Air Keep by J. Scott Savage

Author:J. Scott Savage
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9781609073251
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Published: 2013-02-26T00:00:00+00:00

Part 3

Aerisians

Chapter 24

A Dark Vision

Marcus could only stare at the people—or were they creatures?—standing before him. After everything he and Kyja had been through, he didn’t know what to think. Did this mean the ishkabiddles had been . . . what? A joke? Another riddle? Or were these beings—who seemed to be nothing more than a crazy patchwork of other plants and animals—the joke?

Just before he found himself here, Marcus had seen the glass castle tearing itself apart. Was that real? Or had the whole thing—castles, gardens, and ishkabiddles—been some kind of elaborate illusion?

He had no idea. And he didn’t think the man and woman before him would provide the answers.

“Are you . . .” He searched for the right word, but the best he could come up with was, “Real?”

The woman looked at the man to her left and giggled—a tinkling of bells, a splashing of water, and a whistle of wind through trees, all in one.

The man pulled his spear—a tree branch with green leaves still growing along its length—from the grass, drew back his arm and launched the spear into the air. It soared far above the island, circled back like a boomerang, and planted itself in the ground. A dark-green vine climbed the spear. Pink roses bloomed along the vine like a movie set to fast forward.

“Does that look real to you?” the man asked.

Marcus was almost positive the Aerisian’s words hadn’t been uttered by human vocal cords. Like the woman’s laughter, the sound came from something else. The scream of a dragon, the clang of metal on rock, the roar of a rushing river. Somehow they all blended to form words he could understand. It reminded him a little of the electric pianos that let you play a song using dog barks or other random sounds.

“The ishkabiddles looked real too,” Marcus said.

The woman laughed again. “They are.” She had the same mixed-together voice as the man, except while his sounds were all growls, roars, and crashes, her voice was made of gentler sounds—chirping crickets, rustling leaves blown across the ground, and the tinkle of water tapping against a window pane. “I’m Divum and this is Caelum. Would you prefer to speak with the ishkabiddles? I rather think they looked quite splendid in their crowns and capes.”

“We’d prefer to get some answers,” Kyja said, her face stern. “Some serious answers.”

Caelum chuckled, and Marcus thought their constant laughter was going to get old fast. “I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place for serious answers. Didn’t you get enough of those from your water and land friends?” From the man’s tone, it was clear what he thought of the land and water elementals.

Marcus snorted. “At least they didn’t attack us and put us through a bunch of stupid riddles.”

“Welcomed you right in, did they?” Caelum held out his hand, which was made of tiny frogs, each puffing up its throat and croaking softly. Marcus wondered what would happen if they leaped away at once. Would the man lose his hand? Or would something else take their place?

“Well .

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