The Council

by Phoenix Willow

  Everyone chuckled, except for Zephyr who rolled his eyes in clear annoyance and Foster who put his hand up, immediately shushing the group.

  “What is it Foster? What do you hear?” Jewel asked quietly.

  “It’s not what I hear. It’s what I see.” Foster said pointing to the right and left. “There are two oval doors down two different hallways. I’m assuming that one of them will lead us to the object, but I’m not sure which one and I don’t really want to see what’s behind door number one if we need door number two. There’s bound to be booby traps down here, and I for one, would like to bloody well avoid them.”

  Jewel shook her head. “Casimir didn’t specify which door to choose. Maybe, he assumed we would just know.”

  “We would if Ambrosia was here.” Sage said softly. “She could always sense magical powers and objects from long distances, so this would have been no problem.” He said, a frown settling on his face.

  Jewel placed her hand on Sage’s arm. “I’m sure she’s fine. You’ll be with her soon, okay?”

  Sage nodded and shook his head a little. “Well, what if it’s not either of the oval shaped doors? What if it’s the regular shaped door in the middle?”

  Jewel bit her bottom lip. “Casimir didn’t say the door had to be egg-shaped, only that the room would be.” She stated.

  “Then let’s see what’s behind door number three.” Foster said, brow furrowing.

  Sage stood in front of the door and said ‘resigno’. The door immediately opened, but had no light, so Sage added, ‘luzversep’ which illuminated the egg-shaped room they had been looking for.

  Jewel beamed and her excitement grew as they made their way inside. It was the oddest shaped room she had ever been in, but it was beautiful decorated, much like the outside of a Fabergé egg would have been. Colorful designs could be found throughout the silver treasure-laden walls. There were gold and silver bars, fine china, porcelain figurines, and crystal in every form imaginable. The entire room sparkled with Sage’s light spell, and if not for the task at hand, Jewel was certain that she could have perused the entire room for hours and still not made it through a quarter of it.

  “Green.” Galadriel nudged her arm. “Green!” He repeated with urgency. “Is that what we need?” He asked, pointing to a small chest in the middle of the room that was sitting on a pedestal.

  The chest itself was lackluster compared to everything else in the room. It appeared to be made of an everyday wood and the hinges were rusted, but the magic that radiated off it was enough for Jewel to realize that it was by far the most powerful object in the room.

  “I think it is.” Jewel nodded as she narrowed her green eyes in its direction. “Now, the remaining question is how to get it. Seems too simple to just walk over and grab it.”

  “Try using your telekinesis, Spitfire.” Rain suggested.

  “Couldn’t hurt.” Jewel murmured as she concentrated on moving the small chest towards her, but nothing happened. The chest didn’t so much as budge. “I feel like walking over there is a bad idea. Like Indiana Jones and any of his movies bad idea.”

  “Who?” Sage asked curiously.

  Jewel rolled her eyes. “Nevermind. It was just a reference to a really good movie where the main character has to retrieve something and there’s a lot of traps he has to bypass in order to do it.” She thought to herself for a moment and looked back in Foster’s direction. “Can you try flying over there to grab it?”

  Foster nodded, cracked his knuckles as he outstretched his wings, and flew cautiously over to the chest. “There’s something inscribed on the chest itself.” He said as he hovered over it. “It says ‘open or I stay, never to go away’.”

  “Holey buckets! What is it with all the weird riddles and rhyming? Can’t anything be straight forward?” Jewel said with irritation.

  “Well, technically, Green, it is pretty straight forward this time. You know, you have to open the thing or it’s not going to be able to be taken.” Galadriel stated, but upon seeing Jewel’s scowl quickly added, “But I totally agree with you that the rhyming thing is getting old.”

  “Nice try on saving yourself from that foot lodged in your mouth, Trickster.” Rain smirked.

  Galadriel ignored Rain’s commentary. “Can you open it Foster?”

  “I can try.” Foster shrugged.

  “No! Don’t!” Jewel shouted as Foster reached to open the chest.

  “Well, if you don’t want us to walk over to the chest, how pray tell do you expect us to open it if Foster doesn’t?” Zephyr asked, a glint in his eyes.

  “Sage. Can you try the opening spell and see if it will work?” Jewel asked, purposefully avoiding Zephyr’s gaze and attempting to ignore his attitude which was becoming more apparent by the day.

  “Sure. Uh, Foster, you may want to fly back over here in case it works since we have no idea what’s in it.” Sage suggested, waiting until Foster was back with the group before saying, ‘resigno’. He attempted it four more times, but nothing happened.

  Jewel huffed. She had no idea what was in the chest, but it seemed like the only way to find out was to manually open the thing, and since she hadn’t the slightest idea what would happen, she wasn’t about to let any of her friends do it. It was up to her, so with a deep breath, Jewel walked briskly over to the chest and opened it before anyone could stop her.

  You could have heard a pin drop in the egg-shaped room as Jewel looked inside. There was nothing there, but just as Jewel turned to tell the rest of the group that, weird white glowing tendrils came from the bottom of the chest and wrapped themselves around Jewel’s wrists. Jewel tugged her arms back, but they didn’t budge, because the tendrils were like vines and held her firmly in place.

  “Chocolate sauce, Spitfire.” Rain said attempting to pull Jewel’s arm away from the chest. “Why is it you never seem to assess things before charging in these days?”

  “I don’t know, Raindrop. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and I wasn’t about to let any of you do it so, yeah.” Jewel said, sweat beginning to drip from her brow. She was nervous sure, but it seemed that the glowing tendrils were zapping her energy. Sage was shouting spell after spell, Galadriel was attempting to pry Jewel’s other arm away from the chest, the renuviants were squeaking so loudly and fast that Jewel couldn’t figure out what they were saying, Zephyr was rifling through Sage’s book on magical artifacts, and just as Foster was bringing his dagger down to try and cut the tendrils, Jewel yelled for everyone to stop.

  Everyone looked at Jewel with a mix of curiosity and confusion, as she ordered everyone to step back.

  “This isn’t working. I’m obviously not going to be able to yank free and my powers are not working on this chest, so we are going to have to go about this a different way.” Jewel pointed out.

  “The instructions were ‘open or I stay, never to go away’. You already opened it, so not sure what else you’re supposed to do at this point.” Foster said.

  “Can you move the chest at all, Green?” Galadriel asked, trying very hard not to panic.

  Jewel tried moving her arms towards the chest, but they wouldn’t budge. “That’s a definite no.” She shook her head.

  “Is there anything in the bottom of the chest?” Rain inquired.

  “Uh, honestly, I’m not sure. There wasn’t when I first opened it, and then these things-” Jewel said, using her head to motion to the white tendrils on her arms, “-appeared and wrapped around my arms.”

  “Hold on…..I have an idea.” Sage stated as he positioned himself to the right of Jewel. He looked at the chest and murmured ‘secretus acclaro’.

  The chest began to shake and Jewel’s arms along with it. “What did you do?” Jewel asked Sage, a little fear seeping into her tone.

  “I just used a spell for the chest to reveal its secrets. That’s all!” Sage said hurriedly.

  “Well, undo it. It looks like it’s going to rip off Spitfire’s arms if you don’t.” Rain shouted.

>   “No…..no, wait. Maybe it is doing something. The bottom of the chest is glowing now too.” Jewel said as she looked in the chest.

  “It’s the secret language of the Fae.” Foster said reverently as he peered inside the chest.

  “Well, you’re a Fairy, so what does it say?” Rain demanded.

  Foster shot Rain a look which she gave right back. “It basically says that the one who opened the chest must sacrifice that which they need to survive. That is the payment for the chest’s removal, and nothing less will do.”

  “Well, I’m not leaving without all of you, so no deal.” Jewel said just before a searing pain shot up both arms. She looked down and saw that the tendrils had burned a vine like design into her skin, and she shut her mouth tightly.

  Foster shook his head. “You don’t have a choice. You are going to have to make a sacrifice.”

  Jewel closed her eyes and thought about what Foster had said. There were very few things that Jewel couldn’t survive without. She couldn’t mentally survive without her friends, she couldn’t survive without air, food, or water, but these all seemed mundane. The more she thought about it, the clearer the answer became, and the more she wished she hadn’t opened the chest to begin with.

  With a sigh of resignation, Jewel said, “I have to give up something I need to survive.” She paused. “I have to sacrifice my necklace. I need it to survive. It fits what the chest is demanding.”

  “Absolutely not, Spitfire.” Rain hissed. “Think of something else.”

  “You won’t make it a day without it.” Zephyr stated, shock all over his face.

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Puff.” Galadriel scowled. “You can’t give that up, or we might as well just turn back now.”

  “I agree with Jewel.” Sage said, surprising everyone in the process. He had a twinkle in his eye that held some secret just begging to be told.

  “You do?” Foster asked incredulously.

  “You do?” Jewel said in complete disbelief.

  “I do.” Sage said, mouthing ‘trust me’ to Jewel.

  Jewel nodded. She trusted Sage with her life and he obviously knew something that made him confident that she would be okay, so looking down at the chest, Jewel said aloud, “I sacrifice the potion filled gem necklace I wear around my neck. It is the only thing keeping the effects of the polarrier away, and I need it to survive.”

  Jewel heard a popping noise and her neck felt lighter as it magically fell away from her body and slinked into the chest. It sank through the bottom and the white tendrils released Jewel from their grip and disappeared into the chest as well. Instantly the cold, damp air from the room began seeping into Jewel’s pores. It was uncomfortable but thankfully Jewel had brought a jacket and quickly put that on.

  “Now what?” Rain asked.

  “Now, we take it to the strangest peak, wherever that is.” Jewel answered.

  “The Strangest Peak is the top of a mountain that no one travels to. The journey there is filled with difficult terrain, dark creatures, and forces that would make our nightmares look like a walk on the beach.” Foster said.

  “Fantastic. Sounds great. Don’t suppose the weather on the top of a mountain will be mild, huh?” Jewel inquired, hoping for a different answer than she already thought she would get.

  “Unfortunately, no. The weather is quite hot. Much like the desert.” Foster explained.

  “Wait. You said hot.” Rain said. “Aren’t the tops of mountains covered in snow?”

  “All but this one. It’s not bloody called the Strangest Peak for nothing.” Foster said.

  “How do you know so much about this?” Zephyr asked curiously.

  Foster took a deep breath, his wings shifting nervously behind him. “Because all male Fairies are required to spend three nights on this peak. If you survive physically and mentally, then the Fairy community accepts that Fairy as a warrior. If you don’t survive physically or mentally, then you are either dead, missing, or you are put in a place of servitude for the duration of your life.”

  “Then you obviously survived both ways.” Rain said.

  Foster nodded. “Yes. But only just, and that isn’t to say that I don’t have lingering trauma from the things I endured at the peak. This will not be easy, and I have no idea as to the exact location of the chest’s home, so we will have to explore.” He said with a shudder.

  “What about Spitfire?” Rain asked, glancing around the group. “If it’s extreme temperature, she’s going to melt like chocolate sauce without that necklace.”

  Jewel grimaced at the mental image Rain’s words had given her, and at the remembrance of how the desert heat had affected her when they had spent time in the Oasis.

  Foster shrugged. “We’ll have to travel through the caves and forest so there’s coverage from the sun until we get to the peak itself.”

  “And I will give you another necklace when we get back to Ambrosia. I gave it to her for safekeeping.” Sage smiled at Jewel.

  “There’s another one?” Jewel’s eyes widened.

  “Your dad made an extra one just in case you lost the first.” Sage explained. “And we have quite a few gems as well, so if you lose the second one, we can still make another.”

  “Okay, so I just have to survive the quest and then it’ll be alright.” Jewel grinned, giving herself a bit of a pep talk.

  “Exactly.” Sage agreed.

  “Why can’t we just go to Ambrosia now and get the additional necklace for Green?” Galadriel asked.

  “There’s no time.” Jewel shook her head. “It’ll have to wait.” She said, placing Slayer inside the chest. She watched to see if it would sink through the bottom like the necklace had, but it just laid there, almost mocking her. Jewel huffed and tucked the wooden box inside her bag for safekeeping. Apparently, the chest only sucked in the things that Jewel wanted to keep, which was irritating. Turning to Foster, she instructed, “Form a mental picture of this peak. I’ll send it to Galadriel, and we can teleport there.” She said as they all exited the egg-shaped room.

  Foster did as she asked, and Jewel sent the mental picture, a few details too scary to ponder on, and the peak’s name to Galadriel before asking, “You got it?”

  Galadriel nodded. “Mt. Formidae, here we come.”

  And with that, Galadriel teleported them away from Las Vegas, and to a place that going to be anything but a walk in the park.

  Chapter Twenty

  The Strangest Peak

  Jewel and the group had been walking for hours in the most disgusting, repulsive, weird rainforest-like terrain that made you gag with every breath and jump at every movement that wasn’t your own. Since arriving, they had been attacked by vicious bunny-like creatures that looked adorable until they snarled and began foaming at the mouth with fangs and claws growing longer than Jewel’s pointer finger. They had run through the forest with branches smacking them in the face while hopping over creatures that had positioned themselves underground before launching their jaws at the groups’ feet as they rushed by. So, to say that this was Jewel’s least favorite part of the quest would have been an understatement. She would take the white tendrils from the chest over Mt. Formidae, or the Strangest Peak, any day. Even if she still had scars from the tendrils searing into her arms and hands.

  “You okay over there, Spitfire?” Rain asked as she tiptoed quickly through the brush and around the bubbling water that looked thick and boiling hot.

  “Never better, Raindrop.” Jewel lied. Truth of the matter was that without the necklace keeping the effects of the polarrier away, Jewel was in more pain with every passing minute. She was trying to act like she was okay, because she knew that if she didn’t, everyone would want to leave to try and get to Ambrosia and the other necklace, but they just didn’t have time to do that. They were so close- well, Jewel hoped anyway- to getting rid of Slayer and getting her Dad the potion that he needed, that Jewel just couldn’t bring herself to turn back.

 
; “Uh, huh.” Rain snorted incredulously. “Well, if never better equates to pale skin, sweating buckets, and flinching like someone keeps shocking you, then I believe it.”

  “Maybe we could try and get to Ambrosia quickly and come right back?” Sage suggested, but Jewel shook her head.

  “No time. Look, I know I probably look pretty bad off right now, but we have to keep going. We’ve come this far, and I don’t really want to have to deal with the chest if it does something weird and we have to start over with it. Don’t have much more to offer as a sacrifice so let’s just keep going. I’ll be fine when it’s all done.” Jewel said determinedly. “And don’t forget that my renuviant friends are helping me keep my body from experiencing the full force of the polarrier effects, so at least I have that going for me.”

  “Yeah, but we can’t keep this up forever.” The largest renuviant squeaked. “It’s taking a lot of power already to keep you going this long.”

  Jewel bit her lip and gave the renuviant a nod of understanding. Galadriel was staring at her with an ‘I know you’re not alright look’, Rain shook her head in a ‘what are we going to do with you’ type of way, and Sage gave her a sympathetic nod.

  “Well, if you start looking any worse, I’m pulling the plug on this.” Galadriel stated.

  “I agree.” Foster said as he used his dagger to cut through some of the swamp’s overgrowth.

  Jewel was going to argue but thought better of it. There was no point. They weren’t going to budge, and neither was she, so instead she tried changing the subject. Looking at Foster, she asked, “So, help me understand why it is that we were at the peak of Mt. Formidae, but we’ve had to travel through a terrifying rainforest and now we’re in a swamp of horrors?”

  “Because to truly get to the peak of Mt. Formidae, you must first traverse the three lands and then through the Cave of Loss and Hopelessness.” Foster said as he squished something under his boot that was trying to bite his leg.