Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders (41 page)

Cal was chagrined to realize they didn't need all the blankets and packs he had taken such pains to steal. They only needed to keep one of each. The same applied to the apples and hunks of bread, dried meat, and cheese that Sparrow had swiped from the kitchens. They did keep some things: potions and creams from the infirmary, and three swords and a bow and arrows. Robin had even found a beautiful double-bladed axe for Fafnir. She immediately baptized it “Jewel” and happily swung it at every branch that dared get in her way.

Except for Angelica, who was complaining about her scratches and bruises, they all looked closely at the map. They weren't very far from the Fortress yet, and had a long way to go. But Fafnir predicted that the Bloodgraves would never imagine that they would head in the direction away from Hymlia.

“We should be in the clear soon,” she said. “I figure we'll come out of the forest in about an hour. Then we'll have some mountains to cross, then a plain, and finally the swamps. Now that I have the map in my head we can go. I know the way.”

Suddenly Blondin and Manitou started to growl, and Sheeba's thick fur stood straight up. The familiars were staring back they way they had come.

The travelers instinctively spread out in a half circle, covering each other. Robin handed out the swords and notched an arrow to his bow. Angelica, who didn't understand what was happening, was just opening her mouth to speak when three enormous shadows bounded toward the group. The chatrixes had found them! Robin shot two arrows so quickly that his arms were a blur, and both hit their targets.

Angelica was knocked over by the third monster, but Sheeba ripped its throat out before it could bite her. An enormous Beast now towered over the tall brunette. She screamed before she realized that the Beast was picking up the body of the chatrix that had just attacked her.

“S-S-Sparrow? Is t-t-that you?”

“Well, what do you know!” said Sparrow mockingly. “I never thought I'd hear you stuttering too. Are you okay? Not hurt?”

“N-N-No. Your p-p-panther saved my life.”

The Beast nodded, then called to the others: “Are you guys all right?”

The second dead chatrix lay on its side with arrows in its eye and heart. Fafnir had crushed the third one to death, but poor Manitou lay caught in its jaws.

Aghast, Tara came running. “Great-grandfather!”

With enormous effort, the dog freed itself from the chatrix's jaw. The black Lab's flank was covered with blood and drool, and he seemed in terrible pain.

“Ow, ow, ow!” sobbed Manitou. “Stupid dog! So
now
he lets me take over!”

“Great-grandfather, are you all right?”

“Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up.”

Then he turned to look at his side, saw how badly hurt he was, and fainted.

“I knew he wasn't a familiar,” exclaimed Robin, “but still, hearing him speak comes as a shock.”

“You think there are any more of those things?” asked Angelica anxiously, looking around her. “I would've done better to stay at the Fortress. We're all gonna die!”

“Feeling sorry about our little blackmail, are we?” Cal couldn't resist asking. “Not quite brave ‘Miss Take Me with You or I'll Scream,' eh? Well, you'll have plenty more chances to scream, because now that you know where we're going, letting you go back to the Fortress is out of the question. Welcome to the real world!”

“Let it go, Cal!” said Tara. “Right now we have to take care of Manitou. You know more about chatrixes than I do, like how their venom affects other animals. Tell me how to care for my greatgrandfather, and then we'll hit the road again. I don't know how those three managed to track us, but I'll bet there are more of them.”

“Think we can risk that magic?” grumbled Fafnir. “Won't that get us caught?”

“No. Mom said that if we do it very slowly and in a diffuse way, we'll blend into the fluid all around us. We won't be detected.”

Robin wasted no more time. Putting his hands on the Lab's lacerated side, he said, “By Healus may this wound be mended, and from further hurt your health defended!” As the healing spell took effect, the dog's wounds slowly closed, the bones mended, and the fur grew back. Manitou was soon himself again, except for one thing: he didn't wake up.

“Is he all right?” asked Tara. “Is it normal for him to still be unconscious?”

“Chatrix venom isn't necessarily deadly to another canid, but your great-grandfather should have come round,” said Robin with a frown. “Listen, I think you should ask your pegasus to carry us ahead one by one. By shuttling us back and forth, we'll go a lot faster.”

“You're a genius, you know that?” said Tara enthusiastically. “Gallant—of course! What an idiot I am! I didn't think of it. He's very strong. When we went flying at Travia he could carry me for hours without getting tired. I'm sure he can save us at least a day.”

She turned to her familiar. “Do you understand, Gallant? Can you do it?” He mentally assured her that there was no problem, and she immediately restored him to his normal size.

“Take Robin and Manitou first,” Tara suggested. “Fly into the mountains and then come back to get us. That's about half the distance we have to cover.”

Robin tried to protest, arguing that he should stay behind to protect the others. But he gave in when Sparrow flexed her impressive muscles and displayed her claws and fangs. In terms of taking care of the others, she was a lot more powerful than he was.

Between her fear and the cold, Tara's teeth started chattering in spite of her fur cape and boots. Some cursing nearby informed her that Cal, Fabrice, and Angelica were no better off. Only Fafnir and Sparrow didn't seem uncomfortable. The first because cold weather didn't bother her, the second because she hadn't shape-shifted back and was wearing her personal fur coat.

Fabrice, who felt he had banged his head a half million times, grumbled that OtherWorld woodcutters really weren't doing their job. How could they leave so many low branches on the trees?

At last they emerged from the forest and saw the plain stretching ahead of them, and the foothills of mountains in the distance. Beyond the mountains lay a second plain and the Swamps of Desolation. After some time, they emerged from the forest. Now that they were out of the trees, they could walk all together instead of single file.

“Do think that those chatrixes were the only ones to track us?” asked Sparrow, nervously glancing back at the forest.

Cal shifted his pack, whose straps were cutting into his shoulders. “I think those three must have sensed our presence and dug down into the tunnel. If the rest of the pack had followed, there wouldn't be anything left of us but gnawed bones.”

Angelica shuddered. “What if the others catch our scent and hunt us down? We wouldn't stand a chance! Let me go back to the Fortress, I'm begging you. I swear I won't say a word to anyone!”

“That's not the problem, Angelica,” answered Tara dryly. “We can't accompany you, and if you're alone you'll be easy prey for chatrixes and any other wild animal. Best to stay with us.”

“It's your fault.” The tall girl's tone wasn't even aggressive, just a weary restatement of a reality she continued to endure. “It's because of you that I'm here!”

“Excuse me!” corrected Fafnir. “You should say it's
thanks
to her that you're here. I would have never taken you if she hadn't forced my hand, believe me.”

“Because of her,” Angelica insisted. “Normally I'd be in Omois now, chatting with people of refinement if that infernal Bloodgrave hadn't decided he absolutely had to add Tara Duncan to his personal collection!”

“Well you sure didn't stand any chance of being chosen yourself,” muttered Cal.

“
What
?” she screeched. “I'm just as valuable as that little twit, and if the Bloodgrave master had realized it, he would've kidnapped me too.”

“So what are you complaining about?” asked Fafnir.

Angelica opened her mouth . . . then closed it.

Cal burst out laughing.

They went on in silence. Angelica sulked, Fafnir pumped along on her short legs—which were plenty long enough, since Cal and Tara had trouble keeping up—and Sparrow spent her time sniffing in every direction like a sort of gigantic, very hairy wolf. She did a passable imitation of Tom Thumb's evil ogre: “ . . . I smell fresh meat! I smell . . . I smell prey nearby.”

It made Tara shudder.

They continued walking, trying to make good time. Tara had just begun to worry about Robin, Manitou, and Gallant when a shadow passed overhead. The handsome pegasus landed lightly near her, and lowered his head to get Tara to scratch him between the ears.

As she petted him, he sent her images of Robin and Manitou comfortably settled in a cave. The dog was doing well, in spite of the chatrix poison. Robin thought that the spell that made him immortal—though in the body of a dog—was probably helping him fight it. The fact that he was still alive two hours after being bitten supported his theory.

“Fafnir, you'll be the next rider,” Tara ordered. “I'm sure Robin will be standing guard. You can take over and tell him to get some sleep. Then when Cal arrives, you can go to sleep, and so on. We should each try to get at least four hours' sleep before we set out again.”

“I don't need to sleep,” the dwarf grumbled. “You think I'm some sort of sissy?”

Man! Is she ever touchy! thought Tara.

“Not at all,” she answered diplomatically, “but you must have worked very hard to dig the rest of the tunnel. We don't know what we'll be facing in the swamps. Don't you think it would be smart if you got a little rest?”

“Well, maybe, yeah. I'll see when I get there. Let's go.”

“Perfect. What about you?” she asked Gallant tenderly. “Not too tired?”

He mentally sent her images of a pegasus prancing around, and she smiled. He had a very personal way of telling her that all was well.

Gallant's brief euphoria lasted only until Fafnir climbed on his back, after telling the others which direction to take. Surprised by her weight, he staggered and grimaced. And his takeoff was distinctly less graceful than usual, especially since Fafnir gripped his mane like a drowning man clutching at a straw. Like all dwarves, she hated being up in the air. The pegasus urgently informed Tara that he wanted to keep his mane intact until the end of the trip.

“Fafnir, don't pull his mane out!” she yelled. “You don't need to hang on like that. He won't let you fall!”

“I'm not so sure about that,” answered the dwarf. But she relaxed her iron grip a little, and Gallant sighed with relief. A moment later they had vanished into the night, and Tara got going again, lighting her way with the candle lantern that Fafnir had left her.

Gallant soon returned and continued ferrying them one after another. As the night imperceptibly began to lighten, Tara found herself alone with Sparrow, who said something that rattled her.

“I'm hungry!”

“Can't you wait? We'll be at the cave soon.”

“Nah, I'm hungry now! Beast metabolism is faster, it burns more calories. I need protein.”

“Well, all right. You want some bread? I think I have a little cheese too. The dried meat went with Cal.”

“Bread? Cheese? Are you kidding? Protein means meat. I need meat!”

“Really? Well, there's not much I can do for you.”

“Don't worry, I'll manage. See you later.”

So Tara suddenly found herself alone in the middle of the prairie, and still in darkness. It was already six o'clock, but the sun had apparently decided to sleep in, which didn't make things easy. The thick clouds covering the sky probably had something to do with it. Tara hoped it wouldn't start raining on top of everything. Whistling bravely, and holding the candle lantern high so Sparrow wouldn't mistake her for something edible, she kept going.

Suddenly an enormous shadow appeared and held out a chunk of bloody meat under her nose.

“Want some?”

Well, one animal must've gotten up too early this morning.

“Yuck!” Tara exclaimed. “That's sweet of you, Sparrow, but I'm really not very hungry. And you know, I really like it better when the stuff I eat is cooked. Right now, I'm thinking croissants, butter, jam, and hot chocolate. But go ahead, enjoy yourself!”

Sparrow promptly wolfed the meat down in two bites. With a sigh of relief, she started licking herself clean, like a cat—a very big cat.

The sun finally decided it was time to get to work, and put in a timid appearance. The prairie changed, and Tara was startled to see that the grass wasn't green, as she'd expected, but blue. A few trees, outliers from the forest behind them, dotted the gentle rises. The grass was very thick and tall, and Tara was shaken to realize that any animal could have attacked them earlier. She guessed there could've been any number of predators in the grass, like lions, leopards, hyenas, and other beasts, exactly like on Earth. Where there were herbivores—like the one that ended up in Sparrow's stomach— there had to be carnivores. Tara decided to walk a little closer to her own personal carnivore, who was calmly striding along on her powerful legs.

Gallant finally appeared, and Tara was relieved to climb on his back.

“See you later!” she yelled to Sparrow. “I'll send Gallant back for you.”

“Don't bother,” answered Sparrow, waving a giant paw.

“What do you mean?” asked Tara, feeling suddenly very concerned. Was Sparrow planning to abandon them?

Her friend answered by suddenly speeding up, and galloping hell for leather. Caught by surprise, Gallant whinnied a challenge, and Sparrow roared her answer. Bounding along, she was able to go as fast as he was.

Very impressed, Tara figured they would save a lot of time, because Sparrow seemed able to keep up the pace. The pegasus wanted to go faster, but Tara prevented him.