She swallowed and opened her mouth and whispered, ‘The unicos…’
‘What?’ Felix asked curiously. ‘Did it work?’
The answer was clearly painted on her face. Sula smiled at him and stretched her back.
‘Yes, I remember it all, and oh boy, have I got a story for you!’
~~~
Sula decided to keep the story between her and Felix. She told it to her children as if it was just another of her fairytales. She understood very well that there had to be a reason for the unicos to keep their identity and their palace hidden. Like her, they were creatures of myth and legend, and who knew what past they had? Surely there was a reason they lived hidden from mankind.
She was still curious and would have loved to go back to the mountain and the palace, but why upset the unicos? Instead she respected them as they were, children of the sun, strange and secretive, not so different from her kind.
Then she also remembered very vividly being attacked by the shapeshifter disguised as a unicos, the reptile man, and told Felix about him. She didn’t want to scare her children, though one day they might read it on her mind if she didn’t block it skilfully enough. The pair of them didn’t know what to make of these lizard people, but they felt in the pits of their stomachs that they meant danger. Sula and Felix feared there might be more of them around. What if they were coming for Sula, her children and Shazar? When had he started to follow Sula?
A seed was planted in Sula’s mind and she came up with an idea to protect herself and her family by creating a Shield Of Light around herself, her children and her home. It was a powerful, warm shield crafted out of love, taught to her by her mother, and strengthened by the love she felt for Felix, her children and Feline. Just by thinking about her Sula was able to summon the Shield and make it stronger.
And what of the dwarfs and Felix’ magic hammer? Ever since the day he found out about the mine and Oro’s gold, he had cherished his hammer. Even though he never got rich, Felix and his family always had enough to eat, the salt which the hammer produced was good salt. He started to trade it for other goods they didn’t have, such as honey and textiles.
Sula kept her secret of the unicos close to her heart and Felix kept his promise to Prince Oro to keep his hammer, the mine and who it was for, a secret. If people asked where he got his salt from he remained vague and just smiled.
Felix nevertheless became famous for his salt, and people honoured him more than they would a king, as salt was just as precious as gold in these parts so far inland. Felix started to travel with his magic hammer to provide people with the best salt and he was soon given a nickname; King Salt.
Part II Family
To be no part of any body, is to be nothing.
John Donne.
Chapter 8 The Hunters
Ten years later
‘I can’t wait to see Mum’s face when she sees all that fabric!’ Aigle said smiling, as he glanced back at the rolls of woven hemp and cotton on the cart he was pulling effortlessly. They had walked for miles, but his father had refused to sit on the cart and let himself be pulled by a twelve-year old with the strength of an ox! Aigle knew about his father’s pride, and had simply nodded when he refused. Although the narrow road through the mountain meadows was deserted, it would have been risky, nevertheless, for a boy to be seen pulling a healthy young man on a loaded cart.
They had done good business in Trinidas, a mountain village which was always in need of good salt. Felix was glad for that and thankful he had his magic hammer. It made him feel needed and his self-esteem had improved. He felt less as if he was always in his perfect and powerful wife’s shadow. He was still a goat herder and carpenter though, and travelled with his goats to the mountains in the summer to let them graze there.
It was nice to visit other villages occasionally, and take his clever son with him. His eldest daughter, Fay, never had showed much interest in trading and preferred to stay away from people. In fact she had just turned seventeen and had voiced a desire to leave the village. Sula and Felix had objected at first, though the pretty girl, who looked a lot younger than her age, had been ready to go her own way. Fay’s training was now completed and she had left home to meet more species in the wild to Mindmerge with and learn from, to gradually become more diverse and stronger. Sula was afraid for her as she travelled alone, like she and Feline had once done. However it was the way Fay had wanted it, and was perhaps the safest. Fay was strong-willed and had definitely inherited a free spirit from her mother and aunt. The girl had always felt that village life wasn’t for her, instead she had loved their holidays away. She was also, despite her outer appearance, more mature than most seventeen-year olds. Her sister, Valera, who was five, was still too young to join Felix and Sula had only just started to train her. It was therefore Aigle who accompanied Felix on his day trips out. The boy with his charcoal hair in a ponytail, high cheekbones and bronze skin, was proud of his father and loved to call him King Salt, just like other people did.
They had traded ten buckets of salt for six heavy rolls of much needed textile and thread Rosinhill could do with, as their crop of hemp had all been destroyed for two years in a row! There had been a fire, for two consecutive years, which was very strange indeed. Because of the trade, much needed clothes could finally be made by the villagers.
They were only an hour’s walk away from Rosinhill when they entered the surrounding woods. It was then that Aigle sensed something. He looked through the trees with worried eyes and stopped before shooting a sideway glance at Felix.
‘What’s the matter son, tired?’ Felix laughed and tapped him on the shoulder before pushing him gently to the side, taking over the handles of the cart, lifting it.
No, Aigle wasn’t tired, he was anxious. He started chanting, ‘Your heart, my heart, your mind, my mind, your breath, my breath, your ears, mine…’ It had been barely a whisper, but his father had heard and with concern painted on his face he stood frozen immediately, with a fast beating heart. He might not have his son’s gift, but he trusted the boy’s instinct completely.
Only a few steps later the cause of their alarm was confirmed… thieves. Three of them appeared from out of the bushes, one by one, stepping in front of their path. Two of them came over, and the biggest of them with arms like tree trunks and a sly smirk on his face, blocked their path whilst pointing a dagger at them.
‘You!’ he commanded at Aigle who almost jumped out of his skin upon hearing his deep bellowing voice and his eyes…they were golden with vertical pupils! Aigle frowned, suddenly feeling sudden nauseous for no apparent reason.
‘I knows you!’ the big man exclaimed, and Aigle froze as he tried to rack his brain as to where he had seen the man before. He was somehow sure he had, but there was something about him that told him something else…
‘Well, we don’t know you,’ Felix said, stepping in front of his son, ignoring the dagger. ‘What do you want? We don’t carry any valuables.’
The big man’s eyes were frightening and Aigle could see the blue veins at the side of his head. The man started to laugh, it thundered through the woods and he threw his head backwards and when he was finished he… hissed?
‘You does,’ the man laughed with a lisp as he stepped forward, pushing Felix aside and grabbing Aigle swiftly by his collar and lifting him up high, effortlessly. ‘You has thissss!’ Aigle was sure he’d seen a forked tongue, flickering. The terrible lisp was no doubt a result of it.
‘Let me go!’ Aigle yelled and kicked his feet in the air, unable to escape. He couldn’t concentrate enough to chant; his mind unclear and his rising emotions quickly overwhelming him. He had feelings of anxiety and confusion regarding these men, but mainly felt fear for his father who had no strengths, apart from his own fists. He wouldn’t use his hammer, would he, and risk exposing the secret?
Felix scrambled up and got his hammer out and threatened the big man with it. ‘Let my son go or feel this!’
The man who still he
ld Aigle in the air effortlessly, narrowed his eyes at Felix and his hammer, then back at Aigle and said, ‘We’s has something for yous,’ as he put him down. ‘But first…you,’ he glanced disdainfully at Felix before nodding at the two men who immediately stepped forward and got hold of Felix. One of the men pinned his arms back and hissed in his ear, ‘If you wants to see your son live, leave now!’ He also couldn’t speak properly due to a lisp.
‘What? No! Not my son!’
It crossed Felix’ mind that they were slave hunters, who abducted children and women. It very rarely happened these days around these parts. It was usually further south, Felix had heard, but maybe they were expanding their territory?
‘I’m not going anywhere without him!’ Felix said through clenched teeth, struggling to get free, but one of the men held his arms tightly while the other punched him in the face and held a knife to his throat. Felix shook his head, holding onto his hammer. Tears were streaming down his face from pain. Blood was trickling along the side of his neck where the skin on his neck had been cut. It was close to his artery and Aigle knew this.
‘Dad, it’s alright! Let my father go and I’ll come with you,’ Aigle shouted at the men and he coughed violently.
The big man who had nearly choked Aigle smiled, ‘Spokens wisely.’ He nodded to the two men who released Felix, and pushed and kicked him away. Felix stumbled to his feet, thinking quickly. Should he use his hammer against the three of them? He needed help from Sula. Felix could try to rescue the boy, but if he failed and was killed in the fight, Aigle would be dead too. Sula was his only chance!
He looked at his son whose slim body was being tied up by the big man, and knew for sure his son would be lost without his mother’s help. One of the other men came walking over with his knife threatening him. ‘You! Leave, now!’
Felix wished he could mind read to say something to Aigle, then remembered his son could pick up his thoughts and strongly focussed on the words: ‘I’ll be back, son! Be strong! I’ll come back for you, I promise, with Mum to help!’
Aigle’s lip quivered at that, and he nodded quickly to him before Felix turned round and ran down the path, homewards.
Then, when it was too late, Aigle picked up on the thoughts behind the smiles and understanding that crossed between the three men and the image they shared. It was the image of his mother… they knew about her. It was a trap!
Aigle screamed, ‘No!!!’ after his father, but Felix was running and Aigle’s voice had not reached his ears. Because Aigle’s heartbeat was raised, and his fear levels and adrenaline were rising, he could not use his powers and failed to make his voice any louder. He tried so hard to calm himself down to concentrate on his strength, to chant and become stronger to fight his capturers, but…failed miserably.
The men laughed, then dragged and pushed him on top of the cart. With a long piece of rope they not only tied his hands and feet, but also tied him to the cart and tied him up just in case… as if they knew. They used much more rope than they would for a normal boy; for sure.
~~~
At the end of the woods, just before Felix entered Rosinhill, he saw the familiar sight of his wife running towards him; fast, very fast. She slowed right down when she saw him with his blood-smeared face, and asked what happened. She had instantly felt it through their Mind-and HeartMerge that both Felix and her son were in trouble.
‘Slave hunters,’ Felix panted whilst they were running along side each other, back to where he left the cart to follow the hunter’s trail from there. ‘They’re not from around here.’
Sula could pick up their scent and try to rescue Aigle; how they weren’t sure yet, as just like Aigle, she struggled to use her powers when attacked or overwhelmed with anxiety and other emotions. However, if she really tried she could tune out and focus enough to concentrate and free their son. She had practised over the years, and even showed Aigle how to do it. She had taught him to meditate and calm down in situations that required strength and courage, and to concentrate entirely on a Mindmode. But was he ready for this? And for that matter, was she?
When they spotted the cart there was no sign anymore of Aigle or the three men. Sula knelt down and concentrated on the wolf with its excellent sense of smell, whilst Felix jumped on to examine the cart. He found the rope… broken.
‘Sula! Look!’ He showed her the broken rope with a puzzled look. Sula jumped on the cart with the rolls of fabric and grabbed it out of his hands, sniffed it, examined it and said with her eyes changing colour rapidly: ‘Aigle was tied up on the cart, he broke the rope here,’ and she pointed to the piece of rope. ‘and here and here. His hands and feet were tied and there was a big knot here, it’s broken in four places!’ She smiled slyly like the wolf she was at the moment, whilst still able to think like the comyenti and human she was, of course.
‘He used his powers and managed to escape!’ She sighed, relieved, and looked around at the ground for signs, and found footprints.
Felix touched his head, and ruffled his hand through his hair in hope, glancing around for signs too. Sula jumped off the cart just in time, as a huge hairy figure charged at her, but missed by a hair. Felix fell back and rolled off the cart with agility and skill.
Because Sula still had the strength of a wolf, she was powerful and immediately counter-attacked him by biting and scratching, using her hands which were now claws; or rather the idea and strength of claws. Big as he was, he stumbled backwards, but he managed to steady himself.
Then they saw that it wasn’t a man at all! It was a male bear, and Sula’s arms and hands lost their strength at once when she realised this. She glanced at Felix who appeared frozen beside the cart, half hiding. His face went as white as a sheet when he saw the anger in the bear’s expression, aimed at his wife. Saliva was dripping out of the black bear’s mouth, his dark hungry eyes staring at her; ready to charge again.
It was then that Felix remembered his hammer, he suddenly felt empowered and stood. In one swift movement he pulled it out from under his belt, aimed, and hit the bear right in the face! The hammer bounced off and landed close to Sula, and with a loud growl the bear dropped to the ground.
Felix jumped up next to Sula, grabbed her hand, and then the hammer. Together they ran away, leaving the scene to follow the path to safety. Sula glanced backwards once, not understanding why a bear would attack her, unless he was driven by hunger or defending something? Why had she not been able to get any communication established between the bear and herself? Usually she could pick up images, thoughts, feelings and intentions from animals. She had Mindmerged with one individual of the bear species, which would mean an easy communication had been established with all of their kind, as well as being able to use their abilities on command from then on. But this had just been mere rage and bloodlust radiating from the bear, and a mental blankness. She had sensed that much, but why? What had happened to him? She tried to shake it off, shifting her thoughts to her son.
Slowing down, now several hundred few feet away from the scene, Felix asked her in a concerned tone of voice, ‘Can you pick up Aigle’s scent?’
Sula nodded whilst they urged on. ‘I have and it’s confusing as I can smell so many different scents now, comyenti with a hint of human, Aigle, bear and…a hint of some kind of reptile. They are hard to smell, but the scent is definitely there. Somehow it doesn’t make sense,’ Sula said, shaking her head, ‘Lizards?’
She glanced around knowing there were no lizards in this area for it was too shady. The mountains yes, but not these woods. An uncomfortable feeling grew inside of her and lay heavy as a stone in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t thought about the incident in the Moany Mountains beneath the Unicos’ Palace in years. The time a shapeshifter had tried to kill her. It had been some kind of lizard man.
The bear…
‘Let’s concentrate on Aigle first, honey,’ Felix said, seeing her frown and sensing her confusion.
She agreed and pointed, ‘That way. He is not alone
though. They must have recaptured him, two males.’
‘So, one each,’ Felix said, invigorated. ‘I’ve got my hammer, you’ve got the wolf, or bear or lion if need be. Anything to free him, my love! Do what you have to do.’ He licked his lips, fear painted his face, but it was that fear; the fear of losing his son, which drove him on.
Would I kill to get my son back? she found herself thinking. Yes, if need be.
‘If he escaped once, he might be able to do it again,’ Sula said hopefully. ‘We have to trust him on that.’
She decided not to worry her husband with her suspicions regarding the men not being human, but actually shape-shifting lizard people. That would surely freak him out! It already had years ago when she told him about her encounter with one, and she had been very lucky on that occasion.
‘Yes, but it might be different this time,’ Felix said, responding to Sula’s suggestion. ‘They might have used other methods to break Aigle’s spirit, frighten him or worse…harm him. He is a pretty boy, Bhan knows what they’ll do to him!’ He clenched his fists. Sula touched his hands and gazed at him sternly. ‘Honey, don’t, please don’t say anything any more!’ Her eyes showed fresh tears; she was terrified and he understood that he was making it worse by going on about it, whilst she needed every bit of strength, courage and hope she had inside of her to be able to use her powers soon.
‘I’m sorry, darling. I… wasn’t thinking clearly.’
He kissed her closed eyelids and then her lips. His hand joined hers, so familiar, and as one they ran along the path following Aigle’s scent.
Chapter 9 Children Of The Stars
The Comyenti Series Book Bundle, Volume 1 and 2 (Epic Romantic Supernatural Fantasy) Page 34
