In theory, he hoped, its strange liminal location might keep it safe. But he was not willing to rely on theory.
Not when “theory” might mean leaving an infection on his Wonder to fester.
So, he’d grabbed Kerberos, and they were off to Lyonesse.
They appeared in a room Lyonesse recognized—his past self’s office, where he’d found his signet ring tucked into a book on the desk on his first visit.
“Wow,” Kerberos said, turning around and taking the place in, “your part self was kinda fussy, wasn’t he? I mean, look how neat this place is, even after a thousand years.”
“You could say that,” Lyonesse acknowledged. His memories painted Leolin as a studious, buttoned-up person; it was almost odd, to him, to see memories of him and bright, cheery Irit together.
He turned, and almost to his surprise—there was Leolin, bent over the desk. He fiddled with something in the bottom left drawer, hastily shoving an necklace and what looked like a scroll case away, and then closing a false bottom and shutting the desk.
”Sorry, Aulana,” Leolin said, almost mournfully. “But this is the safest place for you. I’ll come back, I promise.”
“Oh,” Lyonesse said.
“Remember something important?” Kerberos asked. He seemed incredibly blasé about the whole thing, which Lyonesse supposed made sense; he spent so much time in space, he had to be used to being led places by Irit’s memories. It was still always a little jarring for Lyonesse, but that was, he supposed, a case of not going here quite as often as his very dedicated partner.
“I think so,” Lyonesse said, and he knelt. He pulled open the drawer, and felt around—and yes, there. A latch.
He grinned, and opened it, as Kerberos leaned over his shoulder.
“Oooh, Leolin had some spy tricks,” Kerberos said approvingly.
“Seems so,” Lyonesse acknowledged, and he pulled out the two items within—a necklace with a corked bottle on the end, containing a bright red feather, and a scroll case.
“What do those do?” Kerberos asked.
“I’m not sure, I…”
That wasn’t true.
Lyonesse put on the necklace, and attached the scroll case to his belt. Then, he curled his fingers around the broke and focused.
He felt a weight on his shoulder, and turned, and smiled. Perched there was a phoenix, and she immediately began preening his hair.
“Oh!” Kerberos said, delighted. “Your Summons—like Eikthyrnyr!”
“Her name is Aulana, I think,” Lyonesse said, and she trilled a happy note, like she wanted to confirm it. Kerberos swept a curtsy, grinning.
“Lovely to meet you, Aulana,” he said. She tripled again, and then lit off Lyonesse’s shoulder and out the window. Lyonesse frowned.
“Come on, she must want us to see something,” he said, which seemed sort of obvious. He led Kerberos through the house that had once belonged to Leolin, to the front door, and out onto the plaza that contained the Sun Tree—a magical, ancient, massive tree that had been the heart of Lyonesse. Aulana was circling an area on the grass near its base, making concerned grills, and when she saw they were out, she flew back to Lyonesse and settled on his shoulder, unhappily preening at his hair. Lyonesse frowned, and walked towards where she’d come from, Kerberos at his heels—and when he saw what she had been circling, he gasped.
Things had been recovering on his Wonder. Grass regrowing, weeds beginning to poke through cobblestones, flowers starting to bloom. But here, at the base of the Sun Tree, not far from its roots, was a circle of death.
Lyonesse knelt next to it and reached out, and as soon as his fingers touched it, the grass crumbled. It smelled like ash, and he recoiled.
“No,” Kerberos said, falling to his knees next to Lyonesse.
“This isn’t the same,” Lyonesse said, rushing to comfort him. There was no sticky, sick feeling of Chaos, nothing to indicate this was like what had poisoned Kerberos.
“I know, but…” Kerberos shivered. “I don’t like it.”
From subspace, he produced his Senshi phone.
“We have to contact the others. Encke, Ida, Cybele, Albireio—maybe one of them recognizes this, or knows something,” he said, and he took a photo of the circle of dead grass. “This isn’t right. It shouldn’t be here. Lyon, we have to fix this.”
“And we will,” Lyonesse said, reaching out to put a hand on Kerberos’s shoulder.
They’d saved Kerberos’s world from Chaos. This was hardly that bad. And he believed they could save his Wonder, too.
[wc: 831 words]
