Prophecy

Summer Training: 1^st Year

Alexander Evans was in an irritable mood. He looked at the pile of files in front of him. He had everything set up to train the Eight in combined Muggle/Wizard warfare, and then, just two months ago, James and Robert had dropped the Bomb.

Alexander would be training not eight, but sixty people. It had taken more hours of work than Alexander cared to remember to get set up for that many people in sixty days, and he still hadn't gone over the files on each person yet. Since they were going to arrive in less than two days, Alexander saw a long night ahead. He reached for the first set of files and merely skimmed them. After all, he'd been planning the Eight's training for over a year now, and there was not much he didn't know about them.

Hydra had all five of the people recruited from Slytherin, and he made a mental note to ask why they only recruited five Slytherins when the other houses gave so many. After the usual information about each person, (Name, age, sex, House, skills, etc...) were three sets of comments.

James had made the first set about each person as he saw him or her. Rose and Melissa had used the Sight and Empathy to make the second set of notes, and Albus Dumbledore had made the last set of notes. Between James's blunt black and white viewpoint, the girls' skills and Dumbledore's remarkable insights, Alexander was getting a good overview of each person.

Rose's comments about seeing Sonya Gebbs on the borders in a couple of years made him scribble a note. She might make a good Borderer, and the Borderers always needed replacements. After the file told him who her parents were, Alexander was certain finding Sonya anywhere except the Borderlands would be unusual. He was also certain he knew which Manticore she was. One of them had half challenged him during his visit to Hogwarts, using Borderer custom. Alexander would bet that had been Sonya Gebbs.

Alexander spared a minute to think about Medlin "Merry" Gebbs. He had been a Borderer, one of the Rangers, during the Voldemort war. There were two kinds of Borderers. Almost all of the four hundred Borderers were Wizards, and their duty was to keep up the wards and charms that kept Muggles out, and kept the Giant lands unplottable. The rest of the Borderers were like Martin and Alex. They actually walked the Border, interacting with the Giants and the people that lived there. They were called Rangers, and Merry had been a good one, until the Landis Bridge incident, where he became a Legend.

Five years ago, the Skullsplitter tribe of Giants had used a ruse to draw the garrison at the bridge out of place. Medlin Gebbs had been the only person at the bridge when they started trying to cross. He had sent for help, and settled in to hold the bridge until it arrived. Merry held the bridge for at least six hours.

The Giants had finally killed Merry, but he had held them up long enough that the returning garrison had caught them just five kilometers inside the Human lands, and driven them back into their lands.

At the Landis Bridge, they found the body of Medlin Gebbs, and twenty-six dead Giants, all slain by bow or blade. No Ranger before or since had ever killed so many giants in a single battle, without assistance. Sonya Gebbs came of good stock, and if her performance at the school had been any indication, she was made of the same stuff as her father. Alexander pushed that away, and went to the next group.

The Sphinx team's notes from Rose were not good. He read the entire note again. "Sphinx has a knot in their possible futures right around the end of third year. There are too many paths and it's too far away to read clearly, but there are three main branches coming out of the focus point. In the first, they continue with no changes. The second one has them continuing with at least two new people. The third one is the worst. They all stop, with no futures anywhere that I can see."

Alexander read that and frowned. Even he knew that no futures meant you were dead. Since even the most pessimistic view of the war had it starting in five years, what were they going to run into that could kill an entire team?

Dragons, Griffons, Unicorns, (Created by the Hufflepuff house he saw, and had to smile. He had thought Hufflepuff sounded like something the Big Bad Wolf would do, and he still did.) and the Pegasus teams were normal, or as normal as this bunch got anyway.

The first Phoenix file stopped him. What in the dickens was a 'Defensive leader'? He opened the file and read 'Riddle, Mercy'. When he was done, he sat back and thought. He had fought Voldemort's people, and the idea of training that git's offspring was upsetting. On the other hand, there was her steadfast refusal to do any harm what so ever. He read James's notes again, and grinned as he made a copy for himself.

"Mercy has everything we were looking for in a war wizard, and more. She's smart, nearly Lisa's equal and she makes faster decisions, and her defensive tactics are truly inspired. If she would ever drop the pacifistic nature, she'd be an amazing team leader. I have tried, but she's as stubborn as I am, and unless you can think of something, she's going to let all that potential go to waste."

Alexander tucked his copy of James's notes away for future reference. James almost never admitted defeat, and having him do so in writing was just too good. He turned his attention to the 'Offensive leader' and here was a name he knew. Everyone knew Athena Clearwater of course, and Alexander had worked with Jerrick's father, Adrian Clearwater, on several occasions during the Voldemort war and on the Borders. From the notes, this youngster was assuming his father's role. If he was half as good as his father was, he'd be one of Manticore's best assets.

The rest of Phoenix was support personnel, and nothing stood out about them.

Alexander looked at the clock. Nearly 0300. No real point in going to bed now. He'd be getting up in a little more than an hour anyway. He began studying the names and descriptions of his new students.

Some time later, somebody knocked at his door. "Enter," he called, and the door was opened to allow Martin Twofeathers inside.

"Alexander," he said, "What are you up so early for?"

Martin Twofeathers was abrasive, rude and condescending, often all at the same time. The only reason Alexander put up with him was simple. Martin had forgotten more about tracking, both Muggle and wizard styles, than most people would ever know. In addition, it was with his assistance that they had gotten permission to train Manticore here. They were deep in the Flathead Reservation in northern Montana. The Indians rarely came out this far, nobody else was allowed to come here except US Marshals, and a few spells had taken care of that.

"I'm not up early, I'm up late," Alexander answered Martin.

Martin just shook his head and told him, "Everything is ready for the kiddies."

Alexander stared at him. Martin was just being Martin, referring to the Manticores as 'kiddies', but somehow Alexander didn't think James would be happy to hear his people called that. "I would suggest that you not let my nephew hear you call his people 'kiddies'. James can be..." he hesitated, looking for the right word, then shrugged. "extreme about protecting his friends."

Martin grinned wryly even as he nodded agreement. "I have met James, when he was studying Shamanism with Rolling Thunder. I was also at the Quidditch finals last year. My niece, Honor Blackwolf, was the Blue team's Seeker."

Alexander sighed. "Then you know the extremes James can go to." Alexander thought about the report he'd gotten about the Mercy incident. "My brother has imbued James with his black and white view of the world, where everybody is either for you, or against you. With that, he got the Pendragon temper from Mary."

Martin was taken back as he thought about that. "I had not known Mary was a Pendragon." He thought about it some more and frowned. "A war leader with a temper is not a good thing. One that sees the whole world in black and white is worse, and putting the two together is asking for trouble."

Alexander groaned. "Tell me something I don't know. The only thing that might save us is that Soulbond, and the fact that James will listen to Rose." Alexander thought about that, and amended his statement. "Or any of the Eight for that matter."

Martin raised an eyebrow. "James will listen to somebody besides Rose and Robert?"

Alexander laughed. "You have met him I see. Actually, James will listen to anyone he respects. The problem is, that's a very short list. It may have grown with the enlistment of the Manticores though."

Martin started to say something, and then stopped. He started a couple of more times, but couldn't seem to find the words he wanted. Alexander watched him, and finally, told him to spit it out.

"Rolling Thunder tells me that James owled him, asking for the Clan Creation spells. Do you know why he wanted them?"

Alexander blinked in astonishment. He thought about James with those spells, and a chill when down his spine. "Please tell me Rolling Thunder didn't give James those spells." He read his answer in Martin's face. "Oh shit. What was Rolling Thunder thinking?"

Martin just shrugged. "You know the old man. He's so far in the spirit world most of the time, that maybe it sounded ok to him."

The two men considered what could be done with those spells and sat in somber silence for a long time. A clan leader could use the clan bonds to draw on the clan's combined strength, but Clan leaders could do other things as well. Few but the clan leaders and Shaman knew what those powers were, but the thought of James with more power than he already had made them both nervous.

Martin was the first to break the silence. "When do they arrive anyway?"

Alexander looked at the clock on the wall of his room. "In about thirty hours. We'll issue the Manticore uniforms, and then start the next day."

"Are you going to break them down first?" Martin asked.

"Of course. It's the fastest way, and still the best." When Muggles went in the military, the military used a combination of heavy exercise and strict discipline to break the civilians out of their ideas, and then built them back up in the proper military mindset. Alexander was going to do the same thing to the Manticores, with a bit more care, considering the wide range of ages and physical body types.

Martin nodded and the two men sat and planned the first few weeks of the summer training.

* * *

The students were arriving by Portkey, and Alexander watched as they blinked into existence. Chimera was the last group to arrive, and James stepped forward, running his eyes over the crowd. He turned to Alexander.

"Sir, all present and accounted for."

Alexander nodded and motioned James back to his group. He watched the silent group for a minute, matching faces with the descriptions in the files.

"Welcome to America, and summer training. My name is Alexander Evans, and I am the head instructor here." Alexander got them all facing the same way, and took Emily's book so she had to pay attention. "You will note the people in the green and brown uniforms standing around. You will refer to anyone in that uniform as Sir or Ma'am. People, I don't have time to be nice. The next few weeks are going to be hell on you. I am going to work you until you can't move, and them force you to get up and run again."

"In a week, you're going to hate me."

"In a month, you'll hate James for dragging you into this."

"In two months, you'll hate everybody here."

"When the war ends though, you'll thank all of us that kept you alive."

"You are here to train. This training is as specialized as any training you will ever get. We are going to teach you how to kill."

Silence and pale faces were the only response to his words, and he had their full attention. Choosing one of the Manticores at random, he drew his sidearm, and asked him, "You, what is this?"

Ron Stone of Sphinx was the student he'd chosen. "Sir, that is an M-1911A1 .45 caliber pistol."

Alexander nodded. "Very good. You, what is used for?"

Sharon Hitchworth was a fifth year Ravenclaw, and she had the answer, right out of the book. "Sir, the M1911 is used for defense in close quarters."

Alexander nodded again . "Right from the book, but not the answer I'm looking for this time." He looked around, and his eye fell on Sonya Gebbs. "You, what is this weapon used for?"

Sonya looked at him, and replied quietly, but firmly. "Sir, the .45 is used to kill enemy personnel."

Alexander dropped the clip, and checked the chamber as he spoke again. "Exactly. Where is my Pacifist?"

Mercy moved up. "Here, Sir."

"Stand right here." Alexander turned to the group. "I am about to explain what using one of these weapons does. M-4, M-1911, whatever, it does not matter; they do the same thing to a body. If I were to shoot Miss Riddle right now, I would point this weapon at her. Taking aim, I would squeeze the trigger gently, and the hammer would fall. The hammer would strike the firing pin, sending it into the primer. The primer would explode, igniting the power inside the shell. The exploding powder would cause a sudden expansion of gases that have to go somewhere. They would push the slug out of the shell, and down the barrel at about three hundred meters per second. The slug would strike Miss Riddle with approximately fifteen hundred foot pounds of force."

He looked at the puzzled faces. "Think of it as being kicked by a very large dragon, with a foot just .45 of an inch across."

He turned back to Mercy. "Impact of the round would cause three things to happen. The steel jacket around the slug would fragment, shooting off in four pieces, going four different directions, and causing damage. Those wounds however, are purely secondary, as the rest of the slug will flatten out, and begin pushing its way through her body by force. Heart, lungs, ribs, doesn't matter. The .45 caliber slug will punch through them, break them, or maybe be deflected, which does even more damage."

Alexander turned back to the somber group. "The end is the same whichever happens. The slug goes through the body, starting with a hole just the size of the slug. When it comes out the other side, it would leave a hole big enough for your fist. The impact of the round would throw Miss Riddle down, but she wouldn't care. At that point, she would be dead or dying." Alexander looked at the pale students. He had not changed the tone of his voice at all, while he described what would happen.

"Miss Riddle, you may return to your place." Alexander waited until she was back in her line, and then finished his speech. "We are going to try and teach you how to keep that from happening to you. At the same time, we will be teaching you to do that to other people. Note that I said 'Try'. I can't force you to do this, nor can anyone else. You are all volunteers, here because you want to be here, and you've been told what we're here for. In a few short years, we will be fighting a war to make Voldemort look like a food fight. You people will be our front line troops, and my job is to prepare you for that event."

He looked at the quiet group, and continued. "In two days, you're going to hate us. In a week, maybe two, some of you are going to want to quit. You can do that any time you want, and it's very easy. Behind me, you can see a path. It is thirty meters long, and covered in white gravel. At the end of it, there is a bell. All you have to do to quit is walk that thirty meters and ring the bell."

The students looked at the bell, and the path. Alexander gave them the warning James had insisted on. "You will forget everything you've learned about Manticore, the Prophecy and what you've learned here. You and your belongings will be Portkeyed home, with only some vague memories of having spent time with some friends. You will also lose all the magic Manticore has given, including the link, if you have one."

The linked groups paled. The wonder and excitement of being linked never really went away, and after two months of the link, nobody could imagine being without one.

James suddenly swore under his breath. "Rose, I think we goofed. We should have recruited a few people to account for any quitters."

"I thought about that, but I don't see anyone quitting as this stag. We might lose a few after third year, when the Sphinx event happens, but not until then." Rose was quick to reassure James, who accepted her words and then grinned mentally.

"Rose, how sure are you that all of us will be back to school as Manticores?" James' voice had definite undercurrents of humour and sneakiness in it.

Rose thought about it, and replied, "Very sure, why? What are you up to James?"

"Remember when Uncle Alexander conned us with that full glass?" James waited until Rose gave her assent and continued. "Uncle Alexander is expecting one or more Manticores to quit, and maybe we can get some of ours back."

Rose just shook her head and warned James to pay attention to Alexander. She spent a minute checking the Sight, and didn't see anybody leaving, or their paths leaving Manticore until after the Sphinx event, whatever that was going to be. She frowned, wondering what other forms of the sight would be like. She saw the future as a number of paths, and every decision created one or more new paths. But major events, like the Sphinx event coming up, or the start of the war, created so many paths that none of them could be read. Rose sighed, and jumped as Melissa elbowed her. Most of the Manticores were gone, taken by various trainers to get their uniforms.

Uncle Alexander was speaking. "I'll be training with the elements of Phoenix that are not going to be Mediwizards. Martin Twofeathers will be your team's trainer."

Chimera stared at Martin, and turned to look at James. James was still considering Martin. Alexander saw the way James was staring at Martin.

"Is there a problem, James?" Alexander decided to confront James openly.

James thought about it quickly. "I don't know this person, Sir. Will you hold his Honor in your hands?"

Alexander looked at James and Martin. "I chose him to train your link, James. Of course I will." Under his breath, he muttered to Martin, "If you screw that up, Martin, I'll do things to you that people will be talking about in five thousand years."

Holding Honor was a Borderer's concept, one of their customs. James had asked if Alexander was willing to vouch for Martin, and Alexander had agreed. Now, if Martin did anything wrong, James would hold Alexander responsible for it.

"Then there is no problem," James told them.

Martin looked at both of them. James might be satisfied, but he wasn't. He drew Alexander off to the side.

"Look, you said he was just another trainee once he got here. Why are you allowing him to wonder about the fitness of his trainers? You wouldn't take that from another trainee."

Alexander nodded. "I did say that, and I expect you to train them just as we've planned. However, James is quite capable of screwing this whole deal up. Right now, if he said we're leaving, how many of those kids would follow him?"

Martin didn't even have to think about that one. "All of them of course. He's spent a lot of time building loyalty there."

"Exactly. If he thinks these Manticores of his aren't being trained right, or well enough, he'll be gone in an instant. Robert told me that James has the Portkeys to take them all back to England already."

"So? He wouldn't just leave would he? Without talking to you?" Martin was confused.

Alexander smiled faintly. "Right now, James trusts me. However, I set up this training area, and picked the people that will be training the group. If James decides that this is a Charlie Foxtrot, that trust will disappear as fast as James will." Alexander smiled at his friend. "Look on the bright side. At least James won't tear any strips off you if this goes wrong. He'll come talk to me, and you'll only have to worry about me." Alexander looked at the quiet Chimeras before lowering his voice. "Did James use those Clan Creation spells?"

Martin looked at the group, and cast a spell. He blinked at what he saw revealed there. "Yes, and more. Give me a second to sort all this out." Martin was using a Shaman spell to read clan lines and magical relationships. Sorting out all the links and bonds surrounding Chimera took him a minute. "Ok, everyone of them has the Family bond, to the Clan they were born into, except that Muggle born boy. On top of that, James is linked to Rose and Tiffany in separate links, and to all seven of the others in one link. After that, he has the Clan Leader lines to everyone of the Manticores, and another link, again to all the Manticores, but that one is thin, not a link I know." Martin regarded the link carefully. "I should know it, I think. It has a familiar feel, but I don't think I have ever seen it cast. It's definitely a Shaman thing though, something I learned about in training."

Alexander cursed softly. "Great, just great. I know about all the links except that last one. Try to find out what that last link is, but be discreet. Ask Rose or Tiffany, and be very polite about it. Something like, uh, we saw the link, we don't recognize it, and we want to make sure it's not going to affect the training would work I think." Alexander had a bad feeling about that unknown link. Robert had been much like James and Rose in his youth, and Alexander was trying to remember the name of that spell. "Damn. Martin, look at that spell again. Could it be a modified Lifebond?"

Martin stared at Alexander, then at James again. He cast another Shaman spell, but before he could read it, James and Tiffany's heads whipped towards the two adults.

Martin wasn't sure what James used, but suddenly all eight of the students were covered to magical view, as if a translucent bubble surrounded them all. James came toward them, and the bubble detached a piece of itself to keep him covered.

"If you wish to know something Magical about Chimera, I seriously suggest you ask." James's voice was tight with anger. "Tiffany and I have spend a great deal of time putting wards around Chimera, and some of them have teeth." He looked at Alexander. "Sir, there are no spells cast on any Manticore that should affect training." James had been consulting Rose, and she told him that that was the most likely reason for the two to have been trying to read Chimera's auras. James was hoping he'd caught Martin's probe before it found all the links. James was unaware that the spell he'd caught was the second one. "Now, if there is nothing more, we'd like to get started." James went back to Chimera, leaving Alexander and Martin to look at each other.

"Do you think that they really have wards with teeth?" asked Martin. "I could try some other spells."

Alexander shook his head. "Trust me on this. No person of Evans blood and Clan acceptance will ever directly lie to you. We may not tell you, avoid the subject, or put you off, but we don't directly lie. If James says they have wards with teeth, he means it."

Martin stared at Alexander. That sounds like some sort of geas, but Alexander's expression did not invite questions. He turned to look at Chimera. James and Tiffany were looking at each other, and from their faces, they were arguing about something. Rose was looking at James, and her expression was one of wary curiosity. Martin sighed. "I assume you had a good reason for giving me this group."

Alexander grinned at him. "Why yes, I did. Do you remember telling me you'd like to have a real challenge, that didn't include us killing anything?"

"Vaguely. We were talking about a break from the Border weren't we?" Martin did have a dim recollection of something like that, under the influence of alcohol after a rough month on the Border.

"Yes we were. Here it is. All you have to do is train eight kids for three months, without killing any of them." Alexander seemed to find this hilarious.

"What's so hard about that?" Martin was confused, but he was suddenly remembering Alexander's sense of humour, and the jokes he'd played on people. Those memories were fast giving him a sense of forbidding.

Alexander smiled evilly. "Let's see. That group can feel your emotions, see the future, and adapt any spell you can think of to do things it shouldn't be able to do, and James can speak to all of them without you knowing it. He leads them, and they are loyal to him, not you." Alexander turned and looked at his friend again. "When I add all that to your overbearing, egomaniac attitude, even I can see the future." He was openly laughing as he turned to the patiently waiting group of Phoenix personnel that would be his responsibility this summer. "Just remember, we have to have all eight of them alive and well."

Martin turned back to Chimera. They were all looking at him now, and Martin could almost feel them talking with that link of theirs. He sighed again. This was going to be a very long summer.

"I am Martin Twofeathers, and as James so bluntly pointed out, you don't know me. I am one of the Rangers with Alexander, and a shaman of Rolling Thunder's tutelage," Martin said as he got close to Chimera. "We're going to issue uniforms right now, and equipment after that. I expect you'll concede I might be capable of leading that, and save any other challenges until after you're properly outfitted?"

James's face was innocent, but Martin could almost hear his laughter. "Sir, Alexander has vouched for you. We assume you are at least as good as he is. Unless there is some other meaning to holding Honor?"

Martin swore mentally as he realized that James was going to hold him up to be as good as Alexander, who was one of the very best. On Martin's best day, he might, with a great deal of luck, some cheating, and lots of magic be able to take Alexander on his worst day, and Martin knew it. As far as Martin knew, only two living Rangers could compare to Alexander, and they weren't here.

Martin led them to the issue point, and watched as they got their uniforms and equipment. As they assembled the various items and gear so it would fit into a small pack on their backs, Martin talked quietly to them. Knowing they would be comparing him to Alexander kept most of Martin's arrogance down, although from the look on Melissa's face, she knew where he wanted to be arrogant.

Suddenly, he swore to himself. Martin knew about the links, but he was not used to thinking about them, and he'd just realized that he had to assume whatever one of them knew, all of them knew, including his attitude. He finished his sentence and sat there regarding the eight children with something close to panic. How the Hell do you deal with eight bodies that might as well be one person?

Martin decided to attack. After all, the best defense is a good offense, or so he'd always heard. When Chimera had all their things ready, he took them to the tent site.

"The rest of the night is yours, to do what you want. Curfew is at 2000 and lights out is at 2100. I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow starts at 0400."

Martin escaped into the darkness, and walked back to the tent the trainers were staying in. He was going to get even with Alexander for this, if it was the last thing he ever did.