by SJB Gilmour
Mel shrugged. ‘I dunno. Maybe you don’t really need moonlight for it to happen?’
Sarah had an idea. Are you there? She asked the voices of Wolfenvald within her mind.
‘We hear you, Golden Mane’, replied the voices. ‘What is your need?’
Why did my hairs turn to gold when they got brushed out of me?
‘Those hairs were shed from your coat before you went below ground, Golden Mane. Your coat simply held them till your pack-mate brushed them from you. Had she not, they may have simply fallen to the ground as normal hair. This is part of your power. Those hairs are more than mere metal. They have incredible healing powers. Use them wisely.’ Then the voices went silent.
‘They’re supposed to have healing powers,’ Sarah told Mel.
‘How did you know that?’ Mel asked, her eyes squinting suspiciously.
Sarah shrugged. ‘The trees told me.’
‘Trees talk to you?’ Mel looked alarmed. ‘Are you sure you’re not mental?’
‘Wolfenvald talks to me through the trees sometimes, Mel. I’m not crazy,’ Sarah assured her friend. She shook her head in wonder. ‘Sometimes I hear them in the air, sometimes in the trees. Sometimes just in my mind. It sounds crazy, but it’s not really. It’s just Wolfenvald.’ She shook her head. ‘This is some kind of adventure. I’d never have thought all this could ever happen to me.’
Mel nodded in agreement. Then she frowned. ‘It’s all pretty weird,’ she mused. ‘Wish I had my prophecy almanac.’
‘Prophecy? What are you talking about?’
Mel nodded. ‘This is pretty heavy stuff, Sarah. It’s bound to be mentioned by all sorts of prophets.’ She thought for a moment, then she sat up straight. ‘That’s it!’ she exclaimed. ‘Nathan!’
Sarah gaped at her friend. ‘Nathan’s a prophet?’
‘No, Nathan’s probably got Cassandra’s tome!’ she assured her excitedly. ‘She’ll know what’s going on!’ She got up and grabbed Sarah. ‘Let’s find out!’
The two girls went back downstairs in search of Nathan. They found him, curled up on a couch in the hotel lounge with a large tome. Even though it was still quite early in the morning, he had a large goblet of red wine.
‘Nathan!’ Mel exclaimed. ‘Have you got Cassandra’s tome?’
Nathan blinked at them for a moment. ‘Oh, of course, Miss Melanie,’ he replied. The purple bookwyrm nodded happily. He nodded at an empty space in front of him and Cassandra’s tome appeared. ‘I managed to grab a few things before I left the office,’ he assured them. Then he turned back to his tome.
Sarah and Mel sat down on another couch, set Cassandra’s tome on a coffee table, and opened it.
‘Just where are you, young wolf?’ she demanded crisply. Cassandra was as scantily dressed as the last time Sarah had seen her. She looked at Sarah with a very disapproving expression, then glanced past her at the hotel room and shook her head and made an indelicate sound.
‘We’re on Gnumphlatia,’ Mel supplied.
Cassandra glared at her. ‘I wasn’t talking to you!’ she said crossly. She turned back to Sarah. ‘And how did you get there?’
Sarah swallowed. ‘Umm, we came from Neroland,’ she answered nervously. ‘Before that, we were in Wolfenvald and before that, we were at Conundrum.’
Cassandra rolled her eyes skywards. ‘Impulsive,’ she muttered. ‘Werewolves are always so impulsive.’
‘Are we in the middle of a prophecy?’ Mel asked the drawing.
‘I thought I told you to be quiet!’ Cassandra admonished her. Mel sat back and glowered at the tome.
‘Sarah, your rude little friend is right. There is a prophecy that involves you and if you’re on Gnumphlatia, then you’ve already started what’s probably going to a long and dangerous journey.’
Sarah swallowed.
‘Get a grip!’ Cassandra snapped her. ‘This isn’t the time to be yellow-bellied! Now shut up, the both of you and listen!’
Cassandra shut her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Then she spread her arms out wide. ‘Hear ye alle,’ she moaned. ‘The Time of Discovery has begun! Golden Mane, you must go through a land of blackness to a land of those half high…’
Mel rolled her eyes in a very similar manner to the way Cassandra had just done. ‘Oh man,’ she groaned. ‘Typical seer rubbish. Can’t you just tell us what’s going on without being such a drama queen?’
Sarah elbowed her to make her shut up.
‘From there you will return to the land of men in search of those who burn when wet. Through forests and deserts, the group shall be joined by allies until they meet The Usurper! In first battle shall the hordes of those whom water burns be defeated though not before the souls of those in chains are freed and the trapped released.’
‘What does all that mean?’ Sarah demanded. She thought it was a reasonable question.
Cassandra thought otherwise. ‘It’s not my job to explain the obvious!’ she declared. ‘If you’re too thick-witted to work out what you have to do, then the gods should have chosen more wisely!’ The tome slammed shut and refused to open. Then, it flickered and disappeared.
Sarah, who was normally fairly level-headed, she thought, wasn’t feeling quite so calm at that moment. She felt her temper rise again. Being teased in a schoolyard was one thing but being insulted by a book was different.
‘Well, you two certainly know how to keep busy,’ Angela remarked, walking into the lounge.
The girls rushed to Mel’s aunt and began telling her about what they’d just learned, both talking nineteen to the dozen.
Finally, Angela had to put one hand up in the air to shush them. ‘Yes ladies, at times Cassandra can be very helpful. Other times she’s a meddlesome old crone. Don’t worry about her babblings. Prophecy is just a scary way of describing fate and when it comes to fate, usually the less you know, the better. Never mind any of that now.’ She seemed most put out at Cassandra’s help.
Just then a tiny shimmering portal opened up behind them. Chattering anxiously and looking very sorry for himself, Jimbo, Mel’s firedrake, appeared. His scales were blackened and his eyes were whirling in a violent shade of purple. He flew around their heads a few times before finally settling on Mel’s shoulder.
‘Jimbo!’ crooned Mel softly to calm her familiar. ‘Where have you been? What happened to you?’
‘I was guarding the classroom, I was,’ he told them seriously. ‘No one was gonna get past me, I can tell you! Then those pesky trolls came and I gave them what for, I did! I roughed ‘em up good and proper and then I chased ‘em outta there, I did!’
Sarah hid a smile as the little firedrake told them how brave he was and gave a ludicrous tale of how he bested a hoard of marauding trolls.
Angela also smiled. ‘It’s a good thing you found us, Jimbo,’ she said to the funny little creature. ‘We’re going to need your bravery where we’re going!’
‘Where’s that?’ Mel and Sarah asked at once.
‘I’m not sure,’ Angela replied. ‘We can’t go back to Heirogryph, despite your need for education. The possibility that Miranda has surfaced means we have to act. As soon as your Uncle Benjamin gets here, he’ll probably have us all off on some sort of adventure.’
‘Aren’t we on one already?’ Sarah asked.
Angela shrugged. ‘Not yet,’ she told her. ‘But we’re off to a good start! What I’d like to do is go straight to Troll Mountain, but of course, Master McConnell’s in command.’ Her hand strayed unconsciously to her thigh, where Sarah noticed a bulge about the size of a large dagger. ‘No doubt when he arrives,’ Angela continued, ‘he’ll know what to do.’
At the mention of Troll Mountain, Jimbo squealed and leaped into the air and disappeared through a shimmering portal.
‘Troll Mountain?’ Sarah asked.
‘There’s a Rock Giant who’s got some explaining to do,’ Angela said sternly. ‘But we’ll probably have to sort out any number of things before then. I imagine Benjamin’
s had quite a meeting with the Sorcerers’ Guild if it’s taking him this long to get here.’
Moments later, Jimbo returned carrying in his talons a rolled-up newspaper. He settled on the ground with the newspaper, unrolled it and began to read.
After a few minutes, he chirped disdainfully. ‘Huh! Seems I managed to chase those trolls away good and proper. Frightened ’em all the way over to Russia!’
Mel and Angela shared a worried glance. ‘May I?’ Angela asked and took the copy of Spellcaster Monthly from the little firedrake. She read it quickly then turned to Mel and Sarah, her face very troubled.
‘I think you’d better read this, Mel,’ Angela said quietly and handed her niece the newspaper.
Mel took the paper and held it open.
Trolls injure two in Italy!
Two sorcerers were critically injured while investigating troll sightings in forest surrounding an extinct volcano 150 km west of Bodaybo, Russia. David and Susan Hazelwood, occasional contributors to Spellcaster Monthly and owner-operators of a small anti-Pixierazzi firm, were following reports of trolls frightening mortal tourists in the forest surrounding the volcano. The husband and wife team are in Bodaybo Witches Hospital. Hospital staff lists their condition as stable but serious.
Mel put the newspaper down. She blinked back tears and sniffed, trying not to cry. Gently, Angela sat down beside her niece and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. Sarah picked up the newspaper and read the rest of the article. As strong and tough as Mel was determined to be, she soon broke down and began to cry. Sarah then raced to find her uncle Robert and Roberta. About half an hour later, the group gathered once more in the dining hall of Gnumphlatia Manor.
‘Don’t worry about them, dear,’ Angela told her niece comfortingly. ‘Your mother and I are pretty tough you know. Susan’s certainly been through much worse and your father’s a survivor too.’
‘Oh dear,’ Rudolf the gnome said sadly. ‘This isn’t good at all. I hope they catch those trolls.’
‘Angela?’ Robert asked Angela, with an understanding glance at Mel. ‘Why don’t we go check on them at least? You could stay here with the girls?’
Mel’s feelings of worry and grief soon turned to anger. She set her jaw and clenched her fists. ‘We’re gonna get those bastards, aren’t we?’ she demanded. It wasn’t really a question. Small sparks began to flicker up and down her body.
Angela nodded at Robert, her expression quite grave. ‘Go,’ she told him. She held Mel more firmly. ‘Anger’s a useful emotion,’ she told her niece, ‘but revenge calls for a clear head.’ She turned back to Robert. ‘We’ll contact you when Benjamin gets here.’
Then Robert and Roberta went outside and for the first time Sarah had ever seen, used their own powers of sorcery to create a portal. The portal was small and its shimmering colours were not very bright. Sarah was surprised to see just how difficult it was for them to produce such a small portal. In a flash, they were gone, leaving Sarah, Mel, Jimbo, Nathan and Angela with Rudolf.
‘Rudolf, would you mind if we stayed here for another day or two?’ Angela asked the gnome.
He smiled understandingly. ‘Of course not. I’ll only charge you the off-season rate.’
‘You’re so kind,’ murmured Angela.
Ronny appeared carrying several large leather satchels. He handed one each to Sarah, Mel and Angela. He had three more slung over one shoulder. ‘Please take these with the compliments of Gnumphlatia Manner,’ he told them all. ‘I’ll put the rest in the rooms for Mr and Mrs Coppernick, and of course, one for Master McConnell.’ Then he turned and marched away purposefully.
Sarah peered inside her satchel. It was impossible! The inside was enormous. There was a whole wardrobe of clothes that would fit her, plenty of toiletries and a first-aid kit. There was also a tent, a sleeping bag and wet weather gear.
Even though she was very worried about Mel and her parents, she could not help but be impressed. ‘Cool,’ she breathed.
When Benjamin arrived at Gnumphlatia Manor two days later, he was in a terrible temper.
‘Fools!’ he raged, pacing the hotel lobby. Nathan, Mel and Jimbo, not to mention the hotel staff, had all fled the rage of the Silver Shroud werewolf. Only Angela and Sarah were brave enough to stay.
‘I ought to rip them all to shreds!’ Benjamin declared, punctuating each word with a horrific blast of thunder that shook the hotel to its very foundations. The air around him crackled and sparked and small wisps of smoke wafted in his wake as he paced back and forth.
‘I’m sorry, Uncle,’ Sarah told him in a quiet voice. She felt terrible. Everything seemed to be somehow connected to her. She couldn’t help feeling it was all her fault.
Benjamin paused and took in a deep breath. ‘You’re not to blame, cub. It’s the stupid Guild. Bureaucracies are the only form of life with more than two legs and no brain!’
Sarah allowed herself to giggle a little. At least he was calming down enough to make a joke. At least, she hoped it was a joke.
‘What did they do?’ she asked him.
Benjamin sat down on a couch in the lobby and motioned for Sarah to sit next to him. She sat close, though not too close. She was still nervous of his awful mood. Benjamin looked at Sarah seriously, his steel-grey eyes ringed with a hint of sadness that reminded Sarah of the awful things she’d heard Roberta and Angela tell of his past.
‘You’ve heard what Marzdane called Angela when you were at Conundrum?’ he asked her.
Sarah nodded. ‘They called her Hardinglefluss.’
‘Hardingleflass,’ Benjamin corrected her.
She glanced over at Angela, who was standing beside her quite calmly, her face unreadable.
Benjamin also glanced at Angela. ‘Sorry, old girl, but the cub needs to know.’
Angela gave him the briefest of nods but remained silent.
‘Angelina Hardingleflass was her married name,’ Benjamin told Sarah. ‘Her maiden name was Troy. Before she was married, she was an Amazon soldier. She also freelanced as a necromancer for The Guild. Then she got married and changed her name to Hardingleflass. Everything was fine for a while until her marriage failed. She got divorced and at the same time, she had to defy the Guild. She was stripped of her rank and they declared her renegade.
‘We’d worked together before and felt I owed her a favour or two, so I brought her in to work with me. The Guild didn’t approve, but then, they didn’t forbid me doing so either. It seems they’ve changed their minds,’ he told her ruefully.
Sarah was shocked. ‘But they need you, don’t they?’ she exclaimed. ‘Why would they kick you out?’
‘I don’t know, Sarah. It didn’t make sense. Marzdane and all the others voted to set me aside from my position. I expected maybe a dozen or so of his cronies to oppose me, but I called a caucus. There were more than nine hundred sorcerers there and the only ones who either voted for me or refused to vote at all were the werewolves and there are only about twenty of them. They were outvoted so badly they might as well have not voted at all.’
Sarah’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘So, do you think the others in The Guild are up to something?’ she asked her uncle. ‘Do you think they’re being co…? Umm…’ She struggled to find the word.
‘Coerced?’ Benjamin suggested.
Sarah nodded eagerly. ‘Yeah, do you think someone’s making them do it?’
‘There may be a way to find out,’ he mused. ‘Back when I joined the Guild, there was one old Golden Mane, Rufus, who managed to keep them under some sort of control.’ He rose and began pacing. ‘Back then, there were a lot more werewolves in The Guild. Since he left, there’s only been a few stragglers hanging about…’
Sarah jumped to her feet at the mention of the old werewolf. ‘Angela said something about him!’ she exclaimed. ‘Did this Rufus guy know my parents?’ she asked eagerly.
Benjamin laughed. ‘Of course he did, Sarah. In fact, he married them.’ He smiled at Sarah fondly. ‘But I won’t
tell you how long ago that was. Your mother, wherever she is, would have my tail if I gave out any hints about her age!’
‘Where is he?’
‘That’s the problem, Sarah. I have absolutely no idea. Rufus disappeared several hundred years ago. Everyone assumes he’s retired and gone into seclusion. Wolfenvald hasn’t reported him as dead, so…’ He left it hanging.
‘Anyway, when sorcerers retire, it’s considered very bad manners to enquire as to why or what they’re going to do with their spare time. If he’s still alive, he’d be positively antique.’ He smiled sadly. ‘When wolves get old, sometimes we get cranky and a bit absent-minded. Most people assume he’s either dead or something very close to it. That’s why there’s so much excitement about you. Golden Manes don’t come along that often. To my knowledge, you’re the first female in history.’
It was starting to seem hopeless. Sarah sat back down in dejection. Her parents were missing, Mel’s were injured, her aunt Roberta and uncle Robert had gone away and there was some evil old witch out there somewhere looking for her with an army of trolls at her disposal. To top it all off, the only help she might have had, now seemed to have turned against them all. The Sorcerers’ Guild had cast out Benjamin.
Fighting back tears, she looked up at her uncle. ‘You know what we have to do?’ Sarah asked, feeling much older and wiser than she’d ever felt before.
Benjamin nodded. ‘You and I should go to back Wolfenvald to consult with the forest while Angela and Mel go and talk with the Rock Giant who was supposed to be guarding Miranda.’
Sarah thought about this for a moment. Something was wrong. ‘Uncle Benjamin, everything seems to be going wrong. If we stick together, wouldn’t it be safer than if we split up?’
‘What do you mean?’
Sarah shrugged. ‘I don’t know,’ she confessed. ‘It just seems to me that if I wanted to hurt someone who was part of a group, I’d try to separate them from the herd,’ she told him, unconsciously lapsing into the language of wolves. ‘If I was hunting, I’d want the herd protecting my prey as scattered as possible. Aunt Roberta and Uncle Robert are gone. You’ve been kicked out of the Guild. They’re not going to help you. We’re all alone…’