“Let’s rest for a second,” Avery said, as she stopped. “This damn blizzard just won’t end.”
“No, we need to keep going. Shea,” Elanor said, calling her daughter back. Her headache was slowly retreating and that only meant the curse was returning. Something else she intended to hide from Shea. Avery looked at Elanor’s eyes and noticed the black swirl was getting thicker. Catching Elanor’s glare, Avery knew she didn’t want her daughter to know.
“We need to find your father, get back to the house and regroup. We can’t stay out in this storm for much longer. You need to use those things,” she said to Shea, referring to her wings.
Shea hesitated. Even though she so badly wanted to, she felt awful leaving her wingless mom behind. Avery nodded to Shea, giving her blessing.
“I’ll be here. She’ll be fine,” Avery said.
Elanor took Shea’s hand, knowing her daughter didn’t want to leave. “Go. I’ll be right here.”
Fluttering her wings for the first time in over a decade, Shea stepped back and felt the forgotten, comfortable breeze her wings created when flapped. She looked at her mother and a slow, evolving smile rolled across her face. Elanor fought the urge to break down and remained composed, if just to inflict more confidence in her daughter.
“They’re beautiful,” Elanor said through a painful smile.
“I’ll be right back. I promise,” Shea said, and with a remembered joy, she buzzed her wings and lifted off the ground. For years, she thought that maybe she’d forgotten how to fly entirely. That if by some miracle she could fly again, her wings wouldn’t work, or she wouldn’t be able to control them, or any number of other fearful reasons to keep her feet on the ground. When she looked at her feet, however, with her clunky boots dangling beneath her and the frozen ground retreating as quickly as her fears, it all came back to her. She was going to fly again. Oh to fly again.
Floating in front of Avery and Elanor, Shea removed her wand, nodded her head and took off. Like a bullet, she was a natural.
Once Shea was out of sight, Elanor collapsed. She fell to her knees and Avery cast the same domed warming spell as Elanor had before.
“Ellie?” Avery said, as she crouched next to her. “What can I do? Anything?”
Elanor turned her head. Her bare hands were buried in the melting snow, as she looked through darkening eyes at her friend. She cried out and arched her back. Thick, dusty fog poured off of her shoulders as she coughed and wretched. Avery barely flinched at the fog.
“You can’t tell Shea. You understand?” she begged. Avery quickly nodded, tears forming in her deep eyes.
“It’s almost calming, isn’t it?” Avery asked. Her eyes were staring at the black dust that trickled off of Elanor’s back. She knew all too well how Erebus’ power can be so consuming. “When it returns, the fear grows so strong, so overwhelming, shutting down is all you can do. After a while…it’s all you know.”
Elanor coughed again, though the release of the dusty fog was slightly less than the first. She looked through foggy eyes at her friend. She didn’t want to admit it, but Avery was right.
Her friend slowly put her arms around her and hugged.
* * * *
Shea’s fingers grazed the tops of evergreens as the cold winter wind rushed through her lungs. She breathed in every bit of the weightlessness as she spun and twirled. The blizzard was just as treacherous and even more powerful above the trees, but Shea couldn’t care less. Splitting the wind like a knife, her thick mane whipped across her face and she didn’t fight the urge to laugh. It bellowed out of her uncontrollably and she realized quickly that the laughter felt even more foreign than flight. As she weaved through the trees, the laughter subsided and a sudden realization struck her like a brick wall. The years before her accident were spent completely unaware of how lucky she was. How thoroughly closed her eyes were to what she had, to what she was. Never again could she allow herself to take such a gift for granted. Her whole life had been a mistake - a mistake of self-pity, self-loathing and regret. The only mistake now was the one Erebus made when granting her wish. As she blistered through the winter storm, barely affected by its might, it wasn’t regret she felt, or fear or even guilt, but instead a driving need for revenge. The WishingKing was the fool now that Shea Evenstar could fly.
Red sparks in the near sky broke her from her thoughts. The flare showered over the tops of the trees a few hundred yards in front of her.
“Dad!” the wind muffled her call, but not the worry of what her father would say when he saw her wings. She was suddenly more afraid of her military father than she was of Erebus. Pushing harder and gaining speed, she found the tree from where the flare came and dived into its branches.
Beren held tight to a small branch, bracing himself against the wind. His face was red with frostbite and stricken with worry and confusion. He was lost and he knew it. As he watched his flare blow away in the storm, his hopes for anyone seeing it did as well. He’d left his injured wife alone in this storm. Alone. He’d left her, something he said he would never do again and he couldn’t forgive himself. None of this wishing business matters anymore, he thought. His family. He’d taken for granted how lucky he was to have fairies in his life that cared about him. They loved him, and he loved them. Isn’t that all that mattered, regardless of how difficult it was to keep them all together? To keep them safe?
A flash of light splashed behind the trunk of the tree behind him. Something had landed a few feet away and he realized how freezing he truly was - he could barely grip his wand as he pulled it from its sheath. His teeth chattered as he called out, “Show yourself!”
Shea leaned against the bark of the tree, nervous to step out. She glided her fingers along the edges of her perfect wings and took a deep breath. He won’t understand, but it’s too late for that, she thought. If he never talks to me again, at least I brought him back to Mom. At least we’re together again, even if he hates me for it.
Stepping a cautious boot out in front of her, she revealed herself to her dad. Beren stood, shaking from the cold, pointing his wand and ready for a fight. His eyes popped open, unable to understand what he was seeing. It was his daughter…but her wings. Shea. His daughter was standing in front of him, in tact, in one piece. She was better than okay.
Her wings spread out wide behind her. Shea raised her worried eyes and looked at her dad and was surprised to see the worry reflected on her father’s face. He unconsciously lowered his wand and stood in shock, taking it all in. Opening her mouth to release some kind of immediate apology, Shea only squeaked before Beren rushed and threw his arms around her.
He was no longer a General. No longer a leader or coach, or disciplinarian. He was a scared father, relieved to hold his only daughter again. They held each other and Shea was thankful that he squeezed even harder than she did. At first, she didn’t know how to hug her dad. They had never truly shown any amount of affection for each other. They were family and of course they loved each other, but it always felt more mandatory than automatic. Until now. As Beren pulled her in, she felt the love only a father could give - his strong arms cradling her, protecting her. She no longer worried about her wings, or the WishMakers, or even the stolen wish. For this moment, it was just her and her dad.
He finally pulled back to get a good look at her. It was difficult to look him in the eye as she noticed him surveying her wings. A deep, misty breath escaped his lungs and nothing needed to be said, much to Shea’s relief.
He nodded, “You’re safe.”
“I’m…” Shea started, but Beren wouldn’t let her.
“Don’t. There is no time for apologies or regret. Your mother is injured,” he said.
“I know. She was the one who found me,” she replied.
At this, Beren hesitated. He was so happy to see Shea that he’d forgotten all of the secrets he’d held from her over the years. All of the lies he perpetuated in the name of keeping her safe. Safe from pain and sadness.
“I should have told you. Years ago. I just didn’t know how,” he said, through serious eyes.
“Just keep moving forward. Right?” Shea returned. A smirk creased her lips and Beren nodded with his own.
“Know how to use those things?” he said, motioning to her wings.
“I’ve always known. Do you?” She eyed his chipped wing and flicked it with her finger. They both smiled and buzzed their wings.
“Let’s go get your mom.”
By the time they found their way back to Elanor and Avery, Elanor’s bout with the curse had subsided. While far from perfectly healthy, she was at least able to stand on her own, despite the wicked wind of the blizzard. Avery still felt she needed to offer a helping hand, and Elanor didn’t complain about having one.
Beren grabbed Elanor’s hands upon landing and looked her in the eyes. They were much blacker than when he left her. Looking at Avery, he could tell they were hiding something and decided to keep it between them. Shea didn’t need to know her mom could be leaving them shortly, and firing another explosion of light, even just at her feet, could break her - and not just of the curse. She was far too fragile to try such a thing. Their only hope was to find a Gate, get back home and stop Erebus from consuming the wish. Not exactly an easy task.
“I’m assuming the worst,” Elanor said, not meaning to be so foreboding.
“You OK?” Beren asked.
“I’m fine,” she lied.
“I went back to the house,” Beren continued.
The others waited during Beren’s long, drawn out pause. Why was he pausing for so long?
“It was empty,” he finally said, after a deep breath.
“But Thane. And the Makers?” Avery asked.
Beren shook his head. Shea didn’t understand what that meant. Were they just missing? They left on purpose? Dead? After everything that had happened, she’d forgotten about her friend. How could she forget about Thane?
“We have to find a gate and fast. Without a WishRadar, it won’t be easy.”
Quickly snatching her pack, she removed the WishRadar Thane stole and handed it to Beren. “What do you mean empty? What about Thane?”
“Your friend is in trouble, Shea, and I won’t ask how you got this,” he said as he flipped the radar device on. It buzzed and blinked. “Plans have changed.”
“What do you mean trouble? You just left him at the house? With Grayson and Miranda?” Beren wasn’t listening and Elanor and Avery weren’t much help either. “Would you just tell me he’s OK, please? What’s going on?”
It was an unexpected kind of panic. The kind that was trying to cover up a mistake that she inevitably knew had everything to do with her.
Beren slapped the side of the radar as it continued to buzz and blink. The cold was keeping it from switching on, but finally the screen came to life. He wasn’t listening to Shea, instead intent on finding any remaining Gate, hopefully nearby.
The screen didn’t show any red dots, much less any other color. It was a basic, grey map of the town with a small triangle indicating their position. Sweeping through the screen, searching, Beren finally found one little golden dot. A Gate a few hundred yards away on the other side of the woods.
“One gate left,” he said with a worried sigh. “Worse than I thought.”
“Dad! Please!” she looked at Elanor and Avery for a little help. Weren’t they just as worried as she was? “Is Thane OK?”
“No, Shea, he isn’t! I’m sorry, but we won’t be either if we don’t find this gate and find it fast.”
“We can’t cross over without him! We can’t just leave him here,” begged Shea.
“Thane isn’t here. And neither are the Makers,” Beren said, impending danger squeezing past his tongue. He continued measuring the distance between them and the last gate - studying the screen and then the forest around them. Elanor and Avery finally perked up. If they weren’t here, then that meant they were in Paragonia. And that only meant Erebus took them.
“He took them. I can’t believe he’d do that,” Avery said, staring at nothing in particular.
“I can,” Elanor said. “He’s not going to destroy the wish. He’s going to consume it, and he needs them in order to do so.
Shea waited for some kind of answer or solution, even a plan, but nothing came. Her dad just searched the woods and the radar.
“Well we have to do something!” Shea finally cracked and broke the silence.
“We are, honey,” Beren said. “We’re finding the gate and getting that wish. You better be ready to fly.”
It was the first time her father had ever called her anything other than her name. It was odd to hear the term of endearment fall from his lips and, in a way, it frustrated her. It made her feel like a little fairy again and she didn’t want to feel that way anymore. She needed them to see her as an adult. As a force, not just some little fairy girl.
Avery could tell this angered Shea, and patted her on the back. She gave her a wink and smiled. It was so opposite of what the situation called for, but somehow it calmed her down a bit. “As frustrating as it seems, we have to do this one step at a time. Get ahead of yourself and you lose sight of your goal. We’ll get Thane back. I promise,” Avery said, calm, and even if she was faking the confidence, it worked. Shea took a deep breath and followed her father.
“Ellie, we’ll have to carry you,” Beren said, as he tried to put his arms around his wife. She swatted them away.
“Carry me? I said I was fine, Beren,” Elanor said.
He smiled at his stubborn wife, and nodded to a tree branch above them. “Let’s go then.” Beren, Avery and Shea lifted off the ground and Elanor fired a grapple spell into the tree. They were off.
36
The Last Gate
“I have brought you all here today, to come clean. I must tell you something I am rather ashamed to admit,” Erebus said as he stood in the middle of his chambers.
Grayson and Miranda were tied to two chairs at the far end of the stone-walled room. Through the window, the WishingKing’s fog was thick across the valley and covered every inch of the landscape. Thane was tied up next to the True Love Wish, which was still stuck in the gyro sphere with its light all but dimmed.
Erebus turned dramatically around, his black, dusty cloak swinging behind him like a snake, and calmly raised his right hand. His back was to his captors as he continued.
“I must admit that I cannot complete this mission of mine without your help. I know it is surprising, but it won’t be that way for long.” He smiled under his black hood and waved his hand to the right, motioning for something to open. Grayson and Miranda were beyond comprehending anything at this point and looked to Thane for answers. He was just as clueless.
As his hand finished its slow wave, the vast wall of books at the other end of the room vanished. A secret room was revealed behind the wall, but it wasn’t the crude magic trick that struck his captors.
A seemingly endless corridor appeared in front of him. It was lined with shelves upon shelves, hundreds of thousands that went beyond the eye’s capability and on each shelf, huddled closely together, were millions of glass jars. Each jar was filled with a wish.
Thane was awestruck. Outside of the Nursery, he’d never seen so many wishes all in one place. As he looked closer, he noticed that not all of the wishes were alive. Many were grey and lifeless, but nearly half were still buzzing bright with life.
Erebus turned back around and once again addressed them. “You see, I may consume all of the wishes to my heart’s content. One by one, adding a little dash of power here and a little drop of strength there. In the end, however, it’s futile.”
“What’s futile?” Grayson asked. He couldn’t believe the words came out, but he also couldn’t believe what he was seeing or experiencing. He was ready for some answers, even if they were asked of a crazy old man wearing fog as a cloak.
“Ah. The WishMaker speaks and not without a very good question,” Erebus said. “I wish
ed for true love once. I expect you didn’t know that,” Erebus looked at both Miranda and Grayson. All of this wishing business was still new to them, but they were surprised, nonetheless, to hear such a thing come from the monster in front of them. “The only True Love Wish I was able to make and what happens? My wonderful Keepers deem it to be impossible and what do they give me as a reward instead? The throne of a useless world. Destined to be nothing more than a manager, an organizer of other people’s wishes. To sit back and watch as two Makers somehow get a second chance at true love. Their cruelty knows no bounds. And yet, they did give me some miniscule amount of power. But not enough.”
He walked into the long, dark corridor, the light of the wishes being the only source of illumination, and fondled a few of the jars. “My true love wish will never be granted. That much even I cannot change. But the Keepers of Paragonia owe me. They owe me something in return. The only thing that can match the granting of true love? The power that resides within it. You see, a wish is an interesting creature,” he said as he removed a jar from a shelf. Opening the lid, a bright purple Ladder Wish huddled in the corner, shaking, avoiding Erebus’ reaching hand, but he easily snatched it up. Cupping it in his palm, he continued. “Pure intent just waiting to be set free. It is my intent to do just that. To set such intent free. What happens, though, when intentions collide? The more powerful of the two consumes the other.”
There was a crack as loud as thunder and Grayson and Miranda turned away. A flash of black fog stretched through room, and then quickly reversed course. It flowed into Erebus like a vacuum, pulsing through him as he consumed the wish’s power. Breathing in, absorbing it like a drug, he sighed deeply and dropped the ashes of the dead wish from his palm. Wiping his hands together, he casually stepped back into his chambers.
“The reason I have brought you all here today is because a True Love Wish is a tricky wish to consume. I need the power of your intent as well. Inside of you resides the source of not one True Love Wish, but two. Now that is powerful. Don’t you think?”
The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) Page 19
