Crystal Beach (Crow Hill Book 1)

by Tom Larcombe

  There should be enough room here for me to change without destroying anything. This will do nicely. I'll wait until after I change to try to find game. My senses are much better that way.

  Rynn stripped off her clothes and tucked them into the bag. She removed several handfuls of metal scrap from it and tossed them into the clearing. Then the bag went into the cave she'd found. She covered the entry with a rock so small rodents couldn't get to her clothes; she'd learned that lesson the hard way in the past.

  The itching was non-stop now. She tried to resist, telling her body that it would be taken care of soon. Even so, she scratched as she made her way to the center of the open area.

  I guess dad was right, again, she thought. If you wait too long between changes and make heavy use of magic, it becomes really insistent.

  She had to force herself to release the spell that kept her from changing. That spell was in effect continually and she had to concentrate to release her hold on it. When she finally managed it, she closed her eyes. She'd tried keeping them open through the change before, but it was too disorienting.

  She opened her eyes again and her viewpoint was several feet higher than when she closed them. She could feel the additional power coursing through her veins and she was ravenously hungry. Her first action was to gulp down the handfuls of scrap metal she'd tossed onto the ground earlier.

  She cloaked herself in a concealment shield and took to the air, mildly amused when more than a hundred crows broke cover and flew in the opposite direction from the one she was taking.

  I should contact dad while I'm changed and have the extra power to do it. He might be worried. I need to hunt too, then maybe I can stay in my human form for a few months again. I hate this dual existence, why can't I just stay human?

  Rynn scanned for large game on the ground as she opened her mind and envisioned her father.

  Dad? she sent.

  It was a minute or more before she received a reply.

  Gudrun, is that you? came the reply.

  Dad!

  Sorry, is that you Rynn?

  Yes, I wanted to let you know that I was alright. I'm at the mine, or the cache. I'm not exactly sure what to call it. But Michael's the manager now and he's taken me and some of my students in.

  That smart boy from school a few decades back? How is he? When I didn't hear you talk about him for a few years, I thought you were on the outs with him.

  No dad, the Board had him warded away here, he couldn't leave the area. They also blocked off my memories of him, without my permission I might add.

  The only reply was a wave of anger.

  Dad?

  Sorry Rynn, if there's one thing I hate worse than the Board, it's wizards meddling with other people's minds. If I weren't already engaged in thwarting the Board, I'd put it on my list. High on my list.

  What are you doing? she sent.

  Do you know what other purpose, aside from educating wizards, the school was serving?

  No, they were doing something else?

  The Board was picking from the strongest wizards that had aggressive tendencies, recruiting them for an elite military unit. I'm introducing them to the fact that they aren't as excellent as they were led to believe, while preventing them from shipping out on the Board's orders.

  They formed a mercenary corps? Rynn asked.

  Oh, no. The Board is government funded, always was. The Wizard Corps is one of their black ops they don't talk about. I'm afraid that some of my own actions in the past convinced them that it was worth their time and money to create them. But now the Board is giving the orders themselves. They think the Wizard Corps belongs to them, not the military.

  Oh, I didn't know that either.

  They didn't want anyone to know it.

  Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I'm safe and tell you where I was, Rynn sent.

  It's good to hear from you Rynn. I'd love to chat longer, but your mom and I have our hands full with the Wizard Corps and trying to guide your youngest brother into something resembling stability. I've got to go.

  Bye dad.

  Rynn wasn't sure if her last message got through. Her father had cut the connection, evidently needing his attention for something else.

  A few minutes later she spotted a herd of deer. A quick scan of the area showed no sign of people, so she dropped into a power dive that ended with her crouched atop a, now deceased, doe. She tore into the deer while trying hard not to think about what she was doing.

  * * *

  Michael's head snapped up when a murder of crows came flying over the cliff, cawing excitedly. He stared at the section of sky they appeared from and, for a brief moment, thought he saw a shimmer, a large one, that looked like heat waves in the middle of the sky.

  The crows circled several times, then flew back to the other side of the cliff. He heard a familiar “Caw” and found Calvin sitting on the garden fence. The crow looked him in the eye and Michael was sure the following series of “Caws” were intended as an 'I told you so.'

  When it started to warm up, Michael and Jeff called it quits.

  “Did you want to go down and get your suits?” Michael asked. “Now would be a good time to do that, before it gets too hot.”

  “Sure, right after breakfast.”

  Michael groaned, he'd just remembered he'd be cooking breakfast for eleven people, including himself.

  I've got to get to Miriam's also, get some more eggs. Assuming I have anything she'd like to trade for. Heck, I wonder if she'd trade me some pullets? Maybe I could have my own chickens here. It can't be that hard to raise them and I'm sure she'd give me pointers if I asked.

  He and Jeff went into the house. He sighed with relief when he saw Anne at the stove.

  “You're cooking breakfast today?” he asked her.

  “We're all guests in your house, I figured the least I could do was help out where I could,” she replied.

  Michael exhaled loudly.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he said.

  Anne grinned at him.

  “Besides, I want to tease Bobby about making him breakfast without anything else happening first.”

  Michael laughed. Jeff groaned and ran out of the kitchen.

  “Oops,” Anne said, still grinning.

  “I think your son is a little weirded out seeing you like this,” Michael said. “But I'll tell you what, that smile looks a lot better on you than the expression I've seen you wearing ever since I met you.”

  Anne turned back to the stove, but not before Michael caught a twinkle in her eye.

  “I guess I'll go wake everybody up. Rynn isn't here and won't be for a day or two, so don't worry about cooking for her,” Michael said.

  He made the rounds and woke everyone up. They filtered into the kitchen where Anne handed them a bowl of oatmeal then directed them outside to the porch.

  The porch railing made a decent mini-table for holding a bowl and coffee mug. Michael ate his breakfast while staring at the garden. Each morning he'd noticed more glitter on the plants and soil and it was at the point where he'd swear he could see the plants grow just by sitting and watching them for an hour.

  That reminds me, I need to talk to Liz. Ask her to see if Gerry will talk to me. Try to get the little Fae to spread out to more than just my garden.

  After breakfast Michael talked to Liz. She said she'd ask as soon as she saw Gerry. Jeff took off on his bike, headed down for his house. Michael made a public invitation about going swimming in the lake that afternoon. There were people everywhere and Michael was still trying to decide if that was a good or a bad thing.

  Liz came over a few minutes later, munching on a strawberry.

  “Gerry says she'll talk to you over at the berries. She said she claimed that patch for herself to work on.”

  If they're separating up the different areas among themselves then there probably are enough to spread out some, he thought.

  He walked over to the strawberry patch. Gerry wa
s hovering over them in her small humanoid form.

  “Wizard, the child has asked me to speak with you.”

  “Yes, I had an idea. I just don't know if it would suit you or not.”

  “What is your idea?” Gerry asked.

  “I know that my garden and land are small. If there are many of you about, then you may be crowded.”

  Gerry nodded and gestured for Michael to continue.

  “There are others near this area, some with gardens, some with animals. I was wondering if the little Fae would be amenable to spreading themselves out some. Each able to claim a larger portion of land to work on.”

  “That would be a good thing, yet the land in other areas will not support us. It does not have the essence flowing through it that this area does.”

  “Essence?”

  “You call it magic. It is the essence of the land, and of the things that grow upon it. Other areas do not have it, but you do here. There is a crossroads of two deep rivers of the essence beneath this area.”

  “Rivers of essence. Do you mean that there are two ley lines that intersect beneath us here?”

  “That is what a human wizard would say, yes.”

  “How much of the essence is necessary for one of the little Fae to be comfortable?”

  “It varies among us,” Gerry said.

  “Would you wait here a moment, I'll be right back.”

  “This is my claim. I will be here.”

  Michael raced into the house and grabbed one of his charged sun crystals. He went back to the strawberry patch and showed it to Gerry.

  “Would one of these provide enough essence for a little Fae to live in comfort?”

  She buzzed down near the crystal.

  “It would be sufficient for at least one, possibly as many as three, depending on the individuals.”

  “Then, I would like to propose a way for the little Fae to spread out. I'll distribute these crystals to some areas. Instruct the people there to keep them in the sun and outside so the little Fae have access. Then, if there are any amenable, little Fae can move to those areas and do as they are here. Would that be possible?”

  “They would not need to keep them outside, we can enter wherever we wish. We are crowded here, there may be those who would accept the offer. I will ask. Do not, however, tell the people in those areas to expect us. They will not see us and we prefer it that way. We will only speak to those with a larger share of the essence.”

  “But you showed yourself to Liz,” Michael said.

  “The child was in danger. For her to achieve her potential she must live and be undamaged in spirit.”

  You're kidding me, Liz has a latent talent? I wonder if it's a Talent or wizardry?

  “Thank you for your time. I will attempt to place several of these today. Will your people need a way to get to them or can they find them on their own?”

  “We will find them if we choose to accept the offer. They are like the warm sun on an upturned face to us. We can follow them for a great distance.”

  Michael spent the morning running some errands. He took three of the four sun crystals he normally kept in the house and visited Father Anderson, Miriam, and Mr. McCallister. With Father Anderson, he told him that it was a gift for the father himself. That he should keep that crystal at his house for light. He emphasized that the Sheriff had a larger one coming for the church as well.

  At Miriam's he bartered the crystal for five dozen eggs. When he showed her what it did by taking it into a dark room, she clapped her hands with glee and offered him more than the five dozen he asked for. He arranged to have her hatch several chickens for him and keep them until they were old enough to survive his inexperienced handling of them.

  Michael let Mr. McCallister make his own offer. He ended up with a promise of three gallons of milk a week for the following two months in exchange for the crystal. Michael took the first three with him when he left.

  In the afternoon, he took the children swimming. Andrew, Bobby, and Anne all passed on the invitation. With his Water magic restored, Michael was the ultimate lifeguard. He couldn't resist making a few waves to splash the children and his laughter when they turned to him indignantly led to Cindy figuring out how to send a wave ten feet up the beach to get even with him.

  At the end of the day he was tired, in a good way. He hoped he was tired enough to sleep without fretting about Rynn. He wasn't, but he did get to sleep after only a half hour of worrying. The flashing of Fae lights in the back yard soothed him until he thought of nothing but sleep.

  * * *

  Once again Michael and Jeff were the first ones up. When it grew too warm for gardening, Michael approached the strawberry patch again.

  “Gerry? Are you here?” he asked.

  The little Fae flew up from beneath the leaves of a strawberry plant.

  “Yes.”

  “I was wondering what the decision on my offer was. If the little Fae approve, I can continue to make and distribute those crystals so that the area you can access is larger still.”

  “Many appreciated the offer and several went. More would go if given the opportunity.”

  “Then I shall do so. I'll let you know as I distribute more. Will there be more little Fae coming here?”

  “The little Fae can swim the rivers of essence so there may be more to come. The larger Fae must use other means so we have yet to see any of them. I imagine they are on their way.”

  Uh-oh, I don't recall mention of many of the larger Fae. I'll have to ask around, maybe dad or Bobby knows something about them.

  “I thank you then, for relaying my offer to the rest of the little Fae present.”

  Gerry nodded and dropped back into the plants.

  Michael returned to the house and claimed a cup of coffee. He sat on the porch, sipping it and wondering what to do with the rest of his day. Finally he called Andi out and they discussed Earth magic. He showed her how to send her consciousness into the soil and sort out what was there. He was distracted in the middle of the lesson when he saw Rynn approaching.

  “Sorry Andi, the rest will have to wait a bit.”

  “Why?” she asked, then she looked and saw Rynn.

  “Oh, never mind,” Andi said.

  Michael walked out to Rynn, who had a serious look on her face.

  “Are you okay Rynn?” he asked.

  “I'm fine, but we might have a problem,” she said.

  “What's that?”

  “There's a cluster of houses about forty miles east of here. I found them by following a smoke plume. They were all burning when I arrived and there was a large group of armed men close to them. It looks like they raided and looted the houses before burning them down. I don't know what else is around, but they may set their sights on Crystal Beach if the pickings are slim elsewhere.”

  Michael's hands fell to his sides. One of them bumped into the ring in his pocket. He thought for a moment, then grinned.

  I wonder if I can use the ring to tap into the twenty-five mile ward? I'm pretty sure that's how they were keeping me inside the area, by tuning the ward to the ring. If I can hack the ward, maybe I can set up some sort of alert system to warn us if raiders are coming towards town.

  "Maybe there's something we can do about that Rynn. I just had an idea..."

  * * *

  Continued in

  Crystal Cache

  Crow Hill #2

  Crystal Cache - Crow Hill #2

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  Other books by Tom Larcombe:

  Merlin's Awakening (An Untimely Error #1)

  Merlin's Travel
s (An Untimely Error #2)

  Merlin's Target (An Untimely Error #3)