The Husks of Night

Chapter 10

Somewhere in the distance, far away from where Sofian began to wake, there gleamed a silver boat in the shape of a crescent moon. It had seemingly capsided in the waves and then gotten lodged in the sand. The setting sun's rays reflected off the boats shiny surface and pierced directly at Sofian's eyes. He winced and flipped onto his stomach. He began to push himself up from the ground.

Sofian was still on the island, but while he was sleeping, it had changed profoundly. The forests at the base of the island had grown unbelievably tall, enveloping the entire cliffside in what were now scarlet red, royal blue, and gold trees. The road leading up to what had once been the palace was made of brightly colored yellow bricks.

From what Sofian could see, the palace hadn't changed significantly in form, but it looked more like an elaborate bird cage than a castle. Even from the beach, he could see that there was some kind of commotion at the top of the cliff. He was beginning to regret agreeing so quickly.

Sofian looked to the horizon and saw the sun dipping into the sea. He groaned under his breath. She stole six hours from him. Lunastasia meant what she said about not playing fair. With little else to do but begin, Sofian started up the yellow road to the castle.

When he reached the gates, he was shocked to find that there weren't any Pottery Guards and that the gate itself was no longer a gate but the entrances to two tunnels. One of them was lit by floating paper lanterns and the other led into an overgrown garden that was filled with massive flowers and mushrooms. Sofian stood in front of the entrances and tried to decide which one was more likely to get him into the castle. The yellow brick road ran through both passages, so it was no longer a help. Eventually, he decided that the garden must be where the courtyard was before and he walked up to the entrance.

"I wouldn't go that way if I were you."

The voice came from above Sofian. He stumbled backward with his head craned upwards, searching for the source. His eyes scanned the top of the wall and he almost caught a glimpse of something, but the figure leapt from the forty-foot wall and landed a mere couple of feet away from Sofian. The figure rose from his crouch and Sofian turned around to face him.

The figure looked human. He was slightly taller than Sofian with silver hair and one black eye. The other eye was a captivating amber. He wore clothes like the kind Sofian had seen nobles wear - crisp black pants, a satin, ivory vest with silver buttons, a velvet purple overcoat, and silky white gloves. He strode even closer to Sofian, entirely unfazed by his extraordinary fall. Sofian squinted his eyes in disbelief. He looked almost exactly the same as he did in Sofian's dream.

"Mavah?" he gaped.

"Not exactly a question, is it?" Mavah clasped his hands behind his back, "not when you ask it like that."

"I just saw your boat on the shore - it looked like it crashed. Is everything all right?"

"Oh, everything is wonderf-f-f-" jagged black scratches started to flickering across Mavah's face and his head cocked to the side as he choked on his own words. Sofian watched in confusion and horror as Mavah started to levitate off the ground. Mavah started to contort in the air and his body racked with convulsions. Then all at once, Mavah dropped onto his feet and assumed again his easy posture. He even chuckled under his breath when he said, "everything is wonderful."

Sofian remained bug-eyed and speechless. His hand absently clutched at Kismet's Token while he kept a nervous watch over Mavah. The spirit gently brushed the back of his hand down Sofian's cheek and he gave a smile that was both sympathetic and deeply disturbing.

"It seems everything is not wonderful for you," Mavah remarked, then he whirled around behind Sofian, resting his hands on his shoulders. Sofian glanced side to side, trying to see him. Mavah leaned his head over Sofian's right shoulder. He pointed them to peer down the lefthand tunnel and uttered, "if you mean to find the Queen, that's the path for you."