The man complied, but the others were too distracted with the approaching attack to pay any attention. Nathan ran up clutching the rope he and Sarina had untied from the women and children and tied up the first archer. Andreas, using the sword again, forced the next man to drop his bow, motioning to Sarina to run over and collect the fallen bows and the next man’s sword.
Sarina had never held a sword before and she was surprised at its weight as she brandished it at the next archer Andreas had tackled. The man looked up to see Sarina standing over him, holding up a sword, a determined look on her face. He screamed. “The Orange Witch!”
This time the other men heard and they shot glances over their shoulders at Sarina holding the sword, instant fear jumping into their eyes, and they dropped their bows as one, holding their hands up in surrender.
The skirmish was all over in less than a few minutes and with the townsmen now surrounding the archers, Andreas leaned down and touched the nearest woman on the shoulder and pointed to the edge of the forest. She understood immediately, and picking herself up, ran to each of the other women and children, who were still prostrate and helped them up, sending them running to safety.
Tomas bounded up with his crossbow in hand, panting hard. “What now?”
“Protect Paolo, Sarina and Nathan and have some men tie up the remaining archers.” He glanced over at Makthryg and Valkrog, who on hearing the shouting, had urged the men still excavating to hurry. A mound of the material was now piled high in one spot. Eerie blue shadows were being cast all around them by the powerful light the substance was emitting.
Paolo had managed to slip away from the excavation and was running back towards them. Some of the men had started after him, but Makthryg called them back. He stood to look briefly at Andreas and the townsmen, before turning to Valkrog.
“Fools!” he spat, “they might have surprised us, but they are too late. Have the men bring the more concentrated Xtrium around to this point,” he indicated a spot in front of him, “while I begin the curse.” He looked at Valkrog and smiled. “Valkrog, our world will soon undergo a dramatic change. The fighting will shortly be over and they will be forced to bow to our new empire.”
He looked down at the spot in front of him, held his arms wide and began to chant.
Paolo arrived back, skidding to a halt in front of Nathan.
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Take a quick breath and be ready, Paolo, there’s no time to waste.” He held out his right hand and clasped Paolo’s, then looked over at Sarina, who was holding both hands out and walking to join them.
Sarina looked at them both. “Remember the plan. If we are to make this work, we mustn’t be distracted, no matter what is going on around us.” Her eyes flicked to the women running into the forest and then over to the log. “Ignore everything and concentrate your energy on the three of us, it will be easier this way.”
She marvelled at how swiftly she had become an experienced ‘witch’, but quickly casting the thought aside, caught herself. “Better take my own advice,” she muttered.
“What?” Nathan said.
“Nothing. How about you? Do you believe you can do it this time?”
Nathan snorted. “Have you forgotten whose idea this was? Come on, let’s show that stupid black chicken and his pathetic loony friend what we are really capable of!” He gripped Sarina and Paolo’s hands firmly and looked at them. “Ready?”
Paolo and Sarina nodded and all three took a deep breath.
A small spiral of white light sprang into existence at the exact centre of the triangle between them and began to rotate, slowly.
“Good,” Sarina said, “now let me work quickly.” She closed her eyes. On either side of the rotating spiral appeared two outlines, two ethereal-looking three-dimensional paintings, their centres beginning to fill with connected shapes.
“Is that right?” Sarina said, her eyes still closed.
“Looks great, Sarina, keep it going,” Nathan said, fixing his gaze on the rotating spiral and directing his concentration while she built the pictures. He risked a quick glance at Paolo, but he had his eyes closed and was focused, sweating.
Sarina concentrated harder, but the outlines shimmered and flickered out for a few seconds.
“What’s going on,” Nathan said, “they keep flickering in and out!”
“I think I’m trying too hard. Oh Nathan, I don’t think I can do it!”
“Yes you can. Remember your own advice, just relax and let the painting come.”
Sarina would have kicked herself had there not been a crisis underway. Of course! She had to relax, just like when she painted pictures at home and let them flow from her hand. But this time she would add the new feeling of power, newly-born from her first fight with the creature. She reached into herself and again found the now-growing core of strength; and grasped tight.
“OK,” she nodded, eyes closed and feeling confident, “watch this.”
The paintings reappeared, this time more solid, and in the middle of each were two complex structures, resembling giant three-dimensional gossamer-like snowflakes with energy lines pulsing up and down the lattices. They were different in texture. One was more spiky and ugly, where the other had a softer, compelling beauty.
“Perfect!” Nathan whistled in awe. With some difficulty, he broke his gaze and brought his focus back to the rotating spiral in between the two three-dimensional structures.
“Paolo?” Nathan called over in a low voice, not wanting to draw attention from Sarina’s efforts. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Paolo said in a low voice, channelling his rage at Makthryg and Valkrog.
“Then on three, everyone,” Nathan said. “One … two … three.”
The more spiky of the two structures flicked from white to an intense blue and a painfully loud buzzing hum erupted all around them. Nathan saw out of the corner of his eye Andreas clamp his hands to his ears in alarm and the men, who were still excavating, fall writhing to the floor.
In the distance Makthryg spun around, eyes blazing. “It’s no use,” he shouted at them, “I have the Xtrium already you fools!” He held up in his hands a brilliant glowing ball of blue material which he laid down onto a contraption in front of him. A giant sphere-like energy-ball materialised, enclosing him and Valkrog in its pulsating, spinning power.
“NOW!” Nathan shouted over the noise.
Sarina and Paolo both opened their eyes and all three focused on the white energy spiral, still rotating slowly. The spiral started to grow, both in size and in thickness, the light becoming stronger, flaring into the blue cast in the air.
The spiral’s rotation accelerated, and the noise became excruciating. Still holding hands, none of the three were able to shield their ears. Sarina tried unsuccessfully to shut out the noise and saw by the tension on Nathan and Paolo’s cheeks that they also had their teeth gritted against the pain.
Again the spiral expanded, its rotation increasing to a blur.
Sarina felt her energy failing rapidly. The spiral’s rapid expansion was sucking huge bites of it out of her, and with difficulty she braced herself to keep going.
“READY AGAIN?” Nathan yelled, barely able to see the others through the intense blaze of light between them.
“YES,” Paolo shouted.
Sarina took a deep breath and did her best to focus what remaining energy she had on the spiral. “READY!”
“GO!”
The blue spiky structure, which was immersed in the light on one side of the rotating spiral, softened in appearance. Gradually it took on the more gentle shapes of its almost-mirror-image cousin, which was barely visible on the opposite side of the spinning fury, buried in the spiral’s energy. It too was undergoing its own changes, slowly fading from its initial white to a more powerful, deep orange.
The three stood hand in hand, their attention focused between them. Instinctively, and as if connected as one, they all took in a deep lungful of air, not knowing they had each done the sam
e. When they let it out, the air changed and shimmered, disturbed.
The loud humming stepped up to a painful roar, its apparent source alternating between the three and the excavation site. Makthryg waved his arms and hands madly over the excavated material.
Sarina screamed.
“WHAT IS IT?” Nathan yelled.
“I CAN’T HOLD IT ANY MORE, IT’S EATING MY ENERGY!” Sarina dropped to her knees and the rotating spiral veered off-kilter as Nathan and Paolo gripped her hands and struggled to keep them joined together. “I CAN’T STAND UP … IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK.” She slumped further and the spiral began wobbling out of control.
Paolo edged towards her and, momentarily disconnecting from her hand, wrapped his arm around hers and gripped her hand again. He pulled her up with brute force, straining to keep both of them standing.
She screamed and buckled again, dragging them both down, the spiral now dangerously out of control.
“PAOLO, PULL HER UP AGAIN, I CAN’T HOLD IT!” Nathan shouted.
Paolo grunted with the effort of maintaining the plasma energy and pulled Sarina back up, beads of perspiration dripping down his face, which was red with strain. The spiral started to stabilise again.
“ALMOST THERE, PAOLO, KEEP HER UP. JUST A BIT LONGER,” Nathan shouted, looking at the structures in the air.
A massive thump swept through the air and both structures flickered in and out of view several times within the white blur. Then they were solid again—and identical; pulsing with a deep, orange power.
Valkrog turned to see the source of the disturbance and with his eyes blazing, extended his arm and shot a bolt of black crackling energy at them. Sarina, barely able to lift her head, released her grip from Paolo and raised her hand, deflecting the energy bolt and sending it back to the bird-man, where it struck him on the leg and he toppled to the floor screeching in pain. Sarina joined hands with Paolo again, sagging against him, almost expended.
“PAOLO, JUST HOLD HER UP FOR A FEW MORE SECONDS, IT’S WORKING!”
The white spiralling blaze of energy expanded and rose up into the air. The loud roar increased in pitch with it, until it was too much for Paolo, Sarina and Nathan to bear.
Valkrog, lying on the ground, raised his wing and shot one last weak bolt of energy at them and caught Paolo in the chest. He crashed to the ground unmoving, and let go of Sarina.
Sarina and Nathan fell to their knees, their hands flying up to their ears, their faces screwed up in pain with the noise.
The two structures blinked out the moment the connection broke, but the white blur of energy above them was now out of control and looking dangerous.
Sarina summoned the last of her energy and took one hand away from her ear, letting the intense noise in. She thrust her palm up towards the white blur and a massive bolt of crackling orange power shot from her hand and into the light.
The white blur of plasma blasted outward from its centre, hurtling away from all of them in equal directions and extinguishing into the dark as it left.
Sarina slumped onto her hands, exhausted. Silence fell and no-one moved.
~ 33 ~
Paolo
Makthryg was the first to move and erupted screaming in fury, jumping back and waving his hands at the mound of material, which had lost any trace of blue glow. He glanced down at his leg, which was bleeding and whipped around, his eyes staring at Sarina. He started running towards them, limping.
“What have you done? You have ruined everything!” His voice was rising in pitch with every word, as if he was about to explode. He raised his hands to start a curse.
Sarina pushed herself up, using whatever dregs of strength she had and, determined to stop the sorcerer, held up her palm and allowed a stream of orange light to bathe Makthryg.
Trapped by the energy, he slowed to a halt, as if he had run into a thick, jelly-like orange glue. He stopped still, a puzzled look frozen on his face.
He never saw the net thrown by Tomas, sending him to the floor.
Sarina dropped her hand, her energy spent.
Nathan looked at Sarina with admiration in his eyes. “You really are the Orange Witch!”
Sarina was still kneeling, her shoulders slumped and looking at her palm. Then she remembered.
“Paolo!” Sarina hauled herself up and staggered over to her friend, who lay motionless on his back. His mother was already by his side and holding Paolo’s hand. She was crying. Paolo’s eyes stared, unblinking and devoid of life. Sarina knelt and took his other hand. “Paolo, please come back! Paolo! Nathan, do something!” She looked through her tears at Paolo’s mother, unable to speak.
Nathan knelt down and placed his hand on Sarina’s shoulder. “Sarina. Breathe. Now be strong for a moment and listen. Do you remember what we did to that guy when we first arrived? And you checked his life force somehow?”
Sarina turned her tear-stained face to Nathan. “Yes. Do you think I should do that again?”
Nathan nodded.
She turned back to Paolo and, afraid to feel the truth, placed her fingers gently on his neck, then looked across at Paolo’s mother with hope in her eyes. “He’s alive! But it’s so faint—” she gasped and twisted around to Nathan. “Nathan, he’s leaving us! Quick, we need to do that energy thing again—” she looked at Nathan in panic, “But I don’t know if I have anything left to give.”
A new voice spoke, with a deep and comforting lilt. “I know my son. He has survived when many would not. But now he needs to feel my spirit and my healing. Can you help me reach him?”
She had stopped crying and was holding a clear gaze at Sarina. The sound of her voice alone was energising and soothing. Sarina understood now how Paolo’s heart must have ached at forgetting his mother’s face. She was taken by the woman’s obvious faith and nodded. “I will try. If it is humanly possible, we will do it.”
“Perhaps we can help too?” Andreas said, arriving with Tomas and kneeling to join them.
“Yes,” Nathan said, “but be quick and listen. Join hands with us and circle Paolo. You’ll see some energy glow from our hands but don’t let that alarm you, just stay connected whatever you do. Then close your eyes, breathe deeply and on the count of three, imagine him alive. Like you’ve never imagined before.”
“One moment, Nathan.” Sarina moved around to take Paolo’s mother’s hand in hers and then gestured for the rest of them to join them and complete the circle around Paolo.
“OK, Sarina,” Nathan said softly, “take it away.”
A faint green glow sprang into both Nathan and Sarina’s hands but nothing happened in anyone else’s.
“Please, you have to imagine him being alive!” Sarina pleaded.
“Everyone, close your eyes. Now breathe and feel your love for Paolo,” Nathan said, and gripped Sarina’s hand.
Unseen, the green glow brightened and now spread to Paolo’s mother, Andreas and Tomas, and formed a circle above Paolo.
“One … two … three.” As soon as Nathan finished counting, they took a deep breath and exhaled, sending shimmering lines of green energy towards Paolo, reaching him, exploring him, covering his motionless form until he was held completely in a sparkling robe of emerald light.
A few seconds passed, though to Sarina, it felt like forever. The warm hand she held in hers started passing something to her … it was delicate; like intertwined golden threads, stroking and soothing her soul. She felt goose-bumps on the back of her neck. The golden threads multiplied and entered the energy cocoon around Paolo, infusing it and pouring into him.
After a few more seconds, the energy waned and blinked out. They opened their eyes.
Sarina looked down at Paolo. “Did it work?” She leaned down and pressed her head against his chest. “Please, Paolo, come back.”
Paolo spluttered. “Where did I go? In any case, I’m back. What happened? Did we win?”
They all burst out laughing as Paolo sat up, looking at them with a dazed expression and rubbing his head.
He turned and saw his mother, still holding Sarina’s hand. “Mother!” He hugged her and pulled her tight. “I thought I wouldn’t recognise you. In my mind and in my dreams I could never see your face. I thought you were gone forever.”
She kissed his head, smiled, and looked at Sarina. “Thanks to Sarina, we are both alive and well. And speaking. One of the men told me you had restored Paolo’s voice and ears.” She released Paolo and took Sarina’s hand. Once again, Sarina felt the soothing eyes looking into hers. “My name is Eva. Thank you for saving my son. Though Lucio will never know his father, at least now he will grow up with a big brother to show him the man’s way.”
Sarina, lost for words, just smiled. With this woman as a mother, she couldn’t imagine Lucio or Paolo needing anyone else to show them the way.
“Eva.” Andreas broke the spell. “Though it’s an understatement, it’s good to see you again. And Paolo; yes, we won. Thanks to you and your friends.” His brow creased. “Where is Lucio anyway?”
“He ran with the others. He’s safe in the woods,” Eva said.
Andreas nodded and extended his arms, and pulled Sarina, Paolo and Nathan into an embrace.
“Thank you. It’s hard to believe we pulled it off.” He released them and looked at Sarina. “And you, Sarina. I have never met anyone so remarkable. We owe you our lives and I will be forever in your debt.”
Sarina blushed.
Andreas smiled at her and turned to Nathan.
“And you, Nathan. Your plan was well thought.”
Nathan grinned. “Actually I don’t think any one of us could have succeeded alone. Without you and the bravery of your men, we’d be roasted flesh by now.”
Sarina was clutching Eva and Paolo’s hands and beaming at Nathan.
“What?” Nathan said, suspicious.
“Did you hear what you said before? Of course only in the name of science, I expect.”
The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults) Page 22