#975   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     The day dawned hot and dry with a stiff breeze off of the mountains. The scent of smoke on the air was attributed to Crowhaven and the change in wind direction.

#977   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     The Guardsman on watch on top of the Housekeeping tower saw the plume of smoke rising into the sky. He grabbed his field glasses even as he prayed that he was wrong about what he was seeing. He looked. He couldn’t be sure and he notified his Watch Commander. An air sled was send to investigate....

#979   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Long unused sirens began to wail out across the estate followed by loudspeakers blaring the warning. An air sled piloted by the Keyholder screamed through the air toward the site.
     We’re going to need a Gate terminus! Get on it, we have to move people and livestock fast! Penthesilea told her daughters.
     On it, Mother, Spirit replied.  We’re putting it between the Castle and the Lake. There should be enough room there.
     We’re going to need force shield generators! Tell the gremlins! The acknowledgment was wordless but Penth could “hear” her daughter relaying her orders. Then the air car hit a rough patch of air and Penthesilea could see the extent of the coming disaster.

#981   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Swearing, Penth headed for the settlement that lay directly in the path of the fire. There wasn’t much time but she would buy them all she could.
     When she got there, the people were preparing to flee on horseback but there was no way that they could outrun the fast moving fire. Penth landed hard, smoke trailing from her air car. She had managed to spot a likely structure on the way in and she sprinted for it. The people fell in behind her. They didn’t know how she was going to save them but she would if anyone could.

#983   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Penthesilea stood between the settlement and the wildfire. She could not hope to extinguish it. Her only hope was to hold it at bay long enough for everyone to escape and for the Gate to be shut behind them. She called power and cast her shield spell across the path of the fire.

#987   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     MoonCat put a silver flask to her mother’s lips and poured a blue liquid that softly glowed into her mouth. Penthesilea recognized the taste and swallowed. Warmth and fire of a different sort spread outward from her stomach. In moments, she was back on her feet.
     “Report.”

#990   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Once their families and stock were as safe as they could be, most of the men and many of the women volunteered to work the fire lines. There was an experienced fire warden among her people who was already on the job and Penth left her to it while she concentrated on ways to put the fire out. She could easily see a scenario in which every square foot of her estate was burned to bare earth except for the buildings made of stone.  They had not come so far and endured so much to lose it all to the vagaries of fate! Penthesilea would not permit it!  She already knew that she would not be able to extinguish a fire the size of this one with magick, or at least not all at once. She briefly entertained the thought of causing the winds to blow the fire back on itself but that was a tricky business and she decided to save that option as a last resort.

#992   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     Things were getting desperate. Kodiak’s crew chief had called for assistance as the fire was overwhelming them. They had fallen back before it could surround them and had taken refuge in a small stream. Kodiak knew that it was too shallow to protect them. He hoped the smoke would take him before the flames did. 

#994   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     They fought the fire to a standstill but couldn’t get control of it. The winds died at sunset so its progress was slowed but despite their best efforts, it continued to move forward.  Penthesilea spent the night manning a Gate, sending everyone not involved with fighting the fire to an area on the northern side of the river where they would be safe. Once they were safely away, Penthesilea closed the Gate, slept for a few hours and then went back to work.    

#996   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     By noon, Penthesilea knew that there was nothing that she could do magickally to extinguish the fire. It was impossible to move as much water as they needed in the time they had. They would have to fight it the old fashioned way.  She went to the Fire Warden and explained the realities of the situation.
     “Send me where I can do some good,” Penth said when she was done.
     The Fire Warden consulted the maps and within minutes, an air car carrying the Keyholder was speeding for the fire lines. From the air, Penthesilea could see why she had been sent to this section. The fire was racing down a ravine between two rocky faces. The fire could not go up either side -- no fuel -- but once it burst out of the ravine it would have plenty of fuel and a clear path to the interior of the estate. The air car landed as close to the fire line as it could and Penth sprinted the rest of the way. She found the crew chief and told him what she would be doing then she ran down the ravine to face the oncoming flames. She gathered power as she ran and finding the best spot in the time she had, she threw up a shield as she had done at the settlement. The shield did not block the heat and she couldn’t extend it high enough to block the smoke but it did keep the fire from advancing. Dimly, she could hear the crew chief yelling to his men and the roar of a bulldozer. She was buying them time to make the fire break wider. Looking into the heart of the inferno only yards from her face, she knew that she could not hope to hold it until it burned out.  She was skilled and strong in her magick but she had learned long ago that there was a limit to her power and rightly so. So she set herself and concentrated. There was nothing but the fire and her will and the crew behind her that would likely die a horrible death if she failed.
     Mother. MOTHER! Spirit’s mindvoice barely registered on Penthesilea’s consciousness. Nothing could be allowed to distract her so she ignored the call.  She heard the hum of an approaching air bike and ignored that as well not even questioning why one would be in the area. Suddenly, she was shocked out of her concentration and realized that she had been snatched off of her feet by a man on a fast moving air bike, his arm dragging her onto the bike in front of him as they sped away from the fire. She couldn’t see much of his face through the soot and the faceplate of his breathing gear. She looked past him and saw that her shield had failed when he had grabbed her and the fire was roaring up the ravine after them like a starving demon.  She could only surmise that the fire break was ready. Seconds later, they blasted across the wide swath of scrapped bare earth and rock and beyond it to what everyone hoped was safety. Her rescuer slowed the bike to a crawl, gently set her on her feet near the crew chief and roared away before she could see his face or get his name. Then the fire reached the fire break and, amid cheers, began to die.
     Safely out of sight of the Keyholder, Kodiak smiled and dismounted from the air bike. 

#998   [Rewritten by Penthesilea]

     The sun set and Penthesilea was relieved to see that the sky was dark without the glow of wildfire. She was too wound up to sleep so MoonCat and Spirit took matters into their own hands and slipped their mother a sleeping potion with her dinner, insisted that she at least lie down and try to rest and tucked her in when the potion took hold and she slept.

#1007    Penthesilea
     
The Vineyard

     Penthesilea approaches the burned remains of her once lush vineyard. Her daughters and several workers are waiting for her.

Penthesilea: Well, will it work?

Spirit: It will work. The question is, will it work well enough.

MoonCat: We have only a few of these devices and they weren't designed to cover a large area. I've consulted with everyone I can think of and I've made some modifications. I hope that we can use these to restore the vineyard, the orchard and those fields that were too far along to be replanted.

Penthesilea: Are we ready to start? *MoonCat and Spirit exchange looks.*

Spirit: As ready as we can be, Mother.

Penthesilea: Let's do it then.

MoonCat: *into a walkie-talkie* Do it. *Way out in the middle of the vineyard, a small dome of energy appears and begins to expand. The small figure of a cheetah runs ahead of the expanding dome of energy. Faster. Faster. Still faster. The cheetah reaches the spectators and blasts past them, then slows and returns to the Keyholder's side. The cheetah then turns back into a small, cheetah shaped black cat, the Black Huntress.  The energy field reaches the edge of the field and stops. Minutes tick by. Then..

BOOM!! The energy field goes down and the shock wave knocks everyone off their feet! The spectators pick themselves up and survey the vineyard. It is restored!! *cheers!*

Penthesilea: Give priority to the orchard and the fields. We can shelter the families in the Castle until we can rebuild the houses. Good thing most of the buildings are made of limestone, all we need to do is rebuild the interiors.

Spirit: We'll get right on it, Mother.