The Circle of Owls (The Grimalkin Book 3)

by Dani Swanson

  “Maybe they’re controlling her like Lilly?! She gets to walk around wherever she wants to.” Charles attempted to hit his brother back in the same fashion but missed.

  “She was being controlled by a collar – did you see anyone with a collar on?” Thea placed herself between the brothers to keep them from rough-housing. She felt like there were eyes on her as she tried to hide her face in Dean’s arm. Charles shook his head no to her question. “We should get out of the middle of town.” She said as she tugged on the arms of her friends and moved toward the tavern on the far side of the village. Jaeger started to squawk at them as they ducked into the doorway. “Hush! We’ll be back out for you in a moment!” She hissed at the bird who had landed on the roof of the tavern.

  Inside the tavern the dank smell of the dusty floors made Fig sneeze as he snuck in around the legs of his human. The lighting was dim, as it always was, and the clientele sat in the shadows – some drowning their sorrows, some were sitting in small groups – whispering to one another. The awkward feeling of being watched didn’t improve for Thea when she was in the tavern, but, at least there, she could also hide in the shadows with her back to a wall. The group settled into a small table at the back of the room which was even more poorly lit than the rest of the place.

  “Can we eat an actual meal here? Without your raven bullying us?” Charles’ stomach audibly growled as he spoke.

  “They do have a really good roasted chicken here.”

  Thea looked around and found someone that worked there. She placed an order for three chickens and a few bowls of stew. She wasn’t sure when the next time would be that she would be able to eat a full meal again, so she decided to load up with as much as they could afford. She could still feel the burning feeling that she was being watched, but never saw anyone watching her when she would look around.

  Thea made her way back to the table with a few glasses of a sweet tea that the tavern brewed. “This village always gives me the creeps. It’s like everyone who is up to no good makes their way here but tries to act like they haven’t done anything.”

  “Everyone has a past, Thea. Maybe some of them are trying to be better, but people have already judged them, so they come where they are accepted.” Dean quickly took a drink from his mug as she turned and gave him a dirty look.

  “Like how Sorgin helped us against the coven.” Charles shrugged. “Everyone has some good in them, right?”

  Thea started to laugh and was struggling to control herself – she shook her head and was in disbelief at how Charles could think like that. “You can’t be serious? Sorgin helps herself! She wanted her head to be reattached and wanted us to be gone from her chateau, so she could go back to living her life. There wasn’t anything about her actions that was selfless.”

  Dean leaned back in his chair and was watching Thea as she debated with his brother. He was going to argue with both of them, but started to focus on Fig, who was wandering around the tavern, smelling the base of each of the tables, his fur was starting to stand on end as he was hiding in the shadows. The cat made it to the far end of the room where there were two hooded creatures – Fig was low to the ground as if he was going to pounce on them. The greasy cook came out with the food they had ordered and shooed Fig back to the table.

  “Keep track of your animal.” His voice was much higher than Thea had expected.

  “I’m sorry! Fig get over here!” her voice carried through the room.

  The group started to eat their meal, with Thea dropping chunks of chicken onto the floor for Fig to eat.

  “Where do you think Jaeger is going to bring us next?” Dean got out between bites.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t speak raven well.” She smirked at her own joke. “Hopefully, we are going in the right direction and he understands what he’s supposed to be doing.”

  The four of them devoured the stew and all three of the chickens. She felt full, but couldn’t stop eating. She started to feel sleepy and was yawning as she was talking to her friends.

  “I don’t know what we’ll have to do when we get there.” She said through a yawn, covering her mouth that was still full of food.

  “We’ll figure it out when we get there. There can’t be that many members of The Circle of Owls left…once we find Cricket we should find your grandma.” Dean too was yawning as he spoke.

  “I’m sure I can help you find your auntie.” Said one of the two hooded figures that Fig had been scouting out from across the room. The shorter of the two removed her hood to reveal a familiar face to the group – Sorgin was standing in front of them, her hair was perfectly pinned to her head and she pushed the trappings of her cloak back to reveal her walking stick with the skull for a handle.

  Thea jumped to her feet and lit a fireball in her hand – the men pushed away from the table and started to draw their weapons. “We don’t want to hurt you, Sor….” The taller of the hooded figures removed her hood to reveal Cricket herself standing in front of them. The other creatures within the tavern had evacuated the scene.

  “Hello, Thea.” Cricket said with a smile.

  Thea couldn’t focus on the faces of either of them. She shot the fireball at where she thought Cricket to be and drastically missed, setting a beam on fire behind her. Dean swung his blade, but weakly…it fell short of his target. Charles fell over where he stood – snoring as he hit the floor. Thea looked down at her hands and only saw a blur. Fig was laying on his side under the table, not moving. “What is going on?” She was able to get out before she too fell to the ground with Dean falling on top of the table – breaking it into splinters as it tipped over onto its side.

  Cricket and Sorgin started to laugh as they watched Thea struggle to stay awake. “I hope you enjoyed your chicken.” Sorgin smugly commented as she stood over Thea, locking a cold, black collar around her neck.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “I told you that they were going react that way! Thea’s not stupid! She wouldn’t believe anything that would have to do with you.”

  “You should have told her that you’ve had this from a year ago….or since she re-met you. That’s your fault for not convincing her.”

  “Now she thinks that I’m crazy and has left me behind. She isn’t anywhere in this castle. None of them are!”

  “You know that they went after the Circle of Owls, right? She believed what she read in your book. She’s going to go and try to find Penelope now.”

  “So, what are we supposed to do now? Sit here and wait? Or go back to your friend the Baba Yaga and see if we can get eaten by a dragon or see if she can cause another earthquake.”

  Robin sat in the room for hours, talking to the voice that was haunting her. She stared out the window, stroking the silky fur of Tinker. She had so many emotions that changed as quickly as they arrived. She was missing her friends with every being of her soul – she was enraged that Thea didn’t believe her – terrified that she may in fact be losing her mind.

  “The Baba Yaga is just doing what her job is to do – protect all the creatures of the realm. She’s just trying to protect the dragons from the witches and the humans who continue to kill them for their body parts. Just because you don’t understand her, doesn’t mean that she’s doing something wrong.”

  “Her hut is made from human bones! She kills people!” Robin’s voice was shrill as she responded.

  “They’re killing dragons, fairies, elves and yetis. She’s protecting them….besides, she’s not a human, why would she live by the rules that the human society has put in place?”

  Robin didn’t have a logical response to that. She didn’t know how the Baba Yaga was able to cause an earthquake that hit the Izotza mountain that was so far away from her hut. Perhaps she felt a connection with the Baba Yaga, as she rarely felt that she fit into the confines of human society. She always felt that it would be easier for her to only interact with a few people and stay by herself. That’s why she enjoyed staying at Thea’s cabin so much – there was just
the two of them and nature around her.

  The ground below the castle lightly rumbled again – this was the fourth time in the last 24 hours that the ground was shaking. Robin calmed her cat, before going around the room and picking up the few things that had fallen from their places around her room. She finally made her mind up to leave the castle on her own and try to find out why the mountain was starting to have earthquakes.

  “Do you really think that you should be leaving? What if they come back?”

  “They left me behind for a reason…..” Robin’s eyes started to water, but she was determined to ignore it and head out on her own. “You could stay behind; I wouldn’t be mad about it.” With that comment the voice stopped talking to her and she could hear herself think. She packed a few things and left with her cat in tow.

  Once outside the castle’s gate, she bundled her cat into her coat and started to walk to where the Baba Yaga was, but was interrupted by the loud squawking of a raven swooping at her head. She recognized it to be Jaeger right away. He swooped at her a few more times – Tinker jumped from Robin’s arms and tried to get the bird.

  “What are you doing?!” She yelled at the raven as she retrieved her cat who was trying to climb a near-by tree. Once Jaeger heard her speak to him, he stopped squawking and started to fly the opposite direction toward the path that Thea and the guys took the previous morning. “Do you want me to follow you? Is that what we are doing?” She asked as the raven circled back over her head.

  She followed the bird down the path, through the trees, and all the way to a small house in the Monkey Tree Village. He stopped on top of the roof and squawked until Robin reached the door. After spending the entire day chasing after the raven, Robin was out of breath and tired. “Okay, we’re here, now what?” She asked the bird as she looked around the dark windows of the building. Jaeger continued to make noise until the front door opened and a little dwarf poked his head out. “Agatha! You’re back! Get in here before you start drawing too much attention to the house.” He opened the door wide and invited her to enter.

  “Oh, I’m not….” She started to cough, as if the words were stuck in her throat and were choking her. “Sorry, Eli. I have such a dry throat right now.” She cleared her throat and crossed the threshold.

  Robin was screaming inside, but her voice wouldn’t come out. She was no longer in control of her body. She didn’t want to go into the building. She didn’t want to be stuck in her own head.

  “It’s good to be back!” Agatha said as she looked around the new building. “Fill me in on what I’ve missed.” A soft smile spread across her lips as she was no longer being stifled by her sister’s voice.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Lilly wasn’t sure how the dragons got into the opening under the mountain, but ever since she freed them of their chains, they were trying to fly through the rocks – causing earthquakes on the mountain. She had to leave and try to find a way to get them out from the outside. As the Grimalkin, her hearing was extremely sharp – she could hear the flowing water beneath the rocks. She followed it all the way around the base, past the Izotza kingdom, and into the valley near where the Baba Yaga was living.

  She found the mouth of the river which started from a small lake, that was freely flowing to the rocky edge of the mountain. The Grimalkin jumped into the water, swimming over to the rocks, diving down into the darkness – the water nymphs hid from the shadowy cat as she tried to find a way to get through the wall. The Grimalkin swam until her lungs started to burn, following the bubbles to the surface for air. She would fill her lungs and then dive down again until she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, repeating the routine until she finally swam all the way down to the sandy bottom. She could feel the rush of the water being drawn to the rocks. The opening she found wasn’t large enough for her to pass through in her Grimalkin form. She returned to the surface, changing her form back to her slight human body.

  Each time Lilly turned back into her human form it was taking longer for her to feel human again. Ever since she ate Celeste’s soul, her vision was different, and she could smell everything – her eyes, that were usually light in color stayed black. Lilly had to sit on the bank of the lake for a moment as she slowed her heartbeat. Once she was relaxed, she went back into the water to swim down to the opening she had found.

  As she dove down into the cool water, the nymphs were no longer afraid of her presence. They swam out from behind the weeds and were following behind her. Lilly’s lungs started to burn faster than they did when she was in her larger Grimalkin form. She made it to the opening as the water nymphs were grabbing for her ankles. She swiftly kicked at them as she squeezed her body through the opening. The tunnel beneath the rocks was tight, barely allowing for Lilly to swim through it. She was starting to panic – what was she going to do if she ran out of air down there? There was no light and she kept having to push her arms out above her head to see if the tunnel had come to an end. Once she reached the other end of the mountain’s tunnel she swam as fast as her body could to what she felt was the direction of the surface – pushing with all her might as she gasped for air once her head broke the surface of the water. Her chest heaved as her lungs tingled with the fresh air.

  Once Lilly was over the shock of almost drowning while swimming through the small tunnel, she realized that she was, in fact, back to the opening that housed the dragons. She quietly swam to the edge, as all three of the mother dragons were sleeping with their eggs on their nests.

  Lilly sat with her legs hanging into the water, the leather of her boots were growing tight on her skin, but she was too distracted trying to figure out where the water was running to even notice.

  If the water comes from the north, and there is a draft pulling the water into the mountain, there should be another way that the water is being pushed out….right? There is no way these dragons were brought through that small opening, when I barely fit through there, and I’m the size of one of their snouts…..

  She once again left the mountain in all her Grimalkin glory and followed the noise of the running water below the rocks past the mountains, and toward the Monkey Tree Village. She had to change back into her human form once she got near the village to not draw attention to herself.

  Lilly continued to walk the path that she thought the water would have flowed. It didn’t surprise her in the least bit that it ran to the little house that Lilly had witnessed Sorgin and the sisters occupying. She wanted answers to how the dragons were trapped below and wanted her peace from everything the Circle of Owls had done to her, but the fear of the unknown always took over whenever she thought she was going to be strong enough to confront any of them. She would have flashbacks of being locked in the dungeon; her hands would start to get sweaty, her chest would become tight and she would freeze on the spot when she would see them. She decided that today wasn’t going to be that day either. She walked around the house and over the hill that was behind the village. It was there that she found an opening to a cave that looked to have been boarded up at one point.

  She cautiously made her way through the discarded wood and into the darkness. She morphed into her Grimalkin form, her eyes glowing in the darkness as she went down the path. She could once again hear the water flowing below her feet- getting louder the farther down the path she went. She did notice that this entry was large enough to fit the dragons through, but there wasn’t an opening where the dragons were located. The Grimalkin made it to the end of the path, meeting a solid rock wall of the mountain. She changed back to being Lilly when she noticed the mining tools that were left behind. “Dwarfs built this wall.” She said as she picked up the pick axe that was laying on the floor. There wasn’t any sign of fire around for her to pull into the cave to light her way, so she sat on the floor and rubbed two sticks together until she had a spark. She started a small fire and started to chip away at the wall – bit by bit – trying to get an entrance to the river she could hear flowing below.

  “I
am not going to allow them to trap any more creatures! I’m going to get them out!” The sweat was trickling down her face with every swing of the axe.

  Slowly, she was making progress at the base of the wall. She could see one small hole below that allowed the noise of the running water to come through………

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  When Thea woke up, she felt like she was in a fuzzy dream. Her headache was back in full force, pounding in rhythm with the beats of her heart. Her vision was blurry as she slowly brought herself up to a sitting position.

  She was alone – the room was nicer than those that the Circle of Owls had used before, as in they were actual rooms and not cells. She had a bed that was made with linens and there was a chair that reminded her of her overstuffed chair with the dingy buttons at her cabin and the walls were painted a cheery green with tiny daisy accents.

  Thea warily got to her feet, shuffling over to the door. The knob was locked, just as she had expected. Her vision was slowly coming back into focus and that is when she spotted her reflection in the mirror on the wall. A dark collar was around her neck. She tried to inch her fingers between the collar and her skin but couldn’t move it at all.

  The panic set in as she tried over and over to conjure a fireball, with nothing but a sizzling smoke coming from her palms. Her breaths were short and quick as she searched the room for a way out.

  Do I scream? Bang on the doors? Where am I? Where are the boys….and my cat?! She flipped everything in the room looking for an answer. She even slid her bed away from the wall, hoping to find anything that she could. All that was there was a little hole in the wall, with the beady eyes of a mouse looking out at her. Thea didn’t pay the mouse any mind as she continued to look for something to either get the collar off her neck, or find her way out of the room, until she saw that the mouse had a tiny piece of paper in its mouth that it scurried across the room with and dropped at her feet. She smiled and her breathing began to slow; she whispered, “thank you!” to the mouse before unfolding the note on the same tattered yellowed paper that she had gotten before.