by Linda Jordan
She saw the pooka again. This time he was walking the other side of her circle and watching her. His fur looked nearly white as he stood against the black rocks.
“I did not mean to startle you,” he said. “I followed you, wondering where you traveled with the Wise One. I am most puzzled why she left.”
“I can’t tell you where we’re going and I don’t really know where she’s going. If you’ve been following us, then you know we’ve been attacked and Aste is wounded,” she said, wondering if she could trust the pooka. Something large pummeled at the edge of her circle, trying to break through. The sound sent chills up her spine.
The pooka put his ears back in the same way horses did just before they bit you. He continued, “I saw the shape changers battle,” he said quietly. “It is true that I am a stranger to you, so I understand your secrecy. These days it is very important to know who to confide in. Shall I explain my position to you?”
“If you like,” she said, thinking this would be a long conversation. Mira felt exhausted and sat down on a rock, trying to look more interested than she actually felt. What did he want?
“My name is Edward Asao Okala Dela Rouche. I come from a royal family, although I am too far down the line for that to mean much. I have lived at the Queen of the Black Opal’s Court for decades. For many turns she has been involved in things which felt unsavory to me. Torture, cruelty and other evil. I have seen it before; it is what happens when humans try to hang on to power that should slide through their fingers and pass to others.”
Edward paced back and forth in front of the rock she sat on. She felt his intensity as he struggled to communicate with her. It was like static electricity raising the hair on her arms.
He turned to look at her. “We pooka believe the old stories repeat themselves throughout time. I am one of the few pooka at court who remembers such things, but I always believed and waited for the myth to come true; when a ruler is born who refuses to let go of power, the world will transform itself into an evil and sorrowful place. The Black Opal will send out a call and an outlander will come to set things right. If this outlander fails, our land will slowly be eaten alive by evil, until nothing is recognizable and our world falls into destruction.”
He sighed and there seemed to be sadness in his eyes. “We who believe the legend have watched Queen Nakia, finally knowing she is the one referred to.”
“Why doesn’t she step down?” asked Mira.
“I do not know the answer to that. I suspect she is quite mad. I purposely left the court several turns ago, pretending to begin my life quest, while I have in fact been searching for one of you.”
“What do you mean searching for one of us?”
“You are outlanders. I saw Ronan lead you to the Sacred One’s home. I have never seen anyone clothed so strangely. Your magic is not from this world. I do not know which of you will set things right, but one of you will and I would be honored to assist you on your journey.”
Mira took all this in. She felt Edward was concealing something big. However, his story jibed with what Aste told her. “What is your current connection with the Queen?” she asked.
“I have no connection with the Queen. Except to work on removing her from the throne.”
Mira didn’t trust anyone, but Aste had said the pooka might be able to help them. There was too much weight on her shoulders and he seemed to be coming along anyway. She would rather know where he was than be stalked silently. “You can join us, although we don’t have any more horses.”
“Pooka do not ride or need horses,” he said, straightening up and probably standing taller than nine feet.
“I guess not since you’ve kept up with us so far.” Suddenly, she realized how tired she felt, everything seemed heavier now that she was in charge of the expedition. She sighed. “I need to sleep, so I can ride again tomorrow. I don’t mean to be rude, but you’ll have to excuse me.”
“Of course,” Edward said, bowing. “Pooka do not need regular sleep. I will keep watch and wake you when morning comes.
“Thank you,” Mira said, going back to Amanda and Dylan. But sleep wouldn’t come. How would she keep going without it? Her mind turned over and over. Did she do the right thing by agreeing to let the pooka join them? What if it was a trap? Edward. She felt curious about him and intrigued about the legend. Those were the last thoughts she had before losing consciousness.
Mira startled awake to find the pooka gently touching her arm. “It is time,” he said. Dylan ran around the canyon chasing faeries and it almost took an act of god to wake Amanda. Somehow they all got food and made it onto the horses.
Aste had told her to stick to the road. If they ran into trouble they were to make up a story that they lived as part of a wandering dramatic troupe who had been separated from the rest of the family and were searching for them.
It was another hard day of riding downward. At times they got off and walked the horses. Once Dylan flew through the air supported by several faeries, giggling wildly. Edward brought up the rear.
“I don’t believe there’s anyone there. I think you’re a fruitcake,” Amanda told her over lunch, after overhearing a one-way conversation. Mira remembered Aste saying Amanda couldn’t see Edward.
“Well, he’s here. When you get stronger and closer to the city you’ll be able to see him.”
Amanda harrumphed and said, “Oh, I see we’re having filet mignon tonight, how lovely,” as she picked at more dried meat and granola bread.
Mira suspected Amanda was more present than she let on. She seemed to have more endurance as each day went by.
At the end of the afternoon they reached the foot of the mountains. Mira looked for another cave Aste told her about, while the others waited near the road.
Apologizing to the mare, she guided her horse through a thicket of scratchy bushes. She rode through several groves of aspen-like trees before finding a cave. “Please wait,” she said to Shadow, then got off and warily entered the cave. It smelled earthy. She heard a rustling noise. Something lived there.
Mira gasped and began backing up. She pulled the pearl branch out of her shirt to light the cave and was blinded by the golden brilliance of light reflecting off the walls. A screeching sound pierced her ears. She saw movement from the far corner.
“Who are you and why do you invade my home?” shrieked the dark shape rushing towards her.
“Oh, excuse me!” Her heart pounded. Stumbling toward the cave’s entrance, she babbled in fear, “I have made a mistake. I was told no one lived in this cave. I must have found the wrong one.”
Slowly her vision returned and she saw a huge bird, taller than her. It had a head like an eagle covered by soft, tawny feathers and front feet with wicked talons. The back half of the creature was a lion ending with a long tail that whipped the air, furiously.
“Who are you and what are you doing in my cave?” the voice repeated.
“My name is Mira. We’re looking for a place to spend the night,” she said, trying not to reveal so much, but unable to stop, knowing she was in the wrong. “Someone is chasing us and we need a place to be safe. My sister is sick.” She glanced at Shadow, a few feet away, who looked ready to flee.
“Who is chasing you?”
Mira hesitated. She sensed there could be no lying to this creature.There was magic at work here. Yet, how could she know if this being would be on her side? She said, “I cannot tell you.”
“Then you must leave and forget you have seen this place.”
She felt relieved, but where would they stay tonight? Rustling came from the bushes behind her and she jumped. Mira moved so she could see both the creature in the cave and what moved through the bushes. Edward appeared out of the brambles. He saw the creature and bowed.
“Ah, Edward, I remember you,” said the creature.
“Good day Griffin. Are you well?”
“Yes, ever the polite pooka, are we?”
“I do my best,” he said bowing again.
Mira sensed an undercurrent of sarcasm, and possibly hostility. She tried to remember something, anything, about griffins, but came up blank.
“Can you help us? Are there any more caves around here we could stay in?” asked Edward.
“This is the only cave larger than a rabbit in this area. Whose side are you on?”
Griffin asked him.
“I am on the side of the Black Opal and this land,” he said.
“What about the Queen?” Griffin asked.
“I have no Queen,” he said.
“You swear this on your father’s head, and I do know who your father is,” said Griffin pointedly.
“I swear on my father’s head.”
“What about this woman and her sister?”
“The Queen is trying to harm them,” said Edward.
The creature looked thoughtful. “How many of you are there?” she asked Mira.
“My sister and her son, Edward and two horses,” she said.
“Well, never let it be said that a griffin doesn’t offer hospitality when it is needed. Get your companions. I do not have room for you inside, but you may stay just outside my cave and share my protection.”
Mira bowed and felt relieved to leave, even to get Amanda and Dylan. Maybe they’d be safer hiding in the bushes for the night. Edward stayed behind speaking with Griffin. Could Griffin could be trusted? What past did Griffin and Edward share?
Dylan and Amanda followed her to the cave. Edward nodded at them, then vanished into the bushes.
Mira’s body quivered as an eerie energy erupted all around her. It crawled on her skin and felt like being covered with insects.
Chapter 17 - Mira
Mira led the two horses to some tall, glossy bushes. She tried pinpointing the source of the energy. It felt very powerful, seemingly everywhere. The magic must be Griffin’s. Why hadn’t she sensed it when first arriving here? She dropped the reins, leaving the horses for Amanda to care for.
Walking a circle between the bushes and mounds of brambles, she tried to center and ground herself. She began to feel stable, whole again, connected to this land. As the life of this world rose up inside her, she felt a beetle crawling across a nearby rock and two small birds watching her curiously from the top of some brambles. Mira could feel the land’s energy flowing through some scraggly shrubs and over the slow bulk of the small boulder while walking past it. Binding herself to this land, she wove in and out of the huge boulders and prickly shrubs, the dirt and the thorns, making them part of her circle.
Mira joined her circle to the wards she felt around the mouth of Griffin’s cave. Griffin’s magic flowed through the circle and Mira’s own magic rushed into the wards around the cave mouth. The two different types of magic mingled to make a stronger whole. Griffin watched her. Was it necessary to ask permission to do such a thing? It came so naturally and unexpectedly. Griffin disappeared back into her cave.
While Mira circled, she watched Amanda pull the halters, saddles and bags off the horses. The mares rolled in the dusty soil, luxuriating in being unencumbered again.
When finished, Mira grabbed the bedrolls and looked for a place to lay them out.
Amanda stood staring, watching her work. “This is it?” she asked, hands on her hips.
Mira looked at her. “It’s getting dark. There are no more caves nearby. This is the most protection I could find.”
Amanda pointed to the mouth of the cave, which was glowing.
“Griffin lives there and doesn’t want us inside. I think she’s protecting babies. She’s being kind enough letting us stay this close.”
“What about my baby?” asked Amanda, agitated.
“You haven’t been acting like he’s your baby,” Mira wanted to say, but squashed the sarcastic remark before it left her mouth, feeling very virtuous. “This is our only choice right now,” she repeated, spreading out their blankets.
Dylan found the saddlebag with food and began munching on some very stale, very crunchy granola bread.
“Are we going to have a fire?” demanded Amanda.
Mira knew Amanda would continue trying to pick a fight with her. She struggled not to fall for it. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she walked up to her sister and stood with an inch of space between their faces.
She said quietly “I don’t understand all of what’s going on with you. Right now, we have bigger worries than being cold. Like the Queen is trying to kill us, for example. She already possesses your soul, but apparently that isn’t enough. She tried to kill Aste. I don’t know what she’ll do next. Whatever pathetic magic I can do, and perhaps the pooka and maybe this griffin, might be all that saves our sorry hides tonight. Dylan deserves better, but he’s dealing with it. I suggest you try to do the same.” Mira glared down Amanda until she looked away. “Build a fire,” Mira ordered. “At least we’ll be warm. She seems to know how to find us anyway.”
Edward appeared from behind some brambles. Mira had nearly forgotten about him. He carried long, cream colored roots and gave one to Dylan, and one to Amanda, who looked startled to see him, and one to Mira. “This is suenna. Eat,” he said, “it will strengthen you.” The root tasted slightly sweet, somewhat like a carrot, but with more of an earthy burdock flavor.
Amanda sat down on her blankets, sulking, although she ate the root while she stared at Edward. She looked stronger today than yesterday. The fact she felt willing to pick a fight was probably a good sign.
Amanda finally got up and gave some grain to the horses and brushed them. Mira watched her talking to them. She wondered if Amanda’s horse talked to her. Her twin had certainly grown attached to the mare.
Mira grabbed some dried meat and collapsed on her blanket. She needed to rest while she could. She wondered why Edward lounged on a small boulder, watching the sky.
“She will attack us tonight, won’t she?” asked Mira.
“Probably. She has every night you have been out on the trail. I believe she is trying to wear us down. There have been no killing attacks on you, yet. Only on Aste.”
“Did she attack us last night?” asked Mira, realizing with alarm she’d slept the whole night through.
“Yes. Your circle held off the ethereals and elementals and I repelled the physical attacks she sent.”
“Thank you. I didn’t even know, didn’t even ask.”
“You were very tired,” he said, gently, while looking at her with his head cocked to one side.
She finished her food and then caught herself chewing a fingernail. Even the budding faith in her own magic had not increased the power enough. Mira felt herself becoming stronger, but the Queen was relentless. There seemed to be no hiding from her. Mira didn’t feel potent enough for a battle, but there would be another one tonight, nonetheless.
As darkness came, Mira watched low, damp clouds gather around them. “Is this normal?” she asked Edward.
“The weather is often foggy here. It blows in from the coast and becomes trapped close to the roots of the mountains.”
“Will it help us or hinder us?”
“Who can say?” he seemed completely unconcerned.
Mira was tired of the enigmatic pooka. She felt sick of Amanda’s crankiness and worn out with feeling responsible for Dylan. Her cold skin was glued with dirt and oil. Her legs and butt still ached from riding all day. She’d made one wrong decision after another since the theft of Amanda’s soul and couldn’t think of any way out of this, let alone a good way.
Amanda settled on her blanket at the edge of the fire and far away from Mira. Dylan slept with his trio of faeries curled up with him, Mira vaguely wondered why they always came in threes as the turmoil and fear of the impending attack roiled around in the back of her brain.
She watched sleepily as the haze and vapor wafted through their camp and made the fire seem farther away. The smoke rose clear and hot in contrast to the mist which carried a slight purplish cast making everything seem eerie. The flames and the fog danced aro
und each other, fighting for dominance.
Mira heard a voice in the distance. “Amanda, Miranda, where are you?” called the vaguely familiar voice sounding worried.
“Mom?” called Amanda back.
Mira sat up with a start. She realized it couldn’t be real. When did her mom ever worry about her? “It can’t be Mom, Amanda. She’s not here.”
“It must be her,” said Amanda, standing.
Her stomach knotted in anticipation of the attack. She stood slowly, stretching and trying to calm herself again. As she reached for the connection with the land, it slipped away. She needed to anchor her circle. She saw Amanda move away from the fire, towards the edge of the circle.
“No,” said Edward breaking the silence. “The voice is a demon. Stay together and by the fire. Keep your magic tied to Griffin’s.”
Mira turned, but he’d vanished. Completely. Like he never existed.
Mira strode to the other side of the fire where Amanda stood and Dylan lay. She took Amanda’s hands to summon whatever power Amanda had. They stood over Dylan. The faeries hovered around him, also ready for action.
Shrieking from the bushes made her heart jump. The horses neighed with fear. Mira sent a message to her mare. Calm, I’m here. Calm. Why hadn’t she brought them into the circle?
She focused on keeping the lines strong and closed. Large winged shapes, about human size, battered the edges. She felt sharp pains on her head, back and arms as if their attacks physically struck her body from outside the barrier. The large, golden dome of her circle was penetrated by claws and fangs, causing streaks of blackness to drip down the sides. The scraping that accompanied the assaults sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Mira hyperventilated, trying to breathe in calm. The energy flowed up through her feet but stagnated in her chest. She redoubled her efforts to not panic. Energy shot through her and out into the circle, as if the soil beneath her rushed in to help. She nearly cried with relief as the blackness on the circle returned to gold. Their shield became complete again.