Dan and his younger twin brothers, Pat and Simon, live in a fairly ordinary Yorkshire village and enjoy a mostly quiet life. The only unusual thing about them is their strong affinity for water, which has something to do with the special cottage in which they grow up. The cottage just so happens to sit over a natural source of magic that saturates the three brothers and primes them to reach their true potential. All they need is a magical makeover and they'll have a chance to make a difference in the endless conflict between good and evil.

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Trios
by Terry Volkirch

Chapter 13: Field Trip

Sue and Dani sat together on the sofa in the sitting room of their cottage. The television was turned off so they could hold a serious discussion. Everyone else was out of the house so it was very quiet. Almost too quiet.

Dani held her hands together in her lap and tried not to fidget. She needed to be very careful about what she said. Her parents still had no knowledge of magic and she meant to keep it that way for their protection. Not knowing anything about magic didn't save them from being threatened in their own home but Dani's latest plan would most likely prevent any more threats to her parents — unless her trio lost the war of course. Her only real concern was what to do in the event that she and her sisters were killed. She needed to leave a note of some sort at the very least. She didn't like that option though.

"The twins and I want to go on a field trip to London... and we were hoping to go on our own."

Sue raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I like the idea of you three alone in London."

"Please, Mum! It's not exactly for school but we figured we could find a way to make a school project out of it. We want to visit the British Museum and Tower of London as well as see Buckingham Palace. There's so much to see and do in London. Please?"

"I'll have to discuss it with your father. It sounds like an expensive trip."

"It'll only be for the day and we don't plan on shopping or anything. We'll just need money for the train, the Tube and food. Oh, and a little for entrance fees for the places we want to visit."

Sue sighed. She would've liked to go shopping in London. "It sounds like you have it all planned. What made you want to visit London so suddenly?"

"Oh... it's just something we wanted to do before summer holiday ends. We've never been to London and it could be a good learning experience."

"What about fun?"

"Oh... that too. I guess. I mean, I'm sure we'll have a little fun."

Sue shook her head. "You're so serious, Dani. You should have more than a little fun. And you should do at least a little shopping while you're down there. I'll talk to your father and see how much money I can prise out of him."

"Thanks, Mum!" Dani hugged her mother and quickly ran to tell the twins that they had a good chance of going. Sue would most likely talk their father into letting them go. Dani was old enough to go on her own and she was responsible enough to look after the twins. They didn't really need looking after but their parents might not think so.

The new, larger gang of Ash and seven girls all met outside under the spreading oak trees as soon as Dani got the good news. Sue managed to talk George into letting the their daughters go to London. They just had a little more battle planning and they'd be on their way to finish the war, one way or the other.

"Why can't we go?" Emma asked in her squeaky voice.

Jenna sighed. "It's obvious, Emma. We're golems!"

"We can be invisible for the trip. We helped here. We can help in London too!"

Dani shook her head. "It's not the same thing. London is a big city. We'll probably need to move around a lot and you wouldn't be able to keep up. It would also be too easy to get separated. And if you were lost and invisible, we might never find you."

"This bites. I wanna fight."

"You too small and weak," Wanda said, not helping matters. The golem girls ignored her though.

"We've done a lot of good already," Jenna said. "We've done a lot of good. We taught our girls everything we know and helped in a major battle. Quite good for three dead girls I'd say."

"I still wanna go," Emma said. "But I'll stay. I'd like to know why Ash gets to go though. Why him and not us?"

"Ash is our secret weapon. We might need his fire. That's what my intuition is telling me anyway."

Emma huffed but she mellowed after Ash nuzzled her. She couldn't stay angry at him.

"Right," Dani said, clapping her hands together. "Now it's time to discuss strategy. We have to assume that no part of the trip, including the train ride, will be safe. I want options for everything."

They all put their heads together and thought they'd covered every possibility, including the death of one of the trio. They didn't like the idea of dying but they had to plan for everything. The stakes were too high for anything less.

The three girls took a private moment in Dani's bedroom for one last important thing. They used magic to record a three-dimensional message for their parents in case they didn't make it back home. The message would automatically play for their parents at midnight that same day unless they got back and canceled it.

"If you're seeing this message," Dani began. "It likely means we've been killed."

"Or worse!" Simone shouted.

"What's worse than dying?" Pat asked, frowning.

"I don't know. Torture? Mind control? Slavery?"

Dani slapped her forehead. "Oy! You two aren't helping."

They stopped the message and started over, with each of them giving their own personal touch after Dani gave a brief overview of everything that had been happening over the past several months.

Simone went first with her message. "Please try not to be too sad. Save your energy for the bad times ahead. Trouble is coming and the world will suffer. I wish you all the best... better luck then we must have had. Just remember that I love you and try to use that to help sustain you. Good bye."

Tears streamed down the cheeks of all three sisters before Simone finished. It took several minutes for Pat to compose herself before she could add her message.

"I'm still not happy being a girl but I've been trying to give it a chance. I just wish I had more time. Please do carry on. Look for a resistance movement or something. Anything. Just please don't give up. Fight the good fight and know that I love you too."

Pat sniffled a little and turned away to pet Ash. She winced as Ash's skin burned her but she didn't want to cry any more and the pain helped distract her.

Dani noted her sister getting burned and winced along with her. She made a mental note to heal her later and started her own private message to her parents.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you about magic," Dani said. "We thought it best you didn't know, for your own protection. You might not believe in magic even after seeing this message but I assure you it's real. It's actually the reason why we turned into girls. You'll likely find out for sure in the coming months or weeks as the Dark Forces slowly take over the world. We tried to stop them but without us, I'm afraid it's not likely they'll lose, not with magic on their side and no serious magic to oppose them. It takes three people to craft serious magic and apparently, we were the best hope for the forces of good. I'm not sure how or why it turned out that way, but it did, and we paid the ultimate price. I love you Mum. I love you Dad. Good bye."

Dani wiped a tear from her eye and finished the magical recording. The three of them only had a little more planning to do so they'd be ready to leave tomorrow morning. They timed their trip to minimize the chance of encountering any of the Dark Forces but they'd still be ready. They prepared well.

Parking at the Doncaster train station was hit or miss at best. The small car park just past Frenchgate Centre couldn't hold nearly enough cars to handle the number of passengers that came and went, not to mention any additional people who wanted to see them off. A large number of people either took a taxi or bus and only a stubborn minority drove cars.

Dani rode in the front passenger seat with Wanda in a child seat wedged between the twins in the back. The three teens all wore knit tops in white to symbolize the forces of good but they didn't feel very good. The normal chatter was quieted by thoughts of the impending separation and anticipation of the battle to come. No one smiled.

Sue drove through the short tunnel under the shopping center and turned into the car park, hoping for an open spot but not finding one. She had to be content with dropping off her daughters so she didn't have much time to say good bye. She wanted to follow them along and see them off at the train platform. Instead, she had to drive off with her vision blurred by tears. It didn't make sense to her that she was so sad. Her daughters would only be gone for the day.

It didn't help that the three girls were close to crying. That's what set off their mother but Sue was too emotional to think about it. She just wanted to get home and watch some telly to take her mind off of it.

The girls quietly got out of the car and an extra unseen passenger climbed down from the top of the car to follow them. Sue didn't know about the extra passenger but she made sure to say good bye to her daughters.

"Good bye, girls!" she called out through the open car window, then to herself in the car she added, "Bon voyage," right after pulling away and exiting the car park with Wanda mostly quiet and alone in the back.

"Good luck," the little girl muttered, unheard by her new Mum.

A single crow sat on a lamp post, watching the scene in the car park with great interest. Soon after the mother drove off, the crow flew off to the south, disappearing in the blink of an eye as soon as it reached the edge of the city.

The girls stayed close together as they entered the train station. They stopped briefly at the window to buy their tickets and continued on, nervously looking around for trouble. A couple boys leered at them but were otherwise harmless. With nothing to get in the way, they went down a flight of stairs, entered a tunnel to cross under the tracks and came up to their designated platform to wait for their train.

They had some time to enjoy a snack or engage in small talk but didn't take advantage of the time. They were too nervous thanks to having a strong feeling that something bad would happen long before they reached their destination. Relaxing for even a minute could prove fatal in their minds.

When the train pulled up to the platform and hissed to a stop, they all let out a sigh of relief and boarded the train, checking on their seats for the long ride to London. Sue thought to pack them some healthy snacks like almonds and carrot sticks to nibble during the ride but Simone immediately started looking to buy a packet of crisps. She said she was craving salt and only crisps would do. She soon wandered off, leaving Pat and Dani to try to find a way to keep Ash out of the way.

The large salamander was invisible but there weren't a lot of places to keep him out of the way. He couldn't stay in the aisle because passengers would trip over him. They couldn't keep him in their lap because he'd burn them. They tried having him curl up on the floor between their seats but they couldn't put their feet down on the floor if they did that. There wasn't any room. They also couldn't rest their feet on Ash's back, the soles of their shoes would burn and would likely set off the fire alarm.

As the passengers slowly boarded, the sisters noticed that the train didn't appear to be filling up completely. They managed to sneak Ash onto the floor in front of an unused seat. He stayed there and kept quiet, carefully watching in case someone arrived late to claim the seat. He had a couple other empty seats he could move to if that happened.

"We didn't plan very well for Ash, did we," Pat said after getting back to her seat.

Dani nodded. "Let's hope that's the only detail we missed."

Simone came back just then and plopped down in her seat. "I didn't see anything suspicious anywhere in the train," she said. "I'm thinking any attack will come from outside the train."

"Right," Pat and Dani said together. Then Dani added, "Where's your crisps?"

"I didn't find any but I believe someone will come round selling them on the way to London."

"Oy! So you just went on a reconnaissance mission then. You weren't after crisps?"

Simone smiled while touching the side of her nose with her index finger.

Dani shook her head and sighed.

Both of my sisters watch too much telly.

The train started several minutes late, causing minor grumbling from a few passengers. It accelerated slowly until it got near the city limits and then rapidly approached cruising speed. If everything went according to schedule, the train would pull into London's King's Cross Station in about two and a half hours.

The countryside became a dull blur as the train moved along smoothly at over a hundred miles per hour with very few stops to break up the monotony. Much of the trip took place with high banks on both sides so there wasn't much of a view. The passengers were left to fend for themselves when it came to entertainment.

After the first uneventful hour of the trip, Pat and Simone grew restless. Simone wanted to take another look through the train and Pat wanted to go with her, just for something to do.

Dani's first impulse was to forbid it. They shouldn't separate but if Pat and Simone would be together, there was no reason why she couldn't go with them. Together, the three of them would be able to wield enough magic to counter anything the Dark Forces might try. Dani had Ash guard their things and the three of them left. They only made it to the neighboring car when trouble hit.

During a long, straight stretch, the engine hit something on the track, causing it and the first car behind it to derail. If the train had been on a curve, the lead car would've likely fallen on its side and pulled the rest of the train with it in a chain reaction. As it was, an initial jolt shot through all the cars to signal trouble and time slowed to a crawl as the girls achieved a heightened state of awareness and went into action.

The fetch and her sisters knew what happened. Their keen intuition kept them well informed and they knew just what to do. They'd planned for just such a thing since it was easy enough to predict. They worked together to pull enough electro magic to generate a great levitation spell. It took loads of concentration and a little perspiration but the girls managed to levitate the engine and next car to settle it back onto the rails.

The train had started to slow down all during the incident and it came to a stop soon after it got back on the rails. That was the exciting part. The next hour was nothing but dull and tedious though as the crew tried to work out what happened. When they finally resumed their trip, they did so at a much reduced speed, well under a hundred miles per hour.

"This wasn't an accident," Pat whispered after a last concerned crewman left the girls alone in their seats and exited the car.

Her sisters nodded agreement.

"I think it was just a warm up, or a test," Pat continued. "I've got a really bad feeling."

Dani almost snarled when she thought about being killed before they even got close to London. "Keep me supplied with electro magic," she said. "I'm going to make sure the track stays clear."

The fetch cast two spells, one to extend her awareness to the front of the train and a second one to create and maintain a force field that would push any debris off the track. It took a lot of power and concentration but the girls were determined.

Dani had kept up the force field for nearly an hour and she was mentally exhausted but content. Her hard work had paid off because she felt several objects deflected by the force field. The objects had been increasing in size and weight and they'd all been placed on curves in the track, meaning that they'd likely have been in a major accident by that time if not for Dani's efforts.

The obstacles on the track threatened the train at a fairly consistent rate and the next one was over due. Dani telepathically warned her sisters to be on full alert and then reached out with her magic to sweep the area all around the train. She kept her focus on the ground and missed one very important area, as she soon found out.

The passenger car they were in suddenly lurched hard to the right as something made loud clicking sounds on the roof. The girls looked to the right and gasped as a large, reptilian face peered upside down at them through the top of the window. Its gold eyes had narrow black slits for pupils and it ran its tongue along a row of dagger-like teeth in its slightly open mouth before it pulled its head back up. Seconds after the monstrous face disappeared, the car started rocking, gently at first and gradually increasing. The car would soon be knocked off the tracks if it continued for very long.

Dani didn't hesitate. She canceled her force field and immediately took all of her electro magic reserves to electrify the roof of the train right under the beast.

The girls heard a tremendous zapping noise followed by an angry roar. The car rocked dangerously as the great winged beast pushed off and flew away to lick its wounds.

"Ash!" Dani called. "Come here, please."

"Yesh!" the invisible salamander said, already near Dani's feet as he anticipated action of some sort.

"Stay and guard our hand bags and food again. We're nipping outside."

"Aw. Me want to go too!"

"Please. I need you to watch our hand bags. We can't afford to have anything stolen. We'll be back soon."

"Okay," Ash said quietly.

Dani turned to her sisters. "I need more electro magic, girls. We're going out for a little pest control."

She led the way to the back of the car whilst Pat and Simone worked together to prepare to feed their older sister all the magic she could handle. They entered the compartment between cars and in less than two minutes, they finished preparing.

Dani cast a spell that would make them all virtually weightless for the next ten minutes or so, and with her next three spells, she made them all invisible. Then she cast a last spell to shield them against the wind and opened the outer door. They climbed up and over the top of the train to settle on the roof.

"Dragon at five o'clock!" Pat shouted after looking over her right shoulder.

Their intuition told them that the dragon could still see or otherwise detect them, even though they were invisible, so Dani dropped the invisibility spell. She only wanted to conceal their actions until they could be out of sight on top of the train. The mundanes were likely already upset by the rocking of the car. They didn't need to see three teenage girls battling a mature black dragon.

The large, black beast flew diagonally down at them in a power dive, coming up along the side of the train. It's huge wings stretched out a distance that nearly matched the length of a train car and it's speed exceeded the speed of the train by half again. As it started to level off, its speed slowed to match the train so it could turn its head to the side and take a deep breath to unleash its deadliest attack.

Most people would likely be more than a little scared at the sight but Dani just flashed a grim smile. She was ready. She cast a certain spell that she saved for just such an occasion. The spell targeted the water in the flesh of the dragon's wings, just like she demonstrated on a shrub to Jenna a few days ago. With the water removed from the wings, they shriveled up. The dragon couldn't fly and therefore wouldn't be a threat. The fetch didn't leave anything to chance though. As the water was extracted, it was immediately forced down the dragon's throat, extinguishing its flames to keep it from breathing fire on them.

The dragon gurgled as it quickly dropped to the ground, tumbling and rolling to a stop off to the side of the train. It had been greatly roughed up but it would live.

"Thanks for the idea, Sis!" she shouted to Simone, referring to the battle with the troll leader when Simone forced water into his lungs.

"You one-upped me with that one!" the younger girl shouted back.

The sisters all hugged each other in victory and separated to enjoy the view from the top of the train, if only for a brief moment.

"I think we still have another twenty minutes or so before we get to London," Dani soon said. "Anyone care for a snack?"

 © 2013 by Terry Volkirch. This work may not be replicated in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the Author (copyright holder). All Rights Reserved. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental.