‘Is this true?’ Trent asked Darius sharply, now understanding why Drako was coldly furious, even now, and why he had fought last night. He glanced at Ebony who nodded mutely and his lips tightened as he regarded his heir. ‘Answer me,’ he bellowed. Darius began trying to justify his actions and Trent leaped to his feet and forcibly dragged Darius from his chair. ‘Where’s this cage?’
‘This way,’ Drako said rushing ahead. He glanced back but his father had Darius by the ear like a child and didn’t seem to need assistance.
Trent growled when he saw the small heavy-duty metal cage in one corner of a frosty room. It was one of the cages the inquisitors favoured to imprison animus captives. He ignored Darius’s curses and struggles, thrust him inside, and closed the door. Drako handed over a key and Trent locked Darius inside.
‘You will sit here and think about why you’re here. When I return I will expect a certain response from you. If I don’t hear what I want to hear, you will remain locked up until you have learned the lesson. Knowing you it’ll probably take a while,’ Trent added and left the building ushering all the spectators out and locking the shed door too. He would keep hold of the keys himself. He was well aware the men, Darius included, had been very disappointed to hear that with the changes going on at the school, no animus women would be coming to join them. Many of the clan’s brides had voluntarily come from White Haven School over the years. Unfortunately, with the persecution of animus people so widespread, most kept their heads down and remained in hiding. Fewer animus children now left their parent’s sides, even for school. Their numbers were slowly dwindling as one after another of the clan’s “safely hidden” wives and children were captured and taken away. Only the men living hand to mouth in the forests survived. That was no life for a woman, especially with small children to care for. What options were left to them?
Cassy and Drako headed directly back to the house and into the lounge room where there was a roaring fire and comfortable chairs.
‘How are you feeling?’ Drako asked her and sat down inviting her to sit beside him. He hugged her close so she could lean against him and the contact would enable him to sense how she was really feeling.
‘Drako you’re in pain,’ she said suddenly. She supposed that although he had been by her side since they had woken, he had not been touching, or she would have felt it before. She frowned wondering what she could do. Nothing, she knew with frustration, she couldn’t even keep her own concentration straight at the moment. She was failing Drako when he needed her most. ‘Maybe I should try and call Jim. He might know what’s wrong with me,’ she suggested wanly, reluctantly realising she needed help.
‘Cass, you’ve barely strength enough to walk. Maybe this should wait until you’re stronger.’
‘You can anchor me and help me can’t you?’ she asked.
‘I’d do anything for you, you know that. But I’m worried you’ll do more harm trying this.’
She stroked the frown from his brow tenderly. ‘I don’t feel right at all. Jim might be able to help or tell me what to do.’
Drako nodded unhappily and felt her merge them more fully. Now even he could feel the pressure in her head, her pain and other symptoms she had not been admitting. She clasped his hand and he felt his strength flowing in to her. A disorientating dizzy swirl of bright lights flicked past their shared vision that strangely enough seemed different from one another. Cassy skimmed through them confidently before she pinpointed a particularly large bright light and seemed to grasp hold of it. Only now could Drako recognise they were connecting to a familiar identity.
‘Jim, can you hear me?’ Cassy called.
‘Cassy? Is that you? You feel odd, you must be merged with someone, ah Drako.’ Jim said identifying the other presence in moments.
Jim’s presence felt clear and firm. ‘Jim, someone hit me on the head and knocked me out. I’m not feeling too good now,’ Cassy explained quickly.
‘Let me see,’ Jim asked immediately, his concern evident. He approached the barriers to her mind and found open doors awaiting him. Pain, pressure, sickness and dizziness passed over him in pulsating waves. ‘Cassy this isn’t good. You’re badly injured.’ He looked out through her eyes at a cosy lounge. Lord Trent and a very attractive young woman were present.
‘That’s Ebony, Drako’s sister,’ Cassy told him, amusement colouring her tone for a moment.
‘I’m sure Max would be very keen to be introduced to her,’ Jim mentioned in a light aside. ‘Now get into bed and have Drako with you and any other animus you can trust,’ Jim ordered. ‘We may need their strength. I’ll get Amelie and we’ll call you in ten minutes time, ok? Conserve your strength.’
‘He sounded worried,’ Drako said to her, his own fears suddenly escalating.
‘Who sounded worried? What are you talking about?’ Trent asked.
‘Cassy has just contacted Jim for advice on treating her concussion. He’s ordered her straight to bed and I think intends to try and help ease the pressure building in her brain. She’s in a lot of pain and her symptoms are getting worse. I must get her upstairs,’ Drako added already rising with Cassy in his arms.
‘That does sound worrying,’ Trent affirmed, rather wide eyed at these wizards being able to talk mind to mind even from so far away. ‘Hurry my boy.’ Drako’s little woman had amazing abilities but she was white as a sheet and limp. He ground his teeth that yet again Darius was responsible for Drako’s ongoing heartache.
11. A Shocking Turn
Drako put her to bed quickly, called Freddie and they both sat on either side of her on her bed.
‘Drako get in with her, positioned sitting up behind her. We need you to be able to keep your hands steady on her head around the injury,’ Jim instructed without preamble. ‘Good, that extra contact will help ensure the link isn’t broken.’
Drako hastily did as he was told, rather shocked at Jim’s sudden arrival. He tenderly moved her so she could lean against his chest. The strength of Jim’s contact had markedly increased; Amelie was of course responsible for the extra power. She was the one assessing the injury now. Cassy lay quiet, still and passive, putting her trust in them completely. He listened to her thoughts; unhappily aware they spiralled and repeated, forgetting a train of thought part way through. Her pain was awful to experience and it tore at him that he was so helpless.
‘Cassy I’m here with you. I won’t let you go,’ he told her and felt her desperately searching mind turn and latch on to his with relief as though to an anchor.
‘Well done Drako. Obviously it’s your presence and reassurance she was seeking,’ Amelie told him. ‘Her skull has a small fracture. I’m going to try and relieve some of the pressure inside through it so don’t be alarmed if she starts bleeding. You are my eyes and hands though. She needs you to be strong and not flinch. Ready?’
‘No, I’m completely out of my league here, but she needs me. I’ll do whatever you need me to do,’ Drako said and felt Amelie’s approval and Jim’s too in the background. That bolstered his confidence enough that when he saw blood start to weep from her cut he didn’t have to look away. He felt torn into pieces as the two wizards walked through his mind alternately using his strength or giving him instructions. Cassy held on to him with desperate need. He felt her image of clutching a post in a raging torrent of water; there was only so long she could cling before her strength failed.
Suddenly her pain ceased. ‘What happened?’ Drako demanded, hoping they had mended her injury.
‘No such luck, but I have now worked out how to block her pain. Not easy using your magic Drako,’ Jim commented. ‘No sense her continuing to suffer. Now we can better concentrate on the problem,’ he added.
‘Her breathing’s just gone very shallow,’ Drako said nervously. ‘She seems further away.’
‘Damn. Call her to you,’ Amelie said quickly. ‘If she drifts off too far she could die. Call her Drako.’
‘Cassy, come back to me. Don’t leave me,’ h
e cried into the suddenly empty darkness where her spirit usually sparkled.
‘I’m not leaving you. I’m safe in your arms,’ Cassy’s voice was barely a thread of sound.
‘If you go any further away you’ll die. Open your eyes. Come back to me,’ he pleaded.
‘It’s so peaceful here; no pain, no disapproval, no fighting. If I die, your people would be relieved. Then you could find someone more worthy to be your wife.’
‘They don’t think you unworthy, but I don’t care about them. I want you. I need you Cassy. I love you and I could not replace you. You told Darius you were not a transferable toy; you were right. Why have you stopped fighting for us? Where’s my warrior?’ He dropped his head onto hers his throat closing in anguish. Trying to spark her anger didn’t seem to be working.
‘I’m no warrior; why do you keep calling me that?’ she asked peevishly.
‘Being a warrior isn’t necessarily someone who has gone to war. You have a warrior’s courage, strength of will and such a sense of compassion that it humbles everyone around you. Besides which, I seem to remember you knocking Jim on his butt,’ he added hoping something funny might reach her, but instead she focussed on the inadequacy she had felt fighting Jim; that her strength had not been enough to truly overcome him. She had failed him.
‘Drako you are so beautiful; I loved you from the first moment I saw you riding across the field. I’m tired of fighting the tide. I know I don’t deserve you,’ she added as a whisper of sound.
‘But you’ve already overcome the tide, as you put it. We do deserve each other. Please don’t leave me alone,’ he added desperately, feeling her slipping backwards again. He had thought he’d been making progress calling her back. He didn’t know what to do; he was so far out of his depth.
‘Cassy, Drako’s in pain. Can’t you feel it tearing at you?’ Amelie called and gladly felt Cassy’s tendril of thought seek Drako and the truth of that.
‘You can heal his battle scars,’ Cassy told her. ‘He has so many; he’s suffered so much in his life and some still pain him. Promise me you’ll heal him?’
‘No, he is yours. I will teach you how,’ Amelie said firmly. ‘Feel where he’s hurting.’
‘His chest, what’s wrong with his chest?’ Cassy asked in faint alarm feeling the tightness there, the irregular heartbeat.
‘It’s his heart, you’re tearing it out,’ Amelie told her bluntly, aware Cassy was still too far away, buried in the warm secure depths of her mind. ‘Can’t you feel him crying? He needs you. You asked him to anchor you. Don’t you remember? I can’t believe he’s managed to do it. He’s animus, none of this mental work comes easily to him but he’s determined to save you. The love you two share is real and very strong. Don’t throw it away. You know that together you can overcome anything and it sounds like you already have.’
‘Where’s he gone?’ Cassy abruptly asked, having reached for him and found his spirit gone. Drako was animus, he shouldn’t be able to leave his own body, but clearly he’d found a way. She retreated again and spotted him in her own mind far away. His spirit looked like his bear. The bear was calling and swinging his head, searching as he walked. She watched him, marvelling at his beauty and that he had managed to join her here in her safe place.
‘Cassy, it’s not safe for him to leave his body for long. He could become trapped and die,’ Amelie told her anxiously.
‘Amelie, is that you I hear?’ Drako called. ‘Where is she?’
‘I can’t see her. But you must come back,’ Amelie urged him. ‘You’re running a terrible risk being so deep in her mind. You could become trapped and die with her.’
‘I cannot live without her,’ Drako said hoarsely. ‘If she dies I’d rather die with her.’
‘But you wanted to live, marry and have a family of your own,’ Jim called to him in shock.
‘I wanted many things,’ Drako affirmed. ‘Without Cassy they are empty words,’ he said and looked around the dark warm cave-like space he was in. The struggles of the outside world didn’t matter here. He could feel the seductive draw of this place.
‘Cassy you must help him,’ Amelie called desperately, seeing Drako’s bear shrinking into a cub; his strength was waning and he was giving up. ‘Don’t be mean hiding from him and leaving him to die all alone,’ she added hearing the cub calling plaintively again. She met Jim’s eyes; tears coursed down his cheeks too.
The cub fell silent, stared and moved towards something emerging from the shadows. A white wolf walked to meet the bear cub. She licked his face and the cub began to grow but he didn’t reach adult size; his strength was almost gone.
‘Lead him home quickly Cassy. He doesn’t have much time,’ Amelie told her urgently.
Suddenly a new source of strength flowed into them.
‘Freddie? Keep touching him. He needs your strength,’ Cassy called into his mind.
‘I will,’ Freddie assured, although the weird sensation of simply touching Drako’s cold arm and suddenly feeling sapped of energy was disconcerting to say the least.
Drako’s bear reverted now to adult size, but he limped slowly and kept stopping to check the wolf was truly there by his side and not a figment of wishful thinking. A second animus presence besides Freddie touched Drako. Cassy took immediate advantage of the additional strength available and whisked Drako safely back into his own mind.
‘Drako?’ Cassy whispered opening her eyes to find Freddie and Ebony beside them. She sat up, only now physically aware she was cradled in his arms. ‘Thank you for lending your strength,’ she said to them both.
‘What happened to him?’ Ebony asked fearfully.
‘I nearly died,’ Cassy told them biting her lip. ‘He pulled me back at great cost and I had to rescue him.’ She stroked the tears from his face soberly. She could also feel how chilled his skin was. ‘He’s used too much of his strength,’ she said and again felt shame she hadn’t come immediately he’d called.
‘Drako, open your eyes,’ she asked gently. ‘I know you don’t want to but you must.’
‘Where’s my wolf gone?’ Drako murmured.
‘Open your eyes,’ Cassy urged.
‘What wolf does he mean?’ Freddie asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Cassy said, then met Drako’s eyes as they opened. ‘Hello,’ she said smiling at him. ‘Thank you,’ she added seriously.
Drako simply leaned down and kissed her. It wasn’t a brief kiss either. His emotions needed a physical outlet. He could tell Cassy’s painful symptoms were now gone and that the injury itself would heal quickly. The relief he felt was overwhelming.
‘Glad you’re both recovering,’ Jim commented, amusement but also relief in his tone.
Cassy and Drako parted quickly only just remembering that in addition to Freddie and Ebony as physical witnesses, Jim and Amelie would hear their thoughts and feelings too.
‘Amelie, how do I heal him?’ Cassy asked suddenly.
‘I’ve given you the knowledge,’ Amelie told her gently. ‘It’ll come to you when you need it. But right now you both need to eat and rest.’
‘Thank you both so much,’ Drako said quickly and felt warmth wash over him and a small boost of strength; then they were gone.
‘You were asking about a wolf?’ Freddie questioned now that Drako looked more himself.
‘Cassy’s spirit is a wolf, a white wolf,’ Drako told him smiling.
‘Now I know what it is I like about her,’ Freddie commented, being a wolf too.
‘I appeared to you as an animal?’ Cassy asked him in surprise and he nodded. ‘Why is a wolf good?’
‘Those I work with best and trust the most are wolves,’ Drako told her glancing at Freddie. ‘But a white wolf is not a common type of wolf. She would be the alpha female, the leader.’
‘Drako I’m not animus,’ Cassy frowned.
‘I know, but nevertheless you showed yourself to me as a wolf. Perhaps everyone’s spirit takes the form of an animal but only animus can act
on it?’ he shrugged. ‘Discovering your animal is good news. It tells us your character strengths and gives you a status among us. A wolf is ranked highly, being strong, loyal to their family and courageous. I probably could have guessed that’s what you’d be. I’m sorry love, we’re all animus. We think differently to plain humans and wizards too I suppose. To me this is great news. Our people will feel better knowing what you are. They will now know what traits they can expect from you and how to rank you,’ he added, glancing at his sister and Freddie who both nodded.
‘Just when I think I’m getting a handle on how you think you completely throw me again,’ Cassy grumbled. ‘Amelie suggested we should eat. I don’t think I had much at breakfast, but now I could eat a horse.’
Drako laughed happily and threw back the covers glad to be able to concentrate on something as mundane as eating. He staggered as he rose to his feet; his strength was nonexistent. ‘Eating’s a very good idea,’ he conceded and leaned on an obliging Freddie until his legs loosened up a little and he could walk unaided down the stairs. Ebony assisted Cassy.
Hearing Cassy had nearly died was shocking and sobering news. However, the knowledge that in saving her, Drako had discovered her animus creature was a real positive. Everyone knew Drako’s closest team were wolves. Wolves were natural team players and always considerate of their family. Having a wizard wife to one of their leaders was disconcerting, but knowing her to have the traits of the wolf balanced that. A wolf was highly unlikely to turn on those she considered her family. She would boldly fight to defend them and their territory. Being a wizard meant she had more resources to call on; she would be an important and strong defender.
After lunch, Drako left Cassy sleeping, locked the door behind him, and headed back down to the lounge. He settled into an armchair before the fire. His father was the only other person in the room but seemed asleep.
‘Is she sleeping now?’ Trent asked opening an eye.
‘Yes. It’s been an exhausting day,’ Drako admitted.
Clan Green Bear: Wizards of White Haven Page 15
