Monday, 29 April 2013

Mamelon - Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN 



“Pete, wake up!” Pete opened his eyes. Slowly, the mist cleared and he saw familiar faces gazing concernedly down at him. “Are you okay?” Mick wanted to know. “You gave us a fright, dropping off like that. We thought you’d fainted or something, you idiot,” he grumbled but not unkindly, hastily adding, “You didn’t, did you?”
“I’m okay,” Pete managed to say and tried to sit up but promptly fell back again into a patch of moss and grass. Fainted? He confronted the possibility with growing confusion. Of course he hadn’t fainted. So, what then? Something had happened to him, to all of them, something terribly important. Or had it? Had he just been asleep and dreaming?  No. It was more than a dream, much more. So why couldn’t he remember? 
He tried to sit up again and this time succeeded, strength flowing back into every fragile limb and muscle. He felt as if he had fallen from great height and landed with an almighty bump.  But that was impossible of course…wasn’t it? “Where are we?”
“In Birches Wood, you twit, where else?” Mick grinned.
Pete looked at Beth, as if for confirmation. Beth smiled reassuringly, but said nothing.
“Can we go home?”  His voice, like to question, sounded odd, even to himself.
“We’re on our way,” said Mick and helped Pete to his feet.
The younger boy glanced up at the sky. It was blue and the sun was shining. So why was he surprised? A flock of geese flew by and a rustle of wings pounded at Pete’s eardrums causing him to wince in pain. He put both hands to his ears and looked again at Beth as if she would understand, explain even.
But Beth remained silent, outwardly smiling and no different. Yet, there was something about Mick’s girlfriend that was…different. Pete couldn’t put a finger on it but knew it was true, all the same. She was different. He, Pete, was different too. Yet, how could that be and why? It’s a mystery. He gazed into his brother bright, liquid eyes. Their expression was slightly mocking, a trifle testy but still concerned. Mick hadn’t changed at all, and yet…
It was a strangely subdued trio that made its way back to the house. Or so it seemed to Gail and Tim Wright as they watched them approach from the living room window.
“Will they remember?” Gail put a faint voice to the anxious question hanging over the pair of them like the sword of Damocles.
“Can they forget?” Tim murmured, hugging his wife tightly as if combining their inner strengths for whatever lay ahead. Gail understood the gesture and shivers ran down her spine. They would do their best, she and Tim. But Mamelon was in their children’s blood, now more than ever. Nor would it easily be erased. And what of her other children, once thought dead? “They’ve done well without us so far, we must trust that whatever - or whoever - has been protecting them will continue to do so.”  Tim tried to sound reassuring. But he had only read her thoughts so easily because they held up a mirror to his own misgivings.
But Mamelon is dying. Gail wanted to protest. Instead, she sighed wearily.
Meanwhile, in Lunis, City of Moons, Shireen, consort to Ragund, the Dark Mage, was emerging from the body of Arissa with mixed feelings.  Nadya’s daughter had spirit. Nor was it easy to contain. Hardly surprising, though, since she was also Galia’s grandchild.  Shireen enjoyed the challenge and it was proving as good a means to an end as any.  Let Ragund think he is the master of disguise, little does he know how much I know or what I will do with that knowledge when the time is right.
She glanced in the mirror and frowned. Arissa was young and beautiful.  Now she must contend with reality, at least while she considered her next move. While still beautiful, there was no recompense for lost youth. A wry smile played on the cruel mouth. What would Ragund say, she wondered, if he knew what game she played, let alone her involvement with the krill leader, Radik?  She laughed. Who better than a female to teach a male, mage or whatever, that to underestimate her species was a dangerous practice? She found him in the bedroom, preening in front of a full-length mirror, and hid her contempt. He was, after all, an incredible lover.
Ragund knew her step, which was just as well since the mirror revealed no reflection. He swung round and gathered Shireen, playfully, in his arms. For now, though, there were more pressing needs to satisfy.
After making love they slept. Ragund knew when she slipped away but made no sign. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright in the bed. Something was terribly wrong. There was magic abroad whose potency he had never known the like.  It seemed for all as if the Light of the World was rising and its Dark was falling back, dragging him to the edge of an abyss. Only by summoning the spirit of the Druid, Ca-an, was he able to draw back and keep from going into free-fall.  
Ragund frowned. He was fully warded. Even had Astor broken through, he would never have been able to raise such forces alone. So...what, who?  A threat to his Great Plan has arisen such as none he could possibly have anticipated. He leapt out of bed and went to the mirror. He saw the three motherworlders being greeted by a man and a woman. “Galia, Timon!” he yelled, and then “I will not be thwarted, I will not!” the Dark Mage screamed and smashed a fist into the glass, shattering it. Fragments flew everywhere. One settled on the back of his hand. He went to brush it off only to draw back in disbelief. The eye of a wolf stared back at him and a howling went up that could be heard the length and breadth of Mamelon.
In leafy Tonbridge Wells, three young people also heard it. It woke them suddenly from the same strange dream. As each drifted back to sleep, the same inarticulate need to be somewhere else conveyed a vague yet curiously convincing impression of someone banging on a door demanding to be let in.
Where they lay wide awake in bed, Gail and Tim Wright, too, heard the wolf. Now and then, one would squeeze the other’s hand tightly as they brooded on the past, fearful for the future.

End of Book One


Author’s Note:  
Again, please accept my apologies for the fact that the blog template has rarely let format chapters correctly. Google have not responded to my comments. 
      The Mamelon saga will continue in October with Mamelon, Book 2 - The Purple Mountains.  Health issues may mean some delay, but I will do my best. [The same health issues have prevented my completing Book Three of my Blasphemy-Sacrilege-Redemption trilogy, but I hope to finish it by summer 2014 at the latest.] All the novels serialized on the blog will eventually be published in e-format to amazon’s kindle store at which time they will be deleted from the blog. 
      Meanwhile, if you have enjoyed this or any of my serials, I would love to hear from you. Email me with ‘Fiction Blog’ in the subject field. 
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See also:
https://sites.google.com/site/rogerntaberinthesubjectfield/home 
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