Rachel nodded, accepting the news. She leaned back and looked around slowly.
“It really does look like the old days, doesn't it?” she said with a tired smile. “I'm so grateful that you all made it too. Does anyone know what the hell is going on out there? Goblins and drakes? Plus that huge black dragon squatting on the Peace Tower like an overgrown gargoyle? Why? For us? There were only a handful of Changlings left in the city. And now there are even less. Are we really so important that we need to be hunted down and slaughtered?”
They all exchanged glances but no one answered.
“We just don't know, Rachel,” Sarah told her. “I'm hoping that when he gets here, Magnus might be able to shed some light on that, but maybe he doesn't know either. All I do know is that there is no food here and that we are way too close to the city to stay here for long. Plus, the goblins already know that we're here, so they will probably return in force, sooner rather than later, and we'd better be gone before they do.”
“Great,” Rachel said as she pushed her long blue hair out of her eyes. “Wonderful. Well, we've faced adversity many times before and we can do so again. Let's just hope that we have a day or two of peace so that everyone can get some rest before we head off to who knows where.”
She looked at the other leaders curiously.
“Speaking of which, where exactly do we go when we leave the bunker? Anyone know?”
Caroline stood up stiffly. She looked as tired as they all did, but was obviously forcing herself to move past it.
“No, but I think that you bring up an excellent question. We need a plan going forward and, even if Alexa makes it here, we are the leaders of our people and we should start making plans. Anyone feel like going up to the command center and checking out the maps?”
Bobby brought Rachel a large glass of water and she accepted it gratefully.
“That's a good idea,” she said between sips. “The others need their sleep and we should go some place where we won't disturb them. Sarah, have you checked out the command center since you've been back?”
“I haven't even been on the third level,” Sarah said with a little laugh. “There'd been no time. I'm guessing that it looks the same as it did a decade ago. A little dustier maybe. No one used it once the power died back then anyway.”
“Okay then, I know that all of us are tired, and I for one would love to get washed up,” Caroline told them. “But that can wait until we work this out. Shall we?”
She gestured toward the doorway and everyone stood up together. There were a few groans and painful hisses, but no one complained. Instead, they followed Caroline out of the room, Rachel and Miesha grabbing torches from the pile next to the door as they went.
Bobby watched them leave, forgotten for the moment. He admired their dedication. The four women, including Sarah, were loyal to their people and worried more about the other Changlings' futures than their own. It was inspiring.
Left to his own devices, Bobby walked around the room and asked everyone who wasn't sleeping if they needed anything. A few joked about pizza and chicken wings and he laughed along with them. But except for reassuring them that the latrine was working just fine and that the well water was safe to drink, he couldn't really offer the group anything but hope.
When he was finished, Bobby grabbed a torch and lit it. He left the room and walked down the hallway toward the stairs. He passed several people coming back from getting cleaned up and they exchanged smiles. But everyone seemed too tired to want to talk and he moved past them and reached the stairwell.
Just as he opened the door, a large figure standing in the darkness on the other side stepped forward and almost ran into him. Bobby gasped and stumbled backwards, almost dropping his torch in the process.
“Whoa, easy there, young man. You don't want to burn yourself.”
Bobby regained his balanced and stared into the wise, smiling face of Magnus.
“You're here!” Bobby exclaimed, feeling immensely relieved. “You made it.”
The shaman seemed amused by his statement.
“I told Sarah that I'd be coming,” he said matter-of-factly. “Didn't she inform you?”
“She did, yes, but between the goblins and the drakes, not to mention that damned dragon...”
Magnus snorted in disgust.
“The day that a drake or a goblin can track me in the forest is the day that I stop being a shaman. And that day will never come, I assure you. No, the only thing that I was worried about was the dragon that's commanding those drakes. Fortunately, the over-sized beast is still perched on the Peace Tower as if it has decided to become a permanent part of the architecture. Which is just as well. If it had been patrolling the skies, I might have been spotted. Dragons can see very small targets at very great distances. At any rate, I was able to travel with a heavier load than I normally would have because the dragon remained on that tower, so I'm grateful for that.”
The man was carrying two large black duffel bags, one in each hand. They looked heavy but Magnus held them as if they weighed nothing. He also had a backpack hanging off of his shoulders and Bobby was amazed at the shaman's obvious strength. He was even more impressed by the fact that the man had walked down four flights of stairs in total darkness.
“How did you even see where you were going when you came down here?” he asked.
“I just used my senses the way that I always have,” Magnus replied with a shrug. “I'm used to living in tunnels, remember?”
“Oh right. And you carried that load all the way from Ottawa?”
“Of course. But it is getting quite heavy at this point and I would appreciate it if you could take one of the bags.”
Bobby hurriedly grabbed the bag from Magnus' left hand, and promptly dropped it.
“Sorry, Magnus!” he exclaimed in embarrassment. “It's heavier than it looks. There's nothing breakable in it, is there?”
The shaman shook his head and chuckled.
“No. As you know, my home was originally built as an emergency shelter for the government, in case of an attack by a foreign power. Some things that I left in storage ever since, because I had no need of them, have become quite valuable now. Namely, field rations. Piles of them. I packed as many as I could carry when Sarah told me that there was no food here in the bunker. Hopefully it will get your people back on their feet and help them regain their strength, at least enough of it to survive until I can teach them to forage in the wilderness.”
“Food! Magnus, you are a lifesaver,” Bobby said happily. “Everyone is so exhausted and I was afraid that, without any food, they wouldn't be able to travel much further.”
“You have a good heart, young man,” Magnus told him warmly. “You obviously care a great deal for your people. Now, let's take these into the main room. Eric, above, told me that you were all staying in the recreation room? I have never been here, so you will have to take the lead.”
“Of course. It isn't far, just about halfway down the hall. You can see the lighted doorway from here.”
Bobby switched his torch to his left hand, picked up the duffel bag by its handle, carefully this time, and led Magnus to the rec room. When they entered, they found that all of the Changlings were sleeping.
The shaman set his bag and backpack down next to the entrance and put a finger to his lips. Bobby nodded and left his bag next to the shaman's.
“Less than twenty? That is all that made it?” Magnus asked as he scanned the room. “Counting Eric and Fani up at the main entrance, of course.”
“Plus Caroline, Rachel and Miesha. And Sarah and me. We're hoping that Alexa and at least some of her people will arrive soon. She told Sarah that they were getting close.”
“Ah. Well, let's hope so. Speaking of Sarah, where is she and the other leaders?”
“One level up, in the command center. They went up a little while ago to check out the maps and decide where we should go from here.”
“Wise. You only have a brief respite before
either the goblins or the drakes, or both, return to attack the bunker again. I think that I will join them. Could you lead me there? Or you can remain here and just give me directions.”
“I'll take you,” Bobby told him. “To be honest, I'm curious to hear what their plans are.”
Magnus winked at him.
“So am I,” he said.
Chapter 19
Up on the third level, Sarah and the others were standing in what had once been the bunker's command center. In here, huge maps hung from the walls and an enormous conference table stood in the middle of the room, with many leather chairs placed all around it.
Before the Changlings had left the facility because of a shortage of food, they had ignored the room for the most part. They'd found the command center intimidating and a little bit scary. So they had closed the door and used other rooms to play and live in. Until now.
Rachel and Miesha held up their torches and Sarah concentrated on her stone, making it glow as brightly as she could. All four of the women turned in a slow circle, staring in fascination at the towering maps around them.
“Wow, I had forgotten just how, I don't know, serious this room was,” Caroline said in a hushed voice. “Just think, back in the old days, this is where the government would have retreated to in case there was a nuclear war. Funny how strange and silly that sounds now.”
Sarah nodded silently as she walked further into the room to examine the conference table. It was covered with a thick layer of dust, of course, as were the chairs. Impulsively, she drew a smiley face in the dust with a forefinger.
Rachel walked up behind her and snickered as she saw the doodle.
Sarah grinned back at her.
“Let's not get too overwhelmed by all of this,” she told the others as she gestured at the room. “It's just a big office, really. The bombs that the builders were worried about became useless at about the same time as motors began to fail and technology went down around the world. I'm just glad that there are maps in here that we can use to plan our way forward. So, shall we get to it?”
“Practical as always,” Miesha told her with a smile.
“Sometimes,” Sarah agreed. “Which one of these is a local map?”
They all scattered, walking around and looking for a map of the province of Ontario.
“Here,” Rachel said loudly. “This is it.”
The others hurried over to where she was standing and holding up her torch.
“Look,” she said, pointing at the map above them. “They marked the location of the bunker, see? Just west of the city.”
“Perfect,” Caroline said with a satisfied smile. “I'm sure this isn't totally accurate now, not since the dragons' returned, but it's good enough.”
Sarah looked at her friends.
“So, where do we go from here?” she asked them.
“Now that is a good question.”
All four of them turned toward the door to see Bobby and Magnus standing there. Bobby grinned widely at Sarah's expression.
“We have a guest,” he said, stating the obvious.
“Magnus!”
Sarah hurried across the room and embraced the shaman tightly. He smiled down at the top of her head and looked over at the other leaders.
“How nice to see you all again,” he said.
They all greeted him with varying levels of enthusiasm. None of the women knew the shaman as well as Sarah did and they were a bit wary of him. He was a mysterious figure to the Changlings, after all, and they had learned to be cautious of anything unfamiliar over the years.
“You had no trouble getting here?” Sarah asked as she stepped back and looked up at him.
“I avoided a few hunting packs of drakes,” Magnus said with a shrug. “But that wasn't too difficult. One thing that the monsters have never been is quiet. You can always hear them coming.”
“He brought food!” Bobby exclaimed. “Rations. Enough for everybody.”
Rachel looked immensely relieved and Miesha and Caroline both smiled at the news.
“Oh, thank you, sir,” Caroline said earnestly. “Our people are getting very hungry and we didn't know when we would be able to feed them again.”
Magnus walked over to them, flanked by Bobby and Sarah. He looked up at the map with interest.
“No need to thank me,” he said as he stared at the large chart. “It is my pleasure to help you and yours.”
He looked at Caroline and the others.
“You are probably the last remnants of humanity left in this country, possibly this entire continent, and I believe that it is my duty to aid you if I can.” He chuckled. “And, to be honest, life without human companionship would be very dull and uneventful, don't you think?”
All of them looked amused by his answer and Sarah laughed lightly.
“Well, stick with us, Magnus, and we'll make sure that you never get bored,” she assured him.
“No doubt, no doubt,” he replied. “Now, let's get back to this map. Where were you thinking of going?”
“We really haven't thought that far ahead yet,” Rachel said as they all examined the provincial map. “Do you have any suggestions? I personally think that heading west, at least at first, would be the best plan.”
Magnus folded his arms and stared at the various city and town names that lay to the west of Ottawa.
“West. Yes, that is definitely the right direction. East takes us back to town, so that's out. I'd say that anywhere south of here might already be infested with goblins. Toronto had probably been taken over by them, along with Hamilton and all of the surrounding towns. And north is the river, which cuts us off from Quebec, unless we can find an intact bridge, which is doubtful. So west it will have to be. But where?”
“The wilderness,” Sarah said firmly.
Everyone looked at her.
“Excuse me?” Miesha exclaimed. “The wilderness? Really, Sarah? Do we look like wilderness people to you?”
Sarah shrugged.
“What does that even mean? We are not 'people' anymore, Miesha. Not according to the ordinary humans who once tormented us, anyway. No, we're Changlings and we can adapt to anything.”
She shook back her silver hair and held up her glowing stone.
“Did those people look like me or you? Could they use magic? Could they have survived for a decade in the crumbling ruins of a city, existing on scraps and hiding from monsters? Of course not. We are special. We were molded by the magic into something entirely new, something that was meant to survive. And we will. I think that simply traveling to another city is just inviting trouble. Sooner or later, the goblins or the dragons or some other enemy will find us and we'll be right back where we started.”
She frowned down at her stone and the others watched in amazement as it began to pulse, throbbing with light as if it was a living heart.
“We need to find our own place, make our own home. It was a mistake to remain in the city all this time. If we'd left long ago, we'd probably have already built our own settlement, hidden away from all of our enemies, and we would have been prepared to defend it. Instead, we're running away just like we did when we were first Changed, just like we've been doing for ten years. Well, I'm tired of running. I say that we leave all of them to fight each other and disappear, go some place new, some place that the goblins have no interest in.”
“And the dragons?” Rachel asked.
“To hell with the dragons,” Bobby said fiercely as he moved to stand next to Sarah. “There will always be dragons, apparently, and we'll just have to accept that. They were beaten once, by an adult Changling, Simon O'Toole, and they can be beaten again. The important thing right now is to get away from all of our enemies, make a new home and then worry about the future.”
“Well said,” Magnus told them. “I could not agree more.”
Caroline, Miesha and Rachel looked doubtful and the shaman spoke to them directly.
“Look, I understand your concerns. I do. You are responsib
le for your people's safety. But Sarah is correct. Other cities and towns either are, or will be, targets of the goblin hordes migrating northward. And open areas like cities are too easy for the dragons to hunt in. If you travel to any one of them, sooner or later you will find yourselves in the same situation that you are in now. Except that you may not survive if this happens again. The choice is yours, of course, but I urge you to think about the future and where you and yours will be in the years to come. Whatever you decide to do though, I will support you. With your permission, I will teach your people to hunt, to forage and, when you do find a permanent home, I will show them how to grow their own food.”
“Oh, that is very generous of you, Magnus,” Caroline said with relief. “We cannot depend on canned foods much longer; they are becoming too old to be trusted.”
“So what does everyone think?” Sarah asked her fellow Changlings. “Do we head off to the west and into the wilderness? Or do we pick one of those towns,” she pointed up at the map, “and make for it from here? We'd better choose quickly. The drakes or goblins could be back at any time, in greater numbers.”
She watched her friends closely, wondering what choice they would make. They knew what her view was.
Caroline put her hands on her hips and studied the map with narrowed eyes. Even relaxed, her powerful frame seemed poised and ready to fight. Sarah knew that the woman wasn't afraid of anything, really, but that she cared deeply for the rest of them and was trying to choose wisely.
Rachel looked otherworldly in the blended light of the stone and the torches. Her milk-white skin seemed to glow with luminescence and her tall, thin body and bright blue hair marked her as unique, even among the Changlings. She examined the chart expressionlessly and Sarah couldn't tell what she was thinking.
Miesha, the eldest of all of them, had tied back her thick hair with a bit of string. Her green, cat-like eyes actually did glow in the light, and she contemplated the map calmly. Sarah knew that she would weigh all of the options and possibilities before making her decision. She always had.
The Changlings (The New Earth Chronicles Book 2) Page 28