Disclaimer: Still don't own and never will.
An: Um, yeah. This was one of those things that entered my head and insisted that I write it. At least this one's complete, though a bit short for my liking.
Udonna was flung into a nearby wall as the earth-shaking tremors pitched the tree like a boat. A particularly violent shockwave and the cauldron went after her. But as suddenly as it had started, it was calm.
She righted herself, and cast a tidying spell to put everything back. But something looked different. She stared harder, and the most sickening feeling took over her. The Xenotome had opened; it sensed great evil.
Udonna was not a young sorceress any longer. She knew what she had to do. Recruit five new mystic warriors to fight. But when she picked up the wands, she found herself unable to do it. How was she supposed to approach anyone for that job? And who should she ask?
The Xenotome helped with that to a point for it showed that she'd need to find all five of the warriors outside the borders of the Mystic Realm, and that meant the city, but that made it worse. Unlike most of the inhabitants of the Mystic Wood, she did at least know that the surface dwellers were familiar with the notion of Power Rangers, having been attacked by several villains over the previous years, but she still wasn't sure how to broach the subject with them. After all 'Would you like to be a power ranger?' seemed really wrong to her, everyone would apply for it and she would not know who to pick.
"A test then", she said to herself, but what test to do? Whoever she picked would have to be worthy to hold the responsibility previously held by her friends, and her husband. And those were large shoes to fill.
Udonna thought back to when she was young and the mystics first assembled. Daggeron and Callindor arm wrestling on The Xenotome's pedestal. Leanbow training endlessly in the yard, often against his students, but the others would join in regularly too. All were masters of their respective elements, and most were at least good with a sword, though Udonna lacked the understanding to tell a proficient swordsman from a true master, other than Leanbow being the best of them all.
There was never a dull moment back then. While Niella found it infuriating that their house had become a makeshift barracks, Udonna found it delightful. Hearing about the heroic quests they'd undertaken in far away lands, and the revelry that followed every time one of them earned his sword was like nothing else. Well except Daggeron, always one to be different had returned from his final errant quest not just with a sword, but with a steam engine and a genie as well. Udonna smiled at the memory of when the Solar Train first pulled up outside, and the Snow Prince had mistaken it for the hydra-worm.
She thought next of Callindor, who's rivalry with Daggeron knew no bounds; he had even attempted to surpass Daggeron's train by returning with a flying tramcar. He'd been most upset when, on an excursion to the north pole, it had been swallowed by a glacier. She herself had attempted to extract it but to no avail. He wasn't around as much as the others but Udonna had still enjoyed his company; a nicer man you could not find, save only her husband.
Leanbow was everything a mystic warrior should be. Kind, loving, valiant, he had it all. She remembered their wedding under the trellis outside, with all of them gathered around. He'd forgotten what to say, she'd tripped on her own dress, Jenji had whimpered so much that no one could hear anything else, and Niella's attempt to bake her a cake did not go to plan (there may well have been softer rocks). All in all it was the most romantic day she could have imagined. Daggeron, Niella and the others had demanded that the weather behave, and she was married under an eclipse. Even the flowers woven into her circlet were compelled into bloom.
When the styxoids started appearing, nobody thought anything particularly special about it. Various combinations of Leanbow, Daggeron and Niella had dispatched them with reckless abandon to the great praise and celebration of the magical world. Even when the nights grew long and the fog thick, for that weakened Daggeron and Niella and strengthened the enemy, they were still always encouraging. Udonna was sure she was misremembering, but it seemed like the worse it got out there, the more jovial they became. Indeed Clare and Bowen were probably the most doted on children in history as the warriors actively sought things to celebrate in what were very trying months.
Then her thoughts took her to those last days, when they all made their plans around the table and went marching into war. Over and over, until at last the final battle where they'd sealed away The Master and his armies and… and none came home again.
Udonna still didn't know exactly what test to use to pick the new warriors, but she knew the subtext within it must be 'Come with me, and die'.
An: So I hope you enjoyed that. I can't say that it was perfect but I can't think of how to improve it. I'd appreciate honest reviews, though I will not beg for them.