by SJB Gilmour
Demeter smiled at him again. ‘Then go, my son, and know that as always, you carry my blessing with you and I watch you constantly with all my pride.’
‘A question, Holy Demeter?’ Benjamin asked with great reverence.
The goddess looked at him with a kind smile. ‘Ask your question, Silver Shroud.’
‘Mel is going to be alright with that thing in her hand, isn’t she?’
Demeter frowned. ‘Impatience is not just a vice of the living,’ She murmured. She looked around. ‘I must speak with this Last Daughter of Troy,’ She said, looking at Mel’s tent.
There was a startled gasp and Mel suddenly appeared outside the tent, stark naked and dripping wet. Blushing and shivering, she desperately wrapped a towel around herself. She started to swear but stopped short when she saw Demeter. Her mouth open and eyes wide, she froze. Demeter smiled and then Mel was suddenly clean and dry, and thankfully for her, dressed again.
‘Show me your hand, child,’ She commanded.
Mel swallowed and held her palm out. Demeter studied it and shook Her head. She waved at Mel’s hand. There was a small shimmer over her palm and then Demeter was holding the amulet by the chain. She turned to Sarah.
‘Resume your human form, Golden Mane,’ She instructed.
Sarah obeyed instantly.
‘Take this part of the key. Wear it about your neck so that it does not injure you.’
Sarah nodded and took the amulet, being very careful to hold it only by the chain. She put it over her neck and shut her eyes with a nervous grimace. Nothing happened when the amulet touched her skin.
Demeter smiled. ‘Each half of the key knows to whom it belongs. It will burn the hands of all others.’
James grinned. ‘I get it,’ he crowed. ‘Rufus didn’t get it completely right. We all touched it with our hands. It’ll burn the hands and only the hands of anyone not meant to use it, right?’
Demeter smiled at him. ‘As always, my son, you make me proud,’ she told him. Then she disappeared.
There was silence all around. Then James gave himself a shake as if nothing had happened and produced another tankard of beer.
‘Now!’ he crowed, ‘I’m gonna have me a bloody drink!’ He then proceeded to drink nearly a litre of beer on one go. He burped thunderously and refilled his tankard which he emptied almost as quickly.
Angela sniffed. ‘As much as I hate to admit it, but you’re right, cousin. I could use a shower.’ Some of her old self was starting to show itself, though she was still quite pale.
Sarah looked up at Benjamin then glanced at the bodies of her parents. ‘Uncle…’ she said seriously. He nodded, understanding. He and Robert picked up Jozefa and Henry.
Sarah closed her eyes and concentrated. Even though she was in human form, the power of Wolfenvald filled her. The stones of Castlerigg began to glow and there, where Sarah and her uncles and aunt were standing, a portal appeared around them.
They were transported instantly to the deep, still forest where Sarah had first entered Wolfenvald. In a small clearing where sunlight broke through the canopy far above them, Robert and Benjamin gently laid down the bodies of Henryk and Jozefa.
When Sarah, aided by her aunt and two uncles, had buried her parents in the fresh loam, she covered the mounds with pine needles. Then she found two small pine seedlings that had just sprung to life in the sunlit clearing. Kneeling at each one, she carefully dug them up and then replanted them at the head of each mound.
‘We will nurture this grove, Golden Mane,’ the forest whispered to her. ‘These trees shall rise tall and live through the ages.’
Benjamin pulled Rufus’ tome out of his pocket and set it down on the forest floor. Sarah got up and peered at it. She could see the spells woven into the enchanted book.
Are you sure it’s safe for me to break the spells? she asked Wolfenvald.
‘Here, the Golden Mane has our protection,’ the forest replied. ‘Break the spell.’
‘Quassico!’ Sarah commanded.
There was a hissing sound as the tome began to smoke and sizzle on the moist mulch on the ground. Then it glowed for a moment and the pages suddenly flicked open. The tome gave a very human-sounding cough and the large Golden Mane Rufus leaped out. Then the tome sniffed and slammed itself shut again.
Rufus scampered about for a few moments, then began rolling and snuffling in the leaves and dirt on the ground. He peed several times on various trees and then finally came up to Sarah and nuzzled her.
‘You did it!’ he yipped, wagging his tail. ‘I’m free!’ Then he leaped up and loped away, yipping with delight.
Sarah blinked and stared after the ancient Golden Mane. ‘He didn’t even say thank-you!’
‘He’s an old, old wolf now, Sarah,’ Benjamin told her. ‘Leave him be. We’ll see him again, no doubt.’ He stooped and picked up the tome which was now enchantment free. His eyes widened as he examined the cover.
Sarah wasn’t interested in the tome, or Rufus, or anything else. Without knowing where she was going, she began to walk out into the forest. She felt very small and alone. Even though she knew Wolfenvald was indeed her true home, she knew this part of it was not. Her range was somewhere else and one day, she would find it.
The emotion and trauma of the long night welled up inside her and Sarah looked up at the rising sun and began to run. She ran. She ran as fast as she could. She didn’t know where she was going, or how long she would run for, but she had to release something. Her human feet were clumsy compared with those of a wolf, and unlike in her wolf form, she did not have such boundless energy. Soon she was panting heavily and sweating. She pushed herself even harder. She ran and ran until it hurt and she was panting and crying at the same time.
Her blood coursed through her veins and she tasted fire in her mouth. All the pain and grief returned and she felt as if she was about to burst. Her heart was breaking and as she ran, she wept. Tears came first. Then with each breath, she was screaming.
Sarah ran and as she ran, she changed form and the tireless strength of the Golden Mane wolf filled her. Her muscles rippled and flexed as she pelted through the forest. Her golden coat flowed in the wind and her paws barely seemed to touch the damp mulch of the forest floor.
Then she was not alone. Two ghostly wolves joined her, one on either side. Her parents ran with her and Sarah knew that she would never be alone. Though her parents were dead and gone, their souls lived on. In the enchanted, sacred forests of Wolfenvald, they could be together. Together the wolves ran and ran until the crisis within Sarah’s heart had passed.
Sarah stopped running. She and her parents briefly touched noses and sniffed each other.
‘She has become a fine wolf,’ Jozefa remarked proudly to Henryk.
He wagged his tail approvingly. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘And a Golden Mane, just as we hoped!’ Then to Sarah he said, ‘We’re proud of you!’
Then the two ghostly wolves vanished. Sarah lay down on the mulch. Her grief had gone. She felt hope again and a warmth at belonging to the forest and knowing that her parents were not truly dead. They were part of the forest now and would be forever.
Epilogue
Back at Castlerigg, Sarah was surprised to see just how many cuts and bruises and other injuries she had picked up along the way without even knowing. The others discovered similar knocks and scrapes.
‘You alright?’ Mel asked her as she dressed in clean clothes.
‘I’ll live.’ Sarah looked at an ugly bruise turning purple on her arm.
‘That’s not what I meant.’
Sarah shut her eyes and held her breath for a moment. Then she turned to her friend and smiled sadly.
‘Yeah,’ she sighed. ‘I guess I’m okay.’
As the group packed up the camp and did a quick check to see they’d left nothing behind, Sarah wandered off into the forest. In her human form, she felt small, vulnerable and confused. Without really knowing why, she stopped by a tree and pulled out the amulet f
rom inside her t-shirt. Being careful not to touch it with her fingers, she dangled it by the chain to get a good look at it.
Each point had a different rune carved into it. Sarah had seen quite a few runes by now, but she’d never seen any like these.
‘I could never work out what they are,’ said a voice from behind her.
Rufus padded up to her, grinning. He may have been very old, but he was an enormous werewolf. In his Golden Mane form, he stood very nearly as tall as Sarah did as a human. He nuzzled her neck then sat and leaned against her. Sarah leaned back against him, looking at the Star of Planes. She didn’t really know much about this strange old werewolf, but knowing he was one of her grandfathers was enough. He was part of her pack and so the barriers one would find between strangers were gone.
‘Where’s the other bit?’ Sarah asked him.
‘I gave it to…’ Rufus broke of, sniffing. ‘Troll!’ he snarled.
Sarah sniffed and then she smelled it too. Old sweaty socks and something rotten.
‘It’s just me!’ quavered a familiar voice.
Sarah changed form and looked down in the direction of the voice. There, hiding under a fallen log was Thrag, former Chief Troll!
‘What do you want, Thrag?’ Rufus demanded.
‘I have to talk to you!’ Thrag scrambled out from under the log. Its arm and foot grown back but it looked terribly thin as if it had not eaten in days.
Sarah was about to ask the troll what it wanted, but Rufus had other ideas. The old Golden Mane barked a sudden and quite nasty curse at Thrag and the troll vanished.
‘Where’d it go? What did you do that for? It sounded like it had something important to tell us!’ Sarah’s hackles were raised in anger.
Rufus sniffed disdainfully. ‘I don’t trust that troll,’ he snarled.
Now Sarah’s temper rose even further. ‘We’ve been through all kinds of crap that we could have avoided if we didn’t rush into things the way we did! We should be learning as much as we can before we go. Not blasting things, or charging into things or blowing things up! That troll sounded like it had something important to say and you go and blow it up!’
‘I didn’t blow it up!’ Rufus argued in a pedantic tone. ‘I just sent back to Ethiopia.’
This just made Sarah angrier. ‘Of all the dumbass things to do…!’
‘Now look here…’ Rufus began.
The last of Sarah’s temper deserted her. ‘Chock you!’ She barked at him furiously. ‘This isn’t some kind of game! People are getting killed and you seem to think it’s fun to not tell us everything we need to know as if some stupid prophecy is all that bloody matters! I don’t care how bloody long you were locked up. You don’t just go around blowing things up! Go on. Go back to Wolfenvald. Maybe the trees can teach you the right way to behave!’
Rufus whined and tucked his tail between his legs. In her Golden Mane form, Sarah was actually bigger than he was. Her coat was shiny and her muscles rippled underneath it, while he was thinner and shaggy. Her teeth were long, white and very sharp; his rounded and yellowed. Rufus was no match for her in size or strength now, and he knew it.
‘Sorry,’ he mumbled. He nodded at the forest floor and a small portal appeared. Without another word, he vanished back to the forest world of werewolves.
‘What’s all the fuss?’ Angela asked Sarah, walking through the trees.
Sarah resumed her human form and took several deep breaths. ‘Rufus showed up,’ she replied finally. ‘Then Thrag came along but before I could find out what it wanted, Rufus sent it back to Ethiopia.’
Angela blinked. ‘Rufus did that? The old boy must really be slipping. I don’t remember him being that impulsive.’
Sarah grimaced and bit her lip guiltily. ‘Then I got mad at Rufus and told him to bugger off.’
Angela nodded. ‘I heard that bit.’ Then she smiled. ‘Never mind, Sarah. We’ll see both Rufus and Thrag again, I’ve no doubt. All this has just been the beginning.’ She held up her hand to fend off any questions. ‘We’ll worry about it later, Sarah. What’s done is done. I came to collect you. It’s time to go back to Sundew Farms.’
Once they arrived in the much warmer, and much more comfortable offices James had for his visitors, the group sat down to the first non-camp meal they’d eaten for weeks while James ensconced himself in his office. Mary the faerie, Kylie the quickling and his security pixie Minnie along with his two spice-dealing ogres Castor and Pollux found themselves with new jobs and responsibilities as James handed over the day-to-day running of his business.
‘Well, I’ve got my stuff!’ he declared when he emerged. He picked up a handful of chips from Mel’s plate and shoved them into his mouth. When Mel complained, he grinned at her impudently and then swiped her milkshake too.
‘It’s time to keep on adventurin’!’ He began singing in a terribly off-key manner that made the rest of the group cringe.
Angela, now never far from Benjamin, smiled fondly at her cousin. ‘So good of you to join us, cousin,’ she said warmly.
‘Demeter’s the one to thank, I guess.’ He shrugged after he had stopped his awful singing and waved at the nursery he had built. ‘I’ve been doing this for centuries. Time to do something new. Wouldn’t want to get stale and musty now, would I?’
‘Mouldy, you mean. Compost can do that to you,’ Mel jibed, taking her milkshake back from him.
James gave her a startled grin and then laughed uproariously. He pounded her solidly on the back so hard that she nearly fell.
‘Good for you, kiddo!’ he cried. Then he burped thunderously and turned to Sarah. ‘With Mautallius holding Marzdane’s leash, he has the Sorcerers’ Guild in the palm of his hand. We’ll probably all be declared renegade, just like Angela here.’
Sarah felt troubled. It was all her fault. Though tears would not come any more, she did feel quite awful indeed.
‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
‘Doesn’t matter, really. I’ve been declared renegade and exonerated half a dozen times. Besides, the Guild isn’t all-powerful, you know. They’re just caretakers. Being a renegade just means we’ve really got to stick together and trust no-one outside this group.’
‘Well, we can plot how to save the universe later, people,’ Angela interrupted as she drew another nonagram on the ground and handed out the portal stones. ‘We’ve tidied up one loose end. Time for numbers two and three.’
Moments later, they arrived in the musty Ottispuschenshuffen Brothers’ shop. There, in the middle of the store stood the fully repaired elevator from Heirogryph. Benjamin inspected it briefly then turned to Laurence, who had shuffled out from behind his counter to greet them.
Benjamin withdrew from his pocket the bill for the repairs. He handed it back to Laurence. ‘This bill is a little heavy,’ he suggested. ‘I think this model has a serious design flaw.’
Laurence took on a shocked expression. ‘It vas vorking perfectly ven ve sold it to you, Master McConnell,’ he objected.
Benjamin shook his head. ‘It was grumpy from day one. Even Master Isaacs’ elevator was rude.’
‘“Vas” you said? Vat happened to it?’
‘It had a little brush with a demon, I’m afraid,’ James replied affably. ‘Between you and me, I’m glad to be rid of it. When you release the next model, let me know. If it’s more polite, I’ll buy one. Until then, I’ll stick to these things.’ He spat the portal stone out onto his palm.
Laurence shrugged. ‘Vatever you vant, good sir.’
‘The damage was not so much a result of wear and tear, but a personality fault,’ Benjamin told Laurence. ‘If it hadn’t provoked those trolls, they’d probably have ignored it.’
Laurence scratched at his beard. ‘There’s von vay to find out.’ He stepped up to the recently repaired elevator. ‘Open!’ he commanded it.
The doors slid open obediently. Laurence then clicked his fingers at the small control panel. It swung open to reveal severa
l more buttons set in silver. He pressed a large orange one marked Replay.
‘What are you stinking mongrels doing here?’ yelled the elevator. ‘Get out!’
Then the noise of several angry trolls smashing and hitting the elevator came from the panel.
‘I’ve heard enough,’ Angela said, stepping forward past Laurence. She hit the Replay button again and the awful noise stopped.
‘When we dropped it off, you mentioned you had been getting bad reports about these elevators,’ she said as she looked meaningfully behind the counter. Laurence’s two brothers, Maurice and Jerome, both stepped out, looking a little sheepish. They both held big mugs that, by the delicious smell, contained steaming chicken soup.
Laurence shrugged. ‘Oi!’ he groaned. ‘Okay, okay,’ he gave in. ‘I take it you’ll be off to Gnumphlatia Manor next?’
They nodded.
‘Good. I’ll drop off a revised invoice for you tomorrow morning.’ He then ushered them all out of the shop. Once back inside, he shook his head in dismay, muttering to himself.
When they arrived at Gnumphlatia Manor, Ronny snapped his fingers and his stained travel clothes changed instantly into his neatly pressed green concierge uniform. He marched inside and held the doors open for the rest of the group to follow him inside.
Rudolf was sitting behind the reception desk with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was set angrily.
‘Hullo there, Rudolf,’ Ronny said as he ushered everyone inside. ‘How’s business?’
Rudolf stood and walked out from his counter. He was carrying a special edition of Spellcaster Monthly. He thrust the paper at Ronny in silence. He obviously didn’t trust himself to speak.
Ronny glanced at the front page. ‘Oh dear,’ he said and gave the paper to Angela.
Sorcerers’ Guild declares more renegade!
Under the headline was a collection of pictures of nearly every member of the group, including Mel’s parents, Ronny, Siouxanne and Nathan. There was also quite a comical picture of James poking out his tongue.
‘See?’ James muttered. ‘Told you so.’