An Army of Good (12 page)

Zavier, concerned that Grace was unable to protect herself with the barrier, quickly decided that the next best thing would be to share his power with someone else. Someone that would protect her as fiercely as he would. Someone whose natural instinct would be to fight for her, to die for her. He had seen these qualities the day that he'd collected the Darlings from their home. And so it was decided. He would share his power with Grace's mother.

Zavier found Mary standing over Evan, rubbing her hands together victoriously as he lay on his back in the sand. She had mastered her first lesson in self-defence and her elation at having thrown her husband over her shoulder was evident in the huge grin that she wore.

“Mary, I'm glad to see that you're throwing yourself wholeheartedly into your training,” Zavier praised.

“More like throwing others full forcibly into the sand!” Evan joked, picking himself up and brushing himself off.

“So I see.” Zavier chuckled. “Anyway, Mary, how do you feel about taking self-defence to a whole new level? I would like to train you in how to produce a barrier.”

“Yes, of course. Grace told us that she was unable to share your power. She was so upset, bless her, but she seems to be dealing with it well,” Mary said, looking across the crowded beach to where Grace was training.

“Actually, I think we may need Grace to assist us, and you can help us as well, Evan.”

“Oh, okay.” Evan shrugged, wondering how he was going to be of any help.

Zavier sent Chester over to collect Grace, requesting that he bring her to where they had been training earlier that day.

“Okay, Mary, the sole purpose of the barrier is to protect those inside it. The more powerfully you care about whoever you are trying to place the barrier around, the more powerful it will be. That's why I have asked you to join us, Grace. You see, there is no instinct greater than that of a mother to protect her child.”

“I get that, but where do I come in? I feel very protective of my family, but you are only able to share the barrier's power with one of us, and that's Mary, so what am I needed for?” Evan asked, puzzled.

“I've seen how much you love your family, and I have also seen how well you support each other. I think that your encouragement is going to help greatly with Mary's training,” Zavier replied.

Zavier explained the basics. “Initially, you will only be able to place the barrier close to yourself, but as you get used to using it, you will be able to place it further away from you and cover a greater area with it. To start with, I would like Grace to stand directly in front of you. I'm going to throw the sand pouch at her and I want you to stop it from hitting her.”

Grace stood in front of her mother as requested.

“Are you ready?” Zavier asked.

“Yes,” they both replied.

Zavier launched the pouch with just enough force to make an impact. It hurtled through the air and was just about to smack into Grace's body when Mary leant forward and batted it away.

“That's not quite what I was hoping for,” Zavier exclaimed. “I need you to fight the urge to respond physically. You must try to use your mind. The mind is much more powerful than the body. Think of how much you want to stop Grace from being hurt and you will succeed.”

“Yeah, just like when you're giving me one of your ‘looks',” Evan said. “You know, the one that makes me think hell, now I'm in trouble! That look sure shows the power of your mind, and it packs a way more powerful punch than anything physical.”

Mary scowled at Evan, not sure whether to thank him for his advice or not, but it was good advice. It helped her to understand how she could defend herself with mind power alone and when Zavier launched the sand pouch for a second time, it stopped inches away from Grace's face and fell to the floor.

“Way to go, Mary!” Evan praised.

Chester, who had been watching, fluttered happily in mid-air. “Yeah, way to go, Mary!” he chirped.

Zavier continued to use the sand-filled bag for a while. After Mary had successfully protected Grace from the impact ten times, he decided to move onto something a little more difficult. The beach was a bustling hive of activity, with the numerous groups spreading out over a greater area as they all progressed with their skills. Because of this, Zavier moved up the sand, closer to where the beach bordered the woods and he requested that the mule deer family come too.

“This is where things are going to get a little more difficult. I want Grace to move away from you, Mary. Yukiko, the deer child, is going to try to butt her to the ground, and I want you to protect her.”

Yukiko leaped across the sand toward Grace, lowered her head, and butted Grace right in the middle of her stomach, knocking her off her feet.

“Don't worry, Mary, that was just your first go. You'll manage it next time,” Evan reassured her.

“Focus your mind and imagine that you are placing Grace inside a bubble,” Zavier instructed.

Yukiko sprang across the sand again. She was just about to make impact with Grace, when a snarling juvenile Nomed made a huge fifteen-foot leap out of the neighbouring woodland, swiping the deer child, screaming and bleating, out of mid-air. Her parents, Yas and Yappa, barked and coughed, stamping their hooves with distress at what they'd seen. Yas lunged toward the Nomed, his antlers lowered, impaling the juvenile upon them. The hissing and spitting Nomed dropped Yukiko, and the young deer darted back to the safety of her mother's side.

Zavier's main concern was to protect Grace and her parents. He couldn't trust that Mary was ready to produce an adequate wall of protection yet, and he couldn't place his barrier around Yas as it would seal the deer within its walls together with the impaled Nomed, so he placed his barrier around himself, Grace, Evan and Mary. Chester flew away to raise the alarm, as fast as his little wings would carry him. Yappa and Yukiko stood as still as statues, staring at Yas and the thrashing Nomed, their eyes and huge donkey-like ears fixed firmly on the horrific scene.

“Go back to the beach house!” Zavier ordered, breaking their alarmed state.

“Please, Zavier, please help him!” Yappa begged, before quickly turning and dashing away with her daughter to the protection of the house.

By now, everyone on the beach was aware of the situation and hordes of animals and people frantically made their way to the house for safety.

Zavier felt quite helpless. He wanted to extend his barrier, to place Yas safely within its confines, but he couldn't. He looked on as Yas continuously tossed his head around, trying to inflict as much damage as possible on the Nomed that had tried to kill his daughter. The juvenile Nomed became more deeply impaled on the deer's antlers with each of Yas's thrusting movements. The Nomed's muddy brown eyes stared in agony and it screamed a shrill and blood-curdling scream as it clawed frantically at Yas's throat, lacerating it and sending streams of blood running down the deer's forelimbs.

Chester returned with help in the form of Pelagia, Aurora and Dan.

“Dan, get back! Go back to the house!” Mary yelled desperately, but Dan had become so enraged when he'd realised his family were in danger that he'd transformed into a very impressive Meh-Teh, larger and more ferocious than any of his other transformations, and there was no way he was going back without a fight. He stormed over to Yas and pulled the impaled Nomed from his antlers as if he were simply removing a cherry from a cocktail stick. Then he snapped the Nomed across his knee, splitting it in half, and threw its lifeless pieces back into the woodland.

Then he turned and bent down beside Yas, who had collapsed with shock. He began to tend to the haemorrhaging deer's wounds, placing his huge hands upon the blood-sodden fur in an attempt to stem the bleeding. It was at this point that things went from bad to worse. An infuriated team of around twenty juveniles emerged from the woods, one of which was carrying the torso of the halved Nomed, another carrying its lower half, and each and every one of them looked intent on revenge.

Nomeds launched themselves at Dan from all directions, clawing and biting at him ferociously. Dan pulled them off one at a time, flinging them back into the woodland, smashing them into the trees with such force that branches snapped and fell, littering the ground below. The Nomeds, determined not to let their king down, were soon back on their feet and ready to attack again.

“Get them to safety!” Dan shouted, urging Zavier to take his parents and Grace as far away from the Nomeds as possible.

Then the next wave of attacking juveniles leapt towards him.

“Yes, Zavier, go. We can handle this until you get back with help,” Aurora agreed, as another group of juveniles ran at her like a pack of hyenas going in for the kill.

Zavier stripped off his clothes and transformed into his horse form. He knelt down on his front knees, enabling Grace and her parents to quickly climb onto his back, then he carried them back to the beach house.

Dan and Aurora continued to protect themselves against the onslaught. The Nomeds were relentless, biting and clawing viciously at the pair of mighty Meh-Teh, and Dan and Aurora were beginning to weaken significantly.

“
Agghh
!” Dan screamed in pain as one of them bit into his thigh, ripping out a large chunk of his flesh.

The fight to survive was proving much tougher than they had imagined. They were struggling to keep themselves alive, and there was therefore absolutely nothing that either of them could do as they watched a couple of the Nomeds dragging Yas's injured body off into the woods.

Dan was bitten again, this time on the abdomen. He was beginning to wonder if this was it, if this was how he would die; with a group of monsters feeding on his intestines, just as they had many a time in the computer games that he played back at home. It was then that he heard the roaring sound of water, and he turned to see Zavier, Pelagia, the Warriors and Harry racing up the sand toward him.

“Power-up, bruv!” Harry hollered, throwing a glowing blue power orb, which successfully hit Dan on the side of the head.

As the orb impacted with Dan's head, he felt an immense energy surge through his body. Then, with one mighty yell, he threw off all of the Nomeds that were clinging onto him. The Nomeds, one of which was glowing a faint blue after it, too, was hit by the orb, went flying in all directions, sending puffs of sand into the air where they fell. Still intent on killing Dan after having witnessed him snap one of their own in half, they picked themselves up and launched themselves at him again and again.

Pelagia turned to Harry. “That was a lucky shot, young man, but what did I teach you?” he boomed. “Don't use the power on the one that you think needs it the most – use it on the one that can do the most with it. And never hit a Nomed!” and with that, he threw a huge light-pulsing orb at Aurora's left leg, the only part of her that didn't have any Nomeds attached to it.

Aurora's fur bristled and her nose crinkled into a ferocious snarl as the orb's power coursed through her body. The Nomeds that were attached to her were now no more irritating to her than pesky flies, their teeth and claws unable to penetrate her new, stronger skin. She walked over to Dan and began pulling the Nomeds from his gigantic body, squeezing and crushing each of them like soda cans.

Knowing that they didn't stand a chance against the mighty Meh-Teh, the remaining Nomeds retreated. Most of them scurried back into the woods taking their dead with them, but a few of them, including the glowing orb-energised one, slipped past unnoticed and headed toward the beach house.

Despite every room being packed full with the humans and all of Liberty's creatures, Serenity Sunrise beach house was eerily quiet. Groups of frightened animals huddled together, and anxious Humans no longer felt as if they were at a luxury sunny holiday resort.

“It's okay, we should be safe here. The Nomeds can't tolerate the sea air, they'll soon be gone, you'll see,” Chester chirped, as he fluttered from huddle to huddle trying to reassure everyone.

The Fire Fairies grouped together in the hearth, creating a raging fire that would prevent any Nomed from entering the house via the chimney.

The Ice Elves and Snowflake Butterflies merged to form their Isumataq Leader, Shannon, and Brinsop and his Dragonfly Army buzzed with nervous electricity in the rafters.

Jazmine and Aaron had gathered all of the Humans together and were doing their best to keep them calm. Mary in particular was taking a lot of consoling, having left her eldest son on the beach fighting for his life.

Henrietta twisted a ringlet of dark hair around her index finger and glared at Christian. She was still angry at him for the numerous times he had paralysed her that day. “I wish it was you that those monsters were attacking!” she said, spitefully jabbing him in the ribs with her elbow.

“Don't be so mean, Henrietta. That's a horrible thing to say,” Christian's mother Sharna scolded. Then she took Christian's hand, led him away from the nasty little girl, and went to stand over by the shutter-protected windows in the lounge, where Grace and her family stood.

“That girl can be so spiteful!” Sharna grumbled to Evan.

“Yep,” Evan agreed. “I know she's my niece and I shouldn't really be saying this, but I think she was born bad. It's not my brother or his wife's fault, it's just in her, she was born that way. As a baby, she would lie in your arms staring up at you with those dark eyes, not smiling, not crying, just staring. Used to give me the heebie-jeebies, if I'm honest.”

“Don't be daft, Evan. She's just a child, for goodness' sake,” Mary said, with a tut.

Sharna stood with her back against the lounge window and Christian stood in front of her, leaning his head back against her body. She ruffled his fair hair and glanced down at him.

“Are you okay, sunshine?” she asked

“Yes thanks, Mum. Don't worry about Henri, I can handle her, and don't worry about the Nomeds either, Zavier and the others can handle them.”

“I'm sure they can,” Sharna smiled.

Christian looked up into his mother's warm eyes and smiled back at her.

A loud smash startled him. Wood and glass rained down, showering his face. He screwed his eyes tightly shut in an attempt to protect them from the falling debris. Animals squawked and shrieked, people screamed and yelled. Christian felt his mum's grip loosen. He re-opened his eyes and looked up at her. A dark-clawed hand, haloed by a glowing blue light, had his mum gripped by the throat, and in the blink of an eye she was gone.