Jim noticed Stripe’s action, and that he thrust Amelie and then Tania behind him to face away from the walls. He quickly moved up beside Stripe to scan the forest. ‘I think I know who it is,’ Jim reassured him. Shortly, a couple of figures tentatively came into view, clearly equally aware someone was already here.
‘Jim. Everything ok?’
‘Yes fine Freddie. Been acquiring more doe’s for our captive herd Natalya?’
‘Yes,’ she affirmed a little absently. The most enormous and daunting looking man she’d ever seen stood before them and entirely naked. Who the hell was he?
‘Go ahead and release those deer,’ Jim urged Dustin, spotting him with his arms wrapped around the neck of a deer. Johnny and Rupert were behind him and similarly encumbered. The men hastily and gratefully slipped past the strange man, through the gate to release their captives. Only then could they quickly return to warily observe what was going on here.
‘Natalya?’ Amelie called and realised her sister hadn’t noticed her tucked in the shadow of Stripe’s overwhelming presence. Hastily, she pulled the thin blanket off Daisy, glanced up to meet Stripe’s eyes before she wrapped the cloth about his hips.
‘Thank you,’ Stripe rumbled, only just remembering not to call her his queen. He watched her go to the other female and the pair wrapped their arms about each other. He noticed the pale haired female kept an eye on him warily and that the male she’d been closest to when they first appeared watched over them defensively.
‘She is your sister? A full-blooded sibling?’ Stripe asked privately.
‘Yes. We have not seen each other in many years,’ Amelie told him.
‘She is a fine queen, like you,’ he commented in approval. ‘Her mate is very defensive. I appear to cause all these males anxiety.’
‘It can hardly be surprising; you’re a stranger. And you don’t look entirely human,’ Amelie responded aloud.
‘That’s because I am not,’ he responded. ‘Tania, it is time to change. Tania,’ he growled warningly, noting her defiant stance, ‘you will do as you’re told.’
Tania hissed, aware every eye had just switched to her and were waiting. ‘I don’t know how.’
‘Yes you do, he told you, or were you not listening again?’
Suddenly Natalya shimmered, her clothes floating off and folding themselves as a huge tiger took her place. ‘Change form, or feel my teeth,’ Natalya growled, having heard from Amelie the problems they’d been having with this rebellious creature. She stalked the girl, her eyes fixed on her in a manner she knew very well tended to terrify. The sooner the child obeyed, the sooner the scarily powerful father would leave and they could all relax. She wanted to sit Amelie down and hear all about what had happened since they had parted, what had happened to their parents and of course to properly meet and hold her niece for the first time.
‘You wouldn’t dare bite me. My father would eat you,’ Tania cried.
‘He would not interfere with a queen disciplining a child, especially as he has come to us for exactly this purpose,’ Natalya told her and cuffed the child. She had sheathed her claws and checked the force of her blow, but Tania squealed in shock. ‘It’s about time you learned that disobedience has consequences. My sister hasn’t her usual strength right now to deal with you as she should. Daisy is her priority and takes her strength. You are old enough to know what you’re doing is wrong. You must consider how your actions are, and have affected, all those around you.’
‘But I want to stay here,’ Tania complained.
‘Right now your place is with your father. You are too young yet and have not earned the privilege of studying here,’ Natalya told her. ‘There is no place in the human world for those who will not obey their seniors or respect the rules governing all our lives.’ Natalya cuffed the girl again, aware she wore a mulish expression and was yet again attempting to talk her way out of obeying. Predatory creatures only respected the strong and Tania had been taking advantage of Amelie’s reduced strength. All Natalya’s protective instincts had welled up to defend her little sister. Amelie had failed to get through to her by talking; clearly a show of strength was the next recourse.
Tania glanced over at her father and realised his annoyance was not aimed at the tiger female, but at her. Amelie too, was not interfering, but seemed sad. A suddenly far harder slap knocked her sideways and she gaped at the tiger female in shock.
‘You weren’t even listening to me, were you?’
Tania whimpered and lowered her head in submission. Only her grandmother had ever demanded such unquestioning obedience and she now wondered if her own mother would have behaved the same as this too. She knelt as the lion had done and concentrated. She felt her body wrench itself into a different shape and then suddenly she was looking down on the tiger.
‘Good,’ Amelie said tonelessly. ‘When you want to visit humans again, you come here. It simply isn’t safe to go anywhere else. But the only way we will agree to take you in for anything more than a few hours is with your father’s approval. You will have to convince him that you have learned from your mistakes and are willing to learn and obey our human laws. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ Tania responded with as good a grace as she could muster.
‘Thank you, once again,’ Stripe said having gone to Amelie. He rubbed his cheek against hers and savoured the soft delicacy of sensation that this form’s skin bestowed. He met the other female’s gaze and she allowed him to press his face to hers in the same brief manner. ‘You are learning my scent little queen?’ he asked softly.
‘You are doing the same,’ Natalya responded and noticed his smile and his gaze drift over her. Damn, he obviously liked a strong willed female. Except where his children were concerned; they seemed to have him wrapped around their fingers, or whatever the equivalent was for a creature that didn’t have fingers! She noticed him glance at Freddie behind her and grin again, but that was definitely more a showing of teeth male to male, and impressive fangs he had too! She stepped back, but was a little surprised that Jim advised them to pull right back to the gateway.
‘You wish your cloth?’ Stripe asked Amelie before she could follow the others. He hid his satisfaction as she approached and again revealed her appreciation for his form. However, once she had untied the knot and bared him, she stopped looking at his body, keeping her eyes on his face alone. Why?
‘You’re too close to the trees,’ Amelie warned him suspecting he hadn’t noticed. He glanced round, and did indeed move further into the open. She backed away quickly and knew he waited until she was safely with the others before he knelt and his form blurred, shimmered and grew and grew. Stripe the dragon soon filled the available space. He gave them another long look before he leaped into the air. His massive wings took him aloft swiftly and they watched him go after Tania. Remarkably quickly they both had disappeared into the distance.
19. A Whopping Secret
‘Drako, I have something to show you, whenever’s convenient,’ Jim said, calling mentally. ‘It might be useful for your father to come as well.’
‘What is it?’
‘Come and see,’ Jim added and disengaged the contact.
‘Is something wrong?’ Freddie asked noticing Drako jerk in his swing-seat and then sit still, his expression turned inward. Freddie recognised the signs of a wizard making mental contact. Drako was now frowning, as he strode down the steps.
‘I hope not,’ Drako responded as Freddie joined him and they walked down the lane. ‘Jim has something to show me and thinks dad should be involved.’
‘Ah. Good.’
‘You know what this is about, don’t you?’ Drako said sharply, turning to eye his friend.
‘Probably. I don’t want to spoil the surprise though; if it’s what I think then it’s a whopper.’ Freddie was well aware of Drako’s scowl. ‘Perhaps Ebony and Darius ought to come too,’ Freddie added seriously.
‘Now you’re seriously worrying me,’ Drako admitted but F
reddie just shrugged and gestured for Drako to precede him. Yes, the sooner they found Darius and Trent down at the Hideaway, the sooner they could reach Jim and find out what was going on. He reached for Cassy in class and asked her to contact Ebony on his behalf, who was doubtless somewhere up at the school. She had essentially moved in with Max and he hardly saw her anymore, but she seemed happy and that was all that really mattered.
‘Do come in,’ Jim invited and smiled to find Drako had arrived exceedingly quickly and was accompanied by his father who was shifting impatiently from foot to foot. Darius and Ebony followed, with nervous curiosity on their faces. Freddie brought up the rear and it was clear he hadn’t said a word to any of his leaders.
‘What’s this about?’ Trent asked as soon as the door closed. He spared a glance for the aged opulence of this Head Master’s office and the young wizard taking centre stage behind a large official desk. Setting the scene was he?
‘Do sit down,’ Jim invited waving at the four armchairs grouped near the empty fireplace. Trent and the three siblings sat, leaving Freddie leaning against the door.
‘Thank you all for coming. I’ll get straight to the point. I called you here today because I rebuilt some old ruins I found on the grounds and accidentally reactivated something that has relevance to you.’
‘Reactivated what?’ Trent asked.
Jim noticed all were at the edge of their seats. ‘The building has carvings on it that I thought you might recognise,’ and he placed a sketch onto the coffee table in front of Trent.
Trent snatched up the sheet and his eyes widened. ‘What the hell?’
Darius grabbed the sheet next and a frown crinkled his brow. ‘Is that the ancient symbol for Féarmathuin?’
‘Yes it is!’ Trent said. ‘It’s on a building you say? Please, show us this place.’
Jim rose and headed for the door without further ado, everyone following swiftly on his heels. Jim strode through the house, passing through the glass house and outside, where he headed in the direction of the training ground. After a short distance he veered into the woods, following an almost invisible trail that must have been the original path and since been kept open by small animals.
‘Wait,’ he ordered as they stepped into the small glade right on his heels. He let them come abreast so they could see the shimmering opaque wall before them. He gestured quickly and the wall vanished with a pop.
‘What was that?’ Darius asked nervously.
‘A defensive barrier,’ Jim said simply and moved forward; silently indicating it was now safe to advance.
‘Is that a Portal?’ Drako asked breathlessly, glancing at Jim who nodded. ‘You were right Freddie; this is one whopper of a secret. How has it remained hidden all this time?’
‘It was smashed into unrecognisable rubble like most portals I’ve seen,’ Jim told them. ‘Someone expended a great deal of time and effort going around the country making them unusable. I’ve no idea when that happened and haven’t seen any mention of there being a Portal here in any of the records, so it must have been long ago.’
Trent stepped up onto the plinth to better see the engravings on the right-hand pillar. There was a small rumble and a whooshing sound as a blue-white watery vortex with a black centre, suddenly formed within the confines of the arch. Jim leaped forward and grabbed Trent in case he lost his balance or perhaps attempted to step through.
‘It works!’ Darius cried in astonished glee. ‘Our Portal home works!’
‘At this end it does,’ Jim said and drew Trent off the plinth so the tempting vortex closed. ‘Listen. As I was trying to say just now, many portals were deliberately made inoperable. I might have repaired it here, but we don’t know what has been done at the other end. You could be killed going through. It could come out in midair, as this one did, or have been bricked up or buried. Now, this one says it comes out in Féarmathuin, which I believe is your homeland?’ He noted Trent’s nod. ‘Do you know where the Portal was located on your lands? Was it in the open or in a building?’
‘The reason our Clan has historically had such close ties with this school was because of this Portal. We kept our Portal secure long after the desecrations elsewhere occurred, but we could not keep it safe at this end,’ Trent said. ‘Our Portal is inside Féarmathuin Castle itself. It’s in a locked room adjacent to the dungeons.’
‘What happened to your castle?’ Jim asked gently. ‘Was it taken over, or broken and abandoned?’
‘After the walls were breached with magic they tore it apart,’ Trent said bleakly. ‘They left nothing defensible for us to return to.’
‘You were attacked by wizards?’
‘Yes. For hundreds of years Féarmathuin Castle’s walls stood against a host of different armies, but everything changed when they sent wizards against us,’ Trent said and sat down heavily in the grass.
Jim sat with him, eager to hear what Trent would say. The fall of Féarmathuin Castle was an event spoken of in hushed tones even back home, but no one had known the details of what really happened.
‘You probably know that Clan Green Bear had become a politically important target as the last major independent animus power.’
Jim nodded. With their downfall, it was argued that the animus people elsewhere would be broken, the reason and will to fight beaten from them.
‘Well, in order to be assured of success in defeating an animus held castle, the King knew he needed wizard assistance. So, he approached the High Wizard’s conclave for help. The wizard put in charge of the negotiations at the time was a canny bastard by the name of Sir Cyril. In return for aiding the King, he negotiated for signed permissions allowing wizards to setup and self-govern their own guilds. To fulfil their end of the deal and achieve the independence that wizards had been working towards for years, all they need do was destroy Féarmathuin Castle, the Clan Green Bear stronghold.’
‘To accomplish that end the conclave entrusted the job to their most decorated Warrior Wizard, who happened to be Sir Cyril. With him they sent a troop of forty wizards as backup. Unfortunately, once Sir Cyril joined the King’s army, he and his wizards fell under the King’s cruel thumb. Undoubtedly the King changed the terms of the deal and Cyril was subsequently set on every town or city on their route North, quelling, crushing and defeating all opposition to the King’s new laws against animus. With the inevitable delays in taking control of the people en-route, it took them several months march to reach Northern Rosh and the Clan Green Bear lands. It did of course give us time to fortify the town and stockpile food and weapons. A large number of the vulnerable were evacuated, including the elderly, the injured or those with small children. Sent deep into the wilds into hiding, they would be safely away from any fighting. Whilst no one really expected the castle to be breached, since it had successfully defended us for generations, we were worried by the reports of those on their way to us and the trail of destruction they were leaving behind them. Ultimately, our walls proved they were not proof against wizards and unnatural forms of attack.’
‘A fierce battle raged for three days before we had to retreat from the field. The losses on both sides were appallingly heavy. The subsequent siege of Féarmathuin Castle came to an abrupt end once the wizard warriors could get close enough to use their spells on the castle walls. With the gates smashed open and the exterior walls of the castle itself breached, we realised they planned to bring the whole place down.’
‘How did you get away? This Portal must have been smashed long before that,’ Jim asked.
‘It was. We kept the room locked. If we could have used the Portal and come here, we would have saved a great many lives.’
‘You didn’t send your bird animus through then?’
‘What?’ Trent said, staring at Jim with a frown. ‘We thought the Portal was broken. Are you saying we could have used it?’
‘Only safely by those of you with wings. The Portals seem to come out in midair unless anchored by these arches. If you could fly, you’
d have been fine coming out this end. Amelie and I came through a broken Portal to this continent. She had to carry me down which wasn’t much fun for either of us! What the arches do is enable someone without wings to travel through at ground level and of course activate them in the first place.’
‘I didn’t know that. We don’t have that many with a flying form, but they could have carried children I suppose. Having said that our people would have been split up.’ He shrugged, it was all in the past now and none had known it was a possibility. ‘Fortunately, we did at least have a secret escape tunnel beneath the castle that came out on the other side of the hill. We had already begun sending people through before the town walls fell. We had built many traps and blockades within the town itself to slow the enemy’s advance, so lost few lives in the evacuation. I remember hearing an almighty crash and rumble, the very earth shaking as the last of us went into the secret passageways. We ran, fearing the roof would collapse any minute under the weight of the rubble and masonry we could hear tumbling down above us. Those tunnels saved hundreds of lives that day.’
He had gathered his remaining people together in the thick woodland by the tunnel exit, reassuring them as best he could. They had made some preparations for this eventuality by stockpiling travelling gear, tents, food and weapons. Unfortunately, their numbers made them conspicuous and their exit was not far from the castle. The enemy army was large and spread out with many trackers, lookouts and those simply out foraging for food. It was difficult to pass undetected. It was only in hindsight, having experienced being actively pursued by wizards, that he realised Sir Cyril had not flagged their escape route to the King. If he had then the King’s army would most certainly have run them down and destroyed them. As it was they managed to get away. From the outset they were harassed and driven, but only by common soldiers either tracking or spotting them by physical means. Sir Cyril had secretly granted them the only chance and indeed mercy he could.
Natalya: Wizards of White Haven Page 22