‘Any jumps?’ he called back to her. Whilst this horse could carry two on the flat, it’d be foolhardy to attempt any jumps so laden. That would really be asking for trouble.
‘Don’t know; I’ve never ridden it myself. Sorry.’
‘No matter,’ he responded absently, focused on slowing to a steady canter and looking ahead for clues. Unfortunately there were several dense copses of trees and also some very large single trees dotted about which made it difficult to see what might be ahead. They came around a tree and there in front of them was a big log.
‘Shit,’ she exclaimed knowing their horse was going to have difficulty making that with them both aboard. Glancing back at where the other three horses were and how close, she judged the space.
‘What’re you doing?’ Jason demanded, feeling her shifting about behind him and then releasing his waist. He stared in shock as she dived sideways, shifting in mid-air to her giant tiger. The tiger landed without problem, moving aside to let the horses past. He couldn’t watch her because the log was rapidly coming up in front of them and he had to concentrate on making sure his horse was looking at that rather than the tiger behind them.
Leaping the log, he glanced back to see his three team mates were right behind him, blocking his view, but then the tiger appeared, leaping high enough into the air to clear the jump, evidently without any problem. Damn, she was impressive, but he forced his attention forward because there were a bunch of solid jumps in front of them now and they could not be tackled safely at speed. They required full concentration and commitment between rider and his horse. They weren’t for the faint-hearted either, he realised.
Sailing over the next he glanced back to check the others got over successfully too. None of their horses attempted to stop or balked at the obstacles they faced. Perhaps they’d rather face the jumps than a tiger, and were keen to keep out of the reach of the predator following with such ease on their heels.
There was another log, a solid fence, a wide pile of branches, a hedge and then they had to scramble up a steep bank, slide partway down the other side and leap off the bottom. Damn that was hairy.
The markers headed away across a clear stretch of meadow and he allowed his horse to stretch out into a gallop. Glancing back he realised Natalya had fallen back a little, so he forced his horse to slow slightly. The horses weren’t happy, their eyes continually rolling at the predator still behind them, but Jason didn’t want to plough headlong into the next obstacle because they were blinded by speed and riding out of control horses.
Around the next bend they spotted the next arch marker and close by there was a corral with one of the familiar stable hands standing by. By the time the men had slowed up and stopped at the corral, dismounted and taken their horses through the gate, Natalya had caught up.
Aware the horses were snorting at her tiger and staring at it with white edged eyes, she quickly resumed her human form. As the men turned to watch she was very relieved she’d learned Jim’s spell to bring her clothes with her. It had become automatic to activate the small, but so important spell, regarding clothes. It meant she could shift instantaneously, still dressed, into her animal without becoming tangled and then when she resumed human form, her clothes would reappear. Most animus ended up tearing or even shredding their clothes when they changed form, unless they undressed first. It meant they then had to carry their clothes with them, or if they couldn’t, they’d be forced to shift back and remain naked. That wasn’t much fun for anyone. As the lone girl in the class, and knowing she’d been forced to be naked in front of her entire class once before, when she’d been attacked, she made sure she was not likely to suffer that particular embarrassment again.
‘You ok?’ Jason asked coming to her side in concern. ‘Those were some impressive leaps.’ Cats might be masters of athletic jumping manoeuvres, but she was already tired. Also, whilst she refused to admit her pregnancy slowed her down, she was already showing, so it had to have some effect on her.
‘Fine,’ she said airily, but was glad to lean on a rail of the fence to catch her breath. ‘Damn they can run fast,’ she said eyeing the horses with new respect. She’d never had much contact with horses as a child. She’d rarely sought them out either, especially since they didn’t seem to like her. When she’d been a captive in the lord’s holdings she had never been granted access to a horse lest she try to escape. Before coming to White Haven, she’d never realised just why horses didn’t accept her. She now knew they could sense her innate predatory nature and it scared them. She supposed she’d been lucky that the horse she’d ridden with Jason hadn’t tried to buck her off.
‘Yes. We were holding them back too,’ Jason added and smiled to see her huff at his teasing. ‘So, wonder what we’ve to do next. Any idea?’
‘Haven’t looked closely yet, but I don’t see any weapons set out.’
‘You’re right. Wonder what that means,’ Jason added uneasily. The arch was set near a massive tree and its bulk, along with some large bushes, restricted the view ahead. ‘Ready everyone?’
The team stepped through the arch warily, but nothing happened. They couldn’t see anyone or any hint of what they were meant to be doing so advanced cautiously. Rounding another tree they found a metal gate with a complicated pattern, set between a pair of fence panels.
‘It’s locked but there’s no keyhole,’ Jason remarked having tugged at it. ‘Wizard Vako is watching us,’ he added having caught a scent and looked round. He found the old wizard sitting on a platform above and to one side of them, watching them closely.
‘Ah, must be a puzzle then,’ she remarked.
‘That ball is odd,’ Marko remarked, pointing to it in the top left hand corner of the gate. The rest of the gate was made up of an intricate grid of squares, so having a ball in one of them was indeed odd. Since the gate’s construction was mostly solid, with only small glimpses through the mesh pattern, it was difficult to know what lay on its rear face.
‘You’re right,’ Natalya agreed. ‘It’s the only one. That makes it relevant in some way. There’s no magic in this, so it might be mechanical. Let me look closer,’ she murmured and the men stood back a little. Knowing Vako was watching over this gate was a giant clue that this was a wizard challenge. She knew just how inventive that old man could be. His lessons were usually designed to trip up those giving an exercise only a half measure of attention. ‘Reveal,’ she ordered, invoking her magic. ‘Ooh, sneaky.’
‘What do you see?’ Jason asked.
‘There’s a channel zig-zagging down the back of the gate for the ball. The ball releases the lock in the bottom right hand corner. It’s mechanical but I need to use magic to activate it. Clever.’
‘Oh ok. So how do you release the ball?’
‘By burning the twig keeping it there.’
‘Oh yes, I see a little flame symbol just under it. So why aren’t you setting it free?’
‘Because that’s too easy and would trigger the first trap. When you look more closely you’ll find there are several dead-end traps, designed to snare the ball, if it doesn’t take exactly the right route,’ she explained absently whilst examining it. She carefully scanned the path the ball needed to take looking for the triggers, and found another twig. Ooh, that little twig blocked the route and would divert the ball into one of the snares. Placing her hand over the grid she sent a tiny burst of flame through to the twig she sensed but couldn’t actually physically see.
‘Something burned. What did you do?’
‘Cleared the first of the traps. She knelt down, running her hand along the hidden channel behind the gate until she found another tell-tale signature of wood rather than metal. A small burst of flame turned it to ashes and she then returned to her feet.
‘I hope there weren’t more than those two traps. Here goes.’ She released another small burst of flame and the twig supporting the ball flashed into flames and crumbled to ash. The metal ball clanked and rumbled as it rolled down a channel, hit
an end then changed direction doing the zig-zag she’d mentioned. They could see glimpses of it as it passed in and out of view through the bars. Then it hit the bottom and dropped into a hole in the corner. The gate clicked and suddenly wobbled, released from its latch and lock.
‘You did it!’ Jason said warmly and she grinned.
Natalya pushed open the gate and the team hurried through behind her with many congratulations. She looked up at Vako and he granted her a small nod, acknowledging her achievement. As they jogged off she glanced back to see Vako climbing down a ladder, presumably to reset the gate for the next team. That was a pretty ingenious design. Wizards were used to looking for magical signatures to determine if something needed magic. The fact this was magically inert was a component part of the puzzle.
Running on up yet another small rise, they were all puffing. This had been a hard course and they must be nearing the end of it. Topping the rise they could see the finish. None of the other teams were in sight at the start, so they must all now be on the course behind them. However, an arch stood between them and the finish line, indicating they had another challenge to undertake before they were done.
‘Wizard Derek is watching over this one,’ Jason announced, having taken the lead as usual. ‘You’d better look it over Nat, because I don’t see what the challenge is,’ he added uneasily. As far as he could tell, the course went between some low, clearly added, waist height hedges that were spaced about fifteen feet apart. But it seemed an empty section of grass. Nothing looked like a challenge and its very lack had him nervous. There was undoubtedly some kind of magical trap there that he was blind to.
‘Oo, seriously sneaky.’
‘What can you see?’ Jason asked quickly.
‘I see a web of spells. That space between the hedges isn’t as empty as it appears. In fact it’s stuffed full of spells.’
‘What do they do?’
‘Don’t know.’
‘Can you disarm them?’
‘I don’t think I’m meant to. Actually I think there’s a path through. Let me look at it,’ she said moving to the side for a different angle, but remaining within the arch. Suddenly the course burst into flames, making everyone gasp in dismay. She turned to see one of her teammates had stepped slightly through to look for himself and that had been enough to trigger it.
‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t see anything there.’
‘You set it off,’ she growled at him. Now all the clues had vanished beneath the cover of the flames. She marched forward directly towards the flames. ‘Stay behind me, single file and step where I do.’
‘You expect us to walk into the flames?’ Marko gasped in dismay. He wanted no part in walking through fire. He liked his skin as it was.
‘Do as she says,’ Jason snapped. ‘She said there was a path.’ He trusted her, but his animus side was starting to jump around in instinctive terror of the flames. He could smell something burning and feel increasing heat, as he got closer, so this was not just an illusion. He glanced back at the others and realised everyone was wide-eyed and scared. His father had been a leader and Jason had learned many things a leader was expected to do. Inspiring confidence in others was a major one, as was staying calm, even if it was an illusion. One of them gasped and he hastily returned his attention forward. She’d just vanished! He rocked to a halt, his nose too close for comfort to the wall of flame. He couldn’t see her at all. Where was she? What had happened? Was she ok? ‘Natalya!’
A moment passed, which felt like hours, as he stood there frozen. Then a disembodied hand came back through, along with her arm. Then her face, just peeped though, although not her whole head. The truncated effect was very spooky indeed.
‘There are real flames on either side of us, but this just here isn’t real.’ She told them. ‘Take each other’s hand and follow right behind. The safe path is narrow but I can lead you through.’
‘You trust that we’re not going to get burned?’ Marko again asked Jason.
‘I trust her. Besides, we’re at school; this is a test.’ She took his hand and pulled it through the flames despite his uneasy partial resistance. His hand vanished but he felt nothing wrong and certainly no burning.
‘It’s a test for the wizards.’
‘Partly. It’s also testing our willingness to follow where a wizard leads. This is a test of our courage, to see if we can overcome our animal’s instinctive fear of fire and that we can carry on towards danger if necessary.’ Jason braced himself a little, worried he was wrong, but walked forward. Abruptly he was through and Natalya smiled approvingly. He glanced back and noticed his hand remained on the other side, but he couldn’t see it. He tugged and Marko followed him through and then the rest of the team joined them.
‘Well done guys,’ Natalya said simply, noticing they were looking around them with undiminished anxiety. ‘This room has real flames, on our left and right, so don’t go and burn yourselves. Ahead is another fake wall. Can you see the difference? Real fire you can mostly see over and through, whereas the illusion is completely opaque.’
‘I didn’t notice that before,’ Jason remarked thoughtfully and comparing it to the sides was very glad to be able to see what she meant. That also meant he’d hopefully recognise this kind of illusion if faced with it again. ‘Is there anything else in here?’
‘I don’t know, so keep your eyes open. Stay close.’ She hurried forward, keen to get the team out of the very hot inferno surrounding them. All of their animals were close to panic at the flames and her tiger didn’t like it either. No-one was screaming or running around in a blind panic though. She was proud of them for holding it together.
She was amazed Jason was managing to sound so calm, when she could tell he was just as nervous as the rest of the team. His attitude helped foster belief and assurance; she’d better not mess it up. Getting them out of here quickly was best all round.
Passing through the next flaming wall they were plunged into complete darkness. The heat vanished too, making them shiver at the sudden change in temperature. They could see nothing a foot beyond their toes, and that was scary as hell. They couldn’t see the sidewalls in the complete gloom, but they must be there to block out the light. An equally black, invisible ceiling cut out the earlier glimpses of sky, so they didn’t even have that to provide reference, or ground them in normality. The only source of light was the flickering fiery wall at their back and that didn’t illuminate more than a couple of feet in. Whilst animus usually had excellent night vision, depending on their animus form, they did need some light to work with and this space had none. After the fire terror, this sensory deprivation fuelled their fear and they stood frozen.
‘What was that? Is something in here with us?’ Jason whispered anxiously. ‘Can you make light like Cassy? Do you remember how?’
Natalya ground her teeth trying to remember the appropriate spell. She had indeed seen Cassy’s floating globes of light, so knew what Jason was referring to. However she had no idea of the spell Cassy had used to achieve it. She turned, hearing a very disconcerting scratching sound. Jason was right, something was in here and it was coming closer. She backed up a pace so she was right up against the guys and in the feeble fire hued light.
She gasped in horror as something large moved in the darkness. An oddly jointed foot came partially into the light. It was black, insect-like and had long but sparse wiry hairs covering it. It came slightly closer and she realised she was being stalked by a six foot tall spider. Instantly she threw up a shield around herself and her team who were well within reach. She supposed fear of the fire had kept the spider from rushing straight at them into the light. They all shrank back as the spider tapped on the shield, obviously trying to get at them. The shield easily held, even when the spider’s pincer like jaws scraped across it with a squeal. That was certainly a sight she wasn’t going to forget any time soon.
‘You’re safe inside my shield,’ she said hastily, aware of the whimpers and gasps of horror at the
massive predator within feet of them. She might not know how to make a globe, but surely her shield was a magical ball too? They needed light. So, ignoring the spider shuffling around them seeking a way in, she concentrated and made her shield begin to glow.
The spider retreated from the increasing light and she knew that this was just what she needed to do. The team were still linked together. They had probably forgotten they were holding hands because they were gaining comfort from the contact. Creating a merge from them was therefore easy. Using their strength to augment her own, since she’d already expended quite a lot this afternoon; she infused more light into the shield. Soon, they essentially stood within an almost blindingly bright globe. Faced with sudden strong white light, the spider scuttled off and disappeared.
Looking around them they realised the room wasn’t big but was crowded with all manner of pieces of furniture. Those items would have blocked them if they’d tried to feel their way across the room without any light. That would undoubtedly have allowed the spider to corner them and pick them off. None of this was a comforting realisation and they had no problem staying close to Natalya and the safety she represented.
She walked forward and her team followed, staying in a tight and nervous bunch within her shield. There was the door, opposite their entry, but it was close to the hole where the spider had gone. They could see its hairy legs tucked up inside the hole. Its proximity to the door, and thus where they had to stand, was far from comfortable, especially as the door appeared to be locked. They therefore had to stand there, within pouncing distance while she figured out how to open it.
She also had to figure that out whilst maintaining the light and the shield. She would also have to alter the configuration to allow her hands outside the shield to be able to touch the door, all without compromising the strength of the rest of the shield. She growled at the complexities required.
‘Tell me what you’re doing,’ Jason said noticing her frustration. ‘How can we help?’
Forging Alliances: Wizards of White Haven Page 30