by Janeen Abdo
“Make me whole”
“In the waning of the moon, I will recreate the exact setting to return you to your true being. Are you going to look for Wyatt then? Are you going to leave me once I make you whole?”
“Only if you give me a reason, until then you cannot control my sisters.”
Desdemona looks hard at me and nods her head. “I am tired, will you leave me now?”
I walked back to my caves on the other side of the caverns. Thinking over the conversation I just experienced. How can I get a message to Wyatt? The only one I can reach is Adara and she has clarified that I am with Desdemona, I once again failed her. She will not help me. If I was myself again, I could contact Sera and get a message to them all. We are taking this witch out. I continue wandering through the caverns, have not found Gaia yet. Where else could she have hidden her?
“You wander as if you are lost or looking for something.” Haresh pops up behind me again. This is a statement, not a question. I do not know how this little gimp is always popping up without a sound.
“I am exploring, is that forbidden?”
“Just do not want you to get lost and no one ever finds you again, my lady.”
“Aww well thank you for your concern, I am pretty sure I can find my way out.”
Chapter 27: Rains of Hope
ADRIANNA IS RIDING her clouds and releasing water sporadically all over the world. Remembering the Great Flood, the humans talked about that for centuries never understanding it was how we cleansed the Earth when they got out of control. Our Father the creator forbade me from doing it again. It was such fun, the rains just pouring from the clouds. It was beautiful. Adrianna laughs as the rains fall and she watches Desdemona’s witches try to stop it.
“I give you credit for your determination.” Adrianna laughs as she lowers herself to the plateau the witches stand. She shimmered into a human form but kept her height at eighty feet tall. The witches stared at her with the fear in their eyes. “I will not hurt you; I want my sister and my Mother. Your head witch needs to give them to me before I release the floods and drown you all.”
With that Adriana returns to her clouds and laughs while she sees the humans dancing in the rain. Soon she will have one small river flowing and water will grow from there. She headed back to swamps of Orleans to join the Faye folk. The Queen of the Faye, Adara proved to be a great ally these past months. Never would have thought that day would come, Adrianna smiles to herself. The worlds are changing and hopefully for the better.
As her clouds guide her over Orleans she looks down at the slough and how the white bark glows against the deep greens in the swamps. The different clusters of trees represent the portals to all the other realms to magic folk safe from humans. She sees the group cross over one another creating a giant W. That is for Wondra the land of the Faye. Diving from the clouds into the swamp, she swims to the other realm.
She rises out of the water and again smiles at how beautiful the realm still is. Once Earth looked like this and the humans destroyed everything to advance. The trees, ripped from the ground, my beautiful waters they polluted and filled my lakes and oceans to create more land. Now they suffer from lack of water, I hope by giving them the river again they appreciate it this time.
She walks throughout the magical forest in Wondra. All the amazing animals the Faye Queen saved from extinction. She only hopes she saved a few of the sea creatures, how I miss riding my Orca’s and playing with dolphins. My mighty sharks, they would keep the balance of life in the oceans, survival of the fittest.
A sound stops her thought as she looks through the branches; she transforms into her transparent Elemental form and grows eighty feet tall. She sees the entire land and her noisy creature, rare as they are now, a beautiful stallion walks through the woods. The grace the animal moves with its tail up and shows no fear.
Adara did well in protecting the animals. She is the keeper of the birds, but when things got bad, she collected all the animals, to save as much as she could. As she continues her walk, she finds the small village of the Faye, she shrinks down to their size. They can make themselves any size but seems to prefer to be the size of a butterfly. I enter the small village and see many of her warriors that battled Horardo and the shadows with us.
The young male appears from nowhere and smiles, “Do you wish an audience with our queen, my lady.”
I smile back at him and recognize him; he is not of the Faye but the young Druid Adara had taken.
“Dominic, you look well I believe the land of magic is very healthy for a young Druid like you. I am here to speak with Adara if she has time...”
“I am sure for you, she will make time. Please follow me.” The warm smile Dominic offers makes it hard to refuse.
“How is your sister, Annabella isn’t it?”
“She still struggles with the loss of her coven, her wounds will become faded scars, and they are just still healing.”
We reach the palace made of ash and oak. The trees stand hundreds of feet in the air. A stream of clear water feeds a pond. I see fish swimming; my heart warms to this sight. Adara comes walking out of the giant doors in a light cotton dress and smiles from ear to ear. “I see Dom found you easy enough, hoping you would visit soon,”
“Have you had heard from Terra? How many of the creatures were you able to save from Earth?”
“I have not spoken with Terra since she tried to convince me that her joining with Desdemona was for the good of the Earth. Your Orca whales are here. The dolphins are with the Elves and the Sharks with the Dragons. I like the whales, I rescued many ones, but the Orcas sing.”
“Thank you; I do not know how to repay you.”
“I will think of something.” Adara laughs as Annabella comes into the room. “Fire is engulfing people and running rampant. Seraphina is in pain and suffering, she is lashing out and destruction is what she is seeking.”
Annabella has tears in her eyes and she explains her vision. “I also see a young man, his baby face hides his years and he has green eyes. Such a deep green, I do not know where he fits into the vision but I believe because of him Seraphina is in pain.”
Adrianna looks down, Sera is the strongest of us all, and if someone can cause her pain, he must be powerful. “Adara please reach out to Sera, see if she is ok. Warn her of this man and vision; she is in Bago to find clues to Terra’s human life.”
Adara’s eyes go blank as she reaches out to Sera, concerned that her seer is giving her enough notice. Sera is not responding, Adara comes out of her trance and looks to Adrianna and then to Annabella. She is not responding to my call. Adara slips back into her trance and reaches out to Terra.
“I hear you Adara, did not think you would ever reach out to me again.”
“I cannot reach Sera; my seer says she is in danger. Are you through betraying your sisters?”
“I am not betraying my sisters, I am working on Desdemona to make me whole again and in the meantime find Gaia. What do you mean danger; I thought she was with you?”
“She went to Bago to find out why you betrayed us all, and you are a fool I can make you whole again. Anyone with the knowledge of magic can!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You need to figure it out on your own and I wanted Wyatt then. Join us now.”
Chapter 28: Sparks of Fire
SERA SITS AT THE MASS with the humans, a pretty ceremony. They sing and talk of kindness and helping one another. It also talks of punishment and sins, but hey if it helps them be better people I can accept this way of thinking. They are not sacrificing each other like Desdemona’s followers do. Adara tried reaching me, but I was not about to go all ghost-eyed to talk to her in the middle of all these humans. They are leery of me now because I am a stranger.
This young man sits in the back watching everyone; I think he keeps moving up in seats, though, He seems to keep getting closer. He has such a young face, I cannot even guess his age, but he moves so gracefully. I know he is not as young as he l
ooks, he is almost next to my seat and he knows I am watching him. He flashes a mischievous grin as he moves into the seat next to me.
“I hear you are the stranger that is learning a new faith?” he looks at her with deep green eyes and flashes a flirtatious grin. “My name is Connor, and you are?” He stops smiling as he stares into her eyes. “Your eyes have flames in them, the color it comes to life.” He says this out loud without realizing it.
I am not sure if he is sincere or creepy. “My name is Sera, you may be the one he is warning us about in here.” Try to lighten the subject not sure if he will realize the boundary or try to follow me home.
“I am so sorry didn’t mean to say that out loud. I probably come on too strong, um weird. Well Sera, the name suits you, but I will not go there. Um if you would like to hang out or something, come and find me. That way you know I am not trying to lure you to damnation. I am, well, I oh boy um, I will see you around”
He left as quickly as he appeared. An odd little human is all I could think as he departed. I also just missed the whole second half of the sermon. Hope there is not a test. I walked out with the rest of the crowd and headed back to the stone little cottage they let me stay.
My thoughts keep returning to Connor and his quirky embarrassment. He had a cute smile and who could not see those green eyes, I would not point it out. I shake my head, he is a human. Sure he is playing an angle or plotting a war.
Relaxing back at the cottage, back to my transparent self, it feels so good to not be solid. I don’t have to be eighty feet tall, but it feels good to not be on stage. I watch my fingers as I dance flames along them. Cautious is one thing, but I hate hiding. I don’t know why I came here. I just needed to get away and come to grips with what happened.
In my trance state I call out to Adara. “What is so urgent? I was surrounded by humans I couldn’t just talk to you. They would freak out.”
“My seer had a vision and she does not know why but a young man with a baby face and green eyes causes you pain and you burn everything.”
“I think I met the guy today, but I do not see how he could hurt me. I have more control of my powers than to just lose it and burn everything. Give me some credit, there has to be more of an explanation and she probably did not see everything.”
“I also spoke with Terra, she says she is only with Desdemona to become a full Elemental again and she is searching the cave looking for Gaia. She swears she has not betrayed us.”
“Do you believe her?”
Adara sighs, “I do, the bond you all share is stronger than any power and I do not think she would risk Wyatt. I told her to come; I will restore her power faster than Desdemona.”
“Why didn’t you do it before?”
“I wanted Wyatt, now I have my Dom. I never thought I would consider monogamy.” Adara is laughing at her own statement. All I can think is yuck. Druid or not he is still human.
I shake the thought from my head. Then Connor finds his way back into my thoughts, how can you possibly cause me pain. Enough to become destructive, no the seer did not see the whole picture. There must be more to this vision than what she is telling Adara.
These humans will be the death of me. I will check things out in the morning and if I do not find more interesting things I am heading back to the Faye. She played with her flames dancing through her fingers a few more times and then went back to her human form. Looking out at the moon, thinking of her sisters, dreaming the world was healed.
Chapter 29: Time for the Elves
WYATT’S REALIZATION that walking takes a lot longer to get from Blackhawk Statue to Orleans swamps; makes his mind swirl with thought. I should have asked Sera for a lightning ride. This is giving me way too much time to think. How could Terra side with a dark witch? There has to be more, she would never let something like power come between us. I sit down and rest in the dust looking up at the sky. Memories of the centuries we have been together. I know these last five hundred years I have not always gotten through to her to remember who she is.
Five hundred years, Desdemona put Gaia in a deep sleep; right after Terra received her punishment to be human for fifty years. Dark witches are human, Horardo was how she kept resetting Terra and kept the punishment alive for so long. How is she staying alive all these years, did Horardo reset her? I cannot believe I never thought of this. I have been so busy trying to make Terra remember who she was; Desdemona has grown more powerful and immortal. I have to get to Zach he might be able to figure this out.
Moving at a jogging pace now to Orleans, need to find a faster way there. A glowing light appeared on the horizon. I heard a light laughter and then a Fairy took form in front of me. The long blonde hair and ever changing eyes took shape and Adara stood before me in her human size.
“Did you really forget that I can hear you, Timekeeper?” She smiled mockingly as she crossed her arms tilted her small frame trying to look sweet and innocent.
“I didn’t think about it. I could use a little help to get to Orleans faster.” A little leery Adara will not help unless she is getting something out of it. And that is usually me having to promise I will be her life mate.
“You’re safe Wyatt, I have my Druid now and see no need for a Timekeeper anymore. I do like you’re thinking on why Desdemona is an immortal. Do you think Gaia’s magic with Horardo having the ability to control time? Then there is always her special diet that can lend her a hand? I wonder what could be the answer to her secret of immortality.”
With that, she waved her hands and the glowing ball surrounded us both and she looked over at me, “I can do better than Orleans.” The globe took the two through the sky and all went dark and a loud crashing noise went through my head. This all occurred in a split second and then we were in Eloria, the land of the Elves. She dropped me to the ground “Wish for me, when you have answers dear Wyatt and I will help you. This is not just a destiny for you and Terra many of us are involved. Quit trying to be the hero.”
Adara disappears without a trace. If I could be in my time form, I would not need help. I could travel around the world and between worlds in seconds. The human form has its downfalls. I looked around to gain my ground to figure out which way to go when the three figures approached me.
I recognize them at once. The young Fates, they created at Karma’s request due to the population was getting out control. She begged the creator for more Fates to help with the weaving of paths. They still have a lot to learn and are annoying.
“Norma, Morae and Clotho.” I greet them with a smile and hope I’m not the object of why they are so far from the cave and tapestries.
“Wyatt, you do look good for your age. We watched you arrive with the Queen. We would like to speak with you.” They speak in unison with their shrill voices. It’s a shrieking unison screech sound every time they speak. They are identical triplets while their older siblings speak in riddles and warnings I would much rather speak with them. My ears do not want to bleed when I hear from them.
“Zachariah you must find, he knows the secrets to Desdemona’s youth. A combination of Adara’s ideas is keeping the dark witch young. With her Timekeeper’s death, she will need either another Timekeeper or a commitment from Earth to keep alive. Save Earth, you need to bring her and the great Mother home.” The three screech as one.
“I already know this, can you tell me something that will help me rather than telling me what I already know.” My patience is growing thin as their voice rakes through my skull.
“Patience, Timekeeper, will benefit you the most. Remain a human until Gaia is free, the Earth will become herself to find her path back to you. The Druid has his importance but the seer will bring life back to her broken heart. The human that can tame fire will save water. Time will reset once again for this to happen, but Earth must be herself before this happens or she will start over.”
I can do nothing but stare at the three, “Your riddles are worse than your sisters.”
Shaking my head, I turn a
nd walk away, and then stop, “What is the secret to Desdemona’s diet? That fits into all of this does it not or Adara would not have brought it up.”
The sisters look back and forth at each other one is shaking her head no as the other two nod yes. Then only one speaks this time, “While we do not agree on sharing this information, Desdemona’s diet of Virgin blood keeps her magic strong enough to bond to Gaia. This is her link she must be starved to break the link”
“Stop! No more” Screech the other two and the three vanish.
Like I did not have enough to sort through in my head before they showed. Virgin blood, I did not think it made a difference human blood is human blood. Then spears landed in front of me until encircled by them.
A tall elf stood before him, his golden eyes scowling at me. “Timekeeper, you do not fool me in this human form. I know who you are; you are the personal keeper for Earth. The Elementals are not welcome here. They will destroy us for not joining them in their exile from the humans. What brings you here alone?”
“Zachariah is here, I come in peace just to find him.”
“The Earth is failing; all the realms will die if it dies. We are tethered to it. Will the Elementals allow this to continue for their selfish squabbles?”
“No we are working together to stop the dark witch, I need Zachariah for help from his gift.”
“I am Zidon, I do not agree with the Elementals going into hiding. I understand why though. Every day I see our realm suffer because of the wars the humans continue to have. I am here to help you. I will take you to Zachariah. It is to my understanding your gift is to be in the presence of other Timekeepers, is this why they send you?”
I shake my head yes, “I can stop recording to be in the presence of another Timekeeper. We cannot have two recording the same history.”
“What of the history of the Keepers Horardo destroyed?”
“I believe I have their knowledge, I killed Horardo and all his recordings came to me.”