The Land of the Silver Apples

And I absolutely admire and respect you. But I was about to say that the kelpies are howling at the approach of a storm. They can feel the winds building, and it drives them mad. I’ve seen it before. They’re all sitting on islands looking out to sea. More importantly, the wind is blowing from them to us, so they won’t smell a thing.”

The Nemesis blushed orange. “Are you sure?” he said.

“Just as sure as God made little brown yarthkins.”

“Oh my.” The Nemesis shivered. “To think I’d have to admit you knew something that I didn’t.”

“St. Columba would be proud of you,” the king said warmly. “He used to say humility was the greatest of virtues.”

The group walked on again with the hobgoblins in front. Father Severus said quietly, “They may look like demons, but their soundness of heart puts me quite to shame.”

Pega pulled Jack to one side and whispered, “I’ve just remembered. Yffi is a half-kelpie. We should tell the Nemesis.”

“And do what?” Jack said urgently. “Go back? Spend winter on the beach? Father Severus would die.”

“But we can’t lie.”

“Wouldn’t you bend the truth just a little to save someone’s life? There’s Father, too. He needs us.” Jack and Pega had stopped. The others went ahead, with the Nemesis holding up the torch.

“I—I suppose you’re right,” Pega faltered. “Only, we have to find the Bard right away. He’ll take care of Yffi.”

“That was my idea, too,” declared Jack as they hurried to catch up.

They went more slowly now, stopping frequently to listen to the howls. Waves clashed. A cold wind began to whip through the tunnel, blowing the torch flame back. And now a faint light came to them from an opening not far away.

They came out to a rocky shore, wading through a small inlet before climbing up to the trail again. Jack suddenly felt dizzy, like he was about to faint. Then the sensation passed. The sea surged in, sending fountains of spray high into the air. Jack braced himself to get drenched, but the spray never reached him. “How is that possible?” he asked the Bugaboo, pointing at the edge of the water. It stopped abruptly, as though something was forcing it back.

“We’ve passed into the realm of Din Guardi,” the hobgoblin said. “It’s protected.”

“Protected?” echoed Jack, thinking that it made more sense to keep Din Guardi from threatening everything else.

“Long ago, when this place was taken from the Man in the Moon, a barrier was made to keep him from returning. The old gods still claim the fortress. The Sea God tries to storm it with his tides. The Forest Lord waits on the land.”

“Is that the ring of Unlife the yarthkins spoke of?” said Jack.

“The same. They cannot enter either.”

“Nothing keeps kelpies out,” the Nemesis said. “Keep moving unless you want to be dinner.” A line of pillars partly hid them on the left. On the right rose a cliff topped by gray walls so crusted with lichen, they looked as though they’d grown out of the earth.

Jack glimpsed a sunrise between a sky filled with roiling clouds and a lurid sea thronged by dangerous-looking rocks. Tall figures rose and fell as they welcomed the coming of the storm.

“Keep down,” the Nemesis hissed.

Jack obeyed, but he couldn’t resist another look. He’d never seen kelpies, except for King Yffi, who’d been bundled in clothes from head to toe. Anyhow, Yffi was only half kelpie. The creatures on the rocks were much taller. It was difficult to see much with the light behind them, but they appeared to be covered in fur. More than anything, they looked like huge otters. Their feet—Jack only had a glimpse of these—ended in long, hooked claws. The kelpies’ cries were horrible and yet oddly musical. The longer Jack listened to them, the better they sounded. He could use such harmonies in his own music. But first he had to get closer.

The Bugaboo yanked Jack so hard, he fell down and cut his lip. “Do you want to get us all devoured?” screeched the hobgoblin. The others were far ahead, watching anxiously. Jack wiped the blood from his mouth and hurried after the king. When they got to where the trail went underground again, they all sat down to rest. The Nemesis was a pasty yellow, and he kept flinching whenever he heard a howl.

“What was wrong with you?” asked Thorgil. “The Bugaboo had to go back.”

Jack looked at the sea. He couldn’t see the kelpies, but he could hear them. It was a kind of music they made, full of longing and another emotion he couldn’t put his finger on. He wanted to hear more.

“Hello? Anybody home?” Pega waved her hand in front of Jack’s face.

“That’s how kelpies attract their prey,” the Bugaboo said. “They make you want to be eaten. You’d march right down their throats unless someone stopped you. We should go on before the storm hits.” The sun had completely disappeared, and a flash of light, followed immediately by thunder, made the kelpies redouble their howls.

Very little light penetrated the tunnel, and they soon had to halt. “Who’s carrying the torches?” said Thorgil.

“I am,” replied Ethne. “Oh, thistle fuzz! The water drenched my basket. I suppose it happened when I floated it on that stream we passed.”

“Why ever did you do such a thing?” cried Pega.

“I don’t know,” the elf lady said vaguely. “Perhaps the basket reminded me of the toy boats we had in Elfland. We used to sail toddlers in them, you know, to make them scream. Such fun!”

“I can draw fire from the earth,” Jack said before Pega lost her temper. He still had the flint and iron from Elfland, but the torches were so wet, only magic could light them. He made a small heap of kindling from the charred stub of the Nemesis’ torch.

“Is this the wizardry you practiced in the dungeon?” remarked Father Severus.

“Yes, sir,” said Jack, bracing himself for a lecture, but the monk didn’t try to interfere. The boy cast his mind down through the rocks and the water oozing through cracks below. Once, he would have found it impossible to work magic with an audience, but his skill had strengthened with practice.

The rocks were old beyond imagining, although it had never occurred to Jack before that rocks could have an age. They felt used up, all the life gone out of them. Trees and grass would never grow here, no matter how carefully you tended them.

Jack realized that he’d seen no garden in the fortress, not even the herbs cooks and wise women grew. Come to think of it, there’d been no women, either.

He reached deeper. The water had a faint radiance as it fell from the sky, but it lost it in the dark channels of the rock. Was this what happened when you banished the old gods? Dangerous and unfriendly they might be, but they ruled the green world.

Jack reached a barrier. He pushed at it, and the barrier pushed back, making his stomach heave and his heart flutter in his chest. He came awake with his skin drenched with sweat and his hands clenched for battle.

“I can’t do it,” he gasped. The storm was at full strength now. Wind howled in the mouth of the tunnel, and thunder shook the walls.

“Thor’s driving his chariot across the sky,” Thorgil said.

“I wish he’d go somewhere else,” said Pega.

“Nonsense! That’s a glorious noise. It means Thor is hurling his hammer at enemies.”

“As usual, you are steeped in ignorance,” said Father Severus. “God casts down lightning to remind us of the final judgment. It would be best to fall to your knees and implore His mercy.”

“A thrall god’s idea,” sneered Thorgil. “I’d rather shake my fist at Him.”

“Stop wasting time,” cried the Nemesis, who was dancing from one foot to the other in agitation. “If one of those kelpies sticks his snout in here, you can kiss your drumsticks good-bye.”

“He’s right,” the Bugaboo agreed. “I’ve been through these tunnels often enough to feel the way.”

“What do you mean—” began Jack, and stopped. In the dim light he saw the hobgoblin king’s ears unfurl to their fullest. They were as wide as his outstretched arms, and framing the rims were long, white hairs that stuck straight out like a cat’s whiskers.

“I’ll have to ask you all to be quiet,” the Bugaboo said. “My hearing is painfully keen right now. Join hands,