“If Baelan’s really a warlord, why doesn’t he just conquer this village and lie in wait for you?” asked Sarah.

“He and his army come and go as they please in the valley, but they never get too greedy. He sends his troops on missions, and they keep to their task. Even the more stubborn beast-men know that they can’t just kill and plunder as the wish. If they did, the folk of the valley would finally join together and raise an army of their own. Even the greatest warlord in the land can’t afford to fight everybody.”

“Why don’t they raise the army anyway?” Sarah stepped carefully through the streets, avoiding sharp rocks that could cut into her bare feet. “These people can’t enjoy having an entire army tromping through their village at the drop of a hat.”

“What land do you come from?”

“Me? Um…America.”

“And does everyone get along in this America of yours?”

“Of course!” Sarah immediately felt foolish for blurting out the poorly thought-out answer. “Well…not really. It’s complicated.”

“It’s complicated here, too. The valley hasn’t had a king in over fifty years. It’s mostly just tiny villages like this one. Each town has its own way of doing things, and none of them likes having someone else telling them what to do. When people can’t even agree on what side of bread to butter in the morning, how are they supposed to cooperate on something more important?”

“A-ha!” Sarah clapped her hands so loudly that she startled Kay into stopping. “I know why I’m here now!”

“And why’s that?” Kay regarded her skeptically.

“You said the valley doesn’t have a king, right?” Sarah’s eyes seemed to take on a light of their own as she spoke. She had read enough of the old stories to know how things went by now. “There must be a prophecy about someone uniting the valley again, right?”

Kay pursed his lips in thought, but then shook his head. “Nope. If I remember the histories right, the last king had all the seers and most of the wizards in the land executed. Seems someone accidentally put some of their magic ingredients into his soup one day. His skin was blue for a week and a half.”

“Oh.” Sarah touched her finger to her chin and thought of some more old stories. “Then there must be a legend of some lost heir, out to reclaim the throne, right?”

“Nope,” said Kay, shaking his head. “The king never got married, and he hated children.”

“Well, that just doesn’t make any sense!”

“What doesn’t make sense?”

“In the stories, whenever a mysterious traveler arrives from far away, it’s always to save the world, or fulfill some prophecy. If there aren’t any prophecies, then why am I stuck here?”

Kay didn’t offer an answer. He just chuckled, shook his head, and started walking again.

“What,” asked Sarah, picking up her pace. “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that if the Fates were going to send someone into the valley to fulfill some sort of prophecy, they could at least give the Chosen One a good pair of slippers.”

Sarah looked down at her bare, mud-crusted feet. With a growl of frustration, she picked up her pace. She marched so far ahead of Kay that the boy had to jog just to keep up with her. That didn’t stop him from quietly chuckling to himself, though.

***

When they reached the inn, they proceeded with caution. The men inside had tried their best to hand Kay over to Baelan, and neither Sarah nor Kay wanted to risk a confrontation, especially with the warlord’s patrols skulking about the surrounding countryside. Nonetheless, there was only one thing for them to do if they were to retrieve the boy’s staff. They had to go inside and take their chances.

Approaching the inn’s front door, Sarah noticed a crudely-drawn picture above the door of a young woman dressed in bright green robes.

“Who’s that?” she asked Kay, gesturing toward the picture.

“That’s the Emerald Enchantress. Some sort of mythological figure. Supposedly, she knew the secrets of Castle Greystone. But no one’s seen her in the valley in the last twenty-five years or so.”

“Hm…” Sarah furrowed her brow. The Emerald Enchantress…that name sounded familiar to her, somehow, but she couldn’t quite place it. Turning back to the task at hand, she and Kay both took a deep breath like they were about to take a plunge into a frozen lake. Then they walked into the inn.

The downstairs of the inn held a common room, which was lined with tables and chairs. It was sometime in the mid-afternoon now, and few people were thinking about a meal after the excitement earlier. Nonetheless, there were a handful of people gossiping around a table in the middle of the room. One of the people there was a big bald man with dark eyes – one of the gang that had tried to bring Kay to the warlord.

“Great,” murmured Kay. He signaled to Sarah to pick up the pace. The two made it almost all the way to the staircase on the other side of the common room before the man saw them and stood up. Much to Sarah’s chagrin, the bald man cut them off at the bottom of the stairwell.

“Well, well,” he said loudly. “Looks like the little rat has come back to the scene of the crime.”

“Actually,” said Kay, “I didn’t commit any crime. And I just came back here to get some of my things.”

The large man took a threatening step toward Kay. “You’re a wanted man, boy. You should turn yourself in to Baelan before you cause some serious trouble in this valley.”

“Sorry, I don’t know of any spells that would allow me to actually turn myself into Baelan.”

A confused expression crossed the man’s face. It took him a moment to realize the play on words that Kay had performed. When he realized his own bewilderment, his eyes opened wider and his voice rose in anger. “Don’t try to confuse me!” He looked to the other people in the common room, who were eagerly watching to see what would happen next. “Boys, I’m going to solve all our problems once and for all! I’ll bet Baelan will give me my weight in gold as a reward!”

As the others in the inn jeered and Kay looked about nervously, Sarah stepped forward. She had had enough.

“Your weight in gold?” she cried. “You’re dealing with the great sorcerer Kay. If you try anything, he’ll turn you into a stone statue.”

Kay’s eyes bulged in surprise at the threat. Without his spellbook, he didn’t have a single wisp of magic.

The bald man laughed, unimpressed by Sarah’s threat. “And who is this young lady? Some poor beggar’s daughter?”

“She’s um…she’s um…”

“Sarah,” said Sarah, realizing that she hadn’t told Kay her name yet.

“Yes, yes. She’s Sarah, my apprentice. Why just this morning she turned a boy into a frog.”

The man stopped laughing and looked at Sarah suspiciously. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

Kay arced an eyebrow. The bluff was beginning to work, and he was growing more confident as a result. “It doesn’t matter what you believe in. Magic works regardless. In fact, I don’t think I need to cast any spell on you at all. Getting rid of you will be good practice for my pupil here.” Kay stepped back and gestured toward the large man. “Go ahead, Sarah. Only don’t bother turning him to stone. Make it something more interesting, like pudding.”

Sarah smiled as wickedly as she could. The bald man was starting to sweat now. She rolled up her sleeves and though of the most magical-sounding words she could think of.

“Ebao—”

“Stop!” shouted the man, his voice shrill. Sarah held her position, with one finger crooked in his direction. “Um…I don’t need to waste my time on kids like you two,” he said, trying to regain his lost bluster. “Now get out of my sight before I change my mind.” Shoulders hunched, the man returned to his table. No one else looked away from Sarah and Kay as they began to climb the stairs.

“You’re not bad,” whispered Kay. “You’ve got the demeanor to be a great enchantress if you wanted.”

“Thanks,” replied Sarah. “But next time, I’m going to be the master and you’ll be the apprentice, okay?”

***

The walking stick lay propped against the wall, right where Kay had left it. Now that she took the time to get a good look at it, Sarah saw that it was a unique, if nonmagical, staff. The wood was gnarled and twisted, but carefully polished into a fine finish. A small emerald was inset at the top of the staff, with a single rune underneath it:

“What’s this?” she asked.

“That’s my name, of course.”

“I thought your name was Kay.”

Kay took the stick from her gently. “It is. And this mark is a symbol of that name. All the great wizards have a personal rune.”

“And so do you,” said Sarah sarcastically.

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” Kay picked up the walking stick and sulked out of the room. “When I need them to, my spells will work perfectly. Remember that.”

They left the inn and began heading back up the hill toward where they had buried the spellbook. Once they left the town limits, they went back to moving in a zigzag pattern, running through open clearings until they found a tree or a rock to hide behind while they prepared their next mad dash. For a moment, it seemed as though they were going to make it back without any problems at all. Baelan’s patrols had drifted farther away, and it seemed the army had gone past them. Naturally, it was just as the pair finally started to think they were safe that a scout saw them and blew his horn.

“Great,” said Kay as he looked anxiously up the hill. “Now we have to run.”

They didn’t make it far. Before they had got more than a dozen paces up the base of the hill, the clopping of horse’s hooves drew nearer to them. It wasn’t mounted soldiers that surrounded them this time, though. The creatures that galloped after them each had a pair of hoofed feet and a swishing brown tail. Their bodies, though, were human – strong, well-muscled, and armored. Then the animal form returned at the neck, leaving each of the creatures with the head of a horse. Five of them emerged from the surrounding woods, and caught up to Kay and Sarah quickly – they moved as fast as galloping horses, after all. In a moment, Sarah and Kay found themselves surrounded by the creatures. Each of them carried spears, and brandished their weapons at the wayward pair.

“You’ve got another spell up your sleeve to get us out of this,” said Sarah, looking warily at the horse-men’s spears. “Right?”

Kay gave her a crooked smile that was probably supposed to look confident. Instead, it looked empty and hollow. They were trapped.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I’m sure I’ll think of something.” For some reason, that reassurance failed to make Sarah feel any better. Then someone else approached, and she felt even worse.

She heard him before she saw him. The tromping of iron-shod hooves seemed to shake her bones as it approached. She and Kay both turned to look in the direction of the newcomer. When they saw him, they gave cries of despair. The creature that approached walked on two hoofed feet, like the horse-men that surrounded them. However, he was much larger than any of the other beast-men – larger even than any person Sarah had ever seen. He had the face and head of a ram, completed with long curved horns. Coarse black hair covered his body. His torso was bare save for the belt of the massive sword he wore across his back. Despite not having any armor on, he looked no less protected.

“Uh-oh,” whispered Kay.

“Who’s that?” asked Sarah.

“It’s Aries, Baelan’s right-hand man – or right hand beast, in this case.”

The horse-men bowed their heads slightly as Aries approached, but didn’t lower their spears. The circle parted slightly as the ram-man arrived. The other beast-men scrambled behind Sarah and Kay, leaving their master to deal with the humans. Despite the opening the pair now saw, neither one of them tried to escape. They certainly wouldn’t be able to outrun Aries’ powerful hooves, and it seemed better to have that mighty sword of his in front of them rather than seeking the soft flesh of their backs.

“Well, Kay, we’ve found you at last.” The creature’s voice sounded like the rumbling of a volcano. “The master figured you’d be back for your staff. After all, a wizard without a staff is worse than a wizard without a spellbook.”

“That’s what my old man used to say,” replied Kay with a twinkle in his eye. “And that’s a good thing, since I don’t have my spellbook on me.”

“I see.” Aries crossed his tree trunk-sized arms. “And I don’t suppose you’d make it easy for all of us and just tell us where the book is hidden?”

Kay shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t suppose that at all.”

The beast-man snorted, and turned his fiery eyes toward Sarah. “And what about your companion? Does she know anything about the book?”

Kay glanced nervously at Sarah. Her mouth hung open, but she remained speechless. She had no intention of telling Aries anything, but at the same time she wasn’t very pleased at the prospect of what such a powerful creature might do to her if she didn’t cooperate.

“I don’t even know who she is,” lied Kay. “She followed me all the way from the inn, and I haven’t been able to shake her.”

“Is that so?” Aries moved in front of Sarah and dropped to one knee. It was only when he knelt that he was even close to eye level with her. Even then, his curved horns stayed well above her head. “Is that true, little girl? Or do you have something you’d like to tell me?”

Sarah felt a swell of anger at being called a little girl. Who was this monster to talk down to her like that? At least she actually was a girl, as opposed to the ram-creature in front of her and the horse-men who served as his lackeys. Nonetheless, that anger died down quickly as she remembered how powerful Aries looked. Without Kay’s spellbook, there seemed to be little chance of escape.

“He knows me. We met earlier today.”

Kay’s face went pale at Sarah’s admission.

“Indeed?” A strange, twisted smile formed across the ram-man’s face. “And do you know where this boy hid his spellbook? We need it very badly. It’s very important.”

“Don’t tell him,” hissed Kay.

Sarah started to say something, but then hesitated. Who did she trust in this strange world? Did she trust anyone?

“You can trust me,” said Aries. His deep rumbling voice became gentler – almost a purr. “You said you just met this boy, and already he has you running from armies. I’ll take you to my master, Baelan. He’ll treat you like a queen. All you need to do is tell me where that book is.”

Kay only looked at her and said nothing.

Sarah took a deep breath and held it for what seemed like an hour. She didn’t know anything about Kay, really. The boy was obviously on the run, and he had tried to turn her into a frog. On the other hand, he had also protected her in his own bumbling way. He certainly hadn’t waved a sword at her.

One other thing tugged at Sarah’s heart. Even though it seemed to make some sense to side against Kay, that’s what everyone else had done. Wherever the boy went, he had an army following him and no one there to help him or even provide some friendship. For whatever reason, that just felt wrong to Sarah. Everybody should have a friend, shouldn’t they?

“I know where the book is,” she said at last. “But I’m not going to tell you, either.”

Aries rose to his full height, forcing both Sarah and Kay to crane their necks upward to see him. “Then you’ve chosen your fate,” he boomed. “I’ll let Baelan himself deal with you.” With a nod toward the other beast-men, he said, “Bind them hand and foot, and bring them to their prison.”

The horse-men seized Sarah by the wrists in a strong grip. She felt someone pass a length of strong rope around her wrists, and another one around her ankles. Kay gave her a bewildered look as he too got tied up. Before she could say anything to her companion, one of the horse-men threw a burlap hood over her head, blinding her. Someone or something hauled her off her feet and carried her away. Where she was going, she had no idea.