The outward appearance of the Enemy was almost identical to any human, which adds up, as that’s where they came from originally. So the one place they would not be detected and the one place the Wanderers, who were wizards, could not go openly, was into human occupied towns and that’s where the Enemy was .…smack in the middle of the biggest town in the area…living in a very, very large detached house with large gardens all around it and a big notice on the wrought iron gate which read, ‘Keep Out Private Property. - Trespassers will be made to work’.
There was a ten foot high wall all around the property and broken glass bottles cemented on the top of it to deter any would-be climbers. All windows were blacked out and enormous tangling, twining plants throughout the garden grabbed anything that moved and squeezed it till it moved no longer. It was, of course, no problem for the Searchers to enter as they just went underground and came up in the hallway totally undetected by all outsiders…except the Squitons who sniffed them out to where they went below the surface and could track just where they were underground by the vibrations they made.
Now all that had to be done was to find a way into the house without being noticed, and zap the Enemy before they could send any messages to Searchers patrolling in other places to return to base and join in the fight. And there most surely would be a fight…to the death!!
Not a huge task, it seemed, but how to achieve it was quite another story .…which had to have an ending very soon ...Or else?
It was hoped that this is also where they were hiding the hostages but that was yet to be realised and the only way to do that was to enter and search the property!
Over the next week, many Witch patrol teams disposed of Searchers with the wonderful Fartyfungaspinpoopa spell which reduced the target to nothing more that a blob of goo but it just meant that those Searchers left in the area went to new places and searched for other likely victims to capture. There were hundreds of them. Zap one and it was replaced at once, it seemed, by another. It was turning into a nightmare. What they needed was some kind of spell or ‘checker’ administered from a distance, to hold the Enemy and Searchers in a daze or stupor for a while, giving plenty of time to do what was necessary to get in, rescue the Muddgers and dispose of the inhabitants before any came around.
It wasn’t known how many lived there or if there were Enemy groups elsewhere that could continue to instruct the patrolling Searchers if they managed to annihilate those Enemy within the house but this was at least a start. They had to start somewhere and try and find the captives.
Who was to go and how they were to enter was yet to be decided but there were several ideas in the pipe line and it seemed likely that an invisible Melander could drop some very powerful wizards into the roof space of the defended house, while an intense attack was made on Searchers all over the country, so keeping the Enemy fully occupied trying to sort things out with their smelly army.
The Enemy seemed to be able to communicate with the Searchers although it wasn’t known how.
There was so much that was not understood and it made fighting them very awkward and dangerous but it had to be done. The Dark Cave Community were so close now they could smell victory…….which was much sweeter than the putrid smell of the Searchers.
All bats, owls, rooks and ravens were frantically delivering express messages, as it wasn’t thought safe to send normal communicating thoughts in case that was how their plans were being intercepted.
Nobody wanted to think of the alternative which was that there was a spy among them, giving away their plans. Since it had been left to the coded word to be taken by special delivery, there didn’t seem that there had been any infiltration of the work they were doing and plans they were making. The owls and bats did the night time deliveries and the rooks and ravens did the day time ones. It worked very well.
Dillan and Melanda were very keen to be involved and quite excited at the prospect of being in the front line, so to speak. Melanda was so experienced and clever that he had worked out how best to get the wizards there and into the house undetected.
While invisible he would suck the tiles off with a deep breath while he hovered above the roof passing the tiles silently to Dillan to put in a pannier and lower his passengers in one at a time using his mouth and very long neck, as while he still had hold of them they would remain invisible. The last thing that was wanted was for neighbours or police patrols to see a wizard floating down through the sky, as even at night, with the street lighting it would be possible to be seen that way.
Once inside, the eight wizards would work in pairs and search the house, zapping any Enemy or Searcher they came across until hopefully, the whole house was free of them and they had found the Muddgers. It was a plan that sounded simple but things could still prove very difficult. What if the Muddgers were not there? What if they couldn’t find them? And what if the Semi Ghosts were there.
What would they do with them? As yet they didn’t know if the Semi Ghosts had been working with the Enemy or were genuine prisoners. They wouldn’t be able to zap them with the Fartyfungaspinpoopa spell and eliminate them…they were non-beings and the spell was unlikely to work on them anyway. They couldn’t use any destructing spell on them only to find out later that they were innocent. That would never do. It could be that once they had done their dastardly spying deed, if they were the informers, that they were long gone by now.
It was a worry to everyone thinking about the state the Muddgers could be in as they would not have been having their proper diet and could be very weak and confused. They would need handling with care.
There were still many problems to iron out but the basic plan was good and once everything was sorted and in place it was decided to go ahead and attack as agreed, to capture the Semi Ghosts if there were any and bring them back for questioning by the Council at Dark Cave.
Over the next couple of weeks the Searchers did not manage to capture any more hostages. In fact the witches on their night patrols managed to dispose of ninety of the attackers. Searchers now moved about less above ground and when underground they were slower and it was thought they could not receive instructions from the enemy, so they were being weakened on three sides. It was decided that the time was right to pay the Enemy a night time visit.
The Squitons and the Wanderers had disposed of a further forty six Searchers that they found within a few miles of the headquarters and they were to keep all patrols on full alert, although they couldn’t do much more than they already were. They worked tirelessly all the time.
The night of the attack was carefully planned and everyone who was involved had strict instructions….one mistake and the whole plan could be rendered useless.
As soon as it was dark, things were set in motion. It was decided to attack at night so that the Wanderers and Squitons plus any witches available to join the fight on their brooms, would be less noticeable. Although they were not going to be at the house, they were to be positioned in a circle about a mile or so away to pick up any would-be escaping Searchers and maybe the odd Enemy…. although they rarely ventured outside BUT, under fire from the Communities Mixed Forces, they might do anything!
Melanda was harnessed with panniers, extra ropes and belts to put around the Muddgers to lift them into one pannier and ‘Secure Bubbles’ to encase the Semi Ghosts if they were there. There were to be no heroics and any Enemy or Searchers were to be annihilated on sight.
This all done and agreed, they took off. The witches flying ahead on a moonless, cloudy night and the invisible dragon, Melanda, and his passengers Dillan, eight of the biggest and most powerful wizards and Zia flying silently and unseen behind them and bringing up the rear, all the Zoedledoodles flying free and without harness. They were to act as ‘spotters’, and stay on the outskirts of town and warn of any unusual goings-on or sightings.
The witches were the first to reach their position and spread out at intervals above the countryside a mile outside the town. Next to fly into position were the Zoedledoodle’s, each within sight of the one next to it, around the outskirts of the buildings within the town.
The Dragon with its passengers, Dillan, eight wizards from Dark Cave and Zia, found and hovered above the roof of the house they were to enter. So far everything had gone to plan and that was the way it must continue…no mess ups.
Zia and all the wizards tried to communicate with the Muddgers but although there was a faint signal coming from below the house to the front of the building, in the cellars it was thought, there was no message that could be made sense of. At least there was, hopefully, some idea as to where the captives would be found.
One by one Melanda sucked off the ridge tiles and handed them to the wizards to stash, for the time being, in a pannier. Then off came several large tiles, one at a time until there was a sizeable hole in the roof. Melander then flew away and landed, invisibly, in the large garden next door and the tiles were unloaded in the dark, unseen by anyone…until they left and the tiles then were no longer invisible but not likely to be discovered until the morning.
One by one the wizards were lowered into the roof space and spread around the house in two’s with Dillan and Zia making their way in the direction of the cellar. Zia had his Woandip at the ready and all the wizards were brandishing their wands. The house seemed to be in total darkness from the outside as all the windows were blacked out but inside there was light everywhere which made the task in hand very difficult. The one advantage they had was one of surprise, so they all kept in close contact with messaging. It had been agreed that whatever was going on outside with the other members of Dark Cave, they would not try to contact those in the house for fear of interrupting their attack.
Once there were a couple of wizards in each of the four areas of the house and Zia and Dillan heading down the steps to the cellar, things erupted. The plan was to stop anyone heading for the cellar until the prisoners were released and on their way to the roof. There were Searcher guards at the bottom of the cellar steps and as Dillan zapped them another came through the wall and one came up through the floor. Zia tackled them with the powers he had until Dillan could turn and zap them with the Fartyfungaspinpoopa spell and reduce the horrid stinking beings to a squelching gooey mess. As fast as they could they checked every door and corner in the large cellar. There were hundreds of shelves holding bottles of wine and a cold store with a running stream going through to keep the perishable foods fresh. There was another room with old trunks and boxes but no sign of the Muddgers. Although the signal from them was getting stronger, it was still not a message to say where they were being held.
Down another flight of steps now and a near miss as two Searchers dropped through the stone ceiling in front of them. Dillan was so quick with his wand that they were ‘yucked’ before they could move!
“They must be here somewhere but they are either so weak they can’t get a message to us or they are being held in a lead lined coffin!!” Zia said almost scoffing at what he was saying.
“That’s it. You have hit the nail on the head, Zia. Well done. We are looking for a tomb or casket.
Years ago they used to have their own burial chambers in the depths of these old houses. Look for a hidden door or handle in the wall.”
They found nothing until Zia dropped his Woandip. Before he could pick it up it started to dance,
“It says its under a flag stone in the floor ...right where you are standing…..look there’s a ring in that stone….quick pull it and open it up,” Zia said, knowing he wouldn’t be able to do any thing being so small. The equalizer spell didn’t work here, but even with Dillan tugging at it there was no give in the stone. The Woandip danced again.
“You have to turn the handle anti clockwise three times and stand back,” Zia told Dillan.
Just then four Searchers poked their heads, grinning, slimy and stinking, out of the stone they were trying to lift but before the rest of their bodies could appear the trapdoor jerked into an upright position leaving them hanging by their necks and a very easy target for Dillans wand!!
Down from the hole in the floor led steps and into the gloom and damp the rescuers went. It was not pleasant down there and it still smelled of the Searchers, plus it was extremely cold and unpleasant with slime oozing down the walls and fungus covering the floor. Zia couldn’t help turning up his nose and wishing he was flying through the clean night air instead of being in this stinking hole but they had to find the captives they had come to rescue and the signal was now clearer. A message came through and Zia and Dillan dashed as fast as the slime would allow them to the far end of a tunnel and a small wooden door in the wall. Pulling back the bolts they could now see the Muddgers in the far corner huddled together and in a very sorry state. There was a single dim candle burning in a holder on the wall and when it was clear that their predicament was nearly over the sad little people tried to stand and walk toward their rescuers.
“Are you all strong enough to walk if we help you, or will we need to carry any of you?” Dillan asked. He was very concerned and expected the worst but the reply was a good one.
“Only one of us is too weak to walk. If you could carry poor Nell then the rest of us should be strong enough to walk slowly out of this dreadful hole. I thought you would never find us, although I knew you were bound to be trying,” answered one of the dishevelled and very dirty Muddgers.
Dillan took of his cloak and laid the very weak Nell in it before placing it across his back and tying it under one arm, over the other and across his chest securely. Nell was like a little papoose and said she was more comfortable and warmer than she had been for weeks.
Dillan led the way with the three other Muddgers following and Zia bringing up the rear, all the time keeping his Woandip ready for action. He tried to assist the weak captives up the steps and out past the gooey puddles of ex-Searchers but in small size he wasn’t much help.
Everything went well. They reached the doorway back into the house and could hear such a commotion coming from every direction that they guessed there was a battle going on but their job was to get the Muddgers to safety.
“I don’t think they can make it up four flights of stairs to the roof Dillan. That’s asking too much of them. Why don’t we take them out the back door into the garden and get them into the panniers there. Melanda can come down into the garden now. We can get safely into the gap under those stairs, across the hallway and then through that room…looks like the kitchen and scullery, to the back door. Its a big old house…….”
“Oh Oh!! trouble,” cried Dillan.
He ducked into the space under the stairs before zapping out three Searchers and two Enemy that appeared from a door further down the passage.
“Nice one,” Zia remarked as the Searchers melted and the Enemy sort of exploded before turning to sticky goo sliding down the walls and becoming the usual puddle on the stone floor, when Dillan zapped them.
“Hurry, before more come.” Dillan sent out a piercing noise as they neared the back door, and as they opened it Melanda’s head was there waiting to lift Zia up into the panniers, followed by the three walking Muddgers and finally Dillan with the precious bundle on his back. All were placed carefully in the panniers and made as comfortable as possible with pillows and blankets and their special honey which had been sent to help revive them.
Meanwhile back in the house the fight went on and Dillan went back to help while Zia stayed with the Muddgers and Melanda flew them at top speed back to Dark Cave where The Others along with Pog were waiting to receive, help and nurse them with all the comforts they had at their disposal.
Once relieved of their charges, Zia climbed aboard the dragon and they made the dash back to the battle, communicating messages to all the witches and Zoedledoodle’s, Wanderers and Squitons as he went and telling them that the Muddgers were now safely back at Dark Cave and that the fight was in full swing back at the Enemy Headquarters.
It transpired that while they had been seeing to the Muddgers, the outside defence team had, between them, accounted for four hundred and forty three Searchers that had been out on patrol or called in from other parts by the Enemy, and seventeen fleeing cowardly Enemy.
No prisoners had been taken and the witches were now going to join in the fray at the house.
There is nothing witches like better than a good reason to show their skills on brooms and with their wands. It was quite a sight to see so many flying broom-sticks and their riders. They were flying almost as quick as Milander while cackling to themselves with glee. There was still a lot to be done but the occupants of Dark Cave seemed to be on a winning streak at the moment.
By the time the group reached the house the witches were flying high in the sky above, doing loop-the-loop, flying upside down, hairpin turns, emergency stops and lightening getaways. If it hadn’t been such a serious mission they were all on, it would have been hilarious, which it was anyway. Their skills were amazing but right now they were here to do a job and the witches said they were just warming up.
As they neared the house every witch flew in close enough to take a hold of some part of Melanda’s tail so as to make them invisible and once landed they went into action….big time.
Zia flew in with them through the back door and he showed them where the cellars were. Two witches sped down to check that no more Searchers had appeared through the walls while the rest of the coven split up and went to various parts of the large house. There was lots of noise and several splodgey, gooey puddles but it wasn’t until Zia found the billiard room that he actually saw any action. The wizards were down to working on their own now and he thought that some must have been killed in the fighting but the wizard he saw attacking the occupants of the room seemed to be handling things very well.
Faldarek looked as Zia had never seen him before, alive with action and zapping and dodging as fast as he could. Searchers were popping up everywhere and there were two Enemy left standing in the big room giving orders to the Searchers on how to attack while they themselves hid behind various pieces of furniture, suits of armour and walls.
“Ahh! There you are Zia. Is everything going to plan?” inquired the smiling wizard, zapping another unfortunate Searcher who just happened to pop out of the floor two feet in front of him as he spoke.
Zia stared at the way Faldarek was dancing and waving his wand and had to smile to himself.
This so important and quietly spoken wizard was obviously enjoying himself.
“All the Muddgers are safe at Dark Cave but we didn’t find any Semi-Ghosts at a-l-l-l-l,” Zia garbled as he dodged away from another Searcher who was zapped by Faldarek, as it’s head appeared and an arm reached for Zia through the wall.
“The horrors are here in their thousands,” Zia remarked
“That’s true and they just keep coming. We could do with some re-enforcements if it goes on like this,” Faldarek replied, jumping away to his left as he spotted an Enemy trying to escape through the locked and shuttered window. “Not that way my fellow,” and the target of his comment was zapped and melted to the floor.
“The witches that have been on watch outside town have now flown in and are here now. You might…. WOW!” Zia ducked as a broom complete with cackling witch flew in narrowly missing Faldarek.
“Hello, Madge,. Enjoying yourself, I take it.”
All the wizard got by way of an answer was a high pitches squeal as she did two circuits of the room and disappeared out of the door zapping another Enemy, hiding behind a book case, as she went.
“That is pretty disgusting, isn’t it? I mean one moment they are there and the next they are…….a blob,” Zia said pulling a face and turning up his nose.
“I suppose it is but don’t feel sorry for them….they are not like you or me.” Zap…Zap…two more gone!!. “They have no feelings as we do. They aren’t made of flesh and blood. They are not real beings and as such are ummmm….. sort of, well…..liquid ghosts that shouldn’t be here anyway… they should be long gone but somehow they have usurped the system and come to cause mischief.
Mind yourself ...duck…run…OK got him-and him- and him!!” and three more ‘wall walkers’ were disposed of.
Some how Zia didn’t feel so bad about the removal of these beings knowing they were nothing but overweight ghostly ‘things’ and evil ones at that!! They were cruel when they were alive and worse now when they are…..what ever they are!!…why then, did they want The Others, there must be something they needed from them……brains maybe?
Up in the dinning room on the first floor the same sort of fight was in full swing but on a larger scale and here the witches had joined in with much determination. They were flying in all directions zapping the Enemy and Searchers with lightening twirls of their wands.
“Yahoo. Yippee. Fire! One, two and three. Hee! Hee! Hee! Gotcha.” that was Grace balancing on a chandelier and firing spells from the hip with great accuracy.
In the Library and just for fun ...books had been mobilised by spells and were chasing two screaming Enemy out from their hiding place and snapping at them like flying jaws!! .……until to stop further suffering they were zapped by Calda. He spoke quite firmly to the witch concerned,
“Tennia, we are here to rid ourselves of the danger these monsters cause us, NOT to play with them like cat and mouse. Please conduct yourself with the dignity that Dark Cave expects.”
“Spoil sport…. spoil sport…. mean old skin flint. We never have any fun and when we get the chance you tell us to be dignified. Grace isn’t acting very dignified and neither is your buddy,
Soltagin. I saw him sliding down the banisters and landing on a tea trolley that sped across the hall and did a wheely down the passage and crashed after going down steps, landing in the coal cellar. It was not very dignified at all to see the leader of the wizards with his hat crushed, his cape wrapped around his neck, his wand bent and wearing only one slipper, but it was very funny. Hee.Hee Ho, Ho!! It was funny! I bet he will have a black eye.”
The witch was almost hysterical, recalling what she had seen and then zapped a Searcher that poked its head out of a picture.
Pots and pans were crashing and falling in the kitchen as more Fartyfungaspinpoopa spells brought down more and more emerging ‘wall worms’!! There seemed to be no end to the nasty smelly Searchers although there were not so many Enemy being found. From the Cellars to the attic, through the bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms and work rooms they were picked off by wizards and witches and reduced to pulp. If they had it to spill, the whole thing would have been a blood bath but as it was there was just a gunky mess covering the walls and floors and splattering the ceilings. If it wasn’t for the fact that the wizards were floating above the mess and all the witches were flying, the fight would have been very slow with everyone getting stuck up to their ankles in the very smelly, sticky slime.
Zia was trying to keep up with Faldarek as he fought his way from room to room. Gradually, after several hours, things started to slow down and it was decided that as it was now known that there were no other captives being held. A collective spell to cover all eventualities was to be put over the property so that no one could leave or enter without being zapped by a lightening bolt, transported to the dungeons and clapped in irons to be dealt with later.
The fight had been fought and there were no more Searchers appearing. The Squitons said they could not sense any within their signal radius so it was decided to leave the house guarded by the spell and return to see what was happening outside.
Dawn was just starting to creep over the horizon as they all climbed on board or held on to Melanda for the invisible start of the return journey but once over open land the witches let go and had one last flying bonanza before heading for Dark Cave. Their flying was something to see and Zia never tired of watching them. They seemed so at home up there alone with their brooms and ducking and diving around imaginary objects….or at least ones that Zia couldn’t see.
The Zoedledoodles had been called in and were heading home parallel to Melanda flying a few hundred yards away. Down below the Squitons and Wanderers had decided to call it a night and return with them for some well earned rest. There was, at this point no sign of any Enemy or Searchers and it was hoped that with every Community having had witch patrols out all night, most, if not all, of these unwanted visitors would have been taken care of but the question was, where were the Semi Ghosts? They were supposed to be prisoners and if they were not, then had they been informers? One day they would have to come out of hiding but if they didn’t it would be no loss as they were miserable selfish ‘almost beings’. Then again if they were imprisoned, someone must know where, Maybe, before it was too late to save them from complete death, as opposed to semi death, a clue as to their whereabouts would be found, then the Communities could act positively to save them and who knows….. the witches may get a chance to show off their flying skills again!!
Back at Dark Cave everyone was too excited to sleep and over a hearty breakfast, prepared and served by The Others, they all discussed their individual fights and triumphs.
There had been one or two casualties among the Dark Cave army .…sadly Faldarek had TWO black eyes and a problem walking due to a very large bruise somewhere beneath his robes that he was not about to show anyone. Grace had another tooth missing…. leaving only two now!!… and Calda, of all wizards, had a very large and painful bump on his head where a chandelier had fallen when witch Madge flew off without any regard as to what her weight, while sitting up their on high zapping and whooping, had done to the fixings in the ceiling. On the bright side all were expected to recover without any long term affects….except maybe…. a little wounded pride.
It was mid morning before Zia went to his bed and only seconds later that he was asleep. He woke with a start some hours later. He had been dreaming again and this time the dream was even more weird. He dreamed he was in a boat going along an underground river with solid rock walls to the smallish tunnel he was travelling through and suddenly there was Nip hanging from a ladder that led up to daylight and a small opening but Nip was smiling, so he guessed that even if some, or all, of this dream did have a meaning, it should also have a happy ending. He turned over and went back to sleep, wondering what the next adventure would be….as life here was never dull and something else was bound to happen quite soon.
THE END OF BOOK ONE.