Hilda - Lycadea (15 page)

William flashed his wand. The two pieces of
floor started to move together again, be it under severe protest.
"We have to hurry," he said, "I am not sure how long I can keep
this together with the building determined to collapse on us."

As the wizard expanded his magic to keep all
parts of the pyramid in place as much as possible, the others moved
through it and located sixty-two more people, some of them hurt
quite badly.

"Is there nothing you can do to help
William?" Hilda almost begged of Rebel.

"No, I am sorry. I can do a lot of stuff, but
he outdoes me in this area," Rebel said as the two of them dragged
an unconscious woman from the furthest room. Everywhere around them
pieces of wall and ceiling were hovering and bobbing around.

When they reached the wizard, Hilda said:
"You can start letting the thing fall apart from here on, wizard.
We're the last ones."

"Has anyone seen Kerna?" William asked.

"No... now you mention it... Where is she?
Kerna!!" Hilda yelled out the name.

Maurizio yelled back from the corridor behind
them. "Kerna is here, Hilda, prego. Your cat animals kept her there
for some reason."

"Good," William said. In a more or less
controlled way, the pyramid now started collapsing. Rebel, using
her uncanny and still unclear powers, managed to keep the dust to
acceptable levels as the wizard stacked up the immense pieces of
wall and ceiling. When finally everything was done, he looked
tired. "I had no idea how much work this is. Building such a thing
is much easier."

"You should ask the Egyptians about that,"
Maurizio grinned. Rebel chuckled and Hilda grumbled as she missed
the joke.

Kerna had indeed been held back by Grim and
Obsi. Hilda was surprised about that, but she was certain that the
two had their reasons for that.

Hilda and William had retreated to their room
after making sure the wounded people were taken care of. Rebel had
promised she would stay in the sick bay as long as needed. The
magical couple had thanked Kerna for her help in keeping the cats
safe.

Kerna had told them how they could contact
her in case they wanted to see her and then the young woman had
left them, the two cats watching closely as she walked away.

"It is amazing how Obsi and Grim have taken
to Kerna, isn't it?" William said as he made some tea and
cookies.

Hilda, her legs stretched out on the sofa,
nodded. "Yes. I'm surprised about that too. They haven't done that
before. Not even with Babs."

William made a sound that said more than he
could have said.

"True, she did call our cats 'pooches',"
Hilda grinned. "Not a cat person, that's for certain."

William put the tea and the plate with
cookies on the table and sat down on the sofa, lifting Hilda's legs
so they rested on his knees. After this manoeuvre they both could
not reach the tea nor the cookies.

A magical movement later, they sipped and
nibbled.

"I wonder what we are supposed to do next,"
Hilda said, staring at a raisin that looked lost inside the cookie
she ate. "These people are so weird, with their prophecy and their
machines. And they are so inadequate at living, really. I'm
surprised that they kept going for so long."

"Their ancestors probably made good
machines," William said.

They chatted the evening away, and the next
morning their three companions showed up for breakfast again.

"The high council has asked if you can assist
in assessing the damage, honoured witch." Kerna, with Obsi in her
lap, spoke between bites.

"And why would we do that?" Hilda wanted to
know. "Are there not enough of your folks around to do that?"

Kerna looked at the witch. "I think the high
council does not trust most of.... our folks."

"Unfortunately I have to agree," William
said.

"Right. I think that this damage thing is
somewhat of a good idea," Hilda said, "but perhaps we should also
have a look at the other pyramids. Maybe there are a few things we
can improve, so they don't fall apart like the one yesterday."

"That was because of the earthquake, Hilda,"
Maurizio reminded her.

"And they somehow manage to make earthquakes,
so her suggestion is definitely a good one," William countered.

"And one more thing," said the witch. "I
think it is time that Kerna starts calling us Hilda and William.
The honoured bit is nice, but somewhat overdone for someone who's
around us so much. Can you do that for us, dear?"

Kerna forgot to chew as she heard that. "I
think I can, honoured- ehm - Hilda."

"Good. Glad we have that out of the way. Now
let's finish up and get to that damage thing. Might as well do
something sensible around here."

During that day and the next one, the group
made rounds through all the nearby pyramids. Sometimes Davdruw
would be there with them for a while, but most of the time Hilda
and William managed to scare the man away.

"For some reason he gets on my nerves," the
witch said after they had secured another one of the large chambers
in a pyramid. "Do you think this will be safe now?" She peered up
at the ceiling. They had taken the original one down, which had not
taken much. In fact, opening the door to come in had been quite
enough: a fast action by Rebel had prevented the old ceiling from
falling down on them.

William, on an improvised broom, made a last
round along the ceiling. "I think this will be fine for a while,
Hilda," he said. Obsi, on William's shoulder, meowed in agreement
as they returned to the floor.

"And only seven more to do," sighed the
captain in the red coat, flipping his eye patch over an eye for a
change. "This is getting a bit boring, Hilda, we already went
through four of those things and they are all dangerous."

"This," Hilda said, pointing around the
chamber, "is not dangerous. Hunting down a witch like Zelda, who
chases a couple of Nobbleback dragons after your broom and throws
slabs of concrete at you, now that's dangerous. This is just an
inconvenience." She wondered how and when they would be going back
home as she spoke. And how and when she would get her magic
back.

"Don't forget the labyrinth," William said as
he touched down. "That was interesting as well."

Hilda nodded. "Gurthreyn." The name still
gave her goose-bumps, even though all had been well in the end
there. She shook them off. "Are we done here? I suggest we call it
a day here, and go outside for some fresh air."

Kerna, cats in her arms and on her shoulders,
grinned. "That would be nice, yes." She had gotten used to going
outside with the magicals.

Rebel and Maurizio looked at each other,
hands reaching and finding. "We'll stay here, if you don't mind,"
said the captain.

Hilda looked at the hands. "Sure, if you feel
like that. But, uhm, weren't you having this great big fight a
while ago?" she asked, being her diplomatic self.

"Fight?" Two pairs of surprised eyes looked
at her.

Hilda looked back. "Fight," she confirmed,
then looking at William for support. He had been there.

The wizard put an arm around witchy shoulders
and said: "I am sure they will work out whatever might be
happening. Won't you?"

Rebel clenched Maurizio's hand tightly. It
was visible on the man's face. "We have no problems. Do we?"

"No, no, we have none of that," he responded,
trying to outsqueeze Rebel, with no success.

"Good." She turned and walked off, the man in
red following as he wanted to stay close to his hand.

"Weird bunch," Hilda said, shaking her
head.

Together with Kerna they left the chamber,
telling the people waiting in the corridors that it was safe to use
again.

-=-=-

The group of guards that Davdruw had assigned
to handle the honoured witch's safety had been shaken off again. As
the door closed, William made the large contraption he had built
together with Rebel rise up in the air. Obsi and Grim sat in the
front, the wind ruffling their fur.

"Where do we go this time?" William the
driver asked.

Hilda looked round for a moment and pointed.
"That way. We've not been there yet."

'That way' was in the direction of a distant
group of buildings, also pyramids.

Kerna, who had gotten rid of all her fears
regarding 'outside', told them that these buildings were no longer
used, as they were too far away from the main settlement. "People
used to live there. People with much knowledge."

"And where are they now? Did they move back
to where you all live?"

"No. They left. Long ago. Nobody knows where
they went, but Davdruw is convinced they died not long after they
left their homes. The surface is not safe."

"Not with you lot messing with things so
much," Hilda could only agree. "Not meant personally," she added as
Kerna's face showed guilt.

Soon they reached the buildings. Most of the
structures had decided that becoming a ruin was a good idea. A few
slow thinkers were obviously still pondering this fate.

William made the contraption land, the cats
jumped to the ground lightly and wandered off on their own. Kerna
watched the two go, she still was not used to these animals having
a very clear mind of their own.

Hilda grinned as she watched the young woman.
"You should have a cat of your own," she commented, glad with the
happy expression Kerna's face suddenly retrieved from somewhere.
"So... let's have a look around here."

"I suggest we look with care," said William,
"some of these things probably will reduce themselves to crumbles
if we look at them too long."

Hilda laughed. It was the proper witch's
laugh, one that William had learnt to love and that made Kerna
clasp her hands over her ears. It also invoked a strange sound from
the nearest building.

"Seems we also should not laugh at them,"
William commented as the sound had died away. He studied the
building. "Maybe we should put this one out of its misery..." He
took his wand, pulled the two cats from wherever they were back to
their humans, and created a bubble of safety around the group. Then
he made the building collapse. All it needed was a nudge.

"Good thinking, William," said the witch,
patting him on the arm as the dust had gone, as well as the bubble.
Grim and Obsi ran to the new piles of rubble to look for
interesting things as the three people slowly sauntered along the
remaining three buildings. These were by far not as large as the
ones the magicals were living in now.

Kerna explained that these pyramids were very
old, from the time that many people preferred to live nearly alone,
with five or six persons at the most."

"Crappedy crap, I would not be able to live
in one house with six people," Hilda said. "Such a crowd."

Kerna looked at her in wonder, but held back
any comments she might have.

"How do we open this one here?" Hilda then
pointed at one of the pyramids that was still standing.

Kerna looked at the building as she walked
around it, but had to give up. "This one has a strange old entrance
I think, I can't find a normal way in."

The witch and the wizard walked around the
building then. "That looks a bit like..."

William pulled at the knob that they thought
to be a doorhandle. It was. Time-worn and weather-beaten, the door
it was attached to fell out as the wizard pulled. "Holy Bejeebus,"
he exclaimed, "that was not part of the plan."

"Are you okay?" Hilda asked. There was
genuine worry in her voice. The unexpected assault by the door had
made her jump.

"I'm fine, thank you."

The three people looked into the dark gaping
hole where the door had been.

"Smells funny in there," Hilda remarked.

"Would this count as breaking and entering?"
William wondered, patting himself to get rid of the dust that had
found a pleasant spot on him.

"You broke the door, but no one entered yet,"
Hilda pointed out.

"You did not break the door," Kerna tried to
make right what was not wrong between the two people in dark
clothes. "The house is old."

Hilda and William laughed, and tried to
explain that their bickering was only for good fun. Kerna looked a
bit lost, but seemed to grasp the meaning, although her face was
serious as ever.

"Come on, let's have a look in here," said
the witch. She stepped into the pyramid and returned a second
later. "I think we'll need some light."

The unfortunate door was quickly transformed
in a few lights, and in they went, Hilda in the lead.

"Crappedy crap," she commented after the thud
had stopped reverberating, "not a welcoming kind of people, these
old folks." She had run into a wall that was only a few steps away
from the entrance, and the wall was black. "Can you find something
to let us in here, wizard?"

William and Kerna held their lights close to
the wall as Hilda rubbed her nose.

"Ah, I see something...", said William. He
reached out and prodded a small ring that was in the wall. As he
pulled it, a soft rumble came from the floor below them and then a
part of the floor started moving. As if they were on a small
carousel, Kerna and William were transported to the other side of
the wall where it was dark also.

"William? Kerna?" they heard Hilda's voice
from the other side of the wall. "Where did you go?"

"Hilda, can you hear me?" William called
out.

"I can, and no need to shout! Where are
you?"

"We're inside. Look down on the wall, there
is a ring there. Pull it. And don't step back." With baited breath
William waited as he heard Hilda mutter on the other side of the
wall. Her fingers found something and then a rumble sounded.

"And now what?" she asked the wall, when
suddenly the floor moved and rotated her inside the house. The
movement also brought William and Kerna outside, as they had
forgotten to step off the revolving disc...