“Lost One.” He reached toward Chloe’s chin and she jerked away. “What a shame.”
“No. She’s never been to the pool.” Nob laid a hand on the elf’s shoulder. “She’s new to this place.” To Chloe he murmured, “And she is supposed to stay quiet.”
The elf shifted the stone to Chloe’s guide, chuckled, and pulled away. “Seems to be a familiar story these days. Children just popping into the world.” He squinted. “Well, if it isn’t Brave Nob! Does Scout know you’re here?”
Nob remained silent.
“It has been some time. Are there not more to ferry above … or did you return for personal reasons?”
Nob swallowed hard. “Hael, you mentioned another child. Did it happen to be a boy —”
“His name’s Nick! He came right before we did.” Chloe slapped her hand over her mouth.
The elf gazed into her with those eyes. “Why do you look for a boy you hate?”
“I don’t … I mean, I don’t think I hate —”
It was Nob’s turn to cover Chloe’s mouth. “We just want safe passage out of the forest, and any word you have of the boy. He can’t be too far in front of us.” He rolled his eyes, and his jaws tightened. “Apparently he’s important,” he muttered. “Fool Flit. Why he dropped us here …”
“Much has changed since you’ve last walked in the lower world. But come. I’ve now heard what you want. Let’s find out what you need.” Hael rapped three times on the tree that held Chloe fast. “Ease, friend.” The wooden hand released, and she and Nob scrambled after the elf.
Chloe always thought herself an excellent climber. But in the hazy blue light, she lost her balance several times, staying aloft due only to Nob’s quick hands. With him, she felt safe. She could not say this about the elf.
Hael led them at a horrific pace. Up, down, around, more squirrel than upright creature. Several bumps and bruises later, Chloe scampered after Hael into a full-sized cottage, situated among the gnarly oaks.
“Stay.” Hael’s eyes twinkled in the blue light.
“For how long?” Chloe stomped the sturdy floor. “I don’t know where I am and Nick probably doesn’t either, and I just want to do what I have to do and find Nick and get home to Mom and Grandpa Salvador and …”
A voice boomed from behind. “And who?”
CHAPTER
12
CHLOE WHIPPED AROUND. There on the ground sat an elf, legs crossed, wearing the largest hat Chloe’d seen. She longed to touch that hat — brown and kinked and pointed — with a brim so wide it hid his entire face. The elf sat so still, blended in so well, he looked like part of the wall in his long coat of knotty brown. Chloe bent way over and frowned. No pointed ears.
“Leave us, Hael,” the seated elf said quietly. He turned to Chloe. “Mom and Salvador, yes. But there is someone else at the end of that sentence, someone you want to see most of all.”
Chloe said nothing and peeked at Nob, who groaned and threw up his arms.
“So this is not speaking?”
She turned back to the elf. “There’s nobody else I miss.”
“Your scar is long. Are you certain you haven’t simply forgotten?”
Nob stepped in front of her. “As I told your watchman, she is new to this world.”
“And yet both of you search for the same thing.”
“A young boy, yes.” Nob stepped forward.
“No.” The elf rose and grasped his hands behind his back. “Fathers.”
Being far from Crazy Ray is the only good thing about being here.
“But enough for now. I apologize for Hael’s rough treatment. As our outermost watch, he sees few wanderers. The excitement of three is a bit much.”
Chloe shook thoughts of Dad from her mind and started to speak, then squeezed tight her lips.
The elf smiled. “Yes, the trees caught the boy, but did not receive him in. He is not here now. I doubt you will see him again.” He strode toward the door and grasped one of the vines that hung outside the opening. “I’m not certain if he truly was a boy. Hael said he wore darkness about him.” The chieftain cleared his throat. “But now allow me to be your host. It’s been many years since my last interested visitor, and this chief longs to show you Mystal in its fullness.”
Nob followed him to the doorway, and Chloe took a slow step. Nob raised his eyebrows. “We’re about to see a place only imagined around campfires.”
Chloe grasped a vine. “But that elf knew your name. You haven’t been here?”
“Names are worn like clothing,” interrupted the chief. “They aren’t hidden.” He paused and winked at her. “But they are occasionally forgotten.”
I remember just fine, thank you.
“Can we please go?” Chloe asked.
The chief gestured into the emptiness outside the doorway. “Yes. The question is, can you swing?”
Chloe spent the next hour swinging from tree to tree, house to house, storehouse to meeting hall. Elves dodged and ducked in front of her — it took a while to learn unmarked aerial paths. But after a few close calls, she mastered the art of midair vine changing, as well as the whistle that warned others of an approach. Her hair flew in the breeze, and it felt glorious.
“Your kingdom, the invisible one deep in the forest along the Wandering Road, where is it?” Chloe called. “I know it’s here. It has to be.”
The chief swung up beside Chloe. “How do you know of that place?” He whistled, and two young elves parted before them. “It is no more. The road you speak of is now just a remnant. Few elves remember.” The chief removed his hat and scratched his scraggly hair. “Perhaps tonight all our questions will be answered. I think you will meet Scout. You aren’t the only one eager to find the boy. We’ll hear your words in the Cleft and learn what we can from them. But for now, follow me.”
They swung into an empty room, and the chief inspected it thoroughly. “Your room for the afternoon, Chloe.”
“Is it really afternoon? It feels like midnight.”
The chief smiled, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a blue stone. “Mountain stone follows the rhythm of the outside. During the day, the blue burns bright. When it is all but gone, it is eve, and I will come for you.”
Chloe rolled the stone over in her hand. “Can I keep it?”
A grin worked the edge of the chieftain’s mouth. “If you survive tonight’s meeting, yes. Just know that outside the forest, these stones take on certain … other qualities.”
“If I survive?” Chloe asked.
The chief turned to Nob. “Now come. Tell me how you came to Retinya once again.”
Nob nodded and glanced over his shoulder. “You’re safe now, Chloe. Get rest. Tonight will be a night you’ll need to remember.”
After fighting to put her mind to ease, Chloe woke to singing. Not light, fair singing like that in the movie Elvenking. This was deep and sorrowful. She rose and wandered to the window. Her blue stone glowed dimly.
Nob swung into the doorway. “They want us.”
“Where have you been this entire time?” she asked. “I thought you were supposed to stay with me.”
“I never claimed to be a good guide. For that you’d want another.”
Nob stepped backward and swung out into the darkness.
Stuck in an alternate world with an unreliable guide. Perfect.
Chloe clutched a vine and followed. Together they crossed through the village, swooping toward the song. They passed the last dwelling, and as the blue light faded behind them, Chloe saw less and less until …
Her vine struck something firm above, and she flung forward. The temperature cooled dramatically, and her hands lost their firm grip in the dank air. Down she slid, toward the song rising up from below. Blanketed by cold, Chloe released her hold completely and landed on a slab of rock. Slowly, she straightened, for the first time in a day on solid ground.
Chloe turned a slow circle. In place of trees, dimly glowing stones surrounded her. Hundreds, may
be thousands of elves sat on every rocky outcropping. She had clearly swung into a massive mountain cave. Outside its mouth, she saw the forest of vines and branches.
“Welcome to the Cleft, Nob, Chloe. It was here that we fought the Great Battle, here that we safeguard the only source of mountain stone.” The singing stopped at the sound of the chief’s voice. “Young lady, you pose a dilemma. A problem.”
“What did I do wrong?”
“You came.”
Elves murmured in agreement.
“I did not — Well, I didn’t mean to come. I was called, or sent, or told, sort of.” Chloe buried her face in her hands. “And I couldn’t leave Nick. I need to find him. This is so confusing.”
The chief approached. “Yes, Nob has told me.” He turned, scaled the cave wall, and reclined in a chair, an azure throne carved entirely of mountain stone and covered with elf etchings. The chieftain’s body shone.
“If we knew that you were sent by Secholit, we would certainly lend you aid. Unfortunately for you, that Nob fled Secholit in his hour of need is well known. I find it highly doubtful that Secholit would trust him to guide anyone of importance … would trust him to guide anyone at all.”
“Whoa. Stop right there.” Chloe raised her hand and turned to Nob. “You left Secholit? Nick wrote up a battle scene, and I put you in there. You were the hero.”
Nob lowered his gaze. “I’ve not been heroic for some time.”
“How do we know she’s not a Senseri?” a voice from the darkness whispered, and the question repeated, gained strength.
“Look at the scar. She’s a Lost One, for sure. Nobody else could have found us.”
Nob yelled, “Would Flit bring a Senseri to this place?”
“He brought the boy.” Hael stepped forward, gesturing to the entire assembly. “The boy acted every bit the Senseri.”
Nob stepped forward. “Flit did not know what the boy was.”
“Who knows if it was Flit?” Hael spoke to the chief. “None on the outer watch saw a dragon. You know that Flit’s siblings have turned. It’s just a matter of time until he also —”
The chief held up his hand, and the great cave fell silent. “Let her own words affirm or condemn. Chloe, tell me who you are.”
Chloe gazed over at Nob, who nodded. “You know my name.” She raised both hands. “I’m Chloe Lundeen from Melmanie, Minnesota. I don’t know how I got here. I was in Aldo’s Movie Palace, which is the movie house my great-grandfather built. I was showing a film called The Vapor — terrible acting, by the way — and then suddenly I was in The Vapor, with Nick, and then the blue window appeared and —”
“Stop.” The chief held up a finger.
The air around Chloe was heavy with silence. Nobody breathed.
“A blue window,” the chief repeated.
“Yeah. Blue. Nick claims he wrote that, but Grandpa was into blue before we left and I was the one who — Oh, it doesn’t matter. We climbed through it and we were on a lake, actually a sky, and then we met Nob.”
The chief stood. “So there is a window above. Tell me, does it look like this?” He looked out into the gathering. “Hael!”
Hael scampered up beside the chief. “With all respect, she’s admitted to seeing Vaepor, to being in the palace. It already controls one window. If It were to find the second, what would stop It from seeing freely throughout Retinya and destroying —”
“Hael.” The chief laid a hand on Hael’s head. “You have heard for yourself. There is nothing but truth behind her words.” He gestured upward. “Lift the veil.”
Hael hung his head, reached forward, grabbed a gray, rocky outcrop and twisted. The rock face spun like a revolving door, and next to the glowing throne appeared a window, blue and perfect.
“That’s it!” she pointed.
“Come up, Chloe.” The chief gestured. “Nob, you as well.”
Together, they climbed up the rough wall and leaned on the sill. “I can’t see through.” Chloe turned toward the chief. “I just see me.”
“Keep looking.”
Chloe’s face faded, and in her place appeared Grandpa Salvador, stepping out of his trailer home for his morning walk.
“Grandpa. I’m right here! Oh, I’m right here! Can I go to him now?” she begged. “Please, let me go through.”
“Through this window, you can only see. I have heard of others, ones through which you can step. I knew It kept one in the palace. Now I know the other is in a much safer place.”
For the first time during the gathering, the elf chieftain smiled.
Chloe stroked the glass and Salvador disappeared, replaced by Dad in tears, his head bowed, sitting in the hay. Chloe dropped her gaze.
“Your father,” said the chief. “You choose not to look at him.”
Inside, she felt a burning. “He chooses not to look at me!” She pointed at her face. “Do you think I did this to myself? Believe me, I remember every instant, every insult, every …” Chloe swallowed hard and peeked over her shoulder at the hundreds of surprised faces.
“It’s hard, is all,” she said quietly and turned her back toward the window. “I don’t need to see him. If that is all this window does, it’s worthless. Go ahead, Nob.”
“You’re sure.” He moved over, breathed deeply, and stared.
Chloe peeked over his shoulder. As Dad and the farm disappeared, a dull ache sprung to life inside her and her throat thickened.
Strange. I never missed Dad before.
A coastal town appeared in the window, the light from two moons reflecting off the water. A lone man whistled and walked the dark wharf.
“Who is he?” Chloe asked.
Nob said nothing. He didn’t need to. The resemblance was clear and she stepped up to watch Nob’s father.
The man froze, and his mouth stilled. He threw a cape over his head with a flourish, and when he emerged he was a little boy.
“No.” Nob shook. “When I left, he was not that far gone.”
“Where is Scout?” Hael cried. When he received no reply, he raised his arms. “Nob’s the blood offspring of a Senseri, come to destroy!” Hael looked over the assembly with wild eyes. “And he’s in the Cleft?”
The mass of elves pressed nearer, but the chief raised his hand. “I want to see.”
The boy sat down in the road. Approaching from the other direction was a little girl with bread in her hands. The boy spoke. The girl dropped the loaf and fled. Slowly, the lad rose and, with a smile, disappeared behind his cape.
Nob’s father emerged, scooped up the bread, and went whistling on his way.
The mirror went black.
Nob stared straight ahead. “He’s been in the pool more times than I can count, this is no secret, but I never thought he’d become …”
“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Chloe climbed down off the ledge.
“What more evidence do you need, Chieftain?” an old elf called. “Isn’t it clear who they are?”
The chief stared down at Chloe. “It will be. Yes, Chloe, I will tell you what is going on. And I think after my story, your reaction will bring all things to light.” He motioned toward Nob. “Remove him, and find Scout.”
Nob shook his head and put up no fight. “My dad. He was a good man. He really was a good man.” Ten elves quickly led him out of the cave.
CHAPTER
13
RETINYA WAS NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS.” The elf chieftain leaned back on his throne. “We elves did not always cower in the forest. The old among us remember. The invisible city, yes, it was glorious, providing shelter to all in need along the Wandering Road and protecting Retinya from —”
“The Calainians,” Chloe interrupted.
“Yes.” He frowned. “From the Calainians. There was a time before, before these trees stood, when the land was beautiful and Blind Secholit lived among us.
“I was a scalawag in those younger days, and more than once my father and I set out for the palace in the east. And not j
ust my father. All Retinyans found justice there. More than justice, peace.”
Groups of elves murmured.
“Few here remember Wedion, one of the ancient elves. I, and my friends, mocked his age, his … speed. My father discovered this and took me to the palace, where I told Blind Secholit of my guilt. I waited for my punishment. But Blind Secholit reached forward, lifted a shadow of shame from me, and tossed it into the pool.”
“You lost me.” Chloe interrupted. “Why?”
“Because Secholit’s pool was not for swimming. His pool was for forgetting. Any wrong tossed into the pool vanished from Retinya’s memory forever. In this way, he prevented our anger and our bitterness from destroying us.
“But a boat appeared on the horizon of the Eastern Sea, from beyond the Lost Islands. The sailors, short on food but long on treachery, landed at Port’s End and made their way down to the palace, where they mocked Blind Secholit. They dived into his pool and emerged, free from their worst memories. Secholit warned them that entering the pool led to death. And in a way they did die — through frequent trips into the pool, they forgot who they were. These men became It’s first Senseri.”
“And who is It?” Chloe asked.
“Vaepor.”
Chloe gasped.
“You know It.”
“Maybe. I mean, the name is really close to … Like I told you, I saw the movie in my world, but it was Nick who wrote that into the screenplay. He called it the Darkness.”
“An appropriate name,” the chief continued. “Word spread that you could forget pain without enduring the humility of speaking with Blind Secholit, and foolish Retinyans abandoned the difficult and snuck into the pool. Finally, Secholit gave men their desire. He left his palace and his pool and wandered the land. Now he’s far away.”
Chloe bit her lip. “Then who’s in charge of the pool?”
“Vaepor. It blew in from the sea, bringing with It illusions from distant lands. These he layered upon Retinya so thickly that we no longer recognized our own country. Mountains seemed to vanish. Rivers suddenly appeared. But his most potent trickery had nothing to do with topography.”