by Linda McNabb
The house was quiet as the sun had barely risen and Rem tiptoed down to the lower floor and went into her father’s study. She took a sheet of paper and a writing stick, that did not appear to need magic to put ink on the page, then hurried back to her room.
It took much longer than she expected to write down her feelings and reasons for what she was doing and what she had done. She had covered the entire large sheet of thick yellowed paper by the time she set the writing stick down. It felt good to get her thoughts down on paper and she hoped that someday Sufi would understand.
She placed Sufi’s pendant and chain in the middle of the page, then folded the paper until the necklace was safely enclosed. She wrote Sufi’s name on the outside and put the letter into the top of the large jewellery box that stood on her dressing table. Then she changed her mind and took it out again. She would have to find a way to give it to her personally.
Rem could hear people moving around downstairs and she selected some clothes for the big day ahead. They would need to be suited to travelling while not giving away her intentions.
After a thorough search through the drawers she finally settled on a long green and gold skirt, that had been divided like trousers yet wasn’t obvious, and a gold tight-fitting top with green jacket that matched her skirt. It wasn’t perfect for travelling but it was the best option she could find and she put the folded letter into her pocket. The clothes she had arrived in would raise suspicions immediately.
She didn’t like leaving her sword behind though and she crept down the stairs with it and hid it out behind the house. There was no way she was leaving Deek without it! Several night-shadows followed her and seemed curious about her sword. They sniffed at it and rubbed their faces along it while purring loudly.
The cats didn’t bother Rem at all now and she ruffled the fur at the neck of the nearest one. She hurried up the back stairs and headed for Caden’s room.
‘Caden,’ she called as she went down the corridor and peered into the room he had been given. It was spotlessly tidy, unlike the room she had just left with clothes laying everywhere, and there was no sign of the young boy. His distinctive high-pitched laugh drifted up the stairs and Rem headed back downstairs to look for him.
It was a shock when she found him racing down the hallway after one of the night-shadows. He had aged even more and only his eyes gave away his true innocence and years. She was pleased to see he was dressed in loose brown trousers and a plain green top. They would be well-suited for travelling.
He spotted Rem and rushed up to give her a hug, then dashed off after the night-shadow again without a word. Inside he was still a toddler, and Rem held out a slim hope that he could still be returned to his natural state.
Kranos came out of the drawing room and he smiled at Rem.
‘Good morning, Arianna. Have you seen Caden?’
‘I have, Father,’ Rem replied with a reserved tone. ‘He’s bigger again today.’
She hoped that he would remember their conversation about how it was affecting the boy and change his mind.
‘He grows fast. It must be the magic within him,’ Kranos said with an indulgent smile as he spotted Caden coming down the hall. ‘But he will need to wear this cloak to disguise his quick change. Some may not accept him as one of them if they see how fast he is maturing and he is supposed to be my son.’
Rem wasn’t surprised by her father’s belief that it was only because Caden was special that he grew so fast, but she was a little disappointed that her last hope of solving this all without losing her family was now gone.
‘Caden, I have a gift for you,’ Kranos held out a heavily embroidered dark green cloak with a large hood. Caden slipped it on and pulled up the hood. It was impossible to see his features with the deep hood and as soon as Kranos had buttoned the cloak Caden was off running again.
‘Don’t worry so much, Arianna. Everything will work out okay. I’m still hopeful that I can convince the council that revenge isn’t the answer. We’ll re-join the mainland and secure peace with the humans there. Come and have some food.’ Kranos smiled at her, patted her on the head and strolled off towards the dining hall.
Rem was too tense to eat and sat pushing food around her plate. A low, angry sound drifted through the open window and Kranos stood up to look out. It sounded like a swarm of bees. A young lad came running up the path and Kranos called him over to the window.
‘The guards by the forest couldn’t keep them out. There were too many,’ he said, breathless from his run. ‘The people from the lower city are gathering down on the promenade. Word of the Well of Life has spread and they want some magic!’
‘How many of them?’ Kranos asked, a crease of concern deepening on his forehead.
‘All of them!’ the boy said and turned to run off and take the news to the next house.
By the time Kranos had shut the window he was smiling. Rem starred at him in confusion. Why was he so happy? Kranos noticed her expression and nodded.
‘This will show the council that we can indeed find common ground with everyone in Deek. There are reports of many differences of opinion down in the lower city, fights and arguments. Now they have found a common bond to hold them together and that is great.’
‘Really?’ Rem still didn’t see the good side of an angry mob.
‘If they will come together to fight for more magic, then it is just a matter of shifting their focus to a better target. One like removing the banishment on Deek. I was a bit concerned that Caden alone would not be enough, but with everyone on Deek it might just be possible.’
Rem had to admire his optimism and she was pleased she wouldn’t be around to see the disappointment on his face when he found out that she had run off with Caden.
Her father left immediately to gather everyone and it was only a few minutes later that they were leaving the house.
The council were already waiting to speak to them by the time the people from the lower city were all gathered on the promenade below the houses. Rem hadn’t realised just how many people were on Deek and a quick scan of the crowd told her that it was well into the thousands.
There hadn’t been an opportunity to get Caden alone yet and even if she did he would be missed instantly. Kranos and Mayala walked at the head of the line, with Caden between them. Then the rest of the council followed and Rem was amongst those last in the line that walked out in front of the huge gathered crowd.
‘They look rather angry,’ a voice said next to Rem. She turned and saw her grandmother, Felise. ‘Nothing good is going to come of this I fear.’
‘You don’t want to remove the banishment?’ Rem asked quietly.
‘Oh yes, but anger and revenge serve no-one. Just think what this crowd would do if they were to discover a human was already among them. Or even two humans?’ Felise smiled down at her.
Rem swallowed nervously. How much had Kranos told his mother? Was she threatening to tell the crowd what she was? It was impossible to tell from Felise’s expression.
‘I’m just going to catch up to my brother.’ Rem dipped a small curtsey and hurrying off before her courage failed her.
Many of the upper city children had gathered behind the main line of wizards now and Rem joined them. Caden had wandered back there as well and sat drawing on the ground with a stone, scratching a dragon shape into the dirt.
Nobody was watching the children and nor had anyone noticed that Caden wasn’t next to Kranos for now. She knew this might be her only chance.
‘Come with me, Caden,’ she said softly, helping him to his feet and slipping deep into the crowd of youths.
The lower city folk had spread out and now almost encircled those on the higher path and Rem had an idea. It was a dangerous one and probably wouldn’t work, but it was all she had.
She grabbed a young boy from the lower city and pulled him into the bushes just behind the crowd. He was about to call out when she held up a finger to her mouth and smiled.
‘This is Ca
den,’ she said. ‘He’s very important. Would you like to be him?’
‘Be him?’ the boy asked, suspicious but interested. ‘How?’
If you swap cloaks with him they will think you are Caden and you will get to eat what you want and live in a big house.’ Rem said and tried to keep the desperation from her voice.
‘They will until I take the cloak off, then they’ll kick me out,’ the boy said with a pout. ‘Pa said we were coming here to get our magic back.’
Rem wasn’t sure what else to offer and the boy looked to be about to walk off when a voice outside the bush spoke up.
‘Perhaps this will help?’
A golden necklace with a huge green stone pendant appeared in the bush, held by a lady’s hand, then Felise’s head popped in as well.
Rem was speechless. She hadn’t expected anyone on Deek to be on her side, let alone help her steal Caden!
‘Hurry up, boy. Do we have a deal? It’s a real stone with more magic stored inside than you can use in a lifetime.’
The boy couldn’t get his old brown cloak off fast enough and he donned the dark green one with just as much haste before snatching the necklace and putting it in his pocket.
‘Right, come with me lad. And if I hear one word you’ll lose the stone. You are Caden now,’ Felise said bluntly. She muttered several words and the boy’s face blurred then his features changed so that he looked almost exactly like Caden. She grabbed the boy by the arm and pushed the hood up. Even Rem couldn’t tell that it wasn’t Caden.
Felise paused and looked at Rem and thrust a brown cloak at her. ‘You can’t sneak about dressed in gold. There’s a boat down by the harbour, all ready to go. Stay out to sea until they break the banishment then head for the mainland as fast as you can - and hide!’
‘But why are you helping me,’ Rem asked. She knew there wasn’t really time to be discussing this, but she had to know.
‘Let’s just say I have a soft spot for humans,’ she replied with a smile and then she was gone.
Rem didn’t wait around to see if the switch was going to work, she threw the boy’s cloak around Caden’s shoulders, donned her own, and pushed through to mingle with the crowds again.
As they walked slowly through the crowd, so as not to draw attention, she heard Kranos presenting Caden to the people of Deek. She paused briefly and let out a sigh of relief when her father did not appear to have noticed the switch.
‘With this child, my child, we can break the banishment and return to the mainland.’
A roar of joy rose up from the crowd and Kranos waved his hands to quiet them down.
‘But we will need your help as well,’ he said loudly. ‘It will take all of us working together, sharing our magic and joining with Caden, our Well of Life, to remove the spell.’
A mutter of uncertainty began to gather momentum.
‘All of us. That includes everyone from the upper city. When we have broken the spell Caden can restore our magic.’
‘And then we take revenge on the humans!’ Stavis shouted, coming to stand next to Kranos and raising one hand in a punching motion towards the sky.
‘No!” Kranos shouted, but the crowd were already cheering in agreement.
Rem took a firm hold on Caden’s hand and hurried him towards the back of the house where she had hidden the sword.
She removed the cloak and buckled the sword into place. Instantly she felt a wave of relief run through her and after replacing the cloak they ran towards the edge of the upper city.
They were still a good distance away from the trees when Rem heard the chant start up. Her father’s voice was easy to pick from the rest and Rem turned to see that he had his head raised to the sky and was shouting the words. He had one hand on the pretend-Caden’s shoulder and as Rem watched Kranos looked down at the boy with confusion. He kept yelling the words of the spell as he flicked back the hood. Rem was too far away to see if her father had been fooled by Felise’s magic.
A gasp drew her attention back to Caden who had stopped beside her. He looked shocked and alarmed and he fell to his knees. He gasped for breath as if there was suddenly no air to breathe.
‘Caden, what’s wrong?’ Rem asked as she knelt beside him. She didn’t really expect him to reply as the boy hardly ever spoke, but it was more of an instinctive reaction to ask the question. She didn’t even need to ask as she knew what was wrong. It was the spell. The magic of thousands of wizards was pulling life through him too fast and he couldn’t sustain it for long. He seemed to be recovering from the shock of the demand on his gift when Rem heard a shout from behind her.
‘There he is!’
‘We have to go, Caden.’ Rem dragged the boy to his feet and looked back at the crowd. Several people were rushing towards them and even Rem knew there was no way they would escape. She drew her sword and pushed Caden behind her then turned to face the wizards. The men saw her sword and stopped short but began circling around her so that she had to keep turning to keep them all in view. She could feel Caden drooping again and she wrapped her free arm around his waist to stop him falling.
‘Use your magic to get him,’ one of the wizards said.
‘Use your own. Mine has almost gone and I’ve already given more to that spell than I intended to,’ a second man replied. Rem glanced at the others as she spun and knew that none of them were going to use magic against her to get at Caden.
‘You’re killing him! Can’t you see that?’ she shouted.
Another sound rose above the chanting. It was a roaring, howling sound and it sent a shiver down her spine. A blur of blackness streaked out of the trees and as Rem turned she saw it coming from every direction. Within two heartbeats it surrounded them and Rem saw hundreds of green eyes. Cats! Rem stared at the sudden sea of night-shadows around her and Caden. She went to lift Caden further out of the way and then realised that the cats weren’t trying to get at Caden - they were protecting him!
The cats had stopped howling, the chant had finished and the island was eerily quiet. The night-shadows were defending Caden and the people of Deek were simply standing around in the distance.
‘Did it work?’ one of the wizards called to the others as they circled the mass of black cats. He glanced at the sky, then around at the trees and buildings and the mass of people a short distance away.
‘I don’t know,’ another replied.
‘Here comes Kranos. He’ll know.’
Rem’s attention flicked to the approaching figure. Her father was walking quickly toward them. He slowed down as he took in the situation and as he got close enough Rem could see he looked confused and worried.
‘Arianna, what are you doing?’ he called out. He barely paused as he passed the first of the night-shadows. He stopped suddenly as the cat turned towards him and hissed loudly. Kranos moved slightly away from it and began to walk slowly forward again. Then he looked startled as the next night-shadow did the same then it blocked his way and he had to stop again.
‘Trying to save Caden,’ Rem snapped out loudly. She looked at the limp figure she was supporting. Several night-shadows were nuzzling at him as if they wanted him to wake up.
‘But we need him,’ Kranos said and he gulped visibly as several night-shadows surrounded him and growled loudly. ‘The spell is only half done. It needs a lot more magic to complete it and we are running out. Did he fall and hurt himself?’
Rem stared at her father. She couldn’t believe that he still didn’t understand what this was doing to Caden. She turned to the nearest cat. It was one she recognised from the house, the one who she had seen so long ago in the pass back at high gate. ‘Let him through.’
The cats parted instantly and formed a path through to Rem and Caden. Kranos walked slowly towards them and bent to look at the unconscious boy.
‘He didn’t fall,’ Rem said bluntly.
‘We need his magic,’ Kranos said, but his voice was no longer insistent, it was desperate instead. ‘Let me take him back to connect to
the people of Deek so that they can renew their magic and let the spell finish.’
‘You’ve already taken more than you should have. You’re killing him by drawing so much life through him.’ Rem pulled Caden closer as if to show she wasn’t giving him up. Caden’s head turned slightly as Rem moved him and Kranos sucked in a breath of horror at what he saw. The boy’s face was slack and almost grey and the only indication that he still lived was the slight flaring of his nostrils.
‘But casting the spell is just the beginning. It must have more magic to complete the reversal. Everyone has only a small amount left and can’t give any more.’
‘Well, you won’t get any more from Caden,’ Rem said as a tear slipped down her cheek.
Kranos stared at Caden as shock, horror and devastation showed clearly on his face. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I never meant to hurt the boy.’
‘So you’ll stop the spell?’ Rem asked.
Kranos didn’t answer for several seconds but his chewed at his upper lip and looked uncomfortable. ‘I can’t. Once it’s been started there’s no way to stop it. I guess this is why our ancestors never tried to reverse a spell this powerful before. It will continue to draw magic from everything and everyone until it gets enough.’
‘And if it can’t get any more?’ Rem asked, looking at her father’s ashen face that looked almost as bad as Caden’s.
‘Then it will destroy Deek and everyone on it.’ Kranos spoke quietly but Rem heard the sharp intake of breath from the nearest wizard. He hurried over to speak to the one near him and the reaction was the same.
‘I can feel it pulling at the small amount of magic I have left,’ one of them said and the wobble in his voice showed his fear.
‘Me too,’ a second added.
‘We should take some from the old magic in the buildings before it depletes us entirely,’ a third suggested. Within seconds all the wizards had abandoned their posts around the circle of night-shadows and were rushing towards the waiting crowd up the hill.