A Voyage Through Air Read online

  The librarian polished his glasses with a small piece of cloth. ‘I see, Majesty.’

  ‘And this is Prince Lantic of the Second Realm.’ Taggie tried to keep her voice neutral, but it was difficult for her. She’d grown close to Lantic during their adventure to find Lord Colgath. She considered him a friend as well as a useful companion (and nothing else, she told herself sternly).

  Lantic, a gangling fourteen-year-old with floppy dark hair, gave the flustered librarian his best smile. ‘Hello.’

  ‘Your highness,’ Mr Blake said formally; he still couldn’t take his gaze from the imposing Dark Lord.

  ‘We are going to need your help, Mr Blake,’ Taggie said.

  ‘Of course, Majesty. How may I assist you?’

  Taggie kept her face expressionless. ‘I need to find Mirlyn’s Gate,’ she told the librarian.

  Mr Blake turned away from the Karrak Lord to gawp at the young Queen of Dreams. He saw a charming thirteen-year-old girl with straight auburn hair that came down over her shoulders. Her eyes were very brown, and looking at him so intensely that he knew she wasn’t having a joke at his expense. ‘That may prove difficult,’ he stammered in what may have been the biggest understatement of his career.

  He led them through a narrow archway at the far end of the library, the stone lintel was inscribed:

  IN HONOUR OF ALL THOSE LOST AT ROTHGARNAL

  It opened into a hexagonal annexe that was nearly half the size of the library itself. ‘Queen Layawhan had this section of the palace built after the Battle of Rothgarnal,’ Mr Blake explained. Just like the main library, the six sides of the annexe were all lined with ancient leather-bound books whose gold lettering was almost faded from age. ‘These books list all those from the First Realm who gave their lives during the war. They also contain the tales of every survivor who chronicled that time, along with official records and accounts from many other Realms.’

  Taggie looked round the shelves. She couldn’t begin to count how many tomes were there – probably thousands. ‘So the answer could be here?’

  Mr Blake pulled an unhappy face. ‘Majesty. The search for Mirlyn’s Gate has essentially been going on from the moment that the War Emperor and the Grand Lord left the battlefield together taking it with them. It is one of the greatest mysteries in all the realms.’

  ‘What can you tell us?’ she asked.

  ‘Very little outside the basic history every child learns before their tenth birthday,’ Mr Blake said.

  ‘Then we’ll start there,’ Lantic said.

  The four of them gathered around a reading table next to the annexe’s fireplace, where flames burned brightly in the grate. An assistant librarian brought a tray of tea and cakes while Mr Blake began the story of Mirlyn’s Gate.

  ‘The Universal Fellowship of Mages was formed during the First Times,’ he told them as the logs crackled and tea was poured for everybody. ‘They forged the Great Gateways between Realms, allowing travel and trade to enrich everyone. But Mirlyn, the greatest mage of all, went further; he opened his gate into the Dark Universe. To begin with, everyone on both sides celebrated, for the wealth and enlightenment which had bloomed as the realms were opened to each other by the Great Gateways was nothing compared to the hopes of two universes mixing. But it soon became clear that there were fundamental differences between the two universes, and they proved most disagreeable to anyone who crossed over.’ Mr Blake glanced at Lord Colgath, seeking confirmation.

  The Karrak Lord’s perfect silver eyes set in a skeletal head reflected tiny copies of the old librarian. ‘That is true enough,’ he said in his deep voice. ‘I find this universe too bright, it is too hot, its very fabric torments every cell in my body. Each living moment I spend here is a punishment. So it is for all of us who came through. But we all had such magnificent dreams for the future when Mirlyn’s Gate opened. The opportunities for our growth appeared limitless. Our magic is stronger here, there were vast uninhabited lands we could claim for our own. At first, we thought we could shelter ourselves from those ill effects, so we persevered. It was a foolish delusion born of arrogance we gave to ourselves. We tried to change the nature of the world around us, to make it less hostile. Some of us succeeded to a small extent – the dawn of yet another false hope. And of course those changes were inevitably hostile to the natives of this universe. That was the start of a conflict which pride and stupidity on both sides quickly helped to escalate. A struggle which culminated in the Battle of Rothgarnal.’

  ‘Unfortunately, yes,’ Mr Blake agreed, now relaxing a little in the Dark Lord’s presence. ‘As the Battle of Rothgarnal ended its ninth day, both the War Emperor and the Grand Lord admitted the price both sides had paid in lives was too much. They made a blood-bound agreement that would end the fighting. The War Emperor gave his word his forces would withdraw from the Fourth Realm. In return, the Grand Lord gave his assurance that the folk of the Dark Universe would not leave the Fourth Realm.’ Mr Blake gave the brooding Karrak Lord a nervous glance. ‘Regrettably, those promises have not been well kept down the centuries.’ He shrugged. ‘But we are concerned with Mirlyn’s Gate, as were the War Emperor and the Grand Lord. It is the only opening that exists between the two universes. Both leaders were desperately worried that the gate would permit invasion in either direction – those were sad warlike times, remember, full of suspicion and mistrust. Rumours were strong that there was a similar conflict raging in the Dark Universe as people from this universe fought against its nature as we did here.’

  ‘Ha,’ the Lord Colgath purred. ‘No rumour to me, librarian. I was there that day when my father and the War Emperor stood side by side and bound Mirlyn’s foul Gate.’

  ‘You were there?’ Taggie asked in amazement. ‘At Rothgarnal? But that was . . .’

  ‘A very, very long time ago,’ the Karrak Lord agreed. ‘I was a youngster then, of course. The truth is that Rothgarnal was fought purely over possession of Mirlyn’s Gate. The gate was bound shut because both sides feared it might be used to wage war on the other universe. Before it was, I looked though with my own eyes and witnessed a battle just as savage as Rothgarnal being fought on the other side. Death was everywhere that day, and it was terrible in its magnitude. When the truce was declared, my father decided to sacrifice our future here in order to protect our home universe. He offered me the chance to return home before it was closed, but I would not desert my brethren. I chose to stay, to share my fate with those I loved and fought with.’

  ‘This might sound odd,’ Taggie said, ‘but I’m glad you did. I’m glad you’re here. It gives us a chance to put things right.’

  Lord Colgath inclined his head respectfully.

  Lantic put his empty cup back on the table. ‘So how many times have people tried to find Mirlyn’s Gate?’

  ‘There is no recorded number, Prince,’ Mr Blake said. ‘Though I know of six major attempts by Kings and Queens of various realms. Numerous adventurers and explorers have also quested down the centuries. Not to mention every seer that has been born since. All to no avail.’

  ‘And my brethren, too, have searched,’ Lord Colgath said. ‘With equally empty results. It would seem the War Emperor and my father were very determined and extremely clever.’

  ‘Then if nothing else, you can tell me where not to waste my time searching,’ Taggie told the librarian.

  ‘The Gate does not reside in the Fourth Realm,’ Lord Colgath said. ‘Of that you may be certain.’

  ‘Could they have brought it here?’ Taggie asked.

  ‘No. It is not in the First Realm,’ Mr Blake told her. ‘The very shape of this realm means we have no hidden places.’

  Taggie pursed her lips. ‘I don’t think it could be in the Outer Realm, either. Every square inch of land has been photographed from air and space, there are no secrets left there.’

  ‘There are several theories among scholars who study the mystery,’ Mr Blake said. ‘Given Mirlyn’s Gate has remained lost for so long, the disaste
r theory is the strongest. So it goes that the War Emperor and the Grand Lord were on their way to an agreed hiding place when they were overtaken by some unexpected tragedy. Mainly that their ship sank in uncharted waters. If so, there is simply no point in attempting to find it. The same goes for the two great endings theories.’

  ‘What are they?’ Lantic asked, intrigued.

  ‘Legend says there is a waterfall at the end of the Sixth Realm’s sea,’ Mr Blake said. ‘None have ever returned with proof one way or the other, for it is a vast sea which has so far defeated even the boats of the elves in their voyages to find a far shore. But if the War Emperor and the Grand Lord did indeed sail through the sunset and over the waterfall into the everlasting abyss, then Mirlyn’s Gate would be truly lost to this universe.’

  ‘That’s as bad as a shipwreck,’ Taggie said. She’d known it wasn’t going to be easy, but with barely an hour of a real historian explaining the problem she was starting to lose heart.

  ‘Indeed, Majesty,’ Mr Blake said. ‘The second great endings theory is that Mirlyn’s Gate was somehow taken over the wall.’

  ‘The wall? What wall?’

  ‘It circles the Seventh Realm,’ Lord Colgath said. ‘No Karrak Lord has seen it.’

  ‘The wall is at least a two-year trip from the central lands where most Seventh Realm folk live,’ Mr Blake said. ‘The wilderness is inhospitable at best, and full of wild creatures, but with a large well-equipped caravan of determined people, it is possible to reach the wall. The Holvans have mounted at least nine successful expeditions in the last seven hundred years. One of them was sent by their King Usaran to see if there was any sign of Mirlyn’s Gate. They found nothing, of course.’

  ‘What’s on the other side of the wall?’ Taggie asked.

  Mr Blake didn’t quite manage to hide his smile. ‘Why, nobody knows, Majesty. Common belief in the Seventh Realm is that it holds back the Realm of the Dead. We’ll never know, of course, for the wall is fifty miles high. It is impossible to climb over and discover what lies beyond.’

  ‘So what does that leave us with?’ she asked.

  ‘There are two lesser theories,’ Mr Blake said, clearly enjoying the attention he was being given.

  ‘Go on,’ Taggie said, knowing she’d probably regret asking.

  ‘One is that they travelled to the Realm of Air where they took it on board a ship, and sailed into the sun.’

  ‘If that’s right, then the Gate would have been destroyed,’ Lantic said.

  ‘Indeed,’ Mr Blake agreed.

  Taggie looked at Lord Colgath. ‘Would your father have agreed to that?’

  The Karrak Lord stirred uncomfortably. A shoal of red flecks swept across his smoke cloak. ‘It is unlikely. However, he was the most honourable among us. If there was no other way, he would likely sacrifice himself thus. Such a selfless act would befit a Grand Lord.’

  There was a long pause.

  ‘And the other lesser theory?’ Taggie prompted.

  ‘Perhaps the most simple and elegant of all,’ Mr Blake said. ‘The War Emperor and the Grand Lord called out to the angels, who – alarmed by the number of souls slain in the Battle of Rothgarnal – broke their promise to the gods and came down from the Heavens one last time. The angels took pity on the two war-weary leaders, and carried Mirlyn’s Gate into the Heavens, where it sits somewhere amid the stars, forever beyond mortal reach.’

  ‘Ha!’ Lord Colgath sneered. ‘That is nothing but a simple child’s fable. If it were true, then my father would have returned. He did not, and neither did your War Emperor. That is not how Mirlyn’s Gate was lost.’

  ‘What do you remember of the actual day they left?’ Taggie asked Colgath. ‘Did your father say anything to you?’

  The Karrak Lord’s silver eyes appeared momentarily tarnished. ‘After the binding, he bade me and Amenamon farewell, and told us he would return when he could. That was the last I saw of him. When morning broke, he and the War Emperor had gone.’

  ‘So now what?’ Lantic asked.

  Taggie looked at her friend, and found she had nothing to say.

  Sophie the skymaid turned up with the assistant librarians, all of them bringing lunch trays into the annexe. Taggie was delighted her friend was going to help, as so far the morning had been fruitless. Sophie gazed at all the books as she hovered above the table, her big wings a blur in the air. Long fronds of her red hair were waving about indolently, making it look as if flames were leaping around her head. Like all skyfolk, her skin was almost translucent, and her slender frame made her appear almost fragile – though Taggie knew just how wrong it was to make that assumption: Sophie was one of the toughest people she knew.

  ‘Any progress?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘None,’ Lantic complained.

  ‘Good job I’m here to help then,’ the skymaid announced, and landed on one of the stools at the table.

  Taggie slid a pile of ledgers over to her. ‘You could start with the Light Guard’s official inventory. If we knew what they took with them when they escorted the War Emperor, it might give us a clue where they were heading.’

  ‘Oh great,’ Sophie said with a great deal of irony. ‘My favourite.’

  Taggie grinned, and returned to the accounts of the last day of the battle. She was still reading the ancient journals two hours later when she caught a strange motion in the corner of her eye, a flicker similar to Sophie flapping her wings. Earl Maril’bo sauntered into the hexagonal annexe. Taggie let out a happy squeal and ran across the room, heedless of the surprised looks that earned her from the others around the table.

  ‘Maril’bo,’ she exclaimed excitedly. She held both arms out to the seven-foot-tall elf, and grinned up at him.

  Earl Maril’bo was dressed in his usual loops of rainbow-shaded cloth, with firestar pouches and a couple of broad, curving daggers buckled on. His mirror board was slung over his back, where his lengthy plume of jet-black hair constantly flicked against it.

  ‘Yo, little Queen.’ He grinned back and took her hands in his. ‘Good to see you again. You’ve grown a couple of inches since last year.’

  ‘Yes, but I’m never going to get to your height, am I?’

  He chortled. ‘Give it a couple of hundred years, you never know.’

  Sophie flew across the reading table, and stayed airborne so her head was level with the elf. ‘Yo, Maril’bo.’ She held up a hand, and he high-fived her.

  ‘Sophs! I heard about the fight in London. You v. a helicopter, huh? Major league, awesome.’

  ‘Oh, it was nothing,’ Sophie said in a casual fashion that didn’t fool Taggie for a moment.

  ‘Why are you here?’ Taggie asked. ‘Uh, not that I’m not glad to see you.’

  Earl Maril’bo smiled down at her, white teeth shining bright amid his midnight-black skin. The kindness shown there just made him look even more handsome. ‘Been hearing about you, little Queen. The wind is full of very strange songs.’ He turned to stare at Lord Colgath, and nodded ever so slightly. ‘Dude.’

  ‘Earl Maril’bo,’ Lord Colgath acknowledged.

  ‘So it is, like, true,’ Earl Maril’bo said almost to himself.

  ‘And this is Prince Lantic of the Second Realm,’ Taggie said to divert his attention; it felt as if he and Lord Colgath were getting ready to fight each other.

  ‘Earl,’ Lantic said, and there was a definite note of sourness in his voice.

  ‘Lord Colgath has agreed to help me,’ Taggie explained to the elf.

  ‘Help you do what?’

  ‘Find Mirlyn’s Gate.’

  Earl Maril’bo laughed for a long time. ‘Man oh man, that is something else, little Queen. Only you could come up with that one.’ He glanced over at Prince Lantic. ‘What does your father say about this?’

  ‘He hasn’t been told yet,’ Lantic said. ‘Captain Feandez should arrive in Shatha’hal soon. We’re hoping what he has will make my father reconsider the war.’

  Earl Maril’bo pulled thoughtfull
y on his lower lip. ‘That’d be cool. But this invasion the War Emperor is planning is something that can’t be stopped by hope alone. No offence, little Queen.’

  ‘None taken,’ Taggie assured him. ‘I’m starting to appreciate how difficult this task is going to be. Do the elves have any ideas as to where Mirlyn’s Gate is?’

  ‘Not really. We have few songs about Mirlyn. Us elves, we kind of take it for granted that the War Emperor and Grand Lord sailed over the waterfall at the end of the Sixth Realm and fell into the abyss.’ He paused and gave Lord Colgath a curious look. ‘But if you’re going to be serious about this, we don’t even know how big Mirlyn’s Gate was, if it would even have fitted on to a ship. Most of the Great Gateways certainly wouldn’t.’

  Taggie pulled a face, annoyed she’d never thought to ask even that simple question. ‘Lord Colgath? You saw Mirlyn’s Gate.’

  ‘I did,’ the Dark Lord replied with a low murmur. ‘It was a big circle of stone perhaps four or five metres in diameter, but made from hundreds of smaller blocks of stone.’

  ‘Five metres?’ Lantic said. ‘The Zanatuth we saw in the Fourth Realm wouldn’t have fitted through a hole five metres wide. They were huge animals.’

  ‘Indeed,’ Lord Colgath admitted. ‘But that was after it was subdued and bound by my father and the War Emperor. I also saw it open – then it was much larger. My father had seen it larger still, he claimed. Our lore masters believed it could expand to whatever size was needed. That was one of the reasons my father was worried about an invasion.’

  ‘But when it was taken from Rothgarnal it was five metres across?’ Lantic persisted.

  ‘About that, as I recall, yes.’

  ‘Difficult to move, but not impossible,’ Lantic said. ‘A large cart could carry it.’

  ‘So where’s the nearest Great Gateway to Rothgarnal?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘They didn’t need a Great Gateway to take it away,’ Taggie said. Her hand went to the large leather bag hanging round her neck, which contained the dark gate that used to belong to Lord Golzoth. She was getting used to the strange magic which ran through it now, though it was very weak. The best she could hope for was to open it a couple of times more – and she only needed one, to bring Mirlyn’s Gate back. ‘The Grand Lord had a personal gate.’