Chapter 20
The string I held in my hand throbbed and broke apart as we flew out of nothingness onto a marble floor covered with rugs that looked like woven grass and smelled of flowers. Columns of yellow gold stones rose around us like the nave of the church. Yet there was no ceiling just an open sky above, blue, with a hint of green in it. The long processional led to a raised dais and on it was a table set with chairs. There was a huge party seated and standing around it. Before we rose to our feet, armed Dursvan and green-eyed men surrounded us. They did not look happy.
None of us moved from the floor until Zip turned her head and spoke what I took to be her language.
She said, "I am Zyperia, Selwyn and Eilwynn are with me. Jadewyn James and his friend."
The weapons, short staffs with open ends raised and the blue eyes behind them devoured us. Then, one raised her to her feet and others helped the Warriors up. Officials hurried down to our group and began to babble; I raised my hands to my ears and tried to sort it all out. Murphy was next up and stood under guard until she pushed their weapons down. He in helped me to my feet and I had to hold onto him until my head settled. "You okay, Jade?" He looked worried.
Two men even taller than I stepped forward and took my hand, looking at my palm.
"Your mother?" He questioned, and I understood him.
"Ethelyn Madaras," I answered. "My name is Jadewyn James."
He looked me over. "You followed the string to this world?"
"Through the Crystal Gate," I sagged against Murphy and many hands held me. "I'm tired."
"You did what no warrior has accomplished in millennium. You traveled the Crystal Way, opened the Gate sealed for centuries."
"The Druz won't find and use it?" I asked, worried.
He shook his head and gestured to the dais. His men pushed me gently towards the nearest chair. "I am Lord Belywyn, commander of the Celene war force, second to the King." He turned to Zip and her friends. "My lady, it is with heartfelt joy I welcome you and your guardians home. You will be escorted to the healers, and thence to your rooms." He turned back to me as I was eased into a chair like a chaise lounge and laid out as if I was waiting for a Margarita. He knelt at my side, his hand on my chest and over my heart. "My Lord, a healer will see to you also. Rest. As soon as you are able, we will discuss your plans for this war."
"Plans for this war?" I leaned on one elbow. "I'm not some military genius, Lord– Belywyn. I'm only a 16-year-old kid who lost his way. I don't know anything!"
Murphy hushed me. "Jade, you're tired, hurt. In over your head. Get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning. You are where you wanted to be right? You managed to get away from a horde of dudes out to harm you, right? You have some instincts, let them help you."
"Murph, I want to go home," I whined, and he patted me on the shoulder.
"So do we all, Jade."
"You are home, Lord Jadewyn. It will look brighter in the morning. I will bring the healer."
My hand burned and the coin was there, glowing in the palm of my hand like a miniature sun.
"Ohh," whispers built to a crescendo around us as the beauty of the stone turned everything to emerald. I felt the entire chorus of strings moan and struggled to control it. M y hand curled around the coin and covered one with the other. The light turned dark as another sought to control it.
"Druz!" I gasped. "Trying to force me to bring them forth! My blood calls to them!"
The girl pushed away from her escort, and came to my side, putting her hands on mine. I felt her magic join mine, her strength shored up my own. Little by little, we pushed back the mass of men creeping towards me.
My light snapped back, the strings uncoiled and retreated as my blood cooled. Sweat beaded her brow, and she looked worse than filthy, more than pale yet she managed a smile.
"You have a strength that is rare and honest, Jadewyn James. You wield the Strings with the sensitivity of the Harpist."
She kissed my forehead and I felt the hot flash of blood rush my face, but not one laughed at me. They led her away, offered her helping hands, but she pushed them back and walked proudly beside her two body men.
"Oh crap," I said and sank back into the cushions. I vaguely felt other hands on me, but wasn't quite in the present.
*
I woke up in a strange place, a small room that consisted of the bed and nothing else. It was a bed like no other – like an island on which I floated, it smelled of exotic spice and fanciful dreams. I felt cradled in luxury, and did not want to move. I wore only a flimsy white robe and a pad around my calf, was clean, my hair washed and neatly braided. I felt okay. No longer tired. I was hungry and thirsty. I had to use the restroom, but the moment I thought about getting up, the bed slowly moved and rolled me to its edge where I slid my feet out and touched the floor. As soon as I stood up, the whole bed moved away from me, folded up and disappeared into the wall.
"At least I don't have to make it," I muttered. In its place was a small closet door and when I pulled it open, I saw nothing but a blank wall. "Huh. Some kind of weird Murphy bed."
"My Lord Jadewyn?"
I turned my head and there was a Dursvan and one of the Lords I'd seen at the table. They bowed. "Are you ready to break your fast? Join us?"
"I could use the restroom." I looked around, his bigger room. It looked like a lobby, complete with empty waiting rooms, and benches. He pointed to another closet door and when I opened it, I found the commodities. Pretty much the same in all worlds. Used it, washed my hands and joined them.
"Hungry? We have a repast waiting at the War Room."
"You are?" He was young with his hair pulled back so that I could see his face and the shape of his head.
"I am Janorwyth Selwyn, a Second Commander in the Line Forces. This Dursvan is Col.
Chrysos. He is cousin to the bodyguard who will join you presently."
"That Capt. Kiannyn?"
"Yes. He tried to follow you and could not breach the Gate."
"He didn't get hurt, did he?"
"No. But that is his role, Lord Jadewyn to protect you. Come, it is time to eat." He led me on a gentle stroll back to the war room and everyone stood up as we wandered down to the table where I was seated in the center. Warlords stood around me and explained the meaning of the board laid out on the surface. I saw navies massed on two great inland seas and both mounted forces, infantry and something called the winged battalion, which I assumed were some sort of planes. "Where are these forces and where will this war be fought?" I questioned with no knowledge of the name of the area where the Armed Forces waited.
"On Celene. The Druz have managed to pull their armies through a gate from Dursvan to the Plains of Keogh. It is only a week's march from here. If we do not stop them there, they will be at the gates to the city."
"And the Dursvan world?" I asked and he looked taken aback at my question. I explained hurriedly. "What technical or military use do they want from Dursvan?"
Col. Chrysos answered. "It is a power source that the Druz use to open the gates, and is only a few planes from here. As is the world, you came from. Their power sources are nearly unlimited and the Druz have learned to tap into it."
"Electrical?"
"No. Magnetic. Do your people and government not notice the fluctuations in your Poles and fields?"
I snorted. "They blame everything on global warming. Where does the power come from that fuels the coin?"
"The coin? Oh, you mean the Seillach Pangorum. The Tree taps into the force that holds the universe together, that binds the strings and holds all. Say, the life force of every living thing down to the minutest particle. That is the source of power you hold. You can use only what you can control." He stared at me. "You can control more than any living creature born, Lord Jadewyn. In all recorded histories of all the planes and worlds we reach, no one has wielded the power to make the Seillach Pangorum, your coin, glow green or make the Tree bloom. That is why the Druz want you and your coin. With you, they control the life force of the universe. With you, they will re-create their world and make it dominant. With you, they will crush every living thing of beauty and freedom under their curse."
I sighed. All this on my shoulders and before breakfast. People turned the tabletop over and began to replace it with plates, baskets and tureens of food. I buried my face in my plate and ate my way through the buffet line.