The Death of Yorik Mortwell by Stephen Messer Read Free Book Online Page A

windows were made from colored glass.
    Its front doors opened, and men came out, dressed in brown robes. They held spears.
    They are hunting the red lion
, Yorik realized.
    “Yes,” said the Princess’s rich, deep voice. The voice descended from the starry sky, and from the night shadows all around, but neither the red lion, as it padded dreamily along the rushing river, nor the men in robes with their spears raised seemed to notice. “All of this happened ten thousand human years ago.”
    Yorik watched as the men spread out to encircle the red lion. Suddenly they rushed forward, hurling their spears. The red lion whirled around and roared a primal roar that shook the heavens.
    Pale Moon Luna flickered out once more, and there was darkness.
    “Wait, Your Highness!” said Yorik, anxious. “Did the lion escape?”
    “You should ask Erde,” sang the voice of the invisible Princess. “She was there.”
    “Erde was there? I didn’t see her.”
    “Look closer, then, ghost. Erde is there always.”
    The pale moon reappeared.
    Yorik saw the four hills. It was winter. The river was broad and frozen. Luna’s white light glinted on the ice. The piled stones were gone, and in their place were solid huts built from wood and packed snow. Smoke rose from them. Though everything was cold and barren, the huts looked homey and warm.
    “Do you see her?” asked the Princess.
    Yorik turned in all directions, looking everywhere, but he saw only the hills, mist, and blown snow. “No.”
    “You are not looking.”
    “I am!” said Yorik.
    “Further back, then,” came the Princess’s deep voice, like a rolling thunderstorm.
    Dark, then light. This time there were no huts, no people. This time there were only tall trees covering the hills. There was no river, but a valley of ice that looked as permanent as a mountain. The hills were larger this time, and boulders jutted from them.
    Yorik looked for Erde and did not see her.
I need a higher view
, he thought.
    He found a jagged boulder on his hill and scrambled quickly to the top.
    His gaze roamed over the ancient Estate.
    “I see something,” he said suddenly.
    “Yes,” rolled the voice of the Princess.
    What he saw were the hills. But they were not hills. They were something else. They came up crookedly, the hills. Not hills. Knees, and shoulders. Boulders jutted up like bones and teeth, and the valley of ice like a mouth.
    “It’s Erde,” breathed Yorik. “I see her.”
    “She is the soil of winter and summer,” chanted the Princess’s faraway voice. “She is the land and the bones beneath it.”
    Everywhere he looked now, Yorik saw Erde. He felt overwhelmed by her size and majesty.
    “She is the Oldest!” he exclaimed. “She is the one who asked the hare to speak with me.” He felt humbled that these great beings would ask him for anything.
    “Yes,” snapped the Princess’s voice, and this time it was right next to him and as sharp and haughty as it had ever been. In an eyeblink, Yorik was backin the aviary glade, and the Princess was scowling at him, and Erde was huddled shivering in a tiny ball on the ground.
    “Yes,” she said again. “And you can imagine how bad things have gotten if any of
us
are asking
you
for help.”
    Yorik looked sadly at Erde. She was so small now. “What happened?”
    “Yglhfm,”
moaned Erde in a sad voice.
    The Princess’s twig slashed the air. “At first there was only one of them. It was there when you saw the hunt for the red lion. Back then it was only an infinitesimal shadow, and utterly beneath notice. But recently it somehow opened the way for others, and their numbers have swelled. And now, great Erde, poor Erde, is almost gone.”
    Yorik and the Princess looked grievously at little, huddled Erde.
    “I’ll stop them,” vowed Yorik.
    “And how do you plan to do that, little ghost-boy?” laughed the Princess. “However will you do that?”

Chapter Nine
    L ord Ravenby laid his last child to rest in the Family