The Winter War, epub Read online

  “Hey, Dad?” Levi said, approaching the bed. Mr. J. Ar’s eyes opened, and he smiled weakly.

  “Hi, son,” he said, his voice raspy. “How you doing?”

  “Okay. What about you?”

  “Oh, getting there.” Mr. J. Ar’s eyes flicked to his wife, who lifted the blanket to examine the bandage. “What do you think, doc?”

  “So far so good,” she said. “We’ll know for sure in a few days.”

  Levi knew what they were talking about. His father had had surgery to remove a tumor, but they weren’t sure they’d gotten all of it.

  He hadn’t known until that morning that his dad was so sick. Mr. J. Ar had always been so healthy and active. He’d played football and basketball in high school and college, and he was the basketball coach at the Cedar Creek Rec Center. He was so broad and muscular that most kids were afraid of him at first, and no one ever messed with him. But in the last couple of months, things had changed. He’d been coughing a lot and losing weight. He kept saying he was fine—that it was just a bad cold or the flu. Finally his mom, who was a doctor herself, made him go for a checkup. The next thing Levi knew, his dad was scheduled for surgery. His mom had told him his dad had a tumor that had to be removed immediately.

  Tumor. That was a word Levi didn’t like at all.

  “Hey, I’ll be right back; just need to check on a patient down the hall,” said Levi’s mom. “Don’t go away, either of you.” She went out the door.

  Levi sat on the chair beside his dad’s bed. He wasn’t sure what to say. He caught his father eyeing him in that way he had of looking into a person’s brain and knowing exactly what was going on there.

  “Been to Ahoratos while I was—busy?” Mr. J. Ar asked in a hoarse voice, a soft grin on his face.

  Levi nodded.

  “Something happen? I take it from your expression that it wasn’t too good.”

  “Yeah. You could say that again. The enemy got past us and took the Mountain of Rhema.”

  Mr. J. Ar didn’t say anything, but his forehead creased a little and his eyes half closed.

  Levi continued. “It was cold, and everything was covered in ice. And there was this huge machine . . . it was real bad. Ru said it was . . . Winter.”

  Mr. J. Ar’s eyes shifted back to his son’s face. “Ah. Winter.”

  “Have you been to Ahoratos in the Winter?”

  “No. But I’ve heard about it.”

  Levi let out a sigh. “I guess I wasn’t a lot of help. And when Xavier led us over the bridge, I just followed. I shouldn’t have listened to him. I wasn’t thinking. I could have changed his mind, maybe. Then I got mad and said things . . . I shouldn’t have said.”

  Mr. J. Ar gave Levi a gentle look. “I imagine that Winter can be pretty tough in Ahoratos. On all of us.” He coughed slightly, his eyes closing. Levi leaned over him, worry etched in his face.

  “Dad?”

  “I’m okay, son. Just tired.”

  Dr. Arthur came back into the room.

  “Hey, Levi, why don’t we go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat?” she asked. “Give Dad a little break. He’s had a tough day.”

  Mr. J. Ar’s eyes were already closed. Levi whispered goodbye and followed his mom out of the room. They took the elevator to the third-floor cafeteria. Levi glanced around at all the people getting in line for food, chatting and laughing as if everything were going fine. Yet he felt a dark emptiness hanging over him, much like how he’d felt in the Garden of Red. He shivered suddenly, aware of a new scent in the air, replacing the hospital disinfectant. It reminded him of a time when he was little and had gone out to play after a rainstorm. The driveway had been full of earthworms, which made his nose wrinkle in disgust.

  Levi glanced around, wondering where the smell could have come from. There certainly weren’t any earthworms around.

  “You okay?”

  Levi looked at his mom and nodded silently. He took a bowl of soup from the shelf in the food line and put it on his tray.

  “I know this is hard, Levi,” his mom said as she reached for a salad. “It will get easier. Once your father gets home, he’ll start feeling better. You can help him get back on his feet.”

  They sat down at a table. Levi stared at his soup. He thought he might be sick.

  “Is he . . . going to die?”

  His mom’s fork stopped halfway to her salad plate. She set it back down and swallowed hard, preparing her words carefully. “I have to be honest with you, Levi. It’s a possibility. We hope the surgery was successful, that the cancer hasn’t spread. But we won’t know for a few days or weeks.”

  Levi felt a huge weight press against his chest, and he fought back the tears that suddenly filled his eyes. Cancer. Another word he didn’t like. He looked away, toward the windows that lined one side of the room. White flakes were flying in the air. Snow. It was snowing.

  Levi’s mom noticed as well. “Yes, the weatherman says it’s going to be a big storm,” she said. They were both silent a moment. Then she reached across the table and grabbed Levi’s hand.

  “Levi, we will get through this. Together. It’s going to be okay. Eat something. You’ll need your strength. You haven’t eaten all day.”

  Levi picked up his spoon and took a small sip of the soup, which sat like a stagnant pool in his mouth. He struggled to swallow.

  His mom was right. He had to be brave now. For the sake of both his mom and his dad. He just didn’t know if he could do it.

  Something Ruwach had taught him from The Book came to his mind, out of the blue.

  Don’t be afraid. I am with you.

  Thanks, Ruwach, he said silently.

  And then something else, as familiar to him as his own name.

  You have everything you need.

  CHAPTER 8

  Snow Day

  Day 4

  It snowed so much that school was canceled three days in a row. And it showed no signs of stopping. Winters were usually pretty mild in Cedar Creek, which made this snowstorm, according to the weatherman, “epic.”

  Evan sat around the house, watching the snow pile up, bored out of his mind. The radio was saying there weren’t enough plow trucks to clear the roads, so people needed to stay home and not go anywhere. Everything was closed anyway, so there really wasn’t anywhere to go. Evan and Xavier had spent the morning helping their father shovel the driveway and the sidewalk, which were just covered up again as soon as they were done. Evan had some fun playing in the snow, throwing snowballs at Xavier, but Xavier never fired back. He didn’t seem interested in snowball fights. Evan figured he was still sulking after his failure at the battle.

  Their mom made tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, which was Evan’s favorite. But Xavier hardly ate anything. He went to his room right after and closed the door.

  “What’s up with your brother?” asked Mom as Evan helped her clean up the dishes.

  Evan bit his lip. “Oh, he’s probably just mad because he can’t play basketball. You know how he is when he misses a game.” He didn’t want to tell his mom what he really thought. As soon as they had returned from Ahoratos, Xavier had taken that stick Ruwach had given him and gone right to his room. He clearly didn’t want to talk about it.

  Evan looked out the window. “It’s still snowing. Will it ever stop?”

  “It will be over by tomorrow morning,” said his mom. “This is the most snow we’ve gotten all at once in a long time. Forty years, the weatherman said.”

  “Forty years.” Something about this stuck in Evan’s throat. Forty.

  He wondered if there would be forty inches of snow too. There were at least two feet already.

  Xavier had left his phone on the kitchen table. Evan stared at it, amazed that Xavier would have let it out of his sight. He was never separated from his phone.
Evan still had the phone they used to share, but it was pretty old and not nearly as cool.

  Evan picked up Xavier’s phone and hit some of the buttons, trying it out. Then he decided to send a text to Manuel, who lived right across the street, hoping he might want to get together.

  Hey, it’s Evan. (I’m using Xavier’s phone.) Want to hang out?

  No answer. Manuel was probably deep into some sort of science project, like creating some electrical contraption to melt snow off the driveway.

  Evan dropped the phone back on the table, disappointed. He went to his room and picked up the book his grandfather had given him, a large picture book that had lots of stories about a Prince Warrior. He had read it so many times the pages were starting to curl. He sat on his bed and opened the book; the pages fell open to a chapter called “Winter.” He had never seen this chapter before.

  The scene depicted a snowy landscape, much like the one he had witnessed during the battle. But on the side of the illustration was a big dark spot, like a shadow. He almost didn’t notice it at first, but the more he stared at the page, the bigger that dark spot seemed to get. He blinked, wondering if his eyesight was somehow to blame.

  There were words under the picture.

  And then it was Winter for forty days, to test the heart of the Prince Warrior.

  A strange chill ran up his spine. Forty days. Ruwach had just said “forty.” So the Winter came to test them? And they had already failed the test. On the very first day. But what would happen at the end of forty days?

  A weird smell suddenly came out of the book, just like the smell of something rotting that had been in the Garden. What had Manuel called it? Compress? Something like that. The smell was so bad that Evan shut the book.

  Then he noticed the Crest on the front of the book was glowing slightly. And it was turning, like a 3-D image, rotating slowly, rising up from the cover.

  “Xavier!” he yelled, jumping up from the bed. “Come on! I think we’re being called back!” But Xavier didn’t answer. Evan took a deep breath and put his hand over the top of the Crest.

  * * *

  Brianna texted Levi, but he didn’t answer. Again.

  She knew something was wrong. Levi just wasn’t himself. Even in Ahoratos, where he was usually the fiercest of the Rec-ing Crew, he had barely wanted to fight at all.

  Finally she went to Grandpa Tony, who was busy fixing the kitchen sink, as usual. That sink always seemed to be leaking. Besides, there wasn’t much else to do in the house. Brianna’s dog, Star, woke from a nap under the kitchen table and ran to her, demanding to be picked up. Brianna obliged, sitting down on the floor so the dog could jump into her lap. Brianna nuzzled her furry nose and scratched her behind the ears.

  “Grandpa, something’s bothering Levi, and I don’t know what to do about it. I think he’s mad at me. He was acting really weird in . . . you know where.”

  “You mean Ahoratos?” Grandpa Tony grinned. “You can say it out loud, you know. It’s okay. No one’s around.”

  “Well, you never know when one of my sisters might come barging in. They do that a lot.”

  “Oh, I see.” Grandpa Tony pulled himself up from under the sink so he could see his granddaughter. His face was tight and grim, as if he had some bad news.

  “I think I know what’s bothering Levi,” he said. “Mr. J. Ar’s in the hospital. He had surgery.”

  “Surgery? What for? Is he sick?”

  “I don’t know the details. But I’m sure Levi will tell you about it when he’s ready.”

  Brianna pushed the dog off her lap and stood up. “I should go over to the hospital. Can you drive me?”

  Grandpa Tony chuckled. “In this weather? Sorry. You’ll have to wait until Mr. J. Ar comes home. And for this storm to blow over. Can’t go anywhere right now.”

  “I feel so bad. I was joking around with Levi . . . I didn’t know . . . I should really apologize.”

  “Why don’t you call him? He’d be glad to hear from you.”

  “I’ve been texting him for three days. He hasn’t answered.”

  “I’m sure he will soon. Hey, how about finding me a bucket? I think there’s one in the upstairs bathroom.”

  Brianna went upstairs, but her sister Crystal was in the bathroom. Brianna knocked on the door.

  “I need a bucket,” she yelled.

  “Just wait!” said the annoyed voice on the other side.

  Brianna huffed a little then went to her room to wait. Her sister Nikki was there, studying for a test.

  “Don’t make a sound!” she ordered.

  Brianna tiptoed over to her bed and sat down. She could see the door of the bathroom across the hall, still closed. She sighed. With three sisters, chances were always good that one of them would be in the bathroom. It was the only room in the house where any of them could go to be alone. Brianna wished that just once she could have the bedroom to herself. Or any space other than the bathroom, for that matter. All four girls shared one bedroom, so they were almost literally on top of each other, though the oldest was away at college most of the time, which helped a little.

  She picked up her phone, which was charging by her bed, and punched in Levi’s number. No answer. She sent him another text.

  Hey! Just heard about Mr. J. Ar. I’m so sorry!

  Call me if you need someone to talk to.

  After a few minutes, she sent Ivy a text too.

  Hey, what’s up?

  She waited a few minutes, but there was no response. That was weird. Ivy must be home, probably bored like she was. Ivy would be all alone too, because she didn’t have any brothers or sisters to bother her. She lived with her mom; her dad didn’t live with them anymore. Ivy didn’t like to talk about her dad much, but Brianna knew she really wanted him to come back home to live.

  Brianna never knew her own father. And she hadn’t seen her mother in a long time. She wondered where her mom was now, what she was doing. If she ever thought of the daughters she left behind. Nana Lily said that her mom just couldn’t take care of her right now, but that someday she would be better. And she would come to get her daughters. But the more time passed, the more Brianna thought that probably wouldn’t happen. Still, it was okay. She loved Nana Lily and Grandpa Tony so much. They were the best parents any girl could ask for.

  Brianna watched the snow fall out the window for a few minutes. While waiting for a text to come in from either of her friends (and for the bathroom door to open), she reached under the mattress and pulled out her Prince Warrior book. Grandpa Tony had given her this book, which was filled with stories and secrets. It even had a special page where she kept her Krÿs to charge when she wasn’t using it.

  Before she could even open the book, she saw the golden Crest on the cover glow and rotate, calling to her.

  Suddenly the bathroom door opened.

  “Okay, I’m done!” shouted Crystal.

  Holding the book close to her chest, Brianna quickly ran into the bathroom, brushing past her sister. She grabbed the bucket from under the sink and raced down to the kitchen to deliver it to her grandfather.

  “Gotta go!” she said, running out of the kitchen before Grandpa Tony could ask her where she was going.

  But he probably already knew.

  * * *

  Evan found himself in the dark, scary forest he had been in the very first time he and Xavier were summoned to Ahoratos. Except this time, his older brother wasn’t with him. The sky above was red and stormy looking. Blackened, decaying trees loomed over him. The wind whipped through the branches, making them move like arms about to grab him.

  Evan ran. The trees were even more frightening now than they had been the first time. And Ruwach wasn’t here this time to show him the way.

  He had to get to the Water. That was the important thing. Whenever the Prince Warriors “landed” in Ahoratos,
they were in a place Evan called the In-Between. It was usually dangerous, because they didn’t yet have their armor. But they had to get to the Water, which would take them to the Cave. The Water was always marked with the Crest of Ahoratos, and a red-colored hue rippled across the surface right after anyone went through. Finding the water seemed like an easy task, but it usually wasn’t.

  Evan kept running in a roughly straight line, dodging tree roots and branches that seemed to be shooting out all around him, as if trying to stop his momentum. They scratched his face and arms as he struggled to push them away. The wind howled mournfully; it sounded like someone crying.

  Evan stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He didn’t know which way to go. He thought he might be running in circles, despite the fact that he had tried to go in a straight line. The trees were closing in, blocking out the sky.

  He sensed something move behind him and spun around. But there was nothing there. Or was there? All around him, rustling noises made him spin in circles.

  And that smell again. Something rotten. It filled his nostrils, making him gag. He realized too that he was very cold, colder than he had ever felt before. The cold felt as if it had fingers trying to clutch at him, hold him in place.

  He started to run again, but the smell and the cold stayed with him. Something whizzed by his head and he almost fell, filled with fear. He looked up and saw a large bird landing on a tree branch in front of him. The bird was pure white—even its beak was white. Bigger than a crow, it was the most majestic bird Evan had ever seen. It had a noble head with black, intelligent eyes. Evan felt strangely drawn to the bird; it was looking right at him, as if it knew who he was and why he was there. But just as Evan moved in for a closer look, the bird took off again. Evan jumped backward, startled. The bird flew a short distance through the tangle of trees and landed on another branch. It turned to look at Evan, who got the impression it was waiting for him to catch up.

  Follow me.

  Evan wondered where the voice came from. Was it the bird? Or was it something bad and evil, leading him to a dead end?