Amos Daragon_ The Mask Wearer - Bryan Perro [32]
Amos asked Junos if he knew anything about the tradition of mask wearers. The old man answered that he had heard about a man who had vanquished a dragon all on his own. The man was nicknamed “the bearer,” but the legend did not say anything else.
Worn out, Amos finally fell asleep on the old straw mattress that Junos had placed on the floor. He dreamed of the woman who had given him the rolls and the eggs at the fountain. In his dream, she had become young but still wore her white robe. She kept repeating the same thing to him, “Drive your trident into the stone and open the passage.… Drive your trident into the stone and open the passage.…”
Amos wanted to find out who this woman was. Why was she speaking to him? he wondered. He also wanted to know about the stone and the meaning of the sentence that she repeated. But he was unable to say a word, and the woman in white vanished. Amos woke up and thought about the strange dream for the rest of the night. When Junos got up in the morning, the two companions ate a little and left for Tarkasis.
After a few hours’ walk, Amos and Junos reached the edge of a forest.
“We’ve arrived,” declared the old man. “Yes indeed, it’s here that I used to live. Everything has changed, but there are things that can’t deceive me. For example, those huge rocks right there are the same. And also this oak tree over here. It was already big before I danced with the fairies. Now it’s huge, but it’s the same tree. It must be at least twelve years since I’ve been back. In fact, I’ve never returned since I emerged from the forest looking like an old man. I was eleven years old.”
Junos’s recollections made him sad. As for Amos, he was still thinking about his dream from the previous night. There was something so real about it. Drive your trident into the stone and open the passage. Amos first looked at the ground to try to find a clue. Then he examined the bark of the trees. He also observed the stones around them.
“Take a good look, Junos; everything here indicates a trail,” he said after a long silence. “If you ignore the small shrubs and the ferns and the other small plants, you can see it.”
Paying attention to Amos’s indications, Junos could make out the semblance of a path through the vegetation.
“What you just discovered is impressive, my friend!” said the old man. “Let’s take this trail.”
They followed the trail until gigantic conifers and imposing leafy trees blocked their way. In front of them, the path seemed to end. And on the ground, in the high grass, there was a stone. It bore four distinct marks: the first was a simple hole; right under it were three flat holes close to one another; the third mark was elongated; and the fourth looked like a big fissure.
With the old woman’s words in mind, Amos grabbed his trident and, in one fluid motion, plunged it into the set of three flat holes. Miraculously, the three teeth of the ivory trident fit the three holes perfectly, just as if it had been made expressly for this purpose.
As the trident entered the stone, the dense and impenetrable forest that faced them opened in a thunder of cracking branches and twisting tree trunks. Doubting their own eyes, Amos and Junos saw a long and dark tunnel take shape in front of them. Amos withdrew his weapon; the door that led to the heart of the woods of Tarkasis was now open. Without a word, the two companions started down the path.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a magnificent clearing overflowing with flowers. On the ground, on the rocks, and on the trees that bordered it, flowers were everywhere. Fairies of different colors and shapes were flying in all directions, absorbed in their work. The sun’s rays were blinding, and a brilliant white light inundated the clearing. Seeming to come through the light, a man walked slowly toward them. Amos recognized him. It was the druid he had met in Bratel-la-Grande. He was still dirty and ugly. With the blind cat perched atop his shoulder, he opened his arms.
“Welcome to Gwenfadrille’s kingdom, Mr. Daragon.