Chapter 5: Different Perspectives

“Woah, wait! What’s going on?” Garett exclaimed in surprise. “You seem to have gone on a trip, just now. Are you alright?”

“My imagination is running away with me,” Raul replied, as he shook his head to clear out the cobwebs. He was sure that he was an ordinary magician type of boy, just like the other kids who went to magic school. The ability to perform magic naturally could certainly not be the result of being a shape shifting wolf? Raul did not even want to entertain the prospect.

“Well, I will carry on and finish the sandwich-making, then” he said with a pleased laugh.

“Let me help you,” Raul offered.

At the end of their sandwich-making Raul was exhausted, but really satisfied with himself and Garett was truly impressed. They had managed to make Dagwood sandwiches with ham, cheese, tomato slices, gherkins, salami and onion slices, topped with mustard sauce.

“You have truly inspired me and outdone yourself this time, my friend,” Garett said with a pat on Raul’s shoulder.

They started to eat the sandwiches accompanied by fruit punch, before Garett continued his history lesson.

“The werewolves in Uzzah do not know that my family descends from the Light-bearers,” Garett stated, while munching on his sandwich.

“I know you told me that your identity as an eagle shape shifter was confidential,” Raul responded. “But, what exactly can the werewolves do to you if they found out?”

“Oh, you will be amazed at what they can do,” Garett responded with a solemn expression on his face.

Raul looked at him with concern because he had not been aware of any limitations in Garett’s exciting life.

“You see, Percival and I are friends, but we are also rivals and he won’t hesitate in taking me on in battle, if ever the occasion arose,” Garett stated carefully.

“But why should you be intimidated by him?”

“He can sound so innocent at times, that one would really mistake him for a real friend, but I happen to know that he is potentially dangerous,” Garett said with a far off look in his eyes. “The wolf clan is given to forceful rule and they often bribe authorities who inspect the city.”

“Do you think my father has a hand in this?” Raul asked in concern.

“Not that I know of,” Garett replied. “We have spies who go into the city and inform us about secret activities at the castle. I know that Percival’s father is corrupt and he bribes officials into allowing Percival to carry on creating birds out of butterflies and mutating them to be spectacular, by using his spells.”

“That sounds really wicked,” Raul responded.

“You see,” Garett continued. “Our family and other families who are also Light-bearers were driven very far away from here after that big battle in the woods.”

“And so when did you come back?” Raul asked, sitting on the edge of his seat.

“A few families came back and moved closer to Uzzah over the years, just to keep an eye on matters from a closer perspective,” Garett responded. “We plan to gather one day and challenge the wolf clan again, when we are large in number.”

“So, that’s why you don’t want Percival to find out about your and people like Melinda’s true identities?” Raul asked.

“Yes, and be very careful now that you are so vulnerable after finding out about your own identity,” Garett cautioned.

Raul contemplated this with his hand on his brow. It was all so exhausting for him to take in at once.

“I believe we can still choose who we want to be by deciding how we’re going to live,” Garett added.

“Then I can choose to live like a Light-bearer, even though I’m from the wolf clan?” Raul asked curiously. “Even without being an actual eagle shape shifter?”

“I very well believe that you can if you really want to,” Garett responded in an earnest tone of voice. He made a mental note to ask an expert at the Eagle’s Council about this.

“You will have to explain all of that to me in more detail next time,” Raul said, as he picked up his car keys from the counter. “Right now I think that I am ready to at least go straight to my bedroom, because facing my parents now will feel just weird. My dad kept all this a secret for so long. He would not have said anything if my mom did not catch him changing from a wolf, back into himself.”

“That must have been such a shock,” Garett commented, still amazed at the evening’s events. “Doesn’t she need to see a doctor after that?” he asked.

“I suppose we both need to see a doctor,” Raul said, as he rubbed his hands through his hair.

“Don’t you want to sleep over for tonight, at least?” Garett asked with concern.

“No, it’s alright,” Raul responded with a sigh. “At least I’m making progress with developing my magic powers,” he pointed out.

“Yes, that’s a good point,” Garett agreed.

“So, Percival will soon have some real competition,” Raul added, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

“I’ve been thinking,” Garett said, as they walked out of the backdoor. “Something about Percival’s bird sanctuary is not as it seems on the surface.”

“What exactly do you mean?” Raul asked and he stood still in his tracks. “Is there some other underhanded scheme going on?”

“There’s something else going on there, apart from the fact that we know that the birds occurred through Percival’s magic transformation of butterflies into amazing birds,” Garett stated, as he looked Raul straight in the eyes.

“What could that be?” Raul asked, intrigued.

“I want us to sneak over there some time, pretending to be just visiting,” Garett replied. “Then I should be able to pick up something concrete, when I am close to the birds. Right now, I can sense that something more sinister is going on there, but if I am in close proximity to the birds it would be much easier to detect the problem. That’s all I can say for now.”

Raul gave Garett a pat on the shoulder and moved towards his car. “Just tell me when you want to go,” he said to Garett.

“I think the sooner the better,” Garett replied. “How about tomorrow, after school?’

“Sure, why not?” Raul responded as he got into his car.

*

Percival was very confident about his powers and very proud of his heritage. He loved to challenge others to do better than him, because he emerged victorious most of the time.

He was happy that he could have helped shake Raul out of his childhood naïve state, so he phoned him first thing on the following morning.

“Hello Champ, how are you feeling today?” Percival asked when Raul answered the phone.

“Hi, there,” Raul responded. “I am doing perfectly well, thanks.” He tried to remain calm, otherwise Percival would succeed in derailing him again.

“Then what do you say about going out to the bird sanctuary later today, after school?” Percival asked.

Raul did not know quite how to respond because he already had the same arrangement with Garett and he didn’t want Percival’s company today.

“I’m actually seeing my mother at her perfume factory after school,” Raul responded quickly. He had just remembered his appointment with his mother to try out some experiments with the perfume. He could always meet up with Garett afterwards.

“What about after that?” Percival asked. He did not like to be disappointed.

“Can’t we do it tomorrow, after school?” Raul asked hopefully.

“Alright then, tomorrow it is,” Percival conceded. “But just note that we are going to have an incredible time walking through history.”

When Percival ended the call, Raul was feeling very nervous. It felt as if everything was happening much too fast. Was he ready to accept and process all this new information? He rather wanted to spend time with Melinda and pretend that nothing new had happened.

Later on at school, Raul sought Melinda out quickly. He found her in their usual spot, in the media centre. “How are you doing today?” she asked him after she gave him a quick kiss.

“I’m doing a whole lot better, because last night at Garett’s home I managed to make sandwiches without using my hands,” Raul responded.

“That’s awesome!” Melinda responded cheerfully. “But you must be quite rattled,” she added with concern because she knew that Raul usually took very long to process shock and when he eventually did it would be difficult to control his actions.

“No, I’m just joking about the sandwiches, although it is on my agenda,” Raul responded with a small laugh.

“Alright then, good for you!” Melinda responded with a giggle. “Garett told me about your talk, so I don’t think you should try and hold anything in. Just let it all out now, because later on things might be catastrophic,” she added.

“Garett and I are going to the bird sanctuary this afternoon,” Raul announced without paying attention to what Melinda had just said.

“Are you going there for anything specific?” Melinda asked. She was feeling slightly alarmed now.

“Well, Garett thinks that Percival might be up to some secret activities there,” Raul explained.

“What? You mean, apart from pretending that the birds are natural?” Melinda asked curiously.

Just then, Garett came hurrying towards them and almost tripped over a loose carpet.

“Hurry and come with me. Something has happened in the boys’ bathroom.” he said to Raul.

“What happened?” Melinda asked as she tagged behind the two boys who were rushing off ahead of her.

“Apparently Percival has filled the entire bathroom with frogs because he wanted to frighten Joel Richards into confessing something,” Garett whispered.