The Council – Part 3

This is Part 3 of our collaborative story. If you haven’t read Part 1 of “The Council”, you can find it here.

“We’ve stored up a lot of power, but it’s not enough. The Council will always have more,” Dierck addresses the Resistance. 

“But we have the element of surprise. They won’t be expecting anyone to challenge them,” a witch replies.

“We still need a way to weaken them, if we want to stand a chance,” Dierck says.

The bonfire flickers in the center of the cave. We’ve had a full month to plot in our heads, and we’ve all come to the realization that defeating the Council is a long shot. The tensions in the cave are high, as we try to come up with the perfect plan. It will have to be perfect, or it will cost us all our lives. 

“Our best bet to weaken them would be to steal as many of the obsidian jewels as we can get our hands on. The only time to do this would be after the full moon ritual, before the Eyes give the jewelry back to the Council,” I say.

“The Eyes only have one set of jewels at a time, though. What about the rest?” another witch asks.

I sigh. “There’s no way for us to get the rest. We’ll just have to fight with our crystals and the jewelry we can steal, and hope that others will join us when they see that we are trying to defeat the Council.”

“So our plan relies on the help of witches who’ve stayed silent and done the Council’s bidding this entire time?” a tall, red-haired witch scoffs.

“Remember, Thelewen, outside these secret meetings, we’ve stayed silent as well. Most of the witches are obeying out of necessity, not loyalty,” Dierck replies.

“Most, but not all. We’ll need to watch our backs. The Eyes are likely to join the Council in the fight, and anyone who sees an opportunity to gain favor with the Council,” Thelewen says.

“We do have one High Sorceress who will fight with us. If Dametria is smart, she will choose her timing well and catch the Council off-guard,” I say. “And her turning sides might motivate other witches to do so, as well. That’s the best we can hope for, I’m afraid.”

“I see that nothing is certain, but we must fight anyway.” Thelewen relents. 

“Now, we need at least one witch from each town who is willing to steal the jewels from their High Sorceress.” I scan the group. “Pairs would be preferable.”

“I’ll join with you, Avadelyn.” Dierck steps forward. 

I nod. I expected as much.

A witch from Stormspire steps forward. “I can get the jewels from Dametria. I’m sure she’d hand them right over.”

“We can’t involve her, on the chance that the Council is watching. It’s important that we aren’t seen by any of the Eyes. It could alert the Council to our plan,” Dierck says. “But still, if Dametria caught you, we at least know she wouldn’t try to harm you.”

The witch nods.

Thelewen volunteers next, another witch from her town of Emberfalls joining her. Others step forward, until all the towns within a short broom’s ride are represented. Most of the witch towns are in this area – we tried to stick together after the agreement with the humans – but there are a few outliers. 

“What’s the plan for stealing the jewels?” one of the witches asks.

“We have a small window. When the High Sorcesses are sleeping, we can make our move to break the spells on the box and…” I paused for a brief moment, knowing this would be the most difficult part. “Then we must remove the key from each Sorceress’s neck.” 

I could practically feel the tension in the cave, every witch was silent but their body language was the same. 

“I know this will be difficult, but we need the key to unlock the boxes and obtain the jewelry. It is the only way we can possibly succeed,” I continue on bluntly.

“You’re right,” Dierick speaks up, “but how can we do this without them noticing immediately?”

“I have an idea,” Thelewen speaks up with a confident tone. “We can use our magic to replicate the key, and the box too. This will allow us to keep the element of surprise.”

“But we have to have the original for that to work!” A witch in the crowd exclaims.

“That is true,” I respond solemnly. “But, the High Sorceresses will be in a deep sleep after the ceremony. If we simply make physical contact with the real key, we can duplicate the fake one.”

“That will be impossible!” another witch responds.

“It may seem so, but it is our only chance. We must remain calm, quiet, and collected so as not to wake them,” I respond again. “Now each pair take a crystal, we will need our combined power with the crystal to break the boxes’ spells and to duplicate the objects.”

My words drifted in the air for a moment, waiting for the first witch to step forward. This was the last night we may all be together, let alone alive.

Thelewen steps up first, which I was not surprised by, taking a crystal into the palm of her hand and nodding to the fellow witch of Emberfall. They take a step back, and I step forward to grab a crystal with Dierick by my side. Once each pair had a crystal in their possession, I let out a breath and prepared myself for possibly the last words I would speak to The Resistance. 

“May you all succeed, and may we all find each other again.”

…

The full moon was high in the sky, her light different this night, as if she was smiling down on our efforts to rid ourselves of this nightmare. I glanced at Dierck, his eyes read a mix of anxiousness and excitement. Soon we would make our move, soon our fates would be decided. My thoughts drifted to Dametria, I hoped she was okay, and that our move to strike would not cost her life. 

We pause outside of the High Sorceress’s door, where Dierck mutters a detecting spell to ensure there aren’t any wards around the house. There are none. No one would be crazy enough to sneak into the home of a High Sorceress.

I slowly pull open the door, and we slip inside. Dierck and I split up to look for the bedroom. When we meet back up, he waves me down a hall to the right. We carefully place our feet to avoid making any sound. I take a deep breath outside the bedroom, and slide my hand into my pocket. The hard surface of the crystal grounds me. 

Inside the bedroom, the High Sorceress is sound asleep on a high plump bed. On an ornate table next to her, sits the wooden box containing the necklace. We’ll need to unarm the layers of spells before we even touch it, to keep from alerting every Eye who warded it. 

I hold the crystal in one hand, and Dierck grasps the other. With the barest whisper, I recite the incantation, pulling power from both Dierck and the crystal. I repeat this until every ward is down. Dierck picks up the box and nods to me. I hand him a small cardboard box, and he transforms it to look just like the one we stole, before placing it on the table.

I put the crystal away and reach into my other pocket, pulling out a key on a string. Not even daring to breathe, I glide up to the bed and place two fingers onto the key around the High Sorceress’s neck. The duplicating incantation slips through my lips, and the key in my hand transforms. It is now identical to the other, in both appearance and weight. 

The High Sorceress sleeps on her side, facing away from me. I gently pull on the string where it’s tied around the back of her neck. The bow tugs loose and the key droops to the bed. I slide the rest of the ribbon out from under her neck and lift the key up.

Next is the hardest part. I pocket the real key so both hands are free. I lay the fake key on the pillow next to the High Sorceress’s head. I hold one end of the ribbon in one hand and press slightly down on the pillow with the other, creating a gap to slide the ribbon under her neck. When it’s done, I pull my hands back and wait.

The High Sorceress shows no signs of stirring, so I continue on. I wrap the ribbon around the entirety of her neck, and carefully tie the string without touching her neck. As I tug the bow, her eyes shoot open, staring straight ahead at the wall. I drop to the floor, and see Dierck do the same out of the corner of my eye. He rolls toward the bed, and we both lay completely still next to it. 

The bed creaks as the High Sorceress rolls over. We are hidden from her sight by the high bed, as long as she doesn’t get up. 

We wait in silence for what feels like an eternity. There are no more sounds of movement. Finally, I peek over the edge of the bed to see the High Sorceress asleep again, clutching the key in her hand. She must have felt it around her neck and been reassured by its presence. 

Clutching the box in one hand, Dierck crawls toward the door, and I follow. Once we are safely out of the bedroom, we stand and move quickly out of the house. 

We both let out an audible exhale and stand panting in the shadows. I turn to Dierck and allow myself a brief smile. He grins back at me.

As we walk toward the cave, my mood begins to sober. What about the others? If even one of us is caught, it would mean disaster. I pick up the pace, wanting to make it to the cave to see who else succeeded. 

Those who weren’t needed to assist with stealing the jewels are waiting in darkness when we arrive, their whistles a comforting answer to ours. I count the number of whistles in my head and realize two pairs made it back safely before us. 

I’m nearly jumping out of my skin while we wait silently in the darkness. I ponder how we nearly failed and everything else that could have gone wrong for the others. Slowly, more whistles fill the cave, until there is only one pair missing. 

We wait…and wait. I do my best not to panic, thinking through our options if someone was caught. 

A whistle pierces the night, then another. I let out a breath as flames flare to life around the cavern. We begin to cheer and hug one another. We did it. We managed to weaken the Council and add to our strength before the coming battle. 

One-by-one, we place the boxes around the bonfire. I look around at every face, smiling in thanks. I nod, and as one we place the keys into the boxes and lift the lids. Obsidian jewels sit on the velvet linings, swallowing up any light that touches them.

…

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Thanks so much for reading!

-Clever & WTF