Date: Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:09:05 EDT
From: BertMcK@aol.com
Subject: Crystal Throne/Riders of Tuatha 6

RIDERS OF TUATHA
by Bert McKenzie
Copyright 2010

Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to any real
person alive or dead is coincidental and unintentional.

CHAPTER VI

     "Can you not call her back?" Robin asked angrily.

     "I have only opened a door," Elnar explained, still obviously upset.
"Once she passed through, it closed again.  I have no way to 'call her
back.'"

     "Then open another door and I shall go after her," Robin volunteered.

     "I cannot.  The time is not right.  We shall have to wait until they
use the homing crystal or until the next full moon," the little old man
whined as he seemed to shrink in his enveloping robes.

     Melcot and Rowana helped the old man gather his books and tools as
Rood and Akuta came back with the horses.  The party mounted up and headed
back to the castle.  As they rode on in silence, Robin felt an odd
sensation in his stomach.  The last time he had felt so peculiar was as a
child when he had eaten an entire basket of greenberries.

     "What is it, my lord?" Rowana asked as she pulled her horse in step
with his.  "You are awfully pale."

     "It is only my worry for our absent friends," he replied as he tried
to mask the upset feeling in his stomach.

     "Not just a friend, but your mate," she said, reminding him that he
was actually bound.

     "Thank you, my lady," he said.  "I had almost forgotten what this
night is."

     "I wish that it were happier, lord."

     "That will come," he said through gritted teeth as he fought a spasm
of nausea.

     The party rode into the courtyard, Rood and Akuta taking charge of the
mounts.  Robin quickly headed for his chambers, climbing the stairs two at
a time.  Rowana turned to her tall, blond mate.  "Please go find Ellenia,"
she requested.

     "Why? What is it?" Melcot asked her.

     "I am not sure, but I fear for the king's well being."

     "I shall call the guards," Melcot suggested.

     "No, it is his health that worries me.  He looked not well and he
seemed to have pain," she said.

     "Want you not a healer for him?" he asked.

     "Not yet. Ellenia will know should we need one." Melcot headed toward
the green tower while Rowana started up the stairs to the king's chambers.

                               * * *

     Jennifer finally managed to leave the shop and head for home.  They
had never actually opened for business, being delayed by their clean up
efforts in both the store and Troy's apartment.  But they were ready to
open by the closing time, so barring any unforeseen happenings, like
another break-in, they would return to business tomorrow.  After cleaning
up two different messes, re-examining the inventory and arguing with their
insurance agent, Jennifer was exhausted.  She had all but forgotten the
break-in of her own house.  All she wanted was a hot shower and a
comfortable bed.

     She dug out her key and grabbed the door knob preparing to unlock it,
when the door opened at her touch.  She knew she had locked it that
morning, but now it was open, just like the previous night.  Whoever had
broken in three times already, must have returned again to her house.  Her
rational mind was telling her to go back to the car, get in, drive to the
corner convenience store two blocks away, and call the police.  But her
anger at the invasion of her life for a fourth time made her open the door
and enter.

     Once in the foyer she became a bit more cautious.  Listening, she
could hear water running upstairs.  She looked around for a weapon, but the
only thing nearby was her umbrella in an old stand behind the door.  It was
better than nothing so she picked it up, holding it like a fencing foil,
and began to slowly climb the stairs.  As she started through the upstairs
hall she could hear the water running in the bathroom.  The audacity of it!
The burglar was taking a shower!  She pushed the door open and looked in,
still brandishing her umbrella-weapon.  The water stopped and the shower
door opened.  A very wet, naked young girl stepped out, her long, black,
dripping hair plastered to the sides of her skull and down her long neck,
curling down on her bare shoulders.  She was extremely short and her small
breasts added to her childlike appearance.

     The young girl was obviously not carrying any concealed weapons, but
Jennifer pointed her umbrella like a protecting sword anyway.  As she did
so, her fingers accidently brushed the release button and the spring
mechanism popped it open, startling both women.  Jennifer screamed, dropped
the open umbrella and ran for the stairs.  She headed down them, making for
the safety of the front door.  Unfortunately, just as she reached the
bottom step, a figure loomed up in front of her and she ran headlong into
it.  It was a tall man who grabbed her, trying to hold her wrists as she
attempted to strike out and break free.

     "Jennifer, Jennifer!"  He knew her name.  The voice struck a familiar
chord.  She reacted instinctively before she recognized the familiarity,
and raised her leg sharply, striking her knee into the man's groin.  The
maneuver worked.  He dropped his hold on her and doubled over in pain.  As
he did so, she finally realized with whom she had been fighting.

     "Scott!" she said in amazement and bent over her friend in anxious
concern.  She was suddenly grabbed from behind.  Before she could turn,
Jennifer found herself heavily thrown to the floor, the naked girl standing
over her with a bare foot poised above her throat.  Scott looked up and
mumbled some odd sounding words in a foreign tongue.  The small girl
stopped her attack and roughly yanked Jennifer to her feet, pinning her arm
behind her back.  The girl said something to Scott in the strange sounding
language, and he replied a bit sharply as he managed to regain his
composure.  The girl released her captive.

     "And I was worried about you," Scott said as he finally tried to
straighten up.

     "I'm so sorry.  Are you okay?" Jennifer asked him.

     "I'm fine," he managed to smile.

     She suddenly ran to him and grabbed him in a tight hug, tears pooling
in her eyes.  "I thought you were dead," she said as she held him.

     "No, I'm very much alive," he said and hugged her back.  "I've missed
you.  Are you alright?  What are you doing here at my place?"  She managed
to hold back her tears and started to tell him all about the year that had
passed since his disappearance, but he stopped her.  "I'm forgetting my
manners," Scott said. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Caseldra."
He indicated the naked young girl standing sullenly by.

     "I guess we've already met," Jennifer said, trying to smile at her
attacker.

     Caseldra said something in the strange language to Scott.  He looked
confused and turned to Jennifer. "She says you attacked her with an
expanding cloth weapon?"

     "My umbrella," Jennifer replied, slightly embarrassed.

     Scott finally managed a laugh.  He again spoke to the girl who turned
and headed back up the stairs.  "She'll rejoin us when she's dried off and
dressed," he said. "I'm afraid your umbrella won't be of much use anymore."
And the two old friends headed out toward the kitchen.

     "A whole year since I left?" he asked as Jennifer fixed some tea.
Scott was glad that it wasn't more time.  He had tried to prepare himself
intellectually for a big jump, but coming back to his old house, everything
looking almost the same, it seemed like only the three months he had spent
in Tuatha was all that had passed.

     "Nearly a year and a half," Jennifer said.  "You know, I couldn't
quite believe that story your friend told us of an alternate world.  And
yet, I knew you weren't really dead like the police said."

     "I worried about the two of you," Scott told her.  "How did you and
Troy get out of that mess?"

     "There wasn't anything to get out of," she told him.  "With you, your
friend and the evidence gone, the police didn't have much of a case.  And
the old lady didn't want to press charges when she got back in town.  It
seems her husband was getting the house in a divorce and she was just as
happy to leave it the way it was for him, broken chandelier and all."

     "Great," he said. "But what are you doing here?"

     "Don't you remember your will?"

     "Yes, but . . ." Scott suddenly realized what she was trying to say.
"Then I'm dead?"

     "Legally I guess so.  I don't know how we're going to straighten this
mess out."

     "There's nothing to straighten out," he told her.

     "You can't stay legally dead. You have a life to live."

     "In another world," Scott said gently.

     "You mean, you're going back there?" Jennifer asked, the
disappointment strong in her voice.

     "I have to."

     "But why?" she asked.

     "Because Robin lives there," he answered.

     "You love him, don't you?"

     Caseldra joined them in the kitchen, her hair still damp, but the rest
of her dry and again dressed in her light blue tunic.  Jennifer poured her
some tea.  The girl sat at the table and gingerly sniffed the cup.  Scott
spoke to her in Tuathan and she took a sip. She smiled and asked Scott a
question. "Tea," he said.

     "Tay?" she repeated.

     "Close enough," he smiled.

     "Doesn't she speak any English?" Jennifer asked.

     "'Fraid not," Scott answered.

     "Why did you bring her?"

     "It was kind of an accident.  I was on my way back to see you and she
kind of fell in after me," he replied.

     "You came to see me?" Jennifer smiled, excited to be the center of his
attention.

     "I came to warn you," he told her

     "About what?" Just then the phone rang, interrupting them and
startling Caseldra enough to spill her 'tay.'  Scott wiped up the mess and
poured her a fresh cup while Jennifer went to catch the call.

                               * * *

     "My lord, may I enter?" Ellenia called from the door to Robin's
private chambers.  She and Rowana listened closely but heard no response.

     "Think you he is seriously ill?" Rowana asked softly as she looked up
at her friend.  "It came on so suddenly.  I could tell he felt poorly but
was trying to hide it."

     "My lord," Ellenia called a bit more insistently.  "May we enter?"
This time they heard a sound.  It was more like a moan than an actual reply
to her question.  The two women opened the door and entered the king's
inner chambers.  Robin was still wearing the tunic he had on earlier in the
evening, but now it was soaked with perspiration.  He lay on the soft
mattress of his reclining platform and tossed restlessly back and forth.

     Ellenia rushed to his side and placed a cool hand to his forehead.
"My lord, you are burning with fever!  Lady, you had better call for a
healer," she said as she addressed Rowana.  Robin tried to speak, but he
could only manage to groan and grip his stomach.  Rowana dashed from the
room while Ellenia went to find a damp cloth for his head.

     "Melcot will bring the healer," Rowana said as she returned.  Ellenia
sat on the edge of the platform, bathing the king's face with the damp
cloth.  "How could he have become so ill this quickly?" Rowana asked as she
stood by, fidgeting nervously.  "Think you it may be the plague?"  she
suddenly said in alarm.

     "I think not," Ellenia tried to comfort her.  "These are not like the
symptoms of which I have heard."  They both waited in silence.  Ellenia
continued to bathe Robin's face while Rowana kept a steady supply of cool,
damp cloths.

     After what seemed like hours there was a knock upon the door.  Before
they could even respond, Melcot opened it and entered, followed by the
healer, with Clive and Rood trailing after him.  The tall man with albino
white skin and dressed in long, flowing white robes with green trim came
forward.  He looked down on the king for a moment, then reached out his
pale, bluish white hands, placing an open palm on Robin's stomach and
another on his forehead.  The king immediately seemed to calm down, and
opened his eyes to look up at the tall man leaning over him.  The two
stared at each other for a few minutes, their eyes locked in silent, almost
telepathic communication.  And then the healer stood and turned away from
Robin.

     "I can help him no further," the man said with an air of finality in
his voice.

     "What?" Rowana gasped in shock .
     "You are a healer.  Heal him!" Clive commanded angrily as he looked up
at the tall man towering over him.

     "He is not ill . . ." the healer began.

     "Can you not see?" Rood asked, stepping forward.  "The king is gravely
ill."

     "He is not ill in the body," the man in white said, raising his voice
over the protests of Robin's friends.  "This is something that pulls at his
spirit, and I am unable to touch it."

     "Is it . . . is it the plague?" Ellenia asked nervously.

     "I believe not," he answered her.

     "But if you cannot help him what else is our choice?" Rowana lamented.

     "Call for a wizard.  There is nothing physical for a healer here."
The man turned and left the room.  Robin continued to rest silently, but
his pasty color and the glazed look of his unfocused eyes revealed that he
was actually no better.  The friends looked at each other for a moment.

     "I shall get Elnar!" Rood said and turned to leave.

     "And I shall go with you!" Melcot added as he accompanied his friend
out.

     "Why happened this now, of all times?" Ellenia muttered.  "Why could
Scott not be here?"  She continued to bathe Robin's face.  He had become
totally unresponsive to her ministrations, his breath getting more and more
shallow until it seemed that his stomach hardly moved.  The fever seemed to
leave his body, and his temperature dropped until he felt cold as stone.
Rowana and Clive brought some thick fur blankets and covered the king in an
attempt to warm him.

     Minutes later Elnar entered, escorted by Melcot and Rood.  "I am not a
healer.  Why bother you me?" he complained.  "If a healer cannot help him
there is nothing for me."  The two half dragged the little Keeper of Magic
to the side of the platform to look down on the comatose ruler.  "Oh,
dear," Elnar said as he looked at the man before him.  "He is very nearly
dead."

     "Save him!" Rood said, shoving Elnar closer.

     "But I know not how," the old man protested.

     "You must try," Ellenia said to him.

     Elnar leaned forward and looked down into Robin's glazed eyes.  He
made a quiet little gasp and put his fingers to the sides of the king's
head.  "Remove these blankets," he commanded and Clive pulled them back,
off of the platform.  Elnar loosened the sash and pulled Robin's tunic up
around his neck, revealing his body.  He then placed an ear to the king's
chest and rested a hand on the flattened stomach.  "He no longer breathes,"
the old man said.

     "No!" Rowana cried and she and Ellenia hugged each other in fear and
grief.

     "But he is not dead!" Elnar told them.  "I can hear his heart beating
strongly, although it sounds like it is far away."  The old man stood and
pressed his index finger on Robin's stomach.  "Look at this," he said in
excitement.  The others watched as the old man's finger appeared to sink
into the body as if it were made of water.  He removed his hand, and the
skin over the stomach showed no sign of a depression.

     "What is this?" Clive asked angrily.

     "Something is pulling his spirit away, and in the process he is being
tugged out of our world from inside out, so to speak," the old man said.

     "He is being pulled out of our world?" Melcot repeated.  "To where?"

     "To some other world," Elnar answered.  "If my own daughter had not
balanced the spell this night, I would think his emotional tie to that
human was sucking him from our land.  This is very strange.  It is almost
as if he were bound to someone in another world."

     "He is," Ellenia said suddenly.

     "What mean you?" Elnar asked.

     "He and Scott joined only this day."

     "They what?" the old man asked in a state of agitation.  He looked up
at the other highborn elves in the room.  "This is terrible.  I had no idea
two men would bind, or I might have foreseen this.  An emotional bond is
one thing, but a binding!  It is totally impossible to stretch this new of
a binding across the barrier between two worlds.  If they had joined thus a
day ago, or a week ago better still, the fabric of the spirit world would
have time to adjust.  But if their binding is less than a day old it will
not permit this intra-world separation."

     "So he is being pulled into the other world," Ellenia said as she
looked down at Robin.  His pale, lifeless body had become semi-transparent.
She could actually see the wrinkles in the fabric of the mattress beneath
him, by looking through him.  "Then he is not ill.  He will be fine."

     "If he survives the transition," Elnar said.

     "What mean you?" she asked in alarm.

     "This is not the same as opening a door, as we saw at the crossroad.
This is a force pulling him through a solid wall by turning him inside out.
It shall not be easy for him.  He may well die in the process, or at the
very least, lose his thoughts in a mind journey from which he may never
recover."

     "At least Scott will be there on the other side to help him," Rowana
said.  Robin's form was almost totally invisible.  All that remained was a
hazy outline and a dent in the cushions.

     "They shall be drawn together eventually," the old man agreed.  "But
who can say when.  Time is so very different between our worlds."

                               * * *

     "That was Troy," Jennifer said as she hung up the phone.  "He just
called the police department to speak to Detective Smithers."  Scott didn't
understand, so she filled him in on the whole tale of the burglaries and
vandalism, ending with the strange book the detective had borrowed.

     "So what's the problem?" Scott asked, noting the concern in her voice.

     "The police department never heard of a Detective Smithers," she said.

     "Where is Troy now?" Scott asked her.

     "He was phoning from the shop.  He said he got a call earlier from
this detective asking him to be there tonight to discuss the case."

     "Let's get down there right away," Scott said.  He jumped up, heading
out of the kitchen.  Caseldra and Jennifer quickly followed him.

     "Scott, wait," Jennifer called as he reached for the front door. "That
outfit may be fine where you just came from, but I really think you ought
to put on some pants."  He was still wearing the short tunic from Tuatha.
"Your clothes are still up in your old bedroom.  I didn't have the heart to
throw anything away."

     "Thanks," he said starting up the stairs in a rush.  "You think you
could find something for Caseldra?"

     Jennifer looked critically at the girl standing beside her.  "Are you
kidding? I don't have anything that small," she said with a slight twinge
of jealousy at the petite figure.

     Minutes later, with Scott more appropriately dressed in jeans and a
T-shirt, they hopped in her car to head downtown.  Scott had to very
patiently explain the car to Caseldra before she would agree to get in.
But finally they were en route.  They pulled up in front, just across the
street from Old World Curios.  All three climbed out of Jennifer's car and
turned toward the shop.  Just then they were knocked to the ground by the
shock wave of an explosion.  A great fire ball leaped out of the broken
windows on the front of the store!