Other Worlds: Vesta Mansion Trilogy - Book Two - Fantasy

by P. A. Priddey

  ‘And how did you work out who the best shots are?’

  Joseph gave a wry smile. ‘I took their names off the shooting game down there . . . it has a list of the high scores.’

  ‘Why that is sneaky,’ said George.

  ‘Yes I know, but this is war, old friend.’

  The children would have gone to watch, but Adhara told them that the deer needed their help. The six of them, followed by the seven wolf cubs, made their way to the herd.

  The paintball teams moved into the opposite sides of the woods on the left of the land. They waited for House to tell them to start as he acted as referee. It took a few minutes before the first encounter.

  Alex walked through the centre and the rest of his team spread out in a line. He heard a noise and dived for cover, managing to dodge the paint ball.

  That was close, said House.

  ‘Too close, how is it that I could hear it coming?’

  You do have certain powers.

  Alex dragged himself back out of the undergrowth. ‘It feels like cheating.’

  They have powers, too.

  Alex saw Sally, and couldn’t shoot her, which made him hesitate. It made him the first casualty of the game as he heard the noise again. His reflexes were fast and he dodged the paint ball from Asima, but Jodie had guessed which way he was going and aimed for that spot. He stood and Claire shot him, too.

  ‘I was already hit,’ said Alex, somewhat sourly.

  ‘I know,’ said Claire smiling, and she got shot.

  James was hiding behind a tree, Claire hadn’t seen him but Asima did. ‘Well this is embarrassing,’ he said.

  Alex looked down at the paint on his jacket. ‘It’s OK for you, I was first.’

  The game didn’t last long, it was all about accuracy and Joseph’s team had it in abundance. Jodie, Asima and Skye won the game for their side.

  ~~~~

  The herd of deer opened up as the children approached where a doe stood in distress.

  ‘What’s wrong with her?’ said Thomas.

  ‘She’s having a baby and it won’t come out,’ said Adhara.

  Sarin nodded. ‘Just like the wolves.’

  ‘What can we do?’ said Alhena.

  Adhara approached the doe. ‘We just stoke her belly until the baby comes out.’

  They did for twenty minutes before the deer gave birth and just like any children they had to run to the baby.

  Six of them emerged from the woods leaving the others to carry on playing war games. The children ran over to them, and Alex picked up Shaula.

  She wrinkled her nose. ‘I’m gonna be covered in yellow paint now.’

  Alex ruffled her hair. ‘You appear to be covered in something already.’

  ‘It’s off the baby deer.’

  ‘What baby deer?’

  ‘The new one, Adhara told us his mommy needed our help.’

  Alex glanced at Adhara riding on the back of a wolf cub. ‘The same thing you did before?’

  ‘Yes, we had to help,’ she said.

  ‘Of course you did.’

  ‘Did you win your game, Papa?’ said Alhena.

  Alex shook his head. ‘No, we got trounced.’

  ‘Joseph cheated,’ George grunted.

  ‘I did not,’ said Joseph.

  ‘I’m just teasing,’ said George. ‘It was a well-deserved victory.’

  Joseph nodded. ‘You did make one big mistake.’

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘You picked Alex.’

  ‘Yes, you do have a point there.’

  Alex frowned. ‘I’m right here you know.’

  ‘Are you being horrible to Papa?’ said Adhara.

  George shook his head. ‘No, of course not, but Joseph knew your papa would not shoot his friends.’

  ‘There are a few I wanted to shoot,’ said Alex, ‘but for some reason Sally appeared in front of me.’

  Joseph grinned. ‘Ah yes, and did you notice how quickly she disappeared?’

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘You set me up?’

  ‘Yes, I wasn’t sure how good a shot you were, but I know of your other talents and decided you should go first.’

  ‘I think you should’ve come with us when we fought the demons.’

  ‘I’m a bit too old for that, and strategy wasn’t your strong point when it came to them.’

  ‘I can’t argue with that.’

  ~~~~

  The nights patrol to the next forest was uneventful, and there were a few additions to the group. Alex understood why George felt uneasy about Anna and Leanne floating in the gym as they did it through the forest. Most of the trees were budding with new life, but as Alex walked along with Kristina, branches moved out the way for them.

  ‘That’s clever, how are you doing it?’

  ‘It’s like a force field that I can send out in front of me,’ said Kristina. ‘It’s nice to try it out somewhere else.’

  ‘When did you find out you could do it?’

  ‘Not long after we killed the warlock for the first time. I kept knocking things over, and I wasn’t even near them.’

  ‘You appear to have it under control now.’

  ‘It took me a while to work out what it was, but yeah I have it under control.’

  ‘You never thought of asking me or Joseph?’

  ‘No, you might’ve thought of me as weird.’

  James shook his head. ‘You pointed your hand at the warlock and killed him, and you thought that was normal.’

  ‘Yeah, because we all did it, but when I saw others doing strange things I felt OK with it. Millie can do a shield, too, and that made me feel a lot better.’

  ‘But you still never came to me,’ said Alex.

  ‘Neither did the others,’ said Kristina. ‘To be honest we didn’t know if you could help.’

  Alex smiled. ‘You’re probably right, I would’ve offered encouragement but not what to do.’

  I can help,’ said House. I do have some experience in that area.

  ‘Yes, that would be great thank you,’ said Kristina.

  ‘Perfect choice,’ said Alex. ‘We can do other things, but it’s always good to get help.’

  ‘Like what?’ said Kristina.

  ‘Like this,’ said Alex. He touched James on the shoulder, and he started floating above their heads.

  ‘If I go any higher than this our friendship is over,’ said James, clearly alarmed by it.

  ‘I wouldn’t do that to you, but you must be enjoying it.’

  ‘The sensation of floating or whatever it’s called is quite nice, but a warning would be nicer.’

  ‘It looks fun, but I’ll give it a miss,’ said Claire, and suddenly found herself floating alongside James.

  ‘It’s no problem,’ said Alex.

  ‘I’m quite sure I said I will give it a miss,’ Claire snapped, ‘and there’s a tree ahead of me.’

  ‘Then go around it.’

  ‘How am I supposed to do that?’

  ‘Just think of where you want to go,’ said Alex, and Clare disappeared around the tree.

  ‘You can do that with me, too?’ said Kristina.

  ‘They’re doing it, not me. I only encouraged them to do so. I believe we can all float, Anna and Leanne fly like I do.’

  ‘I just nearly flew into a cabin,’ said James, as he floated back to them. He was only six foot off the ground and was clearly enjoying it now.

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘What’s that doing here?’

  ‘There are a few of them, said James, now with his hands behind his head. ‘I think they’re holiday homes.’

  ‘We best keep our distance from them.’

  ‘Strange place to go on holiday,’ said Kristina.

  ‘Don’t say that to Daralis, she lived in one for a long time.’

  ‘That’s true, and the others with her would holiday in one.’

  ‘Maybe I should see if I can book them one for when they come here.’

  The search throug
h the forest passed quietly without seeing anyone, as it did for the next couple of nights in the other forests they visited.

  The fifth night out House sensed something. We are not alone, he told them.

  ‘Do you know what it is?’ said Alex.

  No, it is not anything I have sensed before, there are others but they are human.

  ‘OK everyone, I want you to stay close,’ Alex cautioned, mainly to those who had not been out fighting with them.

  The group edged forward through the forest where ten minutes later they came across a huge creature eating some forest animal.

  ‘What the hell’s that?’ said Claire.

  Alex stood staring at it, as the ends of his spear shot out. ‘A demon by the looks of it.’

  The demon was different to what they had faced before. It must have been at least twenty-feet tall, with four arms. It wore thick leather armour and a metal helmet. When the demon saw them it grabbed a shield and two swords bigger than men. The attack pack stood protecting the others, as armed soldiers appeared in black uniforms and infrared glasses. They circled the creature and fired at it, but to no avail. The bullets did not penetrate its unusually strong, thick leather armour. The soldiers looked in trouble as its swords swung down at them, when an invisible force blocked the blades, and the soldiers backed away to safety.

  ‘Get away from it,’ Alex shouted, as he ran forward.

  It took the demon’s attention away from the soldiers to Alex. It aimed its swords down, but Alex dodged them easily as he jumped over the creature and the spear part of his weapon penetrated its shoulder. The creature shouted something in a language he couldn’t understand.

  ‘I don’t think that was a compliment,’ said James, as they circled the demon.

  ‘I think you’re right,’ said Alex.

  ‘No, my lord,’ One of the soldiers said. ‘It says your puny weapon will not hurt me.’

  ‘It’s not a demon is it,’ said Alex, as he dodged the swords again.

  ‘No, my lord, it’s a troll,’ the soldier shouted.

  Jodie shot her bolts into its neck which slowed it, but only enough for it to turn and face her. The wolves jumped in before it could do anything, they did no harm but took its attention away. Paige, Claire and Carrie did the same; it was a delaying tactic before Rockman appeared. A soldier emerged with a rocket launcher and Alex jumped in front of him.

  ‘Stand down soldier,’ he said.

  ‘But, my lord, there are two of them.’

  ‘No, one is our friend,’ said Alex, as Rockman crashed into the troll.

  House hit the Troll over and over, but it still got up. The fight felt like it was never ending.

  Alex watched the fight. ‘Have you seen anything like this before?’

  The soldier took off his balaclava and glasses. ‘No, my lord, apart from books and they only had two arms,’ said Major Henrik.

  ‘We’re not getting anywhere with this fight, the troll is very durable.’

  ‘Maybe our weapons will do the trick.’

  Alex continued to watch Rockman pound his fists into the troll. ‘I would prefer it if you did not blow up one of the few forests we have.’

  ‘It killed two people before it left our land.’

  I can do this all night but I do not think I will kill this thing, said House, and backed away.

  The troll lifted his one remaining sword and Jodie noticed an unprotected part of skin under the lower arm and fired her crossbow. The troll stepped back in pain and dropped its sword, which gave the others a chance. They darted in, stabbing at it before jumping out the way of its other arms.

  ‘ENOUGH!’ Alex shouted, whatever the creature was, and whatever it had done this felt like torture. He glowed slightly and threw his spear with great power. The troll never stood a chance as it went right through its chest, and it collapsed.

  ‘I thought we were going to have to hack it to death,’ said Carrie.

  ‘Well done, my lord, and to you all,’ said Henrik. ‘That was some display.’

  ‘Thank you, Major, and would it really hurt you to call me Alex.’

  ‘I can do that, if you call me Henrik.

  Alex smiled. ‘It’s a deal.’

  ‘We want to thank you for saving our lives,’ a young female soldier said. ‘We thought the troll had us until you stopped it with your force field.’

  Alex shook his head. ‘That wasn’t me, it was Kristina and Millie’

  ‘Then thank you, my ladies,’ said the soldier.

  Kristina smiled. ‘You’re welcome.’

  ‘We’re only too happy to help,’ Millie added.

  ‘Tell me, Henrik, how is it that you’re here?’ said Alex.

  ‘A few days ago we heard news of horses going missing. We investigated and found a man’s torn clothes and huge footprints. We tracked the prints, as it made its way south through Norway. We thought it came to a dead end but it jumped into the sea.’

  ‘Are you telling me it swam here, wearing all that armour and carrying those weapons?’

  ‘Yes, I believe it was making its way here all along.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  ‘The direction it took and the two cows it ate before it left.’

  Alex arched both eyebrows. ‘I thought that would’ve made it harder to swim.’

  ‘It may well be for us, but it probably needed the extra energy. We followed the troll across the sea until it arrived at your shores.’

  ‘Wouldn’t it have been easier for it to have come to shore further north.’

  Henrik nodded. ‘Yes, I would’ve thought so, but I think it got its bearing wrong, and it had to swim around a few ships without being seen.’

  Paige sheathed her sword. ‘How did you get here from the coast?’

  ‘We had a security team waiting for us, only half the soldiers are from the castle the others are from here.’

  James poked the dead troll with a stick. ‘It’s still soft.’

  Alex scratched his head. ‘What were you expecting the thing to do?’

  James poked it once more. ‘I thought they turned to stone.’

  ‘I think that only happens in daylight,’ said Carrie.

  Alex looked at them and shook his head in disbelief. ‘We best get rid of it.’

  ‘Leave that to us,’ said Henrik. ‘We will burn it or dump it in the sea.’

  ‘Are you not going to cut it up and see what’s inside?’ said James.

  ‘No, I’m a soldier and have no interest in what it’s made of, and I wouldn’t like the Order to be involved in that sort of thing.’

  ‘I quite agree,’ said Alex. ‘Is your boat big enough to carry the troll?’

  ‘It’s a bit bigger than a boat, and yes there will be room.’

  ‘I’ll use the vase and help you transport it there.’

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Strange Rain

  The following few nights passed quietly. The training intensified as the fight against the troll had made some of them feel they needed to improve. House moved objects around to see how fast he could do it. They trained in the gym during the day and in the forest they visited at night.

  ‘You’re worrying too much,’ Alex told them as he pushed a low hanging branch out the way. ‘It was the armour.’

  ‘Many of us struggled against just one,’ said Carrie.

  ‘It may have been just one, but it was rather big.’

  I had little effect against it, said House.

  Alex smiled as he leant up a tree. ‘You softened it up pretty well, but you just need bigger rocks.’

  That is true, said House. Thank you, Alex, I will not need to train anymore.

  ‘That’s cheating,’ said James disgustedly.

  I believe you are right, said House.

  The training ended when it rained, only light at first but soon turned in to a downpour so they returned to the mansion. The following morning the rain continued to fall.

  Carrie sat down next to Alex. ‘
Do you think this will stop before tonight?’

  Alex pressed a button on the remote to turn on the television. ‘I don’t think so, it’s getting worse.’

  They had to wait ten minutes while watching a story about a tsunami in Asia before their own weather came on. Rain had been forecast but not as heavy as they were experiencing, with flood warnings in place for the next few days.

  Carrie sighed. ‘I don’t think it will be much fun going out tonight.’

  ‘No, we’ll give it a miss, as I have other worries at the moment.’

  James turned away from the television. ‘What worries?’

  ‘The animals are defenceless against this. Blaze, could you check on the others to see if the rain is as bad where they are?’ Alex stood before strolling through the party room and opened one of the rear doors.

  The deer had come closer to the mansion trying to find shelter.

  ‘That’s not a good sign,’ said James.

  ‘No,’ said Alex, ‘they’re expecting it to get worse, are Lucy and Amy down the stables?’

  Claire poked her head around the door, trying not to get wet. ‘Yeah, I think Anna is with them, too.’

  ‘I’ll go and get them,’ said James, ‘not that I can see two-feet in front of my face.

  ‘No,’ said Alex, ‘there’s no point walking down there in this. I’ll use the vase, but I don’t think it will be good for the horses to come back that way.’

  ‘Won’t they be better off in the stables?’

  Alex shook his head. ‘They’re at the bottom of the hill next to the river.’

  ‘Is it gonna be that bad?’ said Claire.

  ‘This isn’t normal, and will get a lot worse. House can you shelter us from the rain?’

  Yes, I could cover all our land, but that would cause problems for neighbouring fields.

  ‘I don’t want all the land covered, just a temporary one down to the stables and one outside here for the animals.’

  That will be no problem.

  Alex appeared outside the stables where the yard had already started to flood. He opened the door and entered. ‘We have to go now,’ he told them.

  ‘We can’t leave, the horses need us,’ said Lucy, as she stroked one of the more nervous ones neck.