The Prince Warriors and the Swords of Rhema Read online

  “Now I know you’ve all watched a lot of swordfighting movies, but those are mostly not very true to life. The actors are usually aiming for each other’s swords. But in real life, you don’t aim for your opponent’s sword, you aim for your opponent. Every move you make is designed to kill. If you parry, which means block your opponent’s attack, you should always turn it into a counterstrike.”

  “But Forgers don’t fight with swords,” said Evan.

  “That’s right,” said Mr. J. Ar. “But there are other servants of Ponéros that do. We’re going to cover the basics first. Then we will talk about Forgers.”

  Mr. J. Ar began with parries, showing the boys how to block a sword attack. Then he had the boys practice for a while, attacking them in slow motion until they learned to react correctly and have their swords in the proper position.

  “Above your head, Manuel. If you hold your blade in front of your face, you are going to get it right up your nose.”

  Evan snickered at this.

  The instruction went on for more than an hour. Brianna and Ivy practiced their new moves against Grandpa Tony, taking turns attacking him until he begged for mercy. Rook had Xavier and Finn spar with each other, stopping them often to correct their positions. Then Mr. J. Ar had all the kids sit on the bleachers while he and Rook did a demonstration of sword-fighting techniques, both in slow motion and real time. Levi was amazed at how fast they were and how quickly they were able to react to the other person’s attacks. He vowed to practice every day so one day he could be as good a swordsman as his dad.

  Once the demonstration was over, Mr. J. Ar called for a break. The kids filed tiredly into the main room and took turns at the water fountain. Then they sat around a table and ate cookies provided by Brianna’s grandmother while Mr. J. Ar, Grandpa Tony, and Rook went into the office for a discussion.

  “At this rate, it’ll take months before we get good at this,” said Ivy. “There’s so much to learn. More than I thought.”

  “It’s kind of fun,” Brianna added. “Although I never thought I would be able to use a real sword. Or be in a real battle.”

  “I’m not very good,” Manuel said. “No hand-eye coordination. And my depth perception is very poor.”

  “I’ll help you out if you need it, don’t worry,” said Evan, not knowing for certain what depth perception really was. He patted Manuel on the shoulder as Mr. J. Ar had done.

  “Sure you will, Squirt,” said Xavier with a laugh. Evan made a face at him.

  “Hey, Manuel,” Evan said, ignoring his brother, “how come your dad isn’t here helping?”

  “What do you mean?” said Manuel.

  “Well, he’s a Prince Warrior, isn’t he? I mean, he has a book.”

  “He does?” Manuel looked mystified.

  “Sure. I saw it on his desk that time we went to your house to see the shield you made.”

  “He was snooping,” said Xavier.

  “Was not! The door was open, and I saw the book. But it looked kind of different. The crest was all changed. I didn’t get a chance to look at the rest of the pages—”

  “I didn’t know my father had a book,” said Manuel, thoughtfully. “He never mentioned it. I got my book from my mom before she died.”

  “Maybe we can go over to your house after this and look at it,” said Evan.

  “Evan!” said Xavier. “It’s none of your business.”

  “I just want to see,” Evan said.

  “My father doesn’t like anyone going into his study,” said Manuel. “Including me. He’s been rather reclusive lately.”

  “Is that a sickness?”

  “No—it means withdrawn, secretive. He keeps to himself.”

  “Oh, right, since your mom—”

  “Evan!” Xavier hissed.

  “Sorry,” Evan said, tucking his head into his shoulders.

  “It’s okay. It’s true, though,” said Manuel with a sigh. “He doesn’t like to talk about it.”

  Mr. J. Ar emerged from the office with Rook and Grandpa Tony.

  “All right, kids, break is over! Back to work!”

  * * *

  Mr. Blake picked up Xavier, Evan, and Manuel after practice was over, just as the Rec was opening for the day. Mr. J. Ar had given them each a wooden sword to practice with at home. The boys talked excitedly about what they had learned, recounting their favorite moments.

  “I liked when Mr. J. Ar almost lopped Manuel’s ear off,” said Evan, laughing.

  “I kept closing my eyes,” said Manuel. “Probably not the best thing to do in a sword fight.”

  “No matter what I did, Rook always managed to knock the sword out of my hands,” said Xavier. “He was so fast. I couldn’t keep up.”

  “Hey, Manuel, you want to come over to our house and practice?” asked Evan.

  “No thanks,” said Manuel, shaking his head. “I have homework.”

  “Homework? It’s Thanksgiving vacation!”

  Manuel tried to think of some other, more plausible excuse but then just shrugged. “My father wants me home.”

  Mr. Blake pulled into Manuel’s driveway.

  “Thanks for the ride,” Manuel said as he got out of the car.

  “No problem. Say hi to your father for us,” said Mr. Blake. “He’s home, right?”

  “Yes, that’s his car,” Manuel said, indicating the car in the driveway. “I appreciate the ride home. Tell Mrs. Blake I said hello.”

  “Will do, Manuel,” said Mr. Blake with a smile. “You sure you’re okay?”

  “I’m fine, thank you.”

  Manuel waited until the Blakes’ car had backed out of the driveway and turned down their own driveway before going into the house. He opened the door, listening for sounds of his father. The door to the study was closed.

  “Papá?” He waited, but there was no immediate answer. He started to go up the stairs to his room but then changed his mind. He walked over to the study door and knocked softly. “Papá? Are you in there?”

  No answer. He knocked harder, but still nothing. Manuel paused. He knew he shouldn’t go in, but he had to see for sure. He took a deep breath and turned the knob of the door.

  He opened it slowly, peeking in, wondering if his dad had fallen asleep in his wingback chair. But he wasn’t in the room at all. Maybe he had gone to fill the bird feeders. Mr. Santos loved to watch the birds and document any new bird he saw. It was practically the only activity he enjoyed anymore; he was always working.

  Manuel slid into the room and looked around. There it was, sitting on his father’s desk, just as Evan had said. A Prince Warrior book. Evan was right. Manuel crept over to the desk and peered at the book, pushing his glasses up his nose. It did look different. The symbol of Ahoratos appeared to be upside down. Manuel opened the book and looked through the pages. The changes were small: a chapter heading rearranged, a sentence crossed out or rewritten, a note scribbled in the margin. The pictures were missing small details. The shield illustration contained no red seed in the center of the brass boss. And the picture of the sword did not have the Crest of Ahoratos in the hilt, nor were there any letters engraved in the blade. When Manuel touched the blade, his finger did not go through the page as it did with his own book. He realized that the Krÿs could not be implanted in this book. It was powerless.

  Manuel heard the back door slam and darted out of the study in time to see his father tramping through the kitchen, pulling off his thick cardigan.

  “Oh, hi, Papá,” Manuel said brightly, hoping his nervous state wasn’t too noticeable.

  “Manuel? Did you just get home?”

  “Yes. Mr. Blake dropped me off.”

  “Oh—I did not hear a car pull away.” Mr. Santos dropped his sweater on the back of a chair and passed by Manuel, giving him a rub on the head as he headed to his study. Manuel touched his
head absently, feeling warmed by his father’s unexpected show of affection.

  “Did you go to fill the bird feeders?” Manuel asked, following him down the hallway. He wondered to himself: did I shut the book or leave it open? He couldn’t remember.

  “Yes.”

  “Any new birds today?”

  “No. But the hummingbirds are returning.” Hummingbirds were Mr. Santos’s favorite. “Where did you go this morning?”

  “Just with my friends, over to the Rec.”

  “It is open so early?”

  “Well, no. We were . . . helping Mr. J. Ar with a project.” Manuel didn’t want to lie, but he didn’t want to tell his father what they were actually doing either.

  “You are going to your cousins’ for dinner,” Mr. Santos said. “Be ready to leave at five.” He turned the knob of his study door and opened it.

  “Papá—” Manuel said. “Can I ask you something?”

  Mr. Santos stopped in the doorway, gazing at his son abstractedly. “Yes?”

  Manuel bit his lower lip. He wasn’t sure how to ask. “You know the book Mamá gave me? The one about the Prince Warrior?”

  Mr. Santos stiffened. “Yes, I know this book.”

  “I was just wondering if you had ever read it.”

  There was a long pause. Mr. Santos shook his head. “It is a nonsensical book. For children. You are too old for such things, Manuel. It was a nice memento from your mother. A way to remember her. She was—special. But do not take such things so seriously.” With that, Mr. Santos disappeared through the door and shut it with a click.

  CHAPTER 11

  New Developments

  As soon as Xavier and Evan walked through the door of the house, Evan zoomed past his mom who was sitting in the living room watching TV and went straight to the kitchen.

  “Mom! Is there any food?” he yelled, hoping his mom could hear him. His morning of sword fighting had made him really hungry.

  There was no answer. Evan opened the refrigerator door. Nothing looked instantly edible. Lots of Thanksgiving leftovers in little plastic containers.

  “Lunch isn’t for another hour,” said Xavier, coming into the kitchen. “You ate four donuts this morning. How can you still be hungry?”

  “I’m starving now!”

  “Have some cereal.”

  Evan headed for the pantry. Xavier decided to go up to his room to look up some stuff on his computer. He liked to look up stuff he didn’t understand. His dad had taught him to do that whenever he was stuck on something, and it had just become a habit. As soon as they had gotten back from the Mountain of Rhema, Xavier had looked up the word Rhema. It was the Greek word for “breath.” That had made sense, since the mist that came from the mountain was the breath of the Source. He had wanted to look up Krÿs, but he had no idea how to spell it. With a C or K ? With an I or a Y ? Ruwach hadn’t told them that. He had tried all different ways but hadn’t found anything that seemed right. Maybe Krÿs was something that only existed in Ahoratos.

  Right now, he was interested in finding out more information about sword fighting. Rook was an amazing fighter; he showed Xavier and Finn a lot of cool moves. But Rook told them he had never fought a black dragon himself, although he’d seen them plenty of times. Rook had told him that the black dragon’s armor was so thick that a single sword blow wouldn’t kill it. Rook thought it would take a least a dozen swords to bring down one dragon, but even he wasn’t totally sure. Xavier knew there were a lot of online sites devoted to dragon slaying, and even though they were all made up, he wondered if there might be some useful information he could take into a real battle—if he ever had to face one of those monsters himself.

  On his way up the stairs, Xavier passed by the living room and saw his mom still sitting in front of the television, staring intently at the screen. He thought it was strange she hadn’t answered Evan when he called.

  “Hey, Mom,” said Xavier. No response. He spoke louder. “Mom! We’re home.”

  She glanced over at him. “Oh, hey, baby,” she said, returning to the screen. “Have you seen this?”

  “What is it?” Xavier sat down beside her on the couch.

  It was a news program. The video footage was an aerial view from a helicopter, showing a gigantic boulder sitting in the middle of a runway at the airport. There was a passenger plane parked at an odd angle beside it, as if it had nearly crashed into it. The boulder looked to be at least as long as the plane and twice as tall. The area around it was taped off with yellow police tape, and people in hazmat suits aimed strange-looking instruments at it. Much farther away, news vans and police cars were parked with lights flashing. The caption on the screen read: “Giant boulder appears on airport runway. Flights delayed for hours.” The TV reporter was talking excitedly, waving one arm in the direction of the humongous rock.

  “Officials are stumped as to what sort of rock this is. There is some speculation that it might be of alien origin, although there is no evidence that the object fell to earth from outer space.”

  “It’s so strange, isn’t it?” said Mrs. Blake. “Right in the middle of the airport! Thank goodness it didn’t fall on any planes.”

  Xavier swallowed hard. He knew what that rock was. He’d seen more than one of them before.

  A skypod. One of the large floating objects that dotted the skies of Ahoratos. He also knew what it contained: Ents. Thousands of Ents, trapped by the Prince Warriors.

  The news reporter was still talking when the camera switched to a shot inside the airport showing people being loaded onto busses, looking extremely unhappy. “Dozens of flights have been delayed, as the airport had to be completely shut down until it can be confirmed that this object is not a threat. Hundreds of people have been evacuated to local hotels, where they will have to stay until they get word that the airport has reopened. Even if it does, there is likely no chance that this huge rock can be moved off the runway quickly. . . .”

  Xavier excused himself and went into the kitchen, where Evan was wolfing down a bowl of cereal.

  “You need to see this,” he said, grabbing Evan by the arm and dragging him into the living room. Evan, still complaining about being separated from his food, went quiet as he watched the news show. Finally, Mrs. Blake turned off the TV.

  “Well, I guess the experts will figure it out,” she said, seeing the worried expressions on the boys’ faces. “I didn’t mean to scare you—Evan, are you all right?”

  Evan nodded mutely.

  “Well, you boys need to clean up your rooms and take showers. I’ll get some lunch together. How about hot turkey sandwiches?” She went into the kitchen.

  Evan and Xavier sat on the couch, staring at the blank TV screen.

  “A skypod,” Evan whispered. “Full of Ents.”

  “Yeah,” Xavier said. “But it’s impossible. A skypod couldn’t come to earth.”

  “Maybe it could.”

  Xavier looked at his little brother. “How?”

  “Ru said there would be . . . consequences.”

  “Consequences? What are you talking about?”

  Evan took a deep breath, summoning the courage to tell his brother the truth. “Xavi, I really wanted to open my locked room, you know, the rooms in the Cave that we saw when we first got our armor. I didn’t understand why it was taking so long for Ru to let us open it. And, I found the key . . . and . . . umm . . . I took it.”

  Xavier’s mouth dropped open. “You took it?”

  Evan nodded. “I was just going to open the door and take a peek inside, just to see what was in there. And then put the key right back. But somehow or other I didn’t get a chance and then . . .”

  “Then what?”

  “Then we came back to earth.”

  Xavier’s gaping mouth closed. “You brought the key to earth?”

  “Yeah. I knew
it was against the rules Ru gave us. We aren’t supposed to bring anything back from Ahoratos to earth. But it was sort of an accident.”

  “But you fixed it all, right? I mean, you’re the one who opened the quaritan and stopped the unseen invasion of the rec center. So—everything was fixed, right?”

  “Not exactly. Ru said there are always consequences for every action, sometimes even after we make things right.” Evan pointed to the blank TV screen. “I’m wondering if this is it. That skypod probably came through the portal I opened.” Evan’s head dropped, tears forming in his eyes. “It’s all my fault.”

  Xavier wanted to be mad. Evan was always getting them into trouble. His goofing off on the Mountain of Rhema had awakened those angry trees. Now this. A portal opened. Skypods falling to earth. Xavier liked rules, and he was good at following them. But Evan never thought things through. Now he was making them all suffer. It was just too much.

  But seeing Evan’s tears, knowing how badly he felt about all that had happened, Xavier couldn’t be angry with him. He sighed, putting an arm around his brother.

  “Look, Van, it’s okay. I mean, it will be okay. Ruwach will fix this. And as long as no one messes with the skypod, the Ents won’t be able to get out.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Pretty sure, I guess. Don’t worry; everything’s going to be fine.”

  Evan wiped his tear-streaked face. “I hope so.”

  “Let’s go get some lunch,” said Xavier, coaxing him up.

  “No thanks,” said Evan. “I’m not hungry anymore.”

  * * *

  The kids returned to the Rec early the next morning for more sword-fighting lessons. Mr. J. Ar, Rook, and Grandpa Tony focused on Forger fighting this time.

  “As Evan pointed out yesterday,” Mr. J. Ar began, “Forgers don’t fight with swords. Their mission is to grab and hold and turn you into metal. In order to kill a Forger, you have to go straight through its chest or cut off its head. This is easier said than done, since the Forgers are a whole lot bigger than you are, and they have massive arms. If you go for the legs, you might be able to knock them over, so you can thrust the sword through. Remember: Forgers are not flesh and blood. They are not human. Only metal.”