Revelation
V: Clash of the Sky and Earth
Storm, Madeline, and Serena rolled to the side to avoid the pillars of rock Tretch summoned. "Is this the best that you can do?" Tretch said mockingly. Before Storm could stand back up Tretch leaped to all fours and ran at him. Madeline summons water out from the air and creates a path of mud in front of the tiger causing him to lose control and fall into the muck. Storm pushed himself out of the way to let Tretch slide past him. Serena goes to help Storm back to his feet, but Tretch knocks her aside and across the ground. "Get her out of the way Madeline!" Storm said as he jumped away from the tiger's claws. "What about you?" She asked back. "I'll be fine. Just make sure she's okay and in a safe place." Madeline draped one of Serena's arms over her and carried her away from the battle area. "What's the matter mongoose? Can't stand up to me?" Storm rolled again and stood up with the same move. "I'm not, but now I can fight more freely than before." Storm spun and shot his arm out at Tretch sending a bolt of lightning into the tiger's chest leaving the smell of burnt hair in the air. Tretch stood up with his fur standing out in places. "You pompous, little welp!" Tretch yelled out with a growl in the back of his throat. "Bring on what you've earned Tretch." Storm called out. Tretch raised his right hand and two squares appeared that created a star of some form that was scarlet. "Then let's see what you've got yourself." Tretch brought his hands up creating two floating pillars before he threw them at Storm. Before the pillars reached him something clicked in Storm's mind. He flicked his wrists to make his dual knives appear. With deft movements he swung them and sliced both the pillars down the middle. Tretch stood stunned as his rocks lay on the ground in twin halves. Storm twirled both of them in his hands holding the blades behind him. Tretch summoned more rocks and threw them at the mongoose, but Storm either sliced them down the middle or dodged them. "Hold still!" He gritted through his teeth. Storm didn't even listen to the tiger's threat and kept doing what he was doing. Tretch let out a roar and shot out a blast of red energy from his right hand. Storm threw his arms in front of him and was knocked back feeling a burning sensation along his arms. Tretch walked up with red smoke curling off of his hand, as he got ready to shoot another blast. Storm began to glow blue and sent a wall of energy slamming into Tretch. The tiger floundered threw the air before hitting the ground hard. Storm stood up and looked down at his hand to see a blue trinity glowing on the back of it. Tretch staggered upright and looked at Storm. "Oh no, no, no. I did not sign up to fight against one of you." Storm then understood why the tiger could summon a red energy. "You're a sil'lis, but you took control over whoever it is you're in now." Storm said. Tretch's face went slack and he took a step backward. Storm concentrated on the power he felt multiplying his own and set a blast of blue lightning towards Tretch. He summoned a rock wall, but it crumbled beneath the power and hit him full on in the chest. Tretch stumbled backwards with his vision blurred from the blast and arms shaky. Storm walked over and put his foot on the tiger's chest. "You can't save him you know. Once a sil'lis has a host it will never leave until it's dead." Tretch choked out. Storm leaned down and to place his right-hand on the head of Tretch. "Keep thinking that." The tiger's eyes widened as they shown bright with a white light. Storm stepped back to watch Tretch convulse and screech in pain as it was purged from the tiger's body. With a last screech Tretch left the tiger's body with a dissipating shadow. After, the tiger had lain still for a minute Storm walked to his side. "Are you okay?" He asked. The tiger's eyelids fluttered open. "Where am I?" The tiger asked. "You're in the town of Hollowridge. You were being controlled by a sil'lis called Tretch." Storm replied while he helped the tiger up. "What's your name?" The tiger rubbed his head and replied, "I am called Seamus Urthenmöor. I come from the Frost Highlands north of here. At least that's what I remember." Storm made sure the tiger had his balance before letting him stand on his own. "You better stick with my friends and I. While you were being controlled by Tretch he didn't exactly make friends with the entire town." Seamus nodded and let Storm lead him to where Madeline was tending Serena.
Madeline whirled around with her staff raised when the door was pushed open. Storm ducked pulling Seamus down with him as they dodged a blast of water. "Woh! Cease fire. Seamus is okay. He was being used as a host for a sil'lis called Tretch." He said with his arms above his head. She lowered her staff and let them rise. "I hope so. Serena seems okay at the moment, but right now she's resting." Seamus brushed by Storm and walked up to Madeline. "Serena? Serena Cyndre?" He asked. Madeline nodded and he quickly went to find her. Madeline looked at Storm with a confused 'What is going on here?' look; which, was returned with a 'How should I know?' from him. They both went to the room with Serena to find Seamus sitting in a chair anxiously rubbing his hands. The two of them entered and sat on the other side of the bed. "Seamus, you seem to know Serena. Do you know her?" Madeline asked. The tiger looked up with a worried look in his eyes. "Before I had that thing take control Serena brought me into her home. We were good friends. I can't believe that I did this to her." He said trailing off. "That wasn't you Seamus. That was something else that had no right invading your life. Storm is in kind of the same position as you. His memories were blocked from him for a reason until the seal blocking them was broken recently. He's only beginning to remember older memories." Madeline said trying to help Seamus. She couldn't tell whether or not the tiger made a response or an effort to, but they just sat in silence watching Seamus sitting next to Serena- watching over his friend.
Ragha smashed a tree to splinters in his fury. Mora sat back and just watched its friend destroy the scenery. "Listen Ragha," Mora began, "I know Böromer told you to finish what you did, but do you really need to keep trying?" It had to duck in order to dodge the tree thrown by Ragha. "I want that mongoose dead and buried beneath this ground. I will not give up so easily. I can't believe that Tretch was defeated by him though. The mongoose is just beginning to learn about his powers, yet a seasoned warrior like Tretch was eradicated from existence. Turned back into the essence in which he was formed from." Mora looked over the small pile of debris it was using as a shelter. "I can always call the junine you know. They're a surplus of them anyways. Surely they can overwhelm the mongoose." Ragha stopped to think about the proposition before answering simply, "Do it." Mora got out of the debris and walked away to summon the junine leaving Ragha to brood about Storm foiling his plans again.
The next morning Storm took Seamus to go and explain what had happened yesterday so that they didn't have to live in fear anymore. Before they returned Serena woke up to see Madeline rinsing out a cloth. She called out groggily, "Hey Madi." Madeline dropped the cloth to tend to her. "What is it Serena?" She took minute to respond, "You look worn out." Madeline cracked into a smile along with Serena. "You've been out for almost a day now. How are you feeling?" Madeline asked. Serena attempted to prop herself higher on the pillows, but slid back down. "My head hurts and my back feels cramped. Otherwise I feel fine. Is…Seamus alright?" She asked. "He's fine. We can fill you in later. Right now we need to get some food into you." Madeline left the room to get a small meal prepared. Serena looked up to the ceiling sighing with relief to hear that her friend was okay.
Storm and Seamus walked through the town while Storm leveled with him about the quest he was on. "So basically you're telling me that I'm an elementalist?" Seamus said. "Overall, yes. You don't have to answer right away, but we need to make a group of the new generation." Storm said finishing his explanation. Seamus was silent for a few moments mulling over the proposition. "Aye, I'll join you Stormsurge. I'm in debt to you for helping me out of that pinch." Storm grinned to hear the response. "Great. We'll be trying to leave as soon as we can to continue the search. Hopefully Serena isn't too injured." Seamus looked down at the ground, "I hope she isn't either." Storm went to reply that he didn't mean anything, but he kept his mouth closed. They walked up to the house and Storm opened to door letting in a gust of cool air. "Madeline we're back and no longer holding a refugee. I never asked, but how did you exactly acquire a house?" She looked up from her satchel, "It was empty when I was looking for a place to keep Serena safe. Seemed reasonable, so I carried her in here and shut the door." Storm and Seamus sat down at the table. Seamus asked Madeline, "How is Serena?" "She's doing fine. Still some pain in her head and what feels like a cramp in her back. That's all she said that was hurting. Serena insists that she'll be ready to move by the evening. I can't say whether or not she is, but I'd prefer that she rested another night at least. I am not able to tell her what to do though. We'll let her decide. While we're waiting for her; though, why don't you tell us your story Seamus?" The tiger reclined back in the chair. "Well, I was born in the Frost Highlands with my mom and dad, along with my brother. His name is really Josh, but he calls himself Rickshaw. My mom's name is Ruth and my dad's is Foran."
"We joined a group of people for awhile since we didn't have much left in the highlands. After a couple months of traveling with them Josh decided to return to the highlands. I can understand why he would though because he's a snow leopard, plus he had a girl back there that he loved. Not sure what's become of him, but I know he can take care of himself. He took care of me when I was younger since he's got at least six years of age more than me. As for the rest of us we stayed with the caravan. When I turned eleven; though, I sort of remember that day, but that's also when the sil'lis decided to turn me into its summer home. Up until now I can't remember what went on or anything. What about you Madeline. What's your story?" Seamus finished. She sat in a chair next to Storm. "I was born in the countryside and when I was old enough I was sent to the monastery in Oaktree. My parents died from a disease a few years after. I was given the cottage in their will. I decided to turn it into a rest area for travelers and along with it being a shelter for people without a home. I've been at the monastery ever since then learning the ways of the monastery and making friends. It's not as elaborate as yours. I don't remember my parents' names either. I wish I could though." Seamus turned to Storm, "And you?" He looked at Seamus. "I don't remember much of anything. I do remember the area of what my home looked like. It's a valley in a bowl surrounded by mountains. I don't remember if I have any family either. I woke up in the monastery and have lived there the past ten years. I'm beginning to remember more about my life though before I was at the monastery." "You mean that you forgot those memories?" Seamus asked wide-eyed. Storm shook his head, "They were blocked from me. I don't know why, but the seal on them was broken a couple days back allowing some memories to return." "I guess it's my turn to share my story then." Serena walked into the room stretching slowly. Seamus got up and gave her a hug. Both Storm and Madeline smiled to each other when they saw the two friends reunited. "Then let's hear your tale of adventure Serena." Madeline said pulling out a chair. The wolf sat down and adjusted the chair's position. "I was born here in Hollowridge. My mother, Diana, was left when I was younger, so we lived with her sister Marian. When I was still young I met Seamus when he was still small. He had wandered from the caravan he was with, so we took him in until his parents came looking for him. Ever since then we've been friends. Then one day he came back to the town one day and began terrorizing it I tried to reason with him, but I couldn't so I left to try and find help. From there that's where I met you in the forest." Serena finished. "It seems like we have a very interesting group of people here. Interesting as in a good way, not a bad way." Storm said. Madeline spoke up, "We should decide where we should head to from here. As much as I'd like to stay for awhile we should find the other elementalists. They could be getting targeted by sil'lis as well." "There's a visitor center with maps of the area. I know there's a town west of here called Sunroost. Other than that I don't know of any other towns." Serena added. "Then we have a plan of travel. West to Sunroost and on the way grabbing a couple maps." Storm said as he stood up to grab his satchel. He stopped before slinging it over his shoulder. "Are you able to travel Serena?" "I'm ready to move when you are. I just need to let my mom know that I'm traveling with you." She said. "Alright then. Let's prepare for the trek to the next town." The four of them began to pack up any items they took out of their packs the day before and cleaned up the house. Once they stopped by Ms. Cyndre's house they grabbed some maps of the area and started their trek westward.
A wisp of smoke curled out from the chimney of the hermit Geoffrey's house as he stirred a cast iron pot that was sitting above a low fire. The lop-eared rabbit tasted a little from his wooden spoon and shivered causing his collapsed in, pointed hat to slip down over his eyes. "Just a little more time and the soup should be ready. I used the best of my crop this year to make it, since you're leaving. You sure you can't stay for another day?" He asked someone behind him. A voice came from another room. "I'm sure Geoffrey. As you've probably noticed, the glass sphere with silver on the inside is now clear. That means I must leave on a mission. Otherwise, I would love to stay here. You've been a great friend during the past years. The rabbit adjusted his hat. "I know. I was told about this the day you were dropped off here by that big feller Godric. I can't keep you from your fate, but I'm glad I was a part of it no matter how short it will be out of your life time." "That's true. I will definitely miss you though. I have a gift for you for giving me a home." A girl mongoose came out of the room with a small bag in her hand. She pulled out an envelope and gave it to the rabbit. "This is a letter that will allow you to live at the High Council's castle if you want too. I'm sure they'll be able to find a secluded part for you if you want." The rabbit gave her a hug. "Thank you for your kindness. I'll think about the offer, but you have to come visit me again no matter where I am." He said. "I'll see if I can't track you down sometime Geoffrey. I'd like to leave after lunch though. We can talk over your soup." The rabbit went back to stirring the soup while the mongoose pulled out two wooden bowls with spoons and set them on the table next to the fireplace. Geoffrey ladled the finished soup into the bowls and then doused the flames leaving coals to keep the soup warm. They both sat in the chairs that were place in front of the fireplace and had a long conversation about what she was going to do and where she'd go, along with other topics. The mongoose set her bowl in the sink and picked up her pack. "Well Geoffrey. I better get going." The hermit got out of his chair and gave her another hug. "Don't get into too much trouble you hear?" He said. She laughed a little, "No promises." Geoffrey opened the door and let the mongoose out. He was about to shut the door when he remembered something. He fumbled with door and stepped out to say, "Goodbye Morgan! Don't forget ole Geoffrey!" Morgan turned around and waved back, "Good bye Geoffrey! I won't forget you." Geoffrey smiled before he turned back inside and shut the door. Morgan walked through the garden that surrounded the cottage that was tucked into a small thicket of trees.
She looked back at the home she had known for the past ten years and took in the sight of the bluish smoke rising through the trees and the plants of the hermit's vegetable garden mingling around his cottage. Morgan turned around again and began walking to the closest village that she knew of.