The Shadow of Malabron (18 page)

“Then where are we?”

“About twenty leagues south-west, as Morrigan would fly, from where our friends are waiting for us. Tell me why you decided to go through the tunnel.”

“I felt there was … something for me to do here. As if everything was waiting for what I chose next. I don’t know how to explain it.”

“No need to try. Pay attention to that sense, Will. It will serve you well.”

“Why didn’t Finn find the knot-path?”

“Because he is not you,” Pendrake said, and just then there issued a louder rumble from the sleeping figure, and a thunderous snort, and then the vast form turned over with a sound like a landslide, and they saw, through a screen of leaves, his hairy face and his huge eyes blinking, sleepily regarding them.

Pendrake raised a hand in greeting. The giant’s eye widened a moment and then slowly closed.

“Let’s go,” Pendrake said quietly, and they turned back to the tunnel, and now Will saw that it was a huge leather boot.

“I thought I’d found the clearing,” Will said as they came out the other end, where the boot had become a willow bower again. “The place where I came into the Realm.”

“I’m afraid not,” Pendrake said, “but you have discovered something important, nonetheless.”

When they reappeared, Rowen and the others were there, waiting. The toymaker quickly explained what Will had found.

“It’s a good thing the path led back to the place you came from,” Finn said. “I’ve heard it said that not all of them do.”

“Where would they take you then?” Rowen asked, but not even the toymaker had an answer to this question.

They set off again and, as the shadows lengthened in the evening, the path began to descend into thicker, gloomier woods, where it seemed to Will that night was suddenly much closer. Finally Finn led them off the path and in among the trees, where Pendrake lit his waylight, and soon brought them to a snug.

Will was surprised and relieved. He had thought that snugs were only found in the Wood. This one looked almost exactly like the snug he and Rowen had taken refuge in, right down to the pot bubbling on the hearth. After they had all eaten, Rowen gave a great yawn that brought tears to her eyes. She said good night and climbed up to one of the feather beds in the loft. After a short time they heard her soft snoring, and smiled at one another. Shade curled up at Will’s feet and seemed to sleep, too, although as always Will wondered about that. He had the sense the wolf could and would rouse himself instantly at the slightest disturbance. Finn, however, did not even take off his boots. He sat down near the door, took a small book with a dark brown cover out of his coat pocket, read a few lines and put the book away again. Then he wrapped himself in his cloak and sat, slowly turning the green ring upon his finger.

Will was so glad to be out of the cold and dark that his weariness vanished, and he sat for a long time by the fire and talked with Pendrake. The old man told him tales of the ancient realms of Story. As he spoke Will felt himself falling under a kind of enchantment, but not like that of the mirrors. Instead it seemed to him that everything in the snug was listening along with him: the crackling fire, the chairs, the bobbing shadows on the walls. Everything around them had become woven into the stories the old man told.

Pendrake spoke of how, in the long struggle of the Stewards against the Night King, the snugs and other secrets of the Realm first appeared, to give refuge and help to those who found themselves far from light and home.

“You said the Stewards aren’t here any more,” Will said, when Pendrake had finished. “Did Malabron kill them?”

“The sun shines,” Pendrake said, raising his hand. “The rain falls.”

Slowly he lowered his hand.

“The trees put forth leaves each spring and the bird’s nest among them. Can you say how this all happens, or why?”

“Well … no.”

“It is that way with this snug, and the others like it. It is not magic. There is much magic in this world, to be sure. Many different kinds, in fact. Much of it works only in some stories and not in others. There are quite a few out-of-work wizards wandering the Realm, looking for somewhere to weave their spells. But the power of the Stewards runs deeper than any spellcraft. If it can be called magic, then everything around us is magic. And so are we.”

Pendrake nodded towards Shade.

“If you need proof that the Stewards did not die,” Pendrake said, “all you have to do is look around you.”

Will took a deep breath.

“You said this world was where all the stories come from. Most of the books I’ve read had happy endings.”

Pendrake smiled.

“Does any story ever really end?” he said. “The storyteller falls silent or we close the book, but we know there’s more that hasn’t been told. And when we find ourselves in a story we try to make it stop at the ending we would like, but it keeps on going. Sometimes we find it’s no longer a story about us. Or it is, but we’re playing a new role. This is what Malabron, for all his cunning, does not understand. He wants there to be one story only. His own. And he wants it to end as he desires, with all under his dominion. He would destroy the world to bring about his own happy ending.”

“But that can’t happen, can it?”

The toymaker stood and stretched his arms over his head.

“One thing ended a long time ago,” he said, taking off his spectacles, “and that was this day. Get some sleep, Will. The story will go on tomorrow.”

F
OR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS
they followed a path that wound and rose and fell through the still, green caverns of the wood, on and on, mile after long mile, until Will began to feel that he had never done anything in his life other than trudge through this endless forest. And every night was the same, too. They would find a snug, and when he went to sleep, Will would have the same disturbing dream he’d first had at the toymaker’s house. He would find himself in the clearing of the cloven tree, with snow falling, and then the man with the long white hair would appear and open his mouth to speak, but the dream would end before Will could hear what he was saying. Again he considered telling the toymaker about the dream, but once more he decided to keep it to himself. He didn’t want to hear anything worse than what he’d already been told.

Each evening before keeping watch, Finn would read briefly from the small leather-bound book he kept in his pocket. Finally Will’s curiosity got the better of him and he asked Finn what he was reading. The young man quickly shut the book and looked at Will coldly. Then his face softened.

“You’ve heard that there’s a book for everyone in the Great Library,” Finn said.

“Yes, but I didn’t find mine.”

“Well, this book is like that for me. A copy of it is given to every knight-in-training. It’s a kind of guidebook.”

“With maps and landmarks, you mean?”

“You could say that.”

“What does it say about where we are now?”

“Pretty much the same thing it says about everywhere else. Keep on your toes.”

On the morning of their fifth day in Eldark, they came to a less gloomy part of the forest. The trees were not so large or close-set here, and shafts of welcome sunlight streamed down through the branches. When they halted to rest, Finn shared out some bannog and then began to pack up his gear. It was time for him to return to the Bourne.

“The forest only gets darker and more dangerous from here on,” he said with a frown. “I feel I should stay with you.”

“We’d all be happy if you did,” Pendrake said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “But you’ve seen us safely out of the Bourne, and you have other duties to return to. I hope your journey home will be uneventful.”

“That’s the one thing a knight-in-training isn’t supposed to want. But I hope the same for your journey.”

Will thanked Finn. Although he still felt awkward around the serious young man, he wasn’t happy to see him go. Finn wished him good luck.

“If all goes as it should,” he said, “we won’t meet again, Will. I’m sorry for that. You could use more sword practice.”

For the first time Will saw a quick smile pass across Finn’s face. Then he waved a farewell and slipped away into the shadows of the forest.

As dusk fell the travellers left the path as before. Pendrake uncovered his waylight, but this time it stayed unlit and no answering glimmer appeared in the gloom. They walked on slowly, and night fell around them like a cloak, until they were only shadows to each other. After a while Will noticed a pale silver light all around him and looked up to see the moon flickering through the treetops. He was cheered by the sight, but Pendrake’s waylight still failed to glow.

“Maybe there are no snugs in this part of the woods,” Rowen said.

“The waylight calls them forth,” Pendrake said. “Sometimes it takes a while for a snug to appear. But this is strange.”

They walked on until it grew completely dark. Pendrake continued to hold out his waylight, and finally a tiny blue star appeared in the blackness before them. Will started forward eagerly, but the toymaker held him back.

“Don’t move,” he whispered, and then Will saw that Pendrake’s waylight was still dark.

“What does that mean?” Rowen whispered.

“I’m not sure, but I intend to find out,” Pendrake said. “Shade, guard Will and Rowen well. If I do not return by the time the moon touches the top of that dead tree, flee this place. Head for the Bourne. Find a patrol of the Errantry, if you can.”

The toymaker tucked the lantern away, took up his staff, and swiftly vanished. The others crouched down and waited. From time to time Will caught the faint gleam of Rowen’s drawn blade in the moonlight, but little else. He wanted to speak to her, to relieve the heavy silence, but he didn’t know what to say. The sound of her quickened breathing reached him and he knew she was as frightened as he was. He felt Shade’s shoulder against his, and he was grateful for the wolf’s nearness. After a long time, when he was about to speak aloud just to break the tension, he felt Shade stiffen and rise from a crouch.

“What is it?” he whispered.

“Other wolves,” Shade said excitedly. “Can’t you hear them?”

“I can’t,” Will said. He strained to listen, and he did hear faint sounds, but not the howling of wolves. Instead he heard happy shouts and laughter, as if from a great distance. It sounded very much like his friends at home. Fooling around in the schoolyard. Teasing each other about girls and shoving one another about. What were they shouting about now? Which game console was the best, probably. Then one voice rose about the others.

Will! Where are you?

It was Jess’s voice. She sounded like she’d been crying.

I don’t like this game, Will. Come out. I’m scared
.

“Did you hear that?” he asked Rowen. “It’s my sister. She’s looking for me.”

Rowen shook her head.

“I heard horns blowing,” she said. “It sounded like a troupe of the Errantry riding this way. But it’s gone now.”

Just then Shade gave an excited yip and bounded off. Will shouted his name and the wolf reluctantly pulled up.

“They’re singing,” he called back to Will. “The First Ones. They’re singing the song of gathering. They’re calling all of us together. All the Companions. I won’t be long. I’ll find them and bring them back.”

“I can’t hear any singing, Shade,” Will said. “Don’t go, please. Something’s not right.”

The wolf hesitated, his limbs trembling. Then he lowered his head and came plodding back.

“It’s gone now,” he said sadly. “There’s nothing. How can that be?”

Rowen suddenly stood up.

“It’s Grandfather,” she cried. “He’s calling me. I can hear him calling for me.”

Will listened.

“I can’t hear it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s really him, Rowen.”

Rowen stared at him, then turned away and pointed.

“He’s just over there,” she said. “He sounds hurt. I have to…”

“We’ve all heard different things,” Will said. “It doesn’t make sense. I don’t think what we’re hearing is what we think it is.”

She didn’t seem to hear him. After another moment during which she seemed to be straining to hear, she turned to Will with an agonized look.

“He’s getting further away. I
must
go to him. I have to make sure.”

An instant later she had plunged into the shadows and was gone.

“Rowen, wait,” Will called after her, leaping to his feet. “Come on, Shade, we’ve got to follow her.”

He grabbed hold of the shaggy fur behind Shade’s ears and they started off together into the darkness. Without Shade, Will would have been utterly lost, but he trusted the wolf’s sense of smell and direction. The only problem was that he had to keep holding on to Shade so that he wouldn’t get left behind, and that meant they had to run at a slower pace. Will struggled to keep up his courage. Finn was gone. Pendrake seemed to have deserted them. And now Rowen… He should never have agreed to go on this foolish journey. Look where it had brought them.