Secret Novel Chapter 39: A Friend In Need (Patreon)

The snow gently drifted down onto Madeline’s garden as she worked in the plots. It had quickly become colder after her birthday, and snow was finally taking over the Maze. Thankfully the magic of her garden kept all her plants alive and growing as if there wasn’t any snow. Still, having to dig around a small layer of snow to bury a part of a plant to regrow it was a little annoying. Her hands didn’t get too cold thanks to her potions, but she did still wear a pair of gloves that were in the mage’s pack that she stole over four months ago now. Working in the Garden always produced dirty hands so wearing gloves was becoming the norm for gardening.

Picking a few flowers, Madeline put them into her almost satchel like pouch. Though she had already put a lot in and had yet to find a limit, she never felt bad about adding a few extras of the same flower. She also wore the pouch everyday now. It came in handy when making potions and different things. She also wore her hedge cloak most she went outside for longer than five minutes. It wasn’t needed for warmth thanks to the potion. It was just nice and comforting to wear while out in the cold. It also had a bunch of pockets on the inside that she methodically stuffed with different plants.

Once done with the plot, Madeline looked around her slightly snow covered Garden. Even in the dead of winter with a layer of snow, it looked lush and green. Thankfully none of Victor’s and her’s training had damaged her garden in any major way. She did accidentally start a small fire in one of the plots, but the pair of them were able to save it. Training had been going well for the most part. Their understanding of each other's feelings helped quite a lot, so there were no more arguments. She found that attacking back was easier than she had thought, at least at first. Aiming wasn’t a problem. What was a problem was when Victor started to also deflect instead of taking the brunt of the attack.

She had been getting used to attacking, but him deflecting really threw her off. It was obvious that the mage’s would deflect the spells, at least when they realized that she had magic as well. Throwing one attack at Victor was easy, throwing enough to hit him once he started responding was a nightmare. She left every training session being exhausted and barely able to stand. She used all she had and only ever hit him a few times. She still managed to hit a beyonder, which hopefully meant she could easily hit a mage. Hopefully. Madeline had become so exhausted by the training that they started training every other day so that she had time to recover. Elliott even came once to help train her since ze had actual experience fighting mages. That day was worse since Elliott really hated mages. Victor and her had an understanding about what kind of force Madeline was willing to use, but Elliot was still under the impression that she should learn to kill. She understood where ze was coming from, and thankfully Victor managed to calm things down a bit with their sibling after some talks.

Stretching and standing up, Madeline felt her tail give a stretch and push out of the slit she had made in the back of her cloak. It felt restricting to have her tail stuck under the cloak so she made the slit, not caring if it would let cold in as she had her potions. After the stretch it fell back down into a very gentle wag still outside the cloak. She was getting used to the massive tail hanging from her rear. Sometimes she even liked it and had to begrudgingly admit that it did fit the look she had with her ears and nose. The only part she really didn’t like was having to dry her entire tail after taking a bath. That was annoying. It was easier with magic than it would be without but it was still a pain. It was a comfort to hug at night, oddly enough. She even let Victor pet it a few times. Only a few. She wasn’t sure she could handle a man, let alone Victor, pet her like that consistently.

Moving on to another plot, Madeline looked to the sky letting the snowflakes fall on her face. It was still surprising just how well her potions worked at keeping her warm. Even with snow directly on her skin it didn’t feel too cold. She was also impressed that her magic could create a potion that helped her stay warm, unlike the mages who had to use cloaks and clothes imbued with warmth. The more magic she learned, the more curious she got about the mage’s equivalent magic and was surprised that the witch’s were often better. At least most of the time in her opinion. She did have to wonder how the mages even won the war against witches if this magic seemed superior to theirs. Maybe it had something to do with the mages simply implanting crystals to use magic instead of having to slowly build and practice to strengthen their own personal magic.

“Little witching flower,” a deep and expansive voice called out through the garden.

Madeline’s ears were facing the right direction before she was. The call came from the fountain square, and she instantly recognized the voice. It was Carver, the groundskeeper she had met two months ago. If knowing the voice wasn’t enough, she could see his head poking over the grand illusion.

“Carver!” she yelled out and waved to him.

“You remember my name,” he sounded pleasantly surprised.

Heading over to him she said, “Of course. I didn’t know when I would see you again.”

“It is time that we talk to you once more.”

Madeline raised an eyebrow at “we”, but didn’t say anything. She did however look around to see if Victor had reappeared now that there was another guest. The beyonder had some family matters to take care of for today and didn’t say how long he would be. Hopefully he wouldn’t be gone too much longer. Seeing that he wasn’t there, Madeline walked up to the illusion and passed through it to see Carver on the other side.

When she came out she found out why Carver had said ‘we’. In front of her stood not only Carver but another five groundskeepers. All as monumentally tall as him, but all distinctly different. Maybe if she was scared of them like she was during her first encounter she might have missed the differences, but the lack of panic allowed her to notice them. Their shapes and forms were different. The flowers that grew on them were also unique to them. Instead of blue eyes like Carver and his brother, they had all different colored eyes. One even had a mismatched set of bright green and yellow.

“So there really is a witching flower in the Maze once again,” one of the groundskeepers with yellow eyes said in surprise.

“I would not have lied to you,” Carver said.

“We know, but we had expected you to have fallen for a sylvin’s tricks, not that there was really a witching flower.” The one that spoke had a more feminine voice and had purple eyes.

“Witching flowers have not lived in the Maze for many centuries now. I thought they had gone extinct,” another added, looking between the others, to which nearly all of them nodded. He had orange eyes. “How did you find yourself in the Maze?” They asked Madeline.

“I was an offering,” she answered, though she wondered if Carver had already tried to tell them all of this.

“There are witching flowers outside the Maze?” the female asked.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t a witch when I came in.” She had wondered if there were witches outside of the Maze. Since she had never heard of them, maybe they had to live far from the Maze and where the mages had influence. Victor might know more.

“How did you become a witching flower?” the yellow eyed one asked.

“The Maze led me to my Garden,” she pointed behind her. “Then I discovered magic by accident after a while. Been teaching myself with the books the previous guardian of the Garden left me for the past few months now. Victor also helps sometimes.”

“Is Victor also a witching flower?” purple eyes asked.

“No. He’s a beyonder.”

“You have chained a beyonder so soon?” This time it was one of the groundskeepers that hadn’t spoken yet. The one with split colored eyes.

“Oh, no, I haven’t chained him. He’s a guest and free to do what he wants,” Madeline corrected. Why did everyone just assume she’s chained him?

“You have not chained him?” Carver asked in shock. “You just let him into your home freely?”

“Yes,” Madeline said plainly. “And his family sometimes. Well his entire family once. Occasionally a sibling comes to visit as well.” The group of Groundskeepers looked down at her in what she had to assume was shock, but having no real face it was hard to tell.

“I think you are right, Carver.” Purple eyes said. “If she can handle a family of beyonders unchained, she is strong enough to help us.”

“I am in agreeance,” the last groundskeeper with white eyes said.

“You need my help?” Madeline asked, looking around at all of them. She had expected to see Carver again at some point but she hadn’t expected him to need her help. She also didn’t know what a powerful groundskeeper like him could even need from her.

“We do,” Carver replied. “It is a grave request we are here to ask of you, and we will accept if you do not wish to help. But it would mean a great deal to not only us, but the Maze as well, if you would help us.”

Madeline was a little worried about what ‘grave’ could mean, but she should at least hear them out. “Okay. What is it that you are asking for?”

Carver took a deep breath, though Madeline wasn’t sure if groundskeepers even needed to breathe. “My brother, Planter, the one who has been taken by the mages… We wish to put him out of his misery… We do not believe there is hope in saving who he was and believe the best option is to give him back to the Maze.”

“Oh. I’m sorry,” Madeline said, feeling the pain in Carver’s voice.

“It is alright…” he took a long pause. “What we wish to ask of you is to help us return him to the Maze. We ask that you be the one to do it.”

Now she looked at him in shock. “Me? Why me?” Madeline paused before adding. “I don’t know him. I don’t think I’m the right person to return him.”

“We know where he is.” Carver said, not answering her question. “He is in one of the mage’s campuses, and we know how to get there. However, we will not be able to get to him… The mages will know that we are there. They will be able to detect us and be able to stop us from getting close to him. Even though we are six in number and any mage would be foolish to attack us alone, their campus has dozens if not hundreds of mages who will all work together to stop us.”

“So what do you expect me to do?” She didn’t like that it came out sounding a little snarky and not genuine. “I might be able to hold myself against a mage or two, but not dozens.”

“We do not need you to fight on our side, little witching flower. We need you to go into their campus to find him and return him.”

Madeline felt a spike of fear. They wanted her to go to one of the mage’s homes? They wanted her to be inside their campus? That’s suicide. “No.” She felt her heart hurt having to say no to helping them. “I’m sorry, but I would die in seconds. You said it yourself, there are maybe hundreds of mages there. I can’t fight all that. It would be suicide.”

“You will not have to fight,” the one with white eyes said. “They will not suspect that a fellow human is not one of their own. There have been no other humans living in the Maze for them to think that one could reach their home.”

Madeline pursed her lips. “I’m not trying to be mean, but I don’t know if you noticed, “ she gestured to her face, wiggled her ears, and made her tail aggressively swish back and forth, “I don’t look fully human and I’m fairly certain mages don’t change their bodies like this.” There was a brief pause as the groundskeepers thought on that point. Madeline guessed they hadn’t interacted with humans enough to know that those weren’t human features.

“You have a cloak that can hide those parts of you,” purple said.

“My cloaks are made to fit my ears and tail.” Madeline pulled up her cloak and slipped her ears into the visible tents of fabric and Hedge. “I don’t have a cloak that can hide my ea—” Madeline cut herself off. “I have a mage’s cloak that doesn’t fit my ears…” She did. It was currently shoved in the pack tucked away in the back of her pantry.

“That would be an excellent disguise,” mismatched eyes said. “They will not suspect that you are anything but a mage as well.”

Madeline still felt fear, but had to admit there was some sense to their logic. The mages really wouldn’t suspect anyone but a mage to be on their campus. Even if they might have the idea that she could come to their campus, they would be looking for her old self, before any of her transition and non-human parts. “Wouldn’t they be able to sense that I’m coming as well?”

“Why would they put up guards for other humans? The only humans they believe live in the Maze are themselves.” Carver said.

“They have seen me out here before. Although it has been months since the last time they saw me. Most don’t think I’m actually real. I think. I’ve only heard a small bit of conversation about me from them.”

“Where have they seen you? And how did you hear this?” white eyes asked.

“I’ve seen them around, about an hour or so walk from here. Once they came into this square.” She looked around and remembered the fear she had felt at how close they had come to her home. “But they didn’t find me. They didn’t even think I was real so they marked this area down as a bust. At least I hope they did and that wasn’t something they were just saying.”

“That is very troubling that they have come this close to you,” purple eyes said. “They are not known to stray this far from the highways without an important purpose.”

“That is true, but if they did not find her here they will not be likely to search here again. Their pride holds them back,” white eyes added.

“It is still much to ask of the witching flower.” The split eyes now spoke. “Our home is all around while hers is here. If they know she is within traveling distance of the campus it can be problematic for her.”

“She is powerful enough to host a family of beyonders, and the mages can not go through the hedge to get into her home. I believe she will be fine.” Green said, crossing their arms.

Madeline wasn’t sure how she felt about a groundskeeper she didn’t know being so confident in her ability to be safe. Yes, beyonders were powerful, but was being a friend with one really enough to not have to fear the mages? They were also limited to just her home and Garden. Victor wouldn’t be able to help her on the mage’s campus. Not unless she allowed him to leave her garden, but that could be a disaster.

“The campus is over a two days travel for humans from here in the Maze.” Carver finally spoke up again. “Mages using their carriages have about a day's travel. For us it is not that long. We can get there in half a day's time. I do not think they would suspect Madeline to have traveled that far to reach their campus. They will look closer to their home than all the way out here.”

“Why would it only take you half a day?” Madeline asked.

“Because we can pass through any and all hedge. We need not follow the paths laid out by the Maze. We can walk straight there.”

That was right. Madeline remembered reading as such in her books. She even heard it from the mages outside her home. Hells, she had seen it in action with Planter. Still, Madeline pursed her lips.

“Which way is the campus?” Carver pointed east. “If they know it’s me,” Madeline started pondering out loud, “they would probably think I would have been traveling west from here, because that's where my old home was.”

“Even more reason to believe that she is safe from their reach,” green spoke up again.

“They also would be looking for a man, not a woman,” Madeline said, still thinking out loud. The last time they saw her was before summoning Victor so they wouldn’t know what she looked like now. It was even before she got her ears.

“Is that a big enough difference for humans that they would not recognize you?” Carver asked. Madeline hadn’t told Carver much of her being of switched hearts so she wondered how much he understood about them looking for a man. Then again, Carver admitted to not being able to tell the difference between humans.

“Um… Big enough that they wouldn’t recognize me right away. I hope. They don’t know I have magic so they wouldn’t know that I could have changed my body.”

“She will be safe from the mages,” Green eyes said confidently.

“It is still her decision,” split eyes said. “Asking a lone witching flower to go against the mages is still a troubling thing. Even with our distraction.”

“I agree,” said purple.

Carver turned back to Madeline now and she returned his gaze. Slowly the groundskeeper knelt down to be closer to her own height. “Little witching flower Madeline, we know what we ask of you is great. I know the harm that the mages have brought upon you… I know that we have no place to ask for your help, but we know of no other way to return my brother to the Maze.” His voice was somber and low, and Madeline was certain that if he were able to he would be shedding a tear or two. “We can not do this without your help.” He paused before adding. “We will not be offended if you do not choose to help us. We will not think differently of you. You are but one, and they are many. We know the danger and the harm the mages have done to your kind.”

Madeline didn’t respond right away as she tried to gather her thoughts. They needed her help. They wouldn’t be able to give Planter peace without her there to do it. She would be sneaking into the mages campus though. She would be directly in their home walking among them. They might not be looking for her or expecting her or even know how she looked now, but she would still be there in the middle of all the mages that thought of her as perverse. Of course Carver and the others said they would create a distraction to help her go even more undetected, but would that be enough? Was simply wearing one of their cloaks and being human enough to pass unnoticed? Her eye and nose would stand out, and her ears most certainly would make the top of her hood a little bumpy and off.

The Witch’s mind pulled up the image of her sister. Not the mage Flora was now, but the sister she had known back in Lexford. Then she wondered how it would feel to her if the mages had done to Flora what they had done to Planter. Turned her into a mindless monster controlled by their will, with no hope of ever being able to return back to who she once was. Could Madeline keep on living peacefully if she knew her sister was living like that? Wouldn’t she want the same as Carver? To set her free…

“Okay.” The entire group looked at her with keen flower eyes. “Okay. I’ll help.” Madeline felt the resolve settle in her and it felt good. She was going to help someone. She was going to help people because she was the only one that could. She was going to do something that would piss those mages off. She was going to do something that the mages wouldn’t expect. She was going to do something that would show the mages that they weren’t alone anymore.

“Thank you,” Carver said, bowing his head. The other groundskeepers followed suit in the bow and gave their thanks.

“Only, how do you want me to return Planter to the Maze? I don’t know if I’m powerful enough to do that on my own.”

“You are,” said white eyes. “If you use this.” Slowly he approached and handed her a large fistful of crushed up flowers. Specifically crushed up enderblooms. They also looked more vibrant than the ones in her garden. “When you are near, blow this at him. It will be the only way to be certain that he is fully returned.”

Madeline looked down at the enderblooms in her hand “Okay. My book does literally tell me not to crush up enderblooms and blow on it, but I trust you.” Reading over other books in her study, Madeline had found out a bit more of what this could do. She understood why Eda had said not to do it: she didn’t want her precious house to burn down. Her home was very flammable, but using this magic on the mages campus wouldn’t hurt her home. She might have to apologize to the Maze, though, if she caught some of it on fire. Hopefully the Maze would understand. After all, she was doing this to return something that was taken from it. Careful not to breathe on the crushed up flowers, Madeline stowed them away in her pouch within easy reach.

“I suppose we will be heading off as soon as I’m ready?” Madeline asked Carver to which he nodded. “Alright, let me go get that cloak and some other things ready.” With that, Madeline walked back through the grand illusion into her garden. It was only now that her heart started pounding in her chest. She had just agreed to go to the mage’s campus. She had agreed to go in and walk amongst them. She was scared again, but the resolve that sat solid in her chest helped her move past that fear and walk on into her home. She gathered what she would need: the cloak, food, warmth potions, and some other items to help her on the way. Madeline tried not to think about what now lay ahead of her.

Just before she walked out the door, Madeline stopped herself. She half expected Victor to suddenly appear and demand he be taken with her, but her home remained empty except for her. She had been out in the forest a few times when Victor returned and he waited patiently for her without worry, as far as she knew at least. This time might be different though. He might return and she wouldn’t be here for hours, a day even. There was a chance she might not ever return. She did her best not to think about that. Turning around and walking into the study, Madeline pulled out a blank sheet of paper and wrote a short letter for Victor to find. She didn’t write what she was about to do, but told him that she was going to help the groundskeepers and she might not be back for maybe a day. She didn’t want to make him worry about what exactly she was doing, and she found it strange that she was worried more that he might be worried for her instead of angry that he couldn’t come along.

With the letter written she put it on the gateleg and gave her home another look over. “I’ll be back,” she said to the house. “Just have to help the groundskeepers return one of their own to the Maze.” Feeling that she had said what she needed she walked to the door and just before walking outside she once again said, “I’ll be back.”