by Janeen Abdo
Zidon whistles and two horses appear, “I will take you to Zachariah.”
Chapter 30: Dark Witch loses Earth
DESDEMONA SAT OUTSIDE her caves contemplating her next move. “I know Terra says she is with me, but once I make her a full Elemental, will she still. If I do not keep my word she will turn on me once again. I need not feed near as much just having her here and she helps me continue to cloak Gaia without even knowing. The Elementals have so much energy in them. I have to convince her to be with me forever. The sisters and Timekeeper will have to go. I have to make it look not my fault.” Whispering to herself she evolves a plan in her head.
Desdemona releases a deep breath and walks to the cavern where Gaia is sleeping. Looking at the great Mother, “hmmm how will I ever get rid of you and your kind? How am I ever going to ensure my immortality and not rely on all these magic tricks to keep it going?” She runs her hands through Gaia’s hair.
“Did you ever think punishing Terra would be your downfall? What do you have against Wyatt; he hardly seems like a son-in-law to hate.” Desdemona laughs at her own thoughts. She walks to her crystals and waves her hands “Show me Seraphina.”
The crystals glow a warm yellow and red as Sera comes into view to Desdemona. She observes the surroundings and recognizes them as Bago; the town Terra thought was home. She can see Sera talking to a young man, almost childlike features but a strong build. She sees him as a moth drawn to a flame, hmmm wondering if returned. Desdemona smiles “The immortal flame that hates humans is falling for one. How delicious!” Excitement pumps through her “Haresh” she screams out.
“Yes my mistress what can I do for you, are you in need of feeding? I have selections in line for you, my priestess.” Haresh bows as he speaks his groveling words.
“No I do not need nourishment gimp; I need someone in Bago to act for us. Terra must never make the connection it leads back to us. Someone first needs to start a rumor, Sera is a witch and you must kidnap a young man for me.” She shows Haresh Connor’s image in her crystals. “I need to start the rumor and spread it like wild fire.”
She smiles Sera may not die but she can feel pain. Bago is one of the few towns left that burns the magic out of people. How delightful for the Elemental of fire to be burned alive. Desdemona can’t help but to laugh out loud, Sera will snap and then Terra will beg me to put her to sleep like Gaia.
Now to prove to Terra that the sleep is safe; it may be time to let her find Gaia and see she rests peacefully and safe. She turns to the sleeping goddess, “Yes time to leave you uncloaked. Terra has wandered in here enough times she knows you’re here.” She walks out of the room leaving Gaia.
Desdemona then walked to Terra’s sleeping rooms and finds her sitting on her bed relaxing. “I have seen little of you Terra; one might think you are avoiding me?”
“No, your little man servant suggested I not wander around and accidentally get lost.”
“Oh he did, well I am sending him out on an errand. You may travel around anywhere you wish. You are not to feel as if you are a prisoner here. That was never my wish; I had only asked him to make sure you did not get lost in the labyrinth of caves down here. One could be lost for days, but I understand how the Elemental of Earth may have a harder time of getting lost.”
“Thank you, Desdemona, very hard for me to be limited to where I can venture. Sitting in these rooms reminds me too much of my time in Bago, everything stone, and steel.”
“I understand, this is your home and you may go anywhere you wish. In two days the moon will begin its waning, I can run the spell to return you to your full self. Will that be enough to wait until then?”
“Yes, that is fine and thanks you.”
Desdemona smiled and then left me to my thoughts. I like the idea of the gimp being gone for a bit, maybe now I can find where she is hiding Gaia. I know she has to have a cloaking spell on her but she has to let it down occasionally. No witch is strong enough to keep one up permanently.
I will contact Adara as soon as I find her and V can swoop in whisking her out of here. I can have Desdemona turn me back to my normal self and then we can awaken Gaia. Then Wyatt can come back and we can fix all that the humans have destroyed. I feel so useless as a human and I need Wyatt, he always reassured me and just made me feel safe.
I got up and started my wandering again whenever I think of Wyatt I cannot just sit still. The look on his face when I said I was going with Desdemona. He looked like I crushed him and everything he believed in about me, gone. I hope I can convince him to believe in me and us again.
I know I have wandered these caves countless times, but I had to have missed something. Gaia is here I can feel her presence but I cannot see her. I wish she would reach out to me again like the day at the carnival. How could she do it the one day but not again?
I walk through the familiar corridors looking at every detail in the rocks, it is exquisite down here. The different layers of rocks that go back millions of years, a sharp pain hits my head and memories flash. The pain in my head and the visions, it feels like the waters of Wondra when Adara gave me my first real memories back. That seems so long ago and I haven’t had flashbacks since then. The pain is subsiding and I can breathe, I see me in this cave before, I see the waters running through them.
This is how they we formed the caves, so remarkable watching Adrianna work her magic moving the waters and forming the caverns and tunnels with the force of the waters. I see me smiling and creating more land masses for her to mold into forms with her water. It was a game for us creating and making the Earth beautiful.
I see the back caverns I am in, illusions of walls are large stalactites and they block the view of the back caves. The formations kept going on even after Adrianna and I stopped. The vision ends and relief rushes over me as I look closer at the walls. I found the giant stalactite, it looks like the back of the cave and it ends there. I walk closer to it. And for the first time I see an opening behind it, more to this cavern, deeper.
I continue my search and feel along the sides of the walls and find yet another opening and turn into the dark. Sera would be a lot of help, it is dark back here. As I continue on I walk into a giant stone slab, I feel the top of it a glass dome is on it. With my hands I trace over the dome and it is the size of a human, it feels like a glass coffin on top of the slab. Calling out to Adara, “I found Gaia and I need V.”
“I am here,” Adara responds
“Gaia is in the back of the caves behind the giant stalactites. It is where Adrianna and I used to play creation. Would V know where that is, can she move her? She is in a glass sarcophagus on a giant stone slab. I need her to whisk her away. Desdemona is going to give me my powers back with the next waning moon in two days.”
“I will let V know. Desdemona lies. She does not need the waning moon to transform you. She needs it to put you in the sleep like state like Gaia. You must leave with V. I can help you, Terra, come back to us. Wyatt will need your help in Eloria.”
“Why is Wyatt in Eloria? Someone is coming I have to go send V!”
I leave my trance state to hide in the shadows as I see Desdemona’s witches passing through the tunnels. I stay hidden as they continue to pass by. Then I feel the breeze coming in through the tunnels. That was fast, I see the casket lift in the winds. Then I felt the breeze again and V grabbed me and then the caves were gone. We were all at the Blackhawk statue, V, Adara and Adrianna stood around Gaia’s sarcophagus. Gaia looked as beautiful as ever.
Chapter 31: Flame of the Heart
SERA WALKS THROUGH the little town of Bago; it does not seem that bad, she realizes to herself. Except for the creepy guy that runs the church, all the other Enlightened seem like good people. It is so not what I expected; humans always seem so destructive and violent. I thought for sure when I came here it would give me more reason to destroy them. I am finding these humans just living in harmony and believing in the same Fates. While the Enlightened faith is different I see enough sim
ilarities, I can respect it.
I see Connor walking through the buildings, I cannot figure him out. He moves with such confidence and grace then when he tried to talk to me, he turned into a bumbling idiot. I wonder how he could ever hurt me. I cut him off at the next building and see what is up.
“Hello, Connor.” He jumps, I laugh.
“I, um, did not expect you to talk to me again after I bumbled through the last time I tried to talk to you.”
“Well let’s try again, I am Sera, I am new to Bago and you are?” I say this with a smile trying to contain the laughter watching him fidget in awkwardness.
Connor takes a deep breath and flashes his best smile, “I am Connor and would you care to go for a walk with me. I appreciate the second chance at an introduction.”
“I would love to go for a walk. Lead the way.”
We walk back to the growing stations, “Everyone here has a purpose, we work as a tight community, and Reverend Isaac runs us. He is the leader I guess so whatever he says goes.”
“Why, what is the need of having someone run you”
“Well, we need a leader to keep control, people panic and could starve if no order. Isaac gives us order. He decides who gets what job. Reviews the reactions to the tests, but let’s be honest, if you are born from money you become a scholar like me. I am in training to become a teacher whether I like the idea.”
He stops to take a breath than continues, “Then the unruly types are placed in the mines, where the hardest work is. That is where they dig to find coals for heating and cooking. The mill is where they make the grains for the food that is where the poor people go. They are taken care of but they work hard for their food and survival. The more money your family has put in the system the better off you are.”
“You are considered wealthy than if you are a scholar?”
“Yes, I feel like I can be more. I appreciate the knowledge of a scholar and I know educating the young is the best for a future. But I can’t help but feel like I am supposed to be doing more. I guess I am selfish and unfulfilled as the reverend has told me more than once.”
“I have learned that if you do not feel fulfilled in your life, it is because you are not following the path to your destiny.”
Connor smiles as he looks into my eyes, “I like the idea of that, but destiny and fate go against the grain here, be careful whom you say that around; it can be taken as the talk of a witch, anything that is not included in the sermons is talk of evil and the devil presides to move. Isaac will have you burned.”
“Burned? I thought nowhere punished by the fires anymore?”
“Bago is one of the last that still do from what I understand.”
We have walked the whole perimeter of the town already and now are coming across more villagers and they are pointing and looking at me. “What is going on, I look at Connor as we come across the stares and glares?”
Sister Agnus approaches and hands me a note with a wax seal. I open the seal to see a summons from Reverend Isaac; I look at Connors green eyes and see the concern. He is shaking his head, “these summonses are never good, something happened.” He looks at the people pointing at Sera and glaring as if she is an evil creature. Connor takes my hand, come with me.
Sister Agnus looks at me like she wants me to go with Connor and not follow the summons. So I follow Connor, he takes me back to a cottage on the edge of town. His hand reaches up and gently caresses my cheek, “I am not sure what happened while we were on our walk. But I will go before the Reverend and find out before you go for that summons, I have a bad feeling Sera. I do not want to see you get hurt.”
All I can do is nod, how is this human trying to protect me. I know he does not know who I am, but he knows nothing about me and he feels this need to protect me. The seer must have seen someone else causing me pain; it must have been the Reverend.
Connor reaches over and looks in my eyes again and then kisses me gently, “if I am not back soon, leave this town.” Then he left.
Fear rose in my chest, I do not want to see him hurt either. I want to follow but fear it will make things worse. Adara is calling me again; in my trance-like state I answer her call.
“Gaia is with us at Blackhawk, Terra is with us too. We need you to come so we can awaken her. It will take all four of you.”
“I will be there soon. Something happened here. Connor thinks I am in danger. He does not know who I am, but did you know they still burn witches here?”
Adara shocked at the response Sera gave her, “Sera, we need you to come home now. There is no danger for you if you leave now.”
“But Connor may become in danger, since he has gone to find out what happened; I cannot leave without protecting him.”
“You hate humans Sera, why are you concerned with him. Is he of magic like a Druid or Wiccan?”
“No just a human who has been kind to me.”
Then there was a knock at the cottage door. I look out the window and a horde of the town folk outside my cottage. Connor is tied up and gagged so he cannot warn me, they have come for me. I call for V.
“I know I am not supposed to burn the village to the ground, but they are planning on burning me for witchcraft. They have my friend hostage, I need you.”
“Sera, how do you get in these things? I will get Adrianna we will come. Oh and try not to expose yourself, ok.”
They kicked the door in and the mob rushes in to take me; they bind my hands and push me out the door. The chant of the village grows loud as they pull me to the pyre, I see tears in Connors’ eyes and it breaks my heart to see him in pain.
“Burn the witch!” The village screams and Reverend Isaac walks up as I am tied to where a human could never escape.
“Sera, it has been brought to my attention, you lied to us when you came here. It was not to find out about our faith, but to allow the serpent in, to allow the Devil to destroy us. I requested you come and you send a boy to plead your innocence. The poor enchanted men are not a new sight for me. You shall burn till dead today.”
I look at the people around me and I see them tying Connor to a tree and putting a rope around his neck. “What will you do to Connor?”
“He will watch you burn and then hang.”
“How can you turn on your own people like that?”
“Light the pyre”
Chapter 32: Time Finds Zachariah
I CAN FEEL ZIDON LOOKING back at me to make sure I can keep up as he rides swiftly through the woods. Never done a lot of horseback riding, but I am keeping up, kind of. I figured we would head back to the ponds to a different realm, but instead, we ride further into the elves world. This world is full of magnificent trees that almost reach the clouds. This reminds me of times with Terra, she loved watching nature just grow.
Zidon cuts through a small field next to the forest we had been riding in. The field is hidden away from the main road, I am not sure anyone would notice if they were not looking for it. A small farm comes into view.
An old two-story farmhouse with a white picket fence; there is a round red barn and a loft barn just to the side. I can see goats and chickens feeding just beyond the fence, the sight takes my breath away. We come closer and I see a dwarf tending to the chickens, I look to Zidon he does not seem surprised. Dwarves and elves rarely get along but these two seem to be friends.
The dwarf stops let’s out a boisterous laugh, “Well Zidon, you finally came back out of hiding.” His smile faded as he realizes what and who I am, “He is not going back with you Wyatt. Zach cannot handle watching all the death in that world. He said the humans have ruined the beauty of the passing and the death keepers no longer escort humans due to the high death tolls. No one can keep up anymore. That Desdemona sacrificing everyone, Zach just won’t record it anymore.”
Trying to decide if I am even right to come here and ask him to leave this realm that is so full of life. “I understand, but if the Earth died all the realms connected will perish with it.”
Th
e small husky man, with his wild curly brown hair curving around his wide forehead, protects his friends and his land. He does not want to see it destroyed, but he says nothing just stares at me with little beady brown eyes.
“HMF” The dwarf grunts at me, “Dwarves never run from a fight.” A broad smile crosses his face, “Not like the yellow bellied elves.”
Zidon shakes his head at the dwarf, “Just can’t stop yourself can you? Where is Zach? I didn’t come here to play with you Gem. The Timekeeper is right; to protect our realm we must save the Earth.”
“You’re no fun anymore Zidon, Zach is in the barn getting the feed ready for the animals. He says it brings him peace to tend to the animals. Still not sure he will go, plenty of other keepers that can help, let him heal.”
“I wish there were still plenty of other keepers, the witch Desdemona turned one of our own against us and he murdered many of us. I had to put him down to make him stop killing the keepers.” My voice is so low, I am not sure they heard me.
“How many?” a soft voice comes up behind me. I turn to see Zach standing before me.
“Farm life suits you well brother. I am not sure yet, I killed Horardo a few days ago. He killed Kaleb; that pushed me over the edge. The last count was at fifty of our brothers gone. Terra wasn’t enough for him he wanted what Desdemona could offer him. He kept Terra in her punishment for five hundred years and killed fifty of our brothers. I had to take him down, Zach.”
“Wyatt, I agree you did what you had to. So sorry for the separation of you and Terra, know how you feel about her. I’m not sure of I can do; couldn’t deal with the wars anymore. I left V, she will never forgive me.”
“Sera told me to find you first and V is not as full of hate after being separated from her sisters for so long. Come back with me, help me save the Earth.”