The Circle of Owls (The Grimalkin Book 3)

by Dani Swanson

  Lilly changed back to her human form as she hid behind a pile of rocks. “Dragon eggs?” she whispered to herself as she tried to creep towards Celeste.

  “There you go babies, I hope you hatch soon!” Celeste covered the eggs with the blanket again, tucking them in as if they were her babies.

  Celeste took some raw meat that she had in a large pot by her make-shift kitchen and traveled down a path in the dark. Lilly could hear the roar of what she could only suspect to be a larger dragon echo back at her.

  Lilly could feel the walls of the mountain vibrate as she heard a growl come from the depths of the cave. Celeste was soon to return to the light, carrying two shimmering blue scales from a dragon. She took a soft cloth and polished the scales before carefully putting them into a wooden crate that was almost the size of the witch; the crate was filled with scales.

  “What are you up to?” Lilly whispered to herself, as she ducked farther behind the rocks.

  Lilly sat and watched from her hiding spot for over an hour as she saw Celeste care for the small eggs as if they were her own children. Celeste continued to make the eggs warm, and she talked to them about her plans for when they hatched.

  “I’ll find a new wing of the cave for you littles to live in. Your mother won’t let me near you, but I will raise you myself. Once you’re big, I’ll be able to harvest your scales and then I can take my powers back! We’re going to be so great for each other! I just need my sister to make a fire hot enough to melt the scales down….one more crate to go! She doesn’t need to know that your mommies can lay eggs, you’ll be my dragons.”

  “You’re not going to make it back to your sister.” Lilly had heard enough of the plan. “You’re going to give those eggs back to their mother!” Lilly started to walk closer to Celeste, who was shielding her eyes from Lilly.

  “You’re not going to do that controlling elf magic on me! Get out of here Lilly! This doesn’t concern you!”

  “What’s with your family separating babes from their mothers? I’m done being told what to do by you and your sister! I am done allowing you to hurt others for your own gain! If you’re not going to look at me, I will have to take care of this some other way!”

  Lilly’s eyes turned black as night as she morphed into the Grimalkin on all fours. Once transformed, her eyes burned a bright yellow that glowed through the cave. Celeste tried to retreat into the depths of the cave, but Lilly was faster than she was. The Grimalkin jumped in her path, blocking her in a corner.

  “Lilly! You don’t need to do this!” Her words were lost in the echoes of the cave; The Grimalkin was already sucking the soul out of her, only this time she ate it herself instead of it floating away to the crystals with Cricket.

  Celeste’s body slumped over the rocks, the color of her skin went to a greyish hue and her eyes showed no sign of life as the last of her soul came pouring out of her open mouth and over to the Grimalkin’s. She didn’t turn out to be stupefied like the others; her soul barely put up a fight as if it had already given up a long time ago. The Grimalkin had taken every part of her being away from Celeste, leaving nothing more than the empty shell behind.

  Lilly slowly turned back into her human form, however, her eyes stayed a dark black. She could feel a surge of power through her veins into her heart and up to her brain. It felt amazing! The euphoric high she got from Celeste’s soul made her feel a sense of emotion she thought had been lost. Was it happiness? Was it power? Lilly didn’t know but had no regrets for her actions. “Can’t hurt any more creatures if you’re dead.”

  She stretched her back with her arms over her head, smiling and enjoying the fulfilling feeling, or whatever it was that she was experiencing. She turned around and saw the eggs, which slowly brought her back to reality. “Oh yeah, we need to find your mommy.” She said as she walked over to the makeshift nests. The eggs were all still warm under their covers.

  Down the dark trail into the belly of the cavern she traveled. She could hear rushing water and the clanking of metal against the rocks. There was a light somewhere below by which she could see the glistening blue of the dragon’s scales and she knew where the eggs needed to go. There were three dragons chained to the rocks below with chain mail thrown over their wings – two were Blue-Scaled dragons and the other was one that Lilly couldn’t identify. It was almost like it would change colors when you moved past it; the scales were purply-pink and then snow white, and then like it wasn’t even there. The dragons barely acknowledged her presence, the look of defeat was across each of their faces. “I’m going to get you freed, just don’t eat me.” Lilly said as she started to climb on the rocks. There was a small river running below the mountain and torches had been lit around the opening. The dank smell of the wet grass, that was left for the dragons to sleep on burned the insides of Lilly’s nose. She couldn’t see anywhere that the key could be, but she was able to at least get the heavy chainmail off their backs, so they could spread their wings out.

  Lilly brought one egg down to the opening, and the dragon in the middle must have recognized it as her own. She started to smoke out of her nose and was hovering slightly above the ground, thrashing her wings as hard as she could. “Easy now. I’m bringing them to you. I don’t want them!” She gently set the egg down on the ground by the dragon’s nest. The dragon took the egg within its talons and pulled it under its body. The dragon’s eyes were warmer as it seemed to smile at Lilly. “I’ll be back with more.” She said softly as she skittishly held out her hand to touch the snout. “I know how it is to be locked up and kept from your family.”

  Lilly made several trips back and forth from where the eggs were found, down to the mothers at the base. On her last trip down with the fourth egg, she stopped at Celeste’s body and emptied all her pockets, turning up nothing that she would find useful – then she looked at the jewelry that the old witch had been wearing, and there was nothing there either. “Where are you hiding it?!” Lilly hissed as she kicked the foot of the corpse – doing so knocked lose the false bottom of the heel on her boot. Inside, was a small brass key on a purple string. Lilly’s eyes lit up with excitement as she put the key around her wrist and took the last egg down to the mothers. This egg belonged to the unidentifiable dragon on the end. She had shot a short stream of fire up to the ceiling when she saw the egg – causing some rocks to fall from above. “Hey! Relax! You’re going to get us all killed!” Lilly’s voice echoed through the mountain. “I think I can get you out!”

  Lilly went from dragon to dragon, unlocking their massive legs from the iron clamps. The dragons let out a purring noise in delight as they started to try to get out of the underground cave. They paced from one end to the other, but the river flowed under a solid rock wall, leaving them no way out as they were too large to come down the path that Lilly had taken to get to them. She was perplexed! How was she going to get these massive creatures out of the cavern that was so far below ground? “How did you get here?” She softly cooed at the dragons, trying to keep her voice as airy as possible to keep them calm. The cavern shook as the dragons tried to ram the walls, but there wasn’t an exit in sight.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Where did you get this?!” Thea said as she held the black book over Robin’s face with one hand and violently shook her awake with the other. “How long have you known about this?”

  “What?! Wait! Did you go through my things?!” Robin jumped up in bed, throwing the covers across the room, with Tinker hissing as she was flung from her spot on the mattress.

  Thea had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning, with her ear pressed against the wall, listening to Robin talk to a familiar voice; They spoke about Robin wanting to save the dragons, the Circle of Owls, and what to do with Thea.

  Thea waited until the voices had stopped to creep into the room to find Robin sleeping with Tinker curled up next to her – there was no sign of anyone else being in the room. Thea carefully started to look for clues, finding the journal that Robin had in her bag
. Thea sat on top of the table, with her legs folded under her and Fig on her lap, as she read the accounts of her family and their link to the Circle of Owls. The mixture of emotions and lack of sleep took over, and she had to get the information out of Robin immediately.

  “Why are you digging through my things?!”

  “What is this, Robin? How come you have never told me what you knew about my past? Is this even real?!”

  “Of course, it’s real!”

  “Who were you talking to all night? I heard someone in here with you.”

  Tinker hissed at Thea as she started to grow between the two witches. This was immediately interrupted by a sharp swipe across the face from Fig, before he chased his sister out of the room.

  Their voices continued to grow louder as they both were talking over the other. The noise alarmed Dean who had been down the hall and came running into the room, trying to get them to calm down.

  “What is going on here?! Stop screaming at each other!” His deep voice boomed over their yelling as they started to talk softer, but still not stopping to let the other one finish.

  “You were spying on me?! Who does that?”

  “You’ve been acting strange! When I ask you what is wrong with you, you blow me off, how am I supposed to respond to that? Now who were you talking to?”

  “I was talking to myself, alright?”

  “That wasn’t your voice! Who were you talking to?”

  Dean now was standing between the two as Thea continued to walk closer to Robin, clenching her fists at her side. Robin had tears streaming down her face and a look of panic as she tried to find the answers that would get her out of this situation.

  Thea continued to scream question after question at Robin, (who was now turning red in the face with frustration) never giving her a chance to answer what was being asked of her.

  “It was Agatha, okay?! She’s the one who told me about your family and the Circle of Owls! She was a part of them- she wouldn’t tell me why they had her, but she knew your grandma!” Robin sat down at the table, hiding her face in her hands as she silently sobbed.

  “Agatha? She died months ago! How long have you had this?!” Thea was being restrained by the shoulders by Dean.

  “Let her talk – you need to calm down!”

  “Dean, this has nothing to do with you! Butt out!” The look Thea gave him burned to his soul. He let go of her shoulders and backed away. He pulled out a chair on the other side of the table and offered it to Thea to sit.

  “Just don’t hurt your friend, or your friendship. Sit down.” His voice was soothing as he went and sat on the corner of the bed. Robin, no longer crying, was sheepishly looking up at Thea.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Robin’s voice was meek as she finally made eye contact with Thea. For the first time in months, Robin sounded sincere to Thea.

  “You need to tell me what is going on, is any of this true?” She held the book up as an example before tossing it across the table.

  “It’s all true. That is what Agatha told me.” Her eyes were bloodshot from crying.

  “You’ve known this the whole time, and you never told me? Why would you do that to me? Things would have played out a whole lot differently if I had known this when I went there! I would never keep something like this from you!”

  “I didn’t know about this when you went there, I swear!” The tears were starting again.

  “Your story doesn’t add up, Robin. You’ve been in the mountains this whole time. Where would you have gotten a book from Agatha?” Dean was now more invested in the story than in trying to keep Thea calm.

  “Agatha told me WHILE I was in the mountains. She still speaks to me!” That’s the most she was able to get out between sobs.

  All the emotions drained from Thea’s face as she blankly stared at her friend across the table. “You were up there by yourself for a long time Robin. You should get some more rest.” Her voice was stoic as she slowly rose from her spot. “We all were there when your sister died, sweetie. She’s gone.”

  “No, you don’t understand! I can still hear her! I can see her!” Robin was on her feet screaming at Thea. Robin’s body was shaking as she was trying to stop crying long enough to get her point out.

  Thea looked around the room, then back to her friend. “Do you see her now?” Her eyebrows raised in concern as she tried to make her voice as soothing as possible.

  “I told you, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you!”

  “Okay, I can’t listen to anymore of this, Robin. You need to get your rest.” Thea started to the door and had her arm grabbed by Robin. Thea stopped without turning around. “Don’t. Just don’t.” Thea shook her arm free and walked out the door with Dean on her heels, leaving a sobbing Robin behind in her room.

  “She’s lost her mind. She made up a whole story while she was up in the mountains. What happened to her up there?” Thea’s voice was in a hushed whisper as she walked down the hall with Dean.

  “Do you really think she believes she’s seeing and hearing her sister?”

  “I read her whole journal last night, and there was no mention of her sister. The whole thing is written as if it is her point of view. Did you know that she also says she can understand the Baba Yaga? Like…. can talk to her. Robin doesn’t know any fairy or elf…She said to us that she could hear her voice in her head when I spoke to her, but she wrote down that she was holding conversations with her!....She said that the Baba Yaga ate Edward and then convinced her to work with her to save the dragons….that wasn’t even close to the interaction I had with her!” Thea shook her head in disbelief as they continued to walk. “My friend has lost her damn mind.”

  “Thea, cut her some slack – her sister died right in front of her! You saw how messed up she was, and it was her twin….none of us knows how that feels.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they went down the stairs.

  Thea was quiet as they went into the kitchen. Dean continued to try to get her to see that her friend was hurting, and not trying to hurt her, but Thea’s brain was frantic. She was hungry and exhausted, confused and scared for her friend. The words that came from Dean were just white noise drifting over her.

  “I wish I had my own memories….” Is all she said before taking an orange from the basket of fruit, giving Dean a hug and walking out the door to go back to her room. Maybe sleep would help her find an answer.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “Where’s your sister? What have you done with her this time?” Her voice was cold and broken. She was pinning her silvering hair on top of her head. “She’s not your pawn, you know, she is your sister.”

  “She’s fine, mother. She’s doing her own thing, trying to get her powers back. You could just tell her how to do it.”

  “You two could just let me go too, but I don’t see my life being any better that way. You probably would just have me killed if you could actually figure out how to do it on your own.”

  Penelope turned around to face her daughter who was leaning against the door frame. Penelope was still being held by the Circle of Owls, however, this time she wasn’t in a damp dungeon. She had a full furnished room, a couple floors under the small house that the Circle was using to repopulate their organization.

  “Would we do that to you? You’re our MOTHER.” Cricket’s voice was far from sincere as she attempted to have a pleasant smile for her.

  “You thought you had it with stealing their souls, but you were so far off, little one.” Penelope rolled her neck around in the black collar, stretching her neck from side to side. “You could always take this contraption off, and I will gladly show you what I did to your sister.” They both started to laugh at the same time.

  “So, you can do the same to me, as you did to Celeste? That’s not going to happen.”

  Penelope was laughing so hard that she had tears in the corners of her eyes. “I do what I can to entertain myself down here, darling.” She blotted the tears away.
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br />   “We could accomplish so much, if you would just work with us, mother. The three of us would be unstoppable.” She raised her eyebrows adding an extra lift to her smile.

  “Accomplish what, Cricket? My group, the true Circle, fought against adversity, evil tyrants, and for equality…..once you and your sister took the group over you turned it into everything I tried to fix in this world. Pitting creatures against each other, trying to get more than you earned, enslaving creatures! I didn’t raise you like this! You were never an evil child! Then you drag your sister into this mess and leave her getting the blame for something that you did! So what exactly are we going to accomplish, darling? I’m not really into world domination.”

  Like every other time Cricket had this conversation with her mother, she started to get infuriated. “Why can’t you see that there is more to life than just settling for what is given to you!”

  “I didn’t settle; I had everything I wanted. I did the family thing with you two when you were younger, and I had the love of a sweet man. That’s all I ever wanted. I helped people and made the world a little bit brighter than how I found it.” Penelope picked up her knitting that was sitting on her side table and lazily started to work on her sweater. “I’m not sure what happened to you, or what you did to get such control over your sister, but the life you are chasing isn’t going to end well for you, dear Cricket. Making sure that everyone else fails just so you can have better won’t work.”

  “It was working just fine until Thea showed up again! I thought taking her memory was going to be enough to keep her away! I tried to spare her!” With her arms crossed over her chest she glared at her mother.