The Secrets of Elderville

The moon is high in the night sky now as the group lands on the side of a mountain. Thick fog surrounds the mountain, the group hop from Corny’s back, uneasiness fills them. Jessa tells Nancy to stay with Corny, she nods, cuddling up to the owl, for the mountain was cold and covered with snow. Vlad takes off his cape, draping it around Nancy. She lets out a tiny “thank you,” Vlad beams at her, “try to keep warm little one.” They take out their wands, casting a fire spell that lit the tip of each of their wands with a flame. Lily grabs a book and a little iron pot out of her bag, she proceeds to rip pages from the book, ripping them into tiny pieces and setting them inside the pot. She lights the paper on fire, she goes to pick up some stray twigs from a dead bush adding them to the fire. It roars inside the tiny pot; Lily sets it in front of Nancy, “if the fire looks like it’s going out, add more sticks from that bush to the flame. It should hold out for a little.” Nancy drags the pot closer, so the warmth reaches her and Corny.

Vlad directs them to a long set of stone steps that lead up to a huge cave. As they ascend the steps, Hawk starts to hear a chattering, they look behind them to see Jessa’s jaw shivering. Hawk takes her hand, sharing the cloak they wore, draping it over her body. “Here my little ice cube,” they laugh. Jessa leans her body into theirs, Hawk’s grip on her waist getting tighter, hugging Jessa closer to them. They whisper in her ear, “this isn’t the time or place, but I can’t stop thinking of you and your beautiful body, if it were only us here, I don’t think I’d be able to control myself. I would have you right here and now on these steps.” Jessa’s face blushes, her legs begin to shake, she then whispers, “I believe my ass might freeze to these steps if that were to happen.” Hawk then slips their hand to her ass, squeezing it hard, “don’t worry, you’d be on top.” Jessa’s body began to feel warm, inside and out.

To the back of the group Matteo stares hard at Hawk and Jessa, so hard that Lily takes notice and nudges him. Startled, he grabs Lily’s arm, almost losing his balance. “Lily what the hell!” Lily giggles, “sorry! But I thought you were going to burn a hole in the back of their heads. I had to intervene.” Matteo rubs the back of his head, embarrassed he was caught. “Look, I’m not jealous. I’m hurt. But I can’t stand in the way if that’s what she truly wants,” he shivers, hugging himself. Lily offers him her cloak, he accepts quickly. Lily giggles again, touching his muscular arm, “jeez you’re freezing! Why didn’t you bring your winter cloak? You knew we were going to pass by the mountains.” Matteo chuckles, “yeah but I thought we were just going to be flying over them, not landing in them, thought I could get away with not packing a heavy cloak. Make the load a bit lighter,” Lily shakes her head. “You must always be prepared for the unexpected, I always am, and it has saved me on multiple occasions,” Matteo takes the arm that she was holding and wraps it around her waist, hugging her to his warm body. Lily squeaks, “what are you doing?” Matteo begins to rub her waist, “you must be freezing too, I’m trying to make sure we both stay warm. Can’t be catching a cold before a big war, right?”

Lily quickly looks up at his face, admiring his chiseled jaw line that was tense, his face slightly red from the cold. He catches her eye, staring down at her but he almost trips bringing her body to trip as well. He tries to catch her from falling by halting her body by the chest, accidentally laying his hand on her breast, he releases it instantly. “Shit! I’m so sorry, I was trying to catch you, but my hand just went to that spot, I wasn’t thinking! Are you good?” He begins to babble, but Lily only starts to laugh at him. He joins in her laughter as she drapes the cloak around him again, “it’s okay, it was an accident.” But in her head, Lily knew she would be thinking about that moment for the rest of her life, as would he.

Captain Vlad was the first to reach the cave, Hawk and Jessa following with Matteo and Lily being the last. They all stared at the huge dark cave, no one in sight when suddenly a tiny figure emerges from the dark, flying towards them. A woman wanderer dressed in all white winter clothes from head to toe, her wings a shiny blue. She lands six feet from them, Vlad approaches, “I am here by order of princess Opal, she has sent me to bring word of the war that is to happen against the wasp king and his army. It is to happen by the break of dawn, she requests you join us in the fight but does not demand it.” The mountain wanderer stares at him, she holds a spear with a sharpened black obsidian stone at the tip, she then stomps it onto the stone, and flies back into the cave. Vlad looks at the group, “come, we’re going to see the mountain king.” Lily gasps, “the mountain king?! You mean the first elderville wanderer to be banished to these mountains centuries ago? I thought he and the others would have died by now from these freezing cold temperatures.” Vlad shakes his head, “they adapted, and they survived. King Grog has built an entire kingdom within these mountains, he and his wanderers rule here.”

Jessa’s mind flashes back to the old book Delilah showed her, the story of the wanderers who were exiled here by her grandfather, King Dario. He deemed them weak to have been so easily defeated by the wasp king all those years ago. She was suddenly nervous to meet this King Grog, assuming he would not take kindly to the granddaughter of the very wanderer who sent him here. She inches herself towards the back of the group without Hawk noticing.

The dark cave is silent except for the whistling sound of the wind. Suddenly a tiny light is seen ahead, as they approach the tiny light, they see that it is a hole the size of a raindrop. On each side of the hole are what looks to be two mountain guard wanderers, their faces lit by two torches that hung on each side of the tiny hole, both are also in all white, matching the wanderer that had led them there. From the clothing, the spear, and to the shiny blue wings. The woman wanderer whispers something to the guard on the right, the guard looks shocked, staring at the group. He stomps his spear with a loud crack. The tiny hole then starts to grow larger, granting their entry to the mountain village. Vlad nods to the guards as a thank you and enters the hole with the group following behind. Jessa grabs onto Lily’s hand, Lily pats her arm, interlocking their fingers.

Inside the cave reveals a huge open space, with pillars of rocks as tall as trees dispersed around with tiny holes carved into them, each hole had lights illuminating from them. The ceilings are high, with huge stalactites growing down. In the center is an opening in the cave where the moon is barely peaking in. Along the walls of the cave are even more tiny holes with light inside them. All the mountain wanderers begin to inch their way out of their holes to see the new visitors. Matteo couldn’t help but be awestruck by what he was seeing, his jaw wide open. Especially when his attention is grabbed by a mysterious looking wanderer girl whose hair was as blue as the sky, shimmering in the firelight. She smiles at him; he waves at her in a wacky motion. Hawk bursts out into laughter, “come on mister suave, you’re holding up the group.” Jessa giggles but suddenly feels a tight grip on her hand from Lily. She whispers to her, “what’s wrong?” She sees that Lily is staring angrily at Matteo. Lily snaps out of it, loosening her grip, “huh? Oh, nothing. I’m…cold that’s all and tired.” Jessa could see the jealousy seething out of Lily, she pats her arm and continues to follow the group.

At the center of the cave is a tall, castle-like rock pile with mountain guard wanderers everywhere. The woman wanderer leads the group into an opening in the rock pile, after they fly inside landing on the uneven floor, they see the king of the mountain. He was the biggest wanderer any of them had ever seen, almost the size of a squirrel which he very much resembled one. His hair a light brown, messy and short with a long handlebar moustache the same shade and same amount of messy. He wore a stone crown, with a garnet gem imbedded at the center of it. His throne was also made of stone and covered with animal fur. He was also covered in animal fur, big and fluffy, it looked as though he was being taken over by it. As King Grog took in his new guests, he scanned over each of them individually. His gaze halting at Jessa, whom he stared at the longest, which made Jessa even more nervous.

The woman wanderer bows to the king and approaches him, whispering in his ear. He grunts, then waves her away, “yes thank you Gwen.” Gwen motions to Vlad to come forward, as he does, he puts his hand up to the group for them to stay where they were. Captain Vlad kneels to the king, repeating the message Opal sent. The king nods his head, “of course we shall aid you in this war, anything for old friends.” He roars with laughter, as does Vlad, the king jumps from his seat (Jessa taking note of the absence of his wings, her stomach twists) picking up Vlad in a huge hug. Vlad hugs him back, the group smiles feeling relieved that it’s going well so far. King Grog announces to the room that they shall feast with the new visitors, Vlad mentions that he has a very cold owl and little wanderer waiting for them outside, Grog nods and sends his guards to go retrieve them.

They are all seated in one of the small rooms in one of the stone pillars, sitting at a large round table. The king offers them stew and warm fireweed tea, a special kind of tea that grows right next to the mountain. “It has a little something special infused into the tea, so we shall all feel quite good afterwards,” the king says with a wink. Jessa quickly removes the tea from Nancy’s hands, replacing it with some hot cocoa instead.

After the meal, a sleepy Nancy is led to her very own room by one of the mountain wanderers named Lizzie. Nancy did not want to leave Jessa’s side at first but was assured that Jessa would join her soon. The king then clears his throat, “what are your plans of action, Vlad? How many wanderers do you need for this war?” Vlad estimates 100. King Grog nods, “done. Anything else?” Jessa stands, surprising everyone including herself, “I would like to request a couple of your strongest warriors to go on ahead with me to retrieve my brother and sister.” The king stares at her, squinting, “you look familiar, what is your name child?” Jessa gulps, taking a deep breath she says, “Princess Jessa Vagare Underway, granddaughter to King Dario.” Everyone freezes at the table, staring between the king and Jessa.

King Grog says nothing for quite some time but finally he nods his head, “request approved. Is that it then?” Jessa is taken back by the nonchalant response. “Wait, aren’t you mad? Don’t you automatically hate me?” The king gives her a confused look, “why would I be? I do not know you.” Jessa begins to get annoyed, “but I am your sworn enemy’s granddaughter, doesn’t that make you want to enact your revenge or something?” The king then roars with laughter with Captain Vlad joining him. Captain Vlad then says between laughs, “Jessa he does not blame you or your family for his and his village’s suffering. He made peace with your aunt Opal long ago. The only one who deserves punishment is dead.” King Grog nods, standing up and raising his gauntlet, “may we vanquish those terrible wasps and their ugly ‘king’ once and for all! We pray the maiden, mother and crone help us in our fight against evil, so mote it be!” Everyone cheers, repeating “so mote it be!” But before the cup touches Jessa’s lips, she stops and sets it down. While everyone was distracted by the drinking and laughter, she silently sneaks out of the room.

She flies to the very top of the stone pillar, hugging her new fur cloak the king had gifted to each of them. Hawk comes flying up not a moment after, “thought you could sneak off and I wouldn’t notice?” Jessa gives them a weak smile, “yeah I’m sorry I just keep thinking….” Hawk cuddles up close to her, “you keep thinking about your sister and brother, right?” Jessa nods sadly. Hawk lifts her chin, then caresses her face lightly, “we’re going to save them and then we’re going to take that stinky wasp down. Okay?” Jessa nods again. She leans into Hawk, kissing them softly, wanting a distraction. Hawk kisses her back, more deeply, grabbing her face and pulling her closer. Jessa moans, needing them now, she starts to pull their fur cloak from them, Hawk pauses, “woah you want to do this here, out in the open?” Jessa smiles seductively at them, nodding, “we’ll use our new fur cloaks as covers.” That made Hawk want her more, pulling her on top of them and lifting her dress. Jessa’s moans echoed throughout the cave, but she couldn’t care less in that moment. It was then that Hawk fell even more in love with her.

After the group had rested and eaten, they packed up and headed for Corny who was relaxing comfortably in their stables, next to several sleeping black foxes. Jessa gasped at them for she had only ever seen red foxes in her life, “oh my how beautiful, how many are here?” King Grog counts on his fingers, “there are six full grown and if you follow me,” he wags his finger over to one of the stalls. Jessa lifts Nancy up, both peaking over the stall, to their delight there are four little sleeping black fox pups cuddled up together. The whole group then came over, also adoring the little babies. “The full-grown foxes will aid us in the war; they’ll never see it coming. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they see the mountain wanderers riding on the backs of foxes!” King Grog laughs, slapping Vlad’s back, almost knocking him over.

“These are my three best warriors, for the princess Jessa. Their names are Pan, Morty and Torry,” Matteo’s heart skips a beat, the warrior called Torry is the same wanderer girl he saw earlier with the eye-catching blue hair, his face heats up. “They will assist you well on your mission. They have already been told of the mission and how urgent it is.” Jessa takes Grog’s huge hand and kisses the giant garnet ring that matched his crown. “I thank you my king in the mountain for your graciousness and understanding,” she then bows to him. The king looks as though he were about to cry, “you remind me so much of your grandmother.” Jessa felt as though she were about to now cry as well, “you knew her?” Grog smiles, “oh yes, she was very kind to us. She would visit us in our cells each day, before your grandfather banished us to these mountains. I could tell she cared a lot about our village, she had such a kind and caring tone to her voice. Sometimes she would even tell us stories of the maiden, mother and crone.” Jessa gasped, “what stories?” King Grog sighed, “I wish I could remember them word for word; she would read them out of this old book.” Jessa reaches for her bag, pulling out the book Delilah gave her. King Grog marveled at the book, taking it from her and tracing the moon symbol on the cover with his finger. “This was the book, all you could ever know about the history of the maiden, mother and crone,” he pulls his shirt down, revealing the same symbol tattooed to his chest.

He gives the book back to her, “if you have it then that must mean…” he pauses as if something in his brain connected. “What does it mean?” Jessa asks, he takes her by her shoulders, “you are the maiden?” Jessa, confused by this, steps away from him, “what do you mean? The maiden? It is just stories.” The king shakes his head, “no princess, the maiden, mother and crone are very real. It is three women of power, that power is passed down generation by generation. Your grandmother told me this the last night I was in my cell. She told me that the next hands to hold this book would be the next generation of maiden, mother and crone.” Jessa shakes her head, “but why did no one tell me this, I have no idea what it means to be the maiden. And who is the mother and the crone? I don’t understand.” The king kneels in front of her, “I know who the mother is, it is your aunt Opal. She is the mother. Though who the crone is, I do not know. But I pity them.” Jessa hugs the book to her, “why? What happens to the crone?” King Grog looks to Vlad, whose head hangs low, Grog looks back to Jessa, with a heavy sigh he says “the maiden represents the new moon, the mother represents the full moon, and the crone represents the fading waning moon. The crone embodies endings… death.” Jessa drops her book, “Delilah.”

End of Chapter Twelve.