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Aleena stood staring, like she was filling herself with it. She smiled softly and turned to us. “This is so beautiful – much better than in the human world.”

  “What’s different?” Maddy asked.

  Aleena thought about it. “Well, the magic here is very powerful, and of course the glacier is much larger.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Maddy shook her head. “Josh, you should remember. Glaciers are melting in the human world. But not here, because of the veil.” Maddy looked at Aleena, making sure she didn’t miss the point.

  Aleena sighed. “They’re still melting. Not as quickly, but still melting.” She made a face and muttered, “Humans!”

  “Not just humans,” Maddy snapped. “You’re damaging the glaciers, too. As magic leaks out, the glaciers will melt faster. Just like in the human world.”

  Aleena lowered her head, and sighed. Then she slowly nodded, as if she was beginning to understand. But all she said was, “Let’s walk up to the glacier.”

  I was eager to see the glacier up close, to figure out all the shadings of colour and to absorb the magic, but Maddy stopped me.

  “Look,” she said, pointing down to the scree. Two furry creatures were wrestling, tumbling across the rocks. “What are they?” she asked.

  “Marmots,” said Aleena. “Squeaky furballs. They love it up here – those things are all over the place.”

  Maddy was delighted. She knelt down to watch them.

  Aleena sighed. “Can we go? I want to get onto the glacier, not watch furballs tumble over each other.”

  Maddy was too absorbed to hear her.

  “Go ahead,” I said to Aleena. “We’ll follow in a bit.”

  As Aleena walked away, I heard cawing. Three crows flew up the valley and landed directly in front of Aleena. One was Corvus. Another was the rumpled white-tipped crow from the Banff Springs. They walked in front of Aleena, scolding with short harsh caws.

  I called out, “Corvus, leave her alone.” We were just starting to convince her. This was not the time to make her mad.

  Corvus cawed to the others. The white-tipped crow cawed back, head bobbing. Corvus flapped his wings with a long rant of caws, and the white-tipped crow backed off. All three flew to a nearby branch, the white-tipped crow sitting furthest from the others.

  Aleena raised her hand to thank me, and walked up the scree slope towards Stanley Glacier.

  I turned back to Maddy. She was squatting on the ground, staring intently at the marmots. They were small, furry mammals, like overgrown gophers, silver-grey with dark patches on their heads. Their tails were large and bushy.

  I was better at drawing mountains and trees than animals, but I studied the marmots carefully, doing quick sketches on my leg as they played. After a while, Maddy pulled out her ring to watch them. She let me look – the marmots were bright with magic. Then I turned and saw the glacier. It was magnificent, magic flowing as I supposed the ice itself flowed, but cycling back and around, contained and huge.

  I could see where the glacier had shrunk and left behind a ridge of small rocks. The marmots scampered all over it as they played. When I looked through Maddy’s ring I could see why. It had a magic too, different from the glacier, a little darker and more settled. The marmots were bright sparks of magic against the darker magic of the rocks.

  As I watched the marmots and the magic flowing through the glacier, I felt my determination grow. I had to get the nexus ring back to Keeper. Maddy and I had to convince Aleena.

  But how? I sketched the marmots to quiet my mind, to let the fear and doubt settle for a moment. As I sketched, my mind stilled, and in the silence came a sureness. There will be a way. I will get the ring back. I have to stay with Aleena.

  Then Maddy yelped. “Greyfur. Eneirda!”

  Startled, I jumped and turned to see Maddy running, arms outstretched. Two otter-people were stepping out of the trees at the edge of the scree slope.

  We’d met them in July – Eneirda, who’d taken us over the glaciers of the Continental Divide to return the nexus ring to Keeper; and Greyfur, older and more serious. They looked like small humans, except they were sleek and covered in soft fur, like otters.

  Eneirda was about Maddy’s height but thinner, with auburn fur and soft tan skin on her hands and face. She watched Maddy with large round eyes, fur in a V down her forehead.

  Greyfur was taller than me, with rich brown fur turned to grey on his head and across his shoulders, and amber skin on his face and hands.

  Maddy ran to Eneirda, her face lit up in a huge smile. Eneirda smiled a little, and reached out her four long fingers to touch Maddy’s.

  “I’m so happy to see you,” Maddy said. “You made it home safely?”

  “Yes.” Eneirda smiled, and then sighed. “You did not complete your job, tss.” Eneirda’s voice was low and purry, with a hiss when she was angry.

  “We took the ring back.”

  “Sssst! Now you have it again.”

  “Aleena has it.”

  “It does not matter who has it. Sssst! What matters is the ring tearing the veil.”

  Maddy hung her head. “I know. We are trying. But Aleena is so determined.”

  “Aleena is just like humans,” Eneirda said.

  I flushed. I’d heard her say “humans” like that before, like it was a swear word. “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “We are looking for a new home,” Greyfur said, his voice deep and somber. “Fire burned our valley. Sssst! Usually the veil stops fires in one world or the other. This fire leapt through a tear.”

  Maddy gasped. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “No. We had warning.” He nodded his head towards the crows. “But we cannot live there now. We plan to move here. Our babies cannot live near a tear. Chrrrr.”

  Maddy’s eyes grew large. “We came through the doorway last night.”

  “With the nexus ring?” he said, his voice harsh.

  “Josh opened the doorway without the ring, but Aleena walked through wearing it. Josh says that won’t tear the veil, but we don’t know for sure.”

  Eneirda’s mouth tightened and she stepped back from us.

  “We’re following Aleena,” I said, “well, travelling with her. So we can get the ring back.”

  “Sssst! Keeper let Aleena have the ring?” Greyfur asked.

  “No, of course not,” I said. “It was an accident.”

  “A crow, a baby crow, grabbed the ring when Josh dropped it,” Maddy added.

  “I was just wearing it for a little while. Not using it,” I said.

  “Aleena caught the crow and killed it.” Maddy’s voice cracked.

  “She took the ring and we’re trying to get it back. For Keeper.”

  Greyfur held up a hand to stop us. “Regardless. Aleena has the nexus ring?” His eyes were dark and stern.

  “Yes,” we both said.

  “She must be stopped.”

  “Yes, yes, we’re trying – that’s what we’re doing – trying to convince her –” we both stammered, interrupting each other.

  “Tss, you have failed! She must be stopped now!” he snapped.

  I swallowed.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  I pointed up at the glacier. Aleena stood on the edge of it, dark against the white ice.

  Greyfur strode off, looking determined. Eneirda glanced at us, her face still, and then she turned and followed Greyfur. Maddy and I trailed along behind.

  I felt sick. I’d failed to get the ring back. Maybe Greyfur and Eneirda could, but if they failed, too, and made Aleena angry enough, she’d just leave. Then we’d never get it back. Never!

  Chapter 8

  Through the Ring

  Greyfur strode up the loose rocks to the base of the glacier. “Aleena!” he growled. “You damage our world. Sssst! You must give back the nexus ring.”

  We raced after him, sliding on the scree.

  Aleena turned to him, her face cold and pale as the glacier, her eyes reflecting the bl
ue in the shadows. “I do what I want,” she said.

  “Regardless of the consequences?”

  “I am not concerned with consequences!” She spat it out like it was a swear word.

  “Tss. Then you are no better than a human,” Greyfur spat back, like he was using a swear word, too.

  Maddy slipped her hand into mine. I glanced down – her face was as pale as Aleena’s.

  The crows gathered, congregating on the rocks in a mass of black, silent for once. Corvus watched from above, perched on a branch.

  Greyfur stepped closer. “Sssst! You must not use the ring!”

  Aleena peered down her nose at him, “And who exactly is going to stop me?”

  Greyfur stepped up to Aleena, shoulders square. “I will stop you.”

  Aleena laughed.

  Eneirda joined him. “And I will stop you. Tss.”

  Aleena shrugged.

  Then Maddy slipped her hand out of mine and stood on Eneirda’s other side. They made a strange picture, Aleena tall and thin, her dark cloak swirling in the wind; Greyfur, Maddy and Eneirda all so small, clustered in front of her, trying to look intimidating.

  I stepped forward. Even though I didn’t want to make Aleena mad, I couldn’t let Maddy stand there without me.

  The crows joined me, first Corvus and the white-tipped crow, and then the rest of the flock, all walking forward, facing Aleena in silence.

  She just laughed. “Even with all of you together, do you really think you can stop me?”

  The crows surged forward in a cawing mass, but Greyfur held out a hand to stop them. “We do not wish to harm you.”

  The crows cawed in disagreement.

  “We do not wish to harm you,” he repeated, frowning down at the crows. “But we will not allow you to harm the veil. Sssst! You must give back the nexus ring!”

  Aleena spun around and strode onto the glacier. Then she turned. “Just try and stop me,” she said.

  The white-tipped crow rushed at Aleena, squawking, wings flapping, jabbing his beak as he scolded her.

  Her lips moving silently, Aleena reached out, floated a chunk of ice off the face of the glacier and flung it at the crow.

  He squawked and leapt away, but the ice caught him across the side of the head and he fell to the ground.

  The crows dove at Aleena, pecking at her head and yanking her hair. The white-tipped crow cheered them on as he struggled to his feet.

  Aleena reached up to the grey clouds huddled around the peak of Storm Mountain and drew them to her. They moved slowly at first, and then faster and faster as if they couldn’t wait to reach her. They boiled overhead, dark as night.

  Then hail plummeted from the sky, hard balls of ice smashing into everything – Maddy and me, the otter-people, the crows. We cried out and raised our hands to protect our heads. Leaves were stripped off the trees, filling the air with the scent of crushed plants.

  Hail smacked my head and shoulders, hard and icy, leaving welts and bruises. Maddy cried out and touched a hand to the side of her head. When she pulled it away, it was red with blood.

  Aleena stood in the centre of the fury, perfectly dry, not touched by a single hail stone. She looked exultant, all her focus on her hands, bringing down destruction.

  As the otter-people and the crows closed in around her, I could see her planning her escape. If she left, I wouldn’t be able to follow her. I could water travel, but I wasn’t a tracker. We’d never find her.

  I stared at the otter-people, Maddy, and the crows, all furious, battered and determined. Several crows lay unmoving on the ground. Eneirda and Greyfur both had bruises on their foreheads and bloody patches across their shoulders. Maddy held a hand to her head, trying to stop the bleeding. Aleena looked prepared to fight forever.

  I stepped into the middle of the crowd, held out my arms and cried, “Stop!” Magic reverberated in my voice.

  Everyone turned to me, suddenly silent.

  “We have to stop,” I said. “You have to let Maddy and me take care of this. We will get the nexus ring back. We will protect the magic world.”

  They stared at me in stunned silence.

  Then the white-tipped crow spat out a single, scornful, “Cawww!”

  Eneirda muttered, “Humans,” and Greyfur frowned.

  “Keeper trusts us,” I said. “Maddy and I will find a way. If we keep fighting, more of us will be hurt.” I nodded to the crows. “Aleena will leave. We will never get the ring back.”

  I could see Maddy torn between my logic and her own determination to fight. She stared into my eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. She stepped to my side. “I agree,” she said.

  Greyfur and Eneirda hissed. Greyfur opened his mouth to speak, but I stared him down, feeling totally determined and sure. He stopped, gave one slow nod and stepped back. “You must succeed,” he said. “Tss, you must get the ring back to Keeper.”

  “I will,” I said.

  I turned to Aleena. “Come with us, please,” I said. I watched her face as I spoke. Underneath the fury flashing in her eyes I could see a hint of hurt and fear. I reached out a hand to her. She sighed and nodded, and the anger drained from her face.

  As we turned to leave, Maddy said, “I’ll just be a moment.” I headed down the scree slope with Aleena as Maddy asked Eneirda, “What will you do now?”

  “We will continue looking for a safe home. We will go far away from where you have been, far from where you might be.”

  I felt sick, and more determined than ever to stop this.

  ~

  We walked back to where we’d spent the night, near the creek by the base of the cliff face. Clouds from the storm followed us, as if they wanted to be close to Aleena.

  Maddy’s head finally stopped bleeding; I helped her wash the blood out of her hair.

  The crows settled nearby, checking each other’s injuries and splashing in the creek. The white-tipped crow paced and bossed, while Corvus sat back and groomed his feathers.

  Maddy watched them through her silver ring, and then leaned back. She smiled and rocked slightly as she looked across the valley to the far mountains, enjoying seeing magic so clearly. Then she turned to study the rock face behind us. Her body stiffened as she stared through the ring. “Josh,” she said quietly, sounding puzzled.

  “Hmmm?” I said.

  “Come look at this.” Now her voice sounded more urgent as she waved a hand at me.

  I sat beside her, and as she handed me the ring, she gave me a look filled with pity, like she knew that what I was going to see would break my heart. Not understanding, I took the ring and peered through it.

  I could see magic, like the radiance that shimmered in everything I saw in the magic world, but it was more substantial through the ring, like it was an actual thing hovering in the air, light and beautiful. The trees each had their own radiance, their own presence, as if you could walk up to a spruce tree and have a conversation.

  Corvus and his crows circled us and cawed, but this time I didn’t mind. They were magnificent. When Corvus flew, magic stretched from his wingtips across the sky.

  Then I saw the doorway, near the face of the rock wall that rose high above us. It was closed, but the edges pulsed with magic. Surrounding it was the veil, translucent white as if woven of the finest gossamer threads, like spider’s silk. And stretching out from the doorway was a great long gash in the veil.

  My heart stopped. Maddy was right! Magic was pouring through the tear like water through a hole in a dam, except this was golden and radiant. I longed to reach out and pull the tear closed, to use my hands to fill the gap, to stop that leak.

  Aleena wandered over, asking why we were so quiet. Suddenly, I knew exactly what to do. Without saying a word, I handed her Maddy’s ring and pointed at the doorway. She stared through the ring and gasped. As the colour drained from her face, she closed her eyes, unable to look. Silently, she handed the ring back and walked away. I had no idea what she was thinking, but I knew that we were getting
close.

  Later, I watched her staring across the valley, the nexus ring in the palm of her hand, her fingers closing over it and opening again as if she couldn’t decide if she should keep it or let it go.

  Then Maddy screamed. Aleena and I both spun around. Maddy stood by the creek, her whole body tight as she pointed to the doorway at the base of the rock face.

  As we stared, a hand appeared, large and dirty, with thick, stubby fingers. It groped in the air, struggling to grab something.

  “Give me your ring,” I whispered to Maddy. I peered through the silver ring and watched, stunned. The hand reached through the tear, grabbed an edge of the veil and pulled the tear wider. Then Gronvald stepped through, without ever opening the doorway itself, full of energy and delighted with his new trick.

  He stared at us, sniffing. When he caught the scent of the nexus ring, his left hand reached out, twitching. Slowly, his hand opened and closed, and then opened again – just like Aleena’s, grasping, longing for the ring.

  Grinning, his hands reaching, Gronvald moved from the doorway, placing himself between Aleena and the stream.

  I glanced up – heavy clouds darkened the sky, blocking out all sunlight. I sagged. Sunlight would stop him, freeze him into a statue until twelve hours of darkness thawed him. But the clouds were too dark.

  We could go through the doorway, I thought. He would follow, but we might have time to get to the stream in the human world before he could reach us. I hated taking the ring through the doorway again, but maybe that was better than letting Gronvald have it.

  “To the doorway,” I murmured to Maddy. I turned to Aleena and gestured with my head.

  Aleena started to edge closer. As she moved, Gronvald moved with her, carefully keeping himself between Aleena and the stream.

  While Gronvald stalked Aleena, Maddy and I quietly slipped over to the rock face towering above us. I flung a rock behind Gronvald, and when he spun around, Aleena dashed over to Maddy and me.

  He spun back and growled at us, “Give me my ring. Give me my ring now, or DIE!”

  Aleena just started at him, her chin tilted up, refusing.

  Gronvald raised his hands to the top of the cliff and began muttering. I couldn’t understand what he was saying – they were not words so much as sounds, rumbly and powerful, as if he was talking to the rocks themselves.