Flash Fiction # 664 -- Autumn's Apples

 

I had been standing in the keep's garden while the master mage showed me how to use the wand to grow apples in a few minutes instead of weeks. This took a lot of power, but it meant safety from starvation during a siege.  There had been raids along the border, and we expected trouble at the keep soon. Gwyna had been with us in the garden earlier, but Master Mage Rox grew tired of her inability to follow directions.

Knight Coventry led his horse (some said side-kick) through the garden, constantly reminding the horse to eat nothing. Cov and Autumn would be out on the trails for a while, and neither looked happy.

That was the last bit of sanity I remembered until I found myself in a village market in a place I did not recognize. A jumbled flash of memory brought disjointed scenes to mind. Cov had started for the garden gate. Autumn wanted some berries and didn't move.

Something bright flashed. Mage Rox shouted for everyone to stop. The wand was missing.

After that? It felt as though I bounced from place to place without knowing how I moved from one spot to the next.

When Cov arrived at the city gate, I knew it was time to leave. I disappeared into the market-day crowd, glancing back every few yards. The knight followed me, but that might only have been a chance since we were both on the main road from the gate to the castle.

I lost track of him in the market, and that did not make me feel better. Was he here for me, or was it a chance? I could almost wish to bounce again.

I turned and ran face-first into a horse.

"There you are," a familiar voice said from somewhere over my head.  "It is a good thing Autumn has forgiven you for abandoning us. He doesn't usually let people just run into him."

Autumn gave what looked like a nod of agreement. I knew he was eying the half-eaten apple in my basket. I let him sneak it out, and his rider pretended not to notice when the horse shoved it into a saddlebag.

I finally took a step backward and looked upward.  How appropriate that sunlight wreathed Cov's head.

"Knight Coventry," I said with a bow. We were drawing attention.  I sighed.  "I did not take the wand."

"Of course you didn't," Cov said with a sigh of tried patience.  "If anyone with magic had touched the wand, we all would have known it."

"Then why have you been chasing me?" I demanded.

"Why did you run?"

"I didn't. I just kept going places.  Where am I?"

Coventry came off Autumn swiftly and unexpectedly grabbed me by the shoulders. I took offense at his attitude and snarled something rude before I realized he was trying to keep me here.

 "Why aren't you back at the keep? You had to realize that this was more than a simple theft."

"Mage Rox is unhappy. Best to at least pretend I could go off on a hunt and come back with the answer and the wand."

Autumn vigorously nodded in agreement. I suspected the horse spent far too much time around people of power.

The horse took another apple.

I felt a buzzing in my body, but Cov held me in place. Then he used a quick spell to sever the magic that had been controlling me. We both felt it snap. I would have liked to trace it, but we had other problems. Local guards were heading our way.  We both wore the symbols of our vocation, so there was no doubt of our power, even if people didn't realize that Cov was the mage's knight.

"Cov?" I said as more soldiers neared.

"You, me, and Rox were the only ones present. Rox is mad --"

"But he has to know we didn't take it!" I waved a hunter spell into the air.

DING.

Cov and I stared at each other in shocked disbelief.  He cast the same spell.

DING.

"We have instructions --"

DING.

"There were only the three of us," Cov said. He signaled the soldiers back. A few of them recognized him and seemed confused.

Although not as much as we were.

I tried the spell a few more times -- right, left, up.

"It moves." I did another round of DINGs

"None of us have moved  Why would --"

We both had the answer.

"Autumn!"

"She couldn't have eaten it," Cov said, grabbing the bridle when she tried to back away. "The wand is indestructible! What have you done?"

"Apples," I said. "She put it with her stolen apples."

Cov pulled it out. He looked frustrated, annoyed, and slightly amused.
Mage Rox had felt him pick up the wand. Cov held it out to him.

"Well?" Rox asked.  

"Autumn," he said.

"I suspect she saw us making apples," I offered.  "That horse will do just about anything for an apple."

"There is nothing more dangerous than a smart horse," Rox mumbled.

Autumn preened.

"Why was I jumping from place to place?" I asked.

"Gwyna," Rox replied.  His eyes flashed with anger. "She tried a new spell she'd been working on to send a person somewhere else.  Only she couldn't decide where.  It wasn't until Cov broke the spell that I found you. And then the wand turned up as well."

"Can we use the spell against enemy troops?" Cav asked. "Or at least their leader?"

"You mean she may actually have a use?" Rox asked. "Let's go home and talk about it over a meal."

They began to fade when Autumn grabbed a basket of apples.  

Flash Fiction #663 -- Master (Drabble)

 

Others called the little lizard a fool and worse. They demanded he stop lecturing them about philosophy and return to good lizard work, like building mud nests and hunting insects.

The little lizard decided on a different path. He built a leaf boat and floated down the Summer Stream. He passed through the forest, fields, and dangerous rapids and finally reached the edge of human land. He abandoned his boat and went to the village.

He met a group of mice who became enthralled with his happy philosophy of life. They soon called him Master.

Master had found his place.

Flash Ficton # 662 -- More Neko Adventures/10

 

 

Neko knew he could draw Maude's attention.  That was the easy part since he was still her prime target.  Getting her to follow him back into the castle was a different matter. She may have been single-minded in her revenge, but she wasn't stupid.

Neko and his friends did their best to make the cat's retreat look realistic. First, Colin went down while under attack and disappeared. As Maude swept in at them, Shosha raced for the door into the building, and Neko was to follow, limping as if injured.

The injury didn't need to be faked. Maude had picked up some fire sprites. One caught his back right leg and left a painful burn before Neko kicked it off into the moat, where the thing fizzled and died.

Shosha had just reached the door and darted inside.

The door slammed shut as Neko turned to follow her. Even though this was part of the plan, Neko still gave a cry of shock and despair.  Maude laughed. That sound unsettled him more than he had expected. He rushed to the door, ignoring the pain in his leg, and pounded on it.

"Let me in!  Let me in!"
The door didn't move, even when Maude landed a few feet behind him.Neko pounded a little more frantically.

"What did you expect? You are just a cat to them.  I let you share in my glory!" She took several quick steps forward.  "But you are mine now."
Neko had been saving his power.  He used it now as Maude leaped at him.  His power hit her when both her feet left the ground.  Amateur mistake. She flipped head over heels for three rounds before she hit the ground.

Neko took a step forward, hoping she was stunned.  Unfortunately, Maude immediately sat up, howling in rage and throwing magic in all directions, just as he had expected. He bounced some of it back at her, and she surged up, her hair flying in wild wisps around her head as she flew toward him.

Nico retreated into the building, with Maude only an arm's length behind him.  Maude never noticed Shosha, who rushed outside as soon as the witch had gone past. Neko had intended to go a couple of yards farther, but he realized his injured leg would not hold him that far. Neko was slowed as well.  By the time he spun to head toward the door, she could brush her finger over his ear.

She almost had him.

Neko dropped flat on the floor as she cursed and went over him.  The cat used all the magic he could to launch himself straight back at the door.

It worked, but only because Maude, so close to the kill, had not prepared herself for the masonry wall.  She hit hard and fell with a moan.  Neko almost turned back to finish her, but she was still moving --

By the time he rushed out the door, she was already on her feet, her hands raised.  Maude's eyes glowed yellow with uncontrollable rage as he rolled out the door.

Colin slammed the door and shoved a huge seal over it, barely in time to stop Maude's spell that would have obliterated a large section of the building.  The power of the seal had not been easy to manifest, and Colin went to his knees, gasping.

Dorian, Merlin, and Tamaran worked together on the roof to spread a wall of magical marble over the building. The first layer glowed a brilliant white, almost blinding Neko. He could still hear Maude screaming in rage until the next layer spread downward over the first.  This one was a dull gray that held its own magic while it hid the power behind it.

The third layer was a forbidding black that covered all the other work entirely, so it looked like a small hill rather than a prison.  Neko sat and waited. It was over an hour before the three came down. Colin was steadier and had done a little work on Neko's leg. It still hurt, but he said nothing.

They settled on the bridge, and all of them stared at the new hill.

"It won't be long before people forget there is a building under there," Merlin said.  He looked pleased. "I think a layer of dirt, grass, and brush will help."
With a wave of his hand, he added that covering.  It looked better. He also filled in the mote and changed the bridge to a road that led around the barrier and off to ... somewhere else.

It all looked better, but Neko knew Maude was still right there, and she would work at getting out. He watched with renewed worry, knowing they had only slowed her.  Who knew how soon she'd find a way out?

"I will stay and guard," Neko said. He tried not to sound bothered, but at least he wasn't trapped in a small building.  "She will-"

"As soon as she stops screaming, she will lie down and sleep for a long, long time," Merlin said.  "We might even get lucky, and she out-sleeps her own magic. If she doesn't, we still will not see her again for at least two centuries.  You need not sit and wait, Neko."

"Good.  Thank you.  I suppose we'll find enough trouble without her help."

"More than enough," Luna said. Then she smiled.  "But we will face our troubles together."

No one asked for details.

Word spread quickly about what they had done to Maude.  No one else bothered them for the rest of the trip, but Neko knew there would be other adventures -- problems -- ahead.

He kept an eye on Luna.

The End

Flash Fiction #661 -- More Neko Adventures/9

 

Neko was still trying to plot the quickest way out of the castle and the realm when Dorian suddenly stood.  Then he sat again.

"Merlin and I don't always get along," the fae explained.

Oh, even better, Neko thought.  He scooted back under Colin's chair.

"Merlin doesn't always get along with anyone," Tamaran replied as he pushed aside some parchments.

"Arthur-" Dorian began.

"Arthur hasn't forgiven him for not mentioning that problem between Arthur's best friend and wife. Things are still a bit touchy.  But that isn't our problem now.  You barely missed him.  He felt an intrusion in the veil, and it held the scent of an old enemy-"

"Maude," Colin said and won a curious stare from Tamaran.  "We have had trouble with her for some time, and I fear she followed us here.  We didn't know this was Merlin's realm."

"I wonder if Maude realizes where she is," Dorian added. He paused for a moment and then shook his head.  "I suspect she knew no more than we did. Probably less since she followed us, and I had chosen a place with little magic — or so I thought."

Colin looked pleased. "Meeting Merlin should surprise her." He looked around and gave a nod to Dorian. He returned it. "Our three companions are special-"

"Neko, Shosha, and Reggie," Tamaran replied. He gave a nod of recognition to each of them. "I wasn't entirely sure it was you, Reginald.  Nice new form."

"Temporary," Reggie replied.  Did Neko hear regret in that voice? "It did seem wiser than a huge penguin wandering around. I know not everyone can see me, but I don't want to startle a mage."

  Neko looked him over.  "Do you want to remain a hawk? I don't mind.  But wait.  You should be whatever you feel is appropriate to the moment."

Neko hadn't expected the silence that followed his statement.  It had seemed a logical suggestion.

"A wise and kind gift," Tamaran stated.  "It should make your future work all that much easier. Trouble!"

Future work?

Before he could form a question, the building shook as unleashed magic swept over it.  Not far away, a considerable amount of power exploded, sending waves of magic toward them once more. Neko could feel Maude's magic and another source that must have been Merlin.


His magic felt subtle. Neko was certain that subtlety would not work with Maude. That seemed confirmed by the next explosion, which cracked windows in the building. Tamaran frowned; with a wave of his hand, he reinforced the protective spell on the castle.

"I think we can guess how well that meeting went," Reggie said, looking down at Neko. "It wouldn't surprise me to learn that she's forgotten all about us. Merlin is a far more formidable enemy."

"And he, if she somehow won, who could provide her with the power to rule a dozen realms or more,"  Colin added.

"I think we need to go help –" Dorian said.

"There is no need," Tamaran said.  "Merlin is on his way." A bright light grew at the doorway. "Merlin is here."

Neko moved a little to the side so that he could get his first look at the legendary human mage. Because of Maude, he had thought nothing good about humans with magic. At the moment, he couldn't say that Merlin was any better than Maude. Just being her enemy was not enough of a recommendation.

Merlin looked younger than any of the illustrations Neko had seen. He looked a lot like Colin and could probably pass for a Fae.  His face was flushed, and his hands moved in a nervous gesture that unsettled Tamaran.

"Reginald,"  he said.  "And Dorian.  Interesting combination."

"Just a matter of show," Dorian assured him.  "Reggie is assigned to Neko."

"But it would look odd for a cat to walk around with a hawk on his shoulder," Neko added.

Merlin gave a slight sound of amusement. Good.  That said something about his temperament.

"She is heading our way," Colin warned.  "We have little time for a plan."

"The best we can do is to keep her angry," Shosha offered.  "And keep me away from her."

"Shosha is right," Neko replied. "The best we can do is to keep her mad, so she doesn't think things through. Maude has always depended on power over intelligence, but if she thinks about what she's doing, Maude will start conserving magic. We don't want her to do that."

"This is a group with considerable magic," Tamaren replied.  "We ought to be able to do more than just make her angry."

"Don't worry.  We'll get to that part," Colin assured him. "I just hope we can deal with her for good this time."

Neko ended up telling the story of Maude's involvement with his life.  "And then I tripped her on the stairs.  We all thought she was dead.  We won't make that mistake again."

"And she knows it," Luna said. "She won't try that ploy again. I wish I could see things clearer, but I don't see anything that indicates we lose the battle."

"And from that, I assume you also don't see that we win," Merlin added. "Don't worry, Luna. We all understand how difficult your gift can be."

Luna mumbled her thanks, still looking bothered by her inability to give them something more tangible. Neko understood; being a cat gave him limitations as well.

"She's not alone," Neko said, trying to show he had use.  It was a stupid reaction, but at least his observation appeared to startle the others.  

Merlin nodded in agreement. "Yes, I can sense others as well.  Good catch, my friend. I like to think we would have noticed before a battle, but now we know to keep watch for more enemies."

"She is going to take her frustration out on the village," Dorian said.  "We need to act soon and keep her anger on us."

Neko stepped forward.  "I have a plan."