The High Council

by Victor Kloss

  Surprisingly, it was Josh who replied. “Yeah, all the ones on the far side were more Mediterranean, weren’t they?” the taller boy asked. “All those fruits we picked, those were the sort of thing you’d find in Greece, maybe? Now it’s more like we’re at home in England.”

  Ben paused and considered their surroundings. What the others had said was true. The trees here were taller, heavier, and darker than they had been on the far side, clumped together more closely and with a thicker canopy that blocked out all but stray patches of sunlight. The ground was littered with pine needles, and the air smelled like Christmas.

  “Okay, that is weird,” he agreed. Then he shrugged. “But it’s the Unseen Kingdoms, I guess. It doesn’t have to make sense, at least not to us.”

  Charlie frowned at that. “Aren’t you even the least bit curious how such a small island can have two completely different environments?” he asked.

  “Not really,” Ben admitted. “Look, you can study up on it when all this is over and we’re back at the Institute, okay? Right now I just want to find Suktar and be done with all this.”

  A loud, low squeal cut off any other answers. All four of them jumped, and started peering about, trying to figure out where that noise had come from.

  “What was that?” Josh whispered.

  “At a guess?” Charlie replied. “It sounded a lot like a pig.”

  “A pig?” Ben put that together with what they’d just been discussing, and felt his knees go weak. “Oh, hell. Climb a tree! Hurry!” He turned to the nearest tree, a sturdy oak, but its lowest branches were much too high for him to reach. The next tree over was a birch, however, and its trunk split perhaps six feet up. Ben grabbed hold of the tree’s smooth, silvery bark and quickly started hauling himself up.

  “What’s the problem?” Natalie asked. She had already scaled a nearby elm, and was perched comfortably on a broad branch some eight feet off the ground. “Why are we running from a pig?”

  “Because it isn’t a pig,” Ben replied between gasps.

  He’d reached the split and set his feet there so he could push off and climb still higher. He stopped only a few feet later, though, when the branch began to bend under his weight. This would have to be high enough. Now that he was situated, he checked on Josh and Charlie. Both of them had also climbed up at once and were also now tree-borne, the four of them arrayed in a rough semicircle some ten feet wide. He turned to finish answering Natalie.

  “It’s a — “

  Another squeal interrupted him, and then its source burst from the undergrowth and charged straight for them. It was indeed a pig — if pigs were five to six feet at the shoulder — covered in thick brown bristles, and sporting a pair of long, viciously sharp tusks. The creature wasted no time ramming these into the base of Ben’s birch tree, which shook from the impact.

  “Boar!” Charlie gasped. “Man, that is one big boar!” He shot Ben a surprised look. “How’d you know?” The tone was almost accusing, as if Charlie couldn’t contemplate his best friend figuring something out before him.

  Ben would have laughed if he weren’t clinging on for dear life. “You know how many times I’ve read things like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where they go boar-hunting?” he reminded Charlie. “English forest and loud pig noises equal boar.” His tree shook under another onslaught. “Now we just need to figure out how to deal with it.”

  “We’re the Guardians of Elizabeth’s Legacy,” Josh stated, sarcasm dripping from his words. “Surely we are capable of dealing with a giant pig.” Though Ben noticed that the older boy wasn’t jumping down to face the beast, either.

  “We should be,” Natalie commented. She’d been more surprised than the rest, which made sense now that Ben thought about it. She’d grown up in Osium, near Italy, after all. English forests were still new to her, as were their wildlife. But she loved animals and was a quick study.

  “Boars are extremely dangerous, and this one looks unusually large,” she said. “Those tusks can tear through armour, and their own hide is almost impossible to pierce.”

  “How do we kill it, then?” Josh asked.

  Ben thought he knew the answer to that one. “In most boar hunts, they carry long spears with heavy crossguards,” he answered. “You set the spear when the boar charges, and catch him through the belly. The crossguard keeps him from running himself all the way through to get at you.” He shuddered. “It’s pretty grisly, really. And we don’t exactly have a spear handy.”

  Charlie was shaking his head. “Can’t we be a little less violent? It’s just a boar. Natalie, correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you becoming quite proficient at the Illusion Spell collection?”

  Natalie glanced up, a curious look in her eye. “You know how much time I spent on it; it’s a vital tool in the Trade Department to be able to show different locations. Why?”

  Ben watched his friend, who had that look he got when he was solving some puzzle or other. Charlie went on. “Do you remember that class we took on various wildlife? We had to start with basic creatures: deer, horse, cow, pig. Do you think you could do an illusion of a pig?” Charlie had a twinkle in his eye. “And its mating cry?”

  Ben let out a laugh, and Natalie gave a cheeky grin. “Why, Charlie, I do believe that is something I could pull off!”

  Joshua was smiling now as well. “I’d like to see this.”

  Natalie’s smile faded as she pulled her spellshooter out and concentrated. They fell silent to allow her the best chance of success. Although it might look simple, an illusion spell was one of the hardest to carry out. The spell she selected moved slowly, but Natalie didn’t seem to notice. She was staring at a point further away and, as the boar slammed into Ben’s tree again, the spell finally launched.

  Ben clung to the branch and squinted, trying to make out anything. For a second he thought it hadn’t worked, but then coming out of the shade was a huge pig. She moved closer, snorted a few times and then squealed. The boar stopped attacking the tree and turned around. Snorting loudly, it trotted over, only to watch the pig run away. It snorted and squealed itself, and ran after.

  Ben finally let out a huge breath, followed by Joshua bursting out laughing. “Now that was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a while!”

  Charlie looked suitably impressed. “That was amazing, Natalie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an illusion that real.”

  Natalie smiled. “Actually, that was a level-four illusion spell. I’ll tell you more about it later, but for now I don’t want to be here when that thing comes back!”

  The others agreed, and quickly they continued on their way, though not without a few quick glances back to make sure the boar had not returned.

  Ben was starting to wish this forest had stayed more like its counterpart. There, the worst they’d had to worry about was eating too much fruit!

  *

  Over the course of the next day, they encountered several more animals, both natural and magical. Some they spotted early enough to simply avoid; others they had to hide from. A few they were forced to outwit. When there was no other way out, they resorted to force, though that was the quartet’s last choice. Ben hadn’t realised how much they had come to rely upon Krobeg for his strength, but without the dwarf here, and with limited spells left in their spellshooters, he and the others agreed they should fight, and use magic in general, as little as possible.

  Natalie proved to be their saving grace in all of this. Charlie might have known more about most scholarly subjects, but when it came to the animal kingdom Natalie had him beat. She was able to tell them about each animal they encountered, including what it ate, whether it was dangerous, if it had any weaknesses, and how to avoid upsetting it. Without her, Ben, Charlie and Josh would have been goners.

  Even so, Ben found himself saying, “Are you nuts?” when they heard whimpering and she said she wanted to investigate it. “Whatever that is, it sounds like it’s hurting, which means it could lash out at you, too. Why go near it if
we don’t have to?”

  “Then you three stay here,” Natalie replied. Her tone was firm, unyielding. “But whatever that is, yes, it sounds hurt. And I can’t leave it that way if I can help it.” Then, without waiting for a reply, she ducked under his arm, stepped around a neighbouring tree, and disappeared from view.

  Ben sighed. “Great.” He glanced at the other two boys, who both shrugged. “Alright, fine,” he grumbled, and set off after her, Josh and Charlie at his heels. Whatever Natalie wound up facing, she wouldn’t be alone.

  Ben wasn’t sure that had been a wise decision, though, when he emerged a few minutes later in a small clearing. Natalie was a few paces ahead of him, and perhaps ten feet from her, on the clearing’s far side, was a wolf.

  But this wolf was the size of a horse.

  It was also pinned by part of a tree trunk, Ben realised. A large oak had split and half had fallen on the massive creature, trapping it.

  “We need to free it,” Natalie whispered over her shoulder, edging out into the clearing. The wolf heard her and glanced up, its whimpers replaced by a low growl as its eyes narrowed. It bared its teeth.

  “Shhh, I’m not here to hurt you, girl,” Natalie promised, her voice low and soothing. “I want to help. Okay? Will you let me help you?”

  The wolf continued to growl, but its ears were swivelling about now, listening to her talk.

  “That’s it,” Natalie crooned. “I’m going to move that mean old tree, okay?” The wolf closed its mouth and licked its lips, then let out a small yip.

  Natalie smiled. “That’s right,” she said gently. “I’m a friend, girl. I’ll get you free.”

  Ben stayed where he was at the edge of the clearing with the others. The wolf had looked their way once or twice but then returned its attention to Natalie, which was fine with him. The last thing he wanted to do was spook the enormous animal.

  As he watched, Natalie finished crossing the distance. She held out her hand to the wolf, and it sniffed her palm and then licked it. That made her laugh until it started whining again in obvious pain. Natalie frowned and turned back to the boys.

  “Well, don’t just stand there; she’s hurting!” She stepped back around to study the situation. “I won’t be able to lift it,” she said, loudly enough for the boys to hear. “But I think if I can cut the trunk, she’ll be able to break free.”

  “I can show you where,” Charlie declared, breaking from cover to join her. Instantly the wolf laid its ears back and started growling again. “Hey, it’s okay, I’m with her!” Charlie insisted, holding up his hands.

  “Shhh, it’s okay, girl, he’s a friend,” Natalie confirmed, stroking the wolf’s side. She relaxed, though her ears flicked about to follow Charlie’s progress as he approached.

  “Okay, we can cut it right here,” he said after a moment, tapping a spot on the shattered trunk. “I think that’ll work.”

  Natalie nodded. “You cut,” she said. “I’ll keep her calm.” She knelt down at the wolf’s side and resumed stroking the beast’s flank.

  “Right.” Ben saw his best friend take a deep breath and raise his spellshooter. “Here goes.” He fired, and a thin white beam emerged from the weapon’s barrel. It stayed there as Charlie lowered the weapon, wielding it like a saw handle with the beam as its blade. Smart, Ben thought as he watched. Charlie was using an air spell instead of a fire spell. The whole trunk could have caught on fire with a flame. Air was safer, cleaner, and it looked like it was working! The magical saw blade disappeared into the wood, cutting deeper and deeper.

  Charlie stopped and wiped his brow, then turned to Ben. “You really going to leave it all to me? This is brutal!”

  Ben rushed over, keeping an eye on the huge she-wolf that suddenly turned toward him. “Okay, okay — hand it over.” He accepted his friend’s spellshooter and got to work, putting his back into it and sawing through the rest of the huge tree. Just before it pierced the bottom he stopped to prevent any chance of cutting the wolf, too.

  “Okay,” he said, stepping back and giving the spellshooter back to Charlie. “She should be able to get out now.”

  “Great!” Natalie rose to her feet and tapped the giant wolf gently on the nose. “Come on, girl,” she urged. “One little push and you’re free. Up you go!”

  The wolf yipped as if it understood. Then Ben saw its mighty shoulders shift, and with a powerful heave it sprang to its feet. The mostly severed trunk shattered, shards flying every which way as the wolf stood upright and shook itself vigorously.

  Then it padded slowly over to Natalie.

  “Uh-oh.”

  The giant wolf peered down at Natalie, who stood still and faced it full on. It lowered its great head, its yellow eyes studying her intently.

  Then its tongue lashed out and scraped across her entire face, bathing her in saliva as the wolf yipped, wagging its tail.

  “Gee, thanks!” Natalie was laughing as she wiped her face clear. “And you’re welcome.” She put her hand on the wolf’s snout and smiled up at it before turning away to face the others. “Okay, ready when you are,” she declared, beaming.

  “Yeah, yeah,” Ben said, stepping slowly out into the open, grinning. “Just ’cause you were right doesn’t mean you have to be so smug about it.” It was times like these he was reminded there were still plenty of amazing things in the Unseen Kingdoms. Even here in Erellia.

  — Chapter Twenty-Two —

  The Pack

  “Does it have to do that?” Charlie complained yet again as they walked through the woods. He was forced to duck yet again from a branch-sized appendage that nearly took his head off as it swept vigorously back and forth.

  “She can’t help it; she’s in a good mood,” Natalie replied, laughing as she patted the enormous wolf loping beside her. It was true, judging by the giant beast’s wagging tail and wide grin, she was indeed a happy creature. Unfortunately, that made her a bit of a menace for the rest of them.

  “Maybe she could be a little less demonstrative about it,” Charlie suggested, pushing the tail out of his face yet again. Walking beside him, Ben carefully refrained from mentioning that Charlie had definitely not been complaining when it had been Natalie demonstrating affection. She had hugged him enthusiastically after he helped free the beast, and judging from his bright red cheeks and silly grin, Ben was almost certain his best friend had enjoyed the experience.

  “If she wants to stay with us, that’s fine by me,” Josh commented from Ben’s other side. All three boys had decided it was better to let Natalie and her new friend take the lead for now. “Things have been a lot quieter since she showed up.”

  That was also true; it felt like they had been battling creatures almost every step of the way through this forest. Right up until they ran across the giant wolf, that is, and ever since, there hadn’t been another creature in sight. Evidently having a horse-sized carnivore at your side made other predators reconsider if you were really worth the risk.

  Natalie had led each of the boys over to her in turn and presented them to the wolf as a friend. They endured being sniffed and nudged, and then eventually licked. She no longer posed a threat to them, her tail aside.

  She was far more affectionate towards Natalie, of course. With her, the giant wolf behaved much like a small puppy, wriggling with delight and constantly turning to stare at, nudge or lick her. Natalie endured it with good grace, laughing and petting, and talking with the beast as if it really were just a tiny house pet.

  When they had finally called it a night and found a place to camp, the wolf had curled up protectively around all four of them. It had been like sleeping in a giant mound of blankets and pillows, and Ben had slept soundly, secure in the knowledge that nothing could possibly get to them.

  He could already picture the arguments they were going to have when it was finally time to go, about whether Natalie could bring the wolf back to the Institute with them.

  “Hey, what’s that up ahead?” Charlie asked, snapping Ben out
of his thoughts. He lifted his head up, trying to peer past the wolf to see what was wrong. But he couldn’t see anything except the trees all around, and the sun shining down from the cloudless blue sky.

  Wait, sky?

  Sure enough, the trees were beginning to thin in front of them, allowing wide expanses of clear blue to become visible above. Off in the distance, Ben saw something else now, too: rooftops.

  That had to be what Charlie had noticed. It was an entire cluster of buildings, still some way off but close enough for Ben to be sure that he was looking at a large town or possibly even a small city.

  It seemed likely this was where Dagmar had directed them to. There was a chance she meant somewhere further on, but they couldn’t risk missing the others. They’d have to enter the city.

  Thankfully that also meant proper food, fresh supplies and information.

  Either way they’d have to resupply; if Dagmar and the others didn’t turn up they would keep moving on their own. He realised this also meant they would probably need to part ways with Natalie’s wolf before anyone in the city saw them.

  Ben was just trying to think of how to bring that up when he heard a strange whistling sound from up in the boughs of a large, sturdy tree up ahead. Glancing up, he thought he caught a flash of red and, just above that, a sparkle of blue almost like eyes? Then there was an odd, fluted roar, and the top of the tree unfurled and leaped down to block their path.

  “What the…?” Ben started, drawing his spellshooter and the sword as he stumbled back a step or two, staring at the creature before them. Before he could finish the question, Charlie had responded.

  “A manticore!” His voice rose at the end to a near yelp. “It’s a bloody manticore! Run!” And, without drawing his own weapon, Charlie turned to flee.

  “Run? We’ve faced bigger threats than this!” Ben retorted — which was true. Though, admittedly, not by much. If Natalie’s wolf was the size of a horse, the manticore was more like a buffalo or even a small elephant, massive as well as tall. It looked like a crimson-hued lion, except for the enormous bat wings sprouting from its back, and the armoured scorpion tail rising from its rear — and the blue-eyed human face staring down at them. The image of a clean, normal-looking man made the beast that much more terrifying, especially when it opened its mouth, revealing row after row of razor-sharp teeth.