Widderkin - 16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16.

The High King sought a way through this inconvenient but concerning health report.

"Fragile? Maynor could never be described so. He has strength and resilience to match anyone in the Realms. All I seek is a moment of wakefulness. Surely with your support he could manage that?"

"Not under my watch, My Lord. I can assure you that, with adequate rest and constant supervision, he should make a full recovery, but not with another interruption to his healing. Look at him. My healing trance is barely adequate to sustain him."

Aglaron was looking, with a high degree of anxiety and a good deal of regret, and not liking what he was seeing.

"Would the backing of a triad help? There are matters of great concern which only Maynor can address."

The healer adept regarded his king with amazement.

"Of course, my Lord. It would greatly strengthen my ability to support him and secure his recovery."

"A triad will arrive to assist you within the half hour.

Aglaron surveyed Maynor's pallid and drawn features then departed to talk with Uirebon, who, though not in the same dire condition, was, nevertheless, confined to his healing chamber for some time to come.

***

"My Lord, have you news regarding Maynor? My healer informs me there are complications with his recovery."

"Yes, Uirebon. My decision to wake him earlier was hasty and mistaken and my standing with his healer was low indeed until I arranged for a triad to give him assistance. His recovery is now assured, but provisional on him staying in healing trance for at least another day."

"A full day? With a triad helping his healer? He was overtaxed more than we understood then."

"Much more. My precipitous withdrawal of the Nexus energy he was using for the portal meant an equivalent amount was drained from his already overloaded personal reserves."

"How was it possible to provide a triad? All three were rendered un-workable for days."

"At my personal request three junior courtiers volunteered to meld as a minor triad."

"Indeed? The High Court must be agog with your calls for ever more triad activity."

"They are, but they will adapt and accommodate. My calls will have to increase with our three major triads out of action."

Uirebon regarded his liege thoughtfully.

"My Lord, I sense your disquiet. Has something gone awry with Keryth? My Coursers are well on their way and should be passing into Maynor's realm within the hour."

"We may have to withdraw them. In gaining momentarily knowledge of Keryth's location I have lost the three Fetches Maynor ceded control to me. The risk I took in reviving him this morning was wasted and any proper actions in his Domain are now further delayed."

"Three Fetches? No entity in the Realms can easily face a Fetch. What has Keryth done? Has he developed yet another ability? ... Or is it related to the gemstone again?"

"Keryth was at the point of submission when the Warrior and the Dark Child released him by making a direct physical attack. In the chaos of the situation they were able to overwhelm a second Fetch and I had to relinquish control of the third."

"Chaos? With you controlling the Fetches, my Lord?"

"Yes, chaos. Somehow they overcame the Fetch-fear which had them fleeing and they orchestrated a fully planned encounter. Instead of overtaking a weary and dispirited group the Fetches were suddenly faced with Keryth and four Chargers which he immediately sent to trample them. Fear overcame the Chargers of course, but two Fetches were hindered and by the time they were able to pass, the four companions were all attacking with the aid of makeshift weapons."

"What sort of weapons, my Lord?"

"Staffs. Simple but sturdy, and well-suited for the task of unbalancing a Fetch. The one in Keryth's grasp was sharpened to a point at one end."

"That does indicate preparation. It also indicates cohesion and purpose as a group. How will we track them? Surely the powerful distance vision of my Coursers will be invaluable?"

"We will lose them, Uirebon. Kieran appropriated the most highly trained pair from Maynor's tower with enough force to put you in the hands of your healer. I have more than enough setbacks with the loss of Maynor's assistance."

"You know the location. Why not open your own portal and send more Fetches? ... No. That would require Maynor's consent and he is not able to give it."

"His assent can be regarded as a given, but while he recovers a portal is out of question. Any attempt to construct one to his Realm would interfere with his elaborate defensive network against Lady Narello's aggressions and result in a backlash which, though relatively minor, would be disastrous in his current condition."

"My Lord, our actions are grievously limited while we need to wait for Maynor's recovery and our best course is to be prepared fully for when he is with us again. If it is still your intention to claim the Warrior and use him as your primary lever to force Keryth to accede to treatment, a larger group of Fetches should be assembled and readied for portal transport. It would be testing fealty, but sending a group of torced Power Masters is another option you could consider."

"A Power Master donning a torc? Uirebon, that is not an action I wish to contemplate. Ten mounted Fetches will be waiting for the moment when Maynor is released from his healer. A force of that size will overcome, and if we are unable to to keep Keryth located, will also possesses formidable tracking skills which the Power Masters lack."

"Ten Fetches is beyond your ability to control, My Lord. How will you manage so many?"

"With great difficulty and with your assistance. We will spend some time conditioning them prior to Maynor's awakening."

"As you wish, My Lord ... What should I do with my Coursers? All four pairs are close to the border of Maynor's Realm."

"Let them continue their approach, but no closer than you feel is safe. When the time is right we will use them to survey the probable location of Keryth and his companions and hope for any information which helps with targeting a portal exit more accurately. At that stage I fully expect you will lose control to Keryth, but the loss will be well worth it for the knowledge it gives us."

"Hmm, yes. I see. Keryth must be somewhere within a range similar to that when he took Maynor's Coursers ... I will position my own so that when the time comes they converge from the four points of the compass. Combining four sets of positioning at the moment of loss will be quite accurate. My Lord, this could save hours of tracking by the Fetches."

"Very clever indeed, UIrebon. If Keryth travels while we wait for Maynor, this strategy would likely save half a day or more, rather than hours. I will assemble the Fetches and build the foundation for a suitable portal while you make the most of your recovery time."

***

Kieran's plan to stay overnight was discarded when Woorawa suggested that whoever controlled the Spooks was probably still after them and the first place they'd come looking would be where they were now, and it would be a good idea to get well away. The relief of having a break after the pursuit and the scare vibes holding them, combined with the eagerness for Mr B's fish feast, did mean a stay of over two hours though and, after a busy start, some time to relax and talk things over.

After Tan’s ‘baby scratch’, a long but shallow gash really, was cured, everyone except Mr B gathered to watch Kieran call for any fish that might be present. He already knew this fish pattern and it only took moments for three or four fish to arrive. By the time Tan and Rhys waded in there were even more and when the process of flipping ten of the biggest ashore for Woorawa to dispatch with Tan's pocketknife finished, there were still about a dozen gathered close. Mr B, who had all the fire materials ready as well as some suitable skewer sticks, was most impressed by the bountiful catch and declared, almost ceremonially, that their fish feast was well and truly underway.

For an hour the main focus was on food, discussing everyone's theory about why their own fish was cooked better than anyone else's, and sharing morsels by way of proof. A secondary focus was on getting runners and clothes comfortably dry.

There was an exciting break when Kieran called the two Eagles down and had them rest, one on each of Tan's shoulders, while they walked back to the edge of the lagoon. Two more fish were called then flipped, flapping, to the shore and everyone watched the drama as with calls of satisfaction, the birds launched from their perch to grasp the wriggling fish in their talons then fly to a spot where they could devour this delicacy.

Back at the fire, everyone settled to talk and relax.

"How did you know the Eagles would like the fish, Kieran?"

"They were watching when we took the first ones and their minds registered so much excitement and hunger I knew fish must be special prey. Letting them launch from your shoulders when the fish appeared, Tan, has linked you even more strongly in their minds as a source of rewards. When they finish eating they’ll perch somewhere for a rest, but a bit later we’ll teach them to come at your call."

"Are they tired from all the flying you’ve had them doing?"

"I don't think so. They perched quietly this morning after I sent them hunting, so I reckon that’s their pattern. I had to send strong calming messages when I reconnected to them after the Spooks were gone. I think the scare vibes affected them too when they did that low-flying for us."

"You lost contact? It's a wonder they didn't fly off somewhere."

"I got back to them too quickly. I lost the horses too, and they were close to us and so panicked I knew I had to check all the animals."

Everyone turned towards the four horses with their heads down grazing steadily.

"They look as happy as anything. Are you making them like that, Kieran, or is it natural for them to get over things quickly?"

"Not too much. I only did the calming for a little while and when I started them eating they settled down almost as if nothing had happened. They think this grass is like going to heaven and I know they’re happy to be with us."

"Anyone would be happy to get away from those Spooks."

"Not really, Tan. They only freaked when the Spooks sent a fear wave at them. That's when I lost them."

"We’re lucky they love this grass so much and we don't have to feed them anything else. Don't ordinary horses have to eat hay or oats to keep them healthy?"

"We’re lucky the Eagles can look after themselves too, Rhys. We've got enough problems finding our own food without having to worry about them as well. We can't just eat fish all the time."

"Wild birds are meant to be tasty. We can try them next."

Woorawa laughed.

"I don't know about that, Rhys. There's a story at home about how to cook galahs. You boil them in a billy with a stone, and when the stone turns soft you throw the galah away and eat the stone."

"What? That's crazy ... Have you ever eaten wild birds, Woorawa?"

"No, they’re too hard to catch."

"Well, these fish are delicious so I'm happy to keep eating them."

"That’ll only work while we follow the creek, Tan. We'll probably have to leave it sometime."

"We can't. We need water."

"I've been thinking about that and I reckon Kieran should be able to send the Eagles looking for other water sources like lakes or dams."

"There won't be any dams. That means civilisation and we didn't see any, but water is a big thing for the Eagles and that's a good idea, Mr B, so I'll get them to look when we set off again."

"You’re our tactician, Woorawa. How much more travel do you think we should do today?"

Woorawa looked to Kieran.

"Back on the main trail we thought the White Wall was still about half a day away, so I reckon if we ride for three hours that would be a good separation from here, as well as making tomorrow's travel not too far ... What do you think, Kieran?"

"Three hours is as much as we've done since we got all the horses, so we'd have to use Rhys's energy boost a few times to keep going that long. Let's try two hours and then keep going till we find a good place to stop for the night."

Everyone agreed with that then followed Woorawa's orders to lie down and relax or even sleep for the next half hour while he kept a lookout.

Kieran thought it was a bit unfair if Woorawa was always going to be the 1st to do any lookout duty, but a rest was too sensible an idea to resist, and arguing with him wouldn't work anyway. The Eagles were in their passive mode after eating, too, and since they’d soon be very busy, a quiet time was doubly called for. After a quick animal check, with the eagles asleep and the horses pleasantly satisfied and eating with less purpose, Kieran closed his eyes with his head resting on Rhys's chest, and started thinking how everyone was reacting to the unbelievable happenings since they’d reached this strange place.

Tan seemed to be the most shocked and he’d commented a number of times during the fish feast that he kept wondering when he was going to wake up and be back in the real world. He wasn't freaking out though, and a few times he'd even lightened the atmosphere with his different way of looking at things.

Rhys was amazing, with all his energy and enthusiasm, and was treating everything almost like an adventure from one of the books he was always talking about with Mr B.

Kieran thought back to the quiet, reserved student who needed coaxing to produce the special smile which so rarely lit up his face, and felt a warm glow for the change to confidence, mischief and happiness, which their closeness had released.

Woorawa was amazing too with all his practical ideas and matter-of-fact acceptance of every bizarre and unreal event. Kieran's own theory was that Woorawa's many years of blindness had made him live in a world of imagination connected with the Dreamtime stories which were so important to him.

Mr B was steady and thoughtful and full of good advice and support, but the hardest to understand, probably because he was older. His mind was certainly more complicated and unusual. Another puzzle was the way he deferred to Kieran with any decisions.

Kieran smiled to himself thinking about this. All four of them did the same really and he knew it was partly because of these strange abilities which made him so different, and partly because of several times when he had taken over without thinking whether he should or not. It wasn't being bossy. Mr B would describe it as being a natural leader. Well, Woorawa had been the boss about having a rest so now it was his turn to follow orders.

***

"Think of a command for landing on your shoulders and another one for flying to perch somewhere else, Tan, and we’ll get them to learn them."

"All right. I'll use ‘shoulder’ for me and ‘perch’ to perch somewhere else."

"Ha! Not very original but they do make sense. Now put an action with each command so they’ve got a visual clue as well."

Tan thought for a second.

"Right arm out sideways with a clenched fist means the female lands on my right shoulder, and left arm out means the male lands on my other shoulder. Pointing goes with ‘perch’ to rest somewhere in that direction."

"Okay, let's go. That’ll be easy for them."

Ten minutes later the commands were locked in and Tan, bursting with excitement and pleasure, called ‘perch’ and pointed at a nearby branch with his left arm. The male eagle launched from his shoulder and flew almost exactly where indicated, while the female stayed in place on his other shoulder.

"How do they learn it so quickly, Kieran? Are you planting the ideas in their minds?"

"I am a bit, Rhys, but they’re clever too, and there's a pattern in the way they react that tells me that they’re used to following commands."

"George is really clever. He already knows to come when I call him without you putting it in his mind."

"He does now, but I did help a couple of times when you first tried it. We’ll have a session like this with the horses next time we stop ... Woorawa, go and stand by yourself so we can see if the female’s happy with landing on your shoulder when Tan tells her to. Tan’s shoulders are their home base but I think they’re familiar enough with the rest of us now not to get upset."

Woorawa rushed to comply. So far Tan was the only one to have this very special close encounter.

"Perch."

The big female spread her wings and gave a cry, which Kieran read as partial protest, before launching and traversing the short distance to Woorawa.

"Wow, Kieran! She didn't look too happy just then. Were you in her mind making sure she did what Tan wanted?"

"I was watching just in case, but I didn't need to. Tan’s her boss now and he gave her a command."

"I wonder why these birds and animals make different choices?"

"What do you mean, Mr B?"

"The ones at home automatically chose Kieran to identify with, Rhys. Remember the eagle and the honeyeater at the Grampians? The rest of us didn't even register."

"Hey, yes! That doesn't make sense."

Rhys looked straight at Kieran.

"Do you know what's going on, Kieran?"

Everyone was suddenly looking at him very pointedly and Kieran gave a semi-embarrassed little chuckle.

"Sprung! ... They’re the same here, Rhys, but I decided to share them round and I transferred their focus to whoever matched with them the best. You were natural for the horses and the Eagles were fascinated by Tan."

"... George really likes me? ... Or did you tell him to?"

"He likes you naturally, and he likes you even more as time goes on. He loved it after he calmed down from the Spooks and you kept him company for a while."

Woorawa was too preoccupied with twisting his head to look at the Eagle on his shoulder to take much notice of this conversation and Kieran waited for a few moments before interrupting his pleasure.

"Point straight up at the sky, Tan, and tell them to fly. It's time to get them working again and checking for any sign of Spooks or anything else coming after as."

Both birds launched and quickly rose above the trees at the side of the clearing with their new lookout commands while the companions mounted the horses and started to make their way back to the main trail.

***

Woorawa pulled to a halt at one of the side tracks which they now knew would take them to the creek, and everyone joined him with a great deal of relief. They’d had one healing burst for their aching muscles and complaining joints about an hour ago and another was way overdue.

"Is this enough separation from the feast camp, Kieran? We've come a long way and there's been no sign of anyone coming after as."

Rhys leaned forward and rubbed the side of George's neck.

"And the horses must be needing a rest after two hours without stopping. I vote we check out this side trail and camp if there’s a clearing with grass for them."

The horses didn't need a rest. Kieran knew from his regular checks that they could go all day at this afternoon's pace and hardly notice it. He looked at the White Wall which had been looming more and more in his mind and toyed with the idea of continuing to one more side trail. No, the defined side trails had been occurring at roughly half hour intervals so far, and since the afternoon was drawing in it might be too close to dusk before they stopped.

"It's a pity not to keep going because the Wall’s further than we judged, but we don't want to travel in the dark either so let's check this one out."

That got four very emphatic nods. Woorawa led the way and 200 m later stopped his horse by a lazy looking pool and declared this was a suitable place to stay for the night.

"It's not as good as the last camp and the clearing’s not as big, but this does look like their favourite grass. There’s a good spot down there for them to have a drink too ... But first thing before we do anything else is have a swim and a cleanup."

"A swim? Now?"

"Tan, I've got one pair of jocks and one pair of socks, and I'm going to wash them and let them dry near the fire so they feel clean when I put them on in the morning."

"Um ... We haven’t got any soap."

"We've got water and sand. That's better than nothing ... Last one in is a wuss."

Rhys didn't join the rush. Instead he disappeared behind some vegetation and shrubs for a while before returning with complaints about the discomfort and drawbacks of having to use grass and pieces of bark instead of toilet paper.

"What a pack of rudies ... And I'm not a wuss, Woorawa. Some things take priority."

“Hurry up then and don't worry about frightening all the fish away when you strip off. Tan’s already done that when he used mud instead of sand to wash his chest."

Instead of stripping bare like everyone else, Rhys raced into the water in his jocks and socks and started a great splashing war against anyone he could get close to before finally stripping to wash the way Woorawa demonstrated for him.

The laughter quickly finished and everyone got active with the various tasks involved in getting settled for the night. The horses were steadily munching and the Eagles were perched, watching and waiting for the reward of a nice fish each which Kieran had fixed in their minds. An hour later, with the bones and remnants of their third fish meal for the day tossed on the glowing coals, everyone settled around the campfire. Kieran's expectation for a big discussion about the day's events was put on hold when Tan collected one of the Spook ropes and handed it to Keiran.

"I’ve been thinking about the way it went completely useless without the Spook, Keiran, like it needed power to make it work, and I wondered if you could use your Opal energy with it."

Rhys got really excited.

"That’s an unreal idea, Tan. If we could make it work it might protect us from Spooks if more come after us."

"And it might not, Rhys. If the Spooks use them all the time they’ve probably got some sort of precaution against accidents."

"I suppose, Mr B, … but they’d definitely work against wild animals."

"Keiran controls ordinary animals easily, Rhys."

"I know, Woorawa, but what about un-ordinary animals? … See if you can make it active, Keiran."

Keiran trailed the intricately woven cord through his fingers then grabbed Rhys’s hand and wound a short length around it.

Woorawa laughed.

"Testing for wild animals and un-ordinary ones at the same time? Good thinking, Keiran."

Rhys’s mouth opened for a comeback but then the consequence sank in.

"You’ll paralyse me!"

Keiran unwound the cord and changed his grip to the short handle part.

"Only if I can make something happen."

Rhys waggled his little finger in front of Woorawa’s face.

"That’s how we’ll test it. We can’t use your brain ‘cause it’s already paralysed."

Woorawa’s eyes lit up.

"Hey, wow! You really are volunteering?"

"Someone has to … and I’m only going to make a tiny touch with the back of my finger. Drape the end over these sticks while you experiment, Keiran."

Keiran called a trickle of energy and immediately the cord glowed blue.

"Does that mean it’s live, Keiran?"

"I don’t know, Rhys. It might because the glow happened by itself. Give it a tiny touch and see … No! Woorawa can be the guinea pig and you can heal him if it works."

"What? … well, I suppose."

Now Rhys was all concern and he insisted on demonstrating how to go ahead.

A light brush with the back of his finger was enough to make Woorawa gasp and he grabbed the finger and started working it back and forward.

"It’s really strong, Kieran. Turn it down."

"I don’t know how."

"Of course you do. Just take some of the energy away … like you do for glows or healing."

And it was as simple as that. If he called energy the cord seemed to automatically take it, so it was only a matter of controlling how much. The sense of achievement lasted till Rhys proclaimed it was useless. Everyone else had to be able to use one as well, and a solution only arrived with Tan’s suggestion of a dedicated pool of energy, like the shield pools, and a lot of experimentation.

Woorawa insisted next on having a concentrated practice session involving all the abilities they could think of. There was a strong consensus that the complicated network of mind shields connecting everyone, including the horses and Eagles, was the most important thing for their protection, and at least half the practice time involved ideas for testing and strengthening it.

Mr B was intrigued that the Eagles were still protected when they were flying kilometres and kilometres away, and wanted to know if that needed extra help from the Opal.

"Most of the time I hardly use the Opal at all, Mr B. I needed it the first time I reached for the Eagles, and when we started the fires, and the healing times of course, but that's about it."

"You used it when the Spooks attacked."

"No I didn't ... I might have tried making my shield stronger but that was useless."

"Kieran your whole body was glowing bright blue till after the third one disappeared. You must have been using it."

"He doesn't need the Opal to make the glow, Rhys."

"Hmm. I suppose not, but it was awfully bright. Make all of us glow, Kieran."

"What colour?"

"Blue of course. That seems to come naturally."

In an instant all five companions was surrounded with a soft blue glow.

"That was quick. Did you need the opal?"

"Of course not, Rhys. The blue glow’s just about the easiest thing I can do."

"All right. Add in the horses."

Everyone turned to look down the clearing where four shimmering blue shapes suddenly sprang into visibility.

"Wow! Ghost horses! Are you using the opal yet?"

"No."

"Okay, light up the Eagles. Are they very far away?"

Kieran pointed even though we didn't need to.

"Any Opal?"

"Not yet."

"I remember that there’s an extra big tree about twenty metres in that direction. Light that up as well."

"I can't see it, Rhys. It has to be in my mind before I can do anything to it."

"All right. Light up a pathway in the grass then. Can you do that for twenty metres without the opal?"

Kieran lit up the grass he could see by the light of the campfire, then progressively used each newly revealed section to extend a glowing ribbon towards where Rhys said the tree would be.

"Specco! Are you doing all this by yourself still?"

"Only just. I can't see the tree yet and my brain’s straining."

"Try going to the left a bit ... There it is. You can just make out the base of the trunk. Light it up."

Kieran couldn't. Five people, four horses, two eagles and a twenty metre ribbon was his limit so to go further he called on the Opal. The strain completely disappeared and in a few moments the whole tree was growing brightly and outlined against the surrounding dark.

"Everything suddenly got brighter. You used the Opal didn't you?"

"I had to, Rhys. I’d reached my limit."

"Keep all the glow going, Kieran, and make us all see an elephant walking along the blue pathway."

That was a similar process to making someone look like a giant frog but when Kieran started planting ideas on everyone's minds the blue glow of the pathway and the tree switched off.

"What happened, Kieran? I saw an elephant for half a second and now everything’s gone normal."

"Doing the elephant’s easy, and so is the path and the tree, but putting them all together at the same time isn’t."

Woorawa laughed.

"Well, we’re not letting you stop till you've got it right."

When Kieran did get it right, after a few more tries, the practice finished and there was a general discussion about the various happenings. The White Wall, their target destination for tomorrow morning, quickly became the main topic though, with various theories about what it might be and what might happen when they reached it. Rhys had a theory that no one else thought was right, that it could be like a rainbow and you’d never actually reach it.

It didn't take long to agree with Mr B that talking without any real information was interesting but not going to get anywhere much. Eventually, when it was agreed that an early night and an early start in the morning made a lot of sense, Woorawa organised a roster for everyone to take a turn at lookout duty.

***