by Storm Jk
‘I can get you into her room,’ Emily added ‘we just need to get close enough.’
‘What about her collar?’ Jonas asked.
‘I think I can teleport it away before it can blow,’ Emily told him.
‘You think?’ Jonas replied. Emily looked down at her feet.
‘I’m not sure. There’s always a moment before the transport starts when taking hold of the subject causes a slight vibration that could make the collar blow. It would depend on how sensitive the device is.’
‘I’ve seen it blow a man’s head off when a bolt of lightning hit a tree from twenty metres away,’ Jonas added, but he knew they had no choice.
‘Brother,’ Vondra cried, reaching out to touch Vladimir’s arm ‘please be careful. ‘Smiling at his sister, Vladimir touched her hair then turned into his wolf form. Emily mounted Applejacks and Eric morphed into his wolf form as well. Just before Vladimir turned towards the manor he looked back at the group and thought to himself what extraordinary people they were.
At the edge of the trees in front of the compound, Emily looked at Jonas and concentrated on him for a moment before he popped away. The small group then turned into the compound. Within seconds an alarm sounded and the guards were all around them with guns pointed.
‘Vladimir, something is wrong,’ Eric thought in the connection.
‘I know, I see it too,’ Vladimir replied.
‘What’s wrong?’ Emily asked. She couldn’t see what they were talking about.
‘There are only a few guards. There should be more.’ Vladimir replied.
‘Should I move the children?’ Emily asked.
Pausing Vladimir acknowledged, ‘Yes.’
Quickly turning, Emily focused on the children who were holding each other’s hands. They all looked very frightened but none were crying. They’re trying so hard to be brave, thought Emily to herself. Concentrating hard for a moment, she visualised where they were to go and they all popped out of sight. The guards shot a dart gun at Emily but this time she was prepared. It was effortless to place a force field around the three of them. The guards, seeing that the darts didn’t hit them, changed to machine-guns; the noise was deafening.
‘That’s new,’ Eric said in the connection, he had almost jumped into the dart to protect Emily.
‘And very handy,’ added Vladimir.
‘The only thing is, I can’t do anything else while the force field is up.’ Emily replied. ‘I wasn’t even sure if it would work but I sensed that it might.’
‘Don’t keep your feelings to yourself, Emily,’ Vladimir responded. ‘Come let’s move inside. We need to find Varrick.’
*
As soon as Jonas materialised in Valeskia’s cell, he changed into his human form. Valeskia jumped as he teleported into the room. Taking a moment to look at each other after all the years apart, Valeskia gave him her deepest smile before turning to business.
‘What’s the plan?’
‘I need to take you to the girl; she thinks she can take off your collar,’ Jonas replied looking around the small cell.
‘Jonas, the guards have told me that Varrick’s plan is to kill the latest batch of children,’ Valeskia told the gentle man.
‘We know and that’s being taken care of. Emily has the power to teleport them away and Vondra is waiting to take them to our new camp.’ Suddenly the alarm went off and the pair could hear guards running down the hallway.
Jonas turned to Valeskia and said, ‘You know, perhaps this was not a good idea. I realise we’re both locked in your cell.’ Valeskia laughed.
‘The cell has never been the problem. Emily knew that.’ Walking over to the door, Valeskia pulled a key from the top of the doorframe.
‘I’ve had this for years, let’s hope it works now.’ Putting the key into the lock, Valeskia slowly turned it. Hearing the solid clunk as the door lock popped open brought a smile to both her and Jonas’ face.
‘I will turn into my wolf,’ Jonas said. ‘In case we come across any guards, I will attack so that you can escape.’
‘My oldest friend,’ Valeskia replied, ‘after all these years apart I don’t intend to lose you so soon. We stay together.’ Jonas replied by changing into his wolf form, but not before she saw that his face had turned red.
Moving into the deserted hallway, Valeskia was surprised. There should still be guards here. Something was wrong! Hearing gun-fire, the pair quickly moved up the stairs to the entrance of the ballroom. Pausing, Valeskia opened the door a crack to see how many guards were in there. She could see three and again she was surprised. Only three, what was going on, where were they all?
Peering through the crack again, Valeskia saw the front door to the ballroom bang open and Vladimir, Eric and Emily – who was on Applejacks – entered the room. The guards were firing their guns but none of the bullets seemed to be touching the small group. Gesturing to Jonas, Valeskia mouthed to him, ‘We need to create a diversion.’ He nodded and they moved quietly into the ballroom, hiding behind the throne.
Looking around the room, Valeskia saw a heavy vase to the left of the throne and whispering to Jonas she said, ‘I’ll throw the vase into the corner. You jump on the two guards and knock them down. I’ll jump on the guard to the left.’ Jonas shook his wolf head at her but Valeskia was firm.
‘I can do this,’ she whispered back. Realising that she was determined – and really, he could never say no to her – Jonas moved into position. Valeskia picked up the vase and threw it down the stairs. The noise worked and as the guards turned, both Jonas and Valeskia threw themselves at them. Seeing their advantage, Vladimir ordered Emily to lower the force field and both he and Eric raced up the stairs to where the guards were. It was all over within seconds and the guards were rounded up and forced to sit on their knees with their hands locked behind their heads.
Morphing back into human form, Vladimir demanded, ‘Where is Varrick?’ None of guards said anything. Turning to Emily he asked her, ‘Can you send one of them into the void for ten seconds and then bring him back?’ Looking at Applejacks, Emily thought about it.
‘I might lose him during the connection, but I can try.’ The guards looked at each other nervously. Turning back to them, Vladimir’s voice showed no mercy.
‘This is your last chance! Tell me where Varrick is.’ He gave them a few seconds to reply before turning to Emily and simply saying, ‘Do it.’
Choosing the youngest guard, Emily concentrated for a moment and then he was gone. Applejacks had closed his eyes as well; the pair were linked with Emily’s arm resting on his neck. After ten seconds the guard popped back into the room. His mouth was open and he filled the room with a scream, shaking uncontrollably. Emily shut her eyes and turned from the man. Vladimir knew she was upset at having to hurt him.
‘Tell me where Varrick is!’ he demanded again. ‘Or I will send you back again.’
‘No, no! Please don’t send me back,’ the guard pleaded. ‘I will tell you what you want to know.’ Pulling himself up so that he was sitting on his knees, he looked at Emily with terror on his face. His skin was red from the cold of the between void and he was having a hard time catching his breath. ‘He is following the children.’
‘What?’ Eric moved closer to the guard.
‘He has placed a tracker on a couple of the children. He guessed that you would free them with the witch’s ability. He has set off with the rest of his guards to follow them to your camp.’
‘What does he plan to do?’ Vladimir asked, already knowing in his head the answer.
‘His plan is to kill your people, to kill all of you. We were meant to kill you here but we didn’t know the witch could make a force field.’
Turing to Eric and Jonas, Vladimir ordered, ‘Tie them up!’ Turning to Valeskia he said, ‘Mother, we need to remove your collar.’
‘I think it will explode as soon as she tries to teleport it,’ Valeskia replied calmly, ‘but I’m willing to try.’ Valeskia knew that she had to l
ose the collar and there was no other way to get it off.
‘Applejacks has given me an idea,’ Emily interjected. ‘How big will the blast be?’
‘Not too big, it’s designed to just take off the person’s head. It works inwards,’ Valeskia replied calmly.
‘Alright then, stand over there,’ Emily requested.
‘Wait!’ Jonas cried as he morphed into human form. Walking over to Valeskia he took her hands, his face showing the emotion from his heart. Valeskia reached up and touched his face, and then she simply turned and walked to the spot that Emily had asked her to go to. She stood calmly and Vladimir smiled at his mother. He was so proud of her bravery.
Emily reached out to Applejacks and concentrated. Suddenly Valeskia disappeared and the collar exploded, falling to the ground. In the next instant, Valeskia reappeared again by Jonas.
‘You did it!’ Jonas yelled, lifting Valeskia up off the floor in a big hug.
‘Jonas, you really need to wear clothes to do that,’ Valeskia replied, smiling.
‘Oh yes.’ And to hide his embarrassment he changed back into his wolf form looking very sheepish.
‘We need to warn Vince that Varrick is tracking the children,’ Vladimir said, turning to Emily.
‘I’m not sure I can do that,’ Emily said, ‘but I’ll try,’ and she reached out to Applejacks and shut her eyes to concentrate. After a few moments, Emily opened her eyes. She looked frustrated. ‘I can’t make the connection. I also tried with Vondra but I’m not sure if she got it.’
‘Okay, transport us back to the old camp. This will get us closer to where Vince is taking them. We will need to beat Varrick to the new camp.’
‘I’ll have to do it in three goes,’ Emily replied. ‘It will be cold and you’ll need to hold your breath.’ She sent Jonas and Valeskia first and then Vladimir and Eric. Looking at Applejacks she said, ‘Are you ready, old friend?’ He nodded his readiness and seconds later they were at the old camp site.
Both Vladimir and Eric were jumping, trying to get heat back into their limbs.
‘Boy, that was cold,’ Eric remarked. He was slapping his arms and thighs. Seeing Emily and Applejacks appear, Vladimir reached out and pulled Emily into his arms.
‘I just want to say that I know how hard it was for you to send that guard into the void. It was something that had to be done and it was my decision.’
‘Maybe you made the decision,’ Emily replied softly, ‘but I did the act.’ Her voice was thick with emotion.
‘Em, we are at war, it is us or them.’ Eric joined the pair, touching Emily’s hair with his hand.
‘Well, it’s us then, isn’t it?’ But there were tears in Emily’s eyes. Vladimir knew that Emily would do whatever he asked but, seeing her face, he knew that he would not ask her to do anything like that again.
Vladimir told the group, ‘We need to move quickly. I would like for all of us to stay together, but Eric, you have the advantage of being the fastest one. You need to get to Vince before Varrick does.’ Vladimir put his arm around Eric’s shoulder.
‘I understand,’ Eric replied, and he morphed into his wolf form. After one last look at the group, he ran into the trees.
‘Applejacks, will you take my mother as well as Emily?’ Vladimir asked the grey horse.
‘It would be my honour,’ Applejacks thought back. After lifting Emily onto Applejacks’ back, Vladimir lifted his mother.
‘I’ve never been on a horse before,’ Valeskia said as she sat behind Emily.
‘Tell your mother I will look after her,’ Applejacks thought, ‘and to hold onto Emily tightly.’ Vladimir passed on the comment and changed into his wolf form and, with Jonas, bounded off into the forest. Applejacks started slowly so Valeskia could get used to the motion. After a few minutes he moved into a smooth canter. Vladimir and Jonas were already out of sight and Emily prayed that Eric would get to Vince in time. The people had to be saved!
Eric’s paws hardly touched the ground as he poured every bit of energy into running. To the naked eye he was a blur that moved along the landscape. The miles melted away as he ran and his only thought was the continuous rhythm of the movement.
*
Vondra was in the back of the truck with the children and she had felt Emily’s connection to her but had been unable to understand her message. The images that Emily projected had to do with the children but she didn’t get anything else from the connection. Sticking her head through the window of the truck cabin where Ross and Janak were, she told them what had happened. Ross decided to pull over to discuss the event and saw a little alcove where the truck could hide. Vondra told the children to remain in the truck as Ross helped her down.
‘Tell me again what you heard from Emily,’ he asked the small woman, taking the opportunity to hold her hand in his.
‘I didn’t really hear her say words but I think that it was about the children and danger.’
Janak suggested, ‘Why don’t we ask the children if they’re alright?’
‘They’re all very scared,’ Vondra said. She was worried about them, as brave as they were all trying to be she could see how frighten they were.
‘I know Vondra but this could be important,’ Janak replied. ‘It would be better if you asked them.’
‘Alright,’ but the men could see that Vondra wasn’t happy and they understood that she wanted to protect the children from anymore drama. Pulling back the heavy canvas on the back of the truck, Vondra looked at all the little faces thinking to herself, One of these children could be mine. Then she put a big smile on her face and asked brightly, ‘Children, you don’t have to be scared anymore, we’re taking you to a safe place, but I need your help. Can any of you remember what happened to you when the guards brought you together?’
‘We are always together,’ a young voice spoke quietly. It was a boy with bright red hair. ‘We live together in the nursery.’
Then one of the girls said, ‘No, that’s not true. Josef and Iva were taken away for a while, remember?’
‘Oh yes,’ the boy replied. ‘I forgot.’
Still smiling and in a gentle voice, Vondra asked, ‘Which one of you is Josef and which one of you is Iva?’ Two hands slowly went up and Vondra’s heart almost broke from the fear that was on their faces,
‘Come here you two,’ Janak said quietly, smiling. The children both got up, pushing their way through the group to get to the end of the truck.
Lifting them down, Vondra kneeled besides them and asked gently, ‘What happened when the guards took you away?’
Josef was so scared, he stuck his thumb in his mouth. Iva looked like she was going to cry, so Vondra reached out and drew them into her arms and cooed, ‘It’s alright, you’re safe.’
The little girl said, her voice quivering, ‘The monster man told us that you would leave us behind if we told you.’
Vondra replied her voice firm, ‘I promise I won’t leave you.’
‘You promise?’ the boy asked, his little face serious.
‘I promise,’ Vondra pledged again and tapped her finger on his nose. Pulling up his sleeve the boy showed Vondra his arm. It had a big purple bruise on it.
‘They gave me a big needle right here. It hurt so much, I cried.’
‘Me too,’ Iva added, rolling up the sleeve of her dress; the bruise was large and ugly. ‘They said they would be able to find us if we got lost.’ Vondra put her hand to her mouth but quickly pulled herself together. Putting the children down, she asked them to sit by the tyre of the truck for a moment.
Pulling Ross and Janak over to where the children wouldn’t hear them, she whispered, ‘They’ve been injected with trackers.’
‘But why?’ Ross replied, but in the next instant he realised they were leading them to the people.
‘What do we do?’ Vondra asked ‘I won’t leave them behind.’ Suddenly Eric appeared out of the forest. He was going so fast, it took him fifty metres to stop. Circling back, he morphed into a man. He was brea
thing heavily but regained his breath quickly.
Reaching the group he said, ‘Two of the children have trackers on them.’
‘We know,’ Janak replied. ‘It’s the two little ones sitting by the tyre.’
‘What do we do?’ Vondra asked. Eric looked over at the two small children. They were holding hands and looked so frightened.
‘Give me a second,’ he said and opened up a connection to Vladimir, Emily and Applejacks. He told them that he had caught up with Vondra, Ross and Janak, where they were and that they’d found the children with the trackers.
‘How far away are you from the new camp?’ Vladimir asked.
After consulting with Ross, Eric relayed ‘I’m guessing four kilometres.’
Eric could sense Vladimir’s frustration through the link as he ordered, ‘Take the other children from the truck and have Janak and Vondra stay with them. Get Ross to take the two children with trackers and drive back to the old camp, but tell him to take his time. Eric, you need to go to Vince, collect the men and as many guns as you can and return to the old camp. Emily, you and Valeskia head back to the old camp and I will turn back now with Jonas. Stay out of sight until we get there.’ Eric relayed Vladimir’s instructions to Vondra, Ross and Janak.
‘No!’ Vondra cried. ‘I won’t leave Josef or Iva, or Ross for that matter. I promised the children I wouldn’t leave.’
Janak added in support, ‘I’ll be fine with the children. It’s not far to the camp.’
‘Okay, let’s go,’ Eric replied and he morphed back into his wolf form and turned towards the camp. Vondra and Ross quickly got the children out of truck and led them to the edge of the road.
‘I think it’s best for you to stay off the road until we’re underway. Varrick may not be far behind us.’ Then to Ross, ‘If you drive a bit further up the road, there will be a road on the left. It’ll take you back to the camp. It should take you an hour if you go slowly.’ Ross nodded as he helped Vondra with the children.
Vondra sat between the children near the cabin, and as she put her arms around them Iva asked, ‘We’re monsters aren’t we?’ Her small face was turned up to look at Vondra, her eyes serious.