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

by Kate Stoessel

  “What did she say?” Perry inquired seriously.

  “After I used fire and water, her eyes lit up. She asked me if I was ‘Finch’s girl.’ That was the real reason I chased them. I knew it was dumb and that I should have just sounded the alarm, but I wanted answers. Do you think she knows who murdered him?”

  “I don’t know,” Perry stroked my head tenderly. “Is there more?”

  I nodded. “I went out that night because my grandfather told me something strange. My father was an earth elemental. He went to Spindlewick.”

  “Really?” Itzel asked.

  “No one told you this before?” Perry’s voice was strained.

  “No! My Mom didn’t know, and grandfather is not around much. We all were keeping the secret of Spindlewick.”

  “So much secrecy,” Itzel said, shaking her head. “It shouldn’t be this way.

  “It’s weird that all of this happened on one night, right? Plus, they wrote ‘We know the truth on the wall.’ What truth?” I hung my head in my hands. Saying everything out loud convinced me that there was more to this story. “Do you think that is why the fairies killed him?” I asked sitting up. “They didn’t want witches around with elemental powers? Oh, gosh,” I turned to Perry. “What if they target you?” The thought of losing Perry made it hard to take a deep breath. Taking short breaths in, my pulse began to race. “What if it is connected?” I gasped out. “What if they come after you?”

  Perry stroked my back in calming circles. “Look at me,” he commanded gently, turning my head by the chin. “I am fine. Nothing is going to happen to me, or you.” He paused, letting me calm down before proceeding. “Are they sure it was fairies who hurt your father?”

  “Marshal Trackerson was sure.” Perry looked away. When he didn’t say anything, I continued. “Why would he lie about that?”

  “If the Inner Circle fairies wanted to hurt elementals, why didn’t they attack you more aggressively? It sounds like they never really engaged you. That doesn’t make sense,” my trainer added carefully.

  “Who knows why killers do what they do?” I sat up, putting distance on the couch between us. “My father was a good and tolerant man. He was not an extremist. He refused to participate in government convening and councils. He just wanted to take care of the sick and spend time with me in our garden.”

  “Exactly,” Perry continued. “He was not a typical fairy target. Don’t you think…”

  “Perry, she was six.” Orpheus interrupted. “She has been through a lot in the past few days. Just, drop it.” The two friends stared at each other for a minute or so. Something unspoken passed between them and an understanding was reached.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I shouldn’t have pushed.”

  “There is a lot to process right now. I’m just tired of hearing and talking about my life. Let’s do something else.”

  “I have just the thing.” Itzel popped over to the kitchen and brought out a bottle of wine from a vineyard in California. “So, I met Roman and Decker at my Mom’s shop. They were celebrating their 20th anniversary. Such sweet guys. They are both gardening witches who got tired of making potion ingredients. They fell in love and started a vineyard. So romantic. The wine they make though is insane. It is enchanted to pair perfectly with whatever you are eating. Should we try it?” The mischief in Itzel’s eyes as she popped open the cork took me out of my head for a little bit. No one could plan a distraction like Itzel. True to form, we had an amazing time testing the enchantment with savory and sweet foods from the kitchen. What an amazing spell! Perry was plying Itzel with questions about the farm configurations and the varietals of grapes that they grow.

  “Perry, I have never been there!” She laughed at the hundredth question he asked. “I don’t know anything about the soil or the vines or the layout. Just write all of your questions down, and I will send it to them. That is the best I can do.”

  The four of us talked into the night, sharing stories about our families and how we discovered our special powers. I learned about how Orpheus was so overwhelmed by other people’s emotions that he used to lock himself in his room. His father was a teacher at the local academy and homeschooled him for his last year of school after the powers manifested.

  “My Dad would leave me at home during the day, when he was at school, and would set up hands-on learning activities for me when he got home. I could feel how tired he was being a working single father and homeschool teacher, but he knew that it was the only way to get me through school.” Orpheus laughed as he told us how his Dad, a transformation specialist, would try to help him learn potions. “When we got stumped by a particularly tricky potion recipe, my dad would just transform the cauldron into something related to the potion. Once we were trying to make a healing tincture for magical burns and we just couldn’t get it. So, he turned the whole cauldron into a Band-Aid, and we called it a night and took a walk down by the beach.”

  “He sounds like a great man,” I replied smiling.

  “Yeah,” said Orpheus.

  “Our first year, during family visit weekend, Lir came and turned all of our ordinary dorm furniture into luxury furniture. It was the best! I slept on the most comfortable mattress. It might be what I miss most about living with you,” joked Perry.

  “I knew you missed me,” Orpheus laughed.

  “Orpheus, I don’t think you ever told me what specialty you chose.” I asked.

  “No, I probably haven’t. I am still trying to figure it out. President Sager thinks that I should be a Mind Witch since my powers work similarly, but I want to use my powers to help people manage their emotions and anxiety. The minute people see that orange shirt, they panic. I’ve always wanted to become a healer but working with people in extreme pain might be too much.” He looked sadly out the window. “Anyway, what color we wear isn’t going to matter with everything going on in the world. Perry and I meet with our assigned ACC Career Counselors in a few months. We’ll know then if we are getting a say in our lives or not.” He looked solemn and serious and I thought about how my mother’s position as a delegate to the Council of the Harvest Moon would affect his life. She would certainly be voting for fairy registration. Never one to sit seriously for long, Orpheus changed the subject. “What about you Itzel? What’s your story?”

  Itzel shared about her Mom and her beachside amulet business. “I learned about my powers in my senior year of high school from the W.E.B. testers. I thought they were making it up, honestly. There isn’t a lot of trust for the ACC in my neighborhood. It was during an academic showcase, that I was forced to come to terms with the truth. I chose to sing “Love Me Magically” by Lalita Romeijn. Before I knew it, the people in the crowd were taking me seriously, begging to love me. I had to magic myself out of the auditorium. Once I left, the spell wore off, but I was banned from chanting and the kids and teachers never looked at me the same again.

  “That must have been terrifying!” I tried to imagine being in an auditorium of people overcome with love for you.

  “There were a couple of parents making really inappropriate comments and gestures. It was pretty bad. It caused a lot of fights and kids were so mad at me the next day. There was a parent petition to kick me out of school. The W.E.B. prevented that from happening. I needed to transition in order to come here.” She looked down at the floor sadly. “I just don’t know which specialty to pick if I can’t sing. It is the only thing that I ever wanted to do and I’m not making any progress towards that goal. At least it doesn’t feel that way. Honestly, it feels like I am getting worse.”

  Orpheus turned to her. “We’re going to figure this out so that you can sing again Itzel. I promise.” She nodded but looked unconvinced. “If Perry can control his powers, there’s hope for everyone. Khlorie makes being an elemental look easy. I’m just glad Perry doesn’t have access to fireballs.” He turned to his friend. “Did you ever tell Khlorie about that tornado?”

  “Noooooo!” I shouted excitedly and turned
my body around to face him.

  Perry sighed. “Thanks for that man.”

  “Well, I am nothing if not helpful,” replied Orpheus mockingly.

  “I caused a tsunami. You are safe to share here.” I leaned over and kissed him to accentuate my point.

  “Well, you know how to convince a guy,” Perry commented after I had broken the kiss. I smiled at him, and he hesitantly started the story.

  “There was this guy at school. He and I didn’t get along, to say the least. His father is a big wig in the local government who went to school with my Mom. Apparently, he made advances and she shot him down. He went on to marry a witch from a wealthy family in the area, but I guess that the check to his ego was just too much. So, he told his son about my mother’s history of being pro- supernatural equality, and how the ACC wanted to recruit her because she is so powerful, but she refused. He used it to torment me. Finally, in senior year when everyone was getting their specialties and I still hadn’t heard, he told everyone who would listen that it was because I was a waste of talent just like my Mom.” He stopped for a minute and I took his hands in what I hoped was a supportive gesture. “I got so angry. I tackled the kid and we started fighting. In the chaos of that, the wind kicked up and just kept getting stronger and stronger. Soon, we had a tornado on campus destroying the flying stadium. Luckily, no one was hurt.” Perry hung his head.

  “But look at him now,” said Orpheus. “Not only does he have it mostly under control. He has an elemental partner in crime to train!”

  As Orpheus was telling a particularly funny story about how he found out he was coming to Spindlewick, a brand-new copy of The Salem Standard materialized on my coffee table.

  “Oh my goodness,” I said, sitting up to grab it. “It cannot be 5am already! We have gardening in two hours.”

  “Get dressed and then we’ll go to my cottage and I’ll change. I want to keep you in sight today,” Perry gave me a quick kiss. I jumped off the couch and ran to my room to clean myself up and get dressed. When I came back out, all three of my friends were crowded around the paper.

  “Your Mom is on the cover of the paper,” Itzel said, but did not look excited. “It says that she is one of the people LW Pruitt is bringing to vote at the Council of the Harvest Moon. It says she’s a guaranteed yes vote for the registration bill.”

  Perry looked like he was going to be sick. “How can your Mom vote for fairy registration?”

  “Perry,” Orpheus said in a tone of warning.

  He continued as if Orpheus hadn’t spoken. “What gives her the right to control another Supernatural group?”

  “Were you not listening last night? Witches are dying because of fairies. All the Fairy Registration does is allow the ACC to have more information to track fairies who commit crimes.” I might not have been totally sure about the legislation, but I wasn’t going to let my mother be attacked. “My mother wants to stop people from ending up like my father. She wants to stop attacks like the one in New Jersey.” At the mention of the attack, Perry’s face paled considerably. “Cal told me that if the marshals had this legislation, they would have already caught Linus Boreas. He’s heading up the search team.”

  “Well, if taking away the civil rights of a whole group of supernaturals makes Cal’s job easier...” Perry said in a quiet, but unmistakably upset voice. “Wait, that guy who was here is the head of the Boreas search team? Your friend?”

  I could see Orpheus collecting his things and walking over to Perry.

  “Perry. I understand that you and your mother have different opinions than my mother, but Cal is trying to catch a dangerous criminal. He is not the enemy. He is allowed to ask for what he thinks will help. It is the Council’s job to determine whether the request is necessary.”

  “Enemy,” Perry whispered looking imploringly at Orpheus. He turned to me and continued more gently. “You know that Cal and his father are not seeking the truth. They are just looking to punish and assert dominance. It’s dangerous to give them more power than they already wield, that’s all I am saying.” He walked over and took my hands in his. “We both know that you have seen them be unnecessarily brutal.” My thoughts went to Apollonia and her missing tongue. Perry knew that he had struck a nerve and reached me. “We can’t trust them with that power. You can’t trust them.”

  At this point Orpheus put his arm on Perry and started moving him towards the door. “Ladies, it has been super fun hanging out. I am going to take my soup and my best friend. He’ll meet you at gardening Khlorie.” Perry was going to protest, but Orpheus kept him moving. “There are marshals everywhere and it is broad daylight. She will be fine to go to class by herself.” The two of them walked out and Itzel left to go take a nap before class.

  Between Perry’s reaction to the news and Marshal Trackerson’s glances at President Sager, I was beginning to realize that there was something about me and Spindlewick that no one was in a hurry to share. The words that the fairy had painted on the memorial came back to me “We know the truth.” I was beginning to feel like the only one who didn’t.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “Did you really make it snow in Magical Weather today?” Perry asked, reading over my notes in the Fireplace Study Room.

  “Professor Hola was so angry about it,” I sighed. “I had to significantly decrease air temperature to make it work, and his Intro to Flying Class practices at the same time. It was…. not great. Healer Miyako had to do some emergency warming. Between turning flyers into icicles and having a Mom as a Council delegate, I am really overachieving when it comes to being Spindlewick’s least popular student.”

  “At least people have moved on from the Tsunami- Girl thing,” Perry joked, and I swatted at him playfully. As angry as Perry had been about my Mom’s placement, he had seemingly decided not to hold it against me. I wished the same could be said for the rest of the school.

  “Did Madame Spine leave that book about magical electricity?” I asked, searching through my pile.

  “It’s over on the side table. Why did you want that one?” He paused, realization crossing his features. “Professor Hola is really going to be mad if you hit one of his flyers with a lightning bolt.”

  “Having Flying 101 and Magical Weather scheduled at the same time is really cramping my style. When am I ever going to get to practice Severe Weather?”

  Perry didn’t look up from his books. “You have five semesters of Spindlewick left. I guarantee you Professor Hola is going to be steering clear of Magical Weather from now on. Besides, you don’t want the ACC calling you to level fairy towns with a hurricane, do you? What happened to being discreet?”

  “It was just a little snow,” I responded, feigning innocence. “I have to give them something. I can’t fail out of college.”

  “Maybe we just leave the destructive weather patterns for now. There are lots of other interesting weather phenomena you can play with. I have no doubt that you could create deadly hurricanes, tornadoes, and lightning storms if the situation ever called for it.”

  “Awww, I’m touched by your belief in me.” I joked. “I would love to try my hand at a derecho someday too.”

  “You worry me sometimes.” He smiled. “Speaking of practicing discreetly, are you feeling up to some fieldwork tonight?”

  “Yes! It’s been two weeks since everything with the fairies. You know I am ready.” Perry smiled at my eagerness. “Where are we going to go?”

  The entire island was crawling with marshals now. If the point was to practice in private, we would be hard-pressed to find a spot.

  “It was Itzel’s idea actually. Orpheus’ study group is also having a hard time finding a place to practice without being watched.”

  “So, what’s the idea?”

  “The idea is that we are throwing a party tonight.” Perry smiled at my incredulous look. Once he explained the plan, I had to admit it was pretty brilliant. The marshals would be suspicious of two kids going into the woods, but not a whole group dr
essed up on a Friday night. If we went altogether, the marshals would assume we were having a party and leave us alone. “We’re going to bring Viv, Westin, and Lavinia too to fill out the group. We’ll leave here at the normal time, get dressed and meet back up again at your cottage at 9. Orpheus and I have something fun planned to really stretch everyone’s skill sets.”

  “Give me a hint?” I asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” he responded, turning back to his Gardening journal. Since I had finished every book on his reading list, we had taken to using our independent study time to finish up homework. Perry was taking an Independent Study in Advanced Gardening, Advanced Potion Making, Nontraditional Flying Methods, and Artisan Magic- Tricks and Tools for Other Specialties, in addition to our Elemental Magic Independent Study. I was working on a reflection for Fire Magic on the difference between flame throwing and the creation of fireballs and the pros and cons of each.

  At around 8:15, we decided to call it quits and get ready for our first true fieldwork session. The excitement was percolating inside of me, and I smiled so brightly at Perry that he felt the need to warn me that there was a very good chance that this fieldwork was going to be grueling. I didn’t care! I was going to get to practice using elemental magic in a safe place. It would be nice to use my powers without worrying who was watching. It was the greatest gift I could be given, and I told Perry as much.

  On our way out of the library, I walked over to Madame Spine, holding tightly to a parcel wrapped in gold cloth. “I almost forgot,” I called excitedly. “My mother went to visit Grandpa Bishop last weekend, and I asked her to bring something for you.”

  “For me?” The Time Witch asked, obviously surprised. She carefully unwrapped the cloth to reveal a copy of Grandpa Bishop’s book Travels through Time: A Life Lived Backwards. “This one is my favorite.” she added, touched by the gesture.