‘Yes, this will work. We’ll need a ramp at the barn entry for carts, but it’s a small step and will be easy enough,’ Darius responded.
‘So, how do you want the upstairs laying out?’ Jim asked having followed them inside.
Darius pondered that for a few minutes. Now the shell of the building was taking shape, he had a better feel for what space would be available and how it could be configured to best suit his needs.
‘Show me what you have in mind,’ Jim asked holding out his hand.
‘With all due respect, I’d rather hold her hand,’ Darius responded, glancing at Natalya.
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Jim replied drily. ‘Go on then, show her so we all know what to do next.’
Natalya watched Darius come back to her and take her hand, his dark eyes intent on hers. She reached for his mind and found both his nervousness of letting any wizard in, his budding trust of her and then the plans he was considering. ‘That’s it Darius, I can see what you mean,’ she assured him, whilst listening to his revolving thoughts on what possible scenarios his people might be faced with that this building could cater for if planned thoroughly.
Darius followed her back outside, as did everyone, and over to the plans still sitting on the tree-stump. He watched in amazement as she stared at the existing drawing, rested her hand on the paper and suddenly the images began shifting and altering. The ground floor plan grew to detail the upper floor too. He stared as a three-dimensional model seemed to sprout from the paper, complete with roof. As he stared at different areas at a time, the view altered until he felt he stood inside the model looking around and able to see details. Natalya had taken his hand while he viewed the model and now, as he thought of alterations, he found she was making them happen for him. Now this was teamwork! He finally stepped back and watched as the other wizards had a look at the plans and discussed modifications. Drako had some suggestions too until finally they all agreed it was as thought-through for secrecy, defence and also usability as a charcoal maker’s home, as it was possible to be. He caught a familiar scent and glanced round; Freddie stood watching and probably had been there for quite some time as was his custom.
‘How did Freddie get so lucky?’ Darius asked Jason quietly, having returned to their log seat out of the way of the wizards gathered about the plans.
‘Her nature is alpha wolf,’ Jason told him with a shrug, unsurprised Darius would be interested; he was a man and had eyes. He was also single. ‘I think he and Jim saved her from an inquisitor squad.’
‘Inquisitor squad? She’s a wizard.’
‘Her memory had been blocked, along with most of her magic,’ Jason told him. ‘She thought and appeared to everyone, as an animus only.’
‘Who could have done that?’
‘Her mother, from what I understand. They were arrested and separated years ago when she was a child. She thinks her mother did it to protect her, although from what I have no idea.’
‘That’s an intriguing question. I assume her mother was on the wrong side then?’
‘Probably. I know Natalya’s father was animus and the family were punished for it.’
‘Yet she has chosen an animus man herself?’ Darius mused thoughtfully. ‘Clearly not all wizards share the same dislike for our kind.’
‘Of course not,’ Jason told him. ‘Jim is reaching and influencing a new generation of wizards through this school and he has Lord Aubrey’s backing for it.’
‘I just hope times are truly changing for the better and that this is not a completely isolated island of goodwill that will make us drop our defences.’
‘That is always a risk, I suppose,’ Jason conceded. ‘But there is hope for a brighter and saner future.’
‘Yes, one must keep that hope,’ Darius admitted. ‘Ah, looks like she wants us back. Hello Freddie. Are you joining us?’
‘Yes. More help lightens the load for all of us and will speed things along,’ Freddie explained.
‘Exactly,’ Natalya confirmed and took Darius’s hand again, placed Jason’s hand back on her shoulder leaving Freddie to make contact where he would. Feeling all three men’s strength flowing into her she nodded to Cassy and they worked together, meshing the timber to interlock with the sides making a strong uniform rear wall to cottage and barn.
‘We’ll do the crossbeams and staircase if you can make a start on flooring it over,’ Jim instructed Natalya.
‘No problem,’ Natalya affirmed accepting his image of how to go about the construction. She grinned then as the planks flew out of the wagon under her prompting, aligning themselves neatly to affix to the crossbeams as soon as Jim had each in place. She was aware Jim’s team was working quickly to keep ahead of her, but they were in theory the stronger team with three wizards. She slowed to work out where the staircase would come up through the floor and thus where she needed to make an appropriate sized hole which needed to be reinforced around the edges. Then before Jim managed to build to the top of the stairs, she had already created railings to box the hole on three sides. Then she released her team for a few minutes rest to allow the other team to catch up.
‘Everyone ok?’ Natalya asked her team.
‘Were you racing Jim’s team?’ Darius asked.
‘Just proving who has the stronger team,’ she admitted grinning mischievously.
He threw back his head and gave a short bark of laughter. He accepted the small sandwich she passed to each of them, his eyes twinkling as he ate, willingly refuelling his strength for her. Soon they were ready to go again to build the next section.
Every increment represented far greater progress than a team would be able to achieve building manually. At last, late on in the afternoon, they stood back and eyed a completed building with a huge amount of satisfaction. The portal was concealed and a lockable door aided security in both directions. Now all they needed to do was move someone in to take the lead role in the charcoal maker’s business. They would need to build a kiln, but that was not something that was a security risk if someone witnessed it. The clan could clear the tree stumps properly from the new avenue in a time scale that suited them, all whilst able to come and go openly. Everyone agreed this was a very successful and important build and marked a milestone, in practical terms, towards rebuilding Féarmathuin castle.
28. Féarmathuin Castle
Darius warily stepped through the portal into the dark echoing room. The portal gave off a pool of light reaching to the first few feet into the room, but didn’t really illuminate much farther. He held up his lantern high to better light the room and released his breath that they were alone and all seemed undisturbed.
He quickly stepped off the plinth, making space for his team to follow him into the room. His men gathered around behind him, gazing about them in awe. The marble tiled floor remained cracked in places, but its beauty was no longer marred by rubble. The portal seemed to create a breeze, his men’s torches flickered wildly, the flames threatening hair or clothing.
‘Leave the torches here for the moment,’ he instructed gesturing at some brackets meant for the purpose set at points around the walls. Once the last person stepped off the plinth, the shimmering watery look of the portal vanished, which would have plunged them into darkness. With clear torchlight however the huge empty underground room was lit clearly enough for the frescoes crowded on the walls to draw everyone’s attention. Scenes of the castle, the town below and various animus animals in relaxed poses in forested scenes, adorned the walls. There were also scenes of battle from the Clan’s warrior past, but most reflected the Clan’s serenity in the natural beauty of their home. Darius let the men have a good look, taking time to view others he had not had time to look at in his last visit. It did everyone good to have this reminder of what they were working to regain.
‘Set everything over there, clear of the portal entry,’ he instructed and watched as the men reactivated the portal to fetch wheelbarrows stacked with tools and bring them through, followed by a couple o
f handcarts heavily laden with timber. ‘Ok, let’s go and make sure no-one’s upstairs.’
Now unencumbered, the men drew their weapons and watched as he unlocked the impressively engineered mechanism. The trapdoor at the top of the steps silently opened. Darius had decided to wait for dusk to revisit. His animus had good night vision, appreciably better than the average wizard. They could move around easily whilst wizards, especially insecure ones, would be revealing their positions by surrounding themselves in light. He was glad he had thought to bring the glass sided lantern however, because it had useful shuttered sides to dim or even cut off the light it shed when necessary. The last thing anyone needed was to flag their presence through a careless splash of light, but they did need something to navigate the underground corridors.
He left the faintly glowing shuttered lantern at the top of the trapdoor so if they had to get back in a hurry it was usefully marked for his people. In complete silence they moved on. The corridor had been full to the ceiling with debris last time; it was amazing what the wizards had accomplished. Their feet crunched a little on a layer of grit, but they were careful to keep sound to a minimum. Each was listening carefully for any signs of life. He had the men check that the two storerooms on this level were empty of life before moving on up the stairs. The main hall too was empty, to everyone’s relief.
‘Go up and check the coast is clear,’ he whispered and watched Paul shimmer into his falcon and fly up through holes in the ceiling and up to a narrow window ledge. As this room was part of the original keep’s tower, it would originally have been topped by another two floors giving access to the rooftop battlements. When the roof caved in, it took much of the upper floors with it. Jim had repaired the roof, but not the other floors; there had been insufficient good timber left. He idly wondered if that top floor might be a sensible place to repair. It would give anyone staying here a safe place to sleep, or indeed hide, whilst overlooking any breaches to the hall and their exit to the portal. Humans and wizards rarely looked up and a retractable rope ladder would be a simple and silent way of providing security. Before they could consider risking repairs that would necessitate hammering and sawing, they first needed to make sure no enemies lurked within earshot.
He quietly unbarred the large hall door and slowly opened it onto the room beyond. The original narrow defensive room fronting the hall remained a latticework of gaping holes, which had penetrated right through into the main hall prior to Jim’s repairs. Now only the outer skin remained broken. Through the holes, the men peered outside, now able to check with their noses too, for anyone lurking. The tower sat on a steep slope, with buildings flanking this entry to the yard. Behind and adjoining the tower were the main living quarters which had taken sufficient damage to be unreachable from the tower room. They would have to go around to check it all out. Finding no-one they warily stepped outside. Darius examined the tower exterior and realised that the repairs that the wizards had made were not visible. The damage on the outside was good camouflage.
‘Spread out,’ he whispered, ‘I need to know where, and how badly, the upper perimeter wall has been breached. I shall be at the gates.’ He gestured instructions to Paul and the falcon hopped up to the highest point of the battlements to keep watch for everyone. Because Féarmathuin Castle sat atop a crag, the tower was actually relatively short at two stories. The living quarters were in two wings flanking the tower near the edge of a sheer cliff inaccessible to anyone unable to fly. The lower section of castle continued the walled two wings, which followed the steep slope down. The wings walled in the upper castle from the cliff face and then linked up with the walls defending the lower castle below. In the lower castle, they served the dual purpose that a double wall was defensively stronger than a single one and the space between them could accommodate stables, barracks, the smithy, granary and all manner of other uses in the long thin space. The wings were separated from the living quarters by rooms reinforced with rubble. These defences remained intact he was pleased to note. In fact, both wings were undamaged. However, what drew the eye was the fact that the gates themselves had suffered major damage. The towers flanking the main gates had been toppled, partially reduced to rubble leaving nothing left to attach new gates to. Given their prominent position it would be impossible to replace them without someone noticing.
He eyed the huge pile of strewn rubble; clambering over would be difficult so he absently turned to pass through a hole nearby to view the damage from the outside; it seemed even worse! As he stood assessing the destruction, he abruptly realised why the wall adjacent to the gates had a big hole. The attackers had made such a thorough job of destroying the gate defences, that they had actually created a serious obstacle for themselves!
He carefully scented the breeze sweeping up the hill from the remains of the small town, but nothing human came to him and he relaxed again. He wasn’t entirely surprised that the town itself had fallen. When word came to them of attacks and abductions on innocent animus people, including women and children, everyone was shocked and appalled. No appeals were granted, instead, anyone coming forward to complain just disappeared too, all in the crown’s name. Lord Trent gave orders to secure the town immediately and everyone pulled together to do so. They had successfully built a wooden palisade, enclosing the town just in time. Those defences successfully rebuffed many attacks by small bands of zealots trying to take them down to earn favour with the crown. Their walls and fighting men repelled attacks for over six years. However, they could not stop a serious army and they could only watch as inevitably an army raised by the king himself drew closer and closer to their remote county. Palisades could be built and repaired quickly but they always succumbed to fire, especially if the defenders were unable to quench those fires promptly. The town had been enclosed, which slowed down the advance, but could not prevent them coming through. It served its purpose however in disguising the fact that the majority of the townsfolk had fled before they’d even arrived. Scouts had reported the presence of a contingent of wizards in the army led by the high ranking warrior wizard Sir Cyril. With that knowledge, the people were urged to flee in good time. Rumours had preceded the army’s advance that wizards in one of the king’s other armies had not simply defeated, but gone out of their way to crush another animus strongholds. They had kept captured animus on hand, using them to recharge their magic. Sucking someone’s magic did not have to kill the donor. Yet everyone heard of the callous way those wizards had acted, fatally draining the animus captives in the process. Fatal magic theft was illegal, but clearly, those wizards had no respect for how their foes died. They only cared that they could refuel themselves to continue their destructive path, and discarded animus people with as little regard as a food wrapper. At Féarmathuin, everyone was forewarned of that risk and it was why exceedingly few animus were captured. Aside from dying, no-one wanted to aid wizards in destroying their homes.
Once his team had re-joined him, he set the best draughtsman to sketching what remained of the gate towers and also the two holes the others on his team had found. Meanwhile, Darius led the rest of them into the town. Firstly they were checking out the extent of the destruction and secondly, checking for anything dangerous in the way of people, animals or indeed traps. They also piled up any portable pieces of metal or discarded weapons they came across to take back to Bruce for recycling.
The sooner he knew exactly what obstacles they faced, the sooner he could determine the best course of action necessary to regain control. Scouts would need to be sent out to search the surrounding countryside. Once he’d gathered intelligence on how far away and the extent of the nearest threat, he could keep watch on it and take appropriate steps. He liked the idea of rebuilding the castle’s defences in secret, with the hope that by the time they were noticed, they could rebuff an attack. Working stealthily and camouflaging their repairs was going to be critical to their success.
There was undoubtedly a great deal of work to do here, but he had been given an opp
ortunity he never expected and he was determined not to squander it. He would not fail.
29. Nathaniel
Several weeks had passed since Natalya had started lessons and she was comfortably in the school routine and settled into her class. She couldn’t remember ever being happier. Only those with the will or ability to excel were welcome in the elite warrior class. She had won the respect of her peers and been accepted.
Despite being the only woman in the class, Natalya usually managed to hold her own, even in the physical disciplines. No one was equally good at all the different forms, whether target practice, fighting or cavalry. At the end of each month they were tested and graded in each discipline. Their results were posted on the big pin board in the armoury and were the subject of much competitiveness and crowing.
Natalya was steadily rising in proficiency with sword and archery. Wrestling and axe fighting successfully against a man were beyond her however. She simply didn’t have a man’s strength; particularly against an animus warrior. Having said that, within the contact fighting disciplines she was making progress on the assassin martial art skills. This was where accuracy, stealth, nimbleness and speed were more important than brute strength.
‘You’re catching up with me,’ Jason commented, as they gathered to watch Bruno allotting new scores against their names with his coloured pins.
‘I’ve gone up a grade in archery?’ Natalya whispered in pleased surprise seeing Bruno move her pin over into the next column.
‘Yes. Well done,’ Jason added, then fell silent as Bruno moved on to his own line on the board. He turned to see if Natalya had noticed his own increased grade and went still.
‘Natalya? What is it?’ he asked urgently. She stood turned away with her fist against her mouth and her eyes wide.
Natalya: Wizards of White Haven Page 33