by Sheryl Lee
Breakfast the next morning was a sombre affair, with everyone wondering what Axel had decided. Zora was worried too about how they would get to Egypt. Her passport was up to date, but she was more concerned that Axel would decide to use mist travel. It was certainly the logical thing to do since they would beat the werewolf to Egypt that way. But she was sure he had said something about difficulties transporting by mist travel over water.
Once they had all eaten Axel cleared his throat. Everyone looked at him expectantly. “I have had lengthy discussions with my mother The Queen and we have made a decision. Of course we must go to Egypt as soon as possible. However mist travel is not reliable over large bodies of water. At least not with a passenger, as it were. So I have chartered a private jet, and we will leave this afternoon.
Zora and Powers, you of course will accompany me. Shax and Sunny you will come also and bring your familiars. Jake, I have hesitated about you, given your voiced disapproval over Zora. We cannot have dissent in our group. However both Rusty and Simon vouch for you. They are needed here; I require the wolves to find all the loners and to find any more of those that are currently unknown. It is a big task requiring a lot of coordination and they are more valuable here. So Jake you will come, but know that I will be watching you.” Jake gave a single nod and kept silent.
Axel continued. “Marcus, I would ask that you accompany us?”
The vampire nodded and replied. “Naturally Axel, we vampires wish to help in any way possible.”
Axel looked at the visiting defenders and guardians. “Jane, as sentinel of Melbourne you and your guardian will stay here. Sara, I would ask that you and Joe come with us. While Zora is very powerful, there are gaps in her education and I would ask that you help with filling in those gaps. I may not have the time to do so, although Zora we will be continuing your physical conditioning as often as possible.” Sara inclined her head in agreement and Jane also, although it was clear that Jane was disappointed to be left behind.
As Zora watched she spoke up. “Axel, while I was hoping to be able to come with you to Egypt, I can see the wisdom of your choice. I am the Melbourne defender and we have a situation with unknown rogue werewolves in my city. Naturally my place is here. However know that you can always call on me at any time.”
Zora smiled at her and Sara placed a hand over hers where it rested on the table. “I will miss your wisdom and your humour Jane. I will be in contact with you often for assistance with training our Zora.” Jane smiled fondly at them both but said nothing more.
“Right, so we all know what we have to do? Let’s get organised. Sara, you and Joe go with Jane and Sam now, and come back here at two pm. Bring enough belongings for several weeks, I do not know how long we will be gone. Since you came here from Sydney you may need to do some shopping? I will provide you with a credit card. Powers, talk to Malcolm and bring him up to speed, Sunny and Zora you let your families know you will be away for some time. You both may need some things; I will send Emma out to shop for you so please provide her with a list of requirements. That goes for you too Powers. The fairy guard will of course travel with us. Jane, I will be sending a contingent to assist you with your work here and to protect you. We do not know how dangerous it may be in days to come. Marcus, I do not need to tell you what to do.” Marcus inclined his head with an accompanying small smile.
The gathering broke up then as they all went off to take care of their assigned tasks. Zora could not get her head around it. This afternoon they were simply flying off to Egypt on a chartered jet no less. She didn’t even know you could do that, and had no idea about the logistics required to make it happen. Reminding herself that Axel was the prince of the fairies she decided to go with the flow and stop worrying about anything except what she needed Emma to get for her, and the coming talk with her father. As he knew nothing about defenders she decided simply to tell him that she was going to Egypt with Sunny as part holiday and part a travel writing assignment.
Later that afternoon, staring out of the window of the plane as it taxied down the runway in preparation for take-off Zora was still unable to believe what they were doing. It simply didn’t seem real that a group of people – no scratch that, a group of fairies, witches, vampires, werewolves, guardians and defenders – were flying off to Egypt to stop a rogue werewolf from killing again and possibly to stop her from using dark magic for purposes as yet unknown. It was like a bad movie, except the movie would end with either a plane crash or a showdown by the main character and the werewolf after everyone else was dead. Zora shuddered, she knew she would be the main character and had no doubt that she would die also. The plane lifted off and as she heard the landing gear retracting Zora couldn’t help wondering how this journey would end, and if they would all come back alive.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Axel, who with supreme disregard for the request made to stay in their seats until the plane had levelled out had come to sit beside her. “Little Zora, we have a long trip ahead of us, and unknown dangers at the end of it. I wish you to use this time to learn more about our enemy and also about your abilities. Since you can see auras, the first thing I wish you to do is to study the colours and their meanings, so that you are better able to read the people you see.” So saying he handed her a simple file folder. “Here is the information you will need, please study this and then we will discuss the auras of the fairies, which as you know differ from human and supernatural ones. Later on I will have Sara talk to you about defender abilities and I will talk to you both about rogue werewolves. The better prepared we are the better we will be able to resolve this matter with no more bloodshed.”
Patting her hand almost paternally he returned to his seat while Zora sat contemplating the folder in her hand. Here they were off to face a threat she hadn’t even know existed outside of fairy stories until a few days ago, and she was being set homework to occupy her time. She was sure in the movie this would not have happened. Then again, in the movie she would have been summarily killed by the werewolf. Sighing, she opened the folder and pulled out the neatly collated information inside. She was unable to focus on the sheets on her lap however, because an image from her dream the other night flashed into her mind. The werewolf had been staring directly at her, snarling viciously.
That was not what made her hands tremble so that the papers she held rustled; it was the realisation that in her dream the werewolf had been standing in the desert, and that meant her dream had not been a nightmare, it had been prescience. She would be confronting the werewolf in Egypt, in the near future. Zora stared unseeingly at the papers on her lap. She was not ready, she was not good enough, she would not be able to confront this creature and win. And yet there was no doubt in her mind at all that soon, very soon, she was going to have to try.
END WORD
This is the end of the first book in the Defender series, I hope you enjoyed reading it. There are four books in total, not including the prequel. Book Two, Zora’s Light, is expected to be released in September 2015.
Zora’s Dawn The Prequel is available now and is a short book giving some details on Zora’s childhood. While it is not necessary to read the prequel in order to understand the books, it does help to explain some things about Zora.
If you liked this book please leave a review, authors love to see reviews!