Jeff Madison and the Shimmers of Drakmere (Book 1)

by Bernice Fischer

  Finally Wiedzma broke the castle enchantment and sent the shimmers after her fleeing captives. This time she was joining the fight. A large shimmer stopped next to her and hovered while she stepped onto him.

  Grzegorz leapt from his chair like a frog and grabbed hold of Wiedzma’s dress.

  “I am coming with you, ribbit ribbit!” he yelled.

  Wiedzma ignored him, holding onto the black misty ropes she had conjured up. Her shimmer flew around the room and then out the door. Around her the other shimmers exploded from the castle doors, windows, chimneys and soared into the sky.

  44

  Angie’s broom-bike flew like the wind. They went faster than they had ever flown before, making for the tree line of the forest. Rhed and Thirza were waiting in those trees and they had to reach them before Wiedzma and her shimmers did. They had a five minute headstart, no more, maybe less.

  Angie was quiet, deep in thought about the shimmers that were heading their way and worried about how everyone was going get to the doorway, which was quite a distance away.

  Rig yelled over the rush of the wind. “Angie. What about Madgwick? I know you said you have seen to it but I need to know, how are we going to get him out? We could not find Matt and apparently Gwyndion is also there!”

  Angie screamed into the wind. “Matt is not in that castle. That is not our worry right now. We have to get to Jeff and Bloo back to the doorway. I don’t know if you noticed but we are going to have a lot of bad company very soon.”

  Jeff yelled back, “His name is Rhed not Bloo.”

  They had reached the tree line. Jeff and Madgwick hopped off the broom-bike while it was slowing, giving it no time to stop, and then they ran onto the trees. Angie stayed on her broom and flew alongside them.

  “Rhed!” yelled Jeff and Madgwick together. Then they heard the scrambling of a quick descent from the trees.

  Rhed had reached the bottom branch, lowering Thirza to the floor.

  “We could not find him, Rhed, he was not there. We have to run, and fast. The shimmers are coming, they’re just behind us.”

  “Shimmers are coming?” asked Rhed breathless from helping Thirza down. He had not forgotten his last encounter with the shimmers, and he was not keen on another. “What do we do now?”

  “We start by running,” answered Rig. He nodded to Thirza. “Can you get yourself to safety?”

  Thirza squeezed Jeff’s shoulder and nodded, “Yes, go, go, get the kids to the doorway.”

  Jeff yelled, “No way, I am not leaving my grandfather here as well. He goes or I stay.”

  Rig’s head whipped from Jeff to Thirza. “Grandfather? When did that happen? We leave you alone for ten minutes and you end up with a grandfather!” He threw his hands in the air. “Explain later. We don’t have time now.” He had left enough people behind him. Matt and Gwyndion, Madgwick: he was not going to argue about leaving a grandfather behind.

  The air started to ripple next to them.

  Angie puffed out the air in her lungs. “It’s about time.”

  “Stand back,” Rig ordered the boys, bouncing his dust in reaction to the new threat. Just as everyone was looking at the ripple and backing away, there was a loud pop and Madgwick appeared out of thin air. There he lay, unconscious on the golden pine needles covering the forest floor.

  Angie knelt down and passed her hand gently over Madgwick’s face while muttering a few words.

  Madgwick woke up with a start and looked around. He got to his feet and nodded to Angie. It was the work of the spell she had cast that would appear when he needed it the most.

  “If that was the rescue spell, then it was a little late, Angie. It would have been better if it had activated before she nailed me.”

  “You’re welcome, Madgwick,” Angie snapped.

  Rig patted Madgwick on the back and Jeff beamed from ear to ear.

  “Let’s go,” yelled Angie.

  Angie waved wildly at Thirza to shoo him into the side car while Madgwick and Rig once again threw dust into the air to form off-road bikes, glittering and sparkling. Once the boys were mounted with their helmets on, they were off dashing through the forest, trying to put distance between them, the castle and the shimmers.

  Madgwick shouted over the roar of the bikes. “What happened to all the people from the dungeons, did they get out?”

  Thirza yelled in response. “They separated into groups and headed into different directions making their way home. They will be safe. Plenty of guards went with them. I was quite surprised to see so many guards come out. They know what to do.”

  “What happened with Holka and Matt?” he yelled back to Madgwick.

  Jeff answered. “We could not find them. Was that the girl you stayed behind to protect, is she Gwyndion?”

  “Fat lot of good that did. She is still in the castle and here I am, running away. She will be tortured for sure now!”

  “What do you mean you stayed to protect her?” asked Angie.

  They were racing through the forest, ducking under low branches, ramping over tree roots. They bounced over rocks and splashed through brooks. It would have been great fun if they did not have the threat of the shimmers behind them. They looked over their shoulders often but there was no sign of them yet. The trees were so thick that it was not likely that they would see them coming until they were right on top of them.

  Thirza answered Angie. “The last time a child was taken, two Warriors came to the rescue, Rig here and Gwyndion. I went through the moonglow doorway and ended up at the castle. The child was rescued but one of the warriors, Gwyndion, was trapped. I was so grateful that she helped rescue my daughter that I could not leave her to the mercy of Grzegorz, not if I could help her.”

  Thirza paused for breath. “I hid her away until no one would be able to read her mind with magic, or want to read her mind, and then introduced her as Holka. As long as she did not remember and as long as no one could recognise her as a warrior, she was safe. It was cruel, yes, but I could not get her out of the castle’s enchantment and at least she was free to roam about the castle and enchantment perimeter. She was not home but she was not unhappy.”

  Angie frowned as she absorbed the story.

  Thirza continued, “I was going to stay there as long as she was trapped. I was always looking for a way to get us both out. Then I found out about the plan to kidnap another child. I knew that I could not leave, not just yet.”

  Angie blinked at Thirza and forgot about the bike controls. It lurched, almost throwing him out of the side car. “Your daughter?” she yelled.

  “The dream catcher line. My mother comes from Jeff’s world, my father from this world. It makes my children and grandchildren excellent dream catchers. I did not even know that Matt was my grandchild until I saw Jeff, who looks like his mother. I never thought they would target my own grandchildren. When will this stop, will my family ever be safe?”

  45

  A howl came through the trees. It was the shimmers catching up, and it would not be long now before they would be able to see them. They broke through the trees and raced across another meadow. As they reached the bottom and dashed over the stream, there was a little boy running down the hill towards him. He was laughing.

  “Matt!” yelled Jeff, pointing ahead.

  Rhed joined in, half standing in his eagerness to point the boy out. “It’s Matt!”

  Matt fell into silhouette as a huge dragon came over the rise. The dragon seemed to be huffing and puffing, swaying his massive head to and fro. The sapphire scales glistened in the afternoon sunlight and looked like the startling blue waters of a cool ocean. His tail was high above his body and the white spines stood out like daggers. Any minute now he was going to catch the boy and eat him. Rhed and Jeff screamed to Matt to run.

  “Do something!” Jeff screamed directly into Madgwick’s ear, making him wince.

  The dragon reared up and roared fiercely into the air, a high flame shooting out of his mouth, which was lined with razo
r sharp teeth. Matt screamed and darted left and then right, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. The dragon lifted into the air and swooped over Matt, caught the boy in his talons, flipped him in the air and then Matt disappeared, screeching, into his mouth.

  Angie yelled above the hysterical screams from Jeff and Rhed. “Oh, stop screaming like little girls, they are just playing.” She turned to Thirza and continued conversationally, “I don’t really like their game either. It rather gave me a fright when they first did it, but then who exactly listens to me?”

  She turned back to the others and screamed uncontrollably, “Stooooppp iiiit!” Everyone stopped screaming and looked at her.

  “They are just playing,” she said slowly so that they understood.

  They looked back at the dragon darting left and right, his mouth opened wide. He turned his head to face them so that they had a full view of his fierce mouth with rows of sharp shiny teeth. Matt was standing with his legs spread, a foot on each side of a tooth, and with his arms he braced himself on two hanging teeth. He was yelling, “Left, right, left, right,” and the dragon dipped his head in time with the instructions.

  Then they both looked down and saw their audience racing towards them.

  Matt yelled, “Jeff! Look Azghar, it’s Jeff!”

  Azghar lowered his head and Matt wobbled out of his mouth, running towards his brother who had already leapt off the dust bike in his rush to get to Matt.

  Jeff grabbed Matt and hugged his brother fiercely. He drew back, and searched into his face, and asked, “You okay?”

  Matt nodded enthusiastically, his eyes bright, his face flushed in evidence of the great game he had been playing. Just then Azghar lowered his huge head next to Matt’s, staring at Jeff.

  “This is Azghar,” said Matt simply when Jeff gulped and took a step back.

  Azghar stared at Jeff, then blinked slowly and tilted his head towards Matt. “Are you sure he is your brother? He does not look like you,” he said.

  Matt fondly swatted Azghar on the nose. “He’s my brother for sure.”

  Jeff could not understand a word Azghar was saying, but everyone else seemed to, even Matt. It was quite freaky seeing Matt with a dragon as big as a three-storey house, and they were obviously close.

  By now everyone had caught up and was milling around, all talking at once, frantic and looking behind them for any signs of the shimmers.

  Thirza bumped everyone out of the way in his rush to get to Matt, went down on his knees in front of the boy and held him by the arms. Looking into Matt’s widened eyes, he exclaimed, “Matt! My poor boy, I am so sorry I was so horrible, that I made you cry so many times.”

  Ignoring Angie’s stony glare, he continued. “I had to keep you unhappy, make you cry at least once a day, or the spell that they put on you would have worked and you would have forgotten everyone, and they would have won. I am your grandpa, Matt.”

  Matt lowered his eyes at the sudden display of emotion from Thirza. He gave a sideways look at Jeff for confirmation. Jeff shrugged at Matt. He was not sure.

  Matt looked at Azghar, who was staring hard at Thirza. Azghar dipped his head at Thirza and Madgwick raised an eyebrow when Thirza bowed his head back at Azghar.

  “Hello Azghar. How over the years I have wished for you to appear and come to save us. Holka … Gwyndion and me.”

  Azghar touched Thirza’s head. The old man stayed still, which is very wise when a dragon is breathing all over you. Thirza’s face relaxed as his memories flowed to Azghar. Azghar was not stealing them like Wiedzma would have. He was just scanning them to make sure Thirza was not under an enchantment.

  Satisfied that all Thirza said and thought was true, he said, “I am sorry, Thirza, my old friend. I have been away. I will explain, but not today.”

  Azghar nodded at Matt. “He is your grandfather.”

  Matt tentatively smiled at Thirza.

  Thirza nodded, smiled a little, as if not expecting an explanation from the great Azghar, and then said, “Thank you, Azghar, thank you so much for casting that protection spell so long ago. It helped to keep me safe from that castle, and from the witch, which in turn helped me keep Gwyndion and Matt safe. She tried so hard to break through the spell over the years but she never could and she could not figure out why.”

  Azghar nodded to Thirza and turned to stare at the warriors.

  “I know Rig, greetings, Rig,” he nodded at Rig. “I don’t know you. Madgwick, is it? I don’t know you but I like the smell of you. You are young but will be a powerful warrior. Your strength is evident in the magic that surrounds you, and you have a good heart, a strong mind.”

  Madgwick bit his lip as if he did not know what to say, so he just nodded his appreciation. He had heard stories about Azghar the dragon, but the dragon had not been seen for such a long time that no one really knew whether he existed or not.

  Madgwick, nervous that all this chit-chat was costing them time, cleared his throat. “Please don’t take offence, but we have quite a horde of shimmers behind us. Can we catch up later with all our hellos and small talk. We have a long way to go to get back to the doorway. We have to leave now.”

  Angie turned to Azghar with a bright smile. “It’s true, they are all coming, as many as Wiedzma could manage!”

  Lifting his head so that he could see everyone, he said, “We do not need to go to the moonglow doorway. It’s too far, and we will never get everyone there in time. I have sent a message to the elders and if they manage in time then they will open another doorway very close to here. Thirza and,” he looked at Rhed.

  “Bloo,” supplied Angie, grinning.

  “Thirza and Bloo go with Angie on her super broom,” he said winking at her broom bike with his huge sapphire blue eye. The broom bristled with pride and joy at being singled out by Azghar.

  Both Madgwick and Rig said together, “Rhed, his name is Rhed.”

  “I will take Matt, Jeff, and the two warriors, who can ride on my back, if that’s okay with you?” he turned to Madgwick and Rig expectantly.

  Still looking at the two warriors, he said, “It will not be easy. You will have to keep the shimmers from my back while we are moving at high speed.”

  Madgwick and Rig grinned broadly as if the thought of travelling at warp speed on a powerful dragon’s back while wiping out shimmers was beyond exciting.

  Azghar lifted his head and turned back to face the direction they had just come from. He could hear the whistling of the shimmers tearing through the forest. Time to go. Chit-chat was definitely over.

  Rhed had a smile on his face as he held onto Angie. He did not mind riding with her. Being so close to a dragon was just too much like asking a velociraptor to tea. Thirza climbed into the side car and the broom bike was revving to go.

  Rhed yelled to Angie, “Why can’t Matt and Jeff come with us?”

  “With so many shimmers chasing us, they will be better protected by Azghar. He will rip them apart before he allows them to touch a hair on Matt’s head, and I suppose Jeff too. They are the ones Wiedzma wants, but I am sure she would use you as a hostage. I will keep you safe.” Angie yelled back.

  Angie yelled over the noise of her broom-bike revving violently. “Which way, Azghar?”

  “Head for the forest in the north. Once you get there, circle the diamond tree twice and once around the ruby bush. Hover over the starlite stone for ten seconds and the emerald pool will be revealed to you. That is where our doorway will be opened. I have already prepared the magic bridge. All you need to do is forge the link and keep it open. Go ahead, we will hold them back as long as possible to give you time to get there and start the process.”

  “I know the place,” Angie muttered, turning her broom in the right direction.

  Azghar sighed. It was time to take off. “Here we go again.” He flapped his wings, fprrrruupppp, fpruuppppp. Matt’s laugher rang through the air.

  Jeff was looking from Matt to Azghar. He started to grin. It was impossible
not to grin at Matt’s infectious laughter. He was about to say something when Azghar suddenly dropped his head so that his steely eyes were level with Jeff, Madgwick and Rig.

  “Be careful what you say right now. I allow Matt to laugh because I like him, and he is little. Let me be very clear. I am not farting. The sound you are hearing is my wind chamber, which propels my wings in flight, and if I even just hear a sigh, or a hint of a giggle from any of you, warrior or not, brother or not, I WILL EAT YOU!”

  The last three words were said slowly leaving no illusion that Azghar was not serious. The dragon turned away, leaving Jeff’s mouth hanging open. Rig had a smirk on his face but Madgwick looked as shocked as Jeff.

  Azghar swiftly pulled Jeff and the still giggling Matt into his talons. Jeff was too hyped up about the shimmers to relax but there was no way he could fall. It was like standing in a basket. The heat radiating from Azghar was comforting.

  Madgwick and Rig leapt up onto Azghar’s back, using their dust to secure them to large spines.

  In a fluid movement Azghar leapt into the air. Madgwick shook his head and gasped in awe at the unbelievable power beneath him. He never imagined that he would fight alongside a dragon.

  Azghar spiralled up before going after Angie who was ahead of them. Behind them a mass of black cloud burst out of the forest into the air, the darkness bubbling over like a pot boiling over. The shimmers had broken through the trees.

  46

  They were flying high. Angie was so far ahead of them she looked like a dot. Azghar turned to view the black mass of shimmers still pushing out above the trees. It looked like huge thunderclouds collecting over the forest, and they were moving across the sky after them. Jeff caught a glimpse and gulped.

  Matt looked so at home in Azghar’s talons. His feet were dangling and his arms hanging over the top. He looked sideways at Jeff and flashed a smile. “I lost a tooth, gonna get five bucks,” he yelled.