Malignant Transfiguration (Endeavor Series Book 2)

by A E M

  “Help.” A faint male voice called out. “Please.”

  Charlotte jumped to her feet and looked around. There trapped under the tree was a faun. “Maven!” She yelled out. She hoped he was close enough to hear her.

  “Help me, please.” The faun called out.

  Charlotte fell to her knees. A faun was alive! She grabbed his sweaty, weak hand. “Hang on, it will be alright. I’m going to get some help.”

  His eyelids fluttered and closed. “Hurry.”

  Charlotte ran back down the path, slamming into Vincent as she turned a corner. “Come help, quickly! There’s a faun! He alive, but seriously injured.” She dragged him along the trail. The faun was unconscious when they arrived. Vincent knelt down in the dirt and pulled his Quire out.

  “Vincent, is everything alright?” Alcott asked.

  “We found a faun. He needs immediate surgery. Could you arrange for a portal stretcher? I don’t want to move the tree on him until we can immediately get him to one of your surgeons. I’ll send our coordinates.”

  “Right away.”

  Charlotte stroked the faun’s forehead. She let his dirty, bloody hair sift through her fingers. “Hang in there, friend.” She whispered. “We are right here for you.”

  “Things will go quickly when they arrive.” Vincent said as he kneeled down beside her. “I need to you to stay back until it’s all done.”

  “Of course.” She said without looking at him. She looked down at the faun’s legs, bent and smashed by the tree. “Please be okay. You can do it. You can make it.” She said to the faun.

  “My name is Oliver.” He gasped.

  “Oliver.” Charlotte smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you. We are going to take care of you. Help is on the way.”

  Two dwarves appeared with a stretcher in between them. Vincent put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s time, Charlotte. Get back.”

  She gave Oliver one last smile before stepping back. Vincent put his hands in front of him, his magic swirling around his hands and arms. He lifted them and the tree lifted. He moved it to the side and lowered it safely away while the medics quickly moved the faun to the stretcher and disappeared.

  “Come on.” Vincent said. “We’ve got quite a walk back to the den.”

  She stepped behind his left shoulder and followed. Silence swamped the air between them.

  11

  Hoyden and the Rollercoaster

  It had been the worst first three months of an apprenticeship ever.

  Vincent fought him like a wildcat.

  David looked down at the boy draped across his chest.

  His little face was still puffy and tear stained.

  He ruffled his hair and pulled the blanket up higher around the sleeping child.

  “I love you, you know that?” He whispered as he absently patted the boy’s back.

  “I won’t give up on you.” David rested his head on the back of the chair. Would it be enough?

  Would the boy ever learn to trust? Would he ever learn to love?

  The hospitality center was quiet and still upon their arrival. Vincent sunk down onto one of the couches outside of the double doors that led to the rest of the den. He closed his eyes and pointed to the other couch.

  “Nap. We can’t do anything else right now, and we both need it. You aren’t going to be of proper use to me if you are over emotional.”

  Charlotte sunk down onto the opposite couch. Did he just tell her to take a nap like a small child? She wanted to find out about the faun. She wanted to go home and check the castle. She needed to check on her hobs. She wanted to crawl into Beau’s arms and rest under his wing. She wanted to talk to Ebby or even Lodestar. She wanted to read about her parents in her father’s journal. There were so many other things that needed to happen other than napping. She lay down and turned her back to him and stared at the fabric until Vincent’s breathing slowed and she was sure he was asleep. She got up quietly and slid through the doors. She ran softly down the hallways and stairs until she ran into a familiar face.

  “Lilybet!” Charlotte called out. “Have you heard about the faun?”

  “Hoyden!” Lilybet turned and smiled. She was barefoot under her ripped jeans and ruffled shirt. “I have heard. Let’s hope he comes through. He’ll likely lose both legs even if he survives.”

  “I hope he lives. I hope there are more.” Charlotte said. “Wait, what did you call me?”

  “Hoyden. It’s become your nickname amongst the dwarves.”

  “What does it mean?” Charlotte asked.

  “Look it up.” Lilybet laughed. “But I don’t think you will be surprised.” She circled around Charlotte. “Not much for fashion?”

  Charlotte looked down at her clothes. “I only have three outfits right now. Two now. The fairies gave me clothes when I transformed to help me with my powers.”

  Lilybet raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? The fairies?”

  Charlotte shrugged. “I am tired of wearing them. I miss my clothes. My closet.” The words came faster then. “And I can’t get ahold of them. What am I supposed to do now that one outfit is ripped up? I’ve tried my clothes before, but I keep burning them.”

  Lilybet reached over and stroked the fabric. “Maybe they only wanted you to wear them at first. You are training now. Try wearing your regular clothes. I bet that once you can control your powers you will be able to handle regular cloth again.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Charlotte looked around the near empty hallway. “Lilybet, can you take me to that clearing you found us at last night?”

  She nodded. “I can, but should you wait for Vincent?”

  “Perhaps.” Charlotte frowned. “But I’d rather not.”

  Lilybet looked down the hall. “How important is it that you go? Is it worth getting in trouble over?”

  She pushed aside the part of her that was worried. “Yes.”

  “We must be sisters.” Lilybet laughed. “Let’s go, Hoyden.”

  Lilybet led them to a small hallway with three doors. They went through the door on the right and followed the hall to another door that led to a small, narrow passage that led straight to a door in the stables. Lilybet gave Charlotte a chocolate mare to ride. They exited through a large walkway that wound its way through a cave and two separate magical barriers.

  “Do you think there are others who made it?” Charlotte asked once they were away from the den.

  “Fauns?” Lilybet asked. “I’d like to think so. I can’t imagine why somebody would attack the fauns. They aren’t helpful, but they aren’t hurtful, either.”

  “They fought with me.” Charlotte said. “They stood by my side.” She remembered then why she had invited them to stay at the castle. When times were hard, the fauns stood strong.

  “I didn’t know they had a warrior side to them.” Lilybet said.

  “I lost two close friends last night.” Charlotte admitted. “One was a faun.”

  “Ah, I see.” Lilybet said. “My heart goes to yours.” She pulled her horse closer to Charlotte.

  “I needed to get away.” Charlotte said. “There was this meeting this morning.”

  “We’ve heard.” Lilybet teased. “The entire den knows about it. That’s why you have a nickname now.”

  “Everyone?” Charlotte turned her face to Lilybet.

  “A den is much like a small town. We all know everything about everybody else. Privacy is rare, but community is not.”

  “I’ve made a grand fool of myself then.”

  “We all have at some time or another.” Lilybet admitted and laughed. “I still do. Kaitlind says I’m the worst trainee she’s ever had. I’d believe her, but I remember her saying the same to my sister. I do believe Kaitlind has had many worst trainees. I can only hope that we all progress to the best trainees she’s ever had.”

  “Are you like an apprentice, then?” Charlotte asked.

  “I am in my second apprenticeship, and I am your age.” Lilybet replied. “I’m nearly
new to this one, which is why you are lucky you got me. Kaitlind is going to berate me into tomorrow when I get back, but that’s fairly normal for me right now.”

  “Then why did you help me?” Charlotte asked. Lilybet spoke of being berated like it was old news. Should she really expect that from her own apprenticeship?

  “Because I like you. We’ve all heard about you and what you did at the first stronghold.” Lilybet said. “I’m the youngest of nine sisters. If there’s anything I know, it’s that sisters have to stick together.” She smiled. “And you and I, we are sisters. I can feel it.”

  “Thank you, Lilybet. I’ve never had a sister before.”

  Lilybet laughed. “I can tell.”

  Charlotte laughed, but an idea sparked. An idea not for now. An idea that stirred something deep within. “So someday if I call on you, you’ll come?” She asked.

  “Count on it, Hoyden.” Lilybet said.

  They continued quietly for a while. Charlotte made a note to look up hoyden when she had the chance. Would the nickname be from this den only, or would other dens find out? Would Stonebinder call her that now? Another nickname. She was Charlotte to all. She was Lottie to Beau and Ebby and Chime and her parents and her hobs. She was Caramia only to Beau in the whispers between his lips and her ears. She was Sister to David. She was Protégé to Vincent. She was Hoyden in the Dwarvish halls. It was curious, this layering of names. She was all of them, and yet, sometimes, somewhere inside, she felt like she was none of them.

  “Lilybet, how do you deal with being an apprentice?” Charlotte broke their silence.

  “What specifically are you referring to?” Lilybet asked, eyebrows raised.

  “I’m finding it hard to accept Vincent’s role in my life.” She paused. “He’s in charge of me or something, but I’m an adult.”

  Lilybet belted out a laugh and leaned forward on her horse. “Or something? Are you delusional? You’ve signed years of your life away to that man.”

  Charlotte stared back with an open mouth.

  “I’m not going to sugar coat if for you, Hoyden. Dwarves aren’t considered full adults until they are near 100, and we typically have more than one apprenticeship. It’s not pleasant, but it’s one of those things we just have to do. I sleep where I’m told to sleep. I eat when I’m told to eat. I train when and how I’m told to train. Right now my sisters aren’t even as close to me as they were. My entire life is Kaitlind and my sisters-in-arms.”

  “Oh.” Charlotte said. “Do you hate Kaitlind?”

  “Not really.” She shrugged. “I’ll probably feel like I hate her when she catches up to us and I get an earful of her lectures all the way home, though.”

  “Would you ever tell her that you hate her?” Charlotte asked.

  “No way. She’s helping me become a better fighter. Why would I hate her?” Lilybet laughed and shook her head.

  Charlotte blushed. She should have kept her mouth shut this morning. He was trying to help her, but it was uncomfortable, at best.

  Lilybet pursed her lips. The light danced in her eyes. “Hoyden, what did you say to the man? Do you bait tigers for fun?”

  Charlotte shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. Just working some things out in my mind. We better hurry. How fast can we go?” She asked to change the subject. A small wave of something unsettling tugged at her stomach.

  Lilybet smiled. “Let’s see how well you ride.”

  “Race you.” Charlotte dared.

  “You have no idea where you are going!” Lilybet laughed. “But you’re on!”

  They raced, though Charlotte never did gain the lead. She wasn’t nearly as accomplished as Lilybet was on the horse. They laughed and screamed happily as they wove through the trees and jumped over logs and rocks. Charlotte’s ponytail came loose and lost somewhere along the way, the wind whipped her hair into a bigger mess. They hit a large clearing and raced around the edges until Lilybet led them back into the trees. It didn’t take long at all to get to the clearing they wanted. The air was warming and the sun was in the middle of the sky. Charlotte walked the clearing, forcing her eyes to take in the bloodstains across the trunks, the grass, and the dirt.

  Lilybet stayed on her horse and held the other horse’s reins. “Are you looking for something?”

  “I’m looking for clues about who they were.” Charlotte responded. “I’ve never seen that kind of magani.”

  “They could be from the old world.” Lilybet said.

  “They are the Zimmon.” Vincent’s voice called out from the edge of the clearing where he and Kaitlind and Alcott stood. “One of Gemcutter’s people has travelled extensively overseas and came across them once many years ago.” The three strode across the clearing.

  “It was nice while it lasted.” Lilybet said to Charlotte quietly.

  “Yes, it was.” Charlotte replied. “Thank you, friend.”

  Lilybet smiled down at her.

  “You both are mine tomorrow morning.” Kaitlind said as soon as she reached them. She turned to Charlotte. “Hoyden, we shall see how well you train. I look forward to making you uncomfortable.”

  Charlotte nodded solemnly at the woman.

  Kaitlind got on the back of the horse with Lilybet. “Let’s chat, foolish woman-girl.” She said before spurring the horse on.

  “I’ll take the other horse back.” Alcott told Charlotte after he flashed a disappointed look her way. He rode off and left her sweating under Vincent’s glare.

  “What part of being an apprentice confounds you?” Vincent asked, his tone sharp and cold as ice.

  Charlotte shifted through responses, tossing the sarcastic, rude, and witty ones. There was the stomach shiftiness again. She settled for silence.

  “Do you know what I don’t get?” Vincent asked. “You were so concerned about having the dwarves’ forgiveness this morning, and here you are causing trouble again.”

  “It wasn’t their forgiveness I was referring to.” Charlotte said.

  “What?” Vincent asked. He waved his hand. “Never mind. I don’t care. I need some time to think about what to do with your behavior today.” He said. “Wait for me here.”

  Charlotte lay out a blanket from her pack. She didn’t mean to sleep, but the combination of earlier tears and lack of rest from the prior night carried her into that hazy place between awake and asleep and she dove deep into the mysterious world that exists when the eyes are closed, the body is still, and the mind is unleashed.

  This time her mind brought her to the field outside the castle where she was sparring with Phoebe again. Thwack. Whap. Smack. She jumped after Phoebe hit her arm. How did it hurt in a dream? “You should run and hide.” She told Phoebe, who laughed and hit her in the leg. Chime came out and Charlotte begged her to listen. “There’s an attack coming. Find a place to hide. Save Phoebe. Save yourself.” Chime wouldn’t listen to her, either. She pleaded and even tried to bribe them to listen, but they merely smiled. Then out of the trees the creatures came and she watched them kill Phoebe and Chime before she sunk through the ground, crying.

  She sat up straight and watched her magic explode and slam into the trees within seconds, snapping and sending sparks exploding through the branches. “No!” She yelled. Water. She needed water. She turned around, hoping to see Vincent come back, but there was no sign of him. “Help!” She cried out. The fire spread through the branches. She looked up in desperation and an idea hit her. It was cloudy. She closed her eyes and focused her breathing and heart. She raised her hands to the air and imagined the clouds coming together. They didn’t. She closed her eyes again and breathed deeper, slower. This time she felt her magic spread along her hands. She held her hands up to the sky again and slowly brought them together. The clouds moved together. She pictured them as sponges, and wrung them out in her mind. They darkened. Lightening flashed and thunder rumbled. Rain fell. She jumped for joy as she felt the rain drenching everything. The fire was out. She smiled and twirled, then flung her hands out, as if to wa
sh the blood from the trunks. When she turned the second time, she saw that the tree trunks had no blood left. “I did it!” She yelled and laughed. She twirled faster then, enjoying the rain.

  “Stop!” She heard from across the clearing. Vincent was running. “Get out of the way!” She stopped and felt the wind whip across her skin over and over again. She saw the tip of a tornado dropping down. She closed her eyes again, and quickly scattered the clouds and tornado away.

  “Are you kidding me?” Vincent yelled. He held his head in his hands. “I can’t believe you!” He turned to her. “Don’t do anything! Don’t think, don’t daydream, and don’t get emotional!” He ran off.

  She stood, shocked, in the middle of the sunny field. She leaned up against a tree to rest, but in that moment her thoughts started to wander and she heard the whispers of blackness in her mind. They whispered to her. Destroyer. You cause chaos wherever you go. She shook her head and pushed her palms up against her eyes. “Go away.” She pleaded. “Leave me alone.” She curled up under the tree and fell asleep again.

  “Charlotte?”

  She lifted her head and blinked, wondering if she was dreaming again, for she saw her father walking towards her through the rays of light as the sun went down. Her heart caught in her throat as she realized it was David. How much longer would his presence torture her? She ran to him anyway, glad to see somebody, anybody. “David!”

  “Sister!” She let him hug her, and she buried her face into his suit jacket. He smelled of the castle: books and furniture rub and cinnamon and citrus. He patted her back. “Are you okay? Where’s Vincent?”

  “I have no idea.” She admitted. “I did something, and he was mad and told me to stay put.” She looked up at him. “I’m terrible at this. I didn’t do just one thing. It’s been awful.”