Authors: K.D. Faerydae
“We have to do something. We must try and warn them!” the Leaf Kith cried.
Lorenzo hauled himself higher up the branch in order to look out from the top of the tree where he'd been resting. He looked on in horror as the woodland rustled and branches snapped. Light from the eyes of the more mature Nomeds cut through the darkness, the colourful laser beams highlighting their position as they tore through the woodland.
“I'm afraid there isn't anything that we can do. There's not enough time, they're almost there,” Lorenzo said sorrowfully, as the lights neared the meadow. “All we can do now is pray.”
It was a still and beautiful night in the meadow. The pond reflected a duplicate world, a world filled with stars, Fire Fairies and brightly coloured dragonflies. The weeping willow tree was motionless, not a breath of air tousled its leaves. The dragonflies darted across the smooth surface of the pond with military precision, and the Fire Fairies sliced through the darkness like flaming torpedoes. They were on their way to Serenity Sunrise Beach. Most of the meadow's creatures had travelled safely to the beach earlier that evening, but a few of the Halfses had remained to gather food, bedding and supplies from the meadow house. If all of Liberty's creatures were going to gather at the beach, then they were going to need all the supplies they could get their hands on.
Zavier stood outside the house, along with another heavy horse named Khathu. The pair's huge frames were ideal for carrying the supplies that they needed to take back to the beach house.
“Okay, I think that's it,” a young girl named Ayanna said, as she strapped the last of the blankets to Khathu.
“Good, let's get going then. We really should have left before the sun descended,” Zavier declared.
Ayanna went into the stabling below the house where she quickly changed into her rich-red-chestnut horse form. It was then, as she exited the stabling, that she saw them, the distinctive lights penetrating the night, piercing her soul, the eyes of Nomeds. She stood frozen stiff, her ears fixed toward the woodland, tail clamped against her rump, nostrils flaring and the whites of her eyes wild with fear.
Zavier need not ask what was wrong for as soon as he'd seen Ayanna's terrified expression, he knew. “Run,” he whispered nervously.
Khathu and the other Halfses immediately lunged into an intense gallop, but Ayanna did not move. She remained paralysed with fear, unable to move.
Zavier began to prance, anxiously swishing his tail. “Ayanna, we must run for the safety of the beach. Move!” he yelled, snapping her out of her petrified state.
By now, the Nomeds were hurtling across the meadow, heading toward Khathu and the other Halfses that had made it to the north end of the pond. The Halfses were galloping furiously in an attempt to reach the safety of Serenity Sunrise Beach, but the Nomeds were gaining on them.
“Race to the beach as fast as you can, Ayanna, and don't look back whatever you do. Don't stop until you are safe. I must go and protect the others. Now, run!” Zavier ordered.
Zavier charged across the meadow as fast as he could. Blankets and food supplies fell from his back as he thundered toward the pond at speed. He made it beside Khathu and the others in just enough time to place his protective barrier around them. Daray, Fala, Kern and numerous juvenile Nomeds lunged at them, trying to claw their way inside the barrier. Daray glared at Zavier with his white pupil-less eyes that looked like rotting boiled eggs.
“
Ew era kcis fo eht etsat fo regdab dna taog, ew ycnaf eht teews taem fo esflaH. Dna eht teews taem fo esflaH ew llahs evah!
” Daray hissed, as he circled the protected group.
Zavier caught a glimpse of Ayanna's fiery red mane as she galloped at speed around the far side of the pond. He could do nothing other than hold strong and pray that she would make it to the beach in time. She could sound the alarm, send help. But this was not to be, for as he watched and hoped, he noticed that the pond was no longer still. Nebula had spotted Ayanna the moment that she'd been separated from the group. Every good hunter knows that a single target is easier prey, and so he had swum under the pond's surface at speed in order to reach her.
The pond's water smashed into the night air around Nebula as he leapt out of the pond onto the meadow grass in front of her. Zavier was torn between keeping the barrier secure around himself and the other Halfses, and racing to help Ayanna. He need not have battled with this decision, for in reality there was no time to choose. Nebula sprang onto Ayanna's back. He placed his arms and legs around her neck and spun himself round, so that he was hanging below her muscular neck. She continued to gallop, fiercely shaking her head, trying to loosen his grip and make him fall. But he had the scent of her, he could taste her sweet meat in his mind and there was no way he was going to let go. He opened his mouth, plunging his slug-like-lips over her muzzle, sealing her airways and preventing her from breathing. She dropped to the ground as he proceeded to suffocate her. The thrashing of her limbs only lasted a few seconds. Nebula ensured that he'd sucked every last breath from her lungs; the thrashing stopped and Ayanna was still.
Zavier and the others closed their eyes and hung their heads in sorrow, distraught at what they had just witnessed. Luckily for them, the Nomeds were greedy by nature, and those that had been circling the barrier began to fight amongst themselves, shoving each other out of the way as they wrestled to be the first to get to Ayanna's corpse. They quickly dismembered her body, then, each carrying a piece of her, they disappeared back into the woodland from which they had come.
The meadow was still once more, but it was no longer the beautiful stillness that had bejewelled it earlier that night, it was a dark and heavy stillness, a stifling stillness filled with despair. A stillness that tugged violently at Zavier's heart, smothered his spirit, and drained him of energy.
Balam wiped Ayanna's blood from his mouths. “
Os yeht kees ytefas ta eht hcaeb, od yeht? Llew, I kniht s'ti emit taht ew emacrevo eht melborp fo eht hself-gnitae ria taht spots su gnitnuh ereht. Netsil ylluferac, I evah a nalp,
” his left head said, while all six of his shiny black eyes stared out over his servants.
The Nomeds listened to their king attentively, and when he'd finished addressing them, they carried out his first command. The swamp mud thrashed and gurgled as the Nomeds grappled with each other. They tied their tongues together and indulged in a post-feeding breeding frenzy that resulted in the birth of around eighty new soldiers. Once each of the offspring had fallen from their mother's mouths, they wriggled into the darkness of the swamp's mud, where they were to continue their development, and eventually, when they were ready, they would be used for stage two of Balam's plan.
* * *
Zavier had also made plans following Ayanna's death. He had returned to the beach with an increased determination. It was time to collect the last of the Humans, time to commence with their training. He stood on the veranda, gripping the hand rail resolutely while Ice and Francis perched beside him
“Okay, the mountain inhabitants are on their way here,” he said, looking out across the sand toward the ocean. “We will be leaving shortly to go and collect the last of the Humans from Witern Wood Village. You can come with us, Francis, enabling us to collect a maximum of eight. It won't be ideal having three of the Berthold absent from Liberty, but it shouldn't be too much of a problem now that all of the creatures are going to be together at the safety of the beach. And this is, this must be, the last collection, so we need to gather as many people as we can.”
“Yes, I agree with you, Zavier, the creatures should be safe here at the beach, and if Francis comes with us we'll have enough regeneration pellets to collect eight Humans,” Ice concurred.
“Grace, Christian and their parents have given me details on who we are to collect and where we can find them. The plan is as follows. We will start at Witern Wood Primary School where we will find and collect the teacher, Mrs Potts. Mary insists that the children keep up with their schoolwork as much as possible while they are here in Liberty, and she ensures me that Mrs Potts has a heart that's as big as her personality. We will also find Grace's cousin Henrietta at the school, and the Human they call Poppy Paul. He helps to manage the football team.”
“That's going to be a big help. Collecting as many Humans as possible from one location will definitely cut down on time and make things easier,” Ice interrupted.
“Exactly,” Zavier agreed. “Once we leave the school, we will go to a grand building named Dalouhen House. It is situated close to the school's playing field. This is where we will find Henrietta's parents, David and Louise. Dalouhen House is close to a Veterinary Practice called Noah's Ark. That's our next stop. We need to collect a vet called Noah and a nurse named Cassey there.”
“Okay, that makes seven, who else are we going to collect?” Francis hooted.
“Well, the next collection is a little tricky, but Grace insists that we bring this lady into Liberty. Apparently she is the kindest and most caring person that you will ever meet.”
“So what's the tricky part?” Ice puzzled, tipping her head to the side and widening her yellow eyes.
“The tricky part is her age, she's in her eighties. In order to get her back to Liberty and to the safety of the beach quickly, I'm going to have to ask you to perform a rejuvenation enchantment on her. Is that something that you can do, Ice?”
“Yes it is, but the rejuvenation enchantment only lasts for a few hours. It will probably have worn off before we get back to the safety of Serenity. And it can only be used once within any twenty-four hour period. You see, there is a risk that the rejuvenated person might get over-excited about their new-found energy, and if the enchantment is misused or overused, the one who has been revitalised may wear out the old body in which they reside.”
“That's a little concerning, but I think I have a solution. I'll get some of the Halfses to meet with us at the gate when we return. That way, between us all we can carry the Humans back quickly, and hopefully get the old lady safely to the beach before the enchantment wears off.”
Zavier wasted no time and headed straight to the kitchen where a large group of Halfses had gathered for breakfast.
Ice suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Zavier, whatever you do, don't let me forget that I must perform the rejuvenation enchantment
after
the cloning enchantment,” she declared, frantically flapping her wings as she hovered in front of his face. “The last thing we need to leave behind in the Human world is the super-energised clone of an old lady.”
“We certainly do not!” Zavier chuckled at the thought, as Ice flew back out onto the veranda to wait beside Francis on the handrail.
“Aaron, Ezekiel, Tobias, I have a job for you.”
Zavier updated the young men on the situation and arranged with them to meet with him at the gate in order to transport the Humans back quickly. “Once we get back to the beach, we must commence with the training as soon as soon as we can,” he said. “In fact, I'm going to allocate a Human each to Takoda, Aurora and Pelagia before I go. That way they can begin to plan for the training of Christian, Dan and Harry while we are away.”
Zavier walked down the steps to the stabling below the house, where Aurora was curled up asleep in the hay, purring like an oversized farm cat.
“Aurora!” Zavier called, waking her.
The leopard stretched out her front legs and exposed her claws. She lifted her head and licked the air, as she pulled her lips back over her sharp canines and yawned.
“What can I do for you, Zavier?” she asked, purring loudly as she groomed herself.
“I've come to allocate a Human to you,” Zavier declared. “I've been studying them closely for a while now and I have decided the Human that is best suited to your power is Grace's brother Dan. I would like you to start preparing, think about how you will teach him to become a fearsome Meh-Teh.”
Aurora grinned like a Cheshire cat. She stretched out after her long nap, elongated her front legs, dipped her back and lifted her rear in a bowing position. Then she stood on all fours and shook her coat from nose to tail. “I'll get straight to it,” she said, before slinking her way across the stable and springing up the steps to the beach house.
Zavier then headed down to the ocean where Mateo, Christian and Lettitia were swimming.
“Mateo!” he hollered from the shoreline. “Can you fetch Pelagia ashore for me, please? I must speak with him before I leave for the Human world. I need to tell him that he is to share his powers with the Human named Harry.”
“Sure,” Mateo said, jumping out of the water before promptly diving below its surface and rocketing toward Shipwreck Reef like a torpedo.
“Christian, I suggest that you come ashore too. Takoda is going to be sharing his power with you.”
Christian did what was asked of him. He swam into the shallows, got to his feet and waded ashore with a force that was fuelled by nervous excitement.
“I'm coming up to the house with you, as I haven't informed Takoda that he is to share his power with you yet. We can tell him together.”
Zavier placed a hand atop the young lad's head, and the pair trudged barefoot through the warm sand, back to the beach house to find the leader of the wolf pack.
Screams tumbled through the air like falling leaves on a stormy day. Boys shouted and wrestled. Girls skipped and sang. And Mrs Potts blew on her whistle with gusto. The high-pitched shriek lasted the length of her breath, which was a surprisingly long time.
“Okay, kiddiewinks, break's over. Line up,” she gasped, flushed of face and out of puff.
The children knew the drill and swiftly got into their lines, ready to head back inside the school for lessons.
“Charlie, please take your finger out of your nose and stop jigging around as if you're doing the Highland fling.”
“Yes, Mad Mrs Potty Potts,” the young ginger-haired lad said, wiping his sticky finger down the back of the girl in front's jumper.
Mrs Potts knew that the children referred to her as Mad Mrs Potty Potts, and she didn't mind one bit. She was, after all, as mad as a box of frogs and the kids loved her for it.
“Mad Mrs Potty Potts, do you know that you're wearing odd shoes?” Charlie asked.
Mrs Potts looked down at her mismatched footwear and shrugged her shoulders, “I couldn't decide which colour I wanted to wear, so I thought I'd wear one of each,” she said, smiling. Then she stood at the front of the first line, turned her back on the children and began to wiggle her hips.
“Okay, are you ready?” she yelled, looking back over her shoulder with her curls springing and a huge grin spread across her cheeks.
“Yes!” the children cheered.
“Da dat dat dat, der, dat dat!” Mad Mrs Potty Potts sang loudly. Then she began to dance. She kicked out a red-shoed foot, moved three steps forward, then kicked out a pink-shoed foot, as she led the conga dancing line of children back inside Witern Wood Primary School.
The pupils continued to buzz with excitement as they entered the classroom and took to their seats.
“Okay, playtime is over, time to settle down now, children. Grace, could you hand these out for me, please?” Mrs Potts asked, handing Grace's clone a pile of bird books.
“Yes, Mrs Potts,” the clone said, taking the tower of books from her teacher.
The imitation Grace handed a copy to each child in the class. Except for Christian's clone. His book wasn't handed to him, it was delivered onto the top of his head with a chuckle instead.
“Okay, in today's art lesson you are going to choose a bird to draw. You can look for inspiration in the book that Grace has given you. You can look outside; you might see one out there that you wish to draw. Or you can create your own fantasy bird. Pencil sketches only at this stage though, please. We'll add paint and colour in next week's art lesson.”
Some of the children were flicking through their books while others looked out of the window for inspiration. A few had started creating their own imaginary birds, strange beasts with fur, feathers, scales, trunks and horns. Charlie was stumped. He didn't know what bird he wanted to draw; he didn't particularly like any of them very much. He thought they were all rather boring.
Why can't we draw a dragon? That would be much more fun.
He gazed out of the window across the playing field toward the bordering woodland, imagining majestic dragons in flight and hoping to see something interesting that might inspire him. A movement drew his attention to the fence at the bottom of the field. He gasped with delight at what he spotted there. Then, quickly and eagerly, he put pencil to paper and began to draw.
Mrs Potts strolled past and glanced down at Charlie's work.
“Very good, Charlie,” she praised. “But you do know you only needed to draw one bird don't you?”
“Yes, Mad Mrs Potty Potts, but when I saw them sitting on the fence by the woods, I couldn't decide which one of them I liked the most. A bit like you with your shoes.” He grinned as he looked down at Mad Mrs Potty Potts's red and pink footwear. “So I'm drawing both of them.”
Mrs Potts glanced back at Charlie's sketch book and studied the two birds that he'd drawn. “But these are owls, aren't they?”
“Yes, Mad Mrs Potty Potts, a brown one and a white one. They're over there on the fence, look!” Charlie said, pointing out of the window.
Mrs Potts searched the fence-line, but there were no owls to be seen. She gave Charlie a doubting smile and raised one eyebrow. “I think they must have flown back to Hogwarts,” she said.
The children were head down, hard at work, engrossed in creating their feathery masterpieces, when there was a gentle knock on the classroom door.
“Come in,” Mrs Potts called out.
“Sorry to disturb you, Mrs Potts,” Sheena the receptionist squeaked, peeping round the door over lowered spectacles. “There's a gentleman in the office, he says he needs to speak with you urgently.”
“Oh, okay, I'm on my way,” Mrs Potts replied, then she clapped her hands together to gain the children's full attention. “Class, I must say you're all doing fabutastically! Carry on with your wonderful works of art. I'll be back in a jiffy. If you need any help while I'm gone, please ask Julia and she'll give you a hand.”
Julia, the classroom assistant, gave Mrs Potts an acknowledging smile. Mrs Potts left the class hard at work and headed to the office to find out what it was that the mystery gentleman required so urgently.
* * *
Approximately fifteen minutes had passed. Charlie wiped condensation from the classroom window with the cuff of his jumper and watched as Mad Mrs Potty Potts, Poppy Paul the football coach and Henrietta Darling marched into the woods. They were accompanied by a man with silvery hair. A man that Charlie hadn't ever seen before. They disappeared behind the trees and were shortly followed by the two owls. Charlie wiped the glass clear again and stared into the trees wondering,
what are they doing? And where are they going?
“So how are you getting on then?” Mrs Potts asked, re-entering the classroom and taking a seat at her desk.
Charlie looked up at his teacher in utter surprise. He looked across the field toward the woodland, then back at his teacher as she tidied her desk. His brow furrowed and his lips pursed a little as he tried to process what had just happened. How come he had been watching Mad Mrs Potty Potts disappearing into the woodland at the very same time that she'd returned to the classroom?