“Lie low on my back, little one. Hold onto my mane, and use what little power you have to help get us out of here alive,” he said to her, voice low and deep.
“But I don’t have any power, and I don’t want it anyway. This is crazy; I’m not a wit….”
“YES, YOU ARE!” he shouted and then lowered his voice. “Yes, you are not a full one yet, but in the beginning stages. We don’t have time to argue this point, child of the moon, just do as I say if you want to live to see tomorrow,” and with that he turned around and aimed.
The glowing arrow smashed through the window without a sound, save for the whooshing through the air. Miraculously, the glass had all fallen away and outside could be heard an agonizing moan. The magikal arrow must have reached its mark. Roars and screams and cackles rose up out of the night, and Sadie felt Zeno’s muscles ripple under his skin. He took off at remarkable speed towards the now-open window, his bow and arrows flying at supernatural speed. Sadie held on tight to the thick, black mane that ran down his back as she tried to see what was happening. They flew through the window in one colossal leap, out into the night to put faces to their foes.
Immediately Sadie felt someone or something grab her ankle. She looked down to see some sort of half snake-half man thing trying to pull her off of Zeno’s back. She screamed at the sight of it and kicked furiously as she tightened her grip to the point of making her knuckles white. Its scaly, razor-sharp fingers raked her leg, leaving rips in her pants as Zeno turned and shot the beast between its cold, steely eyes. It imploded upon itself in a mess of green ooze and then disappeared completely into the ground.
“Do what I told you, Sadie! Use your magik! Remember the books flying off the shelves!”
He tried to shout above the mayhem as he spun this way and that, rapidly shooting arrows at the creatures that were trying to get them.
Sadie was scared. Really, beyond doubt, frightened to her utter core. Though she didn’t truly believe she was a witch, she did know their lives were in danger and she should listen to Zeno.
It’s worth a try.
She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate amongst the chaos.
What do I concentrate on? In the book store I was angry, though I still don’t believe I did that to the books. I guess anger is the key here.
Sadie thought hard and went deep into herself to find what angered her most. A thousand memories flashed through her mind, and she settled on the anger she felt at Death. She was angry with Death for taking her mother from her so soon and without goodbyes. She felt the anger she had towards Death for not even giving her as much as a body to say goodbye to or have a proper funeral for. She was angry at the lonely little plaque at the graveyard, placed without a service, and the absence of family to rally around her. She remembered the very moment she’d realized what it meant for her mother to be gone and to have no one else in the world she could rely on. It was the first time Sadie had felt utterly alone. Her anger began to change form. The anger had turned to sadness and a lump caught in Sadie’s throat. She tried to fight it, but it was no use; she was overcome with sadness. The tears welled up in her eyes, and her stomach turned sour. Her heart ached, and she couldn’t help but cry. As she held on tight to Zeno, she relived the pain her mother’s death had caused, and she felt as though she could die herself.
As she was consumed with this wretched feeling she had lived with for the last three years of her life, she felt something pulling on her shoulders with a bony, claw-like grip. She turned to face this next opponent, and saw, hovering above her, a creature mankind could not imagine. It had the body of a bird, a vulture quite possibly, with scaly vulture legs. Its enormously long and sharp talons were trying to maintain a grip on Sadie’s shoulders. The head was that of a man, contorted in anger and fierce warlike determination. Its wings were vast and leathery, bat-like, and flapping up quite a wind.
If these things had been female, Sadie would have thought them to be Harpies since she had read about such beasts recently. Through tear-filled eyes, full of sadness and despair at the memory she was wrapped in, she almost gave in and let the man-vulture take her.
Why not? I can be with Mom again, and I won’t have to deal with all of this.
She started to loosen her grip on Zeno’s mane and her body began to lift off his back.
NO! Sadie—LIVE!
She heard her mother’s voice saying very clearly in her mind. Warmth flooded her body from head to toe. It was the warmth that love can fill you up with, and it gave Sadie a surge of energy and newfound strength. She faced the man-vulture and grabbed one of its wings when they flapped downward. It was tough and leathery and horrid to the touch, but she didn’t care.
I WILL NOT GIVE UP, MOM, she screamed in her mind.
Pulling as hard as she could, trying to knock it out of the air and get it to release her from its talons, Sadie’s outlook began to change. Because of her newborn determination and strength, it became off-balanced, and it was hard for the creature to remain hovering above her. It began to drop a little in altitude. Sadie wrestled with the thing frantically, and they soon were at a stalemate. It was just too strong. Sadie grew weary and became frustrated.
“I WISH YOU WERE GONE!” she shouted. And in a burst of white light, the man-vulture was flung across Main Street and hit Winslow’s Hardware store, knocking out one of its windows.
“Good shot, Sadie,” said Zeno while he shot a troll who had a club the size of an oak tree. “Hold on, we’re going to make a mad dash for our very lives, and it may get messy,” he yelled over the explosion of the troll.
Grey goo rained down on everything, including them, as they made their getaway. Sadie was surprised at how much grey goo a troll was made of; as Zeno ran, she tried her best to get it off of her. It smelled like liverwurst, and she wanted no part of troll slime.
They ran down Main Street until they reached the end where farm country began. The troll explosion provided good cover for their escape, and no one seemed to be following them. The storm that had been raging began to subside as they continued on, never slowing their pace, just going deeper and deeper into vast open country.
“Why didn’t anyone in town hear what was going on?!” yelled Sadie towards Zeno’s ear.
“Because when we are in your world, we wear a glamour. You’ll soon learn what that is, how to use a glamour, and how to see through them. Just hold on and try to rest a bit ‘til we reach Tara’s neck of the woods,” shouted Zeno back at her. Sadie could hear fatigue in his voice.
At last, after what seemed like ages, they arrived at their destination. At least, Sadie assumed it was their destination because they began to slow. They were at the edge of a very large, dark forest, and in a great clearing stood a tiny stone cottage with a thatched roof. It seemed much too big a clearing for such a small house. It looked like the country cottages Sadie had seen in postcards of England that one of her foster families had stuck on their refrigerator. It was small enough that Sadie knew it could only be one room, and she wondered how she, Zeno, and this Tara person along with whomever else was there would all fit inside together.
Smoke was coming from the chimney in circular puffs and light shone through little square windows that bordered the front door, making it look strangely inviting. The closer they got, the more Sadie relaxed.
“Are we here?” she asked Zeno.
“Yes, but still, be on alert,” he responded.
Sadie’s eyes darted all around, taking in her immediate surrounding and looking for any signs of danger—not that she even knew what to look for. Apparently what she thought she knew of the world didn’t apply anymore. Either that or the rules had changed.
They walked on, not on a path or anything, for nothing led to this cottage. Sadie realized that the forest had become quiet, not that she knew anything about the woods or what was in it. She was a town girl. To her left, the imposing trees seemed to be pushing themselves in a defensive line around that side of the house. To her right, wh
ere the cottage was, she saw the same thing. There was also a huge pile of firewood that rose up and above the roofline of the house. As they came within twenty yards of the dwelling, she heard a noise in the darkness of the trees. Zeno appeared unaffected by it and kept walking. She wondered if he were too tired to notice.
“Don’t you hear that?” she asked in a hushed whisper as she gripped his mane tighter.
Zeno didn’t answer and kept walking. Sadie was growing annoyed; this was the second time he hadn’t answer her questions tonight.
The storm was gone completely, and the air smelled crisp and clean, like fall air does. Sadie inhaled a long, sweet breath of fresh air just as they reached the door. As Zeno raised his hand to knock, from around the corner came a hulking, great figure much larger than the house itself. Sadie froze on Zeno’s back, prepared for him to either shoot the beast or run. Her stomach went upside down as she realized it was a troll. She was frozen and sick with fear, still remembering the liverwurst smell.
“Hello, Zeno, it been long time no see you, what say? Who small human?” queried the dark, mountainous shape before them in a voice so deep Sadie thought that only elephants in India could have heard it.
“Greetings and peace be your friend, Alroy. We’re here to see Tara. I’m pretty sure she knows we’re coming,” replied Zeno as the creature stepped out of the shadows and into the light cast from the tiny windows.
The troll began to lower itself down, kneeling on the ground next to them, grunting and groaning all the way. Sadie could hear bones cracking and skin squishing as it settled on the ground. Its huge head bent forward on its muscular neck; with eyes as large as Sadie’s head, it looked at her with the gentlest expression, all things considered.
“Human smell funny, not all human, not all witch, what give here?” asked the creature with a worried look on its face.
It began to scratch its bald, lumpy head and study Sadie with its gigantic puppy dog eyes. Sadie realized trolls were completely different when they’re alive and not reduced to grey slime and goo. She even thought she may like this one, though it still smelled like liverwurst and its breath was what she thought a camel’s butt might smell like. (Not that she wanted the opportunity to find out.)
“This is Sadie, and I’m sure she does smell funny. She’s in the middle of the change. And if what I’ve seen and my instincts are correct, she’s going to have quite some power in her. It’s been a long night, Alroy; if it’s all right with you, I’ll find you later and fill you in on the battle. I know how you love a good battle. Right now, I’ve got to get this child in to see Tara,” said Zeno as he knocked on the door.
Before he had finished his second rap, the door swung open and in they stepped, his hooves clacking on the stones of the floor as he ducked to fit through the frame. What Sadie saw inside was enough to shake her senses once more. She questioned her eyes and rubbed them as a gesture of sight correction.
The small cottage she saw from the outside opened up into one large room, a sort of kitchen/living room combination. It was much larger than the outside made you believe. The ceiling went on forever, it being an enormous cathedral-type, supported by great wooden beams. A large, black cauldron was bubbling as it hung over the fire in the fireplace, giving off a delicious scent she couldn’t quite place. A table was in the center of the room, large enough that ten big comfy chairs encircled its thick, wooden, circular presence.
There were two closed wooden doors on each stone wall. The walls were lined with shelves holding books, candles, plants and other objects along with bottles, jars, and containers of all sizes. They also held everyday objects like plates, bowls, and glasses. As Sadie looked around the room, Zeno began to speak.
“Um, witch child, you can leave my back now. You’re not as light as you think,” he said with humor in his sleepy voice.
“Oh, sorry,” said Sadie as she slipped from his back like she had been riding centaurs her whole life.
While she stood in awe of what she was viewing in this small but not small cottage, one of the doors opened and there stood one of the most beautiful women Sadie had ever seen. She was wearing a long deep green velvet dress and an even deeper green shawl was wrapped around her bare white shoulders. Her hair was a brilliant, bright red and hung in long spiraling curls well past her waist. There were vines and flowers woven in a sort of tiara on her head, and three butterflies fluttered around her as she stood while a wren sat on her shoulder. She had milky white skin that looked smooth as sea glass, and her smile was as wide and bright as the sun. As she lifted her dress to walk, Sadie could see she was barefoot.
She spread her arms wide and began to speak. “Zeno, how wonderful to see you, me old friend,” she said as she approached the centaur and circled her arms around him in the warmest of hugs.
Unwrapping herself from the centaur, she turned to face Sadie. As she looked at her, studied her, an expression crossed her face that Sadie could not recognize.
“And you must be Sadie. I’ve been waiting to meet you, lass. ‘Tis an honor to meet the daughter of my best friend,” she said as she then wrapped her arms around Sadie in the same warm manner as she did Zeno.
She smelled of cinnamon and vanilla and hugged Sadie with the strength of ten men. When she finally released her after what seemed like a yearlong embrace, Sadie noticed there were tears in her forest green eyes.
“You were my mother’s best friend?” asked Sadie. “How come I never met you or even heard of you?”
Sadie felt a pang of regret as soon as she asked this question for this woman looked as though Sadie had stabbed her through the heart. In the same second, she was a little angry that if this woman had indeed been her mom’s best friend, where had she been for the first ten years of Sadie’s life and the last three after her mother’s supposed death?
Besides, her head hurt something awful, and in her chest there was a pain, a pain that felt like her heart was going to explode. As a matter of fact, she felt downright horrible, like she had the flu. Sadie didn’t care if she hurt the woman’s feelings; she herself was feeling way too bad to be concerned with manners.
Looking at Zeno, who had retreated to stand near the fire, the woman named Tara spoke to him.
“Does she know nothing? Is the lass completely unaware of what’s happening? Ach! We must be gettin’ her prepared and in a circle right away, centaur! This is of the greatest urgency it is or my name isn’t Tara of the Isle.”
When she spoke the last part of the sentence, her voice had risen and immediacy was felt in the words. The earth seemed to respond to those words and a rumble was felt, not so much like an earthquake, but more like an earth shiver. The creatures that seemed to live in her aura flitted about nervously before settling back down on her shoulders and hair. Tara herself seemed to become illuminated from the inside out, and her radiance shown brilliantly in the fire lit room, her brilliant red hair giving off the most intensity. The centaur smirked a little and cleared his throat.
“It’s true, Your Greatness. We had to leave before she was told of anything, and midnight came and went in a small battle with the turncoats. I didn’t think it my place to tell the girl because...well, I couldn’t very well run, fight and carry her on my back, at least not very well, and all the while telling her very vital details about her life. It just didn’t seem plausible. I have delivered her to you safely, and if I am no longer needed, I shall take my leave,” Zeno said with the utmost respect towards Tara.
He looked tired, and Sadie felt a pang of sympathy for him.
“Aye, of course ya cen. I’m sorry, my friend; it’s been a long night here, as well. I’ve ‘ad six dozen or so winter elves to heal who suffered terrible wounds from their battle with the Syndicate and I….” She took a deep breath. “That’s not your worry; take your leave warrior, and I’ll see you again soon, my dear comrade,” spoke Tara as she hugged the centaur once again.
She went to the door with him, put three fingers up to her face, touching her foreh
ead and then her heart and then touched them to his chest. She hugged him once more and sent him into the night. As Tara was shutting the door, Sadie ran to it, wanting to tell Zeno thank you and goodbye, but he’d already disappeared into the cool dark night.
“Let him go, Sadie; he’s got work of his own to do. Fighting the Syndicate takes all of our manpower. And he has his own personal demons to conquer when it comes to them, pardon the pun. I’m sure you’ll see him again, you can thank him then,” said Tara with a warm smile.
“How did you know I wanted to thank him?” queried Sadie.
With a chuckle, Tara responded, “I’m Tara from the Isle. The Isle being Ireland in case you’ve no learnin’ ‘bout that as well. No worries though, I’m ‘ere to take good care of ya now.”
Sadie felt her stomach growl long before the sound resonated up and all through the room. Her face flushed red and she looked down at the floor.
“Aw, you’re hungry, little lamb. Don’t need me powers to figure that one out. ‘Ere, come sit and I’ll fix ya something. You can eat and then sleep. You’re probably feeling a bit wonky at this point.”
“I do have the worst headache I’ve ever had, and my chest feels strange,” said Sadie as Tara led her to the table and pulled out a chair for her.
“That be the change, love, you’re okay. ‘Tis best to sleep through it, I always say,” Tara said as she spooned something wonderful smelling from the cauldron.
She then swept her right hand over the table in front of Sadie; as she did so, a steaming pot of tea appeared as well as desserts of every kind.
“Eat now, then you’ll sleep, and I’ll fill you in on everything tomorrow. My shamrock! ‘Tis almost three in the mornin’. Oh, and don’t worry, you be safer ‘ere than anywhere else on this planet, our world or your former one. Remember, I’m Tara fr….”
“From the Isle, I know, I know,” Sadie said in unison with her.
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