THE KEEPERS RISE

Chapter 3 - A New Leaf - Part 3

*Remember to click the play button to listen to the soundtrack as you read!*

"I told you it was a bad idea, Alesteir."

Velda squinted and looked around, ears ringing. The landscape had changed from flat forest land to grassy hills, and it took a moment for her to get her bearings. They were looking down at a city over a sharp cliff, but individual buildings were barely visible. "Where are we?" she murmured.

"The castle!" Alesteir said happily. "It took no time at all!"

"Cha, are you there?"

"I am just admiring the view," it said from her stone.

Velda looked over the group and noticed someone was missing. "Where's Mortimer?" she worried.

A quiet groan came from the ground next to her. "He'll live," Alesteir told them absently.

Velda stared at Mortimer, prickly and motionless on the ground with his arms and legs curled in close. "Are you sure?"

"Certainly!" he cried. "You survived your first magic exposure, why shouldn't he?" Alesteir looked to the guards and Rhea, then turned around.

Confused, Velda looked behind her, and was surprised to see a castle standing right behind them! A nearby road led through a gate in the castle walls and into a giant yard, and beyond that was the monstrous building. Some parts were made of rough jade, and the rest was granite, but it still reflected the sunlight well. There were four towers along the edge of the main castle, and one very tall tower emerged from the center like a lookout post.

It was an awe-inspiring sight. What made it even better was the location. The castle walls merged into the Nirva on one side, and on the other, the hill they were on a huge cliff-like drop. Past the edge, the glimmering capital city of Trekorona lay. It shone green with jade, like the castle, which made the cityscape nearly blend into the plains around it. The sugarcane farms and fields of adio, yellow, horned beasts of labor, crowded around the city like puzzle pieces.

While Velda was staring, one of the guards went over to Mortimer and helped him stand. His eyes looked out of focus and all Velda could think about was how much pain he must have been in if he felt anything like she had after the binding to Cha. "Hey," she said, trying to get his attention, "Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere..." he said weakly.

"Can you walk?"

"Definitely not." Velda could see that even now his legs were shaking under him, and his fur was starting to prickle again as if he could drift into sleep any second.

Velda addressed the guard. "I think you might need to carry him in. There's no way he'll stay awake for much longer if this is anything like what happened to me."

The guard nodded and reached down to grab Mortimer under his arms. Mortimer tried to push him away, but that put him so off-balance that he fell back onto the grass. "I hate this," he complained, but he allowed the guard to lift him.

"Let's head in!" Alesteir said brightly, and he led the way to the gate.

Velda ran to catch up with him and asked, "Mortimer is like that because of the teleportation, right?"

"Exactly, curious one! That must have been his first time coming into direct contact with magic. It causes a sickness known as the Altering. He will turn out just fine in the end, though he could be a bit weaker for a while." Velda made the quick connection that her sickness after being bound to her stone had likely been the same thing.