Spellweaver (20 page)

It was impossible to
make out any distinct features, for the swirling shapes and lights
littering the park with their energy were distorting everything.
Hollie and Jamie had to squint to see one another, so they had no
chance of identifying the newcomer as he battled with the others a
few yards away from them. Still... there was something about him
that was oddly familiar.

“You don’t think...”
Hollie breathed. “Is that - is that Oliver?”

She couldn’t tell for
certain and nor could her brother; Felicity was lying unconscious
on the grass and could see nothing at all. But Oliver was the only
other person they knew who could use magic, so it seemed entirely
possible. Jamie didn’t like the idea of him appearing as their
hero, but when the three of them had been so close to death, he
didn’t feel as though he could complain.

The way in which the
newcomer moved was almost poetic. His arms moved round into
powerful curves, cutting arches into the air above his head with
his outstretched fingers. His legs were strong and sturdy, keeping
him rooted to the spot, defying his enemies as they attempted to
bring him down. One by one the eight malevolent beings were falling
victim to his skills, colliding with the sprays of colour he
conjured or engulfed in the massive flames he sprayed from his
palms. He twisted and turned, ducked and dived, dodging almost
every strike that was sent his way. The few blows that did catch
him didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest; he picked himself
up from every single one, never leaving himself open and vulnerable
in the same way again. At the same time, he was somehow able to
move his hands and arms in the intricate way required to create his
spells.

It was quite
breathtaking to watch. The man was clearly an expert. All this time
the three friends, particularly Felicity, had spent worrying and
dreading the arrival of the others. Their power seemed absolute,
fuelled by their fear and their lack of knowledge. But now this
stranger, their hero, had arrived to save the day. He put the
powers of the others to shame, such was his strength and
skill.

Though they were
intensely grateful, Hollie and Jamie were also wary. This man
clearly had great power, and at present there was nothing to assure
them that he didn’t intend to use it on them as soon as he was done
with the others. As his protective instinct once again kicked in,
Jamie wondered if he ought to try and usher the two girls somewhere
safe, but he was so caught up in the amazement and wonder of what
was going on that he found himself unable to do anything but
watch.

The leader of the
others was the man’s last opponent. The indistinguishable shape
hovered in the air as if staring down at him, though Hollie and
Jamie couldn’t see anything that could pass as eyes. There appeared
to be some kind of standoff between the two of them as they
measured one another up, and then, just as the newcomer lifted his
arms to cast another spell, the leader of the others simply and
unceremoniously vanished.

The rain stopped and
the wind died. What had appeared to be a freak storm passed as the
grey cloud slowly drifted from the sky, allowing the sun to shine
once more; everything was returning to normal. Apart from the snow
and slush that had disappeared from the playing field in the rain
and strong wind, it was as if nothing had happened.

As the sunlight filled
the park and lit up their surroundings, Hollie and Jamie could see
more clearly.

“That’s not Oliver,”
Jamie observed as the man began walking towards them.

Hollie, who had been
kneeling beside a still unconscious Felicity, stood up and squinted
at the approaching figure. She was about to open her mouth and ask
exactly who the man was when she also recognised him.

Her jaw
dropped.

Felicity
stirred.

She had been aware of
the voices around her before she actually awoke. They had
interrupted her peaceful sleep and invaded the dream she had been
having; she couldn't remember it exactly, but she was certain it
had involved floating. The whole thing had been quite
peaceful.

She opened her eyes.
At first she could see only shadowy blurs on a pale background, so
had to use her ears to identify those around her. This wasn't
entirely helpful; much like her eyes, her ears were not performing
to their usual standard and all she could make out were muffled
noises. They rose and fell in tone and volume every now and again
as they communicated with one another.

Two of them were
instantly recognisable. Only one was female, and Felicity knew it
was Hollie; there was no mistaking that hopelessly positive sound.
The other was Jamie. The third sounded familiar but without her
eyes to aid her, she just couldn't place it.

It was then that she
realised that she was in pain. Her whole body ached and she felt a
little sick. With a groan, she raised her hands to her face and
rubbed her eyes, movements that took more effort than they should
have done.

"Fliss!" she heard
Hollie exclaim, her voice overflowing with concern. "Fliss, you're
awake!"

Felicity groaned again
and allowed her friend to pull her into a sitting position. She
blinked a few times, trying to restore her sight.

"You okay?" It was
Jamie.

"We were really
worried about you," Hollie said.

As the shapes hovering
in her vision became clearer, Felicity could finally see everything
in detail. Hollie was leaning over her, her face a picture of
worry. Without looking around - for it didn't seem to be the best
idea to move more than was necessary - Felicity could tell that
they were back at Jamie's house and that she was resting on the
leather sofa. She couldn't tell how long she'd been unconscious but
it was still light outside; the afternoon sun drifted lazily
through the curtains.

She couldn't recall
much about what had happened. She remembered going out to the park
to draw the others away from Hollie and Jamie, and how the two of
them had turned up to try and save her. She even remembered
conjuring the magical shield that had protected them, though
thinking about it just made her headache worse. She recalled how
close she had come to death.

She blinked the
uncomfortable memories away and squinted at her friend. "What
happened?" she croaked.

"You don't remember?"
Hollie asked, surprised.

Felicity shook her
head weakly.

"Oh, um..." Hollie
shuffled awkwardly, her eyes shifting from left to
right.

"What is it,
Hollie?"

"Uh..." She seemed to
give in; her shoulders slumped in defeat and she looked intensely
uncomfortable. "I think uh, maybe he better explain things to
you."

She gestured to the
other side of the room.

Mr Oakley, the
counsellor of Greenfields High School, sat in the armchair, though
he stood up when Felicity strained to turn her neck towards him.
The sight of him both confused and surprised her, and upon
remembering her experience with him in the corridor after she had
taken her mother's journal from his office, she recoiled and began
to panic.

Hollie was back at her
side in an instant. "It's okay, Fliss," she soothed her. "Mr
Oakley, he's the one that saved us. He can do magic. He's
-"

"Like you." The
counsellor finished Hollie's sentence.

Felicity shook her
head. "But - that's not - I don't understand..."

"I'll explain
everything," Mr Oakley said assuringly, though it did little to
comfort Felicity. Still, there was a strange kindness in his voice
that felt somewhat out of place. He turned to Hollie and Jamie.
"Would you mind if I talked to her alone?"

Hollie nodded and
looked at Felicity. "We'll just be outside," she said. "Really,
Fliss. Everything's fine. He saved us."

Felicity didn't doubt
Hollie's interpretation of events, but she had seen far too much to
trust this strange man who had asked such odd questions about her
mother and who had had the journal in his possession. Not only
that, but the way in which he had demanded it back from her had
been frightening. He had cornered her, cut off her escape route and
threatened her. Though it seemed trivial compared to the other
things she had faced, she was still apprehensive about his
presence.

But she was also
curious. That only made things worse, as it seemed that it was her
curiosity that got her into so much trouble.

As her friends left
the room, her body tensed up.

There didn't seem to
be anything threatening about him as he sat there looking calm and
quizzical. To anyone else he looked like an incredibly ordinary
person. He still sported the smart-casual look that Felicity had
first seen him wearing during her counselling sessions - corduroy
jacket, jeans and canvas shoes, the kind of look (so Hollie had
said) that was just screaming mid-life crisis.

Several moments
passed, during which neither of them spoke. Mr Oakley appeared to
find making eye contact with Felicity somewhat of a difficulty;
every now and then he would look up at her, but the glance lasted
merely a second or two before he averted his eyes to the floor. He
looked unsure, even nervous, and Felicity found herself beginning
to calm down when she realised that she felt exactly the same
way.

And then he sighed and
shook his head, his brow locked into a frown. “I don’t know where
to start,” he said.

Felicity didn’t know
either. There were many, many things she wanted to ask this man,
but she was still apprehensive; now just didn’t seem like the
appropriate time to sit down and have a little chat.

“You look just like
her, you know.”

Her eyes snapped up;
he was looking directly at her.

“Your mother. I don’t
know why I didn’t see it before,” he added, as if she didn’t know
what he was talking about.

“It’s taken me years
to find you,” he continued. “I searched everywhere. But your mother
kept her secrets much better than I ever gave her credit for. She
covered up every trail, hid every piece of proof that you existed.
She thought of everything.”

Felicity didn’t have
any words to respond to what this secondary school counsellor was
saying to her. Not yet, anyway. Her brain was formulating question
after question, but somehow its signals weren’t getting through to
her mouth.

“She changed her name,
of course. I should’ve thought of that.” He sighed. “But... well,
we’re here now.”

Without taking her
eyes off of Mr Oakley, Felicity slowly and laboriously began to
push herself into an upright position. Seeing her difficultly, the
counsellor moved towards her to assist her, though not without
hesitation. Felicity’s body tensed at his approach, but for some
reason she allowed him to help her.

It was then that she
found her words. “How did you know my mother?”

“She didn’t tell you
about me?” He looked surprised and slightly disappointed, but
recovered himself quickly, as if he didn’t want her to see his
reaction. “We were part of the Tower together. Before we fled, of
course.” He noticed Felicity’s blank stare. “The Tower of the First
Order,” he clarified, as if that explained everything. “In
Deepworld.”

So now Felicity had a
name for the other world that Oliver had referred to, the world he
said that he and the others had come from. Presumably, Mr Oakley
originated there, too.

And so did her
mother.

He watched her process
this new information, and his surprise was impossible to conceal.
“Your mother, she... she didn’t tell you, did she?”

Felicity was getting
painfully familiar with those words.

“She didn’t tell you
anything,” the counsellor said quietly, partly to
himself.

It stung more than
Felicity was prepared to admit. Before, when she had been so naive
as to consider herself almost normal, she had just felt distant
from her mother, as if Audrey Lucas simply didn’t have anything in
common with her daughter or, perhaps, was socially inept. It would
certainly explain where Felicity got it from. She had always
thought, perhaps even hoped, that she would understand as she grew
into adulthood - but she didn’t. Not yet, anyway.

But things had changed
since then. Audrey Lucas wasn’t just an unemotional, unattached and
secretive person. She wasn’t just a mother who had taken her
daughter to the countryside in order to give her a better life. She
had been something else, something unbelievable and unimaginable
and crazy. She had kept a book of magic spells and was apparently
quite advanced in her use of them. She had hidden the birth of her
daughter from those who claimed to know her. She was from another
world.

Felicity hadn’t
thought it possible that she could feel any more apart from the
woman who had given birth to her, but in that moment, she
did.

“Felicity.” Mr Oakley
had been watching her as these thoughts cascaded through her mind.
“Your mother, she... she was really important.”

She didn’t respond.
The counsellor paused, not knowing how to proceed. The girl
couldn’t understand the weight of the words he was about to
deliver. How could she?