Wayne Batson - The Rise of the Wrym Lord

Then, unbearably slowly, Aidan began to rise out of the pit.

Suddenly, a hand emerged from the door and grasped the riveted doorframe. It was a huge hand, black and scaly, gnarled but sinewy and strong. There were long white talons protruding at the end of each finger, and they scraped along the metal as if trying to escape. The taloned hand and then a huge leathery wing emerged from the door, but that was all Aidan saw. He spiraled with greater speed upward into the night sky. Behind him he heard a hideous voice from the pit near the center of the emptied lake of fire.

The voice seemed ancient and harsh, as if it had not spoken for an eternity.

Aidan covered his ears with his hands. But it was in vain. The words pounded at his skull and roared into his mind: “They will all die.”

E vents at school the next day seemed to conspire to steal away every chance Aidan and Antoinette had to talk. Mrs. VanDerEyck put them in separate groups to work on a series of math problems. The school counselor called Antoinette to the guidance office during lunch. And an assembly ate up the time they would have normally spent together in art. When Aidan and Antoinette finally climbed into the second seat of Mrs. Reed’s truck, it all came out in a rush.

“I have something to tell you!” they said simultaneously.

“Last night I-” Again, speaking at the same time.

“You go first,” Aidan said.

“Okay,” Antoinette replied. She pushed aside her long red bangs, exhaled a deep breath, and said, “I saw you last night.”

“What?” Aidan stole a glance at Mrs. Reed to see if she’d heard.

“Mom’s cool, Aidan,” Antoinette said. “She believes, remember?”

“I know. But, Antoinette, what do you mean, you saw me?”

“I had a vision,” she replied. “But it wasn’t actually you. I think it was your Glimpse.”

“You know about Glimpses?” Aidan exclaimed.

“Of course, silly.” Antoinette laughed. “I’ve believed in the story of Alleble since I was seven. My parents told me all about Glimpses a long time ago. Kind of cool, don’t you think, to have a twin?”

Aidan was speechless.

“But, Aidan, none of us have ever been to The Realm,” said Mrs. Reed from the front seat. “And none of us have ever seen a Glimpse.. . until now.”

“He looked just like me?” Aidan asked.

“Well, not exactly. He looked older, his skin was superpale, his hair was longer, and he kind of floated there, flickering in the air. But other than that he looked just like you.”

“All Glimpses have skin like that. It spooked me too,” Aidan said.

“You look pretty cool in armor, you know.”

Aidan blushed, and he was reminded of Gwenne, who also thought he looked handsome in armor.

“Aidan, why would I see a vision of your Glimpse?” Antoinette asked after telling him all about her vision.

“I think King Eliam wants to see you,” Aidan replied.

“What?” Antoinette and her mom exclaimed at the same time.

“Didn’t you say my Glimpse said you’ve been called?” Aidan asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you have your copy of The Story with you?” he asked.

“It’s at home, but-the poem!” Antoinette exclaimed. “You think the poem will be there.”

Aidan, Antoinette, and her parents sat staring at the poem in the back of an old leather-bound copy of The Story.

TheRe aRe passages and dooRs And Realms that lie unseen. TheRe are Roads both wide and naRRow And no avenue between. DooRs Remain closed foR those Who in sad vanity yet hide. Yet when belief is chosen, The key appeaRs inside. What is lived now will soon pass, And what is not will come to be. The DooR Within must open, FoR one to tRuly see.

“What’s it mean?” Mr. Reed looked at Aidan for an answer.

“It’s a riddle,” Aidan explained. “I didn’t get it at first either. Grampin, uh, my grandfather, had to explain it to me. It means-”

“When belief is chosen…” Antoinette interrupted, thinking out loud. “The key appears inside. I’ve got it! It means for people who choose to believe, they already have a key. The key is inside us. Of course, if it’s The Door Within, then the key has to be within us too!”

Aidan couldn’t believe it. He knew without Grampin’s help he never would have figured out the poem. But Antoinette didn’t need any help. She just charged ahead. Was there no end to what this girl could do?

“I guess this means you are going to Alleble!” Aidan said.

Antoinette turned to Aidan. Her glad blue eyes glimmered through tears, and her smile held a thousand thank-yous. Then she turned to her father. “Well, Daddy, can I go?”

“Sweetheart, I don’t think this is something you can rush into,” he said, leaning back on the sofa and running fingers through his sandy brown hair.

“But, Dad-”

“No, Antoinette, he’s right,” Aidan interrupted. “Alleble is at war, and you may find yourself in the middle of it.”

Antoinette looked indignantly at Aidan. “I can take care of myself.”

“Your father and I need to talk, Antoinette,” Mrs. Reed said sternly. “And before you go boasting again about what you can handle, I think you should listen to Aidan. He’s been there, remember?”

Aidan saw the wounded look in Antoinette’s eyes. He looked away quickly.

“Why don’t you take Aidan downstairs and show him the gym,” Mr. Reed suggested. Antoinette perked up at the idea.

“C’mon, Aidan!” And the next thing Aidan knew, they were headed down a steep flight of basement stairs.

“Wow!” Aidan said. “Your basement looks like a boxing ring.”

The floor was a padded blue mat, and a battered red heavy-bag hung from the ceiling in the room’s center. And around the perimeter of the room were racks of wooden staffs, crates of boxing gloves, and mannequin torsos dressed in what looked like a baseball umpire’s mask and pads.

“What’s all this?” Aidan asked.

“This is where we work out,” Antoinette replied. “My whole family’s into kendo.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s Japanese. It means ‘the way of the sword,’” Antoinette said, slowly drawing a long wooden blade from one of the racks. “We actually do spada-kendo, which is a European form. It combines medieval combat with Japanese fencing. It’s sword fighting, basically.”

Antoinette gracefully sliced the air a few times with the long wooden blade. “You said you were trained to be a knight in Alleble, right? Are you any good?”

Aidan grinned. “I’m okay,” he said. “How about you?”

“I’m okay,” she said, grinning back. “Grab a shinai.”

“A what?”

“Shinai. It’s a wooden sword for training.”

“Oh.” Aidan walked over to the rack and found a wooden blade that seemed about the right weight. It wasn’t Fury, but it felt good to have any sword-even a wooden sword-in his hand again.

“My dad likes that kind,” Antoinette said, grabbing some black pads. “Most of the time we spar down here, but let’s go outside. There is more room to move around.”

Antoinette unlocked a sliding glass door, and they walked up an areaway into Antoinette’s backyard. It was flat and wide, like Antoinette said, with plenty of room to move around. Aidan wondered what to expect from his new red-headed friend.

The sun rained down through the trees, painting the unshaded patches of the backyard golden. Antoinette handed Aidan a harness of black pads. “You should put these on,” she said as she put some on too. “Just in case I slip.”

“That’s not very comforting,” Aidan replied. He quickly pulled the harness over his head. It fit like a life preserver.