by Des Pensable
‘Good day, Druidess Miranda, first favourite of our greatest hero, may Jacintra be giving you courage and the light of the Lady always be guiding your way.’ said the Councillor.
‘I am feeling greatly unhappy that we are having no one here to be singing the welcome song. Great events are being happening in our land. It is being a great relief to be seeing that you are being well. We were all being very worried when Kami was telling us that you were disappearing while helping the Wolf people with some problems with bad spirits some weeks ago.’
‘Thank you for your concern about my safety!’ replied Miranda standing and addressing the councillor. ‘The greetings and smiles of your children are my welcome song. I feel at home amongst friends.’
‘I was waylaid by bad people for some time but the spirit bear Aquitain came to my rescue once more.’ she said with a smile. ‘Your communication system between the tribes is obviously working well. You are aware that there are invaders from another world attacking the people on this world.’
‘Yes, the Wolf Clan people were hearing of it and have been calling a Great Council to discuss what we might be doing. They are hoping that Loopis the Wolf spirit will be appearing to be advising them. Our chief is hoping that Jacintra might be appearing. However, many of our young and those from other clans are believing that it is being more likely that the spirit bear will be showing up to talk to them. The real question is being what will be happening if all three come. Will they be fighting over who will be advising us?’
‘I cannot answer that question.’ said Miranda, ‘but it is probable that none will show up for a while as the current situation has become quite complex. I will tell you of what I know and then I wish to ask a favour.’ said Miranda and she went on to tell of the Panmagican attack on the Druid’s conclave, the capture of Twin Towers and the destruction of Turtlehaven by the Yith.
‘So you are saying that there are being two different groups each wishing to be living in this world but neither being prepared to share with the other or perhaps even the little people already living here.’ said the councillor. ‘They are sounding like being spoiled children. Which one does the spirit bear favour?’
‘That is a problem.’ replied Miranda. ‘We have both only just returned from another world and found out about these invaders. We have not had a chance yet to discuss what actions we should take. So I cannot answer that question. I do know that he does not want you to take actions to endanger yourselves. He would have you wait and watch. He would have you calm your warriors and tell them to remain scattered in the jungle and await his call. He would have both the enemies weaken themselves by fighting each other rather than hunting your people and damaging the jungle with their magic.’
‘The young have been knowing only peace.’ said the councillor. ‘They are being keen to be fighting. They are believing that with the spirit bear being beside them they cannot be losing. I am being afraid for them as I have been in fighting in my youth and am knowing what really happens.’
‘I will be telling them what you have been saying but they are being restless and being itchy to be proving themselves since our great victory at the temple. It would be better if you and the spirit bear were telling them yourself at the Great Council.’
Miranda was torn between her duty to Aquitain and her duty to preserve the peace on Mudrun. If she went to the Great Council she had a fair chance of talking them into waiting until after Aquitain had captured Astaria and got organized to fight the Panmagicans and Yith if necessary. On the other hand Aquitain might need her right now to help him capture Astaria. How would he feel about her if she didn’t make it to fight for their new home?
She was also needed on Moonmist to help fight the Mentarin.
The councillor noticed her indecision and asked
‘How long are you thinking the spirit bear will be wishing us to be waiting?’
‘I can’t answer that precisely, perhaps weeks, perhaps months. Aquitain is currently busy fighting one of the enemy groups on another world. He believes that what happens there will affect what happens here.’
‘That is being good news at least. What are the druids to be doing about the invaders?’
‘They have moved everyone to Templewood and are preparing the people for war. The druids are powerful fighters but are few in number. I would guess that the wise thing for them to do would be scatter into the wild and watch and wait for the opportunity to fight back.’
Miranda was still undecided about what to do. As a druid, it would normally be her duty to advise the Druid’s Council about the Great Council of the little people and let them decide what to do. However, she was now more than just a druid. She was a princess, possibly the future Queen of Moonmist and the chosen of Aquitain, the Gatekeeper of Astaria who many of the little people looked upon for guidance. It was time to grow up. It was time she started to make plans.
‘How long ago did they leave for the Great Council?’ she asked.
‘It was being just after the sun was rising yesterday and they will be taking at least three days to be getting there.’ replied the councillor.
‘That gives me two days.’ she thought to herself.
‘Thank you, I will go to the Great Council on behalf of the spirit bear and try to convince them to be cautious.’
‘Now I wish to ask a favour. I am looking for a wizard friend of mine called Allalanllea that I was told might visit here.’
The old councillor laughed out loud.
‘She is being here all the time.’ and the old purple skinned little person chuckled.
‘Fancy not being able to recognize your nanny.’ she said.
Miranda laughed as well. ‘I should have guessed you wouldn’t be travelling around in your old form with Snowbelle around. Might we talk in private.’
‘Of course!’ replied Allalanllea. ‘Tell me about all your wonderful adventures.’
Miranda thanked the councillor for his help and information then mind linked with Allalanllea and they sat chatting for more than an hour catching up on each other’s stories. Miranda found out that Allalanllea had been all over Moonmist talking to people and finding their thoughts on what was happening. The people were scared and rumours were rife everywhere.
She had spread the story that there would soon be a new Queen called Miranda but there was also other rumours being spread about a new Queen Gemelica. The people took this to mean that there would be a war sooner or later to determine who would end up being their Queen.
Finally Miranda expressed her and Aquitain’s fears for the safety of Tigerlilly and asked Allalanllea if she could take her somewhere safe, guard her and teach her how to be like a normal person.
Allalanllea though for a minute or two then agreed.
‘I think that I do know somewhere where even the gods will have a difficult time finding us.’ she replied and then after hugs she teleported away to visit the Crin to meet Gizel and Tigerlilly.
‘So far so good.’ thought Miranda.
‘What’s next? Granddad’s idea to rescue Lash, of course!. I don’t think I need Granddad’s help. He’ll just get in the way.’
She turned to eagle form and flew off in the direction of the portal to her old home.
Chapter 34 Miranda’s Dowry
While flying towards her old home Miranda had a chance to think about all that had happened and began to have doubts about what she had said to Darkmantle. She had told him that the Lady had given her more abilities but she didn’t really know for sure as she hadn’t had time to find out. She flew on for a while thinking of what she might be able to do to convince herself and then she knew. She spiralled down to a clearing in the jungle and imagined herself changing to a bear.
Moments later she was a great brown bear. She stood upright and roared a challenge to the jungle. The jungle went quiet for a few seconds as if to acknowledge her then resumed its chatter. She could never do that before. Immensely pleased with herself she changed back to her eagle form and res
umed her journey thinking about her dream not long after she had met Aquitain. In it she was a bear frolicking with him on a sandy beach. That was certainly possible now. Assuming, of course, that he could get rid of that stupid cloud of mist body or at least learn to control it properly.
She continued on towards her old home but couldn’t help thinking of what other abilities the Lady might have gifted her with. She recalled many of the things she knew her mother could do and wondered which of them she might be able to do now. It was quite frustrating. It would have been much simpler if the Lady had just handed her a list and said here Miranda try these I think you’ll find them useful.
The sight of her home gully not far in the distance brought her back from her thoughts. She would have to concentrate now on how to get through the gateway into Argenta. There would be all sorts of guards both visible and invisible, mages, priests and druids. The Yith were very militaristic and well organized. She needed a safe spot to wait and watch for several hours to acquaint herself with their routine.
She immediately thought of the ledge overlooking the gully but that would obviously have lookouts on it. She couldn’t just fly to it and land that was too obvious. However, at the ledge there was a crack that led into a cave which she used as her own private hideaway when she was younger. It had a water supply coming from river creek higher up the mountain. If she could follow the flow of water, then she could get to her hideaway then creep out to the ledge to see how many Yith would be there.
But that still wouldn’t tell her how many guards were at the gateway. She had to get into the cave where the gateway was located. Her mother could turn into a small lizard she had seen it several times and wondered where all the extra body mass had disappeared to. After all it was one thing to change into another creature the same size as you but to change into something with only one fiftieth the body size seemed impossible.
She landed a good five hundred paces upstream of the creek that formed the waterfall over the cave that the portal was in. She immediately used the camouflage prayer and blended into the scenery.
She imagined herself as a small gecko lizard about two hand spans long and unbelievably she shrunk down to that size. The Lady had been generous and foreseen her needs. In high spirits she set off to follow the river to the waterfall. It took longer than she would have imagined, as even though she had the camouflage spell active she was being extra cautious. Once or twice she heard whispered voices suggesting that there were camouflaged or invisible lookouts near the river but she never saw anyone.
When she reached to edge of the cliff leading down to the cave she became a little apprehensive. She had never tried to negotiate a vertical wall of rock even though she had seen geckoes do it many times. Carefully she set off down the rock face and found her moist toes embedded with small suction caps worked amazingly well. She found the cave entrance and with great delight found that she could walk across the ceiling of the cave towards the location of the gateway.
It was here that she discovered her first problem. She could hear people below her but not see them. Her eyes were not designed for distances longer than a couple of paces. She couldn’t see whether the gateway was open or closed or what sort of guards and protections were in the area. She would have to change to another form with better eyesight. She continued across the ceiling and carefully crept down the rock wall adjacent to the gateway and into a narrow crack in the wall.
Then the unthinkable happened. A rock spider pounced on her back and plunged its fangs into her neck. Her first reflex was to roll into ball to try and dislodge it but it clung on wrapping its legs around her and they both fell off the wall onto the cave floor making enough noise for all the Yith present to look around. A mage cast a light spell so that they could see better and they formed a group around her. They spoke words she couldn’t understand and seemed to be laughing.
If she changed to any other form they would see it and react as if she was an intruder. At the moment they were bored and this was something to break the boredom. She guessed they might even be betting on who might win. She had two advantages on her side in the fight. Druids were immune to most poisons and she had at least twice the body weight of the spider. The spider would simply hang on expecting its venom to weaken and eventually immobilize her.
She rolled and wriggled and tried to get a hold of some part of the spider and eventually managed to partly dislodge it. The spider desperately hung on. She rolled on her back and pushed with her back legs and finally broke its grip and it let go. Immediately she flipped over and dived at it grabbing its abdomen in her mouth and bit into it. The spider struggled and twisted and turned but it was trapped.
She vigorously shook the spider and its abdomen broke off from the front half of the spider, which sped off away from her only to be crushed under one of the Yith’s feet. The Yith around her broke out into a cheer and one picked her up and placed her on its shoulder. She sat there blinking, on the shoulder of an enormous Yith lizard wondering what was going to happen next.
The Yith gave a series of harsh sounding orders and the other Yith moved quickly to obey. Then to her utter surprise the Yith walked through the open gateway into Argenta. A mindlink opened into her mind and Granddad said ‘I might have guessed you’d want to do this your way. Good fight by the way. It gave me the perfect entry into their minds. A little suggestion goes a long way to avoiding problems. They think I’m one of the Watchers.’
‘How did you know it was me?’ she asked.
‘I looked at your spirit aura. They had a priest there. He should have done the same but I guess they were all bored. Now where do we go.’
Miranda leapt off his shoulder and immediately on landing changed to her naked Newman form placed her hand on his shoulder and they teleported to one of the nodes where she adjusted her glamour to appear like a simple hand woven druid gown. Granddad changed form to his Newman form and adjusted his glamour to look similar to hers.
‘I didn’t know you wore a glamour.’ she said.
‘It’s a most useful tool when you’re shape changing a lot. I’ve been using one for years. Most people never realized. Bit of a nuisance when you sit on something rough or cold.’ He said with a chuckle.
Miranda agreed with a smile. ‘I’m going to try to get us to the control centre. I’ve never been there before because mother never knew it existed. I’m assuming that it looks the same as in Astaria. If the Yith have found it we might have to fight.’
Granddad nodded ‘Lead on.’
She held his hand and they appeared in a control room identical to the one on Astaria. There was no one present and the mushroom shaped control panel was upright and active. To her surprise in one corner she saw a large wooden chest about a pace long and leaning next to it was the Staff of Storms.
‘I guess I was wrong. Mother did know about this place. I wonder why she never told me?’
Granddad was more interested in the viewing windows displaying images of various areas within the gate world. There were Yith everywhere. He systematically walked around the control panel until he found the window he was after. ‘There she is. She’s with several Newman.’
Miranda came over for a look and saw Lash on the floor sitting back to a wall while other Newman prowled around or sat bored.
‘They are Darkmantle’s men but it’s a little difficult to see exactly where they are.’ said Miranda. ‘There are many areas around Argenta that look a lot like that area.’
‘It’s a shame that mother never made me a gatekeeper here. I could probably have tossed all these Yith out with little effort.’ And she wandered over to the chest to see what might be in it.
‘Careful!’ said Granddad. ‘It may be trapped!’
‘Why would mother put a trap on a chest in her own control centre.’ asked Miranda.
‘You’re assuming she put it there. It may have been some Yith wizard’s loot. He found the stuff and stashed in here until he can move it to some other location later.’ replied G
randdad.
‘I know you lived here most of your life but Yith are cunning. They will have put traps everywhere. Not ones that explode but ones that send a silent message to them to tell them that there is an intruder. They may even know we are here now.’
‘I would suggest you leave the box untouched. Let’s get Melanie and Darkmantle’s men out and be content with that.’
‘I will do no such thing.’ replied Miranda indignantly. ‘There are a lot of valuable items here that belong to me and I want to take them with me.’ and she turned to open the chest.
She didn’t expect Granddad to do what he did but she felt it coming and immediately mentally blocked it and swung around to face him.
‘How dare you try to charm me! You might be used to having your way with your own family but you won’t with me! You’ll stay right out of my mind or there’ll be real trouble.’ she shouted.
Granddad looked at her strangely and simply said ‘I didn’t!’ and activated his aura sight and swung around just in time to be immobilized by a word of stunning.
‘Well, well.’ said a Yith appearing on the other side of the room. ‘What have we here? Could it be the druid daughter of the previous nymph queen?’
‘You speak good common for a Yith.’ replied Miranda.
‘Thank you! Not all of us are uncouth barbarians like that rabble here. I see you’ve found my stash of loot. Very nice stuff too I might add. Your mother had good taste. Your friend here was quite correct in advising you not to touch it. It is alarmed and would have brought me here had I not already been here. You see I am a Watcher and what better place to watch the rabble than here. I saw your friend enter the gateway appearing to be a Watcher yet I am the only one here. It was quite simple to guess that you would turn up here sooner or later so I went invisible and waited and here you are.’