Thomas Kindercook and the Pink Pyjamas

  “Do you think we could just get started with whatever we came here for?”

  Henry took a deep breath and sighed. “Suit yourself. No sense of adventure. Ah well. I suppose we can get going. The sooner I deal with you, the sooner that I get back to life as usual.” Henry got up from the table wiping his mouth on a cloth that had probably been with the table since the tavern was built.

  “Off to the so called 'clean' room then?” Henry said as he rolled his eyes in Alanna's direction. Henry led them to the corner of the room where it was darkest. There were chairs gathered in a circle around a glass ball.

  Henry held a chair out and bobbed his head in Alanna's direction. “Milady?” he asked in a voice that was layered with a hint of mockery. “Sit next to her Spiffy.”

  Thomas shook his head as he took the seat next to Alanna. “You're going to use a crystal ball?” It was like something out of a hokey fifties movie.

  Henry took a seat directly in front of the ball. “Ah, well the truth be told, I can do this without the ball. The ball's a gift from Edric.”

  “Edric get's around.”

  “I did some work for him several years back. He asked me for a reading, and, being he was sort of in the same field as I, not of my calibre mind you...” Henry gave a cursory cough, “... I felt compelled to help him. I held a session, much like I am doing here, minus the ball of course, and a vision came to me. Edric was supposed to seek out this certain thing that he referred to as a dog, and keep it for a companion.”

  “A dog?” Thomas asked

  “Yeah, real nasty looking thing. Anyway, apparently I got the reading a little mixed up. Instead of needing to keep the dog by his side, he was supposed to avoid it at all costs.” Henry shrugged. “Even I make mistakes sometimes. Anyway, when Edric finally got out of the medical centre, he sent me the ball with the note, “To help 'fine tune' your visions.” adhered to it.

  Alanna and Thomas looked at each other in unison.

  “Anyway,” continued Henry, “the ball really does help with the visions. They're much better now. I have to hand it to Edric, when he's motivated, he does come up with some useful items.”

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Alanna just wanted to get it over with.

  “Well, it's simple really, we join hands.”

  “Do we close our eyes?” Thomas was eager to get on with it as well. He was still very hungry, and the bark-lizard egg omelette wasn't sitting well.

  “How exactly do you think you are going to see the vision if you close your eyes.”

  Henry made a face as if to say, “What a stupid question.” or “You're not too bright, are you?” but he merely said, “Now if you will stop gabbing, we can get this over with.”

  The three of them joined hands. Henry started to chant in a language that Thomas hadn't heard before. That made Thomas think, how was it that everyone here spoke English. It seemed so unlikely that people from another world, should speak the same language. He would have to ask about that later.

  Suddenly the room started to swirl. The words seemed to grow louder, and more disconnected. Rather than coming out from Henry's mouth, they seemed to be coming from all around them. The room itself darkened. The only light now was coming from the crystal ball, which had lightening dancing across the surface. Henry's eyes started to turn a stark white and glow. At the same time an image started to appear on the crystal's surface, non distinct, just shapes mulling about.

  “Crystal.” Called Henry's disembodied voice. “We ask the powers that be, what the future holds in store for Ski... err... what's your name?”

  “Thomas.” Replied Thomas flatly.

  “Thomas and Alanna.” finished Henry.

  The images on the crystal surface pulled quickly into focus. There was Thomas, he was walking with Alanna. Then everything went crazy. The ball started to display images in hyper speed. Henry's eyes seemed to flick in synchronization with the images playing across the surface. Thomas could make little out. He thought he saw smoke and fire at one point, but it was going so fast he couldn't make out much. He looked at Alanna, who looked back at him equally confused.

  Finally the ball grew dark and Henry closed and opened his eyes.

  Everything had returned to normal, but Thomas had no more idea of what was going on than he had when the whole thing started.

  “Well I suppose that makes everything perfectly clear.” Henry replied in a tired voice.

  “Clear?!” Alanna cracked. “Clear?! You crazy old codger!”

  “I think what she means to say is, that went by a little too fast for us to catch. You, understood it?”

  These two were impossible. Henry was scowling at Alanna. He turned to Thomas, “Of course I understood. I am a Seer, I see things. If I didn't understand what I was seeing, I wouldn't be of much use, now would I?”

  “Then, if you wouldn't mind, would it be possible to tell us what you can of our future?”

  “Well, the reason for your trip had to do with the question of marriage. Would you two be married?”

  “And?” Alanna asked impatiently.

  “Not one for suspense I see.” Henry replied.

  Thomas was holding on to the chair with a death grip. He dreaded the answer to this question more than any other. He knew how he felt about Alanna, but that didn't mean anything if she didn't like him. If he learned she would never be interested in him. If she didn't care...

  “Ah well.” Henry turned to Thomas. “Sorry kid. Bad news.”

  Thomas' face must have fallen to the floor because he caught Alanna looking concerned.

  “Looks like you are stuck with her.”

  Alanna's eyes grew wide and Thomas' heart started to beat again.

  “Wait.” Stuck with could mean a lot of things. “What do you mean by stuck with?”

  “Married. The two of you get married. I would think that would be clear.”

  “By married, you mean married married, or just kinda married.”

  “How many different types of married are there? You're married!”

  “Yes. But are we in... do you know if... well do we love each other.” Thomas was having a really hard time with this when Alanna was right across from him, staring so hard he thought her eyes might pop out of her head.

  “Oh for the love of Gyron! How the hell would I know?! I'm a Seer, not an empath!”

  “So that's it? That's all you saw?” Alanna asked cautiously.

  “Oh I saw a bit of this, a bit of that. Nothing terribly important. You're living that life, you'll see it all soon enough.” Henry stretched. “Now if that's everything.”

  “Wait! What happens if we don't get married.”

  Henry regarded Thomas seriously. “End of the world.”

  Thomas laughed. “Seriously though.”

  “Kid. I wish I were joking. Frankly, I don't like my odds, putting the future on your shoulders.”

  Thomas went white. Alanna was unreadable. Henry however cheered up. “Guess all that's left is to send you back where you belong, eh?”

  “You can do that?!” Thomas asked.

  “Another gift from Edric. But that's a story for another time.” Henry grabbed a parchment and started to write something down. After a few minutes he rolled it up and sealed it. “Give this to your father Alanna. It's a response to some questions he had. Nothing serious.”

  The day wasn't even half over, and Thomas was already reeling from the profound lack of information the old Seer had provided. What little he had revealed was shattering though. Marriage or doom. Could his destiny really be so entwined with this girl from another world? Fate seemed to know no bounds. Henry led them to another room where a freestanding door sat upright in the middle of the room. No supporting structure around it. No walls, just the door.

  “This door will take you to the palace. I have set it all up. All you need to do is step through. Make sure you've got all your belongings with you. There's no door on the other side to bring you back. Guess I don't have t
o tell you, it's a long trip if you do forget something.”

  Thomas realized that this was the end of his journey with Alanna. He had no idea what the future held. Less now than before he had come here. In a way he was sad to say goodbye to Henry. Sure he was a bit crazy, but he really wasn't so bad, and truth be told, he preferred his company to that of the king's.

  Thomas tried to take a splinter out of his tongue with his teeth. If he ever came back, he would bring his own food next time. Just then Thomas remembered something.

  “The cart!”

  Alanna just shook her head at Thomas. “There's nothing there we can't replace.”

  Thomas groaned. There was something there she didn't know about.

  “Don't worry about the cart. At the bottom of the mountain, right? I'll find it and bring it back. If you come by this way again, I'll have it waiting for you.” Henry seemed to be in a hurry to get them out of his hair. His demeanour had changed since the viewing. He seemed more serious, and periodically when not smiling or joking, he looked... worried.

  “On your way you two.” Henry grabbed and yanked the door open. Before them was a swirling vortex of black smoke. Thomas couldn't make out anything beyond.

  “This will take us to the palace?” Thomas didn't really know if he believed it.

  “Yes, yes yes. Henry said pushing them through the door. “So sad, you must get going. Parting is sorrow and all that crud. Bye bye and see ya later.” Henry all but shoved them into the swirling black fog.

  Alanna and Thomas held hands as they walked through the door. It didn't take long. From when the door closed behind them, to the point where the fog started to clear was no longer than the distance between the palace gate, and the main hall. As the dark mist parted, Thomas found he was walking into the courtyard, before the main door into the castle. There he saw someone waiting he wished he hadn't. Mountain man.

  Tretchbolt looked as shocked at seeing them wander casually up to the castle door as they were at seeing him. Tretchbolt looked around as if he were afraid who might notice them. He motioned them over hurriedly.

  Tretchbolt's behaviour was odd even for him. Thomas couldn't help but wonder what would have the huge man so agitated.

  “I wouldn't go in this way.” Tretchbolt grumbled in his deep gravelly voice.

  “What's the matter Tretch?” Alanna asked. “What are you doing here?”

  “Trouble.” was all Tretchbolt said. “Come with me. I'll explain.”

  Thomas looked at Alanna, and she nodded.

  Tretchbolt led them to the guard's tower and ushered them in hastily, all the while checking to see if anyone was watching.

  “Well?” Alanna asked impatiently.

  Tretchbolt didn't say anything at first. He gave Thomas an appraising look. Then finally he breathed deeply and replied.

  “The king is on the warpath. He has issued a challenge for Thomas.”

  CHAPTER 26

  UNWELCOME WELCOME

  “What do you mean my father's on the war path? He's the one who sent us out on this mission to find the Seer.”

  Tretchbolt shook his head sadly. “A lot has happened since you left.” Tretchbolt lowered his huge body onto a chair made for a much smaller individual. The chair complained under his weight, but held. “A few weeks ago, Gatsby returned from Breakwater. I tell you, that kid is nothing but trouble. I knew something was up the moment I saw him. He all but demanded to see the king. Eventually he barged in on a meeting the king was holding with several of the high lords of the other dragon nations.”

  “Gatsby? What does he have to do with this?” Alanna had a bad feeling about the direction this was going. Her father was already meeting with the dragon nations here?

  “Not long after Gatsby went in to see the king, a flock of nervous looking lords came out.” Tretchbolt idly fiddled with the hilt of his sword. “The next day, rumours started to crop up.” Tretchbolt regarded Thomas seriously. “It seems that Gatsby made a big show of breaking into the conversation between the king and the high lords about the upcoming war with the Storm Dragon.”

  “What?!” Alanna couldn't believe what she was hearing. That didn't sound like Gatsby at all!

  “He made a fool of the king, Alanna. In front of everyone, he claimed that Thomas wasn't a real wizard, and that the king was making a colossal mistake. Anyway... The next thing I know, there is a public announcement being made on behalf of the king, declaring, that upon his return...,” Tretchbolt nodded in Thomas' direction. “... the king would hold a hearing in the arena.”

  Alanna was in shock. Why would Gatsby do this? This was all his idea! Now he had set out to sabotage Thomas. Something must have happened with Gatsby when he returned home and Alanna planned to find out what. Poor Thomas. he looked as frightened as a mouse.

  “Don't worry about this Thomas.” Alanna tried to give him a reassuring smile. “I'm going to see my father and get to the bottom of this. And after that...” And after that what? She had a feeling that she was going to have to confront Gatsby to find out exactly what was going on.

  *****

  Thomas watched as Alanna stormed out of the guard's house, sealed scroll in hand. Events continued along the path set in motion upon his first visit to BlueShift. It was his worst nightmare come true. The king knew that he wasn't a real wizard, and now he was going to confront him. Publicly.

  Maybe Thomas could escape. Nobody but Tretchbolt knew that he was there yet. However everyone knew he was going to meet with the king on his return. If anyone saw him before he made his way out of the city, he would be in the frying pan faster than he could blink. Thanks to that banquet, a fair group of the people knew what he looked like.

  Damn it!

  Tretchbolt was leaning against the wall, chewing on a toothpick and staring at Thomas. It made Thomas uneasy when he looked at him like that. He seemed to have a real thing for staring at people. It felt like Tretchbolt was mentally dividing Thomas up into portions for his next meal.

  “It's not right.” Tretchbolt finally said.

  Thomas was taken off guard. “Pardon me?”

  “I don't know that what they say about you is true kid. Frankly, I don't really care whether or not you're a real wizard. Gatsby had no right to force the king into confronting you. It's not fair to the king...” Tretchbolt looked Thomas up and down. “...and it's definately not fair to you.”

  “I suppose there's not much I can do about it now.” Thomas' mind was still trying to absorb what Gatsby had done. Alanna had to be right. There was more to this than they knew. At least he hoped so. Something had seemed to be bothering Gatsby before he left the night before their voyage to Mount Trekken had began.

  “Well, there's always the obvious.”

  “Run?”

  “I was going to say fight.” Tretchbolt replied wryly.

  Thomas laughed out loud. “You're serious! Fight? I haven't so much as held a bat in my life! How do you propose I fight a Dragon King?”

  “Well, you could run I suppose, though I don't like your odds of getting past the guards. They may not be in top notch shape, but they've at least used a sword before.”

  Thomas saw hopes of getting through the day in one piece dwindling. “Then I guess my only hope is for Alanna to reason with the king.”

  Tretchbolt's eyebrows climbed up his forehead as he ran his hand through his thinning hair. “Yeah, I wouldn't get my hopes up on that end either. The king's been made a fool in public. He's going to have to confront you in order to restore his dignity. If the other lords from the dragon nations see him as weak, there is little chance they will band together under his leadership to confront the Storm Dragon. Too much is riding on this.”

  “So you're saying there's no hope?”

  “I guess what I am saying is, if you don't know how to fight...” Trumpets in the background were announcing Alanna's return. “...you better learn quick.”

  *****

  “You're making a big mistake. He really is a
wizard, father.” Alanna was ready to pull her hair out.

  “Dear. I am not the one that needs to be convinced. If I had my way I would have been happy to talk to him quietly, but Gatsby had to push the issue into the faces of the lords. Now I really have no choice. Do you think the other dragon nations will take my word for it after Gatsby called me a fool? They will take it as me just trying to save face!”

  Alkamire sighed. His daughter looked quite distraught, and he knew what had to happen was not going to sit well with her at all. “It's not going to be enough to just PROVE that Thomas is a wizard. They need to see that he is a wizard of significant calibre. They need to know that my initial decision was the right one, the decision of someone that they would consider for leadership.”

  Alkamire placed his hand on Alanna's shoulder. “I have to do this. It's not just my pride. We need the other dragon races behind us if we are to have any chance of withstanding an attack by Storm Dragons.”

  Alkamire looked out the window of his tower room. The view of the city was breathtaking, but it was lost on him. He had stopped noticing the beauty of the world around him long ago. Back on his first visit to the Seer's mountain, when he learned the possible fates of the dragon nations all things had turned to ash in his eyes.

  “Ganton is maneouvring for power. That's got to be what this is about. He is using this to parade me as being weak. If I'm not mistaken, he will then band the other dragon races to him under his leadership.” Alkamire looked to Alanna. “I don't have to tell you what a disaster that would be.”

  Alanna felt completely deflated. She had been sure that they could avert a confrontation with Thomas. She kept thinking there had to be some other way to turn this situation around. Gatsby had made a royal mess of things. He probably thought this was going to be a quick fight between a powerful king and a weak human, instead of a battle between powerful wizard and the dragon king. He no doubt, had no idea how dangerous the situation he created was. There were reasons entire books were written on that very subject.

  “Please don't harm Thomas.”

  “I'll do what I can.” Alkamire said in a resigned voice. “No promises.”

  “What will happen to Thomas if he looses?”

  “The only thing that can happen. He will be exhiled. It's a terrible thing Alanna I know. I truly believe that we need the humans on our side if we are to win this. There is more happening than meets the eye. But it's even more important to stabilize things amongst our own species first. It will be better for him however. He will be free of his bonds, and allowed to go on his way.”