Excerpts from Paths to Triplos, by Martin Somers

Just around the corner, where he would have come had he not climbed the hill, was a small band of men, all dressed in green and armed with knives and bows. They were waiting in the bushes beside the path, ready to ambush him as he went by. He wondered what turn of fate had made him decide on this particular hill to use as a lookout post.

Kevin looked around and tried see a way to get past the roadblock. The bush seemed like the best bet, but he couldn't be sure that there weren't more men there. He had his Swiss Army knife with him, but there was no way he could fight off so many. He pulled back in case they could see him, and leaned against a tree to think. Suddenly, his arms were grabbed from behind and pulled around the tree trunk. He screamed, and tried to struggle free, but he was held tight in a grip of iron. He twisted his head around to try to see his assailant, but the tree was in the way. He was a prisoner, but he knew not who or what his captor was!

Then a council was held to decide upon Kevin's fate. Kevin told his story, but had trouble explaining just where he had come from. After the men had listened and asked him several questions, they introduced him to Lune, a boy about his own age. The men told the boys to leave them for a while, so off they went. They explored a cave, climbed a tree and generally did what twelve year old boys do when they are having fun in the country, then when they got tired they just sat and talked. The Tenal lived in this world, which was much the same as ours, though Lune didn't know a lot about lands beyond his own. He spoke of the great separation of the worlds that had occurred centuries ago, but didn't know what it really meant. He told Kevin that this was a hunting party and that their town, Vanth, with its women and children and schools and shops lay about three days' walk to the east.

Kevin told Lune about his own world, with its cars and cities and airplanes and space travel, but Lune just laughed and accused him of making up stories. Kevin's cheeks flushed with sudden anger, but there was little he could do since he didn't even have so much as a picture of what he had described. They sat in silence for a while, and Kevin wondered about Lune. What was he, really? In appearance he would have passed for a regular kid, long dark hair, light brown skin and brown eyes. He was a little taller than Kevin, and remarkably good looking, but Kevin couldn't get rid of the feeling that there was something, well, different about him; perhaps something magical. He began to speculate about this, but then they heard the others calling to them, so they went back to the group.

Kevin stood rooted to the spot. He watched sadly as his new friends moved off quickly towards the northeast. He turned to look at the castle. One entered by going up a flight of stone steps and through a large iron door. The door stood partly open, but the stairs were guarded by a pair of statues - griffins he thought - one on each side. "There's no need to be afraid of statues," thought Kevin. He started to climb the stairs, watching the statues as he climbed. Was it his imagination or did they turn their heads to watch him? He had seen pictures in which the eyes seemed to look straight at the observer, no matter what angle they were viewed from. These statues must have been made the same way. He climbed another few stairs. Now he was sure that the stone griffins were watching him. He was terrified and started to turn back.

Kevin faced down the stairs and prepared to run after his friends, but just as he started to do so a large dark shape emerged from the trees near the foot of the stairs. He could never quite describe the shape when he thought about it later, but he knew that it was horrible and filled him with a nameless dread. He was trapped between the Haakclaw and the griffins!

He had to make up his mind. He remembered that Mage was supposed to be good, and the Haakclaw was certainly evil. In an instant he decided to enter the castle. He turned and ran up the stairs. The gaze of the griffins was so strong that he could feel it like a net, trapping him, making it hard to run. With a final burst of energy, fueled by terror, he snapped through the invisible net, raced through the iron door, and swung it shut behind him. He was inside the castle, but was he safe? Were the griffins on his side? And were they a match for the Haakclaw?

"Are you Mage?"

"That is what they call me," said the old man, "and who are you that comes, bringing the ancient evil into my house?"

"I'm Kevin," said Kevin, "but I haven't brought it here, it just followed me."

"It followed you because you have brought it," said Mage. "Such creatures haven't been seen in this part of the world since the retreat of the Jorians, many centuries ago. The Haakclaw seeks evil, and knows when evil has been done. When it overcame my guardians at the gate it was because evil had at that moment been done."

Kevin thought of the jewels he had taken and realized with horror what he had done. "You've got to help me!" he cried.

"Why should I, when the first thing you have done is to steal from me," asked Mage?

"But it'll kill me! Please, you've got to help!"

Time and time again the lightning struck near the boat, but their luck held and they weren't hit. The wind became even stronger and the waves larger. "How do you know which way to go?" Kevin asked Lune. "I don't!" yelled Lune, "I'm just trying to keep this damned boat on top of the water." As he said this there was a loud cracking sound, and Rim screamed!

"The rudder's broken! Now what the hell are we going to do?"

"I've got it!" cried Lune. "I remember the calming spell!" Softly at first, then louder and louder he repeated a litany of strange words over and over. As his voice rose to a shout, he clapped his hands and said the word of power. Instantly, there was a tremendous flash of lightning and a sizzling, overpowering crack of thunder, and the mast disappeared!

"Shut up!" screamed Rim. "Look what the hell you've done now!" Mercifully, none of the boys were hurt, but all were terrified by the experience. They huddled together in the middle of the boat and hung on for dear life. Then, without warning, the boat gave a tremendous lurch, and there was a crash, and Kevin found himself flying through the air. He landed violently on what was certainly not water, and that was all he knew until much later.

In Book 3, The Silver Mountains, Dale joins Kevin in Triplos for the first time, and proves her strength in dealing with human and inhuman foes.

"Kevin! The boat's gone!" she exclaimed.

"Mmmph?"

"The boat! It's not here!"

"Get serious," he said. "It couldn't be gone. I tied it."

"Well, come and look!"

Still half asleep but somewhat concerned, Kevin slid out of his sleeping bag and struggled outside. He looked at the bank, then back at Dale, then ran down the short slope to where the boat had been tied. It was gone, and there was no sign of it or its rope!

Kevin's feelings were a mixture of anger and worry. He didn't know what to do now. He climbed back up the bank, secretly hoping that Dale would have the answers, but when he got back to the tent she was laughing at him!

"Stop laughing; this is serious!" he said.

"I know," she giggled, "but you look so cute with no clothes on!"

They delayed their supper for long enough to rest, and Kevin decided to have a swim in the pool. Dale was going to follow him, but she first had to find a private spot in the woods for a moment. Kevin doffed his shirt, shoes and socks, and pants, and clad in his underwear ran into the clear water with its hard sandy bottom. He splashed about happily for a moment, then began to feel tired. He lay back in the water and floated quietly on his back.

As he floated, a strange sleepiness gradually overtook him, and he didn't hear Dale calling to him from the bank, nor did he feel himself gradually sinking under the surface and coming to rest quietly on the bottom. He didn't have any trouble breathing because he wasn't trying to breathe.

Meanwhile, Dale had watched this slow drama from the bank, and called to Kevin; "Hey, what's going on? You're sinking!".

"Kevin!" she yelled, in some dismay, wondering if he was playing a joke on her. This wasn't right; she had to do something. She pulled off her jeans and waded quickly into the water to pick him up, and as she did so the same sleepiness began to creep over her as well.

She forced herself to move as fast as she could, and struggled over to where he lay, face up, on the bottom in about two feet of water. The tiredness almost overcame her. She felt like people sometimes do in a dream where they try and try to move and can't. Finally, though, she reached Kevin, and bent down and grabbed his arm.

Now normally Dale wouldn't have thought herself strong enough to lift Kevin, but in spite of the spell that something seemed to be putting on her, she gathered together enough strength to pull him to the surface, and then almost ran to the shore, tugging her friend behind her. As she came clear of the water she felt an extra surge of strength, and, with her arms under both his shoulders, dragged him up onto the dry grass.

But then, she began to be afraid. Kevin wasn't breathing. She was terrified, and on the verge of falling asleep again, but she leaned down and put her head on his chest. She couldn't hear his heartbeat! She fell back onto her side, and felt sleep flooding over her in waves. She began to cry.

By now, Dale was almost unconscious, but she gathered her strength and began to fight back. It now dawned on her that it was the water that had done this, and here she was, still soaking wet. She grabbed at her shirt and tugged frantically at the buttons. After what seemed like an impossible struggle, she finally got them undone, pulled her arms out and threw the shirt on to the grass. Then she crawled over to where she had dropped her pack, and pulled on the corner of the towel she had brought along. Mercifully, it came out easily. She got to her knees with considerable difficulty, and dried herself as well as she could. She still had on her underpants and her hardly necessary bra, but even this emergency couldn't persuade her to undress completely with Kevin around. Anyway, they were drying quickly.

The sun was still hot, and in about two minutes the water had dried off most of her body, and as it did so her strength came back. Soon she was almost back to normal. Now she had to attend to Kevin. She moved over to where he lay, and began to dry him off with the towel. She put her ear to his chest, but she still couldn't hear his heartbeat, and he didn't seem to be breathing. She rolled him over onto the dry grass and dried his back, then rolled him even further from the damp spot so that he was once again face up. He felt as limp as a rag doll. She was really afraid. She realized now that she was very fond of Kevin; she thought that she loved him, and she didn't want to lose him without a fight.

She called his name several times, shook him, and put her arms under his shoulders and tried to lift him up, but there was no response. And was it her imagination, or was he turning blue? Then she remembered about artificial respiration. They had showed her how to do it once in a Girl Guides meeting, but she had thought it too disgusting to contemplate. But now, she didn't hesitate.

She put her mouth over Kevin's and breathed out. She took it away and breathed in. She did it again and again, terribly afraid, but realizing that it was no where near as disgusting as she had previously thought. How fast was it supposed to work, she wondered? How long should she keep trying before giving up?

But of course, this story isn't over yet. After a good 3 minute hour of huffing and puffing, Dale felt him move! She paused in her ministrations, and sat up, watching him carefully. Then his eyes opened; just for a second, mind you, and then they closed again, but they did open. Dale felt a wave of relief wash over her, and started to cry again, but this time with happiness.

By now Kevin was breathing regularly, so Dale had stopped trying to revive him. After a moment, his eyes opened again. He looked at her and tried to sit up. This didn't work too well, so he rolled on his side to see her better, and said (with stunning unoriginality) "What happened?"

"You were almost drowned and I gave you artificial respiration," she said, proudly.

"You mean, like, with your mouth?" Kevin responded, apparently in horror.

"Of course", she said. "It's the best way."

"Yuck! Gross!" said Kevin, with a look of distaste.

"Well, you could thank me for saving your life, you know. And don't look so disgusted; I'm not poison!" Dale spoke with annoyance; she was beginning to get fed up with Kevin's conceit.

After dinner, and after some arguing, they both went to the stream and washed their dishes (much to the delight of some passing fish), then set about gathering some branches to make a sort of shelter.

Now, I don't know if you have ever tried to make a shelter out of branches, but the instructions are part of the training of every Boy Sprout. The problem is that it never works as well on a trip as it did in the demonstration. The branches are never quite the right shape, and nothing ever fits. You are supposed to push end A of the first stick (Q) in hole B in the ground (C), and then take a second stick (S) and put it in the fork (E) of the first stick (Q) so that its end (F or G, I can't quite remember) is also stuck in the ground (C), in hole H. The problem is, that end A breaks off, that the ground (C) near end F (or G, I still can't remember) is as hard as a rock, and that even when you get the third stick (T) also propped up in the fork (E) of the first stick (Q), the whole bloody mess falls down. At that point you swear (Ah! That's where the F comes in; the stick must be end G), and do the whole thing over. And all this time girl D is laughing her stinking head off, and you begin to think that Boy Sprouts really does stand for B.S., as your older friend had once told you!

Kevin woke up with a start. Something was wrong. He could feel a vibration of some sort and had the horrible fear that the mountain was a volcano. He looked out the door of the cave to see if the moon was still up, and was startled to see the opening gradually rising above his head. He shook himself and looked again, then decided to get up and see what was happening. He stumbled and put his hand on the wall to steady himself, and then he made his discovery. The wall felt as if it too was rising, but now he knew. The floor of the cave was slowly and silently dropping. Where it was going he didn't know. He only hoped that he would still be alive when it reached the bottom!

While Kevin had been having his adventure, though, Dale had been doing some constructive thinking. There is little point in tracing her thoughts or her movements step by step, but the overall result was that she was now once more sitting beside Kevin, but this time with a grenade in her hand. The fact that Kevin's eyes were sticking out of his head and waving around on their stalks with astonishment did not prevent him from seeing its obvious possibilities as an agent of distraction!

He grabbed for it, but Dale pulled it back. She thought that he would throw it straight into the group of men (which of course was his idea) but she didn't want to kill anyone. He made a second try, so she took matters into her own hands. She had already pulled the pin (ah, the importance of watching war movies: her teachers and parents had strongly disapproved, but she knew an educational experience when she saw one) so she threw it ("lobbed" is the technical term) against the closest wall.

Kevin moved slowly towards the edge of the cliff, but was afraid to look down at the water. The waves were almost gone by now, and as she watched Dale could now make out a face just below the surface. It was a human face, old and wise looking, with grey hair and a long nose. It was larger than life, and somehow didn't look real, and it wasn't connected to a body. She was not afraid of this face, though, and suddenly she spoke to Kevin.

"Look at the water," she said. He didn't move.

"Look, you idiot, there's a face under it."

Kevin's curiosity finally overcame his fear. Slowly, he got down on his stomach and stared into the water. He too saw the face, but his emotion upon doing so was very different from Dale's. Where she was puzzled and curious, he was astounded. He had recognized the face as one he had seen on his first trip to Triplos; the face was that of Mage, the magician in the castle.

"Mage!" he exclaimed; and as he did so, a voice formed in his head. He didn't hear it with his ears - that much he knew - but he knew what it said and could hear its timbre and inflection. From her expression of awe, he knew that Dale heard it too.

"My, my," said the voice, "It's Kevin, I think. So you have come back to visit us. You've caused much disturbance; but you're not unwelcome, I'm sure. Though I don't yet know the full story, I feel that you have averted a great evil."

Kevin heard himself answering, almost as if he was an observer watching a boy lying on the bank, "I didn't do anything, it was Dale."

When she heard this, Dale felt a wave of emotion run through her body. He recognized her worth! She was a person, now, and worthy of the respect of the one other who seemed to matter most to her. For the second time she thought that she loved Kevin. Then, Dale's imaginary observer, watching the girl lying on the bank, heard herself say "Is your name Mage?"

"Hello Dale, don't be afraid of an old man. Please; you may have a story to tell me. I am anxious to hear it."

She felt a bit odd, lying on the grass, talking to the image of an old man who seemed to be down among the fish, but she told the story quickly and clearly. Mage nodded from time to time, and she half expected to see ripples on the surface when he did, but the water remained as smooth as a mirror. When she had finished her tale, and in it they had arrived at the shore of the lake, Mage thanked her politely.

... so they decided to go for a walk and look for fruits and berries. They had been in the woods before (well, not these woods, of course) and had a pretty good idea of what they could eat and what they couldn't. It didn't take them long to find a large patch of raspberries, and Dale found some blueberry bushes too. Now, those readers who have only seen raspberries and blueberries in stores and read about them in stories might believe that all one has to do is stand there picking and eating until one's appetite is satisfied, but those who have actually picked the things already know what Kevin and Dale were doing for a good part of the morning before they had found enough. The fact is that one raspberry is very small, and that even a hundred raspberries barely fill a cup. Blueberries are even worse, so it was almost ten o'clock before they went back to the shelter to decide what to do with the rest of the day.

"The road back is a strange one," said Tork, "but you must do exactly as we say. The power of Mage is great, but at this distance he must have the help of the water in the Silver Lake." This was the first time that they had heard it named. "Take your packs and come with us to the shore."

The youngsters did as they were told, and wondered what the next step would be. They arrived at the shore in only a few minutes, at a place where the rocks sloped gently into the water, and stopped by the edge.

"Now, take off your clothes," commanded Tork.

"What???" asked the two almost in unison.

"I'm sorry, but it's necessary," replied Tork. "We will look away."

"What, everything? No way," stated Kevin, with determination.

"You must," said Tork. "If you won't, we won't be able to help you."

"Come on," said Dale. "we'd better do what he says."

"Yeah, but.... but... we'd be naked!" choked her friend.

"So what, it won't kill you. I'll close my eyes, or something."

Finally, and very reluctantly, Kevin agreed. Now, he had no objection to Dale taking off her clothes, rather the contrary in fact, but he was more than a little embarrassed at the thought that he too would be exposed to the elements, so to speak. Anyway, they both complied, pretending to keep their eyes shut while stealing the occasional glance. Acting on their instructions, they pushed their clothes into their packs and stood facing the lake.

Dale thought about her friend in the operating room and shut off her mind to what might be happening there. Instead, she thought of all of Kevin's good points. She pictured him walking beside her and every detail of his appearance formed images in her mind. She saw the dark blond hair which hung loosely down over the nape of his neck. She saw his clear, fair skin with its few freckles; skin that still had the glow of childhood and had escaped the blemishes of adolescence. She saw his remarkable golden-green eyes, his strong, firm body and his long legs. She watched him walk with the grace of youth that was not yet marred by the awkwardness of the teens. Then she thought of his intelligence and his thoughtfulness, and all the other good points of his character, and it seemed to her that he was the most perfect human that could be imagined. Even his faults were elements of his perfection, for without them he wouldn't be real. And now she didn't even know if he was going to live!

It was very dark, and Kevin was lying on a bed of some sort. His head was spinning and he felt sick, and he could hear singing in the distance. He opened his eyes and now it was not quite so dark. He could make out that he was inside something, perhaps a tent, and that there was an opening just near his head. He thought about trying to get up but remembered the accident and was afraid it would hurt too much. Then he realized that he must be in an oxygen tent in the hospital, and wondered where the nurses were. (We must remember that he hadn't had much experience with hospitals and didn't realize that the nurses were mostly somewhere else, particularly when you wanted them.) He tried to roll over and discovered to his surprise that he could do so quite easily, and with no pain. They must have given him some sort of drug.

Kevin wondered if he could crank up the head of the bed with a button or something, and why the hospital was so dark, and why there were no needles in his arms, and a dozen other things that didn't seem quite right. He particularly wondered who was singing. He extended a leg over the side of the bed and was amazed to find out that there was only a three inch drop to the floor. He sat up and looked around. This was no hospital. He was in a tent all right, but it wasn't an oxygen tent. He looked through the opening and saw the shapes of trees and grass and, in the near distance, the flickering orange light of a fire. Around the fire were several men and two boys, and one of the men was singing while one of the boys danced. Kevin got to his feet and felt himself all over, but there was no sign of injury at all. He seemed to be wearing some sort of loose fitting clothes that were certainly not his own; there was a shirt made of white cloth and pants and shoes of soft brown leather. This was quite a puzzle. It all seemed very real, but then so had the accident. Just how many realities were there, anyway? He had learned to accept the two different worlds, the Earth and Triplos, but so far there had only been one Kevin. Were there now two, one who was injured and one who was not? If so, could they both do different things at the same time? Which one was really him, and what made him Kevin in the first place?

It has taken more time to write about his thoughts than it took Kevin to think them, so we've fallen a bit behind. We'll have to run towards the fire a little way to catch up to him. Here he is, just behind some bushes. He is watching the fire and the dance. It is an energetic dance, and the singing is getting more frenzied, and the men are now clapping in time to the music. The dancer is weaving his body in a rhythmic motion, back and forth, back and forth. Suddenly, Kevin understood the significance of the motion, and was embarrassed by his realization. Where most dances are only subtly suggestive this one was almost erotic. He tried to look away, but he was absolutely fascinated. He began to tap his fingers and toes to the rhythm of the song, and his tapping became more and more urgent as the performance drew to a close. With a final shout, the song stopped and the boy dropped to the ground, and there was an outburst of applause from the men. Kevin almost wanted to clap, too, for it had been quite a show, but he didn't know who they were, or how he had come to the tent, or if they knew about him, so he decided to keep quiet.

Fortunately, his mind was taken off his worries when he noticed one of the men walking towards a tent dragging the small boy behind him. The boy was tied by the hands, and Kevin couldn't understand how they could treat anyone like that.

"What's going on over there?" asked Kevin. "Who's the little kid, and why is he tied up like that?"

"Oh, he's a prisoner," said Lune.

"A prisoner? He's just a little kid!"

"He's a Jorian. That's why we're out here. There was a report of some Jorians moving through our territory so we came up to chase them off. This one must have got lost, so we caught him."

"What are you going to do with him?"

"I don't know. I guess there'll be a meeting to decide when we get back. Anyway, it doesn't matter. He's just a Jorian." Lune looked disgusted when he said the last word.

"Enemy just near the trees," whispered Lune. The boys strained to see the imaginary foe.

"Only two of them," Gareth stated, with authority. "Wait 'till they're in range then we'll get them."

Kevin decided to join in: "Enemy tank at 5 o'clock!" he shouted, to the astonishment of his friends.

"What? What's a tank?" asked Gareth, verbally colliding with Lune's "What do you mean, 5 o'clock? It's still morning."

For the next few minutes, Kevin tried to explain, with little success, about tanks. This was the first that Gareth had heard about Kevin's origins in the "real" world, and that led to a rapid and jumbled account of his previous adventures in Triplos. He did better with the 5 o'clock; a concept which was adopted gleefully by the other boys and which soon became so much a part of Gareth's conversation that his elders threatened to sit him on the sharp end of a sundial if he used the term again.

While they were thus engaged in conversation, they relaxed their vigil at the entrance to the cave. A few moments later they were rudely interrupted by the presence of a real "enemy" at 5 o'clock (or 12 o'clock, or 8 o'clock ... well, it depended on which way you were facing). One of the men had come looking for them - Kevin recognized him as Tork, Lune's uncle - and was now busy telling them what he thought of worthless youngsters who hid in a cave when there was real work to be done. He added strength to his conversational style by using powerful swats strategically applied to the boys' butt ends instead of the more usual periods and commas. Even though he was no magician, the results were almost magical. In about 5 seconds flat, an inhabited cave became an uninhabited one, and three boys could be seen running rapidly towards the campground, hoping that they would find a good crowd in which to get lost.

They quickly caught up with Gareth and the three spent the rest of the morning exploring. When it was nearly time to go back for lunch, Kevin asked what was going to happen to the prisoner.

"They're meeting now," said Gareth. "I don't know what they will decide."

"Maybe they'll torture him," speculated Lune gleefully. "You know, pull out his nails and things."

"That's horrible, you shouldn't say such things," warned Gareth. Then, before he realized fully what he was doing, Kevin jumped at the chance to impress Lune.

“Yeah, you're just a baby, Gareth. They'll pull out his nails, and then they'll gouge out his eyes, and they'll make you eat them!" Gareth looked at Kevin with dismay.

"And they'll stick holes in him with red hot pokers, and then burn him at the stake, and it will serve him right for being a Jorian!" concluded Lune, with triumph.

Gareth turned angrily on Lune. "You two are disgusting, and you don't deserve to live. He's just a little kid. How cay you say things like that?". With that, he turned away and started to walk quickly towards Vanth, while Lune and Kevin chanted tauntingly "Jorian lover!" after him. Lune turned to Kevin, "Forget about him. Come on, let's go back."

The walk back towards Vanth took place mostly in silence. Lune walked slightly ahead, leaving Kevin alone to his thoughts, and pleasant thoughts they were not. He was burning up with shame at what he had said. What made it worse was that while he was caught up in the excitement of the "game" he was actually thrilled by the prospects of torturing 'the prisoner'. He couldn't bear to think of him as Marc, that made it even worse. How could he, a rational, caring young man, ever even consider such monstrous actions? Then he remembered that many rational, caring young men had done exactly that only a couple of generations ago in the real world, and he finally understood something that had never made sense to him before.

Lune was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his head bowed, and was quite obviously crying. He glanced up for a second as Kevin came in, but then looked away again.

"What's wrong?" asked Kevin. There was no reply. He waited a few moments, then asked again. "Tell me! What's wrong?" Kevin was now very worried indeed.

For a short while Lune said nothing, then he finally answered.

"The council decided," he said, and relapsed into silence.

"So, what did they decide?" demanded his friend.

"They want to ... to, uh, sacrifice him." Lune could hardly get the words out.

"But they can't! He's just a kid! We've got to stop them!"

"We can't," Lune shook his head slowly.

"You've got the Emerald. You can use it to help him escape, or something. Come on, you can't let them hurt him."

Lune turned towards Kevin and looked directly into his eyes. His face was stained with tears, and more were welling up as he spoke. "You don't understand," he said, "I've got to do it."

"What do you mean?" Kevin was horrified.

"I've got to kill him, you stupid idiot! I've got to push the sword in. I've got to kill him to prove that I'm good enough to be a leader!" Lune was angry now, and had raised his voice almost to a shout. He stood up and paced rapidly around the room, then faced the wall and started banging his head against it, over and over again. Kevin jumped up and grabbed his friend. At first, Lune tried to shake him off, and swung violently at Kevin with his fist.

"Stop it! Stop it!" cried Kevin, and in his excitement swung back at Lune. He connected with something soft, and Lune seemed to deflate, like a punctured balloon. Kevin helped him over to the bed and lay him down. Lune lay quietly, gasping for breath between his sobs.

"I didn't mean any of those things I said before," cried Lune. "I was only trying to impress you and Gareth. Oh hell, I wish I was dead."

He was absorbed in his thoughts, and didn't notice that the ground had started to slope down, when he suddenly lost his footing and slid into a small valley. He didn't hurt himself, but cursed his lack of attention. This looked bad; there was no obvious way to climb out. He started along the valley, but it seemed to take him in the wrong direction: towards the sea and away from the castle. He wasted what seemed like an hour, but was really only about ten minutes, getting more and more frantic all the time. Then he had a thought: the rope! Quickly, he pulled it out of the pack, and then wondered what to do with it. He found a small jagged rock and tied it to one end of the rope, then looked up at the south wall of the valley. Yes! There was an overhanging branch in just the right place. He took careful aim, swung his arm, threw the rock, and missed. "Shit!" swore Kevin. He tried again, and missed again. "Mercy!" he fumed, turning the air blue. (He didn't actually say 'mercy'. 'Mercy' doesn't turn the air blue. Fill in your own choice of a four letter word.)

Dale was pleased; this would make the trip to Vanth much easier than she had feared during last night's rain. Now she wanted to find Mage, but she had no idea of where to look. She tried all the rooms on the first floor without success, and repeated her fruitless search on the second and top floors as well. (In fact, her search was not entirely fruitless; she had found a bowl of apples in the dining room.)

Soon after they had crossed the bridge, they came to a small field near the path. Kevin's donkey slowed its pace and looked at its companion. "Lunch?" it asked (although the question really sounded more like an elephant stepping on the bulb of a bicycle horn). "Lunch!" agreed the other, and the decision was thereby taken out of the hands of their riders. Donkeys have a strict union, and it is impossible to tamper with their lunch breaks, so Mage and the children dismounted and left their beasts to graze while they had their lunch too.

As soon as they finished, Kevin was anxious to get started, so they once more climbed aboard and prepared to set out. "Geeahhh," said Mage, but nothing happened. The donkeys continued to graze. There followed a brief negotiation which resulted in a compromise. The donkeys would continue their trip to Vanth, with no more stops, and in return Mage would give them extra grass that evening and not turn them into frogs. Kevin thought that it was this last condition that did the trick, and wished he could use the same technique with his English teacher.

There was absolute silence from the crowd. The man with the sword presented it to the boy, and then he withdrew from the platform, leaving Marc and Lune alone. For several long moments Lune stood in front of Marc with the sword hanging at his side, while Marc grew numb with terror. Then, from behind the platform, came the clear ringing of a bell. Ting... ting... ting... it rang, three times, then a pause and it rang once more. Lune, shaking with the horror of what he was about to do, raised the sword and pointed it towards Marc. As Lune moved closer to his victim, Marc began to scream in a thin and almost inaudible wail.

Lune was struggling with his conscience. He knew that he should have the strength to put a stop to this crime, but had depended upon Kevin and Mage to bail him out. Where were they? They should have been here long ago. Now he was on his own, with all of Vanth looking on. He was just one thirteen year old boy. How was he to resist the will of so many? And what if he did refuse? All that would happen is that he would be disgraced, and that someone else would kill Marc. He wondered how he would live with himself for the rest of his life. He would be leader of the Tenal only because he had killed a poor, defenceless child. The bell rang once more. The council was getting impatient.

He was in a spaceship. Something had gone wrong with the engines and he was out of control, falling out of orbit towards the earth. The ship was spinning wildly and it had made him dizzy. Down, down, down he fell. The heating had gone wrong, too. The air he was breathing was so cold that his nose was freezing. He wanted to take off his oxygen mask, but his arms wouldn't move. There were only seconds left before the crash. He was going to hit the ground; and then suddenly he wasn't. Where was this? He was not alone; there was someone with him. She was dressed in white and she was talking to him. He struggled to make sense of what she was saying, and as he did so the world slowly came into focus. He tried to move.

"Now, now, take it easy. You're going to be fine," said the nurse. Kevin tried to speak; "Where ... where?" he managed to croak.

"You're just coming out of the anesthetic. You're in intensive care. Here, let me take the oxygen mask off." She reached down and removed the device. The warm air of the room made him feel better almost immediately, and his head began to clear. Now he remembered where he was and what had happened, and his first thought was how glad he was to be alive. Then he started to think about Triplos and about Marc, and then he fell deeply asleep.

There was a needle in his left arm, connected to a bag which was hanging on a post. He tried a tentative wiggle and discovered that his right leg and all ten toes were in working order. He felt under the covers with his free hand. He seemed to be wearing a hospital coat -one of those things that are supposed to tie up the back - but it was untied and completely out of place. He explored with his fingers and discovered that he had a large bandage - his nurse later told him it was a 'dressing' - near where he thought his appendix was.

He continued to explore and soon made a horrible discovery. Oh no! He had spent the last thirteen years trying to grow up, and he had finally begun to succeed. He had been so proud of himself; but they had ruined it all! How could they? They had shaved him!

"Isn't there a will, or something?" asked Kevin.

"My uncle says no, but my mother says that Aled left a will with cousin Maxwell, but he lives 'way south of here near Lake Gnome and he's insane."

"Wow, Mad Max," thought Kevin. Now he was excited. "So let's go and get it. Come on, we can leave now!"

"Are you crazy? It's a long way, and there are supposed to be strange creatures there that make you insane, and if Thomas sees us go he'll follow me and try to stop me."

"Where are you going, boy?" said his uncle Thomas, spitting the words out as a challenge.

Gareth tried to squirm free, without success. "None of your business," he retorted, "Let go of me." He began to hammer at Thomas with his free hand, and his uncle slapped him hard across the face. "You need a lesson, boy," he said. "I've a good mind to move in with you and teach you and your bitch mother some manners." Saying this, he delivered a blow to Gareth's stomach that knocked the wind out of his nephew. Gareth howled with pain.

"Not so much noise, boy," said his uncle, clapping a dirty hand over Gareth's mouth. Gareth had stopped struggling since the blow to his midriff, and stood quietly, looking at his uncle with a glare of hatred.

"That's better, boy," said the uncle, sliding his hand down to Gareth's neck. "Going to try to cheat me out of my money, are you? You get back home where you belong." Then his uncle changed his tone. Looking at Gareth with an avaricious leer, he said "You're a pretty little boy, aren't you? You be nice to your uncle and maybe I'll give you a share. I've seen you dance, I know what you want!" He pulled the boy closer.

Gareth was terrified. He had no desire for any contact with this filthy, smelly, disgusting man. He renewed his struggles to break free, but the iron grip held. Just as he was beginning to give up hope, a voice spoke from behind him.

"We have to find my cousin Maxwell, at the south end of Lake Noma," replied Gareth.

"Maxwell, is it?" chuckled Mage. "He's odd, that one. Plays with the Rhompi, I'm told. Well, I've no doubt that you will see him, since you have made up your minds to do so, but take heed of what I say. The Rhompi are a strange race; and odd tales are told about them. Be careful when they are about, everything may not be as it seems."

"What are the Rhompi?" asked Dale. "What do they look like?"

"Why, not much different from you, though they grow their own clothes," was the enigmatic reply, and they could not persuade Mage to say any more.

Gareth was awakened at about 7 o'clock the next morning by his unfailing mental alarm clock. Dale was awakened by Gareth, and Kevin woke up when they both jumped on top of him in bed. His first impression was that the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the sky was falling, but he soon realized that only two of these were true. He tried to struggle out from under, but his arms were trapped and he had to put up with being poked and squeezed and generally pummeled until he finally was set free.

"It's morning, get up you lazy bastard," taunted Gareth.

"In a minute," said Kevin. It wasn't that he was too sleepy, but he was only wearing his underwear and, as often happens with boys in the morning, part of him had risen before the rest. He decided to wait. Gareth grinned at him. "I know why you're waiting," he jibed, watching with delight as Kevin turned the colour of a radish. Kevin quickly looked at Dale, but was relieved to see that she hadn't caught on.

They told Mage that they had camping gear, and he readily agreed to provide them with enough food for two or three days. They were anxious to go, but as they got up from the table, Mage motioned to them to stay.

"I warned you last night about the Rhompi," he said, "and I repeat my warning today. Stay clear of them if you can. If you find yourself amongst them do not trust your feelings, for they have strange powers. They won't hurt you, but there is no telling what you might do to yourselves."

As usual, the children thought he was talking in riddles, but he would say no more. (It seems to be a rule among wizards that they never come directly to the point; I suspect that they like the aura of mystery, which gives the impression of untold depths of knowledge behind their every word. After all, if they told everything that they knew, people might realize that they're not so smart.)

Without warning, Kevin felt a blow on his shoulders, and two small arms grabbed him around the neck. He yelled in surprise, and whirled around to defend himself, but his attacker was firmly attached and whirled with him. Gareth and Dale were running to his aid, but they stopped before they reached him, and Dale burst out laughing.

"It's so cute," she said, with obvious affection. Kevin, who was not so much interested in cute as in the fact that it had fingernails, was still trying to get free. With a quick twist he managed to shift the creature so that it was facing him, but still hanging on to his neck. What he saw was quite a surprise. Staring into his eyes he saw the face of a child. It was a perfect face, with delicate features and huge brown eyes; a face that would have made your average angel green with envy. He looked at the rest of the creature and was amazed to find that it was entirely human except that most of its body was covered with short, fine, blond fur. It wore no clothes, and he suddenly realized what Mage had meant by "grow their own". "Blast all wizards and their riddles," thought Kevin, feeling thoroughly stupid.

He reached up gently and stroked its back. It was the softest, finest fur he had ever felt. But something was wrong with his emotions; he was feeling uncomfortably affectionate towards this little creature. It was completely adorable; it even smelled wonderful and sexy. Sexy? What was he thinking of? He looked down and discovered that this one was a little boy. He pushed it away, and quickly put it on the ground. Looking up, he discovered that there were several more of the Rhompi, some blond, some light brown, and a few almost white. They were running amongst the children; Dale had one in her arms and Gareth was patting another on the head. There were both girl and boy Rhompi, and they all looked so cute. Damn! There he went again. These weren't even people, and here he was infatuated with them. What was wrong with him, anyway? Whatever was wrong, Gareth and Dale seemed to have caught it too. Gareth was looking a bit uneasy, but Dale was having a great time. Kevin remembered Mage's warning.

"Put them down," he cried. "Remember what Mage said; they're dangerous."

By now Kevin's emotions had returned to an even keel, and he was anxious to get to Max's as soon as possible. Sure they were cute little things, and they were certainly fun to cuddle, and they smelled nice, and ... blast! He was doing it again. He would have to concentrate on something else. He looked ahead and immediately found something else. A few feet ahead, the other two had stopped, and Kevin was met by the sight of his girlfriend locked in a close embrace with his best friend. There was no doubt about it, he realized with dismay, that was one serious kiss.

They met with no further mishap on the way to the house. The Rhompi seemed to have disappeared, and the children hoped that it was for good. It was still light when they rounded a bend and came to a low fence marking Maxwell's territory. They easily jumped the fence, and then came to a halt behind a small bush.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Dale.

"Uh, I'm not sure I want to knock. What if he is a cannibal?" Gareth replied, with trepidation.

"Go on, Gareth," said Kevin, "He's your cousin. Cannibals don't eat relatives!"

"Yes they do. I hear they especially like relatives." Gareth was very nervous.

the door swung open, and a bearded head poked out.

"A girl! A little girl! Come in, we'll do a whirl," was the odd greeting of the owner of the beard.

"Are you Maxwell?" she asked.

"Max is my name, is yours the same?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

Dale giggled. Did he always talk in rhymes? "No, 'course not. Don't be silly!" Then, after a brief pause, "Your cousin Gareth's here," and pointing to the two boys in the yard she called, "Come on, it's OK."

Then Dale's curiosity got the better of her. "Do you always talk in rhymes?" she asked.

"It's a game I play, to pass the time of day," was the response, and to the children's surprise, he reverted to perfectly normal speech for the rest of the evening.

"The Rhompi?" Gareth asked, in surprise. "We had a terrible time with them today, they made us fight each other."

"Oh, that was just the children having their fun. They control minds, you know, but I'm too smart for that!"

The children; so that was it. No wonder they had looked so young. So they were just playing a game. That had been quite a game, fooling with other people's minds. Kevin wondered how to combat them, if he came across them again. Then there was a knock at the door, and when Max opened it, in ran six of the pretty Rhompi children; they had come to bring gifts of food to Max and to play with him for a while. Kevin, Gareth and Dale shrunk back against the wall in fear, but Max reassured them.

"They won't fool with your minds while I'm around," he said, "or I'll turn them into overcoats!" This last remark was directed at the Rhompi, who looked at him wide eyed with mock fear. Kevin regarded them closely, and was interested to find that he didn't recognize them; these were not the same ones who had tormented them that afternoon. As soon as all three of the children realized this, their fear abated, and they relaxed in the company of the Rhompi youngsters.

For the next hour, Max told tales to the Rhompi children, who listened with rapt attention. The three adventurers were amazed to discover that the Rhompi understood and spoke English perfectly. The little ones were on their best behavior, and soon Kevin, Dale and Gareth were sandwiched in between the Rhompi, but this time they just relaxed and enjoyed the affection. Kevin even forgave himself for thinking that they smelled nice; after all, he thought, they do smell nice!

The Rhompi slowly drew closer, and were now only a few feet away and plainly visible. They were giggling and chattering, but so far had done nothing. Kevin relaxed, this time perhaps they were going to be spared the indignity of being made fools of. He started to talk to Gareth about the real world, and machines and electronics and science. Gareth listened with obvious interest, and Kevin forgot about the Rhompi for a while.

They were now walking through open fields, still flanked by their escort, and the going was pretty easy. Since they didn't have to watch their footing they had time to look at each other while they talked, and Kevin began to think how easy it must have been for Dale to be tricked into kissing Gareth. There was no doubt about it, Gareth was a handsome youngster with his jet black hair, dark brown eyes, and golden skin. They were walking side by side and decided to jog together, holding each other by the shoulders. This was fun, almost like being a kid again. Gosh, he sure is graceful, thought Kevin, no wonder he's a dancer. Without thinking, he leaned over quickly and kissed Gareth on the cheek.

The brief squeak from Dale coincided with Kevin's awful realization. That did it! It was bad enough for the Rhompi to make Dale attracted to Gareth, but it was unthinkable that they had just made him do the same thing. Blast and Damn them! This was going too far. He hastily released his grip on his friend's shoulder and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around him with a growing rage. They were surrounded by little Rhompi, and as he looked at them he was suddenly aware of a new feeling in his mind. It wasn't a thought, it was sort of a fire that burned brighter and brighter behind his eyes. He looked at one Rhompus which was laughing its cute little head off, and focussed his eyes upon it. In an instant the fire flashed out so he could almost see it travel towards the Rhompus, and at the same time he thought, in capital letters, ENOUGH! LEAVE US ALONE!

The Rhompus screamed with terror. Then all the Rhompi screamed together. In a second they were running away as fast as they could travel.

Then they turned to look at Gareth. He was howling with laughter. "They really made an ass out of you!" he chortled. "They made you kiss me!"

Kevin was annoyed. It hadn't been his fault, surely Gareth knew that. "Well, what about you, I didn't notice you objecting!" he said.

Gareth just smiled, "Me? Oh, I didn't mind."

Kevin wanted to know what he meant by that, but that was all Gareth would say.