Land Keep Read online

  To Robert C. Martin,

  December 4, 1936–January 26, 2009.

  Uncle Bob knew the power of laughter,

  and shared it freely with everyone he met.

  And to Orin Voorheis

  who exemplifies what it means to be

  a true hero every day of his life. You rock!

  Text © 2009 J. Scott Savage

  Illustrations © 2009 Brandon Dorman

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Shadow Mountain¨. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of Shadow Mountain.

  All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Visit us at ShadowMountain.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Savage, J. Scott.

  Land keep / J. Scott Savage.

  p. cm. — (Farworld ; bk. 2)

  Summary: Having discovered that his destiny is tied to that of Farworld, Marcus, despite his growing power over water, struggles with physical pain and inner doubts as, with the help of his companions, he tries to complete the quest to find the other elementals that will help destroy the evil force of the Dark Circle.

  ISBN 978-1-60641-164-3 (hardbound : alk. paper)

  [1. Foundlings—Fiction. 2. People with disabilities—Fiction. 3. Magic—Fiction.

  4. Fantasy.] I. Title.

  PZ7.S25897Lan 2009

  [Fic]—dc22 2009025673

  Printed in the United States of America

  Worzalla Publishing Co., Stevens Point, WI

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Contents

  Interlude: Keepers of the Balance

  Part 1: Lost and found

  1. One Man’s Treasure

  2. Water Magic

  3. Secrets

  4. The Visitor

  5. Melankollia

  6. Captured

  7. Rescue

  8. Answers

  9. Ups and Downs

  10. Aster’s Bay

  11. Charmed to Meet You

  12. Dog Days

  13. Fun and Games

  14. Harbingers

  15. What You Can’t See

  16. The Swamp

  Interlude: An Unexpected Prisoner

  Part 2: Land Keep

  17. The End of the Trail

  18. Descent

  19. Keepers’ Hold

  20. No Way Out

  21. A Dirty Business

  22. Finding a Reason

  23. Knowledge

  24. The Doors of Eternity

  25. The Augur Well

  26. Mr. Z

  27. The Lagoon

  28. Mind over Matter

  29. The Fairy

  30. Winds of Change

  31. Heart and Song

  32. Heart

  33. Song

  34. The Last Choice

  35. Mouth to Ear

  Interlude: A Dark Past

  Part 3: Return

  36. Dual Purpose

  37. Lanctrus-Darnoc

  38. Friends

  39. Going Back

  40. The Dream

  41. Tankum Heartstrong

  Interlude: Stratagems

  Part 4: Battle for the City

  42. Zentan Dolan

  43. Standoff

  44. The Dungeon

  45. The Tower

  46. Innoris a’Gentoran

  47. Weakness

  48. Sacrifice

  49. Reunion

  50. Graehl

  51. The Place Between

  52. Good-bye

  Interlude: Unlikely Allies

  Interlude

  Keepers of the Balance

  Aster’s Bay

  They came in the impersonal darkness of early morning, before the sun painted the sky, before the street peddlers began setting up their stands—at least an hour before even the farmers outside the city walls would arise and start another day of toiling in the fields. They came at a time when those wakened by their coming could pull their heads back under the blankets and try to return to a troubled sleep.

  Jaklah had been waiting for their arrival—dreading the sound of hoofs on the cobblestones late at night. At the first high-pitched whistles of the snifflers, the skin on the backs of his arms prickled with fear. He lunged out of bed and pressed his face to the window, where the pale, orange moon illuminated the buildings below and a pink crescent gleamed just above the horizon.

  In the distance he could see the riders coming. The creatures at their sides were only shadows in the dark. But in his mind he could envision the six spiked legs, the clacking mandibles, and worst of all, the gray skin that turned into—

  “Don’t do it,” Kelthan whispered from his bed across the small room. “Don’t run. It’ll only make it worse.”

  “What do you know?” Jaklah snapped at his older brother, his voice sharp with terror. He turned back to the window and his stomach knotted. They were closer now—the snifflers just visible in the moonlight. “You didn’t even try.”

  In the darkness, Kelthan was silent, perhaps stung by his brother’s accusation, perhaps just in thought. At last he spoke. “What good would it have done? If they catch you, they just make it that much more painful. And if they don’t . . .”

  Jaklah knew all about what happened to the ones who ran. There was only one place the Keepers didn’t dare follow and that was for good reason. The thought of where he would have to go, what he would have to face, raised cold flesh all over his body.

  “It ain’t fair!” He slammed a fist on his hay-filled mattress. “I was just getting good.”

  “The Keepers of the Balance don’t care ’bout that. Least not for people like us.”

  Sweat burned Jaklah’s eyes, and he wiped it away with a shaking hand. He could hear the horses snorting and whinnying outside. And was that the sound of boots coming up the stairs?

  “Does it hurt? If you . . . let ’em take it?”

  “Yes.” Kelthan’s answer was instant. “But I’ve talked to folks who’ve run. They say fighting against it is like swallowing hot coals. The blood still burns inside you weeks later.”

  Jaklah tried to imagine the agony of fire under his skin. Before he could finish the thought, someone pounded at the front door. “They’re here!” he gasped.

  His pa’s heavy footsteps echoed across the kitchen floor. The front door swung open with a squeal of unoiled hinges. Beneath the sound of men’s voices, the cheeee-cheeee-cheeee whistling of a sniffler sounded like metal on a grindstone.

  “I’ll fetch him,” his father said from the other room, and Jaklah’s self-control snapped. Shoving open the window, he crawled over the sill. His feet found the small ledge just below.

  The latch on the bedroom door jangled. “Jaklah, Kelthan. Open up!” his father shouted, the fear in his voice obvious.

  Jaklah looked back to see his brother pressing his shoulder against the door, and hesitated. If he ran, the Keepers could make it real bad for his family.

  Tears dripped down Kelthan’s cheeks, but his teeth were bared as he strained against the door—fighting his father’s greater strength. “Run,” he whispered, his eyes glistening. “Run!”

  Part I

  Lost and Found

  Chapter 1

  One Man’s Treasure

  Cascade?” Kyja leaned across the gunwale of the sailboat, searching the sluggish brown Noble River. The boat’s trim bow knifed silently through water that smelled of fish, mud, and slime, but there was no sign of the Fontasian.

  Sunlight peeked over the eastern horizon, and one by one, the dawn chimes raised their
tiny purple heads, breaking into song. Still asleep in his net hammock, Marcus rocked fitfully and began moaning. He was having the nightmare again. But if she woke him, he’d only deny it and grump all morning about not getting enough sleep. She supposed he’d tell her when he was ready about whatever had been haunting his dreams for the last few weeks.

  Leaning further over the side of the boat, she tried again. “Cascade, where are you?”

  She’d told the water elemental to come back before Marcus woke up. They’d reach the end of the Noble River in only another day or two. And still there was no sign of Land Keep. They might have to bribe someone for information, and to do that, this plan needed to work.

  Several large air bubbles gurgled from the depths of the river, and a pair of dark eyes appeared beneath its murky surface. Kyja gave a tiny yelp and jerked back into the boat, thinking it was Cascade trying to scare her.

  But a moment later, the eyes rose out of the water—bulbous and gray on a pair of swaying green stalks. The stalks were attached to a round, fleshy face, nearly the same color as the river. The creature’s body looked as if someone had taken a bunch of leftover parts from other animals and slapped them together—a short, pudgy torso covered with blotchy green warts, webbed feet nearly as long as the body, and a neck that rose so far into the air that the creature’s head seemed constantly in danger of toppling over.

  “A throg,” Kyja sighed, smiling at her earlier fright. To think she had mistaken that for a water elemental. Cascade would be highly insulted if she told him. The idea made her smile even wider.

  As though reading her thoughts, the throg opened its broad mouth so its entire head seemed to split in half and croaked, “Cascade, where are you?” in a booming voice that echoed across the water’s surface. Marcus moaned and rolled over in his hammock.

  “Hush,” Kyja whispered to the throg, trying to shoo it away with one hand.

  But the creature paddled happily alongside the boat, croaking “Cascade, Cascade, Cascade. Where are you? Are you?”

  Kyja groaned. Now she’d done it. Throgs were copycats—imitating any sound they heard until something else drew their attention. If she didn’t chase it off, it would wake Marcus for sure. Stretching to her tiptoes, she managed to get her fingers into the water and splash at the Throg’s big, gray eyes. “Go away!”

  “Go away!” the throg repeated, raising its voice so it sounded almost exactly like Kyja. “Away. Away. Away.”

  “Ohhh!” Kyja grimaced. She looked around for Riph Raph, hoping he could blow a fireball in the throg’s direction to scare it, but the skyte was off somewhere—probably hunting fish and bugs for breakfast.

  Kyja leaned so far toward the river, her feet actually left the deck. She cupped a handful of water to throw at the creature that was still happily chanting, “Away, away, away, away.” At that moment, the boat bumped against a sandbar, bouncing sideways like a cork. Kyja’s arms pinwheeled, trying to catch the edge of the boat, but she was too far off balance.

  “Help!” she squeaked as she went over the side. She gulped a quick mouthful of air and closed her eyes, dreading the inevitable splash of lukewarm water that would leave her feeling bedraggled and soggy all day. Instead, a firm hand caught her shoulder.

  Opening her eyes, she saw a blue-tinged face that looked no older than sixteen or seventeen, topped by spiky, white hair. “Did you want to go swimming?” Cascade asked without a trace of humor in his voice. “It seems odd to bathe at this time of morning, but I’ll let you drop if you like.”

  “Of course not,” Kyja said, trying not to look as embarrassed as she felt. “Put me back in the boat.” She hoped Marcus hadn’t seen the whole thing. He’d tease her about it all day if he had.

  “Very well.” The Fontasian blinked his curious, sea-green eyes and lifted her onto the boat with seemingly no effort.

  Once her feet touched the polished wood deck, Kyja glanced at Marcus. He was still asleep, thank goodness. “Where were you, anyway?” she asked as she yanked her robe back into place and straightened her long, dark hair.

  “You asked me to find what was at the bottom of the river,” Cascade answered, floating through the water at the exact same pace as the boat.

  Even though they’d been traveling together for over three months, it was still strange to watch the elemental rise out of the water. For one thing, he never got wet. His hair looked white and frothy like the foam of a fast-moving river. But there were no drops in his hair, and it never plastered against his head the way Kyja’s did when she went swimming. And for another thing, he didn’t emerge out of the river—he formed from it.

  Though his blue-robed torso, arms, and head appeared completely solid, Kyja could see that the rest of his body disappeared as soon as it hit the water, as if he didn’t exist from the chest down. He could appear whole when he wanted to, but he seemed to take great delight in rising without warning from the river or suddenly morphing into a puddle of water.

  Kyja took a deep breath to steady herself. “So what did you find?”

  The Fontasian reached into his robe and pulled out a handful of brown goop leaking slowly through his fingers.

  “Mud?” Kyja rolled her eyes. “You took all that time to bring back a handful of mud?” Cascade was every bit as difficult to understand as Zhethar, the frost pinnois, had predicted. She could never be sure if the water elemental was teasing her or just being his annoyingly logical self.

  “Not just mud,” Cascade wet his fingers in the river and waved his hand over the mud. Kyja’s view of the glop expanded until it was like she was peering into a miniature forest. A dotted yellowish blob oozed toward a tiny green, tree-like shape. A larger blue blob came into view and made straight for the smaller one. It opened what looked like a mouth. But as the blue blob was about to eat the yellow blob, a spark of light shot out from the tree. A second later, the tree sucked up both the blobs and swam away.

  “There is a wide variety of plant and animal life within,” the water elemental explained.

  “It is interesting. I was just hoping there might be something more unusual down there. Maybe something a little prettier?”

  “I see.” Cascade nodded. He returned the mud to his robe and pulled out an item that glittered in the morning sun.

  Kyja’s eyes widened at what she thought might be jewels until the terrible smell hit her. “Yuck,” she said, realizing the glittering came from light reflecting off the scales of a dead fish. “That’s disgusting. Throw it away.”

  Shrugging, the water elemental tossed the fish into the river.

  Kyja wrinkled her nose. When she asked Cascade to find what was under the water, she’d imagined sunken treasure—not mud and dead fish. But she knew from experience that the Fontasian would refuse to look for treasure if she asked outright for it. Water elementals didn’t understand the concept of doing things for others without getting something in return. Half the reason Cascade had agreed to join Marcus and Kyja was to learn more about what they called “caring.”

  “Did you find anything that doesn’t stink?” she suggested, wondering if water elementals even had a sense of smell.

  Cascade tilted his head. “It would be odd to find something on the bottom of a river that didn’t smell like the bottom of a river.”

  “I don’t mind if it smells like a river,” Kyja said. “Did you find anything that’s pretty and doesn’t smell like a . . . a dead fish?”

  The Fontasian reached into his robe again and pulled out a rock. “This doesn’t smell like a dead fish.”

  “Arghh,” Kyja growled, sure Cascade was teasing her. “You search the entire river and come back with mud, dead fish, and rocks!” But as Cascade began to drop the rock into the water, something glinted brightly.

  “Wait,” she called. “Let me see that.”

  Cascade handed her the rock, and she turned it slowly in her fingers. Flecks of metal shimmered on its surface. “This looks like gold,” she murmured.

  The water elementa
l nodded. “It does have a larger than normal amount of that mineral within it, giving it a shiny appearance. You may keep it if you like.”

  “Really?” Kyja’s eyes lit up, but then narrowed with suspicion. “Why would you give me something so valuable? What do you want in return?”

  Cascade frowned. “Humans have an odd idea of value. The mud contains a wealth of plants and animals. It is rich in nutrients. The fish is a source of energy. The rock simply is.” He shrugged. “It shines, but so do many things.”

  Understanding dawned on Kyja. She and Marcus had managed to sell several more of the trill stones on Ert—Earth, she corrected herself; she’d been working on pronouncing the name. But Earth money was no good on Farworld. They would need information soon, but had nothing to bargain with to get it. If the Fontasian didn’t value gold, having him bring it to them might be a way to fix that.

  “Do you have any more shiny metal?” she asked, thinking how surprised Marcus would be when he woke up to discover they were rich.

  “Of course.” The Fontasian reached into his robe and pulled out . . . an old boot. Its leather was mostly eaten away by fish and time, but a brass buckle gleamed dully through a mossy coating.

  Kyja pretended polite interest. “Anything else?”

  As Cascade reached into his robe again, Kyja wondered how he could store so many things in there. Was it some kind of water magic, or did he just have a lot of really big pockets?

  “Oh,” she gasped as the Fontasian held out something that glittered in the sun. This time it wasn’t a dead fish or even a rock with flecks of gold. It was a beautiful necklace covered with dozens of gems.

  “Can I hold it?” she asked.

  Cascade offered her the gorgeous piece of jewelry, and Kyja held it up to the light. The sun’s rays reflected off the gems in a rainbow of colors. It had to be worth . . . well, she didn’t know how much. But a lot.

  Looking quickly into Cascade’s unreadable eyes, she tried to assume the shrewd attitude that had helped her get the best deals in the marketplace back when she’d lived with the Goodnuffs. “I guess since this is made of more rocks, you wouldn’t mind if I kept it?”

  Cascade roared with laughter. “Splash and spray! What kind of a fool do I look like?”