55
Pterolycos
When they reconvened two days later, Ammu ushered them into the conference room rather than the basement. The accordion-like barrier that had been serving as a wall between the classroom and the gaming room had been folded back away into its storage slot, so that the entire space was now one large, open room again, with an expansive, dark foam cushion laid out over the carpet, extending across the room from one side to the other.
The gaming setups that had nestled against the temporary barrier were now sandwiched between the others instead, and the classroom area had been cleared of everything except for Staff Sergeant Miller. The students sat on the floor in front of Ammu, but Kaitlyn kept craning her neck around, trying to get a better look at the cameras, microphones, and other recording equipment that had been mounted high up along the back wall, near the ceiling.
Ammu retrieved the book from his satchel, laying it carefully on the floor in front of him, open to the page depicting the beautiful flying wolf.
“This creature,” Ammu began, “was known as a pterolycos. The word, unfortunately, means ‘flying wolf,’ which is entirely inaccurate. It is not a wolf that flies—just as the gryphon is neither a bird nor a lion—and I would encourage you to embrace that distinction.
“The pterolycos is aligned with the forces of life, so even if we were entirely unable to control it, it would always protect its summoners. Our greatest security measures, therefore, are Mackenzie’s blessing of the circle and Sketch’s ability to screen the creature coming through, to make sure that it is, in fact, what we intend it to be.”
Sketch nodded happily. It was nice to feel important for the very same thing that used to make him feel crazy.
“Today’s exercise will require more space than anything we have attempted before, so this room has been prepared for our purposes. When Alexander the Great fought his most critical battles, he and his generals brought forth creatures into this world that were of tremendous power. The men worked in partnership, both with the spirit beings and with each other, to ensure that the forces of good would be victorious.
“All human beings are unique, and Alexander and his generals were certainly no exception. Each had his own affinity within the realm of the unconscious mind, just as each of you has his or her own special awareness of the world. They learned to work together, bringing their individual talents to any task set before them, so that as a team they were infinitely stronger than any one of them ever could have been alone.
“What I would like for you to do today, in summoning the pterolycos, is to interact with the creature together. Just as Rush is able to convey the behavior he desires through thought alone, so I believe the rest of you will be able to communicate your own intuitions as well, enabling the team, as a whole, to take full advantage of all of your unique gifts.”
He smiled at each of them, silently acknowledging their abilities.
“So!” he concluded. “I am certain that you would all prefer interacting with a pterolycos over listening to me pontificate any longer, yes? You may draw the summoning circle directly onto the floor covering, anywhere you like, when you are ready.”
Kaitlyn took the chalk from him and glanced at the picture one more time for reference. “I have it,” she said.
“Mark,” Mackenzie said, choosing their starting position.
Sam looked at the boys, who all nodded in reply.
“OK, then,” she said. “It’s go time! One… two… one, two, three, four!” In what seemed like almost no time at all, Kaitlyn was drawing the last rune, and Sam was counting them back down to the portal.
“Five… four… three… two… one… now!”
Sketch nodded as soon as the portal opened, and moments later the pterolycos sailed into the room. It was the first creature they had seen emerge from the tunnel with any aplomb, so when it leaped gracefully from the portal and unfurled its wings, gliding gently to the floor and turning to look at them all with interest, Kaitlyn gasped in amazement.
“It’s even more beautiful than the picture!” she exclaimed.
It was easily twice the size of a normal, flesh-and-blood wolf. Its silver fur rippled with light, as though shining from within, and the white of its wings was just as pristine as Kaitlyn had envisioned. Where the gryphon cub had been nervous at first, the pterolycos allowed them to approach with confidence, nudging them each with its nose in a friendly sort of way and shimmering into its more physical form when it realized they wanted to touch its fur.
“How does it feel, Rush?” Ammu asked, beaming with their success.
“It’s not fighting me at all, like the bad thing did,” Rush said, “but it’s not like the gryphon either. The gryphon feels almost like a pet. This feels more like a wild thing, but a wild thing that’s willing to work with us, if that makes sense.”
“It does. Perfect sense,” Ammu said, clearly pleased. “See if it will do something for you.”
Rush considered his options. He couldn’t ask it to sit, like a dog. It felt too regal for that. He understood what Ammu had meant about working in partnership with the higher spirits, rather than commanding them. This creature felt elegant, noble—more like a fairy tale prince than a wolf. It was a citizen of its own world, with a keen intelligence—an intelligence that was not even remotely human, to be sure, but nonetheless equal to his own.
“I don’t know what to ask it,” Rush said finally.
“Good,” Ammu reassured him. “We are in uncharted territory together. Anyone? Suggestions?”
“Can we see its battle armor?” Sketch asked Rush.
“Oh, that’s a good one. Do you have armor that you could show us?” Rush tried asking it. “How do you look when you fight?”
The pterolycos looked around itself immediately, but seeing no obvious threat, it did nothing but return to staring at Rush, its thoughts unreadable.
“No, it’s OK,” Rush told it. “There’s nothing to fight right now. I just wanted to see what it would look like. Your armor, I mean. If you have any?”
The pterolycos tilted its head as though trying to understand his words.
“Its armor is tied to its emotions,” Daniel suddenly blurted out.
“Excellent, Daniel,” Ammu prompted him. “Trust your intuition. What does that mean, that its armor is tied to its emotions?”
“It… when I think of it like this,” Daniel said, trying to feel out exactly what it was he was sensing, “I hear the tune I sang when we summoned it. But when I think of it fighting, well, I don’t know what that looks like, but it feels… not angry, exactly, but more… energized? The tune gets a lot more intense, like a symphony going through a different section of the music.”
“Fascinating!” Ammu exclaimed. “Can you sing it, Daniel?”
Daniel imagined the tune again with the intention of humming it, but as soon as he heard the first few notes in his mind, the pterolycos snarled, showing its teeth, and the hackles raised up on its back, the fur bristling all along its body.
Kaitlyn, who had been standing the closest, jumped backward so fast that she fell down on her rump, but Rush helped her up and dragged her out of harm’s way. Ignoring them, the creature snapped open its wings and raised itself into the air, shimmering into its less physical form, and before their eyes, its body transformed with a single ripple, looking as though it had been coated with the finest steel plating, every feather of its wings suddenly glittering like diamonds.
“It’s even beautiful when it’s mad,” Kaitlyn breathed.
“It wants to know where the danger is,” Mackenzie said suddenly.
“And when it’s coming,” Sam added.
“You can hear it?” Ammu asked excitedly.
“Not in words,” Mackenzie said, clarifying. “It’s more like… sensing a request for information.”
“Ditto,” Sam agreed.
“It’s mad?” Miller asked, walking toward Kaitlyn. “Why is it mad?”
Seeing the motion, the pterolycos snapped its head toward Miller, growling deep in its throat.
“No!” Daniel shouted, but his sudden fear seemed to agitate the creature even more, and it furled its wings, preparing to dive toward this new threat.
“Stay!” Rush yelled, throwing both hands into the air instinctively, trying to hold the creature back long enough to keep it from ripping out Miller’s throat. The pterolycos snapped its wings back out immediately, braking hard and hovering in place, but it glared at Rush, baring its teeth and snapping its jaws in annoyance.
“It’s just trying to protect us,” Rush said, the tension in his voice reflecting the mental strain of holding such a powerful and intelligent creature against its will. “I can’t hold it for very long. Get Miller out of here. We need to send it back.”
“Stop!” Sketch shouted at it, his voice as commanding as Rush had ever heard it. Sketch remembered what Ammu had told them about the dangers of trying to control powerful things, and he was frightened by the toll that Rush’s efforts were already taking. “Miller’s our friend!”
Sketch usually saw a pod of miniature dolphins swimming around Miller, but he was afraid the pterolycos would not understand the image, so he turned to the man now and imagined instead an aura of golden light shining around his body. He had never before tried to imagine someone in a way he did not actually see them, but he could sense the creature questioning Miller, seeking his nature—and where this creature came from, a being’s alignment with the forces of good or evil was usually reflected in its form.
“Look!” Sketch shouted. “See?” But even before he said the words, the creature’s armor was already disappearing back into its body.
Rush released it with a groan, falling to his knees and holding one hand to his head, continuing, nonetheless, to watch it warily, but it merely landed back on the floor and nodded regally toward Miller, who was staring helplessly at Sketch, clearly trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
“OK, controlling things directly is so not the way to go if you can help it,” Rush said, gritting his teeth.
“Are you OK?” Sam asked, looking uncharacteristically worried.
“Yeah, I’ll live,” Rush promised. “Killer headache though.”
“I believe that is quite enough for today,” Ammu pronounced.
Sam knelt next to Rush, putting an arm around his waist to steady him and ducking under his shoulder. He accepted her help gratefully, leaning against her body more heavily than she had expected, but still, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Time to go,” Rush said, addressing the pterolycos. “Sorry about the misunderstanding. No hard feelings?”
This much, at least, the creature seemed to understand. It bowed its head to Rush, just as it had to Miller, and it flew back into the open portal, departing just as gracefully as it had arrived. But Kaitlyn had barely closed the portal behind it before Sam yelled for help, Rush’s body having collapsed against hers entirely as he passed out cold.