by Dani Swanson
"How do you know for sure that these are the right ones?" Xander examined the different choices he had to choose from and added a few of the other colors to his own quiver.
"I used to be friends with an elf that lived down here. They did a lot of watching of the weather. He always made it rain after his family planted a new crop. I have no idea what they have dipped on these things, but every time there was a slightly dark cloud in the sky, he could shoot this up there, and then it would start pouring."
"Silver and iodine would do it. Though we're in a place of magic, so who knows what it would be. They probably have some leaf or berry that they use, and boom, rain arrow." Xander examined the random bottles lining the walls of the house they broke into that had labels written in that weird language he had seen on the signs. He couldn't make out what they said, but he did recognize the skull and crossbones on one of them. "At least I understand this label," he picked up the bottle to show the boggle.
"Yeah, magic makes things a whole lot easier. I never understood why humans don't use it more."
"I'm fairly sure that we just don't have the ability. Like how fairies can fly, but you can't." Xander shrugged.
"I've always enjoyed how straight your answers have been. Out of all the humans that Izzie forced me to be around, you were always the one that I could stand the most. I think we have enough to make it rain around The Mother. We should head that way and see if Izzie is ready for us."
"You keep talking about Izzie as if she isn't human." Xander was shaking his head as he was strapping the majority of their haul onto his back. Zyon hadn't offered to carry anything.
"Because she's not. That's why I can stand being around her."
"But she is."
"Witches aren't humans. She has the strongest power out of all the witches in this world. The Ether is supposedly the hardest of powers to control, and your girlfriend has it. She's not human, she's the most magical creature in the Winding Woods, and she doesn't even realize it."
"How is she the most powerful? She doesn't know how to do anything but move stuff and light a fireball." Xander held the door open for the little green man.
"I thought you were the smart one. Just because she doesn't know about her powers doesn't mean she isn't the most powerful. What's that word that she hates being called.....not weird but the other one?"
"Ignorant?"
"That's the one!" Zyon pointed to the sky with his finger as if he were the one to remember the word. "She's ignorant to the fact that she is stronger than everyone else."
"Why didn't you ever tell her any of this? She could already have known, and we wouldn't be in the situation that we're in now."
Zyon turned and shot an evil glare toward Xander before he started to speak. "Man, look. I didn't know a lot of it until we came back here and saw Phantasma at work and saw what Iz could do. I'm not a witch. I have my own powers to deal with. Witches don't usually associate with the rest of us. They hang out with the humans. But, once I saw Phantasma using brute force to destroy my kingdom, and not magic, I knew that her powers were limited. She was using her smarts like a human would, to trick us. She didn’t use her powers to destroy us because they’re not there. Now Izzie is the only creature besides the dream keepers and Phantasma not to be asleep. Why is that? She must be stronger than the curse, that is the only answer I could come up with. If The Mother is asleep and Izzie is awake, what does that tell you?"
Xander started to walk down the path as he thought about what Zyon had said. He still felt like everything that was happening was a dream that he just couldn't wake from. "I suppose that makes sense, but how is that possible? I thought The Mother created everything here. Isn't that the story that Izzie told me? If The Mother created the magic, how is Izzie stronger than The Mother?"
"Ah, she didn't create the world. There are kingdoms and magic outside of here. She created the Winding Woods, and the creatures migrated here. There is a difference. Izzie's parents came here after they defeated a witch in the Kingdom of Owls. According to the rumors that I was told long ago, her mother's friend had created a potion that allowed powers to be taken from a witch after she dies. Some witches can even give their powers away. I think they do that when they are getting ready to move on. So, before Izzie was even a thought in her mom's head, her grandmother gave her part of her powers. She has the powers from her mother that she naturally gets through, what's that thing you guys call it back where you're from....in that science class."
"Genetics. It's what's passed from the parents down to the babies."
"Yes, that's the thing. Genetics from mom gave her powers too. Her mother was the strongest before Izzie was born. When she was born, her mother had the essence from her friend who died and her friend’s twin sister. She did a spell that gave her some of that too. On top of that, she got powers from The Mother. So, she is a whole mix of malarkey, a bunch of different witches that makes her the one with all the powers. I wasn’t around for any of this, but those are the stories that were told of her family.”
"But I ask again, why you didn’t tell her?" Xander had been aimlessly following Zyon as he walked, entranced by his story, and not paying any attention to where they were walking. "Bro, where are you taking us? Are you trying to get me lost in the woods?"
Zyon laughed at Xander's comment. "If I wanted to ditch you, I would just do this." And with a flash, Zyon had disappeared before his eyes.
"Okay, good point. Come back now." Xander's voice got nervous as he looked for anything sign of the boggle.
The little green man came back into sight. "And the reason I didn't tell her when she was growing up is that I don't know anything about magic in witches. What would I do with a girl that can fling me across the room by waving her finger? I needed her to forget any magic that she knew."
"Ah, so you were trying to control her. Do you know the trauma you caused her? She seriously thought she was crazy. Her parents stopped talking to her when there was that incident at the house. You could have taught her to control it. Or at least why she was so different. You're all that she knows, and now she doesn't trust you. Fifteen plus years together, and now she's pissed off."
Zyon stopped and turned around to look at Xander and started to grow so he could look him in the eye. "I did what I had to do to keep her safe from everything around her and herself. I will not apologize for not telling her about her own magic! It was for her own good!" Zyon's voice echoed through the trees. Xander stared back at Zyon's bloodshot eyes and tried not to gag on the scent of the rum on Zyon's breath. He wasn't going to show weakness to the boggle and stood his ground. Zyon was the first to back down as he shrank back to his normal stature. He pulled a flask out of his pocket and took a swig of what Xander could only assume was more rum.
"She's stronger than you give her credit for. She's going to figure this out with or without you." Zyon turned his back to Xander and continued down the path.
The rest of the trip to The Mother was in uncomfortable silence, as they made their way back to the center of the Winding Woods.
28: The Magic Within
"She's not waking up!"
"Splash her with some water?"
"What if all the goo isn't out of it? Will it burn her?"
Izzie couldn't tell who was talking or what was happening. She couldn't open her eyes, and it felt like everything was spinning around her; faster and faster, the world was turning, and she couldn't move. Nausea was taking over, and she could taste the bile from her stomach rising in her throat and settling in her mouth, yet she couldn't muster enough strength even to open her eyes.
"Get the vessel before it gets lost. And please grab my phone and turn that noise off. Iz, you gotta wake up now."
"Maybe we just carry her for a while and let her sleep?"
"I thought we had to put the water into the clouds. Otherwise, we can't water The Mother?"
"I thought she wanted us to find the mouth of the river and filter the water out? Do we swim down there?"
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"What if the poison was the only thing keeping the sirens asleep? I don't want to be down there if they wake up."
Izzie could feel her body lifting into the air. Her arms were like bags of concrete falling to her side. Her head was at an awkward angle, falling backward. Someone had picked her up and was moving her.
"Here's what we're going to do. We're going to let her rest for a bit. You guys are correct; if we don't put water into the clouds, we're going to be waiting for a while until it naturally evaporates and goes up there." Nathan had scooped his sister up in his arms and moved her toward the path they used to cross the lake. He took the vessel and clasped it around her neck. He examined his phone, trying to turn off the loud music, but his screen was completely cracked, and the buttons were no longer working. He powered his phone off and placed it in his pocket. "I heard Phantasma say something that this wasn't her sleeping curse. I don't think those mermaids will be waking up. I'll dive down and see what I can see, but I think the water will be fine. The infected water would already be pulled down to the river, so filtering it won't do anything."
The shadows merged and wrapped themselves around Izzie as she slept. They felt like a warm blanket to her as she could still hear everything going on but couldn't wake up. Nathan stripped down to his shorts and made his way over to the edge of the water. He gently splashed some water on his skin and waited to see if any of the goo residues were there to hurt him. After no results, he looked back at the shadows, shrugged, and waded into the water. Once he was waist-deep, he dove under, swimming to the deepest part of the lake. He could see the opening, but it was too deep for him to go down and examine. He made three separate attempts, but his lungs would start to burn before he got anywhere close to it.
"It's too deep!" He said between gasps of air as he made his way back to the shore. "Those things are still in a bubble over there. They seem to be asleep."
Hours had passed, and Izzie was finally able to open her eyes. The sun was high in the sky, and they were supposed to meet Xander and Zyon at The Mother hours ago.
"I'm okay guys, get off me, please." She had startled the shadows, who also were dozing off.
"You're finally awake! Do you feel okay?"
"Tired. I feel like I have mono, and I just got done doing a cycling class. So, so tired."
Izzie stumbled a bit as she got to her feet. She still felt like the world was spinning, and all she wanted to do was go to sleep, but she knew that her work wasn't done. She needed to get fresh water to The Mother before any more of the toxins affected her.
"Why did the mermaids come out of the water? Were you trying to do that?" Nathan was holding his sister by the side as he helped her walk to the shore.
"I just focused on anything evil that was down there and pulled it up. I didn't know how else to focus on the goo. I thought the girls said it was a siren."
"Aren't they the same thing?" He raised his eyebrows as he let go of her arm.
"No. They're not the same. Mermaids are kind creatures and just hang out in the water. Sirens eat men." Izzie giggled at their conversation. "Who would have thought that these would be serious conversations that we would need to have."
"There's a lot of things around here that I've seen, and I am glad they are asleep, as they could eat me."
"Most things in the Winding Woods won't hurt you. Only a few. And they mostly stay in their own space, so as long as you're not in their home, they leave you alone." Robin was dusting off his pants from sitting in the dirt.
"Good to know, but I plan on going home when we're done with this project." Nathan winked at him.
"I'll bring you there myself."
Izzie smiled at the bond that Robin and Nathan had formed during this adventure. Without discussing it with the others, for fear that they would try to stop her and make her rest some more, Izzie begun to lift the water from the lake and pushed it to the sky, filling the few clouds that were there. The Ether flowed through her veins and the silver strands that usually flowed out her fingertips were illuminating all of her veins, leaving a silver path of power shining through the skin on her face, arms, and hands.
"Are you okay? This didn't happen before?!" Nathan was frantic, and the shadows came to look at her as she cast her powers.
"Her powers are rejuvenating inside of her. She's fine. I've seen this on a witch before." Reyna studied Izzie's face, tracing a finger over the silvery path down her arm. "It's the same color that came out of her before; I wouldn't worry."
Izzie couldn't speak as she watched the clouds above her turn dark as they filled with water. Once she was done, her legs felt wobbly, and she immediately sat down where she stood.
Everyone lunged forward to help her as she made her way down to the ground. "I'm fine. Just tired. We need to get back to The Mother now. I'm sure Xander is beside himself."
"You really should rest; your body has been through so much." Zallen knelt by Izzie and placed his hand on her shoulder. "We can get you to The Mother. You rest."
Zallen nodded to the rest of Team Zeta, and they surrounded Izzie in their shroud of darkness, carrying her across the lake back to the mainland. Nathan was experiencing this from the outside of the shadow for the first time and saw that they formed a demon's shape, large horns growing from the top of its head with yellow eyes that glowed even in the sunlight. He now understood why the stories of the boogeymen frightened him as a child so much. Their presentation was terrifying if you didn't know their purpose.
He ran beside them to keep up with their pace of their long steps. They made it to their destination in no time, and Xander, who at first cringed when he saw the shadows and was ready to run, relaxed when he saw Nathan running alongside them. Zyon was sleeping off his hangover and using The Mother as a backrest.
"Where's Iz? Is she okay?" Xander raced over to Nathan.
"She's taking a nap inside of that thing. She's fine. Just worn out." Nathan reassured Xander as he was panicking. "Seriously, she's fine."
The shadows whirled around, forming a small tornado as they each went back to their regular form, leaving Izzie lying on a patch of mossy grass, still sleeping.
Xander raced over to her and sat next to her. She opened her eyes and smiled. "Am I dreaming?" She playfully said with a sleepy voice.
He leaned down and took her face in both of his hands and sweetly kissed her lips, causing her to blush when she realized that everyone was watching them. He helped her to her feet and wrapped her in his arms. "I was so worried." He kissed her on her forehead before letting her go.
"I was too." She sweetly cooed back to him.
"Are we ready to make it rain, or what?" Zyon stretched his arms, annoyed by the affection that was happening before him.
Izzie flashed a look of disappointment at Zyon, who flashed the same look back at her.
"Yes, Zyon, you guys can shoot the clouds. I filled them full of clean water."
The few clouds overhead were indeed full of water, as the gray masses had moved through the atmosphere from the lake and were now directly overhead.
"I don't shoot arrows; I just get them. Loverboy over there will have to take care of the rest."
"Why do you have to be so rude all the time?" Izzie snapped at Zyon. Zyon just closed his eyes and laid back against the tree. He just wanted this nightmare to finally be over.
Xander held his hand up to Izzie and shook his head. He didn't want to waste any more time on the boggle. He drew his bow and teal pointed arrows, aiming to the clouds. He let them rip through the branches of the trees and into the sky, where they lost sight of them as they flew.
"I've never seen an arrow fly so high before," Xander said as he shielded his eyes, trying to see where the arrow had gone.
"You've never used magic arrows before." Pan smiled as he pointed up to the sky. "Look! It's working! Keep shooting!"
Pan was right. The group looked up to see more dark clouds rolling in, drowning out the sun. The sky was turning black as a storm was brewing.
Xander shot arrow after arrow into the sky until he had gone through the entire quiver of teal ones.
The rumbling of thunder started off in the distance—a flash of lightning lit up the sky not long after. Soon Izzie felt a drop of cool water hit her skin, then another. A smile spread across her face as she hugged Xander. "You did it!" She squealed as she leapt into his arms.
"WE did it, babe!" Celebration started as the rain began to pour down, drenching all of them.
Izzie ran and gave her brother a huge hug. They separated and locked pinkies. "We still make an awesome team!" She hugged him again until she heard a sleepy voice come from the tree.
"Is that freshwater soaking into my roots? Washing away the curse?" Izzie walked closer to the face of the old woman; her sparrow charm grew hot on her skin as she neared the tree. She could feel its magic pulling her, trying to break free of its chain.
"Mother, are you well now? Did we break the curse?" A flash of sparkling light shot across the opening from the trees as a lone fairy flew past their faces. They could hear noises of creatures from the woods, rising from their slumbers, running for shelter to get out of the rain.
"I'm afraid that I am still fragile. I can feel the damage through my limbs from the poison that was being fed to me. I hope I can last long enough for the creatures of the Winding Woods to find their way to a new home. I won't be able to cure myself of this."
Even through the darkness of the storm, everyone could see the blackened leaves littered throughout her branches.
"You have to heal yourself! We trapped Phantasma, and she won't be hurting you any longer." Izzie held up the green gem from around her neck and showed it to The Mother. "It was you?! You put everyone to sleep?"
"They could not be hurt by the poison if they weren't awake to ingest it."
"Why didn't I go to sleep too? Your sleeping curse didn't work on me." Izzie fidgeted with her sparrow charm, as she usually did when she got nervous.
"Your powers are stronger than any curse I could produce. I tried to put you to sleep too, but you resisted my magic."