Wendigo Wars Read online

  “Eh hem.” A small cough made Mathilde open her eyes. In front of her stood Fleur. As usual she had drifted silently and unobtrusively into the room.

  “Hi Fleur,” Mathilde said, pushing herself upright in her chair.

  “Hi. I just thought I would come here for some inspiration. Tobias says that there are books on herbs and flowers here. Perhaps there will be something that helps me to work out how to help Costin.”

  “How is he this morning?”

  “Not good. His skin is grey, his mouth black and blue from his lips to his tongue. He looks as if he is losing himself to the wendigo spirits Mathilde.” Fleur shook her head sadly.

  “But how could that be? How could a serum open the door for the wendigo spirit? There was no time when he went to the spirit plain or the dream plains. He hasn’t slept since he took the serum.”

  “I’m not sure. I think he is a new sort of wendigo, like General Zhu. Perhaps the desire to be like the wendigo invites their powers but still lets the person retain a part of themself. I have begun to think that maybe he needs to have human blood and begin to feast regularly on humans to complete the transformation and until then he is stuck in between their world and ours. If we keep him trapped and don’t allow him near humans then hopefully he will not change any further and we can find a cure.” Fleur did not seem to look hopeful. “So what are you doing in here?”

  “I have found these books. This one in particular I think can help us,” said Mathilde holding up the copy of The Art of War. “As we know there were many battles and wars in history before the White. They were lost by many but they were also won by others. Perhaps we could use some of the tactics and plans used by those who were victorious in war to beat the wendigo or at least to rescue the captives.”

  “Have you found something?” Fleur sat down and looked impressed.

  “I think so. I am going to think about it more over lunch then call a meeting this afternoon. I think we can do this without the serum.”

  Fleur smiled with a knowing look which Mathilde ignored; not wanting any nonsense talk of the prophecy to follow. “See you later Fleur. Good luck with your research,” she called as she bounced out of the room, still not believing the prophecy but thankfully suddenly full of hope again.

  Over lunch Mathilde spoke to the Protectors and asked them to spread the word about the meeting to be held an hour later. The word went around the dining hall quickly and the sombre mood was soon buzzing again. Mathilde had planned just to meet with the Protectorate, Tobias, Jean Louis and a small selection of the Brotherhood but it soon became clear that everyone would be attending.

  One hour later Mathilde’s thoughts were proved correct as she stood at the front of the packed church. Behind her growling, howling and screaming noises came from the room that Costin was being held in. Mathilde shot a few sad looks towards the door as she waited for the crowd to settle but she was not surprised to see that most of the gathered crowd studiously tried to ignore the noises and looked anywhere but at the door. Mathilde turned to her father and Tobias who stood on the platform beside her. Dash sat in the front pew among several of the Brotherhood though he did not join in their conversation and still looked as depressed as he had the night before.

  “How is Costin?” asked Mathilde, turning to Tobias.

  “We are keeping him comfortable and praying - that is all we can do for now.”

  Mathilde nodded and turned back to the crowd. Tobias held his hands in the air and the chatter slowly stopped. Mathilde cleared her throat. Though used to talking to small gatherings she had never spoken to this many people, and all of them were warriors with high expectations of ‘the prophecy girl’. Mathilde felt as if centipedes were tumbling over themselves in her stomach but she tried to ignore them as she began to speak.

  “Thank you all for coming. I know that we are all sad that our high hopes of the serum have been dashed and I thank the twenty five of you who have still offered to put your lives on the line to take it.” At that Mathilde noticed that Dash looked up in surprise. She cringed as she spoke the next words and extinguished the glimmer of hope from his eyes. “But I cannot accept your offer. We do not yet have an antidote or cure and your sacrifice would be too great. I do not want to lose one more life to the serum and even from a military point of view it would be foolish. Only a poor warrior would willingly lose twenty five of their army whilst adding twenty five to their already vast numbers of enemy.”

  Mathilde did not look at Dash again, unable to take the hurt which she was sure she would see, but she did look at the crowd, the majority of which were now nodding in agreement.

  “And so I have been looking to great military forces of the past to learn of tactics in war. A war has not been fought for over a hundred years on our earth. There are no surviving humans who have a first-hand knowledge of war but there are documents and I have been studying these books to learn more. I have full confidence that the wendigo and, in particular, General Zhu, will not think to look to the past to find a way to win this war. Tomorrow we go to battle and I have a plan to see us to victory. Father Tobias will be gathering thirty of you today. We meet this evening in the dining hall to discuss our plans. I know that you would all put your life on the line for this mission but I ask you to be patient. We must take just a portion of your Brotherhood so as to ensure we keep our army complete for the future. For this mission a small gathering would be the most successful.”

  Mathilde slightly bowed her head to show that she had finished speaking and the gathered crowd all began to speak at once - some to each other and others clamoring to get to Tobias to put their names forward for consideration. Mathilde shot another glance at the room in which Costin now made whimpering noises then she moved to leave the church. Once outside she found Dash leaning against a wall.

  “Hi. Are you ok?” Mathilde asked, sliding her arm around Dash’s waist and leaning against the wall next to him. The now familiar tingle ran up her arm and through her chest as she smelt the clean, warm smell which was unique to Dash.

  “No not really,” Dash sighed. “That serum was our best chance. I know you are right but it still hurts. Do you think we’ll still be able to save Suzanna with your plan?” Mathilde’s heart almost broke as Dash looked at her and she saw his eyes shine with unshed tears. She didn’t have the heart to remind him that they did not know if Suzanna was even alive anymore.

  “I am sure our plan will work and we will be able to save everyone in there. Trust me ok? You always ask me to trust you and now I’m asking the same. I have a good feeling about this plan. It’ll work.” Mathilde did have a good feeling but still she hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt.

  Mathilde kissed Dash then said a reluctant goodbye. She had neglected her training over the last couple of days and now that her injuries had begun to heal she didn’t want to put it off any longer. The thought of going into battle as untrained as she felt at the moment made her shudder. Walking into the training room nearest to the Protector’s sleeping quarters she was pleased to see that Jewel, Louisa, Alan and Seb were in there. They looked over Mathilde’s shoulder and, seeing she was alone, greeted her heartily.

  “So what’s the super plan then Mathilde? Do I get a lead part?” asked Jewel, not missing a beat in her sword fight with Louisa.

  “Ha! But I am so much better with a sword,” laughed Louisa, spinning round and almost catching Jewel out as her sword tupped the handle of one of the two swords Jewel was holding loosely.

  Mathilde laughed and began practicing at throwing knives. Alan called instructions from the side and each time she threw, following his advice carefully, her aim improved. Seb watched from the side, legs stretched out in front of him. He smiled easily and watched every move Mathilde made. The sun had made it clear of the hills and trees now and shone bright and warm through the many training room windows. The room smelt sweet with the balms that the Seb had started to rub on his muscles so that they didn’t lock after so much training.
Mathilde had not seen him do much since she had entered the room but his top was soaked with patches of sweat which told a tale of hard work before she had come in. His strawberry blond hair clung to his forehead and cheeks, dampened by water which he had splashed on his face moments ago. Mathilde felt light hearted again as the comfortable happiness of the campfire the night before returned.

  Before long the group was exhausted and they made their way to the dining hall to eat, chatting and laughing as they went. Once they had settled down Mathilde looked around the room but couldn’t see Dash anywhere. Sighing she turned back to her friends who were chatting happily.

  “Come on then Mathilde, what is this big plan?” asked Alan and the group looked expectantly at her, chewing slowly as they waited. Mathilde took a big breath and began to explain.

  Chapter Twenty Six

  “So you are expecting us to create our battle plans around the teachings of a bloke from the 6th Century BC?” asked one of the Brotherhood incredulously.

  The gathered Brotherhood, Tobias, Jean Louis, Fleur and Dash stared at Mathilde, waiting to hear more. At either side of her sat her Protectorate, thankfully looking as confident as she did, having already heard her plans and discussed them at length earlier in the day.

  “Yes,” said Mathilde with the determination and confidence she was finally beginning to feel. Jean Louis looked at Mathilde and smiled. She supposed he was probably happy that she was beginning to act more assertively for once. She felt an equal measure of happiness at his approval and irritation at him only ever caring about her as a Protector, not her as a daughter.

  “Many battles and wars have been planned and won using the writings of Sun Tzu. I’ve spent many hours reading his work and looking at maps of the Polovragi caves. I think we may have a plan that will work.” Mathilde looked round the faces at the table and was reassured by the nods and smiles her Protectorate were giving, though most of the rest of the people around the table still looked confused.

  “There were three quotes in particular which made me start to think about our enemy and how we can gain the advantage over them. Tzu said that in war you should pretend inferiority and encourage your enemy’s arrogance, that you should lie in wait for your enemy and be patient then attack at the right time and that you should be skilful in your attack so that your enemy does not know what to defend.”

  Mathilde stopped to breathe, her words having rushed out all in one breath. She noticed that everyone had begun to look more interested and there were more than just a few people nodding now. Jean Louis was grinning hard and had leant back in his chair with his arms folded, taking in the scene. Even Dash had begun to look hopeful again and Mathilde caught his eye and smiled. He returned the smile and Mathilde’s spirits lifted even more to see a glimpse of hope on his face again.

  “From what we know of Zhu he is definitely arrogant,” said Seb.

  “Yes, that is true,” said Dash, nodding emphatically in one of his rare moments of agreement with Seb.

  “Exactly,” said Mathilde. “That and distraction will be two of our main strengths. Our third strength will be the element of indecision. We give him a difficult choice; keep the captives from escaping or attack our army.”

  Finally everyone at the table was smiling, nodding or even laughing. Mathilde felt buoyed. She hadn’t even shared her plan and yet they seemed to be on side already.

  “So here is what we do,” Mathilde began. “I have looked at many maps of the caves. There is one main entrance in, the entrance that Dash has seen, wide enough for us to walk eight at a time and narrowing at the end where it opens into the main chamber. That is not the only entrance though. There are hundreds of small entrances among the mountains. Some are high and wide enough for people to walk two at a time, some are only big enough for a person to crawl through. There is one entrance through which people can only pass one at a time but it exits only metres away from where Dash says the captives are being held. So our plan is based on exploiting Zhu’s arrogance, distracting him, making him choose how to use his forces and making the best use of the environment we will be fighting in. All tried and tested methods from Sun Tzu’s day onwards.”

  Though she was not a great believer in omens Mathilde liked that the name ‘Sun Tzu’ sounded so similar to Zhu. It gave her the extra small bit of confidence that she was meant to have found that book and that it should lead them to victory.

  “We will attack on two fronts. While most of us go through the main entrance a small party of five will go through the entrance which leads to the captives. We will attack in the day time when the wendigo’s energy is at its lowest. We will go through the tunnels and come out at the chamber part of the cavern where Zhu, and his second in command Gein, should be. I will talk to Zhu,” Mathilde said, feeling sick with nerves even at the thought of it. Obviously a few others shared her concerns as a few people raised eyebrows at this.

  “What will you say?” asked Jean Louis looking curious, but annoyingly not concerned.

  “I will discuss his ideas and act as if we have come to negotiate. I will play to his ego and hope to distract him enough to give the other group time to free the captives. Once they have been freed two of the second group will take the weak, young and elderly back out of the second entrance and the other three will make their presence known. Then we will see who the wendigo choose to attack. If they attack the captives and the Protectors with them then we charge from the tunnel. If they attack us then the captives do the same. If they divide to attack both groups... well that gives us our best possible chance. We each hold back in the tunnel and entrance to the captive’s area and so control how many of the wendigo can get to us at any one time.”

  “And then?” asked Tobias.

  “Then we pray,” said Mathilde, taking a final breath and leaning back in her seat, ready for any questions. Tobias nodded and smiled at her answer. Mathilde was surprised she had even said it. Maybe she did believe in God after all. “We leave tomorrow,” she said.

  Chatter broke out again and people started to leave in small groups. Jean Louis gave Mathilde’s arm a proud squeeze as he passed and Fleur gave her a sparkling smile and a wink. Dash was the last to leave and he waited until everyone had gone then gave Mathilde a big hug and a passionate kiss.

  “I knew you would think of something to save my Suzanna.”

  “Dash...” Mathilde hesitated, wondering whether to say what she was thinking or just enjoy the moment. Her honesty won through. “Dash, Suzanna might not still be alive. You have to be prepared for that.”

  A dark look crossed Dash’s face and a shutter seemed to go down behind his eyes, blocking off the glimpse of soul Mathilde had been able to see seconds earlier. He let go of Mathilde and stood back a step.

  “She is alive Mathilde. I feel it. I don’t need you trying to make me question my own mind. Tomorrow we will find her and she will be safe and well.”

  Dash’s voice sounded cold and harsh. Mathilde wondered if she could really be in love with someone who could shut off so suddenly and whose moods switched constantly.

  “I’m sure she will,” said Mathilde, not wanting to get into that argument right now. She cursed herself for ruining the moment and gave as close to a bright smile as she could muster. Dash smiled back.

  “Come on, let’s make the most of the rest of the day and spend some time together,” Dash said, putting his arm around Mathilde.

  “I can’t,” she said, smiling apologetically at him. “I have everyone’s lives in my hands tomorrow. I need to make sure that everyone knows their part in the plan.”

  An irritated look crossed Dash’s face. Mathilde rushed to smooth things over. If she was going to die the next day she didn’t want to do it with an argument hanging in the air.

  “For Suzanna... I should be at my best if we hope to save Suzanna.”

  Dash’s smile returned. “Yes, for Suzanna. Thank you Mathilde. I will see you this evening at dinner.”

  Mathilde smiled and no
dded then walked away. Again she wondered how stable Dash was and if he was really interested in her just for the chance of saving his sister. The whole exchange made Mathilde feel a griping, sickness in her stomach and she hurried off to speak to each of the people coming with her the next day in the hope of blocking Dash from her mind for a while.

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  The group of thirty one men and women stood and stared at the mountain and the black hole that seemed to invite them in. Five of their group had left them almost an hour ago and by now would be arriving at the second entrance. It was now just ten minutes until the agreed time for action; time for the group of thirty one to begin their journey down the tunnel. Mathilde turned to the group and nodded then began to walk. The rest of the group followed her quietly in groups of five and four.

  The journey had been shorter than Mathilde had expected. Just a few hours walk from the monastery to the caves and the sun was only just working its way up. Now that they had arrived Mathilde had begun to feel the beginning of nerves tugging at her stomach and throat. She swallowed hard and took a big gulp of air to chase them away, hoping that no-one behind her could see how nervous she was. Turning to look back at the group she caught Dash’s eye and he grinned hard, looking more alive than ever. She smiled back with what she hoped was an air of calm and counted her blessings that Seb was leading the group at the second entrance. He would have seen past her mask of confidence in seconds.

  Mathilde took the first step into the cave entrance, torch held high. They had decided to do most of the journey with one torch then extinguish it and guide their way by touch when Dash told them that they were nearing the exit into the chamber. The first steps into the cave took Mathilde onto a steep decline. The group walked in silence for ten minutes and Mathilde’s ankles and back began to ache at the strain of walking at such an angle. As they walked Mathilde saw shadowy sinister paintings on the walls similar to the ones that she had seen second hand in Dash’s memories of the main chamber. All in blacks and grays and mottled with green from the lichen on the walls, there was a menagerie of animals and, at one point, the Grim Reaper – an almost exact copy of the one which Mathilde already knew they would see when they reached the end of the tunnel and saw Zhu’s “throne”.