The Island of Plant and Metal
"This silence is everywhere..." Grim looked around the island. Word had already spread about the Silence but the incident with Blue was not known.
"I don't know what we're going to do. How are we going to find the General of Metal when the island is like this?" Joy looked between Grim and Frost.
"We start looking. They said we'll know because they won't be affected by the Silence." Frost replied. The three approached the Metal Clan with caution. They needed to be alert, anything could happen.
"Joy..." A whispered voice carried on the breeze.
"Did you two hear that?" Joy asked. They stopped walking and listened for the voice to sound again.
"I don't hear it now." Grim said after a few minutes. The group continued to forward.
"Get off my Island!" A man's voice was heard in the distance.
"This is not your island." Another voice was heard. The argument went back and forth for a few minutes, before the group came into view.
"More people breaking my Silence?!" Heat radiated from Ember.
"Get off my island and take your silence with you!" Joy shouted.
"Joy..." The whispered voice came a second time.
"You will not be able to defeat me. I will rule this kingdom with my silence." Ember taunted.
"Ember, relax." Eddie emerged from the shadows. "This is all working according to our plan. You will have your Kingdom of Silence soon enough."
"You cannot win, Eddie." Frost spat.
"We already have." Eddie waved his hand over a piece of metal. An image of the Island of Fire and Cold appeared.
"What...?" Frost froze. Images of ruins flashed on the surface. The bodies of dragons lay strewn across an open field. In the center were the bodies of Celtic, Bane, Ellie, and Nate.
"They have all succumbed to my silence and there's nothing you can do to save them." Ember laughed. Eddie waved his hand over the metal and the images faded.
"Now you see, we have already won." Eddie laughed. "Come, Ember, we have things to do." With that, Eddie and Ember left the Island.
"That was an illusion, right? It wasn't real..." Joy asked in disbelief.
"It couldn't have been real." Grim and Frost couldn't comprehend what they just saw.
"Joy..." The whispered voice came a third time. "Do not believe everything you see."
"Who are you?" Joy asked the voice. She thought for a moment and realized she recognized the voice. "It can't be..."
"Who?" Grim noticed Joy's facial expression.
"Justin..." Joy looked at Frost and Grim.
"But how?" Frost asked.
"I don't know." Joy couldn't figure it out.
"What's going on?" They had forgotten about the other man.
"Who are you?" Grim asked.
"Adriano." The man answered.
"You weren't affected by the Silence?" Frost asked. There was a very good possibility that they had found the General of Metal.
"I was, but not for long. At first, I didn't know what was happening. I was doing my morning chores when, all of a sudden, everything went silent. After a few minutes, I couldn't even move. Eventually, all of my senses stopped." Adriano explained. "At some point, I was able to see and move again. I just don't know how..."
"I think we might." Joy handed him the Metal dragon pendant. "Um... that's odd. Why didn't it react?"
"You need to awaken the Enchantress." Justin appeared before them. "Ember's Silence has not affected them... but Blue's spell has."
"Blue?!" Frost nearly fell over. "He's dead. You're dead."
"Light and Dark." Justin replied.
"I don't understand. You both attacked us..." Grim was cautious.
"Justin's final act was sacrificing himself to protect Celtic." Joy thought for a moment. "Blue's final act was betrayal of those who considered him a friend."
"We need to awaken Celtic and the others. Your whole world is in jeopardy and only when all the elements have manifested in their Mistresses and Generals will there be hope of stopping this Silence." Justin didn't want to go into why he and Blue had reappeared right now. That was something that would need to be discussed when they were all together.
"How?" Frost was skeptical. "I don't understand any of this."
"We need to go to the Island of Fire and Cold. I will explain when we get there." Justin replied. They headed to the Island of Fire and Cold.
-on the Island of Fire and Cold-
"There they are." Joy, Grim, Frost, Adriano, and Justin got to the Island as fast as they could.
"Now what?" Frost looked at Justin.
"Let me try something." Justin knelt down beside Celtic and placed his forehead against hers.
"..." Celtic opened her eyes with a start. "Justin?" She asked in disbelief as he pulled away from her.
"Hi." He smiled at her. "We need to wake the others."
"Frost, awaken Ellie." Celtic looked at her General.
"But how?" He looked at Celtic and then at Ellie.
"You already know how." Celtic watched as Frost thought for a moment. He knelt beside her and placed a hand on her forehead. Closing his eyes, he channelled his element.
"..." Ellie sat straight up. "That was weird."
"What about Nate and Bane?" Grim asked.
"Ellie and Joy can wake Nate; using all four of their elements." Celtic replied. Ellie and Joy used the powers of Light, Dark, Plant, and Metal to wake up Nate.
"Blue..." Nate hissed. "Justin?" He asked when he noticed Justin standing beside Celtic.
"Hi, Nate." Justin nodded.
"Three out of the four are awake." Adriano noted. "What about him?"
"Celtic?" Joy noticed the concerned look on her face.
"It's not so simple to wake him." Justin answered.
"What do we need?" Ellie asked.
"..." Celtic took a deep breath to calm the fear inside her.
"This is a journey Celtic will have to take alone." Justin held up his hand to stop any interruptions. "Blue used a different spell on Bane. He knows that with Bane in this state, Celtic's focus will be on saving him. In turn, he knows that the Mistresses and Generals will be more focused on helping Celtic. Thus, leaving him, Eddie, and Ember to put their plan into motion. This is a journey she needs to take alone. The rest of you need to figure out a way to reverse and stop the Silence."
"How can we just let her do this by herself? She's unprotected. Someone needs to go with her." Frost responded. He understood what Justin was saying, but at the same time he wasn't about to let Celtic go alone.
"I'll go." Ellie spoke up. She knew she was the only one who could.
"What about your Generals?" Joy asked. "We still need to find them."
"If, after the journey, we haven't found them, we will travel to the Island of Light and Dark. I will go alone if I have to." Ellie replied. "I'm the only one who can, and should, go with the Enchantress."
"She's right." Justin agreed. "I will aide them when I can, but Ellie is the only one who can help Celtic right now."
"Alright, the rest of us will return to the Main Island." Nate, like the others, was hesitant to leave.
"Take care of yourselves." Joy hugged Ellie and Celtic before leaving with the others. Celtic held Bane in her lap as she and Ellie watched their family fly away.