The Curse of Deadman's Forest

  “Keep going!” Ian ordered. “We’ve got to make it to the portal!”

  Ahead of them Theo appeared from the mouth of the cave. Spotting them, she shouted, “Run! Run for your lives! The portal is open!”

  Ian gritted his teeth; the soldier was having a terrible time keeping up with the younger boys’ strides. “Let me go!” the German panted. “Drop me and save yourselves!”

  “We’re almost there!” Carl shouted. “Come on, mate! We can make it!”

  Fast footfalls approached. Someone was running up right behind them, but Ian dared not look back to see who it was, lest he lose some of the forward momentum they needed to reach the portal. The footsteps continued, coming closer and closer, until he was sure the stranger would run right into them, but at the last moment, there was a loud shriek and a gasp of pain and surprise, and then the footfalls were no more.

  “She’s right behind us!” Carl yelled.

  “Run, run, run!” Theo begged.

  And then the surging energy bubbling along behind them seemed to swell the ground underneath, and Ian, Carl, and the soldier were pushed upward with the earth before it moved forward and away. Ian could hardly believe their luck! Somehow the sorceress had missed the trio, but his relief was short lived, because in the next instant, a great explosion thrust dirt and fire high into the air and he and his companions were thrown sideways.

  They landed in a tumble, and Ian, struggling to untangle his limbs from Carl and the soldier, sat up only to discover Magus the Black, smeared with dirt, his black cloak smoldering with hot embers, standing angrily not ten meters away.

  He barely had time to take in the sight when Lachestia herself shot to the surface, spraying her brother with even more sticky wet clods.

  “Enough!” Magus roared at her, and a flame shot out of his palm, scorching the sorceress’s branchlike arm.

  Lachestia hissed and buried her limb in the ground, dousing the flame. “Three thousand years, Magus?” she screeched, her voice sending a chill down Ian’s spine. “You left me here for three thousand years?”

  “I had not the means to free you, you fool!” he shouted back at her. “And if you had taken care to kill your own mother at birth like the rest of us, then you would never have been imprisoned from the start!”

  Ian felt a tug on his shirt and tore his eyes away from the warring siblings now circling each other menacingly. “Let’s go!” Carl whispered.

  Ian reached for the soldier, who was still lying in the dirt. “Leave me!” he mouthed.

  Ian shook his head firmly and he lifted the man’s arm over his head. “Now, come on,” he whispered. “We’ve only a short way to go.”

  Carl took the other side and together they lifted the wounded man and the three set off, crouching low while giving Magus and Lachestia a wide berth.

  The sorcerer was still trying to reason with his sister. “The time for our sire’s uprising is at hand!” he said, darting away when the blind sorceress tried to tackle him.

  “What do I care for Demogorgon’s idle causes?” she spat.

  “You will care when he is free from the underworld!” Magus argued, throwing another burst of flame just to the left of his sister when she got too near.

  Ian’s heart was racing. They were very close to the portal now, and it seemed that Magus and Lachestia were far too preoccupied with each other to notice them.

  But just as they were taking their final steps, he heard Magus say, “And I have freed you to ensure you carry out your destiny, Lachestia. The Guardian is at hand! You have only to kill him and your place in our father’s kingdom will be assured!”

  A cold knot of fear formed in Ian’s chest and it seemed a stillness had abruptly come over the forest all around them. “The Guardian?” Lachestia inquired. “The Guardian is in my forest?”

  “Hurry!” Carl urged.

  “To your right, my sister!” Magus called triumphantly. “Kill the Guardian and fulfill your destiny!”

  Theo waved to them frantically from the opening to the portal. “Quickly!” she screamed, and Ian saw with dread that she appeared to be looking just past them. “Lachestia is coming!”

  Ian hoisted the soldier’s arm higher onto his neck. “Hurry!” he shouted, and leaned into his stride to gain some speed.

  But just as it looked as if they were going to reach the cave, the soldier did the most surprising thing: just before the opening, he lifted his arms and wrenched himself away from Ian and Carl. The boys were left to stumble the rest of the way, and it was only by sheer luck that they were able to maintain their footing. Ian twisted round while he struggled to stay upright, and looked back at the soldier. The German was no longer running. Instead, he was standing between them and the ever-increasing rush of moving earth that was rising behind them like a tidal wave.

  He gave Ian a sad smile. “Save yourselves,” he told them, and turned toward the great dark approaching menace. The soldier wavered on his feet but remained upright, and then he stomped his foot, as if trying to gain the sorceress’s attention.

  “Noooooooo!” Ian shouted, but Carl had hold of his arm and pulled him forcefully toward the mouth of the cave.

  “It’s too late!” Carl shouted as he struggled to pull Ian to safety. “Let him go, mate! It’s too late!”

  Ian staggered into the mouth of the cave, his attention remaining on the soldier now beyond his reach. He watched in horror as Lachestia the Wicked rose from her mass of dirt to hover high above the soldier, triumph playing on her terrible features.

  The soldier bravely stomped his foot again, holding her attention. “My destiny!” the sorceress shouted, raising her arms high as she began her slow descent straight down on top of the figure at her feet.

  In the next instant, a solid rock wall appeared right in front of Ian’s nose and he stumbled back. The rest of the scene within the forest was lost to him, and Ian turned away while the verse from Laodamia’s prophecy rang hauntingly through his mind.

  Fly away, back to your cave

  Those you leave cannot be saved …

  YNYS MÔN

  I an, Theo, Carl, and Eva sat in stunned silence for long moments after the portal closed. Ian continued to stare blankly at the wall, silently cursing Demogorgon and his horrible offspring. Behind him, he could hear shuffling, and a moment later he felt Theo sit next to him and lay her head on his shoulder. After a bit she asked, “Are you all right?”

  Ian swallowed hard. “Yes,” he said hoarsely.

  “The beast is gone,” Carl told them. “At least, I think it’s gone.”

  Ian sighed heavily. He then got to his feet, helping Theo up as well, and moved over to where Carl was standing, peering out between the bars at the morning mist gathering about the stairs. Ian strained his ears, listening for any sound of the predator beyond the bars.

  He heard birds chirping happily as the first smoky tendrils of dawn brought a hint of light to the top of the steps. Ian had awakened before sunrise enough to know that it must be nearly five in the morning. He estimated that their group had gone through the portal sometime near one a.m. Therefore, only four hours had passed—if this was still the same day they had left, of course. For all he knew, it could be days later, just like it was in Poland. Time was a strange thing when it came to the portal, so he was hardly sure.

  “Carl,” he said.

  “Yes, mate?”

  “Do you still have the key to the lock?”

  Carl patted his trouser pockets and, after sorting through the contents, lifted the key up. “Here you are.”

  Ian took it and inserted it into the bulky lock. “We’ll have to move as quietly as possible,” he warned them.

  “But what if the beast is still lurking about the castle grounds?” Theo asked, sounding worried.

  “We’ll avoid the grounds,” Ian told her. “And it’s too dangerous to risk running the kilometer back to the keep.”

  “Then where are we going?” Carl asked.

  “To the s
choolmasters’ cottage,” Ian told them. “Their house is just a short sprint across the downs. And Eva can help Thatcher when we arrive.” His eyes swiveled to the shadowy figure of the Polish girl sitting with her back against the wall and her face buried in her knees, crying, “Oh, Babi! How could I have left you?”

  Ian took pity on her and moved over to crouch down next to her. “I’m terribly sorry about your grandmother.”

  Eva lifted her face, and Ian could just make out the glint of tears running down her cheeks. “Thank you,” she said, her voice cracking. Ian waited while she gathered herself and stood wiping her face and sniffling loudly. After a moment she asked, “Where are we?”

  “We’re in England,” he told her. “Dover, England, to be exact.”

  Eva stared at him, openmouthed. “How?”

  “I can explain everything to you later, Eva,” he assured her. “Right now, I’ve several friends who dearly need your help. They’re all very sick, you see, like Carl was before you made him well. Will you help us?”

  Eva said nothing for several moments. Instead, she looked first at Ian, then at Theo, and finally at Carl. “Yes,” she said wearily. “Take me to them, and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Ian led the way out of the portal gate and up the stone stairs. He paused at the top, listening and smelling the air carefully for any hint of sulfur or unnatural movement.

  Nothing unusual aroused his senses. “Come on,” he whispered, and moved quickly but quietly through the small patch of wood and out into the open. There he and Carl paused to look this way and that, sniffing the air again. Finally, they nodded at each other, satisfied that it was safe.

  With haste the foursome darted across the hilly terrain and steadily made their way to a quaint little cottage near the edge of the earl’s property. All was dark inside and a very large sign was nailed to the front door. It read UNDER QUARANTINE. KEEP OUT!

  Ian ignored the sign, approached the door, and knocked loudly. When no one answered, he pounded more earnestly until the door was yanked open and a very ruffled-looking schoolmaster stared down at him with a mixture of alarm and anger. “My word!” he gasped when he saw Ian and his companions at the front door. “Ian, you’ve broken your quarantine! I demand to know why you’ve done such a terribly foolish thing!”

  “We’ve been through the portal, sir,” Ian said quickly, “and we’ve brought back the Healer.” He moved aside so that Perry could clearly see Eva, who was standing with a confused look on her face just behind him.

  “You’ve … what?” Perry nearly shouted. “But the earl forbade you from going anywhere near there!”

  Ian frowned. “I know, sir,” he said. “But it couldn’t be helped. We had to find the Healer and bring her back with us.”

  Perry rubbed his eyes, as if he wasn’t quite sure if he was awake or still dreaming.

  “How is your brother?” Theo asked.

  Perry ran his hand through his hair anxiously. “He’s in terrible shape,” he admitted. “Simply terrible.”

  “Then won’t you please let us come in and allow our Healer to tend to him?”

  Perry seemed to realize he was still blocking the door. “Yes, yes,” he said, stepping aside and waving them forward. “Come in before anyone sees that I’ve also broken the quarantine.”

  Ian, Carl, Theo, and Eva hurried inside, although Eva still looked quite out of sorts and awfully confused. Ian suspected that it might be due to their schoolmaster’s appearance, but he found out the real reason when he overheard her ask Carl, “What is everyone saying?”

  Carl smiled kindly and reached for the cord about his neck that held the pouch with the Star of Lixus in it. “Here,” he said, taking it off and handing it to her. “Wear this and all will be clear.”

  “What language is Carl speaking?” Perry asked.

  “Polish,” Ian told him.

  Perry gasped. “Polish?”

  Theo took their astonished schoolmaster by the hand. “Come, sir, let’s get you some tea, as we have much to share with you.”

  An hour later, after they’d told the tale of their adventure through the portal to their schoolmaster over some delicious breakfast tarts and tea, Perry sat pinching the bridge of his nose tightly between his fingers as if struggling with the sheer volume of all they had recently been through. “I do not know that you should share the full extent of your exploits through the portal with the earl.”

  “Why not, sir?” Ian asked, confused why his schoolmaster would want him to keep anything from the earl.

  Perry leveled a look at him. “Because he’s likely to murder you when he finds out how close and how often you lot came to getting yourselves killed.”

  Carl ducked his chin, attempting to muffle a snicker and failing. Theo scowled at him and argued, “But we had to bring back the Healer, Schoolmaster Goodwyn. All would have been lost without Eva.”

  Perry scratched his head thoughtfully. “Yes,” he agreed. “But one thing still puzzles me, Miss Fields.”

  “Sir?”

  “How did you know to choose Eva over Carl when the crone asked you which one you wished for her to heal in exchange for your crystal?”

  Ian leaned forward. He’d almost forgotten about that, and he wanted to hear Theo’s response. He still couldn’t fathom why she would choose a relative stranger over one of her dearest friends.

  “It was the sundial,” Theo said plainly. “When Ian asked it to point the way to the Healer from Laodamia’s prophecy, it formed two shadows. One was faint, while the other was much darker. I couldn’t help but notice that in that moment the fainter shadow pointed directly to Eva.

  “When the crone asked me to choose, the most unusual feeling crept over me. Even though I wasn’t wearing my crystal, I simply knew that Eva was the Healer from Laodamia’s prophecy. I can’t really explain it more than to say it just suddenly burst into my mind that Eva had to live, and I hoped that if I was right and the crone could save her, Eva might come into her own power and help Carl, at least until we found another trinket for the crone. I never imagined that the ancient one was going to give Eva the full extent of her own gifts, but I knew in my bones that it would work out.”

  Carl looked a bit miffed even after Theo had explained herself. “Bit of a risk you took, eh, Theo?”

  But Theo smiled kindly and gave his arm a gentle pat. “I knew you had a future, Carl. Don’t you remember when I read your and Océanne’s fortunes?” Ian bristled at the mention of Océanne. He’d put their stay in France completely out of his mind.

  “Océanne? What a lovely name. Who might it belong to?” a voice from the hallway asked, and a moment later Thatcher stepped into the small kitchen with Eva right behind.

  “Thatcher!” Perry shouted, quite forgetting himself as he bounded up from the chair and rushed to pat his brother on the back. “You’re looking rather dashing this morning!”

  “We’re identical twins, Perry,” Thatcher said drolly. “You’re only complimenting yourself when you say things like that.”

  Ian was amazed at the transformation. He’d gone upstairs with Perry to show Eva the way to Thatcher’s room, and peeking in from the hallway, he’d seen the schoolmaster in a truly dire state. His skin had been so pale it was ashen, his brow slick with sweat, and one arm and leg were curled inward at awkward angles. “No, Master Goodwyn,” Ian insisted. “Your brother is right. You look very well indeed!”

  Thatcher flashed Ian a brilliant smile. “I feel jolly good too,” he conceded. “My fever’s gone and the feeling has returned to both my arm and leg.”

  “You’re quite cured, sir,” Eva announced with confidence.

  “How can you be so certain?” Perry asked, worry clear in his voice as he eyed his brother from head to toe.

  Eva shrugged. “It’s a feeling,” she told him. “I can only say that before I laid my hands on your brother, I simply knew there was a terrible sickness running through his veins, as if someone had fed him a bit of poison. And now that thr
eat is completely gone.”

  Theo was beaming happily at her. “You’ve done a wonderful job, Eva. Now, may we convince you to come with us to our home at Delphi Keep and look in on a few others? We’ve a particularly good friend named Jaaved, who I fear is in desperate need of your gift.”

  “Of course,” Eva said; then she dropped her chin and lifted her eyes shyly to Carl. “Are you coming?”

  Ian’s eyebrows rose and he and Carl exchanged a rather surprised look. “Er …,” Carl said. “Of course. My home is at the keep, after all.”

  Ian rolled his eyes. It was just like Carl to win the heart of a pretty girl. “Come along,” Ian said. “We’d best not fanny around here. There are sick children to attend to.”

  “Yes,” Perry agreed. “I shall take you over to the keep in the motorcar to ensure your safety. And then I must telegraph the earl immediately on these most urgent matters in Poland.”

  “What urgent matters?” Thatcher asked.

  Perry clapped a hand on his brother’s back. “I believe from what the children have shared about their journey through the portal that Germany is about to invade Poland.”

  Thatcher gaped at him. “How can you say such a thing? Do you know what would happen if that actually occurred, Perry?”

  Perry nodded gravely. “We would be forced to declare war on Germany. Make no mistake, Thatcher, our fate is sealed. These four have brought us back grave tidings, and we must get word to the earl as quickly as possible.”

  Thatcher stared round the table with large astonished eyes. “Is this true?” he asked them. The group nodded as one.

  “I’ll explain what Ian, Carl, and Theo encountered later,” Perry told him. “For now, you must go back to bed.”

  “But I feel perfectly well,” Thatcher protested.

  Perry narrowed his eyes at him. “Humor me,” he said. “At least until Dr. Lineberry comes round to declare you well, all right?”

  Grumbling, Thatcher agreed, but took a cup of tea and a whole handful of tarts with him back upstairs.