by Dale Furse
‘These two are stronger,’ Orenda said, taking her place at the prince’s shoulder once more. ‘We must try to repel them, Nell.’
Believing six assailants were too many for three defenders, Nell still joined the Grarls as they groaned and grunted with the effort of battling six strong minds with their three weary minds.
Not knowing what to do next, Nell let the prince take control as she recalled Lesel and Annet below her. An image of her mother came unbidden to her mind, then a scattering of dead Wexkians floated by. A miniscule bomb popped in her brain. Had she had a stroke? She didn’t know, but no, now the strength of her talents increased and her Grarl friends’ spells and enchantments intensified concurrently.
Before they could repair each break in the field, the aggressors began blasting away at another position. Nell and her friends struggled to keep up with the fresh shield punctures. Still they fought on, even as the fissures in the shield gaped wider and wider. While Nell strengthened the Grarls’ power, she also shared their suffering and exhaustion.
The throb, throb, throb of Nell’s pulse in her temples ached more with each beat. She swallowed a wave of nausea. She wasn’t sure how many more hours had passed; the burgeoning light told her it was nearly morning.
Their efforts were weakening; Nell risked a thought to Orenda. At that instant, Orenda collapsed and bolts of fiery lightning surged through the ceiling. Without Orenda, they were beaten.
CHAPTER THREE
LETHAL SHARDS OF LIGHT RAINED DOWN ON THEM. With every crack of fire, another hole appeared in the ceiling. White plaster showered down over the kitchen. All at once, the small perforations through the ceiling of the first floor connected to make one great cavity above Nell’s head. She covered her head with her arms from the falling debris. Lesel shrieked. Nell looked down. A hole, no bigger than a piece of confetti, had cut through the table a hair’s breadth from her foot.
‘Lesel,’ Nell cried as she bounded onto the floor and peered under the table. Annet was motionless in Lesel’s arms. Nell gasped. Annet was dead.
Fury erupted in Nell’s chest, and with it, a realisation that the entire shield had fallen. Her wings unfurled as she howled in rage. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted with exhilaration that her wings were purple black. The darkest she had ever seen them. Pure energy surged up her spine and into her brain. She barrelled through the kitchen’s ceiling, her father’s plaster strewn bedroom, and the upstairs roof. Casting her wild thoughts above the thunderous cracks, her mind wailed, ‘You will pay. Your lives for a life.’
The invading Grarls faltered. They drew back, faces contorted and eyes bulging with terror. Nell hovered, her mind imprisoning them where they drifted. Heat welled in her being, impatient to be set free, but she spoke with icy control. ‘You killed my friend.’ She unleashed her wrath with a roar.
But the Grarls had regained their balance and formed a line. They blocked her onslaught. Immediately their blended power howled through the air at Nell. She blocked and threw everything she had at all of them.
The Grarls halted, their mouths agape in silent screams, before their bodies plunged down out of the sky. One careening down the tunnel that Nell’s body had made, smashing onto the kitchen floor. The others collided with what was left of the roof then tumbled like rag dolls to the ground.
Another recruit appeared to Nell’s left. She spun to face him. He threw her a murderous look then disappeared.
The sun’s first golden rays fanned the early morning sky from behind the mountain as Nell’s energy flagged and she hovered in the air. Her blurred eyes stared between stray black curls at the death and destruction below. How could I kill like that? Annet’s prostrate image had become clear in her mind. Yes, those same Grarls had killed her beloved adopted mother but… Hot tears stung her eyes. Why wasn’t it dreary and cold and storming with rain? Not a warm and bright beautiful day. It’s an ugly day! Sobs churned up from deep within her soul. An ugly, ugly day. She poured her grief out in a cascade of tears.
Lesel called out to her. ‘Come down.’
Nell grimaced at the fallen beings. She should have separated and locked them up, not killed them. She needed to control her rage … learn why her elevated emotions increased her power and how that power could be used more effectively when she was calm and in control.
‘Mum! Muuum!’ Sam’s voice shrieked through Nell’s reverie. They’re back. They don’t know about Annet. She flung her hair back from her face and turned north toward the Frederick’s house.
‘Annet!’ Carl’s frantic voice joined his son’s terror filled screams.
Nell rose higher. She should have seen the Frederick’s roof by now, but there was no sign of the house. Mouth tight, she sped over the coconut palms to where the house should have been. A pile of broken iron and wood lay in its place. Sam and Carl were wandering aimlessly about the wreckage calling out to Annet.
Sliding a dry tongue over dry lips, Nell landed just as Sam flopped onto the still intact steps. ‘Mum’s gone,’ he said, not looking at her and with tears streaking down his grimy face.
‘Annet, please, Annet,’ Carl sobbed, throwing sheets of iron in all directions off what should have been the kitchen.
‘Carl, she’s not there,’ Nell called out over the clang of metal. ‘Come here.’
Carl looked up. His eyes stared unseeingly. It was a miracle he even recognised his name.
Standing up, Sam said, ‘What?’
‘Your mum’s at home. Hang on.’ Nell stole over the broken beams and boards. Carl appeared to be in shock. ‘Carl,’ she said as she placed her hand on his shaking shoulder. ‘Annet’s at our place.’
The sound of his wife’s name appeared to wake him from his trance-like state. ‘Annet?’ he asked. ‘Where?’
‘Is Mum all right?’ asked Sam.
Nell didn’t answer Sam, but her eyes remained damp with tears as she helped Carl onto the sand.
‘What?’ Sam demanded. ‘What’s happened to her?’
‘Grarls attacked us. Annet was hit.’
At Nell’s words, Carl sprang forward and raced along the path to Nell’s house. Sam’s aching heart reflected in his face as he took off after his father. Sam shouted to the sky, ‘She’ll be all right.’ He repeated those words over and over again as he sprinted after his father.
Unfurling her wings once more, Nell soared over Carl and Sam’s heads, and made it to her house before them. She pulled up over the roof. The cavity she was about to dive down was gone. She flew to the kitchen door and barged through the screen before her wings had fully retracted.
Annet lay on the table. Lesel wiped the injured woman’s forehead with a wet facecloth. Orenda and Ephry hovered above her legs, eyes closed and in deep concentration.
‘She’s alive?’ Nell cried as she moved alongside her grandmother.
‘Yes,’ Lesel said. ‘But only just. Orenda and the prince are stopping the blood flow, but they’re exhausted, and every time one or the other loses concentration, the blood gushes from her wound again.’
‘Show me,’ Nell said, as Carl rushed through the door.
‘Annet,’ he cried, holding her face between his hands and kissing it over and over again.
Lesel moved aside to allow Nell room to spread all ten fingers over the length of the lesion down Annet’s side. The assailant’s shot of power had cauterized at the edges of the wound, but blood seeped from the middle. Joining her mind with the Grarls, warmth flowed down her arms and rested in her hands and fingers. Warmth changed to raging heat almost too hot for Nell to stand. It flooded her chest. She panted, but the increase in oxygen only fanned the flames. The now inferno, spread through her lower torso and down her legs to her feet. Just when she thought she could take the burning no longer, it vanished. She gulped and snapped her eyes open. The wound had stopped oozing.
She gazed up at the Grarls, as Orenda said between gasps for air, ‘You … joined with us … without touch.’
Nell stared at her
until her words sunk in. Nell hadn’t even realised she had done that. She let out a tired laugh, fell back and slid down the sink cupboard. Orenda and Ephry floated beside her and collapsed onto the floor. They too were breathing hard.
Annet groaned.
‘Mum,’ Sam screeched, edging Lesel out of the way, but not intruding on his father’s space. He held his mother’s hand against his cheek.
‘She is stable,’ Lesel said. ‘However, we need to take her to a physician.’
‘Thank you,’ Nell said, looking from Orenda to the prince as he floated into a sitting position beside Orenda. ‘Thank you both.’
Giving Nell a shaky smile, Orenda said to Lesel, ‘I … will take Annet.’
‘No,’ Ephry said. ‘You are … too weak. I will take … her.’
‘And … you are … in a fitter … position than me?’ Orenda asked.
‘I have sworn … to protect … you,’ the prince insisted.
A spark returned to Orenda’s blue eyes. ‘You have—’
‘Stop it,’ Nell yelled. That was the most ridiculous argument she had ever heard. Neither could barely keep their eyes open, let alone travel anywhere. ‘We’ll take her to Corl in the skark. We’ll be safe there.’
Carl scooped Annet up in his arms. ‘I’m going too.’
‘And me,’ Sam said.
‘Of course.’ Nell managed a small smile. ‘Annet would kill me if I left you two here.’
Nell clambered to her feet and looked down at the Grarls. ‘You’ll have to come too, but it’s only a four seater so Annet will sit in Carl’s lap and, Orenda, you sit in the princes’.’ She looked at Lesel. ‘Can I sit on your lap?’
‘You won’t have to. I’m not going.’
‘What? Yes, you are. I can sit on Sam’s.’ She grinned at Sam. ‘Or he can sit on mine.’
‘No way,’ Sam said. ‘You’re on mine.’
‘I’ll be all right here, Nell,’ Lesel said. ‘You can send the skark straight back and I’ll follow after.’ She looked around her ravaged kitchen. ‘I want to clean up a bit first; and there’s no need to worry. The rebels were after the prince, not me.’
Nell knew it was no use arguing with her grandmother when she had her mind set. ‘I guess you’re off the hook, Sam.’
‘Nell can still sit in Sam’s lap.’ Orenda said to Ephry.
‘Now, now, Orenda,’ Ephry said, obviously pleased with the idea of Orenda sitting in his lap. ‘Do what the child says.’
‘I will not take orders from a child,’ Orenda said, indignant.
‘Like I said, it’s okay with me,’ Sam said.
‘Just stop it,’ Nell shouted. She regraded the Grarls. ‘And don’t call me a child again. If anyone is acting like children, it’s you two.’ Nell took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘You’re a lot smaller, Orenda. It just makes sense.’ Orenda’s shoulders slumped as if she was too tired to hold them straight any longer. Thankfully, she must have also been too tired to argue. ‘Good. Are you okay to walk?’ Nell asked both Grarls.
They nodded. Carl carried Annet out the back door.
‘You go with your mum, Sam,’ Nell said. ‘We’ll stay at the back in case any more nasty Grarls make an appearance.’
Nell hugged Lesel before kissing her on the cheek. ‘Don’t stay too long.’
‘I won’t. Now go.’
‘In a tic,’ she said, and raced up to her room. She threw a few personal things into her backpack. As she turned, she grabbed her King Arthur book off her bedside table, stuffed it in as well.
‘Love you.’ She gave her grandmother another hug as she passed and ran to catch up to the others.
Walking beside the bedraggled Grarls along the rainforest path to the mangroves and the skark, it dawned on Nell that she hadn’t seen the dead Grarls who had fallen through her roof. The others were nowhere in sight outside either. ‘What happened to the Grarls?’ she asked Orenda.
‘We sent them back the way they came,’ Orenda replied. ‘Hopefully, that was straight back to the Compore’s headquarters.’
‘Did I…?’ Nell couldn’t say the word.
‘Kill them?’ Ephry said. ‘We can’t be sure. Probably not. We Grarls aren’t that easy to kill. However, do not fret about it child, they would have killed every one of us.’ He looked up at Nell with a contrite expression. ‘By the way, if you don’t mind, I’d like to withdraw my acceptance at your challenge to fight.’
Orenda snorted a cackle.
Nell grinned. ‘No probs, Eph.’ The grin faded as she gazed over their heads at her neighbours’ backs. ‘Carl. I’m sorry about your house.’
‘It’s not your fault, Nell girl, houses can be rebuilt,’ he said, increasing his stride toward the mangroves.
‘Of course.’ Nell picked up her pace.
As soon as they arrived at the skark, she said, ‘Nellen, family of Dar.’ A doorway appeared and they hurried inside.
‘Don’t sit down yet,’ Sam told his father.
Nell shot Ephry a look that said, pick Orenda up. She explained to Carl, ‘We all have to sit down together. Either the Corl’s have no idea how their ancestors built the skarks or they’re not telling anyone why, but it’s dangerous to travel if you’re not seated.’ Carl regarded Nell as if she was crazy. ‘I know,’ she said. ‘It’s a dumb idea.’
‘We don’t need to sit down,’ Ephry said.
‘Or you,’ Sam said to Nell.
‘No, but you do. So shut up, you’re confusing your father. Everybody ready? Sit.’
They sat down and familiar swirling rainbows filled the cabin. Carl exclaimed, ‘Wo.’ Within minutes, the colours stopped.
Nell stood and the door opened to the Corl city, Kafir.
Annet groaned. ‘It’s okay, sweetheart,’ Carl crooned. ‘You’ll be right.’ He followed Nell and the others out of the opening and into the skark-park. Looking at the rows and rows of skarks, he said, ‘I can’t believe skarks travel so fast, it’s preposterous, but I’m glad they do.’ He shook his head.
Sam said, ‘Cool ‘ey, Dad?’
But Carl wasn’t listening, his attention was on Annet. ‘How far is the hospital?’ he asked, not taking his eyes of his wife.
‘Not far,’ Nell said. The sun was still orange. She checked its location. It was mid-afternoon.
Orenda nodded at the prince’s silent question. ‘We will let Dar-Seldra know you’re coming,’ Orenda said. The Grarls disappeared into their own space vortexes.
Nell almost growled to herself. They could have taken Annet with them.
‘This way,’ Sam said to Carl, and stepped on the moving walkway.
At the gates, Nell punched some numbers into a console to send the skark back to Cape Hollow for Lesel before leading them down the elevator and into the trading corridor. All was quiet because trading wasn’t due to begin for a couple of weeks.
They were in such a hurry that Sam hadn’t noticed there was no trading in the corridors.
Nell gazed at Annet.
‘She’ll be right?’ Sam asked, following Nell’s eyes.
‘Yes, Dar-Seldra will heal her.’
With the corridor empty, they made good time.
***
After two hours, Nell left Carl and Sam in the waiting room so she could pace the hallway outside Dar-Seldra’s rooms. Orenda and the prince were in there with Annet. Why she wasn’t allowed to be, worried her. She wondered what was taking her aunty so long.
A carnation-pink Corl nurse opened the door and walked out. She strode straight past Nell towards the waiting room. Nell hurried into Dar-Seldra’s surgery. Dar-Seldra turned away from Annet, and said, ‘She’ll wake up in a small while.’ She faced Nell. ‘Are you all right?’
She nodded. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Mekie had said you sent her a message not to go to Earth. What happened?’
‘Yeah,’ Sam said, following Carl through the doorway. ‘What did happen?’
Nell looked at the Grarls, who appeared to have re
gained their strength too. ‘We’ll tell you all about it at home,’ she said. Nell had come to think of Dar-Seldra’s house as her home when on Corl. ‘Is it all right if the Fredericks stay with us?’
‘Dar-Seldra smiled. ‘Of course. Actually we have moved. With so many visitors, we, ah, needed a bigger place.’
Nell liked the way she used ‘we’ to include Nell with her and Mekie. But when she looked a little harder at Dar-Seldra, Nell sensed her aunty meant more than just them.
As if reading Nell’s mind, Dar-Seldra said, ‘We’ll discuss all our news at home.’ She turned her attention back to Annet, who was awake. ‘Well hello there,’ Dar-Seldra said. ‘No, don’t try to speak.’
Annet groaned. Carl kissed her lightly on the cheek. She smiled.
‘You will heal,’ Dar-Seldra said. ‘I have a ground floor bedroom that will be perfect for the two of you.’
‘Can she be moved?’ Carl asked, concerned.
‘Yes, but carefully. She must rest for some time.’
‘Where is Mekie?’ Sam asked.
‘She’s either at home feeling sorry for herself or with Kale somewhere,’ Dar-Seldra replied. ‘Orenda, can you take Annet?’
Orenda closed her beady little eyes and just as quickly opened them. ‘I apologise. I don’t know where your new abode is,’ she said.
‘Of course not,’ said Dar-Seldra. ‘One moment.’
She moved to her desk and pressed a brown button. ‘Nurse Fellder, can you come in here please?’ Facing the others, she said, ‘Fellder is an exceptional nurse and she will make Annet comfortable at home. She’s been there many times.’
The same pink Corl nurse appeared in the doorway. She smiled widely, exposing the numerous small sharp Corl teeth at Dar-Seldra.
Carl stared at the nurse, but he quickly moved his eyes back to Annet when the nurse glanced at him. Nell couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed the many Corl physicians and nurses they had passed on their way to Dar-Seldra’s rooms.
‘Can you take a patient and Orenda to my house?’
