Kathy saw the gleam of large white fangs and suddenly felt better. Amelie might only be of similar age but she was strong and had courage.
‘What’s the problem?’ Amelie asked approaching Max’s owl. He was perched on a desk facing a sullen doe.
‘Janice is too scared to go,’ Max said tonelessly.
Amelie eyed the deer silently; she was a red deer, one of the bigger ones.
‘I’m no hunter. I can’t go looking for danger,’ Janice said quickly.
‘Do you think any of us wants to go out?’ Amelie asked. ‘But knowing there might be danger out there would you sleep tonight?’
‘I thought you were meant to be some hot shot warrior wizard,’ Janice said derisively. ‘This is for you to sort.’
Amelie’s eyes narrowed and she growled. ‘Maybe I should transform you into a more suitable creature. A shrew perhaps,’ Amelie threatened.
‘You couldn’t do that,’ Janice stammered. ‘It isn’t allowed.’
Amelie laughed mirthlessly. ‘No one here could stop me. Stop wasting all our time. Get down the lane to the gate and check that area.’
‘No way. I’m not going anywhere on my own.’
‘Well your only other option is to come with me up to the training ground,’ Amelie said calmly and glanced over at Kathy. Kathy and her boyfriend were standing together and eyeing Janice with considerable annoyance. ‘What’s your name?’ she asked the hound giving Janice a moment to decide.
‘Laurence,’ the big dog responded.
‘Laurence, you and Kathy come with me. We’ll go straight up to the training ground. Is there another hole in the wall up that end?’
‘Yes, a small one,’ Laurence responded and they moved forward purposely driving Janice before them. ‘Hurry up,’ Laurence snarled and nipped the deer sharply when she didn’t heed the warning. Janice lashed out with a sharp cloven hoof but Laurence managed to duck. He was snarling at the near miss and this time Kathy bit the deer. The pair drove her out of the door at a gallop.
Janice paused at the track looking right to the gate and left to the training ground, all of which were in darkness. The panther had followed the wolf and dog outside and now stood watching her with cold predatory eyes. The wolf and dog bared sharp white fangs at her again. She turned and galloped for the gate to get away from them. She knew Max had closed the gate and that Vako had just walked that way. Nothing could be lying in wait down there.
‘Nicely done,’ Amelie said and began trotting in the opposite direction.
‘Would you really have forced Janice to come with us?’ Kathy asked effortlessly loping alongside.
‘Yes. I’d probably have had to bite her too; she was getting very annoying,’ Amelie said.
Kathy laughed at the dry understatement. ‘So what’s the plan?’ she added soberly.
‘Max saw something moving in the trees over on that side. We need to check that area thoroughly, preferably without being seen. Whereabouts is the hole in the wall?’ She followed Laurence’s gesture and nodded, fixing the location in her mind. ‘Let’s keep in the cover of the trees. Fan out so you can just see each other but nothing can slip between you unnoticed. Use your noses,’ she added softly and they spread out moving silently through the dark trees. They were all predators and had excellent night vision and sensory awareness.
They crept along the inner edge of the wood; Kathy nearest the open land near the training ground, Laurence next and Amelie deepest into the trees. They got all the way to the end wall empty handed, turned and began a second sweep further into the trees and now close to the wall. Laurence suddenly stopped his head up and nose working. Kathy and Amelie came to his side to see what he’d found. He glanced at the panther, surprised that she had just pressed against his side. But a moment later she moved away and he thought no more of it. He certainly wasn’t aware she’d just skimmed his mind learning what he’d discovered.
Amelie gestured for them to stay still while she crept slowly and silently forward. On the other side of a dense bush was a small dark tent. There was no campfire, they would have smelt that clearly from a distance, but two men sat huddled under a single blanket.
‘Your turn to go look round,’ one man said to the other in hushed tones.
‘But Louis, there’s nothing to see,’ Vince complained. ‘You saw that owl sitting on the cart. What if it comes back?’
‘So what if it does?’ Louis muttered dismissively. ‘I’m more interested in what was in that cart. It’s a bit strange to be moving stuff at night.’
‘It’s not late,’ Vince contradicted. ‘They’ve not long finished dinner. Smelt tasty too,’ he added wistfully. ‘Come on, it’s quiet now. We should finish checking out that set of buildings over there.’
‘It’s obviously their training ground. What more did you want to see?’
‘There was that locked shed remember and we never got a look inside the big building before that man arrived.’
‘Ok, but let’s be quick. This place doesn’t feel right. It’s too quiet.’
‘Stop being such a baby. We’ve got to make a full report remember. I don’t want to have to tell Commander Drako half a story. He’d be annoyed, you know he would.’
Louis simply nodded and rose to his feet, throwing the blanket into the tent. They slowly felt their way in the thick darkness, trying not to trip too often over tree roots and branches they couldn’t see.
Amelie stepped back silently to where Laurence and Kathy stood nervously flank to flank. She crouched down and they followed suit silently, allowing the men to pass by without noticing them. Amelie rose and followed the men; the wolf and hound close behind her. At the break in the trees she stopped and they watched the men run across the field nervously, their eyes darting all around them.
‘What are we going to do?’ Laurence asked.
‘Lock them in one of the sheds and get the others,’ Amelie said. ‘Come on,’ she added, now that the men had vanished amongst the buildings. They bounded quickly across the open space. Amelie felt a presence and glanced round; Max was swooping towards them.
‘What’s going on?’ Max asked flying alongside the rapidly bounding feline.
‘We’re on the tail of two men. They saw you earlier and are watching out for you,’ she added.
‘What’s the plan?’ he asked.
‘Lock them in somewhere here so we can question them. Or would you prefer us to remain unseen and follow them back to their leaders?’
‘What do you recommend?’ Max asked quickly, not knowing what was best. He was no military strategist.
‘Capture. Go up onto that roof into the shadow. We need your eyes.’ She watched Max gracefully swoop up to the spot indicated and silently land, look about him and then focus on a particular spot. She marked the direction in which he was staring and was guided to her prey. ‘Is there another exit to the arena?’ she asked Laurence, noting the door the men were closest to.
‘Yes, there's one on the far side. It does have a lock, but I’m not sure that the main door does,’ Laurence whispered.
‘Don’t worry about that. Just go and lock that side door,’ Amelie said softly and he bounded quickly away, keeping another building between him and the men. She directed Kathy to move to the other side to block the route between the buildings. That area had less cover or shadow and Kathy the wolf was spotted as she came around the corner. The men froze, staring at the wolf watching them with unblinking yellow eyes. When Laurence reappeared Amelie moved out of the dark shadows directly into the moonlight and in sight of the men. The sight of a second but far more formidable predator silently stalking them panicked them into action. Seeking the safety of the building, the pair dashed inside, slamming the door behind them. Amelie bounded quickly to the door and placed a paw on it.
‘Door seal closed,’ Amelie whispered and felt it shimmer around the edges for a moment. She tugged on it; it was secure. She stepped away and glanced at Kathy, ‘I’ve locked this door,’ she said quietly
. ‘Can you both keep watch in case they try and force a way out somewhere else?’
‘They’re safely contained?’ Max asked fluttering to the roof above them.
‘They are for the moment. Go and find somewhere you can overhear them from, in case they let anything useful slip,’ Amelie said.
Max nodded and noticed she closed her eyes and the panther shimmered. A moment later he was eye to eye with a huge blue dragon. ‘Where are you going?’ he asked quickly, trying to calm his sudden terror. All he could see was jaws that could swallow him whole.
‘To get Jim,’ she said simply. She walked the few paces to get clear of the buildings and then sprang aloft. It was about half a mile back to the house from here and flying was the quickest way.
‘What the hell was that?’ One of the trapped men said loudly and nervously to the other.
‘Don’t know, but sounded like something with very big wings,’ the other replied just as nervously.
‘The wizards have found us?’
‘That’s a fairly safe assumption. That wolf and panther must have been sentries,’ he added.
‘Would they be animus?’
‘Must be. We are at a wizard school that does accept animus. Drako will definitely want to know they have some animus again. There weren’t many last time. I bet that owl was one too. So we’ve seen three possibilities. Interesting! Come on; let’s see if we can find a way out of here.’
‘What about the cat and the wolf out there?’
‘If we can catch them and take them back we’d get a good reward. Now hush, they might be able to hear us.’
Back at the house word had spread and many of the other students, including several of the wizard class Jim had melded with, spotted Jim sitting in the classroom closest to the front door. Discarded clothing all around him bore mute evidence that the animus class were out prowling the grounds. Bruno was also seated with him and they were speaking quietly. On a side table lay a big plate of sandwiches Jim had asked the kitchens to provide. He knew the class would be hungry on their return, despite just having had dinner.
‘What is it?’ Bruno asked, seeing Jim suddenly raise his head and go quickly to the door.
‘Amelie,’ Jim said over his shoulder and went to stand on the outer steps again. He was aware the others followed him outside, but his attention remained focussed on her rapidly approaching presence. He heard the familiar heavy beating of huge wings and looked above the road. Moonlight silvered the graceful and powerful dragon shape. He heard gasps behind him as the others caught their first sight of the dragon. But her eyes were fixed on him and him alone and his heart leapt.
‘I heard she could be a dragon, but the reality…’ Bruno said quietly, his words failing him as the blue dragon landed and walked towards them, seeming to become larger and more impressive with every step.
Jim went down the steps to meet her. ‘What did you find?’ he asked quickly.
‘We’ve captured two spies,’ she told him. ‘You scared them off when you went up to the training ground earlier,’ she added to Bruno. ‘They watched you and Max come back with the cart. We have them locked in the arena. Max, Kathy and Laurence are guarding them. Come, get on my back, we need to hurry,’ she added.
Jim turned to one of the students, ‘can you bring that tray of food out? Thanks,’ he added absently and picked up several sandwiches. ‘Open up Am,’ he ordered.
‘We haven’t time to mess about,’ she began but then saw what he had in his hands. She nuzzled his face gently then opened her mouth. Half a dozen little sandwiches were thrown in and she chewed gratefully. ‘No, leave the rest for the others,’ she said considerately and the tray was taken away. ‘Come along Bruno,’ she said.
‘You can’t carry me,’ he protested.
‘You look a heavy lump to be sure,’ she said eyeing him. ‘Get on.’
Bruno turned to the students once he was aboard. ‘One of you, go tell Vako what’s going on.’
Jim climbed on in front of Bruno and took a firm grip of the bony spines along her neck. ‘Hold on to me. This’ll be quite a lurch.’
Bruno put his arms around Jim tentatively and Jim hastily adjusted his grip. ‘Did I catch your ribs?’ Bruno asked suddenly remembering. ‘Sorry.’ He reached around him instead to grab a neck spine as Jim had. As soon as he’d got a good grip the dragon began moving. She walked well clear of the house and steps. Four powerful legs propelled her into the air and her wings started beating strongly, propelling them skyward with only an initial lurch.
Jim fed her his strength, helping her get clear of the ground, but once airborne she was able to glide, her wings only moving gently to keep them going. ‘Fast isn’t she?’ Jim said over his shoulder.
‘Very,’ Bruno managed. ‘She’s not trying hard either,’ he added, aware of the casualness of the huge wing strokes. But then she was heavily laden and the distance not far. The icy wind blasting across his face made his eyes water. He was extremely glad to see the buildings ahead and for the dragon to land safely, although once they were back on the ground he realised just how exciting the brief flight had been. The dragon came to a halt and he released Jim, threw his leg over and slid down the dragon’s smooth flank. He was aware Max was staring at him and couldn’t help a smug grin. A wolf and dog stood side by side guarding the door to the arena. He glanced back in time to see the dragon shimmering, shrinking in size, to become a large black panther. She beckoned and they all came to join her away from the buildings where they could talk freely without their prisoners being able to overhear them.
‘What has been discovered so far?’ Bruno asked briskly. He wasn’t surprised eyes turned Amelie’s way for her to answer.
‘The two men in there have been sent to spy on you by someone called Commander Drako. Do you recognise the name?’ Amelie asked.
‘I’ve heard of Lord Drako, Commander of the Green Bears clan. He has a fearsome reputation as a battle commander,’ Bruno said. ‘He is said to be animus.’
Amelie heard various sharp intakes of breath; clearly this was worrying news. ‘Who are the Green Bears?’
‘They are a warrior clan from the Northern forests. They were once a great people, but with high numbers of animus amongst them, the king’s family have waged a war of extermination on them for generations. Their lands of North Rosh were forfeited and their numbers have dwindled so much that I hear rumours they have had to resort to kidnapping people to swell their ranks.’
‘Are they the ones that attacked you in the summer?’ Amelie asked.
‘We never knew who it was. I thought it strange at the time that once our defences were down they didn’t just kill us all,’ Bruno said. ‘Maybe they’d also suffered losses and couldn’t afford to risk more deaths to finish us off.’
‘Or maybe it was personal and they left once they’d got the person they’d come for,’ Amelie suggested. Bruno considered that thought then shrugged. ‘I thought that at the time, but couldn’t imagine how a pair of teachers could have incited such retribution from anyone. They rarely went out to assist in any battles. It was something they avoided whenever possible. So, I assume you called me to do the questioning?’ he asked her.
‘Yes. You’re the logical person. Jim can read their minds if they prove difficult but they seemed quite fearful of Kathy and I,’ she added her fangs gleaming. ‘We can accompany you. But don’t mention any names or that I can be anything other than this panther,’ she added seriously, saw his nod and returned to the door. She placed a paw on the door and there were creaks and puffs of dust from the frame as the seals dissolved.
She threw the door open, instantly surrounding herself with a shield and walked inside. As she’d expected, aware the strangers were standing on either side of the door, they tried to attack as soon as she stepped inside. She watched both men bounce off her shield, their rebound unceremoniously dropping them on their backsides.
‘That wasn’t very friendly,’ she observed to them as they hastily scrambled to t
heir feet. ‘Don’t crowd us boys,’ she warned and moved further into the room so Bruno, Jim, Kathy, Laurence and Max could enter.
The men warily backed up eyeing these strangers. The predatory animus and powerfully built man with the stance of a fighter were understandable. But Louis was puzzled by the presence of a young blond man. His gentle appearance was at odds with the deference accorded him by his companions. This then must be a wizard. His blue eyes, half hidden by unruly blond hair were direct and missed nothing. Had that formidable shield been his? The panther snarled showing long white teeth and he realised he’d unintentionally moved towards the young man he was so curious about.
‘We’re fascinated to know why you’re trespassing on school grounds and spying through our windows,’ Amelie said.
‘You’re female,’ the man exclaimed only just realising.
‘All my life,’ Amelie couldn’t help saying a little sarcastically. ‘Why do you seem surprised?’
‘You were not here last time, were you?’ he abruptly asked exchanging a glance with Vince. The bold, vivid blue eyes narrowed so he turned his attention to the others. The owl they didn’t know about just yet. A big dog stood flank to flank with the wolf. He was obviously male and his attitude was protective. The wolf then must also be female. Interesting.
‘So you admit you are spies and were behind the attack in the summer?’ Bruno snapped aggressively.
‘We came for the traitor Tring. We sought no-one else.’
‘You killed Taffy too.’
‘He left us no choice,’ Louis shrugged.
‘So why are you here now?’ Bruno asked sharply.
‘To collect the debt.’
‘What debt?’ Bruno asked and glanced up at Max.
Max flew down to perch on the arena wall. ‘What are you talking about? We don’t know of any debt. Or who the hell you are,’ Max added.
‘I am Louis of the Green Bear clan,’ he said proudly.
‘You are?’
‘I’m Max, a teacher here.’
Amelie: Wizards of White Haven Page 26
