Author's note: Extremely sorry for taking such a miserably long time! Have been a bit out of inspiration for a while. But now here it is! I hope that it's still up to par!

Chapter 11

Anne saw no more of Laura after the ugly row. She strangely found no more words to say as well, not even to Will, and when she spoke to Mapha and Rathan, they gave her curious glances as if they could sense that something was amiss between the siblings. Whitter nailed it down for them. "There's been some arguing, hasn't it? Coo-oo!" The Dryads gave him such deathly looks that for once, the Owl was intimidated by something other than Gurd.

Anne had to laugh at the sight of Whitter hiding his head behind one smooth white wing. "Yes, Whitter, I'm afraid you're right." She hesitated. She remembered the fights that they've had among them. Usually they were caused by John and his insolence but now it had gone quite the opposite. Nevertheless, no matter how bad it had gotten, they always came out all right. And this time, she decided firmly, it would turn out just the same.

Finally, Mapha said in a sagely manner, "Blood runs thicker than water."

She tilted her head. It sounded very familiar, as if someone had whispered it to her from a distant memory. But where? And who?

Whitter huffed self-righteously. "In short, things will be all right again. Let's be off to see to dinner, Dryads! Coo-oo! Oh we have plenty to do-oo!" He flew off his perch on the top of a tent. The Dryads smiled reassuringly at Anne before following the Owl's lead. She sighed and hoped they were right.

The next morning, Laura finally emerged from her haunt by the river bank. From the bedraggled look on her face, she might have spent the entire night there. But a fire burnt in her eyes. A fire that neither Anne nor William had ever seen before. She looked much more composed and steady than before, more sure of herself. And the first thing that she did was to go to them, with sheathed sword in her left hand and a holly twig in the other. It had four berries on it.

William and Anne stood awkwardly before her. They had both been in the middle of a breakfast of dried raspberries. For a few minutes, all three were silent, not knowing what to say.

Thankfully, Laura broke the silence by handing the holly twig to William. "I'd like you to have it."

He frowned at it. "What's it for?"

"I had a dream last night," she said. "A dream about a Lion." At that she smiled at Anne. "He told me to find a holly twig that had berries on it. If I found it at all, I must give it to the person that I trusted the most. We each must eat one berry, together with Anne, of course. And it would protect us until - " Then she unexpectedly paused.

"Until what?" said Anne.

"Until he comes," finished Laura quietly.

They fell quiet again. Each was deep in thought and unsure of what to do next. William sighed and plucked a berry from the twig. "Do you know that holly berries taste extremely awful?"

Anne punched him lightly on his leg. "Oh, for goodness's sake, Will!" She popped one berry into her mouth and so did William and Laura. Then he tucked the twig into his pocket. The other berry was to be saved for John.

"Don't lose it," said Laura, staring at where he kept it.

"I won't."

"Bad things would happen if you do."

"I said I won't, all right?" his voice went up a notch, and he glared at his elder sister. Anne held her breath, alarmed. But Laura smiled him off. "I know you will."

He looked confused, but he nodded and bit his lip. "Thanks."

"That won't be a problem," she replied. "Can you run along and tell Whitter that I need the animals to gather here on the eastern side of the Stone Table in ten minutes? I haven't organised the March yet; they must be feeling quite lost and useless by now."

"I'll do it," offered Anne, and she ran to fetch the Owl. That left William and Laura alone.

"Are you sure you can do this?" said William in an oddly low voice.

Laura sighed softly. "Yes. Yes, I think I can."

"How are you going to fight?"

"The usual: sword, shield."

"But you haven't learnt to use them yet."

"That's why we needed to eat those berries," she said, lowering her voice. "Those are magic berries. Those are the only holly berries you'll find here at this moment." She paused. "At least that was what the Lion had said."

"And you trust him?"

"Why not?" she challenged back.

He looked at her, worry and admiration all jumbled up in an unsteady ship of emotions. The scales were tipping precariously. Should he go along with her and trust her dream, or insist that she pull back and think of another way to go up against Gurd. This was all a mistake. A huge mistake.

"We'll turn out fine," she assured him with a knowing smile.

"I hope so."

"I trust you, Will," she placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "And I trust your bow. You've been practising last night haven't you?"

He broke into a grin. "Of course I have. I've always dreamed of joining the archery team in school. Wait till they see what I can do with it when I get back!"

"We'll get back all right, Will," she said solemnly. "We'll get home safely and you can show it to them. You know that don't you, Will? Hmm?"

He gazed at her again. Then he sighed and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"Coo-oo!" hooted Whitter as he swooped into view. "They're coming, Your Majesty! May I know what you intend to do-oo?"

"You'll see, Whitter," said Laura with another smile of hers. She nodded at William and they made their way to where the animals were slowly converging. Laura's gaze unwittingly turned to the horizon, to the far east, and saw a glimmer of polished stone where the land met the sea, right beside the mouth of the dead river. Polished stone? That seemed highly unlikely in this dead place. She shrugged it off. There were more important things to think about now.

Round the bend of the hill of the Stone Table, Gurd set up his camp and quickly prepped up his army as soon as the sky turned the faintest hint of washboard light. John could hear him from inside his prison of a camp where Zar, the Raven's hunched servant, was charged with the task of polishing Gurd's armour and guarding him. John could hear what Gurd was saying to his soldiers; dark beasts and fell animals the lot of them, who looked as if they fought out of fear. He could peek out through the flap of the animalskin tent and see the hasty rows of Gurd's army, bellowing and thrusting their spears and swords and shields into the air whenever the Raven uttered a catchphrase. He strained his ears to make out what Gurd was actually saying. It might be of some help to Laura if he knew what Gurd was planning. That is, if he could ever talk to her in time.

"It is in a language unfamiliar to the race of Adam, I'm afraid," said Zar suddenly, but never looking up from his task. John turned to look at him. His hood still did not yield any part of his face, but John could see furry, greenish hands clutching what looked like a bar of soap and scrubbing it forcefully onto each and every piece of Gurd's armour. Which was unlike anything that John had ever seen, because it lacked kneecaps and it was shaped to fit a bird's structure, but surprisingly there was a gauntlet to go with it. John could tell all this because of his frequent trips with Dad to museums in London. When he had been around. He struggled with the urge to cry as he remembered sitting on his father's shoulder, hugging his father's head as he pointed out deeds of knights gone by to him, with William and Laura holding on to the big man's hands, staring in awe at the armoured figure on a horse in front of them. It was one of the few childhood memories that John could remember. He bit his lip and lowered his head. What would Dad say if he could see him now?

"Would you not like to know what my Lord is saying?" said Zar again.

John glared at him. "As if you would tell me."

Zar laughed, a hoarse and whispery laugh. "Too true, son of Adam. Too true. But know this, by the time he has said what he has to say, his men will no longer feel the need to fear the children of Adam any longer oh no! Because," at that moment, Zar looked up, and even in the shelter of his hood, John could see glinting black eyes, empty and soulless, "because there is no need to fear your people. Eh heh, no. He possesses Magic. But you do not. He can uproot even the strongest of trees and give life to the dead! Whereas you," Zar scuttled towards him and John shrank back. The smell of rotten flesh emanated faintly from the creature. "You are helpless! Weak! Stupid! And - weak!" A loud and rowdy cheer erupted from outside, one that could be heard even from the Stone Table, and John felt truly weak. And stupid. He cowered, feeling his helplessness all over again. He shook his head slowly to deny it to himself, but he knew it was true. Zar was right. If he wasn't weak, he would have escaped Gurd's clutches and would be helping Laura to defeat Gurd right there and then. If he wasn't stupid, he wouldn't have trusted Meridian the Raccoon in the first place, and land himself as well as his siblings into this sort of trouble. "Bah!" screeched Zar once more, "Weaklings all of you! Nothing compared to - "

"That's quite enough, Zar," said the quiet, malicious voice that belonged to Gurd.

Zar pulled back, but his eyes never left John's frightened ones. "I have demoralised him enough," said the hooded creature.

"Indeed you have. And it is a job well done," replied Gurd in a self-satisfied tone. Suddenly the Raven's large head and wicked beak swooped down so that the glinting tip was only inches away from John's face. "But you heard what Zar said, didn't you?" His voice dropped several notches lower until it became something like a deep, earthly rumble. "He is quite right, you know. You are doing nothing to help your circumstances. You are doing nothing useful. Therefore you are wretched. Oh your father would weep to see his son remain so dutifully an observer, rather than an action-taker." A guttural laugh rumbled about deep in Gurd's throat. "But you can save the embarrassment you have caused to the memory of your father, you know. You can do that. And you would not be displeasing me in the process. Would you like to know how?"

John shook, considerably. But he could not stop from asking, "How?"

The beak went nearer till it rested just beside his ears. "Fight. For me. Fight for the freedom of this land. Fight and show them all the true nature of the race of Adam, that he is powerful and strong and lordful. Show them that Adam was great and so is his son. When you have fought for your right upon this land, you will become King. King! And I will consent to settle as your most trusted advisor. You will lord over this land and the animals will serve you. They will be honoured to kiss your feet and plead for your mercy. And you will receive the blessing of the Lord Lion, for he loves the race of Adam. He would love for you, a Son of Adam, to be become King over this land, oh yes, rather than me."

Gurd pulled back and the sides of his beak twisted up a little bit to show that he was smiling. "What do you say, Son of Adam?"