Chapter One – Life and Death
Captain Holly Short sighed in annoyance as she badged her way past the Customs fairies, and into Surface-LE-Shuttle 2PZ7. Investigating strange noises in a shuttle wasn't exactly part of her job description. It was probably just a trapped sprite kicking up a fuss; she couldn't understand why Commander Julius Root had insisted on guiding her through this one. As if she couldn't find the cargo bay herself!
"Captain
Short, can you still hear this?" Commander Root's voice echoed
in Holly's LEP-issue helmet.
"Yes, Commander. Approaching
cargo bay." The screams were audible now and sent a shiver of
apprehension down Holly's spine. Whatever was in the tiny hold was
in pain; and it was no Fairy. "What is that?" Gasped
Holly.
"We don't know. It doesn't sound Fairy. It
sounds … it sounds human!" Foaly sounded as nervous as
Holly felt.
"Human? How could a Mud Man get down
here? The pressure would kill them." Snapped Root. Obviously,
Foaly hadn't shared that fledgling theory with Julius yet.
"I'm not saying it is. That's what it sounds like." Foaly
replied, and Holly could tell he was frowning. "Whatever it is,
it's in pain."
"Be very careful in there Holly.
Creatures in pain can be very dangerous." Cautioned Root.
In silence, Holly approached the cargo bay doors. The yells were definitely coming from here. The doors had been jammed open, which struck Holly as highly unusual. The hold was small, even for a shuttle, and almost full with crates. Holly couldn't see whatever it was that was making those awful noises.
"It must be behind that crate." Said Holly, pointing towards the largest crate in the hold. Foaly and Root watched her hesitant progress through the camera in her helmet. Slowly, holding her Neutrino blaster steady out in front, Holly chose the surprise approach and leapt to the side of the crate. Three shocked gasps resounded in the helmet as Holly, Root and Foaly stared at the blood covered floor and the hunched figure of a Mud Woman in labour.
"She's
having a baby!" exclaimed Foaly. "It's a Mud Woman having a
baby."
Holly's mind reeled back to everything she'd
ever learnt in Biology.
"It's not supposed to be like
that!" Fairy childbirth was radically different to human
childbirth. The same parts were involved but there was no blood and
no pain, as long as the fairy had remembered to complete the ritual
as the date approached. Even if she hadn't, there were medical
warlocks on hand.
This woman was in incredible amounts of pain. Her face, clothes, hair and hands were covered in the same blood which also drenched the floor surrounding her. Without thinking, Holly dropped to her knees at the woman's side, holstering the Neutrino. The woman looked up, staring into Holly's face with bright blue eyes grown dim with pain and exhaustion.
"Captain
Holly Short?" she gasped. Holly nodded, dumbstruck. Somewhere in
the back of her mind, she could hear Foaly's astonished
mutterings.
"I figured that the Mud People's childbirth was
different to ours I didn't realise it was like this." He was
obviously horrified by what he saw.
"Try and heal her,
Holly," barked Root. "She isn't gonna last if you don't."
Holly's hands hovered anxiously over the woman's body. It was hard to know where to direct the healing magic; after a few seconds, Holly urged the sparks from her brain and hoped they would find their own way.
"Heal,"
she whispered. The sparks began to play over the woman's arm, but
to the Fairies amazement, the woman batted Holly and the magic away.
"It won't hurt you," said Holly, trying to speak reassuringly
despite the unreasonable fear which shook her.
"It may hurt
my daughter," the woman's voice was weak but confident. She
pushed something into Holly's hand with a arm barely strong enough
to lift itself. "Take that. It'll help you understand. She's
too important to risk."
Holly
glanced down at the thing in her hand. It was covered in blood but
it was easy to see that it was The Book. She heard Root draw in a
shocked gasp.
"How did you get this?" Holly muttered. The
woman didn't answer; she screamed that terrible scream and her face
contorted with agony as she tried to bring her daughter into the
world.
"What do I do?" Wailed Holly to anyone who was
listening. Not exactly professional, but this was way beyond her
field of expertise. Problem was, it was also a completely new
experience for both Root and Foaly.
"Nothing you can do,
Fairy, except obey the word of The Book." Every syllable was
weaker than the last. Holly knew the woman wouldn't survive if she
refused to accept help.
Holly looked at the woman quizzically,
unsure what she meant.
In a voice
laden with exhaustion, the woman began to recite a prophecy so old
and unlikely it had been all but forgotten.
"Human child
born beneath the ground
Must be raised by whom she was found
Special Crystal with a
shining glow
Laden with powers which shall always grow
The child will more than earn her keep
Ensure Haven's
secret is hidden deep."
The three fairies barely had time to
register this astounding revelation. The baby came only seconds
after her mother's recital. With a shrill cry of alarm, the tiny
baby girl arrived.
"Take
her!" gasped the woman. "Cut the cord!". She gestured lamely
to a pair of scissors by her side. She had came prepared; had been
expecting this. After a confirmation from Foaly, Holly gingerly
picked the screeching girl from the floor and cut the cord. "Pass
her here! Quickly, I don't have much time."
Holly passed
the child to her mother and tuned back in to Foaly and Root's
conversation.
"We have to take the child, Julius. You know
what The Book says."
"What? Bring up a Mud Girl
underground with the People? You can't be serious, Foaly. It goes
against every rule in the book."
"No, it adheres to a rule in The Book." Holly could imagine Foaly dangling his copy of The Book in front of her Commanders face.
The woman
began to talk again and Foaly and Root's argument came to an abrupt
end.
"Don't … let me down. Holly. Julius. Foaly."
Holly's eyes grew wide. She had never mentioned the names of her
best friend and Commander to this woman. "Please. You have been
chosen. Holly, you must take her. I am too weak."
Holly
could clearly see that the woman was close to dropping the tiny baby
and quickly took the child back, amazed at how small and perfect she
was.
"Call … Call her Lorna Honour. I am Honour. Tell …
tell her about me … please."
The woman slumped against the cold metal and the exhausted rise and fall of her chest stopped. She was dead. A sadness washed over Holly as she watched the life slip away from the Mud Woman. She had died in horrible circumstances, and now there was another Mud Child without a mother. A small gurgle drew her gaze back down to the baby in her arms. As she stared into the child's face, Holly lost all sense of where she was. She forgot she was kneeling on a blood stained floor next to a corpse. She didn't hear Foaly and Root telling her they were on their way.
The baby was bathed from head to foot in a white glow.
Their
eyes met. The baby's were a brilliant, electric blue, full of
innocent trust and an intelligence that shouldn't be there. Little
Lorna reached up to snatch at a few wisps of auburn hair that hung
down, framing Holly's face.
"Holly," the baby giggled.
"Holly."
Holly knew nothing of human children, but she was
certain that a baby only a few minutes old should not be able to
talk. The human and fairy stared at each other in wonder.
The sound
of running footsteps and galloping hooves shattered the intense
silence which had fallen over the grim scene. Holly looked up slowly
to meet the eyes of Julius and Foaly, standing in wide-eyed horror in
the doorway.
"We have to keep her." Stated Holly. She knew
they had no option; the child was quite obviously special. If the
pure white glow didn't show that, and the speech wasn't anything
unusual for a human, then the fact that she and her mother hadn't
been crushed by the underground pressure was proof enough.
Slowly,
shakily, Holly got to her feet and walked over to her Commander and
best friend. All three stared at the baby.
"Holly,"
repeated the baby, reaching up to tug on Holly's auburn hair
again.
"Should she be able to talk?" asked Holly, quietly.
It didn't feel right to speak out loud.
"No."
said Foaly. "I don't have much data on newborn humans but they
don't start to talk for at least a year."
"Why's she
glowing?" muttered Julius, unable to look away from those
mesmerising sapphire eyes.
"I have no idea. Foaly?"
The
centaur looked just as puzzled as Holly felt. "The only reason I
can think of is she's … absorbed some of the magic in the
air. But that ought to be impossible."
"We should get her
out of here." Holly glanced back towards Honour. "What'll we
do about the mother?"
With a
visible jerk, Commander Julius Root snapped back to reality.
"Captain Kelp can get a team together. We need to … sort out the
Mud Child."
"I don't think you can call her a Mud Child,
Commander," Holly's voice was frosty. "The prophecy seems to
have got one thing right – 'Little Crystal with a shining glow.'
– I'm willing to bet the rest is just as true."
Root
didn't reply. He tore his gaze away and started back down the
corridor.
