Oksa Pollock: The Last Hope (23 page)

A
LL THE CREATURES, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, SHUDDERED
and cast scandalized looks at the vile Abominari, who was furiously belching out insults in the middle of the vegetable plot.

“Has it been like this for a long time?” asked Leomido, looking concerned.

“A few weeks,” replied Dragomira. “Since we’ve been in England, I’d say. It doesn’t seem to respond to any kind of treatment any more.”

“Not even the Psychosfortis?”

“No, not even the Psychosfortis. I’ve run out of ideas. It attacks the other creatures, it scratches or bites me as soon as I go near it, forcing me to use an immobilizing Granok or a Knock-Bong on it so that I can handle it.”

Leomido looked at Dragomira with a worried expression, then at the Abominari, which was growling through its pointed teeth, ready to do battle with anyone who came near it.

“But why is it talking about Ocious, Baba?” asked Oksa.

“The Abominaris are to the Firmhands what the Lunatrixes are to the Gracious’s family,” replied Dragomira, tight-lipped with annoyance. “Ocious was actually the Abominari’s master. Just before being ejected from Edefia, we were chased by that Felon’s son. He was hard on our heels and the Abominari clung on to my dress, seconds before we passed through the Portal. We were in such a panic that I didn’t notice. Once we were on the Outside, we took it in and cared for it like any other
creature, although it has always made life difficult for us. It has never accepted me and only acknowledges its master’s supremacy, even after all these years. Staunch loyalty, wouldn’t you say? For years it was no trouble, particularly thanks to the Psychosfortis, a treatment developed by Abakum to mellow… how shall I put it… its malevolent tendencies. But for some time it has become uncontrollable, and I have to confess that I’m at my wits’ end.”

“My Master is coming to get me, old lady,” said the Abominari, slyly edging nearer to her with its claws unsheathed. “And before I see him again, I’m going to gouge out your eyes and crack open your rancid head!”

“Oh! You’re beginning to annoy me with all your threats,” snapped Dragomira in irritation.

She turned the palm of her hand towards the spiteful Abominari, which was instantly hurled backwards a good twenty yards. With a dull smack, its slimy body hit the low stone wall bordering the cemetery.

Oksa gave a cry and murmured proudly to Gus:

“That’s exactly what I did to that idiot Neanderthal.”

Leomido went over to the unconscious Abominari, picked it up and carried it inside the house. A few seconds later, he came back on his own.

“I’ve put it in solitary confinement,” he explained gravely. “It’s in a locked room, from which it can’t escape. It’s really out of control, it’s very strange. But let’s go on with our introductions, shall we?” he continued, more cheerfully. “Where were we?”

“Have you got many creatures like that?” asked Oksa, a little shaken by the obnoxious creature’s performance.

“Like the Abominari? No, luckily it’s one of a kind. But as far as the others go, there are about ten species, accounting for around twenty creatures in total. You see, Gus, I’m far from living alone,” remarked Leomido with a wink.

“That’s for sure. You certainly can’t be bored! What about the plants? Are they just as unusual?” asked Gus, seeing Dragomira take some tiny plants from the Boximinus.

As soon as they had resumed their original size Baba Pollock placed them beside their fellow species, where they celebrated their reunion with a great deal of rustling leaves and joyful sighs.

“Yes, more or less,” replied Leomido. “Every plant has its significance, but that’s nothing new. In that respect, it’s the same on the Outside as it is on the Inside. The only difference is that plants from Edefia have
distinctive
personalities, as well as a language and a mode of communication which humans can understand. And vice versa. Oh, Dragomira! Did you manage to bring your Goranov with you? Well done, you’re so good with them. I find it hard to put mine in the vegetable plot sometimes, you know? It gets so stressed.”

“I’ve brought you some Incompetent crest salve which should help. Apply it to its leaves and let me know how you get on.”

For the benefit of the young guests, she added:

“The Goranov is the plant of the Ageless Fairies. Its sap is like mercury. Mixed with a person’s DNA, it can produce a unique substance which we use in the manufacture of Granok-Shooters. This is a very tricky and extremely complex process, and Abakum was the only person authorized to carry it out in Edefia. Your Granok-Shooter, Oksa, contains some drops of this sap mixed with a few of your hairs which I got from your comb. But the Goranov has two weak points: it’s terribly fearful and prone to stress.”

The two friends went over to the plants, weaving their way between the creatures which were enjoying some noisy reunions. The Goranovs were in mid-discussion:

“Such a frightening journey! I thought I was going to die… by plane, can you believe it! By PLANE! They don’t spare me anything…”

“I know what you mean. I was on one once and I had an attack of chlorophyllic hypertension. I thought I was going to burst my veins! Just thinking about it…”

All the plant’s leaves began to shake in a worrying manner, as if a very strong wind had just got up. Then, suddenly, it crumpled in a heap. Oksa
exclaimed and put her hand over her mouth. She’d seen this happen before, but it still surprised her.

“Help!” shouted the other Goranov. “Help us!”

And all its foliage collapsed down the length of its stem too. Gus and Oksa were amazed.

“It’s autumn!” cried the Squoracles immediately, poking their little heads out of Leomido’s jacket. “Watch out, the leaves are falling, it’s autumn! Everyone run for shelter!”

“What now? What’s all this about autumn?” interrupted the Incompetents. “Every day there’s something new, how are we supposed to keep up with it all?”

Oksa snorted with such infectious laughter that Gus, Dragomira and Leomido couldn’t help laughing too.

“They’re totally irresistible. I adore them, Baba, I AD-ORE them!”

“This is unreal… totally unreal,” added Gus, unable to tear his eyes away from the two unconscious plants.

“Ahem, ahem.”

“I think the Lunatrixes are trying to tell us something,” remarked Leomido, pointing to the plump creatures.

“The meal has successfully concluded preparation. The invitation to sit down on the table is one of immediate promptitude, if your will be in favour,” the Lunatrixes explained to Leomido.

“They speak exactly the same as your Lunatrixes, Dragomira,” noted Gus.

“They do, don’t they?” she said, smiling. “Let’s go back inside and have something to eat.”

“That was the most fantastic day of my life,” said Oksa with a yawn.

Stretched out on a sofa opposite a roaring fire in the huge hearth, Oksa ran over the events of the day with Gus, who was yawning as
much as she. The meal had been delicious—apart from the leek dish, a Welsh speciality which Oksa hated—and everyone had remained in a fine mood. Mesmerized by the dancing flames, the two friends were struggling to stay awake.

“All the same,” murmured Gus drowsily, “a salve made from Incompetent crest—yuck.”

“That’s not the strangest thing we’ve seen today, you must admit,” remarked Oksa, just as sleepily.

“Incompetent crest…”

Gus’s sentence petered out in a succession of low snores, which Oksa soon echoed. In the small room at the back of Leomido’s house, the weird and wonderful creatures had also fallen asleep in their padded compartments after discussing the exciting events of the day.

T
HE PALE SUN FILTERED THROUGH THE WINDOW
. O
KSA
opened her eyes and gave a long stretch. Where was she? Oh yes… at Leomido’s house, in the sweet little room that she’d stumbled back to last night, more asleep than awake. The soft crackling of a log
burning
to nothing in the hearth roused her properly. She got up, drew the curtains and opened the window. The view was stunning—nothing like the one from her city bedroom. All she could see here was lush greenery stretching into the distance. She could hear birds singing and the sound of the sea a little further away, like background music. It was so beautiful.

“Hello, Young Gracious! Has sleep made its refreshment?”

Oksa leant over and saw Leomido’s and Dragomira’s Lunatrixas in the vegetable plot, a lettuce in each hand.

“Fantastic, thanks,” she replied, waving to them.

She felt great, actually, so she decided to pay Gus a visit. If she could trust her hazy memories of the night before, he was in the room next door to hers. She pressed her ear against the door and knocked.

“Er… it’s open,” rang out her friend’s voice.

She pushed open the door in exuberant high spirits. Gus was awake and rubbing his eyes.

“Were your dreams filled with Incompetent crests then?” she said, jumping on his bed like a cat.

“Hiya, Oksa. I slept like a log.”

“A log which snored like a bear,” said Oksa. “Even with stone walls three feet thick, I could hear you.”

“Huh, whatever,” muttered Gus, suppressing a smile.

They got up, put on thick bathrobes and went down to the kitchen. The Lunatrixes were making breakfast and bickering, it appeared, over the best way to make good toast. Leomido and Dragomira, looking very aristocratic in long silk damask housecoats, were drinking cups of steaming tea.

“Wow, the height of class!” exclaimed Oksa, pretending to curtsey. “My humble respects of the morning to you, my Lord and Lady.”

“Hello, youngsters! Did you sleep well?” asked Dragomira.

“Really well,” replied Gus with another yawn. “It’s amazing here. Thanks for inviting me.”

The two friends set about their breakfast with ravenous appetites.

“Shall we talk about our timetable for today?” suggested Leomido. “That is, if our dear Lunatrixes would be so kind as to lower their voices…”

The creatures didn’t need telling twice. There was an immediate silence and Leomido continued speaking.

“My dear Oksa, you’re here to learn certain things. You’ve had an overview of the world of the Runaways from Edefia, which is also your land, by heritage and by birthright. You must now hone your skills so that you can control them all the time, without being governed or led astray by impulses like anger, fear and so on. You have to realize that control and mastery are the keys to power.”

While speaking, Leomido was carefully buttering a slice of toast and Oksa’s attention was suddenly caught by the huge ring her great-uncle wore on his right hand. A superb silver ring set with a strange grey stone, which intrigued her.
“I’ve seen that stone before,”
she thought. But her train of thought was interrupted by Dragomira, who carried on where Leomido had left off.

“My dear granddaughter, you should know that Leomido is extremely talented. In Edefia, he was a respected teacher, an expert. No Leomido,
don’t blush, it’s true! He’ll take the lion’s share in helping you with your powers.”

“I suggest we compile a short list, so I can see what you can already do,” said her teacher. “Gus, you’ll be coming with us, won’t you?”

“Just try to stop me, Mr Fortensky!” exclaimed Gus, immediately jumping up from the table.

“Oh, please, we’re one big family now, so for pity’s sake call me Leomido, not Mr Fortensky.”

Half an hour later, the four of them were at the bottom of a small valley, not far from Leomido’s house. Gus and Dragomira were sitting on the ground on a car rug, watching Oksa float vertically above Leomido’s head. Gus particularly liked her kung-fu attack position, right leg outstretched and hands pressed together, while Dragomira had a slight preference for the horizontal position, the so-called “heavenly board”.

“Not bad, Oksa, not bad. But do you think you could go a bit higher?”

“I’ve never done that,” replied Oksa nervously, landing back on the ground. “This is the first time I’ve done this outside. I’ve only ever done it in my bedroom before and I never went higher than the ceiling.”

Gus rolled his eyes at that barefaced lie, as if to say: “
You wouldn’t by any chance be forgetting a certain descent from the first floor of St Proximus, would you
?”

“I don’t want to die,” she murmured, avoiding her friend’s
scandalized
gaze.

“My dear girl,” retorted Leomido calmly, “just remember that it’s mind over matter: if you think about falling, you’ll fall. If you think about flying, you’ll fly. That’s the first rule of Vertiflying.”

“Vertiflying… I know how to Vertifly, that sounds so cool! But I’m still scared,” remarked Oksa, scuffing the ground with her heel.

“If it’ll make you feel any better, I’ll go with you, but I’m sure you don’t need me to. Come on, let’s get cracking! Concentrate.”

Leomido smiled and held her two hands. Oksa gripped them, closed her eyes, the tension showing in her face. Then, reopening her eyes, she locked her gaze on her guide and began to rise. Leomido kept pace with her without letting go and they both continued to rise vertically through the air. When they were the equivalent of five floors up, by Gus’s
reckoning
—five floors!—Oksa stopped, and Leomido let go of first one hand, then the other. Oksa shuddered. Her body wobbled slightly, worried by all that empty space beneath her.

“Don’t let your concentration waver, Oksa, I’m here,” whispered Leomido. “Nothing can happen to you. I’m going to take your hands again and you can bring us back down.”

A few seconds later they were back safely on the ground.

“Did you see that, Gus?” whispered Oksa, her eyes shining with exhilaration. “Didn’t I go high?”

“Ever so high!”

“Do you want try on your own?” asked Leomido.

Oksa hesitated for a fraction of a second, then set off. She started by rising about six feet, her legs shaky and her breath coming in short gasps.

“Go on, Oksa, you can do it!” shouted Gus encouragingly, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Determined to ascend on her own, she took a deep breath and, concentrating hard, quickly gained height. Leomido was right—it wasn’t difficult. Perched at a height of more than 130 feet, she ventured a backflip but fumbled the landing, because the empty space didn’t provide all that firm a foothold. Gus shuddered and Dragomira put her hand over her mouth to stifle a cry of alarm. Only Leomido stayed calm, with unshaken confidence.

“You’re a fast learner, which is good,” he said casually, when she landed on the ground again. “But let me show you something now. Although height is good, it’s even better if you add speed.”

The old man—who was almost eighty—stood absolutely still with his arms at his sides, then took off like a rocket until he was no more than a tiny figure over 600 feet in the air.

“Whoa! Did you see that? Unreal!”

Eyes wide with amazement, Oksa looked up at her great-uncle who waved to them. As quickly as he’d shot up, he plummeted down head first, singing a famous opera aria at the top of his lungs. He stopped level with Oksa’s face, dropped a light kiss on her cheek, then floated horizontally down to the ground, still singing.

“You’ll have to work flat out if you want to do that one day,” said Gus, slapping Oksa vigorously on the back.

“I’m totally hooked,” remarked Oksa, astounded by what she’d just seen. “I want to try it too. I can do it, I’m sure I can.”

“Of course you can!” exclaimed Leomido.

Surprising even herself, Oksa shot as fast as lightning into the sky, which was clouding over. Then she reappeared, a tiny speck quickly growing larger as she approached the ground head first, like Leomido. But Oksa’s yell was also growing louder… and it was not so much a yell as a downright
scream
—which prompted Leomido and Dragomira to shoot off at such staggering speed that Gus only reacted when he
recognized
Dragomira’s red dress in the air. In a flash, her great-uncle and her gran had reached Oksa and had escorted her down onto solid ground, holding her securely under her arms. Both looked annoyed.

“Hey!” shouted Oksa, pulling roughly out of their grasp. “I was doing fine. You don’t trust me, do you?”

“Don’t take it the wrong way,” replied Leomido gravely. “It usually takes weeks of training before you can Vertifly at that speed—it’s very hard to master. It wasn’t a lack of trust, we were just afraid you were in free fall.”

“
In free fall
? Are you kidding, Leomido? I was having a whale of a time!”

And to prove what she said was true—just in case anyone doubted her—she shot off again at incredible speed. Her powerful take-off took her so high that she disappeared into the clouds. This magnificent flight
was followed by a flawless landing which, this time, earned her a round of applause.

“Well, that was a very productive first day, congratulations Young Vertiflier!” said Leomido with a broad smile.

“I was on fire, wasn’t I?” beamed Oksa.

“You’re amazing!” said Gus, admiringly. “And Dragomira you were totally awesome too. I didn’t know you could fly so well.”

“I’m a little rusty,” replied Dragomira, stretching. “But thanks for the compliment, Gus. Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. And I think we’re being called, anyway…”

The two male Lunatrixes, hanging from the small chain attached to the bell in one of the house’s towers, were ringing to summon them in for dinner, while the Lunatrixas were signalling to them by vigorously waving tea towels. In the setting sun, Leomido, Dragomira, Gus and Oksa walked back to the house, shoulder to shoulder, physically exhausted but buzzing with exhilaration.