The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1)

by Nicole MacDonald

'Whoops, sorry Audi.'

  The dog grumbled then stomped to the couch and climbed on it, glaring at us as we set up the room. Sian glanced over and laughed.

  'She really hates it when we move stuff around doesn’t she?'

  'It’s her farm dog breeding. She dislikes anything out of the ordinary happening.'

  Sian watched in amusement as Loi climbed on the couch and curled herself around Audi who gave her little kisses and whined in excitement at the attention.

  'That has to be the nosiest dog I’ve ever known, Cat. She seems to have an opinion about everything.'

  Cat laughed.

  'Audi is definitely one of a kind. Now what else shall I do?'

  Sian gazed about the room for a moment, the candles had been set about in a large circle on the floor and Loi placed a crystal vase filled with water at the west position.

  'We need something to represent Earth, Air, and Fire.' Sian frowned as she thought through her options.

  'Won’t all the candles cover fire?' Cat asked.

  Sian smiled.

  'The candles are just to mark the circle, you can use them to represent fire as well but I like using something else.'

  She went to her room to fetch the items, then came back and placed them at their correct positions. Cat walked in from the kitchen as she straightened up.

  'Oh,' I stared at the fire position; a delicate wand was set in its place. The brilliant citrine and garnet crystals at its tip glowed in the candle light.

  'It’s beautiful,' I breathed.

  Crafted out of silver about ten inches long, with a straight cylindrical handle. A narrow cable of the metal was twisted around the length of it. A quartz crystal sphere was set at the base and its tip was created by the crystals. Both stones were faceted, their flat halves pressed against each other so it appeared like they were one stone.

  Sian was pleased with Cat’s reaction, the wand had been expensive but she just had to have it.

  Cat looked up.

  'Can I pick it up?'

  'Of course, you’ll be holding it during the spell.' She ducked to the kitchen for the earth and air items.

  Oh right, Leo, the fire sign. The wand was weighty and cool to the touch. I ran my fingers over the metal as I studied it.

  Beautiful workmanship, it certainly isn’t like the cheap clay wands I’ve seen. I twisted it and watched as the crystals sparkled in the candlelight.

  Sian came out of the kitchen with a small dish of rock salt and placed it at the earth position, then lit the charcoal in her incense burner, sprinkling herbs over it. A fragrant scent came with the smoke that drifted about the room. Another glance around the room satisfied her that all was in place and that they were ready. She smiled at the others and turned to the coffee table, removing a pile of cards from it.

  'Here.'

  Sian handed them each two cards, Loi’s were green, Kassie’s, yellow, Cat’s, red and she was left with blue.

  'Your first card is to call your quarter North, East, South or West. The second card is to join in with the ritual at the end. I’ll perform the majority of the spell.' The look of relief on their faces amused her.

  'Read through the cards until you are comfortable with them, then let me know. Kassie, you start first.'

  I read through mine a couple of times, then nodded to Sian.

  She stood.

  'Ready? Right, then in your quarters and I’ll cast the circle.'

  We shifted to our appropriate positions. Audi sat between my legs and watched curiously while Lucky purred in her usual spot about Kassie’s neck. Sian had her wand in hand as she paced her way around the circle chanting, once, twice, thrice around it, then she stood in the center and declared it cast. She handed the wand to me and took her position at West.

  Kassie looked at Sian who nodded, and in a clear voice Kassie began.

  'Watchtowers of the East, element of Air, we invite you into our circle to witness and aid us in our rite. Welcome.'

  I lifted the wand and spoke, 'Watchtowers of the South, element of Fire, we invite you into our circle to witness and aid us in our rite. Welcome.'

  Then it was Sian’s turn, 'Watchtowers of the West, element of Water, we invite you into our circle to witness and aid us in our rite. Welcome.'

  And lastly, Loi.

  'Watchtowers of the North, element of Earth, we invite you into our circle to witness and aid us in our rite. Welcome.'

  She paused then continued, 'The circle is cast, the quarters are called. The rite may begin.'

  Sian stepped into the center once again.

  'Mighty Khronos

  Father of time and space

  Hear us.

  Glorious Ananke

  Wielder of destiny

  Hear us.

  Reveal our soul mates

  Their time and place

  Entwine our lives

  As our souls are embraced

  Open the Portal of Time and Space

  Carry us to our meant to be

  Glorious Ananke, make this our destiny'

  Together we spoke the last line, declaring, 'This is our will, we mote it be.'

  The words rang out and we stared wide eyed at each other. Kassie went to speak when Sian put her finger to her lips.

  'Shh. Now we will thank our quarters and then I shall close the circle. This time Loi starts.'

  Loi blinked in surprise, there hadn’t been a thank you part written on the card. Thinking quickly she stepped forward.

  'Watchtowers of the North, thank you for attending our rite.'

  We copied Loi’s format then Sian paced the circle three times again, though in the opposite direction and blew out the candles on her final loop.

  'There. All done,' said Sian.

  'So now we meet our significant other?' Kassie teased

  We sat on the carpet, still in our positions and chatted, questioning Sian about the spell. Leaning back against the couch I stroked Audi's head as I listened. Loi and Kassie lay on the floor, heads on hands as they conversed. Sian was the only perky one, sitting up, chatting away.

  The dim light from the candles at the corners of the room made me sleepier and sleepier. Without intending to, I dozed off.

  Ugh—my back was killing me.

  Why the heck didn’t I just go to my bed? Man this floor feels lumpy. I shifted position.

  Five more minutes, then I’ll get up, I thought before dozing off again. Some time later I went to roll over, but jammed up against a large warm shape. Patting blindly down my side I felt Audi lying next to me. Cracking open an eye I peered down at her.

  'Audi,' I mumbled. 'You’re blocking me again.'

  She gazed up at me and her tail thumped in the dirt.

  Dirt?

  My scrambled brain registered that I, too, lay in the dirt.

  'Whhatt?' I croaked.

  Hearing something move, I pushed up onto my elbows. The world spun before my eyes.

  'Ooooh dizzy.'

  I slumped back down and held my head with both hands.

  'Helloooo?' I called. 'Sian? Kassie? Loi?'

  The shuffling sound started again.

  Kassie heard a voice call her name and woke up.

  Why do I feel so tired? Her whole body felt as though it weighed twice what it should.

  'Sian? Kassie? Loi?'

  Was that Catherine? Kassie opened her eyes and squinted at the light. She blinked in surprise.

  Are those trees? What are we doing outside?

  'Cat?' mumbled Kassie. 'Why are we outside?'

  'We’re outside?' Sian sounded confused.

  Loi groaned, 'I’m so dizzy. Guys, are you dizzy?'

  The others made noises of agreement.

  Cautious, I opened my eyes. I could just make out the tops of trees.

  Whoa, that's weird.

  'We ARE outside.'

  I eased up to sitting and blinked as I looked around. The others seemed as groggy as I was.

  Holy crap! Where the hell are we? We lay i
n a circle on the ground in a clearing. Trees, bushes and low vegetation surrounded us but it didn’t look like any forest I knew. Swirls of panic spun in my stomach as I stared around us. I couldn’t recognize any of the trees or bushes, and I know New Zealand bush, it’s very unique. I’d been going to my family’s cabin in the bush since I was six weeks old, I'd know New Zealand forest anywhere.

  Kassie couldn’t speak. She simply gaped at their surroundings. What part of the spell had said this?

  'Sian,' she growled as her anger grew. 'Where the fuck are we?'

  The others turned to stare at her in surprise, Loi arched an eyebrow.

  'Don’t arch your eyebrow at me, Loi,' she snapped. 'There’s a time and place for strong language and this is it.'

  This was one of those moments where Sian truly felt little. Her stomach had hit her feet when she’d sat up and looked around. No spell she’d cast before had ever done this and now she was supposed to explain it to her friends? Cat and Loi looked dumbfounded while Kassie was turning red with anger.

  She gulped, 'I, I don’t know. This has never happened before.'

  Loi could see Kassie was ready to explode. Opening her mouth to tell her to calm down, Loi froze when she noticed her clothes.

  'Guys, where are our costumes?'

  After an initial panicked thought of ‘WHAT! I’M NAKED?’ I realized I did have clothes on, but they weren’t mine.

  There were sounds of astonishment as we stared at our "new" outfits.

  It was somewhat similar to my costume.

  Fitted tan pants with dark brown leather boots that pulled on to the knee and laced at the back of the thigh. Over the knee boots like what I had worn. But these had slight heels and they weren’t pointy. They looked like good walking boots. On the top I wore a dark red tunic with a scoop neck; it was fitted and laced down my side.

  Weird. Why would our clothes change?

  The others, I saw, wore the same as me, the only difference was the color of their tunics. Loi’s was green, Kassie’s yellow, and Sian’s blue. Hearing Audrey whine, I glanced up and forgot about the clothes in an instant.

  She pushed a limp shape on the ground. I realized it was Lucky.

  'Kassie,' I gasped alarmed. 'Look! Lucky’s here too. Is she okay?'

  Kassie jerked around, staring, 'Where?'

  I pointed, then hurriedly crawled after Kassie. She eased Lucky onto her lap and looked at me with concern. Kneeling beside her I slipped my hand between Lucky’s front paws, my palm against her chest.

  After a moment I could feel her heart beat, slow but steady. I gave Kassie a reassuring smile.

  'Her heart beat is strong, I think she’ll be okay.'

  Sian watched and felt relieved when Cat said Lucky would be okay. Guilt swirled through her, even though she knew it wasn’t her fault.

  At least, she thought it wasn’t. The rational voice in her mind reassured her that she hadn’t done anything wrong; the silly voice wasn’t so certain. The contradictory views made her feel nauseated and she stared at the ground in an attempt to stop the dizziness. A jumble of fabric near her foot caught her eye and she reached for it.

  'Hey guys!' Sian sounded excited. 'Look around you, I just found a pack and a cloak.'

  She held up the blue cloak.

  I climbed to my feet, arms spread for balance at the change in altitude and walked back to where I woke.

  On the ground, a bit scrunched from where I must have rolled on it, (or landed?) lay a deep red cloak. A pack like Sian’s was beside it, along with something long and shiny. I bent down.

  'Wow. I have a sword and two daggers that look kind of like the ones from my costume,' I trailed off.

  Actually, these looked far more lethal. Granted, mine had been costume pieces and these appeared to be the genuine article. I tugged one of the daggers from its scabbard; it slid out with barely a whisper. The blade was curved and reminded me of the swords I’d seen in fantasy shops. The scabbard and hilt were copper colored and beautifully engraved with what looked like flames. The sword was decorated in the same manner.

  Kassie found a cloak and pack next to where she woke and swung the light tan cloak around her shoulders.

  Well at least whatever brought us here made sure we had some supplies, she thought, no matter how basic.

  She began to feel calmer and her practical self took over as she thought about things like shelter and where the nearest city might be.

  When she leaned to grab the pack, a metallic sheen in the grass next to it caught her eye. Groping, she felt what she thought was a handle and lifted, then stared in astonishment at the short sword.

  Why on Earth would we need real weapons?

  The voice in the back of her mind, suggested that perhaps they weren’t on Earth anymore. Her rational voice dismissed that as ridiculous. Ignoring them both, she drew the sword out and stared at the beautiful engravings on the blade. In kenjutsu, they only used real swords for ceremonial performances. This sword out-shone any of those swords by miles, it was a beautiful weapon.

  Kassie frowned, if someone went to the trouble to make sure they had each gotten weapons then there must be a reason for it. Troubled by these thoughts she took care to belt it to her side and thigh. It was a well designed scabbard; she’d be able to run without the sword flapping about.

  'Cat.' Loi bounded over.

  I blinked in surprise. It appeared someone felt better.

  'They’re real. Not that they weren’t before, but my sword was plastic and now,' she drew it out of its scabbard; the sound of metal on metal audible. 'It’s real.'

  Her sword had the same copper color as mine but was covered in a gritty earth like pattern.

  Sian came over to see what we had, then showed us the bow and quiver she’d found beside her cloak. The bow was gorgeous, a beautiful example of top workmanship. It was the sort of bow I’d love.

  Sian voiced similar thoughts.

  'Really this is more your style, Cat. Though it’s much more beautiful than your antique,' she winked at me.

  'Obviously someone knows you’re the better shot.'

  She flushed at the compliment. I was interested in Loi’s comment before.

  'Loi, do you think they transformed? Along with our costumes?'

  'Maybe,' Loi shrugged. 'The spell did say ‘our lives entwine’ surely that would cover this.'

  Sian looked surprised, 'I guess you could interpret it like that.'

  'Which would explain the packs.' Loi pointed out.

  I wonder what's in mine?

  I sat on the ground to rifle through it.

  'Wow! Guys, look inside your packs.'

  I started to pull items out of mine, a loaf of dense bread, some strips of dried meat, apples and a small sack of grain. A little pouch was at the bottom and it jingled when I picked it up. Loosening the drawstring, I tipped the contents into my hand. Strange coins poured out, bronze, silver and some gold.

  Far out! Where would we use money like that? Is that real gold?

  I heard the others discover the same in their packs.

  'Wow,' breathed Loi.

  'Do you think it’s real?' Kassie asked.

  'Aren’t we meant to bite it?' Sian said with a smile and pantomimed biting a coin.

  Chuckling at Sian’s suggestion, Kassie continued to look through her pack and tipped the contents on the ground to make it easier. She tossed the empty pack to the side and Lucky crept into it, peeking out. Kassie laughed at the sight. Loi turned to see what was funny and she held a finger to her lips, then pointed at Lucky.

  They pretended not to see Lucky when she cautiously stuck her head out, then snatched it back in.

  Audrey saw the twitching pack and stole away from Cat, still preoccupied with her pack’s contents. Creeping closer to Kassie’s bag, she dropped to her belly and carefully began her commando crawl toward it.

  Sian looked up and spotted her, then tossed a pebble at Cat who looked up in surprise. Sian nodded at the dog. They both watch
ed as she reached her target.

  Audrey gave the pack a gentle poke with her nose and it jerked away from her. She froze in shock, even her tail stayed stiff and straight. The dog crept up to it again. This time she sat next to it, head cocked to one side, then lifted her paw and placed it on top of the pack. They heard an angry growl and Audrey’s tail started to wag. The pack lunged, grabbed her paw and apparently bit it as the dog yelped and shot back to where Cat was, hiding behind her legs and peered accusingly at it.

  All the girls laughed and at that point Lucky burrowed out of the pack then sauntered about the clearing looking smug, her tail straight up in the air. Audrey rushed over to her friend and snuffled her all over, then did a big whoosh of air straight up her backside. Lucky yeooowed and ran back to Kassie.

  Smiling at Audi and Lucky’s antics, I returned my attention to my pack and placed the items back inside. Then it hit me. Why would we need these at home?

  'I have this idea that we aren’t on Earth anymore,' I bit my lip as I looked at the others, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

  Kassie frowned, 'What makes you say that?'

  'This doesn’t look like anything we’d need on Earth, not in our time anyway.'

  Loi interrupted me.

  'Ever seen anything like that on Earth?'

  We turned and stared at where she pointed.

  A bird about the size of a pigeon made its way down the vine on a tree. The bird was a deep fire engine red. I couldn’t ever remember seeing a bird that color before. When it turned to feed on an insect we gasped.

  The bird’s tail was made up of long feathers that were tipped with jewel colored ‘eyes’ like a peacock. Citrine, ruby, emerald, and amethyst, this was one stunning bird. It flittered about the tree hunting more insects, unconcerned at our presence, then made a pretty trilling noise and launched off the tree, flying past us further into the forest until it was out of sight.

  Well.

  'Probably not Earth,' I concluded.

  The others just stared at me.