Wayne Batson - The Rise of the Wrym Lord

“Thanks,” Aidan said, then swallowed hard. “Robby, did you hear what I said about my adventures?”

“Yeah, Aidan, but you kinda lose me when ya’ go off on that imaginative stuff. So are you writin’ a story or somethin’? Is that it?”

“No,” Aidan barked. “I’m telling you, I went there. I became a knight! These people, er… Glimpses, I mean. They are twins of us. What they do affects us and what we do affects them.”

Aidan thought for sure that would get a response, but then heard: “I know, Mama, I’m comin’. But it’s Aidan on the phone. Aidan Thomas. .. the kid who lived around the block. Yeah, I know he told me not to. Okay, Mama, okay.”

“Robby?”

“Uh, yeah, sorry. That was Mama. We’re leavin’ to do some shopping. I’ll have to call you later.”

“But, Robby-”

“Good hearin’ from you, Aidan. Bye.”

“Well, how’d it go?” Aidan’s dad asked as he walked into the kitchen and saw Aidan hanging up.

“Awful, Dad. Robby was acting weird, almost like he didn’t know me.”

“Well, that’s a shame, son.”

“And when I tried to tell him about the scrolls and Alleble, he wouldn’t listen. Thought I was writing a story.”

Aidan’s dad sat down at the kitchen table and gestured for Aidan to join him.

“Aidan, remember that the Scrolls, Alleble, Glimpses-it all sounds crazy to those who do not want to see. You cannot make him believe.”

“I know, Dad, but he’s my best friend. He ought to trust me.”

“Just like I ought to have trusted you,” Mr. Thomas said, and he glanced toward the study where Grampin had spent most of his time. “Just like I ought to have trusted my own father. He tried to convince me for twenty years, and I just didn’t want to hear it. In one way, it sounds too good to be true. In another way, it’s frightening.”

“Frightening?”

“Well, yes. Most people believe only in the here and now-in what they can see in front of them. We get kind of comfortable living in the moment. Well, Alleble, Paragory, The Realm-it’s a threat to that comfort. If it’s true, then our whole idea of the way the world works and why we’re here on this giant spinning mudball gets blown away.”

Aidan grinned.

“What?”

“Grampin used to call the earth a mudball too.”

“I catch myself talking like him all the time. I wish I had listened to him earlier. But I was hardheaded. Of course, your mother thinks I have truly lost my mind. She thinks it’s my way of grieving for Grampin… but she’ll come around. We’ll gang up on her.”

They shared a laugh, but later as Aidan lay on his bed, he felt anything but happy. Robby was in danger, and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. When he had left Alleble, he had a plan-a plan to see Gwenne again, a plan to save Robby. Now, Aidan wasn’t sure if any of it would work.

Aidan turned on his side and stared out the window over the whispering pine trees.

Neither Aidan nor Antoinette could anticipate what would happen later that night. For there was another plan at work in their lives.

M r. Reed stopped by Antoinette’s room to say good night. Sweat trickled down his face and his sleeveless sweatshirt was soaked.

“Been working out?” Antoinette asked.

“The heavy bag,” he replied between deep breaths. “No matter how many times I hit the thing, it never falls down!”

Antoinette made a face. “Maybe you should try kicking it.” And then she did a side kick within an inch of her father’s chin. She let her foot hang there a few moments before slowly lowering it to the ground. She grinned.

“I think I’ve taught you too well,” Mr. Reed said. “That was nice.”

“So, what did you think of the twins?” he asked.

“Too cute, Dad,” Antoinette replied. “But they are so tiny.”

Antoinette’s dad smiled. After a quiet moment, he said: “Mom tells me you made a new friend at school today.”

“His name is Aidan. He and his family moved here from Maryland. And, Dad, he believes.”

“So I hear. But don’t sound so shocked. King Eliam is still very much at work in this world. I run into believers all the time.”

“I know,” Antoinette replied. “It’s just that there aren’t that many my age around here, I guess.”

“Maybe you and Aidan can do something about that.”

“Yeah, maybe we will.” Antoinette grinned. “Dad, what do you think of this?” Antoinette held up a dark purple knitted poncho. “I was thinking of wearing this tomorrow.”

“You mean you aren’t wearing black?” Her dad feigned shock. “What will your trench-coated friends think?”

“Daaaad, please don’t offend my friends like that,” Antoinette said.

“No harm intended, sweetie,” he said. “It’s just, well… they look rough, and some of them smoke.”

“I’m too smart to mess with cigarettes,” she replied, hands on her hips. “And the clothes, it’s a style. They may look a little different, but at least they’ll listen when I talk about Alleble.”

“I trust your judgment. I’m just protective of my little girl, that’s all.”

“I can take care of myself, Dad. You taught me. Now what about the poncho?”

“You’re not wearing it to impress this Aidan fellow, are you?”

“Daaaad!”

“I know, I’m being overprotective again. I think the poncho looks great on you, but since I clearly have no concept of fashion whatsoever… you should ask Mom.”

“Thanks, Dad. And anyway, I’ll wear a black tee and black jeans underneath.” They shared a laugh and said good night. Antoinette closed the bifold doors of her closet, turned out the light, and hopped into bed.

Ten minutes later, Antoinette was still awake. A storm is coming, she thought. Not long after, the curtains floated on a steady breeze. Soon, light flickered outside the window, followed by a long, low roll of thunder. Still a ways off though, she thought as she closed the window and got back under the covers.

Weather, especially severe weather, had always fascinated Antoinette, and as long as she could remember, she seemed to have the peculiar ability to sense when a storm was coming long before it arrived.

There had been a storm the night her birth parents lost their lives in a fire. A fire caused by lightning. If only I had known about that storm.

Antoinette shook her head. She had long ago accepted her parents’ deaths, though in bad times she often needed to remind herself that King Eliam’s plans always worked out for good. After all, it was her adoptive parents who first told her about Alleble.

Another flash of lightning. Thunder growled more conspicuously.

Antoinette closed her eyes, but they snapped right back open. Who am I kidding? she thought. I don’t even want to try to sleep.

She was afraid that the nightmares would return. Lately, they were always there. She wished she could escape them. She wished she could enter The Realm as Aidan had. Maybe there, in the presence of King Eliam, the nightmares would go away. She nestled under her down comforter, a steady rain began, and she began to feel drowsy.

Antoinette awoke with a start. Had someone called her name?

Lightning lit up the room, but the thunder was distant. The storm is leaving, she thought. How long was I asleep?

Her heart hammered. She hadn’t had a nightmare, but someone had called her.

“Dad?” she whispered urgently, sitting up. No answer.

Then she heard it.

“Antoinette…”

Her name faded in and out as if whispered by someone far away. She yanked the comforter up to her chin and scanned the shadows of her room.

The closet was open. But I’m sure I closed it, she thought. Even the hanging clothes within had parted to reveal the pale back wall of the closet. Antoinette thought of Aidan and the strange events that befell him just before he received the Scrolls. It was a sign, Aidan had said.