Author's Notes: The extra Canard/Emily story I was going to write isn't going to happen. Instead, you will get peeks into what's going on on Puckworld from time to time. Enjoy this extra long chapter!
Canard had spent the past couple weeks planning his escape. They had no right to hold him there and he had no intention of staying. After what happened with Emily, he was beyond furious.
Sure, they were all thrilled about it, but did anyone care how he felt? No! Since the whole thing in the Library, Emily had been avoiding him like he had the plague.
That was fine with him. He was so mad he could barely think straight and he didn't need her cowering in the corner every time he scratched his beak. He felt a bit guilty about how he had treated her, but enough was enough!
He was determined to get out of there and if they didn't like it, tough! They were holding him against his will and that was wrong on several levels, not just legal. He was determined to be a free bird and there wasn't anything they could do about it.
He was really beginning to believe that the old adage was true. The only good blue beak was a dead one. However, after watching how they played hockey, he knew that was no easy task. Despite the less than civilized way they played, nothing seemed to slow them down, and he was fairly sure they were completely indestructible.
After the scene in the Library, Canard had taken to memorizing every corridor and every exit in Twin Beaks. He had also started to keep track of the daily going ons of the mages. They had very set routines and it was rather easy to predict who was going to be where and when.
At first, he wasn't sure how he could get very far if he did leave. Canard remembered from his first trip to Twin Beaks, it was in the middle of a mountain range and it took nearly a day to travel there by the jet sled. Traveling by foot would be impossible and there was no way he would be able to use one of their sleds. He hadn't a clue on how to harness, much less control one of the reindeer they had.
Then he found where the hunters kept their packs. The pre-made packs had everything he needed to travel through the mountains, including maps and a compass, except fresh food. There was preserved food stuff, but he didn't think it would be enough for his trek out of the mountains. However, if the extra room in the packs was any indication, the hunters were taking some fresher stuff with them. Getting fresh food wouldn't be impossible, just risky.
He had held off leaving until he was sure he would be able to make a clean get away. He figured that once he got to a town or city, the mages wouldn't dare come after him. At least, that's what Canard hoped.
The non-magical drake knew that his timing had to be perfect. He had been watching the night sky and he knew when the next full moon was. He had also been listening to the mages who kept an eye on the weather. All he needed was a clear night with a full or near full moon. The time came much sooner than he had dared hope for.
Canard waited until he was sure everyone was sound asleep, and then he gave them another half hour just to be sure. He hadn't removed any of the packs since he was sure the mages kept track of them, so his first stop was the storage room. After making sure the pack had all the necessary equipment in it, he also took one of the heavy leather and lambswool coats the hunters used.
A few minutes later, he was sneaking into the kitchen. The Cook was one of the meanest drakes Canard had ever had the misfortune to encounter. He had to be extra careful to make sure that any food he removed wouldn't be missed.
He packed as quickly as he could and then moved out as silently as possible. He was glad he had had Duke as his stealth teacher. He also doubted he would have known how and what to watch for when planning his escape if it hadn't been for Mallory.
Blast, but he missed his team. He missed his best friend most of all. He put all thoughts of Wildwing, his team and even Wildwing's annoying kid brother out of his head as he slipped out the back of Twin Beaks and made his break for the tree line by the light of the nearly full moon.
Blanche was finishing up her breakfast when Emily came staggering into the dining area. The young hen looked worse than usual. Granted, ever since they found out the curse had finally been broken, Emily hadn't been doing well.
Canard had become a right pain in the tail feathers since that day and Blanche was about ready to pluck the annoying boy. He wasn't pulling his weight with the chores and he was sneaking around sticking his beak where it didn't belong. Then there was the way he was treating Emily that had the Elder ready to kick some tail feathers.
Before the older hen could think of ways to smack some sense into that foolish drake's head, Emily gasped, clutched her chest and collapsed to the floor. Blanche was across the room in a heartbeat and kneeling next to pretty young female. The others had the good sense to give her room and only a couple hovered nearby in case the Elder needed help.
"Emily, can you hear me?" Blanche softly asked as she set her magic to examine the young hen.
"Yes," Emily squeaked while tears leaked out of her eyes. "I think I'm having a heart attack."
"Hardly," Blanche grumbled, concentrating her magic around the chest area. "The magic keeps us healthy. We don't even get silly little things like colds, much less heart attacks."
"But my chest..." Emily started before she gasped again.
"It's not you," Blanche growled as she narrowed down the problem and then looked around the dining room. "Has anyone seen Canard?"
No one answered, but they also looked around the room as if that would suddenly produce the yellow beaked drake.
"Find him!" the Elder ordered and in a matter of seconds, the room was cleared of everyone but her and Emily.
"What's going on?" Ross asked as he came into the room and saw Blanche helping Emily getting into a sitting position.
"I'm not sure," Blanche replied while she supported the shy hen. "Something is going on with Canard and it's effecting Emily. I've sent everyone off to find the fool."
Before Ross can say anything, a sylph appeared between the two Elders. This surprised both of the mages as the air Elementals weren't known to come into the caverns of Twin Beaks.
You must come, the nearly invisible being stated.
"Come where?" Ross inquired respectfully.
While a sylph wasn't likely to be able to hurt him or anyone else, it was always good practice to treat the Elementals, no matter how small, with respect.
This one's bonded is in the trees, the sylph softly explained. He is trying to go somewhere, but it is hurting him greatly. You must stop him.
"I don't suppose anyone explained to Canard what would happen if he tried to leave Twin Beaks before the Mask was returned, did they?" Blanche questioned, her wrath barely kept in check.
"No, I don't think anyone did," Ross confirmed with a sigh.
"Lovely," Blanche growled.
"Just a little farther," Canard panted through the pain as he crawled up the hill.
You can't keep this up, one of the white creatures said. You need to go back.
"No," Canard snarled at his imagination.
At least he thought it was his pain addled brain playing tricks on him. The white things had shown up shortly after he got to this last hill. He knew the stress of trying to escape had to be messing with his eyesight. How else could he explain why he was seeing unicorns.
Something hard poked the drake in the back, but he ignored it. Whenever one of these weird creatures did that, it never hurt, though it did startle him the first time they had done it. With a sigh, the pain in his chest lessened, but not by much.
"Thanks," Canard groaned as he continued to make his way over the snow covered roots, dirt and rocks on his hands and knees.
You must go back, one of the beings insisted. You are hurting your bonded as well as yourself.
"Not – going - back," the drake gasped.
Canard wasn't sure if he was going in the right direction. The pain was making it hard to see and he was pretty sure that there were other creatures now hanging around him. He was also hearing voices nearby, but he ignored them as he concentrated on moving forward.
He could feel the sweat dripping off of his body and he did his best to breathe through the pain. He had to get away from Twin Beaks. He had to get away from the mages.
The strange white creatures, he couldn't tell how many there were as he couldn't see straight from the near agony he was in, suddenly let out squeals of fear and anger. A moment later, they were gone. Canard didn't care. He had to keep moving.
"There you are, you fool," a voice he had hoped to never hear again snarled.
A second later, he was grabbed by the back of his collar and was being unceremoniously dragged back the way he had come. He took a feeble swat at the hand holding him and all he got for his trouble was a good shaking.
"If I thought it would do any good, I'd put you over my knee," Blanche growled at the young drake.
The older female continued to grumble under her breath as she dragged the unwilling male down the hill. He was pretty sure she was finding every rock and root to run him over, though it never hurt him. The pain constricting his chest, was very slowly loosening, though it was still enough to make sure he was seeing things. After all, how else was he seeing miniature ducks with butterfly wings fluttering past his head.
He wasn't sure why being dragged down the hill by the back of his clothes wasn't choking him, but he hurt too much to really care. The next thing he knew, he was being dumped into the back of a sled and his backpack was being pulled off of him. He would have fought if he wasn't dizzy and weak from the ache in his chest.
It was with some relief when he passed out as a blanket was placed over him.
"I'm getting too old for this nonsense," Blanche grumbled.
The Elder climbed up onto the bench next to Bonny, the driver of the sled. It was a bit of a squeeze on the narrow bench, but they managed. The black feathered, white haired mage gently shook the reins and softly clicked to the reindeer to get them moving once Blanche was settled.
"How far did he get?" Bonny asked as she maneuvered the deer through the trees.
"Nearly made it to shields," Blanche harrumphed as she gripped the side of the bench when the skids went over a bump hidden in the snow.
"How did he manage to get that far?" the other mage questioned. "The pain should have stopped him long before he got to the second set of hills."
"Blasted unicorns kept easing the pain," the Elder nearly snarled.
"Unicorns?" Bonny asked in obvious amusement. "He attracted unicorns? The potion makers are going to be over the moon when they find that out. They've been moping ever since we lost Ruby."
"If he had gotten to the shields, even a Mother Unicorn wouldn't have been able to bring his sad, sorry, carcass back," Blanche retorted as they went over another bump in the trail. "Are you trying to find every root and rock?"
"You wanted my fastest sled, not the most comfortable," the animal wrangler reminded the Elder. "Once we get to the main trail, it'll be a smoother ride. If it hadn't been for that sylph, it wouldn't have mattered what type of sled we used."
"I'm just glad she was willing to show us where he was," Blanche said while the reindeer continued to pull them through the trees. "I would have hated to drag Emily out here. Poor kid has had enough trauma thanks to this sad, sorry, sack of feathers."
"It's a shock for both of them," Bonny soothingly pointed out to the dusky gray duck.
"Emily's been through so much," Blanche sighed with a shake to her head.
"So people keep saying," Bonny replied.
"You didn't see her when she made the Change," Blanche reminded the white haired hen. "She was all of fourteen and had been beaten within an inch of her life. The drake who attacked her was out cold with a carving knife still in his hand. She still won't say who he was or why he attacked her."
"Rumor has it that she's never attracted unicorns," Bonny stated as she slowed the sled down to make the turn onto the main trail.
"The rumors are right," Blanche confirmed.
"Poor kid," Bonny moaned in sympathy as she brought both of her wings up.
With a loud yell and a powerful slap of the reins, the animal master set the reindeer headed for home at top speed.
Canard slowly blinked his eyes open and stared at the ceiling. It was made of stone and he groaned, partly in pain, but mostly in frustration. Despite his attempt for freedom, he was back at Twin Beaks.
Without looking around, he knew he was in a bed and it wasn't the one they had given him originally. This one actually fit his large frame without him hitting his head against the wall or his feet going over the end. Just from looking at the ceiling above him, he could tell he was in a much bigger room than before.
The tired and sore drake weakly pushed the covers off of himself and then sat up at the speed of rampaging snails. Once he was sure he wasn't going to pass out, he slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed. He didn't dare try standing yet for fear of meeting the floor the hard way.
He looked around the chamber and was impressed. This wasn't the tiny little room they had originally given him. That room had been barely big enough for the tiny bed, a small chest for his clothes and a wobbly table for him to put the candle he needed to see by.
There were no candles to be seen, though a glowing orb hung over the bed. He recognized the mage light since the mages used them all of the time. While the globe was bright enough to see by, it wasn't bright enough to see every little detail.
With what light there was, this room put the old one too all kinds of shame. The bed was big enough to hold a few ducks and it actually had head and foot boards. There were nightstands on either side of the bed, an armoire, a dresser and a dressing table that all matched.
The room itself was at least three times bigger than the tiny little cell he had been sleeping in. It also had a rag rug on the floor next to the bed. It was one of the few rugs he'd seen since getting there.
He could see out a door that appeared to lead to a sitting room that was much more brightly lit. There was another door off to the side that he was curious about. He finally got up on his feet and staggered over to the second door.
There was a faint glow coming from the next room, making it hard to see at first. Once he stuck his head past the entry way, it appeared he now had a private bathroom. He didn't know that any of the rooms had private wash rooms. The room he had before most certain hadn't had one.
Canard finally looked down at himself and was rather relieved that he was still wearing his clothes from earlier, though his shoes were no where to be seen. If he had been out for long enough, someone would have put him in pajamas. They'd done it before and it always made him uncomfortable when that happened.
A knocking came from the next room over and on legs that were still a bit wobbly, Canard went into the sitting room. A couch, over stuffed chair, coffee table and an empty bookshelf occupied most of the room, though there was a small dining table with a couple of chairs off in the back in the corner.
Someone knocked on a door to his left again and he could only assume that it led out to the hallway. With a scowl firmly planted on his face, he stumbled over to the portal. He yanked the door open to come beak to beak with a frowning Elder Blanche.
"About time you answered," the older duck growled.
Before he could slam the door in her face, the mage stepped into the room, forcing him to step back. She ignored him as she examined the room.
"Like your new room?" Blanche asked in a sweet voice and Canard knew something was up.
"It's great," the drake grumbled. "Why'd you move me in here?"
"The Council has decided that since you will no longer be given free rein of Twin Beaks, we'd better make sure you had a room with a bathroom," the Elder replied as she turned to face the angry young male. "That way no one has to take you to the potty every couple of hours."
"'No longer be given free rein'?" Canard repeated angrily. "You mean I can't leave this room!?"
"And the others said you weren't bright," Blanche chuckled, though not very nicely.
"You can't keep me here!" Canard yelled in anger and frustration. "I have rights, you know! What you're doing is illegal and immoral!"
Canard didn't care how sore or tired he was, he was leaving! He stomped toward the door, but slammed into an invisible barrier before he got past the door jam. The drake stepped back and rubbed his now throbbing beak as he glared at the gray hen.
"You think we're keeping you around for your charming personality?" the Elder snapped. "You broke your promise and now you're bound to the Tomb of Drake DuCain. We're stuck with you whether we want you here or not! If you weren't now bonded with Emily, I might have been tempted to let you try and reach the shields that protect Twin Beaks from the outside world."
"What would have happened if I had made it to the shields?" he questioned with a grumble.
"You'd have died," she told him. "Unfortunately, you dying could have probably killed Emily in the process and we rather value her."
"I would have died?" he softly asked in shock. "Emily would have died, too?"
"We're not completely sure if the shock of you dying would have killed her, but if it's all the same to you, we weren't willing to find out," Blanche responded as the drake sat down on the couch. "Oh, and speaking of the unfortunate hen that got stuck with you..."
Blanche stepped out into the hallway and looked around for a second.
"Good heavens, child, he's not going to eat you," the Elder huffed. "Get in here."
It took nearly a minute before Emily nervously came into the room. Canard was sure that a mouse sneezing would send the pretty little hen running. Instead of staring at her face, which seemed to be making her even more jumpy, he looked down to what she was carrying.
"What's with the book and food?" the drake asked suspiciously.
"The food is what you took from the kitchen," Blanche told him as she took the plate of slightly squished food from Emily. "Cook decided that if you wanted it so bad, you could have it instead of dinner. It will also be your breakfast if you don't finish it tonight, so eat up!"
"Guess I can't argue with that," Canard grumbled while the large plate was placed on the table in the back of the room.
"The book is for your education," the Elder stated as the heavy, leather bound tome was dropped onto the coffee table in front of the drake with a loud THUD. "Since candles are a rare commodity around here and they're a right pain to make, Emily created these mage lights just for you. Go ahead and show him how they work, girl."
Emily looked like she'd rather eat live spiders than say anything, but she slowly reached up and physically brought the ball of light down to her chest level. Canard thought that was strange since the mages tended to just make the lights appear and disappear at will and he'd never seen anyone touch one before. He frowned slightly as the little hen held the mage light out to him. He eyed it suspiciously, leaning away from the glowing orb that was about nine inches across.
"It won't bite you, boy," Blanche grumbled at Canard before turning to Emily and continuing in a softer tone. "You might want to explain what it does, Emily."
"Th-th-th-there's one f-f-f-f-for each room," Emily quietly stammered.
The blue eyed duck stopped, took a deep breath and stood up straighter. She didn't look Canard in the eye and her hands were trembling a little, but she held her beak up a little higher.
"If you want more light, just tap it and say, 'brighter'," the young female instructed, her voice only slightly shaking. "If you want less, tap it and say, 'darker'. You can move them around and they'll stay wherever you leave them."
To demonstrate, Emily let go of the light and stepped away from it. True to her word, the glowing ball stayed where she left it."
"What if I want to sleep?" Canard asked, still not sure if it was safe to touch the thing.
"You can put all of the spheres in one room and shut the door, but that will leave the room pitch black," Emily answered, her hands in fists at her sides as she tried to be brave. "Otherwise, just keep telling it darker until it's barely glowing. They can't be turned off like a light bulb."
"You know what light bulbs are?" he inquired in shock.
"Of course I know what light bulbs are," Emily snapped. "I'm not stupid."
The little hen turned on her heel and stomped out of the room, leaving Canard stunned. The drake turned and looked over at the Elder who looked slightly amused.
"Word of advice, boy," Blanche said as she moved toward the door. "Don't get her angry. She tends to get revenge in the most interesting ways. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get my own dinner."
Blanche stepped through the door just as Canard bolted for the door. The invisible barrier stopped him dead in his tracks again and he staggered back a few steps. He glared at the Elder who smirked at him.
"See that feather?" she asked, pointing up at the top of the door jamb.
"Yeah," he replied once he had spotted the tan colored item and he got a sinking feeling he knew who that feather came from.
"It's one of yours," she confirmed. "The shield is set that the owner of that feather can't get past."
"So you decided to pluck out one of my feathers while I was out cold," he nearly growled.
"Didn't have to," she responded. "You left plenty for us in the Challenge. In fact, that's what we used to get you out of dimensional limbo. I suggest you go eat your dinner. It's not getting any fresher."
With that, the Elder turned and walked away. In a fit of anger, Canard slammed the door shut. Still angry beyond words, he punched the wall.
He stood there, waiting for the pain in his hand to start, but it never came. He carefully examined his hand and not so much as a feather was out of place. He slammed the side of his fist into the wall and saw the spot that made contact with the stone glow briefly.
The only other time he had seen a glow like that was during hockey games when some duck got hit by a puck or was put to the boards. Emily once told him that the glow was from the magic that protects them. Canard felt his stomach drop to his feet.
In a near panic, the drake bolted for the bathroom in hopes of finding a mirror. He slammed his foot into the door frame, but it didn't slow him down in the least. He could see that there was a small polished piece of metal above the sink, but he was barely able see because the mage light was dimmed.
Not caring if the thing would blow up on him if he touched it, he grabbed the orb. He started furiously tapping it while yelling "Brighter!" repeatedly until the thing was nearly blinding. He positioned the globe above the mirror and carefully examined his beak.
It took him several minutes to convince himself that his beak was still the same shade of yellow that it had been before that weird thing with Emily happened. It took him even longer to get his heart rate down and his hands to stop shaking.
It wasn't until his stomach growled did Canard finally pull himself together enough to leave the room. He barely noticed that the mage light was still blazingly bright as he went through the bedroom. When he finally got to the sitting room he stared at the pile of food on the table.
The loaf of bread and slightly bruised fruit that he had pilfered from the kitchen was waiting for him. He didn't doubt for one second that Cook wouldn't give him anything else to eat until the food was all gone. Not that the magical drake would let Canard starve, but it would be a while before he got more than the bare necessities.
With a sigh of defeat, the tan duck picked the large book off of the coffee table and then sat down at the small dining table. He tore a chunk off of the loaf and started to eat the slightly stale bread as he opened the tome. He frowned at the title page as he chewed.
"What the heck is a heart spark?"