Jack Staples and the City of Shadows (12 page)

Chapter 16

A MOMENT WITH TIME

 

Jack swam the last strokes toward the tiny island in absolute darkness. The log cabin covered every last inch of the island, so he barely had room to stand on the stoop.

This is it. I came all this way to enter this cabin!
He wondered if he should knock. He didn't want to be rude. Taking a deep breath, he knocked loudly on the wooden door and waited.

“Who is it?” A child's voice giggled from inside.

“It's me, Jack Staples,” Jack said, trying to sound natural. “May I come in?”

“Of course, silly!” the child replied. “You answered the riddle, didn't you?”

Jack pushed on the door. Inside a fire burned in a hearth that took up an entire wall. Curled up in a large padded chair was a little girl, grinning widely.

“Can you hear it?” she said, giggling as she pulled her feet beneath her. “It's quite wondrous. Please say you can hear it!”

The girl couldn't have been older than five, and her emerald eyes sparkled. She had curly auburn hair and olive skin, and her voice had a dreamlike quality to it.

“Hear what?” Jack asked.

“Your note, of course!” She was wide-eyed with excitement. “It's so beautiful I can barely stand it.” She giggled again.

“I can't hear anything,” Jack said. “Who are you? I'm here to meet with Time. Do you know her?”

“Yes, I know her.” The girl smiled mischievously. “You are funny! I like you a lot. I'm glad the guardians didn't eat you.”

“That makes two of us,” Jack said. He didn't know why, but this child annoyed him. “Where is Time?” He glanced around the small cabin. They were the only people inside. “Can you take me to her?”

“Of course I can. But first I want to show you something.”

“I don't have time,” Jack complained. “My friends are waiting, and they need me to hurry.”

The little girl laughed so hard she almost fell out of her chair. “You're so funny!” she cried, slapping her palms against the armrests. “Why are you always in such a hurry to be somewhere else?” she asked. “Isn't it more fun to be right where you are?”

Jack ignored her, taking in the tiny cabin. “Why do they call this the Forbidden Garden? It's just a room. You don't even have a plant in here.”

The little girl jumped up and smoothed out her frilly blue dress. “You'll need to run fast so the fire doesn't burn you!”

“What are you talking about?”

The girl winked, then darted into the fireplace and disappeared through the back wall.

“Wait!” Jack called after her. “Come back!” He stared at the fireplace, dumbfounded. She obviously wanted him to follow. He waited a moment, sighed irritably, then closed his eyes and screamed as he sprinted into the fire. There was a flash of heat and he braced himself to hit the back wall. But the flames didn't burn, and there was no wall. Jack staggered to a stop and opened his eyes.

Wherever he was, it was daytime and it was extraordinary. Rolling hills of lush grass went on for as far as he could see. He was surrounded by wildflowers, and when he walked, the flowers moved aside so he wouldn't crush them. The place was utterly wild, but at the same time it looked as if every flower, plant, and tree was exactly where it was meant to be. The sky was impossibly blue and the air so clean his lungs almost burned to breathe it.

The little girl was in front of him, standing on her toes. “Do you like it?” she said, sounding both nervous and hopeful.

“It's amazing!” Jack was breathless. “Where are we?”

“We're in the garden, of course!” the girl said happily.

“This is the Forbidden Garden?” Jack asked.

“You aren't forbidden anymore, silly! You are here. So it's just the garden now!”

Jack stared at the rolling hills. It was perfect.

“Can you hear it now?” the girl asked.

“I can't hear anything,” Jack said self-consciously.

“It's so beautiful! How do you make it?”

“I don't know what you're talking about, but I can't hear anything. I just need to meet with Time so I can get back to my friends. They need my help.”

“I know!” The little girl nodded. “Especially Alexia; she needs you more than ever—you and Arthur and Mrs. Dumphry and all of them! I'm really afraid for her, Jack.”

“How do you know about Alexia?” Jack asked. “How do you know about any of them?”

“Look.” The girl pointed at the sky. Jack looked up and the sky became a swirl of colors. As he watched, Alexia appeared in the colors.

Jack gasped. Alexia was with the Assassin and she was … hugging him! They were standing in a room of shadows and monsters. Jack wanted to ask the little girl what he was seeing, but the sky changed. Arthur Greaves was alone on an empty street in a city of shadows. He was wearing a black-and-silver cloak and he was … dancing!

Next, the sky revealed a battle …
No
, Jack thought,
it's hundreds of battles, thousands of them!
The entire world was at war; every tree, every blade of grass, every creature and human fought for survival. Mountains trembled as oceans boiled and stars fell from the sky. The Awakened fought dark servants, and at first Jack thought the Awakened might be winning. But then something exploded and a shadow ripped across the sky. Within seconds all the earth was covered in darkness and there were no more images to see.

Jack stared at the sky for a long time, trying to understand. When he finally tore his eyes away, he saw the little girl sitting on an ocean of wildflowers, watching the sky with a look of immense sadness.

“Was that the future?” Jack asked. “Was that what's going to happen?”

“It was a future,” she said sadly. “The story is still being written, but unless we can help Alexia, it is the most likely ending, I think.”

Jack sat beside her and spoke without thinking. “You are Time.”

The girl leaned forward. “I am!” she said. “Everyone always thinks they will meet someone who looks older than Mrs. Dumphry! Isn't that crazy?” She laughed. “Why would I be old? What a funny thought!” She bounced up, turned, and ran. Somehow the shifting wildflowers seemed natural in this place.

“Wait!” Jack yelled. “Where are you going?”

“I need to take you somewhere, silly!” Time called. “Follow me!”

Jack chased after her. The earth and sky, the air itself radiated energy, each breath flooding him with life. It was hard to stay depressed in a place like this
. I know this place!
Jack realized.
It feels the same as when I went through the Masc Tinneas and saw the Assassin singing that song. The land and air are the same!

Jack didn't grow tired as he ran; each step brought more energy. He began to laugh as he ran even faster. Time had disappeared into a small copse of trees, and as Jack darted in, he skidded to a stop, almost knocking her over. Time stood beside a small pond.

“Can you hear it now?” she asked.

Jack stopped and listened. He was surprised to find he wasn't breathing heavily at all. “I can't—” Jack stopped. He did hear something. It was the ringing of a single note. It was faint, but coming from somewhere nearby. “What is it?” he whispered.

“It's your note!” Time whispered back, her emerald eyes sparkling with delight.

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone has a note,” Time said, seriously. “This is yours. No one else can make this sound but you. Isn't it wonderful?”

“It is.” The music grew stronger as he listened. It was a single note, but it sounded like a symphony. “This is the ringing I hear each time I go back,” he said. “It's what takes me back in time!”

“Yes,” Time said, “that's right! Your note is very special, Jack. It's one of my favorites! And when you are both together, I can barely stand it!”

“You mean … when I am with Alexia?”

“Yes! When you are together, I feel as if nothing bad can happen!” Time giggled again.

“I don't know about that,” Jack said. “Plenty of bad has happened since we've been together. My mother—” Jack stopped.

“Your mother gave her life to save you. There is no greater gift,” Time said.

“But she's still gone.”

“She's not gone, silly. I see her standing before me now. She lives in you and she lives in Alexia. And death is not the end. It's the start of the grandest adventure yet!”

“She lives in Alexia?”

“Well, why wouldn't she?” Time shook her head. “Alexia is your sister, after all.”

“What do you mean she's my sister?”

“I mean you both have the same parents, silly! What else would I mean?” Time giggled. “And when you're both together, your notes are so beautiful they make me want to cry.”

“That doesn't make sense!” Jack insisted. “Parker is my brother. I only met Alexia recently.”

“Parker Dreager is your adopted brother.” Time sounded as though she were explaining something completely obvious. “Alexia and Parker were switched so the Assassin wouldn't find her. Parker is the son of Madeleine and Caleb Dreager.”

Jack sat down. He was dizzy as he tried to make sense of it. But it did make sense. When Jack had gone back in time, he'd seen his mother holding a baby girl. It must have been Alexia.

“Are you ready to leave the garden now?” Time extended a hand, waiting for Jack to take it.

“You want me to leave? I just got here.” Jack didn't want to go back to his world just yet. He felt safer here than he'd felt in a long time.

“I'm going with you, silly!” Time said. “I have to show you something.”

Jack took her hand and inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with pure energy.

“Are you ready?” Time asked again, and Jack nodded. “Okay, then, all you need to do is listen for your note and when you hear it, embrace it!”

“How do you embrace a sound?”

“Until now, every time you've heard it, you've tried to make it do what you wanted. But that's not right. Your note comes from the Author. It is what defines you. When you embrace it, you let it decide where to take you. You needn't worry about going to the wrong place or time if you let the Author decide.”

Jack shook his head. “Who is this Author everyone keeps talking about? And what do you mean—he gave me my note?”

“That's what you're here to see, of course! Take my hand and I'll show you.”

As Jack took hold of Time's hand, the bells inside his chest rose to a symphony. Jack and Time lurched backward, flying through the air.

 

“Before you go see your friend beneath the coliseum,” Belial said to Alexia, “I want to show you something.” He reached around his neck and grabbed a thin chain. At the end of the chain was a small stone, streaked through with blue veins. It was exactly the same as the one Alexia had taken from her father's chamber. The blue veins glowed with a flickering light.

“My lady,” Belial said, “this is a Memory Stone. It captures the memories of anyone who wears it. And before you go and talk with your friend, I wish to show you one of my memories. Hold it tightly in your fist and close your eyes.” Belial handed Alexia the stone.

Alexia clenched her hand around it as the stone began to warm. When Belial wrapped his hands around hers, blue light shone faintly from between their fingers.

“Show us the poet's death,” Belial whispered.

The last thing in the world Alexia wanted to see was Belial killing a man, but before she could say a word, the world shifted around her.

Alexia gasped. They were still in the throne room, but it had changed. Everything looked newer and somehow more real. She had become used to the otherworldly feeling of Thaltorose over the weeks, but in the memory the throne room was far more substantial and there were no shadows slithering in the corners.

“Are we still in Thaltorose?” Alexia asked, letting go of Belial's hand.