Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders

by Princess Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian

  “You’re a genius, you know that?” said Tara enthusiastically. “Gallant—of course! What an idiot I am! I didn’t think of it. He’s very strong. When we went flying at Travia he could carry me for hours without getting tired. I’m sure he can save us at least a day.”

  She turned to her familiar. “Do you understand, Gallant? Can you do it?” He mentally assured her that there was no problem, and she immediately restored him to his normal size.

  “Take Robin and Manitou first,” Tara suggested. “Fly into the mountains and then come back to get us. That’s about half the distance we have to cover.”

  Robin tried to protest, arguing that he should stay behind to protect the others. But he gave in when Sparrow flexed her impressive muscles and displayed her claws and fangs. In terms of taking care of the others, she was a lot more powerful than he was.

  Between her fear and the cold, Tara’s teeth started chattering in spite of her fur cape and boots. Some cursing nearby informed her that Cal, Fabrice, and Angelica were no better off. Only Fafnir and Sparrow didn’t seem uncomfortable. The first because cold weather didn’t bother her, the second because she hadn’t shape-shifted back and was wearing her personal fur coat.

  Fabrice, who felt he had banged his head a half million times, grumbled that OtherWorld woodcutters really weren’t doing their job. How could they leave so many low branches on the trees?

  At last they emerged from the forest and saw the plain stretching ahead of them, and the foothills of mountains in the distance. Beyond the mountains lay a second plain and the Swamps of Desolation. After some time, they emerged from the forest. Now that they were out of the trees, they could walk all together instead of single file.

  “Do think that those chatrixes were the only ones to track us?” asked Sparrow, nervously glancing back at the forest.

  Cal shifted his pack, whose straps were cutting into his shoulders. “I think those three must have sensed our presence and dug down into the tunnel. If the rest of the pack had followed, there wouldn’t be anything left of us but gnawed bones.”

  Angelica shuddered. “What if the others catch our scent and hunt us down? We wouldn’t stand a chance! Let me go back to the Fortress, I’m begging you. I swear I won’t say a word to anyone!”

  “That’s not the problem, Angelica,” answered Tara dryly. “We can’t accompany you, and if you’re alone you’ll be easy prey for chatrixes and any other wild animal. Best to stay with us.”

  “It’s your fault.” The tall girl’s tone wasn’t even aggressive, just a weary restatement of a reality she continued to endure. “It’s because of you that I’m here!”

  “Excuse me!” corrected Fafnir. “You should say it’s thanks to her that you’re here. I would have never taken you if she hadn’t forced my hand, believe me.”

  “Because of her,” Angelica insisted. “Normally I’d be in Omois now, chatting with people of refinement if that infernal Bloodgrave hadn’t decided he absolutely had to add Tara Duncan to his personal collection!”

  “Well you sure didn’t stand any chance of being chosen yourself,” muttered Cal.

  “What?” she screeched. “I’m just as valuable as that little twit, and if the Bloodgrave master had realized it, he would’ve kidnapped me too.”

  “So what are you complaining about?” asked Fafnir.

  Angelica opened her mouth . . . then closed it.

  Cal burst out laughing.

  They went on in silence. Angelica sulked, Fafnir pumped along on her short legs—which were plenty long enough, since Cal and Tara had trouble keeping up—and Sparrow spent her time sniffing in every direction like a sort of gigantic, very hairy wolf. She did a passable imitation of Tom Thumb’s evil ogre: “ . . . I smell fresh meat! I smell . . . I smell prey nearby.”

  It made Tara shudder.

  They continued walking, trying to make good time. Tara had just begun to worry about Robin, Manitou, and Gallant when a shadow passed overhead. The handsome pegasus landed lightly near her, and lowered his head to get Tara to scratch him between the ears.

  As she petted him, he sent her images of Robin and Manitou comfortably settled in a cave. The dog was doing well, in spite of the chatrix poison. Robin thought that the spell that made him immortal—though in the body of a dog—was probably helping him fight it. The fact that he was still alive two hours after being bitten supported his theory.

  “Fafnir, you’ll be the next rider,” Tara ordered. “I’m sure Robin will be standing guard. You can take over and tell him to get some sleep. Then when Cal arrives, you can go to sleep, and so on. We should each try to get at least four hours’ sleep before we set out again.”

  “I don’t need to sleep,” the dwarf grumbled. “You think I’m some sort of sissy?”

  Man! Is she ever touchy! thought Tara.

  “Not at all,” she answered diplomatically, “but you must have worked very hard to dig the rest of the tunnel. We don’t know what we’ll be facing in the swamps. Don’t you think it would be smart if you got a little rest?”

  “Well, maybe, yeah. I’ll see when I get there. Let’s go.”

  “Perfect. What about you?” she asked Gallant tenderly. “Not too tired?”

  He mentally sent her images of a pegasus prancing around, and she smiled. He had a very personal way of telling her that all was well.

  Gallant’s brief euphoria lasted only until Fafnir climbed on his back, after telling the others which direction to take. Surprised by her weight, he staggered and grimaced. And his takeoff was distinctly less graceful than usual, especially since Fafnir gripped his mane like a drowning man clutching at a straw. Like all dwarves, she hated being up in the air. The pegasus urgently informed Tara that he wanted to keep his mane intact until the end of the trip.

  “Fafnir, don’t pull his mane out!” she yelled. “You don’t need to hang on like that. He won’t let you fall!”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” answered the dwarf. But she relaxed her iron grip a little, and Gallant sighed with relief. A moment later they had vanished into the night, and Tara got going again, lighting her way with the candle lantern that Fafnir had left her.

  Gallant soon returned and continued ferrying them one after another. As the night imperceptibly began to lighten, Tara found herself alone with Sparrow, who said something that rattled her.

  “I’m hungry!”

  “Can’t you wait? We’ll be at the cave soon.”

  “Nah, I’m hungry now! Beast metabolism is faster, it burns more calories. I need protein.”

  “Well, all right. You want some bread? I think I have a little cheese too. The dried meat went with Cal.”

  “Bread? Cheese? Are you kidding? Protein means meat. I need meat!”

  “Really? Well, there’s not much I can do for you.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll manage. See you later.”

  So Tara suddenly found herself alone in the middle of the prairie, and still in darkness. It was already six o’clock, but the sun had apparently decided to sleep in, which didn’t make things easy. The thick clouds covering the sky probably had something to do with it. Tara hoped it wouldn’t start raining on top of everything. Whistling bravely, and holding the candle lantern high so Sparrow wouldn’t mistake her for something edible, she kept going.

  Suddenly an enormous shadow appeared and held out a chunk of bloody meat under her nose.

  “Want some?”

  Well, one animal must’ve gotten up too early this morning.

  “Yuck!” Tara exclaimed. “That’s sweet of you, Sparrow, but I’m really not very hungry. And you know, I really like it better when the stuff I eat is cooked. Right now, I’m thinking croissants, butter, jam, and hot chocolate. But go ahead, enjoy yourself!”

  Sparrow promptly wolfed the meat down in two bites. With a sigh of relief, she started licking herself clean, like a cat—a very big cat.

  The sun finally decided it was time to get to work, and put in a timid appearan
ce. The prairie changed, and Tara was startled to see that the grass wasn’t green, as she’d expected, but blue. A few trees, outliers from the forest behind them, dotted the gentle rises. The grass was very thick and tall, and Tara was shaken to realize that any animal could have attacked them earlier. She guessed there could’ve been any number of predators in the grass, like lions, leopards, hyenas, and other beasts, exactly like on Earth. Where there were herbivores—like the one that ended up in Sparrow’s stomach— there had to be carnivores. Tara decided to walk a little closer to her own personal carnivore, who was calmly striding along on her powerful legs.

  Gallant finally appeared, and Tara was relieved to climb on his back.

  “See you later!” she yelled to Sparrow. “I’ll send Gallant back for you.”

  “Don’t bother,” answered Sparrow, waving a giant paw.

  “What do you mean?” asked Tara, feeling suddenly very concerned. Was Sparrow planning to abandon them?

  Her friend answered by suddenly speeding up, and galloping hell for leather. Caught by surprise, Gallant whinnied a challenge, and Sparrow roared her answer. Bounding along, she was able to go as fast as he was.

  Very impressed, Tara figured they would save a lot of time, because Sparrow seemed able to keep up the pace. The pegasus wanted to go faster, but Tara prevented him.

  “This isn’t a game, for heaven’s sake!” she yelled, feeling Gallant flex his powerful muscles. “I don’t want you racing! Just stay even with her, and show her the way to go.”

  Gallant slowed down a little, and then speeded up again very gradually so she wouldn’t notice. He was bucking a headwind, and the Beast was gaining on him, to his fury. He dove to get out of the wind and started flying along next to her. Making such powerful leaps, Sparrow almost seemed to be flying by his side.

  Suddenly Tara felt a kind of shudder, as if someone was spying on her. It froze her blood. The last time she had experienced that, a Bloodgrave was tracking her. She had Gallant dive to the ground. He had barely landed when she made him lie down under the only grove of trees in sight. She absolutely did not want to use her magic. Sparrow, who hadn’t noticed anything, was already far ahead of them.

  Tara and Gallant had just taken cover when she felt a quivering of the air. A wavering image of a Bloodgrave appeared in the sky, studying the blue prairie. He seemed to be scrutinizing the terrain with terrible acuity. She held her breath, and Gallant didn’t move a feather. The Bloodgrave seemed to stay forever. Having noticed nothing, he finally disappeared. Gallant was about to stand up, but Tara stopped him.

  “No,” she whispered. “Wait.”

  It was a wise decision, because the image appeared again. Apparently seeing that nothing had changed, it disappeared again, this time for good.

  Tara waited for several long minutes more, just to be on the safe side.

  Suddenly she screamed. A pair of huge jaws full of fangs had just appeared in front of her, ready to tear her to pieces.

  “What’s going on here?” asked Sparrow, who had come back to see.

  “What’s going on,” answered Tara, spitting out the grass she’d practically swallowed, “is that the Bloodgraves are searching for us, and they very nearly spotted us!”

  “Yikes! So what do we do?”

  “We get the heck out of here. Gallant and I are going to fly very low, so please don’t bump into us.”

  If Gallant was afraid, he didn’t show it. And no sooner was Tara on his back than he resumed his race against Sparrow.

  The pegasus and the Beast reached the cave within two minutes of each other, with the pegasus in the lead, to his great joy. He was so tired that he only ate a few handfuls of oats and fell asleep right where he was. Sparrow, equally exhausted from her efforts, promptly followed suit.

  Cal, Robin, Fabrice, and Fafnir were all asleep too. Angelica was crankily standing watch and vaguely keeping an eye on Manitou. The dog was dozing and groaning.

  Tara collapsed on the fine sand of the cave floor. The shelter they had found was perfect. The small stream that had carved the cave furnished them with clear water. Robin had dug a pit and lit a fire, which warmed them without being visible from afar. And they were protected from the rain, which started falling just after Sparrow came in. The Bloodgraves wouldn’t find them here.

  Tara forced herself to eat a little bread and cheese, then closed her eyes. Feeling cold, she huddled against Gallant, who wrapped a wing around her. Enveloped in the pegasus’s warmth, she fell into a deep sleep.

  She felt she had only slept a few minutes when Robin came to shake her. The feeling was obviously shared by her companions, because she could hear a lot of grumbling. They ate in silence, barely awake. Outside, the rain fell with a discouraging steadiness and the day remained dark. Only the dwarf, who could see her goal approaching with every step, was in a good mood.

  “Thanks to your pegasus we’ve saved almost a day and a half of walking,” said Fafnir. “It’s only a few more hours to the Swamps of Desolation. I suggest I go on ahead, because I can run for hours. Gallant is too tired to ferry us back and forth the way he did yesterday. If you leave right after me, you’ll get there in about five hours, at your pace. That will leave me time to find the black roses and maybe even to extract the juice. Does that suit you?”

  “It’s fine with me,” said Tara. “Go ahead, but be careful. And if something attacks you, for pity’s sake don’t hesitate to use magic so we can immediately come help you. Okay?”

  The dwarf hefted her axe and flashed an evil grin. “Anybody who attacks me will have to deal with Jewel. So don’t worry.”

  “Actually, I am worried. Promise me that if you’re in trouble, you won’t be stubborn. Call us. I’d rather get caught by the Bloodgraves than risk a friend’s life.”

  Fafnir wrinkled her beautiful eyes. “I promise,” she said huskily. “And you be careful too, my friend. See you later.”

  It didn’t take her long to disappear.

  “Ow! I’m sore all over!” said Cal, as he stretched.

  “Me too,” said Angelica, agreeing with Cal for once. Then she added casually, “You could leave me in the cave, you know. I’m in no danger here. I’m out of the cold, and if you leave me some food I can hold out until you come back with help.”

  “Listen Angelica, you don’t know anything about chatrixes,” said Robin seriously. “It’s daylight, so we’re in no danger for the time being. But I don’t for a second think we’re safe here. Unless a Bloodgrave comes along to hold them back, they’d swallow you in one bite. So don’t kid yourself. You’re coming with us.”

  Angelica glared at him in fury, then looked away.

  Sparrow caught the tall girl’s look and decided to keep a close eye on her.

  In some ways, Sparrow was enjoying the situation. Her unexpected Beast body was a joy. It was so strong and powerful, and especially so warm! She had seen her friends shivering through their few hours of sleep in spite of the fire, whereas she had slept like a log. But Tara grinned when she saw Sparrow stretch and then grumble when she hit her head on the low roof of the cave.

  Suddenly a distinguished, if slightly shaky voice was heard: “Ow, I feel as if a herd of buffalo ran over me. Can somebody explain what happened?”

  Tara turned and to her delight there was Manitou, bright eyed and bushy tailed. He was standing up, cautiously trying out each of his legs.

  “Great-grandfather, you’re awake! How do you feel?”

  “I have pins and needles in my legs, and since I have four of them, I hurt everywhere,” said the dog piteously. “Aside from that, I feel fine. It’s strange, my last memory was of two jaws full of teeth, and then intense pain.”

  “You were bitten by a chatrix, and Robin patched you up,” explained Cal. “You fought the poison all night long, and we’re really happy to see that you won.”

  “Ah, so that’s what it was! I remember now. The dog in my mind was so frightened of the chatrix that he turned the controls over to me for
the first time in thirty years. I can still feel him down there, but he doesn’t want to come out. Yippee! I’m free at last!”

  The black Lab started leaping for joy in every direction. Tara burst out laughing. It was so funny to see her great-grandfather playing the fool.

  He padded over to Tara and looked at her with his big gentle Labrador eyes. “Well, I see you’ve got yourself in a peck of trouble! Reminds me of the time when you didn’t know how to swim and you jumped into the deep end of the swimming pool!”

  “So what happened?” asked Tara, who didn’t remember the event.

  “Well, you soon discovered that it’s hard to breathe underwater. Luckily this dog swims very well, so he went and fished you out.”

  “Hey, you guys must have tons of stories to tell each other!” exclaimed Cal.

  “Yeah, but I hope they aren’t all at my expense,” said Tara.

  They left the cave and headed for the plain leading to the Swamps of Desolation. The way was easy and the rain had stopped, so they made good time, even though they were still tired and their feet hurt. Tara’s great-grandfather couldn’t stop talking, as if he wanted to make up for his years of silence. She finally had to tell him to be quiet, because his stories were keeping her from being on the alert for Bloodgraves.

  On a couple of occasions, Sparrow, Gallant, and Sheeba, who were ranging ahead to scout, warned them about herds of an animal like a musk ox, which they had to circle around. They were enormous beasts with long wooly coats. They were grazing peacefully on the blue grass, but you didn’t want to get too close, in case they charged.

  The group suspected there might be cattle in the area because they’d had the disagreeable pleasure of making new friends a short time before.

  Blood flies were flying around when they spotted the young spellbinders. “Oooh! A swarm of humans!” squealed one with delight. “It’s dinnertime, girls!”

  They dove toward the fragile skin in tight formation, only to smash their stingers against the spell that Robin had wisely cast around his friends. Bitterly disappointed, they tried to get through, above, below, and around the shield, before flying off in discouragement toward more accommodating victims.