Chapter 26
Big Mistake
Haylwen watched as Cadarn threw a punch at Oakren, who blocked it easily. Cadarn threw a second, also blocked, and then kicked low followed immediately by a third punch. Oakren blocked the kick, but missed the punch. He grunted, stepping back.
“What was that about?” Nacia yelled. Oakren's glare was louder. “Cadarn, pull your punches, and Oakren, where is your focus?” Haylwen thought for a moment that Nacia was crazy, yelling at a deaf boy, but Oakren shrugged.
Cadarn laughed, sounding a bit overloud to Haylwen. “Sorry,” he said.
Before Nacia could respond, Oakren smiled with his lips, and nodded. “Again,” he signed.
He and Cadarn stepped toward each other. Oakren threw a slow punch at Cadarn, who blocked it, and threw one back. Oakren blocked it, turning the block into a hold that pulled Cadarn in. Cadarn stumbled, and Oakren's hip flung him over easily. Cadarn's feet landed hard, the rest of his body still held by Oakren as he grabbed Oakren with both hands.
They looked so cute, holding each other, Haylwen had to smile.
“Oh, nice move!”
Haylwen whirled to see two blond girls at the edge of the clearing, coming their way. Both irritatingly pretty, the one who had spoken had strange orange eyes, and the other gave Haylwen such a feeling of déjà vu she wondered if the girl was on TV or something.
Oakren and Cadarn couldn't get away from each other and to the two girls quickly enough. “Solbright!” Cadarn almost shouted, and ran to her grinning. Oakren had an almost identical grin as he walked toward the other girl, who signed to him. The girl and Oakren exchanged signs so quickly and easily Haylwen immediately felt a stab of jealousy, and then surprise at the feeling. Well, she thought, it wasn't like Rivenwake was going to step out of my dreams, or drive up and find me, even if he knew where I was!
Haylwen glanced from Nacia, whose jaw was hanging open, to Doakren, whose face moved through a strange progression of jealousy and pride. All three just stood there as Cadarn and Oakren came back with the two girls between them.
They formed a little circle in the middle of the clearing. Cadarn glanced at the girls and Oakren, and then said, “Uh, Haylwen, Nacia and Doakren, this is Solbright. Solbright, this is Haylwen, Nacia and Doakren.”
Solbright smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
Nacia said, “Welcome,” as Haylwen said, “nice to meet you.” Neither showed any warmth, but Doakren smiled and winked.
Sheela signed something to Oakren, who shook his head while he made a couple of signs and pointed at Doakren. “Ah,” Sheela said. “I'm Sheela, nice to meet you,” she finished while she signed something quickly to Doakren.
“So the whole story was true, with the mountain lion and everything?” Haylwen blurted. Oakren nodded and looked proudly at Sheela, who slid a little closer to him and put her hand on his arm. Oakren fairly glowed.
Doakren went over and shook the girl's hands, and then cuffed Oakren on the shoulder with a grin. Oakren grinned back, and they shot a few signs back and forth. Sheela looked puzzled, trying to follow the exchange, and Haylwen guiltily felt a little better.
“We don't want to interrupt your practice,” Solbright said when the twins turned back. “We'll just watch until you're done, ok?”
After a few shrugs and polite refusals, Oakren and Cadarn stood face to face again. Doakren stood next to the two girls. Nacia stood to the side, trying to keep one eye on the girls, one eye on Oakren and Cadarn, and help Haylwen with her form on moves. Oakren and Cadarn went through an exchange, so obviously distracted by the girls that Nacia groaned.
“Go ahead, take care of them,” Haylwen said, and before she was even finished saying “go,” Nacia was on her way. She stopped next to Cadarn and Oakren. “Either focus or let's just quit for the day!”
Oakren and Cadarn looked over to where the two girls were standing. They smiled, and so Oakren and Cadarn took their stances as Nacia backed off. She stood next to Haylwen with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Haylwen suddenly realized that Nacia was jealous too, but in a different way.
“Ok, let's take it up a notch, like Nacia said, ok?” Cadarn said with a gleam in his eye.
Oakren's eyes flicked to the two girls, back to Cadarn's, and a fierce grin leaped onto his face. He nodded.
They stepped forward and bowed, and then started throwing punches and kicks like Haylwen had never seen. Nacia yelled at them, but they didn't even pause, so she just shook her head. At first they were smiling. Oakren slipped a punch past Cadarn that sent him back a step, and Cadarn responded with a solid kick to Oakren's thigh that had Oakren hopping. The smiles disappeared. Haylwen cringed as the blows kept going. She glanced over at the girls. Their smiles were the same, if not bigger.
Oakren and Cadarn locked up in a hold, and Haylwen surprised herself by running in and breaking them apart. “What's gotten into you two?” she said.
“What was the matter with that?” Solbright asked as the two girls came over to stand next to them. “What? Are you their mother? I thought they were great,” she said, putting her hand on Cadarn's arm.
Sheela smiled and nodded, looking warmly at Oakren from under her eyebrows and licking her lips. Both boys puffed up a little. Haylwen looked to Nacia for support, but she was distracted by Doakren signing something to her.
Sheela turned to put her arm around Oakren. “You shouldn't feel too badly that you are too out of shape to do anything like that,” she said to Haylwen.
Haylwen flushed, and felt nauseated, but Oakren didn't seem to catch it. Nacia did, though. “She's trying as best she can.”
Haylwen knew she was just trying to help, but felt that was almost as bad, if not worse in some ways, than not defending her at all.
“Come on, Cadarn, Oakren, why don't you take a break?” Haylwen said, looking from one boy to the other.
“We're fine,” Cadarn said, looking at Oakren. “Right? Ready to go again?”
With a quick kiss from Sheela that made Haylwen's jaw clench, Oakren nodded. Before the two boys stepped away, Solbright touched Cadarn's cheek and a shiver went down Haylwen's spine.
As the boys stepped together and bowed, Haylwen tried to think. She might be jealous of Oakren because she thought he liked her, but Cadarn? Was she just jealous that Cadarn found someone and she didn't? She searched the feeling as she looked at Solbright. I swear I have seen her before, she thought. Regardless, it was obvious that she was going to be no good for Cadarn. So am I just feeling protective of Cadarn? Yes, that was close, but there was more to it than just thinking Cadarn was going to have his feelings hurt. Yes, that girl didn't really care about him. She looked at him like she owned him, like Cadarn was a pet. A favorite pet, perhaps, but one she wouldn't hesitate to beat if he stepped out of line. Yeah, she realized with increasing confidence, there is something terribly wrong here. The fact that he didn't even mention her, the weird déjà vu feeling... maybe there was something magical going on here? Haylwen stared at them, trying to see if there was any smoke or colors or anything she could possibly see coming from the two girls, but couldn't sense anything.
The boys were at it fiercely by this time, and Haylwen glanced over at Nacia. She couldn't help notice Solbright talking with Doakren, smiling and playing with her hair. She was flirting with him! Haylwen saw in shock. Doakren kept looking from her to Cadarn, but was smiling and nodding all the same.
“Doesn't he see it?” she wondered out loud.
“See what?” Nacia said, somewhat distracted by Oakren and Cadarn's exchanges.
“Doakren,” Haylwen said, pointing with her jaw.
Nacia glanced over. “Oh, he can't really help it. All girls just seem to like him.”
“No, Nacia, there's something really strange going on here,” Haylwen said.
“What, because she likes Doakren better than your brother? Or that two deaf boys would get two pretty girls to like them?”
“What? No, nothing like t
hat, though, it is strange that they...”
Nacia cut her off. “Oh, mind your own business,” she said as she walked toward Doakren and Solbright.
Haylwen was shocked, watching her go, and didn't even hear Sheela approaching.
“Hi, um, I forgot your name,” Sheela said. Haylwen started to remind her, but Sheela cut her off. “Doesn't really matter, I don't care anyway. You had better not cause any trouble with me and Oakren.”
“What?” Haylwen said.
“You heard me. I see you eying him, and if you think a fat, frizzy-head nothing like you could compete with me, you have another thing coming.”
“I never...”
“Oh, don't lie,” Sheela hissed, her voice a stark contrast to her smile. “I'm keeping my eye on you,” she said as she walked away. She walked by Oakren and Cadarn, who took a brief pause so Oakren could flirt with her. Cadarn looked over to where Solbright was flirting with Doakren and a cloud dropped on his face.
Haylwen went to him quickly and pulled him away from Oakren and Sheela.
“Cadarn, listen to me, something strange is going on,” she said.
“What,” he said, distracted. “Oh, um, let's talk in a minute, ok? I'm going to go talk to Solbright.”
“No, wait, that's part of the problem.”
“What, a pretty girl likes me?” he shot back.
“No,” she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I think there is something magical going on.”
Cadarn looked at her, and then at Solbright. He sighed. “Do you see something?”
“No, it's just a feeling.”
“Well, until you have something concrete, let me have a bit of happiness, ok? Not everything is a fanged monster in disguise.”
He stalked off, going over to stand next to Solbright.
She stood there, all by herself, completely alone. Maybe I'm wrong? Cadarn was right, maybe this was just normal weirdness. But I have to know for sure, some part of her urged. Maybe if she did some magic, something to find out what those two girls really were up to? She didn't know how to do that. Maybe a bubble around everyone, to block whatever magical hold those girls had on everyone?
She closed her eyes, calmed herself, and gathered the energy. She opened her eyes and called a ball of energy into her hand. As she did, the two girls swiveled their heads as one toward her and stared at her intently. Sheela leaned back, hiding her face behind Oakren's back and sneered at her.
They know! They know I can use magic, and not only aren't put off, they are expecting me to, even wanting me to!
Haylwen scowled at the ball of energy and it disappeared. Well, if they want me to do that, I surely won't do it! How do they know about magic? I just have to keep trying to talk to my friends, she thought.
Her friends. That's what she felt, looking at them. And, they kind of were. Cadarn too, even. Sure, he was her brother, and always mostly annoying, but especially with all this weirdness going on, he was really becoming her friend. Was that the problem? She was just jealous, didn't really want her friends to be happy, just wanted them to stay her friends only?
No, she knew that wasn't the answer. Well, wasn't the large part of the answer. So they could be truly happy, she really would help them get there, even if it meant going back to not having any friends. She wouldn't like it, but she would. No, this was an honest feeling, a knowing that these two would be nothing but pain for her friends. Besides, if they knew about magic, that was something she could tell Cadarn.
She marched over to stand next to Cadarn. “Hey, Cadarn, can I have a sec?”
“Not right now,” he said, then went back to listening to Solbright telling a story about some computer game. She waited a moment, then thought of trying with Nacia.
“Nacia, listen, can we talk for a second?” All Haylwen received in return was a quick, “In a moment, please.” She looked at Oakren and Doakren, but they were as entranced as Nacia in Sheela's sign language. Whatever she was saying was apparently both fascinating and intermittently hilarious.
Haylwen considered leaving again. If these people, her supposed friends, didn't even care what she said, why should she care about them? But she did care. These two are going to give pain to people I care about, she thought, and I have to do something. How could she convince her friends to let these two... wait, that was it. She clenched her jaw.
“Sheela, Solbright, why don't you just tell me what is really going on,” Haylwen said, her hands clenched at her sides. “I can see right through you, and I am not going to stop trying to show my friends.”
The two girls turned to face Haylwen, their faces perfect innocence. “What are you talking about?” Solbright said. “Are you so jealous that someone doesn't find you attractive that you need to spread your poison all over? I don't know that I would call you my friend if you said that to someone I liked.”
Sheela immediately followed her lead. “Oh, poor Haylwen, too plain to have anyone like her, now she tries to ruin it for everyone.” She gestured to Nacia. “If you would just do what she does, you could have the perfect body she does. I'll bet you don't have any trouble getting any boy you like, right?”
Nacia blushed and tried to hide a smile, and didn't say anything.
“Oh, go easy on her, Sheela,” Solbright said. “I'm sure she must be frustrated, not being liked by Oakren or Doakren, but really, Haylwen, you didn't ever have a chance with either of them. They're just out of your league, not to mention you're just a kid. I'm sure as you grow up you'll get rid of some of that baby fat and your face will look more like a woman's, and you'll meet someone more fitting.”
Sheela was apparently translating for Solbright as well as herself, because Oakren and Doakren had the same looks on their faces as Nacia.
Solbright put her hand on Cadarn and looked into his eyes. “Help your sister out, will you? I know she must have some good personality traits in there somewhere, I mean, she is related to you. Maybe she could work on those until she can lose some weight?”
Cadarn started to agree, saying something about how nice Haylwen was or something, but Haylwen didn't hear it. While the two girls were talking, she could feel her anger growing like a fire behind her eyes. Her hands ached for being clenched so hard for so long. Her own brother wasn't even able to defend her!
Solbright shook her head. “That's not very much. Isn't there anything interesting about you, Haylwen? Something someone might find worth their attention? Or are you as worthless as you appear?”
Oh, I'll show you interesting! Haylwen screamed in her head as she closed her eyes and saw the energy pulsing there. I don't care if they want me to do magic or not. In fact, since they know I can, they probably will be able to use magic to handle whatever I can throw at them. Or so they think.
She felt the energy around and in her grow and build like never before. She had never felt such a vast amount of energy around her, and at some level knew it was from the trees. I'll explore what that means later, right now I am just going to blast those girls! For the trees, I won't use flames, she thought, just a bubble. Yes, I'll just lock you up tightly, so tight you can't breathe or talk. Just for a moment, just to shut you up for a minute!
She tried to gather the energy, but it wouldn't settle down. She tried to focus, but couldn't imagine the bubble, what kind of bubble would trap Solbright and Sheela. An image of them being flung backward into the trees flashed across her vision.
She opened her eyes to see the two girls smirking at her, fueling her rage even more. She could feel the power around her, but she just couldn't connect to it! Maybe that was it. The two of them were trying to keep me too emotionally unbalanced to be able to do anything. Calm, focus, that's the way.
She took a deep breath and looked at her friends. Yes, they would provide the focus, that's why I'm doing this in the first place. As she let the breath out, she calmed. Like she had come down from a great height, she suddenly could see her friends clearly. Cadarn's eyebrows were raised, his eyes full of
concern for her. Oakren had a similar expression. Doakren and Nacia looked more confused than anything, but were also looking at her with concern. All of her friends were ignoring the girls, focused on her.
With a touch of shame, she realized she hadn't really been focused on her friends. She might blast the girls out of the forest, but her friends might be hurt in the process. She was thinking more of herself, focused on getting rid of the blond girls instead of trying to help her friends. She needed to focus on being a friend, not what she thought her friends needed. Maybe there was something good in those two girls, or at least something good for her friends? Having more magic users around might be good, right?
She took another breath and let the energy fade, feeling a vague sense of approval in return. Yes, I will look for the good, she thought as she looked at the two blond girls again. “Listen, Sheela and Solbright,” she started to say.
Sheela narrowed her eyes at Haylwen and threw a glance at Solbright, who also frowned. Throwing Oakren's hand off, she stormed over to Haylwen. “Listen, fat girl, why don't you just get lost? The only sorry one here is you. No one likes you, and you can't even defend yourself!” She had reached Haylwen at the last word, and gave her a shove.
Haylwen stumbled back, almost falling, her anger rising again, but determined to stay calm. Before she had even regained her balance, Nacia was beside her, Cadarn close behind.
“That's enough, Sheela,” Nacia said. “She just started learning martial arts.”
Sheela looked disgusted. “Oh, c'mon Nacia, you can't really think this tubbo is going to show anything important, can you?” She sneered in Haylwen's face. Haylwen was surprised to see a bit of desperation in her eyes. What was going on?
Sheela tried to shove Haylwen again, but it was blocked by Nacia. She started to say something as Solbright quickly walked over. But before Solbright could get there, Sheela unexpectedly jabbed Cadarn in the face. His nose spurted blood and he yelled, clapping both hands over his nose.
Sheela pushed him hard, making him stumble backward and fall down. Before Nacia or the twins could move, she jumped at him in a flying attack.
“Cumhachd!” he yelled, one hand raised. Sheela stopped in mid-air, tumbling to the side. She landed with a grunt on all fours. With a grin, she snarled at Cadarn, “Thanks!” Then she exploded.
The pupils of her orange eyes slitted, her hands and feet grew claws, and the rest of her just grew. Scales of reddish-gold flashed in the sunlight as she morphed into a dragon. She bared her giant teeth and unfurled her wings, taking up most of the clearing in a moment.
Cadarn scrabbled backward as a giant clawed hand reached for him. “Cumhachd!” he shouted. But Sheela just laughed. She furled her wings and grabbed him, holding him up in one hand easily. She flicked the clawed fingers of her other hand, and Nacia and the twins fell over, stunned.
Haylwen saw Cadarn in pain and terrified, and reached for her ball of energy. She hummed, and threw raw power at Sheela's shoulder. The power slammed into Sheela's shoulder, denting scales. Sheela roared as her arm fell limp, dropping Cadarn. She stepped in front of Sheela, and glared at her. She hummed again, sending another blast of power to knock Sheela back.
But Solbright stepped in the way. She was thrown backward, flying up and over Sheela. At the top of her arc, she morphed. A pressure wave blew leaves off of trees as she went from human to bus-sized in an instant. Her wings stretched over the clearing as she righted herself, then furled as she landed next to Sheela, dwarfing Haylwen completely.
“You have no idea what you are up against, human,” Solbright said. “Come with us quietly, or come screaming.”
Haylwen screamed, and threw all her fear into a ball of energy. She shot it at Solbright's face. It seemed to just bounce off of Solbright's snout.
“Ok, then,” Solbright said, and flicked one clawed hand out at Haylwen. One finger like a sledgehammer caught Haylwen and threw her back. Pain erupted in Haylwen's stomach as she landed. She couldn't breathe. A giant clawed hand grabbed her and picked her up easily.
“Well, that was easy,” Solbright said. Her grip was a coffin, tight against Haylwen's body, holding her arms against her side. “Give me the boy-child, dear, and then I'll leave.”
Fuzzy black framed Haylwen's vision. Through the haze, she felt the grip of Solbright's hand pressed something into her chest. The wish-wand! She had no idea what she was doing, but closed her eyes, trying to connect to the wand. Her energy and the light around her was still there, and strong. Like opening a door, she connected to the wand.
The small balls inside her chest grew. Out of the corner of her mind's eye, she saw Cadarn's energy. She felt an odd calm, imagining connecting with Cadarn when they first learned about magic. Suddenly, she could feel him, his energy too! More of the forest's power came with it. And there was Nacia, and the twins! Her mind linked to each of them quickly, beads on a string.
With the last, all of the vast power of the forest was suddenly hers to use. She seemed to be as large as a world, like she was one with the universe, connected to everything. She felt powerful, and completely in control.
With the last of her air she whispered. A bubble slid around her. She pushed. Solbright's grip broke, and Haylwen fell to the ground. Still struggling to breathe, Haylwen hauled herself up. She quickly put a bubble around Cadarn and pushed, breaking Sheela's grip. He fell, landing in a heap.
The dragons got over their shock and started to attack, but were too slow. Haylwen threw giant bubbles over each of them, imprisoning them. Both dragons roared, and Haylwen felt the shock waves as something hit her bubble. She pulled more energy through her links with the others, trying to collapse the bubbles around the dragons. They shrunk, scrunching the dragon's tails and wings. They were going to crush her; it was only fitting to do the same in return. They roared in pain as the bubbles shrank and they fought back.
The energy pouring through her took her and Cadarn's initial injuries away, but now it felt like she was being battered from the inside. The dragons were so powerful! The bubbles around them expanded as Haylwen struggled to keep her focus though the splitting headache and nausea. She couldn't let them out! She strained, reaching deeper into her friends, trying to get more energy to flow. The bubbles started shrinking again. She was going to do it!
Nacia gave a low moan, and Haylwen heard Cadarn groan too. Were they going through what she was feeling? She hesitated, and the bubbles stopped. She couldn't do it. If it meant harming her friends, she couldn't do it. Connected as she was, she just had to look at Cadarn to know he agreed. They would have to surrender, to go with the dragons to protect their friends.
She let go, and the bubbles vanished. The dragons unfurled their wings, white teeth flashing in triumph. Cadarn stood up, and with their connection, Haylwen couldn't help but see the dragons through his eyes. Hungry, and just protecting their young, hunted and misunderstood. Mind to mind, he whispered to her, “It was my fault they are here, and I am sorry.”
He stepped forward. “Sheela, if that is your name, I'm sorry.”
Haylwen was about to surrender and say, “We'll go with you,” when Sheela's dragon face imploded. Her wings thrashed once, sending Haylwen's hair fluttering around her face, before they slammed into her back. She shrunk, claws retracted, and once again Sheela looked human. “No!” she screamed.
Solbright's dragon eyes opened wide, and Haylwen's expanded thoughts tumbled and slid into the answer. Of course!
“I'm sorry,” Haylwen said, stepping forward to look up at Solbright. “Please forgive my attack.” She really felt sorry for attacking, but the start of something else slipped across her face. Still full of power, she sent Solbright love and healing, honestly trying to erase every possible injury she or Cadarn could have caused.
The giant dragon moaned, and shrunk back to human form. “No!” Solbright whispered.
The attack was what they had been waiting for, it was an invitation! The apology took it away. And if one invitati
on revoked took that away, then she knew how to get rid of them once and for all.
Solbright saw it, and put a hand on Sheela's arm. “Brace yourself,” she said softly, “I'll have to time this just right...” but Haylwen didn't let her finish.
“These are my friends, and this is my home,” Haylwen said. “You are no longer welcome here. Please leave.”
Faces stretched in shock, the two girls leaped backward. But instead of landing, they kept flying, feet never touching the ground, back to the edge of the forest. Like a drain had been opened, in an instant they were sucked backward down the trail. The forest behind them opened slightly, and the two slipped out of sight in a moment. A few quiet rustling of leaves and all was still. The last thing Haylwen saw was Solbright make a small motion with her hand as she disappeared.
With that motion, Haylwen felt a feather across her mind, chasing the last moments into nothing. She blinked and looked at Cadarn, who had a completely blank look on his face. They blinked at each other, trying to think as Nacia and the twins sat up suddenly.
“What just happened?” Nacia said, to no one in particular, looking around. Everyone just shrugged. Haylwen and Cadarn shared a look, caught the twins doing the same. There was something, just a feeling, not enough to remember. They stood there for another moment looking around the clearing. They all felt it, but couldn't bring a memory to it.
“Sheela and Solbright were here, pushed you, and then... I don't know what happened,” Nacia said in the pause that followed. “They must have just left. Just as well. It's a big mistake to go picking on one of our friends.” The twins smiled and nodded. “And let's not invite any more strangers in, right?”
Everyone laughed, loud and long. Haylwen looked around at their faces, smiling and happy, and felt tears fill her eyes and an odd sensation filled the rest of her. She stepped forward, hesitantly, but Oakren caught on immediately and met her half way to wrap her in a hug. Doakren and Nacia were just a moment behind him. Doakren pulled away just long enough to drag Cadarn into the big group hug. Haylwen couldn't remember ever having felt more completely happy, more at home.
Epilogue
From Fire
Solbright and Sheela stood at the edge of the forest looking in. Solbright was pensive, but Sheela just looked angry.
“I hope I wiped enough of their memories,” Solbright muttered to herself. “I can just barely feel the ring now, certainly not enough to manipulate thoughts.”
“Well, that didn't work,” Sheela grumbled. “Now we'll never get them.”
Solbright shot her a surprised look and cuffed her in the back of the head.
“What?” Sheela said.
“Never say never,” Solbright said firmly. “It would have been nice to get them directly, but it was just one possible path. I'll just figure out a way to let the Conclave know where they are. I'll get credit for finding them, and the humans can figure out how to get them out. It’s better to let humans do the dirty work anyway.”
“The Conclave can't get into a Dragonway any more than we can,” Sheela whined.
“Oh, they'll find a way in. They have big, dead machines and lots of money. The Chairman of the Conclave comes from a long line of betrayers, and I taught him almost everything I know.”
Sheela looked unimpressed at the first, but nodded at the second. “Ok, then we can get them?”
“No, he will want to do it himself. But no mater. Thinking he doesn't need us will be his own undoing. Our destiny is the same, dear one, no matter how we get there. Come, let's go. I have a surprise waiting for you back at the cave.”
Sheela smiled, and then jumped up into the air. Solbright shook her head, looking carefully all around before following. They were mere specks in moments. One, and then the other, of the specks enlarged massively into reddish-gold glints arcing across the blue sky.