Disclaimer: All of the characters from Disney's library of cartoon greatness belong to them and not to me. I am borrowing them without permission ONLY to tell these stories for the entertainment of you the readers and for no monetary gains of any kind. Please review and feel free to suggest plot ideas or ask questions and I will do my best to answer you in story. Even if I don't privately reply I DO read everything I get and your responses are what keep me going both here and at my actual job since I am in retail sales which is full of stress ha! Thank you in advance for your responses and enjoy, your friend Irual.
Drake Mallard was snuggled beside his fiancée Morgana Macabre and despite the fact that he seemed to attract fate's whim, for once he was peacefully resting without any of his usual drama or chaos intruding. While they slept, Morgana's house kept watch over its occupants.
The gargoyles and other guardians were a bit restless even though there was no sign of trouble. This time of night Morgana and the other mage-born and Monster-kind were usually active and doing things instead of sleeping and this change in routine was quite disturbing. Particularly for the doorknocker and the gargoyle that pretended to be a piece of statuary on the wall beside the large mirror in the front hall. They were wide awake, restless and bored so they decided to connect to the Oracle pool and look in on some of the other gargoyles to see if there was any good gossip around to tell the others before the mistress and her guests woke up. Admittedly doing this wasn't necessarily a great idea. It would mean taking a chance on being caught away from their posts since Lady Lucidia and Lord Spellbinder were in residence and probably awake, but the other guardians had agreed to keep watch while they checked for news so no one was really worried about anything negative happening because of their snooping around.
After relinquishing his place and tying Ahab to the door and Tashtego to had agreed to patrol the halls, the doorknocker; Fedallah and the statue that appeared to be a foot long bombardier beetle left their places to duck into the doorway to the Macabre haven.
It looked like an ordinary sort of knickknack sitting on the shelf beside the rack that held the cups, mugs and other drinking vessels that had handles to thread through the pegs they hung on beside the wood burning stove in the kitchen. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a small replica of the castle and lands surrounding the Macabre estate covered with a glass globe filled with clear liquid.
However, once the two guardians focused on what they wanted to do and touched the surface of the haven, between one blink and another they disappeared from the kitchen and landed gently in what appeared to be a dimly lit cave. The floor of the cave was covered with hard packed sand and neither of their footfalls made marks on the floor as they crossed towards the pools of water at the far side of the cave….
Pausing beside the first pool, the shallowest and easiest to look into from the shore; Fedallah was careful not to disturb the surface of the water as he leaned over the pool with the other gargoyle. Before they could decide whom in particular to look for though they were taken by a vision of Granny Babalawo and she was not happy about something. Unlike the Macabre clan, the Beagle's seldom wanted or needed Kindred to balance them; so Granny didn't have a familiar per se.
But from what they were seeing she was regretting the lack of allies and extra resources just now since her workbench was littered with the remains of her charms and talismans and from the scorched bits and pieces in the vision, she was suffering some sort of magical setback in her work. The Beagle clan was nowhere near as accessible as the other clans since almost all of them were not only Normal-born they also lived beyond the boundaries. That meant that this was a good chance to find something out that none of the others would even suspect was a possibility, so they settled in to watch her for a bit.
As they watched, she swept the ruined bits and pieces off the workbench and scowled in an irritated way at something to her right. There in the water's reflection was a strange creature made of water, and he looked vaguely dog-shaped until he sloshed into a puddle and then stretched to become a swirling tower of water. At this, Granny looked very angry and gestured with a shake of her bangle covered wrist and the water creature found itself looking out from a large sealed Quackerware container as she set him on her counter and frowned at yet another interruption.
The two guardians were soon caught up in the spectacle of a pair of battered ducks who staggered into Granny's parlor room. The male duck was clearly in no mood to play nice as he carried his female companion in and placed her tenderly on the sofa before turning to glare at the various beagles that had followed him into the room. He actually started to brandish a somewhat ill-used bush knife at them but it was Granny Babalawo's imperious gesture that made the unsavory crew back down and leave the ducks alone with her.
As the drama continued, showing the mallard styled duck clearly trying to convince Granny Beagle to do or make something the gargoyle's realized that they had been gone from their posts for far longer than they should have been. Even though the Haven would transport them back almost instantaneously they were going to have to wait to see what happened some other time. They were still loyal guardians after all and according to Tashtego the senior mages were waking up. It was definitely time to go, as much as they hated to. Since Lady Lucidia and Mintaka were going to portal everyone to Duckburg for the trial, returning to Macabre manor too close in time to the portal spells could cause a disruption in the energy and get them caught. And since neither one of them wanted that, both guardians headed back with commendable speed not seeing Mintaka show up in the pool's vision….
Shortly there after, the house was again deserted as everyone had gone to Duckburg for the duration of the trial there. And even though no one had said anything about their leaving their posts temporarily, Fedallah and Indigo had been more than a little anxious to tell their tale and had been relived when the house was finally empty of mages. The Mistress had been very stern and had left strict instructions that none of the guardians or allied creatures was to leave the house unless summoned by either herself or Lady Lucidia or Lord Spellbinder and all of them had known that she meant it but that was alright since going into the Macabre haven wasn't really the same as leaving the house and all the guardians were eager to see and hear more.
Mintaka Spellbinder Macabre was a powerful Mage-born in his own right and married to Lucidia Macabre a Seer and co-member of the council so he really was used to having something interrupt his usual routine fairly often but he had to admit that this was something he hadn't ever considered…not really. They had all come to Duckburg to support Morgana and Drake as they tried to help young Honker Muddlefoot and the rest of his family. At first they had tried to stay in a hotel, but the relentless press exposure was taking a toll on all of them and now this!
Standing quietly at the boundary of Granny Babalawo Beagle's territory with commendable patience he waited while yet another beagle tried to intimidate him. Grimm simply yawned showing his gleaming ivory fangs and casually kept shredding the log beside the trail with his six inch claws fully extended and the beagle gulped and ran off towards the house yelling for someone named Ma. Ignoring this, Granny herself approached and offered a formal curtsey which he answered with a courtly bow of his own as Grimm padded forward to offer his throat to her.
Surprised at this intimate gesture Granny gave Grimm and his master another quiet look before saying, "By the Creator's grace I ask you to accept my hospitality and offer you the key to my wards."
Mintaka was a little put off by the different phrasing she used in her formal offer; but he didn't let that show as he stepped forward to offer a sphere of his power to the old Beagle female. She accepted the clear bluish sphere and quietly offered her own in return and after the exchange they moved toward the house. Granny sighed; the flavor of Mintaka's offering was like nothing she had experienced before and his buoyant energy was surging through her like a fine wine. Mintaka and Grimm were also pleasantly surprised by how vibrant Granny Beagle's power felt and despite her family's well known criminal ways her power held none of the taint of dark path magic that they had feared.
Stepping past the fear laden younger Beagles into the front parlor room he breathed in the scent of strength and determination that was coming from the couch and was unsurprised to see Drake's brother Dirk Mallard trying to sit up and face them. And despite the fact that he was supporting an injured female duck whose arms were wrapped around him, he was making progress towards his goal. And as a sharp stab of pain hit them Grimm and Mintaka knew that like his brother, the duck on the sofa wasn't going to let something like his own bodies hurts stop him; much less anyone or anything else since his companion was also badly hurt.
Mintaka couldn't really regret having taken an interest in, and a small amount of responsibility for; Drake and now Dirk, but clearly those two were far too much alike and both of them lacked sense when their loved ones were hurt. Grimm made no comments but went to place a huge paw on the leather clad duck's chest and flexed his paw pad to show his claws slightly and Dirk went absolutely still.
His harsh breathing and the fresh blood that liberally splattered both ducks plumes were fairly obvious indicators that their injuries were quite recent and from the pain now throbbing through the Chain, they had been badly hurt but Granny seemed quite calm as she moved unhurriedly to her chair and settled herself there.
Mintaka had already felt their injuries through the piece of Spell Chain he wore and Lucidia's shared visions had shown him the impressive crater that had been created when Dirk had fought to free himself and his clan members from captivity as well as parts of the fight. Her ability's as a seer had also flashed them both scenes of those jumpsuit clad Normals escaping some sort of encampment to the North while Dirk and his group had headed south so the senior mage wasn't as apprehensive as he otherwise might have been while confronting the mallard.
But Dirk was crippled in different ways from his brother and neither Mintaka nor Grimm wanted to misunderstand what was going on so after nodding to Granny he settled on the coffee table and waited for Dirk to speak. As he waited though, Mintaka was surprised to realize that he felt another one of Dirk's clan here somewhere.
Grimm breathed in the scent of the ducks on the sofa and snorted loudly to clear his nose saying to his chosen, 'the healing spells in the chain have stabilized them but…they need care chosen. Even if they will not willingly accept it from us, Drake is already feeling the strain from this whole trial business. He thinks his anxiety and sleeplessness is a reaction to the trial and everything that is happening to the Muddlefoot's but his nightmares last night are from what happened to Dirk and with his twin injured…I am not entirely sure how well Drake will react if Dirk remains hurt and without his Clan. If Morgana hadn't been right there on the couch with him and he hadn't seen with his own eyes that she, Lucidia, Gosalyn and the other females were alright as he awakened from the nightmare….'
Still careful not to react outwardly Mintaka agreed, 'true enough Grimm. This twin is far more volatile though and his control is still uncertain so we had best go about this in as forthright a way as we can.'
Grimm replied, 'He is used to being cheated and for others to try and use him for their own purposes. He has no idea that the Chain connects its wearers after all and he has very little reason to trust us.'
Ignoring Grimm which all by itself was a pretty impressive feat, Negaduck tried to say something to the mage and reached with one hand to try and push Grimm's paw off his chest. But the healing spell in his Chain activated on a deeper level as Mintaka touched him and he fell unconscious before he could ask about Muscovy or do more than try to speak at all.
Looking past Dirk, Mintaka pursed his lips and carefully examined his companion since she had been unconscious before being so carefully placed on the overstuffed sofa. Mintaka and Grimm could feel the Spell Chain through their own piece of the original metalwork and they knew that the doubled twist of chain around the female's slender neck had split off from Dirk's piece.
And it hardly took more than average eyesight and a decent sense of smell to tell that both of the Normal-born ducks were badly hurt. And it didn't take a strong Mage-born to know that if it hadn't been for the healing and protective spells that were inherent in the metal they were both bound to now; they would most likely would already be dead.
Bracing himself Mintaka had Grimm stay touching Dirk and the other youngster to keep them quiet while he turned to speak to Granny Babalawo Beagle saying courteously, "I regret that we have only just met. You are gracious indeed to offer them sanctuary until I could come for them."
At this Granny let loose with a soft chuckle quite at odds with the much more traditional and eerie witches cackle that was the more dramatic mage-born and monster-kind usually used within the Realm. She gazed quietly out the front window at the huge heirloom rose bush that sprawled out into the yard for a moment before turning her attention to the sofa and then to her unconscious guests.
Sounding darker than her laughter, Granny Babalawo admitted a bit grudgingly, "Its gentile of you to say so…."
Her eyes narrowed behind her mask as she continued in an even softer tone, "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell HIM this but; its not as if I could have turned him or his mate away."
She got up as Ma Beagle tapped on the doorframe and calmly requested tea from that worthy before turning to her work bench and gesturing gracefully to the carved bits of wood, stone, crystal and bone organized there. Once Ma Beagle had brought the tea and left with more haste than dignity to fix food for their guest; Mintaka politely waited for Granny's permissive nod before looking at the workbench with his Mage sight.
Grimm purred and settled Dirk back against the couch cushions before sniffing at the masked female and said to his mage, 'we have time chosen, but they need at least a dose of Lucidia's restorative and we should show them the bindings so they are aware of what they can expect from us.'
Grimm settled himself beside the sofa and focused himself to portal in what he wanted; and Mintaka could almost swear a note of…remorse entered his companion's mental tone as he finished saying gently, 'Besides, Drake trusted us…but for this one it is more like a conquest than a seduction. And no one has been gentle about anything for him since he was taken from Drake's arms when they were younger than Gosalyn is now.'
Mintaka swallowed a lump in his throat at this confirmation that Drake and Dirk had suffered for so long apart from each other, and without Kin or Clan to support them until now of course; and turned his attention resolutely to the work bench and realized that these items were most likely how Granny Babalawo focused and channeled her magical energy. Instead of using complex calculations, chants or potions she was far more like him. She crafted these tokens and charms and imbued them with the power that activated their purposes.
He also noticed that there was a very large bowl with a sealed lid beside the workbench that sloshed slightly and most contained the water creature called Bud or Liquidator! He DID wonder if maybe that had been what Dirk had been trying to ask about before becoming unconscious but that could wait for a bit. Putting his feelings about Drake and Dirk aside and deciding to bring up the water dog after establishing himself with Granny since Bud was apparently unharmed, just encased for now.
Mintaka was careful not to disturb the energies in the tiny shapes as he said, "I think we have a great deal in common…and in exchange for your continued hospitality and kindness towards the younglings…I thought you might like to exchange some of the history behind their current troubles and possibly some of my work?"
Anticipating his mage's needs, Grimm carefully teleported in one of their empty, imbued potion bottles that would hold any number of potions and doses without mixing them up or spilling them although this design did have one flaw. You had to use up all of a certain potion before you could access the next one you had placed in the bottle; and they came out in reverse order from how you put the potions into the container.
Still, perfecting the spells involved in and the design of these glass and metal bottles had been one of their very first successful innovations and they still kept their hand in with making and enchanting them. Mintaka and Grimm hoped that by making this gift to Granny they could open the way for her to become an ally or at least a favored acquaintance…. She and her kinfolks had been living and thriving among Normals for generations and if the council's population expansion was going to succeed then others were going to have to learn to do the same.
Granny wasn't stupid or inexperienced, she knew the rarity and worth of what was clearly a master craft-mage's gift and his request for more details was hardly enough to warrant more than tea and sandwiches in return so for him to openly offer her a personally enchanted object meant he something far more formal and she found that her usual calm detachment deserted her for a moment at the thought of connecting more to the magical community.
She didn't regret her Clan's decision to remain outside the boundaries of the magical realm, but from her taste of his power she knew that this Mintaka was well balanced, and had no reason to covet her knowledge other than for his own edification and the thought of being able to be with and perhaps even learn from others who were able to access magical energy was very tempting.
This being the case she poured Mintaka a cup of tea and offered, "Well that Negaduck fellow as he fancies himself accepted a small string of my charms a few weeks back when he and my kinfolks were trying to sort out the situation with that Dark Adept you all had a hand in putting down. And somehow or other he seems to have paid me back all too well for my busy bodying since they have melded with that chain he is bonded to. And since I don't dabble in the dark path and have no desire to accumulate bad karma that I will have to face when the creator calls me to judgment; and since my power still resonates in the protections I built into those charms, leaving him to die wasn't an option."
Mintaka nodded and made sure that Granny saw the twist of chain wound around his wrist and added gently, "And of course, with someone like him, his oaths include his loved ones…which only serves to make your dilemma and mine a bit more poignant don't you think?"
She couldn't find it truthful to disagree, so instead she offered, "true enough and it seems as though the Dark bird's handiwork is still with us in more ways than that."
She had noticed that Mintaka had seen the water dog and since he was a craft-mage too, Granny actually hoped to coax the other mage into helping her with the knotty problem that Bud represented. she sighed to herself and admitted reluctantly that it was likely that the more ordinary duck that had been possessed Quackerjack, was likely not done with her yet either. She had hoped that by helping the other three of their clan she had made up for not attempting to free or heal those two; but she was old enough and wise enough to admit that she should have known better.
Mintaka reached along his ties to Lucidia as he calmly accepted and drank a cup of tea. She would be able to sense if anything went amiss with their connections open, and she needed to know about Dirk so she could keep Drake focused.
As they were conversing neither of them noticed a tiny starling as it watched them from the roses outside, but Grimm was very aware that the song bird was far from an ordinary creature. Back inside the parlor Mintaka had used his round, polished metal disk to contact Lucidia so that Granny could hear and see the conversation and quietly asked for her restorative and some of his tools from his travel bag in Duckburg.
Lucidia understood what he was doing and not only sent him what he asked for she sent him what he needed. He felt her energy and support and stood a little straighter as he crossed to the workbench with his bag and after asking for permission, he began to set up a tiny workspace. Grimm allowed Dirk to move toward consciousness and carefully blocked his reaction of panic to keep him calm, while Mintaka administered the restorative to both the ducks on the sofa.
Granny watched with interest as Mintaka focused his power on Dirk and while the other Avian was distracted by his body's healing he coaxed a little more from the duck. Setting the metal disk beside the coffee table he watched with Granny as Dirk's memories flowed into images that told what had happened, or at least some of it….
As they watched, they saw the leather clad pair of ducks and a pair of slender rats escaping from a large mound of dirt and debris and leaving the area on an ATV and a black, red and yellow motorcycle. They were clearly badly hurt but both Granny Babalawo and Mintaka started intently at the young female rat as she turned and used some sort of energy link to cause the entire disrupted hillside and rocky earth to shift and surge like water before settling back.
It looked like a pot of soup that had been vigorously boiled and stirred and frozen without being allowed to settle back into the pot. Uprooted trees and bushes lay tossed every which way. Their roots were exposed and leaves were torn off, most of the area of the little cup of a space that had held the crater was now a dusty mess that was slowly becoming damp as two different streams whose beds had been destroyed soaked the ground. Concerned, they hoped to see more of her using her powers; but Negaduck's memories were now mainly concerned with surviving and saving his mate so the vision turned to follow them as they drove directly to what should have been a hidden trail that had brought them close to the beagle's homestead and the rats curled up obediently as Negaduck carried the female the rest of the way to Granny and forced his way in.
Elmo was tired, dirty and happier than he could remember being in his life as he waited in the woods for Negaduck to come back. He felt quite clearheaded, and knew that Negaduck wouldn't tolerate any disobedience but even though he felt concern over Negaduck he couldn't help but feel happy as he gazed at the girl rat beside him. Of course, he usually didn't remember things like dates or particular events very well; but this was different.
He was nestled in a hollow of roots under a large willow not too near a creek with the young rat-like female he had been trying to rescue from F.O.W.L.. And despite their grimy appearances and the evidence of rough treatment that the girl sported like her swollen and blackened eye his broken arm was most likely their worst injury. Negaduck and the female duck he had brought with him had been far more injured than they by the time they had all escaped from the base they had destroyed.
But Negaduck had ordered Megavolt to stay hidden with the girl rat while he went to bargain for help and aside from the fact that both Elmo and Megavolt were used to obeying the short mallard; he had been very dizzy from using his powers to destroy the base and bury that hideous bear so that Negaduck could carry the female duck away from the base.
So he hadn't protested at being ordered to stay with his prize, she on the other hand had been getting stronger and stronger as they had run through the wooded hills and once she had gotten a short distance away from the former F.O.W.L. base, she had even helped Megavolt along and half carried him while keeping up with the surprising pace Negaduck had set. Megavolt vaguely remembered that she had held him in front of her on an A.T.V. they had stolen from the base while Negaduck had ridden his motorcycle while keeping that …Mossy or whoever tied to him with their jackets. And he clearly remembered keeping a tight hold on the girl he was cuddling with, but…
Not realizing he was wearing a silly grin, the thin rat-like male took a deep breath and snuggled a little closer to the enchanting object of his affections. Gina, that was her name…he was sure of it, but just in case he asked hesitantly, "Gina?"
And to his delight she responded by turning over to face him in the sheltered hollow of tree roots they were cuddled together in and muttered sleepily, "Go back to sleep Elmo, the earth here is rich and fertile and I need to feel the ground for a while longer."
She kissed his nose and opened an eye to continue, sounding a little more alert, "Don't worry, if that duck boss of yours doesn't come back, we'll find him and then I'll go with you to see your lighthouse."
Her kiss sent delicious shivers through him and to his surprise the constant buzzing and tingling that had been building in him and that usually heralded his short circuiting himself either from a buildup of excess charge, or from getting wet faded. Before he could do more than realize what had happened though he fell asleep with her cradled in his arms to wait for Negaduck to return.
Gina Gaia was not a fool, she had seen just how badly hurt the Avian's were and honestly doubted they would return, but she wasn't going to argue with Megy over it now. If they did return then well and good, evidently the male was very important to Elmo and she would respect that, for now. But…she wasn't going to take any chances on being captured by F.O.W.L. or anyone else ever again.
Being cut off from the earth had been horrible! And burying that place by undermining the layers of rock and then getting them this far had taken most of what strength she had left. The earth here was rich and generous and a few hours rest would do them both good, there would be time enough to satisfy Elmo's sense of loyalty by searching for those duck's bodies later. Pulling the hateful F.O.W.L. issued jumpsuit a little looser so she could feel Elmo's energy and body heat better, Gina relaxed and snuggled next to her rescuer to await developments.
Liquidator meanwhile had been getting an eyeful as he watched the two mages converse. He could hear them through the Quackerware bowl but he had to concentrate to do so and after they became engrossed in watching something in the tall duck-like fellow's polished metal disk he found that the effort involved in eavesdropping wasn't worth the reward since they didn't talk as they watched but he did observe Negaduck and the female in a matching mask and biker leathers as they were rapidly improving.
He was actually glad of that, Negaduck was harsh and demanding, but being the only water dog around meant that Bud and Liquidator both valued the other members of the Five since they were his family and seeing his boss so badly torn up had nearly made him nauseas. This had thrown both Liquidator and Bud for quite a loop but now he was feeling much better. He was still upset that that female had trapped him in Quackerware; clearly she had borrowed a page from Darkwing's book, which was a minor inconvenience…but Liquidator is no ordinary salesman and he knows how to be persistent and for now he and Bud have decided that it's best to bide his time and try a new sales pitch later.
In the next bit I am hoping to explain about liquidator some and I am going to post King's & Pawns chapter one which also ties into this story and Trials & Tribulations. Please read and review and as always I am open to plot suggestions, requests, and LIVE for feedback so feed me! Thanks, your friend Irual