The Last Summoning---Andrew and the Quest of Orion's Belt (Book Four) (39 page)

Ivory stepped beside Andrew. “And so am
I.”

“B...but, that’s madness!” Croffin sputtered.
“Totally and utterly pointless. Andrew has no army now. Nothing he
does will stop this spread of darkness. It’s over. The Summoning
was a failure. Look at the mounds of dead. You don’t want to add to
the numbers already. It’s a waste of life.”

“None of you have to come with me,” Andrew
insisted, his voice firm. “In fact, it probably would be better if
you all stay. This is something I have to finish.”

“But you’ll die,” Croffin shouted, his voice
crazed. “We’ll all die. Couldn’t we just run away into the
mountains or something---hide, wait until all this has blown
over?”

Andrew gazed ahead, his eyes filled with
sadness. He looked taller, and somehow older, as if grief had aged
him by several years. “We can’t hide from what’s coming. No one can
hide from the darkness. It will be everywhere.”

“I’ll just tuck my head under the covers.
That’s what!” Croffin spat, “Then go. Be that way. We will go
somewhere else, and best wishes to you. Come, Ivory, Freddie?”

But neither Ivory nor Freddie made a move to
follow Croffin.

“What?” Croffin cried, “You’re going with
him?”

“Yes,” they both answered.

Croffin’s jaw fell.

“Alright, then. Goodbye Croffin,” Andrew
said, turning away.

“Good riddance!” Croffin called after them as
they walked across the ice. “I never needed you in the first
place!” He watched them depart for a moment. Then his forsaken
situation dawned upon him. “Wait! No, don’t leave me here. Fine,
I’ll come with you. But I’m not going to die with you, if that’s
what you want.” He ran after them, panting and out of breath when
he reached them.

Freddie raised his brows, and smirked.
“Changed your mind?”

“No,” Croffin puffed. “I just don’t want to
be alone. It does nothing to these nerves of mine. There was a time
when I could be alone, but now I just can’t stand the thought of
being by myself.”

“You’d miss us?” Freddie questioned. “How
sweet of you.”

Croffin laughed. “No. I wouldn’t miss
you!”

“Oh, you wouldn’t?”

“No…er…well, only a little.”

“Wow, Andrew, did you hear that? Croffin
would miss us.”

“Yeah,” Andrew said, smiling just a little.
“I heard.”

“Don’t flatter yourselves,” Croffin growled.
“I’d only miss you like I might miss a burr in my fur. After a
while you get used to it, and if gets chopped out, it makes me
feel…I don’t know, different. And not in a good way.”

“Wow,” Freddie smiled. “It’s so nice to be
thought of as a prickly burr. I didn’t know we meant so much to
you.”

Croffin sniffed. “Well…er…I’m glad you
understand what I mean now.”

Freddie rubbed his hands together, trying to
keep them warm. “I guess so.”

Croffin soon fell behind the rest, muttering
and complaining for hours.

Andrew stopped and waited for the coon to
catch up.

“Croffin,” Andrew said, staring down at the
Coon. “If you are coming with us, you need to keep up.”

“I’m trying!” Croffin snapped. “This snow
isn’t helping things. I don’t know why you’re in such a hurry
anyway---unless you’re in a hurry to die. In a hurry to go towards
our own demise, where there is no bread, only shadows, and people
who want to kill us. What a delight. I can’t wait until we get
there. The sooner we are closer to death’s door the better.”

Andrew rolled his eyes. “It’s your sarcasm
that’s killing me.”

“Really? Good. I’m glad. I’m sorry. Really I
am. But seriously. We’ve just come from a dreadful massacre. I tend
to be a teensy bit out of sorts when I’ve just seen hundreds of
bodies all laid out, and many of them close friends. But don’t
worry I should soon get over it, just as you have.”

Andrew stopped, anger and grief flooding over
him. “Over it? No one will ever get over what has happened!” He
clenched his fists, and marched ahead, not looking at anyone.

Croffin caught the hurt in Andrew’s voice,
and instantly stopped complaining.

On they went, trudging against the wind and
through drifting snow, over the ice until they reached the other
side of the frozen ocean. They stood on the edge of the bank,
staring at the Fractured Mountains. The mountains towered above
them, tall, black, and frightening. Their jagged outlines framed
the sky.

Through these mountains was a wide road that
spread out before them like a filthy carpet covered in dirty snow,
stained with blood and dark footprints. Far into the distance they
could see the Shadelock castle glowing through the murky clouds
like a star on the horizon. The sun was beginning to set. The snow
had not stopped falling the entire day. Wind began to blow, sending
hard bits of ice into their skin and faces.

Croffin sat in the snow, hugging his
shivering body. “I’m n...not m...moving another inch. I’m tired,
and my stomach’s been empty for quite some time. No matter how hard
I want to believe it’s going to be full, IT HASN’T HAPPENED!”

“Let’s stop, Andrew,” Freddie murmured,
sitting on a rock with his back to the wind. “Croffin is right. If
we don’t stop and rest, we won’t make it much farther.”

Andrew sighed, and nodded. His face was red
from the cold. His lips were cracked and bleeding. But he felt none
of it. Only the icy prick of guilt that would not go away.

They trudged a little further, and sat near
an outcropping of rocks that offered them a small amount of shelter
from the wind and snow. A small, ragged tree stuck up from the
uneven, rocky, ground like a twisted flag that had undergone
centuries of wars. Its branches were covered in snow and layers of
hard ice. Andrew looked at the tree, and wondered how it had been
able to grow in such a place. It looked so alone, so lost in such a
dreary spot.

They rested their backs against the cold
rocks. Freddie handed everyone a small bit of bread from his
pack.

“That’s it?” Croffin growled. “Can’t we have
a bit more than that? A flea couldn’t live on that much.”

“We have to make it last,” Freddie murmured.
“Besides, you got just as much as the rest of us. Why are you
complaining?”

“I’m not. All I’m saying is this crust isn’t
going to fill the empty spaces in my stomach.”

“Croffin, why can’t you just be a man, and
stop whining.”

“I’m not a man and never will be” Croffin
glared at Freddie in contempt. “Humans are too full of vices and
hostility for me to ever want to be one.”

“Yes,” Freddie murmured, his voice going
quiet. “And some creatures too.”

Andrew stepped up to the solitary, twisted
tree, standing amid rocks, and inspected its branches. “You know,
guys, I do believe this tree is an apple tree.”

Ivory looked skeptical. “How can you
tell?”

Andrew shook some of the snow from the
branches, inspecting it with careful eyes “It just looks like
one.”

“Did it talk to you, Andrew?” Croffin jibed.
“Did it tell you?”

Andrew glared at Croffin and shook his head.
“No. It didn’t tell me.”

“Humph,” Croffin grumbled. “Well if it is an
apple tree, too bad it’s winter time, or perhaps we could have some
apples.”

Andrew looked at Croffin and smiled. “What an
interesting idea.”

“Why thank you. What idea?”

Andrew ignored Croffin’s question and walked
around the tree. “How would you guys like some apples?”

Ivory placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulders.
“What are you going to do?”

Andrew cocked his head to the side, holding
back a real smile. “I’m not sure...I've never done this before.
But…why not?” He knelt down by the tree. Then, placing both hands
on its trunk, he closed his eyes. Back in the hollow he had grown
seeds into saplings in a matter of minutes. Why not warm the tree,
and bring sap back into its cold branches?

The tree felt cold, and hard against his
skin, like the thick skin of a dragon. It seemed to quiver as he
touched it, as if it knew who Andrew was. Yet the tree remained
hard, and stiff like a dead corpse.

Angry, Andrew pressed harder until his hands
shook and his body trembled. Somehow bringing summer back into this
tree made Andrew feel as though he had some control over something
in his life. He knew he could not bring back all those who had died
that now lay frozen in the snow. But he did know that he could
somehow bring back the sap into this dormant tree.

He cried out in frustration and sorrow,
willing the tree to bend to his will. In a flare of light and heat,
energy shot through his hands and into the tree. Andrew cried out
and fell back, watching as the tree trembled and shook. The snow
fell from its branches. Its dark trunk changed from coarse black,
to a warm brown. Green buds appeared on its branches. Then, ever so
gradually, small pink flowers emerged and opened.

Andrew watched the tree come to life with
wondering eyes. His lips had turned a frosty blue and his hands
trembled uncontrollably. But for all this he did not care. All he
cared for was what he had created.

It was as if the tree had resurrected and had
come to tell him that there was life after death. The snow around
its trunk had melted, and it seemed for one moment that the sun
shone on that tree, warm and beautiful. Snow fell from its
branches, and warmth came into its sap. Gradually, small, pink buds
graced its boughs, swelling until they opened and bloomed
gloriously, emitting a wonderful smell of honey and spring. Then
just as quickly the blossoms faded and fell. As quickly as the
blossoms fell, a cloak of green leaves covered its branches, laden
with wonderful, red, ripe apples.

“Apples…” Andrew breathed, reaching out to
touch one. But his hand trembled so badly because of the cold that
he could not pick it.

“Oh, Andrew,” Ivory scolded him, picking the
apple. She placed it in his frozen hands. She looked into his eyes
and touched his frost-covered face. “Did you really have to do
that? It’s already so cold as it is. Why give away what little
sunshine you have left?”

Andrew stared into her pleading eyes unable
to give her an answer. How could he make her understand when he
himself could not? Everything was so confusing. Nothing made sense
anymore. He didn’t care if he was cold. He didn’t care if he turned
into a brick of ice. He didn’t care if he ceased to exist. The pain
was too great. Because of him, Talic was gone. So many he cared for
were now buried in the snow. Who could bear such a weight? Because
of him all who had a glimmer of light had passed. These were the
only people who had kept the world from going completely dark. Not
him. Now that they were no more, now that their voices had faded
into the night, he could feel his own voice dying. Why live in a
world that doesn’t want you? Why?

Ivory frowned, analyzing Andrew’s reflective
face for a full minute. “Don’t you realize, that you could summon
the Barnacles to you because of these…these…apples? What then?
They’re only apples.”

Andrew turned away from her, worried that she
had detected his thoughts. Barnacles. Somehow he welcomed the
thought. Before, he had thought he knew what pain was---until
now.

“Oh, but such apples,” Croffin exclaimed,
biting into one, letting its sweet juices dribble down his chin.
“Pure perfection. Thank you Andrew. Some of us appreciate your
special talents, unlike others…”

Ivory cast Croffin a hurt look, but said
nothing. Instead she placed her own cape over Andrew’s shoulders
and rubbed his arms, trying to get the feeling back into them.

“I’m fine,” Andrew protested. “Keep your
cape. You need it. Not me.”

“You’re such a liar.”

“They do taste pretty good, Andrew,” Freddie
agreed, as he and Croffin picked as many apples as they could, and
placed them in their packs.

Andrew slowly raised the apple to his mouth
and bit into it. The apple was sweet, crisp and tart. Everything an
apple should be. He chewed slowly, then swallowed. The piece of
apple felt very warm in his mouth, and it warmed his throat all the
way down as he swallowed. He took another bite and nibbled on the
apple until he’d devoured it, core and all.

Snow fell in swift, biting sheets. The wind
blew against them as if it, too, was fighting against them, trying
to push them away from going any further.

Then the night came suddenly, ushered in like
a thick wall of darkness as if it, too, was trying to keep them
from continuing their journey. They huddled together and tried to
keep warm. Croffin began to snore in loud snorkeling gusts that
rose and fell with the howling of the wind.

The night was colder than any night Andrew
had experienced since the Barnacle had bitten him. The wind howled
and moaned like a restless wolf sinking its fangs into their flesh.
Still, Andrew welcomed the coldness. It helped him to feel
something else than the painful memory of what he had witnessed.
But even the cold could not shut out what he’d seen. The apple he
had eaten made him feel nauseated, and ill.

Andrew groaned and held his stomach, feeling
dizzy. He slowly stood up, and leaned against the apple tree,
trying to keep his balance. The tree had frosted over once again.
Its leaves littered the ground like a plucked chicken, its branches
naked and cold.

“Ohhhh…” Andrew moaned, brushing several
fallen leaves out of his hair. His stomach burbled again. He
quickly stumbled away from his circle of friends, and leaned over a
large rock emptying his stomach of the meager apple he had
eaten.

He groaned and swayed back, feeling a little
better. The night was still. The snow had the howling wind had
stopped. The moon was out, shining brilliantly through billows of
puffy clouds. Steam rose up from the cool earth, frosting the snow
in glitter. The moon reflected off the snow, making the world seem
very bright. Beyond the alcove of rocks they had taken shelter
behind, and lining the wide field splitting the Fractured Mountains
in half, was a grove of twisted, dead trees. In these trees, Andrew
could see something hovering over the snow like a dark sheet
fluttering in the breeze.