Jungle Witch

Ebony once again locked herself in that library for days on end. Although Naveen brought her food, she missed Jay. He had only come by a few times to see how she was doing. Every time she saw him, she’d ask him where he’d been, and all he would tell her was that he was very busy and not to worry.

Two days before the next Mista was due to transform, Ebony sat in the middle of the library glaring at the books around her. Perhaps her father had hidden that second journal a little too well. She knew it was in here, but without knowing what he transformed it into, she might never find it. Maybe she was better off trying to break the curse without the journal.

She let out a long weary sigh. That would probably take forever though. She wasn’t even sure how Lord Bura had managed to find a way to suppress it. He was never absent long enough to have studied it, and she didn’t think the Mistas would have let him that close.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of something. She could always use her darnot abilities to de-magic the room, but she wasn’t sure she had enough power to cover the entire library.

Maybe she could ask the darnot that had arrived earlier to stay with Esha Mista. But the darnot couldn’t leave Esha’s side, and the woman would probably never agree to come to Lord Bura’s Manor.

“Someone is shouting for you,” Raj informed her, lifting his head. “They smell afraid.”

Ebony opened her eyes and stood. “Can you tell who it is?”

“I think it’s the boy called Kumar. He sounds a little different though.”

She opened the library door and froze. In the parlor, a small scruffy black dog was currently in the middle of a transformation. When he’d finished, Kumar stood there gasping for air.

“Ebony, you have to come,” Kumar told her in a near panic. “There’s a griffin circling the city and he doesn’t seem happy. They’ll kill him unless you can get him to go away.”

“You’re a morph,” she said, ignoring what he’d just told her for the moment.

“What? Oh, yeah. Sorry I didn’t tell you before, but I just didn’t think of it.” The words poured out of him as fast as he could say them. “Now will you please come. The griffin looks angry so there’s going to be trouble.”

Deciding there was time to talk to Kumar about his magic later, she held her arm out for Venom. The snake coiled around Ebony’s wrist while reminding Ebony that griffins had a nasty temper.

“Let’s just find out what he wants before worrying,” she said, waving aside Venom’s concern.

Raj stretched and hurried after Ebony when she followed Kumar out of the house.

The moment they stepped outside, Ebony heard the screams. Everything was in chaos. People ran down the streets in a panic while glancing over their shoulders. Soldiers were running towards the source of the commotion. Judging from the looks on their faces, Ebony knew she had to hurry.

“Kumar, take me to the griffin.”

They shot down the street, searching for the griffin. She heard more screams. Rubble littered the streets and claw marks ran down the walls. Shoulders and elbows slammed into her as she ran down the narrow streets behind Kumar. She jumped a little when an angry screech echoed down an alleyway. The griffin had found his target.

They rounded a corner and saw the griffin standing on top of one of the buildings snarling at a man cowering against a wall below. Ebony glanced at the damage the griffin’s claws had caused as he tried to swipe at the cowering man.

The griffin was a beautiful creature with golden feathers and dark brown fur. His eyes seemed to have a fire in them as he glared down at the cowering human.

Soldiers had already filled the street and were aiming their arrows. One of them barked out an order that sent arrows flying through the air.

“NO!” Ebony shouted, throwing out her hands and releasing her magic.

The arrows burst into shards just before they hit the griffin. Everyone seemed to freeze as Ebony stepped so that she shielded the griffin. Her eyes blazed with temper.

“Don’t you dare harm him,” she warned the soldiers in an icy tone.

The men coward back, trying to back away from her wrath. One of them finally said, “That monster is terrorizing the city. We have to kill it.”

She pointed at the griffin and shouted, “He’s not an it. His name is Goldwing, and he hasn’t hurt anyone.”

“It’s a monster,” the soldier insisted.

He raised his arm and ordered the other soldiers to raise their arrows. Ebony raised her hand again, ready to stop them at all costs. Goldwing understood what was going on and prepared to launch himself into the air.

“Soldiers, stand down.”

Ebony looked over in surprise as Naveen stepped up to join her. When did he get here, she wondered. Then she realized he’d been in the manor when Kumar had come for her. Naveen must have heard what was going on and followed them.

“But...” the soldier started to argue, but Naveen cut him off.

“I said, stand down.” Naveen’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t question orders.”

“You can only give orders because your last name is Mista,” the soldier pointed out a little snidely.

“Your point is what exactly?” Naveen asked. He was surprisingly calm, given his temperament. “Regardless of the reason, I still outrank you.”

Slowly, the soldiers lowered their arrows. The one that had been arguing pointed out, “Then it’ll be your fault if that thing tears up the city.”

“Fine with me.” Naveen turned to Ebony. “Can you find out what the griffin is doing here?”

“Of course,” she said a little slowly. Turning to the griffin, she asked, “Goldwing, what are you doing out of the jungle?”

The griffin looked at the human cowering against the wall. “That thing took my yearling.”

“What?” Ebony rounded on the human. He was a civilian holding a medium sized brown sack that seemed to be wiggling. She stormed over to him. “What is in that sack?”

“Nothing,” he stuttered out.

“Liar!” she screamed, raising her hand to attack with magic.

The thief coward away with a small scream of terror.

Slowly, she lowered her hand and forced herself to think rationally. This wasn’t the jungle. She couldn’t just punish people as she saw fit here, just as wolves couldn’t hunt on another pack’s territory.

“Give me that sack,” she ordered the cowering human.

“No way. It’s mine.”

He ran only to come to a sudden stop when Raj jumped in his way with a snarl. The man let out a yelp and stumbled back saying, “Don’t eat me.”

The man turned to run the other way. Naveen jumped into his path, blocking his last escape route.

Naveen held out his hand. “Give me that sack.”

The man gulped and reluctantly gave Naveen the sack. Ebony came forward and opened it up. Inside was a creature about the size of a cat. She pulled it out to show everyone why the griffin was attacking. The baby griffin was nearly a replica of Goldwing.

“This is Goldwing’s baby,” she informed them all. With a gesture towards Goldwing, she added, “He only came to retrieve the baby.”

Goldwing’s enormous wings flapped in concern, and peered down at the baby in her arms. “Is Talon hurt?”

She examined the little griffin and shook her head. “His feathers are a bit ruffled, but nothing serious.”

“I want that human’s life for this,” Goldwing informed her. “No one takes a yearling without punishment.”

“I agree with you, my friend, but we’re not in the jungle. The laws of man are different than those of animals.” She turned to face Goldwing fully, careful to keep a gentle but firm hold on the baby. “You must let the humans deal with him here in their territory. Otherwise, how can I justify they let us handle them in the jungle?”

The griffin let out an annoyed screech but seemed to consider what she said for a moment. Finally, he nodded his head. “So be it, but only if you promise that he’ll be dealt with.”

“Of course,” she agreed and held the baby griffin up.

The little griffin flapped his wings as hard as he could and finally took flight. His flight up to his father was a little clumsy, which told Ebony that he had probably just learned how to use his wings.

“You shouldn’t have run off like that, Talon. Your mother has been very worried,” Goldwing informed his son. “We will deal with this back at the nest.”

Talon tucked his tail between his legs as his father launched into the air. The little griffin followed after Goldwing looking utterly dejected. He just knew his mother was going to give him a piece of her mind when they got back to the nest.

Ebony turned to Naveen. “You better make sure something is done with that man or I’ll serve him up to Goldwing on a platter.”

“We need to bring him to my family for...” He paused and shook his head. “Wait. That’s not right. You are the one in charge of this district so you decide how to punish him.”

She blinked at him in confusion. “What?”

“The man caused trouble in the Southern District, which means the Southern Lord is the one that deals with him,” he explained. He couldn’t help but add a little sarcastically, “In case you’ve forgotten, that’s you.”

“I’m not entirely sure that’s a good idea,” she said slowly, ignoring his sarcasm. He wasn’t doing too badly at behaving himself, so she could overlook the small backslides. “This isn’t my home and I don’t believe in human laws.”

Really, what it came down to was, this wasn’t her territory and she didn’t believe that she had any right to punish anyone here. She raked frustrated fingers through her hair. Her breath left her lungs in a whoosh as she tried to decide what to do.

“Why not ask the people that live here, because it is their district?” Kumar asked.

Reminded of the kid’s presence, Ebony looked over at him. He was standing right behind Raj with his hands in his pockets and a big grin on his face. Kumar was obviously very pleased that the griffin hadn’t been harmed.

“I don’t know,” she replied slowly. “The last meeting I had with people didn’t go so well, and most humans believe griffins are monsters.”

“I’m sure it will be different now that everyone knows you helped Commander Abhay get rid of your father,” he reminded her happily. “They may even apologize.”

“I don’t want an apology,” she grumbled. “I don’t really want to deal with strangers again.”

“Then what about the people that were at the last meeting?” Naveen suggested.

She considered this for a moment turning to the man who’d taken the griffin yearling. Personally, she would have liked to just let Goldwing deal with him, but that would cause trouble with the humans. Naveen and Kumar’s suggestion was probably the best option.

“Alright, I’ll do it,” she agreed with obvious reluctance. “Go get them, Kumar.”

“We’ll meet you at your manor,” the thief shouted over his shoulder as he raced off. He wanted to get going before she had a chance to change her mind.

Naveen glanced over at the man who’d taken the baby griffin. “Soldiers, detain this man and take him to the Southern Manor.”

While Naveen handled that, Ebony started to turn away, but hesitated and looked at Naveen. He was watching the soldiers lead the griffin-napper away, his face serious and determined. Maybe he had changed a little.

She fidgeted a moment then said, “Thank you for saving Goldwing, Naveen.”

He looked at her in surprise then quickly looked away. He felt torn between embarrassment that she had thanked him and happiness that she used his real name for the first time.

“Don’t worry about it,” he managed.

Just as uncomfortable, she quickly began walking towards the manor.

Naveen hurried after her. He flinched when Raj came up beside him, but he didn’t back away. In fact, he felt good. Ebony had used his real name for the first time and she had thanked him for something.

“How goes the search for a journal?” Naveen asked as he and Raj fell into step next to her.

She glanced over at him then decided to give him an honest answer. “Not so good. My father disguised it too well.”

“Can’t you use your darnot powers?” At her surprised look, he elaborated, “Commander Abhay explained it to me. Just me though. My family doesn’t know about them.”

Since she couldn’t fault Abhay for explaining the situation to Naveen, she let it go. “My darnot powers could do it, but it would be best if I knew what I needed to aim at. It would take a lot of magic to suppress every spell in the house. What I really need is some way to undo the magic on it without wasting my own.”

“What about the darnot staying near my sister?”

“I doubt your sister would ever agree to come to Lord Bura’s Manor, and the darnot can’t leave her side.”

When Naveen didn’t reply, she looked at him again. His eyes were on the ground as they narrowed in thought. Finally he looked up again. Whatever conclusion he’d reached about the situation, he kept it to himself.

Bura’s manor came into view as they rounded a corner. She felt a breeze ruffle through her hair, forcing her to shove a few strands out of her face. Her eyes narrowed briefly as she searched for Kumar. When she didn’t find him, she relaxed a little. There would be a little time before the meeting. Maybe that would give Jay time to get here.

That thought had her pausing. Why did she want him here so badly? No. ‘Want’ was not the right word. It was almost like she needed him here. Jay had this way of making her feel safe and secure, just like Sith did.

‘How had that happened?’ she wondered absently. How had she gone from hating him, to thinking of him as a friend? When had she stopped just wanting him around to needing him? Most importantly, what did it mean? She didn’t even understand her own feelings anymore. Then again, she hadn’t understood anything she felt since getting to Rivera.

“Ebony?”

She jerked out of her thoughts to find Naveen watching her as he held the manor door open.

“Are you okay?” he asked, concern on his face.

She nodded and stalked into the manor. “I’m fine.”

Before he could comment, Kumar burst into the manor and tried to catch his breath. “They’re coming right now. All of them.”

Ebony heaved out a breath. Maybe she wasn’t okay, she thought as nerves danced up her spine. She couldn’t do this. The humans wouldn’t see what the thief had done as a crime, so how could she expect the humans to do anything to this man?

Trying to keep her mind off the upcoming meeting, Ebony went to the kitchen to grab a pomegranate.

“They’re here,” Naveen called from the parlor when she was halfway through the fruit.

She made her way back to the parlor and looked out the window at the three men walking through the gates. Taking a few deep breaths, she tried desperately to remain calm. When that didn’t work, she grumbled, “Where is he when I need him?”

Kumar looked at her in confusion, but didn’t have time to ask who she was talking about. The priest, tavern owner, and Kumar’s father were just coming through the door. Everyone was so silent you could have heard a spirit whisper. Kumar looked between the adults and finally decided someone had to break the silence.

“Hi, Dad,” he greeted cheerfully. “Did you see that griffin?”

His father’s brown eyes looked at him with a little amusement. “Who didn’t see it?”

“Him,” Ebony corrected.

Gensha looked at her, his expression unreadable. Finally, he turned his gaze back to his son. “Who didn’t see him?”

The jungle witch looked surprised, but she relaxed a little bit. Maybe this meeting wouldn’t go as badly as the last. She still wished Jay was here.

Since Ebony didn’t seem ready to speak, Naveen came forward and told them about the griffin incident. Ebony was content to let him do so.

While Naveen spoke, she watched their reactions. All of the humans seemed angry, but that wasn’t unexpected. Were they angry because the man took the baby griffin or because she saved the griffin?

Chetan, the tavern owner, glowered at her. “Why didn’t you let them destroy that monster?”

That answered her question. Ebony’s black eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened. “You know, every time I think I was wrong about humans, one of you does something to make me think I was right. The griffin is not a monster. His name is Goldwing and he was only here to get his son. How could I have him killed for that?”

“He’s only an animal,” Chetan replied with a shrug.

Ebony wanted to wring his neck. “That thief is the one that was wrong. He took Goldwing’s son. You humans call it kidnapping when someone takes one of your young.”

“I’ll admit that the thief was foolish, but there’s nothing wrong with hunting griffins,” Priest Sundar replied, crossing his arms.

Before Ebony could reply, Gensha surprised them all by saying, “He did bring an angry griffin into the city.”

“Even I know that you get a very large target on you if you take a griffin’s young,” Kumar added, agreeing with his father openly. He did agree with Ebony too, but these adults didn’t care about that. “The scent of a yearling never goes away so the parents can always track it.”

“Look at the damage that griffin caused,” Naveen said, entering the conversation on Ebony’s side. “That thief took that young griffin knowing the griffin parents would come looking. He brought that into the city, and now, we have to clean up the mess. That, I believe, is unforgivable.”

Sundar and Chetan looked at each other for a moment then back at Ebony. She crossed her arms and glared.

“I don’t know that I would say unforgivable,” Sundar qualified a little, “but it was a danger to everyone.”

Chetan clasped his hands behind his back. “I suppose he should at least be punished for all the damage his stunt caused.”

It wasn’t why Ebony wanted him punished, but at least she could keep her promise to Goldwing. “Now the question is, what sort of punishment should the thief be given.”

“Well,” Kumar said, deciding Ebony would listen, “when I’m responsible for a mess, Dad always makes me clean it up.”

Gensha looked at his son then back at Ebony. “We could make him repair the damage the griffin caused during his rampage.”

“Wouldn’t that be too much for one man who needs to feed his family,” Chetan asked. “Who is this man anyway? Is he from our district, and does he have a family to worry about?”

Kumar nodded emphatically. “His name is Tenshi.”

“Tenshi...” Gensha’s eyes widened a little in recognition. “I know him. He works in the fields with the vegetables, and he has a wife.”

“He probably can’t afford to go unpaid then. No one in our district can really,” Sundar said, tapping his chin. “I do like the idea of making him clean up the mess though...Perhaps we can arrange for his family to be cared for?”

“No one in our district could afford to give any coins to his family,” Gensha reminded them with a touch of bitterness in his voice.

Ebony didn’t say anything to that, mostly because she wasn’t willing to put Naveen on the spot. He was shuffling uncomfortably as it was, which told her he already knew his family were the ones bleeding this district dry.

“Why don’t you just have him work in the fields for the first half of the day, then have him do repairs in the afternoon?” she suggested, bringing the topic back to Tenshi’s punishment.

There was a long silence as everyone stared at her. It was almost as if they couldn’t believe she would suggest something so civil. That thought had her back stiffening. Despite everything they still thought of her as a monster.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she bit out. Her anger had the pressure in the room increasing. “I wanted to let Goldwing have him.”

Gensha sighed a little and kneaded at his leg. “Forgive me, Lady Ebony. After our last meeting, you’d think I’d know that you aren’t what I originally believed, but changing old habits isn’t that simple. I hope you’ll be patient with me while my mind adjusts to the new facts.”

She considered him for a long moment then asked, “Do you think Tenshi should be punished because of what his stunt did to this district or because he took Goldwing’s yearling?”

The answer was immediate and without doubt. “Both.”

Something seemed to go click in her mind, but she set it aside for now. First, she wanted to deal with Tenshi.

“I’m assuming,” she began, “by all your dumbfounded expressions that my idea was a good one?”

“It could work,” Sundar admitted a bit grudgingly.

Chetan nodded in agreement, but with less hesitation. “It would work. He would still be earning his income and would be repairing the damage from his stupidity.”

It would seem Gensha was the only one that would admit that he’d been wrong about her out loud. That was fine. She didn’t want or care if they admitted it. Just so long as their feelings didn’t cause any trouble....And that was a lie. She wanted them to admit they’d been wrong about her all this time. She wanted an apology for chasing her out of the city. She wanted a thank you for helping rid them of Bura - though she had mixed feeling about that one. But, she could live without any of that, except maybe the apology.

“Then do that,” she told Naveen. “I’m sure you can see that it gets done.”

He nodded. “Of course. I’ll also need to go report these events to the Commander.”

“Stay for a moment first.” Her eyes turned to Gensha. “You too. I have something I’d like to discuss with the two of you.”

She felt someone grab her sleeve and looked down at Kumar. “You can stay too.”

The boy grinned at her.

Sundar and Chetan looked at her suspiciously, making her growl, “I’m not going to turn him into anything; so, quit looking at me like I’m my father, because I’m not. Will you ever admit that you might have been wrong about me, even to yourselves? Get out.”

She said that last sentence in a shout of frustration, sending the two men running. It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand their fear. She could. That didn’t stop it from bothering her.

Gensha watched Sundar and Chetan scurry out of the room then turned to Ebony. “Give them a little time. They’ll come around as soon as their minds catch up.”

“You adjusted pretty well,” she pointed out sullenly.

“Not yet,” he admitted slowly, not bothering to hide the traces of fear in his eyes. “What did you want to talk about?”

Deciding that changing the topic was best, she said, “You probably remember that the last meeting was about the future of this district.” At his nod, she continued. “I think I’ve decided what I’m going to do, but it requires your agreement and a promise.”

He tilted his head, curious.

Her eyes trailed over to Naveen and hesitated a moment. Todays events had done a great deal to show that he’d had a serious change of heart.

“I do want your honest opinion of all this,” she told him, “but wait until I finish before saying anything.”

Naveen nodded.

She gave a very small, grateful smile before saying, “I want to give the title and land of the Southern District to someone else, because I certainly don’t want it, and I’ve just decided who.”

Both of them looked at her expectantly. Naveen with a kind of determined resignation, and Gensha with worry. She hesitated and shuffled her feet one last moment, hoping she was doing the right thing.

Too late to go back now, she thought as she drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Gensha Tagore.”

For a moment, Gensha stared at her in confusion. Slowly what she meant sank in, and he opened his mouth only to quickly close it again. What was he supposed to say? He wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, so he clasped them behind his back.

“That would be great,” Kumar noted with a large grin. “You’d have to get rid of the protective spells in the manor before we could live here though.”

“I will,” Ebony promised, wishing she had some water. Her throat was so dry.

“It’s a good idea,” Naveen told her, easing the worst of her concerns. He sounded a little strained, and she realized this wasn’t easy for him. His eyes turned to Gensha. “You are respected, and you care.”

When Gensha started to shake his head, Ebony said, “Don’t decide now. Take time to think about it.”

After a moment of thought, Gensha nodded a little. He still couldn’t get any words to come out, so he left it at that.

“Is he okay?” Ebony asked Kumar with a frown.

The kid nodded, still smiling. “Of course. It’s just shock and terror.” Taking his father’s hand, Kumar added, “I’ll get him home. He’ll think better with Mom. She has a knack for getting him to see sense.”

“Alright,” Ebony said doubtfully, examining Gensha carefully.

Kumar began dragging his father towards the door. “He’ll get back to you on his decision.”

The door closed behind them. Ebony shuffled a little before turning to face Naveen. She knew that, despite his change of heart, he would be irritated with her decision. It was only right she gave him the opportunity to complain or vent, especially since he’d been so considerate.

When he drew in a deep breath, she braced for his temper. To her surprise, he only let that breath out slowly as if releasing his stress.

“I’m going to deal with the thief,” Naveen told her in a very controlled tone.

She nodded before saying, “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head. “My family hasn’t done a good job, so it makes sense that you would find someone who will.”

“I’m still sorry for the position that puts you in. I wish things were different and that there was another way.” She wasn’t sure who was more surprised that she meant it.

Naveen gave her a nod of thanks before heading out to inform the thief of his punishment.