Firejewel: Part Three

I couldn't believe it. Frey was doing it again! She'd baited me last time by attacking Alysoun, and I wasn't ever going to let one of my friends be put in danger because of my cruel destiny. "I'll get her for this," I snarled. "I don't care if Dayne is perfectly alive and well by the end of all this -- Frey's going too far. She's gotta learn to deal with me alone! Let's go." I whirled away from Terzin's home and stalked off to the entrance to the Roads.

     *

     We travelled the Roads and ended up in the forest. Swiftly, we made our way through the dappled shadows of the trees, made visible by dawn's first light.

     When we arrived in Dayne's room, the Island Zafara was fast asleep, still tied to the chair. "Hey," I said, nudging her. "Wake up."

     She just groaned and swung her head a bit. Dayne's a pretty sound sleeper. "Get up!" I snapped, swatting one of her ears.

     "Huh?" she said, blinking. "Oh, hi Sisslio. Got some help?"

     "Yeah," I answered, sitting down on the floor. "Aly, Terzin, why don't you tell us what's happening?"

     "Hang on…" said Aly, approaching Dayne. She toyed with the amber amulet around her neck, examining it. "This is it. The Firejewel." She sighed, and strode to the centre of the room. "Here's the deal. All those centuries ago, when Frey was alive, there was a League that followed her. They called themselves the League of Purity because of Frey's pure white fur. To them it symbolized perfection. It was founded when she came West after turning on her friend, Tasson. The Westerners saw her as a great mage, warrior, and leader, so they were eager to follow her. They made up most of her army when the East and West clashed in battle - when Tasson killed Frey. After her defeat, they seemed to disappear and nothing more to do with anyone. But most of the League was skilled cutthroats, assassins, and thieves - common criminal scum, not warriors in the least. They started spying on everyone that had ever had anything to do with Frey, and got wind of her last words to her friends, Bryony and Dredless, who were not League members. They threatened to kill Dredless unless Bryony spoke up. She told them. There was no point in lying because apparently they have some amateur mages who can detect falsehoods.

     "Sisslio, I was wrong to tell you that you were the only one aside from the SkyGaze and HowlSoul descendants to know the Windstorm prophecy when we first met you - the League has known of it for as long as we have. Now that I think about it, the Easterners should have captured or destroyed the entire group of them to start. The prophecy is something we couldn't and still can't afford them to know about. I don't know why we didn't take action. The most we did was keep an eye on them, and they did the same to us. I suppose that since they knew all about Frey's darker ambitions, which we Easterners weren't aware of until last year, because they kept the Firejewel, which Frey created. Eventually, some sort of truce was called, and as far as I know, most League members gave up their belief in Frey. But there were several occurrences concerning the League in which they caused an upset in the East several years later, and each time the culprit was seen wearing this necklace. We knew nothing about it, save for its name: Firejewel.

     "But now I'm starting to get a theory. Maybe the source of power behind all those previous incidents was Frey. I think that her Firejewel was meant to channel her dead power to her followers, and now, since she's alive but sealed in the field, she's able to completely possess Dayne. Right, Terzin?"

     Terzin blinked, incredulous at Aly's thorough explanation. "Exactly what I was thinking. Great minds think alike, I suppose. But one thing, Aly - a member of the League must have been in Neopia Central at some point to give the Firejewel indirectly to Dayne, but making sure she was the one to receive it. After all, they must know that she's a friend of the Windstorm."

     "What?" I gasped. "They know who I am?"

     "Like I said, they're spies," remarked Aly.

     "Great. I'm in over my head yet again. I didn't even do anything. I can't help it that Frey randomly chose me as Windstorm!" I collapsed on my back, unable to believe it all. Some ancient organization was stalking me, trying to get me killed so their leader could return to them. Somehow I knew that burying Frey again would never shut her up. She was going to keep coming for me until I was dead. Oh, well. Like it or not, I was stuck in this, and I was going to have to do something before Dayne was killed and Frey brought back again.

     I turned back to Aly and Terzin. "Okay, so how are we going to find the pet who gave it to Dayne?"

     "I dunno. We don't even know who it is." Then Aly faced Dayne once more. "How'd you come across that necklace in the first place, anyway?"

     Dayne thought for a moment. "It was on the sales rack, nobody gave it to me."

     "Well, was there anyone around at the time who you didn't see before?"

     "Yeah. There was a grey Kyrii hanging around that I'd never seen at Uni's before. He was a little suspicious looking, but I just ignored him. He didn't talk much, and after he walked away I found and bought this." She nodded downwards, indicating the Firejewel.

     "Well, we'll track down the League headquarters first, and check out if there's a grey Kyrii among them. Then again, any one of them could've used a morphing potion and paint brush, or the Lab Ray."

     "But that would be expensive, wouldn't it?" I asked.

     "They could have stolen anything that was necessary," Terzin pointed out, "And if they're as devoted to Frey as before, they'd probably go to any lengths to bring her back."

     "So how are we going to find their headquarters?" I inquired. "They sound so secretive - where would we even begin?"

     "I don't know," answered Terzin truthfully. "I guess we should go back to our world and start asking around."

     "Can't you guys track down the location with magic or something?"

     "We can't," said Aly. "Probably the only people who could would have to be magic and have some sort of bond with Frey, like those in the League itself."

     "Well, what about Sisslio?" suggested Dayne, interrupting.

     "What do you mean?" I asked.

     "You're Windstorm - that counts as a bond, right? And isn't he magic?"

     "I dunno, am I?"

     "What about last year? Y'know, how you made that pyramid to keep her in."

     "Does that count?"

     "Well," said Terzin, "She does have a point. The fact that your dedication to stopping Frey took on the form of a fuel for our spell is sort of…magical. Maybe you could track it down, although I have no idea how you'd go about it."

     I sighed in frustration. No wonder Frey had revealed her Firejewel to me - it wasn't as if there was anything I could do about it. Knowing that I was suffering in struggling to help Dayne was enough for her.

     "There's no easier way?" I asked. "No one who would know where to go?"

     Terzin pondered this proposition for a moment. "Well, we could ask around in both the East and West lands, but I can't make the promise that it will be a worthwhile venture."

     "I don't know the first thing about tracking through magic. I have a feeling that searching for it on a trek might actually be a better idea."

     "You're the Windstorm," stated Aly, "I'll take your word for it. If that's the case, let's start packing. You organize anything you want to bring here, and we'll do the same in our world. Meet us at my house in an hour."

     "Wait!" exclaimed Dayne from the chair. "What about me? I've been tied up since last night, and I have no feeling in my arms because my circulation's cut off! If you guys leave, I'll starve here!"

     "We'll supply you with tons of cookies within reach of your mouth," I told her in reassurance.

     "Sisslio," she said.

     "Yeah?"

     "WHERE AM I GOING TO GO TO THE BATHROOM??!!"

     Aly's eyes suddenly widened as she realized that Dayne had made an important point. "That's it," said the Striped Zafara, "She's coming too."

     *

      "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME??!!"

     "It's only temporary, Dayne," I said, securing a knot of rope. "Once we solve this and there's no chance of you attacking anybody, I'll let you go."

     "WHAT AM I, A MENTAL PERSON??!!"

     "No, you're a possessed person. I don't want to wake up one night with you about to cut my throat, snarling, 'you're dead, Windstorm', or something like that. This is just a precaution. I don't have anything against you!"

     "Yeah, right! I bet you think tying me up like this is fun, 'cause you wanna get me back for taking you on shopping sprees!"

     "No, I don't! Now, get into the cage!"

     "CAGE??!!"

     "Yeah, that cage on wheels I have."

     "Where did you get that?!"

     "Remember my old Weewoo, Susalind? That got eaten by Turmaculus a couple years ago? This was the birdcage I kept her in."

     "I'll never fit in there!"

     "It's the deluxe model, of course you'll fit!"

     "THIS IS SO UNDIGNIFIED!!!" she screeched as I shoved her through the tiny door.

     "It's either tied up in the birdcage on wheels, or tied up in the plastic kiddie wagon! Trust me, you'll love it!"

     "THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING YOU HAVE EVER SAID TO ME!!!"

     I tossed a bag of cookies through the door. "Dayne," I said, "give it a rest."

     We made our way through Neopia Central to the forest. Dayne insisted on taking the side streets so she wouldn't have to endure public embarrassment. I was doing all the hard work, with a backpack full of supplies on my back, a sword at my waist, and the side handle of the birdcage in my paw. Pets stared at us as we passed, and Dayne covered her head with the empty cookie bag in order to remain anonymous.

     We finally made it to the WindRoads, and from there arrived on the bluff overlooking Terzin and Aly's village. I pulled Dayne's cage down the cliff, enduring her complaints of being tossed, jostled, flipped on her head, and all kinds of other things the whole trip down.

     Finally we were at Aly's door, which was opened almost immediately after I'd knocked. "Good, you're here," she said, "We -" she stopped dead at the sight of Dayne, Prisoner of the Weewoo Cage. "What's up with that?"

     "Please," I panted, "Don't ask."

To be continued...