Guardian Dragons (11 page)

Heather,
Gadon
Mindtalked.
I am heading to
the dolphins so you can swim with them before you return. Follow
me.

She swam closer to Gadon, so
pleased with herself that she wanted to stay in the sea forever. As
they approached the dolphins her confidence sank a little, they
acted very boisterous frantically circling around, almost as if
they were afraid. Did they fear her she wondered?

What is it my sea friends?
the Prince asked of them as he joined the small
group.

They all replied at once in their
eagerness not to lose his attention.

Prince Gadon we must speak with
you.....

But you told us to leave you
alone.....

We really must as it is very
urgent.....

But we do not want to disobey you
and....
.

They proceeded to signal a strange squawking noise that
seemed
to vibrate through the
waters.

They are distressed Heather,
Prince Gadon explained.
That is a distress call. I must find out why they cry out
so. They are excitable creatures and it is probably something and
nothing.

Quickly, Prince Gadon, Heather felt
concerned at their frantic behaviour, do ask them what what worries
them so.

One brave little dolphin swam up to
the Prince and nudged his hands as if testing out whether the
Prince would fend him off or stroke his nose.

Tell me, what is it my sea friend?
The Prince asked of this little
creature.

We must tell you Prince of the huphins,
the dolphin Mindtalked.
It is the little Princess. She is in grave danger from
the grey sharks.

You must be wrong,
the
Prince questioned.
My
daughter will be in Learning School now, within the confines of the
huphin city. She never comes out of the city alone. What tale is
this and where has it come from?

It comes along the sea bed, Prince of the huphins.
The dolphin was quite adamant that
his news was correct.
You
must follow us. She is to be ended if you do not come with
us.

Forgetting his present company the
Prince began to swim swiftly after the dolphins. His only thoughts
were for his little girl. How could this be? What had she
done?

Heather struggled to keep up with
the speed of the Prince and the dolphins but she had overheard and
fully understood the language that the dolphins had spoken to
Prince Gadon. She would not leave him. He had been kind to her, now
she would help him with his quest.

Chapter 16 The
Chase

T
he water was rapidly
becoming murky as the seabed stirred up at the frenzied movement of
the sea creatures. Princess Bryley was unable to see where the
sharks were hovering. She swam into the midst of the dolphins,
sensitive of the danger to their young if she lingered here too
long. It was selfish to make them so vulnerable so she decided that
the best course of action, for the safety of all, was to make a
quick dash for freedom. She broke free from the protective school
of dolphins and headed towards an old shipwreck
on the ocean bed. Neither the dolphins nor the
sharks realised that she was gone. With the greatest of patience,
the sharks continued their predatory circling dance around the
dolphins, gradually tightening the circle until they were almost
within the centre of the dolphins’ patch.

We no longer want the fat blubbery whale babe,
they said to the dolphins.
We won’t even eat the dolphin babies
either, just give us the huphin child and then we’ll be
gone.

I was always taught never to trust the word of a
shark,
the mother whale
replied to their request.

You have been lucky so far,
mother whale, one told her.

We are to let you go,
another said.

Better to leave while you still can,
the final warning came from
the largest and deadliest looking shark, he had a
portion missing from his upper fin, a sure sign of ferocious
battle.

The mother whale looked into the
eyes of the guarding dolphins.

I must leave while my babe is safe,
she communicated.
Where is the huphin child?

What is that you say whale?
One of the sharks had overheard her Mindtalk to the
dolphins.

A sudden gush of stirring water
pushed the sharks a little further away from the dolphins. The
mother whale, realising the young huphin was gone, decided that
this was the right time to make a dash for it with her babe. The
sharks did not follow her. Instead, they entered into the dolphins’
territory without fear. They peered closely at the young,
threatening to attack if any should try to stop them. The dolphins
came to realise the huphin was gone and dispersed only to reform
their little group as they swam away from the threatening sharks.
The sharks remained, plotting the next move in their hunt. The
Master’s voice in their minds had decreed that they must capture
the huphin child.

Princess Bryley swam as fast as she could with the
knowledge that she did not have much of a head start and there was
still quite a distance yet to go. Not daring to glance behind, she
kept her young muscles moving achingly, an adult huphin could
easily out-swim a shark but she had not yet reached maturity. The
shipwreck was not
in sight but
surely, it should be by now. Fearing that perhaps in her panic she
may have gone off in the wrong direction, she longed to surface and
take in some air. She would not be able to endure this speed much
longer. If she did not find the shipwreck soon then they would
surely capture her. Her father would be so angry when he found out
she had let him down in such a way. She would never be able to
explain to him that she had just wanted to save the baby whale.
That she truly believed the mother and baby deserved a
chance.

Slowing down the exhausted little
Princess dared to glance behind. Wishing she had not done such a
foolish deed for she could see small dark spots increasing in size
as they headed towards her. Struggling with the need to breathe air
and the need to find the shipwreck on the ocean bed, she could not
decide which direction to take. Looking in front, she noticed more
dark spots swimming speedily towards her. Had the sharks craftily
split up to take her from the front and behind? Why did they want
her anyway? She could not keep this up, she had to breathe, she
just had to. Both black dots were now taking shape. There was
nothing she could do; her life was to be forfeit for her little
friend the whale calf. At least she could swim to the surface and
take one last breath of air.

Surfacing the warm water, she
looked up to the hot sun and enjoyed her last view of the open
seas. In the distance, she could see frolicking dolphins leaping
out of the sea but she knew they could not help her. They were no
match for the sharks that wanted her so badly. If only she could
have reached the shipwreck, she could have out-waited them there.
They would soon have forgotten why they were circling the ship.
But, this was not to be. She waited expectantly for the large jaws
to open up below her and imagined the pain she would feel from the
rows of the scissor sharp teeth that would pull at her legs and
shred her tiny body. She felt the fast pounding of her heart. Fear
sank in the pit of her stomach. There would be no escape, not this
moonwake.

The sharks, on their part, could think of nothing else but
capturing this young huphin because the Masters voice in their
minds told them they must not lose her. They could not devour her
tender meaty body either. Their instructions were to round her
up
and take her to a small
bay; there a human was to collect her. They had not forgotten the
meal they could have had from the young whale’s carcass and they
felt angry with her for denying them this morsel, so they cared not
what her destiny was to be. In their eagerness, they had eyes only
for their victim.

Suddenly Princess Bryley felt a tug
at her waist. Something had grabbed hold of her. But that could not
be a Shark. Looking down to see what creature assisted the sharks
in their endeavour to capture her, she saw a female huphin surface,
and smile at her. This was not a huphin that she recognised. This
beautiful young female was her rescuer. The sheer joy and relief at
the sight of her own kind was overpowering in her little heart. She
was saved.

‘Come, Princess Bryley,’ the
strange female huphin spoke. ‘Your father will sort out your
attackers.’

‘Poppa is here?’ Princess Bryley
shouted in her excitement. ‘My poppa has really come for
me?’

‘Yes, Bryley,’ the female said.
‘Did you think he would let anything happen to his little Princess?
Come, we must swim away from here, one of the sharks may escape
from the battle below.’

The Princess obeyed her new friend
and followed her away from the place where she had thought her life
would surely end. Swimming on the surface, a school of large male
dolphins surrounded them as an escort to ensure they were truly
safe.

Frizzle’s wet nose twitched at the scent of his mistress
returning
and he quickly
lifted his ears. Content that all was back to normal he raised his
back leg to itch at his irritating ear. Leon lay with his back to
the sea so he did not see her walking away from the shoreline.
Heather walked a little unbalanced at the changes from sea to land.
Just as she had expected, she pictured her own image and she was
back in her own figure. It was so easy, why did her father make
such a fuss over this Changeling skill? She would never understand
the questioning behind parental reasoning. Invigorated by her
adventure, she longed to see her father and tell him everything
that had happened. Happy that the huphins were her new and trusted
friends, she skipped frivolously towards Leon.

Catching him just awakening from
his lazy slumber in the hot sun, she giddily jumped on him. Frizzle
quickly joined in his mistress’s frolicking, never one to miss a
good game he leaped up and down barking loudly.

‘What the ...?’ Leon yelled at the
large heavy weight that promptly landed on top of him, rolling him
over into the dusty sand. Wrestling half-heartedly with Heather and
Frizzle he just about survived the attack though it took only a
little of his strength to stand up and escape the onslaught.
Shaking the sand from his hair he looked at Heather, relieved to
see her safely back on dry land, the pit of his stomach sank to his
knees.

‘Thank the lucky stars that you’re
back,’ he said, attempting to remain composed. ‘I was beginning to
think that you had drowned your silly head.’

‘Well, thank you for your support,
I think not,’ Heather retaliated. ‘I happen to have been swimming
in the deepest depths of the ocean whilst you lazily slept. I swam
with dolphins, saved a huphin Princess from vicious sharks, visited
a huphin city and then swam with a Queen whale, who was so grateful
to little Bryley for her saving her babe that she decided she could
not leave the little mite to her fate. Then ....’

‘Stop!’ Leon yelled, his composure
now somewhat unsettled. ‘Just stop right there. I don’t think I
want to know all this. What were you doing with the Princess and
what is this you tell me about killer sharks? Had I known Gadon
would put you in such danger, I would never have allowed you to
go.’

‘Well, just who do you think you
are that you could stop me young Prince Leon,’ Heather glared back,
annoyed at Leon’s lack of enthusiasm of her adventures. ‘I’m going
home, alone, I don’t wish you to escort me. When I tell my father,
he will be very proud of his daughter. Goodbye. Come along
Frizzle.’

The droopy-eared dog lay on the
sands between the two arguing humans, his tail down between his
legs, he licked Leon’s hand in a farewell gesture. Leon was one of
his most prized members of his imaginary pack and he wanted to
impress upon him that he still loved him, even if his mistress had
the sound of battle in her voice.

‘Go on boy,’ Leon ordered him. ‘I
will forgive her eventually. We’ll just see if her father is
pleased at her story. I expect he’ll blame me.’

Leon watched as girl and dog
clambered back up the steep sandy path, he saw Frizzle burst into a
run, diving off into the inviting fields of yellow blossoms, but
Heather steered a straight course up the hill. Eventually they
reached the top and she did not even bother to look behind to say
she was sorry to him. He wondered just how dangerous her adventure
really had been. It must be true, Gadon had not accompanied her
back to the shore. Climbing the steep slope with long strides, he
reached the top quickly and headed in the direction of home.
Passing the willow tree, he heard a shuffling sound and thought for
a moment that perhaps Heather was hiding and waiting to surprise
him. He did not bother to look and marched straight passed. If she
was there, let her suffer her sulky mood. If she wasn’t then it was
probably just an animal skulking around.