Hidden Magic (10 page)

“Zavier, it has been an honour to fight alongside some of the good creatures that still remain in Liberty. I'm sure that together we will overcome the evil Nomeds. I spoke with Francis the dragon earlier and he told me all about the Great Prophet's request. Zavier, I will gladly accompany you to the meadow once we have found Takoda.”

“Thank you, Aurora.”

“Oh, and Zavier, you heard right,” she said, as she turned and walked away.

What does she mean?
Zavier wondered.

As he glanced back toward her, he was surprised, for what he saw was not a huge and mighty Meh-Teh at all, but the soft, swishing tail of a beautiful and graceful snow leopard as Aurora, Berthold of East Fishtail Mountain, walked away through the deep, golden snow of dawn.

The Nomeds scurried through the woodland canopy as they made their way back to the swamp with Jael's corpse, which was going to be given as an offering to their master, their king, Balam! Jael's decapitated corpse was treated with utter disrespect as it was hurled through the air, tossed from one Nomed to another, from tree top to tree top. As the Nomeds neared their home ground, the beautiful bluebells that usually carpeted Bluebell Wood gradually thinned, until there were none at all and the warm, dappled sunlight that broke through the trees shone no more. Instead of a carpet of warm and vibrant bluebells, the ground became dark, cold and boggy, a thick slurry of black mud that disturbingly wriggled and squirmed as mud snakes, axolotls, slugs and worms writhed within it. The trees here were dead and lifeless, their skeletal branches draped in a cloak of thick fog that oppressively hung around the swamp, shrouding the whole area and completely blocking out all of the reassuring light and warmth of the sun. This area was cold, soulless, dark, damp and dismal. This area was home to the Nomeds and their king, Balam. This area was Shabriri Swamp.

The Nomeds clicked and cackled excitedly as they dropped their prized offering from the tree tops. Jael's corpse struck many branches as it fell to the ground and now it lay bloodied and dirty in the thick, black swamp mud. His once beautiful, pure white coat, now soiled and matted with blood and earth, was completely unrecognisable. Any remaining blood slowly seeped from Jael's neck wound and oozed into the swamp's mud. As the blood and the mud amalgamated, the mud began to shift, not as it had done with the wriggling and writhing of the snakes and worms, but much, much, more significantly. First, one clawed hand caked in mud emerged from within the dark sludge and then another. Then a face broke through the swamp's surface, shortly followed by another face and another. The creature had been lying on its back completely submerged within the mud. The three gaunt faces opened their eyelids, revealing pure black eyes; eyes that were even more dark and sinister than the swamp itself from which they had emerged. The three heads and their attached necks slowly lifted up and out of the thick and gloopy sludge, but instead of being followed by three torsos, the three heads preceded only one single body. This body was emaciated in appearance, its ribs were clearly visible, black and red mud snakes nestled and spiralled within the crevices between them. But far from being weak and fragile, this emaciated body was strong and powerful, evil and sinister. This body belonged to the three-headed Nomed Master… Nomed King… Balam.

Balam rose to his feet. The clicking and cackling Nomeds dropped down from the tree tops to revere their king that now stood before them. The eerie feeling of dread that engulfed this part of Liberty increased and more and more of the evil creatures began to emerge from within the darkness of the mud. Balam snapped the limbs one by one from Jael's corpse, then tossed them aside for his servants. The Nomeds, male adults, female adults and juveniles, wrestled each other in the mud in an attempt to secure themselves a small piece of the meal each. Balam picked up the mountain goat's remaining torso and, with his three sets of razor-sharp, jagged teeth, he frenziedly stripped the corpse bit by bit of all its flesh and viscera, reducing the large mountain goat right back to its skeletal bone-structure within minutes.

After the feeding frenzy, the Nomeds began their mating ritual. Each mature male fought for and grabbed a mature female and began to twist tongues with them. Once their tongues were tied together, the males regurgitated a small amount of the meal that they had just eaten into the mouths of their mates, the females quickly swallowed the regurgitated meal and then the Nomed pairs' tongues untied. Released from the males' tongues, the females instantly dropped to their knees in the swamp and began to retch harshly. Their jaws widened, dislocating, their eyes rolled and with one final screaming retch, the females each regurgitated a large, slug-like infant which dropped into the mud, burrowing into its sinister darkness, where they would remain hidden, feeding on any of the creatures that were unfortunate enough to squirm past them. The infants were to stay hidden there within the darkness, feeding and growing at an alarming rate, until eventually they would be ready to emerge as juvenile Nomeds.

The more the Nomeds fed on the good creatures of Liberty, the more they were able to reproduce. And as the evil Nomeds grew in both strength and number, they hunted more frequently and more ferociously. Therefore the already immense threat to Liberty continued to grow at an alarming rate.

Large areas of winter forest darkened, eclipsed in the vast shadows of Ice and Francis as the impressive pair of Hudor Drakos soared above the snow-capped pine trees. They were on their way to Fishtail Falls, to find Takoda, Berthold of West Fishtail Mountains. From below, the Hudor Drakos appeared as huge, dark, oppressive objects that blocked out the warmth and light of the sun. But from above, the true beauty and wonder of these spectacular creatures became apparent. Their usually dark grey and green scales were gleaming, glistening as if made of glass. The shining scales of glass formed colourful, dancing rainbow prisms of light that created an aura of beauty around these otherwise fierce-looking creatures. Francis was now fully accustomed to his new body. He soared gracefully through the sky, spiralling and weaving around any obstacle with ease. Ice, however, was still not quite trusting of his new-found flying abilities and ensured that she maintained a safe distance behind him. Unlike the waterfall in the east, the lower falls of West Fishtail Mountains were not frozen and the sound of their loud roar signalled to Francis and Ice that they were fast approaching their next destination, the home of the last Berthold, Takoda.

Zavier and the others followed on foot. They were travelling at great speed, galloping and running through the snowy forest, but even at such a speed, they were unable to keep up with the pace set by the soaring dragons and they didn't arrive at the falls until at least an hour after Francis and Ice had. As the group approached the foot of the falls, they noticed that they were alone. Francis and Ice were nowhere to be seen.

“Wishful thinking, I know, but surely we haven't lost that lumbering, boogly-eyed annoyance?” Aaron sniggered.

Zavier turned abruptly and stood nose to nose with the heavily built young stallion. “Aaron, I will not tolerate such disrespect towards another Berthold. Have you not considered that something terrible may have happened to them?” he said angrily.

Jazmine looked at Aaron disapprovingly.

“Okay, okay, I'm sorry, jeez,” Aaron said, not quite understanding why it was that no one else in the group found Francis as irritating as he did.

Aaron sensed the displeasure that his words had caused and took himself away from the group. He stood beside the deep pool into which the falls cascaded, mesmerised by the billowing spray and the roaring power of the colliding waters. The loud roar and the rising clouds of water vapour concealed the emerging Hudor Drakos and an unsuspecting Aaron was taken completely by surprise as Francis and Ice broke through the surface of the water, exploding upwards, out of the pool and into the crisp clear sky.

“Aaagghh, damn you, Boogly Eyes!” Aaron groaned, shaking his drenched body from nose to tail in an attempt to shake off a little of the water that had soaked him as they made their explosive appearance. The group could not help but laugh and as the falls' waters roared, so did they, with laughter. Francis and Ice found a suitable-sized clearing within the pine trees to land and were shortly joined by the group.

“Ice, do you know where we may be able to find Takoda?” asked Zavier.

“Takoda can usually be found in one of the mountain caves, but unfortunately there is a whole network of caves throughout West Fishtail Mountains, so he could be anywhere,” she explained.

“Okay, well, in that case I suggest we head over to the West Cabin, gather our mountain-climbing equipment and start searching straight away, while we still have daylight on our side,” said Zavier.

“Ohhhh yeahhh! Mountaineering, baby!” April squealed with excitement.

There was no time for rest. As soon as they reached the cabin, Zavier began his selection:

“Firstly, Tobias, you are to stay here at the cabin, no argument.”

Tobias nodded his head acceptingly, deciding that he wouldn't argue, not this time, not after all that Zavier had been through. Zavier had risked his life for the good of Liberty and very nearly lost it in the process. Tobias still wanted to be part of the fight, to avenge his friend's death, to help save Liberty, but he knew now that in order to do that, he must listen to and respect the decisions of his elders, for they would certainly do anything for him.

“April, your climbing skills will no doubt prove to be invaluable to us on this part of the journey and it therefore goes without saying that you are selected to accompany me.

“Aaron, we will certainly need your strength, you will climb with us.

“Hazel, your agility and ease in these icy conditions may very well come in useful.

“Aurora, your knowledge of this type of terrain will also be invaluable, please join us.

“Chester, Jazmine, Lettitia, Ezekiel, Pelagia and Warriors, please stay here at the cabin with Tobias and look out for each other.

“We shall also take Francis with us. He can fly ahead and alert us to the position of any caves he may be able to spot from the air.

“Ice, please stay here and help guard the cabin. Your knowledge of this area and its inhabitants may be very valuable in helping to protect both those at the cabin and the forest's creatures.

“Okay, now that that's sorted, what are we waiting for? Let's kit ourselves out with whatever equipment we need and get going!” Zavier ordered.

“Hoooraaah!” yelled Aaron, keen to get on with the next stage of their journey, the locating of Takoda, the final Berthold.

The Halfses made their way to the stabling below the cabin, transformed into their Human form, grabbed their robes and went inside to dress. The Water Warriors did not have the luxury and comfort of water close by at this cabin, as they had had at the last. Unlike the others, they were unable to benefit from the home comforts that the cabin had to offer, so they nominated themselves to stand guard outside. Ice also remained outside the cabin. In her present form, she could not fit inside the cabin anyway, even if she had wanted to.

Fishtail Falls were a series of three connecting waterfalls that descended from the summit of the highest West Fishtail Mountain. The lower falls were free-flowing, raging and powerful. The middle falls were almost completely frozen near the top, but the pure mountain waters emerged as they neared its foot, sliding down the icy shards and eventually flowing freely into a large lake that then spilled over into the lower falls.

Then there were the top falls, also known as Sheer Fear. They were an impressive 3,017 foot slab of sheer, vertical ice, approximately 260 feet wide. The Halfses had heard stories about these mountains and, in particular, stories about the elders that had perished while attempting to cross Sheer Fear in a desperate bid to escape a vicious Nomed attack. Although they knew of the dangers involved in this expedition, none of them imagined for one second that they may be faced with a similar fate. They were all quite confident that they would locate the various caves quite quickly, especially with Francis's aerial assistance. They all hoped that they would quickly locate Takoda within one of these caves and then they could begin their journey back to the cabin and ultimately back to Maytime Meadow, the home of the Halfses and the whispering willow tree – the Great Prophet that only a few days ago had sent them off on this vital journey.

Zavier and his chosen group began their ascent up the mountainside. The snow was quite compact underfoot and the beginning of their climb was a gentle pleasure. They made their way up a picturesque snowy path which was lined either side by dense, snow-covered pine trees. The forest birds were singing and although they could not be seen, concealed within their wintry wonderland, their beautiful song signalled their presence. Mountain hares hopped blissfully in and out of the surrounding forest, leaving intriguing little footprint patterns in the snow. The snowy pathway began to snake a little and as the group rounded the second bend, they were faced with their first challenge. The forest began to thin and the path ended abruptly and directly in front of them, as far to the left and right as the eye could see, stretched a one hundred foot high wall of rock.

“Francis, do we need to climb this or is there a quicker way around it?” Zavier called up to the hovering dragon.

“No way around for miles. I'm afraid it's going to be quicker for you guys to climb,” Francis called back.

“Hey, Boogly Eyes. Why don't you make yourself useful and fly us up there? That would be quicker, surely?” Aaron shouted out sarcastically.

“I've only just mastered flying this huge and powerful beast's body. You know, this huge and powerful body that could easily crush you in one flick of a talon,” Francis smirked, while flicking his talon at Aaron as if he were flicking a bogey. “So I'm afraid I'm not quite ready for passengers yet, unless of course you'd like me to attempt to carry you to the top first, Aaron? But I must warn you, I might just, accidentally of course, drop you from a great height!” Francis grinned and then winked at Aaron.

“Okay, Boogly Eyes, point taken and, er, no thanks. I saw what your fat arse did to Kern after your lack of flying skill caused you to crash-land on top of him.”

“Oh Aaron, that was not lack of skill, it was PURE skill. You see, I purposely landed on Kern. How many Nomeds have you crushed lately?”

Aaron and Francis laughed simultaneously, both knowing full well that Francis hadn't had any control at all over his crash-landing onto Kern.

“Get climbing, you guys. I'll scout the area for caves and meet you back here in around fifteen minutes or so,” Francis said.

“Make that five minutes,” April said, grinning from ear to ear.

The rock wall was actually a good place to start their climbing expedition. Despite its scary appearance, it had very little ice or snow covering it due to the fact that it was in direct sunlight and it also had plenty of secure foot and hand holes. April was true to her word and easily managed to scale the wall of rock in less than five minutes. Aurora, in her snow leopard form, was next to make it to the top; she didn't even have to try. Springing from rock to rock with ease, she scaled the huge wall in seconds. Zavier went ahead of Hazel, and Aaron followed behind Hazel. The gentlemen wanted to ensure that they could assist her should she fall into any difficulty, but there was really no need as Hazel also scaled the rock with ease. Aaron, however, began to struggle. His huge, muscular frame was very strong, yes, but at the same time it was also very, very, heavy and with the added weight of his climbing gear and equipment, Aaron found it very difficult to haul himself up the very last section of rock. Zavier lay flat out on the top of the rocks, held down his hand, gripped Aaron's forearm and pulled him up to safety.

“Cheers, Zavier,” Aaron said gratefully and then he lay on his back, arms out, gasping to catch his breath.

“We better get Jaz to cut back on your portions of mana-eesh,” April laughed as she bent down and patted Aaron's stomach.

Aaron wanted to and normally would have responded in a grumpy manner. But lacking even the energy to speak, he just grinned, inhaled deeply and continued to try and catch his breath. Sweat dripped off his forehead and he groaned with pleasure as a cool breeze swept across his face.

“Aww, look everyone, Aaron's made a snow angel, how sweet,” Francis chuckled from above. It was his beating wings that were fanning cool air onto Aaron's face as he hovered above him.

Aaron found the strength to stand and as he pushed himself up off of the ground, he grabbed a ball of snow and launched it, hitting Francis right between the eyes.

“Good shot… for a girl!” Francis sniggered and then he flew off quickly to avoid being hit by any further incoming missiles.

“Zavier, there is a cave at the base of another rock face, it's about two miles northeast of here, close to the middle falls. I'll fly ahead slowly and lead you there.”

“Great work, Francis. Let's hope our luck's in and Takoda is there waiting for us,” Zavier replied.

The group were re-energised with excitement. They were on their way to their first cave and, fingers crossed, they were on their way to Takoda. They looked up at the sky ahead and followed Francis eagerly, but Zavier couldn't help but notice the change in the air. It had begun to get colder, in the way that the air chills slightly before sundown and sunrise. They realised it wouldn't be long until twilight and then with the darkness would come more danger. The temperature was bearable now but as the sun went down and they ascended the mountain, would they be able to withstand the freezing temperatures and, more worryingly, would they be in for yet another Nomed attack?

Zavier closed his eyes.
Please be there, please be there, please be there
, he thought to himself over and over and as he reopened his eyes, he saw Francis turning in the air up ahead and noticed that the Hudor Drakos looked different. Francis had turned towards the east in the same way that an aeroplane that was banking would. As Francis's huge body turned, he dipped his right wing and raised his left wing, exposing his dorsal surface. The sun in the west hit the glass-like scales along his back and illuminated them in an assortment of glowing and beautiful oranges, pinks, purples and blues. This was truly a magnificent sight to see, but Zavier did not feel happy, for as the group continued their ascent, the sun had now begun its descent and soon they would be climbing in darkness. He knew that along with all the beauty a sunset brings, there would soon come all of the dangers of nightfall.