Magic
Harry saw a few Hidden in the fields as he and Flare arrived at the village but they vanished as soon as they saw the large snake with him. Harry didn't see anyone else along the way or when they entered the clearing by the nests. It was like being in a ghost town. Harry heard a little bit of movement in the trees and realized they must all be watching him.
He turned to Flare,
§I will grab your neck.§
§It will not hurt.§
§You will stay still.§
Flare looked as apprehensive as a ten-foot snake could look but still responded,
§Yes, commander.§
Harry placed the plastic pipe he was holding on the ground and reached over to put his right hand around Flare, a few inches below his mouth, and lifted him lightly. Then, using his left hand signed to the open air.
[I Bring, Snake, I Hold Tight]
There was movement above him in the trees. Chief became visible and climbed down, walking in a large circle around them before approaching Harry from the front.
Harry spoke to Flare
§Do not strike.§
§Stay perfectly still.§
Flare acknowledged him
§Yes, Commander.§
Harry released Flare, causing Chief to jump back a bit.
Harry reached down and picked up the pipe and spoke to Flare again,
§I will strike your head.§
§You will not move.§
Flare sounded a bit angry but acknowledged,
§Yes, Commander.§
Harry reached out with the pipe and lightly struck Flare on the head. The snake ducked a little at the impact but did not move otherwise. Chief took a step towards Harry and stood by his side.
Harry handed the pipe to Chief and spoke to Flare,
§This Hidden will now do the same.§
§It may be harder than I did.§
§Do not attack, do not retaliate.§
Flare turned to look at Chief and spoke,
§Yes, Commander.§
Harry mimed striking the snake to Chief who held the pipe out and struck the snake. Chief in his apprehension ended up striking Flare even lighter than Harry did. Harry took the pipe back and signed.
[Snake, Home, Mangos, Berries]
[Snake, Eat, Small Animals]
[I Hold, Tight]
Chief nodded and put both hands on Harry's shoulders as he did before. His eyes lit up in bright blue for about ten seconds this time before they dimmed. His head tilted to the side with some kind of confusion. Then he just nodded and chirped to the air, some of the other Hidden climbed down but stayed at a distance.
Harry and Flare left for the fields where Harry explained his orders,
§Here is our food, growing on the plants.§
§Small animals also eat our food and dig up their roots.§
§Eat as many of them as you like.§
§That will be both your requirement and reward for having a nest here.§
§Come here to hunt when Hidden are away.§
§Understand?§
Flare responded,
§Yes, Commander.§
§I can taste a burrow near here, may I eat?§
Harry was surprised there would be something so close, but now was as good a time as any to start.
He told the snake,
§Show me.§
Inside a log, less than fifty feet from where they stood, next to the mango field was a den of rodents. Flare managed to envenom an adult and a few infants before the rest escaped. Flare ate those that were already dying and as the bulges of the animals moved down his length, he made a sound with parseltongue that sounded satisfied. It sounded like a burp.
Harry asked,
§What do you require for a nest?§
Flare spoke, though it was a bit muffled with the digesting of the rodents,
§The home of these snacks will do just fine.§
§Maybe just more leaves.§
Harry acknowledged the request,
§Keep our fields clear of these snacks and you will have what you require.§
§Stay away from the Hidden, stay away from the female who smells like I do.§
§There is another who will smell like the kingsbane who you are also not allowed to touch.§
Flare looked around nervously at the mention of the great snake.
§He will smell like many animals, but he spends many days with the kingsbane and will carry his scent too.§
§He may speak to you as I do.§
§I will try to visit with your as often as I can.§
§Eat well.§
Harry walked away just as he heard from behind him,
§Yes, Commander.§
Harry was relieved that his plan had worked, he would need to monitor Flare closely and make sure the large, but lesser snake continued to follow his commands. He hoped he wouldn't have to strike the snakes again, but steeled his mind to the possibility. Lyra and the Hidden came first, this serpent was not his family, not his friend. He felt his hand tighten around the pipe in his grip.
On the way back to the Village, he ran into Charlie and the beach crew arriving. He took Charlie aside and showed him the Snake's nest. Charlie was very apprehensive about the snake in the log but liked that the fields would be protected.
The next day, he went to visit Flare to find Teacher placing stones in a large perimeter around Flare's nest. Teacher just pointed to Harry's scar in a jabbing motion to remind him of the Creeping Death. Harry worked with Teacher most of the day to gather and make the large ring of stones around the log where Flare was nested.
Time seemed to speed up from there. Food was plentiful and, even more importantly, it was readily accessible. Harry and Lyra noticed more of the Hidden either lounging around or experimenting with various things. One of the Hidden had set up banana leaves in such a way that they allowed rain to be funneled into some of the larger water bins they had brought back, the ones that were too heavy to lug up to the lake to fill. Some others had dug out another field to plant more mango trees. One of the beach crew took some of the plastic debris he had hauled back to the village to make a roof for his nest. They needed to go back again soon to retrieve more supplies.
The next trips to the beach involved almost the entire tribe. They brought back various panels of wood and plastic, other objects to experiment with, and more rubber ducks. Flare's nest ended up surrounded by tall pipes, spaced apart from each other and adorned with various colored objects on top. Many of the nests in the trees now had plastic and wood roofs with floors made out of World Cup shirts and other clothing. One of the smaller trees just had the entire canopy made up of plastic sheeting pieced together in different ways to keep out the rain. Most of the innovations were coming directly from the other Hidden, and not from Harry or Lyra.
A few months later, the island had its first large rainstorm of the year. Harry and Lyra were still considered the youngest capable of catching the flying animal to soften the rains. It took them only three tries to catch it this time. The previous year, the Hidden had stayed huddled together for warmth as their nests still leaked little bits of water. This year, due to the roofs built from various garbage and sealed with torn plastic bags, all the nests were dry. There was ample food stored inside the nests so no one had to venture out into the downpour. Whispers and a few of the other young Hidden did run outside from time to time to play in the rain before coming inside to dry off. The change from the previous year was like night and day.
After a few days, the rain let up and the ground dried slightly. It was then that they had another visit from The Giver.
He came into the village and greeted everyone. Chief made sure he was given any of their new material that he needed. He ended up asking for a few plastic pipes, a large water jug, and a hard plastic sheet almost as tall as he was.
Harry brought The Giver to meet Flare who trembled in fear and reverence when tasting the air around him as he spent so much time with the Usurper. The Giver spoke with Flare just enough to remind him that he was doing good work for Harry and that there was no need to fear a visit from the kingsbane, at the moment.
This time, Whispers joined Harry and Lyra in their visit to The Giver's cave. Whispers was anxious, as it was his first trip, and stayed close to Lyra the whole time. They had become very close and swore that Whispers was starting to learn to read Lyra's lips even if he couldn't speak real words in return. When they arrived, Whispers's eyes glowed blue but he didn't vanish when the Usurper came to greet them, only stared wide-eyed at the enormous serpent.
The Giver entered his cave and came out with a large pot filled with liquid. He had a frame set up in the middle of the clearing that he hung the pot on and put a burning feather beneath it before he started to speak.
§I have begun to understand more of the knowledge that I took.§
§The two things I have been focusing on have been combining essences outside of myself and building a new staff.§
Whispers had crawled down off Lyra's shoulders and approached the pot as it started to bubble. He took a sniff, then gagged and ran back to Lyra to settle in her lap, making small choking noises for the next few minutes.
The Giver continued to speak in the meantime.
§My staff suits me just fine, but I would like to try to build one just to see that I can, for that I need ingredients§
§The pot in front of you, I am making protection for the wood, it will help keep your staff from being damaged.
§It is similar to the protection on mine, as mine has been used for generations without damage or decay§
§There are things on this earth that are special, that have something extra in them.§
§The Hidden are one of them, so is the Usurper, so are the two of you, and myself.§
§For every single that is special there are a thousand things that aren't.§
§The special things are both plants and animals.§
§To build a staff, I need to combine both of them.§
§I need plants that connect with the earth and I need special animals that subsist from the earth.§
§By combining them, it is possible to create a way to channel our own power and effect change.§
Harry held up his hand for The Giver to stop and started to translate to Lyra.
When he mentioned special and non-special things, her eyes widened and she interrupted, "He's talking about magic."
Harry had a flashback to reading Redwall and The Hobbit, and then those memories were washed away and replaced with his Uncle Vernon poking him in the chest and yelling "There's no such thing as magic!"
But that didn't make any sense to him now. He could turn invisible, like Bilbo and the ring. Strange things happened around him all the time. He had completely accepted that he lived on an island with invisible white monkeys that learned sign language, a talking snake, a strange man that absorbed abilities and memories, and an evil man that lived in his scar like it was somehow NOT magic. So many memories rushed before his eyes that he couldn't focus on them, but there had been so much magic in his life already.
All the things that happened to him growing up were definitely magic. That also meant that his aunt and uncle almost certainly knew exactly what it was. He couldn't figure out why they would lie to him, but they hated him, so that was probably reason enough.
Lyra saw his brain working and nudged him, "What's going on?"
"I just realized I've been doing magic for a while, and my family lied to me the whole time. I'll tell you about it later. The rest of what he is saying is that to build a staff he needs to take a plant that connects to the earth and combine it with a magic animal, then use what he is cooking in the pot to make it last longer. Then the staff will help us use our own magic in a more focused way instead of having to be frightened out of us as we did with vanishing."
Lyra nodded.
The Giver had been waiting for the two of them patiently. Harry rejoined the conversation.
§Lyra says that what you are talking about is magic.§
§That the special plants and animals are magical.§
The Giver sat for a minute with his eyes closed. Then opened them.
§I focused on the memories that I have taken, Lyra is correct, it is magic.§
§I don't know yet how it works or where it comes from, just that it does.§
§For now, we should focus on collecting magical samples.§
§Tomorrow, we will travel to the Hoohoo nest where I get the red feathers I use for fire.§
§I have also started to collect the shed of the Usurper.§
§I will give you what I have, try to feel for the magic in it.§
§By being able to feel the magic in them, you may notice it in other things too.§
He presented them with a few red feathers and some snakeskin. He could feel the power in the shed. Not as much as being in the presence of the snake, but it was there, just dulled a bit. Meanwhile, Lyra seemed to be having a similar reaction to the feather though she was staring at it with wide eyes, as it emitted tiny sparks of orange and brown.
She closed her eyes and scrunched them as tight as she could and the sparks became even more intense until the feather itself burst into flame in her hand. Small colored sparks still zipped off the end of the fiery orange flame. Lyra opened her eyes and stared at the burning feather with a sense of awe at what she had just done. As she relaxed, the fire dimmed and the feather was left with just a small singe at the tip.
The Giver was giving all of his attention to Lyra and her display, his mouth was open and breathing heavily. He spoke with eagerness in his voice,
§Yes, yes, yes!§
§I thought one of you might have a reaction like that.§
§Her staff will have feathers of the Hoohoo in it.§
§I wonder how the birds themselves will react to her.§
§We will leave first thing tomorrow.§
§We need to hike up to the top of the mountain to reach the nest.§
They spent the next couple of hours setting up the plastic panel they had brought as a small overhang at the entrance to The Giver's cave. He told them that he would enjoy sitting outside the cave in the rain while not getting wet.
When Whispers, Harry, and Lyra were sitting around the fire before going to sleep, Harry decided to tell her about his past. She had told him about her father, mother, and brother after all. He should share his past life with her so they could understand each other better.
"I want to thank you," he stated, "when you spoke of magic, as a real thing, it cleared my head and opened my eyes like turning memories into color."
"What do you mean?" she asked. "Your parents didn't tell you about it?"
"My parents are dead," he responded. Thinking about it made him sad, but he didn't even know their names or what they looked like, so he couldn't shape his grief as if he had known them. It was simply sad to think of. "They died before I can remember," he added.
Lyra moved closer to hug him, with their little brother joining in, and he felt a bit better. Harry hoped that he had helped her feel the same way when she cried while talking about her family.
"I was raised by my aunt and uncle. I can't seem to find any happy memories of them. Some memories of helping my aunt with something start happy but all of them turn sour. I remember strange things happening around me. My teacher's hair turned blue, my cousin's bike fell apart, lights would flicker, and I knocked out all the power on my block at the end." He thought for a moment, "What happened on the ship, I think that was me too.
"My aunt and uncle just called me a freak and punished me when these things happened. I remember my uncle even yelled at me once that there was no such thing as magic. But they said that I was just like my parents and that they were freaks too," he trailed off. "So they knew," he raised his voice a bit with anger in his eyes, "THEY KNEW! They knew it was magic, they knew what was going on, but they just called me a freak and locked me in my room. They let my cousin hurt me and blame everything on me."
Harry was seething with anger. He thought if he had fangs like a snake, they would be dripping with venom right now. Lyra was holding him tight with all her strength and crying just a little bit. She sobbed a bit as she spoke.
"WHY? Why would they do that? Whenever my brother did magic, he was given presents and candy. That's why I was sent away. I never did magic, not when I was being hurt, not when I was locked in my room, and that's why they called me a squib. That's why I was so happy when I disappeared and the Hidden came to me and comforted me. That's why I was so shocked today when the feather lit up. I have magic and I can use it. My family was wrong about me."
Harry was shocked. Some people wanted their children to do magic? They wanted their children to be freaks? No, that wasn't it, they were the exact opposite, they thought those without magic were freaks. No one should feel bad for having magic or for not having it either.
"My relatives didn't love me for having magic, and your family didn't love you for not having magic. Both of them were bad, families should love their children in any case. That's why we are family because we know what it's like to have relatives that don't care. So I care for you the way your family should have and you care for me the way mine should have. We are our own family." At this point, they were both crying a little as they curled up into each other and fell asleep.
In the morning they began the hike up to the top of the mountain. The distance to the top wasn't very far, it was just very steep. The Giver had made the climb many times before, so he knew the least dangerous route, but it still took them until after midday to reach the peak. There were many places where Harry or Lyra nearly fell or slid down the slope just a little bit and had to find their way back up. Whispers and The Giver had no such problems and waited patiently for them when they fell behind.
When they reached the peak they found a small valley residing there. They didn't know that they were in an extinct volcano and just saw it as a valley on the top of the mountain. Looking down into the valley, about thirty feet in front of them was a small red bird with a few red and yellow feathers on its head, and long red and yellow feathers on its tail. It could probably fit in Harry's hand. It hopped here and there, digging in the ground with its sharp beak. At one point it hopped to the side and looked in another direction and then vanished in a puff of smoke startling everyone except The Giver.
Harry asked,
§What was that?§
The Giver responded,
§That was a hoohoo chick, a child.§
§Look further around, you will see many.§
Harry translated to Lyra and they both started scanning the whole valley. Occasionally they'd see one of the little red chicks moving around and sometimes they'd see a puff of smoke and it was gone.
The Giver explained this peculiar phenomenon.
§The hoohoo is a bird of fire, but from the use of their feathers, you may have guessed that.§
§I have used their feathers to provide warmth, light, and to purify.§
§A single feather will provide warmth to any that are in their light.§
§The birds themselves can move instantly with a flash smoke, and a blaze of fire for the adults.§
Lyra asked a question that Harry translated.
§Where are the adults?§
The Giver pointed across the valley to the side where there was a small overhang with a cave made of rock.
§That, over there, is the nest. There will be at least two adults inside taking care of the hatchlings and occasionally leaving to find food.§
§For now, we will just gather feathers, try not to disturb any of them, and back off if you are approached.§
They set out and began to search for feathers. They found many red feathers scattered around the valley of different sizes and some with yellow markings. The little Hidden was very helpful in gathering the feathers, sometimes digging them up or pulling them out of tufts of grass. Occasionally, a chick would investigate them but flash away when they got close. It was nearly impossible to count the number of chicks that were out as they never knew which they had already tallied. At one point Harry thought he had gotten up to twenty-four, but then he turned around and saw a few that were in a place that had been empty a minute ago and gave up.
Harry watched Lyra on the other side of the valley. Every so often, she would pick up a feather and concentrate on it and wave it around, giving off sparks and light. Whenever that would happen, she would dance around and let sparks fly as she spun like a dancer. Harry approached her as she calmed down one particular time and took a mango from his bag and gave it to her and told her.
"That was some beautiful magic. I wanted to give you something sweet. I don't have candy, but I have a mango."
Lyra's eyes glistened as she jumped into his arms to hug him. Whispers saw them eating the mango and scampered over to join them, and when they were done they tossed the seed in the direction of some of the chicks who vanished immediately but returned after a minute to peck at it.
From the top of the island, they were able to watch the sun sink into the water on the horizon for the first time since arriving. They had seen it rise from the water, but this is the first time they could see the water to the west. From the top of the island, they could also see a smaller mountain on the island to the northwest with almost no vegetation on it down to the waterline and another island near the horizon where the sun was setting - it seemed small from where they were.
After the sunset, Harry and Lyra laid on the ground and watched the stars. They could see the constellation of Draco, and Lyra's stars were still too close to the horizon to see clearly. Lyra didn't remember any other constellations other than Polaris, the North Star. Right as they were about to sleep, they heard a chirping and clicking noise. On the ridge, to the north side, they saw The Giver waving at them to come to him.
As they got closer, they realized this was also the first time they had seen him at night. The black hair on his body seemed to be shifting with an unseen wind like he was wearing a cloak of shadows. His hair seemed to make him blend in with the darkness and Harry thought that if he curled up to hide his exposed skin he would just fade away. He called them over to the edge to look down at the northern side of the island.
They peered over the edge and saw a large spot of white light moving around the valley towards the shore. It was partially obstructed by the trees, but the glow connected with something deep inside Harry. His chest felt like a cold air had seeped inside and his whole body shivered full of energy. He took a deep breath in and remembered when he had bought some wintergreen flavored gum at the market and the feeling he got when he took a deep breath in while chewing it. It was like that, but much much more. He lay there, transfixed with the glow for a while.
Lyra brought his mind back as she whispered "What is that?"
Assuming correctly her question, The Giver answered.
He grunted two syllables, like when he tried to speak the name of his people in the snake language.
§It is a § *grunt grunt*, he repeated.
§It is a guardian of the sorts.§
§It protects what lies in its domain.§
He put his staff in front of them and pointed to the horn
§My father's staff contains a horn of the creature.§
§My mother always told me that when my people die, they become these guardians.§
§But I do not believe it, my parents did not become protectors when they died.§
They were all silent for a while before Harry asked,
§How did your father get the horn?§
§I can feel a connection to it, even here, the light fills me with energy.§
The Giver responded
§The parts of the staff need to be taken by force or given freely.§
§I can't imagine a tree giving its wood away, so until we can talk to a tree, we must take it.§
§I do not believe the horn of the§ *grunt grunt* §could be taken by force without injury, so you must ask for it.§
§I am hoping tomorrow to see if Lyra can ask a hoohoo for feathers for her staff.§
§Then we can try to visit the§ *grunt grunt* §to see if it will part with an antler.§
§Now, I need to sleep.§
And with that, he did in fact tuck himself into his fur and vanish into the darkness, leaving only dancing shadows in the spot where he lay.
Harry translated to Lyra about the light being a protector and that they would need to ask the creatures for parts to make their staves.
Lyra agreed with The Giver, "I don't think you'll be able to take anything from a creature that is a protector or a guardian. You protect me, so I know."
Harry hugged her as they sat, looking at the stars. "You are going to need to ask one of the birds tomorrow for a feather, and not one of the little ones we saw today."
Lyra hummed to herself. She wasn't sure what she would do yet, so she just leaned into Harry and they fell asleep.
The morning came and they ate breakfast. Lyra was sure to throw some berries and seeds to the hoohoo chicks that were nearby. The chicks seemed less apprehensive about their group today but still kept their distance. The nest where the adults were was an outcropping of rocks that had plants growing over the edge and a small opening on one side. Only Lyra was small enough to fit into the opening.
At the entrance, they peered in and saw tiny sparks of flame towards the back but couldn't make out more than that. Lyra looked towards Harry and The Giver who both gave her a shrug. Lyra kept down on her knees and continued to look in but the sparks were all she was seeing. She inched a little closer and saw a spiral of fire race towards her. She jumped out of the way as the flame roared out of the small cave. Harry and The Giver were already out of the way but jumped further away from the entrance all the same.
The spiral ended about five feet from the cave entrance and dissipated.
"What was that?" Lyra exclaimed, knowing full well what it was.
Lyra tried another tactic next. She tossed in some berries from a safe distance. She tried throwing some seeds. She didn't hear anything from inside, but no fire came out. Next, she sat down at the front and just said 'Hello?' into the entrance.
There was a sound from inside and some tiny sparks started moving. A couple of the seeds got tossed out of the opening. Lyra took some more of her berries out of her pocket and tossed them into the opening. She listened more carefully to the sounds and was pretty sure that the berries were being eaten. Now she placed a handful near the entrance outside of the darkness and waited. She sat there for nearly ten minutes. At one point, she looked back; Harry and The Giver were sitting a little higher on the hill watching her and eating from a takeout container of berries while they waited.
Near the end of the ten minutes, Lyra saw movement and a bird walked out towards the berries she had laid out. It was beautiful, and she heard Harry gasp behind her. It looked like an eagle in bright red with smaller differences. The beak was sharper like it might use it to hunt or tear, the feathers didn't change colors either, though there was a shine to them. It had the yellow-spotted feathers on its head like the chicks they had seen as well. It had an incredible look of determination, fierceness, and intelligence in its eyes as it looked at her. The head gave a small tick towards Harry and The Giver but then turned back to Lyra.
"Hello there, I mean you no harm." She spoke softly to the gorgeous and awe-inspiring bird. "You are beautiful, would you like more berries?"
Lyra held out her hand with more berries and the bird took a few more steps towards her cautiously. Now she could certainly say that the bird was a predator. The legs started narrow but turned into fierce talons at the end. They could easily rip flesh. This startled Lyra, but she held her hand with berries steady. When the hoohoo had fully exited the cave they could see the tail feathers also matched the chicks. They were long and didn't stretch as far back as a peacock or a pheasant, but changed colors to have yellow towards the end and were fringed in gold. Now Lyra heard The Giver gasp at the sight.
Slowly, the bird ate a few berries from her hand. The beak scratched her hand a little but didn't draw blood. Once the bird was done with the berries, it looked up at her expectantly. Lyra took a mango out of her pack. She pulled it open and put it on the ground in front of the bird. She picked out some of the meat and held it to the bird before trying it. It seemed to enjoy the mango and ate a little from the fruit. Lyra experimentally placed a hand on the bird's back to stroke it. It flinched a little but continued to eat from the mango.
Lyra whispered compliments and continued to pet the bird as it ate from the mango. When it had eaten about a quarter of the mango, it stopped and looked at her tilting its head to the side.
"I was hoping you could give me a few of your feathers." She heard a chirp behind her and Harry was holding up eight fingers. Lyra turned back to the bird. "Eight, if possible." She placed eight berries in her hand and one of the feathers they had collected from the chicks, hoping that the intelligent eyes of the bird understood her.
The hoohoo looked at her and made a quick chirp noise. Then it looked back to the cave and made a noise that sounded like a chirp with a mouth full of water. There was more movement in the cave and another hoohoo came out. This one was slightly smaller and this one had red only on the neck and the rest faded into brown. Lyra could hear from behind her what sounded like The Giver hyperventilating. The all-red hoohoo chirped to the other and the second hoohoo ate from the mango.
After eating a little, the second one grabbed the half they had been eating from and started to drag it back into the cave. Just as it was about to disappear into the darkness, the tail shook and three feathers fell off. The red hoohoo grabbed the other half and took it as well, and like the other gave a tail shake causing five feathers to fall off.
Lyra could hear Harry and The Giver approaching behind her. That was the most exhilarating experience ever, and she got the feathers! Slowly she reached down and picked up the feathers. Every time she picked one up, she felt warmth shoot up her arm connecting with something deep inside her. The red feathers felt hot and filled with power. When she picked up the first brown feather, it gave her a different kind of warmth, like being held and comforted or soaking in the hot spring.
The Giver reached for one of the brown feathers and Lyra handed it to him. He held it up to the light, and then pulled a splinter of bamboo from his bag and plucked a hole in the quill. The woven Hidden hair string that held the red feather on his staff was pushed through the hole and the two feathers hung together on his staff. They put the remaining seven feathers in two small two plastic bags, separated by color. After walking back to the edge of the valley, All three of them started talking at once.
"That was amazing, they ate from my hand!"
§I've never seen the brown one before, what was that?§
"You need to bring them more mangos."
"How'd they do the fire at the beginning? It's not a dragon."
§Your staff will be incredibly powerful.§
"Dragons are real?"
"They understood me! They understood numbers!"
"Why did we need so many feathers?"
§You sounded like a little girl when you gasped at the birds.§
Eventually, they all calmed down and questions got answered. The Giver told her that they shouldn't be held too much. She connected them to her magic, now they need to find the remaining elements to her staff and combine them.
Harry asked,
§Now it's my turn?§
The Giver responded,
§Yes, we will head down to the valley now. I have not been there for a generation.§
§Keep Lyra between us, there will be many snakes.§
Harry nodded,
§They may stay away because we taste like the Usurper.§
§If they come, do not back down, order them to leave us alone.§
The Giver nodded and Harry translated to Lyra about the snakes. She didn't seem too worried, but so far she hadn't met any snakes that were dangerous to her, neither had Harry for that matter. They started to hike down the hill towards the valley where they had seen the glow of the guardian.
Soon after hitting the treeline, there were voices everywhere.
§Snacks! Three snacks! Big snacks!§
§There is one small one too!§
§Stay quiet, the prey will come right to us.§
§They are large, use all of your venom!§
Many more voices, Harry estimated at least a dozen snakes were stalking them. He called out loudly, tapping into his magic to amply his voice to speak to the snakes.
§We are not prey! Come forward and show yourselves!§
The Giver followed his lead
§We are strong, we come from the Valley of the Usurper, the kingsbane.§
§Cross us at your own risk. It will be your death.§
At the mention of the Usurper, there were hisses of terror and quite a few different kinds of snakes came out of the trees and popped out of the grass, tongues flicking every which way.
One cried out,
§I taste the kingsbane, we must flee.§
Harry responded quickly,
§The kingsbane is not here, we come on his behalf. We seek the protector of this valley. The one that glows at night.§
All the voices of the snakes vanished and they could hear retreating slithers. The snakes either feared the Usurper, those who smelled like him, the glowing protector, or all of them. Whatever the case was, it didn't seem like the serpents would help them. No more snakes came out to greet them, but they often saw snakes retreating into the tall grass and canopies of the trees as they walked by.
Having no path to follow to find the protector, they just went straight for the center of the valley and waited for nightfall when it would be a lot easier to find a glowing white animal.
After sleeping with a rotating watch, night fell. In the distance, they could see a bright glow moving behind the trees. They couldn't tell how far away it was and it ended up taking them another hour to reach the glow. Walking out into the clearing, they were once again speechless from the sight before them.
Like the Hoohoo was similar to the eagle with many differences, the guardian was similar to an elk with many differences. For starters, it was white, the purest white that could exist, with a large patch of hair on its chest. The face of the guardian was narrow and had no hard edges to it. Even its ears sticking off the side had smooth lines all the way around. No matter what side they looked at it, every line on the animal looked smooth or curved perfectly. On its head, it had antlers that looked like wax had melted upwards and were perfectly symmetrical to each side of the head.
What was also strange and interesting was that the animal itself didn't seem to give off the glow that was all around it. It was as if the glow centered on the creature and it and it lived inside the light. They had no idea what to make of that at all.
Harry fortified himself for his task and took some food and walked out into the clearing. The animal continued to walk around, eating little bits of foliage as it moved. Harry walked in a large circle so he would be approaching it from the front and not startle it. As he arrived in front, it picked up its head to look at him. Whatever this animal was, it was amazing to see the pure white contrasted with the void of the night in its black eyes.
The guardian held his gaze as he walked towards it. Harry prepared a handful of berries and stopped to hold them out when he was about ten feet away. The guardian seemed to grow as it approached him and was tall enough that the top of its legs was over his head. Or maybe he was just short. He thought he was just over eight years old or close to it. The large head of the guardian ate from his hand. He could feel the thick and slimy tongue picking up berries and eating them. When the guardian was done, it looked at him in the eye without blinking for a minute before nudging him with its nose.
Harry filled up his hands with more berries and decided to ask his question. While the animal ate he asked, "I am trying to create a staff to use magic. I felt a connection when I saw your glow. You are a beautiful animal and my heart stopped when I saw you. I was hoping that you could give me one of your antlers."
The guardian finished the berries and looked him in the eyes again. They both heard a crinkling noise and turned their eyes were drawn to where Lyra, Whispers, and The Giver were sitting on a rock on the other side of the clearing. They had just finished a box of berries and the box had made a crackling noise as the plastic bent. The guardian had heard it too and went on full alert, turning its whole body towards them.
Harry tried to calm it down, "They are friends, it's ok, have some more berries."
The guardian huffed and scratched at the ground with one leg. The others froze not knowing what to do.
Harry tried to run around the front of the creature, calling out, "They are friends!" He pulled a mango out of his bag and it turned towards him and stared him in the eyes before turning back towards the others on the rock.
It lowered its head and charged the others.
Life moved into slow motion. Harry saw The Giver and Lyra split and start to run in opposite directions, he couldn't see Whispers and assumed he had vanished. The Giver moved much faster and waved his arm, darkness spilling out of his fur until he disappeared behind a tree. Lyra turned invisible, but the guardian was still charging at where she was. Harry ineffectively ran after, yelling and screaming the whole way.
With one loud scream, Harry felt a tight squeeze around him and found himself standing in front of the tree that Lyra was hiding behind, the guardian charging down on them. Harry threw his hands in the air and yelled as loud as he could,
"STOP!"
A silver light erupted in front of him creating a translucent wall in front of him. The guardian crashed into the shield, and Harry felt his whole body tremble at the impact. One of the antlers splintered at the base and fell to the ground with a mighty crash.
Harry collapsed to his knees, his hands still raised to keep the shield in place in front of them. Nearly unphased, the guardian got back up and stood solemnly before him without stepping forward. Harry slowly lowered his hands and the shield vanished. Lyra turned visible next to him and knelt to support him. He felt like we had run to the tip of the mountain and back down at least a dozen times, every part of him was aching and burning like there was a liquid fire in his veins burning him to his core.
The guardian slowly lowered his head, and with its remaining antlers, pushed the severed one towards Harry. Harry could barely move, so the guardian pushed it closer. Harry reached out and grabbed it with one hand. Immediately he felt the power contained inside, it rushed through his body like a cold breeze extinguishing the liquid fire that had been burning there a moment before. He stood and used all his strength to lift the horn until it was standing up with him, the tip a few inches above his head.
Harry reached to the horn with his other hand gripping it with both hands. As soon as he did, the cold breeze seemed to turn into a hurricane flowing through his entire body and light blossomed around him, though like the guardian, it did not seem to come from him specifically. Harry looked around the glow and swore that the edges looked like a flower. It reminded him of something but that thought didn't stay long before he dropped the horn and he sunk to his knees again. His eyes nearing unconsciousness, he saw the guardian nod its head in a small bow before turning and walking away just before he collapsed and darkness took him.