TSWNN - Chapter 3 - Preparations

Jade was working in her massive garden when the news of Phoenix’s arrest came. Her little brother, Samuel, brought her the letter. She read it in silence, frowning.

Dear Jade,

Phoenix told me about you, and I need to know what to do.

She got arrested again, but it looks like she isn’t going to be able to get out of it this time. She supposedly burned down someone’s barn, but there was no way she could have because she was at home with me and Seth. Of course, no one believes us. Half of the village is committed to getting us kicked out because of Phoenix’s powers.

We need your help. I sent a letter to Jack, and he should be here in a day or so. I hope you won’t mind if we come to your village. I hope Phoenix will let us leave. We would have left the village by now, but she is stubborn.

Please help us!

-Becky

Oh, Phoenix. When will it end? Who’s Jack? Jade thought, putting her tools away.

“Hey, Sammy, can you tell Morgan to have my horse ready within ten minutes?” she asked her little brother. He nodded and scampered off towards their cottage. “And tell Jamie to be ready to go, too!” she shouted after him. He answered with a wave behind him and a nod.

Samuel was only 7 years old. The age difference between Sammy and Morgan was rather large, about eight years, making Morgan 15. Jade’s older sister, Sarai, was two years older than Jade, who was 19. Jamie was 14 years old, and had been adopted when her biological parents died.

Jade was the only one besides Jamie who had shown any interest in learning to defend herself when their father had given them the choice. Sammy was too young. She had tried to take lessons, but she found them constricting. So, while Jamie continued with basic sword and spear fighting lessons, Jade started teaching herself.

Jade finished putting her tools away and jogged to the cottage. She lived with her family on the outskirts of the village where there was room for a large garden. Jade was able to provide much of the tiny village’s food because of her elemental power of Earth. She used her gift to nourish the ground and grow foods that normally wouldn’t be able to grow in the warm, dry climate. She was able to hide her powers from the world because she also learned chemistry in order to create a fake ‘formula’ that helped plants grow. She claimed that this was the reason her plants grew so well, and most people believed her.

As soon as Jade got to the cottage, she ran up to her room to get it ready for the guests that would be arriving within the next two hours.

Well, she thought, Phoenix can sleep in my room with Becky, and Seth can sleep in Samuel’s room. I’ll sleep in Sarai’s room. It’s big enough, Which I still find annoying. I'm the one who needs more space. All she ever does is hang out with her friends in town! Yeeeeeeesssssshhhhhh!!! I have weapons!! Hello?!?!? Jamie is still sleeping in Morgan’s room.

While she was thinking that, there were more thoughts going around in her head at the same time.

Oh, poor Becky, this must be so hard on her, and on Seth too! I should make Becky a nice walking staff.

Jade finished tidying up her room, and then she set to work making a nice walking staff for Becky. She made it out of an elegant dark walnut, which formed instantly in her hand. Then, she traced her fingers over the whole length of it, and dark grooves appeared, forming beautiful curves, loops, and swirls. Animals and people appeared, including Jade’s own family, and Becky’s family. The horses appeared, as well as Jade’s garden. Then came the mythical beasts. There were Foxes, Dolphins, Deer, Snow Hares, Peregrine Falcons, Chameleons, Venus Flytraps, and many more. And dragons. No one really knew what dragons looked like anymore, so Jade was free to use her imagination and make them look however she wanted them to. She made them to have large wings, long, whip-like tails, and heads shaped something like a large horse head. She formed them sitting in trees, diving through giant waves of water, and standing majestically on top of mountains.

Jade fit all of these things onto a four foot long staff. There was no way that they all could have fit on there if she hadn’t been using her element. By the time she finished, you could sit, just looking at the top five inches, and turn the staff around for a whole minute before you came to the end of the long series of carvings. The amazing thing was that she could keep adding to it as time went on. She called it ‘Extra-dimensional Carving’.

All in all, it only took her about five minutes, which also gave her time to write a note to Becky to go with it. When she finished, she went to the stable, calling Jamie as she ran. They mounted up and rode to meet the group of six people in the distance, one of which was clearly Phoenix. Her and her crimson hair could easily be singled out, even from miles away.

They were still about 4 miles away from the small band of refugees when they heard a hoarse cry from somewhere nearby. They turned, galloped towards the sound, dismounted, and tried to find where the cry had come from. Jade squeezed in between two fifty foot boulders in between a cliff and the dense woods, and Jamie followed.

What Jade saw startled her so much that she almost screamed.