The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) (16 page)

“Tell me what you’re doing with those wishes.”

“It’s a fallow wish! A waste. And yes, him,” he said, cringing.

“You’re stealing them before they can cross over?”

“Welcome to the real world, pixie,” the guard said through a clenched jaw.

This enraged Shea almost as much as their theft and betrayal. She whipped another kick into the guards’ stomach, knocking the breath out of him.

“I’m no pixie.”

She hurried to the edge of the well, jumped onto the ledge and looked down. The other guard who was carrying the little Money Wish had vanished. She desperately wanted to help those little wishes, but she knew there wasn’t time. She knew that as important as they were, there was an even more important task at hand. She whispered in a rush, “I’m sorry,” and dashed off toward the nearby park.

23

The Lost Fairy

As Shea ran through the pine needles, evergreens stretching over her, she tried to tie all of this together - all of what had happened over such a short period of time. She knew that there would be Lost Fairies and Erebus to deal with once she and Thane crossed over, but…

“Thane. If he’s been turned into one of those things, I’ll never forgive myself.”

On top of that, did she really see her Mom the night before? Was it just a figment of her imagination or an effect of the spell that knocked her out?

“Somebody took me to the Lost Fairy’s hideout. It couldn’t have been Mom. Stop it, Shea. Thane is in trouble and we have a wish to grant.”

Her mind was made up about one thing. She was going to retrieve the True Love Wish, no matter what.

She pulled herself up into an evergreen to get a better look around. The woods were thick and crowded with trees, and the snow that covered them made it seem like she was climbing through a sea of white. In the near distance, she noticed the trees had changed to oaks and maples and just through them was what she assumed was a clearing of some kind. Her destination was at least confirmed, but then what? It was so quiet in the forest, the stillness made her uncomfortable. It was the kind of discomfort that was unique to a prolonged silence, as if a truth would be revealed that she didn’t want to know. She continued on, climbing branch after branch and firing off grappling spells making her way toward the clearing.

*       *       *       *

At the edge of the forest was a large park. Swing sets, playgrounds, and teeter-totters were covered in snow and not even a footstep had been made in weeks, leaving the snow untouched throughout. A circle of a couple dozen Lost Fairies surrounded Elanor in the middle of the park. She stood tall, lean and confident in the center as she calmly spouted orders - The Captain was dominating her again thanks to the recharged spell from Erebus.

“We split up in the three groups. Even though the wish abandoned its Makers, it will find its way back to one of them. Two groups will monitor each Maker, the other will…” She paused, halting her orders. The Lost Fairies looked up in the nearby trees as Elanor did the same. She sensed something, or someone, was watching and slowly reached for her wand. “Wands,” she ordered, quietly.

WishKeepers dashed out of the trees and surrounded Elanor and her soldiers from above. Spells cascaded down upon them, but Elanor’s defense was quick. Deflecting spell after spell, she and her troops dived, rolled, and grappled for cover.

Raising her wand straight up, Elanor sent a wide deflecting wall of energy over her troops. The WishKeepers’ spells bounced off the wall, but bursting out of the chaos was Beren, wand outstretched. He blasted a counter spell at the wall, destroying it and knocking Elanor to the ground.

“Hold your fire!” yelled Beren.

Pulling herself onto a branch, Shea grunted and gained her footing. Just as she was about to send another grappling spell at a neighboring tree, a bright explosion shined a couple hundred feet from where she was. She rushed to the source of the explosion.

Letting go of a grappling spell, Shea swung to the base of a scrawny, leafless bush and looked out into the park. Beren was walking, wand pointed, toward Elanor who was on her knees. Her hood was down and Shea got a complete look at what she had wondered was real or not. There she was - her mom, staring up into her dad’s eyes. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real. A few feet away, the branches of the bush snapped. Thane was sneaking toward the scene. He didn’t notice Shea, but she was too stunned to call for him. Then she heard her mom’s voice.

“Lower you wands. Get in rank among your groups. This is a waste of time.”

“Elanor!” Avery tried rushing to her, but Beren grabbed her. She was in near panic at the site of Elanor, on her knees, wearing all black. Those black eyes.

Shea watched, confused, as WishKeepers floated a few feet above Elanor and her troops. It was a standoff as Lost Fairies pointed their wands, ready for a fight. They finally lowered them at their Captain’s order as Beren left Avery’s side and walked to Elanor, standing over her.

He looked into his wife’s eyes and knew that the explosion hadn’t done the trick. Her eyes were swirling with the cursed fog, though a slight hope arose inside Beren when he looked closer. The whites of her eyes were noticeable and the blackness wasn’t as thick as he remembered. He knew right away the curse was weakening, but he kept his mouth shut. She snarled at him when he reached out a hand to help her up. She stood on her own, grabbed her wand and walked away from Beren.

“Elanor, please.”

Quickly extending her wand, like a whip she cracked a powerful blast at Beren, knocking him back. The spell’s light was so bright it melted the snow around them and the anger in Elanor’s darkened eyes flashed with a ripple.

   The Hope rushed Elanor, avenging the attack on their General, but she exploded a spell at her feet and launched straight into the air. Weightless and hovering, Elanor sent wrangling spells at each incoming Keeper. Her retaliation was so quick the Keepers didn’t have time to react. One by one, they fell hard to the ground, struggling to free themselves.

Reversing her launching spell and pointing it at the ground, Elanor slowly hovered back down. Beren was the only Keeper not tangled in one of her spells. He stood through the pain and watched his wife raise Avery up into the air, a thick spell wrapped around her neck.

“So foolish to leave your king behind,” she said, as she squeezed the spell tighter. It was crushing her. “He needed a new Regent, little Avery. Guess who he chose?” She crashed Avery to the ground and released the spell. Avery cried out as a bone cracked in her left arm.

Elanor shook her head, fighting a sudden retreat of the curse as the fog swirled in her angry eyes. Elanor was in there somewhere, but The Captain wasn’t letting her leave.

“Go home, Beren,” she said, as she watched him rush to help Avery.

“Home? We won’t have a home if -,” Beren yelled.

“I don’t care about the consequences!” she screamed, wild.

“You know what has to be done and yet you listen to him,” Beren continued.

“You’re holding on to a hope that doesn’t exist. I told you not to come back. That wish is his. We’re done here.” She turned away from Beren and Avery, snapped her fingers and ordered her troops to get in rank.

Shea watched, breathless, failing to take it all in. Told you not to come back? The wish is his? Suddenly a hand touched her shoulder and Shea flinched, falling back.

“Shea, thank goodness! You’re alive! But, uh -,” Thane said, excited, but nervous all at once. He knew this had to have been a shock to her. Shea stood and backed away from Thane. She looked at him as if he was a stranger, suddenly unable to trust anyone, even him. Turning toward the park, she moved a branch out of her way, paused and stared at her mom and dad, then bolted into a sprint.

She had never felt more exposed as she stood in the middle of the park. It was like a nightmare. A bad dream where your parents are suddenly monsters, unrecognizable, foreign, and though they looked familiar they were nothing more than strangers. Even worse, the feeling of belonging and a sense of self that feels so natural when in your parents’ company had vanished. It was one thing to feel alone, but to be alone with so many unanswered questions - questions these strangers wouldn’t answer - fueled Shea’s longing to just run away and forget it all.

“Mom?” Shea said with barely enough air in her lungs. She trembled as she stood. Her body wasn’t ready for this.

“Shea!” Beren said as he took a few quick steps toward her.

“You’ve known all along. Haven’t you?” Shea said quickly to her dad. This stopped Beren’s approach. He was so relieved to see her that for a moment he had forgotten that this was all new to her. Unable to reply, he brushed his hands through his graying hair, muted.

Elanor turned to her daughter and looked at her with only a vague familiarity. The darkness in her eyes flickered, but she blinked through it. The curse was still strong enough to keep her cold and distant and focused on the task at hand.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Something within Elanor forced her to approach her daughter. Shea was frozen to the ground. For so long she had wished for her mom to come home, to see her again, but who was walking toward her? Who was looking at her with dark, foggy eyes?

Shea tried to maintain her composure, but her chest heaved, searching for any amount of air it could find. She noticed her mother’s eyes and the deep, emptiness that consumed them. Reaching her hand out, Elanor ran her fingers through Shea’s thick red hair, but when her eyes flickered and swirled with blackness, Shea flinched and pulled back, appalled and confused.

“We lost, Shea. He won. It’s time to accept that.”

Disgusted, Shea didn’t understand. “What?”

“Don’t listen to her, Shea! She’s not herself,” Avery called out.

Breaking her mother’s stare, Shea looked at her dad. Though his eyes weren’t black like Elanor’s, Shea felt there wasn’t much of a difference between them.

“Who should I listen to?” Anger and resentment overcame any feelings of confusion and Shea backed away from her parents.

“It’s time for you to go now, Shea,” said Elanor as dusty fog fell from her shoulders. Shea knew that her mom was right. She did need to go and she couldn’t trust her parents. With one last look at Elanor and Beren, Shea turned and ran away into the thick brush of the woods.

Stone-faced and emotionless, Elanor watched her daughter run. Deep down there was a thought that she should be upset by what just happened, but a numbness pulsed with every beat of her heart and she simply let Shea go.

“You’re right about one thing, Elanor. We lost. You,” Beren said, fighting his own anger.

“I have a mission to complete. If you wish to try and stop me, by all means, try,” Elanor said without looking at her husband. “Form rank,” she ordered her troops.

They followed orders and lined up behind their Captain. Beren could only watch as they launched themselves into the trees. The WishKeepers stared at one another, not knowing how to react or if they should go after them.

Beren simply stood still, staring at the ground. He had lost everything and he couldn’t help but feel he deserved it.

*       *       *       *

Every muscle in Shea’s body strained and cramped as she ran. She didn’t care how her body felt; she just needed to run, to escape. It didn’t matter where she ended up, as long as it was as far away from her parents as possible. She didn’t want her family and she didn’t care about her Makers. She just needed to go.

Finally breaking down and too exhausted to cry, she stopped near a small swing set and climbed up a snow-covered teeter-totter. Trudging through the smooth, icy snow, she reached the other end. It was raised a few feet off the ground and Shea looked down, catching her breath.

Thane caught up and spotted Shea. He didn’t know what to say and wasn’t sure if she noticed him. After a few moments, Shea wondered how long before he would say something stupid. She decided to speak first and save him the awkwardness.

“When I was little, the only thing I ever wanted was for my parents to be proud of me. Good job, Shea. You’re the best Keeper Paragonia has ever seen, Shea. What happens when you can’t be proud of them?” she asked, knowing Thane was listening.

After a thoughtful moment, Thane replied, “My Gramms says that when you’re lost in the woods, don’t look to the stars for help. All they can do is wink at you, anyway”. Though he was serious, the ridiculousness of the comment was obvious and Shea couldn’t help but smile through her watery eyes. She shook her head as Thane floated to the ground beneath her. He looked up.

“I know. My Gramms is, well, Gramms, but it reminds me that I can rely on myself to get home.”

With a deep breath, Shea sighed. She couldn’t let go of what was happening and secretly vowed never to let it go, but the deep breath was one of resolve. What else is there?

“Can I do this, Thane?”

“I’ve seen you jump from higher places than this. Oh, you mean…oh wait!” he said, excited. Reaching into his backpack, he pulled out Shea’s aviator goggles and flew them up to her. They shared a smile as he wrapped them around her neck. “You dropped them when we crossed over. Come on. We’ll do it together.” He grabbed her arm and they jumped off the teeter-totter.

With a light grapple spell fired behind her, Shea grabbed the end of the teeter-totter, slowing her descent. With the help from Thane, they landed perfectly as a team.

“I was so happy when I saw her again, but then…her eyes. It was like, she didn’t know me.”

“Then it’s time she does,” Thane said.

Shea smiled at how hopeful he was. Even though it was foolish, it was contagious.

“There’s a wish to grant,” Shea said.

“We didn’t ask for their help when we started this, and we still don’t need their help. And I have something else for you.” Thane pulled a metal device from his bag. A WishRadar.