Chapter 17

Brownie stood at the edge of the precipice, the canyon seemed to go
On for forever, there didn’t seem to be any bridges, at least there were none that she could see. The skyline was pale blue with only a tinge of pink that showed in the cirrocumulus shaped clouds that spanned the valley. She felt quite nervous standing there at the edge and looking down at the sheer drop as it fell away to the orange sand below, it took her breath away like one of those old cartoons where the coyote chases the roadrunner.

She dropped a stone and counted but couldn’t gauge the depth to the ground below, it was more than she could work out, with primitive methods.

“How on mars are we going to get across that,” she said as she shaded her eyes to see more. The other side of the canyon was far off in the distance, she despaired as she thought it was insurmountable. Noticing the troubled look on Her face, the whitebird called over to her “jussi why so sad?”
“Oh!! “she sighed hugging herself “It seems I’ll never make it to the Oracle at this rate!” She did seem uncharacteristically desperate as her lip was ever so gently quivering.
“ I’ll never get my answers.”
“You will!” Comforted Eulin.
As he gazed into her dark brown eyes that he could see his reflection in.

The altitude made the air thinner and smells different, things that should’ve smelt more earthy seemed to have a distinct arid dryer smell.

Googlee looked back “ I wouldn’t be so scared about that if I were you, that’s the least of our worries.”
“ what!!!” Asked Brownie sharply “changelings live in the mountains, not the good ones either.”
“Well, we’ll just have to find a town and ask someone!” Said Eulin
“ how are we going to pass as normal? “She said as she threw shadows at him.
“We’ll think of something!”

“And in the meantime, …stick together, no wandering off, not with them about!” Googlee emphasized the word them! As if they were unnatural.

“ you’re not very tactful are you!!” Said the whitebird to the great Wyrzel, with a disapproving glance.

“There’s a village about a mile that way!” She felt his voice familiarly in her mind as if he were putting on an extra swagger, thumbing his beak at Googlee.

“OOglee, my feet are sore,” Said the Little Sprite as she made her eyes big and beguiling as she tussled his mane, begrudgingly he asserted “O’ok climb on my back for a little while!”.

It took them a whole hour to make the trek to town. There was something quite bizarre about it, an absence of life, apart from the odd butterfly that fluttered about the long burgundy rushes, that covered the pastures.

In the township, it was even quieter, the streets were empty, where were the children, the animals, the adults, was everyone indoors thought Brownie. The roof terraces and spires of a typical Martian village stood stately beneath the village skyline. Leaning forward Brownie whispered, “where is everyone?” Googlee looked back at her and answered “dunno’, but I smell something foul!”

They rode up the winding streets that were densely packed, they were different to the wide streets of Mārin village.

There was a lattice of small alleyways quaint arcades that seemed to have nostalgic gift shops for tourists. Posters about the canyon, and quaint refreshment bistros. Banners hung down from the rafters emblazed with slogans in the curly writings of Meese, the Martian language of commerce.

Brownie for a split second thought she saw the familiar figure of the strange ghostly girl that had been in her dreams, but in a second glance she was gone, and all she saw was sunlight falling through the morning mist, she pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t in some elaborate daydream.

Eventually, they came to the center of town.

Some monoliths stood at various different angles that had some purpose unbeknown to Brownie, a giant water well and upside down triangle water feature, spat out water consistently, breaking the dead calm with its bubbling.

A bell chimed faraway, but it was merely the automated hourly chimes of the village chronometer.

There was a signpost too, Googlee read out “Bridgetown, welcome.
Population 851. “
Eulin was perched atop of the signpost, as he traded glances with Brownie. “851 people, where did they all go!” She said tremously.

They must have been here yesterday at the very least.

Then from far away, there was a very gentle sound.

Far off, it was separate from the noise of the cascading trickle of the fountain. It was hard to detect, but Googlee heard it first, “Sprite … hear that,”. Brownie looked in the direction the sound was supposedly coming from and strained her ears, “Yes!”, she said, there was indeed a sound Googlee wasn’t imagining it “what could it be?”

“Guards marching! “The Wyrzel summarised. “hide! “he barked with authority. Brownie quickly looked around for somewhere to hide but didn’t see anywhere suitable. She stood there abashed her eyes beaming out distress signals. Disenchanted Googlee told her to lie down by some deck chairs instead, as he spooned her and blended in with his surroundings, like a chameleon.

They were just in time.

A band of guards approached it was apparent that they were not human or even Martian. Blurry they appeared at first, they stopped at the fountain to fill their flasks, Brownie could see they were odd looking creatures they wore light armour, had blue eyes that were entirely blue, and pointed ears like those that belonged to a hog.

Spying Eulin in the air above, one of the strange creatures decided to throw a rock at the whitebird, it flew through the air and then began to jaw and spin as it fell back to earth, Eulin comfortable avoided it “vermin, vermin with wings!” He growled in a deep voice another man beside him licked his lips “I bet they taste nice, all we’ve had for the last two days are ears, there’s no meat on them!”

Brownie held her breath, she did not move a muscle, she could feel Googlees heart racing she never realised how anxious he got.

“Gedinac…hungry, you need to stop on about food, or I may have to smash you!” Said the other one menacingly “you wouldn’t dare !!!!!”
Said the other squaring off to Gedinac.

It was apparent that where Brownie was laying was near Googlees neckline as his mane began to irritate the young sprites nose she stifled sneezing, but the more it became necessary, the more she thought about it, and the more it became irresistible until she couldn’t put it off, “achoo!!”
She held her breath and hoped the strange changelings had not heard, as she felt the ripple of Googlees muscle writhe and tense up.

“Err did you say something to me schem?” Asked Gedinac
“No, didn’t you say achoo!!?”
They looked at one another as the penny dropped, Gedinac shouted “BOYSSS!!!!, today we dine alfresco!, Let’s get hunting!!!!”

Googlee rolled over, it was now a question of being quick, or being dead, as every second made a difference.

They were discovered He batted schem with his giant paw, hurling him against a monolith with a crunching sound, and whipped his tail to swat Gedinac like a fly he let out a blood-curdling roar. “quick sprite he said as the two changelings lay on the ground stunned as more blurred forms of the changelings seemed to appear almost quicker than the eye could trace.

“Get on my back sprite!” We’re getting out of here, He wailed As he turned on a dime in a figure of eight style, taking a panoramic view.

Brownie jumped on his back she was barely saddled up before he bolted and the creatures were hot in his tail.

The mysterious Wyrzel galloped up the main road such was his girth that he jumped over fences and other hurdles easily, arrows narrowly missed him as they hurtled through the air.

The little Sprite held on for dear life, as the two of them broke into a prairie and more changelings surrounded them. As they began chattering to unnerve them.

Before the two were surrounded entirely Googlee spotted a weakness in their lines as he ran over the changelings and trampled over them leaving their bodies mangled in the dirt he headed towards a bridge in the distance, Brownie could hear Googlee breathing heavy, feel his pulse racing.

The closer they got to the bridge the more they could see that it was in-fact a broken old dilapidated bridge, that only spanned half the distance and ended in nowhere .it had probably been demolished for being unsafe.

The sweat and ripple of muscle, Googlee Shouted “ do you trust me sprite!” Brownie answered, “with my life” As time began to slow down as the two ran towards the bridge, they could see the edge approaching getting nearer and nearer, was this the end?
Googlee made a leap but it was nowhere near enough as the two began to fall to the canyon floor below, Brownie could not look. the combination of
Falling and wind streaming through her hair, she gnashed her jaw as they twisted, the little sprites cloak seemed to wrap around her arms, and over her face.

The g-force was pushing her back as she struggled to hold on for dear life and her knuckles went pure white as she clung onto Googlees mane.

Through the commotion Brownie could feel the words of Eulin they were saying “ keep your feet And tail profile, use your shoulders to steer, your fin/wings stretch them out like hands.”

They were not falling anymore, in fact, it felt like they were ascending.

She opened her eyes, they were soaring above the ground, Brownie spoke” I should’ve wondered why you had wings, wow your flyyiiiiiiiinnnggggg”
Eulin rudely interrupted as he flew at a point ahead of them “ you don’t call this flying!” He said as his avian snobbery began to show “he’s just a handglider really!” Googlee ignored him, and may have blown a casual raspberry at him, to appease him … “well whatever form of aviation it is I’m grateful!”
She put her arms towards the clouds in a v and shouted “wooohoooo!!! “as they proceeded to fly on towards the philosophers’ gate in the south. As the sun baked down on her back.
—
The mysterious changeling Grozette stood on the bank of the river Mir, the fragrance of wildflowers hung in the air, it was most agreeable.

She was indeed strange even by Martian standards.

She stood there in her couture of gingham silk as the breeze bought blue fire flower petals that caressed her dark grey hair. At first glance it appeared as if she were absorbing the sunlight on her silky skin,the golden rays of sunshine were moving through the air and the mist and riding along the shallows of the crystal waters of the lake. It almost glowed as her eyes turned from vibrant sunflower yellow to pitch black, and then back again. She turned Slowly and slightly, and her clothing transformed to a white robe with white gold embroidery that shimmered in the sunlight, and on her head she wore a headdress which seemed to signify importance and could have possibly graced the heads of queens.

She contemplated her reflection in the still waters, observing nature that was all around her, she felt a griffin bird as he sang amongst the red rushes.

It was almost as if she were melting into the myriad of tiny life forms and beyond, into every blade of grass that stirred in the morning breeze. Every flower that was opening itself to the rays of the sun. Every ripple that traversed the lake.
The notes that birds sang. The humidity in the air. The influence of gravity. The fluidity of time. She could feel it all, and for the first time, she felt her age.

Ancient.

The time to part companies was now.

she could of course wait until they reached the river ferry but she had made up her mind to take another route to Witchaven, there was something disrespectful about having your apprentices dote on you, which she considered a faux par.

Still, she was grateful to be alive as she began to sing from the bank in an unusual way similar to practicing vocal scales, she was kulning, reaching out with her voice, for familiars to herald her safely home to the shores of witchaven

The haunting sad lament alerted ūna.

She, of course, knew what it meant.

alerted she searched for her teacher grozette up the riverbank, “ master you are not yet strong enough! “She said trying to rebuke Grozette.

“Have you become so wise that you can instruct your teacher!” She sniggered to herself, as she felt the texture of the ground beneath her naked feet.

She smiled at ūna, she seemed aged by the ordeal that had befallen her. A small incline of the head as she spoke “My best apprentice, you no longer need the protection of the magic I have taught you!” She paused “But another needs the Tomes I have wrote for you!”
She looked back at ūna who wore a disapproving look on her face

“If a liar tells you, she is lying, should you believe her!” Ūna was not intimidated by Grozette there were times she had been encouraged to stand up to her, for the sake of her own development.
“ I know child I’m fortunate to have you as a student” she paused “although at times it was a difficult labour!” She added

“ I will be ok! There’s deeper magic you know!” She said to reassure her that she would be ok.

“A deeper truth!” She spoke the words as if she were reminding herself also.

Ūna let out a troubled sigh.
“Losing you would be a loss, to the whole of mars!” She said as she tried to reach out.

“ ūna, I see more in you than perhaps you see in yourself, everything ends, all that matters are the ones who remember… that’s immortality! “ Grozette often talked cryptically but today was somehow different.

She seemed to go off topic as she added “the liar paradox, be careful that you do not lie to yourself? perhaps you haven’t realised, but….you’re conjuring from a school of magic, and one has been bewitched by you and is under your spell!” She said with a playful glint in her eye. As a paddling of ducks swam up to the bank grozette hugged ūna and squeezed her tightly “I’m going now!” We will meet again at home!” And with that Grozette twisted her shape into that of a grey goose gave a gaggle and swam with the Ducks away.

Ūna felt entirely alone again, for a little while at least

The cryptic message hung in ūnas mind one has fallen under your spell as she heard the voice of Vee call for her from the bushes as he strode up to the bank. She looked at him “please stop calling me major, I really don’t like it, call me ūna!” She said as She smiled.

As she realised she was not alone anymore.