The shifting to night brought about the changing of the guard for those members of the Pack that were on duty for the day shift, or at least on call. Many passed Sunny and Luna's "statued" forms mating with Kira with even noticing. Most of those who did were members of Robert's sub-pack. The other, was Kaylee.
"Mimicking my husband, Kira?" Kaylee gave a slight chuckle to herself as she, Fran, and Jensen made their way to their bedroom to get Julie and Darla. "and found love, I see... I don't mind them coming to you at night... it adds a rather interesting touch... but do not force them, please. And remember that they responsibilities to the rest of the Pack."
Kaylee then turned again to her husband and sister wife before a bit of wondering came to her mind.
"I wonder if they can get pregnant like that," Kaylee wondered to herself, "I mean, they're still alive in there, or is that dependent on their form and material? I might just have to ask them when I get the chance."
++++++++
"Oh, you're so sweat," Amethyst whispered Roger as he carried her into their room.
Terri, Sandi, and Jasmine were all there awaiting their turn on the night shift.
"I do it for you, you know," Roger licked the sparkling purple she-wolf's cheek.
"What about for puppies?" Amethyst asked.
"For them to," Roger gave a slight smile.
+++++++++++
Opal lead Caroline quietly to the "den" that the teen she-wolves shared. Inside, Maxine and Robyn lay on their beds facing the bed between the that Millie usually slept in.
"Good night, Caroline," Opal said to the dark blue teen.
"Good night, Opal," Caroline replied as she licked his cheek.
"Are you sure about..." Opal began to ask quietly.
"I AM, Opal," Caroline said, "Cobalt and I love you... we will become one again in our own way, so that we may love you together."
"I'm just making sure," Opal told her, "I don't want to see you hurt or suffering."
"You'll know if I am," Caroline smiled as she hugged him, before being forced to pull back from a chorus of "awwwwwwws" coming from inside the room.
++++++++++++
"Wait, I thought that you said that Marie wasn't a witch?" Lawrence asked.
"She wasn't," Marie answered.
"But she and Draco were talking about her using her "sixth sense" to learn about Linus," Lawrence spoke, "diving into his mind as it were. Now, contrary to Stan Lee, telepathy is not a trait that is natural to ANY animal. Humans, Lupmen, Leomen, Felmen... we're not going to evolve into beings that can naturally break the laws of physics. Marie would have had to know magic in order to do that."
"It is how she was able to communicate with the witches in their dreams," Marie explained, "and I said that Marie had the potential, but not the training. That still didn't make her a witch though."
"Wouldn't that make her just as dangerous as the witches?" Maddex wondered, "I mean the witches were evil but to a certain extent, they knew what they were doing. If Marie started messing around with magic, even to a small extent, wouldn't that be an even bigger risk if she didn't know what she was doing?"
"It could," Marie answered, "but Marie wouldn't really be going beyond the level of subconscious control that she had. Nothing beyond what she had done before, although you are right in saying that she would be engaging in something different from what she had done before, but thanks to the witches spells trying to create magic that would draw magic from other areas and bring that magic to Glendale, Marie's "sixth sense" would gain power naturally as a result of the witches' cheating, just as Merlin's cure gained power from Kurse's cheating on Big Bad Island."
"So history would repeated itself?" Abbey asked, and waited for Marie to nod before the other glass pup continued her story.
Marie then gave a heavy sigh, "but even that would not make her a witch. Amy was able to battle Kurse directly and used magic on her own to do so. That does not make her a witch. Madame Serenity intends to kill the game using magics discovered to date back to Merlin Ambrosius, but that does not make her a witch. Touching magic does not imply witchcraft. After all, the natural creation of souls through conception between males and females is a "miracle" on its own."
"Conception?" Cassandra asked.
"Making a baby," Alice explained.
"Ah."
"This all seems rather confusing to me," Maddex spoke.
"I'm sure it is," Marie sighed, "Nothing in life is simple."
+++++++++++
"Are you sure about this, Marie?" Katherine asked, "I mean, it feels like you'd be violating him, somehow."
"We need to know Katherine," Marie spoke, "He's been a help and I don't sense evil in him... but the way he has volunteered, the way he has acted, and by what he knows... it is all too suspicious for me."
"Not to mention that we are a team, Katherine," Draco commented from near the door, "should he really need to keep secrets from us?"
"I suppose not," Katherine sighed, "but it just seems wrong to sneak in and steal that information."
"It is what we have to do," Marie sighed heavily.
Katherine was about to say more when the elderly shaman came to the door.
"He has gone to sleep, madam," Running-Bear said politely.
"Thank you," Marie spoke and laid back on the be, ironically the one that Golgotha as Goldwyn had slept on.
++++++++++
Once Marie was asleep, she found her mental self inside something she hadn't expected. It looked like a long row of doors, each with name plaques on them, and above the doors as well. The name "Linus" was above each door.
Marie calmly went down the hallway until she came to a door with the word "memories" written on the plaque.
"Looks like the place to start," Marie commented and opened the door.
+++++++++++
She entered into what looked like a medieval laboratory filled with shelves containing books, papers, glass vials containing powders, and other strange objects. It was then that an elderly man trailed by a small boy entered the room.
"Why do you not tell the Prince Elector of what you can do to help?" the young boy asked.
"Princes do not listen wizards," the old man chuckled, "not since the days of Arthur Pendragon in Britain. Which is why I've generally kept things quiet about the "help" I've provided."
"Why?" the boy asked.
"Partially from fear, partially because not every witch and wizard is like Merlin," the old man answered, "some have been greedy and and used their magics to further their own gains, hurting the people they are supposed to help."
"Like you help the Prince Elector?"
The old man nodded.
"I help you?" the boy asked again.
"Is Linus really a wizard?" Marie thought to herself as the memory seemed to flash into another one.
++++++++
The next image Marie saw was the same old man coming across a family inside a very common looking dwelling. A young couple lay in a bed while a toddler sized boy clutched at the old man's hand.
"You came," the man coughed out.
"Indeed I have for old family friends," the old man smiled.
"It all came so sudden," the woman spoke in a weak voice, "while Leuther was out with the other children, being watched by his grandmother. We caught a rat in our pantry and killed it... and then..."
"I see," the old man spoke, "where is the grandmother now?"
"She got frightened when she saw us and our symptoms and fled, forgetting all about Leuther," the woman said weakly, "Please look after him."
"Please," the father begged.
"I will," the old man vowed.
And with that, the two died. The old man sighed heavily and looked down to the boy.
"You don't have the talent to practice magic, young one," the old man spoke, and then chuckled, "but in my old age, it might be better to have a young pair of legs to help."
"That's how he knows," Marie gasped, "His own godfather was a wizard."
+++++++++
When the flash of a break in Linus's memories stopped, she found him older and seated over the old man as he lay on his own bed.
"You've been out with the Jaegers, again," the old man sighed.
"They are good shots, sir," the now older "Leuther" answered, "we've brought deer and rabbits for the Prince Elector's feast. I even managed to get a few shots in myself. They said I did well."
"Like you have a talent for shooting," the old man smiled, "just don't focus all your time on such things. The soldiers of all lands are usually the lowest of the low, seeking some form of employment, and are commonly led by nobles seeking some obscure glory, as if killing people for their land or for the power of the noble makes them better."
"But won't people fight for something higher then that?" "Leuther" asked.
"Not for many years, and not even on this continent at first," the old man coughed, "the French may try, but ultimately their fight will be for their Emperor's glory..."
Leuther didn't know what he meant.
"Spend your time at study," the old man advised, "read every book of history you can find, study the politics of your age, study the bible, possibly even read the old tomes I have and give to your care... knowledge and wisdom are the REAL powers of the world. Not some General. Not some king, merely because he is royalty. And certainly not any wizard or witch. The more you learn and study, the more you will be able to provide your leaders with sound advice that they will need."
++++++++
Again there was a brief flash as Marie went through Linus's memories. When the flash died away, she found Leuther standing in military uniform before a man who's attire screamed royalty.
"The campaign was successful, Prince Elector," Leuther spoke.
"Yes," the noble spoke, "my Generals and contacts with the Hapsburgs have confirmed that they have made gains against the Turks. Some reports have told me that you were exceptionally brave."
"Thank you, sire," Leuther answered.
"I am concerned though with all your letters coming back to me and to my advisers concerning policies involving Laender's finances and legal codes," the noble answered.
"I had heard you say in court that those were chief among your concerns," Leuther spoke, "as an agent of your court who has studied these things, I thought it my duty to provide you with my advice and the pertinent information to allow you to make the best decision for the people of Bavaria."
"And the advisers I have on legal matters and the Laender's finances did agree with your advice," the noble admitted, "if you focused more of your time to military tactics and strategy, perhaps you would be a General by now and Bavaria would be able to exude some influence on the rest of Germany, and our alliances with the French and the Hapsburgs would not be entirely necessary."
"I was told to study everything I could, Prince Elector," Leuther told the noble, "my guardian felt I would be of more use to you as a scholar then as a soldier who knows nothing, or another noble who might seek to overthrow you."
"Your loyalty to a dead man is astounding," the noble retorted.
"He did not betray you or your House, and your House has respected him," Leuther answered, "Is he not a good man to be loyal to?"
"He was a good man, yes," the noble admitted, "but when you send me letters, presuming to advise me, I must believe that YOU are plotting against me. If I wanted your advice, I would have asked for it."
"I am loyal to you as well, Sire," Leuther spoke, "I have plotted against no one."
"All the same, you are a threat to me," the noble spoke, "and in honor of your guardian, you are to be exiled. I seek not to hear or see your name again."
"As you wish, Sire," Leuther said slowly, "May I ask that I be given time to pack my things?"
The noble nodded.
"But what brought him to the New World?" Marie wondered, "what made him so eager to fight the witches?"
+++++++++
At the end of the next flash, Marie found herself looking to see Leuther coming down the gangplank of a ship.
"You are "Linus"?" a man waiting for him on the docks.
"Yes," he answered, "Linus, a good and proper English name, isn't it?"
The man that was waiting for him gave him a strange look. He then apparently dismissed it.
"The new King has sent me here to help organize your colony's defenses against possible raids from Indians," Linus spoke.
"You do not wear uniform," the man pointed out.
"I refused a commission, sir," Linus answered, "I asked that my posting be more civil in nature rather then military. I had thought it would serve me better then to appear as some military man telling you what to do."
"An odd position for an officer of the King," the man replied, "I do kind of like that. It'll allow us to maintain that which we like. Our religious freedom."
Linus nodded.
"You are of the Puritan faith, aren't you?"
"I am willing to learn, sir," Linus replied.
"You mean convert," the man answered.
"Of course," Linus then nodded.
++++++++
Marie then watched as Linus served as a colonial administrator, although one without many of the formal trappings of power of other colonies that had closer ties to Britain at the time. He did convert to Puritanism, and he did send letters to London concerning issues that the local leaders had dealt with and how they did it. It explained his job in the new world, but to Marie, it didn't explain why he was so eager to join the witches.
++++++++++
Marie then found herself in rather plain office, with Linus's books lining the walls while Linus sat looking over various pieces of paperwork. What shocked her, and Linus apparently, was the sudden appearance of a spectral image of an old woman dressed in commoner's dress. Linus fell out of his chair from the shock.
"You are not Wilhelm," the woman spoke.
"Wilhelm?" Linus asked.
"Wilhelm Hertz," the woman answered.
"Who are you? Why are you looking for him?" Linus asked, "He's been dead for many years. Old age."
"You knew him?" the woman asked.
"He was my guardian when I was young," Linus spoke, "who are you?"
The old woman's image sighed.
"My name is Balthilde Volksheer," the woman spoke, "and if you're seeing this, I have died. Did Wilhelm teach you anything?"
"He taught me how his wizarding worked, but I lack the talent to cast spells," Linus answered, "How did you know him?"
"We grew up the same coven before my family moved when I was much younger," Balthilde's spirit spoke, "but there is no time. My spirit is passing from this plane and I could only appear to someone who had connections to or was a member of my coven. Since you knew Wilhelm, you'll do. Now listen carefully, I have three grandchildren. I've tried to teach them right from wrong and what is expected of a wizard or a witch to make the world better, but I fear that I have failed and their godfather will fail. They are going down a dark path and that could destroy all that is well and good in this world. They will unknowingly destroy the freedom of the people here..."
"Can't you stop them?" Linus asked.
"Young one, I am dead," Balthilde's spirit answered, "and I will be passing onto the next plane. You have to stop them. Please. Freedom depends on it... save the world... save it... save it..."
Linus sat on the floor watching as Balthilde's spirit vanished into nothing. She had been a friend of his guardian's and she had asked them to "save the world" to quote her.
"Is this the higher cause that Wilhelm had told me about..." Linus wondered.
+++++++++++
At that moment, Marie awoke to find Draco and Katherine still standing around her.
"Are you okay?" Katherine asked.
"Yes," Marie sighed.
"What did you learn?" Draco asked.
"He grew up in Bavaria, raised by a wizard who served the Bavarian Court," Marie spoke slowly, "this wizard knew the witches' grandmother when they were children, but Linus lacked the "talent" to carry on his guardian's tradition."
"So, the guardian told him about the witches?" Draco asked.
"No," Marie answered, "He educated him in the ways his magics worked, but Linus couldn't do anything with that knowledge besides guard it and possibly even explain it if he ever came across a young one that could do it, but that wasn't the only thing he did. He spent time hunting with several jaegers, and learned some military skills from them, including marksmanship, but his guardian didn't want him focusing all his attention on that and urged him to study every book he could get his hands on."
"A true scholar then," Draco commented, "a wonder he didn't end up teaching in of the universities then. It seems to me that he is certainly smart enough to teach there."
"It would have been a better career choice," Marie nodded, "but he stayed in the service of the Bavarian Court, rising through the ranks of the Bavarian military, but he went beyond what the noble expected of an officer and he was exiled before he became a political threat. He changed his name TO Linus and went to England."
"Beyond?" Katherine wondered.
"Offering advice on political matters rather then military ones," Marie explained.
"Why did he not stay with the army?" Draco wondered, "Most officers are usually well paid for their services."
"Because his guardian didn't want him to be some mindless or overly ambitious soldier," Marie spoke, "saying that soldiers fought for nothing more then land or power."
"But the Crusades?" Draco wondered, "to restore the Holy Land to the Christians?"
"The key word is "land"," came Linus's voice from the doorway, "and to be honest, it was NOT an epic clash of Christian and Muslim. It was a clash between the Pope and political forces that didn't follow him. The basic history says that the Crusades began after the Byzantines asked for help to regain territory lost to the Seljuk Turks. Not some religious decision to defend the righteous from the tyrants of Islam, and to be honest, the worst villains of that war were the Christians. They slaughtered Christians, Jews, and Muslims when they finally took Jerusalem. It was a political clash for the land. Nothing more. Whose definition of God was merely the excuse to covet that land."
"You're awake..." Katherine gasped.
"It is hard to sleep with you talking about me," Linus answered, "and with allies going inside my head without my permission."
"I wouldn't have done so if you had explained it," Marie spoke in her defense, "from what I could see, you had done nothing wrong. So why would you feel the need to hide your past from us?"
"Wilhelm was a wise man," Linus slowly admitted, "a white wizard. His magic did more to help victims of the plague then most of the doctors of our time have... but the Church has had a history of persecuting those who practice magic and modern scientists have begun to deny it entirely. And your intention has always been to fight these witches. So how would you view me when, by virtue who raised me, I am very much connected with the witches."
"It's an indirect link at best," Marie told him, "and to be honest, through a shared link of foresight I had met the witches in dreams when they were children. They offered friendship, and at the time, not knowing Katherine and being forced to hide my gender, I accepted it. To be honest, my mind probably was not in the best of places in that regard..."
There was a brief silence.
"And while I may not know everything about how witch covens function, I know choices," Marie spoke, "you chose to follow as your guardian raised and urged you to. The witches chose to follow some fantasy involving children."
"You... you wouldn't judge me?" Linus asked, "an agent of the Inquisition?"
"No. I would not judge you," Marie spoke. Katherine and Draco nodded.
"So why did you seek us out?" Draco asked.
Knowing that Marie would probably tell them, Linus sighed and went along it and answered the question.
"After in the New World and taking over minor duties for the local leaders to establish some semblance of a militia and do what I could to insure that their laws were fair to all," Linus spoke, "I was contacted by the grandmother of the witches."
"Wait, isn't she dead?" Draco asked.
"She is," Linus answered, "but apparently her soul was passing from this plane to the next and was desperately seeking someone from her coven that could stop her grandchildren from destroying the world. Whether or not she meant find a way to get them to reform or to kill them, I do not know. But she urged me to "save the world" as she put it. And well... it struck a memory with me over what Wilhelm had instructed of me in relation to combat and soldiering. When he died he told me that soldiers would not fight for something more then land and power for years. I didn't know what he meant then, but with the threat that these witches have proved, I had thought that this was what he meant. They are enslaving everyone they come across and leaving them believing they are free. What cause can be higher then restoring free will to the people of this land?"
"Dreams of glory never really fade, do they?" Marie commented.
"Perhaps not," Linus admitted.
"So can this spirit help us?" Draco asked.
"I'd assume she's in heaven by now," Linus answered, "we're on our own."
"Maybe, but we shall overcome the difficulties," Katherine said confidently, "together, and regardless of our pasts."
Marie and Draco nodded.
"Thank you," Linus spoke calmly, "thank you."