The mythical Firebird

As soon as Tuma and Ms Murakami dropped him off, Travis did an about_face, deciding to head for the Animal shelter early. He didn't feel like spending his afternoon at home twiddling his thumbs.

Doc Jones and Bonnie were surprised to see him, but when he told them it was a half day, they believed him. Troy wasn't there yet; so they were glad for the help.

The Doc hit him up with the bad news that the other two seriously injured dogs hadn't make it. They passed yesterday afternoon and evening. He wanted to cry at the shame of it. This world could be so cruel. The news made him want to scream and cry all at the same time actually, but he couldn't fall apart, he had work to do.

He went right for Cojo's cage to check up on him to find he still hadn't warmed up to anyone. When he growled menacingly at him Travis caught the Doc's eye. She looked crestfallen. He knew that look. The dog had been conditioned to be aggressive. If they couldn't recondition him to be docile with humans; then she'd have to put him down. It was a safety thing. The poor dog didn't know he was signing his death warrant with every growl.

"Doc, "Travis pleaded, "let me work with him? I'm early and I can come in Saturday and Sunday this week. Give me some time to see if I can turn this around?"

She nodded her head in agreement, "But Trav don't get your hopes up. I've seen cases like this before. These animals are rarely able to be rehabilitated."

"I understand," And he did, he really did, but he had hope that if he and Kyle could turn their lives around maybe this dog could too.

She squeezed his shoulder before going off to work on a litter of kittens that had been thrown in a sack and nearly drowned. Like he'd said earlier, it was not only a cruel world, but a sick one as well.

Cojo was in the largest kennel they owned in the far corner of the room away from the other dogs. The cage beside him was empty and the German Sheppard in the one next to the empty cage was positioned on the farthest side form the aggressive animal looking up sorrowfully every once and a while when the other dog growled or lunged at the door towards him.

Dogs are smart animals. They know when one of their own has been abused. It was like the Sheppard was begging him to help the other animal every time he looked at him, and it was breaking his heart.

Travis sat there and just talked to the dog for hours and when he ran out of things to say. As he'd said before he wasn't a talker, he grabbed a text book from his backpack and began to read it aloud. Slowly the Bull got used to his presence and the sound of his voice and laid down, peacefully to sleep.

While he slept Travis took care of the other animals. He'd had so much fun bathing the mewing kittens he almost forgot all about his troubles -- Almost.

Troy showed up and took over for him when Trav went to sit vigil over the sleeping Cojo, but he shouldn't keep calling him that, not even in his head. He knew full well the power words had over others. He'd been called every name in the book when he was bullied and they'd held a great deal of power over him.

When he came up on the final large cage in the shelter the dog woke, but didn't lunge or growl, he only barked once to warn him to keep his distance, but that was a start. Trav went back to reading to him. It wasn't something Trav liked doing. He hated it actually. He knew he sounded like a complete dingus when he read but, somehow he just knew this was the way to get through to the Bull. He's instincts were screaming that this could work.

"What should we name you?" Travis asked the wary dog who kept one eye on him at all times. In doing so he was saying to the human I might not be able to get rid of you, but I don't trust you one bit.

It was 10pm before he knew it. Thank heaven Troy had gone out earlier to grab a bite and had brought a couple of burgers and fries back for Trav, or his stomach would have eaten itself. He wouldn't have had anything but breakfast otherwise. As it was he was hungry again by the end of his shift.

When Kyle and Ryan showed up to pick him up, he wasn't surprised. He told them all about the tracker and that it had been removed. So they might not have to worry about them being followed. Before getting on the bus though the three of them hit up a pizza joint and bought a few readymade slices for the road.

They chowed down on them on the ride home. The bus driver was one of those drivers that didn't like food on the bus, but he'd just given them dirty looks, no doubt because Travis was the approximate size of a house and black as the ace of spades. Yeah the guy probably thought he was a gang member or something just because.

The bus driver was quick to judge him by the color of his skin; imagine if he knew he was a troll, and not just the internet kind.

Ryan walked them to their door again just to be safe and Kyle joked when he went to walk away, 

"What no kiss?" He said with a huff. "MEN!" and pretended to storm off which made everyone laugh.

When they got to the room Kyle announced, "I'll take the first watch," and when Travis went to protest he insisted "Your day was way shittier than mine so yeah, I think you've earned the rack time first." Travis didn't have the energy to argue so he crashed after the briefest of showers.

He didn't wake up till morning. A yawning Kyle woke him at the usual time, much to Trav's surprise.

"Man why didn't you wake me?" Travis protested.

"Awww it was the cutest thing . . . You looked so peaceful sucking your thumb that I couldn't bring myself to wake you." Kyle snigger.

Travis punched him in the arm hard, but felt bad when Kyle let out an exaggerated, "OW!"

Travis rushed over to him and started rubbing the spot he'd hit in concern. Until, Kyle started laughing and said, "It's too easy."

Travis felt like punching him again but didn't, instead he announced, "For that you're buying breakfast this morning."

"Bro when am I not buying?" Kyle said and rolled his eyes.

They arrived at school with plenty of time to spare, but once outside the front door Travis froze. The memory of being thrown to the ground and cuffed still lingered like a bad dream in his head. He was afraid it was going to happen again.

When Kyle looked at him in concern, he tried to play it off, but he couldn't. He broke out in a cold sweat at just the thought of going through the detector again.

Kyle finally voiced his concerns when he looked into Travis' scared face, "Trav you okay Bro? If you don't want to do it, we can just go home. We've never played hooky before it could be fun. Or we could go see a matinee at the Cineplex? Whatever you want man." He threw his arm over his shoulder and started to walk away with him.

But Travis stopped in his tracks and turned around to say, "No I got this." He walked resolutely to the machine and uttered to himself, as he passed through, "I will not let my fear define me."

And before he knew it he was through and on the other side without a hitch -- much to his relief.

The gang waited for him at his locker. Which was pretty sweet. They didn't talk about anything; they didn't need to, they were there to show him they were with him no matter what, and he loved them for it.

Human classes went pretty normal throughout the morning, except for the stares and whispers his presence caused. He hardly had any classes with his friends most of his were remedial, and they were mixed pretty equally with the Enlightened and Un-enlightened alike.

He could tell what both sides thought. One group was thinking he was a gang banger or the next school shooter and the other was thinking he was in league with Liam and targeting the school. Neither of the groups looked very happy to see him in class. It would seem he'd already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion or even more accurately the notorious rumor mill of Haven High.

By the time lunch rolled around Travis couldn't wait to see his friends. The cold stares of the other students were starting to get to him.

Gladys had shown her support by calling out loudly when she served him, "Damn metal detectors always going off over the simplest of things." And when a few students started whispering behind him she fixed them with a hard stare before giving the smallest portion of food he'd ever seen to them. She nodded to him as if to say that'll fix 'em as he walked away.

When he reached the table with Friday's special his friends were all there eagerly waiting to ask him what had gone down yesterday. And his shoulders sagged at the thought. He didn't want to dredge it all back up again, but there was no way they'd let it go. So he told them everything and never missed a beat.

By the time he was done he had pushed his tray away having lost his appetite for his cold meal.

CJ whistled, "I can't believe that Commander Forsyth thought it was serious enough to see you?"

"Yeah what was he like? Are the rumors true?" Brenna asked eagerly as she leaned forward over her tray.

When he blanched over the memory she seemed to catch herself and muttered an apology.

"I'll tell you guys this: Forsyth is not on our side. He's a company man through and through. Let's just put it this way. I'm praying I get transferred anywhere but here."

One hundred percent of the table paled at the news. Trav felt bad, he didn't want to scare them, but he felt he owed his friends the truth.

"So what the heck happened yesterday anyway? Where did the tracking device come from?" Ray asked from his spot at the end of the table.

Lauren spoke up first which wasn't surprising. The girl could put Sherlock Holmes to shame with her sleuthing skills, "Guys I have an idea. It had to have been Liam. Who else would want to track us?"

"But he wasn't tracking us. He was tracking Trav." Kyle jumped in to remind them.

"Yeah why would he want to track Trav? No offense dude. "Quinn said as he reached over to punch his bicep.

"None taken, dude." Trav jokingly punched him back.

"What I can't understand though is when did they get a chance to attach a tracker to him without him knowing it?" Ollie asked.

Zach spoke up, "it must have been the first night he was being followed. A magical creature with enough power could have wammied him from a distance. I'm thinking it must have been the Aswang."

"But why? It doesn't make any sense." Connor added.

"That we don't know, but from now on I will be checking Trav daily to make sure it doesn't happen again." Lauren rubbed his back to assure him, but frankly, he wasn't very assured.

They ate in silence for the rest of lunch period. Travis forced himself to finish what was on his tray. He'd for sure be running this afternoon and he'd need the energy.

When the bell rang they all went their separate ways. Thank God they didn't have to line up any more to cross the barrier. Since the council doubled the guard they could come and go as they pleased through the invisible barricade. The funny phrase was back.

Once across, he went straight for Study of Magical Creatures and turned the doorknob to the left to enter the observation room where Ms. Murakami was waiting.

She just nodded at him today so he followed her silently. He began to worry that she might be mad at him. Did she blame him for what happened yesterday? It really wasn't his fault, but if he had to be honest with himself that wasn't entirely accurate, he had defied Liam several times which had brought him to the attention of the diabolical genius.

If he'd kept his nose out of it, he would have been just like all the students who had whispered and stared at him today. But that wasn't in the cards, it wasn't his style.

They went into the first recovery stall and he was shocked to see a creature he'd never seen before, he'd never read about it either.

Ms. Murakami spoke for the first time, "Approach cautiously. Firebirds are very dangerous and they have no love for man. It will take her a moment to determine that you are not human. Let her discover it in her own time. For now I ask that you stand back and observe."

"What happened to her?"

The magnificent creature looked remarkably like a peacock. But its tail feather instead of being just colorful plumage glowed in vibrant oranges, yellows and reds. Like a bonfire. Its eyes glowed a golden yellow too. It gave him a leery look as the Kitsune examined her.

"Some of our kind think it's perfectly acceptable to hunt and capture creatures like her. Her feathers are prized for their beauty as they continue to glow long after they are plucked. They have been hunted into near extinction by the Enlightened."

"Where did she come from?" Travis asked in wonder.

She was rescued during a raid on the menagerie. The council is cracking down on banned magical substances."

Travis felt bad for thinking there goes their supply of Troll Bile. He was happy the council was putting an end to practices like this, but most of the things that were banned were banned as a means of keeping the Halfbloods under their thumb and he most assuredly did not agree with that.

"Will she be alright?" he asked from his corner of the room.

"Yes in a few days we'll be able to return her to her natural habitat. We have a nature reserve in Serbia designed to safe guard Slavic magical creatures. She'll feel right at home there."

Travis was relieved to hear it.

They went in to visit the Alicorn next and Ms. Murakami surprised him with the good news that he was well enough to be released. Travis stroked his shiny black coat with his hand and hugged his neck to say goodbye feeling so grateful that he hadn't missed the moment, because he was away from class yesterday.

Before the Alicorn flew through the port door he took a moment to rest his magnificent head on Travis' shoulder. His horn rubbed his collar bone as the creature nuzzled his chest.

When a tear rolled down Ms Murakami's face she smiles at him and uttered, "He's showing you his respect."

"Aww thanks Dude. I like you too." Travis hugged him back before he turned and flew through the open portal.

Travis waved goodbye and quickly swiped his hand across his eye before anyone saw.

When he looked up through the glass partition he was happy to see some of the stares that were cold as ice earlier had warmed up considerably.

The rest of his afternoon went pretty much the same way. At the start of a class the students would whisper and stare, but by the time he had his last transmogrification class with Quinn, Meg, and Cam everyone had gotten pretty bored at looking at him funny and just accepted him for who he was -- just another magical freak.

The final bell rang as he trudged off to training with a sigh. How long would he be expected to run? Would no one intervene on his behalf? As the doors swung closed behind him le Fay called across the gym, "Weapons or Run Mr. Stone. Your choice?"

With his head held low he started for the track, but that's when Mr. Tuma entered the room and said. "Morgan a word please."

She begrudgingly went to her boss. He was her boss after all. Which Travis guessed wasn't a card he normally played.

She waved her hand in a circle over her head and they were enveloped in a privacy spell.

Travis didn't need to hear the conversation to see it wasn't one le Fay was enjoying. When it was over she chopped her hand in the air angrily and stormed off to sulk, but not before saying reluctantly, "Mr. Stone you may join the regular training class today."

Travis wanted to whoop for joy, but he wasn't that stupid so he did an internal happy dance instead and just smiled at his friends who were smiling back.

That night at Lauren's they discuss more details of the plan. Lauren shocked everyone when she mentions that there was a little problem they hadn't thought about.

"We can't possible lay in wait for Liam and his crew because the guards will see us and order us away or arrest us, besides if Liam finds away to portal into the school passed the first barrier we won't even know it." She'd explained.

"What do you suggest then?" Zach asks.

"Well if we attach a blood hound spell to the outside barrier of the school. It will let us know when it's breached."

Everyone started protesting at once. The room erupted in objections to the plan.

Lauren quieted everyone with a raise of her hand, "I know blood magic can be a very volatile form of magic, but it might be the only way."

"It won't work anyway," Zach reminded everyone, "we'd need the blood of one of Liam's crew."

Lauren sat forward to point out, "We already have Liam's blood or at least a reasonable facsimile. "

"Mine."

There was a quick intake of breath from everyone in attendance.

No one had thought of that. She was his fraternal twin after all; if their blood wasn't identical it was at least close enough.

"I'd need to get some supplies from the menagerie for the spell, but as soon as I do that we're golden." Lauren said confidently.

Suddenly Trav remembered what Ms Murakami told him, "Guys I forgot to tell you something Ms. Murakami told me earlier. The market was raided. It's been closed down." Travis informed his friends.

There was a collective groan throughout the group. The market was a lifeline for them and their community.

Cameron spoke up then, "Lauren I think between you, me and Brenna, we could probably come up with the missing magical ingredients?"

Lauren started making a list on her note pad right away and the three of them went off to the kitchen to discuss the details.

"We might as well call it a night everyone. Let's meet up again tomorrow night to prepare and perform the ceremony." Zach suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement and broke off into trios or pairs for the journey home. Travis, Kyle, and Ryan were on their way out the door when Lauren called from the kitchen.

"Don't forget I'm coming to your homes tomorrow to ward them. Send me a text with your addresses. Oh and Kyle and Trav I'm doing yours first; so no sleeping in."

Kyle groaned in response and Trav felt his pain. He was looking forward to a lie in himself.

However they both begrudgingly, but jokingly chorused, "Yes ma'am," before closing the door. 

****************** THANKS FOR READING********************

I hope you all liked this chapter.

Ancient blood magic sounds danger.

Do you think it will backfire on them?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.