Healer (20 page)

Like a nightmare, the
wolf followed suit through the rippling glass. It left little time for Ashpin
to throw up his arm in defense when something smacked the animal off course.
When he put his arm down, a vine recoiled from the ground, ready for another
counter.

“I was beginning to
think you didn’t know any other shifts.” A familiar voice came from behind.

Ashpin turned to see
Wisdom’s brother lower his hand.

“Help Peter!” he
directed the Healer’s attention to the thrashing youth.

With the shift of
focus, Jangus hurled himself at the mirror. In mid-shift he was able to lift it
using one clawed foot,
then
took through the trees in
his usual raven form.

“Wait, how did?” But
Shy had little time to waste on mirror questions when Peter was gasping for
breath. Quickly, he set to work by calling the vines back where they belonged.

Ashpin extended a hand
to help Peter up. The boy coughed as he was able to draw in several deep
breaths. Hesitantly, he accepted the offer.

“We have to get it
back!” Ashpin supported Peter’s unsteady stance.

Shy could feel the
presence of chaotic magic stirring within the area, and quickly agreed.

“Something else is at work
here, and it’s not just Jangus.” A greenish glow enveloped his form as he
shifted into a hawk.
Get Wisdom!
Shy’s thoughts reached out to them.
Tell him it’s heading for the border!

*****

A rising mist greeted
Jangus at the realm’s border, and he cackled. Trees thinned until open farmland
stretched as far as the eye could see. That is, until the northern sky darkened
with festering clouds of growing storm. Even now, he could hear the distinct
rumble of thunder. The storm fed from the hate and greed of others, and not
just within the Realm of Trully. It pulled from Lexington, Crystal Valley, and
up to his very kind preparing to invade. What should have been evident,
however, was blanketed from Jangus’ mind. At this point, he only cared about
reaching his destination.

Jangus reveled in
success. He swept low, the mirror unharmed by the tall grasses grazing its wood
surface. In triumph, he let out a throaty raven’s song. Eyes closed to the lull
of Darkness guiding him.

Womp!
Feathers flew every which way! In the confusion,
Jangus let the mirror drop to pull himself together. What had he hit?

Mist lightly swirled
around three others.
One of which picked himself up after
impact and brushed any remaining feathers from his clothing.
A silver
streak ran through his dark hair, with lavender eyes widening upon recognition.

“Wha—Twilight!”
Jangus snarled after shifting to his true self. “And
where do you think
you’re
going?”

“Well, hopefully not
that way.” The young Healer jerked his thumb toward the direction of the storm.

“You’re
not
supposed
to be here!” Jangus forced the young Healer to step back.

“Neither are you.”
Katherine came to Twilight’s defense. To the left of her, a black wolf growled.
“This was Shy’s assignment. Chronicles didn’t need to send another.”

Jangus just smirked.
“So I see love is festering in the air. Hoping to elope once you find your
lover,
Kat?”
That got her blood boiling, and he knew it. “Well, you can
scrap that idea! Shy’s become like his brother: a traitor to our people!” He
started for the mirror, which had landed next to the wolf. “Delexi, isn’t it?”

The wolf snorted in
response.

“I’ve a task to get
done. Now move,
B’in!”

The fur stood on the
back of Delexi’s neck. Instead of obliging to the command, he crouched low and
bared his teeth when the Healer moved closer.

“Have you lost your
senses?” Katherine said, aghast at Jangus’ behavior. “A mutt, is he? And here
you call Shy a traitor. Now you degrade one of Nature’s creatures.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said.
“What would Chronicles say to that?”

“He’d wonder why you
were here without orders. Now get out of my way!”

He reached for the
mirror, but Delexi put up such a spitting fit that the dark-haired Healer
feared the loss of a limb if he tried again. Using magic was pointless, as the
other two Healers would only come to its aid.

“You don’t even know
what I’m doing!” Jangus clenched his fists in anger. “You just assume.”

“We know you well
enough,” Katherine said, then flicked an ear to the cry of hawk.

Delexi!
A thought raced to each.
Don’t let him take it!

I know that!
the
wolf grunted.

“Shy!” Katherine
called to the fast-approaching bird.

“Why do you carry this
anyway?” Twilight commenced, but Jangus had already backed away in defeat.

Outnumbered, Jangus
took his chances and left the mirror to its fate. A quick
shift,
and he was away in the mist.

“Why is he going
toward
the storm?” Twilight scratched his head as Shy landed close by and shifted
to his true self.

“Shy!” Katherine was quick
to embrace her long-time friend. Shy, however, did not immediately return it,
as his mind was still questioning Jangus’ sudden arrival.

He quickly released
her. “What is
he
doing here? How did he get this?” Shy fired off
questions so quickly that it left his companions at a loss for words. “And why
are the two of
you
here?” When he turned to Delexi, the wolf just
yawned. “You brought them?”

“Once a Healer
makes a decision, they normally follow through.”
Delexi sat back on his haunches and cocked his head
at the albino.
“Surely, you know that by now.”

“So my father…” Shy
started, but shut his month when they heard the faint pounding of hoofs cutting
through the tall grass.

“Vistom!”
Twilight waved wildly to a streak of galloping white
in the mist. When the animal came close enough to make out details, both he and
Katherine were in awe. Never had they seen someone take the form of a unicorn.
It was stunning, with each muscle rippling under a soft, velvety coat.

Twilight?
Katherine?
Wisdom’s
thoughts questioned until he changed back.

“Thank goodness you’re
all right!” Katherine said.

“What—”

“Just put the mirror
in your travel necklace!” Shy snapped.

Thrown off guard,
Wisdom did as told. With a single tap to the stone, the mirror vanished inside.

“Now would someone
please explain the reunion?” Wisdom’s eyes trailed over each until they fell to
Delexi.

“I’m not spying
this time,”
the wolf grunted, then
raised a hind leg to scratch behind an ear.

“We thought Jangus
would finish—” Twilight began when Shy suddenly hushed him.

“Shy!” Katherine
scolded, but he ignored her.

“Wait, Jangus is here
too?” Dumbfounded, the prince just shook his head. “Am I missing something, or
did he follow you two?”

“We followed
him,”
Twilight said quickly before Shy could interrupt.

“They stopped him from
taking the mirror, that’s all,” Shy said sternly. “Then they were
leaving.”

“Leaving!?”
Katherine’s ears flattened with a low growl deepening in her tone. The
threatening gesture guaranteed no one to shush her now. “After we came all this
way to make sure neither you nor your brother were hurt by Jangus? You’ve got
some nerve to tell us what to do when Chronicles is expecting you to return any
moment so he can finish his plans!”

“What...plans?” Wisdom
gave his brother a narrowed look. “What the hell is going on?”

“You haven’t told
him?” Katherine struggled to keep composure. “You’ve been here all this time
and haven’t said one word?”

“That’s none of his
concern.”

“If it involves humans,
I think it does,” Wisdom said.

Shy flattened his ears
in annoyance. “I told you. Chronicles is just
interested
in humans.
That’s all you need to know.”

“Uh,
yeah.
Interested
in eliminating them!”
Twilight said.

Then everyone was
speaking at once. While Wisdom probed his brother angrily for answers,
Katherine and Twilight spoke about his father’s plans to use harpies as
fighting tools against humans. At every angle, Shy tried to dodge the fact of
his involvement.

Amidst the yelling and
verbal countering, Delexi stepped back from it all. His fur bristled from a
cold chill. With lowered head, he flashed a toothy snarl the way Jangus had
gone. A new thickness of mist had begun to rise. As the group continued
quarreling, they ceased to pay attention to his reaction. With tail tucked
between his legs, the wolf scampered for the borders before the mist became too
thick.

It was Wisdom who
realized the wolf was missing. While ignoring denials and angered statements
from the others, a quick search confirmed their surroundings devoid of life. He
soon suspected why the wolf may have left when a small amount of mist rose to
resemble the shape of a unicorn. In the distance, a rumble of thunder echoed
across the fields.

Wisdom shivered from the
air’s sudden change of climate. A chill wind briskly plastered his garment
against his body. It was enough to still the conversation to gain their
attention.

“We need to get
back...” But when they started in on each other again, Wisdom raised his voice
in the language of his kind,
“Phv’in!”
That silenced them. “Don’t you
feel it? We need to get back!”

“Well, I’m not going
anywhere with that!” Katherine stepped back from the group, her fiery gaze
directed toward Shy.

Shy tensed at the turn
of chaotic energy filling the air. A glance to his brother confirmed his
meaning.

“No, we need to get
into Trully.
Now!”

“Everything’s a
now
with you!” Katherine turned her back with folded arms. “Just like
Chronicles!”

She had stepped
further away from the group, her attention drawn to two glowing orbs in the
mist. They were mesmerizing to watch, red against the dull gray that coated
everything around them.

“Katherine.” Wisdom
noticed the way she poised, her pointed ears pricked forward in interest. “We
can discuss the issue later, just not with the storm growing the way it is.”

Thunder again.
Closer.

“Do you hear me?”

Still, her gaze stayed
transfixed on the orbs bobbing up and down as they came closer. Every now and
then they would both wink.

“Do you see that?” she
finally acknowledged.

Twilight tried to
follow her gaze. “What is it?”

Shy let out a nervous
growl. “Katherine.” The chaotic energy was stronger now.

Wisdom pricked his
ears at the faintest clop of hoofs. He cried out her name just as a dark shape
began to materialize from the mist. Nostrils flared, and its lips pulled back
to reveal a set of fangs.

Katherine shrieked,
but not from the elongated teeth. Strange though they were, it was the eyes.
Those glowing, blood-red orbs she had been following were its pupil-less eyes
staring back at her.

At her cry, the
creature tossed its mane. A horn like burnt ash perched upon its forehead. It
reared, and as it did a cloven hoof lashed out.

Fear held her in
place. She saw the hoof coming, knew it would rip into her delicate flesh. From
behind, she could hear Shy’s voice and wished she had not left the group.

She closed her eyes
and felt herself being shoved aside. Behind her, an agonized scream rose from
where she had stood.

Skidding sideways,
Katherine blindly groped through the grass until she could pull herself up.
While Shy rushed to her side, her eyes darted back to the unicorn.

“Don’t….” he
warned.
 

But she did. She had
to know who had saved her.

Then she, too,
screamed.

Wisdom had to force
himself not rush the animal, as he had tried before. At its feet lay Twilight,
his face turned away from the group. A single blow was all it took, and as much
as the prince wanted to rip into the thing, he knew it was useless.

Hoarse laughter met
their ears.
“You know you want to,”
it rasped. It stepped across the
body, changing form as it did. Like the mist that covered the area, its body
wavered until only Jenario stood.

“How could you?”
Wisdom snarled. He motioned with one hand for Shy to keep Katherine back while
he slowly approached the puppet mage.

“There’s still life
in him yet,”
the horn spoke through
Jenario’s lips. He gestured to the young Healer laying belly-down in the grass.
“But you can’t get around me with Nature blocking you. I’m sure you remember
last time.”