An Army of Good (11 page)

The young Nomed soldiers scurried back to the swamp, keen to tell their king what they had discovered. Their skin had become dry and sore from their morning spent close to the beach, but now they were in ecstasy. Their pain eased as they wallowed gloriously within the boggy black mud, soaking up its precious moisture and nutrients. Once they were completely refreshed, they draped themselves in the ghostly mist that hung over the swamp and took themselves to stand before their king.

“Ew evah taerg swen rof uoy ruo gnik,”
one of them grinned as it grovelled at Balam's feet.

“Uoy erew thgir. Ruo gnuoy niks si hcum erom tneiliser. Ew erew elba ot teg yrev esolc ot eht hcaeb tuohtiw gnisuac oot hcum egamad ot sevlesruo. Tsuj a wef seros dna a elttil gniyrd. Ti smees taht su regnuoy seno era eht tsom tneiliser. Fi uoy dnes sreidlos hserf morf eht dum, yeht dluohs eb elba ot edavni eht hcaeb tuohtiw gnillevirhs ni sti ytlas ria.”

Balam rolled all three of his heads back and let out a spine-chilling cackle.

“Tnellecxe, nruter ot eht hcaeb htiw emos ylwen nesir sreidlos dna teg em emos erom taem. Neht ew lliw tsaef dna deerb gnitaerc a egral ymra ydaer ot kcatta, ydaer ot og ot raw!”

“Yes, okay Elsie, I'll teach you the rejuvenation enchantment, but you must promise me that you'll abide by the rules that I set you.”

Elsie's eyes squinted a little and she pulled a cheeky grin. “I promise, dear.”

“Good. Rule one: Only use this enchantment in extreme times of need. Rule two: Do not perform it more than once in any twenty-four-hour period. And rule three: No cartwheels!”

Elsie laughed, poking a wrinkled and bony finger at Ice's feathery tummy. She looked into the snowy owl's yellow eyes and said, “I can't promise no cartwheels, but I'm good for my word on the other two.”

“Elsie, you may feel younger after the enchantment, but your body will still be the same old body, and when the spell wears off, you will suffer the consequences of your actions.”

“Well, how about I promise not to overdo it on the cartwheels? I can't say fairer than that. You wouldn't deny an old lady just a couple of somersaults in her old age now… would you?”

“I guess not, but please go easy on them. For your own sake.”

“I will. Now then, what other spells are you going to teach me? I don't suppose you have one to get rid of varicose veins, do you? My legs have been aching something rotten.”

“I'm afraid not, Elsie. Anyway, I don't expect they are causing the aching. I think they ache because of the cartwheels!” Ice said, widening her eyes. “As for the other enchantments I'm going to teach you, well, we only have time to perfect a few, so we had better make them good ones.”

Ice really wanted to teach Elsie the recovery enchantment, so that she could help those that might get injured in battle, but she knew it was too dangerous, as Elsie would need a piece of that which had caused the harm, most likely meaning a piece of Nomed. And so she decided to teach Elsie a few of the simpler enchantments instead. The propelling enchantment had proved useful in Grace's back garden. She would definitely teach her that one. A simple healing enchantment would enable her to patch up any minor war wounds, and a confusion enchantment may allow her to temporarily baffle the enemy. And so it was decided that these would be the enchantments that Elsie would be taught.

* * *

Ice and Elsie made excellent progress that day. By mid-afternoon, Elsie was able to rejuvenate herself to a level where she no longer needed any assistance with walking. She even managed a couple of small skips.

“Today, walking unaided, tomorrow, cartwheels!” She beamed.

Takoda spent very little time on Christian's training.

“Make sure the one whom you intend to paralyse is in sight,” he'd told him. “Focus and stealth are of great importance. Your object should not see you until after the paralysis has taken full effect.”

Christian's chosen object of paralysis had been Henrietta. He took great pleasure in paralysing her at every given opportunity. She had, after all, taken joy in teasing him non-stop about falling from Zavier, and she hadn't stopped whining about how unfair it was that she hadn't been chosen to share any of the Berthold's powers. So yes, Christian took great pleasure in paralysing her, but he took even greater pleasure in giving her a wet, slimy lick on the cheek in order to release her. He just had to remember to run fast and escape before her paralysis wore off.

“I am trying. I'm getting angrier, believe you me!” Dan screamed at Aurora in frustration.

“Good, that's good, a bit of ferociousness, that's what we want to see. Try and hang on to that anger, then try again.”

Dan gritted his teeth, his eyes bulged and his face reddened and trembled with effort.

“It's no good, I can't do it,” he gasped. “You'd better pick someone else to share your power with.”

Aurora circled him, swishing her long, spotted tail with joy. “Look at your feet,” she grinned, with a satisfied sparkle in her eyes.

Dan looked down at his feet. “Whoa!” he gawped. His feet had grown to an immense size. “Gross,” he said, “awesome, but gross.”

“You're getting the hang of it. You'll be able to fully transform at will pretty soon,” Aurora praised. “We just need to get you really riled up over something, and then I'm sure a full transformation will follow.”

“Surely it's not good for me to feel so angry all the time. I might end up bursting a blood vessel,” Dan said, massaging his temples.

“You won't always need to be really angry; it's just helpful at this stage. Once you've mastered the transition, you should be able to turn into a Meh-Teh with just a simple unhappy thought.”

“Well, that's a relief because my head's really beginning to hurt.”

“I expect you're getting dehydrated. The sun is very powerful today. You must keep your fluids up. I'll go and ask Jazmine to bring you some more lemonade.”

“That'll be great. I could really do with some Jazmine,” Dan said, thinking dreamily of the young Arabian woman's smouldering eyes.

“I take it you meant to say you could do with some lemonade?” Aurora laughed.

“That's what I said. I could really do with some lemonade.”

Aurora walked off, smiling to herself. She soon returned with Jazmine and Aaron. Aaron was carrying a tray containing a large wooden jug that was spilling over with the fresh lemon drink, and a few wooden tankards.

Who does he think he is?
Dan thought, as he watched the muscular black man strolling toward him, his biceps bulging and sweat glistening on his ripped dark skin.

Jazmine took the jug and a tankard from the tray that Aaron was holding. She poured Dan a drink. “Here you go, you must be parched,” she said, handing over the tankard.

“Thanks, Jaz,” Dan said with a wink.

Jazmine grabbed her hair with both hands and ruched it up away from her neck. “It sure is hot today, isn't it?” she exclaimed, tilting her head provocatively.

Dan, captivated by her beauty, spluttered, dribbling lemonade from his mouth. “It sure is,” he replied, wiping the dribbles from his chin with the back of his hand.

Jazmine placed her hand on his cheek and gently stroked the corner of his mouth with her thumb. “Here, you missed a bit,” she said, with a smile.

Dan couldn't hide his attraction to Jazmine; it was clearly painted all over his face for everyone to see. Whenever she was near him, he couldn't help but smile and the glint in his eyes said it all.

Aaron barged between Dan and Jazmine, forcibly shoving Dan to the ground.

“Back off, you puny little punk. If you look at Jazmine like that again, you won't just be eating sand, you'll be eating my fist! Understood?”

“Understood!” Dan yelled back through gritted teeth, feeling humiliated and unaware that his head had grown to a disproportionate size.

“Who do you think you are, anyway? Are you Humans that stupid? Do you think you can come into our land and steal our women? As if any of them would be interested in a scrawny little weasel like you! You're pathetic!” Aaron yelled, inches away from Dan's face, spraying him with saliva and allowing him to smell the bitter-sweet scent of lemonade on his breath.

Dan was embarrassed, but, more than that, he was furious. How dare Aaron speak to him like that, belittle him in front of Aurora and Jazmine? He pushed his fists into the sand and climbed to his feet. His anger was so intense that he could feel it pounding through his veins.

“
AARRGGGH
!” he roared. “Don't you ever speak to me like that again, or you'll be eating both of my fists, my feet and my head all in quick succession, understood?” he shouted with rage.

The anger empowered him, he felt strong and indestructible. He felt as if he'd grown into a ferocious giant… he had! Dan looked down on Aaron who was now almost half his size and he raised a fist ready to deal the man what he felt to be a well-deserved blow.

“Enough!” Aurora yowled, appearing between the two angry men in her Meh-Teh form. Then she turned to Aaron and thanked him.

“Why the hell are you thanking him?” Dan snarled through ogre-like teeth.

“Because he has done as I asked of him. Because he helped to successfully transform you into a mighty Meh-Teh. Now that we know you are able to transform, we can begin to master the process, but more importantly I think we need to start lessons in self-control, don't you?”

Francis and Arthur were training by the unlit beach fire. Arthur sat on a log in front of the towering mound of dead wood. He had a white handkerchief tied on top of his head to prevent his bald patch from burning in the sun, and he was bobbing his little round face up and down, up and down.

“Why do I have to bob my head like this?” he asked.

“I don't actually know why, all I know is that it seems to help. Now, concentrate and try to blend into your surroundings,” Francis hooted.

Arthur continued bobbing his head. He was thinking about how the wood surrounding him looked and felt; its colour and texture. He even imagined its earthy smell.

“You're doing it, you're doing it,” Francis said with delight. Arthur's head appeared to be floating, weaving body-less in front of the fire.

“Concentrate on the wood, you're almost there.”

Arthur scrunched closed his peephole eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose, drawing in the scent of the wood. His little round hanky-covered head was no longer bobbing up and down in front of the fire, it had completely vanished!

“Woohoo, you did it!” Francis whooped with joy, whilst doing a celebratory loop-the-loop.

“Whoop-dee-doo. You did it. You did it. You did it!” Preble sang, jumping across the sand towards them.

Grace was sitting on the beach house steps, waiting for Zavier to come and get her so that they could start her barrier training. She held her fair, curly hair back off her face, looked out across the expanse of sand, and watched all the different huddles of activity. She watched Dan, who was now able to transform into a Meh-Teh with a simple unhappy thought. All he had to do was imagine how he'd felt when Aaron had humiliated him, and he burst explosively into a giant. Grace laughed loudly every time her brother changed. He looked as if someone had inflated him with helium. She imagined him stampeding around in his mighty Meh-Teh form, yet speaking in a small and squeaky helium-induced voice.

She watched Harry, who was still spinning round in the sand, launching the pouch into the group of various creatures that encircled him. She was very impressed at how good he was. He never missed his target.

She looked on as Elsie and Ice, who were still on the veranda, practised the propelling enchantment. Ice had placed a tankard on a table and Elsie had successfully learnt how to push the wooden cup off and onto the floor. Now Tobias was sitting crossed-legged on the table, and although Elsie could make him shuffle a little on his bum cheeks, she was struggling to push him off.

Grace could see Grandad Arthur, who had now become an expert in camouflage, and not just of himself. She watched as he pulled Nanny Lizzy onto his lap, causing her to disappear out of sight as they merged into the structure of the wood heap together. And while all this was going on, Preble the tiny meadow mouse boinged into the air, enthusiastically supporting and praising everyone on their training efforts.

Grace's peaceful observations were disturbed when Henrietta hurtled up the steps, tearing past her on her way into the house. Once Henri was inside, she was out of sight, but Grace could still clearly hear her whining voice.

“Mrs Potts, tell Christian to stop paralysing me. If he does it once more, I'm g…” Henrietta's whinging was cut short, replaced by Christian's mischievous chuckling, “Think I'll leave her like that for the rest of the day,” he giggled.

A low rumbling noise vibrated through the house and although Grace was outside, she felt it too. The step that she was sitting on trembled slightly. Then she heard the sound of Takoda's disapproving growl.

“I see I still have much to teach you,” he snarled. “Particularly concerning respect for others and teamwork. Release the girl and come with me,” he ordered.

Christian licked his tongue up the side of Henrietta's cheek. “… going to tell his parents,” Henrietta said, continuing the whine she'd started before he paralysed her.

Grace had been so distracted by everything going on around her that she'd failed to notice Zavier, who was now standing at the foot of the steps with a hand resting on the banister and Chester perched on his shoulder.

“Okay, Grace, it's time that we got started. The sooner we get a protective barrier placed around you, the better.”

Grace skipped down the steps. Excited to commence the training, she followed Zavier and Chester over to where Harry and Pelagia were.

“May we borrow your sand bag?” Zavier asked Pelagia.

“Of course you can, in fact you can keep it. We don't need it any more. We are ready to move onto orb production,” Pelagia said, taking the pouch from Harry and tossing it to Zavier.

Zavier caught the pouch mid-air with one hand. “Excellent, the faster the training progresses, the better,” he said, giving Pelagia an indicative look.

Pelagia knew by the expression on Zavier's face that this wasn't just a passing comment. This was a warning, an indication that a Nomed attack was imminent. He returned the look, giving Zavier an acknowledging nod.

Grace may have been young, and in many ways naïve, but she wasn't stupid. She noticed the seriousness in both Zavier's and Pelagia's voices, and so she decided there and then that she would do her very best not only to protect herself, but to protect all of Liberty.

* * *

Grace couldn't contain her tears as the sand pouch thudded against her shoulder for the twentieth time. She didn't make a big thing about it, she just wiped the tears away from her sad blue eyes and requested, “Try again. I know I can do it. I'll place a protective barrier around myself, and I'll learn how to place it around all of you too. Please try again!” she begged.

Zavier bent down before her, holding each of her dainty hands in his. “I know you would if you could, Grace, but for some reason it isn't working… for some reason it's not meant to be. We don't have time to keep trying. I must choose someone else to share my power with and you must begin self-defence lessons with the other Humans.”

Grace nodded, unable to speak. She'd been so determined to protect everyone. She couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to those that she cared about, and now she was unable to place the barrier around them. A tear spilled from her eye and ran down her cheek, winding its way past her freckles before salting her lips. She rubbed at it with her hand in an attempt to wipe away her sadness, but she couldn't. The taste of the salty tear remained, lingering in her mouth, reminding her of her failure to protect, and sorrow lay heavy in her heart.