The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (17 page)

Helen nodded.
“Yes, I know. Wait! Peter’s powers, can they be traced or anything
like that?”

Delsani
smiled. “I knew that there was something else on your mind. And the
answer to your question is, I don’t really know. That’s why I have
to be quick. Jaucal and I will come by to check that all your
protection is still in place. We’ll try not to be too
long.”

“
Don’t
worry,” said Helen.

Delsani laugh as Helen finished.

“
What’s
so funny?”
she asked.

“
You’re
telling me not to worry for a change,” he replied.

Helen laughed
a little, and before she had time to say goodbye. The old Wizard
was gone in a cloud of smoke. Helen ran straight to the phone
called her friends and told them some of what Delsani had said. The
rest she told them when they arrived at the house with their
daughter Dorana. Helen liked that name; she never knew why, she
just did. She even liked her normal name, which was Donna. Peter
liked Saren, Henkot, and Dorana, for they always treated him and
Helen like family. He called them Auntie Joan, Uncle Harry, and
Cousin Donna. And to him, other than Helen, they were the only
family that he knew.

They put
Peter and Dorana in the playroom and then they went into the next
room, and Helen told them the rest of the story while the three of
them watched the children through the glass door. Saren and Henkot
were shocked to hear that Peter’s powers were active.

“
Did he say
when he would be back?” asked Saren.

“
No,”
said Helen
bleakly.

“
He’ll
probably be a while. The Wizard’s Council won’t give up without a
fight,” said Henkot.

“
Only if they
don’t agree to the proposal,” said Saren.

“
Come on,
Saren, this is the Wizard Council we’re talking about. Galfad would
disagree with anything Delsani would bring to the Council. You know
that,” said Henkot.

“
But Delsani
said that he would talk to Jaucal before going in front of the
Council,” said Helen. “And he said that if he agreed. Then Jaucal
would present it to the Council himself.”

“
In that
case, who knows how long it will take?” said Saren.

“
Probably not
long if Jaucal is involved,” said Henkot. “But don’t worry, Helen.
We’ll stay with you until then,” he said.

Saren nodded,
immediately agreeing with him. Just then Saren had stopped nodding.
Two single beds appeared out of nowhere.

“
You see what
I mean?” said Helen wearily.

“
You sound
run down,” said Saren, again sounding concerned for her
friend.

“
You know you
can take a rest if you like.”

“
I can’t,”
said Helen. “I don’t want to leave him. I mean, he’s way more than
a handful at the moment. And since I told Delsani about Peter’s
powers, it’s been getting worse. Bikes floating round the house
complete with riders, followed by toy trucks, planes, helicopters,
trains, and the tropical fish in little water bubbles. Oh, and just
before you came, we had five dogs, twelve cats and two talking
parrots. I can’t go to sleep before him. I’m afraid I’ll wake up
and the house will be gone.”

Saren and Henkot looked shocked by Helen’s
confession.

“
Er… Well I’m
sure we can handle it. It might not be as hard for us if we use
magic to help,” said Saren happily.

“
So you’ll
watch him for just a little while?”

“
Yes, of
course we will,” said the Witches together, “and you’re going to
rest for a while,” said Saren firmly. Before Helen could answer,
there was a great flash of blue light coming from the playroom.
Then a squeal and a child laughing.

Helen, Saren,
and Henkot all jumped out of their seats at the exact same time and
rushed into the playroom, and there was Peter on his back laughing.
Crying could be heard coming from the corner opposite. And sitting
there was what was thought to be Dorana. It was wearing her
clothes. But it looked like a giant red bird. It had feathers,
wings, a beak, stringy blue legs, and long skinny blue feet, which
each had three fat stubby toes with little claws poking
out.

“
Dorana, what
happened?” asked Saren with nothing but pure shock, worry, and
disbelief in her voice.

Dorana said
nothing. All she could do was cry. Saren and Henkot ran to their
daughter, throwing their arms around her.

Helen, on the
other hand, was determined to find out exactly what had happened.
She grabbed Peter by the arms hoisted him up. “WHAT DID YOU DO!?
she screamed at him. “Well, answer me,” she said more
calmly.

Peter stood
and stared at her. She had never shouted at him before, and it
scared him.

Helen turned Peter round to face their
friends, who were still huddled in the corner.

Helen was
relieved to see that Dorana was back to Normal, or whatever was
Normal for a Witch. Helen gave Peter a stern look and said, “Tell
me why you did it. Don’t you like Dorana anymore?”

Peter quickly nodded his head.

“
Did you fall
out with her?” asked Helen.

Now Peter quickly shook his head.

“
The
n why?”

Peter,
frightened and staring at the floor and shuffling his feet, said in
a low shaky voice, “She wants to be a bird.”

“
A bird?”
repeated Helen.

“
I think I
know what he means,” said Henkot. “Remember when Dorana told us
that in school the trainers asked the kids what animals they would
like to be if we weren’t Witches?”

“
Yes,” said
Saren. “Dorana said she wanted to be a bird.”

“
What is this
about a bird?” asked Delsani, who had just appeared in a younger
form of himself, with short black hair combed over to one side,
smooth slightly tanned skin and what looked to be an expensive grey
suit. He looked so different that the only reason Helen hadn’t
asked who he was, was the fact that she had recognized the thin
scar on his nose.

“
It’s nothing
important,” said Henkot looking at Peter with a slight
smile.

“
I’m so sorry
about this,” said Helen. “Peter, apologize to Dorana
now.”

“
The
re’s no need,” said Saren. “It
wasn’t his fault. He probably thought he was helping her, because
she said she wanted to be a bird.”

Henkot sniggered a little at the thought of
it all.

Delsani stood
looking from one to the other, thinking that he had missed out on
something big. Then he turned his gaze on Peter, who was hiding
behind Helen, trying to avoid the old Wizard’s stare. “Hello,
Peter,” said Delsani, grinning at him.

“
I’m sorry, I
forgot that you two haven’t seen each other since Peter was just a
baby,” said Helen. She knelt down beside Peter and said, “Peter,
this is… ah Daniel. Yes, that’s it. He was one of your father’s
closest friends, and he’s your godfather.”

Peter took a quick look out from behind Helen
and just as quickly vanished behind her again.

“
I like that
name,” Delsani exclaimed and repeated it as though he were trying
it on.

“
I thought
that it would go well with your new look,” Helen
explained.

“
Yes it makes
sense. Thank you,” said Delsani before he turned to Peter. “I
understand if you’re a little scared, Peter, for I’ve been told –”
the Wizard was cut short.

“
I’m not
scared,” squeaked Peter.

“
I didn’t
mean to offend you. I just meant that it’s okay to be strange
around people you don’t know,” said the Wizard.

Peter stared
at the Wizard at length, looking unsure of how to take him, or what
he had just said.

“
So what
happened with the Council?” asked Henkot.

“
The
one thing that I thought that
you might possess is patience,” said Delsani firmly, “not to
mention respect for other people’s privacy.”

Henkot now
looked like a frightened child. In fact, he had the same expression
on his face as Peter when he first saw the Wizard.

The old
Wizard laughed. “I am sorry Henkot. It’s just, being stuck in a
closed room with the Council of Wizards and Witchcraft really does
drain the happiness out of you. I needed a laugh to get me back
into the right mood, and you, I’m afraid, walked right into
it.

“
The
answer to your question is
that the Council was not opposed to the idea of training Peter to
use his powers.”

“
Well,
that’s good isn’t it?” said
Helen, unsure if what she said was right or not.

“
Yes, that is
very good, but they did insist on one thing,” said
Delsani.

“
Here it
comes,” said Henkot, rolling his eyes.

“
Here
what comes?”
asked
Helen.

“
The
re’s always something they
insist on,” said Saren.

“
And most of
the time it’s something that’ll mess things up,” added
Henkot.

“
This time
the Joint Council have asked that as soon as the boy has learned
the basics, his memories and powers should be suppressed, and the
sooner the better,” said Delsani.

“
What? How is
that going to help? The basics? That’s ridiculous! How will that
prepare him to fight Ulicoth?” said Henkot angrily.

“
Delsani, you
said that the Wizard and Witch Councils have joined?” said Saren
curiously.

“
Yes. The
Councils have decided to join together into one,” said Delsani, “so
there will be twice the boredom and twice as many stupid
ideas.”

“
So when are
you going to start the training?” asked Helen.

“
As soon as
you let me,” replied Delsani. “However, by the look on your face, I
think you have a few questions for me.”

“
Yeah, I do,”
said Helen. She paused for a moment. “What did Jaucal, I mean. The
Grand Wizard, say about Peter? Does he know what Peter is?? Helen
asked nervously, as though the answer would be something
terrible.

“
Yes, he said
that he thinks that Peter is a new breed of Wizard-Elf,”’ said
Delsani. “An entirely new breed with no name as of yet, though I
think they’ll come up with something soon enough”

“
He’s a new
breed, but what is that? And is he really that different than the
others?” asked Helen. “If so, how did it happen?”

“
A new breed,
in this case, is like a new and improved model, which means in some
ways he is a little different; therefore, he is not an ordinary
Wizard-Elf in the sense of the name,” replied Delsani. “As for the
reason that he is what he is, well that is because of you. The only
explanation that we could come up with is that it had to be
natural.”

“
In other
words, evolution,” said Helen, relieved that her questions were
finally being answered, and that her mind could now partly be set
at ease.

“
Yes that is
exactly what it is,” said Delsani. “You see, Helen, a Wizard-Elf
and a Normal have never had a child, and we think that is the
reason Peter is a new breed. The new blood, your blood.”

“
So what
should we do now?” asked Helen.

“
Now I really
do think that I should start his training, as the day is winding
on.”

“
Are you
really going to only teach him the basics?” asked
Henkot.

“
That is what
the Council wanted. But the Council has no idea how long it would
take to train him the basics,” said Delsani. He winked and looked
down at Peter, who was getting a little braver and was standing
out, no longer hiding behind his mother.

“
I think the
Council was right about one thing” said Helen. “The sooner you
start his training the better.”

“
Yes, I also
think that would be for the best,” said Delsani.

“
Could
you do me one favo
r?” Helen asked. “Could
you suppress only his advanced training and let him remember the
basics?”

“
If you are
ordering me to do it as my Queen, then I’ll have no choice,”
Delsani added.

“
Yes, I order
you,” said Helen, smiling.

“
The
n I shall obey, your majesty,”
the old Wizard added with a slight bow, which made Helen
laugh.

They all went
into the living room, and Delsani took out a folder that he had
under his arm. Helen recognized it immediately, for it was the same
folder that she had seen Delsani with the night that he had started
John’s training.

Peter seemed
to be like his father, quick in picking up on his powers. On the
first day he had learned a good few things.

Delsani
requested that Saren and Henkot assist him in the training, as it
could help speed things up so the Council would not get suspicious
and figure out what they were trying to do.