I love it!  I’m looking forward to the next part!

Story Weaver, are you Jaybells? 

Ooh the plot twists! I love it Story Weaver!

Part Eight.

"Darius?" the king said, quizically.

Darius looked from Cyraeus to Jakra to Atheya to Galadriel to Aella. Then he looked back at Cyraeus. "They told me that a friend had captured more Elementals. I didn't know who they meant. Are you my friend?" He asked. Cyraeus thought for a moment before answering.

"I thought I was your friend."

"And what, if anything, changed your opinion?"

"You seem to be a friend of our enemy."

Darius's face darkened. "I am an assett to the king, not a friend. Am I your friend?"

"That will depend on your future actions." Cyraeus replied. Darius shot a glance at the king, then looked back at Cyraeus.

"How can I help you?" he asked.

"I think--" Cyraeus hesitated. "I think Aella will know best." 

As Darius walked past, Atheya and Galadriel shot him suspicious but curious glances. When he reached Aella, Darius took her chin in his hands and tilted her face up towards himself, as if he was interrogating her. In a soft, friendly voice, quite at odds with his appearence, he whispered,

"What can I do that will help?" Aella's thoughts jumped around like rabbits, finally landing on the sound of Methu's voice back in the tower. 

"The king needs to destroy the Cordis," she said.

"Are you sure?"

Aella tried to nod, but Darius still held her chin. "Yes," she said.

"All right. Now when I let go, act as though I've said something insulting so that the king doesn't know we had this conversation." 

Darius let go suddenly, and Aella, true to his prompt, relled backward, almost falling. Darius shot a mocking smile around, but winked so that only Aella and the other Elementals could see. He strode across to the foot of the throne, making a quick half bow.

"Forgive me, your majesty." He said, smiling. "Just catching up with old companions. Is there something I can do for you?"

"No, I merely wished for you to have a chance to speak with your former friends." The king said.

"Good," Darius replied, "because I wanted to ask you about something important." The king raised one eyebrow.

"And what is that?"

"I wish to speak to you about what is to be done with the Cordis." Darius said gravely. "I think it's dangerous for you to have in your possetion."

"Why, pray?" The king asked, amused. Darius gestured to Cyraeus. "Well, although their attempt was not the most successful, a band has already tried to steal the Cordis from you." Now the king laughed outright.

"And you suggest that I have something to fear from rabble like this?"

"No..." Darius said. He paused, thinking of what to say, and Aura spoke up. She had suddenly remembered Methu's words and realized what Darius was trying to do.

"But now that you've declared war," She said, "Won't Air and Earth and Fire send soldiers to try to recapture the Cordis?"

"They will." Darius confirmed. "Surely, your majesty, you do not wish to have war with all of the Elementals Kingdoms?"

"I do not." The king said. His smile faded. "But what can I do? I cannot very well give the Cordis back to Earth."

"Yes," Darius said, "But...the Cordis is of no use to you except for weakening Earth by its absence. What if Earth couldn't ever get it again?"

"How would you accomplish that?" Aura asked, doing her best to help. Demi suddenly caught on to what Aura and Darius were hinting at. She gasped, dramatically.

"You don't mean that he should..."

"Yes, I do!" Darius said, suddenly radiating happiness. "Your majesty, what if you destroyed it?"

"Destroyed the Cordis?" The king asked, shocked.

"Yes!" Aura said. "the Earth couldn't have it ever again, and you wouldn't have to protect."

"But I can't destroy it. It's not possible." The king said.

"Oh, but you can!" Demi said, making her voice sound distraught. "It's like a normal stone, you can shatter it if you drop or throw it."

"Will you destroy it?" Darius asked, eager excitement written all over his face. Inwardly, he hoped that Aella knew what she was doing.

Aella did, but her three companiens were growing more agitated by the moment. Atheya watched silently, hands knotted in her skirt. Cyraeus stood up staight as a pocker, rigid with tention. Galadriel braided and unbraided a strand of her hair.

"You have convinced me." The king said. "It is good to have such advisors." He stood up deliberately, clutching the Cordis, and strode to the top of the stairs. Methu's words echoed through Aella's head.

'Did you know...'

The king raised the Cordis high above his head.

'...that the Cordis actually resists being destroyed?'

A moment of tention, then the king let go.

~~~

Hi!

This section was super fun to write! I'll try to have another one up this weekend.

@Peregrine, I am not Jaybells. Good guess, though!

So good!  Can’t wait for the next part!

Part Nine.

Demi was the only one who saw what happened.

As the Cordis fell, a wave of raw magic, blue and green and brown and grey, expanded in all directions. At the same moment, Jakra let go of the fake rope binding her arms, running forward with hands outstretched in a desperate attempt to catch the Cordis. Aella, Atheya, and Galadriel followed her a moment later.

As it hurtled towards the ground, the imprints of leaves in the Cordis glowed bright green like sun through foliage, and its fall slowed, then it rested gently on the floor. Demi saw the king's startled face just before the magic reached him and he collapsed on the floor, fast asleep. As the magic expanded and swept over Demi, she experienced a pleasant feeling, like walking in the forest on a spring day. Then the magic moved on, and she suddenly realized that Aura was asleep and leaning all of her weight against Demi. Demi gently lowered Aura to the floor.

She watched as the ring of magic reached Jakra, then Aella, Galadriel, and Atheya, and they fell to the floor, asleep. A moment later, everyone in the throne room except Demi was asleep. She took a deep breath, watching as the green light faded from the surface of the Cordis, leaving it a dark gray color.

Then she stooped, picked it up, and ran from the throne room.

~~~

Deep under the castle, Arwin watched, puzzled, as the guards all around him fell asleep. 

By then, the magic was so diluted by all of the stone it had passed through that it was little more than a lighter shadow. It was still potent enough, however, to make all of the guards and all of the Elementals fall asleep.

Except Arwin, since he was the only Earth. He stood up and glanced around, then reached down and shook Char. She twitched, mumbling to herself, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Arwin turned around and spotted a guard who had fallen asleep leaning against the bars of the cell. The very edge of his keyring stuck through, and after a moment of careful manuevering, Arwin managed to work it through. He paused, eying the keys.

There were more than twenty, and he had no idea how he would know which one try use. He walked to the door and began trying them in turn. Not the elegant gold one, not the small silver one, the bronze one was too big--then he had it. The door swung open, and Arwin was free.

He ran out from the cell, getting a better look at all of the sleeping soldiers, then he walked down past the other rows of cells to the door of the prison. The bronze key fit perfectly, and the door opened. Arwin was about to leave when he hesitated, looking back at the other two Elementals, still asleep.

Quickly, Arwin turned and ran back to the cell, then shook them each in turn. Char, then Venna, then Char, then Venna again. Sleepy murmuring was all that he got at first, then, slowly, the two began to wake up.

"What in Earth?" Venna asked grogily, rolling away from Arwin's persistant shoves. She sat up, then leaned up against the wall, dizzy. Char looked up at Arwin quizzically. She had momentarily forgotten where she was.

"I got the door open and all the guards are asleep." Arwin said, urgently. "Come on." That got Venna's attention. She rose to her feet, then helped Char up. With Arwin in the lead, then started up the stairs.

~~~

Atheya, Jakra, Cyraeus, Aella, Darius, Aura, and Galadriel all woke at the same time as each other, and as the guards.

The first feeling that Aella had was one of triumph as she realized that Demi and the Cordis were gone, had escaped. Then she realized their danger. The guards were slowly picking themselves up off of the floor, looking around, grabbing weapons. The king, who had fallen down the steps, stood up.

"Come on." Aella said, low and urgant, grabbing Atheya's arm. They rose to their feet, then ran for the door. After a moment, Cyraeus, Jakra, and Aella followed.

Aura tried to stand up and follow them, but her injured foot sent her tumbling to the ground. She looked up to see Darius holding a hand down towards her. There was no question of wether or not to trust him; he had proved his worth. Aura grabbed his hand, and he supported her as they followed the Elementals to the doors. The disorganized guards made no move to stop them.

Outside the throneroom, the seven Elementals met Arwin, Venna, and Char, who had made their way up from the prison. There was no time for greetings, they exchanged quick smiles and continued on their way.

~~~

Demi found an Airship that had landed outside of the palace.

The crew, who had just gotten out of the ship when the magic hit them, lay asleep in the snow, and Demi climbed in without difficulty. Then, when she looked around at the tangled mess of ropes and beams on the floor, and up at the massive sails, she realized that she had no idea how to sail a ship this big.

Across the deck she spotted a lifeboat, tied down. She ran to it, then dropped the Cordis next to the boat, and began working at the knots. After five minutes, she was able to pull apart the tight knots on the first rope. She moved on the the second, glancing around for long enough to see that there were four ropes. After the third one, she heard the sailors begining to wake up.

In her frantic haste, she made the last knot tighter rather than loosening it. She panicked, grabbing the Cordis, then made ready to jump off of the boat.

Then she heard a shout from behind her, and turned to see the other ten Elementals burst out from the door. A moment later, they were climbing up the sides and into the ship.

Aella saw that Demi had been trying to untie the lifeboat.
"Don't bother with that." She said. "I'll show you how to fly one of these." She ran to the front and unlooped the mooring lines. With a few instructions to the other Elementals, she ran to tiller. Once the confused sailors realized what was happening, the ship was already on its way back to Earth, carrying the Cordis.

~~~ 

Five hours later, thanks to Demi and Arwin's instructions, the Airship landed in the central square of the main Earth city, right in front of the queen's palace. 

In the middle of the square, a pedestal stood, formerly protected by squads of guards. And when the courtiers of the castle, confused at seeing an airship land in front of the castle, ran out, Arwin and Demi were placing the Cordis in its rightful place. 

After a breathless moment, it seemed like all of the happy sounds in Earth broke out.

The courtiers ran out across the dry, packed ground of the square to see that yes, it really was the Cordis, and Char started crying, but joyfully, and Arwin stood back with his hands on his hips, but happy, and Atheya and Aella and Galadriel and Demi all started hugging each other, and Jakra smiled, strong and proud, and Aura and Venna forgot their dignity for a moment and started hugging too, and when they saw that Darius was standing back out of the way they hugged him too, and then Cyraeus laughed, suddenly lighthearted, and joined them.

And then, for the first time in the Earth kingdom in months, it started to rain.

The End. 

I love it so much!  It is such a great ending.  It’s bittersweet though, even though I love the ending and am so happy their mission was succesfull I am sad it ended.  Thank you for writing such a great story and portraying the characters so well!  Please do another solowrite soon and let us know so we can join!

Would you reveal who you are now, please?