglewing looked at his brother. “What was that?”

  “There’s a spell on it, something ancient. You can’t see it until someone shows it to you. To me, it looked like a piece of the wall. I just flew into it on faith while maintaining my shields.”

  “You’re crazy.” Eaglewing smiled, shaking his head. He got to his feet and started sliding down the slope toward his brother. “Does that mean they can’t follow us?”

  “No. If they saw us, they can follow us.”

  “I w
as afraid you’d say that.”

  The cavern opened into a small chamber littered with giant misplaced blocks that had fallen from the ceiling. In the center of the room was an immense black hole. Around the edge of the hole a crumbling stair had been hewn directly from the rock. “The stair of the Edenkiri.”

  “We have found them.” Eaglewing stared at the marvel. “Everyone’s heard the legend, but to actually see it… ”

  “We’re not taking it.”

  Eaglewing snapped his head to his brother. “What?”

  “Look!” He hurled a crimson orb at the narrow squeeze of rocks. “It’s a flaming serpent! They have a hundred feet like a centipede and they ripple with color, but no magic works on them.”

  “Let’s fight it!”

  “No, it’s too fast,” Daniel said. “Let’s pretend I shot a ball of energy at it.” The orb shattered, magic rippling harmlessly against the shimmering body of the flaming serpent. “Before you even draw your sword, it’s right here in front of us, and the goblins are pouring through the gap behind it.”

  Eaglewing barely had time to raise the sword when a claw caught his shoulder, cutting through the leather and chain mail as though they were cotton. Lightningbolt grabbed his brother’s arm and fell backward into the bottomless blackness. In a blink, they dropped into a spacious darkness with no sides that they could see. The stair continued, winding its way into nothingness, with no physical support except itself and whatever magic had created it. The air grew colder, staler.

  “I’ve never fallen this far in my life!”

  The scales of the flaming serpent flashed far above them, looping around the stair like an orange ray of light. “Faster!”

  Pulling wings tight against their backs, they fell headfirst. The chasm narrowed and the stair shifted back and forth from wall to wall on thread-like bridges of rock. Lightningbolt brightened the light, but there was only stair, rock walls, and empty darkness.