Jeff Madison and the Shimmers of Drakmere (Book 1)

by Bernice Fischer

  “No.” Thirza started to heave, trying to breathe against the dryness and the dull ache in his heart. “That evil witch made him drink a potion that has put him into an irreversible sleep. Holka said she was not leaving him here, sleeping or not.”

  “An irreversible sleep? Oh!” exclaimed Rig.

  Madgwick rubbed his head. “Well, we are not leaving him either. Maybe the elders or Angie could do something to help him.”

  “That’s what Holka said,” Thirza muttered but Rig and Madgwick were not paying attention. The last of the crowd passed them.

  Thirza turned to go back down the tunnel with Madgwick, but Madgwick put his hand on his arm and spoke. “You need to get these people out. You are their only hope of getting out and past the guards – we will go for Matt.”

  Thirza slumped and nodded reluctantly. Thirza followed the people down the corridor while Madgwick and Rig wasted no more time. They swooped up the tunnel leading to the dungeon.

  37

  Jeff and Rhed climbed the biggest tree the minute Rig and Madgwick were out of sight. They were not taking any chances with shimmers. Rhed kept poking the tree to see if it was awake and that the pongsap root was securely in his pocket within easy reach.

  They were sitting on a large branch facing the entrance of the tunnel when suddenly Rhed sat up straight. Someone came out of the tunnel entrance into which Madgwick and Rig had disappeared, not just one, two or three, but a whole lot of people. There were old men and women, children, people of all ages. They were blinded by the bright sunshine and were clearly in a panic, not knowing which way to go.

  “Look, Jeff,” Rhed said.

  Jeff sat up straighter. “They don’t know where to go. They will raise the alarm. Let’s go, let’s go!”

  “Madgwick and Rig will be furious if we leave the forest,” Rhed protested.

  “They need help or those guards will see them, and that could spoil the element of surprise for Madgwick and Rig.” He scrambled down the tree.

  Rhed matched his descent and within minutes they were rushing towards the people milling around. Jeff and Rhed grabbed the arm of the first person.

  “Come, come this way quickly, before you are seen!”

  They led the people towards the forest, leaving them inside the tree line before running back to the castle entrance to help some older people that tripped, back to their feet and move them along.

  One frail old lady just could not walk anymore so Jeff bent down in front of her, lifted her on his back and struggled back to the forest. Rhed helped the last old man into the forest, all the while anxiously watching the guards. They were sure some of them had seen them but they just turned away, apparently ignoring the escape of the prisoners.

  Jeff gently gave the old lady to grateful hands and turned to face Rhed and the old man. The old man was staring at him, his eyes wide. Jeff frowned at him.

  “You okay?”

  “Ella?” the old man croaked. He could not talk. It looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

  “Uhm, nooo.” He gave Rhed a sidewards glance to see if he was grinning at him being called Ella. “I am Jeff. But my mother’s name is Ella. How did you …”

  “Your mother is Ella?” The old man put a hand out to lean against a tree. “Ella … and you are Jeff? Why are you here, Jeff? How did you get here?”

  “My brother was kidnapped. He’s in there,” said Jeff, pointing to the castle. “We came with Madgwick and Rig.”

  Thirza gasped. He looked from Jeff to the castle and back to Jeff. “Matt? This cannot be happening again! Not again! Matt!” He turned back to Jeff. “Your brother is Matt? Matt is Ella’s child?”

  Jeff nodded, watching with alarm. “What’s going on? Do you need to sit?”

  Thirza turned on the spot. “I need to get back to the castle!” He rushed about five steps before Jeff jumped in his way to block him.

  “You can’t go back. Madgwick and Rig will get Matt.”

  Thirza stopped. His face was grey and his cheeks looked hollow. He grabbed his hair like he wanted to tear it out.

  “I knew that they had chosen a child, but I never dreamt it would be one of my own … again.”

  Jeff flicked his fringe back, raised his eyebrows and asked, “Who exactly are you?”

  Thirza sighed with a shudder; “I am your grandfather, Jeff, your grandfather.”

  “Uh I don’t think so … My grandfather disappeared a long time ago.”

  “I have been here in Drakmere. There is so much to tell you, so much to explain. You look just like your mother. You have her eyes.”

  He looked at Rhed with raised eyebrows.

  “Rhed. Best friend,” supplied Rhed, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

  The people were not waiting around but started to disappear into the forest in all directions.

  Thirza opened his mouth to say something when his eyes went wide and he grabbed his head as he whirled around facing the castle. “I forgot to tell them!”

  “What did you forget, what is the matter?” exclaimed Jeff.

  “I forgot to tell them that Holka, the slave girl who was looking after Matt, is actually Gwyndion. She is a Sandustian warrior who was captured a long time ago. She is the reason I could not leave Drakmere. They do not know about her, she will be forgotten. We cannot leave her!”

  Jeff bit his lip, studying the castle. “I bet if I run, I could catch them still in the tunnels.”

  “No way, Jeff, are you nuts?” Rhed’s voice was raised.

  Thirza was also shaking his head. “You will get caught. You must be a dream catcher too, which means that Wiedzma will do anything to grab you. It’s out of the question. I will go back.”

  Seeing the familiar stubborn look on his friend’s face, Rhed frowned until his eyebrows almost touched. “Stop being a hero, you can’t go. Madgwick said to stay here.”

  “Look, I will go as far as the tunnels. If I don’t see them then I will come right back. I won’t even go inside. But I must try. They’re in there to rescue Matt, the least I can do is tell them that Holka is the Gwyn girl … warrior and that she is still in there. I’ll stop right at the entrance.”

  Thirza was scratching his head and Rhed’s face was pulled into a deep scowl. Both were shaking their heads at Jeff.

  Jeff shrugged, turned and raced as fast as he could towards the tunnel exit, keeping low to stay within the cover of the forest as long as he could.

  As he ran he heard Rhed hiss after him while Thirza groaned.

  He stopped at the doorway and sneaked a look inside. It looked ominous and eerie. At the far end of the tunnel was a glowing flicker of light that looked like a fire torch.

  He crouched at the entrance, hissing Rig and Madgwick’s names.

  Jeff was met with silence. He bit his lip and glanced over his shoulder at Rhed who was waving frantically at him. Jeff lifted his head trying to decipher what Rhed was signalling. Then it clicked.

  A guard was coming around the side. He could not run back to the forest without being seen by the oncoming guard. He had no choice but to go in. Slowly, cautiously, he crept into the tunnel and stopped a few paces inside the circle of darkness. He went down on his haunches and watched the brightly lit entrance.

  The guard stopped just outside and then peered in but moved on when he could not see past the wall of darkness surrounding Jeff.

  Releasing his pent-up breath with a silent whoosh, Jeff made his way back to the entrance. He was about to peek out to see where the guard was when strange bright orange sparks rippled their way across the entrance like a spider web.

  Puzzled, Jeff picked up a twig and tossed towards the sunlight. It bounced back with a loud sizzle and exploded into ash. He was trapped. There was only one thing to do: find Madgwick, Rig and the way out.

  38

  Matt was flying again, secured in Azghar’s talons. He was singing to Azghar at the top of his voice.

  “Peanut butter in a big blue jar, got my backpack I’m
going far … jam-a-loo, that’s right! Jam-a-loo, tripping to the left and tripping to the right … jam-a-loooo …”

  Azghar was enjoying this song, although it was just one line. Matt could not remember how the rest of the song went, so they sang that one line over and over again. Azghar sang “jam-a-loooo” with Matt and when they sang “jam-a-loooo,” they swayed to the left and then to the right. It made flying in a straight line a little difficult but they were not really in a hurry.

  Then the dragon saw something strange coming towards them in the distance. It was flying crazily and looking quite out of control. It came closer at a huge speed, and there was a loud sound, like a motorbike. Azghar was not sure what was coming towards them and his first thought was to protect Matt. The thought of a possible attack made the spines running down his back bristle in anger.

  He reached out with his mind, trying to touch the mind of whomever or whatever was coming his way. To his surprise he heard a woman screaming madly.

  “Miserable thugs! Mist dung! Haha, call yourselves shimmers, bah, you’re nothing but puffs! Tiny smelly puffs! You can’t even catch me!”

  Chasing her were so many shimmers that the sky was a dark thundercloud behind.

  Angie? Azghar thought. Angie under attack!

  Azghar growled loudly. A plume of blue fire shot out of his nostrils. He dropped his head and picked up speed. He was going so fast that Matt could not “jam-a-loooo” anymore.

  “What’s going on?” Matt shouted.

  “We’re going to fight the shimmers, Matt, it will be fun, you’ll see.”

  He reached out with his mind and touched Angie’s consciousness. She immediately responded to Azghar.

  Azghar? Is that you? Where the flying thunderbolts have you been all these years? Just look at all these daft shimmers behind me … What a bunch of poppies!

  Azghar snorted. Well, poppies or not, there are just too many for you to handle alone. What on dragon-fire are you flying? What happened to your broom?

  Angie’s broom was so taken with Madgwick’s dust bike that he had transformed into a splendid wooden version of a Harley Davidson. The broom had even grown a large wooden body with a straw pattern along the side. The exhaust was not visible but the broom was powerful enough, roaring like an animal.

  Angie’s legs were stretched out in front of her, her large feet resting on foot pedals. Her hands were high up on the outstretched handle bars, which had tuffs of straw flapping in the wind. And on her head Angie had a straw helmet. Her hair was flowing from underneath it. She was certainly a sight to behold.

  Angie laughed crazily. Her broom was outstripping the shimmers and was very agile, darting in and out while Angie yelled obscenities to the angry mob of shimmers trying so hard to catch her. She patted the bike fondly.

  Azghar heard Angie’s thoughts: “He fell in love with a bike and just grew from there.”

  Azghar shook his head. A broom that wanted to be a bike!

  I am almost there, but can you take on a passenger? I will keep them at bay while you take Matt to safety.

  Matt? You have Matt? When did that happen? Oh my! Yes, I can take him.

  She screamed down to her broom, “Are you kidding me? Of course you can grow another seat!”

  Azghar flew higher until Angie was a dot below him and Matt shivered. He held the boy closer to the fire within him and stopped the shivering immediately. Then Azghar swooped down on Angie from above her, flapping up a storm while he hovered. Gently he dropped his talons and Matt was deposited into the new seat the broom had just grown. From the side a wooden strap bounced out and secured Matt to the seat, like a seat belt. Angie pulled him so that he leaned comfortably back into her.

  “Hello, kiddo,” she yelled above the rushing wind.

  Matt looked from Azghar to Angie as if he was a little confused. Within seconds he went from flying with a dragon to flying with a lady on a broom bike.

  “Hi,” yelled Matt. “I’m Matt. I like your bike. How fast can it go? What’s Azghar doing? Can we do somersaults like on a rollercoaster? Azghar looks very cool. I have a brother called Jeff. What’s Azghar doing?”

  Angie’s eyes widened at all the questions as if she was amazed that he had survived the castle with such a steady stream of questions. He must have driven them crazy.

  She yelled back at him. “I’m Angie. It’s a broom that has grown into a bike. It can go fast as a whistle. We can do rollercoaster later, okay? Azghar looks magnificent, doesn’t he? See those black thingies? Azghar is going to give them a quick hiding.”

  “Oh, cool,” yelled Matt. “Can we watch?”

  They turned to watch Azghar who was roaring and breathing fire on the shimmers. The shimmers had never encountered a dragon before and scattered from the path of the fire.

  Azghar relished in the open-air fight, spreading his wings and diving, rolling over and using his huge wings to stop him in mid-air. He opened his jaws to reveal his enormous teeth and gulped the shimmers into his fiery belly. All too soon they were devoured and he had not even used his magic. “Oh well,” he sighed. “It was fun nevertheless.”

  He turned and made his way back to Angie, who was yelling, “Give me an A!” Matt yelled, “AAAAA!”

  “Give me Z!” Matt yelled, “ZED!”

  Giggling, Angie yelled, “Give me a G!” and Matt yelled “GEEEE!”

  Aw, my own cheerleading team, thought Azghar fondly.

  Just then his eyes widened. Behind Angie was a shimmer sneaking up on her. She was so busy having fun with Matt she had not noticed. The shimmer rushed at Angie. Azghar yelled out a warning, but it was too late. The broom heard the warning and dived out of the way but not before the shimmer bumped into it so violently that Matt’s seat belt snapped, flinging him into the air. They were high up and Matt was hurtling to the ground.

  Angie screamed, hanging on to the handle of her broom.

  Azghar blew the shimmer apart with a gust of red-hot flame and then dived after Matt who was cartwheeling out of control. Azghar propelled his wings and flew faster than he ever had. This was a race against gravity!

  Angie focused all her power and threw it at the little body spinning away from her. She sent a force so strong that the air rippled like a heat wave. Her spell caught Matt and slowed him down little by little until he was suspended upside down by his ankles. She saw the fear on the boy’s face. She winked and her magic tickled him and made him laugh.

  Azghar got as close as he could to the suspended child and opened his wings. He slowed abruptly and then lunged for Matt, closing his huge mouth over the little body.

  Angie had climbed back into her seat. Her broom was shaking in fear as if he was so upset that he had got caught by a shimmer and that he nearly lost Angie. Angie was patting the trunk of the quivering broom, trying to soothe it. She watched with her heart in her throat as Azghar raced after Matt. Then she saw his whole body seemed to stop in a mere second, and just as suddenly she saw Matt disappearing in Azghar’s mouth. Gone.

  “Azgharrrr,” Angie shrieked, “you can’t eat him!”

  But Azghar was still in a spiral, his mouth closed. Matt was nowhere to be seen. He glided back to Angie who was sitting with her hands on her cheeks in horror.

  As he got closer he saw that Angie’s eyes were white all around. He opened his mouth to reveal a huge display of shiny white, pointy teeth, and hugging the largest tooth, with his little legs curled around the base of it, was Matt, half the size of the tooth.

  He was waving his one hand up above his head, and pinched between his two little fingers was a small white object. His face was flushed and his eyes were bright.

  “I lost a tooth,” he yelled, “my first tooth! I’m gonna get five bucks! Aww that’s so cool Angie, let’s do that again.”

  Azghar grinned. If it had been possible, he would have been grinning from ear to ear. Then Angie and Azghar landed in the meadow beneath them.

  “Azghar, just how did you manage to get Matt? Was he not at the
castle?” Angie was flabbergasted.

  “He called me by the ancient word, ‘smok’,” Azghar said. “I don’t know how and I don’t think he knows either,” he replied when Angie opened her mouth to ask. “But I am bound by it so I came and fetched him away from Wiedzma and Grzegorz. Those two did a lot of damage and I think I will visit them again to teach them some manners once Matt is safe back home.”

  Angie took Matt’s face in her hands and stared into his eyes. Her lips were twitching at the sight of his toothless grin. “Yes, I can see the traces. The magic is all untied except for one thing …”

  “Yes, Amispekus,” said Azghar. “I didn’t think it would hurt. Makes up for all the heartache he has endured. Besides, did you notice how the magic has already locked? It won’t be easy to remove that one. It will do no damage to leave it.”

  “Oh,” said Angie, then she suddenly slapped her hand against her straw helmet. “Oh, oh, oh, oh my drat, Madgwick! Rig! They won’t know that Matt is gone. They will be walking into a trap!”

  “Madgwick? Rig?” asked Azghar.

  “The Sandustian warriors sent to rescue Matt. They should have reached the castle by now. We have got to warn them.”

  Azghar snorted. “I am faster. I will go to the castle, you take Matt to the doorway, and we will meet you there.”

  Angie scratched her head under her helmet. “It will be better if I go in. I could sneak in. Besides, Madgwick knows me. You look rather dangerous to those who don’t know you. I better be quick about getting to the castle. We may need your help to get the kids through the doorway again, though. There are bound to be shimmers waiting there.”

  Angie looked around for her Harley broom to find he had turned into another mean racing machine, quivering again, but this time from excitement.

  “Oh, you clever broom, you,” she cooed.

  Azghar sighed, then flapped his wings and waited for it. Frrrruuuupph. Matt’s laughter pealed through the air. There was no hope. The more Azghar flapped his wings, ffruuuuppph, ffrruppph, the more Matt laughed. Azghar rolled his eyes and flapped towards Matt who had squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head back on his neck, helpless with laughter.