Fear of Mystics (Saga of Mystics Book 2) (5 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

              The discomfort Rich had with the blended creatures was apparent to all, but it really wasn’t judgment, it was just weird to him. He wasn’t ready to live in a world that had Werewolves, or Satyrs. But this is the world he lived in.  There was no changing that, so he had best just get used to it. He had greeted a few of the “people” who were standing around. They all just stared at him, making him even more uncomfortable.

              In the center of this clearing, there blazed a campfire with pots of something bubbling over it. Meandering his way near to it, he leaned in and sniffed at the big pot that was brewing.

              “It is just stew; it won’t turn you into one of us.” Said a soft voice behind him and he turned around to look at a cat-woman. Even in that feline face, he could see the hurt and distrust.

              Rich smiled as best he could, “No.  I just was wondering what was cooking is all.”

              “Mmm, hmm” the cat lady purred out.

              “I am sorry,” Rich finally let out, loudly enough for the whole gathering to hear. “This is all pretty new to me. I am sorry if I seem taken aback. I don’t want anyone to feel uncomfortable.”

              There were mumbled answers from the trees. Rich caught something about, “why would we be uncomfortable in our own home?” and, “Traipse in here and judge us!”

              The clip-clop of hooves brought one of the centaurs up next to him. “It is new to everyone.” The centaur answered. “This is a gift that Annie has provided us.”

              Rich cleared his throat, not wanting to offend, but still wanting some information. “Does this have something to do with your powers?”

              “No,” the centaur said, “I am a war kinetic, though, so it doesn’t hurt. My name is Phineas.  That is my centaur name; my human name was Roger.”

              Rich stuck out his hand, “I am Rich Carson.”

              “You are from the Hillside group?” asked the cat lady.  “My name is Felicity, by the way.”

              “I am from Council Bluffs,” he thought it best not to tell too much before he was more acquainted with them. “I am a Council Member, actually.”

              Felicity’s ear flicked gently. “So, then you are a member of the Hillside group.” Her dismissiveness was so feline in its nature, that Rich couldn’t help but smile.

              They knew more than they were letting on. They knew of the Hillside, but not of the Bluffs. “I guess so.” Rich answered her.

He was going to ask more questions of them, as he saw Jack coming out of the hutch. Phineas looked up and galloped off toward him with some haste. Not thinking it was too rude to walk toward them, Rich followed suit. Looking back over his shoulder, he saw that Felicity was still staring at him with that mischievous side-look. Everything about her was like a cat. He got close enough to hear Jack speaking with Phineas.

              “…she is fine.  The foal is fine.  Actually, everything is as it should be, from all I know of equine anatomy.  That isn’t much, but it is enough to tell what is happening.  My guess is that you will soon have progeny that I assume is the first natural-born centaur on record.”

              Phineas let out a joyful laugh that sounded a little too much like a neigh. “Doctor Jack, you are a wonderful man.”  The human half of his body picked Jack up in a giant hug and swung him around before putting him down.

              “It is just Jack,” Jack offered, turning red with embarrassment.

              “No, my friend, you are Doctor Jack, friend of the Centaurs!” Phineas shouted out, and the whole area erupted in shouts, claps, hoots and hollers. Rich watched Jack, a young man not known for his humility, just overwhelmed by the praise and thanks. He saw a humility in him that immediately made him grateful for the journey of learning they were now on. Rich walked up and clapped him on the back.

              “Well, done, mate!” Rich exclaimed.

              Nodding a look of a need to speak in private, Jack walked out of earshot of any of the others. They were all busy congratulating Phineas anyway.

              When they were clear enough, Rich looked up to make sure they weren’t being spied on from overhead. “What’s up, bud?  Where is Cliff at?” Rich looked around but did not see the boy.

              Jack smiled. “Oh, he is still in the hutch with Annie.  He is fascinated by her, and what she is doing here.”

              They continued walking to the edge of the clearing, near to where Kim had walked off.  Rich peered through the branches and brush, looking for a sign of her. “What’s up?”

              “What she is doing is amazing,” Jack started.  “She is melding and molding their DNA, I could see it when I was helping out the centaur.  There is a blending of DNA I would not have thought possible, but it is going to be a huge help to us.”

              “How so?” Rich queried, questions already filling his mind.

              “We might be able to use the same technique on humans.  We could make them stronger, faster, more powerful. We could correct genetic mistakes, perhaps even save some within the womb.  I combined my healing with a little of this while working on Phineas’ mate.  I didn’t tell them, and I don’t think they could tell.  But, I cured a congenital defect that was causing her problems, but was also able to cure the defect that created that defect in the mare.  The possibilities are astounding.”

              Rich smiled at the young man.  Messing with DNA was a bit of hubris in Rich’s mind, but it wasn’t his call. “Will you share all of this with the Council?” he asked Jack, “You can describe and explain it much better than I ever could.”

              “Of course!” Jack was genuinely excited by the realization, and Rich could tell he wanted to explore this ability some more.  Cliff was just coming out of the hutch with Annie when a loud bird call rang out above the clearing.  Rich watched the creatures grab weapons from out of nowhere, and scatter into the woods, leaving the clearing empty except for Annie and Cliff.

              “What is happening?” Rich yelled to Annie.  She held a finger up to her lips to quiet him, looking off toward the south. They rushed to her side. She did not speak until Rich and Jack drew within a few feet.

              “The Faith.” She whispered.

              “The faith of what?” Rich whispered back.

              “They are called the Faith.” Annie looked frightened. “They do not like our powers at all, and think of us as the kind of freaks your woman friend thinks of us.”

              “Oh, damn, Kim.” Rich said. He looked to Jack and the two of them clearly had the same thought. They ran in the direction she had wandered.  They needed to find her and keep her away from those who would harm her. “Cliff, stay with Annie.”

              Rushing through the brush, they came to another clearing, this one unoccupied by any except Phineas and a Werewolf.  Phineas stared into the distance and the wolfman sniffed around the ground.

              “Yes, it was the Faith.” The werewolf growled out.

              Phineas spit on the ground.  “They have found us.  I have to let Annie know, and we have to move farther into the forest.”

              As he started to trot by, Rich asked Phineas, “What about the woman that was with us, Kim?”

              Phineas nodded his head toward the werewolf.

              Half man, half wolf, the creature looked up at Rich, its pale eyes gleaming. “She went with them.  There is no sign of a struggle.  She went with them.” The werewolf shouldered by both men and ran off into the woods.

              Rich stared in the direction the wolf had pointed, not entirely certain what that meant.

MIDDLE OF SUMMER

“Change comes on us all. There is no getting away. The stages of our lives creep up, and we can only cooperate with the passage of time.”
  - Chester Hilcomb,
On the Aged

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

              It was difficult to keep focus, since she was experiencing the minds of more than one hundred members of her pack at the moment.  At times, her mind frayed from the multitude of visions that hit her all at once. Taking all of the thoughts, directions and desires into her own mind, she sat and let the warm sun wash over her. She was just beginning to learn to control it, but humans talking to her didn’t help.  So, Maxine Craven sat on top of a rock, away from all other distractions, and took it all in.  By synthesizing the information, which she could barely do, she could basically see an area many miles wide and many miles long.  She smelled what her pack smelled, she saw what they saw and she felt what they felt.  A small whimper from Queenie jolted her out of her dilemma. 

              Looking down at the Rottweiler, who had been her constant companion since the death of Princess, she knew just what the large dog’s issue was.  She reached down and pet Queenie behind the ear.

              “I see them,” she said.

              A small portion of her pack, six dogs in all, were following three men heading their way.  The men sang loudly, which made Max happy, but there was something strange in their scent. The song was not one she recognized, more of a ballad like those she had heard in movies about Shakespeare. Though they were not far away, the men had not noticed Max, and she had no reason to move.  Maxine Craven was the safest person in the area right now.  She might be the safest person in the world. She could see everything for miles, and was under the constant protection of a mass of canine protectors who saw her as their leader.  She relaxed on the rock and viewed the men through the eyes of her pack.

              One was large and muscular, bright red hair and beard that went half way down his chest.  He carried a staff and looked like he was dressed for a show from the middle ages.  His clothes were brown leather and tan linen, the latter super wrinkled. He had no sleeves, but was tattooed up both arms all the way to his shoulders. Just to his side was a good looking younger man, who Max immediately took a liking to.  She had been too young to be very interested in boys when she still had school to attend, and now most were afraid of her.  But she was gaining more and more interest and this young man interested her, though he had to be six or seven years older than her. His puffy shirt was open to mid-chest and there was a colorful tattoo across his chest.  He had dark hair, hooped earrings and an eyebrow piercing.  He was soft-skinned and clean-shaven.  Max thought he was dreamy.  She almost didn’t take the time to consider the third man, though he was clearly their leader.  He was bald, but had bright blue eyes that caught Max’s attention.  His broad smile was surrounded by a goatee and a mustache curled up at the ends.  In all, the group looked like fun.

              Max saw them coming from a long way off, but they were startled when they turned a corner and there she was, sitting on a rock, with Queenie by her side. Max took in their confusion from multiple angles at once.

              “Well,” said the leader quickly, his smile growing, “What have we here?”

              “Hello.” Was all that Max replied.  She stared at the younger man, and when he looked at her, she felt the flush in her cheeks and looked away.

              “How do you do, My Lady? I am Robin Hood and these are my merry men, Little John and Will Scarlet.” He bowed low, but not in a karate way that Max was used to, this looked like something she had seen in a cartoon once.

              “Those aren’t your real names.” She answered, “I know who Robin Hood is.”

              “What do you know of my namesake?” the bald man asked.  There was something weird about them, but she felt in no way threatened.  None the less, she silently sent one of the dogs to get Adam from the nearby Hillside.

              “Robin Hood always wore green, you don’t.  And he had a bow, you don’t.” Max answered him.

              “Do I not?” The man asked and pulled a short bow from his back.  It was small, but the dogs took it as a threatening. The men were clearly shocked as the six dogs around them came out from the brush, and Queenie stood up with the hair up on the back of her neck.

              “Whoa!” said the man going by Will.  “Let’s not get eaten here.”

              Robin Hood put away the bow just as Adam and two others jogged into the area behind Max.

              “She controls the dogs.” Said the tall man going by Little John.

              “No, I don’t.  They are family.” Max replied, as she stood and wiped off her shorts of the dirt that caked from sitting in the sun.  Adam passed her and held his hand out to the men.

              “Hello, I am Adam Cross.  Have you come for healing?”

              “Healing? No.  We were passing by, seeking adventure, and stumbled on this young lady sunbathing.” The Robin Hood guy replied.

              Adam turned and looked at her. “Sunbathing huh?”

              Max just shrugged.

              “Is her power a sort of mind-meld with the dogs?” The younger man asked, but Adam just ignored it.

              “I can see what characters you play, but would it be impolite to ask your real names?” Adam asked.

              The bald man laughed.  “You have to love a direct man. I am Mickey Cobb, or Robin Hood, if you will. This is my brother, Theo Cobb. The tall man back there is our friend, Brandon Gains. We lived in Larkspur…”

              “Renaissance faire?” Adam cut in.

              “Very astute, my friend.  Yes, that was our employ before the darkness came.  Now, we seek adventure of any kind.” Mickey bowed again, as he had when greeting Max for the first time. “Are you a healer?”

              “Yes, there are a few of us near here.  We trade healing for goods and supplies, usually. We also train healers for survivors’ camps.” Adam offered. “What are your powers?”

              “What makes you think we have powers?” Theo asked coldly. There was some fear her pack could smell. There was more to this question than it seemed.

              Adam relaxed and smiled, Max could tell he was getting more comfortable with them. “Everyone has powers now, friend.  It would be more unusual if you did not.”

              “Fair enough.  I play with fire.” Suddenly Mickey had a ball of fire in his hand.  Though smaller than the ones she had seen other pyros utilize, it was controlled.  Another appeared in his other hand and he began to juggle them. Adam and the two warriors with him smiled broadly.  Then Mickey doused the flames. “Brandon has a strength power.” Brandon lifted a large rock nearby, as one might lift a light bag of groceries. “My brother’s gifts are with the weather, and lightning. But he won’t show that in case anyone gets hurt.”

              “You are a weather witch?” Max asked Theo.

              “Well, I like to think of myself as a Warlock, but yes.  That power is actually a little light, I can bring up the wind a bit, maybe moisten the air, fill a valley with fog. The biggest part of my power is lightning though.” He shot a small arc of lightning out of his finger into the dirt and then stopped.

              Max giggled and looked up at Adam, “He is an Electrokinetic!”

              “What?” Theo asked.

              “She just means your power is with electric currents.  We figured that would be a thing, but hadn’t seen anyone with that power yet.” Adam answered.  “Three kinetics travelling together, seeking fortune.  It sounds like a great tale for around the fire. Max was only here to get us for a meeting of our council at Council Bluffs.  If you would like to join us for the journey, I would love to hear any info about up north, we haven’t heard much since the Event.”

              The trio agreed to accompany them, and soon Erica had joined with some others and they began the long walk to Council Bluffs. Max tried to avoid anyone seeing her crush on Theo, but every time he would even glance her way, Max would blush and turn away.  As they headed up the long road to the Bluffs, the twenty or so dogs who were with them had to show themselves and come out of the brush.  Theo seemed fascinated and ended up spending time with her, hearing about the scope of her power.  He didn’t seem afraid of it, which was refreshing.  Maybe that is because he had never seen her kill.