When what passes for morning rises in Sanctum, the group has a small breakfast before breaking camp. Adam announces he’ll be leaving to Teleport back to the Sanctum school. Outside of fetching Angel, he has other things he needs to do, and his services aren’t really needed here.
“You’re our best telekenetic, Arch Mage, this could slow down our progress,” Amethyst voices her worry. “If you don’t stay with us, please send someone in your stead?”
“What? With all these Pixies helping you? You really don’t need me here,” Adam argues.
“Very well,” Amethyst concedes. “Please be here for when we meet the Arch Druid, I think you two should meet.”
“You think the Arch Druid would pull himself out of his busy schedule to meet me?” Adam returns with a sarcastic chuckle.
“The Elves have been in exile for two millennia, Arch Mage. Losing the Sanctum portal was akin to them permanently losing Earth as a home. The Arch Druid will want to meet the Humans that now inhabit this realm since he was last here in Sanctum over a century ago.”
“Right,” Adam returns a grim smile. “Are you sure they will help us?”
“Elves helped create the realm a millennia ago, they will help now. The Arch Druid may appear strict, but he has a good heart. He might just surprise you,” she returns a knowing smile.
Adam raises a finger and smiles, shaking his head, “You always have some hidden card up your sleeve.”
“Come now, there is no deceit in my plans. I never purposefully hide anything from you. I just volunteer what information is needed,” she retorts, mildly offended.
“Will I ever truly understand you?” he frowns.
“Maybe in a few centuries,” she grins.
“If I ever live that long,” he rolls his eyes.
“Come now, My Child. You are the Arch Mage. Third generation Human-born to a long line of near-immortal casters. You will live a long and fruitful life — provided you are cautious.”
“That you keep calling me your child when you only look to be a teen yourself…” he chuckles.
“I could look older if this form makes you uncomfortable,” she offers.
“No, don’t age your looks for my sake. I’ll check up on Morgyn and Luke, see where they are at. Then I’ll reach out to Angel, I’m sure she’s just itching to be here as she’s between tours,” he stands and gathers his things.
“Between tours?” Amethyst asks in an innocent voice.
“Angel is a performer, now that she’s graduated from school, she’ll be singing and performing full time unless her friends have a project for her,” Adam smiles. The Fae tilts her head. “Angel isn’t just a pretty face and lovely voice. Though her current album is likely to hit platinum this year, she’s also very intelligent. She’s a programmer. Her co-singer and good friend Rose Montgomery has been talking about this new big game project her team of friends is working on — or so I’ve heard.
“My Lovely Angel is very bright, I look forward to where her career takes her,” Mélodie smiles.
“You wouldn’t have any influence on where Angel’s career is going, would you?” Adam narrows his eyes at the vampiric creature.
“Me? What could little old me do, Arch Mage?” she teases.
“The recording studio and indie label is only a portion of what we’re doing for my best friend,” Penny smirks.
“You two…” he smiles and shakes his head. “Thank you. I’m glad you can be there to help her when I can’t.”
“Arch Mage, you have enough on your plate with the new schools, do not feel like you are neglecting your niece,” Mélodie comforts him.
“Speaking of new schools, I plan on opening one in your neck of the woods,” Adam remarks.
“Really?” the wives chime together.
He nods. “Hillcrest isn’t far from where you live now. It seems to have a sizable magical community, for such a small town,” he smirks.
“Small towns and closed communities are better places to hide. Were those not your words, Arch Mage?” Mélodie challenges.
“They were,” Adam’s smile grows. “Could I lean on you for art and music?”
“What of my wife?” Mélodie argues.
“I’m sure that Arts degree in English and Communication could come in handy. Feel like teaching some bright kids? I’ve noticed you’re not as active in social media as you used to be.”
“I’m trying to reduce my presence, my wife and I can’t go anywhere unnoticed,” Penny frowns.
“There was a time you enjoyed the attention. What happened to the jet-setting socialite I first met?” Adam teases.
“A bit apprehensive of what would happen to my wife and I if people found out who we really were,” Penny replies. “There have been a few whispers among the celebrity circles that we’re hiding something, and I’m worried someone might find out something we don’t want them to,” Penny returns worriedly.
“We’re here for you,” Adam places a hand on her shoulder. “Both of you,” he stresses.
“I thought you did not trust me, Arch Mage,” Mélodie frowns.
“You are safer in my community than you are in the Vampire Enclave you nearly destroyed,” Adam offers.
“True…” the purple-haired woman nods.
“Then you’ll consider my offer?” he raises an eyebrow. “Having you teach in my school might sway your Master to offer his services to my school as well.”
“Let us finish this task at hand, and I will have an answer for you then,” she returns.
“Very well,” he bows. “See you all soon.” He raises his hand, mumbles a spell and disappears.
“Did you want to teach, My Love?” Penny asks after he disappears.
“My Darling, I cannot give you children. Think of all the inspiring minds we can influence,” Mélodie smiles.
“Not to mention magically active families are smarter than average and won’t be as unruly as a public school would be?” Penny smirks.
“That too,” her wife giggles.
“Hillcrest isn’t far from where we live now…” Penny muses.
“The chateau on Elm Hill that we use for a recording studio is better warded than our house is now, it would offer us more protection if we need it,” Mélodie notes.
“You’re worried what’s left of the Vampire Collective will come after us?” Penny probes.
“I am,” Mélodie nods. “My other children are more vulnerable than we are. We need to protect Landon, Regan and Houda.”
“You want your past boyfriend and girlfriends to move in with us?” Penny blinks.
“My Darling, while we still love one another, you are the one who will share my bed. I no longer have that kind of relationship with them. They are my thralls. Were you not the one to say you see them more as my children, not past lovers? Did you not see that during the wedding planning?”
“Warlocks and Vampires are so strange,” Penny shakes her head. Her wife is still looking at her intently. “I’ll think about it, alright?”
“That is all I ask, My Darling,” she chimes and Penny kisses her as she leans in. “You are my soul mate, I have loved no one the way I love you.”
“For all eternity,” Penny smiles affectionately and kisses her wife again. “If someone had told me a few years ago that I’d fall in love with an immortal woman, that I’ll cast magic myself someday, and it was going to change my view of the world we live in… I would have called them crazy. Yet that is the life I now lead.”
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“Any regrets?” her wife raises and eyebrow.
“Never. I will always love you,” Penny smiles and they kiss again.
“You two make such a lovely couple,” Amethyst smiles. “I am glad my Rune Weaver has found happiness.”
“Thank you, Mother,” Mélodie smiles down at the Fae.
“Why do you call her Rune Weaver?” Penny queries.
“When my child was Fae she was an expert in ritual magic. Her ability to quickly and efficiently draw runes to create ritual or permanent spells set her in a league above the others I sent to Sanctum.”
“Like when we combine our magics together to make a stronger spell,” Penny remarks. “Another door opens in the mystery that is my wife,” she teases.
“My Darling, I tell you what I can when I remember it,” Mélodie defends herself.
“I know, Honey,” Penny pulls her wife closer into her arms. “You spent so much of your life hiding who you really are that you need to remember you don’t have to anymore; not with me.”
“I never want to hide anything from you ever again, My Love,” Mélodie returns. “You are my soul mate, we need to trust one another without question.”
“And I do,” Penny smiles. “Let’s get moving?” she offers and her wife nods. “Just let me get some more of those Manaberries…”
“Oh no, not this morning! I do not need my wife drunk on magic berries trying to grow grass, who knows what you will do!” Mélodie catches her arm.
“But, Honey!” Penny whimpers causing some chuckles.
----------------------------------------
When Adam catches up with the group they are nearing the Arvandor Gate. Angel greets Penny with a hug and then stands by Mélodie to let her friend continue to work with the other Druid.
“Penny’s aura in Druid magic is significantly improved in just two days,” Angel remarks. “Do you think the Elves will teach her?”
“We can only hope,” Mélodie smiles as she helps guide a larger chunk into the path.
“Is that our destination?” Angel points at the large island ahead.
“It is,” Amethyst nods.
“Um… is it supposed to look like that?” Angel frowns.
The Fae joins her Human friend, and has to admit that there is cause for worry. The island is floating off-centre at about a thirty degree tilt. The upper end of the grove shows the standing stones broken and one likely missing from their number. The right tree is severed at it’s base, as if a battering ram had shattered the trunk just above the roots. It’s still connected to the left tree as the bottom two branches seem to be woven together, but it’s clearly dead.
“Tundo?” Amethyst calls out.
“Yes?” he soon shows up by her side after having planted the last pair of trees.
“Do you have any oak seeds left in your bag?” she glances at him.
“An oak that size could take more than a day to grow!” Tundo frowns. “Do you need it?”
“That broken tree is the other half of the Gate, yes we do,” Amethyst frowns.
“Can’t you just fix the tree that is there?” Angel queries.
“Unlikely,” Tundo shakes his head. “That tree has been dead for decades, it’s too brittle and likely to break before it’s mended.”
“This is bad news, isn’t it?” Adam frowns.
“We’ll reach out to our Elven friends once we connect the island, see if they have an option,” Amethyst suggests. “As it stands, the grove is too broken to use as an anchor.” She lowers her head, “I had hoped the wards would have protected the grove better.”
“All is not lost, I have faith in you,” Adam smiles.
Amethyst looks up at him, “Have you consulted with a Seer recently?”
Adam blushes. “I know that foresight and scrying are not an exact science, as one’s hopes can colour the vision, but I had to know.”
“Let us pray the visions were not just hopeful thinking,” Amethyst replies. “Alright, we’re close enough to bring the island back into position,” she calls out.
With some effort, they manage to realign the island and connect it to the path they had been making. Tundo plants the last six of his saplings to add more life to the half-dead floating rock. They remove the dead grass and plant new growth around the stones, leaving the centre circle bare.
Amethyst touches one of the stones, and mumbles an incantation. Three glyphs on the stone begin to glow green. She looks around. “We’re missing one focus stone entirely, and two are broken. Ciël, help me fix them while Angel reaches out to Lyric.”
“Yes, Mother,” the girl answers.
Penny watches the two Fae as they begin to mend the stones, “Regardless of size, have you noticed that Ciël always looks younger than Amethyst?” She turns to her wife, “They both look younger than any of us, is that on purpose?”
“Mother has always looked youthful,” Mélodie answers. “Even her Pixie form is but a young girl. I don’t think she knows how to age.”
“Alright I have Lyric on the line,” Angel chimes looking up from the stone that Amethyst gave her.
“What’s wrong with the trees?” Lyric’s voice suddenly comes through loudly.
“The right tree is shattered, and it looks dead,” the blonde Bard replies.
“Oh dear, What do you think, Arch Druid?” Lyric’s voice asks.
“Nar certar apai certarondoli en ronda?” a male voice asks in Elvish.
“What?” Penny chimes beside Angel.
“They are asking if the glyphs on the runestones are still intact?” Veld chimes in. “I’ve not heard that dialect of Elvish in so long!”
“Áni véla” the male voice says.
“He wants to see for himself,” Veld comments. “Manen?” the Fae replies.
As the man replies, Mélodie starts writing glyphs on the ground, and voices out “Manwa,” when she’s done.
She steps back as the circle of glyphs begin to glow. There is a slight breeze as air suddenly blows out from the circle. Five Elves stand within the glowing symbols.
The tallest of them is a male with a crown of golden vines and berries. He’s accompanied by two Elven maidens holding staves. Lyric is not among the two that are left. They’re all wearing leather tunics with green silk shirts. On their right shoulder is an embroidered gryphon on a kite shield. “Council Druids!” Veld gasps. “I’ve only seen the Druid Council crest in ancient tomes.”
“Culaicacuruni Yàviesulë Laitaurë, meet Arch Mage Adam Arcwave,” Amethyst makes introductions.
The Elf raises an eyebrow, and the darker haired maiden nods. He extends a hand as he steps forward and smiles. “I understand handshakes are exchanged among Humans. You are rather young for an Arcwave,” the Elf’s English is strongly accented.
“Third generation of my family line,” Adam volunteers. “I greet you Arch Druid.” The two men shake hands.
“These are my aides, Lairëacarca and Hrivënahta,” the Arch Druid comments. “These two other men are my arcane and science advisors. High Magus Calithlion and Arquen Valataramë.”
“A knight as a science advisor?” Mélodie queries, translating his title.
“There are few arcane advisors on the Druid Council, Milady, does that bother you?” the bronze-skinned Elf returns a disarming smile.
“You remind me of someone,” Mélodie muses.
“Someone I may know?” the Elf raises an eyebrow.
“As they live on Earth, it’s doubtful,” Mélodie dismisses the thought. She turns and motions, “This is our problem.”
“I see,” the Arch Druid frowns. He walks over to the tree with his aides while the other two study the standing stones.
“These two are missing their glyphs,” Calithlion comments.
“They were broken; while I could reconstruct the menhir stones, I didn’t know what was written on them,” Amethyst apologizes.
“I have a copy of the glyphs on the other end, we should be able to reconstruct them,” the magus smiles and pulls out a strange tablet with a transparent glowing screen. “Val hold this here so that I can transcribe them?”
“Your English is quite remarkable,” Mélodie comments as he whispers a spell to engrave the glyphs into the stones.
“I study inter-dimensional and planar science,” the Elf smiles. “I know at least ten languages.”
“Fifteen if you consider how many dialects of Common you know,” the Knight smiles.
Penny is watching as the Arch Druid and his aides are using some sort of spell to stitch the tree back together. “Do you think you could teach me to use that spell?”
“A Druid that doesn’t know how to Warp Wood? Who was your teacher, Child?” the Arch Druid returns in a gruff tone.
“I don’t have one,” Penny returns boldly at his dismissive statement.
The Elf stops for a moment and blinks thoughtfully. He glances at the blonde aide who nods.
“Where is speak stone?” The blonde aide asks in an even stronger accented Elvish. Penny points to Angel still holding the other half of the Sending Stone. “Lírë, tulutyë yessëa parma apa Laicacuruni sairina?”
“Alá, Hrivë,” says the voice on the other end.
“You’re going to bring a primer book on Druid magic?” Angel comments after translating the statement.
“For the dark-skinned Human, yes,” the blonde aide smiles.
“My best friend will become a Druid, this is so exciting!” Angel sings happily causing the Elf to smile. The Druid nods, then returns to the other two working on the tree.
Once the tree is reattached the three Druids start to chant, their hands glowing. The glow extends from their hands to spread onto the bark. The colour of the tree changes as the glow expands. Once it reaches the branches, the dead leaves fall down while the tree sprouts new growth. The Spring Pixies add to the chant and the oak flowers as if it’s in spring.
“There, the tree should recover provided we can water it before we leave, she’s very thirsty,” the Arch Druid smiles.
“Let me conjure some,” Adam offers.
“You’ll want this fertilizer, conjured water is too pure, we’ll need something the tree can feed on,” Susan offers. The Arch Mage and his Human Druid start feeding the tree so that it doesn’t die on them.
“I want everyone to move out of the grove,” Yàviersulë announces. “Who is helping me open the Gate?”
“That would be me,” Adam approaches him.
“Me,” Mélodie offers.
“You’ll need me as your anchor,” Amethyst steps forward.
“You have been a busy Fae since we sent you on your quest,” the Arch Druid smiles down at her, “You are so much prettier in that form than you were as a little Pixie.”
“They warned me you were a romantic and a bit of a flirt,” Amethyst giggles. “So, two on the left, two on the right, and we stand by the first stones?” she queries and the Arch Druid nods.
The Fae and the Arch Druid start the Gate chant, followed by the others. As the spell takes hold, the runes on the menhir stones glow and then cast beams onto the two trees. The braiding on the roots and lower branches shift to form a circular door. The air is first sucked through the opening, only to bubble back outward. The swirling mass of green, brown and white almost looks like water as the event horizon of the Gate spell stabilizes.
Lyric is the first through the Gate once it settles, and Angel bounces into her foster aunt’s arms to greet her. “Told you I’d be back in time for your wedding,” the Elven Bard smiles as she squeezes her Human friend.
“What’s this about a wedding?” the Arch Druid raises and eyebrow.
“The Arch Druid loves a good party, could you invite him to the reception?” Lyric queries.
“The wedding is among the magical community, he won’t be the only non-Human there. I’ll ask my fiancée, but I don’t see her saying no,” Angel smiles.
“Her?” the Elf probes. “Apparently wedding traditions have changed since I was last on Earth,” he smiles. “Can you tell me more?”
“It’s a good day’s walk back to the College, I’d love to,” Angel returns excitedly.
“We’re walking back?” Adam half argues.
“The Arch Druid hasn’t been here in centuries, I think it’s best to let him survey what Sanctum needs to rebuild,” Amethyst replies.
As they walk back toward the College, Penny notices the Pixies are laying wild flowers ahead of them, colouring the grass before the Arch Druid and his aides. She glances back as she sees the land bridge expand behind them. She wonders what spell they are using to double the size of everything in half the time it took them to get there.