Chapter 2 - Surprises
Something long and fuzzy was on my leg. And there was a warm breeze. The smell of grass.
Slowly, very slowly, I opened my eyes, feeling a surge of dizziness. Sitting up and conscious of a spinning world, I propped myself up on my hands and knees. The long fuzzy thing slid off my leg and I suddenly heard a jubilant, “YES!”
I looked up. Lunae was on her feet, staring at her shoes. They were the soft leather flats she always wore in Glovebern. Her outfit was as I’d seen her when I’d lived there months ago, a combination of green and brown with long gray gloves. Speaking of clothes…
Looking down, I felt a flood of déjà vu. I was wearing a red vest bodice with a white undershirt and a kilt-like skirt. Standing up slowly, I looked around.
Oh yes. This was very familiar.
Here, in this very spot, was where I’d first landed with Philipia and Alye all those months before. Which meant…
“Oh my god, we made it!” I suddenly exclaimed, a surge of energy flying through me. I looked up at the sky; it was a starry night but with wisps of clouds. There was the forest, and far in the distance were the remains of a castle. Aubrey’s castle.
It was all coming back.
“We’re here!” Lunae cried with joy, hugging me unexpectedly. “Oh Tanya, we’re HOME!”
The odd thing is…it kind of felt like home.
Looking around again, I was struck by just how little everything had changed. As I glanced at the forest, I was surprised to see a flame shoot up from the trees. That was odd…unless they’d made flamethrowers in the months I’d been gone, but somehow that didn’t seem too likely.
“Oh, good, Selene sent up the signal,” Lunae grinned. “The others should be here soon.”
“But…can’t we just set off by ourselves?” I asked. “Why all the caution?”
Lunae fixed me with a concerned look. “You’ll see. Wait until they come. They’ll explain far better than I could.”
And sure enough, within a few minutes, I could hear voices approaching. Very, very familiar voices.
A short person with long brown hair and scary green-and-red eyes came charging out of the forest, two swords dangling from her belt. She pelted up the hill and promptly flung herself on me, knocking the wind out of me. Even though she was short, she was still ridiculously fast.
“TANYA!” she yelled, laughing manically.
“Alye!” I yelled back, hugging her in glee. Another girl was running up behind her. “And Philipia! Oh my god, it’s so awesome to see you!” Cue group hug and much high-fives. Alye drew one of her swords and stabbed the air.
“The trio reunited! YES!” she hollered, giving that Chihuahua-in-a-blender laugh. I couldn’t help it; I collapsed in a fit of giggles.
Philipia patted me on the back to stop me from choking and I finally managed to get a hold of myself. Then we hugged again and that just made me tear up instead of laugh.
“Sheesh, you’re an emotional wreck,” Alye scoffed. I’d forgotten just how blunt she was and smothered the tears.
“Well what do you expect? I haven’t seen you in four bloody months! I thought I’d never see any of you again!” I exclaimed, running my hand across my cheek to wipe away the wetness. Alye laughed her Chihuahua laugh again and seized my wrist, yanking me down the hill with Philipia dragging my other wrist. I stumbled slightly in my leather shoes but I was getting my balance pretty quickly. As the moon shone brightly overhead, the grass leading to the trees seemed to sparkle; I could tell there’d been a gentle rain earlier because of the moonlight reflecting off the water droplets in the grass. It was so beautiful, another thing I’d forgotten.
Lunae skipped ahead, thrilled to be back home. Approaching the trees, a dark shape came up. A girl with jet black hair, ridiculously pale skin, and a gothic outfit…Her light brown eyes lit up as she saw me and she raised her hand in greeting. To my very brief surprise, her hand was alit in flames.
“Selene!” I called, breaking away from Alye and Philipia and running past Lunae. The fire surrounding her hands quickly faded and we collided in a hug. Our resident pyrokinetic grinned broadly.
“So nice to see you again,” she said matter-of-factly, sounding like she was greeting me on my return from an afternoon walk; it had always been rather difficult to get any strong emotions out of her. “Come on, we’d better get back to the village. Lunae, I have your bow and quiver.” The woodsgirl smiled in glee as she took back her favorite implements and slung the quiver over her shoulder. We hurried into the trees, following the path to Glovebern. Before, old rotting stakes had dotted the path, but these ones were new and relatively unworn. A good sign.
A silence fell over the group and then Alye spoke up, “Everyone’s gonna be thrilled to see you! You won’t believe all the changes in Glovebern!”
Smirking, I didn’t answer. After tipping back through a mystical portal, I was ready to believe pretty much anything. We kept on down the darkened path, Selene’s hand torch guiding us the entire way. The medieval Goth looked back and called, “I expect you’ll be aiding with the Inosital collecting again?”
My only answer was a laugh. Selene drew her powers from consuming a bizarre herb called Inosital that only flowered on the full moon. And the first time Alye, Philipia, and I had helped her harvest the plant, Alye had decided sampling a bit wouldn’t hurt. Cue rampant fireballs and madness until Selene soundly kicked her butt.
Alye knew exactly what Philipia and I started laughing at and promptly poked me in the back with one of her swords. She remembered all too well and her face was turning a bit red. I glanced at Philipia.
“Does she still try to steal any?” I whispered. She nodded and her eyes danced.
“Can you STOP making fun of me?” Alye demanded, folding her arms and trying to look menacing. Considering she was only an inch over five feet, it didn’t work so well…though the swords did help.
“Well what do you expect?” I asked. “I haven’t been able to mock you for months!” Another poke in the back for that remark. But I didn’t care; I was beyond happy. I was positively ecstatic! Here I was, back with my dearest friends, heading back to a fantasy every other kid could only dream of escaping to! The fact that Lunae had spoken of something bad happening completely vanished from my mind.
Then blackness abruptly settled in the trees.
The forest was suddenly dark. I couldn’t see ahead of me; Selene’s torch seemed to have vanished. Where was the light? “Selene?” I called. Beside me, I felt Philipia tensing and Alye drawing her swords. “Selene!”
Only Lunae’s voice answered. “I can’t see her! Stay there, don’t move!”
“What’s going on?” I stammered. The trees seemed to be encroaching on us, drawing closer like diabolical shadows. “What’s happened?”
The only reply came from Philipia, her tone tense as a rubber band about to snap, “Shut up! Keep your voice down for pity’s sake!” Her voice was roughening and she seemed to be shorter. I could feel her shrinking next to me and realized she was shapeshifting. Glancing down, I saw her going down on all fours while coarse fur sprouted all over her. She was becoming a wolf and very quickly finished the transformation. Sniffing, she stealthily made her way forward towards where we’d heard Lunae’s voice, melting into the darkness.
Alye slowly pulled me forward and I felt my stomach twisting. Our shoes made little noise on the damp and rotting leaves coating the ground. I wanted light, light of some kind. I’d always been freaked out by pure darkness. Where in the heck was Selene?
Smack!
“Ouch!” I snapped. It was Lunae, standing stock still at a spot on the ground. I peered forward.
It was Selene’s hair tie.
“Don’t move,” Lunae whispered very faintly. Philipia stole to the hair tie and examined it carefully. Then she lifted her head and peered around, smelling her surroundings. Her nose wrinkled and she looked at us with a horrified expression. And let me tell you, seeing a wolf with that kind of look is NOT comforting. “What is it?” Lunae inquired, even though it sounded like she already knew the answer.
Philipia focused and her wolf form melted and stretched until she was back to her regular self. Without saying anything, she bent down and picked up the cloth band. “It’s the same as the other ones. She’s gone. I can’t smell a single trace of her.”
“WHAT?” I stammered, stepping forward. Philipia put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “You mean…you mean she’s just VANISHED? Just like that? How? Why?” I could barely string my thoughts together.
The shapeshifter sighed and shook her head. “That’s why we needed you back.”
This couldn’t be happening. My friend couldn’t…can’t have just vanished…right before my eyes. This had to be a trick of some kind. Surely Selene was going to jump right out of the bushes and laugh at us.
But the entire walk back, no sound came from the trees except for the cricketing of insects and the occasional hoot of a watchful owl. Any patches of moonlight that shone through the branches were welcome but rare. And the entire time, I was scared to death.
My friends were frightened as well, but nowhere near as bad as me. Apparently this had happened several times before. But that didn’t help me at all. I wanted to know what was going on right there and then, but Alye insisted we get to Glovebern first, where we’d be more secure. Secure against what? What kind of madness had I stepped back into?
Gradually, I noticed how the trees were thinning out. Everyone was now organizing into single file. Lunae went first, then Alye, me, and Philipia. And as we stepped out of the dense growth of trees, I halted abruptly.
Woah, Glovebern had changed.
When I first set eyes on Glovebern (eight months ago, wasn’t it?), I saw a bunch of mud or wooden huts, utterly inadequate streets, and miserable people. Now torches were strategically lit so that the roads, which now consisted of stones like Roman roads, were easy to see. Every single house I saw was at least partially built of stone. The Candlebar Inn was the same as before, a two-story brick with a dented sign and an eternal air of quiet camaraderie. At this hour, there were still people on the streets and I noticed their appearance. Before, they were thin and disheveled with a look of despair. A feeling of hope and contentment as well as a drive to improve now permeated every fiber of this place. Clothes were no longer tattered, children no longer rail thin and eerily quiet. Even as we stood there, a group of three kids, no older than seven or eight, went running down the street chasing after a wooden ball. An older girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen, frantically chased after them, calling their names in a frustrated but somewhat amused tone. As the girl passed, she noticed us standing there and suddenly froze.
“Oh my…” she gasped, stepping backward. The kids looked back and slowly approached her, curious looks creeping up their faces. “Oh my goodness…it’s you!”
I realized suddenly she was talking to me.
Philipia quickly said, “Ireis, go get the Council together. Tell them we succeeded and they need to meet us in the Council chambers ASAP.”
Ireis looked confused. “…I’m sorry…ASAP?”
“As soon as possible,” Philipia sighed. “Lunae, can you go with her?”
“Of course,” Lunae grinned, seizing Ireis’s hand. They tore down the street, stopping at several doors. Alye and Philipia beckoned down the other end of the street.
“Remember where the villagers tried to burn us?” Alye asked sardonically as we swiftly walked down the paved road.
“How could I forget?” I replied, memories of nearly being roasted alive easily coming back. We’d only escaped because of…of Selene’s intervention. “What’s happened to Selene?” I burst out again. “And why? Philipia, you said ‘it’s the same as the other ones.’ What are you talking about? Are you telling me this happened to other people?”
Alye’s eyes grew worried and she tried to tug me along. “Come on, we’ll explain when we get to the chamber.”
“NO!” I snapped, grinding in my heels. “Ever since Lunae came through my closet, I’ve been told ‘wait wait wait’ to get answers. Well I don’t WANT to wait anymore! I’ve just seen one of my friends just go and vanish right in front of me and I want to know what’s happening!”
Philipia and Alye backed up a step. Thinking better of it, Philipia stepped back towards me and looked me right in the eye. “Tanya, listen to me. I know you’ve just gone through a lot of stress. I know you just had to come back after being reunited with your family. And I know this is probably really freaking scary. But can you please be patient for a little bit longer? I promise, as soon as the Council gets together, we’ll explain everything.”
A brief tense silence ensued. Finally, I nodded. “Alright.” Alye breathed a sigh of relief and we kept walking.
“I’ve forgotten how scary you get when you’re mad,” she suddenly observed. “But as I tried to remind you earlier, the spot where the villagers attempted their little witch-burning thingy? There it is.” She pointed and I followed her motion.
My billionth shock of the evening.
There were the three poles. Each was carved intricately and I walked up to them to see what they had. The pole on the left had Alye’s face cut into it, along with a repeating motif of swords. The pole on the right was decorated with Philipia’s visage and representations of the animal forms she turned into (one of which included a dragon). In the middle was my pole. There was my face…and then a depiction of my magic staff with magic flowing from its tip. But what was behind the poles was way crazier.
A building, about as big as two huts and comprised of stone blocks, loomed above the wooden stakes. Two double doors, solid and apparently indestructible, stood below a plank of wood that was adorned with the words ‘Glovebern Council Chambers.’ So…this was the result of our overthrow of Aubrey, lord of Glovebern. A village council? Relative prosperity?
Even a shiny council building.
Philipia pulled open one of the doors and we stepped inside. There were several candles lining the walls along with decorations, some of which I recognized as coming from the castle. They helped cheer the room considerably. A massive round table with several chairs took up most of the space in the room along with a bookshelf and what looked like a massive collection of charts and maps.
Footsteps outside the door and a cacophony of voices jerked me back to reality. Philipia pulled me over to one of the chairs and shoved me into it while she and Alye took up the adjoining chairs. The huge wooden door creaked open and people filed into the room. I recognized pretty much all of them except for a few unfamiliar faces. They all went silent when they saw me.
I stood up and realized I was trembling. “Well…I’m back.”
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