Insight

by Tina Engel

  Before we surfaced, I released my wings, and spread them out as far as they could go. Being covered by tiny scales, I was able to move them gracefully through the water and did a few circles, as the wings could push me through the water quickly. I found this delightful and swam down a ways, only to come back up quickly, but with grace. I felt amazing and then really didn’t want to leave this peaceful place.

  When we arrived at the surface, I saw faces looking down at us. Most seemed relieved, but Lily was impatient.

  Over to my right I saw movement and up from the water came a whale, one of the whales from earlier, who helped me. She came up to me, with her baby at her side.

  The whale came over and as the baby swam around, excited to see me again, the mother whale lowered its head so we could get on top of her. I knew that she was going to lift us to the safety of the ship. I ran my hand over the baby’s side as it glided through the water in front of me.

  Brett was already on the large whale as I came over to her, and Brett reached down to help, but as he reached for my hand to help me get on the whale, I took flight.

  As I lifted myself up out of the water and flew past Brett, his expression was that of exasperation. He shook his head as the whale lifted him up to the deck of the ship. I landed on the ship as Brett was helped by Adam, and the whale made a sound so soft and sweet, as it said its goodbye.

  Chapter 15

  The road of life

  Has twists and turns

  Of many,

  Decisions create new

  Forks in the road,

  Which one do you

  Take now.

  They were all there, Adam, Jordan, Angelina, Trevor, Eagle and Lily, all but Douglas and Rose. My heart sank just a bit, as I had hoped that Rose was better and would be there waiting to give me a piece of her mind, believing that I hadn’t been behaving, and that she should have been with me. I smiled at the thought, but despair still filled me. I had seen her twice down there, once with the dragon and once standing next to the sphere. Why, I wondered.

  I cleared my head of these thoughts; there was another matter more pressing at the moment. Pineville, my home, or Emilee’s home. The Dark One was going there to get the dragon’s egg and my family, or her family, the real Emilee’s, was there. Would he hurt them in order to find the egg? I wondered.

  I rushed over to Lily, as she was saying in a casual tone, “Well now, we were starting to wonder if you would ever join us back here, after you closed the doorway to his domain.”

  Before she could continue, I cut her off, saying a bit anxiously, “Pineville, he is going to Pineville to get the egg, my family, I mean, her family, they may be in danger!”

  Lily put out her arms as I reached her and she wrapped me in a warm embrace before saying, “Let’s all go down below and you tell us everything that happened. Then we will decide what to do about your Pineville.”

  I pulled back slightly, to look into her face, stunned at her lack of concern regarding what I had just said. I continued with a bit of annoyance in my voice, I was sure, “You know what went on down there, don’t act like you don’t.”

  I pulled away from Lily, took a few steps away from her and continued, “You somehow opened that doorway in the city for us to get out sooner than if Queen Anahita had lead us out. Biton, you know who he is and he was communicating with you, wasn’t he?”

  I saw movement behind Lily then, and that stopped me from continuing with my rant. Stepping around Lily, was Rose. I swear my hearts skipped a beat as I let out a gasp, saying in a whisper, “Rose.”

  I rushed to her, and grabbing her into my arms held her tight, (a little too tight I might add) and she had to push me slightly away so she could breathe. Rose smiled her sweet smile, and bending closer to me, placed a kiss on my cheek. I hugged her again, this time not quite so tight, but I didn’t want to let her go. If this was a dream, I didn’t want to wake from it.

  Rose suggested then, as she stepped away, but reaching out and taking hand, “I think we should do as Lily asked, go down into the mess hall, hear what happened down in the city, and she can tell you what has been going on up here.”

  I looked around at all the faces staring at me, smiles of relief on their faces, and it was Angelina who approached me then, took me in her arms and gave me a wonderful motherly hug.

  “Well, I think we can all continue with the hugs later.” Lily said in her whatever tone, which she gives, as only a cat can. But I knew she wasn’t a cat at all. Lily came over to me then, and led me to the door and down below.

  When we were seated, Trevor brought hot coffee for most of us. Rose and Eagle took none. Eagle still seemed distant, like he was waiting, watching, for something or someone.

  I filled them all in on what happened down below and Brett chimed in now and then too, filling in his adventure, if you could call it that, when he wasn’t with me.

  Looking at Lily, I made the comment, “You know this, don’t you? And Biton, you know him too?”

  Lily smiled and told me that she saw it all but wanted to hear it from my perspective. She shared her concern regarding the confrontation between Poseidon and Proteus, and that Poseidon was supposed to remove Proteus from the picture, so to speak. She felt that his parental emotions had gotten in the way.

  When she said this, the ship leaned hard to the right, almost tossing those of us sitting, out of our seats and Brett and Jordan, who were standing, did take a tumble but were okay, as a large wave hit us from the side.

  Lily shouted with irritation, “Poseidon, that is enough!” and I heard from not far away, a chuckle and again, we were tossed about before everything calmed down.

  “No bother,” Lily said, “We will take care of Proteus in good time and Poseidon, you have done enough, and then some, for now. I suggest you mind your business and let me mind mine.”

  Suddenly, the skies went dark, and as we looked out the portholes, we could see the clouds swirling and the rains started to pour down on us, as Lily reluctantly said, “All right Poseidon, you win for now. I’m sorry for being insensitive. Now would you please, and I say, please, stop this nonsense. We don’t have time for this.”

  The rain stopped and the sun came back, letting light back in from the portholes as I again heard a chuckle, and a face appeared in one of the portholes. Poseidon, beaming with pride, tapped on the window until Lily would look, and then he disappeared.

  “Well now,” Lily said, when he was gone, “let us continue.

  It was my turn to ask questions, so I started with Rose, “How did she get well?” I asked, looking at her and since Rose was seated next to me, I reached out and squeezed her hand.

  Lily, looking serious, replied, “She is here for now Princess, only because you need her. You are stronger with the people you love and who love you, around you. That is all I can say about this. Keep her close, when you can.”

  Before I could question this, because I didn’t like the way it sounded, “For now”, Lily continued to speak. “The doorway is closed. Your wings did their duty, as did the necklace and all of your special gifts.”

  What a minute!” I spouted, “The necklace, it was around Rose’s neck when I went down to the city. I didn’t even think about it until now. I didn’t have it on until…” I stop to think back and realized that the necklace wasn’t around my neck when I was with the dragon in my dream and when I came out of the dream, it was there around my neck.

  “How?” I asked.

  Lily looked to Rose and Rose had her wonderful, enthusiastic smile on her face as she said, “I was there with you. I have been since that creature injected you with its venom. I gave you the necklace when you were with her, the dragon. She told me to and when you woke, I woke too, so to speak.” And Rose looked towards Lily.

  Lily got up then, went over to Rose and asked her to stand. Lily lifted up Rose’s shirt just enough for us to see a tattoo of a dragon. “For now, this will keep her with us. Shinar, your dragon, has powers too.”

&n
bsp; “For now?” I asked.

  Rose sat back down and took my hand again, squeezed it affectionately, and said, “No worries, Princess, we can do this.”

  I looked back at Lily as she went and sat down and I asked, “Where is Douglas, and who is Biton to you?”

  Lily explained then, “Eagle took Douglas to where he was needed, back on land with the Wolves, on their way to Pineville, and as for Biton, well let’s just say that he has been around a long time and is a very special friend. He has done his duty in the underwater city, has closed the room for now and is at rest until I need him again. We all have roles to play in the future, as we did in the past and present.

  “Because things changed when you were in the room, when you took your hands off the sphere, sending you to Shinar, the Dark One saw it all. Your thoughts, along with the thoughts in the sphere, were open to him for just a moment for him to see.

  “The sphere opened your mind to the universe, Emilee, so that more could be revealed, but when you let go of the sphere without Biton closing the sphere down properly, the Dark One, always spying, saw but a glimpse. That glimpse was the whereabouts, of your dragon. He knew of it but didn’t know where it was.”

  “The dragon.” I said softly. “How did he know where she was?” I didn’t see it.”

  “You were not the only mind opened in that room, Emilee. You were to see her, know where she was and go get her, but he saw, and has her now.” Lily replied.

  “But how do you know he has her?” I questioned.

  Lily looked at Rose and Rose spoke, “I feel her too Princess, just as I felt you and was with you, even though my body was here on the ship. She, Shinar and I are connected.” And Rose looked to Lily to finish.

  Lily sighed, and picked up where Rose left off, “Your gifts are from very special and powerful beings. Some are fey, as Douglas and …” She stopped then.

  “You?” I said. “You are not a cat, I know this, I have seen you, but not quite.”

  When I said this, everyone in the room started to whisper, and I had forgotten that others were around, they were all so quiet.

  It was Brett who questioned, “What do you mean, Emilee? She is a cat fey, just a pesky cat fey that thinks she knows so much.”

  Lily gave Brett a scowl of a look and then changed her look to delight as she stood up and said, “I guess it is time. Lily, back away, would you please.”

  I was so confused, as was everyone else, Lily was talking to herself. Just then, Lily turned into a cat and started to glow. The glow got larger, spreading out and away from Lily, until it was a large orb the size of the doorway that Brett and I had come through earlier. Suddenly, out of the orb came a woman, beautiful, my grandmother.

  The orb disappeared and Lily turned into her cat fey form. There were two of them. Lily turned to my grandmother and said rather rudely, “Finally, this charade is over. You give me way too much responsibility, mistress. Can I be done now?”

  My grandmother laughed and informed Lily that she still had work to do. That only the ones in the room could know that Lily did my grandmother’s bidding.

  “Emilee, my dear granddaughter” she said as she came over to me, and taking my hands in hers, continued, “You do exhaust Lily at times with your stubbornness and impatience.”

  She looked to Brett then and continued, “Brett, Lily is an annoying feline to those around who see her as a cat, but she is so much more.”

  “Annoying Feline?” Lily sneered.

  “Now, now, Lily.” My grandmother said, “Brett, she keeps me close, for I have many duties to attend to in other places. She carries a great load.”

  Angelina spoke up then, “You’re the woman who came to me in my dreams, you led me to Proteus, you insisted I give Emilee away, you helped me escape to be reunited with Emilee. Are you my mother then, if you are Emilee’s grandmother?”

  My Grandmother went over to Angelina and putting her hands on her cheeks, kissed her forehead gently. “I have missed you so. It was one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do, giving my only daughter to strangers, even though I knew you would be safe, away from me, from him. Emilee had to be born, and be safe until now. I understand your pain.”

  My grandmother turned then to Jordan and continued, “And Jordan, your father is a great being, the leader of your people, the ancient ones, who were here so long ago. He knew you had a special purpose and allowed us to hide you also, from the Dark One.

  He, the Dark One, found you both once, that day in your house, they were sent to kill you both, so Emilee would not be born. Luckily he hired idiots who thought it funny to leave you alive, Jordan, and therefore able to save Angelina. You had to be separated until the time came for you both to be back in Emilee’s life, to help. It had to be this way.”

  I looked from my mother to my father, and saw the pain and anguish, the sadness that they felt. Their lives had been so difficult, the losses that they had experienced had been so harsh. My grandmother had a look of sympathy for them but I could feel her own pain, sadness and loss of the time she missed, spending with Angelina.

  “What of my father and my family?” Jordan questioned. “I was not abandoned, but sent away?”

  “For your protection, Jordan,” my grandmother said.

  “The ring, you gave me the ring to give to Emilee.” Trevor shared. “It was you.”

  “Yes, Trevor, you played a part as well. You all have, it was written long ago. I had to ensure that it all played out the way it must. Unfortunately, Biton…” and she paused for a moment and then continued, “You are stronger, Emilee, my dear, than is good for you, at times. Biton didn’t realize or hadn’t foreseen that you would take your hand off the sphere, nor did I, such a small detail, but it changed the future. Now the task that you have Emilee, is more difficult, will take a bit longer and we are running out of time.”

  Adam chimed in then, “And what about me?”

  My grandmother turned to Adam with fury in her eyes and spoke with contempt, “I will deal with you later, my good captain. You just keep all of these fey safe and when I deal with you, I may be merciful.”

  We were all dumfounded by her outburst and not understanding what Adam had done, Jordan came to his defense, “Wait a minute, he has been nothing but good to us all. He kept me from killing myself and…”

  “Exactly!” My grandmother said, with a tone of assurance.

  Everyone started talking all at once, and as I looked around the room, I saw the pain, fury and confusion filling the room. It was Rose’s sweet but very piercing voice, that rose over all as she shouted, “Stop, everyone!” And they did. Everyone looked to Rose as she continued. “I don’t have a lot of time, and Emilee needs me.”

  My grandmother turned to Rose, and Lily went over to her, turned into a cat and leaped into her arms, purring and rubbing against her cheek. Rose smiled a sheepish smile and said then, “We have to help the Princess, before its too late.”

  “I need to get to Pineville.” I said then, with urgency in my voice. With everything that was going on, I had gotten side tracked and I needed to know if my family was safe or not.

  “We don’t have time my dear.” My grandmother said, but I wasn’t having any of that and informed her that I was not going any farther, into this, her quest for saving the humans’ world and the universe, until I went to Pineville.

  I spread my wings out, furious with everyone around me then. They didn’t understand, that was my family in Pineville, the only family I knew for most of my life. These fey here, yes, were my family too, but in my heart, Pineville was home and they were still my family.

  As I spread out my wings, my grandmother suddenly had a glow about her, and she spouted, “We can argue if you want, but I will win, my dear, and we don’t have time for this.”

  It was Jordan who came over to me, put a hand on my shoulder and released his wings too. He smiled, amused, and said, as he looked to Eagle, “Would you like to join in, and Rose? I believe there is still room here for an
other set of wings.”

  I looked up into his face, as he looked down at me with silliness that was expressed in his eyes, and as his smile grew, I couldn’t help but giggle.

  The glow around my grandmother subsided and then Jordan and I put our wings away.

  Eagle had just ignored Jordan’s request, not seeming interested in the least, as to what was going on in the room, and Rose just smiled.

  I looked over at Eagle and wondered just what he was thinking, as he stood there staring off into space. He glanced at me then and when our eyes met, there was a strange longing there, something I hadn’t seen before in his eyes.

  Before I could question Eagle as to what was bothering him, Jordan asked again, what was up with Adam and what trouble was he in for keeping him, Jordan, safe all these years.

  My grandmother, looked at Adam, and answered, as Adam seemed to be a bit uncomfortable, “The future was set, decisions had been made, but now, Adam has changed it. One decision changed, no matter how slight you may think it is, will change so much.”

  Adam suddenly changed his attitude and stance, and shouted, “Enough of this, I have kept them all safe and done what I was told! If I made the decision to remove Jordan from the octopus’s stomach, to save him, and it has changed the future some, it can only be to make it better. And how was I to know that Jordan was Emilee’s father, and that the love of his life, was Angelina, Emilee’s mother?!

  “Now if we are to get Emilee to Pineville or wherever you want her to go next, I suggest we get this ship pointed in that direction. And if you are going to be seen hanging around, maybe you should let us know what to call you, because I am in no way planning on calling you mistress, or my lady or queeny, or whatever.

  “I took my orders from another and did my part keeping Jordan alive and well, and he is more like a brother to me than you or anyone understands. He saved Emilee, and I can’t see how his crime could possibly be so severe to deserve death. Besides, he was the one who saved Angelina, and in turn saved Emilee. I don’t understand why I was to let him die.