28
Avery’s Return
Avery rushed past the outstretched, black tendrils of Erebus and hurried toward Goren and Foster. As the Keepers raised their wands into the gale-force winds, Erebus arose out of the fog and towered over the circling soldiers. Like a black hooded dragon, he reared his head up and out of the darkness, high above the tops of the nearby homes, and stretched his tendril arms ready to collapse them down upon the Keepers. Rising out of the shadows of the cul-du-sac’s every corner, Lost Fairies appeared, preparing to assist their master.
“Keepers! Listen to me! Our King is nothing more than a man. A man who is just as lost as his thoughtless slaves,” Avery yelled through the wind. “A light must be brought to his lonely darkness. To save him from his sadness.”
Goren, with his wand raised high, felt that the speech sounded rehearsed. For all the time he’d known her, he barely heard Avery speak a word. He looked at his friend and watched Avery Waterstone stare into the eyes of her one-time loving king.
The man with a pure, unbroken heart was gone, but she could still see the fear in his eyes. A fear that had turned to vengeance. Her empathy was no longer fueled by ignorance as it once was, years ago. She knew, now, that the truest form of love came unconditionally and no matter how evil or angry her WishingKing was, she wasn’t going to stop loving him.
For a moment, the wind stopped and the darkness rippled, and the Keepers saw their WishingKing, standing tall but burdened amidst the retreating storm. Erebus looked into the eyes of his Regent. A long, hard look…and a smile, once again, creased the side of his shadowed face and he leaned close to Avery. She didn’t flinch or move as Erebus spoke, seemingly inside her head and reading her thoughts.
“The truest form of love, my Avery, is not unconditional, but relative to the one who has the power to control it. Only a fool relies on the blind faith of a wish. No more wishing, Avery Waterstone.”
He pulled away and stood upright again, raising his black, outstretched tendril-arms left and right. A smile that showed more confidence than the surrounding Keepers were expecting continued its grin.
“It’s time to show you just how foolish you have been,” Erebus said, and sent a wave of black fog whirling around the Keepers. The full brunt of it struck Avery and surrounded her.
The Hope closed their eyes, holding firm to their wands, but Avery kept hers open. There was a knowing deep inside, a knowing like that of the first moment she looked at Elanor. A knowing that was bittersweet. Erebus wasn’t going to win this fight, but in the end, neither would she. Sparks of charged light cracked from the end of her wand as she raised it above her head. Pure white softly beamed, filling the area, joining the blinding light of her fellow Keepers’ wands, but as the force of Erebus’ darkness rushed her, only her wand’s light was doused.
29
Going Alone
Shea stared daggers into Elanor’s weeping eyes as she raised her wand. The Captain still had control over her, but the pain in Elanor’s heart was too strong for the evil to make a move. Keeping her pointed wand extended toward her mother, Shea slowly turned her head to her father. He needed to see this. He needed to see that his daughter wasn’t going to stand idly by and watch her parents make the same mistake they made years ago. He would never allow her to prove herself willingly, so she would simply have to do so with force.
Placing her goggles over her eyes, Shea’s wand sparked and charged. “It’s my wish to grant.”
“Shea no!” Beren yelled.
BLAST! Shea exploded a powerful spell at Elanor. It crashed into her chest, knocking her against the potted plant. Elanor’s head smacked the ceramic surface and she slumped to the floor, unconscious. Just as the True Love Wish escaped from Elanor’s limp arms, a white light exploded and blinded everyone inside the house, including Shea. The combined bright spells of The Hope filled the cul-du-sac with pure, radiant light. The Lost Fairies scattered and Erebus shrieked an ugly, painful bellow of a growl. It echoed through the eardrums of every Keeper - an ugly reminder of just how evil their WishingKing had become. His fog quickly retreated, scurrying away from the light and rushed away from the brightly lit cul-du-sac street.
Shea was so intent on recovering the wish and with the help of her goggles, she was able, though barely, to keep the True Love Wish in her sights as the light shined through the windows. Miranda and Grayson cowered into the couch as Beren rushed to his wife’s side, trying to shade his eyes from the blast. He ignored the True Love Wish floating away from Elanor. He ignored the WishMakers mere feet from him. All he could see was his slumped over, scar-faced-Ellie unconscious in front of him.
Watching the wish scurry overhead, Shea planted a perfect wrangling spell around it and grabbed hold. Using its momentum, she swung up to the wish, wrapped an arm around it. She spotted Thane, crouched along the base of the window, covering his eyes. She had to leave him. As much as she wanted Thane in her life, to keep her hand firmly placed in his, she needed to do this alone. With a final look, she quickly grappled toward the back door and flung herself through the duct-taped hole in the window and was gone.
The light of the wands from the WishKeepers quickly subsided and the house and cul-du-sac was quiet, but for the distant, echoing explosions miles away as more Gates continued to close. Beren quickly looked up, searching for Shea. Thane limped to his General. Elanor was unconscious and Shea was gone.
“There isn’t much time. Thane -“
“Yes, sir. I’m right behind her.” Thane started to leave, but Beren pulled him back.
“No. I need you to stay here.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I was given an order to keep your daughter.”
“My daughter is in trouble, private. Do as I say. Please.” It was the first time since their journey began that Thane noticed a sense of true worry and anxiety in his General. Though Beren was trying to stay calm, Thane could tell he was frightened.
“Yes sir.”
“I have to go. This is…” Miranda pulled away from Grayson and headed to the front door. The lights were still out and even though Erebus’ fog was gone, the winter storm was continuing its assault.
“You’re not going out in this. And I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but there are fairies in our house!” Grayson rushed to the door and blocked her exit.
“This isn’t real. It’s a dream or nightmare or something! I have to go.”
“Miranda, just wait!”
“Don’t go out there. Please!” Thane yelled and flew into the faces of the WishMakers. “This is real. All of it. Believe me. I wish it wasn’t.”
“Just sit for a second. I’ll get more candles,” Grayson said as he walked a panicked Miranda to the couch.
Floating back down to Beren, Elanor was slowly and painfully waking up. “Is she OK?” asked Thane.
Carefully wrapping his arms around his wife, Beren helped Elanor sit up. He brushed the hair out of her face and wiped beads of sweat from her brow. Blinking awake and through the haze, Elanor’s eyes were completely clear of the fog. While slightly bloodshot, they were clear and white - a welcomed reprieve from the recent madness. Shea’s blast against her mother’s chest, mixed with the pure white light of the Keepers outside, cured her mother of whatever curse had befallen her. At least for now. Beren had sworn to never come back for her, but when she looked him in the eyes, he knew never returning was the true mistake.
“Ellie. Ellie, we have to go,” he whispered.
Elanor pulled her husband in close and wrapped a tight, desperate yet thankful hug around him. Deep down she always wished he would return and help her fight this curse, this disease. Quickly she remembered everything. “Shea. The gates! Oh Beren, she can’t leave and he knows!”
“Some of the gates may still be open. Come on,” Beren softly replied as he helped her up.
“What do you mean? Shea broke each rule. How are the gates…?” Thane asked, confused.
“Stay with the Makers, Thane. Debrief them on
everything. The Gates are closing, but there may be a few that haven’t yet. We’re beyond repairing what Shea has done. The Makers might as well know what’s going on. We’ll bring Shea back. I promise.”
Thane watched his general help Elanor walk. Picking her up in his arms, Beren lifted off and flew out through the hole in the back door.
With a deep breath, Thane turned toward Grayson and Miranda. They stared back in confused wonder.
“Oh boy.”
30
Safe And Sound
Beren helped Elanor to the top of a tall pine. They surveyed the forest in front of them, looking for any sign of their daughter. A soft red glow pulsed from within the woods a few hundred yards to the north. Shea was close.
“There. That wasn’t a gate,” Elanor said, pointing.
“There are gates all over this area,” Beren said, studying the surrounding forest. “Right now, it’s like a mine field. We don’t know which ones will go off or when. We have to hurry. Can you make it that far without my help?
“My daughter is out there. Of course I can.”
Beren nodded and turned to go, but Elanor tugged on his arm. “How much time do I have?”
He looked in Elanor’s eyes and while they were still clear, a faint hint of blackness swirled in the corners.
“It was barely a half hour last time, but that blast was pretty strong,” he said, trying to stay confident.
“I’ve been waking up at night. Not knowing where I am or how I got there. It lasts for longer and longer each time.”
“It’s lifting. We may have more time then I thought,” Beren said with even more confidence.
“If I turn before we find her…“
“We’re going to beat this, Ellie.”
She pulled her husband’s face in close. “Every day I lose my family, even when I’m alone. I can’t go through it again.”
“We’ll find her.”
Unable to hold back, Beren kissed Elanor. It was their first kiss in a decade and Elanor didn’t want to let go. She had forgotten the flames of such a fire and how they burned so easily through any kind of fear or doubt. When he pulled away, she knew that this would be the last time she would ever allow the curse to affect her, even if it meant saying goodbye forever.
Elanor readied her wand and aimed it at a far off tree, preparing to grapple. They nodded and Beren took off. She swung and propelled herself through the air, staying close to her husband. About to swing and catch another branch, an explosion like a supernova went off a few feet to her right and her whole world was ablaze with a powerful golden light.
The light rippled through the forest and quickly vanished. The storm halted and for just a moment, all was quiet and still and then a brilliant white flash flooded Elanor’s vision.
* * * *
Elanor knelt at Shea’s bedside. Barely seven years of age, Shea dangled her little legs over the edge of the feather bed, and Elanor was removing soft white socks from her delicate feet.
“Shea, you really must get used to being barefoot. Fairies don’t need to wear boots, honey.”
She tugged and pulled a sock away from her dancing toes and playfully said, “Ahh” as if to show how nice it feels to let them breathe.
“See? Feels good to let your feet get some air, doesn’t it?”
“Mom?”
Elanor did the same ‘Ahh’ with the second sock and smiled at Shea.
“Can I have a little brother? Please? Even a little sister would be OK.”
“We’ve been over this, honey. It’s not so easy,” Elanor said as she tucked Shea’s wings back and placed her head on the pillow.
“I just want someone to play with. That’s all.”
“I know, but listen,” Elanor pulled the feathered blanket up to Shea’s chin. “I don’t ever want you to feel alone. Your Dad and I will always be here. I promise. OK?”
“Mom?”
Before blowing out the bedside candle, Elanor turned with one last smile. Beren’s voice, filtered and frail, echoed through the room. She stared at Shea lying in bed, but her husband’s voice kept calling.
“Elanor!”
* * * *
His voice was weak and distant as he crawled through the snow. The storm rolled back through and Beren couldn’t see Elanor, or much of anything else for that matter. Blood leaked from his forehead as he continued to search and call out his wife’s name. The wind trapped and vanquished his yells. Gripping the bark of a tree for support, he leaned, out of breath and desperate until finally he spotted her.
She was lying in the frozen snow, bleeding and having difficulty catching her breath. He fell to her, wrapping his arms around her.
“Hey. Hey! Stay with me.”
“Shea…you have to…“
“Easy. Relax. Just relax. You’re OK.”
“Do you remember…the last time…you found me?” she asked through struggled breaths.
“I remember every time,” he said.
“Don’t stop looking. Please.”
Her eyes swirled with a flicker of darkness. She could feel it and blinked, trying to ward off the impending curse.
“I’ll always find you. You understand?”
“Thank you for keeping her safe,” she said. Looking over his shoulder, she cracked a smile. “Looks like…you and Shea will have something…to talk about.”
He looked and noticed his wing. It wasn’t completely broken, though a noticeable, large chunk had been ripped out of it from the blast.
“Finally,” he replied with a smile. “Come on. This isn’t over yet.”
He lifted her up through the pain. They stood holding on to each other as the wind and snow whirled through the dark forest.
31
Shea’s Choice
The storm had grown into a whiteout blizzard. Shea could barely see through the thick, blowing flakes as she grappled from tree to tree. Stopping within an evergreen, she huddled against a thick branch with the True Love Wish secure in her arms - and cried. There had been plenty of tears through the years, mostly of the frustrated and angry kind, but these were different. There had been a deep, bottomless pit within which she had placed each thought of regret and sorrow she had ever had, and each revolved around the fear that somehow she was responsible for everything awful that had ever happened to her, to her father and to her lost mother. These tears were from that deepest part of her heart’s chasm and she felt that they may never stop. She couldn’t fight the feeling that maybe she shouldn’t stop crying. That maybe she deserved these tears and crying was a way to punish the broken-winged, handicapped fairy that would never become a Keeper.
The True Love Wish pushed itself against Shea and nestled its warmth firmly to her chest. Though it was a slow evolution of a feeling, Shea choked on her gasping tears and looked at the loving wish. It’s big, round eyes looked up at her as if to say it was OK to cry. That it was OK to have regret and that it was OK to feel a sense of loss. A soft red glow surrounded them as they sat along the branch and the wind blew icy snow through the surrounding forest. While whatever was waiting for her on the other side of the evergreen’s branches was danger personified, she felt a rising awareness of her mission. A mission that she needed to successfully complete.
BOOM! An explosion rocked the forest and trees around her, sending ripples of golden light throughout. The gates were exploding shut, one by one, and Shea quickly realized her time was running out.
“You’re with me now. We’re gonna be alright. Can you help me find a gate?” Shea said to the wish as she wiped the tears away. It beamed a bit brighter, sensing Shea’s growing confidence. “OK, little wish. It’s time to go home.”
Aiming her wand through the branches, she charged it up, ready to connect a grappling spell to a neighboring tree. As she was about to fire, a rush of black fog swept beneath her and swirled through the woods. The wish wiggled in panic and Shea knew she wasn’t alone.
Trying to maintain balance, Shea crept to the edge of the bra
nch and aimed her wand. Blasting a grapple to a nearby tree, she latched on and swung herself over. Landing on another branch, she lost her footing and slipped on the icy bark. Trying to grab on to whatever she could as she slipped, she dropped her wand, and fell.
Crashing to the snow below, it being harder than it looked, she somehow kept the wish tight in her arms, but her pack and goggles were lost somewhere in the blowing snow. Her head was throbbing from the fall, but she didn’t have time to feel any pain. She was out in the open and wandless. The True Love Wish beamed a soft glow to help navigate as she crawled.
A black wind rushed and circled around her, followed by a deep, foreboding laugh. Panic set in as she searched for her wand, clawing at the frozen snow. There! She lunged for it just as the fog thickened.
Behind Shea, Erebus slowly rose from the darkness and formed into a tall, black-hooded shadow. Shea spun on her knees and aimed her wand, but he only floated closer, daring her to fire.
KABOOM! Another gate exploded a few hundred feet away, sending ripples of golden light through the forest once again. Erebus wasn’t fazed and only smiled as he slightly bent over Shea. The True Love Wish wiggled and pushed itself as close to Shea as possible.
“Desperation. A hero’s worst enemy. And it looks like we have a new hero,” he said, taunting.
“Stay away!” Shea yelled, waving her little wand.
“But why would you want me to stay away? One who can give you all you’ve ever asked for. Grant all of your wishes.”
“I don’t want my wishes granted. I only want this wish…”
“Stop fooling yourself!” he yelled. “This isn’t about that wish, Shea Evenstar.”
Her red hair whipped in the wind as the wish cowered in her arms. She gripped it tighter.
“You’re an outcast. No one has ever accepted you as you expect to be. Your own mother doesn’t even believe in you.”
The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) Page 16