Pishicu and the Wisdom Council: Part Five

      "Amar! Show yourself!" Terskun snapped.

      A crude cackle arose from the air, and then a Dark Faerie crashed through the trees.

      "Terskun, how nice to see you! I thought you died! Well I'll just have to correct that mistake, shall I?" Amar snickered. Her face was very dark, she had short, wild black hair, and she had large, purple lips. She wore a purple leisure suit, and if not for the situation at hand, Pishicu would have laughed out loud about the clothes.

      "Shut your mouth, witch!" Yessey snapped. Her feathers were ruffled, and her normally squeaky voice became very dangerous.

      "Aaah, the whole little gang of rats... How sweet. I can only wonder how Fedle must have done this... Rather annoying you know. But at least I know what your up to now," the Faerie muttered brightly.

      There was a small minute of intense silence. Pishicu could feel their disappointment, even though she didn't know what it was for.

      Finally, Levita spoke. "Didn't we all cast untraceable spells?" she said in a quiet whisper to the other members.

      They all nodded their heads, still not ready to speak.

      "Well, I didn't put one on over to Terskun's," Fedle admitted quietly. "But I still don't know how she could have found us..."

      "Oh yes, it wasn't that hard... Thanks to this little rat!" Amar exclaimed. She then lifted her hand and then pointed it right at the bushes Pishicu was hiding.

      "Oh no," Pishicu groaned to herself.

      "Oh no," Fedle groaned since he could see through the bushes.

      "Oh yes!" Amar cackled. Then, she waved her head and Pishicu felt herself being involuntarily pulled up in the air and towards the Faerie.

      The poor Strawberry Poogle hung limply in the air, glasses slipping off of her nose.

      "S-sorry guys," she said lamely.

      Terskun looked furious, but he said nothing.

      "Who's that?" Levita muttered. "I've never seen her before."

      "Neither have I, but I'm gonna kick her pink behind as soon as I can get my wings on her!" Yessey screeched.

      "Ha, I'd like to see you try!" Pishicu screamed back at her, baring her shiny, white teeth. Though she was in trouble, she wasn't about to let that go.

      "Why you little--"

      "Quiet Yessey. Now is not the time," Fedle hissed. His eyes turned sharply in her direction, and she seemed to back down a bit.

      "Now, I know at least one of you must know her. After all, I conveniently followed her from someone's house. Now who knows this little Poogle? Who has a relation with her?" Amar shrieked, her voice going from sickeningly soft to violently harsh.

      "N-no one!" Pishicu squeaked.

      All eyes turned in her direction. Terskun looked mildly surprised, but he tried his best to hide it.

      "I-I saw them! I was walking by this house and they just flew out of it. I-it was the Cybunny and the Draik. I was surprised and bored, so I just followed them. I don't know what any of this is about, and I don't know any of these pets!" she squealed. If all went well, maybe the Dark Faerie called Amar wouldn't find her out.

      Or maybe not.

      "Liar. Filthy little liar of a rat! Dark Faeries know liars when they see them! Most of us decent ones have mastered the art ourselves, so we can certainly smell out a little rat like you!" Amar cackled. "Tell me now! Who knows this Poogle?"

      The pets remained silent as they gazed up into the Faerie's golden eyes.

      "No one?" she said in mock curiosity. "Well, then I suppose it will be okay if I dispose of her--"

      "WAIT!" Terskun screamed.

      Amar smiled as she glared down at him.

      "Wait, don't do it. She's my-- she's my--"

      "You're what?" But it wasn't only Amar who said it, Yessey and Levita had asked as well.

      "My sister," Terskun mumbled.

      Amar let out a raucous cackle that sent chills up Pishicu's spine.

      "Aaaw! Wittle Tersky-wersky has a wittle sister!"

      "Older sister, thank you very much!" Pishicu snapped.

      "Even better!" Amar shrieked with joy. She seemed to be enjoying Terskun's embarrassment.

      "Terskun-why-is-your-sister-here?" Yessey hissed in one short breath.

      "I didn't bring her along if that's what you're hinting at! She overheard us, and to find out what all she heard I made a deal with her that for each question of mine she answered I would answer one of hers. She was supposed to stay home!" Terskun replied, absolutely appalled. "I forbade her to go along with us!"

      "Yes, well there is a slight difference from 'going along with' and 'following,'" Pishicu mumbled.

      "Well, if you followed us, how come we didn't see you? Fedle, you were checking the ground!"

      "Yes Master Terskun, but I saw no one," Fedle replied.

      "Umm... That's because I didn't go on foot," Pishicu confessed.

      "What?" Terskun asked with a raised brow.

      "Well, I took Beelika and Sparkle and had them carry me and follow after you in the sky. We dived down in the tree tops every time Fedle looked back so we wouldn't be seen, so I suppose he just missed us. I'm sorry Terskun, I really am! I didn't think that this would happen!" Pishicu cried with tears in her eyes. She then had to wipe them off since they were fogging her glasses.

      Terskun looked beyond anger and sadness, so he remained silent and stared at Pishicu so intensely that it was as if a red-hot poker was being pressed against her heart.

      "Aaaw, is the wittle Poogle-woogly sad?" Amar sniggered as she summoned Pishicu closer to her with a wave of her hand and she took her into a little hug like a mother would do a baby.

      Pishicu bit her.

      Amar shrieked as a few drops of blood flew into the deep, black sky. She then quickly used her magic to make Pishicu levitate limply a few feet away from her again.

      "You! You! Hasn't anyone ever told you not to bite off more than you could chew?" the Faerie sneered bitterly, losing her mocking accent.

      "And hasn't anyone ever told you to wash your hands? I've tasted Snail Subs better than you!" Pishicu sneered right back.

      The pets below chuckled at this.

      "Shut up!" Amar screamed. She obviously felt that she had played around with the little pets enough. "It's time for me to get down to business! I know what you're up to, little rats. I know that you are trying to destroy our Eternity Orbs to get rid of our authority! Well, it won't work! At least not while all of you are together!"

      Yessey stared at Amar stubbornly, but Pishicu could tell she was uncomfortable.

      "You know this is your fault!" Yessey growled as she backed up next to Terskun.

      The Draik did not reply; instead he just placed the orb he was holding around his neck, the others followed this example, and then looked at his feet menacingly. He obviously felt that the Pteri was telling the truth.

      "What arrrre you planning to dooo?" Rucsk inquired. The other pets took the orbs they were carrying in their right hands and placed them around their necks with the golden chains. Then they got into a fighting-like stance, and stared at the Dark Faerie with unwavering attention.

      "For me to know, and for you to find out!" she smiled. Then she let out a huge scream that resounded and magnified in the silent clearing. Then, Rucsk, Levita, Fedle, and Yessey disappeared.

      Terskun was shocked. "What did you do to them? Give them back!" he commanded, a hint of panic in his voice.

      Amar, however, waved her finger matter-of-factly and chanted in a singsong voice,

      "Around the world you'll have to go,
Searching mountains high and plains low;
Step by step you'll have to take,
But not in the Haunted Woods or in Kiko Lake;
For where they lie is where they're from,
Hidden from sight you piece of scum,
For they lie in caves that are new to this earth,
And you shall have to keep searching for a while, since you have a wide berth;
But know that no one who is or has ever been,
With the special ring were knowledge lies in,
Is allowed to lay paws or hands,
On the ones which the curse stands;
Now if it's them you ever wish to see,
Go now and set them free!

Don't you like that spell, Tersky? It's a one time only thing, but it was worth it! I decided you would be the one to try to fetch them, ratty Terskun, for it is your little sister who messed all of this up for you, and I believe it would be you who they would like to talk to as soon as they awoke. Besides, I believe you were the brains behind the Eternity Orb plan, and if I hadn't been there things wouldn't have preceded very well for us Dark Faeries, now would they?" Amar sneered. Don't you like that spell, Tersky?

      Terskun was shaking with anger. It frightened Pishicu, she had never seen him like that. Normally he was always so calm and peaceful (or he looked so since he spoke so rarely at home), but now, now he was scary.

      "A-and what of Pishicu?" he asked, his voice shaking. He looked up at the Faerie, then at Pishicu; his expression was incomprehensible.

      "Oh, this little rat here?" she smiled, staring at Pishicu who was still hovering creepily in the air. Her eyes narrowed with an evil satisfaction, as glanced at the cut on her dark hand, then back through the thick, black glasses of the Poogle and into her magnified eyes. "Yes... Yes, she'll be coming with me. I have someone who I want her to meet. I believe you know her Terskun, her name's Sisle."

      Pishicu remembered the name; it was the Dark Faerie who all of the Wisdom Council pets had feared.

      "Amar! No! You wouldn't!" Terskun yelled. "Please Amar, don't! Her owner is waiting for her! Her owner doesn't know what happened! Please Amar, you have to let her go!"

      Amar, however, only cackled even harder at the thought of this. She then summoned Pishicu close to her again (this time she made sure she covered her mouth), and then said a spell.

      Suddenly, Pishicu felt a huge lurching feeling, and could see all the land around them slowly slipping away.

      "AMAR NO!!!" she heard Terskun scream, in the distance.

      Then they were floating through a glowing, white tunnel. Pishicu was feeling faint. So much had happened in that night. Her life was most definitely changed for all eternity. She found out her mysterious brother's secret and his deep, dark past, she had followed him and witnessed the secret meeting of the pet members in the Wisdom Council, and now she was kidnapped. Great, this was just great... Well, it'd be something to tell her grandpups if she ever lived to see them. Consciousness was slipping from her, but she didn't fight it. She had had an awful big day after all.

      The last thing she saw was a large, black hole at the end of the white tunnel...

To be continued...