The Witch of the Western Gate: Dragon's Gift

by P. K. Brent

  “It has been many ages since one has been found worthy to bear the Weapons of the Dragon. It was last held by an elven prince ages ago. I bequeath to you, Belladonna Louisa McChesney, the Dragon Whip and the Dragon Shield. With these you will fight evil and strive for justice.”

  Blue was stunned. “I don’t know what to say. This is such an honor. I will try to be worthy.”

  “You will be fine,” replied Savita and winked at Blue. “The shield will block magical spells as well as physical blows. The whip will amplify your magic power and all your spells will be greater, and wiser when you use the Dragon whip. They may even surprise you," Savita winked again.

  “Wow! Thank you!,” replied Blue.

  “Just think of the armor and weapons and they will appear. I might even come to help. This is my gift to you, Blue McChesney. The Gift of the Dragon.”

  “Thank you! Good-bye Savita. Good-bye Took! Come back and visit!” Savita silently lifted off the ground and flew into the night sky, followed by Took. In an instant they were gone, but when Blue looked toward the moon, there she saw them outlined, heading north.

  Blue looked down. Her arms were normal again. The tingling had stopped, and the dragon weapons were gone. A telltale swooshing sounded above her and Blue knew it was Zerelda. She was glad that the gifts were now hidden. The less Zerelda knew the better.

  "Zerelda! Quantrill! What brings you here at this hour?" shouted Blue. Even her voice sounded louder now. Powerful.

  "You know perfectly well!" accused Zerelda. "Where is that dragon you're harboring and what were you doing at the Birdsill Holly plant?"

  "I am not harboring a dragon," stated Blue. "I'm sure a full grown dragon would not even fit in the door."

  "What about a baby dragon?" accused Quantrill.

  "I banished it. I banished all the dragons earlier this evening."

  "So you were at the Birdsill Holly factory! You admit it!" said Zerelda.

  "Yes," replied Blue.

  "I have you now!" crowed Zerelda.

  "You have nothing," replied Blue. "I was ordered to get rid of the dragons. I have completed exactly what I was ordered to do by the Paranormal Council. Look!" Blue held up her wrist. The clay amulet that Zerelda had tied to her wrist had broken in half, showing that Blue had indeed completed the task.

  "The amulet is broken. My oath is fulfilled. So I am eligible to join the adult arm of the Paranormal Council as a voting member."

  "I did not want it to turn out this way!" squawked Zerelda.

  "My question to you, Zerelda, is why did you and Quantrill interfere and pelt my friends and I with hostile spells? The Paranormal Council should investigate that!"

  "Another thing," said Blue. "Why did your nephew accost me in the dark, here at my home, last night? Next, why has he returned with you, after he was explicitly told not to step foot on my property ever again?"

  "I had reason to come here," said Zerelda. "I chose to bring my nephew, and I will leave when I see fit."

  "I choose that you go, NOW! Blue raised both her hands, and let loose with a blast. Zerelda and Quantrill flew across the lawn and landed in a heap. The look on Zerelda's face was priceless. She was purple with rage. Quantrill's expression of astonishment was even more amusing.

  "Zerelda! Why are you harrassing my daughter?" asked Cormac, appearing on the porch.

  When Zerelda heard Cormac McChesney's voice her composure was shaken. She did not want an argument with Cormac, and certainly didn't want him to see her exchanging hostile spells with Blue. After this display of power, Zerelda decided to avoid exchanging any hostile spells with Blue, ever. She was far too powerful.

  "It's nothing, Cormac. I just stopped by to chat with Blue about a recent project. I was just leaving."

  "I did not know your father was here," stammered Zerelda, addressing Blue.

  "You spend entirely too much time watching my house," replied Cormac, walking down the porch chairs onto the lawn. "The fact is, Zerelda, I have a close watch on my daughter, and my home, even when I'm gone. I also can pop back immediately to defend them. I caught the end of the skirmish Blue and Quantrill had a few nights ago. Cormac glared at Quantrill. You have now saved me the trouble of tracking down your nephew. I want you both to know how extremely displeased I am that Quantrill stepped on my property uninvited. I'm positively irate, Quantrill, that you harrassed Blue, at night, mistakenly thinking she was here alone and that you could then take advantage of her!" Quantrill started to slink away.

  "I'm sure it was just a harmless misunderstanding," crooned Zerelda.

  "Let me make it clear where I stand, so as to avoid any future misunderstandings, Zerelda, and Quantrill." Cormac nodded in Quantrill's direction. "I know exactly what goes on around here when I am gone, and my daughter is never left alone." Cormac's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Also, I know exactly what you are trying to accomplish." Cormac paused a moment. "I am not pleased Zerelda."

  "We must have had a misunderstanding" Zerelda said, twisting her hands anxiously."

  "No, we did not have a misunderstanding," corrected Cormac. "I believe we understand each other exactly. You, and Quantrill, and any of your cronies are not welcome on my property, unless you are specifically invited to come here. I also will know if you are watching my house and will take measures to stop that also, measures you may find unpleasant."

  "I shall be leaving," said Zerelda, in an odd squeaky voice.

  “Remember Zerelda," called out Quantrill. "In the future, call me, should you have any further misunderstandings. I do not appreciate people dropping by my house uninvited to speak to my daughter, without my knowledge. You and Quantrill and the rest of the Paranormal Council are expressly forbidden to step foot on my property unless you are invited. Do not make me repeat this again.”

  “Yes, of course Cormac, as you wish.” Zerelda turned to Blue and whispered, “I'm sure we can smooth over whatever misunderstanding you and Quantrill had."

  "Go." said Blue.

  "Yes, we are going." Zerelda and Quantrill hurried away.

  Blue and her guests returned to their comfortable seats.

  "Whew! Glad that's over," said Stella.

  "At least for now," replied Blue.

  "The Gift of the Dragon is a fabulous gift of legend. It will magnify all of your powers ten fold," said Cormac. "Few people have heard of these gifts and even fewer believe they exist."

  Blue whirled around, facing her father. “You saw?”

  “Yes, I saw the dragon bestow them on you,” Cormac replied.

  “So did I,” said Grandma Lily and Aunt Violet, in unison.

  “We watched through the window,” said Grandpa Lou, stepping out of the shadows, with Uncle Basil beside him. “It is a great gift you have been given.”

  “…And a great burden as well,” observed Grandma Lily.

  "Thank you," replied Blue, bowing her head.

  "You are uniquely blessed to have received such a gift," explained Cormac. "For a silver dragon, the rarest of all kinds, to breathe her mist upon your arms and give you the shimmering scales that amplify power, plus a the dragon whip and shield of legend -- well, it's simply incredible."

  "I can't believe Savita gave the Gift to me," said Blue, shaking her head. "I'm only a kid."

  "It's not for us to judge the wisdom of a dragon," replied Cormac. "I advise you to keep these gifts secret. Use them only when you must. Enough said."

  Chapter 26

  “We were waiting for you,” replied Cormac. “It is well your friends are here too. I have something to discuss with all of you. Come inside and we'll talk.”

  Everyone congregated in the men's parlor where the dark mahogany panelling and gold striped wallpaper added to the solemn mood. After a bit of scuffling, everyone found a club chair or settee to perch on. Grandma Lily waved her hand over the fireplace and it began to burn. Then she held a pot over it and in a few minutes there was hot popcorn with butter. Yum! With perfect timing Aunt Violet left the kitchen and ente
red the men's parlor with cups of hot cocoa and peppermint sticks.

  Blue joked to Rafe, "Whenever there is a crisis, escarpment witches first eat. It clears the mind."

  "Excellent method," agreed Rafe, taking more popcorn then passing the bowl to Blue. "Wolven agree. Eat first. Plan second. Battle last. Then eat some more!"

  Cormac stood in front of the fireplace, addressing the room. "I'm sure you wonder what this meeting is all about. Some of what I have to tell you, I hope pleases you. Some of it is undeniably bad news. First of all, I've had discussions with Blue recently about how difficult it is for her to be in the dark regarding, uh, activities our circle of adults undertake. Ivy, I believe, has had the same talk with her father, Basil Stone.

  "You bet," interjected Ivy. "I need to know if I'm going to sprout anything else, or turn into a yeti next or something."

  "I'm sorry about that," Basil said to his daughter. "I just wasn't sure if you were going to change or not. I did not wish to alarm you if there was no need."

  "I understand, Daddy," replied Ivy. "I'll get over the shock eventually, but let's just avoid secrets from now on." Uncle Basil nodded and took his Ivy's hand in his own.

  Cormac cleared his throat. "As I was saying, yes, it has come to our attention that our efforts to protect you, Blue and Ivy in particular, has caused you to be placed in both dangerous and difficult situations. So we wish to keep you better informed." Cormac was silent.

  "That makes sense," encouraged Brando. Cormac knew how to handle an audience and waited as the tension grew.

  "We also have noticed that you teens have copied our secretive methods. We keep secrets then you keep secrets. For that we are to blame. None of us adults knew you were going up against Quantrill and his band in the old Birdsill Holly factory. Fortunately, everything turned out well, but exposing you to danger unnecessarily is something we wish to avoid."

  Brando, Blue and Rafe nodded in agreement. Ivy just looked bored and Stella twisted her necromancer ring on her finger.

  "Anyway, to get to the heart of the matter, I spoke to fellow McChesney druidic temple masters and explained the situation. They decided unanimously that the decision of how to handle this was up to me." Cormac tapped his fingers on the mantle.

  "What decision?," asked Blue.

  "I have made the decision to offer you, Blue, full admission into the McChesney Clan Temple of the Oak, and to offer each of your friends here, associate membership."

  "That's terrific!" said Blue.

  "What is associate membership exactly?," inquired Brando.

  "Associate membership is offered to personal friends, who support the Temple of the Oak, at least philosophically, and who are prepared to act locally -- should there be a need. Your parents all are associate members, including Stella's parents, who are human. I have their permission to offer associate membership to you all."

  "It sounds like it is similar to the Wolven support groups we have, the Order of the Owl and the Order of the Rabbit," repled Brando.

  "Yes," agreed Cormac, nodding.

  "I'm not breaking any confidences here," said Brando nervously. Everyone in this room is either wolven or a member of one of our support orders, or someone who soon will be in a support order." He nodded toward Blue, and Stella.

  "It is quite similar," nodded Cormac. "If you accept, you then will attend our planning meetings and will be informed of our issues, which should reduce possible dangers for us all."

  "I am greatly honored and I accept," said Talon, bowing toward Cormac, giving him the wolven sign of respect.

  "Me too," said Rafe. "And I," replied Brando. Both Brando and Rafe also gave Cormac the wolven salute.

  "I accept also," chimed in Ivy.

  "Of course I accept!" spoke up Stella.

  "Excellent!," replied Cormac. "We have covered the good news," said Cormac.

  "What is the bad news?," asked Blue.

  Cormac grew very solemn. "Explaining all about the McChesney Clan, our history and battles, will take a great deal of time. We'll cover that at another meeting. Getting to the salient point, the McChesney Clan has been involved in a lengthy battle with a group called The Dark Abyss. This group works to control paranormals and has a foothold in northern Europe. We just learned that they were successful in creating an alliance with demons. The McChesney have retaliated by creating an alliance with the fey."

  "What are the fey?," asked Ivy.

  "Fairies," replied Cormac. "Fairies and elementals."

  "What does that mean for us," asked Rafe.

  "It means that the battle has grown in scale. An alliance with demons means that the Dark Abyss members can now travel through portals, so they can travel to remote locations easily."

  "How remote?" asked Ivy.

  "They are coming here to take over the Western Gate, which is a portal guarded by the Temple of the Oak" replied Cormac

  .

  "In fact, they could be here already."

  The meeting broke into protests and a dozen little conversations.

  Cormac took charge again. "Let's head up to the ritual room. It won't take long to initiate all of you teens into the Temple of the Oak. We must guard the Western Gate. Your lives will never be the same."

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