Lady Atelia shut the doors of her chambers behind her. Her new dancing girls had been a lot of fun, but she still felt empty inside. Picking up the rattle she kept by her bedside, the events of that fateful day when her baby was stolen came rushing back, hurting like broken glass. She kept telling herself that one day, her child will just walk thru the front door and return to her.
Looking out of the window, she noticed a mottled sparrow perched on a branch outside staring at her. Instinctively, she readied a spell, but then held back as she didn’t feel any danger. After some moments, the sparrow seemed to make up its mind. Spreading its wings, it flew thru the open window, morphing into a young girl as it landed. “Mother?” Amber asked tentatively.
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Lyra shook her head in dismay as she gazed at Lady Atelia’s forbidding stone fortress. “I’ve got an idea.” Tobi announced. “Shari and I will disguise ourselves as servant girls and sneak in thru the back door to recover your transformation rock.”
“Are you sure?” Mika looked at her with concern. “That sounds pretty dangerous…”
“Not to worry. We’ll be careful, and nobody notices servants anyway. Besides, I had no trouble escaping from that beastmaster sanctum, right?”
“Tobi! Atelia is a powerful enchantress. Beastmasters usually aren’t particularly formidable, unless of course they happen to also be an animagus.”
“Why?”
“Because animagus beastmasters can control humans too. They are extremely dangerous. Regular beastmasters, on the other hand, need to be able to coordinate and micro-manage a large menagerie of animals, a task that requires a very high level of intelligence which they usually lack, since all smart people become wizards of course… EEYOW!” Mika yelped as Audrey pinched his ear.
“I’m sorry, what did you just say, mister first-rate wizard’s apprentice?” she asked menacingly.
“I meant… all smart people pursue careers that match their passions … OUCH! OUCH!” he yelled as Audrey twisted his ear in an unnatural angle. “Not good enough.” she retorted.
“Many smart people become warriors, like Audrey!” he blurted in pain, and she finally let go. “Much better.” she snorted. “Can’t have you going around filling the heads of youngsters with rubbish about class stereotypes.”
Lyra rummaged through her pack and produced two protective amulets, which she passed to Tobi and Shari. “Take these, and get Ander to help you with your disguises.” Turning around, she shouted “Everyone assemble! We’re going to help Tobi out by creating a diversion. Does anyone have any ideas?”
“Yup! We’ll just charge up to the fortress, break down their gates and crack their skulls together!” Audrey said brightly. There was a stony silence, and Lyra gave her a long, pained look. “Thank you, Audrey for your urm… thoughts.” Lyra replied with exasperation. “Now does anyone else have other suggestions?”
“Excuse me…” Zoanna raised her hand timidly. “I’ve got an idea.”
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The captain of the fortress troopers sneered as he surveyed the motley band of women warriors at the gates. “I wonder if they stitched their clothes themselves out of burlap sacks.” he snorted, looking with disdain at their ill-fitting armor in an assortment of colors and shapes.
“Sir! They’re requesting permission to cross the bridge.” a sergeant reported.
“Cross the bridge? The path to the bridge passes thru my bedchambers.” the captain leered. “Muster the men! Light assault gear!”
“But Sir, don’t we need to inform Lady Atelia before deploying any troops…”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Look at that – it’s just a bunch of women decked out like a circus troupe! Are you trying to make a fool of me in front of the Lady?”
Moments later, the fortress gates swung open and the captain led his troopers out. Waving his broadsword, he attacked the women commander, and just as he expected, she got tired after exchanging a few blows, and fell back with the other women in a hasty retreat. “Charge!” the captain yelled. “Don’t let a single one get away! Any woman you catch will keep you company in bed tonight!”
The troopers vigorously pursued the women warriors until they were a considerable distance from the fortress. As they rounded a bend, a signal flare went off. Abruptly, the ground beneath them burst into flames. Screaming in pain, the troopers tried to retreat, but found their return path blocked by a band of acolytes led by an enormous ogre. Just then, another group of acolytes helmed by an improbably muscular barbarian ploughed into their left flank, and then the warriors they had been pursuing wheeled around and attacked them from the front.
Scorched by the flames and assaulted on three sides, the troopers fled in disorder towards the remaining direction straight to the river. Upon reaching the shore, they plunged into the cool waters and bobbled around gratefully, relieved to soothe their parched skin and extinguish any articles of leather clothing that had caught on fire.
Another signal flare went off, and Mika released the magical dam that he had conjured upstream. The river uncoiled like a mighty serpent, and a roaring wall of water slammed into the hapless troopers, sweeping them away like leafs in a whirlwind.
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Lady Atelia quivered with rage as she glared at her captain kneeling before her. His beard had been badly singed, his fine cape was in tatters and a puddle of water was pooling beneath him. “And your pathetic excuse for this DISASTER is that you thought they were just a bunch of wimpy women?”