The Children of When (Complete)

Chapter 38: Tyranius the Kitsune

Raff felt Leah stiffen, and knew something was wrong.

"Dub just sent me a message. It's a trap... Tyranius is here, and he's waiting for us. Dub said to run!" She was yelling, trying to be heard above the roar of the waterfall.

Raff's mind kicked into overdrive. He'd thought long and hard about what he'd do when, and if, Tyranius caught up with them. He remembered everything the Oracle had told them about kitsunes. The two most important things he remembered were what a kitsune feared, and how to kill one.

He leaned towards Belle, and yelled into her ear. "Can you reach out to any wolves in the forest, and ask them to come here urgently?" Belle nodded that she understood, and he could see her concentrating as she called on her Gift.

He reached back into his backpack, his hand closing around the handle of the amulet. He could feel it getting warmer, and hoped that meant it was getting ready to do whatever it was supposed to do. Trying to force his hands to stop shaking, he slid the amulet into the back of his belt.

He cursed as Tyranius stepped out from behind the trees. The old elf was pushing Madame Persimmons before him, holding a knife to her throat. The children looked at each other in horror. They all knew he would kill Madame Persimmons without hesitation. They'd been standing there too long, and he'd obviously worked out something was wrong.

Reaching for each other's hands, they began to walk slowly towards the shore. Belle's frown told him she was still concentrating on finding a wolf nearby. Now he just needed to think of a way to buy them some time.

As they stepped back onto the shore, Tyranius raised his free hand to stop them from coming any closer.

"That's far enough. So, we finally meet," he said with a sneer. "You three children have inconvenienced me a great deal. Now, I think it's time to put an end to all this rubbish. Where are the pieces of the amulet?"

Raff spoke before either of the girls could say anything. "We ummm... we left them with the Oracle."

Tyranius' grin was pure evil. "Somehow I find that hard to believe. Throw your backpacks over to where my guard is standing."

Raff had started to take off his backpack, when he felt Belle nudge him. He threw it over to the guard, and caught the glint of excitement in Belle's eyes. She'd found a wolf? She nodded, and by the look in her eyes, he guessed it was on its way.

"Nothing in here Sir, except this book," the guard reported, holding up the book they'd found in the vault.

As Tyranius turned to look at the book, a low growling sound came from the direction of the trees. The blood drained from the old elf's face. The wolf leapt from the trees, and lunged directly towards Tyranius. He tried to pull Madame Persimmons between him and the wolf, but he was too slow.

And that was when he started to change. The old elven skin began to dissolve before their eyes, replaced by white fur spreading along its elongated snout. The black robe fell away, revealing the fur that now covered its entire body. But it was the tails that drew Raff's attention. Nine of them! Just like they'd read in the book.

The wolf had retreated at the sight of the creature emerging before him. Raff knew it was time. Their only hope was the amulet, but he had no idea how it worked. Pulling it from his belt, he held it in front of him, pointing it directly at Tyranius. He could feel its warmth, the glow pulsating in his sweaty hand.

Tyranius, the kitsune, turned back towards them, and saw the amulet pointed towards him. For an instant, Raff saw shock, and then fear, flash in his eyes. But when the amulet failed to do anything, the creature threw back its head and released a blood-curdling howl.

"Fools!" he snarled. "You don't even know how the weapon works! I don't know how you managed to reassemble it, but you obviously don't have the power necessary to use it!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Leah said, stepping up beside Raff.

Belle appeared on his other side. "Here we go again."

The girls placed their hands over Raff's on the handle of the amulet, and he instantly felt the surge of power responding to their Gifts. A flash of fear appeared in the kitsune's eyes. Its face began to change, the fur receding, to be replaced by the old elven skin. They had to do something before he could complete the transformation.

The amulet was now pulsing with power, but Raff still didn't know what it was supposed to do. He prodded it with his Gift, begging it to act before it was too late. How were they supposed to make the stupid thing work?

Maybe the amulet needed to know why Tyranius deserved to die? He formed a picture in his mind of a child stepping out of the portal, and then of the giant wolven beast attacking them near the fey Village.

Suddenly a blazing light shot out of the end of the blade, streaking towards Tyranius and hacking at his tails as the kitsune howled in fury. They watched in stunned horror as the last tail was severed, and the creature that had been Tyranius slumped to the ground, dead.

Raff became aware of fighting all around him. The elves were fighting the Guardian soldiers, and were outnumbered at least two to one. Dominic and Dub were appeared beside him, trying to drag him away from the fighting. Raff racked his brain for a way to help, but he knew he couldn't use a weapon without killing the elves as well.

And then they heard the thunder of hoof beats. Rogue, Midnight and Solange appeared further down the meadow, leading an army of at least fifty elven warriors. It was all over within minutes, the surviving Guardian soldiers surrendering in the face of such overwhelming odds.

Raff slipped the now cooled amulet back into his belt. It had all happened so fast! He scratched his head, and grinned. "Wow. How cool was that? I was really starting to worry there for a minute."

The next thing he knew, Leah and Belle were hugging him and laughing. Dominic and Dub had run to check on Madame Persimmons, and Lyricus was standing in front of them, grinning and telling them how incredible they were.

Dub sidled up to Leah and they began to chat excitedly about how amazing it was that Leah had heard his warning.

Raff seized the moment to slip away, and walked over to where the horses were. Rogue looked up as he approached, and Raff could have sworn the horse winked at him.

"Hey boy, what a day, eh!" He dropped to the ground next to the big grey horse. It was such a relief to not have to stand on legs that felt like they were made of jelly. Relishing the temporary respite from all the madness, he dropped his head into his hands and took a few deep breaths. It was finally over!

At the sound of someone approaching, he sighed and lifted his head. To his surprise, Leah dropped down beside him.

She smiled, and nudged him. "Hey you, how's it going?"

He grinned, and nudged her back. "Yeah, not bad. I was just sitting here planning my next adventure!"

She chuckled. "Yeah right!"

Her eyes really were the most gorgeous blue. He groaned silently as he felt his face burning. Why couldn't he just act normal around her?

She leaned into him, and laid her head on his shoulder. "You know, you look so cute when you blush like that."

Raff's mouth gaped open, his mind unable to grasp what she'd just said. Cute? Him?

She sighed. "Do you think anybody would notice if we just stayed here like this forever?"

Raff was so happy he thought his heart would burst. "I won't tell if you don't!" He chuckled, putting his arm around her and snuggling in closer.