Part 11 (1/2)
”You're right. We will distract them so that they will lose track of time. We will create a diversion with feast and song,” Lady Gwendeleine said.
Ewingerale's eyes twinkled as he whispered more ideas to the penguins, who nodded in agreement.
”My lady!” A small penguin suddenly slid into view from a tunnel hidden in the ice and got up to salute. An ice telescope was hung around his neck. ”We have sighted them, coming in a straight course!”
The advancing archaeopteryx army, in full glory, swept across the sky in one huge V. Maldeor made sure the tip of this deadly avian arrowhead pointed southeast. He was headed toward Kauria. Perched on his great kite, Maldeor was protected inside the V. He frowned at a dark gray ma.s.s in the western sky. The air current became b.u.mpier and b.u.mpier.
Then, all of a sudden, a huge white streak split the sky ahead. A terrible wind rippled the archaeopteryx ranks. Maldeor's carriage bucked like a living thing. Gripping the bamboo frame tightly with his claws, his cloak flapping madly like extra wings, he screeched, ”Careful! Careful! Veer a little east and avoid the storm!” Thunder rumbled. Raindrops the size of grapes pelted them.
Maldeor uncurled a whip and snapped it above the bodies of the twelve geese pulling his carriage. ”Faster, faster! If we get too wet, we'll fall down!” A goose on the left could not keep up with the rest and was dropping alt.i.tude from fatigue. Growling, Maldeor leaned forward and cut off the leather harness from the faltering slave. The goose plummeted down and disappeared in a white circle of foam.
Without the drag, Maldeor's carriage moved faster. He waved his dripping wings in the air. ”Don't let the lightning strike us!”
It's never wise to battle with the army of nature. The archaeopteryxes drifted about like a tattered group of beggars. Once the storm had pa.s.sed, they continued on south, faster than ever, trying to make up for lost time. They did not realize that they had missed Kauria altogether. While his feathers dried, Maldeor peered through a telescope. ”Look, there's Kauria!” he cried to Kawaka, his toothache temporarily forgotten as his confidence returned. He pointed to a huge white iceberg. ”Direct the army to it!”
”The clue said, 'Find flowers amid ice.' There's ice on the island, but no flowers anywhere!” a scholar flying nearby protested.
”Fool! Can't you see that the clue is a literary metaphor? That huge iceberg looks just like a white water lily. Of course course this is Kauria. Onward!” he yelled triumphantly. this is Kauria. Onward!” he yelled triumphantly.
When the archaeopteryx army arrived above the island, Maldeor ordered guards to span overhead so that any other bird coming to find the sword would be stopped and killed. He, the geese, and the rest of his army landed. They folded up the carriage.
”Welcome to our island,” a penguin said, greeting him. ”Come in!”
Maldeor followed him, gaping at the intricacy he saw all around him. Though he was familiar with riches and luxury, the mysterious splendor here was a sight to see. Some walls were so thin they were like gla.s.s, while others let only a blue s.h.i.+mmering light filter through.
”This is indeed like paradise!” he exclaimed as he slid along the corridors. He grinned with delight when the penguin bowed and gestured for them to come into a low, wide hall. ”What hospitality! A feast!”
Scallops and clams were arranged in circles around heaps of pinkish krill. There was s.h.i.+ning black fish roe and diced mackerel, shrimp, and seaweed. A huge silvery fish, the catch of the day, lay on a platter. Two penguins on either side were busy at work, using an ice saw to slice off succulent steaks. The centerpiece, a speckled red starfish, was the most eye-catching of all.
Most of the archaeopteryxes dug in eagerly, but Maldeor ate little because he kept thinking of the sword. ”Thank you for all this,” he said politely to Lady Gwendeleine. ”I was wondering, perhaps, if you might show me the hero's sword?”
”Which one do you mean? We have many. But a long way you've come! After you've eaten and rested, we'll show you around.”
Maldeor did not argue. He knew that he and his soldiers were in bad shape after their exhausting journey. He held an ice shard against his cheek to ease the pain of his toothache. All through the feast, while his soldiers buried their faces in their plates, he stole glances at the corners and the tunnels. Where is the phoenix, Pepheroh? Where are the other toucans? Where is the phoenix, Pepheroh? Where are the other toucans? Then he caught sight of Ewingerale and Fleydur. Then he caught sight of Ewingerale and Fleydur. What! Why are a woodp.e.c.k.e.r and an eagle here? Are they also trying to find the sword? The eagle looks tough. What! Why are a woodp.e.c.k.e.r and an eagle here? Are they also trying to find the sword? The eagle looks tough.
Maldeor signaled to one of his knights to keep an eye on the two. But then...maybe they actually But then...maybe they actually do do live on this cold island. It's magical. Perhaps the phoenix and the rest are hidden somewhere. Perhaps this is a test. live on this cold island. It's magical. Perhaps the phoenix and the rest are hidden somewhere. Perhaps this is a test.
After the feast, the penguins gave a concert on their ice xylophones. Maldeor continued to worry. Today was Hero's Day. The atmosphere was pleasant enough, but the weather was too cold for an archaeopteryx. If he could get the sword immediately, he would fly back to warmer lands.
When the last music piece ended, Maldeor strode fretfully up to Lady Gwendeleine. ”Lady, would you be so kind as to show me your swords now?”
With Winger at her side, Gwendeleine nodded. ”Come and bring the special swords,” she called into the empty tunnels, as planned. There was a soft pattering of feet on ice as stocky penguins entered, balancing weaponry on cus.h.i.+ons on their toes. Each bowed courteously and asked Maldeor, ”Sir, is this it?”
Besides steel and iron swords, there were even ones made of ice. After inspecting twenty of them, he started to feel foolish and angry. Yin Soul had hinted that the magical sword had the eighth gemstone on its hilt. None of the swords here had a gemstone anywhere. There's something behind this, There's something behind this, he thought, narrowing his eyes. Something wasn't right. Again his doubts clouded his mind, and then quickly he formed a plan. he thought, narrowing his eyes. Something wasn't right. Again his doubts clouded his mind, and then quickly he formed a plan.
He turned around and smiled pleasantly at a penguin scholar. ”It seems you have guests here? There's a woodp.e.c.k.e.r and an eagle.”
”Yes, sometimes birds come and go. Seabirds are the majority,” said the penguin scholar.
”I can see why. It's so beautiful here. Even the toucans would want to come.”
The penguin scholar beamed. ”I sure hope they would! They're neighbors, after all.”
Too late, the penguin realized his mistake.
The feathers on Maldeor's face all rose on end, and his eyes squeezed into ugly slits. First my shriveling wing, then my toothache, now this! First my shriveling wing, then my toothache, now this! he thought. ”You tricked me! You're trying to delay me further!” He seized the penguin scholar by the scruff of his neck, holding the end of his sword against the penguin's forehead. ”You know where it really is. Tell me, which direction?” he thought. ”You tricked me! You're trying to delay me further!” He seized the penguin scholar by the scruff of his neck, holding the end of his sword against the penguin's forehead. ”You know where it really is. Tell me, which direction?”
”It's not...I...”
”Tell me!” Maldeor bellowed. The sword point shook. Blood seeped out of a cut between the penguin's eyes.
”How dare you!” Lady Gwendeleine raised a flipper-like wing. ”Release the scholar. Stop!”
Maldeor seized the scholar even tighter and ordered his soldiers to charge the penguins.
Only now did he realize how low the ceiling was. He could not fly. His troops charged as best as they could, staggering and slipping on the ice, but Maldeor could tell they were too full to be in good shape for battle.
The penguins grabbed the heavy ice plates. They hurled them like discuses into the ranks of the charging knights, then turned around and ran into the tunnels.
”Kill them! Kill them!” Maldeor commanded. His soldiers blundered together in a heavy ma.s.s as they chased after the penguins in the tunnels. The ice floor collapsed beneath their weight. Screaming, they disappeared as the black ocean closed over their heads.
When the remaining soggy troops finally drove the penguins into the wide hall of the throne room, penguins kept popping in and out of the tunnels, agile and quick. They ducked blows so that the swords of the archaeopteryxes hacked onto the ice pillars instead.
”Be careful! No!” yelled Maldeor, but it was too late. The damaged pillars wobbled and collapsed. Whole icicles fell down, and the ceiling caved in. What had been beautiful was now deadly. A chilling tune filled the room as the ice fell onto the floor. The archaeopteryxes were trapped. Seeing Maldeor distracted, the penguin scholar wriggled from his grasp and escaped.
”This is a trap, a trick!” Maldeor shouted to his soldiers as wind from the sky blew upon them from a gaping hole in the roof. He hurriedly a.s.sembled his carriage and harnessed the geese. ”Upward! Upward! Don't waste time fighting the penguins! Upward and northward, to Kauria immediately!” His knights and soldiers abandoned the fighting and hurried to follow him. Soon, the remaining archaeopteryxes and the geese were on the move again.
”They're going to Kauria. We must try to stop them!” Winger cried to Fleydur.
Gwendeleine nodded. ”But they shall not be speedy. The food in their bellies will drag them down, and the water on their wings will stiffen. Their wings will feel like lead. There seems to be some fog gathering too. Hurry and you may fly ahead of them yet! Farewell, my friends. Thank you and good luck! Without you, many penguins might not be alive now!”
”Farewell! Keep your gemstone safe!” the eagle and the woodp.e.c.k.e.r cried back. Then, swinging up into the fog, the two birds flew north.
Wind-voice wasn't sure how far the wind had carried him. For the last several minutes he had been flying through a bundle of fog so thick he could not see the water below him or the dying evening sun ahead. But now the mist was thinning around him. He broke through the last few shreds of cloud to find himself over a sea that seemed endless, sprinkled with icy white islands. Far away, in the blue-black water, his eye caught a glimpse of green.