What neither girl was able to see—because both had closed their eyes—was the effect their experiment was having on the room around them. Where the coffee table had been was now a large swirling mass of bright light. Unlike the other portals, this seemed flat and glassy. More like a brightly lit mirror than a pool of light.
As Butchy and Leilanni watched, two grey shapes began to appear in the portal mirror. With every second the shapes became darker and more defined. Soon, it was easy to see Brunhilda and Ruby on the other side.
At first, it seemed the two were oblivious to what was going on. Then, Brunhilda’s head shot up from the book she was reading. A look of terror flashed across her face and she threw her arm up in front of her, all the while yelling to the child at her feet.
The young girl lifted from the ground as if being pulled into the mirrored vortex. Ruby kicked and screamed reaching for her grandmother with all her might and then just like that, it was all over. Poor little Ruby lay in a whimpering heap on the cabin’s living room floor and the portal was gone.
“Oh, my God! What did you do?” Nita barked as she rushed to the child’s side and attempted to console her.
“I didn’t mean to! I just--”
“You just what? What were you thinking?”
Little Ruby looked up into Nita’s eyes. Tears flooded her tiny cheeks. “Where is my Granny? Who are you?”
Nita wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her close while casting a disapproving glare at Leilanni. “It’s okay, little one. I’m so sorry we scared you. We didn’t mean to. Your Granny will be here soon. We meant to bring her to talk with us; this was all a big mistake.”
Ruby perked up a bit and looked around her in wonder. “But this is my house. Why are we in my house?” Then glancing at Katya, who was just waking up, she spied the necklace in the woman’s hand. “And that’s mine, too. How did you find it?”
Katya sat up looking momentarily dazed and confused. Quickly figuring out what had happened, she smiled at the girl and motioned for her to come closer. “I’ve been saving this for you. I knew you’d want it back. It was your mother’s, you know.”
Ruby nodded. “Did you know my mother?”
Katya laughed. “No, but I know your Daddy. Would you like to meet him?”
Ruby nodded. “Is he here, too?”
“Not yet,” Nita answered. “But he’ll be here soon. Do you mind waiting with us until then?”
Little Ruby gave the girls and Butchy a complete once over before finally smiling and saying, “I suppose it would be all right.” Locking her gaze on Katya once again, she asked, “Did you happen to find my dolls? I miss them ever so much.”
“I’m afraid not, little one. Maybe we can look for them while we wait for your Daddy.”
Ruby nodded enthusiastically and sped towards the stairs yelling, “They’re probably in the attic still. I had a great hiding place for them!”
The girls watched her go and then all eyes fell on Leilanni.
The blonde warrior shrugged. “I said I didn’t mean to. I was actually trying to get the old woman, but the harder I tried, the quicker the girl came towards me.”
Butchy crossed his arms. “Well this is a right fine mess we’re in now. Let’s just hope we can do it again and get the old woman this time.”
***
Ruby did indeed find her hidden cache of dolls and was playing on the floor in front of the fire when Paul and Daren arrived with the food.
Their first meeting was joyous and a wonder to behold. The boys came in carrying bags of groceries in the midst of a rather heated conversation.
“It’s not rocket science, Paul. One simply doesn’t taste food before purchasing. Especially raw meat!” Daren exclaimed.
“Well, that’s just ridiculous, how are you supposed to know if it’s fresh if you aren’t allowed to smell it or lick it?” Paul belligerently replied.
“That’s what the dates on the packages are for. You can’t draw attention to yourself like that in town. People will call the police and then questions you can’t answer will most certainly be asked.”
Nita cleared her throat.
Both men stopped short and stared in amazement.
“Daren, this is Ruby,” Nita said calmly. “She’s come to visit for a bit.”
Paul scrambled to set his armload of bags down and gingerly took the load his counterpart had been holding.
Taking his cue from the woman, Daren answered calmly, “Well hello, Ruby. I’m so very happy to meet you. Do you know who I am?”
Ruby quickly stood and stared at him. One solitary tear slipped down her porcelain cheek and her voice cracked as she spoke. “Daddy?”
Even for those watching it was unclear if Daren had jumped the sofa or if Ruby had vaulted the table to reach him, but before anyone could blink, they were in each other’s arms. Hugs, tears, and kisses rained and flowed freely for several minutes after.
Once the reunited pair had calmed, Daren began asking his daughter questions.
“How did you get your name?”
Ruby smiled. “Granny said she named me Ruby because red was my mother’s favorite color.”
“Did she speak of me at all?”
The young girl’s curls bounced as she nodded. “She said you came from a bad place filled with monsters. She said if you didn’t stay there and fight the monsters, they would get out in the world and hurt people.”
Daren’s audible sigh of relief filled the room. At least the old woman hadn’t made him out to be the monster.
“Daddy?”
Daren gazed into his daughter’s crystal blue eyes and brushed an errant hair behind her ear. “Yes, my pet?”
“What shall we do without my red cloak?”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand what you mean, little one.”
“Granny says the red cloak keeps the monsters from smelling me. I left it with her. What if they find me now?”
Daren’s jaw pulled tight and his face grew red.
Seeing his change in demeanor, Katya offered her hand to the girl, saying, “Come on, sweet girl. Let’s see if there’s any cookies in those bags. Shall we?”
“Oh let’s do!” Ruby gushed.
Daren watched the child leave the room and managed to make it out the front door before exploding. “Dammit! That fucking witch has been using magic this whole time to keep her from me. I knew it. I’ve looked everywhere for the child. Never finding the slightest scent of her. If I hadn’t come back here and found you guys...”
Leilanni and Paul, who had followed behind him, tried to calm him down.
“It’s okay now. You have her back,” Leilanni interjected.
“Right, bro. She’s back where she belongs. You don’t want to scare her by blowing up like this where she can see you.”
Daren nodded. “First thing in the morning we’re leaving. I’m going to get her as far away from this place as I can before her grandmother comes back.”
Placing her hand on his shoulder, Leilanni said, “You can’t do that. You can’t just take her away from the only person she’s ever known. That’s not fair.”
“Fair? Since when did that bitch care about fairness? We’re leaving. We can go tonight if we have to, but we’re leaving.”
***
Quite a distance across the forest, the air shimmered and Mato, in his bear form, tumbled from the distinct tear in the air. He hit the hard earth with a thud, looking up just in time to see the portal close.
The large bear shook the mixture of loose dirt and dry leaves from his black coat and then turned in a circle. He would not be able to smell Nita from this distance, he would have to depend on the pull … the knowing.
He had never seen anything such as the whirlpool that had teleported him into this forest. While inside, it had felt like only seconds, but he knew a considerable amount of time had passed. He also knew that he was far from where Nita was, but not far enough that he couldn’t find her.
He began
to run, staying in his bear form, since he was faster on four legs instead of two. As he ran, the forest blurred around him and his thoughts were lost in the way she felt in his arms, her smile, her scent.
He ran for miles, pushing back the fatigue and his ever-growing thirst. All the while, he considered the possibilities of magic. He knew his own sort of power, the power to shift from human into his true form. He also knew the magic of the shaman from his tribe. Others, not of his tribe, have called the shaman a witch doctor because he performs certain rituals and what some would consider to be spells.
Yes, Mato knew that magic existed, he had seen the work of his shaman and needed no more proof than that. However, this power was different, which brought forth the idea that different kinds of beings or races could have different kinds of magic.
It was an interesting thought and one he was sure he’d learn more about after he found Nita.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, a light breeze worked its way through the forest, gently fluttering the leaves on the trees. It was on this slight wind that he caught the scent he was looking for.
Nita.
Of course, he could smell the others who were with her, too, including the scent of a wolf. He had no idea if the animal was like him, or an actual non-shifting wolf. In either case, it could mean trouble.
The proof that she was close now was all the motivation he needed, he dug in and with a final burst of energy, he pushed onward toward the scent of his Nita.
***
While the girls faced their challenges with the wolf who was also a man, Goldalynn watched them from afar.
The crystal reflected a panoramic view of the vast forest. Goldalynn leaned back in her chair and ran her fingers through her long dark tresses. This was getting complicated, there were others in pursuit of her bears. If this old woman caught them and destroyed them, her chances for these particular bears would be lost. She could not allow it.
She pushed away from the table and rose from her chair. If they possessed the ability to travel from place to place, then there must be a way for another to do it as well. Goldalynn knew she was a woman of great power, that magic flowed through her veins the same as her blood did run, but she had never learned of such spells.
Her mother and aunts taught her healing, natural spells they drew from the earth. Her family had always been powerful, but after the brutal torture, hangings, and burnings of their descendants, it was decided the magic was best kept well hidden.
Also, she was intelligent enough to deduce other, equally important reasons for keeping the knowledge restricted. Magic was a drug, probably one of the worst, at that. Once you taste true power, the kind she had been casting, it became addictive. A magical high was one of the hardest to come down from and even afterward, you never forget how it felt to have the world and everything in it, at your fingertips.
For a brief moment, Goldalynn felt anger spike within her. How could her mother keep such things from her? She needed to know everything there was to know about spells and even dark magic.
The anger receded as quickly as it came, though. She knew her mother and her aunts only wanted her safe and the addictive qualities of the dark magic were far worse than what she had learned as a child. They kept the danger from her and she understood that.
Emotions all over the place, Goldalynn couldn’t help but struggle with her thoughts. It was difficult enough to be a woman … especially a witch of such caliber, but to be untaught and unpracticed at the same time ... there was too much she wasn’t shown or allowed to learn.
Shoving it all to the back of her mind, Goldalynn left her crystal sitting on the table and headed for her books. Somewhere, there would be a spell that would allow her to transport herself.
Goldie.
She paused, her hand drawing out the first large, leather bound book. That damn voice was back. Of all the voices in the world to work their way into her insanity, it had to be William’s.
“Shut up,” she told the voice aloud.
Where is my Goldie? This is not her.
“Shut up!” she screamed, yanking the book from its space on the shelf. “You are not real, merely a projection of my imagination,” she stated this last more to herself than the voice. Anything to convince her own mind to turn it off.
Hefting the book, she carried it over to a small wooden table in the corner. Before she opened it, she lifted her hand and pushed energy out from her body. The room was suddenly filled by the light of a dozen candles. The flames would help with her search, for they helped to focus the magic within her.
After hours of searching through that particular book and two others from the shelf, she sighed in frustration. The only good thing that had happened within the time she spent reading through the pages was that blasted voice hadn’t returned. She was indeed thankful, as the voice would have made it impossible to concentrate.
With an annoying ache beginning to settle in her shoulder muscles, she rose and headed back to the bookshelf. There, she stood staring at the many books and knew that it could take forever to search them all one at a time.
Unless … unless there was a seeking spell she could cast to find the book she was looking for. She ran back to the table and opened one of the books she had abandoned. She knew somewhere within the ancient pages she had seen a spell for finding something lost.
After reading over the spell, she hurried to gather what she needed, which was mostly herbs to be burned in order to clear the energy in the room. She set the smoking concoction on the table and left it there while she moved to stand in front of the bookshelf.
Hoping this would work, she lifted the hood of her cloak over her hair, closed her eyes and held her hands out, palms up. Only then did she begin to speak. “I have lost and now I seek. Bring back to this one what I need. Pages of magic, power and spells, ways of passage one will tell. Please seek and bring what I need, as I will, so mote it be.”
Goldalynn felt the warm breeze upon her face and opened her eyes. The candles fluttered, causing the light to vibrate against the walls of the room. She could feel the energy of magic fill the room, most of it emanating directly from her.
Suddenly, a book on the top shelf in the very corner of the room drew itself from its place among the other books. Slowly, the massive journal with a dark brown leather cover slid out and tumbled heavily to the floor.
The magic wilted, fading away as the breeze withdrew. Eagerly, Goldalynn rushed toward the shelves and knelt down to grasp the book. As her fingers lifted the solid cover with delicate pages, she glanced down and saw the title on the exposed page.
Spell for Transport.
She’d done it. This was the one.
For the next hour, Goldalynn spent her time studying the spell and gathering the items she needed. But, before she began, she needed to check the crystal again and see what her bears were up to.
It was much the same as when she had last looked, however, the old witch and the child were nearer to the girls than before. Also, she noticed something strange charging though the forest beyond the old witch.
It was the very same bear that she’d seen follow the girls into the water. Funny, it appeared he had been displaced from the rest of them and their portal must have dropped him a distance away.
She better hurry now, if she wanted to make it to her bears before the others. With that in mind, she lit a few more candles, brought an ember to the incense and stood before the open book, where she began the spell.
***
The next morning Leilanni jolted awake. In the distance she could hear the sound of Daren’s motorcycle engine speeding away. “Oh shit. Damn! Everyone, get up. They’re leaving!”
The girls, Butchy and Paul shot out of their makeshift beds on the floor looking around the room.
“Where did they go? Why would they leave like that?” Nita asked.
“He told us he was leaving last night. He must have been scared we’d argue with him about it,” Paul answered.
Butchy stared at Katya who seemed glued to the mirror over the fireplace. Her jaw dropped as a blood-curdling scream issued from her throat.
“What is it?” Butchy grabbed her by the arm. “What did you see?”
“It’s her. She’s coming.”
“Her who? Who’s coming, Katya?” Nita queried.
Katya’s face went white with fright. “Goldalynn is coming. Right now.”
“Nita, make a portal,” Butchy yelled.
The front door slammed open. Wind from some unknown source roared into the room, bringing with it dirt and debris.
“Nita!” Leilanni screamed.
“I’m trying,” she hollered over the thunderous wind.
A blast of dark magic hit the mirror over the fireplace shattering it into a million pieces just as the portal closed behind the group.
Chapter Thirteen
The group tumbled through the portal, landing in pile in a thickly grassed meadow.
“Get your foot out of my face, Paul,” Butchy ordered.
“Foot?” Katya’s muffled voice came from the bottom of the heap. “Get your big ass off me!”
Leilanni let out a colossal grunt and pushed her way through legs, arms, and torsos. Crawling to the side of the group, she lay flat on her back, gasping for air.
One by one they extricated themselves and followed her lead. Except for Katya. Up to this point, Katya had been the most docile and mild mannered of the girls, but something had changed drastically in her disposition. Her appearance was as wild as her behavior. Her auburn locks, matted and tousled from the journey, stuck out around her head like a great lion’s mane. The shoulder of her blouse was torn and streaked with soil.
Katya dropped to the ground kicking and pulling at her ankle length brown boots until one finally released her foot. She immediately threw the object with all of her might and began working on the other. As soon as it came loose she repeated the process.
The others watched quietly, unsure of what to say. When Katya stood and began tearing off her clothing, Nita finally spoke. “What are you doing?”
Beary Tales Page 13