The felines waited as the guys jogged to the edge of the clearing, then tensed as they prepared to attack. This time, they both roared loudly to warn the guys and paced around one another. Every few feet, they bumped each other and rubbed their heads together. Her mouth fell open and she began to laugh. “That’s it. They understood it. They know we’re all fighters and that everyone here is working for me. They’re bonding.”
“So…uh, we can stop, now?” Frog asked, his voice almost pleading, and she laughed out loud.
“Oh, hell, no. Bring it on, boys! No holds barred.”
Lars led the charge, then dropped back and let his teammates confront the animals while he worked his way around the battlefield in an effort to sneak up on her from behind.
When he reached her, she murmured, “I can see you, you know.”
“Yeah, and?” he asked as he lunged into a bone-jarring tackle.
He’d thought he’d won...right up until a black-and-yellow streak barreled into him from the side and bowled him away. Bumblebee kept going as the momentum of his strike carried him over the man and away. Before the team leader could move, a large black-and-white form landed on his chest and a loud rumble engulfed him.
Stephanie laughed so hard she couldn’t call the cats away until Zeekat had settled himself on Lars’s chest and begun to groom him. When she did, both animals bounded over to her and wound themselves around her legs, purring loudly.
The guys stood there and watched them. When she overbalanced and fell, giggling, the two big creatures rubbed their large furry faces against hers.
Lars raised an eyebrow and Frog came up to put his elbow on the man’s shoulder. “Well, she is a wtch, and witches love cats soooo…”
He turned his head slowly and fixed Frog with a horrified look. “No. We are not keeping those cats. They are far too big to be house pets. Besides, how would we even get them home? How do you think they’ll manage on board a ship? They might eat the entire crew and the passengers too.” He shook his head. “Nope, not happening”
She rolled free of her furred friends and stood. “All right, let’s do a couple more fights, these ones all out.” She turned to the cats and pointed a finger at them. “But don’t eat my guys.”
“I don’t like the sound of this,” Frog said and swallowed hard.
They went through several fights, during which they used the clearing and the trees around it. The felines leapt at them as she used magic to block their blows. The team came up with different routes to follow. Sometimes, they would move behind them and sometimes, from the side. During the final battle, though, they might have been a little overzealous.
Three of the guys attacked from the front and blocked blows from the animals while the others rappelled from the trees, landed behind them, and yelled a battle cry. The cats appeared to turn berserk, backed up in front of her, and leaned their heads back. They roared so loudly, it set birds to flight for miles around. Frog froze, visibly shaking as the creatures advanced toward him.
“Bumblebee! Zeekat!” Stephanie called, but they ignored her. His gaze fixed on his adversaries, his mouth worked soundlessly as his legs kept him frozen in place.
She tried again. “Bumblebee! Zeekat! Come!” she yelled, but they acted as if she wasn’t even there. They had locked onto Frog to the exclusion of everyone else. She tried one last time and waited until they pounced.
As soon as they left the ground, she wrapped Frog in a shielded cocoon. The cats pounded into the shield and rolled it around as Frog found his voice inside.
She paused to watch them for a moment, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed. The felines both licked the cocoon and clawed at the magic until it began to fray beneath their paws. She remained motionless but watched, ready to intervene, as it unraveled.
As soon as it had disintegrated, they both leaned down and licked Frog from chin to forehead until he started to sputter with laughter. The others joined him and chuckled as he tried to push the two large beasts off him.
They hadn’t intended to kill him. she laughed with relief. “They were teasing. Oh, man, this is golden.”
“It was the first attack from the inside in many years,” V’ritan told Ashgren as they discussed recent events while they waited.
She shook her head in disgust and was about to reply when something caught her attention at the edge of the woods. The ambassador raised his head to follow her gaze and anxiety creased his face.
He frowned as the team emerged from the woods. They moved slowly and appeared battered and bruised. Beside him, the Teacher caught his eye and smirked. “Well, some of them survived.”
V’ritan narrowed his eyes and turned back in time to see two large cats trot from beneath the trees. They pawed at each other and tumbled together in the grass.
Finally, Stephanie stepped out of the shadows and looked surprisingly unscathed. V’ritan looked at the Teacher and smirked at her in return.
The felines ceased their rough and tumble play, ran to her, and rubbed their heads against her legs. They hung back and followed her, showing their respect for her.
Both the ambassador and the Teacher were shocked and lost for words. Finally, Ashgren found her voice. “She is the first to ever fully complete this specific test.”
He smiled. “I knew she could do it.”
The Teacher waved her over and Stephanie jogged up but directed the cats to the side with the guys. The woman scrutinized her carefully and sighed. “How did you do it? I must know.”
Stephanie chuckled, slightly out of breath. “The answer is in the Illusion of Magic.”
Her team all looked down to hide their grins. They wouldn’t admit a single thing. All they’d done was support her, even if they’d earned a hefty share of scratches for their trouble.
Stephanie shot the ambassador a glance and focused on the Teacher. “I think the point of this exercise is to show that there are some things that cannot be changed by magic. You see, those two will never love each other.”
She held her hand up as the Teacher went to protest that the cats seemed to do exactly that. “Technically, these guys aren’t in love, but I did manage to convince them that they were part of the same team and on the same side, which was, perhaps, the point. Now, while I used magic to make it happen, the magic didn’t change their natures. Nothing can do that.”
As she spoke, Ashgren nodded her head. “Yes. You understood the problem exactly. Well done. You may proceed to the final test.”
The Teacher turned, took V’ritan’s arm, and let him escort her inside. The team returned to the shuttle and Stephanie stopped as she reached the edge of the stone circle. She dropped to one knee in front of the cats and caressed them both. “You can come with me, or you can return to the forest. It’s your choice.”
As if they understood her and each other, the felines exchanged glances, looked back at the woods, and then to where the team boarded the shuttle. Finally, Zeekat rose onto his hind legs and put his front paws on her shoulders so he could lick her face.
It was no more than a swift dab on the nose before he dropped again, and Bumblebee repeated the process and licked her face. The two trotted unhesitatingly toward the craft.
When they reached it, they dodged around Lars. He tried to protest and was thoroughly ignored. “But…ah, man.”
Frog grabbed his belly and laughed loudly. “Bwahahaha. Look who won.”
Ashgren shook her head. “Shocking. They understand her intent, if not her words. If I had not seen this with my own eyes, V’ritan, I would have said you were lying. Now, I shall go to my grave wondering exactly how she accomplished this great feat.”
The ambassador scratched his chin, his brow tight in a frown. “Me, too.”
He said goodbye to Ashgren and so did Stephanie, who walked back from the launch pad once the cats had made it into the shuttle with the team.
“Thank you,” she told the Teacher. “I learned a lot, today.”
“You are very welcome, chil
d. Please come again. I’d like to hear how you succeeded.”
“As soon as I can,” she told her and hurried to the shuttle.
V’ritan followed her and glanced over his shoulder from the shuttle’s entry hatch to where Ashgren stood at the circle’s edge. “Wish me good health.”
She nodded and waved, and he closed the door. As the shuttle lifted, she stepped back, folded her arms, and chuckled for the first time in a very long time. “Good health to you, my friend. You may need it before your shuttle lands.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
The next morning, the team were back on board the shuttle. This time, Stephanie had managed to sneak a canteen of coffee aboard.
As they traveled into the morning light, Frog laughed loudly, looked up from his tablet, and shook his head. “I’m watching the feed we set up in the common area. The cats are basically running the world, right now. The two Meligornians who clean the rooms are plastered against the wall, absolutely terrified.”
“They are an unexpected turn of events but hey, I have two giant cats now.” She chuckled.
Lars smirked. “Oh, boy.”
She laughed and patted him on the shoulder as she walked past to sit up front with V’ritan. “So, this is the third and final test,” she said as she settled into the seat. “What should I expect?”
He didn’t look as carefree as he had the day before. “This one is for the presupposition of the power of magic, but I must warn you. The Teacher, Tethis, is much, much older than either of the other two. I wish I could tell you how it will go, but this Teacher is difficult to read, and he’s been more and more ornery with each person who is brought to him for testing.”
His heavy sigh wasn’t at all encouraging. “Sometimes, I think he deliberately makes things too hard. Honestly, we probably should have pushed for his retirement a while ago, but at that time, I never expected you to go through the Mysteries and so didn’t think his prejudices would be a problem.”
Stephanie shook her head. “I’m not worried about him. What are the rules?”
V’ritan shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can’t divulge that. The rules of each test are for the Teacher to explain, and the Teacher alone. Part of their duties is to come up with their own parameters for these things.”
He thought about that for a moment before he added, “I will say that from what I have seen in the past, this test usually involves a spell which pulls a lot of energy to accomplish. In theory, this should be a simple test for you. You have considerable experience in that.”
She rubbed her face to ease a little of the tension that had crept in. “I have considerable experience running myself almost to death.”
The ambassador shook his head. “No, what you’ve done is learn what you can and cannot do in these situations. You’ve found your weak spot—your Kryptonite.”
Stephanie looked up, surprised. “Superman? You don’t know Earth sayings but you know Kryptonite?”
V’ritan smirked. “Superheroes were the first thing I learned about Western culture when I came to Earth. They were secretive about it, but all the bigwigs have these huge collections of superhero memorabilia.”
She gasped. “They told us they burned all of them. Those belong to the people. Wonder Woman, Batman, the whole DC universe. And don’t get me started on Marvel with Thor, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil—oh, the pain this brings me.”
He patted her leg. “I’m sorry. I should have kept that to myself. But know that somewhere out there, someone is reading a superhero story, even if it’s only a politician, and they are thinking of you.”
Her nostrils flared. “So, this test will probably suck ass, won’t it?”
“Probably,” he agreed, “but that does seem to be your special gift.”
Stephanie blinked and looked slowly at him. He shook his head and stumbled over his next words. “I did not mean your special gift was…actually sucking...uh…”
She sliced her hand through the air. “Enough said. We shall never speak of this again.”
Frog popped around the edge of the seat and put his head on her shoulder. “So, I hear you have some seriously kinky special gift going on. Who knew your witch powers took that particular bent?”
Stephanie, with a straight face, shoved his head away and shook hers furiously as she buried her face in her hands. “You did this.”
The shuttle touched down and V’ritan winced. “My apologies. Truly. We don’t have… It didn’t cross my mind because—”
She shook her head. “Let’s go get this over with.”
“Yep,” he replied quietly.
They stood and approached the hatch, climbed out of the craft, and waved to the guys as the door shut slowly behind them. She looked back and frowned. “No, Lars?”
“No, I... convinced him you’d be better off if you were the only human to appear and that I could keep you safe.”
He said that so quickly that she gave him a suspicious look. “You can’t guarantee that, can you?”
The ambassador blushed and bowed his head. “I can only hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“It’s okay,” she told him. “I’ve got this.”
She looked around, puzzled. “Uh, where is this Tethis guy?”
He pointed ahead at what looked like the entrance to an old cave. However, as she squinted for a better look, a front door came into focus. It looked more like a run-down Hobbit hole than a cave and it was all the more creepy for it.
As she moved toward it, the door creaked open. The Teacher, Tethis, emerged to greet them, his robes faded with age.
His long silver hair had become snow-white and hung in a tangled mass down his back. He held a twisted staff in one hand and used it to steady his walk as he moved away from the house.
The closer he came, the nimbler he grew, although he was still obviously very old. Stephanie was in awe. She’d never met an old Meligorn before and she walked up and moved into a traditional greeting. He simply turned away to acknowledge V’ritan instead.
She was slightly hurt, but the ambassador had warned her, so she was able to shake it off. Instead, she used the moment of their conversation to study the Teacher a little more. His skin was mottled with age and wrinkled by time.
With his greeting finished, V’ritan attempted to introduce her but Tethis ignored that as well. She began to wonder if being here had been a mistake—if allowing her, a mere human, to undertake the Mysteries was some colossal error. Apparently, Tethis felt the same. “I don’t like seeing you go to all this trouble for a human, Ambassador.”
The other man held his temper and tried to explain. “This human is a witch, Teacher, and the most powerful one I have ever seen. She has saved my life, the king’s life, and the lives of thousands on board a luxury starliner. She has more than earned my respect.”
At this, the Teacher turned to study her intently with his dark, beady eyes. “Yes, well, I don’t know her and her tricks. I’ll be straightforward, Ambassador, I have no interest in testing a human, nor do I have any interest in allowing one into the Mysteries. It is a sacred calling and it is meant only for the magical. It is not for those only able to dabble in tricks.”
“This test has been ordered by the king,” V’ritan replied, handing over an official-looking envelope.
The old Master waved it away and almost snarled in fury. “It could be ordered by my mother and I would still be appalled.” He snorted. “Besides which, what will he do if I refuse? Sentence me to death? It’s about time. Put me in jail for the rest of my life? That will be a very short sentence. This is not something that was ever meant to take place. Period.”
As she listened, Stephanie’s anger began to rise. Sure, V’ritan had warned her that the old Teacher had some very...traditional views, but this was ridiculous—and far too much like the prejudice directed at people from the Subs for her to tolerate.
Finally, she’d had enough. She fought to maintain her tight control over her temper as she stepped forwa
rd to interrupt their conversation. “You gentlemen do understand that I am a sentient being and that I am right here? I can hear every word you are saying, and I don’t appreciate it.”
The Teacher shook his staff at her. “Oh, you can hear us, can you? Well, good for you, young lady, but that doesn’t change the fact you come from a species not yet out of diapers.”
He made a show of another disdainful scrutiny—literally from head to toe—and curled his lip in disgust. “And you—why you’re barely old enough to be out of diapers, let alone change one, much less be acknowledged as a Mage. When I was your age, I was playing outside in the mud and finding treasures in each nostril. I had no idea of what a grown-up was, let alone how to be one.”
He waved his hand in frustration. “This…this is ludicrous!”
The ambassador tried to cut in, but she held up her hand and fixed her gaze on the Master, even though he refused to return it.
“Oh yeah?” she challenged. “Can’t little babies teach the wise but old Teachers something new? Or is being taught something new by a young species merely the proof that the Teacher needs to retire? Perhaps that’s it since he isn’t grown-up enough to acknowledge that even babies become adults, given time—and that some are more grown-up than he could ever be.”
At these words, he finally raised his gaze to meet hers and his eyes burned with fury. He straightened his back and, through clenched teeth, snapped, “Impertinent, aren’t you?”
V’ritan rolled his eyes and groaned, but Stephanie wasn’t there to fight. She was there to pass her test and move forward. Her focus on what was important, she didn’t give him a chance to intervene. “What is the task? Or has your prejudice blocked your ability to carry out your role as a teacher?”
“Ridiculous,” Tethis sputtered and seemed almost too angry to speak.
She shook her head, disgusted by his attitude. “Humans have played with the energies of the cosmos for hundreds of generations, regardless of whether you’re capable of acknowledging it or not.”
The Teacher pivoted between them, glared at her, then fixed the ambassador with such a fearsome look that V’ritan took a step back.
Witch Of The Federation (Federal Histories Book 2) Page 52
