“Okay, come on, let’s go and join them,” she said.
“Yay!” Grace cheered, then she grabbed Christian’s hand and they ran to the beach together.
* * *
Grace and Christian had watched the unusual events from the beach house. They had seen Zavier and Pelagia battle against the Nomeds to protect the good creatures but, standing there on the beach in amongst everyone, they were dumbstruck. Thousands of tiny stars, millions of light years away, pricked light through the black sky above them, while light from the Fire Fairies, dragonflies and starfish partially lit up the beach. Huge Water Warriors, filled with all manner of sea creatures, roamed the sand like walking illuminated aquariums. The beach was a-buzz with adrenaline, gossip, and nervous excitement, all creating a surreal post-battle, carnival-type atmosphere.
“Hey, look, there’s Zavier and Pelagia on the estuary bridge. Let’s go and congratulate them,” Grace said.
The children made their way through the crowds.
“Good job, Dan!” Grace beamed as she passed her brother. His head and body were slowly returning to normal size, but his hands and feet were still massively disproportionate.
“Thanks, Squirt,” Dan said, patting Grace on the head with his oversized hand.
Grace and Christian pushed their way further into the crowd, where they bumped into Grandad Arthur and Nanny Lizzy.
“I’m okay. Don’t worry. I’m fine,” Grace said, wriggling free from her grandparents’ over-zealous kisses and cuddles.
Hazel, April, Ezekiel, Tobias and Aaron were standing at the foot of the bridge. Aaron trotted forward when he saw Grace and Christian approaching. “Where’s Jaz? I can’t find her. Is she okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah, she’s fine. She’s at the house looking after my dad,” Chris replied.
Aaron didn’t respond or even thank Christian for his reply, he just galloped as fast as he could to the beach house to be with Jazmine.
“Excuse us, please,” Grace said. The Halfses were deep in discussion about the battle and they didn’t hear her.
“Excuse us, please,” she said again, this time pushing her tiny hands against Hazel’s and Tobias’s flanks in order to move them apart and create a path onto the bridge.
“Sorry, didn’t see you there. Hey, let Grace and Chris through,” Hazel said, nudging April aside with her soft muzzle.
Grace and Chris walked up the wooden bridge to where Zavier and Pelagia were standing. Pelagia towered over Zavier, his large body of water still housing Mateo. Mateo’s head poked out of Pelagia’s fluid stomach; the dolphin was face to face with Zavier and was whispering to him. Grace and Christian found it difficult to make out exactly what was being said, only catching the odd word here and there: terror… immense evil… never felt so scared.
As soon as Mateo spotted Grace and Christian, he stopped whispering.
“Oh Mateo, we were scared too. Weren’t we, Chris? But we knew Zavier would beat Nicor,” Grace said. Moving beside Zavier, she wrapped her arms around his leg and leant her head against his large shoulder. She patted her dainty hand against his silvery coat. “Thank you for saving us, Zavier,” she said.
Zavier tried to reply that he hadn’t saved them yet, but he only managed to say the words, “I have,” when Aphros suddenly appeared.
“Zavier, sorry to interrupt, I’m returning this shark to the ocean,” Aphros said, exposing the beast within him. “I saw Pelagia with you and noticed that he still has Mateo. Would you like me to return Mateo to the ocean at the same time?”
“Thank you, Aphros that’s very kind of you, but Pelagia and I still need to speak with Mateo,” Zavier said.
“Yes, thank you, Aphros but, as Zavier said, there are a few things that we must discuss with Mateo first. I will return him myself shortly,” Pelagia concurred.
Christian glared into Aphros’ swirling body, intrigued by the gentle look of the large great white shark that was swimming within the Warrior. He couldn’t resist… being that close to such a magnificent creature was just too tempting. He climbed up onto the railing of the bridge and when no one was looking, he submerged his hand inside Aphros’ abdomen. His small hand tumbled around within the current and water splashed up his arm. Eventually, he felt the rubbery skin of the shark’s nose and he gave it a quick stroke. Then he pulled his arm free and hid it behind his back while attempting to wipe it dry on his t-shirt.
“Grace, Christian, you should leave us now. We have things that we need to discuss,” Zavier said.
“Oh, okay. Come on, Chris,” Grace said, taking her friend by the hand. “Eww, why are you all wet?”
“Err, it’s sweat,” Chris replied, worried that he’d be in trouble if his dad somehow found out that he had petted a great white shark.
Grace and Christian left via one side of the bridge and Aphros headed toward the ocean with the shark via the other side.
Zavier, Pelagia and Mateo were alone once more.
“Right, Mateo, I think you had better start from the beginning,” Zavier stated, and Mateo began to whisper to him again.
CHAPTER 47
SICK AND TWISTED PLEASURE
Like I said, Nicor was close enough to enable me to see into his mind. I experienced his past and present thoughts and feelings. I’ve never seen or felt anything so evil. I’m scared, Zavier. I don’t think we’re going to be able to win this war,” Mateo said, with fear quivering his voice.
“We have to win, I won’t accept otherwise. Now, tell me exactly what it was that you saw.”
“I saw the darkness and evil that resides within all Nomeds. I felt the exhilaration they experience when they inflict suffering on others. I sensed their determination to please their master. I saw their king, Balam, feasting on the flesh of our dead. I heard as he ordered his servants to breed him an army, and to find and bring him the Heart of Gold and the heart of a Berthold. I watched the swamp writhing and squirming with newly born infants, too many to count. I felt their selfish need to destroy anything good. But worst of all Zavier, worst of all, what scared me most, was the fear! I felt the fear!”
Mateo was overcome with emotion. The usually happy and exuberant young dolphin lost his smile and retreated back inside Pelagia’s abdomen.
“I’m sorry, Mateo. This is obviously very hard for you to talk about. I know it has made you fearful, but you must tell me everything, regardless of how scared you are.”
Mateo pushed his head back out of the water “No, Zavier, you don’t understand, it isn’t my own fear that scares me.”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Mateo,” Zavier said, puzzled.
Mateo bowed his head and explained. “It was Nicor’s fear that I experienced. It was Nicor’s fear that scared me. Imagine the worst fear that you could ever have. The sort of gut-churning fear that you might feel when faced with death, when helplessly falling, or when witnessing a loved one coming to harm; then times that terror by a thousand and you might, just might, come close to feeling how scared Nicor is of his king. You see, Balam is more evil, more dangerous, than all of the other Nomeds put together. He wants to claim Liberty as his own. He wants the swamp to spread, not only through our world, but also into the Human world, and the more innocent creatures that get killed along the way, the better.”
“We already know of Balam’s malevolence, his sick and twisted pleasure in harming the innocent, but he is also a coward, Mateo. He never fights his own battles, instead he sends others to hunt and fight for him.”
“No, Zavier, you’re wrong. He is no coward, far from it. He is clever and he’s protecting himself, building his strength.”
Pelagia rubbed his foaming beard. “Maybe we should speak to the Prophet, see if it will tell us where to find Nahla and the Heart of Gold, then we can keep the Heart close and protect it. It’s of no use to Balam anyway, its powers will only work for the one that it is meant for, one of the Berthold.”
“No, the Heart must remain hidden. Balam obviously wants it so that
he can prevent it from finding its way to the rightful owner. The prophecy states that the Heart will reappear when the time is right. Let’s leave the prophecy to fulfil itself,” Zavier said.
“Okay, but what are we going to do in the meantime?” Pelagia asked.
“I want you and your Warriors to return to the ocean, rest and gather as much strength as you can. But before you do, can you ensure everyone gathers at the beach house for me? I’m going to go and see the Great Prophet now. I have an idea that I want to discuss, but I don’t think anyone’s going to like it,” and with that, Zavier’s hooves thundered down the wooden bridge and he galloped across the beach toward the meadow to speak with the Great Prophet.
* * *
“Whoa, where’s he going in such a hurry?” Chris asked, as Zavier bolted past leaving a cloud of sand behind him.
“I don’t know, but wherever it is, it must be important,” Grace said.
“Everyone to the beach house!” Pelagia boomed. “Zavier will return shortly. In the meantime, stay safe and rest.”
Grace and Christian were making their way back to the house when they spotted Henrietta sitting behind a large rock. Only the top of her head was visible. It was difficult to see her clearly in the darkness, but from the way she was moving, it was obvious that she was laughing.
“What’s she up to?” Christian asked.
“Nothing good, I expect. Come on, let’s go and see,” Grace said.
They crept quietly across the sand before crouching down on the opposite side of the rock to Henri. Henri’s laugh was less of a giggle and more of a snigger. Grace edged her way round the side of the rock. Her cousin had her back to her, her head was down and she appeared to be poking at something with a stick. Henri’s laugh was getting louder as she twirled the stick in circular motions.
Ensuring that she didn’t make a sound, Grace carefully climbed to her feet and signalled to Chris with her index finger pressed against her lips to ‘shhh’ and ‘stay still’. She peered over Henri’s shoulder and was appalled at what she saw. Henri had found one of the tiny turtle hatchlings. She’d tipped it onto its back and was knocking the stick against the side of its shell, causing it to spin around and around. When she removed the stick, the poor little creature continued to spin and Henri laughed loudly at its distress.
“Stop it, you nasty girl!” Grace shouted.
Henri jumped with surprise and dropped the stick. “I just found it and I was about to take it back to the sea,” she lied.
“No, you were not! You were purposely spinning it around for your own sick pleasure!” Grace snapped, picking the poor hatchling up and turning it over in her hand.
“I was not, I was helping it!” Henri wailed, before running off with crocodile tears streaming down her face.
“Why does she have to be so nasty sometimes?” Chris asked, as he looked at the little hatchling in Grace’s hand.
“I don’t know how anyone could be so mean to something so cute,” Grace replied. “Just look at you, you’re as cute as a button, yes you are,” she said, smiling at the turtle.
“That’s what we should call it, Button,” Chris said.
Grace looked down at the tiny turtle. “Hello, Button,” she said.
“I thought I told you to return to the house!” a voice bellowed “Why are you still out here?” Pelagia asked.
“Sorry, sir,” Grace apologised, startled. “We were on our way when we found Henrietta being horrible to this little one. Its name is Button.”
“Well, I’ll return Button here back to the ocean and you two can get yourselves up to the beach house,” Pelagia said, taking the hatchling from Grace.
“Yes, sir!” Grace and Christian chorused.
When they arrived at the house, Henrietta was blubbing away to Mad Mrs Potty Potts, crying that she’d found the turtle on its back and that she was trying to turn the poor little thing over with the stick when Grace and Christian had found her.
“You’re such a liar,” Grace mouthed at her spiteful cousin, and Henri responded by glaring back at her through squinted eyes and sticking out her tongue. It was then that Grace realised she’d made a big mistake. She should never have chosen Henrietta to come to Liberty. Yes, there was a little good in her, but there was also a whole lot of bad, and if faced with two paths, one that was good and one that was evil, Grace felt certain that Henri would choose the wrong one.
CHAPTER 48
LOST YOUR HEAD
Nicor dragged himself through the swamp before collapsing into its boggy darkness at the foot of his master.
“Dnats erofeb ruoy gnik!” Balam spat.
Nicor slowly and pitifully rose out of the mud. The journey back to the swamp had taken a toll on his sloughing skin. Strips of his flesh had torn away, exposing many of his muscles and tendons. The light had faded from his piercing blue eyes, which were dry and stinging from the irritation of the salt. He struggled to see clearly and he looked upon his king through a murky haze of fear.
“M’I yrros retsam ev’I deliaf uoy,” he whimpered.
Balam cricked his left neck and sneered.
“M’I yrros retsam ev’I deliaf uoy,” he repeated, perfectly imitating Nicor’s voice. “Evah uoy tsol ruoy daeh rociN? Uoy erad ot nruter ytpme dednah?”
Balam’s right head twisted toward Nicor, its mind possessing the tattered Nomed’s body. Nicor involuntarily lifted out of the swamp, hovering a good six feet above the sludge. His arms and legs spread wide, pulled further and further apart by the invisible force of Balam’s mind. Then the king’s central head stared aggressively into Nicor’s eyes, sending daggers of intense pain searing through his skull. Nicor writhed and screeched in agony. Balam continued the torture, looked around the swamp, and addressed the rest of his servants.
“Tel siht eb a nossel ot uoy lla. Liaf em dna uoy lliw eid!” he raged, holding his right hand out in front of his body. He clawed and grasped at the air, twisting his hand in a snapping motion and as he did so, Nicor’s head broke free of its neck and fell into the swamp. Balam released his hold on Nicor’s headless corpse, dropping it into the dark mud below, where snakes slithered and hungry infants were awaiting their next meal.
* * *
When Zavier returned from the meadow, he went into the stable, transformed into his human form, and donned his robe. Most of the creatures at the house were sleeping; even those with nocturnal habits were taking the opportunity to rest. Aurora was curled up in the hay on the stable floor, purring like a kitten. Poppy Paul and Aaron were slumped on the couch, their arms folded across their rising and falling stomachs and their legs outstretched, their feet rested upon the furry backs of the wolf pack. Zavier could feel the vibrations rumbling through the air, as the large men snored loudly. He went into the kitchen to get himself a drink of water before heading to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very busy day.
Francis and Chester were perched upon the kitchen table talking.
“What are you two doing awake? You should be sleeping,” Zavier said.
“Like we’re going to get any sleep with that racket going on,” Francis hooted, wide-eyed in disgust at the loud snorting noises coming from the other room.
“Fair point,” Zavier said, pulling up a chair.
“So, what happened? Pelagia said you’d gone to speak with the Great Prophet,” Chester chirped.
Zavier placed his forearms on the table, clasped his hands together and began rubbing his thumbs against one another in a serious fashion. “Yes, Chester, I did. I wanted confirmation that the decision I have made is the right one, and it is.”
“What decision?”
Zavier bit his top lip, took in a sharp breath and replied, “To go to Shabriri Swamp.”
“Have you completely lost your head?” Francis squawked, with his eyes bulging and his feathers puffed out. “Why would you even consider such madness?”
“It was something that Mateo said to me, it got me thinking. I realised that in order to defeat our enemy,
we must confront it head-on. That means going to the swamp to face Balam. And seeing as Grace is key to winning this war, she will be coming with us!”
CHAPTER 49
THIS IS IT!
“Okay, so this is it, then? We’re really doing this?” said an astonished Chester, grasping Zavier’s mane with his tiny toes.
“Yes, this is it, Chester. Are you ready?”
“I’m not sure I’ll ever be ready, but I’m willing to give it my best effort and that’s got to count for something,” he chirped.
“How about you, Grace, are you okay?” Zavier asked. “Are you sure that you can do this?”
Grace draped herself forward, her leafy camo-wear rustling as she rested her body against the back of Zavier’s thick, muscular neck. She tipped her head and a loose blonde curl tumbled over her face. She tucked the hair back into the woodland wreath that was placed upon her head, looked Zavier in the eye, smiled and said, “I’m sure, Zavier. I trust you. I know that you will protect me.”
Zavier blinked his long, silvery lashes across his blue-grey eyes and replied, “I’ll certainly do my best, child,” then he started a slow and steady walk down the beach.
Grace sat herself upright and leaned back, gazing up at her mum who was sitting behind her. “It’s going to be okay, Mum, don’t worry,” she said, seeing the concern in her mother’s eyes. “Zavier will look after me.”
“And so will I, darling, so will I,” Mary said.
Zavier led the group toward the rocky path at the south of the beach. Many of Liberty’s good creatures were accompanying him to the swamp. Even Abigail had joined with them. The sea turtle was nestled in a camouflage sling that Lizzy had made for her and she was being lifted into the air by a squawking canopy of seabirds.
“Mama! Mama!” Button cried from the shoreline, as she watched her mother being lifted up and away.
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