The Mapkeeper and the Rise of the Wardens (2 page)

The flight was short—they landed within thirty minutes of take-off. Lucy was seated in the back of the helicopter where there were no windows, so she had no idea in which direction they’d gone. It was her first time flying, and she couldn’t even enjoy it. Her stomach hadn’t stopped churning since the moment she’d heard her name announced.

Mr. Quincy sat in silence for the majority of the flight, though he murmured every so often to one of his body guards. He spent most of his time looking out the window, although twice Lucy met his gaze in uncomfortable eye contact. It seemed he was not afraid to be caught staring, and she knew better than to initiate conversation.

“Here we are, Ms. Barnes. Please watch your step.” Mr. Quincy gestured for her to get out first, so she hopped out into untouched, knee-deep snow. She found herself atop an isolated plateau surrounded by steep, snow-blanketed bluffs. A quarter mile away, a towering barbed wire fence encircled them, flanking the edges of the plateau. Lucy’s heart began to pound.
Where am I?
One of the body guards landed with a thud behind her. He lumbered forward through the drifts, the sun reflecting with blazing luminosity off his dark sunglasses.

“Follow me,” he commanded.

Lucy swallowed hard. He was more than twice her size, and there were three replicas of him leaping out of the helicopter behind her. Sucking in a deep breath of frosty air, she obeyed, though the thought of going anywhere with this brute from the Commune terrified her. The other three body guards helped Mr. Quincy out of the helicopter and followed them toward a well-camouflaged two story building with mirrored windows.

Sharp, icy wind bit Lucy’s cheeks as she trailed her abductor. She tugged her puffy purple coat tighter around her neck, but it didn’t keep her from shivering.
Beep beep beep beep.
The body guard punched a code into a key pad, tugged the heavy metal door open, and motioned her inside. Gulping, she stepped into a dark space, followed by the rest of the guards and Mr. Quincy.

“Please have a seat, Ms. Barnes.” Mr. Quincy instructed her as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

They were in a conference room whose only furniture was a long wooden table and chairs. Lucy pulled one of the stiff wooden chairs back from the center of the table and sat. Mr. Quincy rounded the table and selected the chair opposite her. Two guards sank heavily into the seats on either side of him and the other two took position beside the door through which they’d come. Her mind whirred with possible reasons why this was happening to her as her stomach fluttered. She rubbed her palms against her jeans. Despite the cold, they were damp.

“Ms. Barnes, do you really believe you have been hand-selected to serve as a member of my personal staff?” Mr. Quincy leaned in, a smirk playing at the corners of his lips. His guards chimed in with a chorus of deep, throaty chuckles.

“Uh, no…” she managed, crossing her arms. She swallowed to moisten her dry throat.

“Well, you’re right,” he replied, leaning back in his chair. “You do not have any special skills, you are of ordinary intelligence and bravery, and you do not set yourself apart from other citizens in any way whatsoever.”

He stared her in the eyes. Her nostrils flared, but she held his gaze. She was furious, but refused to show it.
He’s just trying to provoke me
, she told herself. “No, Lucy, I brought you here not because I wanted to, but because I
had
to.” He smacked the table, making her flinch.

“You are not special, but for reasons I promise that I will never comprehend, it seems the most undeserving people are chosen for the greatest honors in this world.” He looked left and right at his guards for affirmation. On cue, they nodded in grave agreement.

Mr. Quincy reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and extracted a yellowed piece of folded parchment and laid it on the table between himself and Lucy. “Do you know what this is?”

Lucy felt an inexplicable tug within her, as if some force was pulling her toward the strange parchment. She was suddenly energized by a warmth that spread from her core out to her limbs and replaced the nervous jitters in her stomach.

“No.” She stared at the piece of paper. She had never seen it before, yet her intuition told her it was of incredible importance to her.

“This is the map. Lucy, I am about to tell you things that very, very few people have knowledge of.” He leaned back and sighed, rubbing his temples with a thumb and forefinger. “Again, not because I want to, but because I must. To give you some idea of the significance of this information, the only people who share it are me, my four personal body guards, the Minister of Defense, and the National Historian. It is a blood secret that
must
be well-guarded. This is of dire importance. Do you understand?”

He leaned forward, staring into her eyes through his square-framed glasses. Despite her innate dislike for Mr. Quincy, Lucy felt the power of his solemnity from across the table.

“…Yes, I do, Mr. Quincy.” He paused for a moment, holding her eye contact for emphasis.

“Very well, then. It is time. Karl. Gregor. Unfurl the map.” The guards on either side of him stood and grasped the parchment at both ends, unfolding it in unison. As it unfurled before them, it began to glow! They released the map as soon as it was opened, leaping back and shielding their eyes against the brightness emanating from the map. A strange surge of energy welled up inside her and her heart began to pound.

The glow flickered out almost as soon as it began, and all that was left was an aged, ordinary-looking map on the table before them. Her heart rate calmed with the dissipating of the light. The map was larger than an ordinary piece of paper, but still small enough for a single person to hold.

“Interesting, no?” Mr. Quincy leaned forward, making a point not to touch the map.

“Yes, very interesting.” Lucy had to agree. She felt nearer to normal now, though the unfamiliar pull toward the map persisted. Her mind was clouded with confusing, conflicting emotions.

“This is no ordinary map. It contains a certain power, the full extent of which is still unknown to mankind. You see, only one person is capable of manipulating this map. It is a portal between our world and a parallel universe called Praxis.” He paused to assess her reaction, but she steeled herself, keeping her face blank as she listened. “Map control passes from one person to the next at the discretion of the map, or whenever the previous Mapkeeper passes away.”

Mr. Quincy stared into her eyes. “Lucy, the Mapkeeper passed away two days ago, and the map named you as its next keeper. See?” He pointed to the bottom right corner of the map, careful not to touch it. Sure enough, her name was scrawled across the corner in elaborate penmanship.

Lucy Barnes, Mapkeeper.

She was stunned, unable to believe her eyes. Suddenly, she became aware that she craved the map. She wanted to hold it. Hesitating at first, she reached for it, pausing to glance up at Mr. Quincy.

“Go ahead.” He gestured to the map with a resigned sigh, as if disgusted with the notion of Lucy touching the map.

But it drew her in! She slowly reached toward the parchment with both hands and it began to glow as her hands neared it. The strange warmth inside her returned, flowing from her core throughout her body. As she grasped each side of the map, a gentle, tingling buzz flowed from her hands through her arms and into her body. She was exhilarated! Holding the map felt right, as if somehow it completed her.

She held it up at eye level, lost in its simple beauty. Through the gentle pulsing glow, black inked lines depicted the world Mr. Quincy had called “Praxis.” Captivated, she examined features labeled Glacial Lake, Doldrums Forest, Dark Sea, and Dour Mountains. Her heart climbed into her throat with excitement. Was it possible such a place existed?

As if slapped with a wave of realization, she decided that this could not be true. Mistrust of Mr. Quincy once again dominated her mind.

“It’s marvelous, isn’t it?” Mr. Quincy asked. Lucy nodded her agreement, determined not to speak until she had a better handle on what was going on. “The map seems to take well to you. That’s a good sign. I guess it really has chosen you as the next Mapkeeper.” He seemed disappointed.

“You see, the last Mapkeeper’s passing was unexpected. The moment we learned of his passing, we traveled to his location and obtained the map—it must be safeguarded at all times. If we were ever to lose the map…” Mr. Quincy trailed off, glancing at Karl and Gregor. “Let’s just say it would be beyond disastrous, Lucy. The map is our only known portal to Praxis. Our laboratories in the Capital have conducted extensive analysis of the map, and are still unable to identify the source of the map’s power or determine how it works. All we know is that the Mapkeeper is able to manipulate it to a limited extent.”

Lucy still held the map, the glowing warmth pulsing gently through her body. She listened to Mr. Quincy’s story as she gazed at the treasure in her hands. She didn’t know what to believe, but every instinct within her writhed at the thought of cooperating with the Representative of the People.

“The last Mapkeeper retained possession of the map for over fifteen years before his passing two days ago,” Mr. Quincy continued. “The Mapkeeper is called upon to travel back and forth between Apocrypham and Praxis as necessary to assist the people and creatures of Praxis. The Mapkeeper is known throughout Praxis as a powerful individual with the ability to assist them in ways no one else can.”

Lucy tore her gaze from the map and looked up at him.
Why me?
What can I offer that no one else can?
This must be some sort of trick
, she decided.
Despite her internal struggle, she refused to show self-doubt in front of Mr. Quincy. She kept her lips sealed shut.

“We must never allow this precious connection between our worlds to fade,” he continued, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his oversized nose. “One day, I hope to discover a means to allow for greater passage between our worlds. As the new Mapkeeper, you must learn to harness the power of the map through your unique connection to the map. It will not respond to anyone else, but it will take time for you to learn to manipulate the map. You must be patient. You will undergo this process alone, and only time and practice will make you a proficient Mapkeeper. Just keep in mind that the skills you learn will be of vital importance in Praxis. I cannot elaborate further. You must travel to Praxis for yourself to discover if and how you are needed at this time.”

Lucy’s stomach began to churn again. The warmth and confidence the map seemed to bring disappeared and dread slithered to the forefront of her mind.
He must be lying. What does he really want with a soft-spoken, nobody of a bookworm like me?

“Do not make the mistake of underestimating the power of the map, Lucy. This is not a game. This is our only portal to another world. You must be very careful using the map, and you must also keep the map’s existence a secret from everyone, including your family. Can you do that, Lucy?” His bottomless, dark brown eyes met hers once more.

She eyed Karl and Gregor. Enthralled as she was by the map, her mistrust of these men overpowered any sense of wonder she’d experienced a moment before.

“Yes,” she replied, eager to end the meeting and go home.

“I announced your addition to my staff to serve as your cover story. You will need a valid reason to explain your sudden disappearances to teachers, friends and family. I have meticulous notes for you describing what to tell them about working in the Capital. Of course, you must tell them much of what you do is top-secret and cannot be divulged. But you will still need some basic details to abate suspicion.

“Oh, and one more thing: you will be…
supervised
while in possession of the map. As I am unable to select the Mapkeeper myself, I hold myself accountable for the actions of the Mapkeepers chosen by the map. Do you understand?”

Lucy’s stomach dropped, her heart constricting with fear.
Supervised?
She remembered to move her head up and down in a nod, though her mind reeled at his terms. She relished the dying glow of the map in her hands, clinging to the final trace of warmth it supplied her hands before returning to its inert state.

“But I don’t—I don’t want to leave Algid. It’s my home,” she stammered, her heart thundering. She couldn’t imagine life without her brothers and her father.
I will run away before I let Mr. Quincy dictate my life
, she decided. Her blood chilled at the thought of the Commune tracking her movements.

“It’s not up for debate.” He slapped the table again. “You have been chosen, and now you have no choice but to comply.” His dark eyes glittered behind his glasses. “And be aware that at any given time, I will know whether you are in Praxis or Apocrypham.”

Her eyes widened as she felt every hair on her body stand on its end all at once, like a mob of meerkats on high alert.

“You will return to Algid and tell your family that your staff assignment in the Capital will begin in a few days. Then monitor the map. It will notify you when there is need for you in Praxis. That is all the advice I can give you. Now we must go.”

Mr. Quincy stood, Karl and Gregor rising with him. Lucy gazed down at the map again, conflicted by an innate mistrust and an unexpected longing. She folded it along the creases and tucked it into her jeans pocket. It was a perfect fit.