Land Keep Read online

  Kyja’s face went red. Cascade had been tricking her all along. Now that she thought about it, she remembered seeing the elemental wearing a gold medallion on occasion. “You said you didn’t care about gold,” she complained.

  “I do not,” the Fontasian agreed.

  Kyja shook her head, gripping the necklace tightly in her hand. “Then why would you care if I kept this?”

  The Fontasian looked confused. “Because of the workmanship that went into it, of course. The stones themselves are only rocks. But the time taken to create such a piece is of great value. I would no more give it to another than I would give the boot.”

  “The boot? You think that rotten old boot is worth as much as the necklace?” Kyja didn’t understand Fontasians at all. Were the other elementals this odd too? “What if I trade you my boots for the necklace?” she offered. “They’re in much better shape than that old one.”

  Cascade held out his hand for the necklace. “I have no need of boots.”

  “Fine, then,” Kyja huffed. She gave back the necklace. “What are you going to do with it?”

  “Nothing.”

  She watched in horror as Cascade tossed it over his shoulder, where it quickly disappeared into the slow-moving water. “I have no need for the necklace, either.”

  “Ohhh!” Kyja cried, clapping her hand to her mouth. “If you weren’t going to keep it, why not give it to me?”

  The water elemental tilted his head, an odd half-smile on his face. “You have nothing I want.”

  Kyja balled her fists, unable to believe how selfish he was. “You are such a . . . such a . . .” She tried to think of a word bad enough to encompass so mean an act. Suddenly, she remembered a word Marcus had used on Earth when a man nearly hit them with his car. “You are such a . . . jerk!”

  From behind her came the sound of loud laughing. She spun around, eyes blazing.

  Marcus was awake.

  Chapter 2

  Water Magic

  What are you laughing at?” Kyja growled. “You really think you can teach him to care?” Marcus grinned. “It’s not in his nature.” He swung his left leg out of the hammock and, gritting his teeth, lowered his right leg to the deck. But as soon as he put weight on it, his right leg buckled, and his laughter died at the sharp burst of pain spiking up his hip. He would have collapsed to the ground if he hadn’t grabbed a rope.

  “Let me help.” Kyja set the gold-flecked rock on the deck and started toward him.

  “I’m fine,” Marcus snapped, though it was clear to both of them he wasn’t.

  Kyja bit her lip. “Is it worse today?”

  Balancing on his left leg, Marcus leaned down and picked up the staff Kyja had found for him in the Westland Woods. When he’d first left Water Keep, he’d been able to walk without it. True, it was slowly and for only a minute or two at a time, but for those few minutes, he’d felt . . . whole. Over the last few months, though, his leg had grown worse, until now he could barely move it without feeling like shards of glass were rubbing together inside his muscles.

  “It’s this crazy hammock. It’s like spending the night in a fish net. And the way this boat rocks, it’s amazing anyone can walk at all.”

  “If those bags under your eyes get any bigger, you can curl up in them,” called a taunting voice from above. Riph Raph glided out of the sky and landed on the prow of the boat. Clutched in one of the skyte’s talons was a half-eaten fish, which he quickly popped into his beak and crunched with obvious delight.

  Marcus scowled. “Be quiet, bird brain.”

  Riph Raph cocked his head and picked a bit of meat from off his beak with the tip of his dark blue tongue. “I wasn’t the one squawking in my sleep.”

  Marcus stiffened. He’d been dreaming again. That explained the pain. It was growing worse every day but was especially bad after the recurring dream.

  “Leave him alone,” Kyja said, giving Riph Raph a dirty look.

  Marcus turned away and stared out at the river.

  What neither he nor Kyja had been willing to discuss—at least so far—was what his worsening condition might mean. When Master Therapass revealed to them who they really were and the role they were prophesied to play in saving each of their worlds, he had suggested that Marcus’s health might in some way be linked to the health of Farworld. After they defeated the Summoner and obtained the help of the water elementals, his leg and arm both felt stronger, as though Farworld was in less danger. If that was the case, his increasing weakness could only mean the Dark Circle was growing in power. Farworld was at greater risk than ever.

  At least Marcus still had his magic. Leaning against the gunwale, he focused on the muddy, slow-moving water. Little by little, the pain in his arm and leg eased away as the power of water magic flowed through his body. Beneath his gaze, the river seemed to clear several feet down, as though he were looking into an aquarium. Cascade had taught him that one of the greatest strengths of water magic was the ability to see more clearly—that a powerful wizard could use water magic to see great distances and even through obstacles.

  Marcus wasn’t that skilled yet, but in the water he could easily make out several fish large enough to provide breakfast for Kyja and himself. Seeing was only the first part, though. Next he had to convince the water to help him. This was the part of magic he struggled with the most. Growing up, he’d read lots of stories about magic. In them, all you had to do was wave a wand and say some special words. Once you mastered the trick, it was yours to use however you wanted.

  But here, he’d quickly learned, magic wasn’t like that at all. In order to perform even the most basic spells, you had to convince the elements your need was worthy. The elements could choose to help you or not. To force them to obey your will was to use black magic, which ultimately corrupted whoever touched it.

  Fortunately, he was only using water magic this time. When a spell involved more than one element, it was especially tricky, because the elements didn’t like working with each other. Focusing on the fish, he pictured himself eating breakfast. He imagined how the food would provide energy to his body. He knew words weren’t necessary to communicate with water, but he still found it easier to concentrate if he made up a little poem for his magic.

  “Fish for breakfast is my need,” he whispered under his breath. “Grant me this that I may feed.” As though pulled by an invisible line, the fish Marcus had been looking at turned and began to swim toward the surface. The closer it got, the faster it swam, until the river water lifted it up and tossed it, flipping, into Marcus’s hand.

  Holding tightly to his breakfast as Cascade guided the boat toward shore, Marcus beamed at his improving skill.

  But Riph Raph wrapped his tail around his legs and crowed, “That must have been a stupid one.”

  Chapter 3

  Secrets

  What are we supposed to do now?” Marcus asked as he and Kyja finished eating their fish. They sat in a small grassy meadow at the edge of a thick forest. “We’re nearly to the Sea of Eternal Sorrows, and I haven’t seen anything that looks like it could be a land elemental.”

  “I guess we keep sailing,” Kyja said. “Riph Raph says Aster’s Bay is only a few miles downriver. Maybe they know something about Land Keep.” She looked at Cascade to see if the water elemental had any suggestions, but he sat a few yards away, staring out toward the sailboat as it bobbed at the river’s edge.

  It was impossible to tell what the he thought of their conversation or if he was even listening to them. He could talk for hours, asking all sorts of random questions about humans and why they acted the way they did. Then he’d go silent—like he was now—for hours.

  “Hmmph,” Marcus snorted. He peeled a piece of meat from the fish and chewed it slowly, intentionally ignoring Riph Raph, who watched for bony scraps from a tree branch overhead. Apparently food hadn’t fixed whatever was bothering Marcus. “I don’t know why you even try asking Cascade. He hasn’t told us anything new for weeks. For all we know,
he lied about the land elementals being near the end of the river. Land Keep could be hundreds of miles from here.”

  “Why would I lie to you?” Cascade asked without turning his head.

  “Who knows why you do anything?” Marcus rubbed his sore hip. “Maybe to laugh at us. You said you were going to help us find Land Keep, but you won’t even tell us if we’re close.”

  “I don’t blame him for laughing,” Riph Raph said to Marcus. “Your looks do that to everyone.”

  “Maybe he can’t tell us,” Kyja said.

  “Of course he can. He just won’t,” Marcus said.

  Kyja shook her head. They’d had this same argument a hundred times as they sailed down the river. From what Kyja could see, Cascade was willing to answer any questions he could. But there were certain subjects that, for some reason, seemed to be off limits. It was frustrating, but she didn’t think he was being intentionally mean.

  “What if there’s some kind of water elemental rule we don’t know about?” she asked.

  “Great. Take his side.” Marcus pulled a fishbone from his mouth and threw it into the grass.

  Cascade turned his head to watch Marcus with the same slightly amused expression he’d worn while studying the creatures in the river mud.

  “I’m not taking anyone’s side,” Kyja said. But was she? All her life she’d tried to see the best in other people—even when they didn’t seem to deserve it. Maybe it was because she’d grown up without magic. If she got offended every time someone made a mean comment about her or looked at her strangely, she’d have been angry all the time. She thought Marcus had probably experienced the same things with his disabilities. But where her experiences made her more likely to believe people, his seemed to have made him even more suspicious of others’ motives.

  What if he was right though? Cascade had told them to look near the Sea of Eternal Sorrows. He’d provided them with a boat and helped Marcus improve his water magic. But his reasons for helping them were never clear. He’d told them before they even started their journey down the Noble River that he was coming along mostly to satisfy his curiosity. What if that curiosity included seeing how she and Marcus reacted to frustration? He seemed to take a special interest in their disagreements.

  Kyja took a deep breath and turned to Cascade. “You told us we’d find the land elementals where the Noble River meets the sea, and we’re nearly there.”

  “I suggested following the Noble River as one possible course of action,” Cascade said with a small shake of his head.

  Marcus waved a hand. “See, this is what I’m talking about. We’ve been following the same smelly river for nearly three months, and now he tells us it’s a possible course of action. What’s another possible course of action? Jumping off a cliff?”

  “Not a bad idea,” called down the skyte.

  “That would be a course of action,” Cascade said with annoying good humor. “Although not one I would recommend.”

  Kyja seized on his statement. “You did recommend we sail down the river. So it must mean we’re going in the right direction, even if you can’t tell us that.”

  Cascade said nothing, but he didn’t disagree, either.

  “All right, so you can’t tell us if we’re close,” Kyja said. “You would tell us if you could, wouldn’t you?”

  The water elemental’s look of amused interest was replaced by one of confusion. “You ask me to tell you something based on facts neither of us possesses. That makes no sense.”

  Marcus rolled his eyes, but Kyja worked on controlling her temper. Cascade wasn’t trying to make them angry—at least, she didn’t think he was. Water elementals were incredible at analyzing information and forming conclusions, but concepts like caring, imagination, and guessing seemed impossible for them to understand.

  If she couldn’t get Cascade to answer her questions directly, maybe she could approach the problem as a puzzle for the Fontasian to solve. “If Marcus and I discover the location of Land Keep on our own, you won’t interfere, will you?”

  “No,” Cascade answered at once.

  “And it is possible for us to find it?”

  “Yes.”

  This was working. “Do you think Marcus and I will discover the location by ourselves?”

  “I believe the likelihood is small.”

  Kyja’s shoulders slumped, but Marcus seemed to hear exactly what he’d been expecting. Kyja bristled at his know-it-all expression. He’d been getting grumpier and grumpier this entire trip, as if all of their problems were somehow her fault. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “This whole thing is a complete waste,” he muttered.

  “Speaking of waste,” Riph Raph said, “how about you stop letting the rest of that fish go to waste and give it to me? Or are you going to hog it all yourself?”

  “You already finished your share.” Kyja frowned at Riph Raph. Then, turning to Marcus, asked, “Do you think your dreams could have something to do with us finding the land elementals?”

  Marcus’s face went red. “What dreams?”

  Kyja swallowed. “I know you’ve been having bad dreams. I’ve heard you moaning at night. Don’t you think it might be more than a coincidence that as we get closer to Land Keep, you’ve started having nightmares?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Marcus said, his jaw tightening. “I told you, it’s just the hammock. It’s uncomfortable.”

  Kyja got up and gathered the remains of the fish—almost half of it was left—onto a large green leaf without looking at Marcus. “I won’t ask you to tell me about it until you’re ready. But it’s not a good idea for us to keep secrets from each other.”

  “Really?” Marcus glared at her. “Then when are you going to tell me where you keep taking the food?”

  “What?” Now it was Kyja’s turn to feel her cheeks grow hot.

  Marcus pushed himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his staff. “Don’t you think I’ve noticed how you’ve been sneaking into the woods with the leftovers after all our meals? You talk about secrets like you don’t have any of your own. But you’re worse than Cascade.”

  The water elemental was watching the two of them argue as if observing an especially good match of Trill Stones. Her stomach knotted, the food she’d just eaten burning. She hadn’t meant to keep a secret from Marcus, exactly. She just wasn’t sure how he’d react if he knew what she’d been doing.

  “That’s what I thought,” Marcus said. Leaning on his staff, he turned and stomped off into the trees.

  “Wait,” Kyja called. “I’m sorry. I should have told you. Come back. You don’t know what’s in those woods.”

  But Marcus was gone. When Kyja turned to look for Cascade, he had disappeared as well.

  Chapter 4

  The Visitor

  Kyja watched Marcus stomp into the woods, torn between the desire to bring him back and the realization that it was probably better if she let him go. Obviously he didn’t want to talk to her right now. He’d been struggling with something for weeks, and she didn’t think it was just the dream, or even Land Keep. Something else was bothering him.

  Something bigger.

  “Let him go cry in the woods,” Riph Raph said, looking in the direction Marcus had disappeared. “He’s the biggest baby I’ve ever seen.”

  “He is not. He’s in a lot of pain. And you’re not making things any easier with all your insults.”

  “He doesn’t want anyone to make it easier. He wants people to listen to him whine, and you’re doing a great job of that.” Riph Raph flapped his pointed blue ears. “You didn’t used to let him push you around all the time. I think you’re getting soft.”

  “Hush,” Kyja said. She wasn’t thinking just about Marcus. She was thinking of herself, too.

  She’d never had a lot of friends. If she was being honest with herself, she’d never had any friends except Riph Raph before meeting Marcus. When she’d needed someone to turn to, the Goodnuffs had always been there
for her, but now the Goodnuffs were gone—killed by the Dark Circle. And while Riph Raph was willing to hear her out, talking to a Skyte wasn’t the same as having a conversation with a person.

  When Cascade had agreed to join Marcus and her, she’d thought there would be three of them to help make decisions. But trying to have a discussion with a water elemental was like talking to your own reflection in a stream. Half the time she wasn’t sure if he was even listening.

  Which left Marcus. He was the only person she could confide in, the only person she could share worries and compare ideas with. Lately, though, talking with him was like gathering spear fruit. No matter how careful you were, eventually you made a mistake and got jabbed by a long, painful thorn.

  “Are you going to eat that fish or let it rot?” Riph Raph asked, licking his beak. “I’d be happy to finish it for you.”

  Kyja realized she was still holding the leaf with the remains of breakfast. “No. I’m going to . . . do something else with it.”

  “Fine!” Riph Raph flew off in a huff.

  Balancing the fish-filled leaf in one hand, Kyja walked into the trees, headed in the opposite direction Marcus had gone. Shiny little blow flies circled the food, moving about on jets of warm air that left faint rainbow trails in their wake. Kyja shooed them away.

  Was it because of the way Marcus was acting that she’d begun sneaking food? Could this be her way of looking for another friend? She didn’t think so. It certainly hadn’t given her anyone to talk to. She didn’t even know for sure if she was feeding an enemy or a friend.

  Somewhere deeper in the woods, leaves crackled. Kyja stopped and stared. He was out there somewhere, but she’d managed to spot him just twice.

  The first time was almost a month ago, late in the evening. Marcus was already in his hammock, and Kyja was getting ready for bed when something caught her eye near the edge of the river. For a moment she thought she’d seen a bird or one of the many throgs that left the water at night. The only thing on the bank was a spindly-branched tree. Then the tree had moved, and Kyja sucked in her breath as something tall turned and disappeared into the woods.