Elements of Power (Council of the Harvest Moon Book 1)

by Kate Stoessel

  I grimaced. I think that an earful would be quite the understatement. Looking around the room, everyone looked surprised at my familiarity with the marshal.

  “Marshal Trackerson is my friend Brigid’s father,” I explained. Perry’s face became unreadable.

  “He’s my dad too,” said a voice from the door. In walked Callum Williams in his own brown marshal uniform. “Hi Pickle,” he said, coming over to give me a kiss on the cheek and sitting down next to me on the bed. “Now, you didn’t have to go fighting a fairy to get my attention.” I gave him a shove on the arm, and he laughed heartily. Around the room, all eyes were on Cal. Itzel was eyeing him with interest. Perry, however, did not look happy, and I worried that Cal’s flirty nature was giving him the wrong idea.

  “Ok, Cal. You two can catch up later. We need to get down to business.” Now serious, Marshal Trackerson turned to the boys. “The healer told me that you two gentlemen were the ones that found Ms. Lethestone,” he said as a magic stylus took notes on an enchanted tablet. From the corner of my eye, I could see Perry shift in his seat uncomfortably. Orpheus put a hand on his shoulder to get him to sit still.

  “Yes,” Orpheus replied.

  “I am going to need your statements next.” He turned back to me. “Please state your full name,” he began, smiling because he obviously knew my full name.

  “Khloris Lethestone.” The enchanted stylus copied down my answer as I spoke.

  “What special abilities do you possess that led you to find yourself at Spindlewick?”

  My stomach plummeted, and I looked at Perry who was staring daggers at the back of Marshal Trackerson’s head. President Sager nodded, encouraging me to answer the question.

  “The Head Marshal of this area has access to student files, Khlorie. It’s ok to share your abilities with him and his associate,” she said evenly.

  “I can control elements,” I said calmly. The Marshal gave President Sager a look, the meaning of which I could not ascertain, but out of the corner of my eye I could see Orpheus working hard to keep Perry calm. So, I assumed he knew what the look meant.

  “Which one?”

  “All of them,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

  Cal let out a whistle and Marshal Trackerson looked back at Professor Sager. “Has there ever been a witch with control over all of the elements before?”

  “I don’t think so. Certainly not since records started being kept in the 1700s,” she replied evenly.

  “Virtue didn’t tell you,” I asked.

  “The boss and I discuss work on a need-to-know basis. You know that.” Checking that his enchanted stylus was still working, he continued. “You are incredibly powerful, Khlorie,” he responded, turning back towards me. This time there was no lighthearted smile. My insides churned as I looked at his face. He was dangerous, a predator, and I was beginning to feel like his prey. “Did you know about this when you met with Lady Apollonia?” He asked finally, voice low.

  “No,” I replied meekly. “Headmistress Helewidis told me about my powers months later.”

  He nodded. “Tell me about the encounter with the fairy.”

  “Well, I was going for a walk...”

  He cut me off. “Were you alone?” I nodded again. “Why?”

  I paused, knowing that I couldn’t tell the whole truth. “Well, I called my grandfather and it made me miss my Dad,” I responded timidly. “I needed to get out.”

  “It was a stormy night on Sunday,” he said surprised. “Not exactly great walking around weather.”

  “It was blustery, but the rain was...kind of...my fault,” I answered truthfully.

  “Did you do it on purpose or are you having a hard time controlling these powers?”

  Perry and President Sager both moved uncomfortably.

  “I caused the rain to keep my powers under control,” I replied carefully. “I was feeling emotional and my elemental powers were restless. Causing the rain was a release of sorts.” I paused, looking at the Marshal.

  “You thought something worse might happen?” He probed.

  “I had an accident when I first got here, and I didn’t want a repeat.” He nodded but didn’t press further. Cal looked like he was going to ask another question, but his Dad waved him off. Marshal Trackerson always told me that he never wasted time asking questions that he felt were outside his investigation. He felt they were a distraction.

  “She has made a lot of progress with her control since June,” Perry added through gritted teeth, but the law enforcement officer ignored him.

  Itzel and Orpheus were looking at me pityingly as Marshal Trackerson continued. “So, you wanted to take a walk. Why the persecution memorial?”

  “Well, it is peaceful, and it makes me feel connected to my dad. You know his name is on the wall.” The Marshal had known my father well. The Trackerson-Willams family had always been closer to my mother, but they spent quite a bit of time with my father as well. He nodded solemnly. That my father was killed by fairies wasn’t new information for him, but it was for my friends. Shock and sadness danced across Perry’s face and he turned to look at Orpheus.

  “We all miss Healer Bishop,” Cal said warmly patting my back with his hand. He and Brigid sat next to me at my father’s funeral. He knew it was a tough topic.

  “Indeed,” continued his father, without seeming like he truly echoed the sentiment. The Marshal’s face did not soften as one would expect. I supposed he saw a lot of death in his work. He stayed as sharp as ever. “So, you are out on your walk. When did you know that something was wrong?”

  “When I got to the memorial, the flame had been extinguished. I had never seen that before.”

  “Tell me what happened next.” I told the marshal how I used my powers to search the premises of the memorial and heard the fairies talking. “They were arguing. The guy felt like they had already gotten what they came for and the girl wanted to leave a message.”

  “Did the fairies say anything to you?”

  “Yes. The female said something along the lines of ‘ohh a fire elemental witch.’”

  “Is that all? Did she tell you what the words meant? Did she try to recruit you?” His eyes were almost squinting as he examined my face, waiting eagerly for my response.

  “Nothing like that.” I struggled with whether or not to mention that she asked about my father and decided against it. “Then they attacked me- the male was a fire elemental and the female was a water elemental.” I explained our fight in detail and Cal looked at me impressed.

  “Look at you, taking on two Inner Circle fairies by yourself,” he added smiling. “Most of us at M.A.S.L.E.O. wouldn’t have been able to do that. Are you sure you are the same girl who refused to take combat classes because they interfered with your advanced spell casting schedule?”

  “So, they know that you control multiple elements?” Marshal Trackerson interjected, giving his son a look that wiped the smile off the younger guy’s face.

  “Yes,” I replied simply. “Is that a problem? I was just defending myself.”

  Marshal Trackerson tucked his hand in his belt loop and shifted his weight. “Any intel these fairy scum have is bad. We don’t want them to know anything about Spindlewick or the students who go here. That is for your own safety. Could you describe the fairies in greater detail so that we could get a sketch made? Height, age, hair color, eye color, clothing, etc. Whatever you can remember would be helpful.”

  “Well, she was a bit taller than me, maybe about 5’2? She had white hair styled in a pixie cut. She was thin, but athletic. She was wearing a dark colored wool coat that fell to her knees, dark riding boots, and dark gloves. Her eyes were bright gold.” I said slowly. “If I had to guess her age, I would think that she was about our age 18-25 or so.” Marshal Trackerson nodded as I spoke. “He called her Aella. He was tall and muscular, maybe 6 feet. He wore a hood and track pants. She called him Evans.”

  “We have encountered Evans and Aella before.” Marshal Tr
ackerson asked while finishing his notes. “The fire elemental got a good piece of a number of our guys in our last encounter. You are very lucky. They are usually ruthless, which tells me they couldn’t risk stopping for a fight.” He turned to President Sager. “You have an intel leak.” He prompted me to continue.

  I explained quickly about my pursuit through the woods, calling President Sager and Perry, and how the fairies escaped. “The next thing I remember I was barely conscious, and someone was picking me up. Then I woke up here.”

  “Thank you Khlorie,” he said as he turned towards his son. “Cal, take Roe and Pinetta and conduct a full examination of the North woods and shoreline. Let’s see if we can spot what happened to the island’s defenses.” Cal nodded, obviously used to taking orders. He squeezed my hand and then hopped down off the bed. “Warn them who we are up against. Cal, I don’t need to remind you, I am sure, that what you heard here should not be repeated to anyone. The abilities of Spindlewick students and the purpose of the island are top secret. Roe and Pinetta do not have clearance, neither does your sister.” Cal nodded and headed out the door. It was then that I noticed once again that Bodhi Trackerson was a terribly dominating figure, easily over six feet tall and more muscular than one expected of a man past middle age. His grey hair and beard were flecked with black and his silver eyes were the darkest I had ever seen. This was a powerful shifter and the fact that he was handling this personally made me nervous. When he turned on Perry and Orpheus, my stomach dropped.

  “You two are the ones who found her in the woods?”

  “Yes,” Orpheus replied calmly.

  “Names and powers?”

  “Orpheus Tunne. I can sense and modulate emotions.” Orpheus turned to his friend and waited for Perry to introduce himself.

  “Hyperion Prentice. Air elemental,” he replied through clenched teeth.

  “Another elemental. How interesting,” he muttered. giving the President another long look.

  “Hyperion is one of our top students,” President Sager interjected quickly and I wondered why she felt the need to intervene at all. “He is Khlorie’s trainer and has helped her gain great control over her powers, as she demonstrated tonight.”

  Marshal Trackerson did not respond to the president. “Prentice. I know that name,” he muttered as he looked at the enchanted tablet in his hand. “Are you related to Pomona Prentice?”

  Perry nodded. “She’s my mother.”

  “Do you share her pro-fairy views? It says here that she spent a lot of her youth at pro-fairy rallies.” Perry turned toward me to gauge my reaction and flinched when he saw that I was surprised by this news. I immediately felt guilt for my reaction, but it was too late.

  “My mother raised me to respect the ACC,” Perry added simply, and Bodhi’s eyes studied the elemental with a dangerous intensity.

  “The timing from President Sager’s report indicates that you two got there before the sirens went off. How is that possible?”

  “Perry received,” Orpheus began.

  “I assume Perry can talk,” the Marshal replied, tersely cutting Orpheus off.

  “I got a wind message from Khlorie saying that she needed help and where she was,” Perry replied quietly.

  “Similar to the one I received,” President Sager added.

  “Why would Khlorie send you a message and not another teacher?” He asked, staring intensely at Perry.

  “I’m her trainer,” he replied through gritted teeth, and I could see Orpheus keeping a close watch on his friend.

  “So, you got this message and ran out into a stormy, dark night knowing full well fairies were on the loose,” the marshal probed.

  “I didn’t know about the fairies. I just knew she was in trouble,” Perry explained.

  “Still, it would take a lot to put such a powerful witch in danger. Seems like a lot to do for a trainee, Hyperion,” the hulking man said as he moved still closer.

  Perry sighed. “I don’t just see Khlorie as a trainee.” He looked up and met my eyes. “I have feelings for her.” I felt my cheeks heat. Perry turned back to the Marshal. “So, you see, I didn’t care what the danger was, I only cared about getting to Khlorie in time. Orpheus was kind enough to come with me.”

  At this point, Cal came back in and whispered in his father’s ear. Marshal Trackerson nodded and collected his tablet.

  “Khlorie, you have been very helpful. We are going to hunt these intruders down and make sure they are brought to justice.” He walked over to the Mind Witch. “President Sager, I’d like to meet with the campus’ head of security so that we can figure out how such a well-protected institution was breached.” The impressive shifter turned back towards me. “Khlorie?”

  “Yes, Marshal Trackerson?”

  “You are a very lucky girl. You seem to keep finding yourself in these dangerous situations. Maybe, you should be a bit more careful about the company you keep.” With that, he gave Perry a pointed look and walked out the door with President Sager. Itzel came over to the bed and rubbed my back in small circles. “He was intense, huh?” She said with a half-hearted smile.

  Perry hung his head between his legs and then sat up and rubbed his face. I would have given anything to know what he was feeling. I was jealous of Orpheus’ power at that moment. “Why did you try to take on two fairies?” His voice was so raw and vulnerable.

  “I was out of sorts,” I replied. “She asked me if I was Finch’s daughter and my instincts just took over.”

  Perry didn’t meet my eyes. “They knew who you were,” he said simply. “It’s good that you didn’t tell the Marshal that.” He just sat looking at the floor as a breeze kicked up around him.

  “I am ready to go home,” I said finally when no one else spoke again, “And you all need to get some sleep.”

  “I’ll ask Healer Miyako if we are cleared to take you home,” Itzel said and ran down the hall. After a little while, she returned with my clearance slip and a spare set of clothes for me. The blue-clad witch banished the boys back to the waiting room and helped me get dressed.

  After I brushed my hair and put-on fresh clothes, Itzel plopped down on the bed next to me and grabbed both my hands. “You were very brave,” she said as she looked into my eyes. I knew that there was no response needed. Even though I only knew her a short time, Itzel was the kind of person who saw the good and celebrated the good. Not for the first time I felt inspired by her and grateful to have such a thoughtful friend. We got down off of the bed and walked arm in arm to where Perry and Orpheus were waiting with Viv. They didn’t see us at first as they were immersed in a heated conversation.

  “What happened to not drawing attention to yourself?” Viv chided Perry. “You are not thinking clearly.”

  “I can’t do this now Viv.” Perry responded tensely. “You’ve made your feelings on the subject crystal clear. I just don’t know what you want me to do. Lying wasn’t a viable option.”

  Orpheus cleared his throat, stopping their conversation. When Viv saw us enter, she gave Perry one more exasperated look and left the waiting area.

  “Let’s get you home... Pickle” the blonde-haired student mocked as he stood up next to me. Perry moved slowly behind him, a grave look on his face.

  “Ha. Ha.” I replied sarcastically. “Let’s all go home. You three must be exhausted. Thank you for staying, making sure that I was ok, and for putting up with the questioning from the marshal.” Perry walked over and took my hand. Without saying anything, he led the four of us out of the waiting room, past the reception area, and into the academic hallway of Coventry Hall. We passed the healing classroom and walked until we reached the main foyer. Students were going off to classes like nothing at all had happened. A few stopped to say hello to Perry and Orpheus as we passed, but then they continued on. If it wasn’t for the presence of uniformed marshals, it would have seemed like a totally normal school day.

  Orpheus leaned over to me. “President Sager met with the student body after the siren
s went off. Once everyone was accounted for, she told the students and staff about the vandalism and that marshals will be on campus for the foreseeable future. So, that is what people know if you were wondering.”

  I smiled at him. “I was, thanks.” The strength in my voice was returning. The bright light of day was a bit jarring as we left Coventry Hall and headed back to Cottage Row. When we reached number 14, Orpheus said his goodbyes and Itzel went in ahead so that Perry and I could talk.

  Standing in front of the cottage, I turned and looked up at my trainer. His sapphire eyes were dazzling in the sun, but his handsome face was still marked with worry and fatigue. Hearing him say out loud that he cared for me during the interrogation meant so much, but I worried what it would cost him.

  “Perry,” I said slowly and then paused unsure what to say next. He stepped closer to me and squeezed my hand gently. When he spoke, it was barely a whisper.

  “When I found you lying on the ground in the forest, I just about lost it. If Orpheus hadn’t been there, it could have been a real disaster.” He looked down, searching for the right words. “I care about you. I should have told you that before I told Marshal Trackerson” He smiled shyly, meeting my gaze with a heated stare. His hand brushed my cheek ever so gently and then he leaned down so that his cheek was touching mine. My breathing became shallow as I adjusted to his nearness. His arm moved down to my waist and he pulled me against him with the most tantalizing mix of gentleness and assertiveness.

  “You would be better off without me,” he whispered. “I wanted to stay away.”

  “No. You are the one I want,” I responded breathily. “I don’t care about anything else.”

  Now totally pressed against each other, I ran my fingers through his hair pulling him even closer. I could feel his breath on my cheek, his hand on my waist, and his silky short hair in my hands.