The Council

by Phoenix Willow

  “Or landing in water.” Rain added.

  “Or on a pile of rocks.” Galadriel quipped.

  “Yeah.” Ambrosia smirked. “And less chance of Girlie falling over anything and landing on her face.” She said, her lavender eyes twinkling.

  Jewel smirked right back at the Vampiress who was having a good time at her expense. She knew that what she was saying was true, but it didn’t mean that Jewel wasn’t going to have a little fun at her expense as well.

  Jewel subtly made sure that everyone had joined hands and then without warning, teleported everyone to the outskirts of the forest. The look on Ambrosia’s face was priceless. She was already fair skinned, but she had paled a few shades, her eyes wide as saucers, and looking like she might be sick.

  “Thanks for the warning, Girlie.” Ambrosia said caustically.

  “No problem.” Jewel retorted cheerfully. “Anytime.” She said mischievously.

  “There’s someone else in the forest. We need to hide. Quickly. Quickly!” The large renuviant squeaked.

  “We are not alone, I fear. Probably best to hide, my dear.” Zeke said with a hit of nervousness.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound very positive.” Winter bit her lip. “Where can we go?” She asked the Pixie man.

  “This way.” The Pixie man said without hesitation, leading the entire group, which was too numerous to be inconspicuous, to a safer location. The group followed quickly, each knowing that the best chance they had of avoiding whoever was in the forest was to get somewhere and hide before someone spotted them.

  “Chocolate covered nuts, Spitfire. This is beyond nerve-wracking.” Rain began. “You know, I think when we get back to the Meadow, I’m going to down an entire can of chocolate sauce. I don’t even need anything to dip into it. Just going to drink it straight.”

  Jewel wrinkled her nose, tripping over a small stone but steadying herself before replying. “That’s disgusting, Raindrop. You know that right?”

  “It’s no different than you and all your frozen coffees you love to drink so much. Same thing.” Rain stated.

  “Yeah, no. Not at all the same thing. One is delicious and is intended to have someone drink it. The other is disgusting to drink on its own.” Jewel argued back with a smile.

  “I couldn’t agree more, Spitfire. Coffee- disgusting. Chocolate sauce- delicious.” Rain smirked.

  “That’s not at all what I meant, Raindrop and you know it.” Jewel shook her head.

  “Would you two be quiet. I think I’m starting to hear voices.” Ambrosia whispered, effectively shutting down Rain and Jewel’s banter.

  “It’s coming from that direction.” Ambrosia stated, pointed towards the middle of the forest. “And it’s at least four or five voices that I’m hearing.”

  Jewel strained to see if she could hear anything as well. She couldn’t but what she did end up doing was running right into Zephyr’s back when he stopped without her noticing. Thankfully, he didn’t topple over, merely turned around and smirked at Jewel with a ‘I should have known it was you’ expression on his cherubic features. Jewel just shrugged. Hey, at least she had managed to stay on her feet once again. That was progress.

  “Come on, Gem. The Pixie led us to a good spot to hide in for now. At least until you can open the portal without causing attention.” Frost said, grabbing Jewel’s hand and leading her to a large pile of boulders that looked both staged and natural at the same time, as they were angled and would hide the group from two different directions.

  She ducked behind them and thankfully everyone else was able to hide as well. Everyone was piled in together, quite snugly, but they were hidden. And just in time too, because as Jewel peered through the cracks of the boulders, she began to hear the voices that Ambrosia had mentioned earlier. They got closer and closer, until Jewel could see who they belonged to. Jewel heard a lot of individual’s suck in air, grind their teeth, and hiss and she knew she wasn’t the only one that had recognized the four individuals walking.

  Jewel noticed Galadriel reach for his weapon, his eyes glinting murderously, and his posture showing his readiness to fight, and although Jewel understood it, she also knew that it wasn’t the time. So, she waved her hand until she got his attention and shook her head. No, now wasn’t the time to fight. Jewel had a much better idea.

  Chapter Thirteen

  One in Infinity

  Jewel sent a telepathic message to Winter, Foster, Ambrosia, Galadriel, Frost, and Rain that explained what she was about to do. Last thing she needed was for everyone to be alarmed and then give away their location. And at least this way, no one could say she hadn’t filled them in on her plan- which was certainly risky but would pay off tenfold if it went smoothly.

  Jewel knew that she needed to get closer to the four individuals that she liked the least in all the worlds, and the only way to do that was to use one of her powers that she hadn’t used as often, but thanks to the renuviants- she felt fairly certain that she would be able to this time around without issue.

  Leaning back against the boulders cool stone, Jewel closed her eyes, willing her astral projection power to kick in. She focused on her intent with using her power, and within seconds, she had separated from her body and was able to maneuver around the boulders, and into the depths of the forest. She moved stealthily so she didn’t cause any unwanted attention and ended up finding a large tree with a trunk that was twice the width of herself.

  Jewel wasn’t sure if any of the four she was about to spy on would be able to see her astral form. It seemed that her Dad had, so far, been the only one able to. But Jewel wasn’t taking any chances. She slipped behind the wide tree and peeked around it to get a better look and get a better look she did. Gertrude, Shade, Manti, and the Monarch were standing in a square, and were squaring off so to speak. The Monarch looked flustered as the chubby Pixie waved his arms about, telling Gertrude that they had a deal over and over. She looked every bit as Jewel remembered her, except perhaps even more harsh in her expression. Still a very pretty woman, but she looked as though she was two seconds away from killing the Pixie Monarch.

  Manti, who was at least visible so Jewel could keep an eye on her, looked like she wanted to be anywhere but where they were. Her bug eyes were shifting back and forth, her triangular shaped face kept tilting from side to side, and she kept saying ouch and slapping at her arms and legs as though she was being bitten repeatedly. Served the insect right. In Jewel’s opinion, Manti was even worse than Gertrude. She had pretended to be Jewel’s mentor, only to stab her in the back. At least with Gertrude, you knew she was evil. Manti had slipped right under Jewel’s radar and that irritated and vexed Jewel to no end.

  And then there was Shade, who looked even more disheveled this time around than he had at his house several months prior. The pants that he was wearing were humongous and being held up by a rope belt, and a white t-shirt that was sporting a lot of dirt and was about three times too small. Every time he moved, Jewel was certain that the material of the shirt was finally going to give way and split in about eight different places, but what was even more concerning was his physical appearance. He was gaunt and appeared to have not eaten a full meal in quite a while. His hair was a dull grey color instead of the bright silvery tone that he had been donning when Jewel met him. And he had almost a twitch, as his eyes darted around wildly, as though at any moment something might jump out and grab him.

  “I told you. We have the one’s you wanted locked away in a cell.” The Pixie Monarch huffed. “Now, you hold up your end of the deal or I’m going to let them walk.” He said smugly, and Jewel held her breath for what she knew was going to happen.

  The Pixie Monarch’s eyes widened as he was picked up from some invisible force and shaken until Jewel was sure he would either pass out or throw up…..maybe both.

  As the Pixie Monarch fell to the ground, disoriented and disgruntled, Gertrude walked over and leaned down. “Now you listen to me, you disgusting, fat piece of scum. I don’t g
ive two whit’s about our deal. I never intended to hold up my end to begin with, you stupid peon. But what I want even more than the girl and her band of minions is that dagger. So, I ask you again, did-you-get-it?”

  “I’m sure the guards put it somewhere safe. We can go look as soon as I get what you promised. I may be a peon to you, but I have certain assurances that make me invaluable if you want to ever get your hands on the girl or the weapon.” The Pixie Monarch sneered, showing his row of sharp teeth. “Now, you’ve attacked me, threatened to go back on our deal, and showed a complete lack of trustworthiness, and if it weren’t towards me, I’d say that I admired you for those qualities as I have some similar traits. But you did act this way towards me so I’m not that impressed, and frankly, you are beginning to get on my nerves. You came here for help. You came here for an alliance because you have an uncontrollable situation in your world that you can’t seem to fix. You haven’t been able to capture the same girl that I captured less than three minutes after meeting. You want the most evil weapon known to any world that has already done some irreparable damage to your married sweetheart over there, and you dare threaten to renege on our deal. Oh, no, my dear. That simply won’t do. You see, when we made our deal, I used a bit of Pixie dust to give it that special little additional kick, remember? But what I didn’t fill you in on, is that the only two ways out of a deal once the dust is used is either for the dust’s owner to release you from the deal or by your own death. The first isn’t an option because I killed the Pixie whose dust was used, so there will be no release from the deal for you. Death is your only option. So, as I’ve been saying. We had a deal. You will give us what we want, and we will help you with your Immune problem.” He finished.

  “You tricked me into using that Pixie dust.” Gertrude shrilled, a murderous expression on her face, but seeing the smug one on the Monarch’s face must have been too much. “I will find a way to break our agreement if it’s the last thing I do, and when that happens, I’ll come back here and rip you apart myself.”

  The Pixie Monarch shrugged. “Yeah.” He snorted. “Good luck with that.” He smirked as Gertrude clenched her fists and her face reddened even more. “Now, off to the Villa, shall we.”

  Gertrude looked about two seconds from throttling the Monarch, but she gave a stiff nod and followed him. Manti was still slapping at herself with her oversized limbs, but she also made her way to the Villa behind Manti and the Monarch. Shade, however, stayed put, his hands holding his head as he shook it back and forth every few seconds, muttering about something incoherent.

  As Jewel watched, she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of sympathy for the Sorcerer whom she had once held in high esteem. But she couldn’t bring herself to feel too badly for him. He had tried to kill her with Slayer and instead had almost killed her Dad. But she couldn’t deny that what he had become was pitiable and she knew a part of it had to do with Slayer, but a lot of it had to do with his own obsession for power. It was killing him, literally and figuratively speaking. His mental stability was nil, and his physical appearance was more akin to what someone with a terminal illness would be in the final stages of their life than where he was even a little over a year prior.

  Shade continued shaking his head back and forth, and Jewel quickly decided to slip into his mind to see what it was he was thinking about that had him so upset. She knew she couldn’t linger because once Gertrude made it to the Villa, she would see that Jewel had escaped. By that time, Jewel and the others needed to be back in the Meadow. They were sorely outnumbered since the Pixie Monarch was on Gertrude’s side and they were in the Pixie world. So, there would be no stand-off today. As much as Jewel wanted it.

  Jewel allowed her power to seep into Shade’s mind. Once her mind was connected to his, she was able to see firsthand just what a mess it had become. It looked like someone had ransacked his memories to the point where some were mixed together with others, and some were so disjointed that it was like trying to watch a movie that kept skipping repeatedly. Jewel searched through, but when she saw a memory of a woman with a familiar set of golden locks and light brown eyes, she froze.

  What is Ella doing in one of Shade’s memories? When was the memory made? Jewel thought to herself.

  She focused only on that memory and was able to get it to where she could see the whole thing uninterrupted. She was shocked by what she saw. As the memory began to unfold, Jewel could tell that based on the vantage point, that Shade had been spying on Ella and a man who looked vaguely familiar from behind a structure of some sort. It was okay though, because Shade had been close enough to hear everything being said, and Jewel watched as the memory presented itself on a loop. The first time watching it, Jewel didn’t actually listen to a lot of being said, however. Instead, she was busy focusing on why the man looked so familiar. He had a hooked nose and was wearing a type of uniform that Jewel didn’t recognize, but somehow she knew that she had seen him before. Jewel continued to watch the memory until a light bulb went off and Jewel finally figured out why he looked familiar.

  He looked familiar because he was a Dispatcher. Which meant that Ella had met with a Dispatcher. A Dispatcher…….and not just any Dispatcher, but one that Jewel and her friends had fought outside of Trellis Manor. One that believed that Shade was fit to be a king and that Jewel wasn’t fit to continue to have any freedoms or life in some of the Dispatcher’s eyes. Jewel’s blood boiled as the puzzle pieces began falling in place and she now knew without a doubt that Ella hadn’t knocked her unconscious with the rock because she was protecting Jewel from doing something irreversible. Oh, no. Now it was all becoming clear. She had knocked Jewel unconscious because she had known one of the Dispatchers and based on the relaxed stance that Ella had- it appeared that he had been a close friend at one point. Perhaps even more than a friend if Jewel was going off the looks and little hand touches the two were sharing in the memory.

  Figuring out who the man was had been one part of the mystery, but Jewel needed to hear what the conversation was surrounding, so she looped the memory and began watching it again- this time with a high level of attention to detail. Jewel heard Ella admit to the Dispatcher that she had been helping Jewel and that she was starting to feel the same way the Dispatcher did. That Jewel was too powerful and needed to be stripped of at least a few powers, so she wasn’t such a threat to everyone. That it was unnatural that Jewel was showing such a wide array of rare and powerful magic. But she quickly added that she didn’t blame Jewel. After all, she had been born the way she was, but it still didn’t change the fact that someone needed to do something before any more of Jewel’s powers became active or she became too controlled with the myriad she already had, making her practically impossible to beat in a fight.

  Too late for that, Jewel thought to herself as she continued to listen in on the conversation. By the end of it, however, Jewel felt as though she had been slapped. She had faced betrayal before. It wasn’t new to Jewel, but it didn’t sting any less. She allowed her mind to disconnect from Shade’s as she pondered the ramifications of what she had just experienced. Ella had known her more than some, even if it wasn’t as much as Jewel’s inner circle, but regardless of the time spent with Jewel didn’t change the fact that the Elemental really believed that she was evil. There was no denying it anymore. Jewel had seen within the memory how the woman truly felt, and she knew she could no longer trust her. But Ella was a Protector which made the realization that much more hurtful and that much more dangerous. Jewel was going to have to speak to Winter about it as soon as they got back to the Meadow, but for now, Jewel gave Shade one last look and allowed herself to reconnect with her body.

  Jewel blinked a few times to get her bearings, as the astral projection experience still left her a bit disoriented. But as the alarm from the Villa rang out, Jewel knew they were out of time. Not waiting a moment longer, she used her Keeper of Tempus powers to create the portal leading back to the Meadow. Everyone filed through until there was only Jew
el and Galadriel, who was looking back at his Dad with a mixture of disappointment, sadness, and anger.

  Jewel placed her hand on his arm. “We’ll deal with it a different day. We have to go now.”

  Galadriel nodded, and they went through the portal, one after the other. Jewel closed it before anything or anyone else had the opportunity to make their way through. Jewel sighed with a sense of relief and sadness. They had been successful with their trip, to a certain extent, but now they had a bigger problem, and her name was Ella. She knew how to find the Meadow, which made their safe-haven not so safe anymore- unless Jewel could find her and erase some of her memories. A tug on Jewel’s arm snapped her back into the present, and when she looked over, she saw Winter eyeing her with concern.

  “I know you must be tired, but I was hoping to speak with you before we give our report to Skye.” Winter said, biting her bottom lip.

  “Of course.” Jewel started, hesitating only slightly. “I need to talk to you about something too.”

  Winter nodded, and the pair made their way down to the river’s edge for a bit of privacy. “I know that it’s wrong to hide anything from everyone in the group, but I think it best if we don’t give a detailed account about Shade’s condition. Skye might not be on Shade’s side anymore, but she was madly in love with him at one point, and I believe the news of how terrible he’s doing these days might make her a bit depressed. She blames herself for not stopping him before it got to this point, you know.”

  “But that’s ridiculous. There’s nothing she could have done to change anything. It’s Shade’s fault. He wanted power. He’s always wanted power.” Jewel stated, knowing that she had spoken the truth. Maybe she hadn’t been around Shade as long as Winter had but based on what she had observed and what Skye and Winter had said, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together to get four. “You know, at first, I couldn’t understand how he could have been romantically involved with Gertrude when he ended up married to someone as amazing as Skye, but I get it now. Gertrude is obsessed with power too, and both are willing to go to great lengths to get it. In that aspect they are very similar.” She admitted sadly as she leaned against a gemstone tree.