Chapter Three: Skulls and Bells
Jonathan was surrounded by mist. He was amongst gnarled, stunted trees, completely bare of leaves. The mist swirled around his shoes. It rose to chest height, and everywhere it touched his skin, he burned. He screamed and screamed, and the mists burned him. He looked down at himself, and yelled again; his body was covered in angry red bumps and hives.
As he sank to the ground in agony, he looked up at the trees. Now their branches were not bare, but full of crows, black and shimmering. They hopped from branch to branch with fussy little caws. As he watched them, they turned as one bird to stare at him. Again, as one bird they spread their wings, and lifted into the air. As one bird, they dove-
Jonathan was lying in his bed at home, the blankets wrapped tightly around him. They were stranglingly close, and the more he struggled to tear them off, the more trapped he became.
“Josh!” he yelled “Josh! Josh! Help me!”
“You’re sick, little brother.” came Josh’s voice from somewhere out of sight. “You need to stay in bed today.”
“Josh! Please, Josh, help me!”
Josh only laughed. The laughter grew louder and deeper until it vibrated in his teeth, in his bones. And he was burning, burning, burning…
He was running up a hill, Scott’s Hill, through the snow. He was panicked, terrified. He had to reach the top. He glanced back, and there was the wolf. Its muzzle was flecked with blood, and its eyes shone with malice. It drew closer and closer, and he forced himself to speed up.
He was getting away! He sprinted on, and suddenly it was snowing. Except the flakes were not white, they were iridescent and black; not flakes, but feathers. He was running through a storm of crows, and the wolf was on his heels again. It leapt-
Jonathan opened his eyes. Tob’s hand was on his forehead. He tried to push her away, but he was weak and shaky. He blinked. He was no longer in the forest. There was a ceiling that slanted down to the floor on both sides. It looked as though he was in some sort of attic. Not an attic though, for there was hay all around. A barn loft, then.
“W- what did you do to me?”
“Knocked you unconscious.” Tob said matter-of-factly. “Well, spelled you to sleep at any rate. I was a bit nervous about using magic on you, but it seemed safe than hitting you over the head with a rock. We had to get you on that speeder somehow. Anyways, I woke you up just now. We couldn’t find an inn with any room for us to stay, so we’re staying in here.”
Jonathan closed his eyes. His head was pounding.
“If I had eaten anything today, I think I would be throwing up right now. I just can’t believe this. You guys could have at least told me what you were going to do.”
“Old habits die hard, I guess. It’s a bad idea to tell someone when you’re going to use magic on them. Most people know how to resist at least a little bit.”
“Where’s Ari?”
“Paying the owner of the barn.”
Jonathan kept his eyes closed and did not say anything. He heard Tob fidgeting with something a little ways away. He wanted to prop himself up to see what she was doing, but it seemed like far too much effort. A few minutes later, he felt a blanket being drawn over him. He tried hard to open his eyes, but they were suddenly very heavy.
The next thing he knew, low voices were whispering somewhere in the dim loft.
“-don’t know why you haven’t told him.”
This was a woman’s voice; Tob’s voice. She sounded exasperated.
“What does it matter to you?”
A lower voice, surly, and defensive; Ari was speaking now. “He’ll know in a couple of days anyways.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then why don’t you explain it to him? You’re being ridiculous, Ari!”
“Keep your voice down!”
There was a pause. Jonathan made sure his breathing stayed steady.
“Anyways,” Ari continued, “I don’t know how he’ll take it. I mean, he’s a Traveler. If his world is anything like ours, then-”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. My point is that you’re pretending to be a-”
“And my point is that that doesn’t matter, Tob.”
Jonathan turned his head slightly and opened his eyes a crack. Ari and Tob were sitting close to the Fire Box, facing him. As he watched, Tob touched Ari’s arm lightly.
“Ari, it isn’t fair to the boy. He is depending on us completely for protection, poor little bastard. I think he deserves to know at least a little bit about who we are.”
“Yeah, and you’re one to talk.”
“Don’t start. You know that this,” Tob gestured to her face, “is a safety measure. Rimvolf is a dangerous place for my people now.”
“And this is a godsdamn safety measure too. If the Royalists found me, who knows what they’d do? It was a risk even going to Aeolik.”
“So you think that they are still looking for you?”
“If they found me, I’m sure they wouldn’t waste much time in administering their punishment. But I’m more worried that my parents will find me and ship me off to some godsforsaken castle in Corithis.”
Tob leaned forward and kissed Ari on the top of his head. Obviously irritated, Ari withdrew, wrinkling his nose.
“Don’t worry about that right now. Get some sleep. I’ll stay up and keep watch.”
Ari nodded crisply and curled up near Jonathan. Jonathan hurriedly shut his eyes. He considered snoring gently for effect, but thought better of it. Late into the night, he replayed the conversation in his head. He fell asleep wondering what secret Tob and Ari were keeping from him. When he dreamed, he dreamed an empty, maze-like house.
Ari prodded him awake at the crack of dawn. Jonathan was dimly aware of eating something flavorless, and being bundled out into the cold morning. He yawned enormously. Tob drove the speeder out of the barn, hopped down, and placed her hand on Jonathan’s forehead.
“Wait, I don’t-”
He woke up swaddled in blankets, lying on an under-stuffed mattress in a dim room.
“Will you stop doing that!” he snarled feebly.
Tob shrugged.
“Where am I anyways?”
“Red Eagle Inn, somewhere off the main road. We’ve got another day of driving ahead of us, this time off road.” Ari said from across the room. “You’ll need to slow down a little, Tob. I swear I thought we were all dead when that patroller came around the corner. You could have run into them.”
“Could have is a long way from did, my friend. Besides, I thought you wanted me to get you there in a hurry.”
“In a hurry, but also with all limbs intact.”
“I’ll do my best. For now, I’ll leave you two boys to talk.”
Tob winked at Jonathan, and made an unfamiliar hand gesture at Ari, and left the room. Ari shook his head ruefully.
“How do you feel?”
“Sick. Tired. I don’t like getting knocked out every morning and waking up somewhere random. It makes me feel like I’ve been kidnapped.”
“Sorry. If you come up with a better solution, tell me.” Ari sounded brusque again.
“I will. Do you have any food? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“Yes. Here.”
Jonathan had some rather stale bread, a handful of nuts, and a hot drink that Ari brought from downstairs.
“Is there somewhere where I could wash off?”
“Yes. There’s a wash basin in the other room, but the water is heated by magic.”
“Never mind then. I’m going to sleep.”
Silently, Ari left the room, locking the door behind him.
As soon as he left, Jonathan pulled off the blankets and got up. There were three mattresses in the room, all of them on the floor. He crept past them. There were three doors leading off the bedroom. Ignoring the one Ari had just exited by, Jonathan opened the next door. It was a closet. Inside was Ari’s pack. Jonathan smiled grimly.
Stealthily, he opened the pack. Inside, there were a number of tins and packets, each labeled neatly with words like “Jerky”, “Biscuits”, and “Dried Fruit”. Under the food were dull colored blankets and clothes, all folded crisply.
In various pockets, Jonathan found bandages, bottles of ointment, rolls of twine, several types of little round tablets, a number of efficient-looking tools, a small bag of coins, a wooden case that would not open, the Fire Box, and half a dozen sewing needles in various sizes.
Other than the locked box, Jonathan did not find anything that seemed to pertain to Tob and Ari’s strange conversation. He closed the pack, closed the closet door, and tried the next one. It opened onto a room with a large bronze tub inside it. Jonathan closed that door as well.
He walked around the bedroom twice, but did not find anything of interest. He sat down on the mattress, defeated.
Jonathan rolled over and closed his eyes. He counted splotches on the wall. He tried to remember all of the geometric proofs he had learned the year before in math class. He recited the words of The Star Spangled Banner backwards in his head. He attempted to touch his nose with his tongue. When that proved impossible, he started pondering possible solutions to The Sussex Vampire. With a pang of regret, he realized that he would never finish it. He rolled over again.
After a couple of hours, Ari and Tob returned. Tob was laughing at something Ari had just said. Her chuckles were louder than usual, amplified, Jonathan supposed, with alcohol. Ari held a finger to his lips, motioning to Jonathan. Jonathan narrowed his eyes until they were open only a crack. Blurrily, he could see the two figures in the doorway.
“Is he asleep?” whispered Tob.
“I think so. Keep it down anyways, just to be safe.”
Jonathan watched the taller figure open the closet and retrieve the pack. He tensed slightly. Suppose he had left a pack undone, or something was out of place…
Ari took out his cloth and started cleaning his daggers. Suddenly, he froze.
“Tob, have you been going through my pack?”
Jonathan stiffened.
“No. Why?”
“Someone has.”
He shut his eyes as Ari approached his mattress. He felt a strong hand gripping his shoulder, shaking him. With feigned grogginess, he opened his eyes and sat up.
“What? What is it?”
“Have you been looking in my pack? Answer me! This is important.”
For a moment, Jonathan considered lying outright, but thought better of it.
“Y-yes. It’s just that I was…hungry. And I didn’t want to leave the room, so I was just looking for some food…and…um.”
Wide-eyed, he stared at Ari. At first, Ari scrutinized him suspiciously, but after a moment, he gave an irritable jerk of his head and shrugged.
“Don’t do that, you stupid sonuvabitch. I thought someone had been in here sneaking around.”
“I’m sorry.”
He made his voice as meek and contrite as possible.
“Just don’t do it again. I’m sorry I woke you up. I had to check, though. Go back to sleep.”
“Oh, I’m not tired now. I think I’ll stay up a while.”
“Fine. Try to stay in the rooms. I’m going to go bathe.”
“Need any help with that?” Tob asked.
Her face had an expression of angelic innocence. Ari glared at her. He picked up his pack, and stalked across the room. Tob winked cheerfully as he passed her. With a loud slam, the bathroom door closed. After a moment, the noise of running water could be heard.
Uncomfortable at being left alone with Tob, Jonathan tried to think of some way to occupy himself. There were not many options.
“Game of Four Armies?”
Jonathan started a little.
“Um…no thank you.”
“That’s just as well. You need four players, and I haven’t got a board.”
“Oh.”
“Want to play cards, then?”
“What game?”
“Anything. Capture the Fortress, Skulls and Bells in the Green, Triple Goddess.”
“I don’t know any of those games.”
“I’ll teach you.”
Reluctantly, Jonathan got up and sat by Tob on the floor. She got out a deck of playing cards.
“Let’s start with Skulls and Bells. It’s the easiest.”
Curiously, Jonathan examined the cards. They looked more like a tarot deck than a set of playing cards. They were illustrated on one side with little pictures of what looked like gods, goddesses, monsters, various symbolic figures, a skeleton or two, and a number of animals. On the other side, each card was printed with black diamond patterns.
“Right, so you draw seven cards each round. You try to get a pantheon, full court, battalion, half court, trinity, or duality. Any lone cards get added to your score.”
Tob began expertly shuffling the deck. The cards blurred beneath her fingers. Jonathan watched them, mesmerized. This close, he could distinctly smell alcohol on her breath. He watched her carefully for signs of intoxication, but her hands were steady as she dealt the cards.
“What were those things you’re looking for, sorry?”
“A pantheon is all seven part of a set. Full court is six upper cards. Half court is three. Battalion is four or five of a set, in order. Trinity is three in a progression, and duality is opposites. Anyways, you can pick up cards from the deck or the top of the Graveyard each round. You can’t have more than seven cards. First person to have no lone cards turns their cards over, and the round ends. If you get a pair of Green Men, you have to discard your entire hand. Reapers and Grey Ladies are wild. Bells don’t count for any points if you have them left over. ”
Jonathan had to ask a lot of questions before he understood the rules. It was, indeed, not very difficult, and actually quite fun once he got the hang of it. Tob did impersonations of the little characters on the cards, explaining who they were when they turned up in the game.
He and Tob chatted and laughed through the rounds. Jonathan began to relax. He gained confidence. In the last round, he was ahead by fourteen points. He glanced at his cards and smiled. There was a half court: the smith, the phoenix, and the girl in fire. He had an additional Grandmother Spider, hanged man, and Great Whale.
Tob laid her cards down with a snap.
“Pantheon.”
“What? You haven’t even drawn any cards!”
“Lucky deal, I suppose.”
“No way. Let me see.”
She passed him the cards. There they were: the Lady of Earth, the Green Man, the Great Tree, a green dragon, a golem, a Reaper, and a Grey Lady. His eyes widened. Tob smirked.
“And that means I’ve one by one po-”
“OH GODSDAMNIT!”
They leapt up, card game forgotten. Jonathan, who was closest to the bathroom flung the door open.
“Ari, are you o-”
The first thing Jonathan noticed was blood. Ari’s hand was stained red. A knife was lying, as though dropped, on the floor. The second thing Jonathan noticed was that Ari dressed only to the waist. And the third thing…
Ari dove for a towel, but it was too late.
“Y-you’re-”
“Shut it!”
“But you-”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut your mouth?”
“But-”
Tob elbowed her way into the room.
“Ari, are you…oh.”
“Everyone get out. I’ll be out in a minute.” Ari snarled, clutching the towel more tightly.
Jonathan retreated. His face was burning. He stared appealingly at Tob.
“I didn’t know- I didn’t mean to…”
“I know. I know.”
“But why did-”
The door snapped open. Ari, hair still wet from the bath, was standing there, fully clothed, and glowering. The injured hand was no longer bleeding. There was a hideous moment of tense silence before Jonathan found the courage to speak.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Does it matter that much to you?”
“Well it is kind of an important thing to tell someone.”
“Why?”
There was venom in Ari’s tone. Jonathan opened his mouth and then closed it. When a reply was not forthcoming, Ari sighed and ran a hand through her wet hair.
“I’m the same me,” she said, “I’ve just got a few different…parts.”
She smiled a little as Jonathan blushed.
“It’s not just that! Don’t you trust me?” he muttered.
“Should I? You’re this just some traveler I met a few days ago. We don’t even come from the same world.”
“I’ve had no choice but to trust you, and you don’t even have the courtesy to tell me that you’re…not a boy!”
“That’s enough. I don’t have to explain myself to-”
“Comrades,” Tob cut in, “there is something you might want to pause your charming little argument for.”
“What?” Ari and Jonathan asked together.
“That.”
Their eyes followed Tob’s pointing finger. The door was shaking, and muffled crashes sounded from the hall beyond.
“What is it?” Jonathan breathed.
“Guards, probably. Ari, that man at the bar, the one who was asking questions. He must have driven back up the road to Kerik, and-”
“Never mind that! We need to get out!”
“Window again?”
Ari sprinted across the room and opened the shutters a crack.
“No good. They’ve got it covered. How many do you reckon are in the hall?”
“Don’t know. But the passage is pretty narrow. We could probably take them.”
The door trembled in its frame. Ari slung on his-her, Jonathan reminded himself-pack. She drew her knives, and passed one to Jonathan.
“I don’t know how to use this.”
“It’s easy. You hold the blunt end, and stick the pointed end at the angry bastards in the grey uniforms.”
“But-”
“Understood? Excellent.”
“Hold on, I-”
“Tob will open the door in a few seconds. Some guards will come hurtling in. Tob will deal with them. Follow me down the hall, and above all do not get lost.”
“Okay, but-”
Tob opened the door.
“Wait!”
A man fell headlong into the room. He had obviously not expected the door to jerk open just as he was ramming into it with his shoulder. Tob leapt at him before he could rise. Jonathan did not see what happened next because Ari was tugging him out into the corridor. The hall was filled with people in grey uniforms.
At first glance, there seemed to be dozens, but a quick headcount showed that there were only seven. Three where blocking the hall on each side. One was doubled over in the middle of the floor, clutching at a puncture wound in his stomach. Ari kicked him out of the way, not bothering to wipe her blade.
There was a shocked and awkward silence. Then, as one, the rest of the uniformed men surged forward. Jonathan winced in preparation for sudden pain, or death by dismemberment.
Neither came.
Instead, the wall behind him exploded. He was flung forward and peppered with chunks of plaster. The noise was incredible. There was something underlying it too, a sort of penetrating buzz: magic.
Then, there was a blessed pause. Around him, he could hear coughing and little groans of pain. He blinked. Gingerly, he glanced up. Thick, white dust obscured everything more than a few feet away.
His moment of repose was rudely interrupted when someone hauled him to his feet. He cried out, protectively cradling his throbbing head. He was being dragged down the hall, past the prostrate guards, down the stairs, and into a milling mob of people.
Head still ringing, he flinched at the noise and light.
“Can you walk?” Tob hissed in his ear.
“I…I…what did you do?”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’. Follow me.”
“Hold on! Where’s Ari? Where are we going?”
“I’m here, and right now we’re going away from this inn.”
Startled, he jerked around. Ari was, indeed there, covered in dust, and bleeding from a cut on her face. Her hair was still damp. Powdered plaster clung to it, making her look decades older. Jonathan stood there blinking until Tob started tugging him forward again. He realized that he still had Ari’s knife squeezed in one hand, and dropped it compulsively. The world was a blur of confused voices, and frightened faces.
“Did you hear that? Never been so scared in my life! I thought-”
“Whole hall way full of guards-”
“Have you got any idea what just-”
“-wall completely blown out!”
“They say it’s an attack from Grek!”
“They say it’s those rebels again!”
“They say it’s-”
Unnoticed in the confusion, Jonathan, Tob, and Ari slipped out the back door and into the night. They narrowly avoided a group of guards by diving into an unnecessarily thorny bush. The guards rushed past, shouting and gesticulating. They were headed toward the inn as people poured out of it. Jonathan heard screams. He smelled something burning. The inn’s upper windows flickered with orange light; soon flames were licking at the roof.
“What did you do?” he asked again.
“Only thing I could think of.”
“I said we could take them.” Ari grumbled, dabbing at her temple.
“No need to take that tone, love.”
“’We can take them’ doesn’t mean to blow up the whole damn building.”
“I didn’t blow up the whole building! Just a wall.”
“It started a fire!”
“Not our problem. With any luck, it will serve as enough of a distraction to let us get away clean.”
“Where did you leave the speeder?”
“I’ll show you. Jonathan, come on- Jonathan? Are you still with us?”
“What? Oh…yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”
He shook himself. This was no time to fall apart. Clumsily, he hurried after Tob. The speeder was stashed just out of sight of the inn.
“We don’t have time to put you out and hide you in the hold. You’re going to have to hang on very securely and try not to vomit.”
Tob strapped on a pair of goggles, and leapt onto the speeder, followed by Jonathan and Ari. As the contraption rose and accelerated, Jonathan saw red spots. The sensation was comparable to nothing he had felt before. He felt as though his bones were full of fire. Lightheaded, he teetered.
“Stay awake!” Ari hissed in his ear.
Tob was fidgeting with some dials. All of a sudden, the speeder shot forward. Jonathan winced as a tree rushed toward them, but they swerved at the last moment. The forest rushed by on all sides. Ari was yelling something, but he couldn’t hear it.
“TELL-TOB-TO-SLOW-DOWN!”
Still dizzy, he leaned forward and relayed the message to Tob.
“SHE SAYS WE NEED TO GO FAST. THERE ARE GUARDS FOLLOWING US.” he called back to Ari.
“SHE’S BEEN DRINKING. WE NEED TO SLOW DOWN.”
Tob merely swore at him when he told her. He shrugged at Ari and focused on clinging onto the back of Tob’s jacket. He shut his eyes tightly.
Cold air numbed his face. After an immeasurable length of time, Ari tapped him urgently on the shoulder. He glanced back and understood the problem at once. There were lights behind them in between the trees. Faintly over the rush of air, he heard shouts.
“KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN!” Ari yelled in his ear. “TELL TOB.”
“THEY’RE CATCHING UP! ARI SAYS TO KEEP LOW.”
Tob said something indistinct.
“WHAT?”
“I SAID, HOLD ON TIGHTLY!”
Something roared over their heads. It left purple afterimages hanging in the air. All of them crouched a little lower in their seats. Tob jerked the handle bars, and they turned so sharply that for a moment, Jonathan was leaning out over empty space.
“THEY’RE SHOOTING AT US,” Tob informed them rather unnecessarily.
Jonathan glanced back. The other speeders were only yards behind. They were grey, and marked with an official-looking crest: a golden bird rising from red flames. They were slightly larger, and much sleeker than Tob’s tank-like vehicle. Four uniformed guards sat on each.
They made another sharp turn. This one felt somehow less controlled than the last. Jonathan’s vision flickered. Ari shook him, and he straightened a little, only to feel something hot miss his head by inches. He hunched down again..
“TOB!”
Ari yelled so loudly that Jonathan started. One of the grey speeders had pulled up alongside them. The guard sitting behind the driver was holding a very serious-looking weapon of some sort. More than anything, it reminded Jonathan of a flamethrower.
“STOP YOUR VEHICLE IMMEDIATEL-”
Tob once again yanked on the steering wheel. They slammed into the grey speeder very hard. The impact jarred Jonathan so badly that his vision distorted for a few moments. When his head cleared, they were off again, trailed closely by three speeders. The one they had just rammed was lagging slightly.
The two undamaged vehicles were attempting to flank them. Nimbly, Tob guided their speeder between two large trees. Just as they were almost through, she braked. The two closest pursuers rocketed past. However, the driver of the slightly slower, crippled craft noticed the ploy. The guard with the projectile weapon was taking careful aim.
They lurched forward with a shocking burst of speed. Jonathan almost toppled off the vehicle, but saved himself by catching hold of Tob’s shoulder. He jolted her arm slightly, and the speeder yawed right.
At that moment, a burst of bright blue light scythed through the air an inch away from Tob’s left elbow.
“THANKS!”
Swiftly, they streaked away into the trees. In the distance, the whine of the pursuing speeders sounded faintly. Tob breaked their craft and twisted around to look at Jonathan and Ari.
For a long moment, they hovered there, panting faintly.
“Well. That was fun.”
“Let’s not do it again.”
“Agreed.”
The night was silent. Jonathan could no longer hear the hum of pursuit. He slid off the speeder onto the ground, and pressed his face to the cool earth. He heard a faint click, and behind him, the speeder settled to the ground. There were no words to describe the relief he felt.
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