The Fledglings' Mentor

by C L Amos

  “Wait! So, are you even part of the Faction or are you just here because you are their concerned uncle?”

  Tom smiled, “Sasha, your kidnapping was the catalyst that drove Aunty Janey and Uncle Pete to form the Faction… Your mother runs it! Who do you think doctored all of your mother’s papers?”

  Sasha shook her head, “That’s brilliant!! We are going to need all the help we can get.”

  Pete pulled his face, “Yeah that might be a little tricky! As I said, we don’t quite see eye to eye on this and you landing in the middle, bonded and sleeping with the two of them as you engulf yourself as their mentor, isn’t going to go down too well… but we will work on her and bring her round to our side.”

  Sasha shook her head, “I don’t understand! What don’t you see eye to eye on?”

  Pete conceded, “It’s complicated; your mother doesn’t think that two people should have so much power, she doesn’t think they are capable of handling their destinies. While I and a growing number of people see it as the rebirth of the original High Council - a correction and re-alignment, so to say. A second chance to get it right this time.”

  Julia sat closer, “Oh yes, you still promised to tell Tom and I the history of the changelings and the High Council!”

  Sasha’s phone beeped; she got a message from Jim: Why haven’t you delivered the mice yet? The storm passed over about an hour ago!

  Sasha shot back a message: Just waiting for the pack to settle down for the evening. Don’t want to get caught snooping around. Told you I will deliver before dawn.

  Pete raised an eyebrow, “What does Jim want now?”

  Sasha shook her head, “I need to deliver two of the mice Julia killed; he wants to test her venom to see if it’s the same as Tom’s.”

  Julia protested, “Wait, did you actually trick us into killing the mice? Just so you could…”

  Sasha raised her hands in protest, “No, before anyone gets the wrong idea. I got a call from Jim when I stormed off into the forest, and he said he needed me to bring him a sample of Julia’s venom ASAP. I can’t let him get suspicious so I told him I would bring him a mouse you killed earlier. It’s better than milking your fang, at least it is a diluted form of your venom.”

  Pete nodded his head, “That was quick thinking and you are right… a suspicious Jim is the last thing we need right now. But what do you mean to test to see if it’s the same as Tom’s? Did I miss something?”

  Tom nodded, “Apparently when I bit Damien I somehow managed to inject my snake venom. They probably want to test for any similarities between Julia’s venom and mine to see if she is also capable of hybrid forms.”

  Pete shook his head, “Shit, wait…” He excitedly shook his finger in the air, “I remember reading about that somewhere.”

  Sasha called after him… “Should I deliver the mice?”

  Pete called back down, “Yeah, just take one. Tell them Tom ate the other one.”

  Tom shouted, “Yuck, I would never!”

  Sasha smiled, “Doesn’t matter; the sample will be enough to test but not replicate.”

  Julia called after her… “Will you be okay flying so late at night?”

  Sasha glanced back, “That’s the real reason I wanted to stay over in the city tonight, it’s quite the round trip.”

  Tom looked concerned, “Do you want me to come with you?”

  Sasha shook her head, “I’ll be fine, but it’s too dangerous for you to come!”

  Tom sighed, “Just be careful”, he said as he leant forward and kissed her.

  Julia rushed over and kissed her on her cheek and hugged her, “Fly straight and true and we will see you in the morning.”

  Chapter 5 Flying the Coup

  Sasha took flight and flew a circle over the farm before heading out over the city, her feet carefully clutching the zip lock bag containing the mouse. Sasha enjoyed the view of the farmlands below her as she skirted along, the strong easterly wind blowing west towards the city. The flickering of the lights almost seemed to mesmerize her as she played, carefree in the wind.

  Suddenly she felt a hard thump on her back forcing her head to jerk up; she was dazed and spiraling down when she was attacked again, and she opened her eyes and saw a large horned owl clutching at the mouse in the packet… inching it out of Sasha’s grasp. Sasha held on as long as she could as the two birds were locked in a spiral decent. Sasha looked over her shoulder; the tree line was approaching quickly, and she needed to let go of the mouse or she knew she would be killed. Sasha felt the first few leaves whoosh past her and luckily managed to gain control, and she watched the owl crash through a few small branches before it too managed to correct its flight path. Sasha swooped down, following it as it flew away victorious with Julia’s mouse.

  Sasha battled to keep up with the owl whose top speed seemed to evenly match hers; she knew there was only one way and that was to climb up high. So, Sasha broke off from the chase and began climbing higher and higher. She looked down and saw the owl as a tiny speck in the distance, and she pulled her wings back and dived down on the owl; the wind soared past her ears as she hit 60mph. Within half a minute she had caught the owl and in one smooth move she gripped down hard onto its head with her sharp claws and dived down and under the owl, pulling it into a forward somersault. This exposed the underside of the big bird and allowed Sasha to use her beak to carefully clutch the packet away from the owl’s large talons. She felt her claws scratch deep into the owl’s face as she flapped hard to start climbing up and away from the owl whose body was still spiraling towards the ground below, the bird flapping frantically to regain forward motion.

  Sasha continued climbing until the owl was out of sight. Not wanting to take any more chances she pulled her wings back again and dove down toward Jim’s office, clocking 60mph again as she sped down towards Jim’s complex.

  Sasha spotted Marcelle’s limo still parked in the bay and didn’t feel like disturbing them, so she flew down to security and gave it to the guard as instructed, “Call Jim and tell him that I have delivered the mouse.”

  Although a little hesitant, the guard felt ill equipped to argue with a naked woman who he knew to be a trained assassin, so he buzzed Jim’s office.

  She heard Jim snap at the man, and she grabbed his walkie-talkie, “I wanted you to know that it has been delivered, I don’t want any more surprises.”

  “What surprises?”

  “I was attacked mid-flight.”

  Jim cut her off, “Was it an Eagle… I bet you it was Pete!”

  Sasha wasn’t sure who attacked her and didn’t know the intentions of who did, so keeping up with the appearance of playing both sides she had to tell Jim about it. He might have set it up and would be suspicious if she didn’t say anything, but on the other hand, whoever it was could be from the Faction and in fact trying to help them, She thought carefully before she answered, “No, it was some stupid fucking owl, I didn’t get a good look …it happened so fast, but we don’t have to worry about him. No one could have survived that fall.”

  “That’s my girl. Get some rest now, you need to be back at the farm before sunrise.”

  Sasha returned to her apartment for the first time in a week and although she hadn’t been gone long it felt cold and alien. The noise she had found so soothing was harsh and brash as it overwhelmed her senses. She went into her small kitchen and took a glass of water from the tap. She sighed heavily as she flopped onto the couch. She saw the USB still plugged into the TV and thought about how much she had been through and experienced in such a short time and thought she could scarcely recognize herself.

  She was startled by a knock on the door; she wasn’t expecting company, no one ever visited. She thought to ignore it, it was probably a drunk boyfriend or a jilted hook-up whose pushy behavior had got him the wrong address.

  They knocked again, this time a faint voice echoed through the door, “Sasha, please open, I need your help.”

  Sasha stood up, wondering wh
o it could be and as she opened the door, she saw James standing in front of her badly injured. She helped him through the door and he collapsed on her couch, “What the fuck happened to you?” She took his chin in her hand as she examined the scratches on his head, cuts along his body and a dislocated shoulder; she suddenly twigged and pictured the owl falling to the ground. “Holy shit!!! It was you… did Jim send you?”

  James straighten up and winced in pain, “No, it was your mother! What did you tell Jim?”

  Sasha shook her head in disbelief, “What the fuck James?”

  “I have been spying on Jim and feeding your mother information for the past eight years. Now I need to know exactly what you told Jim?”

  “I just said I was attacked, that it was an owl and I didn’t know who the fuck it was.”

  “Shit, when he sees my injuries, he will know it was me, we gotta come up with another plan.” He handed her a phone, “It’s a burner… You need to call your mother… Dial the last number on the phone.”

  She looked carefully at the phone, “I don’t even know who my mother is, I have never met her.”

  James shook his head, “She bugged Pete’s phone, we know that you know you are Janey’s daughter, and your mother wants to talk to you, she sent me to intercept you.” He shifted awkwardly and grimaced in pain, “Fuck, you really did a number on me. Where do you keep your painkillers?”

  Sasha walked to the cupboard, grabbed a box of painkillers and threw it at him, “What the fuck? She sent you to intercept me? You could have blown this whole thing out of the water… Jim would have been suspicious of the both of us.”

  “Please, just phone your mother! She is expecting your call.”

  Sasha walked over to the window, staring down at the number on the phone. She took a deep breath and pushed the green call button. The phone began to ring, each prrrinnng taking longer than the last.

  Finally a woman answered… “James, are you okay, did you make it to Sasha?”

  Sasha held her breath. It was the same voice she remembered in the void, and tears started running down her cheeks as she fought back the urge to cry, “Mm Mmo…”

  Janey replied, “James, is that you? Is everything alright? Where are you?”

  Sasha took in a deep breath and composed herself, “Hi… uh this is Sasha? James is on the couch… Do you want me to pass the phone to him?”

  Janey choked up as soon as she heard it was Sasha… “This… this isn’t how I planned our first conversation, in fact it’s nowhere close! I have sooooo much to tell you but right now, there are more important things at hand. James’ tracker’s signal has been blocked for the last four hours; any longer and Jim will get suspicious - not to mention if he walks in there half dead in the morning…I need you to kill him.”

  Sasha’s face looked horrified, “What? I can’t just kill James! What the fuck?”

  James piped in, “Killing me would be a very bad idea…”

  Janey replied, “It was just a joke, although you are going to have to get roughed up a little more. We are going to have to evac the Beker Street den. It’s a covert trained wolf pack of about 15 individuals - you can take them up to the mountains and let them stay on one of the pack’s abandoned farmsteads for now. It will give you guys a little bit of extra back up for now, so in any case, it’s not a bad move.”

  “Hold on! Just hold on!!” Sasha jumped into the conversation, “Who says we can just move a covert wolf pack into one of the abandoned farms from Tom’s wolf pack? It’s his pack but they all have a say!”

  Janey shrugged impatiently, “Will you let me finish… God you get that from…” She realized she had trailed off and shot back, “Never mind, you need to take James to the pack. They will be ready to evac as soon as you arrive. The plan is to make Jim believe James was kidnapped and mauled by the Faction and left for dead in this abandoned warehouse a few blocks from the pack. Jim will sweep the area and find the Beker Street den abandoned. James will make a miraculous recovery and become the hero who gives Jim the lowdown on his supposed captors… Jim will feel like he wins, and we can carry on with our main prerogative.”

  Sasha nodded, “Wow, you do have all of this figured out.”

  Janey replied all smug, “It’s what we do my dear. Now, you have to be at the farm as per normal just after dawn. Text Jim as soon as you return. Keep this phone so I can contact you … but do not tell Pete or the other two you have it.”

  Sasha shook her head, “I have promised them no more secrets…”

  Janey snapped, “Look everyone has an opinion and an agenda Sasha, I just want you to hear mine before you get sucked into this cult…just like your naive stepdad has been.”

  Sasha was confused, “You mean Pete?”

  Janey breathed in deeply, “God I love that man, but he can infuriate me. Listen we don’t have time to chat; follow James to the shelter and get back to the farm, the sun will be up in just over an hour.”

  “Okay… we are leaving now.”

  “Please, Sasha, just give me a chance to tell you my side… I know Pete has already told you that we don’t see eye to eye on this, but it is imperative you find out what you are getting yourself into before you get dragged down into some prophetic bullshit about Sharmanas and fivelings.”

  Sasha hung up the phone, she shook her head and thought to herself… I think it’s too late for that mother dear, I have been down the rabbit hole and drank deep from the ayahuasca fountain, and from what I have seen, this isn’t some form of cockamamie bullshit. There is a deep and profound spiritual awakening on the horizon, and no one will be able to escape it.

  She kept an eye on James and made sure that he made it safely to the wolf pack on Beker Street and took flight just as the faint first rays of light touched the tips of the mountains in the distance. Sasha flew up high over the city, pulled her wings back and dove down, aiming for the small spec in the foothills of the mountains. She arrived just after dawn and texted Jim: The bird is back in the coup, keep me posted on the results and get James to drop off the antivenom for both siblings… I don’t want to take any chances.

  She turned to Tom, who stood behind her with his hands gently resting on her naked hips, and rose up on her tippy toes to kiss him, “We need to talk, but first we need to kill an owl and plant its body in the forest just outside town…it’s been a busy night.”

  Tom nodded, “It sounds like it!” He looked down and pulled her in close, kissing her forehead, “Listen, let me handle the owl. I can see you are tired, why don’t you get some rest?”

  Sasha smiled half sleepy, “It has been a long night… I think I will go get some shut eye and hopefully feel more alive by ten.” She reached up and kissed his cheek… “Nighty night!”

  Chapter 6 Red Dawn

  Jim woke up with a fright as he saw the time… 7:45. In eight years, James had never missed Jim’s wake up call. He sat up and grabbed his phone, saw the message from Sasha and smiled… but there was nothing from James. He tried calling but his phone went straight to voicemail, so he dialed down to security, “Get me a fix on James’ location…”. As he was waiting, he thought about the owl Sasha said had attacked her… the one she said she had killed…surely it couldn’t have been James…why would he attack Sasha? The voice broke through the silence on the phone, “Sir, we found him, it appears he is in an abandoned warehouse close to the business district. His vitals suggest that he is in a critical condition.”

  Jim breathed deeply … what the hell had happened to James? “Ready the sweeper team and have medics on standby…I will meet them at the front in two minutes!”

  “Yes sir!”

  Three black SUVs with blacked out windows came screeching to a halt outside the old abandoned warehouse, where James’ locater had fixed his position. Jim walked in behind the team and just as he passed through the door, he noticed a small boy darting away in the alley. Jim barked at the officer flanking his left… “Fetch him!”

  The warehouse had been gutted,
and only broken boards and twisted broken shelving supports remained. He followed behind his team leader, carefully nestled within the platoon for protection. They passed through a narrow loading bay and crossed up and over into the large storage area. The scout spotted James’ limp body hanging against the restraints. Jim ordered the team to sweep the rest of the warehouse, and only kept a small detail with a medic to assess James.

  “His vitals are weak, but he is still alive - we need to get him to a hospital asap.”

  Jim nodded, “The medic chopper is on standby… call it in.”

  The medic nodded and placed the call.

  Jim walked closer to where James sat and carefully inspected his body. He was unconscious, with both eyes beaten shut and bloody, and his nose and left arm appeared to be broken. He had claw marks and bite marks all over his body and three bloody nails lay next to a disregarded, rusty pair of pliers. Jim knelt down next to it and smelt it. “Bag the evidence and get it to the lab.” He stood up and looked over at James. “What did you do to piss off a pack of wolves?” He paced a few steps forward and turned on his heels… or were they after some other information? Is that how the Faction had known Sasha was coming in loaded? He grabbed James by his hair and pulled his head back… “What did you tell them James?”

  James didn’t even groan as his lifeless head rolled back down.

  The medic began cutting him free as they prepared to airlift him. Jim walked away and noticed a small metallic cabinet that looked out of place. He was puzzled as to why someone would go through all the effort to either bring or leave such a cumbersome object all the way into this abandoned warehouse. He glanced over, and saw they had James secured on the gurney and were rushing him out the door. He motioned for one of the guards keeping sentry to come closer… “Did you sweep this room?”

  He stood up straight, “Yes sir.”

  “Did you check this box out?”

  “No sir, I only swept the perimeter for potential threats.”