by Dani Swanson
"I don't know anything about draining a lake, but I know how to make it rain." Zyon lifted his head with a smile. "You just need to shoot the elves' arrows into the clouds when they're full. Whatever they put on their metal always makes it rain."
"Do you know where we would find such arrows?" Izzie's voice was the kindest that it had been since meeting up with Zyon again.
"In fact, I do. I don't know how to shoot an arrow, but I know where to find them."
“Lucky for all of us, I have an archer right here.” She patted Xander on the back and he gave Zyon a less than thrilled look.
From Incubus, Izzie and Nathan had decided to go to Silver Lake with the shadows and trap Phantasma and then drain the lake once they knew she was caught. After much convincing from Izzie, Xander had agreed to go with Zyon to find the Elves' village and collect as many arrows as they possibly could carry back to Silver Lake. As Xander was the only one that knew how to shoot, he had to be the one to do it.
"I'll be all right. Nathan and Team Zeta will protect me if anything bad starts to happen, which it won't." She held his face in her hands as she softly spoke to him.
"I don't trust any of this." He said back as he wrapped her up in his arms.
"But you trust me, right?"
"With my life." He gave her a long kiss before they separated. He headed to the south with Zyon, and she, with the group of shadows and her brother, headed in the opposite direction and went back toward Silver Lake. This time she was hoping that she would run into Phantasma amongst the trees. She walked with her hands ready at her side, silver sparks lighting their path as they traveled through the darkness.
26: Black Goo and Bubbles Below
The walk back to Silver Lake was quite different compared to their first trip there. They walked in silence; their eyes focused on the trees. Izzie was so confused about the feelings that she had brewing within her. She didn't know how to feel about Zyon, or about all the secrets he had kept. She was nervous about leaving Xander alone with Zyon, fearful that the worst would come from it. Nathan was right next to Izzie the entire time, never going farther than an arms-length from his sister. He jumped at every noise from the twigs snapping beneath their feet to anyone clearing their throat. He was determined to be brave for Izzie even though all his faculties were telling him to flee.
The solemn march to the lake went without interruption. Phantasma didn't seem to be at home when they got there as the dark smoke from her contraption was barely rising to the sky.
"Where is she?" Zallen questioned.
"She's probably out hunting and terrorizing anything that's awake." Robin was the first to leave the bush.
oooooReyna followed Robin out onto the shore.
"Well, we need to stop her potion from filtering into the lake. That has to be the first step for sure." She had attempted to sound sure of her actions, but her voice came out shy.
"I'll come with this time. No falling into the lake on this go." Nathan started to the path heading out to the middle of the lake and led the way. Without hesitation, the rest of the shadows followed Izzie and Nathan, leaving Robin on the shore as lookout.
Slowly they made their way through the dark of night across the lake. Hopping from stone to stone, avoiding the waves hitting the rocks more aggressively than the last time they had passed.
Phantasma's concoction she had been using to poison the water was continuously mixing into the lake's waves. The noxious scent coming from the black bubbly goo was strong enough to make Jade nearly pass out when she got close enough to it.
"Whoa." She grabbed a small tree to steady her legs. "We need to seal that off if possible. I can't breathe that in anymore."
Nathan was on his knees by the faucet that was pouring it out into the lake, trying his best to find a way to shut off the flow. "This would be easier if I had some tools!" Nathan called out to his sister. "The pipes are blistering hot!"
"Well, let's see if we can get the hot part to stop then." She signaled for the shadows to move behind her as she flattened her hands and forced her energy in the pit of her stomach to flow out her fingers. One by one, the fiery logs rolled down the slight embankment into the water, sizzling as the flames were put out. "How's that?" She proudly called to her brother. He gently tapped his fingers on the pipes as the metal started to cool. He gave her a thumbs-up as he pulled the line out of the water and laid it in the weeds.
"I think that will do it for stopping the addition of that crap into the water, but how do we get the water clean?"
"I was serious when I said that we were going to drain the lake," Izzie said with a wink to her brother. "Then we can see where the water is draining to."
The debate was continuing as they were interrupted by a commotion on the shore. Robin was shouting as they looked up to see Phantasma floating across the water.
"You're invading my home, AGAIN." Her voice echoed through their heads as she came closer to where they stood.
Izzie took a deep breath and shook her hands as she readied to meet Phantasma. "Stay behind me, all of you. I don't want to hit you." Her voice was barely audible as she walked closer to the shore.
"Get ready!" Reyna called to the shadows as they started to turn into black masses.
"I don't plan on being harvested by you. You can't treat everyone like this." Her voice shook as the sparks started to form in her hands.
"Little witch, you don't have a choice of what happens in the Winding Woods. Without me, you wouldn't exist. You have my powers, and I want them back."
"What you have been through must have been tragic, but I have absolutely nothing to do with it!" Izzie unfastened the latch on the vessel and laid it on the ground by her feet. "I refuse to allow you to ruin my life because you're angry! I am not your pawn! Lift your curse and leave the Winding Woods, and nothing will happen to you."
Laughter echoed in their heads, followed by a shrill shriek, that brought Nathan to his knees in pain. "This is not my curse! I went to The Mother and asked her for my powers back, and she laughed at me and told me I'm not worthy. Once the tree dies, her powers will be released, and I can absorb my powers back. Nothing more. When I started to poison the tree, everyone went to sleep.... except for you and the dream keepers. So, the question should be, little witch, why didn't you fall asleep? Why could you walk through your mom's forcefield at such a young age?"
Phantasma stopped at the other side of the vessel. Izzie could see that the slit cut across the blank face of Phantasma had formed lips that are painted a crimson red, and the bridge of a nose had started to rise from the flat surface.
"Either through you or through that tree, I'm going to get my powers back. Now put my logs back and start the fire."
"If she kills The Mother, she is going to kill all of us. The Winding Woods will no longer be." Zallen called out from somewhere behind Izzie.
"She's not going to do that." Izzie held her ground as she could feel the shadows moving closer to her.
"You're not at your prime yet, but you'll have to do how you are now since Zyon couldn't follow directions." Phantasma moved closer to Izzie, reaching out with her skeleton-like arms to grab her.
"Don't touch me!" Izzie yelled as she shot out a burst of the Ether, hitting Phantasma directly in her face, knocking her over, landing hard on her back. Her body didn't move. The stillness in the air lasted for what felt like an hour as everyone held their breath.
"Is she dead?" Nathan questioned as he peered over his sister's shoulder.
"I don't know." Izzie took a step closer as she looked over her shoulder to look at Nathan.
The stillness was interrupted by the hysterical laughter mocking them drifting through the air. Phantasma lifted into the atmosphere effortlessly. Izzie swallowed hard as she looked into Phantasma's face and saw bright green eyes staring back at her. Her voice was no longer echoing in their heads but was coming from Phantasma's mouth. "How?" Barely escaped from Izzie's lips before Phantasma lunged forward, reaching for Izzie's throa
t, lifting her from the ground with ease.
Again, Izzie hit her with a burst of the Ether. Instead of pushing her away, Phantasma absorbed the energy. Her skin started to form around her features. Izzie created a massive fireball burning the hair off her arm, throwing it onto Phantasma in her chest. Her cloak started on fire, but Phantasma laughed as the skin on her arms began to form.
"Izzie, stop! She's taking your powers!" Reyna cried as she started to merge with the other shadows.
Phantasma glided forward toward Izzie; her ratcheted cold fingers latched around her neck as Izzie scratched at her to get them off. A loud noise startled Phantasma from behind. Techno beats and a bright light came from a bush behind her. Nathan had turned on a downloaded song on his cell phone and threw it past her.
The distraction was enough that Izzie got her neck free. As Phantasma turned to attack again, Robin fumbled her to the ground. Robin, who had come across the path to help his friends, wrapped his arms around the floating figure. He pushed her with all his might. The cloaked figured crumbled to the ground from his tackle.
"Toss her into the potion!" Nathan bent down and scooped up the rotting pieces of her cloak.
Team Zeta swarmed around Phantasma, lifting her over the side of the trough, tossing her body in. Her screams echoed through the trees of the Winding Woods as the poisonous potion consumed her. She was able to pull herself up. Izzie pulled opened the vessel and was pulling Phantasma and the concoction into the emerald. Izzie was screaming in pain as she pulled with the Ether, wrapping the silver streams around Phantasma pulling her closer to Izzie. The light coming off their bodies was blinding. No one could tell where one of them started and the other ended. There was an explosion, blasting everyone back from where they stood. They shielded their eyes until the light faded, falling into the vessel on the ground. Izzie stood there, hyperventilating, rubbing her eyes. Phantasma had vanished within.
"Iz! You did it! Are you okay?" Nathan tripped over his own feet as he ran to his sister's side. The shadows surrounded her as she started to scream.
"My eyes are burning!" She kept rubbing her eyes.
"Here! Stop rubbing!" Nathan took the pink fern from Robin and placed it over her eyes. "Rest for a minute. You did great, just don't touch your eyes." He led her over to a bench on the side of the house. "You got her in the necklace, and you emptied all of her potions with her! You did great." He hugged his sister as she quietly wept. Her tears cleared her eyes until the burning sensation stopped. When she removed the fern, everything was blurred.
"You should leave that on for a bit longer. We have time to rest now that she's trapped." Pan offered her a fresh leaf as he knelt by her. "We don't want any lasting effects."
"No, I want to get this done." Izzie stumbled a bit as she got to her feet. "We need to save The Mother before any more of that poisoned water gets into her roots."
Izzie felt weak, as if she had just run for miles or had stayed up all night to study. Her legs were shaky, and her arms hung at her side, like they were made of lead. She took a few deep breaths and tried to act as if she was all right, but she knew she wasn't fooling anyone when she looked at their faces. "I'm fine. Really." She whispered to her brother, who was supporting her as she moved. "Now we need to get the water out of the lake, so we can see where the tunnel is to the underground river."
"How are we going to do that?" Reyna was the first to speak. "Tell us what you need us to do, and we'll do it."
Izzie smiled at her. "Thanks, Reyna. I think I have to do it, and then we'll figure out what to do next after I get the water out." She turned to her brother and nudged him in the arm. "Okay, science nerd, if I get the water out of the lake, can I put it in the clouds? Will it stick up there?"
Nathan bit his lower lip as he stared up at the clouds in the sky. "Maybe. Like when water evaporates, it goes up into the sky and then is collected by the clouds and thus it can rain. Well, that's not what happens,"
"Yes, I get the picture..." Izzie was really just looking for a yes or no answer.
"But what about all the other crap that she's been pouring into the water. If you put that into the clouds, it will rain down onto everything. It will do the opposite of what you were trying to do."
"So, here's what I'm thinking, guys. I'm going to take just the water out. I'll leave all the black goo in the lake, and then we can clean that out of the bottom. The water to goo ratio should leave it to walk around on the floor of the lake. Like we should be able to walk on the bottom without getting burned by the goo. Then we can build something to filter it out if we can't clean it up before Xander and Zyon release the water from the clouds." Izzie raised her eyebrows at them and nervously smiled. She didn't know if her plan would work, but it was better than just sitting there and doing nothing.
"Why wouldn't you just lift the goo out? If you can separate them, then you should leave the water and pull out the potion." Nathan wrecked her whole plan, and it was visible on her face how stupid she felt for not thinking of that. "I mean, you'll still need to make it rain to revive everything, but I think you can just pull the black grossness out."
Izzie went to the far end of the island where they hadn't gone before. She looked out onto the waves of the lake and took a deep breath and remembered what she read in her mother's book. "Okay, Iz, focus on just the goo." She raised her arms and used the Ether to pull all the evil from the water. Her brow was covered in sweat, and her body was trembling. She cried out in pain - the shadows and her brother rushed to her side to see if they could help. Tears were rolling down her face, but she wasn't going to quit. Finally, a few droplets of the black potion started to rise to the top, then into the air. They swarmed around one another, twisting together, and growing in size. More and more came from the sandy bottom of the lake, and the others could see the water levels dropping because of the mass being pulled out of the water. "There's something heavy down there!" Izzie shrieked at the others, as she continued to pull. She brought the black mass over to the trough, filling it to the brim, and there was an overspill that seeped back into the lake.
Izzie collapsed to her knees; her breath was labored as she stared into the blackness of the water. "There's still so much down there. Where am I to put it all?"
"I've got an idea!" Zallen huddled with Pan and Robin for a moment before they swirled their bodies together, creating a figure that could only be explained as a monster. It had long arms and a crooked mouth with yellowish eyes glowing from sunken sockets. The creature made its way over to the shack and ripped the roof off with its long tentacle-like arms. It swiped and tossed the thatched roofing until it was open to the house.
Jade and Reyna had gone inside and saved the feather mask another magic book.
"Why'd you grab that mask?" Izzie questioned with her face twisted.
"It's pretty!" Jade placed the mask on her face and pouted out her lips. "I just need some red lipstick like Phantasma."
"I secured the door. I think it will hold! Good thinking, guys!"
The three boogeymen unraveled from their shape and patted each other on the back, being proud of what they had accomplished.
"Let's just hope there is enough space there. There is something down there that is just so heavy." Izzie's eyes were what was heavy as she looked exhausted.
"You don't have to do all of this right now, Iz. You can rest. We have time." Nathan sat on the ground next to his sister and nudged her with his elbow.
"No. We're so close to being done. I want to meet my parents!" She used Nathan's shoulder to boost herself up. "We're going to finish this tonight!" She once again moved to the shore. Each time she started to use the Ether, it felt harder to move the goo below the water. She pulled with all her might as the silver sparks flowed from her fingertips. Down into the depths of the water, she was straining to wrap itself around the evil in the lake.
Once again, the droplets started to rise to the surface slowly. The more that Izzie pulled, the more that came out, forming larger droplets
and then turning into globs. She pulled and pulled then on the far end of the lake; a giant bubble came shooting out of the water, hurling itself straight up in the air. Inside were a few dozen mermaids sleeping with all the fish and creatures that lived in the lake. The bubble protected them.
"Why are they coming out with the goo?" Nathan was pointing to the bubble as his sister struggled to move the goo over their heads to the shack.
"I focused on pulling the evil out." That is all Izzie could get out as her shaking arms were struggling to keep the goo over them, not crashing on top of their heads. The orb of goo barely made it over the brim of the walls before it slammed down, sloshing over the sides a bit before settling in the walls. Nathan was hypnotized by the beauty of one of the mermaids in the bubble and felt sorrow rush over him as it went crashing back into the water.
"Don't worry, buddy. The sirens aren't something you want to see awake." Robin pushed Nathan hard to shake him out of his trance. "She would eat you alive."
Izzie stood in silence for a minute as she stared at the water. "Did I get it all?" She said as she wobbled down to the ground to have a seat.
"Well, there's only one way to see." Nathan rolled up his sleeve and walked over to the water's edge. He looked over his shoulder before dipping his finger into the water. He pulled it back to show that there weren't any burns on his skin. He proceeded to put more of his arm into the water. "I think you got it all! You did it, Iz!" He turned back with a smile across his face to congratulate his sister, but his smile left as fast as it had come. Izzie was passed out in the dirt, with Jade and Reyna at her side.
"Wake up, Izzie. Wake up!" Jade was slapping her face without any response.
27: Teal Tipped arrows
Xander and Zyon didn't speak much as they made their way through the trees. The elf village wasn't far from Zyon's kingdom, and lucky for them, they didn't use any locks on their arsenal. They gathered all the arrows that they could find, those that had the teal-colored tips were the ones they were after. Those, according to Zyon, were the ones the elves used to make it rain.
