The Prophecy of Four: Part Four

     As Sanalre and Talusai watched Kanal'te from the back of the crowd, she seemed to glow with an unearthly light. Talusai was clueless, but Sanalre thought back to when they had said the Prophecy of Four together, by the Rainbow Pool. How Kanal'te had hidden in the shadows like the Prophecy said that from the dark would come the warrior. As Sanalre recalled this, she was more and more certain that Kanal'te was the Warrior of the ancient prophecy.

     From the Hidden Tower, Fyora watched the battle as well. She saw the same thing that Sanalre did, and also began to believe that the Prophecy would fulfill itself upon the four faeries that had visited her earlier. But where was Tanelle? she wondered. Is she the Betrayer?

     The battle wore on and on, and eventually all the pets had either fallen or fled. Many within the army of Faerieland believed it to be over. Talusai, Sanalre, and Kanal'te knew otherwise. The battle was just beginning.

     The dark faerie whom Tanelle served watched the unsuspecting pets and faeries. So, they thought the battle was over, eh? she thought. They were wrong.

     Turning from her position, bent over her crystal ball, she motioned to Tanelle, who immediately walked over. "Have the faeries attack now," she ordered with an evil smile. "They'll never know what hit them. Look at them, thinking they've won. They should know they can't win against me so easily."

     Tanelle nodded. "They shall attack, my lady. I will see to it."

     "Very good," commented the dark faerie. "Oh, and Tanelle?" she called as the fire faerie turned to leave.

     "Yes?" Tanelle half turned from where she had been, by the door, ready to leave.

     "I want you fighting too. Make sure to get rid of those faeries, the ones who glow."

     Her mind completely under the dark one's control, Tanelle nodded again. "Yes, my lady." She turned to leave, and this time no commanding voice stopped her.

     ***

     Kanal'te planted her feet firmly on the cloud. Ignoring the relief of those around her, she concentrated her energy on attempting to determine from where the next threat would come.

     As she wondered, she became aware of a dark shadow marching across the flat clouds. Kanal'te saw, and shouted, to warn the others: "Look out!"

     The army, as a collective whole, followed her gaze, and saw another set of battlers. But this time, they were faeries. A collective gasp rose from the assembled pets and faeries, and Kanal'te called out once more. "They are faeries, this is true. But they are in service to Miriash! We must fight for the future of Neopia!"

     Although some remained unsure, most raised their weapons in a cheer, and readied themselves for a fierce battle: These faeries had magic at their command.

     Clearing the fighting for a second, Kanal'te saw many individual fights: She saw a red Eyrie teaming up with a blue Eyrie against a dark faerie. A strong fire Lupe faced off with a fire faerie, while nearby a shadow Ixi butted a dark faerie repeatedly with his horns. Kanal'te's eyes passed over a a Christmas Zafara and White Zafara against a familiar-seeming fire faerie, and kept looking for an unmatched faerie to fight.

     Kanal'te turned back sharply. Familiar fire faerie? She quickly found the Zafaras again, then arrowed in toward the fight. Once she arrived, her suspicions were confirmed. The fire faerie who was fighting was her 'friend', Tanelle.

     Talusai was also fighting, teamed with the Fire Shoyru with whom she had been talking earlier. Talusai, too, cleared the fighting, and rose above the battle to search out a new opponent. Instead, she saw a brightly glowing earth faerie move in to battle with a less bright fire faerie. She dropped down to the cloud and motioned to the Shoyru, who took off after her toward the two. Talusai had seen and realized the same thing Kanal'te had: That fire faerie was Tanelle.

     ***

     Sanalre laid her hand over another faerie's wound, and watched it heal up before her eyes. She was startled to find that she was glowing as well, though not as brightly as Kanal'te. Thinking of Kanal'te . . . Sanalre lofted herself up and saw Kanal'te and Tanelle locked in battle. She knew her skills would be needed. She headed off at the fastest speed she could. Unbeknownst to her, the young Shoyru, LilWingNight, followed her.

     Sanalre arrived to find two Zafaras watching the fight wide-eyed. "What happened?" she asked them rapidly.

     It was the White one who replied. "We were fighting that faerie, and then the other one-"

     "Kanal'te," put in the Christmas Zafara.

     The other nodded. "Kanal'te pushed us out of the way and started fighting. Why did she do that? Do you know?" she asked Sanalre.

     Sanalre nodded grimly. "I know far too well." She said no more, but instead watched the flash of steel and the look of regret- Wait, she thought to herself. Why is Tanelle regretting this? Didn't she want to do this?

     The air faerie on the other side of the battle had been thinking the same thing. As Sanalre recognized Talusai, the air faerie made her move. Inserting her sword between the fighting faeries, she twisted, and knocked both off balance and to the ground. She began to glow brightly as she did so. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "What in the name of evil Weewoos is going on here?"

     Talusai's back was to Tanelle. Sanalre watched the fire faerie struggle with herself, then involuntarily raise a sword. "Talusai." The air faerie turned to face Tanelle and deftly disarmed her. Meanwhile, Kanal'te was struggling to articulate something a little more polite than what she had originally had in mind. "Betrayer!" she finally decided upon.

     "Kanal'te, look." Talusai sighed. "I don't think that Tanelle is doing this of her own will. I trust that she is still our friend, and that something can be done."

     Kanal'te was only able to repeat her earlier insult. "Betrayer!" she cried once more.

     "Precisely." Sanalre knelt beside the sitting faeries. "Kal, don't you see?" she asked the faerie on her right. "We are fulfilling the Prophecy of Four. Talusai is the Believer. She believed that Tanelle was not doing this of her own will and that pulling you apart was the right thing to do. You are the Warrior. You wanted to keep fighting, no matter what, but you do need to take into consideration the circumstances. Tanelle is the Betrayer. You naturally got enraged about that, but did the Prophecy ever specify that the Betrayer would do what she did of her own free will?"

     Kanal'te, forced to see the logic behind Sanalre's statement, stopped. "You're right. But, you only named three of the Four of the Prophecy. Who is the Healer?"

     Sanalre laughed. "Kal, how can you be so dense?"

     She moved over to Tanelle, laid a hand on her head. A bright blue and red light grew, then faded.

     Sanalre sat up and finished her sentence. "I am the Healer."

     "And a good thing she is, too," came Tanelle's voice from behind her. "Sorry, Kal. I didn't want to fight you. Miriash had me under her control. It was lost when we became pets; that was her fault too, by the way, and she regained it when we entered Faerieland again as faeries."

     As Tanelle finished speaking, the sky began to grow dark.

     "What?" Frowning, Talusai looked around, observing similar confusion in the others around her. "But it's not even 7:00 pm!"

     Tanelle shuddered involuntarily. "Time has no control over the light when Miriash comes."

     Sanalre gulped. "You mean that Miriash herself is coming here?"

     Tanelle nodded. "Yes. She is."

     By then, the dark had covered the entire sky. And, in the center of the battlefield, where no fight still raged, there came the shadow. With flames where eyes should be and wings that were so dark they burned the blackness, this shadow was easily identifiable as the herald of doom. Miriash.

     Raising her arms to bring a semblance of twilight to the field, the faerie allowed herself to be seen, instilling more fear in the faeries and pets that already were ready to flee. Then, she spoke.

     "The day has come," Miriash announced. "The day has finally come when I shall rule Neopia. The whole world will be mine!"

     "Well?" Kanal'te asked her friends. "Let's fight!"

     "She's right." Tanelle now stood. "We have nothing left to lose."

     "I agree," said Talusai. Sanalre said nothing, but just nodded.

     Together, the four faeries approached Miriash. "Well, well, what have we here?" asked Miriash. "Four puny faeries. Not even a Light Faerie. No match for me. I may as well dispose of you now," she told the advancing group mockingly. "You will oppose me no more!"

     Gesturing, she threw a bold of black and red light at them. The Four split apart instantly, Talusai up, Tanelle down through the cloud, and Kanal'te and Sanalre to the left and right. Kanal'te responded with a small green-and-gold blast, but although it hit the dark faerie, had little effect.

     "You dare oppose me?" Miriash questioned menacingly. "You shall pay for that." She lashed out with the sword she carried. Although she missed Kanal'te by a few inches, a shock wave was generated from the sword, and Kanal'te was knocked backward. She lay there, stunned.

     "Hmmph." The dark faerie turned and walked one pace toward Sanalre, who held her ground. A javelin edged with red shot up through where she had just been, followed by a bemused fire faerie. Tanelle retrieved her weapon and hurled it at the Darkest Faerie once more. The faerie once more stepped aside, and the javelin hit Sanalre. She was knocked backward and lay still.

     "Sanalre!" Kanal'te cried. Having lost her sword, she was effectively disabled for the rest of the fight. Now that it was only Talusai and Tanelle against the faerie, the odds were significantly in Miriash's favor. Kanal'te could do nothing but hope. But, in the meantime . . . Her eyes fell on Sanalre, who was lying still by the edge of the cloud. Kanal'te rushed around the fighting faeries to the water faerie and checked for signs of life.

     Miriash yawned, covering her mouth with an elegant red-clawed hand. "Dear, dear," she said. "This really is boring." Her goal was to incite the two remaining faeries to attack her recklessly.

     She succeeded in one case. Tanelle let out a scream of fury and launched herself at Miriash, who swept her hand carelessly around her. Tanelle was thrown on top of Kanal'te, who pushed her friend aside and sat up indignantly.

     Ignoring the imminent threat of Miriash, Talusai rushed to her friends. "Is everyone all right?" she inquired.

     "I'm fine," replied Kanal'te. "But Tanelle is out cold, and Sanalre, while she is coming around, is badly stunned."

     Talusai groaned. They had no chance of defeating the faerie now. Neopia would become a place of darkness and monsters, of sorrows and evils. She let her head droop as Miriash watched gloatingly, still wreathed in a protective scarf of black and red fire.

     Kanal'te patted her shoulder. "Come on, Talusai. Everything's bound to turn out all right. It always does. We just have to wait for the hero to come and save the day."

     "No," her friend whispered, barely audible. "We were the heroes. And we failed."

     Kanal'te stopped, struck by the truth of Talusai's words. "Well, in that case, I guess not everything will be all right."

     Talusai forced a weak laugh. "No, it won't be."

     Sanalre sat up finally. "What-?"

     She broke off, gazing at something above them that had captured the attention of all the Neopians around them. Talusai and Kanal'te looked up as well, just in time to see the bright white light before it enveloped them.

     ***

     "Where are we?" Tanelle's voice echoed in the bright chamber. "And how long have we been here?"

     "Quite a while, if you're awake," was Kanal'te's joking reply.

     "Not funny." Tanelle stuck her tongue out at the other, then turned to Talusai and Sanalre. "Well, do you know where we are?" she inquired impatiently.

     They only shook their heads and smiled. "I give up," Tanelle said. Turning to where no faeries stood, she shouted to the room at large. "Where are we?"

     To her surprise, she got a reply. =You are with the light, daughters.=

     "Did you hear that?" Talusai asked Tanelle.

     "Pretty hard to miss, actually," said the faerie acidly. "The question is, who said that?"

     The response came from a different voice. *We did,* it replied.

     "That's interesting," the irate fire faerie told the voices. "How can we be sure you're telling the truth?"

     Yet another voice responded. ~You can't. You will have to trust us.~

     "I think we should." This was Talusai. "Something tells me that we should."

     Kanal'te agreed. "You have been very right before, Talusai. I say we should trust them as well."

     "Yes. Talusai is right," proclaimed Sanalre.

     Tanelle nodded grudgingly. "All right, we'll trust you," she conceded. "Now, why are we here?"

     *Long ago, we saw what happened. We saw Miriash, the threat to Neopia, and we saw your despair. And we decided to help.*

     ~And help we shall,~ finished the third voice.

     =But first,= stated the first voice, =you must each answer a question. Answer truly, from your heart, and Miriash will be defeated. Answer wrongly, and she will rule for all eternity.=

     Tanelle and Kanal'te glanced at each other, then at the other two. Their looks gave their answer. Although they were high stakes, they at least had a chance. "What do we have to lose?" Tanelle asked, and they all grinned. "We accept," she said to the voices. =Good. Here is the first question, for the one called Talusai: Have we earned your trust?=

     Tanelle thought. "Yes," she finally replied.

     *Good. Sanalre, what is your purpose in life?* queried the second voice.

     Sanalre replied right away. "To heal others," she said.

     ~Good,~ said the third. ~Kanal'te, what is the most important value in a warrior?~

     Kanal'te thought for a while. In her eyes there were many outstanding values in a warrior. But . . . "Honor," she said.

     =Yes,= said the first voice slowly. =Tanelle. Who do you serve?=

     The others held their breath, because all rested on the faerie's answer. Tanelle took her time. Finally, she lifted her head and replied with certainty, "Not Miriash, and not Fyora either, but I serve the light, and all that is good within Neopia."

     Talusai sensed approval radiating from the disembodied voices. =Here,= one said.

     ~Use these,~ another said.

      *They will help you defeat her,*  the final voice said.

     With that, objects made of pure light materialized in the faeries' open hands. Tanelle held a spear, made for throwing. For Kanal'te a sword appeared, to replace the one she lost. Talusai received a set of throwing daggers. Finally, Sanalre received a large gem which shone with hints of blue, red, green, and silver.

     =*~Go now, and save your world,~*= the voices spoke together.

     The voices faded, and the light did as well, until the group of faeries stood upon the clouds of Faerieland, hidden in the false twilight. Their weapons had taken on earthly forms, and Tanelle was first. She cast her spear, which hit Miriash's shield and splintered it.

     The faerie turned. "Back for more, are you?"

     "You bet." Talusai's eyes gleamed as her daggers flew through the air in quick succession, pinning Miriash by the edges of her garments to a nearby cloud. Try as she might, she could not break free.

     Next, Sanalre stepped forward. Holding out her jewel, she shone a multicolored beam of light upon the faerie. Miriash slumped forward, as if in a deep slumber.

     "And now, since we cannot kill her, we must bind her," said Kanal'te. The earth faerie strode forward boldy, holding her gleaming sword aloft. She brought it down, and began to trace a cage around the pinioned faerie. Gleaming lights followed in her weapon's wake, eventually solidifying into an opaque cube. Tanelle's spear and Talusai's daggers flew back to their owners, and the faeries directed a stream of their combined magic at the cube, floating it up into the sky, and to an intense light.

     Turning to her friends, Sanalre giggled. "I'm sure she'll be very well taken care of."

     With laughter and smiles they agreed, then turned and headed back for the palace at the head of the army. The Prophecy had been fulfilled.

The End

Author's note: Any resemblance to living or deceased pets or people is completely coincidental. Also, we take no responsibility for anything that happened to you while reading this story. Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism, comments, and compliments welcome.