Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It all started when the gypsies came to town.

The men stopped working and the women carried the children out of their houses as the colorful caravan rolled along the streets of Little Rock. A considerable crowd was already building in the town center—even the mayor stepped out to the balcony to see what the commotion was about.

It was not every day that Little Rock got visited by travelers from exotic places. People born and bred in this place in the South eventually died in the same house where they first saw the light of the world. Those who left the gloomy town never came back and so Little Rock stayed the way it was, generation after generation after generation.

Seventeen-year-old Kristopher stood outside the door of his father’s shoe store, which had been the Allen family business for as long as Little Rock had a name. He watched as his neighbors all walked after the caravan that trundled towards the town square. To say that he was curious was an understatement: while he had never been out of Little Rock in his life, he had heard stories about caravans such as the one in front of him and if those stories were at least a little bit true, he was sure that Little Rock was bound to have its most exciting time in years.

The caravan stopped in the middle of the town square, a short distance from where Kristopher was standing. He stayed in place, standing on tiptoe to get a better view of Little Rock’s new visitors. He was craning his neck upwards when he felt a steady pair of arms lift him up.

Kristopher yelped involuntarily, flailing like a startled rag doll. “Mills, I told you to stop doing that.”

The one called Mills let Kristopher fall down to the ground with a thump. That earned him a glare but Mills just laughed and sat on the stool beside the shoe store’s door. “Come here and sit on my shoulder so you can see them better.”

“And why would I do that? I'm not that short,” he retorted, which sent Mills into a louder fit of laughter.

Kristopher shook the dust off his clothes as Mills tried to control the guffaws escaping him. They had been the best of friends since they were six, when Mills approached him and asked for half of his apple while he was sitting in front of the Mayor’s house. The two of them grew up together, sharing little adventures and milestones everyday; this made the both of them feel like the other was more of a brother than a friend.

Kristopher was about to say something sharp when his attention was caught by the collective murmur from the crowd in the middle of the square. He turned back and saw that Mills had stood up from the stool, his eyes fixed on the gypsy caravan which began to open its doors. He quickly ran to stand on the stool so he could get a better look.

That was when he saw Mr. Kite for the first time. The man who stepped out from the caravan had green curly hair which stood on end, making him appear taller than his actual 3-foot height. His big, gleaming black eyes made an impressive contrast to the startlingly white teeth that showed when he smiled. Kristopher couldn't make himself look away from the man's pink pointed boots, which peeked from under the hem of his purple pants. What caught his attention the most was, however, the way his inky black eyes scanned the crowd, as if he was looking for something.

Mr. Kite was probably going to be disappointed if he thought that he would find whatever it was he was looking for in Little Rock. The small man looked like someone who had seen the world and Kristopher believed that whoever had been out there would know from just one glance that his sleepy hometown did not warrant that much attention.

“Greetings, Little Rock.” The man’s booming voice reached all the corners of the town square. “I am your humble servant, Mr. Kite. And this—“ he motioned to the huge horse-drawn caravan, “—is the Magical Mystery Tour.”

As if on cue, four men emerged from the caravan, all of their faces covered with thick beards. One was holding a daisy chain. Another had round spectacles perched on top of his nose. The third man was holding a pipe that had swirls of smoke emerging from it. The last one that emerged was wearing huge rings on all his fingers and they all gleamed with the afternoon sun’s rays.

“These are my Merrymen,” Mr. Kite gestured towards the four men. “We are here to bring color into your lives, to speak to your soul, to let magic flow.”

“That little man sounds like he’s a bit mad,“ Mills whispered but Kristopher shushed him.

Kristopher could not remember the last time he felt complete fascination over something, anything. His heart quickened its pace and he felt the rush of utter excitement course through his body. This was better than what his silly brain could muster up on those nights when he looked at the dying flame of a candle and let his mind wander to places he had never seen. He felt like he was suspended on the edge of something that was bigger than anything he could ever hope to imagine.

He was still holding on to Mills’s shoulder when a boy who looked a few years older than him emerged from the caravan carrying a guitar. The boy handed the guitar to the one with the daisy chain. After a few minutes, he went back inside the caravan and handed another string instrument to the man with the pipe. Kristopher could not recall seeing this particular instrument before; when the man plucked its strings, an exotic sound filled the town square.

Kristopher was still looking at the deft hands of the two Merrymen when he was suddenly surrounded by music that made him start. Before he knew it, he was gripping Mills’s shoulder tightly while he turned his wide eyes towards the four men’s faces. The one with the round spectacles sang over the melody of the guitar and the other stringed instrument. The one with all the rings clapped his hands to the beat and it all blended perfectly when the one with the daisy chain joined the singing.

They were singing about a kind of wood and about how birds had flown and Kristopher did not know what the words meant but it felt like his heart had other ideas. His soul soared like it found a haven that it didn’t know existed. He closed his eyes and floated with the sound but was startled when Mills suddenly exclaimed rather loudly.

His eyes flew open and the first thing he saw was that the tall boy who brought out the guitar was producing glitter from his hands. The glitter was swept away by the breeze, engulfing all of Little Rock and making the air sparkle with a million colors. Kristopher felt like he was dreaming until he felt the glitter land on his face. He touched a finger to his nose and gasped at the kaleidoscope of colors that met his eyes.

Kristopher looked back at the light-haired young man. The rays of the sun and the glitter created a halo around his head and he was looking at the crowd with a twinkle in his eyes and a delighted smile on his face, as if he was sightseeing instead of creating magic with his hands.

Kristopher felt the air catch in his throat when the young man’s light blue eyes suddenly locked with his brown ones. He thought that the other boy’s eyes sparkled with recognition— something that Kristopher thought he imagined until the boy blew the last of the glitter on his hands towards Kristopher and his eyes involuntarily closed when it hit him like a kiss.

He was still breathing hard when the music ended. He looked for the magic-producing boy but he saw that he was already on his way back to the caravan. His head snapped down to Mills who had a glazed expression on his face, his hair covered with glitter. They smiled giddily at each other.

“Ahhh, such a lovely town, Little Rock.“ Mr. Kite’s clear voice brought their eyes back to the center of the square. Kristopher saw that the Merrymen and the boy had started to climb back into the caravan.

“This is just the beginning.” Mr. Kite scanned his eyes through the mesmerized crowd and Kristopher felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up when he felt the little man’s big black eyes focus on him.

Mr. Kite was still staring directly into Kristopher’s eyes when he said, “This is where your adventure begins.”

The muted light of early morning greeted Kristopher’s eyes the day following the arrival of the gypsies. He stretched up and walked over to the window, taking in the scene outside his bedroom window. He could see into Mills’s bedroom from across the yard. He leaned over and waved to Sam who had just handed Mills’s mother a bottle of milk. The mountains from across the distance seemed darker than usual and he found himself wishing for some rain to get rid of the sense of doom slowly rising up in his chest.

Those mountains to the east of Little Rock had always had a profound effect on Kristopher. He got up in the morning, looked at them and he could somehow predict how his day was going to play out. As far as he could remember, those mountains had always been surrounded by a haze of clouds. The degrees of darkness varied everyday, though. It looked gray on most days but when the clouds got billowy and really dark, a sense of dread always filled Kristopher’s guts and he carried that negative feeling throughout the day. He had experienced this feeling only a handful of times during the 17 years of his life and the sadness and loss that filled him on those days was something that he liked to have buried at the back of his mind.

But that was nothing compared to the times when the air around the mountains became almost oil-like and made the east horizon of Little Rock look like a black empty wall. Uninvited, a solitary memory from what seemed like forever ago flitted briefly through Kristopher’s mind. He had to close his eyes to shut it down.

Someone who was calling his name loudly made him open his eyes and look down right below his window. His mother was waving at him, a basket of what looked like sparkling plums in her hand. His cobwebbed mind was jolted by the memory of a boy who made glitter fly from his fingertips and a group of men who brought with them songs and stories, and stories made into songs.

As quickly as it pushed its way into his heart, the negative feeling incited by the dark horizon disappeared. He cleaned himself up, got dressed and was out the door, wiping some glitter off a plum before sinking his teeth into it.

As he walked to his family’s shoe store, he saw that the air that hung over his little town was shimmering. He even saw a flower bed with sparkly sunflowers and that made him grin as he threw the pit of his fifth plum under a silvery-green oak tree. His father was already in the store when he came in and his brother Daniel was across the street, walking on his hands along the sidewalk in front of the meat shop, the owner’s son Charles cheering him on.

All in all, it was the start of a typical day for Kristopher.

Well, that was if the sight of the gypsy caravan in the distance did not draw his eyes once every few minutes. It was closed, as if he had imagined its colorful inhabitants’ spectacular arrival just the previous day, but the silvery sparkle that hung in the air told him otherwise. A couple of children were skirting around the square but there was no sign of any activity coming from it. Kristopher thought that maybe the gypsies had left the caravan during the night, figuring that Little Rock was not worth their attention. Somehow, the clouds at the horizon seemed to get darker.

The day took a turn out of the ordinary as soon as his father left to have lunch at the soup shop just around the corner. Kristopher sat behind the store’s counter, humming a tune that he made up earlier in the week. He was thinking of asking Mills to sneak into the caravan later that night when the front door suddenly burst open.

There, blocking the doorway, stood four ornately-dressed Merrymen, a crow flying behind them.

As soon as the crow settled on the shoulder of the one with the daisy chain, the one with the round spectacles said, “hello. We need shoes.”

Kristopher looked down and realized that all four men were barefooted. “What kind of shoes are you looking for?”

He then guided them to a row with durable leather and felt boots, which he felt were suited for travelers like them. When he told them the price of the boots, they looked crestfallen.

“I don’t think we can afford that,“ said the one with the rings. “I don’t suppose you will take a ring in exchange for those?”

Kristopher took in the mournful expression on the man’s face as he perused his ring-clad fingers and cleared his throat. “I don’t want you to be sad, Sir, so no, I won’t take your rings.”

The man’s face lit up as he started to walk towards the door, where the last of the Merrymen stood, a small guitar slung over his shoulder. He stared at Kristopher intently, like he was trying to read his mind. Kristopher felt his heart hammer fiercely. He looked down at his shuffling feet and put his hands into his pockets.

The crow flew across Kristopher’s face, startling him into looking up. The one with the guitar was then standing in front of him, the corner of his mouth turning upwards into a smirk, his right hand handing the small guitar to Kristopher.

“What? No, I can’t take that,” he mumbled, even if he was itching to touch the wooden body of the guitar. He kept his hands buried into his pockets.

“You have been looking at this guitar since we came in. I feel that you need it,” the man said. His three companions were staring at them curiously.

Kristopher blushed. Well, that was true. He had wanted to own a guitar since a beggar and his dog passed by Little Rock when he was five years old. The beggar stood outside his home and played a guitar while singing melancholic love songs. With the then four-year-old Daniel, he approached the singing beggar and gave him and his dog a piece of bread and some milk. This prompted the man to tell the two boys that his name was Brooks and he let them play with his guitar and his dog David while he ate. After Brooks finished his second glass of milk, he taught Kristopher and Daniel some songs about magical kingdoms from the other side of the world until their mother had to call them back in for dinner.

When Brooks left Little Rock, he asked Kristopher to take care of David. He said that David loved the music that Kristopher was able to play on the guitar and the way he sang about fairies and kings. From that moment until the day he died, David always listened when Kristopher sang, the dog’s paws coming around Kristopher’s shoulders as if he was hugging him.

The memory of Brooks and David brought a fleeting sadness into Kristopher’s eyes and he quickly tried to tamp it down. Brooks and David might have stayed in his life for only a short while but the impression they left in Kristopher’s mind was far more lingering. Kristopher still dreamt of carrying a guitar with him everywhere he went so he could strum those tunes that kept popping into his mind; it was just unfortunate that no one made guitars in Little Rock. It didn’t help matters that the guitar being shoved in front of him at that moment looked remarkably like Brooks’s.

He looked at the instrument, then at the expectant faces of the four Merrymen before focusing on their bare and dirty feet. He touched the hand holding the guitar. His fingers thrummed when he lightly touched the strings but he kept his resolve and put the hand holding the guitar down.

“I’ll tell you what. You can each take a pair of boots. There is no need for you to give me anything in exchange.” He walked over to the row of shoes, feeling four pairs of eyes following his movements. His father had always taught him that although they were in the business of selling, he should never take anything that gave meaning to a person’s life, no matter how invaluable it may seem.

We can always put food on our table, one way or another but I’d rather we starve than take what a person equates with his life.

He grabbed four pairs of boots, his expertly- trained eyes correctly guessing the perfect fit for each of the men. He handed each of the Merrymen a pair, taking note of the curious looks collectively settling over their faces. Kristopher brushed the ill feeling of being scrutinized aside and went back behind the counter to grab a wet towel which the men could use to wipe their feet.

As soon as he handed the towel to the one with the spectacles, the man grabbed his hand and said, “I wish you well, young man. It has been a while since we received such kindness from a stranger such as you.”

Kristopher gave the man a puzzled look. Surely, the world beyond Little Rock was not that unkind.

“You’d be surprised,” the one with the guitar drawled. Kristopher felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up. Surely, it was impossible that this man could read his mind… or was it? Suddenly, he was not so sure anymore – not when he glanced at the crow flying around, the flap of its wings making the silver sparkle in the air burst into small kaleidoscopes.

The crow approached him and landed on his right shoulder. He turned to look at it and it blinked. Kristopher blinked back. The crow winked and Kristopher’s eyes widened, his heart almost beating out of his chest.

That did not just happen. His head whipped towards the four men who were looking at him with amused smiles on their faces.

It was only when the four men stood up in unison that he noticed that they had already put their boots on. The crow remained perched on his shoulder. Kristopher was trying so hard not to look at it again. The tension on his neck was sure to tell how hard he really was trying.

“Are you sure you don’t want the guitar?” the Merryman holding the instrument asked. “Or the sitar? Do you want it?”

Kristopher had no idea what a sitar was and it seemed like the Merryman holding the guitar read his mind again (or maybe just saw the very confused look on his face) because he said, “it’s the instrument I played yesterday when we arrived.”

An image of the other string instrument they used flashed through Kristopher’s mind and he felt the curiosity rise but held it in check.

He smiled warmly and said,” thank you for the offer but no, I’m already happy that I was able to help you.”

“Well, young man, you have rendered us speechless in the face of such kindness. We cannot thank you enough,” the one with the rings said, reaching for Kristopher’s hand and grasping it firmly.

Kristopher grasped the hands of the remaining three men one after the other and said, without thinking, “How long are you staying here in Little Rock?”

The four men looked at each other and the one with the daisy chain smiled mysteriously, “until we find what we’re looking for.”

Before Kristopher got the chance to ask what it was they were looking for, the crow flew over his head in circles before flitting over to the four men, settling on the head of the one with the daisy chain.

The one with the round spectacles then said, “I think we’re on the right path.”

That night, Kristopher had the dream for the first time.

It was a discordant barrage of images that came when he was lying on his cot, the warm summer wind shimmering when the light from the moon came in from his window. There was a flash of blood red tresses and daffodils and pink wings. The sound of rampaging water also mingled with the song that was sung by the Merrymen when they first set foot in Little Rock.

When a mole and a skunk jumped on his head, Kristopher woke up with a start, hands flailing before he realized that the mole and skunk were just parts of his dream. He looked at the ceiling, heart still racing. As soon as he had calmed down, he got up and crawled to the window where he could see Mills’s bedroom window.

When he saw that a tiny flicker of light was still visible from Mills’s room, he crawled down from his window and walked around his mother’s vegetable beds until he reached the neighbor’s yard. He gently tapped on the window and a few seconds later, Mills was beaming at him. Kristopher clambered in, landing on a heap on top of Mills’s cot.

“Why is your hair standing on end like that?” Mills chuckled, and Kristopher ran a hand through his soft hair in an attempt to flatten it.

“I had the most unusual dream…” Kristopher started but Mills was already sitting by the window on the other end of the room, the candle flickering beside him. He crawled towards his friend.

At first he was just looking at the corn field a few meters away from Mills’ backyard. He was just about to ask Mills why he was staring at the field when he saw the tall, light-haired gypsy boy sitting high on a branch of an oak tree behind rows of corn.

Then, he heard it.

It came with a cold breeze that hit Kristopher with a gentle force that made him close his eyes. That was the most divine voice he had ever heard— not that he had encountered a lot of divine voices— but he knew, just from the way it seemed to settle in that space between his mind and his soul, that he was given a precious gift that night.

He looked at Mills and he was also staring wide-eyed at the young man by the tree. With an understanding that only true best friends could share through a single look, Kristopher and Mills climbed out the window and ran to the corn field until they reached the oak tree.

The young man stopped singing as soon as he heard the sound of footsteps and saw Kristopher and Mills looking up at him. His eyes were twinkling just like the way they did when the gypsy caravan came into town and his face broke into a wide smile as he regarded Kristopher with curious eyes.

Kristopher's tongue was heavy with a greeting but he could not open his mouth, his heart hammering once again. Mills was already up on his feet, waving to the light-haired young man. “Please don’t leave! We’re sorry. We just heard you singing and it was beautiful and…”

The young man climbed down from the tree and held out his hand to Mills, who took it and helped him until his feet were flat on the ground. He was still regarding Kristopher with a peculiar expression and it was not lost on Mills, who regarded the two young men before him with curious eyes.

“I saw you in the crowd when we came in,” the tall young man said and Kristopher nodded. “What is your name?”

He cleared his throat and told the young man his and Mills’s name.

“I’m Adam.” He held out his hand. A small puff of bluish glitter came out of his fingers and he began to tuck it in but Kristopher reached out until Adam’s hand was in his.

The glitter continued to swirl upwards into the air until it turned a crimson color, forming a halo around Adam’s head. Kristopher was still holding Adam’s hand and he was staring at the halo when Mills spoke, “How do you do that?”

“Oh - this?” Adam said, taking his hands from Kristopher and swinging them over his head to scatter the glitter into the air. “I don’t know… I was just born with it, I think. I cannot remember not having them come out of my fingers, especially when I have very strong feelings…” he trailed off and stared into the distance.

“Your voice…” Kristopher started and flushed when Adam’s eyes focused on him. “Where did you come from?”

“I have no roots - is that what you’re asking?” When Kristopher and Mills just continued to stare at him, he continued, “I was born on a meadow, raised on a caravan and the road is my home.”

“Is Mr. Kite your father?” Mills asked.

Adam shook his head. “No, but those men – they are my family.”

Kristopher was about to ask Adam about the music when they heard a rustle from behind a tree. Before they could react, the Merryman with the daisy chain appeared from the shadows. He was regarding Kristopher and Mills with kind eyes and his hand touched Adam’s right shoulder while the left carried a guitar.

“I see you’ve been making friends, Adam,” he drawled. “I’m Paul. The night is beautiful, isn’t it?”

His eyes fell on Kristopher and he smiled. “The boots are very comfortable.” Kristopher just nodded dumbly.

Mills introduced himself to Paul with his eyes going back and forth between Paul and Kristopher. He then said, “Can I take a look at your guitar?”

Paul’s eyes sparkled and he handed the instrument to Mills who cooed, “this is beautiful,” hands skimming over the body of the guitar.

Mills began to play the instrument, producing a series of unharmonious sounds that shattered the silence of the evening. Kristopher was just looking at his friend’s hands and before he knew it, he was gently taking the guitar away from Mills, just wanting to feel the texture of the wood.

“Go on, play it.” When Kristopher looked at him blankly, Paul smiled and said, “strum the strings.”

Kristopher held the guitar close to his body and strummed the strings experimentally over and over. A sound that reminded him of what he felt when the caravan first rolled into town filled his ears and he involuntarily closed his eyes. The music that resulted was whimsical, fascinating and filled with such wonder, it was as if Kristopher was suspended in time and space in a place where emotions could be touched and magic was not wishful thinking.

For what seemed like eternity, Kristopher made music until a soft breeze hit his face and a burst of shimmering colors met his newly-opened eyes. Adam was staring at him with something akin to wonder, his hands fisted at his sides but still emitting glitter. Mills’s mouth was open in awe. Paul was grinning and the gleam in his eyes indicated that the fact that Kristopher seemed to know how to play the guitar amused him greatly.

Kristopher stopped strumming and the air was once again filled with the sound of crickets and the rustling of the leaves against the breeze. He handed the guitar back to Paul who refused to take it back.

Kristopher looked at the guitar he was holding and said, in an amazed voice, “How did I know how to do that? I haven’t even seriously played a guitar before!” He looked at Paul and Adam. “Does that usually happen?”

“No, it doesn’t,” Paul said. “Not a lot of people can translate emotions into something tangible.” He laughed at Kristopher's wide-eyed look. “That’s what you did, Kristopher. I, for one, got reminded of the first time I met the rest of the Merrymen in a town fair.”

Mills spoke. “The memory of us sharing an apple when we first met flashed through my mind.”

Kristopher looked at Adam, expecting to hear his memory but he was just regarding him with a look full of wonder. He turned to Paul. “He couldn’t be the one…”

“Oh, I have reason to think that he might be.”

“What are you talking about?” Mills’ tone mirrored the confusion that Kristopher was feeling.

Paul just smiled at the three younger men and waved his hand towards a grassy patch of land a few feet away from where they were standing. They all walked over there and sat down, bathing in moonlight and breathing in the breeze that smelled of honeysuckle.

Paul sat between Adam and Mills, and was staring directly into Kristopher’s eyes when he spoke.

“I think it’s about time you hear about the Myth of the Glass Guitar.”

The Myth of the Glass Guitar had been around for ages. It had been told from fathers to sons, mothers to daughters and yet, nobody knew where the Glass Guitar could be found or even if it actually existed.

It is believed that when the world first came into being, a fallen god, one who wanted half of the earth surrounded by darkness so that unkind spirits could have a place to unleash their fury, put a curse on newly-formed kingdoms the world over. For every lifetime, there would be one kingdom that would perish because it would be devoid of love and music and harmony, until such time that the rotting undead would roam all over and darkness would surround each corner of the world.

The angels heard about the curse and asked permission from the gods to bring a Glass Guitar from the heavens to help the earth-dwellers. The Fallen God blocked their way and with the help of the spirits of darkness, they killed all the angels— except for the youngest one who flew and took the guitar away to some unknown place. This young angel was believed to be the Glass Guitar’s guardian.

If the tales were to be believed, the Glass Guitar was tied to one soul and that soul was the only one who could claim the guitar from its guardian. The soul was chosen because it was the one that nursed the Glass Guitar’s guardian when she first escaped from the dark spirits. The soul was about to receive the Glass Guitar when the Fallen God himself struck the body that housed The Soul with fire. The Guardian barely escaped once again: to where, nobody knows for sure.

The curse casted a blanket of darkness over the world and sure enough, lifetime after lifetime, kingdoms and towns within kingdoms had become living graves. Just as the Fallen God had intended, almost half of the earth was surrounded by darkness and the Glass Guitar remained unfound.

In turn, The Soul had been re-born lifetime after lifetime after lifetime, its destiny unfulfilled. Each time The Soul died, The Glass Guitar shattered and was lovingly restored by The Guardian until such time that The Soul was reborn again, giving it another chance to fulfill its destiny.

As soon as Paul stopped talking, Kristopher muttered, “I know that story. My dad used to tell me and my brother that story when we were younger.” He looked over at Paul with a puzzled look. “And you are telling us this now because…?”

“He thinks you could be The Soul,” Adam said softly, his clear blue-grey eyes searching Kristopher’s for a reaction.

Kristopher had to laugh at that. “So you’re telling us that this bedtime story actually happened?” He looked at Adam who had an unreadable expression on his face and he wondered if all gypsies were raised to believe myths and stories used to scare children who did naughty things.

Paul was not even affected by Kristopher’s negative response; his round face was still graced with a smile that made his brown eyes sparkle. The Merryman stretched out and stood, looking into the distance, the daisy chain reaching the tip of his new boots.

“Myths and legends tell the real history of the world. Do you think that all of this—“ he waved his hands upward, indicating the field around him, “—came into existence and carried on without some kind of magic holding it together?” He turned his eyes to the young men but his gaze singled out Kristopher, as if pushing him to contradict his convictions.

Mills cleared his throat. “How can one know who The Soul is?” Kristopher looked over at his friend, shocked to hear the sincerity in the question. How Paul got Mills to believe these ridiculous statements was beyond him: Mills had known about the children’s tale just as long as he did.

It was Adam who answered. “Nobody knows for sure. The only thing we are sure of is that he can turn emotions into music.”

Paul just continued staring at Kristopher with an amused smirk and if he was being honest, it was starting to scare him. He frowned at Adam. “Paul and his three friends also turned emotions into music. It was not just me…”

“And this is why we are travelling all over the world,” Paul gestured dramatically into the air. “If one of us is The Soul, we need to find the Glass Guitar before it’s too late. The world is not what it used to be.”

Kristopher looked over at Mills and saw that his friend also had the same bewildered expression on his face. It made him feel better because it suddenly occurred to him that he could still be dreaming. Not even Mills’s house and the cloud-shrouded mountains in the distance convinced him that he was standing in the middle of a corn field, talking to glitter-spinning boys about how children’s tales actually happened in the real world.

“What’s going on outside of Little Rock?” When Mills spoke without a hint of cynicism, Kristopher realized that they were bewildered for different reasons.

Paul’s smile faded. “The Fallen God is slowly succeeding in his plan to fill the world with darkness. We have escaped kingdoms upon kingdoms of living corpses, thanks to the distraction of music and Adam’s hands.” He touched Adam’s hands before looking at Kristopher. “One day, we will not be so lucky. After all, this had been going on for lifetimes. We need to bring the world back to life and if it’s not one of us, we just want everyone to be aware that they could be The Soul.”

Kristopher felt a disquieting feeling settle at the pit of his stomach. Could it be true? Could he be The Soul? He shook his head to make the feeling go away. He was an Allen: his destiny was to continue his family’s legacy in Little Rock, where no one left and those who did never came back. Somehow, telling himself that even in the middle of an absurd conversation made him mourn for the dreams that he was not allowed to have.

Paul’s voice broke into Kristopher’s thoughts. “The darkness is coming your way and Little Rock won’t be spared. Your town had a protector – a creature favored by the gods and that was what kept you safe. But he died a few years ago.” He paused to look at the surprised faces of Kristopher and Mills before gesturing towards the east. “If the clouds surrounding the mountain are any warning, I would say that Little Rock will soon be enveloped by darkness.”

Mills audibly gasped. “Who… who was this protector?”

“I’m sorry but I don’t know,” Paul sadly answered. “Your town’s name was whispered to me in a dream. We had to travel through winter and spring to reach Little Rock.”

Adam then said, “We were so afraid that we would arrive here and see that the corpses had overtaken it. Every day, the darkness gets stronger and though your protector has left a thin veil of magic over your town, we were sure that soon enough, it won’t be able to withstand the voodoo spewed by the Fallen God’s disciples.” A small amount of glitter poured out from his clenched hands. “We're so happy we’re not too late.”

“There was a reason why we were told to come here. I don’t know what it is but it is enough that I believe in it.” Paul sat in front of Kristopher. “In the dream, I was told that an unconditional act of kindness would guide me to the Glass Guitar.” He then grabbed Kristopher’s clasped hands with both of his own and looked into his eyes. “You were the only one who showed us that.”

Kristopher stared at Paul’s honest face and felt sorry that he could not share the older man’s convictions. Paul seemed to sense his hesitation. “Just open your heart to the possibility and from there, everything will fall into place. If it is your destiny, the fates will beckon you at the perfect time to fulfill it.”

He then smiled, the mirth back on his face, and squeezed Kristopher’s hand. “After all, I could still be The Soul.”

Kristopher and Mills left Adam and Paul in the corn field when Mills’s mother started calling her son’s name from the bedroom window. That didn’t mean that the two boys were able to sleep. When the first crow of the rooster broke the silence of dawn, Kristopher was up and running, startling his mother who was preparing breakfast and his father who had just got out of bed. After grabbing an apple, he was out the door, ready to go to town.

He was already a short distance away from his house when he heard Mills call out his name. Soon enough, they were walking side by side, talking animatedly about the songs they sang with Paul and Adam and the stories they told. Mills loved the song about lonely Eleanor Rigby. Kristopher confessed that Lucy in the sky with diamonds was someone that he would love to be friends with. They both decided that the Octopus Garden must be a real place where Mr. Kite, the Merrymen and Adam had travelled to.

There were a few people milling around the edges of town and some shop owners were getting ready to start their day. Kristopher and Mills came across a still-sleepy Charles who was being dragged by his father to the meat shop. Looking towards the east where the sun was just breaking into day, Kristopher noted that the mountains were not so dark and that a tiny sliver of light was actually peeking through the clouds. He felt a smile stretch across his face and soon enough, he was racing Mills to the center of the town, wanting to talk to Adam and the rest of the Merrymen.

But the field beside the town hall was empty – no gypsy caravan, no Merrymen, no Adam. Kristopher’s heart sank. Was everything just a product of his overactive imagination?

He walked to the place where the caravan stood just the previous day. There was no sign of daisy chains and guitars, no footprints from the boots that he gave to the Merrymen. He saw Mills walking about, carefully treading by the soft shrubs at the edge of the field. He also looked shocked that the magical night they just had could be just a fleeting dream.

Kristopher lay down on his back, the early morning light hitting his face. He was still staring blindly at the clear skies when a crow – the Merrymen’s crow – flew above him and left a trail of glitter in the air before it disappeared into the distance. Kristopher reached out and let his hands play with the sparkle of colors that burst into multiple rainbows when the sun hit them. Just like that, the emptiness that settled in his heart when he first saw the empty field lifted and he was soaring once again, into a land, a destiny, a life that went beyond Little Rock.

Mills approached him, a sad smile on his face. Kristopher was sure that it mirrored his own because they knew that life has already given them their lot: music and magic and the rest of the world were certainly not part of it.

But sometimes, the world allowed for a fragment of confusion and a shred of hope to remain in the middle of all the bleak certainty. This was what Kristopher learned when after leaving the field, he walked into the shoe store and found the Merrymen’s small guitar placed beside the door, a shimmering daisy chain draped over it.

Chapter Text

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and just like that, three years had passed since the gypsies visited town. Little Rock was still rolling along, every day almost the same as the previous and the next.

Twenty-year-old Kristopher was living a childhood dream, in a way: he carried his guitar everywhere and made songs from the tunes that came to him in his sleep. He sat behind the shoe store’s counter and sang softly when no one was around. Soon enough, the children began to call him The Guitar Man and most of the time, he felt content and happy.

Mills was already working in his family’s fruit stall a few doors away from Allen Shoes. He was still following Kristopher around but he also began spending time with a lovely and kind girl named Jennifer. He liked making up songs with Kristopher and once in a while, they sang the songs that the Merrymen taught them. They did not openly talk or agree about it but during mornings when the east seemed darker than usual, they would sing those songs and damn if they didn’t believe that a song about a certain Lady Madonna made the sun shine brighter.

Every evening after dinner, Kristopher would jump out his window and bring his guitar to the corn field. He loved it when the moon shone brightly and the rows of corn seemed like a maze, each dark corner holding a secret of its own. It was not everyday that Mills came out to stay with him during these evenings but if he did, they ended up running along the corn field, scaring each other until they broke into boyish laughter that echoed through the stillness of the night.

Yet, enjoyable as these moments were, Kristopher felt most at peace when the face of the moon hid behind the clouds and the fireflies came out to dance and the sound of crickets was the only music that could be heard. At times like that, he never felt alone even if Mills was not around. He always had his guitar and somehow, sometimes, it felt enough – like he could sit under that big oak tree amidst the darkness, eyes closed, his voice humming tunes which came from dreams filled with adventure and flashes of colors so bright, so blindingly vivid that his eyes kept searching for them after he had woken up.

For Kristopher, his guitar was his partner, his closest friend. It knew his heart’s deepest desires and it gave him a voice when he needed to say something, anything. He was still struck with amazement that when his fingers start strumming, the air would be filled with the tangible sorrow-edged hope that came from the idea that maybe, his reality was bigger than his dreams.

It was from one of these firefly-lit evenings that Kristopher rushed to town at the break of dawn, about to meet Mills to go on a special birthday breakfast picnic for Charles. Mills would be bringing the fruits and Kristopher asked his mom to prepare some of the special homemade bread that Charles loved. With his guitar slung across his back, he walked alongside Mills who could not stop talking about Jennifer.

Just as they were on the edges of town, Kristopher noted that there seemed to be a fair amount of sunshine coming from the east. This made him smile and the image of Mr. Kite’s caravan flashed through his mind, the bearded faces of the Merrymen and Adam’s glitter-spouting hands being the predominant memory. He wondered where they were at that moment and if they were still travelling together. He hoped that they were able to find what they were looking for and that they were safe and happy.

They saw Charles coming from the other side of the road, lugging a small bag which smelled like his father’s famous chicken and pea soup. They decided that it was better to have the picnic at the field beside the Mayor’s house so they could easily go to their respective work posts once the day started to get busy.

Mills was talking about Jennifer surprising him with a shirt she made herself when Kristopher first saw it. He immediately stopped in his tracks and both Mills and Charles bumped into his back. When they asked him what the problem was, he pointed to the field beside the Mayor’s house.

There stood three caravans, not much different from what had passed by their way three years ago. Since it was very early, only a few people were around and shooting it curious looks. Nobody seemed to be talking to the travelers though.

A big hulking man who reminded Kristopher of a bear was walking around in circles across the field, followed by another man of slighter build. As he stepped closer to the edge of the field with his friends, Kristopher saw that five moles were scrambling at the smaller man’s feet, trying to keep up with him. A dark-skinned woman emerged from one of the caravans holding a ladle, announcing to the men that breakfast would be ready soon.

By this time, Kristopher, Mills and Charles were already standing at the edge of the field, openly staring at the newcomers. They saw the bear man and the mole man disappear towards the back of the caravans and so all three of them ran to the other side of the field which was hidden by a number of huge, billowing magnolia trees. They quickly hid behind the tree with the widest trunk.

They didn’t expect what met their eyes.

A colorful rug was spread out on the field, under the cool shade of a magnolia tree with low branches. The bear-like man was talking to a young woman who had curly white hair and wings that stretched about half a foot from the top of her head to her knees. The dark-skinned woman was still holding her ladle, scooping porridge into a wooden bowl and handing it to a man who was wearing heart-shaped spectacles. A curly-haired man sat on one corner of the rug, staring into space unblinkingly while sipping the soup directly from the bowl. Right by the caravans was a man who looked like he was from the east. He was conversing with a skunk which was standing on its hind feet, bobbing its head from side to side as if it were a small child trying to earn its father’s approval.

What caught Kristopher’s attention though, was a red-haired young mermaid who looked like she was just about twelve years old. She was sitting in a square shallow wooden vat of water a few feet away from the magnolia tree. She splashed her silver tail whenever someone passed near. Her throaty giggle rang out as the moles jumped around when the water splashed out of the vat, earning her a glare from the man whose feet were being followed by the little animals. She began singing a whimsical song about bears which made the moles dance around.

Charles laughed loudly when the man almost fell to the ground as he tripped on a mole. Mills immediately put a hand over his friend’s mouth but it was too late. The next thing Kristopher saw was that five moles were standing in front of him, their master smirking at him, Mills and Charles.

“Who’s there, Matthew? I want to see them!” the mermaid was calling out from her place. This caught the attention of the other people in their company, each one of them walking to the edge of the field. Kristopher, Mills and Charles had no choice but to step away from the tree to show themselves.

The winged young woman glided over to them, her feet a few inches above the ground. She smiled brilliantly. “Are you from Little Rock? Don’t worry, we are not here to cause any trouble. We just thought your town was worth a visit.”

It was Mills who spoke first. “No, we’re the ones who should be sorry, intruding on you like this. We should go.” He tugged at Charles’s hand, who in turn grasped at Kristopher’s shirt to pull him away.

Kristopher did not move his feet. His eyes were riveted on the young mermaid, particularly her hair. He had seen her before, in the dreams that kept visiting him ever since the night he saw the Merrymen, Adam and Mr. Kite for the first time. There was no way that he could forget that flash of red and that voice.

The mermaid was returning his stare, her mouth quirked to one side. She clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, you have a guitar! I’ve always wanted a guitar!”

Kristopher lightly shook Charles’s hand away and slowly walked over to the mermaid. “Do you want to play it?” he said as he handed the guitar over to her.

The mermaid’s eyes widened and she squealed. She quickly pushed herself up to sit on top of the vat’s walls, her tail the only thing submerged in water. She looked over to the other side of the field and said, “Lil! He said I can play the guitar! I’ve always wanted a guitar!”

The dark-skinned woman laughed. “Yes, we heard you, Allison. We know that you’ve always wanted a guitar!”

Allison was already strumming the guitar in a haphazard fashion, singing along as if she really was playing a tune. Kristopher felt his face break into a wide grin as he stood there taking in the happiness in the young girl’s face.

He felt the moles at his feet before he saw Matthew approach him. “It’s been a while since Allison was this happy. Thank you.” He gestured to their caravans and to the rug. “As you can see, we have been travelling for a while now and it can be quite tiring.”

“Where are you going?” Kristopher found himself asking.

“We are a traveling circus!” Kristopher’s face must have shown the excitement he felt because Matthew grinned. “We thought your town could use some entertainment.” He pointed to a colorful pile of cloth beside one of the caravans. “That’s our tent. We are going to set it up after breakfast. Then we are going to walk all over town to spread the word around.”

Matthew then told him that he was in fact a mole master. The moles danced while he sang and played the harpsichord. The skunk tamer Anoop juggled balls and bottles and his pet Wolfgang did tricks. The dark-skinned woman, Lil Rounds, was a contortionist and her act was accompanied by Scotty Mac, the man sitting in the center of the rug and who Matthew informed him, was blind and played the accordion. The bear-like man they saw earlier was Michael and it was his job to tame the bear cub Jorge that was travelling with them. The winged woman was Megan Joy and she was a trapeze artist. Kristopher thought that it was cheating to be a trapeze artist when one could actually fly but Matthew explained that Megan could actually tuck her wings in so that she wouldn't be tempted to use it while performing. And then of course, there was Allison, the singing mermaid.

“We are called Gokey’s Hokey Pokey.” Matthew pointed to the man with the heart- shaped spectacles while speaking to Mills and Charles. “That is Gokey and he is our ringmaster.”

Kristopher nodded as he looked around the field curiously. The newcomers’ faces were filled with excitement at being in a new place and it made his heart yearn for that very same feeling.

His thoughts were disrupted when he heard Lil Rounds exclaim, “It’s your birthday? We should celebrate!” She then pulled a surprised Charles into the center of the rug beside Scotty Mac who was smiling as he heard them approach.

“Oh, I love birthdays!” Allison said. She had stopped playing Kristopher’s guitar but was still holding it close to her. Megan was already sitting beside her vat, her wings folding gracefully behind her.

“Well, we have soup and fruit…” Mills stated then looked over at Kristopher. “We also have bread!”

“That smells really good. It’s been a while since we’ve had warm homemade bread,” Scotty Mac informed them as Kristopher opened his bag and took the bread out from its cloth wrapping.

Gokey was monopolizing Mills’s attention with incessant chatter about their traveling group and Kristopher had to stifle a giggle at the uncomfortable look on his best friend’s face. Mills kept glancing over at the rug where Lil was handing Charles a large bowl of porridge.

“Gokey! Stop scaring the locals!” Matthew yelled and a chorus of laughter erupted. Mills looked very happy to escape and quickly walked over to where Kristopher was sitting beside Megan and Allison. He slightly leaned towards Kristopher and they smiled at each other, bumping shoulders.

“You should try Lil’s porridge. We only have it when we get to a new place and it’s always so exciting. Eating it makes me really happy,” Allison told them even as she ignored the bowl of porridge by Megan’s feet to continue cradling the guitar.

Michael came over and handed Mills and Kristopher their porridge before excusing himself to go in one of the caravans to feed Jorge.

Kristopher’s eyes widened as he took his first swallow of the porridge. “This is wonderful, Lil! No wonder you all think it’s a special treat.”

Lil smiled and thanked Kristopher before heading off and giving Megan a hand with scooping more of the porridge into Matthew’s bowl.

Wolfgang the Skunk deposited itself right at Kristopher’s feet, his beady eyes looking up; he really looked like he was begging for his attention. Kristopher briefly touched Wolfgang’s head and his tail went up. That made Mills and Charles stiffen but Anoop was there in a second, cooing at Wolfgang.

“Don’t worry. Wolfgang is a very special skunk. He likes people and can control the pungent smell. I don’t know how he does it but sometimes, he acts like he really likes meeting new people,” Anoop explained.

Mills and Charles visibly relaxed and Wolfgang snuggled closer to Kristopher’s hands which made Anoop laugh. “I think he likes you, Kristopher.”

That made Kristopher grin really hard and in a fit of daring, he actually touched Wolfgang’s tail. “I think I like him too. He seems sweet.”

“Yes, he is… when he’s not being a spoiled baby, that is,” Anoop said fondly. “I found him when I was still living in the East with my family. He came in a ship with the traders who brought the spices we grew to the West. I don’t know how he did it but when I went home after a day of trading, he was at the bottom of a basket, sleeping soundly. He has been with me ever since.”

The moles chose that moment to jump on Wolfgang and they all ended up running after each other across the field, setting Allison into peals of delighted laughter. Kristopher, Mills and Charles settled in the middle of the rug as the new arrivals regaled the three locals with many tales of their travels.

They learned that Megan was actually from the Kingdom of the Winged, which was in the green mountains with the endless rivers and the giant vines and trees. She ran away from home after her father arranged for her to be married to the cruel only son of the kingdom’s oracle. She flew miles and miles, alone and hungry, until she came across the travelling group and from then on, she had always looked to them as the only family she had ever known.

“But isn’t that hard, leaving your family and the life you have always known, the life you have been raised to live?” Kristopher asked Megan after she had told them her story.

Megan smiled with a hint of sadness, her pink-tinged wings transparent and even more beautiful when the morning sunlight hit it. “It is, but when I wake up everyday and I see the road that I am travelling on, I am at peace knowing that I am going where my destiny is leading me.”

“That is true for all of us,” Matthew remarked. “I am from the Kingdom of the Fauna and I do intend to return to my people but right now, this--” he gestured toward the caravans, “-- is my home.”

“All of us had different lives before we found each other and we had different reasons why we left those lives,” Anoop remarked. Wolfgang was perched on his shoulder, the skunk’s head slightly inclined to the right.

Kristopher nodded as Mills said, “and now you’re living a life together.”

Gokey laughed as he nodded. “It’s not a bed of roses all the time but staying true to why we’re here makes everything easier.”

Kristopher would have wanted to stay forever to talk to all of the circus people and learn about their lives and their many stories but the noise at the other side of the clearing made him realize that it was already mid-morning and that his father’s shop needed to be opened. Charles and Mills might have realized the same thing because they got up and started to gather the things that they came with.

“Are you going to stay here?” Kristopher found himself asking, his voice laced with hope that he would still find those caravans for many days, its occupants adding color to the dreary Little Rock life.

Lil smiled at him, patting his hand lightly. “We were destined to come here. We’re not leaving until we are sure that our destiny has been fulfilled.”

Kristopher wanted to ask Lil more about her words but Charles was already calling out to him and Mills was saying goodbye to Matthew and Anoop.

It was time to return to his life.

And so it was that Kristopher found himself waking up very early in the morning and not going home until the darkness had completely descended, just so he could talk for hours with the circus people. He watched them as they went about setting up the tent and even as Lil concocted some of the most delicious yet unusual food he had tasted all his life.

He loved teaching Allison some of the simpler songs he learned as a child on the guitar. This inadvertently led to Matthew’s moles and Wolfgang dancing along. This sight always sent Mills into a fit of hysterical laughter, his eyes shining with amusement; seeing Mills that happy only made Kristopher happier. Michael taught him how to cuddle Jorge the bear cub but it was not as much fun as when Matthew took him aside one afternoon and gave him his first harpsichord lesson.

As much as he loved these little moments, his definite favorites were the nights when his new friends would stand in the center of the ring and enthrall the rest of Little Rock. Every night, Kristopher and Mills would be sitting at the front of the crowd, chins in their hands, grinning like they were young boys again.

It had been a while since Kristopher was filled with such wonder and he knew to treasure it, the same way that he held the memory of Adam and the Merrymen very close to his heart. To him, it was like keeping jewels in a special box that he only took out when he was feeling particularly dreary or lonely or just unsure of where his life was leading him.

Gokey’s Hokey Pokey had been in Little Rock for a fortnight when blue streaks began appearing in Allison's red hair, her tail more gray than silver. Kristopher had no idea what it meant until Lil started to make healing soup made from some herbs that came from Anoop’s secret compartment.

“She gets sick very easily,” Lil whispered to Kristopher when he stopped by one morning to give Allison a guitar lesson.

Allison was sleeping in her vat, her head resting on one of her soft pillows. The moles and Wolfgang were all standing around her, looking very sad.

Kristopher was making Wolfgang jump over his leg when Allison woke up many minutes later, the mid-day sun slightly burning the skin on her shoulders. Her eyes were still cloudy from sleep, her lips parched. She smiled weakly and asked Kristopher to play her a song because she was “absolutely sure that it would make her get better or maybe grow legs.”

She was still laughing when Kristopher strummed the first chord on his guitar. That helped him with the anxiety and nervousness that he felt because although he had taught Allison a few songs, he had never actually played a song by himself in front of other people. Maybe it was a feeling that he was not good enough in spite of the fact that he was the best in Little Rock. Because he never really knew, did he, as these people had met other guitar players and he was not under the illusion that he was really one of the best.

But he could never say no to Allison, not when she looked at him with clear and bright eyes. And so he played one of the songs he made up on one of those nights when he woke up from a dream where he fancied that he saw the bright red of Allison’s hair. It only seemed fitting because here he was, being mesmerized by that vibrancy.

He sang his song about a baby lion and a baby bee, and how they helped each other make honey that could make rainbows appear in the sky. It was silly at first but got melancholic when the babies grew into a fierce lion and a stinging bee, and were told that they could not be friends anymore, making the skies rainbow-less for a long time. The last verse saw the bee killed in a battle and the lion mourned him, his tears enough to bring out the hiding rainbow from beneath the clouds.

When he finished, Allison was already sitting up, her face shining, eyes bright with tears. The rest of the circus people had also gathered around him and Matthew’s moles were quiet and still. Wolfgang ran up his body and settled on the body of his guitar, looking up at him and Kristopher could swear that the skunk was smiling.

“I feel all better now,” Allison smiled, her voice laced with so much feeling. “That was beautiful. Did you make that song?” She reached over and touched Kristopher’s arm.

He nodded and blushed, especially when Wolfgang began to climb up to his shoulder and snuggled against the crook of his neck. Anoop was looking at him strangely and he was starting to get fidgety but the moles started dancing again, catching their attention.

Allison got better for a few days, singing her heart out every night as Little Rock still lay mesmerized by her unearthly voice. Kristopher, however, noticed that the shades of blue did not disappear completely from her hair: what was once a vibrant red mass of hair looked like an unruly pink mess with blue and purple streaks. He sang to her everyday but as the days wore on, Kristopher saw that even the slightest smile caused her to wince in pain and he wanted nothing more than to erase the misery that was tightly guarded in her eyes.

So it was no surprise that one afternoon, Kristopher came to the circus clearing to find a very sad Megan, her wings tucked in as she stroked Allison’s purple hair. The moles were standing at the edge of the wooden vat and Wolfgang was perched gingerly at the tip of Allison’s tail.

Matthew approached Kristopher. “Gokey has decided that it’s better if we take Allison back to her home.” He sighed sadly. “She’s not getting any better. I think she needs to go back to the waters of her Kingdom. She’s starting to lose her voice.”

Kristopher felt his heart ache. “Will she be back to travel with you?”

Matthew shrugged. “Only time will tell.”

Matthew told him about the plans to take Allison back to her home by bringing her to the waterfalls located at the very edge of Little Rock. Matthew and the moles, Anoop, Wolfgang, Sarver, Jorge and Megan were assigned by Gokey to take Allison safely back to her family. They would need to travel by foot for a night and were expected to come back to Little Rock the next evening.

Kristopher felt the curiosity seep through him even if he was already filled with sadness. He had never seen a waterfall before. And the thought that there was one located in his hometown, albeit on the edge, filled him with anticipation. Maybe, sometime after the circus had left, he could ask Mills to visit it with him.

Just as he was having these thoughts, Wolfgang spotted him and jumped off Allison’s tail, running to his feet. The moles followed the skunk and soon after, Allison was calling out his name. The weakness of her voice made Kristopher walk faster than necessary and soon, Allison’s head was tucked into the crook of his neck, her tears freely falling down her cheeks.

“They have to take me home, “she sobbed before lifting her head to look at Kristopher. “I don’t want to go home.”

Megan petted her hair. “You’re very sick and you have to get better. Then we can find you again and we can continue traveling together,”

Allison nodded reluctantly. “I know. I’m just sad, that’s all.” She looked imploringly at Kristopher. “Will you go with them tomorrow night when they take me back? Your songs make me happy. Please say yes, Kristopher.”

Kristopher felt like his tongue was stuck in his throat. The idea of almost leaving Little Rock (they were going to its edge, after all) filled him with excitement. Yet, the fear of not being able to come back also ran through his mind because it was a fact that those who left Little Rock never came back. He was aware that it could be a choice but what if it was not? What if it was a curse?

Still, as he looked at Allison, he knew that there was never a question that he had such an easy time giving an answer to.

Kristopher felt his heart beat faster as he looked at Megan whose eyes were brighter than usual. He nodded. “I can never say no to you, Allison.”

A mass of purple hair and iridescent wings enveloped Kristopher as soon as he uttered those words. He felt Wolfgang climb up his back to the top of his head, the moles trying to follow but utterly failing, deciding to just jump around his feet.

That evening, Kristopher sat at the edge of the circus tent, watching as Allison sang, her beautiful voice ringing out amidst the awe-filled silence. He felt a bittersweet smile touch his lips when, for her final song, Allison sang a song about lions and bees, her eyes searching his, the purple of her hair going red for a minute as the moonlight hit it.

It was at that moment that Kristopher felt he could do anything, that what he did really had a place in the world outside of what he had always known. There was that tiny flicker of hope again, something that had been lying dormant for what felt like forever, ever since he laid eyes on the kaleidoscope of glitter spun by Adam’s hands.

Kristopher arrived at the circus clearing the following afternoon to find Allison safely tucked in her vat which was being carried by Michael and Jorge. Megan was flying about a foot from the ground, carrying what seemed to be a heavy parcel of food items. Matthew, Wolfgang and the moles carried another parcel that contained Allison’s belongings. Meanwhile, Anoop carried his compartment of special things that he had brought from home.

Kristopher’s mother made him take some homemade bread which delighted the traveling party as soon as they got a whiff of it. He lugged his small bag of clothes that his mother insisted he bring along with his guitar.

It was not an easy time, telling his family that he would be travelling to the boundaries of Little Rock. Daniel was particularly afraid because it had always been believed that the borders of Little Rock were cursed and that was why nobody who ever got there was able to come back. The grave silence from his father only made Kristopher’s insides squirm with dread.

However, his mother was unusually supportive and wrapped her arms around her son. “You will come back, Kristopher. My heart tells me so.”

Kristopher was standing by the door of their home, about to leave, when his father embraced him tightly. That gesture released his heart from the uncertainty wrapped around it and Kristopher felt his shoulders relax, his courage coming forth with renewed vigor.

The easiest goodbye he had to make was to Mills. His best friend shared his excitement and brushed away the fear, saying that while they didn’t know for certain if the borders of Little Rock were actually cursed, he was still just going to the edge so that shouldn’t be a problem.

They made plans to meet at the corn field as soon as Kristopher got back from his trip. Stories would then be shared and songs sung, and Kristopher was in high spirits when Mills hugged him before he slung the guitar on his back and walked to the circus clearing.

He was met by a somber-looking group and he could not blame them. The mood was only lifted when Allison borrowed his guitar and sang songs that made Wolfgang and the moles dance. It did not last long though as the goodbyes were made. They departed soon after, Megan flying overhead and looking down to make sure that they were going down the right path.

They were heading down east, towards the cloudy dark mountains and Kristopher felt a surge of anxiety go through him. He tried to tamp it down and told himself that it would be silly to be afraid when he should be excited that for the first time in his life, he was getting away from the Little Rock he had always known. True, it was just a short distance and they would be back soon, but it still felt like a milestone as far as Kristopher was concerned.

It was already dusk when Megan announced that they were nearing the edge of Little Rock. Kristopher felt a thrum of excitement and he noticed that he was taking bigger steps. Wolfgang and the moles looked like they felt the same way because they ran ahead of Megan, only turning back with doleful expressions on their faces when Anoop and Matthew told them to step back and stay within the group.

And that was when the darkness swooped upon them, making it impossible for Megan to see where they were going. They could feel the brush of trees against their bodies but they could not see them in the shadows. The only thing that grounded the group was the fact that as soon as their eyes were covered with what seemed like a very dark veil, they held hands and sang, Allison’s voice ringing out clearly.

Kristopher might have imagined it but he actually felt it when it they stepped outside of Little Rock’s borders. The moon suddenly appeared from behind the clouds and they saw each other’s stunned and anxious faces.

The air felt heavier and there was a subtle smell hanging in the air, like an overripe fruit that was inviting a crowd of eager scavenger flies. He found himself looking around, his eyes occasionally going to the dark mountains whose clouds felt like they were already hovering over them. He realized with a start that they were very close to the mountains and that left him feeling discomfited and if he was being completely honest, a tad afraid.

Afraid of what?, his mind taunted him. It was really pointless, he thought, as almost all of his fears were based on small town superstitions.

I'll be able to go back home.

He calmed himself by thinking that fear of the unknown was quite normal and that he needed to keep himself together for Allison.

Michael was the first who remarked on the darkness that enveloped them. “So, was that the Curse of Little Rock?”

A shiver ran through the travelling group. The moles huddled together as they walked, Wolfgang protectively walking one step ahead of them.

Matthew laughed, trying to ease the tension. “We just got lost. All we have to do is turn back and look for the waterfalls.” He looked at the worried-looking Kristopher and smiled reassuringly. “Things will be fine. These curses are not the all-powerful spells everyone makes them to be.”

Megan turned around and began to search for a way back. She found a clearing where the soil was quite damp and had weeds growing over it. They decided to follow that path and sure enough, they heard the faint sound of rumbling water coming from what seemed like a short distance.

Kristopher did not realize that he was holding his breath until he heard the sound of the waterfalls. That only meant that they were indeed on their way back to Little Rock and he would be able to tell Mills that the Curse of Little Rock was really just a myth.

The group also visibly relaxed and soon enough, the small animals were again walking with a skip to their step. Michael and Jorge shared a joke with Allison as they carried her sitting on her vat. Anoop and Matthew were singing, as Kristopher and Megan tried to follow the star which served as their guide.

After an hour of walking, they decide to camp out for the night. The vague rumbling sound of the waterfalls filled the air, Megan saying that they just needed maybe a few more hours to reach it. They all thought that it would be safest to bring Allison to the waters as soon as the first light of dawn broke and it would be easier for her family to find her. As Michael explained, the people from the Kingdom of the Water Dwellers could navigate their way in the murkiest of waters but had difficulty seeing things clearly when they were near land.

Anoop opened his compartment and lit a small gas lamp. The full moon was out but it was still quite dark and Kristopher had to squint to be able to make out his companions’ faces. As the faint light filled the small clearing they were occupying, Megan and Matthew began to lay down a large rug before opening the food parcel. Michael and Jorge put the wooden vat down on the ground, the moles and Wolfgang hanging around the edge while Allison hummed softly, cradling Kristopher’s guitar. She looked quite pale in the moonlight and somehow the sound of the waterfalls made everyone feel a bit of relief despite the sadness as it reminded them that Allison would soon be on her way home.

They shared a quiet dinner, Allison able to eat half a bowl of Lil’s special porridge and a small portion of Kristopher’s homemade bread. Based on the moon’s location in the sky, they deduced that it would be a few more hours before dawn broke. They divided into pairs to keep watch over Allison and the surroundings.

Shortly after dinner, Kristopher lay down beside Megan as Michael and Matthew sat on the edge of their clearing for the first watch. He found it very hard to sleep with the pungent smell hanging in the air. He tried to remember the quiet comfort of the cornfields wherein he and Mills spent many nights together, talking about songs and making up adventures. Yet as he looked up at the dark sky, looking at the full face of the moon while Megan lightly snored, it all seemed like a dream rather than reality.

Kristopher was still awake when Megan got up and kept watch with Jorge. It was not until Allison sang softly that his eyes closed, his thoughts ebbing into a lucid monotone of broken images.

It was the first time that he saw her face. Her hair was the color of light and Kristopher felt that he was reaching out to her, the quiet warm breeze making the daffodils around Kristopher’s feet sway in tune with a melody that made him want to fly. She floated in the air, her feet followed by music and moonlight. Kristopher tried to keep up because she was calling out to him but he fell on the ground and suddenly, he was swirling into a dark pit where he could see nothing but feel everything.

There was fear and bitterness and a sadness that was almost beautiful in its depth. A guitar wail filled the air and it made him step back warily until his feet hit something solid on the ground. He grasped in the darkness and his hands landed on what was unmistakably the body of an ancient guitar. He glided his fingers over it, learning the guitar’s story with the texture of the wood, in all of its indentations and subtle grooves.

Kristopher then saw a dark-haired young man strumming a guitar on top of a mountain, snow falling around him. There was an air of nobility around him judging from his clothes and this was confirmed by a family crest and coat of arms branded on the saddle perched on the back of the black stallion standing beside him. The young man’s head snapped up and Kristopher suddenly found himself staring into a pair of gray eyes which were regarding him with curiosity. Snowflakes fell freely on the nobleman’s face, his eyelashes and softly curling hair almost white.

Kristopher started to speak but no words came out. The young man looked away and played with his guitar again as Kristopher floated away, images of Allison’s red hair, Adam’s glittery hands, the Merrymen’s boots and Mills’s laughing face reflected on the snowflakes around him. He spread his arms and just flew on, twirling here and there, not minding where he went and wandered.

He saw it from a distance-- a black snowflake standing out amidst the white ones. It moved faster and got closer to Kristopher. He tried to avoid it but in what seemed like no time at all, there it was, floating in front of his face and the reflection he saw was something that he tried not to remember but had never forgotten.

And just like that, he was seven years old again, cradling a crying Daniel as they sat under their kitchen table. The smell of rotting fruit filled the air and there was a darkness outside that was so thick, one felt it brush against their skin when the breeze blew.

The Black Storm.

Kristopher started humming a lullaby to calm Daniel and it seemed to work as his younger brother lightly rested his head against his lap. The Allens’ dog David was pacing, his big paws scratching repeatedly on the wooden door whenever the wind gusted and windows rattled.

A sliver of black light came in from a small crack near the top of the door. Daniel bolted upright, clambering to hide behind Kristopher’s small back. David snarled in the direction of the door, pointed teeth bared, the hair on his back standing on end. The door began to shake and Kristopher felt the beginning of a scream trapped within his throat. He closed his eyes tightly as the air turned cold and the wetness caused by Daniel’s tears made Kristopher shiver almost as much as the frightening sounds being made by David.

A flash of darkness… a loud crash… Daniel’s mournful cries… Brooks’s guitar… and Kristopher was spinning… sitting on top of a snowflake…

Something was jumping on his chest.

Kristopher woke up with a start, his wide eyes meeting Wolfgang’s. The skunk’s head was tilted to the right and it was regarding him with a curious expression before scrambling away from his chest to run towards Anoop who was already sitting at the edge of the clearing.

After clearing his head of the cobwebs of sleep, Kristopher sat beside Anoop for their watch duty. Anoop handed him an apple which he devoured gratefully.

“Nightmares?” Anoop enquired, his eyes focused on the distance. “You were making frightened noises in your sleep.”

Kristopher sighed. It had been a while since he last had the dream and it was never ever that vivid. Normally, he just saw colors and shadows but it was never as clear as the one he just had. Maybe it was because he was outside of Little Rock but something had changed and he was not sure what that meant.

For one, it was the first time that the dream included something from his past.

“I don’t know if I can call it a nightmare…” and he began to tell Anoop about the dream. How he first had it when The Merrymen, Mr. Kite and Adam first came to Little Rock. How he always had it when he was in a state of either extreme joy or sadness. How it got clearer as the years went by. How the last one ended with a childhood memory that he would rather forget.

And how he did not have a clear idea why the dream kept on visiting him.

“Maybe it is my mind’s way of going on an adventure as I am bound to never leave Little Rock for all of my life,” he finished softly, vaguely aware of Anoop’s intense stare and Wolfgang’s weight on his lap as he told his story.

“Do you want to leave Little Rock?” Anoop asked.

Kristopher shrugged. “What can I possibly do outside of Little Rock? It is home and I already have everything that can make me happy forever there.”

Anoop was silent for a short while before saying, “the dream is the reason why we came to Little Rock.”

Kristopher felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he looked at Anoop’s face. “You… you also had the dream?”

“It was what brought Gokey’s Hokey Pokey together.” Anoop’s face broke into a smile. “We saw different images, a different set of characters. The only vision we had in common was what is called the world over The Black Storm of Little Rock.”

“Yes, the Black Storm,” Kristopher nodded, still reeling from what Anoop was telling him. “How… how can we have the same dream when we all came from different parts of the world, different kingdoms even?”

“Fascinating, isn’t it?” Anoop’s eyes followed Wolfgang who began to run towards the dark part of the clearing. “Wolfgang had the dream too.”

At Kristopher’s confused look, Anoop smiled. “He told me.”

They sat in silence while they stared at each other, Kristopher’s eyes filled with wonder and Anoop’s with a calmness shrouded by mystery. He didn’t know what it was but Kristopher felt like the rumble of the waterfalls sounded louder, the moonlight clearer and the air heavier with the sense of revelation.

“Was the Black Storm as frightening as they say?” Anoop quietly asked.

“It was.”

Anoop nodded and seemed to sense that for Kristopher, the Black Storm was something that should not be spoken of casually.

And that was certainly the case, for that dark day was the only memory that Kristopher would want erased from his otherwise uneventful life.

It was the day when the dark clouds from the east flitted over to Little Rock itself, making the sun disappear. The darkness was so thick that it was an actual entity hanging heavily on the air: whenever the wind blew, doors rattled and windows shattered.

What made the Black Storm even more frightening was that it seemed to kill the very core of the hearts of those who had been unfortunate enough to experience it. Kristopher remembered seeing a vision of his older self standing alone in the middle of a corn field, mourning what seemed to be like Mills’s dead body, when the darkness brushed against his hair. When it touched his skin, he saw himself singing sadly to his mother who was staring blindly into the distance. Not long after the darkness had descended, Little Rock was filled with tears and grief, and that only seemed to intensify the rage of the Black Storm. His parents were at the shoe store so Kristopher had no idea how to make Daniel stop wailing, his own face wet from tears.

So he went to sit under the table, arms around his brother, their dog David barking in a futile attempt to make the Black Storm go away.

And then it happened.

There was an insistent banging on their door. Kristopher covered Daniel’s ears because it was loud, so loud, as if there was a battalion of people knocking at the same time. The windows shattered and there was that smell. It made Kristopher’s stomach turn and then he was throwing up on the floor, the banging and Daniel’s wails filling his ears. He vaguely heard a terrifying growl then the crash of the door being broken open.

All of a sudden, it became eerily quiet.

Kristopher opened his eyes and saw that his brother was lying on the floor curled into a ball, sobbing quietly. A sliver of light came in from the other side of the room and the pungent smell was gone. He coaxed Daniel to get up and they crawled out from under the table. True enough, the sun was shining again, its warm rays coming in from the shattered door.

David was lying on his side in front of the door and Kristopher felt the fear rise up from his heart to his throat. His body began to shake and he vaguely heard himself (or maybe it was Daniel) scream.

“David died that day.”

Kristopher had not even realized that he was already telling Anoop about the Black Storm until he said those words. Wolfgang sat on his shoulder and nestled his head in the crook of his neck, little limbs reaching up in a semblance of an embrace.

Anoop was already up and getting something from his compartment. He handed Kristopher a small bottle and told him to drink it. In what seemed like no time at all, Kristopher’s heart stopped its frantic beating and he was calm again, in the present.

“I cannot blame you if you want this story to be erased from your life,” Anoop remarked. He was staring at the moon.

“I wonder why the lot of you dreamt about that day,” Kristopher said.

Anoop smiled and said, “maybe we were meant to find each other, to help realize what was in the dream.”

Kristopher was confused because the dream came to them in different forms but he just nodded as exhaustion took over him. Anoop steered the conversation to describe his home from across the ocean and soon enough, Kristopher was fascinated, the last remnants of the memory of the Black Storm temporarily leaving his mind.

The moon hid behind the clouds and the sky was slowly changing colors, signaling the break of dawn. The moles and Wolfgang woke up the others. After sharing a quick meal, they got up and started to walk towards the direction of the waterfalls, the sound of cascading water getting louder as the hours went by.

And just as the sky was turning a light amber color in the horizon, they finally arrived.

Kristopher’s mouth was slightly open as he took in the fog-covered body of water before him. They were standing on the cliff from where the water broke before falling into the rampaging river beneath it. Around it, big rocks and several large plants were arranged in a haphazardly beautiful way that only nature could create.

Michael and Jorge led the way, climbing down from the cliff, stepping gingerly on the rocks. They disappeared from behind the curtain of water and Megan followed in their direction, flying with Allison in her arms. They left her vat on top of the cliff, saying that they would keep it for when Allison got well enough to travel with them again.

Kristopher went down after Anoop and Wolfgang did, and what met his eyes made him smile despite the nervousness he was feeling. Behind the curtain of water was a rock formation that looked like a small staircase that would take them down to the river. Around it, vines and flowers were hanging side by side, and Kristopher thought that it was such a shame that he would not be able to appreciate their colorful beauty in the glowing light of the high sun.

And then they were at the bottom, saying goodbye to Allison who promised to get better so she could come back to the circus again. Inspite of the sadness, it was such a beautiful moment filled with love and Kristopher knew that one day, he would be writing a song about it.

When it was his turn to say goodbye, Allison hugged him fiercely. “Follow your heart, Kristopher. It will never lead you astray.” Her smile was bright and Kristopher wondered how a young girl such as her could have such wise eyes that seemed to know things that he barely dreamed of.

Michael carried Allison to the water and as soon as the water touched her tail, the blue mass that was her hair became more pinkish in color. She opened her mouth and out came a beautiful song that made the river still and the waterfalls suspend in the air. There was complete silence for a short time and then they saw them— a group of merpeople swimming from the distance, their hair a wonderful mix of colors and their faces filled with hope and anticipation that one of their own had found her way back home.

Kristopher felt his face break into a smile as he saw Allison being swept up into the arms of her family. It would be only a few more hours and he would be experiencing the same thing, and he felt guilty that there was a time when he did not appreciate the warm and loving cocoon of his family enough.

As soon as Allison gave them a last parting glance and wave, the rampage of the river started again and the water from the top of the cliff fell like a downpour, startling them. They all went back up to the cliff, ready to start their journey back to Little Rock. The sun was starting to make the treetops appear more green than gray and Kristopher felt the happiness fill his chest because he realized that they were already at the boundaries of Little Rock.

I’m going home.

They stayed for a little while by the waterfalls. The moles, Wolfgang and Jorge ran around while Megan’s wings sprayed them with water. Kristopher played his guitar while Matthew and Anoop sang, and Michael slept.

When they felt that they had enough rest, they started the trek away from the boundaries and into Little Rock. There was a light feeling that settled upon them and the pang of sadness that Kristopher expected after they had dropped Allison off did not come as sharply as he thought it would. Maybe he felt that they did the right thing in letting her go because she did seem to get better as soon as the natural water touched her.

Kristopher felt a drop of water land on his nose and he looked up, wondering why all of a sudden, the previously bright sky was filled with billowy clouds that hung low in the air. The rain came down without warning and the downpour was so forceful that Kristopher felt like his upturned face was slapped.

And then the darkness descended.

Kristopher did not feel, hear or see anything except for the rain pouring down heavily on him. He felt his feet get buried in the soft mud he was stepping on as he walked with his hands outstretched before him. There was a howl of air and he groped the space beside him, hoping against hope that he would be touching one of his friends and at the same time painfully scared that his hand would be in contact with something monstrous and dangerous.

The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun pouring. Yet Kristopher’s eyes met nothing but darkness. He began to run towards the direction he was facing, not knowing whether that would take him home or away for good. His heart was beating fast and his throat felt dry, feet heavy from the mud and water. He fell on his knees, his guitar lightly banging against his back. A ringing sound filled his ears and he tried to get up but his feet felt like they were getting buried deeper into the mud as he struggled.

He felt it before he saw it – a dark mass of clouds that floated so closely behind him, he could almost breathe it in.

Kristopher felt like his heart was held in a vise-like grip and his breath was coming in short gasps. A vision of his grieving family sitting around his motionless body flashed through his mind and he felt the despair rising up his chest, his heart filled with the need to go back home.

He crawled away from the dark cloud, trying to think about telling Mills about how he survived against this thing because there was no question in his mind that he still needed to be alive. He still had places to see, songs to sing, people to love: he would fight this thing until the end if that meant that he would be able to live the life that he had always wanted to have.

A surge of energy came to him with this thought but the dark cloud was relentless. It tried to grasp the guitar away from Kristopher’s body and he rolled over, holding the instrument closer to his body with all the force he could muster. An angry gust of wind knocked him down flat on his back and the rain was pouring again, drowning him. The dark cloud settled over him and Kristopher actually saw his life flash before his eyes and thought, this is the end.

Suddenly, there was a slight movement over his arms that cradled the guitar. He thought he saw Wolfgang’s small body lit from the inside and he was jumping up and down, obviously trying to catch the dark cloud’s attention.

Get up, a faint masculine voice said into Kristopher’s ears. He opened his eyes a fraction and saw that Wolfgang was looking at him, black eyes shining. The skunk’s tail was drenched in water and he leaned forward to touch one of his paws to Kristopher’s face, visibly shaking as Kristopher felt his veins and limbs coming alive.

With a start, he sat up and the dark cloud stopped moving, emitting an air of surprise. Wolfgang then began to run and Kristopher followed him until they heard the sound of the waterfalls ringing loud and clear and ominous.

It was still dark and Kristopher slipped until he felt a hand steady him. He flinched but he thought that he might have imagined it as he saw Wolfgang being surrounded by a flicker of light, a tiny lamp in the darkness. They were walking steadily when a blow from behind knocked both of them with such force that Kristopher fell forward and he realized with horror that half of his body was hanging on the edge of the cliff, his head wet from the waterfalls.

He crawled away from the edge, trying to fight the force of the rain and the wind. Wolfgang climbed up to his shoulder and Kristopher heard a fierce whisper.

Jump!

Kristopher felt a surprising rush of calmness go through him when he looked at the skunk’s face. He used the last of his energy to get up and run over to the edge. He closed his eyes but not before he saw a blinding flash of light and the face of a small man with black and white hair who took his hand and gave him a smile so full of trust and protection.

Don’t worry, I’ll be with you.

Kristopher closed his eyes and jumped.

Chapter Text

Kristopher woke up with a start, the harsh glare of the sunlight making him close his eyes as fast as he opened them. He heard the light rumbling of the waterfalls from a distance and a recollection of his last memory before he fell asleep suddenly filled his mind, making him sit up and look around.

He was sitting on an elevated patch of land, enveloped in a fog so thick he could barely see the withering trees surrounding him. The imposing vision of the black mountains was hovering behind him and the sight of it hit his chest with a sharp pang of sadness. He shook his head and breathed deeply, willing himself to stay calm as the reality of being completely alone for the first time in his life descended upon him.

I’m here.

He looked behind him and through the haze, he saw Wolfgang resting on top of his guitar. Kristopher felt the weight of the skunk’s beady eyes on his face and he was suddenly very aware of the damp clothing that clung to his body.

He scrambled on his knees and crawled towards the guitar. Wolfgang ran up his back and settled on his shoulders as he cradled the instrument, sure that it had been ruined when he jumped in the water. When his hands found that the guitar remained the way it had been when the Merrymen first left it on his doorstep many years ago, he let out an audible gasp and his heart practically beat itself out of his chest. He then felt Wolfgang’s tail curling around his neck, making him smile.

“Thank you.” He tilted his head towards Wolfgang and breathed out in relief, the fog around them scattering into tiny dark clouds above their heads. After everything he had gone through, it never occurred to him to question how his guitar remained unscathed even though it should have been destroyed, if he went by the aches and pains that he felt all over his body when he moved. It did reassure him that anything was possible and for someone who was as lost as he was at that moment, it felt like a beacon of hope, his only way of holding on to the fact that yes, he could come out of this alive.

They sat like that for a while until the slight drizzle forced them to move under the wide shade of the only tree in the area which didn’t look like it was about to die. Wolfgang took a nap, cuddled beside Kristopher’s left thigh as he slowly strummed a tune on his guitar. He remembered being chased by shadows and jumping in the waterfalls but not much after that. He did recall the feeling of bone-deep cold seeping through his body as he hit the rampaging river, his head bobbing in and out of the water. If it weren’t for his guitar, which kept him afloat as the strong current carried them in circles, the water would have engulfed him until his lungs burst.

Once again, this gift had saved his life in more ways that he never would have imagined.

He stopped playing the guitar to reach out and touch the top of Wolfgang’s head lightly. He did not have an idea where the skunk came from or what he really was but if what happened the previous night was any indication, Kristopher felt grateful that their paths had crossed; there was no doubt in his mind that Wolfgang risked his own life to keep him alive.

The rain started to fall harder and that made Wolfgang jump up from his cozy corner. He looked up at Kristopher and soon, they were walking together through the fog until they came across a cave. Wolfgang ran through the entrance, darkness enveloping them as the pungent smell of bats filled the air. It was colder inside but what made Kristopher shiver was the eerie silence punctuated only by the distant sound of dripping water from farther inside the cave.

The darkness became thicker as they continued to walk. Kristopher was not entirely surprised when Wolfgang seemed to brighten up from within, casting a dim light as they moved along. Once they came across a dry flat expanse of land tucked in the middle of big sharp rocks, Wolfgang settled down. Kristopher put his guitar down as his stomach rumbled, reminding him that he had not eaten for at least a day. He was too tired though and soon after, he was falling asleep again, Wolfgang tucked into his arms.

When Kristopher woke up again, it was completely dark. He could feel Wolfgang’s small warm body snuggled beside him but as he reached behind to feel for his guitar, his hand only touched the slightly damp soil. He got on his knees and blindly groped around, panic rising up in his chest. Soon enough, Wolfgang woke up and he lit up slowly, confirming what Kristopher feared the most.

His guitar was gone.

It was as if the walls of grief had broken down and Kristopher held his head in his hands, his heart wrapped in a cold feeling that ran so deeply, he could almost feel its intensity wracking his body.

I’ll find it. I promise I will.

Kristopher shook his head as Wolfgang looked up at him, inky black eyes sad and shiny.

“It’s gone, Wolfgang,” he said softly, reaching out to hold the skunk’s little paw. “They have taken it, whoever they are.”

For many years, Kristopher thought of that guitar as his Secret Keeper, and in more ways than one, his best friend. He revealed his heart to it, varying emotions poured into every strum and note. He shared with it his dreams of leaving Little Rock for excitement and adventure as well as the deep feeling of happiness he felt when he laughed with his family and hugged Mills. It never judged him at all for being worldly or foolish and for loving too much or too little.

A deep hollow feeling settled itself in his chest, followed by a steely determination. He had lost his family, his best friend, the life he had always known. Yet he was still alive and if that didn’t say that he was destined to do something great, then he didn’t know what else it could mean.

Kristopher was still awake when the first rays of the sun peeked through the entrance of the cave. He slowly got up and stretched, intent on finding food. He hesitated as he looked at the still-asleep Wolfgang. The fear of losing him too gripped Kristopher and that was what made him walk back and take the slumbering skunk in his arms.

Wolfgang did not even stir as Kristopher walked out, morning sunlight bathing them. Kristopher’s slightly damp clothes began to dry as he walked around the cave. He finally saw a cluster of bushes which bore what looked like blueberries. He was not sure though and he was contemplating whether they were edible or not when a slight chill brushed the back of his neck, making him jump. Even Wolfgang woke up, back rigid as his eyes darted back and forth behind Kristopher.

It was gone as fast as it came and Kristopher turned his attention back to the small berry bushes in front of him. Wolfgang moved up his shoulder, still looking behind him. Suddenly, the hairs on Wolfgang’s tail stood on end, alerting Kristopher to someone or something approaching them.

“Yes, the berries are edible,” a soft deep voice behind him said, making him turn around quickly.

He was face to face with a man just about his age, his eyes filled with a combination of disdain and amusement. He was wearing tattered pants and a thin white shirt which made Kristopher wonder why he was not shivering in the cool morning breeze.

His question was answered when he looked at the ground and saw the man floating about a foot from the ground. His eyes flew back to the man’s face and he— it started to laugh.

“You look like you haven’t seen a ghost before.”

“What— who are you?”

The Knight Andrew DeRoberts from the Kingdom of Saphyra.

Kristopher turned to look at Wolfgang who was perched on his shoulder, only slightly surprised that he knew the ghost. After all they had gone through, it was obvious that the skunk was more than Anoop’s pet and circus performer.

“Ah, the skunk knows me,” the ghost remarked, hands reaching out to touch Wolfgang’s tail. “The visitors in my part of the mountain call me Andrew. You are welcome to do so too.”

He turned his gaze to Kristopher. “And you are Kristopher of Little Rock.”

There was a short silence which was broken by Kristopher’s startled words. “How do you even know who I am and where I am from?”

“I saw your guitar,” Andrew remarked and laughed when he heard Kristopher gasp.

“You have my guitar?” The feeling of relief that coursed through him was mixed with an alarming amount of outrage that he had never felt before.

Andrew raised his eyebrows when he took in the expression on Kristopher’s face. “I’m not a thief, traveler from Little Rock. It is the reason why I know who you are.” When he did not speak, the ghost continued. “I know of the Merrymen and I have seen George carry that guitar you call your own now around the places where they have traveled.”

The rage coursing through Kristopher’s body disappeared completely. “You… where are they?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know the answer to that.” Andrew moved to the blueberry bushes and laid down above them. The blue and green colors of the bushes reflected on his body glistened as the early morning sun hit his chest. “I first met them when they were on their way to your town. They said the dream told them that a clue to the whereabouts of the Glass Guitar could be found there. George carried his guitar everywhere and Paul delighted in teasing him because of it.”

By this time, Kristopher and Wolfgang were already sitting on the ground beside Andrew who was speaking softly towards the sky. His eyes looked distant but they were warm, almost as if he was living the moment instead of retelling it. Kristopher felt like he was looking through a window from his past, because right at that moment, he could almost see the impish grin of the Merryman who offered his guitar to him, the thick swirl of smoke surrounding his long hair and his bright eyes seemingly filled with mischief, and yet there was also some undeniable sorrow in them too.

“I was already in this mountain but not as a mere shadow of myself as I am now. I still had my horse Midnight with me and we were both searching for what the dream meant when we met the Merrymen, Mr. Kite and the boy who spun glitter from his hands.”

He sighed and sat, his feet dangling above the cluster of berries near the ground. “Imagine their shock when they saw me right at this very mountain after they left your home. Midnight had passed on and I was huddled in a corner of the forest, almost buried in the thick snow.” He cleared his throat and suddenly looked at Kris with very bright eyes. “They told me about you and how leaving you with George’s most prized possession felt like nothing compared to the kindness you showed them.”

Kristopher stared at Andrew, speechless at the story he was hearing. He did not realize how lasting the impression he left with the Merrymen was.

“Oh Kristopher of Little Rock, you have very little idea of how your destiny could change the world.” Andrew’s eyes were suddenly staring right into his and Kristopher felt an unfamiliar feeling settle around his heart, frightening yet awakening his courage at the same time. It was very disconcerting, this feeling, because it was begging to be both embraced and escaped from.

Just as fast as he had appeared, Andrew suddenly vanished. Kristopher ran around the bushes, calling out his name but he was nowhere to be found. Even Wolfgang scurried around before giving up and settling on the ground, munching on an unripe berry.

Kristopher sat beside the skunk and smiled. “The knight has my guitar. Maybe he’ll let me have it back.” Maybe he had imagined it but Kristopher was convinced that Wolfgang smiled too.

They ate some more of the berries and began to walk around the cave. Kristopher was hoping to have a longer talk with Andrew but after exploring for a while, the ghost did not turn up again. Wolfgang ran up a tree and when he did not come down, Kristopher looked up to see that he was sleeping on one of the branches.

He went to sit under the shade of the tree, alone for the first time with his thoughts. There was a different kind of silence surrounding him, a muted feeling of loss and sadness that he had never felt before. He took in the billowing trees around him, their leaves brown on the edges. The tinkling sound of a stream was the only thing that could be heard and when the wind blew, the heavy smell of something sweet and eerily intoxicating filled his nostrils.

It was beautiful in a way that made one understand both the frailty of life and its infinite possibilities.

Everything was new and Kristopher wanted to see all of what this world had to offer. He wanted to take dark roads and see what was lurking at its corners, if there was light at every end. He longed to meet colorful people and hear their stories. He wanted to dance to the music that came from faraway lands and write songs about sunsets that led into dreams which straddled the past and the future.

He wanted it all.

And yet, the fear of leaving all that was familiar was making him pause. He was happy but that did not stop him from yearning for more. In Little Rock, he was loved but still, he felt like it was not enough, would never be enough.

Was he cursed because he wished so hard for something that, when it was now before his eyes, seemed so unfathomable?

“Things happen for a reason, Kristopher of Little Rock.”

Kristopher felt the cold breeze before hearing Andrew’s words. It was a sharp contrast to the warmth of the high noon sun which started to envelop them.

“I have seen many travelers pass this way. I, myself, left Saphyra because I thought I knew what the world I was not acquainted with had to offer.” Andrew took a deep breath before his gray eyes settled on the hopeful face staring back at him. “I don’t have the answers; I wish I did. But I know enough.”

Andrew turned and reached over to pick up Kristopher’s guitar. Kristopher felt the joy filling him up after seeing his old friend again. When he finally placed it gingerly on his lap, he felt the wide smile stretching his face and at that moment, everything felt right again.

“Play me a song.”

Kristopher was more than happy to oblige. His fingers fluttered over the strings and soon enough, they were surrounded by a melody that was both hopeful and melancholic. There were no words but as he closed his eyes, he saw the corn fields and Mills’s laughing face. He smelled his mother’s homemade bread and felt the soft cotton of her dress as she hugged him on the day he left. He could feel the rough wooden shelves of the shoe store, his father smiling at him from behind the counter and Daniel walking on his hands just outside the door.

He could almost— almost -- see himself, world-weary but happy, walking back into the familiar streets of Little Rock surrounded by music and colors and adventure.

He could not wait to start his journey.

When he opened his eyes, he felt that his face was streaked with tears but the smile that came when he touched his guitar again did not leave. Andrew and Wolfgang were looking at him with curious and fascinated expressions.

Wolfgang ran up to him and soon enough, the skunk’s little paws were around his neck. He tilted his head down and rubbed his cheek against the soft fur of Wolfgang’s face.

And when he looked at Andrew, the ghost’s eyes were dancing with happiness and the feeling was evident when he spoke the words that Kristopher hoped he would hear again.

“Welcome home.”

Saphyra was a kingdom where knights and warriors were born and raised. Their home was located in the mountains on the far eastern side of the Fauna. The cool mountain air hovering over Saphyra was hazed with the deep blue color coming from the sapphires that littered the kingdom’s terrains. Even the plants were tinged with blue and eating their fruits gave Saphyra’s people extraordinary strength.

Being close in proximity to Fauna made the two kingdoms almost cousins, with Fauna sending their sentinels over to Saphyra for battle education. While the Saphyra warriors were ingrained with the physical and mental strength to go to war against the Undead, the Fauna sentinels were equipped with magical acuity that was passed on to them by their forefathers.

“My father was a Saphyra warrior and my mother was a Fauna sentinel. They met each other when my mother was sent off to Saphyra’s training camp. She was a sparrow and her beautiful voice was a legend, even in Fauna where the magic of song was commonplace. My father did not stand a chance.” Andrew smiled as Kristopher sat in front of him, enthralled.

“Sparrow?”

Andrew regarded Kristopher with curiosity. “Yes, sparrow. Did you not know that Fauna’s people had animal essences and this allows them to change their forms?”

Kristopher remembered Matthew saying that he was a Fauna but he did not exactly see him change into an animal so he just shrugged and said no.

Andrew cocked his head to the side as his eyes followed Wolfgang scampering around the berry bushes. The ghost looked thoughtful as he spoke. “All of them have animal forms. Legend says that the race was spawned when an animal prince fell in love with a Human milkmaid’s beautiful voice and found the witch that could cast a spell that would make the prince take another form as he courted the milkmaid. The children of this union became the first Fauna to ever exist.”

“The Fauna built their kingdom on the mountain where the water of The River of the Muses breaks. It is a magical place and since then, their race was designated as its protector.”

“Why would The River of the Muses need protection?”

“The water of the River of the Muses runs all over the world. It is the only thing that keeps the world safe from the Undead. Without it, the Fallen God would have succeeded in making this world a very dark and evil place.”

Kristopher’s mind immediately went to the memory of Adam and Paul telling him about the Myth of the Glass Guitar all those years ago.

Andrew smiled and a shiver ran through Kristopher as he finally realized that the ghost could actually read his mind.

“Only when necessary, Kristopher,” Andrew laughed softly. “And yes, you tapped into the right memory. I am talking about the same Fallen God.”

“So… so there are actual Undead people out there?” Out here, his mind taunted.

“Unfortunately.” Andrew stood and floated over to one of the tree’s lower branches. His face looked distant as he continued speaking. “As I have told you, my mother was a Fauna sentinel. She was designated to be one of the river’s guardians and she did it with a devotion that made me resentful sometimes. However, my father was always there to remind me that without the river, we would all be devoid of magic and song, and that made me embrace the gift I have.” He smiled. “Just like you, I can create music that makes people feel. Not that it’s of any importance now.”

Before Kristopher could ask what he meant by that, Andrew continued with his story.

“On the other side of the world, the Undead were successfully drying up the river and the Fauna have discerned that the only way to keep the fresh water from running out would be to find the Glass Guitar.” Andrew sighed. “That is the reason why, up to this day, Fauna sentinels are being sent to protect whoever they deem to be The Soul.”

“But what has The Glass Guitar got to do with all of this?”

“It was sent to this world to stop the Fallen God. The Fauna have always believed that somehow a connection could be made between The River of the Muses and The Glass Guitar.”

Andrew smiled ruefully at Kristopher. “Nobody knows for certain, though. Except for The Soul.”

“Only nobody knows who The Soul is.”

“Kristopher, it could be anyone.” Andrew stared into the distance again, the shadows of the setting sun going through his misty form. “I even thought it was me. Yet, after living in this mountain for so long, seeing traveler after traveler fail in finding the Glass Guitar, I think I’m ready to give up.”

Kristopher looked up and saw the overwhelming sadness in Andrew’s face. “How can you say that? What if you’re The Soul and you lost hope?”

Andrew floated down and sat in front of Kristopher, his face mere inches away. His breath was as cold as his tone when he spoke. “I have lost the ability to create music.”

Kristopher was at a loss for words at that tragic statement. Was it really possible? He would die if it happened to him.

“Ah, and you see why I am the way I am now.” Andrew shook his head. “I went on this journey armed with a thirst for revenge.” At Kristopher’s confused look, Andrew continued. “My parents died protecting The River of the Muses. The Undead wanted to destroy the rock from which it was breaking and my mother was one of the sentinels who perished in that battle. My father was also with the Saphyra cavalry who helped defend it.”

“I left Saphyra, intent on finding the Glass Guitar or The Soul, whichever may be my destiny. I would be happy with either because that meant that I would be able to make my parents proud. I would be worthy enough to be called their son.” He shrugged, a brief flash of pain lacing his voice. “I searched the world with my horse Midnight and it could be the sadness or just plain exhaustion, but on one snowy night, right in this very place, I became a ghost whose music died with my horse and my body.”

A thick silence settled over them as Andrew stared towards the crimson sky, emotions clearly etched on his face. Kristopher wanted to reach out and comfort him but he was at a loss as to what he was going to say.

Wolfgang approached Andrew and nestled his head on Andrew’s hand making him smile. “I did not expect to see this skunk traveling with you, Kristopher of Little Rock.” He petted Wolfgang’s tail. “But the fact that he does makes me hope that maybe my wait is finally over.”

Kristopher mulled Andrew’s statement in his head that evening. Over and over, it kept coming back to him and looking at the sleeping Wolfgang tucked beside his thigh made him feel, oddly enough, slightly breathless with excitement and anticipation.

The days continued on with Kristopher, Andrew and Wolfgang making the cave their home. It was quite amusing for Kristopher to wake up and see Wolfgang dragging along some colorful flowers and leaves which he arranged into a corner to create some semblance of decoration. Even if it looked like a messy pile of dried objects, it still made Kristopher (and Andrew too, at least he would like to think so) feel that they were making the dark little place their own.

Andrew spent more time away from the shadows and Kristopher delighted in that, as he loved talking to him about the many things that he had seen and known. Some of his favorite stories were about Saphyra and Fauna, and Kristopher could not wait to see those kingdoms. It seemed filled with the fascinating characters that he had glimpses of while he was nestled in the safe confines of Little Rock.

Andrew still had dreams despite all the downtrodden world-weariness that he seemed to exude. He still wanted to swim with the Water Dwellers and have a glimpse of the kingdom beneath the sea. He also told Kristopher about the colorful and beautiful Winged people’s festivals, and how he could see a tiny blur of the celebrations from his place at the top of the mountain.

When Kristopher told him about Allison and Megan, and how Wolfgang traveled with them, Andrew gave an excited gasp. It certainly helped that Wolfgang jumped up and down while Megan’s wings were being discussed, and how he sat on his hind paws while slowly twirling his tail in perfect imitation of Allison’s as Kristopher spoke about how her voice could touch the heart of every person who heard it.

Those were the moments that made Kristopher happiest: seeing Andrew’s eyes light up and feeling the cold air surrounding him change into a warm gust that reminded him of Little Rock summers. It made him see a glimpse of the young, hopeful man who cherished music as his strongest ally on the journey that he courageously faced head-on.

Whenever Kristopher opened his eyes after singing (usually after giving in to one of Andrew’s requests), he would see the bittersweet look on Andrew’s face and feel his heart clench. He could see the overpowering love there, and yet the grief of having been left alone by the one thing that was once life’s only certainty was just as strong. And as if someone was whispering into his ear, Kristopher would hand the guitar over to Andrew, coaxing him to touch it. The first few times were filled with either cold dismissal or almost angry refusal. But on that one evening when Kristopher was filled with a wave of sadness over missing his family and he played a quiet song about the smells and sounds of home, Andrew was the one who reached over and took the guitar.

The moment Andrew touched the guitar was pure magic. Kristopher closed his eyes and he saw himself singing with Mills, the Merrymen, Andrew, Allison and Adam. Wolfgang and David were dancing around them in a circle as happiness emanated from them. It was a perfect moment and when the song ended, he exchanged a smile with Andrew – a smile that could only be shared by comrades and brothers who had travelled parallel roads separately, only to meet at some junction and finally realizing that they were never really fighting alone.

Kristopher sang and Andrew played the guitar all night until they were both exhausted, Andrew never letting go of the guitar as if he could not get enough of it. Kristopher had a dreamless, peaceful night of sleep after that night. It wasn’t until Wolfgang came back from hunting the next morning that he even stirred. Kristopher made a small fire and was cooking the rabbit that Wolfgang brought home when Andrew came floating, a bright smile lighting up his amorphous face.

“Are you strong enough to travel?” He nodded when Kristopher said yes. “Good. I went to the top of the mountain earlier today and saw that a small trading market was set up on the next valley. I visited it and heard talks of the seer Cantiello coming in from the South.”

Noting Kristopher’s blank expression, Andrew explained. “He knows things. I hope that seeing him will point you in the right direction.”

“Not just me, Andrew. He could point us towards the right path.”

Andrew started to speak but Kristopher cut him off. “I believe that you are still here because your unfulfilled destiny is more significant than you think. I believe that we were meant to meet so we could help each other.”

He turned bright hopeful eyes up to Andrew’s face. “I have always believed that music had not left you, Andrew, because through all of this, the one thing I can say with certainty is that it is a most faithful companion.” He continued fiercely. “And last night was a testament of that. It would be such a betrayal if we ignored the magic you created with your hands.”

They stared at each other and Kristopher breathed a sigh of relief when Andrew smiled. “Finish your meal, Kristopher. We have to find Cantiello.”

Kristopher, Andrew and Wolfgang travelled for four uneventful days before reaching the trading market. It was situated in a small town called Old Clearing and people from various kingdoms walked around, purchasing items by the bulk. It was a colorful mix of people and decorations; Kristopher could not help but smile as they walked along the streets lined with tables full of exotic fruits, colorful clothing, crystal decanters full of sparkling liquid and other items that he was sure would be as useful as they were interestingly crafted.

Wolfgang was running along, obviously excited to be in the midst of so much activity again and Kristopher started thinking about the circus people. Were they also separated? Were they able to leave Little Rock? He sighed as he tried to damp down the sadness bubbling up inside him.

There was a small table full of delicious-looking bread and Wolfgang stopped in front of it, obviously wanting to have a small piece. Kristopher felt the sadness again as he bemoaned the fact that he did not have any gold coins to buy his friend one. His own stomach rumbled when the smell wafted towards him and he sighed as he picked Wolfgang up, petting his head softly.

Wolfgang stared into his somber eyes and scampered down, running until they were almost at the end of the market.

That was when Kristopher saw it. Saw him.

There was a small tent erected in between a potions table and a spices one. Cramped in it were various guitars, all of them gleaming in the light of the sun, making Kristopher’s hand want to touch and strum. They were made from different kinds of wood and looked rather wonderfully crafted. A light-haired lanky young man was standing on top of a wooden stool and trying to reach the guitar at the far end of the tent’s front display. He rolled his eyes when another man, whose long, dark and shiny hair hid part of his smiling face, started running around the stool and pretended to bump into it.

Kristopher bit his lip to keep the laugh from escaping him as the lanky one got off the stool and chased the other one with what seemed to be drum sticks. He was still following the two men’s antics when his eyes went past the display at the front and he found himself looking into a pair of eyes that reminded him of all the things he thought he had lost.

He was rooted in place as a familiar voice called out to him, the sound laden with surprise and joy. He found himself walking into a pair of familiar arms and his face was streaked with tears as he repeated the name over and over, disbelieving but so, so happy he thought his heart would burst.

“Mills. Mills. Mills. Mills.”

Chapter Text

Kristopher’s eyes were wide as he listened to Mills tell the story of how he came to be in the small market. The circus people who were with Kristopher when they took Allison home were not able to come back so the rest of Gokey’s Hokey Pokey left Little Rock with the hope of finding them again. They told Mills and Kristopher’s family that if they did find Kristopher, they were almost certain the Curse of Little Rock would prevent them from bringing him back.

“I knew about your dreams,” Mills looked at Kristopher. “And I certainly believe that you are capable of bringing those dreams to life. I looked towards the mountains everyday, praying for your safety and your happiness as I lived my life the way I thought I was supposed to.”

“And then the dream told me that I should go, that you were alive and that my life was not what I thought it should be. I saw visions of Matthew’s Kingdom of the Fauna and when I told Gokey about it, he talked excitedly for about half a day and I thought if that wasn’t a sign, then I don’t know what is.” Mills laughed. “I had never had the dream before that and it was pretty overwhelming, as you have told me. When I woke up, my heart was so full partly because I had been told that you were safe, but mostly because I finally got the courage to do what I have wanted to do for a long time.”

“I left Little Rock. And now, here we are.”

Kristopher smiled. He knew that Mills also thrived in music and it was one of the many reasons why their friendship remained steadfast. They did not talk openly about what they were feeling but once they looked at each other and broke into song, they would both be in a comfortable place where all other discussions were unnecessary. At that moment, looking at Mills’s face in the middle of a colorful and completely different environment, Kristopher could not help the relief he felt because he knew that they would always be ready to protect and love each other, no matter what the future might bring.

They were sitting around the small table just outside the caravan sitting on the far end of Old Clearing. Andrew sat beside Kristopher, quietly listening to the conversation as Wolfgang sat on his paws on the table. Mills was surrounded by his friends: the wiry and energetic light-haired man was Ryland and the seemingly unobtrusive but rather charming one was Torres. They were the guitar traders that Mills met on the road shortly after he left Little Rock, trying to find out things about the Kingdom of the Fauna. They told him that they would pass by the kingdom as they were doing the trading and that was why Mills started to travel with them.

“They’re paying me to help them trade guitars,” Mills confided. “We play sometimes though because we find that it makes people see just how good our instruments are.”

“Mills told us stories about you,” Ryland said as he looked at Kristopher. “If you’re not leaving anytime soon, maybe you can play with us tomorrow? It might help business.”

Kristopher grinned. “I would be delighted. I have never played with a group before.”

His grin vanished when he saw that Andrew’s mouth was drawn down and Kristopher spoke before even thinking. “Can you let Andrew play too? He is half-Fauna. I’m sure he could help you too.”

Mills, Torres and Ryland looked at Andrew, who was standing much straighter, obviously glaring at Kristopher.

Torres said, “if you are who I think you are, then it would be our honor to play with you.”

Kristopher felt his face break into an ear-splitting grin when Andrew nodded and gave them all a small smile. Wolfgang was beside himself and started jumping on the table before settling between Kristopher and Andrew.

They talked excitedly about playing some folk songs in the morning but Andrew leaned over to Kristopher, his voice quiet as he said, “what if what happened that one night in the mountains was a fluke? What if I can’t make music that way again?”

Kristopher whispered back. “But you have to try. I know you can do it.” When Andrew looked at him inquiringly, he spoke with conviction. “I believe in you.” They stared at each other, wide smiles lighting up their faces as the understanding and trust made them feel like they were children on the verge of making a huge, new discovery.

Andrew looked at their new friends and cleared his throat before speaking. “Have you heard news about the seer Cantiello?”

Ryland nodded. “We heard from the potion maker Alexis that he is bound to arrive any day now. He had been travelling for years and is expected to pass by Old Clearing on the way to his next destination.”

“The Prince of the Fauna has been searching for him.” Torres leaned towards the center of the table and they all moved closer as he spoke softly. “Word has travelled that The Guardian of the Glass Guitar has revealed herself to him.”

“Is it true?” Andrew whispered fiercely.

“We have yet to find out,” Torres answered. “This is why his arrival is being met with much anticipation.”

Torres, Ryland and Mills invited Kristopher, Andrew and Wolfgang to stay with them during the night. They all shared a warm meal, something that Kristopher was more than happy to accept as his body had been yearning for some hot soup and fresh bread. Wolfgang seemed happy too as Kristopher gave him a small roll of bread for him to nibble on.

Andrew excused himself from them before they started eating and he still hadn’t come back after they finished. Kristopher stood at the edge of the clearing, straining his eyes to look for Andrew’s floating figure.

He heard him before he saw him.

Kristopher followed the sound of a soulful guitar wail and saw Andrew floating beside a high branch of an oak tree. His fingers ran nimbly along the strings of Kristopher’s guitar, filling the air with a story filled with sorrow and loss. And yet when he reached the crescendo, the palpable sadness was replaced with a hope that made one feel like floating.

And when Andrew opened his eyes, Kristopher could see the reflection of every sunrise he had witnessed, of every dawn that bore with it the beauty of expectation that each day could be the one when dreams stopped being dreams and started becoming a reality.

Kristopher woke up the next morning with a light feeling that he had not felt in a long time. He was tucked beside Mills who was still breathing evenly while Wolfgang was already walking gingerly around their sleeping mat. He could hear the sound of guitars being played outside the caravan and this made him nudge Mills. He couldn’t wait to get up and start his day.

Soon enough, they were out in the yard having breakfast with the rest of the group. The other traders were also walking around their caravans preparing for another day at the market. Mills said that they had been in Old Clearing for a week when Kristopher found them.

Ryland looked up to the clouds that seemed to be hovering on the mountaintops surrounding them. “I think that we’re going to get our first rainfall of the season.”

Torres explained they had been in the market season for a few months but this was the first stop since Mills joined them. “And it looks like this is going to be heavy rain. Look how dark those clouds are.”

Even the dark clouds that used to fill Kristopher with trepidation were not able to put him down. He had a spring in his step as they walked to the tent to set up the goods on display.

And when they started to play, he thought, this, this is what I was born to do. Ryland sat on a box and tapped along to the rhythm that Mills, Torres, Kristopher and Andrew played on their guitars. Kristopher sang his heart out and the crowd cheered them on especially when Wolfgang started to dance around or chased the children until they were squealing with glee.

Andrew, Torres and Ryland taught Kristopher and Mills the many things they had learned from their expeditions. Torres and Ryland told them that they considered themselves a small travelling group. They both came from gypsy companies which had separated over the years. It was fascinating to hear their stories; it was as if Ryland and Torres never ran out of tales about their many journeys. Andrew also told them about his many experiences, both when he was still alive and when he became a ghost. Andrew had had the good fortune of meeting the most musicians and he delighted in sharing the knowledge they imparted to him to his new friends.

Between the three of them, Kristopher and Mills never ran out of questions about the customs and traditions of the people they could not wait to meet soon. It made them feel like they had travelled the world too.

Over the short period of time that they spent together, the five of them and Wolfgang had created what could be called a family unit. Kristopher felt a sense of security in the routine they had. He fell in love with Torres’s bean and eggs breakfast stew which they had everyday, along with the bread that Mills purchased from one of the traders. And yet the meal would not be complete without Ryland’s early morning exercises which Wolfgang tried to follow even if he always ended up with his tail hitting him on the face instead. Even Andrew had something to do in the morning as he always played the guitar as if he could not get enough of it.

Kristopher found himself laughing more, feeling carefree like he was back in Little Rock again. The music helped a lot and even talking to the many children who approached him and looked at the guitars with something akin to wonder made him feel especially content. It was so easy to see himself in those wide eyes as he was sure that the children’s expressions resembled his five-year-old self’s fascination over the beggar Brooks.

The fact that he was able to share this new experience with Mills also made it more wonderful. Mills brought the peace he needed to be able to face the new challenges that were definitely headed their way. He made Kristopher laugh with his silly opinions regarding the many traders who came and went everyday. At the same time, he encouraged him to play the music that he heard in his head, mainly because “it can be quite tiring having a relentless sound in there, no matter how beautiful it is.”

Kristopher told Mills that for as long as he lived, he would never forget how his heart almost burst with joy when he first saw Mills’s familiar face again in Old Clearing. After thinking that he had lost everything, every minute Kristopher spent with Mills was like a gift to remind him that he was definitely on the right path and every so often, he felt like he was still in that corn field, only it became wider and darker and had more amazing music aside from the symphony of crickets.

Torres and Ryland’s business benefited from the music they played everyday. This made Kristopher happy because they had helped him, Mills, Andrew and Wolfgang a lot. He thought it was only fitting that they were able to help Torres and Ryland too. Their experiences in their various travels had given them the power to create the magic of song that they had so generously shared with all the towns they visited. Seeing the smiles and bright eyes of the various townspeople they met always made every hardship they encountered seem miniscule in comparison.

A small crowd always formed in front of the tent; sometimes, spectators were already waiting even before their small group emerged from the caravan during the morning. Their audience became familiar with the tunes they played and sometimes they would sing along. Those were Kristopher’s favorite moments and even if it rained almost everyday, the warmth it gave him still felt like he was basking in the sunlight.

The only thing that put a damper on their otherwise good dispositions was the fact that the seer Cantiello failed to show up at the Old Clearing market. Every morning, they would hope that the day had come for their questions about The Guardian to be answered. Every evening, they went to bed and the hope slowly faded away until the time for them to leave Old Clearing came.

All of them had decided to keep travelling together and since they were all certain that all signs were pointing in the direction of the Kingdom of the Fauna, they agreed that it was going to be their next destination. They travelled with the rest of the traders and after seven days, they reached the new marketplace in Rose Alley.

After Rose Alley, they travelled to North Pillow and when winter came, they were all settled in Heart-Shaped Valley. In each of these destinations, Kristopher and his friends played old and new songs until such time that their reputation already preceded them. In fact, when spring came and they were welcomed into the busy town of Yellow Mountain, quite a number of people had looked for the “guitar-playing traders” and were ready with songs that they were going to ask the musicians to play.

Yellow Mountain was a town that mostly survived through farming. People requested that aside from playing at the marketplace they play by the nightly bonfire too where the farmers and their families mostly bonded over dinner after a hard day’s work of toiling the fields. Kristopher, Mills, Andrew, Torres and Ryland readily obliged, and soon it became the most anticipated part of their day. People were in good spirits as there was plenty of food and wine to go around. Even Wolfgang took a liking to Yellow Mountain’s native rice wine. It became a source of both amusement and concern for the five of them when Wolfgang seemed to have a bit too much of the wine as it always led him to either run onto Kristopher’s legs or chase his tail relentlessly until he fell asleep in exhaustion.

While the spring was quite an enjoyable time for them, they were also quite concerned about reaching the Kingdom of the Fauna in the shortest time possible. The weather was quite uncharacteristic of spring in that the clouds were always hanging low and carried with them rain which made the roads muddy and difficult to travel on.

It was on one of these rainy afternoons that they finally met the seer Cantiello.

Cantiello did not come with the pomp and circumstance that would have befitted the anticipation of his imminent arrival. They only realized that he had indeed arrived when Wolfgang sauntered off to a tall unassuming man who fought his way to the front of the rapt crowd singing along to their songs before Kristopher heard a voice in his head.

The seer has come.

When he first heard about the seer, Kristopher had a vision of a wise old man who looked the part of someone who had seen all the beauty and evils of the world. What he didn’t expect was the young man standing before him with shining eyes that seemed to take in all the sights around him as well as senses so acute that he picked up the swift gasp that came from Andrew.

“The long-lost son of Saphyra and Fauna,” Cantiello breathed out, walking quickly to approach Andrew as soon as they finished playing. “I thought I would never see you again.”

The crowd dispersed and soon enough, Cantiello was taking in all the guitars before him, nodding his approval to both Torres and Ryland. “I did not expect this scene when all I wanted was to satisfy my curiosity regarding the group of musicians that every town has been wanting to lay eyes on, to be honest.” The seer’s eyes twinkled with mirth. “A ghost, a skunk, two gypsies and two travelers keeping the cloud of the Undead from taking over Yellow Mountain— no prophecy has prepared me for this.”

“But you have other things which have been revealed to you,” Andrew stated.

“Ah, the wings of the news surely flutter fast enough to precede my arrival.” There was a slight edge of laughter in his voice. “But first, let my weary legs have a rest. Our time together is long enough for us to talk about such important matters.”

They all walked to the caravan and Mills promptly handed Cantiello a jug of cool water and some bread. They shared a meal as the seer told them stories about the things he had seen. Cantiello’s speech was lightning-quick and he had quirky inflections that made Kristopher and his friends listen to every word he had to say.

To say that he was definitely not what Kristopher expected would be an understatement.

The many things he had seen and experienced, and the way he told them left all of them quite breathless and enthralled that they didn’t even realize that night had fallen. They continued to talk even after Wolfgang lit himself up while sitting on Kristopher’s lap.

There was the tale of when Cantiello won a game of cards against a group of trolls who were cheating. Kristopher laughed loudly when Cantiello told them that after he realized there was cheating going on, he used his “seer gift” to see what the next hand would be just so he could teach the trolls a lesson. He also told them of his awe when he was able to see a flock of Winged people dancing in the air during their winter mating festival. “It was like seeing fireflies of different colors bursting in the black sky. I sorely wanted wings after that,” he sighed mournfully.

In turn, all of them told Cantiello stories of what they had seen. Kristopher and Mills had almost the same stories. At first they thought that what they had to share was not that interesting considering that most of the people they were conversing with had been seasoned travelers but they were very surprised to hear that Cantiello, Torres and Ryland were a little envious of the fact that they were able to meet the famous Merrymen. They also thought that Little Rock sounded like a good place to spend a childhood in. Cantiello even bemoaned the fact that he was not able to visit the corn field near Kristopher and Mills’s houses.

Later that night, their talk gradually returned back to the subject of The Guardian’s appearance in Cantiello’s dream.

“Is it true? Have you seen her?” It was Torres who spoke so softly.

Cantiello looked at the interested faces before him and smiled. “I have seen her hair made from moonlight. I have floated with her on a meadow of daffodils. If that was indeed the ‘her’ you speak of. ”

Kristopher felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. “I have seen her.”

Six pairs of eyes were focused on Kristopher even as he spoke so softly, so reverently.

“I saw her face in the dream.”

Suddenly, the intense scrutiny was directed at Kristopher. Even Cantiello was looking at him in a different light, obviously piecing memories together, trying to be certain that what was happening before him had any credence at all.

“She did not speak to me but I saw her the way the seer did,” Kristopher explained. “I saw her when I had the dream the first night I left Little Rock, before we had even taken Allison back to her family.” He looked at Andrew. “I saw you there for the first time too.”

Andrew nodded. “Do you realize what this means, Kristopher? The Guardian does not show herself to anyone.”

They were all quiet and when Cantiello spoke, it was without the touch of amusement that usually laced his words. “Could it be? Could I be meeting The Soul now?”

The seer’s question was met by a palpable silence. Kristopher felt as if an overpowering wave was engulfing his heart: it resembled the feeling he had when he met Brooks for the first time. He was barely aware of the others who were staring intently at him, as if picking him apart and trying to see what really lay beneath his soul.

Kristopher slowly shook his head. “I… I don’t know. Maybe the Guardian does not show herself to anyone but she did not appear only in my dreams.” He looked at Cantiello. “She revealed herself to you too.”

Cantiello sighed. “You have a point there. I am definitely not The Soul and yet, she has spoken to me. I am sure that I am just a pawn in this game.”

Mills was studying Kristopher’s hesitant shadowed face. His voice was soft when he spoke. “But Kristopher, what if you are The Soul? Wouldn’t it be better if you started working with that belief in mind? Wouldn’t it make things easier?”

“But what if I am also just a pawn and I led people to believe that I am The Soul? It would just lead us farther away from what this journey was supposed to be all about.” Kristopher sighed. “Besides, if I really am The Soul, I believe that it would be revealed at the perfect time. We just have to be patient.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Wolfgang sat in Kristopher’s lap and nestled his head on Kristopher’s hand. Ryland and Torres were giving him small smiles, and Andrew seemed to glow more than he normally did in the darkness. Mills nodded, his eyes full of understanding and support.

Cantiello was studying him with such intensity that he started to fidget. It was as if he was putting the puzzle together, based on the small frown of concentration that appeared on his forehead. When he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper. “You are an interesting man, Kristopher of Little Rock.” He leaned on his elbows and coaxed the others to come closer, even as his eyes were intently focused on Kristopher. “But I might have reason to believe that you are The Soul.”

He raised his hands when Kristopher started to open his mouth to speak. “Hear my story first.”

“My mother was a gypsy who told fortunes and I inherited her gift. She got sick when I was a mere boy of 8 and on her deathbed, she whispered to me the prophecy about a Gypsy Prince who was destined to unite the world against the Undead.” He looked to the sky and the faraway look in his eyes made him look like the boy who was trying to hold on to his mother’s last words. “She told me that the Gypsy Prince would find me in time but that I had a mission to complete first.”

“She said that the Gypsy Prince was going to receive help from someone who was going to be both protected and turned away by a curse cast by the Fallen God.” He raised his eyebrows at Kristopher. “It was my mission to find this person.”

“Wait… what was the curse cast by the Fallen God?” Mills quietly asked.

“When the world first came into being, the Fallen God had cursed a town – nobody knows why, for sure – enveloping the mountains on its borders in inky black clouds that reeked of grief and fear.” Cantiello smiled wryly. “Imagine his shock when he learned that many lifetimes later, that the most pure and magical— and therefore the most powerful—of all the Fauna sentinels had been sent to protect someone right at that very place.”

He opened his arms wide, taking in the rapt faces looking at him. “You have to understand first that when the Human and Animal Kingdoms married to become what was to be called the Kingdom of the Fauna, it gave birth to the most magical of all the kingdoms. Since they were created out of a love that knew no boundaries, they were also capable of giving the same kind of loyalty and devotion, even to the point of death.”

Cantiello then laughed slowly but it was void of amusement. “So when he knew that the most powerful of all the Fauna was in a place he had cursed, he wanted to kill him, and that made him blindly unleash his fury without realizing that he would also set up what could be the biggest mistake he ever made.”

He turned his eyes on both Kristopher and Mills as if trying to read their memories. “He forgot that in the direst of situations and in the darkest hours, the light of love and loyalty shines the brightest.”

It had started to drizzle lightly but they all stayed where they were, all of their eyes glued on the seer’s bright and intense face as he continued to talk.

“I began traveling the world, with my mother’s deathbed prophecy as my guide and looked for this cursed and yet protected place. Without a doubt, I knew that once I found it, I would find the person that could fulfill my mother’s prophecy. I searched for years and years until I finally found it, ensconced between mountains, with the East painted like a black curtain. And yet walking into it felt like going into a warm safe place where children could play on the streets without worrying about the Undead. Leaving it was a painful battle because as soon as you stepped out of it, you were bound never to go back.”

“Shortly after realizing this truth, The Guardian revealed herself to me and talked about this town’s lost son who was a gypsy at heart and created songs with a guitar that was born out of kindness. ‘Find him,’ she said and ‘bring him to the Gypsy Prince.’ ”

Cantiello turned his eyes to Kristopher whose heart was beating loudly. “I have been to your town, Kristopher of Little Rock. I think you and I both know that the Curse of Little Rock is definitely not just a silly myth.”

Everybody was rendered speechless after Cantiello stopped talking. Kristopher felt breathless, overwhelmed with the revelations set before him. He did not know what it all meant and the weight of his destiny seemed to fill him with terror rather than contentment. It was all too much to understand too soon.

He found himself speaking. “What if you’re wrong? The prophecy says that The Soul was going to be both protected and turned away from the curse. I have never been protected because if I were…”

“You’re alive now, aren’t you?” Cantiello cut the rest of his ramblings off.

All of their eyes settled on Wolfgang who was sitting on Kristopher’s lap looking up at him. It all made sense now— the voices he heard in his head, the light of magic surrounding the skunk.

Cantiello broke his train of thought. “Think about all the times that you should have died and yet you’re still here. You have always been protected, Kristopher. You just didn’t realize it. ”

The air in the group was obviously tense after Cantiello finished his story. Kristopher felt like his friends were walking on eggshells around him, no doubt trying to wrap their minds around the fact that he could really be The Soul. He could understand the feeling, as he also felt like he was floating out of himself and watching from afar as he tried to breathe in and out normally. He had so many questions himself but he felt like he couldn’t voice them out loud as he was still enslaved by an utter feeling of disbelief.

He cleared his throat and when he started to speak, he sounded a little breathless. “I need to give this some thought, accept it and…”

Mills reached over and put his arm around Kristopher’s shoulders. “We will be right behind you, whether you’re The Soul or not.” He grinned. “After all, what’s certain right now is that the Guardian has spoken of you and well, I guess that means you’re somehow important.”

Mills then playfully rolled his eyes and they all started to laugh, the tension of the moment dissipating as they silent agreed to continue the discussion they were having at a later time. Wolfgang protectively wrapped his tail around Kristopher’s neck and the soft, warm feeling it gave him made way for the exhaustion that started to seep into his body.

The rain started to pelt harder and they all had to run inside the tent for cover. It continued to rain until the traders rushed to their caravans, trying to salvage what they could of their goods. Torres, Ryland and Mills hurriedly wrapped the guitars in leather cases while Kristopher and Cantiello gathered all the other equipment from inside the tent. They ran towards their caravan but they were hindered when a quick flash of lightning hit a tree in their path and it quickly went up in flames. The thunder sounded like it was chasing them and they ran as fast as they could.

That was when the wind started to howl and Kristopher felt the fear grip his throat. He had seen this before.

And you survived it.

He heard the voice in his head and sure enough, Wolfgang was running beside him, starting to light up from within.

“I have to survive this,” Kristopher loudly said even as the wind and the rain threatened to knock him off his feet.

The screams of the other traders were drowned out by the lashing of rain. Cantiello was running ahead of them and motioned for them to follow him. It felt like they had been running forever until they came into a dark wooded area. As soon as they stepped into the woods, the rain and the wind stopped. The brutal sounds that previously surrounded them were replaced with the soft breathing of the trees and their sleeping inhabitants.

Before anyone could ask where they were, Cantiello spoke. “I came by this enchanted forest before I reached Yellow Mountain. I think we will be safe here.” He took in the shocked and slightly terrified faces of his companions. “Surely, you could recognize the Fallen God’s wrath.”

A shiver of fear ran through them and Cantiello shook his head. “I see that all of you have not realized how the Undead have started to take over more kingdoms than they ever managed to conquer in the past.” He sighed. “I fear that this is the reason why The Guardian revealed herself to me.”

They were interrupted by a flock of birds flying away from the treetops over their heads. An eerie stillness filled the air, even the fireflies stopped flying around and hid behind leaves. The feeling of dread rose up Kristopher’s throat and before he knew what was happening, the tree behind them was uprooted and in came a flash of lightning, burning a few of their belongings.

They were running, sending the animals of the enchanted forest into a fleeing frenzy. The bolt of lightning was still following them making their lungs hurt from the smoke that came from the flames it caused. Kristopher felt like his throat was closing up and his legs burned from all the running.

Follow me.

Kristopher’s eyes settled on Wolfgang’s brightly lit body and he ran after him. He looked behind him and saw that the rest of their companions were also following them. The lightning was relentless though as it still burned everything it touched, leaving in its wake an ashen and lifeless forest.

He heard the river before he saw it and soon enough, it came into view, Wolfgang rushing towards it. The full moon was out and it cast a beautiful glow on the river where a small brown fox was sitting lazily. As they came closer, the fox’s ears perked and it was immediately standing, alert eyes trained in their direction.

Jump in the river!

Kristopher did not even hesitate before shouting out Wolfgang’s statement to Cantiello, Mills, Andrew, Ryland and Torres. As soon as it was within his reach, he jumped in, five other bodies following him.

He was floating in the river’s calm waters when his eyes were caught by the sparkle of the moonlight by the riverbank. Right before his eyes, Wolfgang transformed into a small man with white and black hair. He ran towards the fox which then changed into another man with round and bright eyes and who moved with such grace, it was as if the wind bent with him. The two joined hands and faced the lightning, raising their hands and releasing a spectrum of lights that made Kristopher hide his face behind Mills’s shoulders.

It wasn’t until everything was quiet did he open his eyes to find himself looking at the elfin face of a man smiling down fondly at him. And while he had not seen this face before, Kristopher still felt like he was watching his journey flash before his eyes.

“My name is Tommy and as you might have guessed, I am a sentinel from the Kingdom of the Fauna.”

Kristopher was huddled between Mills and Cantiello as he took in the smiling face of the man who had morphed from Wolfgang’s small body. He found himself leaning towards Mills even as he reached over and touched Tommy’s arm. It was all too much to take in and yet he found himself staring into Wolfgang’s eyes; that somehow made Kristopher’s racing heart calm down because if there was anything that he was sure of in that moment, it was that Wolfgang was someone he could trust his life with, skunk or not.

He would never know what Tommy saw on his face but it made him reach over and give Kristopher a big hug. “Sorry I’ve got no tail to keep you warm now.” Tommy’s eyes sparkled in the darkness.

They all burst out laughing at that, the awkward silence lifting. They were standing on the riverbank just moments after the Fallen God’s onslaught. Kristopher, Cantiello, Mills, Torres and Ryland were all shivering as their wet clothes clung to their bodies. The night was quiet and seemingly peaceful, as if the Enchanted Forest had not just been burned to the ground.

Tommy beckoned to the other man who was smiling widely at the group. His hair was the same color as the fur of the fox which had been waiting at the riverbank. “This is Isaac. He was my partner in Saphyra’s training camp,” Tommy said, his arm casually draped over the other man’s shoulders. He then introduced all of them to Isaac and when it was Andrew’s turn to clasp his hand, Isaac’s round eyes grew even wider, no doubt recognizing the knight’s name.

The look in Isaac’s eye grew softer when Tommy introduced Kristopher to him. He grasped Kristopher’s hand with both of his own and smiled. “I think we have been waiting a long time to meet you.”

Kristopher grew restless under the scrutiny and the sinking feeling in his stomach returned. He was about to speak but Isaac cut him off. “I know we’re not sure yet but Tommy tells me that you could be the one that the Prince has been looking for.”

Kristopher looked at Tommy and then Isaac, and they both chuckled at the look of confusion which must have been obvious on his face. “We see each other and catch up when you go to sleep. Isaac was always in the vicinity, you just didn’t see him,” Tommy explained. “I sent word back to the kingdom when we were chased by the Curse of Little Rock. Isaac was then sent to help me with my duty.” He then gazed intensely at Kristopher. “So you see, Cantiello was right when he said you have always been protected.”

“Is that why you were waiting by the river? “ Ryland asked.

Isaac nodded. “As a Fauna sentinel, it is also part of our duty to be the guardians of the bodies where the water of the River of the Muses runs to. That was why Tommy asked you to jump into the water. It can give humans such as all of you protection from the Fallen God’s wrath.”

“And this…?” Torres waved his hand towards the calm river.

Isaac nodded. “…is the biggest body of water nearest to where the River of the Muses breaks from.” He then gave the group a cheerful smile even as his eyes singled Kristopher out. “You are almost at the end of your journey. The Prince would be delighted to meet you.”

Cantiello cleared his throat. “Who is this Prince that you speak of?”

“Oh, the Prince of the Fauna,” Isaac explained and he shared a smile with Tommy. “He was our old king’s son borne from a beautiful gypsy woman…”

There was a collective gasp as the weight of those words sunk in. It was Mills who spoke.

“The Gypsy Prince.”

Tommy nodded and grinned at Kristopher. An understanding passed between them and there it was-- the calming balm that settled over his racing heart. The fear and uncertainty was replaced by exhilaration and excitement because right there and then, all that he could think about was that everything in his life finally made sense.

Suddenly, he couldn’t wait to take another step and continue on this journey that he had been so afraid to take.

Suddenly, he was filled with the unwavering belief that magic and music and love would always prevail in the end.

He looked around the faces staring back at him-- beloved faces, each one etched with a smile that matched his own. He took a step towards Tommy and Isaac and when he spoke, it was with a quiet strength that only the truly certain could possess.

“Take me to your Gypsy Prince. I think it is time for him to meet The Soul.”

Kristopher knew that he was within Saphyra the moment he stepped into a meadow and the air was tinged with a shimmery blue color. There were no blooming flowers or green shrubs on the side of the road they were walking on but there were trees which had aqua-colored leaves and glittering blue fruits: upon closer inspection, Mills had whispered to him that they were actual sapphires.

Tommy and Isaac were leading the way, and they had changed back to their animal forms to be able to use the heightened senses as they continued on their way to the Kingdom of the Fauna. It was also their idea to spend the night in Saphyra’s training camps to rest before they continue their journey as soon as daylight broke. It was the sixth day since they had left Yellow Mountain’s riverbank and though the sky had always been dark and gloomy, they still enjoyed a somewhat peaceful journey.

Maybe it was because there was a sense of purpose in every step they took. Or maybe it was the fact that they had two Fauna sentinels with them, apart from the gifted seer and seasoned travelers and the gifted son of the Saphyra and Fauna.

Or it could be simply the knowledge that-- at that moment, more than ever-- they were walking side by side with the fabled Soul who could help rid the world of its darkness and grief.

Kristopher looked around, taking in the sights of the place that he had heard so much about. There was a small body of water parallel to the road they were walking on and one would probably think that it was just a big puddle if not for the fact that it ran all across the kingdom. The streets were deserted except for them and when Kristopher inquired why that was the case, Andrew replied that it was because they all lived underground and it was close to nightfall so people were already retired in their homes.

He started when he heard the somehow softer tone of Andrew’s voice. He wondered what went through his friend’s mind, now that he had found his way back home. Looking up, he saw that Andrew had ceased to float but instead was treading his feet on the bumpy road full of blue and silver dust.

Andrew saw Kristopher staring at his feet and said, “I just wanted to see if the roads felt the same.”

Kristopher nodded, understanding dawning in his eyes. “Does it?”

There was a brief moment when sadness filled Andrew’s eyes until it was replaced by a self-possessed glint that made Kristopher smile despite himself.

“It doesn’t.” Andrew then laughed softly. “Or maybe it was I who changed.”

And yet, when they finally reached the training camp and he was surrounded by old friends and family, Kristopher thought that he had never seen Andrew glow so brightly. For just a small significant moment, it was as if the young man who left Saphyra came back, unchanged and whole.

“So this is a Saphyra training camp,” Torres remarked as he walked along the seemingly endless row of bunks lined neatly along the cave’s wall. Unlike other caves, the ones at Saphyra were lit up from within as the sapphire dust hovered in the air. Right down in the middle of the round and spacious space, there was equipment which both animals and people used in their training.

In one corner, there was a platoon of various animals doing some running exercises. Down at a more secluded space, people were swinging their swords in the air, creating rainbows as the blades sliced the air. What surprised them was the small group which sang melodies that ran through their veins and made them feel like they had just soaked in a tub of steaming water.

“Not what you expected?” Tommy drawled. He was in human form and casually rested his arm over Kristopher’s shoulder as they walked along.

“It's even better than what we had in mind,” Mills said, excitement bubbling up from his voice.

They were still walking when a huge and colorful butterfly with very wide wings flitted over to them, resting casually on Tommy’s shoulder. One of the butterfly’s wings covered half of Tommy’s face, the other resting at the back of his head. A small smile ghosted over Tommy’s lips and when the butterfly flew off, he said, “We’re staying at those bunks.” He pointed to the row of bunks near the end of the northernmost row.

Isaac, who was also back in human form, left to get some food in the mess hall, which was at the other end of the cave. They finished the food he brought back quickly, the exhaustion crawling into their limbs. All of them could not wait to rest their aching backs and legs into the cool bunks before setting off for another day of traveling.

With full stomachs, they all crawled to their bunks. Kristopher cackled when Tommy morphed himself into Wolfgang and scooted over to curl beside his thigh. It brought back memories of the first time they stepped into that cave after they were turned away from Little Rock and Kristopher could not help but marvel at the changes that had happened since that very night.

With that thought, Kristopher drifted off to sleep. And that night, the dream visited him for the final time.

Kristopher saw the Guardian’s amorphous form, floating towards a river with unmoving waters. Moonlight followed her and it seemed to lift her feet higher until she reached a small billowing cloud that hovered in the distance. She then turned her face and smiled, her eyes searching Kristopher’s.

When she spoke, Kristopher felt as if his heart would burst and his breath caught in his throat.

“Because you have chosen to believe, then it shall be.”

He was about to ask what she meant but the cloud started to drift up, carrying her away. Kristopher chased her until she was out of sight and he found himself surrounded by trees in the darkness. He felt as if unseen eyes were boring into his back so he turned hastily, his feet creating a squelching noise on the damp soil. He looked down and saw that he was stepping on a pile of wet leaves that went up to his ankles.

A gust of wind almost knocked him off his feet and that made him look to the sky. His eyes drifted closed when a gentle force hit his face. It felt like a kiss.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a kaleidoscope of bright and vivid colors . His hands involuntarily reached up to touch them. As he stared at the colors with his mouth half-open, he became aware of someone who was gazing at him with overwhelming intensity and he found himself unable to look away.

He fancied that he was hearing vaguely remembered songs from those days when life was much simpler and the world was safer. He saw four men with their gift of music; he saw a young man whose hands created magic.

When the face before him smiled, Kristopher became aware that he had stepped away from the dream and he was again sitting on his bunk in Saphyra, surrounded by his friends, looking into a face that he never thought he would see again beyond his dreams.

“Welcome to Saphyra, Kristopher of Little Rock.”

And when he didn’t even blink, Tommy chuckled and gestured grandly towards the man standing before him as he spoke.

“Behold, the Gypsy Prince of the Fauna.”

But Kristopher was already off the bunk and stepping forward, reaching out to touch the crimson and indigo glitter bursting out of the prince’s hands. And finally, he found his voice.

“It is a pleasure to meet you again, Prince Adam.”

Chapter Text

Kristopher spent his first night in Saphyra ignoring the exhaustion that weighed his body down. Instead, he sat across Adam, listening to the many stories he had to share since they last saw each other in Little Rock all those years ago.

He listened as Adam told the story of how he came to know that he was the Prince of the Fauna.

“My mother never gave a hint on who my father was. It was all revealed when during one of my travels I finally reached Saphyra and a sentinel named Monte told me that I was the spitting image of the Fauna’s dying king. I was sent to his side and from there, everything became clearer. He was especially pleased when a rainfall of glitter from my hands hovered in his room and the smile when he died gave me the courage to believe that I could carry on his legacy.”

He listened as Adam told him why they left Little Rock the night after they told him and Mills about the truth behind the Myth of the Glass Guitar.

“George— the one who gave you the guitar— had the dream that night when Paul and I were with you and Mills. He told us that our mission in Little Rock had been fulfilled. He said that the Guardian showed herself to him."

His heart broke when Adam told him of the fate that had befallen Mr. Kite and The Merrymen.

“The winter after we left Little Rock, we came across a town called Emerald Dwelling. We should have known better as the stench that rose from the soil made us retch as soon as we had arrived. We were there for barely a moment when the Undead started to rise from the shadows. We fought hard but it was not enough. I lost my family that day and I will never forget it as long as I lived.”

He felt amazed that when Adam spoke of his personal struggles. It became clear that though they were very different, they were still the same when it came to the things that really mattered.

“After the tragedy that happened in Emerald Dwelling, I was not able to create glitter with my hands for a long time. It nearly broke me. At one point, I got sick when I tried too hard and it was for naught at first. The effort only managed to turn my hair a darker shade and now, when I look at myself, I am reminded of that time when what I have always known seemed so far away and when I lost all that I have ever loved. It made me realize that I was able to leave Emerald Dwelling alive because I was destined for something that was even better than what I could ever imagine.”

Kristopher reached out and gently touched the hand that lay on Adam’s lap. The silver and white glitter slowly rising from it floated around them as the sun began to rise. An overwhelming sadness filled Kristopher as he thought about the Merrymen and the way that they helped him live his life differently. His eyes settled on the guitar that lay by his feet and he remembered the joy he felt when he first saw it on the doorstep of his family’s shoe store.

Adam probably guessed what he was feeling because he said, “we always talked about you. Paul really believed that more than anyone we had met, that you were the one who could most possibly be The Soul. Maybe you really were the reason why we were guided to go to Little Rock.” He smiled. “I believe that too. I recognized you when we first got to Little Rock because I had already seen you in my dreams, always with a guitar on your back.” Adam laughed and shook his head.

That rendered Kristopher speechless and they sat in silence for a while, getting lost in the memories.

Adam was still looking into the distance when he spoke again. “They loved the boots you gave them. They told the story of how they got them to anyone who would care to listen, saying that the world was not as dark as everyone thought it was.” He looked at Kristopher and grinned widely. “I was just jealous that you didn’t give me the same boots. They would have looked amazing on me.”

That startled a laugh out of Kristopher and Adam joined him. The gloomy mood lifted, even more so when Adam told him of that one night when Paul fell asleep in a field and Adam was able to put the boots on. Adam ran across the field where they were staying the night and he heard Paul screaming when he woke up without the boots by his side. He ended up chasing Adam but he changed into a crow, carrying the boots with him as he flew. That made Paul lift Mr. Kite onto his shoulders and they ran in circles, until all four of the Merrymen and Mr. Kite caught him and tickled the underside of his wings.

“A crow?” Kristopher gasped. “You were the crow who was with the Merrymen when I gave them the boots!”

Adam shrugged. “So now you see why I wanted those boots so badly. I thought I would be able to get a pair after that night at the corn field but then we had to leave and that was that.”

“Maybe my father will give you a pair when we get back to Little Rock.”

“I’ll hold you to that promise.”

They grinned at each other, hope overpowering the doubts that hung in the air.

Adam sighed and a wistful smile ghosted over his lips. “I loved them so much, Kristopher. And they loved me completely. Even now, there are times when I still wish that I remained as the gypsy boy you knew in Little Rock instead of the prince before you now.”

Kristopher lightly touched Adam’s arm. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you again, Adam.”

“I feel the same way.” Adam’s smile widened.

They were sitting behind a huge rock right at the entrance of the training camp. Monte, Adam’s chief sentinel, was a beaver and he was slowly walking around them, sharp eyes taking in the surroundings. Tommy and Isaac were also walking behind Monte and once in a while, they jumped on each other and rolled on the ground until Monte turned around and glared at them. He also saw Mills, Andrew, Torres and Ryland sleepily emerging from the cave, bantering good-naturedly about something that was either unimportant or didn’t make sense at all. They spotted him and started walking towards their direction.

And in that moment, sitting beside Adam and looking at the magic and love surrounding him, Kristopher couldn’t remember being more at peace with the thought that he was finally where he was supposed to be.

Saphyra’s training camps during the day were filled with the rigid determination that only those who lived to fight death could truly comprehend. The day started after a full breakfast which was followed by a quick meeting usually headed by Brad, the butterfly who had welcomed Tommy when they arrived. He was Adam’s partner during his training camp days and remained as one of his most trusted advisors.

However, since he was on hand, Adam stood before the warriors of Saphyra and the Fauna sentinel trainees. He had just finished a private breakfast with Cantiello and emerged from his chambers with a resolute light in his eyes after they had finished talking. He told Monte to inform Brad that he would be addressing the trainees that morning.

Moments later, Adam’s eyes scanned the crowd and Kristopher saw the formidable presence that was left unseen earlier that morning when they were talking while watching the sun rise. Brad, in human form, stood beside Adam on his right while Monte was on his left.

After a brief greeting, Adam started to speak about the growing threat being posed by the Undead. He told them about their growing numbers as the Fallen God succeeded in taking over more towns in various kingdoms, and the world was growing darker by the day.

“We must work really hard so we can stop him. The movement of The River of the Muses is starting to cease, mainly because much of the water that runs around the world has been frozen. We cannot let this happen because it will mean that music and magic shall cease to exist as well.” His blue eyes blazed as he spoke to the rapt crowd. “We cannot let The River of the Muses die!”

The warriors and sentinels raised their arms along with their voices in assent.

“A lifetime ago, the seer Cantiello inherited his dying mother’s prophecy about a Gypsy Prince who would unite the kingdoms in order to preserve the life of music and love and magic that we have always known.” He raised his arms. “I choose to accept that the prophesied Gypsy Prince and the Prince of the Kingdom of the Fauna standing before you now are one and the same.”

The cheering that coursed through the small confined space made the air tremble with excitement. The faces of the warriors and the sentinels all shone with courage as they looked up at their Prince, holding on to every word he said.

Adam raised his right hand and his captive audience was immediately silent. When he spoke again, it was with a softly imploring note hidden behind the strength resonating through his voice.

“But I cannot do it without your help and this is why I am telling you that this is not just my battle: it is for you and your children’s right to live the way you all choose to. It is for all the Undead who are now walking the earth and the justice they also deserve after being robbed of a heart that could openly love and a voice that could freely sing out.”

There was a chorus of agreement and Kristopher felt the surge of energy that went through the crowd. His heart was beating loudly because he knew that what Adam was about to say was bound to change his life forever. Their eyes met before Adam continued. “The Seer also told me that The Soul and his Glass Guitar are bound to help us in this battle.”

A shadow of doubt passed along the warriors and sentinels, and Adam must have felt it because he raised his voice again and gave his people a small but somewhat victorious smile. “You might be wondering why I am here right now, my most valued warriors and sentinels, when I could be protecting the River of the Muses myself.”

A pin drop could be heard with the impenetrable silence that gripped them. After a short pause, Adam spoke with clarity and conviction. “It is because I believe that we have finally found the Soul and he is here with us.” He looked across the room where Kristopher stood with his friends.

“Saphyra and Fauna, this is Kristopher of Little Rock.”

There was a collective gasp before the hushed and excited mutterings were heard over the crowd. Everybody was peering up at Kristopher, hardly-believing eyes filled with awe and some in tears.

Adam smiled encouragingly at Kristopher and patted his back. Kristopher cleared his throat and soon, the excitement and surprise were contained and they were looking up at him, anticipating what he has to say.

“I… As the Prince said, this battle is not ours alone and more than anything, I am asking for your help.”

“We would do anything for The Soul,” Tommy yelled out and Kristopher tried hard not to smile widely at him.

“Train me in the art of fighting. Teach me how to use your weapons. Show me what I should expect once we go into battle. Help me find the Glass Guitar.” He felt his voice getting louder. “If I’m going to do this, I have to do this right. And while most of you might think that I am a myth, the truth is I am just a mere man who can make mistakes and fail.”

He let his eyes look into the upturned faces standing before him, tracing every expression of faith and memorizing each line of hope.

“But you can be assured of one thing: I will do my best to live up to the destiny that waits before me, before us. I may not know a lot but I’m truly certain that if we do this together, we can defeat the Fallen God.”

The cave was suddenly filled with the shouts from the crowd. People were hugging each other and fists were raised into the air.

Kristopher walked back to Mills’s side and when he felt the familiar arms wrap around his shoulders, he let himself cling for a minute and gather strength. When he looked up, Andrew put a hand on his shoulder and Adam nodded at him, a warm expression animating his face.

He squared his shoulders as he saw Brad approach, multi-colored hair (resembling the shades of his butterfly wings) not able to distract from the strength that hid behind his beautiful eyes.

“It is time to take you to your first training activity, Kristopher. I’ll teach you the art of sword dancing myself.” He gently put his hand on Kristopher’s back and guided him through the classroom. Brad was smirking when he said, “The Soul deserves nothing but my complete and undivided attention.”

The first few days of Kristopher’s training were very exhausting and he found himself drifting off as soon as his back hits the bunk after supper. The same happened to Mills, Torres and Ryland who were also sent off to the various classes and activities meant to make them ready for battle. Andrew also joined them to polish his battle skills.

The training may have sapped his energy away but it also gave him an exhilarating amount of strength and courage. He was wary when Brad made him swing a silverdust sword for the first time but as soon as he touched it, the surge of current that travelled through his arm was enough to make him leap into the air and pierce through the thick black fog. Brad taught him how to flip in the air and his grace while doing so took Kristopher's breath away.

Terrance, the panther sentinel, was in charge of training the new warriors in the basics of navigation through enchanted and cursed places. It involved a lot of tree climbing and camouflaging themselves against the terrain, water and air. Because Kristopher and his friends were human and did not have magical powers, they had to work twice as hard as the rest. In the end, when Kristopher, Mills, Torres and Ryland were all able to climb an enchanted tree without being detected, Terrance spun on his tail in glee.

The education on the customs, characteristics and traditions of the various kingdoms all over the world was patiently laid out for them by the Saphyra head warrior Cook. He also taught them about map-reading and the location of the various kingdoms and human towns. Cook was considered the brains of their operation along with a Fauna dog sentinel named Dublin. Their battle plan weighed precariously on both their shoulders and after having spent ample time with them, Kristopher felt that it was a good thing that they were fighting for their side.

Cook was also in charge of helping Kristopher locate the Glass Guitar. This was Kristopher’s main concern and biggest hurdle so he was quite anxious to learn about this subject. It was eventually decided that it would be better for Kristopher to learn about the physical aspects of battle before embarking on the actual search. He was also asked to study maps as part of the preparation.

Kristopher’s favorite time of the day, however, came at the early evening when he would head to the most secluded part of the underground camp and have his Musical Weaponry training. A half-Winged, half-Fauna waif of a man handled this part of the training; Kurt had hair similar to Megan’s and wings a stunning shade of silver and black. His eyes were crystal clear and when Kristopher first looked into them, it was like falling into an abyss of emotions that made his heart ache and soar at the same time.

Kurt taught him the art of drawing out the magic that could make music the most powerful weapon of all. It went beyond the simple rhythms that can be coaxed out of an instrument— it was more about how those melodies could be the bridge that connects one soul to another and that, in the end, would only be the thing that could make anyone survive in the darkness. Kristopher also told Kurt about what he thought was his biggest challenge: finding the Glass Guitar.

Adam did not leave the training camp and was spending time talking privately with Cook, Monte, Dublin, Brad and Cantiello, who has been named one of the Prince’s advisors. He went into his private chambers after Brad’s daily morning message and would emerge during dinner time. He would then join the warriors when they broke into song to relieve themselves of the tiring effects of the day’s activities.

That became Kristopher’s most anticipated part of the day.

On one such evening, Adam approached Kristopher after the last guitar had been tucked into Kurt’s instrument cabinet. They went to Adam’s private chamber and as soon as Kristopher had settled into a wooden stool, Adam gestured towards a table where several stone figures were arranged neatly in a row.

“These are the most revered of all the Fauna sentinels and Saphyra warriors.” Adam beckoned for him to step closer.

Adam then told him the story of each sentinel and warrior, and how they sacrificed their lives in order to protect the River of the Muses. When they got to a statue of a man with a sparrow on his shoulder, Adam picked it up and handed it over to him.

“These are the parents of the Knight DeRoberts. His father Heath was the most powerful Saphyra warrior of his time and it was no surprise that he fell in love with the sparrow, Agnes. She had the most beautiful voice in the kingdom at the time and she had the resolve and courage that the Undead feared. Theirs was an epic love that ended in tragedy.” Adam then looked at Kristopher. “But I am certain that you already know that your friend is the best legacy they left us.”

The next figure was of a kneeling man holding a silverdust sword. Adam gently touched the figure with his hands and softly said, “This is my father, Mercurio.”

Kristopher smiled. “He looked like you.”

“Did he? People who met him also say the same thing.” Adam seemed to brighten at that observation. “When he was a young prince, he left Fauna and joined a gypsy company that travelled all over the world. That was how he met my mother. His father died from grief when he left, or that was what they said. That made my father go back and claim his throne, without the knowledge of my existence.”

“Do you regret not growing up with him?”

“I do, sometimes. Sometimes I get angry because my life would have been easier. But then I just think about the childhood I spent with the Merrymen and Mr. Kite, and all the places I had seen.” Adam shrugged. “I guess my father would have been happy for me.” A gust of gray and copper brown glitter emerged from Adam’s hand and Kristopher reached out, hoping to reassure him that his father would indeed be proud of him.

They had reached the last stone figurine in the row and as soon as Kristopher’s eyes settled on it, his heart pounded. He picked the figure up himself and peered at it closely before turning to Adam with wide eyes.

“David.”

Adam laughed lightly. “Of course you would remember him.”

“How can I forget him? He saved my brother’s life. He saved my life!”

A moment of silence passed between them and as the realization dawned on him, Kristopher let out an audible gasp. His eyes settled on the stone dog figure he was clasping.

“I have always been protected.” His eyes widened. “He was Little Rock’s protector!”

Adam nodded. “And not just you, Kristopher. His death kept the Fallen God’s wrath beyond the borders of Little Rock.”

“How… is that possible?”

“David was a direct descendant of our Mother and Father. He was considered as the most pure of us all and when the Fallen God struck him, the magic that flows through all of the Fauna’s blood made Little Rock invincible.”

Kristopher put David’s statue back on the table gently and closed his eyes. The shock was raging through him and he was still trembling when Adam touched his arm. He suddenly remembered what Cantiello said to him when they first met.

“Was David also the reason why Little Rock was cursed?”

Adam shrugged. “Only the Fallen God knows the answer to that. Maybe he had seen the future and wanted to prevent what would be coming. Maybe your town really was a magical place and he wanted to put some darkness in it.”

“And The Black Storm was meant to kill David, am I right?”

“That was the idea, yes. The Fallen God thought he was being very clever and that made him foolishly try to kill all of you during The Black Storm.” Adam gently laid his hand on Kristopher’s shoulder. “But on that day of darkness, David made a fool out of him when he committed the ultimate sacrifice and protected not just you, but your home as well.”

Kristopher’s mind was then filled with the visions of the Black Storm and the grief that wracked his body as he bent over David’s lifeless body. And as Adam’s arms enveloped him into a comforting embrace, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to be that child again.

Kristopher spent a restless night after Adam told him the truth about David. He wanted to know if David was sent to him because he knew that he was The Soul. And if that were the case, he wanted to know how David knew when early on Kristopher was told that nobody knew who The Soul was.

These confused thoughts ran through his mind even during training. Terrance even shot him a look of concern when he failed to successfully blend into the enchanted terrain that they were trying to cross. Kurt, on the other hand, just let him wallow in his thoughts and softly strummed his guitar instead.

He heaved a grateful sigh when Brad informed him that he was to be excused from the afternoon activities to accompany Mills, Tommy and Isaac, and help them collect food supplies in the eastern part of Saphyra.

“I think you might need the distraction,” Brad remarked, a knowing look in his brown eyes.

They were to meet Fauna sentinels near the border and as soon as Mills and Kristopher finished their lunch, they were off. Tommy and Isaac led the way, in skunk and fox forms. And Brad was right because although there was still a quiet hum of thought going through his mind, Kristopher was distracted by the many sights that they passed along the way. Mills’s chatter also made him laugh and soon after, they were either bantering or playfully chasing Tommy and Isaac.

In what seemed like no time at all, they reached the border and collected the food from a pair of Fauna sentinels: a goose and a zebra. The sun started to go down as they made their way back and the increasing grayness of the sky made the worries and doubts niggling at the back of his mind come back in full force.

They were only a short distance away from the border when the wind started to howl and big drops of rain fell on their upturned faces. They all thought that it would be wise not to continue walking until the rain had stopped because they didn’t want to ruin the food supplies. Mills pointed out what looked like a small underground entrance and they all turned in that direction.

It was still drizzling when an overpowering stench filled the air. The silver and blue dust that hung over the air also disappeared as the sky turned darker.

An unbidden memory came back to Kristopher and that made him walk faster, grabbing Mills’s hand and yelling to Tommy and Isaac.

“The Undead are here.”

Mills’s eyes grew wider as his own memories of the Black Storm returned to him. He began shaking but quickly said, “We can blend ourselves into that underground entrance. We just need to walk faster.”

They began to run even as the smell made their stomachs turn.

You don’t have to worry. We will be here to protect you.

As Tommy’s thoughts went through his mind, Kristopher saw the vision of David’s lifeless body. In that moment, he knew that he would do everything he could to not let that happen again.

The darkness was drawing near. Kristopher felt the guitar slung on his back rock repeatedly as if an unseen hand was banging it against his body. Branches of trees flew haphazardly and stones floated into the air seemingly out of control.

All of a sudden, Kristopher found himself standing with his back pressed to Mills’s. Tommy and Isaac were at their feet, hair standing up and teeth bared in a defensive stance. They were surrounded by a billowing dark cloud and they could not see beyond it.

They heard them before they appeared.

An army of the Undead let out a scream that sounded like the wail of a grieving woman. It made Kristopher’s hair stand and he gripped Mills’s hand tighter as they walked in a circle to see where the sound was coming from. Soon after, it sounded like a thousand wails were being uttered and the air was filled with grief and hopelessness so palpable that Kristopher found himself trying to fight back tears. He heard the soft cries coming from Mills and even as his mind told him to fight back, the onslaught of overwhelming sadness just made him want to curl up into a ball and die.

Don’t let doubt cloud your judgment, Kristopher.

The soft female voice snapped him back to reality. He looked around and saw Tommy and Isaac throwing balls of light into the thickest part of the darkness. Mills was valiantly trying to blend himself into the rough terrain by lying down on the ground and breathing deeply.

Kristopher let himself speak through his mind even as his eyes grew increasingly alert. Who are you?

Before he had the chance to get an answer, the wails started to become louder and Kristopher realized that it was because the Undead had started to walk through the dark cloud. The first rotting hand reached out to touch them but Tommy let out a small bolt of lightning from his tail and it went away.

They all sighed in relief but it was short-lived.

A big group of the Undead walked through the clouds, their hanging eyeballs all set on the four bodies cornered at the center of the circle. The grief was overpowering and the wails made them cover their ears. The smell of rotting flesh made Kristopher retch at his feet, the liquid mixing with the snot and tears on his face. He felt Mills grab his guitar from behind him, pushing it into his hands.

Kristopher had not even touched the strings yet when someone—a young woman— came flying through the air, silverdust sword piercing through the dark cloud. The Undead’s eyes followed her and they all screamed in fear when she pushed the tip of her blade into the darkest part of the cloud. Another stab at the gaping hole and one by one, the Undead fell to the ground, wailing until they were all turned into dust.

The sudden silence was deafening. Kristopher found himself on the ground, tightly clutching the guitar close to his body. Mills was beside him, cradling Tommy and Isaac by his side even as the two looked up at their rescuer with very wide eyes.

She was a small woman and the simple peasant clothes she wore were not able to hide the grace she exuded when she was flying or even just walking. Her face was covered in soot and her fingernails looked dark and brittle. The black rough cloth wrapped around her head also covered half of her face but the bright eyes they could see were warm and friendly.

She tucked the silverdust sword into the scabbard hanging on her waist before approaching them. Her eyes were focused on Kristopher when she spoke. “I heard you asking who I am. I’m Katherine and what an honor it is to finally meet you, Kristopher of Little Rock.”

The surprise must have been written all over Kristopher’s face because Katherine chuckled. “I also heard that all of you were planning on escaping to my underground home. Come on, let me invite you in for a drink.”

She turned her face towards Mills who stiffened as soon as the invitation was uttered. Her eyes smiled when she spoke. “I assure you that I am fighting on your side. You have nothing to fear.”

She did save our lives.

“Ah, the fox Fauna speaks,” she remarked while focusing on Isaac. “And he is quite right, you know.”

Kristopher was the first to take a step to approach Katherine. He searched her eyes and after a while, he turned to his friends and smiled. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

He turned his face towards Katherine once more and marveled at the peaceful balm that her smile seemed to place on his frazzled nerves. He could not really understand why, but he had the feeling that although they had just met, he could entrust his life to her completely.

The warmth that welcomed them when they entered Katherine’s underground home thoroughly erased whatever agitation Kristopher felt from the attack from the Undead. He shared a smile with Mills who got a little more color to his pale lips and the relief was suddenly evident on his face. Even Tommy and Isaac unconsciously snuggled against each other as they followed Katherine farther inside.

The smell of herbs greeted them as soon as the warm light from the inside started to shine through. Katherine gestured for them to take seats around the hearth and soon after, they were each clasping a cup of tea which further relaxed them. It was Tommy who first fell asleep, head lolling on Isaac’s shoulder. Just a mere moment later, Isaac’s eyes also drifted closed as the back of his head thumped softly against the wall.

“Do you live here by yourself?” Mills asked as he helped himself to some more tea. Kristopher noticed that his eyes were narrowed, obviously assessing Katherine.

Katherine nodded. “I don’t really need stay here because I do travel a lot.” She probably noticed Mills and Kristopher’s furrowed brows because she started to chuckle. “I like Saphyra, that’s why my home here is very comfortable. I feel safe here.”

Kristopher let out a sigh. “Not anymore.”

Katherine’s smile wavered a little but she brightened up as she touched Kristopher’s arm. “Oh, but you are here now, so we really don’t need to worry. I know that the Gypsy Prince has told the warriors that you are The Soul.”

Kristopher felt uncomfortable under the complete confidence in Katherine’s face and just like that, his doubts started to float back to the surface. He stared at his hands and looked away from Katherine’s face when he saw the curious frown there.

Luckily, the awkward moment was broken by Mills. “Are you a warrior, Katherine? The way you flew with that silverdust sword was really amazing.” He shrugged. “I still haven’t mastered it like that.”

“I guess you could say that I am a warrior.” Before Mills could ask more questions (and Kristopher noted that based on the extremely curious look on his face, there would be a lot), Katherine reached over and collected the empty cups.

“Help me with this, Kristopher?”

Kristopher nodded and picked up the cups placed beside the sleeping Tommy and Isaac. He followed Katherine into a separate room where the dishes were kept. There were also bowls of various fruits resting on the table at its center. There was a candle that smelled of sandalwood burning beside the fruits and as soon as the scent reached him, Kristopher wanted to do nothing but sleep.

“You are going into battle soon,” Katherine said matter-of-factly, bringing Kristopher’s gaze back to her. “Do you think you’re ready?”

“I’m trying to be ready. I can’t let the people who think I’m The Soul down.” His eyes were getting heavy and he let out a deep sigh when he sat on a chair by the candle. He didn’t really understand why he was so comfortable with Katherine but the combination of the candle’s smell and her kind eyes made Kristopher want to tell her his deepest secrets.

“But you are The Soul,” Katherine insisted.

“What if I’m not?” Kristopher’s voice was a sleepy drawl and he rested his head on the table. “Nobody knows who The Soul is. Even the Merrymen and the Prince Adam told me as much when they first told me about the Glass Guitar. If the Fauna knew who he was, they would not send all those sentinels around the world just to protect people who could be The Soul.”

“Yes, this is true. It could have been anybody…”

Kristopher tried to open his eyes. “So you see, the prophecy could have meant someone else entirely.” He lifted his head and rested his face on both hands. “My greatest fear is that if I’m not The Soul, all of you will be put in harm’s way. There will be so much time wasted just because I believed.”

Katherine sat across from him and grabbed his hands. She clasped them between her own and her eyes were blazing with a fire that made Kristopher sit up straighter.

“Don’t you see, Kristopher? All of this started because you believed.” Her voice was almost a whisper but under that was a conviction that tugged at Kristopher’s heart.

“The Soul was never a single entity ever since the day that it was first reborn. Each lifetime, as its destiny remains unfulfilled and it shatters, it gets reborn into different bodies.” She paused as Kristopher’s eyes widened.

“What do you mean?”

“There are a thousand out there who could be The Soul. This is the reason why The Fauna send their sentinels all over the world because each one of you needed protection. They travel all over, carrying music with them and as soon as they find someone, a randomly chosen sentinel is immediately sent.” Katherine’s eyes turned soft. “And that was how David came into your life.”

Kristopher gazed into Katherine’s unblinking stare even as her hands steadied the slight trembling that took over him.

“The only difference between you and the rest of those souls is that you have chosen to accept your destiny.”

“Maybe David was sent to you because you are the one who would be willing to embrace the life that you should be living. Maybe he had to die protecting you so you could see the world with different eyes. Maybe you met the Merrymen at the time when the seed of music inside you was already raring to grow. Maybe you met the people that you needed to know so you could be more accepting of what was to come.”

Katherine smiled. “Maybe it simply is written.” She squeezed Kristopher’s hand. “But it will all be for naught if you do not choose to accept it completely.”

Kristopher felt a lump in his throat as Katherine’s words hit him. He searched Katherine’s eyes, breathless with wonder. He was about to ask her how she knew all of these things but his mind was clouded by the smell of sandalwood and it made sleep very inviting. He was finding it very difficult to open his mouth to speak and talk more to Katherine.

His eyes were already drooping when Katherine gently touched his face.

“Because you have chosen to believe, then it shall be.”

As soon as Katherine uttered those words, the image of floating in meadows, moonlight and daffodils filled his mind. In the midst of his sleepy stupor, Kristopher reached out to remove the piece of clothing covering half of Katherine’s face.

He finally saw her smile just before he closed his eyes.

When Kristopher woke up, he was in the middle of the road, covered in blue and silver dust. Mills was sprawled beside him, arm draped over Kristopher’s stomach, deep breaths even. Tommy and Isaac were curled together on their side, also sleeping peacefully.

Kristopher would have liked to believe that it was just a dream but the stench of the Undead still hung in the air, the black dust mingling with the bluish Saphyra air serving as a misty reminder of the attack.

After carefully removing himself from under Mills’s arm, Kristopher stood and looked around, recognizing the entryway to the underground home where they drank tea with Katherine. He walked to it and went in.

He was not surprised to see that it was empty, save for a single daffodil at the most secluded room of the abandoned home.

When Kristopher went back to the main road, the sun was already starting to set. Mills, Tommy and Isaac were awake and calling out his name.

As soon as they spotted him, Tommy ran towards him and asked, “Where’s Katherine?”

Kristopher handed the daffodil to Tommy whose eyes widened. Mills and Isaac also held their hands out quietly.

The faint light was already starting to fade into darkness so they started to walk back to the camp to inform them of the attack. The silence that enveloped them was filled with the knowledge that the time for them to go into battle has finally arrived; yet, even as this possibility weighed upon them, Kristopher’s felt the serenity of finally seeing the promise of what his whole life was leading to.

There was only one thing standing in his way.

He had to find the Glass Guitar.

Chapter Text

The news of the Undead’s attack on Kristopher, Mils, Tommy and Isaac did not go unnoticed in the training camp. They were only walking back to the camp when they came across a pair of sentinels that were tasked to look for them.

“The stench was so strong that we knew that something dreadful had happened,” Terrance said, his arms wrapped around Tommy.

We have to get back soon. The others are waiting. The voice came from a small rabbit standing by Terrance’s feet who Kristopher knew as the best in Cook’s tactical training group.

“Lizzie’s right.” Terrance nodded towards the rabbit. “Lead the way.”

All the Fauna sentinels changed back to their animal forms. Everybody walked with trepidation, eyes darting around them sharply and adrenaline making them more alert even if the exhaustion was starting to overcome them.

As they were walking, Kristopher’s mind was trying to go through everything that had happened to him ever since Paul told him about the truth behind the Myth of the Glass Guitar. He was certain that its location was already revealed to him and he was just not paying attention. Or maybe it had been hinted at but he completely missed it.

Kristopher always thought the Glass Guitar would be at the meadow where The Guardian floated with the daffodils and the moonlight. He never would have guessed that he would meet The Guardian in such different circumstances. It was definitely time to consult Cook and go over the maps he had seen hidden in secret compartments at the cave.

Because of the thoughts running through his head, Kristopher barely realized that they were already a few steps away from the training camp’s entryway. As soon as they stepped into the darkness, a swarm of people met them, led by Brad who flew to Kristopher and rested on his hand. Torres and Ryland ran over to Mills and Kristopher as Andrew hovered over them, face etched with worry.

They were led into the main hall of the camp where Adam, Monte, Cook, Cantiello and the rest of the sentinels and warriors were gathered. Adam walked hastily towards them and reached out to hug Kristopher. Kristopher allowed his head to rest on Adam’s chest as the events of the day caught up with him. Suddenly, he was so tired but his mind kept going back to the Glass Guitar.

When Adam released him from the hug, Cook stepped forward and said, “You need to tell us what happened.”

He nodded and was led into the private chamber where Adam, Cook and the rest of their team held their daily private meetings. Mills, Tommy and Isaac were also in the room and as soon as the door closed, Mills started telling them what happened.

When they got to the part of having tea with Katherine, Mills, Tommy and Isaac looked over to Kristopher so he could tell them about what she told him while they were alone. The silence was thick as Adam, Monte, Cook, Brad, Dublin, Cantiello and Terrance listened to him recall what Katherine said to him.

As soon as he finished, Cantiello began grinning widely. Kristopher thought it was strange considering the grave situation they were in. After all, it was not a usual occurrence for the Undead to breach the boundaries of Saphyra knowing that warriors and sentinels were all lurking in the underground and shadows of the kingdom. The fact that they did only meant that they had recently acquired strength that they would all have to contend with.

Cantiello seemed to read Kristopher’s expression because he looked at him and said, “Now, all you have to do is find the Glass Guitar.”

All eyes in the room settled on him and Kristopher sighed. He looked at Cook. “We can’t wait any longer. You need to help me with this one.”

Cook nodded and exchanged a meaningful look with Dublin before speaking to the group. “Over the years, Dublin and I have collected many clues as to where the Glass Guitar might be located. We have searched the world over to find many places that people have seen in their dreams.” He stood and opened the compartment which held the various maps that Kristopher had seen. He rolled them out on the table and Kristopher felt his shoulders hunch when he saw that many of them were crossed out.

“Are we sure about this?” Adam inquired.

Cook shook his head. “Our sentinels have travelled to some of these places and we crossed them out after we were sure that the guitar wasn’t there.”

“How do we even know that the guitar wasn’t really there?” Mills asked, fingers going through the pile of maps. “I mean, it would not just be sitting in a place where we could just grab it.”

“This is true although we did find out that in all of these places, there seemed to be a clue as to where we should go next,” Dublin answered. “Maybe something that somebody said or an object which pointed us to the next destination. We had gotten a broken guitar string, the ring of a famous gypsy singer and a burnt accordion.”

“Once, we were taken to the town of Lavender Dove and the hint came from a story that was quite popular in the area we previously visited. It was about a bird who sang every morning to make the sun go out so that the flowers would be healthy and when they finally were, the bird would then ravage them.” Cook related, hands waving in the air. “It is like a maze, only we haven’t reached its end.”

Cook smiled at Kristopher then. “There is only one place left to visit and let’s just hope that the Glass Guitar really is there. If it isn’t, at least, you will find a clue there.”

The mix of hope and urgency settled over the group as they all looked at the maps on the table. Cook handed him the last uncrossed map and despite the tension growing through him, Kristopher couldn’t help but smile when he saw where it would take them.

“The Kingdom of the Water Dwellers,” he said, smiling at both Tommy and Mills. Both of them perked up and before the rest of the group got confused, Tommy told them about Allison and how they knew her. The way the three of them lit up when they spoke about her lifted the mood in the room.

Adam smiled. “The Water Dwellers are truly a magical people. I have met quite a few during my travels but I don’t think I’ve met the girl you speak of.”

“Well, maybe you will soon.” Kristopher nodded. He was just sure that Adam and Allison would be in awe of each other.

“You should leave as soon as you can,” Dublin said before looking over at Terrance.

Terrance nodded. “Kristopher is sufficiently trained to adapt his body to any body of water. He should be able to survive the journey to the Water Dwellers.”

Adam stood and studied the map going to the Kingdom of the Water Dwellers. He then turned to Kristopher. “You can make the decisions about your trip, Kristopher. Pick your companions but please let us send at least one sentinel with you.”

Kristopher did not even have to think hard. “I pick Mills, Andrew, Torres and Ryland.” He hesitated as he looked across the table. “Can I have Tommy with me too?”

Monte spoke up, regret evident in his voice. “I’m sorry, Kristopher. I know that Tommy is the one sentinel you trust the most but just this afternoon, I have made him captain of one of our most important troops.” He looked at Tommy who had surprise written all over his face. “I was supposed to tell you when you came back from the border. You need to stay with your warriors and sentinels, Tommy.”

Tommy and Kristopher shared a sad smile at the prospect of going on a journey without each other. They had been through a lot together and Kristopher trusted him with his life. But he also knew how important it was that Adam and his troops defend the world from the army of the Undead while he was looking for the Glass Guitar.

He took a moment and thought that what he needed was someone who would be knowledgeable in tactical planning, travelling and navigation.

“Lizzie. I’ll take her.” Kristopher thought that as Cook’s best student, she was the obvious choice.

Adam nodded. “It is done.” He looked at the faces staring at him before speaking. “Terrance, make sure that Kristopher and his companions are ready with their underwater skills first thing tomorrow. Cook, talk to Lizzie and discuss any possible scenarios with her. She is a truly gifted sentinel and I know that she will not let The Soul down.”

“I think we should leave as soon as we can. We must find the Glass Guitar as soon as possible,” Kristopher said with a renewed vigor in his voice that made Mills smile despite himself. Seeing the smile on Mills’s face made Kristopher briefly think about how much he had changed since he had left Little Rock. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

There was much to discuss and prepare before they went on their way but they really could not afford to waste more time. The Undead were closing in, as evidenced by what happened earlier that day and so it was decided that Kristopher and his companions would stay in the training camp for one more day before going off.

The exhaustion caught up with them then so they decided to rest to prepare for the next day. Kristopher, Mills, Tommy and Isaac were sent to the dining hall before they all went to their respective bunks.

Adam was waiting for Kristopher by the bunks. In the darkness, Kristopher could almost believe that both of them were back in that corn field in Little Rock. In his memory of that night, Adam’s blue eyes were uncertain, wary yet bright with hope and they were the same now. They smiled at each other as Kristopher scattered the indigo and scarlet glitter from Adam’s hands into the air.

“Are you scared?” Adam asked, voice quiet in the darkness.

Kristopher thought for a moment before nodding. “I am but I’m also looking forward to the journey knowing that this is what I’m meant to do. Are you?”

“I feel the same way you do. I’m already so tired but I need to be strong. They all look up to me and I should be the prince that they expect me to be.”

Kristopher looked at his hands, which were now covered with glitter. He knew exactly what Adam meant. The image of a light-haired and younger Adam in Little Rock flashed through Kristopher’s mind and right at that moment, staring at the man that he had become, he was confident that the prophecy about the Gypsy Prince would definitely come true.

“You’re already trying to be the best prince you can be. There’s no way around it. Nothing can go wrong if your heart’s in the right place.” He gently touched Adam’s arm. “And yours is.”

Adam sighed and grinned. “You better find the Glass Guitar soon, Kristopher.”

Kristopher grinned back. “And you better kill as many of the Undead as you can, Prince Adam.”

It had been days since they left Saphyra’s training camp and Kristopher was starting to feel the heaviness in his legs. It felt like they had been walking forever and they probably had been seeing as even Andrew was looking grayer by the minute. Mills always fell asleep when they took short breaks even if he was just leaning on a tree while on his feet. Torres also stopped humming folk songs under his breath and Kristopher missed them because it gave them a little bit of cheer when they first set off. Even Ryland was lagging behind, reddish hair standing on end and snapping at everyone who dared engage him in small talk.

Lizzie was, however, relentless. She pushed them to move faster and only made concessions about resting when she had to consult her map—which wasn’t often considering that Kristopher thought she memorized it by heart. They rested as soon as the light disappears but were on their feet as soon as the sky lit up to announce the break of dawn.

Kristopher appreciated this even if what his body wanted to do was to sleep for a little longer. He knew how important it was for them to accomplish what they had to do in the shortest time possible. He trusted that all of his companions were aware of this so there were fewer whines of exhaustion exchanged between them. The complaints were completely left unuttered when they passed along a town where the stench of the Undead hung in the air. The sense of urgency was immediately palpable in the group and all they wanted was to get to the Kingdom of the Water Dwellers before it was too late.

That was the fear that weighed heavily on Kristopher’s mind. While it was comforting that Cook and Monte had sent troops ahead of them to protect the Water Dwellers’ borders, the fact that the Undead were able to go into Saphyra and launch an attack also troubled him.

He started to think about that even before he left Saphyra; it must be why Tommy approached him before they left and exchanged stories about Allison with him, and how he might see her again. Tommy knew how fond he was of Allison and it served as a good distraction to think about her warm smile and beautiful voice when his mind wandered back to worrying again.

Sometimes though when even Lizzie was too tired to take another step, Kristopher would play a song on his guitar and they would all sing along, bringing a ray of light into their otherwise gloomy days. It was liberating to not think of what their mission was for just a few minutes as they sang together, faces breaking into smiles.

And so the days passed until one morning when Lizzie turned to look at them with a relieved smile on her face. She was holding the map in her right hand and told them that the pond they could see from the distance was the one they were searching for, the one that led to the Kingdom of the Water Dwellers. The said pond was the busiest and most open entryway to the underwater as many of the Water Dwellers passed through there when they needed to trade or just to explore other kingdoms and towns.

Kristopher had picked that way when Cook told them about it because he remembered that Allison sang out to her family when she was about to go home and he had no idea how they were supposed to do that. Yes, it was more risky because the Undead would definitely hear about them passing through but it was also the easiest and fastest way to gain entry to the kingdom.

There were a few merpeople sitting on the dock by the pond, splashing their tails, enjoying the small sliver of sunlight that passed through the dark clouds. As they slowly approached, already thinking of ways to introduce themselves, a merman swam towards the edge of the pond and peered up at them.

“You are The Soul,” the merman said matter-of-factly, looking straight into Kristopher’s face.

Kristopher nodded and soon, there was a small crowd gathering by their feet.

“We knew you were coming,” a mermaid with flowing black hair remarked. “There were several Fauna sentinels that arrived before you and they told us that you were on your way. We have been waiting here to take you to our Queen.”

“It would be our honor to meet her,” Kristopher said and was met by smiles from the merpeople. “If you could lead the way?”

The merman who first spoke to them was Miguel and he was one of the Queen’s chief advisers. He asked them to get in the water.

“I trust that you know how to blend with the water?” Miguel was swimming to the middle of the pond.

“We do,” Mills said, exchanging a somewhat excited look with Kristopher and he couldn’t help but grin back.

Miguel nodded before asking them to hold hands to form a circle. Then they were surrounded by about a dozen merpeople, also floating close together to form a bigger circle around their smaller one. The merpeople started swimming and the water shifted until they were also moving quickly, as if they were in the middle of a whirlpool.

Kristopher wanted to close his eyes because he was getting dizzy but he remembered Terrance’s advice that right before blending into their surroundings, they should be completely aware of what was happening around him. So, he stared as the trees and the water and his friends’ faces started to blur, and when Miguel shouted the command to blend, he went inside the center of his body and started to move with the water.

Water was Kristopher’s favorite body to blend in. It was freeing to have his limbs taking on the weightless feeling and his lungs also expanded easily, taking in a limitless amount of air. It made him want to just float around; it made him feel light. As they started to go deeper, Kristopher did not even notice that the light from above them was gradually disappearing into the distance. All he could see was the much brighter place beneath them and as they got nearer, they could hear the melodic songs that, when heard with the peaceful serenity underwater, was some of the best music that could never be replicated in any other environment.

The Kingdom of the Water Dwellers lay inside what looked like a mammoth oyster shell from a distance. The merpeople floated inside it even if there was no water and the streets were lined with mother of pearl. That gave the kingdom an iridescent glow that was only made more dazzling by the merpeople’s colorful tails and hair: each one of them looked completely unique and Kristopher vaguely remembered Allison telling him that the patterns of scales on their tails and the color of their hair were all unique to their person. When they got close enough to fully appreciate this, Kristopher let out an audible gasp because the beauty of the kingdom took his breath away.

Miguel was not overstating the fact that their arrival was anticipated. As soon as they stepped inside the kingdom, a crowd of merpeople stepped to the sides of the road, looking on curiously.

“We should go directly to the Queen’s square.” He pointed to the giant pearl at the end of the road. “That is her home.”

As they floated on, Kristopher was looking around, hoping to catch a glimpse of red hair but he didn’t see anyone familiar. They were already near the Queen’s square when he heard someone gasp his name out loud from the left side of the road.

He had barely turned his head when he was assaulted with a cascade of vibrant red hair and small arms around his neck. A tail wrapped around his legs and just like that he was laughing so loudly that he didn’t care even if there was an obvious murmur that ran though the crowd.

All that he cared about was that Allison was laughing into his face and exclaiming, “You really are The Soul! This is amazing!”

She then spotted Mills and rushed to hug him too, and Kristopher could not help the laugh that escaped him again as Allison twirled Mills around.

Miguel cleared his throat and Allison became contrite, floating gracefully behind Kristopher.

“She is our friend,” Kristopher stated simply and Miguel nodded, telling Allison that she could come with them when they met the Queen.

Allison bowed and floated beside Kristopher. They couldn’t seem to stop smiling at each other.

They finally reached the square and that was when they met Linda, the Queen of the Water Dwellers. She seemed taken by Kristopher and coaxed him to sing for them. Kristopher took out his guitar from its special leather case (a parting gift from Adam who wanted to give him something that could protect his guitar even in water) and sang the song about the lion and the bee that he used to sing for Allison.

Allison clapped her hands in glee and joined him, and soon the streets were filled with something joyful. For a little while, Kristopher let himself forget about what brought him to the Water Dwellers in the first place and looking into the faces surrounding him, he found out how easy it was to get lost in the music if it could invoke this kind of happiness.

“The Valley of Subalina is just a short distance from here. You could reach it before nightfall.” Lea, the Queen’s most trusted advisor was looking at the map that Lizzie handed to her. “Are we certain that the Glass Guitar would be there?”

Lizzie shrugged. “We are not certain of anything but what we can assure you is that, if it isn’t there, we would definitely find a clue as to where it is.” She then told them about Cook and Dublin’s story.

“Very well then. It would not hurt to try,” Queen Linda said before nodding to Miguel who quickly bowed and began talking to a row of servants standing nearby. She turned her attention back to Kristopher’s group. “I suggest you eat first and take a rest before heading out. It would not be wise to go forth when you’re all obviously so tired.”

They all agreed and after a generous meal, they were taken to a spacious room with a number of beds. They were initially taken to separate rooms but Kristopher did not want to be separated from his friends and so they were taken to the huge bedchamber. It was there that Kristopher formally introduced Allison to Andrew, Torres, Ryland and Lizzie. They all talked for a while, Allison bombarding them with questions about what the “world out there” was like since she came home. Not very long after Kristopher told Allison about Wolfgang and Tommy, his eyes started to drift closed. Allison just sang him a lullaby and then he was sleeping peacefully.

He was woken up by Lizzie calling his name and after another meal, they were saying goodbye to Queen Linda who sent Lea to guide them. Allison also went with them, more reserved now that the excitement of seeing her friends again had dissipated and weighed with the knowledge that they had a serious task to accomplish.

They had only been walking for a short time (or maybe it just felt that way since Kristopher could not stop looking at the iridescent and stunning objects around them) when Lea said, “This is the Valley of Subalina.”

It was smaller than what Kristopher had suspected: it was just a small patch of land barely the size of Kristopher’s backyard in Little Rock but it also has the same glow that lit up each of the kingdom’s corners. What made it more remarkable were the two hills that stood on each of its sides, both of them covered with what looked like seaweeds of different colors. They glistened when the light from the mother of pearl hit them and walking into the valley felt like going through a rainbow.

“This is a beautiful place,” Andrew breathed out, flying high into the air to play with the colors.

“It is, isn’t it?” Lea smiled at Andrew before turning her attention back to the rest of the group. “As you can see, the valley is such a small place. We can all look together and see what we can find.”

They separated into pairs. Kristopher went to the western end of the valley with Allison, his eyes tracing every space behind the rocks and the random plants, hoping for a clue.

“What if it’s buried under the valley?” Allison asked, floating a step behind him.

“If it is, we would find a clue,” Kristopher answered. Informed risks mixed with the instinct for magic was what could help them get through this. Cook told him as much and he believed that they should not go blindly into every task.

They spent hours going through the valley. Lizzie even morphed herself into a rabbit so she could see where the small hole they found led. It did take her underground but her ears were drooping low when her head emerged from the hole, saying that there was nothing of significance beneath the valley.

They were all gathered at the center of the valley, trying to remember if they had missed something. The colorful glow in the air was starting to fade into a misty gray and Kristopher felt the weariness settle over them when Lea suggested that they continue the search the following day.

When they got back to the Queen’s home, Lizzie forced some soup on Kristopher and as soon as he finished what was in his bowl, he went up to the bedchamber. He was starting to lose hope but he knew that he couldn’t afford for that to happen.

He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling and going through everything that they had found in the valley earlier that day. He was so intent on finding out what they had missed that he didn’t even feel that Allison was approaching until she was sitting at the edge of his bed.

“We will find it, Kristopher. I’m sure we will. Please don’t sad,” Allison implored. Kristopher reached out and Allison was hugging him in an instant, her head lightly cradled in the crook of his neck.

“You have a lovely home, Allison,” Kristopher said, trying to let his mind drift away from the Glass Guitar for a moment.

“I do but your Little Rock is wonderful too.”

“We don’t have multi-colored plants that make places feel like the inside of a rainbow,” he teased her.

She giggled. “You’re right. I have seen a lot of places but the Valley of Subalina is one of the most beautiful there is.” She whirled excitedly. “Oh, you know the bedtime story that I always told Wolfgang… I mean, Tommy and the moles so they would all just go to sleep and stop bothering me? It’s about the valley.”

Kristopher nodded. He vaguely recalled the story because it amused him when Wolfgang and the moles would pretend to be asleep after hearing it before jumping in the water in Allison’s vat when she least suspected it.

“It is about the greedy mermaid who bottled up the songs of other mermaids and buried them in the mountains so they would lose their voice, am I right?”

Allison nodded. “Yes, you remembered!” She continued speaking, eyes lighting up. “But one day as she got caught in the storm while burying another song, she got sick and started losing her own voice. It was terrible and she was very sad, very sorry about what she had done to the other mermaids. What she didn’t know was that the nymph guarding the mountains got very angry and that’s why she cursed the greedy mermaid. ”

Kristopher’s heart was racing as he continued the rest of the story as he remembered it. “So she went to the mountains and wept until plants grew from the land. They were of different colors, representing what each mermaid felt while they sang the song that was bottled up. And the greedy mermaid wept and wept until the skies wept with her. There was a flood and the mountains were pushed to the side, creating a valley where the greedy mermaid lay with her despair, begging for forgiveness.”

“That’s right!” Allison smiled at Kristopher, eyes glistening. “The nymph then told her about the curse and so the greedy mermaid begged to have her voice back but the nymph told her that she had to find it herself. The wise nymph told her that if she wanted something, she had to look inside herself and she would be surprised to find that what she really wanted was right in her very own hands.”

Kristopher’s voice was barely a whisper as he finished the story. “And so, the mermaid poured out her soul into each song, even if her voice could barely be heard. Day after day, she sang until the valley was surrounded by the colors of the voices who had forgiven the greedy mermaid and when the skies stopped weeping, a rainbow was cast over the valley, showing that the voice that the mermaid sought could not be found elsewhere, but just within her.”

Allison stared at him and her eyes started to fill with tears. Her voice was trembling when she said, “Oh Kristopher, did we just find what we were looking for?”

Kristopher brushed aside the tears that fell onto Allison’s cheeks as they both smiled. He nodded before tugging her up and wrapping her in his arms.

Chapter Text

Kristopher and Allison hurriedly went to the main hall to tell the others about the legend of the Valley of Subalina. The gloomy mood that settled over them was suddenly lifted as Kristopher related the story and what it could possibly mean.

They all speculated and came up with what seemed to be the most inane and yet the most obvious guess: that Kristopher could just sing and everything would go away. Kristopher doubted it was something as simple as that, seeing as the world seemed to grow darker even if he was singing everyday.

“But you have not come face to face with the Fallen God’s wrath and tried it,” Mills reasoned out, which was a rather logical argument to make.

Torres eyed him carefully. “It was what the Master Kurt always said: that music can be the most powerful weapon of all if we knew how to use it.”

Lizzie eyed Kristopher and said, “Let him rest. It will come to him.” She then told all of them to go to the bedchamber and get some sleep. They could think about what the story meant when morning came.

Kristopher and Torres led the way, followed by Allison who was invited by the queen to stay for the night. Kristopher’s back had barely touched the bed when Mills and Ryland came running into the chamber, shouting his name. The look on both of their faces made Kristopher’s stomach turn and he gripped Allison tighter to his side.

“Kristopher, we should go. Prince Adam just sent the sentinel Cam to tell us that there has been an attack on the River of the Muses,” Mills said loudly as he ran over to where he kept his sword.

A cold shiver ran through Kristopher and he started gathering his things. “What happened?”

Andrew, who had just entered the room, answered. “The stream from which the river breaks was frozen. And now the river is becoming a block of ice as we speak. If we don’t hurry, the water that runs all over the world will freeze too and the Fallen God would succeed.”

Allison gasped. “We are going to die! We are all going to freeze and die!”

Kristopher touched Allison in an attempt to ease her trembling. “We will do everything we can to save your home, Allison.”

She nodded and rushed to help Torres pack his and Lizzie’s things. Lizzie was in the hallway with Queen Linda, Lea and Cam, trying to formulate a plan. She obviously looked frazzled when they all assembled in the hall with their things but her tone was steady when she spoke to them.

“Queen Linda has allowed us to pass through the secret passageway that leads directly into the Kingdom of the Fauna. It is tightly guarded but we have to be ready in case we need to go into battle.” She walked over and checked each of their belongings, making sure that their silverdust swords were in place.

“Kristopher, where’s yours?” she said sternly, going through the pack hanging off his shoulder.

“It’s with my guitar.” He tapped the case hanging behind him and slung the small pack of belongings over it.

Lizzie then thanked Allison for preparing her things before double checking them herself. After seeing that it was complete, she walked over to Cam and said, “The sentinel Cam will be going back to tell Prince Adam that the message has been delivered.”

“How are they?” Andrew asked, eyes fixed on Cam’s face.

“They are on their way to battle to protect the Kingdom of the Fauna. Prince Adam is leading the troops himself and they are hoping to keep the Undead from multiplying as the water of the river is slowly dying.” She looked briefly at Queen Linda. “A few of us have been sent to many kingdoms to spread the word that everyone should protect their own borders from the Undead.”

Queen Linda nodded and when she spoke, the agitation was barely noticeable beneath the firm tone of her voice. “We have already sent our cavalry of merpeople to the borders of the kingdom. We will try our best to protect our own. Please tell Prince Adam that if they should need any help we would be more than willing to give it.”

Cam bowed to the Queen and told her that she would send the message. When Queen Linda spoke again, it was barely a whisper. “How did it even happen? How were they able to freeze the stream?”

Cam shrugged mournfully. “The Undead have become more numerous over the years and the grief feeds the Fallen God’s power. He struck down from the heavens, able to penetrate the enchantment around Fauna for the first time.” She looked at Kristopher then. “He should be stopped because if we don’t succeed, the Undead will roam the world until it fades into darkness.”

Kristopher nodded and said, “Please tell Prince Adam and the rest of the sentinels and warriors that we are on our way to claim the Glass Guitar.”

The confidence in his voice made Cam’s face light up and though Kristopher’s heart was racing, it was telling him-- without a shred of doubt-- that the Glass Guitar was just within his reach.

It was pitch dark when they emerged from the freezing water. The cold wind blew on their faces and all of them started shivering, holding into each other for support. After saying goodbye to Lea, Mills quickly took out his silverdust sword and the small light it cast over the darkness helped them reach dry land.

They decided that it was better to let the darkness pass before heading on to the River of the Muses. Lizzie easily found a small clearing partially hidden between a number of trees and rocks. Torres and Mills made a small fire, and they huddled around it, trying to ease the shaking that the cold was causing.

Kristopher lay down on his back, head resting lightly over the guitar case. He squinted towards the inky black sky but gave up trying to see something. It was eerie, the feeling of being in an unknown place where you could not even see the body nearest yours. It gave him a sense of isolation that triggered the need to survive in his gut-- something that went beyond trying to prove that he was indeed The Soul but instead just a person who did not want to die without really experiencing what life really was.

There was something about being on the brink of death that brought forth either the best or worst in a person. In the past, Kristopher might have felt that selfishness was something evil but seeing the reality of death right before his eyes made him selfish; it made him want to live his life the way he had always dreamed of. He might have believed that he was indeed The Soul but he would gladly give up the mythical significance of that phrase because when it all came down to it, he had his own dreams.

He wanted to go back to Little Rock and give the others who had been lost a chance to see their families again.

He wanted his family and friends to live in a world where magic was not lost, even in the darkest of times.

He wanted to see every corner of the world and listen to the stories of the people who made it their homes.

He wanted to celebrate the festival of the Winged People with Cantiello and Tommy.

He wanted to discover music and the world with Mills, ask Andrew to teach him how to ride a horse, force Ryland to make him a new guitar and let Torres teach him his best recipes.

He wanted to take Adam to the Kingdom of the Water Dwellers where he could meet Allison; he’s sure that the rain of glitter resulting from that would make him feel like he’s sweating off rainbows even days later.

Yes, he felt greedy for wanting all that and though he knew that the myth surrounding him might be bigger than what he could actually become, he was certain that even if the Glass Guitar did not exist, but he was able to make his dreams come true, that he would be living a life better than anyone could ever hope to imagine.

Kristopher was woken up by the faint smell of soup being heated over the fire. He walked over to where Mills sat, stirring the pot. The others were still sleeping and Kris shot a grateful smile to Mills as a steaming bowl was placed in his hands. The day was starting to break even if the sky was still dark and a faint rotting smell filled the air, making Kristopher shiver as he sipped from his bowl.

“Are you ready?” Mills quietly asked.

Kristopher nodded. “As ready I can possibly be. Who is ever ready for this kind of situation?”

Mills smiled wryly at that. “I think you are.”

Kristopher looked at Mills’s face and upon seeing the complete trust there, he reached over and wrapped his arms around Mills’s shoulders. They clung together for a long time.

Mills laughed. “Well, you can let go now. I know it’s cold but you know… I want my soup!”

The others started to wake up and soon enough, they were walking on their way to the riverbank. It was eerily quiet save for the sound that their feet made when it stepped on branches and leaves, but they were walking along the woods of the kingdom so it was not entirely unexpected.

That changed when they were out of the woods and stepping onto the main trail. Lizzie’s fearful gasp sent a feeling of dread through all of them.

The rotting smell was so overpowering that Kristopher found himself breathing through his mouth rather than his nose. It didn’t look like it was morning: the sun was hardly visible through the sky and the clouds that hung lowly were thick. The trees were hunched low, branches almost touching the ground. No one was in sight and the houses that they had passed looked mostly empty.

Death hovered over the place and grief was starting to pass through them. Kristopher reminded them that they had to fight it because it only weakened them and they had no room for that. They bravely marched on, collectively humming a folk song they learned in camp under their breath.

Lizzie was heading the group, rabbit ears perked up in alertness. Ryland held the map and when he told them that the trail to their left led to the stream from which the River of the Muses broke, they followed suit.

What met them was a road littered with corpses. Their eyes were hanging out of their socket, hair matted to their skull and limbs broken off at the joints. They were lying on the road but as soon as Lizzie stepped into that area, the corpses stood on their feet and started walking towards them. They let out a series of whines that made Kristopher want to cover his ears.

It was Andrew who first charged into the Undead.

He flew into the air, silverdust sword hacking into the whining corpse at the front of the line. The black dust that blew overhead seemed to wake the rest of the group up and soon, they were fighting, cutting off unseeing heads and piercing rotting hearts. Their swords shone brightly in the darkness despite the black fluid that oozed from some of the Undead.

The dust from the bodies of the slain Undead was flying into their eyes, but they all blended easily with the wind and the terrain, seamlessly cutting through the throng of rotting bodies. Torres’s hair flew behind him as he struck the chest of a corpse which nearly caught Andrew’s ankle. Lizzie jumped around and emitted a small force from her body, making the Undead who surrounded her bounce into the air. Mills screamed as he blended with the stones at their feet, cutting off limbs. Kristopher moved and twirled with the breeze, moving so fast that the Undead barely even saw him before he struck them dead. And when Ryland pierced the last corpse’s chest, they all looked back, catching their breath.

The road was quiet, black dust swirling upwards. The stench that hung in the air was not as overpowering but it was potent enough to make them realize that they managed to escape death. The elation was short-lived, however, as the sound of angry whining came from behind them.

There was a bigger group of the Undead charging through them and soon, they were all fighting again. Kristopher’s heart was racing and his arms were burning from the effort of using his sword but he felt like a man possessed, hacking and cutting. He flew into the air and was met by a couple of the Undead who opened their mouths to let out a whine. He tumbled and turned, cutting off one corpse at the waist. He turned around at the sound of a snarl coming from behind him and came face to face with a rotting face and bared teeth.

He felt a paralyzing fear and he clutched his sword tighter as the corpse let out a painful whine into his face before turning into dust. Kristopher turned to look behind the curtain of dust and saw Mills smiling at him, hand raised in salute before drifting down to him and screaming into his ear.

“Go and find the frozen stream! Do it!”

He could barely hear it over the loud wails that came from the Undead but when he finally did, he nodded and started flying higher. A few of the corpses blocked his way, some tried to pull him back through his hair but when he heard the unmistakable sound of an army growing louder than the Undead’s collective wail, he knew that it had turned into a war.

Just moments after Kristopher had realized that they had arrived, Tommy was floating beside him, skunk’s tail whipping back and forth. Kristopher looked down and saw Terrance, huge panther paws ripping heads off while Isaac had his claws buried into a rotting face. There was Cook who had three corpses hanging off the end of his sword and Brad, in human form, moving gracefully—as if he were dancing—in battle. The rest of the warriors and sentinels all fought and at the head of the pack was Adam, striking down bodies with a staff made from sapphires.

When he saw Kristopher, Adam flew into the air, changing into a crow in mid-flight. Tommy and Monte immediately flew behind Adam, killing anyone who ever dared to get close. For a very short moment, the memory of first seeing Adam as a crow as he gave the boots to the Merrymen flitted through Kristopher’s mind. It seemed so far away.

The River of the Muses is at the end of this road, Kristopher. We will be covering your back. May the fates be with you.

And with that, Adam was flying down, changing back to human form, sapphire staff raised in the air.

Kristopher flew quickly, not even looking back when he heard desperate wailing behind him. His eyes were trained on the road ahead, searching the dark corners and squinting through the dark haze of dust.

And then he saw it.

The River of the Muses was surrounded by wilting flowers and plants on its banks. The hills behind it were blackened, as if they were burnt down. The water was a gray sheet of ice that looked like a frozen patch of sand. There was no movement around the river; even the air was still and freezing. A dark billowing cloud hovered over the far end of the river, making Kristopher view the scene before him through a cold mist.

He drifted down and flew closer to the river’s edge, eyes scanning the surroundings for the frozen stream. He saw a huge ice-covered rock just beneath the cloud and he floated closer to inspect it. The shape of the ice stemming from the rock looked like it was a generous trickle of water before it had been frozen. Kristopher was about to reach out and touch the ice when a thunder rumbled through the cloud.

The Soul?

The mocking tone of the voice that came with the thunder made Kristopher look up. The hairs at the back of his neck stood up when he saw the cloud hovering menacingly above him, small lightning rods coursing within it. Then, a gust of wind blew, nearly knocking Kristopher off his feet. He quickly grabbed onto the rock and when he looked up, he was surrounded by a blanket of snow. He could not see past the opaque white curtain before his eyes and he groped blindly, refusing to let go of the frozen stream.

He felt his hand slipping away from the stream when the wind lifted his legs into air. Suddenly he was floating away uncontrollably, the tremor of wicked laughter mixing with the gust of the wind. The force made him lose the firm grasp he had on his sword and he saw it being engulfed by the snow.

Despite the ceaseless movement, Kristopher forced himself to blend with the wind. He felt an invisible hand slap him, startling him until he found himself floating on his back. The bone-deep chill sent shivers through him but he tried to rise up despite the heaviness settling over him. He closed his eyes and drawing strength from inside his chest, he raised his arms and started to blend with the wind.

The cloud let out another sound of frustrated anger but Kristopher started to blend with the snow until he was floating on top of what looked like a giant snowflake. He quickly reached behind him when he felt the cloud trying to pull the guitar away from him. The leather case ripped and Kristopher quickly held the guitar close to his body as he navigated the snowflake downwards into the stream.

He started singing loudly but that only made the cloud more furious. It started to throw lightning rods behind him, making the snowflake melt at the edges. Kristopher jumped into another snowflake and when he could finally see the frozen rock, he quickly went through the story Allison told him, trying to find the right clue.

He was momentarily distracted and that’s why he nearly missed seeing the black snowflake heading his way. Mere seconds before it hit him, he was able to jump to another snowflake hovering nearby. When he looked behind him, the black snowflake was chasing him followed by a series of lightning rods that were released with a terrifying snarl. Kristopher drew a deep breath and then he was going faster, closer to the river until he was just mere inches above it.

Finally, the answer came to him and that made his heart expand with the courage that came with certainty.

The wise nymph told her that if she wanted something, she had to look inside herself and she would be surprised to find that what she really wanted was right in her very own hands.

Kristopher gripped the guitar he held close to his body. He held its neck and raised it into the air before bringing it down hard to shatter the ice-covered rock. He did it again and again until the guitar was just a smattering of wooden pieces floating with the snow.

He looked up but nothing happened. The voice within the dark cloud growled before letting out an evil laugh. Kristopher felt the fear slowly grip him but he refused to back down, staring at the lightning rods and the snow flying all around him.

Is that it, Soul? When Kristopher did not answer, the voice let out another laugh and said, Well, now it’s my turn.

The cloud seemed to get darker and bigger when it settled over Kristopher. A triumphant scream filled the air as the cloud let out bolt after bolt of lightning, all meant to kill Kristopher. He quickly flew into the air and the cloud chased him, blindly throwing out one lightning rod after the other. A scream of frustration vibrated through the air but that did not hinder Kristopher from flying until he rested on top of the rock. The cloud was about to strike him when suddenly, the air surrounding them became warmer.

“Look at what you’ve done!” Kristopher taunted, the beginnings of a smile forming on his lips.

The pieces of wood from Kristopher’s guitar were all on fire after being hit by lightning. A million tiny flames surrounded the dark cloud which let out a gasp of surprise. The snow on the river was starting to melt and Kristopher had to float away from the rock because water was slowly breaking from it.

In a fit of panic, the cloud let out gusts of wind uncontrollably. That made the flames become bigger and warmer until they all came together and there was a big ball of fire floating over the cloud. It slowly descended and engulfed the cloud within it amidst a wail that rang through all the corners of the world, until there was nothing in the air but the flame and blue skies.

As the sunlight started to warm his face, Kristopher felt his body sag. He leaned towards the rock and saw that although the water had broken into the now-flowing river, it was still covered with a thin sheet of ice. He touched it gently, fingers caressing the grooves and corners as the cool water of the river coursed through his ankles.

Kristopher flitted a little higher to look around. It was his first time seeing the Kingdom of the Fauna and the stories he had heard did not do it justice. The previously wilted trees and plants were now dancing in the breeze, creating music as if the petals were the fingers to the wind’s guitar strings. The Fauna people started to come out of their hiding places, running to jump in the River of the Muses and turning their faces up into the sun. The river itself was beautiful, the clear water looking like liquid silver and whistling to the wind as it flowed freely.

He vaguely heard the sound of his name being called by a number of people. He started to float higher, ready to meet his friends. He saw them approaching, weapons raised in the air, letting out jubilant cries. The colorful mix of the different kingdoms warmed his heart and he was humbled by the realization that everything they had all gone through led up to that moment, something that went beyond what their most beautiful dreams were made of.

He gave the river one last downward glance and when his eyes drifted to the ice-covered rock, his body gave an involuntary shiver at what he saw.

The grooves and the curves of the rock looked familiar; it would probably fit perfectly in his lap and hands if he cradled it. Rising from the frozen rock and pointing skyward was the straight protrusion where Kristopher had held on for his life. There were drops of water breaking from the very top, flowing downward gracefully in straight lines until it came to a small round depression in the center of the rock’s wide body. The water created a clear tinkling sound and it looked magical surrounded by the mist coming from the ice touched by both water and sunlight.

Kristopher smiled, his heart soaring with joy and amazement. Because there it was finally.

The Glass Guitar.

Chapter Text

The sun was just starting to rise, its rays creating little sparkling stars as it hit the glittering dust dancing in the wind. The breeze was warm-- typical of summer-- and it made the flowers and trees dance when it blew.

A gypsy caravan was slowly making its way through the familiar streets. It passed through a fruit stall, a soup shop and a shoe store before reaching the grassy field just beside the Mayor’s house. The day was just starting, the streets littered with only a handful of people who followed the caravan with curious stares.

The caravan stopped in the middle of the field before revealing a man with a guitar slung across his back. He stood for a while, taking in the sights around him, closing his eyes as he breathed in and out. When he opened his eyes, he saw a little girl who looked about six years old, staring up at him, her mouth slightly open and her small hand wrapped around a sunflower stalk.

“Who are you?” the girl asked in a small voice. “I’m Kimberley.”

“My name is Kristopher.” He reached out to shake her hand. “I used to live here.”

Kimberley wrinkled her forehead and was obviously confused when she said,” How come I haven’t seen you before? I live here too.”

“I left and now I’m back.”

The frown in Kimberley’s face deepened. “That can’t be right. My best friend Audrey said that once you leave Little Rock, you can never come back.” She nodded vigorously. “That is the law. You can’t break the law.”

Kristopher let out a surprised laugh. “No, it’s wrong to break the law but see the mountains over there?” He pointed to the east. “When the black clouds that used to be there flew away, people who left Little Rock were allowed to come back.”

Kimberley’s eyes widened. “Oh. I liked it when the black cloud flew away. The flowers and the fruits began to sparkle and there are more of them! I eat six sparkly apples everyday.” She shifted a little to her right and pointed to the guitar on Kristopher’s back. “What is that?”

“It’s a guitar. It can make music.” He reached over and lightly strummed. “Do you want to play it?”

“Oh no, I don’t think I know how to." Kimberley smiled shyly as she stepped closer, fingers touching the body of the guitar gently. Then, her face lit up as if she was remembering something and said, “I can sing though. My favorite is that song about the baby lion and the baby bee who made honey and rainbows. Do you know that song?”

Kristopher nodded, face breaking in a wide grin as Kimberley clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, play it for me, please? And I will sing real pretty.”

“How can I say no to that?” Kristopher ruffled the girl’s hair before sitting on the grass with his legs tucked under him and the guitar cradled in his lap. Kimberley lay on her stomach, placing her chin on her hands.

As soon as Kristopher strummed the first notes of the song on his guitar, his mind was filled with images that had brought so much happiness to his life.

Mills running across the corn field beside his childhood home, boyish laughter chasing after him.

Andrew sitting on top of a tree and filling the nighttime air with such beautiful music.

Torres and Ryland placing the guitars and instruments they made with gentle hands in front of wide-eyed children.

Tommy’s shining eyes as he fell in love with a Saphyra warrior named Claire and his adorable ways of impressing her with the skills he learned in the circus as a skunk.

Cantiello’s mesmerized and delighted face when he finally got to see the Kingdom of the Water Dwellers, jumping around in the rainbow-colored air of Subalina.

Allison taking everyone’s breath away when she sang for all the kingdoms that gathered to celebrate the birth of a new day.

Adam’s bright smile as he stepped closer to give him a hug after Kristopher told him that he had decided to travel the world to play music.

Just as the picture of Katherine handing him a daffodil faded from his mind, he opened his eyes to see that a crowd had built around them. Kimberley had stopped singing and it was his voice which rang out along Little Rock.

And there in the middle of the sea of beloved and familiar faces was his family. His crying mother rushed to the front of crowd, followed by his father and Daniel. The song had ended and the silence was thick with surprise laced with joy, a joy that Kristopher completely felt when his mother reached out to touch his face. He fell into his mother’s waiting arms and soon, they were enveloped within the arms of his father and Daniel. The crowd cheered them on loudly and there was much celebration because two of Little Rock’s sons had returned.

Much later, when there was much eating and drinking, Kristopher sat in front of Little Rock’s people surrounded by Andrew, Torres, Ryland and Mills. Right by his feet was the dog sentinel Zorro who kept looking in the direction of the caravan where Lizzie was standing by the door.

Kristopher looked at the mountains from afar-- in the past, they represented helplessness and fear but that morning with the sun setting it aglow, they made Kristopher think of music and friendship and dreams. Being in Little Rock and seeing his family made him happy but at the same time, he could not wait to see the rest of the world, to know what was waiting out there for him.

It was at that moment that he realized that his dreams had finally come true, and that maybe it was time to make new ones.

When it was time to sing, Kristopher started to strum his guitar, voice ringing out as he told them about songs made into stories, and stories made into songs.

And it felt like home.