The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies) (23 page)

At Weston
Road, most of the Stark and Henderson (which was the Normal surname
that Saren and Henkot had chosen) families sat round the dinner
table waiting for the dinner that Helen and Saren had discussed.
Both ladies were still in the kitchen getting the last of the food
ready. The others had offered to help, but Helen and Saren wanted
to use this time to gossip and told the men to get lost.

“
You know,
you didn’t have to come for dinner. I know that you have more
important things to be doing,” said Helen.

“
You’re
right, there are other things. But I need to get away from it all,
as does Henkot. He’s been working nonstop trying to find out how
each victim died. The Council wants to know if the Dark Wizards are
using any new spells and curses so we might have an idea of what
we’ll be up against if we have to face any more of them,” said
Saren. “And then there’s Keruen, my niece. You know the one who
survived the attack on Kuople.”

“
Can she eat
food? I mean, isn’t she a vampire?”

“
She’s only
half Valcota. She takes a tonic to feed that side of her, though
she needs to eat food to feed the Witch side, as well. Don’t worry,
Helen, she’s harmless. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“
It’s okay, I
trust you,” said Helen. “Oh, I almost forgot. What should I call
Keruen while she’s here?”

“
Her Normal
name is Karen.”

“
Just so I
know what to call her around Peter. And you don’t mind that I
invited Delsani and Berlanin?” Helen added.

“
Okay, I know
why Delsani’s here; he’s Peter’s Godfather, but
Berlanin?”

“
He’s John’s
old friend, and I want him to get to know Peter.”

“Oh right,” laughed Saren.

“
And what
does that mean?”

“
Nothing,
it’s just that he is single and good looking.”

“
The
truth is I do like him,
though I feel I’m betraying John’s memory,” said
Helen.

“
Rubbish, he
would want you to be happy. And he would want Peter to have someone
to look up to, or even for him to have a dad.”

“
I know, but
it just feels wrong. I think I should wait.”

“
Well,
if that’s what you want,
then that’s what’s best for you. But just keep in mind, you’re not
getting any younger, you know,” laughed Saren.

Helen
chuckled lightly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“
And thanks
for talking to me. I think that’s something else I needed,” Saren
added.

“
No
problem. Y
ou were there for me first, you
know.” They smiled at the same time and lifted the full dishes in
front of them then made for the kitchen door to lay the food
out.

That night as
they sat around the table, the three adults were talking about
things that were happening in Dorminya. Helen wanted to know what
else was going on, as she was heading back for the first time in
six years.

T
hey had to try and find the
right way to put it, for Peter’s sake. But just then Peter reached
up and tugged on his mother’s jumper.

“Finished,” he said.

Helen noticed
he had hardly touched his dinner. But then, he rarely did. He would
eat just enough to keep him going, and then would want to go and
play with his toys.

“Go on then,” said Helen.

Dorana sat looking from Saren to Henkot.

“
Go on,” said
Henkot, “you can get something later if you want.”

“
Would you
like to play, too?” Helen asked Keruen. For the first time that
night, Helen got a good long look at the girl. She was wondering
whether they had used magic to change her appearance. For the girl
looked nothing like Saren had described. She looked more like Saren
had described before the attack.

T
here came no answer from the
girl. She just stared at the middle of the table.

“
Keruen
wouldn’t you like to play with Dorana and Peter?” asked Saren
gently.

“Ok,” said the girl shyly. She jumped down
from her chair and ran after the other two.

Helen opened her mouth to ask the question
she had been dying to ask all night.

“
We didn’t
use magic on her,” said Henkot, as though he had read her mind,
“She did it herself. After we stopped her from fully turning into a
Valcota, we soon saw that she had not only their look but their
abilities as well. Her thirst for blood you know about; she also
has their ability to create the illusion of beauty. We don’t know
if there’s anything else she can do. In fact, we don’t know if
Valcotas can do anything else. We’ve never been so close to one,
and anybody who has, well, they’re not able to tell because they
themselves were either turned or they’re dead. Personally, I’d
rather be dead.”

“
Yeah, I
wouldn’t fancy it myself,” said Helen.

“
How’s Peter
now? Does he remember anything?” said Saren, trying change the
subject.

“
No,
nothing,” said Helen. “You know, I can’t shake the feeling that
there’s something I can’t remember, too. It’s on the tip of my
tongue.”

Saren nudged
Henkot, who gave a sight chuckle and was fighting the urge to laugh
out loud. Delsani told them that Helen had asked him to rid her of
the memory of seeing her double. He had to, in case they would
mention something about it.

“
I’m sure
it’ll come to you,” said Saren. “The trick is not to think about
it. That’s what I do; it usually comes back within a day or
so.”

Delsani was
staring at them.
Saren looked down at the
table, and Henkot’s grin vanished.

Berlanin and
Helen were eyeing each other from opposite ends of the table, and
Berlanin opened his mouth to say something to her. Suddenly, a
scream came from the playroom. The five of them jumped
simultaneously. They were almost on the door when it exploded open
as Keruen burst through it. She slid a little on the wooden floor
and then came to a violent stop as she hit the wall opposite. Saren
and Henkot ran to her, and Helen stood waiting for Peter to emerge.
And he did, even more quickly than they could have thought. His
blue Dragon eyes were blazing his fangs and claws were also
showing.

Saren
attached her Talisman to her right hand. She had no intention of
hurting him, of course. Though before she could do anything Peter
thrust out his right hand. A blue surge of light hit the Wicca in
the chest she stumbled and fell, unable to move, for Peter had used
the Cripplize spell.

Berlanin stepped toward the Draga-Wizard-Elf.
“Peter,” he said calmly, even though he had no idea what he could
do to stop the boy.

Peter whipped round to meet his gaze.

The Wizard
suddenly had an idea. He calmly turned on the T.V. and DVD player,
put one of Peter’s DVD’s in and pressed the play button. He sat
down in front of the television and laughed at the antics of the
cartoon characters.

“
What’s
wrong, Peter, don’t you want to watch cartoons with me
today?”

Peter stared
at him momentarily, then his eyes turned to normal and his fangs
and claws retracted back into their hiding places again, as did the
silver Dragon-scaled tail that had shown itself. The boy was as
Normal as any other six year old. He ran over to the Wizard and
plunked himself down beside him and, as usual, sat
spellbound.

Delsani left,
as he had to meet with the Grand Wizard. An hour or two of cartoons
passed before Delsani turned up at the house again.

“What took you so long,” Helen asked
frantically.

“
I’m sorry,
but sometimes it takes a little while to get a window from the
C.O.W.S. They can be very touchy especially of you go to them to
many times in a week.”

“
Cows held
you back?” said Helen. “I had no idea there were cows in your
world,” she added with a smile.

“
Consortium
of Other Worldly Status, or C.O.W.S. for short,” said the
Wizard.

“
Oh right,
that’s the special department that helps you with Phazing,” said
Helen.

“
Yes, that’s
right. How is Saren?”

“
She’s awake,
and she can shake her head a little. I think she’s okay. You better
have a look at her to be sure.”

“
And
Peter?”

“
He’s still
in the living room with Berlanin.”

“
He’s always
been good with children,” said the Wizard.

“
What would
cause him to attack that girl like that? Is there something
wrong?”

“
I don’t
think it was Peter’s fault,” said Henkot. But it seems every time
he loses his temper, his powers break free.”

“
Helen, as I
said before, the spells that hold Peter’s powers weaken when his
life is in danger, and only when his life is in danger, to prevent
him from being hurt. It’s just a precaution, really,” said
Delsani.

Henkot looked
at the Queen and said, “The truth is, we were enjoying ourselves so
much that time flew, and we hadn’t realized that Keruen needed her
blood substitute.”

“Oh,” said Helen not knowing what else to
say.

“
I think that
her need for blood became so strong that she couldn’t suppress it,
and her instincts took over, like what happened to
Peter.”

Helen jumped
when something touched her shoulder. “How’s Saren?” asked
Berlanin.

“
What are you
trying to do, give me a heart attack?” she said.

“
We were just
about to go and see to Saren,” said Delsani. “How is the girl?” he
said to Henkot.

“
She’ll be
fine,” said Henkot. “She’s resting at the moment. I still can’t
believe we forgot to give her her tonic.”

Chapter Ten

The
cursed Wolf Demala was hunting for his supper, a
plump rabbit, when he saw a number of robed figures passing through
the Karnen lands, and to his surprise, with them was a number of
Lore’s and Goblins. They were obviously some of Ulicoth’s people,
so he decided to follow the Dark Lord’s chosen to their destination
at a distance, as not to be seen. Ulicoth had put a high price on
his head for the help he gave to the alliance at the battle of
Kealhal. In addition, many, although afraid, would certainly chance
a limb to get their reward.

However, that
was not what made him so cautious, for he knew that Ulicoth would
be keeping a part of his mind on them, and any deviation from their
planned course would alert him, so he kept his distance. When he
saw their target was the Witch village of Kuople, he was ready to
leave to alert the Wizards or Wizard, meaning Delsani. The old
Wizard had asked him to keep his eyes open for anything out of the
ordinary. He was sure that a small army running close to the
borders of their land was very strange in deed. But as he headed
for the Wiz-Wit city, he saw a girl running from the town’s outer
walls and into Burtairel forest.

Knowing that
she would not have a hope of survival on her own, he went in after
her. He knew that even with his speed, help would not arrive in
time to save the villagers.

“At least I could save one,” he told
himself.

When he ran
through the tree line, he saw that like most of the forests in that
land, it was dark, though there were patches of light where the
radiance from the sun had managed to break through the thickness of
branches and leaves of the trees and shine down on the ground,
where fallen leafs and tree roots bulged out from the muck and sat
in a sullen stillness. Demala looked in every direction and found
what he was looking for; he could see the outline of the child
running in pure fear through the trees. In truth, he could hear the
girl better than he could see her, so he followed as best he
could.

Not long
after
, he heard a scream coming for the
direction in which he thought the girl had taken. True enough, he
found the girl in the arms of a Valcota. The Wolf made his presence
known and chased the creature into the woodland. It fled with a
squeal, for even the darkest creatures feared the Wolf, as he could
not die by any action of theirs, and they knew it. They also knew
he had other abilities they could not match on their
own.

As the creature fled to alert its fellow
leeches, Demala checked the girl for any injures other then the
wound to her neck.

The bite had
already begun to turn her into one of those beasts. He was
surprised to see she was conscious, and was even further surprised
to hear her already talking in their tongue. Then, as her eyes fell
upon him, the words began to change. He could understand most what
she was saying. In addition, as the words became clearer she said.
“Help me.”

“
I’ll try,”
said Demala. “But you’ll have to climb on my back. I am a Wolf and
can’t carry you any other way.

The girl
reached up and took a hand full of his fur. Demala noticed her grip
was very loose. He did not know if it was loss of blood, or perhaps
she was afraid of him or afraid of hurting him in case he might
turn on her, as to her mind he was probably just a wild
animal.