The WishKeeper (The Paragonia Chronicles) (23 page)

“We’ll never find her like this. You have to let me go,” she said.

“I’m not leaving you.”

“I think I can grapple. I’m OK.”

“You’re not OK, Ellie,” Beren said watching her grip the bark of a tree. “The blizzard as bad as it is, we’ll only get separated.”

“It’s not far from where that light blast came from. I’m fine, Beren. Shea is more important right now. Please.”

He nodded, but more out of a remembrance of how stubborn she is. “If it’s too difficult…”

“Go. I’ll be fine. I’ll fire a flare to let you know where I am if you’re not back soon,” she waved him off, cutting through his hesitation. He kissed her on the cheek and jogged ahead through the driving snow.

Once he was out of sight, she leaned against the tree, gasping in pain. Every inch of her screamed in agony, but her determination to find her daughter was stronger - to explain everything to her, to apologize, to beg for forgiveness. For the past decade, each time the curse lifted, her first thought was of Shea. Waves of fear rushed through her as thoughts breezed in of how much Shea must hate her. Of how much she must despise everything she had done. Elanor couldn’t help but be fearful that Shea was thankful her mother was gone. When Shea fired that spell at her moments ago, her nightmares were justified - such a look of hatred and resentment burned from her daughter’s eyes as she pointed that wand. Even if she did find Shea, then what? Would any kind of explanation suffice? Would any amount of an apology be good enough? As Elanor pushed through the pain and searched through the snow-drenched forest around her, her soul begged that she would at least get a chance to see her daughter before the curse crept back in.

Limping over piles of drifted snow, her foot stepped on something solid, but it wasn’t a branch. Kicking the object out from under its snowy grave, it took a moment to recognize what she was holding in her hands. Goggles.

She gasped, trying to catch her sudden bursts of breath, and a rush of tears overcame her. Her full-body pain vanished and adrenaline took over as she pushed further through the thick wind, rushing to find any other sign of her daughter. A brown leather sack was a few feet away. She fell to her knees to pick it up, terrified to imagine what separated her daughter from her pack.

The soft crunching of snow, footsteps that were barely audible, broke her from her search. Someone was approaching. Not now. Not when Shea is so close. She whipped out her wand and pointed it at the dark surrounding woods.

“Who’s there?” she called out. “If you want a fight, it will be a short one, I can assure…”

Elanor didn’t recognize Avery as she crept out from behind a mangled set of thorny bushes. Her dark cloak and black hair, deep bottomless eyes that stored a decade of pain. She very easily could have been a Lost Fairy, but Elanor remembered those eyes.

At the site of her, Avery wanted to weep. A broken WishKeeper whose once perfect face that was always so alight with ambition and intent was now scarred, tired and begging for help. Her Elanor was still there though. No, not her Elanor. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe Elanor could be hers like she did years ago, but the Elanor she fell secretly in love with was still there. Behind the blackened eyes was a mother, a wife, her friend.

“Avery?” Elanor whispered, unsure.

Avery nodded quickly through tears, happy she even remembered, and ran to her. Elanor tried to stand, but Avery knelt next to her, lightly grabbing her shoulders. “Are you alright? Just sit. Sit,” she said, and examined her like a doctor does a patient.

Elanor couldn’t stop staring at her, not just because she was surprised to see her, but because the sight of her was slowly casting away the fog that covered up her memories. Seeing her was like drawing a curtain and slowly revealing a forgotten past. She touched her cheek and they smiled, but the panic quickly returned. Elanor felt Shea’s leather pack in her hands and remembered.

“Shea. Oh, Avery, she’s here somewhere!” desperation pulsed through her. “Please, help me find her. Please!”

It frightened Avery to see Elanor so panic-stricken, but what could she do other than help? They stood, Avery guiding the pained back of her friend, and leaned her against the bark of a small birch.

Avery didn’t want to tell Elanor that she saw Erebus retreat from the woods, True Love Wish cupped in his palms. How she was, for years, merely a coward and all that she ever wanted was for Elanor to be proud of her. It wasn’t the time or place to explain anything. She only tried to help, as futile as that help may seem.

The wind had covered any remnants of tracks in the snow as Avery searched the ground for any sign of Shea. “She has to be close. Erebus wouldn’t have let her get very…” she said, but was cut off by Elanor’s scream.

“Shea!” Elanor yelled.

Clutching her wand and lying limp against the thick base of a maple, Elanor saw her daughter motionless, unconscious, across the floor of the woods a few yards behind them.

The pain didn’t matter anymore as Elanor ran to her. Snow was drifted, almost completely covering Shea, and Elanor quickly wrapped her arms around her, pulling her out from under the icy blanket. “No, no, honey please! Beren. Beren!” she yelled and fired a red flare high above the forest ceiling.

Rocking her limp little fairy in her arms, Elanor mumbled pleas of hope. Though, thankfully, Shea still felt warm, she noticed her daughter’s wings. They were perfect, beautiful and this only made Elanor cry harder knowing Erebus had tricked her. Avery stood over them, stoic, and too pained to cry.

Pulling her wand from its sheath, Elanor quickly arched a half-circle red dome over their heads. It glowed with warmth and melted the snow around them and all Elanor could do was hug her daughter and beg her to wake up. Avery stood outside the warm dome, crossing her arms and taking a step back. She felt quick resentment that she wasn’t included, but the look on Elanor’s face - a look of complete and utter gratitude - was enough to erase the sudden selfishness, for now.

Elanor’s shaking hands took the goggles and carefully placed them around Shea’s forehead. She just wanted to see her baby again - the hopeful, energetic little fairy that was always so full of life.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” Elanor gasped, choking through tears and rocking her close.

When Shea opened her eyes, a blurred image of the forest came into view and she could feel someone holding her. The warmth was strange as it juxtaposed the frozen landscape that blinked in her eyes. It hurt to turn her head and look at whatever was wrapping itself around her, but when she noticed long, thick red hair, she panicked.

Elanor pulled her head back and looked at Shea. Her crying quickly halted.

Quickly frantic, Shea pushed away from her mother’s grip and though the physical pain from Erebus’ blast was still powerful, her fear of her cursed mother was even more so. Crawling away and trying to stay out of reach, Shea looked at her. Her mother’s eyes were clear and for the first time in years, Shea saw her mom. Flashes of memories poured through windows into a past that had all been closed. Her fear was still there, though, and forced her to doubt what she was seeing.

Elanor imagined reuniting with her wouldn’t be easy, but she wasn’t ready for fear to pour from her daughter’s eyes. She was willing to accept resentment and anger, but there couldn’t be a more hurtful cut then the one that dug into her - Shea’s petrified gaze. Trembling, Elanor slowly reached out her hand and though Shea flinched, she took her goggles and pulled them over her eyes.

“Goggles goggled?” Elanor asked with a quivering voice.

Shea was frozen, unsure of whether or not this was another trick, but she wanted to believe. She so badly wanted to believe this really was her mom kneeling in front of her.

“Check,” she replied, hesitant. “Wishes made?”

“Wishes granted,” Elanor continued, trying desperately not to cry.

They rushed to each other and held on to one another as if at any moment the other could disappear. The red dome wasn’t necessary anymore; the hug was more than enough. Avery gasped with a tearful laugh.

Pulling away, Elanor cupped her daughter’s face in her hands and smiled. Eyeing Shea’s wings, a continued feeling of sorrow and regret pulsed through her.

Shea removed the goggles, noticing where her mother was looking, and remembered her fixed wings. “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t…” but her mom stopped her.

“No. You’re not the one who needs to apologize.”

“Your eyes,” Shea said, staring. A shadow of a shadow loomed within the corners of Elanor’s eyes. Shea wanted to search. She wanted to look so deeply, to remember every moment she ever shared with her mother before she lost her, before her little world was flipped, before her wings were broken. Before…

Elanor looked away, self-conscious of what her daughter might see. “I am so sorry, Shea. There is so much to explain, but - I have missed you so much.” She took her hand and though it wasn’t enough to erase everything that had happened over the past ten years, it was enough for now.

Shea touched her mom’s face and lightly turned it toward her. The corners of Elanor’s eyes swirled with the smoky fog and though Shea’s curiosity buzzed, the twinkle of familiarity was there.

“I don’t have much time, honey,” Elanor said, knowing Shea must have so many questions.

“Erebus?” Shea asked.

Elanor nodded, wanting to say more.

“But the wish. It’s over. He has it. I just - just gave it to him.”

Avery cut in, wiping the tears from her cheek. “It’s not over yet.” Shea looked up, noticing another fairy was there.

“Avery?”

Avery nodded a pleasant, but pained smile at the little fairy.

Taking her daughter’s hand, “Avery’s right. It’s not over yet. Can you stand?” Elanor asked, as she helped Shea up. Shea’s knees buckled, but they eventually stood.

“You OK?” Avery asked with a nod.

Shea nodded back, though not entirely sure if she was OK. “I did something awful, Mom,” Shea said. “Erebus. He…I didn’t know what…” Shea pushed her head against Elanor’s chest, and hugged her, hoping it would make all of this go away. Hoping that the hug she had dreamed about for a decade would solve all of her problems like it once did.

Elanor held her daughter and met eyes with Avery. They shared a knowing glance. They knew that Shea was no different than they were now. Another fairy that Erebus had tricked.

“We have more in common than you know, Shea. It’s not your fault. None of this is,” Avery said.

Pulling her face out of her mother’s arms, “But what now? He has the wish.”

“Even if the wish itself is gone, true love never goes away,” Elanor said. She looked at Avery when she said this and though Avery knew it wasn’t a sudden admission, she felt the burning again. The flame that blistered inside of her every time she looked at Elanor.

“We may still have a chance,” Avery said as they limped through the wind. “We have to find a gate, and fast.

“We have to find Beren first,” Elanor said.

“There isn’t time, Ellie. We don’t know how long he’ll be and the gates are closing faster than…” Elanor quickly cut her off. She couldn’t believe what Avery was saying.

“We’re not going anywhere without Beren. Nothing could make me leave him,” she said, darting a frustrated glare at Avery.

Avery forced an understanding nod and held her tongue. In a way, Elanor knew she was right. The Gates were closing and by now, for all they knew, they could all be closed, but there was no way she would lose Beren all over again.

“It’s time to show your father just how good of a flyer you are,” Elanor smiled as she continued, reading Shea’s thoughts. Shea felt a pain of regret. What will he say about her wings?

They smiled and Shea took her mother’s hand. As they pushed through the wind, Elanor reached out and held Avery’s hand too. Whether it was for simple support to help her walk, or not, the rush of adrenaline flooded Avery. Nothing was going to stop her from getting Elanor back safely.

It wasn’t how Shea always planned such a reuniting would occur, but then again, plans that fork off in new directions tend to be alight with better possibility. And now that she had her Mom back, even just for a moment, the possibilities felt endless.

34

Return Of The WishingKing

It wasn’t long before Beren was lost. The blizzard made the world twist and turn and he was sure he had seen this particular oak tree not moments ago. He pushed off the ground and sped toward the top of the tree to get a better look at his surroundings. His slashed wing didn’t make flying easy, to say the least, and faster then expected, his understanding and acceptance of Shea’s disability swept in. There was no sign of her, none whatsoever, and panic was starting to build. All of his life’s training hadn’t prepared him for such a rescue mission, but mustering the courage to remain composed and together was a necessity, not only in order to save his daughter from whatever evil had befallen her, but to simply stay sane.

So many thoughts ran through his dizzy mind as he gripped the icy branch and looked out over the park. He could see the water tower from where he was as well as the cul-du-sac barely a mile away. The fog had lifted and no evidence of a Lost Fairy onslaught was visible, but he also couldn’t find his Keeper troops. Part of his hope of breaking off from Elanor was to find his team. There was an obvious strength in numbers during a search and rescue attempt, but the lack of support, or much of any kind of hope, was weighing on his mind. The town was silent but for the creaking of the branches bending in the winter wind. Any time a thought surfaced of his daughter alone in this storm, lying unconscious, or worse, he pushed it away like a horrible memory.

He’d been away from Elanor for too long, he thought, but he needed one last attempt at finding Shea. Seeing the cottage sitting along the snow-covered cul-du-sac, his last ditch effort was to check if, possibly, Shea had returned to the house. If nothing else, he would retrieve Thane and do the unthinkable, ask the Makers for help. He began this mission adamant about retrieving the dangerous wish and destroying it, but in a flash everything had changed. His daughter was all that mattered now.