Chapter 02: Confrontations

"Slam! Joanie! Breeze!" Jade's urgent cries were the first thing that was heard after the explosion. "Angelica! Camille, come help here!"

The raven haired girl rushed to the fountain. As far as she could see nothing was damaged, but her three friends were all lying on the floor apparently out cold.

"Come on you guys!" She said as she reached them. "Get up, please!"

She was afraid for the worst.

"Camille! Get Dame Skyla, Camille!"
Joanie was the first to stir as Jade pulled the unconscious Breeze from her.

The girl blinked and shook her head.

"Jade?" she queried uncertain. "What?" She looked around her, still blinking and touched her head gingerly. Then, suddenly her eyes widened with fear and she jumped up without waiting for assistance from Jade.

"Dame Skyla!" She called. "Queen Skyla!"

She spread her wings and leaped into the air.

"Queen Skyla!" She called again, her voice going up a pitch.

By now the other two Skydancers were by their companions' side and the other people in the hall were standing closer to investigate.

"What happened?" Angelica demanded as she knelt next to Breeze and touched his slack face. "What was that…" She got cut off as Breeze moaned softly and tried to push himself up. Angelica quickly put a restraining hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down, touching his cheek softly as she did. Breeze blinked at her and squeezed his eyes shut.

"What…" He started then grimaced and touched his head. "Oh, man. Headache."

He reopened his eyes and tried to look around him.

"Stay still." Angelica said soothingly. "We don't know. We're trying to find Skyla."

She looked at Jade who was now with Slam.

He was also awake and seemingly in a nasty predicament.

"My eyes!" He complained and rubbed furiously over his face. "My eyes, blast it, I can't see!" None the less he looked around blindly. His eyes were filled with dread. "Yo, Queen Skyla!" He called. "Queen Skyla!"

Jade placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. "We're trying to find her. Just stay still Slam."
Her friend turned a wild look on his face. "She should be with us Jade!" He snapped. "She was in the light!"

"Oh, no!" Camille breathed, having heard what Slam said. "I'll help them look… Queen Skyla!" She added her shouts to the other two. Jade was looking around panicky. "Slam stay still." She told her friend as she pushed him down so that he could lie down on his back. "We'll get the Tinker to come and look at your eyes in a second. Breeze, can you see?"

The Indian boy nodded and stood up as quickly as his body allowed him. "Isn't Skyla here?" He demanded. "What happened? She should be here, she should be here!"

Angelica shook her head.

"I don't know what happened, Breeze." She said. "But we'll find her!"

She spread her own wings and flew up. Breeze and Camille joined her. Jade stayed with Slam, torn between looking for her Queen and staying with her friend.

Slam lay on the ground, breathing deeply, willing his eyes to start working again.

He tried to shift into a more comfortably position and quite suddenly realised that there was a cause for his discomfort. He touched the hand jade had on his shoulder and motioned to her to help him up.

"There's something digging into my back." He grunted as Jade helped him up. He also realised quite suddenly that he could start seeing shapes.

Jade frowned slightly and looked behind him. Slam jerked at her gasp.

"It's the Skyswirlstone." She breathed. "Oh no Slam… It's the stone…"

Slam went ashen as he pushed himself up against her.

"Call the others back…"

&&&

Joanie was the first one to answer Jade's frantic summons. The petite girl was breathing heavily as she landed, her chest constricted with panic.

"I quickly flew to her office and apartments." She breathed, her dark eyes wild. "She's not there you guys! She couldn't have flown that quickly!" She made as if to fly away again but stopped shocked when she noticed the Skyswirlstone in Jade's hands.

"What are you doing with that?"

Jade took a deep breath to try an explain herself. She hesitated when she saw Angelica and Breeze land and waited for them to join the group.

The hand in which she held the glove shook with fear.

"I found this." She said. "On the floor. Under Slam." She turned to the two who had joined them.

"What happened you guys? What was that flash we saw?"

Joanie stared at the glove, unable to answer her.

Slam blinked and rubbed his eyes.

"Blurry's the word." He said softly. "Just before she disappeared, Skyla was reading something from that strange crystal Joanie had given her. Then…" He frowned. "She tried to tell us to move away just before the crystal exploded."

Angelica looked around them.

"It couldn't have like, exploded." She drawled. "There's like, no glass around – or, shards or even b…" She hesitated but the word came to them all like a physical shock.
Blood.

Unconsciously all looked around them uneasily.

Joanie sniffed and having recovered her breath jumped into the air again.

"I'll start looking again. She's here somewhere!"

Before she could fly away Breeze quickly grabbed her by the foot, his eyes darkened by the thoughts they entertained.

"Rather get the Tinker Joanie." He said. "I think it was magic. Where's Camille? She should be…"

People started screaming.

Camille appeared above them, flying as fast as she could.

"Skyclone's coming!" She shouted down at them. "He's got four Hurricanes!"
Breeze cursed softly and looked around them, at all the guests and palace staff.

"We have to get these people out of here!" He commanded his friends. "Come on! Joanie, stay with Slam, he can't fly the way he is."

He tried to pull her out of the air.

Joanie's mouth opened with protest.

"I will not!" She snapped. "We have to find…"

The light around them faded as three large creatures flew into the hall. As one, they lined up – took deep breaths and blew over the gathered crowd and panicked guests.

People screamed in panic as they were blown into tables and chairs, glass shattered as the food tables were thrown over and Camille yelled as she was thrown back.

Breeze held onto Joanie's foot and braced himself along with his other friends against the strong force, Slam found his arms and helped him pull the youngest of their group into their huddle.

When the wind stopped, everybody was bewildered.

The five Skydancers carefully stepped away from each other and looked around bewildered.
Three of the Hurricanes circled the great circular hall, preventing all those who were left to leave the room, while the other over shadowed the large shape that entered the room from the one balcony.

As always, Skyclone walked as if he owned the place, his cockiness vibrating from him like a bad odour.

Neither of his imps was with him.

"My my my." He purred as he walked towards them. "Look what we have here." He sneered. "A flock without a shepherd. How sad."

His gaze moved from the one Skydancer to the other. When he found that one was short he looked around the room sharply, until he found Camille. She was slumped against the wall against which the wind had thrown her. She appeared to be unhurt, but terribly disorientated. He chuckled softly and without looking in their direction held up a halting hand in the direction of the other Skydancers.

"I would suggest dropping that formation." He said as he slowly turned his attention back to them – seeing for the first time that they had already flown up into the air and appeared ready to attack him. "You would absolutely hate yourself if you harmed the only person who knows what has happened to the precious ex-Queen of this lovely kingdom."

Breeze flew forward sharply.

"What did you do to Skyla?!" He demanded.
The fat man stopped below them and laughed.

"That is no way to speak to your future king by boy." He sneered. "I suggest you take it back."
Joanie balled her fists at him.

"I suggest you speak while you can still move your jaw!" She shouted down at him.

Skyclone's dark gaze rested on her, his smile twisting with distaste.

"Ah." He murmured, loud enough for all to hear. "Skyla's bastard lapdog. I am going to have to do something about your manners when I am king."

It took both Breeze and Slam to keep Joanie from going at the man fist and foot. Before she could settle down another person joined their midst along with Camille.
Councilwoman Faolin rested a gentle hand on the kicking teenager and softly told Joanie to settle down before she looked at Skyclone.

Her grey hair was in disarray and she had what appeared to be a cream tart smeared all over her fine dress but her authority challenged the man.

"You will never be king Skyclone." She said coldly. "Where is our Queen? What have you done to her?"

The look Skyclone gave her wasn't any better than the one he had given Joanie.

"Another lapdog." He murmured. "Though, one I might have a use for." His tone softened and became almost syrupy.

"What makes you think I did something to our wonderful Queen, Faolin?" He queried. "She is family, after all and, like you – I am but a humble servant to the throne. Even if, until now, it has been a usurper's rule."

The group was pale with rage.

"Where is Dame Skyla?!" Joanie snapped and once again tried to get at him but this time Faolin grabbed her arm.
Breeze shared a grateful look with the Head Councilwoman.

"Patience Joanie." He whispered then turned to Skyclone. His mouth thinned as he tried to formulate his sentence.

"Please Skyclone." His voice was tight. "Could you tell us what has happened to Skyla? We would really appreciate the information."

The fat man chuckled cruelly.

"That's better dear boy." He said then turned to all who had gathered there. "Your Queen, my dear people, is gone. She is dead."

Cries of disbelief filled the room. Councilwoman Faolin clutched her chest when she heard Skyclone's words – her face pale.

"You lie." She breathed at the same time Joanie shouted it and continued. "What have you done with her you bastard?"

Skyclone gave her an irritating amused look.

"As I have told you before little worm, I have not done anything to her. She is gone and, as I am the true heir of this realm, I have come to take her place. I am the only royalty this place has left."

He pointed at Jade.

"The Skyswirlstone please."

The dark haired young woman clutched the stone to her chest and shook her head.
"You haven't answered our question yet Skyclone." She snapped. "Where is Skyla? Where is she?"

The large man sighed as if he was amused by the antics of little children.
"Oh all right." He intoned in a bored voice. "If you must know – she is in the Crystal Mountains. Due to a little gift someone had send her – not me I can assure you, I would never wish such a fate on a family member – she has been send there to spend an eternity trapped in stone. A curse, sadly. Boo, hoo hoo."
Sarcasm dripped from the last words, sending a rile of fury through the Skydancers.

Angelica leaned closer to Breeze. "I don't know what bull he's talking." She whispered. "But I suggest we get this bag of air out of here. We can figure out where Skyla is ourselves with the Tinker's help. He's not going to help."

The group did not nod their agreement, but all could sense the other's anticipation and started to ready themselves for a fight.

Skyclone saw this though and, having anticipated their actions smiled slightly.
"Hurricanes!" He called out without warning. "Destroy the Skydancers and bring me the stone!"

All four the creatures attacked as the Skydancers scattered.

Slam knew that with his currently limited sight he would only be a liability and rather helped the Councilwoman get to safety.

When she was out of the danger zone she took Slam's arm and motioned to the one window.
"I'm going to find the Tinker and more guards! You need back up."

Before her words were even cold they heard a surprised yell from Jade. It had not gone well for Slam's fellow Skydancers in the fight.

With four hurricanes and one of their numbers incapacitated the remaining five Skydancers had struggled to subdue the monsters.

Joanie flew around furiously, silver trails streaming from her wings as she tried to entrap the monster in a static cage while Jade tried to hold it in one place.

Angelica desperately tried to freeze the monster she was busy with but the Hurricane that Camille had tried to disorientate in a fog managed to knock the blond girl out of the air. Breeze, who had tried to deal with the remaining Hurricane, saw this and managed to catch Angelica before she plummeted down the Hall but not without having to sacrifice his own attempt at stopping the other monster with a well aimed lightning bolt. Together he and Angelica immediately set off to tackle his monster together – but, it left the Hurricane Angelica was covering free.
It flew towards where Joanie and Jade had managed to almost subdue their and acted so quickly that neither of the girls had any warning.
It knocked Jade out of the air with a strong gust of wind and another caught her in his hand and threw her to the ground.

The young woman let out a yell of surprise and spread her wings to try and break her fall but the impact with the ground still knocked the wind out of her.
Gasping she realised that the stone had dropped from her pocket and wheezing, she tried to grab it.

A large foot came down on her wrist, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Not so fast." Skyclone sneered as he picked up his sister in law's glove.

Jade cringed in pain as he shifted his weight. Without looking at the glove Skyclone slipped it onto his hand and pointed it at Jade's head.

"Skydancers stop!" He shouted up to the ceiling. "Stop or I will make you regret your actions."

The Skyswirlstone started blazing with a dangerous light.

Jade's mind shouted at her to tell her friends to carry on, but she couldn't make a sound, the threat before her taking all the will from her.

It took a moment or two for the other Skydancers to realize their friend's predicament.

When they did though they stopped abruptly and allowed the Hurricanes to herd them back to Skyclone.
The man smiled as he watched them from the ground, pressed in a tight bundle. Jade shifted underneath him but he did not let her up.

"That's better." He murmured as he stroked his other hand over the glove. "Now get down here like the good insects you are."
Looks were passed around in defiance but the five knew that they could not risk Jade's life. Defeated they flew to the ground and touched down.

"Good." He said then turned to the stricken crowd cowering in the corners of the room.
"My good people please calm down!" His smooth tone carried comfortably across the hall as he finally took his foot from Jade's arm. "Do not be alarmed by my actions, I merely had to act to defend myself against Skyla's Skydancers. As, you must note, I always have. Behold, good people, your new king!" He raised his hands slightly and turned in a circle. When nobody said anything he snorted and shook his head.
"Whether or not you are impressed with what you see…" He began coldly. "I am your new king. For better or worse, I am the heir, the true heir of the stone. There has never been another. By my linage, I was the first born to King Skyhawk and Skyla has no children. I am your new king, and you will obey me."
The guards shifted uncomfortably as Skyclone looked at them. They had arrived too late to help the Skydancers in their plight.

"If you do not." Skyclone continued. "These six pleasant young people will meet a horrible fate. I would hate for my reign to start this way though, so please do not force my hand."

Two more people joined the hall.

"Guards! Stand your ground!"

Councilwoman Faolin looked sick when she saw the Skyswirlstone on Skyclone's hand but then the Tinker who she had brought with her touched her hand slightly and whispered something in her ear.
She frowned then looked at Skyclone for a second time.
Her eyes widened slightly before her expression changed.

They couldn't tell whether it was bewilderment or relief that shone behind her eyes.

"We will not risk their lives Skyclone." She said calmly. "But, I feel that it is my duty to inform you that you seemed to have miscalculated."

Skyclone's eyes briefly travelled to her but he clenched his fist with the glove.

The Skydancers tensed, but – when he looked away from them Slam and Breeze shared a look and each put a hand on Joanie's shoulder.

They had positioned the youngest between them – to try and keep her from randomly attacking Skyclone and getting hurt. They gave her a meaningful look when she looked up at them – puzzled.

"How is that?" Skyclone, unaware of the Skydancers for the moment didn't notice Slam and Breeze's expression.
Faolin smiled smugly.

"You are not the heir. The stone, Skyclone, is red."

The big man laughed.

"Nonsense woman." He sneered. "There is no one else. Look for yourself…"

As he lifted his hand slightly to show her the stone, a glint of it caught his eye.

Skyclone blinked, visibly startled and stared at it.
The stone had an angry red glow.

His attention left the Skydancers.

"This can't be!" He managed. "I am the only one…"

He never got to finish his sentence.

As one Slam and Breeze caught Joanie underneath the shoulders and propelled her forward, lifting her from the ground as they did.
The girl pulled her legs up and coiled her tiny body like a spring.

When they were close enough, the boys lifted her up to face height and, before Skyclone fully comprehended what was going on, Joanie kicked him in the face.

The large man grunted and took a step back as Slam and Breeze let go of Joanie. The girl spread her wings and turned in the air and, as the two boys tackled Skyclone like two rugby players asking for a yellow card, grabbed his arm and tried to pull the glove from his hand.

The Hurricanes rumbled as their master was borne to the ground and the four people started struggling.

The girls wasted no time and flew up – commanding the guards to help them. They didn't attack the Hurricanes, knowing that they couldn't take all four on by themselves but they made sure that the beasts could not get close to the skirmish on the floor and help their master.

As the boys managed to pin Skyclone to the ground Joanie struggled to get the glove off his hand. She had managed to peel back most of it but was struggling too get the glove off his clenched fist. It was like trying to take a loaded gun away from a madman. Her biggest fear was that he would recover himself and randomly blast them with the Skyswirlstone's power. In one panicked moment, when she noticed the glove starting to glow brighter and the boys started grunting with effort to keep the struggling man down she grabbed his arm with her one hand, held onto the glove with the other and bit him on the inside of his wrist.
Hard.

The man howled and shook his arm like one would shake off a dog.

His fingers spread in pain and in that one moment Joanie took her chance, slipped off the glove and jumped away from him. She clutched it to her chest and ran.

Skyclone bellowed in rage and with a mighty heave grabbed Slam and Breeze by the heads and slammed them into each other. When they collapsed on top of him he flung them aside and furiously searched for Joanie.

She was hovering some distance from them – temporarily out of the way of the Hurricanes. Her face was pale and she as breathing heavily as she looked at the glove in her hands. The glove had been turned inside out, so that she was unable to see the stone. She held onto it so tightly, her knuckles were stark white.

"Get the stone!" Skyclone yelled above the clamour of fighting in the hall. "Hurricanes, get the stone!"

One of the hurricanes had already been destroyed by the guards and girls but the remaining three all went for Joanie at once.
She froze for a split second.
She didn't blink, didn't breath – didn't even seem to make an effort to stay in the air.

Then, her being seemed to come into focus and with a fierce light in her eye she started forming delicate movements with her arms. Just as the one hurricane was upon her she closed her eyes and spread both her arms.
The first lightening bolt was a full hit.

A loud explosion filled the room as the blinding bolt travelled through the closest hurricane.

For a moment, everything around him was white then – nothing.
The hurricane disappeared.

The air itched with static as another bolt formed.

The remaining Hurricanes seemed to whimper and scattered.

Below them Skyclone cursed and whistled, realizing that suddenly the odds were against him.

One of the Hurricanes turned towards him while the other dodged another searing blot. This one missed and hit a table below.

It cracked and started burning.

The air itched again as Joanie opened her strangely calm eyes to search for the other Hurricanes.

There were none left to fight though.

Her five friends had managed to destroy the one that had dodged her lightening bolt and, in the time that they had struggled with it, Skyclone had managed to get away with the help of the other.

The static continued to build up around them though until someone lay a gentle hand on Joanie's shoulder.

"Let it go child." The Tinker whispered as he tried to push Joanie's stiff arms back down to her side. "Let it go."

She shivered suddenly and gasped, letting the glove drop to the floor.

The static in the air disappeared.

Joanie turned to him, her eyes desperate.

"Is it true?" She demanded. "Is it true what he said? Is Skyla dead? Is she dead?"
There were tears in the Tinker's calm eyes as he held out his arms to comfort her.

"Our Queen is beyond our reach." He said softly. "I'm sorry Joanie, she's gone…"

&&&

AN: Okay, I believe this is my second? Second post of the year I think.  Hello everybody, I hope that this finds you well. I have precious little to say for once in my life (call the fire brigade, the red head has nothing to say) only that reviews are appreciated, comments are filed and noted and sacrificial victims are inspected. :P

Oh, in case you didn't notice I've changed Chapter 1 too.


Alyss

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