Guardian Dragons (9 page)

Not so easily convinced, the guard
watched her suspiciously as she entered the water and joined the
whales. She had hopes that the guard would take this as an order to
open the hatchway. This did not happen immediately and she began to
suspect the worse but her patience paid off and a moment later, the
outer hatch-door opened. Seawater gradually flooded in and Bryley
quickly swam out of the protected area with the Queen whale
following, her baby staying protectively beneath her huge
belly.

Sure enough, the sharks had remained, determined not be
cheated out of their meal. They followed the little group
coming
out of the huphin
hatch-door, not attacking but swimming closely by, bemused at the
small huphin that had joined the whales.

I am Princess Bryley and I order you to leave these waters
that are protected by the Royal Huphin Family.
Bryley bravely Mindtalked to the sharks, hoping
they were not too stupid enough to ignore her Royal
Command.

It appeared to be working, the
sharks seemed to have swam away as they were nowhere in
sight.

See Queen Whale, my father and
grandfather are truly respected, even by low life such as the
sharks.

She could not have wished for a
better result and decided to stay and enjoy a short swim with her
new friends.

You are a brave Princess but now that they are gone I think
you should return to your city.
The mother whale was not so convinced and wanted to speed
up her swim to allow her cub a head start.

I would like to stay with you awhile if that’s all right.
Swimming with whales is fun. Come on, we should quicken our pace in
case they return,
sensing the
whales urgency, she knew she could keep up with them for a
while.

Very well Princess but you must
swim with my cub close to my belly. I will lead the way.

The sharks had remained well behind
and out of sight, easily confused at the huphin’s presence and
wondering why she was stealing their meal. Soon they would be away
from the protective magic of the huphin city and then they could
strike.

P
rince Gadon surfaced
from the rippling waves and exposed the
top half of his body to the warm heat of the sun,
showing the world a glistening deep blue-green human form. His
smooth head is without hair, his ears covered with fine gills and
his large eyes oval and black with a transparent skin covering them
protectively. Two small oval slits pulsed open and shut in the
centre of his face, allowing him to breathe air. Pale pink lips
hide a blue tongue and teeth that are similar to those of humans. A
transparent grey skin attaches the inside of his elbow to his
waist. Along the tops of his arms short fins run down resembling a
straggly line of thin hairs.

Huphin hands have five webbed
digits. The chest is similar to human male or female appropriately,
but underneath the breasts lays a line of tiny gills. Their legs
are also similar to humans and wear the same short fins as their
arms. The five toes are webbed.

Looking out at the stillness of the
sea he observed dolphins jumping up and down and in and out of the
biggest waves they could find.

Probably showing off as they always do,
Leon thought.

Yes, I agree,
a voice
invaded his private thoughts.
Dolphins are terribly vain
, the huphin Prince Mindtalked.

‘Aaah, I’m honoured that you’ve agreed to meet with me
Gadon, but ask that you be patient a moment longer? I’m waiting at
the top of the cliff for my friend to arrive. We’ll meet you in the
Red Rock Bay, as agreed. I have to admit it isn’t really anything
urgent but rather a favour for a very good friend of mine,
Leon ended, not too confident that
Gadon would agree once he was fully aware of his reasons for
calling him here.

Good to be seeing you again Leon,
Gadon replied, glad that his human friend was asking
for his help in his time of need.
I shall be pleased to meet any friend of yours. See you
soon.

He dived down below his companions
the dolphins and watched them follow him in his descent. He had
come alone on this visit to the surface, so was thankful of their
company to pass away the time whilst awaiting the Shankhall whistle
from his human friend, which would indicate their arrival at the
meeting place.

On top of the steep cliff, Leon
lifted his youthful face and peered through the tall pine trees
with piercing blue eyes. His eyebrows furrowed into a v-shape as he
squinted in an attempt to try to make the image of Heather appear.
He had been sitting patiently for far too long under the willow
tree at the top of the cliff path. This was their regular meeting
place where the huge dangling green arms of the tree arch out and
droop down, hiding them within the green den so no-one ever knows
they are there.

Looking at the winding path that stretches down to the
beach, he still felt uneasy at this contrived proposal. They
usually took it in turns to think up some mischievous deed to
perform. Last time it had been his idea and they had put rotting
fish under some of the noble’s
beds. A bit of a childish prank, he chuckled, but it did
result in some fun when it turned out that Lord Promple was
allergic to fish and he sneezed so much that his hairpiece came
flying off. No one had ever seen his bald head that had just a few
white hairs protruding up like fluff. Everyone knew he wore a
hairpiece but one does not dare ask of a noble
why.

In the dry heat he was glad of the
shade of the tree but was becoming increasingly restless and
feeling a little annoyed that she was always late. He was never
sure if she did this on purpose or if her constant stream of
excuses were genuine.

Standing up he shook his muscled
legs to rid himself of the stinging cramp in his thigh. As he stood
there, he could just make out a dark shape darting around through
the pine trees in the woods. Running around in a never-ending
circle was a large longhaired white dog, chasing everything that
moved. Barking at squirrels and even attempting to climb the giant
trees that they scampered up, it was Frizzle and wherever he was
then Heather was never far away. Heather was not moving with any
great speed but he knew how keen she was about this secret meeting,
she had never before tried the ‘Changeling’ magic.

* * *

Deep in the seabed a small huphin Princess, a huge Queen
whale
and her baby had taken
refuge in a large school of dolphins as a mass of savage sharks
circled the entire group. The brave dolphins chose to protect the
whales only because a huphin’s life was at stake. The whale called
out a cry for help to her own kind, but alas no reply. How long
these bold dolphins would remain so, with their own young at risk,
was not something that Princess Bryley wanted to contemplate. It
had been her idea to ask them for help when the sharks had suddenly
pounced out of nowhere, unexpectedly, and the baby whale had taken
a small injury from one of the attackers. The sharks would not give
up so easily now they had the scent of blood drifting in the sea
currents. The dolphins, for their part, had sent out signals to
obtain help from their nearest neighbours. They waited, but not
without fear. The sharks may reconsider and decide a couple of baby
dolphins would suffice for their meal, or even a
young huphin. Princess Bryley would
not give up hope but she watched despondently as the sharks
tightened their trap. They were going to eat something, but who was
to make their meal was what she feared. They were clearly angry
with her for interfering. She longed to be with her parents. At
least the baby whale would die by its mother’s side. She was to die
alone.

* * *

Gadon made a slow upward stroke to look out of the
waters
and observed Leon still
waiting near the large green tree. He was about to reach out to
Leon’s mind when he noticed another human arriving. The dolphins
started to screech at him, trying in turn to get his attention but
he just ignored their noisy twittering and swam away, indicating to
them that he did not wish for their company anymore. None dare to
defy his instructions for privacy. Instead, they went into an
excited frenzy that just made the Prince push them away all the
more. Aware of the little Princess’s true danger, they desperately
wanted his attention but none would dare to challenge
him.

Chapter 14
Changeling

M
oving with a little
more haste, Heather and Leon carefully made their way down the
steep, narrow sandy path leading to a red gritty beach. On one side
of the path, bright yellow petals of the healing herb Danlon
carpeted the ground. The seeds protected within the golden petals
could be ground into a healing powder. To the other side were
scatterings of prickly dark green bushes and bushy brown shrubs
that dangled with bright red berries. The hidden wildlife was wise
to the tasty looking fruits that could poison instantly. Unknown to
passersby, the luring shrubbery concealed the closeness of the
cliff’s edge that led to a dangerous sheer drop down to the
crashing waves. The path had originally been walked by fisher men,
who had once used this beach to trawl small boats, carrying their
day’s catch up the path to go on and trade at the market in
Beldroth. The Royal City, since those times, has expanded its
harbour and so the fisher men now take a more direct
route.

The end of the path lay decayed and
crumbled causing Leon to leap his long gangly legs a good distance
and thump down on to the gritty sand. He turned to assist Heather,
not that she needed help but she liked him to act the gentleman and
servant to her, whenever it suited.

Landing on the baking hot sands scorching the soles of
their feet, they hurried towards a cluster of flat red rocks hidden
under a
tall looming cliff. A
long dark shadow thrown out by the cliff kept the rocks cooled.
Jumping onto the shaded rocks soothed the bottom of their feet.
This was only a small bay and not many bothered to clamber down the
track any more. It was because of the seclusion of the bay that
Leon had chosen it for their meeting. Clambering to the top of the
largest flat rock he perched and put a little white whistle made of
pearly shell husks into his mouth. Having proudly accepted this
little whistle as a gift from his mother for his fifth birthday,
she had described to him its secret power to call up sea creatures.
It also served as a reminder of his mother, whenever he looked upon
this treasure.

‘What is that thing you blow in
to, it makes no noise?’ Heather looked up at him curiously. Of all
the suncircles they had been friends, she had never seen this
beautiful shiny pearl white whistle.

‘These are given to Royal children
at a young age. As we grow older, we learn different tunes. Each
tune is a means of communication with different sea creatures that
only they can hear. I last contacted my seafaring friend of the
huphins about seven moonwakes ago, to set this up for you. I’m not
supposed to divulge the tunes to anyone, so don’t bother to ask me
to teach you.’

Leon looked down at Heather,
waiting for her demands to know more of this mysterious little
whistle but she simply smiled at him and turned to look at the sea.
He was none too keen to be doing this for her. If his father or
older brother were to find out, there would be very serious
consequences to pay. Use of the whistle was meant for emergencies
only.

Gadon heard the echo of Leon’s whistle as the humming tune,
carried with the wind, brushed across the surface of the ocean’s
smooth waves and penetrated into the flow of the seawater. This
enchanted tune opened up channels for Mindtalk with whichever sea
creature the owner sought. Leon now Mindtalked with his huphin
friend and let him know that they were ready for his arrival.
Swimming up to the gritty red beach, Gadon peered out of the warm
foaming water to locate exactly where Leon waited and noticed him
stood on a flat red rock. Swimming the short distance towards the
rocks, he was a little apprehensive upon seeing a long haired white
beast sniffing around the shores edge. Slowly leaving
the water and taking an upright
stance, Gadon approached them cautiously.

‘Gadon,’ Leon greeted him in the
human tongue, ‘you do me honour in answering my call for help. Glad
I am to see you again. Come closer so I can explain my erratic
behaviour and introduce you to Heather’.

I am somewhat baffled as to why we meet in such a secretive
manner. If you can keep that beast away then I can come to the
rocks,
Gadon replied with
Mindtalk, still suspicious of the dog.

Heather managed to listen in on the
freely spoken Mindtalk and pulled Frizzle closer to her, to protect
him. She too was a little suspicious of new beasts that she had
never seen before but only heard about. She watched in amazement as
the huphin walked gracefully out of the water and perched on the
rock beside Leon.